#he and daniel have a really strong chemistry when they speak to each other

[rainymoodlet]

Kiss Me in Komorebi+ 🌸

[Episode Five] One Last Push!

Daniel's still making the rounds! I decided to give these two a better-lookin' setting for their One-on-One: but their in-game conversation still stands! Abhi was feeling a little Tense after their Jealousy moodlet, but once they started talking to Daniel it seemed like allll of that melted away! These two can talk: I love watching them spawn new subjects, because they never seem to run out of conversation! Dan might not realize how romantic what he's said sounds here, but I think Abhi sure appreciated the imagery of the two them running away to the Falls of Selvadorada together~ 😉

@hallasimss

[ Part 18/??]  🌹

[drawing-way-outside-the-lines]

➖ Mature content, 18+ ➖ check the trigger tags each time ➖      

Chapter 3 - Sparks. Episode 2.

Sparkle: It was after dark, and I was starting to get pretty drunk. We had all danced, eaten dinner, danced some more, and snow cones had been eaten plenty. Daniel and Gizmo had right before dark decided to skinny dip… well, that means Daniel had decided the naked part… Gizmo had kept his swim pants on… luckily. And soon after Clover had joined them. Naked too. Don't get me wrong… Gizmo has a nice body… skinny, but nice… but… I kinda see him as a brother… blood related family and all. I just don't wanna see him naked! Like ever! Evan and Andy had kept mostly to themselves, I had a few times snuck up on them, snatching a couple of ultra cute pics of them, as they were just being Andy and Evan, lost in each other. But now as the darkness had fallen, and Andy had already had a fair share of alcohol, he started joining the party more. And even Evan seemed to come more out from his hiding corner. finding his way to the alcohol and snow cones as well. The mood over all was growing, and after eating the delicious birthday cake Congo had single handedly made for me, we were all ready for more dancing, more alcohol, more fun! Pretty soon I found Daniel in his usual high mood, flirting with everything baring a pulse. And he soon enough made his way to me as well, after failing landing both Clover and Gizmo.

Daniel: He snuck up on me from behind, grabbing my waist tight and pressed a half boner against my butt, kissing the side of my neck a few times

Sparkle: DAN! I squeaked loudly like a high pitched mouse

Daniel: Chuckled deeply Mmm.. I miss you…

Sparkle: I blushed bright in my whole face as I desperately wiggled myself free of his grip Daniel! I frowned at him and spoke in a lowered slightly annoyed voice

Daniel: He looked around a bit confused, then frowned softly oh yeah…

Sparkle: Yeah… *I chuckled softly and shook my head. But we can dance *I nodded at the dancefloor and smiled softly*

Daniel: He grabbed my hand without hesitating and dragged me to the dancefloor, smiling cheekily as the upbeat music suddenly changed to a slow dance. So now the music is wrong too?

Sparkle: *I looked around a bit, but as no one seemed to pay too much attention to anything any longer, I didn't protest as he once again placed his hands on my waist line and started dancing to the slow tune. I gave in, and wrapped my arms around his neck, smiling softly as I started moving too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGlhIIuifSw&list=PLixuBkBFIAJnx83gIorsEhfnKAjWxrFjo&index=110 I have to admit, for a while I forgot all about everyone else around us. Daniels arms were strong, muscular. The color changing disco lights above us made the light sweaty chest of his glint and glitter in all the colors of the rainbow. It sometimes dawns on me, that Daniel is actually really beautiful. If you put him in the right light so to speak. And here I'm not talking about disco lights. If you look at him with the right eyes, the right mind. He is obviously good looking. He has a nice face, a fucking great body… not to mention a fucking big dick, probably even bigger than Sirius, which was so far my biggest. Not that I have a lot to compare with, as I have only been with A, Sirius, Andy and Daniel. But, what I'm trying to say is… under his at times random and all over the place behavior… he's a great guy. Actually quite a catch. So why am I not feeling anything. Don't get me wrong, its not like I have no feelings at all. I mean, I care about him, a lot… I love him deeply, for the person he is. But, why am not falling for him? We have obvious chemistry, and we fuck like bunnies for weeks now. I love having him around my house, and miss him when I wake up alone. But there is no butterflies… I'm just not falling? Am I dead inside? Come to think of it, I haven't had a single crush since Sirius… There was Danny, who kept asking me out. I kept refusing. Although he was a very sweet, very handsome guy, and definitely my type. And when I finally gave in and went on a date with him. Nothing. Just nothing? I looked at Daniel with a soft confused smile.

Daniel: He smiled softly and lowered his head to my ear and spoke in a lowered voice You okay birthday girl?

Sparkle: I chuckled softly and nodded I'm perfect… thank you…

Gizmo: Suddenly came dancing in from the side, nodding at me with a small smile Hey bro!… uh… may I take over here?

Sparkle: I chuckled softly sure…. you wanna dance with me or Dan?

Gizmo: Kept dancing and chuckled softly That's up to you guys… I just have to break this up… the walls are starting to grow eyes… he casually nodded his head in the direction of Andy further down in the garden, his eyes planted stiff on me and Daniel as he was sipping a beer

Sparkle: I cleared my throat and quickly turned towards Gizmo, sighing relieved as the music once again turned more upbeat, and my self dedicated birthday song came on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjVNlG5cZyQ Quickly the rest of the gang gathered on the dance floor. Daniel Dancing with Clover, Andy dancing with Congo. Evan was hopefully somewhere where he could relax a bit. Most likely in his hiding corner again I hoped. We danced for what felt like hours, and when we weren't dancing, we were either drinking, eating snow cones or goofing around, taking funny pictures. It wasn't until late night I noticed Andy had started dancing more and more on his own. And here I am talking about the fact that Andy is a very skilled dancer. He dances exactly like in the movie step up. You know, the one with Channing Tatum. I bit my lips by the thought. Andy had often been compared with Channing. Same flawless face, similar facial features… same body type… same humor… same personality, only Andy is a chaotic version of Chan…. and same cheeky ass grin and laughter. I was dancing with Clover, observing Andy, so when a song from Step Up happened to start on the stereo, I saw it as a sign and teamed up with Andy, trying my best to copy the moves he showed me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqbYj01Grag He laughed warmly every time I made a mistake, and within the first minute of the song, we had the most fun we had had together in years! I had really missed his company. Just being near him and his energy. Andy is that kind of person, when he is really happy and free, he lights up the whole room. Making everyone smile. I always loved him deeply. And he would always be 'the one who got away'. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for him. Really, I am. He is doing so much better in life after he got Congo. The two of them, the love they share, the mating bond, how can that not be the best thing ever to happen for him? And Evan only adds to it in a very positive way. The three of them… Ace… the love and respect they all share for each other. I wouldn't wanna ruin that even if I could. So I set him free.

Andy: Suddenly he grabbed my waist, lifted me up, and kissed me!! He fucking kissed me!!! And it was more than just a peck on the lips…. there were no tongue… but I definitely felt a slight suck in his kiss… like he was really tasting my lips. It was a real kiss! But it happened so fast I could barely get to react and kiss back, before my feet once again landed on the floor

Congo: Chuckled softly and handed both Andy and I a glass of champagne Cheers kids!

Andy: Smiled lovingly at his husband and sipped half of his champagne in one go Thanks my love! I got so thirsty from all that dancing!

Congo: Nodded at me Yeah… I saw that… trying to steal Sparkle's mouth water… tsh tsh…

Andy: Chuckled softly Sorry about that…. he leaned forwards and planted a soft kiss on Congo's lips

Congo: He smiled warmly at Andy and stroked one of his cheeks gently It's alright my angel…. you have green light tonight, whatever you wanna do… I just had a conversation with Evan… we both know we have neglected you a bit this past week, so if you feel like doing anything within this garden, just go for it, okay? he smiled bright at me and planted a gentle kiss on my forehead I'm gonna return to Evan and keep him company a bit… you kids have fun.

Sparkle: I blushed brightly and sighed relieved as Gizmo yelled for me to come help him with the keg stand, as beer foam seemed to clog it up. Had Congo just basically told Andy to have sex with me? My stomach was burning, from fear, desire? I can't tell, but I just wanted to escape! So I quickly made my way towards Gizmo

----------Congo's view----------

Congo: I returned to my spot next to Evan on the grass, he sighed softly and smiled apologizing. I shook my head gently, speaking to him in a warm soothing voice Evan, don't start again. Please. I already told you I am more than okay to keep you company, in fact you are kinda my escape goat tonight, and I thank you for that. There is only so much dance music I can take before I feel my brain is melting… and over here, the music is not so loud. I chuckled warmly and laid down next to him on my back, looking up at the stars

Evan: He sighed softly I shouldn't have come here tonight. I mean… my mood… I just don't wanna ruin Sparkle's birthday.

Congo: Trust me I turned my head and smiled softly at him, even if he didn't look at me by now, they have more or less forgotten you're even here.

Evan: Sighed softly Maybe that's for the better anyway?

Congo: I frowned deep

Evan: He must have sensed, cause he turned his head fast Sorry… I realize I just sounded like suicidal Andy, that's not how I meant for it to come out. He frowned softly and returned his eyes to the stars I just feel I'm not good enough for him these days. This is the first time we have really been out since we were at the beach. Everything just became sorta weird after that day. He doesn't wanna make love any longer, he just want hardcore fucking. He cries sometimes, in the bathroom. I hear him, I just don't go to him, and I feel I'm letting him down. I'm just so filled up with my own sadness. I just don't know where to put it all. Or how to carry his on top of my own. it's not that I don't want to or don't care. It's that I care too much.

Congo: I observed him for a few seconds, his face looked defeated and sad, I had no idea what to say to make him feel any better. But I knew I had to try something. So I returned my face to the stars, as if they had the answer, and contemplated my words for a while.

----------Evan's point of view------------

Evan: It had been 5 minutes since I last spoke, and Congo still hadn't said a word. Did I hurt him in any way with my words? Had I said something wrong? Just as I started worrying a little too much for my own good… he grabbed my hand. Embracing it with his own big, warm palm. And I have to admit, it felt nice.

Congo: Evan… His voice was warmer and even lower than before, almost whispering you have to first off take care of yourself, and your needs. If you don't do that, you can't take care of Andy either. He understands that. He paused for a while, then his thumb slowly started caressing my hand, as he started speaking in the same tone The crying in the toilet I honestly don't know what to do about. But I will pass it on to George. We are way out of our leagues here. Andy… he wants to be a dad so bad, it is getting to his head. George will have to talk with him, maybe he can convince him to adopt when we can. Let's hope. As long as we don't lose hope…. and as long as we keep working together he squeezed my hand gently, and I couldn't help but squeeze back in a silent agreement

Evan: I sighed deeply Look at him… is he hitting on Gizmo? That can't end well…

Congo: Chuckled warmly Don't be so sure Evan… Gizmo is one of the most tolerant people I know.

[dauntingdarling]

In Defense of the Weeping Monk

So during my first ramped scrolling of Weeping Monk content post-completion of the series, I came across a number of people against the Weeping Monk not just for this storyline but because of how people have been quick to obsess over him and ship Nimulot.

In particular, calling the Nimulot ship racist or homophobic, his character a predator, and those shipping him with anyone toxic. While these points are valid and come from a place (I would assume) of good intentions (anti-homophobia, anti-racist, protect the children etc.) they are strong accusations that should not be linked to this character. And here’s why:

Racism:

-I’m going to be blunt here. Seeing as Racism isn’t a joke, it shouldn’t be thrown around as an excuse not to like WM just because said character didn’t end up with a person of color. If you don’t like him, you don’t like him. Don’t blanket cover your reasoning with a serious accusation that even today is still running rampid and needs to be taken seriously in today’s society (see George Floyd)

-It would be one thing to call out a show if they were expressing Racist undertones, but Cursed hasn't. Two of the most powerful characters in King Arthur lore are played by wonderful actors of color (Arthur and sister Morgana) and should this show continue, we will see the pair of them raise in the ranks of power for both good (King Arthur) and evil (Morgan le fay). 

-People are stating that WM should have been black, as we’ve had more than enough white edgy boys out in shows and movies (see Winter Solider, Kylo Ren/Ben solo...) I’m not against the idea of a black or someone other than white actor portraying WM. That’s not my fight. My fight is over disliking Daniel Sharman’s casting because of his race rather than his acting skill. The guy plays WM fantastically and shouldn’t be docked points just because he’s a white British guy. Like... come on. 

-I could go on, but we have more topics to cover so I’ll close this part with this: keep up the good fight to end Racism, but don’t use it to elevate your own ship/actor profile/ etc. 

Throwing around this topic to benefit your own belief (more than just in media) is what makes people degrade racism in the first place. Don’t be that person.

Homophobia: 

-WHY WOULD SHIPPING NIMULOT BE HOMOPHOBIC? WHY

-I would have thought this show already established that they were not homophobic seen by the great response Nimue gave to Morgana after spotting the scene above^. She normalized their relationship as any other and that was beautiful *chef’s kiss* 

-Back to WM, from what I read on the topic from a person with this view, they stated that because people are shipping Nimulot over Nimue and Morgana (I’m sorry I don’t know their ship name), they are homophobic? WHAT

-Dude that’s great that you saw the fantastic chemistry between Morgana and Nimue, but do you really want Nimue to bed both siblings like that? 

-What I just stated isn’t my real fight on the topic, it’s just something I just thought of as I am here typing away. My fight here is just because Nimue hasn't entertained the possibility of a romantic relationship with Morgana doesn’t mean those shipping Nimue and WM together are homophobic. We just are ex-reylo trash (as I’m noticing so far) and love the enemies to lovers trop. 

-Also I am pretty sure that those shipping Nimulot adore the relationship Nimue has with Morgana as they give off major feminism vibes. And have a healthy relationship overall. 

Which brings me to my next point:

Toxic Shipping:

-No one is stating that WM should hook up with Nimue immediately. And if they are, take notes. WM still needs to grow from the horrors he has done in the past and what he has ahead of him. Only then would he be deserving of Nimue (should she take him)

-I honestly believe people are not shipping Nimulot because it’s toxic, but rather because they hope that WM will come around on the other side as a better man (for he has been through the ringer) and should find peace. With Nimue? Sure, if the storyline fits. 

-I’ve read that some don’t want Nimue to be the fixer upper of WM, and I agree, but do not find this statement to be enough to call the Nimue ship toxic by any means. We just want to see everyone happy, is that so bad? 

-And after growing up idolizing the major character arch of Zuko from Avatar the Last Airbender, I can’t help but hope (as the optimist that I am) that WM will get a similar ending to Zuko. 

-As for why people want Nimue with him and not, say Gwenevere, it is because of all the similarities they carry so far that complement each other (while also playing the opposites attract card). Similarities include:

cursed out fay (N- the villagers scorning her, WM- the monks attitude toward him as a weapon and not a being)

lingering on the edge of dark and light (N with the cursed sword, WM with his faith)

scars (that happen to be on their backs)

their relationship with Squirrel (both protective, not smothering)

Symbols of their side in war (WM is the monk’s best fighter, N is their queen)

I’m sure people can give you more reasons. This is just what I came up with on the spot after one watch through of the series. If you have others, please write them below, I’m curious. 

Now onto the topic that I find to be atrocious: 

Predator: 

-EXCUSE ME, a predator prays on others. How on God’s green earth is WM that? He was a literal sword for hire/raised to fight against his kind through mental strain from this messed up ideology of christianity. 

-And for those calling his relationship with Squirrel unhealthy... fair point but I’m not done yet. 

