#costume department for the win

[lottiematthewsceo]

ann’s dresses going from light pink to bright/hot pink and anne wearing blue black and white suits as they fall in love then slowly adapting each other’s styles (ann with darker colors and more purples blues greens and vests and anne with accessories and purple) god i love couples whose styles compliment and influence each other

[themarionette-theporcelaindoll]

=

[mistyismyname]

Eddie nation is being FED today

[callmeahopelesscase]

Mon's earrings appreciation post 💕 2

yes, it's all the same pair. yes, I'm obsessed with them.

(the first one)

[barstoolblues]

i might be the first person ever to bring their hand made obi wan cosplay to an ambiguous interest meeting/job interview

[munamania]

such a dorky thing perhaps but i spent a Long while researching shoes yesterday so i was looking at archie’s sneakers like ok slay adidas moment and then mad dog was like Nice shoes and i felt really clued in to like. shoe knowledge. for that moment

[i-steal-bones]

Time to start planning for Halloween:

Brown leather jacket

Black t shirt

Combat boots

Cargo pants

Helmet*

Crowbar**

Waterguns***

Holsters for said waterguns

Bags that I can attach to a belt****

Red fabric paint

Hair dye

Hair bleach

Green contact lenses

*The costume is going to be worn while I'm at work and one of the guidelines is no helmets or full-face masks. So my idea is to either completely forget the helmet or only carry it when it's time for the pictures

**A crowbar would almost definitely be against the rules

***I don't know if waterguns would be allowed, I'll have to talk with the people in charge of making these rules to make sure

****Like a tool belt but smaller, I can't remember the actual term for this

[rubycruzin4abruzin]

never been (stage) kissed

Summary: After years of being a struggling actress in Los Angeles, you finally land your big break! The only problem is, you’ve been cast opposite your longtime celebrity crush… Ruby Cruz. What will you do when the director demands a kiss between the two of you?

Pairing: ruby cruz x actress!reader

Contains: mature language, small amount of adult humor, kissing, fluff, thigh touching, in depth details of Hollywood movie shooting, anxious!reader, publicity tweets and comments, ruby being the sweetest girl EVER

Word Count: 3.1k

A/N: This is a Real Person Fiction. I’ve included a mass disclaimer of RPF guidelines here. Make SURE to click the link before reading, it’s extremely important for the safety of all Real People involved in this fiction.

You stared at the movie script in your hand, biting your lip to stop from squealing. After being in Los Angeles for the past five years, you had finally landed your big break.

You had known that you wanted to act ever since your mother signed you up to be a munchkin in a community theatre production of “The Wizard of Oz.” Of course, being a stubborn elementary schooler, you fought her on it, saying the songs were “stupid” and the costumes were “itchy.” But as soon as opening night came, and the lights hit your face, you put on a smile and celebrated the death of the Wicked Witch like it was something you’d been waiting for your entire life.

After the song's last note, deafening applause echoed around the theater, causing adrenaline to course through your veins. In that moment, you decided to spend the rest of your life chasing that feeling.

When you reached middle school, you joined their drama department, taking theatre as an elective class while occasionally participating in the school plays. Once high school rolled around, you began to take some of the more advanced classes, and even competed in a couple One-Act Play competitions. A lot of the people you started taking classes with eventually got bored and left to pursue other hobbies, but over the years you just fell more and more in love with acting, and became completely dedicated to your craft.

Instead of attending college, after you graduated high school you packed up whatever you needed and moved across the country to a small town about half an hour away from Los Angeles. The area was slightly sketchy, your apartment was small, and you had to work two jobs while sharing with four other roommates just to make rent.

Los Angeles kinda… sucked. But you had stars in your eyes and couldn’t be happier.

Unfortunately, you were kind of in for a rude awakening once audition season rolled around. Back in high school, you would book leads left and right. Now, it seemed like the only gigs you could book were background work, maybe a role in a rinky-dink student film if you were lucky. You always took what you could get, but you longed for something that could get your foot in the door.

One day, one of the short films you starred in entitled “Attack of the Killer Zombie Prom Queens” got entered into some film festival, and not only did it win an award you couldn’t remember the name of, it ended up going viral on YouTube, and not in a bad way either. Your performance in that film was astounding.

Plus, not that this was the sole reason the film blew up, but as an actress in your early 20’s who tended to take care of herself, you were kind of… well… hot.

Suddenly, you were getting recognized in public, signed with an agency, and landing more notable roles. You were featured in a music video for an up-and-coming country artist, booked a commercial for a costume makeup company (in which you brought back your look from “Attack of the Killer Zombie Prom Queens”), and even starred in three episodes of a new series on HBO Max.

Just when you thought life couldn’t get any better, one day you were coming back from what was either your third or fourth audition of the day, when you got a call from your agent on the drive home. You groaned, almost certain she was calling to schedule another “last-minute” audition. Sure you appreciated how hard she worked to get you booked, but you were also so tired after a long day.

To your surprise, when you picked up the phone, she ecstatically announced that you had booked a huge role.

In a feature film.

Starring alongside your celebrity crush… Ruby Cruz.

You had to pull over on the side of a highway to keep from swerving out of excitement.

Ruby had been your celebrity crush since you saw her in the Disney+ series “Willow.” Her masculine ambience, her devil-may-care attitude, and the way she swung her sword had you absolutely drooling. Somehow, you finished the entire series in two days, and immediately ran to IMDB to add Every Single Thing she’s been in to your watch list.

Now, you stood in front of the building where your first read-through was supposed to take place, the script for “Aliens of Atlantis” resting in your shaking hands. You gulped as you pushed open the door, wondering how you were going to keep your cool around Ruby when the very thought of her practically sent you into cardiac arrest.

Walking into the reading room, you were met with several chairs arranged into a circle and sounds of chatter from the other actors. You recognized a few of them from some smaller projects, even recognizing one from a movie that had come out the previous year. Your eyes scanned the room for Ruby, heart beating out of your chest when they landed on the back of a choppy brunette bob.

When Ruby turned around, you swore her blue eyes sparkled under the fluorescent lights. She caught you staring at her from across the room, and shot you a wide toothy smile before walking over to you.

