#new york product shoot

[nyphotony]

Productphotos

[jcmarchi]

HBO's The Last of Us Season 2 Set To Premiere In 2025

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/hbos-the-last-of-us-season-2-set-to-premiere-in-2025/

HBO's The Last of Us Season 2 Set To Premiere In 2025

Earlier this year, HBO’s The Last of Us successfully brought developer Naughty Dog’s critically acclaimed and fan-favorite PlayStation exclusive to life on the TV screen. Its Season 1 premiere was HBO’s second-largest debut since 2010, and its second episode broke records, too. Roughly three weeks after the premiere of the series, HBO revealed The Last of Us would be getting a second season. And now, thanks to a new Deadline report, we know it will start shooting next year and premiere sometime in 2025. 

Deadline learned this at a New York news event, where HBO boss Casey Bloys reportedly told press that Season 2 will head into production early next year, aiming for a 2025 premiere. Unfortunately, that’s all Bloys said about the season. But, as noted by Deadline, series co-creator and executive producer Craig Mazin revealed earlier this summer pre-strike that the team was already able to get some work done, adding that the first episode was already written. 

[embedded content]

“We got pretty far actually, we were doing great,” Mazin told Deadline. “[The Last of Us game co-creator Neil Druckmann] and I had been sitting and talking with [The Last of Us Part II co-writer Halley Gross] and Bo Shim, the new writer that was in our little tiny room with us – obviously not a mini room because we’re greenlit proper, we’re a real show, and because I hate that mini room stuff.”

Considering the first season of The Last of Us covered the events of the first Last of Us game, including its Left Behind DLC, it’s clear Season 2 of the show will dive into The Last of Us Part II. We’re all still awaiting some casting announcements, like who will play Abby and Lev, but that likely won’t happen until the actor and writer strikes are over. 

In the meantime, read Game Informer’s The Last of Us Part 1 review and then read our review of The Last of Us Part II. 

[Source: Deadline]

How far into The Last of Us Part II do you think Season 2 will go? Let us know in the comments below!

[seventeenreasonswhy]

Same Team! A YJH Office Romance Pt. 2

Idol!Jeonghan x ProductionStaff!Reader

You’re serious about your job, but not as serious as Yoon Jeonghan is about flirting.

Read Part 1, Part 2: ~1.8k words

Series Content: slooowwwwww burn, fluff!, cute flirting!, will-they-won’t-they vibes!, tension!!, office crushes, office romance, appearances by all of the members, reader is shy and gets flustered easily!, jeonghan is jeonghan-ing!

My Masterlist

Author's Note: Jeonghan and MC actually talk in this part! Yay! Still a very slow burn, though. Sorry about it! Hoping to have some smut ready soon. Once again, not sure how long the tension is going to build! Special mention of BSS and some fictional staff characters in this part. Enjoy! Thank you for reading!

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+

You’d rented a small flat that was pretty far from the office. It was what you could afford, and you were used to long commutes—having lived in most of the major cities in the U.S. New York’s subway was always crowded, LA’s traffic was always congested... Seoul was no different. You took two buses to work, except on days when you were shooting on location, when you and some other staff in the area would get picked up by a company van very early.

You had gotten slightly more comfortable around the members. It helped that they were all delighted that you spoke fluent Korean. And you were glad you could speak in English with Joshua and Vernon.

You’d noticed that some of them had rather open personalities and were surprisingly easy to talk to. Seungkwan, Dokyeom and Hoshi (who told you you could call him Soonyoung) always greeted you, which made you feel more confident. Mingyu and Seungcheol had recently started to greet you as well.

Your first assignment was to help capture behind-the-scenes footage at a paid sponsorship shoot featuring BSS, one of the group’s subunits. It had just been you and one other more experienced production staff member on the shoot—the idea being that you would shadow and learn the ropes for smaller/subunit shoots. The three members were very helpful and patient with you. You really appreciated them. You’d had such a good time with them on the shoot that eventually they were all calling you “nuna” which made you feel even more at ease.

Idols are kind of like puppies... you’d thought, watching the three of them. They tried to be grown up, but you could tell that they brought out the child in each other. How could they not? Pretty much all of them had known each other since they were kids.

It should go without saying, but you were surprised at how... regular all of the members were. They were really just guys in their twenties at the end of the day. Some of them were quite shy, others were funny, some were serious, some were charming... They were all very different but meshed together well. You were kind of amazed by them each day.

But, even after a couple months of working with the members, you still got tense around Yoon Jeonghan.

Sometimes it felt like you could only hear his voice whenever you met with the production staff and the members to talk about content or scheduling. It was such a beautiful sound. You couldn’t help but simply bow to him when your paths crossed, not sure how to act around him. He was always polite to you but hadn’t really struck up much conversation since you’d started working there.

Sometimes, you would see him across a hallway or a room, and it felt like your eyes would lock—or like he had been looking right at you. But you were sure that you were imagining it.

You were ashamed to admit it, but in your preliminary research on the group Jeonghan was the member that stood out to you the most. You were captivated. Your friends had told you that he must be your “bias.” And now that you had spent time near him... now that you had even stood close enough to smell his perfume as he reviewed footage during a shoot... now that you had made even fleeting eye contact with him... it was a full-blown crush.

I’m almost thirty and I’m crushing on a singer... you’d chide yourself, feeling embarrassed. And a coworker, no less...

There was a strict no-dating clause in all employees’ contracts. You remembered reading through it at your initial onboarding. Being found in an inappropriate relationship with another staff member or the talent—regardless of whether the relationship was mutually pursued—could result in the “immediate termination of your position.” Not that you would ever have a shot with him. But, even if you did, you couldn’t afford to entertain these feelings for him beyond a simple, one-sided crush, so you decided to accept it and keep things professional.

At least, you thought you had accepted it.

“What do you do for fun, Y/N-shi?”

The question visibly startled you. You were hanging out in a practice room, helping shoot some extra footage for an Inside Seventeen episode as the members prepared for an upcoming awards show performance. All of the members were there, but only the performance team was working through their section of choreography. You were sitting on the far side of the room, near where the vocal unit was taking a break, and chatting with one of the producers, asking questions about the ceremony and what to expect, when you saw that some of the members were talking about going to play badminton with Seungkwan.

“For fun?” You repeated, dumbly. You couldn’t believe that Jeonghan was speaking to you.

“Ah, yeah I wanna know what nuna does in her free time!” Dokyeom piped in.

“You call her nuna and everything?” Jeonghan asked sharply, with the energy of an older sibling reprimanding their younger brother for being rude.

“She said I could!” Dokyeom whined.

“It’s unprofessional. Don’t make Y/N-shi uncomfortable!” Jeonghan chided back.

“It’s okay, really,” you said sheepishly.

“How old are you?” Jeonghan was looking directly at you now. You couldn’t meet his eyes for more than a second before looking away.

“29,” you said.

“No way!” Jeonghan said, “I thought you’d be way younger!” You could feel your face getting hotter by the second.

“She’s got a young face,” Dokyeom said, smiling.

“Stop flirting,” Jeonghan warned again.

“Touchy...” Dokyeom teased his hyung, continuing to smile as though nothing was wrong. Dokyeom had a naturally sunny, playful disposition. You kind of envied him. You swore you caught him looking at you... his face seemed puzzled for a moment.

“You’re annoying,” Dokyeom said suddenly to Jeonghan, “I’m going to practice this bridge in the hallway.”

“I’m annoying?” Jeonghan said, chuckling to himself as Dokyeom left. You turned to bow in Dokyeom’s direction, but he simply winked at you.

What was that? You wondered, unsure how to get your face to behave the way you wanted it to and settling for simply facing away from Jeonghan. He was wearing baggy clothes, and had his long, dark hair half up. He wasn’t wearing any makeup.

I wonder what skincare products he uses. You wondered as you became slightly less tense. He’s so pretty.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Or maybe you were even more tense than before.

You turned slightly, still unable to look Jeonghan directly in the eye. He was seated on a couch at the far end of the studio, looking up at you as you stood stiffly beside him. 

“Uh,” you didn’t know what to say. You couldn’t think of a single thing that you did for fun since moving to Seoul. You had been too busy. Some of the other staff had asked you out to drinks after work once, but that was so long ago... and you’d ended up going home shortly after getting there because you were so exhausted.

“Well...” you tried to continue.

“Ah! You can say it in English,” Jeonghan said. Your stomach nearly fell right out of your body. You were certain that your face was bright red. He thinks I just don’t know the words... that’s so... cute.

“Haha, to be honest I can’t think of anything because I work so much,” you said, sticking to Korean, “but when I lived in the States, I liked to play billiards at bars. Or go to karaoke. And rock climbing.” You spoke rapidly because you were nervous, then hesitated before stealing a glance at Jeonghan.

“Wow,” his face was genuinely shocked. You weren’t sure what to say next.

“Sorry,” you said out of habit.

“No! Don’t be sorry! Your Korean is just really good. I didn’t realize because you hardly ever say anything. How did you learn to speak like that? You don’t look Korean at all.”

“I’m not,” you said, “... languages have just always been... kind of an interest of mine.”

“Wow,” he said, “so, you’re like a genius.”

“Not at all,” you said, feeling like you were about to faint you were so excited and nervous. This was the longest conversation you had ever had with him. You couldn’t really believe it was happening, that he was looking right at you. You hadn’t felt his gaze leave you for a second.

“When’s your birthday?” he asked suddenly.

“What?”

“Your birthday!” he said, smiling at you. It kind of felt like he was making fun of you, but you didn’t even care. 

“Why?” You weren’t sure whether to play along, but immediately regretted not just telling him. Why am I being so cagey about it? You scolded yourself, the butterflies in your stomach going out of control.

“I want to know if I should call you “nuna” or not.”

“What!?” you couldn’t help but get flustered.

“What’s up?” two other staff members looked up from the monitor they were looking at to turn in your direction, surprised by your sudden outburst. You knew your face was bright red, and you could see Jeonghan grinning like a little boy out of the corner of your eye. He is making fun of me.

“Boemseok-hyung,” Jeonghan said to the gentlemen standing not too far from you, “did you know Y/N-shi’s age?” You turned to Jeonghan, mortified that he would bring this up to someone else.

“No,” Boemseok said, turning to you, “but I’d guess...”

“It’s hard to tell,” the other woman on staff said.

“Yeah, I can never guess foreigners’ ages right,” Boemseok said.

“She’s older than me!” Jeonghan said, and your heart skipped a beat.

“Oh, wow,” the woman said, “you do take good care of your skin, then.”

“Yeah, I’m surprised,” Boemseok said.

“Haha, thank you...” you bowed nervously.

“You know you don’t have to bow so much, Y/N-shi,” Jeonghan said, his tone still smug. What is this? Are we this familiar now? You were panicking on the inside.

“Sorry,” you said.

“Don’t apologize!”

“Sorry!”

Was this man trying to kill you? You could barely handle this sudden playful dynamic that seemed to come from nowhere.

“When’s your birthday?”

“August 28th.” You answered.

“Ah, I can call you nuna.”

