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your-miss-right · 4 years ago

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Sonder

Summary: They’re both a little lost, but that’s okay because one day they’ll be found. After all, they say soulmates have the same hiding places.

Chapter 1: Wander

Jungkook doesn’t startle easily, if anything he’s quite fond of doing the big, impossible, and scary. He’s been bungie jumping, after all. If that doesn’t speak of his bravery, he’s not sure what will. Still, that doesn’t stop him from jumping when a tiny voice speaks to his left, making him almost drop his bag of honey butter chips and the six pack of beer in his hands.

“Your eyes are really big…”

He turns his head, eyes flitting from side to side for a minute before he drops his squinted gaze and realizes there’s a small child blinking up at him from underneath a worn bucket hat. His little hands are gripping a clunky transformer and he’s offering Jungkook a large grin. He looks to be five or so, definitely not old enough to be here alone in the alcohol section, where Jungkook is pondering a second beer purchase.

“Thanks? Yours..too?” He starts and lifts his head to look around, wondering who he belongs to. There aren’t any adults in sight and the kid shuffles his sneakers, making them squeak against the polished floor.

“So how’s your day going?” The kid asks and fumbles with a plastic arm, gaze laser focused on putting it back in place. Jungkook would normally be impressed, those things look harder than Rubik’s cubes, but he’s preoccupied tamping down his growing panic. Is this kid lost? Where are his parents? And why is he so chill about this?

“Um…well I’ve had better,” he answers tentatively and continues peering down the aisle of alcohol.

“Mine’s okay too, Y/n is making a snack run,” he replies and grins again, scrunching his button nose.

“At eleven? Shouldn’t you be in bed?” Jungkook quirks a brow and shakes his head, “Wait, Y/n? Is that your sister?”

“My nanny…she let’s me stay up sometimes and sneaks me snacks when mama isn’t looking,” he presses a chubby little finger to his lips and whispers, “But don’t tell..”

Jungkook nods gravely in understanding, “Kay, well I promise not to tell, but maybe we should go find her? She’s probably worried about you.”

“Ok!” The kid holds out one hand and looks at Jungkook expectantly and again it takes him a second to realize what’s happening.

“Oh right, sorry about that,” Jungkook shifts his snacks around to grab hold of his tiny hand and they begin to make their way down the aisle.

He’s caught between horror and amusement at how open this kid is. Jungkook’s a complete stranger and this kid has deemed him harmless enough to make acquaintances with. He’s either gullible or razor sharp. Jungkook hopes it’s the latter.

They shuffle into the next aisle over where there’s more alcohol, then the next where there’s soda and mineral water. The chip aisle is empty as well.

“Hey buddy, what’s you name?”

“Isaac, what’s yours?” He asks without missing a beat.

“Jungkook, it’s nice to meet you Isaac,” Jungkook grins a warm and hopefully comforting smile. Not that it does much, Isaac seems anything, but scared. Jungkook thinks back on his five year old self and knows he would’ve been in tears by now.

“Likewise,” he replies with his own small nod and Jungkook decides he really likes this kid, he’s not so sure about the nanny though. She doesn’t seem very good at her job if she lost her kid.

“What was your nanny wearing? Or do you know where you lost her? Or what snacks she was getting?” Jungkook peers into another aisle, but it’s empty.

A couple people pass them, but not one seems to be looking for a child. Jungkook is starting to feel panicked again. What if she abandoned him? Is he going to be a dad now? He’s barely getting by with his random jobs, he can’t afford a child.

Maybe I should call Jin or Namjoon? They’d know what to do.

“Well Y/n said she needed wine for her party tomorrow and she wanted something sweet because was sad…”

“Sad?”

“Her evil ex-boyfriend made her cry,” a deep set frown pulls his lips into a cute pout and Jungkook feels a bubble of affection in his chest. This kid clearly loves his nanny very much.

“Oh, I’m sorry…” Jungkook frowns and he means it. He doesn’t know her, but he knows heartbreak and its woes. He feels a pang in his chest at the memory of his relationship’s heart shattering ending. It’d been years ago, but the memory still left a bittersweet taste in the back of his mouth.

Namjoon always said that’s how you know you’re growing up. When you can savor those feelings and embrace them without remorse.

“That’s why I want to find chocolates for her. Nana says chocolate mends broken hearts and makes you feel like you’re in love. Jungkook, where do they keep the chocolates?” Isaac peers up at him and shakes his hand with gentle verve and impatience.

“We just passed it though and it was empty, “Jungkook stops, accidentally jerking the child backwards. He feels like he should know the answer to this. He’s watched way too many romcoms to not know where people would seek comfort, besides alcohol.

“Jungkook?”

“Ice cream! She’s in the ice cream section!”

Isaac meets his eyes, mouth big in realization and he pulls harder on Jungkook’s arm, tugging him forward. They hurry past several aisles only to hear a girl’s panicked voice and the stamping of feet.

“Isaac! Isaac you little monster, I swear to go—d.” Whatever is about to leave her mouth dies as she skids to a halt, almost running head first into Jungkook. He clutches his chips and beer to him, effectively crushing a majority of the chips in his bag. She in turn is holding a pint of vanilla ice cream, flattened marshmallows, and a large bottle of wine.

Her mouth drops at the sight of Isaac and he flings himself at her legs and using his arms to hold her tight. Her eyes flicker between Jungkook and Isaac, no doubt questioning what happened. Jungkook feels his face heat underneath her wide eyed gaze and he can see a tinge of ferocity flashing in her eyes.

“Jungkook helped me find you! I’m sorry for leaving, I was trying to find you something sweet to fix your heartache. Please don’t tell mama, ” he looks up at her with big glittering eyes and Jungkook fights back a chuckle. If anyone knows what a finishing move is, it’s him. His nanny is as good as gone.

She visibly softens and sighs in defeat, “I’m not going to tell her, but you have to promise me you’ll never do that again. You got it? I was terrified.” She drops down to his level and gives him a tight one armed hug. It’s both tender and silly because Isaac is pressed up awkwardly against her bag of marshmallows.

When Y/n gets back up she pins Jungkook with a calculating stare. It’s then that Jungkook notes the faint red rimming her eyes, the slight puffiness of her lids, and the dusting of red at the tip of her nose. She must’ve been crying not long ago, it might’ve been due to the dreaded ex or having lost Isaac briefly, maybe both.

“Thank you for helping him.” Her attention flickers to Isaac when his small hand comes into view and he gives the marshmallows a gentle yank. Whether it’s because he wants to eat them or he’s trying to be helpful, Jungkook isn’t sure. Either way, Y/n hands them over and he tucks them under his arm with a look gleeful satisfaction.

“It’s no problem, I think I was more freaked out than he was,” Jungkook flushes and brings a hand up to the back of his neck. Ugh, he’s already sweating, gross.

“He’s sneakier than he looks and I was a bit distracted.” Her eyes are narrowed at the blissful boy who is once more enthralled with his toy.

“It happens,” Jungkook shrugs.

There’s an awkward second of silence in which they both eye each other, unsure of what to say. He can’t remember the last time he made small talk like this. He’d forgotten how flustered it could make him.

“Anyway, I’ve got to get this kid to bed or else my boss will throttle me. Say bye little man, we’re going home,” Y/n calls out to Isaac and waves him over.

“Bye Jungkook,” he beams and before Y/n can grab his hand, he takes off towards the check out at full speed.

“Hey, not again!”

Jungkook is about to say goodbye and offer his name, but she’s already lunging forward and dashing towards Isaac. He turns to watch them leave, hand still in the air when she stops and half turns on her heel, her hair flying around her face.

“See you around!” She gives a frantic wave and follows after Isaac who is giggling as she chases him down. His running is more playful than rebellious because as Y/n catches up to him, Jungkook can hear Y/n’s lilting laughter and a happy shriek.

Jungkook doesn’t stop smiling until he leaves the store.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Y/n doesn’t actually like kids. So to say she hasn’t a clue as to how she ended up being a nanny, is a gross understatement. Well, she knows how, it was Taehyung’s fault (he says ‘blessing’, she doubts it sometimes), but that’s beside the point. The point is she doesn’t understand how she pulled it off. There are days when she feels like she got away with a heist, other days she thinks someone pulled a fast one on her.

“How is life at the Hwang household treating you?” Taehyung asks, as he sets a Tom Collins on the napkin in front of her. He scrunches his nose when she sips it and kicks her feet happily.

Y/n doesn’t care that it tastes like an alcoholic lemonade. She refuses to drink like an old man. Also, whiskey tastes like gasoline, but she’ll keep that thought to herself. People in Los Angeles can be pretentious and you never know what hipster is eavesdropping, waiting to rub their obscure knowledge in your face.

“It’s cool, Isaac’s grown on me,” Y/n gives a half hearted shrug, that ironically looks forced and exaggerated to Taehyung’s sharp gaze.

He pins her with a knowing look.

“Okay fine, the kid’s like my best friend. Happy now?”

Taehyung’s smirk is enough of an answer and he continues rinsing his jigger out with an annoying air of smugness.

“Also I think his mom is getting suspicious, I might have to cut back on his cookies. I can’t keep pretending I’m eating all those oatmeal raisin cookies. I hate raisins,” Y/n stirs the ice with her straw before taking another long sip.

“I never understood how that was his favorite cookie. I swear he’s like an eighty year old in a five year old’s body. Does he still watch those science documentaries?”

“Tell me about it and yes. He showed me a video about how the world was going to end. It’s pretty neat,” Y/n waggles her brows and Taehyung doesn’t hide the grimace on his face.

“That’s bleak. He never showed me that stuff.”

Taehyung used to be Isaac’s nanny, but once Taehyung had decided to return to school and study fashion design, he realized he couldn’t continue nannying. Instead he took on a couple bartending jobs to keep himself afloat. Y/n doesn’t know how he finds any time for himself with his packed schedule. The Hwang’s had even offered to double his pay, but when he turned them down, insisting he couldn’t, they asked for a contact.

Taehyung, being the good friend he is, recommended Y/n for the job. Being completely honest he didn’t think Y/n would get the job and neither did she. But they both said, why not try anyway? There were people applying with degrees in children’s psychology. Y/n couldn’t compete with that and she wasn’t expecting a call. Yet, this is what made Y/n stand out to the Hwangs. She wasn’t well versed in various languages, science, or philosophy. She had gone to school for graphic design she knew many adults tended to raise an eyebrow at that.

Once a date had asked her, “Isn’t that a starving artist career?”

Y/n never called him back.

Simply put, the Hwangs had no business hiring her. However what they liked about her is the fact that she has three younger siblings and one parent who was always working, meaning she raised them. She grew up roughing it and she knew grit. In their eyes she could handle anything they would throw at her. Her siblings were proof of that.

They had gone to better schools than her (she encouraged them to chase their dreams), played sports (she was their loudest cheerleader), they’d graduated with honors (she tutored them), and they were aiming for conventional careers that paid way better. Meanwhile she was living the bohemian life, working freelance, living in her tiny studio with her pit bull, Daisy. She was unconventional and for some reason this made her fascinating to the Hwangs. It also made her feel like some rare accessory to flaunt around when their persnickety friends came over.

To be honest she should’ve known better, when Taehyung gave her the Brentwood address, that was all she really needed to know.

“Is Jimin coming later?” Y/n asks and makes note of the slowly filling bar, she knows she should get going soon. She has a line sheet to put together for a clothing brand and some photo editing to do, not to mention Taehyung won’t have time for idle chit chat.

“He said he would, we’ll see. If not I’ll stop by your place later with some cider and pizza. I’ve missed Daisy.”

Y/n grins, “I’m sure she misses your face too.”

“Speaking of missing, how’s the whole Ryan situation?” Taehyung’s eyes have gone soft and he focuses his attention on her. She silently curses and heaves a sigh.

“I’m getting over it, but he’s around…”

“Y/n…”

“I know, I know, it’s just hard to cut someone out like that. I thought I could take being friends, but this…”

Taehyung reaches across the bar and takes her smaller hand in his, squeezing gingerly. “You know how I felt about this situation and how I still feel about it. I can’t keep telling you not to do the things you do, but I’m here for you. Always.”

Y/n swallows down the lump forming in her throat and replies with a small, “Thank you Tae.”

She squeezes his hand in return before letting go and pushing back from the bar. Y/n gathers her things and throws her jacket over her shoulder.

“I’ll let you know if I can make it.”

“Definitely, call me if you decide to come over. If not, no worries, there’s always Sunday brunch. Say hi to Jimin for me!” Y/n sends a jaunty wave in his direction and he winks at her. She doesn’t miss the way several girls bring their heads together to whisper and shoot her looks. Y/n’s willing to bet they’re going to hit on Taehyung the minute she’s out the door.

She steps out onto the sidewalk, the bar’s neon sign shining bright like a beacon in the night. Y/n pulls up a rideshare app and waits, thinking of her dog and the work she can’t wait to busy herself with. Jimin says she’s workaholic, she’s not sure if she agrees. It’s a good distraction that keeps her mind from overthinking and her worries at bay.

Although it’s been inevitable these days. Y/n doesn’t mean to get melancholy; it seeps in like a fog, dreary and cold. It settles on her skin before invading her warmth and chilling her bones, weighing her down, down, down. People are arriving, coming in and out, dressed casually, some more scantily than others, and a couple of guys shoot her flirtatious looks. There’s screaming, chatter, and laughter. The city is alive and she can’t help, but feel colder and colder.

Y/n can’t fight the hollow feeling that takes over her heart, hardening and weighing heavy.

Do others feel like this? I can’t even tell.

It’s strange how being surrounded by people can make you feel even lonelier.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Jungkook hasn’t a clue what he’s doing, he simply does. Maybe that’s why some things have worked out for him? For example he never pictured moving to Los Angeles, much less planned it. He just did. Namjoon and Yoongi had been here first. Both working for a music production company as interns first and then working their way up to actually producing music.

They had small hits here and there, but both were determined to come up with that all time chart topper. Jungkook? Well, he’d been in the middle of a break. He’d disappointed his parents when he decided not to attend University despite having the test scores for it. They couldn’t understand it, didn’t know how to. All they’ve ever pictured for him was business school and a prestigious job at a tech company.

Jungkook on the other hand had been drawn to other things, like art, film, and photography. He felt awful admitting to his parents that he didn’t know what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. At the age of eighteen, what can you want, other than to be happy for the rest of your life?

A well paying job could help, but it wasn’t going to be everything. His parents, they didn’t quite understand that, they tried to, but that was going to take a minute. So after several months working at a clothing store, taking side jobs for photography, illustration, and whatever odd thing that could put money in his pocket, Namjoon called him.

The conversation started off as normal chatter, how they’d been (Jungkook was ok), how their families were doing (it was tense), who they were dating (Jungkook had been broken up with), and everything else in between. Then somewhere in the middle of the conversation Jungkook blurted out how lost he felt. The comment had sort of caught Namjoon off guard, but being the insightful hyung he’s always been, Namjoon replied with something simple and profound:

You often get lost before you’re found. So why not be lost, if only for a moment?

Jungkook had laughed at the ridiculousness of his comment. He laughed and laughed until he was in tears. It wasn’t until Namjoon called his name that he realized he was crying. He’d never felt so listless and scared, he always had a plan, his parents raised him to have a plan. For the first time in his life, he felt like he was struggling to grasp something, anything to hold onto. If he didn’t, he was certain he’d disappear come tomorrow.

Come here, to Los Angeles. You’ll figure it out. We’ll help.

