#i rewatched the films and i’m kinda feeling it again

[95enthusiast]

fellas i miss spider-lightning should i draw more spider-lightning

[loverboybrightsideghost]

.

[tbyfandoms]

Flowers | Austin Butler x Reader

Pairing: austin butler x f!reader

Word Count: 3k

Summary: after making a quick run to the store, austin comes home with a surprise for his favorite girl in the world (requested)

Warnings: none

Masterlist/Request Form | Ask/Tell/Request

A/N: I swear it takes the bare minimum for me to go off in delulu land and create a whole scenario of some cute domestic ish about one of my faves lmao! thank you to the anon who requested I write this, you truly fed into my fantasies and I appreciate the excitement. I know it’s been a while since I’ve uploaded a fic so I figured I’d finally try to sit down and write something quick and get it out for the last day of austin’s birth month! I hope you guys enjoy sentimental aus and the dash of horndoginess I threw in there. after finding out about a certain *ehem* tidbit, I saw an opportunity to include the fact austin is an ass man-ANYWAYS! as always lmk what you think! <3

also important side-note! for right now I think I am going to hold off on accepting any new requests for a while. I have quite a few backed up in my ask box that I really wanna get out for the people who sent them in and are patiently waiting! I can’t stop ya’ll from sending things in, but please know that at the moment the requests I have on my currently writing page are my current priorities and it might be a while until I get to yours!

“God, there’s literally nothing on,” you grumble after skipping past yet another movie preview on Netflix.

It’s both yours and Austin’s first off day together in such a long time and all you want to do is cuddle and watch a good film, but it’s like nothing is catching your attention, and at this point you kinda just want to rewatch a comfort film and call it a day. You doubt Austin will put up much of a fight.

The blonde did leave you in charge of finding something to watch while he went off to gather snacks, so he can’t complain too much if you two end up watching a movie you’ve both seen a hundred times, right?

While an idea starts to form in your mind and you quickly scroll to the search bar, soft footsteps from the kitchen make their way to you.

“Baby, I’m headin’ out the store really quick, I just need to pick up a few things before we get started. D’you need anything?”

Your boyfriend’s voice immediately takes your attention away from the black and red screen you’ve been staring at for the past ten minutes. Needless to say the interruption and new view is much appreciated. You swear to yourself that Austin could walk out of a place wearing just a trash bag and he’d still be the most beautiful man you’ve ever laid eyes on.

He looks so soft and cuddly in his cotton shirt and track pants that it makes you sad at the idea you’ll have to wait even longer now to wrap yourself in his arms.

“Did we eat all the snacks again already? I swear neither one of us is home enough to go through food that quickly and yet somehow we always do,” you say as you shake your head lightly.

Austin’s soft chuckle drifts through the air. “It blows my mind too, sweetheart.” The actor moves closer to the front door and begins to put his shoes on—grey and black Adidas with the white stripes, his latest favorites. “I mean we have stuff but I wanna get you some of those candies you like to have when we go to the movies, I figured we could really make it our own little film experience, y’know?”

You scrunch your nose in fondness at the sentiment and get up off the couch to meet your boyfriend at the door. He grabs one of his many baseball caps and settles it atop his blonde waves. You notice how thick Austin’s hair is getting, the hat sliding snuggly over his head.

“Awh, Aus, I’d love that, that sounds amazing,” you grin, stepping forward and wrapping your arms around his neck. “Now, tell me, how would you feel about me picking a certain favorite Gosling film for our movie?”

You grin cheekily at Austin, seeing the flicker of realization in his eyes as he understands exactly which film you’re referencing. Between the two of you, there really is no other Ryan Gosling film it could be besides—you guessed it—The Notebook.

“You’re really gonna make me cry on my day off?” The blonde teases and you roll your eyes jokingly in response. After you and Austin started dating, it didn’t take long for the two of you to go in depth about your favorite films—I mean, it was only fitting—and it was only then did you discover his love for The Notebook. Although written off as a typical, cheesy romance film, it’s so much more than that and Austin was one of the only people to see it as such. The both of you talked for ages about it and no matter how dumb it sounds, that conversation—among many other things—convinced you wholeheartedly that Austin was the man of your dreams. It’s been years since your relationship with Austin started and that film is still one of you forever favorites. You and Austin make sure to rewatch it together at least once a year, tears and choked back sobs included.

“C’mon, baby, you know you want to! It’s about time for our rewatch anyways! I’ll be there the whole time to console you during all the sad parts, and then you’ll be there to console me right after that! I’ll even bring the tissues,” you laugh.

Austin shakes his head and because of your closeness to him you can feel his chest rumble as he laughs along with you. It’s an odd thing to find comfort it and yet you do.

“Fine but only because I love that film—and you—so much. I mean crying in my girl’s arms over a Gosling movie sounds like a day well spent to me anyways.”

The blonde inches closer and rubs his nose against yours, grinning broadly at your giggles that ensue. He swears if he could bottle up that sound and keep it forever, he would.

“Alright, I’m goin’,” Austin says as he steps back and begins to open the door. “You didn’t answer earlier, did you need anything from the store?”

Shaking your head, you respond, “Nope. All I need is for you to come home to me as soon as possible so I can wrap myself in your arms and cry over Noah and Allie with you.”

You’re met with that thousand watt smile again and you can’t help but to return it. “I promise I’ll hurry back, I wouldn’t miss that for the world.”

Before Austin steps fully out the door, he stops and turns back towards you, reaching out his hand to cup your cheek and connect his lips with yours.

The kiss is soft and sweet and the second Austin pulls away you want more than anything for him to kiss you again.

“I love you,” he says before sneaking in another quick kiss, this time on your cheek, and then proceeding out the front door.

The lock clicks into place and as you stand there in the hall, the only audible sound being Austin’s car pulling out of the driveway, you sigh and reach your fingers up towards your lips. It doesn’t matter how long you and Austin have been dating, the whimsical and electric state he leaves you in after each time he kisses you will never, ever get old.

*****

It’s probably only been about fifteen to twenty minutes since Austin left when you hear keys jangling in the door knob.

You figured it wouldn’t take him long considering the store you always go to is right down the street, but the time apart was still long enough for you, so you leap off the couch and hurry to meet your boyfriend as he walks through the front door.

Instantly you notice the small plastic bag Austin’s holding in his hand that he used to open the door. You can already see the wrappings of all your favorite treats peaking through the top and that alone gets you excited. So excited, in fact, that you don’t even notice the way Austin’s holding his other hand behind his back.

The blonde holds out the plastic bag towards you and you squeal in excitement as you begin to dig around in it. “Ah, no way! They actually had them this time!? When I went last they were sold out.” As you grab at one of your favorite snacks, you watch as Austin angles himself awkwardly to try and close the door. It’s like he doesn’t want to turn his back towards you and it’s at this time that you notice he’s holding something out of your line of sight.

“Austin what are you doing?” You giggle, quirking your eyebrow at the way he stands there with a mischievous, yet fond smile on his face. You hear a distinct crinkling sound and you know it’s not from your own bag. “What d’you got there?”

“After I grabbed all our snacks and was headin’ up to the register, I passed a display and saw these.” Your boyfriend brings the hidden object from behind his back and you gasp at the sight of it. “They reminded me of you so I got ‘em for you. Pretty flowers for a pretty girl.”

Austin hands you the bouquet and your eyes instantly well with tears. They’re the most stunning blush colored roses you’ve ever seen and they smell absolutely incredible. There’s a small card sticking out of the side of them and as you read the words written in Austin’s handwriting, your heart swells with adoration.

For my favorite girl

Love, Austin

“Aus,” you whisper, not trusting your voice to withstand anything else. “They’re beautiful. Thank you so much. You didn’t have to do that.”

The actor can tell how emotional you are right now, can tell how much this means to you. He’d do anything to let you know how much you mean to him, to let you know how much he loves you. He’d buy you flowers every single day if it meant he’d get to see that look on your face. That look where your eyes get real big and sparkly and your smile is so wide it makes your eyelids crinkle at the corners. That look that makes Austin want to give you the world.

Careful not to smash the bouquet held delicately in your hands (the bag of snacks now laying on the floor), Austin reaches out and hugs you with one arm, planting a soft kiss on the side of your head. “I know I didn’t have to, sweetheart, but I wanted to. I love you so much and you deserve to be appreciated.”

With the right words to say completely escaping you, you do the next best thing and instantly close the gap between you and the man standing in front of you. One of Austin’s hands finds its place on your lower back, pushing you closer to him, and your own hand without the bouquet in it finds its way to the nape of his neck—fingers twisting in those thick waves you took notice of earlier.

“I love you so much more, Austin Butler,” you breathe out as you break apart from your boyfriend’s soft lips.

“Mmm, whatever you say, baby,” he mumbles against your mouth as he goes in for yet another kiss. You nearly drop your flowers as you get caught up in Austin again, so you break apart before you can do any real damage to them.

“As much as I’m enjoying this right now, I need it to stop for like five seconds before I completely lose myself in you and ruin this gorgeous bouquet,” you giggle, before reluctantly taking a step back from your boyfriend in order to go find a vase in the kitchen to set the flowers in.

“Would that really be such a bad thing?” Austin calls after you. It doesn’t take long for him to meet up with you in the kitchen, his tall figure leaning casually against the doorframe. “I think having rose petals all over the floor would actually be quite romantic. It’d really…set the mood.”

In between spreading out the roses in the vase you found, you glance up at Austin and can see the way his eyes have clouded over just slightly. His intent and emphasis on the last few words of his sentence become abundantly clear, and you try to fight the heat you feel rising up your neck.

Making your way around the kitchen island, you stop in front of your boyfriend and lean lightly into his chest, your hands basking in the warmth radiating through Austin’s white shirt. “You do realize it is your birthday month, right, Aus? Why am I the one getting all the special treatment?”

There’s a soft smirk playing on your lips and you revel in the way Austin tilts his head to the side, his own smirk quirking up at the corner of his mouth. “Who’s to say I’m not getting my own type of special treatment? Looking after my girl and seeing her happy sounds like a pretty nice birthday gift to me.”

Burying your face in Austin’s chest, you barely contain the squeal threatening to spill out of you over the actor’s words. This man somehow always knows the right thing to say to make you melt. “You’re such a heartthrob you know that?”

“I am a man of many talents,” Austin beams. The two of you laugh and you push lightly on his chest to get him to move back towards the living room.

“C’mon, think of the snacks waiting for us! I won’t let your incredibly smooth sweet talking make us miss out on our plan for an at home film experience!” No matter how tempting, you think.

“Trust me, sweetheart, I am thinking about my snack. Mine just isn’t in that little bag you got there.” As you bend down to pick up the plastic bag you haphazardly threw to the side at the reveal of your surprise flowers, Austin comes up behind you and lightly smacks your ass, causing you to let out a sharp gasp.

Jolting upright, you fake annoyance and watch as your boyfriend turns towards you and holds up his hands in innocence. You reach into the bag and throw one of the packets of candy at him. The blonde winks at you as he catches it with ease and then plops down on the couch.

“You’re right though, I did say I wouldn’t miss this for the world, and I am also a man of my word. So c’mon, Ryan’s waiting for us,” Austin grins as he pats the spot next to him on the couch.

Unable to keep up your feigned irritation, you let the smile that’s twitching at the corner of your lips break through as you hurry over to Austin. No matter what happens, you’d never turn down an open invitation from the man you love with all your heart.

Cuddling up to Austin’s side you sigh in the satisfaction of finally getting to relax with him. Sure you two are able to see each other relatively often considering the fact you live together, but it’s rare when you get to just sit together and do absolutely nothing besides enjoy each other’s company. No cameras, no expectations, just you and him.

If anyone were to ask you, you’d say that’s what you’d call pure heaven.

As Austin presses play on the movie and the opening credits begin to roll, you watch as he rips open the bag of candy you threw at him. You take in how he eats one and then sets it aside, beginning to set up the rest of the treats he purchased for you. The reality of it all settles in as it does every so often and you feel a tiny squeeze in your chest as you take it in.

Having someone love you so deeply, having someone who knows practically every part of you from your favorite types of candy to what flowers you would like, having someone who sees your happiness as enough satisfaction for them and truly mean it, is just incredibly unbelievable.

You wonder practically every day how in the world you were lucky enough to find someone like that. To find someone who you love wholeheartedly and who loves you just the same, if not more. The material things—the flowers, the candy—are nice, but nothing beats the feeling you get when you’re with Austin, and you thank your lucky stars that the universe brought him to you. You truly don’t know where you’d be, who you’d be, without him.

“Austin,” you start, looking into his clear blue eyes as he turns towards you, a soft smile already adorning his lips as he catches sight of you. “Thank you for…”

You can’t even begin to think of where to start. You’re sat here looking at this man that’s staring at you with such a fond, loving expression and it’s like words won’t even dare try to form in your mind in a way that would express everything you feel for him. There aren’t enough of them, there aren’t any right ones.

“For what, sweetheart?” Austin whispers as he reaches out and tucks a piece of your hair behind your ear, the warmth from his fingertips leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake.

“For the…flowers,” you say before letting out an airy laugh. “For the candy, for staying in with me and letting me coerce you into watching this movie for the thousandth time, for just being you, and a million other things I don’t think I’ll ever have the right words to express.”

“You don’t have to thank me for any of that, my love, but you’re welcome anyways. I do it all because I want to, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you just like I know there isn’t anything you wouldn’t do for me. I hope you know how much I appreciate you. I love you.” Austin leans down and plants a kiss on your forehead before pulling you even closer to his side, wanting nothing but to have you wrapped in his arms.

As your boyfriend turns his attention back to the movie and begins to rub his hand soothingly up and down your back, you feel a sense of content wash over you. When you’re with Austin, it feels like no matter what happens, as long as you have each other, everything will be okay. Nothing is certain, but you’d bet everything you’ve got that this love is.

“I love you too, Aus.”

[candyheartedchy]

You’re safe with us….

OK BUT ACTUALLY IM SO HAPPY TO SEE CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS ART FROM YOU??? What made you wanna rewatch the movie again? Got any info on your self insert that you’d like to share 👀👀👀?

