#god the costumes in this musical are absolutely gorgeous

[crowleybrekkers]

eva noblezada as daisy buchanan in the great gatsby on broadway

[tothosewhoyearnforit]

stress relief - itzy yeji

-word count: 3245 words (longest to date :D)

-the yeji fic from many weeks ago. i finally finished it. i have something special that's nearly done. (i promise this time. it was a collection of spare time over a few months)

-dom!yeji, aggresive blowjob, riding, doggystyle, sweaty sweaty sweaty, facial

The stale stench of the air conditioned office clung onto you as you entered the bar.

Being in the bar was the last place you’re supposed to be this month. After just receiving a promotion at your workplace, the workload placed on you gradually kept snowballing to a point of no return. But you couldn’t just give up. Well, first of all, you really needed this job. It paid well, now that you had the promotion. Furthermore, times are changing, there really isn’t very good job stability now and getting fired and being “free” was not to be an option. 

You should’ve been at home, working and completing the reports due next Monday and getting ready for the presentation on Wednesday. Then taking note of all the shipments and settling the deal with the customer from Italy. But eh, it was a Friday, one night wouldn’t hurt right ? 

Or so you thought.

Three quarters through your drink, at around what was probably 11pm, a show begins.

The lights were cut for a brief moment, before spotlights focused onto the pole in the middle of the room. And out comes 5 gorgeous vixen clad in jet black costumes. Then, the music cues. 

Guess who loves you, naya na.

It’s a really, really catchy song and it made the atmosphere super stiff, as if all five of the women were demanding attention and silence as they performed. 

Do I show you? Noya-no.

Okay, this is actually really good music. And good lord those women are gorgeous. 

Ajik time-i anya nan

Jom deo gakkai jom deo gakkai geureoda gapjagi ssak

The choreography too, jesus christ.

But in particular, one of the women is catching your eye. The way her luscious firey orange hair, jewelry embedded within, moves in perfect tandem with her body, which by the way, is absolutely killing it. Every single dance move, to the smallest body pop, is quite literally perfect. Flawless. She’s wearing a sleeveless top and it’s really turning you on. Her arms are so gracious, and you’d love to feel them all over your body. Her collarbones and neck, they’d look so much better with your lovemarks on them. And the little bit of breast peeking out from the top. It’s more than enough to get your heart racing, and you take another sip of your icy cold drink to properly brace yourself for whatever they have left in store.

Imma steal it mameul humcheo

You are gonna love me.

That’s absolutely incorrect. You’re more than loving them, you’re fucking captivated by them.

Gyeoljeongjeogil ttae ippareul deureonaeneun type 

And suddenly, the orangehead takes the stage. 

The lyrics become an absolute blur to your ears as all your mind is fixated on is the absolutely stunning woman. God, she fucking looks like a cat too. Those damn fucking eyes are so… succubus like. And after twirling her fingers in your direction, she suddenly does a slut drop, squatting while spreading her legs apart. Now your eyes are staring at her milky thighs that are on full display under the spotlight. A million things are running through your mind right now, and none of them was related to your work life in any sort of way.

You’ll never know.

Her left thigh moves,snapping you out of your momentary hypnosis and your eyes quickly dart back up and you see her staring at you, a smirk dashed across her face. 

The rest of the song plays on but your mind is now playing that same slut drop moment over and over again. Eventually, the song ends and all 5 of the women are panting, sweat starting to collect at their foreheads. They retreat behind the stage quickly and the rest of the club goes on like the performance of their lives didn’t just happen. 

.

.

Give or take 10 minutes, you are on the way back from a toilet trip. At your table, you are greeted with a very much welcome surprise. The same fiery haired girl is sitting in the seat opposite of yours, watching you make your way back to your seat. 

“Hey there oppa.” Her voice is a knife full of confidence, laced with venom. 

“H-hey. Nice performance out there.” You grab your drink again, needing a punch of ice to hide your nervousness. But it’s so hard to maintain composure, especially when your eyes are looking at everything but her own cat eyes. 

“I know. You clearly enjoyed it. Or rather, you enjoyed me.”

“Was I really that obvious?” That was definitely the alcohol talking. You would have said something like “Sorry” or “I didn’t mean to.”, but no, you were playing the fool, like an absolutely rizzless bastard.

“My group has 5 members, yet every time I moved position, your gaze was glued onto me.”

“Well, you are really, really hot.”

“Thanks. You’re not so bad yourself.”

Bring the glass to your mouth again, shit. It’s fucking empty.

“So, what’s a young office worker doing in our bar?” She asks, elbows on the table, her head supported by her cupped hands as she leans in. 

“Well, to be fair, I walked in thinking it was a regular bar. I just needed a drink to take my mind off of work.”

“Are we not a regular bar? Anything special about this bar?” She asks, clearly trying to poke at you, like a cat playing with a ball of yarn.

You take another awkward sip of your drink, which was just melting ice at this point.

The conversation continues hazily and you guys chat for what must be hours until the distance between both your faces was probably the size of your drink.

“Can't imagine how stressed you must be.” Her right hand falls into your left, fingers tracing your forearm as she whispers. “Want to get out of here? I’ll get rid of all your stress for you…”

Ah, an offer you couldn't refuse. Now that’s some business I don't mind getting done right now.

“Say less… Um, I didn't catch your name?”

“Name’s Yeji. Don't worry oppa, you're gonna be moaning my name all night.”

And in a flash, you're both out of the club and in your car. You don't waste a single second. Foot on the pedal and you're on the streets of Seoul, zipping past the buildings of the city. 

Yeji, in the meantime, has other plans.

She takes your hand, and places it on her thigh. You can feel her gaze, waiting to see what your next move is. Were you gonna retract your hand and focus on getting home quick and safely? Or were you gonna start the study of Yeji’s body right then and there?

Obviously the latter.

Your hand roams around the silky smooth skin of hers. Pinky occasionally dipping into the gaps in her pants and rubbing against her inner thigh. You hear Yeji suck in a deep breath, the horniness evidently getting to her.

Fuck, fucking red light!

You seize the opportunity to look at Yeji, she’s now grinding against your exploring hand and you can't help but sneak a finger into her pussy. 

Green light. And your foot is back on the pedal. Finally, you reach the last turn into your apartment.

As soon as you get out of the car and into the elevator, Yeji pounces on you. Your hands catch onto her thighs for stability. Your lips crash against one another, her teeth biting your lower lips. 

Ding. Elevator door opens.

Door. Open. Bedroom. Bed.

No time to even register a logical sequence of actions. You toss her against your bed. Yeji is now a panting sweaty mess, but it doesn't matter. She looks even more gorgeous with the thin layer of sweat across her skin. Collarbones, arms and armpits glistening with sweat. You pin her hands above her head and nibble on her neck. Then, tongue out, you start collecting the sweat, from her armpit, across her chest and then from the middle of her neck to behind her ear, where you whisper, “You taste fucking amazing.”

“I know.”

You reach behind and pull down the zipper leading right to her tailbone, then help the foxy girl out of the one piece top. You pause for a moment to take in the sight before you. A smoking hot dancer is lying on your bed in nothing but a strapless bra and a thin black thong and some knee high boots. Yeji’s body is fucking picture perfect. Tight midriff, perky breasts, juicy thighs, not to mention her pretty face.

“Let me put on a show oppa. Just for you.”

She gets off the bed and you take her spot on the edge of the bed. Yeji turns around and takes off the bra, placing it on the ground next to her. Then, she bends over, putting her perky ass on display for you as she pulls off the lacy thong from her slender toned legs.

“You know, I should charge extra for this performance.”

You wouldn’t mind paying any amount to see this performance if you were being honest. 

“Boots on or off oppa ?”

“On.”

Yeji then smiles, tosses her thong onto your face, allowing you to grab a deep whiff of her sex. In front of you, Yeji is back in her slut drop position, but this time it’s even more erotic because she’s wearing nothing but the boots. Her pussy is on full display as she spreads her legs open, with just a little bit of hair going down the middle.

“Fuck, Yeji…” Your cock was throbbing within the confines of your pants with her tiny little strip show.

“Told you you’d be moaning my name.”

Yeji then straddles your lap, looks into your eyes while unbuttoning your shirt. 

“Let’s get all that stress out of your body, oppa. Think about nothing but me, okay?”

“You don’t even need to ask Yeji-ah.”

You pepper her neck with kisses as she peels your shirt off. She then lowers herself, hands grazing across your body, down to your pants which she pulls down. Finally free, Yeji purrs when she sees your length. 

“Wow, it's huge, oppa. Can’t wait for it to be deep inside my pussy.”

She gathers some spit on her hand and uses that same hand to stroke your cock, taking a cold fingertip across your sensitive tip each time she reaches your head. Each swipe across sent you nine realms ahead. It wasn’t clear if it was the alcohol or Yeji’s pure skill at this, but all you could hear was the loud hammering of your heartbeat. Or maybe that was the lewd sound of her saliva being spread over your length. Then, after spontaneously deciding that your cock was ready for the onslaught that was to come, Yeji pushes both your legs off the ground and onto her shoulders and lets the front portion of your cock rest in her mouth. Your balance is shifted. You’re now staring at the ceiling, stimulation after stimulation speeding down your nerves from your cock to your brain. You feel her mouth bobbing up and down on your length, her skillful tongue working its way across its veiny landscape. You try to will yourself to get up to watch the spectacle happening before your eyes but the pleasure drags you the fuck back down and all you can do in response is let out weary breaths and sinful moans while your toes curl and leg muscles spasm. 

And your cock isn’t even all the way through.

Yeji plunges her head down like a vulture diving into the carcass of a dead buffalo, and you feel that sharp nose of hers bump into your pelvis. The sudden action takes you by surprise and, from god knows where this submissiveness came from, you arch your back and let out a sound that you swear to never to make again. You feel saliva coating your nutsack now but when Yeji slowly removes her mouth from your cock, letting the cool wind graze your cock, all you want to do is beg Yeji to put your cock back inside her mouth. But that need not be done, because as you have a brief moment to register the influx of sensations, she hungrily goes back down onto you. Her prey. You would kill to see her eyes right now, staring straight into your own as she watches you submit to her. But then again, from the amount of noise you were making, it was pretty evident that she had you in the palm of her hand. It was just twice. Just twice that the whole length of your cock was engulfed by her mouth, but it drived you to the absolute edge and you felt like your first load was about to come.

“Fuck, Yeji. I- I- I’m gonna fucking…”

Maybe you shouldn’t have given her the verbal cue. Because just as you feel the gates of heaven about to open, she quickly withdraws. The feeling of the climax fading away throughout your crotch. You look at her with a face of discontent, displeasure and anger.

“Can’t have you busting so soon,” she says, chuckling to herself as she climbs over your vulnerable naked body after kicking off her boots, rubbing circles on her slickening pussy. “I'll let you cum deep down my throat some other time.” 

She climbs over you and hovers above your crotch. Grabbing your stimulated, twitching cock in one hand, she lines it up with the folds of her pussy and in one fell swoop, with no prior warning that she was going to go all the way down in one shot, she sits on your pelvis, practically impaling her pussy with your cock. 

“Anggh! Fuck!” A sharp, shrill moan of pleasure erupts from her mouth as her ass rests on your pelvis. Your hands wondrously find their way to her toned sweaty thighs, grazing the muscle on it in pure wonder and amazement. 

