Tumgik
#imagine having no interviews with the male lead of your show for the last season
Text
Aria’s play is providing more content and interviews of him than the last half of legacies did, it’s about time someone acknowledged him and let him speak.
13 notes · View notes
axmxz · 2 years
Text
Zelensky's "Servant of the People"
i know it's probably not the best idea to psychoanalyze Zelensky based on the character he portrays in this series, especially since I've only watched season 1 and a bit of season 2.
but i think in many respects, the character of Vasil Goloborodko (Vasya) really shows what Zelensky values and what he fears.
notice that the show frames him as the smallest man in every room. everyone towers over him, even women and his aged parents. everyone looks down on him, and that is fine. he accepts it as his due. at home, he is messy and incompetent and knows it. at work, his labor as a history teacher is undervalued, and it makes him angry because he views it as a disservice to the study of history, not himself. and when he becomes President and suddenly has tons of servants and staff, he is angry at what he perceives as a misuse of government funds and trips over himself to be excruciatingly polite to the staff he can't dismiss.
Vasya has none of the sine qua non skills of the traditional male lead. he never fights, shoots, or does any sports on screen - save for scampering away from danger, and even that he does without any special athleticism. even the Western poster boy for TV good guys Ted Lasso (who Sudeikis admits is more or less a self-portrait) has a hidden ninja skill - dart throwing. Vasya never dominates anyone physically in any way.
when Vasya has nightmares - and he has them very often, they are a defining characteristic of his character, like night terrors with Will Graham - they are not about being in danger. they are about failing others. or being left alone. or having his friends turn on him. in other dreams, he sees great figures of the past passing judgement on him and finding him wanting. Zelensky also suffers from poor sleep. one can only imagine how much worse it has gotten in the last month.
Vasya is passive in everything except rooting out corruption. he can't pursue a woman, even one who is falling all over herself to get into his bed. he eats what he's given, unless it's too fancy; then he eats something else. he is careless with his appearance. he wears whatever is at hand, until someone forces him into new clothes. then he will obediently wear those clothes. he never asks anyone for anything.
his only method of retaliation for being wronged is verbal: he either yells out all his grievances (which he has a great voice for), makes an 'i'm not angry, just disappointed' speech, or gets sarcastic.
oddly enough, this is exactly what we have seen from Zelensky during the war. he can and will cajole, beg, plead; he will make arguments; he might move you to tears with his own grief. he will occasionally get sarcastic if he thinks you are not pulling your weight - and even with Putin. (in his hour-long interview two days ago with some Russian-language journalists, he closed with a bitter quip: 'Great party, now who's gonna clean up?')
but he will not intimidate. he will not threaten. he will, to the bitter end, try to make the other side see reason, like a teacher explaining a tough lesson to a lazy and careless student.
i don't know how successful Zelensky was in his anti-corruption quests before the way - not very, from what I hear. and i'm not saying he's a saint. but he does seem to be, in every way, the anti-thesis of putin.
68 notes · View notes
mishasminions · 3 years
Text
The Last Time I’ll Write a Long Post About Supernatural (15x18-15x20)
15 YEARS OF WATCHING THIS SHOW. 11 YEARS OF RUNNING A BLOG ABOUT IT. IT’S BEEN QUITE A RIDE.
[15x20 Speculation + evidence at the bottom]
First off, I just wanna come clean and say, after all these years, I still think they should’ve ended at Season 5.
If you’re going to come at me with “Then why’d you stick around to watch it if you didn’t like it?”, your question is immature, and the answer is simple: I just want to know what happens next (I also love the main characters and their actors too). You can watch a show and still think it’s shit.
Call me a clown, but despite all the disappointment and trust issues that this show has given me, I would still look forward to the day where it might just turn itself around and bring back the quality it once had, or realize the potential of each story it was trying to tell, or at the very least, do justice by my favorite ship.
Never happened.
They’ve had a few good episodes here and there. I can’t imagine the SPN Universe without The Man Who Would Be King, The French Mistake, and Scoobynatural. Seasons 6-10 were enjoyable at times. I blocked out most of 7 & 11-15. 
If you’ve been following this blog since its heydays in 2010-2014, you’d know I’d try my best to defend Destiel and this show’s decisions regarding it no matter what.
Because you know what, as a CONCEPT, this show is good. If you take a look at all the worlds its storylines have birthed in fanfiction/fanworks, you’d see how much Supernatural has wasted its own story arcs. The writing got shittier as each season progressed, and they’ve obviously given up in production as well because the quality in the execution has noticeably gone down too, but if you take a step back and take a look at the bigger picture, you’ll see that this show still tries to make sense of itself.
[If you’re still following this post, please bear with me, I know this is long, but I just want you to understand how jaded and pessimistic I am with regards to this show, so maybe you can buy into whatever hopeful thing I’m about to say later on.]
SO LET’S TALK ABOUT DESTIEL
Never in my wildest dreams did I think that they would give us Castiel’s “I love you” speech. To the point where, if I weren’t so desperate for it, I would argue that it was completely out of character for him to word vomit the way he did (but I’m not gonna diss on that right now because I’ll take what I can get).
I’ve valued every meaningful and obscure exchange that Dean and Cas have had in the earlier seasons, and I was willing to accept their relationship as just that--undefined, without any clear boundaries as to what they really are. And I think that was beautiful on its own.
But now, they’ve chosen to define it.
After they’ve driven every possible wedge between Dean and Castiel in seasons 11-15, to try to explain away their feelings as something they offer to a collective.
Dean can’t mourn and pray for JUST Cas, he has to mourn and pray for EVERYBODY--even Crowley, even some chick he just met, because god forbid he cries about just the guy who has given up everything for him--that would be “too homo”.
They’ve even set Cas on a path to abrupt fatherhood just so he can care about something other than Dean. Make it seem as if Dean wasn’t his purpose through and through.
And after all these years of this stupid show trying to deny it, they choose to acknowledge it at the worst possible circumstance, at a time where they’ve been so far apart, that it seems so foreign for them to suddenly come together.
But here we are. And they’ve chosen to tell us.
Chosen to tell us that everything that Castiel has done leading up to his death, he has done it because he was IN LOVE WITH DEAN WINCHESTER.
Chosen to tell us that the ONE THING THAT WOULD MAKE CAS HAPPY IS DEAN WINCHESTER.
Chosen to tell us that BEING WITH DEAN WINCHESTER is something that CAS WANTS BUT KNOWS HE CAN’T HAVE.
And they’ve also chosen to tell us nothing about how Dean feels.
Sure, finding out your angel made a deal, the stipulations of said deal, his newfound happiness philosophy, his long-winded monologue of why he loves you and why you’re worthy of his love, and to top it all off he tells you that being in love with you is enough to make him happy while he subtly hints that he’s always wanted to be WITH you romantically, was a lot to process in the 5 minutes after you’ve just had an existential crisis.
It’s whatever, right? Let’s culminate 11 years worth of tension and feelings in 5 minutes. Let’s waste the entire episode with cringey expository dialogue, and irrelevant sequences. The whole season was a waste anyway.
You know what Supernatural? FUCK YOU FOR THAT. They deserved better. WE deserve better.
And I would love nothing more than to hurl every possible insult your way,
But for the last time, I’m going to HOPE that you’re finally going to try to make it better for the fans that stuck by you all these years.
No more baiting new viewers, no more placating casual viewers, no more excuses. 15 years. Bring it home for the people who have actually been around.
SO HERE’S HOW I THINK 15x20 IS GONNA GO
There’s two ways this series is gonna end. Horribly or Spectacularly.
First let’s all take into consideration what Andrew Dabb says about it:
Tumblr media
So, let’s start with
ENDING HORRIBLY
In this scenario, Misha is telling the truth about his last day of filming being 15x18. His “camping trip” during the last few days of filming 15x20, was actually a camping trip. He doesn’t go to Vancouver to shoot.
Jensen wasn’t “being careful” during the zoom interviews that it was just him and Jared quarantining for the shoot, it really was just him and Jared (althought most of these were done pre 15x19) Supernatural isn’t smart enough to do misleading PR, and they’re once again oblivious to the potential of their own story.
Misha hasn’t posted a “Goodbye Castiel” tweet because he’s probably saving it for last episode or he forgot because it was overshadowed by the Destiel trend that night.
So what we get is:
Sam and Dean are on the road again, up against the monster of the week. Only their world no longer has actual Supernatural beings anymore, so the monsters they’re fighting are humans.
Tumblr media
Humans end up killing the Winchesters (despite having gone up against literally every powerful being imaginable INCLUDING God himself). Dean and Sam end up in heaven and relive their greatest hits.
Meanwhile, Castiel rots in The Empty because he died after realizing that he was happy and gay. Jack doesn’t bother rescuing him—his surrogate dad, the guy who made this specific deal to spare him—even though it was so easy for him get Cas in and out of The Empty when he had a fraction of the power that he has now.
Dean never speaks of Castiel’s confession because despite all the hints of a profound bond in the earlier seasons, and the fact that Dean has never cared for anyone (who isn’t his actual brother) as immensely as he does Cas, Supernatural just can’t have its main macho character be “suddenly bisexual” because that would hurt the male ego or some shit.
His heaven would probably be living happily ever after with his family. “Family” meaning Mary and John Winchester--two of the shittiest parents ever (but they’re not going to include them in this episode like they were supposed to because of Covid) and Sam.
Sam also gets a dog. As usual.
I wouldn’t put it past Supernatural to do this. After everything they’ve pulled, this would be right up their alley. I actually expect this ending.
Anyway, onto the next possible ending
ENDING SPECTACULARLY
In this scenario, Supernatural tries to stick the landing, and Jensen’s whole “It didn’t sit well with me at first, but then I took a step back after talking to Kripke, and realized that I had to view it from an audience perspective, I am now really excited about it” (DC Con 2019) anecdote about his thoughts on the final episodes, were actually about Dean potentially ending up with Cas. (Which would totally make sense because Jensen at first didn’t see Dean as anything but hetero, but as of late, he has been throwing in Destiel jokes of his own, so he seems to have warmed up to the idea)
Backed with Misha’s tidbit (DLConline 2020) that he and Jensen had conversations about Destiel, and that they wouldn’t have gone through with it if Jensen wasn’t onboard with it, but Jensen didn’t push back at all. (Why would they need to check with Jensen if it was just Cas going all in?)
Robert Berens (writer of 15x18) also wrote the script at the beginning of Season 15, but made Misha privy to the concept a year prior (Season 14), so they went into this season knowing about Destiel going canon.
This one’s a reach, but this scenario also supposes that Misha was lying about his whereabouts during the filming of the final episode, and him saying that 15x18 was his last episode is part of the diversion to avoid taking away from the weight of Castiel’s death.
And that Supernatural is actually self-aware of its own material (similar to how they have wrapped things up in the past—lots of expository dialogue, poor execution, but fulfills the story arc)
Since Season 15 is basically a Meta Season (Chuck/God as a writer, pretentiously calling out how he created the worlds, its characters, and basically invalidating the past 14 seasons), and 15x19 is supposedly the finale for Season 15, written by two of the worst Supernatural writers, Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming (Bob Singer’s wife), then we can assume that 15x19 is where the shitty writers kill themselves--as Chuck, of course.
So we get a badly written episode that produces a bad ending, or as Becky put it, “All action, and no Cas”
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
So we get the bad writers season ending at 15x19.
And 15x20 is where Sam and Dean write their own stories, and where the cast had a hand in pitching ideas for it.
Tumblr media
Dabb has mentioned that 15x20 (Act Two) is a SERIES finale, where they try to resolve the characters’ journeys.
Because as everyone has acknowledged, Supernatural isn’t about the story, it’s about the characters.
So here’s what we can get out of it:
With no more Supernatural beings left to fight, Sam and Dean are in a stalemate. They’ve resigned themselves to fighting to the bitter end, but the “end” has passed, and they’re still standing.
So they try to figure out who they are now, and what they want out of the life they still have.
Sam still wants a normal apple pie life. Before Dean dragged him out of college to go hunting with him, he had a whole life planned out for him. Become a lawyer, settle down with a nice girl, and get a dog. He gave all that up because they had work to do, but now the work is finished, he can finally go back to wanting that for himself again.
Dean finally realizes his self-worth after Cas saves him again. His prayer to Cas in purgatory may have helped him come to terms with his anger, but the whole “you’ve done everything you did for love” speech finally put him in his place, and he learns not to hate himself anymore.
But of course, he cannot fully reconcile with himself if he doesn’t get Cas back, and tell him how he feels.
Because Dean actually wants something for himself this time. Something he knows he can finally have if he can just salvage it.
So maybe this time around, with the help of Jack (off-screen), Dean saves Cas. Grips him tight and raises him from perdition.
They bypass The Empty deal by turning Cas human, and he lives the rest of his days with Dean.
Dean and Cas know they deserve to be saved, and they know that they deserve to be happy.
(Wishful thinking, maybe they kiss a little)
Anyway...
I’m just saying, there’s NO WAY that they’d have Cas go through that whole rushed speech, if they weren’t going to do anything about it later on.
But again, after 10 years of disappointment, I wouldn’t put it past Supernatural to pat themselves on the back and say, “Okay, we sort of gave them what they wanted. We’re good now”
If that’s the case, Supernatural, I’m sorry I wasted my time on you.
Here’s to hoping 🤡
2K notes · View notes
itgirlification · 3 years
Text
supermodel | jjk
Tumblr media
the last three months have been hell for you, but Jungkook seemed to be living his best life.
pairing: ex-bf!jk x thick!reader
warnings: explicit mentions of body image and insecurities, infidelity, anal sex, oral (male receive), foul language (kinda), etc.
now playing: supermodel by sza
part two part three
Exactly three months ago, your and Jungkook’s 2 years relationship officially ended. Unofficially, it ended about 5 months ago. And for about one month now, Jungkook’s been seeing someone else.
Your heart and mind told you not to do it but you couldn’t help calculating. Three months ago, you were still dating, two months later, he started dating someone else. That must mean he’s known her for a while. Did he cheat on you with her? Well, it’s not like it matters now anyway, does it?
Her name was Yuki, an undeniable Japanese beauty. You were still in college, studying music and she was a famous model who appeared in internationally known magazines. You assumed she met Jungkook during a photoshoot since he was a professional photographer who often worked for companies like Vogue and Playboy. You couldn’t help but compare yourself to her.
It wasn’t the fact that he moved on so quickly that hurt you the most. It was the fact that he knew all about your low self-esteem and how you lack confidence. Especially about your body. And he still went and dated a model, of all professions in the world. He was definitely over you.
If you didn’t know any better, you’d think he did it on purpose. But thankfully, you knew better, he looked too happy for that to be even considered. He forgot about you.
You’re making yourself sadder by remembering all the times he assured you you were beautiful and your body was nothing to be ashamed of. The times he let his fingertips run over the lines of your stretch marks, whispering in your ear how much he loved them and how they reminded him of Tiger stripes. The times he caressed your jiggly thighs and told you how sexy he thought they were.
Then your mind would drift back to the phone in your hand, the Instagram page of Yuki Sakurai opened, careful not to accidentally like anything and expose yourself. Not that she’d notice anyway, she had 3.7 million followers, while you had a private one with 500 followers and no posts, and she gets around 300 to 700 thousand likes on each post, depending on whether she posts random photos or pretty pictures of herself. Or newly, your ex-boyfriend, Jungkook. Oh, how crazy everybody goes whenever she posts him. People love them together. You couldn’t blame them. Two attractive people? Of course, they’re gonna look great together.
Fucking great.
That the end of your relationship with Jungkook would look like this was semi-predictable from the beginning. He did admit to you that he never thought he’d date someone that looked like you when you first dated. And your heart broke a little. But he also made up for it in those two years, it was a beautiful relationship nonetheless.
While you weren’t exactly his ‘ideal’ type, he was definitely yours. You always heard from other women ‘when in a relationship, the man always has to love the woman more than she loves him. Otherwise, it won’t work.’ You never really got the saying until your breakup with Jungkook happened. It was the fact that you clearly loved Jungkook more than he loved you that lead to this.
“Oh my goodness!”, your roommate, Jane, dramatically exclaimed. “Will you stop feeling bad for yourself and do something? That’s not what hot girls do, sis.”
Jane was a lovely girl with a not so lovely temper. She always means well and you got along perfectly as soon as you met. Which was around 3 and a half years ago.
She looked over your shoulder to see what you were looking at. You obviously didn’t want her to see you snooping around your ex-boyfriend’s current girlfriend’s Instagram but it was too late.
“Seriously, yn?”, she took your phone in her hand and threw it on the bed. “Let’s go somewhere, you can’t do this to yourself anymore. I’m not letting you.”
Jane was clearly worried about you at this point. The only thing you did these last few weeks was eating, shower, cry, sleep and miss a whole bunch of classes. This wasn’t good at all.
“Where?”, your question was short.
“To the mall? Or the nail studio? Anything that’ll get you out of this fucking dormitory.”, Jane sighed, pulling the blanket off of you, making you whine a little. “C’mon, go put on some cute outfit and we’ll go.”
You felt bad since she was trying hard to make you feel better. But it didn’t really work.
