#taika art and magic

[taikatoriartist]

Venezia Love

Venezia Love

[aha-my-villainous-thoughts]

Hey guess what? My 1st submission to the Our Flag Means Death 2023 Reverse Big Bang is finally live!! I've posted the full giant piece over on my ao3 (@ VillainousThoughts) along with a big image description. These two close ups are of our lovely leading boys, in full magical AU glory! I had so much fun designing and detailing this piece, and I hope you can enjoy all of it!

Crescente Devotione

by me, Ash, your friendly neighbourhood villain (@aha-my-villainous-thoughts and @eye-scream-girls)

Without being too much, I really appreciate all of my amazing mutuals and supporters through the last few months of working on this project and being in this fandom! I've never been as accepted and celebrated as I have for my own work, and it's been so magical to share with so many of you wonderful and insane people! Truly the best found-family crew one could hope for, whether it's screaming in the tags, sending me the *best* prompts for lingerie Ed possible, or just being the super sweetest, kindest, most uplifting moots in the messages possible.

Thank you all so so much, this is my love letter to every one of you who I have had a chance to bond with through this madcap journey to S2 (and beyond!)

[l1z4rdm34t]

Hiiii 😋😋😋 this is my art account! My main blog is @t1r3dr3pt1l3z !!! Hopefully I remember to post on here, but for now here’s an intro post

What to call me:

I go by Fig/Figael, Talon, or Tired! You can also call me Lizard if you want :)

Pronouns:

He/hymn/his/hymnself

They/them/theirs/theirself

Xe/xem/xyrs/xyrself

Ze/zir/zirs/zirself

He/him/his/himself

Do not use she/her or it/its pronouns for me! I will block you.

My Fandoms:

• Dimension 20

- Fantasy High, all seasons

- The Unsleeping City | & ||

- A Crown of Candy

- Pirates of Leviathan 💛

- Mice & Murder

- Misfits & Magic 💛

- Shriek Week 💛

- A Starstruck Odyssey 💛

- Coffin Run 💛

- Fey and Flowers (my first Aabria season)

- Neverafter

- The Ravening War

- Dungeons and Drag Queens

- Mentopolis 💛

- Burrow’s End

• MLP

- the main show (not the new one)

• Adventure Time/Fiona and Cake

• Some Tin Can Bros

- The Solve It Squad/Grunch

- Spies are Forever

- Wayward Guide

- Poe’s Dinner Party

• Smile For Me

• Sort’ve into TF2 and Fallout but not really, I just think they’re silly

DNI list:

- anti anti shippers

- Pro/Comshippers

- Lolicons/Shotacons

- DSMP fans/apologists/stans

- Gore spammers

- Zionists

- Bible thumpers (or any religious extremists)

- Neil Gaiman and Taika Waititi apologists

- Robert Manion apologists

- MHA/BMHA fans

- littles (I have nothing against y’all but I’m uncomfortable interacting with you on Tumblr)

[darkinerry]

hi lets show some love for our mutuals. tag your favorite mutuals and tell them why you love them

I am so late to answering this, but I wanted to do it properly and only now had enough time to really sit down to it. :)

I'm only going to mention a few people -those I interacted with and know on some level- but ALL of my mutuals are absolutely lovely people and for each one of them I wanna say how awesome and lovely you all are, and how being on this site, and in this fandom, is enriched by your presence here <3

@gentlebeard - Beloved Ella <3 Super kind and helpful and sooo funny. I liken her to a fluffy bunny, but when she stands up for her friends, she's a force to reckon with. Mad respect <3 She also makes the most awesome videos. If they were giving Oscars for fanvids, Ella would need to buy a cabinet to store them in.

@sherlockig - When I think of Alexz, I think of a pretty field of colorful flowers bathed in sunshine. Absolute sweetheart. So kind. Forgiving. Supportive. Lovely. Beautiful in and out. Also the Queen of screencaps/edits; regularly enriching our dashboards with wonderful OFMD pics. <3

@bizarrelittlemew - Ida The Chosen One (by David J. himself). That itself gives +10 to awesomeness. An absolutely lovely person. Can't think of a bad thing when thinking of Ida <3 Also insanely talented, helloooo? Makes incredible gifs, so gorgeous I get heart-eyes when they pop on my dash. A talented writer, one of my fav authors to read, period. When Ida starts writing, magic happens. Can also draw the cutest Stede and Ed as horses? 🤯 One of the most badass people on this side; at the same time one of the loveliest <3

@saltpepperbeard - Jodi Jodi <3 Reading her tags is like reading a good book. You never know what genre you'll get; if you'll end up laughing or crying; but you know either way it's gonna be so gooooood. (Also has the best freakouts about my Taika gifs, the highlight of my day ✌). I don't know her well (we should interact more Jodi ❤), but seems like such a delightful and fun person <3. Also makes insane gifs. Can hit you with the sweetest set that makes you smile, or will hit you with an agsty one making you cry, and her thematic/parallel sets are incredible and perfect.

@smoothedsmoothie - Morgan is such a friendly sweet soul. Very pleasant to talk to. And such an insanely talented artist? My jaw is still on the floor from how beautiful their art is.

@blakbonnet - Bonus mention; because we don't really interact much, but how I can not mention Meow? A LEGEND. The fandom wouldn't be the same without her. She seems like a very nice, funny and -for all her fame- humble person. 💗 Also, by all accounts, sooo talented. Can do anything. Write. Make gifs. Draws loveliest of art. Her doe-eyed Ed art always gives me emotions ngl. Plus owns a super cute dog with a super awesome name <3.

