#i remember the time where I'd actually care about the oscars

[illgiveyouahint]

well we didn't get the international feature film nomination but hey we were in the shortlist which is already something :)

[fortunapre]

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: Oscar Piastri x fem!reader

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: Oscar asks you to attend an important event with him, and during this, secrets and moments are shared. HOT MOMENTS!!!

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: my first smut so tread carefully. 18+, also kind of fluff, p in v, fingers do things, swearing, 1st person

★ 𝐬𝐨��𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 ★ 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭 ★ 𝐎𝐏𝟖𝟏 ★ 4.5k words (long)

A classic childhood best friends to lovers. This story is written in first person and includes thoughts of the main character:

y/n of course.

I know that I promised him. I know what I promised him. However, I also know that keeping this promise might very well leave me crying on my bathroom floor listening to Gracie Abrams's "I Should Hate You” later tonight. 

You know when you agree to something so irrational and god damn stupid that you immediately know you’ll regret it? At the time, when he asked me, I thought: I should really start going out more anyways and, really, how bad could it be? Safe to say, if I could go back in time and strangle (maybe not strangle but slightly maim) those words out of past-Me’s mind, I'd be hopping in a telephone booth right now. 

But, if that were the case, you wouldn't be hearing about this now, would you? 

I guess some explanation should be given…

Cheesy movie-like-warping flashback to 2 months ago…

It was around noon on a blistering Thursday, at the Singapore Grand Prix. I had just shown up a little later than expected, and the sun had already given me a death wish. I was wearing a Mclaren cap and sunglasses, but I swear heat waves were emitting from my face. Dramatics aside, it was really fucking hot, and I wanted to find Oscar and get in the shade ASAP.

I probably looked stupid as I whipped my head back and forth like a crazy woman, trying to spot him. I dragged the friend I’d taken with me across the paddock, trying to locate the Mclaren Area.

Once I remembered it's the 21st century and I have a cellphone, I called Oscar.

“Yeah?” He answered after one ring. 

“Ugh where are you? I’ve been looking everywhere…”

“I'm at the Mclaren-”

“Where?! I don’t see a wink of papaya.” My friend beside me gave me a pointed look because I was getting a bit aggressive because of the heat, but who cares? I NEED SHADE.

“If you’d let me finish my sentence, dork, I’d have told you It’s to the left of the entrance. It’s kind of hidden by Ferrari.”

“Okayyyyy…” I said while walking and looking around for what he was talking about.  “walking there now. See ya.”

“See ya.”

I hung up and practically sprinted to where he said. 

Once I caught sight of Lando a few steps away, I knew I was heading the right way.

“Lando!” I yelled. He looked up from his phone, eyes squinting and searching for the voice that called his name. He was wearing a nice outfit, no doubt because it was media day. Once he saw me he smiled and gave a short wave. 

I tried to bring my friend with me, but they insisted on going to the Ferrari area instead since “Mclaren is enemy territory.”

I understood and let them go since I know how much of a die-hard Tifosi they are.  

Once I reached Lando, I gave him a short hug and stood next to him in the shade. I was going to ask how the day’s been so far, but he spoke first. 

“Wow, was it really that bad? What did you say?” Lando said, looking at me with concern. “Umm what?” I am very confused. Who? What? When where? Huh? “Lando. What are you talking about?”

“Well, you walked over looking kind of, i don’t know… mad? And now you're all red so I assumed that your guy’s conversation didn’t go down well.” He explained, still not giving me a better explanation.”

“Huh? What why? Wait. Mine and whose conversation?” I expressed my concern and confusion by waving my arms around. 

“Oscar, dumbass. Who else?”

“I just got here. What are you talking about? Actually, I was going to see Oscar right now, but I thought I’d catch up with you, since I saw you first.” 

“Oh! You haven’t seen Oscar yet?” Lando’s eyebrows raised up like a cartoon character in surprise. I shook my head. “Go over there! He should be by the interviewer's pen. And just ignore everything I said. Yeah?”

“I- ok?” Before I could say anything Lando walked away towards a group of people holding neon yellow merch. 

I shook my head in confusion and then walked towards the interview pen. I spotted Oscar in a second, wearing a black Quadlock T-shirt, black shorts, an orange and blue OP81 cap, and the all-known backpack. His hands were in his pockets and he was nodding along to whatever the person next to him was talking about. 

He caught sight of me and did a double take in my direction. Instead of immediately leaving his conversation, he kept nodding respectfully but while occasionally looking at me. The person talking to him must have realized he was distracted and let him go. Once he was free, he turned away and started walking towards me, a smile present like always. 

“You good? You look a little sweaty?” He asked while laughing a bit and wiping the space between my eyebrows and hat with the cold handkerchief he was holding. 

“No shit, Sherlock.” I answered and tried to wipe away more moisture with the collar of my shirt, to no avail. He just gave me the handkerchief instead of watching me struggle. 

Once I was done, I looked at him and saw his classic amused smirk. I shoved his shoulder playfully and walked past him into the shade. 

He directed me to a room with air conditioning. It had a couch, closet and other Oscar things- it was his driver’s room. 

I plopped down on the couch, fanning myself. 

He sat down next to me and once he did, I didn’t hesitate to drape my legs over his lap and lay back, exhausted. 

We kind of sat there for a bit until he spoke up.

“So listen there’s this…”

When he stopped talking I opened my rested eyes and lifted my head to look at him. When I saw how flushed he looked, I properly sat up, moving my legs off of him and sat next up. Instead of asking what he was going to say, I just stayed quiet, knowing he would say it when he wanted to. 

“I have a question for you. You can say no, but I figured I’d ask you since you're my closest friend and I’d be more comfortable if you were there.” He said quickly.

(Hi. Future-me here. I’d have told you what him saying “friend” did to my heart, but I haven’t explained that part yet.)

“Ok, I’m all ears!” Who says that? Is that an actual saying? Why am I nervous?

He laughed a bit at that and continued talking. “So, are you up to going to this team gala thing in November with me, ‘cause I need a plus one and I don’t think I could get an actual date at that time.”

So, 1. Actual date? What's that supposed to mean? And 2. What does he mean he couldn’t get a date when he looks like that?

(If you didn’t get that: I find Oscar very attractive.)

“Oh, um…” I started.

(Waaiiiittttttttttt)

 “Well, I guess. I mean-” I stuttered.

(Anddddddddd)

 “Sure. I’ll go with you.” I finally said. 

(There it is. The worst mistake: I agreed to go to this stupid gala with him.)

Present

After I agreed to go to the gala with him, he brightened up and the look on his face made me excited to go, at the time. Now, however, I’m standing in my room, in my dress, chewing my nails and thinking over any type of excuse I could come up with. 

Over these past 2 months since he asked me, we’ve gotten closer. 

We’ve been hanging out more, and doing things that have made me feel like maybe he reciprocates my feelings. 

Oh! By the way, I’m in love with my best friend, Oscar Piastri, but you probably already gathered that. 

This Gala is making me nervous because of how intimate it sounds to go as Oscar’s date and social gatherings haven’t been my favorite either. 

So, now I’m racking my brain on anything I could say to get out of this. 

Right as I debate pretending to fall ill, my doorbell rings. 

I take a deep breath, grab my purse and my shoes and make my way downstairs to answer the door. 

Once the door swings open, I’m hit with cold air from outside, but a shiver makes it’s way throughout my body for a completely different reason.

Oscar’s standing there, wearing a black suit that fits him way too well. He’s wearing a burnt orange tie to match my dress and is holding flowers. His face is tinted pink from the cold and his hair is messy in a “yeah I styled it, but in a rockstar-messy-sexy way.”

We both looked at each other in silence, checking each other out with no guilt. His gaze broke from me first and right as I was trying to imagine what his torso looked like under his shirt, he cleared his throat. I looked away quickly and smiled at him warmly. He had his signature smile-smirk that made me want to grab his face and kiss it off of him. 

I withheld from any of the inappropriate actions flooding through my mind, no matter how many, and instead let him in. 

He walked in and stood in the entrance across from me. 

“It’s 7, and you’re not even finished getting ready?” He asked, grabbing my heels from my hand and lifting them up. 

“Yeah, well, to be honest I’m kind of nervous.”

Instead of asking why, he just nodded his head in a 'yeah me too' way. 

He set the flowers down on a table nearby and started kneeling. 

“Oscar, come on.” I tried to lift him up by his jacket, but he just playfully swatted my hand and continued. He lifted one of my feet slowly and began putting my shoe on for me.

Safe to say I am very much enjoying this, and might just internally combust.

Once he put both shoes on, he looked up at me, still kneeling. Instead of getting up immediately, he just looked at me for a bit and me him. 

There was something burning and overly intimate about this: us looking at each other. He slowly got back up and stood in front of me at his normal, towering, height. The change in his position did not stop our gazes. 

He looked serious now. Not the usual, playful, best-friend Oscar. Something different....

“You look beautiful.” He spoke in a low, gravely way that made my insides warm.

I looked down, blushing like crazy.

He looked away, a new hard expression on his face, and opened the door for us both. 

“Thankyou for the flowers.” I mentioned it quietly, afraid of this blooming tension.

He just nodded and led me to his car.

 

When we reached the gala, my nerves still hadn’t settled. In Oscar’s case, he didn’t look relaxed anymore. The whole way here, he kept stealing glances at me. I tried to understand what he was thinking but his expression wasn’t giving anything away. 

We walked into the building together. His head was on the small of my back, and since the dress was backless, his pinky was very close to grazing the top of my underwear. My back was burning from his touch and it’s all my mind was on. As we walked through a ton of people, I never thought about anything other than Oscar’s hands, and what they would feel like anywhere lower. 

Welcome to my mind: the place where Oscar’s hands have supremacy over any valid thought process.

I imagined him gripping my hips and pulling me close. Rubbing my arms, touching my face, lightly brushing my lips with his fingers, slowly touching my thigh. 

But then his hand left my back, and my surroundings faded back into reality. 

We reached an area where people were mingling by an open bar. I'm going to need a drink to get through this. 

Before I could get a drink to filter my emotions, Lando found us. 

“Hey guys, thank god you're here.” He said. He was wearing a nice navy suit, and any girl would fawn over him. Except, next to me was Oscar, and he looked so incredibly handsome that I couldn’t take my eyes off of him to spare Lando anymore than a glance. 

“Hey man.” Oscar fist-bumped him awkwardly and I gave him a small side hug. 

“You guys are kind of late, but that’s okay because everybody figured you guys were doing-” Lando didn’t finish whatever he was going to say and instead gave a horrible wink. 

I didn’t understand what he was saying at first but then Oscar made a comment,

“Mate, come on.” Oscar looked annoyed with Lando and rolled his eyes. I blushed when I realized and scoffed at Lando’s attempt to make a joke. 

“Yeah, sorry. It’s true though.”

“Lando.” This time i scolded him. 

“Sorry! Anyways, you’re a bit late so you missed the introduction but I'll summarize. There’s going to be an open bar, a raffle, dancing and mingling. The raffle's for some car but we don’t get to participate...But he wants us to either talk to these fancy people and find sponsors or dance.”

I winced a bit, not at all excited to do any sort of talking, let alone business talking. 

Lando walked away towards a pretty blond woman, going to do God knows what and left us to decide what to do with these instructions. I thought hard about how much I do not want to talk to strangers and instead blurted out: “Let’s dance.”

Oscar looked at me quickly in confusion. “What? You hate dancing. Remember the school dance where we sat at the table the whole night because of how petrified you were of dancing in front of everyone?”

Yes, of course I remember. Right now, though, I’d take anything over sponsor-mingling.

“I'd do anything to not have to follow you around to make conversation with these people. So, let’s look busy and dance.”

Oscar agreed and took my hand.

His hands, good lord. We found a spot and situated ourselves in a normal dance position. 

His hands were on my waist, and I held mine around his neck. I did whatever I could to not make eye contact. Instead, I watched as couples around the room held each other closely and danced to the music, looking very formal. 

“You good?” Oscar asked me in a whisper. He tilted his head down to speak right next to my ear. He was very close to my face, and when I moved to look at him and answer, our noses brushed. I jerked away a bit at the touch and just nodded. I held him closer and rested my head on his chest. My heart was beating out of my chest. He was breathing slowly and deeply near my face. 

