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tilbageidanmark · 8 months

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Movies I watched this Week #139 (Year 3/Week 35):

2 more back-to-back re-watches of Ron Fricke’s sublime non-narrative Head trip Samsara (“Impermanence”). Spiritual poetry, gorgeous visuals, breathtaking scope. A perfect film to watch while mushrooming. 10/10. (Photo Above).

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First watch (no idea why I waited all these years) of William Friedkin’s Sorcerer, his ill-fated adaptation of Clouzot's 'The wages of fear'. Roy Scheider is a desperado transporting nitroglycerin in the Dominican jungle, together with 3 other unfortunate misfits.

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A enchanting, classic 1974 French drama, Vincent, François, Paul and the Others, my second by Claude Sautet (after ‘The heart at winter’). A group of middle class 40-something friends, lovers, husbands and wives face a series of midlife crises. Among them Yves Montand, Michel Piccoli, Gérard Depardieu and Stéphane Audran. The camaraderie reminded me of the friendship in ‘Goodfellas’ (without the crimes, violence, and immorality). 7/10.

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The big clock, my first Corporate Noir by John Farrow (father to Mia, husband to Maureen O'Sullivan). Ray Millard acts and sounds exactly like Cary Grant-Lite in this less-known thriller.

A curious visual: There's a very stylish shot at an empty executive boardroom with a giant conference table, and the only items on it are oversized personal ashtrays next to each chair.

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Val Lawton X 2:

🍿 The best movie of the week, the documentary Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows. Produced and narrated by Martin Scorsese. A terrific biography and assessment of this melancholic producer who had the potential to become one of the biggest auteurs, but who is now barely-remembered for a series of 1940's low-budget, B-movies from RKO studio. I previously only saw his 'I walked with a Zombie', but I'm going to watch as many of the others as I can.

🍿 "...My Goodness, ain't nobody likes chicken Gumbo?..."

Lewton's first project, after he was installed as head of RKO low-budget horror department, was Cat People. "A disturbed woman", a Serbian fashion illustrator [Not too many of those] turns into a ferocious panther, after she's shown at her very first scene, littering repeatedly by throwing her discarded drawings in the streets.

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Our friend, my second film by Gabriela Cowperthwaite (After ‘Blackfish’). A sad, non-linear tearjerker, based on a real story. Dakota Johnson is dying of cancer, with her husband, two daughters, and their best friend, who selflessly stays by their side. The first film when I liked the role Casey Affleck plays. 7/10.

/ female /

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The new gonzo documentary Telemarketers reminded me of a chapter from my own life that I'm not proud of. For about 3 years in the mid-90's I sold bogus investments, gold futures, and fake ostrich options (!) over the phones in exactly the same way as the conmen in this sleazy, seedy, funny, cynical story. Except that over in Jersey they sold $35 donations and got paid $10 an hour, while we in Costa Mesa, CA got a $3,500 commission for every time we fleeced $40,000 from someone, which happened very often. So much money, and so many regrets later!

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4 more I can watch over and over again:

🍿 My 10th-15th rewatch of Edgar Wright’s brilliant Hot Fuzz.

1. If you know nothing about it beforehand, and watch it for the first time while stoned, it’s impossible to know what it’s really about until the end; the story changes style, intention, musical cue and genre from scene to scene.

2. Is the violent shoot-them-up climax, cartoonishly exaggerated, (where still, nobody dies) the most cliché-filled action scene ever?

3. The subtle musical score underlining every scene is sublime; I am going to listen/watch it again - without the pictures, just the sound!

4. Actually, the whole editing, visuals, sound editing, borrowing from dozens of prior movies, is extraordinary.

5. Every part of the dialogue - every single line - is highly quotable!

10/10.

And as always, How to do visual comedy, from ‘Every frame a picture’.

🍿 I just saw the trailer for The big Lebowski for the first time; It really ties the movie together pretty well. So I "had to" watch the movie itself again. A masterpiece on every level. Even the IMDb synopsis encapsulates it correctly: "Jeff 'The Dude' Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire of the same name, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it."

I also like Wikipedia's chapter on its 'Use as social and political analysis'. With a magnificent score (which includes Dylan's 'The man in me', Gypsy Kings cover of 'Hotel California', Yma Sumac's Ataypura) and with Asia Carrera as Sherry, the porn actress.

The last sentence in it is 'Say, friend, you got any more of that good sarsaparilla?' Always 10/10.

🍿 Once again, Ali Wong’s first stand-up Baby Cobra. Funny, filthy, hardcore vulgar, very sexy; "Best pregnant comic".

🍿 Top banana, S1E2 episode from ‘Arrested Development’. From Vanity Fair’s ‘List of 25 perfect TV episodes’.

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The source, another banal documentary about a spectacular human being, ultramarathoner Courtney Dauwalter, who just cemented her status as the greatest ultrarunner of all time by the unprecedented triple crown wins of the ‘Western States 100’, the ‘Hardrock 100’, and UTMB in the same summer. Emotionally inspirational.

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The midnight gospel, an adult animated series, my first by Pendleton Ward. I saw the first episode yesterday, and I already can’t remember a single goddam thing from it.

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From Dane Sitagi’s The ballerina project: Basia Rhoden dances in the city of Chicago.

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Throw-back to the "Art project”:

Ballerina Adora.

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(My complete movie list is here)

#movies

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vavuska · 3 years

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Who changed Lola Bunny?

Malcolm D. Lee explained, “This is 2021. It’s important to reflect the authenticity of strong, capable female characters. … So we reworked a lot of things, not only her look, like making sure she had an appropriate length on her shorts and was feminine without being objectified, but gave her a real voice. For us, it was, ‘Let’s ground her athletic prowess, her leadership skills, and make her as full a character as the others.'”

(See the complete interview here: X)

So, gone are her curves, thigh-high drawstring shorts and midriff-baring crop top. Instead, Lola Bunny now takes on a sportier look wearing a more standard basketball vest and leggings under her track shorts.

But, let's see more deeply what determinated this choice:

1. Being mad at a fan art is sad, people.

Before, a sad 50 yo guy starts complaing about how "cancel culture" or "politically correct" ruined his life - Really? Changing a cartoon bunny from a movie you didn't see for a decade ruined your life? Wow. Someone should really review the list of their priorities -, let's see how really Lola looked in the 1996 original Space Jam.

Here we have original Lola Bunny:

(Here you can see all Lola's scenes in Space Jam: X)

Yes, Lola walked in a sexy way that show off her curves, or at least she seemed to have curves (a little breast, tight waist, long legs, bootie), but those are not big as in the fan art you are seeing around, and Lola's curves are not evidenced during the match or when she played. Is more her attitude and posture that made her look sexy. However, althought her curves clearly changes every time she is doing something different, from action to action, there are some scenes in which she is purposely made sexy, with saxophone music as soundtrack and male-gaze sections that ends in the same way, Lola surrounded by a bunch of horny and howling cartoon guys.

That's appropriate with Jessica Rabbit: she is purposely made and designed as a parody of the femme fatale from old hard boiler movies, in which attractive, mysterious women were portrayed as evil and manipulative gals who hide criminal intentions. Jessica, with her intentionally exaggerated body, subverted the misogyny of 40s and 30s detective movies: she is kind-hearted, truly loves her naive and goofy husband Roger and uses her powers (beauty and cunning) to protect him. Her body too is used for comic sketches, while this not happens for Lola, that's just a serious and indipendent basketball player. So, the male obsession for her body is out of place, expecially because she reacted with anger at being misconsidered only for being an attractive female bunny. “Don't call me doll” is her catch phrase. So, it seems strange she didn't react at all at the very sexualized presentation at the final basketball match: Lola simply shows her basketball skills, ignoring or accepting passively the reaction of the honey crowd of wolves around her. (Please, notice the association: Lola “admirers” are wolves, predators, while Lola, their object of desire, is a rabbit, a prey)

This is the cartoon version of cat calling: they are like a group of men who sit on their porches and whistle at girls everyday when they walk in from of them. A normal girl or woman would pass over this thing, even if they are bothered, unconfortable or embarassed, because they are more scared by a possible violent reaction of this whistling horny guys at their legitimate anger objections. But here, we are talking of Lola, a strong Looney Tunes bunny, and she could smash that damn basket ball on wolves' face, breaking all their teeth. That would be very a Looney reaction. But Lola doesn't react at all at this situation. Here, on my opinion, screenplayers missed an opportunity, but probably they thought to have already did too much with Lola's personality and “girl power”.

Remember also that Lola is the only young cartoon female character we see in the whole movie. So we can't do a proper comparison with other female relevant characters' rapresentation. (See here for a deeper analysis of Lola's origin and development: X)

However, compared with Bugs, Lola looks more fit, more humanized than Bugs. Lola has clearly a definited breast and booty, but it looks like is more her posture that makes them relevant. Lola has clearly shoulders back to show the rack. Bugs is anthropomorphic but remains an animal, has no shoulders or pectorals more like a human and looks a bit over-weight (fat belly). And his posture don't keep that stomach in, chin up, and march forward.

Lola, on the other hand, has a more human structure. That's why I say she has curves. An example are Mickey and Minnie who are two beans in the same way it is not that Mickey is a bean and Minnie has small tits, they are structurally alike.

Lola's body remembers highly No-Ribs-Jasmine from Aladdin (see the gif for reference). That unrealistic Barbie-like waist that was so popular in the 90s and 80s. (See here for references: X and X)

Now, we are changed a lot from the past 24 years. Barbies didn't have that impossible, unrealistic waist-line anymore, Disney princess concept has changed (see Merida and Moana).

Lola concept is changed in 2012: her design for the new cartoons is totally different and her personality too. She wear a blue or violet dress, almost flat-chested and she was made annoying and silly, just to make a contrast with Bugs smarter. Just like Daffy Duck is dumb as hell and his new girlfriend, Tina Russo (no more dear old Melissa Duck), is way smarter than him. Tina is tough, street-smart, rebellious and feisty. But we will see this thing in the next point.

2. People on the upper floors hated Lola personality.

Lola Bunny had only few lines in Space Jam, but she definitely passed the first impression that she was draw only for make male characters fall in love. Lola was a good basketball player and show it off, in front of a skeptical and then astonish bunch of cartoon guys and also Michael Jordan. She also had a strong personality and said it clear to Bugs she didn't like being called "doll". Lola was beauty and curvy, but not a cheerleader. Lola was a basketball player. Remember this part, because we will talk about basketball in the next point.

If at the box office Space Jam was a success, at Warner Bros there were those who turn up their noses, and they are important people, from the upper floors, who accused the film with Michael Jordan of having completely distorted the philosophy of the Looney Tunes. They blamed Lola Bunny more than everything else. Producers of Warner Bros said she was too perfect for the moody group of Warner cartoons: she was too sensual, provocative and independent, totally alien to that core of crazy characters that act as an exaggeration of the vices of 'man.

And fans hated her too. Chuck Jones, creator of the Merrie Melodies said: "Lola Bunny is a character with no future, she’s a totally worthless character with no personality."

So, Lola Bunny was deleted. Lola would make only some brief apparitions in some comics edited by DC Comics, in Baby Looney Tunes, in which she was a toddler with a very similar personality and resemblance to Space Jam adult version, and also as playable character in some unsuccessful videogames.

Years passed and projects for a sequel of Space Jam never become reality, so in 2003 Warner Bros relased Looney Tunes Back in Action. But Lola wasn't here, because the movie purposely want to make a deep cut with what we saw in Space Jam, according to what said it's director Joe Dante. This movie was a totally failure, but it gave back to Looney Tunes their craziness.

Years passed again, but this time is 2011, 10th of May on Cartoon Network was relased the second episode of The Looney Tunes Show. The series aimed to strongly relaunch the Looney Tunes, long gone from the glories of the past, updating the stories of Bugs Bunny and associates in a sitcom key, with the rabbit sharing a house with Daffy Duck in a suburb of Los Angeles. All interspersed with sketches by Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner done in CGI and the updated return of the Merrie Melodies. But the big news of the second episode is that LOLA BUNNY RETURNED.

And Lola was a character with some relevance within the series, even if something didn't seem right with her. Lola looked different, she was no longer the rabbit version of the femme fatale seen in Space Jam: she was naive, talkative, with her head in the clouds, crazy to the point of becoming Bugs Bunny's stalker. Bugs after having fallen in love with her at first glance understands on the first date that he absolutely can't stand Lola. She is no longer the Lola we used to know, even if the appearance is similar and the name is the same. Lola is effectively a Looney Tunes now. And the fans like her, the public like her, Warner Bros like her.

(See Lola in The Looney Tunes Show here: X)

But this is a big walk in behind from the indipent character we used to know in Space Jam. Lola was turned into the stereotype of the crazy girlfriend for a while. And this is not a surprise, if we remember that in 2012 were popular the "overly attached girlfriend" meme template. (See here for references: X)

However, in The Looney Toons Show Lola has some very funny moments, while in Space Jam she was more serious and a little out of space among the other characters. (See here for references: X)

3. What women wear when they play basketball?

Women's National Basketball Association was only created in 1996. So, women's basketball were not considered - and still is not considered - as important as men's basketball at the time Space Jam was filmed.

In Space Jam 2 there will be WNBA players with a significant role, for example Diana Taurasi and Nneka Ogwumike.

Professional female athletes aren't that curvy because curves are determined by body fat and they have a little.

As a busty volleyball player, I can say, dear people, breats could be very annoying during sport activities: it could be a pain, when you run or jump. That's because a lot of women wear sport bra to compress and support their breast. Sports bra may also include layered cups or a high neck to keep everything in place and protect from painful hits, so women can be safe and comfortable during workouts.

Female basketball players didn't wear crop-tops and tight shorts to play. They wear exactly what Lola wears in the picture above: long sleeveless tees, large shorts and maybe protective gears such as knee pads, sleeves or braces to reduce chronic pain caused by the immense burden put on the knees in basketball, to prevent bruises caused by collisions and hard fall and to provide support after a significant knee injury like an ACL tear. They could wear also compressive arms sleeves to help muscles that are sore or overworked to recover faster. The sleeve enables your blood flow to circulate quicker to the heart, which helps you heal and recover quicker.

Wow. WNBA wears Exactly what wear NBA players. So surprising.

4. This is only a promotional character sketch, not what Lola would look in the movie.

Space Jam 2 would be developed in CGI and there are a little preview frames going around, included one showing Lola jumping and you can see her breast shape. But she totally looks like a comic cartoon character. It's not humanized. It's not designed to be the sexy love interest. She doesn't look out of space among the others anymore, expecially because seems that there would be also Tweety's Granny and Melissa Duck or Tina Russo as players too.

5. Reality.

Really? You want a human anthropomorphic rabbit? Well, Lola as a rabbit would have something like six nipples, but no human-like breast. And, also, real life girls have ribs. No one in real life is that thin. Oh, well, if you don't considered Pixee Fox, a model who had surgically removed six ribs and wears daily a compressive bust corset (yes, like the one that made Elizabeth Swan faint in the first movie of Pirate of the Caribbean) to look like a cartoon fairy (Tinkerbell, you are the one to blame for this).

(See here for references: X)

In conclusion, we can say that all this controversy is based only on a porny fan art and that Lola “new” graphic isn't change too much from the original Space Jam movie. It's just a little more cartoonish.

We can also firmly remeber that Space Jam 2 is going to be developed for children, to relunch Looney Tunes among new generations of children, who are the largest buyers of merchandising (including Happy Meals surprises) and consumers of new cartoons that surely would be developed, if Space Jam 2 would be a success.

