#literally been a fan since the day the show premiered (and I still wanna get around to reading the comics lol) it’s just super disappointing

[m-a-d-e-l-e-i-n-e]

Finally gave it up on episode 4 because everything about the season was irritating me and I didn’t want to keep wasting time on it anymore. Anyway can you guys believe this great show ended after just two seasons 💔

I think people’s opinions on new shows/movies count as spoilers cause I haven’t been able to watch the new Umbrella Academy yet but I saw like two people online say it’s bad and now I don’t even wanna watch it tbh

[insomniactalks]

Okay. Can we just start by saying HOLY CRAP THEY ALL LOOK SO GOOD?! 😍 Ricky looks adorable in his hoodie. EJ looks so handsome in a more laidback look/hairstyle. Gina is, of course, the fashion QUEEN. Ughhhhh. I love them. ❤Their summer looks are gonna kill me. 😩 Even more excited for S3! (I have no idea where this pic is originally from so can't credit it 😅)

That being said, I know ppl are already freaking out (for good and bad reasons) because that's just the life of a fandom LOL 🤦🏽‍♀️ I figured I'd attempt to shed some light on the matter because why not? 🤷🏽‍♀️

Let's take a look at the previous Core Four posters for the show (S1, S1, and S2) found on Google:

It doesn't matter if each actor had separate pics taken and photoshopped together later on, the point is the above pics are group shots of the mains. That's how the show released these pics and that's how the viewers are to take them (as group pics of the Core4). The latest behind the scenes group shot of the now Core 3 (since Nini is recurring) is definitely just one of probably dozens maybe hundred of shots taken during the photoshoot. I have no idea if they’ll even use this particular shot for official release, we’ll just have to wait and see. BUT if they do use the first pic as one of the official images of S3′s leads, I’ve got a few thoughts.🤔

Whether you ship Portwell or Rina, we have to objectively agree that another love triangle involving Ricky and EJ is repetitive and bad writing. They’ve already played the love triangle angle in S1 (placing Nini in between EJ and Ricky in above posters) and S2 (placing Ricky in b/t Nini and Gina b/c he was central to both girls’ storylines in that season). While S2 wasn’t as obvious of a love triangle as S1′s EJ/Nini/Ricky, Gina’s feelings for Ricky and dealing with the aftermath of her confession to him was an important part of her story in S2 (so it was love triangle-ish 😅). After all the character growth and acts of redemption EJ has had (he’s quickly become a fan favorite in S2 with general audiences), I doubt the writers are aiming to throw these three into another love triangle. We’ve seen that love triangles on this show usually get Gina and EJ the short end of the stick b/c they’ve been picked over (since Ricky chose Nini and Nini chose Ricky). 😔 What stands out to me from these 4 pics is something else entirely. 

IF, that’s a big IF, they do end up using the first shot for S3 promo, I wanna point out the fact that Ricky’s holding a guitar. He’s never done that in any Core pic before. He’s standing on his own and seems comfortable with a guitar in front of him, indicating music will play an important part of his arc in S3 (since romantic relationships were at the core of his arc in S1-S2). Would it be such a bad thing for Ricky to spend at least one season just focusing on himself and not being/wanting to be in a relationship? Couldn't he just spend S3 realizing the depth of his love for music (and how therapeutic it could be for him)? I don’t think Ricky’s played any of his own music in front of the group before, so maybe S3 could have a scene like that (he’s played Nini’s song for him (1.01) and music from the musical in front of the group (1.07/1.09/1.10/2.01 etc), but never his own original song in front of all the Wildcats). Not that I can recall, anyway.   🤷🏽‍♀️

In the second S1 poster, you can clearly tell EJ and Gina are up to no good. There’s trouble brewing because their scheming days are still ahead of them (which indicates how we meet their characters at the start of S1, as the show’s antagonists). I’m assuming the official posters for the show are released prior to the season’s premier, so the show wants you to know that while Ricky and Nini (who’s hands are holding EJ) are warmly looking at each other, Gina and EJ are scheming behind their backs (literally LOL. 😂 Rini’s backs are to PW in that shot! 🤣) 

In the latest BTS pic, you can see Portwell posing as a power couple, with Gina (the only one fully on the step) leaning on EJ’s shoulder, while EJ has his arm around her. It’s a classic pose for a couple who’s dating (which, let’s face it, is where PW will start the season. They are maybe one convo away from making their relationship official. S2 ends with their first kiss but they aren’t dating...yet). 😁However, since they are posing like a couple, it’s safe to say S3 will be PW dating. There’s no way around that considering they were the cliffhanger of last season. The audience is expecting some payoff to the the buildup of their relationship, which is why the show left us with PW’s first kiss as the cliffhanger. 🥰

There’s a strong possibility that this pic could just be a group shot of the leads (since their schedules allowed them to shoot together). So maybe we aren’t supposed to take it any other way until the official posters are released. Who knows? 😅 Just wanted to share my thoughts cus I’m used to the fandom freakouts. LOL Just enjoy the new content, y’all! I know I am. 😚        

[marvelouspeterparker]

all worth it

pairing: tom holland x interviewer!reader

summary: tom is an actor, doing interviews is a part of his job. but there’s just something about you that makes him feel like the stress that comes with press tours and interviews is all worth it.

warnings: none, just fluff

notes: literally got this idea from looking at an onward interview gif (the one where he recites the lines from back to the future, iykyk) also imagine the pandemic never happened in this jfskgh

so tom loves his job, obviously

he gets to be his number one favorite superhero, make people happy, do what he loves, and more

but that doesn’t mean that there are no downsides to his career

there is actually a lot of stress that comes with being in the limelight and that includes people constantly watching your every move, being critiqued, questioned and put on the spot

and the perfect time for all this to occur? during interviews

now some of the time, interviews are nice, sometimes they’re even fun

but unfortunately a lot of the time, the same questions are asked in each and every one, one after the other, for hours on end and it honestly gets very boring and very draining very fast

so to be quite frank, he wasn’t expecting much when he walked into the next room for his last interview of the day

but when you walked in, he couldn’t help but perk up a bit

you were pretty and you seemed very nice as well, greeting everyone, including the crew as you made your way over to tom, jacob and zendaya

some of the interviewers would just walk straight to their seat and start the questions almost immediately, no warmth in their manners––but you, you were different

you shook each of their hands, smiling wide as you said hello

you couldn’t really contain your enthusiasm, you were a big marvel fan, and a fan of each of them, so you couldn’t tame your smile even if you wanted to

your energy was infectious and tom was more than grateful for it

when you reached him, he looked into your eyes deeply and you had to snap out of your daze before you made a fool of yourself

‘hello darling’ he licked his lips as he looked up at you, a gracious smile on his face and you blinked a couple times before responding

‘hi it’s––so nice to meet you, i’m a big fan.’ you turned to look at the others, ‘of all of you, really.’ 

they all ‘aww’ed and accepted your compliments, thanking you as you took your seat

when you were given the green light to start, you gave a curt nod to the crew behind the cameras and started right away

you were professional and good at your job, making the cast feel welcome and at ease after a long day of work

you told jokes, asked interesting questions that others hadn’t and since you were a marvel fan, you were able to ask specific questions that showed your genuine interest in the comics, the films, the plots and more

tom could feel himself getting more comfortable as the interview went on and the smile never left his face throughout the entire thing

when it ended and they turned the cameras off, you all felt a bit disappointed that you would have to say goodbye so soon, you were all having a good time and genuinely laughing so hard that your cheeks hurt 

you thanked them all for their time and jacob was quick to wave you off

‘no thank you––i think we can all agree that we saved the best for last today.’ he looked to his friends and they nodded along

zendaya chimed in ‘for real, this was fun.’

you smiled, honored that you managed to make their day a little better and tom spoke up quietly, making you turn to look at him

‘yeah this, this was really great. thank you y/n.’

you could feel your cheeks heating up but you nodded, smiling as you tried your best to calm your raging heartbeat ‘my pleasure’

tom would have loved to speak with you more afterwards honestly, but unfortunately as soon as he exited the room, he and his friends were being ushered towards the next location for the day, preparing for the long week they still had ahead of them

though you had hoped to see more of tom, you only had one interview with him, so you wouldn’t be seeing him any time soon

or so you thought, anyway

your boss surprised you with a chance to go to the premiere, and interview some of the cast and other actors on the red carpet of course (since you were there for work)

you honestly thought that if tom did see you, he would only give you a small wave, maybe a slight head nod at best since you’d already interviewed him, but to your surprise, when he saw you, he smiled immediately and made his way over to you, swerving away from his entourage (which consisted of his brothers, assistant, and others you didn’t recognize)

‘hi love, how are you?’ 

his eyes were shining under the bright lights on the carpet and there were hundreds of shouts and conversations going on around you, but he somehow managed to make you focus only on him, from his voice and presence alone

‘good! how are you? you excited? nervous?’

he laughed, tilting his head, ‘both, but you know, i’m really proud of this film and i’m ready for people to see it’

you didn’t have much time to talk since there were plenty of other interviewers, journalists and on top of that he had to take pictures so you wished him good luck and he thanked you genuinely

‘i have to run, but be sure to tell me what you think of the movie afterwards, yeah? i know you’re a marvel fan, wanna see if it lives up to your standards’ he winked and you stuttered for a bit, agreeing as he walked off 

you were shocked that he wanted to hear your opinion, but granted there was a camera on you both, which you might have forgotten about while you were talking

but you couldn’t help but think, was that flirting? does he really want to know what i think?

you tried to push the butterflies down and focus on the film as you watched and honestly, it was easy to forget about everything else once you looked at the screen

the film, the plot, tom––everything was so captivating and entertaining, you couldn’t look away even if you tried

it wasn’t until after the film had ended, and you’d stayed for both end credit scenes that you realized you had no way of contacting tom

surely he would have things to do after this, after parties maybe? so you most likely wouldn’t see him outside

and it’s not like he followed you on instagram––he probably wouldn’t even see your dm if you sent one

as you were on your way out, thinking about all this, you felt a hand tap your shoulder and you turned, a smile on your face

but soon realizing it wasn’t who you’d hoped, you tried to not let the disappointment show on your face but as you looked clearly, you realized the man looked familiar

‘hi’ he smiled, ‘i’m tom’s assistant’ you nodded, greeting him a little confused

‘tom’ he started, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket, ‘wanted me to give you this’ he handed you the paper and you opened it, feeling your stomach jump when you realized a number was scribbled on it, signed -tom ;)

without even realizing, you stared at the ink on the paper for a few seconds silently before his assistant snapped you out of it

‘he wanted you to know that he’s not a dick and he would have come if he could’

you laughed and looked up at him

‘honestly he felt really bad he couldn’t come himself, trust me.’

you nodded and put the paper in your bag, ‘thank you, i’ll be sure to use this’ you smiled

he smiled too, ‘tom hopes you will’ 

you had a feeling that tom would be busy that night, and probably hungover the next morning, so you waited a couple of days before contacting him

and during those two days, tom was honestly freaking out inside...and outside

were you not interested? was he too forward? did he do something wrong? did you get the wrong idea of him?

he was even texting harrison, jacob and zendaya about it in their group chat

tom: i’m an idiot aren’t i

zendaya: yeah but we already knew that

tom: 😑

harrison: i’m sure she’ll text you, maybe she’s just busy

jacob: yeah man, you’re a total catch

jacob: and anyway if she doesn’t want you, i’ll have you 😏

tom: thanks babe 😘

zendaya: i’m just gonna go––

tom: but anyway, i don’t think i’ll ever shoot my shot ever again because this is just embarrassing

not even a full minute passed before the he send the next text 

tom: nevermind she just texted me

tom almost dropped his phone when he saw the message pop up

maybe: y/n: hi tom! this is y/n :) i’m free to give you my thoughts on the movie when you are

you felt like you were going to be sick when you hit send on the message––you didn’t want to bother him, it’d been several days, what if he changed his mind? 

and you––nevermind he responded immediately

tom: hi darling :) i’m glad you used my number 

tom: i’m free to talk now actually, we could facetime if that’s easier? only if you want, of course

you paused when you read his text, luckily you had showered and gotten dressed today so you didn’t look a mess but you opened the camera just to check if you looked alright

were you really about to facetime tom holland?

when you finished fixing your hair, smoothing down your eyebrows and licking your lips, you swallowed your nerves and replied

y/n: sure, i’d like that

he took a deep breath and hit the call button, eagerly waiting for it to connect when you answered

when you both came into view, you smiled, greeting each other shyly

‘was a little worried when you didn’t call me that night’ he admitted sheepishly

your brows raised, surprised ‘oh i just––i assumed you would have been busy you know, after parties and all that’ you laughed and he joined you, a small smile on his face

‘darling even if you called me during the party, i would have left just to talk to you––missed hearing your voice honestly’ 

when you paused to answer a blush coated his cheeks and you couldn’t help but think how cute he looked

‘sorry was that lame?’ he laughed nervously and you shook your head, biting your lip to suppress your smile

‘no––that was, really sweet actually. i––like talking to you too, it’s really nice’ 

soon you get to talking about the actual movie and you couldn’t stop the praises from flowing

‘honestly it was incredible tom, you were incredible, i loved it’

‘thank you love, i’m really glad you enjoyed it, i was hoping you would.’

and the way that tom smiled bashfully and blushed, even pointing the camera away from his face to hide at one point had you swooning more than ever

after that, you and tom texted here and there, sometimes even facetiming, and he wouldn’t hesitate to compare you to his other interviewers and even tell you about it

‘had an interview today, can’t even compare it to yours, love’ 

you just rolled your eyes, a smile on your face ‘oh shut up, tom’ 

you talk often but due to both of your busy schedules, months go by before you see each other again

you run into him at red carpets for other marvel movies, and there’s never a dull moment between the two of you

‘‘there’s my favorite interviewer’ his smile was wide as he walked up to you. ‘you excited for this one?’

you scoffed, fully having a conversation with tom as though you weren’t on camera ‘of course i am, it looks amazing’

‘even better than my movies?’

you raised your hands in surrender, ‘legally, i can’t answer that’

he put a hand to his chest, acting dramatically offended ‘wow well, i guess it’s time for me to go then’

‘at least save me a seat?’ you joked

‘you know i will’ he smirked

by the time ‘the devil all the time’ press came about, you hadn’t told tom that you were assigned to interview him, honestly it was a last minute schedule change 

honestly, he’d gotten good at hiding his bad moods from the public, but you’d known him for enough time now to be able to see when he wasn’t at his 100%

which is why you could see him visibly brighten up when he walked into the room and saw you

‘what are you doing here?’ he asked, clearly (pleasantly) surprised as he hugged you 

‘uh, my job?’ you joked, ‘you didn’t actually think i only interviewed for the mcu did you?’

he blushed, ‘well i uh––no, obviously not’ he said unconvincingly but you brushed him aside as you got ready for the interview

once you started, tom couldn’t help but smile as he watched you, you were just really good at your job and he enjoyed being with you, even when it was for work

‘so obviously audiences are used to seeing you as peter parker, a rather lighthearted character, despite all the hardships he’s had to face––would you say approaching a character as dark as this was challenging in any way? mentally, emotionally, or just in regards to the fact that the public would be seeing a new, more sinister, villainous side to you?’

‘i mean it was a little daunting, definitely. but i was excited to sort of branch out mentally and challenge myself emotionally for this role––the story was fascinating to me and i was just so proud to be a part of this project, i tried not to think of any downsides.’ 

he paused and licked his lips, a glint in his eyes. ‘and honestly, we all have a little bit of a dark side, don’t we?’ 

you paused. of all times to flirt––

‘well hopefully not to the same extent of your character,’ you joked and thankfully the conversation smoothly transitioned elsewhere

now the fans took notice of your bond with tom

they noticed that tom seemed to smile the brightest and laugh the loudest during your interviews, even jumping into other conversations and answers to questions that were directed to his costars

there were dozens of videos, hundreds of edits––

‘tom falling for his interviewer for 9 minutes straight’

and you’d seen them––it was sort of impossible for you to not

you’d been tagged in so many of them, even your friends sent them to you

i mean you weren’t blind, tom was attractive and he did make your heart flutter but you assumed that he didn’t want a relationship since his career was only progressing, skyrocketing either––it would probably be difficult to maintain a solid relationship, or maybe he just wasn’t interested in you so you said nothing

it wasn’t until he had a break from filming that he asked you to hangout, and still you thought nothing of it, until he asked what time he should pick you up

you paused, and he even thought that you froze when really you were just processing what he said

‘like a––date?’ you asked hesitantly

he smiled, scratching the back of his head nervously, ‘yeah? yeah i––like a date.’

you smiled, ‘i would love to tom. but aren’t you worried about pictures spreading online? headlines and all that? i wouldn’t want to add any more stress––’

‘i promise love,’ he interrupted your worried rant, ‘you make it all worth it.’

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About "Escaping Expulsion" From The Owl House

Salutations random people on the internet who most likely won’t read this. I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

Do you wanna know what I love the most about The Owl House? The writers waste no time getting to the good stuff.

Things like Willow working things out with Amity, Lumity, Lilith's redemption, and Luz's fight with Belos are stuff that most shows would drag out and wait upon using until several seasons down the line. Most of them for the final season. And yet, it all happens in the first! The writers somehow knew what the fans exactly wanted and gave them just that before they even had to ask.

Take "Escaping Expulsion," for example, as it has some great plot points and ideas I thought would happen later in the season and maybe even near the end. But it's only episode TWO of the new season, and I'm appreciative of it for that reason alone.