[jutsei]

The Traveler (TOH OC-ish)

Love seeing all these Collector OCs, they’re super neat and just as great as I thought they’d be!

I have one-... well AU of an OC but still counts! I just really wanted to show it bc I’m normal about it

The Traveler (Art not by me! Credit goes to Schgain on twitter, who’s also on here as waterloggedsoliloquy ! )

She is of the same race as the Collectors, but rather than Collect, she has a job that is just as important, finding life so the Collectors know where to look!

Her motif is the enduring symbol of the Shooting Star, a beautiful phenomena where a meteorite falls near a planet, visible in the night sky, leaving a beautiful, if brief trail in the sky. It is beautiful and wonderful, if fleeting, and some believe that if you make a wish upon a shooting star, it may just come true! Sometimes, shooting stars fall in clusters, creating an unforgettable star shower, something the Traveler adores doing when she is meeting others And yet, despite this, a shooting star does not last long, sometimes even a few seconds, it can be missed in the blink of an eye, but leaves an impact and a wish, be it good, or bad. The Traveler... “travels” the infinite cosmos, looking for planets with signs of life, and then visits them, bringing with her a storm of falling stars (Which she can call down on command), and after around 1-4 weeks, she leaves, and if a planet proved interesting enough to her, she summons a massive comet that serves as a beacon for the Collectors to come visit!

Though, after untold millennia, she has seen her fair share of planets that were already dead, were in the process of dying due to disasters or war, or simply weren’t ready, due to this she’s somewhat jaded and tired of doing work for the Collectors, and sometimes doesn’t even fire off the Beacon. Sometimes she wishes she could stay on a planet for longer, but she knows that she can’t. For a shooting star isn’t meant to stay long... it is always temporary.

Like other Children from the Stars, she has a powerful type of magic that borders on reality warping, but unlike other Collectors, it is less focused on trapping creatures for collection and play, and more for making the stars fall, she’s even capable of Granting a Wish!

Though, a Wish is important and may only be used once every so often, for a very special mortal on a planet, a gift before the Collectors arrive, so that they might be spared and be treated as a valued guest. They get their deepest desire granted, and are also granted clemency.

She has limits though, she can’t bring back the dead, can’t make someone fall in love with another, and she adamantly refuses to kill anyone (At least, not with a wish.)

She doesn’t like staying in one place for too long, but also is getting tired of going from place to place so things are complicated...

(Things also don’t get better when she gets sealed in a bottle for five hundred years on Earth. It’s ok, she’ll get out thanks to a witch named Taika {Another AU of an OC-} )

Recently got touched up thanks to the Collector Lore reveals, I thought that Collectors were more of a vocation for children of the Stars rather than it being their entire races creed, which results in different uses of their powers! Just fun stuff to think about

[weclassybouquetfun]

On the 2nd and 3rd day of CinemaCon my studios (WB Discovery/Disney/Universal/Focus Features) gave to me:

Day 2: Warner Bros:

Screening of THE FLASH which received rave reviews (though one critic, whose opinion I normally am I aligned with says it falls apart in the third act). Receiving fewer raves (less raves?) is AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM. Says director James Wan, "It’s an action-adventure story with a really fun bromance between Arthur and Orm. Orm was a villain the first time around, but this time Arthur needs him.”

- Footage from BLUE BEETLE which gives a better look at its villain Carapax;

title for the next Conjuring films which is titled CONJURING: LAST RITES, keeping with horror THE NUN 2 had a teaser trailer, in their sizzle reel a title card for BEETLEJUICE 2 was shown; a new FINAL DESTINATION film is in development, trailer for the Oprah Winfrey produced THE COLOR PURPLE movie musical, a first look of Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa in .....FURIOSA; footage from the Timothee Chalamet fronted WONKA which shows Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa; presentation from Chalamet, Zendaya and their DUNE: PART TWO director Denis Villeneuve. Unlike the first installment that was partially filmed in IMAX, this is entirely in the IMAX format. Greta Gerwig and her BARBIE stars teased their film; a trailer was shown for Ben Wheatley's take on THE MEG with MEG 2: THE TRENCH.

Unrelated to CinemaCon, Warner Bros. announced several Batman related projects that are going to Amazon Prime Video: the animated film MERRY LITTLE BATMAN , its spinoff BAT-FAMILY, and notice that there is already a series two renewal for BATMAN: CAPED CRUSADER.

MERRY LITTLE BATMAN is essentially HOME ALONE with Damian Wayne.

The art looks awful.

THE REST

Day 3: DISNEY AND FOCUS FEATURES: A screening of THE BOOGEYMAN, based on a Stephen King novel.

The studio touted their slate of 20th Century, Marvel and LucasFilms. Noticeably absent is talk of their Searchlight film MAGAZINE DREAMS starring Jonathan Majors. It was considered to be an awards favourite this coming season before Majors became embroiled in assault allegations.

There was a 20-minute look at the animated film ELEMENTAL; footage from GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL.3

; THE MARVELS; trailer for Taika Waititi's NEXT GOAL WINS, a look at animated film WISH featuring the voice work of Ariana DeBose and Chris Pine, a look at THE LITTLE MERMAID, Gareth Edward's THE CREATOR (fka True Love) starring John David Washington, Gemma Chan and Ken Watanabe, footage from INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY,

Sir Kenneth Branagh's return as Hercule Piorot in A HAUNTING IN VENICE

and the first trailer and clip from HAUNTED MANSION.

