#the lesbian friends in under the tuscan sun

[nerdfighterwhatevernumbers]

These choices make me feel so old XD

[hopeless-nostalgiac]

For the WIP game; 8. The villa (mainly because I've been watching too much about roman history so it caught my eye, and it reminds me of a WIP of my own)

Once upon a time, I released The Villa as part of Tiva Amnesty, but I think I deleted it at some point. Tony goes searching for Ziva when all the Sergei Mishnev stuff is happening, and he tracks her to a villa in Italy. I like the writing, but I've never been able to finish it.

“I like what you’ve done with the place.” Tony spins in a circle, taking in the interior. It’s not rundown as much as meager.

“It is not permanent.” The look she pins him with says, And neither are you.

But for the night, at least, she isn’t kicking him out.

“I said I like it. You’ve got a whole Under the Tuscan Sun-vibe going on. You haven’t made any lesbian friends to replace me, have you?”

“They are vacationing in Germany right now,” she replies smoothly.

How had he forgotten the sly little smile she wears when teasing him?

[qnewsau]

QC's Rebecca Reynolds on her vision for queer Queensland

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/qcs-rebecca-reynolds-on-her-vision-for-queer-queensland/

QC's Rebecca Reynolds on her vision for queer Queensland

Rebecca Reynolds is the CEO of the Queensland Council for LGBTI Health and Co-Chair of the Qld Government Roundtable for LGBTI Communities. She shares her advocacy journey as well as her vision for LGBTQIA+ Queenslanders. 

I grew up in rural and regional country, in the colonised state now known as Western Australia. 

It was the beauty, vastness and remoteness of that country that really was the first sense of our differences for me.  

The oldest child of a priest and a school teacher, my mother in particular raised me on books and movies that were from another time and another place.  

To take a line from the Sound of Music, they spoke of “girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, and snowflakes that stayed on your nose and eyelashes” and when I looked around me, there was nothing but salt lakes and red dirt and a white dress would not have stayed that way for long.

When I was about 16 or 17, and at boarding school, I read a book called Under the Tuscan Sun and it was the first time that I had read a version of myself written into a book or anything really that wasn’t just my thoughts and feelings. 

It felt liberating and made me want to find my people.  It was also a key defining moment for me in terms of values that I live by in my work. With visibility being core.

Community challenges

It is one of the biggest challenges for our communities today.  Speaking our differences while honouring the things that we share.  

We are a diverse bunch of people packed together under the same roof.  Those under the roof know that we have come together because of a shared sense of needing to create places and spaces of safety, those outside often only see the one structure. 

We have some big challenges for us when we start thinking about who to invite in. It’s like our identity and bodily journeys all over again.  Who do I trust?  

To our allies genuinely wanting to do better, be deliberate and intentional.  Come to the table with what you need, yes, but also what you can offer in return.  You have pathways into places that we can’t yet imagine and genuine partnerships are stronger when both parties benefit.

We rely heavily on our largely unfunded and underfunded community-based organisations who are often forced down a path of responding to what is in front of them. Meeting the needs of our local communities, and leaving little time and energy to think through the precious gifts of mentoring and sustainability.  

It is why our funded organisations, like Queensland Council for LGBTI Health (QC), need to hold space for communities to take a breath and know that all of the passion, hard work and energy won’t have been lost.  It is another reason for the way I work.  

Going deeper

Going back to a much younger version of myself, when I had found the lesbians in Tuscany (Under the Tuscan Sun) I was connected through the Western Australian AIDS Council to HIV/AIDS and the crisis and loss of life that our communities were experiencing at that time.  

While life moved on, my connection to working within the HIV/AIDS response remained.

This ultimately, saw me heading to Thailand to live and work for four years.  

Here, one of the roles that I was privileged to get to know was travelling with the outreach nursing team. They explained treatments and co-infections to a generation of families across Thailand who were grappling with a lack of access to treatments.  

On one particular day, we were visiting with a 10-year-old who had lost her parents during Thaksins’ War on Drugs. She was living with her Aunt and Uncle who would use their income to stock up on ice (to keep the medication cold) and batteries (to enable her to stick to her medication regime of 6am and 6pm daily).  

Her friends had all started having sleepovers and she did not want to miss out. However, the clock was an essential piece of her daily routine. 

I suggested to the nurse in English, that we drive back to the nearest 7-Eleven to buy her a Casio watch. She could then go to the slumber party and still achieve her medication regime. 

“Rebecca,” she says sternly (or kindly) “what happens when the watch runs out of batteries and where will she tell her friends she got the money for the watch?”

It created a big shift in the reasons why I work for change now.  Rather than making myself feel better by buying the watch, I shifted my focus to the systems that keep our communities silenced, isolated and not fitting in.  

Don’t buy the watch. Go deeper.

A future vision for Queensland

So with the long-term hat on, I know what I want to see change for our communities here in Queensland. With an election before us in 2024, eight years out from a time when our State and the way it treats its communities being showcased on the world stage, there is no time like the present to make some big, bold and deep changes that will have a lasting impact on our communities.  

The commitment from our State Government to fund not only a Strategy for Queensland, but also a Peak for our LGBTI community-based organisations is significant. And in terms of the Peak, would be a first for Australia.  

This would create a visible conversation for people everywhere to participate in and bring solutions that fit our local communities to the table. 

On the other side of that, is that we know all too well the impact when conversations about our race, our lives, our bodies, our relationships and our feelings happen in public settings. That people can be cruel and in my time working within LGBTI health and wellbeing, I and the teams of people that I work alongside see the impact of that up close and personal.  We live it.  

As members of our communities, we are the people best equipped to make decisions about those changes that will most impact us and we need places of safety to do that work from.

A Pride Centre for Brisbane

A Pride Centre for Brisbane would be a visible, safe and welcome start.  It would change the story for the younger folk and generations that are still to find their voice and their feet. 

However, more importantly, it would give us the chance to build a model that extends strength and support radiating across the state to connect with those folk in communities who are doing amazing things.  

It would make us stronger and it would weave our communities together in a way that would interrupt many of the negative impacts that are happening in our lives now.  

I believe that we can change the story by sharing ours.  That we can support each other, bring visibility where it is needed and learn and grow from the unique ways in which so many of us are working across this state.  

We can create places of safety in the most unexpected ways, through the most unexpected means.  

Great things are possible for our LGBTIQ+ Communities in Queensland and when we work together. It is often the smallest of moments that catch us unaware but are profoundly life-changing.  

Rebecca Reynolds is the CEO of the Queensland Council for LGBTI Health.

Read next:

QC’s Rebecca Reynolds on Year Endings and New Beginnings

QC announces regional Queensland expansion

QC and 2Spirits at dazzling Rainbow on the Reef

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

[its-you-jackman]

So I just watched Happiest Season. And I have thoughts.

As someone who is not out to their family I sympathize with Harper’s situation. I deeply understand the feeling that it just isn’t the right time to tell them and doing so would change their opinion of you forever. It’s a scary and shitty feeling. And that feeling is separate from being assured in your sexuality or your feelings for another person.