-I don’t mean all this to say that what he did under the red monks was good or even acceptable. No it wasn’t, the dude was practicing mass genocide of his own race, that’s fucked up. (That torture scene in front of the mill was really something)

-But as we learn in later episodes, all of his actions linger on not being damed and going to heaven (I assume) as seen in the scene when we got a nice look of him shirtless while he was having a moral crisis.

-Speaking of moral crisis, did you notice that he had one when the rest of the villains present in this show do not? Even Iris (a fantastic villain) had a tragic backstory with her family like WM, but rather than question her motives, she starts on the villain path. 

-Now while I do admit he doesn’t treat Squirrel right in the beginning, it makes sense for his character and where he is at. Not to say that hurting a child and using him as a pawn to kill leftover tribe members is justified. 

-But the writers always wrote the interactions between Squirrel and WM with a hint of humor. Squirrel was always talking back, calling WM and his horse ugly, and even hissing out “you” in front of the red monks. All this going on while WM maintains a blank expression, that to viewers is almost comical (because it breaks away from the sad emo boy cliche) 

-In the end, WM needed someone like Squirrel to get out of the disastrous rut the red monks had WM in. For WM to start on this journey of his (that I’m sure will continue through season 2) he needed to show he had a moral code. 

-Also, like many complicated characters, WM never thought through the damage he has done and how his work impacted children up until G called him out for it. For this reason, I think G had just as much a part of getting WM to revolt as Squirrel did. 

- I think his relationship with Squirrel will continue to grow into a more protective association now that G is dead. G made Squirrel into a knight, the next step is for this kid to train like one. Who better than Mr. Lancelot himself. (They better have a training scene in next season or I will riot)

-And lastly, all of you who know the lore of Lancelot understand that he will become the best of the best and also the most loyal and chivalrous knight out there. What a better way to love a character with these attributes than if he started in the proverbial gutter and grows to understand and value these characteristics?  It’s the shiny ending that he needs to work hard to achieve and that is what, at the end of the day, all lovers of WM want to see in the next few seasons. 

Him becoming that knight in shining armor.

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

AIGHT Y’ALL I wasn’t tagged but I’m doing this anyways because f u c k  i t

It's the year 2021 and you're obsessed with The Karate Kid. How are you feeling?

Deadasss weird as fuck, my dude. Like...out of all the things I could’ve predicted happening in our lord’s year 2021, it definitely was NOT getting hyperfixated on a hammy gay ship with a punk and a nerd from a goddamn karate soap opera. And yet...here we are??? I will never understand hyperfixations, my guy. But I’ve met a lot of really cool people in this fandom, so I can’t really complain.

Did you grow up with TKK or are you new to the series?

I have never seen a single Karate Kid movie in my entire life. When I was a kid, it looked kinda dumb so I never got into it XD But then I saw my roommate watching Cobra Kai on Youtube Red one day (he has every streaming service known to man) and I was hooked. And...here I am!

We gotta do the basics. Favorite character:  

Literally EVERYONE except for Kreese, Yasmine, Kyler, and Tory, sorry stans

Okay but if we gotta pick, Johnny Lawrence is my Problematic Fave. Also I love my boy Daniel, he’s trying his best!!! And Amanda LaRusso, we stan a queen!!!

Among the kids, definitely Miguel, with Demetri as a close second. I also love Sam, Aisha, Moon, and Hawk (pre- and post-Bastardization Arc, anyways XD)!

Favorite ship:  

Take a look at my username and take a WILD FUCKING GUESS lmao Yes it’s Eli/Demetri because DUH, every interaction they have is so fucking gay and Eli fucking saved him!!! And came back to him!!! And betrayed the world’s most terrifying dojo with a WAR CRIMINAL SENSEI all for Demetri!!! And how Demetri was willing to forgive him for everything at the drop of a hat because he always had faith there was still good in his best friend??? That’s TRUE LOVE motherfuckers. Please let them kiss in Season 4. I will sell you all of my limbs. Sam/Miguel is a close second because they’re cute as shit and it’s just so lovely to see two people so unapologetically smitten with each other. They are in LOVE, and I will RIOT if they break up again!!! Keep Sam and Miguel together 2k21!!!

Underrated character:

SAMANTHA LARUSSO!!! The amount of hate my girl gets for acting like a normal teenager and fucking up occasionally JUST like the rest of the cast makes me want to start punching things. She cares SO MUCH about her friends!!! And she loves the shit out of Miguel!!! She hasn’t always been the best friend but you know what??? Neither has Hawk, and we still forgave his ass!!! Also LET HER BE FEMININE but also kick utter ass, my god!!! Femininity should not be synonymous with being weak, y’all! ALSO DEMETRI, like yes, he likes to complain and occasionally run his mouth, but guess what else he likes to do??? Never give up on the love of his life his best friend Eli Moskowitz and refuse to lose faith in him no matter how much of a little shit he’s become, and I for one think that’s very badass of him. Also the way he takes care of Eli pre-Cobra Kai in his own snarky bastard way makes me absolutely Weak and needs more appreciation. Like the dude has charisma and COULD have probably made other friends and left Eli behind if he wanted, but did he??? No, he wants the weepy loser with the lip scar in the polo shirts and dorky sweaters and will protect him as much as his wimpy ass is able!!!

Underrated ship (don’t say therapy, lol):  

Among the adults, Daniel/Amanda!!! Like maybe I just don’t watch that much tv, but it seems kinda rare to me to see a happily married hetero couple, and it’s just nice to see a married couple who genuinely love each other and where there’s not like...lingering resentment or some shit. I feel like this ship gets overshadowed by Lawrusso a lot (which like--okay, fair!!! Daniel and Johnny do have a ridiculous amount of chemistry, and the gay undertones are undeniable, so I get it), and it makes me kinda sad. I do love Lawrusso, but I don’t like when Amanda has to get her heart broke for it to happen, you feel? Among the kids, honestly YasMoon. Like I really love the idea of Yasmine trying to better herself because of Moon’s influence on her and because Moon like...inspires her to be a better person, I guess? With their pretty strong friendship, it just makes more sense to me for Yasmine to get a redemption arc through Moon than through Demetri. ALSO girls DO often pull the whole “mean girl” shtick to cover up being closeted lesbians, and Moon IS canonically bi, so it could work!!! I just think this one could be a really interesting Friends to Lovers take, and could make a really nice coming-out arc for Yas. And MoonPiper too, honestly!!! Like they only got 5 seconds of screentime so I understand WHY it’s underrated, but I still love what we DID get and loved that there was a canon gay ship (even if only for 1 scene lmao). I’m really excited to potentially see more of them in Season 4!!! Please, I’m begging!!!

Wax On, Wax Off or Sweep the Leg?

Sweep the Leg because it will always be deeply hilarious to me how Demetri took note of the first move Eli ever used on him and spent presumably weeks perfecting it OUT OF SPITE just to get him back with it at the soccer game MONTHS later. Just goes to show how OBSESSED Demetri is with Eli and their little karate rivalry which is just NOT straight, I’m sorry

Which of Daniel’s dumb little outfits is your favorite?

There’s something so funny about this pretentious little fuck walking around in fancy suits once he becomes a #SuccessfulBusinessman, and still occasionally trying to do karate in a full-ass suit (take THAT, Tom Cole’s boba!!!) I’m also a big fan of how he looks in his gi with his little headband. Still killing that look as a 40-50-something!!!

Character from the films you most want to return, who’s not Terry Silver:

Tbh I have still never seen a single Karate Kid movie (they took them off of Netflix, RIP), so...I don’t really care if they bring anyone else back??? I’m invested in the characters we already have in the show, I don’t need some rando from the movies to make a cameo to have a good time XD The only character I really wanted them to bring back was Ali, and they already did, so like...I’m good??? That’s all I really needed, I can die in peace now XD

Scene that lives in your head rent-free:

Basically any fluffy Elimetri scene, but 5 in particular: ~Miguel first meeting Eli and Demetri at the lunch table, and Eli looking at Demetri like he hung every goddamn star in the sky ~Demetri going off at a terrifying, “unhinged” karate sensei on the first day of Cobra Kai because he made fun of Eli’s lip and Demetri is not about that shit ~ELI STEALING DEMETRI’S NACHO AND SMIRKING AT HIM, LIKE EXCUSE ME SIR PLEASE BE A LITTLE LESS HOMOSEXUAL IN FRONT OF YOUR GIRLFRIEND ~Eli yanking Demetri onstage during Valley Fest to hold a board, and Demetri being visibly like...extremely turned on when Eli breaks said board ~ELI SAVING DEMETRI DURING THE CHRISTMAS FIGHT, ELI APOLOGIZING, DEMETRI AND ELI KICKING COBRA ASS TOGETHER AKSBDCUWYVCBU

Will Anthony LaRusso ever be relevant?

I hope not! He’s kind of a funny meme character to pop up now and again but I don’t think he deserves a serious plotline when there are so many more interesting characters to follow.

You live in The Valley and are forced into the karate gang war. Which dojo do you join?

Miyagi-Do because Cobra Kai would eat me alive. Also I’d probably straight up get stuck and die in that cement mixer, if I even made it that far XD Besides, being salty that your friend who you have a crush on likes martial arts better than you and starting martial arts to impress them but also being too lazy to join anything TOO intense is a Big Mood and I am certainly not speaking from personal experience here, no sirree

What’s your training montage song?

"Shut Up and Drive” by Rihanna for a weight-training and bicep-flexing montage, “Whatever It Takes” by Imagine Dragons for a more intense punching-and-kicking-shit montage. I don’t know why this is, I just feel it in my heart.

It’s the crossover event of the century! Which TV show are you combining with Cobra Kai for an hour-long Saturday night special?

*Briefly panics because I don’t actually watch that much TV and most of the stuff I do watch is fantasy/sci fi shit that absolutely would not work for a CK crossover*

Hmmmm okay but ACTUALLY

You know what would be fucking funny as hell would be an It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia crossover. Allow me to elaborate: ~The Gang goes to LA on vacation during the height of the Karate Dojo Wars. They literally can get barely anything done without all these goddamn karate-fighting teenagers getting in the way. ~They are all very annoyed by this. Even the most obscure of tourist attractions is eventually intercepted by karate fights. ~Mac tries to join Cobra Kai because he sees all this karate fighting on, and wants to unquestionably prove both his badassery and masculinity. Both Johnny and Kreese are like “Wtf are you doing here? Aren’t you like 30?” ~Mac gets a planet-sized crush on Johnny after all of 5 minutes and endlessly gushes to the gang about him. The gang mercilessly roast him about this and about how much of a pathetic loser with his life together in no way whatsoever Johnny sounds like. They proceed to have exactly 0 self awareness about this. ~The Waitress is in town visiting family or something, and Charlie is stalking her, as per usual. However, every time he’s about to go up and talk to her, a pack of battling Miyagi-Dos and Cobra Kais throwing punches and kicks everywhere blocks his path. One times, Mac is among one of these packs and Charlie is like “???? He didn’t get kicked out of that teen karate dojo yet???” ~Seeing how much the Kids These Days seem to like fighting, Charlie drops by a local high school to try and sell Fight Milk to the kids doing karate. Only Kyler and Brucks buy into it, and subsequently get the entire West Valley High wrestling team sick. Charlie is inevitably arrested, as Counselor Blatt thinks he’s selling the kids drugs. ~Dennis makes a plan to have sex with every hot chick he can in Los Angeles. He meets Ali on a dating app post-divorce, and inevitably tries to bang her. It doesn’t work. ~Frank crashes the rental car, and inevitably the gang ends up at one of Daniel’s dealerships. Dee quickly takes a liking to Daniel and is like “Watch, assholes--Imma homewreck this guy’s marriage.” She starts frequenting the dealerships to attempt to flirt with Daniel, until one day she walks in on him having sex with Johnny in a back room and she’s like “Is that the guy from Mac’s goddamn dojo?!?!” ~Dennis, of course, tries to sleep with Amanda. Amanda is not having it, and rebukes him in the most snarky, Amanda-esque way possible. Dennis is just like “Oh not AGAIN--the women in this goddamn diva city have too high of standards!” ~Later on, the gang is at the beach and Dennis spots the blonde lady he went out on an ill-fate date with, and decides to give it another shot--that is, until he sees her go up and kiss another woman and he’s like “IS THAT THE LADY FROM THE CAR DEALERSHIP??? STUPID-KARATE-KICK-COMMERCIAL’S WIFE?!? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.” ~Dee complains to Dennis about her lack of luck getting laid, and Dennis is just like “Oh come ON, is everyone in Los Angeles gay???” Smash cut to Hawk and Demetri having sex, Moon and Piper making out, Bert and Nate holding hands, Chris and Mitch doing oral, and Amanda, Ali, and Carmen having a threesome. ~Frank tries to scam Kreese into buying cheaply-made karate equipment for his dojo. The gang ends up having to leave LA because Kreese is quite literally plotting all of their murders.

For tagging, uuuuhhhhhh @jackonthelongwalk @soe-leo @max-eagle-fang @cc-tinslebee @backawayfromthegay @asphodel-storm do the thing, if y’all haven’t yet!

[hello-robin-goodfellow]

FAVORITE MOVIE LOVE STORIES

THANKS FOR THE TAG: @superkingofpriderock​

Belle and Beast (Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast, 1946)

Since i was a kid, Beauty and the Beast has always been my favorite western european fairy tale. I relate at the same to the Beast’s desire to be accepted by the society that fears and looks down his appearance and to Belle’s mixture of fear, curiosity and fascination by the hybrid anthropomorfic creature. And with their great chemistry, the actors Josette Day and Jean Marais really captured those feelings in this classic adaptation directed by Jean Cocteaus

Damiel and Marion (Wings of Desire, 1987)

A 1987 film by Wim Wenders originally called Der Himmel über Berlin (lit: ‘The Heavens Above Berlin’).The film depicts two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, wandering in Cold War era Berlin and listening to the thoughts of humans. Among those humans are an old man looking for the now-destroyed Potsdamer Platz and recalling the good times he used to have there; Peter Falk As Himself; and Marion, a lonely French trapezist desperately looking for a purpose in life.  The angels don’t directly intervene in human existence but sometimes give comfort to humans who need it, like a woman in labor, or a suicidal man on a tram, or a motorcyclist who is dying in the street after he was struck by a car. However, Damiel yearns to be human himself and to experience life as a mortal does. Eventually he falls in love with Marion, the trapeze artist, and has to make a difficult choice: to become human himself in order to be with her, leaving Heaven.

Queen Fantaghirò and King Romualdo (Fantaghirò/The Cave of the Golden Rose franchise, 1991-96)

Fantaghirò (known in the english speaking world as The Cave of the Golden Rose) is a series of five television films produced in Italy by Lamberto Bava (Mario Bava’s son), telling the adventures of Fantaghirò, the youngest of three princess sisters, who traines to become a brave warrior as a way to get free of the sexist restrictions imposed at her life by her father. Her kingdom has been at war with a neighbor kingdom for years, and one day the rencently crowned young adversary king, Romualdo, decides to end the war by personally challenging the best champion of Fantaghirò’s kingdom. Fantaghirò, disguised as man, presents herself as this champion, and their love story begins when Romualdo falls in love with the beauty of her eyes. What’s interesting about this couple is how their personalitys complement each other: Fantaghirò with a more combative strong temper, and Romualdo with a more sweet and calm temper.

