#this whole sequence of shots is so dreamy

[bisclavret]

arthurian cinema: a vibe collection

my rule of thumb when it comes to watching movies is "must a movie be 'good'? is it not enough for it to have a bit of a weird/trippy/artsy/horny/allegorical/gay vibe?" and thank god for that because arthurian cinema has this sort of vibe in spades! so here's an assortment of some arthurian films i've seen + a reason or two why they passed my nebulous yet specific vibe check:

lancelot du lac 1974 is my #1 forever for the doomed repressed symbolism-soaked post-grail pre-camlann so-rigid-it's-camp atmosphere and the interpersonal dynamics between lancelot guinevere and gauvain the likes of which i haven't seen anywhere else outside of the texts

tristan et iseult 1972 is really just avant-garde performance art + the surviving copy is really rank which adds a je ne sais quoi... and congrats to tristan on his top surgery!

morgane et ses nymphes for the "my lesbian roadtrip led me to morgan le fay's realm and now she's obsessed with me" plot and the dreamy hazy eurotrash energies

perceval le gallois 1978 has such kitschy surrealist teletubbies-esque visuals that it has nearly defeated me. i still haven't finished it. it's rare that a film feels like an assault on my eyeballs and yet i am compelled and i cannot look away

sir gawain and the green knight 2002 is a strangely horny stained glass animation that will give you motion sickness while saying bi rights over and over and over. it feels like a religious sunday cartoon. it won a bafta

the buried giant – a beautifully atmospheric novel in its own right – is getting adapted into a stop motion film soon! i already know it will earn a spot on this list so consider this a place-holder

the green knight 2021 for the giants scene (and the 360-degree sequence of a tied-up gawain Losing The Game)

a knight's tale entirely because they dance to bowie's golden years

knightriders for the most charming merlin design i've ever seen and also for the whole knights jousting on motorbikes concept

monty python and the holy grail for just about everything but above all else the bit where they're animated and then the animator abruptly dies of a heart attack and then they stop being animated

excalibur 1981 for everything as well but i cannot overstate the effect lancelot's dream where he wrestles his armor and homoerotically un-stabs himself had on me. i will never shut up about it

king arthur: legend of the sword just kidding i haven't seen this nor do i intend to. i'm just enamored with this 2-second shot of a tree girl and her tree titties and i think that everyone should witness her

[backjustforberena]

EVE BEST as  VANESSA BELL  in “Life In Squares” - thanks to @evebestonline for the footage.

[skinks]

SPOILERS FOR SALTBURN

I haven’t seen Promising Young Woman but I did just see Saltburn and now I’m so dubious about Fennell’s politics that I’m basically obligated to see PYW to confirm my suspicions. It’s not that I think she’s conservative necessarily, but more that she’s so upper class London nepo baby rich that she could aspire to socialist feminism as much as she likes but it’ll never land because her background precludes her from ever having anything relevant to say about class.

There were things I liked about Saltburn. The editing, performances, black humour, costumes, sets, cinematography (NOT the aspect ratio - will explain) and the ballsiness of certain “transgressive” scenes I did appreciate. This is what makes it so frustrating and disappointing as a film. If you turn your brain off, it’s a wild ride, quite hypnotic and lovely to look at in that specific dreamy way that the dark, cool interiors of a house get on the hottest days of the summer. I hated the 4:3 aspect ratio though, it was POINTLESS. Why was it used? Surely it would have made more sense to capture the grand expansiveness of the titular estate in widescreen? It just felt twee for twee’s sake, like it was shot to produce compositions ready-cropped for big gifs on tumblr.

The “shocking” “transgressive” “erotic” stuff is not particularly any of those things. I mean, for me anyway. It might titillate the type of new-puritan gen z-ers who self censor it to “seggs”, but there was only one sequence that felt really “wow, I haven’t seen that in movie before!” levels of Going There. And even then these scenes always felt self-consciously affected, like Fennell only included them because she wanted to write a movie with fReAkY stuff, as opposed to the freaky stuff coming organically from the characters. I remember sitting in the cinema to see Call Me By Your Name feeling like I was burning to a crisp at the scene where Elio huffs a pair of a man’s used swim trunks - because it felt so authentic to this expression of a character who is at critical levels of desperate teenage horniness. In Saltburn, when Oliver gets down on his knees and slurps Felix’s jizzy bath water, it’s like… okay? Why? What does he want? We saw him lie about knowledge of the fancy plates to ingratiate himself to the dad, we already have reason to distrust anything he says, so it’s hard to believe he has any authentic desire for Felix. And that’s the main problem with the whole movie - the writing is fairly atrocious.

There’s no mystery. There’s no ANYTHING. There’s a tiny quick-cut flash montage of future events in the movie right at the start of the thing, so already we’re going in with no doubts that Oliver is gonna go nuts. So we know that bad shit is gonna happen, and yet the movie pulls out a big Twist Ending reveal like we… weren’t supposed to know that he’s been bad from the beginning? We don’t need all these flashbacks to show us he’d planned his dastardly deeds offscreen the whole time when we’ve already seen him commit OTHER dastardly deeds ONSCREEN. He’s given zero motivation. He tells us he did what he did because he hates this rich family, starting with Jacob Elordi’s Felix, but he had planned the whole thing from before they ever even met, or saw how the family treats the other two main victims of class in the film, Pamela and Farleigh. When Oliver starts spinning his web, Felix has never been anything but genuinely kind to him. Felix never did him any personal wrong except being born handsome, popular, and rich.

That’s the other glaring issue. Fennell has said this is supposed be another one of these “eat the rich” satires, but…. beyond the usual foot-in-mouth clueless social blunders, the movie portrays none of the rich family as even all that bad. Oliver isn’t even all that poor! His family are revealed to be extremely comfortably upper-middle class! This is not Parasite!!! The worst ethical thing they do is cut off Farleigh from family money - but it’s obvious to the audience that this is actually Oliver’s fault. So all we’re left with is this main character who’s the worst of the lot, with no reason to do what he’s doing except for being an asocial loser creep. If you’re making a class satire in Britain and your message at the end of the film is “those creepy disgusting middle class will pervert and mutate themselves to have what the beautiful victimised rich people do” you’ve… uhh. Failed. Somewhere along the line.

It wants to be The Talented Mr Ripley, but it is confused and stupid. Given Fennell’s background and social circle, is it any wonder? It’s like she’s looked around at her fellow Eton Oxford lot and thought “so the poors hate us because we’re a bit silly and old fashioned, right? no wonder they’re jealous, we’re all so sexy and our houses are so nice! Of course they’d do anything to have this!” She hasn’t seemed to conceive of the fact that the working class in Britain hate the upper class because millions live in genuine poverty while they get to obstruct social change because of archaic birthright. That many people in Britain don’t actually want to be the upper class, they want an end to them.

The thing is, I had fun watching it. I laughed a lot, and then left the cinema distinctly unimpressed, as one often does after interacting with people who go to private school and are perfectly charming but clearly still think they’re better/smarter than you because they have generational land, or multiple houses. I worked for 6 years as the stable groom for the heiress to a publishing fortune, I’ve met plenty of these people, believe me. All this to say, that this is deeply frustrating because I would like to turn my brain off from the dodgy politics and just appreciate a movie that goes out of its way to be visually stylish and includes a scene where a sobbing Barry Keoghan gets naked and fucks the fresh grave of his boy best friend. Now that’s entertainment

[asgoodeasgold]

Close up gifs

Portrait

I think this is my favourite sequence of the whole trailer, it's so stunning. The lighting and photography are wonderful.

I love the fade into the dreamy shot of CS Lewis anguished in the woods, and how beautifully Matthew conveys his torment.

His performance is promising to be another acting masterclass.

📷 My edits from Sony Pictures Classics trailer of Freud's Last Session

Link to trailer

[smokin-symbiotes]

October Horror Movies #7

'Tetsuo: The Iron Man' (1989) - Dir. Shinya Tsukamoto

Summary: A salaryman and his girlfriend kill a metal-obssesed pedestrian in a hit-and-run. In a surreal series of events, his vengeful spirit transforms the salaryman into a metal monster. 

Take the budget and dreaminess of 'Eraserhead.' Combine it with Cronenberg's body politics and philosophy. Then add H.G Gieger's psychosexual art direction. Whip in a dash of the manic energy of a Sam Raimi film. The end result is likely to resemble 'Tetsuo: The Iron Man ' 

It's a movie that's best experienced mostly blind, so I was aware of the body horror but wasn't aware of it's carefree yet manic energy, it's surreal and loose narrative.  

The director was apparently making a statement about how modern Japanese life turns everyone into robots, creatures of steel that only know how to mindlessly perpetuate themselves. That signaled very early on in the opening sequence, with a man "mechanizing" himself by inserting rebar into an open wound, followed by shots of metal trash and a neon sign that says, "New World." The new world will require you to be cold and metallic to survive yet the current world treats its abundance of metal as disposable, which calls into question the foundation of both worlds. They're both built by disposable, consumerist trash, and the New World serves as a kind of "call to the void." "Fuck it," New World says, "the world is filled with metal junk. Let us become junk ourselves." 

The art direction and prosthetics are just brilliant. The Salaryman (Tomorowo Taguchi) and Metal Fetishist's (Tsukamoto) transformations are psychosexual abominations conjured from a scrap heap. They are, paradoxically, jagged creatures of steel but have enough human, fleshy looseness to them that puts them somewhere in the middle. There's more than enough sadomasochistic/mechanical sexual imagery to go around, too. Three words. Kung pow Power drill penis. 