That being said... Harper is simply a bad person for 95% of the movie. She invites Abby to Christmas, after having lied about already coming out for multiple months. If you were actually not ready to come out, you simply would come clean and tell your significant other that you can’t bring them home for Christmas yet. Harper instead makes a choice that is asking for drama and strife in their relationship.

But, this is a rom com. The characters have to make ridiculous choices or the genre largely wouldn’t exist. My favorite rom com involves a woman lying about being the fiancé of a man in a coma. However, the problem here is that Harper continues to make the wrong decision at every turn throughout the rest of the movie, making Abby feel isolated and cast aside. And she gets angry at Abby for being hurt by her behavior.

And the climax isn’t all that satisfying. Harper’s redemption doesn’t match the scale of her bad behavior throughout the whole rest of the movie. Which is a problem in a lot of straight rom coms too. Sometimes the love interest is poorly written. So the problem is not that Harper is abusive or that she isn’t out of the closet. It’s that she’s a bad girlfriend and, in my opinion, doesn’t do enough to redeem herself so that seeing her with Abby at the end is satisfying. Especially when Aubrey Plaza is right there! The chemistry! The glances!

Can Dan Levy just star in his own rom com where Kristen Stewart and Aubrey Plaza play his lesbian friends? I’m thinking something like Under the Tuscan Sun except one woman doesn’t leave the other while she’s pregnant. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

[soc-characters-as-songs]

oc characters as romantic comedies?

ivy: return to me ("heartbroken and struggling emotionally after his wife's death in a car accident, bob rueland (david duchovny) agrees to go on a blind date set up by his friend Charlie (david alan grier). though the date fizzles, sparks fly between bob and the waitress, grace (minnie driver), a recovered heart transplant patient with intimacy problems of her own. when bob discovers grace's heart came from his own organ donor wife, an unusual romance blossoms between the two.")

meredith: sabrina ("sabrina fairchild (julia ormond) is a chauffeur's daughter who grew up with the wealthy larrabee family. she always had unreciprocated feelings for david (greg kinnear), the family's younger son and playboy. but after returning from paris, sabrina has become a glamorous woman who gets david's attention. his older, work-minded brother linus (harrison ford) thinks their courtship is bad for the family business and tries to break them up -- but then he starts to fall for her too.")

diana: life partners ("a 29-year-old lawyer (gillian jacobs) and her lesbian best friend (leighton meester) experience a dramatic shift in their longtime bond after one enters a serious relationship.")

alassie: the wedding singer ("set in 1985, adam sandler plays a nice guy with a broken heart who's stuck in one of the most romantic jobs in the world, a wedding singer. he loses all hope when he is abandoned at the altar by his fiancé. he meets a young woman named julia (drew barrymore), who enlists his help to plan her wedding. he falls in love with her and must win her over before she gets married.")

ramona: under the tuscan sun ("when frances mayes (diane lane) learns her husband is cheating on her from a writer whom she gave a bad review, her life is turned upside down. in an attempt to bring her out of a deep depression, her best friend, patti (sandra oh), encourages frances to take a tour of italy. during the trip, the new divorcée impulsively decides to purchase a rural tuscan villa and struggles to start her life anew amid colorful local characters, including the handsome marcello (raoul bova).")

rhea: music and lyrics ("former music superstar alex fletcher (hugh grant) used to pack them in back in the 1980s, but now he is reduced to playing nostalgia tours and county fairs. he scores a chance at a major comeback when reigning pop diva cora corman (haley bennett) asks him to write a song for her, but he hasn't written anything in years and cannot compose lyrics anyway. noticing that sophie (drew barrymore), the plant lady, has a way with words, alex proposes that he and sophie make beautiful music together.")

cornelia: man up ("when a man (simon pegg) mistakes her for his blind date, a woman (lake bell) decides to play along to see what happens.")

kaden: my big fat greek wedding ("everyone in the portokalos family worries about toula (nia vardalos). still unmarried at 30 years old, she works at dancing zorba's, the greek restaurant owned by her parents, gus (michael constantine) and maria (lainie kazan). after taking a job at her aunt's travel agency, she falls in love with ian miller (john corbett), a teacher who is tall, handsome and definitely not greek. toula isn't sure which will be more upsetting to her father, that ian is a foreigner or that he's a vegetarian.")

andreia: wimbledon ("frustrated at his own failures and disillusioned with professional sports, tennis player peter colt (paul bettany) resolves to retire from competition and become an instructor at an exclusive private club. but when colt receives a surprise wild-card berth in wimbledon, he can't help but enter the tournament. soon, colt meets lizzie bradbury (kirsten dunst), a beautiful american tennis player with an upcoming match of her own, and finds the inspiration he hopes will turn his luck around.")

suzy: you've got mail ("struggling boutique bookseller kathleen kelly (meg ryan) hates joe fox (tom hanks), the owner of a corporate foxbooks chain store that just moved in across the street. when they meet online, however, they begin an intense and anonymous Internet romance, oblivious of each other's true identity. eventually joe learns that the enchanting woman he's involved with is actually his business rival. he must now struggle to reconcile his real-life dislike for her with the cyber love he's come to feel.")

samuel: 10 things I hate about you ("kat stratford (julia stiles) is beautiful, smart and quite abrasive to most of her fellow teens, meaning that she doesn't attract many boys. unfortunately for her younger sister, bianca (larisa oleynik), house rules say that she can't date until kat has a boyfriend, so strings are pulled to set the dour damsel up for a romance. soon kat crosses paths with handsome new arrival patrick verona (heath ledger). will kat let her guard down enough to fall for the effortlessly charming Patrick?")

bianca: 13 going on 30 ("a girl who's sick of the social strictures of junior high is transformed into a grownup overnight. In this feel-good fairy tale, teenager jenna (christa b. allen) wants a boyfriend, and when she's unable to find one, she fantasizes about being a well-adjusted adult. suddenly, her secret desire becomes a reality, and she is transformed into a 30-year-old (jennifer garner). but adulthood, with its own set of male-female challenges, isn't as easy as it looks.")

archibald: sleeping with other people ("twelve years after a one-night stand, a man (jason sudeikis) and a woman (alison brie) run into each other and try to maintain a platonic relationship despite their mutual attraction.")

raphael: bride and prejudice ("with four beautiful daughters of marrying age, manorama (nadira babbar) and chaman bakshi (anupam kher) frantically seek out the perfect husbands for their children. yet their eldest daughter, lalita (aishwarya rai), is intent upon marrying at her own choosing, for love. lalita endures a number of hopeful suitors, but the american william darcy (martin henderson) seems different -- and not always in a good way. misunderstandings, schemes and lies threaten to keep the two from true love.")

[chrwrites]

Take Me As You Please - Chapter 3

Ch 1 | Ch 2 

read on ao3

Marinette opened the door to her house to find Alya followed by Alix, Rose, Juleka and Mylène, “What are you all doing here?” she asked in surprise.

