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directingscreenandstagepx7401 · 1 year ago

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Week 4 - Write up on activities

Vocal warm-up

First chunk of the warm-up required us to repeat after Bell. I enjoyed this section of the warm-up because the lines we repeat are quite long, twisted and fun or challenging to say, which creates a sense of play as well as getting our vocals ready and making us feel that we can overcome any mistakes in rehearsal.

I did feel the chunks of each line given to us to repeat were too big, and so difficult to repeat, especially for those who didn't have English as their first language. I've done similar exercises before where the leader would start quite slow and break it up a lot more, then pick up the pace gradually and saying more and more of the line. This helps performers to pick up the rhythm to begin with and get into a flow.

For the second chunk, we stood in a circle and moved as far back as possible, so that we were all practically at the walls. We then had to determine the person who was as far from us as possible and "send them a note." This could be at any pitch and be said in any way, the idea was to make that note stretch and reach the farthest place from us in the room. This was fun to play around with as Bell guided us to do low notes, high notes, to just test ourselves and what we can do. This task felt like it was an opening up, to each other and to ourselves. It was also fun. It helped us to consider dynamics, volume, tempo. It also built a bond as we would applaud each other after if somebody was holding a particularly long note.

Physical warm-up

"Form banana, form, form banana. Peel banana, peel, peel banana. Go bananas, go, go bananas." Did the same thing with walls. Very physical exercise that allows you to just run around and go a little nuts.

It's a good exercise as it introduces play into the space. Also because it's a little silly, it helps to create ensemble and bond because you are laughing together. From previous readings (mostly from week 3 - belief and truth) there's been mentions of holding onto a childish nature, because this helps us to believe what we are acting (the same way that children play make-believe and truly believe it.) It's an access in to that childish mindset. It's also a great way to leave whatever baggage you may have from the day outside the door.

Art gallery

Treated the space we were in as an art gallery. We'd queue up outside and each time we went in we'd have to go in as either "intellectual," "emotional" or "physical" based on Stanislavsky's ideas. Each time that we did, we had to take note of how it impacted our physicality and our interaction with the environment.

This exercise was great for: making actor's aware of their bodies, their own toolkit, bodies as instrument, stillness vs physicality, how you perform something intellectual and something emotional etc. Also good for becoming aware of themselves and their environment, specifically the ways that their characters may come out.

Would be awesome to do this exercise in a completed, detailed set (for example in a Punchdrunk setting.)

The exercise also allowed for a unique experience for everybody in the space, which is important because not every performer will connect with every asset in your toolkit and so where you can, having broadness in your exercises will allow actors to find their own access points and their own ways to what you are trying to achieve. Focus without limitation.

It definitely allows for possibilities.

Circles of attention

Began with reading a specific scene with a partner. We were told to keep a line in mind from that reading, from that scene. Although it was never mentioned again, it stayed with me through the entire circles of attention exercise and informed the way I performed, which was really interesting.

During circles of attention, we'd do the usual thing of paying attention to breathing, breathing in the body, the four walls around the body and the space outside the four walls. One of my initial reservations about this exercise when we first did it was how open the idea of the space outside the four walls is, however Becky took time to contextualise it this time, telling us we could play around with it and limit ourselves. This helped me to remain within a certain boundary and stay grounded.

Getting us to feel what was in our body was also really clever - since we've done a lot of reading about actors bringing what's going on in their physical bodies into their performances on the day, I paid attention to sensations in my body such as neck pains and then brought that into what we did next.

We then had to think about what character we were in the reading of a specific scene and stand up as that character. My neck pains then informed how that character stands. That was thrilling as a performer, it felt freeing.

After that, we had to walk around the space using that body/stance. Becky did inform us that we can redo it and start again if it doesn't feel right, which was nice because I didn't love how I first stood or walked. In fact, when we were told to think of the character and stand on the character I felt a little put on the spot, because I felt like my mind had gone elsewhere before that. A little more time to really merge my mind with the character before standing would have been helpful, I think.

As we were then walking around, Becky asked us to become mindful of our previous scene partner as we moved around the space. Not necessarily looking at them or finding them, just being aware. This really created a sense of peripheral, which we've been playing around with in other exercises. I think it's an excellent way to raise awareness and trust within the ensemble, to create an energetic connection. Also creates awareness of the space!

She stopped and started us a couple of times, reminding us to be mindful of our partner and to stay close. She then got us to stop and face them from where we were. We were allowed to either step forward or back, or stay in the same place based on how we felt. This created a real intensity of emotion and suddenly a sense of our relationship was being created just from looking. My partner and I discussed afterwards and spoke about how we both felt compelled to move close to each other and wanted to, but were too hesitant and shy to actually take that step, worried that the other character did not want to. There was a massive sadness and anger between us. My line from the initial scene reading kept playing in my mind: "I don't want it."

This was exciting as a performer, and I think it constructed a real sense of what my character and that person's character's relationship felt like without analysing it from the play itself and then trying to bring that analysis in. I also experienced this feeling from week 3 during Mark's warm up, where we built a relationship with the house from August: Osage County and then connected with another person in the space and took steps forward/backwards.

I think these exercises do a brilliant job at giving performers access to the emotions, interrelationships, complexities and dynamics of their characters and the ensemble characters before getting to work on the play and relieves a certain pressure, whilst also creating an access point.

BONUS: Asked Becky a question

Have actors read the text by the point in which she is doing exercises with her ensemble that do not introduce the play?

By this point they would have done a table reading, she'd get each actor to simply read until they were bored and then the next person would read.

#performers exercise #warm up

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cdr2002 · 3 months ago

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If I may chip in, Jade’s training in Deception Konquest offers the first explanation for the green energy, with the statement that it is an “ancient Edenian magic”. I like this explanation because it clears up the connection between her and the Earthrealmer users of this power, because like the Cryomancers, it’s easy to imagine a few Edenian refugees fleeing to Earthrealm in ancient times and sharing their knowledge of magic with Earthrealmers in order to help them to better defend their realm.

Following from that, what little we know of the energy as stated by NRS and as utilized in your AU, is that it for some reason exists for the purpose of combating gods. “Emerald Armor of the Gods” is I think a thing Cetrion or Skarlet or somebody says in an 11 intro.

What is the common enemy between Edenians and Earthrealmers, generally?

Shao Kahn. A god. And a master of soul magic, so much so that he taught Shang Tsung the bulk of what he knows.

Who is Earthrealm’s strongest mortal warrior? Well ok it’s probably Tremor but besides that, Nightwolf. A pretty blatant user of soul magic.

So as you’ve said Rasta, the energy is definitely soul magic in some form.

Potentially, it is soul magic to fight soul magic. A power cultivated for the sake of battling Shao Kahn specifically, with bonus potency against minions of his like Shang Tsung and (before being freed from his control) Ermac. Once this is discovered, it would make Johnny, Jade, Nightwolf, and eventually Cassie of extreme value to the Earthrealm defenders and Edenian Resistance/defense forces (depending on pre or post its liberation from Outworld)

Now of course, people like Kahn, Tsung, and Ermac are very powerful, so even if this is the case, that effectiveness may only take one of our heroes so far. Nightwolf and Jade would fare the best, followed by Cassie, but I don’t really see Johnny defeating any of the three, at least personally.

My biggest issue with the official explanation for the green energy beyond it’s lack of specificity in the details is that I actually kinda hate the concept of Johnny being this “god killer”. While I like him, one of my biggest issues with the NRS era has been his forced importance. I have not enjoyed the push to make him the center of attention, it just gets on my nerves. It also doesn’t help that NRS is terrible at writing both comedy and romance, so most of the CageBlade and Funnyman stuff falls really fat and makes him grating for me. MK12 was a godsend for his characterization, that is a positive I will give it, though I dislike it randomly taking away his powers. Maybe they realized having him “discover” the glow in MKX after obviously using it in every previous game was dumb and they’re waiting to do a big “reveal”. I love when something that’s been part of the franchise for 30 years is a reveal that doesn’t feel like retreading at all 🙄

Furthermore, this insistence that either Cage can defeat Shinnok in a fight from NRS. Bothers the hell out of me. Sorry but no. They are actual ants to Shinnok, that especially feels forced. I’ve been very disappointed in NRS’s showings of Shinnok’s character as well unfortunately. The character has really failed to reach the heights of his Armageddon depiction, a which sucks because he’s my second favorite MK villain behind Onaga (or third, him and Daegon kind of switch around)

And for the record, I think Liu Kang defeating Shinnok by his lonesome in MK4 was a massive stretch to. It really pushed the limit of “well Liu Kang’s the hero” and is an instance of repetition that makes me feel his death in Deadly Alliance was an extremely necessary shakeup.

I think the “fight” at the end of Mythologies in which Bi-Han dodges a few attacks, snatches the amulet, then makes a mad dash for the portal back to Earthrealm, is the correct presentation of a mortal character against Shinnok. Sorry for this side tangent I just think “Fallen Elder God”, “master of illusionary sorcery”, “Guy who killed the dinosaurs as collateral damage of fighting another guy”, “ruler of Hell”, “guy who killed three-four gods” (Lucifer upon seizing the Netherrealm and the three non-Fujin elemental gods in the leadup to MK4’s events), “arch nemesis of Raiden”, “orders around the bulk of the Trilogy heroes as his undead goons”, “banished to Hell by the rulers of the universe”, and I could go on but I’m getting long-winded (who, me? Nevverrrr)

I just think THAT GUY doesn’t lose in a fight to the comic relief character + the power of love and neon.

And he technically doesn’t, he just gets held off for a bit until Raiden can do something actually effective, Johnny just inflates it as a W in 11 intros and it gets on my nerves.

Aannnnnnnnyyyyyywwwaaaaayyy, my last comment is on the blue variant of soul magic.

I think it’s just that, a variant. Perhaps the blue glow denotes soul magic of Earthrealm, since it shares a color with the Jinsei. Perhaps innate soul magic is blue while learned soul magic is green. Perhaps it’s just another “principle” of soul magic, one more focused on the mind since Kenshi is a psionic, much like Ermac, who is green because he was created by the manipulation of souls by Shao Kahn. Maybe green soul magic is more “forceful” and blue is more “natural”, although Nightwolf’s spiritual attunement would contradict this assertions. He obviously does not call upon the magics of his ancestors against anyone’s will. Going back to the blue = mind idea, maybe green denotes a focus on the soul specifically.

My personal headcanon is that the soul is in fact the essence of all magic in MK, not just what immediately registers to us as soul magic. Especially with how often characters�� powers seem to stem from drawing upon their own inner power, something Deadly Alliance referred to repeatedly, chi has often been described as, and even the stupid Arcana from 2021 is kind of an inner power, though nonsensically tied to magic tattoos because plot. We see blue energy used by the likes of Kung Lao, Reiko, Kitana, Khameleon, Havik, Darrius, and it is among the rainbow of energy accessible to Shujinko.

Following this line of thought, this could go back to one of my prior ideas: the blue soul magic being a form of inner power, and the green being the use of external “soul fuel” or whatever you wanna call it for power.

Thusly, the green glow used by the Cages and Jade, as well as potentially Nightwolf and even Shao Kahn, though their glowey charging powers likely come from their overall soul magic mastery; would be a unique instance of channeling a power similar to external source soul magic but drawn from within. Given the warrior focus of Johnny’s ancestors, as well as Jade being a warrior herself, there’s your answer for why this was focused on relatively simple blunt force attacks rather than the more sophisticated fields of telepathy and telekinesis that the Takahashi family have evidently been connected to for some amount of centuries.

Sorry again for the long winded ramble, I want to come again compliment your ideas Rasta, and thank you both for giving me an opportunity to get thinking about this and exercise some fun speculative thought about how the MK universe works. I quite enjoy this sort of thing 😊

I don’t like that nrs gave Johnny powers, but I feel like they should’ve embraced it and gave him more than just some barely explained green energy.

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stranger-chichka · 2 years ago

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The scenes with the stars in Stranger Things and their importance (p. 1)

I wanted to post everything in one take, but I didn't expect I need so many screenshots, oops. So, there will be 2 posts: this one includes scenes from 1x04 to 6x04 + a mention of the s3 rain fight, and the second one covers episodes 7, 8 and 9x04. Well, not the whole episodes, but just the scene where we can see stars. Also, sometimes I'm gonna write a little about the scenes which follow or precede the one with the star because almost always there's a connection between them. And I'm sorry in advance for my miserable vocabulary. It's really very hard to choose the right words for such an analysis when English is not your native language and I hope it wouldn't be too painful to read.

So, as @madwheelerz there's a possibility that the stars bookmark important moments/scenes we should pay close attention to. So far I've noticed these moments with stars in the show:

2 stars on Erica's earnings during the DnD game in 1x04 (it foreshadows Mike & Will defeating Vecna - the theory about it is here) and stars on the dress she wears in episodes 6, 7, 8 and 9;

2 stars on Lucas's sneakers during his basketball game where they win and he's the one to make the final shot (THIS parallels Erica who rolls 20 and defeats Vecna in the game);

stars on Will's costume he's wearing during the DnD game before the rain fight in s3;

6 stars on Angela's earnings in the Rink-o-Mania scene (and during THIS scene Mike & Will argue again which parallels their s3 rain fight);

Also, stars are associated with Dustin. In s3 he talks about star-crossed lovers and sings “Neverending Story” where the lyrics are : “reach the stars, fly a fantasy.” + “Ziggy Stardust” in Will’s playlist.

And @skvtebored mentions two more characters having stars in their clothes. Jason and Patrick have stars on their jackets, that's why we'll start with them.

3x04

We see the boys wearing them for the first time in 3x04 while they’re going to look for Eddie and have a small talk with Lucas near the abandoned Benny's Burger restaurant (and this place is associated with El because of s1). But I want to start with the previous scene. We see El in her room after dinner and the "She didn't look fine" moment, thinking about the roller rink accident and the massacre at the lab. "What did you do?" "What have you done?" These phrases are said by Mike and Brenner. We are shown flashbacks from that horrible day in the lab. (I made a collage with some shots, but haven't included the ones with the bodies of kids, it's already too gross to watch).

On the screenshots (1st & 2nd row): Brenner walking through the door, El in front of the broken mirror, a labyrinth with two silver balls, a ball with 8 on it, a chess desk, two dice with 2, 6, 4 and 5, some blocks with one green and one blue figures. To be honest, I don't know if these objects are there for a purpose, but I better leave the screenshots here and maybe someone with a bigger brain will connect the dots.

+ I'm adding the gifs from the moment with El in her room because of that spinning effect, like in the scene with her and Max in the final episode where she restarts her heart.

After El's flashbacks we see the Upside Down (3rd row): the library, some abandoned building that I thought could be Brimborn Steel Works but it's probably not, Creel's house with a spaceship slide next to it and Vecna.

The next shots we see (4rth row): the sun is rising, a yellow lamp in Benny's Burger restaurant, a "SPEED LIMIT 25 69" sign, a shot of the room with Lucas in a blue t-shirt (similar to El's shirt in the previous scene) and him near the doors of the restaurant with "WINNERS ONLY" written in green on it.

The dialogue between Lucas and Jason starts with: "What are you guys doing?" What did you do? What have you done? What are you doing? Past, present and...future is missing. Where will? Hmmm. And Jason's answer parallels Henry telling El the same thing the day he killed those kids in the lab. Like almost word by word. They're going to look for Eddie and Lucas is coming with them. Actually, during this scene they're putting some stuff in the truck.

The next scene when we see Jason and Patrick, they're on their way to one of Eddie’s friends. But right before seeing them in the car we are shown Eddie's trailer from the outside and the locked door with yellow ribbons, the room with the gate, hats, yellow light and electricity flickery, red lightning bolt and Vecna spying on the people with traumas.

At that time Vecna's looking for his next victim and he chooses who? Patrick. His nose starts bleeding. One of his friends calls it “gross.” They beat up the members of Eddie’s band and are going to Dustin's house. Before that fight Jason talks with them a little while Lucas pretends he isn't part of their club, although he's in Hellfire. That's when one of the boys says: "Lucas, what the hell?"

And then another boy tells Jason this: "Well, you have eyes, don't you? He's not here." That's when he starts beating him, stepping on his hand and saying: "It's gonna be hard to play drums with a broken hand." And who has no eyes and broken limbs? Vecna's victims. Interesting. In the following scene El’s in jail questioned about the roller rink accident and we see her having flashbacks of hitting Angela and the massacre at the lab again. The car is in the first shot of that scene.

As Jason and others come to Dustin, Patrick says: “No one’s home” and here I already wrote about this scene. Jason answers they should keep looking and then he sees the car door open and Lucas is not there. He says: "Where the hell is Sinclair?" while Lucas reaches Dustin and says: "Where the hell have you been?" After Jason notices Lucas in Dustin's house he says: "What the hell were you doing?"

Lucas answers: "I was looking for clues" and Patrick calls Lucas Sherlock Holmes. Hmmmm. Does it remind you of anything???? Not only do we have a Sherlock Holmes reference but also in both scenes they're talking about clues. Steve asks Dustin: "What sort of clues we're supposed to be looking for here?" By the way, keep in mind "by any chance."

After this Lucas says: "I found one" and leads them to Hopper's cabin. I wonder if it's foreshadowing of him finding Vecna in s5.

In the following scene again (for the third time) - El’s thinking about the roller rink accident and that day in the lab while riding in the car before being rescued by Owens and his people. What did you do? What have you done? And we see a rainbow.

The next scene with the basketball team is them in the woods on their way to Hopper's cabin.

Lucas said THAT is the place where Eddie's hiding. It reminded me of Will hiding in the shed in s1. Is it a parallel? The first shot we see is Jason opening the truck. Again, it reminded me of s1 and Jonathan checking Lonnie's truck. And Eddie was hiding in a boathouse which is a shed at the edge of a river or lake used for housing boats. He was hiding in the shed like Will. Interesting. And here we see after references. (Watergate my beloved) So, they’re in the cabin and the scene is shown together with the one where Owens tells El about Vecna and how he's killing right now in Hawkins. We are shown Lucas running out of the Hopper's cabin and Hopper with his cuffs off as Owens speaks of "good people and brave friends." In the following scene - Max's in trance for the first time.

