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sorcerersofnyc · 3 years

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The Last Thing Left (Zemo x F!Reader) 7/9

If it wasn’t so painfully ironic (and hilarious to watch,) Helmut would find the relationship between Sam and James a little sad.

Ghosts weren’t enough to hold two people together.

While they wait for Torres to locate Donya Madani, Zemo brings Sam and Bucky to the home he once shared with you.

You reunite and he reflects upon his relationship with you (his wife's friend and his friend's wife) and your journey from being people with mutual friends to partners.

Part Seven: Zemo keeps his promise

Angst, various mentions of death & mourning, Zemo's wife's name is Heike because of comics. I use Serbian Cyrillic as a stand-in for Sokovian. The reader likes waffles (this is a non-negotiable fact).

Note: Main Character is neutral in most regards, but the story was written with my own cultural background in mind. (In other words, I won't say what she looks like but I envision her as being black.)

First Chapter | Previous

***

You looked beautiful that night, beautiful in a way he never quite noticed before.

As Helmut held your hand to guide you from the seat of the car, feelings of guilt, and fear, and hope, and longing all swirled around his abdomen. And when you smiled at him, your eyes deep and pooling with emotions he wasn’t really ready to confront yet, electricity sizzled in the air.

You stepped inside with a word.

“That was really fun,” you said, breaking the silence as you toed off your shoes. “We’ll have to go again next time.”

“I’d rather not return there,” He replied, pulling his dark coat from his shoulders. "I much prefer the classics.”

Helmut knew those were fighting words, words that would keep you in his company for just a moment longer.

“You need to be more open-minded,” You scolded him, a playful challenge in your voice. He accepted it with ease.

“I’m open to plenty of new possibilities, I assure you.”

“Are you?”

“Indeed.”

There was something more to your banter that evening, something that spoke of many new possibilities.

He received a message from Oeznik one day, a reminder to check on one of the other estates.

He didn't really want to go — he finally narrowed down the identity of the Winter Soldier's handler and it would only be a matter of time before he found his hiding place — but he needed to investigate some financial discrepancies and make an effort to preserve his family's legacy.

So he invited you to accompany him and together you traveled to Italy, to a massive building miles away from any city. The building itself was ugly, a horrific mix of Romanesque and Rococo architecture, but the surrounding land was a lovely stretch of woodland and soft plains.

“How many estates do you own, exactly?” You asked, gazing out the window of the car as it entered through the gates.

“Only a few,” he shrugged. “You know about the 1908 Revolution, don’t you? When Sokovia’s nobility was forced to give up their land claims? My family lost claim to our Barony but my third Great Grandfather invested assets outside of Sokovia as a safeguard to his wealth." It’s a story he was told many times. It was meant to be a point of pride for the Zemo family, but all he came to realize was how paranoia drove a wedge between his family and the nation they claimed to serve.

For generations, his family held influential government positions and made the rules for others to follow while placing their money, and their trust, elsewhere. "Though this particular estate was passed down through my Mother's side of the family. As you can see they had a...interesting sense of design, much like you."

When the car stopped in front of the estate, a lovely older woman with a long nose and round face escorted you to the Sun Room.

The large windows offered an impressive view of the gardens and expanse of the woods beyond them.

“Hey,” you turned, calling for his attention as he dipped his fingers in a basin of soapy water. “What’s that over there?” Beyond the trees were tall lights, LED panels stuck to the side.

“A racetrack,” he answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Oh. Doesn’t it get loud?”

“No, why would it?”

“Because of all the people? And the cars?"

“No, no, you misunderstand, my friend. The track is mine.”

"Huh?" You snapped your head back at him.

“I like cars,” Helmut shrugged, “remind me again to show you the collection in Berlin.”

“The collection in Berlin?” You raised both your brows. It wasn’t your first time hearing about it, but you must have forgotten. “Is there anything you don’t have?”

“Beach-side property?” He suggested, a sly smile on his face.

“Oh, no! Whatever will you do without one, Baron?” You rolled your eyes exaggeratedly.

“I suppose I’ll have to buy one quickly. Where would you like to visit next?”

A maid wheeled in a cart before you had the chance to reply. She nodded toward him politely but looked at you as though she were confused. She had the skittish look of someone who had something to say, but remained silent as she began to set the table.

"Leave it," Helmut told her with a raised hand. She paused again.

“Baron?”

“Leave it,” He repeated, much lower this time. The maid lowered her head before retreating, leaving the room with a puzzled look on her face.

You shot him a concerned glance.

“You ok?”

“Of course,” he told you, “have a seat.” He

set the table instead.

Helmut wasn’t particularly angry. Rather, he felt annoyed. He didn’t appreciate the look the maid gave you, as if you didn’t belong there.

He could certainly understand the confusion.

News of Heike and Carl’s demise spread throughout his network of employees, even the ones he himself never checked in on (he counted on Oeznik to do that for him.) So when he arrived with you as his company, they must have assumed he already moved on.

You took a seat at his request and allowed him to pile food upon your plate.

“If you’d like to go for a ride,” He began, returning to your prior conversation, “I can have someone prepare the track for us. I have a collection here as well, though it isn't large.”

"I thought you said you had to work." You met his gaze.

"I can spare time." He said, because at that moment, as the sun poured into the windows and framed your face like a halo, he’d do anything for you.

The delectable smell of sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, olives, and warm buttered bread wafted through the air as Helmut told of the time he spent here as a child. He had many stories of running through the gilded halls, playing with decorative swords, and badgering Oeznik with questions about his supposed history as a soldier and spy.

You spent a long time talking. He eyed the bottles that lined the shelf on the wall but ignored them for the sake of keeping sharp senses.

And when your lunch settled, he escorted you outside.

A car needed to be called to reach the garage through the thick patch of trees that surrounded it.

The garage was another monstrosity, a wide cement structure that resembled a bunker, but it served its purpose well. It was warm, and the fluorescent lights gleamed off the paint of his sports cars, vintage and modern alike.

Someone, his mother, he believes, had a viewing lounge built behind a thick glass wall. Sheets covered the couches and chairs, but he knew it to be a comfortable place.

“Take your pick,” he offered you, gesturing to the cars all parked in a line.

After a few moments of wide-eyed gaping, you settled on a Bugatti in electric blue. Helmut approved of your good taste.

Like a gentleman, he opened the passenger door for you. He grabbed a pair of gloves from the glove compartment as you marveled at the soft leather and strapped yourself inside.

He smiled and, unlike a gentleman, lied when he told you, ‘I won't go too fast.’

He sped up quickly.

"Slow down!" You demanded, bracing yourself as he neared the car's top speed.

“Don’t worry,” he assured you, arrogance heavy in his voice, “I’m an excellent driver.”

The track wasn't perfectly symmetrical, in fact, it was quite abstract with its curved roads and the long lanes flanked by trees.

You eased up little by little and by the time of your third go around the racetrack, your eyes were wide with unfettered joy.

“See? What did I say?” He offered you a smug smile when he turned into the garage once again. You might have laughed at the look of disappointment on your face when he didn’t go around a fourth time. "Would you like to go around again?" He adjusted the fit of his gloves nonchalantly.

"Yeah, let’s do it again!" You nodded.

"The same car or a different one?"

"Do you have one that's faster?"

"Do you truly have to ask, Драга? Of course I have one faster."

Your excitement was infectious. He nearly forgot what it was like to truly let go and lose himself in the fun of the day. Instead of working or plotting or even thinking of those things, he showed off each of his favorite cars—the red Porsche, the orange McLaren, the silver Lamborghini—and took you for a ride in each of them.

And then, you asked about his darling—perhaps not his; it was produced and acquired nearly a decade before his birth, but he adored it all the same— the silvery-blue Jaguar E-Type Roadster.

There was no particular reason why he adored it, (‘aside from the fact that it was beautiful, he thought. Like any man of his means and interest, Helmut admired beautiful things.

He watched you admire the sleek, rounded design.

“What about this one?” He imagined, for a moment, sitting with you inside the convertible, your legs stretched before you, your hair pushed back by the wind, your form, and your laughter the only thing in focus as the world blurred by.

“This one isn’t for driving.” He decided quickly, because the road might not have held his focus and driving wouldn’t have been what he wanted to do. “And the clouds are coming through.”

It was meant to rain that evening and, true to his words, clouds gathered and grayed the sky.

When it got dark, he turned on the bright lights that framed the road and took you out one last time.

"I'd let you drive one if you wanted," he told you, before adding, "on the straight road," rather quickly.

"We can do it again tomorrow? You won't be too busy?"

Your smile was free of worry, free of doubt or hesitation; it was beautiful. He's glad he didn't take you out in the Jaguar.

"We can do whatever you want, Драга."

"I just want to spend more time with you, it doesn't matter what we're doing."

After dinner, Helmut escorted you to your bedroom.

You bid him goodnight and disappeared behind the ornate door.

Helmut retired to the library, not quite ready for bed. It was a large room with tall shelves stuffed with books of many shapes and sizes. He spent nearly an hour perusing the shelves until stumbling across a worn copy of Il Principe, The Prince. He was well familiar with the text. He was tempted to pick it up, to slide into a chair near the window, and read to the soothing sound of rain outside the window. He flipped through the pages with idle interest and wondered what you thought of Machiavelli. ‘You certainly wouldn’t agree with his philosophies,’ he thought. He considered bringing you the book, anyway.

But then he sighed. He spent the entire day ignoring his responsibilities in favor of spending time with you.

But just as he moved to slide the book into place, he heard soft footsteps moving toward him. The person approaching was used to going unnoticed.

“Oeznik,” Helmut greeted when the man reached the edge of his periphery

“Good evening, Sir.” Oeznik greeted, bowing his head respectfully. “Did you enjoy your day out on the tracks?”

“I did,” Helmut answered truthfully, the book still in hand. “Were you able to speak with the staff today?”

“Yes, I believe I’ve found the source of the discrepancy.”

“Thank you, Old Friend. I’ll take care of the rest.” He slid the book back in place and planned to leave, but Oeznik watched him carefully as if he was considering something.

“Was there anything else?”

“Forgive me Sir; I was just thinking. The rain will clear soon, so you should enjoy the new day.”

Helmut raised a brow. Helmut’s known Oeznik for far too long to think that his seemingly innocuous comment had anything to do with the weather.

“You think I should spend another day without working?” Spend another day with you.

“Time off is good for your health, Sir. I’ll handle what needs to be done.” Oeznik stood with his back straight, his eyes focused and clear. He trusted Oeznik with many things, but he wouldn’t leave his mission to anyone else.

“Regarding the staff?” Helmut asked, leading him toward the conversation he wanted to have. But Oeznik was old and stubborn. He’s known Helmut since he was a child and knew each of his games.

“Whatever else needs to be done.” Was his stern reply.

“I appreciate your offer but I’m fine.” Oeznik didn’t answer, he simply hummed. And that hum, that simple sound of dismissal, annoyed him. “You think I’m not?”

“You are. And it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you this way, sir.” It was Helmut’s turn to hum now, to demise what he knew Oeznik wanted to say.

It’s been a long time since he’s seen him happy.

“Perhaps you should take a stroll out in the garden,” He says suddenly, turning to leave as he does. “It’s still nice for this time of year. Goodnight, Sir.”

“Goodnight.” Oeznik exits the library and disappears from view. Helmut presses his lips into a thin line and returns to his room and go to sleep—but not before taking Machiavelli down from the shelf and calling for a glass of whiskey.

“Would you like a tour of the estate?” Helmut offered after breakfast—he needed to inspect everything anyway. You agreed.

So he offered you his arm and took you through the gilded halls, recounting the building's long but turbulent history.

"I'm surprised you don't have a horse or something," you joked, looking over the southern balcony and into the grounds below.

"Would you like a horse?"

"Find me a unicorn and I’ll buy it myself.”

After the tour, you put on your jackets, and Helmut took you through the garden path. The warm weather plants weren't thriving, but it was beautiful nonetheless.

"This is nice," you sighed as you sat together on a bench. "I'm glad you invited me here, it's like a vacation."

"As am I," he answered, and the truth in his words surprised him.

Helmut was happy you were there, sitting beside him on a bench on a wild winter day in Italy. It was simple, but Helmut something inside him stirred and his heart swelled with affection for you.

You stayed like that for a while, relaxing beneath the shelter of winter flowers.

But then a chilly wind blew., you pressed a little closer, and he turned your way.

Your eyes met briefly.

“Are you cold?” He covered your hand with his own, warming them between the soft leather of his gloves. You met his gaze again and then your eyes fell lower, over his nose, his mouth, his neck, down his chest, and to the place where his hand held yours.

“Thank you.”

“Of course.”

You released a shuddering sigh and then, with newfound confidence, gazed into his eyes again.

"Helmut," you said, voice just above a whisper.

"Hm?"

“Is this ok?” It was an open-ended question, one that could have meant anything and everything all at once. But somehow he knew exactly what you wanted to say.

“Maybe,” was his honest reply.

And then, as if pulled by some magnetic force, you both leaned forward as if the answer could be found in the space between your lips.

Neither of you made it very far before and he pulled away, turning his gaze toward the garden path.

You both looked away, the silence that settled between you louder than any words either of you could say.

"I just wanted to thank you…” You said softly. “I know you were supposed to be working today. It must be hard to have so much to manage. With...Dominik,” You said his name with some measure of difficulty, “There’s just money in the bank he left, a few stocks that manage themselves but you...it must be hard to be a Baron." You rambled nervously.

"... I'm glad to spend this time with you." He confessed.

There was little else he'd rather do.

Neither of you acknowledged what happened—or rather what failed to happen—and how it left you wanting, aching for something that couldn’t be said.

So instead you smiled politely, exchanged the usual pleasantries, and went about the rest of the day.

You were right; he had work to take care of. There were contracts to renew, work orders to approve, and papers to file.

So while you got cozy with a lovely charcuterie, he acquired an entire bottle of whiskey and set to work.

That night he thought about what happened in the garden, what might have happened had he not pulled away.

He let himself imagine the sweet press of your lips against his own, the hesitant glance you might have shared before taking the plunge and moving into deeper kisses and maybe something more.

The very thought made him yearn for you—and he certainly wouldn’t find an answer to that in a decanter.

Helmut sat up in his bed and glanced at the wall. You were there, just on the other side, and he wondered if you felt the same, if you felt the same need for him as he felt for you. But before he had the chance to rise, to knock upon your door and take you in his arms, he received a message on his phone.

Oeznik, true to his word, had done some work. He uncovered a piece of important information, something about the UN meeting setting a date for late March.

There was to be a vote on legislation meant to limit the power of the Avengers.

He was out of time, he realized, dread bubbling up to the pit of his stomach.

He had to leave.

You ate breakfast together the next morning and once again went your separate ways.

“Come find me when you’re done working, ok?” You said, looking as though you had something important to say. He ignored your expression and nodded, taking the last bite of food on his plate.

Helmut took his time to survey each of the rooms, talk to the staff, and confirm that everything was in its proper place.

Next came the troublesome part, the part where he needed to plan for you. He needed to make arrangements to ensure your wellbeing and prepare you for a future he couldn’t be a part of, no matter how much he longed to be.

The work was tedious, and though he cursed himself for failing to have done so months prior, Helmut persisted. He spent the entire day tucked away in his office, talking to various lawyers and financial advisors.