While this was no doubt included for shock value, all of it plays into the idea that metal isn't just a disease that invades your body and corrupts you. It's a liberating force that frees you from the constraints of a neoliberal capitalist society like Japan. 

In metal, there is sexual and social liberation. The final 20 minutes of the move turn into a toxic love story between the Salaryman and the Fetishist, with the two finally becoming one in a giant, phallic, metal body. They vow that they'll turn everything into rust with their powers, declaring "Our love can destroy this whole fucking world."  

They are presented as masculine, inhuman destroyers, literally embodied in a giant metal penis. However, the sensualness they show each other right before they "tie the knot" (and the mutually masochistic relationship that the Salaryman has with his girlfriend before and after his transformation) shows that there is more to the metaphor of metal. Maybe the world, with all its metal crap, isn't worth a damn. Maybe it's just better to let the metal freak in you out, find some other metal freaks, and fuck the world with love until it rusts. 

[ichchasharma-alevel-media]

EdITING dAY 1

LINE-UP

No film is complete without being edited. My team and I had a meet a day before our edit which helped us all understand how tomorrow was going to go. I also made notes of everything we discussed, as a reference for the next day.

The first thing we did in the editing room was choosing which takes we were going to be using for the final product. Since I had already told the editor to keep a list using all the clap-ins this work was done pretty easily. This year we were a lot more prepared to use the FCP software than the previous year mainly due to more practice. We immediately got to the lining up the scenes. I as the director had to work closely with the editor on this. I explained to him the chronology of the film and what sequence will be taking place. The screenplay was there for reference. I wanted Samaira entering, hearing a sound, going to the window and shutting it, starts fidgeting with the bowls, pricks her finger,hears the light flickering, shuts it and panics, texts her brother, yells at the shadow, reassures herself, her monologue, insanity and a phone call, gives up, brother's concern, flashbacks, death. This was the broad characterisation in my mind. After we had imported all the necessary clips we watched the whole line-up and then got to all the edits, cuts and transition. Being the director I also once saw the whole film for any major continuity or even any other issues (like looking at the camera, incorrect shutter speed, somone in the background.

The next important thing was cutting. The editor and I had discussed most of this before hand when working on the shot division so it was easier for us. We got to putting inserts of the close-ups for the first scene and matching the timings. Matching the timing was an important aspect and while the editor operated the computer and actually performed the action, I would give 'okay' for when I thought it looked synchronised. We did this for her eye movement of when she looks outside, with the pan of the outside setting. It was necessary to ensure smooth editing since otherwise the film would look too unrealistic. I also asked the editor to put a black screen after she shuts the drapes and before she pulls out the kettle for a match cut. Since we constantly had to trim certain clips for a perfect match this process took a little while. We also did not have to really move any clips around after the initial timeline because the clip sequence I had given was already in a logical order.

One thing we did add was when Samaira looks outside and laughs in panic she was on a conversation with her brother. To make this more clear to the audience we put in an actual clip of Jay picking up the phone making it more of a conversation.

One of the most difficult clips to edit was when she throws her things around as we had taken several angles of that shot and we had to make sure when cutting to another angle the room looked the same as in the previous angle. Since in my director's POV, the film kept getting more fast paced, we also had to start layering more since more shots would be over lapping with each other.

I did not have many transitions in mind. One was having the match cut which we did using the black screen between the two clips. Another match cut was to start off the flashbacks. I did not want to take a very flashy or dreamy transition for this one since it would not match the mood of the film and scene but one apparent enough to indicate that this is from the past.

Our entire line-ups with its edits and transitions got over on the first day itself and we were ready to start working with the sound tracks on day 2.

[bi-bard]

Chick Flick Moments - Sam Winchester Imagine (Supernatural)

Title: Chick Flick Moments

Pairing: Sam Winchester X Reader

Requested: by an anonymous reader

Word Count: 2,363 words

Warning(s): violence, cussing, Sam embarrassing himself, spoilers for any movie/show listed in the author's note

Summary: (Season 11) Gabriel takes a break from hiding to teach (Y/n) and Sam to forgive each other.

Author's Note: I had so much fun putting this request together! Also, if I remember correctly, this reader wanted to remain anonymous.

Here are links to all the scenes that inspired parts of this imagine:

1 (Princess Bride), 2 (8x12 Criminal Minds; can't find just the scene to link), 3 (Moulin Rouge), 4 (The Notebook), 5 (The 10 Things I Hate About You), 6 (Gilmore Girls), 7 (La La Land)

Hey! I did a rewrite of the ending of Supernatural. It took a really long time to complete, so it would mean a lot to me if you check it out. Here’s a link! (it’s on my personal account)

-----------------------------------

I rolled my eyes as I walked through the bunker.

Sam was still ranting about the most recent hunt. I was just tired of listening to it. Dean had long since given up trying to control his brother, who had shown no sign of listening to anyone.

"You can't just throw yourself into every single enemy," Sam yelled. "Fun fact, you're not Superman!"

"Oh my god," I finally, turning around. I had been halfway through the library at this point. Dean continued through the bunker, ignoring us. "I ran up to one extra vamp because you were about to get your throat ripped out! Yes, I put myself in danger but it was to save you!"

"Why are you so desperate to be a hero," he asked.

"Why are you so pissy that I saved you," I shouted back.

I let out a yell before turning and leaving.

"Where are you going?"

"To bed," I shouted from down the hall. "Maybe you'll be nicer in the morning! You're welcome for saving your ass!"

I stormed into my room and slammed the door shut. I changed quickly, throwing my old clothes into the corner before curling up on my bed. My emotions got the better of me. I started crying into my pillow.

Imagine saving the man you secretly loved... and then he got mad at you about it.

I fell asleep crying that night.

--time skip--

I shot awake, cringing at how bright it was.

I looked around, letting my eyes adjust to the light.

I was on a hill. I was on a hill, lying in the grass with the sun shining on my face. This is not good.

I stood up and did a circle to look around the long stretches of grass. Nothing looked even slightly familiar.

"For fuck's sake," I muttered.

I decided that the best option would be to try to climb down and find a person... somewhere.

I was just about to start making my way down the hill when I felt a hand grab me.

Out of pure fear, I grabbed the person and pulled them from behind me. The person went flying down the hill.

"(Y/n)," I heard Sam's voice yell as he rolled down the hill.

I put my hand over my mouth. He soon stopped rolling and then he stood up, scrambling to pull the black mask off of his face. I sighed, dropping my hand when I saw he was alright.

"Sam," I called.

"Your instinct is to throw some down a hill," Sam asked.

"When a masked man tries to grab me, definitely," I replied. "Fun fact, Sam, I can actually defend myself."

He gave me a sarcastic smile. I shot it right back to him.

Sam looked down at his outfit before sighing and shrugging at me. He had just started to move back up the hill when my visions went dark.

I opened my eyes a few moments later.

What had been an open field was now a dark warehouse or factory. I saw Sam across from me, but also a group of people behind him. I recognized them. They were characters from Criminal Minds, a guilty pleasure I watched when we weren't hunting.

I tried to figure out what was happening.

Then, I became all too aware of the barrel of a gun pressing into my neck.

"No," Sam yelled.

It clicked.

Sam was supposed to be Spencer. I was Maeve. This was Zugzwang.

My heart dropped.

"Wait, please, don't," Sam yelled as the gun pressed harder on my neck.

"Sam, shut up," I snapped.

"Me for (Y/n)," he shouted.

"You would do that," Diane- the unsub of that episode- asked.

"Yes," Sam replied.

"No," I yelled. "Sam, shut up."

"You shut up," Diane growled at me.

"One difference between me and her...," I growled back.

I grabbed the gun, pushing it forward, away from my neck. The bullet she tried to fire hit the brick wall. I turned, bringing an elbow down on her arm. Her hand dropped the gun into my grasp. I pointed it toward her.

"...I'm not scared of a simple gun."

The others walked over and arrested her. I looked at Sam.

"If you continued, she would've killed herself, which would've killed me," I explained. He furrowed his eyebrows. "I watch this show when we aren't hunting."

He walks over, going to hug me before the scene changes again.

"Holy...," I trailed off as I looked around.

Around us, we could see the tops of roofs and a beautiful night sky. It was almost a dreamy setting.

"Where are we now," Sam asked.

"Only the great Moulin Rouge," Sam and I both twirled around to face... Gabriel. "I know, I know... I'm not dead, anyway!"

I rolled my eyes.

"You two need to learn a lesson," he pointed at us.

"It's like back in 2010," I mumbled. "Play our roles to get out. Probably why we were pulled out of the last two."

"You'll fall into them naturally, I promise," Gabriel smirked. "And yes. Stop ignoring the plotline."

"Alright... sure, I was gonna get shot for your crappy game," I snapped sarcastically.

Then, he was gone. I rolled my eyes.

"So, what are the roles," Sam asked as I walked around the top of the elephant.

"Well, Christian and Satine," I pointed between us. "Maeve and Spencer. The Princess Bride and Westley. It's all romance."

"Why," Sam scrunched his face up.

"Because Gabe wants to get his rocks off," I said sarcastically, "I don't know, Sam!"

I walked down the stairs of the elephant. It was gorgeous here. It was just as vibrant as the movie made it look.

"Wow," I look back at Sam. "This is awesome."

I chuckled and nodded.

"What seen is it?"

"The Elephant Love Medley," I said. "Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman sing this mash-up of famous love songs as his character tries to convince her that there is nothing more important than love."

"I'm not gonna sing," Sam shook his head.

"I was not gonna ask you too," I chuckled. "I've heard you sing."

"Rude."

I just shrugged.