You nodded, standing up from the bed, nonetheless. You picked out a cute two-piece dress, that brought back blurred memories of the time you went on a date with Jungkook, wearing the same two-piece. Bet Yuki would look cuter in this...
‘Shut your petty ass up, yn. It’s embarrassing, the way you’re stuck on a taken guy who wants nothing to do with you’
You wish you could change the way you think, even if it’s just for an hour or two. You wish you would stop imagining Jungkook judging you when he saw you naked or when you told him that you wished you could cut off some of your fat with a pair of scissors.
You were beyond ashamed of yourself. Why wasn’t it easy for you to just stay by yourself? why were you so desperately in need of Jungkook by your side to the point where you’d lock yourself in your room for a month just because he isn’t there?
You needed Jungkook. You became so attached to him in those two years, because you always saw him as a permanent, a forever. Not just a temporary, not just a distant memory. You already saw him as the father of your children, as the man you’re gonna marry.
You were so blinded by the fact that you had him, that you forgot you could lose him anytime.
“I’m done, let’s go.”, unenthusiastically, you announced to Jane, who was already waiting for you.
“Let’s get the fuck outta here!”, In contrast to your spirit, hers seemed to be all roses and daisies. “Lord knows you need it...”
__________
“Look at this cute ass skirt, girl”, Jane pointed at a chic, wine mini skirt she was holding. “You know, when I saw it back there I wanted to have it, but it’d look so much better on you”
You took a few seconds to admire Jane’s beauty. She was about 3 cm taller than you, had a great posture, and almond, dark brown eyes that suited her dark skin tone perfectly. Her body leaned more towards the slimmer side.
“Shut up! No, it would not”, you let out a small giggle. “It would look gorgeous on you, buy it.”
She smiled a little at your laughs. She was happy to see you at least a little cheerful again. “Yeah, but I think it’d look better on you. I’m entitled to my own opinion, am I not?”
You knew this debate was gonna go back and forth, because of her stubbornness. “Let’s both buy the skirt.”
You ended up doing so, added by a bunch of bags full of clothing. This may’ve turned into your new coping mechanism. Who needed therapy when you can go on a shopping spree?
Two hours were spent in boutiques and clothing stores and Jane decided she was tired, wanting to visit the local spa.
“No, seriously, these Riverdale seasons just keep on getting worse and worse. Netflix needs to step up their game ASAP”, Jane ranted, making you laugh at how serious she takes it. “It’s getting embarrassing. I’m being for real.”
The two of you were sitting in the whirlpool at the spa, relaxing your whole bodies a little.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever, I don’t watch these new Netflix shows anyways. Been stuck on the vampire diaries for the last 7 years”, you chuckled, knowing you hated trying new things. “Can you pass me one of those magazines?”
Jane nodded, grabbing a random one from the table next to her and handed it to you, without looking at it.
The cover of it caught your eyes immediately. How could it not, when your ex’s new girl looks absolutely dazzling on the front page of it.
‘Supermodel Yuki Sakurai talks summer fashion tips, struggle with self-love and most importantly, her hot, new boyfriend the media is going crazy over’ was the headline of the Harper’s Bazaar Magazine cover.
You felt your stomach getting sick and your breath getting heavier, but you still flipped the pages until you found the one with her interview. You began reading it, skipping the boring parts.
‘Int: so, we see you have a new boyfriend. Tell us, how did you guys meet?
Yuki: Yeah, he’s an amazing guy. We actually met about six or five months ago at one of my photoshoots, since he’s a photographer and we exchanged numbers and stuff, and then we made it official mid last month.’
About six or five months ago? You were with him back then, but her answer was too unclear to find out if he cheated or not.
“Woah, yn, you okay?”
You entirely forgot about the fact that you were with Jane, let alone somewhere other than your bed.
Before you could react, Jane snatched the magazine out of your hand.
“You really can’t escape them, huh?”, She sighs, taking you in her arm. “It’s gonna be okay, baby. In a few months, you’re gonna look back to this and think wow I really was stuck on a guy who’s scared of microwaves and cried like a bitch when Iron Man died.”
You laughed, punching her arm playfully. “You know, I actually love these things about him. Shows his sensitivity and the way he perceives things.”
Jane looked at you as if she didn’t believe you were actually saying that stuff. “Girl, you’re overanalyzing this. Let’s just throw this shit in the trash, okay?”
She put the magazine aside.
“I just don't know what I did wrong.”, You murmured. “I know we weren't the best, but we didn't even fight that much. We could’ve talked it through.”
Jane pursed her lips and cooed. “You know, relationships are complicated sometimes. The reason why he broke up, to begin with, is probably not your fault.”
“Well, what if it is? I mean what if I was too fat or too ugly for him?”, you asked. “If he wanted a skinny girl so bad, I could’ve lost weight for him, I don’t get it.”
Jane looked at you like you lost your mind entirely. “I can’t believe you just said that! Even if that was the reason, which it wasn’t, you shouldn’t make yourself suffer because of it. That’s his loss. You’re beyond gorgeous and you have an amazing body.”
“You’re just saying that.”, tears slowly started coming up in your eyes. “But the thing is Jungkook knows all about my insecurities. Why would he do that to me? I know he knows that I’m still not over him.”
You usually didn’t like crying in front of other people, but you didn’t really care at the moment, besides that was Jane. You trusted her with your life.
“Girl, men are trash, I can’t believe you’re crying over one right now, seriously.”, she wiped your tears and held your face between her hands. “You know, honestly, I’ve read so many articles about how models actually hate themselves and have like the lowest self-esteem so in conclusion, no matter how miserable you are, his new girl is even more miserable.”
You knew Jane didn’t mean it in a harmful way, but it sounded harsher than needed. “I don’t hate her, she probably doesn’t even know about me. I’m just really insecure. He upgraded from me. He’s dating a whole model now.”
The situation just felt like a deja vu of these last few weeks laying in your bed, even though you were at the spa with your friend. You were supposed to have fun, yet you didn’t feel like having any.
“Why would you feel insecure when all you’ve seen of her are Instagram posts and red carpet pictures? She’s supposed to look beautiful, it’s her job.”
To a certain extent, Jane was right, but that didn’t really help your situation, you still felt bad about yourself. You stayed silent.
“C’mon, this isn’t fun anymore. Let’s leave.”, Jane mumbled.
_______
it’s been two days since the incident at the spa and you felt a little bit better now.
Those days were spent reading the same three book series you’ve read your entire life, overthinking, hot Cheetos, Indian takeout, and Netflix. It really wasn’t as miserable as it sounded.
You were just taking a little rest before term break ends and you have to go back to the shithole college again.
Jane was using the time until college starts again, but in different ways than you were. She was planning on going to some frat party in an hour and forget about the world’ for a minute. Or till 4 in the morning, where she will most likely drunk call you and ask you for a ride back to the dorms, because the friends she went to the party with were shit-faced as well and were in no way capable of driving anywhere without the cops stopping them.
Going out partying on a Friday night was a Jane tradition. In the past, you’d sometimes go with her, but you mostly spent your time out with Jungkook doing something more fun than partying could ever be. Now you can’t do that anymore, but laying in bed is more ideal than a party for you at the moment.
“How do I look?”, Jane twirled around to show off her black cocktail dress. She looked beautiful.
“You look beautiful.”, you responded to her question. “Are you leaving now?”
“Hm”, she said, to which you nodded. “You sure you don’t wanna come with me? It’s gonna be really fun.”
You shook your head no.
“Alright”, she shrugged, making her way out of your bedroom. “But I told you, it’s gonna be fun.”
You chuckled, rolling your eyes. “I’ll stay here, I have shit to do.”
“Yeah, right, like binge-watching the vampire diaries and taking 5-hour naps”, she said in a sarcastic tone. “Anyway, bye-bye, Vic’s already waiting for me in the car.”
Victoria was perhaps one of the most obnoxious people you know, yet she was too much of a nice person for you to talk shit about her. The voice of your intrusive thoughts couldn’t help but to, though.
“Alright, bye, take care and say hi to Vic from me.”
After Jane left, an hour went by like it was just a couple of minutes. You were starting to get real bored and decided to watch some regular tv in hopes to find something you enjoy. You ended up not finding anything fun, but you still watched it, because you didn’t have anything else to do.
A few moments later, the doorbell rang and you were suddenly worried. Either this is a serial killer or Jane forgot something.
But to your surprise, it was neither, but it was none other than
“Jungkook?”, truly, those were the only words you were able to mutter out at your shocked state. “What are you do-“
At the speed of light, you were interrupted by your ex-boyfriend pressing his lips to yours. He didn’t say a word.
You weren’t expecting him. Not knowing how you were supposed to feel at the moment, you just let it happen. You were sure your mental state couldn’t get any worse than that, no matter how this will affect you in the end.
“Is Jane home?”, for the first time in 3 months, you’re hearing his silky voice again.
Jungkook knew Jane always had some type of special hatred for him with her killing stares and her bitter comments. You didn’t notice either though.
He also knew she must hate him even more after your breakup. Or maybe she liked him more now since she was able to get rid of him without killing anyone.
“No”, your answer was short and it made a weight fall from Jungkook’s shoulders before he continued kissing you.
It wasn’t anything you haven’t done before, yet it felt like it’s been ages since it last happened. Your mind drifted to the thought of Jungkook and his model girlfriend. You were asking yourself what their sex life was like, if she was tighter than you or if she had stretch marks and scars.
Jungkook’s lips were moving south, giving your neck wet kisses, while you were wondering why he broke up with his model girlfriend. Or if he even did. You felt selfish for not caring.
Removing your clothes one by one, you were left in your underwear, while Jungkook only had his boxers on.
This body was yours. You knew it inside out. Where he liked to get touched and where he preferred not to. You knew him better than anyone else. You were sure.
You already moved to your bedroom, since Jungkook effortlessly carried you there. You were sat on his lap, facing him and your hands were in his messy hair. His hands were around your waist, he was slightly smiling into the kiss, as you started grinding on him. He loved how easy it was for him to turn you on. You were still his.
Cutting off the kiss, he looked you in the eyes, while his hand was on your cheek. “Say aah.”, he said.
You widened your mouth obediently, which was followed by him collecting as much saliva as he could in his mouth and spitting it into your mouth.
“Swallow.”, demanding, he spit on your face, his eyes become darker with every passing moment. You did as he said.
You looked at him with big eyes. He knew you loved it. You’ve always had a thing for him degrading and humiliating you during sex.
He started grinding on you almost desperately. You knew exactly what he wanted.
Getting out of his grip, you dropped to your knees and freed his hard dick from his drawers. You reached for it and started pumping it, and licking it. Your spit was leaking down his dick as you used it for lubrication. Then you started sucking on it, just the way you used to.
Jungkook’s groans and satisfied sighs were enough to make you even wetter than before. You enjoyed giving more than receiving.
Your mouth was wet and warm around him, giving him a feeling of familiarity. You lick over the tip a few times, then proceed to fully take him into your mouth.
The bulge in your throat could be seen and the way your eyes were tearing up a little wasn’t bothering you at all. You loved giving.
Jungkook started thrusting in and out of your warm, welcoming mouth, his tip hitting the back of your throat multiple times.
“Fuck”, a throaty moan left Jungkook’s mouth, giving you hints that he was about to cum. And he did, releasing in your mouth before you swallowed it. “Shit, baby, that was so good.”
You felt your face heat up and a sheepish smile made its way to your face. Your throat was sore.
The two of you were on the bed again. To you, it felt like it was the times before your breakup again, when you’d purposely start an argument just for the makeup sex because Jungkook wasn’t giving you any anymore. It was like sex was the only thing to look forward to.
You felt attached to Jungkook to a point where it was dangerous. You weren’t okay when he wasn’t around. He affected every part of your life and God knew it wasn’t always a positive thing. Maybe it was the fact that he took your virginity. Maybe because he was your first boyfriend, the first guy that made you believe you were worthy of love and that someone was actually capable of loving you. One thing you knew was Jungkook had an expansive influence on your life.
While you were practically drowning in your own thoughts, Jungkook was busy taking off your underwear.
“You okay?”, Jungkook calmly asked you, looking at your riddled face.
“Huh? Yeah, I’m okay.”, you sounded distracted, Jungkook wasn’t sure about asking you what it is though. He didn’t feel like getting personal.
So he shrugged it off and started kissing you again, his dick was unsurprisingly hard again as he played with your tits. He drew lines over the stretch marks of your thighs and kissed them.
“Can I fuck your ass?”, Jungkook’s raspy, tired-sounding voice casually asked, to which you quickly nodded, knowing that Jungkook’s favorite position had always been anal. He was massaging and gripping your ass firmly.
“This is gonna hurt at first, but I promise it gets better.”, He warned calmly into your ear, while putting some lube on his dick and just went right into your ass, slowly thrusting so you don’t feel as much pain.
He was right, it did hurt a lot when he first put it in, but the pain just changed into pleasure in a matter of time and his slow-paced thrusts helped with the adjustment.
“Fuck, I missed this ass”, he practically growled into your ear, as he kept on thrusting in and out, steadily gripping your wide hips with his big, veiny hands. “It just doesn’t feel right when I’m inside her ass.”
You knew your confidence shouldn’t rely on Jungkook bringing his girlfriend down, but you couldn’t help but feel good about your body when he said that. It’s been a while since you felt even a tiny spark of confidence. You weren’t so fond of him mentioning her while he was inside of you.
Your soft moans rang through the whole room like sirens, while he watched your ass jiggle against his pelvis, thrusting in and out faster every second. He missed this.
You had always thought you were indecisive, but you knew exactly what you wanted. You just couldn’t have that, so you’d eventually have to settle for less.
Jungkook wasn’t to blame for it, you just couldn’t concede your shortcomings. The movie’s villain wasn’t always the real villain.
Your hands traveled to your pussy to make sure you’d orgasm as well, when you heard Jungkook’s breathing getting heavier and his thrusts getting gentler than before, indicating that he was gonna cum soon. You were certain he could make you cum with just anal, but you wanted to cum with him.
With furrowed eyebrows and drops of sweat dripping down his body, Jungkook looked down at your arched back. The whole scene was sticky, especially when Jungkook presses his upper body to your back, whispering sweet nothings into your ear and kissing the spot.
It was kinda odd, having sex with your ex-boyfriend you were crying over just a day ago. There was a certain intensity to it though. Like your long-lasting nostalgia was finally fulfilled.
You’ve realized you couldn’t imagine yourself being intimate with anybody else. Jungkook already knew your body, how it looked without the material protecting it, the strawberry skin, the slightly sagging breasts you swore you’d surgically remove once you had the chance to but didn’t. He knew where you liked being touched, he was the first one to even touch you in those places.
You were unsure what you’d do with yourself when he leaves.
Jungkook’s thrusts slowly started stopping and you too felt the familiar sensation in your stomach.
Suddenly, you two were nothing but desire, fear, and pleasure. And faster than you could process, you came together.
For minutes after your orgasm, you were just laying on the bed, thoughtless. Maybe a little regretful. Not you, but him.
You weren’t facing each other, but you could hear each other’s breathing. Your stomach was filled with something you’d describe as post-sex melancholia.
All of a sudden, Jungkook stood up from the bed, startling your resting self a little, but you decided to keep quiet, wanting to see what he was going to do.
He made his way to the door to leave what he thought was your sleeping body laying there. You couldn’t keep quiet anymore.
“Where are you going?”, your soft voice suddenly rang in his ears. “Don’t you wanna stay?”
He didn’t know how exactly to tell you. You’ve always been a gullible little girl, you were the type of girl to think fucking equals love. Little did you know that wasn’t the case at all.
“Yn.... you know I can’t”, Jungkook responded, you knew it wasn’t gonna be good when he said your name like that. “I got a girl at home and I don’t wanna mess shit up with her.”
There it was. Your suspicion was corroborated. He was still going out with the model and you were a certified home wrecker. Great.
You physically felt your heart breaking. “Bu- but why are you here then?”
You were incapable of being mad at him at the moment. It was your fault for letting him in, again. After breaking your trust and your heart.
“This was a mistake”, he declared, not looking into your eyes. “I’m sorry, yn...”
He’s moved past your room now, already at the exit of your dormitory. He was about to leave.
“You already ruined shit with her when you came here and fucked me.”, your voice was small, but your words were heard.
Without looking back, he left.
And you went back to your room, standing in the middle of it for a minute in silence before your brain fully processed what had happened and your tears started pouring.
743 notes · View notes
silentxxsoul · 2 years
Text
HE’S IN THE ROOM REACTION DUMP
Buckley's back together omggggggggggggg I love it
I hate it. Get back together now pls I need good in my life from this damn wee woo show
(but also like it makes sense considering how long they were apart and how they've individually grown and need to re-evaluate who they are before falling back into a relationship)
Also I fucking hate the apology being off screen, because hello lazy writing but clearly on par with KR's decision making
Wow, Hen wasted no time in dropping the tea on Buck and Lucy to the one dude who can't keep a secret. Can't imagine how well that plays out
Tumblr media
Seeing Lucy in this rescue just reaffirms they are capable of writing a competent character but still chose to go the cheating and prop for male lead drama route. Granted my opinion is based on the a) shitty choice in the 5B premier and b) the terrible TERRIBLE post-mortem interviews with the 'poking' and 'flirting' to make me think they're going for the cliche sexual tension with two hot het people *shrug*
I should know better to expect more out of fox but here we are
Tumblr media
EDDIE BBY IN THERAPY BEFORE THE BREAKDOWN ?!