Unfortunately, their ‘advice’ was all but useless.

He poured a drink.

Within a few hours, Helmut learned it wouldn't be wise to give you his entire estate under the contingency of his death, imprisonment, or other incapacitation. There was very little that obligated you to uphold the ‘Zemo Legacy.’ Though Helmut knew they only cared about lining their own pockets.

At first, he didn’t care. But then he realized how the act of giving you his fortune would place you under public scrutiny.

The last thing he wanted was to cause you trouble, for rumors about mistresses or infidelity to fly. Marriage was completely out of the question, but a partnership... a partnership would work.

He had the paperwork faxed to him right away and had someone draw up an addition, something stating that you, by right, would inherit his assets and estate. Later he'd assemble a team of trustworthy people to assist you and ask Oeznik to guide you through everything.

He paid a fortune in expedition fees, but it was worth it in the end.

The only thing you had to do was sign.

By the time he found you, it was dusk. You were in one of the sitting rooms, a mug in hand as you caught up on some American show he never quite saw the appeal of. The main character was charming and savvy but the romantic subplots were repetitive and tiring.

“I’ve concluded all my business here,” Helmut told you, lingering near the door. “We can return home as soon as you like... unless you’d prefer to stay.” Helmut didn’t mind the idea of leaving you in there, in that estate.

It was large, remote, and fully staffed. You'd want for nothing living there.

“It’s been fun, but I should get back to my work soon.” You gave him a noncommittal shrug, placing down your mug down on a coster.

“I can have your supplies sent here,” He offered.

“Vacations have to end sometimes, Helmut,” you teased. “At least they do for us normal people, maybe not so much for Barons.”

He pressed his lips together in a tight smile.

“It doesn’t have to,” he insisted.

“Do you want to move?” You paused the show you were watching and sent him a wary gaze.

“Would you?”

“Well... I never thought about it. I mean...it’s been fun but I don’t think I’d want to live here. We’re miles away from... everything.” You gestured toward the window, out to vast stretches of land that seemed to go on forever. “It’s been nice to have people wait on me hand and foot but if we moved, I’d miss my friends—And I’d rather live somewhere less... remote.” You decided.

We.

Your choice of words wasn’t lost on him—your plan for the future included him. You expected him to be in your life. ‘As a friend?’ He wondered, ‘Or something different?’ Helmut opened his mouth to speak but shut it again just as quickly. He couldn’t bring himself to ask.

“I see then. I'll return you home whenever you’re ready.”

“Return me home? Is there something going on?” You ask, shifting out of the blanket you were wrapped in. You looked confused, afraid of what he might say and what it would mean for the future you hoped to have together.

“Something came up, Драга, I’ll be leaving again.” He confessed, falling back to half-truths.

“Oh.” Though your voice was a soft whisper, your disappointment hardened that simple phrase, turned it into something piercing.

“I hoped you’d consider staying here while I was away,” He continued, “but if not I’ll hire a housekeeper, someone to keep you company—”

“Where are you going?” You pressed.

“To take care of business.” Had he met your gaze then, Helmut might have broken completely.

“When will you be back?” You pressed again, a deep scowl coming across your face.

“I don’t know.” He replied softly, and silence enveloped the room.“I thought we moved past this, Helmut. Why are you keeping secrets from me?” He didn’t have an answer.

“I have no intention of receding my promise to you. You’ll be taken care of-”

“Are you coming back?” You cut him off.

Helmut could feel your gaze burning through him. And when enough time passed, he turned to face you with a heavy heart.

“I don’t know,” he finally replied. He hated himself at that moment, more than he had in a long time. Because you didn’t look angry, you didn’t even look sad, you looked as though you’d just been betrayed.

“I’m sorry,” he offered, but you weren’t interested in apologies.

The breath you released was ragged as you struggled to hold back your confusion and outrage.

“Is...is this about what happened in the garden?”

“No,” He said quickly, closing the distance between you. Helmut stood an arm's length from the couch, hoping you would understand. But you turned your gaze away.

Kneeling, Helmut cupped your face between your hands, forcing you to turn his way once again. “This isn’t about you. This is about my work. I have enemies-”

“Helmut,” you cut him off, placing your hand upon his chest, your tone softer now, pleading. “Please don’t run off again. Please don’t leave me. I'm sorry about what happened, I’m sorry I tried to kiss you-”

"Don't apologize." You offered him far more than he deserved: happiness, stability, love—a good life. But as he stared at you, gazed up into your beautiful eyes, he knew that a happy future would never come to be.

Because if he kissed you, he would never want to stop. He would stay, and he would be happy by your side. But happiness in a world without Carl, without Heike, without his Father or his friend...it was far too much to bear. He wasn’t strong enough to bear it. He would always be a broken man. And you deserved something better, something more than the shattered heart he could provide.

“I hope one day you can forgive me.” He whispered, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “But I must fulfill my promise.”

And he left.

He didn’t answer your calls or your texts—he didn’t even open them. There was no need. When he used his phone, it was to listen to his voicemail, to hear Heike's voice.

Because what he needed was conviction, an anchor to his grief. He needed to remember what he lost, not what he chose to leave behind.

***

Helmut rises from bed and prepares for the day ahead; He cleans, shaves, and dresses before heading to the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee.

There’s a subtle connection between love and cooking, one that Helmut feels as he sets about quartering one cup of strawberries and combining them with sugar and water over heat. After all, he wouldn’t make syrup for just anybody (Sam and James will have to accept whatever bottled variety of syrup you kept in the pantry.)

He then rolls up the sleeves and sets to work, mixing flour, eggs, milk, and sugar into the base of a waffle batter and pours it into the heated cask of your beloved waffle iron.

He pours a cup of coffee into a mug and takes a drink.

As the delicate aromas fill the air, he hears a quiet conversation between Sam and James grow louder as the two approach the kitchen.

“Gentleman,” Helmut greets, not bothering to turn around and meet their collective gaze. He opens the waffle iron and shuts it once more because they weren’t finished yet. He decided to give the test batch to James.

“Zemo,” Sam says first, “They found Madani—dead. She died in Riga, a city near the Baltic Sea. We have to get moving.”

Helmut quieted for just a moment. He underestimated the severity of Madani's condition, overestimated the time he had to share with you.

“I see,” he speaks, finally turning toward the two.

Sam appears to be well-rested, but James... James looks about the same as always, tired and tense. “Riga, you say? I have a place we can go.”

“Any more surprises we should know about?” Sam asks, nodding his head toward the stairs, to the room where you still slept.

“Nothing of the sort. I’ll have the plane prepared and we can be off by noon.”

Helmut wanted to spend more time with you, but it seems he was out of time once again.

#zemo #helmut zemo #baron zemo #mcu zemo #zemo x reader #baron zemo x reader #throughout the story I have little references to other characters Daniel played #this particular one has two

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indecisive-behaviors · 3 years

Text

Originally I was just going to add this as a reblog to my previous post about the parking lot scene in KK2 but it’s almost 2k words so now it’s getting it’s own post. Be forewarned- this is fucking long.

TW for discussion of PTSD, child abuse, neglect, injury, and death, in relation to topics surrounding the show, under the cut-

Obviously, Cobra Kai is a show based around the premise of “what happened to that Lawrence kid after he got kicked in the face?”, which is honestly a pretty cool idea for a show. Johnny’s story is never explained past sitting on the sidewalk with his head in his hands at the tournament, and there are no real context clue’s to figure out what may or may not have happened.

In the show we get to learn early on that Johnny’s life spiraled after the tournament, going from bad to worse to “holy shit how are you still alive”-dropping out/never going to college, working jobs he seems to hate, becoming an alcoholic, presumably many dead end relationships, and not being there for his kid. And yeah, obviously, this would be a hard pill to swallow for anyone watching the show if Johnny had just lost the tournament. If we never got the scene in KK2, he would have just been some kid who lost a tournament- we see at the end of the first movie that(through tears holy shit Billy) that Johnny is the one who gives the trophy to Daniel with his famous line, “You’re alright, LaRusso.” There’s a level of grudging respect in that moment that isn’t lost on anyone who sees that movie- that Johnny, who throughout the movie only sees Daniel as some whimpy kid, gets proven wrong and respects that. If we didn’t have that scene, there’s reason to believe Johnny would have apologized, tried to make amends, Something, even if it was just being less of a dick at school.

But then, we get the parking lot. We get a far off shot, intended to distance you from the scene, framed over Daniel’s shoulder. This makes sense, Daniel is the main character, the protagonist, the underdog hero- why wouldn’t it be framed in his perspective? But the scene is about Johnny. We get the shouting match, the back and forth- “No, you’re the loser man.”- and again it’s fairly obvious how Johnny sees this situation. This is a man who we assume(and is later confirmed) to be a surrogate father figure, who set his friend up for failure, and then basically forced him to do the same by targeting an injured opponent, and forcing him to fight without honor. This same man presumably follows a teenager out to the parking lot, to harass him, to tell him he’s off the team, to tell him he’s a loser, that he’s nothing.

But at that point, Johnny knows the truth, even if subconsciously. At the end of the day Johnny knows that Daniel LaRusso was a worthy opponent, and that regardless of the cheating and manipulation, Daniel could have won anyway, and did win, despite of it.

And then Kreese grabs him, too fast to react to, Johnny too surprised even knowing that Kreese is the bad guy here, not believing that he would ever willingly hurt him- and Johnny isn’t strong enough to fight him off, none of the boys are, so Johnny is forced to suffocate for almost a full 30 seconds(which I double checked for the record- also as a reference, 30 seconds is about the average time it takes for a person voluntarily holding their breath to pass out- this does not account for the oxygen lost during a struggle, and the lack of preparation from both surprise and panic. The only silver lining here is the fact that Kreese was most likely compressing his windpipe, not his jugular, which would have made him pass out in about 5-10 seconds, and would have caused permanent brain damage or death in about 15).

Now, PTSD is a complex thing. I’m not a psychiatrist, and what small amount of information we have is all we have to work off of, but I feel fairly comfortable in saying Johnny mostly likely developed it after the incident. This not an uncommon take in the fandom as far as I’m aware either. But, if we assume this, we also have to assume that after the fact nothing would have been done about this. Not just in the sense that we still don’t really know everything that happened right after the tournament, but that in the early 80s, PTSD wasn’t really a thing yet.

Sure it was absolutely a condition that existed, but Post Traumatic Stress Disorder wasn’t even added to the DSM-III until 1980- and for a long time afterward, was only seen as a condition that affected primarily war vets. Even after an event as traumatic as having a man you considered a father trying to kill you, in public, without remorse, would not have been seen as something to warrant the diagnoses, let alone treatment.

Johnny Lawrence was 17 when Kreese tried to kill him, and this boy would have been offered no resources beyond filing charges with the police. And as we see in KK3, either this didn’t happen either, or someone(presumably Silver) got the charges dropped. So on top of almost being murdered, Johnny had to live with the fact that the man who did that to him was still out there, and to top it off, still ran a dojo at least for a few months after the event. The only relief he could have gotten is after Kreese faked his death.

And sure, Mr Miyagi may have gotten Kreese to let go eventually, but as several people have pointed out in comments and tags, left him and the other boys alone with Kreese still standing there in the parking lot and just... drove off. Kreese has already been established to be a psycho with no problem hurting children, a little bit of glass might not have prevented him from trying again.

So why did I talk about all of that? Because it all contributes to why Daniel LaRusso works as a credible antagonist in season 1 of Cobra Kai.

Think about this- Johnny blames losing everything on Daniel in season 1, but we specifically get a shot in KK1 and later KK2(”You’re alright, LaRusso” and “I did my best” come to mind) where he seems to be at least mostly accepting of the fact that he lost(with what was actually an illegal kick but that’s a rant for another time). So why does he blame him for everything 30 years later?

Because 30 years later, Johnny is forced to go outside, go to work, and pretend like he doesn’t see what feels like every street corner(including right outside his apartment mind you), a literal billboard sized reminder of what happened to him.

The rest of this is mostly speculation but it makes sense in my head so bear with me.

When we get introduced to Robby, it’s made pretty clear that Johnny has not been in his life for a bit. In season 2 we get Johnny’s heart to heart with Miguel, where he divulges that he missed the birth, because he spiraled after his mom’s death. This however doesn’t suggest that he stayed gone, especially knowing that it wasn’t long enough for Robby to not consider seeking out his dad. Because tacked up to the fridge, is a picture of Robby in his soccer uniform as a kid. It’s an early detail you can see in previous episodes, and says a lot about how Robby grew up. To be fair, this could have been given to him by Shannon, and not taken himself, but it’s the sport Robby’s playing that makes me question this. KK1 dedicates an entire scene to Johnny being on the soccer team in high school. Soccer, while maybe not as important to him as karate, is still part of his character. Robby does not know karate in season 1, Johnny obviously didn’t share it with him, but that doesn’t mean Johnny didn’t share anything with him.

So Johnny’s back in his kids life, maybe doing better for himself, maybe cutting back on the drinking. LaRusso Auto is already established to exist at this point but it’s in Encino, a place Johnny has no reason to go to, and probably doesn’t want to. He’s trying again and things are okay. But Robby knows enough about Daniel to know that going to him will piss off his dad. So Johnny had to have talked about him at some point. The billboards here are what’s important- they’re in the first episode, the first scene montage, Johnny draws a dick on one of them as some petty revenge.

The first billboard goes up in the late 2000s to mid 2010s. Johnny sees it, maybe he has Robby with him at the time, maybe he goes home and says something there, but he says something in a way that sticks with even a child as being important. More billboards go up. Dealerships starting popping up more and more. Daniel’s face, and by extension, the memories, the flashbacks, become inescapable. Johnny, for a third time, spirals again. Before he even knows what’s happening, he’s lost his relationship with his son. And it’s all Daniel’s fault. Of course Daniel doesn’t do it deliberately, but the constant reminders are enough to send him back into a tailspin and Johnny blames him for it.

Because it’s Daniel who is a constant reminder of his failures- it’s Daniel who caused him to lose the tournament and almost get killed, Daniel who put up the billboards that trigger his flashbacks, it’s always Daniel Daniel Daniel.

And then Johnny gets it in his head that he wants to be better. He opens a dojo, teaches Miguel and the other kids, wants to try again- and he almost succeeds.

Johnny up to this point has not deliberately antagonized Daniel in any way. Sure he named the dojo Cobra Kai, but Cobra Kai is all he knows. Besides Johnny doesn’t blame karate for his failures, his best memories are Cobra Kai and he’s trying to be better than Kreese. So what’s the harm in this really? His building is in Reseda, there’s no reason for Daniel to ever be there, he doesn’t do it out of spite, it’s because he lives there and rent is cheap. He doesn’t know about KK3, doesn’t know about Daniel’s own trauma. This isn’t an attack. Johnny sincerely just doesn’t know.

Enter Daniel, stage left. Daniel makes no attempt to talk to him- he simply makes demands and accusations, before he starts making active attempts to put him out of business.

Sure, we as the audience know Daniel has good reasons to not want Cobra Kai back. But Johnny doesn’t. All Johnny knows is that the kid he picked on in high school- who won, who got everything Johnny wanted, who grew up to be successful, has a wonderful wife, two kids who love him, a thriving business- is doing everything he can to make his life hell 30 years after the fact.