4x04

The next day Jason comes to Sinclairs and talks with Erica (She refers to Lucas as Jason’s boyfriend in the most careless way possible, says he might be with Dustin and mentions Nintendo). I wrote about this scene in my Nintendo theory, so I'm leaving the link here (that's a must-read). I just want to add this screenshot from that scene where Erica's colouring the DnD character who looks like Eddie but we know that Mike is trying to look like him, even grows his hair, so I really believe it's Mike from s5, because 1) we see a dragon 2) we see a sward 3) we see a shield and 4) we see Mike with a sword and a shield facing the dragon and leading their party (Eddie is also the leader of Hellfire) in Will's painting.

Again, we hear: "Where the hell's Sinclair?" And in the following scene Steve, Lucas and Dustin talk about Victor Creel and Vecna, how he was killing then and how he's killing now.

6x04

In the previous episode Jason was wearing a black suit, so I didn't check these scenes, but in 6x04 he is in his bomber again. The police officers are talking with the citizens about Eddie and the curfew they should follow while they're looking for him. People are mad. "It's been days. Days!" The police officer answers: "I understand you all are upset, but I promise you, we will find him." And that's when Jason comes in. His first word is "No. You won't." (El's first word to Mike is "no") .

"Son, how about we talk about this in private?" That's what the chief asks Jason. (He is not ready to reveal the truth yet. The same with the Duffers.) Does it remind you of any other scene? Season 2. Mike is mad because Hopper (who’s also the chief of police) was hiding El in his cabin and Hopper asks him to talk about it in private. He calls him a liar and cries in his arms. But what if I told you he's not only mad at Hopper for hiding El but also at himself because now he has to hide from himself. From his true feelings. His feelings for Will. And Jason's speech just proves it.

"So you can keep me quiet? So you can keep the truth from coming out?"

Very and very interesting phrasing. That’s definitely the parallel to Will’s speech in the desert. "Sometimes, I think it's just scary to open up like that. To say how you really feel. Especially, to people you care about the most. Because what if they don't like the truth?" We saw Mike resonated with these words very much. He nodded and even wanted to answer something, but Argyle distracted him. What is Will's truth? He loves Mike. What is Mike's? Same. The only option for them is to come out in s5.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I can't bear to listen to any more excuses and lies. In fact, I think we've all had enough. That's enough."

Well, well, well. We have plenty of liars during the show but it seems to me that Mike lies the most, right? He lies not only to others but to himself. And here Jason just speaks on behalf of the GA, especially those who are homophobic, because the truth is "awful" for them.

"Last night, I saw things, things I can't explain. Things the police don't wanna believe. And things that I don't wanna believe myself. And I've come to accept an awful truth."

Jason is talking about Patrick's death, but we should always look for a double meaning in that show. He is talking about an awful truth. And we associate the truth with Mike and Will's feelings towards each other. What things he can't explain and believe is he talking about? Mike having gay panic at the airport maybe? Or Mike being pissed off because Will was showing little attention to him at Rink-o-Mania? Or Mike flirting with Will in Jonathan's and then his room? Or maybe Mike's triple take in the desert? Here Jason represents the GA, who were oblivious to the boys' feelings but now start noticing them.

By "satanic cults" he refers to Hellfire. The DnD club. And DnD represents Mike and Will's relationships, IT'S THE FACT. Jason compares it to disease. @howtobecomeadragon cracked it right open: D&D - sodomy - Satanic Cults - disease - AIDS.

ritualistic sacrifices = the consequences of forced conformity;

cults = lgbt community/Bylers;

deaease = AIDS crisis;

DnD = Byler relationship;

"And Eddie Manson is the leader of one of these cults."

Who's also called a leader of the party? Mike. Who wants to look like Eddie? Mike. Jason's speech is not only about Eddie, but it's about Mike and his feelings that he's hiding deep inside for a long time. Feelings toward Will.

Jason believes their town is cursed because of Hellfire and some ritualistic shit. In 1x04 Eddie says:

"Society had to blame something. We're an easy target. We're freaks because we like to play a fantasy game. It's forced conforming. That's what's killing the kids!"

And in 9x04 we see this scene. 5 targets with shot heads (= Vecna attacking people's minds). As far as we know Vecna was targeting 4 people in s5: Crissy, Fred, Max and Patrick. Or was there one more person? Mike is Vecna's 5th target. And also the smoke in these scenes looks like the fog we see in Vecna’s visions.

Let's return to Jason's speech. On this note, Erica's lost her nerve. By the way, she also has stars and hearts on her dress during this scene, so the next moments with her are also important.

"A club. A harmless club. That's what they want you to think. But it's a lie. A lie designed to conceal the truth. And now this cult is protecting its leader, Eddie. Hiding him. (Here we see Mike's parents, so these lines definitely refer to Mike) Allowing him to...continue his rampage."

Here Jason represents the homophobes, some of the GA and Milkvans who hate Mike and don't understand his personality, whereas we are protecting him for all costs. And what is a lie designed to conceal the truth? Mike's romantic feelings toward El. Once again, I don't know about the rest of you, but I can't bear to listen to any more excuses and lies. In fact, I think we've all had enough. That's enough.

Again, here he's religious = homophobic. And the Duffers created the paradox in which good=evil and evil=good. Just look. "Evil" is "live" backwards and "Will" is "lliv." Liv means "life" in Scandinavian languages. Will is the one who Mike wants to live his life with. While "good" is "doog" backwards and Mike says to El he's not a dog in Surfer Boy Pizza. That's such a reach but this post is full of crazy shit, we're crazy, so what???????

Okay, okay, okay. I'm gonna be even more delusional. Hellfire. Hell + fire. He'll. Fire. He will. Fire. He. Will. Fire. it's all about Will and fire. And we know about fireballs. Ohhhh, stop me, stop me now.

"We will be implementing a curfew. If you are not in your house after sunset with the doors locked, you'll be written up."

That reminded me of Mike and El in s3 lying about a curfew to the party in order to be kissing in Hopper's cabin (El's house). I'm not sure if there's some connection, but the whole kissing thing was Mike trying to be a normal teenager. Having a girlfriend. Enjoying time with her. While being in the closet (= locked doors). And for some reason we see "will" in italic, why??? And "written up" with all the writing-letters-to-El-and not-to-Will thing. Maybe, Mike is "written up" by El (=from, El) after focusing all his attention on Rink-o-Mania at Will while he was supposed to spend romantic time with his girlfriend.

And this is the following scene. Mike himself confirms Jason's truth. His words just parallel what Jason already said.

Jason: "Last night, I saw things, things I can't explain. Things the police don't wanna believe. And things that I don't wanna believe myself. And I've come to accept an awful truth...Some people say our town is cursed. They just don't know why. Now we know. Now we do." Things = love. Remember that.

Mike: "I know, it's hard to believe. But it's true. All true."

In this scene, the boys are lying to Suzie about Nina Project calling it Nintendo. Wait, wait, wait…Americantendo. Nintendo goes together with DnD in Will's love confession, so it represents Byler's relationship. (I hope you've read it, but leaving the link once more!!!) And really, during their search for Nina Mike and Will open up about their feelings to each other. Mike says they need Americantendo for Dustin's birthday. Can we suppose that we'll see Mike and Will as a couple on Dustin's birthday?

The following scene (wow, three scenes in a row) is with Dustin's, Lucas's and Mike's parents + Holly and Erica coming to Wheeler's looking for the kids. They lied about going to the movie ("What time was the movie?" "Four hours ago.") and Erica exposes their lie while Holly sings "Liar, liar, pants on fire!" Hellfire.

When Dustin's mom questions their involvement with Eddie, Ted says: "I think at this point, anything is possible" and Mr Clarke in s3 says to Joyce: "Once you open that curiosity door anything's possible." Karen answers that their kids aren't murderers and Ted tells this: "Don't put words into my mouth. See, she does that, twists my words." Hmmmmm. Is it a reference to Mike's monologue where he uses the words of others and not his own??? That's smart, that's smart.

+ When Karen is calling the police we see 7 made from the magnets on the fridge.

The following scene is the Hawkins group near Skull Rock aka make-out spot and Dustin realises the compass doesn't work correctly because of the electromagnetic field. The electricity. (I wonder if somebody already spoke about the magnets and compasses because I feel like there's some double meaning there too!!!!)

So, we have scenes with El suffering from her traumatic memories (she blames herself for what she thought she'd done) and Tigers looking for Eddie (who is also blamed for something everyone thinks he's done) going together. And we know that El hasn't killed these kids, the same with Eddie. Both aren't guilty. Vecna is responsible for all those deaths.

And other scenes with Jason go together with the ones with Mike and Will/refer to Mike. The ones with lies and the truth. And there'll be even more in the second post.

On this note I leave you alone with your thoughts, but to see the full picture wait for p.2, which I hope I'll have finished by Monday.

#byler #stranger things #stranger things theory #stranger things 4 #stranger things parallels #stranger things analysis #mike wheeler #will byers #st theory #byler theory

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nik-the-bik · 3 years ago

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Hyde Meets Mr. Seek - The Strange Case Fanfic

Hello yes this is the most self-indulgent thing I've ever done by a mile and it's been a draft for months.

Jekyll/Utterson is obviously my favorite ship but what happens when Hyde enters the mix?

Yes 100% of the dialogue exchange is from canon.

*****

It was a crisp evening, London had turned over to bed, and Mr. Hyde was strutting his way back home himself. Not that he wanted to go in quite yet, mind you. He still had hours of energy left in him—the night air called him seductively to explore the city’s darkest corners and continue to indulge his deepest fantasies. But he had already been kicked out of a couple of bars tonight, although he certainly wasn’t that drunk yet, thank you very much. Still, a few previous nights like this one had shown him that it was sometimes better to cut your losses than press your luck trying to surpass the limits of your sobriety at some other shabby institution.

Not to mention a few fierce looking characters were cross with him tonight after he had let his ruthless tongue get the best of him, and it was probably best if he skirted off now before they had any reason to track his scent back here.

As the nondescript back door to Jekyll’s cabinet came into view, Hyde almost felt like whistling as he reached for the key, another night out complete, another undertaking met with some modicum of success. That’s when he felt a gentle hand suddenly brush his shoulder, and a voice he knew deep in his marrow crashed into him.

“Mr. Hyde, I think?”

The unexpected touch coupled with that voice—this voice, of all people! —sent a thunderbolt through Hyde’s whole system and he took in a sharp, jilted breath in panic. His heart was suddenly beating in his ears as anxiety filled him.

Utterson!

What was Utterson doing here?

He stopped, desperate to calm himself, shook off the hand that gripped him, and coiled inward. The once bracing evening air now stung his lungs, and he didn’t dare turn around. Since his being, Hyde had instinctively known to avoid the friends of Dr. Jekyll. He couldn’t imagine a worse person in that circle to encounter first.

Without turning around, he mumbled, “That is my name. What do you want?”

The man behind him hesitated before clearing his throat, and patiently, as though speaking to a petulant child, said, “I see you are going in. I am an old friend of Dr. Jekyll’s – Mr. Utterson of Gaunt Street – you must have heard my name; and meeting you so conveniently, I thought you might admit me.”

Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

Utterson was here. Utterson somehow knew that Hyde had connections with Jekyll. Utterson was looking for Jekyll. Utterson was never going to find Jekyll, not while he was Hyde.

Fuck.

“You will not find Dr. Jekyll; he is from home.”

He thought he heard Utterson sigh behind him – was he disappointed? Sympathy welled within him; some of the anxiety dissipated. Perhaps Utterson didn’t have any unusual suspicions about Hyde, or at least not yet. Still, to be sure…

“How did you know me?” Hyde asked, voice now shaken.

Instead, he found his question returned with another.“

On your side, will you do me a favor?” Utterson asked softly, his voice rising faintly at the tail end of his request, as though forcing through an unseen obstacle.

Hyde felt his heart lurch with anticipation, his eyes widened as he tried to combat the unexpected thrill that overtook him. “With pleasure,” he responded, feeling unsteady. “What shall it be?”

“Will you let me see your face?”

Hyde stiffened, fists clenching as his heart pounded faster than he ever thought possible. His face?

Don’t do this!

Utterson – Gabriel Utterson! – he wanted to see him!

What if he recognizes you!?

Is that what this was all about? Was there some suspicion? How? It wasn’t possible—nobody had ever recognized Hyde for who he really was.

But this isn’t just some nobody, this is-- GABRIEL. UTTERSON.

Yes, which is exactly why Hyde needed to turn around and see him for himself!

If ANYONE will see through you, it’s him! And what will you do then?

What does it matter—

Would you be able to face him if he were to hate you like all the others?

--well —

Just go! We can deal with Utterson another time when I am—

--I WON’T BE TOLD WHAT TO DO!

In defiance, Hyde whipped himself around and found himself face-to-face with—

Him.

The sharp flash of anger immediately disappeared as he met Utterson’s eyes. Utterson, on his part, took a near imperceptible step back in surprise, but held his gaze.

Those gentle brown eyes stared at him imploringly, cheeks slightly pink from the cold, his soft mouth turning downward into the most delicate frown.

Hyde was captivated. Enthralled.

Smitten.

Beautiful, sweet Utterson, bless him, was doing an admirable job of biting back the repulsion that all people instinctively felt at the sight of Hyde. Nevertheless, Utterson never lost his composure or broke his gaze, and his eyes pierced him with an intensity that Hyde could never remember seeing before.

At the first sight of him, Hyde was flooded with every fond memory, every tender feeling Henry Jekyll had of his dearest Gabriel Utterson all at once, the strength of his affection now rising tenfold, and he immediately knew to his very core that Gabriel Utterson owned his heart completely, and that, like Jekyll, Hyde was bound to love him for all the rest of his life.

When Hyde finally felt himself soften from the tense agitation he had originally turned around with, melting in the warmth of Utterson’s eyes, Utterson found it in him to blink and clear his surprise. His gaze diverted to the side as he cleared his throat and straightened himself.

“There,” Gabriel said, eyes cautiously flicking back to Hyde’s face. “Now I shall know you again.” Gabriel shook the tension from his arms, eyes now landing on his own feet. “It may be useful.” Gabriel’s eyes darted back to Hyde’s briefly but couldn’t bear to linger before once again searching elsewhere.

Seeing the usually stoic Gabriel Utterson so discomposed roused feelings of affection and pity for this dear sweet man, who was struggling to feign politeness in the wake of, well, Hyde. Hyde, desperate to soothe him, whispered in reassurance, “Yes…it is as well we have met; and a propos, you should have my address.” When Gabriel’s eyes flicked upwards to match Hyde’s again, taking in the details about that shady flat in Soho, Hyde felt himself secretly wishing that the new possession of the address would act as an open invitation. Utterson let out a soft grunt in affirmation at the information, and still looked as though he was ready to turn around and abandon this whole venture.

Before he could, Hyde interjected, “And now, how did you know me?”

Utterson was forced to look him in the eye again, and Hyde did everything in his power to try to appear unprovoking, short of offering a smile. Seeing Hyde calmer seemed to ease Utterson’s own discomfort.

“By description,” he replied.

“Whose description?”

“We have common friends.”

Concern started rearing its ugly head in Hyde’s thoughts again. Common friends? Not likely. His brow furrowed. “Common friends? Who are they?”

“Jekyll, for instance,” Utterson offered.

Seething rage poured over Hyde. What was he playing at? What did he really want, and why on earth was he lying?

“He never told you. I did not think you would have lied,” Hyde spat. Utterson was up to something, and he refused to trust Hyde. He hated him, just like everyone else.

“Come, that is not fitting language,” Utterson gasped, taken aback.

Hyde felt himself snarl out of sheer frustration. How could Utterson of all people so blatantly lie to him, his best friend, his soul mate, his –

Well, he was only Hyde, after all.

The animalistic anger quickly melted into an off-kilter laughter as Hyde began to comprehend just how utterly fucked this whole situation was. Rage now replaced with overwhelming shame, he finally turned, jammed his key into the lock on the door, and marched through, letting it slam behind him.

As the sound of the slam echoed through the passage, leaving him in sheer darkness, Hyde stumbled forward a few more steps on uncertain feet before his legs fell from under him and he collapsed to his hands and knees. He felt more drunk now than he had moments ago, before the encounter.

His head was swimming with more emotion than he had any ability to grasp, contradictory forces of anger, sadness, happiness, betrayal, desire, all jerking him in different directions and colliding back into him once more.

Most of all, there was a deep, powerful yearning tugging him.

He wanted desperately to get up and turn back around, step back outside, see if he was still there—on the off chance that Utterson hadn’t turned and fled—and beg forgiveness. He’d be on his knees, apologize for his rage, his rudeness, insist he wanted to build an acquaintance. And maybe – maybe – he’d pull Utterson into his arms and let his lips trace a path from his ear down his jaw to his neck, whispering “The Doctor has told me all about you, though.”

Would Utterson shove him away in anger? Fear? Disgust? Loathing? Or perhaps – perhaps – there was the slightest chance he’d melt into Hyde’s touch and submit himself to forging a connection with Hyde that had never been possible with Jekyll.

Then there was that cold, loathsome voice in his head again.

You will leave Gabriel Utterson alone.

Rage flared up once more. Why should he? Why shouldn’t he be allowed to create a bond with the man his whole being knew instinctively?

These lives cannot intersect. If you try to drag Utterson into your world, you will bring nothing but regret and misery to us all.

Regrettably, that voice had a point.

You might be comfortable reveling in your own disgraces, but you will not contaminate HIM. I won’t allow it.

No. Of course not.

Hyde would never again be near Utterson.

He wouldn’t dare.