(Still giggling over this cause I’ve been in hiding crushing on Krupp and captain for so long. It’s reliving to know I’m not insane LOL)

Okay so I’m gonna start at the beginning because it’s amusing to me.

Back when the movie was first being advertised, I was curious because I immediately remembered reading the books back in elementary school when me and my classmates would passed around the books to take turns reading. So of course due to nostalgia I ended up going to the theater to watch it (like imagine how embarrassed I was when the ticket person shouted out for tickets for Captain Underpants movie out loud in front of a whole line of people behind me hdhhd). So imagine this, I’m just drinking my soda, watching the movie until the one scene of his stroking the toy/spy turtle with his finger comes up,

and I end up getting SUPER flustered, sitting there like:

It already didnt help that when his character smiled mischievously here and there, I end up blushing, but then when CU shows up, I end up really shy and a blushing mess. And I’m just “OH NOOOO.”

So right after I left the movie theater, I ended up going back home and rewatching clips online and like kicking my feet like a fool, just giggly and planning on a self ship before stopping myself due to embarrassment. But I kept reading like x readers imagines about him on tumblr here and there though. Eventually I blocked him out I guess until following a few mutuals who would reblog/post about the character and then I was like, “IS THIS A SIGN?!!” and went to rewatch the movie because this whole time it was avoiding seeing the film and character again because I was TERRIFIED of catching feelings. But also some fan art I seen of CU/Krupp didn’t help either that whole time because some of it was REALLY GOOD 🫣 fdjgjhgk

As for my sona’s info, the original one I had was her being an art teacher at the school, but idk if that has been use so many times or not for CU ocs?? But the idea of her being a villain is kinda a fun idea too so idk yet.

[asumofwords]

So I see you’re going to open up requests soon??? 👀

Lemme just put this one there to marinate because some of the asks have really put the thought in my head with no sign of it leaving me be.

Spooky season is coming!!!!

I rewatch the Haunting series on Netflix every October so I’m kinda feeling a Bly Manor type possession fic. SFA one shot or not, but Aemond’s dead and they were definitely in love. When reader moves on after his death and eventually meets someone she can fall in love with again, maybe she brings him home and Aemond possesses her new man just so he can fuck her again. Bonus points if she doesn’t know the first few times but keeps wondering how her new boo knows exactly what she likes before Aemond finally reveals himself and ultimately, she lets it continue because she gets her Aemond again.

Just some thots

Word Count: 8.6k

Warnings: Death, murder, sadness, depression, thoughts of suicide, talks of blood and gore, moving on, haunted estate, possession, fear, anger, smut, chasing, blood, choking, slapping, fucking, creampie, degradation, rough sex, angry sex, dub-con, slight non-con, confusion, grief, Cregan being possessed by your late husband, spooky vibes.

Pairings: Ghost!Aemond x Reader / Aemond Targaryen Possession Fic, Cregan Stark x Reader, Possessed!Cregan x reader

Notes: Look.... I'm such a Cregan Stark slut, I'm gonna throw him in wherever I can... Hope you enjoy!!!! Hehehe, I hope I have done your request some justice!!! I really enjoyed writing this <3

Aemond Targaryen was a man that could not be summarised by mere words. You didn’t believe that you could ever find enough of them to describe him, if any could come close to it. He was kind, quiet at times, calculating, but passionate. And that was why you had married him. His passion for you was so strong it almost burnt, the flames of it constantly flickering over you like fire. 

You had been married for some time, meeting at University, Advanced History and the Politics of Old, and instantly falling for the quiet man who had sat up the back, hand constantly writing notes on paper. He had this charm that surrounded him, and the day you had gotten the courage to ask him out, pacing in front of your mirror all morning, practising the words over and over in your head and aloud, he beat you to it, seemingly having done the same thing. 

You were married a year later, a quick turn around, but happy with bliss and the love that you had for each other. Years flew by together and eventually you began to plan for a child, and Aemond in his excitement, invited his family over to announce this to them. His mother, unbeknownst to him, invited his half-sister Rhaenyra, her children, and her husband, Daemon; A man Aemond had once admired, but now despised. 

And because of this, tragedy struck.

At first the evening went well, but with the presence of his nephew, Lucerys, the boy who had taken his eye in an accident at a young age, Aemond’s anger simmered that night between him and his uncle, Daemon, and with the alcohol that flowed heavily from the table during your celebrations, a fight broke loose. 

You could still see it. Still see it move behind your eyelids like a film, slow motion, then quick, then slow again.

Aemond’s fist flying into Daemon’s cheek, a man much taller and broader than your husband. You had shot up from your chair to reach them, but Alicent had held you back whilst Rhaenyra tried to pull her husband away from her half-brother, who Daemon knelt over, fist after fist striking the younger mans face. You had screamed when Daemon was finally pulled up and away by his angry wife, concern thrown down to her estranged sibling, her violet eyes roaming him for injury. 

But your Aemond, your sweet, sweet Aemond, head strong and stubborn as he was, didn’t know when to stop, and so, jumping up from the ground, face bloodied and lips bleeding, Aemond’s hand had snatched a steak knife from the table, charging for Daemon, who pushed Rhaenyra out of the way. 

The next thing you knew, Aemond lay lifeless on the floor, knife in his unseeing eye, blood pooling on the floor around him. You had screamed and ran to him, sobbing over his corpse as Daemon stood in shock, looking at his now bloodied hand whilst Alicent blinked down at her son.

Daemon went to jail, a short term for murdering your husband, self defence they had said, since Aemond made the first move and grabbed the knife. And whilst Daemon sat in a cell, visited by his children and wife, you were left alone in the large estate that you had together, bereft with grief and uncertain if life would ever move on without him. 

You had thought about it, once or twice, grabbing a razor or taking one too many of the pills the doctors had prescribed for your debilitating depression, or perhaps reaching beneath the sink to grasp at Aemond’s old pain medication and taking the entire lot. But each time you thought of it, you just couldn’t do it. Too cowardly to go forward with it, which almost always ended with you on the floor where he had died, sobbing into the flagstones. 

It had been five years when you met him, five years when you decided to get back out into the world. Or not really decided, more like forced to by Helaena, Aemond’s older sister, who had been your life boat through grieving the loss of her brother. She had told you that Jacaerys, her nephew she had no qualms with despite the family tension, had a friend that you would get along with. Someone kind and gentle, and so far away from being anything like Aemond, that it was a safe bet.

And so one night of a blind date with Cregan Stark, Helaena and her girlfriend Cassandra joining as a buffer, turned into two, which then turned to three, then four, until soon enough, you were falling for the man. 

He was courteous. Tall and broad, with long, dark hair and a short beard, or more like stubble that had been left untouched for days on end. He had kind grey eyes, that looked like a winters storm that swirled each time he gazed at you. 

And he was different. That’s what you likened as to why you liked him. 

He was the complete opposite of Aemond. 

Where Aemond was fiery and warm, Cregan was cool and patient, always waiting for you to make the first step. Whenever you would fight, if at all you would manage to get him to react, it would always end with him apologising to you. 

Even when you were in the wrong. 

That was one thing you hated about it. 

He would never rise to your goading, never rise to the bait you would set for him to flare his temper. Sure, he would get angry, his wild grey eyes alight with something, but it would pass as soon as a storm, and he would leave to walk it out, or ask for space. 

You missed how it had been with Aemond. How you could goad him into anger, to have him fold you over any surface and have his way with you, rutting into you violently and cruelly, as he ripped peak, after peak from you, until you begged for mercy, tears falling down your cheeks. 

But Cregan was different, softer, sweeter, and not at all like your hot headed late husband. 

And this, you were thankful for. 

In some ways at least. 

It had been over a year of dating when you finally asked him to move into the estate with you. He lived awhile away, and you were alone in a house that had close to a hundred rooms and only memories to haunt you. It only felt right to fill it up with one more person. 

The estate was old, and although Aemond had died within its walls, you just couldn’t leave it. 

You were stuck. 

Feeling drawn to its stones and halls, and even the mere thought of parting with it made you breathless. 

Though, there was something about the old estate that made your skin crawl. 

It had always made you uncomfortable, and it was something that you had voiced to Aemond upon many a times, and he would always assure you, that they could not touch you, whoever they were.

But something was different.

Something had changed in the years past since Aemond had died.

Helaena had once come to the estate, months after the fact, and gone pale, looked right past you as though she was looking at someone there. But when you had turned, there was no-one. Not a soul, or wisp, or a particle. Just air.

But it was cold. And Helaena had told you, whilst staring behind, that Aemond would always be with you.

But you knew he would. You had his memories, his photos, his clothes that you had folded in trunks in the attic, or the blanket that still smelt very much like him that you would curl into on lonely nights and breathe in his scent. 

Of course he would always be with you. 

He was your first love.

But there was something about the estate.

You just didn’t know what.

It didn’t help that no matter what you did, you felt like you were being watched. But the building was as old as the hills, and your therapist had told you it was likely just your hyper observance and PTSD to blame. 

There were no ghosts in the house, no ghouls or monsters. It was just you. 

You and the empty walls, and halls that used to house his voice, and his smile, and his laughter. 

You were lonely, that much was sure, and although you loved Cregan, you truly did, it would just never match the love you and Aemond had. Not that you were comparing the two to each other in that way. Aemond was fire, Cregan was ice. They were both two very different people who loved in two very different ways. And you knew, much to your grief, that it was time to move on. 

Time to move forward with your life. 

And so you did. With Cregan. And that feeling of being watched only amplified. The feeling of heat on the back of you neck, being watched wherever you went, multiplying by tenfold with Cregan’s now permanent presence. 

The rooms would suddenly get cold, to the point that he had even noted it, but had explained it away; His home back in Winterfell was older than this estate, and it too had cold spots in it. 

It didn’t mean anything, it was just the old buildings, with old drafts, and terrible old insulation. 

But something felt off since he moved in. 

You always felt like you were being watched but it had changed to something more angry. Like something was always in the corner of your eye when with him, especially when intimate. But Cregan, with this kind eyes and unbendable patience, listened to your worries, and ensured you that it was fine, and even if there was an entity in the estate, it could not touch you, nor harm you, and probably didn’t even know you were there, lost in a world of its own. 

Yet, you still couldn’t shake the feeling of it. Maybe it was because you were moving on, and feeling guilty about doing so. 

You didn’t move into your old room that had been yours and Aemond’s. That was off limits. Closed for good, unless you wished to go in there and sit for a while. It had been over six years, six long years without him, but maybe, just maybe, Aemond would want you to move on. 

Yes, you were sure of it. 

He would want you to be happy, to move on. Not forget about him, but to continue on with your life without him, despite the feeling that your life had stopped with him the day he was killed. 

You still had night terrors about it, picturing his body on the floor, lifeless and cold, blood pooled beneath his head, seeing eye staring up unfocused. 

The terrors had gotten worse when Cregan had moved in. You would wake with a scream, and the vision and smell of blood before you, body covered in a light sheen of sweat, and the feeling as though something, or someone, had be pushing down on your chest. And each time, Cregan would be there for you, to ground you, to bring you back to the present and hold you as you sobbed in his arms, and eventually went back to sleep, skin tingling with the feeling of an extra eye on you.

But Cregan made you feel safe.

There were many things about Cregan that you adored. His loyalty to his friends and family, his smile when excited or pleased, the way he would hold you tightly against his chest, head tucked beneath his chin as you inhaled deeply. 

And to top it all off, he was an amazing lover.

Sleeping with Cregan was different to what it had been like with Aemond. He was gentler, softer, less rough and violent. Which was something you actually missed. When once you had asked Cregan to wrap his large hands around your throat, he had blushed and looked away, saying he needed time to work his way up to that. And so you dropped it, and respected that boundary. 

It wasn’t that the sex wasn’t good, it was. Cregan knew how to bring you to your peak with practised skill. It was just that it wasn’t what you needed. You needed a release. A cathartic bloom of pleasurable pain, submission and dominance, to not be in control, to let someone take the reins and bring you to a warm and fuzzy place that Aemond called ‘Sub Space’. You needed to feel the ache of being roughly handled, to see the bruises of Cregan’s love on your skin the next day or week after, but he was almost afraid of hurting you.

Gods bless that sweet man.

-

Footsteps clumped from down the hall as the tv softly played the previews of a new show on Netflix. You leant back against the couch, tucked under a thick blanket as you watched Cregan enter the lounge room with two bowls in hand. 

“What are we watching?” His deep voice curled around the room, eyes darting to the tv as you scrolled down, trying to find something the two of you could watch.

“I don’t know.” You flicked to the Recommended For You section, the couch dipping beside you as he sat, placing the steaming bowls of pasta in front of you, “Thanks.” You pecked his cheek lightly, before looking back at the screen.

“What are our options?” His fork clinked on the edge of his bowl as he twirled the long pasta up his fork, shoving it into his mouth beside you.

“Pride and Prejudice-“

“-2005 or BBC?” Cregan interrupted.

“2005 obviously.” You smirked, turning back to the tv, “Jurassic Park, Knives Out,” You flicked through the recommendation list, hearing a snicker beside you as you moved past 365 Days, “Gone Girl-“

“Gone Girl? What’s that?” Cregan asked between chews, large hand reaching to place your own bowl into your lap.

You grinned, “Only one of the best movies ever. Have you really not seen it?” You turned to face him, watching as he shook his head. “Gone Girl it is.”

The movie began to play as you settled in at his side, eating the dinner he had made you both. Cregan was engrossed in the film, and made you laugh as he screamed profanity at the tv, already hating Ben Affleck's character thinking he had killed his wife.

Towards the end of the movie however, Cregan was cheering Amy on, getting excited as it went through her step by step revenge plan. You were almost at the crescendo of the film when you felt Cregan shift beside you, his audible stream of consciousness suddenly stopped. 

You turned your head to look at him.

The large man was sitting stiff as a board beside you, grey eyes narrowed onto your face. It was as if all emotions had slid away, leaving a cool exterior. You frowned, turning your body to face him completely, watching as his eyes slid carefully over your body.

“Are you okay?” You asked, wondering what had changed his mood so suddenly.