And they did. Namjoon made a friend, Seokjin was his name, he was older and from Seoul too. He lived in Koreatown, in a two bedroom and he needed a roommate by the end of the year. Not only that, but Yoongi’s friend needed a personal assistant. The girl he’d hired had gotten pregnant and they wanted a replacement in a few months because she was quitting to be a stay at home mom.

So Jungkook spent the next few months saving up a little more for a flight and a new start. At nineteen he packed his bags, told his parents he loved them, promised to visit, and jumped right into the fray.

He’d been in Los Angeles for a few years now, he’d gone home to visit a handful of times. Each time his mom would ply him with food and his father would ask, ‘when is this adventure going to be over?’ Jungkook never knows what to say to them. He isn’t sure how long he plans on being here or if he plans to go back at all. Sometimes he thinks he’s waiting for a sign, a deciding factor that will point him in the right direction, like a north star to take him home.

For now, home is this city, his shared apartment with Seokjin and the tattoo parlor where he works. He’d been an apprentice for a couple years before they let him officially work. He wasn’t always busy, but he was getting his work out there. Slowly, but surely. Although sometimes his impatience and ambitious hunger put him on edge. On those days he wondered if he should take the next flight to Seoul, returning to his parents like a dog with his tail between his legs.

That thought doesn’t sit well with him either and makes him even edgier.

“Jungkookie, your friend is here to see you,” Lita, a petite half Japanese girl calls him and he looks up to find her hovering at the entrance of his work station. Her jet black hair is pulled into messy buns, some strands are covered in iridescent glitter, it’s a cute look. When he’d first met her, he’d harbored the biggest crush on her, until he realized she was happily taken. Her girlfriend Iggy is a pretty blonde, an influencer who on occasion paid him to photograph her and her product shots.

“Be there in a sec!” He drags a long line, finishing the tiger he’d been focused on and sets it aside. He plans on posting the artwork online, hoping someone will be interested in it.

He wonders if he can convince Yoongi to get it done. It’s oddly fitting for the slim male.

“Kookoo,” the voice singsongs and Jungkookie doesn’t fight the excited grin adorning his face.

“Hobi, what are you doing here?” Jungkook leans against the countertop.

Hoseok tilts his head making his light brown hair fall into his eyes, “Trying to kidnap you, are you closing the shop today?”

Jungkook nods, “Yeah, I had a late appointment and was prepping for some work tomorrow. Are you guys going out?”

Of all the people he’d met, Hoseok has been the most recent addition to his group of friends. He met him at a taco shop, both of them drunk and feeling overly friendly. Jungkook doesn’t know how, but he ended up with Hoseok’s number in his phone. A week later he ran into him at Yoongi and Namjoon’s workplace. Apparently he was a choreographer and he worked closely with one of their artists. It never fails to amaze him how large, but small the entertainment industry is.

“We’re going to the izakaya in the mall and then for karaoke, if you want to join when you get out? Yoongi says he’s treating, but we all know he and Jin will fight to pay.”

“Obviously,” Jungkook scrunches his nose and chuckles, “I’ll be out after 10, but I think I can make it for a late karaoke session? I’ll text you when I’m out and I can meet you guys wherever you are.”

Hoseok reaches a lithe hand out to ruffle Jungkook’s hair, “Sounds good. Namjoonie or I will text you! Don’t work too hard!” He tosses his hand in the air in a rushed wave and makes his way out the door, most likely hurrying to meet their friends for beer and food.

It’s nine and they close in an hour. Jungkook ponders rearranging his work station or continuing with some new sketches, but as he makes to move away someone catches his eye. They’re standing in front of the shop window, eyes wide and curious.

Jungkook squints his gaze trying to make out the face partially hidden behind the lettering of their business. He’s teetering so far on the side of the counter and stretching to follow this person. He nearly topples over, almost taking Lita with him.

“Watch it kid, you kill me with those muscles and don’t think Iggy won’t come for you!” She points a delicate finger at him and Jungkook winces, an abashed smile on his face.

“Sorry Lita, I was…”

“Distracted?” Lita’s brow arches sharply and she turns her gaze out the door where their unsuspecting victim is studying the shop’s front.

Jungkook isn’t sure if the smirk that graces her face is a good one, but after knowing her for a couple years and being her apprentice, he knows not to underestimate her.

“No, Lita, please!”

His protests fall on deaf ears as she marches out the door.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Y/n had meant to go home, she really did. Instead though, she asked her driver to drop her off in Little Tokyo. It wasn’t far from her studio, but she was going have to face the evening price surge when she requested another ride. It didn’t matter though, she wanted a moment to walk, maybe something sweet to comfort her.

God, I’m going to pay for this later if I keep snacking like this.

Y/n half hates herself, as she takes a bite out of ah-boong. Most of the ice cream is gone, leaving her with ice cream drenched pastry. She doesn’t hesitate to stuff the rest into her mouth as she walks along, careful not to bump the groups of people heading to bars, for late night sushi, or like her, taking long strolls.

She’s considers calling it a night when she sees the bright neon red sign of a tattoo parlor. On the store front window is a skull and rose, thick black lines that look to be hand drawn. The name of the tattoo parlor is written in swirling calligraphy, elegant, but legible.

Ink

The name is simple and straightforward, the artwork inside, is not. There’s frames of hand rendered tattoo art, some of it looks closer to Japanese tattoos with elements of swirling clouds, koi fish, and dragons. Some of it is close to traditional, Sailor Jerry type, the kind you see on soldiers. She sees mermaids with little faces and pouty lips, busty figures, anchors, sparrows and hearts.

Y/n is tempted to wander inside, but it’s not like she’d actually get a tattoo. She doesn’t even know what she’d want.

“Hi.”

A high pitched voice speaks loud and clear, making Y/n snap her gaze to the person speaking. She’s short, maybe barely five foot, slender, and wearing washed out black overalls. Her arms are littered with tattoos, and she can see one on the right side of her neck, but Y/n can’t make out what it is. She looks tough, but her eyes and full lipped smile are sweet, a stark contrast that fascinates Y/n.

“Hello,” Y/n smiles back.

“You want to come in and take a better look at the artwork?” She cocks her head and doesn’t wait. She disappears through the doorway knowing that Y/n will follow. Y/n wonders what it’s like to have that kind of charm and power.

When she steps in she’s mesmerized by the work on the walls. Behind the frames the paint is red, the floor is checkered tilt and she can hear the faint sound of buzzing, almost drowned out by a quiet playlist. At the counter with his arm crossed, is a familiar face. His dark hair is parted on the side, bangs pushed aside, exposing his forehead and dark brows.

He tilts his head and she catches the gleam of his silver hoops, three on each side. When she first saw him he was wearing a baggy pullover, today his arms exposed and she can see the inky black tattoos that decorate his right arm.

“It’s you!”

“I didn’t think I’d see you again so soon,” Jungkook reaches to rub his neck, already feeling the prickle of sweat against his skin.

“Me either, small world,” she nods, her gaze raking over his form. The girl in the overalls meanwhile is watching them carefully, smiling like she has secret.

“You thinking about getting a tattoo? Any particular style?” Jungkook blurts out, voice rushed and words mushed together. Y/n nearly misses it and holds back her laughter.

“I was wandering to be honest. I took a detour on my way home and I liked the artwork on the storefront.”

“The skull and rose?” The tiny girl asks, eyes glimmering, “Jungkookie did that.”

“Really?” Y/n’s brows raised and Jungkook flushes bright red.

“Lita…”

“You should be telling everyone, I’m proud of it for you! We all are.” Feeling like she’s made her point, Lita turns and heads into the back leaving Jungkook with Y/n.

“You should be proud, it’s very cool.”

“Thanks, I guess it’s hard to admit sometimes.” Jungkook kicks a foot back, leaning further and eyes fixed on her.

Another beat of silence settles between them, but this time it doesn’t feel strange and misplaced. It’s not a stumbling pause. It’s filled with tentative want and lingering. They’re both trying to draw this out as long as possible, but are unsure how.

Jungkook thinks back to high school, was he always this awkward? He remembers his first day of school, the opening ceremony, being too shy to join his classmates. He mostly outgrew that, having learned to navigate the city and practiced turning strangers into friends, but it’d been a while since he’d been this flustered around someone new.

He can’t pinpoint why she makes him hyper aware of his fumbling. It’s her, but he can’t place what exactly.

It could be the openness on her face, the red rimmed eyes and the tinge of sadness he first witnessed upon meeting her. He wondered about her days later, was she okay now? Was she hiding her heartbreak? How was Isaac? Did the marshmallows and ice cream make her feel better?

Has she cried again since then? Jungkook hopes not.

“This is so pretty,” Y/n’s voice cuts through his thoughts and Jungkook snaps his gaze to her. She’s pointing at a frame, it’s his artwork, a horizontal frame of looping hearts scrawled and connected through one line. It’s delicate and done in a rainbow of soft pastels.

“Do you want one of those tattooed on you?” Jungkook doesn’t know what possesses him to say this and for a minute he can’t believe he’s said it.

He’s even more surprised when she replies without hesitation.

“Yes.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A/n: Can’t say much other than I was inspired by a number of things and this just came out. Hope someone enjoyed this! Also, there’s a playlist I’ve been repeating as I’m writing this out, leaving it here in case people want to give it a listen :)

#networkbangtan #Jungkook scenario #jungkook x reader #bts scenario #bts fanfic

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alinaastarkov · 5 years ago

Note

Jonryas and Jonsas are one and the same. You both try to delude yourselves into your ship being Canon, even through the books are clearly going into the Jonerys route. Plus, shipping a brother with a sibling is so Gross. You are all sick in the head

(I know I’ve already used this gif but this was my legit reaction to reading this so)

Jonsas are pulling evidence out of their ass and using the show which doesn’t count, Jonryas have the quote “What do you know of my heart, priestess? What do you know of my sister?” We are not the same.

Now, hun, my three favourite characters in the series are Dany, Jon and Arya, and I have no problem with Jonerys or Jonerys shippers because, for the most part they’re harmless (except for you). I do not agree that they are going to fall in love, obviously. There’s only two books left, and Dany won’t arrive in Westeros for a while, so I don’t see how GRRM is going to fit this ‘epic romance’ in that time. I know there is foreshadowing that Jon and Dany will meet and both play significant roles in the War against the Others, but romance? No. They’ve never met, they’ve never spoken, they’ve never seen each other, they have no relationship beyond speculation and similar personalities. Meanwhile, Jon just DIED for Arya. Like, literally died. for. her. That’s some next level romantic shit, and GRRM has made it so painfully obvious how much they love each other I’m surprised this is still up for debate. He’s hitting us over the head with brick that has “JONRYA IS CANON” written on the side and people are still like “jOnRyA iS gRoSs GeOrGe WoUlD nEvEr!”

Are we really still talking about incest being gross? Really? In asoiaf? That ship sailed long ago. Bran’s second chapter in AGOT, to be precise. And if we’re sick in the head, what does that make you? Shipping an aunt and nephew?? Hun, look at yourself in the mirror before you criticise me, bitch.

I get along with a lot of jonerys shippers. I don’t mind it cause they understand the books well generally. But give me one piece of Jonerys evidence that specifically says Jon and Dany are/ are gonna fall in love. Go ahead.

Until, then enjoy all these quotes that loosely translate to “I’m right you’re wrong”:

Suddenly [Arya] looked like she was going to cry. “I wish you were coming with us.” “Different roads sometimes lead to the same castle. Who knows?” He was feeling better now. He was not going to let himself be sad.

The memory of her laughter warmed him on the long ride north.

He remembered the day he had left Winterfell, all the bittersweet farewells; Bran lying broken, Robb with snow in his hair, Arya raining kisses on him after he’d given her Needle.

Lord Eddard Stark sighed. “My nine-year-old daughter is being armed from my own forge, and I know nothing of it. […] How is it that you come to own a sword, Arya? Where did you get this?” Arya chewed her lip and said nothing. She would not betray Jon, not even to their father.

“Lumpyhead,” corrected Lommy. “He prob’ly stole it.” “I did not!” she shouted. Jon Snow had given her Needle. Maybe she had to let them call her Lumpyhead, but she wasn’t going to let them call Jon a thief.

Mikken’s mark was on the blade. It’s just a sword. If she needed a sword, there were a hundred under the temple. Needle was too small to be a proper sword, it was hardly more than a toy. She’d been a stupid little girl when Jon had it made for her. “It’s just a sword,” she said, aloud this time… …but it wasn’t. Needle was Robb and Bran and Rickon, her mother and her father, even Sansa. Needle was Winterfell’s grey walls, and the laughter of its people. Needle was the summer snows, Old Nan’s stories, the heart tree with its red leaves and scary face, the warm earthy smell of the glass gardens, the sound of the north wind rattling the shutters of her room. Needle was Jon Snow’s smile. He used to mess my hair and call me “little sister,” she remembered, and suddenly there were tears in her eyes.

“First lesson,” Jon said. “Stick them with the pointy end.” Arya gave him a whap on the arm with the flat of her blade. The blow stung, but Jon found himself grinning like an idiot. “I know which end to use,” Arya said.

All she could think of was the lesson Jon had given her. “Stick them with the pointy end,” she blurted out.

Everything Syrio Forel had ever taught her vanished in a heartbeat. In that instant of sudden terror, the only lesson Arya could remember was the one Jon Snow had given her, the very first.

In her hand, Needle seemed to whisper to her. Stick them with the pointy end, it said, and, don’t tell Sansa!

He’d had Mikken make a sword for Arya once, a bravo’s blade, made small to fit her hand. Needle. He wondered if she still had it. Stick them with the pointy end, he’d told her, but if she tried to stick the Bastard, it could mean her life.

Would she still have that little sword he’d had Mikken forge for her? Stick them with the pointy end, he’d told her.

[…] She yearned to see her mother again, and Robb and Bran and Rickon…but it was Jon Snow she thought of most. She wished somehow they could come to the Wall before Winterfell, so Jon might muss up her hair and call her “little sister.” She’d tell him, “I missed you,” and he’d say it too at the very same moment, the way they always used to say things together. She would have liked that. She would have liked that better than anything.

Maybe I should go to the Wall instead of Riverrun. Jon wouldn’t care who I killed or whether I brushed my hair…

Her home was gone, her parents dead, and all her brothers slain but Jon Snow on the Wall. That was where she had wanted to go. She told the captain as much, but even the iron coin did not sway him. Arya never seemed to find the places she set out to reach.

He missed his true brothers: […] Robb, his rival and best friend and constant companion. […] And Arya … he missed her even more than Robb, skinny little thing that she was, all scraped knees and tangled hair and torn clothes, so fierce and willful. Arya never seemed to fit, no more than he had … yet she could always make Jon smile. He would give anything to be with her now, to muss up her hair once more and watch her make a face, to hear her finish a sentence with him.

[Jon] remembered suddenly how he used to muss Arya’s hair. His little stick of a sister. He wondered how she was faring. It made him a little sad to think that he might never muss her hair again.

[…] “I know where we could go,” Arya said. She still had one brother left. Jon will want me, even if no one else does. He’ll call me “little sister” and muss my hair.

Arya missed Jon most of all. Just saying his name made her sad.

She wondered if [Jon] would still call her “little sister.” I’m not so little anymore. He’d have to call me something else.

[…] She missed Jon Snow the most of all her brothers.

Ygritte watched and said nothing. […] She looked plump as she crouched there, but most of that was layers of fur and wool and leather. Underneath all that she could be as skinny as Arya.