“That’s fine with me.” You didn’t realize it, but the grin that had been slowly creeping across your face as you two talked now blossomed on your face. Jeonghan felt himself smile involuntarily.

“You’ve been here for a while now and this is the first time I’ve seen you smile,” he said.

Your heart almost stopped. All you could do was stare at him.

“We’re all on the same team, right?” his voice was velvety, and you were sure that he could tell how enamored you were. “It’s okay to loosen up a little.”

It’s not okay, Yoon Jeonghan, you thought.

“Thanks,” you said, in spite of your skyrocketing heartrate.

It’s not okay at all.

[archivequinn]

what we've learned about the F4 so far

‘FANTASTIC FOUR’ begins filming on Tuesday.

‘FANTASTIC FOUR’ is described as set in a “retro future of the ‘60s”

Pre-shoot material of ‘FANTASTIC FOUR’ is being shown, shot in 4:3

Pedro Pascal has an old school accent as Reed Richards, teaching a science class.

‘Fantastic Four’ is titled ‘THE FANTASTIC FOUR - FIRST STEPS’ In theaters on July 25, 2025.

Michael Giacchino will compose the score for ‘FANTASTIC FOUR’

The Fantastic Four will appear in both upcoming ‘AVENGERS’ films

Release Date: July 25, 2025.

Directed by Matt Shakman.

Written by Josh Friedman, Jeff Kaplan, Ian Springer, and Eric Pearson.

Based on Marvel Comics.

Produced by Kevin Feige.

Main Cast: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Julia Garner, and Ralph Ineson.

Cinematographer: Jess Hall. Production

Companies: Marvel Studios. Distributor: Walt Disney Studios.

New Plot Details: Director Matt Shakman stated that he wants the powers of Fantastic Four to feel real, talking to scientists and animal experts. The film will not just be doing a 1960’s setting and aesthetic, but a futuristic version of the time period. Shakman would say that the New York in the film is “what you’ve seen from the 60’s and something more.”

Exclusive Footage Description: The footage, filmed in a 4:3 aspect ratio, looks like it is playing on a retro television. It starts with Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) teaching a classroom, asking if they want to see an explosion. The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) is seen on the retro dating show The Dating Game, but only as a silhouette. The footage ends with the team in astronaut suits, with the last names of the characters on the suits, as they enter a retro-futuristic-looking rocket before the ship takes off, and the aspect ratio of the footage changes. The footage ends with Galactus’ face behind a building; part of his face is seen through the building, and it’s clear he has a comic-accurate look.

click for the source

[jamiehe4rtsmen]

-> main course : chapstick !

🍂˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚☕️

CHAPSTICK !

tldr ; schlatt x gn!reader + college au (you're a photography major) -> a / n : loosely based off something that happened w/ a boy at school 💌 : mixtape to this fic ; head over heels by tears for fears !

your eccentric business teacher had dragged the whole lecture hall out of class insisting that -

,, you damn kids just don't go outside enough, with all your interweb stuff and snapgram ! ''

due to his outburst and determination to get the whole college lecture hall of around a hundred people to go on a walk to explore the local businesses surrounding your college, you and all your other classmates were now walking around the neighborhood, being pointed out everything that looked similar to a shop by your professor.

you didn't really know anyone in your class. the business teacher talked a lot, and you didn't even like business since you were a photography & film major. it's not like you were gonna stand up in front of the whole class and proudly proclaim actually teacher, i don't wanna go for a walk! kiss my ass and say goodbye to my business credit, i'm outta here to go take photos of the leaves!

grinning a little at the scene, you shake your head and shove your hands in the pockets of your baggy tan jeans and dark brown sweater, a gold heart pendant necklace lazily thrown on top. you were trying to achieve that casual, chic-fall look, yet you thought you looked more sloppy than mysterious dark academia student. whatever, you huff.

as you walk, you apply a coat of your pumpkin spice burts bees chapstick to really get the whole fall vibe going. as you start to shove it back into your jeans, you feel a tap on your shoulder. you turn to see a guy that towers over you, a gruff beard and messy hair, wearing a yankees sweater.

,, hey, uhh, can i borrow your chapstick ? my lips are gettin' all chapped, and we can't have that while we're on our lovely business walk, can we ? ''

yankees dude shoots you a grin, his new york accent thick as he drawled.

,, sure. ''

you shrug and offer out the small tube of pumpkin spice chapstick. he applies it directly onto his lips, then you both freeze. did this dude directly apply it to his lips? he just touched my lips. okay, cool. don't panic.

,, oh, shit. i'm fuckin' dumb. i, uh.. forgot how chapstick worked. you're not.. you don't got any diseases or somethin', right? ''

he chuckles awkwardly at the last part, leaning down more to my height to whisper as he gulps and shifts his gaze away from you, placing the chapstick in my hand and shoving it towards your palm.

you look around to see if i'm being punk'd or something, one of those old gameshows where they prank people. but nope, no one's in sight, except your business teacher rambling on, probably about his ex-wife or something. hesitantly, you respond,

,, ...no, i'm good. ''

you clear your throat.

,, your, uh.. your lips un-chapped now? ''

he shrugs, shoving his hands into his pockets as he starts to walk in unison with you.

,, yeah. that's the good stuff. normally i just buy the cheap ones from the drugstore, ya know? ''

you politely offer a smile , nodding along with him as your two pairs of feet tap against the concrete. you glance down at your shoes, a nervous habit, to look at the parallel: his scuffed up white (but now so dirty they're a light brown-ish at this point) old nikes and your red converse, a soft thump sound as the two of you walk.

,, what, are you too good to go and order one from amazon? ''

i joke. i glance over at him to see him meet my gaze with his brown eyes crinkling up at the sides as he grinned and boasted playfully,

,, yeah. the chapstick should be bowin' at my feet to have the opportunity to have it's product on my lips. ''

rolling your eyes, you let out an amused chuckle.

,, you've got kind of an ego, y'know that? ''

you joke.

,, jeez, you're a budding genius. you a psych major? ''

he jokes playfully, studying your clothes and tote intently to try and size up what you study, as if you'll have a giant shirt that says i <3 psychology !!

,, nah, photography and film. you? ''

to your surprise, his eyes widen, but he goes back to normal so fast you're sure it's a trick of the autumn air or something.

,, comp sci. ''

you snort.

,, oh, so you're a dork? ''

he rolls his eyes and shrugs, snapping his gaze away from ahead to look back at you.

,, that's kinda a generalization, don'tcha - '' you shoot him a look that reads, 'dont lie'. '' fine, i am. ''

he pauses for a second.

,, i like to do photography and film stuff too. just occasionally though. in my free time. after dorkin' out, ya know. ''

he chuckles almost a bit forced at the last part, like he's purposefully leaving out his skill or love for it, but you don't care enough to pry. it's not you're a psych major or anything either.

,, really ? what kinda stuff you film ? ''

that piques your interest, to say the least. and what does even more is his reply:

,, everythin'. i mean, it's just the way film is so much better on a real vlogging camera than a phone, ya know? it has that.. that old-school feeling. hell, i'm gonna be recording my kids' first steps on a digital camera, that's for sure. ''

your face lights up as you chuckle along to his rambling, listening intently.

,, yeah.. i get it, actually. wouldn't be surprised if you were a photography major in disguise. ''

he grins, playing along with your banter as he quips,

,, disguised as what ? ''

the obvious reply to you is:

,, a huge dork. ''

the two of you burst into laughter as the yankees guy shoves you playfully, grinning from ear to ear.

,, oh, fuck off. leave me and my fellow comp sci guys be, yeah? what's your name, photography geek? gotta know who me and my boys are gonna beat up later. ''

you snicker.

,, beat me up with what, their blue shells? ''

you joke and tell him your name without skipping a beat. his eyes widen as a genuine smile spreads across his face.

,, woah, wait, you play mario kart? and, uh, nice to meet ya. i'm jay. but back to mario kart - what? you? a photography major? ''

the two of you seem to light up at the same time.

,, oh yeah! i used to play it with my best friend all the time growing up. why, you play too? ''

jay grins and nods vehemently.

,, hell yeah i play. probably better than you. after all, that's all us comp sci majors do practice mario kart and dork out, according to'ya. ''

you smirk, going along with your banter, trying to not absolutely nerd out about how much you adore mario kart.

,, sounds about right. ''

he surprises you (and himself, it seems), when after a beat of silence he suggests,

,, guess we'll have to play sometime. ''

you pause, then shrug coyly, even though you're doing thrilled gymnastics in your mind. you tease,

,, guess we will. as long as you get yourself your own tube of chapstick. ''

jay's whole demeanor seems to lighten up from his gruff, get-the-fuck-away persona to a more relaxed, chilled one. he flashes you a grin, looking down at you with a sparkle in his eye.

,, deal. ''

-> tysm for reading ! beautiful banners by @anitalenia . go check out their banners they're awesome sauce !!

[hotdaemondtargaryen]

EWAN MITCHELL IN CONVERSATION WITH EMMA D'ARCY FOR HERO MAGAZINE.

EMMA D'ARCY: — WHERE ARE YOU? ARE YOU IN AMERICA?

EWAN MITCHELL: NO, BUT I WAS SHOOT IN NEW YORK. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN?

ED: YEAH, I DID THE CRUCIBLE THERE [AT THE YARD THEATRE IN 2019] AND WE GOT A GREYHOUND TO SALEM, THEY'RE REALLY INTO THE OCCULT THERE. — WHAT ARE YOU UP TO AT THE MOMENT?

EM: I'M SUFFERING SEVERE JET LAG FROM NEW YORK, BUT I LOVED IT. I LIKE THE AMBIENCE, THE PEOPLE, THE FOOD. I LOVE HOW EVERYONE SAYS, 'I GOT YA.' — WHAT ABOUT YOU?

ED: I'VE JUST DONE A WEEK OF REHEARSALS BUT I'VE HAD A NICE BIT OF TIME NOT DOING ANYTHING PRIOR TO THAT.

EM: THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM.

ED: I'D BE QUITE HAPPY TO DO NOTHING FOR A REALLY LONG TIME. I FIND IT INCREDIBLY INTERESTING TO DO ALMOST NOTHING AT ALL. I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH OF A PROBLEM THAT'S GOING TO BE FOR MY CAREER GOING FORWARD, BUT IT'S BEEN NICE. [LAUGHS]

EM: I HAVE TO STAY BUSY WHEN I'M NOT WORKING.

ED: YEAH BUT YOU'RE YOUNG, I'VE CROSSED THE BOUNDARY INTO A DIFFERENT TYPE OF LIFE.

EM: NO WAY.

ED: I DON'T MEAN IT IN A BAD WAT EITHER, IT'S ACTUALLY SO CRAZY. FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER I'M QUESTIONING, 'WHAT DO I WANT MY LIFE TO LOOK LIKE?' IT'S NOT A QUESTION I HAD EVER ASKED BEFORE — IT'S COOL. I THINK MAYBE IT COMES WITH A REALISATION THAT THIS IS IN FACT YOUR LIFE.