I looked around at the room, trying to figure out how to play these roles without the singing.

"Wait," I said. "Come on."

I grabbed his hand and pulled him back to the stairs.

"What is it," Sam asked as we made it to the top.

"At the end of the medley, Christian and Satine are dancing and they walk out onto this field of clouds and are held up in the sky."

"What-"

"This whole movie feels like a fever dream the first time you watch it."

"Come on," Sam held a hand out to me.

"Can you dance?"

"Not well," he chuckled. "The role didn't say I needed to be good."

He grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to him.

I tried to lead his steps and laughed as he stumbled into a pattern.

"Come on," I moved back so I could grab only one hand.

I led him a few steps forward and onto- what seemed to be- steps in the clouds. I let out an excited laugh when it worked. Sam looked at me and grinned at my excitement.

As soon as got to the top of the steps... it was gone.

We were in the middle of the street now.

"Aw, that was just mean," I mumbled. I glared at Sam when I heard him laughed.

He held his hands up jokingly before extending one toward me. I furrowed my eyebrows at him.

"I know what movie this is," he shrugged. I motioned for him to continue explaining. He walked over, hand still held out to me, "The Notebook. Noah and Allie dance in the street. So... will you dance with me? Even without the sequence where we dance in the clouds."

I bit my lip as I smiled.

I took his hand and let him pull me into the street. I laughed as I stumbled into his chest.

We fell into the scene naturally.

Sam held one of my hands in his and held my waist with the other. I placed my free hand on his shoulder. I looked up at him. It felt strange that we so casually fell into the scene but I was happy.

Sam jokingly twirled me around before pulling me back to his chest. I closed my eyes and chuckled.

"What," he asked.

"Nothing," I shook my head. "I just never saw you as such a romantic."

"Well, don't tell anyone, you'll ruin my reputation," he said sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes.

Sam spun the two of us in a circle before going to dip me. I didn't think I'd ever get to experience something like this. It always just felt like something I should forget about as a hunter. I was starting to forget why I was so angry with Sam in the first place.

I barely noticed that Sam was leaning in before the scene around me changed.

I was on a football field.

I looked around.

There was no sign of Sam.

"Crap," I mumbled, trying to figure out where to look first.

Then, there was a voice going over the field's speakers.

"You're just too good to be true... can't take my eyes off of you..."

I looked around toward the stands to see Sam walking with a mic. Can't sing, my ass.

"You'd be like heaven to touch... I wanna hold you so much"

"Oh my god," I muttered.

"At long last love has arrived... And I thank God I'm alive... You're just too good to be true... Can't take my eyes off of you."

I tried to bite back my laugh. He shrugged at me with an embarrassed smile and stepped into the actual stands.

We both jumped when the marching band started playing. I looked to see Gabriel smirking and leading their march.

Sam and I shrugged at each other. He continued on with the act.

Now, Sam Winchester pretending to be Patrick in "10 Things I Hate About You" was a treat... and was exactly what you imagined it would be.

He was almost stumbling down the steps as he continued on with the act. I was laughing hysterically by the time I saw the security guards starting to run in.

"Sam," I yelled, pointing behind him.

"Crap," I heard through the mic (which made me almost double-over in laughter) as he tried to take off running.

As soon as he was grabbed, the scene changed.

We both took a deep breath when we realized we were sitting together in a car.

"Thank god," Sam mumbled.

"That was a great performance, by the way," I said, still chuckling.

"Shut up," he muttered, laughing along with me. We fell silent after a minute. "So... what scene is this?"

"I have no idea," I replied.

"It's Gilmore Girls, dumbasses," we heard Gabriel's voice but saw no sign of him. "Season 1, Episode 16... absolute idiots."

"Didn't peg him for a Gilmore Girls fan," I said. Sam laughed.

"Me neither."

We fell silent again.

"I'm sorry," Sam said, looking over at me. "You were right. You can defend yourself and you were just trying to help me. I'm sorry for being such a dick about it."

I grinned, "Thanks... I forgive you. I know you were just worried about me."

Sam smiled back.

"I... umm...," Sam looked down for a moment, clearing his throat and collecting his thoughts. "I just... I love you."

My heart leaped up into my throat. I blinked at him a few times and forced a chuckle out. Which was the wrong response but I panicked. Hunters... we could face the devil but emotions were a no-no.

"(Y/n)," Sam's smile dropped slowly when he realized I wasn't responding.

I was just about to respond when the scene changed again.

Sam was gone again and I was on a city street.

"Dammit," I muttered.

I ran down the street, turning the corner. I looked at the wall of the building I was by. Was this a jazz club?

I walked through the door and was guided to a table so I could sit down and watch the performance.

"La La Land," I said.

Sam and I watched this together. Dean had gone to bed. We weren't tired and just turned this movie on because it looked like it was mostly happy.

Big dance numbers, beautiful effects... and the epilogue that made me hide tears from Sam.

I looked at the stage. Sam was sitting there, wearing a suit, looking at the audience nervously. He hesitantly reached toward the piano. It was like it was a prerecorded track. It sounded just like the movie.

I smiled.

I just wanted to talk to him.

Soon the performance ended.

I stood up and started walking over, seeing Sam starting to walk out.

I grinned at him, "Sam-"

He cut me off by cupping the sides of my face and kissing me softly. I touched his sides lightly, smiling against his lips. It was... magic. Absolute magic.

Then, I shot awake, back in my bed in the bunker.

The game was over. Thank God.

"(Y/n)," I heard yell through the bunker hall.

I ran into the hall and ran toward his room.

We stopped as soon as we saw each other.

"Please tell me that wasn't a dream," I said. He shook his head, smiling widely at me.

I ran over, pulling him down to kiss him again. It was softer than our last kiss and I loved it. His arms wrapped around me and pulled me closer. I buried my hands through his hair.

"Woah, what did I miss," we pulled away when we heard Dean.

I could basically feel Sam chuckle against my lips before he moved to look at his brother. I turned around in Sam's arm.

"A chick flick moment," Sam answered.

"Alright," Dean gave us a weird look before leaving without another word.

I looked back at Sam with a smile, "I love you."

"I love you too," he grinned and leaned in to kiss me softly again.

-----------------------------------

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[southposting]

Honestly, that whole post about the older character models and newer character models is right on. I really do prefer the older character models from seasons 1-4 and seasons 5-12. I think they fit the style of South Park way more. The main and supporting characters appearances that have little to no changes over the years. The Season 13-onward models are not bad. But they look inconsistent with the characters that have been around and still have maintained their general appearance.

Yeah, the feeling is mutual anon. Clash in old/new characters aside one thing that always comes to mind is how the drawings initially were largely described as cute/childlike and thus misleading to the audience which was something I always loved about south park, that being the contrast between its aesthetic and the reality of its contents. And I do find some of the new super detailed assets fail to elicit that same atmosphere for me personally

It being so simple and unrealistic you could project anything on the characters based on energy and personality alone(I think this is also why the show is also so appealing to fanartists). But nowadays a lot of the new models rely on the 'south park eyes' as their main stylistic tie to the show, and just draw the rest of the character as if it's an unrelated hyperrealistic asset, with clear joints, necks, slim waists, squared shoulders etc as opposed to basic geometric shapes. the result looks like this

which i guess works better for celebrity caricatures than it does the average character. (I wonder if it's in part the animators modelling people they know as cameos?) instead of egg cartoon people they look like bobblehead humans

I find a lot of the visual humor is lost in the special posing as well instead of the crude/choppy movements. characters ocasionally being given animated walking assets instead of hopping, the characters having shots sprawled realistically on the ground instead of the rotating model 90 degrees stuff they did before whenever they fell lmao. I miss that kind of visual humor.Plus because cheap was the status quo, whenever they'd have a sequence like the 3D rotating Cartman model from the film it actually made an impression

The only time in modern south park days I can think of this kind of effort working in favor of the show's delivery was the smooth walking Kyle from doubling down which was awesome and works amazingly for the dreamy context of the parody

[fearfylsymmetry]

tagged by soph @nizynskis for my top 9 movies (im making it 10 btw because it looks better on a grid and also i love things too much ) anyways tysm soph always a pleasure i love doing these

so yes i think Beautiful Sunday is just the most amazing thing ever i spent monthsss looking for it and trying to find a decent download and goddd im forever happy i did. its the perfect movie about nothing in particular, it just captures that specific air of laziness that comes on Sundays where you're just content doing nothing. it means so much to me

i put Rebels of the Neon God up here over Vive L'Amour which i prefer , mostly because it was my introduction to Tsai Ming Liang. i found the movie slow at first but then Vive L'Amour cemented Tsai as one of my favorites. Besides, this movie is the start pf Hsiao Kang's entire legacy so really, you can't have Vive L'Amour without this. his films are slow of purpose and the rhythm of everything is initially hard to adjust to, but when you give it time, you'll find the most thoughtful and beautifully shot meditations on loneliness in modern living. in Tsai's movies, Taiwan looms over the characters. its a cage of skyscrapers you cant free yourself from with drugs or alcohol. the city eats everyone whole.