Marianne Danielle and Doctor Van Helsing (The Brides of Dracula, 1960)

While watching Hammer Horror’s Brides of Dracula, i finded adorable how Doctor Van Helsing cares for Marianne Danielle (whom he befriends while arriving at Transilvania), how he wants to protect her and respects her feelings, to the point of trying contain his sorrow when she announces her engagement with Baron Meinster. I always imagine that when he defeated the Baron (who is revealed to be a vampire), and flee the wind mill with Marianne, he declared his feelings, she reciprocated, he teached her how to fight vampires, they married and became a battle couple searching to purge the world of the vampires. This is a pairing who deservers more love, fanart and fanfiction.

Fininha and Clécio (Tatuagem, 2013)

Tatuagem (Tattoo) is a movie set in the late 1970s, during the period of the Brazilian Civil-Military Dictatorship, that tells the love story between Fininha, an young soldier, and Clécio, an actor and playwrighter who produces satirical plays for a underground theater called Chão de Estrelas (Floor of Stars). Their romance is one of the most sweetest ever captured on film, but we also feel a certain unease that the fact of Fininha being at the service of the military who persecutes the theater artists will break the couple apart at any moment…

Karaba and Kirikou (Kirikou and the Sorceress, 1998)

Kirikou and the Sorceress is a 1998 French animated film, directed by Michel Ocelot, loosely based on a West African fairy tale.  It tells the story of a tiny baby boy, named Kirikou, who is born in a spectacular way (all by himself, without effort of his mother nor outside help) and can speak and walk immediately after being born. After a couple of questions, he learns that a wicked sorceress, Karaba, has cursed the village and devoured all the men and boys, except his uncle, who is on his way to fight the sorceress. He tricks the sorceress, saves his uncle as well as the children of the village (twice!!), brings the water back to the dried-up spring and, among other things, discovers the sorceress’ true motivations: Karaba is evil because of all the suffering she went through at the hands of men, including a very subtly implied rape. All the bad things that she allegedly had done are ultimately proved to be false. She does hate everyone, but she gets better. Despite being a baby, Kirikou asks Karaba in marriage when she pulls a Heel–Face Turn, saying that he doesn’t like little girls. She doesn’t accept, of course, but then her kiss turns him into a handsome young man.

Nina Shah and Lisa MacKinlay (Nina’s Heavenly Delights, 2006)

Nina’s Heavenly Delights is a Rom Com about a cooking contest,  directed by Pratibha Parmar. The death of her father Mohan brings prodigal daughter, Scot with Indian ancestry Nina (Shelley Conn) home again to Glasgow, her mother, siblings - and the family restaurant, “The Taj”. Being able to keep the latter now hinges on the cooking skills Nina learned at her father‘s knees. In the “Best of The West Curry Competition” she will have to face the former fiancé she left at the altar, Sanjay. In this competition, she will count with the partnership of Lisa, who owns half of the restaurant since Mohan’s death and already seems to be very much part of Nina’s family. And in the proccess, Lisa also becomes a part of Nina’s heart… 

Lady and Tramp (Lady and the Tramp, 1955)

I grew up watching VHSs of the old Disney 2-D Animated movies over, and over, and over. And a thing that i find funny is that most people tend to quote movies from the 1990s Disney Renaissance as when Disney Couples started to met each other first instead of fall in love at first sight, bu when we make a retrospective, in actuality it was Lady and Tramp who started the trend. First they met at Lady’s house and have a verbal fight due to diverging points of view about humans, them they encounter each other again at the streets when she flees from Aunt Sarah, and they walk trough the zoo to unleash Ladys muzzle, Tramp takes her to dinner at Tonys (wich us gives Bella Notte, one of the most romantic scenes in movie history)… every step that a real couple takes to meet each other is taken by Lady and Tramp.

Orfeo x Eurydice (Black Orpheus, 1959)

Black Orpheus is a 1959 film, a French production shot in Brazil and in the Portuguese language. It is a retelling of the ancient myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, set in Rio during Carnaval. Orfeo is a trolley conductor who moonlights as a dancer in a samba school. He is engaged to be married to the gorgeous and passionate Mira, but doesn’t seem too enthused about it. On his trolley car, he meets Eurydice, who has arrived in Rio from the countryside because she is being chased by a mysterious man who she thinks is trying to kill her. Orfeo and Eurydice fall in love, but the strange man—Death himself—is still stalking her.

I TAG: @jgvfhl​ @johnnyclash87​ @lioness--hart​ @mademoiselle-princesse​

[daughterofluthien]

Cam/Vala?

Ship It

What made you ship it?

Honestly, this is a ‘ship them in hindsight’ kinda situation? I never had strong feelings about them when I first watched the show, but now...? idk but I can very much see it. They have Chemistry.

You can really tell that the actors had worked together in the past, and were really comfortable with each other—it definitely comes through in their interactions. 

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Like I said, it’s the Chemistry. The Vibe. Also the show shipteased them in a weird way. Like despite the fact that Vala/Daniel was always where things were going, we still got episodes like Memento Mori and Bounty? Which sure was an interesting choice for the writers to make, but ya know.

But anyways, persistent shipteasing does not a good ship make, so like I said, I’m really chalking this one up to Ben Browder and Claudia Black. They have an electricity in their interactions that makes the dynamic really fun. 

Speaking of their dynamic, there’s a really fun push and pull there, because Cam is this air force colonel who not only trying his hardest to be professional, but he feels like he has to prove himself in this position. And she’s an unexpected element that is very much not making that easier 😅But then at the same time they’re both very performative, but in opposite ways, and it’s honestly very interesting.

(Also her delivery of “One must always be prepared to liberate treasure, Cameron.” Excellent. 10/10)

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

It’s been awhile since I’ve watched the later seasons of SG-1, but I ship them more than I ship Daniel/Vala. Though I have no idea whether that’s popular or unpopular 😂

Send me a ship and I’ll ramble about it!

[mediaevalmusereads]

An Extraordinary Union. By Alyssa Cole. New York: Kensington, 2017.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Genre: historical romance

Part of a Series? Yes, Loyal League #1

Summary: As the Civil War rages between the states, a courageous pair of spies plunge fearlessly into a maelstrom of ignorance, deceit, and danger, combining their unique skills to alter the course of history and break the chains of the past . . . Elle Burns is a former slave with a passion for justice and an eidetic memory. Trading in her life of freedom in Massachusetts, she returns to the indignity of slavery in the South—to spy for the Union Army. Malcolm McCall is a detective for Pinkerton's Secret Service. Subterfuge is his calling, but he’s facing his deadliest mission yet—risking his life to infiltrate a Rebel enclave in Virginia. Two undercover agents who share a common cause—and an undeniable attraction—Malcolm and Elle join forces when they discover a plot that could turn the tide of the war in the Confederacy's favor. Caught in a tightening web of wartime intrigue, and fighting a fiery and forbidden love, Malcolm and Elle must make their boldest move to preserve the Union at any cost—even if it means losing each other.

***Full review under the cut.***

Mild spoilers in the Plot section.

Content Warnings: racism, threat of sexual assault, use of the n-word, violence, blood, false rape accusations

Overview: I first became aware of Alyssa Cole via Courtney Milan’s recommendations page, and I decided to start with this Civil War spy romance because... why not? It looked fun! And it was, to an extent. I liked the high stakes, the dynamics of the romance, the characters themselves. But what ultimately prevented me from giving this book more than 3 stars was the plot, romance trajectory, and some aspects of the prose. Of course, your mileage may vary, so if you’re a fan of romance, I suggest giving this book a try for yourself.

Writing: Cole’s prose is fairly clear and easy to read. It flows well, so you can skim or read more in-depth, depending on your preference, and I think that works for the genre Cole is writing in. I also really liked that Cole would drop in random quotes from classic literature to demonstrate Elle’s eidetic memory, and I liked that she was able to communicate the stakes of each scene without overwhelming the reader with infodumps.

I do think, however, that Cole relies a bit too much on telling instead of showing. We’re told over and over again through the characters’ inner thoughts that they have feelings for one another, but I didn’t quite see how those feelings were brought about externally. The banter and the arguments, while good, didn’t quite foster feelings of romantic connection, and I wish a little more was done to show the characters’ chemistry, rather than being told that they had an effect on one another.

Plot: Aside from the romance, the majority of this book revolves around Elle and Malcolm as they infiltrate a Southern senator’s house to learn more about Confederate operations during the Civil War. While I liked the idea, I ultimately thought Cole could have done a little more to give this plot structure. Both Malcolm and Elle seemed to be placed in the house to be on the lookout for any useful information, so from the get-go, it didn’t feel like they had a strong purpose. I think I would have liked to have seen Elle go in with the knowledge that the Confederates were planning something; maybe the Union/Loyal League had whiff of a plot to break the blockade, and Elle is tasked with doing everything in her power to make sure that blockade stays in place.

I also think Cole could have made her characters a little more agentive. While I liked that Malcolm was purposefully flirting with the Senator’s daughter to weasel his way into their good graces, it felt like both Elle and Malcolm were passively waiting for information to fall into their laps. I would have liked to see more scenes of them sneaking into the Senator’s office, trying to find letters or other information, or something else that required the characters to be proactive. The only real scene where we got that, I feel, was when the two went after Dix, the engineer, but even then, they seemed to just follow him out into the woods before getting accosted by slave catchers, forcing them to return home with nothing useful (which they don’t seem too disappointed about).

Speaking of the pursuit of Dix, many scenes seemed to be like this one, and by that I mean many seemed to have been inserted into the plot to create empty tension or action. The characters don’t really get anything useful out of following Dix; the scene was mostly there to give Malcolm and Elle some time to talk and to put Elle in danger. There were others that I felt had a similar purpose. The scene where Elle suspects Malcolm of being a double agent, for example, seemed to come out of nowhere and be over and done with way too quickly, only used to manufacture false tension and then give the two a reason to be alone together. The ending, too, seemed to rely on a lot of exciting things happening in quick succession, and while I liked that it forced the characters to think quickly and make plans, it also felt like Elle and Malcolm had to rely on surprise plans from other people and impossible coincidences.

Lastly, I think the prologue was an odd episode to serve as the book’s initial inciting action. We open with Elle going undercover to pass a message to another operative, and just as she does so, she is harmed by some racist separatists and blacks out. One year later, Elle has recovered and is on a new mission in Virginia, and we learn that she was saved by none other than Malcolm himself. While I felt that this prologue could have worked if Elle and Malcolm hopped around the South on missions and kept meeting up again and again, the events of the prologue didn’t seem to have much significance other than to show that Malcolm had met Elle once before, and even that revelation fizzled out soon after they both realized it. I think I would have liked a more sustained plot where Elle and Malcolm kept crossing paths while doing spy missions, or else have the prologue feature something like a secret meeting where men are talking about building the ironside.

Characters: Elle, our heroine, is a smart, sharp-tongued Black woman with an eidetic memory and a fierce devotion to the Union. I really liked the nuance she brought to interpretations of the abolitionist movement and the politics of slavery and race relations; she would frequently call Malcolm and other well-meaning white people out on their inability to see slavery and racism as something that affects individuals (they see it rather as an abstract concept). I also really liked that she knew her worth but was conscious of what acting on her anger and frustration could do to jeopardize her goals. It made her feel pragmatic and human at the same time, which I very much enjoyed. The only thing I didn’t like about her was that she seemed to keep going back and forth on what she wanted with Malcolm, but more on that in the next section.

Malcolm, our hero, is a Scottish undercover detective for the Pinkertons. I liked that he had a roguish personality without being a Scottish stereotype - he didn’t drop a lot of random slang words, nor was he overly violent or drunk. His main asset was his charisma and his ability to weasel his way into places of power, and I think Cole showed that well. I also liked that he served as a vehicle to explore topics relating to racism, and he was constantly learning about how to be practically anti-racist, not just generally not racist (if that makes sense). I do think, however, that Malcolm made way too many stupid mistakes for one supposedly so good as his job, and I think his attraction to Elle was too insta-lovey for my tastes (but more on that below). He also seemed to have no serious character flaws to overcome; he rather seemed to be a “nice guy” whose only “flaw” was that he just had some things to learn about the Black experience.

Side characters varied in the quality of their usefulness to the plot, but I think Cole wrote them all with good purposes in mind. Susie, the Senator’s daughter who Malcolm flirts with, was appropriately written, being neither an exaggerated villain nor a sympathetic product of her time. The fellow slaves at the Senator’s home were likeable and I enjoyed the way Elle expressed her affection for them; I wish Mary’s plans had been foreshadowed a bit more, but it is what it is. Probably the most underutilized character, in my opinion, was Rufus, whose true identity comes at a surprise to Elle and Malcolm. I feel like a rival espionage plot could have worked well in this story, especially if Elle and Malcolm’s story had been more reluctant-allies-to-lovers, but Rufus’ twist seemed to come out of nowhere and only be important in the last 50 or so pages of the novel. Dix, too, could have been more of an interesting character, but he seems to exist only to put Elle and Malcom in a risky position. Nothing really comes out of his character.

Perhaps the least compelling character, in my opinion, was Daniel, Elle’s supposed longtime friend who was born free but sold into slavery. Daniel never makes an actual appearance on the page; Elle talks about him a lot, but since we never actually see them interact, I felt like I was expected to care about a person I never met. The drama with Daniel seemed to exist to either create jealousy in Malcolm or serve as a way to make Elle trust Malcolm, and honestly, I don’t think Daniel needed to be included at all.

Romance: While I liked the idea of this romance, Elle and Malcolm’s story ultimately didn’t work well for me because I personally found it insta-lovey and somewhat repetitive. Malcolm is attracted to Elle right away, which isn’t a problem, but it seems like they developed feelings for one another after their initial chat in the woods. I prefer my romances to build up over time, with characters falling for one another after becoming emotionally vulnerable and bonding over shared values or helping one another overcome personal character flaws. Elle and Malcolm, by contrast, had some nice banter, but Elle would push Malcolm away, then remember how attractive he was, then the two would kiss or be intimate before Elle would declare they couldn’t be together because it compromised their jobs, and the cycle would repeat. While a conflict of interest could be an interesting point of tension in a romance, I personally felt like Elle was too back-and-forth, and I personally don’t find that back-and-forth very compelling.

I also found some of the sex scenes to be a bit too clinical and clipped, which may work for some people but may not for others. Personally, I like my sex scenes to show not just physical intimacy, but emotional intimacy, and it seemed like some of them were used to that effect while others were just... “she did this. he did this.” I think I would have liked to see Cole put more pressure on the idea of sex as comfort. The first time Elle and Malcolm are physically intimate together, Elle describes it as seeking comfort. However, it’s not really brought up again, and I think it would have been interesting to expand on the idea, perhaps by portraying their reluctant allyship as first a purely physical release/escape to something more emotional and mutually supportive.

TL;DR: An Extraordinary Union brings some much needed diversity the romance genre, and while it has an intriguing plot and likeable characters, it also features a fairly cyclical romance and depends on things happening to the characters, rather than the characters being active subjects.

[aion-rsa]

High-Rise Invasion Review: Bloody Anime is a Satisfying Character Study

https://ift.tt/2ZTPpfk

This review contains no spoilers and is based on all 12 episodes of High-Rise Invasion season 1.

“I refuse to die. I won’t lose to a world like this.”

There’s nothing quite like a good, heightened mystery, especially if it’s working in tandem with something like the horror genre. Audiences have become increasingly savvy towards and desensitized by even the most extreme examples of each genre, which pushes entertainment to go even further. 

This isn’t always the right approach, but it can sometimes be just the right kind of crazy and High-Rise Invasion succeeds in finding that balance. The new Netflix anime initially feels like Rob Zombie’s animated take on The Most Dangerous Game or Battle Royale, but it soon becomes far more than a parade of blood, guts, and lunatics. High-Rise Invasion has a complex message that it wants to convey and the anime cuts much deeper than the simple flesh wounds that cover the cast of characters. 

