#god I can’t wait to see where Noelle’s story goes

[mararabbit]

Noelle everywhere (ft. giant blank space in the bottom left)

[achliegh]

Bronze

Alright, I had this wonderful idea come into my head about Clayton, honestly he deserves his own fic. So here is his version of events! Lots will tie together with Golden so I recommend you read that as well. But you don’t have to of course.

Explaining:

Before Letter is the present.

Letter is updating the lives of the people back home, of whoever wrote it mostly.

After Letter is memory.

The first few letters will be very awkward because writing letters and not being sure what to talk about and what not to talk about is hard and confusing. Stick with me! Yes, this prologue is just a letter.

TW/CW: Discussions of death, military training, smut, cringy jokes, underage drinking, dumb choices, swearing, hospitals, injuries and death caused by someone close, domestic abuse, blood, unfair treatment from police, false allegations.

Beta: @walking-crisis

Some Characters belong to @lumosinlove

Chapter 6:

In Color

“I don’t think you’re ready for that.” Grev was leaning against the door frame, cigar in his mouth and dressed in a casual yet expensive suit. “It will mess with your head.”

“Are you allowed to smoke in here?” Grev snatches the book from his grasp and raises a challenging eyebrow at him. Putting his hands up in surrender he starts walking back towards his bed. Ass out.

“How did you get up?” Grev took his normal seat and put his ankle on his knee to get comfortable.

“I stood up… why is that some miracle or something?”

“A little, you did get shot in the back of the head.” Grev goes back to puffing his cigar, oddly enough it doesn’t smell like a normal cigar. His dad would have one every holiday, he knows what they smell like. Clay is about to sit back on the bed when he hears Grev clear his throat, looking up Clay makes eye contact with the older man for a moment.

“Fine, I changed my mind… you can look. But, only if I get to explain the pictures to you.” Clay sits down and pats the mattress next to him. Grev grumbles under his breath and walks over to sit next to him. He opens the picture album to the first page.

“Is that you?” Clay points to a picture of two small boys looking happy with smiles on their faces, but their eyes told a different story. Even in black and white Clay could see how scared they were.

“That's my twin brother Clark and I, we were 12 years old, working in a factory during the Great Depression.” Clay looks up at him confused, Great depression… but Grev doesn’t look that old. Shaking his head thinking maybe he found the fountain of youth, Clay kept looking at the pictures. Flipping through happy and sad pictures as he turned each page.

“You are in the military?”

“Was, and yes. That was my battle buddy, his name was Gerald Kinzie. He was a high school teacher in San Antonio… I wonder where he is now.”

They turn the page and Clay can’t help but awwwwwww out loud. A picture of Grev with a beautiful woman, he’s kissing her cheek and they appear to be in… wedding? Attire.

“That’s your grandmother and I.”

Dear Clayton,

I know you are deployed a little longer than we were told you would be, but it’s okay! As long as you are safe somewhere then I don’t mind! You’re someone I can spill the beans to and not get in trouble.

You obviously remember the Sheriff, well he has passed away. I know it is terrible to celebrate someone's passing but he and his family made your life a living hell. Ashley scarred your beautiful face.

Yes, you may look more devil's advocate but it doesn’t make me sad.

A bad thing to come out of his death, besides his death of course God Bless his soul, is that Leo was investigated for it.

Now this happened a few months ago, I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to worry about your brother, he is just fine now. Him and his boys came to visit not long ago.

First it was Leo by himself and then his boys came down a few days later. He was the happiest I have seen him since you left. He really misses you baby. So does your Daddy.

I think I am close to convincing him to write to you! He was asking for a pen and paper the other night when he had his night smoke on the back porch. So, look out for that letter.

I got a call from Noelle, she is just a peach you sure got lucky with her, she called to ask me if I had a box or a basket of little things you would find and give to me and your Daddy. She called you a penguin and I couldn’t help but laugh.

I told her that we have a room dedicated to everything you would find for us because the things you brought us vary in sizes. She didn’t say much about it after that, just talked about how Thomas and her were thinking about coming down in a month. After the last game of the season.

Of course I told them they can have your room, I’ve been cleaning it everyday just in case you surprise me like you like to do.

I love you baby, can’t wait for you to be home. xoxo

Love,

Mama

P.S

I already know.

It was humid that night, Noelle has been so excited for this date the entire week. They could only do this on a Thursday night because Thomas was leaving for an away game in Hufflepuff, Noelle was going to visit her other sisters, and Clay was going to get tested to get into boot camp this weekend.

So, driving Clay’s brand new truck up to the highest point in Gryff to watch the sunset. It was cliché but it was comforting. Noelle parks the truck after backing it up into the spot so they feel like they are floating over the cliff. They lay blankets and pillows down to be comfortable.

They turned on some low music, Thomas and Noelle laughed as Clay tried to mimic Finn’s dancing on the tailgate as the other two snuggled together. Clay stopped and stared at them for a moment, he didn’t realize how intensely he was staring until he felt two very different hands pull him on top of the beautiful two humans he was staring at.

“Hi…” Noelle snorts and gives him a small kiss on his scarred eyebrow. He feels Thomas lean over to presumably give him a kiss on the cheek. Instead he blows a raspberry in his neck, causing Clay to smack his neck and try to get away, only to be pulled further into the pile until he is being sandwiched in between them. Both looking up at him from where their cheeks are squished into his biceps. They are hugging him tightly and their legs are a tangled mess.

Eventually they all relax their grip on each other just a little, watching the sky as it starts to change colors. Clay notices how heavy his partners have gotten suddenly. He looks down to see that Noelle has fallen asleep with her mouth open and is starting to drool, and Thomas has fallen asleep looking more relaxed and peaceful than he has all week.

Clay knows they don’t want him to go into the military but ever since he moved to Gryff for the winters… he's been lost. Feeling useless while everyone else is out improving their lives. He needed a path of his own. He can’t just be the pretty thing that sits at home and waits for his lovers like a dog. He needs a purpose of his own.

Looking down at them, he smiles and traces the three little moles on Noelles tan cheek that make a triangle. He looks over to Thomas who has a small scar just below his lip. Noelle recently attacked his eyebrows with some tweezers and Clay can still see the little scab from where Thomas tried to move his head and she plucked his skin on accident.

Clay doesn’t realise how much time passed as he just memorised their faces, breathing pattern and the way they cling to him, until he realises the only light illuminating Noelles honey brown hair is the streetlight they parked next to.

He looks up at the sky and sees the stars for the first time since moving to the city… it just so happens to be his lucky night.

He makes a wish on the bright northstar.

He wants this forever.

[thehammondlegacy]

Rewind Part 4 (LAST ONE!)

33) Margaret and Cristobal’s wedding: Ok this event is the biggest I’ve ever done! So many guests! So many sims to dress! So many poses to make! Getting the venue ready! Making the flags with their initials! Findind the right dress! Choosing a tiara! No, wait. I had the tiara! It took me a month to have this done. I remember the day after the wedding, I didn’t even turn on my computer because I was so exhausted!! But it was worth it ♥

34) Andrew starts dating Noelle: He has made it! So, Andrew finally found the one. I have to admit I wasn’t sure about Noelle at first, but eventually I started loving them together. She is so down to heart and really knows how to deal with the pressure of being famous, that she is just perfect for shy Andrew. 

35) Emmanuelle defends her friends after being discriminated for being members of the LGBTIQ community: Another favourite of mine! The Princess of Protests, everybody! I just love how brave Emma is! She just doesn’t care about her family’s rules. She’ll do anything for her friends!

36) Prince David is born: And we have an heir, everybody and I have no idea of what I’m going to do with him in the future! Yei!! How exciting is that?! No, really. David is like a blank page to me now. I really need to start working with his story because he is going to become a teen soon!!! A TEEN!!! I know. It’s scary! Anyway, this baby boy is the first monarch I’m instroducing since birth because Margaret was already born when I started my blog. 

37) Andrew and Noelle’s engagement: I was so happy when this came out! And now they have a little girl!! Big Momma time, guys :P Anyway, the party Prince who dated FOUR girls in the past (actually DATED) was finally engaged!

38) David becomes a toddler: This was another of my favourite moments, although, when I saw this picture I was freak out about the blond heads cause, GOD! That’s too much blond going on! (Thank god Arthur has dark hair!!) I really love taking screenshots of them as a simple family, and this one is my favourite so far. Look how happy David is!!

39) George’s passing: This is the saddest moment in my whole story to me. George was so loved by all of you, and sharing the news of his death was horrible!! I was playing with the Palace where I had moved him after Isabella moved out, and he was playing the piano (he was ALWAYS playing the freaking piano!!!!) and then the music stopped and he was dying and I was crying and I didn’t want him to go, but it was his time :( Henry and Sofia were there to see him go. I’m really enjoying bringing him back and showing how amazing he was! 

40) Andrew and Noelle’s wedding: This was another big wedding that took me a lot of hard work, specially the venue since I wanted to make a smaller place for their wedding. I still can’t believe my little boy is a married man and a father! Thank you, Noelle!!

41) My first Behind the Scenes: We had made it to my BTS era! I think it started in October, right after Andrew’s wedding and the beginning of the war. I had been thinking about starting doing some bts and the war was perfect for that! 

42) Willow Creek goes to war: Ah the war! I was so busy during that time that I couldn’t do much, lol. I had so many exams!!! Luckily, I’ve managed to do some to show Henry’s struggle as King. Also, when I took this screenshot, it was the first time I saw Margaret as Queen. It may be the uniform, though, but I’ve always had trouble picturing her as Queen. Maybe because I don’t want to think about a world without Henry, lol.