Parasite is just ahhh its why i love movies so much it really is. it made me a cinephile. it made me want to make movies and ive seen it the most out of any of these. i even saw it with my english teacher at the cinema. this movie is a defining part of my life it really is

A Brighter Summer's Day is just splendid. the purpose of art is never to be relatable but i couldn't help draw parallels to every part of my life. the constraints of Taiwan's development reminded me of my own state's troubled history. classrooms of boys hiding behind their shallow ideas of masculinity. Xiao Sir's lonely childhood spent lazing away in brief lapses of summer. i cant help but feel it so closely, youth taken away by a struggle for identity and stability both in the nation of Taiwan and in Xiao Sir's own life

and to Chungking Express i send all my love, my introduction into the dreamy haze of Wong Kar Wai. it remains my favorite in his filmography. fun thing was i got to watch it with Chick too. chick if ur reading this hiiii

Buddha Mountain is frenetic it is relentless, shifting from tragedy to joyous energy in a single cut. and Fan Bing Bing is gorgeous in it so that helps...like i can't go into detail here but i haven't known peace after that bloody kiss scene like i get lightheaded thinking about it . okay wait ill behave.

Mary is Happy, Mary Is Happy is a delight all the way through even in its rather sad final act. the listless joy of friendship , it offered me a a delightful glimpse into it

the rest of these films i can only encapsulate in moments, not because i like them less, but because these moments are just that mesmerizing.

Paris ,Texas has the Super 8 scene. it honestly stuck with me more than the scene in the booth.

The Lovers on the Bridge has THE scene on the bridge , ive showed it to u soph, oh god that scene is bottled joy i get goosebumps just thinking about it

(let me just sneak in the entire Silencio sequence in Mulholland Drivee. i just love it okay???)

and Long Days Journey into Night has the 53 MINUTE LONG TAKE OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS MOVIE SO MUCH WHEN YOU SEE IT UNFOLD aghhh. ... its a dream it really is,, a dream caught on film

okay im done sorry. tagging ummm anyone that wants to join let me not burden you. just say your thing and tell everyone i sent you.

(this is very long because i love saying things and i want to let out all this useless info to the general public. long live cinema and i know shes not on the list which is criminal but Viva Varda)

[rose2jam]

Day 5 - Scent

Ship: Severus Snape x Reader/OC

Story Summary: An Autumnal collection of Snape/Reader one-shots and ficlettes based on my main story, Dream Sequence.

Length: 1,406

Rating: Hard T

Warnings: Callback to Lockhart and what he did in Act 1, Scene 11 of Dream Sequence.

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Master List

<== Last Scene

Next Scene ==>

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“I’ve been thinking…”

His warm baritone pulled you out of your concentration, and you peered up from your book to find him exactly where he’d been standing for the last half an hour; bent over a cauldron at the nearest work station in his private lab, working on a potion he’d claimed was for lecture purposes only.  He hadn’t bothered to tell you what the lecture would be on, and you hadn’t asked.  He’d told you he didn’t require your assistance to brew (shocking) as he’d already been working on it for a few days, but he wouldn’t mind your company if you wanted to stick around.  You’d accepted his offer gladly, summoning the soft, brown leather chair you had dreamed of curling up in as a student… and made your dreams come true by doing exactly that.  You’d been reading a new collection of Stephen King novellas, and you’d just been getting to the meat of The Langoliers when he’d spoken up.

“That’s dangerous,” you quipped, folding down a corner of the page and closing the book, tucking it between your hip and the back of the chair, as you were draped across the arms. Your smirk only grew wider when he rolled his eyes.

“I’m being serious,” he objected, and you were ever so tempted to remind him that he was always exceedingly serious.  But you kept that little witticism to yourself this time. It was much too late to be razzing him.

“What were you thinking then, love?” you prompted, yawning into your hand before tilting your head towards him.  You watched as he carefully measured out a teaspoon of some pearlescent powder, using the back of a silver knife to level the spoon, before carefully shaking it over the surface of the potion.

“I was hoping you could help me with an upcoming lecture.”  

Your eyebrows shot up at the suggestion, and you lifted your head from where it was propped against the armrest.  “The lecture for the potion you’re brewing?” you asked, and he nodded with a quiet ‘mmhmm’.  You sat up slowly, feeling a few of your bones pop as you righted yourself in the chair, you know, how chairs were supposed to be sat in, and grimaced a little as you rubbed your back.  “And which potion would that be?”

Severus hesitated then, appearing to be concentrating on counting the number of turns he was giving with the stirring rod.  But you knew apprehension when you saw it.  Rising slowly from your chair, you made your way across the room to his work table, standing on the opposite side of the cauldron as you watched spiraling wisps of steam began to rise from the glossy surface of the potion.  

“Amortentia,” he finally answered as he removed the stirring rod, looking cautious as he lifted his gaze to meet yours.  You… weren’t pleased by this.  At all. And he must have seen the apprehension on your face.  Must have been expecting it, as he reached across the table to cup his hand over yours.

“You always said you weren’t sure if you did the right thing, not telling people about Lockhart. About what he did.”  He brushed his thumb over the soft skin of your wrist, and your eyes drifted down to your joined hands.  “It’s unfortunate that some students, mostly young girls, have these… starry-eyed ideals, in regards to love potions.  They think they’re dreamy.  Romanic.  And they don’t have the faintest idea of what love potions can really do.  Or what they’re really used for.”

You shuddered, the tremor gripping your whole body, and prompting him to step around to your side of the table.  You accepted his embrace readily, pressing your forehead against his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around you.  “Lockhart is still in Saint Mungos,” he reminded you firmly, lifting one hand to smooth down your hair.  “It doesn’t matter anymore, whether he was famous or not. You told me in a letter once, that you were worried he may have taken advantage of more people.  And that you might have been able to prevent it, if you had actually reported him.”

He pulled back from his hold, and you lifted your face from his shoulder, nodding miserably as you remembered that letter quite vividly.  Severus nodded in return, pushing your hair out of your face before brushing his thumb soothing against your jaw.  “I thought you might… Might like to have the opportunity.  To finally tell your story, or at least a version of it, and be able to help others in the process.”  

You pulled your bottom lip between your teeth as you gazed up at him, and he leaned forward, placing a kiss between your furrowed brows.  It almost instantly dissolved the tension in your face, and you huffed out a little laugh as you leaned into him again.  “I brewed the Amortentia so that they’ll have an idea of what to look for, if they’re ever faced with it,” he explained, tilting his head over towards the shimmering cauldron, the mother-of-pearl surface gleaming brightly as corkscrews of steam continued to rise.  “Know what it looks like.  Know how it smells.  Know what potions to take if they are ever dosed with it.  They won’t get to know how it tastes, but that’s okay, because you’ll be able to tell them.”  

You snapped your head around in a panic, opening your mouth to protest, but he placed a finger to your lips.  “You were not given Amortentia,” he assured you, and you eased slightly.  “You were given a really, really terribly brewed Amortentia that was subsequently mixed with alcohol, which I believe was the reason for the headaches you experienced.”  You pouted, but nodded.  That made sense.  You knew there were all types of love potions out there, but the truth was that they were all just cheap variations of Amortentia.  

“I regret not giving a lesson like this years ago,” he said softly, and you shifted your attention from the potion back to him.  “I never wanted to even touch love potions in my class. I thought they were frivolous, and would give people the wrong impression.  But… I was thinking, perhaps educating the students on the dangers that they pose might be a… decent alternative…”  He looked almost bashful as he glanced away from you, and you finally felt yourself begin to relax, a small smile spreading on to your face.  

It was… terribly sweet, actually, that he wanted to do this.  Not just for his students, but for you.  Giving you the chance to resolve the guilt you felt over never reporting Lockhart.  Maybe even putting some closure on it, especially if it helped even one person avoid being manipulated as you had been.  You rested your head on his shoulder again, looking into the swirling mist that rose from the cauldron.  It wasn’t romantic at all.  Love potions were utterly vile, as far as you were concerned… but from the stance of being an educator… from the point of view of a Potions Master… Amortentia was really quite elegant.

“Fireplace,” you said softly, and you felt more than heard the confused grunt from Severus’ throat. “Rain on fallen leaves,” you continued, closing your eyes as you breathed in deeply, filling your lungs with the scent of him.  “Teakwood, coriander and clove-bud.”  You turned your face up to him, and grinned at the stunned expression on his face. You reached up to mirror his motion from before, brushing your thumb over the sharp cut of his jaw, and his astonishment melted into adoration.  

He turned his face slightly, and pressed a soft kiss to your thumb as he too took a deep breath.  “Warm butter,” he murmured softly, and your smile widened, wrapping your arms around his neck.  “Bees wax.”  He hummed as he buried his face in your hair, rubbing his palms over the small of your back as he held you close.  “Vanilla. Lemon.  Roses.  I thought this would be good for you…” he trailed off.

“I’ll do it,” you answered, finally, and you felt his arms tighten slightly around you.   “Gladly, in fact.  I think it’s a fantastic idea.”  You lifted your head, and he did the same, still looking slightly apprehensive.  But you kissed the tip of his nose, which he always pretended to hate, and smiled up at him gratefully.  “Thank you, Severus.”

---

Art by BlooeyedTroll!!

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Next Scene ==>

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[mego42]

Shamelessly stealing @foxmagpie​’s monthly rec thing without the ability to get my life together to do these on a monthly basis so, seasonal recs! So excited to see if I manage to do this again with anything remotely resembling consistency but i’ve been keeping the notes for approximately 43 years (or since ~september, whatever that means) so by god i’m gonna use them. 

found my thrill - s_t_c_s / @sothischickshe​

Turner POV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

guys turner is SO OBSESSED with Beth and Rio

both canonically and in this fic

it’s gr9

also features a weirdly soothing and relatable cord untangling moment as a metaphor

truly disturbingly relatable turner pov tbh

relentless boomer disdain, always a plus

led to the creation of this monstrosity, not sure what kind of a monster would do that

War In My Mind - mintletters16

Backread!!!!

post-213, gorgeous character study 

guaranteed to make you feEl stUfF

I really love the like, cyclical, fractured pattern of Beth’s internal monologue, it gives the whole thing a really affecting at times dreamy, at times haunted vibe

the end twist is *chef’s kiss*

mourning bells - Ejunkiet / @ejunkiet​

Backread!!!!