THERAPY CAUSE THE BREAKDOWN ?!
FANFICS WIN AGAINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Yes Eddie talk to Buck about what you've been through...
Tumblr media
Buck babe keep the couch because it'll be your new home before the ep is over methinks
Chim and Ravi
Sassy Bobby offended about the Sushi lmao I love it
GIVE ME MORE RAVI DAMN IT
UNCLE BUCK I'M CRYING
Tumblr media
Buck, we know you didn't ask her for the right reasons now we just need you to know
Maddie get his asssssssssssss pls
Honestly poor Jonah, he's been a cool dude so far and I'm low key kinda sad he's leaving so soon
Fucking spider time god no I'm out uckkkk
Tumblr media
I'm so fucking crawly just LISTENING oh my god why does this have to be on my screen
Its like the damn snake in S1 hard pass
Can we just go back to Eddie please? For my sanity and general wellbeing?
I do find it weird that they've got Buck so separate after the initial rescue. Maybe he took time off to help Taylor move in???
Bobby I'm fast walking away too holy christ on a cracker talk about a jump scare that I KNEW was coming no thank you
This divorce arc is killing me yall
Wait, he's doing it now? While she's like 1/4 unpacked ?
Oh no oh wow did not see that coming
Yall this is rough because she's smart enough to connect the dots--oh yup here we are.
"not entirely" oh big oof bud, biiiiig big oof
"Of course, I don't have anywhere to go. You made sure of that." Hitting me in the soul, like Buck how did you not see how shitty this whole thing was???
(I hate the writers and the show runners for this, like it was so unnecessary and we could have had a way better breakup arc)
Tumblr media
You know, the most unrealistic thing in this whole ep is them saying she dumped $12 of premium on him when clearly that was $150 premium unleaded
So the more this episode goes on the more I'm realizing the god damn breakdown is going to be the last fuckin bit and we're probably going to see all of 1 minute of it before it cuts to the promo for 5.14. I'm preemptively annoyed lol
I keep thinking about the BTS of later in the season being in Buck's loft, so assuming BT breakup that means he stays in the loft and she's just... left out to dry. Like, how shitty. Regardless of if you like Taylor or not, no one deserves this kind of end to a relationship and (on my soap box, sorry) again this could have been avoided if the writers and show runners gave the bare minimum when it comes to caring about character development and canonical decisions.
OH SHIT THAT'S THE BREAKING POINT
THAT--EDDIE LISTENING--TO HER?!?! OH NOOOOOO
10/10 DID NOT SEE THAT COMING
Tumblr media
I'm so fucking nervous yall
I'm so grateful for the Maddie and Albert friendship ♥♥♥
We have less than 10 minutes for the breakdown, meaning I'm right about it being the last bit and I hate ittttttttttttttttttttt
That deserves to be an entire episode on it's own tbh and I wish we got it
Them pushing the breakdown like this is such a cock tease and I hate them.
JESUS H CHRIST BREAK THE FUCK UP ALREADY NOTHING ABOUT THIS RELATIONSHIP IS HEALTHY OR GOOD
I'm glad for that closure scene with Maddie and Jee
So he's calling an old army buddy? Interesting
Oh lord Chris really is going to find him, huh oh no
The fanfics did not prepare me for this
Oh my god nooooooooooo she's died too, didn't she oh no
Oh fuck my life how are they shoving this at the end like this I need an entire episode of this arc please
They all died ?????????????????
Tumblr media
Holy God alive Ryan killed that I'm deceased, heart broken, sobbing mess
7/10, the breakdown saved this. Would be higher if we got more of the Eddie/Buck or even Buck/Chris interaction.
How do they keep stringing along the BT relationship like this? Especially after Arielle hinted at 'poking' and 'flirting' like, seriously? So you've got a dude who knows how shitty he was and barely kept his relationship (and babe I'd be gone so fucking fast, even if it meant living in my car because the guy who supposedly loves me only partially asked me to move in because he felt guilty about kissing a 'rando' -spoiler alert not a rando- at a bar) and promised no more lies and they're what, going to keep fucking around??? Emotional cheating is just as bad as physically cheating.
I cannot express to you how much I don't want that on my screen, like even a little bit. Especially if BT is still a thing.
They've fumbled this BT relationship so catastrophically (not even touching how they watered down the Taylor character after they got together) that it's not even funny, just really sad because at the end of the day all of this was for naught and they're more than likely going to stick with the same tired trope of two attractive het people can't stop making sex eyes at each other because that's what attractive co-workers do. Man I hope I'm dead wrong, but I've got a gut feeling this stupid ass drama is only just beginning.
Tumblr media
6 notes · View notes
bloodieorchid · 4 years
Text
Cafe Rouge - CH 2
Tumblr media
Cafe Rouge - Chapter Two : Cortado
Next ->
<- Last
<- First
A college student finds a job at an elusive coffee and book shop after the disappearance of the past barista. Only after the interview and many confidentiality agreements do you begin to learn the secrecy behind Café Rouge.
YANDERE MALE x READER, YANDERE FEMALE X READER, YANDERE NB X READER
CW: This story will contain dark subject matter regarding stalking, abuse, violence, the yandere tag in general, and more to be added as this story is written and updated. I, as a writer, do NOT condone any of the activities in this story and only seek to write a horror romance. All pronouns are gender neutral so everyone can read and imagine themselves in the story.
Tumblr media
         “Now, you need to steam the milk off center so it makes a vortex,” Knight called out as you cupped your hands around the silver milk pitcher. “Hold the handle, but touch the bottom. Once it gets too hot to hold anymore, you’re done.” Knight called and the steam wand powered on, roaring and whistling like a train going under a bridge. Your fingers felt the temperature rise and grow until it burned and you quickly turned off the steam wand. Knight walked over, whirling the milk in the picture and hitting it against the wood counter of the bar. 
        Knight took a shot of espresso and poured it into a small glass, slightly larger than a shot glass. He then filled it with the steamed milk, pouring slowly to allow the milk to make designs on the surface. He set down the cup to reveal a series of hearts within each other. “That’s how you make a cortado with a rosetta,” Knight smiled as he gave you the cup, letting you sip. It was bitter, but creamy from the steamed milk and slightly sweet. You smiled into the cup. “It’s good, might not be my taste though,” you explained. He nodded. “The first cortado is always an interesting one, but good once you get used to the bitterness,” he explained. 
        The shop had closed down, allowing you to train for the evening and to get grips on the espresso machine. Knight was assisting while Bishop counted the day’s tips and cash drawer. “So, are those all of the usual regulars?” you asked politely while rinsing the cortado glass. “No, we have a couple others, those three or four come in near every day. Willow always comes in to study, but only really stays for an hour or two. Mr. Arnold gets his morning cup of espresso, sometimes he gets a drink to go before he heads to work as a realtor. Then, Mona gets all of the drinks for the Mayor’s office since she’s the new girl over there.” Knight, no Shane explained. 
        “We also have a couple of regulars who only come in when specific baristas work. Mr. Arnold always comes in the mornings around when I come in. There’s another girl named Queen who has a whole crowd of guys who come in the afternoons.” Shane explained as he wiped down the bar and prepped to clean the espresso machine. “No one knows she’s a lesbian though, that’s how she prefers it. She leaves with always close to fifty or a hundred dollars in tips alone,” he commented with a chuckle. “Fifty or a Hundred? In just tips?” you astonishingly called out. “The record for most tips goes to an old barista we used to have called Check. On his last day before graduating, he left with nearly three hundred dollars in tips. The people who come here have their unapologetic favorites. Check even comes in sometimes, he now works down the block for the one of the lawyers in town,” Mr. Bishop called out as he finished counting the money. 
          Mr. Bishop turned around with two pastry bags with the words ‘Rook’ and ‘Knight’ written on them. “Tips for today,” he explained. You gently grabbed your tips before you looked at the large number written in sharpie of ‘64.32′. You stared at the total before nodding and putting it gently back in your bag. “Make sure you be careful on your walk home, Mx. (L/N).” Mr. Bishop called out as you slung your bag over your shoulder. You nodded, “Don’t worry, Mr. Bishop. It’s a straight shot home,” you smiled reassuringly. You couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the owner of the shop, worrying about the safety of all of his employees after what happened to Laura. He nodded. “See you in the morning,” he bid you farewell before turning back into the office. 
          You stepped out of the door, into the light filled street of Ravenswood. You sighed in the fresh air, seeing your breath from the October chill. You wrapped your jacket tighter around you. It wasn’t winter coat season yet, but it was close enough where a jacket was needed. You hurried home, walking along the street and glancing into the windows of fancy restaurants, boutiques, and offices. You glanced at your reflection in the glass, pausing for a moment to see how your cheeks were flushed from the cold and felt warm. You sighed softly, rubbing your hands to your cheeks. 
         Suddenly, you heard a crash to your left. You glanced over to find a dark alley, just barely out of the light of the street. You looked around, the street empty of pedestrians and only one car drove past in the past minutes. You slowly walked to the alleyway, hoping for a cat or something falling out of the window. However, there wasn’t anything in the alley that you could see. You turned on your phone’s flashlight and walked down into the alleyway. You weren’t met with a car or a lost cat jumping to freedom from a fire escape. 
          On the ground below you was a small box, wrapped in newspaper with a black bow. You looked around before picking up the box. You noticed a small tag on the bow, pulling it up to reveal ‘to Rook <3′. You frowned in confusion, standing up before moving the bow and opening the box. Inside, was a single tarot card. 
         There in the box sat card number I, the Fool. A vagabond or explorer traveling into the unknown, unfazed by the dangers. Covered in gold, but a picture of your face had been taped over the Fool’s and your eyes were covered in tape. Accompanying this was a small note tucked underneath. 
        “Travel carefully, little Rook. You wander further and further out of the light. It will be a shame when you find yourself trapped in the darkness. 
                                                Your new admirer, Reti” 
         You held the box in confusion, looking around for a sign of who dropped the box and becoming more and more anxious when - 
         “(Y/N)?”, you turned quickly to reveal your coworker Shane. “What is.....” he quickly made steps toward you and saw the box and immediately frowned. “We need to show that to Mr. Bishop, now,” he said, looking at you harshly. “D-Do you know who sent this, Shane?” you asked confused. “Someone from the shop, I assume they called you Rook?” he asked. You nodded and handed him the box. “Come on,” he lead you back to the shop and opened the door. 
         “We’re closed,” Mr. Bishop called from the back. “Sir, (Y/N) found another box. It was addressed to ‘Rook’,” Shane called out. Mr. Bishop stepped into the front. “They’ve worked two days.” he said as he walked to the counter. He frowned as he saw the box and squinted at the note. “I don’t understand, who sent this?” you asked, looking at your new boss. 
           “I wanted to let you get settled in before you started to deal with this stuff. Someone from the shop likes you and wants you to know it.” Mr. Bishop frowned as he flipped the tarot card. “This doesn’t exactly seem friendly, Mr. Bishop,” you rebutted and rubbed your cold arms. “It’s not, while the majority of our shop is full of nice people most days, we’ve apparently attracted a clientele of the occult and people who have probably broken the law,” Shane commented while frowning. 
            “Well, it’s simple. We just go to the police, and they find this mystery stalker,” you commented as you stood tall. Mr. Bishop looked at you, “We tried that last time, but whoever took Laura got her after we got the police involved. They didn’t care about attention, they wanted her for some reason.”
           “This means....” 
            “You’ve peaked someone’s interest, (Y/N) and we need to find out who before you end up like Laura,” 
72 notes · View notes
Sorry this is so long......How TV Creators Are Handling Subtext And Shipping
Tumblr media
TV series creators have a hard time not tailoring content towards a strictly heteronormative audience, refusing to lean in to queer context, no matter howlarge an LGBTQ following a show may have.
Once a fictional character is put out for public consumption, it ceases to be the one thing it’s described as on paper. This is especially the case with TV and film, where said character goes through so many hands before hitting the screen and becoming public property.
There are three kinds of creators when it comes to queer content on TV. The first (and sadly, most typical) is the creator who will deny any intention of creating queer content, and who will also refuse to acknowledge a queer audience’s interpretation., This often results in an instant backlash, as the Supergirlcast and creators experienced after an embarrassing interview with MTV last summer. When prompted to recap the latest season, the cast broke into a cringeworthy song that mocked fans’ interest in the Supergirl/Lena Luthor pairing, with Jeremy Jordan repeatedly exclaiming that the two will never get together. It continued despite Katie McGrath’s attempt to save the interview saying, “The great thing about what we do is, like any art, anyone can read into it what they want.” Chris Wood then chimed in with “Sexuality is all about others’ perception of yours, right?”
Supergirl is a show with a large female following that from the beginning has gravitated toward the female relationships it portrays, with emphasis on those relationships with strong queer energy. At first, there was a group of internet fans that were drawn to the chemistry between Melissa Benoist and Calista Flockhart, which was maximized due to the characters’ intense mentor/mentee relationship, and that was fine, and for the most part went unacknowledged by the show.
Tumblr media
However, upon Flockhart’s exit, Lena Luthor was introduced, played by Katie McGrath. Kara Danvers and Lena Luthor became fast friends, and fans’ fascination with Supergirl’s queer vibes grew strong enough for the the cast to take notice. One would think that by having Alex Danvers and Maggie Sawyer, two queer characters already in their orbit, fan speculation about others wouldn’t be such an inconvenience that it would have to be addressed by aggressively singing “They’re only friends!” over and over, as if the pairing were unfathomable.
But Supergirl hasn’t been the only show to outright reject queer interpretations. In fact, a few years back, the long-running series Supernatural was called out by its fans for purposefully inserting homoerotic subtext within storylines pertaining to male characters Dean and Castiel, and for rather indirectly addressing said subtext in interviews. In one of them, Misha Collins (Castiel) stated that in certain scenes with Jensen Ackles (Dean) he was directed to portray his character as a “jilted lover.”
Tumblr media
During a Toronto Con panel in 2013, it was revealed that a line was changed by Ackles — who last year specifically requested no questions about the popular pairing be allowed during the Q portion of a panel for the show at New Jersey Con–from “I love you” to “We’re family. I need you” because the Actor didn’t think it suited his character. Despite fandom’s interest in the pairing, it hasn’t been enough for Supernaturalto follow through with an actual queer storyline, aside from the one recurring lesbian character, Charlie, who was ultimately killed off. It turns out our tolerance for queerbaiting does have its limits.
Another show that failed to address the sapphic energy between its leads, in effect rejecting a great opportunity to add a bonus layer to an already complex relationship between two women, was Damages. The thriller starred Glenn Close as powerhouse prosecutor Patty Hewes, and Rose Byrne as her protégée, Ellen Parsons. The series went on for five seasons and throughout, though it benefitted from incredible writing, its highlight was clearly the tension and undecipherable relationship between Patty and Ellen.
Tumblr media
While there was never any doubt that their connection was what kept the the show’s palpable tension dial at a 10, anytime the subject was brought up to either cast or creators it was denied or waved off as “wishful thinking,” as Glenn Close put it. When pressed further, she added, “I think there’s something seductive about Patty and she just seduces people and she’ll lead people on. I think that can come across as pure seduction.”
With Person of Interest, Sameen Shaw (Sarah Shahi) and Root (Amy Acker) first connected under very unique, very dark circumstances in which one was holding the other against their will in a life threatening situation. But there was a sizzle there that the audience immediately responded to, and while both cast and writers admitted that was not their intention, something amazing happenedthey took that audience reaction and ran with it. In the end, Shaw and Root’s romance became one of the show’s more compelling storylines.
Tumblr media
Jane the Virgin did the same. When a character, Petra, who wasn’t intentionally written as queer read queer to LGBTQ viewers, the writers saw no problem taking the interpretation and adopting it as canon. After years of keeping Petra as a sort of peripheral player within Jane/Rafael storylines, the character of Jane Ramos was introduced as Petra’s defense attorney and eventual love interest.
Tumblr media
The third type of creator is everyone’s favorite. This is the one that takes whatever gay subtext or context there is, embraces it, and expands upon it, recognizing that it’s there from the beginning. In the Flesh and Killing Eve are true representatives of queer entertainment that isn’t trying to steer its characters toward a path they weren’t organically wanting to go.
In the Flesh, a BAFTA-award winning series from BBC 3, was easily one of the best shows that no one watched; a zombie show with depth, which isn’t easy to accomplish. The story takes place years after a virus epidemic that turned the infected into flesh-eating monsters is cured, and the rehabilitated are returning home. Its main character is Luke, one of the former infected, suffering from memories of the terrible things he did while sick, and tortured by his own suicide, which was prompted by the loss of love interest, Rick.
Tumblr media
The series ran for only two seasons, with a total of nine episodes. It was inventive and creative and stands as one of the greats right next to shows like Hannibal and The Exorcist, which was unfortunately canceled by Fox this year after only two seasons of sacrilege, beautiful cinematography, Alfonso Herrera (Sense8) and a bisexual Father Marcus, played by Ben Daniels.