Our closeness, his voice, his touch, my heart, and the collection of everything that’s happened over these last two months were gathering to the front of my mind.

I needed to say something. 

“Oscar.” I whispered, finally making eye contact with him. 

His gaze was sharp, darting between both of my eyes.

“Yeah?” he asked softly. 

We were slowly moving to the music, and he was leading effortlessly. Even though dancing in a crowd was one of my worst nightmares, I wasn’t scared at all. All of my emotions were focused on the man holding me. My best-friend. My childhood crush. My Oscar. I needed to tell him how I felt. Tonight.

“Can we go somewhere private?” I asked nervously. His eyes got intense and his jaw moved. He looked around the room, and without asking why, he took his hands away from my waist and held my lower back, moving me through the dancers. 

He didn’t know this building and neither did I, so it took us some time to find somewhere, but eventually we found a room filled with plants. It didn’t look like an indoor garden at all. Instead, it looked like plants that originally decorated the building and were stashed in this room for the night, to make room for Mclaren decor. The green made the room weirdly beautiful and the arrangement of vases were Louvre-worthy. 

Oscar closed the door behind him and turned to me. I sat on the edge of a table that was in the middle of the room and hid my face in my shoulder, suddenly scared and regretting this very much. 

Oscar and I have always been able to tell when something was bothering the other. So, whenever one of us caught that look on the other, we never pressured them to say anything. Instead, we waited in comfortable silence for the other to say what they wanted. Asking somebody what’s wrong over and over or pressuring the anwer out of someone never works. So, we wait. Wait until we’re ready. 

That’s what Oscar was doing. He was waiting for me to speak up, but I could tell the silence was eating at him this time. So, I spoke.

“Listen, I’m just going to say it. I don’t know if this is going to change our friendship, and I really don’t want it to. If it’s weird, just ignore it and we’ll pretend this never happened, ok? I don’t want you to leave my life or stay away forever after this.” I said quickly, looking at my feet dangling from the edge of the table. 

Oscar didn’t respond at first. I looked up trying to catch an emotion but I had no idea what he was thinking.

Instead, he stepped closer to me. He got so close that his thighs were touching my knees. 

“Nothing you say could ever keep me away from you.” He said, looking at me with sincerity and an intensity that could have someone on their knees in a second. 

I just nodded and cleared my throat.

“Ok.” I nodded again, trying to get the words out. 

“Oscar, I-” My heartbeat was in my ears and suddenly any nerves fell away as I was cut off. Oscar stopped me from talking by softly grabbing my neck and bringing my face close to his. I fell silent and instead admired our shared breaths. Our noses were touching and with one lean, I could be feeling Oscar’s lips on me. I don’t know what he wants. Is he going to kiss me? A few seconds later, Oscar moved his head a bit. He grazed my lips with his, but we still weren’t kissing yet. All of my emotions were on high, I needed him. Now. 

I took the last space and smashed my lips on his. He inhaled deeply into the kiss and immediately started moving with me. His lips were soft. Softer than I’d imagined.

His hand that was on the back of my neck brought me closer to him. Our lips were only touching. We're not properly making out, but somehow, it was the sexiest, most intimate thing I’d ever felt. Oscar used his other hand to move my knees apart so he could step between them. As soon as he moved closer, a heat burst in my heart. I grabbed the front of his jacket with both hands and pulled him into me. He started moving his lips, dragging my bottom lip between his teeth in the most sensual way. 

I gasped in the air and fluttered my eyes at the feeling of finally kissing Oscar. Oscar was kissing me back and it was more than I could have ever imagined in the steamiest of dreams. 

He kissed me like it was the break of dawn, and he was fulfilling a dream he had about us. I heard the unsteady breathing between us both and every nerve of mine was on fire. 

Oscar placed a hand on my thigh, grazing his thumb across the soft skin. He made a deep noise–a growl?-and said against my lips, “Me too, dork.” He could only mean that he agrees with what I was going to confess. 

“Wait, you didn't even hear me.” I whispered, moving to rest my forehead against his. 

He chuckled and it made me shiver in a way that made me want his whole weight on me. “I’ve known you my whole life. I kind of figured, well I hoped, that’s what you were trying to say with the warning you gave about ‘not wanting to ruin our friendship,’ so I had a hunch and took it.”

I smiled and opened my eyes to look at him. “Im glad.”

“Yeah?” he whispered, then angled his head to kiss along my neck. I was going to reply but only a sultry moan escaped my lips. He sucked in a short breath at the noise and started to nip further down to my collarbone and back up to behind my ear. I ran my fingers through his hair, gently pulling and playing with the strands. He licked the warm spot on my throat and then abandoned my neck. 

“Listen, I know this is extremely inappropriate," I looked at him, praying to any romantic gods that he says what I need him to say. "but I really need you right now. I think I’ll go insane…” He kissed me again, this time not hard but inviting and slowly. My mind was going haywire from his confession. He seemed so confident, and his touches and movements only seemed to validate the truth of his wants.

I pulled back and made sure to look him in the eye when I said: “Please, yes.”

He growled again and latched our lips and hips at the same time, dragging me closer to him. He was still standing between my legs, while I sat on the table. I was grasping at his hair, then down to the nape of his neck where I pulled him again. I couldn't get enough of him. 

He slowed us down again and started to take off his jacket. Then, he got down on his knee to take off my shoes.

What kind of irony is it that he’s doing exactly what I imagined him doing when he was putting them on.

After the shoes, was his tie, then I undid the buttons of his shirt. I wasted no time feeling his toned abs with both hands. We kissed for a little longer, not being able to leave our mouths alone for long.

What’d you expect? Its years of mutual longing, of course, we’re making it last.  

Finally, all that was left between us was my bra, and our underwear.

He was incredibly hot and I needed to feel him closer. I didn’t want a barrier between us anymore. In seconds, the last pieces of clothing were gone and our bare bodies were feeling everywhere. 

He slowly pushed me back onto the table and the coldness of the wood made me shiver. Then, he lifted my legs to bend and rest on the table as well. 

I couldn’t see him completely but I felt him. 

His fingers, the ones I’d daydreamed about minutes ago, touched my inner thigh. I heard him let out some unintelligent words as he got closer to where I needed him more than the entire universe. 

“Oscar,” I gasped, telling him my needs.

Then, in a flash, I was brought back up , and facing Oscar again, sitting up. I let my legs drop off the table and Oscar held me close to him again. 

“I need to kiss you. I need you close.” I melted at his words and moaned when his hand crept back down. Our mouths unlatched but slayed near each other. 

“Good god. Is this all for me?” He asked, finally dragging his fingers through my wetness. His fingers push into me, thumb stroking. “All me?”

I nod and this makes him start to stroke and pump. Every feeling in me is being dragged in and out by his hand, making me spiral. Every touch is amplified, making me move with him, over and over. He adds another finger, and I can't hold it anymore. Just a few more and I’d have reached bliss. The bliss was going to have to wait though. 

“Osc.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to come.”

I hold in another cry at the sight of his naughty smirk. “Good.” 

Instead of coming alone, I clumsily reach for him. Once I find the heavy heat of him, I close my hand around it and feel how ready he is. I shift up so he can line up.

He moved his fingers to grp my thighs.

He groans deliciously as he finally sinks in, and that sound tugs at something lovely and warm inside me. 

The relief of him, thick and hungry, sliding deep in and out of me could cause a cosmic reaction. Stars are bursting, my skin could be glowing. By god, If the world was ending around us, I’d stay here with him. Our bodies, finally being together, creates a fire in my bloodstream. 

I whisper that I never want to stop.

He groans how there’s no way this is real. 

I want to keep him here, he never wants to come, never wants to let go. 

I'm already reaching my high, and our expressive, frantic love-making gets me there with a few more thrusts.

I go, he follows. I finish, he’s still following. 

The world feels quiet as we make noises that rival the movies.

In the silence that follows, I feel our heartbeats and hear our mixed breaths.

He kisses me, but it’s so lazy and slow. We have to keep breathing deeply between kisses. 

I shift to disconnect but he stops me, and he brings me into him, hugging me. Our sweat and skin feel each other in a warm embrace. He's still inside me.

“Holy shit.” Oscar says into my hair. “Never leave me.”

What did we just do?

How have we gone this long without doing this? 

I'm going to need it in every part of my life from now on- to live. 

“Oscar, I’m in love with you.” I say, after everything.

He smiles and lifts my face to look at him. “Well I mean, you did just say it like over and over-”

“Oscar, I'm serious.” I lightly smack his chest. I love how after everything we’re still the same friends and lovers that tease each other.

“I love you too.” he kisses me short and sweet. The kiss suddenly grows again. And leads to more. And more.

After we rushed to put on our clothes after realizing how long we were probably missing, we made our way back to the gala. We didn’t stay long, both scared someone would see us and figure out the obvious, and wanting to be alone again somewhere more private. 

We almost made it, when Lando stopped us both. I was going to make up some bullshit excuse, but instead of saying anything, Lando held a hand up, then gave the most horrendous wink and let us pass. Idiot.

[abysskeeper]

Tagged by the lovely @keldae. Thanks friend! <3

3 ships

The ones always at the top of this list, my Trick and @gothamcityneedsme's Tavon. The ship that started as a high school joke of "what if we put the rebel and the loyalist together?" and has developed into 13 years (and counting) of the most wonderful stories of two, incredibly broken people slowly befriending each other and putting each other back together against all odds. Trick is the OC for me and these two own my heart. If I ever try to say otherwise, I'm lying.

As of late, coming up right behind the ship of ships for me, is--unsurprisingly--Gale/Nox. I'm just really excited to finally be writing my first DnD PC (ok...technically second, but not really. It's complicated) consistently, and I'm finding the outcast wizard/outcast wizard pairing is lending itself really well to my usual brand of drama, angst, and pretentiousness in writing. They should make each other worse, and the only reason they don't is because they're on opposite ends of the 'Do you want to become a god?' spectrum, where Gale is a resounding yes and Nox only moves slightly away from 'would kill a god if given the opportunity' because they do, actually, kill a god. In short, I'm having a blast writing them.

Not OCs, but third place gets to be Rosegarden, or Oscar/Ruby from RWBY. While we're waiting in v10 limbo, these two live in the back of my mind, and every so often come out to demand some attention. Without getting too much into it, something about destined, Chosen One kids and rhetorical/thematic parallels makes my brain go brrr.

First Ship

Hmmm. I think I usually answer Kataang for these but if I'm really thinking about it, I remember being super invested in Leo and Piper from Charmed, when my mom let me watch it. I couldn't really tell you what it was about them because I was about 6-8...but I was in it with them. They were the only ones I really cared about knowing what happened to them when the show ended.

Currently Reading

I currently have @/aevallare's Ao3 page up, and have for weeks because I'm notoriously awful with reading and then even worse about reading fanfic. I don't have the time and energy to start up Kindred right now (soon...vacation...hopefully), but I've been poking at Alex's one-shots. tailwind is delightful for those of you stuck in Gale/Tav hell like I am, and Wisp is jam-packed with character in such a succinct manner that I'm in love.

Last Song

I'm actively listening to Campus by Bastille right now. Great work-vent song for me. Immediately made its way onto Nox's playlist too.

Last Film

Also Argylle! I went in completely blind to it and then it gave me everything I didn't know I wanted. It was a fun romp, and the fact that it was incredibly Trick/Tav coded was an added benefit.

Currently Craving

Sleep, money, time. I'd like to say that once the paper crunch at work is over with the first submission it'll get better...buuuuut I know that's not true. I just want to have enough energy to write again. Also what I'm always craving, strawberry lemonade.

I'll actively tag @dr-demi-bee and...anyone who wants to do this lol (steal from me, please. I know not who wants these and who doesn't).

[the-domestication-of-the-dog]

The 13th Annual(??) L.A.O.K. Awards

The Lazy Sack-of-Shit Award Me

For, in the second time in the history of the awards, posting this list after the completion of the following awards year. Wow, the first two-time winner of the Lazy Sack-of-Shit Award. This is so unexpected, I uh- I didn't even have a speech prepared. Uh, but I would like to say this: tardiness, is not something you can do all on your own. I'd like to thank my two-year-old daughter Rosie, for needing and deserving constant attention, a brain disorder called adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and the engineers at Reddit, Instagram, and YouTube for creating systems of crippling dopamine feedback loops, without which, I might never be tardy.