“Being there for you, obviously” Alya said as the girls came inside and hugged Marinette. She couldn’t help but smile while she was surrounded by warm arms that were preventing her from falling apart. When her friends pulled back, they showed her what they had brought for her: a bag full of different snacks, ice cream, and a DVD set of romantic comedies they could cry to. Marinette never felt so lucky.

As they set the food on the coffee table in the living room, Mylène told Marinette she was sorry for not noticing she was sad the day before. She thought she was concentrating on her designs, “I’m so used to Ivan not wanting to be distracted when he’s working on new music that I do the same with all my friends”, she said giving Marinette an apologetic look. Marinette smiled reassuringly at her, “You don’t have to be sorry! I wouldn’t have wanted to talk about it anyway. So... What are we watching?” she asked in order to change the subject. She didn’t really want to face what bothered her in that moment, Adrien dating her friend was the cherry on top of way too many problems for a sixteen-year-old like Marinette. She should have gotten used to it by now, but sometimes here responsibilities were still too much, and she needed a moment where she could just be herself and not feel any weight on her shoulders.

“I brought Love Actually, He’s just not that into you, 500 Days of Summer, The Notebook, Under the Tuscan Sun and Eat Pray Love for you to choose” Rose said, adding that she spent the whole morning looking for the right movies for her. Marinette thanked her and picked a DVD, her choice was pretty obvious.

“We’re watching He’s just not that into you” she said, putting the disc in the player.

“What? Are you sure? Alya protested.

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?”

“I would’ve chosen it too, you know” Alix winked at Marinette, who felt reassured. She didn’t really know what the movie was about, but she hoped it could help her given the situation.

“Oh, too bad you didn’t choose Love Actually, I really like that one” Rose pouted.

“Did you know that there was a lesbian couple in that movie? They cut them off though” Juleka said.

“What, really?” Rose asked in an offended tone, to which the purple haired girl nodded, “It was the same dramatic trope as always anyway, one of them died. I’m glad they cut it off honestly.”

At that, Rose wrinkled her nose in disapproval, “Is a happy ending too much to ask? I swear, if I hear about another lesbian killed off in a movie, I’ll take matters into my own hands and make my own death-free lesbian movie. I don’t care.”

Juleka chuckled at her comment and looked at her fondly, she had the same calm and sweet expression of her older brother in that moment. Marinette thought about the way the two made each other happy and brought the best out of each other. Maybe it was because she watched their relationship blossom under her eyes, but they were the kind of couple people looked at and said “I want what they have”, everyone could see that they cared about each other a lot and they weren’t the kind of couple that made people around them uncomfortable with their displays of affection. Marinette wished she had that something like that, too.

She pressed play and let the movie begin.

As she watched the story unravel, Marinette couldn’t help but think about how she had been just as hopeful as the main character. The way she had always wished that someday Adrien would have seen her as something more than a friend reminded her of how the protagonist overanalysed every little thing her date did just to convince herself that he was interested in her. But if a guy wanted to be with a girl, he would have done anything to be with her. It hit her, how harsh and cold reality was.

That was probably the hardest pill to swallow, Adrien wouldn’t have done that kind of anything to be with her. She shouldn’t have had this stupid crush on him in the first place, he would have never fallen for her, they were just friends and she should have cherished his friendship more instead of wanting and trying to turn it into something more. Life was not a romantic comedy, and she wasn’t an exception. She was the rule.

She didn’t realize she had started crying until all her friends cuddled on her on the couch, and Marinette noticed that Rose’s eyes were wet too.

The movie didn’t end with the character picking up the pieces and moving on by herself, she got together with the same guy who opened her eyes on how men behaved after she called him out on his selfishness. She became his exception. That was a movie after all, she couldn’t expect anything different.

All Marinette had left was the ending speech.

Maybe a happy ending doesn't include a guy, maybe… it's you, on your own, picking up the pieces and starting over, freeing yourself up for something better in the future. Maybe the happy ending is… just… moving on.

She had to move on from her crush, no matter how hard, painful and long it would have been, and she didn’t want to lose his friendship over something so stupid. She wasn’t fourteen anymore, she could handle this in a mature way.

With the encouragement of her friends, Marinette deleted all the pictures of Adrien she kept on her phone, she couldn’t believe that such a small step made her feel like she had fought one of the worse villains she’s ever fought. She refused to take his pictures off the bulletin board in her room, claiming she used them for inspiration, she still needed some time after all.

They spent the rest of the afternoon on the terrace, talking about everything and nothing and doing each other's nails until Marinette’s mum brought them delicious homemade pizzas for dinner. Marinette wasn’t feeling like the whole world was crashing on her, that weight became lighter the more she spent time with her friends. She didn’t care about the fact that she probably would’ve let herself drift into sadness again before going to bed, because in that moment she was okay and she wanted to enjoy that. She finally had the chance to behave like an ordinary teenager, she could think about everything else later.

The air got colder as stars appeared in the dark sky, and although their light was dimmed by the city lights, they still shone bright. Marinette felt at peace watching them, but when Alya got up and said that her dad was coming to pick her, Alix and Mylène up, she felt the serene atmosphere slip through her fingers. She knew it was late and that her friends had to go home, but she wished for the day not to end.

Marinette walked the three girls to the door and gave each of them a tight hug that said what she couldn’t say. Thank you for being there for me, I’m lucky to have you.

After that, she had to say goodbye to Rose and Juleka too. They thanked her while wrapping her in a bone crushing hug. Marinette let out a sigh as she closed the door and went upstairs, her mind was letting out the thoughts she had kept suppressed until then. How hurt she was, how hard and almost impossible it would be to forget how she felt around Adrien, how kind he was to her, how much he relied on her and their friendship, how she had tried in the clumsiest and most absurd ways to confess her feelings for him. Like the time she wrote him a letter but forgot to sign it, or when she plotted along with her friends a plan to ask him out while he was having a photoshoot at the Trocadero. She never noticed how irrationally her crush made her act until now.

She picked her crush over a friend once. She chose Adrien over Luka when Jagged Stone asked her if she knew any guitarist. She dumbly put Adrien first because he was Adrien, and he was perfect, but Luka was perfect for what Jagged had asked. He was talented and sensitive enough to play people’s heartbeat and melodies that could calm turbulent feelings with his guitar, not to mention the fact that Jagged was his favourite singer and Marinette would have made him really happy by suggesting him . She cringed thinking about her behaviour. Yes, she was stupid, and it happened ages ago but how could she pick a crush over someone who had always been – and still was – there for her? He didn’t deserve that treatment, and that behaviour was so unlike her she felt disappointed in herself.

The worse thing her crush made her do, was letting herself be convinced by Chloe into ruining Kagami’s time with Adrien out of jealousy and envy, and telling each other it was for Adrien's sake. Marinette had been so blinded by her feelings that she let them turn her into someone she didn’t want to be. Her and Kagami weren’t friends at the time, but she felt bad for how she behaved, especially since she so proudly claimed that girls should never compete against one another for the attention of boys.