However, we should admit that those kids probably know better the 2011 version of Lola than her original version and that 2011 version was more appreciated by fans and producers. Lola's voice actress, Kristen Wiin won BTVA People's Choice Voice Acting Award in 2012 and was nominated for that prize also about three times in the following years. Also Rachel Ramras, Lola's voice actor was nominated for BTVA People's Choice Voice Acting Award in 2016 for her role in Looney Tunes: Rabbit Run.

We don't know anything about Lola's personality in Space Jam 2, so we can't do a proper comparison or a prevision, but, according to what Malcolm D. Lee said, we can assume that original personality of Lola would be preserved.

The controversy is relevant only for Lola's body and not for her personality, and that's is highly rappresentative of what impressed more this bunch of grow-up kids. They grow up to be like the horny wolves and they are howling because their prey is not available anymore.

And, to be honest, being so obsessed with the breast and the body of a cartoon character (that is clearly made up for kids) it's not sane at all. Sorry to say that, but sometimes people need to drink from a bottle of truth.

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thxlassophile · 2 years

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only because @senpujin asked (and definitely not because i can’t help myself)...

SHAYE’S THOUGHTS ON: the reunion (part 1)

there’s really only two ways to talk about trashahime - things that work and things that don’t make no fuckin’ sense. so those will be our categories for today’s class, kiddos.

THINGS THAT WORK:

- letting KAGOME get there first & alone

look i was WORRIED that, as they’ve been doing for almost 40 straight episodes, sunrise was just gonna lump inukag together as a single being and make this all happen at once. treating them as a single character and giving them identical responses. one big ole happy family hug and that’s it, you know? cause yes they’re married AF but they’re two separate people who, if written correctly god help us, would have two very different reactions to seeing moroha again.

largely because they have two VERY different emotional maturity levels but more on that later...

so imagine my shock but ELATION that kagome got there first & alone. that they’re actually gonna give BOTH parents their own time to shine. and i really appreciated the beautiful symmetry of kagome being the last one to hold moroha when they lost her and then the first one to hold her again when she’s returned to them

- kagome’s musical theme returning the MINUTE she hugged moroha

not much to say here other than BITCHHHHHH ... ok sunrise, you win. well played, that got me. my poor ass heart. the instant i heard that fuckin’ flute i was a sobbing mess.

- mama’s emotional speech :’)

my queen. my goddess. mama kagome. her huge heart and deep well of love were out in FULL ASS FORCE in that moment and it was perfection. she has always carried the heart and soul of the series on her back, the emotional anchor for the other characters to move around, and this moment is NO different. the VA for kagome deserves all the awards for this one, holy shit.

i actually really LIKED moroha’s initial awkwardness, and that she didn’t instantly hug her mother back. this is the first time in the show that ANYONE has hugged moroha, so it’s understandable that she’s unfamiliar and uncomfortable with such an open and vulnerable display of affection. ESPECIALLY one directed at her. ESPECIALLY ESPECIALLY one centered in such a deeply personal and painful subject that moroha has been actively pushing away her entire life.

this speech gave moroha EXACTLY what she needed to hear - that her mother not only missed her, but that she was sorry. that she has ALWAYS been loved and her mother, without knowing the details of what has happened to her daughter, is devastated that she missed out on moroha’s life. for fuck’s sake, for all kagome knows in this moment, moroha had the BEST life living with the wolves - but she’s still sorry because SHE wasn’t there.

she is sorry that moroha was ALONE. she never wanted that for her child, never wanted that for their FAMILY, and it’s palpable in kagome’s anguished and repeated sobs. despite what was shown to her in the last fourteen years by her mentor and the corpse dealer, despite how she FELT? it turns out moroha has always been LOVED DESPERATELY. :”)

and it’s not until moroha hears this, takes it all in, that her happy tears come and she’s able to hug her mother back. able to ACCEPT this display of love, because she knows it’s real.

THINGS THAT DON’T MAKE NO FUCKIN’ SENSE:

- WHY kagome got there first & alone

what. the. fuck ??? this truly makes 0 sense. we see inukag rush off together at the sound of moroha & the twins crash landing into the gravesite, but then kagome arrives ALONE???

why was kagome running AT ALL ??? homegirl does not run; she is carried virtually everywhere like the queen she fuckin’ is by her husband. he’s 10x faster, it’s stupid and inefficient to let her human ass struggle to keep up. especially when THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT MADE THAT NOISE ??? you’re telling me that inuyasha, the man who no exaggeration has leapt to his certain death to protect kagome from the unknown about a billion times is just like ‘hey cool, no idea what that huge noise was but like, go on ahead all alone without your bow and arrows it’ll probably be fine see ya later’.

like ?!?!?!?!

but ALSO it makes no sense because ... if moroha can still remember kagome’s scent, when she last smelled it AS A LITERAL INFANT, then why doesn’t her fully grown adult father recognize hers the minute she lands ??? like we’ve established in canon that inuyasha’s nose can pick up on kagome’s scent from like, six football fields away - you’re telling me his ONLY CHILD’S scent is in the wind, one that smells like HIS and KAGOME’S mixed together, and this man doesn’t pick up on it ???

- kagome’s WILD initial reaction

bro i am hoping sunrise gives us some kinda explanation for this next weekend, like kagome’s been tortured with mirages of fake morohas for the last fourteen years or something because ...

that. was. STUPID.

truly, in my black heart of not trusting the writers, i think they couldn’t help themselves - moroha is their comic relief, and they somehow had to make this VERY EMOTIONAL moment funny. like there are MANY OTHER WAYS of showing kagome’s shock & disbelief that it’s actually her baby girl standing in front of her that aren’t her doing the ‘osuwari’ face and stomping over.

thanks, i hated it.

the SET UP for next week’s part 2 reunion

... if it already makes no sense that inuyasha didn’t smell moroha the minute she landed, it DEFINITELY makes no sense that he couldn’t smell her when she’s standing 25 feet away. again, like the kagome osuwari face thing - i GET it that they wanted to show how shocked moroha’s parents are to see her. that’s fine. that makes sense.

HOW they did it is fuckin’ stupid and makes no god damned sense.

bitch if anything, at the bare minimum, you know inuyasha could smell his wife SOBBING as he walked up. you’re really telling me that he smelled THREE NEW PEOPLE AFTER FOURTEEN YEARS ALONE (one of whom is his daughter hello???) AND KAGOME CRYING AND HE JUST STROLLS IN LIKE AIN’T SHIT GOING ON???

nah fam. nah. his ass would’ve been swinging tessaiga first and asking questions later. which, tb quite fuckin’ h, WOULD’VE BEEN A BETTER AND FUNNIER INTRODUCTION TO HIM THAN THIS BUG-EYED STARING CONTEST SHIT THEY DID INSTEAD !!!

anyways, i hate this show but i love the inufam. thanks for coming to my TEDTalk

#LOL anyone who read this whole thing gets a cookie #why am i like this ???#[i gotta go lay down] OOC SHIT

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ladydarklord · 3 years

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The Mighty Boosh on the business of being silly

The Times, November 15 2008

What began as a cult cocktail of daft poems, surreal characters and fantastical storylines has turned into the comedy juggernaut that is the Mighty Boosh. Janice Turner hangs out with creators Noel Fielding, Julian Barratt and the extended Boosh family to discuss the serious business of being silly

In the thin drizzle of a Monday night in Sheffield, a crowd of young women are waiting for the Mighty Boosh or, more precisely, one half of it. Big-boned Yorkshire lasses, jacketless and unshivering despite the autumn nip, they look ready to devour the object of their desire, the fey, androgynous Noel Fielding, if he puts a lamé boot outside the stage door. “Ooh, I do love a man in eyeliner,” sighs Natalie from Rotherham. She’ll be throwing sickies at work to see the Boosh show 13 times on their tour, plus attend the Boosh after-show parties and Boosh book signings. “My life is dead dull without them,” she says.

Nearby, mobiles primed, a pair of sixth-formers trade favourite Boosh lines. “What is your name?” asks Jessica. “I go by many names, sir,” Victoria replies portentously. A prison warden called Davena survives long days with high-security villains intoning, “It’s an outrage!” in the gravelly voice of Boosh character Tony Harrison, a being whose head is a testicle.

Apart from Fielding, what they all love most about the Boosh is that half their mates don’t get it. They see a bloke in a gorilla suit, a shaman called Naboo, silly rhymes about soup, stories involving shipwrecked men seducing coconuts “and they’re like, ‘This is bloody rubbish,’” says Jessica. “So you feel special because you do get it. You’re part of a club.”

Except the Mighty Boosh club is now more like a movement. What began as an Edinburgh fringe show starring Fielding and his partner Julian Barratt and later became an obscure BBC3 series has grown into a box-set flogging, mega-merchandising, 80-date touring Boosh inc. There was a Boosh festival last summer, now talk of a Boosh movie and Boosh in America. An impasse seems to have been reached: either the Boosh will expand globally or, like other mass comedy cults before it – Vic and Bob, Newman and Baddiel – slowly begin to deflate.

But for the moment, the fans still wait in the rain for heroes who’ve already left the building. I find the Boosh gang gathered in their hotel bar, high on post-gig adrenalin. Barratt, blokishly handsome with his ring-master moustache, if a tad paunchy these days, blends in with the crew. But Fielding is never truly “off”. All day he has been channelling A Clockwork Orange in thick black eyeliner (now smudged into panda rings) and a bowler hat, which he wears with polka-dot leggings, gold boots and a long, neon-green fur-collared PVC trenchcoat. He has, as those women outside put it, “something about him”: a carefully-wrought rock-god danger mixed with an amiable sweetness. Sexy yet approachable. Which is why, perched on a barstool, is a great slab of security called Danny.

“He stops people getting in our faces,” says Fielding. “He does massive stars like P. Diddy and Madonna and he says that considering how we’re viewed in the media as a cult phenomenon, we get much more attention in the street than, say, Girls Aloud. Danny says we’re on the same level as Russell Brand, who can’t walk from the door to the car without ten people speaking to him.”

This barometer of fame appears to fascinate and thrill Fielding. Although he complains he can’t eat dinner with his girlfriend (Dee Plume from the band Robots in Disguise) unmolested, he parties hard and publicly with paparazzi-magnets like Courtney Love and Amy Winehouse. He claims he’s tried wearing a baseball cap but fans still recognise him. Hearing this, Julian Barratt smiles wryly: “Noel is never going to dress down.”

It is clear on meeting them that their Boosh characters Vince Noir (Fielding), the narcissistic extrovert, and Howard Moon (Barratt), the serious, socially awkward jazz obsessive, are comic exaggerations of their own personalities. At the afternoon photo shoot, Fielding breaks free of the hair and make-up lady, sprays most of a can of Elnett on to his Bolan feather-cut and teases it to his satisfaction. Very Vince. “It is an art-life crossover,” says Barratt.

At 40, five years older than Fielding, Barratt exhibits the profound weariness of a man trying to balance a five-month national tour with new-fatherhood. After every Saturday night show he returns home to his 18-month-old twins, Arthur and Walter, and his partner Julia Davis (the creator-star of Nighty Night) and today he was up at 5am pushing a pram on Hampstead Heath before taking the train north to rejoin the Boosh. “I go back so the boys remember who I am. But it’s harder to leave them every time,” he says. “It is totally schizophrenic, totally opposite mental states: all this self-obsession and then them.”

About two nights a week on tour, Fielding doesn’t go to bed, parties through the night and performs the next evening having not slept at all. Barratt often retreats to his room to plough through box sets of The Wire. “It’s a bit gritty, but that is in itself an escape, because what we do is so fantastical.”

But mostly it is hard to resist the instant party provided by a large cast, crew and band. Indeed, drinking with them, it appears Fielding and Barratt are but the most famous members of a close collective of artists, musicians and old mates. Fielding’s brother Michael, who previously worked in a bowling alley, plays Naboo the shaman. “He is late every single day,” complains Noel. “He’s mad and useless, but I’m quite protective of him, quite parental.” Michael is always arguing with Bollo the gorilla, aka Fielding’s best mate, Dave Brown, a graphic artist relieved to remove his costume – “It’s so hot in there I fear I may never father children” – to design the Boosh book. One of the lighting crew worked as male nanny to Barratt’s twins and was in Michael’s class at school: “The first time I met you,” he says to Noel, “you gave me a dead arm.” “You were 9,” Fielding replies. “And you were messing with my stuff.”

This gang aren’t hangers-on but the wellspring of the Boosh’s originality and its strange, homespun, degree-show aesthetic: a character called Mr Susan is made out of chamois leathers, the Hitcher has a giant Polo Mint for an eye. When they need a tour poster they ignore the promoter’s suggestions and call in their old mate, Nige.

Fielding and Barratt met ten years ago at a comedy night in a North London pub. The former had just left Croydon Art College, the latter had dropped out of an American Studies degree at Reading to try stand-up, although he was so terrified at his first gig that he ran off stage and had to be dragged back by the compere.

While superficially different, their childhoods have a common theme: both had artistic, bohemian parents who exercised benign neglect. Fielding’s folks were only 17 when he was born: “They were just kids really. Hippies. Though more into Black Sabbath and Led Zep. There were lots of parties and crazy times. They loved dressing up. And there was a big gap between me and my brother – about nine years – so I was an only child for a long time, hanging out with them, lots of weird stuff going on.

“The great thing about my mum and dad is they let me do anything I wanted as a kid as long as I wasn’t misbehaving. I could eat and go to bed when I liked. I used to spend a lot of time drawing and painting and reading. In my own world, I guess.”

Growing up in Mitcham, South London, his father was a postmaster, while his mother now works for the Home Office. Work was merely the means to fund a good time. “When your dad is into David Bowie, how do you rebel against that? You can’t really. They come to all the gigs. They’ve been in America for the past three weeks. I’m ringing my mum really excited because we’re hanging out with Jim Sheridan, who directed In the Name of the Father, and the Edge from U2, and she said, ‘We’re hanging with Jack White,’ whom they met through a friend of mine. Trumped again!”

Barratt’s father was a Leeds art teacher, his mother an artist later turned businesswoman. “Dad was a bit more strict and academic. Mum would let me do anything I wanted, didn’t mind whether I went to school.” Through his father he became obsessed with Monty Python, went to jazz and Spike Milligan gigs, learnt about sex from his dad’s leatherbound volumes of Penthouse.

Barratt joined bands and assumed he would become a musician (he does all the Boosh’s musical arrangements); Fielding hoped to become an artist (he designed the Boosh book cover and throughout our interview sketches obsessively). Instead they threw their talents into comedy. Barratt: “It is a great means of getting your ideas over instantly.” Fielding: “Yes, it is quite punk in that way.”

Their 1998 Edinburgh Fringe show called The Mighty Boosh was named, obscurely, after a friend’s description of Michael Fielding’s huge childhood Afro: “A mighty bush.” While their double-act banter has an old-fashioned dynamic, redolent of Morecambe and Wise, the show threw in weird characters and a fantasy storyline in which they played a pair of zookeepers. They are very serious about their influences. “Magritte, Rousseau...” says Fielding. “I like Rousseau’s made-up worlds: his jungle has all the things you’d want in a jungle, even though he’d never been in one so it was an imaginary place.”

Eclectic, weird and, crucially, unprepared to compromise their aesthetic sensibilities, it was 2004 before, championed by Steve Coogan’s Baby Cow production company, their first series aired on BBC3. Through repeats and DVD sales the second series, in which the pair have left the zoo and are living above Naboo’s shop, found a bigger audience. Last year the first episode of series three had one million viewers. But perhaps the Boosh’s true breakthrough into mainstream came in June when George Bush visited Belfast and a child presented him with a plant labelled “The Mighty Bush”. Assuming it was a tribute to his greatness, the president proudly displayed it for the cameras, while the rest of Britain tittered.

