marklikely · 1 year ago
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listening to the long form story break episodes rn but do you have any recs for the short ones?
Well here's the episodes that I go back and relisten to the most. because i'm me it tends to be the horror ones but some of them also just have the funniest moments or they made a good movie.
TOP TIER BEST EPISODES:
111. What's Eating Gilbert Grape - Genuinely my fave episode and the movie i want to exist the most, where they make a gay gothic romance set in the vineyards of napa valley. tw for like child death and cannibalism and general gothic horror elements.
109. n o t h i n g - The funniest episode, i've listened to it dozens of times and still have parts that make me laugh til i can't breathe. i don't usually relisten to the actual movie part though because tw for a lot of talk about cat death, but the preamble to them settling on their final idea and their detour through weird penis and/or death related art projects are one of the funniest bits of podcasting i've ever heard and matt arnold is obviously the comedy god of this entire crew.
and then just some really good episodes that I've relistened to:
70. Heaven Heist - maybe the most iconic episode and if you're listening to the long form episodes then i assume you already know it but the one where they originally break the story is just so good that it must be listed here.
76. Tearjerker - Probably the best one for dndads fans since it 1. has Beth May as a guest and 2. tells a horror story about the cycle of bad fatherhood. tw for discussions of abuse and toxic masculinity
90. Bird Box - Them trying to crack their own version of bird box when they realize none of them have seen it. tons of funny bits and a pretty interesting final product about family. tw for child endangerment & some minor mentions of animal death
102. Sensory Deprivation Horror Movie - another one with a lot of funny bits, they try to create their own quiet place or bird box movie focused around one of the other major senses.
104. First - where they make a movie about inheriting a youtube empire because you commented first on a video, but it somehow becomes a sci-fi thriller
106. Disney Endgame - they're tasked with laying the groundwork for the next big step: an entire disney-owned cinematic universe. really wild especially the elevator pitch which is one of the funniest that they've done.
122. Pixar's Shoes - where they create an inspiring and formulaic pixar film about a random object, with some bits that almost put me in tears laughing
123. Halmark Movie Bonanza - just trying to use their hour runtime to quickly make as many hallmark christmas movies as possible which is absolute gold if youre as intimately familiar with the hallmark channel as i sadly am
139. Disney Channel Original Movie Marathon - Another one that i might just like because of my extreme familiarity with the source material, but this is a really funny one where they look at DCOM posters and try to make up the movie that it must be with no extra information. one of the movies they make is a ghost based lesbian surfing movie that i desperately wish was real.
and there's honestly a ton of other really funny episodes but these are just the ones i go back to the most. i do recommend being liberal about skipping episodes though like there is no shame in deciding to go to the next episode if they start the "full 5 act structure plan" phase of the episode and you're not into the story. that's the beauty of this being an episodic show lol
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chungledown-bimothy · 5 years ago
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Keep Talking, Oh, Keep Talking
So, I know it’s been FOREVER since I posted any writing, and that’s mostly because I was working on this @sanderssantas​ fic for @mewithanie​! So sorry about how long it’s been, and hopefully I’ll be posting things again slightly more often lol
I had so much fun writing this! Happy holidays, mewithanie! <3
AO3     Masterlist
Summary: Patton and Virgil were deliriously in love and didn’t think they could get any happier. Enter Logan, Virgil’s tutor.
Warnings: alcohol use, slight intoxication. 
Pairing(s): established moxiety into analogicality
Word Count: 2,647 (plus 2 fake-texts images)
Tag List:  @ren-allen​​ @ccecode​​ @emo-sanders-sides-loving-unicorn​​ @ilovemygaydad​​ @bloodropsblog​​ @funsizedgremlin​​ @raygelkitty​​ @roxiefox23​​ @thomasthesandersengine​
Patton loved his boyfriends. He loved them so much that sometimes, when he thought about them, his heart would race, his knees would go weak, and his head would spin. Especially since Logan joined the relationship.
Patton and Virgil met the first day of college, in their shared psychology class. It wasn't long until they started dating, and a year later, they moved in together. Patton had known for years that he was polyamorous, but he kept that to himself, because he was blissfully happy with Virgil, and it was never relevant. Until the second semester after they moved in together, that is.
--------------------------
Eight Months Ago
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Fifteen minutes later, Virgil walked through the front door of the apartment and was immediately caught in a bear hug.
"Well hello to you too," Virgil laughed, despite his terrible mood.
"What, a guy can't be excited to see his favorite stormcloud?" Patton looked up at him, his expression just a little bit too innocent.
"Patton, what did you do?" Virgil questioned, remembering the cupcake tower Patton made the night before their first set of final exams together and the time he came home from his first therapy session to find the living room covered in fairy lights.
"Nothing major; I promise. Come look!" Patton took him by the hand and practically dragged him into the kitchen. "See? Just a lasagna. Let's eat while you tell me about your meeting and this mysterious Logan guy."
Virgil got a couple plates and served the lasagna as he started talking. "Turns out, he's in my class. I've mentioned front-and-center-nerd before, yeah?" Patton laughed.
"Dresses more professionally than the teacher, kinda cute but also seems stuck up?"
"Yep, that's the guy. He's a lot chiller than I thought he'd be. Anyway, we're gonna meet after class every Wednesday for the rest of the semester."
"I'm sure it's gonna go great!"
Five Months Ago
"Hi, I'm Patton! Nice to meet you; Virgil has said such wonderful things about you!" Patton half-yelled over the music playing at the bar.
"Oh, erm, hello. I am Logan, although clearly you already knew that. Virgil has spoken highly of you as well." Logan fought the impulse to adjust his tie. Patton opened his mouth to say something else, but Virgil arrived with their drinks, passing them out as he sat down.
"Alright, we've got a whiskey neat for Logan, some IPA that the bartender recommended for you, Pat, and a rum and Coke for me. Honestly, though, Patton, I don't get how you can drink those. I had a sip of yours on my way over, and it was awful."
Patton laughed. "Yeah, they're not for everyone, but I like 'em! And it's hard to drink too many of them, unlike your drinks, so I don't get super drunk- my tolerance is garbage. Anyway," he continued with a mock glare at his boyfriend, "we aren't here to make fun of the way I drink, we're here to celebrate Virgil!" He raised his glass.
"Indeed. It has been an honor working with you this past semester, Virgil, and I am proud to see your hard work pay off," Logan added, raising his glass as well.
Virgil blushed and refused to look at either of them. "I barely got a B+, that's hardly a reason to celebrate," he mumbled.