[Ygritte] reminded him a little of his sister Arya, though Arya was younger and probably skinnier. It was hard to tell how plump or thin Ygritte might be, with all the furs and skins she wore.

What do you know of my heart, priestess? What do you know of my sister?

“If you kill a man, and never mean t’, he’s just as dead,” Ygritte said stubbornly. Jon had never met anyone so stubborn except maybe for his little sister Arya.

“Roose Bolton summons all leal lords to Barrowton, to affirm their loyalty to the Iron Throne and celebrate his son’s wedding to…” His heart seemed to stop for a moment. No, that is not possible. She died in King’s Landing, with Father.

His fingers closed around the parchment. Would that they could crush Ramsay Bolton’s throat as easily.

Jon Snow sank to one knee in the snow. Gods of my fathers, protect these men. And Arya too, my little sister, wherever she might be. I pray you, let Mance find her and bring her safe to me.

Bring her home, Mance. I saved your son from Melisandre, and now I am about to save four thousand of your free folk. You owe me this one little girl.

The girl smiled in a way that reminded Jon so much of his little sister that it almost broke his heart.

Jon flexed the fingers of his sword hand. The Night’s Watch takes no part. He closed his fist and opened it again. What you propose is nothing less than treason. […] You know nothing, Jon Snow. He thought of Arya, her hair as tangled as a bird’s nest. I made him a warm cloak from the skins of the six whores who came with him to Winterfell…I want my bride back…I want my bride back…I want my bride back…

Jon fell to his knees. He found the dagger’s hilt and wrenched it free. In the cold night air the wound was smoking. “Ghost,” he whispered. Pain washed over him. Stick them with the pointy end. When the third dagger took him between the shoulder blades, he gave a grunt and fell face-first into the snow. He never felt the fourth knife. Only the cold…

“If you kill a man, and never mean t’, he’s just as dead,” Ygritte said stubbornly. Jon had never met anyone so stubborn except maybe for his little sister Arya. Is she still my sister? he wondered. Was she ever?

“I have no sister.” The words were knives.

Jon had a certain grudging admiration for the late King-Beyond-the-Wall, but the man was an oathbreaker and a turncloak. He had even less trust in Melisandre. Yet somehow here he was, pinning his hopes on them. All to save my sister. But the men of the Night’s Watch have no sisters.

But they were all dead now, even Arya, everyone but her half-brother, Jon. Some nights she heard talk of him, in the taverns and brothels of the Ragman’s Harbor. The Black Bastard of the Wall, one man had called him. Even Jon would never know Blind Beth, I bet. That made her sad. (The Blind Girl, A Dance with Dragons)

It had been so long since he had last seen Arya. What would she look like now? Would he even know her?

“It wasn’t Longspear, then?” Jon was relieved. He liked Longspear, with his homely face and friendly ways. [Ygritte] punched him. “That’s vile. Would you bed your sister?” “Longspear’s not your brother.”

They are all convinced she is a princess. Val looked the part and rode as if she had been born on horseback. A warrior princess, he decided, not some willowy creature who sits up in a tower, brushing her hair and waiting for some knight to rescue her.

He is a man of the Night’s Watch, she thought, as he sang about some stupid lady throwing herself off some stupid tower because her stupid prince was dead. The lady should go kill the ones who killed her prince.

And bitch that’s not even the half of it, honey

#jonrya #neve has mail #asoiaf #jon snow #arya stark #i don't want to say anti jonerys shippers #cause most of ya'll are swell and we get on #i follow a bunch of you #but all fandoms have assholes and this is no exception #i'm sorry to my friends in that fandom cause this idiot is making you look bad

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thisislizheather · 4 years ago

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July Jiffs 2020

This was me all month.

The key word being was. We bought an air conditioner! We’ve been an A/C-free family for some time now, but since we’re spending so much time at home, we figured now was the time to be cool. In other news, everything still blows! What a shock! Here’s how I spent July.

I didn’t even know another Halloween movie was being made but of course I’ll go see it even if it turns out to be trash, you gotta support classic horror franchises, that’s just basic horror etiquette 101.

This is the most basic, boring-sounding sandwich on planet earth, but it tastes incredible I promise you (I didn’t add bacon, but I did add fresh mozzarella) and whatever bread you use, it’ll still be great. I find myself constantly forgetting about the greatness of mayo because I, my dear, am an idiot.

I ordered a bunch of new address labels on Zazzle because they were having a Christmas in July sale, so I bought some seasonally inspired labels to use over the next few months. If you’re not seasonally co-ordinating your return address labels, are you even living?

I’m still doing Nathan’s podcast on Patreon incase you’re interested. (You can find more clips on his Instagram.)

I attempted to watch the new Baby-Sitter’s Club on Netflix and it’s really not meant for me. I was never into the books or the movie or any of it, I never liked the idea of kids caring about making money, it seemed too sad to me. “Just be a kid!” I’d always thought.

Speaking of childhood nostalgia, I have started to watch reruns online of Sweet Valley High, which I loved as a kid. It’s no Breaker High, but it’s still pretty great to rewatch. God, Jessica really was an absolute bitch.

Some other things that I’ve rewatched: Con Air (practically a perfect movie, will always love, *Nic Cage forever* might be the only tattoo I’d ever get), Supermarket Sweep is on American Netflix and I was so excited (for about three episodes) then I moved on with my life, Sleepless in Seattle (still a very nice, average, reliable movie), Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (actually a really great summer movie, will always be a fun time to watch, will forever be a huge Keanu fan, I just feel like I could trust him??), and Dick Tracy (will always love this movie even if it has eight million too many montages, the set design is gorgeous, and this one outfit that Madonna wears makes me question… everything).

Some new movies that I’ve watched: Always Be My Maybe (so, so great! How did it take me so long to see this! So many good scenes, such a good movie), The Karate Kid (insane that I hadn’t seen it before, kids were uncomfortably mean in the 80s, favourite part was when Mr. Miyagi beats up the children, great movie), The Stepfather (pretty fun time, so happy we’ve starting watching horror movies again), Eat Pray Love (ugh, I don’t know, I do love movies about women just leaving and doing fun shit alone and abandoning their lives, but this was pretty lame, I hated James Franco’s character more than life and truly didn’t understand how Julia Roberts was even briefly into him), and finally the original The Hills Have Eyes (which I loved weirdly enough despite being incredibly tense the entire movie, I just thought it was so well done and scary and incredible, the rape scene is of course awful and I shut my eyes for that part, but that was the only thing I hated, it doesn’t make sense that I liked this movie so much).

I don’t know how to word this, but something is off with the reasonably priced (and almost too cheap) parmesan sold at Trader Joe’s. It melts weird. It doesn’t taste like normal cheese. Something is afoot and I won’t buy it any longer. I’m truly dreading and equally anticipating the day that all of Trader Joe’s secrets are exposed. Be warned.

That being said, obviously I’m in love with the seasonal summer candles that TJ just released. We have a complicated relationship.

I made this gruyere mac and cheese with caramelized onions (I used almond milk and it still came out good) and can every recipe just include caramelized onions? The world is ending, let’s just put sweet, tiny, brown onions on everything and call it a day.

Ennio Morricone passed away last month and I find myself listening to the Cinema Paradiso soundtrack on repeat.

Read this great piece about summer blockbuster movies which also has just some great ideas for movies to rewatch right now.

I have to remember that Essie’s vibrant colours just f-ing suck. Only their muted/bland colours are good. They should really just stick to those. And if you’re looking for loud colours that stand out, the summer collection at Urban Outfitters is my go-to (and there’s always a 3 for $10 sale with them).

I listened to Taylor Swift’s new album and so far my favourites are definitely: the 1 and this is me trying.

Ugh, Astoriaaaaaa, DO BETTER.

I’ve been thinking about cancelling my Ipsy subscription again (because I think I don’t care about makeup at this current moment in time) and when I logged on to cancel, they let me choose one of the items being sent next month as if they knew I wanted to leave! So I chose a Sunday Riley product (because any sample I’ve tried from them, I’ve loved) so maybe I’ll cancel next month?

I tried a sample of Drunk Elephant’s shampoo & conditioner (which smelled so lovely) and my hair did seem softer the next day. There’s something about this brand though, I feel like they might be tricking us with their beautiful packaging and minimalist persona.

I bought and tried the ancient Biore Strips and I have absolutely no idea if they did what they’re supposed to do. Are you supposed to see the blackheads or whiteheads come off onto the strip? It felt like it just tried to peel my face off. No idea what’s going on with these.

I have been in love with the Peter Thomas Roth Correction Pads, I use one pad before bed each night and I think they’re doing something good because I always wake up with no new pimples. It has even started erasing all of the redness I’ve been experiencing lately from the summer heat and sweat and mask-wearing. At this point, I can definitely see myself rebuying when I run out, and if I do then I’ll definitely not get them from Sephora because you can get them way cheaper at other online retailers.

I’ve also started using this Dr. Dennis Gross All-In-One face cleanser and I think it’s a good one. It’s hard to tell because I started using it the same day at the correction pads I mentioned above (yes that was a bad idea but here we are), so maybe they’re working together to make my face good? We’ll revisit this.

I finally opened up this Belif set I bought a few months ago and it’s really nothing special. I think the face cream is probably the best item in there because you truly don’t need to use a lot to feel moisturized. But the face cleanser? Meh. I don’t think it does very much, it definitely didn’t help any redness. And the toner? Don’t get me started on how I kind of think toner might be a scam. And the “eye moisturizer”? Seems superfluous. My eye area is plenty moist, thanks.

Perfect summer soap scent: Fresh Rainfall. If I can’t travel this year, I will escape into this scent. (Send help.)

Very excited to hear about Lindy West’s new book.

So I heard that Lady M now ships their cakes to Canada and I was able to scream in excitement for approx. four seconds before looking into it and seeing that it’ll cost you over $100 to get ONE cake sent. THE GALL, I tell you. THE GALL.

I briefly looked into the app Sweatcoin after hearing good things, but it really just seems like an app where its main goal is to track you. And yes, your phone already does that whether you’re aware or not, but I think I’ll pass on the extra tracking.

I heard that the upcoming Halloween Bob’s Burgers episode will “follow the kids as they try to deliver a burger to the hotel on their street.” It’s such a sad little bit of tiny information, but I love their seasonal episodes so much that I’ll take any crumbs available.

Actually helpful tips on how to clean your home efficiently.

Christ, why do I keep forgetting that Bareburger is absolutely nothing special? Why in the good fuck is it taking so long for a Shake Shack to come to Astoria?!

I ate on the patio at Hoja Santa in Astoria and the tacos were nothing to write home about. The service, drinks and chips were outstanding though, so I may have just ordered badly.

New favourite beer alert.

Best tweets of the month over here.

I tried Thai iced coffee and it was so wildly sweet and too aromatic, I probably wouldn’t get it again. And I also tried a Vietnamese iced coffee and it was the perfect level of sweet! What’s the difference between the two, you ask?

I finally tried the katsu sandwich at Hi-Collar as takeout in the East Village and it was absolutely nothing special. No idea why people are so into it.

I haven’t been to Bite in so many months, so it was nice to get takeout earlier this week. God how I’ve missed their ciabatta bread. They use it on their sandwiches and it comes from Balthazar each morning and it’s always heavenly.

I have found the perfect, light summer blanket and I’m trying not to focus on the fact that it came from Amazon.

I tried a grapefruit shandy and holy shit, it might be my favourite new summer drink.

I ate on the patio at L’Artusi since it just reopened and good god, that carbonara will change you. So psyched to see they have the wagyu steak tartare on the menu now, too. The burger, the panzanella salad and the charred corn were all great, but that carbonara was the standout.

Some things I’d like to do this month: I’d love to try this tomato toast with blue cheese mayo, I’m going to start using a new clothes steamer I just bought with the hopes of getting rid of my iron & ironing board, I rebought a tube of Revitalash because of how great my lashes were looking when I used it a few years ago so I’ll start using it on August 1st and track my progress to prove how great this product is, I can’t wait for Moesha to be coming to Netflix this month, and I am waiting waiting waiting until I can find time to return to Lilia (on the patio) to eat this incredible tomato focaccia & garlic butter (shown below).

If you’ve got any interest in reading last month’s roundup, you can see what went down in June over here.

#monthly post #this is liz heather #Liz Heather #July 2020

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letterboxd · 5 years ago

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Pixar’s Picks: Family Films.

You’re stuck inside, saving the world. So we asked a group of award-winning Pixar filmmakers to help self-isolating families plan the very best movie nights (and days, and nights, and days…). And we talked to children’s film specialist Nicola Marshall about the beauty of movies made for kids, especially now.

Children deserve to watch great films, but kids are famously honest viewers. They’ll tell you instantly when they don’t like something. And when they do, it pays off: in Academy Awards (this year, for Hair Love and Toy Story 4), in stone-cold cash (as Box Office Mojo’s Top Box Office Grosses by G-rating confirms), and in precious family memories.

But where to turn when you need a quality watchlist of family films? When you want a guaranteed banger that the whole family will love, or when you want to move your child to next-level-cinephile status with a choice that will floor them? The answer, to us at least, is obvious: Pixar to the rescue!

We asked a group of the renowned studio’s directors and story artists—the people behind WALL·E, Finding Nemo, Inside Out, Bao, La Luna, The Good Dinosaur, Purl, Cars 3, Toy Story 4 and more—to show up in your hour of need, and show up they have, with personal recommendations that we’ve split into three Letterboxd lists: All Ages, 7 to 12 Years and 12 Years and Over.

From two-minute shorts to the entire Harry Potter collection, there’s something for every viewing window. From Charlie Chaplin to Greta Gerwig, the films cover a century of cinema; and from slapstick to horror, a multitude of genres.

Our filmmakers were remarkably restrained, nominating more Studio Ghibli films than Pixar movies, though they collectively agreed that Toy Story should most definitely be there. So we’ll say it for them: please explore all the films of our contributing filmmakers: Angus MacLane, Domee Shi, Kristen Lester, Daniel Chong, Peter Sohn, Valerie LaPointe, Brian Fee, Enrico Casarosa and Andrew Stanton. Thanks, you wonderful people.

Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘My Neighbor Totoro’ (1988).

Since many of us at Letterboxd HQ are grateful parents, this feels like a good moment to reflect on the enormous importance of ‘family’ films—so we pulled in our friend Nicola Marshall for a chat. She’s the founder of the Square Eyes film foundation, a curator of children’s film festival content, and a friend of the Henson family (not long ago, she created a live show with The Muppets and Flight of the Conchords’ Bret McKenzie).

Like most of us, Nicola is currently in self-isolation, after the hasty wrap-up of the 23rd annual New York International Children’s Film Festival (of which she is an advisory board member).

We’re living in an extraordinary time. How do movies help kids work out what’s going on in and around their lives? Nicola Marshall: Films are an essential way to unpack big feelings during big times. Like all of us, kids are expressing, and suppressing, all kinds of emotions right now, and are sponges for absorbing the emotions of the adults around them. Using a familiar medium to help unpack all we’re feeling, no matter how old we are, feels like a great plan to me. Art always supports processing and groundedness in uncertain times.

What’s your overall impression of the choices made by our Pixar friends for these lists? These are brilliant, eclectic selections—what superb curators these remarkable Pixar creators are, right? An excellent mix of films made for young audiences, and titles bound to appeal to them.