EM: OH WOW, WHAT AGE WILL IT HIT ME?

ED: HOW OLD ARE YOU?

EM: I'M 26.

ED: YOU'VE PROBABLY GOT FOUR OR FIVE YEARS. [LAUGHS]

EM: WHEN I'M NOT WORKING I DO HAVE TO KEEP BUSY. I DON'T KNOW HOW IT IS FOR YOU, BUT I HAVE TO ADOPT A KIND OF SLEEPER AGENT LIFESTYLE, I HAVE CREATE A ROUTINE. I BOX EVERY OTHER DAY AND KEEP MY MIND BUSY. I THINK MY MATES KNOW I COME WITH A DISCLAIMER THAT IF ANYTHING COMES UP, THEN I'M DROPPING EVERYTHING FOR WORK — I JUST LOVE IT.

ED: WHAT YOU DESCRIBE IS A STATE OF PERPETUALLY LEAVING.

EM: EVERYTHING I DO ALWAYS RELATES TO ACTING WEIRDLY, IT HAS TO INFORM MY PROCESS IN SOME WAY, SHAPE OR FORM AND IF IT DOESN'T, IT SWITCHES ME OFF.

ED: — WHAT IS YOUR PROCESS?

EM: I NEVER WENT TO DRAMA SCHOOL SO EVERY JOB I DO IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO HONE IT AND TRY NEW THINGS.

BRUCE LEE SAID, 'ABSORB WHAT IS USEFUL AND DISCARD WHAT IS NOT,' HE WOULD CHERRY-PICK FROM DIFFERENT COMBAT DISCIPLINES AND IN DOING SO FORMED HIS OWN MARTIAL ART.

SIMILAR TO ME, I'M TRYING IT ON THE FLY AND SEEING WHAT STICKS, WHAT DOESN'T, MIXING IT UP FOR DIFFERENT CHARACTERS. AND SO FAR, SO GOOD. — WHAT ABOUT YOU?

ED: I ALSO DIDN'T GO TO DRAMA SCHOOL AND STRUGGLE WHEN DIRECTORS VERY KINDLY ASK, 'HOW CAN I BEST SUPPORT YOUR PROCESS?' I DON'T FEEL PARTICULARLY CLEAR ABOUT WHAT THAT MEANS.

EM: — SO YOU'RE QUITE INSTINCTUAL?

ED: I THINK I'M PART COMPLETELY PRE-MEDITATED AND PART NOT.

I WOULD SAY THAT I HAVE A CONFIDENCE PROBLEM SO I DO A LOT OF PREPARATION, BUT FOR ME PREPARATION IS CONFIDENCE, WHICH ALLOWS ME TO LET GO OF THE PREPARATION ON THE DAY.

WHEREAS, IF I WERE TO COME IN EMPTY-HANDED, MY CONFIDENCE PROBLEM WOULD FLARE UP.

EM: I HAVE TO CONGRATULATE YOU ON YOUR SHORT FILM 'THE TALENT' [EMMA CO-PRODUCED AND STARRED IN THE 2023 BIFA-NOMINATED SHORT], I LOVED IT.

ED: THANK YOU, IT WAS A JOY.

EM: WAS THAT THE FIRST THING YOU'VE PRODUCED?

ED: YEAH, I CO-PRODUCED IT. I WOULDN'T HAVE MANAGED IT ON MY OWN.

EM: I'D LOVE TO DO THAT ONE DAY, IT'S SO COOL.

ED: I'VE LOVED GOING TO FILM FESTIVALS WITH IT BECAUSE IT'S NOT SOMETHING I'D DONE BEFORE, IT'S SUCH A NICE PROCESS. — WOULD YOU LIKE TO DIRECT?

EM: I DON'T KNOW, MAYBE NOT YET. I STILL FEEL LIKE I WANT TO ACT. I LOOK AT WHAT MARGOT ROBBIE HAS DONE WITH LUCKYCHAP [ENTERTAINMENT, ROBBIE'S PRODUCTION COMPANY] AND HOW SHE'S PRODUCED FILMS SHE'S REALLY PASSIONATE ABOUT, FILMS YOU THINK CAN CHANGE THE INDUSTRY IN SOME WAY. I'D LOVE TO DO THAT. GROWING UP, THERE WERE THE FILMS I REALLY ENJOYED, NOT THE NORMAL LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT ONES, BUT THAT EXPANDED MY UNDERSTANDING AND CHALLENGED ME. THOSE FILMS ARE THE ONES I WANT TO BE A PART OF IN SOME WAY, SHAPE OR FORM. IF NOT ACTING, I GUESS IT WOULD PRODUCING. — HOW LONG WAS THE PROCESS FROM START TO FINISH?

ED: PROBABLY AROUND A YEAR FROM THE SCRIPT NOT EXISTING, BUT IN A MORE STRUCTURED WAY, MAYBE A PRE-PRODUCTION OF FIVE MONTHS. I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHY I ASKED YOU IF YOU WANTED TO DIRECT BECAUSE EVERYONE ALWAYS SAYS THAT AND I FEEL LIKE INHERENT IN THE QUESTION IS THAT CULTURALLY, WE PRIVILEGE THE IDEA OF THE PRIMARY ARTIST. IF YOU'RE AN INTERPRETATIVE SECONDARY ARTIST, WE DON'T CREDIT THAT IN QUITE THE SAME WAY, BUT I DON'T AGREE WITH THAT VIEW. I DON'T WANT TO DIRECT BUT REALLY LIKE PRODUCING AND FEEL VERY CONFIDENT IN MY SECONDARY ARTIST STATUS.

EM: I FEEL LIKE THAT WITH BOXING, IF I EVER WENT INTO AMATEUR THERE ARE A LOT OF OTHER HUNGRY UP-AND-COMING BOXERS AND IT'S JUST NOT MY GAME, I'M NOT AS INSPIRED BY THAT AS I AM BY ACTING. I DON'T WANT TO BREAK MY NOSE AND GET KNOCKED OUT.

ED: IF YOU'RE BOXING A LOT, HOW DO YOU ENSURE THAT YOUR NOSE DOESN'T GET BROKEN?

EM: WE KEEP IT LIGHT AND IT'S USUALLY JUST PADS, IF I HAVE TO WEAR A HEAD GUARD I WILL DO, BUT SAFETY PRECAUTIONS ARE IN PLACE. [LAUGHS] — DO YOU BOX?

ED: I DON'T, BUT A FRIEND OF MINE TOOK PART IN A QUEER CHARITY BOXING EVENT AND I WAS SURPRISED BY HOW VISCERALLY TERRIBLE I FOUND IT TO WATCH THEM FIGHT.

EM: DID YOU NOT WANT TO GET IN THERE AND JOIN THEM?

ED: I SUDDENLY FELT SO WILDLY HELPLESS AND ALL I COULD DO WAS SCREAM FROM A PLACE OF WANTING TO PROTECT AND SUPPORT BUT ALSO FROM A PLACE OF FEAR. MY FRIEND DID BEAUTIFULLY AND THEY'RE AMAZING, BUT I'D NEVER BEEN IN THAT ENVIRONMENT BEFORE AND WHEN IT CAME TO IT I COULDN'T HANDLE IT. — HOW DID YOU GET INTO ACTING?

EM: I ALWAYS WANTED TO DO IT BUT I'M NOT TOO SURE WHERE IT CAME FROM. I HEARD ABOUT THE TELEVISION WORKSHOP IN NOTTINGHAM AND APPLIED THE FIRST YEAR BUT DIDN'T GET IN. FOR THE SECOND YEAR, I HAD THIS LITTLE NOTEBOOK THAT I WOULD JOT DOWN IN BECAUSE I KNEW THE STRUCTURE OF THE PROCESS OF THE AUDITION. I CAME UP WITH ALL OF THESE NEAT LITTLE QUIPS I COULD USE. I GOT IN THE SECOND TIME, THEN FROM THE WORKSHOP I DID A SHORT FILM CALLED 'FIRE' DIRECTED BY CHRIS ANDREWS. I GOT IT BURNT ONTO CDs AND I GOT ALL THE NAMES OF THE AGENCIES I KNEW OF IN LONDON. I WENT DOWN [TO LONDON] ON THE TRAIN AND POSTED THEM TO ALL OF THE AGENTS.

ED: SIDE NOTE, ARE YOU UNCONSCIOUS YET? I'D SAY I'M STILL SELF-CONSCIOUS IN INTERVIEWS.

EM: I ALWAYS WANT TO FLIP IT ON ITS HEAD AND ASK THE INTERVIEWER QUESTIONS, JUST BECAUSE OF THAT INNATE FEAR THAT IT MIGHT BORDER INTO THERAPY AND YOU MIGHT BE ROBIN WILLIAMS AND I'LL BE MATT DAMON SITTING ON A PARK BENCH IN BOSTON SOMEWHERE AND IT'S GOOD WILL HUNTING.

THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MYSTERY AS WELL, AND ONCE YOU LOSE THAT MYSTERY YOU CAN'T REALLY GET IT BACK. IF PEOPLE GET TO KNOW THE REAL ME, I DO BELIEVE IT'LL DETRACT FROM WHAT I'M TRYING TO DO AS AN ACTOR. I WANT YOU TO ESCAPE INTO MY CHARACTERS, I DON'T WANT YOU TO SEE EWAN. — HOW ARE YOU WITH INTERVIEWS? I'M SUPER GRATEFUL YOU'VE DONE THIS.

ED: I'VE GOT BETTER, I DON'T MEAN BETTER AS A QUALITY JUDGEMENT, BUT I HAVE BECOME MORE COMFORTABLE. I WAS VERY BAD AT THE BEGINNING, I HAD THIS 'GOOD SCHOOLBOY' WHO CAME OUT AND ACTUALLY, HE COMPLETELY WIPED MY PERSONALITY. HE FEELS THAT IT'S A TEST AND THERE IS A RIGHT ANSWER. I HAVE TO BANISH MY GOOD BOY OTHERWISE I AM VIOLENTLY DULL.

EM: AND THAT'S ME RIGHT NOW, RIGHT? [BOTH LAUGH]

ED: EWAN, GET ON THE CHAISE LONGUE, WE'RE GOING TO TALK. [BOTH LAUGH]

IT IS FRIGHTENING AT THE BEGINNING; I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU FEEL BUT I'M ONLY JUST AT A POINT NOW SINCE THE SHOW CAME OUT THAT I FEEL OK.

EM: REALLY? DID YOU NOT FEEL YOURSELF GETTING WARMED UP THE MORE YOU WERE DOING THAT MASSIVE PRESS RUN FOR SEASON ONE?

ED: NO. [LAUGHS]

I THINK MY GOOD BOY CAME OUT, BUT YOU CAN'T PREDICT THE PARAMETERS OF A CHANGE LIKE THAT IN YOUR LIFE UNTIL IT HAPPENS AND YOU'VE SAT IN IT FOR A WHILE. I FOUND IT QUITE FRIGHTENING [AT FIRST].

EM: YOU'RE WORKING WITH BEN WHISHAW AT THE MOMENT RIGHT?

