#i would love it if years down the line it came out that these stunts with these horrible guys was performance art

[asteracaea]

I kinda miss Joe. :( I'm happy he is in a good place.

https://www.reddit.com/r/travisandtaylor/s/cgS5fiquvg

i found a link to the video interview with The Times but it's behind a paywall

my feelings about this man have fluctuated so much over the years. from william bowery and grammygate to the end, i admit i was quite a hater. but almost immediately after the split my feelings changed and even warmed (seeing pap pics of him walking happily with a boy reminded me that i think he's probably also closeted and was also made to play this game for the sake of everything at stake). he looked so unhappy and not well back then, so maybe he wasn't the villain but another victim of the circus. idk.

but now i just want the best for him and i hope he can be authentic and happy, and yeah he does sound very classy here.

and oh my LORDDDD WITH MATTY AND TRAVIS I HAVE BEEN WISHING HE WERE BACK 😭😭😭 didn't know a good beard when we had one

[yns-world]

timeless

pairing: edward norton x actor!reader x brad pitt

a/n: inspired by the lovely @bradpittwh0re, 2000s au, italics are narration

pics are not mine, credit to original photographers

GQ: “Fight Club” stars Edward Norton, Y/N L/N, and Brad Pitt arrive at the red carpet premiere as a trio.

y/nfan49: release the pics where their hands were on her waist

y/nfan37: there would be no fight club without y/n 

bradpittfan06: their chemistry was insane ngl…

edfan22: they all definitely fucked 

y/nfan12: insane comment 😭 but you’re so right

As the limousine pulled up to the first red carpet event since the release of Fight Club, the blinding flashes already began to get into a frenzy before the doors opened. 

The cameras were doing enough damage as Ed and Brad stepped out of the limo, but the black night had turned white as the two men helped Y/N out of the car. Once she was completely out, Y/N waved towards the cameras as her two co-stars both held a hand on her waist as they escorted her down the carpet.

Neither star left the trio group the entire night as they all stuck by each other’s side. This definitely irked the few bloodthirsty reporters who wanted solo shots of Y/N.

“Y/N! Drop those bums and look this way!” An insolent reporter called, shoving his camera towards Y/N. Immediately, Brad stepped out and pushed the entire camera and reporter back in line while Ed’s grip on Y/N tightened as he pulled her back from the savage line. 

“Back up, bro. I’m not gonna tell you twice.”

For the rest of the night, Brad kept a watchful eye on the audience of reporters, shooting glances as he moved with Y/N through the event, and keeping his full attention on her when she spoke in interviews.

“What is one experience you’ll cherish from your time on the set of Fight Club?” A female reporter from Vogue asked the trio.

Edward and Brad looked between them at Y/N to answer. 

“Well, speaking for myself, my friendship with these two dorks has been my favorite part of the shoot. You would not believe the number of times we had to stop and restart shooting just because of the idiocy of it all.” As she answered, both Ed and Brad’s smiles on their faces grew as they kept their eyes on her the whole time. 

“Guilty as charged, but it was mostly Brad causing a ruckus on set.” Ed confirmed with a chuckle.

“No! You are not going to blame everything on me!” Brad jokingly bickered, waving a finger in Ed’s face. 

“We could’ve released this film an entire year earlier if you didn’t pull all your stupid stunts!” Edward fired back, all the while the two men proved Y/N’s point exactly. 

Caught in the crossfire, Y/N chuckled at the scene and let them have at it. 

For the rest of the night, the trio floated around until they decided to leave the event early.

The group of stars made an effort to quietly say their goodbyes to those they knew and silently moved past most of the crowd to their limo. Of course, they wouldn’t go unnoticed by the sharks swimming nearby.

“Y/N! Norton! Brad! Where are you running off to??” A multitude of reporters called out but they simply just waved as courtesy and climbed into the limo--Brad and Edward helping in Y/N first. 

“Drive.” Y/N told their chauffeur just as the vicious reporters came banging on the car. When they were finally moving, Y/N was able to loosen her hair and take a real, deep breath. 

Brad sighed as he unbuttoned his suit and threw his arm over Y/N’s headrest; Ed layed his head back and closed his eyes. 

Looking at both men, Y/N raised a mischievous brow.

“Should we light up?”

Brad sent a grin at Ed, who matched one back. 

a/n: i hope you enjoyed!! it was fun writing something like this, let me know if you guys want to see more of this :)

as always, requests are open, just be sure to read my pinned page 🫶

[hearts-4-vicky]

can you do quarterback minji x shy cheerleader reader? i literally just thought of this and i think it’s adorable

ty baby<3

warnings: kissing, fluff, swearing…, minji is cringe…(shes a loser to me) kinda short😭and um thats it😜

i only know a few things abt football so 🫠

(not proofread…)

The championship football game was already in its fourth quarter, with 50 seconds on the clock. To say Minji was stressed was a HUGE understatement, being the quarterback was cool and all😵‍💫 but when her team’s losing by 3 points its gonna get to her🥺The pressure was getting wayy too much for her since the school has been winning for 9 consecutive years. If they lose, not only will she be failing her school and her teammates, but also you🥺🥺🥺You were the reason she started playing football in the first place, her good luck charm, her cheerleader 🎀 Co-Captain and one of the flyers (someone thrown and lifted in stunts) in the schools cheer squad, y/n l/n (basic asf but shit thats the only option 😭)

Calling a timeout was the best option, all they needed was one touchdown and boom, win😝 though its gonna be harder since their best wide receiver, Yunjin, had suffered a bad shoulder injury just a few minutes before (idk who to put on this team😭) Minji had no game plan since it all relied on Yunjin’s speed and agility, she needed to think of something😵‍💫 Getting in a circle with her team, she speaks up “Okay guys! Just one more push and we win the whole thing right?” Minji flashes a grin, trying to be optimistic “how are we gonna score? Yunjins out and Yujin can barely run without staring at the cheer captain.. Look! She has heart eyes right now!” Haewon was right, Yujin wasn’t even listening to the team but staring at Wonyoung🥺(i love them) Minji noticed you were there too, talking with wony, laughing at something she said🎀 She unconsciously smiles at you, your smile brought light to the dark skies of the night and your laughter made her feel warm🥺 “Fuck.. I forgot you’re both down bad…” Ryujin mentions, the whole team starting to tease those two😭”Alright alright! Yujin, lets do this for our girlfriends… Everyone make sure no one is guarding her!” “Gotchu bro, but I think we need your pretty girlfriends to cheer us on real quickkk” Yuna pokes both Minji and Yujin🎀 “Suck my- “LETS GO BEARS!” (idk man😭) You and Minji make eye contact, “You got this” is what she reads from your lips. A fire lit in her heart as she saw you throw her a kiss, she’s ready for the game.

“HUT HUT! HIKE!” Minji scans the field for Yujin, seeing her in the open, she throws it to her. Caught it. Yujin sprints with everything she had as both teams were after her. One of the opposing team members came out of no where, making Yujin trip. Minji winces at it, must’ve hurt bad. She only thinks of one think,

We fucked it up. We lost.

“HOLY SHIT I DID IT?!” Yujin’s piercing shout got the attention of everyone, she got the ball past the goal line🙏

The stadium erupted into cheers as people started running to the field to celebrate😍😍😍 You full on SPRINT to see your girlfriend, pushing everyone out of the way (r u the football player now or what😭🙏)

Smiling brightly as you spot each other. Minji throws her helmet to the floor to catch you😵‍💫

“YOU WERE SO GOOD OUT THERE BABY!!!” You said as you jumped into Minjis open arms, kissing her face between every word🥺(me when) “I’m all sweaty babe! hol-“”don’ttt care!” Minji stifles a snort as you pepper her face so more, “couldn’t have done it without you, my sunshine” accepting your soft lips against every inch of her face while spinning you around had you both in your own world🥺🥺🥺 Both of you were giggling like teens in love (duh) as your lipstick stains her still sweaty face😛 you guys are taken back to reality as the school journalists come to interview you guys “Who would like to thank for this win Kim Minji?” the camera pans to you guys, still in her arms as she replies,

“My gorgeous girl right here!!”

you hide your face in her neck, blushing at her words

“And those marks on your face?”

“M-minji wait-“

“Also from this gorgeous girl!”

She’s never seen your face as red as it was before😭

with annyeongz

“but I scored the touchdown…”

“Let them have their moment love”

ive been wantin to write fluff again omg 🙏🙏

im sorry i havent been doing many requests lately, ive gotten a bit busier than usual😭 I need to get my grades up or else im out☹️Ive only been writin for school this week im so sorry if this isnt that good😭😭😭

Im really sorry my loves❤️ Stay safe and love you guys!!

-Vicky💋

[valentoru]

|| Limitless ||

[PROLOGUE.]

SYNOPSIS: Gojo Satoru, a big time artist, who’s known for leaving a trail of broken hearts in his wake wherever he goes. And you, the lead guitarist of an upcoming band, who’s absolutely certain that no one will ever love you. Through an accident in which you happened to kiss Gojo in a frantic state, you both decide, via convenience alone—and zero regard for both of your managers—to pull a fake dating stunt what could go wrong? Any press is good press…right?

PROLOGUE : MASTERLIST : NEXT

If you were being honest, you had been in the fence about this whole band thing to begin with. Not because you didn’t like music, or couldn’t play any instruments—you definitely could. In fact, music was your thing—but rather you didn’t want to do it because of the press. They always said any press is good press, but is it really? Their opinions mattered to you, no matter what anyone said, putting yourself of a pedestal was rather daunting.

The idea of being at the forefront of media all the time shook you to your very core, yet when you’re friends came to you, with the “brilliant” idea of starting a band you, found yourself slapping on an far too fake grin and agreeing.

But that same night it had all hit you like a 16 wheeler, you would be put in the spotlight, every move would be deeply analysed yet now you had no choice, and backing out wasn’t in the question. Luckily for you though things hadn’t really taken off.

Well, that was until a few years down the line, you had had one big hit and that was it, everything did a tenfold from there.

But it all seemed to feel a bit better, understandable, after The Night.