“You’re so fucking hot Yeji ah, and so freaking tight!” The fiery redhead doesn’t say a word, but she continues the ride. Hands on your pectoral muscles, Yeji displays her body isolation skills learned from dance. Her gaze fixes onto yours once again as she moves her hips up and down and you can only imagine what her ass looks like as it does this motion. But imagination always becomes reality when Yeji is around. The sexual chemistry between the two of you is just perfect, or maybe Yeji just knows what you so desperately want but is too shy to voice out. She turns around, her hands resting on your legs this time as she does the same vertical wave motion with her hips once again. Her beautiful butt is like a hypnotic pendulum, your eyes fixed on the gorgeous peach in front of you, it’s just irresistible to slap. And so you do. 

Slap! 

“Angh!” Crimson locks of hair get flung up into the air as Yeji throws her head back in response.

You bring a palm down on the flesh and watch how it ripples in response, a red handprint faintly appearing at the spot that was struck. Such a goddamn vixen. Is the only thought that runs through your mind, perhaps the only thought that has been running through your mind the entire night as soon as you laid your eyes on the foxy woman. Her pulsing butthole intrigues you as her hips work their magic, and you can’t help but take your index finger, and slowly slide it into her puckered hole. As your finger snakes its way in, her anal walls clamp down on it until your whole finger up till your knuckle has been engulfed. 

“Holy shit! Just like that oppa! Stuff both my holes up!” 

You withdraw your finger and this time, using both your index and middle finger, you embark on yet another tight fit into her anal cavity. Yeji’s hips start to slow down as she reaches the pinnacle of her stimulation. 

“Fuck-ah! Cumming!”

Her body convulses violently and you feel her muscles contract around your submerged fingers and your cock. You give her alluring buttcheeks another firm slap that echoes throughout the darkness of the night and watch as she slowly climbs off of you.

“You haven’t cum yet oppa…”, she whines, still in her lustful trance. “And my pussy is still yearning for a good pounding.” She wiggles her hindparts in front of you in a doggy position, spreading her pussy lips for you to see. You line yourself up behind her, give that gorgeous ass of hers another firm slap before sending your cock back into its rightful embrace. 

“Oh fuck…” Your cock’s reentering of Yeji’s tight pussy is like getting back into the swimming pool after being exposed to the cool air for too long. Warm. Wet. Refreshing. Her vaginal muscles are still so full of vigor despite having just came, almost as if they were desperately trying to wring you dry. Her scarlet nails dug into the bedsheets as you picked up a steady pace of thrusting your hips. From the back, you bunched up her fiery hair into a makeshift ponytail while your other hand rested nicely on her hip.

“That’s it! Fuck me harder! Use me as your fucking stress relief toy oppa!” That entire dialogue was more than a green light to you. Tightening your core to its limits, you picked up the pace, slamming your hips ever so desperately, with Yeji letting out a raspy moan with every smack that reverberated throughout the night. 

“Holy- Angh! FUCK! I’m gonna cum oppa! I’m gonna fucking cum!” Yeji cries out. Her pussy constricts around your cock for the second time of the night, this time an erotic geyser of squirt ensues, covering your thighs in her slick. Your own orgasm starts to surface. Pulling out of her pussy, you flip Yeji onto her back and climb over her. You point your cock at her and aggressively jerk yourself off to the finish line. 

“That's it. Cum for me. Cover me in your cum oppa. Paint your slut in-”

Yeji is interrupted by streaks and streaks of cum erupting from your cock in what must be your biggest orgasm to date, painting her sharp features, her chin, nose and eyes. The sweaty, panting mess sticks out her sharp tongue in an attempt to collect some food samples. 

“Oh, fuck… Yeji ah.” is all you manage to squeeze out as the last drops of your semen land on her face. 

“Gosh, you sure came a lot.” 

You collapse beside her, both of you sweaty messes. “What can I say? I had a lot of stress pent up inside me.”

Yeji gets up, and walks away from the bed. You still lay there, utterly spent, watching her hypnotizing body sway from left to right.

“Where are you going?”

“To the shower you dummy.”

A brief moment of silence follows as you are unsure of how to reply. Do you join her? Maybe she’s tired and doesn’t want round two.

But your thoughts get interrupted as she makes the choice for you.

“Oppa, are you not joining me?”

Suddenly, your body is full of vigor once more as you imagine the two of you soaped up together in the shower, feeling each other and exploring more of each other’s body. You excitedly hop off the bed and scurry to the shower. It was going to be a long, long night.

[thefallenangelsgang]

I'm losing my fucking mind

Or: I just saw Lord of the Rings the Musical at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater and my brain chemistry has irreversibly changed

I'm too genuinely scrambled at the moment from travel to make a solid post (I am multiple states away from Illinois and I hate city driving) but I cannot shake the life-changing experience that was.

SPOILERS AHEAD

(Spoiler free tldr: story is changed sometimes severely to make a sub-3hr runtime or to simplify, but the message doesn't get completely lost. Tolkien fan approved)

First issue I can see everyone having is how much the story changes because it does change a lot. Rohan and Gondor being merged is probably the most glaring. I think it works because the show is more focused on the Hobbits (specifically Frodo and Sam). Personally I can look past it. My one issue is the missing Sam monologues (mount doom is a rather swift sequence, I'd have liked to see Sam give his devotion speech and his speech about the shire while waiting to die) those would have made insane songs but alas. The ending still was a gut punch though so it's more a personal preference thing.

First thing that blew me away was the technical aspect. The lighting and set design was GORGEOUS and EVOCATIVE. There were multiple times lighting alone drew me to tears.

The puppetry is immaculate. The nazgul chase is singularly some of the most beautiful choreo I've seen and I'm a slut for puppetry

The cast play all of the instruments live on stage, sometimes while doing choreography (nothing will prepare you to see Legolas holding a fucking trumpet or Boromir strapped into a goddamn accordion)

The costuming is more accurate to the original editions' illustrations which I found endlessly charming. One difference is, for safety (probably OSHA), all the hobbits (and Gollum) wear Sandals. This is never discussed. I love that.

BOROMIR IS KILLED BY HIS OWN SWORD WHICH I CANNOT EXPRESS HOW PERFECT THAT IS NARRATIVELY

GOLLUM PLAYED BY TONY BOZZUTO IS NEARLY INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM ANDY SERKIS

(I am not joking about this. Somehow he has mastered Andy's physicality and voice work. It truly was a sight to behold.)

Saruman/Elrond's actor (dressed as a hobbit) was hanging out in our section during preshow and was having a grand old time.

Bilbo and Frodo were in the main audience bothering people. Frodo was playing a stick and ring game and got absolutely shown up by some 10 year old he invited to play.

The Entmoot took literally 2 minutes (the way I had to stop from HOWLING at that)

I was SOBBING at the end, like actually.

Somehow this production managed to keenly make me feel the ending of Frodo leaving for the Grey Havens more than the movies did. The Irony of Frodo leaving being both a hopeful prayer that there is a place where people bound with trauma and wounds too deep to heal can live in peace without pain and also a grim acceptance that sometimes people cannot recover was STARK

Frodo and Sam really push the narrative of this show up until the end and it hits HARD. God bless this cast with steady work, they all deserve it.

[silliest-basilisk]

ok so i watched cinderella's castle and uh. ok here are my thoughts: first of all, the things i loved:

the puppets! thats what i was most excited about when it came to this show, and boy they definitely delivered. sir hop-a-lot and crumb were my favourite part of the show, and jon and joey knocked it out of the park as them!

the set design and lighting! i really loved the set, and the way they played with lighting was GENIUS. the fairy queen's entrance, and the way they used the blacklight during ella's entrance with the starlight dress so that you only saw the dress was amazing.

THE COSTUMES!!! they were gorgeous god!!

the choreography!! very nice as always :}

now onto the things i liked less...

way too many sex jokes for my taste. i know it's starkid but they don't usually lay it on this thick. it just made me cringe.

speaking of, i just generally didn't like the character of the prince very much. i found his style of humour kinda clashed with the tone of the show. james tolbert's acting definitely saved the character imo

and the absolute biggest disappointment for me: the soundtrack. god i'm sorry jeff really shat the bed with this one. purely sound-wise it's fine (though i'm not really a huge fan of the poppy feel of the music. i think the inclusion of electronic music is very interesting, but i personally would've preferred a more baroque rock type sound but that's just personal preference), but the songs were just extremely un-theatre-like. they suffer from what i lovingly call the "dear evan hansen problem": they're generic and vague songs where the character just sings about one feeling throughout the whole song. there's no evolution, which is KEY in musical theatre. for almost all the songs except the fairy queen's and one other song in act 2, i was just sitting there like "...ok? why is this song happening? it's telling me nothing". you could cut like 90% of the songs from this show out and you could still understand the plot perfectly well. the most egregious example being right at the start - the opening number. an opening number is supposed to introduce us to the world and the characters, and the opening number of this show does... neither. it just tells us there's. a castle on a hill??? ok??? what do i care??? the songs also feel very short - likely due to the lack of a bridge in most of them. bridges are important in musical theatre!!! they're usually the turning point of a song!! without one, this show's soundtrack feels empty and like it's missing something. and unfortunately, the overall poor quality of the other parts of the music also highlights jeff's poor lyricism. i can usually let it slide because the other aspects of the soundtrack are very good, but this time it's just... no. nobody's ever strung these words together in the history of man. fuck you mean "a cat that was strayed"??? nobody says that!!! god!!! also why are they talking about "neon lights" when the universe we're in is a medieval fantasy? i would've excused it normally, but earlier in the show, they SPECIFICALLY avoid mentioning a modern invention when the prince says he "dodged a sword thrust" instead of "dodged a bullet". so yeah overall, i feel like this show could've used a different songwriter, perhaps someone like the aj holmes and kaley mcmahon duo from twisted? but yeah those are my thoughts. no shade to you if you loved the ost, but i just personally found it weak! OH AND ALSO ELLA'S OUTFIT POST-RESURRECTION WAS A DOWNGRADE SORRY NOT SORRY!!!

[oldiesstationlover11607]

Ughhhh the vampire fic was so good!! I honestly don’t know how you do it all the time, coming out with gorgeous pieces of writing. I would like to make a request of you: Josh x Reader, where the reader and Josh have an established relationship (you can decide how long) and they’re both passing out candy to trick-or-treaters on Halloween. All the other details can be up to you :)

Also, if it’s not too much hassle, can I be an emoji anon? You can assign one to me, whatever is fine. And if not, that’s perfectly fine, too! I might not request a ton of things, but I want to start requesting more :]

Little Bishop - Josh Dun x Reader

Warnings: None!!

Word Count: 917 (a super short and fluffy one shot!)

A/N: Thank you for enjoying the vampire fic! For anyone else reading this if you've requested something non halloween those are officially taking priority bc we're getting close to the holiday! As for you ANON... I'd absolutely love for you to be an emoji anon! How do you feel about 🥁? Especially since you seem to like Josh :) LMK! Anyways... enjoy this little fic :)

Edit: Literally posted this without adding the bandito battle stuff 😭 this was for the prompt: the bishops ;)

Josh and I had been together for three Halloweens, and by now, he knew exactly what he was in for every October. My obsession with the holiday was borderline obsessive—skeletons hanging from the ceiling, cobwebs draped in every corner, orange and black everywhere. If it could glow in the dark or be covered in fake blood, it had a place in our home.

This year was no different.

