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ben-talks-art · 1 year

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My 10 Favorite DreamWorks Movies

When I first joined Tumblr one of the first few posts I made was a "Best of DreamWorks" where I just pasted a bunch of images from the movies I liked the most.

After seeing the new Puss In Boots movie and seeing all the love it's been getting I thought it would be nice to revisit the list, but this time actually talking about why I like these movies so much.

Just wanna say real quick, If you're coming here wondering if "Shark Tale" will be on the top 5 and how I'm gonna defend my case about it, you lower these expectations right now. This is gonna be a super boring list. My favorites are everyone's favorites.

The only thing I can bring up is why I myself like them, and hopefully, I can bring up unique enough reasons for it. I've always been a fan of this company, mostly because I really respect how many risks they take with the premises of their stories.

I always like to believe that there is no such thing as a bad idea, only a bad execution, and DreamWorks proves that by never being afraid of giving a chance to the weirdest of ideas, and when the execution pays off, it pays off greatly!

So which ideas did I feel were executed the best?

10 . The Bad Guys

First things, first. "Good Tonight" is a freaking awesome song and everyone should give it a listen.

The idea of bad guys is "what if we tried to make the meanest-looking animals that people are familiar with into the heroes of our story?"

Animals like snakes, sharks, spiders, and so on, things that are known for being very dangerous and scary, but placed into the roles of bandits that go on heists while running away from the police.

I always call this the "Not Sly Cooper" movie, because that's exactly what I feel a Sly Cooper movie would be like. Tons of animal-acting-like-human jokes, fun cartoonish heists and car chases, and some nice morals about what it means to be a thief and what it means to be a hero.

Bad Guys is a very charming movie. The characters are all likable, many of the jokes are funny, and the way the movie looks with its blend of 2D and 3D is just amazing. The scene where they are escaping from prison with the help of a "mysterious ninja" being my favorite part.

The only problem I have is that I feel having both a shark and a piranha in the cast was kinda redundant. I would have replaced the piranha with a bat so they would have a scary flying animal instead of two scary water animals. Plus, imagining a bat singing "Good Tonight" just feels like a funnier visual to me.

9. Megamind

"Presentation!!"

The idea for Megamind is rather simple, show what happens when the villain does beat the hero.

I feel like this movie did a good job showing how the fun of working hard can sometimes feel more rewarding than the fun of actually winning, kinda sending a sweet message about the futility of cheating.

I also like how over-the-top Megamind himself is with how he treats all his evil actions as some grand spectacle. Doesn't matter if he's winning or losing, this dude always looks like he's having a lot of fun treating these hero vs villain battles as some sort of playtime with his best friend.

You're basically watching a kid's imagination of what these fights would look like from someone who grew up watching way too many cartoons. Tons of cheesy one-liners, tons of dramatic speeches, tons of last-second twists, and of course, tons of big explosive action.

And it's also fun seeing Megamind's fantasy of what a hero vs villain scenario looks like slowly dying once he meets Titan and how differently he treats this whole thing compared to MetroMan.

The one problem I had was the way the character of Roxane was treated. It felt like they were trying to make her more than just "the girlfriend" and give her more depth, but in the end, her biggest role in the climax was still needing to be saved and serving as emotional support for the main character. Also, the way she was basically catfished by Megamind always made me very uncomfortable, especially when thinking that kids might be watching this and learning from this.

It wasn't too awful, but I felt they could have done more with her.

8. Spirit

"What if we made a movie about the adventures of a horse?"

This one is kinda hard to describe why I like it. I think the reason is that it feels... How do I put it... Honest? Real? Genuine?

Whenever Spirit goes through an emotion it always feels earned. When he's sad, you're sad, when he's angry, you're angry, and when he's celebrating after succeeding in a daring escape, you want to celebrate too.

This movie to me just did a great job at making me feel what this horse was feeling, and most of it with the use of very minimal words.

I loved Spirit, loved his chemistry with the villain, loved the sense of speed whenever he is running through the fields or avoiding the cowboys... and most of all, loved the joy you get whenever you feel free.

It's not that this gives you a great sense of freedom, its that it gives you a desire to fight for freedom! It makes you feel you can be more, and do more and have the right to reject being tied down by others who want to limit your true potential and control you.

This movie makes you want to be free.

7. The Road to El Dorado

Do I even need to say anything besides the fact that this movie has Chel in it?

But for real, I think this movie was my introduction to the Maya, Inca, and Azteca culture, (I think my closest only other option at the time was "Mucha Lucha" of all things...), and they make this culture look fun and cool.

The architecture looked nice, the clothing looked nice, the people were so likable, and anytime they party you just want to party as well. I kept waiting for some big reveal to happen for the citizens to turn on the heroes, but they never do, and that was so refreshing, just showing people from different areas becoming friends AND staying friends.

I also love how funny Miguel and Tulio are, I was a kid when I first saw this so I was weirded out by the idea of two adults as the leads but I was sold on them very quickly. Even their horse was likable. everyone is just so likable in this movie. It makes you want to visit El Dorado and hang out with all these people.

Such a charming, funny, and friendly movie.

Also Chel. Chel was a big selling point.

6. Puss in Boots, the Last Wish

I already talked about this one over here, but, long story short, like many other movies on this list, I love how good this movie is at sucking you into the mood.

The way the visuals, the story, the dialogue, and the characters work together really succeed into making you feel what these people are feeling and making want to see more of them.

Didn't matter if it was the heroes, the villains, the antagonists, or what, I was 100% behind everyone's motivations and I couldn't wait to see all their goals clashing with each others'.

Also, the wolf is by far one of DreamWork's best antagonists, right up there with Shen and Ramses. He looks cool, talks cool, and even his motivation was cool.

This wasn't just a movie, this was an experience.

5. Shrek 2

I freaking dare anyone going into this movie blind to predict what the climax is going to be.

The weird idea of this one is that Shrek after marrying his wife needs to meet her parents... And that's it. It's just one long and uncomfortable reunion with people who really don't want to be on the same room together and all the things they try to pull of to make or break this relationship.

Hire assassins, request help from magic fairies, fake your appearance, steal a potion, it's all about seeing how far everyone is willing to go to do what they think it's the best for those they love.

It all turns into a glorious and creative mess and I can't help but love every second of it!

(Side note, anyone ever notices how often DreamWorks sequels focus on the idea of characters dealing with their parents?)

4. Kung Fu Panda 2

If it wasn't for Prince of Egyp, I would say that this was the hardest and darkest DreamWorks movie.

There is so much focus on feeling lost, feeling abandoned, feeling hopeless and betrayed, and just trying to understand what you're doing wrong and what you need to do right.

This movie was like a therapy session... Done with talking cartoon animals, yes, but a therapy session no less.

The themes of trying to understand yourself, where you came from, and where you want to go are all handled greatly as you watch the relationship between the hero and the villain.

Po and Shen have such an absurdly great chemistry. I love seeing them talking, fighting, and trying to one-up each other, and I really love how much their relationship changes the more they learn about each other, and it all happens so fast and so smoothly too.

It makes me angry whenever I see a movie and the hero and the villain barely talk with each other. That's one of the best things you can do with them! Why are you skipping it??

Luckily this one didn't, and in return, we got one of the best interactions ever. I love these two by themselves and love these to together. Just a pair of wonderful characters that work really well off each other!

3. The Prince of Egypt

Man... What do I even say about this one?

It's probably the riskiest idea DreamWorks has ever tried to do, tell the story of Exodus as an animated musical... And that was their second movie ever after freaking "Antz!" These guys have a lot of guts.

This was a movie that I didn't really get it when I saw it as a kid, but I just love trying to understand its themes and messages now that I'm older.

I love the main conflict between the brothers, again, bringing attention to how good a story can be when you focus on the connection of the hero and the villain. Showing both sides of people who grew up under an unhealthy ideology, one trying to grow out of it and the other trying to embrace it even more.

I love the imagery of Egypt, both as this grand epic kingdom built from the struggle and pain of the slaves and as this falling empire being attacked by God Himself. The visuals of the plagues being my favorites.

And I love the sense of calmness that appears whenever the chaos takes a break. Seeing Moses and his people getting out from the ocean and enjoying the dawn of a new era after all the struggle they went through just felt so rewarding. It's just such a satisfying ending for such a long journey... As long as you decide to stop there and don't look up what happens in the rest of the story.

I especially love the concept of Ramses, A person so deep into the teachings of his father that he can't even see why the things he's doing are so bad. I think my favorite part is when he's hugging his son while glaring at Moses and just asking "Why?" while he has this GIANT WALL SHOWING BABIES BEING FEED TO CROCODILES right behind him.

It's such an amazingly blind irony as the man cries for his kid's safety while the crying of all these dead kids looms over his shoulder. Just how do you have to be raised to turn into this kind of person?

It's so baffling but I just can't stop watching and wondering how far is this man willing to go. Such a sad showing of someone who doesn't see he's on the wrong side and trying to fight against the tides.

It's a beautifully sad, and yet hopeful movie.

2. Kung Fu Panda

Yeah, I put Kung Fu Panda above Prince of Egypt... I don't know what's wrong with me either. I don't know, for some reason, I just have a lot of respect for this movie? Prince of Egypt I liked a lot but I couldn't really fully understand it and enjoy it until I was much older. Meanwhile, even when young I could already enjoy Kung Fu Panda a lot.

It felt like it had a bigger challenge by being a good, deep movie while also being fun, funny, and cheerful.

It's easy to make dark stories have strong messages and depth, but it's hard to have no-so-dark stories also have strong messages and depth, and I have such an appreciation for that. They could have just made this a lame joke-fest about being an overweight character trying to learn martial arts, but they didn't!

They put a lot of effort into the lessons, the fighting, the motivations of the characters, the visuals, and even the jokes! I thought the jokes were going to be awful but they were all very charming!

I love the designs of the cast in how they each represent a level of kung-fu, AND, I love the Kung-fu itself.

I feel like this is the Kung Fu Panda movie that tries the most to be creative with combining martial arts in a cartoon setting. Like... I like Kung Fu Panda 2 and 3 but I don't really remember much of the action there aside from the stuff in climaxes with the "water dodgeball" section and the "giant energy dragon avatar in the spiritual realm" section.

But in here? I remember the bridge fight, the prison escape, the master vs student showdown, the hot-potato game with the scroll, and even the training sessions with Po and the five.

I feel like as the movies went on they focused more on the spiritual journey of self-discovery and toned down the cartoon action, while in here it's just perfect.

It's amazing how many elements this movie is trying to balance while still pulling it off each of them so well.

I just wished that Po and Tai-Lung had more scenes of interaction because they basically feel like strangers in the end even though the whole movie is building up to their fight... A fight that... Really doesn't feel as good as all the action that came before to be honest.

But still, that's just one small little problem in what's otherwise a perfect product. Besides... KFP2 covers the whole Hero vs Villain thing that was lacking in here by more than making up for it, so it's all good. 1. How To Train Your Dragon

Of course my favorite DeamWorks movie is the one with the dragon. I freaking love dragons! I have a comic based on people that become dragons for crying out loud!

Kidding aside, this is a movie with a message that I just respect a lot. I really appreciate the idea of teaching kids the importance of knowing how to stop, looking at what you're doing, trying to understand who you're hurting, and what you can do to change.

This isn't just something that holds value to kids, this holds value to everyone. We are always so focused on going after the things we want that we tend to forget the people we're sometimes stepping on to get there, and this movie shows that not only do we not lose anything for trying to be friends with these people, but we might even gain something even better.

I just adore the friendship of Hiccup and Toothless (God, I love these names).

One is a kid trying to make his father proud by following the family legacy, while also trying to do what he loves by studying and befriending dragons and the conflicts that come from trying to please both sides. This is such a great lesson for kids because they're always stuck into deciding on what's best for them and what's best for what their parents want from them.

And the other side is a pet slowly lowering his defenses and deciding if he wants to trust this weird stranger that tried to hurt him or give him a second chance to prove himself as a possible ally. What do you do? Put yourself at risk and give others a chance or remain safe and away from possible harm?

This movie reminds me a lot of Lake in that if you keep looking at it you can take away twenty different lessons and themes to talk about.

Again, it's the challenge of trying to be deep while avoiding being too dark and remaining all-ages-friendly.

Kids are gonna watch this, they're gonna love the dragons and the flying scenes, and they're gonna come back years later and pick up things they didn't see were there before and later realize that without noticing it, these lessons became a part of them and a part of what they do.

You can feel that there is a lot of love in this movie. I remember watching the commentary and looking at how the creators always would get excited when there was a silent scene or a world-building scene. It's clear they had a lot of fun working on this product, and this love really can be felt through the characters, their growth, and their emotions.

I freaking adore this movie, and I freaking adore DreamWorks!

#dreamworks #dreamworks animation #puss in boots the last wish #shrek 2 #how to train your dragon #kung fu panda #kung fu panda 2 #the prince of egypt #the road to el dorado #spirit #megamind #the bad guys

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reelvibes91 · 5 months

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Top 10 Movies of 2023

10. The Creator - It had a really poignant message about how far we can take technology. Can we replicate the human experience but have it be placed in a human body. It raises the questions about what the future of warfare will look like. Add in some of the most stunning visuals that have been seen in a sci-fi movie, and the final product leaves you in a debate. One that does not have a wrong answer.

9. Scream 6- Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera return as the Carpenter sisters, and this film takes the franchise to a new location. Changing up the scenery allowed for fresh thrills to be infused into this series and created a new level of tension. It was a very solid entry as it developed the legacy characters more and continued to give depth to the new core 4. Very good movie.

8. Talk to Me- One of the most original horror films that has been released in a long time. It plays on themes of loss, the supernatural, what happens after death and contact with the world beyond our own. It is well made, well acted and completely immerses you in this unique premise. This is a gem among other films that thankfully makes the list due to other films being pushed back beyond 2023.

7. The Killer- Fassbender is a revelation in this stylish action thriller. It may have a simple plot but sometimes all you need to do is breathe fresh life into something that has been done before. Fincher relies on the fast talking narrative and multiple set pieces to beautifully craft this story that plays out before us. It works and excels because you connect with the story and want to see how it plays out.

6. The Super Mario Bros- This film sat atop the list for a long while but ultimately found itself bumped down. It is such a fun experience for anyone who grew up with the games and a delight to share with the younger generation. This is the single movie from this year that has played the most in my household. It holds so much Nostalgia and brings such a smile to my face.

5. Air- Ben Affleck brings this story to life in such a compelling manner. For anyone who followed MJs career this story is not new. For those who have forgotten MJ used this platform to become the single most recognized athlete of all time. This story, this deal and how it played out changed the landscape of the name, image, likeness game. The Air Jordan symbol is truly iconic and now this film will fully cement that legacy within cinema. Absolutely the kind of film we need more of.

4. Oppenheimer- When Nolan's career is said and done there will be so many achievements we can look back upon. This one will be considered the most important due to the historical nature of it. The way Nolan paints the picture of how this all came to be is a crowning achievement in film making and could likely win the director a slew of awards. Nolan knows how to make a stunning film while getting the most out of his cast and he was some amazing talent to choose from here.

3. Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse- Miles Morales is my favorite Spider-Man and this movie continues to showcase all the reasons why he is a phenomenal character. The sequel also added more layers to how the multiversal aspect of it all works. Easily some of the best animation we have ever seen. This film is on the short list for best picture at the Oscars and definitely deserves all the praise it is getting.

2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem - No kid grew up in the 80s and 90s without knowing who the Ninja Turtles are. Now we have them present for the next generation and what a treat it was. There was so much story and world building in just over 90 minutes. You could feel the chemistry among the actors as well as they brought the brothers to life. The animation was once again on point, and the stellar cast overall helped bring the classic characters to life. This is the TMNT movie we have been needing for the last decade or more.

1 Killers of the Flower Moon- This 3.5 hour long Martin Scorsese epic told probably the most heartbreaking story of the year. What we see in this movie is the death and betrayal of the Osage people. Led by Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone this is the type of story that needs to be told to help educate people on the past. The Osage murders were about greed and corruption. Scorsese continues to make films with bold statements and that will help preserve the truth about history.

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eslem28sila42 · 12 days

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Movie Critique

I bet you have never watched a movie quite like the movie I will write about today “Forrest Gump”. While telling the great life story of a mentally challenged nice man, this movie takes viewers on a journey to the recent American history and the landmarks of the country and does it in a quite hilarious way. Forrest Gump is considered to be one of the greatest movies of all time with its six Oscar awards, “Best Picture”, “Best Director (Robert Zemeckis)”, “Best Visual Effects”, “Best Actor (Tom Hanks)”, “Best Film Editing (Arthur Schmidt)” and “Best Adapted Screenplay (Eric Roth)”. The movie had such a cultural impact that many of its lines and scenes became iconic and memorized by many viewers.

