#this movie is excellent and made me tear up at the end
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Devotion (2022): “Oh, Tom... I know.”
#whumpedit#whump#devotion#devotion 2022#tom hudner#glenn powell#movie#grief#tears#crying#comfort#face touching#support#emotional whump#my gifs#devotion spoilers#:(#this movie is excellent and made me tear up at the end#jonathan majors the man that you are#glenn powell the man that you are#majors and powell had such a great chemistry…their friendship was everything
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chapter 146 thoughts
This chapter (and thus this chapter review) contains discussion of abuse, suicidal ideation and CSA, so if you're not in the headspace for that, skip this one and I'll see you next time.
we are so oshi no back
After last chapter left me fighting for my life to come up with literally anything to say about it, this was one of those chapters where I ended up having more and more to say about it the more I turned it over in my head. It still feels a bit disjointed and has that same issue of ripping through the events of the movie way too fucking fast that the arc as a whole has been having lately but this chapter was such a breath of fresh air I can't bring myself to care.
The chapter itself is more or less split in two, with one half dedicated to 15 Year Lie's in-universe events and the other focusing a bit on Aqua and Kana for, tbh, the first time in way too long. Admittedly, my enthusiasm for 15YL has waned given the reveal of just how much of it is completely made up but like. I'm still gonna over analyze this stuff. Sunk cost fallacy, don't fail me now!!!!
I joke, but the 15YL section of this chapter was legitimately bone chilling. That barrage of cuts following Uehara's attack on Airi…. fuuuuuuuck, man.
Airi herself is pure fucking poison this chapter too and I mean it in the best way. I continue to be incredibly impressed with how OnK understands the motivations of a person like Airi what her abuse of Hikaru is really about. When discussing this in 141, Miyako points out just how often victims of abuse can themselves go on to perpetuate their own pain out of a need to try and regain their dignity, but I think what Airi seeks in her abuse of Hikaru is control. We see how often she wields her power over him while pretending that he has as much agency as she does in their """relationship""" and it's repeated here, too; she throws the results of her own sexual abuse of him in his face as a way of permanently chaining the two of them together, all while tearing down his worth as a person as if to 'prove' he deserves to be trapped in her grasp. I've said before that Akasaka is unsettlingly good at writing toxic mothers but I think Airi has made it pretty clear that Akasaka understands and is thus excellent at writing abuse and abusers in general, and for someone like me who counts that as one of their favourite Themes (tm) in fiction, I feel quite well fed.
The abuse Airi hurls at him is also interesting from a perspective of paralleling Hikaru even further with Ai. We saw snippets of this in 140, of Hikaru characterizing himself as someone desperately trying to construct a version of himself that can be loved by others the same way Ai creates 'Ai of B-Komachi', a version of herself who can give and receive love in the way she thinks her authentic self is unable to. Airi puts this into more explicit words; Hikaru must construct this fake version of himself because there is no 'real' him and thus, he is inherently unlovable. Jesus Christ.
Knowing those words were swimming around in his head, it makes the HKAI scene that follows even more of a gutpunch than it already is. It's the most wonderful kind of miscommunication tragedy - with their respective traumas, there is basically no other way a talk like that could have gone and yet it's agonizing to see it play out. Ai's innocent cruelty in the face of Hikaru's pain and her suffocating smile… the worst part is, while I completely understand why this was so shattering for Hikaru, it's impossible to miss that this was, in a way, an expression of love from Ai; it was honesty, an admission of vulnerability. She herself even says she doesn't want to lie to him. But to Hikaru, what else could that have sounded like but a confirmation of his most godawful fear?
that said. the timeline here is very confusing. this seems to imply hkai were still dating all the way up to the murder-suicide, which seemed to be just before the dome concert but did the breakup really seem that recent during their phone call?? this whole timeline is penised beyond repair.
The art in this chapter in general is incredibly good but something in particular I want to highlight is how much and how often Aqua-as-Hikaru looks like Ai in these panels. I can't put my finger on what it is, but that similarity always makes me feel so warm and sad whenever I see it. For as much as he struggles with his relationship to her, Aqua really is his mother's son through and through.
and. man. what even is there to say about that scene in the rain and everything that follows. I was't sure if the murder/suicide was going to be featured in the movie but even the brief snippet of it that we got and that barrage of scene titles and Kamiki's silent scream… whoof. shit like this makes me really hope we get to see mengo illustrate a horror manga someday because i think she would absolutely kill it.
We cut back to reality to see Aqua reading the script and in perhaps the most interesting swerve in this chapter, we see that he has once again reverted to his double black hoshigans. And uh, am I going to sound like a terrible person if I say I'm really glad for this? LOL.
Obviously I would rather Aqua not be experiencing Suicidal Ideation (Bass Boosted) 24/7, but it's kind of a relief to see that one single conversation wasn't enough to totally shake Aqua out of that headspace. I've talked a lot about how frustrating I find it that 'Ruby finds out Aqua is Gorou' is treated as the finale to her black hoshigan arc and every ongoing thread, internal and external, attached to it was dropped like a rock with no further interrogation. It robbed Ruby of the opportunity for some really important growth and, imo, was just shitty for Kana and Memcho who were treated extremely poorly by her and got no apology for it. I was really worried this would be the case for Aqua as well and that his own dip into that rancid headspace would end on a wet fart which would really sting given just how little insight we've gotten into him this arc. But this chapter makes it clear that while some cracks have started to form in his armor, he's not in the clear just yet.
i mean, even if he was permanently back to one white star, aqua is such a little freak regardless………………………….
What this means in the long term is a little hard to pin down, both because we've had so little insight into Aqua's headspace this arc and because the exact nature of black hoshigan as a symbol has always been a little Calvinballed, but in this context and for Aqua specifically, I think we can read this as his conviction in the messy endgame of his revenge play being shaken up. I, personally, have been reading the black hoshigan as of late as an expression of the sort of futureless despair that can become suicidal ideation, at least for Aqua; since immediately after Ai's death, we have gotten incredibly strong hints that Aqua is suicidal, his guilt-fueled desire to die and his desperate want to experience a happy future at war within him. He more or less explicitly says as such in 106, expressing that this break in their relationship is necessary for Ruby to be able to live on 'after he's gone' - which strongly implies that Aqua's revenge play is intended to end with his death.
Knowing that Ruby is Sarina wasn't quite enough to shake his conviction, but their talk in 143 was. I do think Ruby just giving him some straightforward affirmation was a good starting point but I also can't help but wonder, with the context that his white stars were not indicative of a permanent change, if hearing just how deeply Ruby still relies on 'Gorou's' presence in her life struck a nerve for him. Paraphrasing her from 143, she straight up says Gorou is the one who gives her life meaning. And if that's how it is, what exactly will happen if he's gone again..?
Obviously this is all still speculation because even when I am begging on hand and knee Akasaka is refusing to give us Aqua introspection but at this point I have to make a guess at SOMETHING if i am going to say anything remotely coherent about aqua in this arc, so
ANYWAY!! AQUA AND KANA HAVING A NORMAL ASS CONVERSATION FOR THE FIRST TIME IN GOD KNOWS HOW LONG!!! Ngl, it did give me a bit of a chuckle to see Kana voice the question of whether Aqua was getting too immersed in his role, given that people were accusing her of that back during the first round of the RBKN conflict.
I was also really surprised to see Aqua just outright say that yeah, he is at least flirting with suicidal ideation. Like - that's the first time he's said that out loud, to anybody??? In 143 he voices the less damning but still not great sentiment that he feels guilty for being alive but this is to my knowledge the first time Aqua has expressed his suicidal ideation out loud, let alone to anyone else. And… fuck, man! That's an absolutely terrifying thing to hear a friend say. No wonder Kana reacts like she does.
Because of my powers of Claire-voyance (read: basic pattern recognition and being in fandoms for 15+ years), I'm pretty sure people are going to be Very Mean to Kana about the way she chooses to respond to Aqua here but honestly? Not only did this tough love response feel very IC for her, but the clumsiness of it felt very honest to me. I think a lot of people in fandom lately just want characters to talk like fucking therapists all the time and have the Correct And Unproblematic Response to… well, situations like this. But Kana is an 18 year old girl who has her own share of issues and her friend she knows is dealing with his own huge amount of baggage just casually dropped an "i wanna kms" on her. All things considered, I think she handles it surprisingly well.
Because like… look at what Kana really says to Aqua here. She gives him some of their usual banter to diffuse the tension but then makes herself very clear: she does not want Aqua to hurt himself and makes him promise that he won't. It's clumsy and rough in the way Kana often is, but I think the important part - her sincere care for Aqua as her friend - really does shine through.
also cute that other people caught: Kana squishing Aqua's face seems to be an intentional callback to one of their on-stage interactions in Tokyo Blade, right down to Aqua making a identical scrunchyface to Kana. Extremely cute. I love it when Aqua is cute <3
Kana also being a person able to shake Aqua out of his black hoshigans also leans into something I've been hoping is going to pay off for a while now; the idea that Aqua's salvation is not going to come from any one, singular character but from the many different people who Aqua has built relationships with coming together when he needs them to support him. One of the things OnK has continually highlighted is the way isolation and lacking support systems warp and damage people's mental health and I think it would play excellently into that theme to have Aqua's support net, so to speak, to be wide enough to catch him no matter where he falls.
the product placement was very stupid but i did laugh pretty hard at it and then immediately go buy myself some potato chips so i guess it worked. genius mangaka aka akasaka.
All jokes aside, the note their talk ended off on was so lovely too. Aqua being honest enough to admit that being with Kana is fun and Kana getting all dokidoki and then quietly admitting she feels the same when she's alone… cute! But more than that, it highlights something about the AQKN dynamic I think is really important, regardless of whether their relationship is romantic, platonic, in laws, mlm/wlw hostility or whatever else; Kana is his friend and he can just be a normal boy and have normal fun with her without any ulterior motives. It's something Aqua doesn't really have in any of his other relationships so getting a reminder of that and what it means to Aqua was really good.
honestly i think i am just so starved of nice things happening to my son that seeing him opening up to one of his friends and admitting he has fun (HIS LAUGH!!!!!!) was like a shot of heavenly ambrosia for me. please can hoshino aqua have just one nice day.
OR UH… BASED ON THAT LAST PAGE…. PROBABLY NOT ANYTIME SOON….!!!
this is what i mean about this chapter giving me 5000000 things to talk about. kamiki is TALKING TO RUBY IN THE FLESH FOR THE FIRST TIME and i almost completely forgor.
why is he dressed like a dad about to take her out on a fishing trip, though
Ruby looks unusually solemn while she's praying, which is interesting. She's been pretty bright and high energy since 141ish so I'm curious what has her looking so comparatively dour. She's praying at a shrine, too, which means there's probably something on her mind. Nik (@akane-kurokawa) theorized that she's anxious about the upcoming scenes in the movie (LIKE, YOU KNOW, HER MOM'S DEATH) and until we get further insight on that, that's what I'm gonna assume too.
putting aside how Shrimptresting it is that Kamiki turned up out of nowhere like that, I can't help but note a certain horrible parallel between Uehara meeting young Hikaru in the rain with a black umbrella and Kamiki doing the same for his daughter…
cannot wait for that entire talk to get offscreened. lol.
break next week……………………………
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circle k (back to you)
summary: in which you're just the graveyard shift employee at circle k bombarded by vigilantes.