43) Isabella’s boyfriend dies at war: So, Isabella ended her relationship with Jason and, years after that, she started dating her brother Logan, who was her best friend. But then I did what I had planned for Cristobal, and Logan died. Personally, this was so hard to write because I went through the same thing nine years ago. I’m not going to talk about it cause it’s way too personal, but this moment means so much to me that I can’t just leave it out of this rewind. 

44) Margaret and Cristobal welcomed another boy: As I said a few times, I always let the game choose the gender of the baby. I do cheat to see what’s going to be, but I don’t change it. I was really hoping for a girl cause I wanted Margaret to have only two kids, but it was a boy again. That doesn’t mean I don’t love little Arthur! He is so cute and so reckless! God, he loves making a mess!!! 

45) Henry and Sofia’s love story: You did like this! I wasn’t sure about this throwback because Henry and Sofia are so different from Margaret and Cristobal and I wasn’t sure you’d like their story, but I was so wrong! I had so much fun playing with their young version again! 

46) George gives up his happines for his son: I know this is part of the throwback series, but god! I needed to include this! George was such a great dad to Henry, and love him so much! 

47) Arthur becomes a toddler: The little on with the dark hair! I can already tell this one really takes after Henry. They are both so reckless!! Always leaving a mess in every room!! Always running nacked around the house!! He reminds me so much of Henry as a toddler! 

48) Henry and Sofia getting old: So I’m not going to tell you when, but you have to get ready for it!! I know we don’t like this! I know we are scared of not having him around anymore, but Henry is getting old!! He still has a few days as an adult, but his time as an elder is coming!! 

49) The new throwback series: So, of course, you all now that I’m writing Margaret and Cristobal’s story from their point of view, and you’ll get to see all the tea!! All your questions about these two will be answered!! Also, you chose this by voting for them, so thanks for helping me choose!! I’m not giving the screenshots that much color to make it look different from the bts I have planned for you at the present, so I hope you don’t mind that!

50) Andrew and Noelle welcome baby girl: And now the last moment of the year! We are closing this rewind with the birth of the first female of the new generation of royals!! Little Leonor is already my favourite of this new gen, and I can’t wait to tell her story!! Also, my little boy is a dad!! I’m so proud of him!!

Thank you for reading this rewind! I hope you had found this interesting and not boring, lol. Again, thanks for this amazing year at this blog. I know it was a difficult year for all of us, but we are in this together!! 

Love, Our Willow Creek Royals ♥

[prince-toffee]

You know the whole ‘Catra becomes just like Shadow Weaver, becoming what she hated’ thing? I was waiting for that dramatic reveal and it never really came, you know. Like Catra realising she’s just like Weaver and that’s what kicks off her redemption arc. Like there are parallels between them, but honestly there are far more parallels between Catra and Hordak - pointy, unwanted by their parental figures, cast aside by them, angry at the world, with love interests that they think betrayed them which prompt them into falling deeper into villainy, both wanting to prove themselves to their higher ups that have abused and used them all their lives - only major difference being Catra grew out of the desire of wanting love and respect from Shadow Weaver and outgrows her ‘mother’ becoming Weaver herself, with Scorpia becoming the new ‘Catra’ as she now wants nothing more than love and approval from Catra and Catra then using her and casting her aside even tho Scorpia gives her nothing but love and support. While Hordak stayed loyal to his ‘brother’ until death.

But what I wanted to get into was in the 80s version Shadow Weaver was an apprentice under Norwyn, you know the goat dude, and in fact she was one of two apprentices, the other being Castaspella! You see where this is going, we get a flashback episode about Shadow Weaver’s origin, Casta is favoured, she becomes leader of Mysticore, Weaver enraged kills Norwyn and goes off with the Horde. Paralleling the story of Catra and Adora! BAM You get an ‘oh shit’ realisation moment about how history is repeating itself, AND you manage to make Castaspella relevant. You can add some romantic relationship between them, I’m sure all the Castaweaver shippers would appreciate, and so the similarities increase. I find it so god damn strange that they choose to keep the Mysticore stuff, to keep Norwyn, and then just randomly switch Casta out for Micah, IF MICAH WAS MEANT TO STAY DEAD AND HIM COMING BACK TO LIFE WAS ALL DUE TO THE VOICE ACTOR MISS READING THE SCRIPT! I still can’t believe that’s true by the way, maybe it’s not, I would hope it isn’t, but I’ve heard Noelle said so in an interview after the show ended, which probably would’ve explained why he was barely a foot note in the show. It’s all so strange. (5-minute-older-Toffee here, yep, the story’s true)

[genshin-djinn]

genshin impact: how I feel so far

I’ve just finished the prologue! Here are all of my thoughts on Genshin Impact thus far presented in a very confusing and non- linear manner.

My first and most resounding opinion on this game is that it’s amazing. The graphics are insane— the lighting, the weather, clouds passing by. All of the characters have designs so ridiculous it’s hard for me to draw them and it makes me feel like the game is just flaunting the flawless animation of all these characters’ extremely convoluted designs.

places

I love the locations sO mUCH. My favorite places so far are the two major cities— Mondstadt is just so cheery and fits the vibe of the early game (by early game I mean the dvalin quest line). It’s presented as large but in a very linear manner that you learn quite quickly. It has plenty of places to buy stuff from and just genuinely feels like a cheerful, bustling, fantasy city. fantastic and I’m in love. Liyue Harbor is presented in a completely different architectural style and it’s excellent. Mondstadt makes me feel safe, Liyue Harbor makes me feel like I’m in a wild metropolitan center.

And importantly, both of these cities feel genuinely alive. All the romantic hullabaloo in Mondstadt, Yi Zhu trying to cheer up his little sister Yi Xian after their mother’s death, the mysterious locked door in Mondstadt, Anna making wishes to recover from her illness at the well and her brother going there at night to collect all the coins so he can pay for her medication.

Besides the main cities my other favorite location has been Qingce village. The walk over to it is very nice and the town has an incredible vibe with the scale- like terraced fields. And even beyond that, the town is filled with old citizens and children— showing how all of the young adults in the town have left and decided to try to find a new and more exciting life in Liyue Harbor.

I’m having a hard time thinking of something I don’t like about the locations and honestly I’m drawing a blank. I really love all the set design/ map design. I know I will never finish that “collect every geoculus and anemoculus” quest because that’s just not the kind of dedication I have to this game (unless I get really stuck at an adventure level, though.... then things are a wild card.)

adventure ranks

this is my biggest problem with Genshin Impact.

You can’t progress the main quest (which honestly I enjoy more than a lot of the side quest because of my sheer attachment to these characters and their stories, which I’ll talk more about later) until you hit a certain adventure rank. And it’s a real pain getting them. I’m the type of person who gets freaked out when fighting a level 1 ruin guard with a set of level 39 characters and an inventory full of honey chickens. I do sometimes go into this state of bloodlust when fighting hillichurls and I feel like actually seeking out their camps to return them to dust myself but then I find one of them dudes with a shield and remember that my one pyro unit is amber and uhh.... that feeling goes away real fast.

I hope that the game does what they did with adventure ranks 18-20 more often— my next quest in Liyue is locked until rank 23 (I am not looking forward to increasing my world level can I please just play on easy difficulty until forever) but I get this cool new Darknight Hero quest that I’ve been looking forward to to tide me over until I hit level 21 and can go on another bookworm date with Lisa. Yes, spacing out the main quest line is okay, but I really like having a lot of side quests in between as well so I can gain adventure ranks organically rather than specifically hunting for geo/ anemoculi.

characters

I love the characters in this game maybe as much as I love the locations in this game. Maybe more.

My favorite character is Kaeya because I am a sap for antiheroes with attitude problems. More on him later.

I’ve also become very attached to Amber. She’s just such a positive soul and she so genuinely wants to do what’s right and she’s so useful for lighting things on fire which is something I do not have any other character to do (holding out for Xiangling at level 20....). But she’s just not a great character fighting wise. She takes a while to load arrows and they aren’t super useful compared to any of the other seven characters I own. But she can light stuff on fire and I don’t have anyone else to do that so she must remain on my team for the time being.

next up is Lisa. I like Lisa. I know she’s there for the perverts who want to see anime women’s chests but I genuinely do like her. Her personality is, well, very different from all the other characters’ and I kind of like her constant over the top- ness. Her ability is useful but I switched her out for Chongyun in my team and I can’t bring myself to get rid of Aether or Kaeya yet.

I rolled Xingqiu, Beidou, and Noelle but haven’t used them much. All I know about them is “water bookworm young master whos closet good at fighting”, “pirate who stopped me from getting that fecking file folder I was trying to get”, and “maid whose voice I like in the english and Japanese version”. (Side note, I mainly use the Japanese voiceovers because I prefer them. Downside is I sometimes can’t understand a word the characters are saying but it’s worth it for the voice actors)

I also got Chongyun who seems like a nice boy. I rolled him after I started playing with Japanese voiceovers, though, so I don’t understand most of his idle dialogue. All I really know about him is that he’s super positive and he loves ice cream and that’s good enough for me

Next up is my somewhat problematic fave Kaeya. It’s morally bad that you can’t tell whether he’s lying or telling the truth but all it does is make me like him better as a character. I can 100% see why he’s paired up with Jean and Amber as the most visible characters in power in the Knights of Favonius— they all sort of fulfill different roles. I really want to see more of him in the main plot, not when he’s lying about his grandpa hiding pirate treasure. Also we know nothing about his real motivations and actual past besides “diluc’s step brother, maybe like saw diluc kill his dad or like saw diluc upset after his dad was killed wE dOnT kNow”. and I want to know.

