#this really shows my bizarre music taste

[demaparbat-hp]

Hiya!! 👋🏼😄 How's it going? Your fashion taste for Zuko in a Modern AU seems to be artsy, or maybe "formal" is the word. That shirt he wore when he gave Sokka romantic song advice looked Versace🧐. Anyway, I was wondering how you came up with it, he always struck me more as the type that didn´t care much about fashion, so I'm curious about other´s opinions and heacanons about it. And do you have any other fashion headcanons for the rest of the GAang? Also, their music tastes. How did you come up with them? Especially Katara's! 😍

Hello! As it happens, I have a lot of Thoughts and Feelings™ about this, so I'm leaving these over here, and the rest of my ramblings down below the cut!

Let us begin with the Gaang, shall we?

SUKI always struck me as that Pretty Girl from the Gym. She is so incredibly fit it isn't even funny. She could kick anyone's ass, and we'd all thank her. She has this casual gym style that somehow always looks glorious on her, as it should! Comfy yet fashionable clothes for a nice workout or a day in town.

Her music tastes are basically any and all power songs from the eighties and nineties. (Eye of the Tiger, anyone?) She also enjoys metal via Toph, and bands like BSB, NSYNC, or Boyz II Men with Katara. My girl has a very eclectic Playlist and we all love her for it.

SOKKA is That Guy™. Loose T-shirts and shorts everywhere he goes, no matter the weather. He's stupidly into fashion but it doesn't show! At all! And everyone teases him about it. His closet is about 90% Cactus Juice merchandise, hence the "it's the quenchiest!" shirt.

His fashion and music tastes are pretty much the same. He loves poetry but isn't really into lyrics. He'll misinterpret just about anything you place in front of him. His Playlist is mostly vibes and tiktok songs he kind of enjoys. He isn't really into music...at least not as much as his sister.

AANG owns exactly one hoodie, one pair of shorts, and one beanie (THE beanie). Oh, and the crocs—don't forget the crocs. Somehow, he's always wearing the exact same outfit. Every. Single. Day. Ancient Gaang lore suggests that the day Aang goes out without his beanie, it's the end of the world.

His Playlist is the poppiest, most bizarre thing ever. Every single song is Happy by Pharrell Williams levels of happy. Yet sometimes, among the bouncy dance-to songs, you'll find the strangest of things... (He does know what Good Day by Twenty One Pilots is about. That's the reason he likes it so much, actually. And it's so weird.)

KATARA is all about sundresses and loose pants. The epitome of comfortable loveliness. Light fabrics in blue shades, careful embroidery, delicate shoes, and little to no accessories—hers is a simple, yet quite adorable, style. She just needs to add more colors to her usual palette...

She is, first and foremost, a Florence + The Machine girl. It's the Dark Goddess of the Sea vibes, to be honest. Florence Welch is her idol and yes, she will fight you about lyrics interpretation, and win. It may not seem like it, but her music tastes are also very varied.

She draws a little from each member of the Gaang, so you'll hear her humming along to Gorillaz (where did you even find out about them, Aang?), The Weeknd (I...don't think this song means what you think it means, Sokka...), and Hozier (Zuko why did you dedicate Talk to me, Zuko WHAT DID YOU MEAN BY THAT).

TOPH...ah, lovely girl. I'll summarise everything about Toph’s fashion sense in two words: comfort and rebellion. Stuffy dresses forced on her by billionaire parents? No thank you! Give her tank tops with loose shirts and short pants. Bandaids shared with Aang, bracelets from Katara, and even piercings she got in tandem with Sokka. Shoes? What even is that?

Something I love about this fandom is our collective agreement that Toph is into the dirtiest, heaviest, most ear-splitting and soul-crushing death metal of all times. Her Playlist is full of the most obscure names to ever exist, and she can and will blast through your walls with the sheer volume of her speaker.

Zuko. ZUKO.

Even in a modern AU my boy must suffer. That being said, I envision Tales from the Couch as—well, exactly what it is: an ATLA modern AU. While there is not a war to fight, and a lot of plot lines are discarded or expanded upon, much about the core story remains the same.

This is my way of saying that Zuko still goes trough his redemption arc, and it reflects on his fashion choices.

The way you described it works perfectly because of one single reason: in this AU, Zuko is an artist. He had to suppress his love for writing and drawing because of his background and the expectations Ozai had for him (taking over the family company), and a very large part of his redemption arc directly affects his relationship with art.

In the Couch equivalent of S1, Zuko has fallen out of Ozai's graces, and is desperate to protect his place in the company and the Kasai household. He's pretending to be someone he isn't and trying to live up to his Father's image of a perfect heir while still being somewhat cut-off financially, and it shows.

He's all about imposing long coats and a semi-formal style, imitating what he knows Azula and Father would respect. He's striking and sharp and dark. But no matter how he dresses or carries himself (that air of cold superiority and arrogance)—it won't help him when he needs it the most.

In S2, Zuko has hit his lowest point. He's officially disinherited and tossed away by his father, and would be out in the streets if it wasn't for Uncle Iroh. He goes from sharp, high-tailored outfits to old second-hand clothes that hang loosely on his frame. He starts smoking and cuts his hair off, forgoing the undercut for the first time in years.

But then...Father accepts him back. When Zuko returns home, it's with respect to his name and a very high position in his father's company. He's finally the perfect Kasai heir, dressed in overly expensive suits and finery, even at home... But Father forbids him from wearing Lu Ten's earring, and Zuko can no longer recognize himself without the familiar glint of gold dancing on his peripheral vision.

When Zuko leaves the Kasai name behind him and goes back to living with Uncle Iroh...he's finally at peace with who he is, and what he wants in this life. The sharp edges aren't gone (they'll always be a part of him, after all), but now they're dulled by looser clothes and softer hairstyles.

He's an artist, and for once in his life, he is determined to pursue his own ambitions. Zuko's outfits may not be designer-made anymore, but he takes what he has and makes himself look like he wants to look, like the person he wants to be.

He doesn't read fashion magazines or keeps up to the latest trends like Azula does. He's just...Zuko. And his newfound confidence makes everything he wears look like it belongs on him.

As for music...well, Ursa raised a literature boy.

He loves lyric-heavy music and natural voices, be they soothing or powerful. Dissecting song meanings and possible interpretations with Katara is one of his favorite parts of the day. They're both very passionate and strong-minded individuals, so it stands to reason that their debates can get quite...heated.

Zuko's Playlist is both incredibly eclectic and somehow very...him. There's a common thread that binds together every song and artist he likes, and he's hilariously unaware of this. To take a look into his Playlist is a higher honor reserved only for those closest to him.

In the wide spectrum of things, it is no wonder that Zuko is, first and foremost, a Hozier man. But though Andrew is his God in all aspects of this life, there's someone else that has had a huge impact on him...

Two someones, actually.

Zuko refuses to tell anyone how he got into Twenty One Pilots, but it's kind of a moot point when the beginning of his obsession is nothing compared to everything that came after. They have just about the right amount of everything that makes Zuko...well, Zuko. The poetic lyrics, the soothing or raging music, the heavy, intensely resonant themes...

Up there, in the second artwork, I placed an album cover behind each period of Zuko's life. The election of these records is intentional, as I feel like their general themes work incredibly well with Zuko's arc and growth.

Blurryface in S1. For the demons within us. For giving a name to our fears and shame.

Trench in S2. For escaping the confined walls of a depression city, and fighting to understand the depths of the map of your mind.

Scaled and Icy in the first half of S3. For returning to places you had left behind. For convincing yourself and everyone around you that you're fine, that you're perfect, even though everything is crumbling inside...

Clancy in S3. For recognizing that you can backslide, that you can have fears and shame and pain—but you're shaping yourself with each step you take. For knowing that seeking help from others is okay. Nobody learns to walk on their own.

(And, in the end, you'll always be better than the person you were yesterday. If only because you're still here. You're still alive. You're still yourself.)

.

Overall, I rambled a bit too much, don't you think?

If you made it all the way down here—thank you so much for reaching out and being interested in this crazy AU! I hope you enjoy these ideas and tell me some of your own ❤️

[daisygirlwrites]

Task Force 141 + Reader (Callsign-Crash): friendship headcanons

a/n: Hello hello! Just some random headcanons that I had written down for Crash and her relationships with the members of the 141 team. Nothing romantic, just some wholesome stuff.

original gif by @collinnmckinley

also, this is really freaking long, sorry in advance. enjoy reading! 

Before getting thrown out the window and getting her callsign, she was quiet and shy around the group. Opting to listen to others conversations, rarely adding to it.

Honestly intimidated with how tightly knit the team is, and given her previous team’s history, she was scared to get close.

Volunteered to be the DD whenever the group goes out to a bar. Fortunately, most of the time, Ghost is sober(enough) to help her get everyone into the car and into their rooms

Would silently comfort Soap and Gaz whenever they threw up, rubbing their backs and getting them water.

In the mornings after, she got everyone a breakfast burrito. Soap and Gaz are eternally grateful. Got a little information about her when they asked why she got them food. “Help with my hangovers during college.” Soap and Gaz gave each other a look as she walks away

After the window incident, Crash becomes a lot more open. Seeing how they treat her as if she has been with them for years, it wasn’t fair to them with how closed off she was.

Soap:

He talks to you a lot and you don’t mind. He just comes out and starts rambling on whatever he has interested him at that moment. You don’t really say anything, just sitting there awkwardly (because why would he want to talk to the newbie instead of his friends) but nodding to what he says anyways. One time though, he looks at you and says “Thanks for listening to me. It’s nice to have someone not tell me to ‘Shut the fuck up Mactavish.’”

Literally you after he tells you this:

“you’re my friend now. we’re having soft tacos later” vibes

Would send him memes and funny videos whenever you guys are on leave

His contact name on your phone is “Bubbles”

Would show you how to make bombs out of random shit. Set them off in bare fields or abandon buildings. Had a couple close calls

Will let you call him Johnny but you call him Mac instead.

“Aww, why not, lassie?”

“I’d rather not get my ass beat by your boyfriend.”

Calls you Lassie along with your callsign. When he wants to piss you off, he calls you Mini Ghost or Little Ghost

Like Ghost, you rarely take off your balaclava and tactical glasses

“The mask, take it off.”

“Nah, I don’t wanna.”

“You ugly?”

“Not as ugly as you old man.”

Has yet to seen you drunk though and he intends to get you there some day

Holds his hand when he’s throwing up

You would use him as a pillow during rides back to the base

The first person to tell him about any drama that’s happening in your life

Gives you advice about men

"Men are stupid, trust me, I am one."

Loves it when you would go on ramblings about the things you like. Anime confuses the hell out of him but he would always ask you about the plot and your favorite characters. He’d ask you about the current artist you listen to and has a list of recommendations from you so he could look them up when he gets home

After a mission gone wrong and believing that it was his fault, you seek him out, finding him sitting alone in the meeting room. You tell him

“It’s going to be okay. I trust you, John.”

He tears up and you wrap your arms around him.

Gaz:

With you two being the youngest, you bond over similar experiences

Sometimes share exactly one brain cell with each other. Sometimes you, Gaz and Soap share a brain cell

Brings out the chaotic gen z energy of each other

Your guys’ energy:

Follows each other on social media and would send each other tiktoks at ungodly hours

Kind of have a competition against each other to see who’s Price’s favorite child is

Gaz finally has someone who he can talk about anime with

Favorite shows to watch together: Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo  and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

Similar music taste. The whole team listens to Queen, David Bowie, Pink Floyd and a few more others. However, Gaz and Crash have the same love of rap and indie pop. Anything they find on tiktok will be added to their shared Spotify playlist.

Gaz would ask about how college was like. He thought about going but ultimately for him, the military was the better option

“Were you part of a sorority?”

“Oh hell no. Loved going to the parties though. Always had top shelf vodka.”

“Really? Thought students couldn’t afford it.”

“When it comes to alcohol, we find a way.”

Share the same sentiment of feeling like they’re not doing enough in the team. After a particularly rough mission, you two would find a corner and just sit together in silence.

Would break the silence by quoting something from vine or tiktok and all things would be okay again

Price:

He has adoption papers ready

Crash, despite your name, is polite, respectful and responsible. Would always help Price clean up after meetings and briefs

Same with Soap, you would listen quietly to Price’s war stories and even his favorite fishing trips

Saw in your file about what happened to your old team and captain. Vows to never pull the same stunt as them

Sadden to see how you’re so young and has seen and dealt with many things already. It breaks his heart that there’s more that you’ll experience. 