UNIVERSAL: After saluting SUPER MARIO BROTHERS which has made over 900 million dollars at the box office, they threw to their sizzle reel featuring directors talking about the magic of movies. The sizzle reel included images from the upcoming WICKED starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.

WB defector Christopher Nolan was first up to promote OPPENHEIMER with 5 minutes of footage; logo treatment for the next SAW

; teaser for the Mike White (White Lotus, School of Rock) penned animated film MIGRATION about a family of ducks (featuring the voicework of Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Keegan-Michael Key, Carole Kane, Danny Devito and Awkwafina)

; Will Ferrell was in person with a dog to throw to extended footage of STRAYS, the live-action comedy about an abandoned dog (Ferrell) who goes on the search for his owner (Will Forte). It features the voicework of Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher, Josh Gad, Harveyy Guillen, Jamie Demetriou and Randall Park, amongst others.

First trailer for David Gordon Green's EXORCIST sequel, EXORCIST: BELIEVER, news of a sequel to THE BLACK PHONE; Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake were on hand to push TROLLS WORLD 3, Jack Black came out for KUNG FU PANDA 4

. The villain is The Chameleon who summons villians from Po's past, confirmation that the Sam Taylor-Johnson helmed Amy Winehouse biopic has wrapped filming, first look at MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 3; footage from Ryan Gosling's THE FALL GUY directed by David Leitch (Bullet Train, Atomic Blonde); familia Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang and Tyrese Gibson arrived to promote the tenth entry in the Fast saga - FAST X. Vin Diesel came out alone to announce that FAST X Part 2 is coming in 2025.

[spartanlocke]

Some additions worth mentioning:

Blue-Eyed Samurai's creator, Michael Green, made multiple Zionist tweets calling Palestinians terrorists. (x)

Michael Sheen, the actor most known for his portrayal of Aziraphale in Good Omens, blocked people for replying "Free Palestine" to his "Free the hostages" tweet. (x) (x)

Four months ago Neil Gaiman said he stands by his statement that Israel has the right to exist. (x) (I just discovered this one today and blocked him, so I apologize for spreading his content.)

Amber Heard, portraying Mera in the previous and new Aquaman movies, is still close friends with infamous Zionist Eve Bartlow, and has been seen liking multiple Zionists posts, including one comparing "From the river to the sea" to Hitler's phrase. (x) (x)

Taika Waititi, producer and actor for Our Flag Means Death, signed the "Free the Hostages" letter to Biden. (x) As did Jack Black and Zack Zynder, who also have upcoming or recently released movies (Rebel Moon and Minecraft)

Not cinema but worth mentioning imo: head researcher for OpenAI/ChatGPT Tal Broda has openly encouraged Israel to bomb Palestine. So please, for the love of god, stop using AI. Shitposting and satire doesn't magically change the fact your memes are made with art stolen by genocidal Zionists. Boycott AI. (x)

Those are the only ones I can recall off the top of my head atm. Anyway, here's post I found with links to multiple charities and gofundmes to support Palestine and its people: (x)

Some relevant movies and tv shows that should be boycotted:

Stranger Things: Noah Schnapp claimed zionism is sexy and Hamas is ISIS and liked videos on twitter mocking Palestinian people; actor Brett Gelman and producer Shawn Levy are zionists and both support Schnapp

The Last Of Us: israeli politics in The Last Of Us Part 2; Neil Druckmann openly supports israel

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Rick Riordan, the author of the books has made zionist comments neutral to Israel and the genocide

The Umbrella Academy: Aidan Gallagher openly supported Israel on instagram with a post "I stand with Israel", post is now deleted

Deadpool 3: Shawn Levy, the director of the movie is a zionist

Dune 2: Timothee Chalamet made a joke on SNL about the genocide in Palestine

Any Disney movies and shows including Inside Out 2, PJO, The Eras Tour movie, Moana 2, Marvel content: Disney is funding Israel, it has been announced that a new Israeli superhero will be joining the MCU

If you support Palestine, boycott zionist companies and stop funding them. Besides, there are many ways to watch the newest movies without paying a cent.

Please feel free to add more movies and shows with source links! 🍉

In addition, here are some other useful links:

Palestine Google docs masterlist

Poems for Palestine Chapbook Launch

Donation links

Click the button once a day to donate

[scarletttetleyjonesgrad604]

Week 1 SDL: Reflecting on Design Inspirations and Identity

-Who are the designers, photographers and illustrators in Aotearoa who influence you?

Fiona Pardington- Fiona is a photographer best known for her still life work, which captures contemporary objects in classical lighting and arrangements. Her work often draws on her dual identity as a Māori-Pākehā woman. Peter Stichbury- Painter, known for his caricature-like portraits. His work explores beauty ideals and psychology. Taika Waiti- film-maker/director. His work uses humour to explore complex ideas.

-Who am I as a designer?

My design identity is heavily influenced by design styles of the past. I am influenced by my Celtic Ancestry and my close relationship with my mum and grandmother. Themes that are important to me in life and subsequently my artistic/design practise are inclusion, family, humour, and magic.

-What are the influences on me as a designer and where do they come from? My mum is my primary creative inspiration. Her collections of objects, art, and general life philosophy has informed my approach to design and creative processes. I also draw inspiration from Pre-Raphaelite art and design, as well as the Celtic/ Pagan British imagery that the Pre-Raphealites drew on.