Can’t talk about Kaeya without talkin about his bro Diluc. I can’t wait to see him in this next quest line. I really want Diluc on my team. Same with Jean. That is all.

Penultimately I’m gonna talk about my personal favorite god of freedom whose powers just got stolen, maybe god, definite good bard Venti. I really like Venti. He’s got a lot of charm and he just fits perfectly as the easygoing free god of Mondstadt. I started yelling when that signora gal nabbed him. don’t worry venti we will kill her for you

Annnnd finally here’s my opinions on Aether (I chose him to be my protagonist) and Lumine (the Princess, I think). I do kinda enjoy them. They’re a bit of the typical blank protagonist type (can be sassy, can be cruel, can be honest, can be kind) but Lumine’s dark turn is just fascinating and I want to learn more about their relationship and how it’s changed since they were separated. Where even is Lumine? What will Aether do when he learns that his entire purpose in life has been in charge of the ones who’ve been hurting his new friends? It sounds like a fascinating situation.

(also Venti refers to Lumine as Aether’s “imouto”/ little sister— does he call Aether Lumine’s “otouto”/ little brother if you chose Lumine as your protag? which twin is older? is it determined by your choice of protagonist? hmmm)

least favorite things

Besides my problems with adventure rank, I have two other main issues with Genshin Impact.

Firstly, basically all of the female characters are dressed in outfits that seem designed to show as much skin as possible.

annnd secondly it’s extremely difficult to roll five star characters (Jean, Venti, Diluc) without paying money. this is a good way for the company to make cash but it’s also kind of annoying.

wrap- up

Ok! Those are all my main thoughts for now, at the end of the prologue and before chapter 1! I’m off to play the darknight hero quest (probably gonna post some of my mishaps here too). also I want more primogems we should be able to pet dogs npcs excitement bye

[theatrelove3000]

The Next 4000 Years

Hello Friends! This isn’t one of my best or favorite works but it seems important to put out for some reason? It’s just an explanation for a singular line that I wrote in A Proclivity to Protection about Noelle’s new immortality. This is just explaining how she got it. It isn’t very well written, kind of rushed through, but I haven’t had a lot of time on my hands recently, seeing as my job decided I need to work every single day until I’m in so much pain that I cry with every step I take. BUT THAT ISN’T IMPORTANT! THE IMPORTANT THING IS I WOKE UP THIS MORNING AND WROTE THIS CRAPPY STORY THAT I HAVE DECIDED IS GOOD ENOUGH TO SHARE!

So anyway. Onward!

Background: Noelle and Loki were “Bound” by a witch in Alfheim after a battle they fought in. This means that the witch split each of their souls in half and one half switched places. Noelle has half of Loki’s soul and vice versa. They can feel each other's emotions and hear each other's thoughts. Noelle is also Half Asgardian, half Midgardian. Her father is Tyr and her mother is of Midgard.

Summary: Noelle and Loki argue about Noelle’s mortality.

Warnings: Maybe swearing? Probably swearing. I don’t remember. It is mostly fluffiness and mention of aging.

The Next 4000 Years

Noelle PoV:

"Loki we need to have this discussion."

"I do not want to have it right now."

"That sucks because if we don't talk about it now, we never will and you know it." I stand in front of him with my hands on my hips.

He sighs, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why do we suddenly have to have this conversation at this very moment. What has changed in the last 3 weeks since we last spoke of it?"

I close my eyes and lower my hands. "Loki, I'm going gray. My hair is graying already and I'm not even thirty! Not to mention that I'm starting to recognize my own mortality."

Loki's eyebrows pull together. "So you really want to take on the commitment of immortality? It's not as wonderful as it seems."

"Easy for the immortal god to say." He opens his mouth to argue but I don't give him time, "and besides, we both know that I only get about a hundred years. You get thousands. What will you do when I'm old and gray? What will you do when I die? Just off yourself? Run away and hide in seclusion just like you did before? That's not okay with me."

He stops, taken aback. "I can't stomach the thought of you dying, Noelle. That's why I don't want to talk about this."

"Then do the spell. I know you found it because Thor told me and he may be less than intelligent but he's not a liar."

"I never lie to you. I learned that lesson years ago." His face turns angry.

"I'm not saying that you lie to me. I'm saying that he was more likely to tell me about the spell than you were." He looks down at the floor. "Please, Loki. We promised each other our whole lives. I can't bear the thought of leaving you, which is why I'm asking you to do this." I take a step closer to him, hands finding his crossed arms.

"I suppose you did vow to love me for my whole life. How can you do that if you are not in my life?" He takes a deep breath before unfolding his arms and taking my left hand. He slides my wedding ring off and stops my protests with his mouth on mine. "It is necessary for the spell." He whispers against my lips.

And then he is gone. Vanished without a trace. I groan and flop down on the couch, opening my book. There is a little knock on the door and I yell that the door is open.

In runs little Morgan with Peter not far behind her. They are giggling like little school girls and hide behind the couch. I lean over to find Pete with his hand over Morgan’s mouth and a finger to his own to tell me not to acknowledge them. I furrow my brow but turn back to my book.

A few seconds later, a fuming Tony who is covered in pink glitter sprints in. I start cracking up because The Iron Man is creating sunspots on the floor and ceiling of my apartment.

He glares at me and growls, "Where are they?"

I do my best to look innocent, "Who?"

"My wonderful children, who are going to regret the glitter canon that they set up to launch at me when I walked into my lab today."

I am crying from the laughter and Tony is shaking with anger. I hear a giggle from behind the couch but Tony is already gone. I close and lock the door behind him. The kids pop up laughing hysterically and I put a silencing charm over the apartment so Tony doesn't come back. "What did you guys do that for?" I ask them, amused.

"He told us that we could never surprise him with a prank or anything so we decided to prove him wrong!" Peter explains. I smirk and high five them both.

I keep them with me until around dinner time. Loki still hasn't arrived home yet. Morgan asked me where he was and I told her that he was out on errands. She wouldn't understand the situation. So I feed the kids and send them on their way.

It's not until the next morning that Loki returns. I fell asleep on the couch waiting for him to come back, the remote still in my hand. I am awoken by lips on my forehead and a hand on my cheek. I open my blue eyes to Loki's green ones, complete with dark circles. He didn't sleep last night. I trace my fingers over the bags and he smiles a little at me before lifting me bridal style and carrying me to bed.

I wake up later in the morning with my head on his chest, his arms around my waist. I open my eyes and look up to see his are already open, as usual. The bags are gone though, so he must have gotten a little sleep.

"Good morning, Little Dove." He whispers, kissing my nose.

"Good morning, Loki." I hum back. We lay there for a few more minutes before getting up.

"Coffee?" He hands me a warm mug.

"This is why I love you." I say and take a sip.

He chuckles and sits down across from me at the table, "Is that the only reason?"

"Obviously," I grin and run my fingers along his arm, "Your coffee is the best."

"You wound me, my love." He laughs, taking my hand in his.

We are silent for a moment before I ask him, "So when can I get my ring back?"

He smirks, "Later. Though I must tell you, darling, it truly thrills me that you are so anxious to have it back. That you are so attached to it." He kisses my fingers where my ring should be.

"Of course I'm attached. It's linked to you." He smiles and kisses me deeply. As he moves to my neck, I mutter, "And it's also sparkly so it's fun to wear." He chuckles against my neck and pulls away. He goes to take a shower and I finish my breakfast. After showering and changing my clothes, Loki and I went to the mission briefing. This is another big one so it took longer than it normally does.

The briefing finishes and Loki drags me out of the tower to go on a walk. Since it hasn't been too long since the three month mission he went on with Thor in Niflheim and we have had so many missions since then that we haven't had much time to go out. That's all he wanted: to be outside, happy to have the sun shining on him again. We walk around the park, my hand held in the crook of his elbow, his fingers playing with mine.

We are strolling through central park when we find a tree that looks almost exactly like the one we used to sit and read under in Asgard. He grins at me and pulls me over to sit under it, his back to the trunk with me between his legs, facing away from him, back to chest.

We sit quietly, basking in each other for a while. He breathes deeply and starts to speak softly in my ear. "About four years ago, you asked me while I sat rotting in that cell under the palace of Asgard if I would give you the next seventy years."

I turn my head towards him, he is looking down at me. I stare into pure green emeralds and smile at him. The corner of his lips curl up slightly and he continues, "I told you I would kill for you. I would destroy realms for you. But your kind heart would never ask such displays of me. Therefore, I will kiss you, hold your divine curves close to me, and trace threads of icy fire on your skin with my fingertips. You were and are my craving and my desire. My love and my life are yours. I intend to stand by that answer."

He kisses my forehead and I reciprocate by kissing his jaw. "With that said, I have a query for you, my only love." He shifts his body so he is facing me more, our bodies no longer pressed so closely together. I cup his cheek and he leans into my touch, seemingly lost in it. He kisses my wrist before I let my hand shift into his soft black curls.

"What is it?" I whisper.

"Will you give me the next four thousand years?" He raises his hand that was resting on my hip and shows me my ring. It looks exactly the same but the energy from it is far stronger than before.

I smile at him and kiss him deeply. He sighs and tilts his head slightly to deepen the kiss. When we break away for air, I whisper a yes to him and he slips the ring back onto its rightful place on the third finger of my left hand. I feel the magic work through my body the second he let's go of it, his hands moving to my face, kissing my forehead again. The power coursing through my body takes my breath away.

As suddenly as the magic surge appeared, it was gone again, leaving me completely breathless. Even though I am happy about getting what I want, I am anxious. It is weird, why am I so anxious?