ED: YEAH.

EM: I READ THAT WHEN HE'S OFF STAGE HE HAS THAT ANXIETY TOO, WATCHING HIS WORK YOU'D NEVER EVEN THINK OF IT. IN 'PASSAGES,' HE'S AMAZING AND EVEN IN THE SMALLER SUPPORTING CHARACTERS TOO.

HE JUST KILLS IT IN ANYTHING HE DOES. I FOUND IT INTERESTING BECAUSE YOU DON'T SEE [ANXIETY] IN HIS PERFORMANCES, WHICH IS INSPIRING.

I DID A COMIC CON IN BRAZIL AND IT WAS SUPER FUN BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I HAD TO BE SOMEONE ELSE. I HAD THIS LEATHER SUIT ON AND IT WAS SO EMPOWERING. I FELT UNSTOPPABLE AND IN THE END I ADOPTED THIS CONFIDENT CHARACTER.

I RECOGNISE I NEED TO BE MORE MYSELF IN THESE SITUATIONS, FOR SURE.

ED: I HONESTLY DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S TRUE, IT DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU WANT TO GIVE AWAY.

EM: I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU AT ALL WHILE SHOOTING SEASON TWO.

ED: — HOW DID THIS SEASON FEEL?

EM: I LOVED IT. I LIKE THAT SEPARATION BETWEEN OUR TWO SIDES OF THE FAMILY BECAUSE WHEN WE DO MEET AGAIN IT'S GOING TO BE SEISMIC. THE FIRST SEASON IT WAS GREAT TO FINALLY SEE THAT CRESCENDO AND NOW SEASON TWO IS THE FALLOUT.

I REALLY CAN'T WAIT FOR YOUR PERFORMANCE, IT'S QUITE NICE NOT KNOWING WHAT'S GOING ON.

ED: I AGREE, AND IT'S NICE HAVING SO MUCH TO WATCH THAT YOU HAVEN'T SEEN. I HAVE A WHOLE HALF OF THE SHOW THAT I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT. — DO YOU WATCH YOURSELF?

EM: I DO, IT TAKES A GOOD TWELVE OR THIRTEEN TIMES BEFORE I CAN APPRECIATE IT. I FIND IT REALLY DIFFICULT BUT I ALSO RECOGNISE THAT I WANT TO KNOW WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOESN'T. — DO YOU?

ED: YES, BUT QUITE MINIMALLY. — DO YOU WATCH PLAYBACK ON SET?

EM: — I CAN'T LOOK AT MYSELF, DO YOU?

ED: NO, BUT I GENUINELY THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL IF I COULD STOMACH IT. SO MUCH ON SCREEN IS SO TECHNICAL AND BECAUSE SO MANY FACTORS MEDIATE YOUR PERFORMANCE, IT'S REASONABLE THAT THINGS MIGHT NOT COMMUNICATE AS YOU'RE IMAGINING.

BUT THEN I DON'T KNOW WHETHER THAT WOULD BE A DEGREE OF CONTROL THAT IS JUST NOT REAL BECAUSE WE HAVE SO LITTLE CONTROL AND FUNDAMENTALLY THE NARRATIVE WILL BE IN THE EDIT.

EM: — WHAT IS IT LIKE WORKING WITH MATT SMITH?

ED: IT'S GREAT, I LOVE HIM AN EXTRAORDINARY AMOUNT AND FEEL PRIVILEGED WHEN I GET TO WORK WITH HIM. IT'S SO NICE TO KNOW WHAT LIGHTS SOMEONE UP, HE'S SO REACTIVE AND HE RESPONDS BEAUTIFULLY TO NEWNESS, IT'S SUCH A DELIGHTFUL GAME.

EM: I REMEMBER THAT MOMENT IN SEASON ONE EPISODE EIGHT AROUND THE BANQUET TABKE AND AEMOND AND DAEMON HAVE A FACE-OFF, AND IN ONE OF THE TAKES MATT SPOKE IN A MURMUR BUT IT WAS HIGH VALYRIAN. I DID NOTICE THAT QUALITY IN THE LIMITED TIMES I WORKED WITH HIM. THERE IS SOMETHING SPICY ABOUT MIXING IT UP, KEEPING YOU ON YOUR TOES AND IN TURN, YOU PICK UP A FEW MOVES IN THE PROCESS.

ED: IT'S REALLY GOOD. THE GUY'S GOT GREAT TASTE AS WELL, SOMETIMES HE HAS LOVELY IDEAS ABOUT HOW A THING MIGHT PLAY BEST AND AT WHAT SIZE. I GET THE SENSE HE HAS A REALLY VIVID PICTURE IN HIS MIND'S EYE AND THAT'S SO HELPFUL BECAUSE IT REFERS TO THE TECHNICAL PART OF OUR JOB. IT'S A PRIVILEGE TO BE 'LOST IN THE CHARACTER' BUT THERE IS A SPECIFIC TECHNICAL PART OF HOW SOMETHING COMMUNICATES AND I THINK HE IS REALLY GOOD AT THAT.

EM: THAT'S SO INTERESTING. I DO TRY TO TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION WITH FRAME SIZES AND WHAT TO PLAY UP AND PLAY DOWN. IT'S ALL A BIG LEARNING CURVE, ISN'T IT?

[palomahasenteredthechat]

My thoughts on AQPDO

So, did this image appear in the actual film? Yeah, that's what I thought...

I loved it, and I was disappointed by it. This is long, so buckle in. Major Spoilers discussed below.

First, the outstanding: the performances. Holy hell. Lupita. Just...her talent is breathtaking. To sustain that level of intensity without overdoing it, I am simply in awe. Well done. I hope some attention is paid to her performance when award season rolls around. Ditto Alex Wolff. He did a LOT with so little screentime. Djimon too; they all were so, so moving.

Joe was so heartbreaking, and yet Joe's character is one of the things I am disappointed about, because I needed more. Not because I love Joe, but because the story needed it. I know there was a backstory that was cut, and to be honest I don't think that was necessarily a poor decision, but the issue is it was cut late in the creative process, versus in the writing, and that is where the problem is. More on that in a bit, but Joe delivered a sensitive and moving performance, and really understated as well. Not a bit of the cheeky Joe we have come to love so much that also I think pops out in Eddie and Michael occasionally. He was wholly immersed in Eric's reality and his energy complimented Lupita's so well; you can see how much they worked off each other. Dare I say she elevated his game. Another marathon performance and I can imagine how exhausting it must be to sustain that.

Second, Michael Sarnoski, hats off to you sir. The pacing, the way you put the story together visually, your heartbreaking script, just so well done. I hope they release the shooting script because I would love to read it and see the words (or lack of) that Joe and Lupita interpreted so movingly. I wonder if Michael has processed the death of a parent recently, because I felt so much emotion from this story. This film is about accepting the inevitability of death, while going through the five stages of grief, yet seeking to live fully regardless. Trigger warning: DO NOT see this movie if you are going through a rough time with someone who is terminally ill. It will wreck you. But this film is tragically, beautifully human. To deliver that story in a Hollywood big budget action film is a hat trick. Every actor in Hollywood who wants to grow creatively should be calling their agents asking to work with Michael Sarnoski right now.

Also, shout out to the production design people. They completely suspended my disbelief that the characters weren't in New York. Set design, lighting, like I could SMELL New York. Virtual production is getting so fucking good - we're well past the Unreal Wall vistas of the Mandalorian. If you ask yourself how A24 could shoot an Iraq war movie in the pastoral hills of England this is your answer.

Now, the not so good.

Go back and watch the first and second trailers and tell me how many of those moments were in the movie. Answer: barely any.

Map claw hand? We have to get out of the city? Gay couple? Old man turning off engine? Nada.

So, was this all misdirection in the marketing, making the audience think they were coming to see a summer action movie? That's legit, trying to get butts in seats, but I have a strong feeling Michael delivered a very different movie that was hacked up in the testing process. All of those scenes probably made the movie feel 'too long', and they had to cut them back to balance the action sequences with the emotional sequences.

The helicopters overhead spelling out THEY CAN'T SWIM probably came from focus group comments where someone was like 'why didn't the aliens just cross the river and start eating people in New Jersey?' (good point). But I'll bet you they wanted to give Alex Wolff's character a more significant death in regard to Samira's emotional journey, so they reshot the scene with the old man turning off the engine and had Alex do it instead.

Also, I get the strong feeling Eric showed up in the story much earlier in the original cut of the film, and the scene with Map Claw Hand illustrates that. The big question regarding Eric is why this random sad British dude gloms on to Samira and I'm not sure they answer that question in the final cut. Joe absolutely sells it, but it doesn't make sense and I suspect it's because it wasn't written that way.

Also, and call me crazy, but I think Joe is wearing a wig in some parts of this movie and not in other parts. It would make sense if there were significant reshoots based on early testing of the film. I wonder if the Alien Lava Tiki Bar (what...was that actually) scene was added later. Like, I get why Eric went up there- actually I don't, I think Eric would have been focused on getting the medicine back to her and wouldn't have taken a detour up scaffolding to follow I cat at all, but that's just me.

Finally, let's talk about the cat. Both Schnitzel and Nico are exquisite and enjoyable to watch, though how no one got scratched or bitten by a disgruntled feline is a mystery. We had a long debate about whether The Cat Represents Samira's Life, or The Cat is An Angel, or Fate, but ultimately we just went with KITTY and that made the story more enjoyable.

Samira is on a quest, to die on her terms, and once she accepts her fate, she sheds the things that no longer matter to her, and in the process gives Eric a purpose. The scene in the jazz bar was so moving. The final shot is also incredibly moving, and I hope the city was filled with the sound of music one last time, a beautiful elegy accompanying her soul to heaven.

Bravo.

[headfullofpresley]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐅𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 | 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏

Pairing: Elvis Presley x reader

Word count: 3,8K

Series summary: Elvis has worked hard to become the successful adult movie director that he is today and all that hard work is paying off by how well the public reacts to his work and how much money is coming into his bank account, despite the fact that porn is still very much illegal. Working in the adult industry is not something you saw yourself doing despite coming from a place where it always has been out in the open, but you soon find yourself swept up and away by a certain American director and right into the heart of the porn industry. The only question that remains is... will you sink, or will you swim?

Chapter summary: Working on his newest and what he believes his biggest project yet, Elvis flies to Amsterdam to shoot most of it. Everything is going well until he's forced to fire his leading actress on the spot and there's a stop being put to his work. But as he wanders into a cafe for a much needed drink in the bustling city, faith seems to be on his side.

Warnings: porn director!Elvis, European!reader, set in the year 1970 (so some details may be a little off?), obvious mentions of sex/porn etc, mentions of prostitution, Elvis giving reader a lowkey foot rub in public (honestly, he's going to be into feet in this series bc i'm feral), mentions of soft drugs, alcohol consumption.

A/N: hi! this idea was born from an ai but mostly from The Deuce (definitely watch it!), where i took most inspiration from. i'm super excited about this series, and honestly it's giving me a lot of inspiration to write in general again! this is going to be a short series- i'm thinking around 5 parts, but we shall see, hm? no smut in this part, but obvi there will be in future parts, as well as some darker topics. hope y'all enjoy! ❤

masterlist | want to be added to the taglist? just ask!