But explaining the good stuff this episode delivers requires spoilers, so if you haven't watched the episode yet (even though you definitely have at this point), I recommend that you do so. Now let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

Blight Industries: Huh. I'll be the first to admit: I would have never expected that the main reason why the Blights are rich is because of their technological advancements. Large in part of how the Boiling Isles is a fantasy world, and rarely do you see technology taking place in a setting such as that. Still, points for total expectation subversion added with some pretty cool tech, I might add.

Odalia Blight: It's nice to put a face to the name I've grown to hate with a fiery passion. Now I can update my dartboard!

But to tell you the truth, it feels weird saying I like someone so vile. I mean, the woman is a manipulative, smarmy b-word who nearly killed Luz. Anybody who does that last part deserves to go on my s**t list! I despise her with the same fiery passion I've had since "Understanding Willow" premiered...and it's that reason why I like her.

Because here's the thing: Characters and people are two different things. If Odalia existed in real life, she better hope that I never meet her. But as a character whose purpose is to have the audience hate her, she succeeds with flying colors. It's the same reason why I consider it unfair to hate an episode like "Something Ventured and Someone Framed" because Mattholomule exists. I get it but understand that hating him is his purpose. It's the same with Odalia. I love her, but only because I love to hate her.

Alador Blight: Wow. I guess Alador really is the lesser of two evils.

By the way, keep in mind that I said "lesser of two evils" and not "the nice one." I don't care how adorable it is to see him get distracted by a butterfly. He's still an abusive figure who stood aside as Luz fought for her life against the Abomitron and still goes along with Odalia's plans despite how heinous they are. And whenever I remember how he treated Amity in "Understanding Willow" as well--

Also, don't make him neurodivergent so he can seem redeemable. It is painfully obvious that he is just exhausted after hours of toiling away in his lab working on his inventions to the point that his brain is beyond fried.

Now, seeing that I've dismissed the argument about how Alador is the nice one, let's actually talk about his character. Because I can see what Dana Terrace meant when she said that he's interesting. He's not explicitly as awful as Odalia, as he mostly seems to be in his own little world half the time. Despite that, Alador still shows signs of being just as dismissive of Amity in general. You see this as he focuses on how her strength shows signs of Amity being a potential coven leader instead of noticing how his daughter nearly died to his own invention. Alador doesn't manipulate, but he doesn't love his daughter in a way a father should either. I'm very intrigued by this route for his character, and I can't wait to see what is done next with him.

Amity’s Amulet: My heart sank when I realized the true purpose behind Amity's amulet. The thought that Odalia found a way to literally be in Amity's head at all times...I hate that. I mean, I love it because it's A+ storytelling and symbolism, BUT I F**KING HATE IT!

Amity in General: And seeing how we're already talking about Amity, let's dive into the fact that "Escaping Expulsion" is easily her best outing so far in the series. I say this because it really puts to the test Amity's dedication to being a part of the group. You can tell by her expressions and Mae Whitman's performance that Amity so desperately wants to help her friends, but she can't due to being afraid of her mother's wrath. Which doesn't surprise me, given what we know about Odalia so far. But what does surprise me is that Amity stands up to Odalia in this very same episode. I expected it for sure, but most likely at the end of the season, due to most shows dragging out a similar concept for drama's sake. However, as I said, the writers don't waste time giving the fans what they want. So, yeah, Amity defies her mother in the very same episode we're officially introduced to her. And it's totally believable, as Amity has been fighting her parent's control ever since Luz literally showed her the light after "Covention" (click here if you don't believe me). It's yet another impressive showcase of Amity's character development and how she's leagues ahead of other redeemable characters who would go through five more episodes like this before getting to the point.

Luz in General: But enough about Amity. For now, let's talk about the actual best character of the series!

Just like Amity, Luz is on top form in "Escaping Expulsion." She is quick to call 'applesauce' about Odalia and Alador expelling the Hex-Squad and is smart enough to figure out the deal Odalia is worming her way into making. Several people classify Luz as stupid, and while she definitely leaps before she looks at times, this episode proves that Luz isn't going to fall for the sweet talk that someone like Odalia offers. As reckless as she can be, Luz is still intelligent enough to know what someone like Odalia wants and cuts to the chase despite knowing the woman can't be trusted. Still, Luz going through with the deal anyways is fantastic character work for her as it shows her dedication to the people she cares about. It hurts my heart to see Luz get all beat up from Alador's inventions, but her willingness to put up with it for her friends is an act of service I wouldn't have expected from anyone else. "Escaping Expulsion" may be more centered around Amity, but it still proves why Luz earns her spot for one of my favorite characters.

Learning How Glyphs Work: Another solid aspect of The Owl House is that the writers find brilliant ways for world-building and explaining the rules of the Boiling Isles. Take this episode's b-plot, for instance. Eda and Lilith need to learn how to do Luz's version of magic, so having an entire section of the episode dedicated to them figuring it out is a perfect outlet to explain how glyphs work in the first place. Although, I have some tribulations with this subplot that I'll get into with the dislikes. But I still consider this a brilliant workaround to explain glyphs, even if specific executions could be handled better.

The Fairy Pie: Not only is this well-crafted dark humor, and not only is it adorable as hell, but it also shows how Amity has calmed down with her feelings toward Luz. She still blushes when handing over the fairy pie, but it is certainly more subdued in comparison to "Wing it Like Witches." I like to think the time off from her (and our) favorite weirdo helped cool down those emotions a bit, but that doesn't mean she won't get slightly flustered every now and again. Because as much as I adore seeing cool and collective, I'm still very much a fan of Disaster Amity due to how cute it is.

Principle Bump: "This character is underappreciated!"

"That character doesn't get enough love!"

YOU WANNA KNOW WHO'S UNDERAPPRECIATED AND DOESN'T GET ENOUGH LOVE?! PRINCIPAL GOSH DANG BUMP, THAT'S WHO!

So many kids' shows focus on how educators are the bad guy who treats students poorly because they love seeing children suffer. But that's not Bump! Sure, he made a misstep in "The First Day," but for the most part, he really cares for his students and hopes that they work hard to be their better selves. So when he's forced to send Luz, Gus, and Willow away, he's genuinely saddened by it to the point where he breaks down crying! On top of being wholesome, Bump missing his students is another example that a character shouldn't be written as evil just because they run a school. Sure, there are scumbag teachers and principals out there, but for others, they're a lot like Bump: People who show admiration and respect to their students rather than ridicule because a principle "just doesn't get it." And I appreciate Bump all the more for it.

Gus and Willow: It feels weird that these two basically got sidelined, especially since they have a stake in the plot as well, but it's understandable. "Escaping Expulsion" is clearly more Amity-centered, and with Luz being the main character, it would also be odd if she didn't get more of the focus than her friends. Having them do more would have been great, but what they've already accomplished is pretty decent anyway. They show how much they're on the same page as Luz when trying to figure out a way to sneak back into Hexide, Willow is still the best voice of reason when saying no one will be killed through their plans, and Gus wins the comedic highlights in the episode. While I would have loved that they did more, I'm perfectly fine with what we got. Besides, this is only episode two of Season Two. We got nineteen more episodes to go to focus on these two.

King: Ok, now, this is the version of King I like to see. A character that mocks Eda as if they're equals and acts as a reluctant voice of reason. This episode shows King more at his best and is a major step above what we've seen in "Separate Tides."

Lilith: ...Yeah, f**k it. I like Lilith.

Personally, I would have preferred seeing her dragged through the coals at least a few episodes, but that's judging the show for what I want. Not what it is. And as is...It's fine. Lilith has a great dynamic with the rest of the Owl House, it's honestly adorable seeing her refer to Luz as a teacher, and that scene where she makes presents out of ice for Hooty is all kinds of wholesome. I'd say your enjoyment of Lilith highly depends on how forgiving you are, and if you think her splitting the curse is enough of a gesture, you probably won't mind her as much. The execution of her redemption really could have used more time in the oven, but Lilith is still a decent character regardless, so what's to complain about.

Luz Making the Abomination Have a Cat Face: ...Luz...I f**king missed you.

DON'T EVER LEAVE FOR THAT LONG AGAIN!

(Also, I just love that this is all Amity needed to know Luz was in trouble)

Hop Pop Cameo: He's on the cover of one of the books Willow's dad lifts up. Which is extra cute given how Dana Terrace and Matt Braley (creator of Amphibia) are close friends in real life.

Willow’s Dad Pretending Not to See Anything: One single action defines the type of man this guy is. He's the fun and understanding dad!

Gus, Willow, and Amity Arguing How to Break In: This little quarrel just shows how much these three need Luz. Without someone to keep the peace and bring up compromises, these idiots would have just kept arguing all night.

In addition to that, this clash over ideas acts as a showcase for who these characters are. Willow is careful and smart, so she's going for the option more unlikely to get them caught. Amity is brash and to the point, so she's going for the route that gets them inside as soon as possible. And then there's Gus, who's young and naive, so his plan sounds like something out of a cartoon. The odds of any of these plans working are highly debatable, but seeing these characters with clashing personalities and ideas is a ton of fun to watch regardless.

Edric and Emira Helping: There's not much to add here. It's just another sweet scene that makes me so glad that the writers decided to make Ed and Em more like supporting characters than minor antagonists like "Lost in Language" made fans think they would be.

(Amity throwing the "Hex me" signs back at Edric is just the cherry on top).

“Stay away from my Luz!”: ...What the f**k do you want me to say that? It's f**king perfect!

Luz Catching Feelings for Amity: ...Huh. Neat.

...

...Alright, let's move on.

Luz Wanting to Take a Nap After--Yeah, I can't do it. Not even for the joke.

WAH-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOO! MU! TU! AL! PINING! AH-HAHAHA!

THIS! This is more of that good s**t I'm talking about! Due to being so used to other shows going for the slow burn when writing the endgame romance, I was expecting Luz to catch feelings halfway through the season, even at the end of it. But near the beginning?! That is something I am more than ok with!

And much like Amity standing up to her parents in this episode, Luz catching feelings this early on is totally believable. Many fans have already analyzed how Luz's love language is "Acts of Service," which I'm somewhat sure is romantic gestures. Meaning that I f**king challenge you to find a grander gesture than holding back a literal killing machine while swooping down like a knight in shining armor! Oh, wait, you can't. BECAUSE THERE ISN'T ANY!

But by far, the best--the BEST--thing that can come from this is the dramatic irony! We, the audience, know that Luz and Amity like each other, but they don't. So the constant failings as these two fools try to work out their romantic feelings for one another is something I cannot wait to see in all its glory.

This is one of the best things that could have come out of the episode, and while it doesn't mean Lumity is canon, it is definitely closer than ever before. And I'm excited about all of it!

Luz Wanting to Take a Nap After Getting Home: I adore this because there's no one way that this can be interpreted. Either it's because Luz is exhausted after nearly getting killed for the fifteenth time that month, or it's because Luz is overwhelmed about having a crush on Amity...or both. Most likely both.

Belos Wanting The Abomatrons: Wow, what an ominous ending to the episode! I'm sure it won't come into play at all in the future...The season finale is going to hurt, isn't it?

WHAT I DISLIKED

Gus’ Growth Spurt: I mean...that's just weird. Gus suddenly being almost as tall as the others is a change so jarring that I feel like an explanation other than "witch puberty" is required. I get that they wanted to explain away why Issac Ryan Brown's voice got deep this season, 'cause puberty's a b**ch. But sometimes I feel like it's best to just ignore it, like with how Phineas and Ferb or Steven Universe just goes along with the fact that VAs tend to grow up when the characters themselves remain ageless.

Eda is Kinda Stupid in this One: It's not just me, right? Because I feel like Eda is more careful in the past than she is in this episode. She's been as reckless as Luz is at times, sure, but carelessly screwing around with magic when she has no idea how it works? I can maybe see King doing that, but not Eda. Just seeing her act dumber than usual is something that doesn't sit right with me.

Lilith Explaining Her Glyph Magic: I don't mind this. Glyph magic is pretty confusing, so having Lilith explain how it works to Eda and the audience is something I can understand. My issue, however, lies in how they did this.

Why, in the name of all that is holy, would Lilith explain her theory after the fact. It would be much more natural if she explained while saving King, but doing it after comes across as more forced than it should. Which is a shame because this series is usually on point when explaining how things work in the Boiling Isles.

And...That's about all the complaints I have with this episode. Which are nothing but nitpicks and possibly personal preferences.

IN CONCLUSION

If I'm willing to forgive and forget, I would give "Escaping Expulsion" a well-earned A+. But I'm not, so it's going to be another solid A. And, I mean, if you complain about that...there's something wrong with you.

"Escaping Expulsion" delivers on quite a bit of what fans want to see on top of giving these great character moments that show why we love these casts of oddballs and weirdos. I wouldn't say it reached perfection, but it still carries the winning streak that this new season has so far. Meaning there's no escaping the fact that Season Two is off to a better start than the first.

(Although, the fact that we got two solid As in a row means that we're in for a stinker real soon, doesn't it?)

[firelxdykatara]

hello!! i just wanted to ask- i wanna do an ouat rewatch bc CAPTAIN SWANN but its pretty long and i honestly dont care for the other characters/how badly the overall writing was handled.. which are your favourite captain swan eps? anything them centered and i think ill just skip around to rewatch their romance as they did invent romance 😭😭 ty in advance <3

they absolutely did invent romance, you are right about that and i love them so much

UHMMMM as far as my favorite CS eps, here’s a roadmap of what I personally consider key eps in their journey (some of this is from memory but I haven’t done a full rewatch in a while so i’m going through the episode list as a refresher)

2x06: Tallahassee--this is a must-watch ep for any CS fan, and I really think this is the episode that sparked the fire that CS would become as a fandom. It has everything--flirtatious banter, all kinds of tension, deliberate parallels drawn between Emma and Killian’s pasts, as well as their first meeting being intercut with her relationship with Neal (which serves, especially in hindsight, to highlight just how sketchy that relationship was, and why she couldn’t bring herself to trust Killian--because the last time she felt this way about anyone, it ended horribly)

2x08 and 2x09: Into the Deep and Queen of Hearts--these episodes cover the race to the portal between Emma&co and Hook/Cora and while they don’t do a ton for CS as a relationship since they’re still enemies at this point, it lays great foundation for their future relationship development. Plus, sexy swordfight, Hook going out of his way to save Aurora’s heart--he may be a pirate, but he has standards ok--and Emma realizing Cora can’t remove her heart without her permission? Poetic Cinema

2x11: The Outsider--more of a Killian-centric episode, it shows a lot of Killian at his worst but it’s necessary for his overall character arc and I genuinely love looking back and seeing just how far he managed to come, to the point of eventually even letting go of his (very understandable) grudge against Rumplestiltskin.

2x12: In the Name of the Brother--am I including this purely for Emma&Hook banter in the hospital, and Killian saying ‘hey beautiful’ when he’s lying on the road because he just got hit by a fucking car? You bet I am. Also, go to youtube and look up ‘ouat season two deleted scene jello’, because it’s beautiful and there was a tremendous outcry in the fandom when we realized it had been cut from the episode lmao (It’s also the episode that made me start shipping Frankenwolf, which I’m still sad never went anywhere, but they had a lot of potential and great chemistry.)

2x22: And Straight On Till Morning--A few of the episodes in between have some fun minor interactions and flashbacks (and I always approve of episodes where Killian gets one up on Rumple, so 2x15 is fun for me if i ignore all the Neal bits) but the finale is where we finally get a glimpse of who Killian could be beyond his need for revenge. He didn’t have to come back, he didn’t have to bring back the bean and help the town--but he did.

Season 3a: there’s a lot of really good stuff here for Hook and Emma that is interwoven between the A plots of other episodes. I think, as far as half-season arcs go, it’s one of the best (and everything after 4a bombed hard, but I digress) But there are a few episodes that stand out if you don’t want to watch the whole season. (I recommend starting with the premier though, it was a really solid season starter overall.)

3x05: Good Form--this is the culmination of David’s poisoned-by-dreamshade arc, and is also Peak Captain Charming Bromance. Hook not only keeping David’s secret, but doing everything he can to help save him??? Poetic cinema. It also provides some crucial Killian backstory, showing how he lost his brother to the very same dreamshade. Plus, the character development--Pan offers Killian a chance to escape the island with Emma if he kills David, and instead, he saves him, refusing the deal and damn the consequences. Also also? The first CS kiss which drove the fandom WILD.

3X06: Ariel--not only to I love OUaT’s take on Ariel, but this episode has the infamous Echo Cave scene, which involves a lot of feelsy confessions and Killian being the one to tell everyone that Neal is alive and helping Emma save him despite his own growing feelings for her.....IT’S JUST A LOT AND I LOVE IT.

3x07: Dark Hallow--oh man, I’d forgotten about this episode, but it has Killian and Neal fighting over Emma, which may sound eye-roll worthy, but Emma is allowed to tear them a new one about it and it’s one of the few times she’s allowed to actually???? put her own feelings first so I have to include it here on spec

3x11 and 3x12: Going Home and New York City Serenade--these mark the end of 3a and start of 3b respectively, and it has some amazing shit like Killian vowing never to forget Emma and Emma smiling as she replies, “Good.” And then she and Henry are in New York with their memories completely altered, but Killian shows up because Storybrooke is back and in jeopardy, and he helps Emma get back to her family and her home and, much later, Emma finds out he sold the Jolly Roger to be able to do it and it’s just. It’s beautiful ok.

3x17: The Jolly Roger--there’s honestly not a whole lot in the back half of season 3 (until the CS movie) but of course anything named for Hook is a must-watch, and this is where we get the iconic line I swear on Emma Swan--which is Killian saying he’s in love with her before he even realizes it. We also find out just what he did to Ariel, and his attempts to make amends are what lead to Zelena being able to curse him, so it’s great from a character perspective as well.