Killing Eve is a female-led thriller that proves that the secret to making great TV is treating characters like human beings with the capacity to change. Eve, who, when we meet her, is living a life that doesn’t seem particularly terrible, whose marriage appears to be solid, her job secure, is lured into potentially life threatening situations for the sake of following her inexplicable attraction to a female assassin. As if beneath the surface there is a dormant unrest that is awakened with the arrival of Villanelle in her life, and though she does not stop to examine exactly what she expects to get from it, she craves and wants more of these moments that have stirred her awake. She’s both excited and frightened by Villanelle’s audaciousness, by the intrusion into her life,
both figuratively and literally.
Tumblr media
The season’s got a few episodes left, yet the most compelling, and most attentively queer moment is part of the fifth episode, in which the two women finally come face to face in Eve’s home. Eve is sopping wet in a gorgeous dress Villanelle’s purchased for her, she’s cold and visibly uncomfortable, therefore Villanelle suggests Eve should change, before proceeding to peel the dress off her herself. It is a scene that doesn’t downplay the very real danger Eve is in by having Villanelle in her home. However there is also an erotic aspect to it that is very purposeful, and as series creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge points out, the attraction is definitely mutual, “I knew that the first moment they see each other. I labeled that moment as ‘love at first sight.’ But I didn’t want it to be constrained to romance, or to lust, or anything like that. There’s something waking in Eve every day that she spends imagining what this woman is doing.”
This type of storytelling allows characters to evolve the way that they want to evolve as opposed to forcing them into a first page description. There is loyalty to the authenticity of the story, which comes from meticulous attention paid to the writing, which Waller-Green explains is all about going against cliché: “The moment something feels predictable, there’s a roar in me to just go to the most surprising place. I don’t want to bore myself.”
Often times, when female queer characters are introduced, it is done in order to titillate, and their storylines are the product of a male gaze fantasy. Killing Eve manages to avoid all of that with Villanelle, a character who seems to have no specific preference when it comes to sexual partners, and yet doesn’t feel the need to use her sexuality to get what she wants. In addition to that and the meaty tension between the two leads (Villanelle and the titular Eve, played by Sandra Oh), the attention paid to the very queer theme of the show is evident in backstories of characters that would normally go without one, like that of Eve’s former boss and best friend Bill, an older man in a heterosexual relationship who casually reveals he’s loved “hundreds” of men, much to Eve’s surprise, and further reveals he is in an open relationship, and happily so.
The series proves not only that queer characters are marketablethe BBC series was renewed for a second season before the first even airedbut that straight creators are capable of writing queer content that isn’t offensive or over-sexualized. Phoebe Waller-Bridge credits the authenticity of the series to a collaborative effort, stating, “Because it’s all about the characters, the little details that link the two worlds, everyone’s really made it a psychological piece rather than just an artistic painting of two different people’s worlds,” but it really just goes to show that that negative aspects of queer representation that include the dreaded male gaze perspective can be avoided as long as the bar is set high enough by the showrunner.
It only takes a little bit of creativity and imagination, and a willingness to challenge the idea that heterosexual-based television makes for the best and most successful stories.
Alex Velazquez is a writer, photographer, and queer Mexican living in Los Angeles, CA.
2K notes · View notes
angsty-nerd · 4 years
Text
Nonny Questions
Okay, so a Nonny (or multiple Nonnies) sent me a whole bunch of ideas for questions for Carina that I never got to ask... however, I do have MY answers for them, so... here you go Nonny(ies)!!
1. Can you ask her for me "You said that Nathan got hired because of his chemistry with Jeanine. Were there other actors that auditioned for Max considered before Nathan came in? And did you stop looking once Nathan read with Jeanine?
So this is actually something that Carina’s talked about quite a bit. Nathan and Carina were friends before RNM - they worked together on the Originals for a number of years. When it was time for casting RNM, Nathan was one of Carina’s first calls. She always knew she wanted him on the show, but he was supposed to play Michael and not Max. Then Vlamis came in for an audition and blew them away and at the same time they were having trouble finding the right Max. So Carina decided to ask Nathan if he’d be willing to do a chemistry read with Jeanine (who had already been cast), because she didn’t doubt that he was capable of playing Max...she just wanted to check the chemistry, and obviously it was magic. Jeanine told a little story about that read on Lance Bass’s podcast this past week. Something about how they both do the same awkward tap dancing move...
2. Can you ask her how Liz knew she could show Max her feelings and what memories did she show Max since that's how he used the handprint to show memories of her?
If you remember back in 1x02, she told Max, “When you showed me your memories, I didn’t just see them, I felt them.” Also, the connection through the handprint made her feel Max’s echoes, and she experienced it again with Noah in 1x12-13 (in a really not-awesome way). And in 1x13, Noah told HER that he could feel her through the connection. He comments on the guilt she feels. So that was really Liz learning that Max could feel her just like she felt him through the connection. I don’t know that there were specific memories associated with it. She wanted him to feel her feelings, not see specific memories. It’s not like she got memory flashes from Noah. Just feelings.
3. An idea for a question. When Max and Isobel were on their way to find Noah and Liz was on the phone with Max, was she going to say I love you? Because her mouth moved with no words and when the camera went back to Max she said "stay safe".
I think that’s pretty clearly suggested. Throughout the entire episode Liz is fighting her guilt for loving Max. She’s very firm with Maria earlier in the episode that “you can’t help who you fall in love with”, which implies that she’s pretty much there already at that point. Noah comments on her guilt. But Liz feels like she needs to come clean to Rosa first, before she tells Max. Which is what stops her from saying it on the phone (plus, lets be real...we don’t want a first I love you to be over the phone. That would be so lame!). Which is why she goes to visit Rosa’s grave after leaving Max in bed. She’s trying to get a clean slate for herself so that she can say it to him. But instead she’s left haunted by her decision NOT to say it for months. *excuse me while I go cry in a corner*
4. Oh oh you should ask her if Liz is the light to Max's darkness! Unless you think it's too spoilery.
Yes. Yes she is.
5. Can you ask her if there was an intention in having all Liz Ortecho items in Max's mindscape when Isobel and Rosa tried to talk to him?
I think it was clearly intentional. I don’t think we’ll get much elaboration on that from them, although admittedly, now that the whole amnesia/dark!Max plot seems to be done (which, honestly...should have taken longer to resolve), maybe they’d speak about it now. I’ll tell you what MY headcanon is on it, and I dunno, maybe we can call it canon too based on what Isobel said at the beginning of 2x06. I think that Max was being overwhelmed by all the dark energy, and his memories and associations with Liz were the only way he could fight it. But his body was dead — only his mind was active. So after “pulling his plug”, his brain slowly started dying, and as it was dying, slowly the darkness began to take over. His memories of Liz were dying along with his mind. Slowly disappearing. If you watch those scenes closely, things are constantly disappearing until the very end, when he’s dying on the operating table, and Isobel goes in and nothing is left except the Jeep and Bright Eyes playing...and then Bright Eyes fades away - like it was his last memory of her fading away. And then what do you know, he wakes up and he remembers everything about his life except for Liz — the thing he was hanging onto until the end as he died. Another point to sell this - Carina mentioned in an interview that she fought hard to use Bright Eyes in that scene — that it was an important detail to her.
6. Possible question, "Did Max absorb Rosa's ten year of darkness or just 10 years of a general dark energy? Cuz as Rosa was in the pod she was in stasis so it's not like her body was decaying for 10 years, but a couple hours or a day or two.
Max absorbed ten years of dark/death energy by bringing Rosa back to life. I don’t think it has anything to do with decay. I think it has to do with death and the amount of time that she was dead. Like, dark/death energy was just building for all of that time. And I don’t think it’s intended to be specific to Rosa. Like, if he went to resurrect Kate or Jasmine, or Jim Valenti, or some random dude killed by a stray bullet, he would absorb the darkness of their deaths too, for the amount of the time they were dead. Dude, think about his “wrongness” after healing Liz. And she was only dead for, like, a minute at most. This is part of why I’m a little critical about how “easy” it was for him to expel the darkness...because Liz’s one minute (ish) of death was enough dark energy to blow out the entire town’s power! So ten years of Rosa? Hell, that could be some scary shit. He shouldn’t have been able to just cause a little mini earthquake and shoot some lightning and then done? It doesn’t sit right with me.
7. If Liz had a fiance, does that mean when Diego asked her to marry her she said yes? Will we see this?
Typically that’s what it means when you have a fiancé. And god, I hope not. I did like that we got a little bit more Diego detail in this last episode. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him at some point, but I really don’t care to spend much time with him. Diego is the past. Max is the future. And its not like Diego is a threat to Max. I think one of the things I like about the way they’ve set up Echo at this point in the series is that it makes almost no sense for them to find themselves in a love triangle. Like, they are already basically spiritually married at this point. I can’t imagine Liz looking at anyone else. I can’t imagine Max looking at anyone else. They’re it for each other.
8. Can you ask Carina if that's the real Max or a different Max?
Obviously I didn’t get a chance to ask, and I don’t think she would have answered it I had...but based on her tweets, I’m inclined to think it’s the real Max. Yes, there was a lot of interesting imagery, and we could still end up with some sort of Jekyll/Hyde situation per @maxortecho metas, but Carina basically admitted that they felt like they needed to get Max back at the halfway point in the season, and that even though they wanted to do more with Dark!Max, that they felt like they needed their male lead back. And that the amnesia twist was really just to give us the chance to see Max falling in love with Liz. So I think there’s some GREAT opportunities for AU/Dark!Max fic now, but that the guy we’re seeing on the show is the real deal.
9. Can you ask if we should be suspicious of Max or can Echo fans breathe for a little while?
So I think I answered a lot of this above, however, now that I have the recording of my chat with Carina, let me give you the exact quote that she said to me about Echo…
“Oh good, I felt like it was time that you got fed.” (After I told her I was an Echo person)
“It was nice to see them be happy and laughing. I don’t know how long it’s going to last, but...Echo’s relationship is pretty good for a little while.”
I think that’s fair and I told her so in the chat. I really don’t think it’s reasonable to assume they’ll be all happy all the time (like I posted about a few days ago), but I think pretty good for a little while sounds nice!
20 notes · View notes
gra-sonas · 4 years
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media
In the next episode of The CW series Roswell, New Mexico, entitled “Como La Flor,” Liz (Jeanine Mason) and Rosa (Amber Midthunder) are forced to revisit their past when their estranged mother (Bertila Damas) show back up in their lives. At the same time, Max (Nathan Parsons) is trying to make sense of his own past, now that he’s started having flashbacks to childhood memories that have been long buried.
During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, actor Nathan Parsons talked about why it was important that his character’s death mean something, the different dynamics in Season 2, how much he knew about what Max’s journey would be, where things are at for Max and Liz, Max’s concern for Isobel (Lily Cowles), learning about the aliens’ history as more and more memories come back, how crazy the second season finale will be, and what it’s meant to have such tremendous support from some of the original series cast members.
Collider: First of all, congratulations on already being picked up for a third season. I’m sure that feels nice and reassuring to know that the network believes in the show like that.
NATHAN PARSONS: Yeah, it’s awesome. Especially considering how up in here everything else is right now, it’s nice to know that, whenever we all can get back to the office, we’ve got somewhere to go.
Now that Max is officially back in the world of Roswell, what was your reaction when you were first told that he was going to die? Were you like, “Hey, did you forget that I’m the male lead of this show?,” or were you game for however that played out?
PARSONS: Honestly, I had an inkling that it was spiraling towards that, pretty much for most of Season 1. Obviously, you never know for sure until it’s on the piece of paper in front of you, in the script, but I had an inkling of it. By the time the script for that episode came around, and it was like, “All right, officially, you’re dead,” I was so exhausted with the crazy schedule of shooting the season that I was like, “Thank you! I’ll take it. I can take a nap.” The end of last season was absolutely insane. We were in the pouring rain, in freezing temperatures, screaming at each other for 18 hours a day, so that’ll take it out of you. I was actually a little excited about it because it was like, “What else is gonna happen? What are you doing?” I think the writers did a great job of giving me little things to play with, via a little zombie action, or the imaginary friend. Those were all fun things for me to chew on, while people were figuring out how to bring me back.
What was it like to be a part of the show, before you were officially back in the storyline? Did it feel weird to have it be so very different, at the beginning of the season, or was it fun to get to play with some different dynamics and aspects of the character, that you couldn’t have done last season?
PARSONS: It was both, to be honest. I love all of the things that I got to play with. It’s fun to play. That’s why we do what we do. But it was a little confusing ‘cause I would show up to a table read, and I would have no idea what was going on. People would be talking, and there were characters and I didn’t know who they were or what they did. But I knew my little bit and I focused on that, which was fun. So, it was both. It was very confusing and I was pretty lost, but I enjoyed it. I tried to make the most of it.
How much of Max’s journey were you told about, at the beginning of this season? Did you know how and when he would ultimately come back, before that happened?
PARSONS: I knew, pretty much from the end of Season 1. Between Season 1 and Season 2, I had a lot of conversations with the writers about how we didn’t want Max to come back, right away. That’s cheap. His death had to matter, otherwise, what were we doing? So, I knew it would be some time. Beyond that, I didn’t really know much. My purview into what was going on was so narrow because I wasn’t there for most of it. It was actually nice going in, not necessarily knowing what’s going on because it puts me immediately in the same place Max is in. When I wake up, eight months, or whatever it is, after I died, all of this stuff has happened and I’m going, “Huh? What? You’re doing what now?!” So, it was fun to play catch up, on screen. When I’m asking everybody, “What happened,?,” I was really genuinely asking about what happened because I didn’t know. I really enjoyed that. Going forward, from the time I come back until the end of the season, I had a vague idea of what was going on, but you never know until you see the script.
It feels like Max’s journey this season is only just beginning, now that he’s back. What can you say to tease this next episode and what we’ll see with him?
PARSONS: Well, we know that Max and Liz are back, essentially. Now, we’re gonna Liz’s mom come back into the picture, played by the amazing Bertila [Damas]. She brings a whole new level of complexity to that whole family dynamic because now we’re no longer just Liz and Max. It’s now Liz and Max, and Rosa, and their dad, and now the mom’s coming back. We’ve got the whole family going. That’s a whole web to untangle, right there.
How does Max feel about all of that? Is it more than he bargained for?
PARSONS: It always is, right? You start a relationship and suddenly you go, “Oh, you’re the sibling? Hi, it’s nice to meet you. You’re the dad? Hi, it’s very nice to meet you. And you’re the mom? Okay. It’s very nice to meet you.” You end up getting slammed through that gauntlet, sooner or later, and in this case, it’s happening sooner. I don’t think you ever quite anticipate that, but it always happens. I don’t know why we think that we can escape it because it always happens.
Isobel has always been a little intense, even before Max died, and now she’s even more intense about wanting to spend time with him. What can you say about the dynamic between Max and Isobel now, and what is he most concerned about, when it comes to her?
PARSONS: I think it’s just that, her intensity. I don’t know what she’s been through, with the pregnancy and all of that. I just know that she’s a little more chomping at the bit. They had that huge fight, that big smack down, and she’s obviously become super powerful. It’s a little like, “Easy up, sis. I’m here. It’s cool.” For me, it’s only been a minute, so not much has changed. For her, it’s been a lot longer. I don’t really have an understanding of what she’s been through, so it’s like, “Hold your horses,” a little bit there.
Max had a very interesting vision, at the end of the last episode, and obviously you’ll get into that more, this season. What can you say to tease that, and where that will lead him, this season? Are we going to learn more about his alien side?
PARSONS: Absolutely. You’re gonna learn more about all three of us and our history. That’s always been a burning question, since the beginning. What happened before we woke up in the desert? No one knows. We don’t remember. It’s bee suppressed. Now, we know that they were experimenting and that’s horrible, but that was all post pod. Now, suddenly, these memories are starting to pop up. Not only is it an effect of being dead and being in a pod for so long and having those members seep in, but also it’s just my effort to suppress those memories and suppress the questions of, who are we? Where do we come from? I’ve worked so hard to try to be human, but I’m not. That’s a tough pill to swallow. At the end of Season 1, Noah said, “This is who we are. This is where we come from. Whoever wins the war is coming for you.” And it was like, “What war? What are you talking about? Why were we in these eggs?” All of that stuff has been a question, from the beginning. Noah re-awoke it. As much as I’m still trying to suppress it, now it’s going, “Sorry, I’m already awake now. And they’re coming back. Whether you want to remember or not, you’re going to.” And then, you have to decide, if you keep trying to suppress it or if you go, “Fine, what do I need to know? How do I remember? Who the hell are we? Where did we come from?” That’s really where the shift is gonna come, and we see that more and more of these memories are coming back.
Obviously, you want those answers, but at the same time, is that also scary for him?
PARSONS: Absolutely. That’s why I’ve suppressed it for so long, to begin with. It’s scary enough that we all have these weird powers. It’s even scarier to think, if we were only children and we can do what we can do, and I can call down a lightning storm and throw it into someone’s chest as an untrained child, what were we capable of? What are we capable of? And do we want to know? Not necessarily, but we don’t have a choice. That’s why you go, do I pretend that it doesn’t exist? I’ve squashed that part of myself so hard that it’s almost like I’m normal, but at the end of the day, I’m not. I’m not like everybody else. You can only do that for so long, before it comes around and bites you.
