#other hits include:

[infinitelystrangemachinex]

The stewards of the old world are always keen to give you a glimpse of their might... According to legend, the ancients built specialized chambers to seal away false prophets.

The Arcane is waking up.

[cuttle-creatures]

Continued my indulgent concept work spree, this time focusing the momentum on updating some concepts from one of my projects (Wind Through the Grass).

[gonkaccino]

hey hey another thing. Everyone noticed how subdued movie Elphaba is relative to book/musical Elphaba, right? Book Elphaba's whole thing is being loudly independent and making her own bold choices (then getting [metaphorically] pushed down 5 flights of stairs for having the gall to exist). Musical Elphaba is less of a reddit atheist than her book counterpart, but still plenty abrasive and, ultimately, forges her own path (with its own relatively less tragic consequences).

Movie Elphaba? She doesn't choose to go to Shiz. Her father's planning on keeping her tucked away in their family home until the day she dies, where she can't hurt anyone or further embarrass the Thropp name. Morrible's the one who gets her enrolled, fully aware that Elphaba has no choice if she doesn't want to spend the rest of her life stuck at home, only ever leaving to accompany Nessa. This Elphaba doesn't choose to go to school, she doesn't choose to go to the Emerald City, and, really, she doesn't even choose to defy gravity -- there is no alternative, she can't live if she stays with the Wizard, especially not after Morrible's preemptive announcement of her wickedness. Movie Elphaba's trapped by her destiny, walking the path laid out for her. With one crucial exception, of course: Glinda, baby, that's right, the only thing this Elphie's ever chosen for herself, the only thing she's been allowed to choose, is to have Glinda at her side!

This softer, more noticeably scared Elphaba creates the extremely juicy dynamic of visibly relying on Glinda for support. As soon as they become pals, Elphaba's latched onto her, the only person who isn't scared of her magic, the first person to care for Elphaba's well-being. She chooses to befriend Glinda, she chooses to bring Glinda to the Emerald City, she chooses to ask Glinda to defy gravity with her. This is what makes this version of Defying Gravity so delicious: Elphaba's never truly believed in herself! The only reason she ever started was because Glinda was there to encourage her, and now, at this crucial moment, this Elphaba, who has lived her life so terrified of the harm she could cause others, has the confidence to not only risk her own life with a spell she's never tried, but the life of her one and only friend!

And Glinda refuses! And it's totally understandable now! Of course this Glinda would say no -- she's not scared of what could happen to her, she's scared of what will happen to Elphie, and standing there, she gets it. She understands the role she's played in Elphaba's life. Glinda knows Elphaba wouldn't be there, ready to declare war on the Wizard, if Glinda hadn't been by her side the entire time, and she has to refuse. She has to. Elphaba's request isn't come with me, we're stronger together, it's I can't do this without you, I'm not strong enough, and Glinda KNOWS that's not true. The only way she can express this is by sending Elphie off on her own, to straighten her hat and wish her luck. It's the only way Elphie will take flight and finally realize that she's got the power to do anything she wants, if she just tries.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

This wine tastes like pigs blood!

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[djotime-allthetime]

Freaky Redheads

synopsis: interactions between you and fred hechinger at a red carpet event for gladiator ii.

wc: 2.5k+

rpf!!! don't like, don't read!!!

a/n: i love that soft, sweet, adorable man with all of my heart. my inspiration is how fred talks about sherry. the monkey. i'm down bad bro.

italics are supposed to be comments under tiktok clips of these interviews. i definitely have more in mind for these two, but we'll see how this goes. feedback is writer's fuel!

cross posted on AO3

next part>>

The flashing cameras and yelling reporters have started to become the new normal, which was so not normal for you. You couldn't believe how far you'd come.

Granted, your role in the movie was definitely more in the supporting cast territory, but you couldn't deny how massive the production was. But even as a supporting actress, you still had quite a bit of screen time as the unnamed favorite concubine to Emperor Caracalla.

The fans who knew you called out your name from behind the velvet ropes and you smiled and waved as you walked by.