Yuri Honjo is a typical teenager who wakes up in an abstract prison reality that consists purely of the tops of skyscrapers and pits regular humans against deadly individuals in intimidating masks. It’s a lot like if John Wick’s assassins consisted purely from the serial killers in The Strangers. It’s a chilling scenario and Yuri is running for her life too quickly to be able to properly question what’s going on. Yuri learns that her brother, Rika, is also in this strange scenario and her goal becomes to reunite with her sibling and find an escape together.

Read more

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Aesthetics are a major factor in anime and High-Rise Invasion tries its best to present visuals that are as engaging as central mystery and story. High-Rise Invasion comes from the more recent anime studio, Zero-G, but it’s definitely one of their most polished works. There’s a strong art direction here and the animation style even feels reminiscent of a grungy anime OVA from the ’80s. The anime’s soundtrack beautifully taps into this energy and it’s full of electric guitar rock riffs that honestly feel like they could be Queen tracks. They intensify and become more wild during the anime’s more chaotic moments. 

At first it appears as if the objective in High-Rise Invasion is rather cut and dry, but Yuri learns something radically different each time that she digs deeper into her surroundings or the murderous individuals who wear masks. The anime does a good job with how it illustrates that the masked antagonists are victims in their own ways and that there’s an even higher power that’s using everyone as tools to fulfill a twisted game. The complications and layers behind the new “realm” that Yuri is stuck in are what give the anime such life and make it more than some edgy hack-and-slash action series. 

The ideas that High-Rise Invasion poses turn the anime into a larger meditation on what humans will do to survive and how far they will sell their values in order to secure their safety. This isn’t exactly an original idea, especially with how some mysterious and shady benefactor is behind the whole operation, but the execution is at least very unique.

It becomes a creative character study that does manage to say something new on these themes. Some of the most entertaining material that’s tackled through this is Yuri’s struggle to find a way to survive, but to not become worse than the monsters that hunt her. It’s a struggle that’s present from the very first episode and High-Rise Invasion explores it in a pseudo-realistic manner that doesn’t feel overly rushed for Yuri’s development.

A major source of tension in the series stems from how Yuri is trusting and wants to see the bests in others, but this makes her a major liability in the process. This is a game where no one should be trusted and allies are collateral damage in the making, but Yuri finds a real sense of purpose and security when she meets another lost soul in this world, Mayuko Nise. Mayuko’s aggressive personality is quite the contrast to Yuri, but there’s immediately a palpable chemistry between them.

Mayuko gets introduced as an ally for Yuri, but Sniper Mask gets brought in just as quickly as a formidable opponent. He’s treated as a parallel figure to Yuri who also wants to figure out the basics of this world, but he comes at it from a different angle than Yuri and Mayuko’s necessity for survival. Sniper Mask ultimately becomes the most fascinating of High-Rise Invasion’s characters since he exists in this fractured state where he has some level of awareness that allows him to question the rules that govern this realm. 

High-Rise Invasion unpacks this larger mystery with three separate series of events between Yuri’s party, Rika’s group, and Sniper Mask’s team. These three narratives all cover different aspects of this universe and it’s an effective strategy that builds real excitement once these disparate objectives get to align and come together. It all helps contribute another layer to how the true goal of this situation may not be to escape and that there’s actually something more appealing to those within the universe.

People will likely come into High-Rise Invasion for the murder and trippy concept, but they’ll leave talking about the friendship between Yuri Honjo and Mayuko Nise. Yuri explodes with joy whenever Mayuko shows her appreciation and they form a sisterly bond that’s truly wonderful, as is Mayuko’s embarrassment every time she opens herself up to Yuri a little more. These two have somehow brought out the best in each other in this twisted world and the growing bond between them is one of the highlights of the series. They’re the new reigning Murder Wives.

No one in the cast feels like a waste, but Yuri and Mayuko grow into especially entertaining protagonists who have a surreal sense of humor and empathy that add a lot to each of them. Mayuko’s romantic love towards sharp blades is a good example of High-Rise Invasion’s wild mix of sensibilities. The dynamic between Yuri and Mayuko is a consistent delight, but High-Rise Invasion develops strong character dynamics across the board and there are multiple pairings of unlikely figures that blossom into endearing friendships by the end of the season. Sniper Mask is often played in juxtaposition to Yuri and his bond with Kuon Shinzaki is also genuinely sweet. 

The vocal performances in the English version are also exceptional across the board and add a lot to the characters. Suzi Yeung as Yuri and Jonas Scott as Sniper Mask are the best of the lot, but everyone makes a strong impression. The Mask characters are by nature caricatures and all have generalized names that speak to their weapon of choice like Sniper Mask, Axe Mask, or even Masked Rider Mask. Baseball Mask and Chef Mask are some of the most creative of the lot and are also highly terrifying. High-Rise Invasion at least seems to be aware of how absurd and exaggerated all of this is and is in on the “joke.”

It’s common for series with an overarching mystery as dense as High-Rise Invasion to drag things out or for there to not be enough content to sustain the entire season. High-Rise Invasion very carefully parses out details where different characters collect disparate nuggets of what’s going on in this “realm,” while the audience is allowed to piece all of this together and try to get a little ahead of the game. The anime is also a case where it only improves as the season goes on and it doesn’t run out of ammunition after the first few installments. If anything, it uses this time to work out its more awkward impulses and really find its groove with the characters and structure.

Once everything does come together there’s a considerably different story being told than what it initially seemed. The answers that High-Rise Invasion provides are satisfying and still leave plenty to be discovered in subsequent seasons. These episodes do feel like the end of a first chapter and that the anime and its world are about to get considerably bigger in its second season, yet there’s still enough of a full story being told that the ending doesn’t feel incomplete. 

High-Rise Invasion is a very satisfying journey that’s thankfully more than the sum of its parts. It’d be easy for this series to coast on some creepy imagery and boatloads of violence, but there’s a more intricate story that’s in play here. It does give in to some of its baser instincts at times, but this first season delicately builds a gripping mythology and solid foundation to fall back on. 

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

This is an anime with dozens of murders across its 12 episodes, heightened brainwashed assassins, and those that want to ascend to a level of deity, but it’s really about finding independence in an oppressive world and how the right friend can change someone’s universe. High-Rise Invasion manages to make its gonzo murder party somehow feel relatable and spill just as much empathy as it does viscera.  

All 12 episodes of season one of High-Rise Invasion are now available to stream on Netflix

The post High-Rise Invasion Review: Bloody Anime is a Satisfying Character Study appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[kuraagins]

My highlights from falsettos UK

Please scroll past if you’re going to watch the show and don’t want spoilers!! Also feel free to ask if you have any other questions about his production <3

-Trina is is four jews instead of Jason!!! We see her get married to Marvin and they use the veil as baby Jason

-The ‘slavery’ is Trina being pregnant/going into labour

-When Jason comes on at the end of the song Whizzer gives him a piggy back and it’s so pure

-“When I put the steak in” Oliver literally thrust against Daniel from behind

-They were so snarky and flirty with each other I loved it

-overall there were more Whizzvin kisses throughout the show than both broadway productions, which obviously I LOVED

-the tango break in thrill of first love was about half the length and was more dancey, they kind of dipped each other but it wasn’t anything overly extravagant

-They had a VERY passionate kiss at the end of the song gay rights

-Daniel gave us anxious Marvin rights, in Marvin at the psychiatrist he was like hugging his knees to his chest and speaking all soft about Whizzer

-THEY KEPT IN “its queer mr Marvin!” which is honestly one of my favourite jokes in the show

-Elliott’s ‘my fathers a homo’ was HILARIOUS he came on doing this really camp dance and it honestly had the whole audience in stitches that kid could ACT

-Laura’s ‘I’m breaking down’ was PERFECT, her voice is literally incredible and she perfectly captured Trina’s despair despite keeping the song hilarious

-like one of the choruses she just hummed the lyrics while drinking straight from a bottle of wine

-I cannot praise this woman enough she is the perfect Trina

-Jason and Mendel dancing in Jason’s therapy was adorable as usual

-I loved Joel as Mendel in the marriage proposal

-He was so awkward and Trina was so confused it was so funny yet so so sweet

-A personal highlight was him starting to cry when he said “don’t start to cry” and Trina immediately being like “I’m... not crying?”

-At the end of Tight Knit Family (reprise) Jason is stood in between Marvin and Mendel and Trina comes on and protectively takes him off stage

-Trina’s song was SO beautiful it moved me to tears

-She was in her pyjamas and was basically getting into bed while she sang, but Laura just looked so sad and desperate it broke my heart

-Which lead us perfectly into march of the falsettos! In this production it was staged as Trina having a nightmare; Jason crawls out from under the bed and the men walk on in really stiff, creepy movements and torment her

-The song had to be pre recorded because the men had on these REALLY creepy smile masks covering their actual mouths

-Also on “asses bared my delight” MENDEL is the one who says it I think because on that line he bends Trina over and basically shows her ass to the audience

-during the chess game Marvin was drinking the whole way through, and you could see him drinking more quicker as he was getting more and more frustrated

-there was no love in this version, Marvin is patronising and mean towards Whizzer, who doesn’t want to take any of his shit

-when Whizzer wins Marvin basically goes around and slams/hits a bunch of furniture and he looked really apologetic immediately afterwards, until Whizzer sang the “Whizzer’s supposed to make the dinner” section of the song, and he got PISSED and packed Whizzer’s suitcase on stage while they sang and then threw it at him.

-Marvin hits Trina had me SOBBING

-When Whizzer says he doesn’t love Marvin you can SEE him get all tense and angry as he paces between all of the characters before the anger comes out in a burst as he hits Trina

-basically when the hit happened he got real close to her and she had her back to the audience as he slapped her face. Mendel pushed Marvin away and Jason called out for his mother and hugged her with Mendel.

-Daniel boys had these WONDERFUL moments of vulnerability with Marvin. After the hit he looked so shaky and small, and he was breathlessly trying to apologise but he was almost scared of himself

-One of my favourite moments in the show was during the “he’s mine” section of I never wanted to love you. Marvin is trying to talk to Jason but Trina is holding him so protectively as if she doesn’t want Marvin anywhere near him.

-Father to son was beautifully simple. Minimal lighting with Marvin and Jason sitting cross legged on the floor. They hug and Marvin kisses his head as act one ends

-this version of welcome to falsettoland was EVERYTHING

-When the Reagans are mentioned they’re projected on the picture frames around the stage and Whizzer looks so disgusted

-THEN the lesbians come on stage covering their faces with signs saying “sodomy is sin”, but when they’re introduced they turn the signs around and they say “Love is love” !!!!!!

-also the lesbians got the HUGEST applause, as they deserve

-the ‘congregate in Central Park’ line now refers to them congregating for a protest march!!! The other characters have ‘no nukes’ signs

-There was the CUTEST ad lib between Jason and Mendel in the Everyone Hates His Parents dance break (which was iconic by the way

-it basically went

Mendel: “they should put this in a musical, we’re good!”

Jason: “Which one?”

Mendel: “I don’t know, I’m tired”

-I adored the restaging if what more can I say

-Basically Whizzer was falling asleep while reading on a chair, and Marvin is being all soft and adoring, and he takes Whizzer’s glasses off for him and takes the book off his lap and make sure he gets to bed, it’s so domestic and adorable it melted my heart

-Charlotte And Cordelia’s chemistry throughout was PERFECT

-at the end of more racquetball, when Whizzer collapses he ad-libbed like “Marvin I’m fine, I’m fine!” But Marvin was so concerned and worried about his boyfriend and immediately rushes to his side and holds him.

-Then theres the sound of ambulances and the lights on stage dim and the projection portraits flash and a voice over says ‘Dr Charlotte to emergency’ and a projection of a heart monitor appears above Whizzer and beeping can be heard, it’s all a really nice touch and really sets panic in you for Whizzer

-Laura’s holding to the ground was beautiful, as anticipated, and as she sang they set up the hospital and got Whizzer into bed, Charlotte and Marvin fussing over him. It was a subtle but really nice scene.

-In days like this Marvin gets Whizzer this ridiculous cartoon ‘get well soon’ card and Whizzer looks so disgusted by it but Marvin puts it up anyway

-cancelling the bar mitzvah was another one that made me cry, Elliott was crying real tears, which made Laura start crying, and they were hugging each other so tightly and his voice was muffled because of this, and they just had this perfect, believable mother/son dynamic

-during something bad is happening (reprise) Jason is the only other person on stage which COULD be interpreted as Charlotte telling Jason what’s going on with both Whizzer and his dad :’(((((((

-I loved Ollie’s take on you gotta die sometime. Instead of belting at the end he was so quiet he was barely audible, and he’s so weak and hunched over before Jason comes in and he tries to look strong for him.

-At the end of the bar mitzvah Jason stands on the table and sings his Hebrew (Mendel hands him the Torah but jason doesn’t take it as he knows the words by heart :’) ) and he holds his hands out to Whizzer, and Whizzer tries to take it but he collapses and the tight knit family surround him and try to help him and Jason says in this tiny, heartbreaking voice “Whizzer! No, I want to help!”

-In What would I do Whizzer is still alive and in his hospital bed and at the end of the song the heart monitor projection goes flat as the tight knit family surround a sobbing Marvin

-Mendel sings falsettoland (reprise) and blows out a candle lit during the bar mitzvah

-also at the end the cast (in costume) are projected onto one of the photo frames and it’s so beautiful

-anyway I love this show if you can please go and see it!!!!

[charliejrogers]

The Karate Kid (1984)

Being a fan of pop culture in the 2010s has meant a lot of things, but one of them has definitely being subject to boat loads of 80s nostalgia of which I have none. There was a Ghostbusters revival, a Star Wars revival, those commercials that recreated significant portions of Ferris Bueller and E.T., the very existence of Stranger Things with its infinite call-backs to E.T., Aliens, Indiana Jones, etc. But as a big-time fan of How I Met Your Mother, I was subject to endless references to 1984’s The Karate Kid. Between HIMYM and that episode of Community where they recreate the entire movie as a play, I feel like I had already seen this movie before, and frankly I wasn’t too excited. I’ve been told “wax on, wax off” so many times in my life it had practically lost all meaning. After so much build up for what seemed like a silly teen movie from 36(!) years ago, I expected to be disappointed.

I love when my expectations are wrong. This movie fucks. If I were a kid/teen in the 80s, I would absolutely be a Karate Kid fanboy. Yes, in plot it’s not too different than the first Rocky movie. A challenge is put forth to our underdog protagonist (here Daniel played by Ralph Macchio) and the movie focuses on his training alongside an old, cranky man (here Mr. Miyagi played by Pat Morita) as he gets ready for the big fight with which the movie closes.

Like Rocky, Karate Kid too focuses on issues of class. Daniel and his single mother live in a slightly dilapidated apartment complex and drive a car that often requires a (quite literal) running start. Meanwhile, seemingly the rest of the high school Daniel attends lives in mansions and attends social gatherings at the local country club. But where I felt Rocky was rather one-noted in terms of its themes, this movie isn’t simply a rich vs. poor story. Nor, like Rocky, is the final fight simply a way for the protagonist to gain glory. This is a coming-of-age tale, one in which training is less about building muscle and more about find balance (in more ways than one). And it’s a film whose script is in countless subtle ways filled to the brim with heart.