And this could only have happened because in 1986 John G. Avildsen decided to add in a scene meant for the original movie into the sequel, for absolutely no fucking reason.

#meta analysis #ranting about cobra kai cuz I can #johnny lawrence #daniel larusso #cobra kai #karate kid #I will never get over the fact that that was an actual scene that they filmed #and then got no resolution #FOR 30 YEARS #I apologize to everyone for this post #obviously I have a lot of feelings about this

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kirishimaswife2819 · 3 years

Note

This is my very 1st request, I hope you won't have trouble answering it! May I ask for headcanons of Bakugou, Midoriya, Todoroki and Kirishima in a Coffee Shop!AU? I don't mind if they own coffee houses, are baristas or frequent customers! Thank you so much for heeding my petition, have a nice day and take care!

Them in a Coffee Shop AU (+Quirkless AU) || Midoriya, Bakugou, Kirishima, and Todoroki

Masterlist 1 || Masterlist 2

↠Author’s Note: Hi! I also made this a quirkless AU so it made more sense with the story. Anyway, thanks for requesting! I hope this okay and I hope you like it. -Danielle <3

↠Characters: Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugou, Eijiro Kirishima, and Shoto Todoroki x Reader

↠Summary: Coffee shop AU with Izuku, Katsuki, Eijiro, and Shoto

↠Genre: Fluff

↠Word Count: 2.1k

↠Warnings: None

↠Notes: Idrk know how coffee shop hours work, so just pretend like they work however I said, okay?, also y/o=your order

Izuku Midoriya:

Izuku works at a fairly popular coffee shop, and he’s literally the best worker there

Unlike most of the workers, he pays a lot of attention to the customers and what they specifically ask for, and he’s also always so polite, he was only ever rude to a customer once, but that was because she was being ruder, so it was okay

He also rarely ever gets orders wrong, and when most people come there, they ask specifically for him to make their coffee, so he gets pretty overwhelmed throughout the day and rarely gets a break

Most of the time he didn’t really pay much attention to the customers that asked specifically for him, but most of them straight up flirted with him, and he’s made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t interested in getting a significant other

That was until he met you

Normally, Izuku worked afternoon shifts, so from about one in the afternoon to nine at night (this was partially because he was the only one who closed up the shop correctly), but they recently began changing the schedules up and he got stuck with six to two in the afternoon

He didn’t really have a problem with waking up early, since he normally woke up fairly early to go for a run, not as early as he was now, but still pretty early

It was his first time working that shift when you came in for your morning coffee

You were playing on your phone when he called out to the next in line, you looked up and proceeded forward and to the counter, you looked up expecting the girl that normally worked in the morning but instead it was Izuku

“Are you new here? I’ve never seen you before,” You asked, clearly confused. Izuku gave you a small smile, and his face got a little red, you were really attractive, despite obviously just waking up

“No, I’ve always worked here. I just normally have afternoon shifts but they changed it,” Izuku replied.

“Oh, are you going to be working in the mornings from now on?” You asked, and after a nod, you spoke again, “Okay, well my name’s Y/n L/n, you can call me Y/n if you want, I come in here every morning and I’ll take a y/o.”

He immediately made your order and it was the best that it ever has been

After that day, you and Izuku both got secretly excited to see each other every morning, and you took got on first name basis with each other

You two ended up developing an odd sort of bond, whenever you came in, you two acted like best friends despite only seeing each other for about fifteen minutes every day

You started drinking your morning drink while at the shop, and you always sat at the bar so you could converse with Izuku while he was working

Eventually you two ended up exchanging numbers and hanging out outside of the coffee shop, and then he asked you on a date, and then shortly after that you began dating

You still went in every morning even after you started dating, and everybody working there thought that you were the cutest couple ever

Katsuki Bakugou:

Katsuki comes to get coffee every morning, and everybody at your shop knows this, and they all play rock paper scissors the day before to see who gets to deal with him the next day because he’s a pretty tough customer

He always finds something wrong with the coffee that he gets and he will make the barista remake it until it’s perfect, and he’s made multiple baristas quit because of this

And I know what you’re thinking “why doesn’t your boss just ban him from the shop” but your boss is a bigger asshole than he is, and he has chose Bakugou’s side every time that he’s been brought into it, so the workers just stopped trying to get him to help after a while

The two of you met on your first day working there, since you had tried to defend Katsuki when you first met them, saying that he couldn’t possibly be that bad, when they tried warning you about him, so they forced you to deal with him on your first day on the job

“Good morning,” you said, smiling at the blonde that came in, as he stared at his phone, he didn’t recognize your voice so he looked up and he was pretty surprised to see how attractive you were

“Morning,” he replied, hiding the fact that he liked you, and turning his phone off, before placing it in his pocket

“What can I get for you?” You asked, still smiling at him, hoping that he really wasn’t as bad as all your co-workers said. He told you his order, before giving you his name as well

All your co-workers were listening in and were shocked when he didn’t add on a rude “And don’t forget the extra cream” or “And if you fucking add too much sugar again, I’m calling your boss and complaining”

You made his coffee, before setting it on the counter, and tapping a few things on the screen, and giving him his total price, which was around seven dollars

He took out his wallet, before placing a fifty dollar bill on the counter. This was also strange to your co-workers because Bakugou never paid before he got a sip of his coffee, in case he wanted a refund or for them to remake it/give it to him for free

You picked it up and went to give him his change, but he stopped you

"Keep the change."

"What?" You asked

"I said, keep the change, you fucking deaf or something?"

"Uh, no, but sir, you handed me a fifty."

"I fucking know what I did, do you want it or not?"

"Yeah, I want it," you said, grabbing the change and immediately putting it into your pocket, "Thank you, sir, and have a good day."

"Yeah, whatever," he replied, picking up his coffee and leaving

As soon as he was gone, all of your co-workers were around you, asking you what the hell you did and why he wasn't rude to you, and you could only answer them with a shrug because you honestly had no idea

After that day, you were the only person that ever made his coffee because he was actually nice to you, and because of you he saw how it wasn’t really that easy to do the job

He figured that they just always messed up because they weren’t trying but they were probably just stressed, and it was probably partially his fault

Eventually, he ended up asking you out on a date and you two got to know each other and then eventually you started dating

Eijiro Kirishima:

Like Izuku, Kirishima works at a coffee shop, he just isn’t the most perfect worker ever, but that’s alright because nobody expects him to be perfect

He makes his occasional mistakes, and I would probably give him a 7/10 when it came to doing his job, but he gets an 11/10 for customer service

He’s not just polite, he’s also really friendly and if you just simply have a conversation it’ll feel like you’ve known him forever

He doesn’t really notice if anybody is flirting with him, he just assumes they’re being friendly and is friendly in return, but sometimes Kirishima’s friendliness can come off as flirting, even when he doesn’t realize, so sometimes he has had to reject somebody asking him out, and apologize for not realizing what they were doing

He never specifically tried flirting with anybody, not until you at least, he purposely flirted with you, because immediately after glancing at you, he knew that you were the one

Or that’s what he assumed, you just looked like his type, and he immediately wanted you

Your old coffee shop had shut down and this was the closest one to where it was, so you started going there instead

“Hi!” He immediately greeted you, happily, despite it being seven in the morning

“Um, hi?” You asked, in return. In your last coffee shop the worker that you normally got was pretty vague, and normally talked in a monotone voice, so Kirishima’s happy and cheerful voice was a bit of a surprise

“How are you doing this morning?” He asked, tapping something on the screen

“Good,” you replied, “Do you guys have y/o?”

“Yup, what size would you like?”

“Medium,” you replied, and he tapped something on the screen, before replying

“Okay, that’ll be $5.30, but it’s on me,” he said, smiling at you, picking up a medium disposable cup, “What’s the name?”

“Wait, what?” You asked, referring the first part of what he said, not the question

“I asked what your name was,” he explained, giving you a smile

“No, why is it on you?” You asked

“Oh, I always pay for somebody’s coffee if I find them cute,” he replied, causing your face to heat up

“You find me cute?” You asked, and then he nodded, “Sir, I just woke up a little over half an hour ago. There are huge bags under my eyes, there is no way that you find me cute.”

“Sure there is! Because I do, now what’s your name?”

“Whatever, it’s Y/n,” you replied, and he used a sharpie to write the name on the cup, before going to get your order ready

And he returned with it, giving you a smile, and telling you goodbye

You thanked him for the coffee and once you returned to your car, you read the receipt and found that his number was written at the bottom along with “call me :)”

And that’s exactly what you did

Shoto Todoroki:

Like Bakugou, he’s also a frequent customer, but not every day, he normally comes in every other day, or every three days

He was normally pretty vague, not wanting to interact too much with the barista, he wanted to get in and get out in as little time as possible

He didn’t have a problem correcting the barista if his order was wrong, and he didn’t expect it for free. He just expected them to remake without him having to pay extra

He also didn’t make a big deal if there was a little too much cream or sugar, they probably just added a bit too much, and that’s pretty easy to do

Shoto never really paid much attention to the barista he got and he didn’t really care about who it was, until he walked up to the counter and you were there

“Good morning, what can I get for you?” You questioned, tapping something on the screen

“Morning,” he said, and then he proceeded to make his order

“Alright? And your name?” You questioned, holding the sharpie up to the cup

“Shoto,” he replied, surprising the barista next to you that was listening in. Shoto never used his first name and it surprised her because he normally just said either “Todoroki” or “I’ll be standing right here, just hand it to me, please”

“Alright, Shoto,” you said, using his name, “I’ll be right back with your coffee.” He nodded in acknowledgement and stood off to the side, watching you as you made his order

“Here you go,” you said, handing it to him, “Sorry if I messed it up. I’ve never made one of those before. I’m new here.”

“That’s alright,” he replied, taking a sip. He hid the fact that he didn’t like it, because you had in fact messed something up, maybe you didn’t add enough of something, either way, he faked it with a smile, “Thank you, have a good day.”

Later that day, your co-worker informed you that she was watching you while you made it, since she knew that you never made one before, and she told you that you messed it up. Then she told you a little bit about Shoto and how it was obvious that he had a crush on you

The next day he came in, you apologized to him, and he brushed it off, saying that it was alright

You made a pretty bold move and left your number on the receipt with a little note “call me sometime?”

He did just that the same night when he got home from his work, and you two agreed to go on a date

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variousqueerthings · 3 years

Text

Daniel LaRusso: A Queer Feminine Fairytale Analysis Part 1 of 3

Disclaimers and trigger warnings:

1. These fairytales are European, although there’s often overlap in themes globally. I know European fairytales better, which is essentially the reason I’m not going to branch out too far. I opted to also stick to Western movies so as not to narrow things down, but also in particular “waves hand towards all of Ghibli” amongst many others. There’s a reason the guys in Ghibli are so gender.

2. TW for discussions of rape culture and rape fantasies

EDIT: FUCK I’M A GOBLIN CHILD! FORGOT TO PUT A MASSIVE MASSIVE THANK YOU TO @mimsyaf WHO HAS BEEN THE NICEST, KINDEST EDITOR ON THESE THOUGHTS AND CONTRIBUTED SO MUCH TO THEM AND GENERALLY IS A WONDERFUL PERSON!

Part 2

Part 3

1. Introduction

I recently wrote a little thing, which was about Daniel as a fairytale protagonist – specifically one that goes through some of the kinds of transformations that are often associated with female protagonists of fairytales.

I used quotes from Red Riding Hood, Labyrinth, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and Dracula, which, as an aside – the overlap between fairytales, horror, and fantasy and the ways each of those genres delve into very deep, basic questions of humanity and the world is something that will always make me feral. I will be generally sticking with fairytales though. Also I am very excited about some of those Labyrinth concepts going around!

I’m going to use “feminine” and “masculine” in both gendered (as in relating specifically to people) and non-gendered (as in relating to codes) ways throughout this, depending on context.

To be binary for a moment, because sample-sizes of other genders are low, women are usually able to fall into either feminine or masculine arcs, although sometimes the masculine-coded woman can become a “not like the other girls” stereotype and the feminine-coded woman a shallow cliché – in both cases they’re also under more scrutiny and judgement, so it’s always worth asking “is this character not working for me because of the writing or because I have ingrained biases? (Both?)”

Men don’t often get feminine-coded arcs. Because. Probably a mix of biases and bigotry. But there are some that seem to have slipped beneath the shuttered fence of “Sufficient Narrative Testosterone,” and Daniel LaRusso is one of them.

2. Some Dude Comparisons (Men Doing Manly Action-Hero Things like being trans symbolism and loving your girlfriend… seriously those things are hella manly, I wish we saw more of that onscreen…)

a. Neo

Much like Neo The Matrix, whose journey is filled with transgender subtext and specifically and repeatedly references Alice In Wonderland, Daniel doesn’t go through quite the kind of hero's journey usually associated with Yer Standard Male Hero, especially the type found in the 80s/90s.

Neo is my favourite comparison, because of the purposefulness of his journey as a trans narrative and the use of Alice. But I’m sure there are other non-traditional male heroes out there (but are they trans tho? Please tell me, I want trans action heroes).

Neo “passes” as a socially acceptable man, but online goes by a different name - the name he prefers to be known by - feels like there’s something inherently wrong about the world around him and his body’s place in that society, and then gets taken down the rabbit hole (with his consent, although without really “knowing” what he’s consenting to) to discover that it’s the world that’s wrong - not him. And by accessing this truth he can literally make his body do and become whatever he wants it to.

Yay. (The message of the Matrix is actually that trans people can fly).

Neo is – kind of like Daniel – a strange character for Very Cis Straight Guys to imprint on. He spends most of the first movie unsure about what’s going on, out of his depth, and often getting beaten up. He is compared to Alice several times and at the end he dies. He loses. He has to be woken up with true love’s kiss, in a fun little Sleeping Beauty/Snow White twist. Yes, after that he can fly, but before that he’s getting dead-named and hate-crimed by The Most Obvious Stand-In For Normativity, Agent Smith, and being carried by people far more physically capable than he is (people who also fall outside of normative existence).

Trinity and Neo in The Matrix. The fact that a lot of the time neither of them is gendered is something. Literally brought to life by true love’s kiss.

I’m not about to argue that Daniel LaRusso is purposefully written along these same thought processes, so much as the luck of the way he was written, cast, directed, acted, and costumed all came together in the right way. And this is even more obvious when compared to That Other Underdog Fite Movie That Was By The Same Director as Karate Kid.

b. Rocky

The interesting thing about Rocky is that he is (despite being a male action icon) also not written as a Traditionally Masculine person. Large portions of Rocky – and subsequent Rocky films – are his fear and insecurity about fighting vs his inability to apply his skills to another piece of work and wanting to do right by his girlfriend (and future wife), Adrian. The fighting is most often pushed onto him against his will.

Much like in Karate Kid there is barely any fighting in Rocky I. Most of it is dedicated to how much Rocky loves Adrian and the two of them getting together. The fight is – again like in Karate Kid – a necessary violence, rather than a glorified one (within the plot, obviously watching any movie like this is also partly about the badassness of some element of the violence – whether stamina or the crane kick, it’s all about not backing down against a more powerful opponent).