“Hey,” she started. “You must be Zephyra.”

You blinked at her. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Zephyra.” She repeated. “You’re playing the alien queen of Atlantis, right?”

She furrowed her eyebrows at you slightly and tilted her head, worried she may have gotten you mixed up with someone else.

Her words clicked in your head, finally. “Oh! Yes! I’m playing the role of Zephyra.”

Ruby’s smile returned as she let out a lighthearted chuckle. You swallowed, trying to keep your cool. You still had trouble wrapping your mind around the fact that you were standing in front of the Ruby Cruz, and having a semi-successful conversation.

She stuck out her hand, offering a handshake. “Hi, I’m Ruby. I’m playing Calantha.”

You took her hand, electric shocks vibrating through your body at her touch. “Nice to meet you.”

After removing her hand (much to your displeasure), she turned to walk back over to her seat, but not before flashing you a smile over her shoulder. “Can’t wait to work with you!”

God, why did she have to be so cool?

The table read went fairly well, in your opinion. The movie was about Calantha, an underwater adventurer, finding the lost city of Atlantis during an expedition. Once there, she finds the city being ruled by aliens who’s spaceship crashed near the area about 100 years ago. Calantha finds Zephyra, the alien queen, who makes her promise to keep their secret, and in return, Calantha will help her run the city.

You were playing Zephyra, of course, since being in “Attack of the Killer Zombie Prom Queens” proved you looked hot even in otherworldly makeup. You kind of thought there might be some romantic or even sexual tension between Calantha and Zephyra, but you brushed it off as you thought that might not be the artistic intention.

Once filming started, your days were basically exclusively spent on set. Not that you were complaining, you loved every second. Even after coming home at 1am when you left for work at 6am, a blissful smile would be painted across your tired face.

The only thing that bothered you was that you barely ever got to talk to Ruby on set. It was more your fault than hers. Every time you two were working together, your brain short circuited and you couldn’t get out anything more than a few dim-witted babbles. Ruby was always so sweet about it though, always lightheartedly chuckling at your barely-comprehensible speech, sometimes even giving your upper arm a squeeze if you felt especially nervous.

You knew she meant well, but any touch from your celebrity crush was sure to do the opposite of calming you down.

One day, during a filming session, you and Ruby were meant to be sitting especially close to each other. You were sure you felt some romantic tension between the two characters, but you chalked it up to your crush on the actress and tried to downplay it. The director, however, seemed very frustrated today, this was the nineteenth take of this particular scene and he still wasn’t happy.

“Cut!” He yelled, letting out a frustrated sigh as you and Ruby turned your attention towards him.

“Everything alright, sir?” Ruby asked, making you glad you weren’t the only one who noticed his irritation.

“This scene… it’s missing something.” He brought his hand to his chin and squinted at the both of you. “Do we think we could add a kiss? Right here?”

Your heart stopped, and all the moisture disappeared from your mouth.

It wasn’t like you hadn’t kissed people before. You had your fair share of dates back in high school, that wasn’t the problem.

You’ve kissed, but you’ve never stage kissed.

Sure you had plenty of acting experiences, but the roles you played never required kissing. Instead of playing Aurora, you made a fabulous Maleficent. While Elle Woods locked lips with Emmett, you were busy portraying a hilarious Paulette. And of course, nobody wants to make out with a zombie prom queen.

You had no idea if there was any difference between actual kisses and stage-kisses. Obviously, sex scenes in movies weren’t real. But kisses? What if there is a difference and you go to kiss Ruby on camera and make her uncomfortable? What if she pushes you away? What if she gets mad? You don’t know how you’d recover from something like that, and your mind swarmed with plans to flee the country if that did happen.

Ruby opened her mouth to answer the director, before looking at you for confirmation and noticing your overly-panicked state. She sent you a reassuring smile, and placed a gentle hand on your back.

She turned to the director. “Could we pick this up after lunch? I think my scene partner and I have some things to discuss.”

The director agreed, and since it was still about thirty minutes to lunch, decided to use that time to record some “room noise.” You and Ruby were meant to sit still and quietly, the only thing you heard being the echo of your heartbeat in your ears.

Suddenly, you received a text notification, causing sound to go off and the director to groan and shoot you an annoyed look. You mumbled a quick “sorry” before switching your phone to vibrate and looking to see who texted you.

After wolfing down a sandwich from the craft services table, you stood in front of the trailer with Ruby’s name on the door, wringing your clammy hands while deciding whether or not to knock. You took a deep breath, raised your knuckles, and knocked three times, taking a step back after.

She answered almost immediately, staring down at you with a comforting grin. “Hey, come on in.”

Walking up the stairs and into Ruby’s trailer, you couldn’t help but notice how much cleaner it was than yours. You weren’t necessarily sloppy, but your vanity was covered in various bottles of blue face paint, while your floor held multiple alien-like prosthetics. Ruby’s was tidier, with a small couch pushed up against the wall, and her vanity holding nothing but some makeup basics and a half-full can of Dr. Pepper she had been drinking right before you walked in.

Ruby took a seat in her vanity chair and took a sip from her Dr. Pepper, motioning for you to sit on the small couch. “What’s going on? You didn’t seem too comfortable with the kissing scene.”

You gulped, staring down at your lap. “It’s not that…”

Ruby sat up, leaning forward to gawk at you. “Oh my god… have you never been kissed?”

“What? No! Of course I have…” you trailed off. “I just… I’ve never stage kissed before, and I know you have, so is it any different from regular kissing? I feel so stupid for asking and I’m so sorry but I didn’t wanna do it wrong while filming and I’m kinda embarrassed that I don’t know the answer so that’s why I wanted to ask you privately because I didn’t wanna fuck up…”

Ruby stared at you, silent and wide eyed. You felt your heartbeat in your ears as you tried to decipher what she was thinking. Suddenly, she threw her head back and let out a hearty laugh. Your heart sank. Here you were being awkward and vulnerable in front of your crush, and she was laughing at you.

Just before you decided to get up and walk out, Ruby calmed down, wiping away a tear and smiling apologetically. “I’m sorry, I promise I’m not making fun of you. I didn’t mean to laugh, really. You’re just so cute.”

