#listen... I try to understand the dynamic with Oscar

[tapakah0]

[adventuringblind]

Offense is the best Defense

Oacar Piastri X Verstappen!Reader

Genre: angst to fluff

Request: no :’( but I’m taking them! Send theeeeem. I’m going to die without them. Jk but do feel free to flood my inbox with ideas.

Summary: Oscar is new to the grid. Meaning he’s also new to the Verstappen family dynamic. It sucks that he has to watch the girl he fell for get berated by her father. So he decides to do something about it.

Warnings: Jos Verstappen, allusions to verbal abuse, allusions to physical abuse

Notes: written in third person

Masterlist

Oscar first met her when he was in formula 2. She’d been walking around the paddock before her brothers race and right after his.

She looked like she was debating something. Frozen in time. So frozen that he literally ran into her and she hardly moved. Aside from her mouth which was rapidly spilling apologies.

He started looking for her every time the races lined up. The boy wanting her number but it always seemed like the wrong time.

When he caught her walking alone, the sun illuminating her features, he knew it was now or never.

Thus started their friendship.

He didn’t have to try with her. Even his dry sarcasm that other people hated made her snicker. They shared the latest gossip over late night video calls. She listened intently to his frustrations. In his eyes, she’s an angel.

When he signed with Alpine, he was excited to see her more. Now that he would be in the same area all the time, it would be easier.

She often found herself in the Alpine garage watching the race with him. The small touches she left on his arm when things happened made his heart melt more for her, if it was even possible.

The first time he noticed something was a bit off, was when ended a call for her. He’d been yelling in a language he didn’t understand. Then a slamming door, her rapid breath, his angry mumbling, then silence. He was aware something was going on in the Verstappen family. Everyone knew. Max has repeatedly said things his dad has done like it’s normal. Laughed about it even.

Oscar saw Max knew that not everything that happened was normal. His body usually a half step in front of his sister when their father started getting aggressive. She always celebrated Max’s race results even if he DNF’d. Her attempts at soothing her father before he got to Max in vain, but she didn’t care.

The first time Oscar caught it, he’d wanted to step in. Christian grabbing his shoulder before he could get into the Redbull garage. “I know you care, but it might make things worse for them.” He’d said. A frown on his lips.

“Isn’t there anything I can do?” He didn’t want to leave her like this.

“Be there if they need someone.”

Oscar had taken those words to heart. Making sure he was always available to her as she was to him. He held her when she needed a hug. Lent her say everything she’d wanted to say to her father.

This continued even as he got a seat with McLaren.

She was the first person he called. They celebrated by driving to where there was no light and just staring at the stars.

He didn’t know where the burst of impulsiveness came from. His lips were on hers at one point. Softer then he’d imagined. Then he was pulling away, realizing what he’d just done. He didn’t get far however, as she wrapped her hands around his and pulled him in for another.

Things changed after that. Their feelings now on the table. It was obvious they were in love and he knew it. Lando teased him relentlessly. Max shockingly congratulated him, then threatened him, followed by a plea to take care of his baby sister.

She started staying in his hotel room. The relief of not having to be around Jos as much showed in the way she carried herself. Her confidence seemed to go up. She smiled and waved at everyone. It made Oscar happy to know she was starting to feel the way he had always seen her. Perfect just the way she is.

Unfortunately, Oscar knew he wasn't going to be able to solve all her problems. Jos is still active in her life and Max's racing career. What's worse is that Jos didn't seem to like him all that much. He'd tried introducing himself only to be waved off.

It didn't make any sense to him, but if she was smiling, then so was he.

~

The next time she ran into trouble was when she came to a race in a McLaren shirt with Oscar's number on it. She had started dividing her time evenly between her brother and him.

Jos was less than happy about this. Consistently finding excuses for her to be away from the papaya team.

Both her and Max went home for the week off. Both want to see their eldest sister and her family.

When she got back to her room at her father's house, the majority of her clothes had been ripped to peices. A lovely note taped to her door reader: 'If you're not going to support this family, I won't support you.'

Max had been waiting for her to grab her things. Though he was getting annoyed with how long she'd kept him waiting. Finally, after an hour, he decided to see what was keeping her.

He made his way up to her room. The muffled sounds of tears could be heard from down the hall. He peaked his head into her door, not bothering to knock since it was halfway open.

The sight of most of your belongings being ribbed to pieces shattered him. Jos had done it before. The first time was when Victoria had her first relationship, then when Max back talked, she the youngest broke curfew by five minutes, and so on.

Max thought they were over this. Turns out he was wrong. He was down on his knees, trying to help soothe her. Her fingers clutched pictures that had been ripped to pieces. Her clothes scattered around the floor with scissor cuts through them. Anything glass or fragile had been smashed.

It took them hours to get everything clean. Max grabbed an extra bag and they packed whatever she had left into it.

"Obviously, I'm forcing you to move in now."

Max had offered it to her a few times. She always turned it down. Jos made it a point to say she would be another added distraction. As if Kelly and Penelope weren't enough already. Now, he wasn't giving her a choice. Jos didn't come and visit Max's apartment, so he knew it would be safe there.

She called Oscar that night from Monaco. He instantly knew something was wrong by the look in her eyes.

"What happened?"

"I moved into Max's apartment... kinda."

"Are you alright, love?" He was trying to be gentle. She looked so pained. She shook her head no in response.

"What do you mean by kind of? Do you want me to come to Monaco?"

"My dad shredded all my clothes and broke most of my stuff. Kelly is taking me to get some essentials tomorrow's before we have to leave."

She turned her camera to show Oscar her new room. "I do like it here for what it's worth."

Oscar had made up his mind that night. "If you want to, you could always come live with me." He sounded unsure of himself. The two had never talked about it before.

"Wouldn't I be a distraction?"

"Where on earth would you get that idea? I think you make me drive better, personally."

It was settled that she would go home with him after the race. Max was elated for her. She finally found someone who saw her and wasn't intimidated by their father.

~

The race weekend went by so fast. The McLaren boys did amazing, placing p2 and p4.

She quite litterally was crying in joy for Oscar. Max had never been prouder of Lando. From their start to now was a big achievement.

The two knew that Jos would have their ears for it later. Congratulating competitors isn't how you make a name for yourself. It's why she hugged Oscar a little more than normal in front of him.

The garage was a nightmare. She didn't want to be here anymore. Jos had been hounding both her and Max.

Oscar had been on his way to find her. She couldn't have gotten far. Probably just to her brothers garage to celebrate his win.

Oscar is normally able to stay calm, level headed in many situations that require it. This was not one of those situations.

Similar to the first time he saw Jos interact with his kids, he felt the need to step in. Or at least say something to him.

There was nothing standing in his way this time.

He straightened himself. Mildly nervous at hearing the sounds of angry Dutch.

Oscar took long steps and placed himself directly between Jos and his children. The older Dutchman shot him a look of confusion. Then recognition formed in his stern eyes.

"Get out of my way." He seeths. He can feel the woman behind him trying to tug him away.

Her concern for his safety was rapidly approaching the heart attack range. Her brother spinning on his heels only to see her on the verge of hyperventilating.

The two had a shared fear. They knew how to evade their fathers hand. He'd not hesitated to be aggressive before, and they doubted that had changed recently.

It didn't matter, though. Oscar grabbed her wrist protectively, tugging her slightly behind him.

"No." He sounded more sassy than intended. Challenging the older man.

It didn't take long for the people around to realize something was going on. Oscar is dressed in his race suit still and stands out, the girl behind him is damn near petrified and Max just hit the wall with his hand.

The youngest Verstappen inched her way around Oscar. His stare off with the older male distracting him more then he thought.

“Max asked you to leave.” She said. Trying to hide the waiver in her voice. Oscar flinched at the sound. How had he not realized she was now in front of him? Regardless, he goes back to holding her protectively, just with an arm around her waist this time.

She felt better now that he was there. The confidence he’d been helping her gain was finally paying off.

Jos was turning red in and her now. His hand quick to move towards her.

Oscar was able to react faster. He yanked her body backwards into him, stumbling as they moved dodged his swing. The two still managing to stay upright.

Max was also quick to react. Weaving himself between the younger two and his father. Max didn’t hesitate to shove him away.

Everyone stood in shocked silence for a moment. The only sound being heavy breathing

~

Everything had moved fast after that. The young woman clung to Oscar, both in fear and joy.

Oscar held her tightly. Hand pressed into the back of her head. Lost of the words of praise in encouragement they were whispering to each other.

They let themselves enjoy the moment. Completely tuned out of the world. Both had been successful in something. Something that had been a long time running and they had helped earthed through the worst of.

It was something both of them could be proud of, for themselves and each other. So they let themselves bathe in the euphoric feeling that they earned.

[junkdrawernoggin]

Welcome Home, Frank?

So I know I just posted but I have another thought. So, we know Frank is our lil bug dude. His whole scheme is butterflies and bugs and gardening. We also know he is the straight-man to pretty much all of the other characters. He is the only one who doesn’t seem to be in on the type of humor the show rewards and the other characters understand. He is also the only character we don’t have an origin for which is specifically called out in his intro card. Much like Wally, he seems a little out of place for the show minus his connection with Julie and Eddie. 

That makes it extra interesting that the audio clips are found by collecting bugs. Could it be that Wally is not actually the only character capable of breaking the 4th wall? Is it possible Frank is trying to communicate with the viewer?

My only real doubt for this theory is that through the audio we know that Frank likes Wally, or at least gets along with him well enough. So if he is trying to somehow warn the viewer, who is he warning the viewer about? 

However we do know he does *not* like Barnaby. Doesn’t understand him. And it’s implied that Wally has done *something* to Barnaby. Obviously Clown’s website is not canon, but it can inform us on maybe some original ideas. Well there’s the big photo of Wally puppeteering Barnaby’s decapitated body. There’s a lot of odd little details about Wally controlling/changing Barnaby. SO here’s where I’m gonna go a little crazy with this theory

Maybe Welcome Home is a wreck-it-ralph turbo type story. This isn’t the first time this theory has been brought up, but It’s maybe the first time it’s been suggested that FRANK was the one who was replaced as the main character. We don’t have an origin, maybe because Frank was the first one to live in the neighborhood? He’s the odd one out to all the other characters, down to his color scheme. I think a children’s show about a grumpy guy living in this fun town and learning how to open up and have fun would be awesome. Basically if Sesame Street was about Oscar. 

So we know that somehow Home has some level of control over Wally. So whatever power Home has/was created by on the real world side of things destroys any old content (black paint/goo) because Wally isn’t the main character of those. It inserts Wally into this TV show for whatever purpose. Frank is relegated to just another neighbor. The power works on Frank, convinces him that Wally has always been here, or has always been the heart of the neighborhood. 

BUT, it doesn’t convince him that Barnaby is right. Maybe in the original show Barnaby and FRANK were actually the main dynamic duo as opposites. Wally is new, so there’s nothing for Frank to compare to. But maybe some part of Frank remembers a different Barnaby. One that wasn’t best friends with Wally. And since I guess in this theory the characters have some level of consciousness, Frank turns to the only people who might listen to him, the viewers! He gives them what hints and clues he can that *something* is wrong. He may not even be sure what. 

So yeah that is my real far end crazy theory. There’s probably a bunch of things that disprove it, but it was fun to think about since I do adore Frank as a character. If you take away anything from this, let it be my theory that Frank at least has some ability to break the 4th wall and is the one helping us uncover the secrets. 

[sugarspikesart]

I think I'll never understand is why people on fandoms don't listen to the creators when it's about a character they don't like. And yes, this is about RWBY AND RG HOW DID YOU TELL

Like, in RWBY people will say "oh rg is gross" or "they're siblings, not crushes" as if MILES LUNA didn't fucking say that it's not gross, it's a 2year age gap and that they don't have a sibling dynamic in canon

Listen, you're completely allowed to have an opinion. But there's a difference between an opinion and a statement xd

"I'm see their dynamic more sibling-like" is not the same as "they have a sibling dynamic"

And just because you dont like a character doesn't mean you should complete ignore what you're seeing on screen

"ruby and oscar only interacted once"

Be fucking for real right now.

Like LISTEN

I don't like Jaune in the show, he has some tropes I don't like + a design i do not like so it's a very bad mix for me

BUT I KNOW RUBY AND JAUNE ARE BESTIES

I KNOW HOW IMPORTANT JAUNE IS FOR THE PLOT

AND I KNOW HOW MUCH HE CARES ABOUT OSCAR

AND HOW HURT HE IS

Just because you don't enjoy a character (that is not evil or unlikeable, oscar is actually one of the sweetest characters in the show he's always trying to help) doesn't mean you get to ignore him. All characters are linked. If i ignored Phyrra I'd have missed Jaune stuff. If i ignored Ren I'd missed Nora stuff, If I ignored Weiss I'd have missed ruby stuff, AND IF YOU IGNORE OSCAR YOU MISS RUBY STUFF

Also for those who say:

"I don't like Oscar bc ozpin is there and it's icky"

1-the plot will develop??? That's how a show works, that will most likely change

2-You missed Ozpin's character because AGAIN, you didn't like him so you decide to ignore him.

3-If you ignore Ozpin, you miss Oscar stuff which leads to the "oscar is a meatsuit" thing because you think he's a flat and dull character and because you think so (because you ignored one of the pillar characters in ozma/Salem's plotline) then you don't get why rg could be a thing and then you sew that rg MIGHT actually end up happening if CRWBY follows the path they're going and then you get pissed off because you say they don't have chemistry.

I'll say it.

People who dislike rg are ozpin haters. It's a domino effect

[chaikachi]

Since the writing team simply refuses to have Oscar meaningfully interact with most of the main cast besides Ruby and Jaune (for now, at least) smh smh, what sort of dynamic and relationships do you think Oscar would have with WBY? Pine boy deserves more justice!

Ohhhh v good questions!! Basing off their respective characters and what few interactions he has had with them, it's still tricky to say, but I'll do my best. DISCLAIMER: RG GLASSES ARE ON FOR THIS, I AM VERY SORRY. IF YOU WANTED AN UNBIASED APPROACH YOU CAME TO THE WRONG PLACE 😭

Both him and Blake are fairly quiet and more introspective members of the group. I think if they had any sort of relationship they'd probably talk to each other about their shared love of books and stories. I do think it would be fun if Blake teased him a little bit like she started doing with Ruby in v8, although Yang is doing a good job of that on her own. My guess for their dynamic is dependent on where Blake's character goes from here though, which is yet to be seen.

As for Weiss... She seems to care about him a lot! And Oscar got super happy when she agreed to go to the movies with him and Jaune. It's hard to say what their 1-on-1 dynamic will be. Honestly i picture it being a bit like Oscar's existing dynamics with Jaune or Nora after the comic relief treatment Weiss got for all of v9. But it's also hard to say, I wish I could come up with more than that. :(

Lastly Yang... honestly she's the one I have the most hopes for future interactions. We've seen so far that their dynamic is a bit goofy with Yang teasing him lots, but she cares about him a whole bunch too. Very much living up to big sister energy imo. She also seems very aware of how close him and Ruby are with how often she brings him up when talking to her sister (Ex: Yang being the one to first call Ruby when Oscar went missing in v6, asking her how Oscar felt about lying to Ironwood, emphasizing that they brought Oscar back from Salem when trying to cheer Ruby up, etc.)

I think I'd really like to see a heart to heart between Oscar and Yang in the future. Not as much as a Ruby and Oscar or Ruby and Yang conversation, but Yang expressed a lot of frustration, hurt, and confusion after Ruby snapped. She doesn't understand why her sister hasn't spoken to her or the rest of their team about her struggles... but Ruby did speak to Oscar about them at one point. We've also been given direct parallels back to back of how Yang and Oscar both approach Ruby differently about the same issue. And I think there's a lot to explore there.

As much as I would love to look at this question as exclusively about Oscar + one other person, with no exterior influences, I really can't. When I think of the canon narratives around all these characters, it really skews my read on what to expect in the future.