Wasn’t a crush supposed to make her want to be the best version of herself? Why did she do those things? Why did she learn his schedule by heart? Was a crush supposed to make her feel this way?

“Well Marinette, sometimes feelings can be so overwhelming that you forget who you really are, and you make mistakes. Don’t beat yourself up for them. Your heart is pure, and you never meant to harm anyone”, Tikki told her, “It’s a good thing that you realized that you’ve made mistakes, but don’t forget that you did everything you could to make up for them, and you have grown from them.” The small creature put both her hands on her cheek in an affectionate way and squeezed it, as if they were giving her a hug. Marinette gave the Kwami a smile, feeling slightly reassured. She felt like she had to do one last thing before letting her past mistakes go, and that was talking to Kagami.

She remembered how, that time she had to fight against Love Eater and chose her for back up, Kagami told her – well, she told Ladybug – that hurting Marinette was the only thing that was preventing her from pursuing Adrien, and that she was her only friend.

And in the end, it was Marinette who let her pursue Adrien, she left them alone that time because she knew that they would have been happy together. She shouldn’t have been surprised of the turnout since it wasn’t completely unexpected, although it hurt. How long had it been since then? A year, more or less.

Kagami and Marinette had become closer, and they hung out almost on a weekly basis depending on their schedules. She was a good friend, she was realistic, determined and very good at helping Marinette keep her feet on the ground, and Marinette, on the other hand, listened to her when she complained about how her mum could be too strict or how the people attending her school were spoiled and annoying, and encouraged her to open up and not to restrain herself in order to please her mother. Marinette didn’t want to lose her.

For this reason, she reached for her phone and looked for Kagami's contact. She typed in a message but then deleted it and stared at the empty box on her phone screen. She tried to type something again, and yet again, she deleted it.

Type. Delete. Type. Delete. Type. Delete.

Words seemed to have lost their meaning, Marinette didn’t know how to express herself anymore. Tikki tried to encourage her before she finally took a deep breath and started typing something quickly.

Hey, Adrien told me that you two got together. I’m really happy for you :)

I hope we can meetup soon so you can tell me everything in person!

Send.

“You did the right thing” the red spirit reassured her.  

Marinette didn’t read the message again, typing it down had already consumed her, but deep down in her heart, Marinette knew that Adrien's heart was in the right hands. Even if they weren’t hers.

As long as he was happy, she would have been happy too.

At least, that was what she told herself before going to sleep, and before she kept tossing and turning in her bed while she forced herself to ignore the tormenting images of Adrien and Kagami together that were forming in her mind. She tried to find something to soothe her thoughts, but she couldn’t think of anything that could help, except for... Why didn’t I think about this before, she shook her head as she reached for her earphones.

That night, Marinette fell asleep to the comforting happy melody Luka sent her.

  Marinette woke up the next morning with her earbuds tangled around her neck and the music still playing, if this had to be the cost of getting some hours of sleep then so be it. She stretched before reaching for her phone and freeing herself from the thin cords that had left sleep marks on her face.

There was a text message from Kagami that said that she had cleared her schedule to see her that afternoon. Oh, Marinette wasn’t ready. Marinette wasn’t ready to confront Kagami at all. That’s why, instead of going downstairs to get breakfast, she ended up spending the morning pacing around her room and panicking while Tikki tried to calm her down, and when her mum came to her room to announce that lunch was ready she broke down in her arms, pouring all her feelings out.

Sabine kept her daughter close and listened carefully to everything she had to say, and when she started questioning how she acted around Adrien she reassured her that it was normal to behave differently around someone you liked so much, even to the point you ended up doing things you could regret.

“Mom, how do you know if the feelings you have for someone are genuine?” Marinette asked her while her mom so delicately wiped the tears from her face, she still thought that all the feelings she had for Adrien were wrong for what they made her do.

“You put their happiness first”, she answered with a soft voice.

The girl nodded, feeling smaller in her mother’s arms, and slightly comforted by her words.

Did Marinette want her friends to be happy? Yes.

Were her friends happy together? Yes, that’s why she had to put her feelings aside. Thinking about it, she had already done it when she left them alone at André’s ice cream cart that one time. Before she made Hawk Moth find Master Fu, and before she herself became the Guardian of the Miraculous.

Marinette wondered if things could have gone differently if she hadn’t let her feelings for Adrien distract her. Moving on from her crush was definitely for the better.

When she met Kagami that afternoon, the two talked everything out and they realized they had always avoided talking about their crushes because they knew they liked the same person and didn’t want to make things awkward. Marinette admitted of liking Adrien, but she had let him go when instead of confessing her feelings to him, she encouraged him to go after Kagami. It would have been perfect if her heart wasn’t still clinging on the feelings she had for him, but she decided that her priority was seeing her friends happy., and Kagami was definitely happy. She was different from her usual composed self, a new light glowing in her eyes. Marinette had never seen her so relaxed. It surprised her, but she was glad to see this new side of her friend, even if the reason behind that made her heart twinge.

Marinette tried to ignore the ache she felt as Kagami talked about Adrien, forcing herself to smile, she wondered when it would have started to hurt less and tried to hold on to the fact that she had gone through worse. She didn’t really want to spoil her friend’s happiness, even if it hurt her, she could handle that.

Why would she ruin something she had for something she could never have? She had to accept that she would have never had something more than a friendship with Adrien, and if she cared about him and Kagami as much as she claimed, she had to support her friends and give up on her stupid teenage crush, even if it hurt more than she could admit.

Marinette was relieved when they finally changed subject and talked about how neither of them hadn’t started their summer homework yet, it was the second week of holiday after all.

They spent the rest of the afternoon at Albert-Kahn Garden, walking around the park and admiring colourful flowers and plants, Marinette felt calmer than as she felt the warmth of the sun on her skin.

“Did you know that its fruit and seed sprout at the same time?” Kagami said, pointing at the fully blooming lotus flowers floating in the pond below them, “It means fullness and rebirth, since they grow through mud and dirt”.

“I didn’t know you were interested in plant symbolism!” Marinette looked at her in disbelief, she had always seen her as someone methodical and concrete, she didn’t expect her to be interested in such things.

Kagami just gave her a tiny smile and continued to list the characteristics of the lotus, and she did the same with other species as they went on walking around the garden, “Those represent friendship and devotion” she said, pointing at a flower bed full of Peruvian lilies of different shades of pink, yellow, orange and red. Marinette looked around her amazed and took out the small sketchbook she always had with her. She was so struck by the beauty of the nature that surrounded them in the middle of the city that she felt the need to treasure it on the pages of her sketchbook. She quickly sketched a bunch of Peruvian lilies, then went on to draw some other flowers as they explored the marvellous garden and Kagami explained the meaning of the flowers that caught Marinette’s attention.

At the end of the day, the once blank pages were filled with pencil drawings of different kinds of flowers, and Marinette had written their meaning beside them with her neat calligraphy. Before saying goodbye to Kagami, Marinette ripped off one page from her book and gave it to her. The astonished look on her face as she looked at the sheet with the Peruvian lilies in her hands made Marinette chuckle.