Without giving away any spoilers, what can fans expect from the season finale? Last season, you had a big finale where your character ended up dead, so how does this season’s finale compare to that?
PARSONS: It’s still pretty crazy, I would say. Maybe some more people die. Maybe there are much bigger plots going on than we ever thought there were, to begin with, and they all crash to a head. We learn that there’s more to this world than our little town of Roswell, and we’ll see how that explodes before us.
It’s very cool that this re-imagining of this story has also been able to include some of the original cast members, with Shiri Appleby directing episodes and Jason Behr guest starring this season. What’s it meant to the cast, to see the original cast supporting the series and to have them around?
PARSONS: It’s awesome. This was such a loved series, when it first aired. When we first started, before Season 1 ever aired, people were going, “You’ll never replace the original. There will never be another Max.” And they’re right. I’m not Jason Behr. I’m not able to do what he did. I’m not trying to do what he did. We’re not trying to. The wonderful thing is that the cast from that original said, “No, you’re right. We’re all a part of this huge family here, and we all love this weird world that we all work in and live it.” Their support has been awesome, from the beginning. Back in Season 1, Shiri fist directed for us. Jason came in this year, and he’s been a wonderful help for me, personally, just because I admire him, as a person and as an actor. To have him around and his support is wonderful. You can’t ask for anything more than that. It’s really been nice. If there’s one thing that we’ve tried to really work at it’s to keep these stories fresh. Ultimately, every story has been told, so it’s about finding new ways to tell them. And to include the people that came before us and set the tone, to begin with, elevates what we’re trying to do. Together, as a whole family, two separate series have come together, and I think it’s wonderful.
~ Collider
15 notes · View notes
Text
If Danielle was frustrated with the writing for Hope, can you imagine how Aria must feel about what they did to Landon? It’s so painful to watch as a fan, but imagine being in Aria’s position and having to go through it. Having to go to work, doing how many long and cold night shoots throughout this season for the awful limbo plot, and that’s the material you’re given. Imagine being separated from the majority of the cast all season, wearing the same clothes every day, while being given the saddest excuse for a storyline while your character is constantly mistreated and so poorly written. Aria earned the role of Landon, the male lead of this show, and brought Landon to life so perfectly. There was so much potential for Landon, and you can see the enthusiasm Aria had in old interviews, and ideas he had for things he wanted for Landon’s character. And the writers just completely destroyed everything for him. After all the thought and effort Aria put into Landon and all that had been set up for his character, the writers gave him nothing for two whole seasons, the last seasons of the show. I can’t imagine putting so much work into a character, all the hours and long days, and to be treated that way. I feel so sorry for Aria, but just hope that he’s happy to be free now and that he’s thriving.
27 notes · View notes
Text
Scoot McNairy On Lightening Up In HBO Max’s ‘Love Life’ And The Making Of A Great ‘Narcos: Mexico’ Scene
By Kimberly Ricci
The first few times I interviewed Scoot McNairy, I got a little aggressive with rampant questions about his righteous mustaches. In my defense, these discussions of facial hair often lightened the mood as we discussed his recent heavy roles on True Detective‘s third season and the most recent round of Narcos: Mexico. Scoot’s always a good sport about answering the most bizarre of inquiries, but for his latest project — an HBO Max dramedy, Love Life, starring Anna Kendrick — no such lightening was required.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that there isn’t a mustache present with this Scoot project. There is one, although it’s not as plentiful as those that he sported in the above two projects and Godless. So, the Halt and Catch Fire actor was off the hook (this time) for any facial hair talk. Fortunately, he’s still gracious enough to discuss this latest role (a wealthy entrepreneur and slightly older man who plays a key role in helping Kendrick’s character develop) with us, including how much of a relief it is to step into the shoes of a less-stressed-out character. I also wished to discuss the latest Narcos: Mexico season finale, which ended with a fantastic, fictionalized, and quiet confrontation between his DEA agent character, Walt Breslin, and the drug lord (portrayed by Diego Luna) that he put behind bars, and Scoot was game for that, too.
Love Life is a nice piece of an escapism. Would you characterize it as a romantic comedy or dramedy?
I haven’t seen the project as of yet, but after reading and talking with [showrunner] Sam Boyd, it feels like it’s more of a dramedy, and also a sort-of slice-of-life over the course of ten years, well, basically a decade.
Even though it’s not 100% cheery, this role’s definitely more lighthearted than anything you’ve done lately. Did that feel like taking a load off?
You know, it was a lot of fun. I started in this business twenty years ago, and for the first ten years, mostly what I did was comedy, and I haven’t been able to do that in eight or nine years. So, I was really looking to try and find something to do, comedic-wise, and Sam had this project that I really liked. So yeah, I really enjoy doing comedy or dark comedy, so this was really fun to step back into that — a lighter role.
Whenever I think about artists switching up genres and entering different phases, I think of an old Ethan Hawke interview, where he expressed his surprise at how shooting horror movies was a lot more silly and less terrifying than he expected. Was making a romantic comedy the same or different than you expected?
That’s a really great question, but you know, it just felt familiar. Comedy is something that I’m somewhat uncomfortable with but obviously very, very scared of and stuff, and it’s also about challenging yourself with something that you haven’t really done in a long time and something you really enjoy doing. And also just moving around, switching it up, and trying not to get pigeonholed into a sort-of genre, just to stretch your wings, I guess.
I don’t know if you’re aware, but one of the Love Life promo shots zeroes in on your character, Bradley, with a martini. You’re playing a character who drinks martinis!
Yeah! He’s a New Yorker, really into art and very motivated and ambitious. That being said, there’s also a lighter side to the character. I just hadn’t done comedy in so long, so I was really itching to do it. And Anna Kendrick is genius, and incredible at what she does, and I was really looking to work with her on something that was comedic and in her wheelhouse. She’s incredible in this, and it’s such an amazing project for her and role for her, so I was really excited to just be a part of that.
And the writing feels realistic and without too much reliance upon clichés.
Sam Boyd, the creator, he’s a really really smart guy. He was incredibly great to work with and collaborative and all that, but he wrote an incredible story. Really heartfelt and funny and sad at times, so I think it should be a really fun, wild ride.
Do you have a favorite romantic comedy?
Some of the older ones like When Harry Met Sally and Richard Linklater’s earlier stuff, including Before Sunrise. I loved those movies and the big, broad comedies like the Will Ferrell stuff.
Producer Paul Feig’s helming of Bridesmaids might bring a lot of curious eyes to this project. There are some similarities.
Yeah, definitely, I hope so. It’s really special and unique and also brings us back to movies like Reality Bites. It’s kind-of like a version of that for the newer generation.
That newer generation has been embracing romcoms on Netflix. Do you have any take on why those movies are doing so well there?
I don’t, to be honest, I didn’t know that. But as of right now, in the position where people are in quarantine, romcoms are movies that make you feel good, so maybe we’re seeing a lot of that just because of the times we’re going through.
Talking about your Love Life character any more would lead to spoilers, so do you mind if I ask you about the Narcos: Mexico season finale?
Nope. You mean the one we last finished?
Yes, and specifically, the conversation between Walt Breslin and Félix Gallardo. I’ve been comparing it to other great confrontations like Pacino and De Niro in Heat and FX’s Justified ending.
Wow.
Did you draw inspiration from any movies or TV shows, or was it solely about those two characters to you?
Oh, I was terrified to do that scene, to be honest to you. A lot of what you’re seeing is just terror, but I know that there’s always, in these sort-of male-driven shows, there’s always this reference back to Heat. You know, Carlo Bernard, one of the creators of the show, he worked with Michael Mann and actually worked on Heat, so we’re always throwing that around and stuff, so yeah, in so many ways, it’s going to resemble that scene. But I don’t speak Spanish, and that whole scene was in Spanish. It was a long one, so I am very glad to hear you say that it turned out so great because it was a very nervous one for me.
Aren’t you a Texas native? I grew up in Oklahoma, and Spanish wasn’t required but strongly encouraged. I can’t imagine going into that scene dry.
I learned a little bit in the time that I had, but even as a kid, I never picked up much Spanish living in Texas.
So when you think about Walt and Félix, do you sense any admiration there as well as contempt? Or was I reading too much into that?
Oh for sure! You develop, in law enforcement, when you’re going after a case for X amount of time, I’m sure you develop a relationship with that person, and you know so much about them that there is a sense of admiration and respect when you’ve kind-of got your guy. The very thing I think about that scene is that, like, there’s this idea that Walt got his guy, and he’s won. And throughout that scene, he [realizes] that’s he’s only created a worse problem. And I love the sort-of dynamics that shift in that scene. And him going through what is to come because of what [he’s] done. Like, [he] didn’t do anything but cause a worse problem.
And on a personal level, Walt didn’t even get the closure that he wanted.
Yeah, neither one of them. It feels like they both lost.
Have you heard anything about another season?
No, I would gladly be open to doing more. I had a wonderful time on the show and loved working with the crew down there and all the people on the show, executives and Netflix. It was a dream job, so I would happily jump back down there.
The first three episodes of ‘Love Life’ premiere on May 27 with the launch of HBO Max.
[x]
6 notes · View notes
j-j-ehlby-writes · 5 years
Text
Păpuşă (s.s.)
Pairing: Sebastian Stan x Reader
Word Count: ~6.3k
Summary: You and Sebastian just finished a movie together. This is your first promo interview. What happens when an unknown truth is revealed?
Italicized = flashback
My Masterlist
Tumblr media
“My first guest tonight is starring in her very first movie, a hilarious romantic comedy with Sebastian Stan that’s coming out in theaters this Friday. It’s her first time on the show- her first interview even. Please welcome to the show, Y/F/N Y/L/N.”
I come from behind the curtain and am greeted by Jimmy Fallon. He shakes my hand before giving me a light hug as I step up onto the stage in the 5 inch heels I immediately regret choosing for this interview. I wave at the crowd before taking a seat.
“Welcome to the show, Y/N.” He greets.
“Thank you! I’m excited to be here.” I cross my legs at the knee to get more comfortable in the outfit my stylist picked for me. This was my first promo interview for my very first movie. It’s expected to do fantastic at the box office. I know it’s going to be a great film.
“So this is your first movie. How cool is that?”
“Oh it’s beyond cool. I can’t even explain how excited I am for it to finally come out.” I smile, thinking about the last year of my life and how much it has changed.
“And your co-star and love interest is the amazing Sebastian Stan. Tell me how that was and how that came to be.”
“That’s a funny story actually. I insulted him during the first round of auditions.”
“Can you believe you’re headed to your first audition?” My friend shrieks in my ear through my headphones. I walk down the sidewalk from the bus station, trying to re-read the script we were all sent to make sure I memorized my lines.
 “No, I can’t. Don’t get your hopes up. You know how rare it is for someone to book their first ever audition? Practically unheard of.” I finally find the building after hanging up and go inside. I follow the signs until I reach a large room with dozens of people waiting their turn. People left and right all reading from the same script I have. I feel like the complete amateur I am in this crowd. Everyone looks so professional and not at all nervous, like I am. I find a quiet corner where there aren’t very many people.
 “Hey.” I hear someone one say over my soft music. I pull out my earphone to see a gorgeous girl standing in front of me. “Do you need help running lines?” She asks offering a kind smile.
 “Sure.” I unplug and put away my phone.
 We go over some small talk before turning to the script. I feel foolish doing this in front of her, but at least it’s some practice that I definitely need. I feel like I know this script front-wards and backwards by now, but I still feel like I will mess it up somehow.
 After we rehearse the necessary scenes, we continue to chat. She tells me that this is her tenth audition this week and I instantly want to drop out. There’s no way I will get picked over her. She looks like she belongs in this world. I don’t. The best that I could probably get would be someone in the back with no lines. I know it’d be something. Getting even a small part in a movie is something. But I want to go big. I wanted to go for the female lead. Go big or go home, right?
 We’re standing around, waiting for the process to start.
 And then he walks in.
 “Who,” I drag out, “is that?” I try not to stare too much, but it’s hard not to. He is one of the most beautiful men I’ve ever seen. His shorter dark brown hair is covered with a dark blue baseball cap and his steel blue eyes are shaded by a pair of tortoise sunglasses, but he’s not fooling anyone. His beard is perfectly trimmed, trying to hide the sharp jawline but failing miserably. No one seems to have noticed his entrance, or if they did no one wanted to react.
 She turns around to see who I’m gawking at. “You seriously don’t know who that is?”
 “Oh no, I know exactly who that is. I just wanted to have that ‘movie moment’.” She laughed at my silly behavior, before looking behind me again.
 “Well get ready to have another because here he comes.”
 By the time I turned around, he was a few feet away from us. He greets the girl next to me. “Who’s your friend?” He asks, looking at me.
 “Y/N.” I introduce myself. I see out of my peripheral vision him hold his hand out to me. I shake it, trying my hardest to keep my fangirling at bay.
 “Nice to meet you, Y/N. I’m Sebastian.”
 I chuckled at how humble he is. He’s an A-list actor. He needs no introductions anymore. “I know. You played one of my least favorite characters on Gossip Girl.”
 “One of?” He asks, feigning offense. He crosses his arms over his broad chest, trying to act like a tough guy. “Who’s worse than me?”
 “Georgina,” I don’t hesitate to say, “and then Louis and Marcus tie for a close second. Blair didn’t have the best dating history.” I just finished re-watching all six seasons of the show for like the fifth time, so everything is fresh. I never thought my knowledge of a teen soap-drama would actually come in handy one day. “A history that briefly included Carter, even if it was to just piss off Chuck.”
 “In your eyes, what made Carter so bad?”
 “What he did to Beth was inexcusable. He deserved to work off his debt to the Buckley’s. And then lying to Serena about how long he’s known about where her dad is? That was sketchy and unnecessary. He didn’t deserve Serena. I was happy she left him on the side of the road.”
 He smirks at me, “You seem to have a strong opinion.”
 “Well I did just finish watching it again so you could say I’m pretty well-versed on what happened with Manhattan’s Upper East Side elite.”
 “I’d love to hear what other opinions you have.” His smirk turned into a smile that lit up the room.
 The first name was called into the audition room, bringing us back to the reason we are all here.
 “What part are you auditioning for?” He asks after the conversations continued around the room.
 “Noelle.” I name the main female character and ask the same question in return.
“Forrest.” He answers with the name of the main male character a.k.a. Noelle’s love interest. “Do you want to run lines together real quick before we get called in there? It’d be nice to go through it with someone who actually knows the dialogue.”
“We ran lines together and found out we just fit. When we made it to the chemistry read round, they told us to pair up. You can imagine everyone wanted to be his partner.”
“Everyone wanted to be Bucky’s partner.” Jimmy filled in.
“Everyone!” I emphasized. “I mean, how could they not? He’s a phenomenal actor and an even better human being.” I had to stop myself from gushing about him. I didn’t want to give everyone the wrong idea about us… “And much to everyone else’s dismay, he chose me because of how well we had gotten along the last time and we remained a pair for the rest of the process.”
“That’s awesome. And since this is your first movie, it must have been helpful to be surrounded by so many veterans.”
“Oh gosh, was it ever! I had no idea what I was doing the entire time. I felt like a fish out of water. Thank God I had someone like Sebastian to help whenever I needed something, which was a lot.”
I slam the door of my trailer and immediately fall apart. Today was bad. No, worse than bad. It was a trainwreck. I wouldn’t be surprised if they fired me after that awful performance.
I don’t know what was wrong with me today. I kept forgetting my lines, constantly messing up the take and having to do it over and over again. I know the director and everyone else involved must be frustrated with me with wasting everyone’s money and time. I also kept missing my marks. Somehow my feet and my eyes couldn’t register where I was supposed to stand and stop in the camera shot.
But worst of all, I couldn’t get into character. Getting into another head space right now didn’t seem possible no matter how many times I read the scene, I just couldn’t do it. It was frustrating as an actress because that’s what I’m being paid to do and I can’t do my job.
Knocks on my door nearly scares the crap out of me. I don’t get up from my spot on the floor. I don’t want to talk to anyone or have anyone seeing me like this.
Unfortunately I forgot to lock the door, so whoever knocked opens it and comes in. “Hey.” Sebastian’s voice fills my trailer with no trace of frustration. I run my fingers through my hair and wipe the tears away. He sits next to me, not saying anything else.
“I’m so sorry.” A new wave of tears threatens to fall, but I push them back. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“Nothing is wrong with you.” He wraps his arm around my shoulders. “You’re just having an off day. Everyone has them. That doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.” He coos. “Frankly, I think we’d all be surprised if you didn’t have one. Then we may think you’re a Russian spy coming to infiltrate.”
A very unattractive snort came from my nose as I tried not to burst out laughing. I finally look at him to see him smiling. Even if my dark trailer, his grin lights up the entire room like it always does. “You should know! You’re the Romanian vampire who never ages.”
“‘Romanian vampire’ is kind of redundant.” He pursed his lips, nodding. “All vampires are from Romania.”