"y/n! y/n! Over here!" A reporter called out. You nodded and smiled as you approached, indicating your acceptance of the carpet-side interview. Your agent had warned you that not every journalist might want to speak with you and that you should accept any interview you came by. Thankfully, as the start of your night would show, that wasn't the case.

"Hello!" You beamed, coming to a stop in front of the camera. The reporter greeted you back and handed you a microphone glued to a mini Romanesque column. "Oh, wow. I love the microphone!"

"Thank you," She smiled. With a quick glance at her blouse, you saw a name tag that said 'MTV UK: Claire'. "It was my idea, actually."

"Incredibly creative! They should give you a raise, Claire."

"If you wouldn't mind saying that directly into the camera..." Claire trailed off with a chuckle and a mischievous glint to her eye.

You shot the camera as serious a look as you could muster. "MTV, if you do not give this woman a raise, I will riot in the streets."

"Alright alright, enough of that." Claire laughed out loud with a few shakes of her head. "You look absolutely stunning!"

"Oh, this old thing?" You smiled bashfully, grabbing at your skirt to twirl it around. The styling department had made sure that all the gowns worn during press had some Roman inspiration behind them. The piece you were wearing was off white in color, representing your character's position in society. Even with your character in mind, your dress was still breathtaking. The gown was composed of yards and yards of fabric, giving it this dreamy, flowy silhouette. The neckline was so beautiful, in the cowl style and draped ever so slightly off your shoulders. To say that you loved it would be an understatement. "Thank you very much, you look amazing yourself."

"But you are on a different level!" Claire gasped, no doubt to return the topic to you. Just like you were media trained, the reporters were too. "What was the thought process behind your look tonight?"

Your eyes lit up as this was something you had wanted to talk about. "Well, the styling department and I actually workshopped this look together. Of course we wanted it to be glamorous, this is the red carpet after all. But we also wanted to show the character through the outfits, you know?" She nodded along.

"Right, your character was quite impactful even with the few lines you had." Claire added, and you smiled in thanks.

"Yeah, thank you." You felt your face heat up at the compliment. "We wanted to still be true to her, under all the glitz and glamour. So that's why we went with the understated color, to not only show her position in society but also her demeanor throughout the film."

"But your jewellery is anything but understated." She laughed.

"Yeah, I couldn't help myself." You laughed with her.

"Give us a quick tour."

You were almost dripping in gold, from your head to your toes. "We've got the hair piece." You brought a hand up to show the gold pins connected with chains littering your up-do. "Earrings upon earrings, all hoops." You pulled a strand back to show off your right ear clearly. Some were clip on earrings as you didn't have quite enough piercings to get them all. "The necklaces, of course. Some bracelets, some rings. But I think this cuff on my upper arm is my favorite."

"And these are all borrowed pieces from different brands?"

"Most of them are, yes." You confirmed with a nod. "But some are from my private collection. And some I might steal." You joked, getting a laugh out of Claire.

"Well, you really knocked it out of the park." Claire smiled, a tone of finality in her voice that showed you the interview was coming to a close. "And before we let you go, we've got one question we're asking everyone tonight. I think we can all agree that the cast of this movie is full of beautiful men." You giggled, a bit surprised at the turn in topic. "But people on the internet have separated them into two categories."

"Oh, have they now?" You asked, unaware of what she was talking about.

"Yes, they have. Gen Z has divided them into the brooding brunets and the freaky redheads." She explained, pulling up two little hand held signs. One with Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal, the brooding brunets, and the other with Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger, the freaky redheads.

You couldn't contain the surprised laugh that escaped you at the sight of their little printed faces. "Oh my goodness!"

"So, as the resident Gen Z-er on the cast, who is your pick?"

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm the only representation of Gen Z here." You mused as you grabbed both the signs from Claire. You lifted up the 'freaky redheads' sign and pointed to Fred. "My friend is right there with me in the Gen Z territory."

"Alright, as the representation of Gen Z women, which team is more your style?" Claire asked as you studied the signs. "People are saying they went into the movie for the brunets and came out converted to team redheads."