"Falsehood. Truthfully, when we began working together, I doubted that you would be able to achieve higher than a C. You worked incredibly hard, not only on the subject matter, but on how you approached studying. Your dedication is truly inspiring."
"Hear hear! Virge, I know how hard this class has been on you. You've worked that cute butt of yours off for it, and that alone deserves celebration, even before you take into account how much that hard work paid off! But if it helps, we can call this a general post-finals celebration, okay?" Patton was rewarded with a grateful smile.
"You guys deserve to be celebrated too. Logan, you have been so incredibly patient with me; I know that I'm not exactly the most pleasant to be around when I get frustrated, so, thanks for sticking with me, I guess. And Pat, you've had my back since day one. I love you more than I could ever say, baby." He pressed a sweet kiss to Patton's cheek, and Logan was suddenly very interested in his drink.
"Loooogan has anyone told you how pretty you are?" Patton hit his hands on the table, almost knocking over the glass that once contained a strawberry daiquiri; he'd decided he wanted something sweeter after two beers.
"No no no no, the prettiest one here is Virgil. Those cheekbones have got to be illegal somewhere," Logan wasn't any more sober, two whiskeys in. "And his face when he's focusing on studying is just the cutest thing everrr."
"Oh I know! Have you seen him do the thing where he sticks his tongue out a little bit when he's really concentrating?" Patton was practically bouncing in his seat, continuing to be a danger to the glasses.
"Dear Newton yes! I had to excuse myself and get a drink of water the first time I saw him do it."
"Wait, that's why you left? I thought it was because you were getting frustrated with how long it was taking me to get it!" Virgil chimed in, astonished.
"Sounds like he was some sort of frustrated alright," Patton muttered.
"Look. We all know that Virgil is an incredibly attractive man, and I am a simple homosexual. That said, Patton, I apologize for the… less than appropriate thoughts I may have had before I knew that he was in a relationship at all, let alone one as objectively adorable as yours."
Patton giggled. "No worries, Lolo! Like you said, my man is an entire three-course meal, and it would be silly of me to hold natural, human thoughts against you! And besides, you weren't the only one in those study sessions with some interesting thoughts, right Virgey?"
"Oh my god Patton I cannot believe you just said that!" Virgil hid his flaming blush behind his hands.
"Oops! Sorry, V!"
"You- you're okay with that? Your boyfriend and a stranger having lewd thoughts about each other?" Logan asked.
"Well yeah! I'm not the jealous type, and I trust Virgil. What's important to me is open and honest communication, and he told me about his attraction to you almost immediately. Plus, in all honesty, I found it kinda hot, especially once he showed me a picture of you."
Logan looked to Virgil and raised an eyebrow. Virgil game the same look to Patton, who, after a moment of confusion and then realization, nodded slightly and leaned back in his chair. Once Patton gave his blessing, Virgil leaned in and kissed Logan, soft and unsure. After they separated, Logan approached Patton and, after receiving another nod of consent, pressed a similar kiss to his lips.
The next morning
"So… can we talk about what happened last night?" Patton asked sweetly over breakfast.
"Oh my god are you actually not okay with it? Patton, I'm so sorry I shouldn't have-"
"Hey, Virgil, no, I really did mean that it was okay. More than okay, even. In fact, I think now is a good time to tell you that I'm polyamorous. I had a lot of fun hanging out with Logan last night, and I'd like to get to know him better. And clearly you are both into each other. I love you so much, and I just want you to be happy. If you want to, I think at least a conversation with Logan about it couldn't hurt."
Virgil sat in silence, sipping his coffee occasionally, for several minutes before speaking. "Pat, I love you more than I can possibly say. I'm honestly not surprised that you're polyam; you have so much love to give. I, uh, I actually am too. So, uh, I guess I'll call Logan? See if he wants to get lunch or something?"
"Aww yay! Okay, I'm gonna go take a shower real quick." Patton kissed Virgil quickly on the cheek on his way out of the room.
Virgil took a steadying breath and took out his phone.
     -
Logan straightened his tie and cleared his throat. "If I am understanding this correctly, you are both polyamorous and… wish for me to join your relationship?"
"Not so formally, but yeah? Last night, it was clear we all find each other hot. Which, like, duh, you're both gorgeous and sometimes I look pretty okay. Not now, Pat." Virgil preempted Patton's interruption without looking away from Logan. "I like you a lot, and I think you and Patton would also get along really well. So, uh, yeah, this is us asking you out. Not asking for any sort of commitment or anything, just hanging out and going on dates and stuff. You know, normal dating stuff. Just… with two of us."
"Only if you want to! And if you wanted to just date Virgil, I'd be completely okay with that too, but I had a lot of fun last night, and I'd love to get to know you better."
A tense moment of silence later, Logan spoke. "Let me begin by saying how flattered I am by your interest, both of you. While I am… inclined to accept your invitation to date both of you, I have never put much thought into my own feelings about polyamory for myself. Obviously, it is a completely normal and rational thing; my hesitation is in how I might fit into your so well-established relationship. Additionally, feelings do not come easily to me, and I find them exceedingly frustrating trying to understand. I have been reliably informed that this makes me a poor romantic partner." He took a breath and adjusted his tie.
"I have noticed that you are both quite vocally and physically publicly affectionate with each other, and I wonder whether my reticence with such displays would leave you unhappy with me. I have historically struggled to show adequate affection to just one person; I cannot imagine I would be able to give you both the kind of affection you seem to crave. In short, while I would like to accept, I currently cannot see it ending in anything but significant emotional distress for all of us. I apologize, most sincerely."
"I think I can safely speak for both of us when I say that we appreciate your honesty," Patton began gently. "Can I address some of your points?" Logan gave him a confused look, but nodded. "Thank you! So, it seems like your big concern is that you're afraid your emotional reticence would in some way hurt us or leave us unsatisfied. Am I understanding that right?" He waited for another nod before continuing. "To be honest, Lo, that's just silly. Are you familiar with Gary Chapman's concept of love languages?" Logan shook his head.
"Chapman posited that there are five ways people experience and express love- gifts, quality time, acts of service, words of affirmation, and physical touch- and everyone prefers to give and receive one or two of them over the others. Mine is words of affirmation, and Virgil's is physical touch; that's why we are as outwardly affectionate as we are. Trying to force a partner to 'speak' your language and not their own is just going to make everyone unhappy; healthy relationships require everyone involved to understand what the others need and want. We would never try to force you into anything you aren't comfortable with. We want to date you, Logan, not some version of you that pretends to be something or someone you aren't. If you let us, we'd love to learn your love language and not ask or expect anything else of you."