I love the Art Nouveau movement, which was popular from the 1890s-1920s, and emphasised curved, flowing forms. It was particularly prominent in France, though you can see the influence of older Japanese design in its aesthetics.

- How can I unpack the personal design ideologies that cultural shifts, ethics, and responsibility that impact my decision-making? (I was unsure of the meaning of this question, so I've taken it to mean 'how can I make my design practise ethical and socially/culturally responsible?' hope this is ok!)

A lot of my main inspirations are European art/design movements of the past. Many of these movements reflect the continent's colonial role, appropriating visuals and potentially culturally significant symbols from other cultures (e.g. Chinoiserie). Many symbols were stripped of their intial significance and meaning and used purely for trendy aesthetics- disrespectful to their originators.

A possible way of dealing with this in my own practise (specifically in research) could be to go beyond the European movement and discover the initial visual source, learning about the original meaning of a symbol.

- How might I expand my visual vocabulary by understanding the environmental, social, cultural, political contexts of my design influences?

Potentially by looked at the contexts of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Researching the impact of pre-raphealite movement at the time, researching beauty standards in late victorian England/Europe. Exploring the influence of Christianity on concepts of Beauty/societal values/art.

Exploring roles of people hidden by history in historic art and design (e.g. disabled people, people of colour in European art -Fanny Eaton is a pre-Raphaelite example)

-Where do I stand in relation to my practice and what do I value?

My practise reflects the environment I grew up in and my family. My design approach also reflects my personality, and my life values are similar to my design values.

I value individuality, inclusion, depth, symbolism, history, sustainability, mindful consumerism, and open-mindedness in my practice.

-What do you value as a creative?

Accessibility- for instance, design which can be enjoyed and understood by people of any education/age/learning ability

Beauty- rich visual aesthetics, beauty for the sake of Beauty.

There can be a relationship between these values, for instance rich visuals are entertaining regardless of reading ability.

[webseriesviral]

Butchering the God Butcher: Why Marvel Should Fire Taika Waititi Taika Waititi is a sly, funny, gifted f... #movie quote #movies #movie line #movie line #movie scenes #cinema #movie stills #film quotes #film edit #vintage #movie scenes #love quotes #life quotes #positive quotes #vintage #retro #quote #quotes #sayings #cinematography

[grad603jesspressnell]

Taika Waititi

‘Taika Waititi (sometimes credited as Taika Cohen) is of Te-Whānau-ā-Apanui descent, and hails from the Raukokore region of the East Coast. He grew up on the East Coast and in Wellington, the son of a school teacher and an artist. Ambitions to be a painter or deep sea diver were sidelined after a high school drama teacher opened his eyes to acting.

Waititi graduated from Victoria University in 1996, with a degree in Theatre and Film. In 2000 he was nominated for an NZ Film Award for Best Actor, after playing a lothario student in hit black comedy Scarfies. Intrigued by the idea of working on a road movie, he played a modern day hippy in Snakeskin — director Gillian Ashurst praised his "presence and style" — and one of the strippers in TV's The Strip.

A genuine renaissance man, Waititi has also won acclaim for his painting, photography, design and stand-up comedy.’

https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/taika-waititi/biography

‘Taika David Waititi also known as Taika Cohen was born on August 16, 1975. He is of Maori (from his father’s side), and Jewish (from his mother’s side) descent. Taika was born and raised in Te-Whānau-a-Apanui (the East Coast region) and also in Wellington, New Zealand.

As a performer, comedian, visual artist, and director, Taika has been a strong and driving force throughout New Zealand for a few years.

He was a part of five-men comedian group, So You’re a Man, while going to Victoria University of Wellington. He also formed a comedy duo called Humorbeasts with Jemaine Clement who was a part So You’re a Man.’

‘As a visual artist, Taika spent two years in Berlin working and exhibiting and several years experimenting with photography and painting. Taika was one of five inaugural recipients of the Arts Foundation’s New Generation Award in 2006.

Taika is, to his international fans, an unstoppable rising star who doesn’t limit himself from creating any artistic form or genre which inspires millions of people around the world.’

https://worldoftaika.com/taika-waititi/

Stylistically, Taika Waititi's films are eclectic and extravagant. He likes to blend genres, engage with unusual color palettes, and his soundtracks are often extremely well-thought-out.

https://whatnerd.com/magic-taika-waititi-what-makes-him-different-hollywood/

[taikatoriartist]

you know I´m in love with Autumn

[shivroy]

what makes ed happy 

[nerdby]

Are you serious right now? First of all, I know what a male power fantasy is. And it's not what you think it is. A male power fantasy is a one-dimensional seemingly perfect male character with no real personality that allows the male audience to live vicariously through the character -- IE Clark Kent or Bruce Wayne. It's very popular in comic books, and if you'd watched Magic Mike you would know that the filmmakers tried very hard to make it the exact opposite of a male power fantasy.

Like I said, it's very popular in comics and that's one of the reasons why I prefer Marvel Comics to DC because a lot of what DC has put until the 2010s has been male power fantasies. Especially Batman and Superman -- Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne is the best example imo. When he waltzes in late to his own party with three gorgeous super models on his arm. That is a male power fantasy.

The dude trying to work his way out of poverty so he can found his art career and dealing with a jealous, insecure girlfriend? Not so much. Just my opinion.