“I – thank you, Mari” Kagami smiled, and then gave her a small hug. She wasn’t very good at displaying affection so Marinette took it as a big accomplishment and she hugged her back.

Tikki was right, she did the right choice when she decided to talk to Kagami and find a new starting point for their friendship. She was nowhere near getting over her crush, but she felt she had at least made some progress. She would’ve gotten used to listen to her talking about Adrien the way she wished to.

Her heart was incredibly lighter as she walked to the underground station.

[undertheinfluencerd]

https://ift.tt/2X2MXow #

After making her screen debut in 1989, Sandra Oh has enjoyed a remarkable career in both film and television. Although the versatile talent and 12-time Emmy nominated actress is best known for her iconic roles as Cristina Yang on Grey’s Anatomy and Eve Polastri on Killing Eve, Oh has also worked with some of the finest movie directors, including Alexander Payne, Steven Soderbergh, Mina Shum, John Cameron Mitchell, and more.

RELATED: Killing Eve – 10 Best Quotes From The Show

As fans continue to enjoy Oh’s new hit Netflix sitcom The Chair, it’s worth recollecting her best movie moments for those who want to see more of the talented actress on the big screen.

10 Defendor (2009): 6.8

Peter Stebbings’ dark offbeat superhero comedy Defendor stars Oh as Dr. Ellen Park, a psychiatrist who gives hilarious facial and verbal reactions to the outlandish story relayed to her by Arthur Poppington (Woody Harrelson), an ordinary man moonlighting as a vigilante crime fighter.

Cut from the same genre-bucking, irreverent cloth as James Gunn’s Super, once Arthur confesses his secret life to Dr. Park, she convinces the judge to go easy on him and allow him to continue his heroic activity. When tragedy strikes, Oh shows how much heartfelt pathos she can portray by attending a touching ceremony for her patient.

9 Under The Tuscan Sun (2003): 6.8

Written and directed by the late Audrey Wells, Under the Tuscan Sun is a delightfully uplifting rom-com about Frances (Diane Lane), a writer who ups and leaves her life in San Francisco to live in Tuscany after discovering her husband’s infidelity. Oh plays Patti, Frances’ best friend who encourages her to travel to Italy.

RELATED: Sandra Oh – 10 Best Roles, Ranked (According To Rotten Tomatoes)

In addition to the gorgeous locations, breezy tone, and rich cinematography, Oh adds complexity to the story as Patti, a lesbian expecting a child even after her lover Grace (Kate Walsh) has left her. It’s Patti’s visit to Tuscany when she’s nine months pregnant that helps Frances find the courage to pursue true love despite the painful past.

8 Double Happiness (1994): 7.0

Oh made her feature film debut in Mina Shum’s must-see coming-of-age tale Double Happiness, in which she plays the lead role of Chinese-Canadian Jade Li. The intensely personal semiautobiographical drama shows how divided Jade is between her traditional Chinese upbringing and her modern Canadian lifestyle.

With a natural performance by Oh matched with the authentic, well-observed writing of Shum, the movie is a universally relatable tale of a person grappling with their own identity while trying to appease the expectations of loved ones. In her first film performance, Oh won the Genie Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, proving what a titanic talent she has been from the start.

7 Rabbit Hole (2010): 7.0

John Cameron Mitchell’s Rabbit Hole is a bruising account of a family dealing with the death of a young child at the hands of a teenage driver. Nicole Kidman gives a memorable and towering performance as Becca, a mournful mother who begins to find solace by interacting with Jason (Miles Teller), the driver who accidentally took her son’s life.

Although she has a smaller supporting role, Oh plays Gabby, a fellow grieving parent who helps Howie (Aaron Eckhart) deal with his loss at the group therapy sessions he and Becca attend. With profound empathy for Howie, she becomes instrumental in his healing process.

6 Meditation Park (2017): 7.1

Twenty-three years after working with Mina Shum for the first time, Oh reunited with the filmmaker for the sweet-natured drama Meditation Park in 2017. The story concerns Maria Wang (Pei-Pei Cheng), an aging woman in the throes of an existential crisis upon suspecting her husband’s infidelity. Oh plays Maria’s daughter Ava, a mother of two who encourages Maria to reconcile with her estranged brother ahead of his wedding and break free from her husband’s hold.

RELATED: Asian-American Movies to Watch If You Loved Crazy Rich Asians

As another trenchant glimpse at the immigrant experience and a statement about the importance of women finding their own voice, Shum’s film is tender, touching, and triumphant.

5 Hard Candy (2005): 7.1

David Slade’s Hard Candy is a deeply unnerving glimpse at a predatory pedophile (Patrick Wilson) getting his just deserts when a teenager (Elliot Page) tricks, traps, and tortures him in his apartment. Oh plays the man’s neighbor, Judy Tokuda, admitting she only took the role due to her working relationship with Page, a fellow Canadian she worked with on Wilby Wonderful the year prior.

With most of the action set inside the inescapable apartment, the visceral terror of the violence that Hayley (Page) exacts on Jeff (Wilson) is met by the suffocating sense of claustrophobia, making for a really upsetting experience. However, the hugely satisfying conclusion helps atone for the squeamish and uncomfortable moments of carnage.

4 Last Night (1998): 7.2

The most unheralded of Oh’s top films happens to be Last Night, a mordant pitch-black comedy about the impending apocalypse and the rag-tag band of Canadians with differing views on how to react. With the end of the world set to strike at midnight, Sandra (Oh) tries to make it out of her stranded position in Toronto and reunite with her husband, Duncan (David Cronenberg). One bad thing after another ensues.

Weird, wild, and ultimately winning, Last Night boasts writer/director Don McKellar’s signature brand of dark humor and anarchic energy. As such, the film has become an unforgettable cult classic among those who’ve seen it.

3 Raya And The Last Dragon (2021): 7.4

With great respect and honor for the rich historical traditions of Southeast Asia, Raya and the Last Dragon is one of Disney’s most beloved recent animated movies. Sandra Oh lends her voice to the commanding role of Virana, the Fang chieftess and mother of Raya’s main rival, Namaari (Gemma Chan).

RELATED: Raya And The Last Dragon – What The Voice Actors Look Like In Real Life

With a moving story, spellbinding animation, and characters never before seen, Raya and the Last Dragon continue to soar in the hearts and minds of viewers.

2 Sideways (2004): 7.5

Directed by her then-husband Alexander Payne, Oh demonstrated her hilarious comedic chops in the indie darling Sideways, a character study of a failing writer at an existential crossroads. The boozy road trip follows Miles (Paul Giamatti), an uptight novelist, and his lecherous pal Jack (Thomas Hayden Church), as they hit Santa Barbara wine country on a tasting tour.

Praised for its excellent performances and light tonal touch between comedy and drama, Oh gives a standout turn as Stephanie, a cool sommelier who has a steamy love affair with Jack (whom she does not know has a fiancee). When she finds out, she goes absolutely ballistic in one of the movie’s funniest moments. The story is so sharply penned that it won an Oscar for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay.