Rocky is played by Sylvester Stallone. He’s tough, he’s already a fighter (albeit in the movie not a great one yet), he’s taking the fight for cash – so although he’s also soft-spoken and sweet, you’re aware of the fact that he’s got those traits that’d make a male audience go “Hell Yeah, A Man,” or whatever it is a male audience does watching movies like that… cis straight men imprinting on oiled muscle men sure is a strange phenomenon, why do you wanna watch a boxing match? So you can watch toned guys groaning and grappling with each other? Because you want to feel like A Man by allowing yourself to touch the skin of other men?

Apollo and Rocky in Rocky III. This sequence also includes prolonged shots of their crotches as they run. Sylvester Stallone directed this. This was intentional. Bros.

Daniel LaRusso is not built like that. But that doesn’t really have to matter. Being smallish and probably more likely to be described as “pretty” than handsome, and not having a toxic masculine bone in his body does not a feminine archetype make. It just makes a compelling (and pretty) underdog.

c. Daniel

So where does the main difference really lie? Between Rocky and Daniel? Well, Rocky has the plot in his hands – Daniel, largely, does not. Rocky is acting. Daniel is reacting or being pushed into situations by others. Just like our boy Neo. Just like Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Snow White – just like some of the women in some contemporary(ish) fairytale films like Buttercup (Princess Bride), Dorothy (Wizard of Oz), or Sarah (Labyrinth).

This isn’t a necessary negative about stories about girls and women, so much as looking at what it is girls and women in fairytales have/don’t have, what they want, and how they’re going to get it. It’s about power (lack of), sexuality (repressed, then liberated), men, and crossing some taboo lines. It’s also about queerness.

3. The Karate Kid Part One: Leaving Home

Daniel LaRusso is a poor, skinny, shortish kid (played by a skinny, shortish twenty-two-year old) who doesn’t fit in after having been taken away from the home he was familiar with against his will. Not every male protagonist in a fairytale leaves of his own will, and not every female protagonist leaves under duress – Red Riding Hood, for example, seems perfectly happy to enter the forest. However generally a hero is “striking out to make his fortune,” and generally a heroine is fleeing or making a bargain or being married off or waiting for help to arrive. She is often stuck (and even Red Riding Hood requires saving at some point).

Daniel then encounters a beautiful, lovely girl on the beach, puts on a red hoodie (red is significant), is beaten up by a large, attractive bully, loses what little clout he may have had with his new friends, and generally has a mostly miserable time until he befriends and is saved by Mr Miyagi. To do a little Cinderella comparison: Miyagi is the fairy godmother who pushes Daniel to go to the ball in disguise as well, and that disguise falls to pieces as he’s running away.

Then Daniel asks for help, Miyagi gets him enrolled in a Karate Tournament, and starts teaching him. Daniel wins the tournament and gets the girl, the end.

While Daniel has chutzpah and is a wonderful character, none of the big events are initiated by him, except for the initial going to the forest/beach (and within all of these events Daniel absolutely makes choices – I’m not saying he’s passive): Lucille takes them to California, Miyagi pushes him to go to the dance, Miyagi again decides to enroll him in the tournament and trains him, and only because Kreese doesn’t allow for any other option, Ali is the one who more often than not approaches Daniel, and even their first encounter is pushed by Daniel’s friends.

Daniel really is at a dance/ball in disguise and receives a flower from a girl who recognises him through said disguise, it’s unbearable! It’s adorable! I get it Ali, I fucking get it!

Daniel’s main journey within this – apart from not getting killed by karate thugs (love u Johnny <3) and kissing Ali – is to learn from Miyagi. He’s not necessarily a full-on feminine fairytale archetype at this point, although there are fun things to pull out of it, mainly in the context of later films and Cobra Kai: the subtext of karate and how that builds throughout all the stories, the red clothes, the themes of obsession, his being targeted by boys whose masculinity is more than a little bit toxic and based on shame… more on all that coming up.

He doesn’t technically get a home until they build him a room at Miyagi’s place, but he definitely leaves the woods at the end of this one, trophy lifted in the air after being handed to him by a tearful Johnny and all.

And then they made a sequel.

4. The Karate Kid Part Two: Not Out Of The Woods Yet

Daniel’s won the competition, Kreese chokes out Johnny for daring to lose and cry, more life-lessons are given (for man without forgiveness in heart…) and Daniel and Ali break-up off-screen, confirming that TKK1 was not really about the girl after all, which, despite Daniel and Kumiko having wonderful chemistry, is also an ongoing theme. Daniel enters the screen in The Most Baby-Blue Outfit seen since Tiana’s dress in Princess and the Frog? Or that dress in Enchanted? Maybe Cinderella’s (technically silver, but later depicted as blue)?

(Sidenote: At everyone who says Sam ought to wear a callback to that suit, you are correct and sexy).

Surprise, Miyagi’s building him a room.

Double-surprise, Miyagi needs to go to Okinawa.

Triple surprise, Daniel reveals he’s going with him, because he’s his son dammit.

The Karate Kid Part Two is maybe the least Daniel-LaRusso-Feminine-Fairytale-Protagonist of the three, because it’s not really his movie. Daniel runs around with Kumiko (aka the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen), continues to be The Best Non-Toxic Boy a middle-aged Okinawan karate master could ask for, lands himself another Built Karate Rival (twice is just a coincidence, right? Right?), and eventually doesn’t die while wearing red again – twice: When Chozen almost strangles him to death at the Miyagi dojo and then during the final fight. The Saving Of The Girl (both the little girl in the storm and Kumiko) actually puts him in a more traditional masculine space than the previous movie did, even if the main theme of the film is about compassion and kindness and by the end, once more the boy whose masculinity is built on rockhard abs and matchsticks is on his knees. Daniel just has that power over big boys. It’s called kick/punch them in the face hard enough that they see stars.

There’s an aside to be made here about how much Daniel really is an observer in other peoples stories in this, although he is the factor that sends both Chozen and Kumiko into completely different directions in life (Chozen and Kumiko main characters when?) Anyway he comes out of it presumably okay, despite being almost killed. Maybe a few therapy sessions and he’ll get over it. Too bad Terry Silver is lurking around the corner…

5. The Karate Kid Part Three: The Big Bad Wolf

Alright people have written Words about the third movie. It’s fascinating. It’s odd. It’s eye-straining. It’s like olives – you’re either fully onboard the madness or it’s too off-putting for you (or you’re like. Eh, don’t see what all the fuss is about either way...). It’s basically a non-consensual secret BDSM relationship between a guy in his thirties (played by a Very Tall twenty-seven year old Thomas Ian Griffith) and a 17/18 year old (played by a shorter twenty-eight year old Ralph Macchio).

Also recently we got more information on Mr. Griffith’s input on the uh… vibes of the film. Apparently it wasn’t just The Sweetness of Ralph Macchio’s face, the screenplay (whatever that amounted to in the first place – release the script!), the soundtrack, the direction to not tone it down under any circumstances, the fact that Macchio categorically refused to play a romance between himself and an actress who was sixteen, no: it was also TIG coming up with fun ways to torture Daniel’s character and suggesting these to the director. Clearly everyone has fun hurting Mr Macchio (including Mr Macchio).

The point is that aaallll of that amounts to that Intense Homoerotic Dubiously-Consented-To D/s subtext that haunts the movie and gives a lot of fun stuff to play with. It’s also a film that – if we’re analysing Daniel along feminine-coded fairytale lines recontextualises his role in this universe.

The Fairytale goes topsy-turvy. Through the looking glass. Enter Big Bad Wolf stage right. Karate is a metaphor for Daniel’s bisexual awakening.

“Oh, when will an attractive man touch me in ways that aren’t about hurting me?” he asks after two movies of being hurt by boys with rippling muscles. “Why do men continue to notice me only to hit me? Do you think wearing red is making me too noticeable? Anyway, Mr Silver looked really good in his gi today.”

Daniel’s diary must be a trip.

#daniel larusso #the karate kid #cobra kai #ck #johnny lawrence #cobra kai meta #my writing #part one of three #some comparisons to matrix and rocky because I love to talk about those #terry silver

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innocent-chris-evans-slut · 4 years

Text

Trust me

Chris Evans x Actress! Reader – Requested

My Masterlist ✨

Word Count: 3,2k

Type: fluffy and smut

Summary: Y/N have been engaged to Chris Evans’ newest movie. The only thing that scares you is the sex scene; when you open up to your co-star, he’s more than understandable. Though he really doesn’t like girls faking with him.

Warning(s): fingering

When your agent said there was the chance for you to be casted in a movie with Chris Evans -the Chris Evans- you immediately said yes, no matter which the conditions were.

Then you found out who would you be playing an who would he be playing.

Long story short, you were supposed to play Chris’s love interest throughout the movie. And there was no problem so far. Actually, you liked playing the girl he was craving for. What you didn’t know, or better, what the director didn’t tell you was that you were having a scene of sex with Chris.

Better, Chris’ character would have sex -really rough sex- with your character.

The day your agent handed you the final script, you stood in silence and with eyes wide-opened up to the last page. You saw, you read things Christian Gray would have paled imagining.

Ropes, wax, fire, ice: everything beyond the imaginable was in there.

“If you think I’ll lay undressed in front of the whole crew, you’re wrong”, you sat down on the couch holding a glass of red wine in your right hand, “My boobs will be displayed on the screen. Do you think I like the idea?”

“You’re the one you agreed without even reading the script. This isn’t my fault”, your best friend, and agent, Carla stated taking a sip from his cocktail. She sent you a scolding look and chuckled when you put on your puppy face, “I’m not going to save your ass this time”.

“Shouldn’t it be your job?”

“Yes, but I am also your best friend…so, no. I’m not doing it.”

You were about to reply, referring to the money you gave her every month, when your doorbell rang, “You’re so lucky, girl”.

You came from Belmont and at the moment you were shooting in Los Angeles, so you had to rent a flat for you and Carla. It wasn’t a mansion, neither the tiniest flat you had ever seen, but it was comfortable you two -especially because back home you had spent a lot of time together and you were used to each other wandering around with only a shirt on.

“I’ll have a refill”, she warned you and headed to the kitchen.

“Then I’ll remind you which are your tasks as my agent!” you shouted smiling while getting closer to the door. You turned the handle and opened it; on the doorway of you rented flat there was Chris Evans holding a pack of beers, “Hi!”

“Hey…uhm, can I get in?” his hand went at the back of his neck and on his face an embarrassed smile spread.

“Sure!” you put yourself on the side and motioned him to come in, “Please, make yourself comfortable”, you lead him to the living room and sat down, “What brings you here?”

“Tomorrow’s shooting”, he replied handing you a bottle of beer opened by him, then he opened another one for him, “Mark decided to move up the last scenes of the movie…” Chris knew you were new in the industry -only two years of experience in a sitcom-, so he wanted you to be as comfortable as possible with him before shooting, “And the sex scenes are tomorrow in the afternoon, around three”.

You moved your eyes away, finding interesting the bottle of beer in your hand, and nodded at him. Silence hit both of you; neither of you knew what to say to make the situation more comfortable, yet you hoped he would be the one doing it.

He set his beer down on the coffee table and turned completely to you: “For being your first role on the big screen, it is a very important one. I want to make sure you’re comfortable with the crew and, most importantly, with me in view of the scenes we’re shooting tomorrow”, Chris placed two fingers under your chin and lifted it up, making eye contact with you, “And you’re not comfortable”.

“The problem isn’t you. I just…I don’t feel comfortable with…being naked on the set”, you blushed while confiding in your co-star, none other than your favorite actor -the one who inspired you becoming an actress as well, “I-I don’t like being watched by strangers”, you gave up, feeling tears at the corners of your eyes, “It is something personal…”

“Hey, listen to me!” he waited for you to look into his eyes before keep going: “I’ll have a talk with the director and ask him to limit the number of people on set in the afternoon”.

You shyly smiled at him and silently thanked him for the support he was showing to you.

“So, now…are we planning on getting drunk or what?” he opened another bottle of beer and handed it to you, then he opened one for himself. He quickly glanced at you, still uncertain on what to do, “Drink, or I’ll have to force the beer into you”, he threatened you, nudging at you.

You took a drink and looked at him, after a few seconds you both burst out laughing, tilting your heads back.

The next day, at lunch, you didn’t eat much as you were used to. A roll combined with a chicken salad was all that you ate that day as you prepared the sex scenes with Chris. You still hadn’t seen him, and you hoped for it since thanks to him, ad his words, you had been able to sleep peacefully -as a baby, your mother would say.

You were currently sat down on the couch in your trailer with your agent, quickly going through the script when someone knocked at your door, “Get in!” you shouted, gaining a bothered gaze from Carla.

It rapidly changed into a panicked one, and finally into a pleased one, “I have to make a call”, she warned you and got out of the trailer, leaving you alone with your guest.

There was some kind of wall between the small living room you were in and the front door and since it didn’t allow you to see who had just entered the place. You got to know it once he had approached you.

It was Chris, the man you had been searching for since that morning.

“Hey”, he greeted you with a quick hug and a kiss on your cheek -and you did the same, “Are you ready? We’ll start in fifteen minutes. Actually, I came here to bring you on set, not before…” from behind his back, Chris put out an unopened bottle of Jack Daniels, “Having drunk a couple of shots”, and he placed down on the table two little glasses and the bottle. Then he started pouring out the brown liquid into the glasses and, once done, he grabbed both of then, handing one to you. “Who said this will help?” you asked, after having swallowed the drink all together, “God, it burns…”

“A friend of mine. Always drink before shooting a sex scene, he would say”, Chris replied, pouring out another drink, “That’s for you”.

“Why you only one and I two?” you didn’t refuse it, instead, you brought to your lips and let the less burning liquid going down your throat, “And I have to remember you we’re not shooting the entire scene. Only the beginning”.

“And the tub scene, have you forgot about it?” he reminded you, “Speaking of which, have you practiced faking an orgasm?” he chuckled and crossed his arms over his broad chest, waiting for an answer from you.

The alcohol was already having an effect on you, in fact neither of you was expecting that kind of answer from you: “Do you wanna hear how good I am?”

Alcohol had always made you horny and that situation wasn’t helping the cause. “Then…I’m ready. Are you?”

“Yeah, I’m ready…I think”, you grabbed your script and your phone from the coffee table and followed you co-star as he exited your trailer; you stopped locking it and after sent a message to Clara, warning her you were heading to the set. “So…have you talked to the director? I mean, not that you had to, but-“

“Yes, Mark assured me it will be only him, the two of us, the two choreographers, and only two costumers. All the others have been said to leave”, he told you grabbing your arm and making you turn to him, “I know you’re a great actress. Show it to everybody and trust me”, Chris looked you straight into your eyes and for a moment you could swear that there was something more behind his words.

A hidden meaning, that, then, you couldn’t completely understand.

You walked until you reached the door of the studio and the built man let you enter first, then he closed the door behind his back. Chris followed you next to the choreographers and you vanished behind the curtains of your dressing room.

“Chris!” Mark, the movie director, yelled and approached him as he was being prepared at the makeup table, “You’ll be the first one entering the scene”, then he started telling him the scene, once again: “Jim is in the bath tub and yells Erin’s name, his maid. You ask her to join you in the tub and, although she isn’t pleased at the idea, Erin can’t help but accommodate every request of yours. She undresses herself and joins you”, the director stopped as both, Chris and him, had approached the set, ready to be played on.