━ chapter five: i am found on the ground | read chapter four
━ pairing: tim drake x f!reader
━ word count: 4.5k
━ warnings: none
━ masterlist
━ a/n: if you'd like to see my notes (and my thoughts behind a certain inclusion of a character in this chapter), you can find them here <3 (also i'm on fire is playing in the last scene the formatting of the lyrics just killed me so i had to get rid of it thank you all)
“You just can’t beat it.”
“It was okay.”
You turn sharply to look at Tim, who shrugs, a small smile playing on his lips.
In the kitchen, Steph snorts. “Here we go.”
You ignore her. “Okay? Inception was okay—”
“Uncalled for—”
“But true. This?” You gesture to his flatscreen TV, where the end credits for Interstellar are playing; you’re a little bit red-eyed from the end scenes with Cooper and Murph but no less passionate. “This is more than okay. It’s—”
“Not technically scientifically accurate.”
You grab a pillow and gently whack him with it. He tries to hide a growing smile. You don’t understand what exactly he’s smiling at but you don’t care in this moment.
“It’s not about scientific accuracy, duck boy, it’s about love.”
“Yeah!” Steph yells from the kitchen. “Go love! Woo!”
You gesture in her direction. “He literally said it in the movie, Tim. How can you miss it? And Brand, too!”
“It wasn’t enough to save who she loved, though,” he points out—ever the devil’s advoactate, honestly…
“But it was there and she knew that, too, and she was okay with it. And it was enough for Cooper and Murph, too. I mean, literally to the point that she was able to save humanity. Right? Brand said it—love is the one thing we are capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space.”
Tim looks… well, far from upset or annoyed. He seems amused, almost… almost fond, the way he looks at you, but it’s too much for you to handle, so you look away, pouting a little.
“And also, okay, I know entering the black hole wasn’t ‘scientifically accurate’ but that’s the point, that some higher being switched them out so he didn’t die. You do have to admit, however, that the depiction of the black hole, which I’ll give Nolan props for, was great.”
“Okay, true,” he concedes. “The score was pretty good, too.”
“It was excellent.”
Steph steps out from the kitchen, looking at her phone. “Give me a sec, you guys, my mom’s calling me.”
You both give her an affirmative and she steps out the front door. You and Tim quickly resume your discussion.
“Inception’s score was good, too,” he points out.
“Bah. They both had Zimmer. Of course it’s going to be good. But Interstellar has the benefit of being enhanced by it because it’s already a good movie. I mean, it surprises even me that Nolan could manage to pull off something like this.”
“He has the range,” Tim protests.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever, you Nolan stan. I’m still a bit hung-up on you saying it’s just ‘okay.’ I mean, sure, it could just be me projecting my own grief about my dead parents onto the story about a dad crossing space and time to get back to his daughter but still!”
That’s the understatement of the century. The scenes between Cooper and an old Murph never fail to make you tear up. Any of the scenes between them, really.
The prolonged silence from Tim tips you off and it’s only when you look at him do you realize your mistake.
His eyes are wide as he looks at you, surprised, with something else.
“Oh, it’s fine—”
“Your parents are—”
You both stop.
You clear your throat, waving a hand. “It’s fine. I… I mean, sorry if it made you uncomfortable, I joke about it sometimes.”
“No,” he says. “It’s okay. It just surprised me. I guess… I don’t want to—I mean—I’m, uh, sorry?”
You shift on the couch, turning more toward him. “It’s okay. It was… well, not that long ago, but—”
You stop, because your instinctive response is ‘I’m over it’ but that’s not totally true, is it? You don’t think you’ll ever be over it. One part of you still feels horribly robbed of them, and some days, their deaths feel so monumental you can barely get through the day, while others, you can function normally for the most part.
“No, I understand,” he says softly. “My parents, too. My mom when I was younger but my dad died when I was sixteen. It’s… not really something you get over, I think. No matter how much time passes.”
A quiet moment between you. It’s not like he’s tried to make you feel ostracized—if anything he’s gone out of his way to make you feel welcomed here, to make sure he and Steph don’t get too caught up on their own and they include you—but… This is a common thread between you and you know he knows and you know he knows you know.
“Yeah… Yeah, exactly.” You pause, glancing at the TV, where the credits are rolling now. “It happened when I was fifteen. The, um, earthquake.”
“I’m sorry,” he says again and you know he means it.
“I’m sorry about yours, too.”
Tim nods, the look on his face still soft, still gentle, then he glances back at the TV.
“I was kidding, you know,” he says next. “It, uh, really was good. Better than I thought it would be. Scientific inaccuracy aside…”
“It’s good,” you press, ignoring the last comment. “And I don’t think it was trying to fool anyone into scientific accuracy.”
“Also true. I just…”
“Wasn’t expecting it to hit that hard?” you guess, smiling. “Yeah, I get it. Cried like a baby when I first saw it. You’re stronger than me for getting through it dry-eyed.”
“Oh, I’m just waiting for later,” he says. “Saving my sorrows for my pillow. That kind of thing.”
You laugh loudly. He smiles.
“It does unearth all the dead parent trauma, though,” he says.
“Oh, tell me about it. Cooper wanting to try to go back home after they find out Dr. Brand never intended to help those on earth…”
“And then having to sacrifice himself to give Brand a chance,” he finishes, shaking his head. “Only for it to turn out well in the end. If only real life was like that.”
A shade too dark for right now but you can’t say you disagree.
The front door opens. Steph slips back inside, raising an eyebrow at you two. Though she hardly means what you think she means, you find yourself inching away from Tim, turning back forward slightly. You’d hate to give her the wrong impression.
And of course, that is not at all what she is thinking about.
“Why do you two look like someone just died?”
“Well, we were just talking about our dead parents, so,” Tim responds without missing a beat.
You burst out laughing. Steph groans.
“I was wrong. You two shouldn’t be friends.”
“It’s too late for that, I think,” Tim says, grinning.
You can’t help but grin, too.
She groans again.
Catwoman is your next vigilante visitor.
All skin-tight latex and a coquettish attitude that makes your face hot.
Luckily, she doesn’t appear to mind. She even pays for her stuff.
(“I was told,” she purrs. “And I don’t much like being told what to do but… you’re cute enough to convince me to go along with it.”
You don’t think the noise you made was human but it amused her enough.)
Alongside that, you have the others who regularly drop by. Your vigilantes, but then, as you pick up a few weekend afternoon shifts (much to Steph’s disapproval), some normal faces, too.
Barbara, a red-haired woman with sharp green eyes who has a stately and intimidating aura to her but is always pleasant when you two chat. Sometimes she has another woman with her, a pretty blond Barbara calls D. Then, that one man, the stocky blonde with the tortoise-shell glasses and a quiet but kind disposition, who eventually introduces himself as Jean-Paul.
You spot him during one of your weekend shifts, waiting his turn as you finish ringing up a harried-looking lady. Another man joins him, a little bit younger, you think, with dark hair and an odd white streak at the front; they’re both dressed in scrubs.
“It’s been a while, Jason.”
“You know how it is, JP. Work doesn’t stop. How’s Leslie?”
“Doing everything at once and somehow managing to pull it off. I’m sure she’d like to see you, if you could find the time.”
“Sure. I’ve got a couple days off from the hospital. I could drop in. Lend a hand.”
A soft chuckle. “If she doesn’t turn you around and tell you to go rest.”
“I’ll rest when I’m dead.”
He coughs. The other man snickers.
Just as the lady leaves, Jean-Paul says, “Let me pay.”
“I won’t say no.”
They both step up to the counter. Jean-Paul gives you a small smile in greeting and seems to decide to forgo your usual small talk—probably because of his new company, which you’re a bit grateful for. The other man—Jason?—nods, eyeing you curiously. Why, you have no idea. But that’s the only thing odd about it. You ring up the coffees without issue and soon, they’re stepping out, Jean-Paul giving you another small smile in goodbye. You return it.
Having regulars like that reminds you of the ones you had in Keystone City. Kind Mr. Garrick, who stopped by about once a month for lottery tickets, his wife typically in tow; they were always kind to you, always a little bit concerned over your wellbeing, whether you were getting enough sleep or eating well. Painfully reminiscent of grandparents you never had.
A little more frequently, there was Linda Park-West, a face you easily recognized from WKEY-TV for the Channel 4 News. She didn’t miss much, always so perceptive, but kind to you, sometimes testing your PR skills as a reporter. She usually stopped by for coffee before work but on occasion, she brought along her kids, Jai and Iris, to let them pick out something for themselves, too. Quite literal balls of energy, they were a handful but always good-intentioned.
You miss them all a lot. More than you thought you would. The Flash, too. Especially these days. What you’d give to talk to him about all this stuff…
But you’ve managed on your own since your parents died. You can keep doing it.
The following week, Tuesday night, you get another new vigilante visitor.
This one?
Robin.
He is, admittedly, a figure you are considerably more scared of. It’s a bit… silly on your part, too, because he is a kid, you think, a teen at least, but, well, teens can be scary. This one certainly is. If only because of his close proximity to the one who scares the most. The one who you are happy not to have visited you thus far and Robin’s appearance… well, you don’t entirely know if it’s a good thing.
But it might be foolish to assume that Batman doesn’t know this is happening.
But then thinking of him knowing you exist makes you horribly anxious, so, you shelve the thought for now and try to focus on the situation.
Which is…
The three dogs in tow collapse in front of the door, panting, tongues lolled out, appearing to enjoy the air-conditioned bliss of the inside of the store. Robin stares at you, his face a blank mask.
“Water?”
“At the back. Far left.”
He nods and turns.
You wait there, uncertain, glancing at the dogs. They look worse for wear, fur dirty and matted, old scars healed over; the sight tugs at your heart, so you step around from the counter, heading to the coffee machine. The store doesn’t carry bowls but the extra-large soda cups are wide enough to work for now.
Robin appears near you, several big bottles of water held in hand. He doesn’t say anything, just looks at you and the cups.
“Don’t have any bowls,” you admit. “So, I thought this might work.”
He wrinkles his nose. “Styrofoam. Wasteful. But it’ll do.”
“Yeah, Circle K isn’t breaking barriers in terms of eco-friendliness.”
He says nothing to that, just turns and heads for the dogs. You follow him, not that turned off. You’ve heard rumors about this particular Robin. He does a good job but can be… rough around the edges. Like Bat, like Robin, you guess.
Glancing at the cups, you get an idea, stopping to duck around the counter and grab a pair of scissors. You cup off the top half of each of them, Robin taking them as you go, until all three cups are cut, allowing for the dogs to have better reach.
You join him with the last one, filling it with cold water. Most of the dogs are so heat tired, they only lift their heads to drink, seemingly unable to stand.
You and Robin stay kneeled in front of them, filling the cups when necessary. You gently stroke the head of one nearest to you, smiling as his tail thumps against the tiles.
Robin says nothing else and neither do you. That’s how his time there goes, spent in silence, petting the dogs, letting them cool down and rest.