#the strange case of dr jekyll and mr hyde #gabriel utterson #edward hyde #utterson x hyde #henriel #well henriel implied at least #nikki tries to be a writer #dr jekyll and mr hyde #mr hyde #i said ''Love At First Sight but make it Angsty and also sorta plausible in this moment''#all i ever ever ever want is for Jekyll to be like ''I love this person'' and Hyde to be like ''I'm smitten and would die for them''#Hyde's feelings are just Jekyll Feelings on Extreme Sicko Mode #and i neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed more content that explores this plz

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little-mad · 3 years ago

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Downsides of Thievery Pt. 11

~ Previous Part ~ Next Part ~

Gavin wouldn’t really say he was a good judge of character, the amount of friends in low places he had was a testament to that. However, even he could tell that this new alteon that had appeared was bad news.

There was something about the way the guy held himself--it was cocky and arrogant, as if he was certain he was the most important person in the room. Not to mention the sleazy little smile he was wearing that seemed to promise trouble. But what Gavin hated most was the way the guy looked at him. It was hard to describe, but the only thing Gavin could think of to equate it to was how middle school bullies looked right before they were about to trip some poor kid in the hallway.

The green-eyed giant had been speaking in the same language that Gavin had heard a couple times throughout his time in the alteon dimension. Of course, he couldn’t understand any of it, which made him nervous for some reason.

“Not really much to look at, is he?” the new alteon remarked, now switching to English. “I know all humans are pretty pathetic, but I was expecting someone a bit tougher looking.”

Gavin scowled. This guy had intentionally alternated to speaking in a language Gavin could understand so that he would be able to hear the insult. Why was he being purposefully antagonistic? Yeah sure, Gavin was a criminal, but even Rael hadn’t been that big of a dick at first.

“Ashryn, I suppose you’re stationed here? Rael inquired. Gavin could tell he was trying to change the subject, to shift this “Ashryn” guy’s attention elsewhere.

“Why can’t he just tell this asshole to screw off?” Gavin thought to himself crankily. He tried to catch Rael’s eye but was unsuccessful. It was like he was very intentionally keeping his eyes up and forward.

“Hmm? Oh yes, that’s right,” Ashryn responded absentmindedly. He was apparently too preoccupied with staring at Gavin to give Rael his full attention.

What was it with these alteons and staring unabashedly? Just because Gavin was a comparatively tiny person from an alternate dimension didn’t mean they had the right to gawk at him like he was some sort of zoo animal. It was like all their manners flew out the window when it came to humans.

Ashryn stepped closer, a crafty smile still on his lips. “This is your first time dealing with a human up close, isn’t it?” he said to Rael while still not looking away from Gavin. “You don’t really realize how entirely inferior they are until you get close to them,” he continued. “Sure they look tiny and pathetic from afar, but up close you can really get a sense for how insignificant they are.”

Gavin really didn’t have a short temper, it was one of his few good traits actually. For the most part, he’d learned to just brush off insults and move on. He had given up on being well liked the moment he decided to become a thief. However, even Gavin’s temper had its limits, and he had just about reached his.

Springing to his feet, Gavin glared up at the massive elf-eared bastard standing in front of him. “What’s your problem?” he demanded, hands clenched in fists at his sides.

If this guy really wanted to insult Gavin and the rest of humanity so badly, why couldn’t he do it in his own native language? Oh yeah, because he was a complete ass. Ashryn didn’t just want to disparage humans, he wanted Gavin to know about it. For whatever reason, this alteon had decided he wanted to start a fight.

Next to Gavin, Rael had tensed up. The human hardly even noticed, he was too busy shooting daggers at Ashryn. Besides, Gavin was none too pleased with Rael at the moment anyways. He was basically just letting his comrade, or whatever they were to each other, run his mouth freely.

The grin on Ashryn’s face grew only wider at Gavin’s outburst. He took a step closer. “Rael, I think I’ve angered your little human,” he commented with a chuckle.

Gavin didn’t wait to see how Rael would’ve responded. Forget getting him to defend him. Who cared if Gavin was miniscule compared to Ashryn? He was going to stand up for himself. Someone needed to teach these giants some manners. Gavin was already in trouble, so it might as well be him.

“Okay you big, pointy-eared asshole,” he started with a bang. “Just because you’re bigger than humans doesn’t make you better than us--in fact with an attitude like yours, I’d argue you’re substantially worse than most humans I know...and I know some pretty shitty humans.” The words were flying out of his mouth almost of their own accord. It was like he’d opened a floodgate that he couldn’t close. “You’re clearly just a pompous dick who--”

“Enough!” The words echoed around him like thunder. At the same time there was a rush of air, a flash of movement, and then a thud that vibrated up through Gavin’s feet.

It took a moment for him to register the giant hand next to him, and a few more moments for him to realize it had just slammed down beside him. Gavin looked up, following the arm connected to the hand, expecting to see it attached to Ashryn. Instead, he was met with the rage filled face of Rael.

And then all of a sudden he was back in that clearing, pinned under a hand bigger than his entire body. The fear, the intimidation, the betrayal--it was all the same, probably even worse now actually. The worst part was that he didn’t understand, he didn’t understand why Rael was staring down at him with nothing but fury in his teal colored eyes.

Despite their turbulent relationship, Gavin had...well he had come to trust Rael. For god’s sake, he’d nearly considered the alteon to be something akin to a friend. So why...why had this happened? How had Gavin screwed this up?

“You will show some respect,” Rael growled down at him, and it was like Gavin was looking at a completely different person to the one he’d been talking to only a few minutes ago.

Why had he been put in this situation? Why did the guard outside the office have to be Ashryn? Why did Gavin have to snap like that? These questions swirled around inside Rael’s head as he looked down at the fearful human standing mere inches away from where he’d slammed his palm down on the bench.

“You had to do it,” a dark part of Rael’s mind told him. “If you hadn’t, Ashryn would never respect you, and he’d defame you to the entire Imperial Guard.” It was true--if Rael had failed to scold the human that was in his charge after he’d blatantly insulted an alteon soldier, he would be viewed as a failure among anyone who was anyone. Still, he hadn’t enjoyed doing it.

It wasn’t like last time, when Rael had trapped Gavin under his hand. There was no sense of satisfaction or pleasure derived from the action. All he could feel was a mess of anger and guilt.

He was furious that Ashryn had essentially manufactured the situation, but he was also angry with Gavin for quite literally forcing his hand. If the human had just kept his mouth shut, if he’d ignored Ashryn’s goading, then none of this would have happened. Why couldn’t Gavin have just made things easier?

“Well,” Ashryn spoke up with an appreciative tut. “I must say, you certainly know how to put a human in their place.”

Rael shifted his gaze towards the alteon. He couldn’t stand looking at Gavin anymore, seeing the fear and betrayal in those hazel eyes only deepened the heavy pit that was forming in his stomach.

“And you apparently know how to rile them up,” Rael muttered as he moved his hand away from Gavin and placed it back on his own lap.

Ashryn gave an amused chuckle. “Maybe so,” he answered with a satisfied grin on his face.

Despite having a primarily amicable relationship with one another, Rael had never much liked Ashryn. While they were about the same age and had gone through most of their training at the same time, Ashryn was regarded more highly within the Imperial Guard. Rael attributed this largely due to the fact that Ashryn’s family has had a long history of involvement with the Guard. Perhaps that also explained why the man was so pompous and smug all the time.

It was then that the door to the Emperor’s office opened for a second time. This time, it was a group of some of the top Imperial advisors exiting. They all eyed Gavin as they passed, however none of them said anything, only acknowledging the two soldiers with brief nods. Rael noticed that the last advisor out failed to close the door behind her, leaving him with a view inside the office.

There, sitting at his desk, was the Emperor of the entire realm of Iaela. He wore a calm smile on lips and waved a beckoning hand at Rael. “Bring in our human guest,” he called, his tone authoritative yet somehow still polite.

Ashryn was quick to assume his position beside the office door. He stood up straight, his arms behind his back like a perfect soldier. However, the part that the Emperor wouldn’t be able to see was his face--with that, Ashryn smirked over at Gavin. “Why does he look like he knows something that we don’t?” Unfortunately, there was no time for Rael to ruminate on his uncertainties. The Emperor was the very last person to be kept waiting.

Rael turned to Gavin. The human had gone pale and his body was so tense that it looked like the guy might bolt at any second. Rael was sure that the last thing Gavin wanted was to be picked up after what had just happened. However, there was no choice. There wasn’t even time for Rael to allow the human to walk onto his palm of his own accord.

As gently as possible, Rael carefully scooped the human up into his hands. Thankfully, Gavin didn’t put up any kind of fight; he gave a quiet gasp, but otherwise made no audible complaints. Once Rael was sure he wouldn’t drop the little man, he began to make his way into the Emperor’s office.

Immediately upon getting past the doorway, Rael felt a whoosh of air and heard a soft thud, indicating that the door had been shut behind them. This left him and Gavin entirely alone with the most powerful person in the realm.

This wouldn’t be Rael’s first time speaking with the Emperor, however it was certainly his first time alone, without any advisors, scribes, or guards around. Rael swallowed hard. He couldn’t mess this up--he had to prove himself to be a proper soldier worthy of being accepted into the ranks of the Imperial Guard. He wasn’t a peasant anymore, he was a proud, noble soldier.

“Rael, correct?” the Emperor inquired, the name sounded so foreign coming from his lips.

Rael nodded silently as he dipped into a low bow, which proved somewhat difficult while keeping his hands horizontal and steady for Gavin.

“Very well, Rael, could you place that human on my desk please?”

(Also, as a side note, I fixed up some continuity errors in chapters 6 and 9 if you feel like skimming through and seeing the minor adjustments)

#sometimes my own plot points just fly right out of my mind ig #g/t #giant/tiny #g/t writing #my writing #oc: gavin stone #oc: rael #g/t fearplay

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the-crows-system · 3 years ago

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Yeah well,

When they say "some words are better left inside the meaningless void where no living being can access and shall remain there, never to be seen. Ever.,"

That quote is most applicable here. Yep. I made it up. So what. Still applicable.

You need therapy

Based on your activity!

#complicated remarks for complicated jokes because the world is a complicated mess and I wake up with rage everyday and the last one isnt #really connected with the previous ones I said and I reached the character limit so this is another tag #what am I doing with my life #blurry #a day in the life of the crows #welp looks like the world is corrupted #sorrynotsorry tho #soupmode

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lee-scribbles-and-doodles · 4 years ago

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My Top Ten Overlooked Movies With Female Leads In No Particular Order

Note: When you see this emoji (⚠️) I will be talking about things people may find triggering, which are spoilery more often then not. I mention things that I think may count as triggers so that people with them will be aware before going in to watch any of these.

Edited: 3/16/21

Hanna (2011)

So, before I get into why you should watch this movie, I just want to take a moment to say why it's near and dear to my heart. Growing up as a queer kid in the early 2000s, seeing portrayals of people like or similar to myself on anything was rare at best. It was mostly in more "adult" movies or shows that my parents would occasionally let me watch with them that I'd see any lgbtq+ rep at all. Often times they were either walking stereotypes, designed to be buried, evil, or all three.

Then here comes this PG-13 action thriller with a wonderfully written main female lead who, at the time, was close to my age, and who got to kiss another girl (her very first friend, Sophie) on screen in an extremely tender and heartwarming scene. To say the least, it was a life changing moment for me personally.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, Hanna is a suspenseful movie about a child super-soldier named, you guessed it, Hanna (played by Saoirse Ronan) and her adoptive (?) father Erik Heller (played by Eric Bana) exiting the snowy and isolated wilderness of their home and taking on the shadowy CIA operative, Marissa Wiegler (played by Cate Blanchette) who wants Erik dead and Hanna for herself for mysterious reasons.

It also has an amazing soundtrack by the Chemical Brothers, great action scenes, and it has an over arching fairytale motif, which I'm always a sucker for.

⚠️ Mild blood effects, some painful looking strikes, various character deaths, and child endangerment all feature in this film. However, given its PG-13 rating, a majority of viewers are presumably able to handle this one. Still, be aware of these going in.

Sidenote: It's recently gotten a TV adaptation on Amazon TV, although I have not watched it, and do not know if Hanna and Sophie's romantic/semi-romantic relationship has transferred over.

A Simple Favor

A Simple Favor is a "black-comedy mystery thriller" centered entirely around the relationship between two mothers, the reclusive, rich, mysterious, and regal Emily (played by Blake Lively), and the local recently widowed but plucky mommy blogger, Stephanie (played by Anna Kendrick). When Emily suddenly goes missing, Stephanie takes it upon herself to find out what happened to her new best friend.

It's a fantastic and entertaining movie throughout, with fun, flawed and interesting characters. The relationship between the two female leads is also implied to be at least somewhat romantic in nature, and they even share a kiss.

⚠️ The only major warnings I can think of is that the movie contains an instance of incest and one of the main plotlines revolves around child abuse, although both of these potentially triggering topics are not connected to each other, so there is thankfully no csa going on.

Edit: I legitimately forgot there was drug use in this movie until now. So, yeah, if that's a trigger, be careful of that.

I Am Mother

I became mildly obsessed with this movie when it came out. I Am Mother is a sci-fi film that centers entirely around a cast of two woman, and a female-adjacent robot who is brought to life on screen with absolutely amazing practical effects.

The plot is such, after an extinction-level event, a lone robot known only as Mother tasks herself with replenishing the human race via artifical means. She begins with the film's main protagonist, Daughter. Years go by as Mother raises her human child and the two prepare for Daughter's first sibling (a brother) to be born. However, on Daughter's 16th birthday, the arrival of an outsider known only as Woman shakes Daughter's entire world view. She begins to question Mother's very nature, as well as what's really going on outside the bunker she and her caretaker call home.

⚠️ This movie features child endangerment and reference to child death.

Lilo and Stitch

When I decided to add a single Disney film to this list I initially thought it was going to be hard but almost immediately my brain went to Lilo and Stitch, and specifically about the relationship between Lilo and Nani.

On the surface, this film is about a lonely little girl accidentally adopting a fugitive alien creature as a "dog," but underneath that the story is also about two orphaned sisters and the older sister's attempts to not let social services tear them apart by stepping up as the younger sister's primary guardian. Despite its seemingly goofy premise, Lilo and Stitch has a very emotional and thoughtful center. It's little wonder how this movie managed to spawn an entire franchise.

Despite the franchise it spawned (or possibly because of it), I often find that Lilo and Stitch is overlooked and many people only remember it for the "little girl adopts an alien as a pet" portion of its plot, and I very rarely see it on people's top 10 Disney lists.

⚠️ This movie could be potentially triggering to people who were separated from their siblings or other family members due to social service intervention. There's also a bit of child endangerment, including a scene where Lilo and Stitch both almost drown.

Nausicaä and the Valley of the Wind

Unlike the above entry, I did struggle a little bit with picking a single Studio Ghibli film. Most media of the Ghibli catalogue have strong, well-written, unique, and interesting female leads so selecting just one seemed like quite the task.

However, I eventually settled on this particular film. In recent months, Princess Nausicaä has become my absolute favorite Ghibli protagonist and I'm absolutely enchanted by the world she lives in.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world overun by giant insects and under threat of a toxic forest and its poisoness spores, Nausicaä must try to protect the Valley of the Wind from invaders as she also tries to understand the science behind the toxic forest and attempts to bridge the gap between the insects and the humans.

For those who have never seen the film, I think Nausicaä's personality can best be described as being similar to OT Luke Skywalker. Both are caring, compassionate, and gentle souls who are able to see the best in nearly anyone or anything. She's an absolutely enthralling protagonist and after rewatching the film again for the first time in well over a decade she has easily become one of my all time favorite protagonists.

Whenever I see people talk about Ghibli films, they rarely mention this one, and when they do mention it, it's often in passing. In my opinion it's a must watch.

⚠️ This movie contains some blood, and the folks who either don't like insects or who have entomophobia may not appreciate the giant bugs running about throughout the movie. (Although most insects do not directly relate to real life bugs, and are fantasy creatures).

A Silent Voice

A Silent Voice is an animated movie adaptation of a manga of the same name. While I've never had the pleasure to read the manga, the movie is phenomenal. It covers topics such a bullying, living in the world with a disability, the desire for atonement, social anxiety, and depression in a well thought out manner that ties itself together through the progression of the relationship between its two leads, Shoya and Shouko. It's also beautifully animated. Although very popular among anime viewers, I've noticed that it's often overlooked by people who watch little to no anime. So I suppose this is me urging non-anime viewers to give this film a chance.

⚠️ As mentioned above, the movie deals with bullying, anxiety, and depression (with this last one including suicidal thoughts and behaviour). If discussion of those topics are triggering to you, than you may want to proceed with caution or skip this movie all together.

In This Corner of The World

Another manga adaptation, this one taking place during WWII-era Japan. In This Corner of The World follows the life of a civilian Japanese woman, Suzu Urano, as she navigates simply living and her new marriage as the wartime invades nearly all aspects of everyday life. I think this movie is a good representation of what it must be like to be living as civilian in a country at war where the fight is sometimes fought on one's own soil. It was also an interesting look into pre-50s Japanese culture in my opinion. It's also beautifully animated featuring an art style I don't see often.

Despite it being well known among anime fans, I never really see it be brought up, even among said anime fans themselves.

Side note: I've seen many WWII dramas centering around civilians but they've almost always been about American or UK civilians. This was the first movie I'd seen that features the perspective of a Japanese civilain.

⚠️ Features the death of a child and limb loss. There's also a disturbing scene featuring a victim of one of the atomic bombs near the end.

Wolf Children: Ame and Yuki

This film follows Hana, a Japan-native woman who fell in love with a magical shape-shifting wolf-man, and her trials with raising their children, who can also magically shape-shift into wolves, on her own. It's a very heartfelt movie about a mother's love and the struggles of doing right by your children when you have limited resources to actively guide and care for them. All the characters feel unique and alive in my opinion. Also, the animation is so good that my sister and I initially mistook it for a Ghibli film.

Again, like the previous two anime entries, I don't see it ever brought up outside of anime circles.

⚠️ There's some child endangerment present in the film, although none of it is the fault of Hana as far as I can remember.