"That's actually really funny," You chuckled as you looked down at both signs. "This is hard." You mumbled. A small smirk found itself on your lips as you thought of Fred seeing this clip later. Someone no doubt showing it to him, as he wouldn't find it on his own. "I feel like- yeah." You nodded with determination. "I'm gonna have to go with Fred- I'm going with team freaky redheads." You nodded. "I think it would be treacherous otherwise."

"Good choice. You'd break Emperor Caracalla's heart."

"And then he'd have my head." You laughed, stepping back. "Thank you for your great questions."

"Thank you for your time." Claire waved as you walked away. "We're gonna have a tally going throughout the night, and we'll see who wins. Team brooding brunets, or team freaky redheads." You heard her say to the camera as you moved further down the carpet.

'She looks so pretty!!'

'i love the thought process behind the outfit, you can tell she really loved her character'

'the reporter asked y/n if she prefers lucius and acacius or geta and caracalla and this girl really said FRED 💀'

'i love seeing new faces in hollywood, give young new actors a chance!!' ↳ 'right?? im so sick of them recycling the same actors for every big budget movie'

'she mentioned fred, not caracalla, twice, unprompted. i see you, y/n. you're just like us.' ↳ 'have you seen his interviews? he's literally the cutest i cant blame her 🥺'

A few steps down, another reporter flagged you down. This time, the questions were more centered around the acting itself.

"And was it difficult? In a previous interview, you've said that your character's growth was significant, but she had almost no lines in the movie."

"Yeah, I think in the final cut she only has... three lines?" You winced, looking upwards as you tried to recall what was and wasn't cut. "Though I'm not sure."

"So there were scenes where she could've said more?"

"Oh yeah, for sure! There was a lot of experimentation with my character throughout filming. Ridley's a genius and he was kind enough to truly take in my suggestions. There were times where I felt like she would actually stay quiet during a scene, whereas other times I felt like she would speak up. But yeah," You breathed in and furrowed your brows in thought as you tried to focus your answer back to the original question. "It was definitely a challenge. I had to really work on my micro-expressions. Lots of research, lots of practice. And lots of trust, too. With a character like mine, I really relied on Fr- on my fellow actors in those scenes. So yeah, definitely challenging. But who doesn’t love a good challenge?"

"And did you take any inspiration from other people's work? Any source material that helped you out as you built your character?"

"Of course!" You smiled, a hint of humor in your tone as you thought of your response. "Yeah, I did. Actually, one of the biggest inspirations for my role, believe it or not, was Ferb. From 'Phineas and Ferb'."

"The- The children's show?" The interviewer questioned with a grin.

"Yeah, Ridley thought it was brilliant!" You laughed. "We watched compilations of Ferb scenes on youtube together. And I know that Fred- Fred Hechinger, who plays Emperor Caracalla-, he also brought up Sid Vicious with Ridley, as well as other sources like that. Sir Ridley Scott has great taste, there's no denying that."

'ferb as inspiration for a movie like this,,, gen z in the film industry really are the gift that keeps on giving'

'im just imagining y/n and ridley scott curled up on the couch watching phineas and ferb reruns. that man is 86 years old. this is brilliant.'

'bro didn't even have to say anything and y/n still brought up fred 💀'

'the gen z cast members making ridley scott watch cartoons is sending me'

'not her pretending she didn't mean to say fred when she talked about trust, we all heard you y/n'

Unbeknownst to you, Fred's interviews were going much like yours, only a few feet behind you on the carpet.

"You look amazing today!" Claire, the same reporter you spoke to, told Fred during his first interview on the carpet.

"Thank you, thank you." He replied bashfully as he tried to subtly look around for you, but he couldn't see you just yet. "Everyone looks so great, everyone."

She asked him a few questions and then came time for her ending segment.

"Alright, to close off, we've got a little game here."

"A game?" Fred smiled with raised brows. "I love games." He said softly, not realizing that the microphone would pick it up.

"Yes, a quick one. You just have to choose between team brooding brunets and team freaky redheads. We've asking everyone to join."

"Woah!" Fred exclaimed as he received the signs. "That's me." He pointed out his own face in the picture of him and Joseph. "What are we basing our choice on here?"

"Well, the internet is battling on who is more attractive."