"Also," Virgil chimed in, "as to your worry about how you'd fit? Not a worry at all. I love Patton so much, and his energy and positivity makes me feel so good most of the time, but sometimes it can be... a bit much. He's wonderful at giving me space when I want it, but I know that I'd enjoy having someone else around who's more grounded. On the other hand, I remember quite a few study sessions that got diverted by you going on a tangent about something you love. If you think that passion isn't something Patton is going to join you in, you're incredibly wrong. And I think that his energy will help draw you out of that thick shell of yours, while I'll always be a more down-to-earth realist with you. I think we'd all be great for each other, if you're willing to give us the chance to show you. Only if you want to, though. One word, and we'll shut up about it forever." He gave Logan an anxious smile.
"In the face of such reasonable responses to my concerns, I suppose I have no choice but to gladly accept." Virgil and Patton both silently melted at the pure joy in Logan's smile. Well, Virgil was silent. Patton let out a squeal of delight that only dogs could hear.
---------------------
Present
Patton loved his boyfriends so much, just remembering the beginning of their story made him dizzy. Wait. No. Bad dizzy. I need to- he collapsed on the bathroom floor with a resounding THUD.  
-
THUD
Virgil jumped out of his seat. "Logan? Patton??" he called as he ran from their bedroom to the living room.
"Patton? Virgil?" Logan shouted at the same time. They met in the living room.
"Shit, where's Patton? PATTON!" Virgil yelled.
"It sounded like it came from the bathroom." Logan had barely finished his sentence before they both started running. They skidded to a halt outside the closed door; Virgil knocked.
"Patton? Are you in there? Are you okay?"
Three seconds of silence later, Logan knocked. "Patton, we are coming in." They opened the door to find him collapsed on the floor.
"Patton, can you hear us? Patton??" Virgil fell to his knees, checking for breathing and a pulse. "He's got a weak pulse, but it's there, and he's breathing okay. I don't- what do we do, Lo?" Virgil's voice was barely more than a shaky squeak.
Logan, on the other hand, spoke with cool, detached clarity. "Assuming that Patton collapsed due to a loss of consciousness, he has been unconscious for approximately thirty seconds. If he is out for another minute, we will call 911. In the meantime, go get a glass of water and all the pillows from the living room. Quickly, Verge. We need to get him back." They locked eyes and saw mirrored concern and panic. Virgil turned and ran to the kitchen. He was back in 45 seconds, and found Logan holding up Patton's groggy, but conscious, head.
"Virgil, you're back. Excellent. Here, give me a couple of pillows." He tucked them under his head gently, while Virgil knelt down beside him and took his hand. Only then did he notice how much his own were shaking.
"Patton, are you okay? What happened?"
"Mmf, dunno. Got dizzy. Are you guys okay?" Patton mumbled.
"Patton, of- of course we are okay; you're the one who fell. We should get you into bed. Do you think you can stand?" Logan asked.
"I- I don't think so, not quite yet." Logan and Virgil once again met eyes in a silent conversation.
"Okay, Pat, knees up, I'm gonna carry you." With an ease that surprised and slightly aroused Logan, Virgil picked Patton up, placed a soft kiss to his forehead, and carried him to the bedroom. "Let's get you to bed, baby; we'll take good care of you. You're gonna be just fine," he said softly into Patton's hair.
Once they got him to bed, they tucked him in, Logan made chicken noodle soup for when Patton felt up to it, and they gave him all of the cuddles he could possibly want. Which is, of course, an unlimited amount.
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yamamuragaku · 5 years ago
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Mitsuki Izumi [RESPO] RabbitChat
“I feel like I’ve been rewarded for being reckless thus far”
Part 1-5
Part 1: Perfect Restart
Tsumugi: Mitsuki-san, good work on recording the single of “RESTART POiNTER”.
Thank you for your wonderful singing today!
Mitsuki: Good work!
We completed it without any problems.
Tsumugi:  Thank you for your concerns....
Mitsuki: It’s fine!
If you can’t rely on your elders, what reason is there for us being older?!
Tsumugi:  Thanks to your cheering, Mitsuki-san, the mood of the place became very lighthearted; you were a great help....
Mitsuki: A man's problem must be solved by men!
Manager, thank you for taking care of us too.
Mitsuki:  I thought it would be fine since it was after the live, but when it comes to recording, it doesn’t feel as much like a live, so I thought I ought to give support.
Tsumugi: When Mitsuki-san said, "Let's put Riku's feelings that ‘we, IDOLiSH7, are amazing guys!’ on the CD," it was touching.
Mitsuki: Repeating it to me is embarrassing! lol
Mitsuki: So as to not feel ashamed on that day’s live, I wanted to do my best for the restarted IDOLiSH7!
Tsumugi: For those who couldn’t come to the live as well, I want to quickly deliver to them everyone’s singing!
Mitsuki: I hope the fans listen to it, and it leaves an impression in their hearts.
Because the lyrics say, no matter how many times we’re disheartened, let’s keep walking.
Tsumugi: Yeah…!
I also feel energized whenever I look at the lyrics, so I hope they’ll feel this way too!
Tsumugi:
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Mitsuki: Riku is quite suited to these lyrics!
When it was Iori’s “Perfection Gimmick”, it felt really ikemen-ish and adult-like though!
Tsumugi: Everyone is different, everyone is good! lol (1)
Mitsuki: It’s probably not something you can say so easily!
In my way, in our own way, let’s continue to do our best.
Part 2: Mitsuki’s Habit
Tsumugi: Good work, Mitsuki-san!
Do you have time to make a comment about the new song for publicity purposes…?
Mitsuki: Good work!
Okay. It’s a comment that’ll forever be connected to the song!
Tsumugi: Indeed…!
If it gets somewhat popular, I think I might make you do another one.
Mitsuki: Got it!
I was cleaning the kitchen just now, and Tamaki helped out so we finished early.
Tsumugi: So you were cleaning up with Tamaki-san! Sorry for contacting you after you just finished ><
Mitsuki: It’s fine, it’s fine!
Well, it seemed that Yamato-san promised that if he took charge and helped clean the dorm, he could eat pudding, and since we had fun, it was over in a flash.
Tsumugi: So he promised him he could eat pudding!
There are times when I think Tamaki-san and Yamato-san’s rapport is like a parent and child lol
Mitsuki: I know, I know lolol
Tamaki listens more to what Yamato-san says.
Mitsuki: Even during the recording of “RESTART POiNTER”, he asked Yamato-san whether there was anything he could do for Iori and Riku’s sake.
How cute!
Tsumugi: Tamaki-san…. He’s a really kind person.
Mitsuki: They aren’t just kind guys! lol
They’re also amazing!