You felt your cheeks burn at her words. She thinks you’re cute?

Ruby threw her soda away in a nearby trash can and moved to sit next to you on the small couch. She criss-crossed her legs, turning to face you while pondering how to answer your question.

“So… stage kisses are different from regular kisses, but they’re also not, you know? Like, we’re kissing but we’re not like… kissing.”

She peered over at you, studying your facial expressions. You looked more confused than ever, so she continued her explanation.

“So, if you’re asking if my lips will physically be on your lips… then the answer is yes, they will. But they’re not exactly like the real thing, because it’s more of a demonstration to the audience rather than an act of passion between two people.”

“A demonstration?” You cocked your head. Ruby nodded.

“Yeah, so say the camera was over there…” she pointed out in front of you. “…then you might cup my jaw, or cradle the back of my head. But if you were to grab my face or something like that, it’d look pretty awkward in a fifty-fifty profile shot.”

You nodded in understanding. “Ok… I think I get what you’re saying.”

“There are also different types of kissing.” Ruby continued. “Like, it should portray how your character feels about the other character. When Zephyra has scenes with Calantha, how does she feel?”

You gulped, focusing on your lap again. “Well, to be honest, it kinda feels like there’s a lot of romantic or sexual tension between our characters, but I’ve sort of been suppressing it because I’m not sure that was the intention.”

“But you feel like Zephyra is attracted to Calantha sexually?” Ruby asked. You nodded. “Great! You don’t necessarily have to make it explicit, but something like that can help you dive deeper into your character.”

Ruby scooted closer to you, taking your hands in hers. She gazed at you with half lidded eyes, causing your breathing to accelerate.

“I want you to kiss me.”

Ruby’s words barely resonated in your head, there was no way you heard her correctly. “You… huh?”

“For practice.” Ruby clarified, letting go of your hands. “Like you would during filming. Is that ok?”

An involuntary swallow forced itself down your throat as you nodded. You couldn’t believe you were about to kiss your celebrity crush, even if it was only for practice.

You pressed your hand into her warm cheek, pulling her close and quickly pecking her lips before retreating away. Your face burned from embarrassment while Ruby cocked her head, clearly confused.

“That’s it?” She asked. “My bad, I didn’t realize Calantha was your grandmother.”

Ruby moved closer and cradled the back of your head, entangling her fingers into your soft locks. You felt your hands sweat as her big blue eyes gazed into yours. “I was thinking maybe something more like this…”

She crashed her lips into yours, causing warmth to explode in your chest. Her fingers played with your hair as you began to kiss back, and your arms wrapped around her waist. Holy shit could she kiss! You could barely fathom how soft her lips were, tasting faintly of Dr. Pepper and vanilla lip balm. As hard as you tried to act professional and pretend there was a camera in front of you, every inch of your body screamed at you to succumb to your most primal instincts.

You lifted one hand from her waist and moved to rest it on her mid-thigh, causing a gentle moan to escape from her lips and a shiver to run down her body. Startled, you moved back, throughly convinced that you majorly fucked up.

“Shit, I’m sorry!” You exclaimed, pulling back your hand like it had touched fire. “I wasn’t thinking, fuck. I got too swept up in the moment. I shouldn’t have touched you, that was completely unprofessional.”

“Hm…?” Ruby blinked, still in a daze. “Oh. Oh! You’re good! Don’t be sorry. I liked it. Really.”

Ruby grinned at you shyly. You stared back at her, a question you weren’t quite sure how to ask lingering at the tip of your tongue. “Ruby, are still… practicing?”

Her smile faded as her eyes went wide and her gaze dropped to her lap. It was her turn to be coy, a sight you’d never seen before.

She dropped her voice to a low whisper as she choked out her question. “Do you want to be?”

Before you could even open your mouth to answer, your phone alarm screeched from your jacket pocket. You took it out, groaning as you turned it off.

Ruby furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “What was that?”

“My alarm,” you answered. “I have to go.”

“But lunch isn’t over for another twenty minutes.” Ruby pointed out, trying to hide her disappointment.

“Yeah, but I have to head back early so they can touch up my makeup and fix my prosthetics.”

Ruby sighed in understanding. She supposed your costume might have a bit more upkeep than hers. Your prosthetics did look a little wonky after the lunch break, never mind your smudged blue lipstain that made her apprehensive to look in a mirror.

You collected yourself and turned to walk out, but looked over your shoulder before opening the door. “Uhm… Ruby?”

“Hm?” She answered.

You wrung your hands anxiously. “Do you think we could maybe… do this again? Sometime?”

Ruby’s head shot up to look at you, and a playful smile spread across her face. “Do what? More kissing lessons?”

You rolled your eyes as she chuckled, then gave you a lopsided grin. “I’d like that. Lunch again, tomorrow?”

A blush pink color sprinkled across the apples of your cheeks as you smiled back at her, trying your best to stay cool and suppress the giddy feeling that was bubbling inside of you.

“See you then.”

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Norma Shearer (Marie Antoinette, The Women)— First Jewish woman to win an Oscar for her acting!! She pioneered stronger, more independent and complicated roles for women onscreen. One film historian described her as "the exemplar of sophisticated modern womanhood and ... the first American film actress to make it chic and acceptable to be single and not a virgin on screen."

Hazel Scott (Broadway Rhythm, Rhapsody in Blue)—ok ok let me tell you about Hazel Scott. She was a Trinidadian piano genius. By the age of 3 she could play the piano by ear. She would play jazzed-up versions of classics in nightclubs and could sing too! She appeared in five movies, and used her influence as a piano prodigy to improve Black representation in film—she turned down offensive parts, demanded equal pay, and always wore her own costumes to ensure she was portrayed as glamorous and beautiful. She was the first African-American woman to host her own television show, The Hazel Scott Show. She stood up for civil rights and was an overall icon! If you want to watch her being a genius, here she is playing two pianos at once. And here's this one that shows off her consummate glamor! [videos beneath the cut]

This is round 3 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Norma Shearer:

She got into showbiz on a technicality, there was a line of 60 girls to pick from, the studio needed 8 and she was second from last. She coughed loudly and then stood up and grinned when the casting director looked over at her, and he let her in because it made him laugh. After that there was several years of hard work before she landed her first movie. Where she had been repeatedly put down for her face in silent film, he was praised for her voice when the talkies first came about. She was most in her element in the pre-code era, when she played the strong, graceful, self-sufficient type of woman and she won the academy award for best actress in The Divorcee in 1930. She directly competed with greats like Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford for the rest of the 30s.