The next four episodes round out the end of the season, and there’s a lot of great stuff in them--Hook refusing to get Emma to kiss him, but Emma feeling like she can’t trust him because he didn’t tell her about the curse to begin with, and then kissing him anyway to save his life regardless of the consequences.... but the only ones that are absolutely necessary are the final two episodes.

They are colloquially termed ‘The Captain Swan Movie’ for a reason, after all.

Killian and Emma essentially have an entire Time Travel adventure all to themselves, where they accidentally ruin her parents first meeting and have to fix it so that she’ll even be born, Emma finally getting into the storybook, the pair of them dancing at a ball, Killian rushing to save Emma only for her to get out of the cell herself, because “The only one who saves me is me.” Killian saying “I would go to the ends of the world for her... or time.” Finally fixing the timeline and making it back to Storybrooke and Killian feeling like he doesn’t deserve a place at the table so he doesn’t go inside, but Emma comes out to him anyway and finds out he gave up the Jolly Roger for her, the true start to their relationship...... IM CRYING JUST THINKING ABOUT IT I’M SORRY.

I personally really enjoyed 4a, the Frozen arc was one of the last good half-season arcs of the show, but a lot of people disliked it so it’s really up to interpretation. I don’t have as many Intense Opinions on this season (except hating almost everything about 4b and the queens of darkness arc), but I will say the episodes with good Killian/CS moments are 4x02 (Emma nearly freezes to death, Killian is desperate to save her, Captain Charming teamwork, my heart hurts), 4x04 (Emma asks Killian out on a real date, he tries to get his real hand back from Gold, things go massively awry and he winds up back under Gold’s thumb), 4x08 (Killian tries to save Emma from Gold’s plans), 4x11 (the 4a finale is just great in general), and then..... it cannot be overstated how much I hate season 4b, but 4x15 is the Killian-centric ep where his past with Ursula is revealed and he makes amends to her in order to get her to leave the QoD alliance and it’s great character stuff for him, and then there’s the season 4 finale.

Both parts are worth watching, if only because Deckhand Coward Hook still being a braver, more heroic man than ‘Hero Rumplestiltskin’ warms the very cockles of my heart, and of course the second part of the finale has him helping Henry to save Emma and it’s beautiful and also Emma watches him die for her and it is angsty as FUCK but gods I love it. Here’s where it gets tricky, though--my recommendation is, turn the episode off right after Emma finds Killian back in the present day of Storybrooke and they reunite.

Just turn off the episode there and skip right ahead to the s6 musical episode (Emma and Killian’s wedding ep) and pretend they got married and none of seasons 5 or 6 ever happened. >.> (Although I will say certain parts of the Underworld arc were incredibly feelsy despite how much I overall hated the season: 5x11 (the 5a finale, Killian as the dark one STILL being a better man than rumple, we love to see it), 5x15 (I am not immune to Brothers Jones feelings ok), 5x20 (emma literally takes a True Love Test trying to find a way to save killian, you don’t get more romantic than that--also Killian telling Emma to promise she won’t put her armor back up just because she lost him again??? my HEART), 5x21 (Hook does what he can from the Underworld anyway and zeus sends him back to Emma, they really just said ‘today I will invent romance’ and then Did That)

And then, yeah, just skip to the wedding. It’s beautiful, I enjoyed the music, personally, though I know musical episodes are hit or miss with most people. And if you turn it off when the last musical number starts (after the wedding ceremony, I believe) you can pretend it was the end of the show! =DDD

.....Oh my god I just rambled for years. I HOPE YOU FIND THIS USEFUL, ANON. I 100% support a CS-centered rewatch, their episodes were consistently some of the best across the entire series, and they are truly one of my favorite romances of all time.

[kari-a-la-tari]

The (Unneccessary) Lore of the WG Spanish Dubs

Aka me being like this meme for an entire post

OKAY so a couple of weeks ago I had just learned that there existed a Spanish version of Wordgirl called “La Chica Supersabia” which is honestly super cool cause who doesn’t wanna hear their show in a different language?

But alas, this ended up taking me into a much deeper rabbit hole than I was expecting and it’s honestly pretty interesting so I thought I’d share it with y’all!

DISCLAIMER: I am not an expert by any means nor do I intend to come off as one, this is simply an elaborate essay of what I’ve found through my informal research. I will also be translating anything in Spanish to the best of my extent, so I apologize if I mess up a bit with the wording since it’s not my native language.

So then *places a baseball cap with glued lightbulb on my head* let’s get started shall we?

Okay so first things first, there are a couple of select episodes of La Chica Supersabia (I’ll use LCS from here on) available on the internet. The most reliable source that I’ve found is on an old Facebook account here where a fan would upload LCS episodes based on when they aired. However, the only episodes available are a select few from season one.

Now this got my mind thinking “Hey, what if there’s more episodes?” So naturally, I started scoundering on Google (like the rat I am) to see if there was indeed more. And according to this one site there are only two seasons of LCS that were dubbed.

Translation: In Latin America, the first season premiered on Discovery Kids August 3, 2009, while the second season premiered on the same channel January 11, 2010, being the only two seasons issued. (Source)

However, later on I discovered that there was some mislead in that info because someone else found a Spanish episode that was from season 3, which doesn’t make sense because why would there be another season available when it clearly says that they technically shouldn’t exist? (Btw I tried finding it myself cause I did see that episode before but for some reason now I can’t find it dhdvvdbdvd 😭)

At first I thought maybe this is just some info added from a fan. After all, that statement was posted on a Spanish Wikipedia page so it is possible. So I began looking for other articles that talked about the Spanish dubs, but they all said the same thing. Well, until I came up with this site that said two very intriguing things:

Translation: The series actually had 3 seasons and is dubbed in Caracas, Venezuela. On May 2012 the series stopped running on daytime hours and was removed from the programming one year later, on June 17, 2012. It is unknowns if it will be aired by another channel or come back to the Discovery Kids programming, besides only the two first seasons were dubbed in Spanish. (Source)

I was a little bit confused here with the wording because it still didn’t confirm my original questions; if anything it left me with more. But then I read the next section below which got me completely off track.

Translation: The series received negative critics and complains on behalf of parents of families in Latin America that claimed that it wasn’t appropriate for the objective public of Discovery Kids. Without doubt in the U.S. the series had been well received and even won an Emmy award for Jack D. Ferraiola, writer and coproductor of the series together with the creator of the same show, Dorothea Gillim, who declared the following in respective to the series: (Source)

Now this one took me by a whirlwind: WTH why was this version hated by people in Latin America while it’s adored by everyone in the U.S.?? And I watched some episodes of LCS and while the dubbing is pretty funny (lol) there wasn’t anything inappropriate about it. For the most part they stuck on script with the original episode they had to dub.

So I dove even deeper...

And o h m y g o d there is an answer to this.

Translation: The program premiered in Latin America on August 2009 on the Discover Kids channel, aiming at pre schoolers. Although the channel gave a lot of promotion for the show during the final months of 2009 and the majority of 2010, at the end of the year they decided to change the programming to nighttime hours because the show received a lot of critics from parents saying that the show was too “violent” and that it encouraged kids to lie to their parents (due to the obvious fact that Becky had to give an excuse everytime she had to leave to turn into WordGirl and save the day), and they complained constantly on the message boards now deleted of the channel. The program was eliminated completely on June 2012, without doubt, PBS maintained the Spanish dubs so that they would use for SAP (Second Audio Program) in the U.S. in a different studio (Dubbing House in Mexico and later Lorry Post in Miami, FL), but the program no longer returned to Discovery Kids until August 2014. (Source)

And DUDE no y’all this was just a complete hilarious yet ridiculous slap to the face. I mean..what the, why was that the reasoning as to why it was hated so much? Just cause of some literal PG kid friendly cartoon violence? And what do parents mean when they say it teaches them to lie to their parents?? I mean with all due respect, who was Discovery Kids target audience they had in mind vs. what it actually was? Because if there actual audience was very very young kids, they okay sure I can understand the need to point fingers at them in that sense. But if it was for slightly older kids (8-10 years old), then I think that parents can probably show kids at that age the reasoning behind why Becky lied in the show (not to mention that most kids at that age can understand what’s going on for the most part).

“Now is this actually true?” some of you may ask, which is understandable since this is coming from a wiki page. Well, I think it’s about time I put another disclaimer: sadly for the most part, the majority of these sources that I’ve attached have broken links when it comes to their references. And the ones that aren’t broken don’t mention anything about the topics that have been discussed here. But there are some smaller sources I’ve found here (look at the last three comments) and here that do indeed confirm that the show was canceled due to the force of parents.

However, the current grey area I’m in still is on the Spanish dubbing listing. See, I originally thought that there were three different dubbings according to this one post below (M&M Studios, Dubbing House and Lorry Post). I even thought I cracked it since according to this chart below the rest of the seasons were under the Dubbing House studios! However, it turns out that one of the studios Lorry Post doesn’t actually exist. Like nothing related to dubbing came up at all when I searched it up.

Translation: Dubbing Studio 1 - M&M Studios (Seasons 1-2). Dubbing Studio 2 - Dubbing House (Seasons 3-8). Dubbing Studio 3 - Lorry Post (Season 8 - final episodes). (Source)

And then that’s when I took a harder look at this website and realized that it’s part of a Spanish Wiki page called “Propuestas de Fans de Doblaje” (Fan Proposals for Dubs). *insert facepalm emoji* And just...I honestly feel so dumb that I didn’t notice that detail when I did my initial research cause that would’ve saved me a lot of time 😤. Anywho so that explains the Lorry Post mystery, but then lies the other question: do the other dubs exist?

Well, this is where I draw the line. See, on that same wikipage, it mentions that LCS had completely different voice actors for each of the dubbings. The first dub (M&M) is from Venezuela and after looking at the VA’s, they can be traced back to LCS. But after looking at the VA’s for the second dub (Dubbing House) in Mexico, there is nothing related to them and LCS or WG. Not even on movie databases.

“Now are you gonna give up on this idea?” you may ask. And the answer is......

No.

Why? Well, it’s mainly because there is a compellingly set of evidence that proves that the first two dubs do actually exist, which is...

THIS VIDEO, which shows that there were not one, but two variations of the LCS Spanish theme song. The first one is the Spanish version, and the second one that plays is the Venezuela version. And if you can remember, there were 2 dubbings of LCS; one located in Mexico (Dubbing House) and another In Venezuela (M&M Studios)!

Anywhosole, that is where I conclude this elaborate essay of mine. There are still a couple of loose strings here and there that I wanna check out myself but I’ve already tired myself out with this essay. I hoped you liked seeing me lose my mind speculate on the LCS episodes! This was honestly pretty fun ngl, maybe I’ll try doing this again in the future if something else interesting pops up! If you have anything you wanna add or maybe point out something that I may have forgotten, please by all means bring it up!

[allthingsfangirl101]

Wish I Were Heather–Zac Efron

Inspired by the song, Heather by Conan Gray

Dating a famous actor is tough. Now, dating him in secret is just sheer torture. Everyone, literally everyone, has an opinion about who he should be with and who would look great on his arm. And I am not even close to them. They are all beautiful, famous, rich, dropped-dead gorgeous women. I'm just average.

The recent girl that fans want Zac to start dating is his costar, Heather Manning. She's a rising star who started off as a model. She had a few cameos in tv shows at first, but her career shot off from there.

Anything anyone can talk about is Zac Efron and Heather Manning. People are obsessed with the leaked set photos that have been released. They love how the two look together.

Zac's fans think I am just his friend who is always around. They actually hate me. They think it's annoying that I follow him around, not doing anything. When asked, he tells people that I am his lifelong best friend who moved to LA with him.

They don't know that we've actually been dating since before his career. It all started junior year of high school. I had been studying so much for my AP test, ACT, and SAT that I got sick and ended up fainting in the middle of class.

Zac rode with me to the hospital and sat next to me every day I was there. When I was released, he was at my house 24/7, constantly around me to make sure I was taking care of myself. About a week after it happened, I asked why he refused to leave my side. That's when he admitted his feelings for me and I confessed mine for him.

In the first few months of his career, we had a long-distance relationship. The second I graduated high school, I went to LA to live with him. We talked about it and agreed to keep our relationship a secret from all of Zac's fans.

It was actually Zac's idea. He hadn't wanted his fans to try and get in the way of us or try and influence us. He wanted our relationship to be just that; us. Even though I agreed to keep our relationship a secret, it was hard. Everywhere I turned, someone was hitting on Zac, asking him out, or trying to get him to ask them out.

I tried to act like it didn't bother me, but of course it did. After a while, it started to get to me. It's exhausting trying to act like it didn't bother me. Zac is a famous actor and I'm just me.

I got a degree online in marketing, but I don't do anything with it. All I do is sit at home and do random chores around the apartment while I wait for Zac to come home.

I still remember, Third of December, Me in your sweater. You said it looked better on me than it did you, Only if you knew, How much I liked you.

"Hey, babe." I looked away from my book to see Zac walking in the door.

"Hi," I said softly. I put my book down and pulled my legs under myself as he walked over and sat next to me.

"How was your day?" He asked, reaching over and putting his hand on my knee.

"It was fine," I said under my breath as I looked away.

"Hey," he said gently. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," I said, not even convincing myself. I sighed as I looked back up at him. "What?" I asked when I saw the way he was smirking at me.

"You're wearing my favorite sweater," he chuckled as he scooted closer to me and put my feet on his lap. I smiled as he rubbed my calves.

"I was cold," I shrugged. He laughed as he leaned over and pressed his lips to mine in a short, gentle kiss.

"Well," he said when he broke the kiss. "It looks better on you anyway."

                       * * * * *

But I watch your eyes as she walks by. What a sight for sore eyes, Brighter than a blue sky. She's got you mesmerized. While I die

"They just sent me the trailer for my new movie. Wanna watch it?" Zac asked as he laid his head down on my lap and propped up his phone. I sighed as he pressed play.

I tried to be supportive and watch it, but it was too painful. Instead of watching the trailer, my eyes never strayed from Zac. It was hard to watch the smile on his face.

"So," he laughed as he sat up when the trailer ended. "What did you think?"

"I love it," I smiled through the pain. "It's going to be an amazing movie."

Zac turned towards me and grabbed my hands, intertwining our fingers. "Babe, you know that this is just for show, right? I mean. . . It's just for the movie."

"I know," I laughed it off. "We already talked about it before you started filming. I know that every cute moment, every kiss is just for the movie. I trust you, Zac."

"Damn, I love you," he laughed as he leaned over and pressed his lips to mine.

Why would you ever kiss me? I'm not even half as pretty. You gave her your sweater. It's just polyester, but you like her better Wish I were Heather

I broke the kiss when the image of Heather kissing Zac was stuck in my head. I smiled as I leaned back and grabbed my book. He watched me for a second before turning his attention back to his phone.

I have been supportive of Zac and his career through every moment, but it's getting harder. Watching the love of my life on screen with a beautiful actress was torture. It just reminded me that I wasn't anywhere near to being part of his league.

                       * * * * *

Watch as she stands with Her holding your hand. Put your arm 'round her shoulder, Now I'm getting colder.

I smoothed out my dress, trying to wipe away the nerves. Zac walked into the front room and smiled. "Wow," he chuckled. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks," I blushed as I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. I smoothed out my dress again, looking down at my feet.

"Nervous?" He smirked as he walked over and grabbed my hands.

"Always," I chuckled. He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to my lips.

"It's going to be okay," he smirked when he broke the kiss. "Besides, I'm the one who should be nervous. I bring you along with me so you can keep me calm."

The whole drive to his premiere, my stomach was in knots. The idea of constantly being around my secret boyfriend and the girl I've been secretly comparing myself to made me sick.

We pulled into the theater and everything happened as if someone was fast-forwarding through the night. We walked the red carpet, but when we got to the paparazzi, he was taken away from me. They didn't want pictures of us. They wanted pictures of Zac and Heather.

I stood to the side, my arms wrapped around myself as I watched them take pictures. The more poses they went through and the closer they seemed to get together, the lower my stomach dropped. When it got too much, I turned on my heel and walked inside.

                       * * * * *

But how could I hate her? She's such an angel But then again, kinda wish she were dead. As she walks by, What a sight for sore eyes, Brighter than a blue sky. She's got you mesmerized, While I die.

The entire time we watched his movie, my heart was in my stomach. I found it incredibly hard to watch Zac on-screen fall in love with a girl ten times prettier than me.

I know how much my boyfriend loves me. I know he would never cheat on me or hurt me. I know I was being insecure, but I couldn't stop. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was the off-brand version of Heather Manning.

Zac's new movie, The Lucky One, is based on the book written by Nicholas Sparks. Zac plays Logan Thibault, a US Marine who finds a photograph of a young woman while serving in Iraq. He carries it around as a good luck charm, and later tracks down the woman, Heather's character, Beth.

Watching Heather act was almost bewitching. I say almost because it's as painful as is it bewitching. I fought the tears as long as I could, but the longer I watched the man I'm in love with fall in love with another woman, the harder it got.

The tears finally started streaming down my cheeks as the movie came to an end. As Zac's and Heather's characters lived "happily ever after", I couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed my bag and ignored Zac's questioning look as I ran out of the theatre.

                       * * * * *

Why would you ever kiss me? I'm not even half as pretty. You gave her your sweater. It's just polyester, but you like her better. I wish I were Heather

"Y/N?!" Zac called out as he ran out of the theater following me. "Stop. Please!"

I froze but didn't turn around. I wrapped my arms around myself as I waited for Zac to speak up.

"Babe," he said, his voice barely audible. "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing," I stuttered.