Eventually, he starts to leave, and you can’t help but ask, “What’s going to happen to them?”
He regards you for a moment and you get the unnerving feeling of being picked apart and analyzed. Still, you hold steady. It’s good practice, you try to tell yourself. One day, you’ll be faced with bloodhounds for journalists and you have to keep it together. Let yourself practice with Robin because if you can pull it off with him, you can do it with anyone.
“The shelters are closed for the night,” he eventually responds. “I will take them somewhere safe, off the streets. Then in the morning, they’ll go there.”
“That’s good. Thanks for doing that. It’s kind of you.”
He pauses, looking back at the dogs, who are rejuvenated by this point, stretching and standing up, tails wagging as they look at you two.
“It’s the right thing to do,” he says at last. “And… thank you, for your help.”
You glance away, picking up the cups. “Sure. No problem.”
A nod and Robin is soon corralling the dogs out of the store, murmuring more gently to them than you would expect, but from this experience, you suspect he has some kind of soft spot for animals. It’s endearing, in a way.
You hope you made a good impression on him, too.
(And if your good impression keeps Batman out a little longer, well, that’s just a lucky coincidence.)
The start of July creeps on you.
There is still achingly little contact between you and Tim. By this point, you haven’t seen him in person for more than a month.
You miss him, in the same way you miss a limb. Scrolling through your social media, whenever you find something funny or that he would like, your knee-jerk reaction is to send it to him. But your conversations on those respective platforms are made up of messages from you and none from him, so you have to stop yourself, because it wouldn’t be worth it. He wouldn’t see it.
Steph tries to preoccupy your time, though her behavior regarding Tim grows increasingly skittish, to the point where you almost think she might know.
She might know that you’re in love with him, him, her ex-boyfriend and first love. The thought brings on the usual amount of soul-crushing guilt and disgust with yourself. How can you do that to her? She’s your best friend. You love her to the ends of the universe and back and… How can you do that to her?
But… something else about it all niggles at you, too. She switches between reassuring you he’ll come around, and dismissing him the other times, saying you ‘don’t need him to have a good time.’ It makes you think they may be having their own issues, too.
The thought is sobering.
You’ve always thought of Steph and Tim as—as insane as it sounds—a pair of bonded kittens. Not exactly getting along all the time but…
You couldn’t separate them. You shouldn’t separate them.
And it feels so wrong for it to be just you two, sometimes. Like you’re missing another piece of the puzzle and it’s noticeable. This empty space between you two that he usually filled. Your group chat, at his insistence, is called the three musketeers. Well, you’re missing your third. Desperately.
“We can rebrand,” Steph says to you one day, the two of you at the mall’s food court. Tim said he was busy. Again.
“No,” you sigh. “That’s not… no. Anyway, Big Belly?”
“I—oh, you have got to be kidding me.” She sounds annoyed, voice sharp.
“What?” you ask, your eyes still on the menu in front of you.
She grabs your arm. “I think we should eat somewhere else.”
You frown at her. “But you said you wanted to get—”
“We can get Big Belly somewhere else. Maybe a little more quiet, you know, it’s kinda crazy in here,” she laughs, though it sounds strained as she tugs you over to the exit.
“Crazy? It’s not that busy—Stephanie!” You yelp as she drags you forward before you can take a look around. “What is going on—”
“It’s just—I think I see Jordanna—”
“Where—”
“Let’s not look! Don’t want her to see you or me, you know how she is, so, let’s get out of here…”
“Well, I—okay—you don’t have to—”
She tugs you all the way through the exit, out into the burning mid-afternoon heat. Humidity swallows you whole, turning your skin tacky, sun bearing down on you full-force. Outside, it smells sharply of gasoline and hot blacktop.
“Honestly, Steph,” you say, shaking your head. “You didn’t need to drag me out like that.”
She gives you an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I just… didn’t want to deal with Jordanna. She’s been really annoying me recently.”
“Has she?” You can’t imagine why Jordanna would even be talking to her since it’s the summer, but to be fair, there isn’t much Jordanna wouldn’t do in the name of annoying her.
“Yup. Just… acting way out of line. So, let’s go somewhere else.”
“Alright, that’s fine. Let’s get out of the heat before you have to scrape me off the pavement.”
“Food’s on me,” she promises, looping her fingers through the belt loops of your jeans, tugging you gently; too hot to hold hands or twine your arms together like usual.
Though the whole thing bothers you a little bit, you are too used to Steph and Tim’s sometimes strange ways. Leaving abruptly, missing scheduled hangouts, a penchant for tardiness. The occasional bruise or cut that they both wave away. The exhaustion that wears them down sometimes.
It’s odd.
But stranger things happen in Gotham, so, you heed their wishes for that stuff to be ignored.
Just like you let this one go, too.
Really. The things you do for them.
Oddities aside, as Tim remains virtually radio silent, you miss him more. Think about him more.
Dream about him more.
“Steph’s going to be late,” is what Tim says as soon as he steps inside your dorm.
You snort. “Of course she is. You’re both terrible at being punctual.”
“I… am less bad at it than she is.”
“Right,” you say, smirking, pointing to your clock. “You’re only twenty minutes late, compared to what her forty minutes to an hour will be.”
Tim grimaces as he shuffles off his shoes by the door, then steps in further. “She said she was showering.”
“So, we have even more time. That’s fine. I wanted to paint my nails.”
In the bathroom you share with your ‘roommate,’ the shower turns on. It’s really just the bathroom you two share. Your small dorm is entirely private. The perks of being a junior.
You go over to your dresser, where your collection of makeup and nail polish is. Above it, your window looks out to the grassy quad, the sky clear of clouds, unusually blue today without the typical smog; the sun shines in, dust motes dancing in the rays.
Tim comes over, too, but he goes for your phone instead, which is connected to your Bluetooth speaker, music playing lowly; he got that for you this past Christmas.
“Gonna play your old people music?”
“Bruce Springsteen is a treasure to this country and, to quote my dad, one of the few good things to ever come out of the state of New Jersey.”
You laugh. The song changes. The upbeat notes of Hungry Heart start. You’ve heard this one more than a couple times since meeting him. It’s not so bad.
You fiddle with the bottles of nail polishes. Tim sets your phone down and leans over, dropping his chin to your shoulder as he watches you, humming quietly under his breath.
The contact makes your heart skip a beat, tendrils of his cologne wrapping around you, the heat of his body palpable through your thin t-shirt. It’s a contradicting sensation, with the AC working hard to beat the May heat that’s settled in. Maybe too hard, as your fingers are a little bit cold. You warm up quickly with Tim so close to you, your heart thudding in your ears. You desperately hope he can’t feel the heat that expands in your face.
That’s a more recent development. One you hate looking too closely at, for fear of what it means.
(You do know what it means. You’re just still in denial. Because admitting it means you have feelings for your best friend’s ex-boyfriend. For your best friend.)
You keep fiddling, not sure which color to pick. Tim huffs softly, reaching past you, picking out a bottle of wine red nail polish.
“Fine. But you have to help,” you say, taking it from him, then grabbing another bottle for the top coat.
“Don’t I always?”
You just nudge him back, stepping away from the dresser and taking a seat on the floor. The floor is hard, polished concrete; not pleasant to sit on or walk on, so you’ve invested in several cushioned rugs to cover as much as you can.
Tim grabs a Zesti from your mini fridge, then joins you as you set to painting the nails of your left hand. This one is easier since you’re using your dominant hand and you manage to paint your nails without catching any of the skin around them.
The shower in your bathroom hums underneath the sound of the song as you finish your left hand. The first coat, anyway. Tim passes his Zesti to you, wipes a hand on his jeans to get rid of the condensation, then takes the bottle of nail polish.
You sip the soda, extending your right hand to him. He carefully balances the bottle on the rug and sets to painting your nails.
Like with most things he does, Tim dedicates himself to his task wholeheartedly, cornflower blue eyes trained on your hand, tongue poking out in concentration. The sight makes your heart skip a beat. Warmth unspools in your chest like cotton candy.
Sunlight pours in from the window above the dresser, bathing him in warm, golden rays; it makes the shade of his dark hair warmer, the blue of his t-shirt, too, softening the pale of his skin.
“So… how was that date?”
The question jars you. You avert your eyes.
Ah. The date you agreed to go on with a guy in your communications class in an attempt to… you don’t know. Distract yourself from Tim? Try to find someone else to latch onto? All… not so great reasons, you know, but needs must.
Not like it worked out, anyway…
“Terrible.”
He stiffens, pausing in his work to look at you, eyes narrowing, and you send him a small smile, privately pleased—though you shouldn’t be—at seeing him get all protective. You can take care of yourself and he knows that, too, but… one can appreciate having a cute guy be like that for you. Within reason, anyway.
“He didn’t do anything, Timmy, relax. He was just… well, seemed nice initially. But when we got to the restaurant, he was horrible to the waitress. I already wasn’t feeling it, but after that, no way. So.”
He glances away, thumb rubbing idly at the back of your hand from where he cradles it in his. “Sorry to hear that.”
“It’s okay. It wasn’t a good idea.”
“To go with him or—” he clears his throat, turning back to his work “—dating in general?”
“I don’t know. He just wasn’t what I was looking for.”
“What are you looking for?”
You, you want to say, but don’t.
Frightening to realize, really, that the answer to that question is immediate, as sure as the day.
It’s Tim.
Always Tim.
But you’ve never felt this way for someone. This strongly, like you want so much, you could never be satisfied.
“I don’t know,” you say quietly, watching the brush of the handle glide over your nail in easy, practiced sweeps. “Does anyone?”
“I guess not,” he concedes softly. “But still. I hope you can find it.”
The song changes. Something calmer, with the strum of the guitar. Familiar croons of I'm On Fire.
I have found it, you want to say. It’s you. It’s this. Right here, right now.
But just because you found it doesn’t mean it’s yours.
“Do you?” you find yourself asking because apparently you’re feeling extra masochistic today. “Know what you’re looking for, I mean.”
Steph sometimes teases him. Tries to point out nice boys and girls he might like. You used to play along. You don’t so much these days.
He would always wave it off, anyway. Just shake his head and change the subject. He has dated before. Obviously. Someone as gorgeous as him… all of Gotham wants a piece of him. You do, too. Well. You want all of him. Which is another thing you are just now realizing. But anyway, since you’ve known him, he hasn’t dated anyone. He used to date a boy—Bernard? Steph said he was a character—from one of his old high schools but that didn’t work out. And now he still has the occasional date, but it never pans out. He says they just aren’t compatible.
Makes you curious.
You’d never match up to it, you know, but you want to know, anyway.
Tim looks up, his eyes slowly scanning your face. This close, with the sunlight, you can see the shadows his lashes cast on his cheeks, the flecks of silver in his eyes, like mercury, the odd scars, too, that he excuses behind clumsiness as a child. Everything inside you squeezes.
“I guess you can say that,” he eventually says, voice soft.
The words hurt, but distantly, like it’s all far away from you. You’re too caught up here, now, close enough to smell his cologne.
Tension thickens the air between you. It’s unfamiliar, unknown, but not unwelcome with how your stomach swoops like you missed a step, heart pounding in your ears.