Tsumugi: Yeah! Everyone is so kind.
You’ve all really helped me….
Mitsuki: Hey, doesn’t it go both ways?! Don’t be humble!
Well, weren’t we talking about my comment? Let’s do it!
Tsumugi: Thank you..
Well then, can answer this question regarding “RESTART POiNTER”!
Option 1
Tsumugi: Do you have a dream you want all 7 members to fulfill?
Mitsuki: A solo live at Zero Arena!!
After all, I like and respect Zero. I want to stand at that place one day, performing a live with just us.
Option 2
Tsumugi: What is your little happiness, Mitsuki-san?
Mitsuki: I don’t know if it’s little, but we’ve all been busy, so if all 7 of us could eat together after so long, I’d be happy!
Option 3
Tsumugi: Please tell me what you felt when you read the lyrics this time!
Mitsuki: I wanted to properly put our emotions in our voices, and make a song that would convey our feelings!
Mitsuki: Did you ask everyone else?
I also quite like this corner, so I’m looking forward to it!
Tsumugi: So you’re also looking forward to it, Mitsuki-san!
I’m very encouraged that you said that ><
Mitsuki: Of course!
Even if we usually chat, there are a lot of things I don’t understand until I see it in writing. Ah, that guy felt like this, or he thinks the same way as me!
Mitsuki: And sometimes our fans respond to our comments, which makes me really happy!
Tsumugi: I think conveying our feelings to the fans this way is good!
Since I want to share everyone’s appeal as idols, but I also want to share your individual appeal too, Mitsuki-san.
Mitsuki: You think a lot about us, manager! Thank you.
Riku often says, “As expected of our manager!”
Tsumugi: That’s because everyone has that much appeal!
It’s fun to work this job, I think I’m a fortunate person.
Mitsuki: You saying that makes me a fortunate person!
It’s a gathering of fortunate people lolol
Tsumugi: Ohh, this feeling of happiness is too much, what should I do, Mitsuki-san >< lol
Mitsuki: Hmm, well first I recommend writing in a diary each day!
I do so too. 
Tsumugi: So you write in a diary, Mitsuki-san!
I also had a diary before, but when I finished my old notebook, I didn’t buy a new one.
Mitsuki: You shouldn’t miss a single day!
I have a stock of diaries so I’ll give you one later. When I reflect on the day, and summarize the good things, I feel it makes me live for the next day!
Tsumugi: As expected of Mitsuki-san….
I’ll try following your example!
Mitsuki:
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Part 3: Secret MV Shooting Story
Tsumugi: Mitsuki-san, good work.
The “RESTART POiNTER” MV released the other day is getting quite a response…! I’m glad!
Mitsuki: Good work, manager!
I keep grinning no matter how many times I read the happy comments the fans left on my account! lol
Mitsuki: We were allowed to freely act without a script, and I think the fans were pleased with all our personal touches!
With things like fishing or if they look over our sheet music lol
Tsumugi: I wondered if it was fine to turn the camera around so slowly, but everyone moved with freedom and it was really fun! lol
Tsumugi: Apart from that, Mitsuki-san, you using Kinako as a pillow was quite fluffy…!
Mitsuki: Was it okay…?
Kinako felt too good and fluffy, and I ended up relaxing!
Mitsuki: I’m sorry that I relaxed too much!!
Tsumugi: It’s not a problem…!
I wanted scenes of everyone acting casually, so I liked it. You were together in a scene with Sougo-san, who was seasick, and Yamato-san, who was sleeping…>< lol
Mitsuki: Yamato-san’s glasses almost fell off!
If I try to take them, his eyes fly open lolol I wonder if there’s a sensor on his glasses lolol
Tsumugi: A sensor! lol
Since he won’t show anyone his face without glasses.
Mitsuki: Well it’s fine! He’s still Yamato-san with or without glasses. 
Mitsuki: Even so, I want to film on a boat again sometime! As long as the budget allows it lol
It was a good experience!
Tsumugi: Y-yeah, as long as the budget and president allow for it, I want to do a large-scale shooting like this one!
Option 1
Tsumugi: Did anything difficult happen at the shoot?
Mitsuki: Cooking, believe it or not! lol
A coordinator was there, so we weren’t supposed to make as much food as we did, but still, I felt the amount of food was too much and it would’ve been better if it was a little less lol
Mitsuki: It was annoying that Nagi added each seasoning one by one while showing off lolol
Option 2
Tsumugi: Did anything fun happen at the shoot?
Mitsuki: There were so many seagulls!
There was one friendly one that flew close to me for a moment. It was cute.
Option 3
Tsumugi: Did you make any memories at the shoot?
Mitsuki: I was confronted with the crushing reality that sunglasses don’t look good on me….
I can’t accept that only me and Riku were told we can’t just wear sunglasses when we have to wear disguises!
Mitsuki: By the way, Yamato-san came here saying things like “Make buri daikon” what is that ossan doing lolol
Tsumugi: I was talking to Yamato-san about buri daikon that was made at the MV shoot earlier, so he went over to you, Mitsuki-san ><
Mitsuki: I’m not Yamato-san’s maid lol
“Hey Mitsu, do you know about buri daikon? Yellowtail and daikon are boiled salty and sweet, it absorbs the flavor and is delicious” lol It’s not like I don’t know lolol
Tsumugi: Sorry, this topic came up in RabbitChat…!
Mitsuki: He isn’t giving up so I guess I’ll have to make it…. I guess we could have it for breakfast tomorrow too!
Well then manager, talk to you later!
Tsumugi: As expected of Mitsuki-san ><
Mitsuki:
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Part 4: An Older Brother’s Impression
Tsumugi: Mitsuki-san, good work today on your talk show appearance.
Tsumugi: Thank you for skillfully responding to the host’s questions about the center change….
Mitsuki: Good work, manager!
It’s because I absolutely knew they’d question us. It was good that I replied well.
Mitsuki: Even though Iori decided to stand in the center for Riku and our sake, getting asked, “How is the atmosphere of the group now that Riku is the center again?” was a bit sickening.
Tsumugi: About that, the way you said, “Iori and Riku are both fine centers, so no matter who becomes center, we won’t change,” was really cool, Mitsuki-san.
Mitsuki: Thank you!
Well, it is the host’s job. It’s normal to want to bring up that topic!
Mitsuki: I just don’t want the fans watching to feel uncomfortable, so I think it was the best response!
Mitsuki:
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Tsumugi: It’s like you said…!
After all, I think because the fans weren’t concerned, we received a lot of happy comments from those who watched the program.
Mitsuki: Good!! I’m relieved to hear that.