“Oh shut up!” I use all of my strength to push him over but because his arm is secured around me, he barely moved more than a few inches and brought me with him. He keeps going though, lying on the floor, pulling me to his chest. We lie in the new calm silence.
Over the last few weeks, Sebastian has become more than just my co-star. He’s someone I would call a good friend. I can go to him if I need help knowing he would never judge me. I can bounce ideas off of him for our upcoming scenes. I can talk to him so easily about anything that’s on my mind and he will engage in the most meaningless conversations with me. I truly enjoy his company more than I ever thought I would… which definitely didn’t help with the slight crush on him before I even met him.
I tried to bury it as soon as we were both cast in this film. I didn’t want to ruin this job because of it by making things awkward on set when I couldn’t get a grip on reality. I managed pretty well until we had to do our kissing scene… When I found out there was going to be one, I instantly dreaded it. My only hope was it was done right away. I wanted to get it out of the way so I could then get over it and look at him as just a friend and co-star for the rest of the movie.
Luck was not on my side though. It took two months before we got to that scene. Two whole months of hanging out with him on and off set, running lines behind the scenes, him bringing me Starbucks every morning, and me slowly falling for him before finally getting to that scene. And to say it made things worse would have been an understatement. Every scene we’ve had to do together after that, I messed up at least twice getting lost in the things he said and the way he looked at me. I’d try and explain it away by blaming the lack of sleep for clouding my mind, but that can only go so far and can be used so many times before people start getting concerned about my health and work ethic.
“Are you going to be okay, păpuşă?” He asks breaking the silence with his Romanian that sounds like the most natural thing in the world. I wish he would tell me what that word means. I asked him the first time he used it, but he said, “Now păpuşă, if I told you that, then I’d have to kill you.” So now I just deal with it and hope for the day he finally tells me.
“Did you two get close during filming? I ask because when he was here earlier in the week, he said he told the casting people when they offered him the part that he wouldn’t do the movie if you weren’t cast as Noelle. And there are plenty of rumors about the two of you being an item.”
My heart dropped. “Did he really say that?” I hadn’t had a chance to watch his interview from last week. I had been so busy with preparing all of mine in the coming weeks that I haven’t had much down time. And he didn’t say a word about it to me. Jimmy played the clip where he indeed said that. “Wow. Um...” I manage to squeak out before snapping out of it. “Yeah, we did get pretty close. I’m lucky enough to be able to consider him my best guy friend now. He’s someone I trust wholeheartedly.”
“So those rumors about you two dating are…?”
“Untrue. I am single and he is, too.” At one point during filming, I wasn’t sure that was true…
“Cut!” The director yells. “Alright, that’s a wrap today! Good job everyone. Be back here at 9 am tomorrow.”
I turn to one of my co-stars. “Thank God this day is over! I’m so tired. All I want to do this weekend is go back to my hotel room and stay there until Monday.”
“So you and Sebastian don’t have plans this weekend?” She asks as we walk back to our trailers.
“No? Why would we?” We do hang out a lot after we’re done filming for the day and sometimes spend the weekend hanging out in one of our hotel rooms, but we’re not always together like she is making it seem.
“So he’s free this Friday?” She tried to hide the smile on her face by biting her lip.
I shrugged, “As far as I know, yes? Why don’t you go ask him yourself? I’m not his keeper.”
That Friday, as we finish filming for the day, I see him leaving with her and I don’t hear from him again until I see him Monday morning. She was grinning ear-to-ear the entire day and he acted odd around me for the week following. He didn’t look at me unless we were filming, he disappeared during our lunch break, he would give short answers to my questions but then run away as soon as he saw an opening, and he’d be gone before I finished changing in my trailer. By the next weekend, I had had enough of it.
I bang on his hotel door and wait. It took a few minutes before I heard the lock on click and the door open to reveal a shirtless Sebastian and a pair of low-hanging sweatpants around his waist. His hair was also a mess, hanging in front of his eye. “Y/N, this isn’t a good time. I-”
“Why have you been avoiding me? Did I do something? I thought we were-”
“Is that the room service, Sebby?” I hear someone call from inside the room.
And suddenly, I realize what an idiot I was. He wasn’t avoiding me. He was just occupied with someone else now.
He turns back to me with the guiltiest look on his beautiful face. I swallow the lump in my throat. “I’m sorry, I, uh, I’ll see you Monday.”
“Y/N!”
That weekend was probably the worst I had had in a very long time. I locked myself in my hotel room and ignored everyone except for the delivery guys when they brought me food. Sebastian came to my door a few times, knocking and begging for me to open up for twenty minutes the first time but then got shorter every time he came back.
By Monday, I plastered a smile on my face and planned on giving the performance of a lifetime, but fell incredibly short. I could barely look at him without feeling betrayed. But why did I feel like that? We weren’t together. He can hang out with whomever he wants. He’s a gorgeous single man who could have his choice of any girl and he’s choosing someone that isn’t me.
“Cut! That’s lunch.” Everyone scatters after the announcement. I make a bee-line for my trailer to eat in peace. I picked up something before coming in this morning for this very reason.
“Y/N, wait!” I hear Sebastian shout. As much as I want to ignore him right now, I have to get along with him for the sake of filming. But if he wants to talk about anything other than the movie, I’m out. He appears in front of me, halting my steps. “Now who’s avoiding who?”
“I’m not avoiding you. I just want to get to my lunch. I’ve been looking forward to it all day and I’m starving.” I step around him to continue my journey.
“Subway again?” He guesses correctly walking along with me. I don’t answer. I just kept going finally seeing my trailer in sight. “Can I please explain myself?”
“You don’t need to. You don’t owe me anything.” I yank open the door and step inside. He follows.
“I know I don’t need to, but it’s obvious you’re upset-”
“Upset? What gave you that impression?” My sarcasm bit. “Was it ignoring your constant knocking on my door? Or was it the fact that I didn’t return any of your phone calls and texts? Oh no, it must have been my blatant disregard for your repeated efforts to talk about it. I’m just giving back what you gave me all of last week.”
“I’m sorry.” He apologizes, “I know I should have talked to you.”
“Why? Like I said, you don’t owe me anything.”
He steps closer. “But I do. We’re friends, Y/N. I should have told you what was going on.”
Friends. The worst F word a person can hear from someone they like.
So he explains. She had asked him out on a date last week. He said yes. They had a good time, but ultimately decided they were better off as friends. He was weird around me last week because he didn’t know if he could talk to me about it. He didn’t know if we were at that level of friendship yet, but I assured him that he could talk to me about anything, even girls no matter how much that would hurt. Of course I didn’t say that last part.
“Are we okay now?” He asks from his seat across the table. “Can I have my best friend back?”
“I’m your best friend? I thought that was reserved for Evans or Mackie.” I cross my arms on the table, smirking outwardly at his statement. My heart hurt a little to hear it. I don’t want to be his best friend… I want to be more.
“I think they’ll understand.” He smiles at me only confirming my stupid feelings.
“Well in that case, we have to be okay. If I’m going to face their wrath, I’m going to need some Winter Soldier protection.” My smirk turned into a smile as I imagine what their reactions are going to be.
“I gotchu, păpuşă.”
“Well if you’re both single then why not make it true? I saw the movie. Your chemistry is fire.”
I tried to hide my being uncomfortable with laughter. “I mean,” I shrugged, “I’m never going to say ‘never,’ because you really don’t know what can happen in the future, especially in Hollywood. But as for right at this moment, I am single.”
“And are you ready to mingle?”
“I am so ready to mingle!” I exclaim. “You have the connections, set a girl up!”
The rest of the interview went smoothly after that. I was escorted back to the dressing room, where I met up with my agent. She confirmed I had two phone interviews later, but I wasn’t listening very much. All I wanted to do was talk to Sebastian.
When I called him, I got his voicemail. “Bună iubito,” I use the greeting he taught me that meant “hey dude,” or something along the lines of that, “can you give me a call back as soon as you’re not busy? I need to talk to you about something.” I leave my hotel information before hanging up.
I just hang up with room service later that evening when there’s a knock on my door.
“I come bearing food!” He greets as he steps into my room.
“I just ordered room service.” I whine before taking a look at what he brought. Subway. Of course. I shake my head at how well he knows me before joining him at the table.
“Thank God because I’m starving. I only got this for you because you said you wanted to talk. I figured I needed to apologize for something, so I brought your favorite to soften the blow.”
“You know I had my Fallon interview today, right?” I ask getting straight to the point.
“Oh yeah, how’d that go?” He started unpacking my food, not looking at me.
“Good…” when he didn’t say anything, I add, “He told me what you said.”
His head dropped and his shoulders slumped. A sharp breath of air came out like a weight just lifted. “I was waiting for this.” He mumbles as he turns around to face me. “Look, if it sounded like an insult, I didn’t mean like that. I just meant that I believed in you so much and we got along so well during the audition process that if they didn’t choose you to play my opposite, then I didn’t want to be a part of the movie.”
“Why would you do that though? I’m sure there were more well-established actresses that auditioned that you would have gotten along with just as well. You took a huge risk betting on me.” I can’t imagine what this would do to his career if this fails because of me. “Not to mention, you could have lost the movie completely because of your foolishness.”
“I know, I know. There was just…” He paused, gaining a half smile at the image in his head, “there was just something about you that I wanted to know. I couldn’t let the opportunity go; I couldn’t let the possibility of being around you more slip through my fingers.”
Even in the poorly lit room, I could see the emotions in his eyes. The emotions I’ve seen multiple times while filming this movie with him… The way I imagine I look at him when he’s not looking. My heart races at the possibility of what he could be saying. I’ve had a crush on this man for years before I met him. Even the mention of his name made me smile and seeing videos of him interacting with fans always ended with me giggling because he was just so adorable. Then I actually met him and he has exceeded all of my expectations since then. He is the sweetest, most down to earth, hard-working, kind-hearted, passionate human being I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. And by some miracle, he might feel the same way about me that I do him.
“Sebastian…”
“Y/N…”
I had to sit down. If we were going to have this conversation, I wanted to be sitting. I curled up on the couch. He followed, sitting facing me resting his arm on the back of the couch. “When?” was the only question I could ask. My mind was spinning. Was this really happening right now?
His big, mesmerizing blue eyes locked on mine. They were filled with nostalgia as he remembered the moment. “It was the first time we hung out off set.”
After a long first week of filming, it was finally the weekend. One of the other actors suggested we all go out to celebrate surviving. I immediately turned to Y/N, waiting for her answer. All week I have been wanting to hang out with her off set. She is hilarious while just the two of us are between takes but shy when around everyone else, I wanted to know what she would be like in a more casual environment and not surrounded by dozens of people.
During lunch we all agreed to meet at this “cool” club downtown. Even as she said yes, I could tell she didn’t really want to. She’s an introvert. She doesn’t like crowds of people she doesn’t know. When we got back on set, I promised her I wouldn’t leave her side. She seemed reassured by it and that made me happy.
She makes me happy. Being around her has made me feel truly happy for the first time in a very long time. From the first moment I met her, she wasn’t afraid to tell me how she felt about my portrayal of an Upper East Side elite dick. Her conviction about a simple show showed me a side that interested me. What else made her blood boil? What other kinds of things is she passionate about? I had to know.
So when I was offered the part of Forrest, I asked who they were going to cast as Noelle. I panicked when they were leaning more towards someone else. I wanted to spend more time with her. Filming nearly every day with her for three to four months and then promoting the movie afterwards will give me that time. I knew I was risking everything by saying I wouldn’t do it unless she was Noelle. My agent definitely wasn’t happy with me about it when she found out. Thankfully it all worked in both of our favors.
She wasn’t like anyone I’d met in this industry and I wanted to see what else there was to her. I vowed not to waste any opportunity to do so.
I told her I would pick her up at her hotel and then we could go to the club together. But when she opened the door, she looked me straight in the eye and asked, “Do you just want to order pizza instead?”
No matter how badly I wanted to say yes and completely forget the plans we had made, I knew the two leads had to participate in a cast get-together even if it was only for a short bit. I did manage to convince her to go at least for a little while and then we could get pizza. I even added ice cream to the deal to persuade her.
When we got to the club, she instantly clammed up. I did all I could to make her feel comfortable for the time being by upholding my earlier promise. I never left her side. We ordered one drink, toasted with the cast, chatted for about ten minutes, and then we left.
The second she stepped out of the club, she was back to being her confident self. She complained about how stuffy it was in there, how loud and obnoxious the music was and how all she wanted to do was go back to her hotel and eat pizza and ice cream. Her wish was my command…
After we finally got our food, we went back to my hotel room. I was right about her having a whole different side to her outside of work. She is laid back, incredibly funny, and outgoing once she gets comfortable with you. I learned she has many different laughs for different situations, all of them equally as adorable as the last. She snorts when she laughs so hard that she can’t breathe. She squeaks when she likes something, her nose crinkles and her upper lip kinks up when she doesn’t. Each and every time she laughs, her smile lights up the room. She does have very strong opinions on more things than TV shows she knows well. I got to know her more than I ever expected.
“You know I didn’t initially want to be an actress?” She says lying on the couch with her feet on my lap. “It was more like a last resort thing. I never thought I could do it.”
“Why didn’t you think you could do it?” I ask flabbergasted by her inability to see how talented she is. Throughout the audition process, if I didn’t already know she was a newbie, I would never have guessed it. She acted like a pro. She nailed just about everything that was asked of her.
“Well,” She finishes her last piece of pizza, impressing the hell out of me. This girl isn’t afraid to eat. She consumed the entirety of her own pizza. I love it. “It’s not that I thought I couldn’t act. It’s that I knew it would a long shot that anything would ever come of it. All you ever hear about are people struggling to make it in LA. I’m one of those people that doesn’t like failing. If I didn’t get this movie, I probably would have given up on acting completely and tried something else.
Plus, it was drilled into my mind during my formative years that being an actor or a singer ‘weren’t real jobs’ so I just kind of swept it under the rug, never to be thought about again… until a few months ago that is.”
“Just goes to show, păpuşă, that you shouldn’t listen to the doubters.”
“Pap-what?” Her brows furrowed and her mouth hung open in confusion.
“Păpuşă.” I repeated fully knowing she has no clue what I’m saying. I’d been calling her that in my head ever since I met her, guess it just kind of slipped out.
She sat up and scooted closer to me. “I know you fluently speak Romanian, no need to show off to the rest of us that are inept and uneducated at languages. What does it mean?”
I tucked some of her hair behind her ear, taking in her natural beauty. When I met her, she wasn’t wearing much make-up, and she looked stunning. She’s complained to me many times this week that she has to wear more than she’s used to for filming. She thoroughly enjoys when she can take it off at the end of the day. She goes into her trailer as a beautiful woman, but she comes out the most stunning woman I’ve ever seen when she is without any. Not only is she naturally beautiful, her hair smells heavenly I literally want to bury my face in it constantly, she’s smarter than she thinks she is, she’s kind to everyone on set, she’s caring towards all she meets, she’s creative on and off set, she’s extremely passionate about many different things, she’s… everything I had thought she would be and so much more.
I like her. A lot more than I ever thought I would. I see that now.
“Now păpuşă, if I told you that, then I’d have to kill you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I ask after going down memory lane of that night. We went to McDonalds later because we were both still hungry and were craving their fries. We walked a few blocks to do so, singing Disney songs to each other down the empty streets to pass the time. It was an adventure that I never expected but am extremely grateful for. It showed me a side of him I had always wanted to see… and it only worsened my feelings for him.
“I didn’t want to make things awkward on set if you didn’t feel the same way.”
“And that date you went on with-?” It was only a month after our first hang out that he went out with our co-star. If he liked me then, it doesn’t make sense why he would go through with it.
“I did agree to go on a date with her, but only because I couldn’t go out with the person I really wanted to take out. And as soon as we got to the restaurant, she told me she only asked me out because she knew you wouldn’t. She was hoping that her even mentioning asking me out would spark something in you. That gave me hope.” Even the small smile that appeared beamed causing my insides to feel all melty.
“If you had hope then why did you ignore me after that?” All of the pieces are coming together now; it’s all starting to make sense.
“I only ignored you because every time I looked at you, all I wanted to do was tell you how I felt. But I didn’t want to tell you unless I knew for certain that you liked me back. I didn’t know how to handle it correctly. The night you came to my hotel room, she was only there to try and convince me to tell you. I had just gotten out of the shower when she arrived, so she had ordered room service while I was getting dressed. That’s when you knocked on the door. Nothing was going on between us.” He reached over, taking my hand in his. “It shattered me to see how hurt you were.”
I shook my head at the memory of that night. “Did you even suspect why I was so hurt?” I know at times I wasn’t subtle about my feelings for him. I always had a stupidly big smile on my face when I was around him, finding every opportunity to bring him up in a conversation… but that night, I was sure he would find out. When he didn’t ask me about it specifically, I thought he didn’t notice or care.
“Believe me, I had hoped that the reason you were so upset was because you cared about me the way I did you. But when I explained everything and you didn’t say anything, I assumed…”
“When you called me your best friend, it kind of slammed the door on that talk. One of the reasons why one day I literally could not do anything right was because of how I felt about you.” I admit, “I think I just got so overwhelmed with everything going on with the movie and how quickly life had flipped upside-down, trying to make sense of my feelings for you and maintaining a façade that my mind just could not do what everyone asked of it.”