Later s2 era, Rio’s at a funeral, gets drunk and calls Beth

V short, kind of…..mmm, not sweet, but almost? Idk

It’s got a wistful sort of almost/i can be quiet with you vibe that i go extremely bonkers for

delinquents - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie​

Lol are any of you actually not reading this yet?

g o d ch 8 where do i start

First off how ABSOLUTELY VERY DARE for the tragic angst that is delinquents!beth boland. This poor baby, this precious bean. MUST PROTEC

SHE’S TRYING HER BEST AND I LOVE HER

zero percent deserves dean’s clammy hands, no i have not forgotten, tattooed on my brain, will never forgive

I also love love love love LOVE the ruby/stan subplot happening

(and ruby’s mom!!!!!) (seriously though you write the best moms)

oh god and baby beth starting to have confusing feelings about rio?????? *chef’s kiss*

p sure i was just like, straight screaming the entire end of the chapter

the dugout is like, pure serotonin

I can’t even talk about the closet

tHe teNsiOn

thank you i will take eleventy billion

don't give it a hand, offer it a soul - medievalraven / @medievalraven

am a desperate heaux for any fic that features rio and mick friendship

you are all incredibly shocked i know

still would not be mad if this swerved into rio x mick fake dating but beth x rio is cool too i guess

Speaking of things i am a desperate heaux for: DIANE!!!!!!!!

and DATING ANNIE???????????? Blessed

honestly this fic is worth it purely for the assertion that mick watches queer eye

Why don't we go to Venus? - watermelonriddles / @bensonstablers​

another grief study! 

apparently i was working through some stuff in september, idk, that was like 4 years ago

considering it’s the premise of the fic, i don’t think it’s a spoiler to say this fic is canon divergent and working with the premise that rio killed beth in 302

he is uh, not coping well

extremely haunted you might say

lots of marcus and rhea which is a delight!

rhea is to good for him tbh

i said what i said

truly top notch dream (nightmare?) sequences

the conversation at the end is extremely uncalled for

drop the game - Ejunkiet / @ejunkiet​

Backread!!!!

Am going to die mad Beth and Rio didn’t hook up in 211 but luckily this fic scratched the itch 

(temporarily, it’s a fairly permanent itch)

Bonus rec: missing scene series i wanna do bad things to you featuring 2x02 and 2x04

Viva Voce - zetuslapetus / @querenaxx​

Whoops we woke up married Vegas shenanigans!! 

So cute!!!!! So sexy!!!!! 

What more do you want?

am desperately obsessed with how beth can’t help stalking rio

feels right, feels organic

this makes me feel a lot of stuff about how they could be without their canon garbage between them

🎶 we could’ve had it aaaaaaaaaaall 🎶

you showed me colors (i can't see them with anyone else) - gild_fire / @gild-and-fire​

really into the use of color to illustrate beth’s emotional state, i feel like there’s a word for that but idk what it is

UNIMPORTANT

really nice job capturing beth’s inner vulnerability balanced by her outer stubbornness

am DESPERATELY into Mick playing matchmaker

more please???????

Both Sides of the Law - JoeyLee / @joeyjoeylee​

LAW SCHOOL AU! I suuuuuuper love Beth and Rio here (alt pov!! a gift!!!!) I love how initially prickly they are, I love how it’s evolving into a grudging respect, I love how INCREDIBLY AND HILARIOUSLY OBSESSED WITH EACH OTHER THEY ARE and neither one of them seems to see it

listen I know we’re all already foaming at the mouth over this one but as it’s gonna go down as one of my all time favorites it bears repeating/rereccing

cannot stress enough how masterful the use of POV is here, both voices feel completely true and distinct and I love how the alternating chapters revisit, reveal and emphasize pieces of each other

i can’t talk about this fic without hyperventilating

I LOVE IT SO MUCH YOU GUYS

the slow burn is going to ACTUALLY KILL ME

rip, no regrats

Earned It - wakeupflawless / @wakeupflawless​

spanking

that’s it that’s the pitch

H O T

living for beth’s exit in the first chapter, rio and i are both incredibly into it

second chapter also features violently possessive Rio who cannot deal with anyone messing with his girl so if that’s your thing boy howdy get on it

shake, baby, shake - openhearts

backread!!!!!

according to my bookmarks this was a reread but ???????

must’ve read it in the fugue state that followed reading for a moment we were strangers which is gr9 and I believe I have recced it before. If not, horrible oversight, reccing it now

beth and Rio POV lead up to the bathroom break, beautifully done, low-key feel bad reccing it bc the end point of both chapters makes me want to throw things but it’s super worth it for the tEnsiOn. ENJOY

What the Sea Wants, the Sea Will Have - flashindie / @pynkhues​

I’m assuming all of y’all are already reading this

If not OH MY GOD FIX YOUR LIVES

P I R A T E  A U

I’m sorry maybe you didn’t hear me piRaTE aU

meticulously researched, brain-meltingly vibrant, already painfully sexy slow-burning PIRATE AU

god where to start okay so first off, the world-building here straight up breaks my brain, sophie’s put in the work and it SHOWS

second, the atmosphere. i’m generally a pretty like, vague mental picture sort of reader but the sensory detail here grabs you by the throat and like, forcibly hauls you in whether your brain’s wired that way or no

and hey speaking of throats if you, like me, go a little funny about the knees at the idea of beth holding a knife to rio’s throat (he’s fine, calm down), there’s a v excellent beth-in-a-barrel moment for you

oh christ and the sexy tension

it’s gonna be a race to see which slow burn takes me out first, this or law school

Stunner - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie​

Another high school AU, this time with baby Rio absolutely head over heels for his older sister’s bff

stunner!Rio has an emotional earnestness about him that I feel like delinquents!Rio has already outgrown and it’s so SWEET I can’t get enough

Desperately cute!!!!!!

alL he waNts iS foR beTh tO bE hiS girL

also unreasonably angsty???????

ANN ARBOR IS NOT THAT FAR MEGAN

A Heart's A Heavy Burden - tooshyforthis / @bathroombreaks​

Howl’s Moving Castle AU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love Howl’s!!!!!!!!!!!

perfect opp to roast Rio for being a Dramatique Heaux 

and it’s gonna be 9 chapters?????? H Y P E

author’s note boldly presumes I did not know I needed this AU when the reality is I did in fact know I needed this AU, I just wasn’t expecting anyone to deliver

so blessed

author also claims to not be team nose stud and yet it features prominently in all its magnificent glory

what is the truth dot gif

A Bit of a Stretch - septiembre / @septiembur​

SO????? CUTE?????????

would be on this list for Rio calling Beth E alone tbh

really really really really really love this Rio POV of being settled into a relationship with Beth

It manages to be sweetly domestic af while still holding the edge that makes brio brio which is a neat trick

@septiembur may be a witch

beth’s approach to getting rio to do yoga with her is hilarious and exactly right, canon-typical amounts of subtlety 

1000000/10

Post Break-Up Sex - femalegothic / @bethsuglywigs​

stg this was called Hit Shuffle

no matter

h O T

with a side of damn i’ve made some questionable choices in my life haven’t i introspection

(no regrats tho)

(esp not with this fic)

not the point of the fic by a long shot but i’m also extremely obsessed with Weed Eddie, so real

She drains my soul... she drains it not - niham87 / @niham87​

ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED WITH THIS CONCEPT

am a complete sucker for paranormal world building that satirizes bureaucracy 

Is that a trope? If so that’s my favorite

I did it. I’m picking a single favorite. You know what that is growth dot gif

ANYWAY i love the concept, i love the humor, i love beth instantly clicking with annie

I love her and mick’s sort of grudging professional courtesy

Love beth as a champion of environmental responsibility and all of the underworld being like …...okay??

cannot wait to see where this goes

Nine-Tenths - riosnecktattoo / @riosnecktattoo​

*INCOHERENT PTERODACTYL SCREECHING*

sometimes i think about rio putting beth’s hair in a ponytail and have to go lie down

science please explain why this rUinS mE

wait hold on i skipped ahead

HEY KIDS DO YOU LIKE UNBEARABLY CUTE DOMESTIC TENDERNESS

opens with rio sleepily holding beth’s hand to his heart so that’s the kind of thing you’ll be dealing with

uGH theY’RE sO CUTe

idk why precisely but rio adding hair ties to his bracelet collection is my undoing every time

Missed Call - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie​

Rio doesn’t come home from a job when he’s supposed to. Beth (and I!!!!!!!) slowly loses her mind

Truly a masterpiece of rising tension

Will literally never forgive her for calling this light angst

I was SO STRESSED OUT

The first person to point out there was an author’s note at the beginning I obvs didn’t read is getting blocked

crush - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie​

Listen even though this is centered around two OCs, they are OCs FROM a (n iconic) brio fic AND Beth, Ruby and Rio all make cameos (I mean, Rio’s pretty present since he lives in Mar’s mind rent free bc they are THE SWEETEST MOST ADORABLE BEST OF FRIENDS so idk if i’d call it a cameo but whatever)

and even if it didn’t feature any official GG characters I’d still rec is bc that’s mY SON AND this fic is TOO CUTE

I have so many feelings over mar and rio growing up and not knowing how to cope with girls becoming a Thing in their life and how it affects their friendship and mar feeling left behind but (SPOILERS) at the end of the story rio starts feeling that too and it’s so poignant knowing how that’s going to continue in delinquents

while mar may be my son, i also claim elena’s #1 stan status

before you’re like meg you’re only reccing it bc it’s a bday present ask yourselves do i really strike you as the kind of person that wouldn’t be equally obnoxious about this either way?