She just epitomizes Old Hollywood to me and seems criminally underrated these days

Short-haired, modern woman, pre-code queen

someone call the fire department because this woman is H-O-T HOT!! Three chilis and a warning label hot!! Ever-burning passion HOT!!! But also glam and elegant and gorgeous (the side profile portrait is the most beautiful picture of any person ever)... she has the range

Hazel Scott:

[kingkatsuki]

— when you want him to be your valentine

Masterlist.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! I hope you enjoy this one🥺💕

Warnings: A tiny bit angsty, not proofread.

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki x f!reader.

Word Count: 1.3k.

Bakugou despised this time of year. The lull after Christmas was slowly going back to normal, the weather still offered a bitter chill that had him donning his winter costume even though the evenings became a little brighter, and the worst thing about all of it— Valentines Day.

It wasn’t enough that this gave the media an excuse to question him about his love life, like it was important anyway. He’s a Pro-Hero for fucks sake, it’s none of their damn business that he’s still single and hopelessly in love with you. But it also meant the fake consumer bullshit that came along with the holiday was staring him in the face anywhere he went. Shop fascias covered in a wild array of pinks and reds, embarrassingly big teddy bears placed in the windows, and tacky gifts everywhere he looked in Musutafu. Even arcades were following through on the hype— pink gifts sat in the crane games waiting to be won, figures of different Pro-Heroes painted a bright red in commemoration of the holiday— Although, Bakugou couldn’t deny he’d be trying to win that red All Might figure on one of his days off.

But the worst thing about Valentine’s Day? The thing he despised more than anything else.

Is the fact that you’ve made him want to celebrate it.

You made it into the office a little earlier today. Whether it was the nerves that had you waking up before your alarm, or the excitement of the holiday you weren’t sure. Waving at the security at the entrance of Dynamight’s Agency as you made your way towards the elevators.

You’d ended up going to bed in the early hours of the morning, spending your entire evening trying to make Bakugou some chocolates. You’d tried to follow the recipe you’d found online perfectly, but somehow you managed to decorate your kitchen in a mixture of cocoa and vanilla. Once you’d popped them out of the moulds you were nervous, a cheap store bought box sat in your living room ready to gift instead if things went badly. And maybe you’d bring those into the office too, in case your boss didn’t enjoy the ones you’d made. Testing one to make sure you wouldn’t accidentally kill the Number Two as you decided that they were good enough. You’d wanted them to be perfect, but maybe he’d like them anyway.

Both chocolates sat in your bag as you pressed the button to call the elevator down as you clung to the strap of your handbag.

“You think you can bring down some of Dynamight’s chocolate later?” He grinned as you shifted from foot to foot nervously.

“Uh— sure.” You smiled back, wondering if your handmade chocolate would even be good enough for the likes of your boss, probably nothing compared to some of the other gifts he’d inevitably receive today.

And you weren’t naive, you’d expected your boss to receive some chocolate or gifts today. He was the Number Two Hero after all— But what you hadn’t expected was the absolute avalanche of gifts the moment you stepped out of the lift.

Bakugou’s floor was covered in hues of pink and red, so much so you thought you’d stepped inside the local department store. Not only were there a huge array of chocolates— there were floral arrangements, teddy bears, cakes and what you assumed to be piles of letters sat around your desk.

Groaning as you dumped your bag onto the ground, shouldering your coat off to place it on the hook in the corner as you wondered how on earth you were going to get any work done when you were surrounded by Valentines Day.

What did Dynamight even do with this stuff? There was no way one man could eat this much chocolate, even with a sweet tooth. Your fingers reached out to stroke one of the vibrant red rose petals as you thought about the tiny box of chocolates that now sat in your bag.

There was no way you could gift those to him now, not after seeing this. Your messy wrapping was nothing compared to the intricate designs and patterns on these gifts. The next one more lavish than the last— some must have cost hundreds, maybe even thousands as you collapsed into your chair with a pout.

Maybe if you were lucky Dynamight would let you try some of the chocolate. You were certain one of the boxes that sat decorating the room contained some of the luxury chocolate that had gold flakes inside, and maybe you’d sneak out one of the bottles of champagne to in order to have with a warm bath tonight to try and drown your sorrows.

Bakugou came into the office around midday, preparing himself for the graveyard shift as he stepped out of the elevator onto his floor. Pulling out one of his headphones as he let his vermilion eyes screen the room, groaning at how disgusting the arrangement looked as he saw you settled in the middle of it all.

“Good morning, sir.” You smiled softly, and it had Bakugou’s heart racing.

Bakugou grunted in reply as he came towards your desk, cringing internally when he noticed the strong scent of women’s perfume permeating the air. The contrasting scents mingled together as it made him feel lightheaded, wondering how you’d managed to work in this room surrounded by all this shit for so long.

“Call maintenance, get them to come up and get rid of all this shit.”

“Oh, I wasn’t sure if you’d want to see any of it—” You smiled softly.

“I dunno how you’re working surrounded by this crap, shit fuckin’ reeks.” He groaned.

“It’s not so bad,” You mumbled shyly, “I can send all the gifts downstairs, but there’s a few letters you might want to see.”

Bakugou looked back at the sacks of letters placed in the corner of the room, wondering why his PR team hadn’t gone through them and sent back generic replies with his photocopied signature like they usually did.

“Lazy assholes.” He mumbled under his breath, “You been eatin’ the chocolate?”

“Uh- yeah, sorry sir. I’m—” You’d taken what may have been your only chance to try the expensive chocolate, deciding that if you were going to drown your sorrows you were going to do it in luxury.

“Take it.” He cut you off, “I don’t care about this shit.”

“Oh,” You felt your heart drop as he continued past you towards his office.