The Night when you met The Guy.

The Guy who’s name you never actually got.

The Guy who—as you haphazardly stumbled through foggy eyes into an, or what you thought was, empty room—quickly asked you, “out of curiosity, is there a reason why you’re in this office?”

You squeaked. You tried you best to make out who it was, but you couldn’t really tell. The dark lighting of the room made his hair appear blonde, maybe even sandy-brown and he was tall. He was really tall. And his voice was deep, strong, dreamy. And that’s it. That’s all you could tell.

“Is this not a bathroom?”

“Nope.” It was precise, the way the “p” popped out of his mouth, perfectly.

“Oh. Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“Fairly, since when I came in here there was no indication it was, and since being in here I doubt they’ve installed a toilet and plumbing.” Well, the man had a point.

“Oh I’m sorry you—you were probably doing something.” You gestured vaguely to where the desk was, or where you thought it was at least.

“Yes, I was, are you okay?”

“Yes, why?”

“The fact you came into this office crying looking rather frantic.”

This man really had to stop talking like he was Gojo Satoru himself. After all, this was Gojos house you were in, yet you were sure this man can’t have been Gojo, though you wouldn’t know, you only had pictures to go off, besides you and Gojo had never met before which is why when the whole band was invited to this party you were positively baffled.

“Not crying, actually,” a lie. “they’re just tears, not sad tears. You know?” Another lie. A contractor had just told you, you and your band would never make it. And while, you knew he wasn’t right, and you wanted to believe he wasn’t right you still found your eyes prickling with tears. The tears that threated to fall down your face, sloppy and messy, felt like small little rocks, or gravel had been lodged into your eye lids. That was probably thanks to the slightly expired contacts you were sporting tonight.

“I do not.”

You sighed, slumping back against the door. “It’s my contacts, they expired a little bit ago. There weren’t ever that good to begin with, and I did take them out for a while but, I need them to see.”

“Expired? You put in expired contacts.” His voice seemed to go up just an octave as though he was personally offended by that statement.

“Yeah, the stinging will go away soon.”

“Oh so you’ve done this before?”

“Yeah.”

“How long have they been expired.”

“I dunno, a couple years?”

“A couple years? They expired longer than a year ago?”

“Expiration dates are for the weak.” You heard a small laugh, though was it really small? The man was massive. Any sound he made was loud, rumbling deep in his chest.

“Why didn’t you get new?”

“Contacts are expensive.”

“So are eyes.”

Once again, he had a point.

The breath he let out was shaky, as though he was trying his best to compose himself.

“Have we met?” You quickly asked, filling the awkward silence which seemed to attempt to throw itself over you.

“No.”

“Oh. Were you at the last contractor party?”

“Nah. Not really my scene.”

“Oh? But the free food?”

“Yeah, wasn’t worth the mingling.”

Oh you had him placed easily. He must be one of those, the ones who got everything handed to him on a silver spoon. No one, who seemed to be like you—an upcoming musician— would turn down free food. After all, it’s not like it pays a good penny to be unknown. Though that was all changing recently, after the band had a big hitting single release.

“Oh, so you must be pretty popular then?”

“Nah, I wouldn’t say that.”

“Well why turn down free food.”

“I guess you have a point.”

You chewed the inside of your cheek closing your eyes tightly again to dull the pain. It would be useful if you could see the man in front of you.

“How long have you been in the business?” The question was very hit and miss. Some people took deep offence to questions like this, you still had no idea why. You sucked in a quick breath.

“Seven years, give or take.”

“Oh.” You exhaled all too quickly.

“Why’d you ask?”

“Just curious, really.”

“Ah, okay.”

That awkward silence began to creep back into the room. Wedging between you and The Guy.

“So,” this time he was the first to break it, “why do you want to be a musician?”

A dumbfounded “Huh?” Was all you could say, and judging by the stifled laugh that threatened to pass his lips, your facial expression couldn’t have been any better.

The question wasn’t hard to answer. You’d answered it lots of times with ease, but for whatever reason this time, it felt loaded. Loaded and heavy. Like this one question alone was rivalling your whole entire existence.

“Well?” He pried.

To be honest, you answer to this question had always been a light hearted “because it’s cool.” Or “because I want to be rich.” and then it be done, moving swiftly past the question, but as you’d quickly realised, this wasn’t like that. No, this question had so much weight to it, it felt like a sucker punch to the face.

“I guess, I always found myself—” you took a deep breath—were you really going to be honest with a guy you’d only just met?— seems like it. “Well, that’s probably not the way to phrase it, what I mean is I always promised my mom I would make something of myself, and I’m going to do that I guess it’s just a bonus I get to do that with my friends.”

“Oh so you’re in a Band?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool.”

For whatever reason you felt your face warming at this. When did you ever seek validation off of strangers?

The silence he was giving you almost felt like ridicule of some sort and you couldn’t help but prod at the answer you had already given. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that being in the eye is something to take lightly. I really don’t. It’s just that, well, I guess influential people these days aren’t trust worthy, almost like they do it on purpose getting people, kids, to believe in them then do something problematic. It’s dream shattering, you know? I just want to be someone people can actually depend on.” You let out a shaky breath, nodding your head. Fully satisfied with your own answer.

Yet, he still remained silent.

You couldn’t help but prod again, quickly opening your mouth. “Do you—”

“Really? And you’re sure you can remain credible?”

Did it suddenly get hot in here or what?

His interrogation had your gripping, fighting, begging for the cracks of insecurity to not show through, for the flood gates to not break.

“Yes. I do. It’s something I needed as a kid, now, I’m older and wiser to know, no kid should grow up without an idol, someone who shapes them so meticulously, so carefully, who genuinely is a good person.” You retorted maybe all too quickly. Your answer genuine under his penalising gaze, which you still couldn’t see, but could only feel. “What do you think thats not a good reason to be in this industry?”

“No, it’s a perfect one.”

TAGLIST(14/50): @bbmsxlene @lunavelha @satoryaa @tranzumaki @k-kkiana @luvkvni @lysaray @kalulakunundrum @arysbruv @shuuji71 @stillnotherapy @catobsessedlady @colortheoryrocks @minzxec

© valentoru all rights reserved- do not publish my work on other platforms, plagiarise or translate.

[pompomchihuahua]

Hello! Do you think Sanemi deluded himself on “keeping an eye on Genya.” What I refer to that in the manga, when Sanemi saves Genya from getting killed by Koku, he says he would have stopped demons from coming his way if Genya lived a normal life. Considering he wasn’t even able to get his brother kicked out of the Corps, aside from pushing him away, it didn’t seem like he “tried” (not saying he didn’t! But I feel he could have done more unless the author just didn’t explore that aspect much of Sanemi working behind the scenes to get Genya out. Because it doesn’t seem like Sanemi interjected during missions or maybe, could have tried talking to Ubuyashiki unless his pride stopped him? Just seems contradictory?)

So to put it short… do you think Sanemi WAS watching Genya to an extent over the years? Or considering Sanemi was alone for awhile, maybe it was after he became a Hashira that he started looking for him or finding him behind the scenes? We know Sanemi’s will to live was Genya, and in the light novel with Masachika, it is said that only good dreams was of Genya living a happy life with a wife and kids. And Masachika seemed to be a motivator for Sanemi to become a Hashira, so maybe prior Sanemi didn’t have the resources to actually watch over Genya? Leading to the delidement of him actually being unable to stop demons coming Genya’s way?

Sorry this got long, but what are your thoughts?!

HI HI HI!! Don't apologize for long asks, I love them!!

As far as whether I think Sanemi "deluded" himself, that's gonna be a yes and a no. SO from one-winged butterfly we have this line from Genya: "I had a dream that my brother came to visit me. He was standing next to my bed looking at me. I wanted to jump up. I wanted to talk to him, but I was so, so sleepy that I couldn't get up." And while its framed as a dream its very much implied that it was actually Sanemi visiting him in the hospital. From that we can interpolate that Sanemi keeps tabs on Genya at least to the extent that he knows when he is and isn't injured on missions.

As for what Sanemi did to get Genya to leave the corps!! I've scoured the anime, the manga, the books and as far I can tell, the most he says on it is this: "I don't care how much he hates me for it," Sanemi told the grave. "I'll never give him my blessing to join. He doesn't want this life."

SO, as far as I can tell, Sanemi's strategy for pushing Genya out of the corps was extreme avoidance. He disowns Genya, tells him he wants nothing to do with him, tells him to get out of his sight. I rewatched the confrontation scene in both Japanese and English and there's a lot of emphasis and words like "back off" and "get lost." He does put Genya down saying he should quit the corps of course but generally his main strategy seems to just be telling Genya to get as far away from HIM as possible.

It's definitely possible he tried talking to Ubuyashiki and was turned down but it's never mentioned and was just not an aspect that was explored. As for Sanemi keeping tabs on Genya, I agree in that I don't think he had the resources to do so before he became he hashira and definitely not before he became a demon slayer.

BUT if I'm being honest... I don't think he kept tabs on Genya at all UNTIL he became a demon slayer. See, Sanemi at his core is a very emotionally stunted character. He's very much still stuck in that moment, standing over his mama's body, blood soaking his hands and his babies lying dead on the floor. He's full of hate and anguish but also in a strange contradictory way, childish hope.

If he's killing all the demons and Genya isn't in the corps to face them, then his baby isn't confronting demons at all. He can stick his head in the sand and pretend Genya is living the life he wants most for him. It's not until Genya joins the corps that he realized he needed to actually pay attention.

And the reason I headcanon this is because, if Sanemi was keeping tabs on Genya before he joined the corps, why didn't he stop Genya from joining in the first place? And by that I mean, why not stop Genya from training to join? He had to have had SOME combat training from a trainer or had someone TELL him about demons and final selection beforehand. But Sanemi doesn't find out Genya is even interested in following Sanemi until AFTER he joins. If that makes sense with how I put it.

TLDR; I think Sanemi didn't start watching Genya until he joined the corps where he then focused his attention on avoidance and isolation strategies to make Genya feel discouraged and leave on his own.