truly cannot fathom how hard i have fallen for these OCs i don’t normally do that

@foxmagpie is definitely a witch

The Ottoman - Niham87 / @niham87​

look i will be the first to admit that i don’t go near as bonkers over the ottoman line in 308 as y’all do

(don’t get me wrong, i love it!!! I love that he laughs and i love that she’s pleased it just doesn’t hit my lose my whole mind button like idk, the dubby or the 306 convo, idk why)

BUT i v v v much love the context this delightful Rio POV pwp gives it

am also absolutely feral for 209 missing scene fic

and anything that captures the complexity of Rio’s s3 feelings for Beth and how twisted they’ve become

so this scratches a bunch of itches, is what i’m trying to say

Bet On It - zetuslapetus / @querenaxx​

*INCOHERENT PTERODACTYL SCREECHING*

That’s what my brain does when I think about Beth and Rio meeting in ch 1

am DESPERATELY OBSESSED WITH the tension between the two of them in this fic

I love how it plays with the ways they have to rely on but don’t trust each other

plus FAKE DATING and BED SHARING (fair warning hasn’t happened yet but the set up is there)

originally supposed to be 2 chapters, already up to 4, prayer circle it goes on forever

do you like drugs (tonight) - s_t_c_s / @sothischickshe​

v important focus on hydration, other fic should take note

extremely about the use of cut to and then flashback to enhance the ‘we were on drugs’ vibe

speaking of, beth and rio absolutely would take ecstasy to prove they are fun bc they are the exact kind of idiots that would peer pressure themselves

so glad beth kept her purse, got a bit stressed there for a second, clutches in that kind of circumstance are A Risk

not that i would know

FLAWLESS USE OF VOICEMAIL TBH

really love the ongoing denial that they are remotely into each other while proceeding to demonstrate how they are in fact, extremely into each other, great vibe

rio dances

I know my brain broke too

mmmm bacon

Navigate A Broken Path - flashindie / @pynkhues​

*INCOHERENT PTERODACTYL SCREECHING*

I have a long standing tradition of getting unreasonably obsessed with side characters so i’m not like, entirely surprised by how obsessed i am with both Mick and Mary Pat but i never in a million years considered them as a ship

AND Y E T

they fit????? so perfectly?????? It’s amazing how she developes them individually enough that i look at them together and think ah yes this makes perfect sense for both characters

and they’re such an amazing foil to Beth and Rio? 

can ships have foils? do i know what a foil is? 

unimportant

GUYS you dON’T uNDERStAN d 

hell i don’t understand

how absolutely very dare you make me care about YET ANOTHER set of gg ‘verse children

do not read this fic if you have no interest in feelings you zero percent asked for

wHA t hAPPeNED iN aLASkA?????????

A Moment’s Silence - femalegothic / @bethsuglywigs​

*makes sign of the cross*

y’all are gonna make me rediscover religion

extremely appreciate the author’s note approach to backstory top notch prioritization

listen it’s basically 3k of beth deep throating rio idk what more you need me to say about it

it is…..good stuff

bless the kinkmeme or fest whatever we’re calling it

praise - civillove / @blainesebastian​

I mean you had me at “three times rio calls beth a good girl and one time he really means it”

ephemeral rio

I left that note for myself in here in the middle of the night and haven’t the foggiest what i was thinking but i stand by it none the less

okay okay i think i know what i meant, this fic (as do all of my fav civillove brio fics) has this sort of like, liminal, in the quiet moments feel to them that makes the moments and feelings somehow feel like i’m catching a glimpse of something secret and precious???

idk i just really like it okay

Heart and Soul - riosnecktattoo / @riosnecktattoo​

oh look more unbearably sweet domestic tenderness, this time to music

thank you ma’am for my life

rio remembers beth used to play piano and gets her one and revoltingly cute shenanigans result

also hilarity

and sexiness

this fic has it all, truly

shout out to mick who sees no reason to keep rio’s feelings to himself

good girls tumblr fic - prettylittlementirosa / @hypermania​​

cheating and reccing a whole series

It’s my list and i can do what i wanna

stop crying about it, it’s four fics and they’re all AMAZING absolutely impossible to pick a fav

truly flawless characterization, next level ability to capture evocative mood, cannot get enough

three’s a crowd: who knew ballroom dancing while dean watches and grinds his teeth could be so sexy 

(trick question everything about that premise sounds A++++ and boy howdy does it live up)

feel it on the way home: rio tries to break up with beth, it goes about as well as you’d expect

(thE angSty tenSioN)

i want to play the game: [from the floor] i’m still not ready to talk about it

(rio/turner, missing scene, 10000000% a taste of what went down in that hotel room)

june after dark: pitch perfect annie pov, really really love the take that Annie is the baby whisperer, can’t fully explain why but it feels incredibly right

(ANNIE X NANCY COULD WORK SO WELL YOU GUYS)

[curestardust]

if you want: magical girl (as in one, officially) / very low-stakes / cute and funy characters / colorful art style with great and consistent animation

"Kurukuru! Sparkle! Mewkledreamy!”

“Mewkledreamy” is a soft and non-serious magical girl anime which was very fun to watch as a fellow MG aficionado. Basically, this whole review was written with the idea that the reador is also an MG fan because I’m mad biased when it comes to this genre.

“Mewkledreamy”’s main character is Yume who catches a plushie that falls from the sky one day. Except, this plushie talks. Her name is Mew and she was made in the “Dreamy Kingdom Above The Sky”. She tells Yume that the two of them are “Dreamy Mates” and that they can enter other people’s dreams. This is important because there’s a big bad- I mean small bad plushie called Yuni and his comrades who’re putting “Black Abysses” into people who’re feeling down and the only way to destroy the Abyss is by Yume and Mew entering that person’s dream and purifying it from the inside. 

As with all Magical Girl anime, the other 2 Dreamy Mates show up as well, making our starting team 3 people. However, a difference is that the other 2 girls with Dreamy Mates (Maira and Kotoko) can’t enter other people’s dreams, only their Dreamy Mates can (Peko and Su). This means that the only person in the anime with a transformation and attack sequence is Yume.

The animation and art of this anime is gorgeous if you like bright and colorful stuff. The transformation sequence is incredibly pretty and there’re barely any shots in the whole 48 episodes where the characters were drawn a bit wonky. A pretty high budget MG anime.

This is my brief “complaints” corner: I felt sad that the other characters didn’t have transformations. We spend quite a bit of time inside dreams so the Dreamy Mates almost get more screentime than the other members. This is fine with Maira/Peko and Kotoko/Su because the girls and their Dreamy Mates basically have the same personality. But this isn’t true for the next girl who joins them, whose character felt a bit neglected. 

Minor things is that the ending was so low-stakes it was almost cringe but as this came out during the height of the ‘rona, I won’t blame them for wanting to keep things as lighthearted as possible. Also, the conversations in this anime are REALLY fast. It’s good to keep your attention but if you’re binging it, be careful not to get a headache!

Complaints over. The things I just mentioned simply keep this anime from a 10/10 for me but really, “Mewkledreamy” was SO good and such a nice change of pace. It’s colorful, funny, silly and pretty. For MG fans, I’d recommend this if you don’t necessarily care about having a strong plot and more just wanna look at cute stuff and fun characters.

[8/10] (x)

Recommend: HELL Yeah! | Yes | Eh??? | Nope | There was actual money spent on this

[wutheringmights]

I have brain rot from years of watching anime, so here’s my 100% self-indulgent and cringe pitch for the anime ending theme sequences* for CTB

The opening theme would probably be way more comprehensive of the story as a whole, but I like to imagine that the ending theme would focus way more on the past/memories section of the story. I can imagine two ways of doing that:

#1: something like this ending theme from Inuyasha where it shows shots of Warriors, Time, and Spirits as they are in the present looking wistful as they go about their every day lives, presumingly in moments when they would be thinking about the past.

Warriors would be either hanging out at the camp or at his house. Time would be doing work on the ranch at first before we see a shot of him traveling at the head of the Chain, who are excitedly talking amongst themselves as he loses himself in thought. The engineer would be doing maintenance on and driving his train, and the last shot would probably show him driving the train far away with a sad expression.

#2: you know how the story begins with the idea that Warriors wanted the past to have been happy? That’s this theme.

This one is a montage of Warriors, Mask, and Spirits being friends in the past. While this pitch isn’t based on a particular ending sequence, I’ve been associating it with this old Full Metal Alchemist ending.

The sequence would be these dreamy shots of the boys having fun fishing, playing with the child’s mask collection, star gazing, tackling each other, napping, etc-- all of the good things they could have had if they had been friends. The last two shots would be of the three of them joking around a fire like they were in the first chapter before ending with present-day Warriors waking up from a dream. If you want it to be extra sad, he could be waking up alone. If you want a little bit of comfort to go with that hurt, he could wake to see the rest of the Chain getting ready for the day. The choice is yours.

*I don’t have many thoughts for opening themes beyond them being a bombastic display of all of the boys in the present day, but if you have any ideas, I would love to hear them!

[mysterylover123]

Top 10 Bakugou Moments I Can’t Wait to see Animated!