Roman Holiday

Roman Holiday is about the fictional Princess Ann (played by Audrey Hepburn), who while on a whirlwind tour of Europe, finally reaches her breaking point over having her entire life be one big schedule and all her words and actions being rehearsed. In the spur of the moment, she runs away in hopes of experiencing what life is like for other women. Unfortunately, she was previously given a sedative, meaning she doesn't get too far before it takes effect. Fortunately, she is found by the kind reporter Joe Bradley (played by Gregory Peck). Believing her to be drunk and unable to get an address from her (because she has none) he ends up taking her home for safety's sake and allows her to sleep off her suppose drunken stupor. The next day, he realizes who she is, and decides to take her on a fun sight seeing trip across Rome in hopes of getting the big scoop. Along the way, they begin to fall for each other.

This is my favorite black and white, old romance film. I think the relationship between the main characters is absolutely beautiful and I have a lot of fun watching it.

⚠️ I'm not entirely sure what kind of warning this film would need. However, it was released in 1953, so values dissonance will probably be at play for many viewers to at least some extent. For example, early in the film Ann is given sedation drugs by her doctor for her behavior, something that is very unlikely to happen today. Also, Mr Bradley deciding to take Ann home to keep her safe rather than call the police or an ambulance is a very pre-90s decision in my opinion.

#hanna 2011 #a simple favor #i am mother #lilo and stitch #nausicaä of the valley of the wind #a silent voice #in this corner of the world #wolf chilren ame and yuki #wolf children #roman holiday #black and white film #anime #disney #studio ghibli #movie recs #top 10

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sodone-withlife · 3 years ago

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icarus fell, and blood stained the ground

i'm back!! (but not really—the new school year literally starts in an hour and it will be back to my pathological dependence on academic validation. at least i can say i've technically published another fic before summer break ends)

anyway, here's the fic in response to part 1 of sumayyah's post. i published a companion poem for this some time ago. as per usual, i gave up on proofreading so hopefully any mistakes don't detract from the story. also, i hope the formatting and jumping back and forth between italics makes sense—let me know if it doesn't, though it might be easier to read on ao3 (it should go up on there by 4pm PST because school)

warnings: murder, major character death (may potentially be classified as suicide-by-proxy, depending on your interpretation), guns, canon typical violence, slight gore at the end, mentioned substances

word count: 1.9k words

The damned man thought of everything, Jessica thought as she scowled at the damned folder that sat innocuously on the large mahogany desk.

The desk that would soon be cleared, all traces of the previous owner gone.

She lifted a shaky hand and brushed it through her hair, shuddering at its greasy and unkempt state that hinted at the state she had been in recently. Weary to the bone, she forced herself to sit back up and grab her phone, dialing the number that was written on the sticky note placed on the inside cover of the folder. It didn’t surprise her to hear an unfamiliar female voice answer the phone with a “Ms. Brooks?”

He had thought of everything, after all.

Really, the only thing she was surprised at was the sheer extent of his connections—but thinking back to her phone calls with Haley back when he was still practicing law, the talks about extravagant offers from top corporations and firms, she really wasn’t surprised. Thus, it made sense that her call to the top law firm in the state would be answered within two dial tones and by someone who already knew who she was.

And within minutes of talking with the woman who introduced herself as Ms. Stevens, Jessica became even more aware of just how prepared her brother-in-law had been before he walked to his dea—

Not an in-law anymore—her brother. He had long since earned that designation, that spot in her broken family, no matter how much self-flagellation he put himself through in regards to her sister’s murder and no matter how much abuse her father hurled at him in the years before the man who once viewed him as a son succumbed to dementia.

Hours later, despite having already reached her limit twenty minutes into the call, she finally hung up the phone with only funeral arrangements as an immediate concern. Slowly, she stood up from the chair and mechanically made her way into the tiny bathroom that had once been a familiar sight, when her nephew was still a child—

She forced her mind away from that minefield; she wasn’t willing to spend another sleepless night thinking about what had gone down in the past month, what had happened a week ago in that apartment, what her nephew was doing and thinking in the cell that only seemed to become colder and crueler the more she thought about it.

How many prisons had he visited? How many interrogation rooms, holding cells, general population cells, max security cells, death row cells? Did he ever get used to it? Could he allow himself to get used to it, to forget that these people are also human no matter the crimes they’ve committed?

A careful hand fell onto Jessica’s shoulder, and she shuddered under the warmth that seeped into her body, a warmth that had been lacking from her life for a long time now. She turned to see Morgan staring back at her, concerned.

“You didn’t pick up your phone,” he explained neutrally, flicking his eyes towards her phone—and sure enough, there were ten missed calls, each from a member of the team. She looked back up but avoided his concerned gaze only to latch onto her reflection in the mirror and internally winced at her haggard appearance.

“Did you—“ she coughed, clearing her throat, “have you figured out what happened?” Morgan’s unspoken question about her well-being went unanswered, and she continued to avoid looking at him.

She watched the man shake his head through the mirror, unsurprised and once again cursing her brother for his incessant habit of playing his cards close to his chest, especially when it came to personal issues.

How else is—was—he one of the best at poker in the bureau, often even beating Reid?

“He hasn’t talked, either,” Morgan informed her quietly, saving her the pain of asking the question herself. “Forensics is still struggling to put together a cohesive picture. To be honest, I doubt we’ll ever find out what actually happened in that apartment.” He shook his head, frustrated at the man he considered his brother.

If either of them bothered to ask, they would have found that both were truthfully unsurprised at this outcome, given what they only recently learned about the factors and circumstances that led to it. The few established facts about this case in addition to speculation based on systematically organized notes left in an even more meticulously organized folder painted a clear enough picture of the events preceding the fall.

But it wasn’t really an accidental, flailing fall.

In all truthfulness, he didn’t fight it.

Icarus let himself fall to his death in an attempt to compensate for his hubris, to suffer the consequences of his mistakes, and it was both a cowardly attempt to escape the hellish burns caused by the boiling, melting wax and a selfless attempt to teach posterity to avoid ending up like him.

Jessica remembered the warmth of Morgan’s embrace when he ignored all protocol and took it upon himself to inform her of what had transpired in the past two months, regardless of the still-ongoing investigation. It didn’t do much to soothe the cold that had threatened to swallow her whole as she listened to the details in silent horror.

He had sat her down in her apartment, the one she had taken care of her ailing father in before he finally died and the one she couldn’t bear to move out of for all of the memories that had been formed inside—with her father on his good days, with her brother, with her nephew

“A week ago, we were invited by MPD to consult on a series of killings that happened over the course of a month. We had an eye on the situation since the second murder, and there were two more victims in the span of a week before we were finally called in,” he began quietly.

He had suspicions as to what was happening by the time the team was invited in on the case at the personal request of the MPD chief. It certainly wasn’t the first time he had come across this profile before, but there were simply too many puzzle pieces with matching edges for the connections to be brushed off as a coincidence.

“Based on the rate at which bodies were popping up, we anticipated another one within two days of us being called in, but the killer had gone suspiciously silent. We went through crime scenes, forensic reports, and things weren’t adding up.”

"It’s a local case and we’ve coordinated with MPD multiple times, they know the drill. I’d like to take a personal look as well, the brass has been all up in my business about this case given its proximity to the Hill."

That’s what he said to the team regarding him suddenly taking the initiative to go to the crime scenes despite his responsibilities—it had been a while since he last went out to crime scenes, often taking care of the office politics and coordinating the investigation back at whatever precinct or office the team had taken over.

“There were odd inconsistencies, missing pieces of evidence… There was evidence to show that the killer was an amateur, but ultimately the profile we ended up building was nowhere near as detailed as we hoped it could be—but it ultimately went a long way in helping us figure out what was really happening.”

Old case files going missing from his home office, growing interest in his job, sudden mood swings happening long after the worst of puberty, increased isolation, dropping grades…

Absentee fathers of Georgetown students being stabbed and shot to death as if the killer was unsure about what to do, an innocuous Jack-in-the-Box takeout bag sitting near the last three bodies…

Numerous signs, and yet it was the outwardly irrelevant piece of trash, perhaps a sign of the killer’s gluttony—a sick joke that only he could have recognized—that led him to put all of the horrifying pieces together. It’s been over a decade, and yet the memories of that damned day remained as clear as ever, dogging his every footstep. Nightmares in which the worst happens still often visit him in his sleep, sometimes even combined with the effects of Peter Lewis’s drug concoction, effects lingering even after all these years.

“Somehow, we completely missed the fact that he fit the victimology. Maybe it was because of his efforts to distract us… If we had put it together earlier we might have been able to figure it out much earlier, and maybe everything could have turned out differently.”

Only after intensive counseling and careful editing of his case reports was he allowed to continue in the bureau after Lewis and his targeted attacks, and yet he knew he was still being watched. It was with that thought in mind that he made a decision on how to handle the situation. Either way, his life would be irrevocably changed, and there would be casualties alongside him.

All he had to do was figure out how to minimize them.

“He never came in that morning; Reid was the first to notice the lights off in the office. We were headed towards his apartment complex as soon as we saw a cleared-out office with a retirement letter being the only thing left on the desk. All of the pictures, trinkets, law books, messy stacks of paperwork—gone.”

A retirement letter for formality's sake, one copy emailed directly to the director and one printed on his desk, to simplify some things for the bureau and to ensure that Jessica and his son get his pension should the worst happen. All of his decisions, meticulously recorded and justified, except for this last one to protect the team from the consequences of his choice. All of his notes, all of the claimed evidence, carefully stored in the file box he left next to the retirement letter back in the office. Favors accumulated since law school called in, contacts throughout the local justice system ready to step in and deal with the fallout.

All of this, an attempt to compensate for the mistakes he’s made over the years and his hubris, to protect the remnants of his family and the team.

Morgan couldn’t finish telling Jessica what had happened, voice somehow caught in his throat and refusing to cooperate. He simply shook his head, and she folded in on herself, the weight of the last week too much for her to hold up. Slowly, he pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back but not doing much more to soothe her.

This is a wound that wouldn’t ever heal.

The story ends like this:

Icarus burned, and Aaron Hotchner said nothing as the hand that held the gun against his temple shook with uncertainty. Everything he wanted to say was written—one might call him a coward, but writing had always been so much easier for him—and he knew that he would be the final casualty, that the killings would stop after tonight.

Icarus fell, and Aaron Hotchner was flung sideways, the unyielding bullet from his gun fired by his own son shredding the brain that thought had of everything but the emotional and psychological effects his final decision would have on his family and friends.

Daedalus grieved over his son’s crumpled form, and Jack Hotchner would be found with his father’s dead body in his shaking arms as he stared blankly at sights unseen to the team, who had come hours too late.

Blood stained the ground, seeping into the cracks and crevices of grasping fingers, and nothing would ever be the same.

#criminal minds #aaron hotchner #derek morgan #bau #jessica brooks #jack hotchner #tw character death #tw guns #tw violence #tw murder #tw death #just to cover my bases #tw substances #tw drugs #tw gore

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sirensmojo · 4 years ago

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"KINDRED", 4 - Thomas Shelby x Reader.

Warnings: Swearing, romance, violence, guns, drama, slight smut(“slight”?)

Word Count: 5k+

AN: When it’s a reader and Tommy scene, it’s Tommy POV.

❰ Previous Chapter

Tommy leaned backwards on his desk chair, a cigarette stuck in between his index and middle fingers. He was looking at the ceiling as if its colour brought to him answers to the multiple questions that had been clouding his mind lately.

Since the day he and Y/N kissed, he noticed she had been avoiding him. She didn’t even send him the weekly book she usually dropped at the office.

He didn’t understand her, and each time he tried to put back together the pieces to get a clear view of her character, the memories of the smell of her hair brought him somewhere else. And whenever he would dare to close his eyes too long, he would taste her lips again.

Even if she chose to stay away from him, he entered her world once and appreciated it so greatly it had printed into his spirits, like a hand in wet cement.

He allowed himself to shift his thoughts to Mosley from time to time, the d-day was approaching and with it, the time he’ll take the lead of the British fascist party.

(...)

The only way Lizzie found to see her husband these days was to come back in business as Tommy’s secretary. He told her she wouldn’t have to work when they got their daughter, Ruby, but he was rarely home, and when he was, his mind was elsewhere.

Even after promising to let her in sometimes, she struggled the most to read him, but despite all, she was deeply in love with him. She had to make the effort and reach for him.

He didn’t agree with her taking back her job at first and she knew exactly why, as being responsible for her having a baby, he had to take care of her, at least he felt like he did. He was undeniably a murderer, cut-throat gangster, but he had convictions and rules to stick to.

This morning began as normal as any other for the Shelby company limited, Lizzie was occupied with papers as Tommy locked himself in his office.

The door opened, Lizzie’s gaze instantly got up, searching for who might that be. When her gaze met the figure, her jaw dropped. ‘Not again’ she thought. This scene reminds her of the time May Carleton came in here only to entice her Tommy.

She knew he didn’t owe her anything, but he could’ve waited at least a day or two before calling another woman. Not even twenty-four hours earlier Tommy was fucking her in some alley in the cold, probably thinking about a woman he knew before France. But he said he was fucking her, Lizzie, and not his lost teenage lover, even if she knew better.

Tommy and his cock.

That May Carleton was walking so confidently in front of Lizzie, she probably thought she was the one to own Tommy’s cock. If only she knew. She glared at her so strongly that May avoided looking at her at all costs.

The woman that just passed the door didn’t look her way, too occupied walking straight to the doors of Tommy’s office with the arrogance of an army.

Lizzie’s eyes went from her seemingly very expensive shoes, up her green pants suit in which pockets she kept a hand, to her suit jacket that fell perfectly on her waist as the end of which was drawing the woman’s hips. Her leather belt marked, even more, her waist and its golden details matched the imposing blue pearls necklace along with the large same looking earrings.

As soon as the woman entered the room, the atmosphere switched, her figure called the eyes, not only due to her ostentatious jewellery collection but also by the woman’s charismatic aura. Even the clicking sound her heels made on the hard ground was full of power. Anyone could hear the confidence in each of her steps, which made Lizzie gasp.

As a moth attracted to light, Tommy got out of his office, a cigarette hanging on his lips. He pressed a shoulder on the door frame, his eyes fixed on the woman walking towards him.

He was indeed waiting for her.

His deep blue eyes weren’t examining the woman’s form in an enticed way, he was solely looking at her face, a thing that made Lizzie’s heart ached because she understood there might be more than sexual attraction between them.

Lizzie knew her husband. From the way he dawdled on the woman’s face to the little waving of his shoulders, she just knew.

The atmosphere again had changed, Lizzie was now oppressed by their two presences, the warm and powerful one of the stranger and the usual cold and disconcerting one of her husband, one completing the other.

As her heart didn’t want to admit it yet, a burning look was exchanged by the two pairs of eyes, and confirmed the obvious her brain already knew, Thomas had found his match, and it wasn’t her.

(...)

Tommy took off his shoulder from the door frame and stood straight as he humidified his lips. The librarian walked to him with her usual unreadable face and when she was close enough, she grabbed his cigarette off his fingers taking her time to make their skin touch as much as she could. Her eyes were still deeply in Tommy’s as millions of sparks animated the tips of his fingers.

The man coughed and turned to Lizzie, motioning his hand to the woman behind the desk, in an attempt to ignore the sparks. “Mrs Y/L/N, meet my wife, Lizzie. Lizzie, it’s Mrs Y/L/N, the librarian I work with at the House Of Commons.” He had sensed the intense look of his wife since Y/N came closer to him.

“Mrs Shelby! I am so honoured to meet you, I heard about your typewriting skills, writing eyes closed, eh? I could never.” Y/N gave a warm smile to Lizzie that squinted her eyes in anticipation. His wife didn’t believe in what the librarian just told and he was sure Y/N knew it too.

“Yeah? Well, I never heard of you.” Lizzie spitted.

“It’s because you don’t keep company with my people.” She had the audacity to take a puff on the cigarette she stole earlier from Tommy looking his wife straight in the eyes.

Even if Y/N’s voice was calm and solemn, it was clear it was an attack. The implication made Lizzie gritted her teeth as she got up and joined them. Tommy rubbed a hand on his own face knowing exactly what she was going to do.

She stood behind the librarian. “And what business do you have here in Birmingham if you work in London?”

“You’re husband,” Y/n responded, not even turning to her. She bypassed Tommy and opened the door’s office before disappearing behind them.

Lizzie followed her with her eyes before looking up at her husband. “The fuck is she doing here? Are you going to fuck her, Thomas?”

“No, Lizzie. Am not going to fuck her.” He responded exhaling deeply.

“Yeah, take me for an fucking idiot.” She walked to the desk to grab her hat & coat. “That’s all you’re good for anyway. You fucked all Birmingham and now London, huh?” She sneered before shaking her head walking to the exit.

“Lizzie.” He called, but the woman had already closed the door.

Tommy raised his brows and sighed before turning to the office where he marked a pause. It was another type of storm he had to face now. He finally opened the door and got in, only to find Y/N seated behind his desk, in his chair.

“Tommy Shelby, OBE, what a pleasure to meet your family.”

“It was quite a show you put out there.” He closed behind him.

When he turned back at the room, she was walking toward him, but she already was pretty near.

“So you fucked all Birmingham already, hum? Trying to expand your activities in London?” Y/N leaned on him, she was so close he could smell her breath and he wondered what was her fucking problem. She ignored him for days after they kissed and here she was again, pushing him to the edges. It was almost as if it was a game for her. And if it was, she was winning all the damn rounds.

“And you? What’s with the attitude?”

“What are you talking about.” She took a step back.

“You have been busy this week, eh?” Tommy walked to the counter and poured whiskey in two glasses.

“Well, the man you have your little brother watching, he talks.” She loosely let out. “The bookmaker Billy Grade, the one that conducts the football betting business” She paused looking at Tommy’s surprised expression. “He doesn’t like Arthur.”

“To who?” Was the simple question he needed an answer to.

“I made moves with Mosley so, yes, it had been a busy week, Thomas.”

At the revelation, Tommy’s eyes squinted. If there was one thing he learnt with Grace was to make sure his feelings weren’t a shackle to business.

“I’m not betraying you, no need for these wrinkles at the corner of your eyes. But you gotta know he’s offered me the South.” She went to the counter and took the glasses before sitting in one of the chairs in front of his desk, one cup in her hand, the other she put on one of the numerous files covering the desk.