Tim looks… contemplative. Your eyes are immediately drawn to the movement of him biting his lip, teeth sinking into plush pink, and the urge to soothe away the indents with your own lips is fearsome, monumental, like a hurricane.
His fingers tighten on your hand. You want to get swept away in this moment, no matter the consequences. It’s a dangerous kind of feeling you aren’t used to.
But the shower abruptly shuts off in the bathroom, plunging the room back into silence with the strum of the guitar and the croon of the song as it ends. The moment is broken.
Tim clears his throat and returns to his work.
Neither of you say anything.
Too much for you to want.
Too much you cannot have.
Too complicated.
reblogs are appreciated!
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Never Good Enough // Mickey Garcia
Summary: People always leave Fanboy. He goes through pilots like chump change. Is it him? Is he the problem? What happens when one of the many times you’ve tried to console your husband when his demons become to brutal?
Warnings: Left Behind trope. Spooky dream vibes. Depressed Mickey. F-18 crash.
Author Note: Day Nineteen of Whumptober. Prompt I chose: Left Behind. Thank you to @ailesswhumptober for the prompt list.
Whumptober Masterlist | Main Masterlist
“Honey, I think you might be reading into this a little more than you should be.” Mickey Garcia could be described by a lot of people as a lot of different things. He could be described by his colleagues as a genuine soul whose love for aviators made excelling in his career easy. His friend could say that he had one of the most endemic memories to date– holding a plethora of knowledge about star wars, star trek and battle star galactica, basically any and all shows and movies that end in the word star at the tip of his tongue.
Fanboy is a team player, he thrives off the people he chooses to surround himself with. He’s a social butterfly who goes from person to person through the night collecting stories and making memories laced in drunken hazes or sober serenity. He could be described as a compassionate person who goes above and beyond for the people in his life. 2
But most importantly, his wife, Y/n, could describe Mickey as a life partner who consistently shows that he is one of the best people you could ever know. He knows how to crack a joke at the right moment and lighten any mood you might find yourself in. His love for his passions and career and his wife surfaces any kind of love anyone had ever seen.
Because Mickey Fanboy Garcia is good people. Simply put– he’s the best kind of person you want on your team.
But despite all that, despite all the kind and gracious things people say about him–Fanboy couldn't feel any further from it.
“But I'm not.” It was the way your husband said it that made you question if you were the one who wasn't taking his concerns as seriously as you should be. Mickey stood in the shower with his head under the warmth of the running water, hiding his tears as the muscles in his back clenched in anger. “Payback was my longest standing front seater, everyone leaves.”
You knew it was hard on your husband to say goodbye to people who he trusted with his life. You could remember the last time Mickey was separated from his front seater. Erin was a dear friend, but you hadn’t seen her in a few years.
“Everyone always ends up leaving me and I don't know what to do with myself.” You had a feeling this could have been about more than just Payback's new posting. There was an underlying tone of self sorrow that you picked up on as you turned around to face your husband as he showered. As you let out a soft but audible sigh, you knew that there had to be more. “Six months–six months is the longest I've had a front seater for and you wanna stand here and tell me I'm not the problem?”
You and Mickey didn’t argue an awful lot, again, he was as kind as kind could be. But he was struggling, he had concocted this ideology in his mind that everyone around him, all his friends, his family, you, we’re going to leave. Abandon him sooner or later.
And it didn’t help that you and Mickey had been working so much as of late that your conflicting schedules were beginning to take a toll on your ability to communicate properly.
“I don’t think it's you babe–��� You began as you made your way over to the shower door. The fog from the shower made the glass its home as you pushed it open, watching as your husband's muscles tightened at your response. But you persisted, hesitantly. “Erin, Reuban, even the guys before like Luke and Mitch, they were either stationed out or just got caught up in the reshuffle, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with you.”
Mickey Garcia was genuinely the best person you knew. So when he turned around with veins popping in his neck from frustration, you didn't know how to process the way his tone echoed off the walls around you. It didn't sound like your husband, the man you loved so dearly. The man who was usually the level headed, logical partner out of the two of you.
“Y/n, just stop.” You had to pause and take a minute to register what was going on. “You've been working nights, weekends, hell you've even been working my days off– I know somethings going on.” You really had to hold your tongue as Mickey let loose. You knew it was coming from a place of anger and frustration, but regardless it was missguided, it wasn't appreciated, and it certainly could have been handled in a better way. “If you’re gonna leave too, just fucking do it.”
Your husband never swore at you the way he just had. Mickey wasn’t himself, you couldn’t recognise the sadness in his eyes. The pain behind his tears. He was crumbling under the weight of being left behind over and over and over again by the people who mattered most.
“You think I’d leave you?” You had to make sure you had all the dots connected before you decided to let your frustration run wild. “You think that because the people you work with change and that I’ve taken on a bigger role in the company that I’d leave you?”
“Everyone leaves me!!” Mickey finally snapped as he ran his hands through his wet, dark brown locks. Completely soaked and clinging to his scalp and neck. “Everyone—so yeah, with the track record I’ve got going babe I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before you decide I’m not good enough for you either!” You stood there completely speechless, in all the years you had known your husband you had never seen him so broken, so full of self doubt and self loathing that he had begun to take it out on you. “I’m not good enough—“ But then, the gentle stream of tears turned into someone more violent and all consuming.
“Honey—“ You cooed as you watched your husband shake his head as painful sobs ripped through his chest. The walls were all closing in on him. Those shoulders of his that you thought could have carried the weight of the world, slumped in utter defeat and soon enough—Mickey Fanboy Garcia was on his knees under the warm stream of water, crying out for someone to stay with him. “Oh Mick, honey.”
“Everyone always leaves.” It came out like a mantra, the voices inside his mind wouldn’t stop. “You’ll leave too, and I’ll be all alone and I don’t know what I keep doing wrong.” You had to do something, consol your husband so that he knew he wasn’t alone. He had his demons but you were there to fend them off, like a knight in shining armor.
As Mickey kneeled under the warm stream, crying into the palms of his hands, you stripped off your clothes. Articles laid strewn across the bathroom floor haphazardly as you stepped into the shower and kneeled with your husband.
But you can't control a nightmare that isn't yours, and you can't decide what happens next in someone else's dreams.
It was only then did the nightmare Mickey thought he was already living turn into an all out hellscape. Your touch, usually so warm and comforting, was as cold as ice. So cold it damn near burned his cheeks. When Mickey looked up to meet your gaze he saw nothing but dark eyes that allowed him to peer into your soul. Nothing remained but a darkness so unholy that it made him jump about three feet away from you into the glass of the shower.
“We all left you Fanboy.” It wasn’t your voice anymore, but Paybacks. “Wake up!” It was your body, but your voice had been contorted into something straight from hell.
Mickey cried as you crawled towards him, he cowered in the corner of the shower as you cornered him in, trapping him without any kind of defense as you chuckled and smirked—the corners of your lips exaggerated to the point it looked as if your lips had been pinned to your cheeks.
“Wake up, don’t you smell the burning fuel?”
In that very moment Mickey gasped as the overwhelming smell of burning jet fuel choked his airways. Suddenly he wasn’t in the shower anymore—he was in the snowy pine fields laying on his back looking up at the clouds above.
“Y/n?” He moaned as he rolled over, still coughing and splattering as he tried to gather his bearings. What had happened? Where was he? Oh. The mission. “Payback?”
Groaning as he rose to his knees, Mickey took his helmet off and looked around the burning rubble and debris from the F-18 he’d just been in. Parts laid sprawled over the snowy field as small pockets of fire burned the twisted chunks of aluminum and carbon fiber.
The more he looked the more he came to terms with what had happened. It was a surface to air missile.
“PAYBACK!?” Mickey shouted as he stumbled weakly to his feet, coughing up blood as he did so from his prominent injuries. How was he even alive? “REUBEN!?” His throat was cut up. Torn apart from shouting and yelling at the top of his lungs as he walked and walked and walked through the forest to try and find his front seater.
A panic deep inside him began to bubble over when Mickey realised that his biggest fear was coming to fruition. And when he heard the helicopter buzzing not too far from where he stood he knew that he was being left behind, he knew he was going to be left behind to die alone.
“HEY!” He shouted as he ran as fast as he could, sprinting through the thick covering of snow as he saw Payback being hoisted into the air. “I'M HERE! WAIT!”
No one could see him, no one could hear him. All Mickey could think about was you, his beautiful wife, being left to stamp his wing into his coffin.
“PLEASE! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!”
But it was all to no avail, the rescue helicopter turned around and began to fly away. In the opposite direction from where Mickey stood. And his biggest fears came true.
Mickey Fanboy Garcia wasn’t good enough to be saved. He wasn’t good enough to not be left behind, and he certainly wasn’t going to be rescued.
He’d been left behind.
***~***~***~***~***~**~***~***~***~***~
Whumptober Tags 🏷️ @xoxabs88xox @oldermenaremyreligion @slut-f0r-u @emma-is-cool @armydrcamers @topguncortez @topgun-imagines @kmc1989 @els-marvelvsp @blindedbythelightt
#ailesswhumptober2023#leahs whumptober masterlist#mickey garcia#mickey fanboy garcia#mickey garcia angst#mickey garcia whump
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Dead Friend Forever - Ep 7
This episode of DFF is also excellent and I feel so blessed to have experienced two series with such well-written scripts this week (the other being Love for Love's Sake, of course) 💖
Everything in DFF is clear, logical and understandable when we take into account that the characters of this series are 1) humans 2) teenagers.
I completely understand the behavior of each of these characters, even when I feel like tearing my hair out or throwing punches and kicks at them.
If anyone is wondering whether what Non, his teacher, his bullies, is doing is illogical, I encourage you to study police reports - I have literally read about situations such as those in DFF.
Phee: what a solid guy 😍 As soon as he appears, we see him as a perfect boyfriend, romantic, strong, who gets things done. I like his attitude, the fact that no matter what, how, he gets shit done, even if he has to use his own father and his position to do it. I understand his controlling nature when you have a boyfriend like Non (Phee is in love, but he's not stupid and naive), I also understand that he doesn't fully trust Non. I completely understand his behavior at the end, especially when he entered the scene with Non and the teacher hugging. I also understand cruel words. Should Phee have acted differently? Of course. But he COULD NOT. Because he would have to be made of stone and be a hardened adult with perfect self-control and nerves of steel. Phee, despite how smart and talented he is, is only human and is still a child who doesn't have to be able to regulate his emotions, control his feelings of hurt, betrayal and rejection, and doesn't have to be able to cope ALWAYS and in every situation. Perhaps when Phee calms down, he will want to explain the situation, or at least apologize for his words. Who knows. Anyway, he's great as a character, my fav.
Non: in his being pathetic, in refusing Phee's help, in trying to save his situation by sinking deeper and deeper, in trusting the wrong people, in "allowing" bullying, in seeking validation of his self-worth where he shouldn't be, he is 100% real. Non irritates and that's how it should be. Because victims are often irritating and often confusing in their behavior. And how often questions are asked: but he/she agreed to it, no one forced her/him, he/she went there herself, they did it of their own free will! Why didn't he/she tell anyone, why didn't they confess? And here we can also ask why Non is doing all this, why won't he confess to Phee, why won't he transfer to another school, why is he having sex with the teacher?