I’m thrilled to see, alongside some beautiful surprises and unknown gems, a lot of long-time personal favorites (Ernest & Celestine, Millions, Ponyo, The Muppet Movie, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Red Balloon, My Neighbor Totoro, The Kid, Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wallace & Gromit, Modern Times, The Iron Giant, The Phantom Tollbooth, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday, Yellow Submarine, Bicycle Thieves, Megan Follows as Anne of Green Gables… they go on!).

While the lists lean heavily on a canon of western-produced films, there are some terrific international cinema choices in the mix here (The World of Us, Good Morning), and a bunch of lesser-known historic titles I’m super eager to check out (Preston Sturges marathon, here I come!).

Yasujirō Ozu’s ‘Good Morning’ (1959).

Some of the Pixar directors included horror films—Get Out, It—and some Hitchcock thrillers in their 12 Years and Over lists. These selections are for older teenagers, clearly. What are your thoughts on the role of scares in kids’ viewing experiences? I’ve always been interested in the psychology of frightening films. Personally I’m too much of a big scaredy-cat for horror to be a genre that generally works for me (self-censorship all the way!), but there are a whole bunch of people out there who really love a good freak-out; kiddos included.

As a kid I think you’re always testing and readjusting your limits on where your fear boundaries are. One of the highly anticipated and super popular NYICFF collections each year is 'Heebie Jeebies’—short films that go out of their way to freak and fright. Kids (and the adults who attend alongside them) adore this collection and the expectation of being spooked.

I think humans love experiencing extreme feelings in small doses, to feel alive, whether we have big sensation-seeking personalities or not—and seeing something terrifying on screen has a certain safety to it. I also think scary films in collectively tricky times offer catharsis and adrenal release, and give us permission to scream long and loud, when that’s all we really feel like doing!

The New York International Children’s Film Festival wrapped up suddenly as the coronavirus pandemic began its march into the United States, but you did manage to screen much of the program. Other film festivals weren’t so fortunate. Would you like to take a small moment to celebrate the main takeaways of this year’s fest? NYICFF was so lucky to share three of the planned four collective viewing weekends, just ahead of a swift city-wide shutdown. I’m a tad biased, but I really do feel you only have to look to NYICFF’s annual programming to get a genuine sense of the state of the world for young people globally; the issues they face and what themes are currently resonating.

Our programming director Maria-Christina Villaseñor consistently curates a remarkable selection of films that speak to the experience of young people, valuing their views and voices, always insightful, and never condescending.

This year saw a number of films—feature and short—that depicted stories of kids determined to make a difference and taking self-guided steps into activism and action. My faith in our future is pretty darn solid right now thanks to the optimism and commitment of these kids—and the filmmakers giving voice to young audiences and speaking to big themes and shared cross-cultural truths.

Nicola Marshall.

What can the rest of the movie industry learn from all-ages creators and studios? I wish that there was greater wider-industry acknowledgement of the massive contributions that content for family and kids audiences make in terms of moving the overall film industry forward, both artistically and societally. As well as showing us fresh, meaningful and authentic ways to tell stories, the genuine commitment to diversity and inclusion in this space is meaningful, often to the point where it feels completely natural, unforced and expected in content for this audience, rather than some kind of box-ticking effort.

What do you think this pandemic will offer the storytellers of the future? I think we will come out of this time ready to offer stories with even greater connectedness and empathy. I think our collective slowing will allow, if we let it, an incredible development incubator. How we make our way through this uncertain time as adults and work through our relationship with fear and the unknown will hugely resonate with the kids we’re sharing our lives with. I think we can use art and story and myth and expression and feeling to navigate us all through.

For all those hunkered down with small people, what better time to share your favorite screen stories, and discover new films together. What we chose to watch and to share and to rewatch; to talk about and unpack our feelings around and distract ourselves with through this weird, big time will make a real difference to the kids in our lives, and their innate imaginative-storyteller selves, now and future.

Finally, what are your favorite Pixar movies? Pixar has always excelled at making incredible films with grown-up sensibilities squarely aimed at young audiences—truly cross-generational cinema, my very favorite kind. I love WALL·E for its seamless mix of art and heart, Brave for its representation of girl-strength, and Inside Out for exploring the shared humanness of feeling things deeply, and for reassuring us how valid and essential sadness is.

Related content

Pixar’s short films ranked according to Letterboxd community ratings.

Our 2018 interview with ‘Paddington’ and ‘Paddington 2’ director Paul King.

#pixar #kids movies #movies for children #children's movies #films for families #pixar directors #studio ghibli #andrew stanton #nyicff #children's film festival #square eyes #films for children #all ages #all ages film #Wallace and Gromit #disney #best movies for children #best movies for family viewing #letterboxd

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imagitory · 5 years ago

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D-Views: The Princess and the Frog (with guest input!)

Hi everybody! Welcome to another installment of D-Views, my on-going written review series focused around the works of the Walt Disney Company, as well as occasionally films made by other studios that were influenced by Disney’s works! For reviews for Disney films like Mary Poppins, The Little Mermaid, and Treasure Planet or non-Disney films like Anastasia, The Nutcracker Prince, or The Prince of Egypt, please consult my “Disney reviews” tag!

I’m super excited about today’s subject -- not only is its heroine my favorite Disney princess, but I also won’t be watching the movie alone! My darling mum, who has in the past helped me review Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, has graciously agreed to co-review this with me! We hope that you will join us on this magical adventure through the Louisiana bayou as we review...The Princess and the Frog!

In the early 2000′s, the Walt Disney Company -- especially its animation department -- was in trouble. Of all of the films done in the so-called “Experimental Era,” the only animated film that had made Disney a real profit was 2002′s Lilo and Stitch. The others, even if they did manage to receive favorable reviews, were all financial disappointments. The Emperor’s New Groove was fourth at the box office opening weekend behind movies like What Women Want and How the Grinch Stole Christmas and only grossed about 169 million dollars in theaters worldwide after costing 100 million to make. Brother Bear even now boasts a rather sad 37% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. And even if Atlantis: The Lost Empire hadn’t received such lukewarm reviews and been accused of plagiarizing several other movies (most notably Nadia: The Secret of the Blue Water, Stargate, and, as I’ve discussed previously, Castle in the Sky), it wouldn’t have changed the fact that it was released the same year as Dreamworks’ green monster hit Shrek. But no Experimental Era film did as badly as the last one -- Home on the Range -- which after its release in 2004 was so badly received both by critics and at the box office that it prompted Disney to write down the production costs and announce the closing of its 2D animation department for good.

But it didn’t close for good. In 2006, the new president and chief creative officer of the company, Ed Cadmill and John Lasseter, reversed the decision. The 2D animation department had one last chance to turn their dark destiny around, and in 2009, as Disney did after World War II with Cinderella and in the late 80′s with The Little Mermaid, it pinned its hopes on a beautiful, goodhearted princess.

The Princess and the Frog in some ways was Disney’s attempt to return to their Disney Renaissance roots. Its directors -- John Musker and Ron Clements -- had previously directed The Little Mermaid and Aladdin among others. The reinvented fairy tale story features magic, a theatrical villain, a prince, animal sidekicks, romance, and Broadway-musical-style songs. Even the advertising highlighted how much it wanted to remind millennial audiences of the films they grew up with, putting a spotlight on the music and beautiful hand-drawn animation, rather than the “adult,” meta humor that Dreamworks had used to advertise its films and Disney later used to advertise its next Disney princess movie, Tangled. Some production details leaked to the public, such as the title of “The Frog Princess,” the main character’s original name, and her profession as a chambermaid, also were edited upon receiving backlash, and still others (such as the use of voodoo in the plot and our black princess’s prince not being black) were just left as is. Despite all of the negative press that swirled around the project, there was also a lot of promise that Disney fans noted too, such as Dreamgirls supporting actress Anika Noni Rose being cast as Tiana, Pixar composer Randy Newman being chosen to write the film’s score and songs, and Oprah Winfrey being brought on both as a technical consultant and the voice of Tiana’s mother Eudora.

The marketing decision to focus more on nostalgic millennial adults rather than the new Generation Z is what I feel largely contributed to The Princess and the Frog not being the blockbuster Disney was hoping for. As much as I wholeheartedly believe that animation is not and has never been a children’s medium, the attitude that lingered around the public consciousness in the late 2000′s and sadly even today is that animation -- most importantly, 2D animation -- is for kids, and without the kids being just as excited to watch the film as their nostalgic parents, uncles, aunts, and older siblings, The Princess and the Frog was fighting an uphill battle, even if it was produced by a marketing monster like Disney. Even though the movie was handicapped by this bad marketing choice, however, I would still argue that The Princess and the Frog was a success. Even with that bad marketing choice, the racism-themed controversies that had swirled around its production, and the release of James Cameron’s blockbuster Avatar a week later weighing it down, Tiana costumes were selling out everywhere prior to Halloween that year. The movie still was #1 at the box office opening weekend, an honor not held by a Disney animated movie since Lilo and Stitch. It still made $104.4 million and was the fifth highest grossing film that year. It still earned pretty favorable reviews, earning an 85% at Rotten Tomatoes.

Sadly, because The Princess and the Frog wasn’t the big blockbuster that The Little Mermaid had been, Disney turned its focus more toward its 3D projects, and after the release of Winnie the Pooh in 2011 (the same weekend as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 -- COME ON, DISNEY, WERE YOU EVEN TRYING TO GIVE THIS FILM A CHANCE??), the 2D department did close its doors after all, and the studio went in a new direction with the release of Tangled. It’s a choice I lament Disney making, for as much as I’ve enjoyed most of the 3D entries to the Disney Revival, there was something so utterly magical about seeing The Princess and the Frog’s premiere at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank with my mother back in 2009. 2D animation is a beautiful art form, and it’s frustrating that Disney has turned its back on it so thoroughly after it got Disney to where it is now. The Princess and the Frog could’ve been the Great Mouse Detective to another 2D film that could’ve been a Little Mermaid and proved once again that 2D animation is for everyone, not just for kids, just as Little Mermaid did. But instead, the film that was the Revival version of The Little Mermaid was Disney’s first 3D princess film, Tangled -- and not to diss Tangled as a film, but it saddens me that it succeeded largely by playing to the public’s ignorant attitude that 3D animation is more “adult” than 2D animation and that the way to communicate that your animated movie is “for adults too” in your trailers is through using snarky meta humor rather than through artistry and complex themes.

With all this background out of the way...laissez le beau temps rouler! Let’s start the film!

Anika’s singing voice starting our film out is just a perfect introduction. Its pure, unassuming tone just ripples with sincerity as we are led into our introductory scene for our main character Tiana, her mother Eudora, and her absolutely hysterical best friend, Charlotte “Lottie” La Bouff. As we leave the La Bouff manor, we also see a touch of the “Lady and the Tramp influence” that Musker and Clements added to the production in the background design. Just by transitioning from the well-kept, affluent neighborhood in the dimming sunlight to the more run-down areas of town at night, we get a perfect, complete sense of the environment that our heroine lives in, all without any dialogue. And yet, as Mum pointed out, even the rundown areas are full of warmth and charm. Just like in Lady and the Tramp, they never look scary or shady, simply modest and maybe a little worn. On the note of charm, as well, I absolutely friggin’ adore Tiana’s dad, James. Considering how big of a role he has in the story, it’s really good that we see how big of an impact he had on his daughter through his good, hard-working attitude and love for his family and neighborhood despite not having much screen-time.

Once the “Walt Disney Pictures” banner floats by, we finally meet Tiana as an adult. As mentioned earlier, Tiana is my favorite Disney princess. Part of the reason why comes back to the fact that Tiana’s movie came out right before I started my first job (ironically enough at a restaurant in Disney World) and she inspired me to give 120% everyday, but the other reason Tiana speaks to me so much is because she reminds me quite a bit of Mum! Like my mother, Tiana is a very warmhearted, logical, and hardworking person who never sits on her laurels and is always ready to fix a problem, and it was really cool to see a Disney princess with the same kind of organized mind and stubborn work ethic that I saw in my mum growing up. That feeling I had watching Tiana’s story is one of the things that inspired me to write my Disney crossover story TrueMagic, where I wrote a character directly inspired by Mum. On top of all that, I realize that Tiana speaks a lot of the millennial and gen Z experience, having to save up a lot of money at two dead-end minimum wage jobs just to try to get ahead in a world where the cards are stacked against her. We even see her sleeping in the room she grew up in, meaning she’s still living at home as an adult to make ends meet!! Isn’t that relatable!!

I have heard others critique Randy Newman’s music, but in my opinion the score and songs developed for this movie perfectly set the mood of 1920′s New Orleans. The opening number “Down in New Orleans” is really well-paced with the medley of scenes introducing Tiana’s usual work day, Dr. Facilier’s vindictiveness and desire for Eli La Bouff’s wealth, Naveen’s playboy attitude, and Charlotte’s instant attraction to the newly arrived Prince. Of the songs, I’d personally cite Tiana’s “Almost There” and Facilier’s “Friends on the Other Side” as the strongest links, with “Gonna Take You There” as the weakest, but even if you don’t end up finding the songs catchy, I don’t think anyone can deny how well it suits the film’s setting.

Now admittedly, one critique you could give the film is its idealized, whitewashed view of historical race relations. Let’s be honest: in the 1920′s, a rich cotton baron like Eli La Bouff would not have visited a cafe on Tiana’s side of town and he would not let his precious daughter engage with Tiana as an adult either. As much as there were people who didn’t follow the common attitude that black Americans were somehow “inferior” to white Americans, if you didn’t follow that attitude, you couldn’t have expected to be very financially successful or influential in such a racist society, as Mr. La Bouff is. On top of that, Tiana would not only be facing passive prejudice when trying to open her own restaurant, like the kind the Fenner brothers express about her “background” -- she would also be likely facing active discrimination and potentially violence. As much as this film doesn’t truly represent the way things were back then, however, I would argue that the decision in the end benefits the picture, which clearly is supposed to be a fairy tale. This is a story where a girl kisses a frog, becomes one herself, meets an alligator who plays the blues and a firefly in love with a star, and both fights against and alongside people who practice voodoo. It may have a historical backdrop, kind of like Pocahontas and The Great Mouse Detective do, but it is still a fantasy. There are other films that aim to teach us about how things really were back then, so why can’t we have one where a young black American lives her own fairy tale in the iconic Crescent City? Plus, in Mum’s words, an integral part of this story is the pure, unlikely friendship between Charlotte and Tiana, which would have been close to impossible in a completely historical setting. To my memory, it’s actually one of the few times we see a close friendship between two female contemporaries in a Disney princess movie -- the closest we’d had previously were relationships like Aurora with the three fairies (which was more of a familial relationship) and Belle and Mrs. Potts (which...yeah, big generation gap). Even in films that came later, we have Elsa and Anna, but they’re sisters, not just friends. And Tiana having a friend like Charlotte ends up being pivotal in her eventual triumph.

Speaking of Charlotte and her friendship with Tiana, something I love about her is that she doesn’t just give Tiana the money she needs to open her own restaurant. Instead, because she knows Tiana has pride and wouldn’t just accept the money for nothing, Charlotte finds a reason for her to give her the money she needs by assigning her the task of making beignets for the ball she and her father are hosting. It’s something that reminds me a bit of my mum and her best friend, who also comes from a wealthy family -- like Charlotte, my mum’s best friend likes spending money on my mum, but has always known that she can’t buy my mum’s friendship. Both she and Charlotte know that you can only be a friend through expressing sincere caring, which is the mark of a true friend.