He titters, “The day we laid on the floor in your trailer for so long that we fell asleep.” I nod. As we both reminisce about that day, his thumb rubs circles on the back of my hand. We fell asleep for quite some time too. It was the best nap I had had in a very long time. No one had any idea where we were and why we weren’t back on set when called. It was slightly embarrassing to be found in that position but since we were both clothed, no one suspected anything happened.
“I tried to bury my feelings for you when we were cast, but every day we’ve spent together has just-”
“made them stronger?” He finishes, locking eyes with me.
“How freaking cliché is that? Falling for your co-star?” Everything is telling me that this wouldn’t work. The track record of celebrities starting relationships on set and staying together is staggeringly low. I don’t want to become another statistic, but with the way Sebastian is looking at me right now, it makes me feel hopeful that we’d be one of the success stories.
“I mean, I liked you before we were even cast. Doing the movie together just helped those feelings grow exponentially.” He smiles at me again, caressing my cheek.
“You made sure of that,” I chuckled.
“And I think I made the right choice in trusting my heart.” He grabs both of my hands and pulls me up off of the couch. “If we’re going to do this, I want to do it right.” He takes a deep breath, letting his smile take over his handsome features. “Will you, Y/F/N Y/L/N, go out on a date with me?”
“It would be my humblest honor, Sebastian Stan.”
“Great, how does now sound?” He asks eagerly.
“Now? But Subway and room service…” I whine, eyeing the long white plastic bag on the table.
“You know as well as I do that you can have it later or tomorrow.” He gave me a pointed look, daring me to argue with him. He knows that’s what I’ve done multiple times; he knows I can’t argue with him. Bastard.
“Ugh, fine!” I whine some more. “Let me just take off my make-up and then we can go.” I still hadn’t taken off the stage make-up from my interview earlier. I felt disgusting and in need of a good face wash.
“Păpuşă, you look perfect.” He pulls me to him after I exit the bathroom, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“Are you ever going to tell me what that means?” I giggle as he buries his bearded face in my neck.
He laughs, pulling back. “Doll.”
“What?”
“Păpuşă means ‘doll’.”
Permanent taglist: @elusive-beauty @drakesfiance @im-a-slut-for-an-accent @fantasy-is-my-reality @naniky
283 notes · View notes
voicedaily · 5 years
Note
Hey, thanks for this blog! I see you post about the japan remake recently. I don't watch it yet, is it worth watching? How about Mo Tae Gu? Kim Jae Wook set a high bar so I don't want to disappointed with his japan counterpart if I watched it..
Yo! Thanks for stopping by. Of course, I have to keep making this blog active with content [laughs]. And right after season 03 is over, we’re lucky that Japan airs the remake of season 01 just in two weeks. As for your question, I plan to write a review after the series is over. The last episode will be aired on Sep 21.
But for short, I can say it’s worth watching. Well, the remake version of Kang Kwonjoo isn’t satisfying but It has much better, better storytelling than the original has. Jdrama always has the strength of story-wise better while K-drama tends to focus on conflict and sometimes makes the story draggy, and it happened too with Voice. I still remember I did grumble of some aspects in the original haha. But before you decide to watch it, I hope you don’t have the same standard because both Jdrama and Kdrama is naturally different in values. J-drama values more in a down-to-earth/realistic approach to visualize while K-drama tends to make beautiful cinematography with a higher budget. For example, the death of Hwang Kyungil and Nam Sangtae in the remake is more realistic for forensic points to camouflage it as suicide (so I don’t feel the cops are very stupid), the murder of Madam Jang (replaced with Inspector Okihara, equivalent with Inspector Jang character) also more make sense there that you can’t imagine how the culprit in the original did it all in short time and even carried the body outside from 2nd floor to his car on park area without being noticed by anyone; but you feel more chill and horror in the original when you saw a body is burned down, a room full of blood with eyeball taken out, and a body hanging on the tree right when you open the curtain. Same with the villain’s basement; the remake makes it dark, dull and dusty as what basement is used to be while the original made it bright so we could see the red blood stained clearly everywhere. 
Tumblr media
This “realistic” vs “beautiful” also applies to their drama characters. I can say Korean people shown on TV dramas are better-looking than Japanese ones. I believe it’s a major influence on how Mo Taegu becomes the most stunning villain in Kdrama history. The beauty shots accommodate the perfect combination of the villain’s elegance character and the actor’s handsomeness despite the brutal murders and the amazing acting ability to be a psychopath. Probably those are the 15-30 extra minutes of visualization that the remake does not have (despite the fact of J-drama always having shorter episodes). But it doesn’t mean the remake version of Mo Taegu, Hongo Shizuku, is more lacking in his character. They rewrite their own version while still keep some aspects from the original as follows:
Mo Family runs a public transport company, Hongo Family runs a construction/civil engineering holdings.
While an image of Taegu having the ability to play grand piano as he loves classical music is only mentioned in Kim Jae Wook’s interview, the remake realizes it.
Shizuku is more independent than Taegu when playing a “game”, there’s no his dad’s secretary helping him to flee after he killed Hikari’s (Kwonjoo) dad and to abduct Toru (Daeshik), it hints he takes or abducted them all by himself before killing them in his basement. He also ordered Toru, all by himself and save his contact.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Taegu collects a suitcase of the victim’s hairs still on the bloody scalp (but then, I imagine his random victims on street are women because the hairs he collects are long), Shizuku collects a glass shelf of blood-stained kettlebells. In both of their collection, the name of our hero and heroine are written as he plans to murder them later.
The remake doesn’t include the demon aesthetic that Taegu sometimes underlined his murder as the words of God by citing a bible chapter written on the victim’s blood. Taegu also used other weapons to kill Sangtae (rope and knife). And there’s also a narration that he loves mutilating a body, too (implicit said by Sangtae that Taegu killed his dad that way, explicit when it was shown Taegu keeps the old lady‘s tongue and when Kwonjoo found Madam Jang’s crime scene). However, Shizuku is more consistent in his actions, he left the body in one piece and only collects the kettlebells he just used, whoever his victim is. 
Point 4 and 5 make me conclude that the original built Taegu like the star in a slasher/cult horror movie, it was so random (I’m sure even the genius Spencer Reid from FBI Behavourial Analysis Unit in CBS Criminal Minds series would hardly find the connection LOL) while the remake designs Shizuku more like a common serial killer with specific behavior as a crime/procedural series always use to be.
Now, as Kim Jaewook set a high bar, there’s no other counterpart to play the same character who represents the coexist of beauty and madness better than Iseya Yusuke. Both of them starts their career as a fashion model in catwalk and magazine when they were studying. Their physical appearance, their lean body structure and height, and their sexiness/attractiveness are very alike. You even almost can’t differentiate Hongo Shizuku with Mo Taegu when you see them in suit from their back. Well, Iseya Yusuke is as old as Jang Hyuk (born in 1976), so he might be not as handsome as Kim Jaewook in fangirls’ taste. But for acting ability, he’s still the perfect cast balancing Kim Jaewook for these reasons:
Tumblr media
Both of them are graduated from the University of Arts. Kim Jaewook is from Seoul Institute of Arts, major in music. Iseya Yusuke is from Tokyo Institute of Arts, major in design. Tho’, Iseya Yusuke achieves his Master’s Degree and exchange program at New York University (major in film).
With that background, both of them aren’t just an actor, but more an artist. Kim Jaewook has a rock band and also plays in theatre as a foreign musician biopic, Iseya Yusuke directed a few movies that were invited to the international film festivals. 
Both of them are hardly known popular as TV drama star despite their talents. Kim Jaewook loves indie projects and took supporting role/second lead role in some TV dramas, it took 17 years after his debut that he finally pick a lead male role in popular TV drama genre, rom-com (Her Private Life, 2019). Iseya Yusuke is known better as a movie star, he also took various roles in historical dramas in public channel, it took 19 years after his debut that he finally plays for a commercial broadcast in a TV drama (Prison Princesses, 2017) more in comedic role.
Both ever performed in Korea-Japan collaboration movie. Kim Jaewook in Butterfly Sleep (2017) with Miho Nakayama, directed by Jeong Jaeun. Iseya Yusuke in The Tenor Lirico Spinto (2012) with Yoo Jitae, directed by Kim Sangman.
Both of them ever acted to make a passionate gay kiss scene in the movie. Kim Jaewook in Antique (2008) with Andy Gillet. Iseya Yusuke in Tonde Saitama (2019) with Gackt.
Nah, Idk whether this is the script one that wrote Hongo Shizuku like this below or that’s Iseya Yusuke himself who interprets his character differently from Kim Jaewook:
Remember the scene in the basement that Taegu could hear the sound of the people he murdered? Taegu felt haunted while Shizuku enjoyed it that he even made a gesture of an orchestra conductor conducting their haunting voice. And when his mother’s voice is echoing, yelling at him to not witness that his dad killed someone in the basement; Taegu felt like the trauma strikes him while Shizuku is bothered at first, but then he smiles and waves at her.
Tumblr media
So… I think the original shows that Taegu still has a human side and weak point (although his murder methods are the most brutal among three VOICE’s villains) while the remake is like telling us that Shizuku’s madness level is at Kaneki’s level.
32 notes · View notes
fangirlshrewt97 · 5 years
Text
You make a terrible shield, pretty boy
Author(s): Fangirlshrewt97
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pairing: None
Characters: Derek Morgan, Spencer Reid, Original Male Character, The BAU team
Rating: Teen and Up
Warnings: Canon-Typical Violence
Additional Tags: Whumptober 2019, Violence, Hurt, Whump, Case fic
Whumptober Prompt: Human Shield  
Summary: When they go to interview a potential unsub, one profiler ends up becoming a human shield.
Takes place sometime in season 9, no major spoilers. 
                                                 ------------------------------- 
Derek bit back a swear as the unsub pulled on Reid’s hair, making the young genius go on his tiptoes or risk getting his hair ripped straight out of his skull. Why was it always Reid?
This case had started off like any other, coming in to work, Hotch had called the team to gather in the conference room. A serial killer was active in Grandview Valley, California. Over the past two and a half months, five undergrad college men had turned up strangled, beat up, and wrapped in a plastic sheet in rarely used alleyways. Hotch had said the reason it took such a long time for the local law enforcement to call in the BAU was because the bodies were spread out over three towns in the area.
When they had gotten to the town, it had seemed like every other small town the team visited, the neighbors all knowing each others business, no one could imagine anyone in their quaint little town being capable of such atrocities, and little help from hostile local cops who thought they were invading their territory. With the town’s mine drying up fast and the drop in tourists to the lake, the town’s economy was hanging on by a thread, and the population was fast dwindling, breeding resentment and envy for the few who were able to stay afloat.
Normally Derek was able to put on the charm and just ignore the glares directed at his back, but every since Hotch had presented the case a pit had been growing in his stomach that had just gotten larger the longer they had stayed in town.
After three days, they finally managed to catch a break, despite it being at the cost of another victim turning up. Their unsub was accelerating, dropping victims every three days instead of his usual 8 days, which meant that they were closing in on him and he was panicking.
Much like the other victims, their newest one was a young white male with chestnut brown hair and a slim frame. The unsub had strangled him with rope, and the bruising indicated the victim couldn’t have been killed more than 12 hours before. The plastic sheet was the same as in the other cases but the victim wasn’t as neatly wrapped. If the unsub was not paying attention to his own rituals, then that meant he was devolving and they had to find him fast. With Garcia’s help they were able to narrow their suspects, and decided to split into groups of two to go interview them, hoping to catch them off guard.
Based on the victimology and modus operandi, the team profiled their unsub to be a 30-50 year old man, fit enough to take on adult males, even if they were all on the skinny side. Sociable enough to charm the victims into trusting him, but sociopathic enough to feel no remorse as he beat them. Their search had given them three possible suspects. Darren Holloway, 35-year-old shop teacher at the local high school, poor dating record, parents died young, he had moved to the town at the beginning of the previous school year and was still a mystery to the people. James Anton, 43-year-old estranged father of two, twice-divorced, kept to himself, owned a fishing store on the outskirts of town and lived in a secluded cabin near the woods. And Elijah Cohen, 48-year-old miner who had been fired a few months back for assaulting the chief miner and was currently doing whatever odd jobs came his way.  
Derek had stuck to Reid, the pit in his stomach now the size of a decent black hole, weighing him down as they parked in front of Holloway’s house. Hotch and JJ had gone to talk with Anton in his shop, and Rossi and Alex had gone to Cohen’s newest workplace, the pub downtown.  Since it was already past seven, they figured that Holloway would be home, and their bet had paid off. The porch light was on, and they saw movement through a side window. Looking at one another, they nodded to each other before letting Derek took the lead.
They only had to wait a moment after ringing the doorbell for Holloway to open the door. The man was almost as bulky as Derek, slightly taller, with a short sleeve t-shirt that showed arms littered with splinter scars and calloused hands.
While the conversation had been going well, Derek had gotten a call from Hotch that he stepped out for a second to answer. But a second was all the time it took. In between Derek stepping out to the balcony and speaking with Hotch who told him that their other two suspects did not pan out and hearing a loud crash from behind him, Derek thought he had barely breathed.
When he turned around and raced to the room where their unsub and Reid had last been, gun raised, he saw the two of them scuffling on the floor, Holloway pinning Reid to the ground.
“Reid!” Derek shouted as he fired a shot. Unfortunately Holloway was quick and dodged the bullet before seizing Reid by his hair and pulling him in front of him, making him effectively a human shield.
“Now now agent, I suggest you put your weapon down, we wouldn’t want to hurt your friend anymore than he already is do we?” Holloway taunted. His words incited a spike of worry in Derek who gave a once over of Reid and swore in his head when he saw that his gun had been dislodged during the scuffle and the knife Holloway held to his throat had nicked his forearm.
Derek made to move forward but Holloway just took a step back, hand still gripped tightly in Reid’s hair, forcing the genius to move with him.
“That does not seem like a smart choice Agent Morgan. And you seem like a smart man.” Holloway’s face was twisted in an ugly smirk Derek really wanted to punch. Catching Reid’s eyes, Derek wasn’t surprised to see the kid wasn’t afraid, but his eyes had that look that showed he was playing out a thousand different scenarios in his head. Trusting Reid to come up with a way to get them both out of here in one piece, Derek lowered his gun.
“There’s a good agent. Now slide it over here.”
Growling, Derek put the gun softly on the wooden floor. Derek looked at Reid again, only to see him back again, a determined glint in his eyes. Blinking slowly, Reid signalled for his friend to do as he was told. Muscles tensing in case he needed to act quickly, Derek slid the gun across to where the two men stood.
Holloway relaxed for a fraction of a second, thinking he had the upper hand, but that fraction was all Reid needed to violently jerk his head back. He heard a satisfying crunch as Holloway released Reid to grip at his now bleeding nose.
Derek took advantage to tackle the man to the ground, pinning him on his stomach effortlessly and handcuffing him. Holloway kept squirming, but when the three heard sirens coming close, the fight seemed to drain out of him. Holloway kept shouting profanity at the both of them, but he was easy enough to tune out once they handed him over to the local police.
Derek walked Reid to the ambulance despite the younger man’s insistence that he was fine.
“Reid, for god’s sake, can you just let the paramedics tell me you are fine? I promise I will leave you been after.” Derek growled, adrenaline still pumping from the fight.
Reid looked ready to protest, but settled when he saw the glare from Derek.
The paramedics were quick to clear him, putting a small bandage over the cut and recommending a cream for the bruises from where Holloway had grabbed him too roughly.
The rest of the team arrived by the time the paramedics finished with Reid, and got to see Holloway being driven back to the Sheriff’s station. Sheriff Sterling thanked them for their help before following his officers back to the station.
“You ok Spence?” Alex asked as she stepped close to the team genius.
“I’m sick of playing human shield to unsubs, but otherwise I’m peachy.” Reid grumbled. Rossi failed to mask his snort as even Hotch’s mouth showed an upward tilt.
“I know right, what are they even thinking, using you as a shield? With how skinny you are, there is actually a lot of area still open to hit. You make a terrible shield, pretty boy.” Derek teased as he lay an arm around Reid’s shoulders. Reid scowled and jabbed his elbow into Derek’s side, making the team chuckle, but they were all relieved he had come out of it relatively unscathed. Despite their profession carrying some risks they all signed up for, somehow, Reid always bore the brunt of it, and the team always worried the next time would be the time he didn’t make it.
Luckily, today was a happy ending, all said and done.
10 notes · View notes
aaronmaurer · 4 years
Text
TV I Liked In 2019
Every year I reflect on the pop culture I enjoyed and put it in some sort of order.
The era of “peak TV” has never been more apparent to me than the past year. I am very aware of the many shows I have not seen (don’t have Amazon Prime, for example), and yet I expanded my list from a top 10 to top 15 and still had to leave out A LOT of stuff I really liked! These picks include my legitimate favorites, ranging from truly important looks at the criminal justice system to ensemble comedies that I couldn’t wait to return to. In another year I may have been able to include the latest seasons of Barry, Stranger Things, Queer Eye, Bojack Horseman, Glow, or the finale seasons of Legion, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Veep, Silicon Valley and The Deuce, all of which I’d still recommend. But these stood out even more.