“Fuckin’ hate this stupid day.” He mumbled, opening his office door.

“Yeah, Valentines is overrated. I’ll get this cleared up for you, sir.” You smiled wistfully as he closed the door behind him

Taking the chocolates out of your bag you decided to add them to the massive pile of gifts in Dynamight’s office. Not wanting to take them home and eat them yourself, it was already embarrassing enough that you’d spent so long making them for Bakugou when you should’ve known that you wouldn’t have a chance.

But little did you know on the other side of the door, Bakugou slumped into the chair in his office as he pulled a small gift out of his jacket pocket. Your words playing in his mind as he toyed with it between his fingers.

She thinks valentines is fucking overrated.

He’d been a fuckin’ idiot, stopping into one of the quaint, independent shops moments before closing to try and find a gift for you. Feeling stupid in his full hero costume as the store assistant smiled at him, locking the door so he could have a few moments to himself after closing to help find the perfect gift for you.

Shoving the small box into his pants pocket as he tipped the assistant generously, leaving the store to continue his night patrol.

White Day was approaching, but Bakugou wasn’t sure he could wait. Determined to give you the gift when he came into the office the next morning. But seeing your face surrounded by all those gifts from other women, and seeing how deflated you looked by the whole holiday, there was no way he could give you his gift.

Tossing the small box into the top drawer of his desk as he lay the back of his head against his chair, groaning softly.

Man, fuck Valentines Day.

[tboygareth]

112 “i’ve never seen anyone look so cute and ridiculous at the same time.” for the writing prompt? steddie or any other ship you get inspiration for :)

112. “i’ve never seen anyone look so cute and ridiculous at the same time.”

it had taken months -- months -- for eddie to convince steve to join a session of hellfire with him and the kids, but tonight was the night and eddie was pulling out all the stops. it was maybe a little bit selfish of him to do it this way, but fuck, man it was halloween. he had to.

back in july, they started making steve's character. human. barbarian. absolute fucking tank of a dude. he had an awesome backstory that would fit well with the one shot eddie had planned for halloween. in august, eddie floated the idea to the party that they should all dress up as their characters for halloween and was met with resounding approval. everyone was planning to go all out.

which was what brought them here.

eddie's leg was bouncing. he was feeling impatient. he did his best to act nonchalant, sitting on steve's bed with a magazine and a can of beer as he waited for steve to finish getting dressed.

eddie'd been able to procure most of steve's costume from the drama department at the school through a few sneaky sources he still had there. the costume was going to be completely impractical, not all conducive to fighting hoards of monsters and zombies, but oh eddie was going to enjoy it anyway.

eddie thought of the leather wrist cuffs he'd scored; they'd cover steve's forearms almost to his elbows if he could get them on properly. he thought of the gladiator sandals with the complicated lacing that he wasn't wholly convinced steve would be able to manage on his own. he thought of the... the fucking loincloth. eddie still couldn't believe he'd managed to convince steve to wear a goddamned loincloth what the fuck.

eddie heard the bathroom door open and tried his absolute best not to look too eager. when steve walked into the room, eddie just about choked on his tongue.

"holy fuck."

"i look ridiculous."

"that's... not the word i would use."

"sure."

"well. maybe a little ridiculous, but! i've never seen somebody look so cute and ridiculous at the same time."

"cute? that's the word you would use?"

no. the word eddie wanted to use, he couldn't say. because they were friends. buddies. bros. and what guy wanted to hear his buddy say "goddamn, i'd like to lift that loincloth and suck you off so good you see stars"? probably not steve.

"you look very cute, stevie. that loincloth..."

makes your thighs look extra biteable. makes your cock look massive. makes me wanna get fucked raw before the kids get here.

but then steve smirked at eddie, and flexed his thighs a little bit, and he tugged at the leather wrist cuffs as he approached eddie to stand in the vee of his thighs, so close that eddie could feel the heat of his skin.

"you gonna be able to keep it together the whole time the kids are here?"

no, eddie was not going to be able to keep it together the whole time the kids were here.

steve backed off, just a little bit, and leaned down to catch eddie's gaze.

"happy halloween, munson. if you let me win tonight, maybe i'll let you get a closer look at the loincloth."

eddie didn't know how to tell steve that he couldn't just let him win dungeons and dragons, that that's not how it worked, that he wasn't in control of the dice or the other players or... damn.

steve turned then, and eddie was able to get an eyeful of steve's asscheeks in that fucking loincloth.

eddie was gonna have to figure out a way to let steve win at dungeons and dragons, apparently.

help me beat my writing slump

[imposterogers]

marvel is always so shocked when their shows don’t win awards and its like. ok. let’s take a look at daredevil compared to the disney + shows. daredevil was nominated for 42 awards and won 10, and is one of the best comic book shows ever made. it also has incredible cinematography, a dedicated stunt department, three seasons of amazing writing, great acting, on location filming, attention to detail from the lighting to the costuming to the props, actually did well by the source material, had a cohesive overarching plotline while allowing for small moments/cases. MOST disney plus shows are rushed, rely on CGI bc vfx workers are not unionized, and frankly the writers could care less about the characters 

[star-going-supernova]

Prompt idea: Fnaf Actor au

Actors answering fans questions? Or just shenanigans & bloopers on set

Oooh, I do like a good actor AU, even if I’ve never written one before myself!

Interview

Gregory felt almost comically small in his chair between Freddy and Vanessa. His feet swung freely beneath him, not even close to reaching the footrest. He listened as the adults bantered a bit after Freddy finished answering the previous question; he was maybe a little bored, but it wasn’t too bad. And he’d been promised ice cream afterwards.

The interviewer finally moved on to the next question on her sheet, asking, “For each of you, is there any scene in particular that you enjoyed filming most?” 

Vanessa laughed. “Oh, any scene where I got to be absolutely terrible. The plotting scenes with Will in the secret basement were some of my favorites.” 

Grinning, Gregory poked her arm. “Running around in your bunny costume, not so much, right?” 

Through her laughter, Vanessa explained, “I don’t know why they never changed it, but those bunny feet had zero traction. And with all the tile—I was constantly slipping.” 