"Y/N, come on," he sighed. "You've been acting kind of weird the past couple of weeks. Months, really. Talk to me, Y/N. Please? What's going on?"

"I can't do this," I whispered, more to myself than to him.

"What?" Zac asked, the annoyance building in his voice. "Just talk to me, Y/N. What's going on?"

"I can't do this anymore, Zac!" I yelled as I turned around. He froze when he saw the tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Y/N," he said softly, my name getting caught in his throat. "What are you. . ."

"All I hear about every day is which beautiful actress your fans want you to be with, what girls are worth your time, and what kind of girl should make you happy. And guess what! I'm not even close to any of them."

"Y/N," he tried to interrupt, but I didn't let him.

"And the worst part is that I agreed to this!" I laughed sarcastically. "We talked about it and both agreed to keep us a secret. But I wasn't. . ."

"Y/N," he tried again.

"I didn't know how hard this would be, Zac," I said, not skipping a beat. "Because it's incredibly hard. Keeping us a secret is emotionally draining and exhausting. I love you, Zac but. . . I don't know how much longer I can do this."

"Y/N, please," he said desperately. "We don't have. . ."

I shook my head, the tears no longer streaming down my cheeks as I slowly walked away from him. "You should be with Heather or someone like her. . . Not me."

"Y/N, what are you talking about?" Zac asked, running his hands through his hair. "Just. . . Slow down, okay? Can we sit down and talk about this?"

"No," I said, taking another step back. "This has been going on too long, Zac. And you know it. I can't. . . I'm not good enough for you. You deserve a beautiful actress or a model. And I'm not like that. I'm average. I don't even have a job."

"So?" He scoffed. "I don't care about that! We've known each other all of our lives, Y/N. And you aren't average. You're my best friend, the love of my life. Besides, I don't want some girl who's looking for her next big career move. I want someone who really knows me. I want you."

"Zac, please just stop," I said, my voice getting caught in my throat. "Why would you ever want me?"

"Why wouldn't I want you?" Zac laughed awkwardly but stopped when he saw the look on my face. "Y/N, baby, please. . ."

I shook my head as I took a few steps back. Before he could say anything or do anything, I turned on my heel and left.

                       * * * * *

I was laying down on our couch, my knees up to my chest. There were dried tears on my cheeks as I numbly watched the tv. I wasn't sure what I was watching or what was happening, but I didn't care.

I sucked in a breath when I heard the lock click and the door open. I resisted the urge to look at Zac as he walked in.

"Hey," he whispered. "I'm kind of surprised you're still up."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him take off his suit jacket and drape it over the Lazyboy. I bit my lip as he sat on the couch by my feet. I heard Zac sigh before laying down and pulling me into his chest. He spooned me, wrapping his arm around my waist.

"Can we please talk?" He whispered. I shrugged, knowing my voice would fail me. Besides, I said everything I had to say back at the theater.

"I had no idea that this was so hard on you," he sighed. "If I had known. . . I'm so sorry, babe. I should've known that keeping us a secret would be hard on you. But I. . . Damn, I've been really selfish, haven't I? I've been a horrible boyfriend," he whispered, rubbing his hands up and down his face. "I've been selfish and. . . I haven't. . ."

I finally looked at him when he sat up, but he didn't look towards me. Instead, he stared straight ahead, probably overthinking all of this. And that made me feel guilty.

"I am so sorry, Y/N." He shifted more towards me and grabbed my hands. "Things are going to be different. I promise. I am going to announce that we are dating, living together, everything. I am going to set up an interview to only talk about you. I'm going to take some time off so we can spend more time together. I'm so sorry I've been horrible to you."

"Zac," I said gently, interrupting him.

He stopped talking and waited for me to continue. I smiled as I reached up and cupped his cheek in my hand. I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his. He deepened the kiss by wrapping his arms around me, pulling me closer to him.

He broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against mine. "I'm so sorry," he repeated. "So so sorry, babe. I should've. . . And I. . . I'm sorry."

"Hey," I said, leaning back so I could look at him. "I love you."

He smiled, looking as if he was relieved. "I love you too, Y/N. I'm so sorry."

"So you've said," I teased him. "Besides, I agreed to keep us a secret. I should've talked to you sooner instead of running out of your premiere. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," he said instantly. There was a brief moment of silence before Zac asked, "So. . . We're okay? I mean. . ."

I laughed as I cupped his cheek in my hand. "Of course we're okay. I love you, Zac. Always have, always will."

"I love you too," Zac whispered as he leaned in and pressed a short, gentle kiss to my lips. "Besides, why would I want Heather when I have you?"

Heather tried to kiss me. She's not even half as pretty. Yes, I gave her my sweater, But it's just polyester. And I like you better. I don't care for Heather.

[maxiekat]

In a world full of rom-coms, when was the last time you cried over an onscreen breakup that actually stuck? No grand gestures to save the day, just pure, raw, lust and heartbreak. If you want to get so deep in your feels you forget if you’re actually heartbroken or just bleary-eyed over someone else’s love story, then you may need to subscribe to the church of Drake Doremus.

The director is known for his mostly improvised, chill-inducing romantic dramas (Like Crazy, Newness, Equals) and his latest is a tender-to-the-touch look at a modern love triangle in Endings, Beginnings, which premieres Sunday at Toronto Film Festival. Much like his previous work, Endings, Beginnings is clever and cutting, but also soft and quiet. Shailene Woodley is at the heart of the film playing Daphne, a thirty-something artist (her specialty is hand-painted tea pots, which she sells on Etsy) who recently and abruptly quit her job and ended her long-term relationship with her boyfriend (Matthew Gray Gubler, in his third Doremus film).

Looking for a hard reset on life, Daphne moves into the pool house of her much more together older half-sister. She also stops drinking, focuses on looking for a new job, and cuts men out of her life. Until, of course, she meets two men at a New Year’s Party. One’s brooding, asking her for a light of a cigarette in the most drunken and charming of ways. He’s wearing a shearling jacket, worn-in with adventures. The other’s in LA’s version of a suit — he’s put together, and looks at her with the steady intentness. Daphne should be avoiding both, but she quickly becomes enamored with bad boy Frank (Sebastian Stan), a nomad who drinks absinthe, and good boy Jack (Jamie Dornan), an academic who has a dog and dreams of moving to Europe. What starts as innocent text-flirting evolves into two full-blown relationships. Oh, and the guys are best friends.

When Stan first read for the film, he read for both Frank and Jack’s role, but what really attracted him to the heady rom-dram was Dormeus himself, of whom he’s been a huge fan. “I met him and I said, ‘I gotta tell you, I don’t know which one of these people you are seeing me as, but I really relate to both of them. I love both,’” he says over the phone to Refinery29. Stan’s in London where he’s filming the spy-thriller 355, a movie he says is “stylistically and tonally very different,” than Endings, Beginnings, but with “a couple of similarities here and there.”

“And we just got very deep. We got into relationships and being in our 30s and the world we are in right now, and all our experiences.” The vulnerability seen on-screen between Woodley, Stan, and Dornan is something special, and almost entirely improvised, based on just 30 pages of notes. Endings, Beginnings is a far cry from the big budget Marvel movies you’re used to seeing Stan in (he plays Captain America’s pal Bucky Barnes in seven Marvel movies and one upcoming spin-off series.) I was reading your Instagram post earlier gushing about working on this film with Drake. When did you become a fan of his, and why did you two think Frank was the role for you?

“I was aware of [Drake] for awhile. Like everyone else, I loved Like, Crazy, and then I also like his recent movie with Nicholas Hoult, Equals. I was also just really interested in doing a movie and improvising  —   because the entire movie is practically improvised. I never worked in that medium before. I got a call saying, Hey do you want to meet with Drake and talk about this movie [and] read the draft?, which was basically like 30 pages. There were two guy [parts] at the time. I met him and I said, ‘I gotta tell you, I don’t know which one of these people you are seeing me as, but I really relate to both of them. I love both.’ And we just got very deep. We got into relationships and being in our 30s and the world we are in right now, and all our experiences. Again, I didn’t really know that is where we were gonna go, but he was very honest with me and I was honest with him. We parted ways, and the next thing I knew he called me to have a session with somebody at the time that he was thinking of for the role as Daphne, and I went in and had a 3-hour improv session with him, then he called me and told me that he wants me to do the Frank role and I was fine with that.”

Only 30 pages. Everything else is improv? All the film’s dialogue?

“Yes, that is all literally on the day, in the moment, happening real-time. Basically, the script that he had was just the outline: Daphne comes out a recent relationship and moves in with her best friends. They’re having a New Years Party, and she runs into Frank who asks her for a cigarette. It was all outlines, but in terms of the dialogue and how we would get there, that was all improvised. That was an interesting experience because I had never worked that way and no take is ever the same. I walked away from that experience feeling very vulnerable. You’re not hiding behind any lines.”

The improvisation really added to the film. I left it feeling more emotional than I expected.

“We’ve all had relationships, and we know how tricky they are. They’re complex and there’s many layers. I don’t know — I have always loved romantic comedies. I grew up on When Harry Met Sally and all that, but I sometimes feel that relationships aren’t entirely depicted as messy and as raw and as painful as they are. That’s why I loved working with him because I feel like he gets to the core of situations. I’m happy to hear you related to it because that is what he wants. He wants you to go, 'I’ve had that conversation...been in that situation.’”

There’s been a resurgence in romantic comedies, but not so much romantic dramas like this. Do you think there’s a reason why?

“I love romantic comedies and there is a space for them, but [rom coms] are hopeful. Sometimes when I go to the movies, I don’t want to necessarily see what my life is. I want to be like, Hey! It’s nice to think that maybe that could be that way. If you want to be inspired, or laugh a little bit — there’s that element of it. And sometimes you want to see a movie that makes you feel less alone in your experience. A lot of European films are much closer to this, and I think Drake loves a lot of European films and is influenced by them and the personal quality. Structurally in romantic comedies, you have bigger things happening, right? Whereas [in this movie], there are big things happening, but there’s a much more subtle transition through everything.”

Frank is the “player” of the film, while Jack is the “good guy,” for lack of a better phrase. You’ve said before that you didn’t really know why you were often cast as the “bad boy.”  Do you still not know why?

“I don’t know! [Groans] I don’t know. The truth is, the reason I was saying [I could play] Jack was that I talk a lot in my life. I philosophize a lot. I try to read things. Then I think about it, and then I wanna talk about it. I relate to that [aspect of Jack]. And actually, there was a lot to Frank and Daphne that we shot that was funny. They had a lot of their own back and forth, but what ended up being in the movie —  I think Drake never forgot the vision that he had for Frank — [was him] being much darker than we shot. I am happy it ended up that way because there needed to be a contrast.

But I don’t know! I am glad they think I can do this. I am one of the most over-thinking, neurotic people I know. So I don’t know how it happens, but it keeps happening.”

I thought a big part of Frank also was his big shearling jacket. Since most of the movie was improvised, did you have anything to do with his outfits?

“Oh yeah, I kept that jacket, first of all. It’s a great jacket. What’s great about Drake is that he was like, ‘Hey, listen, people wear the same stuff all the time. If something works, let’s just it.’ I was like yeah, the guy probably kind of flies by the seat of his pants anyways so he just has a few things. I think I wore some of my own jeans. The boots I wore were mine. Drake definitely wanted us to wear our own stuff so we could feel comfortable in it.”

This was originally called No, No, No, Yes and ended as Endings, Beginnings. How did the title change shape the movie?

“It was always a working title. I saw that it was paired up with her experience — every no and every yes was paired to one of the relationships that she was going through. Endings, Beginnings is a little more specific. I know for awhile he was even contemplating a title that was even just made up of emojis which I thought would have been really fun.”

Oh yeah. I loved the texting aspect in this movie.

“There is an element of texting in the time period we are in, and there is this new language to it. They got it in the sense that both Jack and Frank have their very specific ways of texting. Jack probably uses punctuation, and Frank does not. [Laughs]”

You’ve worked with a few of the Big Little Lies women now. Do you have plans to work with the others like Zoe Kravitz, Reese Witherspoon, or Laura Dern?

“That has not hit me — that’s kinda funny. I don’t think I have ever met Reese Witherspoon and I’ve met Laura Dern. If the opportunity presents itself then great. I certainly wouldn’t have had a problem if there had been a role in the second season. I would have done it in a second. I loved the first season.”

I have one more that I have to ask about — obviously Gossip Girl is getting rebooted, and Chace [Crawford] said it made him feel “old,” but he’d be down. Have you thought about it at all?

“[Laughs] I don’t even… it’s so weird. Somehow a lot of people talk to me about Gossip Girl, and I always thought I was just a guest star. It was a very special show. It certainly defined those years, and we all got our start there in a way. It would be hilarious and weird and crazy. He’s right — we are old! I don’t know what business they’d have with me, but, Jesus. If there was some funny little witty thing and they called and we’re like, ‘We’re doing this thing and we have everybody….’ I’m not gonna be the asshole that says no. Maybe I’ll be in the background scooping some ice cream.”

[teamjacobthot]

1. What's the cringiest memory you have as a Twilight fan? OR the happiest memory? 2. Has Twilight influenced your fashion choices, personality, and so forth? 3. What about Leah Clearwater resonates with you? 4. What's your favorite Jacob scene in the books and movies? [You don't have to answer all of them, no pressure. Thank you!]

let me just say this is my favorite ask in the world. I cried a couple times and I honestly think it’s made me re-evaluate my life. these kinds of asks are My BrandTM and I’m legitimately honored that you’re interested! ilysm 💕

im on mobile and im about to gush abt stuff so keep mf scrolling

1. my cringiest memory is a tie between going to walmart at midnight for the dvd premieres of eclipse and breaking dawn part 1 (and maybe breaking dawn part 2 but i literally can’t remember at this point) and like........going to the seattle twilight convention in 2011. but now that I think about it, it wasn’t cringey at all! i was 13 and it was the single best day of my life. i got up early with my mom that morning and we drove the half hour it took to get to downtown seattle from our house. the girls of the hillywood show hosted and i got to meet them. i later attended panels with tyson housemann and booboo stewart and julia jones 💕💕💕 it was julia’s birthday but she didn’t mention it, humble queen. and omg she wore a tank top and threw a football around........what a woman. booboo also did a backflip in that hotel lobby lmfao. but besides seeing the cast, that slday was incredible bc i won twilight trivia against a bunch of ppl (including grown ass adults) lmao. that was so incredibly fun. best day of my life as a twihard.

wait but BITCH I forgot I went to forks w my dad in 2013!!! the town was dead as fuck but it was so fun 💕💕💕 I did a bunch of tourist shit but I’m so glad I finally went and I’m so thankful for my dad for taking me no matter how bored he was. that was amazing

2. twilight was my first Thing as an adolescent. i got into it when i was 11 years old. it has shaped so much of me, but most importantly, my opportunities to make friends, as well as my music taste bc of my friends from these websites putting me on to new music. the soundtracks ofc put me on to new music too. but anyways, some of my best friends since middle school were people I originally met on twilight fan sites or the 2012 taylor lautner fandom on twitter. twilight was also the longest book I’d read at the time, so it upped my reading habits. and I’ve also loved writing since I was little (like 8 years old) but discovering fan fiction made it that much more fun. I’ve always loved writing and fan fiction enabled my love for it, even though most of my fics were shitty. I had (and still have!) so much fun. in terms of fashion, I had a phase where I liked flannels bc of bella but I definitely dress cuter now than anybody in those movies lmaoo.

3. now Leah Clearwater......LEAH CLEARWATER. she’s always resonated with me in that shes a woman of color and NOT afraid to show others how she feels, no matter how annoyed or uncomfortable everyone else gets because of it. she was hurting and didn’t hide it (not like she could, but still). she made sure she was heard despite all those boys telling her to shut up. and also, her protectiveness over Seth reminds me of how much I care about my younger brother and wanna shield him from everything bad in the world, even when he’s being a dumbass. but overall I think of leah as a huge breath of fresh air in that she’s one of the only characters who not only criticizes the Cullens but Bella too. she also has that brand of humor that’s kinda mean but very true and I’ve definitely embodied it for at least the last 12 years of my life. I just wish she was real so I could be her friend. smeyer managed to under develop one of her most compelling characters ever.

4. my favorite jacob scene in the books was every last scene in new moon before he phased, but especially the part where he and bella talked at the movies. that was really sweet. and I don’t claim eclipse, but the little parts they hung out as friends (before it got annoying) were nice as well. oh and I LOVED when they danced together in the breaking dawn movie. she was so happy to see him! like literally delighted! the first time she looked that hapoy during the entire wedding and reception!!! but my favorite overall jacob scene is definitely at the part in the new moon movie right before I turn the whole thing off, when they’re in her truck and he’s like “sometimes I feel like I’m gonna disappear.” that really gets me. I wish it got more elaboration. jacob’s backstory is literally so rich I wish we got more of it :( and this may be an unpopular opinion but his take on everything that happened in new moon would be totally cool to have but it’s too bad smeyer made him Love Interest #2 and not like.......his own character

thanks sm for this ask!!! this has definitely been my favorite 💞💞

[headoverhiddles]

Universally Loathsome - Marilyn Manson x Reader

Synopsis: After his show at the Hard Rock in Orlando, you and your man put your complimentary Universal Studios park passes to good use. 

Notes: I wrote this because Universal Florida is my happy place, and I need a pick me up right now lol. Also, this takes place right after this concert, so Heaven Upside Down era. 

His lazy drawl fills the Hard Rock Cafe arena, as the strobes go crazy.