14 (tie). Chernobyl (HBO) / The Hot Zone (National Geographic)
Tumblr media
Two limited series focusing on real-life disasters in the 1980s: the meltdown of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and an Ebola outbreak outside of Washington DC. Chernobyl is an incredibly harrowing account of humanity’s inability to believe things that don’t mesh with their interpretations of reality and the destructive power of lies and cover-ups. The Hot Zone adapts the non-fiction Richard Preston book, a revealing look at pandemics, the power of fear and human resolve. Taken together, they raise interesting questions about governmental gatekeeping, professional competence and personal sacrifice.
13. Mindhunter: Season 2 (Netflix)
Tumblr media
Joe Penhall and David Fincher’s look at the early days of the FBI’s criminal profiling department goes broader and deeper in its second season. There are still chilling interviews with incarcerated serial killers and criminal minds (including Charles Manson this time out), but the season really revolves around the Atlanta child murders. This focus provides a compelling look at who the justice system helps and who it ignores, and the investigative – and bureaucratic – work it takes to put together a case.
10 (tie). A.P. Bio: Season 2 (NBC) / The Last O.G.: Season 2 (TBS) / Schitt’s Creek: Season 5 (Pop)
Tumblr media
Three great hangout comedies that really came into their own in their most recent seasons. A.P. Bio transcended its first-season preoccupation with revenge and leaned into its fantastic supporting cast – one of the best comedic ensembles around – to become a show I loved spending time with each week. (Thank goodness it’s coming back via NBC’s upcoming “Peacock” service.) The Last O.G. has had a lot on its mind since it began, but its second season covers privilege and the opportunity gap among other issues, ending with a note-perfect homage to Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing, making it an unexpectedly resonant comedy. Schitt’s Creek is obviously having a moment right now, and Season 5 (the first season I watched as it aired) was perhaps its best yet. While the whole cast is great, as a big fan of Best In Show and A Mighty Wind, I love seeing Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara share the screen again.
9. Crashing: Season 3 (HBO)
Tumblr media
The first two seasons of Pete Holmes’ show made my list in previous years so I’d be remiss not to include the final one, which may be its finest. Pete spends the season making a lot of mistakes – saying yes to things (gigs, relationships) that he probably shouldn’t – and although they provide growth, he doesn’t come across as the “good guy” in how he deals with all of them. This adds additional nuance to the show, questioning its straight white male protagonist’s actions rather than merely rewarding him for following his passions, while still leading to an uplifting and fitting finale.
8. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Season 4 (Netflix)
Tumblr media
Netflix split the final season of Kimmy Schmidt into two parts, so technically only the final six episodes premiered in 2019. Those alone warrant a spot on the list, as the show concluded by following its idiosyncratic bliss to the end. The final group of episodes includes a (pre-movie) takedown of Cats, a Sliding Doors homage and an unexpectedly moving series finale. If this one fell off your radar a few years ago, it’s worth revisiting and seeing through.  
7. What We Do In The Shadows: Season 1 (FX)
Tumblr media
Based on the horror-comedy film of the same name, this series follows a different crew of vampires who live together on Staten Island. I was initially skeptical because I love the movie and couldn’t see how a television version could do anything but dilute its charms. On the contrary, the show broadens the universe in hilarious ways by introducing characters like “energy vampire” Colin Robinson and the incredible Vampiric Council (with so many incredible cameos!). The core actors are all wonderful, but the MVP has to be Matt Berry’s louche and libidinous Laszlo whose line readings are simply hysterical.
6. Les Misérables (BBC/PBS)
Tumblr media
Although it aired in the UK in 2018, the BBC/PBS production of Victor Hugo’s epic didn’t grace American screens until early 2019 so I’m including it here. I am a big fan of the musical adaptation and find it quite successful at cramming so much story into a three-hour runtime, though it obviously has limits to how much of the source material it can explore. This (non-musical) adaptation’s six episodes allow for more of Hugo’s tale of forgiveness versus retribution to live and breathe. The terrific cast includes Dominic West as Jean Valjean and David Oyelowo as Inspector Javert, as well as Lily Collins as Fantine whose backstory is more fully realized here than the format of the stage show allows.
5. Our Planet (Netflix)
Tumblr media
Essentially a sequel to the Planet Earth documentaries, with the same production team and David Attenborough narration, this Netflix series presents another stunning collection of nature footage that showcases the incredible diversity and beauty of animal life on Earth. Each episode includes a haunting reminder of man’s impact on the featured habitats and serves as a rallying cry in the fight against climate change.
4. The Good Place: Seasons 3-4 (NBC)
Tumblr media
The Good Place has been high on my list since its first season and shows no signs of dropping in quality or esteem as it enters its final stretch of episodes. 2019 encompassed the end of Season 3 (including the hilariously imaginative visit to the Interdimensional Hole of Pancakes) and the beginning of Season 4 (with its crew of new characters and just as many reversals and rug-pulls as you’d expect). The final episode before its winter break was “The Answer,” a touching spotlight on William Matthew Harper’s Chidi, which might have been enough to make this list all on its own. (And given the surprise cameo/quasi-crossover in its first episode of 2020, I wouldn’t be surprised if it shows up here again next year too.)
3. Unbelievable (Netflix)
Tumblr media
The true story of a serial rape case adapted from journalism by ProPublica, The Marshall Project and This American Life, Unbelievable is one of the most simultaneously heartbreaking and satisfying procedurals I have ever seen. As crushing as it is to watch the initial investigation completely mishandled and devolve to gaslighting, it is powerful and inspiring to watch compassionate public servants and actual good detective work be carried out as the series progresses. Kaitlyn Dever, Merritt Wever and Toni Collette are uniformly excellent here (as they also were in their respective film roles in Booksmart, Marriage Story and Knives Out this year).
2. Watchmen (HBO)
Tumblr media
Showrunner Damon Lindelof (LOST, The Leftovers) takes some incredibly bold swings in his limited-run sequel to the groundbreaking 80s graphic novel that deconstructed the ideas of vigilantism and superheroics. Picking up in the same alternate reality as that story but in present day, the main action is shifted to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the central theme is race relations. It could have gone way off the rails in a million different ways, but I found it to be incredibly successful. Each episode is a captivating work of art and it somehow seems to top itself with each subsequent installment. While I appreciate the book, I don’t love it; this series takes that source material seriously and, to me, completely transcends it.
1. When They See Us (Netflix)
Tumblr media
As compelling as it is devastating, this miniseries from Ava DuVernay (who directed and co-wrote all 4 parts) dramatizes the lives of the wrongly convicted children the media dubbed “the Central Park Five.” Even with some familiarity of the story from watching Ken Burns’ documentary years ago, I was utterly gutted by the depiction of the injustices and systemic racism that stole these childhoods. Everyone in the cast shines, but Jharrel Jerome’s portrayal of Korey Wise (the only one of the group played by the same actor as a child and adult – and so convincingly) is truly phenomenal. Not a comfortable watch but an essential one. 
Bonus! Musical Comedy Specials:
The Unauthorized Bash Bros. Experience (Netflix) – This “visual poem” from the Lonely Island presents “an album of raps” recorded by Jose Canseco (Andy Samberg) and Mark McGwire (Akiva Schaffer) at their steroid-fueled 80s peak with the Oakland A’s. Your likely enjoyment is probably about equal to your reaction to that description. The songs are great, catchy and hysterical on their own, but the videos take it to another level, parodying everything from 80s infomercials to Enya to Beyonce’s Lemonade. There is no 30 minutes of TV I rewatched more in 2019.
John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch (Netflix) – Debuting on Christmas Eve, this children’s television homage/parody snuck in just under the wire. The words of the day could be fear and mortality, as the group of kids Mulaney interacts with reveal their personal phobias and several skits revolve around existential angst. By the end of the first musical number I was sold, by the time David Byrne showed up I was committed, and by “Mr. Music’s” madcap finale I wished it could last forever.
6 notes · View notes
slashtakemylife · 5 years
Text
Just finished the last episodes and I need to rant about Adam because boi, if they had actually given the importance to Adam they said he had, Voltron would've been very different, in a better way
When S7 aired and I learned of Adam's death I felt upset and shocked but I never raged, I was just disappointed, I nosedived to every interview to see if the general media talked about it, and they did! However in the interviews I read things about Adam like, "since Shiro is gone, Adam is the next best pilot there is" (as to why it was Adam on the first unsuccesful wave), "he didn't hesitate" " he was made of the same cloth as Shiro" "His importance to Voltron is very big", I got massive warning signs of they doing what I personally call "sugarcoating" specially after reading the apology were JDS said they never intended to make Adam a recurring character, but alas, I waited to finish the season and properly make an opinion, well the warning signs were true and now I AM RANTING!!
I'll be going a little off topic but one thing I seriously hate in movies and shows are when female characters, specially love interests, are the best of the best, the most high rank, the smartest, the strongest, the handmade creation of the gods themselves, up to a point that sometimes you go, then why is the male character the leader? Isn't she more qualified? well yeah but she isn't just because, but other than saying how awesome she is, they barely show it, in important, crucial, deciding, defining moments they are not there when by their rank they should be or they are just adorning the background barely making any opninions, or despite being shown to be badass in certain scenes they are just sitting plants in others just for the hero to rescue them
Female characters are awesome and I love many of them but there are obvious parts were they are simply pushed aside despite the amount of importance they give them, Hollywood is afraid of putting female leads but also afraid of being called mysogynist so they create secondary female characters and then they "sugarcoat" them to us with valuable aspects such as a big family conection, a big link to the plot of the movie, a rank, a skill or smth to show she is a "strong woman" but only when convinient
As a female I'm used to this sugarcoating, so when on interviews I read those things about Adam, that is what pissed me off. Listen, in my true honest opinion, the VLD crew really wanted to make this rep for us, Barlee admitted it was greenlit late, it was smashed together (and it shows) but they did their best, I accepted Adam as JDS letter clearly says, Adam was just a character meant to show Shiro's sexuality, nothing less and nothing more, it's not that he is not important, he just wasn't planned for more and I'm not mad about it, I can accept that.
Suddenly declaring Adam as a symbol of loss, regret and war; a major character that has a major impactful role in Voltron..., please, that comes straight out of nowhere, since they saw how meaningful Adam was to ppl, they decided to "sugarcoat" him by giving him more value than he actually has or was meant to have, just let the man die and let me mourn him in peace
If I really give Adam the characteristics and value they said, things would've and could've been different in a so much better way and here is my how: (remember Adam is supposed to be like Shiro, one of if not the best pilot, behind Shiro, the garrison has to offer and a brave man that doesn't hesitate to jump into action, a team leader)
(Take this as a prompt as well please because I would love a fic like this)
So Shiro wants to go to Kerberos but Admiral Sanda won't let him, Sam Holt is pushing for Shiro because he is the best, but you need to replace him so, who is the second if not also the best pilot such as Shiro? You know it, Adam, he was there for every record but he is Shiro's flight parter so there is a high chance some of those records are Adam's as well, also Sam is close to Shiro so he probably would accept Adam as a replacement (or at least that is what Sanda would think)
If Adam is a self sacrificing hero like Shiro, he would want to accept just to keep Shiro safe back on Earth, Shiro could feel betrayed by Adam and the whole drama would've been so much better, but we need Shiro on Kerberos (unless you want BlackPaladdin!Adam) so imagine Adam coming over to Shiro and saying:
"Out of our time together, out of my respect and love for you, I'm doing this last thing, I'm rejecting Admiral Sanda's proposal and promote for you to be there, so go, but don't expect me to be here when you get back"
So Shiro basically has Adam's blessing but they still break up, they still parted on rocky terms but is more bittersweet and you show how mature and deep their relationship is
Back to canon, I believe they introduced Adam in the breakup because we are supposed to like him but not get invested in him so when he does die we won't feel so bad, VLD promoted Adam as Shiro's significant other, then they sugarcoated him by saying they were close to marriage but when we finally discover Adam's fate they go like, "we'll remember he is his ex, not current, so while feelings are still there Shiro already knew it was kind of over, so don't feel sad for Adam or Shiro, just remember Shiro is gay"
Having Adam just, "how important am I to you?" let's just say I'm not surprised ppl disliked Adam because he gave Shiro that ultimatum, his character felt needy and greedy but then again, we are not supposed to get too invested in him. (Boi, that went exactly the wrong direction, the fandom imprinted on Adam like newly born ducks)
I'll be going a little off topic but I'm coming back to Adam after explaining this thing: the cadets, why you use cadets and not fully trained officers? In all shows the main characters share their audiences' age but they always explain why, the adults are evil, fate just happened to put them there, a mystical something chose them (in the paladins cases) but here? They just say they are the best of the best, and that is good but still, just cadets, you can't do test with them, they could die, ppl have died while testing things, some of the crew of the guys that went to the moon died in a test in rl, right?
I thought, ok I'll go with it, but the Why You Don't Do That pretty much slaps them in the face, when the Galra attack, why they don't want to deploy them?
They are just cadets!
THEN WHY TF TRAIN THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!????
Sam came back knowing a Galra attack is inminent, the garrison is about to make the most advanced ships and weapons and they are giving them to cadets?! WHY?!?!
(Fix it and prompt time!)
Before Sam arrives they couldn't even make the pod move, so they could've explain the cadets as this
"It will takes us Years to create a simple prototype, if we were to train older cadets, they woulb be close to or retiring so better young ones so when we finally fly something they would not only have years of training but would be at their prime"
When Sam arrives
"I know you all expected to use this years from now but the Galra won't wait and neither will we, you are already trained for this so may as well keep it up"
- (the continuation of this prompt is after we talk Adam some more)
Back to the interviews, in one they said Adam's death was inminent given the natural flow of the show, if the Galra attack then we will deploy the best we have but the best we have is Adam so tough luck.
Me after watching the show: I'm calling BS on this! They HAD a defense line, they HAD the knowledge, they just sent them because they were stupid enough to put cadets in the only advanced weapon they had and to show how shitty Sanda was, and our poor gay man was the price, also brave Adam? I don't doubt it but then again, he did what soldiers do, he followed orders, so they didn't show me how brave he was, they showed me him doing his job, he knows what those commands mean, he knows what is his job description so while yeah he is obviously brave, so is everyone, he doesn't stand out, if he had been already buckled in Before the command then yes he is great but no, he just followed orders
You want to show his bravery and leader skills? Hold my juice, (I don't drink beer, sorry) we are about to get to the next part of the prompt
- (The next part :D)
Sam:
"We will keep you cadets but since the making of the ships is about to be done with the info I brought, we need an experienced pilot to be your leader specially in battle since you are new to that"
-Quiz time!-
Who is the best pilot the garrison has to offer known and acknowledged by both Sanda and Sam?
ADAM!!!
MFE pilot and leader!Adam
When the Garla attack, Adam is no longer in his squad, he stayed in base when Sanda deploys his unit and sees them get decimated, before they all die he does this
Adam:
"Cadets, I won't force you into doing anything, but there are good man and women out there getting killed by the very threat we've been training to defeat, so I'm taking my MFE and blast them to the next moon, anyone who wants to come along is welcome"
Sanda: "don't you daaare, court martial BS!"
Adam, while in his MFE:
"Open the particle barrier or I'll see a way to blast throught it!"
Sam does open it and they cover fire enough to save the few remaining earth pilots
(End prompt)
You see?!?! This is how you show me Adam being brave and a team leader, the original paladins are 4 young ones and a space dad, they could've had the earth equivalent with the 4 cadets and their own Shiro with Adam as their leader, can I also mention how he is now VERY much alive? So yeah, Adam is dead because you chose so! Shiro is alive because you chose so too! He was supposed to die to let Keith be the leader but you found his value and made great things with him and we all love him!
WHY COULD'NT YOU DO THIS WITH ADAAAAAAM!!!!!!
And you can't tell me it wouldn't be absolute poetry to have Space Dad as Captain of the Atlas, Space Son as the Voltron leader and Earth Dad as he leader of the Earth forces, being the support to keep safe his two idiots he loves and calls family
Adam should've left Griffin in charge for a moment, go to Shiro and blast Sendak with his MFE while screaming, this is for killing the love of my life! (Ok I got over excited in that last bit but you know it would've been epic)
If you reached this far you probably think I'm just a rabbid Adashi shipper ranting about my ship, and yeah I sorta am, as I said, I'm really just venting but still my true discomfort is the whole sugarcoating thing
I accepted Adam as JDS said, as what the show is showing me he is, a background character that, while he definitely is a major someone to Shiro, it is just for him, he doesn't have so much major importance in Voltron as a whole but he was designed that way, he is still part of Shiro's backstory but he is dead now and we shall move on
Don't try to make him more than he is outside of the show canon, this whole issue is because EVERYTHING is out of canon, the show reflects NOTHING of everything you said of both Shiro's sexuality and Adam as a character, if S8 brings Adam back whether is a flashback or alive, I'll come back to this because I will judge if they will own up to what they said he is or once again leave vague things that reflect nothing and try to cover it up outside of canon, I'm mad but mostly disappointed
I'll be fine in a few days and I will see S8 with the same excitement as I have all the rest of the seasons
19 notes · View notes