Option 1
Tsumugi: Like “I’m glad Mitsuki-kun said that they won’t change no matter who is center!”
Mitsuki: So there are people who think what I said is meaningful…!
I’m really happy the fans can tell who I ought to be.
Option 2
Tsumugi: Like “Mitsuki-kun won’t say anything that will hurt anyone, so it’s always heartwarming!”
Mitsuki: I think everyone has unintentionally hurt another person before, but there are definitely ways to say things so as to not hurt people!
Mitsuki: I’ve been told I’m pretty good at conversation, but I want to be someone who makes people happy with not just songs, but also words!
Option 3
Tsumugi: Like “Please continue to stay like a cheerful sun, Mitsuki-kun!”
Mitsuki: Is it fine if I’m the sun?!
It’s thanks to the fans that I can be bright, so I hope I can pay them back little by little.
Tsumugi: Thanks to your wonderful thoughts about the fans, Mitsuki-san, I’ve become more and more happy.
You really do have the power to make people happy, Mitsuki-san!
Mitsuki: Manager is saying those types of things!
It’s embarrassing, okay?!
Mitsuki: At any rate, I’m happy I can make everyone laugh!
This time, various things happened to Iori, of course Riku too, Yamato-san who supported us, Tamaki, Sougo, Nagi too, and everyone!
Tsumugi: I really feel that because you were here, Mitsuki-san, we were saved ><
Mitsuki: Thanks!
A lot of difficult things happened up to now, but I’m glad a lot more people got to know IDOLiSH7.
Mitsuki: Also, I will declare here that I want to spread that I am not Iori’s younger brother, I am his older brother!!
Tsumugi: Do you still get mistaken? ><
Mitsuki: Yeah! I want to grow at least 10 cm. No, even 7 cm…!
Tsumugi: I-if there’s anything I can do, please tell me…!
Part 5: Just Like that Day (2)
Mitsuki: Manager!
Did you see the music program?! The CD ranking!
Tsumugi: Mitsuki-san, good work!
Of course I saw it!!
Tsumugi: Congratulations on “RESTART POiNTER” taking 1st place…!
I’m glad I recorded it!
Mitsuki: Even though it’s over now I’m still flustered!
I was really impatient when they hadn’t called us up until 2nd place lolol
Tsumugi: Actually, I heard that you were in tears when they haven’t called you up until 2nd place, Mitsuki-san >< lol
Mitsuki: Hey---who exposed me?!!
It must be Yamato-san lolol
Mitsuki: My heart was really pounding!
It was the song we earnestly wanted to make a fresh start with, and we really took 1st place!
Tsumugi: I was also aiming for the top, so I’m really happy…!
Mitsuki: Let’s celebrate again!
And include the president!
Tsumugi: Of course!
Banri-san contacted me earlier that he was also watching the program, so we’ll check everyone’s schedules and make a plan!
Mitsuki: Thank you!
The calmness in front of the TV until just now seems like a lie lol
Option 1
Tsumugi: What was the situation like when you realized you were in 1st place?
Mitsuki: The moment Riku’s solo first played on the TV, sounds of “Wah---!” “Yay----!” drowned out the sound from the TV and I couldn’t enjoy it, so I want to show you to show me the recording later lolol
Option 2
Tsumugi: It’s the greatest restart!!
Mitsuki: I think so too!
I’m so glad. This way, Riku and Iori can be at ease without feeling weird, and all the members can sing again with renewed feeling!
Option 3
Tsumugi: How are you feeling now?
Mitsuki: I can’t express how happy I am!
I feel like I’ve been rewarded for being reckless thus far. Well, when I look at everyone’s smiles, I realize it doesn’t matter!
Mitsuki: I’m having an MV appreciation party right now!!
Tsumugi: Great, it sounds fun!
Mitsuki: The stuff used in the filming are still in the dorm, so I felt like it lolol
Tsumugi: Is it an MV reenactment party in the dorm?! lol
Mitsuki: I wonder if you can call it a reenactment….
Nagi just brought out olive oil, so I feel like he’s going to cover the room with it!! Confiscated!!
Tsumugi: I-it’s more chaotic than I thought ><
Mitsuki: He brought out sunglasses. Don’t remind me of my trauma…lol
Mitsuki: Who brought a magnetic fishing game lolol I played with it a lot as a child, but kids nowadays don’t know about them lolol
Tsumugi: I-it seems to have become busy ><?
Don’t worry about replying, so please have fun!
Mitsuki: Sorry!
Iori and Sougo alone can’t bring it under control so I have to go lol
Tsumugi: Okay, good luck!
Mitsuki: Oh!
Thanks for today! Let’s do our best tomorrow!
Mitsuki:
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Tsumugi:
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Screenshots courtesy of rabbit-library.
(1) This seems like quote from the poem, “A Bell, A Bird, and Me” by Misuzu Kaneko.
(2) This is one of Mitsuki's lines in “RESTART POiNTER”.
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simblrbreezycakes · 6 years ago
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i was tagged by @chippedcupanddustybooks sweet bb. i am tagging @irrelephantsims @magnoliidae @simplymelaninated and anyone who hasn’t been tagged i swear i feel like the last person doing this LOL. heckin long ass questionnaire under the cut.
1. What is your full name? Brianna Leigh [Redacted] 2. What is your nickname? Breezy 3. Birthday? may 4th 4. What is your favorite book series? hmmmm series? idk.... i really like every single john grisham book and they aren’t related but when you have such a niche brand of book i feel like it counts lol.  5. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts? kinda on both. 6. Who is your favorite author? oh whew. tough one right here. idk man, i have a few? but if i had to choose i guezz i would say george orwell.   7. What is your favorite radio station? who tf listens to the radio like det anymore lmfao. i don’t have one. before i listened to 107.1 in memphis in the car sometimes, but i moved so. 8. What is your favorite flavor of anything? i loveeee pineapple anything. 9. What word would you use often to describe something great or wonderful? lit 10. What is your current favorite song? currently really into pink in the night by mitski and also sicko mode by travis scott.