Loki notices my panting and pulls me into his lap, resting my head and hand on his chest, helping me breathe. His fingers ran through my hand as he murmured to me in Old Norse. I listened to his heart and breathing and voice, which calms me incredibly quickly.

"Immortality is a hard burden to bear." He tells me.

"It's worth it to stay with you for eternity." I say back, kissing him again.

He chuckles as he pulls back. "I agree."

"Four thousand years?"

"Four thousand years." He brings my lips back to his.

[pockethep]

Fandom Be Chill

I’ve seen a lot of people in the fandom, or at least Catradora shippers, doubting everything. (Both redemption and the ship) To which I say...WTF. You’ll never survive the winter with those weak opinions. Be like the theme song. Be Strong. Be Brave. Now I don’t mean to suddenly become an SPOP blog (I literally repost as my fandoms come and half of my blog is misc.) but I’m here to say some shit. Since ATLA is the one thing I’m sure everyone here has watched I’ll relate some stuff. (Sorry I don’t have direct quotes I’m tired and S3 has got me stressed)

Ready? Alright. Leggo!

Just to put it out there...Season 3 is probably my favorite season thus far. In terms of story, hyping up a threat, learning more about who we thought was the main villain, etc. It fulfilled all my needs. I can’t wait to see how all the relationships (Glimmer w/o her mom, Catra and Adora, and the Princess Alliance without a commander commander) play out. Even more so now that Shadow Weaver is chillin in Brightmoon.

That being said the dynamic of my ship is changed forever now.

There is nothing more dangerous than a character that has nothing to lose. Catra, who has thrown away all her connections and now fully severed the bond she has with Adora and the few people that actually liked her, has her fit that part perfectly. To relate her to everyones favorite redemption arc, Zuko, you could say this is her, for lack of better terms, Azula/Aang choice. When Catra pulled the switch it was possibly her first real choice. This is not to be said that every choice given to her was not a real choice but this was probably the first one with major bearings. (Though it could be argued that it was giving the sword back to Adora) Catra has been, for the most part, manipulated while she tries to manipulate other people. She is a tool. Even when she is doing what she thinks is her plan it ultimately serves to help Hordak or Shadow Weaver.

Going back to atla Zuko has the choice to help Aang or Azula just as Catra can pull the lever or not. It was likely that, for both cases, whichever side the characters help will triumph in that moment though for Catra it doesn’t seem to be the case. While Aang is gravely injured the portal causes massive destruction as it unravels reality, helping no one really.

This brings us to a major plot point for Catra: Failure. (Just look at her Crimson Waste speech! Like go off but...) Just as Aang and Zuko are the two characters who the series is shaped around Adora and Catra are too. The pairs are foils to each other but are very similar. Adora chooses her compassion for life/peace and her duty as She-ra over the Horde. Catra chooses the only place where she feels she’ll get any recognition and love over helping the Princess alliance/the world. While Adora’s “selfish” choice is framed as good, Catra’s “selfish” choice is made to be a bad decision.

Catra’s “betrayal” and choosing to open the portal is very much about Adora but it also isn’t. It isn’t about Hordak or any alliance or army. She is angry. She is confused. She is hurt. Everything always goes back to Adora. (The one who she can never beat and, when she does, causes her to lose the bigger picture. The one who Shadow Weaver, someone she put all her faith into, went back to. The one who was always put above her.) So she chooses an external force to try to cope and feel better. To screw the world over if it means winning one thing. Catra made her choice because she is flawed, like very very very flawed and “selfish” but she is human. (Well a magicat but you get the point)

It should be noted the horrors of abuse. Both of the most important figures in her life were abusive, Shadow Weaver more so as Hordak treats everyone as a pawn to get what he wants. Catra both projects it onto others, her manipulative nature and snarky/defensive comments, and internalizes it, her body language and what comes out everytime SW and Catra speak to each other. Adora does more internalizing, she holds it deep in herself and it is the source of her doubts and fears. That also being said Scorpia was her last rock, the one thing holding her in place because ultimately she does care for our favorite Scorpion girl. Now that Scorpia is scared of catra, or at least wary, Catra will be alone. 

Zuko Alone.

Alright so finally. “When we reach our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change.” ~Avatar Aang

Now do you think, as season 3 took its course a sudden “Holy shit! Let me undergo a change in six episodes,” would’ve been fulfilling? Especially when Catra went through the best change possible this season. Now this is purely opinion but it is more fulfilling once a character has hit their lowest point for them to be redeemed. There are 4-5 more seasons left. Catra has hit rock bottom now and Hordak is not stupid, he may very well realize that she tricked him but, in his weakened state, I doubt he can/will kill her. As Entrapta said she is too useful. We may be seeing some Zuko Alone type stuff. My hopes is she leaves. She goes on some journey to find herself and about her magicat history, perhaps Beast Island as intended. 

At the end of the day, like Zuko, she is an abused teen. She makes mistakes and does things that she will learn to regret. By the end of the series she will realize her mistake and seek to rectify all she has done, starting with her relationship with Adora. Or so I hope and and so I trust the SPOP Crew.

Few more things:

1. Glimmer saw what SW did to Catra. What do you think was going through her mind? Did she realize that Catra is hurt or did she just go along with it? Will she ask Adora about it?

2. Go stan Angella. Real MVP of the season.

3. Catra X Therapy comes before Catra X Adora.

4. Please trust the showrunners and Noelle especially and also don’t turnt his fandom into Voltron. For the love of god don’t. They are not responsible for making all your ships happen and you shouldn’t drop the show because a season didn’t turn out how you wanted it. There’s still more left, lots more. Keep trying in the least.

I might do more Spop stuff not sure. This was fun to get off my chest.

[douxreviews]

Cloak & Dagger - ‘Level Up’ Review

"My whole life has been about harnessing this special energy. Maybe I should have been less driven."

Cloak & Dagger ends its second season with...

Oh God, I don't even have the energy for a clever pre-credits bit. Let's just jump past the break and talk a little.

I hate feeling like this.

Look, I get that this is a television show, and 'the season finale of a TV show I like was disappointing to me' is as close to the definition of a first world problem as you're likely to get. But, dammit, I love these characters and I love this show. And they are capable of so much better than what we got in this one.

It might be more accurate to say that they're capable of doing 'more' than this, as opposed to 'better', because what they actually did here is almost entirely good, with one significant exception. The failings of this episode almost entirely involve what it didn't do, rather than what it does.

And no, I'm not talking about plot points I personally wanted them to develop, or character developments that I wish had been different. I'm talking about something more fundamental to storytelling. Specifically, they didn't take the time to set up most of the plot mechanics that their story was relying on this week.

It's frustrating, because they simultaneously prove here that they're both capable of seeding both themes and plot mechanics into earlier episodes and paying them off later. The payoffs of the dark dimension pennies that they established half a season ago was entirely satisfying. Ditto the mirrors in the evil mall. They were established clearly as a choice between alternate self images ages ago when Tandy first saw them, and here they're the final visual key to Tandy and Ty accepting their identity as the heroes named Cloak and Dagger. That's great stuff. That's beautiful storytelling handled entirely through visual symbols. And the setup and payoff in each case were handled beautifully over the season.

Which makes it all the more frustrating that they didn't bother establishing so many of the plot devices that this episode was entirely riding on. What, exactly were the black clad, vaguely SWAT-team figures that Mayhem was fighting? We have no idea. They're apparently solid, since Mayhem can kick them, and for some reason they have actual functioning grenades, despite the many questions that raises as to how 'real' they are exactly as individuals. Evita gives them a handwave explanation as 'the things that a god would send to stop us', but that's no explanation at all. Particularly when they're mixing visual cues as to 'manifestations of the guilt felt by the person fighting them' (Hello, Fuchs), and 'numberless and faceless swarm brought forth from the dark gods.' No, in the end, what they are is 'something menacing for Evita and Mayhem to fight' while they intercut to Ty and Tandy furthering the actual emotional plot-core that the writers are interested in. That rings hollow as you watch it, because it fundamentally is hollow.

Similarly, we absolutely needed a clear answer about Andre/D'Spayre's domain. Is it an actual, physical place, or is it an abstract place of consciousness? Because they're playing it both ways and it's hurting the story they want to tell. The people that Andre is capturing through his trumpet of despair, and while I say that in a joking way it's a fantastic decision as a storytelling device, all physically disappear. We get that absolutely confirmed in the opening bank robbery montage, which again was exquisitely done. Bank robber and pursuing officer both vanish and appear in Andre's jazz club domain. So, that would indicate that it's a physical space that their bodies have moved to inter-dimensionally. But Andre's body is still laying on the stage in our dimension in an amazingly framed shot with his body over draped crimson fabric which made a thousand DPs feel tingly inside as they watched it. Ty and Tandy seem to have physically entered the nightclub after - ahem - entering Ty. But then they add a layer on top of that in which the people who are, apparently, physically inside Andre (again, ahem...) are also in a despair induced dreamstate inside that setting. Ty and Tandy bounce around through various despair hallucinations - at least they visually coded as hallucinations, but are occasionally treated as physical reality.

You see where I'm going with this. It's all incredibly muddy and could have been cleared up so much by simply establishing the rules right at the outset. 'This is physical space', they could have established, 'this is dream'. That would have solved about half of the problems this episode had. They could even have done it earlier in the season so that we didn't have to waste time with it here. But they didn't, and that created a problem in this one.

There is, of course, always the chance that they thought that they'd established this clearly enough by implications here and there, and it can't be disputed that there are clues scattered here and there throughout the season. But I feel like I'm a reasonably savvy viewer, and I watched every episode of the season multiple times. Sober, even. And I was still unclear about what the rules were at any given time.