Tommy went sitting in his armchair. He lit a cigarette and held one to the woman that declined.

“Only like to take yours.” She gave as an explanation.

“How come he offered you the south?” He ignored her comment.

“North’s Mc Cavern’s, Middle’s yours, South’s vacant. But I have another plan for the South, and you might agree with me as well.” A rictus took place at the corner of her lips, as Tommy looked at her, curious. “Mr Solomons. I know he wrote you that he’s still alive.”

Tommy’s lids fluttered a couple times, he didn’t say anything. How could she know so much all the time? Was she listening to him or something? He for a second thought it might be her spying on him on the phone but this idea went away almost immediately.

She wasn’t Grace.

“He and I are great friends. Not as if he really has any, but do I?” She muttered utterly to herself.

Tommy coughed and leaned back on his chair, making himself comfortable.

“What’s with you, Tommy?” Asked the librarian, and he himself couldn’t put a finger on what was going on. It was always that way when she was around, but everything intensified when they leaned their breath as one and connected together.

His mind was so full of thoughts that had nothing to do with business that it was hard for him to concentrate. But for some reason, he just couldn’t push those thoughts aside.

He wanted her, he yearned for her to touch him the way she did that night, to intertwine their fingers together again and forget about Mosley for an instant, just one. Tommy humidified his lips again as raising his eyebrows, it was like his lips were always dry or incomplete. Her lips belonged on his. He raised his gaze to her in distress.

“You want to come to me house, Tommy? Again?” Her voice resonated in his head, her words taking him by surprise.

“Huh?”

“Have a drink or two, meet my cat...” She went on, looking intently at his soul hiding behind his icy blue iris.

He didn’t recognize her, but did he even know her? It seems not. Every time they meet, she puts another mask on. Somewhere in his soul, he believed it wasn’t a good idea, that thing they shared. But he knew he couldn’t turn away and break the partnership. Not now. Not only could she be hard to beat if they turned to enemies, but he also needed her, she was part of his business now. She was too precious an ally for him to withdraw from the deal.

As he didn’t respond, she drank from her cup, finishing its countenance in one go. “I’ll ask Arthur then...replace his Linda.” She added looking up to the ceiling innocently.

“The fuck did you say?” He hustled to spit as watching her without blinking.

Her gaze went back on Tommy, a playful gleam animating her pupils.

“What do you say?” She sent him back the ball. It was indeed a game for her, and he knew once again she would be the winner because he wouldn’t say no.

He tried to escape her game by coughing it away and smoked his cigarette. “How are you going to bring up Alfie Solomons with Mosley?” He went back on business, but the woman didn’t seem ready yet to give up.

She got up and grabbed the phone with one hand as the other was dialling a number. She sat at the corner of the desk, turning toward the Shelby brother and the phone. Tommy watched her movements closely, curious about how she was going to handle him dismissing her offer.

He couldn’t even hide the fact her stubbornness did something to him, even if he repressed any desire for her. It was as if they were the principal characters in the regency era drama he ended up devouring as it was the book Y/N was reading on their first meeting.

He was so deep in thought he didn’t hear the librarian asking the cable woman to put her in connection with the individual she intended to reach.

“Yeah, Arthur, it’s me. I wonder if you would wa--” Tommy had heard enough. He hung up the line and fixed the phone for what feels like centuries, slowly realizing what his reaction meant.

The Y/E/C eyes woman remained silent, a silence that felt heavy on Tommy’s conscience. He straightened back and leaned on the back of his chair, glancing at the ceiling.

He was done with those games. He couldn’t believe he dove into her crude farce head first, and now he had to face her because she had been staring at him the last minute.

“You’re a devil.” He let the words lazily slip between his lips.

“Call me Lilith.” She spiritedly exclaimed. Tommy’s eyes went to her face at that exact moment.

“So you’re jew, eh? That explains why you know Alfie, but contradicts the fact you and Mosley are close.” Tommy thought out loud. According to his memories, Lilith was a demon of the jew tradition, which led him to his conclusion.

The woman instantly smiled, seemingly very content about the Shelby head struggling to catch her.

“Fair enough.”

“You come to my house?”

“I was talking about the comparison.” He paused, looking at her blankly.

She sighed.

No doubt she was annoyed by Tommy’s behaviour, but she won way too much at their little game. It was about time Tommy won. It was unusual of him to be that shallow but it was their intimate space, so he didn’t care.

(...)

Gina couldn’t see anything when the abductors took her out of the car to lead her down some stairs into what she surmised to be a cellar, she already had a piece of cloth hiding her vision and one in her mouth, preventing her from screaming.

She was petrified and the fact the individuals didn’t say a word, neither during the ride nor once in the room didn’t help her. She could feel heavy drops of sweat rolling down her forehead as dried tears itched the corners of her eyes.

The place was colder than what she remembered a cellar to be. Flashes of her childhood coming back to her from time to time.

“THREE… TWO… ONE… ZERO. I’M COMING GINA!” Her cousin shouted from the kitchen where they last saw each other. The little girl used to come down in the cellar to hide when playing hide and seek with any member of her family, from her cousins to her father.

As her mother was severely ill, she couldn’t play with Gina, but her father always did. When not leading the believers to sing the praises of the Almighty at the local church, he was both a father and a mother to her.

Although her mother & herself loved each other more than anything, she soon stopped seeing her. When at first her father let Gina visit the room of her mother once a day, it decreased from once a week, to once a month to simply never.

Despite the child doggedly asking for her mother, he remained unyielding and managed to keep his daughter away from her mother for her own sake.

It was only when growing older and after the death of her mother that Gina understood her father’s demeanour. He was desperate not to let his daughter watch her mother die.

This time, the cellar didn’t feel familiar and it’s not a joyful feeling that resides in her. Her body reacting to the cold, she was shivering as goosebumps appeared at the same time as she heard footsteps coming her way. Her blood boiling like hot water, she struggled to breathe.

“Call her father.” Gina heard a female voice she had never heard before. She listened to footsteps receding before a whimper escaped her throat.

“Well, you heard the woman, let her talk.” The voice ordered. And just like that, her mouth got freed. “Go on.” The female voice seemed to address her directly.

“What do you want with my father?” She managed to say after she moved her jaws to get rid of the piece of cloth’s taste.

“He’s an old friend.”

“Can’t you just call like normal people instead of abducting his child?” Gina murmured, not totally relieved from the fear. She wanted to appear unmoved and plucked all the courage left in her to get an untroubled voice.

“I know you, Gina.” The voice started, getting closer. “You alright? You’re trembling.” Well, it seems like all the effort she put in wasn’t enough, her true emotions were discovered.

“You know me, huh? So you know as soon as you detach me I’ll assault you and spit right in your face, right?” She angrily let out, she didn’t accept to be defeated nor seen while being vulnerable and defenceless.

But it seems like the individual challenged her, because she heard someone pass behind her and loosen the cords holding back her hands. At the same moment, the piece of cloth blinding her fell on her collarbones.

Before her, stood straight a woman with a closed face, her facial traits weren’t aggressive, but in her eyes, Gina could swear she saw in there an untamed fire. Her brown eyes slid to a sitting white dog near the stranger, it looked like a wolf, even its huge size reminded her of the fierce beast she read about as a teenager.

It was ridiculous to see this situation unleashed the least probable memories of her youth into her mind as vividly as yesterday.

“Who are you? What do you want?” The woman before Gina mimicked her voice, a smile drawing on her lips. “They always ask the same questions.” She shrugged her shoulders seeing Gina’s surprised expression. The freshly Gray woman closed her mouth that was slightly open in an “o” shape and clenched her jaw.

“Well, I need your father to come here, in England. And you,” she tapped Gina’s end of nose, “you’re the thing that’ll make him travel the world all the way to Birmingham. To my greatest pleasure,” She patted her own chest before motioning to Gina, “and much to your displeasure.”

Gina didn’t even know what to say, she used the time the woman spent talking to massage her wrists as the cords were tied very tight. Her gaze dawdled on the woman in front of her, she was wearing a very long purple coat to which two buttons situated at the waist of its owner were closed. She also wore black lace gloves with ostentatious golden rings above the fabric. The diamonds of her rings were blue, matching her earrings. When the woman turned to the side to pat her dog’s head, Gina noticed she had braided her hair in a single braid that fell on her back.

The woman crouched down for her eyes to be at the same level as the dog’s ones, one of her hands scratching its head. “One single word and it attacks you, so you better behave.” She turned her head to Gina, warning her. The blonde woman glared at the other before glancing toward the dog in anticipation.

Y/N got back up and turned her back to Gina as she started to walk toward the stairs. “Get comfortable, it’s your new home for a few days.”

“What, you’re leaving me in this? With the dog?” She screamed at the Y/H/C haired woman.

“If I were you, I’d avoid screaming, Gina doesn’t like too loud noises.” She waved goodbye as answering without even glancing toward Gray.

“What?” Gina asked, confusion in her voice.

Y/N chuckled a bit before turning around, her index went from the dog to Gina, “Yeah, meet your twin.” She walked backwards a couple of seconds before turning back to the stairs and climbing them.

(...)

House Of Commons, London.

The door of Tommy’s office abruptly opened on an angry Michael.

The Shelby brother that was pouring himself some whisky glanced at his cousin. “Michael.” He welcomed.

“Where the fuck is my wife, Tommy?” Gray asked, frowning.

“What?” He squinted his eyes.

“Where. The. Fuck. Is. My. Wife.” Michael spitted each word, looking straight into his older cousin’s eyes.

Tom blinked a couple times, not understanding the request.

“Days ago when coming back from the fucking restaurant some fucking people took her.” The younger Gray calmed a bit, seeing that Tommy truly didn’t know what he was talking about.

“How did they look?” Tom asked, concerned. Even if Michael might have betrayed him, he was family still and anyone jeopardizing the life of a member of the Shelby clan or someone related to them should taste the sweet fondles of death’s fingers.

“Men in fucking black.” Michael started to pace up and down, both his hands passing over his face. “I’m getting mad, Tom, me head fucking all over the place...” He continued.

“Men, no women?” Tommy brows raised, he had to ask. He remembered the conversation he had with that librarian when she was telling him she thought Gina was the weakness and force of his cousin and that she might do something about it.

“No.” Michael stated firmly. Tommy’s tensed shoulders relaxed. “Or..” Tommy raised his brows. “I don’t know, Tom. Fuck.”

“We’re going to find her, Michael. Stay in your hotel room, stay put, near the phone, right?” The Shelbys' head tapped his cousin’s shoulder before leaving the office.

(...)

He stopped the car near the portals and got out, a cigarette hanging on his lips. Tommy walked the pointlessly long alley, by-passing a ton of fountains and trimmed bushes of different forms and shapes.

The fair distance gave him time to rethink everything that concerned Y/N and his relationship with her. If she truly was behind the disappearance of his cousin’s wife, he would have to deal with her, meaning going to war, which was far from the plan since he entered politics.

He knocked on the door without waiting any further once he joined the principal door. He was looking intently at the windows trying to see a silhouette through it or an ignited light of some sort, but nothing.

The door abruptly opened, making a loud noise and the figure of the librarian was to be seen. Tommy raised his hand to her face, pointing his gun at her, but when her body was fully visible thanks to the moon shining, he blinked, bewildered.

His eyes dropped on a Y/N only dressed with an emeraude lace nightgown. The top was all see-through, but it didn’t stop him from cocking the gun and hold it steady in between her eyebrows. Even though he was here because he suspected her to have turned her back to him, his body reacted a whole different way to the view. His heart started to pounder in his chest as a warmth suddenly took prisoner his upper body. He swallowed in an attempt to dismiss the feeling ready to burst out.

“Missing our start?” She let out, not even pretending to be scared or shook by the situation. As a matter of fact, in their second meeting, Tom indeed pulled a gun at her, how could he forget that. Nobody ever had the nerve to threaten him on his own doorsteps, but of course, she did.

“Where’s Gina?” He ignored she was half-naked along with her remark.

“What the fuck, Thomas?” One of her eyebrows raised in confusion. “What’s happened?”

Tommy switched the position of his fingers, putting his index right on top of the trigger to make known he knew she was lying.

As she felt the danger, the woman banged the door on Tom’s face and not even a second later, he heard bullets being fired as he saw holes drawing through the door. The time stopped, or at least everything appeared as slower.

He instinctively put his arms over his head and kneeled as other bullets were being fired, he managed his way to the wall of the mansion, staying down.

“Fucking hell, Y/N!” He shouted his lungs out, his ears whistling due to the bullets’ noise.

“Remember when I warned you, Thomas. You pull a gun, I shoot!” She accentuated the last part, her tone underlined by anger.

“Why did you take her?” He kept his head close to the wall as shaking it, trying to totally recover his hearing.

“You should’ve asked that when you could, Sergent Major.” She calmly stated.

Tommy could hear she was re-loading her gun.

He looked at the gravels under him and recognized the bullet belonging to a rifle. He frowned, wondering how come she got a rifle.

“No. Put down the rifle, I'm throwing me gun.” He said loudly before dropping his gun in the grass far away from him, his weapon made a muffled noise while encountering the ground.

He didn’t hear anything for a minute that seems to last hours. The night breeze came fondling his face, helping him to ease his breath as the silence made him fully recover his hearing.

The front door opened, and Y/N peeked through. Only one of her Y/E/C eyes was to be seen, and even if her pupil was dilated due to the adrenaline, her look seemed concerned. “Are you hurt?” She solemnly asked, she, as well, being out of breath.

Tommy shook his head on both sides before he managed to stand, helped by the wall.

“You mad woman.” He closed his eyes as taking a deep breath in, knowing she wouldn't try to kill him tonight. When he opened his eyes again, she was in front of him, barefoot on the gravel.

“Sorry… I tend to lose my shit when I’m in danger.” She placed the rifle hanging around her neck to her side, a hand holding it still.

“You weren’t. I wasn’t gonna fucking shot, just trying to scare you.”

“...Well you angered me.” She hesitated in even giving him an answer. She finally decided she didn't need the rifle anymore and went placing it against the wall.

“Not fear, eh?” He teased, and she shook her head as a response.

“Why the fuck did you take Gina away? Michael’s all over the place, he even came to me. The boy’s fucking losing it.”

“Well, firstly, he deserved a little reminding he was still a boy as you correctly underlined,” she raised her brows looking at him, “secondly, after further research, I found it I know her father. Long story short, he’s the only one to be able to deal with her uncle if we don’t want any blood spilt.”

“Fucking was about to spill me gut on your doorstep, the fuck you care about spilt blood, Y/N?” He furrowed his brows as agitating one of his hands, motioning to the ground beneath their feet.

“Yeah,” she acquiesced, “not me that cares about fucking family. It’s you.”

That’s when he realized how serious she took their partnership. When he thought she was solely doing what fitted her best, she indeed took into consideration Tommy's convictions. She took seriously the fact he didn't want the family to be hurt. And although he ranged on her side regarding scaring Michael a bit to make him realize something, he never thought of Y/N to be tough enough to act with as much strategy as ruthlessness. She definitely outdid him in this case.

This sudden realisation aroused something in him. She cared. Even if the care she gave was nonetheless peculiar and typical to her character, she did what she could with what she had right? And right now she was working with him with as much resilience and fierceness as she would do with her own organisation.

“If it was up to me, fucking bullets to the head for both of ‘em and we done.” She dismissively worded as looking afar. “Where’s your gun?” She lazily looked back at him.

Tommy hesitated a short period of time before he grabbed her wrist and pulled her against himself. She didn’t push him away as he neared his face near her, she was the one sealing their lips together. This time, none of them were eager for the other, their kiss was light, soft and pure, contrasting with the chaotic situation they put themselves in.

The blue-eyed man slipped a hand on her back, fondling her skin above the piece of cloth covering her body while she reached for the button of his pants under his coat.

The atmosphere switched, not even seconds earlier it was love talking, now it was a whole another emotion ruling them.

Tom started to walk toward the door, forcing her to walk backwards. When she understood what he intended to do she murmured a soft “No.” and he opened his eyes darkened by desire and urge, looking into hers that were screaming for sex.

A smile grew on her lips as she went sticking her back to the nearest wall, her fingers strongly gripping on the man’s tie. He didn’t break the eye contact and joined her, flattening one of his hands on the cold wall. The warmth of his longing for the woman added to the coldness of the night were mixing together so well he felt a little dizzy.

He couldn’t think about how often he imagined them during their first time or how often he tried to picture Y/N’s curves in his head but his body somehow knew how much he wanted this. His hands were dawdling on any portion of her figure he could find, gulping each piece that was giving to him as if she was the first woman he’d ever touched.

Each kiss enticed him a bit more and whenever he closed his eyes he could literally see fireworks exploding everywhere in him. And whenever he would open them, he would find Y/N looking intently at him, her expression revealing everything she could never tell him, her feelings for him as well as her deepest fear, frustrations & beyond, her eyes being the messenger of the immensity of a soul, to another.

She quickly got to his bum she previously teased with one knee before reaching for his length.

Her cold fingers struck it a few times before she came aligning him with the distress for feeling him inside.

Once he was perfectly aligned, she released him and reunited her lips to his, where they belonged, giving him the green light. He thrust slowly at first, letting her some time to get used to his size. She murmured a low “Tommy...”, her legs encircling his hips as he grabbed one of them firmly. He was keeping her as close to him as possible, making sure their bodies were as connected as their souls were. He ultimately began to come and go, increasing his pace as time passed by.

Her high pitched moans came directly to his ears, the best sounds he’s heard out of his entire life without a doubt.

Following Chapter ❱

#peaky blinders #peaky blinder fanfic #tommy shelby #tommy shelby x reader #thomas shelby x reader #tommy shelby x y/n #thomas shelby x y/n

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kaiparker-avengerssmut · 4 years ago

Text

Their Doll 9

You Love Him

B.Barnes x Stark!Reader, S.Rogers x Stark!Reader

series synopsis: y/n Stark, all records of her non existent, and yet Hydra still find her. When she is kidnapped by a certain super-soldier and no one believes her, she finds herself searching for unexpected familiarity in her not-so-distant past.