Who ever said Hollywood was a jungle has obviously never set foot in New York City.

They’ve obviously never experienced what a real concrete jungle is like and they definitely don’t know that the Golden Age of Hollywood has seen its best days. Directors were feeling pressures from the outside – from the public that wanted something different, something more than those cringy movie kisses. The smaller movie theaters were starting to ID their customers because their movies weren’t so family friendly anymore. Establishments that specialized in peep shows were popping out of the ground like weeds. Burlesque clubs were turning into proper stripclubs and people would rather spend their money on naked girls dancing in their faces than on overpriced cocktails at supper clubs.

They didn’t know that the world was changing.

They didn’t know that even though adult entertainment was far from legal, it was one of the most produced and exported and imported products in the country.

They didn’t know. But Elvis Presley did.

Having made his start as a director ten years ago when he was in his early twenties and was nothing but a naive Southern boy from Memphis, he crawled and clawed his way through shitty jobs in New York. From parking cars, to serving drinks in sketchy bars to being a bodyguard at a massage parlor and driving around hookers to their appointments… He’s seen it all, and he’s done it all.

He worked hard to get where he currently was – being one of the most famous porn directors in New York. Everyone knew who he was and everyone respected him. Times Square was home to countless of peep shows, stripclubs and whatnot and you’ll bump into a prostitute every five steps. Elvis never used their services but he was friendly with them, greeting them as if he had known them forever. Which in some girls’ cases, was true.

Most of those girls were looking for a way out, wanting to get off the streets and into the safety of a movie studio, but Elvis has learned from a previous mistake where he hired a girl who had a pimp and the leech tried to get him to pay them more than the other actors. Since then, Elvis stuck to actors and actors only.

The director was doing good for himself, owning his own studio and brand under the name of “Presley Productions”, and living in a spacious apartment in the city, yet he still wanted more.

He wanted to make a movie so good, it would get international attention. He wanted it to be so good that theaters wouldn’t stop showing it and he wanted it to be so damn good that it would get him a shiny, gold award on his shelf.

And whenever Elvis had his mind set on something, he made sure to accomplish whatever it was that he wanted to accomplish.

It would only be a matter of time before Hollywood would get whiff of his work, and who he was, and for him to open up a second studio there. Elvis didn’t believe in “Hollywood first, the world later” though – he was going to knock everyone off their feet, from the housewives in California to the business men in Hong Kong, all at the same time.

 

The script he had written for his newest movie had been done for months now and all there was left to do was the casting. The process went fairly simple and easy – his main actress was Annette Haven and she was a gorgeous brown eyed brunette, but for some reason he couldn’t get used to her.

Granted, he wasn’t the one playing in the movie and her co-star seemed to have no issues with her, so perhaps he figured he was just being too picky because he was so passionate about this project. Annette was friendly during the first few weeks of filming but as they got to Amsterdam, the sex capital of the world, to shoot most of the movie, her behavior started to change.

She was cranky on set, pranced around like she was the Queen and was late for filming almost every single day. To put it mildly, she was getting on Elvis’s nerves and when she showed up high as a kite one afternoon, the director was done with this girl.

He never was a tiran on set and always made sure everyone was doing okay, but right now it was like a bomb exploded and everyone watched and were awkwardly rooted to their places as Elvis had a go at the main actress and fired her on the spot.

“Take the rest of the day off. We’ll figure things out tomorrow,” he announced to the other actors and the crew. He gave them a bitter smile before he turned around and walked out of the studio they rented, angry and annoyed at the fact he lost a full day of filming, his leading actress and money.

He needed a goddamn drink.

 

Amsterdam was a crowded, bustling city and in some ways, it was much like New York but it was different in so many ways too. People were a little more laid back here (and he figured the many coffee shops where one definitely was not drinking coffee but getting high at instead had something to do with that) and instead of running into a lady of the night on a street corner, they were placed behind windows in certain areas. The Red Light District, for example. It was crowded with tourists and while there was a long canal outstretched in the middle of the district, there were shops, bars, coffee shops and sexual tinted business lined up on the sides, drawing people’s attention left and right. The infamous windows were located in the alley ways, the red lights that were on indicating a girl was working at the time. While he was definitely no stranger to sex workers and what the normal citizen would call “wildness of it all”, it was like he had stepped into a different world, yet it felt a little bit like home too.

Spotting a typical Dutch brown cafe on a corner, he stepped inside and was welcomed by the loud rumbles of laughter of men shooting pool and sitting at the tables and the bar and the smell of cigarette smoke and beer. Nobody aside from the waitress even spared him a glance as he sat at a table near the window and the second he looked at the girl that came up to him to take his order, a smirk spread across his face. In the middle of August, it was only natural for the girl to be wearing a pair of shorts and he was glad this place didn’t set any strict dress codes for their employees, because Good Lord, those legs looked like they went on for days. He noticed the red heeled sandals she wore on her feet and her fresh pedicure on her toes, drawing him in even more. The way that black little apron was tied around her waist did things to him and as his eyes shamelessly moved further up and noticed the size of her breasts that were filling up the tight top she was wearing, he could only think two things – first, he needed to get his hands on those things. And second, she would be perfect for the movie he was shooting out here.

Annette Haven who?

“Hallo?!” You spoke again, waving your hand in front of the dark haired man that just sat down by the window when he didn’t respond to you the first time. Instead, he was shamelessly checking you out from head to toe and working in a bar in the Red Light District, you were used to it but it still got you a little annoyed at times. At least some men tried to hide it and most men actually spoke, with actual words. As he excused himself in English and scanned the crowd for a second, you realised he wasn’t Dutch and decided to cut him some slack.

Perhaps he really was a creep, but your boss wouldn’t be too happy if a customer walked out without being served.

Happened before, because while other waitresses accepted the bold and creepy men that came to drink almost every single day, your mother had always taught you to stand up for yourself and to not take any shit from anyone.

Besides, this was 1970. What did men expect? For you to drape yourself over their laps and beg them to take you? Absolutely not.

“A beer’s just fine, honey,”

You bit your tongue to ignore the pet name and flashed the American a smile, looking him in the eye. “Anything else? Something to eat maybe?”

Elvis grinned and shook his head, watching you walk away to get his drink. You were a very pretty girl with a very pretty body and he realised he was going to amp up his charm if he wanted to see what was underneath.

And he definitely wanted to see what was underneath.

 

“There you go,” you said as you came back over to his table and put his beer down in front of him. Before you could make your escape once more, Elvis spoke up.

“You know, your English is pretty good,”

At this, you almost scoffed as you stood up straight and looked at him with a hand on your hip. These Americans were always so full of themselves.

“Thanks. It’s only a language spoken in countries all over the world,” you smiled sarcastically and Elvis grinned in amusement as he leaned his arms on the edge of the table, quirking an eyebrow.

Feisty. He was intrigued.

“I been to Germany back in the day and believe me, they definitely didn’t sound as pretty as you,”

You raised your eyebrows a little at the odd compliment. Didn’t sound as pretty? That was the first time you ever heard something like that. This guy looked exactly what you imagined a pimp to look like – gold rings adorning his fingers, dressed up nicely in a velvet crushed jacket despite the heat outside – yet he used the word “pretty”, instead of something vulgar like most customers did when they’d try to flirt with you.

You knew you had probably judged him too quickly and although you were intrigued by him the same way he was by you, you weren’t going to make it easy on him.

“Let me tell you a secret,” you whispered as you leaned down and closer to him a little, looking straight into his eyes, which you noticed were very blue and very pretty. “You’re not in Germany anymore, sir,”

Elvis let out a laugh as you gave his shoulder a playful pat and raised his glass, a sly smirk settling on his features.

“You got that right, honey,”

As you walked away, he didn’t fail to notice the playful smile you threw his way as you looked over your shoulder.

 

Elvis wasn’t planning on spending half the day in this particular cafe, but for some reason, he was already on his third beer and he just couldn’t leave.

He could say it was because he needed to clear his mind and think of a solution to fix the problem about not having a lead actress anymore, but the little voice in his head told him he was looking right at that exact solution.

You.

He knew it would be risky – you were just a waitress and you probably had never set foot on a movie set in your entire life, let alone an adult movie set, but he couldn’t stop imagining you in front of the camera, in all kinds of positions.

As he watched you move around the place, serving customers, it was almost like he was watching a movie right now. The way you moved so effortlessly on those little heels, the way you avoided customers that were a little too handsy and the way you were laughing with local customers who you’d probably served many times before.

The sound of your laugh was like music to his ears and he wondered how you’d sound while you were being fucked with those gorgeous long legs dangling in the air. Just imagining you moaning in pleasure had a shiver run down his spine.

And while you had pretended you didn’t like Elvis at all and he was just another annoying American tourist, you couldn’t help yourself from glancing into his direction every so often and making your way to his table to ask if he needed anything else.

When you did just that after talking to some locals at the bar, he looked at you and smiled.

“Sit down,” he told you as he nodded to the empty seat across from him as he leaned back in his seat. “Doesn’t the old man give you a break?”

You chuckled softly as he nodded to an older looking, grumpy man in the corner behind the bar. Your boss. He barely did any of the work and just sipped on his beer, watching his waitresses work their asses off.

For a shitty pay, too.

“Hardly,” you admitted honestly with a soft chuckle, noticing that your boss wasn’t paying any attention to you so you sat down opposite the dark haired man that had his eye on you the entire time. “So, what brought you to Amsterdam?”

Elvis was pleasantly surprised as you asked him that. Not only would it give him the chance to keep you at his table longer, but now was also the moment where he would have to tell you what he did. And find out your reaction to it.

So, he just came clean right away. In one way, it was a good test to see how open-minded the Europeans really were.

And if you were a full blown, crazed feminist.

God… please don’t be a fullblown crazed feminist, he prayed mentally.

“I’m here to make a porno.”

A silence lingered between you two, but it only lasted for about three seconds. You nodded your head and chuckled in an amused but friendly manner.

“Are you an actor?”

Thank God.

“No,” he laughed, shaking his head a little as he took a sip of his beer, licking his lips. “I’m the director of the movie,”

You leaned your arms on the table and sat on the edge of your seat, crossing your legs under the table as you swung your foot back and forth a little. Elvis looked at the way your breasts were pressed against your arms for a second before looking back at your face, an excited twinkle in his eyes.

“And why are you not directing your movie right now?” You wondered aloud, tilting your head a little.

“Well,” he let out a laugh as he tapped one of his rings against his glass for a second, looking at you. “My leading actress wasn’t as fit for the role as I thought.”

“Or maybe you aren’t as good as a director as you think you are,” you teased with a grin on your face.

At that, Elvis just looked at you with a raised eyebrow. He could tell you were pulling his tail, but perhaps far in the back of his mind… he wondered if that could be the truth. He decided not to let his insecurities get to him though, not right now, and when he felt your swaying foot hit his leg under the table, he reached a hand down and grabbed your ankle. You widened your eyes a little and stared at him as he gave you a cocky grin and removed your shoe, dropping the red heel to the floor before he put your foot in his lap.