11. What is your favorite word? good ole fuck(in/ed/etc.) i also really like voluptuous and bubbles. 12. What was the last song you listened to? last thing i listened to was another lifetime x nao.  13. What TV show would you recommend for everybody to watch? absolutely check out the good place. also hilda, the dragon prince, she-ra princess of power, criminal minds, law and order (the original), and snapped. 14. What is your favorite movie to watch when you’re feeling down? i used to watch the notebook religiously when it rained/felt upset like shit. but lately i’ve been watching say yes to the dress to combat my depression lol. 15. Do you play video games? yah 16. What is your biggest fear? dying alone and no one finding me. like literally alone not like meta alone “oh no one loves me” like dead ass alone somewhere isolated. 17. What is your best quality, in your opinion? hmmmmm idk that i care a lot about other people? 18. What is your worst quality, in your opinion? all of them lmfao. i’m annoying, i’m physically unattractive, i talk too damn much, i can be kind of a bitch both intentionally and unintentionally, i’m a trash writer, i can be selfish, and i self depreciate a lot (lol see above response “all of them”) and i’m sure that gets on people who love and care about me’s nerves ((but like....i mean it lmfao)) 19. Do you like cats or dogs better? whew tough. prolly cats though.  20. What is your favorite season? winter followed by a tie between spring and fall.  21. Are you in a relationship? nah lmfao.  22. What is something you miss from your childhood? not being so fuckin ugly and depressed lmfao. 23. Who is your best friend? “my person” as greys anatomy stans would say is ivy lynn [redacted] [redacted] but i also wanna shout out my home girl mary (i know you follow me on here), my home girl christina (also follows me on here but she never checks her simblr anymore), my smoothie gang bitches, my NSA bitches (which includes both ivy and mary lmfao), and my memphis as fuck family. honorable mention to loml [redacted] who is skating on thin fucking ice with me right now lmfao. 24. What is your eye color? brown 25. What is your hair color? brown 26. Who is someone you love? don’t make me answer this tumblr gods. 27. Who is someone you trust? all my best friends, my parents, my brother. 28. Who is someone you think about often? fucking murder me @ this question lmfao. my friend kate (RIP) my grandmother grannypeg (RIP) and [redacted] 29. Are you currently excited about/for something? i’m excited to spend christmas in a new country! forging new traditions and all that. 30. What is your biggest obsession? currently i’m obsessed with wedding stuff and mens fashion and how mens fashion such as suits translates into womens fashion. we love a hot lady in a tailored suit amiright? 31. What was your favorite TV show as a child? spongebob squarepants RIP :”( 32. Who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? [redacted] 33. Are you superstitious? kinda i guess? not really about stuff like stepping on cracks breaking mamas’ backs or opening umbrellas indoors but little things about familial traditions. 34. Do you have any unusual phobias? not really a phobia but i have misophonia. i also hate eye shit. like eye violence or anything fuckin around with eyes is a big no from me dawg. 35. Do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? absolutely behind the camera. i used to be a theater kid so like being on stage i don’t mind but when it comes to the spotlight and being filmed??? no no no no no. lemme be a cinnamontawgrowfur all day.  36. What is your favorite hobby? watching movies, playing skyrim (I MISS IT SO MUCH), reading, watching music videos, modern calligraphy/hand lettering, baking (ALSO MISS IT MUCH) 37. What was the last book you read? lol a textbook about developing countries.
38. What was the last movie you watched? i just rewatched the swan princess the other day but in terms of watching something brand new i think it was this tom cruise movie my friend showed us and i thought she said someone else ( i don’t remember now. maybe tom hanks?) it was pretty good he was irish or sum with nicole kidman and they came to the united states and pretended to be siblings but the sexual tension was so fucking high dawg. 
39. What musical instruments do you play, if any? nothing i’m wack and a disappointment to my musically gifted family (my dad and brother)  40. What is your favorite animal?  polar bears followed by giraffes. 41. What are your top 5 favorite Tumblr blogs that you follow? i’m gonna go with my main tumblr because ion wanna hurt nobody’s feelings but i follow a celebs of color page i really love, a fashion page i really love, and a few artists i really love. 42. What superpower do you wish you had? teleportation or shape shifting.  43. When and where do you feel most at peace?  i feel most at peace when it is raining and i’m in my room, everything is clean and tidy, candles are lit, i have nothing to do so the world is my oyster, i have a nice cup of coffee or hot cocoa or tea, and i just am v i b i n g.  44. What makes you smile? seeing my friends, my brother (when he isn’t pissing me off), funny videos of red dead people falling off their horse in cinematic mode, pretty flowers, cute art, round birds. 45. What sports do you play, if any? i don’t lmfao. 46. What is your favorite drink? honestly a frozen margarita no salt. 47. When was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody? a month ago.  48. Are you afraid of heights? absolutely. 49. What is your biggest pet peeve? people chewing with their mouths open and people talking to me like i’m incompetent/assuming i don’t know anything about what they’re trying to talk to me about especially if it is my area of expertise lol. 50. Have you ever been to a concert? hail yeah. many. 51. Are you vegan/vegetarian? nope! 52. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? honestly i don’t know but i have a distinct memory of a bunch of girls in my second grade, yours truly included, wanting to be strippers. and i don’t know why or how this came up or if we even truly knew what stripping meant but. yeah. OH i guess around the time i was in 4th/5th grade i started wanting to be a harvard law graduate and be a lawyer but i gave that up in like high school and then bounced being a lawyer back and forth in my noggin up until i applied for grad school. shout out to my mary for doing it though.  53. What fictional world would you like to live in? hmmmm idk. none of em really. 54. What is something you worry about? if i made the right decision(s) in life lol.  55. Are you scared of the dark? not really.  56. Do you like to sing? yeah i do! doesn’t mean i’m good at it though haha. 57. Have you ever skipped school? yeah lmfao. 58. What is your favorite place on the planet? i miss Rwanda a lot. but honestly my favorite place is wherever the people i love are. my family loves to travel so whenever i’m with someone i love sharing an experience? i’m in heaven. 59. Where would you like to live? idk anywhere i guess. somewhere it is mostly cold most of the time though haha. 60. Do you have any pets? my bb boi fred lives with my dad and my mom has a dog and 2 cats. we used to have 3 but one of em ran away when she moved to her house, we caught him, he ran away again. oh whale. 61. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl? oh a big time night owl. big time. 62. Do you like sunrises or sunsets better? honestly i like sunrises better but i am never awake to catch em hahah. 63. Do you know how to drive? yah and i fuckin love doing it. 64. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones? i prefer headphones. like really quality ones too. but i tend to use earbuds more often because i don’t need quality while im working out or going to class just easy grab and go. 65. Have you ever had braces? nope but i used to want some so bad. 66. What is your favorite genre of music? i love rap, dream-y pop music and dream-y rap music, i love 80s music. all 80s music really lmfao.  67. Who is your hero? mi mum and mi dad. also viola davis queen of inventing acting and every single color in the rainbow. 68. Do you read comic books? kind of. i was trying to build up a collection before i moved but i only had my BP comics. 69. What makes you the most angry? injustice and offensive ass content and behaviors. also don’t fuck with my friends. i got two dudes on my shit list right now that it is *on sight* if i ever see them again. 70. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book? a real book all the way. idk what it is about digital reading my brain shuts the fuck down. i am super fast reader but the second i try and read something digitally it takes me maybe like 10-15 min to get through just a few sentences. 71. What is your favorite subject in school? history lol i was a history major. 72. Do you have any siblings? yeah my chicken nugget puppy brother dylan. asshole. 73. What was the last thing you bought? some historical romance i think? it’s in dutch so idrk.  74. How tall are you? 5′7 i think. 75. Can you cook? yeah i love cooking but saddly don’t do much of it. 76. What are three things that you love? my teddy bear my momma got me for valentines day, my st. agatha figurine, and my yikes tapestry mary got me. i realize now after reading the next question you probably meant like shit in general so. the smell of a fresh cup of coffee, snuggly warm sweaters, postcards and tiny gifts from friends. you know the ones “i just got this for you because i thought you’d like it” 77. What are three things that you hate? funky ass attitudes, the smell and feel of lavender oil, corn. 78. Do you have more female friends or more male friends? female 79. What is your sexual orientation? i’m a big ole heterosexual. sorry to disappoint :/  80. Where do you currently live? the netherlands. 81. Who was the last person you texted? my friend and former roommate. today is her birthday. 82. When was the last time you cried? like an hour ago lmfao. 83. Who is your favorite YouTuber? i don’t have one haha. vevo i guess. 84. Do you like to take selfies? do i like taking them? not really. it takes me too damn long to get one that looks good enough. i like sending stupid selfies to friends though. 85. What is your favorite app? i use twitter probably the most but my favorite app is my spider solitaire game haha. 86. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like? we are very close. i would say both of my parents are my biggest supporters and cheerleaders but how they do that looks a bit different. my mom and i are very similar but sometimes how we handle certain things is very different so we can be the best of friends one day and the completely butt heads the next. 87. What is your favorite foreign accent? i loovveeeee a scottish accent and an irish accent. also tbrh i love a good southern boy drawl. like idk if i could play for you all the way this one dude who works with my mom talks? i would because i wanna bottle it and listen to it whenever i feel bad. 88. What is a place that you’ve never been to, but you want to visit? i would really like to go to norway for my birthday. 89. What is your favorite number? i don’t have one. 90. Can you juggle? nope but i did try and learn i have a video of it somewhere lmfao. 91. Are you religious? kind of. i’m more spiritual than religious and lowkey hate saying that because it sounds so hoitietoitie but it’s true. 92. Do you find outer space or the deep ocean to be more interesting? the ocean. so much of it we haven’t explored. thinking about space makes me feel existential and dead inside.  93. Do you consider yourself to be a daredevil? nah haha 94. Are you allergic to anything? yeah i’m supposed to take one claritin a day but like i don’t. 95. Can you curl your tongue? yeah 96. Can you wiggle your ears? nope :(  97. How often do you admit that you were wrong about something? i’ll admit i’m wrong if i’m actually wrong but you’re gonna have to a helluva lot of convincing to get me there lmfao. though if my being “wrong” has caused harm to someone else i’ll apologize quicker than lightning because the last thing i would want is for my stubbornness to hurt someone i love. 98. Do you prefer the forest or the beach? um the mountains 99. What is your favorite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you? "never turn down a date. you never know who you might meet while you’re out” -my grandmother to my mother to me. 100. Are you a good liar? lmfaooooo i am a reformed liar. 101. What is your Hogwarts House? HUFFLEPUFF BAYBEEE 102. Do you talk to yourself? yah 103. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? an introvert. i may be loud and talkative sis but i promise you i’m over compensating because i want you to like me lmfao. 104. Do you keep a journal/diary? i have a private twitter does that count. 105. Do you believe in second chances? depends. 106. If you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do?imma keep it real with you chief i would keeps the money lmfao. in the past i would’ve tried to return it to the owner but i am big broke bois with a lot of unexpected expenses coming up so like... yeah lmfao. we keepin that coint. 107. Do you believe that people are capable of change? sometimes. 108. Are you ticklish? yes lmfao 109. Have you ever been on a plane? yeah! 110. Do you have any piercings? yah i got my lobes pierced one on each ear, my nose, and a cartilage piercing. 111. What fictional character do you wish was real? my girl nancy drew. 112. Do you have any tattoos? yeah i got 2 of em. 113. What is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far? idk lmfao. probably when i applied for cityterm and when i appled to go back to undergrad. 114. Do you believe in karma? Yeah but not in a “oh you hurt me? you’re gonna get your come uppins” way but in a every action affects your soul and your being kinda way.  115. Do you wear glasses or contacts? im supposed to wear glasses but ask me if im wearing em right now lmfao. 116. Do you want children? presently i don’t see myself wanting or having kids but i want to foster. 117. Who is the smartest person you know? my friends lol. 118. What is your most embarrassing memory? literally every single memory has a tinge of embarassment lol. but probz when i walked into the cafeteria my first day of highschool as a smol freshman and my knees locked up and i fell forward and my giant ass backpack (because i never used my locker ever in any grade) wrapped around my neck and had me stuck in a strange position in the middle of the parting of the tables in the cafeteria.  119. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter? hell yeah lmfao. 120. What color are most of you clothes? blue or black 121. Do you like adventures? yeah! 122. Have you ever been on TV? yeah but like on the news and shit. 123. How old are you? 24 124. What is your favorite quote? i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart) 125. Do you prefer sweet or savory foods? OOF TOUGH BUT UHHH probz sweet. 
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jungnoir · 7 years ago
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just to continue off of that yukhei head canon, jungwoo as a florist or part of the school gardening club? thank you :) (also love u so much this is the shy anon who thinks ur ethereal but can not show her love as well as she wants to❤️🌹)
(jungwoo requester) also i’m sorry i never specified what i wanted it as but tbh anything you’d like to do because you’re amazing and i have full trust no matter what you do:)❤️            
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a/n: here you go!! my dumb self accidentally lost the first half of this yesterday so i tried to recreate the magic as much as possible. and ok!!! i was super excited to get going on this when i got this message!! i love you too omg and dw!! i’ll make these headcanons to keep up with the bad boy!yukhei ones. I hope you enjoy~ the bad boy!yukhei headcanons in question are here. also, i’ll stop blabbering soon, but i recommend listening to this song when you read this :)
jungwoo got into gardening because of his parents influencing him from a young age
jungwoo’s parents were v v much crazy about nature and grew up in the countryside, so when they moved closer to the city, they severely missed having all that open space and being surrounded by green
no matter where jungwoo’s family lived, they always had a garden and they always employed jungwoo’s help
whether he was carrying tiny potfuls of dirt across the yard or whether he was watering the plants, he was always doing something with his parents out there
as he got older, he started doing more heavy labor
in fact, by the time he was thirteen, he could tell a farmer a thing or two about a thing or two ok ok
also by thirteen, his parents gave jungwoo a small section of the backyard where he could start his own garden
while he loved to plant flowers, he also liked to plant veggies and herbs and the like
he has this cute little aloe vera plant that has gotten quite big recently (!)