This comedy-drama movie is about a man with an IQ of 75, Forrest is such an unique, carefree and one of a kind character that I don’t think the movie industry will ever have another character like him. Throughout the years 1950 to 1980 he became a part of every historical event that happened in that period.

The movie starts from the childhood of Forrest and takes us on a journey to the pivotal moments in his life. Firstly, we see him in an American Football Team because he finds out he is an excellent runner and as a result, he graduates the college with his football skills, next important thing that happens is him joining the army and going to the Vietnam War as a soldier and he gets wounded in action whilst trying to save soldiers. He becomes a ping pong champion right after the military as he discovers he is an impeccable player while he is in physical rehabilitation. Because of his promise to his fellow soldier friend who died in the warzone, he becomes a shrimp boat captain and becomes the best in that too. While all of this happens, we always see him miss Jenny, his childhood sweetheart, and his only friend as he describes her.

The actors did a great job at playing their parts, the viewers definitely could feel what they were trying to put out. Director of the movie, Robert Zemeckis also the director of the classic iconic movie Back to the Future, he did an amazing job with the movie and its special effects, this is not a supernatural movie and if you watched it without knowing the people on the screen, you wouldn’t notice the special effects, but the special effects was a big part of the movie as they used it to place Forrest to the historical moments with the actual people there and made it so realistic. The clothes and the styles were also a big part of the production and they were really successful.

To conclude, I liked the movie as a cool story of a nice man but I didn’t like that Forrest didn’t have a life goal or a purpose in the movie, if you look deeper into the movie you can see that our main character is also carrying out a message that if you obey to everything and do the things that life told you to do without pondering about the purpose of the life you will have a successful life. This little message the movie seems to send slowly through the whole movie kind of bothered me, but it makes sense because our main character is a person who doesn’t question anything and that’s why he becomes so successful. Except from this one thing, I don’t think I have anything to complain about the movie. Enjoy the movie but don’t forget that this is a work of fiction, and our life is not and we should have a goal in our life.

Written By:Sıla Kök

Feedback From:Eslem Sude Yıldız

You wrote a good critique but there's some grammatical mistakes that you should look.

Final Draft:

Movie Critique

I bet you have never watched a movie quite like the one I will write about today “Forrest Gump”. While telling the great life story of a mentally challenged nice man, this movie takes viewers on a journey through recent American history and the landmarks of the country and does it in a quite hilarious way. Forrest Gump is considered one of the greatest movies of all time with its six Oscar awards, “Best Picture”, “Best Director (Robert Zemeckis)”, “Best Visual Effects”, “Best Actor (Tom Hanks)”, “Best Film Editing (Arthur Schmidt)” and “Best Adapted Screenplay (Eric Roth)”. The movie had such a cultural impact that many of its lines and scenes became iconic and memorized by many viewers.

This comedy-drama movie is about a man with an IQ of 75, Forrest is such a unique, carefree and one-of-a-kind character that I don’t think the movie industry will ever have another character like him. Throughout the years 1950 to 1980 he became a part of every historical event that happened in that period.

The movie starts with the childhood of Forrest and takes us on a journey to the pivotal moments in his life. Firstly, we see him on an American Football Team because he finds out he is an excellent runner and as a result, he graduates college with his football skills, next important thing that happens is him joining the army and going to the Vietnam War as a soldier and he gets wounded in action whilst trying to save soldiers. He becomes a ping pong champion right after the military as he discovers he is an impeccable player while he is in physical rehabilitation. Because of his promise to his fellow soldier friend who died in the warzone, he becomes a shrimp boat captain and becomes the best at that too. While all of this happens, we always see him miss Jenny, his childhood sweetheart, and his only friend as he describes her.

The actors did a great job at playing their parts, the viewers could feel what they were trying to put out. Director of the movie, Robert Zemeckis also the director of the classic iconic movie Back to the Future, he did an amazing job with the movie and its special effects, this is not a supernatural movie and if you watched it without knowing the people on the screen, you wouldn’t notice the special effects, but the special effects were a big part of the movie as they used it to place Forrest to the historical moments with the actual people there and made it so realistic. The clothes and the styles were also a big part of the production, and they were really successful.

To conclude, I liked the movie as a cool story of a nice man but I didn’t like that Forrest didn’t have a life goal or a purpose in the movie, if you look deeper into the movie you can see that our main character is also carrying out a message that if you obey everything and do the things that life told you to do without pondering about the purpose of life you will have a successful life. This little message the movie seems to send slowly through the whole movie kind of bothered me, but it makes sense because our main character is a person who doesn’t question anything and that’s why he becomes so successful. Except for this one thing, I don’t think I have anything to complain about the movie. Enjoy the movie but don’t forget that this is a work of fiction, and our life are not and we should have a goal in our them.

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xandermorley · 1 month

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Holistic of Russian Ark

Russian Ark is a film that was created using a “one-shot” technique. This film seems like your average Middle Ages setting, except that it’s not just that. The camera is also the eyes of a man, who seems to be in some kind of limbo, as he believes he is dead. The narrator is voiced by the director, Alexander Sukarov, who does a voiceover for the entire film, but the character remains unnamed. What started as simple confusion turns into straight-up wackiness for the narrator when he realizes that he’s being taken through 300 years of Russian history inside the Winter Palace (otherwise known as the Hermitage Museum) in St. Petersburg. He’s being taken through the history of St. Petersburg by a man in black who is the only one capable of seeing him, for the most part. Some people interact with him but most don’t. This man accompanying him is known as “the Stranger” who represents a 19th-century traveler.

This film is a masterpiece in the sense that it hoped to be. All in one take, and through research, I found out they only had ONE day to shoot this film because of the location it’s filmed at. Just on a technical basis, this film is rather encompassing. This film stands on its own as a unique piece of cinema, even if I found the plot to be a bit boring. However, there is a question to be raised about its worthiness outside of the one-shot tactic. When looking back at it, I didn’t find much else about this film to stand out besides the costumes and coordination of the project. The plot feels overall forgettable outside of the narrator and the Stranger, but that is not to say this isn’t a good film. It is a technical masterpiece, and I give my kudos to everyone involved. It just feels like this film wouldn’t have been enjoyable if it had been filmed in such a unique way- I have similar feelings about a movie called Hardcore Henry that utilizes the first-person camera idea as well. The lighting was also a bit off but I can’t expect amazing lighting from a project like this. There are a lot of contrasting visuals and light changes that are a bit distracting, but due to the film’s continuously moving nature, I can let it slide. There was a lack of emotion in the shots, though. Because of the one-shot nature of this film, it feels emotionless in a way since they couldn’t play with shots and lighting to create a feeling for each scene, at least not in a way that is usually seen in films.

After my criticisms, I would still like to note that the cinematography, acting, blocking, sound design, and movement were very good. The camera never faltered and was very steady the whole time (presumable thanks to a gimbal). The costumes and the people occupying them felt genuine, despite a time crunch. The sound felt very real, even if some of it wasn’t mixed the best. The blocking of the scenes is fantastic, especially in an age where many studios have forgotten what that is. While I know that it’s not as necessary as a scene being filmed from two angles; this crew must’ve taken dozens of practice runs to ensure a flawless run-through for this film. As someone who enjoys wonky movies, this film was a joy to watch purely for the production of it. I believe that this film deserves its flowers, but it is very clear as to why this kind of thing has not been done much before or since. These kinds of shots are extremely difficult, so the fact they made it work with over 2000 people involved in a 90-minute runtime is insanity to me. However, I respect it immensely.

Russian Ark is a beautiful piece of cinema that shows us that we need to move on even if some wish to remain in the past. Through different time periods and music, we can see what the message was all along by the end. We all must keep moving forward, and while the film quite literally displays that through its camerawork, the message is there too.

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dorothydalmati1 · 3 months

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Obscure Animation Subject #133: Teacher's Pet

Here’s another cult classic from DTA! Created by Gary Baseman, Bill Steinkellner and Cheri Steinkellner, the series is about a 9-year old boy named Leonard Helperman, whose mother is a teacher and gets mocked as a “teacher’s pet”. Meanwhile his anthropomorphic talking dog Spot who misses Leonard when he’s at school, so he decided to wish becoming a real “boy”, like a human boy, and wears clothes while getting a new name Scott Leadready II, who becomes the most popular influencer in school. Although Leonard was mad when funding out Spot’s secret, he accepts his decision, continuing him to allow attending school.

A simple premise in all, but the execution makes it more special than what is seen in the outside. The animation is fluid, stretchy, and just really great overall. The show was co-created by Gary Baseman, a persuasive artist and you can see his unique style in his own series. I also love the voice-acting, everyone feels spot-on for their role especially Nathan Lane as Spot. Because of everyone getting so into it, it makes the joke deliveries, even the simple one liners much more impactful. Even besides the funny dialogue, the show has hilarious visuals and absurdity.

I just love these characters. Principal Strickler, Ian Wazselewski, Mary Lou Helperman, and honestly most of the other main and secondary characters have tons of great moments but my favorite is actually Spot. He’s enthusiastic and intelligent for a dog, but also really melodramatic. Everyone had great jokes that made me laugh but Spot had my favorite jokes. I especially love it when he’s empowering his classmates and turns the plot into a social commentary. The stories in this show could either be that, or just a full on gag-driven episode, most episodes end up on a life lesson that fits the story whether it’s a subtle message or not.

Oh yeah, and my favorite content from this series is actually the 2004 theatrical film. Yes you heard that right, a theatrical film. I suppose the show did win some Emmy awards and it used to be a trend for animated cartoons having their own theatrical movie. It just feels funny that Teacher’s Pet of all things got this treatment. Anyway, I adore this movie. It’s part road trip movie but mainly a spoof on Pinocchio. Spot finally becomes a real boy… kinda, and Leonard has mixed thoughts. While in the series he was acting supportive with Spot wanting to be a human, he didn’t know that scenario could actually be real. The movie has a silly yet interesting conflict, and it's a musical! Tons of songs and their reat. This movie still has the same great humor and animation as in the show, but now with a bigger upgrade for the big screen and possibly more insane than ever! The story is fun and the villain is amazing, he’s voiced by Kelsey Grammer! This serves as a wonderful Teacher’s Pet finale, just incredible.

Love the characters, fast energy, and the comedy. It's weird, distorted, off the walls-insane, something that feels like it would've come from one of Nickelodeon's bizarre cartoons, in a good way! Lasted 2 seasons and a movie and honestly that was enough for this series, it's one-of-a-kind.

#teacher’s pet #disney television animation #obscure animation

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maxsfmp1 · 1 year

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Tron Legacy

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Tron Legacy is a 2010 Sci-Fi Film and serves as a sequel to Tron (1982) and the story follows Sam, (son of protagonist from first movie) who responds to a message from his long-lost father and is transported into a virtual reality called "the Grid", where Sam, his father, and the algorithm Quorra must stop the malevolent program Clu from invading the real world.

The things in this movie actually kind of inspired me with the art style of my game, (emissive colours and bright gameplay) and visuals. I cant really compare the mechanics since one is a film and the other is a game, but I would imagine Tron can be like Snake, with the tail being the light cycles trail.

The film has some AMAZING visuals, and nice vibrant colours which suit it and to me just makes everything stand out even more, and these are the positives for the film but some negatives in my opinion is the plot and characters in general. They were quite dull and also I am guessing that the directors and the people that worked on the film did not work on the script as much as they did on the visuals and setting of the film.

I didn't do too much research on this since I remember some things on this but not everything so apologies if I have added in some misinformation. However I really liked Tron Legacy and haven't had the chance to watch the original but now I might, and I was inspired by this and my other game that use vibrant colours to stand out from the crowd and makes it feel kind of unique

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samwisethewitch · 4 years

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Tapping Into Your Psychic Senses

Every single person on the planet has psychic abilities, but most people never realize that they’re using them. As Tess Whitehurst says in her book You Are Magical, “There is almost certainly something you assume that everyone can perceive that is actually a perception that is relatively unique to you.”

For example: you may be a gifted artist. Drawing and painting come naturally to you, and you have an intuitive sense of form and color. You probably know people who claim that they “don’t have an artistic bone in their body” or “can’t even draw a stick figure,” but you can’t bring yourself to believe it. Surely, those people are just psyching themselves out, because if art comes so easily to you, everyone must be able to do it to some extent, right?

Psychic abilities are similar. You’ve probably been tapping into at least one psychic sense all your life, but it feels so normal to you that you assume everyone experiences the world this way.

Once you become aware of your innate psychic abilities, you can start to harness them. For this reason, I think it’s a good idea to become familiar with (and comfortable using!) your natural psychic gifts before you try to learn any kind of divination.

Read over the following list of common psychic senses. Does one or more of them sound familiar? Once you recognize which of these you resonate with, focus on strengthening that gift over the next couple of weeks. You’ll be amazed by how easily you’re able to tap into it once you know how!

Clairvoyance: Clear Seeing

Contrary to popular opinion, the word “clairvoyance” does not describe any and all psychic abilities. Someone with clairvoyance receives psychic messages through their sense of sight. They may see these messages with their physical eyes, or see images in their mind’s eye. Seeing auras is an example of clairvoyance in action.

You may be clairvoyant if…

You often see flashes of light, blurred figures, or other visual phenomena that others do not see. [Note: This is NOT the same as visual hallucinations. Clairvoyants typically see things with their mind’s eye, not their physical eyes, and can differentiate between their visions and what is physically in front of them.]

You often experience random mental images that seem to have nothing to do with what’s going on around you.

Your meditations are primarily visual — for example, if you meditate on the element of water, you may see a bubbling fountain in your mind’s eye.

You are a visual learner.

Ways to Strengthen Clairvoyance

Keep a journal of the mental images you receive “out of nowhere.” Do these images mean anything to you? Do individual visions fit into a larger pattern?

Meditate on the energy systems in your body, starting from the feet and working up to the crown of the head. What does your energy look like? Are the colors bright and clear, or more faded and muddy? Does the energy move quickly, or is it slow and sluggish? Are there certain areas of your body where the energy seems to be tied up or stuck? How does its appearance correspond to your life?

Do research into auras and what the different aura colors mean. Do you always seem to see or think of a certain color when you’re around a certain person? How does that color represent that person’s energy and personality? Write down your findings.

Clairaudience: Clear Hearing

Someone with clairaudience receives psychic messages through their sense of hearing. They may hear messages with their physical ears or “hear” them in their mind. A medium who hears spirits is an example of someone using clairaudience.

You may be clairaudient if…

You sometimes “hear” things in your mind, as if someone else was talking to you from inside your head. [Note: This is NOT the same as “hearing voices” or auditory hallucinations. Clairaudients usually “hear” messages with their mind, not their physical ears, and they can distinguish between psychic messages and physical, “real world” sounds.]

Sometimes, when you listen to music or watch a movie, a specific lyric or line of dialogue seems to jump out at you, as if it were a special message.

Your meditations are primarily auditory — for example, if you meditate on the element of water, you may hear a babbling brook.

You are an auditory learner.

Ways to Strengthen Clairaudience

Keep a journal of the messages you “hear” out of nowhere. Are they consistent, forming a larger pattern? Do they all seem to be “in the same voice,” or coming from the same source? (If so, this could be a deity or spirit guide reaching out to you.)

Do a meditation with the intention of holding a conversation with a helpful spirit guide. (If you are not comfortable working with spirits, you can set the intention of speaking to your inner self.) What does their voice sound like? Is it different from or similar to your own? Do they speak with an accent or have a unique inflection? Write down your thoughts.

Experiment with shufflemancy. This is a modern form of divination where you put a playlist on shuffle and receive a psychic message from the song that plays first. (You can find playlists specifically made for shufflemancy online, or make your own.) How does the song make you feel? Are there certain lyrics that jump out to you? Write down your thoughts.

Clairsentience: Clear Feeling

Someone with clairsentience feels psychic messages, either through their body or through their emotions. They may feel physical sensations, like an upset stomach, or may be very sensitive to emotional energies. Intuitively picking up on someone’s emotions without needing to ask is an example of clairsentience.

You may be clairsentient if…

You often feel physical sensations, like a hot flash or a cold chill, out of nowhere.

You are able to feel other people’s emotions — you can always tell when someone has had a bad day, even if they’re trying to hide it.

You can sense the “vibe” of a room as soon as you walk in. Do certain buildings feel “angry” or “sad” to you? Can you always tell the energy of a party even if you just arrived?

Your meditations primarily focus on tactile sensations — for example, if you meditate on the element of water, you may feel waves lapping at your feet.