[lukolabrainrot]

So, I just wanted to give some additional thoughts on March-April timeline & Australia. We know L went to LA in March w/ A (possibly a group trip?) and N was off promoting "Big Mood" w/ that cast in tow, including E. Now whether we think N was dating E or not he'd been on her socials singing her praises and was her co-star, as L had been... but he also plays a role on the wildly popular Witcher (w/ hottie Henry Cavill) and is a bad ass fighter on the show, not as soft boy. I'd think it's fair to say that L would naturally have some jealousy surrounding that, esp. if N did nothing to quell his fears, incl. E being at her b-day party earlier in the year, and E going to the "Renegade Nell" premiere with her end of March.

Also, if we take what we think happened after BTON S3 filming as truth - that L had been all in and N put on the brakes - L prob thought he was giving N what she wanted. You wanted me to date other people, so I am! (I'm quite sure N didn't expect him going off the rails with his HBS nor date young dancers but, to me, it makes perfect sense - because he's was dating for fun not true love, cause N is who he feels destined for & wants... in that way, I think he & N are very different. I think N prob thinks you can love many people & L feels there is "the one")

But I digress... in March, L & N are mostly apart but prob still communicating bts & he likes several of her IG posts. By April, they're back on the BTON press tour and w/ the excitement of spending time together in Jan & Feb, they're already havings feelings for each other again. The Netflix interview where they're watching their scenes & commenting stands out to me - when N tears up & L asks if she's ok 🥹 (He also couldn't stop glancing at her breasts lol). L keeps the flirtation going, pinching her butt in the IMBD interview (as you prev. noted), and at the London Call the polaroid is taken. L & N are "back on" but, also as you noted, L had already taken the InStyle polaroids back in March, perhaps half trying to appease A, half guarding against N's rejection once again.

Then Lukola lands in Australia end of April - they comment on how relaxed it is and secluded being half way around the world. In interviews they talk about how never getting annoyed w/ each other, N makes several comments w/sexual innuendo and says L smells good. They are asked to walk together in a video and L jokes "no, it's too much time", indicating the opposite. They do several photoshoots & L starts playing bodyguard- the crowds are enormous & he's always looking for N. In turn, N starts getting kind eyes w/ L. They mention going to dinner and are seen drinking champagne at the screening... I'm of the opinion, maybe something happened down under, while they were Down Under!

It's the start of the tour & they're already getting questioned about being a couple so they state in an interview they aren't dating & are friends. (Note: they don't say just friends but friends so there is no lie). Then, the Instyle piece comes out on April 29 - after this lovely time in Australia (and perhaps intimacy?), it's like a gut punch to N. On May 2, she posts "Kaleidoscope" by Chappell Roan, which talks about crossing the line but not making that person stay & going back to friends if that person changes their mind. People always say this is a sad song. And I do believe the Instyle stunt was hurtful to N but I also believe N is fighting for L here. The song also says "And if you ever find someone who could write a better song for you well I'd love to see them try...

Imo, N needed to fight for L after being the one who wanted to separate (if true, ofc). I can see L doing the Instyle stunt out of self-protection, not knowing where he stood with N... and this is why one could see the tension in Italy, which came right after all of this. But we also see it resolve, with them presumably getting on the same page. I can see it being like when Pen said to Colin that if he wanted an annulment she understood and Colin replied, in essence, that he loves her and she's not going anywhere... I can also see L not wanting N to go anywhere.

Now, what happened from Italy-on, there are many theories, but because of how remote Australia was and the conflict resolution thereafter, I'm becoming an Australia truther!

#justanopinion #downunder #Lukolalove

Don't agree with everything, but some interesting theories/things I haven't thought about before.

What do other people think?

[trekscribbles]

Backslide Chapter 1

Fandom: Leverage

Cross-Posted: AO3 and FF

Summary:

They stopped Damien Moreau. They put him in jail in San Lorenzo where he'd never be able to hurt anyone else, and Eliot thought he was finally, finally free.

And then Moreau escaped.

And he has one last job for Eliot: to kill his team and anyone else he's gotten close to since leaving.

“Eliot. My dear, dear Eliot. It’s so good to see you.”

The voice came out of the darkness like it always did in Eliot’s dreams, slicking over his skin like blood. It was always the same—Eliot was alone, walking home from the brewpub or one of the others’ apartments, searching for his car in the parking garage, locking up after the last shift. Always just him and the shadows and the voice, pinning him with fear the way Eliot used to do to others.

Eliot said the same thing he always said in his dreams. 

“You’re not here. You’re in jail in San Lorenzo, and you’re never getting out.”

“Did you learn that in therapy?” Moreau chuckled. He took a step out of the shadows, just enough for the hazy streetlights to illuminate his face.

“You’re not here,” Eliot repeated.

A satisfied grin curled at the corners of Moreau’s mouth. “At least you haven’t forgotten me. I wondered when I didn’t get any letters. Not even a postcard.”

This wasn’t possible. Moreau’s incarceration was permanent—was supposed to be permanent. It was over. This had to be another dream. But Eliot was no stranger to nightmares, and he’d learned years ago how to wake himself up when a dream turned dark.

And he wasn’t waking up.

“What do you want?” Eliot said. His voice came out solid and even, but if anyone could detect the hint of a tremor in his words, it would be Moreau.

“I’m here to offer you a job. And before you say no,” Moreau said, cutting off Eliot’s compulsive refusal. “You really ought to hear what it is.”

“What?” Eliot whispered.

The figure before him grinned and spread his hands wide. “Certainly you didn’t expect to get away with your little stunt consequence-free, did you? I know you like to play the fool, my dear Eliot, but you’re much smarter than that. I let you go once before because I figured you’d come back eventually. You know that saying—if you love something, let it go and it will return? I always figured you’d return. But now... now an example must be made. So. The job is to kill your family, your friends, anyone with whom you’ve made the tiniest connection, down to the little old lady you chat with in line at the grocery store. Anyone you have stained with your filthy presence—starting with Nathan Ford and the rest of your little crusaders. Their lives will be your punishment.”

The air inside Eliot’s lungs went cold, seeping into his blood, his brain. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Professional courtesy,” Moreau shrugged. “For old time’s sake. I did like you once, Eliot.”

“I’m not going to—”

“Well, that’s certainly your choice,” Moreau interrupted. “But the job doesn’t go away simply because you refuse it. Either way, anyone with the least connection to you is going to die. I just thought you might want some control over how they died.” 

“You listen to me, Moreau,” Eliot snarled. He surged into the alley, but Moreau stepped back until he was swallowed by shadows once more. Eliot followed, twisting to find the threat like he had thousands of times before, but there was nothing. The alley was empty.

“You have three days, Eliot,” said Moreau’s voice, filling the space like fog. “Then I hire someone else.”

“Moreau!” 

The faint echo of laughter bounced around the alley, but everything else was still. Moreau was gone. Eliot was alone again.

Eliot’s knees hit the pavement before he realized they’d collapsed. He waited to wake up, waited for the chill in his bones to fade, but he stayed there in the damp alley as the minutes ticked by. Three days. He had three days to protect every person he’d ever had any kind of relationship with. He had three days to contact anyone he knew who might take a job from Moreau and beg them to steer clear.

Or he had three days to hunt down Moreau and take care of the problem once and for all.

[jakey-beefed-it]

I watched Alien: Romulus tonight, after having wanted to see it since it came out. Spoiler-free review: It's a B that could've been an A. Probably the best Alien movie since Aliens, definitely the best since Alien 3. It's at its best when it's doing it's own thing, and at its weakest when too directly trying to be "just like Alien/Aliens!". If I have one chief complaint, it's that it would benefit from a stronger 'less is more' approach than it takes. Spoilers below the cut.

So one problem I have is the timing. The alien's lifecycle, as established in other films, takes time. It's fast as hell compared to normal things, but on the order of hours and days rather than months and years, rather than minutes. They could've tossed in a single comment to the effect of "the scientists extracted the black goo compound and refined it, testing it on the facehuggers and whoops their lifecycle got sped WAY the fuck up" but they didn't so that's the realm of headcanon rather than text.

EDIT: rewatched it today and there is some commentary over how the xenomorph has a measure of control over its metabolism; the reason it's able to mature so rapidly and yet also shut down for long-term vacuum survival. It's not quite as apparent as I'd like but it definitely qualifies as offering at least some textual explanation so my above complaint is less 'this makes no internal sense' and more 'this strains my suspension of disbelief even more than the things' ability to grow to prodigious size without seemingly feeding on anything already did.'

Speaking of the black goo, yeah, it ties back into Prometheus (which I saw, and personally didn't much like) and Covenant (which I didn't see owing to not having much liked Prometheus). On the whole I don't know that this was the right move for the franchise, but the film mostly makes it work. The final monster being essentially a xenomorph/engineer hybrid was not a premise I was excited about and the stills I'd seen made it look kinda stupid, but in the actual execution, it is suitably unsettling/uncanny and imo it actually works.

There were a couple of nostalgia lines that made me roll my eyes pretty hard- when Andy rescues Rain toward the end by zero-g divebombing an oncoming xenomorph, shooting it and saying "get away from her" i was like "yeah great, good callback, good moment". When he then adds "...you bitch" I rolled my eyes. Didn't fit the moment or the character, was strictly there to reference a better moment in a better movie.

Which isn't to fault David Jonsson, who plays Andy extremely well. Due to synthetic fuckery he has basically 2, 2 and a half personalities throughout the film, and he does them all very very well. Stand-out performance IMO, would love to see him in more stuff.

Cailee Spaeny does a good job as Rain, there were a couple moments early on where I wasn't 100% convinced of her authenticity, but as the film wore on, I saw that it was an acting choice to make Rain a bit socially stunted, coming across as awkward.

None of the actors were bad at all, and while I have some ethical concerns with digitally resurrecting a cgi Ian Holm circa 1979, the effects were cromulent and whoever they got to do most of his voice work was quite good, and Rook made for a decent antagonist.