Lastly, and I promise I have some positives coming up, this episode suffered from repeatedly kicking the legs out from under its own structure. Act one was the setup of Ty and Tandy getting into the Dark Dimension, whatever its rules are. Act two was them first fighting their own demons; Ty his driving need to live 'perfectly' and Tandy her inability to get past the knowledge of her father's abuse, and then them defending one another from the things that drive them to despair. Act three was them coming out of that and finally defeating Andre.

That's a solid structure to build on, and the message that the key to fighting despair is to have friends that will go on at great length about how awesome you are isn't the worst message for kids to hear. Particularly as the ancillary message is, 'absolutely stand up for your friends and tell them how awesome they are when they're giving in to despair.' The problem is that every time the basic setup changes the show goes out of its way to tell us that the previous segment was a waste of our time.

Ty and Tandy switch fight so that they can stand up for one another, and that's great. Then D'Spayre shows up and basically says, 'that's over, back to fighting your own demons.' and so they do. The status quo of ten minutes earlier is just re-established, sorry for wasting your time. Then, after they stand up to their own demons, D'Spayre says, 'OK, it's time for the real fight', which is essentially telling the audience, 'everything for the last twenty minutes didn't matter and was again a total waste of your time.'

That's a bad thing to tell your audience.

Like the earlier points, it's so entirely fixable. The only change needed to fix the first point would have been for Ty and Tandy to have independently chose of their own accord to go back to fighting their own demons because they were stronger for having heard the support they'd gotten from one another. Then it would have been character growth instead of just a dismissal of the previous five minutes of screen time. Similarly, if D'Spayre had acknowledged their escape from the despair illusion as a victory for them, or even been surprised by it, it would have read as part of their journey instead of just a way to negate the previous twenty minutes.

So. All that established, let's talk about the good stuff from both this and season two as a whole, because there was a lot of good in both.

- The way they used the metaphor of music throughout the season was inspired, and consistently paid off over and over again.

- The bait and switch when they made us think Mayhem would be the villain of the season and then substituted D'Spayre was ingenious and very well handled.

- Ending the season with Ty and Tandy as 'runaways' on a bus felt profoundly right on every level.

- Brooklyn McLinn gave a wonderful performance as both Andre and D'Spayre. I never saw him coming as a villain even after Lia was revealed to be a baddie, and any man who an make playing the trumpet seem viscerally aggressive is a force to be reckoned with.

- The image of Tandy jumping out of Cloak's darkness while hurling light is something I've waited my whole life to see and I was not disappointed. I rewound that scene at least five times.

(Additional) Bits and Pieces:

- Evita got short shrift. They really rushed her breaking things off with Ty in order to facilitate Ty and Tandy heading off to a possibly romantic relationship. We never even got to see the scene where they dealt with the fallout from her marrying a Loa and getting angry with Ty for reasons I'm not entirely clear about.

- That said, Noelle Renee Bercy did a great job here with the one plot point that was just irredeemably stupid. There was absolutely no real justification for her having to keep a candle lit in order to ensure that Ty and Tandy could come back from... the dark dimension which Ty has absolute control over making doorways to and from. She was an egregiously shoehorned ticking clock that was given no reason to be there beyond the script saying 'I have to keep this candle lit so that there's some dramatic tension.'

- That said, she still managed to keep her dignity while performing a role that was essentially 'speak earnest french to a candle for fifteen minutes of so.' That's not nothing.

- Did they just ditch all of the supporting characters? Delgado is apparently living in the church, which has become that apartment over the coffee shop in Smallville as far as its rotating occupancy. Ty may or may not be considered dead by the people of New Orleans, including his own parents - the episode declines to clarify anything on this point. Evita blows out that candle and leaves while carrying a sign that says 'my plot function is done and I'm leaving your story now. Tandy's mom helps her pack to leave, which was a nice detail, but we can only assume that leaves her free to recommit herself to pills and alcohol. Mina continues to specialize in anything the plot requires, including independently owning and operating a catscan machine for the use of friends. And Mayhem is hanging around New Orleans. They didn't say where Ty and Tandy were headed to investigate dead girls on a beach.

- Honestly, I've heard worse ideas than completely losing all the side characters for the next season and coming back to them later. That could be interesting.

- Mayhem apparently found Connors body, wherever Adina had left it, and strung it up in the police firing range, despite those places having constant staff on hand and CC television to capture her doing so.

- Lia has apparently been found guilty of something and been given STS (Sentenced to Serve) which is the official term for the folks picking up garbage by the side of the freeway. That's... not what they usually do in human trafficking cases...

- It's unfortunate how much they had to lean into the same iconography from the Avengers movies regarding people disappearing. I feel like they could have done more to differentiate it through the visuals. The interesting difference is that people didn't all disappear at once in this one.

- I have so many questions about the insect women bank robbers from the cold open.

- Bright light does in fact exacerbate migraines. That was a clever use of Tandy's powers.

- It was nice to confirm that the drug dealers are holding to their agreement with Ty.

- The fade to dark with Tandy alone on the bus is called a 'false out'.

Quotes:

Mayhem: "I’m having a bit of an identity crisis. See, I smooshed my two mouses together and oddly I feel like I know less about who I’m supposed to be if that makes any sense."

Ty: "Last time we talked she made it pretty clear she didn’t want anything to do with me." Tandy: "I think she meant romantically."

Evita: "Today we need an emperor, not the clothes."

Real Ty: "He killed Billy." Evil Ty: "Guess who’s still dead."

D'Spayre: "Technically, I’m everywhere. I thought you went to Catholic school, Mr. Johnson."

Tandy: "Switch Partners?" Ty: "If anyone can kick my ass it’s you."

No official word yet as to whether or not we're getting a Cloak & Dagger season Three. That said, what we got here works equally well as the end of this particular iteration of their story or the end of part one of the same. I sure am hoping it's the latter.

Two out of four threatening trumpet solos for the episode. Three for the season as a whole.

See you back for season three, good Lord willin' and the creek don't rise, as my mother says.

--

Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, volunteer firefighter, and roughly 78% water.

[enniewritesathing]

pink-chevalier replied to your post “God, I just remembered I downloaded an IKEA lot and it had the...”

I am invested in this story because as a young child I got lost in IKEA

This took place about after the boys moved out and they were living on their own in San Myshuno. The apartment they had was... well, it needed a lot of love. And the furniture they had from Noelle’s house and going to thrift shops wasn’t cutting it anymore. Especially the ‘bed’ which was just a mattress. No box spring.

After making a case with his mom while she’s visiting (ie, playing the ‘baby boy’ angle, “do you SEE this, Ma?” ), she’s like “alright fine, use this card and get what you need”. (He doesn’t ask what the limit is, he just knows it’s a lot). 

So, John and Brian take a trip to IKEA that weekend. Brian’s already got a priority list going so, he’s marking stuff off as he goes along, and John’s in awe of just how big this store is. He’s the type to stop every now and then and mess with things like a kid (”Oooh, what’s this?”). He wanders off to the living room section after telling Brian that his feet were a little tired and just needed to rest for a bit.

He ends up falling asleep on the couch. About fifteen minutes later, he wakes up. Brian’s nowhere to be found; there’s a lot of people about. He tries to text/call him, but the reception is bad. He doesn’t know where Brian would even be; he was saying something about dishes...

John wants to go, but it would be best to stay put. Besides, he has the car keys so in the very least, Brian would be looking for him and he’s great at finding things. Still, he’s antsy. He finds a map and tries to make sense of it, and goes ‘ah fuck it, I’m just gonna wander some more, he can’t be that hard to find’.

Well.

It’s pretty crowded. He’s realizing that he’s lost in IKEA. But, like before, he has the car keys. And Brian can’t have ALL the fun picking stuff all willy nilly without his input either. 

So, he starts asking around random people instead of going to the customer service kiosk like a normal person would. That went as well as you’d thought it go; he’d ask (’hi~, i’m lost and I can’t find my bf, he looks like [describes]’, have you seen him?’) and the person thinks he’s doing a flirt. Then he gets hungry and goes down to the cafeteria and gets something and tries to wait there too... nothing.

John is considering just shouting for Brian. He can do it. Damn causing a scene.

But he doesn’t because this place is nice and he has a feeling that they’re gonna make future trips here. 

So, he finds his way back to the living room section and plops back down on the couch. End up modeling?? He’s asked about the comfort level and all of that and he answers -- and Brian comes around looking annoyed. His hands are on his hips, tapping his foot. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you!”

John beams. “Testing out this couch. It’s pretty comfy!” He pats the empty seat next to him and Brian begrudingly does and his expression changes immediately. “Right? Let’s get this couch. Maybe get the chaise attachment too?” He pops his eyebrows.

Brian looks at the price and makes a face. “Your mom will kill you if you spend that much.”

“What? No, she won’t.” Brian shows him the price. “Okay, maybe she will. Let’s not get the chaise.”

So, anytime they go to IKEA, they try to wear something that matches. Like one of those couple shirts...

[aurimeanswind]

Sunday Chats—Furious Edition (4-9-17)

Here I am, in a post Fast 5, Fast and Furious 6, and Furious 7 world. I guess let’s talk about it.

Relaxing Sunday & Your Name

To kick things off, today was the first Sunday I officially had off from work since Christmas. I had missed a couple here and there, but it was either because I was sick or because of PAX. So this was the real deal. I mean, I should take some weekends off every now and again, but I never do. I almost always work Saturday and Sunday, and it is pretty killer. Sunday is my favorite day of the week, thus me sharing it with all you lovely readers.