Ever since The Princess and the Frog first came out, “Almost There” has been my work mantra, and every time I hear it, I just am full of drive and excitement. The animation for this sequence -- animated by senior Disney icon Eric Goldberg, who previously worked on the Rhapsody in Blue segment in Fantasia 2000 and was the supervising animator for the Genie in Aladdin -- is also pitch perfect, incorporating both Al Hiershfeld-inspired designs and an Art Deco vibe to envelope us in Tiana’s fantasy. It’s one of the kind of artistic risks that Disney used to do more often, like the Pink Elephants sequence in Dumbo, the fairy’s gift sequences in Sleeping Beauty, and the Zero to Hero sequence in Hercules, and you just don’t see this sort of highly stylized song sequence in most of Disney’s newer films. The only one that comes to mind is the “You’re Welcome” sequence in Moana, which ironically enough also featured Eric Goldberg drawing all of Maui’s “Mini-Maui” tattoos! Those sorts of stylized musical numbers is something I’d love to see more of in the Disney Revival, because it gives the film in question such character and can bring an already great song to new heights.

Naveen is a character who I could’ve very easily disliked upon first meeting him. Obnoxious, selfish, and/or vain characters -- such as Lightning McQueen from Cars or even Kuzco from The Emperor’s New Groove -- really tend to rub me the wrong way, unless there is something in the character at the very beginning that makes me want to see them improve themselves. Fortunately our main prince is saved for me because we see that along with his vain, shallow, playboy attitude, he also expresses a great love of music and living life to the fullest. He doesn’t ignore his responsibilities as a prince just to be rebellious or lazy, but because he is so in love with New Orleans and its culture. He isn’t an angry or willfully condescending person: he immediately starts dancing with regular New Orleans citizens and is enthralled with the moves of a tiny street entertainer. And just as Tiana represents the millennial experience through working multiple jobs just to make ends meet, Naveen expresses a different kind of millennial experience -- that of being so sheltered by one’s privilege that, once you’re on your own, you’re incapable of sustaining the life style you’ve become accustomed to and are led by society to believe you should be able to achieve. At this point, it’s still easy to feel sorry for Lawrence, Naveen’s resident “Peter Pettigrew-look-alike” manservant, though that impulse quickly disappears after we see his interactions with our villain, Dr. Facilier. Speaking of which...

Just as Tiana is my favorite Disney princess, Dr. Facilier is my favorite Disney villain. Voiced by Keith David, the man who previously gave life to Goliath in Disney’s Gargoyles, the so-called “Shadowman” is -- in Mum’s words -- just “deliciously evil.” His voice drips with cold charisma, dipping into rich bass tones but never sounding groggy or lacking in energy, and the animation -- done by Bruce W. Smith, supervising animator for Oscar Proud from the Disney Channel show The Proud Family -- just fits David’s line-reads like a glove. Although Lawrence briefly provokes Facilier, effectively foreshadowing his true viciousness, the witch doctor largely puts on a theatrical persona that entices even the most jaded viewers in with his song “Friends on the Other Side.” Mum brought up the wonderful comparison to Oogie Boogie in Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, and just like Oogie Boogie, Facilier’s number feels very unscripted and spontaneous, and yet it’s still conniving. Even though the song is jazzy and oddly conversational, there’s this dangerous, sinister darkness echoing in the background, not just in the echoing voices of the Friends on the Other Side but in the lyrics with multiple meanings (”when I look into your future, it’s the green that I’ve seen”). Along with the theatricality, however, Facilier doesn’t forget to also be very intimidating as a villain -- the scene where he turns Naveen into a frog gets quite scary in its imagery.

Just as everything seems to have come up roses for her, Tiana is suddenly about to lose the restaurant of her dreams for good. But there is still hope -- or, at least...there’s a frog. Or a prince. A frog pri -- you get the point. Interestingly Naveen, while a frog, reminded Mum and me of two very different characters. Mum immediately thought of Aladdin, thanks to his charming, smiling expressions, while I immediately thought of another frog seeking a kiss from a beautiful girl: Jean-Bob from The Swan Princess. I personally think the second of those is a coincidence, given that Jean-Bob and Naveen really don’t have much in common excluding a flamboyant accent, but Aladdin’s influence on Naveen’s character animation is pretty reasonable. After all, Flynn Rider’s design was also influenced by previous Disney princes.

Not having seen this movie in a while, I’d forgotten about the “frog hunters” sequence in the middle of the movie until it came on screen. I know that Tiana and Naveen had to face multiple dangers before they reached Mama Odie, not just for dramatic storytelling but also to help cement their budding relationship...but I’m sorry, the characters of the frog hunters are just...uncomfortable. The stereotypical portrayal just comes across as very mean-spirited, especially when compared to the great respect for New Orleans culture in the rest of the movie. The scene does give Tiana and Naveen good character development, though, so it’s a flaw I can overlook to enjoy the rest of the movie.

Usually I don’t enjoy Disney “sidekick” characters as much as I do more developed main or side characters, but I will grant that as sidekicks go, Louis the alligator and especially Ray the firefly are among the better ones. Louis is kind of there for humor more than to advance the plot at all, which is a shame, but Ray becomes both ridiculously charming and central to the film’s theme of love when we see his romantic side in his song “Ma Belle Evangeline.” This song has special significance to Mum and me, all because of Mum’s little Russian Blue/Short-Hair kitty, Evangeline, or Eva for short. When Eva and her sister Ella (full name Cinderella) were being driven home from the pound, the two cats were absolutely beside themselves, crying and yowling the whole way. The only thing that quieted them was me singing songs to them, including songs based on their names -- Cinderella’s opening theme (”Cinderella, you’re as lovely as your name”) for Ella, and “Ma Belle Evangeline” for Eva. Even now, Eva knows that that song is her song, and she always relaxes whenever she hears it. The song sequence in the film also beautifully reflects Tiana and Naveen’s budding relationship, which has already affected them enough that they are starting to take influence from each other. Tiana has started to open up and have some fun, while Naveen is more able to acknowledge his shortcomings and takes more responsibility. They even see eye to eye enough that they stop Louis from telling Ray that Evangeline is a star, not a firefly. Tiana/Naveen is my Disney OTP mainly because of that influence that they have on each other. Both of them are such beautifully flawed characters, but they both also teach and encourage each other to be better people than they would have been on their own.

Tiana and Naveen learn that if they want to turn human again, they need help from Charlotte, who will be “princess” of the Mardi Gras Parade until midnight that night. Unfortunately, when Tiana finds Charlotte, she finds her about to marry who she thinks is Naveen on a float in the parade. Admittedly I kind of wonder why Tiana didn’t consider that it might not be Naveen, as earlier she saw a human Naveen dancing with Charlotte before meeting frog!Naveen and so should know there’s an imposter, but I suppose it’s just story convention, to have this kind of a pre-climax misunderstanding. It’s the same reason why Naveen is locked in a box on the float where he can interrupt the wedding, rather than being stowed away more securely somewhere else, or why Charlotte didn’t turn into a frog too after not being able to turn Tiana and Naveen back.

At long last, our climax arrives. After Dr. Facilier “lays Ray low” in a scene that makes both Mum and me cry out in grief, he corners Tiana in the graveyard, enticing her with the dream she’s worked so hard for in the hopes of getting the medallion that would allow Lawrence to impersonate Naveen and Facilier to steal the La Bouff fortune. But because of all of the character development Tiana’s gone through, she remembers what’s really important -- the people she loves -- and she outdoes the Shadowman, condemning him to be yanked down into the underworld by his so-called “Friends” for all time. The growth Tia’s gone through also gives her the strength and courage needed to put her dream aside and tell Naveen about her feelings for him. And because she’s a true friend, Charlotte shows no hint of bitterness about missing out on her “happily ever after” with Naveen -- instead she immediately is supportive of her friend and tries to fight for her happiness, to the extent that she looks over the moon when Tiana and Naveen get married as humans. Even Ray, who Mum wishes desperately had been able to make it, achieves happiness by finally becoming a star beside his beloved Evangeline. As our film comes to an end with a reprise of “Down in New Orleans,” we’re left with a sense of triumph and optimism...two things that embody our newly crowned princess beautifully.

The Princess and the Frog is a movie that, in Mum’s and my opinion, should receive much more appreciation that it has. Financially speaking, it only did about as well as The Great Mouse Detective and Lilo and Stitch in theaters, but it still has left a lasting impact. I still see plenty of little girls dressing as Tiana in the parks, and I still hear about young black women and girls who have found validation and comfort in the first African American Disney princess. Even I, who share a complexion with white bread, find Tiana an engaging, brilliant role model in today’s world -- in Mum’s words, she embraces the idea of success being half inspiration and half perspiration, but she also learns the virtue in disregarding the chase for success when it comes at the cost of your values. She learns how to love, how to grow, and how to change, while also encouraging the best from those around her. The Princess and the Frog also features what I would argue is the best Disney animated villain since the Disney Renaissance, a soundtrack that embraces its setting to the Nth degree, and a prince who grows just as much as his love interest does while they are together. It’s not a perfect film, but no film is, and Mum and I hope that like other Disney films that didn’t make much money on their initial theatrical releases, we as a Disney fanbase can make this movie a cult classic and give it the love it fought so hard to earn and so rightfully deserves. Look how it lights up the screen -- ma belle Princess and the Frog!

#d-views #disney reviews #mum and tory watch together!!#disney #the princess and the frog #reviews #opinion #analysis #oh boy here i go

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cupidoargiades · 5 years ago

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breakfast buddies

A/N - this is wonho's chapter in my MX mafia series, click here for the link to the MX mafia masterlist! before you read, a quick heads up that it's gonna be helpful to read the prior chapter, which i will link here. that's all! enjoy :)

TW - flashbacks to previous chapter

your alarm beeped, making you jolt up. immediatly looking around you in fear, you calmed down after noticing you were in wonho's bedroom, all alone. you panted softly after you snoozed the alarm that told you it was 9am. you realized you promised wonho to be down by 9 to have breakfast with him.

sighing softly, you pushed off the bedsheets and got dressed into something simple: sweatpants and a t-shirt you found on the floor. only walking down the stairs, you smelled wonho's enticing scent on the shirt. it surely wasn't your shirt, but it wasn't like you cared; you had worn a clothing items that weren't yours since the beginning of you joining MX.

you wiped your eyes as you placed your feet on the cold, wooden floor, instinctively walking to the kitchen without even looking. once you dropped your hands back to your sides, you noticed the entirety of MX gathered around the dining table.

they all gawked at you as if you were a stranger, before looking back at their breakfast. shownu's stare lingered for a little too long, sending shivers down your spine after what happened last night.

his cold eyes somehow pressed burns into you that seemed to freeze your body into its place. his stare made you incredibly uncomfortable, but you couldn't manage to move.

starting to breathe heavily, memories of the yesterday filled your mind. tied to that chair, shownu's dark figure hovering in front of you, tweezers firmly in hand. yelling for help, but shownu reassured you; nobody came. you were caught in his cold demeanor, captured into a daze when a familiar voice entered your ears.

"..io..? clio..!" you heard, a hand placed on your shoulder. startled, you turned around and saw wonho behind you, flashing you a comforting smile before asking you if you were okay. you nodded and sighed, leaning on the kitchen counter. "don't mind shownu.. he's like medusa; the legend says that if you look at him when he's upset, you turn to stone.." wonho says, dawning a smile on your face. "i'm not gonna test that.."

wonho breaks the short silence by shoving a plate your way. "how about we have breakfast on our own..? away from the guys. they're all a bit... confused... on what to do with you." he said softly, taking you and your breakfast to the living room. "what do you mean confused..?" you asked, tilting your head.

"well- some of them, i'm not gonna disclose who, want you to leave. it's because you disobey the rules we had set up when you joined.., and you're a cold hearted bitch-"

"excuse you?" you asked, eyebrows knitted into a deep frown.

"hey- shownu's words, not mine." he said, holding up his hand innocently.

"not only those things, but you distract us sometimes, too" he added, taking a bite of his grilled cheese. you stared at your sandwich for a second before asking what he meant with 'distracting'.

"well, if anyone asks, i didn't tell you, but you know..," he said, leaning in close to whisper a sweet secret in your ear. "changkyun is really into you.. like- in love.." he said, leaving you speechless for a minute or so. he let the silence happen, so you could process the new information for a second.

"everything you do kinda has him stunned. he hasn't really talked to you yet, either, and ironically you're the reason. i mean- there's more people besided changkyun here who like like you, but i can't really say who.."

"why not?"

wonho chuckled for a few seconds before noticing you were serious. "because they'll kill me, silly!"

those words rolled over his tongue so easily, it scared you.

"are you saying changkyun's not as powerful as the rest?" you asked, cocking an eyebrow and smirking slightly as you took a bite of your sandwich.

"no, no, no..! i'm just saying he's not as comfortable with weapons as us.., now, if we were videogame characters, he'd have the whole planet killed within seconds. he can't operate a gun, but don't underestimate him.., he's surprisingly hurtful when speaking. he once made me cry with nothing more than his raw vocal chords.. scary, huh?"

another silence fell. it lasted a minute or two, and you noticed the rest of MX clean up their breakfast stuff. "hey, clio?"

"yeah?"

"i was wondering.. how was your life before you knew us?" wonho asked, voice lowered into a softer volume.

you sighed softly and stared down at your half empty plate. "quite the rollercoaster," you mumbled, scoffing a little as the memories flooded back.

"i was always an outcast, bullied for looking weird, acting weird, not fitting in.. not just by my classmates, either. my family, too." you said, feeling wonho's hand on your back, his fingertips rubbing small, comforting circles.

wonho told you that you didn't have to continue if you didn't want to, but you shook your head and decided that telling someone would lift a weight off of your shoulders. if there's someone you can trust, it's wonho.

"i usually got ignored most of the time.. but when i went to college, everything took a turn for the better. i met people that felt the same way i did.. and who understood me. they started to feel like a real family.. a few of them dragged me into their criminal life- but i didn't mind.."

"and that's how you ended up racing?" wonho asked, tilting his head. you nodded and smiled. "racing is one of the best things that has happened to me, honestly.." you murmurred, finishing your sandwich and pushing the plate back on to the coffee table.

"now it's my turn for a storytime..!" wonho said, clapping his hands once as he sat up from his slumped posture.

"okay, strap in, y/n-ie, it's time to go down memory lane." he said, your cheeks colouring red from realizing he was that comfortable around you that he called you by your real name, and then some.

"..and that's basically how i once sprained my ankle while having some.. ahem.. me time." he finished, face red from the storytelling while you just sat and mercilessly laughed at him. he told you to stop, but you only laughed harder with the second.

"and who carried you out..?" you asked after taking a deep breath, tears in your eyes from laughing. "after a while of trying to get dressed and failing miserably, i called shownu in.."

"shownu saw you butt-naked?!"

wonho sighed, massaging his temples gently. "well- yes.. but i-"

you interrupted him with a stifled laugh, that just couldn't stay inside for more than 5 seconds. you just had to laugh out loud, making him chuckle too. he couldn't take his eyes off of your enlightened face. it seemed like a million rays of sunshine gave you a spotlight, just for him to admire you.

"what did he tell the boys?" you asked after catching your breath and wiping away the tears. "i'm sure they were all confused" you said, taking a deep breath as you clutched your stomach; it hurt a little from all the laughing.

wonho scoffed a little with a content smile. "he told them i slipped after getting out of the shower-"

"hey monsta x! come here for a sec!" you yelled jokingly, a part of you hoping the boys would actually come so you could tell them the truth about what had happened to wonho that sad, lonely and dark summer night.