Every character is a fully rounded individual whose backstory is filled with sadness, sometimes made obvious to the audience, sometimes merely hinted at. Much has been said (sometimes comically, sometimes not) about how the film’s primary antagonist (the snobby, entitled, rich kid Johnny Lawrence played by William Zabka) is unfairly portrayed as a villain. While I find these arguments largely facetious, I admit he is far more than your average movie stereotype of a bully. He’s subtly nuanced with real motivations beyond the plot’s need to have an antagonist, especially since Daniel is far from an innocent victim and does much to provoke the conflict between himself and Johnny.

But take Daniel’s mom (played by Randee Heller). We never hear “boo” about Daniel’s father. We don’t know if the two divorced, if his father passed away, etc. What we know is that this is a woman for whom her child is her world. She will do anything to advance her station to give him a better life, but she is not embarrassed of who she is. Yet her heart breaks (and ours with her) when she sees her son’s black eye or sees him throw his broken bicycle in the dumpster. She cares so much that her son fits in and that he has friends, that she blames herself for anything that goes wrong, seemingly giving little thought to her own sacrifices, that she too moved across the country for the promise of a job in tech only to end up working as a hostess/waitress in a local restaurant. All these details are plain and out in the open, but never fully dwelled upon, which is appropriate. This movie isn’t her story. Yet these small details are crucial. They build a realistic world in which Daniel operates and heightens the drama of his situation. He’s not just fighting to get back at bullies. He’s fighting because he’s too young to fully appreciate what his Mom has done for him. He just sees that his Mom has always made him an outcast socially (it’s not the first time they’ve made a move like this), that she dropped into a new school environment, and he now turns to violence because presumably because no male figure has been there to teach him any other way.

All this makes his relationship with Mr. Miyagi so beautiful. On his sixteenth birthday, it is Mr. Miyagi that Daniel chooses to celebrate with over his own mother. Only in the 1980s could films pair teenage boys with old men with no questions asked (see: Doc Brown & Marty in Back to the Future). But the two fill a void in each other’s lives. Multiple times Daniel asks Mr. Miyagi how he learned all the various things he knows about life and karate, and every time Miyagi answers that it was from his father. Daniel replies that Miyagi’s father must have been something special, and we can just hear the pangs of regret beneath Daniel’s words that he wished he had such a man in his life. And on the converse, in that unforgettably emotional scene where a drunken Miyagi openly grieves his wife and newborn child who died in a Japanese internment camp forty years prior from likely preventable complications of childbirth, in front of Daniel, we learn how Miyagi was denied the opportunity to pass on that incredible Miyagi family wisdom to the next generation. Surrogate father gains surrogate son; what could be more beautiful?

There are other small thematic touches I enjoy. I like how the two karate trainers are symbolic of how American vets from differing eras transitioned to civilian life. The Cobra Kai dojo where the film’s antagonist Johnny trains is headed by John Kreese, a highly militant Vietnam vet who treats his dojo like training camp. Orders are barked out and push-ups expected for the slightest infraction. It is not enough to defeat the enemy: they must be destroyed, shown no mercy. This Vietnam vet never fully transitioned to civilian life. He fought in a war that America never won, and therefore never really ended. In an effort to gain control and respect he creates new enemies and uses brute strength to subjugate them.

Miyagi on the other hand has no interest in violence. He tells Daniel how he was always scared to fight, which at the time in the film seems to mean that he is scared when he has to fight out in the streets, but after we find out about his military service it instantly speaks of his time fighting the Germans in WWII. He fought and risked his life, scared that he would never again see his wife, all for a country who didn’t care about him, who let his wife and child die. He won his war, was likely celebrated as a hero, but what price glory? Victory gave him nothing, which likely informs his final advice to Daniel before he tries to return to fight Johnny despite Daniel’s broken leg. Miyagi asks Daniel what’s the point of fighting since he made his point and gained the Cobra Kai’s respect. The fact that Daniel insists on fighting goes against Miyagi’s deeply rooted life philosophy to not use karate in an aggressive manner. Yet he compromises because he loves the boy and to do otherwise would break his heart. The ritual laying on of hands is obviously little more than placebo, but it means the world to a boy who places his utmost love and faith in the man.

Probably the weakest aspect of the film is the love story but that’s not to say that Macchio and Elizabeth Shue aren’t cute and don’t share good chemistry throughout the film. They are and they do. Really it’s more just that this movie is a product of its time and largely views Shue’s Ali as an object to be “won” by either Daniel or Johnny. That said, she is a fairly strong character who is more than capable of standing up for herself, but overall doesn’t have a whole lot of personality other than having a good heart.

But a weak love story does little to drag this movie down. I’ve spoken little of the film’s cinematography but there are many beautiful and expertly crafted shots. I loved the way that the shadows of the Cobra Kai loom large behind Daniel as he hurries to ride his bike home without being pummeled at the beginning of the film. And all of the shots from the beach contain stunning shots of water and sun. But the reall winner is incredibly smartly crafted script that refuses to overplay its action. In fact, there is really little action throughout the film, which makes the ending karate tournament montage set to “You’re the Best Around” a genuinely exciting sequence. Overall, its emphasis on character-building scenes over muscle-building training sequences help this to rise above the crappy movie this could have been. I was not expecting to be brought to tears by The Karate Kid, but with one of the all-time great characters in Mr. Miyagi, it’s hard not to be won over. Don’t fear the hype, this movie really is one of the best around.

***3/4

(3 and 3/4 stars out of 4)

[rkchwev-blog]

retro future - triple h  outfit | line distribution dance: ( 00:06 - 2:40 ; 3:00 - 3:20 )

there was a lot about everything leading up to this performance that put vernon at unease.

it all began on the first day. just from hearing the names of the two that he was going to work with, he could already sense the danger that this would put him in if he was to not be careful. he was paired with two amazing dancers. there would be no getting out of it this week.

he was going to have to dance.

that was something that never left the back of his mind. he was going to be put in a position that he was not totally comfortable in and depending on how well he did could potentially send him home if they ended up in the bottom three. if he had thought that he was nervous about the previous performances, he could really feel his anxiety building up now. even though kenta seemed like a really nice guy -- if not a bit exuberant -- and jungeun seemed more down to earth, vernon knew right away that he was going to be on alert the entire week. 

it was going to get exhausting and fast especially in that practice room.

from the very first day, vernon knew that there were going to be problems.

he and kenta had arrived early but even earlier before them was jungeun who was ready and raring to get to nova it seemed because she aspired to be a part of the company and vernon could see right away just what a distraction working in the room with another team would pose. he’d heard so much about kenta and his bandmates being inseparable the entire competition and from the hug that kenta near sprinted into just to go see daniel, vernon could already see the very first steps towards a lack of focus. maybe he was extra sensitive but he knew how crucial this all was and he couldn’t help but to worry right off the bat.

plus there was yeji.

daniel was her cousin, sure, but this jinyoung guy... he’d seen him perform and he did well and he knew yeji could be so damn friendly sometimes and he knew just trying to keep his eyes off of her was going to prove to be yet another challenge he would have to take into consideration while practicing here.

why couldn’t they just have had their own practice rooms?

but he controlled his face, the years of lead acting experience paying off as he wore a complacent and cordial smile to greet the others, his eyes pausing very briefly on each of them as he did not allow himself to stare at her for too long. he couldn’t avoid the cameras and with them recording everything, he didn’t have the energy to try to pretend that what he felt wasn’t there because what he felt for her was so goddamn strong that it was suffocating and now that he knew for sure that she was also his, he felt like his heart would explode every time he looked at her. so he would make every effort to avoid the other team, not just for his own sanity, but to keep kenta focused.

their first talks about the song seemed to go really well and though there weren’t too many that he was familiar with when it came to song that could suit them all that also wouldn’t be something that would stifle them or be overly complicated for him, jungeun’s suggestion sparked something within all of them that instantly put them on the same page. something chic. something charismatic. something sexy. it was something that he was sure he could pull off no problem and from kenta’s exclamations, he was sure the other male felt comfortable as well. though it was her song choice, jungeun did express concern about the sexiness of the song being something she wasn’t used to, he expressed confidence that she would be able to do it with some practice.

especially after he saw the dance. they would definitely need chemistry to pull that off but even above that he saw that he would need a lot of practice but he had a met a team that worked well together despite differences. they were great dancers but he couldn’t dance to the same degree despite all of his nightly dance lessons throughout the week. kenta could sing pretty decently but his english wasn’t what the song needed. jungeun had the power of her voice but the rap parts she needed to emphasize she was lacking. he helped them just as much as they helped him and he helped himself as well.

the dance was nothing for them. it was still kind of surprising seeing two dancers pick up choreography that easily and being able to execute it with such precision and comfort that it kind of ignited something within him. he didn’t want to be the one to hold them back during the performance. the rap he was in charge of was quite frankly light work fro him. it was about the delivery and he had confidence that there was not a single bone in his body that would ever lead him to fuck up on his delivery. it was what he specialized in. so the majority of his practice was spent on the dance. whether he was practicing with kenta who had even learned parts of jungeun’s moves to assist with his practices or practicing with jungeun herself while kenta was off at his morning classes, vernon threw himself completely into the dance and he was sharply focused upon it, repeating his routine over endlessly in the mirror at every opportunity he got. he even worked with his dance teacher at the hagwon to tighten moves that he was not comfortable with or was struggling to execute as neatly as they needed to be particularly in the dance breaks before linking back up with the other two and trying to match what he learned with them so that they could dance in sync.

his limbs were heavy and his muscles were on fire but he didn’t give up... even with all the distractions. kenta just spent so much time goofing off it felt.. even during their practices together he would joke and laugh about or overexaggerate and vernon knew it was to make him feel more comfortable but it was simply a personality difference. they expressed their outgoing ways totally differently and kenta’s energy that was bursting at the seams was admittedly hard for vernon to keep his patience with. but he contained it for the sake of the team. he smiled to appease the other male so as not to ruin his mood like that jinyoung guy seemed to keep doing but when the three of them were focusing on their performance in the mirror, vernon couldn’t help but notice the way kenta seemed to turn his head to the other team any time criticism was tossed daniel’s way. it was getting to be too much. it wasn’t like daniel was a child or something. maybe this was what people were talking about when it came to these band members... but he tried not to think about that. despite this... kenta had been a big help.

what did not help was the night was unable to get out of work. catering they said but they had him working delivery as usual and though he desperately wanted to leave that night and return to practice with the other two, he was trapped waiting for any orders to come into the restaurant. so he practiced on his own. in the mirror in the break room, he took the lessons that he filmed with his teacher and the pointers that kenta had given and did his best to focus solely on the dance breaks. they were what he felt was the most important as they felt much like the climax of the song since the chorus was relatively laid back. when they were all able to meet back up again and kenta announced his singing lesson from sungwoon -- yet another band member -- it was clear they were working their bodies to the bone.

he didn’t know why jungeun had started to laugh. she had started looking really tired and extremely exhausted lately. it was what prompted him to bring food to practice for them to eat and for everyone else in the room so as not to seem rude but... her laughter startled him. but it was a laughter that he knew the closer he looked at her. it was just so much. she was struggling with the sexiness of the song. they hadn’t even heard kenta sing and, well, kenta always seemed so distracted... and this fucking dance. he knew the moves but his body just had to keep up with two amazing dancers. what the fuck was he even doing dancing like this anyways? his own laughter started, his hands coming up through his hair, head shaking as he just gave way to the exhaustion he was feeling. soon kenta joined in and. it was like they were laughing together but they weren’t and it sounded like laughter but it wasn’t. it took a while for it die down and when it did, vernon gathered himself and looked at the only two people who truly knew the boat that they were in.

“you guys wanna catch a movie?”

the perfect way to destress. it was amazing being able to relax if not just for a few hours, kenta suggesting shopping for their outfits -- an activity they all loved to do -- so that they stayed productive and vernon made it a point to bring up his sponsors as well for any clothing or accessories they might need that they couldn’t find. it was a very enjoyable trip. he felt as if he got to know a lot more about the two of them and the more comfortable he got with them the more he started to abandon the sense of dread that seemed to pile up. his muscles didn’t even seem to hurt that bad anymore and what he was understanding as kenta being overexuberant was just his personality and though vernon accepted it, he still felt the need to speak on it while things were going good.

and so he did.

he didn’t want kenta to feel awkward and after the time they spent together, he was hoping that kenta would understand where he was coming from with his frustrations. he didn’t want to start their newly invigorated practice off with his complaints about everything so he waited to see if the behavior would fix itself but things only seemed to escalate. kenta had that lost puppy look in his eyes again whenever he looked at daniel and jungeun who usually stayed quiet on the other teams apparent problem member spoke up to daniel as well and honestly... vernon was getting real sick of it.

this was time to practice and they did not have time to keep wasting on daniel.

no one understood how hard it was for him to ignore yeji. he’d never done that a day in his life. not even when they were fighting did he ignore her. he couldn’t. it was damn near physically impossible. he would look over on occasion to the other team and comment on their progress during their small breaks to use that as an excuse to see her. he could hear her voice growing immensely frustrated with daniel. maybe that also triggered him. he was upsetting her. and then kenta. and now jungeun. and this fucking dance--

he separated jungeun and her comments from daniel if not for her own image but for his own sanity and though kenta seemed relieved, he was vernons next target.

“we really need you to focus. this is getting out of hand, don’t you think? i can understand the jokes and the tricks and all that other stuff. it’s good for morale. but its only good for morale when there aren’t other things to focus on. you just seem way too distracted by whats going on over there because of daniel and your team is over here. it’s really becoming too much, kenta. daniel isn’t a child.”

maybe he was harsh but there was no way they could continue practice in this manner. not any practice that would be conducive to what they had to get done. he was perfecting his moves and moving in sync with the others as he found comfort in his dance, the muscle relief patches on his calves and biceps a clear indicator of how he was pushing his body to be able to do this and so he needed to have the same commitment from his team members.

and he was happy to see this.

jungeun seemed refreshed, the way she tackled her part coming far more happily to her and as he kept up with the dance, working hard to exercise the precision he had been practicing but keeping it loose as he had learned from kenta and his teacher, and finally they could hear kenta singing. it started to come together. their practices turned from silent dances to the music to full on live performances in preparation for the real thing. his rap was easy to practice, the gritty and stylized voice he was to use not too different from his usual rapping style and so though he had to add a huskier bass to it, he was not out of his comfort zone in his own lines allowing him to be himself as he truly wished to be. jungeun had worked on the parts they practiced together and her voice was definitely getting there as she had to drop some of the pop elements to give a more raw side and well kenta’s voice definitely pleased him after the singing lesson he got from sungwoon. they were really pulling it together.

practice started to become fun.

their chemistry began to work now that they were on the same page and while jungeun was able to find her sexiness, they were much more in sync in radiating the electricity that the original singers portrayed, the entire song groovy and sexy and just a general song that got you up and moving whether you knew that you were dancing to it or not. he kept up with them. kenta sang with no issues. jungeun shone as the sole female.

they could do this, he was finally totally confident.

--

it really felt like it had been such a long road and even beneath his stage clothes now he still wore the muscle relief patches on his calves and they moved from his forearms to his biceps to instead focus on a different area, the comfort of his clothes and the strain he put on his muscles to make this dance work something he was fortunate enough to stretch out before their performance so that he could feel at ease. he wasn’t worried about his rap. he never was. it was a part of him. and now... he finally wasn’t worried about his dance. in fact... he was really starting to like this dancing shit.