“You weren’t alone,” Freddy said ruefully. “The animatronic costumes… plastic and smooth tile simply do not mix.” 

“I think we were all pretty jealous of Gregory’s sneakers,” Vanessa snickered, nudging him. 

Gregory lifted his feet up and clicked them together, setting off the lights lining the sides. “My secret weapon,” he joked. “It’s why you never managed to catch me.” 

The interviewer laughed along with them, and once they started to calm down, prompted Vanessa, “You enjoyed playing the villain, then?” 

“Loved it,” she agreed easily. “I think this was my favorite role out of any I’ve ever had.” 

“It’s been uniquely fun for most of us,” Freddy added. “Being so silly in what is otherwise a horror story—it’s been quite the experience.” 

“And your favorite scene to film?” 

Freddy reached over and ruffled Gregory’s hair. “It’s hard to choose, but I think the our laser tag scene wins by a small margin.” 

“He’s really bad at laser tag in real life, though,” Gregory told the interviewer. 

She barked a laugh. “Oh? Did you all play together?” 

“The studio rented out the arena for several days. When we happened to finish filming there ahead of schedule, it simply made sense to put the remaining day to good use.” Freddy ducked his head a bit. “Gregory is correct, though—laser tag is not one of my strong suits.” 

“The rest of us had played before,” Vanessa consoled him, reaching over Gregory to pat Freddy’s shoulder. “I hadn’t!” Gregory said.

“Yeah, but blasting robots during filming totally counts as practice!” 

He stuck his tongue out at her, and she stuck hers out right back. 

“And what about you, Gregory?” the interviewer said before they could escalate. “Did you have a favorite scene to film?” 

He’d thought about it while Vanessa and Freddy answered, so he nodded, grinning wildly. Over Vanessa’s good-natured groan, he said, “The final boss battle between me and Vanessa and Will! I had a crowbar!” He mimed swinging it like a baseball bat. 

Vanessa leaned forward. “He still has the crowbar,” she said in a faux whisper. “I don’t think anyone from the prop department is brave enough to try and take it back.” 

[pollenallergie]

dance teacher!reader x single dad!eddie… you teach a tap class for four year olds… his daughter is in attendance… he’s a recent divorcée who’s trying to prove how good of a father he can be so he can win 50/50 custody of his daughter… as a result, he’s going all out, being super involved… there’s a recital coming up… his daughter’s at her mom’s for the weekend, but that doesn’t mean eddie’s gonna stop putting in the work to be a great dad… he signs up to help put the finishing touches on any props and costumes needed for the recital; still familiar with a sewing machine and basic prop construction from his years as an over-the-top DM and an on-and-off member of the Hawkins High theatre department… you both get caught up stoning the costumes for his daughter’s group dance… it’s late… you two are alone… all the other dance teachers and parent volunteers have left… eddie’s been flirting with you all night, but not necessarily intentionally (it’s just hard for him not to flirt with you because, well, you’re you and he likes you… like way more than he should)… one thing leads to another…

[ronearoundblindly]

Pirate & Pin Cushion (3)

Jake Jensen x gn! ops!Reader

Painful...But In A Good Way (see previous or JJ Masterlist)

The last thing you remember is the awkward kiss Jake planted on you during a screaming match. Now, awake and healed, your friend and teammate is acting more awkward than usual around you.

Warnings for foul language, *super skimmed over action,* canon-level betrayal (Roque), completely vague mentions of injuries, suspicions, doubts, misunderstandings,--GO FIGURE--an argument, and I just wanted this done honestly. Not that I don't love them, but I need a win in the COMPLETED department. WC ~1.5k

You’re a Loser through and through now.

Months have gone by since you were stabbed and unceremoniously, sorta-kinda-maybe-not kissed by Jake Jensen. You woke up six days later with Pooch by your side, disappointed it wasn’t your Banter Bro.

The last thing you remember is turning away from Jake to hide your face. After that, nothing. You suppose he feels awkward about it. Maybe he regrets it, even if the ‘kiss’ was just part of a gag to him.

The most frustrating part is everything is exactly the same. Jake keeps you at arm’s length, a holding pattern to get no closer as teammates but no farther as friends.

Is this…are you in the friend zone???

It blows.

You’d still prefer this over being a pariah, so on you quip from interaction to interaction.

For all Jake’s hype about loving Halloween, he shuts down when you ask him what costume you should choose. Then he goes home to his sister and niece for the holiday.

...Okay…

You console yourself knowing this is for the best. You’d promised yourself no attachments, and nature clearly pushes for you to keep that promise.

You’ve almost—almost—resigned yourself to actual pin-cushion-status, jabbed repeatedly by his indifference. You are PC: perpetually crushing on Jake Jensen. It sucks.

You can be professional though. You can keep up with the jokes and take the hits to your heart and body that come with the job.

Until you can’t.

Los Angeles. The port. The shitshow.

While scrambling to get out of the line of fire in a showdown gone wrong, Jake cuts his leg vaulting over a concrete barrier, and you get him to a nook between shipping crates.

You squat down to change the mag on your MP7 and suddenly hear Roque’s voice behind you. He’s not on the comms.

“Should’ve told ‘em, Jensen."

The look on Jake’s face is shocked and bitter.

Roque clicks his tongue. "At least then they’d know…”

Before you can so much as turn to look, Jake’s raised his own weapon, firing right over your shoulder and within inches of your ear.

The pain is sharp and hot, sending you stumbling into the warped metal wall of the nearest container.

Jake wraps a thick arm around your waist and yanks you away.

You catch sight of Roque dead on the asphalt.

It’s complete chaos, pure survival mode for the next twenty minutes, deaf and deftly tying a bandage around Jake’s leg in an open, empty crate while he’s on comms and frantically hand-signaling you the plan.

But you make it. Everyone but Roque makes it.

Eventually, when the ringing subsides in your non-ruptured ear, Clay lays outRoque betrayed the team. Aisha teaches you a way to cup your occipital and tap to reduce the tinnitis. Pooch leaves to see the birth of his first child.

You’re left to ponder if Jake is a traitor, too.

Did he kill Roque to keep his own cover? Was he supposed to recruit you into his and Roque’s plan? Is that what he ‘should have told you’ so Roque wouldn’t need to kill you?