A Boosh audience these days is quite a mix. In Sheffield the front row is rammed with teenage indie girls, heavy on the eyeliner, who fancy Fielding. But there are children, too: my own sons can recite whole “crimps” (the Boosh’s silly, very English version of rap) word for word. And there are older, respectable types who, when I interview them, all apologise for having such boring jobs. They’re accountants, IT workers, human resources officers and civil servants. But probe deeper and you find ten years ago they excelled at art A level or played in a band, and now puzzle how their lives turned out so square. For them, the Boosh embody their former dreams. And their DIY comedy, shambolic air, the slightly crap costumes, the melding of fantasy with the everyday, feels like something they could still knock up at home.

Indeed, many fans come to gigs in costume. At the Mighty Boosh Festival 15,000 people came dressed up to watch bands and absurdity in a Kent field. And in Sheffield I meet a father-and-son combo dressed as Howard Moon and Bob Fossil – general manager of the zoo – plus a gang of thirty-something parents elaborately attired as Crack Fox, Spirit of Jazz, a granny called Nanageddon, and Amy Housemouse. “I love the Boosh because it’s total escapism,” says Laura Hargreaves, an employment manager dressed as an Electro Fairy. “It’s not all perfect and people these days worry too much that things aren’t perfect. It’s just pure fun.”

But how to retain that appealingly amateur art-school quality now that the Boosh is a mega comedy brand? Noel Fielding is adamant that they haven’t grown cynical, that The Mighty Book of Boosh was a long-term project, not a money-spinner chucked out for Christmas: “There is a lot of heart in what we do,” he says. Barratt adds: “It’s been hard this year to do everything we’ve wanted, to a standard we’re proud of... Which is why we’re worn to shreds.”

Comedy is most powerful in intimate spaces, but the Boosh show, with its huge set, requires major venues. “We’ve lost money every day on the tour,” says Fielding. “The crew and the props and what it costs to take them on the road – it’s ridiculous. Small gigs would lose millions of pounds.”

The live show is a kind of Mighty Boosh panto, with old favourites – Bob Fossil, Bollo, Tony Harrison, etc – coming on to cheers of recognition. But it lacks the escapism to the perfectly conceived world of the TV show. They have told the BBC they don’t want a fourth series: they want a movie. They would also, as with Little Britain USA, like a crack at the States, where they run on BBC America. Clearly the Boosh needs to keep evolving or it will die.

Already other artists are telling Fielding and Barratt to make their money now: “They say this is our time, which is quite frightening.” I recall Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, who dominated the Nineties with Big Night Out and Shooting Stars. “Yes, they were massive,” says Fielding. “A number one record...” And now Reeves presents Brainiac. “If you have longer-term goals, it’s not scary,” says Barratt. “To me, I’m heading somewhere else – to direct, make films, write stuff – and at the moment it’s all gone mental. I’m sort of enjoying this as an outsider. It was Noel who had this desire to reach more people.”

Indeed, the old cliché that comedy is the new rock’n’roll is closest to being realised in Noel Fielding. Watching him perform the thrash metal numbers in the Boosh live show, he is half ironic comic performer, half frustrated rock god. His heroes weren’t comics but androgynous musicians: Jagger, Bowie, Syd Barrett. (Although he liked Peter Cook’s style and looks.)

“I like clothes and make-up, I like the transformation,” he says. Does it puzzle him that women find this so sexually attractive? “I was reading a book the other day about the New York Dolls and David Johansen was saying that none of them were gay or even bisexual, and that when they started dressing in stilettos and leather pants, women got it straight away with no explanation. But a lot of men had problems. It’s one of those strange things. A man will go, ‘You f***ing queer.’ And you just think, ‘Well, your girlfriend fancies me.’”

The Boosh stopped signing autographs outside stage doors when it started taking two hours a night. At recent book signings up to 1,500 people have shown up, some sleeping overnight in the queue. And on this tour, the Boosh took control of the after-show parties, once run as money-spinners by the promoters, and now show up in person to do DJ slots. I ask if they like to meet their fans, and they laugh nervously.

Fielding: “We have to be behind a fence.”

Barratt: “They try to rip your clothes off your body.”

Fielding: “The other day my girlfriend gave me this ring. And, doing the rock numbers at the end, I held out my hands and the crowd just ripped it off.”

Barratt: “I see it as a thing which is going to go away. A moment when people are really excited about you. And it can’t last.”

He recalls a man in York grabbing him for a photo, saying, “I’d love to be you, it must be so amazing.” And Barratt says he thought, “Yes, it is. But all the while I was trying to duck into this doorway to avoid the next person.” He’s trying to enjoy the Boosh’s moment, knows it will pass, but all the same?

In the hotel bar, a young woman fan has dodged past Danny and comes brazenly over to Fielding. Head cocked attentively like a glossy bird, he chats, signs various items, submits to photos, speaks to her mate on her phone. The rest of the Boosh crew eye her steelily. They know how it will end. “You have five minutes then you go,” hisses one. “I feel really stupid now,” says the girl. It is hard not to squirm at the awful obeisance of fandom. But still she milks the encounter, demands Fielding come outside to meet her friend. When he demurs she is outraged, and Danny intercedes. Fielding returns to his seat slightly unsettled. “What more does she want?” he mutters, reaching for his wine glass. “A skin sample?”

#I hadn't seen this one before so I thought I'd share #noel will never dress down #ah yes the patient boyfriend Julian Barratt

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frightfurtabby · 3 years

Text

Himikiyo Week 2021 Day 5: Anniversary Party

// Cute and fluffy, make-up smearing kissies, slow dancing, and awards... enjoy~

Word count: 1434

Links

AO3- https://archiveofourown.org/works/34196977

Amino- (coming soon)

I need to catch up on cross-posting to amino so I’ll be doing that too.

The anniversary party was an important occasion. All actors from the danganronpa franchise were coming together for this event. 10 years ago was the release of the first series starring Makoto Naegi as the protagonist, since then there have been 3 further series and a spin off that took place between the first 2, though it had aired afterward. And they were all gathered together.

There were already plans for another spin-off that was summer camp themed and would be finished later the next year. It was really big but sometimes there were years of waiting between new productions and that led to a lot being covered by tabloids and other media outlets. Korekiyo moved up to a small town in Aomori prefecture with Himiko to stay as quiet as possible, keeping in contact with certain people from among their castmates.

The couple were sitting together in a backstage private dressing room once again, Himiko taking time to brush Kiyo’s hair. Most of their outfits were already in place, a puffy purple dress for Himiko, her matching magic hat sat on the table in front of them.It was so pretty and only a little bit difficult to move around in at first before she was getting used to it. The anniversary celebrations included a dance in the ballroom and awards for the newest batch of fan popularity polls.

“Babe are you sure you want to go for that hat, I don’t know if it fits with the rest of what you’ve got going on.”

Kiyo was wearing a white button-up long sleeved blouse with a burgundy vest, a green coat over both and a long black skirt. Near Himiko’s hat was their own for this occasion, a black fedora which was what she was referring to in her comments..

“I personally think it looks nice.” Kiyo gave an exaggerated pout.

Touching up both their make-up was all the couple needed before they got to head out to the event proper. Kiyo hadn’t decided on lipstick before they had to go to avoid running late. They could do without that but not without eating, which they had to finish on the way out.

When she was finished brushing she helped gather their locks together and band it to make a ponytail.

She chuckled. “Of course you do, well since you insist. Here, have this one, I think this color will compliment everything nicely. Now come closer!” She grabs a nice dark blood red shade. Kiyo had used it plenty of times, including the year they dressed up as a vampire for Halloween, so it was a classic go-to.

Kiyo leaned in like she asked. Puckering their lips out to give her a more complete canvas for her to work with. However, before Himiko touched the tip of the lipstick onto their lips, Kiyo stopped for a moment.

“I wouldn’t want to smudge this so soon, so please give me a kiss?”

Himiko giggled. “Alright, okay. But first…” Her free hand extended and her pointer finger booped them right on the nose.

The former Ultimate Anthropologist feigned shock. “What did I deserve that for?”

“For being cute, ya silly goose.”

They were gearing up for a follow up joke but they were pulled in by the collar and smooched. They leaned into and savored it. Even if it did ruin the set-up, it was fine. Any time was a lovely time to smooch Himiko.

“Okay, now we can do it.” she chirped.

Kiyo re-assumed the proper position and reached out, gently caressing Himiko’s cheek. A deep look into her eyes. “Alright, go ahead.”

She reached up to hold them still with one hand and eased the lipstick close. Drawing it, focused as close as she can on the precision. Even though they had just kissed, she was tempted to ruin it again.

So she did.

They giggled as soon as she let them go. “God I’m so lucky wearing a mask is my trademark. I’m sure people would have a field day if they actually saw how smudged you always end up making this.”

“Yeah well, I’m lucky to have you.” She said, making cute faces in their direction.

Kiyo pulled their mask up and put the fedora on, taking Himiko’s hand as a way to get up out of the chair.

They turned and exited the door. Upon entering the hallway they met up with Shuichi and Rantaro, spending time catching up. Talking about how the cats were doing, how busy it was lately, more recent gigs they’d lent their talents to, that kind of thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Upon entering the ballroom, the couple noticed there were danganronpa themed decorations all over. A big banned reading “Happy 10th Anniversary'' went along the rafters. It was certainly doing its job of seeming like a mix between prom and a high school reunion.

At least this one was full of people both of them liked better than most people who’d been at either of their actual proms from back in the day. Even with personal problems here and there it was still more tolerable than that.

A slow waltz tune echoes around the ballroom. All the couples were paired up, most having stuck together pretty much the whole time up to this point regardless, but the Junko was making a big deal up on stage about how “If you’re not already, couple up and dance!”

Kiyo’s hand was around the back of Himiko’s head. They took time to pet her and look into her eyes as they performed slowly just like they had practiced. It felt nice and warm. Both could close their eyes for a bit and had a good amount of space to nuzzle up.

“I love you dear.”

“I love you too.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few dance tracks later, Junko Enoshima got up and did a little bit of MC’ing. “And now everyone, having a good time? Well, it’s time to announce the first batch of winners from the polls! And here to read those names is someone we all know and love. The mysterious…”

She started getting a head count of all the danganronpa alumni, dragging it on for comedic effect. “The mysterious 40-somethingth student that was lying hidden somewhere in this very building… Mukuro Ikusaba!”

The crowd of students clapped, Himiko and Kiyo included. As Mukuro took time to further introduce the concept, showing off the envelopes for good measure, the lovers had a small conversation.

“Do you think we’ll win anything this year?”

“I hope we do. I’m not sure though, since competition is very stiff in all categories.”

“It’d be really cute if we won the couples one” she smiled, holding their arm close. “We may not have won it yet, but there's always a chance.”

“I’ve seen a little bit of buzz online telling fans to vote for us. So we might pull it off.”

It came time, the third category: the cutest off-screen couple. The options were always more open, as there were very few canonical on-screen romances in the show. Mukuro cut open this envelope, like she had done the previous two.

The MC cleared her throat. “Ahem. The winners are… Shinguuji Korekiyo and Yumeno Himiko”

The V3 cast members hooted and hollered. The other 2 main series had just picked up 1 win each and usually SDR2 would sweep these anniversary award contests. Picking up a surprise win would hopefully be a sign.

Escorted by several classmates like they just scored the winning points in a sport together, Himiko and Kiyo went up, and had to make up a speech off the cuff. That’s how much of a last second blindside actually pulling it off was.

Himiko took her spot close to Kiyo’s side and they both stood in front of the mic. Kiyo gently taps it and clears their throat.

“Thank you all, I’m… surprised. I thought for sure it would be another year of us being passed up.” they said

She added “The fans really pulled through!” She raised her award and held it up to clink it with Kiyo’s. “I’m not sure what else to even say.”

“We are grateful for the nomination, and thank everyone who cast a vote.” Asked if they had anything more to say, Kiyo finished with “As difficult as some fans can be, it's always good to feel appreciated.”

Everyone went back down, further winners were to be announced. Neither cared much, but would support friends who could get it. For now all they wanted was to cuddle up together on the bleachers. The rest of the night was for relaxing.

#himikiyo #himikiyo week #himikko yumeno #korekiyo shinguji #danganronpa #danganronpa v3 #fanfic #writing

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sugarcontentco · 2 years

Text

I recently re-watched The Untamed (Mo Dao Zu Shi), 2019, Chinese censored adaption of same sex couple. And wow.

Just wow!

Sat through 50 episodes (40 mins each) of that shit and I do not regret it. When I watch some clips I feel like rewatching it. Again.

I think this was the 3rd time I watched it. After watching the anime and reading the webtoon versions of it, too. I only have the novel left to read.

My heart aches about how they did Wei Ying dirty and I cry happy tears about how he got his hubby, Lan Zhan, standing next to him in every given situation in the later half of the series. "Come back to Gusu with me."

AHHHHHHHH!!!!

The part when Lan Zhan actually showed emotions, how he got furious, felt helpless and cried when he found out about Wei Ying's golden core.

Wowowowowowoowow

I re-watched this scene and a lot of others knowing they were so cool.

I must say, the acting by both the leads is pretty awesome considering Wang Yibo's goofy personality. I couldn't watch the behind the scenes and bloopers and had to remind myself that, it was Wang Yibo, and not Lan Zhan being silly the whole time off-camera. And Xiao Zhang's acting was good regardless of what his personality was like. It hit me right in the kokoro, the emotional scenes, the funny, the witty, the angry and also the dumb scenes were all loveable. His smile is to die for! Their chemistry was cute both on and off camera! <3

Apart from the leads, acting by the supporting cast was also good. Only wish it wasn't as exaggerated but some. But still, it's fine.

The story, fight scenes, setting, location, soundtracks, lighting, colors and costume/make up was super cool. 13/10 would wanna cosplay.

One of the few things I didn't like about the show was the shitty graphics, like come on, we live in the 21st century. Get a better graphics guy to work on those dire wolf, turtle and all those puppets. Especially, the spells and incantantions. ahhh!! I can't even begin to describe how cringe it was. But still it wasn't as bad as compared to what let me down the most.

The exposition. The ending. I (re)sat through the final 2-3 episodes for the long ass explanation of who did what, why, where and how. Like, come on! You could've spared me all the "standing around talking in the same room" drama for over 160 mins of a show I liked. I could've lived without all that. Especially, when all these guys are standing around TALKING and actually trying to be sympathetic towards the bad guy who killed not only a lot of innocent people but also their families and wiped out their clans. I get that the antagonist's strong suit was manipulation and all but I would've atleast punched the guy when he wasn't looking. I also get that your spirit energy is down, but what's martial arts and brute force for ??

Ahhhh!!

All in all

I'll rewatch again, someday!

#the untamed #mo dao zu shi #wang yibo #xiao zhan

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xxmackenziexx · 3 years

Text

Chapter Five

Chapter Summary: Bucky is kinda of a creep in this chapter, and he makes a notable revelation. Reader and Steve get some game time in and we also get to learn a bit about a traumatic event that happened to the reader and some more background information.

Warnings: mentions of a car crash that resulted in mild injury, voyeurism(?), mild sexual content, jealousy, video game violence

Word Count: 3,162

A/N: I'm not 100% in love with certain parts of this chapter and I think it's because there are some parts that may seem random and don't make sense but it'll be explained and discussed more later on. Also, are the POV changes of the same things okay? I try not to get too descriptive with both but there are certain things that happen that need to be addressed by both of them, I think. Is it weird? Too much? Not enough? Please let me know!!!