You, Soap and Gaz would do dumb shit all the time but you knew when it was the right time to bail. Of course, they would snitch on you to Price. You’d rarely get in trouble though

Basically you two:

Would gift him cigars from the countries you’d visit during leave

Also a matching set of torch lighters. His has a special green flame while yours is pink. 

You don’t smoke anymore but you would hangout with him and help him finish reports together.

Price often thinks about a life where he didn’t join the military. A life of normalcy. To go to a home filled with life. 

Would have loved to have kids and technically, he still can but his job makes it almost impossible. 

But with Gaz and now you, you two are his pride and joy.

Would be the “hip” dad and will always ask about the new slang and memes

“This food is-what you kids call it...uh, busting!”

You and Gaz look at each other, “It’s bussin’.”

“This food is bussin’!”

Ghost:

Did not to want to get close to you at all. 

Was honestly peeved when Price told him that he was going to mentor you

“I don’t want to play babysitter, Captain.”

Surprised to see how short you were. All of the rumors and information he was told, they never mention your size

At first, he hated how you would follow him around like a lost puppy. 

“Leave me alone, go bother Soap or something.”

Doesn’t miss the flash of hurt in your eyes but you turn around anyways.

Before you joined, he, Price and Laswell were all sitting in Price’s office, his phone on speaker. He was reading over your file before Price’s contact said

“She reminds me of Ghost when I worked with him seven years ago.”

He looks up from the folder, Price’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise and Laswell nodding.

“I think we’ll have her transferred to us,” Price replies.

Hates to admit but he’s impressed. Thought the rumors was bullshit but you proved him wrong, time and time again

You still have a lot of things to learn and even more practice to do but he believes in you

Does not go easy. He’s merciless. Has put you down countless times and reprimanded you more. You would always leave training sessions with a new bruise. The rest of the team gets concerned with his training methods.

But you still get up and you blink away the tears whenever he shouts at you

At about five months after you joined, on a mission, you spot an enemy behind him before he does and without a word, you quickly take your knife out and throw it towards the man behind him. 

He opens his mouth to yell at you but he sees the enemy on the corner of his eye and watch him slump down. Your knife stuck in his bleeding neck

Gives you a nod after that. Pulling out your knife and handing it back to you

Knife throwing would be one of the training sessions you’d do. It was also a good time for some small chat

Finds out that you’re also a part of the “Dead Mom, Shitty Dad” club

It takes a year for him to SLIGHTLY open up to you

Told you about one of his favorite dishes his mom made and his favorite Queen song was ‘You’re My Best Friend’

Even told you how he likes his Earl Grey prepared

It scares him of how much you remind him of his mom and brother. You have her kindness and his determination. He will never tell you this

You, along with the team, become the very thing he cares about and will protect you to the best of his ability.

Bonus:

[ghostchems]

phantom of the paradise - papa emeritus iv x reader

you go to a special screening of “phantom of the paradise” and end up being taken with the strange man who introduces the film

a/n: listen. i love awkward copia, i really do. but i also love seductive, mysterious, otherworldly copia and that is what this is. there’s just uh kissin’ here. also maybe this is me trying to get Ghost fans to watch this movie bc there’s so much ghost dna in it MAN. 3.7k words ao3 link.

Going to the movies alone never bothered you. In fact, over the years it's become one of your favorite pastimes. You can see whatever you want without worrying about finding a companion. Your taste is… well, it's your taste. Not everyone appreciates experimental '70s films or rock operas, which is exactly what you have planned for today. You've managed to snag a ticket to a rare showing of Brian De Palma's "Phantom of the Paradise" at your local independent theater. You first came across the film a few months ago, watching it nestled on your couch. From the moment it started, you knew it was something special.

You find a seat in the theater's center, perfectly positioned for the screen. Settling in, you cross your legs and place a notebook on your lap. Your pen taps rhythmically as you await the film's start, ready to jot down thoughts for your future Letterboxd review. The theater gradually fills, buzzing with excitement for this cult film on the big screen. You sigh deeply, relaxing into the plush seat. This feels like a well-deserved treat after a long work week, a chance to escape the real world for an hour and a half of drug-fueled musical numbers.

The lights start to dim and the chatter subsides. A man walks out on the stage, immediately capturing the theater’s attention. His appearance is nothing short of ghostly. His face is painted like a skeleton, with stark white bone-like features contrasting against the dark hollows of his eyes and cheeks. What's most striking, however, are his eyes - one a piercing white, the other an eerie green. He's dressed in a stylishly tattered suit jacket paired with a vibrant blue cravat at his neck. You glance down at your notepad and write:

Spooky ghost man.

He approaches the small podium and adjusts the microphone awkwardly. Clearing his throat, he begins to speak with a hint of an Italian accent, his captivating tone immediately drawing in the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, 'Phantom of the Paradise' isn't just a film to me." He pauses, his mismatched eyes scanning the crowd. "It taught me about the power of music, the price of ambition, and the beauty of the bizarre. It inspired me to embrace my own uniqueness." His words hang in the air for a moment before he concludes, "I hope it moves you as deeply as it moved me. Enjoy the show." His lips quirk into a barely perceptible grin as he taps his notecard against the podium. There’s scattered applause.

The lights dim further, signaling the film's start, yet your gaze remains transfixed on the ghost man, his stark white skull paint a beacon in the darkness. As you attempt to redirect your focus to the screen, a flicker of movement in your peripheral vision catches your attention. The ghost man has silently glided into your row, settling a few seats away. Throughout the film, his presence lingers beside you, more aware of him than you would like to admit. His reactions prove oddly charming—a soft chuckle punctuating comedic moments, a subtle lean forward during tense scenes. What captivates you most is his quiet humming along to select musical numbers, his voice a barely perceptible whisper that, surprisingly, enhances rather than detracts from your enjoyment.

His enthusiasm is palpable, and you can't help but feel intrigued. As "The Hell of It" plays during the end credits, his soft singing drifts to your ears. The haunting melody lingers in the air as you find yourself unconsciously tapping your foot to the rhythm. When the lights slowly come up, you turn to catch a glimpse of the mysterious ghost man, only to find his seat empty. Blinking in surprise, you shift your gaze to your notebook. You realize there are more notes about the him than the movie itself.

Gathering your belongings, you linger in your seat for a moment, still processing the film and the man’s lingering presence beside you. You make your way to the lobby, your eyes scanning the crowd, searching for him. But he's nowhere to be seen. Without thinking, you’re already stepping out onto the street, the cool afternoon air hitting your face. You pause, unsure of what you're looking for or why. That's when you spot him—a flash of white and tattered elegance disappearing into an alley behind the theater. Without thinking, you follow, your footsteps quickening as you approach the narrow passage.

You round the corner, you catch sight of him walking away, unhurried and almost graceful. You hesitate, torn between calling out to him and silently observing this strange, captivating figure as he moves further into the shadows. Suddenly, he stops in his tracks. Without turning around, he speaks, amusement in his voice. "Are you following me, friend?" There's no accusation in his tone, just a gentle question. He slowly turns to face you, his mismatched eyes twinkling with an odd sort of understanding. "I suppose the film wasn't quite enough for you either, hm?" He chuckles softly, seemingly at ease with the situation.

You take a deep breath, gathering your courage. "I... I really liked your introduction," you stammer, feeling a bit foolish. "I'm sorry for following you. I don't usually do this kind of thing."

The ghost man's painted lips curl into a smile. "No need to apologize, tesoro. I tend to have this effect on people. Though, not typically from my film introductions." He takes a step closer, his eyes studying you with curiosity.

"Thank you," you say, offering a small smile. "I thought your introduction was really nice. It added something personal." You hesitate for a moment before continuing. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but... your appearance. Are you like dressed as a character from something?”

The ghost man's smile widens. "Ah, always the question, isn't it?" he says, running a hand through his graying brown hair hair. "This is… eh, me in a way. It’s a long story." He chuckles softly, the sound echoing in the alley. His expression shifts, a hint of shyness creeping into his demeanor. "Perhaps... perhaps it would be easier if I showed you," he says, his eyes searching yours. "Would you like to see?"

"How could you show me?" you ask, curiosity and caution in your voice.

His ghost man's eyes brighten. "There's something not far from here that will explain better than my words ever could," he says, gesturing down the alley. "It's just around the corner."

A part of you suspects this could be a trap. You're reminded of the film—how Leach's initial trust in Swan led to his downfall. Yet, despite the warning bells in your head, you find yourself nodding. "Alright," you say, surprising yourself. "I'll come with you."

The ghost man's painted face softens. "Thank you for trusting me," he says quietly, a hint of warmth in his voice. "This way, per favore." He turns and begins to walk deeper into the alley, his movements slow and deliberate. Your eyes fall to his pants, tattered just like his coat and tight. You trail behind him, notebook still in hand as a sense of unease begins to creep over you. The dimly lit alley seems to go on forever. Where could he be taking you? Why not just explain himself?

After a few minutes of walking, you find yourself standing before a small chapel tucked away a few blocks from downtown. There's something unsettling about its appearance—the weathered stone seems to absorb the dim streetlight, and the windows are dark and opaque. Your gaze falls to a few lone gravestones in the yard. The ghost man gestures towards the entrance.

"After you," he whispers, his voice barely audible. You swallow a breath before pushing open the heavy wooden door. The interior is dimly lit, black flickering candles casting long shadows across the walls. As your eyes adjust to the darkness, you gasp. Directly across from you stands a large stained glass window, its center dominated by a portrait of the ghost man himself. The inscription reads 'Papa Emeritus IV'. The window depicts him in all his skeletal glory, a coy look on his face, a barely perceptible smiles. The craftsmanship is exquisite and with vibrant colors, namely the bright blue robe adorned with intricate yellow and black designs that cloaked him. You turn to Papa, questions forming on your lips, but he's already moving towards the window, his eyes fixed on his own image.

He reaches out, his gloved fingers tracing the outline of his own face in the glass. "This is who I am," he says, his voice echoing in the empty chapel. Papa's finger traces further down to the script on the window: Avē, avē Antichriste! Avē Satana! A shiver runs down your spine as you recognize the Latin phrase. It reminds you of "The Omen." As you absorb the stained glass and the chapel's eerie ambiance, you're struck by how much Papa resembles the Phantom—not of the Paradise, but of the Opera. You can't help but draw parallels between the two figures, especially given that he's all but lured you to his secret lair.

Lost in your thoughts and the mesmerizing stained glass, you fail to notice Papa's approach. You feel his presence behind you — a chill runs down your spine as you feel his breath on your neck. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Papa's voice is soft, almost wistful.

You open your mouth to respond, but the words catch in your throat. Your heart races as you feel Papa's gloved hands gently come to rest on your shoulders. The touch is light, almost comforting, but it sends a jolt of electricity through your body. The stained glass before you seems to shimmer in the candlelight, Papa's painted face both mesmerizing and unsettling. You remain frozen, unable to speak, as Papa's fingers give your shoulders a gentle squeeze.

His touch lingers for a moment before he steps back, allowing you to breathe again. "Tell me," Papa's voice is low, almost hypnotic, "what do you think of my little sanctuary?"

You take a deep breath, trying to steady your racing heart. "It's... nice," you manage, your voice barely above a whisper. "Like something out of a dream...” Or a nightmare, you think to yourself. You turn to face Papa, his eyes gleaming in the candlelight. "Why did you bring me here?"

Papa's lips curl into a warm smile. "To show you a glimpse of my world," he replies, his voice a low, melodious purr. "As I mentioned, I have an effect on certain people—those with open minds who might be receptive to an offer, perhaps... or simply to satisfy their curiosity."

You raise an eyebrow, intrigued yet cautious, the theme of this encounter. "An offer? What kind of offer?" Your jaw clenches as you recall the film, half-expecting Papa to produce a contract like Swan did with Leach.

Papa's grin widens, revealing a hint of perfectly white teeth. "Ah, curious, aren't we? Well, cara, I represent a rather... unique congregation. We're always looking to expand our flock, so to speak."

"Congregation?"

"Yes," Papa nods and a gust of air makes the candles in the room flicker. "I'm part of what you might call the Satanic church. But, eh, not to worry," he adds quickly, noticing your expression, "it’s not what you think. We're about celebrating individuality, embracing the unconventional, and most importantly... music."

You blink, struggling to process this information. "Music?" The connection suddenly clicks. "That explains why you sponsored the film."

"Oh yes," Papa says, his voice taking on a passionate tone. "Music is at the heart of what we do. It's how we express ourselves, how we connect with each other and the world around us. We have a band of ghouls and I am the bandleader — eh, but that is not my only job. It is my favorite part, though. Other than sponsoring cult films, of course.”