So I kicked off my Sunday getting up early and going to a nice matinee. I had heard good things about Your Name, an anime ass anime movie, and I’m still hungering for romance (as always) so I made the time to go see it.

I really enjoyed it. Above all else, the film is astoundingly gorgeous. Some of the best drawn settings I think I have ever seen in a Japanese animation. The landscapes especially legitimately blew my away. It’s a love story between two young folks, a boy and girl, who keep switching bodies when they go to sleep. The premise is really cool, and they make it cute and wonderful in all the right places, and there were twists, which in general I didn’t expect. But there were aspects of it that were frustratingly long to come to fruition. For me, this tactic usually works very well, but it was just the pacing and the way the two characters were introduced that was very confusing or just not to my liking. In the end, I just needed those romantic feels, and I feel like I never fully got that payoff. The way it goes is something that I’ve seen a great deal in anime, and has worked for me in others (see: Waiting in the Summer) but I just don’t think there was enough of that relationship.

I still really liked it, and feel it was a well told story. It was Ghibli-eqsue, but more grounded, so worth a look

Fast and Furious I guess...

Okay I’ll talk about Fast and Furious.

I have been really hesitant to get into these because it’s y’know... cars. I don’t like cars. I like speed and action that involves cars, but the focus on cars usually gets away from me. And the focus around them was definitely my least favorite part about the three F&F movies I watched. I thought Fast 5 was by far the weakest, and I’m not sure why it’s regarded as the best. The intro was too long, and the big set piece scene of dragging the safe around, which was awesome, just went on for waaaaaay too long.

It was still a ton of fun though. Way more love for Gal Gadot because of her role in Fast 5 and 6. She was super cool, and one of my favorite of the team members. The assembling the team, the heist prep, the running from Rock-Cop, all of that worked for me, but I just felt there was more of it and it was better in F&F6.

I mean, Fast and Furious 6, as I was explaining to a friend earlier, is top-tier because of this incredible scene alone:

But 6 really just hit the ground running and never stopped. The London chase scene, the fucking tank, it was all so good.

Oh and this:

And Furious 7 was really great too. It was maybe too much for me because I was so fucking tired watching it I was falling asleep, but these movies are incredibly exhausting, to be fair. 

I appreciated multiple set pieces in Furious 7, instead of hanging on just one. Also to be fair: 6 had a bunch of great set pieces, but there were like six in Furious 7. It was fucking nuts.

I enjoyed them a ton, Fast and Furious 6 is like, far and away the best one to me, and maybe I’ll go see Fate of the 8. I don’t know. 

BUT THERE. I WATCHED THREE OF THEM. I SAW THE FIRST ONE A LONG TIME AGO. LEAVE ME ALONE JOEY NOELLE.

What’s on Tap

Since it’s just Persona 5 still, I’ll talk a bit more about it. I am about 55-60 hours in now, and I feel like maybe I’m halfway through? Maybe more.

LOVING IT. Literally everything about it is incredible and feels almost hand-made for me. It’s difficult for me to not be hyperbolic about it when I start thinking about it, but it’s also difficult for me to nail down what’s really all that great about it when I’m not in it and playing it. Like, a couple days removed form the last time I played it, I’m sitting here thinking, “well, is it really that good?” and that’s because I need to hold this to the highest of judgement. I can’t just say it’s better than Persona 4 Golden and mark it as my new #1 and be done, I need to be thorough here. As soon as I am a couple hours into my next play session, I’ll be head over heels again. I dream about it. I think about it always. I couldn’t even tell you why right now because it’s all hazy. The game is just that good.

We talked about it a ton of the podcast last night, and I think we had a really great discussion. All the new mechanics, all of the enhancements, they show a team they just really gets their fans, their fanbase, and also understand their own shortcomings. They poured their heart and soul into this game, and did it both for themselves, but also for a fanbase they clearly care a great deal about. I don’t think I’ve seen a developer outside of Naughty Dog so in tune with what their fan base wants even better than I, as a massive fan of theirs, could have imagined.

Again, I’m sure its hyperbolic, but the game makes me emotional, gives me chills and misty eyes in all the right places, and as I’m still very much in it, it’s hard for me to write coherently about it. I don’t even know how I feel about it right now, especially considering I’ve hit such massive moments of intrigue just where I last left off. I can’t wait to see more.

Oh and we’re giving away a copy of Persona 5 on Irrational Passions Podcast! If you are in the UNITED STATES ONLY you can tweet @IrrationalPod on Twitter with the #PersonaQ with one thing you think looks cool about Persona 5 and enter a chance to win a steel book copy of the game!

Questions:

I feel like I conveyed my feelings on the series pretty well, but here are some other highlights:

When the Rock drops the Eff-Bomb almost right after he first appears in Fast 5 is great.

When the Rock throws that guy around the interrogation room.

When Vin Diesel just LIFTS A CAR AND NO ONE QUESTIONS IT?!?!

The Paul Walker tribute was quite good.

The idea of Vin Diesel consistently having superhuman abilities is just generally really funny to me.

All the set pieces. The London chase may have been my favorite.

The movies are good, sometimes great, not amazing. But I’m glad I watched them.

There are so many. Morganna in your bag is a great call out. Watching the character’s faces change in scenes is actually really great. Ryuji’s reactions are great, and so are another character that you see later, that I’ll refrain from going into. All the touches and attention to detail in the Metaverse.

That one they drove from one building, to another building, TO ANOTHER FUCKING BUILDING.

I am 55-ish hours in. I don’t really like comparing the characters to other Persona characters. I fell in the same trap from 3 to 4. And I know these games are going to get a lot of comparisons, but honestly they are so different. It’s not as fair to the characters, specifically, to keep going back and forth comparing them. I think the way they develop those characters merits comparison, but maybe not the people themselves.

As for the best girl stuff... Listen, I honestly really fucking hated where all of the “best girl” “my waifu” bullshit with Persona 4 went. Not just because I think I got the brunt of it being a huge fan of Rise, but there is this weird ownership/dismissiveness to it. Like, I totally get, respect, and love the reasons people loved Chie, or Yukiko. I think by saying someone is best, even in a joking manner, because it all starts jokingly, can be a bit dismissive to other folks, and that was the stuff I really hated about the Persona 4 discussions I got dragged into. When people shit on Rise, who I legitimately  love, again, my favorite video game character of all time, it honest to god hurts and offends me. Sure I’m probably being too sensitive, but Persona should be personal, it should feel incredibly close to your heart, that’s what that series is asking of the player and what its going for, so I want to really set a precedent for that going forward. Lead by example or whatever, and not make this some bullshit arbitrary competition.

I know that was way more agro a response than you were probably expecting Jacob, and sorry to get all intense there. Currently I have not chosen a love interest in my own personal story, and still have one female companion left to join the party (going off boxart alone, and what I’ve seen in the story) so I am waiting to get to know her. I’ll say this: my feelings are confused and all over the place. Figuring out where I land will be very hard.

Well, and I tweeted about it this week, I did apply for a recent editor position. This is probably my 6th or so application. In all fairness, this and my last one were probably my strongest, with the ones before being far more disorganized, but yeah. I tweeted saying “please stop asking me about it” in a (mostly) joking way, but I think it came across as a little rude. I obviously incredibly super appreciate all the support and notifications that came through from folks saying that the job listing was up and I should apply. I got a text almost the moment it went up from a friend letting me know I should apply. I’m humbled so many folks believe I’m qualified.

I just also know the reality that choosing from local San Francisco people as well as their own freelance pool will absolutely come first. I’m in neither of those camps, so it’s pretty much already shipped. And I do know these things, I’ve heard stories, I’ve poured my heart and soul into these applications before, and I’ve never once even gotten a call or email. I’m not trying to be pessimistic or dismissive, just want to set the proper expectation.

Thank you all so much for your support. I’m too lucky to have you all cheering me on.

Haha Persona games like really big long supernatural mystery novels! They massive page turners, which leans right into the mechanic of it being a day-by-day progression!

I’ll say this Logan, and you’re gonna love it when you get to it, but the characters are very smart. They sit down and have big discussions and conversations asking each other the same questions you ask yourself while playing, and even come to realizations you yourself may not have gotten too. Especially where I am at in the story, there is a kind of secondary mystery going on that is perplexing both me and my gang of misfits, and the conversations surrounding that mystery or thorough, explored, and just super well done.

Fuck. This game is so good.

EPCOT is super cool! For me, I’ve never really been there as an adult, and it only gets better then. I mean honestly, just walking around the World Showcase is super cool. There is food from a bunch of different places, beer and alcohol from there as well (if you’re into that Harold). I really liked Mission Space, but it’s pretty intense, I don’t know if you’d like it. They have a Green version that’s not super motion-y so you may have fun with that.

I really loved the Ellen/Bill Nye ride there, but apparently that’s gone now. Otherwise, just enjoy the setting, enjoy the food! It’s probably the most fun park to just look at, in my opinion. Oh, and the spaceship Earth ride is a classic!

I did not, but it was definitely immensely sad. It gave me a greater appreciation for Paul Walker and his work. They were running a promo on the Xbox Video Store, where I rented all the movies from, where a portion of the proceeds went to the charity foundation that Paul Walker helped start, so that’s good.

I don’t know... Like, probably the characters that just feel like big copies of the other universe’s characters. Like Firestorm feels like a cheap human torch. I know he isn’t and Firestorm probably came first or whatever, but one character just never felt as interesting to me.

I don’t think there is a standout disaster comic book character for me though.

How about all the characters from The Walking Dead, even though I’ve never read the comic and just really hate the show now.

Like a lot.

When I want to. When it’s time.