Now I know you've all been opening this site every morning and hitting refresh to see when these would finally be posted, so without further ado...

The most dangerous thing about the Layokies…is that you may grow to love them too much. [This is a reference to Avatar: The Way of Water. Remember that movie? It grossed $684 million domestically.] The people (3) have spoken, and the Layokies, even if massively delayed, must go on. [At the time of writing this, I was a month or two behind, but then instead of finishing and posting it, I just…didn’t. But here we are a year later, and I do want to post my 2023 Layokies (also massively delayed), but it seems weird to do that without first posting the 2022 Layokies, so hey let’s blaze through this thing and you can find out what I thought about some movies from over two years ago.]

I love celebrating movies, so it’s kind of a bummer to me that this year felt like Dullsville, U.S.A. But I’ve said that previously, then reread years later and thought, ‘what was I thinking, these movies were great!’ So here’s to the perspective you get when time passes. What’s that called? Retrospecticus or something.

I’ll also note that, as listed in last year’s post [a.k.a. two-years-ago’s post], I had a baby, which, as predicted, severely limited my in-theater viewing. I also moved to Pasadena, which meant those films I did see in the theater were relegated to the AMC Santa Anita. You know my thoughts about AMCs (and pretty much all megaplex chains), but even AMC Century City has the big IMAX seats. AMC Santa Anita’s IMAX is in just like, a normal theater?? I just saw The Super Mario Bros. Movie in this exact theater and it was SO. QUIET. But that’s a Layokies for another year [which is actually this year. Also this has since been remedied, and now they have one with the big seats and all, and I recently saw Dune: Part Two there, and it looked and sounded great so woohoo.]

Narrative Film Everything Everywhere All at Once TÁR Thirteen Lives Top Gun: Maverick Women Talking

Boy this is a real bummer. FOUR out of my five favorite movies were nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, and maybe that’s why I never posted this edition of the Layokies. What fun is talking about movies without also being contrarian? Typically there’ll be some movie I see in the middle of the summer that wows me, which absolutely no one else cares about, talks about, or even watches. That movie never came, because Everything Everywhere All at Once was already being talked about as one of the best movies of all time a week into its release, so much so that it felt like you were some weird guzmo if you gave it 3.5 stars on Letterboxed instead of 5, where it currently sits as the 25th highest-rated narrative film of all time [but actually currently at #103; whoops just checked again: #118]. I was more in the latter camp, and we all know the rest. Even the “irrelevant” Academy agreed. Okay then, let’s look to my second-favorite movie of the year, a drama about women who sit around debating in a barn for 90 minutes. Ah, that’s more like it, who would want to watch that? Except…another Best Picture nomination. This is really annoying! You have to scroll all the way down– [and here my commentary from early 2023 broke off. Scroll all the way down for what?! We shall never know. While I had slotted everything in for awards, all prose after this point was composed on or after February 3, 2024, so I’ll do my best to remember.]

And the Layokie goes to… Everything Everywhere All at Once

“EEAAO” as they call it, was truly a great film, and it was cool and weird to see it garner such recognition. The last time my own pick won Best Picture was 12 Years a Slave, which of course it did. The momentum behind this one, however, I still can’t understand. Looking back, it still feels like it should have been normie repellant. I can only guess that the efforts made by the Academy in the decade-long wake of #OscarsSoWhite is actually changing the demographics as intended, not just for race, but age and all other types of diversity.

Honorable Mentions Avatar: The Way of Water Bones and All The Menu Pearl The Whale

Documentary Film Bitterbrush Cow Claydream A House Made of Splinters Navalny

You might have heard of A House Made of Splinters (which is devastating btw—the only other movie to put me in literal racking sobs beside Benjamin Button [and wouldn’tcha know they’re both about child abandonment?]) and Navalny from their Oscar nominations (and Navalny’s win)[RIP], but the other three on my list weren’t even shortlisted, and they were all incredible. Bitterbrush follows two cowgirls as they work the sprawling ranges of the American West and wax poetic on a number of subjects. Its incredible vistas are paired with an amazing classical score and soundtrack. Claydream is the story of how the animator behind classic works like the California Raisins eventually had his studio hostilely taken over by Phil Knight’s son (which if you don’t know who that is and what the studio became, is very worth not spoiling). I’m an animation fan, but this was still a gripping story of a generally unknown American master which is both worth your time, and worthy of a Moneyball-style narrative adaptation. Lastly Cow…well let’s just say if you enjoyed Gunda, give this one a watch you sick bastard.

And the Layokie goes to… Bitterbrush

Naturally, the best doc of the year wasn’t even shortlisted. A trend we may see continue in 2023…? However, you can watch Bitterbrush now on Hulu, and I suggest you do.

Honorable Mentions All That Breathes Bad Axe Children of the Mist Nothing Lasts Forever The Territory

Actress Mia Goth - Pearl Cate Blanchette - TÁR Michelle Yeoh - Everything Everywhere All at Once Aubrey Plaza - Emily the Criminal Leslie Manville - Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

Okay this would have been a pretty cool category at the time, highlighting unsung performances by Mia Goth, Aubrey Plaza, and Leslie Manville. Here are three movies worth seeking out just for their leads (Okay, you probably won’t miss anything not seeing Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, but for Pearl and Emily the Criminal, I sincerely mean this. Aubrey Plaza has serious chops.) And if you’re not a horror fan, please know that Pearl is so much more, and you’ll miss absolutely nothing by not watching X first (or at all [unless you are a Kid Cudi stan like me]).

And the Layokie goes to… Cate Blanchette - TÁR

Another tossup, but the Layokie way seems to be, when in doubt, give it to Cate Blanchette. Unlike one dear reader, I’ve only seen TÁR once, but perhaps because the character is so commanding and desperate for attention, so is the performance. 

Honorable Mentions Viola Davis - The Woman King Carey Mulligan - She Said Tilda Swinton - Three Thousand Years of Longing

Actor Tom Cruise - Top Gun: Maverick Brendan Fraser - The Whale Idris Elba - Three Thousand Years of Longing Park Hae-il - Decision to Leave Ralph Fiennes - The Menu

And the Layokie goes to… Brendan Fraser - The Whale

Let me tell ya, the people were maaad that Austin Butler didn’t win best actor for Elvis last year. For whatever reason, members of the public call and email the Academy every year to provide their opinions on who and what should and shouldn’t have won (I got a call six months into 2020 to tell me how shameful it was that Parasite won Best Picture, not because it was a bad movie, but because there were so many American movies worthy of attention. I asked her if she had seen Parasite. She hadn’t.), but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such a strong  reaction to someone not winning more than Austin Butler. But the Academy got it right, in my opinion. Brendan Fraser played this role with simultaneous sadness and pathos and optimism. It was really remarkable. Typically, the strong performances I’m drawn to, and which generally receive recognition, project outwards. Brendan Fraser’s character in The Whale, perhaps appropriately, seems instead to draw everyone and everything else into himself.

Honorable Mentions Ram Charan - RRR Felix Kammerer - All Quiet on the Western Front Viggo Mortensen - Thirteen Lives (because why the hell not)

Supporting Actor  Colin Farrell - The Batman Barry Keoghan - The Banshees of Inisherin Mark Rylance - Bones and All Ke Huy Quan - Everything Everywhere All at Once Miles Teller - Top Gun: Maverick

And the Layokie goes to… Colin Farrell - The Batman

Colin Farrell is showing up a lot in this edition of the Layokies, but nothing was more impressive than his complete transformation into the Penguin. I watched this a couple times, and if I was into conspiracy theories, I still might not believe it was him. Also shoutout to one of my boys, now three-time Layokie-nominee Barry Keoghan. Where y’all been? We done been hyping Barry Keoghan over here since 2017.

Honorable Mentions Christopher Abbot - On the Count of Three Christian Bale - Thor: Love and Thunder Paul Dano - The Batman (Did you know he had to pull out of The Power of the Dog for this role? Ouch.) Paul Dano - The Fabelmans Colin Farrell - Thirteen Lives Nicholas Hoult - The Menu Aaron Taylor Johnson - Bullet Train Ben Whishaw - Women Talking

Supporting Actress Nicole Beharie - Breaking Angela Basset - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (thought this before everyone else said it) Jessie Buckley - Women Talking Claire Foy - Women Talking Hong Chau - The Menu

Another actor getting nominated for the wrong role, Hong Chau was hilarious in The Menu. I watched that once and still think of her line delivery every time I eat a “tortilla.” But it was basically the whole cast of Women Talking that stole it this year, and this could have gone to anyone one them. (Three years too early for that casting Oscar!)

And the Layokie goes to… Jessie Buckley - Women Talking

Honorable Mention Dolly De Leon - Triangle of Sadness Stephanie Hsu - Everything Everywhere All at Once Rooney Mara - Women Talking

Best Director Edward Berger - All Quiet on the Western Front Daniels - Everything Everywhere All at Once Todd Field - TÁR Ron Howard - Thirteen Lives Joseph Kosinski - Top Gun: Maverick

And the Layokie goes to… Joseph Kosinski - Top Gun: Maverick

Absolutely incredible that both this and Spiderhead were directed by the same person. If you have no idea what Spiderhead is, it’s a Netflix movie that came out the same year about a guy who goes to an island prison where they test potions on you and Chris Hemsworth is the head potion-making guy and also he’s evil, which is supposed to be a big reveal but is obvious from the beginning. Anyway it was super forgettable and got dumped to the recesses of the algorithm in about a week, while Top Gun: Maverick is indelible and single-handedly saved movies after the pandemic. The second time I watched this, I paid attention to all the little things: driving shots, dialogue shots. It hits such a sweet spot between invisible and obvious style. No big surprise, however, as Tron: Legacy and Oblivion are also supremely well-directed action movies.

Honorable Mentions Park Chan-wook - Decision to Leave Ruben Östlund - Triangle of Sadness Maria Schrader - She Said Ti West - Pearl

Original Screenplay Park Chan-wook & Chung Seo-kyung - Decision to Leave Daniels - Everything Everywhere All at Once Seth Reiss & Will Tracy - The Menu Todd Field - TÁR Ruben Östlund - Triangle of Sadness

And the Layokie goes to… Daniels - Everything Everywhere All at Once

Pretty sure these guys went to the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon school of screenwriting, as this movie has everything: action, sci-fi, romance, about four different levels of family drama, and plays on all our deepest emotions: acceptance, ambition, self-worth, existentialism.

Honorable Mentions John Patton Ford - Emily the Criminal William Nicholson & Don MacPherson - Thirteen Lives

Adapted Screenplay Samuel D. Hunter - The Whale David Kajganich - Bones and All Rebecca Lenkiewicz - She Said Sarah Polley - Women Talking Ti West & Mia Goth - Pearl

I don’t know why, but after listening to the audiobooks for She Said and Catch and Kill, I wholly expected She Said to come in and ham it up big time. But where lesser filmmakers would have attempted to erect a monument to the #metoo movement, She Said played it totally straight. It was more akin to Spotlight than any other film I could think of, and as worthy of praise. It’s too bad the subject matter was already 1,000 times bigger than the movie, because I think the film audience missed out on a real gem here. 

And the Layokie goes to… Sarah Polley - Women Talking

That said, there’s another movie about women talking I liked even better, Women Talking. I’m still stunned this was nominated for Best Picture. In what world? It’s currently on Prime, so if you haven’t seen it, add it to your list. It’s also the perfect companion to any movie that receives my wife’s most common film criticism: “It was just a bunch of men talking.” (Think: any war movie.)

Honorable Mentions Like five different guys - Top Gun: Maverick

Now onto the fun stuff:

The Something Award Prey

The Nothing Award Amsterdam

Worst ADR in the History of Movies Hustle

Okay I can’t find this clip online, but it is so egregious, I think it’s worth the effort. Go on Netflix and start watching Hustle starring Adam Sandler at the 17:00 mark. Note how echoey the office is, then give it until Ben Foster’s line “You find me that missing piece, and you’ll be right back on the bench coaching.” I’ve watched this clip probably 25 times, and I absolutely love it. For me, it’s impossible not to picture him in a little sound booth reading that line with headphones on. 