“hello, we’re triple threat!”

their greeting rang out that they had practiced, his usual greeting forgone for the sake of the team and he wore a smile as he couldn’t help his usual comment before the performance. “it’s about to funky.”

he took his position as he was so very used to grabbing at this point, front and center, his head starting off down at first until the first beats of the music brought him to life. if there was one thing he felt more comfortable doing than rapping, it was acting. it was what he spent a good portion of his life doing and with lead role experience came a comfort in portraying who he was to be in front of the camera. charisma came to him naturally and what he was skilled in doing was concentrating it. though they had practiced the whispering and moans jokingly at times, these would set the mood for the song and it came from enunciation and an in-your-face sexy charisma. he had never been someone to profess being insecure about his looks.

he knew he was good looking and it was time to really push that with his newly acquired skillset.

his head rolled with ease as he leaned on kenta, his elbow rested upon the others shoulder, his eyes smoldering as he found the camera -- something he was starting to be able to notice in the red dots on the cameras mounted around the stage -- and he wore a smile that was particularly devoid of the innocence he had shown with sia. a hand pressed into his pocket, he stepped forward with pressuring confidence, his fist hitting the air on each beat before he jumped into position, his hand rested on his groin as he rocked his shoulder powerfully to his lyrics. the start of the song set the mood and he needed it to be strong coming from him. 

his legs alternated sharply, the muscles from his practice and his years on bmx giving him the ability to attain the strength to do so before his arm swung round and the thrust was exhaled with the same intensity as the ad-lib he was in charge of, his head falling back only just so as he sucked the air in to release before he slid out of his position on the side. his words were concentrated, the whispers filled with a sexual tension that translated well with his deeper voice, his intent to draw the listener into the world that he was now living in. jungeun took over the center and he focused on the same sexy ease that he had practiced for so long, keeping the precision as tight as he could to match the others as he could feel the muscles he had strained in order to achieve the sharpness needed moving beneath the hidden relief patches.

he’d worked for this and it showed.

he rocked his chest forward in deep rolls before he stood back up, reclaiming his spot in the center as though it were his for the taking, the others hands coming upon his body as he repeated his lines and visibly let his chest rise and fall treated with the same sticky temptation directed to all of those that listened, not a moment given to them that his eyes weren’t positively scorching during that entire segment. he was much more comfortable being sexy than he was being cute and it definitely stood out. he posed behind kenta as he had his moment to shine as well, his eyes cast down to the ground as he noted the seriousness with which the other male took his part now which was so different from their practices. he was grateful. and the way jungeun owned her sexiness as she strutted about the stage, projecting her voice as the only female voice in the entire song... he was definitely proud.

he rolled his neck behind the other male, his hand coming up as he turned the direct finger and the direct eye contact out towards the crowd, stepping with dauntless confidence towards the center, his lines coming out with his trademark precision despite the slightly different enunciation on the need to keep the words tight yet bendy as they melded into the melody which was very groovy and loose. he hit his moves just as he had practiced. leg, hand, hand, chest. the deep breathing of his chest exaggerated for the visible effect before in the beat in between his next lines he swung his leg in to face the crowd sideways, two jumps and another swing of his foot in twirling his hand round the other before his arm came up to press his finger to his mouth as he rolled into a body roll that extended down his taller frame.

he could feel himself remembering the moves as though he were back in the dance practice studio in nova and in his hagwon, a certainty about his moves as though he were beside his dance coach or kenta instilling a confidence in him to execute them even if they might not have been as professionally done as kenta or his coach but that was what made the dance his own. not everyone danced the same and after countless hours of looking at himself in the mirror he knew for sure that he when he found the camera again, his profile shown off as mischievous sexiness entered his eyes, the same chic look on his face unwavering, he knew that his expressions were on point. 

he quickly took his spot to give jungeun the center, her voice ringing out from behind him as he clasped his hands in front of him, head down slightly, his gaze rising again as he jumped back to come in tighter to kenta as he could hear jungeun approaching from behind him, his hand and eyes rising as though looking at phone that he held that she promptly discarded of. he turned and moved in sync with kenta, the quick tightness of the moves certainly felt as what he had worked at in the muscles beneath his calves relief patches drew tight to attain what he needed to keep up with the other, the second half of their small duet easier as he snapped each pumping motion of his arms, allowing him to release and slide into the next move, his pose snatched as he let the tension release. the rocking footwork was not too different from what he executed with sia except instead of forward, he moved to the side to get to his position, kentas energy something that he fed off of as he could feel the fun in the song that they all had felt which gave the chic raise of his brow that he gave the cameras a playful arch to it from behind the other as his hands clapped. the playfulness all but disappeared as the sexy charisma entered his eyes once more, his arm coming out as he spoke his lines as a half whisper / half growl on the emphasis of sexy, his foot snapping as he looked at the camera directly, walking off to his spot, spinning off round kenta who he made brief eye contact with.

the chorus was by far the easiest part of the dance, the simple confident and charismatic rocking of their hips unashamed as his arms swung in the simple yet fun groove of the song, the lyrics repeating with only pauses allowed for the adlibs that he also was a part of, his head tilted back slightly as he looked down the at the judges instead of the camera, his hands coming forward as he snapped them into place after jungeuns line, a smirk coming upon his features as their feet alternated. his arms swung round into each other as they spun, his body rolling as he took over his adlib, beckoning the camera with his fingers before falling back into the chorus. they moved as one and performed the lyrics as one, their sync shining the most in the chorus as they all came back together for the second verse.

jungeuns arms came up as he turned his eyes towards her, a hand coming to her shoulder blades very lightly, the chemistry they had worked so hard to attain while kenta was out something that was now of the most importance to be portrayed. he rolled out of her hold, his lyrics taut as he let his profile shine in his body roll before he turned his gaze fearlessly to the camera, taking his grooving steps forward to his position, leaning into the slow arch as he and kenta practiced, jungeun spinning free to claim the stage as her own. he spun up into his position to face her from the distance, starting into the more enunciated dance moves as though he were a predator taunted by its prey, his enunciation matching the words as he rapped them with deep tension that suited the song, the same eyes he wore at the beginning of the song focused solely on her as he circled round, crouching down just to rise with her as her body roll lifted them both, his eyes moving to look at the back of her head so as not to stare at her body as he conveyed a barely tempered desire for her as though he’d devour her where she stood, letting her lead him for a few steps before he was turned back to his own position for the pre-chorus, his leg rocking with the released tension that had built up from his moves with jungeun as he delivered his line following kentas.

they moved into position again with one another, syncing up once more and as he danced his moves which were similar to those in the very beginning that he had as his first solo, his eyes snatched up the camera once more and they were cast into the chorus once more. the same way he had performed it before a clear indicator that he had practiced it that way hundreds of times at this as it was near identical except this time he moved forward at the end for the infamous dance break.

this called for a precision that he had worked at in the mirrors at work, in the mirrors at the hagwon with his coach, with kenta, with jungeun, on his own. he knew that these upcoming parts would be the ones that would make or break them and show the hard work he was willing to put in for the performance and he wasn’t going to let that go to waste. it wouldn’t look as professional as kenta or jungeun but he had worked damn hard to make sure he didn’t miss a beat and he matched their execution in energy. he let jungeun come forward as he and kenta took their steps back, the ease that he was able to pull of the moves solely thanks to the work of so many people and tireless hours of practice when and wherever he could, the swaying of their hips not unlike that of the chorus as he snapped his fingers out before they spun into the final dance break that would work the muscles that were now being tended to.

but he never let it show. as kentas arm came up around his shoulder and their voices carried into the second breakdown, their bodies rocking with thorough enjoyment as they grooved to the song, he could genuinely feel it as he let a smile shine through as he met kenta’s eyes because even if the others energy had been a lot during practice, it really helped to energize and motivate him on the stage so even though his muscles might be tired lately, he let himself go into the last chorus as he and jungeun took over the final repeating notes, kenta’s voice coming above theirs for the more prominent lyrics. his shoulders rocked and his head snapped, his hair slightly messing as the beat dropped and the dance really started to pick up. seeing both of them so up close working their hardest motivated him to work his hardest and though he could feel it as his calves would tighten and loosen with the moves and his biceps stretched to extend his arms to the same extent that they did, the adrenaline he felt was far too much for him to show the aches or even feel them as he belted out the talking lyrics with jungeun, his arm rolling confidently as he rolled into the move to turn his body round, his body dropping slightly with the beat as they all found their position for the final pose, the last bit of execution in sync as they had worked for it. and maybe his chest rose and fell a lot harder than theirs did and maybe he could now feel the soreness of his calves and a slight new soreness in his thighs but what he didn’t feel was the anxiety that he had felt going into this.

this dancing shit was really fun.

[hyojinrk-archived]

MGA 5 EPISODE 4: INTERVIEW with kim hyojin, #5020

mentions: @danielxrk​, @rksakura​, @rkseunghun​, @rkmason​, @rkkenta​​, @rksihyeon, @ryujinrk

ruffling his hair with a concerned sigh, hyojin can’t help but have his gaze drift back to daniel, the seat next to him now empty with hyojin’s departure to the interview room. he wonders if he’s holding up okay, because he looks not only devastated, but with a severe need for a cheering up. 

no matter, hyojin would talk to him once he got back. but for now... he had to go through another interview.

what did you think of the results last week?

“harsh as always,” hyojin says with a soulless laugh, before his eyes widen and he covers his mouth, “am i allowed to say that on broadcast? it’s just shocking how tough the ceos can be when deciding on who passes and who doesn’t. that’s what i mean -- i don’t think they’re out to get us, or anything, but it’s just surprising sometimes. my heart hurts for them.”

he says this, thinking of daniel and minhyun, wondering if the worry he felt was even a fraction of what daniel was feeling right now. that man seemed to have the world on his shoulders.

how was it like working with daniel?

“it was great!” smiling his signature shy, albeit soft smile, hyojin’s eyes curl up into pretty half moons before he elaborates, stating, “daniel is really creative with what he does, so it’s interesting hearing what he has to say and what he thinks. i don’t think he gets enough credit for it, honestly, but he’s quite talented. although...”

hyojin frowns a little, remembering the hesitation daniel seemed to have with him every time he said something new. “sometimes, i think, even though he’s really strong in certain aspects, he’s not confident enough offstage. onstage, his charisma is really impressive, but when we’re talking out things and planning, i think he sometimes lets the bad comments online get to him. i hope more netizens show him love and support now that they’ve seen our performance.”

how do you think you did?

”i think we managed to show our good sides well this time around. it’s different this time, right?” he says, asking the interviewer, although it’s more of a rhetorical question, “we spent a lot of time on the details and refining everything so that it’d sound good, and i think it turned out well in the end. i hope we manage to get some compliments this time around.”

were there any performances you liked?

”oh, definitely! i know i mention her every week, but... sakura and kenta’s performance was really nice -- i think they chose a really cool song, and it’s multicultural. very smooth. as for minho and seunghun -- my soulmate,” he says affectionately, “they also did great. the reversal from one type of sexiness to another type of sexiness was really wow!” speaking the last word in english, he nods, finishing up his comments.

which duo do you think complemented each other the most?

“that’s a tough question.” thinking, hyojin offers, “maybe sia and her partner? sia does a really good job of meshing well with the people she performs with, so i think her and ryujin had good chemistry.”

who from those eliminated last episode do you think will return?

“hm.. maybe jinyoung-ssi and jackson-ssi? they’re both really good singers, so i think they could do well. everyone deserves another chance, though.”

with that, hyojin adds, more as a final comment overall than anything else, “i hope you weren’t too tough on daniel. he’s had a long day.” he says it a little absentmindedly, thinking back to daniel’s sad expression throughout the rest of the performances after sungwoon and eunji made a mistake with timing, and his even more troubled expression after coming back from the interview.

maybe he’ll drop by with some tea next time, check in with his new friend to make sure he’s holding up okay after this. fingers crossed.

[rkxsungwoon-blog]

☆ MGA5 EPISODE THREE ; JULY 11 #5008 HA SUNGWOON ; interview

once again, it feels like sungwoon barely has a chance to catch his breath after the performances before one of the mnet staff members call his name for the interviews. much like last week and the one before it, he’s ushered into prep first; the stylists on hand touch up his face and reapply the makeup that had worn off sometime during the day. they fix his carefully styled hair too (it’d gone awry during his stage with jaemin), and his favorite staff member is kind enough to compliment him on his new hair color.

sungwoon is quick to credit kenta for the success, since the last time he attempted purple was a disaster. with kenta’s help, he more or less managed to achieve the look he was going for. “no special reason for it,” he says, when the stylist teases him about wanting to look nice for a certain someone? she doesn’t believe him, but sungwoon insists that he just needed to change things up for one. “the certain someone didn’t even comment on it yet,” he adds in a stage whisper, before throwing the stylist a wink and a wave as he’s directed to the room for his post-performance interview.

it’s weird how normal this is starting to feel. the camera doesn’t faze him any longer, neither does the interviewer with her list of prepared questions. sungwoon greets her politely and asks how the cake recipe he gave her last week went over (well, apparently) before they get down to business. and business in this case means answering some difficult questions, as always, though sungwoon resolves to keep his answers brief this time.

what were your thoughts on last week’s results? did you feel the judges were being fair?

sungwoon taps his chin with a finger, deep in thought. for a predictable question, the answer to it is surprisingly hard to arrive at. “i think the eliminations made sense for the most part,” he begins slowly. “the judges’ criticisms seemed harsh, but ultimately, they know what they’re looking for. if you don’t manage to impress, then isn’t it better for them to rip the bandaid off early and let you know?”

privately, there are decisions sungwoon doesn’t agree with. moonbok’s departure, for one, still sits uneasily with him. joohyun’s elimination is a deeper, personal hurt, but one he can see the reason in even if he doesn’t like it. at the end of the day, he feels like trying to predict the judges’ decisions is a futile exercise, but trying to argue them is even more so. the best any of them can do is live with their pronouncements and do the best with what’s left.

“oh, but the top three in each category were well deserved, in my opinion. mason’s win—“ he pauses and tilts his head to the side. “can we call it that? but him being named the best rapper was no surprise. yeji has always stood out as a good dancer, so i wasn’t shocked at her being named the best in her skill either. and i’m a fan of heejin’s voice and the versatility she showed as a performer last week, so i’d have to agree with her as the best of the singers too.”

he’d hoped to hear his own name within the top three, but the fact that he didn’t only means sungwoon needs to try harder to improve and stand out. he takes it as a criticism, a note for future improvement. disappointment is an emotion only worth indulging in when you can channel it into something productive, and for sungwoon, it drives him to hone his skills further.

“and…” the elephant in the room, maybe. he made a personal vow to talk less about empty enigma during his interviews, but this seems too important not to mention. “i was relieved daniel’s gambit paid off. i thought switching from singing to rap was a risky move, but he knew what he was doing. i’m happy we get to stay in this competition together for a while longer.”

when you heard the challenge this week involved duos, was there anyone you immediately wanted to work with?

“oh man, a couple of people.” rubbing the back of his neck, sungwoon attempts to keep it brief. “obviously, i really wanted to work with minhyun or daniel. we have experience performing together and we’re attuned to one another. it’s easier to plan a stage like this when you’re used to sharing ideas and are mostly on the same wavelength.” working with either of them would’ve allowed sungwoon to skip the awkward ‘getting used to each other’ part of the week and jump straight into things.