During v9, we see WBY being setup to be more mindful of Ruby and her struggles in the future... compared to Oscar who has always paid attention to those things. And how any dynamic that mixes those two sides together could lead to Oscar and WBY learning to take better care of their Ruby together.

Also, while we don't get a lot of other relationship focus for Oscar outside of what's absolutely necessary for the story (curse you limited budgets), it is worth noting that Oscar is very often included in team RWBY meetings/arcs where the rest of JNR is not.

Look at our little deuteragonist go. I don't feel like I answered these questions well but I don't know what else to say ahh i'm sorry but thank you for listening😫

[raewritesf1]

congrats on finishing finals!

gax highschool genderbend au. have you seen '10 things i hate about you' like that is the dynamic i envision for them (sorry max pookie is no where near as suave as the male lead in that but). they house party scene omg.

the lando and oscar relationship in this au is so compelling like yeah he's a loser and so down bad but oscar thinks he's just so cool and how will he ever like lil ole her *sigh*. georgie patiently listens to oscar shyly talking about this guy in her math class who is super funny and so sweet to her with the prettiest ocean eyes without georgie telling her that's her gremlin brother who wasn't tall enough for roller coasters till like last year lmao.

at the same time georgie peeks at lando's diary (lewis makes them both keep one for emotional regulation and both siblings are assholes who don't understand the concept of privacy) and figures out that oohh this isn't one sided. (when the writing starts getting horny because hello lando is totally the type georgie throws up in her mouth a little but honestly deserved for snooping)

georgie and max are already together at this point (secret relationship ahem) and max loves indulging her and her schemes. they plot to get landoscar together and when they finally do georgie brings out the baby pictures. siblings who love making each other's lives hard. - xoxo angst anon

wait why would a gax “10 things i hate don’t you” fic actually work 🤔 (no one will ever be close to as suave as heath ledgar in that film)

Okay but Georgie would be so encouraging of Oscar’s crush when she’s unaware of who the guy is because Oscars so sweet and grew on her immediately and this guy obviously makes her really happy and Oscar deserve a good guy. and then Fred shows her a picture of the guy and she’s completely dumbfounded going through every conversation they’ve ever had cause there’s no way in hell Oscar was talking like that about her idiot little brother. Lando who one nearly got them banned from a country club after he drove a golf cart into a lake is the cool popular guy that she likes??? Like Oscars who’s so adorable and smart and extremely talented and could realistically have anyone and has fallen for her dumbass of a brother who spent the last week eating curry he’d left in the freezer for six months and one struggled to get on a ski lift for nearly 10 minutes. (she doesn’t say anything to Oscar though cause obviously Lando makes Oscar really happy and she’s not going to ruin that even if she doesn’t understand it)

But she ofc start brining up Oscar to Lando more trying to gauge his reaction and kind of pick up on the fact that Lando is interested in Lando but because she more than knows about her brothers fuck boy tendencies and she is not going to let him hurt Oscar she starts poking around his diary (Alternate both sibling fully understand privacy they just don’t care when it comes to each other cause where’s the fun in that) it really only takes one page for her to immediately clock the fact that Lando is down horrendously. It’s just pages of him rambling about how pretty and smart and adorable Oscar is (George ofc takes many photos because blackmail is an essential resource in sibling relationships)

She immediately starts scheming about how to get them together and ofc drag Maxy into it (he already knew about Lando’s crush because they are actually friends and Lando is not aware of the whole dating my older sister thing) and he fully indulges her (he cant say no to her) and they do successfully get them together, but their relationship is definitely revealed

both siblings immediately start using this against the other. just Georgie “if you don’t i’ll tell dad about what actually happened to his McLaren.” and Lando immediately shooting back “do that and i’ll tell him about where exactly you were last Saturday and who exactly you were with. “

[ladywynne]

So I spent summer 2022 watching Oscar Isaac. Here are my very subjective favorites!

Annihilation - I love Kane. That southern drawl. Plus I teach biology and I am a believer. I get Kane and Lena's dynamic. It is fascinating, and I am glad they still love each other. I want to read the book now.

The Promise - Mikael Boghosian is such a sweetheart, so gentle. The beginning when he is at Constantinople is beautiful and so is the way he cares for Maral.

Star Wars sequel trilogy - Everyone's favorite flyboy, Poe Dameron! I was pretty biased for The Force Awakens even before this Oscar Isaac kick. It is so much fun, and I remember how I was a kid again the minute I heard the theme in the theater and saw those scrolling words. Poe has so much joy in this movie too.The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker are good too.

Moon Knight - The reason I'm here! Loved this. He is brilliant as MarcSpector/StevenGrant/JakeLockley. The series is so well done on every level. You can see the thought and effort that went into it.

Dune - I can't wait to see more of these movies. I like how different it is. I've started the first book now too. Duke Leto stands out as a father.

The Card Counter - William "Bill" Tell - Listen, give me a remorseful, messed-up, lonely man trying to do his best for a lonely messed-up kid any day. The poker background was cool and the performance was absolutely top-notch. Pretty much next level imo. Flashbacks were extremely hard to watch. I loved the quote on his tattoo, "I trust my life to Providence, I trust my soul to Grace."

The Nativity Story - This telling of the Christmas story is the first I've seen that really shows Joseph's contributions. Mary needed his support and he gave it. Can't wait to watch it again in December.

Life Itself - This one almost didn't make the cut because it gutted me. Like Titanic-level crying. One reviewer called it "exploitative" and I can kinda understand that. When Will is happy he is very very happy. When Will is not there is trauma.

Won't Back Down - So Michael Perry is the cutest grade school teacher ever with his ukulele. There are adorable moments that I wish lasted longer.

Honorable Mentions:

The Two Faces of January - Rydal Keener - Love the beauty of Greece, but lost interest after what happened to the lady. To be fair Oscar Isaac has some of his best scenes after that though.

W.E. - Lots to love here and lots I didn't, but Evgeni Kolpakov is so great. Hint: I couldn't find the movie when searching until I put the periods in the title.

Finally, I don't have access to The Letter Room. Bummer.

Thanks for reading! I'd love to chat so feel free. : )

[stereogeekspodcast]

[Transcript] Season 4, Episode 2. Oscars 2024 Reviews and Predictions

It's Oscars season and you know what that means? Marathon-watching all the movies to have an informed opinion about which film and performance should win the accolades. Ron and Mon share their controversial takes on the Oscars picks of 2024 in this special Stereo Geeks episode. Do you agree with our choices?

Read Ron's reviews of American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, and The Teacher's Lounge (not mentioned in the episode).

Listen to the episode on Spotify.

Hello, and welcome to an Oscars 2024 special episode from Stereo Geeks.

I'm Ron.

And I'm Mon.

Every year, when it's Oscar season, you and I think to ourselves, we're not interested.

And then they announce the nominations.

And there's always one, sometimes two movies that I think to myself, oh wow, I really like these.

What are they up against?

Like last year with Everything Everywhere all at once.

I really wanted that movie to win.

So we ended up watching it.

It did do well.

I'm happy for that.

And this year, for me, it's American Fiction and Anatomy of a Fall.

The moment I saw those two in the best picture list, I was like, I need to see their competitors.

And so we're here.

I don't think we can escape the formal of Oscar season.

We try, we try every year.

And then it just gets you, you know?

So here we are.

We're gonna be talking about the best picture norms.

We'll also mention the extraneous acting categories and writing categories.

So yeah, let's go for it.

We're in for a ride.

Starting off with American Fiction, I literally got the last seat to watch this film at last year's TIFF.

And I loved every minute of it.

There is something to say about watching this film in a packed hall with loads of people of color who understood the references.

I just found it so funny and emotional.

It still is so relevant.

And the main character Monk played by Jeffery Wright, he is flawed, but he's also understandable.

And Wright is absolutely amazing in this film.

I'd say it's one of his best performances and this is somebody who elevates everything he's in.

Ever since you watched the movie at TIFF, I was like, this is a missed opportunity for me.

I was dying to watch it.

I'm so glad I got an opportunity to see it before the Oscars because I have an informed opinion.

And the opinion is, this is great.

This is a fantastic film.

Unlike you, I did feel like there were a few points that dragged a little bit.

But that being said, this is the kind of film that you need in a world which is just so dumb, you know?

It has so much to say about the insidiousness of racism in America without hitting you on the head with it.

Such subtlety, such brilliance.

And honestly, there is this one scene about a writer and his characters.

That scene alone deserves an Oscar.

And I agree with you, Jeffrey Wright, he sells this.

Like if you don't have that kind of gravitas as an actor to pull off this kind of character, you don't have a film.

But he is ably supported by Sterling K. Brown.

Honestly, I was a little bit surprised that he got a nomination for supporting actor because it can be a role that sort of disappears from the film.

But you know what, Sterling K. Brown, he is infuriating and endearing and he definitely deserves the nomination.

I'll end this by saying that ending sold me.

That's why it's here.

That's why it's nominated.

I want it to win.

100% agreed.

In fact, if American Fiction could win best picture and best adapted screenplay and share that with Anatomy of a Fall, I would be very happy.

Again, this is a movie that I lucked out with at TIFF 2023.

The PR team sent me a ticket literally hours before the screening.

It had been doing the festival circuit.

It was doing really well, highly awarded, both American Fiction and Anatomy of a Fall, one TIFF awards as well.

So I had to see it.

And you know what?

It's so much more than just a murder mystery.

It's a character study about family dynamics.

And the family in question is just two parents and a young boy, that's it.

But it's an examination of gender stereotypes.

And how on paper, subverting gender stereotypes sounds like a great idea, but in practice, not so much.

So there are so many questions that you have while you're watching this movie.

Did this person deserve to die?

Did they actually get murdered?

Did the person we think murdered them?

Do it.

It's a very long film.

The court case is where she takes up quite a lot.

For me, that was the most fascinating part.

And then the ending, I know people didn't really like it because it is ambiguous.

The director, Justin Trier, came out and spoke to us after the screening and she wanted to keep the ambiguous ending.

I think it was just right.

I'd also say that Sandra Huler, absolutely fantastic performance.

It's not grandiose.

She is just a normal person.

That's why I think she's not gonna get the best acting award, because it's just too normal.

She really does deserve it.

I am gutted that I haven't been able to watch this film in the run up to the Oscars.

Can I just say, whoever the distributors and owners of this film are, they are fools for not making it available on streaming before the Oscars.

Moving on.

Let's talk about this movie, Barbie.

It's actually so hard to remember anything about Barbie given that we watched it in the summer and it's been, well, an entire year since then.

With time and so many more films in me, I realized that Barbie the movie is uninteresting.

I'll admit, it deserves the Production Design Award.

Barbie world is stunningly rendered.

It's beautiful.

All that pink.

It's crazy.

I love it.

But the film itself, it left me cold.

At the time, it was fun.

I loved the fact that we got to do Barbenheimer.

We did it a little bit after a lot of people.

So some of the hype was gone.

It was a great experience.

I'm glad for the box office.

I'm glad a lot of young women and people have seen themselves, have realized so much about themselves.

Thanks to this film.

It is not Oscar worthy.

I'm sorry.

I don't see it winning Best Picture.

I would like to not see it win Best Picture.

I am upset that it got a writing nomination because the great grand monologue that everybody keeps talking about, it is pretty much stolen as far as I'm concerned.

It uses a lot of themes and dialogue, et cetera, that has been going around social media for years now.

Why should the writers of this film get the credit for that?

They stole it.

I think America Ferrera was good, but this is not her best role.

She's getting recognition and I'm very happy for her, but really for this movie?

So all I can say is, yes, it's an experience.

I'm glad it's out there, but it doesn't do feminism any justice.

It has a lot of issues and we can't ignore that.

I don't know, how do you feel?

I think I'm more annoyed now because there was such a hue and cry about Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig not getting nominations.

And honestly, if you look at it, this is a Ken movie.

It's not a Barbie movie.

I'm actually very happy for Ryan Gosling.

He should win this.

I'm not joking.

I find him such a wooden actor.

I find him uninteresting.

He's awful usually.

This movie, what a performance.

I was floored.

Give him the Oscar.

I'm happy for America Ferrera as well, but as you said, why this role?

Aesthetics-wise, yes.

Give Bobby all the prizes.

It was beautiful costume, makeup, stunning.

I just don't think this movie has aged well in 10 months.

I so agree.

But you know, there's a common theme that we're seeing in this year's Oscars, which is that people are getting so wrapped up in what they've seen.

Or maybe it's new to some people.

I don't know, but a lot of the films we're watching for the Oscars, it feels like we've seen them a thousand times before.

None more so than The Holdovers.

Listen, I knew that I wasn't gonna like this movie, that it was going to irritate me just from the trailer.

It was overwrought, it was stylized, and I was proven right.

We have seen this story so many times.

Why is it up for best picture and best original screenplay?

This is old hat.

I mean, the only thing which was unique about this film, which is weird to say in 2024, which is that we had Da'Vine Joy Randolph's character.

She's a black woman, and her story does deal with racism.

Talks about how racism can literally kill.

But the movie doesn't engage with that.

It's all about the white people.

Listen, Paul Giamatti, he is a character.

I tend to avoid his films.

He is a talented man, but sometimes talent can be too much.

He's good in this film.

He's quirky, he's interesting.

I'm not sure he's really got a win in him this year.

I'm not sure.

Now, Da'Vine Joy Randolph.

She's up for an Oscar nomination for her supporting role.

I've seen her in Only Murders in the building.

She is amazing in that.

They should make an entire show on her.

I was rooting for her.

I really was.

And I was looking forward to seeing her performance because she's been winning everything.

I didn't dig this, especially there's a scene, really emotional scene, very important.

She flubbed it as far as I'm concerned.

So I'm not sure what's going on.

I don't know.

This one irritated me.

This movie just really irritated me.

From all the Oscars films, this one was literally my least favorite.

In fact, I can't even put the word favorite there because it was awful.

And you know what?

I have seen Alexander Payne's Nebraska, which was also heavily Oscar nominated.

That was horrendous.

This is a close second.

This was like watching Dead Poets Society meets Sideways.

Those are already movies that exist and you've seen them.

It was just so boring.

And what really irritated me, aside from the three main characters, the rest of the cast was so bad at acting.

It was nigh unwatchable.

I literally had to look away from the screen.

Joy Randolph was good, in a way, very understated maybe.

At least that's what I was thinking.

But I don't fault her performance as much as I fault the film for not knowing what to do with her.

In fact, I would say, Holdovers would have been way more interesting if it was from her point of view.

And I feel like this is going to be a running theme this year.

Yeah, because on we go to the next film, Killers of the Flower Moon.

I was late to the party with this one.

I think I was trying to avoid it, to be honest.

It's three and a half hours long.

It's a commitment.

I can only say that my disappointment in this film knows no bounds.

It's basically the departed with the side of genocide.

That's the angle that we're going with for a movie featuring Native American people, an entire community that was decimated.

Here's the thing.

We tried to have this third act, which is supposed to be cathartic.

And it completely and utterly fell flat because it was so boringly done.

In fact, for me, this was a directorially uninteresting film.

I know Martin Scorsese is a huge name and I know he's made a lot of impact with his work.

But at this point, I just feel like the Oscars and the Academy are just giving him nominations because of the name, not the caliber.

Look beyond what we've always seen.

This film is uninspiring.

Robert De Niro's performance is uninspiring.

The only difference really was Lily Gladstone.

It's nice to see that a movie which features Native American stories and characters actually has somebody who has a significant role.

She does a good job.

I mean, there's only so much you can do when your job is to lie about pretending to die.

I just don't understand how this was the best we could give this person.

A Native American actress after so many years has been recognized and yeah, this is the role.

I can't say any more about this.

Every criticism that has been levied at this film is justified.

I really wanted to watch it because I wanted to know, are people justifiably vilifying this movie?