Now I’m guessing if any of you did go and watch this, you might be thinking, yeah okay, so what? And already knowing what’s coming and watching it in this manner, maybe it is a so what. But to watch as many movies as I do, and to have heard as much bad ADR as one would, and then to have Ben Foster reach out and smack you in the face with this poorly done a line of ADR…ah, it’s like a holy grail of lazy/rushed/bad filmmaking. It’s like up there with the Batman & Robin reverse shot. Let’s just say it was probably some studio executive’s fault.

Weeird Doubles Burning down rural Irish houses - The Banshees of Inisherin, The Wonder Doing donkeys dirty (oh baby a triple!) - EO, Triangle of Sadness, The Banshees of Inisherin Boring documentaries slowly zooming in on a few pixels - Three Minutes: A Lengthening, Riotsville, U.S.A. Fatties who just gotta stuff their face with candy - The Whale, Piggy

Best Song Naatu Naatu (of course) - RRR

Take it from someone who literally Naatu Naatu’d so hard that he fell over (but was Naatu Naatu-ing as a joke, but falling over wasn’t part of the joke, even though that’s exactly what happened the movie).

Also, The Whale Rap from Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers. (You can take this one from someone who as a kid did many freestyle raps with friends on the Windows sound recorder, and this is about how it usually went.)

The Michelle Williams Loves Getting Divorced Award The Fabelmans

I love Michelle Williams and I wish her and her characters all the best, but why is she always divorcing good men who love her?? Don’t make the vow then!

Previous examples include Take This Waltz and Blue Valentine (okay “good” might be a stretch on the latter, and I actually remember thinking they would get back together at the end anyway, though I will not be watching it again since that seems not to be how every other single person read that movie).

Finally Got the Thor Movie Poster Right Thor: Love and Thunder

Best Scenes After Yang - Opening credits Barbarian - Calculating the square footage The Batman - The car chase Bitterbrush - Saddling the horse Bones and All - Maren visits her mom Children of the Mist - The final kidnapping Everything Everywhere All at Once - Rocks with subtitles Navalny - The phone interview Nope - Aliens in the stables Pearl - Pearl’s dinner confession Top Gun: Maverick -  Boy you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a fantastic scene in this one, but if I had to pick one…no, literally sitting here thinking, and I can’t decide. All so damn good. Buzzing the security checkpoint; Great Balls of Fire; any time Jon Hamm yells or gives a stank face; Maverick/Iceman reunion; dogfight football; Maverick doing the solo training run; the actual climactic run; and the hug at the end. Triangle of Sadness - The food poisoning (a sequence really) RRR - Naatu Naatu (again, undeniable)

Here’s where I usually link to the A.V. Club’s annual list of best scenes. Sadly, they stopped producing it starting the 2022 awards year.

The 3rd Annual Oklahoma Connections Award Pretty sure one of the girls in Bitterbrush moves to Oklahoma at the end of it or something. Otherwise not a banner year for Oklahoma mentions, except…

The 2nd Annual Shawnee Honors Two years, two shoutsout for my hometown of Shawnee, OK:

2022 - Babylon: Brad Pitt gets told off for pretending to be Italian when he is actually from Shawnee. (And Brad Pitt actually was born in Shawnee. YouTubers doing the Lord’s work.) 2021 - Stillwater: Matt Damon did some work down in Shawnee (mispronounced Shawny instead of Shaw-NEE; shameful, Matt!) 

Good in Everything Award Colin Farrell - After Yang, The Banshees of Inisherin, The Batman, Thirteen Lives Tilda Swinton - Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, The Eternal Daughter, Three Thousand Years of Longing

Destigmatizing Fatness Award The Whale (in some ways but also mostly not) Three Thousand Years of Longing (in some ways but also mostly not) Piggy (in some ways but also really mostly not)

Worst Movies

Mad God

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

Lightyear

Luck

Deep Water

White Noise

Hocus Pocus 2

Halloween Ends

Ambulance

Scream (2022)

Best Visuals Avatar: The Way of Water The Bad Guys Bitterbrush EO Everything Everywhere All at Once Fire of Love Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Three Thousand Years of Longing 😎

Movie That Deserves Discussion The Northman

I am usually so down for folklore, medieval period pieces, and a bunch of crazy shit happening, but for me, this was a big miss. Already discussed in my Letterboxd review.

Best Title Our Father

This was a (pretty poorly made) documentary about a religious fanatic and sick-in-the-head fertility doctor who fraudulently used his own sperm to impregnate over 100 women. So, Our Father. I’ve always been a sucker for a double meaning, but damn.

Worst Title Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Remember the megahit Knives Out? Well now there’s a sequel; it’s called Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. It is the sequel to Knives Out.

Worst Line “That’s a great time hack! Thank you kindly” -One of the witches in Hocus Pocus 2, not 10 seconds after struggling to pronounce the word lotion (“loh-shun, lohh-shuun”), you know, because they’re from the past and don’t know modern terms, like lotion.

Worst Restraint for the Criminally Insane The shackle around the Riddler’s neck that was so large he could have just lifted it over his dern head

Where Were the Bones?? Bones and All

Many LOLs Everything Everywhere All at Once The Menu RRR

(not too many LOLs this year)

Absent on Purpose Aftersun Causeway Elvis Living

Still Haven’t Seen I don’t remember

One cheeseburger to go. And a gift bag. Thank you for dining at Hawthorn.

[lesbiangummybearmafia]

The Crown spoilers... you have been warned. My thoughts.

I finally go the time to watch the final 6 episode of the final season of The Crown. I wasn't exactly thrilled they broke up the season but in end I think it worked better. To deal with Princess Diana's death kinda solo, than move on with everything else. Personally I'd been dreading it since I knew they were going to tackle it. I'm old enough that I was an adult when it happened, I remember just how devastating it was when it happened in real life. I remember clearly watching the procession with Prince William and Prince Harry walking behind their mother coffin on TV, just sobbing my eyes out. So I wasn't looking forward to reliving that in any

way on The Crown. However I think the series did a remarkable job with how they handled it, as they've handled all the other sensitive subjects. With grace, caring and compassion. Like crash itself, we hear it but they never show anything. Which I really was thankful for. Because at the time they had pictures of what the car looked like after the crash all over the news papers. Which no one ever needed to see! Also perhaps the series didn't want something so horribly to hit during the Christmas season when rest of season was dropped. In the end I do think it was a the correct decision.

I still find it funny how much better looking Prince Charles is the series who played by Dominic West. Not even on now King Charles the lll best day was he ever good looking. In my opinion...

I was so sad when we lost Princess Margaret, I just sobbed. I hated seeing Lesley Manville leave the series. I loved her and Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret. They really made me like Princess Margaret quite abit.

I'm not sure how I feel about either of the actors that played Prince William and Prince Harry. I don't if it's just their portrayal of them or what but I just didn't find myself really connecting with them as the older version of them. I'm also surprised by who they choose to portray Kate Middleton. She good actress I guess (I don't know her), but the real woman is far more beautiful than the actress they chose. I know looks aren't the point here, but well yea.

Seeing Blake Ritson show up as Prince William's Eton housemaster Dr. Gailey was treat. I'm a huge fan of The Gilded Age also where he plays Oscar Van Rhijn. It was fun seeing a familiar face from another series I love.

I love episode where we get to see both Elizabeth and Margaret to out to Ritz to celebrate WWII being over. I was so much fun getting to them being normal girls for a moment, drinking, dancing, laughing, having fun. It was so wonderful. I do think in some respects the series did do a deserves to Queen Elizabeth as showing her almost one dimensional. I remember watching all kinds of stuff about her right after she passed away. One thing that kept coming up from people that actually knew her, work with, worked for and so on was what a great sense of humor the Queen had. The series show a tiny bit of that with speak at Prince Charles and Camilla wedding. But that was really the only time truthfully. I think that was really a missed opportunity to have shown another side to her.

Ok on to my favorite thing they did which was bringing both Olivia Coleman and Claire Foy back. Even though it was just for one episode I loved seeing them again, especially Olivia Coleman, she was my favorite version of Queen Elizabeth on the series. I literally squealed when I seen her. See I had no idea they were coming back so at first I thought I might be hallucinating. But nope it was her, then I started to cry. Then Claire Foy showed up as her version of Elizabeth, which was so cool. The ending was just done so perfectly with all the version of Queen Elizabeth there. When Imelda Staunton version walked through the door at the end into what could easily been clouds, it made think she walking straight to heaven.

Over all I think the whole series was done excellently well. It's definitely worth watching even if British royal family isn't that interesting to you. The series can be seen as fiction meets historically.

[bi-bard]

Life on Stage - Sam Winchester Imagine (Supernatural)

Title: Life On Stage

Pairing: Sam Winchester X Reader

Requested: by an anonymous reader

Word Count: 1,139 words

Warning(s): mentions of John Winchester

Summary: (Pre-Show) Sam wanted to be normal, so he decided to audition for a play at one of the many high schools he went to. Through that, he found someone to help him... truly help him.

Author's Note: I remember this distinctly because why did they just casually mention that Sam was a part of theatre and then just never talk about it again? I like to think it was his attempt to rebel and live a "normal life" before he could actually leave his dad.

Hey! I did a rewrite of the ending of Supernatural. It took a really long time to complete, so it would mean a lot to me if you check it out. Here’s a link! (it’s on my personal account)

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I took a deep breath before walking over to Sam, the boy who had been cast opposite me in Our Town. He seemed sweet, a little closed off, but sweet nonetheless.

"Umm, hi," I said awkwardly.

Yeah, 16, not a great age for my self-esteem so it's not easy for me to talk to someone that I perceived as cute.

"Hi," he smiled at me, making my heart beat out of my chest.

"I just... Sorry... I thought I'd properly introduce myself since we're gonna be seeing each other a lot," I explained. "Plus, I know you're new so it'd probably be nice to have a friend... or just someone to talk to, y'know?"

"Yeah, thanks," he replied. "Well, I'm Sam."

"(Y/n)," I grinned, shaking his hand. "So, I don't know if you're busy or not but there's this diner that a lot of kids hang out at. Do you wanna go? We can talk about the school or the show or... anything?"

Jesus Christ, I'm an absolute mess. He probably was scared of me.

"Sure," he nodded. "That sounds great."

"Cool," I said. It was a Friday, so that's why I was offering it. "Umm... wanna go now?"

"I was hoping," he replied.

"Right, right, duh," I chuckled. I turned around, leading him out of the auditorium and through the halls. I felt like an absolute idiot.

We walked through the front door. There was an impala waiting there, rock music blaring from its speakers. I looked over when I heard Sam sigh.

"My brother," he explained quickly. "Just... Give a second and then we can go."

He jogged over to the car, leaning into the passenger window to talk to his brother. After a minute, he took a few steps back and his brother drove off.

"Sorry, had to tell him he didn't need to drive me home," he said. I nodded, saying that it was okay. "Where's your car?"

"Oh, I don't drive to school," I shrugged. "Everything is pretty close by."

Sam nodded.

"Come on," I said before starting the walk to the diner.

We spent the afternoon in a booth together. We ate and talked. He told me about how his family moved around a lot, how his brother and dad weren't excited about his role in the play, and how his mom died when he was just a baby.

I shared my family's story with him. The same small town my whole life, my dream to pursue acting, and always feeling the need to be the top in class so I could live up to my parents' standards.

After our afternoon together, Sam offered to walk me home.

As we walked down the road, still talking about anything and everything, I slowly reached over and brushed my hand against his. When he didn't pull away, I intertwined our fingers completely.

We looked at each other before both blushing and looking away.

We got to my gate and I went to walk inside, saying a quick goodbye. I stopped a few steps from my gate. He hadn't gotten far.

"Sam," I called, walking back over.

He looked back at me, meeting me at the gate.

I leaned up and pressed my lips to his gently. He slowly kissed me back, touching my waist gently. It was like he was scared I would break. Like he was scared he was going to break me.

I pulled away after a minute and basically whispered against his lips, "Break a leg at rehearsal tomorrow."