"I love you beautiful motherfuckers so much," he points to the crowd, to a response of deafening cheers, "Florida's where it all started for me, and... I almost got arrested for indecent exposure in Jacksonville, which is... pretty close to here." More cheering. "So if any willing gentlemen in the crowd would like to come up here... and let me put my dick in their mouth..." The cheers grow. "...History can repeat itself." He grins, stumbling around and leaning on the mic stand. "I wonder what would happen if I... oops," he pops the top button of his vest open. "Oh no, I can't believe I just showed you all my tits, ahh, I'm such a slut..."

The crowd is going absolutely insane, and he winks over to you suggestively. You watch your boyfriend, trying to hold in your giggles. He's in what he likes to call rascal mode tonight, you can tell. And good thing-- you two roped complimentary passes inside the theme park for the rest of the night to celebrate, so he can let out all this energy after the show. The regular park closes in a half an hour, horror nights too, with it being Halloween, but the extra hour is just for you two, paid for well no doubt.

After Mar's done and the strobes distract the audience enough for him to bound off stage, he runs into your open arms. After you hug your sweaty man, he picks you up, spinning you around and smiling like a big kid.

"Let's go play." 

"Shower first," you give him a stern look. He nods, resigning himself to the fact that he's really gross and covered in sticky glitter makeup.

You hang out backstage as he gets cleaned up, saying goodnight to some of the roadies. You check social media and search for this concert, as you do sometimes just for fun, and see people already sharing photos they'd taken of Marilyn screaming or wading into the crowd.

You snort to yourself, and save one that looks right up his nostril. Beautiful angle, and perfect for blackmail when he's being a dick.

"Let's do this."

You turn, and see him dressed in a hoodie that reminds you of the full body zip from his High End Of Low days.

"I know what you're thinking, and no, this is not the depression hoodie," he sticks a finger in your face and wags it. "I burned that a long time ago." You pretend to bite his finger, and take his arm.

Your bodyguards, who warily agreed to leave the two of you alone once you get into the park, lead you down, out the back door of the hotel venue, and through a citywalk shortcut to the front gates of Universal Studios Orlando.

"I haven't been here since I was a teenager," you grin, listening to the entrance music and sighing from the nostalgia. "This has always been my happy place."

"I've literally never been here," he tells you, "We go to the one back home in LA, but I've never been to this one myself. I used to live here but I only ever wreaked havoc on Disney with Twiggy."

"Oh, Universal was spared?"

"Until now, yeah. So you'll have to be my tour guide here." He takes his sunglasses from his face, hands them off, and turns to his guards. "Okay, that's fine, we're fine."

"Sir, we really think--"

"We talked to the park operators, and there's like... nobody here right now, we're both fine," Marilyn insists, "Bye." So, you two are left alone as you walk toward the gates.

Your passes are scanned by an older woman who doesn't seem to recognize Marilyn, since his name on the pass is Brian. For the best. To your left, towers one of your favourite rides.

"The Rip Ride Rockit," Marilyn reads the sign, "Ooh. Ooh, I wanna do this. Fuckin cool looking."

"Bri, you get sick on roller coasters."

"I'm too drunk to be sick, the drunk sick makes me not motion sick."

"Well, glad to hear your body has a system," you sigh, and he takes your hand as you two run toward the lit up ride.

"You get to pick your song as you ride," he muses, "Motherfuckers should have my songs on here."

Because he likes to stir shit up and see what he can get away with, Marilyn uses a VIP lanyard with his face on it to get into the express lane.

"Uh..." the young employee hesitates, frowning, "Sir, this is a meet and greet for that concert, not for--" Marilyn puts his hood down, and the guy's eyes widen. He waves you both through, starstruck. 

"Whoever said you shouldn't use your fame to get stuff... probably wasn't even famous," Marilyn says, pulling you up the steps.

"What's the hurry?" you laugh, trying to keep up, "You're just gonna throw up all over me anyway."

"It's a music ride, that's very exciting to me," he says. You can't deny you've missed this ride too, so you keep up.

You're the only two on the roller coaster train as you both pull the bar over from the side to strap yourselves in. The employee working comes over to check, and gives a thumbs up to the operator.

"Give me a handjob," he giggles.

"No! I'm gonna rip your dick off if we do that on this!"

"Nah, that'd happen like... on the Mummy." Apparently he remembers what the Mummy is like in the LA Universal park, and he's not wrong. "Uh. Uh," he starts to snap his fingers as the ride goes up, "Yeah. Hell yeah."

"What song?" you laugh.

"Stronger, by my boy Kanye."

"He's a dickhead, you know."

"So am I, doesn't make my music any less amazing."

You smirk. You'd picked Stronger as well, anyway. 

After the ride, Marilyn hangs onto you, a little bit woozy. "That was a mistake."

"I told you."

"I don't listen, I'm a child, you know this. I don’t like the rides, but the rides like me."

You two walk through the park, past the San Francisco area of the water in the middle.

"This is nice. Just walking."

"Yeah," he says. "It's nice not to vomit." You rest your head on his shoulder, giggling.

You two do a few more rides-- he has way too much fun in Men in Black shooting at everything, and Simpsons becomes a favourite, even if the only part he could keep his eyes open for was the funny queue playing the episodes. He even takes some dark, creepy pictures with the employees in Diagon Alley, posing in his new Slytherin scarf he bought.

"Can this be used for sexy purposes?" he asks one of them, holding up a wand. The girls giggle, and you roll your eyes.

"Um. Wouldn't recommend it," one responds.

"On the other hand..." the second one shrugs, "It's magic. You could just make it into something that could be used for sexy times."

"I like the way this one thinks," Marilyn smirks. "(y/n), I'm gonna use this in you."

"Like hell you are.”

“Please?”

“You can use it to spank me.” You lean in to whisper. “It’s too thin to put it in.” 

Marilyn buys the wand just to make up for the trouble he's causing the poor employees.

You head out of Harry Potter world, and circle back around to do ET.

"I wanna do the Mummy again. And what about those big ones across the citywalk thing? Spiderman, he's cool. I wanna do his ride." 

"That's the other park. If you wanna deal with your manager having a meltdown by requesting another day here tomorrow, that's your call." He immediately takes out his phone, and you huff, feeling sorry for the guy, always having to rearrange flights last minute. 

"Yeah, hey. It's me," Marilyn drawls into the phone, "I need another day here tomorrow. No, I'm just... I'm gonna be really hungover. Lots of vodka and drugs and stuff. Yeah. Amphetamines, got my face in a big... yeah, really bad, I won't be able to fly tomorrow." His eyes light up like a kid in a candy store as he sees the Halloween Horror Nights 2018 tribute store. "Gotta go, I'm snorting coke off (y/n)'s tits. Cancel my flight!"

You both run in, and get shirts from inside-- yours is a Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers one, and his is a Killer Klowns from Outer Space one, with a little clown in boxing gloves on it that says 'Shorty's Boxing Gym: Knocking Blocks Off Since '88." He poses for a picture of the new shirt in front of an old horror movie poster, hands in his jacket pockets and doing his signature sneer. He posts it on his Instagram, captioning it: 

Next motherfucker's gonna get my metal. Pic📷: @(y/handle) #justustwoclowns #wannatussle #truelove #wehatelovewelovehate #happyhalloween #universalorlando #shooterjennings.

You head inside the Egyptian crypt that leads to the Mummy, listening to Brendan Fraser's fake interview about the strange things going on on set. 

"I met him once," Marilyn tells you, "He was scared of me, he thought I was flirting with him."

"I can see how he would. You're just overly affectionate," you pat his arm.

"And high as fuck, but I wasn't flirting with him. He's too much of a pretty boy for me." 

"Yet you still wanna fuck Johnny," you tease him, and he grins, unable to refute that.

You finally get to the loading area after Marilyn stumbles over four posts in the dark queue. The lady there squeals. She's a different one than the one working earlier, and she's obviously a fan.

"Sorry for her," her coworker says, "She's a huge fan of your stuff."

"Nah, it's cool," Marilyn offers a smile.

"I was at the concert, which is why I'm working late," she explains hyperactively, "God, you were soooo amazing!" Marilyn thanks her. She waves at you as well. "By the way, I see your pictures together on insta at shows and premieres and stuff, you two make a really cute couple. Goth icons!" You smile at the girl, and thank her and her coworker for working late for you two. An obligatory selfie later, you and Marilyn get into the ride, and start heading through the darkness. You get to the part where Imohtep's face appears and fire blows beside you.

"You say god," he mutters. "I say Say10."

You get off the ride, and you nearly lose your shit when you see the ride photo. You fall to the floor, and Marilyn looks up at the screen in inquiry.

"Oh my god."

"We're buying it!"

"Absolutely fucking not. Look at my chin!"

"I love your chins, baby."

"I only mentioned one, but thanks."

You dash over to the counter, ordering the picture in the biggest size. It's gold. In it, you've got one hand up happily, the other looped with Marilyn's, and you look generally normal, other than your hair blowing a little from the force of the acceleration. His eyes are glinting yellow from light reflection, so he looks legitimately possessed; he's got his chin pressed down into his neck folds, and his mouth is halfway open, like he just remembered something he wanted to say. It's the most awful picture of him you've ever seen, so naturally, it's getting framed at the house next to his lovely prosthetic limb collection.

"Mm, makes me wanna fuck you," you lick your lips, "Give it to me, baby, I wanna look into those sexy yellow eyes while you destroy my pussy."

"You're fucked up."

You nearly collapse in laughter again.

Despite the terribly candid ride picture, Marilyn decides he likes the Mummy a bit more than the Simpsons, and after riding it four more times without fail, he's nauseous as all hell (as are you) and done in for the night.

You hold hands, heading to the gates. "Hey. Want to stop at Ben and Jerry's on the way out?" you ask.

"Nah," he drawls, hand moving down to your ass and giving it a spank, "You're the only thing I wanna lick tonight." Even motion sick and half-way to hungover, he's still in rascal mode.

A car comes to pick you up, and some press follow you to the car for a bit, taking photos and asking Marilyn for comments on the park and the show until Marilyn wraps his Slytherin scarf around his face. He gets into the car with you, and rolls the window up. The paparazzi obviously saw the Instagram post.

That makes you think...

Messing around on your phone as you're driven back to the hotel, you giggle. Marilyn keeps looking over, but he's currently too nauseous still to speak. You giggle again, and send off what you'd just done.

"Happy Halloween," you grin, punching his shoulder playfully.

He looks at his buzzing phone, and snorts. His bad Mummy picture and stylish posing Instagram picture are side by side, with your accompanying text: "Get you a man who can do both." 

[the-fiction-witch]

I Promise...

REAL LIFE COUPLE ASA X READER RATING FLIRTY

I passed, and passed and passed until it broke me and I grabbed my phone ringing the stupid boy

"Hey y/n? What's up?" Asa asks sounding confused and sleepy

"Are you busy?" I asked quickly

"Uuuuuhhh...." He says clearly moving around "not particularly why?"

"Want me to come there or you come here?" I ask

"Uhh I'll come there sure" he smiled

"Good five minutes, it's important" I told him before hanging up I finished up getting dressed and sorting out my living room when there was a knock on my door "finally!" I complain opening my door grabbing his dark blue hoodie and pulling the skinny brunette into my house

"Ahh! Y/n! What's so dam important?" He complained as I shut and locked my door

"Tea?" I ask

"You wake me. on a Sunday. In the pouring mid October rain. On the coldest Day in months. March me to your house. five miles away. When the underground is not working. Literally drag me inside your house. For a cup of fucking tea?" He asks

"No, do you want tea while we discuss?" I ask

"Maybe I would I knew what we we're discussing" he says

"Park your ass Asa" I tell him pointing to my sofa he sighed going and sitting on my sofa rubbing his eyes a little I smile as I made tea looking at him, sat on his normal side of my sofa, his dark almost black hair a fuzzy mess a recent shoot or so he says I rather liked it this way honestly, his white shirt with some game logo on it and his blue hoodie over the top, his faded jeans hugging his legs snuggly as I brought him his cup and sat beside him he took a sip and put the mug on my table

"So? What did you want?" He asks

"I want to talk to you about something" I said and I could see the panic in his face and the blood drain from his cheeks

"About what?" He asks

"About last weekend." I said

"Last weekend? The premier? What about it did something happen?" He asked very worried

"It's not that Asa... Look, I'm not sure you taking me to these things is a good idea" I said

"Why not? You always come with me" he smiled "y/n you've been my best friend since we where five, what's going on?" He asks

"I'm just not sure I really wanna go anymore" I said

"Well why? There must be a reason y/n, is it the fans? The media? The pr people? What is it? Why don't you want to do it anymore?" He asks getting annoyed and my lack of Answers

"I'm jealous okay!" I yelled

"Jealous? Of what?" He asked I didn't answer "the fan girls?" He asked and I didn't answer "the attention?" He asked and I still didn't answer "then what?" He asked

"Movie girls" I said

"Movie girls?" He asked very confused nowhere near awake enough for my witch riddles "so girls in the movies? In the movie premieres I take you too? Uhhh why?" He asked and i didn't answer I just looked at the floor not even wanting to make eye contact with those blue orbs but he pulled me closer forcing me to look "y/n... Are you jealous of girls I have romantic relationships with in movies?" He asks

"Well you can't deny it happens alot asa!" I complain "miss peragrin, space between us, time freak, me before you, sex education, I swear it's in your fucking contact you get to snog a hot girl every time"

"Your jealous I get to snog hot girls in my movies?" He asked and i sighed my god I love the boy but he can be so dam dence "wait a minute..." He said thinking more "Your jealous of the girls, in my movie's getting to kiss me?" He asked and I felt my cheeks going red "aaawwww, that's adorable" he smiled hugging me tightly

"It's not adorable" I whine trying to move away getting up trying to escape to the kitchen

"No, no, no, it is, it's so cute" he laughs but u just tried going away more but he trapped me between himself and the kitchen counter "how long have you been jealous?" He asks

"A while" I blushed avoiding his eyes

"A while? Did someone... have a little crush?" He asked

"No I did not!" I complain trying to get away but I was well trapped

"Shame" he sighed

"How so?" I asked

"I assumed you knew y/n, I've had a crush on you for forever" he blushed

"For forever?" I asked

"For forever and ever sweetheart" he smiled giving my forehead a soft kiss "but if you don't I suppose I'll just-" he began

"Your an ass Asa" I giggled hugging him close and he hugged me tightly to resting his head on mine his arms around my chest and the small of my back lightly moving us slightly in our snuggly cuddle

"Maybe so, but y/n... I understand if you don't wanna go to some premiers with me I understand sweetheart. But I'll happily distract you when there's kissing scenes" he laughs kissing my head "I want you to come with me, because... I really do like you y/n,"

"I like you too asa" I giggled

"Plus your honest with me, you tell me when I look like a dick" he laughs

"I do" I giggled going to go but he wouldn't let me go just moving away enough to see my face stroking my cheek with his soft fingers

"Y/n, I really do like you, and... I'd want to be your boyfriend if you'd have me. If you do, I promise you no matter what a script says I have to do with a girl, I'll always be yours, and I'll always come home to you as in love as when I left sweetheart" he smiled....

'bring, bring, bring' the alarm sound bleeps hurting my head, my brain, my ears, my soul! I opened my eyes slowly and regrettably the world was dark, nothing but the light from the digital alarm clock on the bedside table flashing it's white and blue lights at me making the ungodly noise

5:37

Why does this hour exist!

I felt a groan behind me and the arm that was snuggled around my waist moved to hit the stupid things button to make the noise stop I instantly relaxed, feeling the cosy fresh sheets against my body the fluffy blanket on the duvet brushing against my arm, my cosy PJ's hugging me close as well as the soft skinny arms wrapped around my waist and the head nuzzled into my neck hair brushing my ear and his body spooning my own I groaned sleeping falling back into my deep, sweet, dreamy-

"Ahhhhhh!" I complain

"Uhhhh! Fucking hell!" Asa complained as every dam light in the trailer came on I pulled the duvet over my head hoping it would save me from the harsh twelve sixty watt bulbs of light threatening my eyes

"Wakey wakey, love birds!" A voice smiled

"Uhhhh bugger off five more minutes" Asa groaned trying to get his grip on me again

"Now! Else I am dragging you in that set for seven am on the dot even if you are in your underpants Mr Butterfield" the voice said before the door closed he sighed sitting up in bed but I wouldn't come out

"Y/n... Sweetheart? Don't I get a kiss before I need to get ready?" He asks

"No, to sleepy" I whine

"Aww sweetheart come on come here just one little kiss?" He pleads pulling the duvet away from me revealing his hair Inna messy bed head his chest exposed he smiled his half awake smile at me and gave my nose a kiss so I gave his cheek a kiss making him smile getting up from our little bed, I sat up having a huge stretch and a yawn "n'aww sleepy sweetie" he smiled as he stood by the end of the bed digging thought his suitcase for his joggers and a good shirt to wear today, the carpet was that boring light beige that we had already made messy just by walking on it, the walls white with the little windows and all the blinds closed I giggled watching Asa get dressed for work, this was technically a closed set but Asa snuck me in, so long as I promised not to have my phone on and not to go to the actual shooting sites on set while I was here which I was okay with more time in bed or craft services "are you watching me?" He asks and I nod "why?"

"Your a nice show to watch in the morning" I smiled

"Am I? Your such a silly girl" he laughs kissing my head as he slipped his shirt on

"What are you up to today?" I ask

"That's secret sweetheart you know that" he laughs

"I'm just curious Asa" i giggled

"Well, it's a secret." He laughs

"You promise you'll come home?" I whined

"Of course I will, you know I will." He smiled sitting on the bed with me "I promise, I'll come back home to you my sweetheart." He smiled before grabbing his stuff "don't wait up" he winked

"I won't" I laughed cuddling his pillow as he left for set.