Chris assigned costumers was suddenly behind him, as she helped him getting ready for the shot. Back in the dressing room, you were with your assigned costumer and she was now helping you zipping the maid uniform, “On the set you only have to pull down this zipper”, she showed you the long, easy accessible, zip she had recovered from you from another studio, “You’re not wearing a bra, so the only thing you’ll have to take off are your panties”, she motioned at the black, laced panties you were wearing underneath the dress, “Chris Evans will be the only one watching you walking naked towards him. Cameras will be behind you back”.

Once you were ready, you walked out the dressing room and met Mark, waiting for you and Chris to meet up with him, “Oh, you’re done!”

You frantically crossed your arms over your chest and quickly smiled at him. Soon after, you both saw Chris walking towards the point you were. In silence you approached the set and heard the last few tips of the choreographers as regarded the shot. The scene would be intense -as it was intended to be- and, for this reason, the screenwriters wanted you to call Chris’ character Sir and he would have called you Sweetheart. No names, afraid that you would have make a disaster.

The scene would have start right after Jim had called Erin, so you were brought at the end of the stairs, a camera following you. Your hands were shaking, and you suddenly regretted having drank before shooting.

Such a stupid idea, you thought while the director sat down on his chair. Everything went black and there was silence on set; you heard the ‘click’ of the camera and soon after the director called action.

You quickly climbed up the stairs, once on the top of them, you ran into the bathroom, from which you had heard your boss calling your name. Always careful not letting fall the tray you were holding with your left hand, and the glass full of red wine was on it; so you opened the door with your right hand. All your attempts not to let the tray fall vanished when you saw Jim -the man who had been teasing you for the past three days-, naked and in his bath tub; inevitably the tray crashed to the floor and the glass smashed against the cold marble, causing a dull noise.

“I’m bored, and alone. Would you mind joining me?” Jim didn’t look at you while asking you that indecent question, neither did him actually gave you the chance to say ‘no’ when he ordered you to get rid of your clothes and enter the tub.

“I-I don’t think…” you tried, but he coldly glared at you, shutting you up. You hadn’t other option than slowly undress yourself and get in the tub with him.

Jim welcomed you by spreading his legs, leaving enough room for you to sit in.

The water wasn’t hot as you expected, so you shivered once you had gotten in. You felt Chris’ right arm holding you close and, as you brought your back against his, his chest hair tickling you. He gave your thigh a gentle squeeze and whispered: “Trust me”.

“You shouldn’t think that much”, you felt his hand standing between your legs, forcing them open, “Instead, you should let you go more often” he slipped his fingers on your core, teasing your clit through the thin lace of your panties, “And I can help you”.

His hand had already bypassed your piece of clothing when you felt his thick and strong fingers between your folds, and you gasped in search of air. Jim’s other arm, the one free, wrapped your shoulder from part to part, preventing you to get up, either to fall in the water.

“Such a good girl”, he whispered to your ear as he forced your entrance with two of his fingers. Both the position and your natural tightness felt more than good around him. Your walls clenched together, as if they were closing the way to your g-spot, yet Jim pulled his fingers upper your channel and finally found what he was looking for. Meanwhile, you closed your eyes, tilted your head on his shoulder, and swift moans escaped your mouth.

“P-please…” you whispered to his ear, implicitly begging him to make you cum.

Jim played dirty. He always did. “Tell me what you want”, as his three fingers weren’t enough, your boss brought his thumb roughly rubbing your clit, “Use your words, Sweetheart”.

“Chris-t! Make me cum, please!” you almost yelled and you had the sensation he was smirking while bringing you to your highest point, quickly and violently thrusting in and out, you arched your back so much that your nipples almost peeked out from the water, “Please, Sir!”

When your orgasm came, the pleasure washed you over and you brought your left hand to the back of his head, poking his flesh.

“Stop!” Mark’s voice brought you back to the Earth, where you were just shooting a movie, “This was…perfect. We’re keeping it! Good job, Y/N”.

You thanked him with your shaking voice, and he gave you a questioning look, but then he called five minutes and went out, together with the camera operator. You slowly turned to Chris, whose ears and cheeks were red, “Did you just fingered me with ten people watching at us and a camera recording the scene?” you were incredulous and you did your best to keep your voice down while asking.

“Technically they hadn’t seen anything”, Chris saw your costumer approaching and whispered to you ear: “I couldn’t let a girl faking an orgasm with me”, he smirked and released you from his firm grip as he was told to get out in order to give you the right privacy. He put a toweling robe on and looked over his shoulder, to you, smiling sincerely, before disappearing behind the door of the fake room.

“Y/N, are you okay?” Carla asked you once you had reached your assigned changing room.

You had been just fingered by Chris Evans in the middle of the set.

You clearly weren’t okay.

Author’s note: there’s a ‘bonus scene’, do you want me to post that as well?

Chris Evans-tag list:

@stargazingfangirl18

#chris evans #chris evans imagine #chris evans x y/n #chris evans x reader #actress!reader #captain america #fluff #fluff chris evans

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goblinconceivable · 3 years

Text

braindump: betty/daniel

I’ve been living with them for a while, notes taken, a few stories significantly started but there’s a gelling issue, which I’m hoping is at least partially down to a lack of proper braindumping. So, in no particular order and certainly not comprehensive:

Frankly I also got too hooked on the last 2 eps, which is likely where I’m blocked. It’s an abrupt emotional twist for them (esp Daniel), and in trying to make sense of that I’m losing focus on the 4 previous years.

- I’m a little bit obsessed in the scene where Betty tries to convince Matt she’s fearless by pointing out her bang-less-ness. And then runs into Daniel, who is at that moment half brain-washed, but yet when she asks about her fearless quotient his response is immediate and natural and entirely lacking in irony: “no bangs.” It’s a tiny little moment that shows how well he not only knows her, but understands her. Without judgment, without fanfare. Were I to have a husband, this is the sort of response that would confirm I’d married the absolute perfect guy for me.

- They’re too close for mirroring to be an important indicator, but there are two scenes that stand out in this vein: the first is when Betty thinks he may have pushed Christina down the stares and steals the video. She’s backing out the door, and he follows, matching her step for step. I love the direction choices because from her perspective there’s a sense of menace, Daniel as potential villain is stalking her. But from his guileless perspective he’s talking to her and if she’s moving, so is he. The second is from the penultimate, talking about Trista, where Betty’s rolling back and forth and he moves with her, rather than simply turning his head. It signals his full engagement in the conversation, seeking her attention, and is why the scene plays as flirting rather than their normal banter.

- That bulletpoint was getting a bit long, so second point on the flirting is that it plays against Betty shutting down the conversation “none of my business,” leading to the fight over involvement in each other’s personal lives, leading to the revelation that they know each other at that deep personal level so very, very well. Which was a very clumsy leadup to Daniel’s revelation during Hilda’s wedding speech, that could have been handled so much more deftly but those last two eps were quite rushed, I don’t know when they found out about the shortened season but it feels like they’d planned for more space and had to jab in exposition.

- Becaaaaause: they narratively broke his ‘aha’ moment onto “know you better than you do” while the strength of the message is really in the “do anything to protect them.” Which is, I believe, where they cut to his softened expression. Not coincidentally, this is precisely what a lot of fan-readings of the characters focus on: Daniel will do anything to protect Betty. Bobby might have said he’d throw himself under a bus for Hilda, but Daniel HAS done that for Betty- in fact literally doing so would probably have been easier than publicly shouldering the blame for the Tornado cover and giving away the profits. Due to the fact that he had time to consider the consequences and did it anyway.

- Which is tidy segue into an admission that I’m flying mostly blind on the Molly arc because I basically skipped all her scenes, but it’s my understanding that Daniel doing this was a pivotal moment for them. Ie, she was impressed that he did this thing. I mean, I really appreciate that he spent the whole press conference scene looking for Betty, so the show in no way undercut their relationship. But then they very clearly built the Molly relationship on the foundation of not only the man Daniel had become due to Betty, but choices he was making in large measure for Betty: it’s not that he saw Betty beaten down and resolved the situation: he was upset but lost, she yelled at him, and THEN he resolved the situation by taking the bullet. Did I break grammar by ending up with two colon’d clauses in the same sentence? It’s a braindump, ain’t gotta be pretty. XP

- Quick sidebar that the same thing happens with Alexis. She was expecting to come back to one brother, but then listens in on his pep talk with Betty and finds she’s returned to a different brother. This may be where I got the “an assistant” phrasing, if so, my bad. But basically, she was impressed with Daniel’s actions, not understanding that it was Betty specifically inspiring his actions.

- Follow that a step further and did Molly ever acknowledge how important Betty is to him? Legit question. I think her line here was about him doing it “for an assistant” (?) rather than even “his assistant,” establishing Betty as a non-entity for her. (Quoting a summary but I think I’m in the ballpark.) And I’m sure I’d have read about it somewhere if she brought Betty up during their discussion on who he’d date when she was dead.

- Just one last note on Molly, (okay it’s a multi-part though it veers off her as a character) but a possibly incorrect beef is that I hate the Daniel/Molly relationship because there’s no interesting or even real conflict? It’s perfect? I’m supposed to think this is magical “true love”? Molly has apparently been engaged for years to a man she doesn’t really love (and um... that’s lazy not strong), and helps inspire a vengeance filled betrayal by her ex because she’s so awesome everyone loves her? But she comes out squeaky clean because any emotional cheating on her part is balanced and thus “justified” by Connor falling for Wilhemina. And then the only “conflict” is that she’s dying, and is perfect throughout it? That’s... weak.

-That poem thing WOULD have been an interesting point of conflict but it was resolved by Betty’s intervention, rather than within the relationship. Which actually is an incredibly interesting beat. The problem with that being it’s so entirely consistent with the role Betty plays in Daniel’s life that it’s treated as just another beat, as if it doesn’t MATTER that a fundamental moment of intimacy and growth of vulnerability in Daniel’s very important romantic relationship is a door opened by a third party. There’s a strong argument to be made for something but I broke off to write the next point and now can’t remember what that strong argument is. I might remember later. It may have had something to do with Molly being a stepping stone in Daniel’s arc, but the cult-thing was so long and dominating that it didn’t work, it tied him too tightly for too long and coinciding with a loosening of his relationship with Betty there was flailing.

- Quick one: Daniel’s fast-forwarded and time-bounded relationship with Molly is the analog to Betty’s time-limited relationship with Henry. Which is a discussion I would like Daniel and Betty to have. Esp. noting that Betty and Henry had issues they worked through together (ice cream foreplay being one.)

- Player! So going back to a happy place, when Betty’s on the phone trying to fix the apartment situation and the camera pans onto Daniel just leaning against the doorway: this may be a legitimate little moment of “squee!” There’s so much denial in his laid back attitude at Player, but I still love watching how the informality of the environment reflects in the informality with Betty. He gives her free reign, and there’s many answers to “why,” and I (almost) don’t want to go into them because I totally adore how this Daniel is basically a College!Daniel only he’s latched onto Betty, who, meanwhile, is just being Betty. OMG how different his life would have been if he’d met Betty in college...

- Okay I actually don’t feel like going into whys, it’s just an arc to enjoy. With a small mention of how he TOTALLY was playing with the MODE book and handed it to Betty knowing she’d understand and use it to get them back in. Such a crazy subtle manipulation, to the point where I’m not sure it wasn’t almost entirely subconscious on Daniel’s part.

- The YETI recommendation letter. What I love is that this is another time when Daniel fvcks up, but fixes it, and more importantly displays competence and ingenuity alongside authentic caring and effort. Here’s the thing: YETI wanted Betty, even if it was just a quota thing (which it wasn’t entirely, at least one of the board was generally enthused.) So all that was necessary was to have them re-label her as from Player. Daniel knew this and did this. And told Betty that. BUUUUT that point was purposefully (by script and character) overshadowed by the gesture of the lengthy rec letter he put significant time into. Whose real audience was... wait for it... Betty. He even did a second draft! Which is more time and effort and a cleaner product.

- Also flaking on her practice run. I also enjoy how he (finally...) bounced back into the office clearly having forgotten her schedule, but having mentally shifted from Molly-space into Betty-space. He’s enthused, he’s engaged, he’s sort of bantering and I’d like to see where that scene would have gone if she hadn’t immediately gotten the acceptance call.

- So there’s this moment somewhat early on, pretty sure when Betty’s taking the writing class, and wants Daniel to give her feedback. And he’s all “why?,” coming from his “I don’t actually know what I’m doing” place. She responds that he’s her friend and wants to know what he thinks. And he does a little double-take at that word. Because until that point Daniel totally sees Betty as HIS Friend, and they’ve referred to each other as friends, with a little “f,” and he believes that. But it wasn’t until this moment that he even considered that HE might be HER Friend. Presumably because he doesn’t believe he has anything to offer her, beyond the power he holds as EIC and her boss - ie, “here run this show” and other such responsibilities.

- Which is a recurring theme. Pronounced on relationship stuff especially. When she asks him for input on the Henry vs Gio situation, when she’s trying to date the playwright. His response is always “I’m in no position to offer relationship advice/judgment on relationships.” He sorta dodges the first and is permissive on the second. I don’t know where to go with that so I’ll leave it (for now).

- When he was supposed to be in Rio, Betty wasn’t even at MODE, she was working for the “enemy,” and he was sending her regular postcards? First, they’d have been postmarked in New York and presumably with local stamps, so I’m not 100% on Betty not cottoning on. But it’s super cute that he was thinking of her when he was incommunicado with literally everyone else. Did he want her to figure it out (subconsciously)? It’s an act of reaching out, but also of convincing: he’s created a fictional narrative of being in Rio, fed and embellished by the media and swallowed by coworkers, but it’s through Betty that he’s establishing the fiction in a definitive way. He wants HER to believe it, because if SHE believes he’s there and having a good time, then he can believe it too, with a small piece of his imagination.

- Same convincing as in Player. BTW, how did all those messages on her phone work? He was 99% totally hiding the situation from her. a) why wouldn’t he just call her from his phone, as he always did in the past? b) he was creating another fictional space. Where her “number” was literally on a post-it on his temporary assistant’s monitor. It’s all play: “call Betty” happens many times, and every one is the act of doing it while knowing that he’s not really doing it. c) Betty does not point out that he should have been confused he never heard back, or more to the point, that he never heard her voicemail message. d) he was in a state of limbo waiting for her to come back, nothing is real until she does. At which point there’s lovely dramatic tension since he both wants her to fix it and get them out of there, and wants to draw her into this new reality and thus make it feel viable.

- 100th Anniversary edition. I love the idea that he’s hep on her writing his bio because he needs her name, at least, to be next to his. His identity as EIC is predicated on her being his partner, and needs that shown, even if it’s functionally an “in joke” because it’s not like she can be featured. In musing over his thoughts while flipping through the book right before deciding to quit, I usually come back to a realization of the transience of the role, but I want it to be a gutpunch of how he assumed, without being aware, that Betty would be next to him in picture, and that’s what they were heading for.

- I’ve actually got through most of my notes, so just a couple more. Daniel is super impressionable. He did what Becks told him to in the pilot. He did what Natalie told him in the cult-situation. Both against his better judgment - his look after Betty when he kicked her out for being “drama he didn’t need” - that’s the same look when he told her to clock out and was dragged off by the not-16-year-old. I’m too tired to go check the pilot, but assuming similar look there. He does what he’s told by anyone telling him to do something, but he WANTS to be rescued from the bad influences, who are so often so forceful.