"i can't shut you up, can i?" he asked, letting his head drop down as you chuckled some more, shaking your head. "maybe- this will.." he said under his breath, collecting courage before cupping your face and placing a kiss on your pouty lips.

"what are you calling us for? you know you can just-" shownu asked, leading the group into the living room. "christ, couldn't you just announce you two are a thing already?" kihyun mumbled, grossed out a little. you pulled back from the kiss and gulped a little. fourteen eyes digging burn marks in your skin, before you locked eyes with him.

changkyun was now staring right into your soul, and you were staring right into his. his face was neutral but you just felt the pain and disappointment in that long, deep stare. wonho pushed your shoulder, breaking the eye contact, before changkyun walked off on his own.

minhyuk tried to convince shownu he should be your boyfriend, and not wonho, thanks to the almost-spicy evening you two spent in the back of his van. "no- no, minhyuk and i aren't a thing." you said. "ha!" wonho exclaimed.

"and wonho and i aren't a thing, either." wonho's smile dropped, and minhyuk started hatefully giggling at his rival. standing up and running a hand through your hair, you headed to the staircase.

"i'm- in my bedroom, if anybody needs me. please don't disturb unless there's anything important" you said before vanishing out of the boys' sight.

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nadziejastar · 5 years ago

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Well, first of all I loved his outfit. It’s similar enough to what he wore in BBS to make it feel like Isa, but still felt fresh. It looked like something a fashionable young person would wear. It’s based on a Roen-Gackt collaboration design. Nomura sure loves Gackt, lol. So Isa was considered important enough to get a lot of care put into his new outfit. This collaboration was probably done a long time in advance, like with FFVersus XIII. I’m sure Isa’s backstory was supposed to be WAY more fleshed out so that his character would make a MUCH stronger impression on the player by the end of KH3. So, the outfit was kinda wasted in a way. Isa’s whole character was just wasted potential, though.

In a room made of white marble, a large mirror reflected Demyx as he prepared to leave for the mission. He took particular care with his hairstyle, painstakingly manipulating the brown strands with a comb to make them stand straight up. Saïx observed him from behind with what appeared to be distaste. In stark contrast to Demyx, Saïx left his long blue hair unstyled. The X-shaped scar on his forehead was all the style he needed.

Having an outfit based on a J-pop star might tell us something about how Nomura originally viewed Isa’s personality. He actually seemed like a rather fashionable young man who took pride in his appearance. He even wore stud earrings. His style was different from other kids like Hayner, Pence, or Lea. Saïx didn’t have any interest in his appearance. But Isa certainly seemed like the type to style his hair and then some. For some reason, I picture him ironically spending even MORE time in front of the mirror than Demyx. Especially post-KH3. Isa was already shy. I think he would probably struggle with insecurity over having a scar covering most of his face. So, he would try even harder to compensate with nice clothes and accessories.

The KH3 ending outfit really doesn’t fit someone like Saïx, who had such a harsh and dreary personality. I can’t see Saïx choosing to wear anything like that outfit. Way too youthful and trendy. And definitely not the star and moon accessory, either. He’d throw up at the cute little moon on Isa’s BBS outfit. Isa obviously was supposed to have such a different personality than Saïx. I bet Isa is going to be SUCH an awkward character going forward, because they’ll feel obligated to keep his Saïx personality traits, which will clash so badly with the rest of his character. He’ll be this pseudo-villain/quasi-good guy that just will feel so out of place in a series like this. It breaks my heart.

A great number of Nobodies have lost human form, as have the Heartless. Yet the Nobody born of someone with a strong heart retains its shape, with but the faintest visible changes.

As far as the rest of his design goes, I thought it was pretty lazy. In my opinion, Isa’s character design needed much more of an update than what he got. Kairi looked more different after her haircut than Isa did in the ending. If anyone deserved to look different for KH3, it was him. But…he still looked almost exactly like Saïx to me. He has a bit more color to his hair and face, and his scar is faded. But that’s about it. Which I guess was intentional. Why bother changing his look? It seems like they gave up on whatever plan they originally had for Isa to be his own character who was totally distinct from Saïx. They’re gonna just pretend that he wasn’t Norted and treat him like he was the same as Axel. Which sucks.

Axel and Riku get along very well somehow. Since Riku has become a figure of Ansem, I don’t speak much with him, but he laughs like a different person when he eats Ice cream with Axel. Axel says he “Laughs to face bad feelings”, but it seems that Riku isn’t a bad person. At that Axel said ‘don’t laugh when you’ve got a gross face’, but Riku didn’t seem all that annoyed.

Also, Axel really liked sea-salt ice cream. You’ve eaten sea salt ice cream ever since you moved to that house. I wonder how you don’t break your stomach! It felt like he ate them to an unthinkable extent. Axel ate so much ice cream that the freezer in the computer room emptied every day.

Now as a villain, Saïx had a very cool design. He was handsome and had long hair, but...he looked mean and scary. He was supposed to. He WAS mean and scary. He was Xemnas’ right-hand man, after all. And if he was Norted, this makes sense. He was envisioned as a sociopathic guy who has bouts of uncontrollable bloodlust when exposed to moonlight. I like Saïx’s design. He was pale and almost vampire-looking? Or maybe Addam’s family. He was created as a bad guy. The whole idea was that he was a scary, unapproachable dude. He was sinister and creepy. Yet ironically his original self was the polar opposite. It made for a pretty cool twist, IMO.

“…Aw, is it good?” Axel teased. “Seriously, you’re like a little kid. Even though you look like a mean old man.” Riku made no response, keeping his gaze fixed on the computer screen. The comment did rub him the wrong way. But mentally, Axel was definitely older than him by at least a little. Not that you could tell from looking.

They were clearly going for a VERY different vibe with Isa. When I first played BBS, I thought that the visual difference between Isa and Saïx was extremely noticable. Isa looked a lot softer, sweeter and more friendly. The idea behind Saïx's design was: harsh and scary. The idea of a cute bunny rabbit representing his personality was supposed to be absurd. Saïx would be utterly disgusted if he was seen as “cute”. But the idea behind Isa's design was: cute and innocent. And Isa was indeed a little cutie. And he was innocent, too.

Saïx: We'll ensure he receives the maximum punishment.

Axel: Okay, since you worked really hard today, you get a reward.

Saïx’s Casual Gear is called “Dessert Time,” but the localization named it “Just Desserts", and I thought that was very clever. To get one’s just desserts means to receive the appropriate punishment for one's actions. But sea-salt ice cream is supposed to be a treat to reward someone who did a good job.

Saïx gave him a cruel grin. “You will lose everything!” And then the Claymore pierced Axel’s chest.

Saïx rarely smiles because he is cold and cruel. But he would smile when he’s giving Axel his just desserts.

“But sweet!” Lea added, and Isa smiled a bit. That was rare for him. Well, eating ice cream together, talking about silly stuff, laughing together—it was just what friends did.

Isa rarely smiles because he’s shy. But he would smile when he’s eating ice cream with Lea because he has a sweet tooth and loves dessert. It was such a cool idea. I loved it.

dichotomy

1. a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different.

2. the phase of the moon in which half its disk appears illuminated

Saïx’s Pandora Gear is called “Dichotomy” in the localization. Saïx had weapons called Lunatic, Berserker and Werewolf. The weapon representing his real personality is a bunny rabbit. The HUGE difference between Isa and Saïx was the whole point. My impression was that BBS wanted to emphasize as much as possible that Isa and Saïx were two very different people. And character design was one way they chose to do that. That dichotomy is what made Isa so interesting to me. If you want to make Isa his own character, you should go with a different character design, in my opinion.

“You’re in a pretty good mood,” Axel remarked. Riku glanced up.

“Seeing Sora just made you that happy, huh?”

“I don’t feel like telling you.” A little smile crossed Riku’s lips as he took another bite.

“Y’know, it’s creepy when you smile with that guy’s face,” Axel said dryly, following suit and nibbling on his own ice cream.

Silence fell over the room. He paused in his munching to stare hard at Riku, then finally asked, “What is Sora to you?”

The question caught Riku off guard. He groped for words. On the sofa opposite him, Naminé spoke up instead. “Sora and Riku are best friends.”

Like Terra, Isa was supposed to be cursed. Being Norted is no joke. That’s what a lot of the Beauty and the Beast parallels were about. Axel started teasing Riku for his ugly ass face the same time they were trying to figure out the organization’s next move. They were going to target those with strong hearts, and the Beast was one of those targets.

Belle nodded and silently walked out of the room. The trio went after her. The Beast was left alone with no company but the moonlight.

“You’re really just going to give up on everything now?” Sora said all at once. But the Beast only stared up at the moon.

Isa was supposed to be just as cursed as Riku was in KH2. And Riku changing his appearance fit perfectly with Lea and Isa’s story. Axel said Riku was creepy when he smiled with that face, and unfortunately that’s kind of how “Isa” made me feel in the KH3 ending. Since they took away the possession angle, I didn’t really see him as Isa. He still felt like Saïx to me. And seeing Saïx play and smile like that was kinda unsettling. And weird.

Axel’s eyes crinkled as he remembered his own best friend—the only friend he’d ever had, in fact.

“If your best friend goes away, you’re sad, and if you get to be with them, you’re happy,” Naminé added. “Isn’t that how it is, Axel?”

“…That’s about the size of it.” Axel nodded and sat down on the remaining empty sofa, staring at the sea-salt ice cream he held.

“So you are capable of sincerity,” said Riku.

Axel only shrugged at the jab and finished his ice cream pop.

Probably for this very reason, I could tell that Nomura wanted to take a different direction with Isa’s character design after he decided to make him a good guy and Lea’s best friend. You can see what Nomura had in mind for an adult Isa based on his illustrations of Saïx for 358/2 Days and KH2FM+. He looks different than he did in his vanilla KH2 concept art. His features lean a lot more heavily toward Isa in BBS. I really wished KH3 went in this direction with his updated character design. He looks much more youthful here, like Axel does. Also, I loved the fact that his scar was gigantic. It went all the way from the top of his forehead to the bottom of his nose. In KH3, they stuck with the old Saïx design, so his scar was a lot smaller. I like the bigger scar because it really shows that he was treated like a human lab rat (of course that idea was scrapped, anyways).

Beside the Beast, who had once been a handsome prince, stood a man in a black cloak. “It’s time you dealt with the girl. She’s scheming to take everything you have,” said Xaldin, his hood pulled low to hide his face. “Your castle, your treasures…and then your very life.” The Beast hung his head. His castle was a desolate place, ruled by a monster.

“Trust no one. Feed your anger. Only rage will keep you strong!”

“I’ve had enough of strength. There’s only one thing I want…” The Beast gazed, unmoving, at the glass bell jar around a single red rose.

What he wanted was—

“Hah,” Xaldin spat. “To love and be loved in return? Who could ever love a beast?” The Beast whirled again, his cape rippling. He glared and let out a roar of fury.

“Good. Let your anger rise!” With that, Xaldin vanished.

Axel didn’t really see his best friend when he looked at Saïx. He felt like Isa went away and Saïx took his place. His relationship with Saïx was based on his memories of the past. He self-medicated with ice cream to cope. It was heartbreaking. After the scene where Axel was sad about his best friend going away, the chapter about the Beast’s Castle begins, describing him as a formerly handsome prince. So on that basis, I wish there was more visual differentiation between Isa and Saïx. Most of the fandom is just going to see Isa as the same mean old Saïx since there was no attempt to differentiate Isa’s personality from Saïx’s personality and they look exactly the same, too.

“I don’t trust you,” Saïx replied flatly, the enormous Claymore in his hand.

“Traitors like you deserve to lose everything,” Saïx said.

Saïx gave him a cruel grin. “You will lose everything!”

They originally wanted Isa to have a distinct personality and appearance from Saïx—a lot more than just a new outfit. Isa was supposed to be a beautiful love interest cursed into being a beast. In the novel you can tell that Xigbar and Xaldin were pressuring Saïx to eliminate Axel. He was reluctant to do so on his own. Xigbar doubted whether he was even looking for Axel. Just like with the Beast, they were manipulating him to think Axel had been plotting to take everything from him. Deep down Saïx probably felt similar to the Beast. Like nobody could ever love him in his condition. I think that’s why he was so furious. Axel grew a heart, and then left him. But the only reason Axel grew a heart was because he remembered his feelings for Isa. It was a really cool idea. It's just a shame it never came to fruition.

#kh saix #kh isa #kingdom hearts #kh meta

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bluezey · 5 years ago

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youtube

This review is good and relatively fair, but I still want to give my opinion on a few highlighted episodes.

Cuddle E Hugs - I actually liked this episode. I didn't see it as a gross out episode, but as an episode where Spongebob got high off a moldy Krabby Patty. And while Cuddle is an hallucination, it's also a nice callback to Spongebob using his imagination. In fact, Sandy flat out says Spongebob is using his imagination in the episode. It also has some funny moments. So not the best, but on its own it's not one of my worsts. And I didn't consider Cuddle's voice to be eerie coming out of a giant hamster because I like that voice. Oh, and Strider, thank you for implying that Spongebob had adult sleep with Cuddle.

Ink Lemonade - I'll admit after a big observation with this episode, I now consider it okay and see why some despise it. But, in my opinion, I found it okay. Yes, I couldn't take the band aid joke, and I thought Patrick went way too far even if you play the stupidity card, and it got sad to see Squidward get so paranoid. But I'll defend that the animation is good, the reactions work, they even get creative with the inking so it doesn't get dull. I'll also defend that Spongebob had no idea what the lemonade was because he didn't see Squidward ink and he kept calling it black lemonade. So while Patrick is a guilty starfish, I'm calling Spongebob innocent by reason of ignorance. And now I have a new defense that the people drinking the black lemonade weren't getting sick. Squid ink is being used in real life as an exotic garnish to dye food black, increase iron in a meal, and, with the right spices, can make food spicy. So with that fact, I just thought the fish were reacting to how spicy the black lemonade was. So maybe that's why Squidward hates inking so often, it's embarrassing and burns like hell. Ouch, just imagine his nasal passages after this episode.

The Legend of Boo-kini Bottom - a great episode with great atmosphere for the Halloween season. But I'll also add, this episode is genuinely scary, at least for easily scared kids. The stop motion does a great job in capturing the zaniness, creativity and cuteness of the show. But when it goes into the Flying Dutchman portions of the special, it uses that same stop motion to bring the uncanny valley to life and make our skin crawl with goosebumps. Hell, I'll admit that one of the Dutchman's jump scares actually creeped me out! Specifically,it's the one he did to scare the one unscared trick or treater. Tell me that you went into the show blindly and that moment did not scare you, and I'll know you're lying.

#spongebob squarepants

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britesparc · 5 years ago

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Weekend Top Ten #388

Top Ten Things Tim Burton’s Batman Films Did Right

Thirty years ago, give or take, the first Tim Burton Batman movie was released in cinemas (according to Google, its UK release date was 11th August 1989). Everyone knows the story; it was a phenomenon, a marketing juggernaut, a hit probably beyond what anyone was reasonably expecting. I was too young to understand or appreciate what was going on, but for twenty years or more the image of Batman in the public consciousness was intertwined with Adam West and pop-art frivolity. Suddenly superheroes were “dark” and “grown-up”; suddenly we had multi-million-dollar-grossing properties, franchises, and studios rummaging through their back catalogues of acquired IPs to land the next four-quadrant hit. Throughout the rest of the nineties we got a slew of pulp comic adaptations – The Spirit, The Phantom, Dick Tracy – before the tangled web of Marvel licenses became slightly easier to unpick, and we segued into the millennium on the backs of Blade, X-Men, and Spider-Man. Flash-forward to a super-successful Batman reboot, then we hit the MCU with Iron Man, and we all know where that goes. And it all began with Batman!