They are, they are.

Because why do we need to watch over and over again these brutal murders of indigenous people?

Has this not been part of the history of North America?

Why do we need to keep seeing it?

And we recently watched The Departed for my course and the ways that Scorsese shoots characters.

I'm sorry, The Departed is a fictional story and you're doing the same thing for a real story about a genocide?

Are you joking?

The disrespect.

And you know what?

This film was not Scorsese's to make.

As you mentioned, name recognition.

Why didn't he use that to get Native American writers, Native American directors and have them make this film?

Because then this movie would have been from the point of view of Molly Kyle, played by Lily Gladstone, and the movie would have made so much more sense.

I think Lily Gladstone does a really good job.

There's a scene near the end of the film, which I think for any other actor, they would have just chosen the easier route, shouting.

Instead, her voice stays the same pitch throughout.

And you know that this is a sick bird.

It was absolutely perfect.

That's why I was like, you know what?

She deserves the nomination.

But this movie is let down completely by Leo DiCaprio.

Not because of his acting.

He does a decent job and he hasn't been nominated.

He doesn't deserve to be, but he is hopelessly miscast.

His character is so phenomenally stupid.

And that only works if it was a younger person acting in the role.

Leo DiCaprio is 50 or something like that.

It doesn't make sense for him to be this dumb.

And he brought the whole movie down, in my opinion.

Wow, harsh criticism.

Well, I did read that the character that he plays, in real life, he was a lot younger than Lily Gladstone's character.

Talk about people bringing down an entire movie.

I don't want to be rude, but with Maestro, I don't actually know where to start with what all brought down the movie.

What was the point of this film?

We're talking about apparently a musical maestro, but it's the same old biopic story we've seen a thousand times.

Again, it comes back to those patterns that we're talking about.

Every biopic has the same cadence.

Man is genius.

Man marries strange woman.

Man has affairs.

That's it.

And this movie is no different.

There is music involved.

How does he come up with it?

What makes him a maestro, et cetera, et cetera.

None of that is there.

What is the point?

How can you not engage with the fact that this man is apparently gay?

And how does he deal with a restrictively heteronormative era?

Nope, nothing.

None of that happens.

So Bradley Cooper, he's directed this movie.

He has not got a nomination for best director.

He got a nomination for best actor.

And I don't agree with that.

He started off okay.

And then after that, I'm like, I actually can't see what you're doing because the camera is so far away.

And then there's Carrie Mulligan.

How did she get a nomination?

She is so boring and bad in this film.

She is atrocious.

All I can say is that the best actress category this year is another reminder that women get bad roles.

They put in subpar performances and are heralded as the next coming because the Oscars are governed by people who watch way too few films.

This nomination should have gone to somebody else, which we will come to in a minute.

But I am so upset that Mulligan has got a nomination.

So upset.

My disappointment in Maestro can be demonstrated by the fact that I fell asleep for 30 minutes and I woke up and I had missed nothing.

Because this movie is just about Leonard Bernstein cheats on his wife.

He is a maestro, he is a genius.

There is so much footage of him online, available now, talking about his music.

None of that is in the movie.

Why?

Bradley Cooper has made this film about a queer man and somehow he has made it homophobic.

Why didn't he make it instead about where the music is coming from?

How is Bernstein able to access these beautiful pieces?

We are not musicians, I want to know that.

And you get this 6 minute long performance at the end, which apparently Cooper took a long, long time to practice for perfect.

None of that gravitas comes through.

Generally, I liked Cooper's directing.

It's just that he made this entire movie about Bernstein being bad because he was gay.

And the focus on the domestic drama, I just, ugh, no.

As you said, it's the biopic that we have seen a million times before.

You start thinking that all those famous geniuses are all the same.

So I was very worried about this next film because it was billed as a romance.

Then I watched Past Lives and I was like, whoever said that is an idiot.

I also heard somebody say that Past Lives doesn't deserve the Oscars because it's just a student film.

I will personally hunt that person down and end them.

From the entire Best Picture category, for me, if I was giving the Oscars, Past Lives would be the winner.

It is so much more than a romance.

It is a film about immigration.

It is a film about making choices because you're an immigrant.

It's a film about love, loss, missed connections, home.

What is home?

Finding one's place.

At one point, the protagonist, Nora, played by Greta Lee, she says that she's immigrated twice to be where she is.

And she has to commit herself to that place instead of continuing these connections with the home that she left.

I have never felt that immigrant feeling so well articulated in words.

I was so massively moved by this movie.

This is my favorite film of the Oscars and probably of 2023.

And the fact that this movie hasn't got more nominations just means the Academy didn't understand the film at all.

I'm getting emotional just listening to you and thinking about how I felt about this film when I watched it.

Because this is such a beautiful moving film.

And like you, I would give it the Oscar.

It's a story about immigration and its triumphs and challenges.

All of it couched in this sad love story.

Honestly, thinking about this film actually brings out a lot of rage in me.

I am outraged that Celine Song doesn't have a directing nomination.

She is so precise and artistic with her direction.

I am also outraged that Greta Lee doesn't have an acting nomination.

You remember how I talked about Crary Mulligan getting a nomination?

She stole Greta Lee's.

How does her beautiful, expressive face not have all the awards?

And this one's got me because TOU, how does he not have an acting nomination?

I have never seen a more naturally endearing performance.

This film was absolutely magical to me.

I know it's not gonna win best picture, but it's the only one in the original screenplay category that deserves an award.

At the very least, I think it should get the screenplay award as consolation prize.

Well, after talking about my favorite film of the year and of the Oscars, let me talk about literally the worst thing I have ever witnessed with my own four eyes.

Poor Things is horrendous.

You owe me so much dude for making me watch this.

It's absolutely the worst film.

It is nothing more than a curiosity.

The director, Yorgos Lanthimos, as far as I'm concerned, the man has some kind of fetish and it comes across in his previous film, The Favorite and definitely in this one.

It's weird.

I genuinely can't believe it's got this many big nominations, especially the writing nomination.

It's based on a book.

Apparently, it's toned down a lot of the bolder feminist themes of the book.

Instead, the film has this obsolete, backward, outdated, infuriating female empowerment story.

And it doesn't help that Emma Stone, who I really don't understand what the raving about is, she's horrendous at the start.

And then she just does her own, you know, the usual stick that she has.

It was disturbing and distressing.

It was horrendous to watch.

It has a pathetic message about feminism at the core of it.

The only interesting part for me was Mark Ruffalo.

Now, I don't know if I haven't seen enough of Mark Ruffalo, but it's been a while since I saw him.

And I found his performance very interesting.

He does something different with his voice, with the accent, his demeanor.

So I'm not mad at him getting a nomination.

I am mad that this film was there anywhere close to the Oscars and that I had to witness it.

Let us please move on.

I apologize a million times for making you watch it.

The thing is, I knew that I was going to cringe throughout and I couldn't deal with it.

So I was like, you are a braver person than I.

I will buy you all the sushi in the world to make you feel better.

Well, thank you.

Let's talk about something interesting, also disturbing, but very interesting.

So the zone of interest, I really thought, you know what, it's fine.

It's a foreign language film.

I won't bother watching it.

But then, you know, the FOMO comes in, right?

You're like, I gotta complete it all.

I went into this movie completely cold.

I had no idea what I was getting into.

I genuinely thought as I started watching it, I was watching this homely period domestic drama, and then it hit me.

This was stupendous.

I have no other word for it.

You know what annoys me is that once I watched this film, it put into stark contrast everything I disliked about Oppenheimer.

I can't believe that a film was able to showcase atrocities in such a way without resorting even once to graphic imagery or torture porn.

This is next level direction and writing.

For me, Jonathan Glaser is the directing award winner.

I know he's not going to get it, but really he's the only one who really deserves it.

Damn, this was a good movie.

Unlike you though, I had actually read a few reviews before I watched it because when I saw it on the list of best fiction arms, I was like, what is this?

I don't even know what it is.

So I read a few reviews and I thought to myself, I'm not going to watch this.

But then I got the chance to see it and I was like, might as well.

Gotta catch them all.

I don't think I would have actually been able to understand this film had I not read those reviews.

I also kept it on really, really soft.

I think that was probably a better idea because it's two films basically, right?

The one that you see and the one that you hear.

And the one that you hear is very, very disturbing.

The Zone of Interest is such a smart film because the director Jonathan Glazer knows that World War II has had such a lasting impact on the world.

You don't need to see those things.

You already know.

You are the one who has to fill in the gaps.

And what we're imagining is always going to be so terrible because we have all that history behind us.

And I know that there are some people out there who watch this film and thought, why would we want to support a movie that is about Nazis living their lives?

I don't know whether they also had the sound down because this is actually a very unexpected way of showing the horrors of World War II.

And it's very easy to dismiss if you're just giving it a surface level viewing.

But I will say that some scenes which were interesting didn't really make sense until you did extra research.

And for that, I'm going to have to dock some points from the Zone of Interest, which is why I don't think Laser will get the directing award.

Interesting.

Here's my thing with Zone of Interest.

It's telling us something by focusing on a Nazi family and not the victims.

With Oppenheimer, it's the exact opposite.

It's not telling us the right things when it's focusing on Oppenheimer, the guy who created the atomic bomb and decimated Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Because that film takes the story of a villain and makes him a sad, sympathetic hero.

It's funny, can we imagine a film about Nazis and we're supposed to be sympathizing with the Nazis?

No.

But because the bomb was dropped on a bunch of Asians, we're supposed to sympathize with the white guy.

We know Oppenheimer is going to win everything.

It's been winning everything.

And it's so weird for me to knock a film that is made by and stars so many people I like.

But this was not a well-made film.

This was not Christopher Nolan's best work.

This was a sob story.

And it did not even once engage with the horrors that this man inflicted.

I don't even think that it properly engaged with his own turmoil over what he did.

Which we have heard so much about.

Oppenheimer couldn't believe he did this.

He had to suffer the consequences and his inner turmoil about it.

Even that wasn't there in the movie.

So for me, I have all these problems with Oppenheimer and then I watch Zone of Interest.

And I like Oppenheimer even less because you can see what can be done when you actually care about the people who were victimized.

It is a well-acted film.

Clareon Murphy does a great job.

Robert Downey Jr., I think he really deserves the win.

Emily Blunt, I mean, you're a fan.

But listen, I thought she was okay.

I liked her character more than I liked her performance.

But this film, I swear, it just makes me angry.

We all know this is going to win everything.

And it's annoying because this is not Nolan's best work.

He should have won it for Inception.

I am still going to say that that was a great movie, really, really well made.

And yeah, Killian Murphy is extraordinary.

He is always good, actually.

But you know, this is the culmination of a very storied career.

He is not even acting.

He's just embodying this person.

And I know you're not the biggest fan of Emily Blunt.

I love her.

In all honesty, Nolan's women are so badly written.

She's actually much better written than a lot of them.

And Emily Blunt does a good job.

It's a smaller role.

But when she's there, she gets to do a lot.

So I'm impressed by that.

I don't think she's going to win.

Sound editing, this movie is in for sure.

But I really wish that this movie had been made after Zone of Interest came out.

Nolan had seen it.

Because the way Zone of Interest handles crime and shame, this film really needed to be informed about those.

It glosses over so much.

And I'm going to be controversial when I say this, but am I the only one who wasn't impressed by Robert Downey Jr.?

What are you saying?

I'm so sorry.

Listen, our entire family loves Robert Downey Jr.

He is the best.

I love him.

But I was like, I cannot get past the RDJ of it all.

I'm so sorry.

I really don't want him to get it.

I'm shocked.

So those are the best picture nominations.

We'll go through the one offs as it were.

So I'm going to just touch on Rustin.

Coleman Domingo has got the best actor nomination for this film.

Honestly, you can't not love him.

He is so good in whatever role he's playing.

And I've seen him in a bunch of movies this year for some bizarre reason.

Each one is different, wildly different.

And with a film like Rustin, he literally carries it.

He's the main character.

This is a very important man.

And you know what?

I cannot believe that this is just the second nomination for an openly queer actor playing a queer character after Ian McKellen in 1999.

And it's this film.

Well, I haven't seen it.

Is it bad?

This movie was such a letdown.

It's during a period of history where there is so much change.

And Rustin has so many issues with Martin Luther King, and he believes that he can make a difference, but nobody's really on the same page with him.

But this film does not know how to spotlight those crucial moments.

You know that with Selma, when it had that march, when you saw it on screen, I was just like literally tightly wound.

And this movie has those moments and completely makes them go splat.

Well, it's hard to compare anything to Selma.

That is one of my favorite films.

That's so disappointing.

But a film which doesn't have any other norms for Coleman Domingo to get a nomination, do you think he even has a chance to win?

It's tough to say.

Remember when Meryl Streep won for Iron Lady?

Like that movie got nothing else, but of course she is Meryl Streep.

So there's that.

What I would have actually preferred, why not nominate Coleman Domingo for The Color Purple?

He was disturbingly good in that.

That being said, Color Purple came out pretty late, and I'm not sure how many Oscar board people actually watched it.

It's a musical.

It's about racism.

It's about the black community.

It's been done before by Steven Spielberg, of all people.

So I know there was a lot of discourse around the film.

Honestly, I didn't like it.

The only good thing in the film for me was Danielle Brooks.

She is a scene stealer.

From all the best supporting female actor nominees, she deserves the win.

However, I am biased.

I do love her.

Yeah, I have to say, Danielle Brooks was just so outstanding.

I would say from all the acting categories, you know, best actor, best supporting actor, all four of them, Brooks is my favorite performance of the entire year.

Again, I think we're both very biased because we have loved Danielle Brooks since we saw her as Tasty on Orange is the New Black.

But her performance is so powerful and measured, yet expansive, and she makes it look effortless.

I really want her to win this.

Well, it's interesting because she's up against Jodie Foster.

So Foster and Annette Benning are the only two nominations for NIAID, a random film from Netflix, honestly.

I would not have watched it if it wasn't up for the Oscars.

Now, Benning, her performance after watching so many films, I feel like it's a bit underwhelming.

Her physical transformation and the work she put in cannot be faulted.

Amazing.

Now, that being said, aside from Sandra Huler, I haven't seen Anatomy of a Fall, so I can't attest to how good she is.

Benning is the only performance in the best female actor category that I am rooting for.

I mean, I know.

It's just that Lily Gladstone deserves better.

Wow, okay.

Yeah, I was very unimpressed by Annette Benning.

I couldn't get past the fact that she was Annette Benning.

I just couldn't see Nighad.

I only saw Benning.

Whereas with Jodie Foster, it was the complete opposite.

I forgot Jodie Foster was the actor there.

She just puts in a really winning performance.

It's very natural.

Like, you can see that this is a veteran actor.

Like, she's not even acting.

She's just like Gillian Murphy.

It's just embodying this person.

If it was any other year, and Danielle Brooks is not up for the same category, I would want Jodie Foster to get it.

But Benning is a complete no for me.

But then that entire category, it's tough.

Yeah, but you know who I wanted in the best acting category?

Natalie Portman.

She was amazing in May December.

I was like, this is a shoe in.

I was wrong.

The film randomly has an original screenplay nomination.

I'm confused.

Isn't this based on some real guy's story?

How is this an original screenplay?

Can I just say, if May December had to get any nominations, it should have been supporting actor for Charles Melton.

I know he was Reggie on Riverdale, but you know what?

That was a very good performance.

He had very interesting scripts to work with, and he did a great job.

I was not at all surprised that he blew me away in May December.

He was robbed.

He is so stunningly emotional in this film.

Why didn't he get a nomination?

And also, like you said, how do you nominate a film that is based on a real person's life?

Oh, and he also never was consulted about this story about his life.

No, just no.

Just for that reason, they shouldn't have given them writing nomination.

Anyway, that's that from us about the Oscars 2024.

Yes, our opinions may be controversial, but we stand by them.

Let us know your thoughts about all things Oscars 2024.