The possibilities haunt you. Is this why he’s kept you distant for months? Was Jake worried you’d catch on?

You blame your stupid crush for stopping you from telling Cougar your concerns. You trust Jake—or you want to trust him, so badly—so you confront him alone.

Dinner. At your place. Away from the team so he can feel safe to admit it. Away from the team so you can pretend your forgiveness isn’t already secured. You’ll deal with the consequences once you know the truth.

Jake seems an odd mix of totally psyched and forcefully reserved when you invite him and a nervous wreck when he arrives at your door.

It’s just pizza. You were too distracted to do more.

He doesn’t pick up his slice because you don’t either, running your hands up and down your thighs compulsively, then quietly asking, “about what Roque said…”

Jake leans back in his chair, leg bouncing frantically, rubbing at his neck. “Yeah,” he replies, eyes on the floor.

“Was he…were you his partner in that? Were you suppose to take me out, too?

Jake’s head snaps up, his mouth askew and brow pinched. “WHAT?”

“Just tell me the truth. I swear, we can work it out with the rest—“

“Is this what—what the fuck—“ he shoves the chair back and steps away “—that’s the reason I’m here right now? I thought you were finally gonna say it!”

Jake rips his glasses off his face and harshly runs his fingers through his frosted tips.

“Say…what? What am I supposed to say? I’m not the one Roque had a damn secret with.”

He’s visibly upset but with bugged-out eyes like he has no idea what to do.

“Well, I’m not a fucking traitor,” he mumbles.

Jake replaces his glasses and takes his phone from the pocket of his low-slung jeans, hitting a few buttons and tossing it onto the table. It slides until it knocks your plate.

His own recorded laugh cuts off quickly. “Okay, PC, what were you saying about Halloween? One more time,” and then comes another slow voice, “I should have told you before I died.

“I love you.”

Your whole body freezes, brain turning the words over and over until it occurs to you…that is your voice.

“I didn’t say that.” Your knee-jerk reaction comes swiftly. “I don’t remember that.”

Jake snorts without humor. “Got that part.”

You’re too stunned to speak. You can’t even imagine when you would have…oh god.

Jake rushes to fill the silence as you die inside, again, maybe more realistically because what.

“Did you at least think I was a badass, like, ya know, a sexy traitor or whatever? Or…were you gonna wrestle me to the ground after I ate a whole pie?”

You keep sitting with your mouth agape.

“You didn’t poison the pizza, did you? Right? Say 'no.' That’s overkill, or just, kill—were gonna kill me?!”

“I’D KNOWN YOU FOR TWO WEEKS,” you explode, bolting out of your own chair.

“Yeah,” Jake squeaks, “I know.”

“Two weeks, and then you taped me saying ‘I love you?’”

“But, like—“ his usually deep timbre pitches super high “…did you?”

“Why would you just sit on that, Jake?!”

He shrugs. “You weren’t exactly sober.”

Too much, too many feelings, all at once. You try to get away, to make a break for the bathroom, but Jake grabs your wrist and swings your momentum to the wall.

Your back hits with a soft thud, pinned in place by Jake’s chest. He’s not breathing heavily, but you are, pushing you against him repeatedly.

That just makes it harder.

Yes, you said it (you guess), and yes, you meant it. Jake, however, hasn’t said word one about if he feels some sort of way for you. Your brain can’t intuit his romantic inclinations two minutes after accusing him of treachery.

He’s…there, not moving, not speaking, lips slightly parted while he stares at you.

You clear your throat.

“You’re…you’re touching me,” you say softly.

Jake doesn’t skip a beat, gently tightening his hold on your arms. “That’s what I do, PC. Finger keyboards.”

You gag as he quickly shakes his head.

“What the fuck?”

“Sounds sooooo bad," Jake moans. "I’m so sorry.” He let’s go of you, steps back, and slaps his hands in the air frantically. “Wait, okay? That was not the joke. I can do it.”

“You’re sick, man.”

Jake rubs at his temples, muttering something about keys, computers, and Halloween. “Hold on...so dumb. This is why I was trying to record it! It’s your joke. You were laying on the bed and--”

“I would never say you fin—“

“He was standing right there,” Jake bursts, scaring you to silence. “Roque. When you said that into the phone, I mean, he was standing at the door and he heard.”

Jensen sighs. Defeated and deflated, he rests his hands on his hips, inhaling sharply.

“So at the port when… He aimed a gun at you and I just—“ he makes a finger gun to point over your shoulder, adding a soft pow sound-effect “—Roque was saying I should have told you before he tried to kill you.”

“About the recording?”

“No.” Jake rocks on his heels.

“About the joke?” Your voice is so small.

His stupid, beautiful blue eyes lift to meet yours.

“No, pin cushion, not about the joke.”

There's a horridly long pause of nothingness.

"Fuck it."

Jake lunges forward with startling intensity, fingers lace behind your head to draw you to him.

You don’t turn away this time.

His lips are soft yet determined, slowly pulsing to transform one kiss into dozens, and he adjusts everything—his height, his stance, his proximity to get even more of you in a single embrace.

“I love you,” Jake whispers, shifting to tilt you left while he goes right. “I should have told you ‘I love you,’ too.”

You promised yourself no attachments, but who are you kidding? You're such a loser, and you found your match.

[Main Masterlist; Light Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

😵‍💫

[blackmoonlightexpress]

Shui Long Yin 《水龙吟》 - What we know so far about this massive project

By now many of you have heard about Shui Long Yin 《水龙吟》, Luo Yunxi's upcoming and third project with the studio behind Till the End of the Moon. Here's my read on the announcement earlier.

1. Good news - It's going to be largely the same creative team behind TTEOTM. 

You have Wang Yirong as Lead Producer & Artistic Director, Huang Wei as Costume Designer, Wang Haiqi as Action Director, Tsang Mingfai as Makeup Director, Huatian for World Concept (also known for Ashes of Love and the Untamed). Basically, we'll see the return of the brilliant minds behind the Dunhuang-inspired costumes and hour-long epic fight sequences.