Cregan’s eyes blinked slowly, lids half hooded as he peered at you.

There was something about it that was familiar.

Something about it that sent a shiver down your spine. 

And as if it didn’t happen, Cregan blinked again, shaking his head slightly, large hand coming to press at an eye as though in pain.

Your hand reached out to rest on his shoulder, “Hey, are you okay?” Concern written on your features.

Brows furrowed, he winced, pressing the heel of his hand into his eye, “Sorry.” He apologised through gritted teeth, “Migraine came out of nowhere.”

Sympathy rolled through you. Standing from the couch you clicked your tongue, “That’s no good. Let me get you some pain killers.” 

Your bare feet pressed into the cold flagstones as you headed to the large kitchen, bending at the waist to rifle in the small medicine box under the sink. 

The box was old, something left over from Aemond, with the painkillers still inside that he used for whenever his eye and scar was giving him bother. You spotted the small silver packet of pain killers beside Aemond’s old ones, out of date and not useful to anyone, and yet you still could never bring yourself to get rid of them, as though your brain worried that they would be needed out of habit despite him no longer being there anymore. 

Bypassing your late husbands medication, you pulled at the small packet of regular painkillers and made your way back to the lounge room, worrying over Cregan’s sudden pain. 

He never usually had migraines or headaches, but it had become something more frequent since he moved in. His doctor had said it could be allergies, or perhaps even the presence of black mould in the old estate, but you had hired mould cleaners, and even mould detecters who brought in an old dog to sniff about the property, and they, not once, found any sign of damp or growing fungus. 

Entering the lounge you spotted Cregan, sitting stiff backed on the couch, head immediately flicking to you.

“I got you some pain killers,” You walked towards him, popping two little pills out of the foil packet, “Is it bad?”

Cregan’s lips twitched slightly as he watched you, eyes narrowed, and yet he did not answer. 

Must be bad if he’s not talking. 

“Here.” You held your hand out, waiting to place the two painkillers into his palm. 

Cregan Stark watched you with hawklike eyes, not taking the pills from you. Suddenly he stood, large frame towering over you as he looked down his nose at you, face devoid of any emotion, and a certain strike of familiarity sparked inside your mind.

Why does this feel familiar?

A large hand struck out, grabbing you neck roughly, squeak falling from your lips as you were tugged towards Cregan, his lips finding yours in a rough and bruising kiss, his straight teeth nipping at your bottom lip roughly, tingles climbing up your spine. He kissed you until you were out of breath, hand not releasing itself from your neck, keeping you firmly to him until you parted bare centimetres away to catch your breath, lips brushing against each other as you heaved. 

“What's gotten into you?” You breathed heavily, want coursing through you.

The pink of his tongue darted out to wet his lips, though moving slower as though he was savouring the taste of you on him, “I’ve missed this.” Came a deep purr from within his chest.

A smirk pulled at your mouth, “You had me last night.” You teased, nibbling at your bottom lip, wondering where this sudden burst of lust had come from.

Cregan merely grunted as he crashes his lips back against yours, fingers tightening around your throat in a way that you had begged him to do for months, cutting the supply of blood flow making your head spin. You mewled as he broke the kiss, spinning you around to push you over the edge of the couch arm. 

Air was ripped from your lungs as he pushed his weight onto your lower back with his hand, fingers ripping at your clothes to reveal your slick folds to the room. 

There was no preparation, no warning, just the sudden and sharp bite of his length pushing into your walls. You cried out, hands grasping at the pillows as he set a rough pace, his length dragging in and out of you sharply as he grunted from behind. 

Cregan’s weight pushed into your spine as he continues to rut into you wildly, feet dangling uselessly as he fucking you over the arm of the couch, hands gripping the pillows tightly in your hands. It was the first time he had ever fucked you with such vigour, without care, and it set your nerves alight. 

You whined beneath him, feeling closer and closer to your peak, slick coating your thighs and his length, the wet sound of flesh against flesh behind you. 

“Always such a good little slut for me.” Cregan growled, and the sound sent tremors through you.

Your brows furrowed, a nagging sensation in the back of your mind telling you that something was not quite right. That Cregan would never call you that, had never called you that, and that it was something that Ae-

Blinding white pleasure burst through you as you came, Cregan moaning behind you as he felt your walls tighten around his length. You whined beneath him, body going slack as he sought out his own peak, rutting into you frantically until he came with a grunt, warmth filling your walls.

You slumped against the couch, mind hazy as your climax scrambled all thoughts. A kiss was pressed against your shoulder blade and a small hiss came from behind as your boyfriend pulled out of your core. Too tired to move, and the man clearly sensing that, you were scooped up into two large arms and carried off to your bedroom. 

The rest of the evening a blur of being cleaned, given water to drink, and then the soft sheets and warmth of a body pressed up against you in bed, large hand stroking over your hair lovingly as you drifted off to sleep.

When you woke the next morning, it was to a grunt of pain and not pleasure. Cregan was laid on his back, hand once again pressed into his eye as his brows furrowed, desperate to alleviate the pain that settled behind it. 

“What’s wrong?” You asked, turning to face him, watching as he tried to compose himself, a soft wince pulling at his features. 

“Migraine again.” Cregan whispered into the early morning air. 

Your hand out of habit, moved to soothe the hair at the top of his head on the side of the eye pain, in a way that was purely instinctual, in a way that you had for many years with Aemond whenever he would wake in pain, or lay in silence, biting roughly at his own lips to try and get through it alone.

Pressing a kiss to the side of Cregan’s face you crawled out of bed, “You didn’t take the painkillers last night that’s why. I’ll go get you some more.”

You had brought him the painkillers and forced him to take them with a whole glass of water, before settling back into the covers with him, soothing his long brown hair away from his face as the pain slowly dissipated away from his features. 

-

The next week, it happened again. 

The headache. 

The cool half lidded gaze.

The sudden change in demeanour.

The things that he did and said reminded you so much of Aemond, that you felt immediate guilt for thinking of your late husband whilst in the throws of a rough fuck with your new boyfriend. But this time you took the reins, and told him to slow down, told him that you wanted it softer, more loving, more him. 

“Sl-slow down.” You pleaded from below, thighs pressed against your chest as Cregan pushed his whole length inside of you, tip of his cock pushing against your cervix.

His eyes narrowed on you as he grunted, fucking into you harder instead, “No.” He growled, and a small spark of fear sparked up your spine. 

Tears welled in your eyes as you pushed at his chest, “S-stop. Cregan, stop.” Your nails dug into his chest as you tried to push him off of you, yet his pace didn’t falter. 

Your brain in its confusion pushed out a word you hadn’t used in years, a word that was reserved for you and Aemond only, a word that was to be used if you wanted all things to end. 

“Perzys.”

Fire.

Cregan immediately stopped, eyes blinking suddenly as he looked down at you in a moment of confusion, and then concern. Your heart fluttered in your chest as you looked at him, your own confusion and sorrow swirling inside of you. 

How did he-

“What’s wrong?” 

A tear slid down your cheek as you felt him looking over you, blinking again as though trying to rise from a fog, and yet he had stopped. He stopped with a word that he shouldn’t have even known. 

Or maybe you had told him. Maybe you had, a long time ago? Maybe he was confused by your sudden use of the foreign word? Maybe-

“You’re scaring me.” Your words came out breathlessly, all desire having leaked from your body and replaced with a myriad of others. 

Guilt.

Fear.

Confusion.

Grief.

It was too real.

It was too familiar.

It was-

“I thought this was what you wanted, ñuha-“ Cregan’s hand flew to his eye, pressing into it roughly as he gasped out in pain. 

You scrambled to sit up, pulling his length from inside of you as you held onto his face, soothing his hair away, fear replaced with worry. 

“Hey, what’s going on?” You asked in concern, watching as Cregan’s teeth ground down on each other, low grunt of agony passing through his clenched teeth.

“Let me see.” You begged, mind going into autopilot as you gently grasped his wrist, pulling his hand away from his eye as he blinked down at you in surprise for a moment, a multitude of emotions flashing across his face before his hand rose, and then his face crumpled once again, and the heel of his hand pushed back into his eye. 

You sprung into action, body already taking you immediately to get painkillers for him, hand reaching for the little yellow pill container before having to grab the others. 

Eventually you got him to settle into bed, begging him to see a doctor, before the two of you finally agreed to see one later that week. 

And what an uneventful doctors visit that was. 

Two MRI’s, CT scans, and blood tests later, the doctor gave him the all clear. No growths to be seen, or unusual brain activity, not even a simple vitamin deficiency; Cregan was the pinnacle of health. The Stark came out of the doctors office with reassurance that there was no malignant growth or anything to be worried about, but a warning that perhaps stress was the causation for his sudden pains. He was given instructions to rest, and so Cregan took sick leave for the rest of the month. 

-

Two weeks into Cregan’s rest, and the both of you were pleased to find that Cregan didn’t have another migraine attack. Nor did his demeanour suddenly change like the last time, much to your relief. 

Winter had begun to roll into the realm, and the estate, being as old as it was, became far colder at times, inside than out. The fires were constantly lit to keep you both warm, and it made for a rather romantic setting for the two of you. 

That morning you had gone out to get a nice bottle of wine to bring home. You were going to surprise Cregan with a home cooked meal, a nice bottle of red, and then after, if you were both feeling inclined, which you knew you would be, a slow and gentle fuck in front of the fireplace.

You had gone out of your way to avoid him that day, going to the shops to buy ingredients, prepping the dinner as quietly and quickly as you could, lighting candles in the casual lounge room for the two of you, and placing some fluffed pillows before the hearth to lounge in.

It was perfect. 

Your dinner was cooked, and you were ready for the evening and with good timing. You heard Cregan walking through the hall as you put his bowl next to yours on the coffee table, placing the nice bottle of wine in the centre as you brushed down the sides of your dress and made sure your hair was perfect. 

The dress you wore was tight and black, and although you had thought of wearing heels, there was no need to in your own home, so you went bare foot. Beneath your dress lay a lacy surprise. You waited to see Cregan enter the room, to see his smiling eyes and warm grin at you, but he kept on. Walking straight past the lounge, his footsteps disappearing down the vast hall. 

You stood in confusion for a moment.

Maybe he was going to the bathroom.

Maybe he didn’t know you were there or that you had cooked dinner. 

But he would have smelt it. 

And he would have known. 

You waited for a while longer, hoping he was making his way back, but when he didn’t, you began to grow impatient, leaving your steaming dinner behind to go in search for him. In that moment you cursed the vastness of the estate, but knew that Cregan wasn't really one to explore it. He kept to what he knew, and so you went to those spaces.

He wasn’t in your shared room.

Or the dining hall.

Or one of the many bathrooms. 

Nor was he in the kitchen.

The estate was cold, and dark, and the coolness of the home creeped up your bare feet and into your spine, sending shivers running down it. You called out his name, hoping he would come to you so that you would eat.

But no response came. 

It wasn’t until you were climbing the stairs back to your bedroom that you noticed a light on in a distant room. 

A room far down the end of the east wing. A room in which Cregan knew he wasn’t allowed inside. A room in which you had not been inside of for a long, long time. 

A pang of hurt and anger rose inside of you as you went towards it, feet slapping against the stones as you got closer and closer, unready and unwilling to be reasonable for such a boundary being crossed.

This was not what you had planned for the evening.

The hallway became shorter, as you got closer, and the air in the hall changed. It became colder. Sharper. More charged. And the anger that you had within you, slowly began to crackle as you came to a stop, spotting Cregan standing in Aemond’s study, his large back to you.

“What are you doing?” You demanded, hurt rising within as he stood in front of Aemond’s old desk. 

There was the smallest of whispers of something not being right that began to grow in the back of your mind. 

But Cregan did not answer you, nor did he turn to look at you when he would have no doubt heard you enter. 

The room opened a wound you thought had been closed.

And Cregan had done that.

You stepped towards him again, no answer still from his lips. 

You thought he was better than this.

You thought that he respected this boundary.

What did he want from coming into this room?

Why would he be in here?

You looked at his posture. 

Bone straight.

His large hands clenching and unclenching at his side as his head stayed straight on.

Something wasn’t right.

“You shouldn’t be in here.” You told him, voice wary as you stopped yourself mere feet away from him. 

Again, no answer.

Did something happen?

Was this a test?

“Cregan?”

And then you heard it.

A low chuckle.

A sound that in your years of dating Cregan, you had not heard once.

And in your years of his absence, you had missed.

It was a chuckle that sent ice running down your spine. 

And yet, your feet took you forward anyway.

“Cregan?” You asked again, wariness in your voice as you tried to peer around his side and look at his face.

Was this a dream?

A nightmare?

A hum. All that came from his chest, was a deep and oh too familiar hum.

“Hm.”

Your spine stiffened, and it felt as though the air in the room turned to ice, goosebumps rising on your skin. 

“This isn’t funny, Cregan. Get out.” One last attempt of courage, one last attempt of standing your ground, or at least your first attempt, which came and flew and crashed to the ground in flames. 

Cregan finally shifted, turning to face you, and although it was the face of your boyfriend, it was the mannerisms of your late husband which caused you to gasp out in fear. On Cregan’s soft lips, was the sharp pull of a smirk that Aemond almost always reserved for you.

“I’ve missed you zaldrītsos.” Little dragon.

Horror flooded you.

“Cregan.” You warned in clenched teeth, afraid that if they were open, they’d chatter, “This isn’t funny.” 

Growling, a tear fell down your cheek, your hands clenched into fists as you looked at him.

He had no right to be in this room.

He had no right to call you that name.

To act as he did.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Another smirk, and a step towards you, “Cregan is indisposed.”

Another tear fell down your cheek as you took a step backwards and away, watching as his eyes roamed down your body, “Cut it out, Creg. I’m serious.”

Brown hair cascaded over his shoulder as he tilted his head at you, clicking his tongue, “Oh, I'm deathly serious.” Came his purr-like response.

Your heart raced against your ribcage, blood rushing into your ears as you stared at him in shock and fear.

This-

It couldn’t-

It wasn’t-

“Aemond?” You breathed.