1 The Red Violin (1998): 7.6

Despite playing a bit role as Madame Ming in the fifth and final chapter of The Red Violin, the ambitious epic ranks among Sandra Oh’s most well-received movie to date. The film traces a famed 17th-century Violin from its creation in Italy to its auction in modern-day Montreal, and all that the instrument endured in creating some of the most beautiful music the world has ever heard.

Praised for its sumptuous set decorations and costume designs, Oscar-winning original music, intelligent story, and a throwback style of filmmaking that calls to mind the grand epics of the past, the resonance of The Red Violin is still felt today.

NEXT: Steven Spielberg’s 10 Best Historical Epics

#marvel #avengers #marvelcomics #spiderman #mcu #ironman #comics #captainamerica #thor #avengersendgame #marvelstudios #xmen #dc #marveluniverse #art #cosplay #tomholland #hulk #disney #comicbooks #dccomics #peterparker #tonystark #blackwidow #marvellegends #endgame #deadpool #marvelcinematicuniverse #loki #bhfyp

The post Sandra Oh’s 10 Best Movies, Ranked (According To IMDb) appeared first on undertheinfluencerd.net.

#entertainment, screenrant #tumblr #aesthetic #like #love #tumblrgirl #follow #instagram #photography #instagood #likeforlikes #s #likes #art #cute #o #girl #followforfollowback #a #tumblrboy #grunge #fashion #photooftheday #tiktok #l #photo #sad #k #frases #f #bhfyp

[juenereveuse]

Hello, sweet angels! I was tagged by @withangel to answer a few questions about myself. Thank you so very much for tagging me, Kendall! 🌷🌸

name/nickname: Moa. I don’t really have a nickname. However, some of my friends call me by my last name because we are two Moas in my friend group haha

gender: Woman

star sign: Aries

height: 169cm, I think?

time: 00:38

birthday: March 25

favorite bands/groups: Green Day, The 1975, The Turtles and Paramore

favorite solo artists: Lorde and Miley Cyrus

song stuck in my head: Anchor by Novo Amor

last movie: Under the Tuscan Sun (I watched it purely because Sandra Oh plays a lesbian vhfgh)

last show: Bridgerton

when did i create this blog: I’m pretty sure it was in 2014. Maybe late 2013

what do i post: Honestly, I have no idea. Quotes? Pictures of hands? Gay stuff? Yearning?

last thing i googled: '’Darwin evolution’’. Please don’t ask why hhhh

other blogs: I have one that I used for skate stuff last summer, but then I got terribly depressed and gave up on it 

do i get asks: Sometimes, yes! I appreciate them all so much!! Including the ones I forget to answer!!

why did i choose this url: Because I’m (fairly?) young and I dream a lot haha

following: 171

followers: 1587

average hours of sleep: Around 6-7 hours

lucky number(s): Ohh I don’t really know. 17, 27, 32 and 42 are nice

instruments: I play the guitar, but not very well

what am i wearing: A big tshirt and boxers vfjdb

dream job: Lately I’ve been liking the idea of working with crime investigation, in one way or another. I’m planning on getting a master’s degree in criminology in a few years, so we’ll see how that goes haha. I have also always wanted to have some type of job where I get to help people with mental health issues, but I know that ain’t gonna happen

dream trip: Iceland or Edinburgh!!

favorite food: Soup and pasta

nationality: Swedish. My grandpa is from Finland though, so I guess I have some Finnish in me too

favorite song: It’s impossible to pick only one, so I’m gonna have to go with my three all time favourite songs. 21 Guns by Green Day, The Few Things by JP Saxe and 7 Things by Miley Cyrus

last book read: Am currently reading Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

three fictional universes: I’m sorry, I don’t really understand this question bfjrrh. Do they have to be fictional universes that already exist or? Because like......the only universe I want to live in is the one where I get to live in a cottage with my wife and our animals. Where I'm content with my life and don't feel like a burden to everyone around me. Oh and I get endless hugs. That's all I want

I'm tagging @dreamingunderafigtree @literarymedicine and @damieneon 🌻

[imnotinlovemp3]

anyone else remember the movie under the tuscan sun it’s mostly about this woman trying to find herself after she gets a divorce and she moves to italy bla bla but there was that subplot where sandra oh is her best friend and becomes a single lesbian mother and moves to italy to live with her like I think about that all the time

[thecineastes-blog]

Grand Prix RPDR RuView: Morning Glory (S06E04)

I hope you have had your morning coffee, and prepare to smize! For Grand Prix RPDR RuView, we’ll be giving you the overview of each episode, top moments of each episode, the shadiest moment of each episode, our favorite queen of the each episode, our least favorite queen of each episode, best looks on the runway, and our predictions for next week.

So the episode opens with the queens reentering the workroom after Kimora’s elimination. Aja goes on about how she feels her self-confidence lowering and how she needs to reevaluate her drag. Sasha brings up a very good point about Aja needing some humble pie. The queens begin to joke, but then Aja and Alexis say they don’t feel Valentina deserved almost winning. I’m just worried about Aja’s fall off of her high horse.

The next day Ru informs her legendary children that the main challenge will be having to be split in teams of two and perform a morning talk show. They are also reminded that this challenge will be taped LIVE, so there are no second takes. Since Trinity won and Aja survived the lip sync they are made team captains. Aja is made captain for the “Good Morning Bitches” tv show, and enlists Valentina, Sasha, Shea, Alexis, and Farrah as her co-anchors. Trinity is made headliner for “Not on Today” with Peppermint, Charlie, Cynthia, Eureka, and Nina. Nina is bummed that she is picked last. From what we have been presented, I would never categorize Nina as a Debbie Downer.

From the start, Eureka is just full of it...ideas. Trinity implements a rule where you must raise your hand before someone else can speak. Trinity chooses what everyone’s role for the morning show. Eureka and Trinity keep butting heads, and it’s not pretty. Trinity then decides for the group to break away and work with their partners. Charlie is doing the rumor mill with Cynthia. Cynthia wants to put her own spin on the lines, which irks Charlie. She fears the delivery will not be right and fall flat. Cynthia does like Charlie’s critiques and finds Charlie smothering and possessive.

Good Morning Bitches are the first group to film their show. Ross Matthews is acting as director/producer for both shows. Does this mean we’ll see him pour hot coffee in the face of interns and chain smoke because he’s worried about the show’s success?...Probably not. Ross does mention that their set was furnished by 204 Events (whatever the hell that is…) Farrah and Alexis are the main co-anchors, and go off very well. Farrah shows off the newest trend, acrylic nails, which were so hard to get off Farah started to panic after their taping ended.

Aja and Valentina were head of entertainment news where they look at humorous photos of drag queens, which was descent. Sasha and Shea nailed the challenge with their food segment. It was funny, AND was borderline softcore Lesbian porn! Naya comes in as the celebrity guest for the final roundtable. Their interview with her comes off without a hitch.