See you next time.

Ron: You can find us on Twitter @Stereo_Geeks. Or send us an email stereogeekspodcast@gmail.com. We hope you enjoyed this episode. And see you next week!

Mon: The Stereo Geeks logo was created using Canva. The music for our podcast comes courtesy Audionautix.

[grandprixwinnerlandonorris]

i just wish fans would think critically about this (or any) gossip :\ it feels like too many are driven only by emotion and not enough common sense :(

it's frustrating having to try and calm people down day after day esp bc it doesn't feel like anybody listens. as an aside i feel like a lot of these people also go around saying driver x and driver y should be teammates with no understanding of why it would be a disaster so it's extra 😮‍💨

Totally agree! I must admit, when the red bull rumors started two days ago, I think, my first reaction was "nonononono oh my God please NO" because yes, I was driven by emotion for I despise red bull so much and saw the news first thing in the morning and did come here to whine how I don't want Lando to move there. I only made one post though because I still had some common sense to recognize that it's so unlikely to happen. If Lando wanted to leave and have a competitive car, he would have done it years before when he was first approached. I think as the time goes on, the red bull transfer is the least one to happen as long as they have Max as their first driver.

Honestly, I can't even opet the Lando tag on here anymore without getting annoyed about seeing people ecstatic about possible rumors being true. Like, I try to be understanding, it's (one of) your favorite driver linked with (one of) your favorite team, I get it (I would lose my shit if it was rumored for him to go to Mercedes, but would try to keep it on the low because it's not likely going to happen before 2026 and even then who knows) but it is fairytales.

Honestly! Like, I would like to see Lando and George as teammates because they are my ultimate faves, but would that dynamic actually work? Eh, I'm not too positive about that. I was even so anxious about Oscar, worried day and night will they get along, but thank God they work together so well. I also like Lando and Max's friendship, but I think it would be inevitable their friendship suffering if they were ever to be teammates at red bull whether they'd want it or not.

But at the end of the day, Lando will do what he feels is best for him. I can only do so much to protect him from behind my little screen at home.

[cinema-tv-etc]

Hard to pardon: why Tenet's muffled dialogue is a very modern problem

Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster is already infamous for its barely audible exchanges. As sound technology advances, why are films getting harder to hear?

Ralph Jones - Thu 3 Sep 2020

There is a wonderful exchange in Christopher Nolan’s latest film, Tenet, between Robert Pattinson and John David Washington. “Hngmmhmmh,” says Pattinson. “Mmghh nmmhhmmmm nghhh,” replies Washington. Marvellous.

This is how much of Tenet sounded to viewers in cinemas. The film’s dialogue has been criticised by reviewers and audience members for often being impossible to make out. Given how hard Nolan’s blockbuster would be to understand even if all the dialogue was crystal-clear, it is curious that the director has made it doubly difficult to hear the story of a screenplay he supposedly spent five years writing.

But it isn’t just Nolan’s films. It’s a much-repeated claim that movie dialogue is becoming harder and harder to hear. What is going on?

Mathew Price is a production sound mixer who has worked on The Sopranos and The Marvellous Mrs Maisel. “When they take the sound we record on set and kind of undermix it, it feels like, ‘What did we try so hard for?’” he says. Price believes the problem is partly that modern directors have so many more tracks to play with, causing “track overload”, the result being that “the dialogue gets short shrift a lot of the time”. When he watches films or TV shows at home, he turns on the subtitles in case of clarity issues – he is far from the only one – and will limit the TV’s dynamic range.(In cinemas the dynamic range – the range between the loudest and quietest sounds – is wider than on home TV screens, and, although the sound is compressed in the transition to TV, the range can still be so wide that you are forced to turn up the volume for dialogue, then down again for action.) Is it actually a modern phenomenon? Sound engineer Ron Bochar, who was nominated for an Oscar for his mixing on Moneyball, thinks so. “Think about it: the first few Star Wars [films], we heard them all. We heard all the lines. Listen to Apocalypse Now – you hear everything.” Price agrees: “If you watch old movies, you might hear some sound effects here and there but now they go nuts: somebody’s walking across the room in a leather jacket, you hear the zippers clink and the creak of the leather and every footstep is right in your face.”

When television became commonplace in the mid-20th century and challenged cinema’s dominion, cinema needed to distinguish itself; it needed to prove that it could justify people leaving the comfort of their homes. It did so partly by becoming bigger and louder. In an era – and a pandemic – in which home streaming dominates, cinema may be forced to pull out the stops once more. “I think we’re bombarded,” Paul Markey, a projectionist at the Irish Film Institute, says of modern films. “The more expensive movies have got, the more of a bombardment they become on your senses.”

For Bochar, the priority is dialogue. Working with other editors, his job is to layer a film with multiple levels of sound. As he adds layers he has to make sure he can still hear the words. “The first thing I do is create a solid dialogue track, and then everything else has to come up to it and not exceed it,” he says. “Somebody wrote the words and actors are saying those lines, so there’s got to be some priority.” He doesn’t know any re-recording artist who would deliberately obscure a story point.

Sound effects and music tracks exist on faders that can slide up and down. This means that even “a crazy, batshit scene” with numerous layers of sound is easy for a mixer to control. “It really isn’t a mystery. We know how to do it.” This means that Nolan’s use of noisier Imax cameras in Tenet would not explain the problem, as some have suggested.

To complicate matters, there is a disparity between the environment in which the director hears the final mix of a film and the one in which it is screened. Markey says Warren Beatty watched a screening of Bonnie and Clyde when it came out and couldn’t understand why the sound of the bullets was so quiet. The projectionist was turning the volume down. Beatty realised that projectionists, not directors, have final say on a film. Markey says that they could, for example, raise the volume of the dialogue specifically, but they never do – it would mean having to readjust it for every film.

As with most problems, every department assumes that another department is to blame. Although many viewers claim that films are getting louder, Bochar says that the opposite is the problem: “All of us in the industry will tell you point-blank that generally every single cinema is playing it lower than it should be.” A studio’s reference level tends to be around 85 decibels, or 7 on the Dolby scale, he says. But cinemas will often play the film at 4 (around 75 decibels). The Irish Film Institute has been playing Tenet at 4, Markey says, because 6 was “ridiculously loud” when tested. Cinemas will not necessarily play a film at the recommended level of 7 if they feel it is too loud.

In Nolan’s case, Price and Bochar are confident that the director does it intentionally. In a 2019 Reddit AMA, sound designer Richard King – who has worked with Nolan on seven films, including Tenet – said: “He wants to grab the audience by the lapels and pull them toward the screen, and not allow the watching of his films to be a passive experience.”

It’s hard to imagine that Nolan is unaware of the criticism. Price suspects the director wants to make the audience work harder to understand the dialogue; he thinks Nolan believes this will make the film a more immersive, engaging experience. But, Price says, “I think he is the only one in the world who believes that.”

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/sep/03/tenet-dialogue-christopher-nolan-sound-technology?utm_source=pocket-ff-recs

Tenet review: Christopher Nolan's thriller is a palindromic dud

[farfarawaygirl]

The Rookie 4x10 Thoughts

In no particular order: 

Chris Sanford was not it - there was no chemistry between him and Lucy, he was a dick - and he does not have the buy in at this point to pull it off, he willfully misunderstood the situation and the complexity of the arrest. I wonder what we will get from him in the episodes to come - if he comes for Tamara or her friends in the next episode, I want Lucy and Tim to take him out

Did Nyla ever tell James about the thing with Don?

Are we counting this as cheating? 

She did have a conversation with him about rules/exclusivity when the mix up happened with the other guy - where is the consistency?

Bailey, while escaping an abusive relationship continues to not make me want to look at the screen.

Nothing felt overtly Chenford like to me - in fact it felt like a step back? There was no joy, no real connection, no moment of understanding. No jealousy. What are the writers trying to make us feel?

I have so many questions. 

Steve/Jason cannot act?

They have already used a small plane plot device and gold bars - are they out of ideas in the writers room?

Tim and Ashley - they also do nothing for me. 

it was funny when she thought the eggs were for her

It was weird though, that Lucy told Tim to listen to the person he likes - and he essentially listened to Lucy?

I am not here for Ashley not liking Kojo

Ashley calling Lucy - interesting twist, because Lucy wasn’t really inserting herself so much as Ashley was reaching out to her. It is a dynamic shift I did not expect, and I wonder if it will happen again. Having Lucy be the person in the middle for both people as an emotional buffer is somewhat similar to Rachel/Tim, but with her loyalties shifted? I dunno, I might have more thoughts on this later

Still don’t care at all about Bailey’s journey

The promo was very Bailey/Nolan heavy... blergh. 

I liked Lucy’s green sweater

Lucy, James and Wes was an unexpected team up - but, I liked it! 

Chris/Kanoa doesn’t spark, and I am bummed about it.

I miss Grey

Oscar was whatever

Why is Angela wearing a leopard print blazer?

Angela and Nyla being buddies? I am HERE for it. 

It was good to see Kojo.

[adventuringblind]

Drive with you Forever

Chapter Twelve: New Beginnings

Max Verstappen x Charles Leclerc x Lando Norris x Reader x Oscar Piastri (I added a fifth because why the hell not)

Chapter summary: reader is clueless, Oscar recounts his time with alpine, Daniel is still a menace, someone is kidnapped… again

Warnings: talks of abuse, toxic workplace, blood, gore, kidnapping, drugging, sexual innuendo, no actual depiction of smut but it’s talked about and alluded to what their doing, dom/sub themes for a second, passing out, panic attacks, alcohol consumption

Notes: this is a long chapter and I did not intend for it to get as dark as it did but like… I swear it just happens. Also I apologize to the Alpine fans I needed them to be the bad guy.

Previous <-

Masterlist

Life is filled with highs and lows. Vast new experiences to explore with those you love.

Something she never thought was an option for Seb came and rescued her when she was fifteen. Now it’s something she experiences almost daily.

Her phone buzzes in her pocket. Their group chat had been going nonstop for the last hour. Everyone stuck waiting for interviews and other media duties.

Except for her. She was lucky enough to be curled of in a chair with a tablet, data rolling across her screen.

Lan: *image*

Lan: I made Oscar blush again

Maxy: you’re going to kill him if you keep going like this

Charlie: what did you do this time?

Lan: this time was an accident! All I did was bring up y/n!

Y/N: me? Why would I make him blush.

Charlie: sometimes I know I’m oblivious, but this is ridiculous

Lan: the poor kid is crushing HARD

Y/N: he’s so sweet

Y/N: he brought me water while we were in Miami with a cute note attached

Y/N: you three should take notes

Maxy: do you need a reminder of why you love us so much?

Y/N: previous statement redacted

Lan: no! Don’t redact! It could’ve been fun!

Charlie: you’re just tired of being the only one who gets in trouble

Lan: am not!

Lando looks at the Australian next to him. “Looks like we’re going to have to try something else.”

“Listen, I appreciate the effort, but have you considered your girlfriend doesn’t like me back?” Oscar grimaces at his own sentence. The concept not new. He’s been around long enough to understand. But it sounds weird coming out of his mouth.

“Well she almost got herself in trouble talking about you. I’d take that as a sign.”

“What about the other two?”

“Listen mate, they know I like you- well y/n does because I tell her more then everyone else. And this whole thing wasn’t simple at the start.”

“What do you mean?”

Lando thinks back on the memories of the interesting dynamic they had at first. “Apparently when two became three, it took ages for Charles to figure things out. He wasn’t sure how to act around Max. So they determined maybe he’d just do more with y/n. An agreement they were all comfortable with. Until the first time they did the devils tango.” Lando wiggles his eyebrows and the Australian flushes again.

“What about you then? Was it easy for you?”

“Absolutely not.” Lando laughs about it now but at the time he was stressed. “I lived with them during Covid. I had fallen head over heals for y/n, but I thought since I wasn’t there yet with the other two that it wouldn’t work.”

“Obviously you were wrong.”

“It took time but I figured it out. Them also. It’s not like this happened overnight.”

Lando looks at the boy next to him. He’d admittedly been crushing on him since the start of the year. His calm demeanor a stark contrast to his own. It was… refreshing, in a way.

Oscar also liked him, which helped, and the female he was currently trying to win over also does. The hard part is she hasn’t figured it out, and the red and blue guard dogs were hesitant to let him get close. Which sucks in its own way because who the hell wouldn’t be crushing on Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.

~

The McLaren garage is one of her favorite places to be. They always had the best snacks here. She often found herself sneaking into Lando's room just to raid his stash.

She opens the door to his room and is met with Lando standing above Charles and Max.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"No, I'm attempting to explain my predicament."

She looks between the three. The Monegasque and Dutch just look completely unfazed.

"Is this a hard on type of predicament? Or an Oscar predicament?"

"You knew?" Max and Charles both yell at the same time.

"Did you forget I can see the future? I just wanted to see how long it would take without me."

"Lando, we're glad you found someone, but we hardly know the guy."

It's not that they don't like him, but after everything they've been together, it can be hard to trust new people. Especially when their female partner is straight from a movie.

"Can we invite him over then? For dinner or something?"

Max and Charles relent. The Brit smiling like an idiot when they say yes.

~

Oscar knocks on the door to the hotel room. Nervous is not how he would describe his feelings. More like petrified.

Lando is the one who greets him. His signature goofy smile on his face. He basically bounds in to the room, excited to welcome Oscar into their home away from home.

The female is nowhere in sight, and Max and Charles are sitting at opposite ends of the small table with their arms crossed.

"Don't let them intimidate they're just a but... protective." Lando seems to shrug them off like no big deal, but Oscar is shaking out of his clothes (figuratively).

"Lan, last time we invited someone in it didn't end well." Reminds Max in a tone that makes Lando almost halt to attention. Which is weird because as far as Oscar knows, the Brit listens to no one.

"That was different."

Charles is shaking his head in disbelief. Whatever happened last time must have been bad. He definitely dosen't want to make them uncomfortable with this. "I can go if this is uncomfortable. I promise I'm not meaning to start drama or anything." Oscar manages to slip the words past his lips, but the unease doesn't go unnoticed.

"It's not that. I'd just rather bit see Lan have a breakdown and y/n unconscious like that again." Explains Max.

Okay, so whatever happened was bad. Oscar now has no idea what to do and had thrown every plan he had out the window.

Thankfully, he's saved by the bell as the fourth part of the quartet comes through the door. "Sorry, I ran into Seb, and he said his coffee pot in his room isn't working, so I offered to go fox it, and -" She abruptly stops her rant and stares at Oscar for a second. "Hello, Oscar." She greets warmly.

The takeout boxes she'd been holding now neatly set along the table. Lando now moving to sit at the table and gesturing for Oscar to sit with them. He does so hesitantly. Taking a spot between the female and the Brit.

"Are you going over tonight?"

"If I have time, yes, or I'll just go early in the morning."

"Seb seems more like a tea guy. Are we sure that he's not been possessed?"

"As his child, I can assure you he drinks coffee more then you might think."

Oscar listens to how the conversa flows so easily between them. He feels awkward and out of place. They fit so well together. Even if they let him in, how's he going to fit? What if he ruins it?

It takes him a minute to realize they are all looking at him. Lando is attempting to get his attention. "Hello? Earth to Oscar?"

"Sorry, I zoned out for a minute."

"Oh, I just asked how you're feeling with McLaren after the whole alpine mess. We don't have to talk about it, though." The female smiles warmly at him again. Maybe she pulled them all in with that smile because he's certainly struggling to not let it consume his thoughts.

"No, it's fine. Like I said, my head just spaced. I definitely like McLaren better if I'm being honest."

"Bet it's because of your amazing teamate." Lando send him a suggestive wink.

"Well, yes, but Alpine did some things I'm not proud of sharing...." He trails. His mind whirled about what he's saying. He can't just dump his trauma on them!

"What do you mean by that?" Probes Charles. It's not mean or prying. It's gentle and caring. There's a concern in his eyes that he's not seen someone have when he brings up the Alpine situation.