MANGA SPOILERS AHEAD THROUGH 251

Our loudmouthed Lord Explosion Murder sure has grown up a lot, hasn’t he? While there was traceable growth in him even before The Thing happened (The Thing being Episode 61), he really shot off like a rocket on the Character Development Train following that grand wakeup call. Since he’s basically on hiatus from the anime until we get through the damn basement arc (sorry to those who like it, I just think it’s way too long) I thought I’d celebrate the Top 10 Katsuki Bakugou moments from the manga I can’t wait to see animated.

#10. “That’s a good look for you, dreamy boy!”

Chapter 166

I’m basically hyped to get to all of the Todoroki/Bakugou shenanigans from the License Retake mini-arc (every interaction they have here is gold) but this moment stands out as the most fun one to see transfer to animation. Bakugou actually laughs for once at a joke rather than his own triumph; his line is translated differently, either as an actual compliment to Camie or a borderline flirty, teasing comment towards Todoroki. Either way, it’s funny as hell, and a great BakuMoment I’m looking forward to seeing finally hit the screen (and to hear both Okamoto and Chapin try and make Bakugou laugh like that).

#9. “I came here to find what I lack”

Chapter 247

Bakugou really kicked off the self-awareness train post DVK2, of course. But this is one of his more self-aware moments since then, as he goes to intern with the #1 pro and talks about what motivated him to do so. Bakugou knows he’s great at many aspects of being a hero, and he’s even learned how to do the Saving and Teamwork thing from last arc, but he still feels like there’s something he’s missing as a hero. So he comes to learn from the #1, and  gives this little speech (accompanied by another cute flashback with Baby Deku). Another moment I’m impatient to hear voiced.

#8. “Have you gotten any better?”

Chapter 168

After the first 120 chapters of being the Central dynamic of the entire series, post DVK2 Bakugou and Midoriya rivalry is a lot more low-key and very different in nature. Namely, Bakugou flips from being desperate to tear down every success of Midoriya’s out of fear to being surprisingly supportive of Deku’s success and quick to give him a push in the right direction. He speaks here to ask Deku how he’s doing, and challenge him to catch up. No longer afraid that he might, but practically demanding that he actually do it. That, my friends, is growth.

#7. “I’m gonna kill ‘em all with my sound”

Chapters 171-182

Culture Fest Bakugou is just a surprising delight from beginning to end. It’s one of those arcs that really reminds me he’s a teenager, immature and petty but learning to be better. There’s two specific scenes I’m excited for in the anime: firstly, of course, the aforementioned quote, as he protests the way the other classes are treating Class 1-A, and then during the performance itself, as he not only does great, but realizes that he needs to put his own ego aside and play along for the good of the class as a whole. It’s a very short little mini-arc for him, but another sign of how much more empathetic he’s grown.

#6. Post OFA breakdown concern

Chapter 217

I’ve got a number of the “Kacchan acts like a concerned, supportive friend for Deku” moments on this list, but this little sequence has a special place in my heart. Of course, there are the multiple close-ups on Katsuki’s concerned looking face during the match as OFA goes berserk, but then there’s the cut to post-Training when Kacchan spars with Deku to bring out his power, sits on the couch with him to consult about OFA, and serves as a very helpful intermediary between Deku and All Might, spurring Midoriya to realize some uncomfortable truths about OFA. Also, “Icy hot can be so smart and so damn dense at the same time.” Cannot wait to hear that one.

#5. “Didn’t hear of any time limit”

Chapter 218-219

Finally having their Provisional Licenses, Bakugou and Todoroki leap into action within less than an hour of getting them to save some civilians from a villain attack. Not only is that cool, but Bakugo once again shows his growth by prioritizing getting their stolen wallets back from the criminal, somehow managing to store them all inside those giant gauntlets. Pulling off teamwork with his (best friend) greatest rival, saving to win, and getting head-pat from All Might? It’s enough to seriously warm the heart.

#4. “Did something happen with One for All?”

Chapter 202

And my favorite of the “Kacchan worrying about Deku” moments, from Chapter 202. After nearly a year’s worth of complete hiatus from the Rivalry, Kacchan returns with a new attitude towards Midoriya, one where he actively inquires into his wellbeing, encourages him “in his own way”, to quote the Symbol of Peace himself, and nags him about being more cautious and trying harder. He just exudes such a kinder, better energy here, despite still exploding and covering it up with harshness, than he ever did before. I can’t wait to hear that new, more tender delivery from both Dub & Sub.

#3. “If you’re always looking down on people…”

Chapter 167

Ah, the climax moment of the License Retake arc. Not only does Bakugou figure out exactly how to reach the bratty kids (Bakugou!!!), but he takes a moment to pull the ringleader by the hand to join his friends and tell him the lesson he learned himself about self-examination and the consequences of looking down on others. Again, another moment I’m excited to see animated partly, yes, for the animation, but mostly for the sake of hearing Kacchan’s gruff voice actors pull this off (And of course, after the way they both nailed DVK2, I know they’ll be amazing).

#2. “He’d achieved a different kind of strength”

Chapter 208

The first moment when we truly get to see the new “Save to Win” dynamic play out on screen. Living up to his own hype to Deku and All Might, Katsuki not only leads his team to a perfect 4-0 victory (the first for Class A), but does so through 1. Teamwork and Cooperation with his classmates, and 2. Jumping into action to save Jirou from an upcoming attack. We’re reminded, in this moment, of those key words from the end of DVK2, as the person who brought about all this change in him (Midoriya) watches on in awe. I want to see the action, voice acting, and maybe a hint of the “Katsuki and Izuku” OST to start playing at this point. Hype!

Honorable Mentions: “It’s too damn early” Chapter 249, Christmas Kacchan, Chapter 242, Eating the Speech bubble, Chapter 194 (how are they gonna pull that off in animation?), grumpily waiting up for the Internship kids (Chapter 162).

#1. Saving Natsuo 

Chapter 251

Yep. Most recent, most hype-a-ble. Kacchan finally getting to rescue someone from a real, honest-to-god crisis situation. This chapter went by really fast, so I’m hoping the anime gives us the proper animation and focus on Kacchan (the chapter was also way more focused on Todoroki’s thoughts than his). I want to see him have that switch flip, that Deku moment where he just moves to go save someone without thinking. And in this case, I think he does. He jumps into a action to save good ‘ol Natsuo from a dangerous villain and gets himself a hug from the #1 for his trouble (hugged by 2 #1 pros, wows). Definitely cannot wait to see this finally hit the big screen.

[aldbooks]

Desperada

...

What the everloving hell did I just watch?

Beware the salt... also the GIF use lol

Basically... I fucking hated it. The entire time I watched it, the majority of the words coming out my mouth were some variation of “what the fuck? This is excruciating!” I honestly can’t believe I actually watched it twice 🤦🏻‍♀️

Ok so, first we start off with some quality Lukanette and even Marinette’s friends are all “Wow! Marinette and Luka are so cute together. What a good match they make. Maybe she should give him a shot instead of Adrien?!”

But then of course, Adrien shows up!... with Kagami. And Marinette, predictably, becomes Disasternette. At this point, we’re not even two minutes in and I already kinda wanna turn it off.

So then the gang goes above stairs to see what’s going on and Disasternette becomes even worse when Jagged Stone asks her to help him find a new guitarist. Everyone of course expects her to say Luka, cuz duh. But no. She picks 🥁... Adrien.

Who doesn’t even play guitar.

Then Jagged says “what about that kid wearing my face on his shirt with the guitar strapped on his back?” (Lol) and Mari’s like “oh, of course!” Cue short lived sigh of relief, cuz it’s immediately followed by “Luka can let Adrien borrow his guitar!”

At this point I’m actually kinda angry. Because not only are they once again making Marinette look like an absolute fool, they made beautiful, selfless Luka look like a complete push over because he just gives the guitar to Adrien to please Marinette. Wtf??

And still, we’re not even four minutes in. At this point, I know this is going to be a very long episode.

So, now the introduction to this episode’s akuma, Desperada. I ain’t mad it. Cool costume design, semi legit reason for akumatization, also, we now know what that random akuma from the Gamer 2.0 episode is that we were all like who the heck is that?

Fast forward a little here: Mari has a bit of an ah-ha moment with Tikki like “omg why did I give the guitar to Adrien? Why am I like this?” (Unfortunately it isn’t the development we’re hoping for though, as we find out very soon)

There are some quality Lukadrien moments as they both try to hide from Desperada and help Ladybug.

There’s a moment where Luka plays his guitar and both Ladybug and Adrien go all dreamy eyed, which I loved (Lukadrinette for the win) but my salty ass kinda wanted Adrien to see Ladybug getting goo-goo eyed over someone else and get jealous. Lmao

Anyways, so Lucky Charm gives her a gong and we all know that means it’s time for a new miraculous holder. Yay! Of course it’s obvious now this is Viperion’s episode but there’s a moment of confusion (and an epic face palm) when Marinette is all “I know the perfect person for the job! 🥁 Adrien!”

Seriously? Wtf.

Upon hearing that Ladybug wants to give the miraculous to Adrien, Chat Noir distracts Ladybug long enough to destransform so he can accept it.

Also see here how he pushes Luka back into the locker like “why don’t you just stay here 😉” so she won’t think to give it to him instead, when she can’t immediately find Adrien.

So Adrien and Plagg debate (read: Plagg tries to talk some sense into his idiot holder who completely ignores him cuz “omg ladybug needs me!” Um, yeah dipshit, she needs you to be Chat Noir) and for a hot minute I think we’re gonna get Snake Noir. But, Adrien wants Ladybug to fall in love with him as ‘himself’ 🤦🏻‍♀️ So never mind.

Also for a hot minute I think Adrien is going to actually do the right thing and refuse, but of course not, because this is ML...

Side note: Adrien’s acting when he opens the box and pretends to be surprised to see a kwami is on point.