As you blindly began the process of stripping your clothes and getting into the shower you couldn't get those images of Bucky out of your mind. It was mind-blowing how much you enjoyed it all, that whole interaction just replaying in your mind, over and over again. ‘Baby doll.’ God, how did such a simple phrase turn you on so much? Well, that was easy to figure out, it's because he said them, looking like that. Why? It was so frustrating, he was so frustrating. It's not like you could just ask him out like you would literally any other person, he was different. He was your friend before anything else. And you just could not risk it. Knowing you had no other option, you were determined to simply ignore your insane attraction and the way you felt about Bucky. Plain and simple. Maybe it would go away if you didn't acknowledge it. Yeah....that's a good idea.

Getting out of the shower, you dried your hair quickly then put on your boy shorts and a tank top, doing your best to pretend that everything with Bucky was just gonna go back to normal. It had to. Walking back into your room you decided to text Steve and see if he'd be up for a few rounds of Warzone or something. You needed something to distract you, so you plopped down on your belly near the foot of your bed, idly swinging your feet above your backside as you used your elbows to prop yourself up. Scrolling through your contacts you found Steve's name and typed a quick message. *Hey Steve, you up?* You decided to scroll through various social media pages before your phone buzzed with a response. *hey y/n! Yea I'm up, what's up?* *Was just wondering if you wanted to play something. I said I'd text you. Lol.* *oh yea...I forgot about that. Lol.* *Obviously. Lol. So you gettin' on or no?* *yeah, lemme log on really quick* *Okay, doing the same* You got up from your bed, hit with a sudden wave of grogginess, and yawned and stretched, your arms raising above your head before you went over to the computer to get everything set up to play with Steve. Putting on your headset and placing yourself in your gaming chair, you shivered when the backside of your upper thigh hit the cold leather, opting to pull your knees to your chest in between your arms as they reached out to the mouse and keyboard. Now comfortable, you opened up the game launcher, seeing Steve was already online and added him to your party, and turned the microphone on your headset on before saying hello to Steve. "Hey man, you ready to pay for my new favorite gun?" You laughed as you scrolled through the available bundles for purchase, looking for a specific weapon that recently came out. "A deal's a deal y/n, I'd be honored to." He huffed amused. You hummed in response as you searched for what you wanted when your phone buzzed. You picked it up off the desk and saw a snap chat notification from Bucky and with a sigh, you opened it. All around him was dark, but his face and upper body was exposed in the dim light from his screen, his face was in a forced pout with the caption *I can't sleep:(* And despite your previous wishes to ignore the way your body responded to the sight of him, it betrayed you. You immediately felt your pulse pick up speed and noted that the grainy quality of the photo did nothing to deter from the quality of the subject...and his pecs...and abs...and his puffy pink lips... Snapping back into reality you held your phone above you, getting an angle that showed you sitting in your chair and that you were obviously playing Warzone with the caption *Sorry boutcha. Lol. Wanna play with me and Steve?* Making some small talk with Steve while the purchase went through the various avenues needed you got another notification and opened it. Bucky was sneering, his lip curled up in obvious disgust. No caption needed for that one you thought to yourself. You replied with turning your chair to display the new weapon Steve bought you with your hand held out like one of those ladies on a TV game show presenting a prize, an exaggerated smile on your face and your eyebrows raised high. No caption.

You and Steve were done getting your loadouts the way you wanted them, both of you asking questions and making suggestions along the way, now ready to begin playing. You hadn’t gotten a reply from Bucky so you tried not to think about him, and after a while, it was easy to become engrossed in the game. You and Steve worked well together, both of you made sure to call out any enemies in the vicinity and give each other cover when needed. There was now only one other squad of duos and if you and Steve could take them out, you’d win. With the circle getting smaller and smaller, you found yourself unable to precisely locate the last two players. The circle was located on a hill with rock formations jutting out precariously, you and Steve were currently hiding behind trees, hating the fact that the other two players had the high ground.

“Hey, you good on armor? I got nothing on the heartbeat sensor so we’re gonna have to chance it going up the hill.” You asked Steve, explaining what you hoped was a foolproof plan to secure your combined victory.

“Hold on,” He said as he filled up his armor and checked the ammo on his weapons, “Alright, think this is as good as it's gonna get. Ready?” He asked.

“Ready.” You replied before the two of you slowly and quietly parted ways, branching off on either side of where you assumed the enemy team to be. Steve positioned himself a distance away, crouched next to a tree so he could observe and assist when needed without drawing notice to his position. You were just underneath a rock ledge and quickly threw a grenade overhead to scatter the enemy, moving quickly up the hill and positioned yourself in a way to give Steve a clean shot if needed. You heard footsteps and barely saw a figure running behind a small bush, you took aim and opened fire, downing your enemy then delivering the finishing move.

“Downed one of 'em.” You told Steve, just as shots rang out and you got hit. You quickly tried to find cover before you yourself got downed. Crawling to Steve so he could revive you. “I’m hit, I’m hit! I couldn’t see him.”

“Get your ass over here y/n.” Steve admonished, still scanning the area for the final person between you and victory. He healed you and you used your last two armor plates, not quite at full defenses. You both got the notification a grenade was in your vicinity before you scattered just in time to miss the damage. As Steve went right and you went left you saw the final player behind a large rock, taking aim at Steve. You quickly pinged his location, telling Steve he was right there, but not quick enough before he delivered a series of fatal shots at Steve. You took your chance and took aim, earning you and Steve your victory.

“YES!!” You roared, jolting from your seat with your hands up in the air before you did a little victory jig while Steve laughed and congratulated you.

“I am the best ever. Bow before me.” You said more to yourself than anyone else. Steve only laughed before you finally sat back down, beaming with pride. Neither of you starting another game, electing to instead just talk a bit, not about anything in particular. He asked about when your truck was gonna be out of the shop and you told him what the garage told you, hopefully, Monday. He asked about your photography business. “It’s doing well, I got commissioned by the school board again to do the homecoming photos so that’ll be fun, I’ve got some neat ideas for the photo station that line up with the theme they’re choosing. I’ve had to reschedule a few photoshoots since my truck was dinged up so bad by that damn drunk driver, but I’m just glad their insurance covered the full cost of repairs because my truck was perfect. I had just gotten it done up the way I wanted it.” You chucked as you recalled all the additions you had done to your truck when your phone buzzed again. It was another photo of Bucky looking sad with the caption *I’m sad* and you typed a quick message instead of taking a photo and asked why he was sad.

“Well, I’m happy for you y/n. I'm glad that asshole had to pay for what he did, it’s crazy you didn’t get hurt more than you did in that accident. I saw the damage to your truck and I was sure you were gonna be in the hospital for a few weeks. We were all worried for you. Who is that drunk that early in the damn morning anyway?” He said as he remembered the story going around the school and seeing the pictures you sent to Bucky when he showed Steve.

“Yeah…my truck took most of the hit thankfully.” You said softly, being transported back to the moment it happened. You were at a red light, on your way to school, your light turned green and you pressed off the brake when a smaller truck t boned you, hitting you directly on the driver's door at a speed the police report said was roughly 40-50 miles per hour. You remember the way your body was violently thrown to the side and you could vividly recall the sound of breaking glass, tires screeching and the hiss of the engine as it was damaged. You could smell the smoke and the burnt rubber. Everything happened so fast it took you a second to realize that you had been in an accident, you didn’t know it at the time but you had a concussion, some scrapes here and there and some sprains to your neck and back and you were gonna be sore for quite a while. The offending driver wasn’t so lucky, he was hurt pretty bad but he would live. You spent about two days in the hospital and had to take it easy for a while afterward. The doctors and the police all said you were lucky to be alive, that they’d seen the exact same accident where there were no survivors. It was a bit daunting.

Your phone buzzed, bringing you out of your reverie. It was Bucky again. He was curled up in his bed on his side, one arm angled under head like a pillow. *just miss you* the caption read.

“So with you taking pictures and everything at homecoming are you not gonna have time to dance or anything ?” Steve asked hesitantly, your mind coming back to the present.

You shrugged even though you knew he couldn’t see, force of habit. “I dunno, I wasn’t really planning on going with anyone. I usually don’t.”

He was still slouched on the couch, his imagination going back and forth between her in the shower and other various compromising positions, enjoying the way his briefs became tighter and tighter when she finally came back from her shower. And his breath halted when he had a perfect view of what she was wearing, sitting up slowly as if in a trance.

Her hair was still wet as it fell from her shoulders and landed on her chest, she was wearing a black tank top that she often used when they worked out together, it was tight and he quite enjoyed the way it clung to her stomach, ending shortly below her belly button and how it left nothing to the imagination about the shape and size of her breasts.

Her legs laid bare before him as she was in a pair of boy shorts that resembled boxers but were barely more than a regular pair of underwear. The waistband sitting nicely on her hip bones, not quite meeting the hem of her tank, left a sliver of skin on her lower belly he longed to run his hand over. When she laid on her bed, her back was to him, so he dared to get up from his spot and get a better look as she swung her legs back and forth, the way her shorts rode up a bit gave him a tantalizing glimpse of her thighs and how the muscles there behaved with the action of her legs. Her tank top had now ridden up and he could see the skin of her lower back, just above where the slopes of her cheeks began. He was mesmerized. He had seen her wear that shirt often enough but he had a whole new appreciation for it now. Her fingers were tapping the screen in front of her and he idly wondered what she was doing before he had to practically run back to the couch when she got up. And then she stretched. And dear lord he almost came just at the sight. Her arms reached up high, and she was on her tippy toes, her shirt rode up even more and he fought the urge to roll his eyes in pleasure, not wanting to miss the display before him. He wished more than anything he could feel her soft skin as his hands roamed her body, feeling the way she would tremble at his touch.

Now finished stretching she made her way to the computer, jumping a little as she sat down and repositioned herself. He chuckled at her, knowing the seat was probably cold and he envied the black leather. He saw that she was getting ready to play Warzone and remembered that she had made plans with Steve and he scoffed at the notion. Seeing she was scrolling through the weapons he decided to see if he could fluster her a bit as he opened the app with a yellow background. He snapped a photo, making sure to not give away his position in his room but giving enough away he knew she would enjoy the view, pouting his lips as enticingly as he could.

He saw her reaction to the image and he grinned proudly, knowing he had succeeded, seeing her pose and send a picture in response. Seeing the way her breasts were pressed up against her knees he licked his lip before taking it between his teeth. God, she was sexy. He sat there looking over the photo as he grabbed himself through his pajama pants briefly before the image timed out and he finally noticed her question. He basked in the feeling in his briefs for a small second before he replied. He decided to just show his distaste for joining instead of voicing it. He watched as she angled her chair in a way that displayed her monitor and her face and his phone buzzed, seeing the actual photo he smiled, she was showing him her new gun that Steve bought as a result of that fated bet, the one that kind of changed everything.

He was lost in thought at how much things had changed in such a small amount of time since then and he felt conflicted for the first time about what exactly he was doing. He was being a bit of a creep…right? With a sigh, he realized he needed to stop, realized he was invading her privacy and it wasn’t right, he felt bad. He took one last glance at the window and saw her take out a player before the screen quickly indicated her and Steve won 1st place. He smiled when he could hear and see her reaction. She shot up out of her chair and raised her arms in victory, then began lightly running in place with her arms bent by her sides before she spread her legs with a jump and began swinging her hips in a circle as she did the same with her arms out in front of her. He laughed out loud at how dorky and sexy she could be at the same time. This, this right here is why he loved her. It was confounding and blew him away, but he loved it. He loved her.

He saw they hadn’t started another game and wondered why before he noticed she was talking animatedly about something…with Steve. He didn’t like the feelings he was feeling right now, he had no right to be jealous or angry but that’s the position he found himself in. With a huff he went to his bed and sent her another photo, this time genuinely pouting and being sad. Much to his dismay, she just sent a quick message instead of a photo. He rolled to the side and answered honestly with a photo and caption, he did miss her. He wanted her to be in his bed, laying next to him on her side and with his arm wrapped around her middle, her back to his chest. And then he realized he could technically have that, or a version of that. So, he sent another quick photo asking her if she wanted to come over and watch a movie with him since they were both up. They’d done it before, both of their parents knew it wasn’t all that strange to find them in each other’s beds in the morning or find them empty, whenever they did sneak over to each other’s room at night, they always left a note for their parents. His phone buzzed with a response in the affirmative and his heart soared. He quickly got out of bed and closed his curtains, not wanting her to know what he had done earlier before he walked downstairs to meet her at the door. He sat on the porch steps waiting for her, realizing she had to log off the computer as he was stealing her away from Steve and she also had to leave a note for her mom. Hearing her front door open and her keys jingle as she locked it, he looked in her direction and watched her walk towards him, still in the outfit from earlier. He smiled at her as she reached him and stood up.

“Hey, doll.” He said as he lifted his arm to take her into a side hug, wrapping his arm around the back of her neck and pulling her to his bare chest, and kissing the top of her head.

“Hey, Buck.” She responded quietly, smiling softly as she pulled away from him to open the door and start up the stairs.

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#a/u bucky x reader #teenager bucky x teenager reader #bucky barnes #bucky x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #reader #slow burn #friends to lovers

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alice-beaumont-ravenclaw · 4 years

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A Night to Remember (Part 2)

A/N #1: Here is part 2 of the Celestial Ball fic! This is where all the dance and the romance is! Aaaah, Charlie and Alice... Will they? Won’t they? If you want to know, you’ll need to read on! Also, if you want to see Alice’s full outfit, CLICK HERE. If you want to know which music to listen to during various moments of the fic, CLICK HERE. (Oh, and there is a certain reference to a pants problem I had when drawing the art below...) Other parts in the series: You’ve Got a Friend in Me | Distraction | Something There | One Step Closer | Fashion Emergency | Get Your Head in the Game | Der Walzer von Alice | Of Quidditch and Ballgowns | From Paris, with Love | A Night to Remember (Part 1)

Alice was looking down at her half-eaten sandwich, playing with some crumbs that had fallen to the plate’s side. She rolled them between her fingers, lost in her thoughts.

“Alice!” said Rowan, waving her hand in front of her friend’s face to get her attention.

“Huh? Oh! How long have you been here?” asked Alice, looking at her friend sitting next to her.

“I just arrived. You seem perturbed. What’s bothering you?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact I’ll be dancing in front of thousands of people in just a few hours.”

Alice’s tendency to exaggerate always made Rowan smile. “Well, actually, taking into account that there is a max amount of 5 people per dorm, ten people per house per year, meaning 40 people per year… This means 200 students, minus the prefects and head boy/head girl on the dance floor, meaning 174 but adding the professors, which means about 13, plus Filch, Hagrid, Madam Pomfrey and Madam Pince, that makes about 191. And you also have to think the other prefects might not necessarily go with a fellow prefect like you and Charlie. Not to mention students who are not coming… So you’ll be dancing in front of about 180 people, which represents 18% of a thousand.”

“That makes it so much better,” grumbled Alice, laying her head on the table.

“It’s not that much, Alice,” pointed out Rowan.

“Easy for you to say… If I recall, you told Bill you were willing to practice with him at the beginning, but you would not be his date because there is no way you will dance in front of a crowd…”

“I wouldn’t dance in front of a crowd of 10, to be honest, but that’s me. You are Alice Beaumont, Curse-Breaker extraordinaire. Nothing scares you!”

“Dancing is not like dealing with a Vault, Roro…”

“Roro?”

“Trying something new.”

“Don’t.”

“Ok,” replied Alice, a small smile spreading her lips.

“Ah! I see a smile!”