We’d spent the afternoon decorating the front yard for trick or treaters. I’d insisted on scattering tombstones across the grass and setting up a fog machine that puffed eerie clouds around the fake bones poking out of the dirt. Josh had rolled his eyes as I carefully positioned our life-sized animatronic ghoul by the front door—its shrieks and cackles would go off whenever a trick-or-treater came near. The pumpkins we’d carved sat on the porch, three glowing faces staring out at the street.

Honestly, I knew I drove Josh a little crazy with how over-the-top I got, but I couldn’t help it. Halloween was my holiday. And deep down, I knew he secretly enjoyed watching me get all worked up about it.

We were curled up on the couch, waiting for the first batch of trick-or-treaters to arrive. The living room was bathed in the flickering light from the scary movie playing on TV—something classic about a haunted house and creepy dolls. Josh wasn’t exactly a horror fan, but he’d make the sacrifice for me, like he did every year. I had my hand in his, squeezing it every time a jump scare made me flinch, though I pretended it didn’t.

The doorbell rang, breaking the tension of the movie.

I paused it with a grin. “You ready for this?”

Josh smirked, shaking his head. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

I jumped up, grabbing the candy bowl off the table, my heart racing with excitement. The door swung open to reveal a group of kids on the porch, their voices ringing out in unison, “Trick-or-treat!”

There was a witch, a tiny skeleton, a princess, and—my heart nearly stopped—a kid dressed as a bishop. I blinked, trying to process what I was seeing.

This kid, probably no older than ten, had nailed the costume. He was wearing a red cloak and his face was painted pale, with the lower half being black just like in the music videos. It looked like he’d stepped right out of Dema. 

“No way!” I stood there, jaw practically on the floor, looking down at the kid. Josh shuffled around behind me, reaching for the candy before joining me at the door. 

“Oh my god,” Josh muttered under his breath, eyes wide in disbelief.

I nudged him with my elbow, a huge grin spreading across my face. “I love your costume,” I beamed, grabbing out an overly generous handful of candy from the bowl Josh was holding.

“Dude, your bishop costume is epic. Respect.”

The kid’s eyes lit up, and he beamed. “Are you–”

“Yeah.” Josh grinning crouched down to give him a high five before waving goodbye to the kid’s parents who had been excitedly filming the entire interaction. As the kids ran off, I closed the door and turned to Josh, still grinning like a maniac. “That just made my entire night! See? Halloween is magical.”

Josh shook his head, but there was a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Alright, I’ll admit—that was pretty awesome.”

“If I had my way, we’d live in a haunted house year-round,” I said, pressing my lips to his. 

Josh laughed, draping his arm over my shoulders as I snuggled up against him. “I know you would. But I think the neighbors already think we’re a little too... much.”

“Too much, festive—same thing.” I leaned into him, feeling ridiculously happy. The movie resumed, the eerie glow of the screen casting shadows across the living room. I glanced around, admiring our decorations for what felt like the hundredth time—black candles flickering on the mantle, fake cobwebs hanging from the ceiling, and the orange glow of pumpkin lights filtering in from outside.

Josh gave my hand a playful squeeze, pulling me from my thoughts. “What are you plotting over there? You look like you’re about to go full psycho on me.”

I laughed, leaning my head on his shoulder. “Maybe I am. I just love this. The decorations, the costumes, the candy, the scary movies. And doing it all with you.”

He softened, kissing the top of my head. “I know I give you a hard time, but I love how much you love it. I mean, if skeletons and haunted houses make you happy, I’m all in.”

I grinned up at him, my heart swelling at his words. “Just wait until next year. I’m thinking of going even bigger. Full haunted house experience—fog, jump scares, maybe a maze in the backyard.”

Josh groaned dramatically, but I could see the smile in his eyes. “I’ve created a monster.”

Before I could respond, the doorbell rang again. More trick-or-treaters. I hopped up, practically bouncing with excitement.

Josh watched me with that look—the one that said he was more than willing to let me drag him into my Halloween obsession. He’d give me grief about it all night, but I knew the truth.

As I opened the door to another group of kids, Josh leaned back on the couch, letting out a content sigh. And I knew, deep down, he wouldn’t trade this—our spooky little tradition—for anything.

//

REQUESTS OPEN

Tags for bandito battle:

@banditobattlemotherfuckers @the-paladin-gay

[pisspurveyor]

Ok so here's a horrifying tale of when I discovered the existence of the movie The Crow 30 years too fucking late this Friday, and somehow never even knew a remake came out for it on the exact. same. day. Bear with me.

Ok so I was on spotify listening to this song (song in question was L.I.S.Å by Taythedxn, please dont look at me) that for some reason had footage of this random ass guy in clown makeup playing in the Now Playing/More Info preview. And I was like - huh! That guy kinda reminds me of my BG3 Tav!!! Nice!!! Naturally I'm pretty interested to find out what the hell is going on with that. So, thinking it's just the music video for that song, I look it up. To my surprise, that was not the music video at all!

At this point I'm massively curious. I am sitting there absolutely dumbfounded and stubborn as shit; I had to find this gorgeous clown man, even if it was 1 am at the time. I was on a MISSION! Finally I managed to muster enough braincells up to reverse image search the guy, and lo and behold, The Crow (1994) pops up. Bingo! There's the gorgeous clown guy!

At first I'm just showing pictures of the main character to my partner like Look!!! Look!!! He looks like my Tav in clown makeup!!!! Woah!!! And then I mention the movie to him, and well- (gonna cut the post in half for you, don't worry 'just browsing' crowd)

My partner being the resident Nine Inch Nails listener pointed this out to me. SO IT HAD THE MARK OF NINE INCH NAILS? I was stoked - Trent Reznor being involved in any soundtrack has always been a great indicator in my eyes. Because of that, I just had to check out the rest of the soundtrack, and I was in AWE.

ALL THESE GOBSMACKING BANDS IN THE SAME SOUNDTRACK. I WAS ABSOLUTELY FLUNG OUT THE WINDOW ABOUT THIS (as seen above).

At this point I was sold, I was GOING to watch this movie. I was deadset on it. And, to my luck, I found it free to watch on youtube... somehow. Still surprised about that. No I'm not linking it, I'm not a snitch, but I assure you it's very accessible. Anyways, I sit down, get comfortable, and get my shit ABSOLUTELY ROCKED. Aesthetically, this movie is everything I love - I had a lot of fun watching it (big fan of the lightbulb scene btw).

Anyways I had the time of my life watching it, really soaking the music and outfits in, absolutely hollering at every indulgently gothy scene. Honestly, what a fucking experience - Eric was a sight to bloody behold. God, I was googoogaga for Myca too!!! The fashion was immaculate, a lot of the costumes are things I try to replicate and wear myself nowadays, so I was beyond stoked to see that right in front of me. I may or may not have a new style guide now!

I finished the movie in a good mood, and ultimately wondered: Why had I never heard of this before? Naturally I check wikipedia, see what production was like and what it was based off of - really neat to see it was based off of a comic, but then as I read on and found out the whole story behind Brandon Lee's death on set, I was very quickly silenced. Suddenly it was way more grave than I anticipated.

Honestly it's a bit weird to mourn a dude 30 years later, but this may be one of the sadder celebrity deaths I've ever heard of. And knowing the effect it had on the original comic artist, who had been through enough shit in his life as is, was absolutely heartbreaking.

So now I sit here, unable to stop thinking about this movie, the comic it came from, and how I managed to stumble across it without even once encountering any advertisements or trailers for the remake that had released on the exact day I had found the original. Don't get me wrong, if anyone discovers the original because of the remake, I think that'd be fucking amazing, because the original deserves lots of love on top of the love it already has - but now knowing the remake was a piece of rubbish, I'm worried people might not look into it.

This may well have been the worst time to discover The Crow (1994) but holy shit, it is forever on my mind from here on out. I wish I had known it sooner, truly. As someone who considers themselves a goth, I did myself a serious disservice by not watching this sooner, I swear.

[capturethechaos]

Masterlist

Request - accidently wearing a matching costume at a party | people are like “oh did you match with Josh?” and you’re like huh who is that? so you finally meet them and end up spending the night with each other “you have to because we matched” | rather a themed party Sam throws or something like that. a 90’s themed party maybe?

Words - 3.8k

Warnings - Drinking, Smoking weed, NSFW 18+ Content, Unprotected sex [Wrap it before you tap it folks!] ♡

A/n - Special thanks to Sam with the texts we shared back when I originally got this request, and all of the encouragement while I’ve been in and out of this rut I’ve been stuck in, couldn't have done this without you, and to Fallon, forever my hero for reading these fics at god awful times of the night to make sure they're good content for y'all ♡

“Hiya, Barbie.”

“Hi, Ken.”

“You want to go for a ride?”

“Absolutely not.” Your hand found the skip button before Robin had the chance to stop you.

“Oh come on!” She turned to you, offence painted across her features. “It’s fitting, you’re Barbie!”

“It’s enough that I let you dress me up this way, let’s not push it.” Your fingers played at the neon pink sarong you had tied around your waist, watching the city pass by as the two of you made your way to Sam’s house.

By the time you arrived there was already a crowd of cars parked around the house. Robin found a spot to park, and the two of you made your way to the front door, opening it and immediately being blasted with the overwhelming sound of music and yelling. You only made it a few steps into the door before people began commenting on your costume.

“Oh cute! She must be matching with Josh.” A pair of girls dressed as Cher and Dionne stepped closer to you, drinks in hand and wide smiles on each of their faces. “You’re Malibu Barbie right, you’re the other half of Josh’s costume.”

Before you even had a chance to open your mouth and reply, a loud voice rose above the crowd. “Hey, Malibu Barbie finally showed up, I fucking knew Josh was lying about it not being a couples costume.”

You turned to Robin, watching as she bit back a smile, before turning back to the two girls. “I’m sorry, who’s Josh?”

One of them giggled, taking a sip of her drink before motioning to Robin. “Why don’t you ask your friend, she’s the one dating his brother.”

You turned slowly, eyes already sharp as you looked at your best friend. “Robin…”

“Okay, in my defence, I wasn’t sure Sam would be able to convince him.”

A pair of hands landed on your shoulder before you could speak, and as you turned, you caught the shimmer of armor as Sam came into view. “Hiya, ladies. Have you two gotten drinks yet?”

Robin beamed at her boyfriend, shuffling past you to wrap her arms around him. You could hear the murmuring of the two of them speaking to each other in hushed tones, drowned out by the music and chatter surrounding the three of you. Their little private conversation seemed to end when Sam looked up at you with a toothy grin. “So, Y/n, I hear our little surprise may have been a bit spoiled. Why don’t we go get a drink, then we can introduce you to Josh, aka the Ken to your Barbie.”

You followed closely behind Robin and Sam as the three of you made your way into the kitchen, and watched as Sam scoured his fridge for a moment before pulling out a few drinks and handing them to you and Robin. On the journey to find Josh, the three of you picked up Danny, who was in the middle of a game of darts, but he quickly abandoned it when he realized what was going on.

The four of you made your way through the house, and just before you walked through the door to the backyard Danny and Sam stepped in front of you. “Hey Ken, we found your Barbie.”

The two men stepped out of your way, revealing a gorgeous man standing maybe twenty feet from you in a pair of shorts that matched your outfit, and a bright pink button up shirt that was completely undone, revealing his glowing, tanned skin. He quickly broke into a wide grin, and you could see his eyes light up a bit behind the pink tinted sunglasses he had resting on the bridge of his nose. 