[angelic-holland]

brb // th x fem!reader

Summary: You and Tom had been friends with benefits for a while. They both want something more, but they both don’t know how to use their words.

warnings: a little smut, mostly angst 

2.2k words

You had an arrangement with Tom, when he was in London he was yours and you were his, sexually. You were each other’s booty call essentially. When he was off filming you’d sext or get each other off over FaceTime but if either of you wanted to hook up with someone else it was fine, it’s not like either of you could drop everything and hop on a plane when you were horny. There wasn’t any romance involved, that shit’s too messy when he was never around.

Little did you know that he never hooked up with anyone else, even when he was gone for months he only wanted you. You were the same way, to be honest. You were busy with school, you didn’t have time to find a whole other guy to hook up with when Tom wasn’t around.

You got a text from Tom, telling you that his plane got to the airport early, asking if you wanted to meet him at his place in 30. It was Friday before spring break for you, having no plans you agreed, grabbing a coat before telling your roommate you’d be back later in the evening.

You took your time walking to his place, a little over 2 miles from your apartment. You figured he’d just want a quickie since he’s been stuck on a plane for 8 hours from Atlanta doing reshoots for the Avengers movie.

When you finally arrived the door was open and you let yourself in, “Tom? You home?”

“Fuck, Y/N, been thinking about you my entire flight,” he says, coming out of the shadows from the hallway.

“Hi to you too Tom,” you giggle as he pulls you into his chest, kissing you. His hair was all messy and he had bags under his eyes, probably from sleeping on the plane, trying to catch up on all the sleep he missed.

His hands move underneath your skirt, groping your ass.

“You miss me?” You laugh as he pulls you to his room, stripping as you go.

“So much Y/N,” he says, as you jump onto his bed, tossing your underwear to the side.

He joins you, kissing from your thighs to you mouth, taking his time.

****

“Fuck, Tom, oh my god,” you cry out as he makes you come again, you’ve lost track of how many times the both of you have come throughout the evening. He pulls his lips away from your pussy and smiles at you, kissing up your stomach to your mouth again. You savor the kiss, loving the way he knew just how to touch you and kiss you to make you swoon.

He flops onto the bed bedside you and you shake your leg, trying to bring some feeling to your lower half.

“Fuck you wore me out tonight Tom, what’s gotten into you?”

“Just missed you is all,” he says, waiting for the inevitable, for you to get up and leave.

You lay there, letting your body calm down, you see his hand fiddle at his side out of the corner of your eyes. You turn on your side to face him, “Can I stay the night?”

His eyes light up and he accepts a little too quickly.

“Thanks,” you say, stretching your arms above your head.

“Wanna, i was gonna shower did you wanna join me?” He asks, a nervousness to his voice.

“I’ll hang out here, I don’t think I can handle shower sex right now,” You laugh and he nods, getting up and leaving you in the bed. You grab your phone once he’s gone telling your roommate that you’ll be staying the night at your ‘special friends place’. Nobody, not even her knew you were fucking and you wanted to keep it that way.

You got up and grabbed his gray T-shirt, one of your favorites, he always seemed to wear it when he came back from wherever he was filming, maybe he knew how much you loved it. You pulled it on and sniffed it a little, loving how it smelled like him. You wish you had shirt of his to just have when he was gone but you shook the thought from your head, just friends with benefits, he’s never here, you can’t date someone who’s almost always halfway across the world.

You flopped back down on the bed, curling up under the covers, you had a long day, not nearly as long as Tom’s you were sure of that but still long.

You felt sleep overcome you as the door to his room opened.

****

Tom has just gotten out of the shower, he walked back to his room after drying off, tossing his towel in the laundry basket. He was humming softly to himself but stopped when he noticed you were asleep. He smiled at you, curled up under the blankets, wearing his shirt. He always wore that one because you said it was your favorite of his, you loved the way his skin looked under it, liked how no matter how many times he washed it it still smelled like him. He wore it whenever he came back from filming just for you.

He slipped into sweatpants and pulled back the covers, laying down next to you. He was hesitant to put his arm around your shoulder, not wanting to wake you up but decided he would. He gently rested his hand on your arm and smiled as you cuddled closer to him. You’ve never really stayed the night before, always left right after sex or after a quick shower. He could get used to this.

He remembered the first time the two of you ever kissed, it was at a party one of your friends threw, you’d been friends for a while throughout high school and you both just graduated. And what else would a bunch of drunk teenagers do at a party than play truth or dare? His best friend Harrison dared him to play 7 minutes in Heaven with you, which made you both blush, and you dragged him into the hallway closet.

You were both nervous, Tom was having one last hooray before he was going to film for Captain America: Civil War, you were going to go to university in the fall, you knew that now was your chance to do anything, maybe become more than friends before he was swept into the whirlwind of fame.

“Can I, can I kiss you?” He asked, stuttering the entire time. You nod, pulling him down towards you and initiating the kiss.

In the 7 minutes you had before you both knew that Harrison or someone else would come barging into the closet you gave him his first blow job, which blew his fucking mind, and ever since he’s been obsessed with your mouth. You swallowed his come and tucked him into his pants right as Harrison pulled the door open, looking at the messy hair and unzipped jeans of Tom before laughing his ass off and dragging you both back to the circle.

***

Ever since then he’d only been with you, sure there were opportunities while he was filming but every time it almost happened, he just thought of you and stopped. Over the years you’d visited him a few times when you weren’t in school, surprising him at his hotel room after the Spiderman Homecoming premiere. He nearly lost his mind he was so happy to see you. He wanted to take you out, show you off to all his friends, make you his girlfriend, take you on dates, but you were very strict with not wanting any of that. You didn’t want his fans to go crazy, you didn’t want your picture to be all over the internet, and he respected that. Hell, he knew what being linked to him romantically was like since half of the internet seemed to think Zendaya and him were seeing each other. You actually teased him about it a few times, saying you wouldn’t mind if he hooked up with her. But he never did.

He watched as you slept, wondering how bad it would be if he asked you to go on a date with him. He’s talked about it with Harrison, the only person who knew because he helped get you out to the Homecoming premiere and helped hide you from the rest of his family when you were initially seeing Tom.

Harrison had told Tom time and time again to just tell you how he feels, because what if you thought of him the same way. But he never did, scared of ruining everything you had together just because of stupid feelings.

“I-,” Tom starts, stumbling over his words. He knew he could never say this to your face, not now, so this was his chance.

****

You woke up, feeling the heartbeat of Tom underneath your cheek, letting it try to lull you back to sleep. You had to pee but you didn’t want to wake Tom up so you stilled, trying to force yourself back to sleep.

“I-,” you heard Tom say, pausing.

“I love you,” he says, a whisper, as if he isn’t sure he wanted to say it out loud. You contemplate pretending you were still asleep, pretend you never heard it and move on. But you couldn’t, you couldn’t lay here and try to go back to sleep because you wouldn’t be able to.

“Tom,” you whisper, looking up at him. His face goes white, as you sit up and he pulls his arm away from you.

“I- fuck Y/N I’m sorry you weren’t supposed to hear that I-,”

“Tom, you can’t love me,” you say, getting up.

“Wait Y/N, don’t go just, I - I don’t know what I was saying.”

“You’re never here, and when you are here we just fuck and that’s fine because that’s what we wanted that’s what you wanted and-,”

“I- I wanted more than that Y/N, I’ve always wanted more than that but I knew you didn’t so I didn’t try-,”

“I mean, Tom, of course I didn’t want any of the bullshit that’s associated with dating a famous person, when would people attack you for literally everything!” You say, quickly pulling your skirt on and grabbing your phone.

“Y/N, if I knew what you wanted then I could’ve given it to you, we could’ve still dated, we could’ve hid it from everyone, I would’ve made an effort if that’s what you needed!”

“You don’t know what I need Tom, you can’t, and I don’t need this!” You say, leaving him, too stunned to move on his bed. You ran out of his apartment and made it halfway down the street before you realized you were still wearing his shirt. Tears streaming down your face you were too mad, or upset, or both, you couldn’t tell, to go back and get your own.

You rushed into your apartment, ignoring the buzz of your phone which was likely Tom, you ran past your roommate in the kitchen and collapsed on your bed.

“Y/N?” Your roommate asks, sitting on your bed.

“I fucked up,” you say, looking at her through teary eyes.

****

It’s been a few months, you haven’t spoken to Tom since and you missed him. He was one of your best friends. You talked to him often before everything and now you haven’t said a word to him. He called you a few times that night, sent you a few texts, saying sorry, saying he didn’t mean for you to hear that. Harrison texted you a few times, he knew how you really felt about Tom, knew that you didn’t mean to react like you did, but it just sort of happened. You didn’t know how to tell Tom that. You saw from his Instagram that he was filming reshoots for Chaos Walking, he was really excited about the project, talked to you about it all the time when he was first filming. You opened your messages, scrolling down to his name, the last text he sent was from two months ago.

Tom: even if you don’t love me, you still mean the world to me, and I’m sorry that I made you upset

You’ve done this every few weeks, let yourself wallow in your sadness, opening up his text messages, finger hovering over the message you had typed out, never actually hitting send.

You sighed, tossing your phone back down on the bed, not thinking anything of it as you went back to your laptop, you were getting into the video you were watching, an old Buzzfeed Unsolved episode when your phone buzzed. You frowned, picking it up.

Tom: Wait, you do? Love me? Y/N, why, why couldn’t you just tell me that that night?

Oh holy fuck, the message you had typed out ages ago must’ve sent when you tossed your phone to the side.

Tom, I love you, I’ve been trying to figure out how I could make myself not love you because I don’t know if I could handle everything that comes with you, but I realized that I don’t care about that stuff. I care about you, the guy who blushed when I kissed him in the closet four years ago, the guy who calls me beautiful when I feel not my best, the guy who hugged me so hard when I graduated a semester early, the guy who said I was going places when I was scared I would be stuck here in London for the rest of my life. Long story short, I love you too. And I’m sorry it took me so long to know what I needed.

[paperclipninja]

Younger post-ep ramble 6x12

So we've reached the end of yet another season of Younger and it seems like it only started 5 mins ago but also the premiere ep feels like 5 months ago and I'm sitting somewhere between denial and not coping because WHAT WAS THAT ENDING??? How are you all holding up? Holy shamole, the season 6 finale, 'Forever' (named because that's how long it's going to feel between this ep and the season 7 premiere), gave us a lot to process.

Picking up the day after the last episode, this week opens with Kelsey letting Liza know that it's her last day at Millennial, which triggers one of my fave scenes of the season as Liza dashes up to Charles' office to intercept Kelsey's 'Dear John' resignation letter before he sees it.  One thing I have always loved about Liza is that despite the entire premise of the show up until this season being Liza's lie, she is so awful at actually lying, which is fab for us because Sutton Foster's comedic genius that comes out of her awkward over-explaining is golden. Charles knows she's lying, Liza knows he knows she's lying, the way Charles says 'I won't report you to HR' after Liza says she's taking the letter back because it's inappropriate almost calls for a fire blanket *fans self*, the entire exchange is SO good and somehow continues to get better when Liza decides to tell Charles that the 'really sexy stuff' is actually in the form of a limerick (I also love that he knows it's not her handwriting, I don't know why, I am simple folk and might be imagining that they leave little notes around for each other...). I want to read that limerick.

Kelsey finally catches up and props to her for even being able to walk let alone run in that amazing pink leather skirt, and she saves Liza from herself by informing Charles that she is in fact resigning and hands over her letter (which I also want to read btw). The delightful dynamic that's been developing between Kelsey and Charles these past few episodes continues as Charles implores her to take a leave, that she's too important and when Kelsey goes to shake his hand, which then turns into a hug and it's sweet and lovely, the way she leans on his arm is so daughterly and emphasises the 'family' theme of the season and seriously, I just wanted to see more of these two working together then this happened and all I was thinking at this point was, why aren't we allowed nice things?

Oh but we are, as I was quickly reminded by Diana Trout in the most incredible purple suit and turquoise accessories combo. Everything about her and this outfit belongs on an aspirational poster. We discover that Liza has deputized Lauren for some maid of honour duties and that about a week has passed since Kelsey left. Diana's strained, 'WE'RE HAPPY' is deceived by her shouting (as well as Lauren pointing out that both Diana and Liza's offices are out of Kleenex, ya know, because of crying and whatnot and p.s. I'm not ok at the thought of Queen Trout office crying), but the expression that flashes across her face oh so briefly when Liza says Kelsey's coming to the wedding is real happiness and relief (have I mentioned this week how amazing Miriam Shor is with her ability to say so much with just a look?). 

I have absolutely adored seeing the relationship between Diana, Liza and Kelsey develop and grow this season, and Diana's reactions to her being able to attend the wedding but not the spa day speaks volumes to the genuine love and friendship they share. 'How can you be so bad at this maid of honour stuff? You're a thousand years old, this can't be your first rodeo'- I'm not even saying anything about that line, I just wanted to put it in my ramble somehow because it is so stellar it needs to be here because Diana giving Liza a hard time about her age now is everything and then some.

While Liza and Diana are heading to the Uncle Joe meeting, Kelsey and Zane are having a meeting of their own in the park. Kelsey reveals that she's branching out on her own and wants to give him her pitch for feedback. Zane offers her some advice, 'don't do it' and also suggests Kelsey check her ego, which in every other season and even the first part of this one I would've been saying 'YESSS, boom!' but now, not so much. But also a little bit. I am still quite confused about this whole dynamic and don't know if I like it or if I care. I liked Kelsey's response, 'with respect, my resume looks different to yours', she seemed very level headed, though it became evident fairly quickly that this conversation was less about work and more about their relationship for Zane. Zane saying she thought stepping down as publisher was her worst moment, he thought she was awesome, he wanted to be there for her was lovely and supportive and the confusion remains, Zane was being sweet but also maybe not? I'm not sure. There is definitely some truth in the fact that Kelsey does tend to play the victim (or has in the past at least). Regardless, Kelsey's expression as she was there on her own on the bench after Zane walked off oozed sadness, someone give that woman a hug.

Meanwhile at Uncle Joe's, aka Enzo's 'small g' godfather (I love the running gag of Enzo reassuring Diana he's not connected to the mafia), Diana, Enzo and Liza are in for a treat as the ice sculpture is revealed (LOL at Liza asking if it's the heart piece and complimenting it only to be told, 'no that's for a dog funeral'). A trout coming out of a toilet is honestly the greatest thing I could never have imagined, it is so literal and enormous and I love that someone actually had to make it and I think we were all Liza as she stated, 'I under-prepared'. Liza has her maid of honour duties cut out for her, but deploys two people who will definitely ensure the Trout/toilet masterpiece will never see the light of day. Maggie buttering up Joe to distract him is way too easy and then Lauren...what are you doing? You don't need to take your underwear off mate, take the pic with the safety of knicker fabric. I legit crossed my legs as the whole thing unfolded. I've gotta hand it to Uncle Joe for so calmly accompanying Lauren to the office to get the first aid kit despite his masterpiece being destroyed.

Before Maggie tackles the ice sculpture we see her once again being the oracle of the show when Kelsey rocks up at the loft looking for Liza (who Maggie says is in Queens and 'said something about Ice Capades, which is so Liza' - of course Liza would love theatrical figure skating). Can we just take a minute to appreciate how goddamn amazing Maggie looks in this episode? Her dress/headband combo in the scene with Kelsey is divine and I am in complete admiration of anyone who sits around at home dressed like that, fully made up and accessorised. If anyone turns up to my place unexpectedly I spend a good couple of minutes shouting 'just a minute' while I run around frantically trying to swap out pyjama pants with, well, not pyjama pants. Actual goddess. Kelsey being humble after a whole lot of tough pitches, 'maybe Zane was right, I let my ego get in the way', really shows the growth this character has had this season, and Maggie peps her with, 'do you still believe in yourself?' before suggesting that, 'sometimes you have to get into bed with the devil'. Turns out there's some kind of excellent story attached to how Maggie got her loft and I do love a tease, would love to see the follow up down the track (WHO did she get into bed with is all I wanna know).

Even though it's fairly obvious who Kelsey is going to get cosy with to try and secure some cashola, as she finishes her pitch (which is pretty darn amazing lbh), the reveal of Quinn at the end of the table is so damn fabulous. KLP Print is definitely up there with the worst names (seems it's true Younger style to intro terrible publishing house names in finales, shoutout to last year's Chick(y) and Kelsey using her initials as the title is so basic when she never is that it's really funny). My love of Quinn is no secret and I have to say, I would have LOVED to see an exploration of those two working together again properly. Fortunately we get more Quinn when she interrupts Liza and Charles at lunch. Liza is talking about how much pressure she's feeling and I know it's not the most interesting conversation but it's real stuff that people in real relationships talk about and I get that it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I just adore seeing Liza being so open with Charles about how she's feeling and Charles always listening with understanding and in this case, suggesting a vacation. 

Liza seems quite caught off guard by the proposition of a merging-of-the-families trip to Scotland, though her smile when Charles says, 'I thought it was time we all get to know each other a little better', indicates she is up for it (once she checks with Caitlin, which we can take as confirmation she is in fact alive, she has been located and she is ok. No word yet on Beth). Also, my sappy little heart when Liza says, 'if WE leave the girls with Caitlin’, Liza defaulting to her and Charles and the girls as a little unit, not to mention that she's thinking that this trip will involve her and Charles getting some time alone together *le sigh*. But back to Quinn, I am here for icy Liza and Charles and Laura Benanti's ability to convey such a sense of not caring at all about what people think is incredible. As Quinn teases that she's teaming up with someone 'who used to work for you or with you or beside you, it's always so confusing over there' (these lines and delivery I swear) the actual award goes to her exiting line, 'my biggest donor is over there. Watching him eat is the hardest thing I do'. Actual laughing out loud. And yes Charles and Liza, it can be Kelsey (and spoiler alert: it is).