“Yeah, yeah, alright. I guess I’ll survive. At least I’m dancing with a friend, so no pressure on that side. And Tulip is there to deal with Merula, so that’s being taken care of as well. I guess all that’s left to do is hope for the best…” said Alice, slowly raising her head from the table. “Speaking of Tulip, do you know what happened to Filch?”

“I heard he’s in the infirmary with boils on his face… It also seems like he doesn’t know where the liquid that fell on him came from.”

“Lucky break…” whispered Alice.

“There you are!” said Andre, standing in front of her.

“What do you mean, ‘there you are?’ You’re the one who told me to go eat.”

“That was an hour ago! It’s time to get ready. Chop, chop!” he said, clapping his hands.

“The ball is still in a few hours…” started saying Alice as she got up from the bench.

“Exactly! We need to put you in your dress, do your hair and your makeup… We need to start now, or you’ll be late for the ball!” said Andre before walking away while looking at a pocket watch.

“At least he didn’t say that I was going to be late for a very important date…” mumbled Alice as she walked out the Great Hall.

Alice was back in Andre’s dorm, sitting on his bed as he had told her to wait for him there while he brought Charlie his suit. Talbott had gone to the common room, so Alice was all alone. She noticed that Quidditch magazines were mixed in with fashion publications on Andre’s nightstand, while some old books were on Talbott’s. While Talbott’s side of the dorm was barely decorated, Andre’s walls were covered in posters, and most were of the Pride of Portree. There was also a small picture with an autograph on it. The only thing she could read was “Westwood,” the woman’s surname, she assumed. Two very different personalities were sharing a dorm…

“Finally, I’m ready for your makeover,” said Andre as he entered the dorm.

“Took you long enough. Was there something wrong with Charlie’s outfit?”

“Hum… Let’s just say there was a situation with the pants. A slight sewing problem, really, but really needed to be fixed. Anyway, here, go put this on,” said Andre, handing Alice a garment bag.

Alice took the bag and headed towards the bathroom. “What was wrong with Charlie’s pants?” she asked after a few moments from inside the bathroom.

“Hum… Let’s just say that he looked very excited about the ball?”

Alice’s head appeared from a small gap in the door. “Huh? How could pants show excitement?”

“You know…” he replied, raising his eyebrows.

“Hum, no, I don’t. I’m not an expert like you in fashion,” she said, zipping up the side of her dress as she left the bathroom.

“You sweet, innocent child,” Andre said, pinching his friend’s cheek.

“Ow!” Alice rubbed her cheek, glaring at Andre.

“Sorry,” he said, taking a step back to look at Alice in his creation. “Merlin, I’m good.”

“Ok, great, the dress looks good, but do I look good in the dress?”

“You look great! But I’m still not done with you. By the time your entire look is completed, you will look like a vision. Now, sit,” he said, pulling out the chair in front of his desk. “First, the hair.”

Andre stretched his fingers and rolled his shoulders as if he was preparing for the most daunting task of his life. After stretching his neck, he promptly took a hairbrush and started brushing Alice’s hair after he had removed the headband she was wearing. He went through her hair with swift movements. Once her hair was brushed to his satisfaction, he took out a comb and started parting her hair. Taking the hairs framing her face, he started braiding them, adding strands of hair as he went further towards the back of her head. Little beads of sweat began to form on his forehead, but he hastily wiped them off. As the two braids joined each other, he used a flick of his wand to make them stay together. He then removed the silver threads from the tiara Alice’s grandmother had gifted her. He carefully placed the tiara right below the braid, and once again flicked his wand to make the tiara stay in place without the help of the threads.

After admiring his handiwork for a few seconds, he turned the chair around so Alice would face him. He took out the blush and mascara Penny had lent him. He also pulled out a blush brush from his desk. Alice didn’t bother asking him why he had such a brush in his possession. He dipped the brush lightly in the blush and started applying it to Alice’s cheeks delicately. He then got out the mascara and started applying it slowly to Alice’s eyelashes.

“This is going to take forever,” grumbled Alice as her eyes started to water while he did the lower lashline.

“You can’t rush art,” replied Andre.

After applying the mascara, he took out a lipstick, which was a very pale shade of pink, and started dabbing it on Alice’s lips using his finger. He took a step back and quickly grabbed a handkerchief to remove some of the mascara that had stained Alice’s lower eyelids. He then put her jewelry on, before standing away to take a good look at his fashion protégé.

“I feel like Professor Higgins…” said Andre, looking at Alice.

“I don’t know him… What subject does he teach?” asked Alice, looking up at Andre.

“Well... he’s a fictional character,” replied Andre. “Anyway, all you need now is to put on the shoes, and you’ll be ready.”

“I’ll put them on in the common room. There is no way I’m going down five flights of stairs in those, especially not in a narrow spiral staircase,” she said, leaving the dorm bare feet, holding her shoes in her hand.

“Don’t leave without me!” shouted Andre as the door was closing behind her.

Alice rapidly descended the narrow staircase until she finally arrived in the almost empty common room. Only Talbott was there, reading his book.

“Has everyone left already?” asked Alice.

“Yes, it was very noisy when everyone was getting ready to leave, and the first and second years were gawking at everyone,” said Talbott, looking up from his book. “Are bare feet the new trend in formalwear?”

“Haha, very funny. I told Andre I would put my shoes in here,” said Alice, showing the shoes she was holding as she sat down. “So even the younger students left?”

“Yeah, they all wanted to see everyone’s evening looks,” said Talbott as he took a closer look at Alice. “Hmm, Andre outdid himself.”

“Was I such an ugly duckling before?” asked Alice, glancing at him as she tightened the strap of her shoes around her ankles.

“That’s not what I meant…” started saying Talbott, flustered.

“I know. I’m messing with you, Winger,” replied Alice before sticking her tongue out.

“I’m ready,” said Andre as he entered the common room.

“Wow, you changed quickly,” said Alice as she got up.

“Well, when you look this good…” started saying Andre, tugging at his jacket’s lapel.

Alice lightly punched his shoulder. “Stop bragging, or we might be late to the ball.”

“Milady,” said Andre, extending his arm for her to take.

“Fine… But it’s only because I’m wearing heels,” said Alice as she took his arm.

They stepped out and saw the younger students gawking at what was going on downstairs from the gallery. As they started passing them, some turned to see, and many of the girls were impressed by Alice’s outfit.

“She looks like a princess,” Alice heard one girl whisper to her friend.

“Oh lord… Andre, maybe this is too much,” whispered Alice.

“Just enjoy it, Alice. Tonight, you shall be the belle of the ball,” said Andre, gently squeezing her hand.

As they started to descend the moving staircase, Alice could hear the chatter coming from downstairs. She and Andre were the only ones in the stairs as the ball was about to begin. She heard Tonks’s distinct laugh as they were one staircase away from joining their friends.

Andre quickly released her arm. “Stay here,” he said, before going down a few steps to stand at the top of the stairs that led to the entrance hall. He cleared his throat to get their friends’ attention.

“Andre! Took you long enough! The ball is about to start. Where is Alice?” asked Penny.

“She is right here,” said Andre, looking in Alice’s direction, giving her a small nod as her signal to come into view before quickly going down the stairs himself.

Alice took a deep breath and slowly started to go down the stairs leading to the top landing of the final staircase. She felt uneasy in high heels, and the last thing she wanted to do was to fall. She finally arrived at the top of the stairs and turned to see her friends.

“Oh! Alice!” exclaimed Penny while Tonks wolf-whistled.

Charlie was talking with Barnaby, his back to Alice. Barnaby, who had a little bowtruckle embroidered on his lapel, looked up and stopped paying attention to Charlie, staring at his friend who was slowly coming down the staircase. Charlie turned around, and his eyes widened when he saw Alice. His mouth remained slightly open as he looked at her every move as she carefully came down the stairs. As she stepped down the last stair, Andre lent her his arm once more and brought her to Charlie, who just kept staring in awe.

“Oh, Charlie! You look great in your suit!” said Alice as she looked at Charlie, who was wearing a dark navy Regency-style tailcoat with a high collar and two silver dragons adorning the front, paired with red pants, and black leather derby shoes.

“Huh? What?” said Charlie as if coming out of a trance. “Oh! Thanks! You look great too!”

“The ball is about to begin,” announced McGonagall, standing at the Great Hall’s entrance. “All the students should be inside, except for the Headboy and girl, the prefects, and the students accompanying them.”

“Good luck,” said their friends as they went inside the Great Hall, while Alice, Charlie, and Bill took their position in the line of students that were going to open the ball.

Bill took his position at the front with his date, while Alice and Charlie were at the back of the line as they were only 5th-year prefects. Charlie raised his hand, and Alice delicately placed hers on his. They glanced at each other before looking back in front of them, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm their nerves. They heard the music starting, and Bill immediately started to walk into the Great Hall, followed by the other students. Charlie and Alice looked at each other before taking their first steps into the Hall.

The Great Hall was full of students in formal attire who were all standing around the dancefloor, observing the prefects’ arrival. Alice noticed Merula staring at her and looking surprised, while Diego, who was standing next to her, gave the pair two thumbs up as a sign of encouragement. Alice and Charlie took their position on the dancefloor along with the others, Alice placing her hand on Charlie’s shoulder while he put his on her waist.

“Ready?” he whispered.

“No?”

“Me neither… Well, let’s hope for the best. At least we’re together,” whispered Charlie, to which Alice nodded.

There was a slight pause in the music before it started again, indicating to the dancer that it was time to waltz. The couples started to sway to the music before starting to move around the dancefloor. It looked like a scene straight out of a period movie to the Muggle-borns. For students less familiar with the Muggle world, it looked more like something straight out of the stories their grandparents used to tell. Then, as the music became louder, the leads lifted their partners while turning, allowing the audience to see the magnificent gowns the ladies were wearing. Alice and Charlie kept looking into each other’s eyes, trying to forget all the people who were looking at them. Looking into Charlie’s warm brown eyes made Alice feel better, while his reassuring smile made her heart beat faster.

As they were dancing, their friends were observing them.

“Oh, look! Alice is blushing!” whispered Penny to Andre as she nudged him with her elbow.

“Are you sure it’s not Andre who put too much blush on her cheeks,” whispered Tonks, smirking.

“Unlike you, I have some talent when it comes to applying makeup,” whispered back André.

“Touché,” said Tonks before laughing.

“Look! He just made her twirl in front of us, and they completely ignored us. It’s like they’re in their own world,” pointed out Tulip.

“Can’t believe Alice was worried about the dance all this time,” whispered Rowan. “They look so graceful together.”

“Isn’t it romantic,” whispered Badeea as she sketched on a small pad.

“Are you actually sketching during a ball?” asked Ben.

“Of course! How many other balls will I get to see in my lifetime?” replied Badeea as the ladies were lifted once more by their partners.

The music eventually slowed down a bit, allowing others to join. The first to enter the dancefloor were Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, who were soon joined by other students, including Merula and Diego, as well as Penny and Andre. Soon the dancefloor was filled with students, as well as some professors, waltzing. While Diego was supposed to be the lead, he felt like Merula was making him dance more quickly than the others. He soon realized she was trying to catch up to Beaumont and Weasley. Annoyed, he made a sharp turn so that they would dance further away from the couple. Andre and Penny kept looking over at their two friends, who were now both blushing, though neither seemed to be aware of it.

“One Galleons that he asks her out tonight,” said Penny to her partner.

“Two that they have their first kiss tonight,” replied Andre.

Most of their other friends had remained on the side, Rowan and Ben refusing to dance in front of so many people, while Badeea kept sketching. Tulip and Tonks danced together on the side, laughing as they tried to lift each other and failed. Rowan observed her best friend, smiling, as she swayed to the music. She was happy to see Alice thinking about something other than the vaults.

The leads spun their partners before catching them at the waist. All the skirts twirling on the dancefloor made for a dizzying spectacle as the couples whirled around the dancefloor, at varying speed, depending on the music. At last, the music became louder and slightly faster as it approached the end, making the couples dance a bit more quickly, making them all seem like a blur to the audience. As the music ended, the dancers curtsied to their partners.

Alice and Charlie looked at each other with a smile of relief. They held each other’s hands before hugging each other in a tight embrace.

“Well, you two were quite the pair,” said Andre as he made his way towards them with Penny.

“Is there a piece of gossip I should start spreading around?” added Penny grinning.

“What are you talking about?” asked Alice, looking at the blond Hufflepuff.

Charlie looked at his friends, annoyed. They were not even trying to be subtle anymore. “Just ignore them,” he said, placing an arm around her waist. “We should go to our table.”

Charlie guided Alice to one of the prefects’ tables, where Bill was also sitting with his date, under the watchful eyes of Penny and Andre.

“Hmmm, I’m afraid we might lose our wagers,” said Andre as they made their way to their table.

“Don’t be so sure, the night is still young,” said Penny, smirking.

After dinner, the Weird Sisters took their place on the stage and started playing their hit song (and the only song Alice had ever heard them play), “Do the Hippogriff.”

Many of the students went to the dance floor and started to dance to the rhythm of the music. Alice could see Penny, Andre, Tonks, and Tulip shaking their heads to the rhythm while jumping. Bill led his date to the dance floor, while Charlie and Alice remained seated, the Ravenclaw beating the tempo of the music with her fingers on the table.

From the corner of his eye, Charlie noticed Barnaby approaching their table. While Charlie didn’t like the idea of dancing again in front of everyone, he took Alice’s hand and led her to the dance floor. There was no way Barnaby Lee was going to cut in on his time with Alice. Especially not if it was to dance with her. As they joined the group of dancing students, he made her do an inside turn, before they started to shimmy to the beat, smiling at each other.

When the song ended, and they started to go back towards their table, Penny grabbed Alice’s arm and whispered something in her ear, while Andre and Charlie were having a conversation about Quidditch.

“Wait, how did you manage to…” started saying Alice as she heard the Weird Sister play the first notes of a song she knew all too well, along with nearly all Muggle-borns and many half-bloods.

“It took some convincing, but I managed to make them include some Muggle song in tonight’s repertoire, even if Myron didn’t find them dark enough to his taste,” replied Penny as she dragged her friend near the front of the stage.

“I really would love to know what you used to convince him to play Ghostbusters,” said Alice as they started to dance.

“Oh, that one was easy. I had to get creative for Footloose and Y.M.C.A.”

“Wait… THE Weird Sisters are going to play Y.M.C.A.?!”

“Yup! But Myron’s not going to sing that one. No amount of blackmail… uh, I mean, convincing, would make him sing a fun song.”

“Who will?”

“Who else?” said Penny, nodding in Diego’s direction, who seemed busy warming up his voice while Merula was giving him the cold shoulder and pouting.

“What’s up with Snyde?”

“Eh, ignore her. She’s just pissed because you were the center of attention.”

“I was not! Everyone is wearing such gorgeous outfits. I nearly asked Andre if he designed everyone’s outfit.”

“You are too precious. Honestly, though, you and Charlie probably have the best outfits. Barnaby was so jealous of the two silver dragons on his chest. And I heard a lot of murmurs about a certain sparkling blue dress, not to mention your tiara. You two looked like a couple straight out of a fairytale or a period drama.”

Alice shrugged at that last comment as she kept dancing to Ghostbusters. Andre had also hinted at the whole fairytale scenario. She didn’t know what her friends were on about with the whole fairytale thing. Charlie wasn’t a prince, and she was no princess either, at least not literally. Maybe it was the tiara? Perhaps it was her tendency to read fairytales? But it wasn’t because she read fairy tales that she necessarily believed in the unrealistic love stories found in them. Anyway, no one said anything about love, right?