"Being a third driver sucks and it feels mostly like assistant work at times." He sucks in a breath through his teeth. Lando had moved his hand over the top of his, and he couldn't help but feel thankful for the contact. "I was definitely used and overworked before the contract stuff, but it got so much worse after."

The female is looking tentatively between her counterparts. Like asking permission for something.

"It's up to you if you tell him, but please don't scare the poor kid like we did Lando." Chuckles, Max. It's almost unerving to hear such things

"Oscar-" starts the girl as she fumbles around for her words. "There are things I can do, aren't you exactly... normal." She looks around the table for support, and the three boys nod her on with encouragement. She gently grabs Oscar's hand and sets it on the table face up. "If you'll allow me, I can see those memories without you having to talk about them."

He's skeptical, to say the least, but the way the other three are looking at her makes him think she's not lying. "Sure." He shrugs. The curious side of him winning out.

She sets her palm against his. Her skin is so hot it almost burns him. He can feel the back of his brain tickling, and then he loses focus of the present moment.

He's at the Alpine Headquarters. But he's watching himself stride into the room instead if doing it. He's watching his own memories.

"Kinda cool isn't it?"

"Wha?- how?-"

"I can explain more later, but for now, you're in control of what we see."

"This is a week after I signed." He almost wants to run away as he sees himself aproach his team principle and other various staff.

He listens as he gets berated and made to feel selfish. Threats of him always being in debt to the team make him shiver.

Then, the scene changes. The colors and scenery morphs before his eyes. He knows exactly what this is.

The woman beside him offers him her hand, which he gratefully takes.

"We can stop at any point." She reminds him gently. But this is easier. Showing her instead of talking makes it so she can see without him having to listen to his voice crack every thirty seconds.

It's cold outside, the November air hitting his face. His superiors are yelling at him again, just outside the paddock entrance.

He remembers the feeling of holding back tears well. The lump in his throat, trying to break free as he fights it back.

The hand that comes down on his cheek still surprises him. Even at twenty-one it hurt when he felt like it shouldn't. This had been the routine for awhile now. They blame him for the teams mishaps since he created so much drama.

He was so fed up at this point that he just let it continue like it had been since he confirmed that he signed with McLaren.

He was nothing more than a toll before, and he was still one now. He hated every minute of it.

Then nothing.

He's pulled abruptly from the scene like he's awaking from a dream. He wakes up with an oddly comforting sensation running through his body. His hand still entwined with the females.

But she's not awake, and his brain still feels like it's prickling.

He disconnects himself from her, alerting the other three boys that he's once again conscious.

"How'd it go?" Asks Lando, his eyebrows quirked with curiosity.

"If therapy was like that, I think the world would be a better place. Like... I feel oddly warm, and my body feels amazing. Not like- in a weird way."

Charles halts all movement. "You mean you feel good? Like someone took all the ailments your body might have had and made them go away?"

"Uh yeah- exactly that. How do you know?" Then Charles is bolting to get Max, who had just walked into a different part of the room.

Lando hands Oscar a tissue. "For your nose." he hadn't even realized the his nose was bleeding.

Then Lando gently moves back the girl's body. Carefully making her head sit upright. "Oh god." Oscar breathes as he catches a glimpse of her.

"Don't worry, she'll be alright. This is a newer thing to her so she's still testing the limits."

"You mean this has happened before?!" Oscar won't deny the panic rising in his chest. The girls eyes are stuck in the back of her head, bloody tears roll down her cheeks. The same crimson color pooling out of her ears and nose. Her forehead is slick with sweat dampening her hair.

Did he kill her?

"Yeah, in the past more. It's better now because she can find the limits. But again, this is new."

Max and Charles return with rags. Then they move her to their bed and get to work cleaning her up. Lando moves to her side and starts speaking to her, and after about ten minutes, Oscar feels the prickly sensation in his head vanish.

Was she stuck in his head?

Her eyes roll back and close completely. Her chest now heaving in a steady pattern. Oscar releases a breath he didn't know he was holding at the sight.

Charles offers him a reassuring smile. "She must trust you."

"Why me? What makes you say that?"

"Because you're now a part of the 'I know y/n is a superhero club.'" The comment sends the three into a fit of laughter. It makes Oscar able to relax.

Then they just talk while waiting for her to wake up. Staying nervous in case something happened.

They explained everything to him. Her vulnerability with her powers and what they'd been through in Abu Dhabi.

No wonder they're so protective.

As they talked, he realized more about their dynamic. He doesn't have to fit into the puzzle in some specific way. He just needs to be himself and communicate with everyone.

When the girl finally opens her eyes, she looks for him immediately. A warm smile appears on her face when she finds him.

Then he explained what happened with Alpine. The entire reason she'd gone into his head was so he didn't have to talk about it. Yet, the comforting and supportive atmosphere made it easy.

It was late, and they offered to let him stay. He accepted the couch at first before Charles and Lando were just shaking their heads no.

"Listen, they roped us in with the sleep. I swear to you, it seals the deal." Lando winks, and he can't retell if it's suggestive or not.

And he's right. Somehow, wearing a mixture of comfy clothes provided by them and laying peacefully in bed, enjoying each other's presence makes him wake up feeling the best he's ever felt.

"I think I'm sold if you are."

~

The funny thing about Max's first championship title back in 2021 is that they tried to come out, and people collectively said no. Deeming the moments as a burst of energy from Max and that the four are 'best friends.' Which is ridicoulus considering the fact they've been caught kissing each other on different occasions after that.

Some got it, some didn't understand it, and others decided to slander them for it.

The four blamed the PR teams for doing their job too well. It wasn't bad, it just makes things difficult from time to time.

This is one of those occasions.

They aren't saying anything about Oscar yet. Mainly because people are going to say what they want. Oscar is still a rookie, and he could get slammed if people found out. Claiming it as an attempt to get a better spot in the sport.

So it was back to hiding in the small motor home rooms. Unless it's Max, whose room is actually a decent size. This is why all five have ended up here; an hour before the race and taking a minute to get ready. Unless you're the female who is still actively reading through data.

'Mon amour, you can spend two minutes away from your work." Sighs the Monegasque.

She just shakes her head. Almost looking like she's ignoring him.

Charles turns to Max, and the Dutch nods his head sending him a wink. Lando is practically shaking in his spot next to Oscar, and the Australian has no clue why. He just observes what's happening with an open kind, as he's done with everything the last month.

"Sounds like someone isn't listening." Smirks Charles. The female body halts movement at his words. She hastily scrambles to her knees in front of him and hands him her work tablet.

"'mm sorry." She mumbles.

Oscar gets it now. He'd watched them a few times and had participated in a few scenes. Needless to say it was the best sex he'd ever had and doesn't think he could go back.

But this is different. Normally, she doesn't need to apologize because she does everything right. She looks so disappointed in herself as she stares at the floor. They all knew work had taken its toll on her this week. Sergio is struggling to keep up with Max, which meant she had to help figure out where the problem is. She'd had little sleep trying to figure it out and was still working on it even before the race.

Charles bends down to her level. "It's okay Chéri. We’ve just know how stressed you've been and want you to take a break. So how about this: do you want to spend the next hour helping the four of us get ready?"

The way her eyes light up has all four of them melting. It takes approximately fifteen minutes for everyone's clothes to be discarded in a pile.

Limbs are sprawled everywhere, and everyone is enjoying it. Until a certain male comes to the door.

Daniel had a lack of understanding for boundaries. Which means he just opens door without knocking. Unless it’s locked, which is currently not the case.

“Hey Max, Christ-“

Everyone freezes. Daniel is staring like a deer caught in headlights, Max is yelling at him to get out, Charles is trying to shield the females body from view and Lando has Oscar wrapped protectively in the corner.

It not like they were all completely naked, aside from Charles and the girl now having his shirt pulled over her body, but the fact that Daniel won’t close the door is getting frustrating.

Finally, Daniel turns and walks away. Max determining he will be going through the Australians camera roll later today and have another talk about boundaries.

“Everyone okay?” A chorus of yes’ follow Max’s question.

“Doe he do that often?” Pipes Oscar, his head peaking around the corner.

“You have no idea.”

~

Lewis Hamilton notices things. He has a keen eye for detail. So despite their best efforts, he knew Oscar had joined in to make the quartet now a quintet.

It’s ridiculous, he thinks, that they can fight it out on the track and still go home to each other at the end of the night.

That’s what led him to this phone call. “I swear to you Seb, she’s collecting them.”

“And I swear if that’s anything less then a compliment I’ll force a Redbull can down your throat.”

“No need to get violent, I just don’t get how they manage. Aren’t you worried?”

“No.” The deadpan in his voice makes Lewis ishiver with the fear of an angry protective Seb. “For some reason I think it was meant to be.”

“And if one of them hurts her?”

“Then there are three others to make sure she knows she’s still loved.”

~

Oscar had caught on quickly to the less typical rules of the house. Like how Charles is not allowed anywhere near the kitchen and the unspoken shower schedule.

He’d found his place with them and now feels as though they are in step with each other. The white board on the wall by the door is littered with notes and reminders to keep communication flowing.

Tonight, however, is interesting because it’s just him and her. The other three having gone out to a club on their off weekend. The other two opting to stay home and chill.

Oscar grabs out their favorite snacks then climbs back into bed with her. He’d felt strongly for her after she was in his head. Something the other four have felt as well. This invisible rope pulling them to each other. Like she has bonded them by more then something as simple as love.

“Did you pick out something to watch?”

“Yep! I wish the boys would let us watch true crime when they’re home.” She curls herself into Oscar and hits play.

“They are just a little paranoid sometimes.” He kisses the top of her head. Another unspoken rule of the house: physical contact is the best way to communicate. Its something he’s used to already, three sisters who’s have similar love languages can teach you a lot.

“I don’t see why they would be. I can stop any intruder with my mind powers.” She snickers as herself.

~

The three boys stumble up to their apartment. All of them having to much to drink but are still able to walk- with the support of the wall, of course.

They fall through the door, kick off their shoes and fall into bed. The three so disoriented themselves that they didn’t see the disarray of the apartment on their way in.

Sleep taking over so quickly that they couldn’t see the hastily scribbled note peaking out from under the lamp.

~

The light from the room sears into Oscars eyes as he tries to wake himself up. His head is pounding and the white walls of the room are not helping.

Where is he?

He sits himself up in the stiff bed. His surroundings are entirely unfamiliar. It’s a cell of some sort. The mirror in the middle of the wall can tell him that much. Most likely somone is watching him from the other side.

But why?

They went to bed last night fine. The three were still at the club while the other two were curled up in bed. There was a knock at the door, loud enough to wake both of them. They assumed is was their, most likely, drunken partners.

Instead she had been greeted by the familiar face of the man who ran away during the Abu Dhabi incident. Her reaction time was much better then his. Oscar opened the door and was of the floor seconds later. A large needle now sticking out of his partners arm.

Yet she didn’t fall.

Most likely it was the same drug used in her before. She’d told Oscar about when her father got to her at a race. How he’d managed to knock her out in a similar way.

She’d protected him from the drug and now she needed to get them both away safely.

The apartment was in shambles when they’d finally sedated him also. The first guy having brought back-up with him. She could have managed one, but six made it difficult and she took a beating.

Not like Oscar got out unscathed either. He could feel where his ribs are most likely cracked and the bruises on his skin hurt when he puts any sort of pressure on them. There’s a few lines of dried blood from cuts and his lip is split from whoever punched him in the face.

He’d managed to scribble out a note while they were focused in her. He knew he wasn’t winning this and the phone is risky since it could take to long. He settled for a note he prayed they would see. Then they came after him.

Where the hell is he and where the hell is she?

She’s not here with him. The panic settling into his bones as he realizes that she’s not here with him.

His head is pulsing. His vision is starting to swim. He can’t even get a word out as sleep takes hold of him again.

~

Charles wakes up first. He smiles when he sees Lando and Max still snoring, assuming the other two who probably got decent sleep are up and about.

The room is an absolute mess. It looks like they threw their own party.

Nope, definitely not. Neither of them really like parties. Maybe they decided to have their own fun last night. If that’s the case then he’s already making plans for later.

He ventures to the kitchen for water. Something unnerving settling over him as he sees it’s not just their room, but the whole flat. Furniture has been flipped, shelves are knocked over, glass is broken, and the blood spatters in the floor make him want to vomit.

“Max!” He yells. His body paralyzed from the sight. “Max! Lando! Please you need to see this!”

The other two come around the corner disoriented. They have a similar reaction to the monegasque.

Max quickly gets his head straight and begins searching the house for any sign of their younger lovers.

Nothing.

Aside from a hastily scribbled note shoved under the lamp.

Three words and a name: attacked, drugged, help, Oscar.

Max feels his chest ready to explode. How could he have let this happen again? It makes no sense. They were supposed to be safe here. They were supposed to be able to move in and live without fear.

He supposes fate works in cruel ways.

~

The security footage was less then helpful. The authorities invaded everyone’s personal space. Seb is in a plane to Monaco but wouldn’t be here til later. And ti top it all off, the front security person lay lifeless in the security office.

It couldn’t get any worse and Lando is forced to watch it all. Watching his lovers, one of them also his teammate, get dragged down the fire escape stairs that run through the building was not in his bucket list.

So he sits and he stares and he breaths. His mind trying to explain the situation to him over and over agin.

The authorities had been taking them in for questioning. He’d gotten done first. The officer said he should get some water. He obviously looks distressed.

Maybe he deserves to feel like he can’t breath. Maybe that’s how they felt when they realized what was happening.

A figure slumps themselves down next to him.

Max.

“Is this our fault?” He mumbles out.

Max pulls Land into him. “My mind wants to think so, but I know it’s not.”

“How do you know?” Lando looks up at Max. The Dutch is staring off into the distance, pondering how to put it into words.

“Even if we were here and sober when it happened, they would have gotten us too. Her visions only provide so much information at given times and even though we’re fit and can surely hit hard, they are combat trained.”

“So you’re saying we wouldn’t have made a difference.” Lando’s voice cracks at the suggestion.

“No, not at all what I’m saying. We would have had a better chance but things have played out this way. Now we have to get them back because we’re the only ones who can.” Max explains. His hands find Lando’s hair and comfortingly plays with his curls. “We’ll find them Lan, I promise.”

Both if them sit in silence for a few moments before they are interrupted by angry strings of French.

“I’ve lost my language! Nobody understands my French, my English, my Italian!” Shouts the frustrated monegasque. A less then happy officer just shakes their head in defeat.

“What do you reckon he’s on about?”

“Probably how everyone has been asking that same question.”

~

Oscar is pulled from his restless slumber by a new figure. A familiar face.

y/n.

He knows this is probably a dream. He only has so much time to bask in her warmth before he wakes up for real.

“Oscar please wake up. We need to go.” There’s a frantic urgency in her voice. She shaking his shoulders.

“Are you real?” Whatever they’d been dosing him with to keep him sedated after he tried to break the mirror had caused him to hallucinate a few times. They’d wake him up at set times to eat and use the bathroom, then would put him back to sleep. His arms now have small circular outlines from the constant jab on needles.

She cuts his face with her hands. “I’m real and can get us out but we don’t have much time.”

Oscar shoots himself out of bed. A discarded needle on the floor and the sore spot on his arm tells him she figured out how to wake him up from his unwanted slumber.

He takes a minute to asses her. She’s in new clothes. Well- not new, just different. A pair of basketball shirts and a t-shirt four sizes to big with holes taking up more then the fabric.

She bleeding in multiple places and it looks like she’s struggling to breathe. There is so much to process about everything wrong with the picture. She looks absolutely wrecked. But then again, maybe he doesn’t look that much better.

His ribs don’t hurt as he stands. Actually, he feels shockingly good and- “please tell me you didn’t heal me.”

She sets her eyes in the floor and takes his hand in hers.