I tagged this as female gaze because of faux feminist gender essentialist assholes who like to act like women can do no wrong and because they are objectified and treated like shit that gives them the right to objectify other people and treat them like shit. And it doesn't. Those women are bullying assholes with a victim complex who enable a double standard -- that it's perfectly okay for women to objectify whoever but everyone else who does it is an asshole.

Maybe these weren't the best examples, you're right. It did occur to me after I had posted this that I should have tagged the Marvel and DC and Twilight fandoms because as a nerd girl myself, I know first hand that fangirls are some of the biggest offenders.

Just ask Tom Hiddleston.

This is a video that went viral a few years ago after a fan meeting Tom after his performance in the stage play Betrayal told him that he was the reason she was a stripper.

But wait, lemme guess, that doesn't count because the Thor movies were directed by men, right? Fuck off. Obvious copout is obvious. Because those movies were consumed and enjoyed by women. Anyone with half a braincell knows that the only reason why Thor: The Dark World has a following is because of Loki being a hot emo.

And then we see Loki again here in the first season of Loki which was directed by a woman -- Kate Herron -- appearing again as fan service for a mainly female audience.

Which I know because as a queer trans person in the Loki fandom I have been torn to fucking shreds by Loki fangirls for writing queer Loki fics and pointing out that Loki himself is trans. The gatekeeping is real👌🏻

It's almost like the gender of the director, producer, whatever doesn't mean shit, right? Because at the end of the day, they just know their audience.

As was to attested by Tom's co-star Chris Hemsworth when he tried to avoid doing a shirtless scene in Thor: Ragnarok and Taika Waititi responded by telling him, "I want asses in seats."

If you want more evidence just search for Avengers x Reader fics here on Tumblr. It'll only take an hour or two to find one that isn't a smut fic.

Or we can look at contemporary literature like E.L. James's Fifty Shades Of Grey which was adapted from a bad Twilight fanfiction written BY A WOMAN and turned into a dangerously inaccurate portrayal of the BDSM lifestyle. Or the inspiration for Fifty Shades, Stephanie Meyers's Twilight saga. Do you know what Taylor Lautner is up to these days?

Getting body shamed by fans.

I don't really care if I offend anyone with post. I know that men do the exact same stupid shit. My problem is with the fact that people act like women don't. Which is a bullshit fucking lie. They body shame men for not having abs or for being fat or for having small dicks or for being trans. I've seen and experienced it myself -- I am AFAB nonbinary and spent three years on T.

If you wanna watch porn and read smut, fine. Go for it but don't fucking pretend women don't do the same exact fucked up shit men do. Don't pretend that you give a shit about mens' mental health or queer rights while you're reading yaoi manga. Which was written specifically as porn for straight women. That is its function in Japanese society.

Google it.

Just take some fucking responsibility.

Editing to add this articles about Chuck Palahniuk -- the author of Fight Club -- since people love the idea that it satirized toxic masculinity. Since art is subjective, you're free to think of it that way if you want. But Chucky definitely does NOT see it that way.

[appleteeth]

What do you think it is specifically about the Stede and Ed relationship that just resonates so much with so many different people?

You’ve got two guys who don’t really know who they are in terms of who they should love and what love is to them. And a guy who takes a ridiculous risk, leaves his wife and kids to go and become a pirate, but is still very, very fancy and is from a background that is hard to get out of. So he can’t really change, but he needs someone who is basically the opposite to be able to change him. And that person, which if you look at Blackbeard, he’s got a very deep and dark background as well, and he’s looking for the opposite to change himself and they meet in the middle. And I think that’s why it’s so special.

And I think there’s some really resonating aspects to it with people who don’t have confidence or aren’t in the right group, don’t fit in, things like that. Everything that resonates for the LGBTQ community. And I think, on top of that, you’ve just got this beautifully made show and there’s no queerbaiting. We go all the way. This turns into a romance between two men and I think it just ticks the boxes for everybody. And the fandom online proves that this is what people want. And it feels good to be delivering that. When we were making it, of course, I didn’t know. I knew what we were doing and I wanted to do my best job at doing it. But I had no idea how much love was going to be given. So yeah, I feel really, really proud.

Obviously, the writing is there and the characters are there, but how much credit for the chemistry between Ed and Stede goes to you and Taika having known each other for so long, and the kind of intimacy of friendship and knowing someone?

Oh, it’s a huge factor. I mean, if either of us were actors that were just cast that didn’t know each other, I don’t think the chemistry would be there. Because we are playing people that are falling in love. And we know what that would be like with each other because we do love each other as friends. We’ve had each other’s back for a long time and we’ve been on this journey coming from New Zealand and trying to make it in Hollywood and make it in America, conquer the world, sort of together. He’s had my back and I’ve always been there for him whenever he needs me. And so it just felt like a natural thing.

On top of that, we are both perfectionists. We’re very similar in a lot of ways with how we create our art and how many takes we want to do. But also, at the same time, we want to make it up as we go along because we like the instant magic you get from improv and things like that. So we did these scenes together, and especially with the dramatic ones, we are challenging ourselves to make it feel as real as possible. And it’s easy for me to get upset or for him to get upset when we see each other upset because we know each other. And so yeah, it digs deeper and I think that’s why it’s come out so well.

- Rhys Darby, Uproxx, 2nd June 2022

[lightsonparkave]

HAPPY THREE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY TO LIGHTS ON PARK AVE! 🎂🎉 In celebration of LoPA’s birthday (August 22, to be exact), all of the prompts from the previous year are up for grabs.