With these thoughts in mind, she glanced towards Charlie, who was sitting at a table, deep in conversation with Andre and Barnaby. As if on cue, he looked in her direction at that moment, and their eyes met. He smiled at her; she smiled back. As she did so, she felt her heart thumping faster and a warm sensation enveloping her body. She started to feel as if there were too many people around her as they all did the Y.M.C.A moves. Her chest was tightening, making it hard to breathe. She quickly made her way out of the crowd, Penny trying to catch up to her, to no avail.

Alice opened the door leading to the Entrance Hall, and quickly closed it behind her. She leaned against it, holding her hand over her chest as she tried to catch her breath. She didn’t understand what had happened. Maybe she was getting sick? She placed a hand on her forehead. No, her temperature seemed normal. Maybe there were just too many people…

She made her way toward the courtyard, hugging herself to keep warm in the Scottish winter. She stood at the edge of the courtyard, looking up at the starry night sky.

“Nothing beats the real thing, huh?” said someone behind her as a jacket was placed on her shoulders.

She turned her head and saw Charlie standing beside her.

“I wanted to make sure you were alright. You ran out of there looking frantic,” he said, looking at her worriedly.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to worry you. I just felt like… Like I was suffocating? I don’t know… I just kept hearing my own heartbeat and feeling hot. My head was just telling me to get out,” tried to explain Alice.

“Well, as long as you are ok now,” said Charlie, glancing in her direction as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Mmm, I am, thanks… You can go back to the ball. Wouldn’t want you to miss all the fun on my account.”

“Nah, it’s fine. Diego commandeered a guitar and started singing in Spanish… Something about a bamboleo? Or is it a bambolea? Either way, many girls are swooning over him. Anyway, I’d much rather spend time with you,” he said with a shy smile, a blush appearing on his cheeks.

“Oh! Hum… Thanks,” replied Alice, looking back at the star as she felt her heartbeat quicken again, and her face, unbeknownst to her, had become redder.

Charlie stared at her. Was Alice Beaumont blushing? Could she possibly have feelings for him? “I liked dancing with you this evening,” said Charlie, trying to break the silence.

“Me too,” replied Alice, still looking up at the sky.

“I’m happy I got to dance with you…”

“Me too.”

“Too bad we’ll probably never do it again…”

“What do you mean?” asked Alice, suddenly looking at him.

“Well, I don’t think we’ll ever attend a ball again,” pointed out Charlie.

“Oh, right,” replied Alice, looking down.

“Well, we could have one last dance…”

“Not sure I want to go back in there,” said Alice, nodding in the Great Hall’s direction.

“Who said anything about going back in there? We have the courtyard all to ourselves; the night sky matches the theme way better than all the decorations in the Hall…”

“Hey! We put a lot of effort into those decorations!”

“I meant that they couldn’t beat the real thing.”

“True… But there is one problem: no music.”

“So? We practiced plenty of time without music,” said Charlie, extending his hand to her.

Alice looked at his hand, then into his eyes. She smiled as she shook her head, taking his hand. “Fine. Just let me put on your jacket properly, unless…”

“Nah, I’m fine. A turtleneck plus the gloves should keep me warm enough,” he said, taking her hand and leading her outside after she had put on his jacket.

Alice placed her hand on his shoulder, while he gently placed his free hand on her waist as they had done earlier, but this time, there was no pressure. They were just together. They started to sway together in the courtyard, slowly going around the fountain. The only sound they could hear was the wind and a little bit of the music coming from the Great Hall. The only witnesses to their dance were the stars twinkling in the sky. Charlie made Alice turn, making her skirt twirl, and the sparkles on it looked as if they were trying to compete with the stars as they glittered. He then caught her and lifted her, turning around as he did so, her hands resting on his shoulders as she looked down at him, smiling. Gently putting her back on the ground, they went on waltzing around the courtyard, a shy smile on their faces as they kept looking into each other’s eyes. They were in their own world, the heavens watching over them with benevolence. Charlie was lost in her green eyes, remembering the first time he had noticed her in this very courtyard when she had duelled Merula by stuffing her wand up the Slytherin’s nose. Alice looked at his smile and thought of the time he had caught her in his arms in Hogsmeade. She recalled being a bit mad when he had made fun of her book, but who could stay angry at someone with such an endearing smile. Not to mention he had helped her so many times since that day. Writing essays on creatures, finding the forest vault… He was always by her side…

They slowly stopped dancing, staring into each other’s eyes. Charlie leaned in closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist, their faces nearing each other. As she looked at his lips coming closer, she started to close her eyes when…

“Alice!” shouted Rowan from the doorway.

Charlie and Alice stepped away from each other as if suddenly remembering where they were.

“Alice! I’ve been looking everywhere for you! We still have some packing to do for tomorrow!” shouted Rowan as she hugged herself to keep herself warm. “What are you doing out in the cold? You could catch a cold!”

“I’m coming,” said Alice as she started to walk towards her friend, before turning towards Charlie. “Oh, your jacket…”

“Keep it,” said Charlie, looking at her with tenderness in his eyes.

She looked at him for a moment. “Thanks,” she said with a small smile before walking back inside with Rowan.

A/N #2: Well, looks like Charlie didn’t kiss the girl this time around, but maybe Alice is realizing something... Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to leave a comment, and know that I am always open to constructive criticism. I’m not sure yet what my next fic will be. Maybe a musical sequel to this (mostly because I know a song that would fit so well after the events of this fic). Oh, and if you are wondering why Ghostbusters seems like a special song for Alice and Penny, read this fic. For the fic where Alice stuffs her wand up Merula’s nose, CLICK HERE. For the fic where Charlie catches Alice in his arms, CLICK HERE.

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animationforce · 3 years

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Helen McCarthy and the importance of women in anime and manga fandoms

(This interview took place in 2019, now published for the first time in a two-part series. Read part one here.)

A longtime fan of Japanese comics, British writer Helen McCarthy was determined to showcase women’s place in art and fandom.

Before she achieved acclaim as a manga expert, McCarthy experienced significant sexism in the world of publishing. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, comics and cartoons were considered “kids’ stuff," therefore no specialized knowledge was required to review or write about them. As a result, publications reviewing manga often gave assignments to male staff instead of paying a specialty (or female) freelancer.

“My personal issues with sexism really aren't different from anyone else's, and sadly things haven't changed enough in almost 40 years,” McCarthy said via email. “Patronizing, condescending gatekeepers, both male and female, remarks about my appearance, questions about my personal life, uninvited chat-ups, the lot. I had no physically unpleasant experiences because despite being small and apparently defenseless, I am sarcastic, loud and threatening when necessary.”

To combat this sexism and gatekeeping, McCarthy made Anime UK gender neutral as a matter of policy. It made sense to do so, as very few writers at the time had working knowledge of Japanese animation. Today, however anime and manga news sources like Anime News Network (ANN) are typically open to hiring anyone who has the skills they require.

But despite that inclusivity, McCarthy added that “women starting out in the field seem to face more active hostility and negativity. It baffled me that those attitudes come both from a section of the male anime community and from women who collaborate with patriarchal views, or men impersonating women online.”

While women have always existed in the world of anime and manga, as artists, fans, or anything in between, they have never been the majority. In recent years, women have claimed space for themselves in manga fandom, and are “very feisty, very vocal and very well organized,” McCarthy noted.

McCarthy recalled a group of young teen women who created an anime-focused zine, developing a space for girls like themselves. A number of those artists are now scholars, professionals, and “just astonishing people.” There is also a cohort of Western manga artists who were teenagers when McCarthy began writing about Japanese animation in English. Among those remarkable women are Leah Holmes who is working on her PhD and studying the unrecorded early history of anime in the UK, as well as artists Laura Watton, Emmeline Dobson, and Mary Beaird whose Elephant, Elephant, Hippo, Rhino…? comic strip is a favorite of McCarthy’s.

More than 30 years later, McCarthy sees the fandom as a much more inclusive place where women can not only claim their right to be there, but have their own space. Sites like Crunchyroll, My Anime List, Naruto Forums, as well as a long list of fan-made forums and social media platforms, have provided anime and manga fans with the space to get together and discuss the things that they love without fear of being ostracized. This space has allowed female fans to showcase their prolific commitment to the genre.

“Now I see young women claiming their rights, staking their claim in anime and manga fandoms,” McCarthy said. “[They’re] producing amazing artwork, producing amazing costumes. And the great thing is that there are now more and more young men who are willing to work with them on their own terms."

Despite the strides that women have made in the world of anime and manga fandoms, there is still significant misogyny and sexism within the genre. Although some stories feature a strong female protagonist (and sometimes multiple female protagonists), problematic, sexist tropes exist throughout manga/anime. As user Zylania noted on the forum Amino, women are often portrayed as stupid, defenseless damsels in distress. Their breasts are often oversized, distracting focal points for male characters and, in some cases, the women don’t even have heads or faces to differentiate themselves. In some anime and manga, females are never shown above the neck. Additionally, the increasingly popular Ahegao shirts — a term from hentai (Japanese pornography) for a woman’s often exaggerated orgasm face—are sold at manga/anime conventions, which puts female sexuality under a distinctly male gaze.

“Japan is a modern, developed society like America, Russia and Europe, and racism and sexism are not exactly dead in any of those areas,” McCarthy explained via email. “It's a combination of centuries of male privilege and prioritizing the male gaze and male concerns. The attitudes and history that gave the Internet the Captain Marvel trolling incident are alive and well all over the world. Most Japanese people have very good manners, which can make it seem as if outdated attitudes like that couldn't possibly exist there, but Japan isn't some fairyland where everyone is magically polite, reasonable and politically correct, except in our dreams.”

However, feminist women and works do exist in the genre, though it can be difficult to find them. San from the film Princess Mononoke and Major from Ghost in Shell are two characters often referenced by fans who are looking for strong, iconic women. McCarthy said Princess Mononoke is Hayao Miyazaki’s best example of a feminist character, since San does not rely on a man (Ashitaka) to rescue her and exists independently from male characters. San is free to live as she pleases and does not ultimately “belong” to Ashitaka by the end of the film.

So how can a feminist watch anime and still be empowered? McCarthy encourages women to watch everything they can. “Women in the fandom have to know what’s going on outside of what they’re watching. If you don’t know what the men in the community are watching, you can’t combat the concepts they are being given about you as a woman,” she said.

McCarthy encouraged feminist anime fans to be fearless. “You decide what's feminist and what isn't. I hope that that encourages a few other young feminists to go out and do what they do so beautifully, which is just be great women.”

After decades spent writing books and articles, and making appearances, McCarthy has spent the last 10 years slowing down. McCarthy is most concerned that the work she’s doing is worth being done—and being done well.

She has devoted her life to advocating for inclusivity in fandom and hopes to pave the way for other women to follow in her footsteps. McCarthy encourages other women to embrace their potential, especially as men become more in tune with the equality presented through feminism.

“My response to anyone who tells me they can do better work that I do — and trust me, there have been and are a lot of them — is to say, ‘Please, do it,’” McCarthy wrote. “I absolutely love reading great work by other people. I will be delighted to read yours, either right now or when you stop wasting your time sniping at other people and get around to writing it.”

READ PART ONE HERE

Amanda Finn is a Chicago based freelance journalist who spends a lot of evenings in the theater. She is a proud member of the American Theatre Critics Association. Her work has been found in Ms. Magazine, American Theatre Magazine, the Wisconsin State Journal, Footlights, Newcity and more. She can be found on Medium and Twitter as @FinnWrites as well as her website Amanda-Finn.com.

#anime #manga #japanese animation #women in animation #helen mccarthy #amanda finn

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popwasabi · 4 years

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“Westworld III” takes several steps forward...and several steps back (REVIEW)

Created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy

Starring: Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright, Aaron Paul, Ed Harris, Vincent Cassel, Tessa Thompson, Thandie Newton

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

Season three of HBO’s “Westworld” cleans up many of the issues season two had but ultimately falls short of season one’s loftier thematic ideas.

It’s cinematically sharper, it’s about as well paced and fun as the show has ever been and that on it’s own makes it worth watching and certainly worth continuing the series going forward but for fans hoping it might have something new to say in the vein of its hyper meta-textual and thematic commentary of the first season it may leave you disappointed.

Season three may have raised the stakes of the series with its pending (and frankly, all too timely) apocalyptic vibes going on in the story but it lowers the bar on its cerebral nature opting more for fast paced thrills over anything more profound or hadn’t said already.

That said, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it anyways for better…and worse.

“Westworld” season three picks up not too long after the events of season two as Dolores has infiltrated human society and begun working on her master plan to bring it all down. She has spared Bernard, who now spends his life as butcher outside the major cities but he often wonders where she is and when this apocalypse will begin. Meanwhile a veteran named Caleb spends his life doing the same mundane tasks and mercenary work everyday to make ends meet pondering his existence as he deals with his PTSD. He decides to break the cycle however when one day he finds Dolores shot in an alleyway and joins her on her quest to start a revolution.

“Westworld” is one of the few series that hooked me immediately with its first episode.

Where some series take their time to gain momentum before going into overdrive in their season finale, season one’s “The Original” grabbed my attention from the start with a combination of mystery, action, stellar acting, and the kind of cerebral humanist story-telling I expect and want from the cyberpunk genre.

As someone with a father who talked extensively about myth, theme, and got me to listen to old Joseph Campbell essays on CD growing up, a series that explored story-telling on a meta level with a high octane LARP concept setting was everything someone like me could ask for in a science fiction series.

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(Seriously, there was some compelling analytical story-telling dialogue in this series.)

So invested I was in this tale of synthetics gaining agency and humans exploring their own personal myth-making and what it said about themselves made me a huge fan early on, proudly proclaiming it to be the best show on HBO several years ago.

I was so certain this series was creatively the best thing on television at the time that I strongly considered getting a maze tattoo like that in the show to proclaim my brand-new fandom.

But knowing there was still more seasons on the horizon, I held off thinking I should probably see this through before doing anything that brash.

Well, a few years later I feel pretty good about that decision…

(Imagine how fans who named their newborns Daenerys or Khalessi feel right now...)

I remember thinking at the end of season one “Where can they possibly go from here still? Other LARP destinations in this cyberpunk world? A robot vs human war? How can the world expand?”

The problem is these thoughts did not really ask the most important question following that first season; “What more does it actually have to say?”

The first season is, in my opinion, a perfect season of television. It’s a brilliant take on the stories we tell ourselves, the choices we make that define us in our personal myths, and the exploration of our nature and how that relates to choice all while playing out this synthetic mystery plot. The entire first season pulls all these arcs and ideas together through characters like Bernard/Arnold, William/The Man in Black, and of course Dolores. They all, more or less, complete their arcs in that first season and there’s not really much needed to be said beyond that when you really think about it. If the series ended on Dolores murdering Ford and the Delos guests in the season finale that honestly would have been a perfect ambiguous ending to send the story off on.

(Kind of itss own meta commentary on the journey of a fan and an ever-increasingly cynical series...)

But because this is HBO, and “Game of Thrones” is no longer the driving force of premium TV, Westworld MUST continue because it’s the new cash cow for the channel. Whether or not writer/producers Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan really knew what they wanted to do following that first season is anybody’s guess but it’s hard not to see that they have struggled a bit since that point.

Season two is a mixed bag, where the characters literally feel like they’re going in circles. Plotlines get muddled, characters become hyper versions of themselves, and while certain ideas and episodes reached similar levels of brilliance that the first season had it still lacked the narrative sharpness of the first season and that has a lot to do with the characters having mostly no other driving force besides survival and simply getting to the next physical plot point.

It just didn’t have much more to say and frankly in a story about stories that’s pretty damn important.

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(This episode from season 2 is still one of its best.)