And it was the smile that did it for you. The smile you had prayed and hoped and dreamed to see every day for the years without it, yet now, seeing it up close on the face of your boyfriend scared the living wits from you.

His tongue darted out to wet his lips as he shifted lightly on his feet, not at all in the clunky manner that Cregan would have, but it in a smooth, calculated way that was every movement Aemond would make, “Have you missed me?”

You couldn’t move. 

You couldn’t breathe. 

You couldn’t speak, even if you dared to. 

It must be a dream. 

A cruel dream.

A nightmare in which you would wake from soon. 

But it felt too real.

It felt too sure. 

He was here. 

There, right in front of you. But it wasn’t him.

It wasn’t his body, his face, his voice.

But it was him.

He took another step towards you, and your stumbled backwards, mouth agape as you looked at him, the shadows of the dark lit room falling across his face. 

And then there it was. 

That Cheshire Cat smile.

“Run."

Your feet bound on the flagstones as you fled in terror, racing down the stairs to try and escape, to leave the estate, to get to your car and go, or your phone, or anywhere that wasn’t near him. To get away from him. It wasn’t him.

It wasn’t him.

It wasn’t him.

It was.

It was him. 

Air struggled to get into your lungs as you ran as fast as you could, hands catching themselves on the stone walls, nails biting into them as you caught yourself taking sharp corners, the dark halls and stairways causing your heart to race faster, feeling as though they were closing in on you. 

You didn’t dare look back. 

You knew he was there. 

You knew he was chasing you. 

Something you had done together for fun, for pleasure, but now, you were struck with terror.

But there it was, sweet salvation. 

The floor crashed up towards you as you landed heavily on your knees, tripping on the last step, not wasting anytime to check for injury nor even feel the blood that dripped down your legs, knees skinned from landing on the ancient stone floors. 

But there it was. 

The main hall. 

And there at the end, your way out. 

Your escape. 

The front doors of the estate.

You raced for it, heart in your throat, air barely in your lungs as they screamed for a reprieve, adrenaline coursing through your veins as you got closer and closer, fear still crawling up your throat, threatening to break through as a scream. 

And scream you did as your body was hauled off of your feet and into the air by a pair of large arms, wrapped around your centre. You kicked and clawed as you tried to get away from him, mind racing a million miles an hour, unsure of what was happening, and if it was even possible, but desperate to get away.

Not a sound, nor a jeer, nor a tease came from the man behind you. Not even a word to reassure you that this was a game, that it was Cregan, that you were safe, that this was just a long planned part of a fantasy you had expressed you wanted and he had denied. 

There was no reassurance. 

There was no check in. 

Because it wasn’t Cregan. 

It was Aemond. 

And as he hauled you back down the hall and up the stairs, kicking and screaming, back to his study, tears falling from your cheeks, you knew that it was him. You knew that it had been the slightest glimmers of him in Cregan the past month. Those migraines were more, those changes were more, and you had ignored them. 

Your hips collided with the desk of Aemond's study as he threw you into it, hands desperate to catch your fall, spreading across the desk knocking over items that had not been touched nor moved for years.

“I’ve had to watch him fuck you, every night.” He growled from behind, as you tried to push yourself up, his body caging you into his desk. There was a flicker of familiarity of the times you had once found yourself in a similar predicament.

“I’ve had to hear your moans and whines, knowing they were for someone else.” He said angrily, pulling at your dress, ripping it upwards as you tried to pull it back down, hands clawing backwards at his arms.

“You’re insane!” You screamed at him, “Get off me, Cregan!”

Aemond chuckled from behind, “You know it’s me. You always did like it rough,” His hands smacked yours away from him, shoving your face down on the desk again, “And poor Cregan just couldn’t do that for you, could he?”

Tears fell onto the desk below you, brain short circuiting as you didn’t know what to do or how to react, “Cregan, this isn’t funny.” You tried one last time, hoping his name would reach him, to snap him out of whatever this was, “Please, stop.”

Two large hands wrapped themselves around your wrists, bringing them both into one as he squeezed, face coming to the side of yours as he growled deeply, “Stop. Calling. Me. That.”

Aemond’s free hand ripped at your lace panties that you had worn for Cregan, tearing them to shreds from your body, the burn of the material hot against your skin. His hips pressed into you from behind roughly, and you stifled a confused and frightened sob.

“I’m going to fuck this little pussy like I’ve wanted to for years.” He emphasised with a grind against your backside, “I’ve had to watch you cry over me, my sweet byka mēre.” Little one, You sobbed loudly at the name, “Ao sagon ñuhon. Iksan dōrī ivestragī jā.” You’re mine. I am never letting you go.

It was him.

It was truly him.

Cregan couldn’t speak Aemond’s native tongue. 

Cregan didn’t know the names your late husband had called you.

It was him. 

It was Aemond.

You sobbed beneath him, you didn’t know if it was in relief, in horror, or in fear. 

You were so confused. 

“Valzȳrys?” Husband, You cried, trying to turn your head, but knowing that you would be met with a face that didn’t match.

Long fingers brushed through your folds, finding them slick already, “Shhh.” Aemond quietened you, “Let me take care of my ābrazȳrys.” Wife. 

Aemond smeared your slick through your folds with the tip of his cock as he brushed against your bud and then pushed inside of you. A long groan fluttered through his chest, vibrating against your back.

He set a brutal pace immediately, the old, heavy, wooden desk jutting with each thrust, your hips no doubt bruised from the force. Tears still fell from your eyes as you cried out, feeling him pull you by your hair, causing your back to arch up against his front as he fucked into you harder, hot pants in your ear. 

Aemond fucked you in a way that only he knew how, pulling mewl after mewl from you with every stroke, large palm squeezing at your throat whilst the other moved to grasp at your hip, pulling you back onto his cock roughly, slick dripping down your thighs as the coil within you began to tighten.

“So fucking tight for me.” He grunted from behind, hand coming to your front to gather some slick from your folds as he parted them further, his cock plunging inside of you from between them, “So fucking wet. I have missed this little pussy.”

His fingers pressed against your bud, swirling in time with his thrusts, causing your pleasure to mount faster and faster, the tears having stopped falling from your eyes as you moaned loudly, head thrown back against his shoulder. 

Your release was bounding towards you rapidly, and Aemond felt it. 

“Squeezing me so good, you gonna cum for me already?”

You nodded, feeling a smirk beside your cheek as he pressed harder against your bud, “Cum for me.”

The coil snapped, and warmth flooded over your body as your writhed in his grip, walls gripping his cock as you came hard. Aemond increased his pace, fucking into you harder as he squeezed your neck roughly, mind spinning and vision going black in the corners. 

You felt like you were floating. 

You hadn’t felt like this in years.

Aemond moaned from behind you as your walls clamped down on him, “Such a perfect little pussy.” He thrusted deeply into you, grinding the air out of your lungs as your mouth dropped open, “Made me for me. Only me.”

You body began to feel heavy as he continued to squeeze your throat, mind going fuzzy as you floated in bliss, his cock drilling into your walls, the sound of your slick release obscene in the room as he clapped his hips against yours. 

“You’re mine.” Came a growl that sounded just like Aemond’s voice and not Cregan’s, tip of his cock jutting into your cervix painfully, “Forever.”

You nodded weakly and whined, “Yours. Only yours.” 

Tears began to spring into your eyes again, knowing that this was Aemond. Knowing that this was him, but also knowing that you could never have him truly. Knowing he was gone, and never coming back, and although you had tried, although you did love Cregan, you would never truly move on from Aemond. 

You would always be his.

The grip around your neck pulled away and blood rushed to your head, strange euphoria taking over as you felt his pull out of you from behind. You stumbled forward slightly before he caught you, turning you around and lifting you onto the desk. And although you were staring at Cregan’s face, with his stormy grey eyes and his brown hair, you could tell just by the way his features contorted, by the way he moved or talked or fucked you, that it was Aemond. 

And at this, more tears came.

Aemond sucked his tongue at you, wiping away a tear roughly as he pressed a chaste kiss to your lips, and without waiting another second, slid back inside of your walls, a needy moan falling from your lips as you continued to cry.

Aemond began to rub at your clit again, sending blinding pleasure back up your spine. It was almost too much, too intense, added with everything else, your mind was running in circles.

You whimpered and tried to run away from his fingers, which only served to anger him. 

“Stop crying.” He ordered, hand slapping at your clit in warning causing you to yelp.

You hiccuped and sniffled, body jolting with every thrust as he pushed you backwards to lay down on the desk, hovering over you, one hand gripping your shoulder to pull you back down on him, the other pressed onto your swollen bud, “You like when I fuck this little pussy?” He grunted, and you closed your eyes, trying to imagine his face instead of seeing Cregan’s.

“You’ve been thinking of me, haven’t you?” He chastised you, tutting meanly as you nodded your head with a suppressed sob, “He could never fuck you the way I can.”

Pleasure mounting within you again, all you could do was nod and babble yes.

This seemed to both please and anger Aemond, his thrusts speeding up as your spine rubbed painfully into the hard wooden surface, “Cregan could never give you what you want. What you need. He’s useless.” A tear tracked down your cheek as you turned your head away, looking at the far wall as he ploughed into your cunt, “It’s only me. Only I can make you feel this good.”

You moaned beneath him as you felt your second peak rising just as rapidly as the first, his hand not once relenting. But your non-answer came at a cost. Pain bloomed in the side of your cheek as you squeaked, slap having caught your attention as Aemond pinched your jaw in his hand to look up into eyes that weren’t his.

“Say it.” He thrust into you sharply and as deep as he could go, sparks of pain rippling through your cervix in a haze of confusing pleasure.

“Only you,” You whined, “Always you, Aemond.”

“Good girl.”

Aemond’s pace increased, determined to bring you to your end as well as reach his, each thrust jolting the desk against the floor and punching the air from your lungs. You knew that by morning you’d be an aching and bruised mess, but that thought only brought you closer to your peak.

Loving kisses were dotted against your cheeks as Aemond soothed the tracks of tears away with his lips. Your hands reaching up to wrap themselves around his shoulders and your legs around his waist, desperate to pull him in closer.

“Please.” You whimpered, but you didn’t know what for.

Aemond’s arms scooped under your back and pulled you closer to him, changing the angle so that his cock pressed deeper and at a higher angle, one that he knew you loved the most.

And it was all that you needed before you fell of the edge with him, head tossed back in ecstasy as you came for the second time, Aemond following you with a long moan, pressing as deep as he could inside of you. 

“I love you.” You whispered into his neck, feeling his cock pulse inside of you, cum filling up your walls.

Your hands soothed the hair at the front of his face in a way you knew he liked, and you felt him shudder from above, kisses pressed into the crux of your shoulder and neck as he whispered into the skin. 

I love you. 

I love you. 

I love you.

All too soon, the high of your ecstasy fizzled away, and reality came crashing down around you. Your arms and legs tightened around him, small hiss coming through his teeth as your walls clamped around him. 

The stinging prickle of tears filled your eyes again, “Please don’t leave me.” You cried, heart beginning to feel as though it was breaking all over again. 

Aemond pulled away from you, though not without a struggle, a different face looking down at you with a familiar sign of love. His hand came to brush the tears away from your cheek slowly, before he leant down to pull you into a kiss, your lips shuddering as you poorly contained a sob, “I will never leave you.” He whispered against your lips, “Not now, not ever. I am always here.” He pulled away, soothing your hair from your face as his brows pulled together in a way that you knew pain was coming. 

You tried to sit up, to try and soothe his pain, to instinctually run for the medication you had kept all these years, but he stopped you, cupping your cheek with his large hand as he looked down at you, eyes now full of determination, “I am always watching you. And one day, Cregan won’t be a problem anymore.” 

You blinked in confusion as you looked at him, your own brows furrowing, but before you could even respond, his eyes shut in pain and a groan whittled through his lips, heel of his hand pressed into the side of his face where Aemond had lost his eye. 

“Aemond?” You whispered quietly, unsure what was happening.

Grey eyes opened slightly, looking at you in confusion as he blinked a couple of times, “Huh?” A low groan came from deep within his chest as he clutched the side of his head, “Wha- Wher-“

“Cregan?”

His eyes opened at you again, and then did a sweep of you and the position you were in. You looked no doubt a mess, hair tousled, neck red from where Aemond’s- Cregan’s hands had squeezed, down to your ripped dress, to finally where you were still connected, your combined releases leaking onto the old wooden desk.

Blinking rapidly he noticed the tear tracks staining your cheeks, and suddenly the pain was pushed away by concern. Cregan’s hand came to touch your neck tentatively, fear rising on his features, "Are you okay?” His voice was rushed, “Are you hurt? Did I- Did I hurt you?”

Guilt and pain struck in your chest. 

He thought you were hurt. 

He thought he hurt you. 

You shook your head rapidly, clutching the sides of his face in your hands, “No, no. You didn’t hurt me. Not at all.”

Cregan seemed to relax at this, though there was still confusion as he looked at you, forehead pulled in pain as he tried to piece everything together.

“Did we…”

You bit at your lip, worrying it between your teeth, “Are you okay? Do you remember anything?”

The man closed his eyes for a moment, trying to think, “I remember smelling food, and then I had this urge to go somewhere.“

Your heart began to race in your chest as you looked at him. You wet your lips with your tongue, eyes searching his face for any sign of Aemond left. 

What had just happened?

Was any of that real?

What was happening to you?

What was happening to Cregan?

“Hey.” Cregan caught your attention again, lowering his face to your height, “Are you okay?”

Your mouth was dry. 

Were you okay?

No.

Yes.

You didn’t know.

“I’m okay.” You lied.

Cregan frowned at your obvious avoidance, “You sure I didn’t hurt you?”

“Positive.” You reassured him, pressing a kiss to his cheek, your stomach turning. 

When you pulled away, Cregan was watching you with caution again.

“What?” You asked quietly, fear beginning to rise inside of you. 

Did he remember?

Does he know?

Did he-

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

You couldn’t help it. 

You couldn’t stop it if you tried. 

A broken sob fell through your lips like a half laugh.

Had you?