- Final scene: okay so it turns out quick a lot of my thoughts are trying to understand Daniel. His growth is blatant and deep. So a second round will be more Betty-focused. ‘Cuz I identify strongly with her and don’t have a lot of surface questions about her motivations, but I’m LOST on side of the romantic coin. And plus she deserves a close look regarding how she grows during the series.

- I watched at least part of the reunion and very much like how AF answered the question of the final scene versus what EM says. Because I think they each, as actors, see it from the perspective of their characters, which means it was played authentically and grants insight. AF basically says that she saw it as Daniel coming to say thank you, and how it came down to Betty teaching him that he was good enough. Which came across a little funny because her phrasing implied they’d never talk or see each other again or something and that’s an alarming finality. But also implies that Betty really did see moving to London as a significant parting of ways, something that started as soon as she became an editor and their relationship changed. Probably before.

- She then challenged EM as to why Daniel didn’t say goodbye (as if she didn’t know and hadn’t thought about it? I’m guessing this was panel performance: asking the question “in character” and throwing the question to the other relevant actor.) But anyway, EM’s answer was “Because things were just starting.” Which is blatantly a shippy answer, and he even explains Daniel’s “revelation” as when he “really saw Betty for the first time through and through.”

- At some point in these things you’re like: oh but I thought of something else, and only stop when your brain falls asleep.

- I thought of something else. And then I forgot it. My brain is failing! But not yet failed.

- After Betty gets her braces off there’s this scene near the end, at the shoot. Daniel sees her and crosses quite purposefully to talk with her. He wants to banter and share this exciting moment with her. And the scene goes a little strange when Betty kinda goes “yeah, going now bye.” I expected more eye contact, a big smile, more conversation. That’s Betty. That’s them. But instead it’s a little awkward so Something Is Happening Here. Is she self-conscious? Did she see and hear something in Daniel’s look and comment right after she was detached from the bra and isn’t at this moment comfortable with him? Is this all fallout from her dream in which she and Daniel slept together/he thought she was a bad person/rejected her only they chose not to explicate this/cut a useful scene/thought I’d get that right away but I’m obtuse? I don’t think it’s the last one because while I can be horribly obtuse, I don’t think it was coded. But that’s what the obtuse would say.

- At any rate they don’t pick up on it again, next scene (next ep) they’re back to normal.

- But Daniel does immediately chase after Amanda and let go of her. Which is payoff for his convo with Betty earlier where she sort of disdainfully asks if he WANTS a more serious relationship with Amanda. I did sort of wonder if he actually does, but Betty’s judgmentalness is what convinces him he doesn’t. Usually I’d say Betty understands him so well she knows he doesn’t, but they’re not as close at this point, Betty is living her own life much more, so I dunno.

- But I don’t actually think Daniel was falling for Amanda, or that the show wanted us to think that was ultimately a viable path. Because of that moment when he’s in a car, calls Amanda, says “I really need to see you” and she turns him down. It parallels his text to Betty when Molly died. One text and Betty came over. This was an actual distressed voice convo and Amanda doesn’t care enough about him to be there, which is really great development for Amanda even though we don’t see her! She previously went after Matt when he was in jail, she’s interested in Tyler here, she’s not totally pining for Daniel!

- Daniel of course was using Amanda and their earned if mild emotional intimacy as a crutch, trying to fill the space Betty left. Also note when Amanda turned him down for sex and he stayed to “hang out,” - this is not supposed to be an analysis of Amanda but I wanna note I like that moment because it felt like she was pleased to think she wasn’t just sex to him, while still being over him romantically. Because she does care about him.

- Or for pete’s... I have this bad habit of writing notes which I later look at and am like... “huh?” This is a fic idea, from Daniel’s POV: “Betty had moulded him, often by sheer force of her iron will, into being a man who almost deserved Molly. And he'd turned right around and become a man who would never deserve Betty.” And I DON’T REMEMBER WHAT THE SECOND HALF MEANS. Specifically.

- Wedding dancing. Happens twice. Hilda’s wedding, we know what that is. But at Daniel’s wedding. I like that he wasn’t 100% Molly focused, ‘cuz, shipper. And I know why the show had Matt cut in, because gotta keep things moving. But isn’t it a thing that you don’t cut in on the groom/bride? It’s their day. Daniel just sort of nonverbally asks Betty if it’s okay (to leave her with Matt), but can’t help a) thinking he was a bit put out and b) want Molly to see his expression looking at Betty and have some sort of “aha” moment where she - do Molly and Betty have any scenes together? I don’t remember seeing any and I think I did skim through all the eps, but I need to do that again.

- Ooh, one of the things I forgot en route! I like that Betty has revolving love interests, because that’s textual argument for Betty never having feelings (romantic) for Daniel. Which is super, super important in this iteration of the story. There’s a couple moments - pilot and the first bridge scene - where she arguably has a momentary crush, which quickly settles into a developing platonic relationship.

- Jump back to Daniel finally seeing Betty as a true equal = romantic feelings. It’s a thing. Look my brain is deteriorting and wording is hard! So there’s two sided imbalance throughout. Daniel always saw Betty with this veneer of youth, and a great deal of his use for her is helping her “grow into the woman she’ll be.” And that’s the roadblock in him seeing her as a romantic possibility. Which was initially quite awesome because he was sleeping with people younger than her, even the “she’s actually 20″ girl was younger than Betty. And yet always saw her as in many ways more mature and competent than her. And double-yet he still saw how much further she could, and would, grow. His belief in her knows no bounds.

- Meanwhile Betty sees him as... someone who’s also becoming. Who has great potential. Bullying him into it if necessary. And because he’s guided by her, she can’t crush on him, he’s like her pet. Were she to have a crush, much less fall for him, it would have been horrifying. She needs to have a moment when she sees him as a true equal, someone who - look, everyone is always still growing so it’s not like he needs to be fully formed, and it’s a little murkier what the moment would look like when she finally sees Daniel “for the first time.”

- ‘cuz as noted, Betty has been there for pretty much every important moment of growth and crossroads in every facet of Daniel’s life. Whereas Betty consistently had many things and relationships in her life Daniel was not involved in. She’s always been way more self-reliant (not the word I wanted, is there one that starts with c?) It’s why they did sort of need to peel away through a chunk of S4, because Daniel needed to learn to cope without Betty propping him up, because it’s like a Miranda-thing:

- “I don’t need Gary. But I want him.”

- Daniel has to be able to be find without Betty before Betty can see him as a viable romantic partner. She has to see something she never has before. Daniel saw that the seedling he’d been protecting was not only strong enough to survive on its own had grown up and bloomed (process begun early in the season when he was being overprotective and she shut that down). For Betty... I guess Daniel... ... ..... it didn’t happen in the show. As EM noted, for Daniel, the ending was the beginning. Because his moment isn’t leaving MODE, that’s just the corresponding moment to Betty shaking him off. His moment is further down the road when he puts into practice everything he’s learned and ... something answered in fanfic because it’s spec and I’m tuckered.

#daniel x betty #detty #ugly betty #meta #braindump #my brain literally has nothing except #i got nothing #what a satisfying feeling #to have removed everything and set it in a magical tardis of a post

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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The Real Martial Arts Behind Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

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This article contains some minor spoilers for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

In the pages of Marvel Comics, Shang-Chi is known as the “Master of Kung Fu.” So when Marvel Studios announced the character to help usher in MCU Phase 4, the one thought on every fan’s mind was that whoever gets cast in the lead role better really know Kung Fu.

In the wake of Netflix’s Iron Fist, Marvel’s other Kung Fu master, there was a lot of skepticism. Marvel had scored with the previous Netflix series Daredevil, which delivered some of the best small screen fight choreography we’d ever seen. But Iron Fist was sorely lacking. Finn Jones just couldn’t sell a punch as Danny Rand, leaving fans of Marvel martial arts masters overwhelmingly disappointed. If there’s one thing that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings had to nail, it was the Kung Fu.

Like Jones, Simu Liu had little martial arts experience before taking on the role of Shang-Chi. However, he already had the physique, so much so that appearing shirtless was a running joke when he played Jung in Kim’s Convenience. What’s more, Liu bulked up, added 10 more pounds of muscle while training for the film.

Unlike a character like Daredevil, Shang-Chi doesn’t wear a mask, so Liu had to quickly pick up enough cinematic Kung Fu to appear masterful on screen. Fortunately, he was backed by a top-notch team of stuntmen and surrounded with a cast of veteran film fighters including Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Star Trek: Discovery), Tony Leung (Hero, The Grandmaster), Yuen Wah (Kung Fu Hustle), Florian Munteanu (Creed II), Andy Le (The Paper Tigers), and others. Even though Liu was new to Kung Fu, he carries the action scenes with panache.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is not only a good Marvel movie, it’s a good Kung Fu movie. It has the best fight scenes seen in the MCU so far. And although the movie doesn’t get bogged down in the specifics of Kung Fu style, there are telling nods throughout the film that shows the filmmakers knew their Kung Fu too. “We knew the martial arts had to be authentic,” says Director Destin Daniel Cretton. “In order for that to feel real, we worked with people who understood Chinese Kung Fu.”

Let’s take a look at some of the Kung Fu roots and martial arts Easter Eggs underlying Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringsdone..

The Ten Rings are Real…Kind of

Wenwu (Tony Leung) is the villain of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and he wields ten magical rings that he wears on his forearms. These are the source of his power, as well as the name of his criminal organization. The origin of these rings is a prevailing mystery in the movie; however, their inspiration is not.

Traditional Kung Fu practitioners use rings akin to these while training, particularly in Southern Chinese styles. Such rings are called tit waan in Cantonese, which literally means “iron rings” or “iron bracelets.” Iron rings are constructed of heavy metal, typically brass or steel, and are worn loosely on the forearms when practicing solo forms and doing arm drills.

They serve two purposes. Firstly, they are heavy, usually weighing over a pound a piece, so they act like wrist weights. Secondly, unlike Wenwu’s magical rings which conform to fit his forearms perfectly, real iron rings are looser. They must be narrow enough so that they stay on when the practitioner makes a fist, but they are far from form fitting. This gives them play to bang against the practitioner’s forearms when they are shadowboxing. The banging conditions the user’s forearms, hardening them to withstand the impact of blocking. Some iron ring practitioners have forearms that are so tough they can severely damage an adversary’s punch with their ring-hardened blocks.

Although iron rings are not conventionally considered as weapons, Kung Fu practitioners have figured out ways to weaponize just about everything. Some wield iron rings like brass knuckles, holding them in their fists for punching.

Kung Fu Hustle

Weaponized iron rings are used in the 2004 comedy Kung Fu Hustle. The character Tailor (Chiu Chi Ling) fights with them. Chiu is a genuine master of Hung Ga Kung Fu, a southern style that uses iron ring training extensively.

Director Destin Daniel Cretton claims that Kung Fu Hustle is one of his favorite martial arts movies so there are other nods to it in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, including when a Kung Fu Hustle poster can be seen on a bedroom wall in the background. What’s more, Yuen Wah also appears as the warrior leader of Ta Lo who oversees Katy’s (Awkwafina) archery training. Yuen played the Landlord in Kung Fu Hustle and is a veteran martial arts actor with nearly 200 film credits. He is also the Kung Fu brother of Jackie Chan.

Yuen Qiu, who plays the Landlady in Kung Fu Hustle is a mutual Kung Fu sibling. Jackie, Yuen Wah and Yuen Qiu were all pupils of Yu Jim-Yuen, a master of Chinese opera who trained them all from childhood. They all took stage names that included the “Yuen” part of their master’s name (Jackie Chan was known as Yuen Lau as a child). Others among that troupe were many of the movers and shakers of Hong Kong’s golden age of Kung Fu films, such as Sammo Hung (a.k.a. Yuen Lung) and famed action choreographer, Yuen Woo-Ping (The Matrix, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Kill Bill).

Tiger Head Hooks

The signature weapons of the Ten Rings are Tiger Head Hooks. These are those black glowing hooked swords that the gang members wield. They also appear on the Ten Rings banner. It’s an excellent choice because Tiger Head Hooks are one of the most distinctively Kung Fu weapons of all.

In Chinese, these are called Hu tou shuang gou, which literally means “Tiger head paired hooks.” “Paired” because they are typically used in pairs. Sometimes they are just translated as Hook Swords. They have a sword blade with a hooked tip, a crescent-shaped blade for a knuckle guard, and a dagger blade for a pommel. Every edge is sharp. The only place they are not sharp is the handle. This makes them very difficult to wield. Consequently, Tiger Hooks are considered an advanced Kung Fu weapon.

The reference book Ancient Chinese Weapons by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming dates Tiger Head hooks back to China’s Spring Autumn Period (771-476 BCE), however those ancient hooks likely took on a different form. The modern style of Tiger Head hooks as seen in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings rose to prominence around the 1800s. They are still practiced today, mostly by Northern schools of Kung Fu.

What Style of Kung Fu Does Shang-Chi Practice?

Kung Fu is renowned for its diverse collection of styles like Shaolin, Wing Chun, Tiger style, and countless others. There’s even Drunken style and Toad style. In the movie, Shang-Chi doesn’t adopt a particular style of Kung Fu. Some of his moves have characteristics of Wing Chun or Bajiquan, but there’s nothing in the choreography to indicate a very specific style.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

The warriors of Ta Lo are different. While their style is not explicit, their peacekeeping philosophy is expressed through the soft, internal styles of Kung Fu like Tai Chi. When Ying Nan (Michelle Yeoh) schools Shang-Chi in their first match, it’s reminiscent of how airbending is depicted in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

However, the connection is deeper than that. Despite its fantasy elements, Avatar based its martial arts sequences on authentic Kung Fu by mo-capping Sifu Kisu, a renowned martial arts master. Kisu designated specific styles for each school of bending. Airbending was based upon an internal style of Kung Fu known as Baguazhang, or Eight Diagram Palm. Like Tai Chi, it has a soft expression. It relies on circular movements and pivoting evasions. Several of Yeoh’s techniques are plucked straight out of Baguazhang.

The Masters Behind Shang-Chi’s Martial Arts

Credit for Shang-Chi’s Kung Fu authenticity falls on the film’s top notch stunt team. Two are leading graduates of the legendary Jackie Chan Stunt Team. The fight on the hi-rise scaffolding is a homage to Jackie’s parkour-inspiring choreography. Andy Cheng worked on around half a dozen of Jackie’s films including his first two Rush Hour films, Shanghai Noon, The Tuxedo, and Who Am I? where Jackie does one of his all-time greatest stunts, sliding down the Willemswerf skyscraper in Rotterdam. He was also the action director for Into the Badlands. When Jackie inevitably stepped back from doing his own stunts, Cheng stepped in for him.

“We were very concerned [about Kung Fu] from the very beginning,” says Cretton. “Marvel was also concerned and wanted to get it right. [They] knew that Marvel fans, wouldn’t have let it slide if we did a Hollywood version of a whitewashed Kung Fu movie. To be able to, we brought in Brad Allan.” Brad Allan was the first non-Asian to make Jackie’s stunt team. He also worked on around a dozen of Jackie’s films (this is approximate because stunt work wasn’t always credited).