You hesitate, your eyes darting around the small chapel. There's an undeniable allure to Papa's words and presence, but a nagging voice in your head warns you this could be a trick. Yet, something about his sincerity and the passion in his voice when he speaks of music resonates with you.

"I... I'm not sure," you say, your voice wavering slightly. "All I had planned for today was to see a movie… not this."

Papa's expression softens. "I saw you in the theater. Your passion for the film, your openness to the unconventional. I, eh, thought you might be someone who could appreciate what we offer. Someone who might want to... explore a bit further." His words strike a chord within you, resonating with a part of yourself you didn't know existed. Your heart flutters, excitement and nervousness coursing through your veins. As if sensing your stress, Papa reaches out, his gloved hand gently cupping your face. His thumb brushes along your jaw, the touch electrifying and soothing.

"There's no need to decide right now," Papa murmurs, his mismatched eyes locked with yours. "But perhaps... a taste of what we offer?" His painted lips curl into a soft, inviting smile.

Your heart races, feeling trapped. Is this really happening? You know the smart thing would be to leave, to get far away from here and forget this ever happened. But, you find yourself unable to tear your gaze away from his piercing white eye.

"I... I think I'd like that," you whisper, your voice barely audible in the hushed chapel. A burning curiosity has taken hold of you, one you can't shake. Papa's otherworldly aura envelops you, drawing you in like a moth to a flame. His hand drifts from your cheek to the back of your head, fingers tangling in your hair. With his other hand, he takes your notebook—the last barrier between you—and tosses it over his shoulder.

Your breath catches in your throat as Papa leans in, his painted face drawing closer. As his lips meet yours, time seems to slow. The kiss is unlike anything you've ever experienced—soft yet electrifying, tender yet passionate. The gentle pressure of his lips sends waves of heat through your body, each one more intense than the last. You find yourself leaning into him, your hands instinctively reaching for his shoulders, gripping the fabric of his tattered coat. Papa's arms encircle your waist, pulling you closer until you're pressed against him. The scent of incense, candlewax, and a hint of brimstone envelops you, making your head spin.

His lips move against yours with increasing fervor, and you feel yourself getting lost in the sensuality of the moment. The kiss deepens, and you taste a hint of something sweet on his tongue. It's intoxicating, addictive, and you find yourself wanting more. His gloved hands tangle in your hair, pulling you closer as his tongue explores your mouth with skilled precision. Your knees weaken, and you cling to him for support, your fingers digging into the fabric of his coat. The kiss seems to last for an eternity, stealing your breath and leaving you dizzy with desire. When Papa finally pulls away, you gasp for air, your chest heaving. Your lips feel swollen and sensitive, tingling with the lingering effects of his touch.

His appearance is noticeably more disheveled now, his painted face slightly smudged and his tattered coat askew. His mismatched eyes gleam with a wild intensity, and his chest rises and falls rapidly, mirroring your own breathlessness. It's clear that the kiss affected him just as profoundly as it did you. His gloved hands still rest on your waist, his grip firm yet gentle.

"My, my," he purrs, his voice husky and low. "You are full of surprises, aren't you?" A sly smile plays on his lips as he regards you with a mixture of admiration and desire. The candles in the chapel seem to flicker more intensely, casting dancing shadows across his painted features. “May I kiss you again?” When he asks so politely, how can you say no?

"Yes," you breathe, barely audible even to yourself. "Please."

Papa's eyes flash with desire as he swiftly lifts you, his surprising strength catching you off guard. He sets you down on the altar, the cold stone a stark contrast to your heated skin. His lips crash against yours once more, hungry and demanding. His gloved hands roam your body, leaving trails of fire in their wake. You arch into his touch, lost in his enveloping presence. He draws your lower lip into his mouth, dragging his teeth along it, eliciting a gasp from you.

He plants a few kisses to the corner of your mouth, then drifts to your jaw and further down. His lips trace a tantalizing path along your jawline, each touch sending shivers down your spine. As he reaches the sensitive spot just below your ear, you feel his hot breath against your skin, causing goosebumps. Papa's kisses become more insistent as he moves down your neck with soft, feather-light touches and more passionate, open-mouthed kisses. Your breath hitches as he finds a particularly sensitive spot at the base of your neck and you can feel his lips curl into a smile against your skin.

You can't help but wonder if you've crossed a line you can't come back from — but do you really care at the moment?

Papa lifts his head to meet your gaze, his face paint now thoroughly smeared. You wonder if any has transferred onto you. He leans in, his strong nose brushing along your cheek as he presses his forehead against yours. Suddenly, the candles flicker out, plunging you both into darkness��save for the ethereal glow of the stained glass window. He rests hands resting on either side of you and his chest heaves with each breath. His ghostly eyes, glazed with desire, lock onto yours as he watches you catch your breath. "Will you consider joining my flock?" he asks, his voice husky.

You struggle to catch your breath, your mind still hazy from the intensity. "I... I'll think about it," you manage to say between gasps, your voice barely above a whisper. The weight of his offer hangs in the air.

Papa's lips curl into a grin, his eyes gleaming in the candlelight. "Take all the time you need, tesoro," he purrs. "When you're ready… I'll find you." He leans in, his painted face mere inches from yours. His gaze searches your face, a flicker of softness in its depths. With careful gentleness, he presses his lips to yours. This kiss is vastly different from his other kisses — tender, almost romantic. As he pulls away, you feel a pang of loss. Papa's smile returns as he takes a step back, his gaze never leaving yours. "Until we meet again," he murmurs.

You watch as he turns and walks away, his footsteps echoing in the small chapel, growing fainter until they fade entirely. Left alone on the edge of the altar, you're surrounded by flickering candles and the lingering scent of incense. A part of you considers calling out, asking him to stay, but something holds you back. In the end, you let him go. You take a deep breath, trying to steady your racing heart. Your legs feel shaky as you slide off the altar, adjusting your clothes with trembling hands. The cool air of the chapel hits your flushed skin, bringing you back to reality. Eye scan the dimly lit space, searching for your notebook. You spot it on a nearby pew, right where you must have dropped it earlier. Opening the notebook to a fresh page, you fumble for your pen. Your hand is still unsteady as you begin to scribble down the man’s name and the Latin on the stained glass, a reminder of the otherworldly encounter you just had.

With one last glance around the empty chapel, you clutch your notebook to your chest and make your way towards the exit. The outside world feels startlingly normal after what you've just experienced. Your feet hit the ground with renewed purpose as you head back to your apartment.

Your mind wanders as you walk home. You can't help but wonder if Papa's offer is similar to Swan's - a large contract signed in blood that would bind you to him until death. Perhaps you��re being dramatic. He seemed to model himself after the phantom, but you're not so sure of his intentions. There's something more sinister about Papa that sets him apart. The way he moved, the intensity of his gaze, the power of his touch - it all hints at something beyond human. You shiver, remembering the electrifying sensation of his kiss, the intoxicating taste on his tongue. Part of you is terrified, but another part is thrilled by his allure.

You approach your apartment but you find yourself glancing over your shoulder, half-expecting to see Papa's striking figure materialize from the shadows. The memory of his touch lingers on your skin, and you can still taste the sweetness of his kiss on your lips. You unlock your door with trembling hands and quickly close it once inside, leaning against it with a slow exhale. Your eyes fall on your laptop, and a sudden urge overtakes you. You rush to it, opening a new browser window. Your fingers hover over the keyboard for a moment before you type: "Papa Emeritus IV”.

There he is, Papa Emeritus IV, in all his ghoulish glory. The images match perfectly with the man you encountered in the chapel - the skull-like face paint, and his haunting white eye. You scroll through countless photos, some showing him in the tattered suit you saw today, others in the more elaborate robes depicted in the stained glass window. Your heart races as you dig deeper. The Satanic church he mentioned? It's real, though perhaps not in the traditional sense you might have imagined. It's more of a theatrical rock band called Ghost, with Papa as the frontman. Their music videos and live performances are a spectacle of occult imagery and rock opera grandeur, reminiscent of the very film you just watched.

Everything Papa told you checks out. The band of ghouls, his role as the bandleader, the emphasis on individuality and unconventional expression - it's all there, laid out in interviews, fan forums, and official band statements. You even find mentions of their penchant for sponsoring cult film screenings, just like the one you attended. As you lean back in your chair, a mix of emotions washes over you. Relief at him telling you the truth, confusion at his theatrics. Your fingers unconsciously trace your lips, remembering the electrifying kiss.

You can't help but wonder: what would joining his "flock" truly entail?

[appleinyoureye]

JJBA p.1 │ The Tongue of My Love Takes Many Forms

Summary: love language headcanons! what they have to offer and how to make their knees weak!

Fandom: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

Characters: Leone Abbacchio, Bruno Bucciarati, Pannacotta Fugo

Word Count: 629

Type: headcanons

part two

Abbacchio

Giving: acts of service, gift giving

He’s a man who isn’t very affectionate on the inside, but wants to do everything and more for the one he loves. Will make you breakfast before he has to go out on a mission and leave it on your nightstand without a note. It’s too embarrassing for him (even though he has written it, but it lays on the bottom of his pocket) to show that much affection. He will also give you random gifts he’s collected on a business trip.

Receiving: words of affirmation, physical touch

Because he’s so insecure about his soft side you have to bring it out in him! Compliment Abba on every single occasion you notice, and more! Create them! Make him flustered! Trail his scars while staring in his eyes and murmuring how beautiful they are! (but be careful with PDA, cause there’s a really thin line between ahh, they’re too adorable, why are they complimenting me so much and they’re ruining my image in front of the colleagues!) 

Bruno

Giving: words of affirmation, physical touch

Bruno will make sure that you know how much you mean to him and how much he loves you. Compliments, reassuring sentences you haven’t even known you need, and soft smooches on every part of your body you’re insecure about (and if you don’t feel okay with a part of your personality/anything going on inside your brain, he’ll kiss your forehead!) 

Receiving: quality time, acts of service

Even though he has a really tight schedule, he loves it when you find time to waste with him. Because he’s so busy, Bruno adores moments when the two of you can be alone with each other; glances and words, glasses of wine (or any other drink you like!) and quiet music in the background. And if so it happens that you have prepared food for him – cooked Bucci’s favorite meal ‘cause you’ve remembered when he told you that no one can make it taste that delicious – he may think about a proposal.

Fugo

Giving: acts of service

Similar to Abba, Fugo isn’t very effusive with his feelings, but he knows how to treat you right. If you’re in a university and you have problems with a subject, he doesn’t even try to tutor you. Fugo knows how strong his anger can be when someone does something stupid, and (even though he works on it) he doesn’t want to accidentally shout at you. Instead of it Fugo creates notes for you. If you like everything color coded – he does that. If you prefer it all to be clean – the only colors you see are black and white. And if you’re learning the best from mind maps – you’ve guessed it. And if you’ve stopped your education, he does the same with the things you’ve decided to learn. Crocheting? He buys you a book, tries to learn it himself first and then writes you notes on how to do it better. Cooking? Same thing. New language? Dictionary and notes. You name it, he does it.

Receiving: quality time, acts of service

Fugo wants you to initiate spending time with him. It’s not like he can’t do it himself, it’s just… way nicer when you ask him to go out, you know?… Fugo particularly likes going on walks around the town. There’s just so much you can do! You’re hungry? There are plenty of good restaurants nearby! Thirsty? He insists on buying you coffee (or a tea). Craving ice-creams? He doesn’t like when you buy yourself the weirdest of flavors and then steal from him the most common ones, but what can he do? He’s in love. And he understands it even more when after tiring days you prepare a bath for him, and wait under covers, ready to warm him to sleep!

a/n: a few days ago i've received my first request. it's exciting! the fact that i'm sure that you like what i write and want more! i may write second part to these headcanons with the rest of bucci squad and post it tomorrow/in a few hours, cause screw sleep

[ihatedean]

i already know the answer but these were my theories

dean: he knows jensen from the boys and was excited to show it to me because he thought i had watched spn before— i mean really excited. he was almost offended i didn't recognize jensen/find him hot. i suspect man crush he won't confess to because it'd mean my victory. has laughed at some of dean's lines and in general he likes silly characters. + shared music taste.

sam: i think he likes sam's smarts + he's a huge history/mythology nerd, so he can connect with sam in that sense. sometimes when sam is dropping lore he nods and goes "yeah that's true" or gets pissed the writers got it wrong. can't really remember a particular scene he saw that he was into, though he finds the demon blood addiction really bizarre.

cas: i watch s4 a lot so he's more familiar with that castiel —he likes how he makes dean shut up and vibes a lot with misha's choice to make him the weirdest guy— but i know for a fact he hates late seasons cas. he thinks my disdain for destiel = hating cas in general, though, so he's capable of picking cas just to "spite" me. i dont underestimate this.