Series Warnings: smut, violence, torture, swearing

Chapter Summary: bucky is consolingly, y/n feels shit

Warnings: implied NON CON, smut (the whole chapter is basically smut, you’re welcome), feelings and shit, blood, death of unnamed character, swearing

A/n: The timeline in this has been altered, as there I things I wanted to include but I also wanted this fic to follow the storyline/timeline of Winter Soldier and Civil war.So for purposes of this fanfic, Peter Parker was discovered by Tony at a much younger age - when he was bitten - and has been an intern with him since, almost like a protégée.(For the purposes of this story Peter was bitten much younger too - more like when he was 9 or ten rather than 14/15)

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

I flinched as the blood sprayed, splattering across my face sickeningly as the dagger plunged into his neck. The body fell limp, collapsing to the floor with a hollow thud, a sound that barred me from ever going to heaven.

Of course, I wasn't the one who was holding the knife. In fact, the whole scene could be seen as rather comical if a man hadn't lost his life. The melodic tune I'd hummed as he'd lifted the knife to his own neck, the fear in his features as the jagged point pressed to his skin. But it was the sight of the life leaving his eyes, the splattered blood that made the whole thing so...sinister.

I stopped humming the little tune, checking over my make-shift scene before swiftly exiting the building through a back window - making sure not to remove my gloves until I reached my bike.

That was the true beauty of my power, or at least in HYDRA's eyes it was. The fact that I could simply stand by, and make my victims - their victims - do all the dirty work for me, and when all is said and done to everyone around them it looks like they'd killed themselves.

Id made the man scrawl a quick little note first, as to try and convince his family and friends it was a suicide and someone didn't hold him at gun point or something.

I can't live like this anymore

That's all the note said. Not too short, but also not so long it instantly because unconvincing and obviously forced. I mean let's be honest, if you were to off yourself would you really drag it out or would you be so desperate to go already that you'd find the quickest way out? I know what I'd do. It's not like I'd thought about it since joining HYDRA...but let's just say the thought hasn't entirely avoided me.

...

It was almost like my ritual, every time someone died at my hands. I would arrive back at the compound - where two guards would search me (arguably much too thoroughly to the point that every time it happened I seemed to feel nauseous after) and I'd be sent straight off the the shower room.

From there, I'd let the cold water wash over me, usually spiking my skin into goose bumps before my eyes would become shellacked with tears and my mind would start to numb. That's when I'd slowly sink to the floor, head held in my hands as sobs wracked my frame.

If we're still being honest, I never actually new how long this lasted. It could be minutes, that only seemed to stretch for hours, or it could in truth be hours that were just as long as they felt.

There is one thing I know, though. It's always the soldier who brings me out of it. The warm touch of his flesh hand against my shoulder, the shivering cold brush of his metal one before he's pulling me to my feet and engulfing me in his beefy, yet welcoming, arms. Again, I have no idea how long this lasts, but I sure hope it lasts for hours.

When he'd pull away, my eyes would remain glued to his plump lips, my tongue trailing along my own as my eyes would burn with a hunger. If I'd looked up into his eyes too, I'd find a similar hunger blazing there.

He initiated the kiss, as he always did, lips desperate and hard against mine, almost bruising as his teeth nipped at my bottom lip to beg for entrance. And I always grants it to him, moaning at the feeling of his tongue curling over mine, his hands tangling in my hair, roaming my body, playing me like an instrument he'd been practicing for years.

The soldier pushed me against the wall, lips sucking and kissing along my neck - sure to leave a mark but neither of us cared. In fact, I'm sure he rather liked it, having me marked as his.

I let out a long moan as his fingers - the metal ones - found their way to my core, tracing over my slit and up to my clit to collect some of the wetness there before they were plunging into my heat.

"Fuck! Soldier!" I cried, heat thrown back against the old tiled wall as he worked his fingers at a punishing pace inside me, working me open so I could take him. He was curling his fingers just right, hitting that one spot inside of me that sent shivers down my spine and made white spots form over my vision when I came apart. The soldier smirked at me, detaching his lips from my neck and bringing his digits to his lips before sucking my juices off them right in front of me.

The sight was sinful, really, and all I could do was keep myself standing as my legs shook with arousal and the remnants of my previous orgasm.

"Delicious." Was all he said, before the soldier's lips were back on mine is a bruising kiss and him large hands were cupping my ass and pulling my legs up around his waist. I moaned against his mouth, tasting myself as his tongue swept its way into my own mouth before stroking over my tongue. There would surely be bruises decorating me whole body when this was done - not an unusual occurrence - from how hard the soldier was gripping me, but the pain only amounted to the pleasurable sparks setting my body alight at that very moment.

I reached down blindly, not wanting to break the searing kiss as I felt around for his aching cock. Of course, it wasn't very hard to find, and once I felt it I took ahold of it with a hand wrapped delicately around him. I pumped the soldier's length a few times, a long, low groan slipping into our kiss as I lined him up with my entrance. My head was once again thrown back when his tip nudged my clit, sending my eyes rolling back in my skull and forcing a scream from me when he plunged in in one thrust.

"S'tight." He grunted against my neck, pulling his hips back slowly before snapping them forwards with enough force to make me thick there could be cracks in the stone wall behind us. It was torturous, his pace, so slow yet so hard I felt as if the air was being punched from my lungs with every thrust.

"F-faster." I moaned, hands holding onto his muscly shoulders for dear life as he begun to fail into me. My cunt was stretched to its limit around the soldier's girth, yet the sinful burn just felt like more pleasure as the pace of his thrusts distracted me. My eyes were constantly rolled back into my skull, legs jelly around his waist and if it weren't for his hands holding me up my my ass I would be sprawled on the floor in that moment.

My brain turned to mush, and I could even remember my own name, let alone enough words to tell the soldier how good he was making me feel. So instead I opted for a long, drawn-out moan as his tip kissed my cervix with ever pump inside of me. The soldier looked down to see where our bodies were connected, his eyes glittering with lust at the slight of my wetness dripping from his cock and liger coating both our thighs and most probably the floor in my slick. What made him smirk even wider, though, was the bulge in my stomach every time he thrusted, his cock so deep in my you could see it.

The soldier pressed down on that point, a new wave of arousal flooding through me at the thought of taking something so big.

I could feel myself clenching down on him like a vice, my second realise so close I could almost feel it. From the way his hips faltered and his thrusts stuttered to the guttural, wanton string of moans that escaped his lips like a symphony, I could sense he was close too. I reached down, rubbing furious circles over my swollen clit, trying to push myself over the edge at the same time as the soldier.

I don't know who's orgasm triggered whose, but from the way they ripped through us, it was apparent that one caused the other.

...

I sat mindlessly in my cell, the only thing I was able to do was stare back into the blue eyes already trained on my own body. I didn't want to admit it. I couldn't admit it.

I shook my head, trying to shake the thoughts creeping through my mind, clawing at me and begging me to accept them. But the idea made me feel slightly sick, I think. Well, it could be more that it should make me feel sick, but try as I might, it wouldn't.

I couldn't stop that little voice, the one literally screaming the words at me every time my eyes slid over him, every time the soldier was in my sight: you love him.

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meltingheartsandcores · 3 years ago

Text

I’m tired, I should be studying, instead I wrote this little ficlet that should probably be the prologue to an actual fic that I might get around to writing (fingers crossed).

We have Immortals, modern sects, and porn. Not entirely sure how else to explain it except none of those are explicit, lol.

Hope you enjoy the product of my mildly sleep deprieved brain!

Being invited to have tea with Zewu-Jun was a high honor, despite the immortal seemingly trying to downplay it as much as he possibly could. However, Nie Mingjue isn’t entirely sure what he’s done to earn the honor. It’s been a long time since either Twin Jade was the Sect Leader, Nie Mingjue has spoken with the current Sect Leader Lan Tengfei infrequently over the years when their sect business intermingled or there was a conference, but he wasn’t particularly close to the Lan Sect. And the Twin Jades enjoy their privacy. Enough so that there’s not a single photograph of either of them out there.

So it was very startingly to get the invitation.

Zewu-Jun treating him like an equal and friend is equally startling.

Somehow, not the most startling thing to happen on the trip. No, that would be the portrait of Wei Wuxian. Nie Huaisang’s husband. He thinks. Nie Mingjue isn’t actually sure if they’re married or just act like it. Although, knowing them, that’s how they want everyone to think.

Still, the clearly very old portrait of Wei Wuxian was a little disturbing. Especially with the name below being Wei Wuxian’s, correct characters and all. Even more so after Zewu-Jun noticed him staring at it and decides to give him some utterly terrible information.

“My brother’s husband, from his first life.” Oh. It was that Wei Wuxian. Yiling Lazou Wei Wuxian.

How is this getting worse?

“Oh?” Because screaming was undignified and not something to be done in front of immortals. Later. In his car. And then he’s calling Nie Huaisang to yell at him because of course his brother just had to shake up with the immortals husband. Maybe. Maybe it’s just a massive coincidence. (Nie Mingjue’s luck is never good enough for coincidences.)

“Yes, after the resurrection his core was never strong enough to cultivate immortality. When Wangji realized it, he tried to stop his own cultivation, but it was too late. Wuxian lasted nearly two hundred years, and not a day goes by that Wangji doesn’t miss him.” Oh, Zewu-Jun was sad. Nothing Nie Mingjue can say will make him not sad. In fact, he’s pretty sure anything close to the truth of what Wei Wuxian is doing now will just upset him. “The juniors find it, romantic, that he’s decided to wait for Wuxian to be reincarnated.”

Well. It does sound romantic.

But Zewu-Jun’s face, he’s irritated and upset, so clearly he doesn’t agree with the juniors. It sounds romantic, but the reality, “He must be very lonely.” Nie Mingjue guesses.

Zewu-Jun nods, “We have each other, but we were the only ones from our generation to cultivate immortality. There are many people we miss, and as time seperates us further from the present, it’s harder to connect with the new disciples.” Zewu-Jun admits. Nie Mingjue nods, he’s never considered that. How isolating it must be to have lived so long. The Nie clan, doesn’t really get immortals. Honestly, they’re lucky if they hit a hundred. Most top out at eighty due to their cultivation style.

“How would he know, that he’s been reincarnated? I mean, I think Huaisang’s said some things about faces getting reused due to limited genetics and the growing population.” Actually Wei Wuxian said that. Something to that effect at least. Nie Huaisang was better with people and manipulating situations. He does really well running the business side of the Nie Sect. Even if he refuses to accept any credit.

Zewu-Jun smiles a little sadly, “Well, I suppose we’ll know when we see him. Pictures work well enough, as we’re learning. We’ve found a few people who we knew in our first lives reincarnated.”

Nie Mingjue nods, he should tell Zewu-Jun. He really should. Maybe it’s just a look alike. Unlikely. Nie Mingjue’s never that lucky. Nie Mingjue’s started to pull his phone out of his pocket before remembering his manners and asking while holding it in front of himself, “Uh, do you mind if I?” Zewu-Jun furrows his brow but gestures for him to continue. Nie Mingjue nods and opens his phone, scrolling through the pictures Nie Huaisang had sent him. Not for the first time, he really wished Nie Huaisang wouldn’t send so many half-naked or fully-naked pictures of Wei Wuxian to him. Thankfully, it was not all Nie Huaisang sent to him, so he did come across a picture of a fully dressed Wei Wuxian. Nie Huaisang was also there, but they weren’t doing anything. Nie Huaisang had snapped it while they were out walking and Nie Mingjue had wanted to know where the fuck Nie Huaisang had gone at one am. “Just, uh, he seemed familiar.” Nie Mingjue explains, turning the phone around to show Zewu-Jun.

Zewu-Jun blinks then reaches out, hesitating a moment before taking Nie Mingjue’s phone. “That. Is definitely Wei Wuxian.” Zewu-Jun states, and then he starts touching the screen, which makes Nie Mingjue very nervous and uncomfortable. Because Nie Huaisang sends him very questionable pictures. Nie Mingjue is happy his brother is comfortable with his body, he just wishes he wouldn’t text him explicit pictures of his maybe-boyfriend that sometimes also have him naked in them. Nie Huaisang has always like pushing Nie Mingjue’s boundaries, and honestly, Nie Mingjue would rather he be pushing this one than certain other ones. Still. It makes him nervous when Zewu-Jun taps his phone and his eyes blow wide.

Yeah. That’s not good.

Zewu-Jun blinks and regains his composure, handing the phone back, “May I ask how you know him?”

“...How honest do you want me to be?” Nie Mingjue asks, shutting off his phone and pocketing it without looking at whatever Zewu-Jun saw. He’d like to be able to keep looking Zewu-Jun in the eye for this conversation.

Zewu-Jun raises an eyebrow, almost admonishingly, “As honest as possible. You don’t seem to type to beat around the bush.”

He wasn’t. He just really didn’t want to tell Zewu-Jun what Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian get up to.

“He works with my brother.” Nie Mingjue states vaguely, earning another raised eyebrow from Zewu-Jun.

“Is he a cultivator?”

“Used to be. He had a big falling out with the Jiang a few years back and kind of stopped.” Nie Mingjue shrugs, “He doesn’t talk about it.” All he knew about it was rumour. And the Lans don’t do rumours.

“Ah. So what work does he do with Huaisang?”

...Did he tell Zewu-Jun his brothers name? Nie Huaisang is almost as unknown to the world as the Twin Jades. Purposefully so. The Nie have always been rather private with their members, but when Nie Huaisang was old enough to have an opinion on a public presence and vehemently deny having one, nothing about him was released to the public. Not even other cultivation sects as Nie Huaisang wasn’t a practicing cultivator. He trained. As he was supposed to. But he didn’t do any night hunts. He had no connection to Nie Mingjue on the business end of the Sect either.

So, what?

“How do you know his name?” Nie Mingjue asks, making Zewu-Jun blink in plain confusion. “Huaisang’s name isn’t known to anyone outside the Nie sect. Not in connection to me.” Nie Mingjue states, now a little angry. Did someone tell Zewu-Jun? Who? How? Why would he even care about Huaisang?

“He’s in your phone.” Zewu-Jun states simply.

And that’d be a fine answer.

If Nie Huaisang was ‘Huaisang’ in his phone.

But he wasn’t.

He was Reuben. Courtesy of Wei Wuxian. (Wei Wuxian was ‘Stitch’, no Nie Mingjue didn’t understand the names and he didn’t really want to. He’s mostly worried it’s a weird sex thing and he prefers to be as ignorant as possible in that aspect.)

“I thought Lan’s don’t lie.” Although, Zewu-Jun wasn’t, technically, lying.

But he doesn’t deny it. “Could we sit?” Zewu-Jun suggests, gesturing to the table that had been set up for them. Nie Mingjue nods and sits opposite to Zewu-Jun, pouring them some tea. “I apologize for the deception, however I’ve never actually done this before.” He better not be suggesting what Nie Mingjue thinks he’s suggesting. “In the recent past, when we’ve discovered our reincarnated friends, we’ve more or less left them alone.” Oh. Good. He’s not being propositioned.

Wait.

What?

Nie Mingjue blinks, now thoroughly caught off guard, “Um. What.”

Zewu-Jun smiles gently, understandingly, “Due to certain aspects of your previous life, I felt the need to check in on you, make sure you were doing well. I, well, I assumed your family was the same. Hence, why I know Huaisang’s name despite you keeping him rather off the grid.”

“He’s not off the grid. He just has no public connection to me.” Nie Huaisang was almost constantly online. Especially with his ‘job’.

“Ah. So, what work does he and Wei Wuxian do?” Zewu-Jun asks before taking a drink of his tea.

Nie Mingjue considers what he knows about the Lan, and then realizes he really doesn’t want to have this conversation. Luckily for him (or unluckily most of the time), he can just show Zewu-Jun on his phone. “Um, you might want to put that down.” Nie Mingjue suggests, pulling out his phone and turning it on, quickly going to the app Nie Huaisang downloaded on his phone that he never goes on, and opens it up to Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian’s account. Sliding it across the table as Zewu-Jun dubiously puts down his teacup.

Zewu-Jun blinks, then sighs, “I can’t say, I’m particularly surprised with Wei Wuxian’s career choice.”

“...Seriously.”

“You did not hear them. I’m aware of the publics perception of us, particularly Wangji, but trust me. He’s not nearly as prudish as people seem to think.” Zewu-Jun states, sliding the phone back with a rueful smile and a familiar look.

Nie Mingjue exits out of the app before shutting off and pocketing his phone. He knew that look. The look of an elder brother who really didn’t need to know so much about their younger brother’s sex life. He knew that look well. “Right. Speaking of Hanguang-Jun, how would he react?”

Zewu-Jun purses his lips. “I can’t say he’ll be particularly favourable. Wangji’s always been quite, possessive.”

“Wei Wuxian is persuasive. I’m kind of curious as to who would falter first.” Nie Mingjue snorts, picking up his own cup of tea. It was good tea.

Zewu-Jun’s eyebrows were furrowed, “I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Wuxian’s not going give up his livelyhood. He enjoys it. Even if he falls back in love with Hanguang-Jun, I’m not sure he’ll quit it.” Nie Mingjue states, shaking his head. It was an understatement. Wei Wuxian loves his job. As he so often gushes. Nie Mingjue’s honestly just happy Wei Wuxian doesn’t give him details.

Zewu-Jun slowly nods, understanding dawning, “You think Wei-gongzi will convince Wangji to do porn.” Zewu-Jun winces, “I, hate that I cannot say it’s out of the realm of possibilities.”

Nie Mingjue snorts and then smirks, “Ah, Zewu-Jun, how about a friendly bet?”

Zewu-Jun’s brows pinch slightly, eye narrowing, before he smirks, “Only if you call me Lan Xichen.”

Ohhhkay. Zewu-Jun had said to at the beginning of their meeting, but Nie Mingjue had honestly kind of ignored it. Immortals are a big deal. But then again. He was about to gamble with one. “Ok, Lan Xichen, why don’t we make a bet in favour of our, brothers.” Nie Mingjue isn’t entirely sure what else to refer to them as. If Nie Huaisang was married, then technically Wei Wuxian would be his brother. If they’re not, he might as well be at this point either way.