Sam chuckled, looking away and blushing, "You too."

I walked away again, turning back to wave at him before I went inside. I looked out my living room window, chuckling at the sight of Sam silently celebrating outside my gate.

--time skip--

"I don't think they're gonna come," Sam muttered.

Over the rest of rehearsals, Sam and I had a classic high school romance. Innocent and sweet and a dream come true. I tried to encourage him, slowly getting him to open up to me and tried to tell him that his dad and brother might come to the show.

I wanted to believe that they'd care about something Sam thought was important. Dean seemed to care so much for his brother, I was sure he'd care.

"It's okay," I wrapped my arms around him. "I'll treat you to dinner after the show, okay? Somewhere nice. My parents have a reservation and are already set on meeting you anyway."

"Okay," Sam nodded. He kissed my head. "We need to get ready."

I nodded, kissing his cheek, "Break a leg."

"Break a leg," he replied.

After the show, Sam was about to go get as cleaned up as possible. Stage make-up was impossible to get off on the first night but he was gonna try.

"(Y/n)," he said, causing me to stop before I went to change. He pointed at the bouquet sitting on his table. "You didn't have to do that."

I looked at them. It wasn't a super small bouquet but they didn't look store-bought. They looked like the flowers were from someone's garden and then tied together with string. I smiled.

"Sam, those aren't the ones I bought," I said. "I bought some. My parents were gonna give them to you. Those aren't them."

"What," he asked.

I walked over, there was a slip of paper in the string, "Sam."

He grabbed the note, "Good job tonight, Sammy. Probably will get you an Oscar. - Dean."

I wrapped my arms around him. He looked so happy knowing that his brother had been there for him.

"I told you he'd show," I mumbled. He chuckled. I looked up, seeing tears in his eyes. "Sam?"

"I... I didn't think he cared," he said. "It's just... It's nice to know that there are other things on his mind than the family business."

I leaned up, kissing his cheek, "Maybe if you can find him, we can drag him to dinner with my parents."

"I'll... I'll try."

"Okay."

I finished getting changed and cleaned up. I walked out to see my parents waiting for me. I saw Sam in the corner, holding the flowers his brother had gotten. His brother was standing in front of him.

Finally, I saw both of them start walking back. I happily waved at Sam.

"So, is your brother joining us," my mom asked Sam.

"If you'll let me," Dean replied. My parents nodded.

"Thank you," Sam said to his brother.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Dean tried to shrug off the whole event, but you could the genuine smile on his face.

He was happy that Sam was happy... even if their dad didn't have the nerve to be there.

In a matter of minutes, I grew to admire Dean's protectiveness over his brother... and he seemed to admire my commitment to his brother.

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[hereforchifuyu]

chapter two

its mr. 305

one day soon ill link all the chapters. today is not that day. anyways enjoy :)

I'd see one of them on the street and then all of a sudden the rest show up and like??? Did you guys teleport or something?? I'd been evading them pretty well, and by that I mean I started sprinting in the opposite direction of wherever I thought they were (and nine times out of ten, it wasn't even them), but the one time i decide to try and take the short way to where i was staying I got caught. I think this is a higher being telling me to exercise but I don't know.

Like I said, I was just trying to get in time for where I was going (a potential job interview sighs) and I heard a shout from...somewhere telling me to stop, or wait up, or something like that, but I hadn't connected with anyone so I did the obvious thing and ran like my life depended on it.

I was lucky I wasn't carrying anything, but also unlucky because my phone was in my pocket and I couldn't exactly lose that, so i was running with my hand grasping my phone while it was in pocket, which makes for a very awkward-looking run.

In the end, whoever was chasing me caught up, and apparently it was more than one person?? Like a whole group somehow ended up chasing me even though I only heard one voice yell/shout at me.

"There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere!" It was a blond in front who said that. I couldn't really see anything that was going on and was about three seconds from just risking it all and taking my phone out to turn the flash on. Darkness and I had a bad history.

What. What? What??? Why would you tell someone that. While they were in an alley, where crimes infamously take place.

"Do you even realize what you just said?" I said with a deadpan. My head whipped around at the sound of scuttling, giving up on being careful and bringing my phone out to turn on the flash. Turns out it was just some trash moving from the wind or something. "Why the hell—y'know what, I'm not even gonna complain. Just gonna accept the fate that has been handed to me."

I turned around just to scream, accidentaly forgetting the group of people were there, which made (some of) them scream, which made me scream, so it was just us screaming in an alley for a bit.

It stopped when a really tall guy stepped forward which shut them, which shut me up, and made me remember that, oh yeah I have a flash I could use to actually see them. Smooth brain moment.

I turned my flash (that I forgot to turn of haha #girlboss) towards them which made them jump at the sudden exposure of light, making me giggle a little, before I actually saw who it was and immediately deadpanned, realising exactly who was chasing me.

How many times do I have to ask for forgiveness for the thing that I did when I was six for you to actually forgive me. Cries.

"Oh shit, it's mr. clean lol."

"Did you just say...lol out loud?" Said (mr. clean) Draken.

"lol"

Hanagaki shook his head, before calling out my name, gaining my (and everyone elses #fanbehavior) attention. "How did you get the ambulence to come so quickly? On that night, a couple weeks ago?" Ah shit, why did he have to bring it up so fast, no introductions or anything.

Time to bullshit my way out of this. "Oh I heard sounds of fighting by the parking lot, and when I ran off to try and find where I was, I found mr. clean and company looking worse for wear, so yeah." I should for sure be nominated for an Oscar my acting is superb. Better than any actor out there. "Anyways, if you'll excuse me, I have to go back home, I have some things to take care of."

I took not even two steps before someone stopped me. It was Hanagaki, which was a little disappointing. "Actually, I do mind. Do you mind if we come with you? I swear I have good intentions." My eyes widened at his words.

"Do you know how sus you sound right now? Hmm...sus...sussy...A M O N G U S..." I tried to back away, but his grip was tight, surprising for his little twig arms.

They looked like toothpicks.

"Uh...I'll back him up. Besides Takemicchy has a girlfriend, and I don't think he's gonna be cheating on her anytime soon." I turned my head to where the voice came from just to see Mitsuya, honestly I could die happy now.

"Oh yeah for sure. If pretty man says its ok, then everything is good." I said with a smile. Simp.

"...You're just gonna agree? Just like that?" Questioned Hanagaki.

"Oh yeah. Like I said, if pretty man says its ok, I trust him with my life, so." I stared blankly at the group, waiting for them to start moving so I could go back to the place I (stole) was staying at. Also somehow they didnt notice my phone even though it was one of the main sources of light in the alley like 🤨 but okay. "So are you gonna move out of the way or no? 'Cuz I need to get back to my place, and apparently you guys wanna come with for whatever reason."

They moved out of the way (simoultaniously too, hella creepy) and let me lead the way.

I started walking off to my place, hearing the creepy sounds of people following me, but i shrugged it off and plugged in my earphones so I could listen to music, which they did not, in fact, fail to notice.

Mitsuya came up to me and asked what I was listening to. I decided 'Fuck it.' and gave him an earphone. He put it in his ear, and I might've forgotten to tell him it was super loud because as soon as I pressed play he flinched. Haha. I guess im just used to the volume (and to destroying my eardrums) that it doesn't affect me anymore.

"I apologize sincerely, I didn't know that you had inferior eardrums to me." I tried walking off after that but he grabbed my arm (made me blush a little) and looked at me weird.

"What do you mean 'inferior eardrums'? How can someone have inferior eardrums?"

"Oh heres how: you listen to really loud music your whole life, and then whenever you think its quiet, you turn the music up. And soon, you can't be in anyform of quiet without music/your brain being stimulated in general or you feel like you're gonna go deaf with how quiet it is." They all stared at me blankly, likely thinking 'what the absolute fuck' right now.

"How do—nevermind. How long is it until we reach your place?"

Aw, he's so sweet. I coughed before turning to gim and saying, "Uhm like...two minutes if we run really fast. Why?"

"How do you know the running time?"

"When you run from your problems (and people) you begin to be able to know the time of things like that."

"Oh."

I nodded my head before taking off. Not to get away from them, just because I wanted to. They shouted from where they were behind me before quickly catching up. Fucking long legged people.

After two minutes of running (like I predicted) we made it to where I was staying. It was just a glorified warehouse that took me almost a week to make it look presentable.

I walked in, hip-checking the door to get it open wider.

"And this, fellow comrades, is my humble abode."

[dragonotaku-justineverything]

Abandoned Arc AU: Curious how the final confrontation goes down between Emerald and Jaune. I'd imagine it be heartbreaking if they end up breaking up for a bit or if she does indeed finally learn the truth about Cinder not caring

Jaune actual didn’t get to say anything to Emerald before they separated. Jaune fully turned on Cinder just as the fall Beacon started. The last time he saw her was when she ran out to an “injured” Mercury. 

After that, he couldn’t find her. She, along with Mercury and Cinder, had disappeared on him. He’d been expected to stay in Beacon until Cinder got the maiden.

He didn’t see Emerald until the battle at Haven. 

... ... ...

They stood on opposite sides. Emerald looked at him, anger and betrayal in her eyes. Jaune looked back, his eyes pleading instead.

Jaune stepped forward towards the opposing forces, breaking the line with his comrades. “Emerald… please think this through. Cinder, she doesn’t care about you. Or anyone for that matter! She’s only interested in things that have some kind of value or usefulness to her! Once she doesn’t see you as useful anymore, she’ll throw you aside like you never existed to her!”

Emerald scowled and deployed the blades out of her revolvers, triggering everyone else on her side to enter a battle stance. This made Jaune’s side also drop into their ready stances, all except Jaune. Emerald locked eyes with Jaune. “Those words reeeaally mean a lot coming from you. Isn’t that a bit hypocritical of you? Considering you turned your back on us first?”

Jaune swallowed, his right hand slowly lowering to his hand canon pistol at his hip. “It was the right choice.” 

Emerald’s glare at him hardened and she pointed both her guns at him. “So what? Everything, all the stuff you did for us, was the wrong choice huh? Everything you did was a mistake right? Now you’re sorry for everything, trying to atone somehow? Well what do they think huh?” She gestured one of her guns to the rest of the group. “Did you tell them everything? About what you really are?” She looked over to Jaune’s team and friends.“You know, he’s killed people. He wouldn’t hesitate either. Has he told you about that? Or about how many lives he’s taken? I think I remember that number being somewhere around 20.” 

None of them looked shocked by this. Though Yang, Oscar, Weiss, and Qrow couldn’t help casting a look Jaune’s way. 

“Not everything was a mistake.” That got Emerald to look back to Jaune. “I did care about you. In fact, I still do. I don’t want to see you get hurt because of Cinder!”

Emerald didn’t seem moved in the least by that. “Well, don’t worry. I don’t need you to look out for me, I can take care of myself just fine. Besides, it looks like you’ve got a replacement for me pretty quickly.” Her eyes shot over to Pyrrha briefly. “How’s the new squeeze, huh? Had enough time to get use to her?”

Jaune and Pyrrha were seemingly the only ones that saw where her eyes landed. Pyrrha felt equal parts offended, awkward, and shocked while Jaune looked wide eyed at Emerald. “I-It’s not like that! N-”

Before Jaune could finish his rebuttal, both Raven and Vernal seemed to have grown impatient with all the drama. Raven launched forward herself forward at Qrow and Vernal threw herself right between Weiss and Yang, taking them both on. Cinder, Hazel, and Mercury followed suit. 

And Emerald aimed for Jaune. Or more specifically, his neck.

Jaune leaped back, avoiding the green blade just in time. He tried one more time to get through to Emerald. “Look at what Cinder has done! What Salem has done! Countless people dead, others broken beyond repair, Remnant cracking apart! Do you really think you’re on the good side?! Are your really okay with just watching as the world burns?!” 

Emerald fired three shots at him, two hitting their mark in his stomach and getting Jaune’s aura to flare up to protect him. “Why should any of that matter to me? Where was the rest of the world when I needed help huh? When I was going hungry almost everyday, having nothing to call my own, who helped me!? Cinder did! She saved me! She gave my life some kind of meaning! She did the exact same thing to you! You were even worse off than I was! How could you just betray the her like that?! After all she did for you!?”