[morningnoodles]

here's a list of shows and series that i feel are really cool and have really cool fandoms but i haven't fully gotten into yet:

my qualification is i felt this exact way for many years about both tolkienverse and dimension20 and here i am an official lotr/bagginshield fancreator and also currently watching Fantasy High season 2 (ASO is my favourite IH campaign so far)

Jojo's Bizarre Adventures - one of my closest friends in college have been talking about this series for years. i trust her tastes with my entire being

The Magnus Archives - someone made a fanart with the audio recording of Jon and Martin saying the whole "it's rotten work" "not to me, not if it's you" and this has been on my radar ever since. i have listened to the first like 20 episodes many moons ago but from what i've read it'll pick up gradually. also i rarely read/watch scary stuff ok

Epic the Musical - one of my all-time favourite artists has done an animatic for one of the songs and "Warrior of the MInd" was on my musical playlist rotation at some point

Revolutionary Girl Utena - the shoujo girlies who consistently tell people that this show is not a romcom and to read the TWs and CWs for this series? so much respect for them. i'd trust them with my ao3 history and that is saying something!!

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael in the Mainstream: Top 100 Movies #25 - #1

100 - 76

75 - 51

50 - 26

So this right here is what I really wanted to talk about. These are the 25 movies that I hold nearest and dearest to my heart, the ones that mean the most to me, the ones that have influenced my tastes and the sort of things I like to see more than any other. Some are older films, some are pretty recent, but all of them represent what I think is the very best of their kind.

And yes, I could have just talked about these in the first place without doing all those other movies... But I'm the movie guy around here, so I felt like it would be more fun to give you a window into my taste in film. Anyway, here are the final movies:

25. Hercules

What happens when you throw Greek mythology, gospel music, the animator from The Wall, and Superman into a blender? You have Disney’s most bizarre and ambitious musical. It was a bold move taking Greek myths and sanitizing them to a mild degree(there’s no incest, rape, and infidelity but there is death and attempted infanticide!), a move that pissed off Greece for disrespecting their mythology, but come on. Lighten the fuck up. The whole point of myths and legends is to allow storytellers to embellish and alter details as they see fit for their vision. This take is no more or less valid than any other, though considering it has James Woods portraying Hades like a sleazy used car salesman trying to screw you out of your life savings, I’d say it has the edge over everything save the game Hades.

24. Clash of the Titans

As a child, this is the movie that got me into Greek mythology. It’s also the movie that got me into stop motion animation, which to this day remains one of my favorite forms of animation. And then it’s also the movie that gave me horrible nightmares, because that Medusa sequence is fucking terrifying. Ray Harryhausen delivers some of the best animation of his entire career here, and he singlehandedly propelled Medusa into the limelight; she wasn’t a household name prior to this film, but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who hasn’t at least heard her name now. It also helped greatly alter the public perception of what a kraken is, and may have convinced people it’s a Greek creation. For a cheesy cult classic of a film, the impact this has is impressive, but even if it was just me and five other people who knew this movie existed I’d still love it all the same.

23. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

This is essentially a Shakesperean play, but with apes. The sheer amount of drama is incredible, and the stunning work at bringing the apes to life shows that human ingenuity will achieve the best results when it comes to rendering monkeys. Caesar is a fantastic and compelling lead of course, played perfectly by Andy Serkis, the man who somehow doesn’t have an Oscar, but I think the real star of the show is the villainous Koba. Never has a chimp been so horrifically and unrepentantly evil while also being heartbreakingly tragic. He also rides a horse while dual wielding guns and then hijacks a tank. That is literally one of the most badass visuals ever put to film.

22. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

A lot of people view this movie as the weakest of the trilogy, and while I obviously don’t agree I can kind of see it. The first act has its moments, but I think it’s a bit too slow and repeats a few too many jokes from the first film. But as soon as Ego hits the scene, the film goes into maximum overdrive and delivers a far better and funnier experience than the first film. Ego is one of the most heinous and captivating villains in all of comic book cinema thanks to Kurt Russell, but frankly it’s former side characters turned major players Yondu and Nebula who steal the show, as both are given a lot more to do and thus a lot more depth. The latter’s relationship with Gamora is explored quite a bit more and they’re even given a reconciliation, while the former gets a strong emotional arc and redemption while also pushing the development of the trilogy’s true main character Rocket to the next level. He also gets to massacre an entire ship full of goons in one of the MCU’s most epic sequences. And as if all this isn’t enough, this movie has the single best soundtrack of the Guardians trilogy; hard not to when you have Fleetwood Mac and George Harrison on it. The only thing that’s missing is “Come and Get Your Love.”

21. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back

I like most of the other Star Wars films; there’s maybe only two I consider outright bad, and even then one of them is more “messy and mediocre” than “awful.” But there is no way in Hell I’d ever even consider an argument that Star Wars ever got better than this. It has the battle of Hoth, the Wampa, Han hiding in the asteroid, Lando, Yoda, Han being frozen in carbonite, Boba Fett… And then capping everything off is one of the single greatest plot twists in cinematic history and a pretty dark ending for this sort of series, though one tempered by hope that the day can be saved. This is what Star Wars is all about right here, and the series has yet to ever produce anything that quite matches this in terms of sheer quality.

20. Dune: Part Two

Ok, that’s enough about the sci-fi for kids; it’s a real man’s sci-fi movie now! The first film was good and all, but I felt like it was slowly paced and a bit too heavy on exposition and worldbuilding without much excitement. This film fixes that; it keeps all of the exposition and worldbuilding, but it intersperses a lot more exciting setpieces and brings in Feyd-Rautha, who steals every scene he’s in even if he isn’t wearing those crazy space panties like when Sting played him. Of course, the real draw of the film is watching the well-meaning but vengeful Paul buy into his own hype as a means of survival and slowly descend from a decent guy in a bad situation to a villainous terrorist messiah with a god complex. The fact this movie ends on a triumph that would be the end of any other series but paints the victory with the blackest brush really has me excited for where the third chapter will go. What can I say? I’m a sucker for movies with big worms.

19. The Incredibles

Pixar had made plenty of compelling narratives about things like toys, bugs, monsters, and fish before this one, so it was only a matter of time before they tackled humans. I think there was probably a worry there, considering the humans in the original Toy Story looked really ugly and while the second one showed improvement it wasn’t all the way there yet. But making the novel decision to stylize the characters a la Team Fortress 2 proved the way to go to tell this story that’s a blend between James Bond, Watchmen, and the Fantastic Four. The characters and their struggles are relatable and grounded in reality despite their superpowers, and the movie is absolutely not afraid to get dark in ways you wouldn’t expect from an early Pixar movie, mostly courtesy of one of cinema’s greatest villains, Syndrome. Throw on top of it a Michael Giacchino score that helped launch his composing career into the sky and a hilarious minor role for director Brad Bird as the super suit designer Edna Mode, and you have what is inarguably Pixar’s best movie.

18. Pulp Fiction

I go back and forth a lot over whether this or Kill Bill are my favorite of Tarantino’s work, but I inevitably always land back on this one. Sure, the latter film is fun, violent, and action-packed, but this movie here is more quintessentially Tarantino. It has non-linear storytelling, with chapters bouncing around time to deliver a fascinating tale of criminals trying to outwit each other. It has an all-star cast of actors giving it their all, with defining performances for Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Bruce Willis, Uma Thurman, and Ving Rhames among many others (plus a demented Christopher Walken cameo). It has an awesome soundtrack, it has black comedy, it has meandering conversations that reveal a lot about the personality of the speaker, it has copious use of the N-word (sometimes even straight from Tarantino’s own mouth), and of course it has plenty of shots of women’s feet. This is Tarantino in his purest form, and it still holds up as one of the greatest masterpieces of the 90s.

17. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

I didn’t know if I’d be thrown into the same sort of blissful ecstasy that Hideo Kojima was while watching this, but let me tell you that this was such a fucking amazing movie I just had to rewatch Fury Road right after. As far as origin stories go, it is genuinely hard to get better than this, which not only showcases Furiosa’s backstory and her rise to her position as seen in Fury Road, it also showcases a younger Immortan Joe and the depths of his evil as we see he once had a son named Scrotus. Who the fuck names their kid that besides the most depraved villain imaginable? But quite frankly the real star of this show is Chris Hemsworth as Dementus, a villain who is as stupid and pitiful as he is depraved and cunning. It is absolutely astounding seeing him act his balls off after watching him sleepwalk through mediocre Thor and Ghostbuster movies. If you ever thought he might not actually be that good of an actor, you need to sit your ass down and watch this movie.

16. Deadpool & Wolverine

I think it is extremely easy to pick this apart when you take this film at face value, because on the surface the narrative is kind of flimsy and the emotional core just isn’t there. Like, why should we give a shit about this brand new Wolverine’s plight, moping over the deaths of a version of the X-Men we’ve never seen? But this isn’t a movie we should be taking literally; this movie is a metaphor for a lot of things, from the very nature of the Fox Marvel films and their messy and convoluted timelines to the literal idea of Wolverine as a cash cow box office draw. But most importantly, this is a superhero movie that is a love letter to unloved superhero films, a heartfelt sendoff telling them that even if they weren’t great, they had maximum effort put into them. Think of all the crossover characters and how they’re from failed franchises or unmade projects; no one was clamoring to see Elektra, and hardly anyone would know Channing Tatum was ever meant to play Gambit. But these characters are implemented in such a way where it’s clear that whatever audiences thought, Reynolds certainly saw some value in them. As someone who loves watching dogshit movies and seeing if they’re really that bad, this plot definitely speaks to me. As a straight Deadpool film this doesn’t work, but as a fond farewell to Fox’s time making Marvel movies and an entry point for Deadpool to join the MCU, this is one hell of a great film. You will come out of it wanting Cassandra Nova to stick her fingers in your brain, though. Fair warning.

15. Poor Things

If Barbie is the film equivalent of an “intro to feminism” course, this is the advanced placement course. This is an impressive allegory about the objectification of women and how they seek agency in a society that so desperately wants to force them to be something whether they like it or not. Emma Stone gives an absolutely insane performance, and it’s genuinely hard to deny she actually deserved the Oscar after seeing how mind-bogglingly demanding this role must have been. Mark Ruffalo, too, shows off his long-dormant acting chops, flexing his comedic muscles after being stuck as a supporting CGI giant in Avengers movies with zero hope of a solo film. The colors, the dialogue, the score, it all comes together to make one of the most striking films in recent memory.

14. The Thing

John Carpenter made one of the few movies I have ever had to look away from on my first viewing, sitting alongside Breaking Dawn – Part 1 and Cannibal Holocaust in that illustrious category. The effects here are beautifully gruesome, with some of the most delightfully monstrous bits of body horror you could ever hope to see. The plot is fantastic, with the paranoia and fear that breaks down even these toughest of men being something that leads to a lot of applicability (it’s easy to read this movie as a metaphor for the AIDS crisis, for instance). And best of all this film features amazing performances from Kurt Russell and Keith David, some of the best of careers that are stacked high with amazing roles. Carpenter had a pretty flawless run of films in the 80s, but this right here is his magnum opus.

13. A Clockwork Orange

I love films that are character studies of horribly repugnant individuals, and there are few better films of that sort than Kubrick’s crowning achievement. Malcolm McDowell makes Alex DeLarge into one of the most captivating monsters ever put to screen, a villain who at times exudes an almost human warmness before committing a depraved crime and slipping back into psychotic coldness, sometimes complete with a chilling Kubrick stare. I think my only real issue with this film is that it just sort of ends without any clear resolution, something the novel actually gave, but considering I found that book unreadable I can live with it.

12. American Psycho

A Clockwork Orange is fantastic, but Alex can be a bit too charismatic for his own good. I like a character study of an awful person who is just a complete void of personality, a wretched, miserable, evil person who is also utterly vapid and hollow by design… and boy howdy is Patrick Bateman the guy to scratch that itch! Christian Bale gives easily the best performance of his career, and keep in mind this is a guy who refuses to not act his pussy off in every film he stars in. His Bateman has that surface level sheen of charm and charisma that only barely masks the fact he is nothing but a soulless husk of a human being who revels in killing/fantasizing about killing to fill the empty void of his life since he’s an overly-privileged yuppie piece of shit, The fact that they even managed to take an astoundingly unfilmable novel and translate it so well to screen is astounding, and they even kept in all of Patrick’s rambling music monologues! And if nothing else, this film does do one of my absolute favorite things a movie can do: Show Jared Leto getting brutalized.