Except, of course, that’s not quite the whole story. Studios were trying to adapt superheroes and comic books for a number of years, not least because Richard Donner’s Superman had been such a huge hit a decade before Batman. And the Batman films themselves began to deteriorate in quality pretty rapidly. Plus, when viewed from the distance of a couple of decades or more, the supposed dark, gritty, adult storytelling in Burton’s films quickly evaporates. They’re just as camp, silly, and nonsensical as the 1960s show, they’re just visually darker and with more dry ice. Characters strut around in PVC bodysuits; the plots make little to no sense; characterisation is secondary to archetype; and Batman himself is quite divorced from his comic incarnation, killing enemies often capriciously and being much less of a martial artist or detective than he appeared on the page (in fact, Adam West’s Batman does a lot more old-school deducing than any of the cinematic Batmen).

I think a lot of people of my generation, who grew up with Adam West, went through a period of disowning the series because it was light, bright, campy and, essentially, for children; then we grow up and appreciate it all the more for being those things, and also for being a pure and delightful distillation of one aspect of the comics (seriously, there’s nothing in the series that’s not plausibly from a 1950s Batman comic). And I think the same is true of Burton’s films. for all their importance in terms of “legitimising” superhero movies, they have come in for a lot of legitimate criticism, and in the aftermath of Christopher Nolan’s superlative trilogy they began to look very old-fashioned and a much poorer representation of the character. But then, again, we all grow up a little bit and can look back on them as a version of Batman that’s just as valid; they don’t have to be perfect, they don’t have to be definitive, but we can enjoy them for what they are: macabre delights, camp gothic comedies, delightfully stylised adventure stories. They might lack the visual pizazz of a Nolan fight scene or, well, anything in any MCU movie, but they’re very much of a type, even if that type was aped, imitated, and parodied for a full decade following Batman’s release. There’s much to love about Burton’s two bites of the Bat-cherry, and here – at last – I will list my ten favourite aspects of the films (that’s both films, Batman and Batman Returns).

Tim Burton’s Batman isn’t quite my Batman (but, for the record, neither is Christopher Nolan’s), but whatever other criticisms I may have of the films, here are ten things that Burton and his collaborators got absolutely right.

Great Design: seriously, from an aesthetic point of view, they’re gorgeous. The beautiful Anton Furst Gotham, all gothic towers and industrial pipework, is a thing of beauty, and in terms of live-action the design of all of Batman’s vehicles and gadgets has never been bettered. It gives Batman, and his world, a gorgeously distinctive style all its own.

Wonderful Toys: it’s not just the design of the Batmobile and Batwing that impresses (big, bulbous round bits, sweeping curves, spiky wings); its how they’re used. Burton really revels in the gadgets, making Batman a serious tech-head with all manner of grappling hooks, hidden bombs, and secret doo-dahs to give him an upper hand in a fight. It makes up for the wooden combat (a ninja Michael Keaton is not), suggesting this Batman is a smarter fighter than a physical one. Plus all those gadgets could get turned into literal wonderful toys. Ker-ching.

He is the Night: Adam West’s Batman ran around during the day, in light grey spandex with a bright blue cape. Michael Keaton’s Batman only ever came out at night, dressed entirely in thick black body armour, and usually managed to be enveloped in smoke. From his first appearance, beating up two muggers on a Gotham rooftop, he is a threatening, scary, sinister presence. It totally sold the idea of Batman as part-urban legend, part-monster. Burton is fascinated with freaks, and in making his Batman freaky, he made him iconic.

You Wanna Get Nuts?: added to this was Michael Keaton’s performance as Bruce Wayne. Controversial casting due to his comedy background and, frankly, lack of an intimidating physique, he nevertheless utterly convinced. Grimly robotic as Batman, he presented a charming but secretive Bruce Wayne, one who was kind and heartfelt in private, but also serious, determined, and very, very smart. But he also excellently portrayed a dark anger beneath the surface, a mania that Bruce clearly had under control, but which he used to fuel his campaign, and which he allowed out in the divisive but (in my opinion) utterly brilliant “Let’s get nuts!” scene. To this date, the definitive screen Bruce Wayne.

Dance with the Devil: The counterpoint to this was Jack Nicholson’s Joker. Cashing a phenomenal cheque for his troubles, he nevertheless delivered; his Joker is wild, over-the-top, cartoonish but also terrifying. In my late teens I was turned off by the performance, feeling it a pantomime and not reflective of the quiet menace and casual cruelty of, say, Mark Hamill’s Joker; but now I see the majesty of it. You need someone this big to be a believable threat to Batman. No wonder that, with Joker dead, they essentially had to have three villains to replace him in the sequel.

Family: Bruce’s relationship with Alfred is one of the cornerstones of the comic, but really only existed in that capacity since the mid-80s and Year One (which established Alfred as having raised Bruce following his parents’ deaths). So in many ways the very close familial relationship in Batman is a watershed, and certainly the first time many people would have seen that depicted. Michael Gough’s Alfred is benign, charming, very witty, and utterly capable as a co-conspirator. One of the few people to stick around through the Schumacher years, he maintained stability even when everything else was going (rubber) tits up.

Meow: I’ve mostly focussed on Batman here, but by jeebies Batman Returns has a lot going for it too. Max Shreck, the Penguin, “mistletoe is deadly if you eat it”… but pride of place goes to Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman. An utterly bonkers origin but a perfectly pitched character, she was a credible threat, a believable love interest, and an anti-hero worth rooting for, in a tour-de-force performance. Also came along at just the right time for me to experience puberty. If you’re interested. Plus – and this can’t be overstated – she put a live bird into her mouth. For real. I mean, Christ.

Believably Unreal: I used to criticise Batman for being unrealistic, just as campy in its own way as the ‘60s show. But that’s missing the point. It’s a stylised world, clearly not our own thanks to the Furst-stylings. And Burton uses that to his advantage. The gothic stylings help sell the idea of a retro-futuristic rocket-car barrelling through city streets; the mishmash of 80s technology and 40s aesthetics gives us carte blanche for a zoot-suited Joker and his tracksuited henchmen to tear up a museum to a Prince soundtrack. It’s a world where Max Shreck, looking like Christopher Walken was electrocuted in a flour factory, can believably run a campaign to get Penguin elected mayor, even after he nearly bites someone’s nose off. It’s crazy but it works.

Believably Corrupt: despite the craziness and unreality, the first Batman at least does have a strong dose of realism running through it. The gangsters may be straight out of the 40s but they’ve adopted the gritty grimness of the intervening decades, with slobby cop Eckhart representing corrupt law enforcement. Basically, despite the surrealism on display, the sense of Gotham as a criminal cesspool is very well realised, and extends to such a high level that the only realistic way to combat any of it is for a sad rich man to dress up as Dracula and drive a rocket-car at a clown.

The Score: I’ve saved this for last because, despite everything, Danny Elfman’s Batman theme is clearly the greatest and strongest legacy of the Burton era. Don’t come at me with your “dinner-dinner-dinner-dinner-Batman” nonsense. Elfman’s Batman score is sublime. Like John Williams’ Superman theme, it’s iconic, it’s distinctive, and as far as I’m concerned it’s what the character should sound like. I have absolutely no time for directors who think you should ever make a Batman film with different music. It’s as intrinsically linked with the character as the Star Wars theme is with, well, Star Wars. It’s perfect and beautiful and the love-love-love the fact that they stuck it in the Animated Series too.

Whelp, there we are. The ten best things about Burton’s two Batman movies. I barely spoke about the subsequent films because, well, they’re both crap. No, seriously, they’re bad films. Even Batman Forever. Don’t start.

#top ten #batman #1989 #tim burton #Michael Keaton #batman returns #comics #movies

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honeylikewords · 5 years ago

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I am freaking out over all the Marvel news out of Comic Con. You?

Honestly, when I first got this ask, I was going to answer “no” because I legitimately hadn’t heard anything from Marvel at all. All I knew was that we were in for a bunch of Disney+ shows like Loki, which I wasn’t interested in, and Falcon and Winter Soldier, which I am interested in but concerned about.

But then I did a quick Google, and saw that there’s plenty of other stuff to be excited about, so here’s a listicle-style breakdown of what I am and am not excited for, as was released in the press junkets regarding the SDCC Marvel Hall H panel.

1. Black Widow: Nope, not interested. Way, way back in 2012, I might have cared, given that Natasha was LITERALLY THE ONLY WOMAN in the MCU with any agency or hero role, but now that we have significantly more women, significantly more interesting women, and women of color (who aren’t played by white women stealing roles from actual WOC lmao), I think we don’t really... need a Black Widow movie. I mean, cool that David Harbour will be in it, but, uh... yeah, count me out of that one.

2. Falcon and Winter Soldier: Yeah, I’m excited for this one! Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan have a lot of fun chemistry, and I hope the series plays up the fun buddy-cop aspect of their relationship rather than “doom and gloom, Steve is gone, boohoo” stuff. They deserve to be heroes in their own rights and to not live in Steve’s shadow. Also, I’m not hugely into Bucky Barnes (I kinda find him boring, sorry) so I hope the series will, at least a little, start to endear me more to him. But I am very excited to see Sam getting more screentime!

3. Eternals: Eh, can’t really say. I don’t know enough about the original Eternals, nor do I have any information about who the new Eternals will be to weigh in. Ask me again when we’re closer to the release date.

4. Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings: Honestly, some warning flags are popping up for me on this one. Much as I want more POC led MCU films (and just, fucking, like, any films in general), Marvel comics has a pernicious history surrounding Asian fetishism and mysticism. I’ve talked about it before with my hatred for Iron Fist, and the problems Marvel had during the big “Asian Craze” of the 60s and 70s, but I really do worry about re-adapting works based in and rooted in the comics made during those times. I don’t know enough about Shang-Chi’s origins to weigh in just yet, but I am on high-alert about how this could go wrong. Hopefully, though, with actual Asian and POC actors involved in the project, it will be done tastefully and respectfully. Hopefully.

5. WandaVision: Nah. I never liked either character to begin with so I’m not really gonna waste my brainspace on some TV show about a random white girl and her toaster boyfriend. I know that sounds mean but I have a lot of pent up anger about how the MCU depicted the Maximoffs, given that the Maximoffs were originally Jewish and survivors of the Hol*caust, but then somehow the MCU decided to make them not only white, but white people working with a literal N*zi organization. So I have beef with that, and I just... don’t care about Wanda or Vision. They haven’t been with us long enough for any of us to really, you know, see them have arcs or be meaningful people. They’re just kinda there. So no thanks. Maybe if the show turns out to be great, I’ll watch, but as it stands, I’m uninterested.

5. Doctor Strange: Multiverse Of Madness: Eh. I never saw the original Doctor Strange because of the whitewashing issues and Benedict Cumberbatch’s, shall we say, history of anti-autism comments and classist perceptions about poor and undereducated people, so I just noped out of that. But I also didn’t like Stephen Strange from what I saw in the other MCU films I have seen him in, so I don’t feel like I’m missing much. If this movie turns out to be cool (apparently, it’s going to be the MCU’s first “scary” film, whatever that means?), I might see it, but for now it’s largely off my radar.

6. Loki: Nnnnnnnnnot especially excited. As I’ve said before, I like Ragnarok Loki, and that’s about it. 2012 Loki was, no joke, literally set up as a N*zi, and y’all know how I feel about N*zis. I’m not being hyperbolic. He is literally supposed to be equitable to a N*zi. So I’m disappointed that we’ve regressed all of his character development back in time to his worst stage, and we’re going to be seeing that play out in his show. Hopefully, the directors allow Tom Hiddleston to have more fun with Loki, because holy shit does Tom have great comedic timing, and I hope we get some redemption for Loki, because as it stands, I feel sad and hurt that they just threw away everything Loki grew into being. And if you’re one of those salty “Loki is a Classy, Intelligent, Sexy Villain, And Ragnarok Made Him DUMB, Give Us Back Our King” fans, please leave me alone. He was gross and greasy and weird and Ragnarok made him funny and likable, in me humble onion. Also, Loki is canonically not straight, not cisgender, and has been pregnant with horse babies, so, uh, let’s all just chill out and have some fun.

7. What If...?: The What If...? comics can be really confusing and fun, alternatingly. So it’ll be interesting to see how this show manifests itself to match the wild, changing, freewheeling chaos of the What If...? storylines. Let’s see what happens!

8. Hawkeye: FUCK I AM SO MAD THAT THIS ISN’T AN ANIMATED SERIES BASED ON THE HAWKEYE COMICS THAT CAME OUT RECENTLY. FUCK. I would have loved that! But instead we’re getting Ronin Hawkeye (which sounds so dumb and also question-mark-y racist?). At least we’ll be getting Kate Bishop, I guess. C’est la vie. Not a fan of the Jeremy Renner Hawkeye, tbh, so I don’t know how this show will keep my interest, but fingers crossed.

9. Thor: Love and Thunder: BUCKLE UP BOYS I FINALLY HAVE A MOVIE TO CARE ABOUT YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAW AMEN PRAISE GOD WE HAVE A GOOD MOVIE COMING YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA FEMALE THOR AAAAAAAAAAAAA GAY RIGHTS YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

FUCK! I AM SO HAPPY OH MY G O D!

10. Blade: YEE FUCKING HAW! Mahershala Ali has been in the MCU three times now (1st as Cottonmouth in Luke Cage, 2nd as Uncle Aaron in ITSV, and now as Blade!) and I’m both pleasantly surprised and a little confused, since the MCU very rarely reuses actors. Oh, well! I’m so happy to see him back and I hope Blade does him justice. I worry that the original Blade (comics and movie alike) were a little, uh, Blaxploitation-y, so I hope this update will be more thoughtful and more progressive in its depictions. But at the end of the day, this is one I’ll be watching.

11. Fantastic Four: I’m worried but hopeful. The last swings at making a Fantastic Four film have been, um, mixed to say the least. Fingers crossed for a diverse set of characters this time! Although I do think that David Harbour being in the Black Widow movie does rule him out of being The Thing, as was previously speculated. Well, anyway, here’s hoping it’s good.

12. Black Panther 2: SHIT BOI DO I DIE I AM READY YES YES YES YESSSSS

But please for the love of GOD bring back Ryan Coogler to direct. I don’t trust this story in the hands of, well, non-black people, especially because the story of Black Panther is so intrinsically tied to the black experience. That being said, I’m ready and excited for a return to Wakanda and to see what is next in T’Challa’s saga. Also, please, more Shuri, more Nakia, more Okoye. Honestly, Black Panther brought us some of the best women in the MCU so just... bring back all the ladies. Ramonda too!

13. Guardians of the Galaxy 3: I’m a little nervous about this one re: the issues surrounding the firing of James Gunn (which is, like, such a can of worms to get into), but fingers crossed. The GOTG films are really fun and such a great break from the rest of the dull, painfully self-absorbed MCU, so I hope that the light-hearted tone and center on found family comes back. I also hear that this one will be more female-centric (focusing on Gamora, I believe?) so that’s good to hear!

14. Captain Marvel 2: I didn’t see the first one, but, hey, my lesbian friends sure are happy to have Carol back so you’ve got my approval on that one, Marvel.