Now part of the reason Liza was late to her maid of honour duties earlier in the ep is because she discovered that a book pitch meeting has been booked for the day before the big wedding. I hate this author so much. He is the actual worst of any author I can remember pitching on this show, I just wanted him to go away the moment he started talking (he reminds me a bit of the boss from The IT Crowd for anyone playing at home who knows that show). The only purpose he served IMO was to get Redmond on our screen, which was totally worth it if only to hear him try to have a dig at Diana but only able to come up with, 'you,...you are ageless'. The other highlight of the scene is Diana's retort to Redmond having yet another swipe at her and Liza being there sans Kesley and that is Diana's 'you know what they say? IHL...it's her loss. They don't say that, do they?' to which Liza responds, ' I don't...I'm not sure'. I am outright obsessed with Diana and Liza and need them in every possible scenario please and thank you.

Don't get me wrong, Michael Urie delivers every zinger like noone else, but this whole scene in the context of the episode felt like a hark back to the OTT ageist jokes of season 1 and it all felt like it was for the sake of it tbh (though ‘elderly dithering’ still makes me chuckle)  I get it, JOMO, giving up the imaginary, alternate life to be in the real one, very much building on the set up of Liza leaving behind her 26 year old life, but this was 2 mins and 41 seconds that could have been wedding time. I would've honestly watched a whole ep of Diana getting ready and the wedding very happily, but I appreciate that there was a lot that needed to be addressed, so even a couple more mins would've been wonderful and could've served this episode more than that insufferable author and pretty pointless pitch (plus Redmond was invited to the wedding so we could've had Redmond and bonus wedding time so win win! Next time...).

It was nice to see Kelsey and Liza out having a drink and catching up. Liza once again assures Kelsey that she supports her in whatever she does but makes it quite clear that she thinks going into business with Quinn is a terrible idea. Kelsey then fills Liza in on what Josh is up to, Liza fills Kelsey in on their convo from the week before that did not go down so well and Kelsey isn't surprised because apparently Liza is 'kind of the most important woman in his life who isn't teething'. You know what? That actually made me really sad. I mean, Josh and Liza have not been in a romantic relationship for what, 18 months or two years? He lives with Kelsey and Lauren, has a great relationship with Maggie, (I'm not dense btw, I understand why this line is there), but Josh not having any other women who he would consider important in his life despite all these amazing female friends?

One thing I was enjoying about Josh this season was his moving forward and having a purpose. After last season's terrible stagnation for his character, seeing him reestablish a relationship with Claire, have a baby, his friendship with Lauren continuing to evolve, it was all looking so on track. Then these past couple of episodes, I feel like he's had a massive regression again and I just feel bad for the character and think that surely he can serve a purpose beyond pining for Liza because he did that already for the whole of season 5. I do like that Liza is sticking with her mantra of making choices in life, of refocusing on other things, on new horizons and I do believe she's really trying, but her fickleness is certainly a constant struggle for her throughout the whole series. More and more, especially since the lie came out, I'm seeing Liza's longing for or looking back more at the life of a 26 year old and it'll be interesting to see if it's Josh she's actually feeling she's missing out on or the life he represented (and which there's no reason she can't live aspects of now). Liza's forlorn expression when Kelsey toasts to 'no looking back' has also been making quite a few appearances these past few eps.

Aside from my fave terrible person Quinn, my other favourite recurring guest this season has been Infinitely 21's Shelly. As she and Josh are finalising the Inkburg Midtown details, her unquenchable thirst once again becomes apparent as she tells him, 'we all want a piece of you..I keep saying piece, I don't even know why' (I love Josh's, 'it happens', I mean how do you even respond to someone like Shelly?)  As Shelly and Josh go through his look book to find some pieces appropriate for a 'tat and scat', Shelly of course sees the hourglass and loves it but Josh, dude, why is it in the look book if it was a one off? C'mon. Again, I get it for the story and Shelly is on it, 'please don't say you forgot who she is'. Oh sweet, innocent Shelly, if only you knew.

Ok, now the reason we're all here, THE event of the year and that of course is the Royal Wedding. Everyone looks amazing (Maggie = wowsers!) and I have made no secret of my excitement at seeing the whole Younger fam glammed up at an event together. It's really happening!!! Liza has finally figured out her maid of honour gig as she welcomes guests, including Enzo's mother who proclaims she saw a crow flying upside down on the way to the church, 'it's a bad omen', to which Liza accurately and hilariously replies, 'especially for the crow'.

Upon hearing from Liza that Kelsey wants something that she owns, Charles finds himself a seat next to Kelsey in the church and oh my heart. I honestly never anticipated that I would be gushing about the relationship between these two characters, despite the fact I had it as a wish for season 6, it has exceeded my expectations. Charles' sincerity in offering Kelsey a stake in the company, asserting that she is family, 'I knew that the day you sacrificed everything you wanted to save us', ok it was me who took all the Kleenex from Diana and Liza's offices because EMOTIONS. His gratitude is genuine and deep, I mean never mind that it was her drunken error that caused the issue, Charles' whole refocus on the importance of the people around him this season really lead to this wonderful moment and he leaves the ball in her court knowing he has done all he can to show Kelsey that she really is valued.

Liza helping Diana from the car, OH. EM. GEE I am in love. Diana and Liza's friendship is my highlight of this entire season and this exchange did not disappoint. Diana looks so amazing. Her necklace that Liza helped Enzo pick out has it's own moons probably and Diana telling Liza that 'as a maid of honour you're slow burn but in the end you're white hot' was almost too much but also exactly the right amount. Fun fact: When you look up the meaning of magnificent in the dictionary you get this gif of the doors opening on Diana as she waits to enter the church. She is composed and beautiful and as she walks towards the beaming Enzo, Kesley and Zane are rekindling, which is sweet but again, who knows for how long?  There's just so much happiness and love in the air! It is everything I ever hoped for and more. I do wish we'd heard the vows and/or seen the 'I now pronounce you husband and wife' though, I am legit sad that we didn't see at least a little bit of the ceremony. 

We also have Josh turning up as the plus one, ok yes, it makes sense Lauren would invite him but also, have some self respect man. On the one hand I get it, when you are so infatuated with someone you will do anything to see them, but Liza specifically asked for some space so I am struggling to understand why he would accept the invite or at least not text Liza and give her a heads up or ask if she minds or something you know? Again, I know it's TV and there needs to be the DRAH-MAH etc. In saying that, the tattoo conversation I actually thought was lovely. 

Prior to that though, my dream of seeing everyone at the event together is realised, we see Maggie's ice sculpture and the hint at a Maggie and Lauren rekindling (also, Liza going over to Charles in the background and cosying up to him, I see you). We do catch the end of Diana and Enzo's first dance and hear Diana referred to as Mrs. DeLuca. Enzo giving her a hard time about her eye twitch every time she is called that is so freaking adorable and Diana and Enzo together are adorable IT'S JUST ALL ADORABLE and seeing Diana so relaxed and happy is honestly everything and yes, I'M GUSHING. Again.

I do like that Josh calls himself out, that it is super weird seeing him at the wedding. Because it really is. Josh looked devastated at Liza's initial response to the tattoo question and to me, it’s because her saying he can use it is like she's so willing to let go of him that she doesn't even want to preserve anything from the time they were together. I think that for Josh, her answer was indicative of whether she was really closing him out of her life for good. I'm finding the use of flashbacks (last week in the montage this week with the tattoo) interesting in these Josh/Liza interactions, it's not something the show has ever really done before and while last week's certainly felt like a poignant reflection, I can't help but wonder if it's also serving the purpose of reminding the audience of the relationship that once was in an effort to get viewers on side with it again (obviously many viewers never stopped wanting them together). 

But I do completely understand Liza's decision not to want anyone else to have the tattoo. It is theirs, it signifies an important part of her life and their relationship and this scene did what Younger does so infuriatingly well. Last year it was the cacao dream and this year it is this scene, there is enough ambiguity to interpret this scene as either closure and a transition of Josh and Liza's relationship away from anything romantic or for those fans of the Josh and Liza romance, it allows for hope that it may reignite one day. It was left open and closed enough to go either way.

The moment I heard 'Take my breath away' playing, I swear, I could not BELIEVE my ears. I never thought this show would do something so cliche yet here we are and I loved every second of it. Liza calling it 'our song', asking Charles if he asked them to play it and the way he answered I AM DYING (note to self - any episode that plays this Berlin hit will involve a proposal). Seeing Liza and Charles slow dancing on that dance floor was everything, I am such a sucker for a couple dancing like this and it was perfect, I may be melting into a puddle of goo just thinking about the way he holds her hand so close to his heart (though Liza's apprehensive look about the Scotland trip wasn't a fave, she seemed pretty relieved to be able to get out of that one). There I was watching, my simple mind and face grinning at the dancing when suddenly I hear the word honeymoon. I'm sorry, WHAT?! Ok, so I, along with many others I'm sure, had an inkling there might be a proposal. I have to say that in my mind Charles Brooks would never propose at someone else’s wedding, HOWEVER he himself has admitted to being impulsive when it comes to matters of the heart and the moving in conversation from episode 8 was when my cogs began to turn and wonder if we mightn't see something like this play out.

I LOVE how he's just speaking softly into her ear, it's so damn intimate and as Charles begins his beautiful speech there's a smile that flashes across Liza's face as she computes what's happening, because she's a human person who has the most romantic monologue ever being delivered to her. His pause as he says 'with...everything about you' ugh, his love for her is palpable in that moment, I seriously need a lie down just from writing about it. Kelsey barging in with 'I do, I DO, I've been trying to think of a reason not to say yes but there isn't one' (listen to your friend Liza, she is wise) is so perfect, it's SO Younger, her answer being the answer Liza should've been giving (and the fact she didn’t setting up the cliffhanger rather nicely). Meanwhile, Liza is trying not to have a panic attack as all the fab women band together to ‘We are family’, but as she gets caught in the middle of the conga line, Charles expectant and hopeful and her smiling, they share that moment between the two of them despite the chaos around them, as their eyes remain locked across the room.

The beauty of television is that you get on for the ride and you never know where you might end up. At the start of the season I certainly wouldn't have thought waiting to hear Liza's response to Charles proposing would be the finale cliffhanger and I'm not sure how I feel about it to be honest, but you know what the only good thing about a 9 month hiatus between seasons is? We get 9 months to speculate and theorise and re-watch the whole series a normal number of times *cough* and digest it all.

And that, folks, is another season of our fave show done. I do plan to do a season review at some point, but I just want to thank all of you who indulge me by reading the excessive number of words I plonk on a page week after week, the interactions and feedback are wonderful and I really appreciate it all. 

I guess it’s time to get back to those real life responsibilities I’ve been ignoring the past 3 months (though JOMO, amirite?).   

[justgenlockthings]

gen:VIEW Episode 2, “There’s Always Tomorrow”

Rooster Teeth knows how to make a premiere that packs a punch when it comes to their serialized dramas (yes, I’m including Red vs. Blue in that category). But it’s the non-premiere episodes that generally give you a better idea of if the show’s gonna be good or not.

Or maybe you’re someone like TheFloofArtist and you were predisposed to hate the show long before you even saw it and so found literally every possible reason to hate it from the 2nd episode and dramatically “dropped it” despite the fact that if you hated the show so much you were shitting on it without having seen a single episode your opinion was never gonna be considered valid.

(Why do grown men throw hissy fits about TV shows?)

Ahem...so. Episode 2 of gen:LOCK...

Let’s Get Down To Business

Where episode 1 was about establishing the relationship between Chase and Miranda, this episode seems to be about establishing the gen:LOCK program itself: how it works and who’s gonna be in it. For that reason, at least for the first half, it’s very expository, but not in a way that ever feels boring. Honestly, the longer episode lengths means the amount of time they spend standing around and talking doesn’t feel like vital time wasted, unlike RWBY which has often made that terrible mistake. This is information we need to get a basic understanding of how this program works, and we also get a chance to hear Dr. Weller passionately talking about his life’s work. Jesus christ, David Tennant gives such a good performance. He really sells the good guy mad scientist voice you expect from Dr. Weller.

I wasn’t entirely sold on Michael B. Jordan as a voice actor the previous episode, but even if at certain points it was clear we were watching a scene that hadn’t been initially animated to his voice, this episode convinced me things were gonna be fine. I loved his performance in the scene of Julian in the tank chatting with Migas: the sort of bittersweetness of the reunion between the two after all that had happened to them, but they were still glad to finally see each other again. Miles Luna deserves some praise too for helping sell the fact that this is a reunion. After all, even though we caught a brief moment of them interacting and joking around in Episode 1, we didn’t really have a chance to establish they were close friends. This scene does well to convince us that yes, they were friends, and they are relieved to see each other again.

Chase and Miranda’s situation was very well-handled in this episode. It was always going to be painful for Miranda to find out Chase was still alive, and even though it’s perfectly logical that Chase wasn’t able to reach out to her in the intervening years, it still isn’t something she can just brush over. She didn’t immediately jump at the chance to see him in-person, and actively avoided him for a day. It would have been a major mistake for her to be the first one who went to visit him. I love this whole situation with Miranda: the way the marketing was going you kind of expected just a bland character defined by her relationship with Chase, and, well, I guess what she does in this episode is sort of defined by the relationship, but it’s done in a way that’s actually interesting, where you actually care about how she feels about all this. Dakota Fanning does a great job conveying the hurt Miranda feels seeing someone she loved after so long who she’d given up for dead. I think she might easily be the third best voice actor we’ve heard so far, behind Monica Rial and David Tennant.

Here’s another case where one of my few pre-show expectations got subverted. From the character teasers I’d sort of expected us to get a depiction of the formation of the gen:LOCK program from the start: presumably that path would have followed Chase and Yasamin’s initial training and the early mech designs we saw in the early posters and the first two teasers. Of course, this was before I had known what they were planning with Chase’s crash, a path in the story that I could not have possibly predicted. And now I’m realizing why they didn’t do that: 1) it would have been too similar to RWBY and probably have made for a very slow show otherwise, and 2) they wanted to get right into the giant mechs fighting things. Sure, it sort of robs us of seeing some cool stuff about what it was like for Chase to join the program, but I figure we’ll get that depicted in flashbacks or in the comics.

One of the accusations regarding Kazu Iida was that having him speak Japanese while everyone else was speaking English would create “The Lopez Effect.” For those unaware, Lopez is a robot on Rooster Teeth’s show Red vs. Blue who speaks “Spanish” (really sentences run through Google Translate) that is translated for the audience via subtitles but no one else can understand. Now, for what the complain actually entails, I think “Lopez effect” is a bad term for it because Lopez’s situation is played for laughs while in gen:LOCK everyone understands Iida and doesn’t bat an eye. The complaint is more that it creates a tonal dissonance in what’s designed as a dramatic show: while everyone’s speaking English Kazu’s saying all his lines in Japanese with subtitles. Now, I can understand why that could all sound a little weird, but the thing is the way they set things up in the episode I really don’t think Iida speaking English is gonna be as distracting as one might think: they set it up where the characters can understand what he’s saying thanks to the augmented reality gear everyone seems equipped with, so that already established a method of communication, and I just didn’t give any thought to the fact he’s speaking Japanese for the rest of the episode. I would honestly be more bothered if he just spoke English all the time.

The other accusation is that the fact that he is the only character who speaks a foreign language was they’d have an excuse to get the voice of Spike Spiegel, which apparently is bad because it’s “weeb-baiting.” I’m sorry, I didn’t realize they were trying to draw audiences in with who they were casting...

As far as the new gen:LOCK recruits go, we didn’t get too much information about them, and this is probably the only issue I have with this episode. Still, there was a lot going on here, so I can forgive not learning everything about them in their first appearance. And the thing is, the sequence with the imposter Sinclair (bravo to Blaine Gibson for being able to flip a coin––heheh––from friendly recruit Sinclair to Evil!Sinclair) offered us a good glimpse into who they are as fighters. Especially in recent years, Rooster Teeth fights are a chance to really get an idea for the character (and for that I wholeheartedly thank Monty Oum) and how they handle dangerous situations. Yasamin is clearly someone who can jump into a fight and hold her own without hesitation, Iida is someone who will jump right into a fight, Valentina will keep her distance but can still be quite deadly, and Cammie is a scared little bean...who with a little encouragement can still be helpful.

Now, the Sinclair reveal was a slight bit predictable if you picked up the hints in Character Reveal Teaser 4 (which I hadn’t, and in retrospect was blatantly obvious). The fact that it was predictable was the source of derision by some of the more gen:CRIT crowd, but honestly? I don’t see predictability as a sign of whether something’s good or not. Things can be predictable and still be fun to watch, so long as it’s delivered in an entertaining manner. And we got a pretty awesome fight sequence out of it.