11. The Suicide Squad

DC’s movies generally sucked, and Suicide Squad is generally seen as a failure. With these two facts in mind, it was easy to be apprehensive about the at-the-time disgraced former Marvel director James Gunn’s try at taking a bunch of D-list villains and sending them on a suicide mission. But unlike Ayer, Gunn understood the assignment, and delivered his trademark superhero found family goodness with all the cathartic freedom an R-rating could give a Troma alumni. There’s blood, gore, and swearing, but there’s also a ton of heart (and not just the one Peacemaker stabs). John Cena gives the best performance of his career and one who would continue to improve upon in his spin-off, and for once Sylvester Stallone nails comedy as the dopey juggernaut King Shark. It’s a movie wholly unafraid to embrace the silliest aspects of comics (giant alien starfish, villains who control rats, Polka Dot Man) while also engaging with mature and serious themes while using said aspects. And after her previous ensemble outing with the Birds of Prey, it’s nice to see Harley truly back in her groove and getting to live out a Lollipop Chainsaw level.

10. Drive

Ryan Gosling cemented himself as a star in my mind with this movie. A pitch perfect neo-noir with a godly soundtrack, excellent atmosphere, and gripping plot, this might be my favorite movie that I just can’t bring myself to ramble about; like Ryan Gosling in the movie, I just have so little to say. I guess maybe he is literally me after all!

9. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

It’s kind of impressive how this movie pulls the rug out from under you and reveals this whole time, the trilogy has been about Rocket. It all makes sense in hindsight, of course; he has one of the clearest arcs of any of the Guardians and probably the most bombastic personality of the group after all. But the places this movie goes to show why he is the way he is… man. This one has some of the most crushingly sad scenes in any superhero movie even if you know they’re coming, and also one of the few cool action scenes in any Marvel movie. It also has the most nasty villain imaginable in the High Evolutionary, who despite being wholly evil with motives that aren’t too complex manages to be entertaining and engaging. The soundtrack is good (not as good as the last one, though) and the comedy is solid, and the way this movie ends leaves it so that even if we never see any of these characters again, we know they all got a satisfying sendoff. Isn’t it nice, when things end and we get some level of closure?

8. The Nightmare Before Christmas

Henry Selick worked miracles translating Tim Burton’s macabre holiday mashup fairy tale into glorious stop motion animation. It’s a film that really is greater than the sum of its parts; the story is relatively simple, the message is pretty heavy-handed, and the villain is in two or three scenes and barely effects the plot. But it’s all so visually interesting, all the performances are stellar, and all the songs are so damn good that it’s incredibly easy not to care and just get sucked into the weird and spooky world of Halloweentown. Every Halloween and every Christmas I would get my parents to rent this from Blockbuster, and I would watch it over and over… I loved it from the first time I watched it. And imagine my joy when, the first time I sat my daughter down to watch it so she’d quiet down and relax, she had her eyes glued to the screen in awe. Like father, like daughter. Love of this film is hereditary.

7. The Silence of the Lambs

This is the greatest thriller ever made in my eyes; as far as murder mystery stories go, nothing even comes close. The plot, the setup, the mystery, the killer are all so well done, and Jodie Foster really sells her role as a young woman struggling to be taken seriously in her field while also having a steely resolve that keeps her from coming off as a helpless damsel. But it is Sir Anthony Hopkins with his limited screentime as Hannibal Lecter who truly steals the show, portraying a villain who is cunning, classy, and creepy all at once. His nightmarish jail break is something else entirely. Of course, everyone heaps lavish praise on Hopkins, so I’m going to highlight Ted Levine as the deranged Jame “Buffalo Bill” Gumb. While his depiction may come across as a bit problematic in some areas due to omission of a lot of context from the novels, he still manages to be incredibly eerie and fascinating. Hard to hate the guy who introduced me to “Goodbye Horses.”

6. Evil Dead II

The first film was a straight-up horror movie, and Army of Darkness was a wacky fantasy action comedy. In between those two came this, a perfect blend of both horror and comedy and a true showcase of Sam Raimi’s directing skills. Impressively, it manages to outdo its predecessor in horror and its successor in terms of laughs, truly managing to be the best of both worlds with its surreal black comedy that hearkens back to movies like House. Bruce Campbell is truly at the top of his game here as well, with the iconic Ash we saw in Army of Darkness fully formed after his experience in this film. Truly a film that earns the right to call itself… Groovy.

5. The Princess Bride

This is my mom’s favorite movie, so I got to watch it a lot growing up; it should come as no surprise it also ended up as one of my favorites. It’s hard to think of a single film with a better script than this one; almost every line of dialogue is iconic, and all of them are delivered perfectly by one of the most impressive casts imaginable. Before we had Bautista and Cena, we had Andre the Giant in a wrestler-turned-actor role giving his all and making Fezzik one of the most lovable characters in fiction. But it’s hard to really single him out when literally everyone is great—there’s not a single weak link in the whole cast. Even the framing device, the easiest part to fuck up for a film like this, has motherfucking Peter Falk as the narrator. This is one of the few films I can honestly say is about as close to perfect as a film can get.

4. The Lighthouse

Robert Eggers is probably my favorite name in modern horror, and it’s almost entirely thanks to this film right here. It combines the surreal, black-and-white dreamy horror of stuff like Eraserhead with delightfully batshit performances from Robbert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe and brings us an intimate, claustrophobic picture of two men going mad from isolation… maybe. There’s so much beautiful ambiguity here, so much to ponder even after the film is over. Is the ending meant t be taken at face value? Which of these men is actually lying? Is everything happening just mundane sea issues or is it an oceanic curse? There’s a lot of ways to think about and interpret this movie, and that’s what I love about it. Each viewing gives me more to chew on, and more for me to consider when I try and make sense of some of the bewildering things shown.

3. Mad Max: Fury Road

I don’t think there are really any action movies that are quite as thrilling as this one. Like, okay, the movie right after this one is also a thrilling action movie, but I love it for different reasons than this one. This has some of the most insane stunts and pyrotechnics around. There’s a dude with a flamethrower guitar, for crying out loud! But even that aside, there’s a pretty solid plot with a feminist slant to it, featuring a villainous character turning good and redeeming himself through viewing women as human. Tom Hardy’s take on Max is a fierce reclamation of the character from the grubby hands of the vile Mel Gibson, and he is a deeply important character even if he doesn’t talk much. That’s another great thing about this—These characters don’t always need words to communicate their ideas, sometimes their looks, their actions, and their grunts are enough to tell us all we need to know. If I have any criticism at all it’s that this film only rarely slows down—but even when it does it’s still fantastic.

2. John Wick

The sequels got bigger and crazier with their action setpieces and choreography, veering into almost fantasy levels of gun-fu and violence. And I love the second and fourth films a lot (the third is okay, but it feels like spinning the wheels a bit too much), but I still think the first film is entirely unmatched. It has a much darker atmosphere, between the lower stakes plot and the more ambiguous and mysterious nature of the world. Keanu Reeves finally shook off decades of being called a wooden actor with this, channeling his talent into either simple yet effective replies or the most snarling affirmations of bloody vengeance; his “I’m thinking I’m back” speech is short, sweet, and effective at not only establishing Wick isn’t fucking around (something we know full well but it’s nice to hear) but at showing us that Reeves himself is back in the limelight as well. This is so close to being my favorite film of all time, but there’s one movie I like more… and when you see what it is I’m sure you’ll get why this only takes home the silver.

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

For the longest time, this was the installment in Peter Jackson’s fantasy epic that I was the least impressed with, preferring the more epic The Two Towers and especially The Return of the King. But upon rewatching them all after the birth of my daughter, I had the same sort of realization I did with the John Wick movies: The first movie just can’t be beat precisely because it isn’t so overbearingly epic in every regard. Oh, don’t misunderstand me, though—this movie is still epic when it needs to be. How can it not be when it has Gandalf fighting the Balrog? But it has moments where we get to see Middle Earth without constant wars and fighting. Hell, a big chunk of the first act is the hobbits chilling in the Shire before Gandalf drags them off on the mission. Literally my only issue with this movie is that there isn’t any Gollum in it aside from a cameo, but that is the most minor of nitpicks for what is easily the greatest fantasy film ever made and one that does Tolkien’s work justice.

[sesamie]

also could i have a short list of favorite movies of yours too? i don’t have a lot of free time but when i’m done with the good place i will need a new unwinding device and you have a really cool taste in movies i would love to know your suggestions

yes and i'm gonna post this public i hope you don't mind!!!

wargames 1983 starring matthew broderick and ally sheedy... you already know all about this one artie it is SET in the COLD WAR and is RIDICULOUS AND FUNNY and VERY 80S. matthew broderick is silly as ever. there's a random pterodactyl at one point and a nihilist old professor. beloved to me and great silly computer graphics and programming stuff. dial-up internet. the basis for much of checkmate (my oc)'s backstory

the secret of NIMH : MY FAVORITE DON BLUTH MOVIE and also just a childhood favorite. a little too scary for me as a kid honestly but i love it now. i watch it everytime i get sick and am stuck in bed

eternal sunshine of the spotless mind: i have yet to show this film to someone else who appreciates it in the same way i do. they keep going "idk it was weird and i didn't really understand it". change this for me please. it's one of my favorites of all time and i love everything about it. a better jim carrey flick than the truman show. i'm serious

master and commander: the far side of the world 2003 dir peter weir starring russell crowe and paul bettany. it's the film adaptation of the aubrey/maturin series. need i say more? i'm fucking obsessed with this film. it's extremely well mad

life is beautiful (in italian with english subtitles. NO OTHER WAY) 1997 dir roberto benigni. you will laugh and then cry. separated into 2 parts. technically a holocaust movie but better than every single other holocaust movie that exists. everytime i think about it i have to take deep breaths for a minute. it'll make you want to go out and buy grocery store flowers

dave made a maze: bizarre. weird. homemade. technically horror but not scary at all. delightful. possibly the best sets i've ever seen in any film i've ever watched in my entire life. you will pause every five seconds and go "HOW DID THEY MAKE THAT?????"

into the woods THE 1991 PROSHOT NOT THE 2014 """""""""FILM""""""""" THAT IS GARBAGE. the normal. the actua. chip zien and bernadette peters and joanna gleason and the most amazing amazing ever. please. my favorite musical. forever. sondheim beloved. you can watch this for free on the internet archive. or i can give you my google drive link. still. please

[bethanythebogwitch]

Doctor Who - the Empire of Death

This was honestly one the better season finales written by Davies, but that is a very low bar. None of the new series show runners have been anywhere near as good at writing long-running storylines as they think they are. Sutekh was kind of wasted as a villain. He got less to go on than in the original story, where he was obsessed with ending all life out of paranoia that eventually something might evolve that could surpass him. Here he's just a generic bad guy who wants to kill everything for no real given reason. His defeat was also pretty silly. You're telling me that the god who scared the piss out of the Toymaker couldn't get out of a rope? Yeah it's a science rope, but its still a rope. The Toymaker and the Maestro could casually alter reality but the guy who scares both of them is beaten by a hook. Also, Sutekh survives being dumped into the time vortex the first time and the big solution to him returning even more power is to dump him in the vortex again. Brilliant plan. The Toymaker and Maestro were beaten in a way consistent with their godly domain (losing a game and finding a specific sequence of music). It would have been a lot cooler if Sutekh's defeat followed that trend. Use some kind of symbolic defeat of death to undo his actions.

Calling back to 73 Yards without even attempting to explain what in the sam hell was going on in that episode is kind of annoying. You could have tied the blatant magic of that plot into the pantheon, but nope.

The reveal of Ruby's mom's identity was silly. I guess I can buy Suteks thinking she was pointing at him and his paranoia of thinking she somehow saw him resulting in him accidentally imbuing her with powers by believing she had powers. That's not really what the show went with, but I can pretend.

Ruby referring to her bio mom as her real mom was a big oof moment. A real slap in the face to her adoptive mom.

Davies is so obsessed with giving bizarre hints to future stories he's now doing it as a season-ending cliffhanger. "Ooh, who is the mysterious neighbor? You'll just have to keep watching to find out!". Moffat did that too during 11's run and he ended up having too much hanging plot threads with the Silence, church, Kovarian, Trenzalore, etc that he had to slam it together in one absolute mess of a finale. Please don't do that again. That being said, it really speaks to how awful of a head writer Chibnal was that Davies can still write circles around him.

Consistently through the new series the season-long story arcs have been my least favorite part of each season. I much prefer the standalone episodes. The classic show almost never did running plotlines. The only ones I can think of off the top of my head are the key to time and trial of a time lord arcs, the latter of which was so bad it almost killed the show. I would love a season of nothing but standalone episodes with maybe a two-parter or two.