You looked around nervously to see if your boss caught onto you slacking yet, but he was still busy with the locals at the bar. Elvis ran his hand down from your ankle to your foot and pressed his thumb against your sole, making you turn back to him and bite your tongue to hold back a small gasp.

While you certainly never let customers touch you, right now you weren’t trying to get away. Nor could you muster up a smart remark to throw at his head. You’d been on your feet all day, wearing those heels, and the little massage he suddenly decided to give you wasn’t entirely unwelcomed.

“I am a great director, sweetheart, trust me..” he grinned as he looked you in the eye, a kind but mischievous gleam in his blue orbs. This man definitely was bold and for the first time in your waitressing “career”, you were enjoying the attention of a customer. And a tourist, at that. “Some people just can’t resist the many coffee shops in the city,”

You chuckled, nodding your head as you tried to focus on the conversation and not his large hand rubbing your foot under the table.

“Ha! Bet she was A-American,” you mentally slapped yourself for the stutter (and the lame reply) but if he noticed it, he didn’t mention it. Instead he just grinned and caressed his short nails across the arch of your foot a little.

“Who said she was American?”

“Well, if she was Dutch, she could’ve.. resisted the tempting clouds of weed,” you countered back with a small, playful grin on your face.

He laughed as he cocked his eyebrow, his eyes staring intently into yours as he found your pressure point and pushed his thumb into it, making you nearly moan out loud right there in the middle of your work place.

You managed to save yourself with a small groan.

“Think you can do better?”

At this point, your face was flushed and he realised he was slowly breaking through that sarcastic façade of yours. Then again, he wasn’t exactly playing fair with the way he was shamelessly giving you a foot rub and while you had genuinely peaked his interest, he was a little desperate too.

He wanted to finish his movie and make sure it was good. It had to be perfect. And he didn’t want to get a professional actress now that he had laid eyes on you.

Porn wasn’t a strange concept to you despite never having been in a porno yourself. You lived in a city where sex was out in the open for everyone to see and consume and while porn was illegal here as much as it was in the States, it was tolerated. Perhaps it wasn’t such a strange idea for you to dip your toes into the world of adult entertainment.

“I know I can do better,” you said confidently, looking over at your boss who looked your way and you quickly pulled your foot out of Elvis’ grip, slipping it back into your heel. “Just tell me when and where,”

Elvis let out a hearty laugh as he widened his eyes at you a little. This had been easier than he expected – you were offering yourself for the job and while that was certainly surprising, he wasn’t complaining at all. You were perfect for this movie and the fact that you were inexperienced in the industry might even be better for the storyline.

After all, the lead girl was supposed to be a little naive and a whole lot of innocent.

You quickly urged him for a phone number and address when you noticed the sour face of your boss staring at you from behind the bar and Elvis quickly scribbled his contact information down on the back of a paper coaster as he realised he didn’t have any business cards on him at the moment. You grasped it from the table and shoved it in your pocket, getting up from your seat.

“Hold up,” he said after he paid for his drinks and you were about to walk off to the bar to get back to work. You felt him grabbing your wrist and you turned around, looking at him as your heartbeat sped up a little. “I didn’t get your name..”

“It’s Y/N,” You told him, gently pulling your arm out of his grip. You wouldn’t mind holding onto him a little longer but you felt your boss’ eyes burning in the back of your head.

“I’m Elvis. Elvis Presley.”

You nodded and flashed him a smile, tapping the back pocket of your shorts where you had put the coaster in. He grinned and nodded, slowly leaving the cafe, hoping you’d call him and go through with this.

A pretty girl like you shouldn’t have to work in a shitty place like this.

 

You watched him go and the entire time your boss was giving you an earful about work ethics as you stood behind the bar, you barely heard the words coming out of his mouth. Quite frankly, you just weren’t paid enough to deal with this. You liked your co-workers but that’s all they were – co-workers. They didn’t pay your bills and neither did your shitty monthly pay that your boss gave you.

You wanted a change. No, you needed a change.

And maybe it was a naive and stupid thing to do, but for some reason, you had trusted that stupid American tourist.

Maybe he wasn’t even a director at all, but the longer your boss went on and on about your behavior, you decided it was worth the risk.

“You know what,” you interrupted him loudly, pulling your apron off and throwing it at his face. “I quit!”

Your boss threw a string of profanities to your head as you opened the cash register and grasped the amount of money he still owed you. He was too slow, and too fat, to stop you and before he could get to you, you were already halfway out the door. Though ofcourse, you didn’t leave without theatrically flipping him off.

 

You ran down the street, squirming your way through the crowd, and into a phone booth. Closing the door behind you, you fished the coaster out of your pocket and rang the number. You were connected to Elvis’ hotel and then put through to his room after several minutes. As soon as you heard his voice on the other side of the line, you inhaled a sharp breath of air and clenched the phone against your ear.

How bad could the porn industry really be?

The fact that you were a virgin didn’t strike you as a problem. Nobody had to know, did they? You were sure you’d be able to mask it.

Even from the director.

You stared at the people walking by the phone booth and leaned against the glass wall, your next words rolling off your tongue determinedly.

“When do I start?”

taglist: @powerofelvis @breadsquash @generoustreemystic @ab4eva @marriedtopresley @steph-speaks @notstefaniepresley @ellie-24 @dollksj @webbedwebs @re3kin @wivette @eliseinmemphis @18lkpeters @rosepresley @ccab @whatstruthgottodowithit @dkayfixates

[mariacallous]

Classical music lovers can debate for hours over which Mozart melody has made the biggest impact. Maybe the first movement of the “Jupiter” symphony, perhaps the Queen of the Night aria from The Magic Flute, or what about the “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” serenade? Those who know the great 18th-century Austrian composer only through the movies have an easier time of it—the sound they’ll remember best may not be music after all but the whinnying, immature, and disobedient laugh heard throughout Milos Forman’s masterpiece Amadeus.

Amadeus, commonly accepted to mean “beloved by God,” was not technically part of Mozart’s name. (He was baptized as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, with Theophilus having a similar translation.) After his death, however, the moniker stuck as a way to venerate him. It’s perfect for the title of this movie, in which rival composer Antonio Salieri allows his jealousy over Mozart’s genius to build into a personal war against God. But expanding on some fudged truth is also in keeping with the spirit of the entire project, as the movie’s central conflict is almost entirely made up. (Even better, then, that the original trailer featured the tagline “Everything you’ve heard is true.”)

Based on a Tony-winning play by Peter Shaffer (inspired by a short 1830 play written by Alexander Pushkin, itself inspired by gossip that Salieri was somehow to blame for Mozart’s early death), Amadeus is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. As such, a new 4K restoration is screening in specialty theaters across North America in advance of a new Blu-ray release. This, plus an eventual availability on streaming, is the first time the version that people originally saw back in 1984 will be available in years. (More on that in a bit.) An upcoming British television miniseries based on Shaffer’s play is in production currently, but we’re skeptical it will have the same magic.

The film’s story is told in flashback, with an old, institutionalized Salieri (played by F. Murray Abraham) “confessing” how he murdered Mozart (Tom Hulce). We are then witness to how Salieri, court composer to Emperor Joseph II (Jeffrey Jones), has his world turned upside down when Mozart bursts onto the scene. His musical instincts are on a level no mortal can comprehend and clearly, Salieri feels, handed down directly from above. But while Mozart’s work is divine, his demeanor is coarse and bratty, which turns Salieri’s understandable envy into an existential rage.

As the winner of eight Academy Awards, including best picture, best director, and best actor for Abraham’s Salieri, Amadeus’s legacy is secure, but any excuse to get more people to see this perfect film is a good one. I can personally report that not one, not two, but three millennial friends of mine came to this movie kind of dragging their feet, watching it only out of an obligation to check every Oscar winner off their list. Each one of them was blown away with just how funny and poignant and entertaining it was.

“I thought this would be boring, not bitchy!” one pal beamed after a recent screening I hosted with Paul Zaentz at New York’s Paris Theater. That energetic spark is evident in the script but catches fire in the movie thanks to its director. Forman’s resumé is one of the best from the 20th century, but Amadeus is something special, not just because it is about a maverick artist who has to do things his way (a recurring theme in both Forman’s life and work) but because the expatriate who fled communist-era Czechoslovakia to follow his calling was able to shoot the movie in Prague and Kromeriz. As Mozart cackled in the face of propriety, so Forman was able to poke his thumb in the eyes of those who had previously censored him.

Forman was born in the town of Caslav in 1932. Both of his parents died in Nazi concentration camps. He attended a school for war orphans where he befriended future filmmaker Ivan Passer and playwright-turned-politician Vaclav Havel. He began working on documentary crews and eventually made short films of his own that blended fact and fiction, getting better material from non-actors than trained professionals. His first feature, Black Peter (1964), focused on a timid teenager, and its follow-up, Loves of a Blonde (1965), was a similarly naturalistic look at awkward romance. Its deadpan, somewhat bleak style ran counter to the splashy films coming out of Italy and France at the time. Both films are early entries to what became known as the Czech New Wave, leading to Forman’s first bona fide masterpiece, The Firemen’s Ball (1967).

While The Firemen’s Ball—Forman’s first film in color—was understood to be a grand metaphor for the inefficiency of the political system at the time, one doesn’t have to know a damn thing about Eastern Bloc history to respect it as an iconoclastic farce not dissimilar from something like South Park. It was immediately banned in Czechoslovakia, but it and Loves of a Blonde were both nominated for best foreign language film at the Oscars.

Forman was in France raising funds for his next project during the Soviet invasion of Prague in August 1968. He was fired from his Czech production company and ended up emigrating to the United States. His first Hollywood film was the 1971 counterculture farce Taking Off (in which square, bourgeois parents try to get groovy with their kids, to embarrassing effect), which led to one of the most influential movies of the 1970s, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

After the anti-authoritarian Cuckoo’s Nest—which won five Oscars, including best picture, best director, best actor for Jack Nicholson, and best actress for Louise Fletcher—came his adaptations of the musical Hair (1979) and E.L. Doctorow’s novel Ragtime (1981). With that all under his belt and his hands on the rights to Schaffer’s hot play Amadeus, Forman went back to Prague in triumph.

Amadeus is set mostly in Vienna; still, Prague, which was generally left intact after World War II, certainly looks good on camera. And Prague was also an important city for Mozart. He made two lengthy visits there and found a very welcoming audience. Indeed, he wrote Don Giovanni with the intention of premiering the opera in Prague, which he did at the Estates Theatre in 1787. And it was at the Estates Theatre where Forman filmed many of the movie’s best scenes—ones of Mozart conducting opera, filmed with the alacrity and exuberance normally reserved for an action-adventure sequence. (The use of pyrotechnics in the Don Giovanni scenes caused a lot of worry on set, what with the old theater’s interior being mostly wood.)