Round 36 will end on August 31, 11:59 PM ET (what time is that for me?).

As always, you’re free to jump in whenever you’d like during the round, a wide variety of work types is accepted, and there are no minimum work requirements. Unfinished works and works for other fandom events are allowed. You can find more information about Lights on Park Ave and the participation guidelines here.

Here are all 161 prompts. Go crazy and have fun! 🎈

ROUND 25: AGING

A quote about Sophie not feeling self-conscious as an old woman the way she did as a girl from Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Blanche telling Dorothy and Rose that she thought she’d never have a chance of being happy again before befriending them in The Golden Girls

A quote about only being able to learn about the impermanence of bad things when you reach a certain age from Orson Welles’s The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

“When You Were Young” - The Killers

Murphy telling Joseph that she’s now the same age as he was when he left Earth on his mission in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (2014)

“Twenty-Five, Twenty-One” - Jaurim

“When We Were Young” - Adele

Mia and Sebastian acknowledging what they meant to each other and how they helped each other achieve their dreams before going their separate ways in Damien Chazelle’s La La Land (2016)

Salvador discovering a letter from the older boy he tutored and had a secret crush on as a child by chance decades later in Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory (2019)

A gifset of Céline asking Jesse if he can put up with her for 56 more years and a glimpse of their life as a couple after being together for a decade in Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight (2013)

Wiktor and Zula deciding to die together after decades of love, heartbreak, separation, and hardship in Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War (2018)

Photos of an old Taiwanese couple styling themselves in the clothes that customers at their laundromat left behind

An excerpt about being all the ages you used to be at the age you are now from “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros 

ROUND 26: CREATURES AND MONSTERS

“The Fisherman and the Siren” by Frederic Leighton

A gifset of Kingdom (Netflix), a zombie horror series set in medieval Korea

A quote by Frankenstein’s monster questioning his identity, past, and future from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

A mood board for The X-Files

Gifs from Stranger Things season 1

Parallel scenes from Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) and Hannibal (NBC) of Ofelia and Will eating food they shouldn’t eat

A quote about saying a monster’s name before killing it from A Slip of the Keyboard by Terry Pratchett

Art of a werewolf pup in bed, howling at the full moon

Art of a werewolf and his lover at night

Vampire aesthetic mood board

A quote about the necessity of monsters and what they represent and help us understand by Guillermo del Toro from “The Power of Myth,” a Pan’s Labyrinth DVD featurette

The vampires and werewolves from Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

Scenes and a quote about the love between Elisa and the Amphibian Man from Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water (2017)

Autumnal fae court aesthetic mood board

Dragon aesthetic mood board

The scene where Beast tells Belle to take the magic mirror with her and lets her go in Beauty and the Beast (1991)

ROUND 27: SOULMATES

Jo and Laurie as genderless soulmates/androgynous twins from Greta Gerwig’s Little Women (2019)

Villanelle and Eve mirroring each other in Killing Eve

A quote by Julie Dillon about soul twins finding each other across dimension and time

A line about being half of a soul from The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

A monologue about the ancient Greeks believing that humans were once two souls in one body before being separated from Alice Wu’s The Half of It (2020)

A line about being so intertwined as to forget about the flesh from Barry Jenkins’s If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

Chris Evans’s explanation that Steve and Tony are two sides of the same coin who need each other to be complete

“White Gauze” (1984), photos by Robert Mapplethorpe

Catherine saying that Heathcliff’s soul and hers are the same from Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

A gifset of Steve and Tony’s complementary qualities

“Married Love” - Kuan Tao-Sheng

Clarence Clemons reminiscing on meeting Bruce Springsteen

The dual natures and opposing principles of Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe as described in Just Kids by Patti Smith

Nadia and Alan as companions in a time loop of death and rebirth, inextricably linked and fated to save each other, in Russian Doll

An excerpt from “The Reproach” by Louise Glück about the betrayal of encountering true love

A quote about the disruptive, revolutionary nature of soulmates superimposed over scenes of Steve and Tony in the MCU

ROUND 28: RECONNECTION

“It’s Been a Long, Long Time” - Harry James and His Orchestra with Kitty Kallen

From the Hank Pym Photo Archives - Holiday Party, Stark Mansion, 1967 - Phil Noto

An excerpt featuring a confession of undying love many years later from The Lover by Marguerite Duras

Embrace - Fred Stein

Buttercup telling Westley she can’t bear to see him die after reuniting with him from Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride (1987)

Anastasia describing her siege escape as a child while Dmitri, who helped save her, looks on in astonishment from Anastasia (1997)

Wiktor asking Zula if she’s happy with the person she’s with now in Paweł Pawlikowski’s Cold War (2018)

Sasha admitting her childhood crush on Marcus, her best friend growing up, in Nahnatchka Khan’s Always Be My Maybe (2019)

Johnny tracks down Gheorghe to ask him to come back and give him another chance after messing up in Francis Lee’s God’s Own Country (2017)

“Hello” - Adele

Jesse and Céline telling everyone the story of how they met, lost contact, and serendipitously found each other again in Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight (2013)

“That Old Feeling” - Frank Sinatra

Eilis deciding to return to New York and to Tony instead of keeping the life she made for herself in Ireland in Brooklyn (2015)

Louise remembering what it was like to be with Ian, reuniting with him at the beginning of their relationship after seeing their future in Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival (2016)