Ways to Strengthen Clairsentience

Pay attention to your “gut feelings.” Do you feel a sinking sensation when thinking about something, only for it to go badly later? Do you feel a warm, fuzzy sensation thinking about something, only for it to go really well? Write down your experiences — and be honest. It’s okay if your gut feeling doesn’t always match the outcome.

Do a pathworking meditation (this is just a type of meditation that focuses on taking a mental journey) to a forest, or a beach, or some other location that appeals to you. Try to feel as many tactile sensations as possible, as if you were really there. Feel the grass or sand under your feet, feel the wind in your hair, feel the sun on your skin. Write down your experience.

Practice feeling the energy of a plant or crystal. Reach out and touch the plant/crystal, and try to feel it out. Does it have a calm, stable energy, or is it more bright and zingy? Try feeling a different plant/crystal and see how it feels different. Write down your experience.

Note: Some (but not all) clairsentients are also empaths, people who take on the emotions of others as if they were their own. All empaths are clairsentient, but not all clairsentient people are empaths. You may be an empath if you often find yourself matching the emotions of the people you’re around — you cry when they cry, laugh when they laugh, etc.

Claircognizance: Clear Knowing

Claircognizence is the gift of psychic knowing — people with this ability often “just know” things, even if they should have no way of knowing. They may know what someone is about to say before they say it, or know personal information about someone they just met.

You may be claircognizant if…

You “just know” what’s going on with your friends and family, even if they haven’t told you. For example, you may suddenly feel like you need to call your sister, only to find out after you call that she just broke up with her boyfriend.

You always know who a text is from as soon as your phone dings, or always know what song is going to play next on shuffle.

You often know things about new people as soon as you meet them, only for them to confirm it later. Did you know your friend was a vegetarian before he told you, even though you’d never shared a meal with him?

Your meditations often include “downloads” of information, where you feel like the answer to your question or some other revelation has just been dropped into your brain.

Ways to Strengthen Claircognizance

Every time your phone goes off, try to guess who the message is from. Keep a tally of how often you’re right vs. wrong.

Do a meditation with the intention of receiving the answer to a specific question. Retreat to a place of stillness and focus on your breath until the answer to the question “just comes to you.” Write down your experience.

This is a game I used to play with my sister before I knew what claircognizance was: have a friend show you a picture of someone they know, but whom you have never met before. Focus on the picture, and see if you get any info about the person — are they a jock? Do they like rock music? What’s their personality like? Get your friend to confirm or deny the info you got from the picture, and keep a tally of how often you’re right vs. wrong.

The Other Clairs

There are two other “clair” senses that are less common, so I’m not going to talk about them at length here. Clairalience, or “clear smelling,” refers to receiving psychic messages through smell. (If you smell roses out of nowhere, with no roses in sight, you may be using clairalience.) Clairgustance, or “clear tasting,” refers to receiving psychic messages through taste. (If you taste chocolate out of nowhere, you may be using claigustance.)

In my experience, these psychic senses are less common than the ones listed above. Most people I know who have clairalience or clairgustance seem to use it as a secondary sense, in addition to a primary sense like clairvoyance or clairsentience.

Conclusion

You are probably using at least one of these psychic senses every day, without even knowing it. Most people have two to three “main” psychic senses, but some may regularly and easily use all of them. For example, my primary psychic senses are clairsentience and claircognizance, but I also find myself receiving messages through clairaudience fairly often. It’s rare for me to receive clairvoyant messages, but it has happened.

Once you’ve identified the psychic senses that you naturally lean towards, you can begin to develop and strengthen them.

Resources:

You Are Magical by Tess Whitehurst [Specifically the chapter, “Reading the Signs.”]

The Fat Feminist Witch Podcast, Episode 68: “Clear Knowing”

The Angel Code by Chantel Lysette [Specifically the section on the psychic senses.]

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pinkczennie · 3 years

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Strip Tease | Ten (m)

Requested by: @unknown5tar (Thank you for being patient with me and ngl I was really nervous while writing this because I really hope you like this! I couldn’t help but add some smut cuz ya kno LOL and I’m such a sucker for enemies/friends to lovers au)

Summary: Ten is a fucking tease.

Pairings: best friend!Ten x female reader

Genre: best friends to lovers!au, suggestive, smut

Word Count: 8.1k

Warnings: a tiny bit of angst (breakup), sexually explicit content, mature language

You and Ten first met at the start of university. You were both dance majors, so you would often see each other in class and on campus in the same department buildings. You had a lot in common with Ten, such as a similar sense of humor, being excellent dancers, and an appreciation for art. Along the way, the friendship gradually went from just friends to best friends, developing into a teasing friendship that was borderline flirting, but it was always just playful.

Once you both graduated university, you both applied to work at the same dance studio and got hired to teach classes there together. Ten teaches b-boying and you teach hip hop. By day, you and Ten were both dance instructors at a dance studio. By night, you were both dancers at a popular club.

The club was widely known for their good-looking waiters and talented dancers. Ten was one of the very few male dancers at the club so he garnered many female customers and even some male customers. He even has some regulars that would come every so often on a weekend night to see Ten dance because the male would occasionally come up with choreographies to make his performances more different and unique.

His performances were quite a sight, to say the least. On Halloween night, he dressed up as a devil and danced, what he calls his piece, “devils”, where he bent his body backwards in a demonic way that left the audience gasping. He sure knew how to move his body in ways unimaginable. His stunning visuals adds to it as well because many have tried to hit on him before.

One night, as you both are heading to the club, Ten informs you that has a new choreographed performance that he is going to unveil tonight, so you tell him that you’ll be in the audience watching. That night, instead of sitting in the waiting room with the other dancers like you usually do, you sat towards the front of the stage, so you got front row seats to see Ten’s new piece.

The audience erupted into loud cheers when the DJ announced that Ten will be the next performer.

Loud upbeat R&B music began blasting on the stereos and bright colorful LED lights flash the room as Ten’s figure suddenly emerges from the red, silk curtains and all the female customers began to cheer loudly. He was wearing a black leather jacket that was zipped up all the way, along with matching black jeans and a belt.

Ten makes his way to the center and sways his body to the music. Nobody knew what to expect from the dancer’s performance today, so your eyes widen when you see him start to slowly unbuckle his belt with one hand. He takes his time removing the belt from his waist before tossing it to the sidelines once it’s off.

Next, he unzips his leather jacket at a snail’s pace to reveal that he wasn’t wearing anything underneath the jacket and practically everyone’s jaw drops. After teasing the audience with parts of his exposed skin, he begins to sensually take off the jacket at a teasingly slow pace. The jacket begins to slip from his shoulders and then his biceps. Once it’s completely off his body, he spots you in the front row of the stage and discards his jacket by throwing it into your hands, knowing you’ll keep it safe for him. You see the flying jacket coming your way and you quickly catch it with both hands.

The audience hollers and whistles at the dancer’s exposed upper body. He was toned and there was body oil rubbed all over his stomach, accentuating the lines of his abs.

Ten lays on his back against the floor and thrusts up into the air, causing the audience to roar and paper bills come flying his way on stage. He slides against the floor on his knees and picks up the money, bringing the bills in between his fingers and stuffing it into his jean pockets.

Once the song is over, the dancer sends a wink to the audience and all the women swoon. You included.

You were honestly really surprised by his performance, in a good way. Your mouth was hanging open during the entire performance, but your lips were sticking up into a smile because that was absolutely amazing. You’ve seen the way Ten moves, but you’ve never seen him do that before.

Once the song is over, the lights dim down and the stage becomes dark. You quickly rush back to the dancer’s waiting room, where Ten probably left to once his performance was over. You barge open the door and look around and spot Ten by the corner taking out all the money from his pockets that he received during the performance and putting it into his wallet. It’s thick with cash.

“Holy shit. That performance was incredible, Ten!” you praise as you make your way over to Ten.

“Go on,” he encourages, basing in the glory of your praise. “I know, it was amazing.”

“The thing you did with your belt and jacket-”

He chuckles, “It’s called strip teasing. I was working on it in private for a few days.”

“You have to teach me how to strip tease!” you excitedly say while handing his jacket back to him. “Maybe I could use it for one of my performances too.”

Ten takes his jacket back. “Sure, I’ll teach you on our day off.”

“You’re the best,” you say as you link arms with him.

Once all the performances were over, it was time for the club to close for the night, or day since they opened until 4 in the morning, so after cleaning up the place, you and Ten both headed home together.

You and Ten were living together and rented a place that was relatively close to both the workplaces so it would be an easier commute. Plus, it was nice getting to live with a good friend. Ten even adopted two cats, named Louis and Leon, which you did not oppose because it was nice to have pets in the house.

The next day, you both didn’t have any work so it was a good time for Ten to teach you how to strip tease. You sport some comfortable dance wear like a loose, cropped t-shirt and shorts while Ten is in a sleeveless shirt and sweatpants. The living room couches are pushed back and the coffee table is temporarily moved to the kitchen so there was enough dance space.

“Strip teasing is pretty easy, to be honest. All you have to do is slowly undress in a sexy way,” Ten states. “Let’s start off doing something simple and easy. Can you go grab a jacket of yours and put it on?”

You nod and rush off to your room to retrieve a jacket as instructed.

While you left to do as told, Ten searches on his Spotify for some fitting music and starts to play some upbeat R&B music from his playlist to set the mood. After setting it to the highest volume level, he takes a seat on the couch with the phone placed to his side and gets comfortable on the furniture.

Soon, you emerge from your room with a light blue denim jean jacket on.

“First, you want to start off with a sexy dance,” Ten instructs. “Just feel yourself with the music.”

You nod and, thankfully, it was a song you frequently listen to, so it was pretty easy to think of a simple choreography for it on the spot. You throw in some body rolls and slowly run your hands down your body from your chest to your waist down to your ass as you sway your hips, all while keeping eye contact with Ten.

You and Ten are both comfortable with each other so it’s not awkward to make eye contact like that. Besides, it’s good practice to get rid of shyness since you’re both dancers so facial expression is very important.

“Yes! Look at you feeling yourself like that,” Ten compliments with a proud smile to hype you up.

You get a little bold as you do a slut drop, where you squat down quickly and immediately pop back up, when the beat drops, throw your ass back, twerk, and even strut over to Ten to take a seat on his lap while your legs rest bent on the sofa.

He looks up at you with a raised eyebrow and one side of his lips curled up to a smirk while you smile innocently at him.

“What’s next?” you innocently ask.

“Next, slowly take off your jacket,” Ten replies, emphasizing the word ‘slowly’.

You take hold of your jacket and begin to strip it off of your body at a snail’s pace, revealing your shoulders and then your arms. Once the jacket is off of your body, you discard it to the other side of the couch.

“How was that?” you ask.

“Very sexy,” Ten praises with a nod. “Especially when you sat on my lap like that.”

“What can I say? I have a great teacher,” you compliment back.

“I know. I’m amazing,” he boasts and you playfully slap his arm for letting your compliment feed his ego. Ten winces from the hit but laughs and wraps his arms around your waist. “But you already got the basics of how to strip tease down. We can watch some tutorials from other professional dancers that I used for reference if you want.”

“Sure,” you nod.

“Alright, now get off of my lap.” Ten playfully smacks your butt and you giggle as you remove yourself from his lap.

Ten gets up from the couch and walks into his room to retrieve his laptop.

As you wait for him, you check on your phone to see you received a notification. It was a text message from your boyfriend.

Boyfriend: I miss you. Are you free today for dinner and movies at my place?

You smile widely as you rapidly type a reply back to him.

You: Of course! I’m in the middle of something right now and I’ll need to change and get ready afterwards so give me a couple of hours?

Boyfriend: Sure thing! Can’t wait to see you later <3

You: I’ll text you when I’m on my way! See you in a bit <3

“Hey, can we end this in an hour or so?” you ask Ten when he emerges from his room with a laptop tucked in his arm.

“Sure. Did something come up?”

“Yeah, I’m going to see Taeyong in a bit,” you reply as you continue to text Taeyong.

You and Taeyong first met at a party during your last year in university and took an interest in each other. After exchanging numbers, chatting over the phone, and a few dates, you and Taeyong have been together for almost a year now.

“Oh, I see,” Ten nods as he sits on the couch, opening his laptop to pull up the reference videos he bookmarked.

After watching a few videos on Ten’s laptop for references on how to strip tease by other dancers, you decided it was enough for the day. You changed clothes, texted Taeyong that you are on your way, and headed out to his place. You knock on his apartment door when you arrive and wait for a few seconds before you hear footsteps approaching the door. Taeyong opens the door and smiles upon seeing your face.

“Hey, babe,” he greets, wrapping his arms around your waist.

“Hi, bubu,” you smile with your arms wrapped around his neck.

“Hungry? I already ordered the pizza for us. I got us your favorite toppings.”

“Yes! You’re the best,” you say and plant a kiss on his cheek.

Taeyong guides you inside his place and the pizza is already set up on the coffee table along with a movie ready on the television screen.

After devouring the pizza, you and Taeyong continued to watch the remainder of the movie. Some time during the movie, one thing leads to another and next thing you know, the movie is long forgotten about as you fall onto Taeyong’s bed with his lips on yours and his body on top of yours. Your hands are wrapped around his neck to pull him in closer while his hands roam around your waist.

As you continue to kiss, an idea pops into your head when you feel Taeyong’s fingers wrapped around your shirt, trying to strip you of your clothing but you remove his hands from your shirt. Taeyong removes himself from your lips, worried because of your actions, but you shush him by switching the positions so Taeyong is now laying on the bed and you are hovering over him instead. The movie begins to play sensual music in the background, which was a perfect chance for you to slowly remove your own shirt, teasing your boyfriend with only peaks of your skin.

Taeyong can feel his dick, still in his boxers, slowly harden as he watches you give him a show. Once your shirt is off and tossed to the other side of the bed, Taeyong marvels at your lacy, pink bra.

“Wow, you look so hot doing that. Who taught you how to strip tease like that?” Taeyong smirks as he stares lustfully at your half naked body.

“Ten taught me.” You reply as you bring your hands behind your back to begin unhooking your bra.

“Wait- Ten?” Taeyong’s eyebrows knit together.

You suddenly stop your actions and your smile slowly drops when you notice the shift in the atmosphere. Taeyong almost seemed...upset at the fact that Ten was the one who taught you how to strip tease.

“Yeah. Why? Is something wrong?” You get off from his body and sit to the side of his bed.

Taeyong sighs, avoiding eye contact with you. He always suspected that there was something going on between you two, but he took your word for it when you said Ten was just a good friend. Taeyong trusts you, he really does, so he tried not to show his jealousy. However, he was always worried knowing that you two live together and how close you two were, so this new fact caused him to snap.

“Y/n, what would you do if I asked you to stop being friends with Ten?”

Your eyes widen at Taeyong’s question. “Taeyong...I can’t just stop being friends with Ten. He’s my best friend.”

“You can’t or you won’t?” Taeyong fires back.

You pause.

Ten is your best friend, so to suddenly be asked to end your friendship with him for your significant other was so shocking that you were left speechless. You really did not want to lose Ten, so who should you choose? You don’t know because you don’t want to make the wrong decision.

Taeyong sighs at your silence. “Y/n...I think we should break up.”

Your eyes widen and you feel your heart drop as you stare at your boyfriend in shock.

“I’m really sorry, y/n. I love you, I really do. But...I don’t think I can be with someone who has another man in her heart. You two are too close for comfort and I can’t help but think that there’s something going between you two, especially since you can’t-or won't- stop being friends with him for me,” Taeyong explains.

You didn’t respond back because you were at a loss for words. Is it really that wrong for a woman to have a comfortable friendship with another man that isn’t her significant other?

After redressing in awkward silence, you trudge back home, feeling numb from the breakup and your brain keeps repeating Taeyong’s words.

When you arrived home and opened the door, Ten was there in the living room, laying on the couch while scrolling through his phone. He looks up to see you staring at him in silence by the door and immediately jumps up from the couch to approach you when he notices the tears on your face as you stare at him with wet eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, his voice laced with concern as he cups your face and gently wipes away your tears from your cheeks with his thumbs. “Why are you crying?”

You wanted to just push Taeyong’s words aside for the night because all you wanted was someone to comfort you right now, so you wrap your arms around Ten’s body and shove your face into his neck.

“Taeyong broke up with me,” you confess.

“What?” You hear him shout, a vibration ringing through his chest. “Why?”

“I-I don’t want to talk about it right now. Can you just...please hold me?” you plead with a cracked voice.

“Of course. I got you,” Ten says as he brings you into a tighter embrace.

You’ll tell him what happened once you’re ready.

That night, Ten laid in your bed beside you with a thick blanket thrown over your bodies for warmth while you quietly sob your eyes out. He strokes comforting circles on your back.