Shooting a Hollywood movie behind the Iron Curtain naturally had some hardships. (Fruit and fresh vegetables, rarities at the time, needed to be trucked in from West Germany.) Given Forman’s background, the eyes of the state were on them. During that recent New York screening, Zaentz, who worked as a production coordinator on the project and is also the nephew of film producer Saul Zaentz, said secret police were essentially hands-off, except for one time. During off-hours, some members of the crew would hang out and watch VHS tapes of Hollywood movies and were unaware that some of those titles had been banned. The company was soon requested to keep to only approved films.

Perhaps more poignant was when they were shooting on the Fourth of July during one of the opera scenes. The Czech crew surprised Forman and the actors during one take. Expecting to hear the music of Mozart play back from a PA system, some well-wishers instead cued up “The Star-Spangled Banner” while others unfurled an enormous American flag. Everyone stood up and sang along, except, according to Forman, the 30 or so secret police who had been dispersed among the extras.

One can easily read the moment as a victory for Forman. Alas, Mozart’s fate was a little different. Though no one knows for sure why he died at the young age of 35—other than the fact that every case of the sniffles had graver implications back in 1791—the movie shows how Mozart’s queasiness with authority shaped him as a hand-to-mouth freelancer and how his lack of a permanent position and persistent money woes were bad for his health. After Amadeus, Forman continued to make movies about troubled-yet-visionary mavericks: Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon (1999), Francisco Goya in Goya’s Ghosts (2006), and, um, Larry Flynt in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996).

As for the Salieri yarn? There’s no historical evidence to suggest that the two composers weren’t just colleagues. (It’s true that Mozart did have a paranoid streak and maybe did think that “the Italians” at court had it in for him.) Salieri certainly did not live in chastity out of some pledge to God in exchange for musical inspiration. Indeed, he had eight children. He was also plenty famous at the time of his death and, later in life, was a tutor to Mozart’s youngest son. Nevertheless, no one should let reality get in the way of watching this incredible movie.

This 40th anniversary rerelease is especially exciting for old-school Amadeus-heads as it restores the 160-minute theatrical cut. All one can find out there now is the “director’s cut,” which is 20 minutes longer. As Zaentz explained to me, that version came out in 2002 during the first DVD wave, when home-video distributors were loading up packages with deleted scenes. Rather than have isolated bonus chapters, Forman decided to just release the longer version instead, though never really considered it the definitive cut. However, over time it became the only version in circulation.

While the longer version has a few splendid moments (some backstage zings with Christine Ebersole as Caterina Cavalieri), it also contains one scene that I am happy to see once again excised. In it, Salieri goes a wee bit too far and humiliates Mozart’s wife, Constanze (Elizabeth Berridge). It’s important for Salieri to be a scheming twerp but also someone who still holds your sympathy. The controversial scene only found in the director’s cut pushes him too far into the role of villain.

So sometimes edits are important! It is said that Mozart never revised, that he took dictation from God. As with so much else about the man, the truth is a little different.

[rubykgrant]

Re-watching RVB, and like... yes, it was VERY cool that they made previous "nonsense" with certain characters very relevant with new context, but also? The order of events drives me crazy! What do you MEAN, they put the super secret original AI crime in a box canyon, in the middle of nowhere, while I guess all this Meta stuff was going on? Like, even if it wasn't clear that what the Meta's plans were, Maine and Sigma absolutely did just wreck a bunch of stuff and run off. Wash just went through the Epsilon incident. Tex attempted some kind of rescue for the Alpha, followed by him being taken away, thus Blood Gulch shenanigans... and somehow Tex is still getting assignments from Project Freelancer? Or "Command", whatever they're pretending to be called.

The whole project just got in trouble for Dr Sadboy doing his AI crimes, Carolina has gone underground, and Wyoming is still doing missions? York is just out there, traveling around, stealing stuff like Robin Hood (he robs from the rich, and gives to the him). South and North are doing stuff somewhere? Tex and Church keep DYING, and you'd think that would get Dr Sadboy's attention, but nooooooooo. Tex says she wants to "kill" the Omega AI, and like... I get that you're mad, but that feels counter productive? Also, the fact that she WAS an AI, who was tricked into thinking she was somebody else, and also got an AI partner... there is so much potential for that, because while Omega was "rage", it also could have been framed as him being "over-protective", and would take over Tex to make sure she could survive missions, but then BOTH of their anger issues combined would get out of control. Do we see anything like that? Nah.

I think it is believable that she may have lost her memories again at some point between the failed Alpha rescue and meeting Church in Blood Gulch, but he sure don't KNOW that, do we? What was happening??? I can also believe that whatever was actually going on, Gary acting like he doesn't now Church and just decides to mess with him makes sense, he WOULD do it for the bit... but Wyoming? Dude, do you know that's the Alpha right there? Do you have a plan for that? Besides time-travel until you shoot all his friends? Freaking FLOWERS? Like, yes, I can imagine my own "reasons" for all of this, I can figure out some kind of background-AU... but in the actual series, everybody is just running around doing whatever

[gingerjolover]

recently been thinking about how funny it would be if the soft!gfs teamed up and made one of those tiktoks that's like "we're [blank], of course we..." and the first thing is "we're munagenius gfs, of course all of our partners have kissed on stage"

stop i looooooove this

i love asks like this bc this is sooo soft!gf coded (obvi don't have to be soft or be gf, its a lifestyle) anything in this same like social media vein is so fun to write (and talk to my friends about bc they help me)

"We're munagenius's gfs..."

ofc all of our partners have kissed on stage

ofc we have silly t-shirts made and wear them unironically

ofc we all hang out while our partners are on tour

ofc we share a google calendar

ofc we've met taylor swift

ofc we've cosplayed as our partners and recorded a silk chiffon cover

ofc we listen to our partners music

ofc people think we're unemployed

ofc we watch edits of our partners on tik tok

ofc we get free tickets and backstage passes to shows

ofc our pets have fan accounts on instagram

ofc we screenshot unhinged thirst comments

ofc we have a group chat

ofc we talk shit in said group chat

ofc we know the art of a mysterious photo dump

ofc we aren't media trained

ofc we have all of our favorite products in travel sizes

ofc we have to share our partners with teenagers and strangers online

ofc we all want to be on gayotic

ofc we "salt in the wound", "silk chiffon", and "crying on the bathroom floor" backstage together

ofc when we post on social media the first comment is "where's __?"

ofc we all have matching shirts that say "number one fan"

and matching underwear that says "rockstars only"

ofc we never get tired of saying "I'm with the band"

ofc we are amazing plus ones

ofc we are there to distract during photo shoots

ofc we have tons of bts that the world will never see

ofc we feel very lucky and in love (this is said with sarcastic disdain)

my babies @ever-siince-new-york, @boywithpinkcarnation, and @whore4munagenius helped me w this and i love them and their brains a lot

[tanoraqui]

The thing about the recent Goncharov resurgence is that imo people are reading way too much into the symbolism! It was a famously troubled production- the anecdote about Jean-Luc Godard ringing Matteo JWHJ0715 just to laugh down the phone and then hang up is probably untrue, but trotted in every New Wave cinema tell-all book nevertheless- and they were almost 20 million over budget. No wonder the dress in Katya’s dream sequence is reused by Sofia in the balcony scene, and appears on a shop window in Naples. They had to save any dollar they had left!

Replying to this SO late, but: ok a) symbolism is in interpretation, which means it's the audience's contribution more than the creator's, which means there's no such thing as "reading way too much into it."

Also, yeah yeah they were over budget but who isn't amiright. I DO believe the anecdote about how much they had to bribe every single soldier along the Berlin Wall in order to do all that shooting on location.

And c, they make the budget-necessitated symbolism WORK, okay! Katya dreams about the dress because Sofia wears the dress because the dress symbolizes the freedom she could have had if she'd left with Sofia then, and Katya knows that! So when she sees it in the shop window toward the end, it's still out there but it's too late, it's behind glass and she doesn't have time to stop, because she has to go kill her husband and continue the cycle of revenge... UNLESS you subscribe to the Katya Lives theory (10/10 I agree), wherein that specific dress is still probably out of reach, but maybe she can reach "New York in the fall" like Sofia said!

Constrictions create great art, basically. Imagine how much better some modern movies would be if they DIDN'T have billions of dollars to lean on, rather than, like, good writing and acting.

[d1ana-m0nd]

╭─► ❝Love me or Hate me❞

Earth 42! Miles Morales × Female! Reader || Written by Diana (d1ana-m0nd)

➢ Description : Spider-Nox is a promising spiderwoman. It's believed that she was destined to protect and save people. However, like how every Spiderman stories goes, a tragic accident occurs which led to the death of her best friend’s father. Struggling with the guilt, the weight of her mistake, unable to bear the pain and the feeling of an outcast in the very city she swore to protect, she chooses isolation as her only path to redemption.

➢ Word Count : 523

➢ Link : Masterlist

Character Profile | Hello my Name is...

Alright people, let’s do this quickly! ⁠(⁠°⁠o⁠°⁠)⁠／

Hello my name is Y/N Libitinarius, the spiderwoman of Earth 42.

Now, most spider-person would say they were bitten by a radioactive spider. Well… For my case, my ass of an uncle, Dwade Konraddo, injected me with a serum of a genetically modified radioactive spider-nox; The serum has given me powers and turned me into a spider-mutant.

Thankfully I retained my cuteness. (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠)

Though I have huge fangs now and don't worry they are retractable, they kinda make me look like an oni. Unfortunately, my hands until my forearm turned black - like black as coal - with red roots that ran along my arms. Which is mostly the reason why I struggled to choose an outfit that would hide my mutation.

Oddly enough, despite being bitten by a radioactive spider, I didn't retain most of a spider's abilities. I can't stick to walls nor hang upside down and I can't shoot spider webs nor produce any because my touch accelerates their decaying process.

In spite of that, I do have other cool abilities: As stated, my touch can take away life force (only applicable to organic species) or accelerate decaying process (only applicable to by-product of organic species), I can cause hallucinations with my spit, and instead of sprinting I submerge into the ground when sprinting.

I can already guess what you are gonna say, (⁠ ⁠´⁠◡⁠‿⁠ゝ⁠◡⁠`⁠) "I don't think regular spiders have those abilities…"

You're right! They don't, at least most spiders don't have these abilities but, a species called spider-nox are a different breed. The spider-nox that was injected into my body are lab made spiders that are meant to recreate a prehistoric version of the spider-nox, key word recreate, so most of the abilities are not true to the original species ability, just a copy or it is somewhat similar to it's ability.

Moving on with my superhero duties. I’m pretty sure you know the rest, I save the city just like the others, though I do my hero work by night and in the shadows. Though I mostly do the work as a nameless vigilante because I don’t want to garner attention, it seemed like journalists seemed determined to catch me in action which I narrowly avoided. Though people of New York began to dub me as the "Lurker" - Pretty corny nickname if you ask me but, that's what they went along with so eh… and it's pretty much my fault for not making a superhero name before the public began making random nicknames for me.

Oh yeah! For the last 4 years I thought I was the one and only spiderwoman.