I’ve seen a few people say that the jokes in this show feel forced. I’m inclined to disagree. The type of humor Gray and Evan are employing in the writing is more grounded than the kind you see in RWBY or Red vs. Blue or Camp Camp: it’s designed to feel more natural to the conversations these characters are having, while also not taking attention away from the more serious aspects of the story. Most of Rooster Teeth’s core group (more recent additions less-so) know how to create an engaging story based in serious tones, but they never really stray from their comedy roots––Day 5, their most dramatic venture to date, was a lot funnier than the concept would’ve implied because Josh and Chris knew where to inject humor when it would be desperately needed. This episode isn’t very different: the drama of Chase basically coming back from the dead gets natural moments of levity from his and Migas brief Siege mention and Dr. Weller being disappointed that he couldn’t participate in the reveal; the tension between Chase and Miranda gets a moment where Miranda refuses to hear out Migas on visiting Chase, a moment that can draw laughs while also being realistic to her and Chase’s actual situation; Chase popping up behind Fake!Sinclair and saying “Boo,” which...actually that was more a legit joke, but I laughed really hard. What I mean to say is gen:LOCK is not trying to be a comedy, but Rooster Teeth knows how and when to make its audience laugh.

(save for Red vs. Blue Season 16 of course...)

Conclusions

Another solid episode of gen:LOCK, and a little more interesting one than “The Pilot” because it delves into the meatier stuff that this series is going to follow. Stellar vocal performances by the cast give us a sense of the relationships that need to be picked up in the four years since the war began, and some amazing fighting shows us gen:LOCK means business as an action series.

My only concern is that the way this episode is formatted it doesn’t quite stand on its own in the way “The Pilot” did, but the fact that it was released alongside “The Pilot” worked in its favor, since both episodes give us a good ground to establish what this show is looking to do, and hopefully further episodes will follow on that.

I’ve said enough about people who were predisposed to hate the show commenting on this episode, but I wanna say this also: people. We are two episodes in. The show premiered less than a week ago. There isn’t a whole lot of content to draw from to know where it’s going. Be a little more patient.

[bohemian-war]

How I met Jack Lowden…

Hi guys!

Just come from seeing Jack in MFM and even when I have met lots of celebrities in my life, this is probably one of the best experiences I’ve ever had when it comes to meeting an actor. 

I am gonna try to make this short since it’s quite late and I’ve got a massive headache. Enjoy!

So everything started when it was announced that Jack was gonna be in a new play in London. I am from Spain, however, I live in the UK now so I am lucky enough to be able to see lots of musicals and plays every day. 

When the tickets came out early this year, I bought them straight away. I did not even think about it for a second. In fact, I can’t believe that I bought them months ago and the whole thing is now gone. Time really flies!

I’ve been doing and covering both premieres and events for almost six years now as I work in the entertainment industry and I get to cover these and meet celebrities–in a professional way–for free so I’ve had my moments of starstruck, believe me. Especially when I met Tom Hanks or when I bumped into Aneurin Barnard a couple of weeks ago in the street (these are stories that can be told in a different time).

Unfortunately, since I moved to London two years ago, my work schedule–I am working in a theatre now–is a weird one, so I don’t have time to cover events as much as I used to do so in the past. This–alongside my self-esteem, anxiety, and depression issues–have made me become quite shy and to lose my “touch” when it comes to meeting actors. Now I am scared of approaching them! To the point that I have been rehearsing what I wanted to say to Jack for a whole week!

Since last Monday, the only thing I’ve done is overthinking things. “What if I don’t cause a good impression?” “What if he thinks I am crazy?” “What if I cannot talk due to my anxiety?” “What if my anxiety plays tricks on me again as it did with Aneurin?” Anyways, I started to look at all these fan pictures from last Friday and I was jealous of the fact that they could talk to him and I perfectly knew that I was not gonna be able to do the same thing. 

Today, my friend sent me a text saying that she had got last minute tickets and that she was coming with me. I immediately felt relieved because even when there was a minimum percentage that I couldn’t get anything from Jack unless she was gonna be there to support me so that was a plus.  We got to the Donmar two hours and a half before the performance began. We wanted to try to see if we could spot Jack. Obviously, we were not gonna stay there more than what it was necessary, so if he wasn’t around we would leave. Luckily, he left the building with two other actors from the play, we saw this and approached him nicely. He was on his break chatting and having a cigarette so this is when I was starting to get into a panicky kind of mood because he was definitely seeing us approaching him from afar and I didn’t want to have any “problems” with him. 

When he was about to leave, we called him and he turned around. He is BEAUTIFUL! So blonde and with those gorgeous blue eyes. So tall and skinny. Did I say he is literally the most BEAUTIFUL human being in the entire planet and that he must be protected at all costs? My friend and I basically had the shortest conversation ever. We told him that we were big fans of his, that we were there to see the show and that we needed to kill two hours and a half. He was so pleased when we let him know that we were there for him and to see the show. You cannot even imagine. He felt so relieved! We asked him for a picture and voilá:

(That’s even a coats match *_*). I quickly asked him if he could sign my Dunkirk Blu-ray and he told me that he would be delighted to do it after the show and he also told me that he’d be leaving via the fire exit (thanks to everybody here who helped me with that because some people in the theatre tried to fool us but Jack himself let us all know that he’d definitely be coming out through the back door). He finally asked me if I knew where the fire exit was otherwise he could show me. I said yes. Now that I think about it tho, I wouldn’t have minded a small tour haha.  After this, my friend and I went for a coffee and wait till seven to collect our tickets. The main “problem” is that my friend and I had different seats, however, people at the Donmar Box Office know me–as I work for the same company and I am very good friends with all of them–so we ended up getting a last minute upgrade. We were meant to be in the fourth and second rows and we finished sitting in the middle section of the first row!!! Jack was literally in front of us all the time!!! (Every time that he looked at me, I was literally dying inside. And he did it more than once! He is just so beautiful. I just wanna die T_T). 

Anyways, I cannot stress enough how incredible the play was and everybody was amazing but both Jack and Hayley were astonishing. I don’t even have words. In fact, I am not gonna give anything away as a) they’re still on previews and things are gonna keep changing when it comes to the play in the next couple of days (in fact, the play was shortened 15 minutes today); b) there’s not enough time to say everything. I thought I had seen it all with the ravishing performance of Andrew Scott in Hamlet or the astounding performance of Mark Rylance in Othello but this was in a whole different level, I can tell you. Go to see Measure for Measure if you have the chance. You are not gonna regret it! I might actually go again because it was amazing! (If you’ve seen the play and would like to discuss it with me, my inbox is now open :)).  After the show, we went to the back to wait for Jack. There were people already there and I was panicking AGAIN! I wanted to see him but I didn’t wanna be there at the same time. In fact, I was feeling that I was bothering him with my stupid presence. I already had my picture and I had seen the play. What else could I ask for? It took him about fifteen minutes to come out but he definitely did it and he was so happy to see us. BLESS HIM! Most of the fans were from Asia (especially South Korea) but us (a.k.a.the Spaniards haha). Guys, I am not even kidding, Jack spent at least 45 minutes with all of us after the show!!! After a three-hour-and-ten-minutes play, I had never seen a so well-mannered and dedicated person to his fans ever!!! He was probably exhausted and he still had time for his fans and to make jokes non-stop. He signed everything from programs and DVDs/Blu Rays to drawings. A beautiful fan drew him in Fonzo and he was blown away by the result! I literally have lots of pics, videos, and memories from the encounter. In addition, I’d like to keep most of them to myself because I’d like this to be a very special moment between Jack and me. Because it was so beautiful that I don’t want it to be spoiled. I wanna retain it in my mind forever. But I am just gonna say that we both talked about Dunkirk LOADS and when I mentioned that I first saw him in The Passing Bells he was very surprised. He answered with an amazing “Nooooo Shut Up! Are you kidding?” I told him that I am a massive History geek and he answered that he loves History too. Then that led to Mary, Queen of Scots and other projects (Fonzo etc). He was so flattered when we mentioned them all to him. When he was signing my program he was surprised by my name (he said that it is beautiful. BEAUTIFUL! *_*) and he even added an “España” (Spain) to the signature. He told me that he once went to Cadiz (South of Spain) and that he’d love to go to Madrid, which is where I am from :). I told him that I might do a trip to Scotland soon and this cheered him up even more. He also talked about his parents living in Asia and how he got to go to Asia when he was a child and that he’d love to go back one day. After this, we both hugged endlessly (he revealed to us that he’s living on his own at the moment so he needs lots of hugs awww :’)), we took lots of pics and videos and we chatted for hours. We all even joked about having a coffee together to discuss the play. Unfortunately, it was quite late but I bet that, on a different occasion, Jack would have said yes.  You can see lots of videos of us here. I am the redhead asking questions all the time haha. Now I feel bad for not letting the others speak. Sorry :(. Thank you @uoize for the amazing videos and pics as well! Here you are a few of the ones I took (I include the one with Hayley as well):

He’s signing my Dunkirk Blu Ray here. I have more than five editions of the film and I took the German one with me as it’s the one with Collins on the cover. He was taken by surprise when we told him that he is in every 4K Blu Ray edition of the film all around the world and he said that he’d like to buy one copy. When we told him it was already sold out he blamed us for buying all the copies. 

(Another pic with Jack. This time a selfie taken by him. P.S. The background of the pic has been edited as some people in the pic requested me not to be seen). The last thing I did was thank him for everything he’s done so far. I told him that he was so nice (he told me that I was very nice as well and that I could calm down around him. No need to be nervous) and that it was so great of him that he dedicates so much time to his fans when he shouldn’t be. Again, he was taken by surprise and with a puppy face, he replied “Of course, don’t be silly! I love it. Also, you came to see the show guys so it’s the least I can do!” Jacks is everything I wanted him to be and so much more!!! I don’t think I will ever meet someone like him again in my life. I truly wish him the best and I am sure he’s gonna smash it because he simply deserves the world. I’ve been to the theatre so many times and I`ve seen so many great musicals and plays. I’ve met lots of fans but nothing so close and welcoming as today. Thanks, everybody for making this possible!

Lots of love!

xx

[lifeofnickripley]

Game of Thrones: Fav characters and characters I dislike

(Long post) Kay so, today is the premiere of the final season, guess I'll do my top Ten favorite characters(it is pretty much my favorite show of all time). Show only since I have yet to read the books. If you wonder my opinion on any character not mentioned I either forgot to mention them or I didn't think they really earned a spot on the lists. Yes I do censor things in this a bit buuut I want my web comic to have a wider audience so yea, deal with it. (SPOILER WARNING, at this point, if ur not caught up tho, you have only yourself to blame) Liked Honorable mentions: - Melisandre - before I found out bout the necklace, I had the HUGEST crush on her. She's evil, yes, but she adds a sense of wonder and magic to the show, so I still like her character (other than that necklace scene obviously). Plus Jon wouldn't be back if it weren't for her so haters gonna hate. - Bronn- if he doesn't get his damn castle...lol I doubt I need to say why this wise cracking sword for hire is a favorite, I think most people love him. - Yara Greyjoy - Badass pirate/Viking chick on the high seas? Hell yeah! Plus I love Greyjoy armor, I don't doubt Euron will probably kill her though. - Oberyn Martell - Awesome character, the Red Viper was fierce with a spear and even moreso with his attitude. Unfortunately his pride wound up being his undoing in the end, arguably one of the most effective deaths in the series. - Tormund Giantsbane - How can you not love this absolute bro? I don't even like Brienne and I ship them. Geniune badass. - Jorah Mormont - Lord of the Friend zone, his loyalty makes him one of my favs, not top ten tier though - Petyr Baelish: The events of Game of Thrones wouldn't have happened without this slimy bastard. He was smart and cunning (which made him fun to watch) and though his death was cool, the build up was kind of weak (weird Sansa/Arya storyline) Favorite characters: 10.) Ned Stark - Everyone's original favorite character, his death cemented that GOT wasn't f*ckin around. I mean, damn, still a brutal death scene to watch to this day. Props to Sean Bean for making his so awesome. He was honorable to a fault in a dishonorable world. 9.) Ramsey Bolton - Kay, so I might get some flack for this one, but he was a great bad guy. I mean he was legit terrifying and despicable! Made the Battle of the Bastards have an entirely different level of intensity than most of the battle scenes. Dude was an absolute monster, but unlike another widely disliked villain, this psycho got his own hands dirty instead of beckoning others to. His death scene was poetic but I kinda wanted it to be gorier. (I'm an edgelord though) 8.)Jon Snow - Awesome character, obviously I dig him, so why so low on the list? Honestly, there's characters I like more. But he's still really cool, definitely has the best fight scenes of any of the characters. WE BETTER SEE GHOST THIS SEASON THOUGH!! Lol things are gonna be hella awkward when he finds out Dany is his aunt, yet we still root for them as a couple...that's wincest for you hurr hurr hurr hurr (sorry) I could see him living in the end cus tbh killing him again would be repetitive BS. 7.)Tywin Lannister - Kay...so he died on the sh*tter (imo probably the worst place to die) AND he was an absolute d*ck to Tyrion...but dude, he was awesome. He literally has a song about him in the world of GOT that is used as a warning to others to not f*ck with him!! He took a house that was laughed at and turned it into one of the most feared houses in all of Westeros. That is pretty frickin cool. 6.) Cersei Lannister - Another one I'll get flack for but whatever lol She's cool! So what she shags her brother and is an awful human being? She's a badass! Did you SEE how she blew up all of her enemies in the court and solidified her queen status in one fell swoop? That was dope!! She's vile but very entertaining to watch. RIP the Tyrells. Probably gonna get choked out though by her brother like Maggie the frog predicted. (By my second favorite character no less) 5.) Daenerys Targaryen - Dany! One of my cats is named after her! I love this character. The dragons are amazing, she's cute, she's powerful, maybe a little insane cus of Targaryen madness, and she's overcome some amazing odds. Her storylines could be a little meh in the grand scheme of things but Emilia Clarke's portrayal has made a character that we really root for. I suspect she'll die personally by the Night King buuuuut we'll see. 4.)Tyrion Lannister -Tyrion's writing has gone down a bit in recent seasons but still, most people's favorite Lannister. His quick wit and resilience make him a solidified favorite. Still seems like the person you'd most wanna drink with. I'd be pretty damn surprised if he bit the dust. 3.) Arya Stark - My other cat is named after her and there's a good reason why, SHE'S BASICALLY BECOME A FREAKING FACE STEALING NINJA!!! She was always likeable and I think I've enjoyed almost every storyline she's been a part of (excluding her main one last season) Maisie Williams is a great actress and I hope to see more of her in the future. I doubt Arya will die, but based on that one trailer, things do seem rather bleak for her. Who knows...maybe GRRM wants a divorce... 2.) Jaime Lannister - Yes. This dude is my favorite Lannister. In case you couldn't tell, Lannister is my favorite house. He's really had the best redemption arc in the series. He went from a character I disliked to my second favorite. I predict he will be the one to kill his sister, what happens to him after that, idk. It'll be awkward when he meets Bran again though... 1.) The Hound (Sandor Clegane) - CLEGANEBOWL BETTER HAPPEN!! Kay so... admittedly I screamed like a little freaking girl when this character came back. He... HE'S JUST SO FREAKING COOL!! Admittedly being a 6 footer and a rather grumpy individual, I probably relate to him more than I'd like to admit. Probably will die, but as long as he fights his brother, I'll be a very happy edgelord. Characters I dislike: 10.) Sansa Stark - Kay so I just...I dislike her, I never liked her. I feel sorry for her, sure. She's gotten better over time, sure. I still see her as very entitled and kinda whiny/bratty. She'll probably die. If not I won't be disappointed, still though, not a fan of Sansa. It was cool how she killed Ramsey, tho again, do wish the scene was gorier. 9.) Robb Stark - Ned Stark 2.0 but way less cool. Nuff said. I was okay with his death in the Red Wedding. Shouldn't have made a promise you weren't gonna commit to. Even if Walder Frey is a d*ck. 8.) Catelyn Stark - She was just such a jerk to Jon Snow and Tyrion, seriously. Even moreso in the books from what I have read of them. She got on my nerves. Honestly, I don't feel like Lady Stoneheart would've added much in terms of storyline. 7.) Brienne of Tarth: I find her annoying. Sure, her fight with the hound was FREAKING COOL, but she's kinda too self righteous for her own good. Duty is her thing and all but she is really not good at holding up to her vows. Still ship her and Tormund though. 6.) Theon Greyjoy - hated this dude, then felt sorry for him, now I roll my eyes at him. Honestly, Greyjoys other than Yara are pretty meh characters. Good for him finally regaining figurative cajones. Doubt he'll save his sister though, or survive the White Walkers for that matter. 5.) Euron Greyjoy - this one is a shame cus I hear the book character is amazing. Feels like a pretty generic bad guy of the week type for a show with outstanding villains. Funny like here or there, but kinda a weak character overall. Theon will probably kill him, though I'd love to see a twist where he kills Theon. 4.) Walder Frey - Old dude that got what was coming to him, props to the guy who plays Filch, portrayed two characters who were absolutely despicable. I doubt I really have to list the ways this cowardly character was despicable. Awesome death scene though. Winter came for House Frey. 3.) Shae - Grrrr. The actual actress I feel very sorry for cus I've heard her story, but man this character. Dumb but smart enough to screw over Tyrion. For personal reasons, I really hate this character, reminds me of people I've known. 2.) Tommen and Myrcella Baratheon - Most. Useless. Lannisters. Ever. I'm a Lannister fan so you could see why I roll my eyes so hard with these two. Tommen rolled over so hard you might as well have called him a wheel. And Myrcella was just kinda there, admittedly sad to watch her death scene though (pretty much moreso because it was the only time Jaime was really able to connect with his daughter) 1.) Joffrey Baratheon - Everyone probably saw this coming. Joffrey is that kid on the playground that'd hit you, you'd hit back, they'd start crying and get you in trouble. Everybody knew that kid, I think that's why everyone hates this character so. But man, his death scene was soooo satisfying. Props to the Jack Gleason for making him so horrible. There ya have it. My opinions on GOT characters. Freaking excited for tonight's premiere!! WINTER IS HERE!!