On the topic of 'less is more' I mentioned above, I really wish they'd used fewer aliens in a couple of the big set pieces. You don't need a dozen scrambling facehuggers to be terrifying, you honestly don't need more than one, but the pair of them from the scene with Ripley and Newt proves that 'one per endangered character' is a fine guideline. Likewise when they get to the hive section of the station, they could've kept it every bit as terrifying (and indeed probably more so) with fewer, stealthier aliens than they used.

EDIT: the things a lot of horror fans care most about that I didn't mention on my first pass. The SFX are great, very effective. I'm not sure to what degree they relied on practical effects but there's a much more tangible feel to a lot of things that are very hard to get with cgi. There are a couple of cgi moments that are less effective imo- the zero-g acid blood wasn't 100% convincing though it was by no means bad -but for the most part, it was all very convincing and suitably visceral for a franchise so thoroughly rooted in body horror. The deaths were gruesome in a franchise-appropriate way, for the most part, and people who watch horror movies with that as their priority should be reasonably satisfied. The lighting was dark in a good way- not so dark you couldn't see what the fuck was happening, but dark enough that the shadows were ominous and potentially hiding threats. Set design was flawless, no notes.

From a scientific standpoint, i didn't like how solid the rings were. Planetary rings are absolutely a feasible astronomical hazard one would want to avoid crashing into, but that's less to do with their status as what looked like a frozen sea of bumper-to-bumper icebergs, and more to do with their being composed of eighty fucktillion objects moving at orbital velocities which will absolutely shred any object moving perpindicularly (more or less) through them. This is admittedly a pretty nerdy quibble that most viewers won't give a shit about and I'm willing to mostly overlook it for the sake of the film but it did make me pull a scrunchy Kermit face.

My most minor complaint was the (in my opinion) overuse of the Weyland-Yutani name and logo. A single use of the logo would've been sufficient. Since the film's mission statement was basically a return to the whole cassette-futurism of the first two films, calling it simply 'the Company' would've gone a long way toward that.

Probably my most significant complaint pertains to misogyny. Like, okay, this is an Alien film, it's going to be chock-full of reproductive body horror, big creepy bio-mechanical genital-lookin stuff, etc. But of the four characters who die, both men die of 'being attacked by a full-grown alien'. One dies by being impaled by a phallic tail, so that's something, I guess. The other dies by getting whomped upside the head and falling into the stream of some acid pouring from a distinctly vaginal alien coccoon. He'd just rammed a phallic tazer thing into it though, so maybe it's some weird sort of payback if you want to psychoanalyze it. Both women, however, die due to alien pregnancy- one from a normal chestburster, the other killed by the weird uncanny human-alien-engineer monster her fetus turned into after she tried to save her own life by injecting the black goo. Not by its birth, despite the size of the coccoon thing she passes and the accompanying blood loss, but when it comes back and chomps on her a bit with its more eel-like pharyngial jaw. Which is also rather phallic now that i write it out like that. Meh.

EDIT: there's also a bit of unfortunate implications wrt race. Two points, outlined below.

The most obvious is that the artificial person owned by the company is a black man, but given that previous synths in the franchise have all been white actors (Ian Holm, Lance Henriksen, Winona Ryder, Michael Fassbender) it probably gets a bit of a pass. Only a bit of one, in that Andy is outright stated to be a more menial model than, say, Ash or Bishop given the designed role of 'mining colony asset' rather than 'science officer' or 'colonial marines assset' which has some unfortunate implications. I might have more to say on the matter if I myself was black, but I'll leave that to other reviewers.

The other thing is that the survivors are the white woman and her synthetic brother (played by a black man, as mentioned above). Which could be worse, for sure, but it doesn't sit entirely right with me that the brown guys (I couldn't speak to their specific ethnicity though I'd take a stab at 'mixed' with some white ancestry in there too) and the brown woman (definitely a latina) get killed off. As a mixed white/latino guy, I just wanna see a brown person survive the whole horror movie sometimes. I'm often disappointed. At least the director is a latino guy? It's something.

On the whole though, it's a pretty effective, decent Alien film that could've been a very effective, great Alien film if it had a bit more restraint. Your mileage may vary, of course, but in my opinion, the weaker elements don't wholly overwhelm the stronger ones, only dragging it down a peg or so.

[bokettochild]

Opera House AU Roles

Okay, so I keep getting asks about this AU, so here's the roles each of the chain/princesses would take in the opera house

Lullaby: Director and owner

She started the opera house and runs it like the leaky ship it is. They make good money and do good work, but every work is like a piece of embroidery; pretty from the front, but when you look at the back....

Time: Blocking Director

Lullaby runs most things, but Time is the person who runs everyone through choreography and plans how to enact things on the stage. He's Lullaby's partner, but that doesn't mean they agree on everything.

Malon: Voice Teacher

Time hired her when Twilight joined, because he really wanted to help this kid get back on his feet, but working in the house means you need to be able to sing, if only for back-vocals. She occasionally helps out backstage and will fill in roles if needed, but she's not officially part of the company. Yet. Lullaby is trying to recruit her, but Malon kinda loves working for the music school that hired her out.

Twilight: Actor and stagehand

His preferred work is backstage, helping move props and scenery quickly between scenes, and he's good at it. Sometimes though, they need someone to fill various roles and he gets slapped in there. Luckily, he can avoid most singing roles, and his main thing is action.

Sky: Actor

Sky is the best stuntman in the whole cast, but not as good an actor. He's good at both, but action is far better than line delivery. He's most often called on to play antagonistic roles as a result, since his skills in fight scenes actually leave the audience worried he will destroy their hero. Many people are surprised to find out he's such a great guy off stage.

Fi: Sky's fencing instructor

She neither works for the opera house, nor at it, if she can help it. She comes over from time to time to work with Sky though, and if he asks, she might help some of the others. Time is her former protege, but they have beef between them for some reason so he doesn't like having her around. She loves the kids though, in her own way, Legend and Wind specifically.

Warriors: The Diva

He picked up something of a following in high-school and college, and when he came to the opera house, needing work, he basically brought his fans with. His is the headline name they use to draw crowds in most times, so more often then not he's the male lead in most plays. Surprisingly though, he's pretty decent about it, and while Legend and Twilight may say otherwise, his ego is properly held in check. He's a great singer and performer, and second best to Sky in action related things.

Artemis: Diva No. 2

Warriors pulled a few strings to get his ex-girlfriend from college a role when Lullaby was short some actors. Her chemistry with Wars on stage has quickly made her a fan favorite, and her own performing sealed the deal. She and Wars have a good relationship for being ex-college-sweethearts. Both of them were already up and coming stars before coming to the opera house, and it's still a bit of a shock to folks that they haven't left for greener pastures, but they're attached dang it.

Dusk: Singer & Dive No. 3

While her acting skills are less varied than Warriors and Artemis, her voice is far superior to either, which more than compensates for her lack of versatility in roles. She's the last piece of the Diva Trio, and her most common roles are either villainesses, powerful women and mothers (ironically). She's not as close with the rest of the crew as they are with each other, but she's new yet, and has only been with the company for a year. Her bond with Wars and Arty is pretty strong though, because they won't let her sit alone, and have pushed down the walls a bit.

Sun: Starlet

Sun is one of the up and coming performers. She's not nearly as big a name as the Diva Trio, but she does pretty well and her voice is to die for. She and Sky both study under Fi, and so she's pretty good with stunts, although not as great as Sky (yet). She's also a decent hand at needlework, so she's something of an emergency seamstress when a seam is popped or some such.

Fable: Actress

Not as present in the team as she'd like, due to her somewhat overprotective guardians, Fable is a skilled actress who Artemis is convinced will one day follow in her footsteps to become a radiant star. The only thing stopping her from gaining a big name in the industry is the aforementioned guardians, who love her, but again, worry endlessly. She joined by the suggestion of her old classmate, Flora, and to this day remains the only person who can reliably tame their wild child.

Legend: Jack-of-all-Trades

His official job is non-existant. He's been here since he was a literal infant (Twilight couldn't get a sitter) and it shows. He's picked up just about everything there is to know about the opera house, and never got formally hired (although he is paid). He's the go-to guy for just about anything and everything. He takes acting roles, particularly those more dance or trick related, as he's the only guy who actually knows genuine acrobatics and most forms of dance, and because he's young, he can take literally any role, even that of females. Most of the time though, he's backstage with a tool-belt of everything possible, fixing last minute costume, make-up, or set issues. He also tends to pick up strays.

Ravio: Prop Manager

Ravio's job is to construct and make sure props are where they should be at all times. He and Legend work hand in hand on most things, mostly because Legend originally was prop-manager (of sorts) before he got Ravio into the opera house. Ravio is one of "Legend's strays" as the boys ran into each other shortly after Leg came back from abroad, and the Lorulian was desperately searching for a room-mate. Legend helped him get a job better than where he was (pawn shop) and Ravio feels utterly indebted to him, and makes sure Leg knows it.

Styla: Costume manager

While Legend helps out in costume, it's actually Styla's domain. She's skillful in her work and quick to make unfortunate mistakes and pieces turn out surprisingly well. She's blessed with good speaking skills and copious charm, so she sometimes take on roles on stage, but she can't sing any more than Twilight can. She does not want lessons. Ravio and Legend are desperately trying to make her take them anyway; they work closely with her as a trio of their own, and much as they love her, she gives them headaches.

Hyrule: Assistant jack-of-all-trades

Another of Legend's strays, Hyrule, like so many others, is a fresh-out-of-foster street kid. He saved Legend's life by chance, and Leg determined to pay him back by getting him a job as a stage hand at the opera house, and a room in the living quarters there. Lullaby is used to the pinkette, so she didn't object, but everyone's glad Hyrule joined because he's absolutely amazing. What he lacks in natural talent, he makes up for in hard work and a quick mind. Warriors is certain Hyrule could make a killer performer, but with his lack of confidence it's slow going. The diva is utterly intent on taking Rule under his wing though and teaching him little by little. Ravio and Legend do not appreciate Wars stealing their assistant though.