Jaune hung his head, but still spoke up. “Because, I finally realized she didn’t really save me. For the longest time, I thought the same thing that you do now. That Cinder saved my life and gave me purpose, and for that I had to owe her everything. But... I was wrong. She never cared about me! All she did, was use me... use me to get what she wanted, no matter who got hurt because of it. And at Beacon I made the decision, the decision that I wasn’t just going sit back and just watch what was happening anymore! That I was done doing what other people told me to! I am my own person! I get to choose what my life means!”

That only seemed to aggravate Emerald even more. “You really think you can act like you aren’t just as guilty as the rest of us?! That you aren’t just as bad and Mercury, Cinder, or me!?”

Jaune looked back up at her, determination in his eyes. “No... I don’t think that, not at all. I know I’ve made too many bad choices in the past. I’ve done too many horrible things. I don’t think I’ll ever make up for them. But...” Seeing no other course of action now, Jaune drew out his pistol and the blade at the bottom shot out. “That doesn’t mean I don’t want to start trying!”

This time, it was Jaune who rushed Emerald. He couldn’t hold back against her anymore now.

Not even if it hurt him.

[emma-what-son]

(Echee post) Emma Watson says J.K Rowling's quote about Hermione ending up with Harry was taken out of context and it was a joke

Posted March 6, 2014

From mtv.com/news may 2014, "Watson also seemed somewhat pessimistic about the longevity of the popular pairing, sharing at the time, "I think there are fans out there who know that too and who wonder whether Ron would have really been able to make her happy." But Watson's tune may have changed just a bit, as the starlet took to the red carpet at tonight's Oscars (her first time attending the big show, if you can believe it) and told MTV's own Josh Horowitz, "It was a real shame, because the quote that she gave was completely taken out of context." Emma change her tune? Noooooo way she would never do that!! =)~ MTV left out the part where she said it was just a joke From ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com March 2014, "It was a real shame, because the quote that she gave was completely taken out of context, and if you read the whole interview it was completely not how it was framed but it was actually kind of a joke." You know the funny part is? This is the Wonderland Magazine that Emma herself guest edited and Emma herself conducted the interview with J.K. Rowling. How could it be possibly taken out of context or even be considered a joke? There is nothing in the writing that suggests it's a joke. Maybe if the interview was conducted by video you could see their facial expressions that would tip you off that they were joking. This is typical Emma changing her tune but only because the HP fandom lost their shit over fictional characters. JK and Emma are back tracking now. I don't really care because to me it's a book made into a movie but this is Emma deceiving others as usual.

Actually I read the entire interview and what is being taken out of context and where is the punch line? Here is the part of the interview with JK about Hermione ending up with harry instead of Ron. From ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com Feb 2014 Emma: I thought we should discuss Hermione... I'm sure you've heard this a million times but now that you have written the books, do you have a new perspective on how you relate to Hermione and the relationship you have with her or had with her? JK: I know that Hermione is incredibly recognizable to a lot of readers and yet you don't see a lot of Hermione's in film or on TV except to be laughed at. I mean that the intense, clever, in some ways not terribly self-aware, girl is rarely the heroine and I really wanted her to be the heroine. She is part of me, although she is not wholly me. I think that is how I might have appeared to people when I was younger, but that is not really how I was inside. What I will say is that I wrote the Hermione/Ron relationship as a form of wish fulfillment. That's how it was conceived, really. For reasons that have very little to do with literature and far more to do with me clinging to the plot as I first imagined it, Hermione with Ron. Emma: Ah. JK: I know, I'm sorry, I can hear the rage and fury it might cause some fans, but if I'm absolutely honest, distance has given me perspective on that. It was a choice I made for very personal reasons, not for reasons of credibility. Am I breaking people's hearts by saying this? I hope not. Emma: I don't know. I think there are fans out there who know that too and who wonder whether Ron would have really been able to make her happy. JK: Yes exactly. Emma: And vice versa. JK: It was a young relationship. I think the attraction itself is plausible but the combative side of it... I'm not sure you could have got over that in an adult relationship, there was too much fundamental incompatibility. I can't believe we are saying all of this – this is Potter heresy! Emma: I know, it is heresy. JK: In some ways Hermione and Harry are a better fit and I'll tell you something very strange. When I wrote Hallows, I felt this quite strongly when I had Hermione and Harry together in the tent! I hadn't told [Steve] Kloves that and when he wrote the script he felt exactly the same thing at exactly the same point. Emma: That is just so interesting because when I was doing the scene I said to David [Heyman]: "This isn't in the book, she didn't write this". I'm not sure I am comfortable insinuating something however subtle it is! JK: Yes, but David and Steve – they felt what I felt when writing it. Emma: That is so strange. JK: And actually I liked that scene in the film, because it was articulating something I hadn't said but I had felt. I really liked it and I thought that it was right. I think you do feel the ghost of what could have been in that scene. Emma: It's a really haunting scene. It's funny because it really divided people. Some people loved that scene and some people really didn't. JK: Yes, some people utterly hated it. But that is true of so many really good scenes in books and films; they evoke that strong positive/negative feeling. I was fine with it, I liked it. Emma: I remember really loving shooting those scenes that don't have any dialogue, where you are just kind of trying to express a moment in time and a feeling without saying anything. It was just Dan and I spontaneously sort of trying to convey an idea and it was really fun. JK: And you got it perfectly, you got perfectly the sort of mixture of awkwardness and genuine emotion, because it teeters on the edge of "what are we doing? Oh come on let's do it anyway", which I thought was just right for that time. Emma: I think it was just the sense that in the moment they needed to be together and be kids and raise each other's morale. JK: That is just it, you are so right. All this says something very powerful about the character of Hermione as well. Hermione was the one that

stuck with Harry all the way through that last installment, that very last part of the adventure. It wasn't Ron, which also says something very powerful about Ron. He was injured in a way, in his self-esteem, from the start of the series. He always knew he came second to fourth best, and then had to make friends with the hero of it all and that's a hell of a position to be in, eternally overshadowed. So Ron had to act out in that way at some point. But Hermione's always there for Harry. I remember you sent me a note after you read Hallows and before you started shooting, and said something about that, because it was Hermione's journey as much as Harry's at the end. Emma: I completely agree and the fact that they were true equals and the fact that she really said goodbye to her family makes it her sacrifice too. JK: Yes, her sacrifice was massive, completely. A very calculated act of bravery. That is not an 'in the moment' act of bravery where emotion carries you through, that is a deliberate choice. Emma: Exactly. I love Hermione. JK: I love her too. Oh, maybe she and Ron will be alright with a bit of counseling, you know. I wonder what happens at wizard marriage counseling? They'll probably be fine. He needs to work on his self-esteem issues and she needs to work on being a little less critical. Emma: I think it makes sense to me that Ron would make friends with the most famous wizard in the school because I think life presents to you over and over again your biggest and most painful fear – until you conquer it. It just keeps coming up. JK: That is so true, it has happened in my own life. The issue keeps coming up because you are drawn to it and you are putting yourself in front of it all the time. At a certain point you have to choose what to do about it and sometimes conquering it is choosing to say: I don't want that anymore, I'm going to stop walking up to you because there is nothing there for me. But yes, you're so right, that's very insightful! Ron's used to playing second fiddle. I think that's a comfortable role for him, but at a certain point he has to be his own man, doesn't he? Emma: Yes and until he does it is unresolved. It is unfinished business. So maybe life presented this to him enough times until he had to make a choice and become the man that Hermione needs. JK: Just like her creator, she has a real weakness for a funny man. These uptight girls, they do like them funny. Emma: They do like them funny, they need them funny. JK: It's such a relief from being so intense yourself – you need someone who takes life, or appears to take life, a little more light heartedly.

^This post made Ron cry, lol I really don't care who ended up with who because it's a movie. I lost no sleep over it or thought about it much until I read the quote of Emma changing her tune as MTV pointed out. I will say this. In the Half Blood Prince when Ron was in the Hospital after mistakenly consuming a love potion meant for Harry there was an exchange between Hermione and Lavender Brown where Hermione said, "I've always found him interesting" meaning Ron. There was also that scene in DH2 where Hermione said she couldn't destroy the horocrux and it took Ron to coach her up to do it. There was that scene after that where they were looking for Harry using the marauders map and Ron remembered what Hermione told him about the room of requirement not being on the map and she was surprised he remembered. Then there was the Order of the Phoenix when Ron tricked Malfoy and the rest of them (with a spell of which I forget) and they got away while Hermione and Harry lead Umbridge into the Forrest. When Hermione came back she was impressed by him. I think Ron and Hermione would be just fine if they were real. They actually compliment each other by being total opposites. I'm sure true Potter fans have better examples for Ron and Hermione. Btw Emma was about Ron and Hermione for years and years. I'd post the quotes but I think true Potter fans know this to be true so there would be no argument there. It's something me and Emma fans probably agree on. I think hell just froze over. As for what Emma said about Ron making Hermione happy and stuff. In my opinion she's purely speaking from her own taste in men since she goes for the Viktor Krum's (Matt Janney/Tom Ducker) and Cormac McLaggen's (Will Adamowicz/Jay Barrymore). Emma is more of  mix of Sam (Perks) and Nicki (TBR) than she was ever Hermione. Emma would never date a Ron Weasley in real life. It's beneath her and there would be a reality gap between them since Emma lives in her own head and is out of touch with normal people. So really that statement is a full on Emmione moment where she's doing her thinking for a fictional character that is totally different from "the real Emma Watson". I've said this numerous times. If Hermione were real she would not think too kindly of Emma. Shy and introverted post is coming one of these days. I keep on saying that but it is. I put this post together in 15 minutes. I've been working on the other one for two weeks on and off by procrastinating with it mostly. It's not that complicated I'm just being lazy getting all the photos and quotes together I need. And while were on this shipping business

She supposedly interviewed JGL in Wonderland Magazine but it was not formatted like her other Interviews where she talked just as much as the person she was interviewing so this leads to believe she actually didn’t interview JGL. It was a straight Q&A without it reading like a conversation between two people in the same room like the others. And JGL has done Wonderland a few times in the past so I don’t think this was Emma’s request. Then they presented together at the Oscars. Coincidence or more Hollywood smoke and mirrors? Fans are shipping (weirdo movement) these two and it was all for show. Ok I’m going to join this weirdo movement of shipping! JGL and Dan forever!!

[littlemisssquiggles]

Hey squiggles. Soooo here's something I never thought I'd ask - think Ruby will take Oscar's hand or the other way around if/when they become a couple.

Hiya Jade! Uhm, I’m actually banking on quite abit of hand holding between the two Rosebuds prior to any potential romancethat could spark between them.

One thing I’m anticipating to see from V7 is thepossibility of seeing Ruby and Oscar grow closer than they’d even been inprevious seasons. For me, V5 and V6 did an adequate job of establishing Rubyand Oscar’s shared protectiveness of each other. 

I love how Ruby is the one who mostly looks out for Oscar especially on the battlefield. What makesit even more special is that she’s the only member of the JNR_QROWMBY whoactually ensures that Oscar doesn’t die in combat and this something that Inoticed she’s been doing since V5.

During the Battle of Haven, Ruby askedfor someone to help out Oscar when she noticed him struggling between fightingHazel and Lionheart. I know that it was Ozpin in control at that time but whatI found sweet from Ruby is that that she addressed him as ‘Oscar’, notOzpin.

If I remember correctly, she said “Oscar needs help” to which Ren volunteered to assist. Despite Ozpin clearly beingthe one in control (and I’d like to think that Ruby is wise enough to spot thedifference between the two souls especially when it comes to their combatexperience), Ruby called him Oscar. 

Ruby looking out for Oscar’s well-being hasbeen a practice of hers since he and Ozpin finally met up with RNJR and Qrow inMistral V5 and I’m pleased that the CRWBY Writers have kept that up in thefollowing seasons even in V7 as we saw from the first episode teaser clip atRTX (after it was leaked).

What’s also amazing about the Rosebudfriendship is how much that same protective and supportive nature that Ruby hasshown thus far for Oscar is also reciprocated in how he looks out for Ruby.Oscar may not be as combat skilled as Ruby as yet but he has shown her supportin other ways.