He’s got shoes on and she doesn’t, he notes.

It feels oddly empty and he wonders where they are. It looks like some sort of old bunker. It’s dark and musty as he sets foot outside the door.

She puts him along with her. The girls head scanning everything for potential threats. He’d never seen her so focused.

There’s heavy footsteps echoing through the corridors. Shouts can be heard from down the hall. The girl leading him is getting more unstable by the second. He can see her body swaying.

He notices the blood spatters on the walls but doesn’t say anything about it. He just lets her guide him out, his head still foggy from everything.

Her steps get slower and his body reacts quicker then hers. She doesn’t touch the floor as Oscar scoops her into his arms.

He knows they can’t stay here. It’s absolutely freezing, both of them are shivering. He treks with her a while longer. Relief hits him as he finds a secluded corner.

He just needs to rest a minute. Why’s it so cold in here? He knows his body is exhausted. It’s not going to let him continue. It’s not like a race where he can keep the adrenaline flowing.

He holds the girl close to him. Her lips are trembling and blue.

Just a minute, he tells himself, then he’ll will them both out of here.

~

Search party’s became their best bet.

They’d ruled out them leaving the country. Monaco is a small place so it would be hard for someone to slip away unnoticed. Last time she was taken, someone caught them with her but didn’t know she was being kidnapped. They came forward with their information.

Similarly, someone said they recognized Oscar in the back of a car asleep.

Amateurs.

Sebastian has been searching for them day and night. Hanna and the kids have moved themselves to Monaco for the time being.

Two weeks.

The other three had to reluctantly go back to racing. It was only after lengthy discussion with their teams that they did. Lando was suffering from missing a teammate and now lover.

Oscars family had also been involved. They didn’t understand what was happening. So many questions that Seb wanted to answer but couldn’t for his own daughters safety.

He knew they would be okay. If only he could find them.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. It’s close to midnight and the caller ID is unknown. He answered expecting the worst but hoping for the best.

“Dad.” It didn’t matter how static and broken the word was, he knew it was her.

“Y/N? Where are you love?” He wanted to ask if she was okay but that had to come later. After he finds her.

A static group of numbers is mumbled through. He grabs an writing utensil and scratches it down in the nearest surface. Disregard for their hotel the furthest thing from his mind.

Her heavy breathing fill his ears. “I’m gonna come get you, okay?”

She’s panting and he can hear her moving. Voices in the background speaking English. He can hear every second of her screams getting quieter as they drag her away from him.

~

Lando nearly dropped his phone.

He’d done a race without Oscar and it was the worst thing he’d ever done in his career.

He’d lost lovers for a second time in the span of two years.

Now Seb is saying he knows where they are.

It’s only Thursday meaning they can fly back. There is still time. But he needed to get to Charles and Max who reluctantly are in a press conference. Where most likely answering questions about the missing female and Australian.

Lando runs. He’s never run so fast but his legs a caring him at top speeds.

He bursts through the door. Everyone stares at him and he freezes for a moment before he remembers why he’s here.

“They found them.”

~

Charles had never been so cold in his life. These tunnels they’re meandering around in seem neverending.

The area had hopefully been cleared of everyone who wanted to hurt them and now they were able to join the search parties.

Seb and Hanna had gone a different direction then the three boys. Hopefully they would be able to cover more ground this way. Oscars parents would be here when they could. They’d flown back to Australia to take care of some things with his sisters and they would all be flying back together.

Max sent his jet for them so they didn’t have to wait on a flight.

Charles looks between his the Dutch and Brit. They’d had little sleep the last couple of weeks. Angry at the world for what it’s putting them through.

They’d been staying in the same hotel as Seb in case something happened. Their apartment is still trashed and it’s not like it’s safe there anymore anyway.

“Oscar! Y/N!” Lando is losing his voice from all the yelling. Charles could hear the lump in his throat that wanted to be let out so bad.

Charles shines his flashlight around looking for any sort of corridor they may be down. It’s dirty, the floors are wet, and in his head this is the sort of place to be haunted.

He notices a a gap in the wall. If he wasn’t looking so hard he’d have definitely missed it. He peaks his head around and shine his light around. His heart nearly bursting at the sight of two familiar figures.

“I found them!”

Charles steps through the gap and inches closer, praying they aren’t dead.

The echo of the footsteps wakes Oscar, his hands shielding his face from the light.

Charles is careful about approaching. He notices the way the Australian is scrambling to move them farther away. “Stay away!” His voice is weak and scratchy.

Lando and Max slide around the corner.

“Oscar it’s me, it’s Lando.” The Brit wastes no time sliding to his knees in front of them. The disoriented state of Oscar only making him more panicked and he thrashes, doing his best to keep the still unconscious girl behind him.

Lando gently holds his face. Almost forcing the younger to look at his face. Oscars breathing evens as he meets Lando’s eyes.

Then he breaks. The cracked wails bouncing of the wall.

Lando looks at Charles and Max. “He’s freezing.” They’re all shrugging off their coats and bundling up the two.

Then their walking out of that place.

The five of them.

~

Next ->

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[uf-oh]

hi! I've seen you getting super into the Re-Animator movies and one of my favourite things is listening to people talk about their favourite things for nine hours straight, so I wanted to ask: should I watch Re-Animator? why?

hello!! firstly, this was the nicest message to receive EVER. I was genuinely floored that you would want to hear me talk about it !! you are such a sweetheart, and i would love to chat more about your currently hyperfixations too <3

in terms of whether you should watch re-animator the short answer is yes, the long answer is the pro's outweigh the cons for me personally but be cautious

i fucking love an unethical scientist. nothing fills my heart more than seeing a man do whatever he has to do to push the boundaries of human understanding no matter the cost, so this movie down to the barest concept is already so perfectly up my alley. herbert west's aesthetic also fits exactly with characters i've hyperfixated on in the past sporting the white button up, skinny black tie, brunette hair and glasses (see newt geizler, edward nygma, arguably gary the gadget guy but i can't get into that right now). and we haven't even touched on the homoerotic subtext

my favourite relationship dynamic is narrative foils, especially a guarded and emotionally-closed off character being warmed by the presence and affection of another. herbert and dan definitely fall into this category. also they grab and touch each other. all the time. its clear they would do almost anything for each other, especially in the first film but also in the second despite their constant bickering.

the cast is also incredible. if you have the patience after you've finished the first two movies, the actors commentary on youtube is seriously one of the funniest things i've ever heard. you can tell these actors are good friends and loved working with each other, and had a great time working on the movie together (this is also apparent in the bts pics which are also phenomenal). its interesting to hear them talk about what they were trying to portray with their characters and anecdotes about the process of filming. definitely one of the draws to these movies for me was jeffery combs, i follow him on twitter now and he's a little unhinged but in the best way, i love his feed so much.

whether or not this movie is objectively good (if thats something you need in a movie) im not sure i could say either way. i liked the plot, but the real draw for me is the characters and their dynamics. also, its really funny???? its kinda goofy, but it feels really natural and almost accidental??? in my heart it is oscar worthy, but whether or not it is a Good Movie i couldnt say. i love it tho

also another thing i should mention, re-animator does have a pretty brutal SA scene. its the definition of using s*xual violence for horror and shock value, and is definitely the most disturbing part of the movie. listening to the commentary, i was relieved to hear the actress in the scene, barbara crampton, talk about how professionally the filming of that scene was handled and how much agency she had discussing with the director. but yeah, its pretty brutal. i skip it now when i rewatch the movie

TLDR; you should watch re-animator. lil meow meow science man has unparalleled hubris, green goop glowing ominously, and a homoerotically charged partnership with his assistant, but its not the pinnacle of feminist cinema.

thank you for letting me rave about this movie, i love herbert and dan so much. also i think its fun that the girl everyone's obsessed with has the same name as me, thats kinda rad. i check the re-animator and herbert west tags on tumblr, instagram and twitter literally every day for new artwork so if any re-animator/danbert artists see this PLEASE tag me in your stuff i love that shit. okay thank you again for this question i love you so much bye

[itsclydebitches]

Rewatching RWBY there's this chilling lack of empathy through the volumes that I used to just wave off. Yang has no empathy for Tai, Blake is just entirely about what Blake needs, Weiss almost kills a woman at a party and her takeaway is 'my dad is mean so I'm going to run away'. Qrow sinks hard into depression in vol. 6 and Ruby's reaction is to yell she's never needed him. No one has EVER helped a civilian. It's so prevelant. Knowing how 7&8 go really changes the earlier writing.

I think there was a great deal of well-written empathy in the early volumes — after all, this cast was designed as the kind, well-meaning heroes — but that care was expressed almost solely within the group itself. Ruby sits by Jaune in the hallway and says "Nope!" to his self doubt. Weiss offers Ruby a hand up after she fails to kill the death stalker. Yang seeks out Blake and gets her to open up about what's bothering her. Now, I want to emphasize that there's nothing inherently wrong with this. It actually makes perfect sense. These are our main characters and they're written as peers co-habiting the same space. Of course whatever emotional growth we get, which automatically includes moments of compassion, would be directed towards each other. Similarly, the dynamics originally introduced — that of teachers and parents — likewise (rightly) puts the burden on the adults to provide the comfort, not the other way around. Port snaps Weiss out of her arrogant mindset. Ozpin reassures Ruby about her leadership worries. Tai is there to support his daughter when she's recovering from a lost limb. That's the natural order of things, so to speak.

The problem, to my mind, begins to occur when the group exits those dynamics. They're no longer students, they're licensed huntsmen. They're no longer kids, but equals who never needed adults in the first place. They're no longer doing things for themselves and their friends on personal downtime, they're doing them for the community at large as a profession (to say nothing of the world-altering war they've insisted on shouldering responsibility for). That's what a huntsmen is meant to be, a defender of the people, not someone who uses that power for personal interests alone. All of this is a huge change from where we started out: cutesy kids going off on comparatively low-stakes adventures because one or more of their teammates are invested, only just beginning to realize that they're signing up for a job where their desires come second (that fireside conversation at Mountain Glenn).

This change invites — demands, really — that the audience read them differently too. Qrow's spiral in Volume 6 is a good example of this. If Ruby is demanding to be treated not just as an equal in terms of maturity and experience, but also as the primary leader of this group, then the viewer expects her to treat her uncle as an equal too, not dismiss his hardship. I've seen numerous fans defend that arc with some version of, "He's her uncle. He's supposed to take care of her. He's failing" but that, according to the show, is no longer the dynamic. Qrow is now just a member of Ruby's team, someone she's responsible for as their leader. It's easiest to see the problem if we switch out Qrow for any of the other members. If Blake developed a drinking problem, do we think Ruby would just shout at her until she magically got over it? If Jaune endangered the group, do we think they'd all be angry about it, rather than trying to figure out the source of what caused the mistake? We don't even need to think hypothetically for that one because we saw it on screen. Jaune attacked Oscar and drove him off, not just threatening him, but arguably endangering the whole team by requiring a search party. Fans have long insisted they had to steal that airship right then because being in Argus was too much of a risk, but if we buy that reading (which I personally don't, but), then that means Jaune made things exponentially worse by forcing them out into that super dangerous city, rather than allowing everyone to stay hidden inside. He made a massive mistake which, according to the logic of Qrow's arc, should be met with frustration, disdain, and eventual demands to get over his anger at Ozpin or ship out. But, of course, he received nothing but concern. Yang was worried about him, not Oscar. The search becomes about his grief for Pyrrha and his team's willingness (as well as Pyrrha's family member) to provide more comfort. Suddenly, the tendency to express care solely towards those within the group becomes a flaw the story won't acknowledge.

And then it spirals. The thing to remember is that no single act here is bad on its own, especially when we consider that yes, we want flawed characters. Rather, it's about the pattern. Ruby is allowed to get mad at Qrow for his behavior and chuck her scroll in frustration. She's human. I'd be crazy frustrated too. However, if Ruby is meant to be written as a caring, sympathetic character, she should not only respond to the situation with frustration, yelling, a refusal to listen, and demands that he follow her lead, no questions asked. We can, and should, acknowledge that Weiss was the victim during that party. Her father was hurting her, the woman was beyond insensitive, Weiss was triggered in regards to a horrific event, and her power acted on its own. However, if we want to write Weiss as a compassionate, mature huntress to-be, she should acknowledge that she nearly killed someone — even an asshole someone — and vow to work on her control because she's not willing to put someone in danger like that ever again. Both of these moments have a "They could have been handled better" response attached to them — the former more-so than the latter imo — but these moments are made far, far worse due to later events in the show, events where the characters are cruel without any justification attached. Weiss didn't mean to attack that woman, but she did mean to ignore Whitely and threaten him with her weapon. So once we see that, it informs our understanding of what came before it. "Oh. The fact that Weiss never reacted to nearly killing someone isn't just a bit of missed potential, it's an early indicator that she... doesn't seem to care. If she endangers people, threatens people... that's fine with her." The group has a right to be frustrated with Qrow. The group did not have the right to magically steal Ozpin's entire life story, assault him, and blame him for the world's problems until he felt his only course of action was to run from them. So when we see that it becomes, "Oh. The fact that the group treated Qrow so poorly isn't just a one-time mistake born of a stressful situation and young adults being out of their depth in regards to alcoholism. They really will just abandon anyone the moment they start making mistakes." Anyone outside of their group, that is.

To say nothing of how all of these moments interconnect. Yang's recovery isn't just about getting used to not having an arm, it's about getting used to having a new one. Weiss' party isn't just about nearly killing someone, it's about not committing manslaughter because someone else stepped in. The Volume 6 arc isn't just about trying to escape with the Relic, it's about trying to get it somewhere safe. Fans frustrated with Ironwood's treatment don't harp on these details out of some desperate attempt to make him look good post-murder spree, rather, they recognize that he's a character that's been around since nearly the beginning, originally written as a good guy, and thus has accumulated a number of key connections with the cast. So when none of those connections are acknowledged during an arc about trust... that makes the group look very uncaring. Yang doesn't care that he gave her the arm, Weiss doesn't care that he saved her from hurting/potentially killing someone, Qrow doesn't care that he's trusted Ironwood for years (in a rival-bros way) and that they've been heading towards him this whole time. And when Ironwood begins to spiral, they don't do anything to try and help him, let alone acknowledge that their own choices, that lack of trust and empathy, had a hand in getting them here. "But it's not their responsibility to fix him!" Isn't it? Even a little? Just as human beings seeing an ally struggling under horrific decisions and circumstances? Sure, they don't have to try... but that doesn't make them look very heroic to my mind. And we can't even shrug that off by simplifying things with, "Well, Ironwood is evil now so who cares about him." They simultaneously don't care about finding Qrow who is missing, then captured. They don't do anything to try and find their missing teammates, with the exception of sending May to do it instead. They don't help the army fight off the grimm. Don't try to make sure Pietro and Maria had portals to escape through. Barely hesitate when the newly resurrected characters goes, "Kill me. That's the easiest thing for everyone." And these are just a few of the big ticket moments. It doesn't even begin to cover all the details we get that paint a picture of, "Wow okay. They just really don't care about people outside the group, huh? I mean, they say they do, in a life-or-death way, but they're not putting forth effort to show it on a daily basis."

And if you pick up on all that, if you acknowledge how much the group has changed based on where they started out, you might wonder when in the world that started. Surely we didn't just flip a switch around Volume 6. So you re-watch early stuff and, sure enough, there are moments that feel like setup for what's to come later. Not intentional setup (quite obviously), but a lack of care towards details across the series that, once the dynamic changed, became far, far more pronounced. Characters should be at least somewhat recognizable from start to finish, especially characters who have only experienced about two years of in-world time, so if we now get to see Ruby blandly commenting on all the people who are dying, or Weiss using her weapon as a means of coercing her little brother into doing what she wants, or Yang and Jaune dismissing Ren until he gives in to their point of view... we're going to look for the beginnings of that behavior early on. As you say, we were able to wave all those little details off due to a number of important factors. Now though? Now they feel like they hold a lot more weight, simply by virtue of that early material proceeding what we have now.