You watched as he politely excused himself from the conversation he was having before making his way over to the group. “So you did in fact lie to me, Sam.”

He turned from his brother, the sharp look he had given him softening as he took in your appearance. “It seems as though we have been made to match this evening. I’m Josh, Sam’s oldest brother.”

“Y/n. I’m Robin's best friend.”

Something flickered in his expression, and his gaze briefly shifted to Robin before turning back to you. “So you’re the best friend we’ve heard so much about.”

The warmth of a blush crept its way up your body, painting the skin of your chest and cheeks only a few shades lighter than the pink both you and Josh were wearing. His lips turned up slightly at the sight, and your eyes fell, searching for solace anywhere else. 

“Hey fuckers, you guys gonna come play beer pong or what? We all want to see Romeo and Juliet battle against Malibu Barbie and Ken.”

Every eye in the group turned to search for the voice that had called to you, and you quickly found another man that looked eerily similar to Sam and Josh. Danny, Sam and Robin all quickly made their way to the crowd of people playing pong, but Josh held back when he realized that you weren’t following. You looked at him with a raised brow, your eyes flickering between him and the man that had called all of you, and he noticed you doing the math in your head. “My twin brother, Jake.”

“Jesus, how many of you are there?”

He chuckled at the question, and gently bumped his shoulder against your own. “Don’t worry, no more surprise Kiszkas will pop out of the woodworks, our sister is back home in Michigan.”

“A sister, huh? My deepest sympathies, must have been one hell of a childhood growing up with three brothers.” The giggle that escaped him at your comment brought a smile to your face.

He nodded toward the table, offering his hand to you as he stepped forward. “Shall we? Before the mob drags us over.”

You nodded, placing your hand in his and following him through the small crowd of people that had gathered to watch the next game. The two of you stood opposite to Sam and Robin, setting up the cups and getting ready to play. Josh watched for a moment as you fiddled with the ball in your hand, and leaned forward, whispering in your ear as you lined up your shot. “Might as well ask, are you any good at pong?”

You giggled, turning slightly until you could feel his warm breath on your cheek. “Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I suck at pong.”

Your statement was quickly followed by a bullet-like shot into the front cup in their formation, and you got to watch with a satisfied smirk as Sam choked on his drink. Robin laughed, gently patting Sam on the back as he sputtered up the liquid he had inhaled, and you once again felt Josh’s breath tickle your ear. “What happened to ‘I suck at pong’?”

You hummed, taking a step back so that he could line up his own shot. “Didn’t want to get your hopes up.”

His lips curled into a smirk as he concentrated on getting his shot just right, and your jaw slacked as you watched him sink his ball in the same cut that you had hit. Josh turned to you for a moment, basking in your reaction for a moment before turning back to Sam and Robin. “I believe that means we get three cups, and balls back.”

The two of you made quick work of Robin and Sam, and went on to play two more rounds, one against Jake and his girlfriend, who you had complimented for their Woody and Bo Peep, and the other against Danny, who was dressed like a member of Baywatch, and a girl on his arm that you had yet to properly meet.

You just barely lost to Danny and the girl, who had complimented your costume and disappeared very soon after the end of the game. Josh was already looking at you when you turned to look at him, a soft smile on his face as his hand found your waist. “You look like you could use a breather.”

The rapid nodding of your head was all the answer he needed to begin leading you away from the herd of partygoers that were surrounding the beer pong table. He led you into the house, around a couple corners, and briefly into the kitchen to grab a couple water bottles from the fridge before leading you upstairs and into an empty bedroom. You followed as he walked out onto a small balcony, overlooking the party, but far enough above it all to muffle most of the noise. 

Josh sat on the small couch that was pushed up against the wall, softly patting the spot next to him as he looked over to you. “Perks of being brothers with the owner of the house, I know the best spots to escape when I need some time away from people.”

A smile found its way onto your lips, and you shuffled over to the couch, falling back into the soft cushions and letting your eyes close as you took a deep breath.

“Do you smoke?”

You peeled your eyes open, tilting your head to look in his direction. “Depends on what it is you’re smoking.”

You watched as Josh pulled a joint and lighter from his pocket, holding them up as if to present them to you. The smile on your face widened, and you slowly nodded your head. “I can get with that.”

He offered a toothy grin in response, quickly placing the joint between his plump lips and rolling his thumb over the lighter. You let your gaze linger for a moment as he breathed in the first hit of the joint, the smoke slowly rolling from between his lips as he inhaled it once again through his nose. He took one more hit before handing the joint to you, watching as you eagerly took it from between his fingers, lifting it to your lips and feeling the delectable burn of the weed entering your system. 

“So.” You took another hit, savoring the smoke as it invaded your lungs, before exhaling and continuing. “Robin talk about me a lot around you guys?”

Josh chuckled, taking the joint from you and lifting it to his lips. “Every once and a while.” 

He took a drag, blowing the smoke away from you before turning to look at you. “All good things, I promise. She really loves you, you two seem like really good friends.”

You smiled, nodding and playing with the mesh of your sarong. “Yeah, she’s like a sister, we’ve known each other forever.”

A comfortable silence fell between the two of you as you continued to pass the joint back and forth, breaking every few minutes to make small talk, or comment on the choice of song playing over the speakers, until there was nothing left to smoke. 

Josh held the joint between his fingers, watching the paper burn. “Last hit, you want it?”

You shook your head. “It’s your weed, you get the last hit.”

He chuckled, inhaling all that was left before putting it out and leaving the butt in the ashtray. “Who says we can’t share?”

You turned to look at him, and found that his gaze was already locked on you. He held the smoke in his lungs, leaning in until there was merely an inch between your lips, waiting for you to either welcome the attempt at making a move, or for you to move away. He was pleased when you parted your lips, welcoming the smoke as he exhaled it directly into your mouth. 

The two of you lingered in that position even after all the smoke had cleared, simply glancing at each other's lips, waiting for someone to make a move. Josh was the first to move, nudging just the slightest bit closer until his nose brushed against yours. “Can I kiss you.”

It felt as though all the air had escaped from you, leaving you to sound breathless as you parted your lips to respond. “Please.”

His lips melded with your own, parted from the get go. It wasn’t often that you felt goosebumps from human touch, but the feeling of his lips on yours had the small bumps rising all over your body. You were tingling, from the tips of your toes to the top of your head, he was invading your every thought with just a kiss. 

Slowly, and with care to not smack your knee against the armrest, you swung your leg over his lap, straddling his hips as his hands lifted to cradle your head, deepening the kiss. Your hands quickly found the soft skin of his chest, and the firm muscle beneath it, feeling the way he tensed at your touch. One of his hands remained where he had lifted them, holding your face close as if you could disappear at any moment, as the other fell to your hip, dragging you further against him. 

His lips parted from yours when a small gasp slipped from you, feeling how hard he was getting in his shorts. Josh was peppering kisses along your jaw, breathing you in as you took your time rolling your hips into his. He hummed at the feeling, nipping at the skin beneath your ear as the hand he had on your hip gently pushed your hips back before pulling you back, building an unhurried rhythm. 

“Josh.”

His words were muffled against your skin, broken up between lingering kisses. “Yeah, doll?”

All movement stopped when your hand found the one he had gripping your hip, and he broke away from your neck, leaning back to look you in the eyes. “What’s wrong? Do you want to stop?”

You giggled, leaning to press a chaste kiss to his lips, feeling him melt into you the moment your lips met his. “No, Josh, I don’t want to stop… I’m just really feeling the weed now, and I feel very um… exposed out here.”

His chest rumbled with the chuckle that tumbled from his lips, and he brushed his lips against yours. “Would you like to move this inside, doll?”

You nodded, putting the slightest bit of pressure against his lips. “Mhm.”

Josh helped you stand up, keeping his hands on you in any capacity he could as the two of you eagerly made your way back into the bedroom. His lips found the curve of your neck as you reached the edge of the bed, and his arms wrapped around you, pulling you against his chest. You leaned your head back, resting it on his shoulder to give his lips more space to cover as his hands found the knot in your sarong. He quickly untied the fabric, tossing it to the side before letting his fingers dance up the patterned fabric of your bodysuit.

He chuckled at the groan of disapproval that slipped from between your lips as his mouth left your skin. “Feeling a little needy, baby?”

You nodded, leaning into his touch as his fingers found the straps of the bodysuit. “Can you blame me?”

His lips found your skin once again as he slid the straps down your shoulders, teasing you with the softness of his mouth against the newly bare skin. “Not at all, I feel the same.”

He peeled the fabric from your skin, keeping his lips against your skin as your bodysuit hit the floor, leaving you bare. With one final, lingering hiss to your shoulder, his hand gently tapped your hip. “Lay down, doll.”

You followed his instruction crawling onto the soft comforter and turning to watch as Josh let the button up slide off of his shoulders, joining your clothing on the floor. His eyes drank you in, laid out for him on the guest bed in his brother's house, as the party raged on just outside the door. A wicked grin played on his lips as he tugged on the drawstring of his shorts, peeling them from his hips and watching as your eyes followed the movement of them falling to the floor, before tracing over every inch of his body until they were locked with his own gaze. 

“You know… I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Ken doll with a dick before.” You bit back a smile at your own comment, watching as his eyes rolled, but his grin widened to a toothy smile. 

“What can I say?” He lifted himself onto the mattress, climbing over you until his face was inches away from your own. “I’m a special model.”

His lips found yours in a hungry kiss, and you could feel the electricity of his touch on your skin as his fingers traced their way along your body until they were parting the lips of your pussy, gathering the arousal that had been accumulating since you agreed to step away with him. He hummed against your lips. “This all for me, doll?”

You nodded, your forehead pressed against his as you chased the feeling of his fingers, bucking your hips against his hand. He clicked his tongue at you, sitting up and removing his fingers from your skin, earning a whine of disapproval from you. “I want to hear that pretty voice of yours, baby. Tell me all about who’s making you this wet.”

You reached for him, wrapping your fingers around the hand he hadn’t been teasing you with, attempting to pull him back to you. “You are, Josh. Only you.”

“That’s right, beautiful.” His hand found his cock, throbbing against his stomach, having thus far been pretty much ignored. His fingers wrapped around it, spreading your arousal over the tip of his cock as he slowly pumped his fist along the length of it. “All for me… is this what you want, doll? You want my cock?”

You were writhing beneath him, desperate for any sort of friction as he kept you from squeezing your thighs together. “I want it so bad, Josh.”

“Where do you want it, hm?” He slowly dragged the tip through your slit, soaking it in your arousal as he watched your resolve crumble further. “You want me to fuck this pretty pussy?”

“Fuck, Josh. Please, baby… no more teasing, need you so bad.” Your voice was dripping in desperation, and he was eating it up.

He leaned back down, ghosting his lips over your own as he leisurely lined up the tip of his cock with your entrance. “No more teasing, doll. Promise.”

He captured your lips in a passionate kiss as he slowly pushed himself into you. The moans that escaped the two of you flowed directly into each other's mouths, swallowed into the breathless kiss that you wouldn’t dare part from. Only once he was completely buried inside of you did the two of you part for breath, desperately panting for air as his hips stilled. “Fuck, Y/n, you’re fucking phenominal.”

Josh’s lips pressed a chaste kiss to your own as he slowly drew his hips back, sliding out of your pussy until only the tip of his cock remained nestled within you. “Like you were made for me.”