Who Was Brad Allan?

You can’t miss the credits in any MCU film. In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, there’s a prominent dedication to Allan at the very end. Tragically, on August 7th, 2021, Brad Allan died unexpectantly at the early age of 48, sending the martial arts world reeling from the loss of one of its brightest stars. Beyond Shang-Chi, Allan leaves behind an exemplary legacy of action films where he served as the Second Unit Director including Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Cuban Fury, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and the Kingsman trilogy.

Allan was obsessed with the martial arts from childhood and rose to compete internationally in Wushu, representing Australia where he was born and raised. Through a chance encounter, he was able to demonstrate his skills to Jackie, and Jackie liked what he saw so much that he took Allan under his wing.

In 1999, Allan played Alan, the villain in Jackie’s film Gorgeous, which coincidentally also stars Tony Leung. With Allan clad in black and Jackie in white, their finale fight is, well, it’s gorgeous. It’s two of the greatest masters of the craft delivering top notch fight choreography. Allan spent most of his career modestly behind the scenes, so Gorgeous is the outstanding example of his speed and agility. It’s heartbreaking that Allan didn’t get to see the premiere of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Allan’s final work will be seen in The King’s Man later this year.

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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is now playing in theaters.

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salvatoreschool · 4 years

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Vampire Diaries Universe: The 25 Best Characters, Ranked

For the first time since 2009, we’re entering a fall season devoid of any new offerings from the Vampire Diaries universe. And like Stefan Salvatore without his daily diet of forest friends, we’re insatiable.

Like so many longtime TVD enthusiasts (those of us to whom the word “thesmatos” really means something!), we’ve spent much of quarantine revisiting the weird, wonderful universe — from Mystic Falls to New Orleans and back again. We’re suddenly spending a lot of time with characters we haven’t seen in years. And we’re having a lot of feelings about them.

In celebration of the franchise’s 11th anniversary, TVLine has assembled another totally non-controversial ranking, this time of the 25 best characters from the Vampire Diaries universe — a category that also includes familiar faces from The Originals and Legacies. (In Legacies‘ defense, the franchise’s latest offshoot hasn’t been around as long to endear itself to us, but that didn’t stop four Salvatore School students from making their way onto our list.)

In lieu of new content from the TVD universe this fall, TVLine is looking back at our 25 favorite characters from the entire franchise, including stand-out favorites from its two spinoffs.

SPOILER ALERT: This ranking discusses major plot points from all three shows. If you haven’t finished The Vampire Diaries (Season 1-8), The Originals (Season 1-5) or Legacies (Season 1-2), proceed at your own risk. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

25. VINCENT GRIFFITH

Thanks to the magic of body swapping, the Mikaelson siblings have inhabited multiple physical vessels throughout the years, but none have remained in the family’s orbit quite like this Southern gentleman. Powerful, thoughtful and downright Shakespearean in his delivery (Yusuf Gatewood, ladies and gentlemen!), Vincent always has the greater good in mind. And as we learned in The Originals’ series finale, he helped Freya and Keelan pass that good along to the next generation.

24. LANDON KIRBY

Even though we’re still getting to know him, there’s already so much to like about this pure-hearted Mystic Falls townie. Not only is he the franchise’s first-ever phoenix, but he also looks like he could pass for Damon and Elena’s offspring — and that’s never a bad thing. We could tell he had a long future in this universe the moment he danced with Hope in The Originals’ final season. (So far, so good!)

23. JENNA SOMMERS

Like so many paved paradises, we didn’t fully appreciate what we had with Jenna until she was gone. Her death marked the end of Elena’s innocence — which is saying a lot, considering she was still mourning her own parents when The Vampire Diaries began. And if we’re being honest, Jenna was the ghost we were most excited to see again in the series finale. (For the record, Joseph Morgan has apologized on Klaus’ behalf for killing Jenna several times.)

22. TYLER LOCKWOOD

The First Son of Mystic Falls was kind of a jerk when we met him in The Vampire Diaries‘ first season. He was arrogant, aggressive and reckless — so it actually made perfect sense when he was revealed to be a werewolf. Fortunately, Michael Trevino’s character developed a little more nuance from that point on, especially via his Romeo and Juliet romance with Caroline. (After everything that’s happened since 2013, can you believe that they were once in a love triangle with Klaus?)

21. JEREMY GILBERT

Elena’s little brother (er, cousin?) went through a number of different, wonderful phases during his tenure in Mystic Falls. We loved him in The Vampire Diaries’ earlier seasons as the human embodiment of all things emo (he literally dated a ghost!), and we… um… appreciated his unexpected evolution into a shirt-ripping, wood-chopping vampire hunter.

20. CAMILLE ‘CAMI’ O’CONNELL

The Clarice Starling to Klaus’ Hannibal Lecter, this brave bartender was able to tap into the show’s darkest, most complicated character’s psyche in ways that no one named Mikaelson (or even Forbes) ever could. She helped him conquer a number of his demons in the few short years they spent together on The Originals, and like most people who play a significant role in Klaus’ life, she suffered the consequences. (Side note: Are we the only ones who really dug Cami as a vampire? Justice for that short-lived story arc.)

19. SHERIFF ELIZABETH FORBES

Of The Vampire Diaries’ many maternal figures, none put us through the emotional ringer quite like Caroline’s mother. We weren’t her biggest fans in the show’s early seasons, given her penchant for hunting the undead (including her own daughter), but hey, what was this show if not an endless series of redemption arcs? Also, if you don’t get a little choked up when Caroline felt her mom’s presence in the series finale, you don’t have a soul.

18. FREYA MIKAELSON

The long-lost fifth Mikaelson sibling was a little rough around the edges when we first encountered her on The Originals, but the poor woman was in the midst of escaping a centuries-long imprisonment, so we cut her a little slack. And we’re glad we did, because Freya has since become one of the strongest, most inspiring and all-around likable characters in the Vampire Diaries canon. #FreelinForever

17. MARCEL GERARD

While it’s easy to get swept up in Marcel’s charm and swagger (we were robbed of a second karaoke number, by the way!), it’s important to remember just how far back his time with the Mikaelson family goes. When you consider that Klaus literally freed Marcel from slavery and raised him to lead New Orleans as his right-hand vampire, it adds a whole other layer of tension to their passionate power struggle on The Originals. Though he’s treated like an unofficial Mikaelson sibling, Marcel often feels like more of a Mikaelson than Kol — and definitely more than Finn.

16. REBEKAH MIKAELSON

Arguably the funniest (and most glamorous) member of the Mikaelson family, the woman Damon once referred to as “Barbie Klaus” never fai to tell it exactly like it was, beginning with her thoughts on then-lovebirds Stefan and Elena. (“Honestly, I don’t get you two as a couple.”) And Bex only became more complex as the years went on, from her desperate desire for humanity to her undeniable love for Marcel. Just don’t call her insane — she prefers “spontaneous.”

15. ALARIC SALTZMAN

In hindsight, Alaric’s journey from hot history teacher to hot headmaster of a supernatural school makes perfect sense. Still, it was impossible to predict back in The Vampire Diaries’ first season just how much of an impact the man formerly known as Warner Huntington III would have on this franchise. A drinking buddy to some, a father figure to others and a literal father to a lucky pair, Alaric has truly woven himself into the fabric of this universe like few others. (That said, we still wouldn’t recommend dating him if you value your life.)

14. SHERIFF MATT DONOVAN

Only one full-blooded human survived all eight seasons of The Vampire Diaries, and you’re looking at him. The pinnacle of mortal goodness, this blue-eyed patriot hasn’t always been on the same page as his vampire brethren, but that’s only because he didn’t want to see any more his friends and family get eaten. And we can sympathize with that!

12-13. LIZZIE AND JOSIE SALTZMAN

Asking us to choose between Jo (by way of Caroline) and Alaric’s daughters is an impossible task, which is ironic, considering the Gemini twins are literally destined for a fight to the death on their 22nd birthday. Besides, these sisters have always felt like a package deal, from the moment we witnessed their birth on The Vampire Diaries to the day we reunited with them as teenagers on Legacies. (They also popped up in The Originals’ penultimate episode, putting them in the prestigious category of characters who have appeared in all three series.) Despite their inherent connection, Lizzie and Josie really have grown into two very different people, a journey we hope will continue for years (and shows) to come.

11. MALACHAI ‘KAI’ PARKER

The fact that this remorseless, pork rind-loving psychopath ranks so high on our list speaks volumes about actor Chris Wood, who brought a refreshingly sassy vibe to The Vampire Diaries’ sixth season. The guy was so likable, fans were even ‘shipping him with Bonnie… as if that poor girl hadn’t been through enough already! You also have to give Kai points for longevity — even after his head got knocked off, he managed to make two encore appearances on TVD (Season 8) and Legacies (Season 2).

10. HOPE MIKAELSON

As we mentioned with Lizzie and Josie earlier, we feel like we’ve watched Hope grow up before our eyes… because we have. Given the epic circumstances surrounding her conception, birth and upbringing, an adult version of this character had a lot of hype to live up to, and Danielle Rose Russell has proven herself more than up to the challenge. Imbued with her parents’ best qualities, Hope’s power and passion make her both a formidable foe and an invaluable ally. Besides, Legacies showed us what the world would be like without Hope, and it was not a good place.

9. HAYLEY MARSHALL

We can’t even think about this fierce, fearless mama wolf without shedding a single tear. Hayley’s story was basically one long tragedy, from her complicated marriage with Jackson to her tumultuous relationship with Elijah. And then there was her untimely demise in The Originals’ final season, which… actually, let’s not talk about that. From the moment she gave birth, Hayley’s heart belonged to Hope, and it was in her most extreme maternal moments that Hayley’s true strength was on display. That’s how we’ll remember her.

8. ELIJAH MIKAELSON

Suits? Pressed. Hair? Immaculate. Vocabulary? Thicc. With his smooth moves and cunning intellect, Klaus’ extremely respectful brother could do it all — well, except keep the people he loved from meeting horrific ends. (Seriously, this guy’s track record for dead lovers is right up there with Alaric’s.)

7. BONNIE BENNETT

Simply put, this is the witch you want in your corner when things go south. Endlessly powerful and selfless to a fault, Kat Graham’s character spent eight agonizing seasons sacrificing herself — often literally, hence her multiple deaths — in order to keep her friends and family safe. No amount of bloody noses or dead boyfriends could stop this badass from crushing her enemies.

6. CAROLINE FORBES

Getting smothered to death was honestly the best thing that could have happened to Caroline, who evolved from a basic, boy-crazy cheerleader into a bad-ass vampire overnight. And that was just the first phase of her franchise-long evolution into the empowered, globe-trotting mother of two she is today. She’s also responsible for all of The Vampire Diaries’ memorable musical moments, from her sweet song for Matt to her devastating performance at Sheriff Forbes’ funeral. (Now if only she’d pay her old pals at Legacies a visit…)

5. ELENA SALVATORE

She may not have Katherine’s chaotic flare, but Elena deserves credit for carrying much of The Vampire Diaries’ dramatic and romantic weight for six years. And for that pink hair she experimented with in Season 4. On top of that, Elena also rolled with the punches better than almost anyone. (You’re vampires? I’m a doppelgänger? Now I’m a vampire? Now I’m human again? Now I’m in a coma? Sure, let’s do this.)

3-4. DAMON AND STEFAN SALVATORE

Two sides of the same brooding coin, these brothers were as proficient at breaking hearts as they were at breaking necks. And while their love triangle with Elena will remain the stuff of TV legend, their relationship as brothers was revealed to be the real heart of The Vampire Diaries in its final two seasons. Honestly, it’s too hard to choose between them, so we’re not going to.

2. KATHERINE PIERCE

Come on, when were you not excited to see this leather-clad lunatic on your screen? Deliciously twisted and infinitely more interesting than her human doppelgänger, Katherine was behind many of The Vampire Diaries’ most jaw-dropping twists, from her iconic encounter with John(’s bloody fingers) to her long-awaited return in the series finale. Honestly, putting Katherine on hell’s throne in Season 8 was merely a formality — she was always a queen.

1. KLAUS MIKAELSON

The man, the myth, the legend. To think that the monster who slaughtered poor, defenseless Aunt Jenna on The Vampire Diaries is the same person who gave it all up to save his daughter on The Originals… well, there isn’t a clap slow enough to commend that kind of growth. (Again, Joseph Morgan is very sorry about the whole Jenna thing!) By the time Klaus evaporated on the streets of New Orleans, it felt like we had explored every conceivable nook and cranny of his existence, from his traumatic childhood to his fatal romances — and we relished every second of it.

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365days365movies · 3 years

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January 15, 2021: Casino Royale (Epilogue)

Before I get into it, I’ll preface this by saying that this was a wonderful surprise of a movie! Seriously, I had a really great time with Craig’s turn as the suave super-spy.

Also, before I forget to mention it, there is one thing missing from this movie: gadgets. Yeah, there’s no Q, and no gadgets in this movie, really. And I know that pissed me off in GoldenEye, this movie’s different. They don’t introduce gadgets only to never use them, and this is early in Bond’s career as a double-0 agent, so it makes sense that he doesn’t have the gadgets yet. Plus, we get the pocket defibrillator, so I guess that sort of counts?

Anyway, just wanted to get that out of the way. Let’s get into my review!

Review

Cast and Acting

Brosnan was a very good Bond, doing a good homage of the Connery Bond. But Daniel Craig is great, OUTSIDE of Connery’s Bond. And yeah, that does mean something. If you’re going to reinvent the character, he shouldn’t be dependent upon previous portrayals, while also being a fully-fledged character in his own right. And GODDAMN does Craig make this his own version of the character. Suave, but not traditionally so. Cool and reserved, but still managing to be somewhat emotional, especially in this opening film. And, yeah, I love him. Maybe a little more than Connery in a few ways, honestly.

OK, how about the rest of them? Eva Green plays my favorite Bond Girl, and I mean that without hesitation. Happy to see that the first Bond girl that we get in the Craig franchise is actually a complete character, divorced from Bond or the plot itself. She has her own motivations and desires, while still have a morality, complicated as it may be. Mads Mikkelsen is, well...a Bond villain. While he isn’t necessarily the final boss, he still serves his role well. Is he my favorite Bond villain? Nooo. Sorry, Le Chiffre, but Goldfinger takes that role still. Judi Dench is fantastic, and I’m happy to see more of her in this movie. Wish I could see more of Jeffrey Wright, since he seemed cool, but I’m also a big Jeffrey Wright fan. And everybody else...yeah, they were good.

So, my rating for this category is a 9/10. Why not perfect? Eh, some of the side characters weren’t really as notable as I would’ve liked them to be, but everybody’s acting was great. While it wasn’t necessarily perfect, it was still great. So, yeah, 9/10!

Plot and Writing

GoldenEye’s plot and writing really pissed me off, not gonna lie to you. Casino Royale, though? HOLY SHIT, is this an engaging plot and some great writing! Some really good foreshadowing, pun work, references, reworking of tropes common for the character, just...SO MUCH. It’s all great. And honestly, it’s getting a 10/10 from me. AND, since I’m not putting them on blast this time: good job to Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Paul Haggis! Purvis and Wade are writing partners, and have worked on all of the Craig movies, and the last two Brosnan movies, surprisingly! Haggis, on the other hand, is an award-winning writer and producer, winning Oscars for Million Dollar Baby and Crash. And it shows, as the story and writing of this film are fantastic. 10/10 here!