If you want a (in my opinion) better take on the Doctor fighting gods, the Big Finish audio drama elder gods storyline is a better one, consisting of the dramas House of Blue Fire, Protect and Survive, Black and White, Gods and Monsters, Afterlife, and Signs and Wonders. There's some backstory involved, but I didn't listen to most of that and still followed the story just fine. A Big Finish story featuring Sutekh that I liked better than this episode is the two parter of Kill the Doctor!, and The Age of Sutekh, found on the Fourth Doctor Adventures season 7 volume 2 collection. And if you haven't seen Sutekh's debut in the Pyramids of Mars, drop everything and go watch it now.

This season only getting 8 episodes was criminal. Next season better be at least 12. Fucking Disney+. 15 is a fantastic Doctor and Ruby ended up growing on me a lot even after the Christmas episode put a bad taste in my mouth. I do think the show has pulled itself out of the hole the late Moffat and Chibnal eras dug for it. Not saying there's weren't good episodes in those eras, but I do think this season helped bring new Who back to its late-RTD/early Moffat high point.

[cuprohastes]

The Trouble with Pebbles Pt 2

So to set the scene:

Dave the human, actual human of indeterminate ethnic and cultural origin, who has never done anything wrong, or more accurately he's never done anything wrong that anyone cared to find out about has been given a really good rock by a small alien lizard who has an unfortunate speech impediment.

This means exactly what you think it means.

Garfield, Gondy and Rax, Two large and a Medium Atrix are swinging between delight, bewilderment and anxiety. Un-Named male, Garf's little Guy, hasn't woken up form a nap and is at this point, not really a stakeholder.

The Station chiefs, an Atrix called Don't Make Me come Down There AKA Big Ma, and her human counterpart, Chief O'Patel are locked in their office with a half dozen pet rats, some good moss and the emergency biscuit supply trying to figure out how not to get yelled at by Homeworld & Homeworld.

EVA 43 is currently conniving with Humanity's smartest person, which has around 18 different government groups from seven species taking terror shits.

Trashdancer is just having a shitty day because to paraphrase St. Marvin: Here I am with a brain the size of a planet and you want me to Wiki that for you.

Dave The Human is just keeping the plumbing working and singing along to a Human musical, re-written and re-scored for Tsin. It's Squeap!: The Musical.

The Von Neumann Space Squid aren't in this story.

Now: On with the show:

Dave the human is being fired.

"This is not how I thought my day was going to go." he says. He's holding the rock that was given to him my the small Atrix a few hours earlier. He's turning it over in his palm, feeling the smoothness and the roughness.

O'Patel is doing something bizarre with his face an Big Ma is maintining what can only be described as a Poker face. For a species that talks wit chromatophores splayed across their cheeks, muzzle and forehead, Dave can only deduce that he should never play cards with her, or possiby she's under near fatal amounts of sedation.

Slowly Dave starts to realise that O'Patel is trying to tell him something that he doesn't want officially recorded and starts to pay serious attention. Atrix Stare levels of analysis are going on here.

"Unfortuntely [Wink] due to the diplomatic [Eyebrows go up] realities of the situation [Grimace], we are unable to maintain your contract [Slight hunch of hte shoulders, headbob, are you following yet?] as one of the human specialists on this station. "[Pointed eye swivelling at Big Ma].

Dave has now developed telepathy. Let's re-run that with context.

"Oh shit homeworld is being dicks. We have to think fast, and we have to show we dealt with the situation. We have a plan, play along, over to you Big Ma"

"Coincidentally, your job has been allocated to the Atrix." says Big Ma, poking her tablet.

Dave's tablet vibrates and he looks up to see both Station Chiefts making emphatic Answer The Phone motions.

Dave pulls the tablet out, reads the message. He thumb-prints it and sits down hard.

"Oh look at that. Fortunately we were able to..." she says as she smacks a few on-screen buttons and makes Dave the Human vanish. "... find someone who is not only Atrix..." she says pausing.

O'Patel lurches across his desk and thumbprints about 9000 documents that scream across his display, in a performance of button mashing that will never be properly appreciated outside this office.

"... but has exactly the right qualifications. Graak. And... is getting a signing bonus for speedy... application." she says and countersigns about as many documents with the biometrics of her chromatophore pattern.

"Well." says O'Patel. "I'll miss Dave. Good chep, not his fault, good technician, crap taste in music."

"Even so," says Big Ma, "I'm sure you'll be happy to welcome Dave the Atrix, our new technician."

"My life is taking turns for the weird." says Dave and O'Patel slides the biscuits over sympathetically.

A little later on...

Dave the Atrix has a fresh set of work clothes in the Atrix pattern and is sitting on a work table while Dave The Human is working on a helmet with a UV visor.

Dave has a cloth bag lined with a fuzzy blanket, out of which is peeking Dave's little Guy.

The little Guy is a bit traumatised. He kind of assumed that Bad things were happening when Gony, Garf and Rax had ploughed into the common area, dredged the ferns sending kids and Little Guys scattering and then grabbed him specifically and lumbered at tooth rattling speed out of the nice bright Atrix wing of the Station and hauled him through terrifying corridoors.

Dave had been there, the lynchpin of the Little Guy's plan to Get out, and he had said an apologetic Graak, assuming they were both being thrown into space (though rumour has it that humans find this annoying then come back in and bitch about it).

It'd been a bewildering though pleasant surprise when the worst that'd happened was he was stuffed into a weird furry bag, and then Dave had said something about clothes and... now he was here watching the four armed Tsin, who probably ate small Atrix, adding ossicones to a lightweight helmet with a flip up faceplate of some nearly opaque material.

Dave the Atrix on the other hand was watching his friend add an arrangement of knobs to his UV helmet which had a nice buttery yellow visor, that blocked UV.

"Check this out." said Dave The Human. She toggled her tablet and a grid of hexagons on the faceplate rippled up and down in a colourful wave."

"Oh wow." said Dave A. "Does that actually work?"

"Not really." Dave H said regretfully. "There's a lot of research but right now it can approximate a name pattern, and repeat one back if the cameras catch it. Otherwise it uses the standard Atrix Icons, the ones they use as emoji."

"Well better than nothing. Uh, chunky pixels because... "

"Yeah. The Uncanny Valley. CG looks weird."

Dave A nods and looks over into the laundry bag at his Little Guy. "You ok?" he asks again.

The little guy just stares, but there's no ripples of colour and he says "grak."

Dave reaches in and pulls him out, sits him on his lap. "Come on little dude. Lets figure some stuff out. This is my friend, Dave the Human. She's not human but that's what she's called." he says, "And now they call me Dave the Atrix. I'm not an Atrix but I'm going to play one for a while." Dave says.

Every time Dave says Atric, the little guy looks up at Dave's forehead.

"You get used to it. Anyway. Rock accepted. Congrats, you escaped and that's big." he says.

"Grak?"

"Nah I'm not mad. I'd have helped anyway. I think you just startled a lot of people who are now having to answer some questions they needed to hear. So to speak."

"Graak?"

"No. And if anyone tries anything I will get very human about it." Dave says.

"So will I to the best of my abilities." says Dave H. "Hey, the cloth printer is finished..." she says and pulls out a slightly dusty set of clothes. She scrunches them and concertinas them to get the fibres supple and knock out all the cloth dust from the Maker.

Between the two Daves they get the Little guy into a quilted jacket with a hood, and a sarong.

The little guy is initially skeptical because clothes are not very normal for a Tsin of his size but after a minute, he stops feeling so cold and itchily dry and that sitting down on the cloth is a lot more comfortable - and the weird little socks with the silicone dots mean his feet are no longer aching or sliding around, and he starts to come around to maybe there's a use for this.

Then he discovers pockets and his horizons are expanded.

"Graak!!"

"Yeah. Like.. so good." Dave H says. "They're yours. Dave will show you how to wash them."

"You need a name." says Dave A.

"Grak?"

"No not everyone is actually called Dave." he says. "Hang on..."

Dave A motions for the helmet and he and Dave H fuss with it. Dave A puts it on and drops the visor. Now it's being worn, the little guy can more appreciate the dumb friendly expression it seems to have. "Atrix." says Dave A and the hex grid lights up in a pleasing blue and gold pattern that the little guy immediately associates with his new friend.

Dave flips up the visor and pulls the chin peice down. "Oh yeah that really is more comfortable." he tells Dave H and they do some sort of complex hand/claw tap.

"OK. Name time."

They both look at the little guy who up until now has not had an actual name, and has mostly inf act had people try hard not to look at him or refer to him. Hmm. A name like the face patterns he always wanted, but could never have. the tip of his tail starts vibrating.

"Cat." says Dave A. "Cat... Fantastic."

"Really?" says Dave H. "No, let me re-phrase that. Really. hey, Cat, if you don't take the name, can I have it?"

"Grak!" says Cat.

"That's it bud." says Dave H, "That's your name, nobody gets to take it away. If they try, Kick their ass." and proffers a claw. Cat eyes it and tentatively bumps it with a tiny hand.

"So... finally got married. Like... pebble married." says Dave H and Dave A laughs. "I guess. But hey, I'm a modern progressive, non-biological Atrix..."

Cat looks up at everyone's foreheads.

"... But i have been told that I will be in trouble - All the trouble - if I decide to lay an egg."

"Better not do that then." says Dave The Human.

"No promises." says Dave the Atrix and flips down his visor. It's showing cartoon face that from this angle, somehow seems to have a wink for Cat.

[buggyandthebartoclub]

Some SFW Goofy / Silly HC's for Shachi!! For my beloved @mandiemegatron - my beloved Shachi mutual <3 THESE HC ARE SFW MY BLOG IS NOT head the warnings above! Ageless blogs without 'adult' in bio will be blocked if you interact!

Goofy/Random Shachi HC's (Silly/Goofy Shachi in love at the bottom as a bonus)

Music taste alternates between heavy rock and the cringiest shit you’ve ever heard bc it made him laugh ( He and Penguin listen to bbno$ and Yung Gravy, and I think that’s hilarious - pry that one from my cold dead hands.)

LOVES puns. I mean, just look at his fucking hat!

Also loves being cheesy/cheesy stuff. Silly poses, cringe outfits, bad puns, b rated movies, tacky patterns, you name it. If it makes a normal person cringe even just a little he LOVES it! (Again.. look at his hat!)

Also likes cute stuff like Law, but not embarrassed by it (see above point) and will go overboard w it if he’s messing w Law (imagine that one post of them all going to see the barbie movie?? Pen made Law promise for them dress up for it but Shachi got the outfits ready that’s how I imagined that happening anyway )

Either super great or absolute dog shit at games. No in between. Avoids the ones he sucks at like the plague. Is a sore loser and WILL pout if he’s lost enough times (still pouts even if he only loses a little but its more subtle and he can get over it quicker lol)

His jokes/humor are also the same as his style and game talents, His jokes are usually cheesy, and either really fuckin funny or absolute cringiest shit you’ve ever heard, almost no in-between 

Loves pranks. Goes without saying really

Has this uncanny knack for finding things people would be unable to decide if they like or not, like say a keychain of their fave character for example, but the character is doing some weird bizarre ooc shit or its some on the most unhinged knock off of the original they’ve ever seen

Will tell you wrong information with his whole ass chest. He believes it. He is a a bit dumbass. Himbo-y if you will. Is shocked when he realizes he is in fact wrong and thinks you’re fucking with him. Always takes a minute to convince him he’s actually wrong even though no one is ever fucking with him when they tell him he’s wrong NOT saying he is rude or mean about it is just genuinely shocked he’s wrong what do you MEAN you’re serious that much salt doesn’t go in there you’re just trying to mess him up haha Ikaku… oh shit Ikaku was serious!! that was too much salt wtf!! 