Clementine asking Joel to find her in Montauk as his last memory of her is erased in Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

ROUND 29: TRAVEL

Gifset of Nine through Thirteen with their TARDIS from Doctor Who

A quote about meeting yourself from Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

A poem by Rumi about being from somewhere else

“Fictional Characters” - Danusha Laméris

A gifset of Kiki learning about herself and the world in Hayao Miyazaki’s Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)

A photo of a couple resting and taking in the view in the Swiss Alps

Far From Home - Justin Estcourt

The Avengers going their separate ways at the end of The Avengers

A video of a luxurious train ride through a winter landscape

A gifset of the journey in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Photos of Robin Hood’s Bay, a small fishing village in Yorkshire, England, during wintertime

An excerpt about love driving people on a pilgrimage from Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson

Moments on the trail from Jean-Marc Vallée’s Wild (2014) and a quote about finding yourself from Wild by Cheryl Strayed

An excerpt about traveling across time to be seen by someone who is far away from Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup

A quote by Carl Sagan about humans being wanderers ready to explore the stars

A video of a person ice skating on a frozen lake under the full moon and northern lights

Photos of different state and national parks on a summer road trip through Utah

ROUND 30: FORBIDDEN LOVE

Christian telling Satine that she is nothing to him in Baz Luhrman’s Moulin Rouge! (2001)

Jack and Rose at the formal dinner in the first-class saloon and then a party with third-class passengers in James Cameron’s Titanic (1997)

The Doctor and Rose having one final moment with each other before the gap between their parallel universes closes forever in Doctor Who

An excerpt from John Keats’s letter to Fanny Brawne about how three short days with her is worth more than fifty common years during their passionate but short-lived relationship

Chow Mo-wan and Su Li-zhen falling in love as they provide companionship for each other while their spouses have an affair in Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love (2000)

A line about meeting in dreams from a poem by Izumi Shikibu

A hookup scene from Chris Evans and Evan Rachel Wood’s Gucci Guilty commercial

Shared moments between Steve and Tony throughout Endgame overlaid with an excerpt from a poem by cptshellhead

A line about keeping quiet about love being punishment from Federico García Lorca’s Blood Wedding

A video of Romeo and Juliet seeing each other for the first time and falling in love from Baz Luhrman’s Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Sally and Harry pining for each other while in denial about their feelings as they discuss their best friend’s partner from Rob Reiner’s When Harry Met Sally (1989)

A conversation between Fleabag and the priest in which the priest directly acknowledges her attraction to him from Fleabag

Anastasia and Dmitri yearning for each other throughout Anastasia (1997)

Sookhee being struck by the beauty of Hideko, the heiress she is supposed to serve and swindle as a false maid from Park Chanwook’s The Handmaiden (2016)

Johnny and Gheorghe kissing in Gheorghe’s caravan, outside of the house, from Francis Lee’s God’s Own Country (2017)

Four paintings from Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s Le Lit series and a description of the series

Ali and Nino (formerly known as Man and Woman), a moving sculpture by Tamara Kvesitadze

Elisa dancing to music with the Amphibian Man from Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water (2017)

“Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter” - Robert Mapplethorpe

ROUND 31: REBIRTH

A photo of the Veil Nebula, created by a supernova, and NASA’s description of its conception

“Reincarnation” - Susanne Sundfør

Bruce Springsteen’s speech about his friendship with Clarence Clemons transcending lifetimes in Springsteen on Broadway

A chapter/short story about two people who meet at the wrong age and time from Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

Moments from “Usagi’s Awakening: A Message from the Distant Past,” episode 44 of the 1993 Sailor Moon anime, where the Sailor Scouts learn about their past lives in the now ruined Moon Kingdom

A line about seeing this life as a beautiful dream in the future from Anton Chekov’s diary entry in The Notebooks of Anton Chekov

A question about how much you can change before you’re someone else from “Portrait of Fryderyk in Shifting Light” by Richard Siken

A Civil Warrior edit by isozyme with lyrics from “Seamstress” by Dessa

The music video and lyrics to “Happen” by Heize

Fernando Pessoa’s quote about how it’s been a long time since he was himself

Heidi Priebe’s rumination on how loving someone long-term means attending a thousand funerals of the people they used to be

Glimpses of the new life Yorkie and Kelly make for themselves in the “San Junipero” episode of Black Mirror

A conversation about returning to life and to the people you love from “Adaptation” by Marie Howe

A passage about having to build yourself from scratch after burning everything down and getting reminders that you are not who you used to be from A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit

“Afterlife” - Franny Choi

A gifset/edit featuring Steve and Tony across the multiverse with lyrics from “The End of the World” by Billie Eilish

ROUND 32: POETRY

“Miguel” - César Vallejo

“Things I Didn’t Know I Loved” - Nâzım Hikmet

Untitled poem from Le Plaintain by Anna Akhmatova (translation by D.M. Thomas)

“Adult” - Linda Gregg

“He Waters His Horse Near a Breach in the Long Wall” - Anonymous

“The Poem” - Franz Wright

“What I Didn’t Know Before” - Ada Limón

“Small Kindnesses” - Danusha Laméris

Excerpt from a poem in Obit by Victoria Chang

“The Lovers” - Timothy Liu

ROUND 33: TO BE SEEN AND KNOWN

The scene where Ally shares the first lyrics of “Shallow” with Jackson the night they meet and Bradley Cooper’s explanation of the scene from A Star is Born (2018)