Until, I met Miguel O'Hara, Spiderman 2099. I discovered that I wasn't the only weirdo and I could go to different universes…

At first, I wasn't planning to join their "Spider Society" but, I figured I would be able to extract my powers if I were to venture to other universes. In the end, I only fell into their hands because all they wanted was to monitor me because they dubbed me as an anomaly.

➢ Taglist :

➢ Note : If your username is highlighted violet that means I cannot tag your blog. I suggest you either follow my blog and turn on your notifications or you turn on your subscription to the masterlist. The animated divider is made by @/cafekitsune. [ EXAMPLE ]

[probablyasocialecologist]

Before the World Wars and the rise of the propaganda theory, the left thought rather differently about the inadequacy of our understanding and our judgment. The keyword here wasn’t propaganda but rather “ideology,” a slippery Enlightenment-era concept reworked by Marx and Engels in the mid-nineteenth century. For them, the notion of ideology revealed how our consciousness is determined by what Marx called our “social being” — the relations of production and power in which each of us is caught up. Misinformation is the barrage of conflicting and occasionally fabricated evidence about the al-Ahli hospital bombing — including two posts from official Israeli accounts that attached a video purporting to vindicate their account, later deleted after a New York Times visual-investigations journalist pointed out on X that the video was from 2022. Propaganda is the habitual assertion from pro-Israel quarters in the aftermath of the explosion that the IDF “doesn’t bomb hospitals,” despite the fact that the World Health Organization has reported 62 attacks on healthcare institutions in Gaza since October 7. Propaganda is also Joe Biden’s callous quip, after making clear he believes that the explosion was caused by a failed Palestinian rocket launch and not by an Israeli munition, that Hamas should “learn how to shoot straight.” Ideology is what enables a person to regard the lives of their fellow human beings with such indifference — the appearance of Palestinian life as expendable, of Palestinian death as unserious. This ideology, like all others, is grounded in social being: the objective expendability of Palestinian life in the functional logic of American empire. To dwell in this edifice — as president, but also as a tax-paying, vote-casting subject — is to learn to tolerate the violence it systematically inflicts, one act of acquiescence at a time.

[chrisgotitall]

Hii!! Love your work, you're one of the very few people that writes about Mike (thank god). I'd love to read one of them in the work environment. Maybe they did a movie together and now they have a press tour to do where they're cheeky and literally so in love!!

Hii, thank you so much! (crying honestly)

They work together from the very beginning. They met at her audition for a very important musical, I’m thinking of Hadestown. They got to play each other’s love interests and on that very stage they fell in love with each other.

After the play they were fully on dating mode. Mike then decided to audition for another project and she searched for another job. They actually ended up landing their roles on the same project so here they were again playing love interests on set. Their characters’ love story was tormented, totally the opposite of theirs in real life: while they played two people who fought and screamed at each other on set, behind the scenes they were the most in love lovebirds you could ever imagine. They would bring each other coffee on turns every day, sit next to each other while waiting for their time to shoot, running through the lines together. One time after a scene where he was supposed to scream at her during a fight, after the director called cut, he took her hand and kissed it, feeling so bad for some reason.

Then the press tour started. They’re always seen hugging or touching each other in some way, always giggling. She made these events that were so difficult for Mike, so bearable and actually nice to attend. If she was with him, then interviews and pictures and people shouting at him weren’t that bad.

During the première in New York, they spoke a lot about each other. A lot of questions were about them two as a couple. The more they answered the more it was evident how they were destined to find each other in life.

“Yeah I always thought about that,” she said. “We actually talked about this once”

Speaking about the fact that she played Graziella in a West Side Story theater production and he played Riff in the movie adaptation or that she played Zoe Murphy in Dear Evan Hansen three years back and he played Connor in the original play.

“So yeah I’m 100% sure we were destined to play in something together”

“Well thank god, we were in DEH not at the same time cause I wouldn’t have wanted to play your brother” he said smiling. She chuckled.

“Oh come on, we are like brother and sister after all…” she teased him. He chuckled, shaking his head because reminding her of the night before wouldn’t be right.

On the red carpet, he was stopped for a little interview.

“So Mike, who’s your date tonight?” the interviewer asked him.

“Oh I brought my girlfriend, she’s… right there taking pictures” he answered pointing at her.

“Oh she looks gorgeous tonight”

“Very. Very gorgeous, yeah” he tried not to look completely head over heels as he watched her but his eyes were deceiving him.

When an interviewer stopped her for a talk, the same question was asked to her too.

“Who did you come with tonight?”

“I came with my boyfriend tonight” she said feeling so proud to tell everybody he was her boyfriend.

“Let me tell you, you both look so good tonight and as a couple” the interviewer said.

“Oh thank you so much,” she said, smiling widely.

A lot of pictures of them were taken that night, even one of them outside sharing a kiss. But in most of them they were smiling, even laughing, and alway close and touching, whether it was his hand firmly around her waist or her hand on his chest.

Before taking a picture she noticed his shirt was a little wrinkly so she flattened it for him with her hands.

During a group picture he stood in front of her to cover her because she had to adjust the bodice of her dress.

[sinister-things]

Can't Take My Eyes off You

Loosely inspired by this post by @fabuloustrash05

⚠️TW: One mention of food⚠️

Synopsis: Hamato Yoshi– or, Mr. Splinter is a very wealthy man, owning multiple dojo's across New York City. When he announces a gala event in hopes of his son, Donatello, finding that special someone, your parent's force you– New York City's "IT Girl" to attend. What could go wrong?

Everything was set and ready. The food was from all around the world, Splinter had hired the greatest orchestra in town, and everything about the room screamed "I make eight figures!"

To put it nicely, you were an IT Girl. You were beautiful, rich, had deals with multi-million dollar brands, and the media loved you.

You made your way to the food table, heads turning by the mere sight of you.

This event was supposed to last for five hours. You only knew of Mr. Hamato because your younger cousin attended one of his dojo's.

You had never met his son, Donatello, prior to this. You had heard of him and his intellect, but had never met him in person.

"Oh, mi gosh!" You heard a voice squeal.

You turned to investigate the sound, only to find a humanoid turtle donning an orange bandana standing a few steps behind you.

"Hello, can I help you?" You asked him.

He was buzzing with excitement. "You're Y/N, you were on the cover of Vogue last month!"

You chuckled at his excitement. "And you are?"

"Oh–" The boy blushed, "I'm Mikey, I'm a really big fan," Mikey told you. "Can I take a picture with you?" He asked bashfully.

"Sure!" You popped the last finger sandwich in your mouth and crouched beside him, flashing your famous smile.

He waved as he walked away, cellphone in hand, likely to post the picture somewhere.

You continued on with your night, chatting up a few of your other rather famous friends.

"Not to sound rude, but," You furrowed your eyebrows. "Why are you here? You already have a girlfriend." You asked.

Your friend Kelly, a model, huffed. "My sister was invited, and you know she can't be left alone for more than five seconds," she laughed.

The two of you heard a gasp, followed by an "Oh my god, it's you!"

You both turned to see your mutual friend, Iseul, a kpop idol. You smiled as the three of you caught up with each other's lives.

You three laughed and genuinely had a good time. But during the entire conversation, you had a weird feeling. Like you were being watched.

▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎

From across the room stood– for lack of a better word, the prettiest girl in New York.

Y/N L/N, the quote-unquote "IT Girl" of New York was talking with two other girls. Kelly Blare, a model from Newfoundland, and Kim Iseul, a Korean singer known for her stunning appearance.

Y/N was mostly known for her modeling career. For some reason, brands fought to the death to even have one of their products in the background of an Instagram post.

She was on every billboard, every cafe window, every magazine cover, everything! You couldn't walk down the street and not see her face.

Everyone knew who she was.

Everyone knew her name.

Mikey was a big fan of Y/N, using her modeling shoots as inspiration for his various art pieces and following her on every social media he had.

The press adored her! Always praising her actions and beauty, painting her as this divine being who could do no wrong.

And Donnie would be lying if he said he didn't have even the smallest crush on her.

Donnie never expected himself to be one of those lovestruck fools, blindly admiring someone he barely knew. In fact, he laughed at the idea. Him, falling in love? Heavens, no. Impossible!

He never cared for the various celebrities and socialites his father met with. But when he saw you, something changed.

He hated to admit it, but the gossip was true: you were more beautiful in person than in a picture.

But there he stood, face redder than Raph's mask. A bead of sweat ran down the side of his head as he watched you laugh at something Kelly said.

Pathetic. He was pathetic.

You had captured his heart, just as he feared someone would. The sight of you nearly making him forget how to breath, captivating him with your presence alone.

But you looked so unreal! You've most likely had thousands, if not millions of people profess their love for you. What would make Donnie stand out from the rest?

Donnie's heart stopped when the two of you locked eyes. He dropped the glass he was holding and found himself running in the direction he came.

▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎

You chased after the person. "Wait, come back!" You called to them.

You found yourself running through the various hallways of the estate, the person not stopping for a second.

"I just wanna talk!" You called desperately, picking up your speed.

With every twist and turn, you tried calling out to the person, hoping to persuade them to stop and talk.

The person ran out the nearest door they saw, you quickly following in pursuit.

Your legs burned, begging to rest. But you weren't going to until you stopped this stranger in their tracks.

You climbed a steep, grassy hill. There was a large, looming tree standing at the peak, a bench underneath it. Sitting down, you smiled.

"Hi, what's your name?" You asked. That was a good conversation starter, right?

"I'm Y/N," You told him, hoping to gain his trust. "I like your suit!"

The person scuffled to the other side of the bench, you only following. They fiddled with their jacket for a few seconds before muttering a response.

"I'm sorry..."

You were confused. "For what?"

"For staring..." He admitted.

You bounced your knee, a smirk growing on your face.

"Well," you leaned forward– not to close, but close enough that you could see him blushing. "I'll forgive you if you tell me your name."

He bit his lip, looking to the ground. Sighing, he met your eyes.

"Donatello..."

You gasped. "Donatello? As in, Donatello Hamato?" You asked him curiously. He nodded.

"And you're Y/N," his ashamed frown began turning into that of a smile. "The prettiest girl in New York,"

You're reaction was a mix of shock and flattery. "Well, I think you're the smartest guy in this city," you told him.

Donatello's face went red. "Really?"

You nodded, "I've heard of all the different kinds of tech you've made, it's pretty cool!"

His face lit up, smiling like a child who saw Santa Claus. Someone praised his tech? He's been waiting for this!

The two of you rambled on about your interests, your passions and your dreams for hours.

From the corner of his eye, Donnie saw April and his brother's cheering him on from inside the house.

He rolled his eyes, ignoring his family and his blush for the time being, focusing his thoughts and smile on your adorable rants.

He sighed, realizing what was happening to himself. He, who laughed in the face of Cupid, was head over heels for the prettiest girl in New York City.

In the span of four hours, you had managed to make him smile and laugh more than he had in a single month.

But down the line, you and Donatello are as happy as can be. Whether sixteen or sixty, one thing is for sure: he couldn't take his eyes off you.