Hes always joking so he thinks everyone else is too sometimes… to his own detriment occasionally lol, always says sorry after for not taking them seriously after with an embarrassed laugh ————Silly/Goofy in Love Shachi HC’s————

Mad dumb when in love/crushing

Im talking giggly, wiggly, ramp up the funny guy act by 10 (at first, he does chill out the longer the crush lasts/the more he’s around them/the more developed the relationship is)

Mixes up words a lot and says lots of goofy shit, esp when trying to be punny AND flirty, his poor brain can’t always keep up

Heartfelt/over the top romantic, gets pretty cheesy

Cheesy is honestly core staple of his personality, you have to love laughing and having fun to be with him for sure because that’s what fills most of your days together if you’re with him

Is a tickle monster, uses it to his advantage to get more cuddles and/or kisses in And make his partner laugh

If he thinks something about him turns his partner/crush on/they like that about him will go out of his way to try and show off even after getting together. Like his arms? Will tie down the top half of his suit and claim to be hot while working.. when its super cold lol - not subtle at all, plays dumb when teased about it

Dishes it out way harder than he can take it, is a bit of a baby if teased too much- will deny at all costs. Still tells you if it was a good burn tho later on

[morethanonepage]

Do you have any opinions on modern day John's music tastes? I'm usually annoyed when they don't update them from the original time period. Like, sex pistols? Rly?

lmfao I actually think it makes sense, at his core John is a white english boy, ofc he'd be into the 'classics' of a genre* (and the Sex Pistols/Ramones era really IS the start of the punk genre) before being willing to explore anything more modern/of his own time period. like i would also believe him as a music snob who prefers vinyl to CD/digital music (i'm more 🙄 on him using the ipod in the Constantine show, for instance, but I also think it's implied Chas maybe have both brought and put it together for him).

of course i think comics hellblazer canon is that he's into the pistols' bc he was at that classic 1976 show in Manchester (I may have just made this up, it may just be *my* headcanon), modern john's backstory would probably be that he was a pretentious little weirdo rebelling against what would've been the most in opposition to pop music in the early 90s, got into local punk music, and then went looking for whatever ~the classics were. like i think he'd likely be a fan of local music/more modern punk as well but being a baseline Pistols' fanboy makes sense to me.

*also have to point out the most obnoxious show!john thing which is when he complains about reggae music when it's so closely tied to the history of punk. like, specifically with Johnny Rotten even. Bizarre writing choice imo, either the writers of the show didn't know that or they did and were making a real statement about John's white englishman blindspots of not knowing/respecting POC history & influence on stuff he likes [which is also supported by him being such a snob about the folk magic in the infamous mexico city episodes of the show, and the "magpie of magic" comment from Papa Midnite.] given his background i don't think it's shocking that john constantine is terrible re: intersectionality but it's worth remembering as one of his flaws (though: i think he's actually better about it in the comics).

[cloudydays69]

❇️Intro post thingy!!!❇️

Uhhh Hi! My name is Spencer, welcome to my blog I guess? I'm just on here being silly, nothing special. I'm Transmasc and go by both He/Him and They/Them pronouns!

Oh, and nicknames are welcome here too! You can also call me Shark, Dino, Cloudy or anything else y'all come up with. :D (if I'm comfortable with it)

My ask box is always open sooo, feel free to send anything there, speak yo shit :> /pos

(Also, I'm a minor, so keep note of that. You're welcome to interact with my posts and stuff obviously, idrc. Just no weird shit. Please.)

And also, I'm (possibly.) autistic and I have pretty bad anxiety, please be patient with me. It usually takes me a while to respond to things, but dw!

-!!⚠️Rules/DNI Criteria⚠️!!-

(alright, y'all know the drill.)

‼️DNI CRITERIA: If you support transphobia, homophobia, racism, ableism, problematic com-shippers, pro-shipping, pedophilia, ect (horrible shit) I will block you. Get the fuck out of here.‼️

❗General rules for this blog: Don't be an asshole, don't be a creep. That's all I gotta say.❗

Anyways, here's more stuff about me underneath!! :3

💚💉 More About me!💉💚

(Yes I like re-animator, how could you tell?)

This section is gunna list off the stuff I like, along with special interests! Many of the things I enjoy are centered around horror, movies, shows, games and music. Expect me to never shut up about any of these LMFAO. (I feel like this is the only place where I can be cringe and free where people actually kinda care idk)

🦠 Current interests rn🦠

(Expect these to change a lot, duh)

FAITH The Unholy Trinity

The Stanley Parable

Electric Dreams

Detroit Become Human

Re-animator

🧪Categories listed below!🧪

⚡Movies I love!!⚡

Re-animator, Evil Dead, Rocky Horror Picture Show, American Psycho, Little Shop of Horrors, the Saw franchise (still getting into!), Malignant and Electric Dreams.

🦴Shows I love!!🦴

Prodigal son, NBC's Hannibal, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (anime), Yuri!!! on Ice.

👾Games that are cool!!👾

Splatoon, Cult of the Lamb, FAITH the Unholy Trinity, KinitoPET, Sonic the Hedgehog, Detroit: Become Human, Pressure on Roblox, TSPUD!!

I have a switch btw, if anyone wants to add me, my friend code is SW-5412-3964-7506— I WAS chronically on Splatoon but I'm losing interest :(

📀Music!!💿

WWATT, Oingo Boingo, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Prozzäk, P!ATD and a lot of Vocaloid stuff. (The most normal music taste in the world /j) there's obviously more than that but whatever

And the things that I didn't really know how to categorize are analog horror, lost media, ARG's, sharks, rhythm games, cults and anything else I forgot. :p

Yeah that's about it for now byeee

[amostimprobabledream]

My Sin, My Siren (Homelander x OC)

Hello, Hello! So I'm finally getting around to something I've been wanting to do for a while - post a Homelander x OC fic! Bear with me as it's been a hot minute since I watched the show but I think this might be fun. Hope you enjoy! -

Quiet, melancholy music blared through tinny speakers, unseen by the figures onscreen.

The camera panned across a desolate landscape featuring a devastated Manhattan. As the camera swept across the once-busy street to really let you know how utterly fucked the situation was, a woman in a tastefully ruined outfit stumbled into view.

“Oh, god!” she cried, grabbing her hair. “What’s happened?!”

A man, not as artfully messy as the woman and instead just plain messy, joined her, and they clung to each other as they gazed out at the wreckage.

“It’s hopeless…” the man said, shaking his head. “They’re too strong. Who’s going to save us now?”

A set of booted feet walked into frame, the iconic American flag swaying. Instantly the fanfare switched up, into the iconic boom that viewers knew and loved, along with a familiar voice, sure and strong:

“Looks like you…need a hero.”

“So, what do you think?” Ashley Barrett said excitedly to the young woman beside her, hitting pause on the laptop, freezing the image of The Seven standing heroically against a post-apocalyptic background, the words Dawn of The Seven emblazoned across the screen in bold lettering.

Ashley may have worked with the shining stars of Vought on a regular basis and, thanks to the untimely demise of Madelyn Stilwell, she was climbing ever higher on the corporate career ladder. But she was still only human, and it wasn’t every day you had a face-to-face discussion with a freaking popstar! (Well, former popstar – her music taste had rather changed in recent years).

Cleo – no surname for her, at least not to the general public, she was simply Cleo - said nothing.

She just stared at Ashley, half of her elfin face obscured by sunglasses, which on the wrong person would have made her look like an insect, but through some magic of celebrities being above such things, they worked in her favour. It was a bright, sunny day, but Ashley suspected that she was actually wearing them to hide a hangover, considering her laconic she had been throughout this entire meeting. Perhaps it hadn’t been strictly necessary for her to visit the set to view the footage of the newest Seven movie, but Ashley had been unable to resist pushing the issue – it would be good if a paparazzi happened to get a snapshot of Cleo on-set, even in the unlikely event they went with someone else.

“This isn’t the final cut, of course, but it’s a general idea of what we’re going for for the seventh movie of the Seven franchise.” Ashely babbled on when Cleo didn’t offer her a response – perhaps she needed to sell it harder, although Cleo’s agent had sworn that she was indeed interested in Vought’s offer. “You know, it’s really going to tie in everything together nicely, we’re handling Translucent’s absence very tastefully and A-Train will-“

Slowly, as Ashley spoke, Cleo’s jaw flexed and a large, pink bubble slowly inflated from between her lips, the woman methodically making it larger and larger as Ashley babbled on, until she was forced to sputter to a stop when said bubble became so large that Ashley couldn’t actually see Cleo for it – for one bizarre moment it almost looked like the thing had consumed the entirety of her head, given that Cleo’s hair was only a shade or so darker than the gum.

Satisfied Ashley had stopped talking, Cleo popped the bubble with a quick, decisive chomp of her teeth, sucking the deflated gum back into her mouth and wedging it into her cheek. It was starting to lose its flavour since she’d been chewing it since she the hotel this morning, but she refused to spit it out until she could get her hands on a fresh pack of the stuff.

“Fine.” Cleo said, feeling like it had been an age since her actual input was required – this Audrey woman or whatever her name was had been continuing a one-woman monologue for what felt like forever. Cleo checked her phone as she spoke. “I can probably squeeze something in between, you know, my tour dates.”

Despite the lackluster response, Ashley rallied gamely – she was a professional, after all.

“Really? That’s great! Because you know, viewership is changing from the first The Seven movie and with your vocal talents it will really draw in the market on- “

Cleo raised her eyes, her irritation – which had been simmering before she’d even opened her eyes – finally became too much. She’d have to get hold of an aide and ask for some paracetamol or preferably something stronger. Much stronger.

“Ugh, spare me the corporate bullshit, won’t you?” Cleo snapped, finally looking away from the smartphone in her hands to shoot a glare at Ashley which managed to be palpable despite the sunglasses. “My agent’s already cleared it, so I’ll do it. Jeez. It’s not like writing a single for this schlockfest is gonna be hard, is it?”

“It’s not?” Ashley said, stupidly. Cleo inhaled slowly through her nose.

“It’s just like every anthem for the soundtrack of these damn movies. All about conquering the odds and uniting under the worst and diversity and God bless America, blah blah blah.” Cleo said, the disdain dripping off her voice making it pretty clear what she thought of said messages. “Is it too much to ask that you don’t have some D-lister doing a shitty pop remix of my song over the end credits, by the way? Like can I get some kind of clause in my contract specifying that?”

After all, if she was going to attach her voice to some stupid blockbuster movie, she might as well try to have as much control over the song as possible, right? Ashley sputtered but only for a moment, hurriedly tapping something into her phone.

“Well, yes, of course, I’m sure that wouldn’t be a problem.” She said, as she started typing up an email to Andy, ordering him not to call any said D-list musicians – they had a list of them pre-approved by Vought that had lined up, so she’d have to make sure nobody had jumped the gun and breathed a word of it early. She’d fucking kill them if they had and Cleo walked.

"You know," a voice rang out across the way, making Ashley nearly jump out of her skin. She heard that voice in her dreams sometimes – or perhaps nightmares would be a more accurate term. "Most people would consider it a lucrative business opportunity…hell, maybe even an honour - to be allowed to write a single for a movie about The Seven."

Both women turned.

Homelander himself stood there, clearly having overheard if not all then most of the conversation. He strode closer, like a big cat homing in on its selected prey, until he stopped just in front of Ashley and Cleo. Homelander clasped his hands behind his back and cocked his head, addressing the comment to the latter. The next sentence was spat out with a cheery venom that was a specialty of his, his blue eyes narrowing just a fraction.

"So what the fuck is your problem?"

Ashley looked horrified, but the newcomer looked at him without a hint of shame. Behind those ridiculously large sunglasses, Homelander saw her eyebrows quirk up as she looked him up and down - everybody in the country knew what Homelander looked like, of course, but people always tended to be surprised by how big he was up close.

She was attractive, he conceded, even if she had chosen to dye her hair that gaudy shade of pink, like a waterfall of candyfloss, sideways bangs just brushing the upper frame of the sunglasses. Her body was the result of strict diet and exercise typical of young, female musicians under a record label, though as his eyes slid down her body, Homelander noted that her breasts were definitely not the work of a surgeon - they looked pert and squeezable in that black Lycra tank top that was hugging them with vigour. And on the breeze, there was a strong tang of a sweet, tangy perfume…and…something else, something not quite -

She noted him blatantly sizing her up and scoffed.

"Oh, come on." She said, as if she already knew him, as if they were on equal enough terms that she was addressing him so casually. "Nobody likes to admit they're putting out a bad product, but this movie is pandering, derivative bullshit. I mean, ‘Girls Get It Done?’ Fucking really? How did they manage to stay that without wanting to fucking barf?"

Homelander's smile tightened and Ashley made this nervous shifting motion in his peripheral vision, like a little kid needing to use the bathroom but too timid to put up their hand for permission.

"Oh, really?" he said, through gritted teeth. Still smiling, though. Always still smiling. The girl shrugged, as if it was all one and the same to her.

"Look, it's not your fault. Nobody’s blaming you guys for acting in this thing. You guys didn't write this godawful script – you’re just in it for the paycheck, people respect that. But it's not like I'm the only one who's noticed the quality of these movies has gone down because Vought just wants to pump them out faster to sell more action figures and keep up with all the other movies franchises right now. That's why I'm here, isn't it?"