"Oh my god." Fred chortled, not expecting that answer. "Who's played the game?" He asked, still examining the hand held signs.

"As of now, we've spoken to Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen, and y/n l/n." Claire recounted.

Fred's eyes lit up and his cheeks reddened at the mention of your name. "And what's the- what's the consensus so far?"

"It's two to one. Can you guess who's in the lead?" Claire asked.

"Let me think... Well, Joseph -my brother-, he definitely voted for us." He pondered aloud as he counted the votes off on his fingers. "Connie... I think Connie went for team brunets. I mean, it's her husband. She's gotta." He grinned when it came to you. "y/n chose me, right? We're in the lead?"

"Yeah, you're right on all counts! You really know your cast members." Claire laughed. "y/n didn't want to anger Emperor Caracalla."

"Oh, she couldn't. I’ve got too much of a soft spot for her." Fred shook his head emphatically.

"So, are you keeping team redheads in the lead? Or will you give us a tie?"

"No, I'm going team redheads!" Fred exclaimed. "I'm not helping out my competition, no way!"

'this man has bewitched me with his beautiful eyes and calming demeanor'

'he always calls joe his brother im CRYINGGG'

'did you see his face when they mention y/n, this man can't hide his crush for the life of him 🥺' ↳ 'neither can she lol'

'what do yall know about fred hechinger 🗣️🗣️🗣️'

'fred immediately knowing that y/n chose him, kill me right now.' ↳ 'mind you the choice was caracalla. she still said 'fred' and he said 'me'. can they be more obvious?'

'the way this man said 'i love games' protect him at all costs'

‘he said ‘i’ve got a soft spot for her’ is this the year of men yearning?’ ↳ ‘it’s just the paul mescal effect’

It was during his next interview that he saw you. He was talking about his experience building the character of Emperor Caracalla with Sir Ridley Scott as well as Joseph Quinn when he finally caught sight of you. You had spent a bit longer with a specific reporter down the carpet, causing Fred to catch up to you. 

“Of course, y/n was a great help as well.” He smiled, reaching over to brush against your elbow to catch your attention. At the perfect time, too, because you had just finished talking to the reporter in front of you.

“Oh, Fred!” You beamed, coming over to give him a hug. 

“Look at you.” Fred spoke against your shoulder. He pulled away from the hug and brought you into his side in front of the camera, almost like he was showing you off. “Look at her, isn’t she stunning.”

“Stop it,” you rolled your eyes as you tried your best not to show how his compliment affected you. “I’m sorry for interrupting, I just had to say hello.”

“No worries,” the reporter reassured you. “Fred was actually saying how you helped with the building of his character.”

“Yeah, we worked really closely during pre-production actually.” You nodded, acutely aware of Fred’s hands on you. He had one hand casually tucked into his pocket while his other arm draped across your waist, his hand resting against your hip. “My character was almost like Caracalla’s sidekick, so the motives for all her actions are really based around him.”

“I’d argue that she was more of a mirror, actually.” You turned to look at Fred, never passing up an opportunity to hear his view on these things. “She’s the complete opposite of Caracalla, but in a way she represents who he truly is under all the pressure of being in Geta’s shadow.”

“And under all the syphilis, of course.” You added, causing Fred to giggle.

“Yeah, and under the syphilis.”

‘he seems like such a sweet guy 🥺’

‘did you see his face when he saw her???  😫😫😫 theyre in love, your honor’

‘him showing her off like that is peak soft boyfriend behavior’

‘they just called me single in seven different languages’

‘his laugh is actually so cute, who is this man and why am i in love with him? 😍’ ↳ 'get in line' ↳'behind y/n, you mean?'

‘the way he’s touching her???? im just gonna go take a nap in front of an oncoming train’

‘im calling it, new hollywood it couple’

‘look at how he looks at her!!! may this love find me 🙏’

[narliee]

i didn't choose this town, i dreamed of getting out.