So yeah, interested to see where theCRWBY Writers may take this friendship for V7. If there is one signaturehandholding moment that I’m hoping to see for the future of Rosegarden, it’sthe one that harkens back to the Fairy-tale ship between Ozma andSalem.

I don’t know about other Rosegardenersbut if romance is indeed in the cards for these twosmaller, more honest souls then the way I wantthe CRWBY Writers to highlight Ruby and Oscar falling in love with each other(or at least sparking puppy dog crushes on each other) is in a similar mannerto how Ozma and Salem first met and fell in love.

Youremember the moment at the start of the Lost Fable episode where Ozma firstrescues Salem? Right after, we saw the two worktogether to combat the remaining enemies within the Lonely Tower before finallymaking their escape together hand in hand.

Then afterwards, we get an intimateexchange between the two as they smiled softly at one another. During thisscene, the audience hears Jinn as the narrator say:

“…Theyescaped the wretched fortress and yet, something bound them together. Ozma hadbeen ready to give his life for justice countless times but now saw a womanworth saving it for.And Salem,to her surprise, found her freedom not in the outside world she had yearned forbut in the eyes of the man who had saved her…”

 This was then followed up by myfavourite line to quote from the Fairy-tale lovers:

“So, wheredo we go now?”

“Whereveryou like.”

Words cannot fathom how much I would loveto see something like this mirrored in Ruby and Oscar. If the Writers do planon pairing these two up and having them be the happilyever after equivalent to the Fairy-tale ship thatended tragically then this would be the perfect way for them to do it.

I want them to show Ruby and Oscarworking together to defeat a common foe (possibly Cinder since we know she’llbe coming after Ruby with Neo and we can ascertain that there is bound to besome kind of rematch between Cinder and Oscar since she was the one who killedOzpin). Then during the aftermath, the two share a moment where Oscar looksacross and smiles softly at Ruby who returns the smile, blushing slightlydespite herself.

Ruby then casually asks Oscar “So…what should we do now?” to which Oscar replies, “Whatever we like.”

He then does something we’ve never seenhim do before. He takes Ruby’s hand in his and the smile on the Ruby’s facewidens as she intertwines fingers with Oscar’s. Or perhaps it’ll be a bit whereit’s Oscar’s turn to reach his hand out to Ruby which she gladly takes.

THAT is a potential Rosegarden moment I want to see. That is apotential Rosegarden moment I’m waiting to see done. If I ever needed a clearsign from the CRWBY Writers that a possible Rosegarden endgame romance was inthe cards, this was the sign I’d be looking out for.

If Rosegarden is to be canon, I’dexpect the Writers to signify it by referring to the Fairy-tale pairconsidering how much Ruby and Oscar share in common with Salem and Ozma.  

I’ve made this observation before andI’ll repeat it again here: Ruby andOscar mirror Salem and Ozma. Inspite of Oscar being the one who shares Ozma’s soul, surprisingly enough Rubyis who reminds me the most of who Ozma originally was—the just and noblechampion ready to give her life to do whatever it takes to protect humanity.Seeing Ozma and knowing that Ozpin is the current version of him in a sensejust puts a lot of context into why I believe Oz put so much fate in Ruby Rose.She must’ve reminded him so much of his firstself. His originalself from way back in First Remnant whenthis never-ending story all began.

As for Oscar—in an odd way, hereminds me a bit of original Salem in the sense of how in the beginning helonged for a life beyond the confinements of his original sheltered life. In asense, Salem and Oscar both craved that sense of freedom but the way in whichthey went about achieving it was different.

Not sure if I’m making much sense herebut the connection between Rosegarden and the Fairy-tale pair is very strong. So much so that this is why I’m hoping thatthe CRWBY Writers further emphasis this similarity by having Ruby and Oscar fall in love in a similarfashion to Salem and Ozma.

I like the idea of Ruby initiallystarting off seeing Oscar as just another cherished ally she cares about anddesired to protect with all of her being, only to soon realize that he meant more toher than what she realized. Some Ruby fans want her to end up with no one inthe end. However this squigglemeister, being the hopeless romantic that Iam, believes it’d be sweet if Ruby experienced the beauty of falling in lovewith someone. Give her that romanticlife—the fairy tale that’s full of charm.As a matter of fact, give her the happy ending where she gets to live happilyever after with the love of her life.

I understand that Ruby is the hero ofher story (along with her fellow team mates) but I hope she is not transformedinto the typical ‘strongindependent woman who don’t need no man’archetype that has saturated the media these days to the point of being shoveddown the audience’s throat at this point. There is no shame in having yourfemale heroine find romance or even want to pursue it.

In case of Ruby, fans are used to herbeing the great huntress that she is. I know Ruby is the hero. I’m just sayingonce it a while it would be nice to see her be just a girl. Romance issomething I have yet to see the show tackle for Ruby and I’m honestly verycurious to see how Ruby would react in the face of having romantic feelings foranother person.

As a matter of fact, I like the idea ofRuby falling in love like a lovebird. She strikes me as the type to not justfall in love with anyone. She might really, really like someone but I think romantic love—the artof actually being in love with a person—that wouldbe a first for Ruby and she might be so naïve to the feeling that she mightjust be one of those folks who don’t realize that they’re in love despite the signsbeing so clear to others. Ruby strikes me as the type to not just give herheart to anyone and I’d like to think this is something she shares in commonwith Oscar. Especially Oscar.

As I said before, my theory is thatOscar isn’t the type to open himself up to anyone. I’d like to believe thattrust is very important to the small, freckled farm boy and the moment he’slearned to honestly trust you unconditionally, you’ve earned the key to hisheart.

This ties into my thought of Ruby taming Oscar’s heart by making him see that he can trust and believe in her just asmuch as she trusts and believes in him. That and the obvious nod to the LittlePrince.

On the flipside with Ruby, my ongoingtheory is that Oscar ismeant to be a fuel to Ruby’s spark. He’smeant to be the keeper of her flame, the one who can ignite her spark should itever go out. Hence why I love the Black Rose Ruby theory me and @miki-13concocted. That musing of Ruby falling victim to Salem and becoming corruptedunder her influence with Oscar being the one to help lead her back to the lightis reaffirmed by what Is said before.

I really like the idea of Ruby startingoff as someone who fought for everyone and in the midst of that, finds love andcompanionship in the young boy who literally showed up at her doorstep. Acharming little barn prince who not only shares in her devotion to fighting toprotect humanity but also shares in a power that binds them together.

I like this just as much as I like theidea of Oscar finding the same level of amity and conviction not just withinhimself (like the Gods had predicted) but in the lovely silver eyes of theunique rose whose indomitable will inspires him to keep moving forward towardsa brighter tomorrow.

 Honestly the more I think aboutRosegarden and all the amazing parallels that these two have with the other,the more I cannot see these two being paired up with anyone else but eachother. No disrespect to all the other Ruby and Oscar ships out there. Nottrying to knock you guys down or anything like that. It’s just that from myperspective, Rosegarden is like a second Renora, at least in my opinion.

Seriously the more I analyse Rosegardenand compare it against all the info gathered from the recent seasons, the moreI personally can’t picture them ending up with anyone else romantically since Igenuinely feel like these two are being written to betogether in some shape or form—even if it’s areally great friendship.

There is just too much support from thenarrative to not think this a possibility between these two kids:

1) Ruby and Oscar both share the mantle of being the youngest membersof the hero team. Oscar is two years younger than Ruby, placing him around thesame age she was when she first started her huntsmen training.

2) Ruby and Oscar, despite being the youngest members, both share theburdens of the badge ofleadership that’s been placed on them. Ruby hasbeen the leader of two huntsmen teams (RWBY and RNJR) and the spark ofinspiration amongst the heroes, often being the one that everyone turns to forhope. Oscar is the current incarnation of Ozma and the one expected to take Ozpin’splace once he merges with the young boy. Ozpin has been another voice of wisdomand guidance for the team and I wouldn’t be surprised if Oscar will have thatexpectancy placed on him as Oz’s successor.

3) Ruby and Oscar both share the power of the God of Light coursingthrough them. Oscar, as a Wizard of Light, not only possesses the ability toperform  magic—the proverbial gift ofthe Gods granted to early man—but Ozma’s reincarnation cycle has beenmaintained by the God of Light’s power for many centuries. Ruby, on the otherhand, is a Silver Eyed Huntress. Despite the origins of the Silver Eyes stillremaining a mystery, according to the events of V6, the Silver Eyes seems tostem from the God of Light as well since its power and overall effect on theGrimm is similar to his.

4) Ruby’s signature colour is red while Oscar’s is green which heshares with Ozpin and Ozma. Red and Green are not only complementary coloursbut they are also colours associated with a redrose—red being the petals and greenrepresenting the stem of the rose.

5) Speaking of rose, the rose is symbolic to both Ruby and Oscar.It’s symbolic to Ruby since it’s in her name and has been her emblem since thestart of the series. But surprisingly enough, the Rose is also significant toOscar since many RosegardeningPineheads believe that Oscar is takinginspiration from ‘TheLittle Prince’ story and in the plot of the LittlePrince, the Prince’s true love and companion was a red rose.

6) Ruby’s eyes are silver while Oscar’s name alludes to the colour ‘oscar gold’.Oscar’s eyes even glow golden yellow whenever he and Ozpin switch control ofhis body. Similar to how red and green complement each other in terms ofcolours, gold and silver are a combination of metals you commonly hear together.

7) Apart from the Little Prince, it is also believed that PrincessOzma from the Wizard of Oz is another character of influence for Oscar. He isalso inspired a bit by Dorothy Gale since, similar to Dorothy, Oscar lived asheltered life with his aunt (and possibly uncle) on their family farm. It has also been pointed out before by RWBY theorists, that Ruby also takesinspiration from Dorothy Gale apart from her obvious Little Red Riding muse. Inthe Oz series, Princess Ozma shared a close relationship with Dorothy Gale asshe was her closest confidante. It was stated that when Ozma first met Dorothy,Oz’s greatest heroine, she immediately liked her and the two became instantbest friends. Huh. Ozma immediately liked Dorothy when they first met and the two becamequick best friends despite only knowing each other shortly? Hmm…why does thatsound familiar? 

 It is also stated in the canonical BaumOz books, that Dorothy and Ozma are each other’s closest relationship leadingRosegardening Pineheads to believe that this will be mirrored in Ruby andOscar’s bond possibly.

8) Ruby’s aura is red while Oscar’saura is green. Interestingly enough, this is paralleled by Ozma and Salem.Similar to how Ruby and Oscar share the red and green complementary colours, sodo the Fairy-tale pair and as we all know, Salem and Ozma was lovers.

And well, the rest I talked aboutbefore but you see why I like Rosegarden right? It’s not just that these twoseem cute together and that their interactions with one another thus far hasbeen nothing but wholesome, innocent and sweet (no matter how much the antis try to spin it otherwise). Thispairing is also really really compelling from a narrative standpoint.

Whether they actually do start aromance or remain strictly platonic but close, as I say always, it’s up to the CRWBY Writers. For now,for now I’ll just simply include by reiterating that if Ruby and Oscar aregoing to hold hands at some point, I hope a major one parallels Fairy-tale.Buuuuut that’s just me. Hope I answered your question fam.

~LittleMissSquiggles(2019)

[billiejean485]

Karmiro Kiss

https://www.deviantart.com/billiejean485/art/Karmiro-Kiss-800793669

(Text from DA:)

First of all, I'd like to state something: I don't usually upload art such as this often or at all, and I rarely even show it to anyone. Reason? Been bullied a hell of a lot for it in younger years, so I learned to keep things like these to myself. However, I am pretty sure the Karmiro fans would appreciate it, and I am having a really hard time finding artwork devoted to this ship myself (kudos to Iamaddictedtocoffee and KenKic4Ever - you guys are IMO the best I could find), and I honestly wanted to contribute.