Not on Today enter the set, and prepare to go live. Trinity and Peppermint are the star co-anchors, who come off as rather toxic frenemies; they weren’t so much funny bitchy, as they were just bitchy bitchy. Peppermint fumbles some of her lines toward the end of her segment. Charlie and Cynthia were up next doing the entertainment news. They play #SophiesChoices; while Cynthia was lively and fun, Charlie sort of falls flat. The second game they played was even worse. Eureka and Nina were the bright spots in the whole spectacle. They showed how to do drag on an extreme dime. They were both engaging and fun. Finally it’s the celebrity interview; the queens were rather abrupt with Naya. Since no one was paying attention Charlie had to give a rather terse end to the morning show.

The next day Aja laments to Alexis about her position in the competition. Valentina and Aja have a heart to heart. They may become the Elphaba and Galinda of the season. Cynthia tells Charlie about her work with HIV patients, and Charlie bares her soul about how she had to bury most of her friends died from the HIV-AIDS Crisis. The queens also discuss different issues that they have dealt with, and Eureka casually jokes about eating disorders. Sasha tells Eureka is is not right for her to do that, as she has personally fought eating disorders for most of her life. The argument goes around in circles and Valentina just asks them to focus on prepping for the main stage.

Joining Ru, Michelle and Matthew are our guest judges for this episode, Glee’s Naya Rivera, as well as Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman from the Lifetime dark comedy-drama series, UnREAL. Sasha and Shea rightfully won, they and rest of their team are safe and are excused to untuck backstage. Trinity was criticized for being too mean, uptight, and not really a good fit for morning tv. Peppermint’s outfit was read to filth, but her character was deemed far more likeable than Trinity’s. Both Peppermint and Trinity apologized for not ending the show well.

WHY did no team do a boozy, kooky Hoda Kotb and Kathy Lee Gifford kind of morning talk show? That’s why those two are so popular! Or even with the View, you have so many different personalities it is fun to watch. I’m surprised Charlie didn’t put on a heavy British accent and joining Cynthia with being an outrageous expat.

Charlie’s control freak behavior ruined the timing, Cynthia was congratulated for keeping her composure when things with Charlie got tense. Eureka and Nina were praised but warned to brace themselves for how tougher the competition would become. RuPaul asks the contestants who on their team should be sent home. Trinity and Peppermint agree on Charlie, Cynthia and Charlie say Peppermint. Eureka and Nina agree on Trinity. Trinity snaps back at Eureka for trying to throw her under the bus. The queens are excused backstage while the judges deliberate.

Trinity and Charlie lip sync; Trinity gives it her all...and Charlie just stands there like a mighty sequoia.It reminded me of Tammie Brown and Akashia lip sync of “Break The Dawn” by Michelle Williams from season one...just really stiff and awkward. I heard through the grapevine that Charlie left the show because of broken ribs he got from the cheerleading challenge. But you don’t go on a show and decide to not participate in the thing that would keep you said show. I guess Charlie thought he would be like Tyra Sanchez, Alaska, Courtney Act, and Bianca Del Rio and have to lip sync to reach top 4. You have said that Bianca del Rio does not lip sync. Bianca does not like to lip sync and there is a difference. 

Bianca Del Rio’s lip syncing to “Evita”

In Untucked, Aja opens up about her issues with her skin and appearance. Shea revels in being able to win a challenge. She also emphasizes that perspective is key for everyone’s survival. The Good Morning Bitches queens speculate who will be in the bottom, and it seems like Trinity and Peppermint are lip syncing the general consensus. Not on Today’s awkward chemistry seems to be apparent to them, and they didn’t even see that segment! The rest of the queens are excused backstage and are greeted with cocktails. Eureka and Trinity go for the jugular. I understand Trinity was offended by Eureka questioning her leadership, but for Trinity to dismiss Eureka’s experience (even going so far as to walk away…) is very rude. Even Charlie thought there should have been more rehearsal and get more familiar with the script and roles.

Runway Over-Ru:

The blink and you miss it runway….ugh. The runway theme this week was ‘Naughty Nightie’, of which a majority of the queens I feel missed the mark. First up, Farrah Moan, in a pastel pink look that I could best describe as ‘if Marlene Dietrich was a femme-bot in “Austin Powers”. Serving “soft body”- Alexis Michelle, in a rose printed robe that revealed into a stoned corset and panty. She reminded me of a wealthy woman preparing for a night out. Being awarded ‘most improved’ was Aja, in a red burlesque inspired number. Her makeup was blended, softened and pretty.

It was still drag but fit her face better-and her outfit was sexy. Speaking of sexy-was Valentina, in something I could see slinking down the runway of Agent Provocateur. She managed to still be demure in such an overtly sensual look. While I understood Shea’s Harlem Renaissance/Cotton Club seductress bit, the look didn't really give me “Naughty Nightie”-perhaps if she had on a chemise or bralette/knicker combo it would've fit the 1920s look better. Sasha’s unusual Crimson Peak/Moulin Rouge look wasn't bad-just confusing. She loves a good prop.

I'm convinced Trinity has a fantasy about infidelity? From the cheated on new anchor to the mistress runway look-was she giving us the underlying narrative? Her cheek baring black lace lingerie look was fierce, but could've done without the weird gold trash bag esque robe. Peppermint look wasn’t terrible, but I feel it didn't fit her, and the gloves and necklace took it out of the realm ‘boudoir’. Had she done a silk and lace nightie, maybe a sleep mask pushed up on the top of her head, and a marabou slipper, it would've look looked 1000x better. Charlie’s lingerie look reminded me of Lindsay Duncan’s character in “Under the Tuscan Sun”. Sexy on the runway quickly translated to ‘get off my lawn you hooligans!’ in the lip-sync. Confusing. Beffuddled. 

Perplexing. All words I'd use to describe Cynthia Lee Fontaine’s look this week. In a weird combination of dominatrix, meets Halloween angel costume, in contrast with her Marilyn Monroe hairstyle and accessories from “Gentleman Prefer Blondes” this look really missed the mark. 

In what I described as “a cheap dress from Rainbow with a bargain bin corset from Frederick’s of Hollywood” was Eureka, in yet another #wigtopiary, which for some reason needed a wig reveal? I'm biding my time until Michelle brings up wig choices. Nina Bo’nina Brown’s skeleton look was a bit underwhelming, as it was just some pasties, a corset and a panty, but her paint job saved it. Also I love her long winded look descriptions-they rival Kennedy Davenport’s iconic “after a long night of hooking…”

The looks this week were hit or miss, just like Mama Ru’s unfortunately. Her makeup and hair looked fine, but where is her stylist this season? Could VH1 not muster up the budget to retain her stylist from Logo? Anyway...see you next week!

Jonny’s Favorite Moments:

Jungle Fever?: Sasha and Shea’s sapphic moment was humorous AND kind of sexy lol

Drag on a Dime: Nina and Eureka’s segment was so much fun...but could not save that team’s Titanic of a disaster .   

Jonny’s Favorite Shadiest Moments:

At a standstill?: Charlie not lip syncing, was completely disappointing. It was painfully hard to watch. Charlie had such an impassioned speech earlier in the episode I had hoped she would have been more driven to stay in the series.