Wind: Gofer

Wind is Warriors' kid cousin. Freshly in Hyrule from overseas, he's working at the opera house after school. He's pretty close with the other stage crew, and a huge reason Hyrule didn't get scared off in the first week. This kid is the most in touch with reality out of most of the crew, and acts as a buffer from their insanity to any newcomers. He tends to run and fetch for the most part, but at times has been known to also help craft the sets with Legend. They are artists and they do shit talk everyone while they do it.

Four: Special Effects

You know that one tech-nerd with too much coffee in their system, not enough sleep and perpetually frazzled hair? That's Four. Four handles lights, sound, special effects and all things mechanical. Everything's always on the fritz, so he is too. He does enjoy acting, but he gets anxiety about letting anyone else run his job, so he tends to avoid taking roles unless he's 110% sure Flora can handle without him.

Flora: Assistant Light Technition

Officially, she works lights, unofficially, she's Four's assistant. This girl was bred for the stage and avoids it like the plague. Her family is famous for acting but she's content to play lights and sounds crew with Four, and no one has seen her happier. She joined by her parents insistence, as an actress and learning under Wars and Arty, but one show gone wrong had her throwing herself in to help Four just in time and he's considered her irreplaceable since. She has no interest in going back on stage and no one makes her.

Groose: Tech Assistant

Working with the backstage crew, Grooise's official job title is technical assistance, but even he will joke that he's actually just a glorified ladder. He, like the others, acts on occasion, although his real passion lies in planning out the more difficult mechanics required to pull off certain effects and stunts. He essentially bridges the gap between the costume and props department and the special effects team.

Robbie and Purah: IT

This insane duo are known as "the basement dwellers" or "the witches" to most of the team. They're technically on payroll, but rarely seen. Purah is something like the last resort when Groose & Co. can't figure stuff out, and Robbie is her somewhat reluctant assistant. They emerge on occasion with all sorts of crazy ideas and items, and are some of Legend and Wild's favorite people in the crew because they never fail to provide the prop master and prop breaker with cool new toys.

Wild: Actor and Stuntman

Where Sky is their swordsman and Legend their acrobat, Wild is the guy who will pull all the stunts the others won't. He's still in uni at the moment, but his acting skills are to die for, as he can manage the stoic and dashing hero or the playful jester types with equal skill and believablity. He is, however, a risk to props and costumes in general, so he and and the prop/costume team don't always get along well and they're often dubious about letting him take key roles with key costumes/props as a result.

Linkle: Effects

Four and Flora officially work special effects, but occasionally call in Warriors' twin sister for some specialty stuff. No one knows what she does normally (except Warriors) and they're all a bit too scared to ask

Dawn: Secretary

Lullaby's a busy woman, so she hired Dawn to help her with some of the office work. Generally speaking, Dawn stays in the office and her only contact with the cast and crew is to handle complaints and any official work. She is, however, fantastically talented on the piano, something Lullaby and Time both encourage her to pursue. She plays the grande they have in house on her breaks, and occasionally in shows. She croaks like a frog when she sings though, end even Malon can't seem to help her with that.

Aurora: Front of House

Aurora works the ticket collections and generally minds front of house. Her warmth and eccentric attitude help add to the magic of the opera house and enchant the guests.

Dot: Think Tank

While a capable actress when called on, Dot's skill lies with the pen, and while the opera tends to preform classics as their main attractions, Dot does see that they have an abundance of new content for their smaller shows. She also acts as the outreach to the community to open the opera house to the public for use in community events. She and Dawn work pretty closely.

Dei: Trainer

Time's mentor after Fi, he's a bit of a hard ass and tends not to get involved in his protege's work. He is, however, currently training Warriors, so he is around from time to time to help the diva with his work. Time and he remain somewhat cordial, but there is some tension there, although not as bad as with Fi.

And while I know people are counting through and going "what about Tetra?", I am going to point out that Tetra wouldn't be caught dead working in the opera. She comes to support (and heckle) anything Wind is in, but generally stays out of the building otherwise, at least while the cast and crew are actually there.

And that covers it! At least for the time being.

If y'all have any further questions or thoughts, or character I may have missed, feel free to share them!

[winchesterdreamgirl88]

Famous In Love

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x Reader

Warnings: So much freaking fluff!! Bf/n= Best friends name

Summary: This takes place in an AU where Jensen isn't with Danneel and is just a normal actor in Hollywood, and Y/n hears about an open casting call for a movie and goes to read for the part meets Jensen and things go from there:)

Word count:1.7k

A/n: I loved this show when it first came out so I figured I would try writing a story based on the pilot of this show. The pilot for this show gets all the credit!

Imagines Masterlist

Song/Album Masterlist

"Come on Y/n this would be so fun to try. You never take any risks why not try this one." Bf/n was saying as you were walking down the street passing a billboard for an open call audition for some movie.

"No Bf/n you know that's just a publicity stunt. They're never gonna take some ordinary person like me. Besides I'm not pretty enough or good enough to ever be in a movie." You said as you stopped to think about how unlucky your life has been.

First your parents kicked you out at the age of 16 and you lived in your car while you worked a full time and part time job to afford rent. Then when you finally got settled in your new apartment it flooded and you had lost everything. You were 21 now and life was not looking to get any better. Luckily you had met Bf/n at work and she let you move in with her and you guys became inseparable.

"Please just do this one thing for me and if it turns out to be a disaster I'll do your laundry for a whole month. We'll go buy new clothes and go in there and nail this audition."

"Okay I guess we can give it a shot." You said finally giving in and letting her drag you to stores to pick out outfits.

Two days later you and Bf/n were sitting in a casting room waiting to audition. You were nervous but you didn't have high hopes. Expect disappointment and you'll never be disappointed. It was your friends turn to go audition and you wished her good luck as she disappeared down the hall. After about 10 minutes she came back with a smile on her face.

"So how'd it go?" You said interested to know what was gonna happen.

"It went alright, I definitely don't think I'll get the part but there was the most handsome man in the room watching me audition. I swear I forgot every single line because he was just so distracting."

Bf/n has always been super boy crazy so you didn't think anything of her mentioning another random guy she found cute. After about 10 minutes your name was called and you start to walk down the hall towards the audition room. Expect disappointment and you won't be disappointed you kept saying to yourself as you walked down the hall. You took a deep breathe before entering the room. When you entered the room you lock eyes with the most gorgeous pair of green eyes with a hint of brown you have ever seen.

Jensen's POV

I had been at auditions for only a few hours and I was already over everyone who had come and seemed to think it was a game or didn't really seem to try and care about what was happening. I started zoning out through most of the auditions because no one had that special spark that made me feel anything. Suddenly I hear the door open again and it's the last audition of the day, I lift my head up and look over at the door and see the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.

Reader POV

Your breathe got caught in your throat as you made eye contact with a man who looked to be about 25 years old. He had a very faint beard that you could only see in the light. You took a moment to breathe and then cleared your throat.

"Hi, my name is Y/n and I'm here to read for the role of Paige." You said walking up in front of the table that had the directors and producers behind it. You tried not to make eye contact with the guy who hadn't seemed to take his eyes off you since you came in the door.

"You may begin whenever you're ready."

You take a deep breathe before starting to read the script. "But what about me? What about what I feel. You don't just get to decide how I feel or how I control my life. I love you and nothing is going to change that." You said with your voice cracking as you finish up the scene. You notice everyone has a shocked look on their face, it seems like forever until the director speaks up.

"Thank you very much for coming today. We'll be in touch." You took one last look at the man and then exited the hallway to go find your friend.

Jensen POV

She captivated my attention from the moment she walked into the room. I could tell she was very nervous and shy because she kept her head down and wouldn't look at anybody. But as soon as she started the scene I couldn't help but just stare at her with astonishment. She's been the first person today that has captured my attention and actually made me feel something about the character. I realize she has to be the one for this part.

"She's the best we've seen all day. She knew the script, she was emotional, she was believable, and really cared about what she was saying." I said looking at everyone else in the room suddenly defending some girl I hadn't even said anything to.

"She's just a nobody though. It just doesn't seem right to give her the part." I was completely taken aback by this. "What if we bring her back in, and she reads a scene with me. If we have chemistry and it's believable then she gets the part." Everyone seemed to think that was fair so the assistant producer went to go find her while I tried to prepare myself.

Reader POV

You and bf/n were getting ready to leave the building when a slightly shorter woman ran up to you and stopped you. "Excuse me miss but they want you to come back and read another scene with your love interest and see if you can handle it." You were very shocked because you didn't think that you did that good. You looked back at your friend who had a big smile on her face telling you to go for it. You decide to follow the lady back into the room. When you open the door suddenly everything makes sense, the guy from earlier was playing your love interest.

Your heart started to speed up when you realized you would not only have to keep eye contact with this man but also try and remember words and talk to him.

"Hi, I'm Jensen I'll be playing Blake your love interest." He said while holding out his hand for you to shake. You smiled and shook his hand. "I'm Y/n."

"Okay so let's just read from the top of the page down and then we'll stop." Jensen said letting you know to start. "And action!" the director had called out.

"But what about me? What about what I feel. You don't just get to decide how I feel or how I control my life. I love you and nothing is going to change that."

"You can't love me. I can't stay here, I can't allow myself to fall deeper in love with you. You will only get hurt in the end and I can't let that happen."

"The only one hurting me right now is you. You aren't even considering my feelings. You're just doing what's best for you."

"What's best for me? What's best for me is being with you. But I just can't, I won't." He then turns away from you and you walk up behind him and place your hand on his shoulder.

"Yes you can, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, you're stuck with me. I know you may think you don't deserve to be happy. But you do, you deserve everything in the world that would make you happy. Starting with me." You said and looked away because that was the end of the scene. Suddenly you feel an arm grab your wrist and pull you back and then you feel lips on yours. You were surprised at first because you thought you were done with the scene, but it looked like he wanted to go further. It takes a second but then your brain catches up and starts kissing back. Suddenly he pulls away "Okay, lets do this together." "And cut!" the director said as Jensen slowly backs away from you. You were so distracted by what just happened instead of seeing anything you just walked out the door and ran down the hall. You couldn't believe he had just kissed you like that. It had been the best kiss you had in years and it was from this random guy.