Thanks so much for reading along with me, if you wish to be added to the general tag list please let me know on the general taglist post here :) Likes and reblogs are greatly appreciated ! Enjoy <3

General Taglist:

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[presidenthades]

⚠️Spoilers for S.2 ep.2, kinda❓

DAERON EXISTS, LIFE MAKES SENSE AGAIN!

Anyhow, your thoughts on the new episode🎤???

Oh, and in celebration of show!Daeron's confirmed existence: mini tiny Joffron doodle ig? Made with love, not with skill☝️💚🖤❤️

Wait omigod I love this. Why does it perfectly encapsulate the two of them. 😭😍🥰 They really do have a reverse Hades/Persephone dynamic! Honestly I love this art style, it’s giving a chibi vibe that I adore. I’m going to link this to my HOTD artwork list.

Anyway yes, Daeron truthers rise up. ✊

(Obviously, S2E2 spoilers below the cut.)

First I’ll start with new thoughts on B&C. After my rewatch, most of my feelings about E1 remained the same, but I want to update my reaction to B&C. Helaena’s muted reaction made more sense to me the second time around. It is consistent with her character, and the BTS info about her visions makes it understandable why she seemed to treat Jaehaerys’s death as inevitable.

HOWEVER. Viewers should not be required to watch BTS commentaries etc. to have full context for the scene. The background info about Helaena’s visions should’ve been in the actual episode. If knowing about Helaena’s visions about her children’s potential demise is that important, they could and should have incorporated it I nto an actual scene. For example, instead of her opening scene being her embroidering, she could’ve been scribbling about that vision in her notebook.

If for some reason this was too difficult to film, there’s one small change they could’ve made to B&C which would’ve made a huge difference, visions or no visions. When Blood says both children “look the same,” Cheese could have responded with “just kill them both.” This instantly heightens the stakes and makes Helaena’s actions more understandable to even the most casual viewer: if she doesn’t point out Jaehaerys, then both her children die.

End of E1 rant. Onto E2 rant!

I’ve seen a lot of different reactions to this episode. Some say it was great, some say it was awful. IMO, your takeaway of how good the episode was probably depends on who your favorite characters are.

I think Rhaenyra and Aegon had the best scenes this episode. Otto also had some banger lines, and Helaena made me feel a lot of emotions. Daemon did not come away particularly well, Aemond was a little weird, Alicent continues to be frustrating, and I’m convinced that Criston is the writing room’s whipping boy.

TGC really got to show off his acting chops this episode. Personally I wish they could’ve spent more time on Aegon smashing the LEGOs and bludgeoning Blood, but that is a me preference. I think Aegon really did love Jaehaerys, AND he is angry about the blow that has been struck again him as king. Both these things can be true at the same time. The end scene where he’s crying alone in his room proves that his grief isn’t just a show.

And I don’t mind that Aegon’s decision to hang all the rat-catchers makes him seem violent and impetuous, because he is violent and impetuous. The scene is also framed so that you understand why Aegon did it; we see Cheese hanging with the others. And let’s be honest, if Rhaenyra did something similar to avenge Luke (eg burn down Storm’s End because Borros contributed to his demise, which would kill a lot of other people too), a lot of viewers would cheer her on.

(I was definitely thinking during the “Aegon fires Otto” scene that Aegon could really use a Jacaera to kindly knock some sense into him. 🥲)

Speaking of the end scene…omigod Alicent why. 💀 Conceptually, I understand there’s generational trauma going on. Otto was cold with Alicent, who is in turn cold with Aegon especially. But like. Holy shit. Give your son a 5-second hug. It would’ve been nice if they could at least show Alicent feeling conflicted, like she wants to comfort her son but feels incapable, so she walks away.

Backtracking a bit: I feel like Alicent is consistently made the focus of the story in places where she arguably should not be the focus, and I wonder if this is because the showrunners want to take advantage of the fact they’ve paid good money for Olivia Cooke. But I truly do not understand why it was Helaena and Alicent at the funeral rather than Helaena and Aegon. Otto said something about “our gentlest souls” but this could’ve been a great opportunity to showcase more of Aegon and Helaena’s complicated relationship and shared grief.

Whatever my other feelings on the scene, I do think Phia and Olivia’s acting was phenomenal. Helaena’s panic attack during the funeral 😱. I really just wanted to emergency evacuate her from that mess.

I’m going out of chronological order, but I’m going to backtrack again to Otto making the decision to have the funeral as a PR campaign. It’s very Machiavellian, and TBH I understand why he chose to do it. It is a huge blow against Rhaenyra’s reputation. But I feel like the show wants Otto and Daemon to be the only actual schemers on their respective sides. Everyone else kinda just whoopsies or white-knights their way through the narrative. I just want to shake the writers and tell them it’s okay for other characters to be villainous. There’s a reason Daemon is way more popular than Criston. At least Daemon fully commits to his bad decisions.

I kinda feel bad for Fabien Frankel because the writers seem to really have it out for Criston. They really want to make him the most hatable character. 💀 Imagine if instead we got a more Machiavellian Criston who intentionally decides to claw his way up from nothing to become one of the most powerful people in Westeros. Even if he does reprehensible things along the way, at least he does them purposefully, not because he’s incompetent.

I almost forgot to talk about Aemond, because he really has not been getting a lot of screen time these two episodes. The brothel scene was odd but not as odd as it could have been. I wish the writers would stop having his personality revolve around Daemon, but it’s probably their way of building up to God’s Eye. Honestly, I would’ve preferred a scene of Aemond with his family dealing with B&C aftermath rather than fucking off to the brothel.

Now, changing topics to the Rhaenyra and Daemon divorce scene. I think viewers’ reactions to this scene depend a lot on whether or not you’re a Daemon fan. He really comes off not great in the entire sequence from when Rhaenyra learns about B&C to when Daemon leaves. Also, it’s very obvious Sara Hess wrote the scene; she’s been vocal about how she dislikes Daemon, and a lot of what Rhaenyra says seems to be opinions that Sara has shared. I think Rhaenyra was right to call out Daemon for B&C and for lying to her face about it.

It may have been better if they had more buildup showing cracks between Daemon and Rhaenyra, because she’s also calling him out for a lot of stuff besides B&C. There was the S1E10 argument and choking scene, but some more interaction in S2E1 or E2 where they’re at odds would have made it fresher in viewers’ memories. But it’s not necessary, and I think the scene works as is.

Despite viewers’ feelings on this scenes, it was VERY well acted by both Emma and Matt. And it leads to Rhaenyra’s interesting interaction with Baela. Rhaenyra refuses to risk Jace and send him out on patrol near KL, but she tells Baela to do the exact same thing. It’s very subtle, and the scene is framed as a positive thing between the two characters, but this is probably the most morally gray decision Rhaenyra makes in this episode. She won’t risk her child, but she will risk Daemon’s child immediately after they fought.

The Mysaria scenes were interesting. I really don’t mind the show’s efforts to whitewash her. She’s horrible in the book, but show!Mysaria is actually sympathetic for the most part. She worked her way up from nothing but the people in charge of the system keep stomping her back down. I think her dialogue about Daemon/Otto/powerful men was heavy-handed foreshadowing that she’s going to end up serving Rhaenyra, who is notably not a man.

I don’t have a lot of groundbreaking comments about Erryk & Arryk. It was very emotionally impactful…and I wish the episode had ended either with them dying, or with the scene where Aegon is crying by himself, rather than ANOTHER Alicole sex scene. 💀

Overall, this episode had its highlights, and acting is phenomenal as always. But the writers really need to figure out what to do with Alicent and Criston, other than have the fuck all the time.

[alezangona]

A Little Salaar Rant:

Rewatched Salaar again for the nth time and am just so curious as to how the sequel is going to go.

Like number one, a part of me believes that Aadhya is a misdirect as a love interest because in the nicest way, Deva and Varadha are too into each other to care about anyone else. I really don’t think that anything Aadhya says or does can make Deva prioritize her over Varadha (when it comes to matters of safety- like if someone was holding a gun to both of their heads, he’d be picking Varadha no doubt). Even in their interview where they were describing what they take away from their characters:

• Prithvi talked about how Varadha feels incomplete without Deva.

• Prabhas talked about how Deva’s priority is Varadha first, then his mother, and now Aadhya.

• Shruthi talked about how Aadhya doesn’t even belong here and how she just accidentally wandered in and how her character is important in driving the plot forward.

I feel like in the end, they’re just gonna make her a love interest because that’s usually how these films go. But that feels so weird in the context of this movie because it wouldn’t really fit into the character dynamics that have been established. A part of me hopes that she can just be a friend at the end of it all, especially since her and Deva will probably have a side quest as they deal with the asthikalu. But anything more than that wouldn’t really feel just to the story at hand. In my opinion anyway.

And number two, the plot of the next movie will concentrate on the war between Deva and Varadha. I’m so interested about how they’re going to play that out because I cannot picture either of these two wanting to actually hurt each other. It even feels like in Prithvi’s entry scene, Varadha doesn’t look excited by the fact they’ve found Deva. Instead, he kind of just looks tired/done/like there’s a burden on his shoulders. Most probably because he doesn’t want to actually kill or hurt Deva. I feel like he’d rather just turn a blind eye to his location than actually hurt him.

In terms of how the movie ends too, I know Prashant talked about how the last scene of the movie will be the same as the first scene in the movie. Which makes me think that it might end with Deva dying, because what happens in the first scene is Deva doing what he has to in order to protect Varadha. Like maybe the movie will end with the current pole! But that would be so sad… like I need both of them to survive and live out their lives together. Or, if one goes, the other goes with because with how intertwined their souls are, I don’t think either can really survive with the other being completely gone.

I think a big part of me is just hoping that they’ll end up together at the end of it all because their actions showcase nothing but love and regard for the other. It’s something that goes beyond friendship (every interaction that happened between them has literally happened before in other movies with straight couples). I don’t think I have enough faith in Indian cinema at this point in this to truly believe they’ll let Varadha and Deva become a couple.

But I really wish they would because it’s about time. Also, you can’t have a story this big and dramatic, rooted in the story of these two characters who would literally do anything for each other in a setting as bloodthirsty as Khansar, and think that it isn’t a story about love. Ya know?

Also random, but a part of was also thinking about the conflict that happened in Khansar that led to Deva and his mom having to leave a second time. Like post that is when Amma probably really got scared of the power of her son and truly realized what he was capable of in the hands of Varadha. Especially because from my perspective, whatever blood bath occurred that led to Deva feeling guilty (cuz blood on his hands) has to have occurred because he needed to protect Varadha. So even though what happened probably wasn’t directly Varadha’s fault, I kinda of want to see Varadha and Amma being able to meet each other in 2017 and there be a tension in their relationship too. Where Amma probably is wary of Varadha since she knows the power he has over her son and where Varadha probably just feels this sense of unease because how do you confront someone who was like a mother to you?

In general, this is just a rant as I watch and rewatch and try to process my own thoughts. I feel like I know mostly how the plot is going to go and what to expect out of the second film. But there’s also the bigger part of me that hopes that instead of taking the generic way out (the way most series and movies seem to be doing now) the creators will take the time to do justice to the film and to the characters by allowing it to be what it is, rather than fitting into some mold of their own expectations.

[crguang]

also the overalls on Kafka, her in a suit is always so nice, like I need to put on her tie for her and adjust her collar and kiss her goodbye before she goes to kill a ton of people. When she comes home yank her by the tie and kiss her dumb, and the overalls are coming off. Also she’s drinking again, she went to the bar immediately. I rewatched her trailer, like ik she killed all the guards but I need to be one of them, especially the one at the end, idc if I’m gonna get shot, like her pose, the legs? if Kafka did that to me…I would not survive. And I saw a screenshot of her from like an early game trailer like an anime opening type thing with her name in the background …her legs, omg I need her so bad.

I checked her other replies and it was biographical films and she said “I also enjoy the feeling of reading about and watching others' lives” which makes sense, she def likes analyzing people’s lives and stuff smth smth I don’t like the idea of a movie being made abt me w the director’s interpretation of me, which I thought was interesting, bc obv she’s an “actor” if Elio is the director. And the other one is sci-fi and she says smth like they’re set in the future but the past is repeated in the future. Which is silly bc sci-fi still existing in hsr like what are sci-fi movies abt there? I got gifted lavender oil, to help relax my brain or smth, and makes it easier to sleep, so hopefully that helps too.

-🌠

kafka in a suit always does things to me i love her stupid suspenders so much she looks so edible i need to chew her like bubblegum. and yeah i joke abt her always having a drink in hand but it’s kinda true like maybe it’s time for an intervention…..

we dont talk about kafka doing the world a favor by shooting ipc goons in the head often enough. if i was that dude she was leaning over with her boobs in his face and shot me in the face i’d die happy. like what a way to go. need to sit on her lapppp i need it i need it

learning stuff about her makes me smile so big like of course she enjoys getting in people’s heads it’s her whole thing… did she actually say that she wouldn’t want a movie made about her… it makes sense, since she keeps everyone at a distance and keeps her cards close to her chest no one could know her well enough to understand her fully, so their interpretation of her would never be true to the source material. i really love how mysterious she is and how much effort that goes into staying that way like shes so silly😭 i would argue that elio is also an actor though, he doesn’t control her and hes also just “destiny’s slave”. the scripts/possibilites are already written, he just relays them and twists them to his advantage.

the line about the past repeating itself in the future also makes sense considering that she follows the path of finality, in a “we come from the earth we’ll go back to the earth” kind of way… she also says something similar in a voice line (the past and the future are so similar to each other. i’m indifferent towards them) and im starting to understand what she means by that, even tho im still a little confused about what future she’s talking about. cause she clearly cares about hers lol

[coco-bee]

COCO’S REVIEW: RAMSHACKLE (PILOT)

Welcome to Coco’s Review! Where I review and breakdown episodes, movies and etc and overthink every tiny detail and/or give my thoughts and opinions :D

Today I’ll be discussing Ramshackle by Zeddyzi

Ramshackle is an animated pilot by online creator Zeddyzi that’s been in development since 2010 and has a thesis film, webtoon and now an animated pilot! (I’ll be discussing the Pilot)

It’s about three street rats Vinnie, Stone and Skipp who try to survive the grimy and gross streets of Ramshackle with their various scams and schemes while trying not to die!