It's a good sign they're holding most of the team together. A lot of great directors, like Christopher Nolan, Tim Burton, David Cronenberg, work with the same creative talent over and over again. There's certainly an argument that you produce better work when you collaborate with people you trust and know well.

2. Up and coming Director Chen Zhoufei will make up some of the deficiencies of TTEOTM in the cinematography and lighting departments.

Chen Zhoufei started out as a cinematographer in films with the likes of Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou. More recently he directed The Forbidden Flower (2023) and Double Tap (2021), which, if nothing else, is beautifully and stylistically shot.

It's interesting they've moved away from the old school Hong Kong directors they used in Immortality and TTEOTM. Directors from the TVB system are known to be more experienced, scrappy, and reliable when it comes to working within budget (which is why they're favored for big xianxia productions), but they've also been criticized for falling behind on technical execution and artistry.

It is as the industry article I shared predicted - Otters Studio is a relatively inexperienced player, but they can quickly close their gaps by bringing new blood to the team.

3. They're bringing a new Art Director, Zheng Chen from Lost You Forever.

This isn't all that surprising given that Luan Hexin, TTEOTM's Art Director, is with Huanyu, Bai Lu's management company. (In fact there was a bit of real life drama when Yu Zheng, Bai Lu's boss, publicly called out TTEOTM's producer for not refuting false rumors that Bai Lu was only cast because the production wanted Luan Hexin, arguably Huanyu's biggest asset, as part of her "dowry".) Now it's sad to see award-winning Luan go, but he is best for authentic period sets and IMO not the most suited for xianxias.

Instead, they've tapped Zheng Chen, who most recently worked on Lost You Forever, which I have yet to watch. With that said, some of the sets look great to me, with bold use of colors, and I can already see this pairing well with Chen Zhoufei's aesthetics.

4. This time they're not working with screenwriter He Fang, instead going with Lin Conghe (unofficial)

He Fang is the lead screenwriter behind TTEOTM and Immortality (everyone who's read Immortality's screenplay will know it's all but a guaranteed hit) and in my opinion one of Otter's greatest assets. She's brilliant at staying loyal to the spiritual core of source novels, while weaving convoluted plot points through a more robust background story and logic.

It's a slight disappointment that she won't be back, but it's also not entirely surprising. TTEOTM and Immortality are both big, female-oriented fantasy romance IPs. Meanwhile Shui Long Yin's IP is quite dated, lesser known, and incomplete, so I'd expect that the drama will only be loosely based on the original. While we don't know much about Lin Conghe, he did recently work on the Blood of Youth sequel, where he was the lead screenwriter alongside author Zhou Munan, so he might actually be a better choice for this genre (xuanhuan wuxia).

5. The way HunanTV & Mango announced the drama is unusually high profile, indicating that this is one of the platform's biggest projects.

It's rare to have one of China's biggest hosts announce a new drama that hasn't even started shooting or released any details yet live on prime time TV. (Usually a drama's official announcement comes out on the day of its booting ceremony, if not during its production or at its wrap ceremony.) It's even rarer for a costume drama to announce a TV platform at this stage. These days it's quite difficult for costume fantasies to get a coveted TV airing slot given genre restrictions and additional censorship requirements. Typically you do not find out officially whether it will air on TV until literally right before it airs.

Before the official announcement, rumors have already been circulating that there's a bidding war behind the scenes for this project, with Mango and its parent HunanTV outbidding Youku in the end. Mango/HunanTV is already the market leader in variety shows, but is behind the other three platforms in scripted content. Apparently, they've recently received an injection of funding to shore up their drama department and now investing in tentpole projects that can help them gain share. Clearly they saw what TTEOTM did for Youku.

6. There's another interesting player in the mix: China Mobile and its subsidiary Migu. 

It appears that China Mobile (one of the most valuable companies in China and a state-owned enterprise) has invested in the drama, which will be made available on its online video platforms. Apparently, the last time China Mobile invested in a drama, they sent text messages to every user to publicize it when it aired. Now not sure if this will happen (it's not patriotic drama after all), but they've already been promoting the drama through their gazillion affiliate social media accounts. Either way, it should be a good thing for the drama's distribution to have such an influential backer given Mango's lower daily active user.

7. They're making it super clear that Luo Yunxi is going to be the dominant male lead in this drama

In the first Weibo post, they only announced the title, Luo Yunxi, and the airing platforms. In the second Weibo post, where they announced the rest of the creative team, they still did not announce the other actors! Of course, this is likely because Luo Yunxi's company (which is really just him) bought the source novel's IP and is credited as a co-producer. (They don’t have any production capabilities at all, so Otter will likely be quarterbacking this.)

This suggests, like many who have read the novel already know, that Luo Yunxi will have by far the biggest part. The other roles, including the female lead role, will likely be smaller and revolve around the main character.

8. Shui Long Yin is already generating a lot of hype.

To date its Weibo announcement racked up >1M likes (more than double that of TTEOTM). There's already a very active Douban group debating all the rumors, most importantly whether Luo Yunxi will use a wig or his real hair (a highly divisive topic). The new drama has even been reported by China Daily, China's state media facing the international community, which is again exceedingly rare. China Daily doesn't usually report on entertainment news, and most hit shows don't get mentioned even after airing.

There's always a big risk with productions with this much anticipation so early in the process, from fan wars and disruptive stalking on set to accusations propagated by competitors that can invite more state scrutiny. Fingers crossed that the team knows what they're doing and can weather all the storms that will undoubtedly come its way.

9. Finally, I remain cautiously excited.

Production quality will likely be great, with such a strong creative team and financial backers with deep wallets. My main worry is that it'll be beautiful, but boring. For this genre (xuanhuan wuxia or basically wuxia with high fantasy elements), it's really important that the story moves fast and the underdog hero keeps outsmarting or outfighting everyone else in a way that gives viewers a sense of exhilaration. It'd be all too easy for the story to get bogged down by a large cast of unmemorable characters and a meandering plot. Otters Studio is usually great at delivering fast-paced high drama (just based on TTEOTM and the screenplay of Immortality), but they're working with a different screenwriter this time and it's not easy to be a consistent hit maker. Let's hope they stick to their intuition and continue to present stories and characters that excite viewers.