Steve refusing to let Tony talk badly about himself because he knows Tony and the Tony he knows isn’t like that from Captain America/Iron Man (2021) #2

Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy judging each other for their flaws from Pride and Prejudice (BBC)

Sally tearfully telling her friend Harry her flaws and Harry seeing those flaws in a different light from Rob Reiner’s When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Patroclus’s quote about recognizing Achilles by sense alone from The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Study of a Young Man, Seated - John Singer Sargent

“The Whistler” - Mary Oliver

A line from “Shapechangers in Winter” by Margaret Atwood about not knowing someone well anymore

Héloïse telling Marianne everything she’s learned about Marianne by observing her from Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

Stills from Hannibal of Hannibal and Will looking at each other accompanied by a quote from Mads Mikkelsen about Hannibal and Will’s desire for each other and a line from “Corruption” by Camille Norton

An excerpt about not knowing oneself from If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

The protagonist realizing he knows less about his wife than he had thought as he starts to forget her after her death from The Sea by John Banville

A gifset of Mulan asking Shang why he can’t trust her when he knew and trusted her as Ping from Mulan (1998)

Viktor telling Jayce that he believes in his brilliance and the value of his research and offering to help after Jayce is expelled from the academy from Arcane

Select lines about being known by someone and knowing someone best from “I Cannot Be Known” by Paul Éluard

The priest as the only person to ever catch Fleabag retreating into her own mind and breaking the fourth wall because he truly sees her in Fleabag

Heedo asking Yurim, her online friend, if she thinks they’ve crossed paths before because they know each other so well despite not knowing each other’s identities from Twenty-Five Twenty-One

ROUND 34: REINVENTION

“The Light Continues” - Linda Gregg

A photo of a school hallway on the last day of school from Dazed and Confused (1993)

Sandy’s surprise greaser transformation in Grease (1978)

Gracie speaking about her changed perspective on her fellow pageant contestants in Miss Congeniality (2000)

Annie and Helen arguing whether it’s possible for someone to change from Bridesmaids (2011)

A photo of children reading at a summer camp in 1970

A quote by Roger Zelazny reflecting on the gulf between his current self and his past selves

A summary about Amy and Molly’s decision to make up for lost time in one night and various scenes from Booksmart (2019)

Le Bal de l'Opéra - Henri Gervex

A selection of moments from Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Various scenes from The Princess Diaries (2001)

Ralph talking about his new job and changed life from Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

Bo Peep and Woody having opposing opinions on being a lost toy from Toy Story 4 (2019)

ROUND 35: HEAT

A photo of a nude woman tanning on a yacht

Stills of Elio in the car from Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name (2018) with lyrics from “Big Eyes” by Lana Del Rey

“Heart Burn” - Sunmi

Photos of Midsummer bonfire celebrations

“Cruel Summer” - Bananarama

A photo of two men licking the same ice cream cone

A line about someone being a living fire from Letters to Milena by Franz Kafka

“Hot in Herre” - Nelly

An excerpt about summer nights after the heat breaks from “Midsummer” by Louise Glück

[watchingwisteria]

in complete seriousness: i think it’s time that the academy recognize marvel films and actors’ performances in them at the oscars. it has been roughly 13 years since Iron Man 1, and since then we have watched an entire genre evolve out of a single franchise.

it seems like it really has become a different kind of filmmaking. it connects the stories of many characters across multiple films and, at this point, it requires the viewer to have seen at least some of the prior films to really enjoy the latest movie. it is larger than any film franchise before it, and i’m biased, but i’d say it’s more complex, more intricate, more detailed, and better planned than any franchise before it.

to me, that kind of undertaking is clearly art. it’s world-building beyond anything anyone else has ever tried to do in film. i don’t care if it’s not classical filmmaking or whatever. i don’t care that it has aliens and magic and pipe dream technology and superpowers. i don’t care that it’s massively popular. the stories being told, the characters being explored, the stunts and special effects that are coordinated and animated— they’re stunning! it’s incredible! they’re not just action movies anymore! marvel movies are packed with emotion, humor, romance, and tragedy. it has something for everyone to enjoy if they’re willing to dive into it.

and the actors deserve recognition for the performances that they give in these movies. robert downey jr. put in a decade of work that culminated in iron man’s snap being one of the most impactful scenes in the mcu to date (and an absolutely iconic moment in pop culture, on par with the darth vader reveal in star wars). tom holland is really one of the most talented young actors in hollywood and it shows every time he’s on screen as peter parker. his range of emotion and physical acting is incredible. you have no trouble believing that tom is who he’s playing. tom hiddleston, elizabeth olsen, paul bettany, and many others also consistently give spectacular performances.

and the directors! james gunn and taika watiti have directed some of the most beloved movies in the franchise. they taught marvel movies how to not take themselves so seriously with the kind of humor they added to their movies. chloe zhao directed one of the most visually stunning movies of the franchise, not to mention the special effects we get in the eternals. the russo bros may not be as beloved as they once were, but the things they accomplished in their movies with their storytelling, character development, etc. are absolutely noteworthy!

tl;dr i am very tired of pretending like marvel movies and the people who work on them shouldn’t be recognized by the academy because they’re superhero movies. marvel, the directors, the actors, the special effects artists— they should be recognized for what they’ve achieved. they tell some of the most intense and human stories, give some of the greatest performances, and continue to push special effects onward and upward. they have more than earned some reward and recognition.