Directing and Action

OH BABY. Martin Campbell, what the hell happened! I liked the action in GoldenEye, yeah, but you turned the dial up, threw out the oven, and purchased a much shinier one! WITH GRIT IN IT, OH MY GOD. See, where the fight scenes in GoldenEye were good and somewhat choreographed, these fights fell ROUGH AS SHIT. And as a result, they feel extremely real. Seriously, wow. The action in this film is exactly what I’d wanted, and it was one hell of a RIDE. And while I know I’m being super lenient with this film, I gotta say...10/10. It was one HELL of a ride, and that’s not including the legitimately good cinematography in this film, and it’s once again by Phil Méheux! They knew what they were doing, I tell you what.

Production Design

The sets! AH! The sets in this film are gorgeous! But...GoldenEye was a tad more memorable. Now, don’t get me wrong, these are some amazing scenes and places showcased, but it’s not all as visually iconic as GoldenEye. Still, high points for this one, no worries. This is also Peter Lamont’s last Bond film as head production designer, so shout out to him for that! Also, COSTUMES in this movie look good! Points for that too, of course. They aren’t all iconic, but they were pretty enjoyable. Good job to Lindy Hemming for the costumes, they looked great. 9/10 for this one!

Music and Editing

AND FINALLY! Music! It’s great, but it isn’t all buy-the-soundtrack-worthy for me. The opening song, while fine...isn’t terribly memorable for me, if I’m honest. Sorry, Chris Cornell. You did good, but not personally my taste, when it comes to Bond songs. As for you, David Arnold, head composer: awesome job. Using the Bond themes the way you did throughout this film was astonishing. You get some full points for that one. As for everything else editing and special-effects wise, it’s great! It was mostly practical effects for this film, and it was noticeable. And some of these effects are fantastic. Check out that ending sequence n Venice; very well done. Good job to Chris Corbould and Stuart Baird for the editing! Going a hair lower for this one, bringing it down to an 8/10.

94%

This is a Bond movie I was waiting for this whole time. And while I wouldn’t have expected exactly what I got, I still got something that I wanted, that’s for sure. Casino Royale lands high than I thought it would, especially because I could swear I’ve heard bad things about it! But no, this movie would awesome, and I’d absolutely watch this multiple times.

I could go into more Bond movies, true...but I’d actually like to branch outside of the Bond bubble a little bit! But let’s stay with a British film franchise based off of works by a British author about a spy and a spy organization.

January 16: Kingsman: The Secret Service

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watching-movies-alone · 4 years

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Knives Out (2019)

Knives Out was released to theatres in late 2019, following the mixed reactions to writer/director Rian Johnson's 2017 The Last Jedi addition in the Star Wars sequel trilogy arc. While many hated The Last Jedi, and may have adopted less-than-favourable opinions on Rian Johnson because of it, I think we can all agree that Knives Out beyond redeems him.

Benoit Blanc: It's a weird case from the start. A case with a hole in the centre. A doughnut.

Knives Out opens with a surreal shot of two dogs running over a slight hill away from an outstanding house, which becomes known as the Thrombey Estate. Straight off the bat, the shots used throughout the film are outstanding, and paired with an eerie, intense, soundtrack of a string orchestra, the scenes are striking. Add that to the witty, culturally relevant one-liners and the hilariously blatant lies about the situation of the family members themselves, you get an incredible watch.

Benoit Blanc: Why is grief the providence of youth? I don't know. But I'd imagine that age deepens all feelings.

Cinematographer Steve Yedlin (The Last Jedi, Carrie, Looper) procured fantastic shots for Knives Out that gives it an enticing quality that makes each scene a work of art in its own.

The movie is listed on IMDb as a "Drama/Crime/Comedy", which shows the film's appeal to audiences from a variety of backgrounds: it suits drama lovers, mystery junkies, the almost effortlessly funny script draws in viewers from a large spectrum of senses of humour, and cinephiles will adore the visual aspect of the film, as well as the superb soundtrack composed by Nathan Johnson (Rian Johnson's cousin).

Following the murder investigation of 85 year-old mystery author Harlan Thrombey, his eccentric family faces questioning about the night of his death. Among those questioned are Linda Drysdale, the fabulous self-made head of a real estate firm and daughter of Harlan, her husband Richard Drysdale, son Walt Thrombey, the unsatisfied head of the Blood Like Wine publishing company for his father's books, Joni Thrombey, the widowed daughter-in-law with a quirky disposition that remains close to the family, and caregiver Marta Cabrera, a registered nurse for Harlan, and his friend.

[Marta and Harlan are playing "Go"]

Harlan Thrombey: I don't know how you beat me at this every time.

Marta Cabrera: I'm not trying to beat you. I'm creating a beautiful pattern.

Harlan Thrombey: That's elder abuse. I'm calling the AARP.

Marta Cabrera: Don’t make me get the belt.

And let's not forget an extraordinary performance by renowned actor Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc, with one of the strangest, but most endearing Southern accents I've heard.

Adding to this is an unexpected, but no less stellar, performance by known Marvel franchise actor Chris Evans, who portrays the troubled, but quite fashionable, Hugh Ransom Drysdale, who finds hilarity in his family’s shock at the changes his grandfather made to his will a week before his death. It is in contempt of the privileged, spoiled, Ransom, actually, that draws the frequently divided Thrombey family together.

A memorable performance by actress Ana De Armas (Marta Cabrera) brought a beautiful character to the front of the screen, with truly beautiful shots like the ones below:

Another phenomenal thing about the film is the colour palette used. It is a balance of warm, earthy tones, that give a sense of familiarity as well as of the comforts of home one would look for. This juxtaposes the intricacies of the death at hand, and serves to add to the feeling of discomfort and hostility, as the dark underlying mystery lurks within a beautifully furnished house and within a troubled, yet somehow sincere, family.

Below it all, the central message of Knives Out is one of kindness. This is handled expertly, as it does not come across as overbearing, nor cheesy. It is the story of an older man who finds comfort in a nurse, who is more of a friend, and how he makes the decision to leave his family out of his will, leaving everything to her. His family is a mess, yes, but it is the genuine kindness of Marta Cabrera that he finds happiness in, so he decides to leave her everything. From the beautiful heart that is Marta Cabrera, to the real reasons surrounding the death of the wealthy mystery author being to protect her and her family at the expense of his own, it is truly a heartwarming story.

When comparing sons Ransom (Richard’s disaster son) and Jacob (Walt’s Nazi child), and about Jacob’s whereabouts:

Walt Thrombey: He was in the bathroom Richard Drysdale: Joylessly masturbating to pictures of dead deer. Walt Thrombey: Ok, you wanna go?

ALSO a huge shout-out is in order for the set department. The set design, especially all of the subtle touches within the Thrombey house at 2 Deerborn Drive, is phenomenal, and really reinforces all that is happening in the foreground without being distracting. The Gothic touches in the architecture, the clever paintings on the walls, and the little statuettes flanking every hallway and surface bring the serious, but whimsical, manor alive. The Set Design was headed by David Schlesinger, who also worked on Twilight: Breaking Dawn parts 1 and 2, and John Wick chapters 2 and 3.

Can we take a minute to appreciate how beautiful that knife array is?

And even yet, there is still the multitude of current-day references: with the Nazi child (Jacob Thrombey, portrayed by Jaeden Martell), and the discussions held by Joni Thrombey and Richard Drysdale about the situation at America’s border, and the conflicts between the youngest generation: Meg Thrombey being quipped at by her cousins Ransom and Jacob for being liberal while the rest of the family seems to swing conservative. Even a reference to Hamilton made it to the script, which I had a good moment at, multiple references to Instagram and others that, while dating the film to 2019, made it especially enjoyable for younger audiences and moviegoers alike.

Marta Cabrera: I've never been to a will reading before.

Benoit Blanc: You'd think it'd be like a game show, but think of a community production of a tax return.

The costuming was also excellent, with memorable pieces being worn by Lisa Drysdale and Ransom Drysdale in particular, as well as the dashing Detective Blanc.

(The suit you wear to debate at your father’s memorial)

(The outfit you wear to the will-reading despite being gone for the funeral)

Benoit Blanc: But the complexity and the grey lie not in the truth but what you do with the truth once you have it.

And while the characters changed their clothes as the days passed in the film, the outfits they wore tended to fit their personalities, so even if you couldn’t remember names or faces, the outfits would clue you in to the character subtly, while giving many inspirations for their own day-to-day mystery aesthetics. Major props to Costume Designer Jenny Eagan for that.

Earning a respectable 8.0/10 on IMDb, Knives Out has already secured its spot in the minds of viewers and critics alike, despite only being out since November of 2019. If you haven’t seen it yet, I would highly recommend seeing it.

Final rating:

Cinematography: 90

Screenplay: 95

Delivery: 95

Average: 93.33%, A

#knives out #chris evans #ana de armas #daniel craig #drama crime comedy #movie #movies #movie reviews #movie critique #movie ratings #cinematography #cinema #soundtrack #Nathan Johnson #Rian Johnson #2019 movies #knives out 2019 #mystery movies

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lifeisstrange-blog · 4 years

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The Music of LiS2 with Raoul Barbet

The Life is Strange series has always been synonymous with amazing music. While known for picking standout tracks from lesser-known artists and introducing them to players through memorable scenes, the series has also been gifted with nuanced, emotive scores.

For Life is Strange and Life is Strange 2, Co-Creative Director and Music Supervisor Raoul Barbet worked closely with musician Jonathan Morali, known best for his work with indie rock and folk band Syd Matters.

With Life is Strange 2, their now-seven-year collaborative relationship allowed them to develop a richer and more varied score, made possible because of the trust and familiarity created between composer and director.

Morali’s new score goes on a musical journey with Sean and Daniel, evolving alongside the story and the characters to which it introduces you. Today we wanted to share with you some insights into the score, and how it came to be, by sitting down with Raoul – Beware of spoilers ahead!

What emotions did you want to evoke when briefing Jonathan Morali?

Raoul Barbet: When I got in touch with him to ask him to work on the first Life is Strange score, I had already been a fan of his and Syd Matters’ work for a long time. Having chosen a few tracks he had composed, I wanted him to retain a similar style, to do something “Syd Matters”. Life is Strange 2, we wanted to do something quite different.

The idea was to have a rather stress-free intro that evoked the first Life is Strange, with a lot of acoustic guitar and this ‘cocoon’-like quality we knew from the first game - that tone runs through the whole Seattle section. As soon as the boys started hitting the road, we wanted to change the tone of the score, so we asked him to go with something a little different, with more electronic sounds. Colder, darker things, depending on the scenes, as we knew the brothers were going to face a number of difficulties on the road.

We talked about wanting to convey a general feeling for each scene. The themes we asked him to compose were either linked to a given scene and setting, or to a specific character. It’s all about that character’s past, the feeling we want to evoke upon meeting them, and what story we can tell through the instruments, melody, and music for each character and each setting.

In this video, feel how the scene is elevated when the score is added. It sets a severe, sobering tone as the boys lives are changed forever.

You had the full shape of the season mapped out before work began on the score, so were there any moments or characters you were especially looking forward to hearing with Jonathan’s music?

We had quite a lot of reference material for Jonathan to listen to when we started working on the game, in terms of mood and different musical styles. In Life is Strange 2, I wanted the combination of electronic music with other instruments. We began researching what it would mean to have the brothers on the road. We knew the theme that we called ‘Into the woods” corresponded to specific moments of their journey. We started working on this very early on, especially for Episode 1. We have specific themes for important characters after that. The drifters, for instance, in the camp in Episode 3 , have a score that is tailored to their community, with certain musical layers specific to each character.

In Episode 2, we have a dedicated, warmer theme for the grandparents. We tried to create a sort of family feel, to mirror what we experience with them in Episode 2. These are themes specifically linked to scenes or characters. We discussed this a lot for each episode and we tried to establish what important themes we needed for specific characters or scenes - Jonathan and I exchanged a lot of references and ideas for each character.

I’m also thinking of Karen, who has a very strong personality, and whose themes played for the first time when we see her in Episode 4, and which you will hear again in Episode 5. It’s a theme tailored to her, and there are a number of layers of the composition that play dynamically, depending on how well we know her and what we choose to do and talk about with her. For instance, as we start talking with her at the motel, we’ll add layers to the track – giving depth to the theme.

How has your relationship evolved with Jonathan Morali since you worked with him on the first Life is Strange?

Our relationship has evolved a lot, since we’ve been working together for seven years or so. We’ve become more efficient, as we now know each other better.

Life is Strange 2 has been a huge challenge because we tried to make its score a lot richer than that of the first game, and it has some rather complicated themes. Being a road trip, there are many different tracks to compose – but I would say that our relationship has grown easier because there is more trust between the audio team, Jonathan and myself.

We let him suggest more ideas than before. We did that all along, but now that we trust each other more, we let him suggest things earlier on. We also have technical and melodic needs, too, and sometimes things are missing, so we try to discuss everything as much as possible to speed up the process. For example, if we describe a theme linked to a setting or character, he will create an initial version and then come back to us maybe once or twice but that’s it. It’s a rather fast process and we’re very happy with the results – and I think Jonathan also feels more at ease when composing and making unique suggestions.

It’s notable that, as LiS2 goes along, there’s an increasing reliance on the score to soundtrack the key emotional moments, rather than licensed tracks. Was this a deliberate decision- and was it a conscious choice that thematically replicates the boys leaving behind all they’ve known?

That’s a really good question. Yes, that’s it exactly.

We wanted... Or rather, I wanted Life is Strange 2 to have a richer score than the first game because we love what Jonathan does. I think he’s an amazing composer, but we also knew we wanted licensed tracks for certain scenes. I really enjoyed picking the tracks, working them into the visuals, building on moments of the first game. We also wanted to continue in that vein because we knew the community enjoyed it and it spoke to our story.

There are many licensed tracks to evoke the atmosphere in Seattle, showing us Sean’s taste, what he’s listening to. They also allow us to talk about the characters he meets through the music they listen to. It gives us a quick point of entry to each character. For example, the intro to Sean and Lyla on the bus in Episode 1, set to Phoenix’s ‘Lisztomania’, or the scene with the drifters in Episode 3, with Justice’s ‘D.A.N.C.E.’. The fact that they’re existing tracks gives us a strong mood and adds impact to the scene.

We wanted to continue that way, but we also wanted the score to tell a story, to tell something about the brothers’ journey, so we have made the brothers’ themes evolve throughout the episodes with new tracks in each one. It was important to us that the score as a whole should evolve from something rather folky in Seattle, something that evoked the first Life is Strange, and continue developing until the end. As you’ll hear, Episode 5 has a very different score.

So that was the fundamental idea, and we’re really happy with how it turned out. There are fewer licensed tracks but there are still quite a few of them, and we’re thrilled with the artists we’ve been able to feature. The idea was to re-balance – or at any rate, to have Jonathan create an amazing, evolving score.

Many thanks to Raoul for taking the time to unveil some secrets of the soundtrack – we’ll be back next week with another deep-dive blog interview into Episode 2!

Stay with us all the way to the #JourneysEnd!

#JourneysEnd #Life is Strange 2 #Raoul Barbet #official news

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