Eventually, you stop crying as tiredness overtakes your body. You glance up to see that Ten’s eyes were closed and his movements have stopped, meaning he probably fell asleep without you noticing. It was pretty late right now, considering it felt like hours since you were crying, so you don’t blame him for drifting off to sleep.

Taeyong’s words today kept ringing in your head as you continue to stare at Ten’s facial features, like the mole under his left eye and then his long eyelashes. You must admit that Ten is a very attractive person, but who wouldn’t think that?

Taeyong is right about being very close because you and Ten are practically cuddling on your bed.

You bring Ten into a tight embrace and fall asleep with your limbs wrapped around his body and your face tucked into his chest. You’re glad you still have him by your side.

The next morning, you woke up with swollen eyes from all the crying last night and Ten was no longer by your side in bed. The smell of food and a sizzling sound lingers in the air, which you assume means that he probably woke up before you did to cook breakfast.

You lightly trudge your feet to the kitchen, the sound of your slippers sliding against the hardwood floor echoing in the hallway. You see Ten in a yellow apron scooping the cooked food from the pan onto two plates with a spatula.

“Morning,” Ten greets with a smile when he spots your awakened figure. “I woke up earlier to make us some breakfast before we go to work later. Come sit down and eat with me.”

You walk into the kitchen and take a seat on the kitchen counter right in front of the plate that Ten just loaded with food.

Your heart softens. Despite being your sassy best friend, he knew when to be sweet and thoughtful whenever you were having a bad day.

“Are you okay to go to work today or do you want to call in sick to have the day off?” Ten worriedly asks.

You shake your head. “I’m okay. I can go to work today.”

Besides, it was better to distract your mind temporarily with work instead of staying home and wallowing in sorrow. You pick up your fork and start to dig into the breakfast Ten prepared for you.

“Thanks, Ten,” you smile, grateful for having such a great friend.

“You can thank me with a kiss,” he jokes as he points his index finger to his extended cheek.

You snort and roll your eyes at him before smacking his arm and you both break out into laughter, which lightens up the mood.

You go through your day with a heavy heart, but you’re thankful that Ten doesn’t ask about what happened yesterday. You do want to tell him, someday, but just not today.

---

A few months have passed since the breakup and you’re back to your usual self again. You still never spoke to Ten about the incident with Taeyong, but you’re not sure if he’s forgotten about it or not. Nothing has changed between you and Ten, your friendship being stronger than ever. You acted the same but you felt weird around Ten now.

The atmosphere felt...different.

You’re not sure if you’re just imagining things but you think Ten is teasing you more than before. There were more lingering touches that sent electricity jolting through your body and sexual jokes thrown every here and there that left you slightly flustered.

It’s probably because of what Taeyong said to you that night that has been making you more hyper aware of Ten’s actions.

Of course you still let him do it and try your best to not let it visibly show that it affected you in any way because that’s just how Ten always has been.

Like just the other day, Ten finished his dance lessons for the day but stayed behind and waited for you to finish so you two could go back home together. You would be done soon, so he decided to kill some time by practicing his choreography.

Once your last session was over, you packed up your stuff and headed to Ten’s dance room which was right next door. Music was blasting in the studio and when the door opens you are greeted with Ten dancing shirtless. He was wearing a cap to capture his hair and his upper body was covered in sweat.

You didn’t say anything because you assumed he noticed you enter the room but wanted to finish before stopping, so you didn’t want to interrupt and just stared at Ten while he danced. The way his body moves around so quickly during the song was very alluring that you couldn’t look away from his captivating performance.

“Enjoying the view?” he smirks.

“No, you just seemed focused so I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Really? Because my eyes are up here.” He brings out his index finger and middle finger to point each finger at each of his eyes and then points each extended finger at each of your eyes.

You swat his fingers away. “You wish I was staring at you like that.”

“I’m just kidding, baby,” he chuckles before wrapping an arm around your neck.

“Ew, you’re all sweaty!” you squeal as you squirm away from his hold.

“You’re sweaty too. Come here,” he says and chases you around the room with his arms wide open and you run away while screaming.

He manages to trap you against the wall with your head in between his arm and you catch his eyes, staring down at you.

You gulp at the small distance between your bodies because Ten was just mere inches away from your face. You see him leaning his face closer to yours and you await his next move as you feel your heart beating against your ribcage. Is he really going to kiss you right now in the middle of the dance room where anyone could come in at any moment? However, you don’t make any movements to run away, waiting for what’s to come next.

“Gotcha,” he whispers and pulls away with a chuckle. “Let’s go home. I’m hungry.”

Well you weren’t expecting that at all. Thankfully, he has his back towards you while he goes to retrieve his bag or else he would have seen your face slowly heating up.

And there was another time, where you were doing the laundry by folding your clean clothes on the living room couch. Suddenly, Ten emerges from his room and you see him walking over to you from the corner of your eye.

“Wow, you wear some racy underwear,” you hear Ten say.

You look up and gasp with wide eyes because you see your black lace panties dangling from his fingers.

“Ten, don’t look at that!” you shout, embarrassed.

You get up to snatch your article of clothing out of his hands but he’s quick and lifts it higher in the air so it is out of your reach.

“Give it back!” You jump with your arm extended, trying to reach for your panties.

“Try to come get it then,” Ten mocks.

Curse him for using his height against you even though he’s just a bit taller than you.

You frown as you get on your tip-toes to reach for it but Ten continues to back up. However, Ten wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings and ends up backing up so far that the back of his leg hits the couch, so the male falls backwards and you fall along with him.

“Oof.” With eyes closed, Ten lands backwards on the couch while your body falls on top of Ten’s.

You get up on your arms and look down to see the position you two were in: Ten under you while you were on top of him. No words were spoken as you stay still in your awkward spots with wide eyes staring at each other.

“Oh, was this your plan all along?” he cheekily grins. “How naughty.”

You whack his chest and quickly grab your underwear back from Ten with burning cheeks.

---

Ten has been teasing you way too much lately so you decide it’s time to get back at him by playing fire with fire.

You look at yourself in the mirror and grin. Currently, you were wearing one of Ten’s t-shirts that you managed to snatch from his closet when you snuck into his room one day while he was in the bathroom.

It was a bit big on you, but you liked it because it smelled like Ten and he will for sure notice it’s his because it’s one of his favorites.

You weren’t wearing anything underneath, except a bra and matching pair of panties which were covered by the oversized shirt.

From behind your closed door, you hear him outside in the living room playing with one of the cats, because he was cooing at the cat to get his attention so you decided it was time to spring into action.

You exit your room and notice from the corner of your eye that he was sitting on the couch with his attention on Leon. You pretend to grab a drink from the kitchen, making sure your presence was noticed by humming a song.

“Hey, have you seen my-” you hear him say but you pretend to be searching for something in the fridge.

“Uh, is that my shirt?” he asks.

“Hm?” You blinked innocently at him.

“You’re wearing my shirt,” he states, pointing at you.

“Oh is it? I didn’t notice,” you look down at the shirt and shrug.

Ten gets up from the living room couch and makes his way over to you as Leon skimmers away. He places an outstretched arm onto the fridge and the other one on his hip. “Why are you wearing my shirt?”

“I like it. It’s comfortable.”

“Take it off,” he demands.

“Pervert,” you gasp, covering your chest with your arms.

“You’re the one prancing in here with no pants on and wearing my shirt,” he states matter-of-factly.

“This isn’t the first time you’ve seen me in just a shirt and no pants,” you retort.

“Not in my shirt though,” he raises an eyebrow at you. “Give it back.”

You lean in close to his face and say, “make me.”

You weren’t sure what to expect to happen next but the next thing you know is that he’s throwing you over his shoulder and walking away from the kitchen and into his room. He uses his foot to close the door shut and flips you onto his bed.

Honestly, you were pretty surprised by everything that just happened right now so your heart is pounding when he removes you from his shoulder and you land on the mattress.

Ten hovers over your body and peers down at you with his hands by your head and his legs trapping yours. You suddenly lost all that confidence you had to tease Ten back, because right now you feel intimidated by his gaze and slightly turned on?

Suddenly, Ten brings his hands to your sides and begins tickling you. You erupt into a fit of laughter and squirm as you try to get out of his hold.

“Ten, stop! Ah!” you squeal in between laughs. “You know I’m ticklish!”

“Are you going to give me back my shirt?”

“Yes! Okay, I’ll give it back!”

Ten stops tickling you and you continue to lay in his bed while trying to catch your breath. You are both still a giggling mess but once you’ve calmed down you just stare up at Ten who was still on top of you by the way.

“I’ll go change now and give it back to you,” you state meekly, your eyes avoiding his.

“Nah, you can keep it. Besides, you look cute in my clothes,” he winks and gets off of you.

Well so much for teasing Ten this time because he made you flustered in the end. You think it’s best to not tease Ten because it looks like you won’t be able to win against him in this game.

---

You and Ten were invited to a mutual friend’s birthday party held at the birthday boy’s house, so you both make your way over to the party after work. When you knock on the door, you and Ten are greeted by the birthday boy, Kun, as he gestures for you both to come inside. There were quite a few people there already, so you both mingle with some friends you know at the party while taking a couple of shorts.

After a while, you excuse yourself from the conversation to go to the kitchen to grab some food, when suddenly you hear a male voice calling your name.

“Y/nnnn!” You turn your head to the source of the voice and see Donghyuck running towards you with open arms, along with Mark trailing behind him.

An oof leaves your mouth when the younger male’s body collides against yours into a bone crushing hug, knocking the air out of your lungs.

“I missed you, y/n,” Donghyuck coos.

“I missed you too, Donghyuck. Hi, Mark.”

“Hey, how have you been? I saw that you and Taeyong aren’t together anymore because you deleted all his photos from your Instagram,” Mark says as Donghyuck releases you from his hold.

“Yeah, I’m fine now,” you reply.

“Did you guys break up because of Ten?” Donghyuck asks, leaning in his body towards yours.

Your brows knit together at Donghyuck’s question. “How...did you know?”

“Seriously? I can’t believe I got it right,” Donghyuck laughs, “But it was pretty obvious.”

You lean against the wall and cross your arms with a raised eyebrow. “How so? Explain.”

“I always thought there was something going on between you and Ten. Almost everyone did,” The male states. “He would always flirt with you and was super touchy like you’re a couple. I can’t tell if he’s trying to get with you or fuck you.”

Your eyes widen and you even turn to Mark for confirmation and he nods in return, indicating that he agrees with Donghyuck’s statement.

“Well, now that you and Taeyong aren’t together anymore, are you going to do something about the tension between you and Ten?” Mark asks.

Honestly, you didn’t know how to respond. What are you even supposed to do, let alone bring up the topic to Ten without making it awkward?

“Hey Donghyuck, Mark, come help Lucas. The guy is a little drunk!” you hear someone shout before the conversation could continue and the two rush to their aid when they see the giant look like he was about to puke.

After Donghyuck and Mark left, you decided you needed a moment by yourself to think about everything. You’re sitting alone in the balcony of Kun’s room staring up into the sky, thinking about Donghyuck and Taeyong’s words.

Now, you weren’t disgusted by the thought of being with Ten, romantically or sexually. In fact, you have thought about it before and, honestly, Ten knows you better than anymore just as well as you know him. Heck, you even know how to pronounce his full Thai name correctly, which apparently not a lot of people can do.

You and Ten have even made an agreement beforehand that if you two were still single by the time you’re both 30 years old, you would just date each other. The thought of being with your best friend didn’t sound all that bad.

Suddenly, you hear someone walk into the room and you turn your head to the door.

“Hey, what are you doing sitting here all alone?” Ten asks by the door with his hand on the doorknob. “I was looking for you.”

“Oh...I just needed some air,” you reply. “It was kind of stuffy with all the people there. Did you need something?”

“Yeah, it’s almost time to sing and cut the cake,” Ten informs. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Okay, I’m coming.” You close the balcony door and follow Ten out of Kun’s room.

---

Ten went out to do a couple of errands for the day while you stayed behind at home and situated yourself on your bed to watch a movie on your laptop to pass some time. You picked a mature-rated romance. The door of your room was left only partially closed in case any of the cats wanted to come in.

Nothing ever happened after Kun’s birthday party and things were the same as usual. You’re not sure if you should say something because honestly you’ve been thinking about that night ever since.

Half way into the movie there was a sex scene. You didn’t expect how uncensored the scene was, but you continued to watch in silence. However, it left you feeling aroused, watching the main female character getting fucked unprotected by the main male character.

It has been a while since you’ve had sex too, so you couldn’t help but slowly move your hands down into your shorts, past your panties, and begin to rub two fingers against your folds as you continue to watch the movie. Even though the volume was relatively high, you still bit your bottom lip to prevent any noise as you shove two fingers into your entrance.

Your heart was beating like crazy as your fingers thrust in and out of your core. Your fingers felt good but it wasn’t enough. You needed something bigger.

You spot Ten’s shirt hanging from the edge of your bed and you pause your fingers to grab it with your free hand. You bring it up to your nose and it still smells like the cologne he wears.

You closed your eyes, thinking of Ten and what it would be like if it was his fingers inside of you right now instead of yours. Even better, something else. The thought just turned you on more so you sped up your fingers.

A careless whimper of Ten’s name escapes your lips along with light panting as your fingers brush against your walls. You should have closed the door but you never expected he would come home so fast, so you didn’t hear Ten entering the house. His ears picked up the sound of his name coming from your room.

You push your fingers deeper to find your g-spot, when suddenly the door swung open and your eyes widened in shock when you looked up and locked eyes with the man that was on your mind, standing before you with shock all over his face.

He looks at you and sees his shirt in your hand and your other hand down your pants in between your legs.

The room is extremely quiet, except for the noises coming from your laptop of the movie still playing. To make it even more awkward, the actress in the movie just announced her orgasm.

“Are you using my shirt to masturbate?” Ten asks after a silent pause.

Shit. You just want a hole to appear and eat you up alive because you are so embarrassed you could die right now.

You can feel your blood running cold after getting caught in this awkward situation.

“Ten, I-” You were speechless.

You didn’t know what to say because your mind was completely blank right now. What do you say to someone when you just got caught doing something inappropriate and even worse using their article of clothing to get off? You quickly retract your fingers from your core.

You thought Ten would make fun of you or be grossed out by your actions. But instead, he walks into your room, slamming the door shut, gets on to your bed, and hovers over you. It happened so fast that your mind couldn’t comprehend it quick enough that you just froze in place.

Your eyes widened at the dangerous proximity and you felt your heart racing as you peered up into Ten’s cat-like eyes to see that he was staring down at you with such intensity that you’re starting to get a little nervous.

He grabs the wrist of your hand that you just used to get off with his hand and puts your fingers in his mouth, sucking up your juices. He releases your fingers from his mouth with a pop and your eyes are as wide as saucers now at Ten.

For once, you felt it. The sexual tension that everyone constantly mentions between you two. You can actually feel it in the air. You no longer see Ten, your best friend, but a man, standing before you with a dark look in his eyes.

“You taste so good.” He licks his lips to pick up any excess off his mouth.

Ten’s gaze falls from your eyes to your lips and your eyes do the same after you notice his eyes were no longer on yours, but something else.

“If you don’t want this, push me away right now and I’ll stop,” Ten whispers before slowly closing the distance between his face from yours.

But you don’t stop him. You want this just as badly as he does.

When Ten sees no sign of you rejecting his advances, he closes his eyes before he cups your face with one hand and crashes his soft lips against yours. You close your eyes and return the kiss with your hands clinging on his shoulders for support. Ten’s other hands snake around your waist to bring your figure closer to his, so you’re body to body. Teeth and tongue clashed against each other in a rough, hungry kiss, full of passion.

He releases himself from your lips to start stripping you of your clothes in a rush that he practically wanted to tear them off your skin if he could.

Once fully naked, he begins to remove his own clothes and tosses them on the floor. His lips latch back on to your lips again as his hands begin to roam your body, touching your skin, which sends tingles throughout your body from his warm touch.

The male stops the kiss to allow a moment to breathe. However, that doesn’t last long when Ten begins to leave open mouth kisses on your neck and you shiver as he nips a sensitive spot. Then, he sucks hickies all over your collarbone and chests, marking you with purple bruises.

Your back arches off the bed when you feel a warm mouth sucking one of your nipples while the other one is being played with between his fingers.

“Ten,” you whimper.

He releases his mouth from your nipple at the sound of his name escaping your lips and runs two fingers against your folds causing you to shiver.

“Fuck, you’re so wet already.” Ten breaths as he pumps his hardening cock in his other hand. “I wanted to take my time with you, but I want you so badly right now that I can’t wait.”

The statement made you even more wet because you have been craving Ten’s touch for a while now. You want to feel his cock inside of you.