I had to look this up because I had no idea what it was. Seems silly and dumb. Roger Pokorny tweeted this out at some point this past week, and I thought it was fucking hilarious:

I believe it’s edited, but it’s still so fucking funny.

The Rock is so great. I realized this week that I don’t think I had ever actually watched a movie with him in it. Like, Moana does not have him physically in it, even though he is so good in it. But yeah, he is really the thing that pushed me over the edge to watch them. And Joey Noelle’s borderline harassment. 

And the safe dragging was great, just went on for too long.

Yeesh. I don’t know. I’m probably living my biggest regret, and it’s probably in regards to finding love.

But really, I don’t know. Taking as long as I did to finish school? Getting sick in high school? I have a lot. Many my closest friends would say were “out of my control” but... That lingering responsibility really messed me up.

This is a great questions! Beignets is the answer. There was this local restaurant near me that only served beignets during their Sunday brunch, and they were so fucking good. It was the only thing that could get me to tear my ass out of bed on the weekend back when I was in grade school.

Then, suddenly, THEY STOPPED SERVING THEM. And literally no good reason was given. I know I could just go to New Orleans and get beignets any day of the week, but i don’t have that power or capability!

Ahg. Still makes me so mad to this day.

Shoutouts

Shout out to P Studio, for taking my heart.

Again.

That’s all I got. Sorry for the shitty shoutout this week, but I am tired from all my furiousness. 

I’m gonna go crash now. Love you all. Love your support.

keep it real.

[demitgibbs]

Anna Kendrick Talks Fluid Sexuality, Kissing Blake Lively

The pitch is perfectly crazy in Anna Kendrick’s walk on the dark side of filmmaker Paul Feig’s warped sense of humor, A Simple Favor. It’s martini-sipper mom versus martini-swigger mom. Target mom versus Met Gala mom. Aspirational versus extra.

It’s regular mom-meets-mom business, a modern mom-com – until Emily (Blake Lively) goes missing. Emily’s sudden disappearance prompts Stephanie (Kendrick) to mount an investigation by employing her keen Nancy Drew smarts and posting distressed clips of herself on her dorky craft vlog. (Friendship-bracelet tutorials are just gonna to have wait.)

A bit camp? Yep. A bit queer? Obviously. And naturally so, as Kendrick’s 15-year career is steeped in queerness: at age 17, she cut her acting teeth on Camp, the 2003 teen musical-comedy directed by out filmmaker Todd Graff; as Beca, she brought covert aca-gayness to the three-part Pitch Perfect franchise; and in 2014, the 33-year-old Oscar-nominated actress slipped into Cinderella’s glass slippers for Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods. And her long, impulsive kiss – “just another Tuesday,” Emily notes – with Lively in A Simple Favor, well, it’s not exactly straight, she says.

Here, the longtime ally talks about attempting to allow the lesbian love to bloom between queer-coded Pitch Perfect leads Beca and Chloe (Brittany Snow), what irks her about self-congratulatory reactions to celebs coming out and, when it comes to her own sexuality, being open like Emily.

A car sing-along, a little camp, some martinis and a mom makeout sesh: Anna, you sure know what the gay community wants at this point in your career, don’t you?

(Laughs) Oh my gosh! I wasn’t thinking of it in that way, but yeah, it is kind of camp. It takes itself a little seriously, but we’re always winking or having fun. It’s bright and colorful, and there’s an unabashed campiness to it – even though the stakes are very real in places.

You didn’t recognize a queer sensibility going in?

To be honest, when I was going in, there was just so much to play with. I remember having one of those conversations with Blake where we both felt like, “Are we high right now? Are we having a stoner conversation?” Because we were talking about how in a traditional comedy there’s a slider that you’re on from how subtle to how broad, and with this it felt like you weren’t just on this linear slider – you were in three dimensions, and you could go to all these places.

It was so much fun as actors to have that, and I know that sounds really stoner-y and existential and dumb. But the world Paul created had so much possibility, and so I wasn’t really thinking about one group. I was barely getting my brain around what the movie was in the first place! But I think Stephanie is very much an underdog and she’s finding her place in the world. I feel like that’s something that queer people can relate to at one point in their lives or another.

WATCH:

What was it like coming to set for the first time and seeing the giant painting of Blake-as-Emily’s vagina front and center in Emily’s front room?

OK, this is actually really interesting: So that painting – fun fact – was never once on set. That is all post effects. Sometimes it was green screen, and sometimes it was this other painting that was very nice but very Tumblr art. It was actually Blake’s idea to have it be a little bit more, um, obscene. Certainly it’s art, but a little more shocking for Stephanie to see. Not so polished, not so pretty, not so coy. I thought that was really brilliant.

Regarding Pitch Perfect: Are we ever gonna get the Beca and Chloe love story that they so deserve?

I know. I definitely wanted to have an ending that was a Bechloe ending, and we did shoot one version where Brittany and I tricked everybody into just shooting one that was just the two of us getting together. We knew it was a long shot. It meant so much to us that there was this following around their latent relationship and, yeah, I thought it would’ve been really cool if it would have ended up coming to fruition in the end. If we ever do a four, I will fight tooth and nail for it, but I’m not sure it’s gonna happen.

Because the studio doesn’t want to go there with their sexuality?

It wasn’t like Universal was like, “There can be no lesbians in Pitch Perfect!” Because obviously Cynthia Rose is an openly gay character. But I think they were just confused by it because they weren’t listening to all the online chatter about it, whereas I see it every day, and I’m like, “Are you kidding? This is what they want!”

Best lesbian Bechloe fanfiction you’ve read?

OK, I’ve actually only tried to ever read one. It was so sweet and puppy-lovey that I was like, “Aww, I wanted to read some sauciness!” I thought I was gonna get scandalized! Instead, I was like, “Aww! This is, like, so sweet! This reminds me of The Baby-Sitters Club books.” But I haven’t actually followed up on it.

You once met a guy at a Gelson’s market who told you he does your Camp character, Fritzi, in drag. First of all, how often do you run into drag queens at grocery stores who tell you that you’re their inspiration?

(Laughs) Not often enough! That was one of my favorite moments of being recognized, ever. And I’m sorry, what’s the second part of your question? I got too excited.

Which other characters of yours might make good drag material?

Stephanie has a real Sandy-in-Grease vibe, where she doesn’t become the bad girl, exactly, but she loosens up and shakes it off a little bit. But I do always still like Rizzo in Grease, who is more fun than Sandy, so I’m not sure that Stephanie is necessarily the one. She’d have to really just be letting her hair down.

You’ve said you downplayed Fritzi’s sexuality when you filmed Camp.

The thing that made me uncomfortable about Fritzi was I was 16, but it wasn’t so much that she was gay – it was that unrequited gay love situation. I think if she’d been crushing it and getting girls, I would’ve been like, “Awesome, awesome, awesome!” It was just, at 16 you don’t want to be playing the girl that nobody likes, which I totally recognize as I get older is such a silly insecurity issue. But at the time I was definitely like, “Can’t somebody just have a crush on me in a movie – god!”

Would you have approached Fritzi differently in retrospect?

The truth is, I think I would have just enjoyed myself. Todd Graff is amazing, and I’m so lucky to have had him as my first film director. And he really got me to do everything that I think that I would’ve done as a more experienced actor, regardless, but I guess I regret that I didn’t enjoy myself more.

You recently won the Choice Twit award at this year’s Teen Choice Awards, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this was your crowning tweet: “Lot of people seem really proud of themselves for announcing they ‘already knew’ Barry Manilow was gay. Yeah……ur the true heroes today guys.”

When a public figure comes out, taking the attitude of like, “Duh, we knew,” is the weirdest thing to me. Even when celebrities announce that they’re pregnant, people aren’t like, “Duh, we could tell three months ago.” They’re like, “Aww, she’s finally ready to talk about the fact that she’s pregnant! That’s amazing!”

And you would think that your sexuality would just be really supported (because) they feel comfortable talking about it now. It’s a really weird topic to feel a sense of superiority that you figured it out first.

So much of what you do is just a bit gay. Was that the case for your role as Santa Claus’s daughter in the forthcoming Noelle?

Again, I would say Noelle has a touch of camp, so hopefully that will be enjoyable. It’s been so long and I haven’t even seen a cut of it, so I’m like, “What did we make?” Oh, but they did make a point to have same-sex couples wherever we went, whether we were at the North Pole or outside the North Pole.

Getting back to A Simple Favor: Where do you think Stephanie and Emily fall on the Kinsey Scale?

That’s a good question. I think Emily is a surprise for Stephanie, and she is completely in love with her in a way that she can’t totally understand. I do think that Stephanie probably would define herself as straight, except that there is this woman and she really is kind of in love with her and there is a part of her that is attracted to her.

That scene: I remember Blake and I both feeling like neither of us wanted to be the aggressor in the scene. Blake was worried that she would come off as taking advantage of me in that scene because I’m in a very vulnerable place, and I was worried that I would come off like I wanted so much more, and that Blake is just kind of playing and Emily is very comfortable with the fluid aspects of her sexuality, whereas Stephanie has more of an emotional component to it. So, I was worried it would be, like, really sad. We definitely struggled to find that perfect balance of, there’s just this moment and they both get caught up in it and it’s a little uncomfortable. Yeah, it was a fun day.

You’ve been open about your girl crushes over the years. Have you ever had a girl crush that was or could have been romantic?

Let me think about that. I definitely – there’s somebody I’m still friends with, and when we met we kissed. This was after high school, and it was the first time I had kissed a girl where it wasn’t just like, we’re at a party and boys are watching! That horrible performance silliness. But I think I haven’t had that emotional love for a lady, which isn’t saying it could never happen to me, but I think I’m more of an Emily than a Stephanie.