Second thing I wanted to mention is that - although the show itself made me a huge Karmiro fan, this particular piece/sketch came as an inspiration from reading Arctimon's fics. My God - for the past 6 years I've been having a really hard time finding quality fanfics (I got older, and my standards became very high), and their in particular are among those rare that make me cling to it like an idiot, rereading it until I know it by heart (still in the process of achieving that btw XD). I haven't left a review yet, but, I can say here that that level of quality English, original ideas and great imagination is not something that you just stumble upon in the fan fiction world easily. I'm blown away. Still am. Still haven't read everything, so I won't drop that mentioned review yet. But, Arctimon, if you're reading this - you have my huge support, and I'm a really big fan.

Now on to the rant on the art aspect of this sketch.

I don't have much experience in drawing a kiss, and still learning to do that. What killed me even more here is just the position (that I probably didn't even figure out well) of the two - if you have that steamy kiss where both sides try to pull each other into it, and a couple with height differences between a girl and a boy such as Hiro and Karmi, everything gets complicated. The arm position is probably off (because yours truly was lazy enough not to reference anything). I hope at least I got their faces right - I haven't drawn either of the two enough for practice. Oh, and Karmi's hair was ridiculously difficult for me; it should be simple, but nope.

Ah, yes, and the Baymax sketch in the bg - the body probably should have been a bit bigger, but 'anatomy' wise I think it's okay. I just placed him in the wrong spot. And I have a feeling that it made perspective make no sense (he's speechless, btw XD).

Okay, and two last things.

I love the fact that Hiro is the shorter one in this relationship and is probably standing on his toes somewhat here, while Karmi has to bend down and/or pull him up. It's so relatable and heart-warming. :D I remember how all that went in those years of life (14~16). Wish we'll manage to see him grow, but who knows. Also, depends what Disney plans for the sequel of the movie, if they're even planning it (it got them an Oscar, so chances are high).

But one thing that saddens me in that is that - for most characters that appear in TV shows that are based on the movie there is like a rule that they don't appear in the movie's sequel. Which brings me to the second thing.

Even though I ship them with all my heart, I see little possibilities for these two to become something more than friends (there is more chance for that happening with Hiro and Megan, although the whole Karmutie stuff has led us on to believe otherwise up until she showed up). It seems as though Hiro and Karmi's relationship was made only to reach some "good friends" climax and that that's the whole point of it. Even Karmi's crush on hero-Hiro looks more like something that came as a product of her loneliness rather than actual need for a romantic interest in her life (I think she'd be a lot more invested in her relationship with 'Captain Cutie' if this wasn't the case). And when you take into account that this is a show aimed at kids... it all makes sense. Kids don't like romantic stuff, nor do they need it. But what do they need? Learning more about friendship, especially with that girl or boy they tend to fight a lot and don't get along well. It's a perfect reason to make you think that that there will never be anything more in this relationship. But it gets on our older fans' nerves because - naturally, the characters are not kids, they're teens. Things function differently here. I mean, okay - Karmi and Hiro may not be each other's type (debatable) in the end, but you can't tell me they don't care for each other at it's base, and that they will learn to get their rivalry out of the way to make a clear path for that. And when that happens, everything's possible.

But coming back to the first thing I brought up - the characters from the TV show rarely, if ever, make it to the sequel of the movie. Which means, whatever happens with these two, they will probably split up. It's saddening, and I wish things would change there. Hey, seeing Karmi in the sequel would make who knows how many of us happy. And not just her - bunch of other characters too. Or at least give them an honorable mention.

It's because TV shows get made for kids that nothing from it gets transferred to the sequel of the movie, which gets made for audiences of all ages. If there's something I wish would change, it's that - having TV shows dumbed down for kids. And with that I mean - seeing characters a lot older act like they're children. What the heck is that teaching the little kids? That reality will never be like they saw it on TV?

Kudos, and a really big KUDOS to the shows that are tackling this particular thing. It's good and it's healthy. If you wanna make something for kids, make it really appropriate for kids. Don't tug on the nerves of us older people, because - whatever the world says, there will always be those older ones that watch cartoons, ages ranging from older teens to who knows how old. We don't like watching those dumbed down things, no matter how profitable it is for you, content-makers, to target it only for kids, who will get you the most money. Yeah, it's harder to make such stuff, we know, but it's not impossible. At least show a little effort.

But, concerning that, I can't complain on BH6's TV show anymore. The second season was fantastic so far, and those 'dumbed-down' elements were reduced to the bare minimum. I just hope it stays that way.

... Well, this was a whole lot that came out of me just because of posting one silly fangirl drawing. XD Hope some of you actually managed to read this.... Too bad all of this is going to get dumped in the Scraps' section (please make a Sketch section, DA!), like most of my uploads do.

I live and breathe sketches. lol

Oh well - thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. XD I'm really done this time.

[littlemisssquiggles]

One thing I'd like to see this volume/maybe during a flashback while everyone's out looking for Oscar is seeing someone from RNJR asking Oscar what it's like to basically have be 2 people in one body. Or if the flashback shows a scene where RNJR, especially Ruby where trying to get to know Oscar & at one point Ruby mentions the book that Blake was reading back in V1 "The man with 2 souls." Maybe this conversation along with V5 C5 ends up being what brought them close/cemented their friendship.

That’swhat I’m talking about Nite. This is why I’m hoping that C9 is an Oscar-worthyflashback episode with more memoriesfrom Mistral with Oscar’s time with RNJR.

Ilike your idea about one of the RNJR crew asking Oscar about what it’s likesharing a body with Ozpin. Technically thatwas the question Ruby asked him back in V5 C3. She basically asked him if it was weird having another soul in his body.

Nora: Did he age backwards?Jaune: He’s possessed!Ren: Or reincarnated?Ruby: Oh, isn’t it weird?

Outof RNJR, Ruby seemed the most curious about Oscar’s predicament as the Man withTwo Souls so if there’s anyone I’d expect to question the farm boy further onthis, it’s her since she seemed to most enthusiastic about knowing more.

Ifwe are granted that full episode with RNJR Oscar-themed memories from Mistralthen here are the memories I’d love to see:

Oscarsharing a trainingsession with Jaune after finding himtraining at night like Ruby did during V4. Ruby did pull those two together in V5 C4,so I’d love a sort of continuation ofthat scene where Oscar gets a shot at training with Jaune on how to parry withthe Oz-cane. The same way how Pyrhha was able to teach Jaune, I’d love it ifthe two shared a small bonding moment like that. Perhaps Jaune and Oscar have alittle spar while Oscar asks Jaune about the Pyrhha recordings he still listensto. Mind you, by the time Oscar meets with RNJR in Mistral, we’re not sure ifQrow informed him and Oz of Pyrhha’s death.

I’dlike to think there’s a missing Mistral memory where Jaune tells Oscar (and Oz)about Pyrhha through a one-on-one training match. We know that Oscar learnedabout Pyrhha’s sacrifice from Ruby. Maybe Jaune will tell him the same storybut from his point of view from the night Beacon fell. About how powerlessJaune felt being so helpless that Pyrhha had to send him away while she wentoff to fight alone. We can all assume that the reason Jaune pushes himself sohard is so that in the event of a crisis, he’ll never let another one of hisfriends go off to fight by themselves. 

He’ll be there to fight alongside them.To protect them. He won’t be a liability to anyone anymore.He’ll be the best support he can be. That’s what Jaune confides in Oscar andthe two make a promise to spar again anytime Oscar is up for it. An excuse to see these two actually getting along. 

Mynext Mistral memory idea I’d love to see is with Lie Ren. We all know that Ren isbasically thekey chef of the heroes, right? Perhaps…on thefirst night after Oscar had first moved in with RNJR and had fully integratedinto their group, Ren decided to cook a celebratory dinner of known Mistraliandelicacies that he felt Oscar would like.

Rememberwhat Ruby told Oscar back in V5 C5? She said “Come on, if you don’t hurry, Nora’s going toeat everything. It wouldn’t be the firsttime.”

Perhaps…this could be Ren’smemory with Oscar. Ren preparing the freckled farm boy a feast to help him feelwelcomed onto the team only for Nora to greedily eat the whole thing; much toRen’s dismay as all his hard work went right into his girlfriend’s stomach.Imagine Nora devouring Oscar’s celebratory feast and Oscarsmoothing it over by saying he also likes pizza or some other takeout dish thatthe group decide to go out and eat instead. I’d love it if that’s Oscar’smemory with Ren. 

Perhaps cooking meals for guests is something Ren rememberedas a customary tradition from his childhood living with his family in Kunoyuriand it’s a tradition he wants to uphold given the fact that he lost his familywhich he will tell Oscar. Who knows? Maybe after Ren tells Oscar that helost both of his parents to a Grimm that took over his entire village, Oscarwill disclose that he also lost both of his parents and that’s why he wasliving with his aunt before. That’s how I can see Oscar and Ren bonding.

Nextup on the Mistral memory list is Nora Valkyrie. I’m trying to come up with ideasthat already tie into things in revealed in the canon. The only thing I canthink of to connect Oscar to Nora is ironically the ‘Cute Boy Oz’ nickname.Despite Ozpin telling Nora not to call him that back in V5, when Nora shoutedit in V6 C7,I noticed that Oscar actually looked up as he heard it. He acknowledged the nickname. I knowthis could be a small coincidinks however now I’m thinking of a memory fromMistral where Oscar came to accept that his new pet name for Nora’s sake.

LikeI’m imagining a memory where Nora keeps calling Oscar by that pet name and himbeing really uncomfortable with it at first until one day Nora pulls Oscar asideand explains why she calls him by a nickname. It’s because it’s her way ofwelcoming Oscar into their little family circle. What if…Nora even goes on to revealthat when she looks at Oscar, she sees him as the kid brother she would have liked to haveif she still had her family; hinting at her past.

Afterthat, Oscar started to allow Nora to call him that as his way of accepting heras the big sister he would have liked to have. I think that’s a cute way toshow Nora and Oscar bonding and it can fit into the canon. But it’s just anidea.

Finally,there are the Mistral Memories with Ruby Rose. Since Ruby is currently the closestperson to Oscar on the heroes’ squad, I’m going to be biased and give her two memories instead of one. Remember how helpful to Ruby Oscarwas back in V5 C5?What if…thereis a follow-up memory that ties into the first part of V5 C8. After Yang stormed off whenshe revealed she was still angry towards Blake for leaving, Ruby surprisinglywasn’t the one to go talk to her. As we know, it was Weiss and Ruby only showedup by the end to see if everything is okay.

What if…there is a missing memory from that episode where Ruby sought out Oscar foradvice after how helpful he was back in V5 C5 and she and Oscar shared anothernice chat with one another which basically ends in Oscar telling Ruby to trustin Weiss to help her sister. Ruby may be the leader and the voice of reason andguidance among the heroes but she’s just as fragile aseveryone else. She may possess a quantifiable spark that inspires others in thedarkest of times but she should also take better care of her own mentalitybecause while she’s busy mending everyone else, who’s there to keep her fromfalling apart?

That’swhat I like most about the Rosebuds and findvery interesting about Oscar’s rapport with Ruby. By my observation, Oscar hasdesignated himself as someone to look out for Ruby and keep her from losing herspark. He’s there as a support for her and I’d love a memory that cements thatabout their friendship.

Anothermemory I’d like to see is one that takes place during Oscar’s recoveryfollowing the Battle of Haven and before the group leave for Argus. V6 C2 highlighted Ozpin being the one to speak to thegroup after regaining consciousness. I’d like it if we got a moment where Rubyshows up in Oscar’s room to check up on how he’s doing before everyone departs.And from this memory, Oscar will reveal the final clue to where he would go inArgus.

Sincemy theory is that Oscar will be found at the Wall of Argus, what if…ina past memory, Oscartold Ruby that once the team arrived in Argus, he’d love to visit the Wall since he heard that the Argus Wall is one of thetallest places in Remnant and he wanted to go up there just to watch thesunrise. So Ruby makes a promise for the two to see the sunrise together fromthe Wall once they’ve settled things in Argus. That’s when Ruby will get theidea to go to the Wall.

Again,they did not make Oscar look up at the Wall in C7 for kicks. This is wherehe’ll be found looking at the sunrise, at least by my theory.

Butyeah, these are all just my ideas of things I’d love to see from the MissingFarm Boy Arc. I could be wrong but, again, I’m hope I’m right at least aboutseeing memories from Mistral with RNJR and Oscar. I’d really love to see that.

~LittleMissSquiggles(2018)