“Hang on, let me go get a condom in my ro-,'' Ten informs you but you stop him by reaching into your bedside table and grabbing a condom from your drawer to hand to him.

You still had a bunch leftover because of your ex. Ten raises an eyebrow at you but decides to ask questions later and to start opening the packet now.

Ten rips the plastic open with his teeth and rolls the condom onto his length. Your pussy was throbbing in anticipation as you stared at Ten’s cock. Once he’s fully sheathed, he tosses the wrapper into your trashcan and positions himself in front of your entrance with your legs planted on his shoulders. Slowly, he enters you and your fingernails dig into his back at the stretch of his length around your wet cavern.

“Fuck, you feel so good around me,” Ten groans as he bottoms out of you.

You felt so full as his cock throbs inside of you from the feeling of your warm walls. You and Ten have never been so intimate before, being skin against skin. You can’t believe this is actually happening and neither can Ten.

Ten waits for you to get used to his size by staring at the place where you two were connected. As soon as he heard from you that it was okay to move, he takes his length out and then slams his cock back deep inside of you. You both moan as he begins to find a steady and hard pace to fuck you into your mattress.

“Tell me, why were you using my shirt to help you get off?” he asks as he continues to thrust inside of you.

Honestly, you were so embarrassed that you got caught by him that you really did not want to tell him, but suddenly, he stops and you stare at him with pleading eyes, asking him why did you stop? with your eyes.

“Answer me,” he hisses, gritting his teeth.

His length was still inside of you but he holds your hips down with an iron grip so you don’t make any movements to pleasure yourself until you answer his question.

“I-I was thinking about you,” you choke out, face heating up.

“You were thinking about me while playing with yourself? How dirty,” he whispers, nipping your ear.

Satisfied with your reply, he begins pistoning inside of you at a speed that made your breasts bounce along with the thrusts.

“It’s because you’ve been teasing me so much lately- saying I look cute in your clothes- throwing me on your bed-”

“-and your reactions were so cute. God, I wanted to just take you right then and there,” Ten pants between each thrust. “Did I make you feel some type of way?”

“Yes,” you whimper.

“Good.” Ten readjusts his positions and hits your g-spot dead on, causing you to see stars as pleasure courses through your whole body. You're a moaning mess and your toes curl as he continues to ram that spot with harsh thrusts.

Your walls begin to convulse around his length and Ten throws his head back at the squeeze. You were close, so Ten picks up the pace.

The movie was still playing, mixed with the sound of moans and your juices squelching with every thrust.

“Ten, I’m about to come,” you announce.

“Me too,” Ten groans as his thrusts become sloppier and uneven. “Cum for me.”

With a few more thrusts, the knot in your lower stomach bursts and you come around his length. Soon afterwards, Ten shoots his seeds into the condom. You are both a panting mess trying to come down from your orgasms. You are both covered in sweat, there were scratch marks all over Ten’s back, and the room smells like must and sex.

After a minute, Ten pulls out from your pussy, removes the condom from his cock, and tosses it into your trash bin.

You and Ten have officially crossed the line from best friend territory.

“Hey,” Ten speaks, catching your attention. “Do you regret what we just did?” Ten asks, concern laced in his voice.

You stared at your best friend, his eyes filled with fear at the possibility that you might have regretted what just happened. But you don’t regret it at all, so you shake your head.

“No,” you reply.

“Good, because me neither,” he happily smiles and brings you into his embrace.

“I-uh...overheard your conversation with Donghyuck and Mark during the party. Is it true that you and Taeyong broke up because of me?” he meekly informs you.

You groan, “Ten, I’m so sorry. I meant to tell you eventually but-”

“It’s okay. I’m not mad. The truth is I never wanted to say anything in case you didn’t feel the same way and ruin our friendship. At first, I was so mad at myself when you started going on with Taeyong because I felt like I just lost my chance. But after what we just did, I need to tell you how I feel so I don’t lose you again,” Ten confesses. “I really like you, y/n.”

You feel your heart swell with joy and a blush creeps up your face. “I really like you too, Ten.”

Now it’s his turn to feel his heart swell with joy because the person he likes reciprocates his feelings.

He lays down beside you in your bed and stares lovingly into your eyes as he uses one arm to support his head while the other strokes a strand of hair away from your face.

“Ten...what’s going to happen to us now?” you ask.

Ten softens. “Nothing has to change. I will always be your best friend, but I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing where this goes.”

A smile slowly spreads on your face at Ten’s words. “Me neither.”

---

Tonight, you wanted to showcase your new performance at the club. You asked the DJ to shoutout Ten during your introduction for helping you with the moves, and to add “my boyfriend” after saying his name which made said boyfriend sitting in the front seat glee with joy.

Loud R&B music began to play and the crowd started cheering when your figure emerged from behind the curtains in an oversized black, thin knit sweater that was long enough to cover part of your thighs and black high heels.

You walk to the center and put your hands on the pole that was securely placed in the middle of the stage. You grind against the pole before lifting yourself off from the floor to do some impressive spins.

Once the music is reaching the chorus, you carefully get on your knees before getting into a fetal position. Then, you lift your ass up in the air, giving it a wiggle and allowing your top to slowly fall. Next, you quickly sit on your knees and your arms wrap around the opposite ends with your fingers grasp the ends of your top and slowly begin to lift it up, revealing something interesting underneath. The shirt began to expose your skin-tight, long sleeve, red bodysuit that you were wearing underneath this whole time.

You’ve never worn it before, so today is your first day wearing it because you recently bought it and wanted to show off in front of the crowd.

The crowd goes wild and Ten’s bites his thumbs trying to hide his wide grin.

You toss the black oversized shirt to the side of the stage and get back up off our knees to strut over to the stage pole again, swaying your hips side to side. The dance continues again and you hope Ten was impressed by your strip tease.

Oh, he definitely liked it because as soon as Ten found you after your performance ended, he pinned you against the wall and attacked your lips into a passionate kiss.

“You were so hot up there. Watching my girlfriend strut like that turned me on so much,” Ten confesses as his dark eyes raked your entire figure while his hands roam your body.

“Turned on enough to fuck me here in the waiting room?” you raise an eyebrow at him.

“Fuck yeah.”

Before anything could progress, you both stopped because there was a banging noise coming from the door that startled you both.

“You two better not be fucking in there!” a voice screams from the other side of the door.

You and Ten looked at each other before bursting out into a fit of laughter at your coworker’s words.

“Sorry, Jongin!”

#nct fanfic #ten fanfic #ten smut #nct scenarios #nct x reader #nct imagines #nct ten fic #nct ten #nct smut

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airi-p4 · 3 years

Text

Love in the sky

I wrote this for the @lovebugs-and-snakecharmers LBSC Sprint challenge - Meet cute week event and, once again, I got carried away and broke all the rules. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Prompt: Sitting next to each other on the plane.

Summary: Marinette is going to NY on an international flight for the first time. What she doesn’t know is that the one seated next to her is the popular new band Kitty Section’s guitarist: Luka Couffaine.

Thank you @livrever for checking it for me 💙

AO3

______________________________________

Marinette rushed through the aisle of the plane. She couldn’t believe she almost missed it! her first international trip to the US! Stupid alarm! Of course she was tired. She was so nervous she couldn’t sleep all night… until 5AM… and the plane departed at 10AM… and obviously she had to oversleep. *sigh*

Running, tripping and spinning on her feet, she finally searched for her seat. 38B - aisle seat. Her pink polka dotted suitcase was heavy, but thanks to the cabin attendant she could finally put it inside the overhead bin, while her backpack rested under the seat in front of her. All set, she let her weight fall on the seat at last and let out a deep breath as she fastened her seatbelt.

The doors of the plane closed, and the PA message started: Welcome on board… Security instructions… Marinette wasn’t listening. Her legs were uncontrollably shaking, and her fingers were fidgeting with the laces of her hoodie.

Those nerves and stress couldn’t be healthy.

She examined her surroundings, and, next to her, someone was sleeping. Someone, who appeared to be a young man, with a sleeping eye mask and a face mask on, messy blue hair showing under a knit hat and a blanket covering his body. Overall, it didn't give much more information about her plane's seat neighbor. Not wanting to wake him up, she focused on the rest of the passengers instead. Why were all of them so quiet when she felt her heart could burst out of her chest anytime?

The plane started its runaway and Marinette closed her eyes tightly when it raised from the lane. Once in the air, she started breathing again, but her heart was still beating fast.

"First time on a plane?" a masculine voice beside her asked.

She turned to her side, and looked at the person seated next to her. His eye mask was over his head now, and she could see his blue eyes clearly, while his blue bangs partly covered his eyebrows.

“Y- yes!” she squeaked.

“You’re making me nervous too. Calm down, it’s going to be ok” he assured.

“I- I know!" She said, but her body wasn’t obeying. “I’m sorry...”

The young man sighed. “Look, I’ve been on a plane many times. It’s safe. Why don’t you try to sleep? It’s going to be a long flight.”

“I- I can’t! I’m too nervous! I’ve never traveled alone before, plus my career depends on this trip! I can’t stay calm!”

“Why don’t you try listening to some music, then? It always helps me relax” the young man offered her a sympathetic look.

“Music…?” she blinked. ‘It could work’.

She plugged the earphones and put them in her ears. Then, she scrolled through the music programs on the touch screen in front of her. Classical music? For some reason, it only made it worse. Country music? Not her style. XY? Hell, no. Her eyes stopped at the name of a fairly new band: “Kitty Section”. She played the video called: “Kitty Section's Paris Live Concert”.

“Good choice” the man next to her said when the title started showing on the screen.

Marinette had heard about the band called Kitty Section. They had featured in most of her favorite magazines after they won Eurovision several months ago, but she wasn't familiar with their music. In less than a minute, she was hooked and forgot completely about her surroundings or her nerves.

“Wow!” she mumbled, mesmerized, and the man next to her let out a snicker.

The music was amazing- the rock vibes, their stage presence, the vocalists’ cuteness and high ranged voice, the accurate and insane drums, the gorgeous purple haired bassist… all of them sounded incredible. But the guitarist… the blue haired guitarist was extraordinary- unbelievably good. Not only talented, but also powerful, charismatic and incredibly handsome.

“They’re good, huh?” The man beside her commented and she nodded. She could tell he was smiling under his face mask. She nodded in agreement.

“I had never heard them properly before but damn- they are incredible” Marinette answered, and he laughed. Her fingers tapped rhythmically, following the beat of the song. “But…" she continued, observing. "I think they could do better. There’s a margin of improvement,” she said with judging eyes.

“Oh, really? How?” The blue-eyed man asked, curious, resting his elbow on the arm rest to get a closer look.

“The costumes,” Marinette pointed out. Then, she reached her backpack under her feet and took out a sketchbook and a pen and started drawing. “The outfits could be improved if they added this, and this” she signaled. “And this-” She kept scribbling while the blue-haired man observed and listened to her suggestions. “And ta-da! Wouldn’t they look even better if they were like this?” She proudly showed him her designs, only to realize she was being embarrassing towards a stranger. “Ah, sorry- I got carried away…” She apologized. But the man took the sketchbook in his hands.

“Let me see,” he said, and she saw how his eyes examined every detail of her drawings. She gulped nervously. It felt like her skills were being tested. But the man took his face mask off and smiled. “Wow, that’s impressive. Fresh, charismatic, unique- and perfectly according to the band's style. I love them" he returned her the sketchbook. "You’re very talented. Are you famous? Do you take commissions?” He asked, and she looked at him speechless.

“I- I’m still a no-one… Is it really impressive?” She looked at him and blushed at the compliment.

“Yes, I think so. What would you do with this outfit?” He asked, showing him a photo of the same band on his smartphone. Her inspiration overflowed as she kept drawing and explaining her ideas. They kept discussing costumes and visual aspects of the band and chatted comfortably for a long time.

"I think Rose should go with something more… daring, bolder. She looks innocent but she's fierce inside. Of course, cuteness is her main trait, so I think she should combine both" she explained, coloring her design with colored pencils. "I think something like this would be perfect for her" she showed him her sketchbook and he was impressed. “As for Juleka-” She continued, turning to a blank page. “She’s so beautiful. I wish she didn’t cover her face so much, even if the mystery look is really attractive too…" She stopped drawing for a moment to admire the bassist on the screen. "Gosh- She's so gorgeous! I wish I was that beautiful” she commented.

“I think you’re even more beautiful than her, you know?” The blue-haired man casually said, and she shyly blushed with a 'no way' frantic arms movements. “What about the guitarist?” he asked, raising an eyebrow with a smug smile.

“Luka Couffaine? OH LORD SHOW MERCY- Have you seen him? And his eyeliner? It should be ILLEGAL to be this HOT” She said, convinced.

“Hmmm… So you like him, huh?” He teased, his smile widening.

“Who doesn’t, really?” She shrugged. “He’s literally the SEXIEST man alive. His eye contact with the camera could kill! Oh, and whenever he gets shirtless on stage or photoshoots? GOD- I almost get a nosebleed EVERY FREAKING TIME! He's TOO DAMN HOT" She fanned herself at the image. "Don’t you agree?" She asked and he blinked twice. "You like him too, right? You have so many photos of them in your phone! I bet he’s making you question your sexuality too, like he does with all my friends! How could anyone resist those blue eyes and his manly features, his soft looking blue hair and- his tattoos..." She looked away from her seat neighbor's blue piercing eyes, and focused at the smartphone screen again, to a close-up photo of Kitty Section’s guitarist. "How did you get these close-up casual photos...?” she asked, and then she noticed the tattoo on his neck. She looked back and forth at the man seated next to her and the one in the picture. ‘It couldn't be, right…?’ And at that moment, when he had a knowing smile on his face- one she knew too well-, she realized who he was seated next to on the plane. Her eyes opened as big as plates and she overheated. He was smirking amusingly at her reaction. “You- You- You are-? Lu-Lu-Luk- It can’t be…”

He nodded to confirm her suspicions and her jaw fell to the floor. “Hi. I think I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Luka. But I think you already know that. It’s nice to meet you.” He chuckled, straightening his hand for a handshake.

“Oh God, kill me now...” She mumbled, sinking on the table. Luka snickered.

“What’s your name?”

“Ma-Ma-Marinette… I mean- Marinette!” She felt his eyes on her and panicked. “Excuse me- I- I need a moment... This- This is too much- Oh My God...” She stood up and rushed to the end of the plane, not without tripping twice on her way there.

________________________

While Marinette was gone, the two ladies in front of Luka and Marinette’s seats turned to Luka. “Having fun?” They smirked, knowingly. He was chuckling, having real trouble to keep his laugh from escaping.

“Oh, God, Yes. This is so much fun." He wiped the tears that were forming on his eyes. "I think I’ve found our potential new costume designer” he continued laughing under his nose.

“Only that? I think there’s more...” Juleka smirked, and Rose giggled in agreement by her side. He couldn't deny it: his sister was totally right.

Behind Luka's seat, Kitty Section's drummer, Ivan and his girlfriend Mylene had been enjoying the show the blue-eyed pair had been giving. It was definitely more entertaining than any movie. It would have been perfect if they had popcorn to accompany their fortunate first row seats to the hilarious show. They also approved Marinette's designs.

Luka took the chance Marinette wasn't there to freely stand up, go talk to their managers and stretch his legs for a bit.

_________________________

Back at the end of the plane, Marinette drank some juice and moved to the bathroom. She was panicking in front of the mirror, talking to herself.

“OH. MY. GOD. I’m seated next to Luka Couffaine! For at least… 5 hours more!? And I just called him hot! And- And- he said I’m beautiful and talented! And- Oh my God, he asked me for commissions, right? This can’t be real- I-" her feet wiggled uncontrollably and she let out a long squeak. "Ahh… Calm down, Marinette! He’s human- A sexy human, but still human! He’s famous but very friendly, kind and nice. And fun! It’s going to be alright. Just- Avoid his eyes. That’s it. It’s dangerous. Don’t fall in love. You’re not a teenager anymore, you’re over that stage, right? Only a few hours more. You can do it. I CAN DO IT!” She convinced herself with a confident nod and returned to her seat, only to find Luka was gone.

She looked for him from her seat, at her surroundings, but he was nowhere to be found. She sighed in both relief and sadness as she seated.

For some reason, she was missing him. Which was stupid, considering they had just met! But his company was certainly enjoyable... And, moreover, it was FUN. More than she ever remembered having. And not only because she was passionate about fashion or music. It had to do with his aura, his personality, his gentle manners- just... Luka.

“Don’t worry, he’ll be back in a moment” A voice said from in front of her. “My brother is stupid, but he’s a decent person. Treat him well” The purple haired lady winked, beside a petit blond lady.