The animation is really good! The characters have very expressive faces and sharp silhouettes! All the designs feel so angular and have a very warm color palette! Not to mention there’s the sorta coffee paper or brown paper texture to it that I really like!!

And it takes what Disney did during their Bronze Age with the scribbly line art and that scratchy kinda feel. (even using crosshatching)

I also find it interesting how the town of Ramshackle is set in its own universe and not sticking to a specific timeline with its mix of different vintage aesthetics mixed together! (in the creator’s words)

To me it feels a lot like a mix of the Great Depression and the Victorian Era!

The humor is a lovechild of early season Spongebob and Gravity Falls! Because this pilot is so fucking funny for no reason 😭

It just has so much visual comedy and dialogue that makes you go “Did I hear that correctly??”

I’ll be honest the plot isn’t perfect but the characters and humor easily makes up for it and makes things very enjoyable!! THE LITTLE DETAILS THEY PUT IN THE BACKGROUND JUST CRACK ME UP WITH EVERY REWATCH!

These are some of my personal favorite details but it’s more fun to spot them yourself!!

I also want to talk about Maggot who is a baby the trio found and decided to try and raise!

I’m not going to spoil the ending BUT MAGGOT IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!

I love how they didn’t go with just the dumb baby trope with Maggot- I swear he is such an entertaining part of the pilot I’m a little sad he probably won’t appear in the series again 😔

And just the comedy they got out of him is so great I love him smm

The main trio are just as entertaining!

They complement each other so well!! The way they bounce off each other and have very different personalities but the same goals

I’ll get this out of the way VINNIE IS SO DAMN HOT ARGHHH LIKE AAAAA I LOVE HER SMM- Shes so badass and lowkey reminds me of Grunkle Stan personality wise

Stone is basically the mandatory emo boy but now hes upgraded to main character- I love his unlimited supply of alcoholic drinks and I hope tumblr loves him

Skipp is just underrated imo 😭 I love how he has a heart of gold but he also doesnt mind scamming people (he has no other choice anyway

The way theyre so caring with Maggot just warms my heart<33

THEYRE SUCH A GREAT FRIEND GROUP I CANTTT

Anyway there are only a few complaints I have- some of the jokes can be hit or miss and it gets a bit chaotic which can possibly be a little overwhelming. Bug I want to talk about the “scam” aspect of the main premise, I feel like the webtoon explored that part of the trio’s lives much better than the pilot. They could’ve done a lot of interesting scams with a baby but applying him to a baby pageant isn’t really a scam.

The obvious commentary on the high class’s treatment of the lower class feels a bit on the nose in my opinion (like it feels almost too obvious) but doesn’t spoil the experience. Like I said the humor and character still make up for it!!

I highly recommend this pilot and series!!

Congrats to Zeddyzi and their team for bringing this year long project to life!

This is Coco typing… Thank you for reading!

[hawkcoyote]

Let’s talk Tennis

Now this is the tennis fan in me taking things a little too seriously. But as I continue to think about Challengers and I have rewatched the film again, I’m kinda looking at Tashi a little bit side ways. One thing people always talk about is how Tashi coulda/shoulda/woulda been this amazing player had she not been injured. And it’s not to say she wouldn’t have been. But she’s never actually had to put her money where her mouth is. And her being a great tennis coach for Art does not mean she could have been a major contender in her own career. I mean how good of a player was Richard Williams? Honestly, most of these coaches don’t have anything to their name. It’s a little convenient she got injured right before she actually had to make the transition. We never actually get to see whether or not Tashi had what it takes. We are all supposed to believe that because someone she beat in the junior league means she would have been on top. That’s not how tennis works. But she can forever believe that she was robbed of greatness based on her results in the junior league and college. Like okay…. And it’s like sis could have been proven herself. She wants to be the goat, but the goats were out there winning slams or at least coming close at her age. While she was playing against players she can easily crush.

So my theory is that Tashi prioritized attention over tennis. She liked being the big fish in a small pond. She liked being seen as special. That’s why her fight with Patrick rattled her so much. The idea that she’s not special affected her so much it breaks her knee and ends her tennis career. Does she really have the mental toughness to actually be a good tennis player? Idk. Cuz to me, she prioritized her ego over tennis. It cost her dearly, which is why I feel like she can’t feel satisfaction over what she’s actually accomplished. Because when she was playing tennis, her main focus wasn’t really tennis. She didn’t want her only skill in life to be tennis. She chose going to college over her tennis career because of education and branding!! To me her commitment to the sport only really showed its head after her accident. She was even being dodgy about going pro when she was playing at Stanford. Tashi is too stuck on what’s she’s lost, and she allows it to overshadow the fact that she did want other things. There were other things that were important to her and might have even been more important than tennis.

Also as much as what happened to Tashi breaks my heart, I wished folks stopped downplaying what she was able to accomplish. Only Tashi is allowed to do that, and it is very much a character flaw of hers. Because as a tennis fan, I don’t think y’all understanding why Tashi can be right alongside Art in the Aston Martin campaign. Because you have this 20-something year old girl coaching her boyfriend into winning titles and slams?!? Are you kidding me?!? Women don’t even be having female coaches like that! Please!!! A young biracial/black woman coaching her white husband into being one greatest American male tennis player’s we’ve seen since Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi?!? The last American man to win a grand slam was Andy Roddick! Especially when you factor in her story. You think folks wouldn’t eat that up? Hollywood would be making a movie about her!!! She’s gonna be the one making book deals!! She would be the reason why the GP would even know or talk about Art. And the best thing about it is that Art would completely feed into it and hype it up.

And folks be disrespecting Art too much. Calling that man a mediocre player. First off, he was a finalist in the junior grand slam alongside Patrick. There’s also nothing mediocre about winning six grand slams guys. And who even knows how many titles he has. So why folks acting like he wasn’t a great tennis player is crazy to me. Only Art gets to believe that he’s not as talented as Tashi and Patrick. This is very much a character flaw. He is a great tennis player, he just struggles to believe it because he has such a low self esteem. Tashi from the jump thought he was a good player. Art just didn’t have the confidence because he’s bisexual and hates himself. He just assumes people are better than him because they have what he lacks within himself. The idea that he couldn’t be a big tennis star without Tashi’s coaching is silly to me. Congratulations, he has a great tennis coach! Most athletes need great coaching to get them where they need to go especially when performing at that high level. I don’t think Tashi is so singular that Art couldn’t find someone else to coach him to grand slams, the only reason why he couldn’t win is because he needs Tashi in order to give a damn. So all folks are really saying is that man was able to win all those titles just to please his wife. Y’all that’s absolutely nuts. Seriously imagine the monster Art would be if he did care? So in conclusion, we are kinda feeding into both Tashi’s and Art’s delusions. We have no way of determining if Tashi would have been a great professional player. Just because her junior league rival is a tennis star four years after the fact does not mean Tashi would have been huge. We are being a little bit delusional. And Art is not a mediocre player. Because even if we like to pretend that the junior league is a measure of talent, Art was literally right along side Patrick. Like he was the second best player in that tournament, that’s not mediocrity…. Art just deludes himself into thinking he’s not great because he hates himself.

[midnightsgift]

8b sneak peek

Ik ppl are speculating about buck having a near death experience in 8b/ Maddie not really being kidnapped and i do find some of the theories intriguing. One thing i do find interesting is the sneak peek. I went to rewatch it to see if the mentioned maddies name specifically or if it was just the clips that implied she was being kidnapped.

In the clip u can clearly tell the audio has been spliced together to make the sentence ‘he’s a damn serial killer and it looks like he took {Maddie} with him.’ With Maddie not fitting in naturally. It’s normal for shows to edit audio to create sentence that were/aren’t in the show to build a narrative. So this isn’t abnormal, in this case it feel as if it’s just the name that has been added in either the replace someone else’s or a pronoun.

I have a couple of thoughts and no one to share them with so here u go. I’m pretty sure I’m gonna try and cut shit down so it won’t be all my thoughts but hopefully it still makes sense.

Theory/Explanation 1: it being a different victims name (either the ‘first’ victim i.e. the initial case that alerts the lapd read:Athena to the serial killer. Think prehaps a missing person case and along the way Athena links it to a serial killer/ unravels the case to find more victim and/or a specialist team come in to now help with the og case cuz it linked with a serial killer. i this is where we’ll see the other female agents who’s seen listing of item in the sneak peak). I think i could be a sound bit from early on in the episode were the idea of a serial killer is still being thrown around and then they added Maddie to fit the promo. I think makes a lot of sense and probably the most ‘realistic/simple’ explanation but who doesn’t look speculation.

Another thing that I think helps back this is the use of the He/Him pronouns considering the clips really kinda imply it is a woman who sedates her. So the og audio could once again come from quite early on in the investigation when its assumed the serial killer is a man and less is known about em, or perhaps when maddie is being kidnapped it’s still assumed its a man.

So i guess this theory is more likely to be what’s happening but it’s fun to speculate.

Explanation 2:

I haven’t really been keeping up with the bts/filming so idk what episodes they filmed so idk if the clips shown are all gonna be for 8x09 or perhaps a two parter so 09 and 10, but i will assume they’re gonna just for one ep but let me know if u know more bout that.

But I could be fun to think about a world where perhaps initially maddie is the target but the kidnapper gets disturbed mid attack. It looks like it takes place at her house and it could easily be explained that chim and buck are on shift and the credits roll, but icl i just hate the idea of maddies second pregnancy being traumatic (not in a its shit writing but more just my beloved character let her have something nice). So perhaps buck or chin walk in on it and the kidnapper suddenly has improvise and takes her sibling/spouse (ignore what i said in the last brackets 🤧). I think this would set up a two-parter as this could easily be the cliff-hanger, and the second ep could see the spiralling of the killer as they have to readjust their plan/ they feel as their losing control. And we could see maddie then waking up and trying to help aid Athena in a similar way buck had during the Doug era. IDK this idea is very much half-baked but i think it be a cool misdirect.

[anoriginalweirdo]

All Of Us Strangers (2023)

Directed by Andrew Haigh

With Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell, Claire Foy

✨ Personal ‘review’, it might contain spoilers ✨

‘I’d always felt lonely… even before. This was a new feeling. Like… a terror… that I’d always be alone now. And then, as I got older, that feeling… just solidified. Just a knot here all the time. And then losing them, it just got… tangled up with all the other stuff… about being gay… and just a feeling like… the future doesn’t matter. Does that make sense?’

‘Yeah. I know how easy it can be to stop caring about yourself.’

⭐️ 🌟 ⭐️

I’m NOT fine. Why did it have to combine most of my traumas like that with my obsession for ghosts and old places?

Goddamnit I kinda want to throw up, that felt way too close and too brutal at the same time. So funny how it has a parallel with the idea of the novel I’ve started to write - which has been on my mind for the past 3 years. Ghosts and imagined conversations and loneliness and sadness and trying to make sense about the future when everything takes you back to the past.

How insane is it to see a younger version of me in the eyes of Harry and not completely lose my fucking mind? I’ve only been able to let go of her and of the worst ‘what ifs?’ a couple of months ago so watching his character going through all of this throws me back two years ago.

I feel like Adam, surrounded by ghosts and loneliness and having to keep going. Luckily I feel way way better now, but I can’t help the sudden good old loneliness to find its way back and make its home again inside my tight chest.

What I would give to talk to my mother, ask her if she’s proud of who I’m trying to be and if she loves me still.

As the crazy person that I am I rewatched twice two scenes that made suffocating cause of tears.

Anyways, Andrew, Paul, thanks for the tears AGAIN. Thanks Ireland, always haha.

Also Death of a Party by Blur playing made my brain go wild.

I kinda want to rewatch it again, because it’s that kind of film that you need to rewatch to understand the story all over again with the new details. Everything is brilliant and I want to cry.

I’m gonna shut up now, I’m listening to Fontaines D.C. while writing all this, trying not to overthink about the past, and I want to cry but I should just go fucking sleep. I’ll probably see ghosts again during the night.

I want to cry again, if you didn’t get it.

I’ll be ok.

[gibblegabber]

I’m rewatching all the land before times (yea i’m that old) for nostalgia’s sake and bc i think they’re kinda renowned for their animation in that time period. here’s my ratings so far

(Don’t read if you care about spoilers for a kids movie franchise that started in fucking 1988 but I am getting the feeling this won’t matter LOL)

I : it’s the first one it’s great. littlefoot’s mom dies. we know this. you’ll cry. he spends the whole movie grieving. this is a hard watch why exactly did this go on to make 14 movies? 9/10 bc it’s legendary but honestly the whole movie made me sad

II : come on let’s go and run around run around. what a beautiful feeling! we finally found A PEACEFUL VALLEYYY and EVERYONES HAVIN A GOOD TIIIIME NOOOOOOW!!!!! (Music was good) Also chomper is here. 10/10 i want to eat a tree star for real

III: ummmhmnmm I think this one is teaching kids about bullies and how to stand up to them or share with them or something. the fire scene which is basically just Bambi again scared the hell out of me as a kid. as did Bambi. 6/10 I watched this 2 days ago and already forgot the overall plot

IV: I must’ve really liked this one as a kid bc I remembered more of it than the others but I COMPLETELY FORGOT THE GIRL LONG NECK SOMEHOW. she was mid. Backgrounds and vibes in this one were beautiful though. almost losing a family member so we got to almost relive THAT trauma. Mists were pretty. Nightflowers were pretty. actually this one slaps 10/10

V: no!!!!! I was bored!!!!! my family and I used to sing “big, big, big, big, waterrrrrrr” all the time so I thought I would love the song but it wasn’t good. the songs really dropped in quality at this point. resolution of the big plot issue at the end happened out of nowhere. CHOMPER IS BACK 10/10 and not having sharpteeth eat his friends was such a major thing that’s cool. but genuinely this one was too boring. 6/10. the high-ish rating is only because chomper is there

and that’s all!!!! be back with more if I survive watching (checks watch) 9 more G-rated films about dinosaurs 🙃

[dodger-sister]

The reviews I wrote for Letterboxd on all the Christmas movies I watched this holiday season…

16 Christmas movies:

Christmas at the Golden Dragon: I wanted something funny & light. But this was way too “Hallmark” for me. Not a comedy at all. Osric Chau looked good, but that wasn’t enough to save it. This movie desperately wanted to be Love Actually, right down to the opening voiceover. It was several winding stories all intertwined together, like Love Actually, centered around staff & customers at one restaurant during the week of Christmas. I fell asleep during it, woke up, rewound, fell asleep again. To be fair, I have been sick with the winter crud, but still, this was too saccharin & predictable for me to stay awake. But if you like that straight up predictable Hallmark Christmas movie vibe that definitely spreads the message of community, then maybe this would be your cuppa. Will be rating on a Hallmark esque Christmas movie scale.