Jenson POV

She was such a phenomenal actress I forgot we were even acting for a minute. When she said her last line of dialogue I didn't want the scene to be over so I pulled her in and kissed her keeping the scene going. I expected her to pull back but instead she gives herself into the kiss and it's the best kiss I've had in forever. Right after she ran out the door looking very nervous. I just knew I had to get to know more about this amazing girl.

"So?" I asked looking at the director. "We like her she's got the part." I get a big smile on my face and go to run out the door to catch her before she leaves.

Reader POV

Suddenly you hear noises behind you and see Jensen running up to you. "You got the part Y/n, you'll be playing me love interest." You were so excited you just decided to give him a hug, Shocked at what you just did you start to pull away but then feel him hug you back. "Congratulations." "Thank you," you say with the biggest smile on your face.

"Would you like to go out sometime. Maybe just do something casual like get a beer and dinner and just talk." He says suddenly being really shy like he's nervous to talk to you. But why would he be nervous, he's him and you weren't anything special. You decided to take a leap of faith, "Yeah I would really like that." He gave you that signature smile and you knew you were hooked.

[hand-picked-star]

IPKKND was a show which was made to rewatch again and again to peel away it's layers like an onion.Call it luck or the fruit of the dedication and hardwork that IPKKND team had done on this show,the show had achieved a cult-classic status.Otherwise all the intrigated storylines,the tragedy, the pain in the past, the layered and nuanced acting of the actors would have been overlooked. ITV isn't a medium where the facial expression of an actor needed to be observed.It's a place where character's emotions are showed blatantly by loud music and multiple cuts and effects. But here we are,IPKKND lunatics, trying to read Arnav's subtle facial expression even after 12 years later.Though the beauty of the subject makes the process more enjoyable.😉

Such an moment of this show was where our emotionally-stunted male lead practised the art of apology in front of a mirror in the initial stage of their courtship and did kind of a similar thing again down the line.

The thing is khushi could read Arnav to a level that no one close to him could and that had solved certain problems in Arnav's case and he got away without stressing himself much to adopt the art of communication. And how long can a person read another person without exhausting herself,which happened with khushi here.After the contact marriage khushi could sense Arnav was hurt,that's why he was being mean to her.So, his 'hate' doesn't affect her that much cause she could see the battle going on inside him in his eyes.But after the revelation of truth of the contact marriage she broke down thinking he really hated her,whatever she thought she saw in him, was just her imagination. Then the hope came with a declaration of love, but soon was destroyed by unjust accusation hurled to her in throes of anger.At this point, khushi became the person who was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

So khushi's silence and reluctance toward him was understandable, on top of her heartbreak the guilt towards the whole situation doubled her pain.Amidst all the hurt and confusion, khushi didn't have it in her to decipher Arnav anymore who kept hurting her again and again , she needed clear and heartfelt words of reassurance .And Arnav suspected khushi needed some form of verbal comfort for her hurt . And what solution he came up with?He was practising to make conversation with her when she was asleep just like he was practising to say 'sorry' to her in front of the mirror. 🙄Man,Arnav, you are a duffer, who does that?

Day 01

Arnav was a man who despite not interested in marriage in first place, knew the fundamentals of a real marriage. Because, marriage meant a great deal to him.And here his love of life was hurting and he was unable to provide her an emotionally available husband that could erase her woes.A man who couldn't wish his wife a simple 'happy birthday' to her face despite best efforts of the whole day, how could he make her happy throughout their life? The burden of being a terrible husband wore him down. He was barely holding himself, sitting beside her sleeping form with unshed tears in his eyes and a single rose in his hand.His heart was heavy with unspoken words that he wasn't able to say out loud.He was crying not only for his weakness but also for the uncertainity of their future in case thing didn't change and his inability to make her happy.So, the man wished for his wife all the happiness in the world, because that's what he wanted to give her.

And uff those unshed tears that laslty formed a teardrop threatened to spill over his eyes.Who need heart anyway, crush it in a mixer grinder and make chutney with it. Kahe Arnav bitwa,kahe?

Day 02

Arnav remained consistent on his pursuits in consecutive second night.He knew khushi is suffering from self-guilt over the whole situation. So,He promised her everything would be sorted with time. I always get moved by the yearning in his eyes.

And he told her that it's easier to talk to her when she's sleeping.I don't know when I see this scene in an instagram reel in a funny light, like it's easier for him to talk to her sleeping from,coz she talked too much, irritate me so much. There were so much going on here and she wasn't even in her talkative self those days.It's not funny,damn it.This was serious business.The biggest deal of Arnav's life was in progress right here.

I bet khushi was pretending to sleep that night too. And it's my headcanon that she was not allowing to hold him her hand at those nights, but here she took out her hand under the duvet and placed it where he could hold it , in case it's the last night they were sleeping together in the same bed, as she decided to leave shantivan the next day.And it's funny too,how alarmed Arnav was when she moved in her pretend-sleep.His fight-and-flight response was activated.

And then Mrs.Raizada went to her buaji's house, putting a obstacles to Mr.Raizada's night time rituals.Stay tuned to know what Arnav bitwa did next😉.

My scattered thoughts (10/?)

[b4mpyre-k1zz3s]

hello :) So have about we do a fanfic we’re reader is Knoxvilles daughter (she’s like 14-15 whatever) and she does stunts but not like the ones the guys do. So one stunt reader does a crazy stunt and gets very mildly hurt but papa Knoxville is not very happy and very worried???

sorry if this long asf 😭😭 ok bye bye love ya 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽

Knoxville’s Girl

When Johnny’s daughter does her first stunt (behind her father’s back, mind you) he isn’t very happy with his buddies who helped her out.

(Fluff)

1.1k Words

Warnings: Injuries, mention of underage drinking

An: Thank you so much for the request!! Sorry for the long wait in writing this but as a side note you always give me really interesting requests so thank you XD I decided to add in the fact Y/N skates in this fic because when I was 15 I was really adamant about learning. I never did, but I acquired quite a host of bruises as a result! I still have my old board lying around somewhere, I think…Anyways, thank you for the request and please keep them comming!!

Despite what most of America would think, your dad was one of the most responsible men you knew- at least, when it came to you. A lot of this negative press could be attributed to his whole line of work as a stunt man and generally rowdiness with his best friends who he was so close to that you often referred to them as your uncles. As far back as you could remember, you begged him to let you do stunts- it didn’t even have to be all that crazy, you told him. Hell, you would settle for antiquing one of the guys, but nooo. He would always give you the same reasoning, that he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if anything happened to his little girl. Sure, it was sweet, but it’s not like you were eight years old anymore- you were fifteen, and you could handle a few bruises, what with how you were learning to skateboard (and getting pretty damn good at it if you do say so yourself).

While you were forbidden from any stunts, you were allowed to hang out on set with the other guys in between takes. You spent most of your time sitting around with Bam, shooting the shit and talking about skateboarding for hours until he had to go run off and hurt himself more. One time, when Johnny wasn’t around, he even snuck you a beer from one of the coolers, which you tried really hard to make it look like you didn’t think it was gross. That's all to say that your dad didn’t think he was the best influence on you. You and Bam were pretty close, which is why it was him who you ranted to about all of your problems, “Ughh…my dad never lets me have any fun!” Rolling your eyes, you sat back in your seat as you crossed your arms, “I mean, I’m in high school now! All I wanna do is one stunt- just one!” Bam nodded, listening to you. After a silence, he took a drag off his cigarette and spoke, “I mean, I’m sure we could figure something out…” Your head shot up with these wide, excited eyes and you were practically squealing in disbelief, “Wait, really? Like- really really?!” Grinning at your eagerness, Bam shrugged, “Why not? Hell, I’ll get Steve-O in on it too- I’m sure he could come up with somethin’ that won’t get you old man’s panties in’a bunch.”

The idea came from, of all places, a Willie E. Coyote cartoon- you know, the whole ‘painting a tunnel on a wall and getting someone to run into it’ thing? It was Steve’s idea to put you on a skateboard. “C’mon, all you gotta do is drop in! You can’t fuck it up that bad, Y/N.” He was right, you thought. You’d dropped in a couple of times before at the skatepark and never once did you get hurt, which wouldn’t be a possibility this time around because Bam had the genius idea to put a helmet on you to eliminate any element of risk so there was no way Johnny would ‘get all pissy’ with them and also because it’s not a good idea to get your boss’s daughter concussed.

Poised at the top of the coping, you stared down in dislebeif at the drywall in front of you with the crudely painted tunnel on it that Bam was next to. On the other side was Steve who stood ready with the camera, angling it up as he waved at you. “Alright, little lady! We’re rollin’!” Okay, this was happening. It’s happening. Taking a deep breath, you nodded and, not wanting to look like a total pussy, swallowed any traces of tension you had before squeezing your eyes shut and shifting your weight forward. See, the thing is when you’re on a moving object, it’s kind of a good idea to keep your eyes open so you can, you know, see things. This thought didn’t cross your mind as you hurtled down the vert ramp before crashing into the wall- the wall that was supposed to shatter and leave you completely unscathed. The only problem was that it didn’t. Drywall entirely intact, you bounced off of it, landing on your back with this horrible, burning hot pain in your wrist.

You walked away with a sprained wrist, a black eye, and a couple cuts and bruises. Not too bad for your first real stunt, you thought, and it was funny as hell too, as you discovered when Steve was showing you the footage in the ER waiting room to make you feel better. If only Johnny could see the same humor in it as you did. You would’ve thought they were wheeling you back in a full body cast when they got you back to set later that day. Your dad’s eyes got wide and his jaw nearly hit the ground as he gasped, taking in the sight with a voice dripping in concern, “Jesus Christ…” Hurriedly pulling you into his chest, you were about to say some comment about how you were fine and it was totally worth it cause you had a great time, when he looked up at Steve and Bam like he wanted to bite their heads off, “What the hell did you do to her?” Neither had ever seen Johnny this angry and were both starting to regret being a part of this when Bam piped up, “I mean, I dunno what you’re so mad about, man- she wore a helmet.”