To their credit, Joy and Nolan appear to rectify quite a few issues season two had with season three. Again, it’s faster, better paced, there’s a clearer destination at the end for its characters and not to mention a pretty compelling villain for this season’s plot in Serac played by the brilliant Vincent Cassell.

But it suffers ultimately the same problem; it has nothing truly new to say.

This is not to say the season is without any meaningful messages or metaphors. It’s quite critical of our hyper surveillance and information gathering state, might even be the best depiction to date on the broader implications and consequences of a world where we all have our personal information readily online to mined and plundered by big businesses and government. Caleb, played by the always great Aaron Paul, is a good avatar for the everyman who has grown jaded and disenfranchised by this system. Though he spends most of the season looking overly shocked and gape-jawed at just about everything, it’s hard not to feel empathy and a connection to this character as we are quite literally living in a bit of a cyberpunk hell as it is these days and treated just as much as expendable commodities right now.

(You fucking jackasses are arguing for the wrong things! You’re all being swindled and cheated for nothing! *photo “unrelated”*)

The season is generally best when the focus is on him, as the first episode delivers a strong start in the same way season one did.

Where the season begins to fall apart though is when quite literally the world “Westworld” inhabits begins to do so itself. Serac’s Rehobaum, which reminded me just a little too much of “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’s” Deep Thought, releasing all its data to the world and everyone discovering they’re basically all dangerous assholes is almost hilarious to me.

Though the idea of hyper data controlling our every move is a good cyberpunk metaphor to jump off of, the way this bit is executed is a little over exaggerated and clumsy.

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(Though it does deliver a pretty powerful scene regardless.)

This isn’t actually a tremendous problem with season three, but it doesn’t do much to add to what we already understand about the story; which is how narrative controls us and how important choices and free will is to that. All this is already told and expanded on in the first season through Dolores, all season three does it bring it to a macro level and put that onus on the humans instead of the hosts. The hosts were already a metaphor for humanity anyways so again the story in some ways hasn’t changed much since season one.

It's interesting to have the narrative of the hosts turned on the humans but thematically it feels redundant.

I’ll add that this isn’t the worst idea they could’ve gone with, it works in moving the physical aspect of the story forward for sure, and I wouldn’t even classify it as a bad one, but again the problem is the story has largely run out of new things to tell us.

We like stories because we want to learn some truth about ourselves, whether we want it to or not, and Anthony Hopkins’ Ford makes a great point of this in season one. This has been the purpose of myths and legends since the dawn of time and it’ll be no different even when the 37th Fast & Furious comes out in 40 years. You could argue that the message of Westworld deserves repeating or that it’s not important to the entertainment value it still provides, and you might be right. But for a series like this, that is so invested in what stories mean I don’t think it’s wrong to think there should be more to it than this.

(Maybe, I should’ve...)

Of course, there’s still plenty more to see out of “Westworld” for the foreseeable future as HBO won’t be canceling it anytime soon and certainly it’ll have its chance to still tackle more ideas and themes in the future but, at this point at least, it’s been less meaningful that its first season.

There are other problems too, namely Dolores constantly changing and unclear revolution plans and arcs resolved offscreen, certain side plots with other characters ultimately going nowhere, and a fairly predictable twist with Caleb, but this is the crux of the problem with the series as it stands now and the one worth mentioning the most.

(And Maeve, *sigh* oh Maeve...)

That said, season three really is a lot of fun despite my issues with the narrative. The pacing, as mentioned, is great from start to finish. I was never bored or disinterested during this season, despite its flaws, and the action bits are frankly better than they’ve ever been as the series goes full cyberpunk in parts with great robot on human and robot on robot action.

The cinematography is sharp and striking too as Jonathan Nolan shows he’s definitely Christopher’s brother with some beautiful, haunting shots of the future Los Angeles city Gotham-esque skyline set to Ramin Djawadi’s excellent cyberpunk score that gives the new season a more noire-ish feel that would make Vangelis and Hans Zimmer proud.

(In the future Los Angeles will be Singapore!)

The acting is still stellar of course. Though Jeffrey Wright’s Bernard is largely wasted in this season and his plot goes nowhere, his scene with Gina Torres in the finale is touching. Luke Hemsworth is dry as hell in a good way as Chief of Security turned personal buddy bodyguard to Bernard as Ashley Stubbs. Ed Harris is wicked and dastardly as always as William and of course Evan Rachel Wood is solid as the driving force of the series as Dolores.

(Out of context season 3 spoiler.)

The finale doesn’t leave much to say beyond a pending machine vs human war though which has been building up since the first season anyways. While I can see some possibilities for an interesting direction here, I can’t say I’m as intrigued as even the finale to season two left me.

In some ways, season one left me not too much unlike William going into season’s two and three; looking for additional meaning in something that wasn’t looking to tell me anything deeper, at least right now. Perhaps the maze just isn’t for me anymore but moving forward I’ll be lowering my expectations.

(Oh my God! Meta commentary on meta commentary! It’s meta-ception! I’m beginning to question the nature of my reality!!!)

“Westworld” remains a fun cyberpunk action series that can hold your attention span for an hour, and I think it’ll maintain that energy consistently going forward, but it might’ve been best left where it was when Dolores put a bullet in Ford’s brain.

I do hope it can regain some of its original spark at some point but until then…it doesn’t look like anything (deep) to me.

VERDICT:

3.5 out of 5

You said it, Marshawn...

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feminetflix · 4 years

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De atracos y ab*rtos - Of heists and ab*rtions or How women are being robbed.

⚠️ this contains major spoilers for LA CASA DE PAPEL / MONEY HEIST season 1, specifically episode 3!

Personally, I have experienced the series la casa de papel (original title) or money heist as progressive, realistic and not afraid to deal with certain topics like domestic violence which I will be commenting on in posts yet to be published, female trans representation and occasionally peppered with numerous feminist parentheses (see characters like Nairobi and dialogues around/involving her opinion).

However, there are certain aspects I did not enjoy to watch / do not support. That is normal and every show has its flaws, those resulting all the more dangerous however, as money heist is not just any show. The series is thanks to its popularity by now a relevant aspect of people’s opinion-forming and plays into the perception of many people all around the world, coming from different cultures and having experienced all kinds of upbringing. The target audience is not specified, yet crime drama (the genre) is estimated to target both females and males aged 15-40 years old. Means, also targeting minors and adolescents. Again, all cultures / religions / races / classes etc etc included.

I am fully aware that this kind of range was not expected and therefore not taken into account by producers, talking about the first two seasons that were solely meant for a Spanish audience, not an international one. (The series was initially intended as a limited series to be told in two parts. It had its original run of 15 episodes on Spanish network Antena 3 from 2 May 2017 through 23 November 2017. Netflix acquired global streaming rights in late 2017). The analysed / discussed scene is indeed part of this maybe not so carefully crafted content. Cough.

Let’s get right into it.

Characters interacting: Mónica Gaztambide (Esther Acebo), one of the hostages who was also Arturo Román's secretary and introduced as his mistress and “Denver” (Jaime Lorente), one of the robbers participating in the heist [Denver is an alias, all robbers being referred to with city names]

Context: Mónica has an affair with Arturo Román (Enrique Arce) -hostage and former Director of the Royal Mint of Spain- which leads to an unwanted pregnancy. Numerous factors influence her (for now) final decision: she doesn’t want the child. Shortly after, the robbery unfolds and she’s taken hostage among other people. She then requests an ab*rtion pill, which at some point arrives in the mint alongside other medical supplies. The scene analysed: one of the robbers (Denver) is supposed to hand her mentioned ab*rtion pill. Before that he holds an emotional speech on the subject, morally risen forefinger, accusations and tears included.

Here the dialogue without comments:

————Now my opinion / the actual post:

“You need money, right?” One might think that the amount of money seen in this frame (20.000,-€ approx. $21.701,50 according to Denver) is an exaggerated, way too generous gesture. Let me tell you, it is not.

According to a 2017 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average cost of raising a child from birth [to] age 17 is $233,610. If that made your heart skip a beat, take a deep breath before you read on. Incorporating inflation costs, it will be more like $284,570. Since that’s based on 2015 numbers, we can expect the cost will be even higher, babies born since then.

[…] This average includes everything from housing, food and transportation to healthcare, education and childcare to clothing, personal care items and entertainment.

Let me now remind you that Mónica is a secretary, so she likely earns (barely) enough money to be financially independent herself (taking into account that she lives near or maybe even in Madrid, her workplace, the Royal Mint situated there, so housing alone is hella expensive) and can’t really expect reliable support coming from the potential child’s father, Arturo Román, either, who initially denied support himself, their relationship a secret to the family and wife he already has. Phew.

Btw: A University of California at San Francisco study found that women who were turned away from ab*rtion clinics […] were three times more likely to be below the poverty level two years later than women who were able to obtain ab*rtions. 76% of the "turnaways" ended up on unemployment benefits, compared with 44% of the women who had ab*rtions.

“Enough to get the kid diapers until he graduates.” The problem or let’s say points raised above are now also being ridiculed or not taken seriously to say the least.

She takes the money, sticking to her decision however. “So, what’s the problem?” Or “Then, what is it?” A million additional things, Denver, believe it or not a potential child is a big deal. That and none of your business.

Also, see the reaction? How he stares at her in disbelief (and possibly even disgust, see the risen corner of his lips?). How he looks at her as if she were heartless, selfish, a monster – the picture often painted in this debate when it comes to women who decide to terminate a pregnancy. How he doesn’t respect her “no, thanks” and continues. Continues influencing her, later on even starts to mansplain his way into her stone cold heart. Okay, then let me continue as well.

“That he’ll f*ck up your life? […] Your son. Better to have your life f*cked up by your son than any of these sons of b*tches. Or me.” Call it ‘f*ck up’ or not – that is entirely her perception, her decision and I’d dare to say…she knows best.

First, because regardless of the fact that she is a woman and you are not – well it is indeed her life and, uhm, excuse me Denver, you’re no sibling, no friend, no acquaintance, quite the contrary, you have known her for what? Three minutes and already jump to conclusions?

Take the privilege of explaining her how a child would f*ck or not f*ck up her life?!!

Secondly, what makes him assume the gender of this cluster of cells, this potential future life, this basis for a potential life that may later on develop into a life (it is not a walking talking baby boy already, my friend!).

Personhood begins after a fetus becomes “viable” (able to survive outside the womb) or after birth, not at conception.

Does it provide a smooth transition for that awfully funny and figurative “son” – “sons of b*tches” (org. Hijo – hijos de p*ta) line or is it literal propaganda?

Why does he say “your son”, although he cannot possibly know? I’ll tell you. In order to distract the audience from the fact that he is referring to a pea-sized basis for a potential life by painting the picture of an already existing male human being. Mónica, do you really want to murder your son? Mónica, does that cute little doe eyed baby boy really f*ck up your life? Yeah, propaganda at its best.

Also, another example for ridiculing the point “a child would destroy my life” by comparing an unwanted pregnancy to a literal robbery at gun point. Great one.

“This f*cks your life up. A kid doesn’t.” Do you see that raised gun, that is quite literally an extension of a raised index finger? Wow, the drama. On a different note, did you notice the symbolism? A weapon stands for death, murder and guess what is also often equated with murder.

“How do you know what f*cks up my life? What do you know?” Finally. Exactly. He doesn’t know her, like at all. He doesn’t know her situation and no, he’s also not the pregnant one or anyone who would have to worry about that.

What do you answer to that, hmm? Let’s make this whole dispute even more emotional and dramatic. That ‘a cute little son isn’t as bad as a robbery’ didn’t convince her?

Let’s try with an extraordinary f*cked up and tragic life story, nobody asked for. Its goal? Showing the oblivious, naive, little secretary what real ‘f*ck up’ means, despite the evident lack of any sort of knowledge when it comes to her life (story). Again, conclusion-jumping and wallowing in prejudice at its best.

Have a look at his expression while ‘lecturing’ her. How disrespectful, how belittling. ‘Oh please, what do you know about life?’. On a wider scale: ‘How could we possibly trust women to rationally and with a clear conscience decide such things for themselves – concerning life and death, if they have not the slightest idea, living in their bubble of security and stability and no real problems’ etc. This is everything but taking women and their reasoning abilities, their judgement seriously.

“My mother was going to ab*rt me.” Now the audience doesn’t only have the mental image of a potential cute little son, it is furthermore provided with the image of a living, breathing human being standing right in front of them. Just look at him and his pleading puppy dog eyes. No actual child actor could have done it better.

Thank god she did not go through with the ab*rtion, right? Oh thank god she was not allowed to.

Taking advantage of this frame to remind you of the fact that we are still talking about a POTENTIAL future life, not an existing one that is nevertheless put above the mother’s already existing life in this impudent, low and unfair debate.

“But first…she inhaled the heroin she had to sell to be able to pay for the ab*rtion. Then she was caught by the police. Between jail, drugs and the police, I was born. What do you know?”

1)Adding even more emotions, subtle accusations and drama to that oh so rational dispute? Check. Making his situation seem two thousand times worse than hers (which he, again, has no clue about)? Check. Subconsciously painting the picture of reckless, irresponsible drug addicts/ “lowlifes” or generally female members of “society’s margins” usually being the ones to abort and make it seem like the state’s or whoever’s responsibility to prevent them from deciding for themselves? Check.

2) Then he even tears her valid ‘what do you know (about my life)’ out of the initial context of being confronted with endless assumptions and prejudice and blows it way out of proportion in order to demonstrate the insignificance of … everything concerning her? Her background, her life, her reasons. Everything.

And FINALLY *drum rolls* the wild theories and hypotheses and presumptions she was dying to hear because since he, I repeat for the twelfth time, has no actual clue about her life, let’s make up one.

“Because it seems that you don’t have a very exciting job. And maybe outside of work your life is not that great either. Or what is it that you do? ‘Kilates’? And Friday night drinks, right? What a f*cking drag. Another plan ruined by the kid[…]” That and the entire following paragraph. Wow. All accusations thrown at women who decide to abort in one.

Because OF COURSE a middle aged, down to earth, intelligent, responsible woman like Mónica Gaztambide has no other reason for terminating a pregnancy than not being able to drink alcoholic beverages or party anymore. Because OF COURSE it is valid to assume a woman or any person for that matter one has known for half an hour and interacted with for literal five minutes has a boring enough life that would not be affected in any way by a pregnancy, birth and ultimately being forced to raise an unwanted child. Because OF COURSE Denver would know how much a pregnancy can affect somebody, especially one that is forced upon a person. Quite frankly he has no idea and no right. The audacity.

“Do [your friends who are also mothers] seem f*cked up? / Do their lives look f*cked up? No, right?” Because you know best. Not only regarding her life but on top of that also that of her friends. Because those pregnancies or motherhood in general did under no circumstances end a career or prevent them from pursuing one in the first place or cause the end of a relationship or force them to stay in a toxic or even abusive relationship or change their financial situation completely or rob them of their fragile financial independence and/or free time altogether or cause any (mental) health complications or … you get the point. Oh, and because their situations are completely identical to Mónica’s situation, that is additionally not half as dramatic as your life story. Of course, Denver.

Seeing the ‘rational’ argument doesn’t really work, let’s add yet another dramatic, emotional rhetorical question. As a precaution.

“Do you know how much a child can love you?”

How could she, being the heartless, cruel, selfish, irresponsible, ridiculous and impulsive murderess you’re ‘exposing’ her as?

⚠️ Another spoiler warning for seasons 3 and 4 and still 1.

Would Cincinnati - that’s her sons actual name, not alias – really love her like he does now?