For me, Non is a victim of the system, his illness, his family, his school, and maybe also his personality. I also wondered why he didn't want to change schools and just leave it all behind, usually students who are victims of bullying dream of changing schools. But I think, looking at his conversation with Phee, that Non wanted to regain control over his life, wanted to solve his problems himself, perhaps feeling like a weakling and a loser seeing how easily Phee solved his problems. Perhaps he felt that control over his life was slipping from his fingers and he desperately tried to regain it by closing open issues, such as his debt and the movie. Does his behavior make sense to me? No. But I've never been in such a situation, I'm trying to understand it and this explanation seems quite logical to me. Especially since Non tries hard and finally wants to give up at least the movie, while staying at the summer house, and is stopped by Jin. And he tries to get the money back by sleeping with his teacher, because in his mind THIS is not bad, THIS is just a way to solve the debt problem. And for him, a poor person, the problem of money may be more important than having sex with a teacher.
Sex with the teacher itself doesn't have to be such a big problem for him, especially since the teacher is young, handsome, helpful, nice and shows compassion and attention. For a person like Non, it may even be flattering and he may even convince himself that nothing bad is happening, it's just sex, physical stuff, he gets something out of it that solves his money problem and the teacher is so nice! I can imagine how Non can manipulate himself in this situation and how easy a victim of grooming and manipulation he is for the teacher. And I must say that the series shows PERFECTLY how adults prey on children and teenagers, technically the adult does not force Non to do anything, he just sets up a very complicated trap in which Non cannot say "no". This series really doesn't fuck around, it just shows the TRUTH.
Just to be clear: Non is the SA victim in this situation, PERIOD. I do not accept any accusations against him.
Jin: I don't know ultimately whether it was Jin who released this video, but if he did it, I understand that too, his behavior seems logical to me. People do all kinds of stupid and hurtful things under the influence of feelings of betrayal and hurt (even if Jin had no right to these feelings), especially young people (here is the same situation as with Phee, which I described above). Jin may feel betrayed, because he "did so much for Non", he always defended him. Jin also honestly has a crush on Non and found him not with a boy on a date (Jin didn't have any strong reaction to seeing Non hugged by another boy), but having sex with an adult and with a teacher to that. It's a lot to digest, and clearly Jin couldn't handle it at all (if I'm not mistaken, he was also drinking, which certainly didn't help).
All these shitty little pricks: Fluke, as always, avoids trouble and simply removes himself from situations, never comments, never takes sides (meaning - he takes sides with the bullies). I wonder how Jin always looks at him when he's looking for allies to help Non and how Fluke never reacts.
Por, with his increasingly worse behavior, also fits the mold of a classic bully who has found a victim, in addition, someone he truly hates, and whom he can torment without consequences, and it's quite possible that he simply likes it. All this is a dangerous mix, pushing Non to his limits, encouraging other bullies, but also very realistic.
Tee and Top are up to something and it scares me. All I know is that this money will be stolen and Non will have to get it again...
I am very impressed with this series, how well it's done, how realistic and logical it is. I'm incredibly intrigued and curious and I'm looking forward to the next episode. I rate the story building, script and character cohesion as 10.
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rocky aur rani thoughts
it wasn't at all what i expected actually? like I'm not sure what I expected but it wasn't that
rani chatterjee let me raid your wardrobe
they really just promoted tum kya mile and jhumka because there were like no other really memorable songs--
I sound a bit mean but I had a blast, I laughed a lot, did tear up at least once, and didn't want to pull up 2048 at any time during the film
(spoilers under the cut)
the film had some real 2011 style feminism moments mixed in with more genuine things? the interview at the start made me want to die but there were some almost - ALMOST - coherent points in there
bollywood is not the place to make statements about fat shaming etc etc but there was almost smth valid in seeing any jokes about what whatshername ate clearly coming from ...people were not supposed to like?
rocky and rani were actually quite sweet, despite the ...extraness
i think the film kind of rolled over this as rocky was supposed to be wealthy, but there's a great deal of elitism in the sort of attitude Rani and her family have towards Rocky. It makes me wonder what this film would be if he didn't ... colour coordinate his cars to his clothes and live in a replica whitehouse. like on one hand it's arguably his wealth that makes him able to be the way he is, but on the other hand, the traditional/modern divide that they were showing is typically also a class divide. there's no reason for rockys english to not be good as he is now - and nothing apart from personal taste and "traditionalism" for them to critique, even though rocky isn't actually that traditional in comparison to his family, and even if he was, they - esp at the start - didn't know that
on the other hand I don't know a lot of Bengali people or a lot of Punjabi people so it may just be like a culture shock thing they're going for. idk. i understand it, i just think it's a little bit of a miss for a genuine criticism on their laughing at him
the grandparents element was funny lmao. like what's going on THERE. but it was almost kind of sweet, too, the way they just ...liked spending time together I guess
keh diya na... bas keh diya
^ half the cinema actually echoed this line with her. icons only
the film did pretty often pit men against men and women against women. this worked! when alia or her mom were yelling at men... this worked a little bit less? idk. i think sometimes it ends up feeling a bit mouthpiecey, and some of it was weirdly phrased and ...strongly delivered, to say the least. i understand that they're both from an environment in which they feel safe voicing their opinion, but I was nonetheless going - would someone actually say that? so openly? so maybe that's on me
everything about the alias dad storyline was just chefs kiss
i do think rockys relationship w his mom and sister needed a bit of work for the big fight scene to work. it sounds weird to say since so much of the film was abt the randhawas but ranveers mom's dynamics w everyone were a bit underdone
the guy playing young granddad was so hot. hotter than the real actor actually was back then tbh
all I could think during the ranveer dance routine was how much time did it take him to learn that dbdndndjdjf but that was excellent
idk. i think in some senses the scale of the movie interfered with its effectiveness, but I don't want it to be any smaller in the ayushmann khurana sense, if that...makes sense? idk. it did feel very kjo production, and I like that about it
tum kya mileeeee,,,, tum kya mileeeee,,,, hum na rahe hummmmm,,,, tum kya mileeeeee
ranis "i am speaking" was hot though the whole of that non-confrontation made me want to yell, though maybe because it was happening in public
SPEAKING OF when she crashes her car into his in the middle of a four lane road and then they just fucking stand there and talk and kiss for 10 minutes and all the other cars just go around....lmaoooooooo
still think the more obvious solution was for them both to move out of their family homes but ok
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Anonymous: Heyyy.... So I've just read your Donna adopts toddler Y/N story. I'm actually in tears lmao It actually made me want Donna as a mom instead of a lover lol Also I was wondering if you could write something like Y/N getting older (maybe like a teenager) with Donna as their mom
Aww thank you! It’s beautiful to know that I’ve moved you like that. I love this idea! Link to the first part here! Let’s get into it!
You had lived with Donna, Angie and the dolls for most of your life. They were your family and they meant everything to you.
Your mom was so kind and giving. She did everything she could to make you feel loved.
When you were sick, she would feed you delicious soups, hold you and gently rock you, and soothe your fevers with a wet washcloth. She also sang beautiful Italian folk songs to help calm you in your delirium. Her voice always comforted you the most.
She also taught you a lot about cooking and some of your favorite memories with her were in the kitchen.
You were her designated taste-tester which gave you so much pride when you were little. You felt like you were performing such an honorable role, but it was really just an excuse for her to spend extra time with you.
She also introduced you to her adoptive family. Alcina thought you were adorable and frequently invited you over to the castle for visits.
The Dimitrescu sisters had so much fun teaching you about pranks, (Dani and Cass) and about the arts (Bela).
Miranda and Karl taught you about science and math. They were so proud when you learned something new.
Miranda ended up being a very doting grandma and would often spoil you a little too much.
Sal taught you about fishing and film history. You two grew very close and still have regular movie nights together.
As amazing as your extended family is, though, you always enjoyed coming home to your mom.
Angie was like a crazy aunt who let you do things that Donna said were off limits.
When Donna was busy working on new dolls, she would have Angie watch you. However, when she came back to check on the two of you one day after she had finished her project, she found you both superglued together and laughing crazily… Angie was no longer a trusted babysitter. That’s where Alcina really came in handy.
Donna also taught you Italian. It was like a secret language between the two of you and it made you feel even closer to her than you already did.
As you got older, you began to help Donna by fixing things around the house and doing yard work. Donna really appreciated your assistance because she did not have any clue about how to get started on house work of that magnitude.
She would tell you how thankful she was for you and cook you anything you wanted that night as a reward.
Donna was there for you when you developed your first crush on a girl from the village, Elena Lupu, too.
“Hey… Mama?” You asked her nervously one evening.
“Hmm? What is it, tesoro? Is something wrong?” She asked you, concerned. She came over and looked you over to make sure you weren’t hurt.
You blushed and just spilled your secret. “So… There’s this girl I like…” You began.
Donna smiled knowingly. “Yes?” She prompted.
“I was wondering… Do you have any advice on what I should do?”
Donna gave you one of her famous mom hugs. She was an excellent cuddler. “My little Y/N is growing up.” She said. She pinched your cheek which made you laugh, before she led you over to the couch to talk.
Angie started making fun of you, but Donna banished her upstairs.
Donna made you nice clothes and taught you how to style your hair. She said you looked perfect in anything, but she wanted you to be as confident as possible.
Sal and Karl tried to give you dating advice as well, but they weren’t much help.
“All you gotta do is be really mean. Women like that, you know?” Karl told you while you both went fishing with Sal one afternoon.
“That’s horrible, Karl!” Sal admonished him.
“What do you think I should do, Uncle Sal? Any tips for me?” You asked.
Sal furrowed a brow. “Well, Y/N… In the movies, the hero always gets the girl. But then again, they also tend to like rebels… Do you have a leather jacket?? Ooh! Let’s watch Grease when we get back!”
When you told Donna what Karl and Sal had suggested, she scoffed. “Don’t listen to your Uncle Karl, tesoro. He’s an emotionally stunted man-baby.” She said, annoyed. You couldn’t help but laugh at Donna’s insult. She definitely had a fiery Italian side.
“As for your Uncle Sal… He’s a hopeless romantic.” She said. “Just be yourself, Y/N. That’s all you need to do… Oh! But, make sure to speak a bit of Italian. It really is a beautiful language. Elena will swoon.” She smiled and kissed your cheek.
Donna’s advice made all the difference. You were honest and you told Elena how you felt. The two of you started dating pretty quickly.
(Yes, the Italian did wonders too. Donna was so proud.)
Eventually, after you and Elena had been dating for a long time, you decided to get married.
Donna gave you her mother’s ring to propose with. She smiled with tears in her eyes at how you had grown. “Remember, Y/N. No matter what, you will always be my baby. I love you.” She promised and gave you a tender hug.
Donna was a bawling mess at the wedding too… As was the rest of your family. Mother Miranda officiated and kept having to stop because she was about to choke up.
You had a special parent-child dance at the reception with Donna. It was one of your favorite parts of the wedding.
“Y/N, you have been the best part of my life. I love you and am so proud of you.” She said.