“Jul-!” She covered her mouth with her hands to stop herself from yelling her name. “And Rose-!?” 'Oh, no! They might have heard what I said too!' She panicked again and the ladies giggled amused.

“Ignore my sister and her girlfriend” Luka returned, and her face flustered when she noticed how tall and well built he was (not that she didn't know that, but it hit differently in first person). “Can I get back to my seat?” He politely asked, pointing at the window seat.

“Ah-! Yes! Of course!” She stood up so suddenly she tripped and fell on Luka’s chest. She immediately moved away in embarrassment, falling back instead, and Luka had to hold her again to avoid her imminent fall. “I’m sorry!”

“Are you ok?” He asked in concern, and she shyly nodded. Luka reluctantly let go of her and returned to his seat and Marinette settled back to hers.

Wait- Was that a blush on his face?

“Here” Luka offered her an envelope. “I don’t know what your plans in NY are but, here’s a VIP pass to our concert next Sunday. There’s also our contact card inside. I want you to consider the idea of working for us. Your costumes are impressive. We discussed it, and we want you in our team” Marinette had no words- totally speechless. Could she be this lucky? “What do you say?” Luka asked with a hopeful tender smile that made her weak.

“I- I’ll think about it. And- Oh God- I’ll totally be there for your concert” She blushed and Luka smiled kindly at her. Suddenly, she started searching inside her backpack, and took out a business card she offered him. “This is my contact. I- I have a fashion event next Monday. I would love you to come, if you can make it. Send me an email and I’ll get you some passes”

“Wow! That's impressive. I'll try to make it. Thank you, Marinette”

Marinette could hear her heart beating faster. No looking in his eyes, dammit. They kept talking for a while, enjoying their time together until they fell asleep out of exhaustion, Marinette’s head resting on Luka’s shoulder. He woke up earlier than her, but didn’t have the heart to wake her up until lunchtime. She looked like she really needed that rest.

When he left half of his lunch untouched, Marinette scolded him. “You have to eat! You’re too thin! Those abs and arms need consistency! Proteins!” She pointed at a photo of him shirtless and flustered again in embarrassment in realization. “Ah-”

Gosh- it really was fun, Luka thought, chucking. It was hard not to laugh out loud. Everything flowed so naturally it was unbelievable.

Damn. He didn’t want the plane to ever land.

“Marinette” he called, during their coffee time, and she looked back at him, redness still on her cheeks. “The plane will land soon but- Even if you don’t accept our offer… Is it possible for us to meet again? Out of business? Like this?”

Marinette flustered at his implications. “Do- Do you mean-?”

“A date. Would you go on a date with me, Marinette? Or just as friends, if you prefer. I like you, and I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun with anyone else” He took Marinette’s pen and one of his ‘Kitty Section’ contact cards and wrote something behind it. “These are my personal telephone number and email. We'll be in NY until Friday next week. It would make me very happy if you contact me, whenever you prefer, anytime” He said, securing the card in her hands.

Marinette blushed, looked at the card with glowing eyes, and then at his honest loving stare. Was it even possible that the man everyone was gushing about was asking her out? But this had nothing to do with his stage persona. Luka was someone she more than enjoyed spending time with. Naturally, quietly, assuring… She had no doubts about her answer.

“I want to meet you again, too” she stated, and wrote her personal number under his wristband. “I’m free on Wednesday” she shyly smiled, and his smile widened.

“Wednesday is it, then. I'll manage to find the time. Just for you." He smiled happily and only then she realized how deep she had fallen.

Ah- she hadn't wanted to fall in love. What a way to fail her own determination… But she couldn't complain, not at all.

And he felt the same way.

Luka and Marinette's hands locked together, and they lost themselves in each other’s eyes, smiling at each other.

“Why don’t you kiss her already, dumbass?” Juleka called, and Marinette blushed. “He won’t kiss you if you don’t give him proper permission, you know? He’s very considerate despite his looks. Tell him already”

“Jules… Why don’t you mind your business and make out with Rose instead?” He shushed his sister and Rose giggled, embracing Juleka. Luka returned his attention to Marinette. “Sorry about that”

“It’s ok… I-” She started, looking at his thin lips. “Will you kiss me if I want to? Because I think I do...”

“You do?” he asked, and she shyly nodded and he smiled softly, making her heart flutter.

She closed her eyes and he leaned closer to give her a sweet kiss on her cheek. She pouted a little, in disappointment, but he told her that, if she really wanted to kiss him, that would be the perfect excuse to meet him again and make it more special, like a beautiful lady like her deserved. Marinette understood his reasoning and agreed with it, despite the slight disappointment she felt she would have to wait a few days to get the chance to kiss him. Nevertheless, both of them happily smiled while their fingers remained interlaced, chatting and enjoying their time together the rest of the flight, until the plane landed and they had to unavoidably say their farewells.

“Thank you for everything, Luka. I forgot how scared I was of planes thanks to you and- I’ll see you soon?”

“I really hope so. I still owe you something, right?" He winked and she blushed happily. Luka gave her a final discreet and quick kiss on her knuckles. "Gosh- I miss you already...” He added, and Marinette felt the urge to cry. She dropped her bag to hold him in a needed embrace. He gladly reciprocated her gesture. Despite neither wanting to separate, they forced themselves to. "I hope I see you soon, Marinette"

"Me too, Luka…" she wiped her tears and waved, as the band started walking away.

When the arrivals doors opened and all the camera flashes blinded her, she understood why Kitty Section members always wore sunglasses in airports. They were more popular than she could have expected. She understood why he had refused to kiss her outside of the plane, but he still saluted her before disappearing in the multitude of fans and paparazzis.

On the other side, Sabrina, Audrey Bourgeois’ assistant, waited for her. She had almost forgotten about her own business. But now, she found the motivation she had lacked. If she was willing to be with Luka, she had to become the best. She wanted to make a name of herself, more than ever. And her meeting with Luka certainly boosted her confidence.

Unexpectedly, her trip to NY had already become one of her most memorable experiences yet. And it had just started! She couldn't wait to spend the rest of the week in the city.

#my fic #airipyon #airip4 #lbsc sprint fic #lbsc sprint fic challenge #LBSC sprint challenge #lukanette fic #Pro LukaMari #endgame lukanette #nevermind the title- i'm super bad at them #I kinda want to write part 2 #but I don't need more WIPs ;v;#I need to finish them instead Dammit XD

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twh-news · 3 years

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"Loki" Director Kate Herron Talks The Epic Season 1 Finale And The Easter Egg Fans Should Go Back And Listen For | Buzzfeed

Warning: There are MASSIVE spoilers ahead for Season 1 of Loki!

Welp, Loki Season 1 just came to an end and I think it's safe to say that the Marvel Cinematic Universe will never be the same. Following the Season 1 finale, we sat down with director Kate Herron to talk about everything — like how it felt introducing the multiverse and Jonathan Majors to the MCU, casting this incredible ensemble cast, Loki's bisexuality, and so much more. Here's everything we learned:

1. First, Kate has always loved Loki, so she knew she wanted to be involved in the "character's next step" in some way.

"Basically, I love Loki, and I found out they were making a show about him. As a fan, I was like, 'I need to know where he's gone.' Then, I just wanted to know what the story was going to be. I loved the character. I think Tom Hiddleston's performance is amazing. I really wanted to be part of whatever this character's next step was because I think Loki's had one of the best arcs in the MCU."

2. Directing all six episodes of the first season felt like filming a six-hour movie.

"Directing all six episodes was a really unique experience, right? Because normally TV is run through the showrunner system, and Marvel didn't do that on Loki. It was incredible. It was quite an undertaking to do six hours and run it like a giant film. I'm so grateful for the opportunity, and I'm really proud of what we made."

3. When Kate signed on to Loki, only the first few scripts had been written, the "rough shape of the show" was in place, and they knew Loki would be arrested by the TVA.

"When I started, Michael [Waldron] had written the pilot. Then, there was a second episode written by Elissa [Karasik], and Bisha's [Ali] episode was written. So, there was a rough shape of the show. It was already fixed in that Loki was gonna be arrested by the TVA and then it had this twist that he was going to try and solve the mystery of who this other Loki was, but then it pivots and becomes this love story about him falling in love with himself. I just thought that was so inspired and the message that had about self-love. I just really wanted to be part of that."

4. And they always knew the show would end at The Citadel at the End of Time and the multiverse would be born.

"As we dug into it with Kevin Wright, our producer, the studio, Michael, Tom, and also our whole team, I think it was always thinking like what was the best story, in particular during the second half of the show. We always knew they were going to The Citadel, something would happen, and the multiverse would be born, but we didn't necessarily know it would come out of Loki and Sylvie fighting. That idea came out of discussions with me, the writers, and the studio."

5. It was "always the plan" to introduce Jonathan Majors to the MCU during the Loki Season 1 finale.

"I think me and the writers were just like, 'Well, they haven't told us we can't introduce that character. I guess we're doing it.' It was really exciting and I felt really honored that I got to be part of it."

6. Kate was involved with Jonathan's casting for He Who Remains/Kang alongside Peyton Reed, who will direct Ant-Man: Quantumania, and Marvel Studios.

"Being part of the casting discussion with Marvel and Peyton was amazing. It was massive. I was just like, 'Wow, I can't believe I get to be part of this conversation.' Everyone was just so excited about Jonathan. He's one of the best actors. I just couldn't believe we got him."

7. Jonathan brought a lot of "cool ideas to the table" once he was cast, and Kate gave him "space to play."

"He just brought so many cool ideas to the table. I think when you're working with an actor like Jonathan, it's really just about giving him space to play, and let him find the character and give him a cool way to do that. I really enjoyed working with him. We finished the shoot filming in The Citadel, so it was really interesting that we finished filming with Jonathan. I just felt very lucky I got to direct him."

8. Jonathan actually voiced the Time-Keepers in Episode 4, which added to the Wizard of Oz homage.

"Obviously, the Time-Keepers were being made in post, and we hadn't cast anyone [for the voices] yet, and I thought, 'Well, Wizard of Oz. Like it should be the wizard, right?' So I thought it would be cool if it was Jonathan, and I think the key thing then was just working with him in a way that we could disguise his voice. I think the fun thing was, Jonathan is an amazing character actor. So we just sent him the art and he was sending audio clips to me and Kevin Wright and being like, 'What about this voice?' It was just so much fun to do that with him. I think that was just joyful."

9. Kate's favorite Easter egg from Episode 5 was Throg — in fact, Chris Hemsworth recorded new lines and sounds for that small part.

"That one I was very proud of and it was very fun. I had that shot designed for a while. I think I'd seen it in Futurama, and a lot of animation does it, but I love the idea of going through the dirt and it reveals something. I always felt like that shot would be the place to insert an Easter egg. When we had Throg in there, it was so much fun and it was perfect. We also recorded Chris [Hemsworth] for that. It was just so much fun."

10. She also loved the Thanos Copter and said it was a "funny" detail the producers loved from the comics, so they had to include it.

"The Thanos Copter was great. Kevin Wright, our executive producer, was really obsessed with that copter, I was like, 'We have to put the helicopter,' and it was so funny. Episode 5 is our best Easter egg episode. There's so much deliberately because of the nature of The Void as a place where deleted things are sent."

11. There's one Easter egg/detail Kate hasn't seen fans catch onto yet, and it involves a "familiar" voice at the very end of the Season 1 finale.

"The one I would say is — it's less Easter egg and more cool story-wise. So, at the very end of the finale, when Loki is in this alternate TVA, there's a character that runs behind him and is going to the armory and people should listen to the voice. It's very quick, but it's someone familiar."

12. Loki was inspired by numerous iconic sci-fi movies, like Children of Men, Alien, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Metropolis, Starship Troopers, and more.

"Bisha, in the episode [she wrote], she spoke about Children of Men and also Before Sunrise as a reference, so I was really inspired by that and the idea of bringing these sci-fi things together. Across all the TVA, I wanted it to just be a big love letter to sci-fi movies, like Metropolis, Brazil, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, [and] Alien. A reference I could never talk about early was Starship Troopers just because, obviously, the TVA are bad guys and in that movie they also use a lot of propaganda film and we had our Miss Minutes film. So, that movie played a hand. There was so much across the show. We had references from everywhere."

13. And the inspiration for how The Void would look in Episode 5 actually came from Teletubbies.

"I never really spoke much about it, but basically in Episode 5, The Void was originally written like a desert, but when I pitched, I said I thought it would be cool if rather than like a Mad Max desert apocalypse, it's more like an overgrown garden. Like, this is the place where the TVA throw their rubbish in. I just loved the idea of that. I think I realized as it started to unravel that I'd basically pitched the British countryside. As we were building it, I was like, 'Am I just homesick?' I remember trying to explain it to the visual effects artists who were making it, and I was like, 'You know, it's like the Teletubbies. You know, rolling hills just one after another.' So, yeah, the Teletubbies became a useful reference when describing The Void. So, that's how they played a hand in it."

14. Kate was the one who suggested Sophia Di Martino audition for the role of Sylvie.

"Sophia was in a short film of mine called Smear. I was very happy to pay her, finally, for her talent. When we were reading for the role, I was like, 'There's this actor I know and I think we should ask if she wants to read.' Everyone was like, 'Yeah, sure.' So, she read in these audition tapes, and we were all watching the tapes back and I remember everyone at the studio was like, 'Wait, who's that?' And I was like, 'Oh, that's my friend Sophia.' They thought she was amazing."

15. Sophia's audition tape was so good that she was immediately cast.

"Basically, everyone was really excited by her tape and I think she got cast in the room, which is incredible. I was excited because I got to bring my friend along. She's such a good actor. She's fantastic in Flowers and I was just so happy that she was coming along for the ride. I think she's done such a beautiful job with Sylvie."

16. One of the most important things when crafting Sylvie and the other Loki Variants was making sure they were their own characters, and not just Loki copies.

"I think the most important thing, minus just tiny little gestures, was really making it important that Sylvie was her own character and that all the Lokis weren't just 'faded photocopies.' They were all their own Loki. It wasn't even that they stood in a similar way or looked similar, but what in their soul made them a Loki. I love that line, 'Lokis always survive.' That idea goes across all our characters who are Lokis."

17. Casting Sylvie was one of the hardest things, and Sophia was able to bring her own spin to the character and she was the perfect "sparring partner" for Tom.

"Sophia has this talent — and I think Tom has it as well — where she's so funny and naturally so witty and charismatic that you can't take your eyes off her. She's also really good at playing characters with a lot of anger, pain, and vulnerability. I just felt that those qualities were so Loki to me. She brought her own spin on it too. Tom's performance is so iconic, so Sylvie was a tough role to cast because you need to give him a good sparring partner, but also, it's another Loki and people love Loki. So, it was really making sure that she felt distinctive enough that she was different, but also that we gave Tom a really fun actor to play alongside. It was really fun watching them. It was really fun seeing their chemistry grow."

18. Sylvie's fighting style was actually crafted to have similar movements to Loki's, thus showing that they are basically two sides of the same coin.

"I know Tom and Sophia spent a lot of time together. I think the fun thing with Sophia was the little things, like the fighting styles. She has a very different life to our Loki. Loki is very balletic in his fighting style, because he grew up in the palace, whereas Sylvie grew up in apocalypses. So, she was going to fight a bit more like a feral cat. I thought that was fun to play with. We worked with Mo [Ganderton], our stunt coordinator, and it was really fun to find little mirror image stuff they would do when they fight. We did a little bit of that on Lamentis and there's little bits here and there where we've done that. There's also little gestures that they do that are quite similar."

19. Kate had a "four hour" phone call with Owen Wilson before he was cast. They talked about Marvel, Mobius, and Loki.

"Everyone was so excited to cast him. I remember, they were like, 'Kate, just call him and see if he's up for it.' That was a lot of pressure. But then, I spoke to him on the phone and we spoke about Marvel and Loki in Marvel. Also, we talked about what our show was doing, who Mobius was, and then just getting his take on it. It was a very detailed conversation. I think we spoke for like four hours. At the end, he was like, 'I'm in.'"

20. Wunmi Mosaku's role was originally supposed to be a male character, but Kate suggested having an "open casting" because she thought Hunter B-15 would be really great as a female character.

"When I spoke to the studio, I was like, 'This character is cool, but I just think it could be really interesting if this was a female character. So, could we do open casting? We'll have men and women read, and we'll just see who's the best person for the role.' So, Wunmi read for it and just blew everyone away. We were like, 'We have to cast this person!' So, we kind of remade the role, really, around her."

21. Kate loves the idea that Hunter B-15 joins this club of sci-fi female characters who were originally supposed to be men.