“Are Huaisang and Wuxian married?” Lan Xichen cuts in, confused.

“I’m not entirely sure. Maybe. Not important.” Nie Mingjue shakes his head, “If Hanguang-Jun manages to convince Wei Wuxian to quit his work, you win, and if Wei Wuxian manages to convince Hanguang-Jun to do porn, I win.”

Lan Xichen nods, smiling with interest, “And what are we betting?”

Nie Mingjue smirks, this was going to be fun.

#Lan Xichen #Nie Mingjue #implied sangxian #implied previous wangxian #lxc #nmj #cql #The names in Mingjue’s phone are not a sex thing #It’s just the characters from Lilo and Stitch #They’re not that mean to nmj #My writing

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potteresque-ire · 4 years ago

Note

Hello! I have a question related to your answer for your previous anon's question (WQ and WWX backup plan).

So the book fans knew about the backup plan and the actress who played W/Q got cyberbullied. I wanna ask why did that happened (sry if this is a dumb question), because even though she's the one who's playing W/Q, wasn't she just went with the script? I mean she wasn't the one who get to decide wether to film a backup or not.

I can understand the displeasure of the book fans, but is it 'normal' (I can't find the right word for it, English isn't my first language, sry) to get to the point where she was bullied for that? Is there any similar incidents occured to other actor(s)/actress(es) in the past because of the change of script/story?

Hello Anons! I apologise for the especially long wait for one of you. I was debating for a while whether I’d like to get into the old rumours surrounding The Untamed that weren’t immediately related to the genre of its source material.

I’m not really a follower of the finer details of c-ent—my interest in it wanes rapidly with the subject’s distance from Gg, Dd and BL/Dangai as a genre. I’m also a very late comer into the BJYX fandom, and I’m never quite in The Untamed fandom to begin with.

The more important reason, however, is this: it’s very difficult to pull out facts. There are just so many rumours, so many lies told about … everything and everyone. All for the sake of profit.

So this is likely the last time I’ll address rumours concerning the actors of the show. I’m answering these asks as you two reached me before I make this statement.

First of all, I’d like to kindly ask everyone to please consider disregarding the negative things said about The Untamed’s development and its participants. The series is about to reach its 2 years old birthday by airing date, and 3 years old by its start-of-filming date. Many things ... don’t really matter anymore. The Untamed has become an international success, and whatever was told about anyone has very likely changed.

(People change.)

To answer these asks, it’s important to understand that despite being a Communist country by name, China is at heart a highly capitalistic society, and money REALLY talks in the major industries including c-ent. Corruption is also rampant and is often associated with families with political power; anti-corruption laws are inconsistently and selectively enforced. Both the acts of corruption and the acts against corruption are therefore intimately tied to politics and related to politics, something that I haven’t talked about largely because it’s highly complex and my knowledge of it is limited — the infighting between the different factions of the Chinese Communist Party. Supporters and beneficiaries of one leader—a faction—competing for power, for money and resources with the supporters and beneficiaries of another, often equally powerful leader.

The main point of mentioning Chinese factional politics here is this: what seems to be a regular business war in c-ent, a simple competition for viewership and profit by different media companies, can actually be a battlefront of top political factions fighting for power, or more accurately, for the money that comes from with the power—not only the profit, but the bribes paid to different departments to make things happen, to bypass different laws and regulations.

Facts about the cash flow in c-ent are therefore very difficult to track down, as both the powers-that-be and the media they control make sure the political ties and conflicts, the under-the-table negotiations and the money changing hands, are kept well away from the public eye. Example: c-ent used to be an even more lucrative industry than it is now, before President Xi began an anti-corruption campaign around 2018. There have been whispers that while corruption was indeed a major issue in the industry, the campaign was also a ploy to funnel c-ent’s profit, a significant fraction of which was once held in the hands of the Jiang faction (supporters of former President Jiang Zemin), into the hands of Xi faction (supporters of President Xi). (Here’s a good article about the once top actress Fan Bing Bing, who was made an example in the anti-corruption campaign, and how the campaign affected the people who actually worked in the industry).

What this also means is this: c-ent is an industry where rumours and lies can REALLY thrive, their spread propagated by powerful commercial interests that are often (secretly) backed by even more powerful government interests. These are people who can afford to pay, who often have the right connections to not have to worry about the legal consequences.

With these two factors alone, they can make almost any rumour sound true.

I’ve looked more closely into c-ent in the recent months, and as of today, the lesson I’ve learned is this—I can’t believe in almost any of its so-called “entertainment news”. For every article that sells a viewpoint, a set of facts, there’s another one that sells exactly the opposite, and the pair of articles happily sit beside each other, waiting for their readers to pick the one they wish to read—the one praising the show and actors they like; the one dissing the shows and actors they don’t.

Yxh, water armies...c-ent is an industry where “facts” are often constructed by money.

Entertainers are often swept into the whirlpool of falsehoods just because they happen to work on a project / for a company another side or faction wants to take down. With the exception of a very few, they don’t have much of a way to defend themselves. There have also been longstanding whispers that beautiful actors and actresses are often forced to … service, for lack of a better word, the higher-ups in the government / commercial forces (and their families) in exchange for opportunities or even survival in the industry. While such “unspoken rule” (潛規則) is, to a certain extent, true in many entertainment industries around the world, that the higher-ups in China hold very concentrated power makes it much more difficult for the entertainers to refuse to cooperate, or ask for help.

That entertainers are traditionally held in very low regard—their “career ancestors”, 戲子 (roughly, “showperson”), being one of the “lowest 9 professions” (下九流) that included prostitutes—doesn’t help their case.

Back to your questions, Anons: the consequence of c-ent money flow often being hush-hush and potentially politically sensitive is that, when a production team receives money, it doesn’t always try to look very hard at where the money comes from. Because of this, it’s easy for Yxh and Antis to make up rumours about participants of a project bringing in cash in exchange for making themselves more at the centre of the spotlight—increase the screen time for an actor / actress, for example. And when it’s pointed out that a starlet, in particular, cannot possibly have that kind of money to bring into a project, the rumour mill can conveniently explain away this lapse in logic by implying that the starlet is sleeping with someone.

This was essentially what happened to the actress who played WQ, despite her denying the rumour with a public statement and no evidences existed to suggest any truth in the rumour — that she‘d brought in money into The Untamed’s production team in exchange for a romantic plot w/ WWX as the female lead. She wasn’t paired with WWX in final version of The Untamed; WQ died pretty early on in the show. Nonetheless, the rumour (and the poor reputation it brought) has stuck with her since. It can still be found on the internet.

About the actor who played Wen Ning… I haven’t really paid much attention to him (sorry!). A quick search online shows that at some point, he said something that was interpreted to be not as friendly towards Gg, compared to how much he seemed to like Dd. After 227, however, he spoke out for Gg and personally, I think that’s what really counts because anyone who spoke out for Gg at the time also risked being harassed and boycotted. I don’t know of any successful effort in creating a popular cp between him and Dd. Since all that is required to create a supertopic on Weibo, including a cp supertopic, is sufficient seed membership (10 people) plus a moderator with demonstrated familiarity and popularity in the platform, however, is it possible that this cp, if it existed at some point, was simply because some fans wanted to explore this rare pair? I don’t know (if anyone would like to jump in with more info, please do!). But I think it doesn’t have to translate into judgement of the actor’s character at all.

#pie metas #yizhan #bjyx

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clonewarsarchives · 3 years ago

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CLONE RANGER (#125, MAY 2011)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars supervising director Dave Filoni ruminates on Season Three and looks ahead to the fourth season. “We learned a lot,” he tells Jonathan Wilkins.

Season Three of Star Wars:The Clone Wars revealed all kinds of secrets. Which was the hardest to keep?

I think the appearance of Chewbacca was the biggest deal—he is the character with the most recognition, period. He’s one of the classic characters. A character like Tarkin requires you to be a lot more in-the-know to be familiar with who he is. Chewie reaches a level closer to Vader: families, kids, and people who don’t really watch Star Wars regularly, know exactly who you are talking about.

It’s always hard when I talk to fans. They’re coming up to me all year saying, “When’s Tarkin going to be in The Clone Wars?” or “When are Wookiees going to be in The Clone Wars?” I try not to lie, but I’m looking at footage of this stuff and I can’t say, “Oh yeah, I saw it today!” I know that they’re not going to see it for another six months in some cases. I’m glad that they’re asking, though, because they are going to see it!

The first half of the season featured lots of political stories, followed by more action in the second half. Will you use that structure in future?

It wasn’t really a structure that we looked at and said, “Okay, we’re going to have stories that are more introspective and about politics.” It simply came down to the production schedule. The season started with “Clone Cadets” and “ARC Troopers” which were pretty action-packed. “Clone Cadets” really established those guys in the beginning. Then “The Academy” and “Corruption” were episodes that were actually left over from the previous season and they got lumped in there. Once we had Mandalore done, we could then do those episodes. We had some leftover stories from Season Two that got put back on the back-burner when we started doing stories like the Boba Fett arc. You want to end the season on something like Boba Fett, and what you get in the latter half of the season are the types of stories that you’re going to be seeing for a long time to come. They’re not all as dark as the Nightsisters arc, but they’re definitely in the action/adventure range, which is one of the reasons that people love Star Wars.

The episode “Heroes On Both Sides” felt very mature, particularly for an animated series...

That was the result of many attempts at doing political episodes. We learned something about our limitations and our inexperience as story-tellers doing those types of shows. We had to really work out how to do them better, because it was something that George was very keen to explore. Those ideas of banking, corruption, and politics, and how they affect the Clone Wars, were all things he was very interested in.

By the time we got to “Heroes On Both Sides” we were a lot better at it. It’s definitely my favorite episode of its kind. The key ingredient was the kind of romantic connection between Ahsoka and Lux. Ahsoka had found a peer that she respected for different reasons than why she respects Anakin. Anakin is all about being powerful and a warrior, and Lux is not that.

She respected his mind and the way he thought. It’s a much more mature way to look at things, so that helped connect that story and make it one of our stronger episodes.

Do you think there'll be any more episodes that take place in the past?

Right now, there’s nothing like that on the schedule. I suppose if we had a really good reason, it might happen, but the writers and I went to George and said that we’d really like to keep moving forward. I think George tied together what he wanted to from the first two seasons on the front half of the third season. That was another reason why we had a lot of stories that were jumping around—George wanted to resolve a couple of things once he had done Seasons One and Two.

Also, if we did go back to the past again, I think it would be very hard to go back and use the old character models. The younger-looking Ahsoka just wouldn’t render that well now that we’ve moved this far forward, so it would be a technical nightmare! That, if nothing else, will continue to push us forward, which I think is a good thing.

It was great to see Count Dooku get a lot of screen time this season...

I think the kids would say that he’s the major villain. He’s always going to be involved. Whether that’s to the level he was in the past is hard to say at this point. Well, it’s actually not hard to say—I just can’t! It was fun to see more of his character, more of him as an outright villain. Dooku is one of those characters who has more of a tragic past—because he was a Jedi and he was corrupted. I think that’s an interesting story, though I don’t think we would go back and tell it in The Clone Wars.

Villains in the Star Wars universe always seem to have a tragic past. Except one....

I don’t really know what makes Palpatine tick, and I think that’s for the best. He’s not a character where you want to say, “Oh, he had such a messed up childhood!” I once saw an interview with Ian McDiarmid where he described Palpatine as being rotten to the core from the very beginning. I’m not even sure Palpatine fits that classic mold of the fallen angel. He’s definitely a trickster. He uses a kind of logic that makes you believe it’s just a point of view—it’s not really evil, it’s just the dogmatic view of the Jedi! He appears in the form of a kindly old man, and he tricks you by making your fondest wishes seem attainable. I’m sure there are stories there that you could tell—it’s just not necessarily a story you need to know.

One of the biggest surprises of the season was the return of Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn.

That was just one of those things you hope for. When we were in the early story meetings and discussed Qui-Gon Jinn appearing, I really thought, Wow, it would be a great treat for everyone to get Liam Neeson involved in this. I knew it was going to be a small part, and frankly that really helped our chances. It was Lynne Hale [senior director of public relations at Lucasfilm] who was instrumental in making it happen. She had the relationship with Liam through the movie, and she thought it was a great idea. She also got Pernilla August (Shmi) on board. Having both of them back was just great—for us and for the fans. It’s great to see people who were involved in the films come back and reprise their characters for us.

It was amazing just talking to Qui-Gon. Liam asked me if he could add “Obi-Wan” to the beginning of his first line, because he thought it would be more personal. I said, “Yeah, it sounds great. Go ahead!” As soon as he does that you go, Wow, that really is Qui-Gon! That was fantastic and a moment I will remember.

Will we be seeing any more Force spirits in the show?

We’ll see. That would be a big give-away if I said anything! One of the things that Christian Taylor [writer of the Mortis trilogy] and I discussed was just how much of what we were getting at would actually ever be revealed to the fans. I think that one of my favorite things about the Mortis trilogy is how much it got people talking about the things that I always used to talk about as a kid: the light side of the Force, the dark side of the Force, and the nature of destiny. The message boards just lit up with comments asking, “Who is this?” “What does that mean?” “What’s the symbolic nature of this?” Christian and I decided that we had to be very careful, because if I come out and say what Qui-Gon was in that episode, then I’m giving you a definitive answer.

I think it’s more exciting that people are wondering, Was that really Qui-Gon? Does Obi-Wan believe that’s Qui-Gon? And why does he draw his lightsaber on him?

It was funny to me and the crew, because we knew that everyone would be interested in Qui-Gon, not even realizing that they were going to get a glimpse of Ahsoka as she may or may not be in the future! I would love to talk about those things at length, and yet at the same time I don’t want to rob fans of their own interpretations.

Those storylines are unlike anything ever seen in Star Wars before…

Yes and no. Yes, because it’s so symbolic, but those things are in all six films, too—they’re just disguised in different ways. When Luke goes down into the tree on Dagobah, and he sees the apparition of Vader, that’s something like we’ve never really seen in Star Wars. The same is true of the spirit of Obi-Wan appearing to Luke, and not being just a disembodied voice. Those elements are always there, but when you get caught up in The Clone Wars and the machinery and the politics of it, you might start to think that the more spiritual side has disappeared. It hasn’t, though: you just need to know where to look for it. Here, we put it right at the forefront.

Is there a lot of pressure when you bring back beloved original trilogy characters like Tarkin, Chewie, and Greedo?

There’s pressure in a lot of aspects of this job if you let it become pressure. We take it very seriously, and when we brought Chewbacca to The Clone Wars, I had Peter Mayhew come up to Skywalker Ranch; I wanted the crew to meet him. I thought that you can’t begin to understand how to make Chewbacca move, or who Chewbacca is, without meeting Peter Mayhew, knowing him a little bit, and seeing what he’s like.

With Tarkin, there are certain mannerisms that he has, and Stephen Stanton, who portrays him in The Clone Wars, did an amazing job of capturing what a younger Tarkin might be like. I don’t sit and worry about it, because I have George Lucas there to tell me when things are on the right track or not. So when you’re working directly with George, and when he’s looking at everything you do, that’s the audience you have to please because he’s the guy that created it all. When he’s sitting in the theater and he’s watching our Chewbacca and he says, “Well, I could tell when I looked at it that it was Chewbacca,” that’s really the validation that I think the crew hopes for.

A lot of my job is knowing when to avoid things. It would be hugely challenging to include a young Han Solo, for example. I’ve said it before: that’s not something I’m really interested in seeing. We were just talking the other day in editorial—watching Artoo and Threepio—saying, “I can’t believe that we’re telling their story.” I never dreamed that one day I’d be there saying, “Well, Artoo should go over there and do this.” We have a lot of fun with it, but I don’t take it lightly because I know the fans don’t want me to—and I don’t either.

How are things progressing with Season Four?

They’re going great. I can definitely say that we’ll start off with a bang, with a opener that’s even bigger than last season’s. There are going to be battles like we’ve never seen before on The Clone Wars. We’re going to environments and battling in places that have previously only been speculated on in the Star Wars universe. There will also be a classic character or two returning—but of course I’m not going to say who! To me, the whole season is like the back half of Season Three, but now you’re going to have all 22 episodes geared in that direction. It’s just high-flying adventure fun, and this many years into it, I think we’ve gotten progressively better at it under George’s tutelage. We’re ready to go, and it’s going to be a heck of a ride next year!

What TV shows do you watch in your free time?

My wife and I love Doctor Who. We’re really into the David Tennant episodes, though Christopher Eccleston [the previous actor to play the Doctor] was great as well. I just watched the new Doctor, Matt Smith. He’s very different, but also very good. None of the Doctors have been the same, which is kind of compelling. It’s a fantastic series.

David Tennant is a Star Wars fan. You could get him to do a voiceover on The Clone Wars.

Oh, is he? Wow. Well, you never know. That’s not a bad idea!

#Dave Filoni #Season 3 #insider #i125 #crew #binc

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killianmesmalls · 3 years ago

Note

On your comments about Jack: ye-es, in the sense that Jack is a character who definitely deserved better than he was treated by the characters. The way Dean especially treats him reflects very badly on Dean, no question. But, speaking as a viewer, I think the perspective needs to shift a little bit.

To me, Jack is Dawn from Buffy, or Scrappy Doo. He’s an (in my opinion) irritating kid who is introduced out of nowhere to be both super vulnerable and super OP, and the jeopardy is centered around him in a way that has nothing to do with his actual character or relationships. He’s mostly around to be cute and to solve or create problems — he never has any firm character arcs or goals of his own, nor any deeper purpose in the meta narrative. In this way, he’s a miss for SPN, which focuses heavily on conflicts as metaphors for real life.