He eagerly breathed in each moan that came from your lips as he built up a steady rhythm with his hips, feeling the squeeze of your hand around his own as the pleasure took over your body. 

Time was lost to you, all you knew was the feeling of his cock inside of you, and his lips against your skin. The coil of pleasure within you was growing closer and closer to snapping with each rock of his hips, and he could feel the exquisite squeeze of your cunt around his dick. “You getting close, doll? You’re squeezing me so tight, not gonna last much longer.”

You fought to put words together, gripping him tighter as your lips parted. “So fucking close, Josh. Don’t stop… please don’t stop.”

“Not gonna stop, baby.” He kept the same rhythm in his hips, sneaking his hand between your bodies to roll his thumb over your clit, watching as your eyes rolled back, and your mouth fell open in a silent moan, gasping for air as you crashed into your orgasm. 

Josh held on for as long as he could, working you through your own orgasm for as long as possible before it became too much for him, and he spilled into you, collapsing on top of you as his body gave into the intense waves of pleasure you had caused. 

The two of you remained like that for an unknown amount of time, until Josh finally pulled his soft cock out of you, pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead and mumbling something about the bathroom before pulling his shorts back on and shuffling out of the room. You were alone with your thoughts for the first time in hours, wondering what the fuck just happened, and if it would happen again. 

When Josh returned, he had a warm washcloth in his hand, gently cleaning you off before helping you off of the bed and back into your bodysuit. He helped you find the bathroom, and stood outside the door as you went pee, and finished cleaning yourself up. When you opened the bathroom door, a cool breeze found you, and a shiver ran down your spine. Josh caught the movement, and quickly shed the button up, pulling it over your arms and tugging it into place, surrounding you in his warmth and intoxicating scent. “You ready to get back to the party, doll?”

You nodded your head, turning in the direction of the stairs, feeling his hand brush against your own as the two of you began to walk. His arm slowly found its way around you as the two of you reentered the crowd of people dancing, and you quickly recognized the song playing through the speakers.

“If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends, make it last forever friendship never ends. If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give, taking is too easy, but that's the way it is.”

You could feel eyes on you the moment your feet hit the last step of the staircase, and when you looked out at the crowd, you quickly found the knowing gaze of your best friend, tucked against Sam as the two of them had a lively conversation with Danny and Jake. 

“So… can I take you out sometime? I’d love to see you again.”

Your eyes broke away from Robin, turning quickly to Josh as he stared back at you. “Yeah… yeah I’d really like that.”

If you'd like to be added to the taglist for this event, fill out the taglist form! (Some tags do not work, please double check that you've got tags on, and that your username is correct, and send me a dm, I will try to get them fixed ♡ )

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[hastalavistabyebye]

I saw Le Comte de Monte Cristo by Mathieu Delaporte and Alexandre De La Patellière yesterday at the movie theatre and OH MY GODS. Must be the best movie I've seen in the entire year !!! (not like I've seen many movies but that's besides the point)

The acting is absolutely phenomenal, the music is sooooo beautiful, the costumes and setting are absolutely gorgeous. All around an incredible movie and I absolutely recommend it !!!

But the thing now is that I can't help but think that Fox would make a wonderful Comte de Monte Cristo. The vengeful, strategy mastermind, masked hero ? Yeah he would be perfect. But I can't figure for the life of me who the other characters would be...

[miss-mollys-ballet-blog]

I’m watching the Royal Ballet’s livestream from Jacob’s Pillow and it is safe to say I do not like 99.9999% of contemporary/modern pieces. Whatever the hell this first piece is, it’s horrible from the choreography to the music to the costumes. I am absolutely a classical ballet girlie. Hopefully the rest of the night gets better because this is just painful.

AND SAVING THE DAY IS SARAH LAMB IN DIAMONDS. I really don’t need to say anything else.

Giselle with Anna Rose O’Sullivan and Marcelino Sambe. My questioning of her rank still stands. Marcelino is divine as always though. Also, why on God’s green earth did they cut the coda off and end with the part where Giselle dies again?? The coda is literally the best part of the pas de deux…

Diana and Actaeon is next and I want to know why Diana’s costume isn’t red. I will not be able to enjoy the performance for that reason alone. Jk, so far both dancers are gorgeous, but the guy is outstanding!! I wish the girl was a bit more playful though.

Magri dancing Ashton. No thank you.

Magri and Ball in Manon. As usual, Matthew was amazing and while Mayara is technically fantastic, she is absolutely not graceful in the slightest and her arms and hands drive me insane.

Meaghan Grace Hinkis is absolutely adorable and I love her.

Why does Wayne MacGregor not believe in pants?

[susandsnell]

For the musical ask game: Carrie or Phantom of the Opera (whichever you’d rather do)? 😁

Send me a musical in my ask box:

Hey anon! Just for you, I'll do both! Beneath the cut it goes, as it's a little long.

Phantom of the Opera

Listened to It | wtf is that | LOVE IT | meh | um…hate it | heard of it | yes!!

Rate 1-10: Solid 10. Sorry. I have not progressed since the age of twelve and I never will.

Favorite Lyric: Angel, oh speak / What endless longings / echo in this whisper? I mean, you don't get much more gothic romance perfection from this (though the entirety of Wandering Child is perfect.)

Favorite Song: Oooh, tough one. Favourite to listen to is probably Masquerade, favourite to watch is probably either Down Once More/Final Lair for the sheer high octane melodrama of it all (and some truly phenomenal performances at its best), or Angel of Music for the Megstine goodness.

Favorite Character: Christine Daae!

Best Moment: When Meg takes her top off while congratulating Christine in the restaged tour When Christine gives her "tears of hate" speech to Erik and defies him at every turn in the Final Lair. When Erik comes diva-ing down the stairs in the Red Death muppet mask during masquerade.

Something that makes me angry: Carlotta did nothing wrong!!!! She's an aging woman in the entertainment industry whose career is being threatened by a skinny girl half her age and a fucking serial killer, of course she's mad!! She has every right to be a diva! And Piangi just supported his wife!

Gives me the chills: The entirety of Raoul I've Been There, especially the gorgeous high notes Christine hits, but I'll also hand it to the Don Juan Triumphant rehearsal scene because the self-playing piano into the terrifying Transition to the Graveyard is so endlessly iconic.

Overall opinions: One of the all-time greats. Perfect costumes, perfect plot, perfect ending. Christine and Meg are in lesbians and there's nothing you can do about it.

Carrie the Musical

Listened to It | wtf is that | LOVE IT | meh | um…hate it | heard of it | yes!!

Rate 1-10: 7, but the best moments really do stand out. Unfortunately the original is kind of unwatchable outside those moments and the redux got bogged down in ballad hell and spent wayyyyyy too much time humanizing Margaret. Kudos for the Sue's interrogation framing device and devolving into pure lesbianism between her and Carrie!

Favorite Lyric: I felt/As though/This girl revealed herself to me/And now/I know/That once you see/You can't unsee... For a cult classic that keeps pendulum swinging between camp and boredom (especially in the 2010s retooling), this lyric proves to me that Gore, Pitchford and Cohen completely and totally understood the character of Sue Snell, her trauma, and her relationship to Carrie. Honourable mention to God has seen your sinning/just beginning/pray for your salvation/from damnation/pray or/He will burn you, but only when it's Carrie's reprise in versions of the Destruction that keep Eve Was Weak.

Favorite Song: The World According To Chris is an absolute bop and campy fun, but A Night We'll Never Forget is such a fantastic full-cast counterpoint song before the storm, and musically hits the sweet spot the 76 film nailed so perfectly balancing a teen coming of age Cinderella comedy vibe and a deep, eerie sense of foreboding for characters we've been told from the beginning are all, in one sense or another, doomed. The build, the swell, the way it evokes the rays of sunlight in the last weeks of the school year with a horror movie twist...I love it I love it I love it.

Favorite Character: oh gee i wonder who it could possibly be could the favourite character of tumblr user susandsnell be Susan D. Snell herself

Best Moment: The Destruction!!!! Even though they kind of nerfed it orchestrally in the retool, I am a staunch believer in the horror musical, and I love watching various productions go wild with effects and acting as Carrie takes bloody vengeance in the unforgettable prom sequence. Honourable mention to the musical getting the closest of any adaptation to the book's ending with Sue being by Carrie's side as she dies, and, unable to quite adapt their telepathic final communication, they settle for the sapphic A Little Fall of Rain because these two are soulmates.

Something that makes me angry: At the risk of sounding like those cringe Steven Universe "all conflict in media is problematic" type of posters, I really think it does the story a disservice to overly sympathize with Margaret and give her so many songs. Don't get me wrong, I have no moral qualms with stories that humanize abusers in an effort to meaningfully explore and understand familial violence, cyclical or otherwise -- obviously, given I've been hyperfixated on IWTV this year, and Hereditary is one of my other favourite works of horror.

The problem here is that it's not executed particularly well. Margaret White is, whether played more human or more monstrously, a force of nature, and part of the sympathy we have for Carrie is that we share in her terror of this figure that looms so large that this sweet girl has to become a monster herself to overcome her, and even then can't quite. Rather than having us understand yet still fear and hate Margaret, the musical goes so far in her humanization as to almost afford her tritagonist status to Carrie and Sue, which utterly defangs her. We do not need to know her interiority that well, and in fact seeing that much of it and that she's "trying to help" Carrie from her perspective feels somewhat icky and more importantly, unnecessary. To be clear, I'm someone who thinks the Johanna (Mea Culpa) bit from Sweeney Todd is superfluous despite musical beauty and the sheer chutzpah of Sondheim trying to write the first instance of a man self-flagellating to orgasm in a broadway show. With villains, less is often more so they have more impact and menace.

Also, while I understand that it's usually a big star that plays Margaret (Betty Buckley and Marin Mazzie to name a few) and you obviously want to showcase her talent, her songs, with the exception of Eve Was Weak, are among the dullest and most skippable of the show. Like maybe in the show called Carrie we could spend more time with Carrie? Maybe more Sue? I'd even take giving Chris more character development than her being kind of sad at the end of The World According to Chris. I don't know, but all in all, where the show absolutely got Sue, they really whiffed it with Margaret.

Gives me the chills: "Doesn't anybody ever get it right? Doesn't anybody think that I hear?" Hits painfully close to home, especially with those stunning high notes; this followed by versions that keep the Eve Was Weak reprise with Carrie spitting her abuser's words back at her bullies, declaring herself the only God she trusts in, is incredibly powerful.

As well, stagings where Carrie's spirit during the epilogue pauses and gives Sue a last, lingering look on those ending lyrics I quoted above are heartrendingly beautiful.

Honorary mention to Carrie scaring Margaret slamming the windows the first time, but that's more an awesome moment than chilling!

Overall opinions: The sheer insanity of the original version is wildly entertaining, but once you get past the whole delightful mess of the legendary flop, what you have his a very uneven, meh show as far as horror musicals go, especially with the retooling taking out some of the best stuff or softening it questionably. With this being said, it absolutely has its moments, both musically and otherwise. The show adapts certain parts of the book other versions haven't that I was so delighted to see, and recognizes that the story is in fact about Carrie and Sue (I mean, Sue's final song to Carrie is a reprise of the melody of her love song with Tommy, come on!), so I can't help but love it for that.

[lunas-otome-blog]

Luna's Review: Jack Jeanne

Official Summary:

Kisa is about to give up her dream of becoming an actor when she is given the opportunity to enroll at the prestigious all boys Univeil Drama School that she has always admired and dreamed of attending. She is granted admission with two rigid conditions: be chosen as the lead in the final performance and hide her identity as a girl!