You typically didn’t get misty-eyed, but that made you want to cry like a baby. It meant everything that Donna was proud of you.
“I love you, Mama.” You told her and kissed her on the head.
Donna smiled back at you and cupped your face. “Mama loves you, Y/N.”
She was the best mom you could have asked for.
Note: So soft, I love Donna! I ended the last bit of dialogue between Donna and Y/N like I did in the first head canon to bring it full circle T^T Wahhh! I am absolutely loving these types of head canons.
Masterlist
#donna beneviento#re8#re8 village#donna beneviento x reader#donna beneviento x y/n#angie beneviento#resident evil village#resident evil imagines#resident evil 8#resident evil#re8 shitpost#re8 incorrect quotes
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How did you like Lady Chatterleys Lover?
It was lovely! And that went beyond the (lovely, excellent, stupendous) sex.
I didn't expect to like Connie and Oliver individually as much as I did. Connie had a refreshing realism and was very much about taking each day as it comes, and trying to see the upside in things. This is in direct contrast to Sir Clifford who veered between wild optimism to the point of self-delusion and nihilism. Oliver truly was a gentleman in the ways that counted (Connie was right to note his "tenderness", even the little things like he walked her back to the gate after every tryst count imo).
Regarding the sex itself- it was hot, there's no denying it. I actually think the fact that they took their time with showing it (no one-pump chump scenes here, and there was oral!), and showing full nudity actually added to the emotional element and made it less tawdry. There were no dumb sex montages or gratuitous music (you could actually hear their moans and whatnot which, again, Hot). They also managed a MUCH better job of showing the female gaze than, say, Bridgerton. Hell, they even managed to show doggy-style from the female gaze in my opinion.
Basically, the viewer could see Connie and Oliver's relationship developing through sex and the intimacy that comes with it. This also made it special for me because I observed in a prior post that it's very rare for movies to do this. That's because often times in movies, there is like, one, sex scene and that's usually after some kind of build-up, rather than the sex itself being the build-up to love. Also, I deeply appreciated that there was never any scene that showed anyone (Connie especially) feeling guilty after sex, like... there was no "out damned spot" kinda guilt going on here. I've talked to a few people and every one of them named a different aspect of Connie and Oliver's sexual relationship that they were personally shook by so that was interesting.
There was this moment where Oliver is walking Connie back to the gate and he talks about how upper-class men, so called "gentlemen" have to be dead to a degree because of the soulless decisions they make in choosing to send men to mines or factories or to war and that HIT me so hard I almost teared up, probably because of the combination of his words and the romantic intimacy of the moment. Ultimately I did end up crying at the end because of the hope they'd carried with them (and Oliver's letter), despite everything they'd gone through.
I think we need more adaptations along this vein, and to be honest, this is the style in which I think historical romances can be adapted because they can stay true to the material of the text when it comes to the sex essentially being a building block in their romantic relationship.
#also!#the soundtrack was great!#historical romance#lady chatterley's lover#lady chatterley's lover 2022#emma corrin#jack o'connell
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thank you for the tag @melverie - I'll be answering these as the person behind the damaged oc, who usually inhabits @hostilemakeover territory
15 Questions Tag Game
01 - Are you named after anyone?
Nope. Literally was given "the only name your father and I didn't argue about." - the exact response I got.
02 - When was the last time you cried?
Actual deep sobbing? I can't even remember. Tears? Ugh. Playing P3Re right now. It's wrenched a couple out of me.
03 - Do you have kids?
I have dogs. And about a million oc-types.
04 - What sports do you play/have you played?
Softball as a kid. I think that was about it?
05 - Do you use sarcasm?
I'm sorry, is there other ways of communicating?
06 - What is the first thing you notice about people?
i tend to do a general sweep over them. whatever catches my eye is different for everyone - sometimes height or hair, other times an accessory or an attitude.
07 - What's your eye color?
Blue. Pale-boring-blue.
08 - Scary movies or happy endings?
Scary movies. I have a thing where I'm like... not great with happy endings. They make me roll my eyes too much. A good moderate ending though? A+
09 - Any talents?
I'm an excellent mimic - accents, tone, all that. I cook really well (although I think that's more of a skill - I've done it for like... ever. probably longer than a lot of y'all have been alive), I'm told I'm an excellent leader. I think that's a lie.
10 - Where were you born?
New York - upstate. not city. there's a LOT more to NY than the city, I promise. I grew up opposite Toronto on Lake Ontario for anyone who knows the geography.
11 - What are your hobbies?
Uh. Spending way too much time thinking of fictional men. That's the main one really. Gaming. I'm looking forward to the latest FFXIV expansion, and I'm kind of a whore for Persona mainline games. I try to read, but untreated massive stupid mental issues have made that almost impossible.
12 - Do you have any pets?
2 dogs! One is a gigantic labrador retriever (seriously - I grew up with these beasts. he's the tallest one I've ever known, and at 110lbs he is SKINNI), and an 85lb ball of attitude wrapped in black and white fur. The genetics claim he's pitbull/akita/pyr/chow... but I dunno if I believe it. he's an absolute freak though.
13 - How tall are you?
5f7. so, like... idk. 170cm? is that about right?
14 - Favourite subject in school?
Art and English/Literature. I loved French until I got a horrible teacher.
15 - Dream job?
I don't dream of having a job. I dream of finding an enormous drum stuffed full of cash that will allow me to waste my life chasing pleasure and fun instead of working.
tagging: anyone who wants to <3
(low/no pressure tags to @arklayraven & @daemonicdorset)
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Tumblr is going insane for Nimona so I made my whole family sit down to watch it with me and high key it’s not getting ENOUGH attention for how good it is!!!
Here’s my non-spoilery sales pitch:
Sad wet cat of a man and the most gender motherfucker on the planet be gay do crime in medieval/cyber punk kingdom and learn the power of friendship and also arson
For real tho I’ve yet to watch some of these scenes without tearing up, it’s funny, the animation is fucking STUNNING (in a different and fun way to all the other stunningly animated movies this year), excellent voice acting, and yeah I was a sobbing mess at the end of it so check it out!! Go into it blind if you can!
Spoilery thoughts below cut:
- Everyone accuses Ballister of "bringing a monster into our home" SHE ALREADY FUCKING LIVED THERE GOD
- Nimona is unironically a "1000 year old demon or whatever that just LOOKS like a child" but instead of using this fact for weird shit they give her two dads lmao, and it also serves the story in that she’s not experienced at all with complicated relationships and thus can’t fathom why Ballister would want to make up with Ambrosius
- CORRECT ME IF IM WRONG BUT IM PRETTY SURE THE FIRST TIME BALLISTER CALLS HER NIMONA INSTEAD OF “kid” OR SOMETHING IS THE SCENE WHERE HE FINALLY SEES HER FOR WHO SHE IS DONT FUCKING TOUCH ME
- I made a chart for my family to rank all the movies we watch together (because I’m deranged) and my mom turned to me after Nimona ‘died’ and shouted “IF NIMONA DOESNT COME BACK IM GIVING IT A 2!!” lol (she ended up giving it a 7, which is pretty on par with her scores for all the other movies I pick)
- I THOUGHT THE KNIGHTS BEING GAY WAS JUST TUMBLR DOING ITS THING BUT NO THEYRE ACTUALLY GAY GAYS STAY WINNING
- pride flag in the end credits, just for the people watching the movie with their fingers in their ears going “la la la” so they don’t see the lgbt+ metaphors
#nimona#nimona movie#review#pls go watch it immediately I need this movie to be a huge hit#spider punk and Nimona would be BFFs#high key LotL Morro would be too#prolly gonna do some fanart for this movie at some point#it really good
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fuck that feeling both us fighting (repost)
Ledger!Joker x Fem!Reader SMUT
Warnings: PISS KINK! Reader beware
Word count: 1.7k
ﾟ+*:ꔫ:*﹤ enjoy ! ﹥*:ꔫ:*+ﾟ
What an excellent day for an exorcism.
You would like that?
Intensely.
J and I settled on the couch for movie night, and tonight he chose The Exorcist. I was nuzzling onto his arm, with my head resting on his shoulder and my legs tucked in. J was sitting with his legs spread and paying close attention to the movie. He never reciprocates my touches but doesn't stop me either.
I was wearing a white tank top with my favorite pink panties. J was still wearing his clothes without the coat or the blazer, and the sleeves of this button-up rolled up.
On the nights J arrived home early, he’d put on an intense horror movie to see how much we’d I’d stomach it.
I can say confidently that I was handling it pretty well until I got the urge to pee. Since the crucifix scene, I kept moving around in my seat, desperately needing to go. I was surprised I didn’t piss myself then.
I squirmed in my seat so much that J started to take notice and kept stealing glances at me while he was still facing the tv, knowing there was something up.
I finally decided enough was enough. I didn’t want to get a UTI. So I let go of J’s arm and carefully got up from the couch to go to the bathroom.
As I was about to take my first step away from the couch, I felt both of J's hands grab my hips and pull me down onto his spread lap. I yelped in surprise and discomfort.
My back was against J’s chest as he rested his chin on my shoulder, lips lightly brushing against the shell of my ear, and whispered.
“Now, where do ya think you’re going?”
J’s arm around my waist tightened before I could answer, and I whimpered in response. The motion pressed against my bladder, making me feel deeply uncomfortable.
“Please stop. I really have to pee.”
I said breathlessly.
“Aw, you poor thing.”
J said in normal volume this time, without a trace of sympathy. He started moving his hand lower, stopping directly on top of my bladder and pushed down harder. I began squirming and tried to get off J's lap, but his arm was caging me in.
The feeling was unbearable. I kept trying to get up, but he was so much stronger than me and held me tighter against his chest. It made things worse than before since his hold was starting to feel like a bearhug. Making the urge to pee more painful.
I didn't know what else to do but cry. I couldn't do anything but take it and really didn't want to embarrass myself and have an accident on his lap.
J noticed the tears rolling down my face and loosened his grip.
“Oh, shush, shush, shush, shush.”
He said as he wiped my tears with the back of his hand, the same hand that was on my lower belly.
I took deep breaths in an attempt to calm down, but I kept crying softly. As I was sobbing, I felt J's cock get semi-hard in his slacks.
I'm usually okay with J taking things too far during sex, but I was still taken aback by this.
“Tell ya what.”
While he licked his lips between his sentences, I looked up at him with doe eyes so he’d consider showing me mercy.
“I’ll be a nice guy and let you go wee-wee.”
I let out a breath of relief.
I sniffed and wiped my tears away. I tried to get up, but J still didn’t release his hold on my waist.
I whimpered and turned my head around to look at him. All I saw was that stupid grin on his face, and I was getting ready to cry again.
“But you said I can go to the bath-“
“I said you can go pee, not go to the bathroom.”
My heart dropped and my eyes widen. J wasn't playing a game, he was being serious.
He cocked an eyebrow at me.
“Well...”
He said expectedly.
I huffed and turned my attention back to the movie. I could hold it in until the end.
J chuckled and leaned back on the couch pulling me down with him.
“Suit yourself.”
꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎
Stick your cock up her ass you motherfucking worthless cocksucker.
Be silent!
Aah!
I mewled in pain.