“for vocalists, i think heejin or yuri would’ve been my choices to work with; both have voices i personally like a lot, so getting the chance to sing with them would’ve been great.” jeonghan would’ve been another one of his choices based on skill alone, but the man himself is… not empty enigma’s biggest fan—at least, that’s the impression sungwoon gets. “as for rappers, i think everyone wants to work with mason?” if not for skill, then for the screentime alone. “but changbin or sakura would’ve been my other picks. i feel like we could’ve pulled together a good performance.” he neglects to mention any dancers since sungwoon doesn’t even know how that collaboration would pan out.

your assigned duo partner was na jaemin, however. how was it like working with him?

how honest is too honest? as much as sungwoon wants to claim things fell into place perfectly from the beginning, he knows it isn’t true, and it feels like diminishing all the hard work they put into their performance to pretend like they didn’t struggle. “i only vaguely knew of jaemin in previous rounds,” he admits finally. “and when our pairing was first announced, i was pretty anxious. i didn’t know if we’d be able to work well or not. and admittedly, some of my fears were valid—i mean, we definitely clashed in the beginning. we both have strong opinions when it comes to music and we’re stubborn enough not to back down when we feel passionately about something. so that much was… new, and something we had to work through fast.”

he pauses and bites his lip before continuing. “i think it’s a good thing to have a partner who cares as much about putting together a good performance as you do. with jaemin, i never doubted his commitment or his drive for a second. we worked out our misunderstandings pretty quickly, and from then on, it was all about our stage. he did the arrangement on top of working on the rap, you know? and not only is he just that good, but i’ve also witnessed firsthand how he never settles and strives to reach perfection. that’s amazing.”

his cheeks turn pink; sungwoon is gushing, but he wants to express his admiration for his partner as clearly as possible. “i’m proud to have shared a stage with him,” he finishes. “and he’s officially one of my top picks in this competition now. if you have taste and want to support talent, make na jaemin one of your top picks too!”

how do you think you did today?

sungwoon isn’t sure how he did, to be honest. when he was on stage, he felt like he had the world at his fingertips. off stage, the doubts began creeping in a lot earlier than they normally do. maybe because his and jaemin’s survival both hinge on their performance. if they’re lacking in any way, they’ll both be punished for it. and as the hyung in this partnership, sungwoon is required to take responsibility for their failures. “we had fun on stage, and that’s really all i can say,” he grins, ignoring the churning in his stomach. “i hope for jaemin’s sake that our intent came across in our performance. he’s a talented kid who has much more to show.”

were there any performances you liked?

“i thought jinyoung and jeonghan did very well,” sungwoon responds. the song they performed was one of his favourites, and their chemistry onstage was one of the best of the day. “sia and vernon were cute together as well. oh, and sakura and ryujin had a exciting performance, in my opinion.” he wants to mentioned heejin & daniel’s band remix, or the way kenta and taeyang absolutely killed it with their stage, but sungwoon’s working on sounding less biased.

were there any performances you didn’t like?

“unfortunately, i don’t think hyejoo and youngjae’s performance was to my taste.” sungwoon commends the effort, but it wasn’t a stage he cared for in particular. it comes down to some questionable decisions on their part for him, but he’s sure with a different song choice and stage, they would’ve done perfectly fine. “but overall, i thought the caliber of performances was pretty high this week.”

which duo do you think complemented each other the most?

“wouldn’t that be suwoong and yukhei?” he says immediately, the duo in question popping into his mind as soon as the interviewer finishes speaking. “they have similar… vibes? energy? i think they match each other really well!” they genuinely seemed to like each other, which is always nice to see. “aside from that, i thought jinyoung and jeonghan were a partnership that ended up making a ton of sense, like i could see them as an actual act. yeji and junhee were also a powerful, appropriately-matched duo.”

was there anyone you think that brought their partner down?

“i don’t think that’s for me to say.” without knowing what goes on behind the scenes in any partnership, sungwoon is reluctant to comment. “but i will say that mason and nakyung were… unexpected? not necessarily in a bad way; i just didn’t expect to see them paired together.” he’ll leave it at that for now.

is there anyone you are certain will move onto the next phase of the mgas?

“last week’s psychic predictions did really well, so i bought myself a lottery ticket on my way home.” sungwoon chuckles as he thinks (with some pride) how his picks all moved on in the competition. “oh, but i didn’t win the lottery though, so i’m not quite on that level yet.” it gets tougher and tougher to be certain about who will advance with every week, and even his self-proclaimed sixth sense/third eye won’t give him any hints. sungwoon feels like his picks are a shot in the dark. “daniel and heejin,” he says finally. “heejin was named best singer last week, and she and daniel did a unique arrangement, so i would be… surprised if they didn’t immediately advance.”

is there anyone you are certain will be eliminated today?

i just hope it’s not us, he wants to say. instead, sungwoon shrugs. “anything can happen in this point of the competition.”

with that, sungwoon thanks the interviewer and the cameraman for their time before returning to his seat. not for the first time, he wishes he could reach over and grasp one of his friends’ hands so they can ride out the upcoming eliminations together but—

nothing like a duo round to drive home the fact that ultimately, sungwoon’s fighting alone here.

[sieben9]

“the garden of forking paths” impressions

{Quick request to anyone reading: I’m watching OUaT for the first time, and I want to avoid spoilers. So, if you want to discuss something spoilery, I’d be grateful if you could start a new post for that. Thank you!}

Today on Once Upon a Time: Resist!

The new alliance against Belfrey is taking some (very) tentative steps to ruin her day, and in the flashback, something very similar is happening. Only with better organisation and a lot more leather.

please understand that this is the opposite of me complaining

Also, while I liked this episode well enough, the last two minutes or so kind of stole the whole entire show. Just saying.

We finally get some villain motivation!

And it is depressing as hell!

Yes, it also makes Belfrey immediately more interesting, but just… dead child. That’s dark. And apparently, Ella is in some way responsible for that. I assume it’s along the lines of snow being “responsible” for Daniel’s death, but she clearly still blames herself. Enough that one Tremaine offers that terrible deal, she’s ready to take it and become a murderer, rather than asking for help.

This scene also works on another level, in that it shows how well Tremaine knows Ella and knows which buttons to push to make her cooperate. It’s unsettling in a way that’s different from the direct “do this or everyone dies” ultimatum.

The fact that Ella agrees shows more than anything how incredibly alone she has been, and for a very long time. She doesn’t even think to ask for help, because she’s certain that she doesn’t deserve it. And even if she did, who would help her? Nobody ever has so far.

I think that’s why Henry has such trouble getting through to her. It’s hard to believe that someone only has your best interest in mind, despite barely knowing you, when the world so far just been horrible to you. Even Tiana and her resistance never did anything to help her, and citing “not enough evidence” seems late just a tiny bit of a lame excuse.

And it’s all the more reason why loved Regina coming in at the last moment to stop Ella from doing something she won’t be able to take back. Even if Ella doesn’t know the details, it’s clear that Regina’s advice comes from hard-earned experience. She knows exactly what she’s talking about, and she’s not willing to let someone else walk down that path without at least offering them away out.

(I also have wonder what might be going through Regina’s head, here. Because Ella’s situation, despite some superficial similarities with her own past, is much closer to Snow’s side of their story. I don’t really have a line of argument here, it’s just something I like to think about.)

A very similar situation arises between Jacinda and Roni, too, and it’s a great example of the thing the modern-day plotline does best this episode; the actual  plot itself is OK-ish, but the moments between characters stand out. Each of them makes me care more about these characters, even though I know they are cursed and not entirely themselves.

The modern-day story does good things, too, not least of them making the characters appear like real people that I care about. Even if they’re all cursed and not really themselves.

A short but effective scene in this vein was the one between Jacinda and Sabine. It established the stakes for the episode (more on that later), and it showed that these two are truly friends, not just roommates who mostly get along with each other. This also nicely parallels with the flashback, where we finally get to see Tiana in an actual speaking role. I think the modern-day plot is giving us him still how this relationship will develop in the flashback.

(And in an unrelated question: does anyone have the ship name for them? Look, I love me some glass believer, and these two are wonderful as friends, but also... ::gestures helplessly::)

Back with our conspirators, I giggled about Henry being research guy (look, Belle isn’t around, you’ll just have to make do), but maybe Rogers shouldn’t be the eye on the street either, because he cannot lie. At all.

Actually, as I said in the post that tumblr ate (seriously, I swear I posted this while watching and I cannot find the thing for the life of me), nobody on this show can lie for shit. None of them. And when they do, they only ever get away with it, because everybody else is crap at lying, too, and have no idea how to spot it. The only reason Rumple’s lies ever work is that he is the only one with a decent poker face. He’s still bad at lying, he just doesn’t telegraph it!

And speaking of Rumple/Weaver (please, show, help me out here): I am about 60% sure that he’s working against Belfrey, but please don’t ask me what his endgame is, because I just do not know. Right now, I mostly feel reminded of that season 1 exchange with Emma. I don’t know if he’s working with Belfrey or against her. Probably diagonally, or something. And yes, I’ll keep working on that, thank you.

look at that smug lil’ shit, though

The whole thing with the corrupt building official seemed a bit... well, it’s either a waste of time or brilliant foreshadowing, and I won’t know until later. Because on its face, it didn’t show me much that I didn’t already know. Rogers has a strong moral compass, Weaver doesn’t, and he’s playing his own game.

OK, unpopular opinion time! (Maybe)

I loved that Jacinda burned those petitions.

No, wait, hear me out! Not because I thought “yes, petitions are stupid anyway” or “yes, this is the right thing to do!” I absolutely think it was wrong of her. It was a moment of weakness, and it was presented as such. But it was also honest to her character. At the beginning of the episode, she tells us what her priorities are. It’s not fighting against her stepmother, it’s getting her daughter back. Being apart from Lucy is her worst-case scenario and it’s killing her. So when Belfrey offers her everything she once, plus a good place for her child to live, free of worries about rent (which obviously occupy a lot of her time right now)… I don’t know, Jacinda, as she has been portrayed so far, is not the person who would just turn that offer down. She has a deeply selfish streak when it comes to her daughter, and I think it’s one of the things that makes her interesting.

Of course, she then realises that in doing so she has alienated Lucy, and disappointed her deeply.

<SADLUCY>

And that is what makes her realise that if she is going to help with this, she cannot just think of herself. Lucy expects her mum to be a hero, and I think this is the point where Jacinda realises that she herself also wants to be one. And all of that culminates in the heartfelt if a little cheesy speech near the end. (Also, I will totally admit that I loved seeing the community come together against Belfrey in this way. Look, sometimes you just want some heartwarming fluff, no strings attached.)

Compared to all of that, Lucy finding that bit of the glass slipper together with Henry seemed almost like an afterthought. Though I do love how Henry has basically already adopted her, and quite independently from his feelings for her mother. My guy, have such excellent news for you. Of course, then the end of the episode happens, and…

please do not with your face, sir

That was evil. That was so not OK, Belfrey, I don’t even know where to start. And you know what? This won’t magically get better once he gets his memories back, because this grief and heartbreak will still have happened. I think it’s sometimes easy to think that the curse-memories aren’t real and therefore don’t count, but the emotions people feel due to these memories still are. I know the show never really goes into this, but this stuff still changes your entire brain chemistry. Even when he wakes up and knows it as fake, Henry will always live with the trauma of grieving for his dead wife and child, even though they never existed.

I don’t know, it’s just really messed up and I wanted to get into it a little.

And going off that graveyard scene… holy crap, that stinger! There’s a lot to unpack, starting with “clearly, Tremaine’s policy on magic is less a rule and more a very loose guideline.”

Also, Belfrey seems to know who she is and might just be the person who cast the curse, after all. I remain unconvinced because if it were that easy, we would have seen her do it by now, but she’s back on the list of suspects.

And speaking of suspect things:

Wooooow.

I mean. There is some capital-H History here. And whatever happened between these two, they’re both still pissed. Probably for different reasons. The fact that Belfrey (or Tremaine, really) basically goes to her for advice, no matter how much she dresses it up as a demand, suggests some kind of mentor/student relationship gone awry.

After a little brainstorming session with @idesignedthefjords, we narrowed the woman with the enormous hair in Belfrey’s “tower” down to either Rapunzel or the weird witch who thought a newborn was a reasonable price to ask for a couple of vegetables. (The latter of which would beg the question what, precisely, happened to Rapunzel)

Then again, this is Once, so she could be either, both, or someone completely different. My vote is for the mom in The Juniper Tree, because my vote is always for more mentions of that particular wtf-ery. (Seriously, google that if you don’t know what it is.)

So, Tremaine is not actually interested in keeping the curse a secret. Quite the opposite, in fact. She needs true belief in magic to wake up/reanimate her daughter, and getting it will destroy the person she takes it from.

I love this. So much. Because it lends a whole new layer of tension to the curse-breaking plot. Yes, of course I want all these people to become their true selves again, but I don’t want Tremaine to profit from that. Especially not if it hurts one of the people have already come to like. I am really conflicted, and I love it.

To come back to the topic of the curse for a moment… what’s really missing right now is a possible motive. If Tremaine is the one who cast it, then it would be because she thinks for some ungodly reason that her daughter can be revived more easily in the Land Without Magic. Which seems doubtful at best.

It could be Tower Lady, but if so, she either messed up royally or is playing a seriously complicated long game. Always a possibility, but again: motive. I need one.

There’s always the possibility that someone completely different cast it, but I doubt it was one of the heroes, and there’s just not enough information on the remaining cast to tell either way. (Technically, Rumple would qualify, but I refuse to contemplate a reality where that is the reason Belle isn’t around. That is the Hell Angst, and we are not going there, thank you very much.)

[hazyheel]

WWE Smackdown Live 6/18/19 Review

We kicked everything off with The New Day. They talked about Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship match for Stomping Ground. Big E talked about the freaky hour, but Dolph Ziggler came out to interrupt. Ziggler said that Kofi didn’t deserve to be WWE Champion, and said that he would be nothing without the New Day, and that he would be destroyed in the cage. Kingston pointed out that his whole journey started in a cage, the elimination chamber. He then said that he had to worry about Xaiver woods for the night. Ziggler said that he would destroy Woods to the point where he couldn’t help him ever again. Then he did the classic it should have been me stuff.

Grade: C. This was a classic promo between all of them, but I have gotten much more wary of the over the top Ziggler promos. I’m not a fan anymore, it’s gotten kinda annoying, and this didn’t really add anything. But they were all still okay, so I don’t want to punish it too much. 

Then we went right into Dolph Ziggler vs. Xavier Woods. The two had pretty good chemistry, but were limited to the classic TV match formula. Woods was about to win, but Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens ran down to attack the rest of the New Day. Woods hit them both with a splash, and some refs came down to clear the ringside area. At one point, they brawled on the apron, and Ziggler hit an awesome looking superkick, which Woods sold perfectly. He followed that up with a zig zag, but kept up the punishment. He tied Woods up in the ropes and nailed a superkick before getting the win.

Grade: B. Pretty good match, they have some good chemistry. Ziggler showed a far more sadistic side here, in line with his character as of late. This match actually got me more excited for the steel cage match, so I guess it did it’s job. Good stuff, and match of the night.

Backstage, B-Team and Shelton Benjamin were lined up outside of a room for Baron Corbin where he was begging people to be his referee. Benjamin really didn’t want to deal with it, but stayed anyway to get a TV paycheck, probably. The B-Team didn’t really get why they were there. As they were talking, Matt Hardy walked out of the room, referred to Shelton as Senor Benjamin and told him he was next. Funny, I like the reference. 

Then we had a Moment of Bliss, with Bayley as the guest. Bayley came out drinking Alexa’s coffee. Bayley told Cross that Bliss was just using her, and Bliss got quite irritated. She told Bliss to confront her right now if there was a problem. Bliss then told Bayley that her and everyone that she was with in NXT made her feel worthless. Bayley then pointed out that Bliss has done this same manipulation to Mickey James and Nia Jax. Bayley then called Bliss an entitled brat, and Bliss said that she was just the best. Bliss then said that Bayley peaked in NXT, so Bayley attacked her. Cross pulled Bayley off of Bliss, only for Bliss to get a shot in from behind. Cross looked horrified as they walked out.