Side side note: I don’t know what I expected Sass’s transformation phrase to be, but it def wasn’t “scales slither” 😒 and also, his transformation sequence is terrible and that costume is a travesty. (His end pose also kinda reminds of the gif of the guy from Road to El Dorado aggressively playing the mandolin😂)

Anyway, so for basically the first time ever, we actually see Ladybug explaining the miraculous rules and powers to the new holder. Adrien tells a corny joke and basically acts just like Chat, to which Ladybug giggles

Again I think Adrien is about to do the right thing when Ladybug basically tells him to his face that Chat Noir is an unnecesary part of the team; so, naturally, he doesn’t.

Basically both of these kids act like selfish little shits so they can spend time together. For once I’m actually very proud of Plagg for calling Adrien out. “You’re supposed to be saving Paris, not flirting!”

What happens next is a montage of Adrien epically failing to save Ladybug with the Second Chance (do I sense a metaphor here? Is this foreshadowing? Ha! As if). He finally gives up the miraculous and good lord, thank you!

Then we find out he failed over 25k times before he finally made the right call...

So Luka shows up and of course it’s Adrien who is all “Luka should have the miraculous” not Ladybug (because she can’t actually chose Luka herself for anything) And of course Luka just stands there while she kisses Adrien and thanks him for his help, blatantly letting Luka know he was the second choice (def a metaphor). *sigh*

Luka’s transformation of course is hella dope. I really wanted Ladybug to have an “oh no. He’s hot” moment, cuz let’s be real...

Also, why is Ladybug suddenly completely cool with civilians knowing the identity of a miraculous holder???

We’re now over 17 minutes into the episode, nearly the end, and I’m just now realizing that the episode where Luka is introduced as Viperion, isn’t even about him.

Luka then, after a couple of tries, actually is the one to figure out how to win, proving he was the right pick for the snake from the get go. He plays the damn Lyre, because of course he does, and they use Ladybug’s second Lucky Charm (a saddle btw. What the actual hell. This is some more weird, 50 shades type shit (see Reverser)) to defeat the akuma.

Back on the boat, Jagged again apologizes for being a diva and instead of getting some resolution to the Lukanette mistreatment at the beginning of the episode, we get Kagami once again being all “better step up Marinette before I steal your man” which is just the cherry on the cake really

Other notes:

- in my opinion, this entire episode was essentially Adrien/Ladrien fan service

- as another poster astutely pointed out: Adrien acted basically exactly the same while Aspik as he does when Chat Noir, essentially blowing up Tom’s whole theory about Chat being the “real” Adrien

-Master Fu: this miraculous should be given to someone who won’t abuse it

Ladybug: gives it to Adrien- who proceeds to abuse it

- all I think we learned from this episode, is that both Adrien and Marinette need to get over their obsessions with Ladybug/Adrien because it severely impedes their ability to make rational, sensible, non-selfish decisions.

Also, that knowing each other’s identities really isn’t a good idea. Yeah I hear you, “what about Oblivio?” In Oblivio, they literally knew nothing about each other, other than they cared about each other and they worked well together. There was no ‘hero worship’ ‘he/she’s so perfect’ mentality to get in the way, just good old fashioned trust. So does knowing who the other is actually work for them?

Ha! I’ve been dying for a good opportunity to use that set

I don’t think I’ve said it before on here, but def in my comments on my fic I Wanna Be Bad: I loved Adrien when this show started. Of the cast of characters, he def had the most potential. Lately though I’ve kinda given up on him.

He’s had zero growth. In fact, some times I think he’s actually gone backwards, especially as Chat Noir. He’s become increasingly petulant and childish and hasn’t learned a damn thing about respecting Ladybug’s boundaries or how to take being a hero seriously. It’s honestly killing the love square for me.

The writing on this show in general has become atrocious. For instance, this episode (according to reported production order) takes place after Silencer. Meaning Mari sat there and listened to Luka confess to her twice, and then goes and says he’s “just a friend” (yes, literally. She pulled an Adrien) and continues to humiliate herself for a guy who’s openly shown an interest in another girl.

It’s so painful to watch. Just as it’s painful to see Chat continually rip his heart out for LB even when she keeps turning him down.

Enough is enough already. We get it. Let them move on. Just because they date other people, doesn’t mean they won’t still end up together. That’s called reality.

[lgcchaewon]

legacy project: future dreams - bae chaewon’s solo performance. ( & gif source. )

wc: 725, without lyrics & interview.

performing oh my girl’s cupid. < dance practice link for reference, following the true choreography & adjusting to center/highlighted parts for singing lines where it calls for it (e.g following seunghee’s choreo while singing at the side during the first chorus rather than the whole group & mimi alone during the rap)!

outfit. 

chaewon’s morale has seen better days. she didn’t expect to be lauded for her skills. her training time is laughable next to some of the others competing in the show, but sitting at the bottom of the pyramid that first day still stung. she’s spent the past couple of weeks attempting to remind herself that the exposure she’ll get from the show will still be good ... if they don’t deem her totally irrelevant. she has to show them something today that will prove she’s better than twelfth place, that she’s worth legacy’s time and money. this is her future, but it’s the company’s too. chaewon decides to perform an old favourite; cupid by oh my girl. it’s really different to adios, but not too far away from bim bam bum.

chaewon’s most comfortable performing a song like this, something more upbeat and playful. she takes her place on the x on the floor and bows to the camera, introducing herself with a cheerful wave. “this is bae chaewon, junior daytime trainee. i’m going to sing and dance for you today, performing cupid by oh my girl.” she’s as happy as can be for someone who’s expecting to see her own ugly crying face on television pretty soon. 

the music starts, and chaewon starts to shake her shoulders and step to that familiar opening tune. the first stanza goes as it should, with chaewon shielding her eyes from an imaginary sunbeam and winking to the camera as she straightens out her back. 

i see you, a little closer i hear you, don’t run away

chaewon weighed up for a long time during preparations whether she would perform the move for this part standing up or whether she would sacrifice her vocal stability to drop during the move, and eventually ... she decided to stay upright. after all, that’s how yooa does it, right? by eventually, she’ll go on to explain, she decided it in the moment, and is happy with her decision. 

the chorus is a little scary, even after singing it countless times in the last four years since its release. she’s a bit shaky on the first line, thanks to the choreography, but is able to catch her breath for the second, as she steps to center and plays to the camera before going into what she fondly calls the cheer sequence.

hey cupid has shot my heart turn around now, shot my heart hey cupid has shot my heart  uh huh, uh huh hey cupid has shot my heart turn around now, shot my heart hey cupid has shot my heart uh huh, uh huh

chaewon takes this opportunity to take her aegyo to the next level as she shoots imaginary arrows at the camera, smiling big and wide. now that chaewon has settled into the performance, she’s actually able to enjoy it, as she believes people always should when they’re on stage. the next verse and the chorus go as planned, though she’s still not completely stable during the first part of the chorus. 

she decided to leave the rap in, despite a lot of deliberation. she’s not the next underground star to break into idoldom by any means, but she is, in her opinion, okay enough to be your next lead idol rapper. she can keep up with the rap easily, knows it like the back of her hand, but this isn’t a time for her to show off any kind of unique flow. chaewon is following the song and emoting as best as she can to the camera, and she thinks she does a decent job, but she’s still glad to transition into the bridge. it’s easy to stand there daintily, looking over her shoulder and giving the camera a dreamy look as she sings. 

but then: so be it be in love.

she doesn’t belt it quite like the original, lowering the pitch for her own comfort, making sure she can actually sing it without embarrassing herself. maybe it’ll be a disappointment, maybe they’ll think she’s sensible. either way, she puts her all into the final chorus and cheer sequence. 

in the end, chaewon can’t say she isn’t relieved when she juts out her hip and makes a little gun with her fingers, giving the camera a wink on the last beat. she’s still catching her breath as she rights herself. she has a few minutes now before she has to do adios and bimbambum. she’ll change out of her little pink tennis skirt and into a pair of deep red shorts to match the bow in her hair, then the camera will turn back on and she’ll have to settle into another performance.

interview portion:

why did you choose cupid for your solo performance?

“i chose cupid because it’s a song that suits me well! even though it’s different to our main song, adios, i wanted to show a different side of me to the producers and the viewers too. i can be cool on stage, and that’s really fun, but in my real life, i’m definitely not that cool. i wanted to show everyone a look at the personality of bae chaewon.” it’s a plain enough answer, but when chaewon delivers it, she does so with conviction, smiling and nodding, satisfied with herself.

you say it’s a song that suits you well, but you still made an adjustment to the high note. why?

the question makes her stop and think for a moment. are they testing her? do they want her to admit some kind of defeat? she won’t, because she stands by her decision ... she doesn’t have a choice not to now, there’s no way to turn back time. “i wanted to make sure to give my best performance today, and even the best vocalists have to adjust things for live performances, especially when you don’t have a group to back you up. i deliberated over it for a long time during preparations, but i settled on lowering it a little because i ultimately thought it would be better for my performance not to take the risk. i believe cupid’s charm point is its overall energy, and that’s what i wanted to express. like cupid, my charm point is my performance, which my vocals are only one part of. i tried to show you all parts of me today.”

why did you dress up?

“because you have to look good to feel good! my outfits give me energy, and i wanted to look my best for everyone!” chaewon beams as she says this, giving a thumbs up. she’s speaking as candidly as anyone possibly could here. maybe she’ll come across as too naive, too earnest and eager to please - as a foolish try-hard. or maybe she’ll be charming, but honestly? she’s less and less hopeful about that by the day.