Funny enough, that did end up convincing Johnny to let you in on a couple of their milder Jackass stunts only to make sure you could do this sort of thing in a safer, more controlled environment under his watch. Chasing the guys around with cattle prods, rigging the giant hand to hit them as they walked through the halls of the Dickhouse offices- you even got to help Bam out with doing Rockys on the cast and crew (even though he really thought he was a bad influence now). The only other time you saw your dad that worked up was when Bam came up to him on set in between takes sounding pretty nervous himself. “Hey, Knoxville-“ He jabbed a thumb behind him, “You know I’m usually pretty cool about this kinda stuff, but I don’t really think Y/N should be doin’ stunts like that with wild animals…” Suddenly panicking, Johnny flew out of his seat, running over to the bushes where he heard your snickering, only to find you sitting across with Chris who had his hand in the Black Mamba sock puppet, wiggling it around like a snake and hissing. Falling back laughing, all Johnny could do was shake his head, unable to keep a smile from creeping onto his lips.

[twopoppies]

Omg Gina, was pregnancy rumours this bad during holivia? Because fuck sake wtf is wrong with people? I get that TR won´t say anything to shut it down because it´s a totally free promo for her without doing anything and that´s why she´s stunting with him anyway but if I was her I would be so upset that people are speculationg about this and only this - not how great I looked, how beautiful dress I wore and how confident I looked. Nope, everyone cares about if I´m pregnant.

Also little reminder - how many closeted queer men have children with actual woman and even being married to her and guess what, later they came out as gays and now living with man? Not to mention how many celebrities have children (and their relationships were real) and now they are not living together? Wake up, it´s sad but having a baby doesn´t mean anything these days, people still break up/get divorced.

Oh, it was way worse with Olivia because she milked it to death. When the rumors would start up, she would wear baggy sweaters or hold a big bag in front of her when she was getting papped as if she was trying to hide something. 🙄 She was “pregnant” at least five times in the two years we suffered through that nonsense relationship.

And yeah, obviously having kids doesn’t mean people stay together/are in love etc. I think people are either hoping TR is because they want the relationship to be real, or they’re worried that Harry might go that far to beard himself and that feels like a line in the sand they can’t handle.

Anyway, she’s not pregnant and I really wish people would use some common sense when reading these gossip blogs (I actually wish they’d ignore those blogs, but that seems like it’s never going to happen).

[thewritersaddictions]

Request/Drabble: (A/A) Joseph Morgan: Promise to be bad

You didn't meet on either show; Joseph did during the 2010s. He was popular while playing in the original and vampire diaries. You had watched both shows and started to grow a bit of a crush on the brown-haired man.

The way you two actually met was pretty funny. It was an award show years after his vampire shows were over. You two had been paired to tell the world who had won the best male actor in a drama series. Your dress sparkled under the lights, and Joseph couldn't help but stare at you from the sidelines of the stage.

Your sweaty palms have given away your anxiety about going on stage like that. His words pulled you away from your thoughts. "Don't worry, you'll do just fine." He said with a wink, and then the two of you were on stage announcing who had won the award that year.

That was nearly five years ago, and now the two of you were thick of thieves. Your voice was booming in Hollywood. You had gotten almost every single role, and it did help that you had a great partner who was always there to help with your lines.

Joseph had taken you for drinks after the award show and party. The two of you talked and talked until the bar closed down, so the two of you moved to his large apartment in the city. A few more glasses were shared between you, which had turned into sharing his comfy bed with your clothes lying on the floor.

Your relationship only grew more after that night in his apartment. Your relationship moved fast. Within a year, you were now living with him, and he cared about you deeply. Servel's roles as the main character have boosted you through TV shows and movie titles.

And much as you loved to say that you were badass through and through, you were always just a little subby for your boyfriend. You yearned for Jospeh's attention, and he always gave it to you no matter what, but he did have rules for your acting.

To keep your relationship sealed and private, your lips for him only. Your body was his to own, and nobody else got to see the beautiful dips of your hips or the way your skin looked when you were fucked out of your brains. Nobody, not even the world, would get to see that.

The rule was broken before you for a particle shot in this movie. You had read the script, and nowhere did it say you must be half-dressed and sitting in another actor's lap. The intimacy corridor was in your trailer for nearly thirty minutes as you tried to explain that you couldn't do this part of the shot, and she was so understanding. "Don't you worry, dear, I'll go talk to the director." She said before walking out of your trailer.

Your phone dinged, bringing your attention from the door to your phone. "I hope today is going well for you, baby." The text read from your boyfriend, and your fingers danced on the keyboard; you didn't wanna tell him that things weren't going well, so instead, you texted back, "Come visit me, and come see the shot." You smiled down as the bubbles appeared on the phone's other side. A simple thumbs up and a kissing emoji was all you received.

A few moments later, the intimacy director knocked on your door and came in with a horrible expression on her face. "So, the director says that you have to be there. I can get you as much coverage as possible so you can still do the scene, or we can get the stunt double there, but the directors won't like that idea." You sit on the uncomfortable couch, slash the dining table, and play with your nails. Contemplating the idea of even going back out there. You only had so many shots left for the day, so you figured if you could get through the scene, you could just put it behind you and never have to tell Joseph.

"Get me as many coverings as you can." Was all you mustered as you got up and walked out of your trailer and back to set. The intimacy coordinator followed closely behind you, and within a few moments, you were sitting on top of your co-star with nude pasties over your exposed breasts. Nothing would hide that your co-star's hands gripped your hips tightly or his lips pressed into yours.

You can feel the eyes on you. When you turned around after the director called cut, he was fuming. His eyes had turned a dark blue, and his arms were crossed over his chest. Heaving practically to get over to you. At this point, you know you're in deep shit, a deep hole that you had dug yourself. He waits, leaning against the large doorframe.

You're hulled away to take off your make-up and get dressed into a comfy and soft robe, but you walk alone to your trailer, where the bubble grows into heat in your lower stomach. You haven't seen Jospeh since you were whisked away.

You walk into your trailer, and there he is. Waiting with anger written all over his face. "I thought we had an understanding." He says, his voice steady and eerily calm about everything. You, on the other hand, are shaking on the inside. You know the deep hole you've dug yourself, but you aren't sure what will come of it.

"Come here," Joseph says without getting up from his seat at the shitty trailer's dining table. You shut the door behind you and walk to him. Standing in front of the calm man. You wait for a heated breath and then another. Before you feel the slip of his hands on your hips, making you shiver because of how cold his hands are.

"Now I'm not sure what I will do with you. Because frankly, I don't want to punish you, but the rules were clear, darling." You nod, wondering if speaking is allowed. The air isn't tight or pressing down on you; the more he talks and guides you towards the back room where the bed lays, the deeper you fall.

He doesn't manage it every time, but sometimes, when he's extra rough and needy for your soaked pussy he can push you right into subspace. Your back hits the bed, and you bounce a little, the robe being undone above you with a flick of Jospeh's wrist. You aren't naked, but you aren't dressed fully, either.

A pair of skimpy shorts and a tank top revealing your hardened nipples. The expression on his face is unreadable, but you can see that he's enjoying the view because the tent in his jeans is giving everything away.

It's quiet as Joseph drops to his knees, pulling your shorts and panties off in one go. You follow him up by stripping off your shirt; even though this is supposed to be a punishment, you can't help but want to please your hunk of a boyfriend.

"I want you down on your knees." He demands without a second breath. Your knees dig into the carpet, and your hands are already working the belt that holds his jeans up; the belt falls to the floor with a clink, and his jeans ease down his thick thighs before you're greeted with no boxers, just his thick cock leaking at the red tip.

You lick your lips with anticipation, and when you go to press a small kiss to the tip of his cock, your hair has been grabbed, and you're being forced to take his thick cock down your throat.

The burning sensation in your throat, or the tears that roll down your face, are nothing you haven't dealt with before but the place. The trailer is a few minutes walk away from your co-stars, directors, and anyone else working on this movie. It brings a new sense of lust rushing through your body.

His hand is unforgiving on the back of your head, pulling at the roots as your lips reach the base of his cock. With each gag that leaves your lips, breathy moans leave Joseph. His head is falling, and his forehead-hooded eyes look down at you as you try to keep up with the pace he has set out for you. You barely get a breath in before Joseph releases his load deep in the back of your throat.

His grip is rugged, and then your hair is cut loose from the harsh and sweaty grip, but just as swiftly as you were on your knees digging into the carpet. Joseph has you up from your knees, twirling you around in a matter of seconds to have your ass high in the air and your face pushed into the bed.

You don't give yourself an inch or a breath. Instead, he pushes his stiff cock into your tight cunt. His hands fall to your hips, holding on for dear life as he pounds into you with no mercy. Ass jiggling and moans falling on deaf ears, not that your moans can be heard as your face is still pressed into the comforter on top of the mattress.

"Come on, baby, tell me who you belong to." Jospeh's voice is hoarse but deep. You try, but your thoughts are like puddles of mush in your mind, and all you can feel is his grip on your hips. The sound of skin slapping against each other, "Oh, come on now, baby. Just tell me that you belong to me." His words are ragged and sharp as he tries to keep up with his merciless pace. You try to shake your head but don't get far. "Words love. Words." He says as he hits just the right part of your cunt. The one part he's only ever been able to reach.

"Yes!" Your words are half-assed, but he takes it. Loving the way you tightly squeeze his cock. A large hand travels from your hip to your forgotten clit. His rough, sweaty fingers play at your clit. Rubbing quick circles that make you see white as you fall further into the mattress, and you aren't sure if you screamed or if your voice gave out, but all you know is that you went limp in Jospeh's arms.

The overstimulation happened quickly, as Joseph hadn't hit his own high yet. His balls slapped into your abused clit, the clit making it easier for his cock to slip in and out of your leaking hole. Just as you thought that you were safe from your orgasms, another one came crashing through your body. Mkaing, you see white for a second time that afternoon, and with one last thrust, Joseph was leaving his seed deep in your cunt.