[dreamingofyouthemanyone]

When They Wonder Why You Chose Them - 4

WOOOOH, DAY FOUR LET'S GOOOOO!!! Okay, admittedly, I had the most fun writing this and I have no idea why. Maybe it's 'cause they're the food guild and I love food so much.

----------------------------------------

Featuring: Members of the Gourmet Guild | Gastronomy

Type: Headcanons

Prompt: Each character musing over why did you pick them to be your first partner in this journey

Warning: Pre-Game Launch Character Assumptions

----------------------------------------

As curious as he is about your rationale for choosing him, Oscar hardly puts any viable thought or effort into it.

He is, ultimately, a man of importance and with a commodity of enemies lurking at every corner. So rather than whatever intentions you may have, he’s more concerned about the kind of character you keep hidden within yourself.

After all, intent is malleable with the right stress—a better offer of money, opportunity, and the accessories in a dish. But character? Now that is something remains distinct, constant with little dynamics, the stock to the entire soup itself.

So, whenever there’s a chance, he invites you to have a meal with him.

Dining, in essence, is its very own social interaction. One can not only enjoy the food being served but also gauge just what kind of person one’s company may be by the way they dine.

Even as he keeps the conversation going on between the two of you, he always has a watchful eye in the way you sit, in how you treat the restaurant staff, the way you hold your utensils, and how you tend to the food on your plate.

He keeps his vigilance high around you for quite some time; however, once he sees how constant you are with your routine, how unlikely it is that you’ve simply been acting for the sake of malice, then he’s able to lower his guard against you and truly begins to enjoy your presence.

Without caution to be an ever-active sign at the back of his mind, he starts to see the genuineness in your words and actions. You listen attentively to his lessons about what kind of dish you’re having, the history and culture of it, and though you may have some reservations about the brutality of his criticisms, you make it a point to understand why and how come.

It makes you even more endearing to him.

Before he knows it, you’ve become a precious existence to him, enough to make him worry about his threats becoming yours as well.

When he finally asks you what made you choose him, he’ll later on blame it on the atmosphere. On an almost daily basis, the two of you have dinner together. This night, in particular, the two of you are in a restaurant with an outdoor aesthetic with magically-lit candles decorating tabletops and making your eyes glow with something ethereal and hypnotizing to him, your smiles and laughter filling him better than any meal can.

It takes almost all of the discipline inside of him for him to be able to listen to your answer, but the fine line that is his control nearly snaps when he hears the genuineness in your words and he doesn’t even have to see that the dark flush on his cheeks is less so because of the alcohol but more so because of you.

“I’m well aware that we already spend a lot of time together, but, are you free for lunch tomorrow? I placed a reservation at that restaurant you loved, and I was hoping we could try out their newest dish.”

----------------------------------------

Kuchen doesn’t bother beating around the bush, fudging the truth, sweetening his words, whatever. He doesn’t, because he isn’t the type of person to waste his time on something that isn’t the least bit important to him.

He has the decency to pull you into a secluded corner before he tells you, in no uncertain terms, to pick somebody else because whatever it is you want, whatever it is that you need to do, he won’t be able to be of any help.

The grave twist to his features is a stark contrast to his usual easygoing one, and he can tell from your expression that he’s caught you off guard with this side of him, but you have to understand. To him, making chocolates will only ever have his full concentration, and it’s best that you know this now rather than later after so much time has been meaninglessly spent.

He gives you time after that to make your decision, confident that you’ll see his way, and he spends his days as he usually does, that tension between his shoulders loosening as time goes by.

When next you drop by the guild, he merely spares you a glance before he turns his attention back to the lady he’d been enamoring. He expects you to wait for him to finish his business with her, to tell him that he’s right, to change your mind.

You, just like how white chocolate refuses to be tempered so easily like the rest, do not do any of that. Instead, you grab him by the arm, smile apologetically at the woman, before dragging him off the the storage room to have a private conversation with him.

He knows, just by the determined furrow to your brows and in the set of your gaze and lips, that you aren’t changing your mind. And he’s right, because you tell him so.

He informs you that it’s your loss, not in an unkind tone, but you insist that you aren’t losing anything and that you aren’t asking him to prioritize whatever it is you want over his passion. You chose him, and you aren’t going to treat him like a broken toy just because he’s harder to handle than the rest.

Something about your words rings significantly inside of him, resonating with feelings and memories he’s long since buried, and it’s really the only reason for why he lets you do what you want.

He doesn’t change completely, at least not at first. He still focuses on making chocolates, still spends his time flirting with women, but whenever you inform him of a request, he takes time from his busy schedule to accompany you even if he’s all complaints and side-tracking.

It takes time for him to warm up to you, and it doesn’t help that he’s kicking and screaming for you the whole time. But he’s seen how patient you've been with him, how genuine you’ve been with your promise, that it makes it hard for him to not come to care for you.

More often than not these days, he wonders why you chose him. It leaves him a little too scatterbrained than normal, affecting even his time when making chocolates. Next thing he knows, he’s staring at a dark red box filled with all of your favorite types of chocolate, each one crafted by his hand, thinking about how much trouble he’s in now.

“Here, take this...Huh? What do you mean who it’s for? It’s for you, obviously. You’ve never tried out any of my chocolates, right? Well, now you can. But prepare yourself, because you’ll never want to eat any chocolates but mine after one bite!”

----------------------------------------

It isn’t that Cuit is ungrateful for the opportunity, far from it in all honesty. It just…appears to be a very daunting experience.

He’s never really experienced what it had felt like to be first in anything until you came along, so, so certain in your decision to choose him of all people. You’d grinned this side of sweet when he’d accepted, and that had been enough to send his heart thumping a mile a minute because you’d looked so earnest, so proud in your choice.

For a while, it feels as if he’s walking on cloud nine and, though he still has his main job in the Gourmet Guild, he wholeheartedly devotes as much of himself as he can into your endeavors.

However, with all things that go up, they must, eventually, go down. And for him, his practically crash lands like a stray meteorite.

The weight of his responsibilities come to him gradually. Little things, really, that amount to something great and harrowing that he’s forced to take a seat after a few absentminded blunders in the kitchen.

He has his elbows resting atop his knees, his hands cradling his head, fingers sinking into his hair, as he wonders if he even deserves to be by your side.

After all, who is he to stand alongside the other meisters? Each and every one of them were masters of their own craft, while he himself is still toddling along behind somebody’s shadow and barely succeeding. How could he even think that he could support you, when he could barely do the same for himself? Why did you pick? And why did he accept?

He doesn’t notice your presence until he feels a featherlight touch to the back of his hands, breaking his train of frantic thoughts. He looks up at you, the light from the ceiling acting as a halo of some sorts against the back of your head, and he knows he must look horrible in comparison to you.

You ask him what’s wrong, worry a stark hue in your eyes, and he internally berates himself for letting you see this side of him before he tries to placate you. It doesn’t work, by the way you furrow your brows, and underneath your steel gaze, he relents and tells you his worries.

Something in your face fractures as you listen to him, eyes rounding with each confession that slips past his lips, and he looks away when he’s done, feeling both humiliated and empty because surely now—

Yet, you merely take his hands into yours, a wave fondness overshadowing your sorrow as you run your thumbs over the bandages wrapped around his fingers. When you look up at him, the look on your face is enough to make his heartache horribly. Then, after licking your lips, you tell him gently as to why he shouldn’t worry about that—for why you chose him in the first place, out of everyone.

You gather him up in your arms when you’re done, quietly embracing him and running your hands through his hair. He returns your hug after a while, fingers gripping the back of your clothes, and he allows himself to live in the moment with the knowledge that he does have a place beside you and savors it.

“...I know that I still have a long way to go, but I don’t think I’m as scared as before. And I have you to thank for that, you know? So, I want to make a promise to you. Starting today, for every day we spend together, I’ll make you smile with my food.”

----------------------------------------

Although Riche is careful to keep his features placid in response to your choice, there’s a hurricane of conflicting emotions that he lets lose inside of him.

For the most part, he’s flattered by your choice. After all, surely it’s the way he presents himself that makes him stand out amongst the rest, makes you believe that he’s someone that you can rely on. On the other hand, he’s irritated. Not only does having to support you means more work for him atop of everything else, but it’s also not as if it’s possible for him to reject your offer.

He’s been selfish once and has brought more than enough trouble to his brothers. He’s not going to start again after he’s just gotten a handle over it.

And so, he compromises. He’s cordial with you, yes, but he also keeps a certain distance from, always at arm’s length despite your best efforts. He isn’t here to make friends with you, but to fulfill whatever duties you give him.

This all changes, though, on a day where everything seems bleaker, his regrets stinging sharply in his knuckles and his guilt a heavy curtain draped at the back of his mind. It’s on days like this where he’s sharper with his tongue than he means, gaze more pointed. It’s also the day when he snaps at you for the first time, impatience winning out over his calmness. As soon as the words are out of his mouth, he clamps his lips shut, the makings of an apology glued to his mind yet incapable of being said.

When you leave, he knows he’s messed up. That this is it. He’d been given one chance to get his life together, but of course he goes and waste it.

He spends a few days in contemplation, getting his thoughts in order and preparing himself to confront you. His brothers ask him if he’s alright, but he reassures them that everything’s fine, not wanting them to take care of his business. He’s the one that had hurt you. He should at least have the decency to mend his own wrongs.

Once he has the words ready, he seeks you out. It’s awkward, having to sit with you after so long, but he is determined to see this through. The minute he knows he has your attention, he cuts straight to the point, bowing deeply to you and explaining himself, even if he has to reveal a few personal matters to you. He doesn’t expect any sort of forgiveness, but he does ask for you to not hold a grudge on the guild.

The silence that stretches on is so palpable that cutting through it would be like cutting through butter. But the moment ends when he feels you drag your chair closer to him, your feet appearing in his line of vision, and you ask him to meet your eyes so that you can explain your side to him. In the end, you forgive him. You tell him that you understand where he’s coming from—everybody has their good days and bad days, and you appreciate him putting a lot of thought into his apology.

Maybe it’s a spur of the moment or something entirely else, but he blurts out the first thing that comes to mind—do you still want him as your partner meister?

It’s clear that you’re caught off guard by his question, but the surprise on your face eventually makes way for amusement for you quirk a smile at him and tell him that nothing has changed since the day you made your decision.

Your words leave him reeling and try as he might to get an answer out of you for your reasons over choosing him, you’re cheekily quiet. This time, you don’t have to be the one to close the distance. He’s doing a mighty good job doing that on his own.

“...What’s with that look for, huh? For your information, I do know a thing or two about gardening. Most of the wine bottles here come from the grapes I raise. If I can do that, then I can certainly grow some flowers for you.”

----------------------------------------

W A L T E R

So long as it doesn’t interfere with his job as Oscar’s taste tester, Walter doesn’t really mind being chosen to help you around.

Your company is nice to have. You don’t seem upset by his preference to be quiet most of the time, nor do you just assume that he doesn’t like having someone to talk to.

You take time out of your busy schedule to spend it with him, always looking delighted at the prospect of helping him out in the greenhouse that he can’t help but mirror your smiles with a shyer version on his own lips.

He finds your interest in the plants under his care endearing, though more often than not he always has to make sure that you aren’t touching the ones with dangerous appendages. The way that you smile sheepishly at him as you apologize only makes him even fonder of you.

He finds that his days with you not only become brighter but also pass by quicker than the ones without you. It’s during these times, when he’s tending to his plants all alone. that he dearly misses your presence beside him.

He wonders if the same applies with you—do you miss him as well? He feels silly for thinking like this, because you always come back the next day with food as if you had any reason to apologize for your absence.

What he does find amusing, however, is the horror that never fails to wash over your face whenever he plucks a leaf from one of his poisonous plants to test its quality. The first time he’d done that, you’d panicked, grabbing his hand with both of yours and encouraging him to spit it out even after he’d swallowed it. He’d explained to you how his magic had recycled the poison into something harmless, and he’d huffed out a small chuckle when you finally remembered what his job in the guild was.

In a way, he feels touched by your concern, especially with how fast you’d reacted when you’d assumed that he was in danger. It makes something inside of him feel warm, because he’s so used to protecting others and not so much the other way around. It’s a nice feeling, knowing that he has another person in his life who cares if something bad ever happens to him.

He tells you such during one afternoon and after all the plants have been tended to. Yet, the expression you give him strikes something deep inside of him, wrenching his heart this way and that, and makes him decide that he doesn’t ever want to see that kind of expression on your face ever again.

Before he can do anything to placate you, you suddenly reach up to squish his cheeks, an indignant look on your face as you tell him that you will always care about what happens to him, whether it be good or bad, big or small, because he’s important to you.

His eyes widen at your words but soften into a fond gaze. Bringing a hand up to touch the back of yours, he asks why.

And you tell him so. Your reasons for picking him in the first place, and why you’ll always pick him no matter what. The affectionate tone in your voice makes him feel warm from his cheeks down to his chest, but he listens reverently, thinking that if he was in your situation, he too would choose you.

“This is for you…It came from the bush you helped me grow. You can use the leaves for tea, or ask somebody to make it into a sweet drink…”

[denimbex1986]

(Sebastian’s interview plays from from 49.26) 

“It was a wild time because I, I had made like three different audition tapes. I was shooting this tiny movie in Germany and I was making tapes, sending them from there - and, I made a tape for Steve, all, all for Steve, and, and they didn’t say no, they kept giving me notes so I was re-doing them, and then I didn’t hear anything for a while and I was gonna actually go to Romania, where I’m from, after Germany, and instead like, this is where I’m like, I don’t know if, you know, life could’ve gone a very different way had I gone, I don’t know, but instead I, I actually ended up coming back to LA, and then I heard that they were like; ‘Oh, you’re in LA?’ So then, so then I finally went in for like a fourth audition, you know in Sarah’s office, and I did the audition there with her, and then they called me to do a screen test and, which was for Steve, and - and I was like ‘a screen test?’ I had never even - I did one other screen test in my life which was for Star Trek, with JJ Abrams, and it was like - and I, and I obviously did not get that but, but it was like in a, you know it was like in an office with, with, a regular office. I mean this apparently was, we were actually gonna shoot like a scene - you shoot like a whole scene; you put on a costume and everything, you know - I put on this 1940′s like, whatever that suit that Chris has in the, in the movie, in the first Captain America movie, and I, you know you have hair and make-up done, like, it’s like a big tease but you still don’t have the job, you know, it’s crazy. And then you go in there and you’re like, “Oh my God” at the lighting and the camera, and, and I remember doing that, and it was me and like a bunch of other people and, and as soon as I got out of that, like four days later they were like, “You know, it’s not gonna go any further” - you always hear that; “It’s not going any further”, and then, so I was kinda like “Ah fuck after all that..” you know, I was really bummed. And then I got a call saying, “But maybe you shou - maybe we can talk about this character” and, and I never even knew anything about a James ‘Bucky’ Barnes ‘cos what I did like, even for the - I never knew anything about Captain America, I never knew anything about - you know, I never read the comics - so I, and I didn’t wanna read any of it before the audition anyway; there was no script, there was just this scene, and so I really didn’t know anything about Bucky Barnes.”