Christmas with the Campbell’s: Ok, this is one I had never heard of even though it’s written by Vince Vaughn (who is a continuing theme throughout my Christmas movies this year). It stars Alex Moffat of SNL fame and also Justin Long & Brittany Snow, both of whom I crush on. It’s a parody of every Hallmark Christmas movie out there. If Alex Moffat as the meanie big city boyfriend doesn’t convince you of that, wait until you meet Justin Long as the loner poetic cowboy and hear every ridiculous “country boy” saying that comes outta his mouth. I will say, it has some vulgar humor, so might not be for everybody. And, to be honest, I’m a go big or go home kinda person. If you’re gonna parody something, go big. Think “They Came Together” or “Spaceballs”. Still, while it took me until Justin Long showed up to realize it was indeed a parody and not just a regular Hallmark movie, I did enjoy it. Won’t be a Rewatchable, but I’m glad I gave it a watch. I laughed out loud more than once.

Dear Santa: This was fun! What if a kid accidentally addressed his Santa letter to Satan and then Satan showed up? But as a Christmas family comedy movie. It was family friendly but also exactly what you expect from Jack Black playing Satan. There were several adult jokes that’ll have the adults barking (or bleating…watch the movie, you’ll get it) with laughter, but will definitely go right over the kids’ heads. While simultaneously having plenty of jokes the adults won’t laugh at, but the kids will think are hysterical. This is not gonna be one I rewatch regularly, but I can def see myself rewatching it at least once. Jack Black is so good with kid actors. He has an empathy that comes through in all of his characters. The end (No Spoilers!) felt a little too saccharin for my tastes. I don’t even wanna give it a pass just because it’s a family movie. Kids can handle topics like death, divorce, and selling your soul to Satan. But overall, do recommend! Wait for the surprise cameo near the end, early 2000s comedy fans.

Elf: I mean, if you don’t know that Elf is one of the greatest movies, let alone Christmas movies, ever made, like, what are you doing in life? Listen, I’m not usually a Will Ferrell fan. His comedy is usually too over the top for me. But I look at this as a Jon Favreau movie more than a Ferrell movie. But they really couldn’t have cast Buddy better. I love how it has the feel of an old 70s Christmas special with a more modern comedy style. + a great cast and both Ed Asner as Santa and Bob Newhart as Papa Elf will never be beat. So yeah, what if one of Santa’s elf’s adopted a human and that human grew into Will Ferrell who then had to convince one of the grumpiest Scrooges to find his Christmas spirit? And what if I got goosebumps during the climactic moment of the film every damn time? We watch this every year while putting up the tree. & yeah we quote this movie so much, year round. A modern Christmas classic for the whole family! (Yes, I know it’s 20+ year old movie, so not *that* modern.) Thanks, Buddy!

Father Christmas Is Back: No. Just no. So the humor was kinda Wes Anderson but British? Which was fine. I like that style. That wasn’t the problem. No, the problem was that the characters were all awful. And I don’t mean like badly written. They were terrible people who all seemed to genuinely hate each other. I was sure they’d reconcile and find the meaning of Christmas but, like, maybe they shouldn’t? Maybe they should be one of those families that goes it’s separate way and has nothing to do with each other. And I honestly didn’t want them to find the holiday spirit…they didn’t deserve it. Also, you don’t abandon your kids for 27 years. There’s no excuse for that. The only 2 characters I liked were the two younger guys and they both seemed like they could do better than the women they were with. Anyways, I didn’t like any of the characters. So…no.

Four Christmases: So I knew I had seen this before, but I remembered simultaneously enjoying it & not liking the message. I couldn’t figure how both things were true. But ok, what if 2 significant others have distanced themselves from their toxic families & instead go on vacation every year, but then their families find out & guilt them into coming home? So, once again, Vince Vaughn. And also Reese Witherspoon. And a ton of people that won’t just have you saying, “Hey, it’s that guy!” but like you’ll actually know all the actors names, they’re that big named stars. Just a stellar cast. Playing horrible people. But ok, in the day & age of “you don’t have to see your family at the holidays if they are toxic or abusive. Don’t put yourself through that just cause they’re blood” & you watch this movie and say, “yeah these people are all pretty awful,” and the only ones you like are the two main characters and you think they should get the hell out of there. But yet — probably because they got such a freaking ridiculously talented cast — you’re still laughing your butt off somehow. While the issue I remembered having with it the first time was it seemed as if they were pushing the idea that the only way to be happy is to be married and have kids, but as it turned out, it was more about opening yourself up more. But the new issue I have for watching this movie was everybody’s hella toxic and Vince & Reese shoulda bounced. I watched it twice now. I won’t watch it again. If you like Vince Vaughn & Reese Witherspoon it’s worth a watch. But just be aware it doesn’t hold up like the other Vince Vaughn movie that I’ve watched recently, Fred Claus.

Fred Claus: Vince Vaughn movie #3, lol. What if Santa…a) were played by Paul Giamatti & b) had a ne’er-do-well brother? And what if that brother were Vince Vaughn? This was my second time watching this movie & it is definitely a Rewatchable for me. Vince Vaughn movies are easy to consume. And, because it’s a family movie, it holds up well. Some 2000s era movies? The jokes don’t work or are inappropriate 20 years later. But this holds up well. And it answers one of two main griefs I have with the Santa mythos — how can we have a naughty or nice list? Children’s brains are still developing. They lack impulse control. They model what they see from the adults in their lives. And they are not inherently naughty — they are just often in bad situations. Does Santa account for that? Kids aren’t bad, they just sometimes have bad behavior. And Vince Vaughn is gonna take on The Man about that! Of course, The Man is Santa. (My other grief is that the elves need to unionize, but I guess I’ll hafta be the one to write that movie!) Def recommend!

Haul Out The Holly: I never know how to rate movies like this. If I rate them on an overall movie scale, they’re not gonna get a ton of stars. But if I rate them on a “Hallmark movie” scale, this one is at the higher end for me. I mean, once I got past my disgruntledness at HOAs and, like, let people celebrate the holidays how they want, forced cheer isn’t real cheer! But it’s a Christmas movie so you know she’s going to find her Christmas spirit by the end. (I get the purpose of HOAs but I really don’t like em). This is Lacey Chabert (Party of Five, Mean Girls) and I have discovered that she funds her middle class LA life by doing two Hallmark romance movies a year, two Christmas movies a year, and round it out with a dozen or so voice spots on DC animated shows. Good for her! So this movie is about a girl whose parents ran the HOA when she was growing up and were like off the wall about Christmas stuff, so she ended up getting kind of disgruntled about it, but now she’s a grown-up and she’s come home for Christmas. Some new cute guy is running the HOA and he’s trying to force her to have holiday cheer, which she doesn’t wanna do. The best part about this is the zany cast of neighbors. It felt very Gilmore Gils/Northern Exposure. It made me think ‘what if the Cougar Town people were in a Hallmark-esque Christmas movie”. I’ve been sick, so a movie where I know all the beats is comforting. But then the zany cast of characters threw in unexpected comedy. So it wasn’t as cookie cutter as most of these kind of movies are. Yes, it was a cheesy movie about someone finding their Christmas spirit, but there was more comedy to it than I expected. So again, how do I rate this? Was it a great film? No. Did I enjoy it? Yes, absolutely. Will I watch it again? Possibly. What kind of stars do I give this when it’s going up against the kinds of movies I watch during the other 11 months of the year? I guess I’m just going to rate this on a Hallmark esque Christmas movie scale.

Haul Out The Holly: Lit Up: Yep, there’s a sequel. Lacey Chabert & the zany cast of characters are back in full swing, but now there’s influencer neighbors trying to ruin the HOA’s Christmas plans! I did not like this one as much as the first one. But it was still hitting all the right beats, while simultaneously throwing in some wacky comedy. I just found the new neighbors to be such terrible people, I didn’t care about their redemption arc. So while I was happy to see the gang back together, this one I won’t be rewatching. Will be rating on a Hallmark esque Christmas movie scale.

Hot Frosty: A top notch Hallmark-esque Christmas movie that borders on parody. They didn’t break the fourth wall & look right at the camera and say, “we know this premise is ridiculous, just roll with it,” but they might as well have. A sad lonely lady (once again, Lacey Chabert) at Christmas puts a magical scarf on a super sexy snowman sculpture and he comes to life…in the form of Dustin Milligan (Schitt’s Creek, Rutherford Falls). He’s gotta be 40 years old, like, he should not be *cut* like that, dear god. But also, he’s still dorky enough to not be intimidating. Is it weird he’s basically a child in his understanding of the world and yet we are suppose to want them to date? Yes. Does the movie make it easy for you to accept that and move on as fast as the townfolks accept that he is a snowman and just roll with it? Yes. I’m telling you, they could have just turned to the camera and said, “we know it’s ridiculous that everyone in the town is just immediately accepting that a snowman came to life, but if they’re willing to roll with it, so should you!” Anyway, Lacey Chabert and Dustin Milligan have really great chemistry together. & I loved all of the townfolk characters. And Dustin Milligan is just so adorkable that you can’t help but love him. Plus Craig Robinson & Joe Lo Truglio stole every scene thy were in. But yes, the premise is ridiculous, & because of that —not in spite of it— this was an absolute delight. They knew the movie they were making and they leaned into it. Go big or go home! I will definitely rewatch this movie next Christmas. Will be rating on a Hallmark esque Christmas movie scale.

The Merry Gentlemen: This was a Netflix produced, PG rated, Magic Mike esque Christmas movie starring my boooooy, Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill). This movie asks the question — have you ever wanted to see Rex Manning do a sexy dance? (Max Caulfield can get it! This whole cast can get it!) When a Broadway dancer returns to her hometown at Christmas and finds her parents are in danger of losing their bar —once the hotspot in town— can she pull off an all male shirtless Christmas dance revue to save her parents’ bar? Yeah that’s it, that’s the plot. It’s not deep, it doesn’t have to be. It’s all the beats you expect from a Netflix Christmas movie. There’s romance & family relationships and it’s so predictable that I actually said the last line of the movie out loud right before he said it, because it was so obvious. Does it matter that it’s predictable? Not at all. If you’re watching this movie, you know what you’re watching for. Yeah it was totally fun, and not just for the shirtless dudes. All of the characters were very likable. And it was just a fun little movie. And it was nice to see Chad Michael Murray on my screen again. My only complaint is that Michael Gross (Family Ties) plays the Dad in this and he did *not* get up on stage! As someone who has had a crush on him since I was like 10 years old, this was very sad for me. Will be rating on a Hallmark esque Christmas movie scale.

A Merry Scottish Christmas: Lacey Chabert, the fourth & final! This was too Hallmark esque for me. But I watched it for one reason…the reunion of Scott Wolf & Lacey Chabert! (Party of Five fans say whaaaat?!) The problem with this was 2-fold. For one, there was way too much talking. It would have worked better as a book. They were faced with a big dilemma and just rationally talked out their options for 90 minutes, while also getting a lot of information about the quaint Scottish town they were in. And secondly, the reveal was obvious from the start but I thought it would still be a cute movie where estranged siblings rekindle their bond while getting up to hijinks investigating their mother’s big secret! It was ripe for Hijinks Ensue. Instead they figured out the secret right away and spend the rest of the movie talking about what to do with said information. On the plus side, Scottish accents! And Scott & Lacey still have that amazing sibling relationship chemistry. And there were a few nods to Party of Five, one very obvious one for anyone who ever watched the show & one that only someone who has seen the show a few times through would recognize. (The latter made me burst into tears because it hit me right in The Feels). Seeing these 2 together again was great. Not enough to ever watch this movie again though. Will be rating on a Hallmark esque Christmas movie scale. Allowing points for their great chemistry. Not allowing points for my own personal nostalgia.

Nutcrackers: This was exactly what I expected and wanted from this movie. Grumpy corporate big city uncle forced to care for his newly orphaned, unruly nephews & their farm at Christmas. I knew the beats it would hit and was comforted by that, while still enjoying the jokes & performances. The fun surprises in this were that the four boys are actually brothers and this is the only film they’ve ever done. Perhaps they’ve done stage? They are all definitely dancers. And I just love they cast real brothers & that these kids did so well in this film. The other thing is that they incorporated The Nutcracker ballet into this & the boys are wonderful dancers & the big ballet scene toward the end was so moving. Idk that it’ll be a Rewatchable, but maybe? Either way, I’m really very glad I watched it.

Red One: Sis & I saw this at theater and you get exactly what you think you’re gonna get and it’s fun & filled with Christmas hijinks & action & cheer. It’s Chris Evans & The Rock saving a jacked JK Simmons Santa Claus from Sabrina the Teenaged Witch. Also Krampus shows up and, I’m sorry, but both Krampus & the security guard polar bear can *get it*. Daaamn. Don’t judge me! But yeah, fun action Christmas movie where everyone’s hearts grow 3 sizes at the end & The Rock smashes a lot of people. The rest of the cast is filled in with stellar actors too. There’s not much else to say because you get exactly what you expect with this movie and it’s delightful fun for both families or just adults who like The Rock movies or Christmas action movies with some comedy thrown in. Do recommend!