Mocha-choca-lata ya ya: Seems a shame no one did an homage to the Moulin Rouge version of “Lady Marmalade” for “Naughty Nighties”

Jonny’s Favorite Queen of the Episode:

Alexis Michelle, she was very poised for Good Morning Bitches, and loved her bedroom attire on the mainstage.

Jonny’s Least Queen of the Episode:

Trinity, she was being a control freak of Joan Crawford proportions.

Predictions:

….is it Snatch Game yet?

Anais’s Favorite Moments:

VH-none: ALOT of the show is cut down for time reasons...including the mini challenges, which are apparently defunct. The show seems a lot shorter than its hour time slot, crappily hosted “viewing party” (aka designated bathroom and snack breaks) and massive amounts of commercials-do not compensate.

Lost in translation: the majority of ‘Not on Today’ was an entertaining train wreck with some bright  spots-Cynthia Lee Fontain and the ‘Drag on a Dime’ segment.

Anais’s Favorite Shadiest Moments:

Girl fight: things got soooo shady and drama filled during untucked between Eureka and Trinity, about the challenge and who should be in the bottom. And when Trinity said “you're done, because in going to tell you why you're done”- girl.

Over-it: Nina Bo’Nina Brown laying on the ottoman in ‘Untucked’ while Eureka and Trinity fought: truly iconic.

Anais’s Favorite Queen of the Episode:

Sasha Velour-from her hilarious morning show moment with Shea during the Maxi challenge to seeing her go toe to toe with Eureka about her ill timed joke-it was nice seeing her emote and show a different side to her personality.

Anais’s Least Queen of the Episode:

Trinity and Eureka. Although their ‘Untucked’ fight was undoubtedly entertaining, Trinity’s iron fisted leadership and Eureka’s constant need for attention (read: screentime) are both equally annoying.

Predictions:

Will the Library be open? Also SNATCH GAME.

[beautifulsouls-devotion]

My Favorite Merthur Fics (Part 4)

Part 1 I Part 2 I Part 3

*****************************

Nurse / Doctor

* All Things New by SPowell

“Merlin finds it’s easier to be alone until he meets the son of one of the residents. After moving to the States and beginning a career, Merlin’s world crashes. An unexpected new friendship helps him to heal and to find what he didn’t even know he was missing.“

* The Nurse’s Visitor by slightlytookish

“Uther Pendragon, in an effort to boost his political image, funds a new wing at a children’s hospital. He sends Arthur through every month to make an appearance at the hospital, shake hands, kiss babies, and check to see that his obscenely large portrait in the hall is properly lit. On one such occasion, Arthur has a mishap and is mildly hurt (bump on the head, scrape, particularly bad hangnail, etc). Merlin is the nurse that helps to patch him up. Suddenly those monthly visits have a lot more appeal.“

* History Books Forgot About Us by kermit_thefrog

“Arthur is the wealthy co-editor of Camelot Publications in London, run by his father. Merlin works at a surgery in Paddington. Worlds collide one rainy day.“

[the link is to the last chapter cause is the only one that has the links to all the previous chapters]

* Shelter (and it’s sequel Haven) by this_is_kelly

“Because sometimes happily ever after doesn’t always come easily. Because sometimes you have to hurt a little before you can smile. Because sometimes life gets in the way. Because sometimes when you find love, you have to seek its shelter and hold on tight. Because sometimes it’s worth it.”

[both fics deal with homophobia and coming to terms with your own sexualy. the sequel also has parenthood as a main theme.]

* No Need for Mistletoe by rotrude

“It’s three days before Christmas. Merlin, surgeon at Camelot Hospital, is about to have his first date with Arthur, solicitor for Albion Healthcare. What could go wrong? ”

Writer

* Words by winterstorrm

“After a broken relationship Arthur escapes to Italy to write his novel.  Enter Merlin.”

* Under the Tuscan Sun by Lisztful

“When Arthur loses his home to his cheating husband, the last place he expects to find another is on a lesbian tour of Tuscany. That’s not all he finds, either. Complete with lessons learned the hard way, well-adusted friends, gelato, true love, and maybe just a little bit of destiny.“

* Small Surrender by helloearthlings

“Arthur lives alone in the woods. Merlin is his new neighbor.“

Witness

* If You Will Be My Bodyguard by Tari_Sue

“If there is one thing that gets drummed into the heads of the kids around these parts, it’s this: Stay Away from Cenred Cole. If only boys would learn to listen to their mothers.When Merlin Emrys witnesses the murder of his best friend, his life suddenly changes completely. Will is gone, and Merlin and Hunith are given new identities and relocated under the Witness Protection Scheme to a sleepy town in rural Gloucestershire.Everything is different now, from his new job and friends to pursuing his love of art and the blond god who lives down stairs. But Will’s murderers are ever lurking at the back of his mind, and he can’t help thinking that some day soon they will track him down.If only he really did have magic…”

* Witness Protection by rotrude

“When whistleblower Mordred Wallingford comes to him with the scoop of the century, Merlin Emrys doesn’t suspect that his life will be turned upside down, but suddenly he’s thrown headlong into a game that uproots him from everything he knows and holds dear. The only man standing between him and death, between him and the helpless void, is DI Arthur Pendragon, a man whose uprightness Merlin considers a guiding light in this new existence he’s got to navigate.“

Assasins

* World Enough and Time by alicephantomwise

“Arthur had had it all figured out. And then Merlin shot him in Beijing.”

Spies

* License to Thrill by lady_ragnell

“Merlin’s employees bet him the recipe for the most addictive cocoa in the world that he can’t find out what the hot blond who comes into his chocolate shop does for a living within the month. He ends up getting far more than he bargained for.”

* Knowing by winterstorrm

“Merlin’s had a funny feeling for weeks now. He’s about to find out why.”

Bodyguard

* Close Protection by rotrude

“Merlin is in So14, a close protection unit assigned to the guarding of the Royal Family. It’s not an easy job at the best of times, but ever since the Pendragons have started receiving threats from Duir, Merlin’s has become quite a nerve-wracking occupation. Especially given how fearless Arthur is, how seriously he takes his role as Prince.”

* The Bodyguard by rotrude

“The magical party spearheaded by Balinor Emrys wins the general elections, if by a thread. While some see this as a chance to reform current discriminatory laws against magic, others loathe the idea. The day Mr Emrys accepts the Queen’s request to form the next government is also the day his enemies choose to act, orchestrating an assassination attempt. The attack also seems geared towards taking out the PM’s conspicuously magical son, eighteen-year old, Merlin.The aftermath is pure confusion. With Merlin’s bodyguard down, Mr Emrys is forced to seek another one despite his son’s firm refusal to lose somebody else. Enter ex-serviceman and ex close protection expert Arthur Pendragon. In a climate of general suspicion Arthur becomes Merlin’s new bodyguard and finds out just how difficult sticking to duty may be when he’s growing closer and closer to the man he’s due to protect.“