The desperation started to hurt. The movie was still playing, but I paid no attention to it. It became background noise to me.
I'd move around in discomfort every now and then while J leaned back against the couch, holding my back close to his chest. Smirking every time I squirmed because it kept his cock hard in his slacks. I could feel it pressing against my ass.
He had one hand on my hip to prevent me from getting up. It was a small gesture of control because we both knew he would be able to catch me and pull me back before I took one step away from him.
“No! Please!”
I begged when J moved his hand from my hips directly over my bladder and tapped his fingers against it.
“Had enough?”
He said with amusement in his voice.
I couldn't take it anymore. My pride was not strong enough to lie to him. I did have enough. I turned my head and rested my forehead on his neck, taking a couple of breathes before I spoke.
“Yes.”
I whimpered weakly.
“Whatcha waiting for then?”
I sat up straight on J's lap and took a deep breath. Sitting on his spread legs felt weird, almost simulated a toilet seat. Just when I felt like I was ready to let go, nothing came out.
I huffed in annoyance, and I felt J's hand rubbing my back.
It was nice, but it wasn’t helping.
I tried concentrating on peeing, but my body wouldn’t let me. Even with a full bladder, I was still too shy to let go.
I groaned in frustration.
“I - I can’t.”
J cleared his throat as he sat up straight, resting his chin on my shoulder again, and whispered in my ear.
“Does my little bunny need Papi to help her?”
I nodded rapidly. Slightly curious about J's next move while simultaneously hoping that he'd just let me go to the bathroom.
I felt J remove both his head and his arm that was on my bladder. I turned around and saw him spit on his fingertips. He winked at me as he moved that hand into my panties and grazed my clit with his nails.
I shuddered and let out a pornographic moan. I didn’t even realize that my whole lower half was so sensitive. J started rubbing soft little circles on my clit, and I nearly jumped out of his lap from the pleasure.
He let out his infamous laugh at my reaction.
“I didn’t think your little pussy would be so sensitive from not pissing.”
I was breathing heavily, wanting more. I moved my hips against J's fingertips, signaling him to move faster.
J bit my shoulder and started rubbing my clit with more intensity.
I wailed from the change of pace, my voice echoing throughout the apartment.
The pain from the denial to pee was replaced with delicious pleasure.
“S-shit. I-Ah! That feels so fucking good.”
I panted.
“Mhm.”
J hummed at me in response. I didn’t notice when he tightened his arm around my waist, and started humping my ass.
I wasn’t going to last long, but J never lets me cum or, in this case, pee without his permission.
“Papi. I-Fuck! I’m so close. Please, please can I cum?”
“NO! YOU FUCKING WAIT!”
He said through gritted teeth.
I whined at his response.
“But I thought you wanted me to -“
“AND NOW I WANT YOU TO WAIT! TALK BACK AGAIN AND I’LL MAKE SURE YOU DON’T PISS UNTIL MORNING!”
I kept my mouth shut after that.
J grunted as he kept thrusting up, he sounded like an animal hungrily devouring its prey. It’s the first time I ever heard him sound remotely desperate to reach an orgasm.
All I could do was try to distract myself from my approaching orgasm since he never lost intensity on my clit. He didn’t make it any easier to wait for him.
I turned around and saw him focused on humping my ass. I sighed as I turned to focus on anything else but his touch on my clit. I remembered the movie was playing when I heard shouting from our television.
Take me. Come into me.
God-damn you take me! Take me!
“AH, FUCK! PAPI!”
I screamed when J slapped my pussy to bring my attention back to him. He grabbed a fist full of my hair and forced my head to look down at his fingers circling my clit.
“Ya ready bunny?”
I nodded as much as best as I could with his hold on my head.
J’s thrusts got more sloppy, and his breathing got heavier. I could sense J was also close, so I asked him one more time.
“Papi, please, please, PLEASE. can i cum? I can’t wait any-anymore.”
“Yes. God, yes.”
With that, I finally let go. I opened my mouth to scream, but my voice was silent, and my eyes fluttered shut as I came. I felt the warm liquid stream over my gushing pussy, and onto J’s lap.
My orgasm masked the feeling of peeing.
When J felt the crotch of his pants get wet from the warm liquid, he made a hard thrust against my ass and came. He pulled my head back as he stilled his movements up into my ass. We stayed like this for a few seconds before he kept humping a few times to make his orgasm last longer.
My orgasm started drifting away, but the warm liquid between my legs kept trickling over my sensitive pussy down to my ass. Making me whimper from the feeling.
“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.”
I heard J tsk in my ear.
“Ya dirty girl. Pissing all over my lap and ruining your pretty pink panties because papi told you to. Have you no self-respect?”
I shook my head no in response.
“Pathetic.”
J said with a smile.
I really had no self-respect or control around J. If he told me to lift my skirt to check how wet I was in front of his goons, I would. If he told me to scream his name late at night, and risk waking up my neighbors on the other side of the wall, I would. If he told me to piss myself on his lap, I would.
When I finished, I collapsed on top of J’s chest, catching my breath. My ass and the front of J’s pants were wet. And I’m sure so were the inside of his pants from his cum.
I was also sure I had ruined his custom pants, but hoped that they weren’t irreplaceable.
I turned my head towards the tv and heard the chilling orchestra play during the ending credits.
J grabbed my jaw and turned my head to face him. I thought he was leaning in for a kiss until he stopped at my lips and said.
“You owe me new pants.”
#repost#the joker#smut#heath ledger#the dark knight#ledger!joker#ledger!joker x reader#ledger!joker smut#ledger!joker x female reader#tdk joker#tdk joker x reader#tdk joker smut#l!joker#self insert#fic
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Blue Beetle is a triumph for DC, the Latinx Community, and Superhero Movies - SPOILER FREE REVIEW
Ángel Manuel Sotos new DC film Blue Beetle is hitting theaters this week but has had a significantly hard road to get here.
The film was originally sold as a direct to streaming film, then was moved to theatrical release, was caught in the middle of a James Gunn take over, and now a writer's/actor's strike. Couple all that with superhero fatigue, and DC's not so clean track record, the film would have to jump massive hurdles to be successful most movies do not.
Blue Beetle, however, is a magnificent departure from superhero films of late that coast on past projects, name dropping, or cameos. It is a delightful film that centers on family, responsibility, and the many different types of Latinx experiences, all while being extremely funny and full of incredible action.
Director Manuel Soto breathes new life into the DCU in a way few directors have before. instead of opting for uniformity with other superhero projects, the film has a distinct color and design that feels unique and fresh. Excellent design, costuming, and vibrancy make up a beautiful Palmera City.
One of the most notable aspects of the film was the fluid, dynamic fight choreography for Blue Beetle and our main physical antagonist, Carapax. While there are several heroes who have similar powers to Jaime, none quite have used it as interestingly. The shifting of weaponry, flight, and hand to hand combat make for types of fights we don't really see in live action.
This film of course is not just made up of excellent visuals, but a phenomenal supporting cast. It is hard to pick out favorites, as most characters are given an opportunity to shine.
Through this cast, Manuel Soto shows the many realistic day to day fears and feelings of a Latinx/Hispanic person. Responsibility, family, and becoming who you are supposed to be are all at the heart of the film. As a Latinx man, so many aspects of the film hit home for me, sometimes comedically, sometimes tragically.
The movie also emphasizes different kinds of experiences in our community. Undocumented citizens, first generation, the religious traditional older member of the family, even the slacker uncle. Every member of the family feels different, but they all feel like a family.
For me, I'd say Belissa Escobedo as Milagro Reyes brings excellent sisterly back and forth with our hero and has some very emotional moments in the film. Brother/sister chemistry is sometimes difficult to pull off, but Escobedo makes it look easy. I think she has the making of a comedic star on the rise and is someone to lookout for.
I'd say most members of the family will be someones favorite. George Lopez as Rudy, Jaimes Uncle Rudy, Damián Alcázar as Alberto Reyes, Jaimes Father, and Adriana Barraza as Nana, the matriarchal head of the family all got big laughs and, at times, tears from their performances.
This cast is phenomenal and elevates excellent writing into several iconic scenes. I don't see this film working without the perfect familial blend of actors. And they got it perfectly.
While characters like Elpidia Carrillo as Rocio Reyes or Bruna Marquezine as Jenny Kord do get the short end of the stick in the film, I think they get their moments and will be greater utilized in (hopefully) future installments of the franchise.
What made it most clear that Manuel Soto understands character were the two antagonists of the film.
While they are not nearly as significant as the rest of the family, both Susan Sarandon as Victoria Kord and Raoul Max Trujillo as Conrad Carapax are not reduced to twirling mustache villains. They both have realistic and at times tragic stories that explain (but does not justify) their actions.
While both give solid performances and are a step above your average Marvel/DC villains, I think the film could've benefitted from more of them.
But the real highlight of the film, to no ones surprise, was Xolo Maridueña as Jaime Reyes.
Maridueña as Blue Beetle feels like one of those castings that seem impossible to be topped. He brings excellent comedy, pain, and honor to Jaime in a way that feels natural. He is Blue Beetle.
In the film, Maridueña displays a wide range of emotions while he goes through an incredibly grueling 2-3 days. There is comedy, awkwardness, strength, anger, and pain, and Maridueña nails every moment of it.
I expect you will see a lot more Xolo in the future even if we don't see more Blue Beetle. But I hope he does return.
I think this movie has the potential to connect with audiences in a way we just haven't seen in a long time from a Superhero film. It is original, fun, and shows us a side of DCU we've never seen before, without endless cameos and reminders of past projects.
I hope other studios take away that audiences want more representation via original content from creative visionaries. But Hollywood often takes away the wrong lesson.
All in all, Blue Beetle is an incredible film that balances comedy, drama, and action in a way superhero movies rarely do. If you get the chance to, I highly recommend you go out and give it a watch. Films as good as this deserve support.
Blue Beetle is out in theaters this Friday August 18th.
Thank you for reading! If you'd like to support me, you can:
Follow me at www.facebook.com/romancomicsnews
Follow me on Twitter @diegoleonroman
Follow me on Threads @romanleondiego
Help me pay my student loans by donating!
#dc comics#dc universe#angel manuel soto#xolo maridueña#blue beetle#dcu#dceu#blue beetle battalion#blue beetle movie#blue beetle graduation day#george lopez#movie review#film review#spoiler free#Belissa Escobedo#Elpidia Carrillo#Bruna Marquezine#Ángel Manuel Soto#Raoul Max Trujillo#Conrad Carapax#Carapax#Susan Sarandon#Jenny Kord#Victoria kord#uncle rudy#Damián Alcázar#Adriana Barraza#blue beetle 2023
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15 people, 15 questions
I was tagged by the lovely @dribs-and-drabbles. Thank you!
Are you named after anyone?
Yes, I'm named after two of my great-grandmothers.
2. When was the last time you cried?
I cry at the drop of a hat haha. Last time I teared up was yesterday morning. I was properly sobbing on Christmas when I wrote letters to my family. The last show that made me cry was Last Twilight Episode 7.
3. Do you have kids?
No.