A Sudden Case of Christmas: Naw. Didn’t like. So what happens when a child realizes her parents are getting divorced and this will be their last summer vacation together? Apparently they throw one last Christmas, is the answer. But first of all, there was too much talk about spousal cheating and divorce. & I know, Christmas supposedly saves families, but as a child of divorce, like no that’s not how it works. Also, it all takes place at the grandpa’s hotel which is on the verge of bankruptcy. Tbh, having your quaint hotel throw Christmas in July as a pre-arranged theme where people can vacation —especially like the one side character who only gets his daughter in the summer so will never get to spend Christmas with her— this is a good way to bring in some business. But it has to be pre-planned, you can’t just throw it at the current guests there for summer vacation who didn’t sign up for Christmas. Because it’s a Christmas movie, all of the guests roll with it, but no wonder he’s bankrupt. Also, there was a weird storyline where the little girl had a boyfriend that was her Christmas boyfriend and now she’s there in the summer and he has a summer girlfriend, and it was all weird, especially because they were 10 years old. So now theres a storyline about 10 year olds “cheating”. Too much cheating. That’s a big issue for me so I did not like this movie. Otherwise it was fine. The acting was good, it was cute, they had hijinks, they hit all the Christmas movie beats. There wasn’t really a problem with this movie, except that I did not care for the plot or the characters. Will be rating on a Hallmark esque Christmas movie scale.

Unaccompanied Minors: What happens to unaccompanied minors flying alone during the holiday season when there’s a snowstorm and everyone gets trapped at the airport? Hijinks Ensue. I have seen this about 4 times now. It’s a Rewatchable for me. It’s the 2000s, with a tween Tyler James Williams (Everybody Loves Chris, Abbott Elementary). It’s a Family movie. The kids will love all the shenanigans the kid characters get up to. The adults will love the who’s-who of the early 2000s comedy scene. Every actor will have you saying, “hey, it’s that guy!” And, of course, we learn a valuable lesson at the end of the movie. I like Family movies. The kid actors are not too cheesy or saccarrhin. It’s just fun antics & holiday cheer.

[loremaster]

GOOD NEWS!

wicked movie… good

ok first of all i gotta say… i shipped gelphie before i really understood People Can Be Gay And I Can Be One Of Those People. i saw the musical on stage and was like. huh…. these two girls should have ended up with each other instead of fiyero. they give me soft feelings. baby’s first yuris…..

i went in with low expectations of course because as we all know movie adaptations of musicals can be very hit or miss, and film adaptations of anything lately have been mostly garbage it seems. but thank GOD they delivered on this one (or at least the first half).

- Honestly out of everything my favorite part has GOT to be the set design. the village, the school, the city, the miniature city, the tower, the FUCKING ROTATING LIBRARY?!?!?!?! coolest shit ever. knocked it out of the fucking PARK.

- costume design was also phenomenal. love all the funny little outfits. the gowns, the shoes, THE shoes, the variation in the school uniforms, the glasses, the sheer amount of Pink Things in glinda’s wardrobe (and the choices of which scenes to wear which shades of pink? spot on)… i’d unironically wear that Froat. gorgeous needle felting. and of course all the funny outlandish costumes in the One Short Day scene were amazing, especially those bouncy men, and those twisty ribbony skirts…

- also speaking of student uniforms i LOVED seeing visibly queer people at shiz. that half-skirt-pants thing was iconic. loved every instance of gender nonconformity, no matter how small. i’d love to rewatch the movie just for that. of COURSE this colorful magical musical world is filled with people like us and thank GOD the director + cast + crew had the brains/heart/courage to display that on screen.

- special shoutout to jonathan bailey whom once again has baffled me with his ability to convincingly fall in love with women on screen… but this time he gets to be a little bi with it! he managed to seduce practically every single student in that school, even boq, hot damn

- loved boq’s little quirk of standing on things to make himself taller. and - can’t remember if this was in the stage version - the line about the hankerchiefs “i cry a lot.” all those little foreshadowing moments made me chuckle. “Get Stuffed.” can’t WAIT to see fiyero get stuffed in part 2 ;0

- side note, i heard they might be adding a new musical number to part 2?!?!? and if it were up to me… i’d love to see some fun scarecrow/tin man/cowardly lion three-part harmonies. they probably won’t do that though since it’d be hard to do so without making dorothy an Actual Character and i like that she’s a faceless plot device in this version of the wizard of oz story. time will tell

- i thought the whole thing was very well cast. even though there were some cases i wish they had gone with better vocalists… (michelle yeoh and jeff goldblum) their acting chops did definitely make up for it so i’m satisfied

- one little detail i really really loved is there’s this illustrated poster of the wizard you see in the background in several shots throughout the movie - and it looks like a bland generic white man… but once they reveal which actor is actually playing the wizard you realize in hindsight… hey it DOES kinda look like jeff goldblum. not super recognizably, but the facial proportions are there. they got his wide set eyes. whichever illustrator did that, you toed the line between accurate and vague soooooooo well. hats off to you

- the one thing that kinda irked me acting wise was ariana grande’s lack of facial animatedness…. i’ll begrudgingly accept it as a Character Choice since she rocked the vocals and the body language (and i know she worked her ass off for her dream role) but oh man. would have loved to see her wrinkle up her face a bit more. sigh.

- cynthia erivo fucking KILLED ITTTTTTT in all respects. i got nothing negative to say about her at all, mwah mwah mwah. she’s gorgeous and she has such a great voice and was such a good choice for the role.

- hair and makeup crew for elphaba killed it too, awesome wig, awesome nails, awesome shades of green in her skin (and the cute little freckles!!!!)…. beautiful. selfishly i thought she looked better with the glasses but that’s a Me Thing. i think everyone would look better with glasses

- staging and choreography was awesome. every number was great. they even managed to make everyone’s least favorite song A Sentimental Man entertaining! the power of cinema! and shadow puppets!

- loved the addition of the other animal characters to Something Bad. aging mustachioed snow leopard…. call me

- and fiyero’s banter with his horse… great way to show what kind of person he is right off the bat: snarky and playful but also got a kind heart and doesn’t look down on anyone.

- i had heard a negative comment (on xitter of all places, should have known) that they padded out the runtime with a bunch of stupid filler but honestly i didn’t think it was stupid. i guess it was frustrating from the point of view of someone who wanted to sing along to the songs as i know them from the obc soundtrack but, like. it made sense. the pacing felt good.

- of all the New Additions to the film (and besides the aforementioned badass rotating library) my favorite was probably glinda’s two besties. they probably had names idk. LOVED them. great comic relief without taking too much attention to themselves. looking forward to seeing them again in part 2…. and i love having no idea what’s going to happen to them. will they recede into the background? get mini character arcs? split apart or stay together? either way they’ve gotta stick around because they are so entertaining to see on screen.

- i can safely say i’m shipping gelphie again. they are very important to me. love this beautifully tragic doomed yuri.

- the little smiles… the gestures… the development of their relationship… the part when they’re laying in bed together looking at each other… AAUUUUGGGHHHHHH MY LITTLE GAY HEART CAN’T TAKE IT

-Do You Think They Explored Each Others’ Bodies Flushed Emoji

- ok but this time. im smart enough at media now. i recognize that fiyero is a Good Character and not just getting in the way of the girls. he can be part of this relationship too. in a perfect world the three of them could all get married together………… but this is not a perfect world

- god. what a great movie. i’m really eager to watch it again already. the level of detail and love that was put into this production is so, so, so clear. thanks to jon chu for recognizing this story is so important to so many people and transferring that onto the big screen with not only fidelity but creativity and passion. from the producer to the director to the cast and crew - especially the crew and ESPECIALLY the section of the crew specifically dedicated to covid management. everyone involved gave their all and, pun intended, i couldn’t be happier. thank goodness!

- oh wait never mind i forgot my least favorite part of the movie. the kristen chenoweth idina menzel cameo was stupid as hell. like they were funny and all but the meta humor was so out of place it took me out of the moment. if i were a kid watching this and i didn’t recognize those people i’d be confused. …they did have cool outfits though.

- ok. can’t wait for part 2. i will wait as long as i need to for it to be Good

[calliethetrekkie]

Star Trek TOS S01E17: Shore Leave

Original Thoughts

"…okay I knew from fandom osmosis that ST got weird at times, especially in Season 3… but WHAT DID I JUST WATCH?! That was… weird. Not necessarily bad, but weeeeird. I guess it was an attempt to be more comedic and considering that they look like they filmed in a park, save budget. I really can’t give an opinion on this one because I honestly cannot figure out what my opinion is for this one. It’s bizarre but harmless and I’m having a hard time deciding if I liked it or not. Spock more or less tricking Kirk into shore leave was funny though and the idea of a planet that essentially creates your daydreams is interesting, haha. The fist-fight at the end was also fun, so there are some enjoyable aspects if the bizarreness turns you off."

Rewatch Thoughts

Why was past me so anti-fun?! This episode is great!

Ah man, where do I even begin with this one? This episode is ridiculous and cheap... and I love it! You can tell that they filmed most of this in some local park and outright stuck someone in a cheap bunny costume. Yet it doesn't distract from the experience at all, if anything it adds to the bizarreness of it all. It's a chance to let everyone be stupid for a little while and sometimes you need those kinds of episodes. You need to be silly and fun and let the audience have fun too. I kind of feel like we've forgotten that as of late and it needs to change.

As I have gone in production order for this watch, I think that this was well-timed for me. We've had several serious, dramatic episodes in a row such as Conscience of the King, Galileo Seven, and two court martial episodes (well three since The Menagerie is a two-parter). I was kind of glad to get back around to this one when I did. The rabbit, Finnegan, and all the other crazy illusions that pop up make the episode pure chaos. And to think all of this could have been avoided if the planet inhabitants had just left a freakin' sign up or something.

Kirk is an absolute delight here. The guy is stressed and overworked, all of which he brought onto himself but doesn't want a break. Why? Because the Enterprise is full of workaholics. The scene where Spock tricks Kirk into ordering himself to take Shore Leave is one of the freakin' greatest Trek scenes ever. There is NO WAY that I can ever be convinced that Spock and McCoy did NOT plan on pulling this stunt. McCoy knows that Kirk is a stubborn ass and likely wouldn't listen to him, so giving Spock his log entry and Spock baiting Kirk into giving himself the order? Perfection.

Not that Kirk gets a relaxing time... well for the most part. The guy gets annoyed by an old Academy bully (twice), his best friend gets 'killed', and one bad illusion pops up after the other. Even when he's on break he can't catch a break. At least he gets to imagine an old crush of his cause he gets distracted by flowers? Hooray? Okay, that was kinda cute how he was all 'where the Hell is Sulu... oh hey, a flower!'. Never change Jim. Plus he gets to beat the shit out of Finnegan and get his shirt ripped... again. IDK why he even bothers with a shirt, it's just gonna get ripped to shreds.

Though as much as I love Jim here, McCoy is the highlight for me. Yes I realize that this being me that's not saying much, but every scene of his is pure gold. There's the whole Alice in Wonderland scene, then him calling Jim to tell him that he's possibly lost his mind ever so calmly. His flirting with Barrows is cute as is him encouraging her to play princess if she wants to. IDK, he's just kind of endearingly adorable in this one? Mind you he also seemed to have forgotten his brain cells considering he decided to not get out of the way of the knight and got stabbed for his troubles. I blame the rabbit, it broke his brain. But yeah he's so lucky the caretaker managed to fix him. Look, we often see McCoy all grumpy and dealing with everyone's problems, seeing him all relaxed is a nice change of pace!

Not much to say about Spock outside the 'trick Kirk into Shore Leave' scene. I kind of wish we had Jim and Bones yank him into it with them cause Vulcan or not he needs to have at least one. But I supposed that wasn't meant to be. I almost feel like he could have been kept on the ship the whole episode and it wouldn't have really hanged much, but I guess since Nimoy has a Starring credit and is the popular one they gotta include him. Also at the end when the Chorus Girl goes up to him and he seems to have no idea how to react, poor guy. No wonder he prefers to stay on the ship XD

There are so many good moments. Sulu and his glee for guns, Barrows in the princess dress, McCoy and Barrows flirting, it's 40 minutes of ridiculousness and I love it. It's nice to see these characters able to let loose and have fun since thus far it's not a side we've gotten to see much of... well at least by choice. We even got a bit of a feelsy scene when McCoy got 'killed'. Kirk looks like he's on the verge of crying and sounds about ready to beat the shit out of the caretaker until McCoy pops back up alive and well. Even Spock is at a loss and this is around the time that their relationship becomes more argumentative. But that scene aside it's a fun episode.

So a planet where whatever you think of can be created... why did anyone think that this was a good idea? Why did no one think of having a sign or a greeter or something to inform anyone who showed up how the planet worked? Why did they wait so long to clear everything up? Did no one think 'hey maybe this is a bad idea since someone could think up so and so and get someone hurt or worst'. IDC if they have machines that can bring someone back from the verge of death, that won't do shit if someone is legit dead (I refuse to believe that McCoy was dead-dead, none of these people checked his pulse properly and I'll die on that hill.). I have SO many questions on why NO ONE thought through any of this. Maybe the Enterprise crew ended up being the trial run... that's not a bad theory actually. That is now my headcanon!

Not sure if Kirk letting everyone go on the planet was a wise move at the end, but ah well. He gets to have his time with his old crush and actually gets the break that Spock and McCoy wanted him to take. Kind of nice to see him all relaxed considering how tense he was at the start. OH the massage scene! How could I forget the massage scene at the start? Now most everyone knows I'm not a Spirk shipper... but that scene and a few during the climax sure have plenty fo context even I can't ignore haha.

Wow, kind of surprised I managed to make the review this long. I figured I wouldn't have a lot to talk about given the nature of the episode... and I was wrong. But this episode is plain fun. The first time I watched it, I think that I was so taken aback despite knowing that this was one of the weirder episodes that I was unsure of how to feel. Three years later, I can now safely say that it was a delight! The characters are fantastic, the plot is chaotic in the best way, and the cheapness only adds to the fun. You don't always need fancy sets or a million-dollar budget to make a good episode, and this is a really good example of saving on budget but still making something enjoyable. It's not my favorite cause I like me my feelsy plots, but I still had a fun time revisiting this. I highly recommend this one especially if you need something to lift your spirits, it sure lifted mine~

Original Rating: 2.5/5 Rewatch Rating: 7/10

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