And your lip-lock with your longtime girl crush Blake Lively in this movie – thoughts?

(Laughs) I mean, all I’m ever thinking about in (kissing) scenes is, who has gum? Who has a mint? And I think Blake is probably the same because I’ve never experienced a guy, like, searching for a mint and searching for gum. So, we were the mintiest, freshest two people to have ever kissed in the history of America.

Congratulations!

Thank you. Call Guinness.

from Hotspots! Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/09/06/anna-kendrick-talks-fluid-sexuality-kissing-blake-lively/ from Hot Spots Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.tumblr.com/post/177802820955

[cynthiajayusa]

Anna Kendrick Talks Fluid Sexuality, Kissing Blake Lively

The pitch is perfectly crazy in Anna Kendrick’s walk on the dark side of filmmaker Paul Feig’s warped sense of humor, A Simple Favor. It’s martini-sipper mom versus martini-swigger mom. Target mom versus Met Gala mom. Aspirational versus extra.

It’s regular mom-meets-mom business, a modern mom-com – until Emily (Blake Lively) goes missing. Emily’s sudden disappearance prompts Stephanie (Kendrick) to mount an investigation by employing her keen Nancy Drew smarts and posting distressed clips of herself on her dorky craft vlog. (Friendship-bracelet tutorials are just gonna to have wait.)

A bit camp? Yep. A bit queer? Obviously. And naturally so, as Kendrick’s 15-year career is steeped in queerness: at age 17, she cut her acting teeth on Camp, the 2003 teen musical-comedy directed by out filmmaker Todd Graff; as Beca, she brought covert aca-gayness to the three-part Pitch Perfect franchise; and in 2014, the 33-year-old Oscar-nominated actress slipped into Cinderella’s glass slippers for Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods. And her long, impulsive kiss – “just another Tuesday,” Emily notes – with Lively in A Simple Favor, well, it’s not exactly straight, she says.

Here, the longtime ally talks about attempting to allow the lesbian love to bloom between queer-coded Pitch Perfect leads Beca and Chloe (Brittany Snow), what irks her about self-congratulatory reactions to celebs coming out and, when it comes to her own sexuality, being open like Emily.

A car sing-along, a little camp, some martinis and a mom makeout sesh: Anna, you sure know what the gay community wants at this point in your career, don’t you? 

(Laughs) Oh my gosh! I wasn’t thinking of it in that way, but yeah, it is kind of camp. It takes itself a little seriously, but we’re always winking or having fun. It’s bright and colorful, and there’s an unabashed campiness to it – even though the stakes are very real in places.

You didn’t recognize a queer sensibility going in? 

To be honest, when I was going in, there was just so much to play with. I remember having one of those conversations with Blake where we both felt like, “Are we high right now? Are we having a stoner conversation?” Because we were talking about how in a traditional comedy there’s a slider that you’re on from how subtle to how broad, and with this it felt like you weren’t just on this linear slider – you were in three dimensions, and you could go to all these places.

It was so much fun as actors to have that, and I know that sounds really stoner-y and existential and dumb. But the world Paul created had so much possibility, and so I wasn’t really thinking about one group. I was barely getting my brain around what the movie was in the first place! But I think Stephanie is very much an underdog and she’s finding her place in the world. I feel like that’s something that queer people can relate to at one point in their lives or another.

WATCH:

What was it like coming to set for the first time and seeing the giant painting of Blake-as-Emily’s vagina front and center in Emily’s front room? 

OK, this is actually really interesting: So that painting – fun fact – was never once on set. That is all post effects. Sometimes it was green screen, and sometimes it was this other painting that was very nice but very Tumblr art. It was actually Blake’s idea to have it be a little bit more, um, obscene. Certainly it’s art, but a little more shocking for Stephanie to see. Not so polished, not so pretty, not so coy. I thought that was really brilliant.

Regarding Pitch Perfect: Are we ever gonna get the Beca and Chloe love story that they so deserve? 

I know. I definitely wanted to have an ending that was a Bechloe ending, and we did shoot one version where Brittany and I tricked everybody into just shooting one that was just the two of us getting together. We knew it was a long shot. It meant so much to us that there was this following around their latent relationship and, yeah, I thought it would’ve been really cool if it would have ended up coming to fruition in the end. If we ever do a four, I will fight tooth and nail for it, but I’m not sure it’s gonna happen.

Because the studio doesn’t want to go there with their sexuality? 

It wasn’t like Universal was like, “There can be no lesbians in Pitch Perfect!” Because obviously Cynthia Rose is an openly gay character. But I think they were just confused by it because they weren’t listening to all the online chatter about it, whereas I see it every day, and I’m like, “Are you kidding? This is what they want!”

Best lesbian Bechloe fanfiction you’ve read? 

OK, I’ve actually only tried to ever read one. It was so sweet and puppy-lovey that I was like, “Aww, I wanted to read some sauciness!” I thought I was gonna get scandalized! Instead, I was like, “Aww! This is, like, so sweet! This reminds me of The Baby-Sitters Club books.” But I haven’t actually followed up on it.

You once met a guy at a Gelson’s market who told you he does your Camp character, Fritzi, in drag. First of all, how often do you run into drag queens at grocery stores who tell you that you’re their inspiration?

(Laughs) Not often enough! That was one of my favorite moments of being recognized, ever. And I’m sorry, what’s the second part of your question? I got too excited.

Which other characters of yours might make good drag material? 

Stephanie has a real Sandy-in-Grease vibe, where she doesn’t become the bad girl, exactly, but she loosens up and shakes it off a little bit. But I do always still like Rizzo in Grease, who is more fun than Sandy, so I’m not sure that Stephanie is necessarily the one. She’d have to really just be letting her hair down.

You’ve said you downplayed Fritzi’s sexuality when you filmed Camp. 

The thing that made me uncomfortable about Fritzi was I was 16, but it wasn’t so much that she was gay – it was that unrequited gay love situation. I think if she’d been crushing it and getting girls, I would’ve been like, “Awesome, awesome, awesome!” It was just, at 16 you don’t want to be playing the girl that nobody likes, which I totally recognize as I get older is such a silly insecurity issue. But at the time I was definitely like, “Can’t somebody just have a crush on me in a movie – god!”

Would you have approached Fritzi differently in retrospect? 

The truth is, I think I would have just enjoyed myself. Todd Graff is amazing, and I’m so lucky to have had him as my first film director. And he really got me to do everything that I think that I would’ve done as a more experienced actor, regardless, but I guess I regret that I didn’t enjoy myself more.

You recently won the Choice Twit award at this year’s Teen Choice Awards, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this was your crowning tweet: “Lot of people seem really proud of themselves for announcing they ‘already knew’ Barry Manilow was gay. Yeah……ur the true heroes today guys.” 

When a public figure comes out, taking the attitude of like, “Duh, we knew,” is the weirdest thing to me. Even when celebrities announce that they’re pregnant, people aren’t like, “Duh, we could tell three months ago.” They’re like, “Aww, she’s finally ready to talk about the fact that she’s pregnant! That’s amazing!”

And you would think that your sexuality would just be really supported (because) they feel comfortable talking about it now. It’s a really weird topic to feel a sense of superiority that you figured it out first.

So much of what you do is just a bit gay. Was that the case for your role as Santa Claus’s daughter in the forthcoming Noelle? 

Again, I would say Noelle has a touch of camp, so hopefully that will be enjoyable. It’s been so long and I haven’t even seen a cut of it, so I’m like, “What did we make?” Oh, but they did make a point to have same-sex couples wherever we went, whether we were at the North Pole or outside the North Pole.

Getting back to A Simple Favor: Where do you think Stephanie and Emily fall on the Kinsey Scale? 

That’s a good question. I think Emily is a surprise for Stephanie, and she is completely in love with her in a way that she can’t totally understand. I do think that Stephanie probably would define herself as straight, except that there is this woman and she really is kind of in love with her and there is a part of her that is attracted to her.

That scene: I remember Blake and I both feeling like neither of us wanted to be the aggressor in the scene. Blake was worried that she would come off as taking advantage of me in that scene because I’m in a very vulnerable place, and I was worried that I would come off like I wanted so much more, and that Blake is just kind of playing and Emily is very comfortable with the fluid aspects of her sexuality, whereas Stephanie has more of an emotional component to it. So, I was worried it would be, like, really sad. We definitely struggled to find that perfect balance of, there’s just this moment and they both get caught up in it and it’s a little uncomfortable. Yeah, it was a fun day.

You’ve been open about your girl crushes over the years. Have you ever had a girl crush that was or could have been romantic? 

Let me think about that. I definitely – there’s somebody I’m still friends with, and when we met we kissed. This was after high school, and it was the first time I had kissed a girl where it wasn’t just like, we’re at a party and boys are watching! That horrible performance silliness. But I think I haven’t had that emotional love for a lady, which isn’t saying it could never happen to me, but I think I’m more of an Emily than a Stephanie.

And your lip-lock with your longtime girl crush Blake Lively in this movie – thoughts? 

(Laughs) I mean, all I’m ever thinking about in (kissing) scenes is, who has gum? Who has a mint? And I think Blake is probably the same because I’ve never experienced a guy, like, searching for a mint and searching for gum. So, we were the mintiest, freshest two people to have ever kissed in the history of America.

Congratulations! 

Thank you. Call Guinness.

source https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/09/06/anna-kendrick-talks-fluid-sexuality-kissing-blake-lively/ from Hot Spots Magazine https://hotspotsmagazin.blogspot.com/2018/09/anna-kendrick-talks-fluid-sexuality.html