Competition at the school is fierce and the rivalry is real! Will Kisa be able to forge powerful bonds with her all-male classmates while competing against them?

Will she be cast as the lead in the final performance at the end of the year all while keeping her secret?

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Luna's Thoughts (Spoiler Free)

I don't particularly like rhythm games or stat building games — I'm more of a straightforward visual novel kinda girl. But I chose to play Jack Jeanne because I read a glowing recommendation on another game blog.

I admit, I struggled with this game at the beginning. The impetus for the protagonist joining an all-boys school was, in my opinion, too fast, poorly explained and lazily written, and I feared the whole game would feel that way.

But I was pleasantly surprised as the plot unfolded. Subtly charming, Jack Jeanne is a rare otoge that doesn't feel the need for epic events or contrived details. The straightforward plot follows the protagonist through a full school year during which she become confident in her skills as an actor, charms her fellow classmates and works toward her ultimate goal of catching up to her brother.

Once I got used to a few things, I found myself enjoying this game immensely. The character development is slow, natural and gorgeous. Every main character gets at least one satisfying arc, including the protagonist. The cast is complex and enjoyable — even the side characters are pretty well fleshed out. And I cannot believe how many side characters get full sprites, cgs and sometimes even character arcs themselves. Fitting to a game about theater, Jack Jeanne features a true ensemble cast.

This is a pretty unusual otoge, as the majority of the plot is common route, with some special scenes mixed in depending on who your affection is highest with. You don't get into a "route" until pretty close to the end of the game. When you do, though, the final performance is highly customized based on your love interest character.

The first time I heard the songs in this game, I didn't think much of them. During my second playthrough, I caught myself humming a few. After the third time, I downloaded the whole playlist onto my phone lol. Some of them are absolute BANGERS. I didn't particularly enjoy the rhythm games, but I acknowledge that's just a personal preference. The game does not penalize you for playing on super easy mode — thank god — so that's what I did most of the time. Even hard mode is pretty easy for the most part.

The game arcs are broken up into sections depending on what play/musical is being performed. Jack Jeanne does a great job of showing you rehearsal scenes without completely giving away everything about the story, so you still get to enjoy the play yourself during the performance. And every sprite gets a new, gorgeous costume for EVERY play. It made me genuinely excited to get to that portion of the game each time.

I do want to talk about the art in this game. The cgs are lovely, but tend to feel ethereal as they are painterly and many lack backgrounds, creating the illusion that the characters are floating in space. I liked them but they are a different art style than the sprites, which felt inconsistent. Add to that a rather adorable cel-shade chibi style, which is used for the stat-building scenes, and you have three completely different art styles used for this game. I'd have preferred some consistency.

I also wish Kisa had a sprite on screen, because we don't get to see what she looks like except in cgs. It's a bummer because she's so cute~

Other than that, all my other complaints have to do with the format of the game. Due to the nature of it being a stat builder, the pacing of the relationship pursuit feels off. You get these really lovely occasional heartwarming scenes with the character you're pursuing when they're triggered, but then they're not acknowledged in the next scene. It interrupts the flow of the plot. But if you're used to stat builders, this will probably not be a problem for you.

Gripes aside, Jack Jeanne is a thoughtful, delicate and delightful look into a group of students doing their best to advance their skills and follow their dreams. I highly recommend checking it out.

Here are a few spoiler-free tips of things I wish I knew before I started the game that will help you through it if you decide to play:

As this game is SUPER LONG and mostly common route, you'll be doing a lot of skipping after your first playthrough. Unfortunately, as there are lots of scenes that are gently customized based on your love interest, you can't just leave it skipping for long intervals. I recommend finding something else to do while you're skipping and just keep an eye on the game so you can breeze through the common portion.

You don't have to start at the beginning every time. For the first two performances, try to maintain equal affection and stat levels for each romanceable character before summer break, and then save. You can use this as a flexible save file and pursue your character of choice from here.

When you're ready to aim for a route, only take lessons in that character's stat until you get to level 30. It will take almost the entire rest of the game. Only see that character during days off until you max out affection. If your character isn't available during days off, go to Mona Star School and raise their stat. You need to get to level 30 to unlock a special post-game scene for each character.

"Weekend with Ion" is just a way to get extra rhythm game practice and you don't have to do it.

If you're playing the game right (IE not failing the stats or rhythm games), there aren't any "bad" choices; just choices that give you affection points for certain characters. When you get onto a specific route, choices are just flavor. Feel free to pick different things each time and see what happens.

Please find below my thoughts on the protagonist and each romanceable character in the order I pursued them. Don't read sections marked with spoilers if you want to avoid them!

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(Spoilers) Kisa Tachibana (protagonist)

Kisa Tachibana is one of the best otoge protagonists I've ever played. I have a lot to say on her, so I'll get the bad out of the way first.

I was a little disappointed with Kisa's writing at the beginning. We know she looks up to her brother Tsuki and wants to be an actor like him, but she's given up on even going to high school because she needs to support her family. But the opportunity for her to attend Univeil comes up so quickly that her struggle and longing are not really fleshed out.

We also don't get an explanation on why her brother was allowed to go to a (seemingly expensive) drama school, nor why he isn't using his success to send money back to the family. In fact, the game just casually mentions Tsuki has vanished without a trace, and nobody seems that concerned about it. Kisa is sad but doesn't seem to question where he is or what he's doing, and nobody asks her about it, even after figuring out she's related to him. And no, this is never addressed, even at the end of the game.

Anyway, onto the good.

Kisa is an amazing otoge protagonist. She goes through not just one, but many character arcs, learning from and responding to her classmates (and even other classes) and becoming not just a better actor but also a better friend and teammate. Unlike a lot of otome game protags, Kisa doesn't get a lot of down time to reconcile her thoughts. Instead, you're left to largely understand her thinking and feelings through dialogue, making her feel less like the game's protagonist and more like a regular character. I didn't like this at first but I came to appreciate it as the game went on.

Every character teaches Kisa something about herself and something about acting. She learns how to feel comfortable in the spotlight, but she also learns it's just as important to prop up other actors. And she gets to go through different arcs depending on her romance choice.

She also has to learn how to perform as a Jack (male character) and struggles with this in a way that felt natural. She even ends up overcorrecting and finds it hard to go back to playing a woman.

My absolute favorite arc of hers is when she decides she has to embrace her femininity in order to make a show a success. This, to me, is the culmination of the whole game, as Kisa decides to risk being discovered in order to help her classmates shine. Of course, if you play all the routes, you realize she actually isn't doing a great job of hiding her gender at all lol. But fortunately she's endeared herself to her classmates so much that they don't mind.

Overall, 10/10 otoge protagonist.

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(Spoilers) Kai Mutsumi

I chose to play Kai's route first, because tbh I thought his sprite was ugly and I wanted to get it out of the way lol. I did warm up to it eventually. And I regret playing his route first because Kai is an utter cutie patootie and I fell hard for him.

He tells you really early on that he only sees himself as a way to highlight the Al Jeanne (female lead). So his character arc is about him acknowledging that he also wants the spotlight, and Kisa helps him by highlighting him.

Though Kai is usually quiet, contemplative and reserved, once he and Kisa have acknowledged their feelings for one another, he starts getting jealous, both of Fumi (as a rival) and of Tsuki-nii (as Kisa's inspiration.) It's heartbreaking but really satisfying to learn that Kai feels emotions just as intensely as everyone else but didn't know where to direct them. I love him so much!

Kai also gives you one of the only laugh-out-loud moments of the game during the common route. I won't spoil it but it involves a certain weasel in the forest.

Kai's is one of the more intense routes, so I would perhaps save it for a bit later if you're wanting to get the lighter stuff out of the way first.

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(Spoilers) Suzu Orimaki

Suzu is the genki character of the game, and the senpais make fun of his dancing at the beginning, so I thought the running gag would be that he sucks. But I was pleasantly surprised. Suzu is shown to be committed, a good actor and surprisingly quick with memorizing his lines, though he does make some stupid mistakes throughout. I adored him as the Sleepless King.

Suzu's route is the one I would call the most generic as far as otoges go. A lot of his route is him struggling with his feelings for Kisa. He starts to like her before he's sure she's a girl, and once he knows for sure, he has a really hard time hiding his feelings. To his credit, he also discovers Kisa is a girl on his own, showing he's smarter than we're led to believe.

If you wanted something more nuanced, maybe Suzu's not the character for you, but I really enjoyed it. The more a character struggles with their feelings, the better, imho lol. The cutest scene is after Kisa gives him sweets for valentines day, and he just can't handle how happy is is. You can't help but love Suzu!

You do actually get a lot of character growth as far as acting goes in Suzu's route — just not with Suzu himself. It's Kamiya — one of the side characters, who fanboys over the amazing Tanakamigi, one of Kisa's rivals in a different class — who gets to experience his own arc this time. While it doesn't feel totally resolved in the end, it was nice to see the game highlight some other characters as a result of the decisions Kisa has made.

I also really loved Mare-chan's little arc, as he learns to appreciate standing on stage with his brother. Actually, all the first years are highlighted in this route, which was fun.

Unlike Kai's route, Suzu doesn't confess to Kisa until the very end of his route — but it's very sweet when he does. Overall, Suzu's route felt like a very normal otoge route, but not in a bad way. He's very kind and protective of Kisa. It's hard not to like him.

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(Spoilers) Soshiro Yonaga

Sou shows obvious signs of being into Kisa, even during the common route, so I figured I'd get a nice little bit of angst in his route. I normally play the childhood friend route closer to the end, but while I really enjoyed Sou's role and growth in the common route, he was such a little jealous bitch in Suzu's route (lol) that I decided to play him next. He pissed me off so much haha. I thought it would be over when he punches Suzu after Suzu discovers Kisa is a girl — something like a send-off to his rival, knowing he can't compete. But he proceeds to be whiny and annoying throughout all the rest of Suzu's route, and this made me want to get his route out of the way.

Sou on his own route is a lot better. He actually impressed me with how straightforward he is. He's the first character (that I played) who confirms he is properly dating Kisa on his route, and his confession was really brave, direct and passionate. It's sad to think that he loves Kisa in every route but won't tell her. He even followed Tsuki to Univeil just to see her again T_T

I was very excited to see we'd be getting some Momonashi context in this route, because he's easily the most mysterious character in the game. You never really understand his motivations, and he always hides his thoughts with a smile. It excited me that he was chosen to be Amber's Al Jeanne this time around, and he is every bit as dark and horrifying as I wanted.

This is also the first route (I played) in which Kisa does not get the lead role by default. I nearly had a heart attack and thought I failed the route because it was so different from Kai's and Suzu's routes. Rest assured, this is what's supposed to happen and it all works out ok. Mitsuki's subtle understanding of the things going on around him is also critical in this route.

But back to Sou. He actually goes through a few different arcs in his own route. While I thought it ultimately ended up ok, I would have liked to see the version of Sou infected with Momonshi's darkness for a little longer. He's only there for a little bit before Suzu's anger snaps him out of it. The back-and-forth of Sou's route felt a little disjointed, and in some places too similar to his plot during the common route.

But ultimately I was very proud of him when he pumps up the crowd during the final performance. Sou comes a long way and his route ends with the promise that there's more to come. Good for you, Sou-chan!