15. Mutants: DOES THIS MEAN...MCU X-MEN...I’M SCARED...SOMEONE HOLD ME

16. This one technically isn’t MCU but it’s what I’m most excited for...

THE SPIDERMAN 2099 COMICS ARE COMING BACK!

I’M SO HAPPY I GET TO SEE MY BOY MIGGY AGAIN I AM SO SO SO SO HAPPY OH MY GOD I WAS SO SCARED THEY’D PERMANENTLY CANCELLED MIGGY BUT HE’S HOME I GET TO SEE HIM AGAIN I COULD JUST C R Y AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

anyway, that’s just what I’m excited for. Y’all tell me if I missed anything or if there’s other updates or news! Or tell me what you’re excited for-- I’d love to hear!

#long post #messages #anonymous #k reviews #sorta?? this is all very preemptive so if shit turns out to be good i'll change my mind

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afreakingdork · 6 years ago

Text

Review: ZOMBIE LAND SAGA

“ In 2008, high school student Sakura Minamoto is on her way to audition for an idol group when she is killed in a traffic accident. Ten years later, she discovers that she, along with six other "legendary" girls from various eras of Japan's history, are resurrected as zombies by Kotaro Tatsumi to save Saga Prefecture as the all-zombie idol group Franchouchou. “

Now this is the show I needed. Oh wait, I said I wanted to watch a romantic comedy? Well apparently this is the show I really needed because 10/10 would watch again, I adore this show to no end (let me enter the rap battle please). I do have a few nits to pick but let’s save that for...

Criticism:

The eye placement in this art style drives me straight up a wall, everything else about the art is cute but I just can't get use to those eyes....

DON’T JUST SKIP OVER HOW SHE BECAME A ZOMBIE! AT THE SHOW TAE BIT PEOPLE!!! ARE THEY GOING TO BE ZOMBIES????

Sakura has been dead for 10 years???? Did... did they bury her in her school uniform?? Where'd Kotaru get that from??? Also I learned 99% of Japanese burials are via cremation..... So... how does he have a body from the 19th century.... The old man he talks to in the bar in episode 11 "A One-of-a-Kind SAGA" acted like he knew Yuguri... How old is he??? How old is Kotaru??? Wasn’t he in high school with Sakura as Inui-kun??????????????????

Can't...cant they just say they are wearing stage makeup??? People in this world are very very eager to accept that zombies are real, like too eager...

....wh...what...the fuck.... why was the actual performance in CG? It looks...so bad.... eugh I already am not a fan of the idol genre and this really kills it for me more. Not to mention that no one in the crowd is CG!! What a fucking bizarre decision. WAIT, and then in episode 7 "But It's Zombiemental SAGA" Iron Frills’ performance is not in CG, BUT THEN FRANCHOUCHOU’S PERFORMANCE IS?!?!?!? AND EVEN WEIRDER ALL OF FRANCHOUCHOU’S PREFORMANCES ARE IN CG EXCEPT FOR THE ONE IN EPISODE 8 "Go Go Neverland SAGA" ???????????????????? AT LEAST KEEP IT CONSISTENTLY BAD!

I don’t understand why Romero goes from cute to scary. The girls do it when people see them as zombies, but Romero will just do it random from scene to scene...

How is that the same dog?!?!?!

That thing on Lily’s chest is supposed to be a heart??? They don’t even call it a heart until episode 7. It doesn’t look correct as a cartoon or anatomically correct heart....

I love the attention to detail and how each of their bows in the finale represents them but why is Junko’s bow all messed up??? Does that represent her???

Also while I love love love Lily’s episode, I don’t like her song at all, the talk singing at the beginning was just hard to listen to. My partner was listening while I was watching that episode and even he was like ‘eugh what is this song?’ The melody comes together in the end though!

This is a costume?????? YOU ARE TELLING ME THIS IS NOT A REAL ANTHROPOMORPHIC CHICKEN??????

Oh and I hate this guy

he’s a shitty manipulative asshole cop.

I am sorry what is this...

Is it supposed to represent Saki arising from the flames and being reborn as a zombie (or later doing the same stunt that killed her and then rising from those flames BECAUSE she was a zombie) either way this hair is too much and should stay in a show like Cromartie High School.

Positives:

Wow I wrote a lot of criticisms.... don’t take that to heart and a ton of them were lighthearted. Please let me reiterate here that this show is 10/10 must watch.

I really love how they just jump into it. Unlike School-Live! where they wait till the end of the first episode to do the crazy zombie reveal this show is like nah let’s do it a minute in!!!

The real opening sequence with the dark beginning and then fucking power rangers is hilarious.

Mamoru Miyano deserves the best voice actor role of all time as Kotaro Tatsumi. I usually don’t notice voice acting unless it’s really bad or if the character delivers a really emotional speech and I can feel them truly crying, but Mamoru Miyano gives one of the most insane voice acting performances I have ever heard.

Ugh I love how when they move their bodies make that gross zombie rigor mortis flesh sound, it sends shivers down my spine in the best creepy-cool way. Great attention to detail!!!

THEY ABSORB LIGHTNING AND SHOOT LASERS

Kotaru...made the horn blow noise in episode 8, they didn't have a sound effect for the horn...... true voice acting brilliance.

I fucking adore that all the bumps are promoting real Saga products and places! It took me awhile to realize that is what they were doing. They are truly trying to revitalize Saga. The attention to detail is so great!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reiko had Saki’s Tamagotchi this whole time.... I’m gonna cry (though she did not keep it alive). Speaking of which this show does some of the best balancing between it’s beyond out there comedy and it’s heart-wrenchingly sad moments. For example, when Sakura is in her depression at the end of the show; I totally understand where she is coming from and don’t disagree with her feelings in any way. Who wouldn’t give up in her position?

Speaking of which this show is downright beyond hilarious, sometimes I can’t believe how they pull it off so well....

Lily’s slippers <3

Junko’s singing voice is insane, the most beautiful int he show. It’s hard to look up if that was her real voice actor (Maki Kawase)? I only question it because Junko’s speaking voice is so much higher then her deep beautiful singing voice that its hard to believe.

Lily Hoshikawa is a real trans girl. This is no fucking trap bait here folks. The dream is now tangible and I LOVE it!!!

I feel like a lot of idol shows really die for me because all their girls are just the boring same. There’s 50 million of them and I don’t care about a single one but in this show all these characters are so different and unique that I love all of them.

Verdict:

GO WATCH THIS SHOW

#ME #REVIEW #i loved it #zls #zombieland saga #zombie land saga #anime review #anime

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moonie-here · 7 years ago

Text

Shaken to the Core-Chapter 1

Fandom: Thomas Sanders/Sander Sides

Summery: Logan and Roman make a mistake with deadly consequences. Can Patton right their wrong before Virgil is gone forever?

Warnings: Angst. Crying. Non-descriptive body horror. General sad feeling. Slight physical fighting.

Pairings: Platonic Moxiety

ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13874427

{°°°}

The cracks first appeared he was alone.

Virgil was sitting on his bed drawing and listening to My Chemical Romance when he felt it.

It was as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to his ribs and mercilessly beating him with it. A scream of pain wracked it’s way up his throat, but was muffled by the sleeve of his hoodie as he threw his hand over his mouth.

Oh god oh god ohgodohgodohgod.

He crawled off of his bed over to the mirror on his wall, small sobs coming from his lips even with his hand over his mouth as he worked his way over slowly to the mirror.

He took a minute to gain focus and work past the pain before yanking his hoodie off and lifting up his shirt.

When he saw what was there a much louder sob pushed from between his lips.

Cracks.

Starting at his left hip slowly working their way up his abdomen and onto his chest. Something that looked like oil and blood dripped slowly from the newly formed crevices in his skin. Bruises were forming around the edges in shades of black, blue and yellow.

He let his shirt slip from his fingers and sat back on his knees. He finally caught his own reflections eye in the mirror. His makeup was smeared down his red puffy cheeks and exposed the heavy, purple bags under his eyes. His hair was messy from where he had grabbed his head in a state of panic. He looked like shit. He felt like it too.

“So this is how I go huh?” He whispered to the empty room.

...

“Not surprised.”

{°°°}

He figured out pretty quickly what was happening. Patton would avoid eye contact, Roman didn't talk to him and Logan would freeze every time he entered the room.

They didn't tell him. He didn't expect them to. It was supposed to be a secret between the three of them anyway. Why make it awkward?

Oh hey, by the way, I totally know you got Thomas is to take anxiety medication. Yeah, also it's totally gonna kill me. Anyway how's your day been?

Not happening.

Whenever he felt the cracks worsen he simply shut himself in his bathroom for as long as it took for it to stop and to clean himself up. The blood-oil stuff was a mess to clean up so he stopped trying to clean the bathroom after every “attack”. It was gross but at this point he didn't care. He was dying after all.

This happened consistently for a week before it really got worse. The cracks spread rapidly and Virgil spent most of his time in his bathroom, which was now covered in a layer of black sludge. He left only if he knew nothing was going to happen, which was almost never at this point. And despite the fact that Pat had tried to talk to him consistently over the last two weeks he felt...so alone.

{°°°}

Patton missed Virgil. Ever since Logan came to him and Roman with the idea of medication he felt...iky. Roman had been on board right away but Patton wanted to ask Virgil about it and the others wouldn't let him.

He felt wrong. Virgil was his best friend and he hated lying. He had rarely seen Virgil since this entire thing started and when he did Virgil looked on the brink of death. It had been two weeks since they had they had a proper conversation and oh, he just wanted to hug his son right now. He wanted to help Virge with whatever was going on and see if the pills had done anything bad.

Patton was curled up in his bed debating on going to tell Virgil what was going on. He’d tried to check on the other side before but Virge had always turned him away saying “I’m fine,” or “I’m just tired.”

In fact Patton was so wrapped up in his own thoughts he only snapped out when a violent, hysterical scream pierced through the tense air of the mind scape.

He shot straight up, throwing his quilt and several stuffed animals off of his bed. He swung his door open and rushed into the hall looking around widely until another scream pierced it's way into his brain.

His stomach sank.

The scream came from Virgil’s room.

{°°°}

Virgil felt it coming. After about two weeks he could feel it before it hit, like someone would just start slowly squeezing his kidney until pain took over his entire body. The cracks almost covered his body now. Up to his collarbone, forearms and ankles.

This one was different though. He could tell. His stomach twisted differently and his hands shook more than usual. The throbbing all over his body was more intense as well.

This was gonna be the last one.He felt tears gather in the corner of his eyes as he walked shakily from the bathroom to the desk in his room. He didn't want to sit down but his legs were giving out.

He slumped into the chair and pulled out a new sheet of lined paper and his favorite pen. He couldn't figure out what to write to the others. He wanted to say goodbye but he wasn't good at all this mushy stuff.

Fuck it.

He poured out everything he was thinking onto the paper until he had to flip it over for more room. Halfway down the second side the pain hit full force.

He tried to push up to make it to the bathroom but ended up falling onto the the floor, chair toppling right alongside him.

The pain was so much at once. It tore through him. Literally. He couldn't breath, he could barely think. He wanted it to end.

Make it stop oh god oh god please helpme helpme helpme i should have told them i dont wanna die please stop it it hurts

Tears ran down his face as he curled into a ball. He clenched his jacket’s sleeves looking for some release but all he felt was his fingers cracking and slipping on the weird sludge that was now soaking the fabric. He felt a scream claw its way up his throat.

…

Hands.

Hands were on him. Pulling his own fingers from where he clenched the hoodie till it tore. Someone was crying and holding him. Pushing his bangs from his forehead, as he felt tears land on his face. The person was singing to him with shuddering breaths. He wish he knew who it was. He couldn't sort out any real thought and his body was thrashing out of his control, jerking violently in every direction.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You’ll never know dear how much i’ll love you. Please don't take my sunshine away.

Patton?

Virgil open his mouth to talk, only to start hacking up black sludge. The taste of mud and iron worked its way up his throat and passed his lips. I can't breathe!

The coughing, pain and cracking went on for what felt like hours. The presence of two others appeared by his side only to be pushed back by what he assumed was Patton. It took all of his strength but he managed to pull his eyelids apart. He locked eyes with Pat.

“V-virgil? Kiddo-o you with-th me?”

“Virgil, what caused this?” Virgil’s eyes flickered towards the voice even when his body jerked away, curling further into Patton’s arms.

“Not now Logan.” He looked back at Patton who was glaring at who he gathered was the logical side. Patton looked…. Scary. His eyes were red and watery but looked as if they were shooting daggers to kill someone. His entire face a bright pink in the non-blushy way. Sadness? Anger? This wasn't Pat.

He coughed again and all attention was back on him. He whimpered “P-patn?”

“Im here kiddo. Im right here…”

“Hurts...make it stop?”

He felt fingers run through his hair. “Yeah I know kiddo. I’m not sure I can make it stop, but i'm damn well gonna try.”

“I-I think ima die?”

The hand froze and three people sucked in at the same time.

“No. You're not gonna die Virgil. You're my best friend and im not letting you die.”

“I can feel it… I don't wanna die Pat.” His fists worked their way into his polo. “Don't let me die.”

Tears. Everything was blurry as tears ushered down his cheeks making tracks through the black goop that strained his face. He let loose a few strangled gasps as he felt himself crumble.

“NO! COME ON VIRGIL PLEASE! I-I cant l-loose you…”

“M’sorry Pat….”

{°°°}

Patton’s arms were empty now. They had been for an hour. At least what he thought was an hour. He didn't know anymore. He didn't care. His best friend died in his arms and he did nothing but cry.

When Virgil passed it was messy. A mix of dust and black sludge were pooled around him staining everything it touched. The only thing left was Virgil’s hoodie, which Patton had clutched in his closed fists. Logan and Roman were still standing in the doorway where Patton had kept them. He still didn't let them close. When Patton finally moved from his kneeling position, two hours and thirty-seven minutes later, he fell onto the edge of Virgil’s bed smearing black onto the mussed up sheets.

Logan spoke, breaking the silence. “Patton. We... we should clean this up.”

Pat looked up at him from the hoodie in his grip. Mouth opening and closing a few times before he found his voice. “No.”

“Pat this is hard for all if us but surely we cant-” Roman was cut of when a fist connected with the side of his face.

“Patton!” Logan yelled as Princey fell to the floor with a thud.

“NO LOGAN…” He yelled spinning to face the logical trait, and grabbing by his collar. “MY BEST FRIEND JUST DIED IN MY ARMS AND YOU BOTH ACT LIKE IT’S NOTHING!” He spat it out as if it was the most disgusting thing ever to touch his tongue.

Tears threatened to spill from Patton's eyes as he stared Logan down.

“He’s gone…

And it’s because of his own family….”

Pat let go of his shirt, arms swinging to his sides. A sob broke through his lips as he sank to the floor once more, curling up into a tight ball. His whole body shook as he cried loudly into Virgil’s hoodie.

Roman looked on in disbelief. Patton hadn't cried like this ever...not even when Thomas got dumped.

Bile rose in his own throat as he looked over the moral side. He threw his hand over his mouth in order to keep it down. Tears spilled down his own cheeks as he looked up at Logan.

His eyes widened when he saw red blotchy cheeks and shaking shoulders.

“What did we do?” He heard Logan whisper.

“Oh god what did we do…?”

@pattson @anxious-ball-of-sunshine @my-happy-little-bean @ironwoman359 @mirror2thespirit @shadow-walker-1201 @thecrimsoncodex (suffer with me)

#logan sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #im sorry #thomas sanders #sander sides #holy shit #im crying #send help

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