"It was cool because I love Ripley in Alien and I love Kara Thrace in Battlestar Galactica. In the original Battlestar, Kara Thrace's character was played by a man, and Ripley in Alien was originally written as a man, so I liked that Hunter B-15 was joining these badass women in sci-fi. That was really cool to me."

22. When Kate pitched her ideas to the studio, she include Gugu Mbatha-Raw as the actor she wanted to play Ravonna.

"Gugu was in my pitch when I spoke to the studio. I was like, 'I think she'll be really great.' I love her work as an actor. From Belle to the episode of Black Mirror she's in, everything she's in is so different. I think that's so interesting with Ravonna because in the comics, Ravonna's been good and bad, and she's such a big character. I was like, 'I'd love to see Gugu's take on that character.' The studio was really excited by that and so was Gugu."

23. Kate said it was "important" to recognize Loki's bisexuality in the show, and she loved how it was naturally worked into a conversation between him and Sylvie.

"It was just important for us to do it in a way that made it canon, acknowledged it, and also done in a way where like, if someone asked me, I would just be matter of fact about it, like, 'Yeah, I'm bi.' I think that was the important thing for it and building it into the conversation. It was important to the whole team and the way that it was written was really beautiful. It felt like the right place to do it because these two characters are starting to open up to each other and are being a bit more honest about who they are. So it felt like the right place to have that moment."

24. The TVA weren't always going to be Variants/humans. That idea was born out of conversations with Kate, the writers, and the rest of the Loki team.

"When I started, I think it was a bit more up in the air with like, who are the Variants who work for the TVA? Are they Variants? They actually weren't Variants when I first joined. Casey was an alien, for example. I think something we all locked onto was it was more effective to make them more human. It was already in there that the Time-Keepers wouldn't be real and that would be a big Wizard of Oz rug pull. But the extra rug pull we added was that, on top of all of that, the TVA don't realize that they're actually Variants."

25. One of the things Kate enjoyed the most was figuring out the "inner workings of the TVA," like how the Minutemen would operate.

"I think it was really fun, in terms of the bigger structural stuff, to work with everyone. Also, figuring out the inner workings of the TVA, like every squad of Minutemen would have a hunter and they'll be little details sprinkled across all the world building in the show. Generally, we always looked at the characters and what was the best story and how to get to the end goal in the most effective way."

26. The season finale intro — which included seeing space, the sacred timeline, and hearing quotes from the MCU and history — was an homage to Contact.

"Basically, Eric Martin, our writer, he'd written in this amazing idea that for the opening we do an homage to Contact, and kind of move through space to the end of time. Then, we'd see the physical timeline, and then we see The Citadel. I love Contact, and I was like, 'Oh, that's so cool.' We took that idea to Darrin [Denlinger], our storyboard artist, and me and him just nerded out about space and about how we wanted to pay homage to Contact but not be completely the same.

So we played with the idea of time and he was bringing in so many cool ideas. But then, the amazing pitch he had as well was like, 'What if when we pull out at the very end, the timeline isn't a straight line like how you guys have been showing it in the show? What if it's actually circular?' I thought it was such a good idea."

27. Kevin Feige helped come up with the idea to include Marvel quotes over the Marvel logo because it was something the MCU had never done before.

"I had this weird idea where I remember saying to my editor, Emma McCleave, I was like, 'Oh, can we add a baby crying or the sounds of the city? And it's like we just hear life.' So her, me, and Kevin Wright got really into that. So we were adding all of these different sounds into the timeline. We also had quotes from just life, not Marvel. Then, we showed that cut to Kevin Feige and the rest of the team.

They all thought it was cool, and then Kevin Feige was like, 'Oh, do you know what? We've never done quotes on the Marvel logo before.' So, we thought that was cool and we added the quotes to the Marvel logo intro. Then, me, Kevin Wright, Emma, and Sarah Bennett, Emma's assistant, decided to just put the MCU quotes across the whole thing."

28. Going from hearing all of the voices in the season finale opening to utter silence in The Citadel was also a way of learning something about He Who Remains.

"I loved the idea of all the noise and this Greek chorus building because when you finally pull out and see The Citadel and how isolated it is, it tells you so much about He Who Remains' psychology because he's surrounded by all this brimming life, but he's completely isolated and alone. I thought it tells you a little bit about his character and who he might be before we see him."29. Kate loves that the season finale opening is a "beautiful handover" from the previous phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe into this one with the multiverse.

"It was a real group effort, and we were just really excited at the idea of it being this really beautiful handover from the previous phase of Marvel. Also, we get to encapsulate a little bit of our world as well, which was really fun. The editing team put so much time into that. I really want to watch it in a planetarium or something."

29. Kate loves that the season finale opening is a "beautiful handover" from the previous phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe into this one with the multiverse.

30. And finally, even though Loki sets up a lot of upcoming MCU projects — namely, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Ant-Man: Quantumania — Kate didn't have a lot of conversations with other MCU directors and writers.

"Kevin Wright and Stephen Broussard from Marvel were our producers on Loki, and they worked with Kevin Feige, Louis [D'Esposito], and Victoria [Alonso]. They always steered us in terms of the Marvel big picture and let us know if anything was off base. It's so secretive at Marvel, so I only spoke to Peyton just because our timelines crossed [with Jonathan]. Generally, Marvel manages everything internally and keeps us all in check."

#loki #loki series #kate herron #interview #article #buzzfeed #loki spoilers #spoilers #loki series spoilers

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bangtan · 4 years

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BTS: “We’re eager to give comfort and joy through our music now more than ever”

The global superstars tell us about uplifting new single 'Dynamite', their upcoming album and how lockdown reinforced their love of music Pop music has long been a healing force in the world, reflecting the times that we’re living through – be that on a macro or micro scale – and offering comfort, support and a vehicle to process our experiences through. BTS are pros at this, and often hold a mirror up to the struggles facing young people in society and in their relationships with others and themselves in their songs. Their new single ‘Dynamite’ – their first entirely in English – might not reference our current state of global turmoil in its lyrics (instead focusing on the good times gone by in lines such as “Bring a friend / Join the crowd”), but it was borne out of the same desire to help soothe their fans. It achieves this in spades, and is a potent tonic from pandemic life that. In another time, the song would serve as a soundtrack to days spent endlessly lingering in the sun and “danc[ing] til the break of dawn”. This is a song that takes you on a ride into an alternate world of freedom and fun. BTS, like everyone, have felt the impact of the pandemic pressing pause on their plans this year. Instead of using this time to take a few months off, they’ve thrown themselves into making a new album (due for release later this year), taking on all duties from the music to visuals and marketing to choreography. As well as helping others, focusing on music has aided them in this time too. “At first, we were all lost,” rapper and leader RM said at the band’s online press conference last week (August 21) when NME asked how they’d all been getting on. “It was very hard the more time passed.” But the process of time and a forced break also gave them a renewed perspective: “Things that are suspended in water will settle to the bottom after a while and then you get clean water. This allowed us to settle down and allowed us to see more clearly in the future. Covid-19 put a halt to many of our activities, but it also gave us a chance to not just work on music, but to think really deeply about music.” The band describe coming across ‘Dynamite’, which was written by songwriters Jessica Agombar and David Stewart, as “destiny”, as well as a chance for them to try their hand at something new. “When things were difficult and frustrating for us, this was a sort of ray of light, a sip of sweet water,” RM said. “We call this our own recharge project and we hope that it will be able to recharge your own batteries, even if it’s only for a moment.” As ‘Dynamite’ fights for the Number One spot on the Official UK Singles Chart (and will almost certainly score them their highest charting UK debut to date), we caught up with BTS to talk about spreading joy, their upcoming VMAs performance and their next album.

Historically, disco music has served as a form of escapism, giving listeners reprieve from society’s hardships. There are many music genres that can give the positive energy you were after – why was disco the right route to go down in terms of ‘Dynamite’’s sound?

BTS: “We didn’t intend to choose disco for our digital single. We came across the song while working on our new album. When we first heard the demo, the upbeat sound and energy of the track instantly cheered us up. We wanted ‘Dynamite’ to deliver a message of hope to our fans in these difficult times, so this disco pop genre track felt like the perfect fit.”

The dance routines in your videos are usually highly choreographed but ‘Dynamite’ feels a lot looser and more spontaneous in places. How does that reflect what you want people to take from the song?

BTS: “The choreography is cheerful and crisp and goes well with the song. The gestures and moves not only bring out the unique personalities and vibes of each member, but it’s also really catchy and easy to learn. As much as we want people to be uplifted by this tune, we hope a lot of people will be able to pick up the dance moves easily and groove away!”

RM, in the ‘Dynamite’ press conference you said the coronavirus halting your planned activities gave you a chance to think really deeply about music too. Can you share what you meant by that?

RM: “It has been a difficult year for many. We have also had to face many surprises and changes. That naturally made us think profoundly about music. We can honestly say that we love it, and we are passionate about singing and dancing more than anyone. We realised, however, that no matter how passionate we are, we need our fans there to listen to our songs and watch us perform. It made us eager to comfort and give joy to people through our music and performance more than ever. That is how ‘Dynamite’ came to be. We decided to accept new challenges and be more flexible.”,

You’re performing at the VMAs on August 31, an awards ceremony that has seen many iconic performances over the years from the likes of Madonna, Nirvana, Beyoncé, and Eminem. What does it mean to you for BTS to be getting the chance to join that list?

BTS: “First and foremost, it’s an honour to perform ‘Dynamite’ for the very first time at the VMAs! Although we will be connecting from Seoul, we’re excited at the opportunity to perform alongside many incredible artists. We’d like to credit our ARMYs for their unbelievable support that allowed us to participate in amazing opportunities like this.”

Break The Silence: The Movie is out next month and follows you on your 2019 ‘Love Yourself: Speak Yourself’ world tour. What are your favourite memories or were the most important moments for each of you from that tour?

BTS: “Performing on stage with our fans is definitely the highlight of the tour. But we did enjoy some moments off stage as well and you can see all of those moments in the new movie too.”

June’s Bang Bang Con earned you the Guinness World Record for most-viewed livestream concert. What was the experience of holding your own virtual concert like for you?

BTS: “We never expected such a remarkable accomplishment. It was quite a memorable and valuable experience for us to perform for our ARMYs even in these hard times. The fact that we won’t stop navigating ways to stay connected with our fans means a lot to us.”

You’re currently working on a new album and have shared out different roles – e.g. Jimin as project manager and V in charge of visuals. How has undertaking these roles changed your perspective on the album-making process?

BTS: “This upcoming album really reaches new heights in terms of active participation from the members. We each take our share of responsibility for the team and act with initiative; increasing our responsibility from general participation to taking charge of more significant portions of the creative process allowed us to consider many more aspects of music.”

#bangtan #bts #rm #jin #suga #jhope #jimin #v #jungkook #t:interview #200826

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jiminiediminie · 3 years

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A not at all brief commentary post BTS on MTV unplugged because this left me with so many feels. (forewarning this is long)

It’s so hard sometimes to decide my favorite type of BTS performance -- the over-the-top performances that we see on award shows or the stripped back performances like in tiny desk or now MTV Unplugged. But there is something so authentic about the stripped back performances; they get to just sit there -- no choreo -- and it becomes all about the music and the vocals/rap.

So, I was very excited that BTS was doing something like this again. They have been so quiet lately that I missed seeing them perform. And like many people BTS is an escape from the real world for a little while for me, and I desperately needed that this week.

Throughout this entire show I had the biggest smile on my face. I am so angry that MTV spoiled the surprise of telepathy and especially the coldplay cover. I would have loved to go into that blind and be shocked. Also the random commercials of teen mom, jersey shore, and floribama gave me literal whiplash. I did not want to see some random shirtless person right after I just died watching BTS’s performances. Poor thinking on MTV’s part. Another thing that I noticed throughout all these performances was that the mic’s were on. You can hear the backtrack and them singing over it. Since some people love to point out that they could have been lip syncing since it was pre recorded.

I like that BTS brings attention to member’s who are heavily involved in a song’s writing/production. So i appreciated that tae and yoongi introduced b&g and telepathy.

I also have to mention that it is so nice to have all 7 of them back together. There was just something missing when yoongi was gone and now they feel whole again.

Moving on to breaking down each performance:

Telepathy

That set fit the retro vibes of the song so well

The donald duck on most of their clothes? What was the reason?

Jimin on that red bike (he looked so good!) and then tae joining and sitting in the side car 😂

Jungkook’s matching jean outfit with his blonde hair. A look

I love that when it’s a fun song BTS cannot sit still. They do little dances in their seat

Vmin’s little dance. It looked like jm was trying to hold back a laugh

Blue and Grey

I was so hyped for the potential of a blue and grey performance. It is one of my favorite BTS songs and probably my favorite of their more “chill” songs.

The set was so pretty and the lighting behind it was so cinematic. The lighting changed from warm to cool and back to warm as the song progressed

Tae looked and sounded so good in this. I love how forefront he was visually in this performance as this seems to be a song that means so much to him

Jimin’s high note in this was so pretty i replayed it several times.

The emotion they put into this song. When they did a close up on any of the members you can see how much they feel the music they sing. That close up of jm looking directly into the camera nearly killed me.

Hobi omg. When they style his hair like that and put him into a suit i just cannot deal.

That final shot with the sun panning behind tae. Wow

Fix You Coldplay cover (!!!)

I will reiterate how mad I am that I got this spoiled for me. While I was never a massive Coldplay fan, I know a lot of their music so having BTS cover one of their songs is very exciting. Had I been able to watch this without knowing they were going to cover this song, I would have been floored (who am i kidding I still was).

This song particularly is so amazing because of the message and emotion it brings. It is the perfect song for BTS to sing to bring comfort to their fans during these times where they cannot perform for them. I was amazed at the arrangement they did (rap line i see you) and the unique emotion BTS brought while performing it.

The standout -- kim freaking seokjin. I love when jin gets to just belt out his powerful voice and he got to do it so much throughout this song. One of the other times I was so floored by his voice like this was in the come back home cover they did in 2018 . And now I can add this performance to times jin blew my mind. And he did all that while sitting so dainty with his legs crossed. Like he isn’t single handedly saving the music industry.

The rap line. Their arrangement was such a perfect way to have them participate but not force them to sing like the vocal line. Their lower registers (especially joon’s omg) sounded so good when harmonized with the vocal lines. The jin x joon and suga x tae harmonies were probably my favorite combination of voices.

Jimin sounded like a literal angel (no surprise). When he and hobi harmonised I ascended.

Hobi’s entire look, again. That suit with his hair styled like that, again. He looked so good. Also is his mic a darker red than usual here?

After hearing how amazing JK’s voice sounds in acoustic songs like this, I am hoping he has something like that on JJK1. I want to hear more of it thank you.

Tae closing the performance with his honey smooth voice. Perfect ending.

Tiny detail but at the very end jk looked over at jm and did a little nod, almost of satisfaction (??). Yes jikook be proud of that entire performance you all just did.

Only negatives -- I wish the lighting wasn’t so harsh, I wanted to see their beautiful faces more. Hobi didn't get to sing solo; we know that boy can sing and I want to hear it. No hobi x jk harmony (from what i could tell); Their two voices together is one of my favorite combinations (go see this performance and the tiny desk concert for examples please).

I also liked that coldplay posted about the cover to support it. Legends hyping legends

Life Goes On

I truly don’t have a lot to say about this performance since we have seen it so much but I am obsessed with the more acoustic version of the song; I love a lot of the chill songs BTS has so the more acoustic the better to me.

Their outfits were beautiful as well. Reminds me of something out of a british spy movie.

Also have I mentioned that I love it when jimin’s hair is pushed back because it is such a good look on him

Dynamite

Immediate thoughts -- jk’s hair. The blonde on top and dark undercut is such a good look on him. It has been said, but jk turned 23 and chose violence. And now he has blue hair? I just got used to the blonde

I do find it funny to watch BTS try and stay in their chairs during this song. It seems so hard for them especially when there is choreo to a song. I almost expected jimin, hobi, or tae to get up and dance a little; these three in particular seemed to have the hardest time staying in their seats.

Like LGO I don’t have a lot of commentary on dynamite. It was an amazing performance, I liked this version of the song, and dynamite is always a bop.

The only thing I can say I was disappointed by was no Dis-ease performance (it wouldn't have fit the vibe anyway but one could have hoped). I’m still holding out hope. I want to hear the bridge in dis-ease performed live so bad.

Closing thoughts -- I was so happy to see this side of BTS again. No elaborate sets (i mean like renting out a freaking airport elaborate; the fact that that is what I am using as a threshold is insane). No choreo. Just them and their music.