4. What sports do you play/have you played?
Ummmm.... I am very athletically challenged haha. The last time I played a sport involving a ball I got a concussion... I did JKD when I was a pre-teen, and Krav and yoga for a couple of years as an adult. Do those count?
5. Do you use sarcasm?
Outside of my job, all the time.
6. What's the first thing you notice about people?
I haven't really thought about this before. I guess general physical appearance.
7. What's your eye colour?
Green, although they used to be more hazel.
8. Scary movies or happy endings?
I'm not a fan of scary movies, and although I enjoy a well executed tragedy, I'm definitely a happy ending girlie.
9. Any talents?
I can bake really well, I'm a good driver, and I have an excellent sense of direction.
10. Where were you born?
South Africa
11. What are your hobbies?
I read a lot and find doodling/sketching really relaxing. When I'm in a walkable location, I also really love going for walks - to the park or just around the neighbourhood. When my brain and the cats let me, I also enjoy cross-stitch.
12. Do you have any pets?
Yes, a cat. She's a tiny, grumpy lady. I have also at various times had dogs, hamsters, snails, a chicken, and, for one memorable weekend, a terrapin.
13. How tall are you?
I'm 5'9"
14. What was your favourite subject in school?
I really loved biology and English.
15. What is your dream job?
I've been lucky enough to have had three different jobs, all of which have been amazing in completely different ways. If I had to give up my current career, I would love to work in a library or bookstore.
There you have it! I shall tag 15 people - if you've already answered or don't want to participate, no pressure 😊 and if you haven't been tagged and want tot do it, consider this your invitation!
@fatgumsurpremacy-remastered, @chalkrevelations, @maxescheibechlinichacheli, @theflagscene, @airenyah, @petrichoraline, @foralleternityidiot, @callipigio, @sorry-bonebag, @zimmbzon, @colourme-feral, @telomeke, @bunnakit, @twig-tea, and @vera9
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Psycho Pass Providence Review
I saw it in theaters and it was even better then I imagined.
Turning Akane into a tragic heroine may have been the best choice for her character after all. Her self sacrifice elevated her character to another level in my eyes.
I have not yet watched season 3 or first Inspector due to patiently waiting for the dub, but knew akane's fate and how it resolves. I went into this movie hoping it would explain how Akane was imprisoned and fearing she would take the fall for Shindo based on the context the film provided, instead I was pleasantly surprised to see our heroine take her fate into her own hands and make a difficult choice. Her self sacrifice was flawless and I was nearly in tears when she broke down. There is even a fantastic parallel between her choice here and Kougami's at the end of one. They both leave each other letters and both call the other an idiot for their decision. I left the theater fully satisfied.
I really appreciate how Kougami and Akane are always on eachothers minds and how their past interactions motivate their present actions even when they're apart. I think they'd make an excellent couple and Kougami being such a stubborn baby and not apologizing to Akane and being shocked when she hung up on him was too funny. I feel like them understanding eachother so well is both a strength and a weakness. It could very well be what keeps a a clear canon paring for them from happening. But I feel like this ending for Akane opens a lot of doors for them going forward. In the eyes of sybil, they're now two of a kind. The power imbalance barrier from their different statuses is now gone! And from what I hear about season 3 and first Inspector, I believe we'll be able to get more content of the two of them working together again in the near future.
On to the rest of the movie and cast.
I can't help but enjoy Mika. I think her character arc in 2 was actually really interesting and a nice contrast to Akane. And seeing her devastation at Akane's actions after she had just tried to save her, really spoke to me. I feel like she's still very much that broken girl from season 1 and Akane's loss probably opened up those wounds again. Her character has a lot more potential than most fans acknowledge.
Gino also has a prominent supporting role in this movie. Whether interacting with Kougami, Akane and Frederica he really shines. He is clearly happy to be with Kougami again, but let's his pride get in the way. But at the end of the day, they are both incredibly loyal to Akane. While Gino protects her as a shield, Kougami fights for her like a sword. It offers a unique dynamic. They essentially have Akane on a pedestal, as does sybil itself, which makes her very public and on purpose fall from grace all the more interesting. What will these two men do now that Akane has made herself a martyr for the justice her ideals strive to protect? I think we all have an idea of where the story goes from here whether we've watched the next material in the timeline already or not.
Finally its worth noting that essentially the entire supporting cast gets a few moments to shine, whether from season 1 or 2, and of course some characters from 3. The cast from 3 may not be the focus this time but they are still present in the background and I believe this movie answers some questions about their pasts.
In closing some stray thoughts.
- I can't help but ship Frederica and Gino now. They had great chemistry and a moment of theirs mirrors and earlier Koihami x Akane ship baiting moment in the movie. Keep yours open for it!
-we lost a good man this go around. His death generally shocked me. Keeping it vague so I don't lessen the impact!
- the music for this movie is A+ however, there is no after credit scene if you dont want to listen to the ending
#psycho pass#providence#shinya kougami#akane x kougami#akane tsunemori#spoilers#review#psycho pass providence#movie review#analysis
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Rushing this to print as I’ve just seen Barbie. Frankly, it lived up to the hype. Did not exceed it.
When people talk about how Continental (read: mostly French) philosophy and art movements precede American ones by roughly ten years, they aren’t kidding. Which is to say that the Barbie Movie (2023)’s fresh whip-smart metamodernist style can be found in what French surrealist horror comedy Rubber was doing in 2010.
Barbie’s plotline exhibits this through a hyperselfawareness that utilizes childlike naïveté (like Elf on five degrees of abstraction) and genre-savvy metacommentary (Existential Ken Doll Dance Offs) to communicate directly to the audience in explicit and unspoken fourth wall breaks. There is the sense that everyone knows they’re in a movie yet they’re still participating in said movie and they cannot just break the fourth wall and escape the narrative despite their knowledge that there is a narrative in the first place.
I’ve got to say that Rubber did it better. This is partially because Barbie doesn’t know what it wants to be (a symptom of a lot of metamodernist texts). One minute Barbie’s getting sexually harassed in stylized but very adult ways, the next minute oversimplifying serious subjects in some attempt to remain child friendly. I feel the other part of this is that, with all respect to Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, the movie didn’t stick all the landings.
With the caveat that this is Mattel’s Capitalist Propaganda Film and so Greta had a corporate veto hanging over her head, there were some places that could’ve been improved. Chief among them was some of the messaging. The movie had a lot to say about the Patriarchy and the female experience (something Gerwig is an expert at communicating) but toward the end the movie abandoned the narrative excellent social critique and delivered the equivalent of a 30min 50’s anti communist propaganda PSA but for twitterbrained feminism. It wasn’t bad, it was just lazy, preachy writing from people who I know can do better.
The overall length should’ve been 20-30 minutes shorter, and the movie could’ve tightened things up and cut unnecessary plotlines that felt like fluff padding out an extravagant runtime that could’ve been leaned out some.
The ending (up until the very last couple scenes) itself was structurally mushy. Partially as a symptom of the Barbie Movie not knowing what it was, partially as a symptom of mismanaged pacing, but too many loose ends gave it a disorganized feeling that was only saved by a fantastic final sequence.
And that’s the kicker. Greta Gerwig is one of the best directors of our generation and despite some noticeable missteps I enjoyed the movie on both a personal and artistic level. The script is whip smart. The art direction is to die for. The film is beautiful and the performances are fantastic. There’s an extended Ken Doll rock opera song. Barbie visits the gynecologist (Twitter moment). The final sequence had the audience in tears.
Everyone’s gushing over the film already but I need to stress it’s artistic and narrative merit, and that I give Gerwig and Noah a lot of leeway because a Mattel-funded blockbuster of the year is a take the money and run once in a lifetime chance to overindulge, and Gerwigs ambition really paid off even if the landing was bumpy. For a movie with supercharged hype, Barbie satisfied me and made watching the capitalism machine print money feel better than it ever felt this side of Reagan. This is worth the watch, but there’s no need to rush to beat the opening weekend crowds to it either.
I hope they get Werner Herzog to direct the Polly Pocket Movie
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Pairing: Mingyu x female reader
Genre: more adorably sweet fluff
Warnings: none that I can think of!
An: sorry it’s been a minute since I posted! I had some written for this but ended up scrapping it and rewriting it! Hopefully I’ll be able to wrap this up nicely soon ☺️ feedback is always welcome and my requests are also open!
“ I cant believe you let me win!” Mingyu whined from his spot on the makeshift bed next to you, controller in his hand and his signature pout on his lips.
“I’m sorry,” you chuckled, pecking him quickly on the cheek, “have you seen the face you make when you lose? It’s both the saddest thing and the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen!”
Tonight’s original plans for your one year anniversary had been foiled due to the unseasonable inclement weather, but in truly Mingyu/Yn fashion, you made the best of it.
Instead of going to the fancy restaurant you’d made reservations at, you opted for cooking together, something you didn’t get to do often due to conflicting work schedules. You both chose a meal that took a little more effort and little more finesse but absolutely paid off in the end.
Instead of taking a stroll around the park where you two had your first date, you instead made a Pinterest-esque blanket and pillow fort in your living room. Of course making sure to add the fairy lights and mini projector for games and movies.
And instead of the gorgeous black dress Mingyu had picked for you and the fitted three piece suit you’d picked for him, you were perfectly content in the matching pajama set Seungkwan had bought you guys as a joke. Little did he know that you two LOVED the dorky outfits and even said you planned on taking your Christmas pictures in them. You’d even made sure to send Seungkwan a picture of you two wearing them.
This would be your third round of Mario Kart and while mingyu was good at most games, this was one where he did not excel. So, maybe you held down the gas peddle a bit too long at the start and blew yourself up, giving him a bit of a head start. And maybe, just maybe you’d put yourself in the way of a few shells here and there.
“Well since you won,” you giggled, poking him in the ribs to get him to smile, “you get to pick the movie.”
Hearing this made him perk up a little bit. One of the things he loved doing with you was watching movies. So much so that he even had a running list of movie titles that he planned on showing you at some point or another.
“I know exactly what we’re watching,” he said with a mischievous grin.
—————————————————————————
He’s not sure when it happened but Mingyu guessed somewhere around half way mark through Sleepless in Seattle you’d fallen asleep with your head on his lap. He knew this week had been extremely stressful for you and then for your anniversary plans to go sideways? He knew he had to make sure it was as relaxing as possible. As soon as you laid down, curling up in to a ball he could tell you were gonna fall asleep. It probably didn’t help that at some point he started absentmindedly starting playing with your hair which always lulled you to sleep.
This is it for me. This girl right here. He thought to himself as you lay peacefully on his legs.
He’d known since probably a month into seeing each other that you were his end game.
You were the one he wanted to wake up and fall asleep next to every day for the rest of his life. He wanted to be the reason for your biggest smiles and your happiest moments. He wanted to be the one to wipe away your tears and make you feel better when you were sad. He wanted forever with you.
And he’d been planning just that.
The small piece of gemstone and metal had been burning a hole in his pocket for a month now. And as much as he wanted to wake you up now and ask you that simple yet enormous question, it still wasn’t the right time.
He was waiting for the perfect moment.
<<previous masterlist next>>
#the best years series#mingyu x reader#Kim mingyu#seventeen fluff#mingyu fluff#seventeen writing#svt
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