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(Spoilers) Mitsuki Shirota

Mitsuki is the standoffish character, so he's the only romanceable character who is outwardly rude to you at the beginning of the game. I sometimes have trouble with this sort of character, so I was a little worried about him. But I didn't need to be — ultimately, he became one of my favorites.

Mitsuki is the most observant character in the game. He notices subtle changes and tells Neji to back off when he's putting too much pressure on people. And he's the first to tell Kisa he'll accept her no matter what. Mitsuki is so important to making this game work.

He knows he's good at singing, but when he's put in a starring role, he crumbles under the pressure. Obviously Kisa helps him stand up again, but it was really gratifying to know his aggression comes from a place of fear.

While learning to enjoy the spotlight is part of his common route arc, doing a Mitsuki playthrough really adds to this, as you learn how much Kisa's secrecy is weighing on him. He knows something's up right away, and as he comes to trust and admire Kisa, he begins feeling sad that she doesn't trust him enough to unload on him. There's a particularly poignant scene where he undresses in front of her — something we know he's afraid to do for anyone else. Mitsuki's cutscenes really emphasize his words to Kisa on stage as Rukiora and Chikachina, roles that parallel their own experiences.

I will say that, like Mitsuki himself, his route is very subtle as he quietly influences those around him. You don't get a lot of Amber students in this one, as his focus is more on the second years of Rhodonite and Onyx. He quietly fires them up, and it's so sweet to see how the second years, previously in the shadow of Tsuki Tachibana, become determined to do their best because of Mitsuki.

My only gripe for this route was that we didn't get any more Mitsuki background. His mother appears in a really intense cutscene toward the beginning of the game, so you know he's got family stuff going on, but we never really get any more elaboration on that.

Anyway, I love this boyee so much and I just want to give him a hug.

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(Spoilers) Sarafumi Takashina

Honestly, I shipped Fumi with Kai more than with Kisa. They had such a nice and supportive relationship.

Fumi is calm, confident and pretty. He tells Kisa he likes her early in the game. He's a mysterious character under a lot of pressure, but you wouldn't know it unless you participate in his cutscenes. If you pay attention, you'll notice he gives nearly everyone nicknames.

Fumi's main game arc involves him growing complacent with the theater because nobody can match him. It's up to Kisa (with help from Sou) to fire him up again.

I tend to have trouble with flirty characters, but Fumi is so confident and kind that I liked him quite a bit. Because he's so aware of his own skills, I was wondering what his next arc would be in his route. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it's Kisa who gets to experience the most growth in Fumi's route as she struggles with the pressure of working alongside Quartz's star.

While perhaps not as dramatic as some of the other routes, Fumi and Kisa work together to understand each other, both on stage and off, and do their best to become suitable partners for one another. Fumi is also grooming Kisa to be the next star of Quartz, so there's a bittersweet dynamic of passing the baton here, too.

There weren't any dramatic twists and turns, but Fumi's route felt natural and gentle. It was a good conclusion for these two. He's also the only character other than Sou who confirms he's dating Kisa by the end of the route, which I appreciated.

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(Spoilers) Neji Kokuto

Neji is the least serious character in the game acting-wise. He's silly and jokes around, and never gives himself a huge role in any of his own plays. But he's ultimately the one pulling the strings, and he seems to have an extremely good grasp on every character's strengths and weaknesses. He's also the only character who doesn't get his own arc in the common route.

However, I was disappointed with some of his cutscenes during the common route. While I appreciate that he deals with the deep trauma of losing his father with humor and spontaneity, I thought it was an oversimplification for him to say he's afraid of women. The resulting scenes don't feel serious enough and it didn't feel natural that Kisa would fall for him.

If he were simply afraid of falling in love, which is what ultimately led his father (allegedly) to losing his creative flow, I could understand that a bit more. But to have him attend an all-boy's school just because he feels like all women are a risk seemed like a strange move for a game that has been really inclusive about gender so far. It felt very off-putting for Neji, who often puts himself into a female role, to fear women.

But once he realizes Kisa is a girl — once he realizes he knew it all along and was trying to block it from his mind — the tone becomes very dark and sad. My heart was pounding as I felt the weeks go by with no script for the final performance. It was thrilling simply because I didn't know what to expect. It's so different from the other routes.

But I wish Neji was able to express his emotions a bit more. In the end, even as he was contemplating throwing himself into the sea, he wasn't able to be completely serious. I would have appreciated a scene where his walls fully break down, in which he's able to fully embrace Kisa as a woman and appreciate the weight of his own feelings.

I also never felt like Crowley, the character Neji plays in the final performance, was suited to be a main character. He never opens up or shows any weakness. He's just a silly guy and didn't feel like the lead at any point.

I did like how Neji ultimately decides to move forward, even being unable to write. But of course, at the end, Neji is suddenly able to write again. I knew it was coming, but it was a rather convenient ending.

Ultimately, I felt Neji's route was the least successful. I wish he got more growth in his own route. I did love him proposing to Kisa at the end though. It felt very in keeping with his character.

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(Spoilers) Kisa Route

This is the route you get if you choose not to spend Christmas Eve with anyone, and it's the closest this game gets to a true ending.

Boy, does it deliver. It ties in all the themes from the game into a really strong ending, where every character feels valuable and Kisa gets to lead Quartz to a strong finish. We also finally get an explanation for the title of the game, as Kisa takes on a special role — neither male nor female, just the protagonist who everyone falls in love with.

A fantastic final route for a fantastic game!

[lesbicosmos]

bbc merlin liveblog - s1 ep2: valiant

i forgot abt how many dramatic slowmo shots of knights riding horses this show has

i say id love a sword but if i actually had to use one id probably be like merlin, just flailing around and tripping over my own feet (when i say probably i mean definitely, im like that without a sword)

any scenes of merlin without his neckerchief feel wrong, like merlin why are you naked put that scarf back on pls

morganas so pretty what the actual fuck

*dramatic sword fighting music begins*

morgwen being adorable in the stands while the men brutally attack each other <3

merlin: *makes a joke* arthur: *chuckles* merlin: :D

once again, the costume department for this show is insane i love every outfit (particularly morganas!! all her dresses are absolutely gorgeous)

the random sped up parts of some montage shots is hilarious to me and i cant explain why

"he's using magic" "are you sure?" - summary of the entire show

morgana holding onto and stroking gwen's cloak is so cute i love them so much

gotta love the creativity of the episodes so far, there's been magic death singing and magic death snake shield

"i wouldn't like to you" "i want you to swear to me that what you're telling me is true" WHY ARE THEY STOOD SO CLOSE TOGETHER THEYRE SO GAY

arthur talking to uther in the council room and merlin just stood a few paces behind him like🧍🏻‍♂️

this whole thing makes no sense, could they not have just...shown uther ewan's body which has a snake bite???

im loving the random cuts to morgana just looking ethereal as usual. director rly said give the lesbians what they want

merlin having not even been arthurs servant for an episode and being fired already- if only it was that easy for arthur to get rid of him 😭😭

god the set's so beautiful, i wanna go to pierrefonds so bad

"just give me a straight answer!" HA 'straight' sorry merlin ur destiny is anything but that

the compilation of merlin trying to get the spell right to bring the statue to life is FUCKING HILARIOUS that one shot where he's stood on something pointing down at the statue dramatically and yelling the incantation 😭

*morgana enters the room* *music changes to something actually ethereal and godly* as it should she's perfect

"i did it! :D" merlins so adorable

AND MORGANA SAVES THE DAY LIKE THE BADASS BITCH SHE IS I LOVE HER

"you're too proud to admit you were saved by a girl" "because i wasn't!" "you know what? i wish valiant was escorting me." "fine." "fine!" why did they think anyone would believe the almost-romance plotline theyre so incredibly siblings

[margridarnauds]

top three period dramas?

Not counting musicals, because it would be a rigged game then:

(1) I, Claudius. Yes, it's inaccurate. Yes, its portrayal of the women of the Julio-Claudian dynasty is undoubtedly sexist, not helped by the fact that Robert Graves was a massive sexist. Yes, it's based on something by Robert Graves, who, as a Celticist, I am professionally obliged to have a strong hatred for.

But it's also well done, the actors are all phenomenal, I quote things from it every day ("WHERE ARE MY EAGLES?" "Don't eat the figs, dear" "You may kiss me and go" "Uncle CLAAAAAAUDDDDDIIIUUUUSSSS" "IS THERE ANYONE IN ROME WHO HAS NOT SLEPT WITH MY DAUGGGHHHHHTAAAAHHHH"), and for something that was made with a limited budget, I think they actually do a good job of showing the intimate world of the dynasty in a way that a lot of more recent series (Rome) failed to do with bigger sets, and the scriptwriters deserve credit for dusting off Graves' incredibly dry prose and making an adaptation that's crackling with wit in just about every scene for all of its six episode run length.

(2) Pride and Prejudice (1995). Such a shame that there hasn't been one made since then, but I can't blame them, given this set such a high standard. As a child, me and my mom were up to 2 AM watching it because we had no idea how it was going to end and we kept going "just one more episode!" until we'd reached the end.

And sharing third place: The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) and Ladyhawke (1985) -- Both of them were formative for me. The Man in the Iron Mask is very much putting multiple experienced actors together and letting them ham it up alongside Leonardo DiCaprio alongside gorgeous sets and costumes with a great score by Nick Glennie-Smith. It has next to no accuracy to the OG novel, it's wildly historically inaccurate, but my god it's *fun*. Ladyhawke, meanwhile, is probably one of my favorite depictions of the Middle Ages, specifically because it doesn't go into either the extreme of the Dung Ages or the extreme of, say, the 1950s where everyone is looking absolutely pristine. I think it's a nice compromise between the two of them. The plot itself, of two lovers forced to change shape, always together, never apart, by the machinations of a wicked bishop, reads like something from a medieval romance, even though I know, logically, that it isn't, just because it really does capture the *feeling* of the era. (And I will not hear a bad word against the soundtrack.)

Bonus round: Brennus, Enemy of Rome. This film is not good, but it IS the only film adaptation of Brennus' Invasion of Rome to date and...believe me, it being good would ruin the fun of it. ("KILL THE ROMANSSSSS ARRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH" Best introduction to an antagonist ever.)

[thetypingpup]

Phantom!xiaojun that loves seeing the reader all dressed up and bedecked in jewelry so he gives you all of these nice dresses and jewels and the only thing he likes more than seeing you decked out in luxurious clothes is when he gets to take his time taking them off of you

Or, he likes when you keep the jewels on when the rest of your costume is off. Without the other layers of your costume, you're left in a loose corset and a thin robe that billows around you. The rest of you is adorned in jewels, with layers of necklaces drooped down to your chest, sparkling bracelets all along your arms, jewels glinting in the rings on your fingers, and precious gems decorating your ears and the hairpiece weaved into your hair. This time, your role was one of a royal, a character of great opulence, which he thought was all too perfect for you. There’s no one more deserving of such a role. He only took issue with the jewelry they originally had you wear, which wasn’t nearly extravagant enough for someone like you. You told them as such, which made his heart swell with pride and affection seeing you demand what you deserve, but as the production’s budget dwindled, he had to take matters into his own hands. He had to ensure that you looked like the angel of music that you are.