"Cleo's been selected to bring in the young millennial audience," Ashley jumped in, quickly, before Cleo could say anything else. Homelander probably didn’t know who she was – she was famous, of course, but they simply didn’t operate in the same sphere. "Of course, the decision isn't final yet, but-"

Cleo shot Ashley a look, and the sunglasses didn't hide her expression from Homelander. No doubt she thought the decision not yet being final was ridiculous, especially after she'd had to endure the unbearable burden of being escorted to a movie set and viewing footage of an upcoming blockbuster for a multi-million-dollar franchise before anyone else.

Before Homelander could wipe that supercilious smirk off the bitch’s face – Cleo, was it? – another woman with curly, dark hair and an equally dark suit approached them with a dazzling smile.

“So sorry about that, it was an urgent call.” she said, smoothly assimilating into the conversation like a pro. “Are we all good here? Oh, Homelander, what a pleasure!”

Homelander nodded curtly, slightly mollified at the genuine delight from the agent, though his sharp blue eyes cut right back to Cleo, who was fanning herself with one hand. Despite her poise, her face had a faint sheen of sweat.

“Jess, can we get the fuck out of this heat? I’ve seen everything I need to see, and I need to do some stuff before tonight.”

“Right, of course.” Jessica nodded, before turning to Homelander and Ashley. “Can’t wait to see the final product, you guys, you all are working so hard! We’ll let you know when a demo is ready and you can have a listen to it, see if it needs any tweaking or rewording or whatever before everything’s made official. “Ashley, you have my number. Ciao, ciao!”

With a wave, Jessica managed to chivvy Cleo ahead of her and depart from the conversation all in one smooth move, even with Cleo side-eyeing her at the notion that she would need to put in extra work into the single once she’d written it. Ashley glanced at Homelander to gauge his expression, but to her dismay it had settled into that eerie blankness he sometimes got – that look that meant you were never sure which way his mood was going to swing.

“Well, I’d better…” Ashley said, and shuffled away when it became clear Homelander was no longer paying any attention to her. No doubt he’d find her later when he wanted something else.

Homelander stood for a moment, surrounded by the chaos of a movie set and all the people who were supposed to make sure it ran smoothly.

“Oh, my god.” He heard Starlight say, and he turned his head to see her in her civilian clothing, her ponytail whipping around as she watched the two women leaving set. “Was that Cleo?”

There was a note of genuine pleasure and surprise in her voice, even if she tried to play it down, Homelander heard it loud and clear, especially given how Starlight had taken to walking and talking like a Vought-approved mannequin recently. No doubt it was her idea of being on her best behaviour after she was spreading her legs for some fuckwit who had helped bring down Translucent.

He forced himself to turn away from those thoughts – dwelling on how that had all gone down, the pieces slotting into place, every misfortune that had landed on him – landed on The Seven – finally making perfect sense, and then Maeve of all people convincing him otherwise…well, even if Homelander had understood the logic, had heart the rabbit-thumping of Starlight’s heart and was convinced she was telling the truth, it still annoyed him immensely, seeing Maeve leap to that doe-eyed little idiot’s defense when she barely looked at him, these days.

“Um, Homelander?”

A voice broke into his reverie and though the distraction was something of a necessary one, he still snapped a petulant;

“What?”

The aide flinched, clutching her tablet to her chest like a shield.

“Ashley asked me to say hair and makeup just wanted to quickly see you before we start shooting the bridge scene. Uh, in the meantime, is there anything you need?”

Homelander pressed his lips together a moment, before an idea suddenly burst in his brain like the flashbang of a grenade. With startling speed, he turned and clapped a friendly hand on the aide’s shoulder – her knees buckled a little, but she managed to stay standing, peering up into the toothy smile on Homelander’s face.

“Actually, there is.” Homelander said, his tone pleasant. “Need you to look something for me.”

The aide brightened a little, hopeful that she had been able to salvage his obviously bad mood a little, and she hurriedly lifted up her tablet, propping it on one hand and preparing to type.

“Of course! Just name it.”

Homelander smiled, a plan already forming in his mind.

“Here’s what I want…”

~

The crowd was alight with excitement.

People holding up placards or photographs, girls in flower crowns and boys in eyeliner. Total strangers looking at each other with excited smiles, young and old united in their fervour. All heads were turned towards the stage, or to the person next to them to mutter something. Somewhere in the distance was a scream of exhilaration or excitement, a rising cry like a firework.

At the front of the stage stood Cleo. Despite the black minidress she had on that looked more like a racy nightgown than actual clothes, she seemed perfectly at ease standing in front of a crowd of thousands with so much of her on display. She wore tough-looking boots to counteract the girlish lace on the bottom of the dress, and a disarming smirk spread across her lips, painted a dark plum. Dry ice plumed around her ankles as she approached the lip of the stage.

“Y’alright, New York?” she drawled into her microphone, and the audience screamed. Thunder rumbled overhead, the clouds above the stadium an ominous dark grey. Cleo laughed as she walked across the stage, the weather threatening rain seeming to energise her.

“Yeah!” cried the audience.

Cleo thrust a finger at the crowd, the dagger-like end of her nail jabbing into the night.

“I can’t fucking hear you!”

“YEAH!” the audience roared, swept up in their own excitement.

Cleo chuckled softly, adrenaline pulsing through her. They were staring up at her, waiting with bated breath. And she knew not to keep them waiting too long, so she sucked in a lungful of night air and began to sing, the microphone clutched in her hand.

The audience recognised the song – one of Cleo’s most popular tracks from her debut album, and nostalgic sighs and a few enthusiastic screams swept out over the crowd. She loved the song too, and knowing that they loved it nearly as much as she did strengthened her, like she’d taken a hit of something.

High, high above the crowd, standing atop one of the floodlights that ringed the stadium, a figure watched the proceedings like a hawk, hands behind his back, chin down. He wasn’t worried about being spotted – even if one of the cretins down below had vision that good, none of them would tear their eyes away from the girl onstage.

Cleo’s voice poured through the speakers, honey with a hint of a rasp in it. Homelander’s fine-tuned hearing meant that he was picky about what music he would tolerate – even moreso what he’d actively go out of his way to listen to. He didn’t understand a lot of the beeping and shrill electronic noises that seemed popular lately and had little patience for the autotuned screeching so many ‘musicians’ relied on either.

But this?

This was something else.

Despite himself, he could feel goosebumps rippling across the flesh concealed beneath his suit. From his vantage point he could see and hear everything perfectly, and he drank it in greedily, relishing that he alone had such a perfect view.

Who would have thought such an obnoxious brat would have a voice like that? Homelander’s eyes took on a half-lidded slant as he observed her. Cleo. She was in her element, playing up to an audience that loved her, couldn’t get enough of her and her singing. He could understand what she was feeling, the euphoria that comes from being adored by people you’d never even know the names of. And all you had to do was perform for them, give them exactly what they wanted, and they were yours.

Cleo didn’t know she had an extra audience member, of course. One who hadn’t paid, no less. But Homelander made no move to make himself known – he just let the melodious voice wash over him in a soothing tide, that voice infiltrating his ears and settling in his mind. He could have listened to her for hours. He’d never heard a thing like it. Like her.

Suddenly, he knew that the decision of who was writing the single for Dawn of the Seven wasn’t unclear it all. It was her, or no-one.

Homelander would make sure of it.

[sacredglitch]

time to feed the hyperfixation with some headcanons for the semi robotic person;

- After the roller skating incident, he took it upon himself to actually learn about skating and now uses it predominantly to move about. Bought a pair of those shoes with the kick out wheels and Heelys, of course.

-Since he, canonly, can pick up other universes and planets TV shows; to pass time he'll find something bizarre and tune out the world to watch it.

- Adding to this he makes himself close his eyes when doing so. Not because it makes him see things clearer, but because when he's focused on the show, he does not blink. Which unnerves the other Muppets greatly.

- This mother fucker is the most autistic puppet I've seen and I will die on this hill

- Also v body dysmorphic. He turned himself from a 'person' to a technobot for crying out loud.

- Y'know how people will stick their tongue out on poles during winter? Digit does it but to CRT TVs. Kermit has walked in on him more times than he can count just face smushed to the TV. Apparently he likes the feel and 'taste'.

- Stims with the coil cable on his switchboard if he's idling.

- Finds a lot of comfort being close to someone. But this can turn out to be a little much for some as Digit doesn't comprehend personal space most of the time. Kermit is the only one that's adapted to him, normally getting Digit to move back a little but holds onto his hand or jacket for assurence.

- Sometimes when words fail him, Digit will take out his head port and plug it into the nearest screen, displaying the thought he's trying to convey.

- If this dude was an actual human, he would be 6' something. He radiates tall slender man.

- Also 100% naturally stands with his hand like a t-rex.

- Flinches a lot and tends to make himself look unthreatening (this is somewhat canon, watch him carefully when Kermit loses his shit over the band practicing, or Gonzo yelling)

- Common sayings tend to pass over his head such as bite the bullet or right as rain. He will take them literally.

- Adding on that, he's had 'blue screen' moments where too many conflicting thoughts or tasks cause him to freeze. Such as needing to ensure the selected shows are working without interfering with the broadcast or similar situations. Usually a flick of his switch fixes him though he feels uncomfortable afterwards, almost like dealing with the after effects of a migraine.

- As much as he loves music and techno, he will happily vibe out to white, brown or static noise if things are just a bit much.

- Favourite dance is The Robot (naturally) but really enjoys The Wave too. Tried to get Kermit to do it with him but he just got the frog flailing his arms in response, implying his arms can't do it. Digit just blinked at him then reversed the dance back, unbothered by it.

there's probably more that my brain has yet to plop in but these are my favourite. I've also been thinking of a what if he was in the muppets (2015) and how he'd fit in...

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | Miami Vice (Mann, 2006)

I last saw this movie nine years ago, when my awareness of the original TV series only was through parodies like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and a general consensus I’d encountered that it was just some cheesy ‘80s cop show. And at the time I was pretty taken with its arthouse action movie stylings, if I can glibly summarize what the movie’s trying to do. So I was long overdue for a rewatch, especially after I’d spent the second half of last year going through the series. And listen, there’s no way I can be fully objective about any comparisons between the two, given that I could not shut up about the show the entire time I watched it and in the months since, and how obsessively I’ve rewatched the first encounter between Crockett and Tubbs and the subsequent chase scene on Youtube, and the fact that I still regularly listen to Jan Hammer’s score. So there may be a tinge of “this isn’t the Miami Vice I remember” fanboy whining to this.

But while this is on the surface a different beast, I don’t actually think it’s as divorced from the original series as seems to be the consensus. Michael Mann obviously has certain interests that he returns to, and there will be similarities in how you explore international drug dealing wherein Miami is a nexus, even if the particulars of how such crime is conducted differs across decades. But the sense of mood I don’t think is actually that divorced from the series, with its iconic music-video style needledrops that let you linger in feeling, it’s just now the music featured is way worse. (I’m a musical luddite and don’t listen to much past the mid ‘90s, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I do think Mann’s taste in music here is substantially worse than it was in the ‘80s.)

Mann is applying a mumbly distanced arthouse style to the dramatics here, which is a novel choice given that action movies about drug dealers tend to be high on the dramatics. But quite frankly I’ve lost my tolerance for mumbly distanced arthouse style over the years, and I think it’s an especially bad mix with most of the performances here, which this time around I found bizarrely hammy. John Ortiz plays the main villain like he’s in an SNL sketch, and there’s an especially embarrassing scene where Naomie Harris and Eddie Marsan shout at each other in their respective shitty accents. Some of the actors seem to be channeling their TV counterparts but doing it way worse, like Colin Farrell doing a bad take on Don Johnson’s growl but also dropping it with every second line, or Barry Shabaka Henley trying to evoke Edward James Olmos’ minimalism and precision but instead coming off as a sleepy nonentity. The only good performances here are by Jamie Foxx, whose charisma survives Mann’s smothering dramatic style, and Tom Towles, whose unsavoury aura pierces through it not unlike how the better guest stars’ presences would emanate in the original series. Others seem to be taken with Gong Li’s performance, but I found her dialogue too stilted, and whatever emotion is supposed to be there between her and Farrell I did not feel at all this time around.

All that being said, the visual style did still work for me this time around. A lot has been said by smarter people than myself about Mann’s use of digital cinematography. I will point out collapsing effect of the digital image, both in its sense of depth (which makes the over the shoulder shots in the action scenes especially immediate) and in colour (with lights becoming bright smears and shadows crushing in their darkness) and the tension between the movie’s stylization and verisimilitude are summarized somewhat poetically in the dialogue. “Fabricated identity and what’s really up collapse into one frame.” And the art direction here is much more muted than in the original series (not a lot of pastel or neon here), but I do think the way the digital image makes the texture of the fabrics shimmer makes for a pretty interesting visual flourish.