Mary fits so much better in that framework, and introducing her as a developed, flawed person works really well with the narrative. It is easy for us to care about Mary, both as the dead perfect mother on the pedestal and as the flawed, human woman who could not live up to her sons’ expectations. That connection is built into the core of SPN, and was developed over years, even before she was a character. When she was added, she was given depth and nuance organically, and treated as a flawed, complex character rather than as a plot device or a contrivance. She was given a voice and independence, and became a powerful metaphor for developing new understandings of our parents in adulthood, as well as an interesting and well-rounded character. You care that she’s dead, not just because Sam and Dean are sad, but for the loss of her development and the potential she offered. So, in that sense, I think a lot of people were frustrated that she died essentially fridged for a second time, and especially in service of the arc of a weaker character.

And like, you’re right, no one can figure out if Jack is a toddler or a teenager. He’s both and he’s neither, because he’s never anything consistently and his character arc is always “whatever the plot needs it to be.” Every episode is different. Is he Dean’s sunny opportunity to be a parent and make up for his dad’s shitty parenting? Yes! Is he also Dean’s worst failure and a reminder that he has done many horrible things, including to “innocent” children? Yes! Is he Cas’s child? Yes! Is he Dean’s child? Yes! But also, no! Is he Sam’s child? Yes! Is he a lonely teenager who does terrible things? Yes! Is he a totally innocent little lamb who doesn’t get why what he is doing is wrong? Yes! Is he the most powerful being in the universe? Yes! Does he need everyone to take care of him? Yes! Is he just along for the ride? Yes! Is he responsible for his actions? Kinda??? Sometimes??? What is he???

Mary as a character is narratively cohesive and fleshed-out. Jack is a mishmash of confusing whatever’s that all add up to a frustrating plot device with no consistent traits to latch on to. Everything that fans like about him (cute outfits, gender play, well-developed parental bonds with the characters) is fanon. So, yes, the narrative prioritizes Mary. Many fans prioritize Mary, at least enough that Dean’s most heinous acts barely register. To the narrative (not to Cas, which is a totally different situation), Jack is only barely more of a character than Emma Winchester, who Sam killed without uproar seasons earlier. He’s been around longer, but he’s equally not really real.

I debated on responding to this because, to tell the truth, I think we fundamentally disagree on a number of subjects and, as they say, true insanity is arguing with anyone on the internet. However, you spent a lot of time on the above and I feel it's only fair to say my thoughts, even if I don't believe it will sway you any more than what you said changed my opinions.

I'm assuming this was in response to this post regarding how Jack's accidental killing of Mary was treated so severely by the brothers, particularly Dean, because it was Mary and, had it been a random character like the security guard in 13x06, it would have been treated far differently. However, then the argument becomes less about the reaction of the Winchester brothers to this incident and more the value of Jack or Mary to the audience.

I believe we need to first admit that both characters are inherently archetypes—Mary as the Madonna character initially then, later, as a metaphor for how imperfect and truly human our parents are compared to the idol we have as children, and Jack as the overpowered child who is a Jesus allegory by the end. Both have a function within the story to serve the Winchester brothers, through whose lens and with whose biases we are meant to view the show's events. We also need to admit that the writers didn't think more than a season ahead for either character, especially since it wasn't initially supposed to be Mary that came back at the end of season 11 but John, and they only wrote enough for Jack in season 13 to gauge whether or not the audience would want him to continue on or if he needed to be killed off by the end of the season. Now, I know we curate our own experiences online which leads to us being in our own fandom echo chambers, however it is important to note that the character was immediately successful enough with the general audience that, after his first episode or two, he was basically guaranteed a longer future on the show.

I have to admit, I’m not entirely sure why the perspective of how his character is processed by some audience members versus others has any bearing on the argument that he deserved to be treated better overall by the other characters especially when taking their own previous actions in mind. I’m not going to tell you that your opinion is wrong regarding your feelings for Jack. It’s your opinion and you’re entitled to it, it harms no one to have it and express it. My feelings on Jack are clearly very different from your own, but this is really just two different people who processed a fictional person in different ways. I personally believe he has a purpose in the Winchesters’ story, including Castiel’s, as he reflects certain aspects of all of them, gives them a way to explore their own histories through a different perspective, and changes the overall dynamic of Team Free Will from “soldiers in arms” to a family (Misha’s words). In the beginning he allows Sam to work through his past as the “freak” and powerful, dangerous boy wonder destined to bring hell on earth. With Dean, his presence lets Dean work through his issues with John and asks whether he will let history repeat itself or if he’ll work to break the cycle. Regarding Cas, in my opinion he helps the angel reach his “final form” of a father, member of a family, lover and protector of humanity, rebellious son, and the true show of free will.

From strictly the story, he has several arcs that work within themes explored in Supernatural, such as the argument of nature versus nurture, the question of what we’re willing to give up in order to protect something or someone else and how ends justify the means, and the struggle between feeling helpless and powerless versus the corruptive nature of having too much power and the dangerous lack of a moral compass. His goals are mentioned and on display throughout his stint on the show, ones that are truly relatable to some viewers: the strong desire to belong—the need for family and what you’ll do to find and keep it.

With Mary, we first need to establish whether the two versions of her were a writing flaw due to the constant change in who was dictating her story and her relationship to the boys, which goes against the idea that her characterization was cohesive and fleshed-out but, rather, put together when needed for convenience, or if they both exist because, as stated above, we are seeing the show primarily through the biased lens of the Winchester brothers and come to face facts about the true Mary as they do. Like I said in my previous post, I don’t dislike Mary and I don’t blame her for her death (either one). However, I do have a hard time seeing her as a more nuanced, fleshed-out character than Jack. True, a lot of her problems are more adult in nature considering she has to struggle with losing her sons’ formative years and meeting them as whole adults she knows almost nothing about, all because of a choice she made before they were born.

However, her personal struggles being more “mature” in nature (as they center primarily on parental battles) doesn’t necessarily mean her story has layers and Jack’s does not. They are entirely different but sometimes interconnected in a way that adds to both of their arcs, like Mary taking Jack on as an adoptive son which gives her the moments of parenting she lost with Sam and Dean, and Jack having Mary as a parental figure who understands and supports him gives him that sense of belonging he had just been struggling with to the point of running away while he is also given the chance to show “even monsters can do good”.

I’d also argue that Jack being many ages at once isn’t poor writing so much as a metaphor for how, even if you’re forced to grow up fast, that doesn’t mean you’re a fully equipped adult. I don’t want to speak for anyone else, but I believe Jack simultaneously taking a lot of responsibility and constantly trying to prove to others he’s useful while having childish moments is relatable to some who were forced to play an adult role at a young age. He proves a number of times that he doesn’t need everyone to take care of him, but he also has limited life experience and, as such, will make some mistakes while he’s also being a valuable member of the group. Jack constantly exists on a fine line in multiple respects. Some may see that as a writing flaw but it is who the character was conceived to be: the balance between nature or nurture, between good and evil, between savior and devil.

Now, I was also frustrated Mary was “fridged” for a second time. It really provided no other purpose than to give the brothers more man pain to further the plot along. However, this can exist while also acknowledging that the way it happened and the subsequent fallout for Jack was also unnecessary and a sign of blatant hypocrisy from Dean, primarily, and Sam.

And, yes, Jack can be different things at once because, I mean, can’t we all? If Mary can be both the perfect mother and the flawed, independent, distant parent, can’t Jack be the sweet kid who helps his father-figures process their own feelings on fatherhood while also being a lost young-adult forcing them to face their failures? Both characters contain multitudes because, I mean, we all do.

I can provide articles or posts on Jack’s characterization and popularity along with Mary’s if needed, but for now I think this is a long enough ramble on my thoughts and feelings. I’m happy to discuss more, my messenger is always open for (polite) discussion. Until then, I’m going to leave it at we maybe agree to disagree.

#long post #long ask #so long answer #guys it's 1 am #i hope this made sense #watch me read this after sleep and register things i wish i said #oh well #jack kline #mary winchester #spn #supernatural #spn critical #supernatural critical #kinda?#eh just in case #spn meta #supernatural meta #jack meta

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hb-writes · 3 years ago

Text

We’re Alright

Summary: For the angst prompt “I miss being in your arms.” John and Lucy Watson keep in touch by email while he’s away for the war, but when Lucy’s latest missive goes unanswered for several weeks, she begins to worry about her brother.

Characters: John Watson & Lucy Watson (Watson!sister)

Content Warning: Angst (and comfort), War, Alcoholism

It was so quick, email.

The short span of time that passed from inception to send to received made it so Lucy Watson could connect with her brother in mere minutes, or half a minute if she typed quickly enough, almost no time at all in the scheme of things. She should have been more grateful for it, for the connection, for the ability to reach her brother when he was so far across the globe, unable to reach him or hear him. And she was grateful, even if it always left her wanting for a bit more.

It was much faster than dealing with the standard post. In theory, John received the messages as soon as they were sent. He had hypothetical access to her words at the very moment she hit the send button. He could write back the very same day, even.

These days, Lucy rarely felt closer to her brother than when a response made it back to her within the hour, a coincidentally timed missive full of what always seemed to be a detailed, thoughtful response to almost every word she'd sent his way, John's words swallowing her up like a hug, like an arm snaked around her shoulder while he asked after her day at school, like his careful hands addressing the careless wounds as he did in her childhood or his soothing voice calming her juvenile worries, the man chiding and commending and soothing her as appropriate, the perfect blend of stern and fun and proud. It sometimes amazed her how John managed to be all of those things in a matter of seconds, achieving it all through the medium of a simple email.

It was the knowledge of that very fact that brought Lucy Watson a bit of concern.

Her latest message had been sent almost two weeks before, cast off in the middle of the night, sometime after her older sister finally passed out, after her wife had left and Harry was exhausted from the booze and the fighting, tired from yelling at her wife and younger sister when the person she really wished to yell at was herself.

Harry and Lucy Watson had reconciled in the time since, the shouting and painful words that had passed between them a willingly forgotten piece of the past, something in Lucy almost wishing she hadn't sent the email to John that night, not at that alarmingly late hour when he'd be questioning her for being awake. Part of her would have been happy now to let the moment remain in the past, to allow it to become buried, to eventually be overshadowed, forgotten by the inevitable next time arrived, the encounters cushioned by the calm they were living in now.

It was a cycle Lucy was familiar with, the times of peace and war that passed through their household, its bounds determined by Harry’s drinking and the apologies, the unfilled promises and the feelings both sisters often left buried and untouched. They were back to peace now, back to their usual indifference, but the cycle was steady, predictable.

Lucy knew they'd go around again soon enough.

She read through the email settled in her ‘sent’ box once again, the eleventh or so pass since she’d originally sent it, her eyes skipping over the introductory small talk about school assignments and the weather to the only thing that had brought her any comfort during her brother’s digital silence, the vague picture she’d painted for them, a small memory revisited, nothing more than a casual question to test his recollection.

‘Remember when I was little and Harry’d chase me around the garden and when I grew tired, I’d run to you to keep me safe?’

The inquiry had originally been followed by ‘I miss being in your arms like that,’ a sentence Lucy deleted before sending the message into the ether, feeling too sentimental and obvious by it, too exposed even though it was only John on the other end of the message, or maybe feeling that way because it was John on the other side and he’d know the question truly meant something more, was hiding something more.

Lucy hadn’t wanted to place that concern on her brother, had only hoped he’d take the same comfort in recalling the moment that she did. Or maybe she’d wanted him to know, to pry, to make her confess it all, comforted more by the prospect of that than the memory of simpler times ever could accomplish.

In John’s silence, the comfort any of it brought her was waning. The longer she waited for a response, Lucy thought more that this was one instance of ‘no news is good news’ that brought her little satisfaction, and even beyond the silence, beyond the need of confirmation that her brother was alright...and safe...and alive, Lucy simply needed her brother. She needed him to remember the moment, to bask in the inherent and nostalgic goodness of it, and though Lucy had made it difficult for John, made it more cryptic to decipher, she did want him to simply know that things weren’t quite right at home without her having to say it. She wanted him back.

Lucy knew she couldn’t really have that, though. She couldn’t have him or his hugs or his smiles or the dry wit or the knowing looks he’d often dole out, a gentle scold offered with just his eyes, a message of doting care given with just a twitch of his lips as he tried to temper an insistent smile. Lucy had accepted that, accepted that she had to subsist on a more meager version of her brother’s comfort. His words. Imagined expressions. Memories.

Lucy spent more nights than anyone would have believed tucked away in bed with her older sister’s laptop, re-reading the messages she and John had passed back and forth since he’d gone away, imagining her brother’s voice as her eyes scanned over the screen, imaging his laughter and scoffs, imagining him fixing her with a look which said he knew precisely what she was leaving out, that he somehow knew that there was more there, more she wasn’t telling him.

John always knew. He was well aware that Harry wasn’t the perfect caretaker for their Lucy, knew that the girls had their rubs, knew that Harry had her struggles with the drinking, but there hadn’t been another choice, and John had always been comforted by the fact that his sister’s wife was there, a source of stability and calm for Harry, and for Lucy, too, but there were still things that troubled him.

Lucy read over her original message another time before pulling up the message she’d started drafting to her brother days ago. It was short and overly formal for the two of them, a brief ‘I hope you’re well. Please write me when you can,’ sandwiched between a sterilized greeting and send off.

Lucy hovered over the send button, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath as she prepared herself to click, hoping beyond hope that John’s lack of reply was nothing more than a mistake, praying that his silence was due to a message gone incorrectly to the spam box or an instance of an unread email mistakenly set to read, willing herself to believe that the follow up message wouldn’t go unanswered.

Lucy’s finger continued to hover as the weary sort of silence that usually followed the woosh of a newly sent message prematurely settled within her. It was a terrible sort of vacuum that sucked everything along after it and she imagined all of her hope and wishing and patience would be sent off with the message itself, leaving her with very little left inside. She resigned herself to passing what little remained of the night, or the morning rather, with just that feeling for company, curled in her bed watching as the rising sun reached through her curtains to ease her into another day, but the chime of a new message came before she could bring herself to hit send and she moved to her inbox, pulling up the message from John, only two lines in length.

The first chided for the time her previous email had been sent, but the second was a morsel that could feed her for a bit. It was just an overly casual ‘You can reach me here for now,’ the words accompanied by a phone number, one she recognized as originating from England, in London.

The computer fell to the side as Lucy scrambled for her phone, fumbling with the keys as she dialed the number, her breath held as the rings continued on, a sob caught in her throat as a gruff throat clearing sounded from the other end of the line.

“Hello?”

“Joh—” Lucy swallowed down the lump in her throat. “John?”

John sighed at hearing his sister’s voice, the heightened pitch nearly catching, nearly breaking before she’d reached the end of his name. His sigh was heavy despite being such a small gesture, filled with exhaustion and impatience, and still yet an ounce of understanding and compassion and pity at the very same moment.

“Lucy…”

She felt the lump in her throat thickening at hearing him say her name after so long, a few insistent tears spilling down her cheeks in the short moment of silence that engulfed them, her breath quietly hitching before John continued.

“It’s rather late, sweethear—”

A sob broke from Lucy’s end of the phone line. How long had it been since Lucy Watson had heard that particular endearment directed her way? John hadn't even finished with the word and she'd already been pulled apart by it, years of feigned strength and composure at John's absence ripped entirely from the girl.

John sighed again, setting aside his incriminations about the hour, hoping the curtain pulled closed between him and the roommate he’d been assigned to just the morning before was enough not to disturb the man. He seemed to be snoring still, so it was either that or the sturdy painkillers he’d been prescribed keeping him asleep.

“Alright, sweetheart,” John whispered into the phone, turning his body away from his neighbor best as he could with his limited range, shifting the borrowed laptop to safety. “It’s alright.”

Lucy continued crying on the other end of the line, coughing over her sobs and gasping for breath, seeking more air to fuel the painful howling, her attempts at verbal response to her brother nearly incomprehensible. And the pain of hearing that, the ache of listening to his sister in such a state and not being able to do a thing to help, he could swear that was far worse than the residual pain in his knee, far worse than the gunshot itself or the surgery or the intensive physical therapy regimen he’d been enduring since. The sensation filled his entire body. He felt it in the dropping of his stomach, in the drying of his throat, in the persistent ache in his heart, but John pushed it all aside and cleared his throat firmly enough to speak over the growing lump.

“It’s alright. Let it all out, sweetheart.”

John lost track of how long it went on like that, with him simply listening to the sounds of his sister’s anguish, a few years of pent up frustration and grief and hurt coming out of her in waves as he listened on helplessly from his bed in the London rehab, wishing he was there to soothe a bit of her pain, but settling for uttering of a string of comforting words that Lucy latched onto like they were an embrace, clinging to it as if John was right there in her room tending to the passing of a nightmare, dulling her pain and cries until it all shifted and the sounds that came from her were no longer filled with anguish he hadn’t known her capable of holding. They both shared a bit of relief as the line grew quiet, nothing more than their cadenced breathing falling between them.

Lucy sniffled and cleared her face. “You’re in London?”

“Yes,” he said.

“You’re home. You’re safe.”

John considered the allegations, considered the truth of her words even though there were parts of him that felt far from safe, parts of him that still felt kilometers and countries away, still in Afghanistan, still fighting, and a sound came from his mouth, the start of a shaky breath stifled almost as soon as he’d released it.

“You’re alright,” Lucy offered. “We’re alright.”

John cleared his throat, his grip tight on the phone receiver as he nodded to himself.

“Yeah, we are, sweetheart.”

Three or four deepened breaths passed between them then, the Watsons each staring out their respective windows at the dawning sky, the dark night slowly, but insistently turning to day.

“Lucy?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re alright?”

“Better,” she mumbled. She wouldn’t be quite alright until she actually saw him, but hearing John’s voice had made her feel better and it would be enough to carry her through until she could have the real thing. “You?”

“Better,” he confirmed, “but you should get to bed. You have school tomorrow.”

Lucy hummed as she smoothed her hand out across the quilt, reaching out to shut the laptop and set it away on the nightstand. “But I am already in bed, John.”

John snorted, his sister’s cheek loosening a part of him that had become too stiff while he had been away, some small part of him thawing as he smiled into the receiver.

“Better indeed,” John laughed. “Sleep well, sweetheart. Call me tomorrow.”

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