Grade: B+. I liked this, good promo war from two wrestlers who can talk.

Backstage, Apollo Crews confronted Zelina Vega about finding Andrade. Vega distracted him a bit with flirting, which Crews wasn’t into, before Andrade attacked from around the corner. Then Chad Gable was taking notes. So Gable is taking notes on Apollo Crews, interesting. 

Then we had the B-Team vs. Heavy Machinery, with the Planet’s tag team champions on commentary. On commentary, Daniel Bryan said that they didn’t take Heavy Machinery seriously because they treat everything as a joke. At one point, Bo Dallas was attacking Otis, but Otis still was able to keep the advantage. Heavy Machinery quickly got the win after the compacter. 

After the match, Seth Rollins showed up and beat both of the B-Team with a chair. 

Grade: B-. Inoffensive squash match. Daniel Bryan on commentary made this better. Plus I didn’t think that Rollins would be on the show tonight. 

In the parking lot, Shane McMahon talked to Zayn and Owens about Rollins’ conduct, they asked him to do something. They also complained about Kofi. So, in response, Shane booked a 2 out of 3 falls tag team match between Seth and Kofi against Sami and Kevin for the main event. Fun.

Aleister Black did his promo. It was the same that it always was. 

Then we had Shane complaining about Roman’s attack, before McIntyre said that same things, and then the Miz came out. Sorry to give such a paraphrase, but this was the same as always as well. Miz then showed a replay of Reigns’ attack on Raw. Miz made fun of Shane for being sweaty, and Shane threatened to fire anyone who aired further footage of the attack, and Miz said that he was the bosses son. They then insulted each other’s fathers, and Miz said that Shane was sucking up too much airtime, and this is one of those things where the faces say things that the fans think to get cheers. Miz then said that he blamed himself for this, because of his injury at crown jewel. Miz then said that he would be the one to put shane down. Shane then challenged Miz to a tag match, Drew McIntyre and Elias vs. Miz and any partner he could get in 10 seconds. He didn’t know what to do, but R-Truth emerged from underneath the ring, and became Miz’s partner. Shane then made it an elimination match for some reason, and the match was next. 

Grade: B. Another good promo, with a shocking inclusion of R-Truth, which was unexpected. I like that though, more Awesome Truth. And they actually were good at speaking in this segment, with Shane doing some good work with his delusions of grandeur. 

Backstage, The IIconics made fun of the Kabuki Warriors, which is a match that should happen. Paige tried to challenge them, but they refused. They then said that there was a big match at the Tokyo show next week. If they win the match, then they get a women’s title match. I’m glad that’ll happen, but my god how far Asuka has fallen. Bayley vs. Asuka on the main roster needs to happen like, now.

So then into the elimination tag match, R-Truth and the Miz vs. Drew McIntyre and Elias. This match made me remember that Truth can still go. I always forget because he is such a comedy guy right now, but he is good. Truth was beaten down, and almost got the tag to Miz, but Shane pulled him off the apron. Elias then pinned Truth, but for some reason didn’t lose the 24/7 championship, so the lower card guys chased him out of the ring. Miz then fought off Elias for a bit, until being sent into the ropes for a glasgow kiss from McIntyre. Elias then tagged out, so McIntyre hit the claymore for the win. He gave Miz another Claymore after the match.

Grade: C-. Meh match that definitely suffered from the fact that Truth didn’t lose his belt during it. He totally should have. This match should’ve had low card guys running through the ring to attack Truth for sure. Plus they just sacrificed Miz for Shane’s stuff again, when he should be the one to put Shane down, not Roman.

Backstage, Ember Moon and Carmella talked a bit about Fire and Desire, cuz they both hate them. Moon then sound Rose and Deville, and confronted them. Moon attacked them for a wild brawl backstage. God I miss Ember, she was my favorite in the women’s division in NXT. 

In the parking lot, Truth was trying to escape, but Drake Maverick, disguised as Carmella came up to him, and pinned him for the 24/7 championship, before booking it. Finally he won it.

24/7 grade: C-. I love that the 205 Live GM finally got the belt, because that story will be funny on 205 Live, but Elias should be the champion right now. He pinned Truth, with a ref present. He was screwed.

And we came to the main event, Kofi Kingston and Seth Rollins vs. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens in a 2 out of 3 falls match. Kingston hit a trouble in paradise right away on Zayn to win the first fall. The heels quickly gained control during the second fall, but when the faces got control, things got fast paced. There was an awesome point where Zayn grabbed Seth’s leg from outside of the ring, so Kingston gave him a flying clothesline. Rollins and Owens then traded superkicks and rollups, before Rollins hit the curb stomp for the win.

Grade: B-. Fine match. Again, I don’t know why this was 2 out of 3 falls. You would think it would be to give one of the losers a little victory to keep them strong, but nope. And the first fall was right away. Just weird that they did that two nights in a row.

Overall Grade: C+.

Pros: Woods vs. Ziggler; moment of bliss; Miz and Shane promo; drake maverick won the 24/7 title!

Cons: opening promo; elimination tag match; truth didn’t lose the 24/7 championship to Elias for some reason.

[lady-olive-oil]

Chapter 2

Prelude || Characters || Chapter 1 || Chapter 2

{Note: Hello everyone! I am here to bring you chapter 2 of Brown Sugah Baby. Once again like; give feedback and reblog to your heart content. Thank you all for the positive feedback, it is greatly appreciated. Let me know if you’d like to be tagged!}

Squad: @maddiestundentwritergaines

Word Count: 2,072

Warnings: None...yet

As the first 2 months of their junior year flew by; Nefe and Nattie, had to prepare themselves for a frightening event: Midterms. Midterms were every college kids worst nightmare. Especially before homecoming, yet something made them bearable: Parents Day. Parents Day was a huge event at Southern University, for the students. You can spend the whole day with your parents and show em around campus, or just chill with them for a few hours. Which meant the girls would travel back home to Miami, Florida, along with M’Baku.

“Hey Nattie! You got the dessert for the cookout right? Moms wants pecan and apple.” Walking around the store, Nefe had to make sure she got everything on the list her mom gave her.

“Yep. Both pies. Do we need ice cream too?” Nattie asked while going down the dessert aisle.” She was more than just Nefe’s best friend. She was her sister.

Nattie was officially adopted into Nefe’s family when her parents died, when she was 12. They’ve been best friends ever since. A bond that couldn’t be broken, that was strong than super glue. Growing up in Miami, Hialeah go be exact, wasn’t easy by any means. Natasha’s parents were murdered in a hit and run, while she was at school. The news put her in shock and she didn’t know what to do. So by being so close to Nefe’s family, they took her in with open arms. So parents days meant everything and more to Nattie than ever.

Once the kids were of age, Julian and Regina decided to move the family to Tallahassee for a better life and job opportunities. Nattie’s parents had set aside a growing college fund for her, so Nefe’s parents matched it. There was no way, Regina was going to let her best friends’ only child not live a better life.

“I think dad got it. We just need the ribs; hot dogs and buns. Both burgers and hot dog buns.”

Grabbing what they needed, heading towards the checkout lane, they were stopped when Melanie spotted them.

“Well lookie, lookie. It’s the trash community.” The triumphant smirk on her face shone, with the help of her two side hoes by her sides; Jordana and Stacy. Of all places to go run into them at a time like this. Yeah they grew up together and went to SU. Which meant they too went home.

“I see there’s a mirror there, Melanie. You seein your reflection while talkin out the side of your mouth?” Nattie couldn’t help but chuckle at her best friends comeback.

“Very funny. Listen, when you see M’Baku tell him to come by my dorm tonight. Comprende?”

“Or is that too much for you to understand?” Jordana enunciated each word, trying to be funny.

Nattie and Nefe looked at each other and let out a gut wrenching laugh.

“Comprende? Oh you think you funny huh? I can speak about, 4 different languages, and bitch is one of em. Don’t try me.” Nefe sucked her teeth in annoyance.

Eyeing them all up and down, Nattie scoffed and spoke up.

“Why do you even torture yourself, Melanie? No guy really sees anything with you. Oh yeah, and M’Baku wants nothing to do with you either.” Both of them moved past her, to finish their shopping.

“Then why can’t he stay away? He still loves all of  this,” Gesturing towards herself before walking away, Melanie waved goodbye. “and not a peanut shaped hoe like you.”

“Then why are his parents at our house for a Parents Day barbecue? Know your place.” Nefe waved back in a mocking tone, watching her storm off.

“Of all the Walmart’s in town, you’d think she’d have the common sense.” Nattie, scoffed heading to the car.

“Common sense isn’t common for her.” Even Nefe knew herself, that she couldn’t get M’Baku to leave Melanie alone. Sure enough it bothered her more than before.

The rest of the day was filled with laughs, love, music and food. Bonding with family was all Nefe and Nattie needed. M’Baku enjoyed the stories he heard of Nefe when she was little. His parents were there as well to embark on the festivities. The stories they shared of him when he was little, were even cuter. Nattie shared some memories of her own, mainly what it was like to have Nefe as a sister growing up.

Omari and Zola, M’Baku’s parents, are work colleagues of Julian in the medical field. They handle business over in their home country of Wakanda, but have a few businesses in the states. They formed a bond with Julian and Regina when, Omari first came to work for the local hospital. The bond stuck for the last few years.

“Regina, darling whatever you put in this gumbo it is good. Girl, you have to give me the recipe.” Zola was enamored by the dish.

“I shall. If you give me the recipe to this chicken dish from Wakanda. I need to go visit some time.” The chuckle that left the women’s lips, put a smile on both their husbands faces.

“All the food is amazing. Thank you for inviting us over, Mrs. Johnson.” M’Baku said politely, glancing over at Nefe a bit before diving into the peach cobbler that she made.

“Oh dear, you can call me Regina. We’re all family here.”

The atmosphere was warm and inviting. Just what was needed to ease the stress levels.

“Alright. Mrs. Regina.” A smile etched on his face remained there till he turned to his best friend.

“Nefe, this cobbler is bomb.” M’Baku muses in happiness and smiles at her, causing her to feel her face heat up.

Daniel, Nefe and Nattie’s older brother, glanced over at M’Baku like the over protective brother he is. Knowing damn well, he’s twice his size but won’t back down from protecting his siblings.

What was he looking at exactly? The sun dress Nefe wore clung to her like a second skin. The elegant golden yellow two piece dress, made her milk chocolate skin glow. She looked ravishing, he couldn’t look away. He did however, think about how she’d look in Jabari furs that would accentuate her curves.

“Thanks, it’s my grandmama's recipe. All the women in the family have it.”

Nattie knew exactly what was going on between them. She saw Daniel get defensive, which prompted her to kick his knee under the table.

“Ow!” He mumbled while rubbing his knee and glared at her, earning a smirk from the braided goddess.

“Well she passed it down to the right person.” Sending a subtle wink her direction, M’Baku joined her in the kitchen to help clean up. She couldn’t help but chuckle at his advances.

“Listen, imma need these two to stop flirting around us.”

“Daniel. Come on now, they’re best friends. That are blinded by said friendship, to see that they need each other more than ever.”

Diana spoke up and caused everyone at the table, to laugh. She wasn’t lying though. The chemistry was insane between the two. Upon coming back from the kitchen, Nefe eyes everyone suspiciously.

“What’s going on? Talking about us behind our back?”

“Maybe. What’s it to ya?”

Stephanie stuck her tongue out and felt Nefe ruffle her hair.

“You two flirting aimlessly. It’s cute really, because M’Baku hasn’t brought a woman home in years.” Omari, his father, spoke highly of his only son often when he and Julian get together.

“We weren’t flirting Steph. We were just talking is all.”

Nefe shrugged then looked at M’Baku, who nodded in agreement.

“Besides. She has Sean and I am kinda with Melanie.”

The tone is his voice when he said Sean’s name, struck something in both Nattie and Nefe. Yet the rest of the family just laughed. He went on with a smile and just didn’t say anything.

The rest of the night continued on without a hitch. But that little moment stayed in the back of Nefe’s head.

“I hope he’s ok. He seemed on edge a bit.” She pondered outloud as she applied her nightly face mask. Alongside her was Nattie.

“Me too. I just wish he’d talk to us more on his relationship with Melanie. He knows he’s too good for her.”

“That’s not what i'm talking about Nat. I’m referring to how he said Sean’s name. You saw his face didn't you? It looked like he wanted to kill him.”

“Uh, well I’m sure it’s nothing.” Nattie a voice went up a few octaves. Nefe knew exactly what that meant.

“Natasha Reign James, if you don’t tell me right now-“

“Ok! Ok! He overheard Sean at football practice, talking about getting with you during the summer. So he talked to me about it, I’m sorry!”

Nefe’s blood ran cold, with the news she recieved. Her breathing was cut short a tad, but she regained herself.

“Why hasn’t he killed him yet?” She wanted to know why.

“He’s waiting for you to talk to him about it. Not my place. You have to tell him Nefe, now that you know how he feels about him.”

She didn’t want to lose her best friend over some dude that he didn’t like. She had to tell him, but then again she had a thought.

“If he won’t tell me why he’s still fucking around with Melanie, then I’m not telling him why I’m messing with Sean.”

“You two are childish. Childish grown ass adults. I knew I should’ve went with T’Challa to see his mother and Shuri.” Nattie grabbed her stuff and headed to bed along with Nefe, to ease her pain. They did have to leave in the morning anyway to go go back to campus.

Later that night, M’Baku headed home with his parents and the drive to their townhouse was anything but ordinary.

”M’Baku, my darling son. You know how we feel about that Melanie girl.” Zola his mother, ever the elegant woman, spoke gently as they sights of the city sped past them.

“She’s not good enough for you and it shows in her actions. You and Nefertiti should have a go at it. She’s poised; elegant, carries herself well. All the great qualities of a future Jabari Queen.”

His father never spoke about any of the girls he brought home like he did about Nefe. It didn’t shock him that he mentioned Nefe. They always talked about her, they loved her dearly. Even her family as well.

“I know baba. I know. It’s just I’m having fun at my age and I’d rather not think about my responsibilities as future king of the Jabari right now. I’m trying to get away from Melanie to focus on myself, but the day I heard about Sean enraged me.” If anything, Nefe felt more than a friend to him. Yet he never told her that. Probably won’t now that Sean is in the picture.

He wasn’t called Great Gorilla for nothing amounts the his frat brothers. His chest heaved up and down in anger; his nostrils flared with aggravation and a flight growl burrowed within his throat. That all stopped once his mother spoke once more.

“Is he competition to you, my child?” The  tone in Zola’s voice meant that she was in queen mode.

Upon heading inside the home, M’Baku decided to stay the night and think about what his next plan was.

“To be honest, no. He competition in the slightest.” The arrogant look on his face made his parents proud. They raised a warrior to take on his challenges.  

“Then you know what you just do, my son. You haven’t told her yet right?”

“No baba, I have not. I think I’ll wait to the right moment to do so.”

“Good. This American needs to be taught about the element of surprise then.” Omari nodded and headed to bed with his wife to let their son think his plans over.

“And a surprise it shall be.” M’Baku mumbled to himself as he rested in the guest room, sighing deeply into his thoughts as he drifted to sleep.

He had a strategy to make. He is the prince of Jabari Land after all, and needed a queen upon his coronation within 2 years. Maybe his parents were right, it was time he needed to think about his future and what was best fit his coming country. He just has to get rid of some dead weight to do so.