“Well, so we had that meeting right, like where they, they were like, telling me about James ‘Bucky’ Barnes; again; I don’t have a job. Like, I’m like listening going, ‘Are they - like, this sounds fantastic - but like what, are they just seeing if I’m interested?’ Well yeah, I am interested, like, I wanna be in a movie. But um, they were telling me about his story and they said yeah, and then you know, he becomes The Winter Soldier, he ends up sort of being captured, he falls off this train, he loses an arm, gets recaptured, they they brainwash him, they turn him into this assassin and he comes back, and you know, eventually you know, he comes back around, he gets his memories - like they, they told me the whole story but that was it, there was no more. And then we - and then we were shooting the first movie and, I fall off the train in the movie, and I realised when I went in for a costume fitting, they had given me a costume that was missing the left arm so I was like, ‘*Gasp* Okay that means that they’re - they’re gonna do it’”, you know like - and then, suddenly we were gonna shoot this scene and I had the costume that had both arms and I was like, “Err, why’s not the arm?” and they’re like, “Ah you know what? They just decided that they’ll see if anything - you know, they’d rather have both arms just in case and stuff”, and I was like, “Oh fuck, maybe they’re not gonna do it”, you know? So then I fell off the train in the movie and, the movie comes out, everything’s, you know, cool; 2011, I’m at the premiere of Captain America The First Avenger, and meanwhile like, I’m not, you know, I’m still like, really fighting for a job, like 2011 was one of the hardest years of my life. Like, you know, I was going to this premiere but I, Iike, it was - I needed a job, I was running out of money, like, it was like all this stuff was happening and, and then it wasn’t really until I wanna say like, whenever the San Diego Comic Con in San Diego happened, and a friend of mine called me and said; “Dude, they just - they just, uh, let out the new, uh, title for the sequel and it says ‘Captain America The Winter Soldier.’ in it.” And I was like “What?” That’s how I sort of found out and then a call happened  and we were like, ‘Okay we’re gonna do this sequel’ - that’s how that sort of happened. I mean, I never knew.”

“Well, I mean I think, I think the only thing, uh what’s different is, is the level of experience, right like, I feel I’ve grown so much as a, obviously as a human, you know from experience, but also just as an actor, like how I’m approaching things now is on such an deeper, more specific level than I did ten years ago, you know? I mean, like I’d gone to school and I knew what I was doing and you know, but, but then I think you just learn yourself better, you know, you learn to access yourself in, in different ways, so I feel for me, the work is always deeper now. Like, so I, I guess that sort of changes approaching the character but also the character had - had evolved, you know, cos he’d sort of gone from - through that whole Winter Soldier journey, and then we kind of had him, you know, on these redemption paths like all through Captain America Civil War and into the Infinity War, Endgame stuff. But it was really for me like the, The Winter Soldier movie and the Civil War movie were, were probably the biggest character development moments that he had right? ‘Cos he didn’t really in the - in Endgame and Infinity War; he was there and, and it was still-  it was still travelling towards something, and, and, really the show now - like, this show was the first time we kind of really dove into more things with him, deeply, um, and yeah, I just think, it’s just a life experience to kind of come back to a character, and in a way, you know you add to it. Like, I, I don’t know what filming - I mean it’s not like A Boy’s Life, right, that movie that Ethan Hawke did, but they came back through the years, and there was maturity there and a growth and I, I can’t help but think that to some extent, if I sat down and I watched Captain America First Avenger, and I watched all of the movies with that, this character’s in, including our show, I, I 100% would probably see a character that’s has grown because the actor that’s playing him has, you know?”

“Um, I think we all discussed that we wanted to find a way back for him towards a more stable place, or a better sense of self, you know? He’s gotta own everything he’s experienced; he’s gotta kind of like, The Winter Soldier persona per se is - it’s like a demon that’s a part of him that he’s somehow come to terms with and, and he’s learned how to turn it into a strength, rather than it you know, suddenly like he’s just gonna be cured of this thing because; they are comic book heroes but like, and some more than others, but they all have these emotional complexities to them and, and, and one of the things that I love, like I was lucky with this character, is that he really does have this sort of relatable arc, you know? Um, we’ve all kind of go through - we all have to like face our pasts, we, we’re all haunted by things that have happened to us; trauma, things that we’re trying to like overcome or, you know, people deal with addictions, people deal with - you know so, so there’s all these pieces to that character kind of as he’s like trying to find a better way of life, you know, and fit into the world better - and also give him, give him - give him a new life so to speak, uh, without you know, in, in the shadow of Steve Rogers, you know, and, and exploring how that character now can be in the world, you know, um, and properly function, even for audiences. I think for both of them that was - that was also, uh, another piece.”

“Well I just, but again, like for me like, I knew, I knew this character really well. Uh, like I feel like the preparation that before you start shooting is the most crucial time ever because and, as you know like with you what I’m currently doing, like, it’s just like, you can see, others can’t - yet. Um, it’s insane to try to become someone else or whatev - like, you’re always trying to find ways to relate, you’re always trying to understand; the whole thing is a big sort of study project. Uh, with this character, I mean I was very, yeah I was very protective you know, while we were shooting and there were things that we were trying out, that, that had been tried out on the page that weren’t working, you know, and things that needed to be reshaped you know with us now being kind of like getting into the dialogue - getting in, getting there on set, you know, dynamics, and, and it was great that we had, we were allotted the freedom, Anthony and I, to really take what was on the page and make it our own you know, and kind of bring our own experience from the movies to this, you know? And there were times when I was like, ‘Hey listen, like, he wouldn’t do that or he wouldn’t say that here. He would - he would do this - we haven’t earned this yet.’ You know? I think; I can’t speak for everybody, but you know, for me, I, I wanted to really explore a different side of him. Obviously one that was comedic with Anthony right, the dynamic of what that is, and it really, I started looking at it going like, ‘Oh my God, they’re like the - it’s, it’s the Odd Couple.’ That’s what it is. Like, Anthony’s you know, Walter Matthau and I’m Jack Lemmon, like that or it’s like the other way around. Like, that’s the bickering thing, that’s the comedy, you know and, and Bucky is a guy out of time who’s like an old guy trapped in this body trying to fucking figure out what the hell’s going on. And, and, uh, that’s the comedy - like that’s where; and that’s also where the truth is with him, you know? Um, but I was, I was like always reminding them being like ‘Guys, just remember he was a fucking assassin’, you know; he’s always have this chip on his shoulder you know, to some extent, and, you know - and also he’s really gonna - he is, at the beginning of the season, he’s coming from a very defensive place because his - his sort of big purpose up until that point right, like had been, ‘I know I’m not a perfect individual, right, but I know this guy, my best friend, the guy who’s been by my side since I fucking remember anything, Steve Rogers, is a good man, and I’m gonna do everything I can to try to make sure that guy’s okay, you know, and, and follow his lead’, and, and I know like that was like the, the moral compass; Steve Rogers was his moral compass right, and now you’ve taken that out, so he’s going, it kind of is a little bit like, ‘Well now what do I compare - what do I base myself off of? Like what do I, what’s my target, what’s my purpose, what’s my direction? What’s my sense of, where’s my GPS?’ You know like, it’s a little but like that and, and he’s in a very defensive place at the beginning because he’s - he hasn’t confronted the emotional implications of that yet, and throughout the season obviously he does, you know, but you see that he’s sort of like, instead of confronting, he’s kind of hunting certain questions and fears like further down the road and kind of trying to drive an agenda and, and for a minute, you know, before he actually takes a step back and go, and goes, ‘Wait a minute, what does Sam Wilson really want? Like, who, you know, who is Sam and, and therefore who am I?’ and like ‘What do we really want and what is it really about?’, you know, and so I guess those were all the things we were tackling.”

“I always thought there was a conversation that took place you know, before that scene, that, before the final scene of Avengers Endgame, where you see Steve Rogers much older and there’s a sort of right of passage you know that,  that happens, that I - I always feel thought there was a conversation between him and Bucky before that happened, you know, and in that conversation, where it was like, ‘Bucky, you don’t have to worry anymore. I found my - my peace you know? I’m - I’m, I, I finally got that life I wanted, you know, I took, I’m - I’m taking one for me, you know, and I’m good. Now it’s your turn to go and take one for you, you know? We both served this thing, the shield, this ideal, whatever you wanna call it, like, we’ve done our time - like, let’s find our life like before like, while we still have it’ And, you know, I think Bucky kind of honoured that, and I think, and I think, essentially it was goodbye. It was like, ‘Okay buddy, like, you know, it was a good run, like let’s, good luck and, and let’s go and see what happens’ you know?’ And so I don’t think it’s - does Bucky know where Steve Rogers is? That’s a good question. Um, maybe, maybe not, you know? Uh, I mean I, I don’t even know if I have the answer to that question and I, and I definitely don’t. Yeah, so, so, so I, I treated the season very much like, ‘Alright, this is where it’s at, you know, and how good - I don’t have to, thank God I’m not, I’m not standing over a coffin, you know, I’m, I’m, I’m looking at my friend who’s smiling into the sunset and, and, and being like ‘Yo I had a great life, like, I’m good, you know, so now what is it about? You know what? It’s about the legacy he left behind, you know, I’ll protect that.’ But again, he’s not making it about - Bucky’s not making it about Bucky - he’s again making it about Steve, and of course as you see the season, Sam goes, ‘No, you gotta look at you. You gotta, you gotta make it about you. What do you want?’”

“That was before. And, and it was one of the - episode 5 was like really the first one we were, we were filming. I mean, we all - the whole thing was like a movie; we never broke up the episodes. Like, but that sequence in, at Sam’s house was all at the very beginning of the, of the show, you know, and, and it was crazy because we were shooting a really important scene very quickly, not having had, you know, a lot of the journey yet. That was literally probably day three, you know and, and I that think one of the things that was so wild is, obviously we were shooting the show and then, you know, we were supposed to be the first show out and stuff, and then the pandemic happened; all the tragic events of the pandemic, everything, you know, that was happening in this country, everything we were witnessing, all the way up until this January, you know what I mean? And we were going ‘My God’, like, how, how relevant our show sort of suddenly even became even more you know, because there was a lot of questions that were being asked even before anything had happened.”

“Well yeah, I mean Kevin and I; you know, I, I, yeah, I, I remember having a really good long chat with him before we started you know, just to, just to talk about Bucky and, and kind of like, you know, making sure we were on the same page and everything, and, and I love that. I love talking to him, I mean he’s, he’s like an encyclopedia. You know, I mean there’s just - there’s so much he knows about everything, um, so I, that was my main source, and then, and then Kari and I spent a lot of time talking.”

“Well yeah, I mean. Unless a role requires a certain kind of, whether it’s like gaining weight or losing weight or whatever - I usually, I, for my own, like, I just, the, the workout regimen has just always been part of my life and, and really started with Mar - like, with this character and Marvel ten years ago, you know what I mean, just, is when I really, really - I was trying so hard to get into such good shape around those movies that it just kind of - I mean, I, I don’t go as crazy def-con 5 about it as I do when we’re shooting something or when we’re preparing, but yeah, going back to it, of course. I always try to go back, get really - get into the gym, and, and into the diet specifically like three months before, and um, and it’s a whole process uh, and, but I’ve gotten a little bit more comfortable now, in my, sort of my strengths versus my weak points, you know. Uh, I think like in some - somewhere around the Civil War movie I was just, I was like, ‘I just want to be as massive as I can’ or something, like I was just really - and now I’m kind of more, ‘Okay, I, I know what works for me a little bit better and not’, but yeah, it’s always - especially because of the stunt stuff. And yeah, you know, I, like it’s a, it’s a - it’s a blessing really because, in a lot of ways, you know, I don’t have - Bucky doesn’t have any head covering, anything. Since we started, I’ve managed to do a lot of stunt stuff. Whenever there’s a physical sequence, like we, we always get passes at that, you know what I mean, and it really is on us like how much we wanna be involved or not and I always want to be as involved as possible and it’s been amazing. I mean I think what happens is - when you do it so many times, like I was so obsessed with it on the Civil War I would even go up to the Russos and even if like the camera wasn’t on me, I’d still wanna do it. You know what I’m saying? Like at one time I like pulled my back. Because you can’t - like, if you’re doing that sequence like 30 times, or whatever, like, even like, you’re exhausted, You’re, I don’t care, how, what - you know, maybe a super-trained athlete, whatever, like, they’re training for that fight, right, they’re training for that two hours like for months, but we’re going eight hours a day. Like, I think, even some of the stuff like it’s - I’ve always had a good amount of stuff that I was allowed to do, and that for me is super fun because he’s much more hand-to-hand combat. You know, he’s got his arm; like he can’t fly, he’s not throwing hammers and spiderwebs and stuff like, he’s just, it’s much more hand to hand and, and, and it’s because I wanna be in shape to be able to do that. So for the pandemic, I was running - a lot, and then what I did was, um, I had pull-up bar in my apartment and I was literally running up and down stairways and then I was doing 100 - I was doing 100, 200 push-ups a day, 100 pull-ups a day, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, like I would just do that over and over again. And yeah, that was the only way.”

“Oh God, that scene is like - you know, those are the scenes that when you read a script you’re like, ‘Oh yes, this is gonna be amazing’, like you’re like, ‘oh I love that, that’s amazing, it’s gonna be like the moment’, and then it starts to be like this iceberg ahead, that you’re like slowly going closer and closer to it. It’s like, ‘Oh God that scene, oh God that scene’s coming up’ - and then you just have it marked on your calendar like, ‘two weeks until -.’ You know, and it’s just - and even up until that point, it’s just always - it’s a scary thing to always be thinking about because you know, you have to go to these places and you have to go there - and um, yeah, we did it, we did it a few times and, it was a good day.”

“Oh my God, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, just like thinking about it now, with like the whole Chadwick thing is just so crazy. I’m like - with him I was always like really enamored, because I remember on that Civil War movie we met and, and  um, you know, he had come in and, and he new and he - it was sort of like the introduction of his character and I was like, ‘Oh my God, this guy is gonna, he’s blow everyone away.’ You know what I mean? Like it was - there was such, like a commitment and dedication to everything he was doing; it was just so crazy, and we had a lot of these fight sequences and I remember being terrified of going in those scenes with him, um and, and, and we went for it - like we went - we really went for it. ‘Cos I was like, ‘Okay, he’s really showing up, I gotta, I gotta stand tall, I gotta show up’ you know, and then afterwards, we would just do these little fist bumps, you know like, ‘Cool, we’re good.’, you know, like, and then after we shot, you know I spent some time, a little bit, on the press tours and we would be laughing, and it was really cool, and I just, in my head, I would always hope that there was just gonna be more. And so, it’s just crazy to even wrap my mind around the idea of being in any world without him there, you know? I just can’t even imagine it really in my mind, you know, but obviously, I always felt like, I always - in my little scene, you know in my little scene at the end of Black Panther, I was always like ‘Aah, I’m part of the worl - I’m part of that movie.’ I always - I felt, I felt so good, you know, with that little scene and I, and I just loved working with Ryan Coogler, you know on that, he - it was so cool, ‘cos that was, he directed that scene and I remember being there that day, and, and so I kind of got to work with him a little bit, and, and I just, it was a really cool experience. Like, I really, really liked him as a director. And I loved Fruitvale Station; I loved all of his movies, um, I love Creed, I, I - so, so the idea of working with him again in some capacity is really cool and, and you can bet, I’ve, I’ve definitely raised my hand and I’ve said, ‘Hey man, whatever I can do, I’m in.’, but it’s just, it’s gonna be wild to tackle you know any - any of that going forward - I’ve no idea. I could just keep sending - I could, you know what, I should just send him an email once a week just ‘Wakanda.’ But it’s kind of cool, you know like, I love, I, I, again like, I felt really, like, grateful and proud that I was included even with that little scene, ‘cos sometimes, like you know, like I’ve, I’ve told this story before but I don’t know, I, I love telling it, you know, like I was on this airplane one time, and I was flying home, and, and I remember the stewardess came up to me and she gave me - she just handed me this tiny piece of paper and like walked away. And I was like ‘What?’ So, I was like, I don’t know, maybe it was a number, I’ve no idea what - you know, and, and I open it and it just said ‘Wakanda Forever.’ You know and then I like turn around to look down the aisle and she just goes (makes Wakanda symbol). And I was like, ‘Oh my God, okay’, like but it was - so I know, um, I, I love that, that people remember that Bucky’s a part of that in some way, so, you know hopefully, maybe there’ll be more.”