Ragged breaths and groans filled the air as he slipped out of you. "I tried." You say in a hushed and sore voice. He hums and wraps his arm around your body, pulling you close to his larger frame. "I know, I just thought… You're mine, Y/n." Your cheeks are already hot with blush, but he always manages to make you hotter in all the good ways.

"I'm yours, Joseph." You say as you lean into the touch of your over-protective boyfriend.

Completed on: 02/28/24

Posted on: 02/29/24

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 11/28/2023

tuesday again no problem will be taking a break for the 12/12 edition (not next week but the one after)

listening

previously featured Os Mutantes, a countercultural brazilian rock group, is back bc i heard A Minha Menha on an instagram reel by @/ vintagepulps on a showcase of brazilian pulp magazine covers.

the SECOND that driving riff hit i experienced a brief moment of fuckor bc this is exactly and precisely the kind of song i like. this translation tells me it translates to My Girl. it's got moon/sun imagery. it's exactly the kind of song to drive around to in the summer while having an absolutely crippling crush on the person in the passenger seat. spotify

-

reading

you wouldn't download a woman...

TWICE

-

watching

I'm No Angel (1933, dir. Ruggles) a 1936 black comedy written by Mae West and starring the babiest Cary Grant you've ever seen. i added it to my letterboxed bc i saw screenshots of this one specific dress. that’s so much sideboob. good for her.

we don't use the term "adventuress" anymore to describe a woman who does various physical or social stunts to land a husband and i think that's a shame. Tira (yes) is a burlesque dancer and (separately) a lion tamer at a down on its luck circus, becomes famous through putting her head in a lion's mouth, and leverages that fame to fall in and out and back into love.

your enjoyment of this movie will hinge on your tolerance for astrologers, circuses with animals in them, and depictions of black housemaids that have not aged super well, even if they're mostly there to stroke her ego. i'm sort of torn on what rating this would get today-- i'm assuming R bc there's a woman expressing desire but nothing actually happens beyond kissing and some sitting in laps. some peril for the lions i guess?

i do not think this particularly nailed its landing, and i'm not totally sure why they got back together, but mae west in straight up burlesque and the shimmiest dresses you've ever seen is so much fun to watch it doesn't really matter. this is sort of sidelining the her very funny, extremely quotable script. apparently any movie she wasn't allowed to write or heavily doctor her own lines just completely flopped, which i also think is very funny.

just straight up on the internet archive

-

playing

triple header for Things That Came Out This Decade: Genshin Impact (September 2020), Deliver Us Mars (2023) and Gamedec (2021).

brief Genshin update: your main companion in the game, Paimon, the little fairy bitch, has been the recipient of some worrying foreshadowing lately. hey Paimon you wanna tell us anything???

Deliver Us Mars, free on Epic this week. i want to like this game. i think there should be more weird little eurojank original scifi B-franchises like this and you should be able to feed your family by making them. i do not want to continue playing this particular little franchise.

it's the second game by KeokeN (The Netherlands) and published by Wired Productions (UK, although they are partnered with Koch, which means they’ll be bought up soon), a studio of under 20 counting support staff (some of who are certainly part time or on hourly contracts) and an intern. after doing that basic background research i ratcheted my expectations back a couple notches and deleted a somewhat catty paragraph about video game hair.

this is a sequel to Deliver Us The Moon, which was a successful Kickstarter and Steam greenlight (TM (C) R) and it seems they spent the four interval years mostly polishing up the predecessor Deliver Us The Moon, which i do not own and do not plan on playing.

Deliver Us Mars bills itself as an action-adventure, but during my time with it, it was more of a cinematic movie/walking sim with extremely light puzzle/platform mechanics. there are extensive childhood flashbacks following a dad around as he trains his daughter to be an astronaut. the timing and insertion of these never quite clicked for me-- they take forever and they were never as interesting as what they interrupted.

this game is not good at signposting or tutorializing. i had to restart a chapter twice bc the unique controls popped up for a brief fleeting moment on screen and weren’t in the keybinding settings. i could never quite get the mouse and keyboard camera sensitivity right, and platforming/vertical elements seem to only be partially implemented: you can only really successfully approach certain segments from extremely specific dead-on angles. there are like three big boxes in your path that you have to clamber over at one point and i do not think it should take a solid minute and a half for me to get over them. some reviewers praised the lack of signposting during the launch sequence (causing you to frantically look around at a million unlabeled buttons and levers to see if any of them were highlighted as a thing you can click) as a fun way to ramp up stress but i fucking hated it.

after two and a half hours, and only just making it to a ship OUTSIDE mars, i decided there are other games in the world. this hits some sort of minimal viable story benchmark for me, i can see why some people love it, but i don’t want to find out what happens bad enough to play through a slow game that handles terribly and isn’t much fun to exist in.

does get points for big fuckoff dishes.

Gamedec is an isometric RPG, where you are a near-future private investigator who handles delicate personal matters inside wildly popular MMORPG VR games. unfortunately all the trailers suck shit.

this is catnip to me. i love a no-combat game where i have to walk around and talk to everyone and click on everything and write things down in a little notebook. i loooooooove being nosy. i've played through the first two and a half chapters (kinky second life, racketeering farmville, and real life uh oh) and i'm having a fucking marvelous time. the writing team clearly had a lot of fun, the VR game worlds feel very alive and vibrant-- there's a ton of possible weird little flavor interactions that go a very long way toward making me forget this is a limited-perspective isometric. this is like praising an RPG for doing what it says on the tin and being an RPG, but the most recent RPGs ive played have been fucking terrible. it's not shoehorning me into one-true or main-path choices. extremely forgiving of failure, which is good bc i straight up accidentally killed my first client. i know he was a kid but he kinda had it coming imo. sometimes kids just suck shit

im so delighted by this shitty little apartment-- it's got to be fucking bizarre to exist in, bc of the ultra-loft ceilings you need to make it be isometric, but it somehow manages to feel like a studio apartment and a seedy back office all at the same time. a game that is in general very fun to Look at. will have more thoughts as i continue playing but this is really scratching some sort of itch for me. commits to the bit. funny but sincere. a pastiche in ways i personally do not find annoying. has not hit me with like konami code style references yet. due to the fact this is also in my epic games store library i believe this was also free at some point

-

making

fallow week for me. phil has been regrowing skin at a good clip and i can no longer feel each individual vertebra, AND we have another vet appt on friday to get more/different antibiotic goop and all of her vaccinations and microchipping done. mack made a hairball and is getting put back on an actual wire slicker brush grooming schedule. my beautiful girl seems to have a particularly dense coat among the domestic shorthairs of my acquaintance, although that may be bc she is a new england girlie and we constantly exist in air conditioning?? mixed feelings about scheduled brushies from her, even with short and light sessions. we’ll get there.

helping.

[elliepassmore]

Out of Air review

3.5/5 stars Recommended if you like: contemporary fantasy, paranormal, SCUBA, treasure hunting

Big thanks to Wednesday Books, Netgalley, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was intrigued by the premise of this book and the promise of ocean horror. I enjoyed The Depths , which was a horror with ghosts and free diving, so I thought I'd give this one a try. Unfortunately, this book was pretty light on the horror and a little too fast with its pacing. The elements are there for it to be atmospheric with the tension rising as Phibs slowly changes as a result of that cave dive. Instead, the body horror element felt rushed and more like a side plot.

I think one of the things that kept this book from being a really great horror is that the author split it into the past and present, with the past focusing on the dive 6mos ago where the Golden Age coins were found. While it provides some context for the Salt Squad's fame and the tension that exists within the group, I don't think it was necessary for those elements of the story. Phibs says that they found the coins and it rocketed them to fame, we don't need to see it too. Likewise, we can tell there's tension in the group, but I honestly think it kind of takes away from it to also tell us how that tension came about. It would've been more interesting, imo, for the issues of the group to spill out into the present, creating a more layered mystery. Removing the chapters set in the past would also have provided more room to weave a more atmospheric and psychological story.

Most of the book is set in the present, and we get to see how the group interacts with one another and their love of diving. Phoebe and the twins, Gabe and Will, pretty much immediately make a stupid decision and go cave diving despite not being experienced. Luckily for them no one dies, but instead the cave they enter begins changing them -- or at least Phibs and Gabe, who breathed in the air pocket of one of the caves. There's a couple more stupid diving stunts in the book and, honestly, someone needs to take these teens' certifications and remind them that diving can be deadly.

The discovery of the cave leads one of the Salt Squad, Lani, to lose her mind. She's desperate to get them out of there and erase all evidence of the caves, but refuses to say anything about it. This sequence, where Lani is being secretive and angry, was one of the more aggravating parts of the book. Lani just expects everyone to step in line and follow her orders despite her not giving them any reason to do so. She even threatens to destroy Phibs' camera, the last thing her grandfather gave her before he died, and goes so far as to hold it over the ocean. Later she dismissively tells Phibs she would buy her a new one if it had gotten destroyed, both completely missing the point and also showing her utter privilege and lack of empathy. The fact that the caves actually were dangerous doesn't matter, the way she behaved was atrocious. The very least she could have done is explain things.

There is body horror in the book, with both Gabe and Phibs starting to change after breathing the cave air. For some reason it seems to impact Gabe faster than it does Phoebe, who holds it together much better. Things progress pretty quickly for the both of them though, and I would've preferred to have it be a more creeping kind of body horror, where the changes start out subtle and get freakier over time. Also, I don't totally understand some of the changes. Usually there's a clear outcome for body horror, but I don't really understand what the end point is of the changes Gabe and Phibs are going through.

I also didn't love the ending. It was a little odd to me and I don't think it was particularly thought out long-term. Like...what are they going to do five years down the line? 10? What about some of the future goals Phibs mentioned wanting to pursue? Maybe I'm just getting too old for books like this, but I can't help but think the ending shows a decision in favor of childish belonging over practicality and maturing. Also, people are going to ask questions. The excuses the group came up with aren't going to work for very long.