[bruhstation]

various tugs ocs :-)

capo/captain/miss claymore is a figure from captain zero’s past that he desperately tries to forget. as mentioned in the picture, she is quite the imposing figure, and with her line of work, it’s a given that she’s as ruthless and cunning as one may expect. claymore and her men handle jobs that involve racketeering and smuggling, from weapons to booze, and back when she was younger (and still had a leash around captain zero’s neck which made her a source of extreme paranoia for him) she’s extremely adamant on how things should be done in her turf. after captain zero ditched his relations with her and left her to handle the smuggling business he haphazardly left behind, she has her sights on him and promised to give him the welcome back party he deserves, even going so far as wanting to invite his employees as well! how courteous of her.

zayin (in TUGS canon) is the newest addition to the z-stacks. although he’s a generally pleasant fellow and wants to be on at least good terms with everyone, zayin is protective of his self image – he makes sure he’s perceived as someone respectable and has a tendency of viewing others as beneath them (not that he’ll ever admit it, but the way he sometimes talk… shows). being a switcher, zayin takes up various jobs around bigg city port, and boy is he competent at them! they're one of the few z-stacks that zorran somewhat likes because they always get the job done and right and quick. nonetheless, he's often exasperated at how zayin quickly skedaddles to chat up the star tugs and continue his amicable relationship with them, especially top hat (whom he has a strange fixation on). zip and zug likes zayin for his friendliness, though, and he views them as charming yet pitiable beings.

[wallylinda]

here's some relationship charts between the jla

[dansemacabre]

welcome bag of bones to the lord huron pathetic and vaguely malicious man masquerading as a lover boy canon. please take your place between fool for love and your other life

[suguruuuuu-chan]

Every fantasy I have of One Piece is actually just increasingly elaborate ways of saving Ace at Marineford btw. Sometimes it’s showing up in the forest and letting the gremlin know he’s loved ugh

[muirmarie]

tragic to be someone who deeply and irrevocably wants a very specific gifset, but also absolutely doesn't want to put the time in to learn how to make a pretty one lmao (years ago I tried to learn and y'all they're SO much work??? say thank you to your gifmakers) so anyway just hold hands and imagine this with me:

[two side by side gifs from the devil in the dark, the first gif is mccoy saying "I'm a doctor," the second gif is him saying "not a bricklayer"] [two side by side gifs from friday's child, the first gif is mccoy saying "I'm a doctor," the second gif is him saying "not an escalator"] [two side by side gifs from the doomsday machine, the first gif is mccoy saying "I'm a doctor," the second gif is him saying "not a mechanic"] [two side by side gifs from mirror, mirror, the first gif is mccoy saying "I'm a doctor," the second gif is him saying "not an engineer"] [two side by side gifs from the empath, the first gif is mccoy saying "I'm a doctor," the second gif is him saying "not a coal miner"] [two side by side gifs from star trek v: the final frontier. the first gif is SYBOK saying "you're a doctor," the second gif is mccoy saying "I'm his SON!"]

i think about this on a weekly basis, to be clear.

ETA: the absolutely amazing @majormiles made this into an actual gifset here!

[dramas-vs-novels]

The Psychology of Sex in Media: Mame Shows

This is going to be a very base-level post. If you want to learn more, you can look into research on sex in media!

I'm going to hit on a few points in this post:

How ♀ vs ♂ Brains Process Sexual Content

Examples: PayuRain's First Time, MutRak and CirPhu additions

~~~ These are generalizations based on averages, and not necessarily 100% true for individual people. Research paints with a broad brush, nothing is one-size-fits-all. ~~~

Disclaimer: Throughout this post I will refer to "male" and "female". By this I mean those assigned male or female at birth.

I am in no way trying to exclude trans, intersex, or nonbinary individuals.

Disclaimer Pt 2: The information I am sharing is based on research presented when I was studying media psychology in University over 10 years ago. I have no idea how it may be different for intersex individuals, or those who began hormone therapy treatments at earlier stages of development while the brain was still forming.

I don't know how much research has been done broadening this out to include those groups.

How ♀ vs ♂ Brains Process Sexual Content

Did you know male and female brains are very much different? When it comes to sex, that difference manifests primarily through the lens of empathy.

Female brains have more nerve endings. It's why women experience pain more acutely (and have a higher pain tolerance as a result), and why women, very generally speaking, tend to have the ability to empathize more with others.

That empathy response plays a huge role in how we perceive- and get off on- sex in media.

Males: Men are the largest consumer of video pornography by a mile. On average, men have a stronger response to what they can see with their eyes. If you look at pornography made for male consumption, it's going to focus on genitals. Close-ups of penetration, oral, breasts, fluids- that is what is going to speak loudest to the male brain. Very direct, very in-you-face.

What about females?

Females are extremely likely to be drawn to erotica vs pornography, at almost the same overwhelming ratio as males are to video pornography. By "erotica", I mean sex in written form (not necessarily hentai/graphic novels/animated pornography because again, visual medium depends on media psychology).

Female brains lean into that empathetic advantage, and how that manifests in the consumption of sexual media is that females tend to focus on emotion-based elements with any sexual media they consume (literary or visual).

What speaks most strongly to a male is seeing the bump-n-grind, but what a female is going to focus on more than the close-ups of a dick in a vag/ass is going to be things related to emotion. Facial expressions, moaning, hands (we convey so much emotion through hands), or elements of physical movement that convey emotion.

More than just grabbing and slamming, the way a body moves and shifts, the intensity or restraint, and again, very much rooted in hands and facial expressions.

Literary based sexual media features emotion heavily through narration. That's why erotica is more popular for females to consume. If you did look at traditional pornography to see how it is shot for the male gaze, also look for porn marked "Made for Women". It is an entirely different shooting style (so long as they mean it, and it's not just a Joss Whedon type who is like "I know women" and just reinforces stereotypes).

If you're reading this post, then you don't need to be told that, by and large, the main consumer of BL content is ~women~. Not getting into why that is, that's a whole different thing that I didn't study in Uni.

But the directors and actors of BL content are extremely aware of who their primary audience is, and Mame and her team demonstrate a perfect understanding of how to film sexual content to appeal the strongest to a female audience.

Example

You can apply this to every single NC scene in a Mame show, so let's just look at the ep 4 scene from LITA.

The overwhelming focus of the scene is on Rain and his desire. The camera emphasizes hands to break up the action, and the raw hunger in Payu's eyes as he goes to town on Rain's body.

Whenever they are both in the shot, the focus remains on Rain, the one who is receiving the pleasure. Payu's face often disappears behind the left side of Rain's neck, or his face is away from the camera entirely.

Rain is carrying the visual weight of the scene, and emoting as hard as possible. There are no significantly wide nor overly close shots, all medium to medium-wide, keeping the emotion of the scene front and center.

Also, famously the audio for LITA is a bit of a train wreck, but for the sex scenes, they never miss on the moans and groans. Rain's broken gasps, the whimpering cry as he climaxes, Payu's louder shout and ragged breath- everything you are seeing and hearing is conveying emotion.

I know I said this would focus on the LITA NC, but I want to include a couple of examples as well from Love Sea and BNW.

These are two of my favorite shots:

I love these two shots, because they're fantastic examples of creating a silhouette of both actors, while also conveying their emotions and desire through body language.

Tongrak is controlled by Mahasamut's tongue on his throat- and Mahasamut in turn is controlled by Tongrak's gaze.

Phukan has given himself wholly to his desire and pleasure, and Cir is moaning as loudly as his man, mouth wide open behind him. Wanting to lick and bite but being too overwhelmed to do it.

I just wanted to highlight these two shots, because unlike the main example above, the focus is shared by both partners. Boy Next World was interesting in that Cirrus carries a lot of the expressive weight in NC scenes (not all of it, but a significant amount), while Phukan carries the aural weight- his moans are emphasized in multiple NC scenes while Cir remains relatively quiet.

[kijeu]

favourite bang chan fancams 6 / ∞ [ 221012 show champion - case 143 ⋆ ]

bonus chans under the cut <3

look at his baby smile AAAA

[guardian-angle22]

Tarlos Wedding Celebration Event [Week 14] -> favorite kiss(es)-> Comfort Kisses

[hood-ex]

"Love" and "proud" and "family" come up so frequently in bat comics now. Bleh. Bring back something I can relate to like emotional constipation and repression.