(If you made it to the end i’m shocked, thanks for reading my essay)

#bts #my thoughts #kim namjoon #kim seokjin #min yoongi #jung hoseok #park jimin #kim taehyung #jeon jungkook #jikook #vmin #commentary

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rachelsheart · 3 years

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DIAL 111: HOW TO WORK WITH YOUR SPIRIT GUIDES

BY: RUBY WARRINGTON ·

Do you know how to work with your spirit guides? Ruby Warrington gets a lesson in life’s celestial helpers from spirit-guide-whisperer Rebecca Campbell…

There follows a lesson in how to work with your spirit guides by Rebecca Campbell. Read more at Thenuminous.net

Inviting them into your dreams is one way to work with your spirit guides…

It happens fairly often among my Numinous circles that somebody will casually drop into the conversation that they’ve been working with their “spirit guides.” At which point I’ll nod and be like, “that’s rad, dude” – because, conceptually, I’m totally down with the idea that there are benevolent Universal forces working on our behalf all the time, and that we get to choose how and when we interact with them. That’s called “creating your own reality,” right?

But then I meet Rebecca Campbell, an Aussie author, mystic, coach, and co-founder of The Spirited Project, who insists that our guides are actually more like real entities – angels, I guess – who are just kind of hanging out, polishing their wings, until we call them into action. Learn to work with them, and they can offer assistance in every area of life – in fact; “no request is too big or too small, too specific or too broad,” she says.

It’s a pretty out there idea, even for me. And I (obviously) embrace a LOT of out there ideas. But I LOVE the concept (I’m already picturing my guides like a kind of spiritual Spice Girls, with the dance routines and everything), and so I asked Rebecca for the full low down. Here’s what she had to say…

Your guides – kind of like spiritual Spice Girls?

So does every individual on the planet have their own spirit guides?

Yep, everyone has their very own team of spirit guides who are completely devoted to their growth. I like to think of them as a group of amazing cosmic beings who have our back no matter what. But because of free will, in order to receive their support, first we need to ask. Asking is super simple (like, you can do it right now).

For general guidance:

“Hey spirit guides…I am open to receiving your loving guidance in all areas of my life. Thank you, and so it is.”

For more specific guidance:

“Hey spirit guides…I am open to receiving your guidance surrounding (insert specific request here). Thank you for guiding and supporting me.”

The thing about spirit guides is that they’re always there – we just don’t notice them. When you’re devastated by a terrible break up, they’re there. When you’re looking for a spot to park your car, they’re there. If you’re trying to make a difficult decision, they’re there. They’re by your side right now. What do you want their help with right now? Go on, ask them right now!

Okay, but first I need to know how they actually do their work?

Our spirit guides work with us through signs, people, nature, synchronistic events and our intuitive senses (inner seeing, inner knowing, inner hearing and inner feeling).

So the best way to start working with your spirit guides is to ask them for a sign. When I first started working with my guides I asked them to send me a light peach feather to prove to me that they were really there. Within half an hour I had received two peach feathers, which was pretty amazing – and what I needed to open my mind and heart up to noticing the support they could offer me. (nb: I tried this last night by asking for a blue crystal – nothing yet. I’ll keep you posted. Update: two hours later I was working out and found a mini crustal on the studio floor – but it was mauve. Close!)

The more you work with your spirit guides, the stronger the connection gets. It’s just like working out – you can’t expect to have a six-pack like J-Lo if you only do one sit up.

Okay, so is there one team of spirit guides working for us all, or are they individual for each person?

Everyone has their own team of spirit guides, which are assigned just to them. We are born with spirit guides and also recruit them as we go about our life.

I find that most people have around six spirit guides in their “inner circle.” These are the guides who are completely unique to us. Some spirit guides have had lifetimes here on earth (often appearing as “people” e.g. an American Indian teacher, a Tibetan monk, an inspirational business leader etc.) – while others may just appear as beings of light.

I believe that our purpose on Earth is twofold:

1. Evolve as a soul (learning, growing and raising our vibration)

2. Be the light (light up the world by following what lights us up)

Our spirit guides are assigned to us to help us do both these things. The more we allow and receive their guidance and support, the easier our path becomes.

Accept their support, and move forward more smoothly on your journey

I like the idea of us being “assigned” out guides at birth – how does this happen?

Your soul recruits your spirit guides based on your unique soul calling and the path you are here to walk. Your guides are perfectly suited to your highest calling, and waiting to guide you as much or as little as you wish. No matter what you’re facing, their presence means you always have the support around you to make it through.

I believe that we are born with one main guide (also known as a Guardian Angel) who stays with us throughout our lives – and by the age of 18-25 most people have recruited their spirit guide “posse.”

We can recruit more guides as needed though. For example, while writing my book Light Is The New Black I recruited two light beings and a new teacher guide to help me – in exactly the same way as I used to call on famous ad men to help me present my creative ideas in a way that would most resonate with the client when I worked in advertising.

What if I’m still having a hard time getting my head around the concept…

What holds most people back from developing a relationship with their spirit guides is their need for hard core visual “proof” that they exist. For a long time, I was waiting for my spirit guides to ring my doorbell and chat to me over a bottle of vino (clearly that never happened).

I wanted to know their hair color, their favorite movies and where they grew up. But the moment I Iet go of any need for them to appear in a certain way and just opened myself up to the possibility and trusted, the more my relationship with my guides grew and the more evidence of their presence I received in other ways.

Everyone’s experience with their spirit guides is personal, and because they work in the subtle realms, it takes practice to sense them. We are all six sensory beings, but we need to work our intuitive muscles each day to strengthen our intuitive connection with them.

Most people experience their guides through their predominant intuitive sense: Clairvoyant (clear seeing), Clairaudient (clear hearing), Clairsentient (clear feeling) and Claircognizant (clear knowing).

Can you give us some tips to start working with them on a regular basis then?

1. Start asking them for guidance…right now

2. Thank them for guiding you – they love a bit of positive reinforcement!

3. Ask them to send you a sign (e.g. a feather, a butterfly, elephants…whatever you fancy)

4. Keep a little notebook by your bed, and jot down any experience you might have had with them and any signs you spotted throughout the day. The more your book fills up, the more you will notice their support

5. Before you go to sleep ask your spirit guides to come to you in your dreams. The moment you wake up, note down any experiences you may have had with them

“She’s behind you…” Your spirit guides have always got your back

I’m almost convinced – can you share any amazing experiences you’ve had working with your guides?

These days I speak to my spirit guides every day – but my favorite story of working with my guides happened earlier this year, when I handed in my book proposal to Hay House (twice) but hadn’t heard anything.

One of my spirit guides is a woman (spirit) named Charlotte. Charlotte appears as a terribly English high society lady from the 1920’s who wears big dresses, hats and gloves. A gifted gossip, with her fingers in all the most influential pies, Charlotte is here to help me get my message out there and the name spoken about in the right circles. Knowing that getting some publicity might increase my chances of being published, I called on Charlotte for help and then surrendered it.

That same day I was connected with a journalist – and one week later she was commissioned to write a story, “Like a Prayer”, for the UK’s Sunday Times Style Mag (which also happened to feature the who’s who of Hay House authors, as well as The Numinous).Two weeks later, I got the phone call from Hay House offering me a deal!

When I went into Hay House to meet the team for the first time, the Publicity Officer mentioned that she’d seen the Sunday Times article and asked who my publicist was. Without thinking I responded “my spirit guide Charlotte!” Now, I’ve sat around a lot of boardroom tables in my life, but that was the first one that I was able to casually drop the name of one of my spirit guides and credit them for their work. I love it!

Ruby Warrington

RUBY WARRINGTON

MY MANTRA: Believing is Healing. MY MISSION: To help create a world where everybody gets to feel whole. // MY STYLE: Rock 'n' roll yogi fashionista. 99% recycled and vintage. // MY SIGN: Aries Sun, Sagittarius Rising, Cancer Moon. // MY HEALING: Time with friends, time alone, time offline, getting Sober Curious, and being f*cking real with myself!

Rachel's Heart

#child of wild #higher self #love self #self love #spiritualpath #nature #spiritualawakening #spiritual development #spirituality

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pair-annoyed · 4 years

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Anime I Watched in Quarantine

With some of the restrictions being lifted, I wanted to make a sort of master post to see just how much I’ve watched in my time off. Plus, I wanted to share something more lighthearted with everyone.

All of these anime will be rated on a 1-10 scale, 10 meaning masterpiece, 1 meaning complete garbage. I’ll also share what I liked/didn’t like about each show. This list will go in chronological order, and will encompass all anime from 3/13 - 6/13. Multiple Seasons will be grouped together.

1. Beastars - 8/10

I dig how human and down-to-earth Beastars is. The pacing was a nice and the animation was unexpectedly great! It’s driving force is its characters and their interactions. Felt a little slow at times, and Juno annoys me, but that’s okay. I’ll be watching season 2.

2. Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun - 8/10

Oh my god! This visuals for this were absolutely wonderful! It did feel a little cliche at times, I won’t lie. But, I still loved all of these characters and the nice balance between creepy and comedy.

3. Ao No Exorcist - 6/10

I posted about this one after I finished it. The ending really pissed me off. I feel like if I had watched this when I was 13, I would’ve given it a higher score. Compared to some of the other shounen I’ve watched, this felt a bit basic. That doesn’t mean I still didn’t like it. Still have to get around to watching season 2...

4. Kaichou wa Maid-sama! 6.5/10

Shoujo usually isn’t my cup of tea. Maid-sama was a nice way to ease into the cliches of shoujo. Misaki is a great protagonist and the ending Maid-sama was so satisfying. I’m only giving it a low score because of its slow pacing and lack of certain character development.

5. Violet Evergarden Gaiden: Eien to Jidou Shuki Ningyou - 7/10

I’m a big Violet Evergarden fan to begin with, so of course I liked this movie. It did not resonate with me as much as the series itself, but I still enjoyed it. Kyoto animation is never disappointing in their visuals and sound design

6. Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! - 8/10

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren - 6.5/10

Chuunibyou was a breath of fresh air for me. It was so different from all other romance anime I had seen at the time. It for sure has a slice of life vibe to it, but it was still so good! It reminded me of being in middle school and my “chuunibyou” phase. The second season was not as enjoyable as the first. I guess I just had higher expectations for Rikka and Yuuta.

7. Dr. Stone - 7/10

Dr. Stone is honestly such a perfect shounen for me. I’m a science nerd, and with taking AP Chem this year it was kind of nice to sorta apply my knowledge. This show also has some of the best reaction images ever. The tone, however, is a little inconsistent which made it hard to keep watching. I do love the relationship between Senku and his Dad, that whole sub-plot was so endearing.

8. Oshiete! Galko-chan - 6/10

This one only gets a low score because its so short and the op takes up like half an episode. This show had been in the back of my mind for a while. I decided to watch it after seeing a video essay discussing it. Its masterful subversion of tropes and stereotypes was refreshing. The message of this show is so positive, and everyone can benefit from watching something like this.

9. Mairimashita Iruma-kun - 5/10

The second half of Mairimashita Iruma-kun was so much better. I’m not completely sure why I didn’t like this as much as I should have. Overall, its a really average show. The comedy (and musical numbers???) give this show and charismatic and chaotic vibe. I’m someone who focuses primarily on character-character interactions, and this show definitely had it. It isn’t monogatari levels of dialogue but it’s still nice. For the studio’s low budget, they were able to make a really bright and colorful show. I’ll be watching season 2.

10. Byousoku 5 Centimeter - 8/10

Very. VERY. Pretty!! This one was another one that didn’t completely resonate with me emotionally. I still loved the story and the way it was told. Its not like Your Name or Tenki no Ko, it’s realistic and grounded.

11. Mob Psycho 100 - 8/10

Mob Psycho 100 II - 9/10

Style alone made Mob Psycho 100 so impressive. By the second half of each season I was emotional invested in Mob and his whole journey. Season 2 is receiving a higher score because it was able to make me cry. That’s something I NEVER expected. I’m mad I didn’t watch this sooner. It is a great balance of action, comedy, and heart.

12. Noragami Aragoto - 8/10

Not sure why I put off Norogami’s second season for so long. I absolutely loved it. The focus on Bishimon was a nice change of pace and it was great to see Yukine develop more as a character and begin to loose his arrogance. Kazuma was my favorite character in all of this. His ability to affect the people around him was presented nicely. I was emotionally invested the whole way through, and I’ll probably pick up the manga.

13. Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji - 3/10

Ah yes. My least favorite thing on planet earth. This is a wonderful example of Shoujo at its worst. Their relationship was incredibly toxic, and the characters themselves were poorly developed and generic. The whole time all I could think was that I was watching normalized Stockholm Syndrome. Our MC deserves so much better.

14. Youjo Senki - 6/10

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting to like Youjo Senki as much as I did. I’m not usually one for iesekai. The action was great, but the use of CGI bogged down scenes. I do NOT really like the protagonist that much because she came across as apathetic. Towards the end, I started to like her more. This was also my first military/warfare-focused anime. If either a movie or second season is made, I will probably not watch it.

15. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica - 6.5/10

I wanted to like Madoka Magica more than I did. I really did. The style was compelling and the story was interesting. Especially in the beginning, a lot of the death and sad stuff didn’t feel all that sad. The last 4 episodes are a solid 8/10, I love time shenanigans. The emotions and character development really shined through in the end. Madoka is such an inherently kind-hearted person, I love her so much!

16. Yakusoku no Neverland - 8.5/10

I was expecting Yakusoku no Neverland to be more graphic, but I’m kind of glad it didn’t go that route. Like Madoka, the last four episodes had me really invested. However, the character development was not as rushed. It’s a smart show and welcomed change of pace. Emma is my favorite character and you bet I’ll be watching season 2. The more I think about this show, the more I appreciate it.

17. Mo Dao Zu Shi - 9/10

Mo Dao Zu Shi 2nd Season - 8/10

I know that is is technically a donghua, but I’m counting it as an anime because its on MAL. Amazing visuals and an incredibly layered story. Censorship makes it difficult to fully appreciate this work and its original novel. Even though I was confused for the first 2 episodes, Mo Dao Zu Shi did a great job of developing the time period and character relationships. The second season wasn’t as satisfying as the first but still great! I don’t think I’ll be watching the live action anytime soon, but I believe that a 3rd season is confirmed for 2020.

18. Banana Fish - 8.5/10

I knew nothing about Banana Fish going into it. Although I didn’t cry at the ending, it definitely made me feel some type of way. Kind of... numb. Banana Fish is painfully realistic. So much so that I had to take a break after episode 15 because I felt sick to my stomach. I also praise Banana Fish for it’s healthy, non-fetishized relationship representation. Eiji and Ash have such a complex but healthy relationship. I hope Banana Fish is able to pave the way for better representation in media.

19. Promare - 5/10

Why do people praise Promare so much? I hated how predictable it was. The whole movie felt like a 2 hour animation flex for Trigger. The only character in this movie that didn’t manage to piss me off it some way was Lio. The only other thing I’ve seen by studio Trigger is Kill la Kill, so compared to that, this felt like such a step down. :( I was disappointed.

20. Given - 6/10

Given made me both sad and made me want to start a band. Overall the animation is nothing special, I do like the reactions that some of the characters had. Especially that “It’s Mutual” gif set. I couldn’t get over how much Ritsuka looks like Kageyama. My only complaint was how rushed Mafuyu and Ritsuka’s relationship felt. More time should have been dedicated to Mafuyu dealing with and moving past the loss in his life. All that said, I’m still watching the movie.

21. Enen no Shouboutai - 5/10

Generic Shounen, bad ending, great animation. Need I say more? I did not watch Soul Eater (made by same creator), but this was enjoyable. Really cool fights, not so cool character development. A lot of the explanations towards the end felt like complete bull shit. Same energy as using fancy sounding science words to explain things.

22. Hataraku Maou-Sama - 5.5/10

This is another show I felt I would’ve liked more if I watched it when I was younger. The iesekai trope is so beaten down that classics like this don’t really carry as much weight as they originally did. A 24 episode season with more Slice of Life episodes would’ve benefited this series greatly.

23. BNA - 7/10

BNA, in my opinion, was so much better than Promare. Like Hataraku Maou-sama, BNA would’ve benefited from a longer season with more Slice of Life Episodes. Trigger’s newer animation is beautiful and I really hope BNA gets renewed for a second season. The ending was cliche as hell, but still really enjoyed this show!

24. Devilman: Crybaby - 7/10

A.K.A. The one show I’ve got to watch when I know I’m alone. The use of multiple languages besides Japanese in the sub was a unique take. The animation was also a little jarring at first, but I came to love it. The themes in this are not the most positive. The end left me feeling numb, but also appreciative. Ryo pissed me off as soon as he tried to kill that cat, so it was hard to sympathize with him in the very end. It is a really good show, but also sickening, Watch at your own discretion.

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