That’s why the gems you wear now is comprised of jewelry of his own enchanted design. Now you look like you’re drenched in diamonds, dipped in decadence, like the untouchable work of art you appear to be to the rest of the world. He can’t help but feel a rush of possessive lust as he stares at you, his eyes darkening at the sight of you on top of him. No one knows that the necklace around your neck, the tiered rings of gems, are actually layered like lines of sheet music. The monochrome gleam of the diamonds is offset by rubies, rubies that’re carefully placed to create music notes. It’s a melody of affection and all encompassing lust that’s scrawled onto the jewelry, one that only you and him know the tune for, one that only he has had the honor of hearing you sing. The song transcribed in the jewelry tells of the kind of lust and affection you feel now, while your hips meet over and over to join your bodies as one, while you gaze at each other with adoration brimming in your eyes. While you moan for each other, cry out for each other, exchange hushed words of lewd praise, and caress each other’s faces like you hold the most precious thing in existence, every feeling is captured in the melody. 

He's the only one who gets to have you like this, who gets to worship the absolute goddess that is you in such a way. What better way to pay tribute to such an awe inspiring siren, the very personification of musical excellence, than to offer himself like this to you?

Right now, you look like the queen that you are, moving up and down on his cock. He gladly offers himself to you, letting you set the pace and matching the tempo you set with his own thrusts. He holds onto your hips, eyes dipping down to the curve where your waist gives way to your hips, seeing the beads of gems that circle your waist and rest on your thighs. God, you look divine. No matter how many times he has you like this, he still can’t believe you’re truly real, that a singer as incredible as you, that someone as alluring as you, could truly exist. Of course, you’ve said the same before, expressed your disbelief that a phantom embodiment of music can live on the way that it does with him, and that said embodiment possesses such ethereal beauty. The difference is that he was once human, while you have never known the confines of mortality.

His siren lover. The perfect prima donna. The notion still takes effort to wrap his head around. Even as you’re intimately entangled, as you have been countless times, he’s still in awe of you. And now having you here, singing melody after melody of ecstasy in the form of melodic moans, only draws him in more. You’re so beautiful in every way; your face, those gorgeous eyes, those soft lips, the alluring silhouette of your body, your voice. Your voice alone is enough to have him find release night after night, and being able to indulge in everything that is you is simply heavenly.

He sits up, grabbing onto your thighs to hold you in place while he maneuvers. Knowing what he’s getting at, you wrap your arms around his neck with a smile. He crosses his legs, letting you seat yourself in the blank space, while you wrap your legs around his waist. The angle has him pressing into you deeper, has you both grasping each other tighter to keep upright. Like this, he can easily press his face against your chest, and kiss your bare skin between the ruby music notes on your necklace. You run your fingers through his long silver hair, pressing his face in deeper, moaning aloud about how good he’s making you feel. Your words spur him on, making him roll his hips up faster, making him groan and growl against your skin as you fuck each other into oblivion.

And you keep going for the rest of the night. Since neither of you are bound by the confines of mortality, the full moon grants you boundless energy. He takes you over and over again, just as you take him. Pretty soon, the jewelry is the only thing on your body, which he just deemed too beautiful to remove. Instead, he kisses all over your skin between rounds of chasing pleasure, following the jewelry as it presses and curves over your skin. Under his cool touch, your entire body is alight, heated with lust and need for him. You keep going, until the first rays of dawn come peeking from the horizon. You keep going, until your managers are calling you down for rehearsal. But until then you keep going, pleasing each other until the sun appears, until he has to retreat back into the night.

[moonpetrichors-blog]

RFA + Saeran On Halloween

Tags: Headcanons, Halloween, Halloween Costumes

Warnings: None

Characters: Zen, Yoosung, Jumin, Seven, Saeran, Jaehee

What the RFA + Saeran would wear on Halloween.

* ˚ ✦ Read below the cut

╭┈─────── ೄྀ࿐ ˊˎ-╰┈➤ ❝ [02/12/22] ❞

Zen

Remember when Zen had a phase where he kept calling himself a Greek god?

He even edited his face over the statue of one.

Not to mention, he poses as Aphrodite on the April Fool's cover (mans better watch out for her 😭).

So, it comes to no one's surprise that Zen would dress up as an ancient God.

Of course he loves to show himself off, so he'll wear a sort of silky, white cloth draped around his body, paired with gold sandals.

He'll tie back his hair with a golden hairpiece.

Leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination. His abs are on full display and he takes a bunch of photos lol

For some reason I can see Zen using body glitter?? If he was rocking up to a Halloween party, then all those lights are gonna be competing with Zen since he's the most shimmery one there.

… … … … … . . ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ,,  ⌲˘͈ᵕ˘͈

Yoosung

Chat Noir.

I'M SORRY HE LITERALLY LOOKS LIKE ADRIEN AGRESTE

I took over a year off and cut you bitches some slack 🤯

TELL A FRIEND TO TELL A FRIEND, SHES BAAAAACK 😍🤞

No but fr Yoosung would dress up in a cat costume for Halloween

Maybe not necessarily Chat Noir, but he would have the fake ears and all

His outfit would consist of one that is dark (Yoosung emo era)

Omg but can you imagine if he put on makeup for his costume

Yoosung with smudged eyeliner?? SIGN ME UP

I think it'd be so funny if Yoosung and Saeran were friends and (timelines aside), he'd point to him and be like "hey I look like you lol"

Ugh imagine bromance between them two. Like Yoosung can't do his own eyeliner for the life of him so Saeran does it for him instead 😭

… … … … … . . ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ,,  ⌲˘͈ᵕ˘͈

Jumin

See, I don't think Jumin would dress up for/celebrate Halloween at all, but for the sake of these headcanons he will because I said so

He's dressed as a vampire.

But, not just any vampire!

He's a vampire dressed as a brooding dark lord in the Victorian era, living alone with his cat in some high, high castle. (I'm a sucker for some Victorian vampires)

In this high castle of his (*cough* penthouse), he swishes his red wine domineeringly

I think Zen would tease him for his costume because if you thought Yoosung looked emo, Jumin takes the cake. And he's wearing eyeliner!

Does an evil spin on his wheely chair while petting Elizabeth whenever anyone disturbs him

He looks ✨expensive✨

… … … … … . . ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ,,  ⌲˘͈ᵕ˘͈

Seven

There were many ideas I had for Seven's costume.

An astronaut, honey butter chip packet, nun.

I think he'd make a cool zombie though

No I didn't decide this because of the zombie song (maybe)

He 100% goes trick or treating, except he just goes around scaring little kids,

While also stealing their candy in the process.

Like, he just sneaks up behind them right after they've left a house, and roars a Frankenstein-esque roar.

Forget the clowns of 2016, Seven is the one getting written about in news stations

Immediately gets a stomach ache after he eats the hundreds of candy he collected (stole, rather)

… … … … … . . ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ,,  ⌲˘͈ᵕ˘͈

Saeran

Okay, listen.

I know this might be a little bit biased,

BUT WHO CAN SAY NO TO A PHANTOM OF THE OPERA SAERAN?

Like oh my god he is literally so gorgeous in this costume

His hair is gelled up and styled to one side, and he's wearing a sleek black suit

He's also wearing the iconic white mask

His pants have chains on them because just yes

Saeran wearing suits isn't an uncommon theme, and while Suit Saeran isn't exactly one of the best versions of himself, I think it'd still be cool if he incorporated chains in his POTO costume.

Okay maybe I'm really biased

Side headcanon, Saeran is an avid musical fan.

… … … … … . . ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ,,  ⌲˘͈ᵕ˘͈

Jaehee

Like Jumin, I can't see Jaehee dressing up for Halloween

Poor girl is always working she doesn't really get time to celebrate fun holidays like these

On the off-chance she can, she would be a witch

Basic dark colours with some purple accents to her outfit

You know the type of gloves and stockings that Misa Amane wears?

Yeah. Imagine Jaehee wearing lacey and gothic-style clothes incorporated into a witch costume.

I'm really just making everyone dress alternative in some form lmao

If homegirl had a broomstick she'd probably imagine smacking it over Jumin's head. Repeatedly

[strechanadi]

Matthew Bourne Swan Lake, the 2019 DVD edition

So I finally got to watch the 2019 Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake with Will Bozier and Liam Mower and I have thoughts.

First things first - Nicole Kabera is gorgeous queen and Katrina Lyndon is having a blast as the girlfriend.

I quite like good 95 % of Bourne’s changes he made from the original 1995 production - be it in choreography, costume or dramaturgy. I like the slight shift with the girlfriend not being in it from the beginning with the general secretary, which makes her story more tragic and painful, so bring it on! I like there’s no prince as a kid at the beginning with a swan plushie. But I’m not sure I like that the connection between the secretary and the stranger was erased. True, with the 1995 production the end of act III (the ball) looked a bit too cartoon villain-y, with the stranger evil laughter while shaking hands with the secratary, but now - he just goes to the queen and embraces her and it’s just... Bland. I don’t know, I quite like the idea of the secretary plotting with everything and everyone all the time.

Now to the main characters. Liam is pretty good (saying it in the most british way possible), there’s no denying that, his dancing and technique is on top, his acting skills undeniable and he’s a perfect cast choice for this role.

But now to Will. I was truly looking forward to finally seeing him, as he was the only Swans/Strangers I missed back in 2019 when I was in London to watch the production live. And I hate to say it, but I was quite disappointed. His characterisation was OK I guess, nothing special necessarily, but nothing too bland either. But what was putting me off all the time was his technique... It was clear he is not a classically trained dancer (as Adam Cooper was back in 1995 or Matthew Ball and Max Westwell in the 2019 run) and it was painful to watch, especially with the whole company evolving so much in this aspect! Back in 1995, they were not what you would call a ballet company (and New Adventures is not claiming they are a classical ballet company, so it’s cool) and there was basically just Adam Cooper (and possibly Scott Ambler) standing out. But now, looking at the company (both men and women), they are different kind of animals now. True, Bourne is still much more about musical/jazz/modern/ballroom/whatever type of dancing, but it is undeniable his dancers now are much better in the classical ballet technique department. And watching the male corps de ballet as swans doing really well with all their arabesques, pas de chevals, developpes and pointed feet in general, and then Will who you can see is trying, but his feet are just not trained enough for this sort of things... And it’s infurriating, because the man has A JUMP! His elevation is huge, he was seriously flying over the stage.

Is the Swan about pointed feet? Of fucking course it is not. The Swan is all about raw energy, animalistic power, charisma... (to the point where Matthew Ball sometimes looked like too well classically trained ballet dancer, not truly ready for the sheer abandon)  But the technique matters as well. It may not be the most imporant thing (and gods know it is not for me, not by far!), but while its lacking is putting you off, then it is clearly a problem.

Will found his was as the Stranger, he seemed much more in his element, reigning over the stage and all the characters. And he was positively glowing in last act as the beaten up, but still fighting Swan. I love all those moment where he was jumping head first between the other swans, ferociously protecting his prince, fighting for him almost on the verge of absolute hysteria. The ending was as heartbreaking as it should be.

But still...

MB’s SL is still one of my very favourites. It’s still fucking spectacular and I love all the paralels and connections and reflections of the original SL characters and story with Bourne’s new one and all the possibilities his retelling offers. But I just couldn’t shake the treacherous ideas about different casting for this latest dvd edition.

Because I would give anything to once again see Max Westwell as the Swan/Stranger (preferably with James Lovell as his prince - since these two together broke me beyond repair). And Katrina Lyndon as the Queen (because she was heartless, stone cold and freaking amazing in this role) and Carrie Willis as the Girlfriend.