Friendly reminder: his biological father (Arturo Román) let her know - right from the start - that he wouldn’t take on any responsibility whatsoever, regardless of his later statements about doing so. Why those statements don’t matter? Despite his awareness of her state, despite knowing she was pregnant he shortly after urges her on to steal the cellphone she is caught with right after the analysed scene, ready to risk her life and the potential life of his unborn child. Literally, because as soon as she is caught with it, Berlín orders Denver to execute her.

So to those of you who will now say “but- but Cincinnati is okay and has an amazing life and does love her” etc etc, first think certain things through. If Denver wouldn’t have spared her, if she didn’t just happen to get together with him and if the heist didn’t just happen to work out like that, what then?

Cincinnati would have a different name. What else? Well for one, he wouldn’t have a father (that is now Denver) like at all, resulting in possible daddy issues / issues in general. How I know Arturo, the biological father, wouldn’t be there for them, wouldn’t fulfill all his empty promises?

Did he canonically care about his son? Was he devastated that he was not given the possibility to see him or did he instead focus on that random book of his and his speeches about heroism and honour and so on? If he wouldn’t have called his wife by his mistress’s name and through that expose himself, if his family wouldn’t have left him all alone, don’t you think he would stick to them? Just to paint a picture of who the father is and how he behaves and what we can assume from that behaviour. So the probability was high she would’ve been left alone with I quote “all the love” and of course all the responsibility. It’s a thing, Denver.

Secondly, if she didn’t just happen to turn into a millionaire thanks to the heist working out, would she really be able to provide a life for Cincinnati? Would she really be able to remain financially independent? Would her life at her son’s side really be all peace and harmony if she wouldn’t just so happen to be able to live from heist money?

So many coincidences, so many risks and no security. Can we really blame her? Do we have the right?

With these questions I will end this seemingly endless post and leave you to think about it, reflect certain things and – if you want to – share your opinion(s) with me. Please don’t hesitate to do so, as long as those contain rational arguments and most importantly respect. Thank you for reading!

(Also: sorry for the extensive censoring, I had to, otherwise it wouldn’t appear in the tags.)

#la casa de papel #lcdp #money heist #choice feminism #why we need feminism

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a-silent-symphony · 4 years

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Metal behemoths Nightwish: “David Attenborough wrote to personally decline appearing on our album”

The arena-filling group's golden-lunged singer Floor Jansen talks album nine, Swedish lockdown and why the world's greatest conservationist turned them down

With the exception of maybe Rammstein – and we’re only quantifying this statement because they own flamethrowers and we do not – no band in European metal can rival Nightwish for their popularity in mainland Europe.

Formed in Kitee, Finland in 1996 by top hat-wearing keyboard player Tuomas Holopainen, the band welcomed Dutch-born singer Floor Jansen in 2012, by which point they were seven records into their career. The addition has seen the symphonic metal band become bigger, grander, more expressive and increasingly ambitious. She’s such a force that she’s become a Dutch TV personality, appearing on the musical talent showcase Best Zangers.

Their recent ninth record, the infuriatingly stylised ‘Human. :II: Nature.’, is their first double-release, the second half featuring lush orchestral music over the band’s core metal. Listen to album highlights ‘Harvest’, ‘How’s The Heart?’ and ‘Noises’ – rarely has a modern metal band’s music been infused with such power and glory. Tellingly, despite being released within the very centre of storm COVID-19, the record entered the charts of Finland, Spain, Switzerland and Germany at Number One.

With that in mind, we decided to check in with one of Europe’s favourite heavy metal bands. Your guide for the duration will be Floor Jansen and her massive lungs. She will roar and you will quiver…

Hello Floor. Can I tell you what I really like about the new Nightwish album? There’s so much misery and ugliness everywhere right now, and yet your record is so ornate, grandiose and – dare I say it – hopeful…

“We were definitely going for that. There are so many different instruments on the record and so many different parts. Nightwish is quite complex music, really, and so it was important for us to have real emotion in the songs; something that cut through everything. The dynamics were really important to us. The songs needed space. Sometimes what you don’t put into a song is as important as what you do. There are nine songs on this record and eight orchestral suites. Without dynamics it would have been a very relentless listen.”

Can we go way back? I don’t think it’s any exaggeration to say that your voice is properly, brilliantly amazing. When did you realise you could sing like that?

“I guess when I was a teenager. There was a school production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and I auditioned. I didn’t get a very important part in it. You know how it is – the popular kids get all the best parts and that wasn’t me. But even just being stuck in the background, I absolutely loved it. I didn’t know I was any good, though. I was pretty badly teased at school, so my confidence was quite low.”

Do you want us to fuck someone up? Why were you teased?

“I was taller than everyone else and my dialect was different. I was just… different.”

Do you think that experience has had any lasting impact on you?

“I do… but, to be honest, only really positively. I can’t say I look back fondly at those years and certainly not at the people who were doing that, but I do think I stand on more stable legs in adulthood because of it. I don’t want my daughter [three-year-old Freja] to have to go through that, though.”

Do you ever have the classic revenge scenario where you’re standing onstage in front of thousands and thousands of people screaming your name and think, ‘Well, I won, didn’t I?’

“All the time. Especially now I’m on this Dutch TV show that has really increased my popularity in the Netherlands. I sometimes wonder if those people would even remember me and I don’t spend that much time thinking about them. You have to live for yourself – I’m almost 40, y’know!”

Tell me more about the TV show. I love the name! Beste Zangers!

“It translates as Best Singers! It’s not a contest or anything like that. It’s a collection of singers of different styles and backgrounds who sing each other’s music to one another, or collaborate on cover versions of songs that have inspired us. It’s a really nice show, and all about a love of music. It’s prime-time Saturday night television and it’s completely changed my life! It’s really benefited Nightwish too. We were already doing well in Holland and playing arenas, butt it’s definitely increased our profile, which is brilliant for me after 24 of nobody in my home country paying me any attention!”

The new Nightwish record was released on April 10, making you one of a tiny number of bands who can attest to the realities of releasing an album at the epicentre of a global pandemic. How has that been?

“We were one of the very first bands who had to cancel a tour. We were actually supposed to start in China. I should be there right now. Very early on we realised that the tour wasn’t going to happen, even though the illness was at that point contained in one continent. Then the global fuck-up that resulted in an illness becoming a pandemic happened. I still can’t believe that it has happened, really. It feels so incredibly unnecessary…”

I’m detecting you have an opinion about how this has all played out? You live in Sweden, right?

“I do. I emigrated five years ago, from Holland.”

Sweden’s approach to handling the virus has been very liberal – there’s been no mass lockdown, as there has been in elsewhere in the world. Do you think they took the right approach?”

“Partly. At the same time, I’m not a scientist, so what do I know? It’s all about following the science.”

I’d like to remind you that there’s a species of beetle named after you. Last year scientist Andreas Weigel named the newly discovered insect Tmesisternus floorjansenae. It’s fair to say you have more scientific credibility than almost any other heavy metal singer…

“Okay – well, in lots of ways the Swedish approach makes sense to me. Sweden is a big country with not that many people. It makes sense to me that the approach would be different to in the UK or back in Holland. Then again, a big city is a big city, whether it’s in Sweden or anywhere, and if people from the cities start moving away then I think we have to be careful. During Easter there were people everywhere near where I live, on the Gothenburg side of the country, next to the sea. Sweden is a big enough country that there’s enough space for people not to be locked down – but you head to a touristy place anyway? That I don’t get. It’s stupid.”

Speaking of space – you’re married to Hannes Van Dahl, the drummer in military history obsessed, Swedish metal titans Sabaton. Onstage he plays his drums sat inside the cockpit of a tank. I presume you have badass military stuff lying all around your house?

“Oh, everywhere. All over the house.”

Really?

“No!”

I heard that you have horses, though. It doesn’t seem fair to me that you’re allowed to have horses, but your husband can’t have a battleship in the garden…

“Oh, he doesn’t mind. Horses are nicer than war. I have two – Lily, named so after my mum, and Auri, named after my bandmates’ Tuomas [Holopainen] and Troy [Donockley]’s side project – and also a character from The Kingkiller Chronicle series of fantasy novels by Patrick Rothfuss.”

I think it’s fair to say that you’re not the only member of Nightwish that bloody loves nature. The band just teamed up with the conservation charity the World Land Trust. Tell me about that…

“They’re a great organisation. The video for the last song on the album, ‘Ad Astra’, was filmed in conjunction with them. They work to preserve our planet by buying up areas of land and preserving them. I think it’s hypocritical that we’re telling Brazil that they need to save their rainforest when European’s have absolutely decimated their own. But at the same time, we really do need to save the rainforest or we’re facing a climate crisis. The World Land Trust works with governments to find alternative financial outlets for local people to stop logging and deforestation. You can’t just say to people, ‘Stop doing this’. You need to consider the human impact, then the environmental one. We found out about them via David Attenborough being a patron…”

Please tell me he’s a fan…

“We tried to get him to speak on the album. We wrote him a letter and he wrote one back, declining, but it was very impressive that a man of his stature would write personally to us and explain that he just didn’t have the time right now.”

You can’t like all animals, Floor. There must be one you’d like to see eradicated from the face of the earth…

“No! I love all of them. I love cats. I love dogs. I love birds in all their splendour!”

C’mon…

“Okay, okay… I don’t really like snails. We grow vegetables and they eat my crops. They’re disgusting. I don’t wish them death, though! I just wish they’d go somewhere else!”

#Floor Jansen #nightwish #Human. :II: Nature.#2020 interviews

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szopenhauer · 4 years

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Who would you rather have sex with: Prince or Billy Idol?: neither because I’m an asexual and I’m into women exclusively but elseway they’re both ok, probably would choose Prince though

Have you ever read any of the Chronicles of Narnia series?: at least one book Do you hate Harry Potter as much as I do?: I don’t hate him but I’m afraid of it as whenever I watched a movie smth really bad was happening to my dad - 6 times - coincindence? I think not... anyway I don’t shove my traumas into other people’s throats, I usually swallow without complaining, sometimes even mentioning that I have a problem with something, I might not only close my eyes but send you stuff about this or that I dislike if you’re a fan because I care more about others than myself *shrug* How many times have you seen the SW movies?: uh oh What is your favorite anime?: I’m not into anime but I watched Ghibli, I also have sentiment towards Sailor Moon, FMA, Nana, Kuroshitsuji and Minami-ke

Do you write it as “favorite” or “favourite”?: fav :P or favorite Do you believe in the Zodiac somewhat?: somewhat ;) Can you use a hula hoop?: I can use it on my arm, a bit on my leg, not on my stomach (actually better on my neck than belly) What is the longest distance you’ve ever walked?: pilgrimage when I was still in middle school How long do you think you could do jumping jacks non-stop?: dunno, not as long as I used to What do you usually use your tokens on at the arcade?: I haven’t been to an arcade yet in my whole life so... What do you think of eyeball jewelry?: yuk What’s better: glitter or rhinestones? glitter Do you like taking pictures of yourself?: prefer selfies over being photographed, I can choose the angle and stuff like this, I take pics until I’m satisfied then delete the rest... Do you like making sandcastles at the beach?: why not Did you have streamers in the handlebars of your bike?: nie, tylko te kuleczki na szprychach, które wydawały taki specyficzny dźwięk podczas jazdy jak się przesuwały, teraz mam podobne na hulajnodze, ale one są stałe, mam też klakson i chciałabym koszyk ze sztucznymi kwiatami dokupić oraz wiatraczek - wiem, dziecinne, ale mam to w dupie - i tak rzadko jeżdżę, mam problemy z kolanem i wolałam to niż rower chociaż czasem tęsknię za siodełkiem, oba jednak ciężko obsługiwać będąc chronicznie chorym człowiekiem (serce i brzuch głównie), może kiedyś nazbieram na skuter Would you put streamers on your bike now?: maybe How do you like your hamburger?: I really liked those with huge amount of vegetables If you were able to sell your soul to someone, how much would you charge? What would you buy with the money?: no way! Do you like to be tickled?: I hate to be tickled Does tickling turn you on?: wtf

Did you watch the Power Rangers when you were little?: I don’t think so, Sebastian made me watch all openings once, I think Power Rangers had pretty interesting villains tho Are you good at playing ping-pong?: I wasn’t the worst Do you like to chew on things?: nah

Have you ever freaked out because you noticed your shadow once, in the forest, my dad laughed his ass off *raz też miałam wstążki we włosach i wiatr je powiał na moją twarz, znów się tata śmiał ze mnie, było mi mega głupio ^^”

Do you get out of bed on the left side or right side:: left *co oznacza, że zawsze wstaję lewą nogą, coś w tym jest skoro moje dzieciństwo było szczęśliwsze, a wówczas wstawałam na prawo hmm...

Do you stare into the mirror when you brush your teeth meh How many different couches did you sit on today 0-1 You just won a free TV series on DVD. What is it Buffy or Call the midwife if not animated, could also ask for Stranger things because I meant to finish it with my father Do you really search for the cold side of the pillow at times I guess If a stranger looked at your signature, could he pronounce your name doubt it, my writing’s a mess

When you sleep next to someone to you do you face towards them or away away if I don’t trust you enough or am ashamed but I roll/kick so I might wake up in a different position Do you look into the bottom of the cup when drinking from a cup often Do you fall asleep with your mouth open or closed drooling with my mouth open happens every now and then but I try to keep my mouth closed

Do you tend to use “…” as you can see

What was the last item or location you cleaned just washed the knife Do you make up words when you’re singing and don’t know the lyrics guilty

Do you own an engagement ring? nope

check your shirt’s tag; where was it made? India is there a book you keep telling yourself you’ll read but still haven’t? yep

did your family ever own a vacation home? we’re poor my brother won’t travel places with a language barrier; would you mind it? not that I want to travel but if they don’t know english - I’m definitely not going do you like watching music videos? love but not the dancing/playing instruments types

are you into philosophy? kinda have you been inside of a police station? I realized I’ve never been there woah are there any flags flying outside at your home? not rn where do you hide things that you don’t want whoever you live with to find? there’s no such place tbh as my mom would find everything if she wanted to and usually she just doesn’t care about personal space or anything like that why aren’t you outside right now? fuck off do you mind drinking room-temperature water? I don’t mind do you think covers of songs usually ruin the originals? mhm

What kinds of advertisements are on this page right now? they’re blocked Has something really heavy ever fallen on you? I don’t recall

Are there any empty plates or cups in the room you are in? mug If you wear makeup, what colors do you usually wear? black If you spelled your name backward, would it be easy to pronounce? very easy If you have more than one pet, do they ever get jealous of each other? my dog was jelly If you are taking this at night, what phase is the moon in? it’s not that late Is there a room in your house that you don’t like going in? my sister’s room, attic, basement... Why can’t there be a 30, 40, 60, 70, 80, or 90 dollar bill? too hard to count Have you ever bitten down on a fork and it felt really weird? omg, spoon as well, awful Is there a pencil sharpener within ten feet of you? hidden but I’m aware that’s there as I put it myself days ago Do you know a lot of people with the same name? (Like a lot of Johns) back in school

Do you think it rains too much where you live? that’d be an exaggeration Are you wearing shorts right now? r u kidding me? Do you like the name Skye? reminds me of my Choices gf

Do you know anyone who travels all the time? it’s so popular nowadays, gross Do you think it’s selfish to travel all the time, when most people can’t? sorta but it’s not the only/main reason why I’m against Can you see the moon from your bedroom window? nor currently but some nights

Are your ear lobes attached? no What’s the last animated movie you watched? Incredibles 2 (home, in 2020, not that I didn’t watch any animated movies for 2 years) Do you prefer your bed to be up high or low to the ground? I don’t care much? Do you know anyone who can’t swim? me Do you bite your lips? yes

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