he makes a lot of homemade remedies and things
now, being best friends with bad boy!yukhei, he also knows a variety of plants that can be used to treat cuts, burn, bruises, you name it
sometimes yukhei just shows up at jungwoo’s door and his parents are like “jungwoo!! he got hurt again!!”
and jungwoo just quietly leads yukhei into the bathroom, sits him down on the toilet and has a lil upset expression on his face as he treats yukhei’s scraped knuckles with salves that he made himself for things,,, just like this,,, cause goddamn it wong yukhei u are a mess
it doesn’t happen as often seeing as yukhei is like. Large and scares most contenders off pretty easily with his words and those thick eyebrows but sometimes a dude gets a lil brave every now and then and yukhei has to show ‘em a thing or two
yukhei always likes to be cute tho, just to convince jungwoo not 2 be mad
yukhei: u kno,,, jungwoo, ur my best friend :)
jungwoo: unfortunately
yukhei: whenever u help me out like this i just think abt how like,, u and me? we’re an iconic duo u kno???
jungwoo: what
yukhei: ur like the village mage and i’m the humble but emotionally motivated warrior protagonist u kno
jungwoo: yukhei i don’t know what you’re trying to SAY
yukhei is kinda mad that jungwoo doesn’t appreciate his analogies but i mean,,, it’s Fine that’s just the problem with being best friends with the village mage and not sidekick #1
even tho jungwoo acts absolutely exasperated with yukhei and yukhei loves to tease the eldest, they’re both fiercely protective of each other
like yeh yukhei will avoid abt 95% of the fights that ppl try to start with him bc all he has to do is buck up and ppl run but like?? one time a fool came up to him and started talking shit about jungwoo’s gentle persona and long story short yukhei was almost expelled and that aforementioned fool switched schools the following week
Nobody Disrespects Jungwoo In Yukhei’s House
and while jungwoo is definitely not the fighting type (he much prefers using his words to get his points across), he also has done a lot of research and has access to several recipes for poison so like don’t fuck with yukhei is what i’m trying to say
don’t ask why he has those just don’t fuck with yukhei and u won’t have to worry about it
anywho :)
it wasn’t until jungwoo started his first year at school that he realized that he’d always,, gardened by himself
and it wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy his solitude!! it was just that he’d never really realized that he wanted to share his hobby with anyone until he got to high school
even tho yukhei was his best friend, they clearly didn’t share the same hobbies as yukhei would rather rot inside all day than go outside and “let the sun cook me from the inside out while doing physical labor”
and even though his parents gardened, they didn’t do it as often anymore
so!!! lil jungwoo just decides to pitch his idea to the school about starting a gardening club
at first, there’s only jungwoo so the school isn’t totally sure they should even bother but then jungwoo brings along a few friends who are interested in joining and they let it be
and the club absolutely flourishes over the next four years
it rapidly collects members of all types and backgrounds, people who lived in rural areas and people who had been at their closest to plants in a flower shop
jungwoo is just so bright and friendly and sweet that a lot of ppl join when he asks despite not knowing a thing about gardening
and by the time jungwoo is about to graduate, he’s got such a following and ppl who are just as passionate as him who want to take over when he heads off to college (yukhei told him he better take a gap year so they could go into college as freshmen together but that choice was still pending oops)
the school had seen how passionate they all were so early on and decided to devote a part of the land at the school to the club to do with as they wished, so jungwoo had the great idea of creating a mini garden paradise
they all pitch in to decorate the garden so it has a beautiful stone walkway with trees that line it and flowers planted all around. benches are placed every couple of feet and it is the Perfect place for students to come whenever they feel particularly stressed during the end of the school year and need somewhere that’s just not hectic
the cool thing about this lil garden is that on holidays, they dress it up!!
so for the christmas eve, they string lights through the trees and hang ornaments on them while the school choir sings carols the whole night
and on valentine’s day, they also string lights through the trees but add little foam red and pink hearts to hang from the branches and on each heart, you can buy one and write a name of someone you love
it can be your family members, your best friend, a crush, or your significant other
it can even be ur cat!!!
(jeno has been doing this for the last three years and we’re honestly all concerned he loves nothing else)
the cool thing about these hearts is that you can either write the name of who you love anonymously and hang it on the tree (and whose ever name you wrote gets to take the heart home with them if they’d like) OR you can sign it ;)))
the tradition is, if you sign the heart and that person finds it and brings it to you, that means they accept your confession
despite jungwoo being the key organizer of this v-day event, he’s never participated
however
that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been confessed to more than a dozen times
when his mom saw how many he’d brought home with him since sophomore year she asked him if she could make a collage and hang it up in his room but he was like mom!!! no!!!! that’s lame
so he keeps them all in a shoe box under his bed
and when he feels a little down or ignored, he’ll pull the box out and remember that some people out there like him a lot
there were all unsigned, but sometimes jungwoo would wish that one of them would be signed at least
part of him would feel himself grow expectant every time someone came to his table to get a heart and he’d wonder “is that one of them?” “will they do it again this year?” “is this the year they sign it?”
the other members would often joke with him abt how his eyes would light up when someone would buy one and would always fidget a lil as he thought about all the possibilities
you had joined jungwoo’s gardening club your second year when your counselors started encouraging you to join clubs to meet people
honestly, there were a lot of strange clubs around
you had almost joined the gaming club but then you found out about this school gardening club, and something abt it just,, called to u
your first time you went, you found a piece of paper crudely taped to the door of the classroom they were supposed to meet up in and all it said was “outside”
so, you went outside
and sure enough, in the back of the school in the large expanse of land back there, you found a bunch of students near this garden all crouched down and doing… Something
you made your way over, a little confused, and tapped the shoulder of the person nearest you
they have a huge ass sun hat on so when they turn around, you weren’t really expecting such a,, good looking guy,,, oh. hm
jungwoo narrows his eyes at you, but it’s only bc he has to look up and the sun is getting into his eyes “hello! can i help you?” he asks cheerily, pushing himself up from the ground and clapping the dirt off his gloves
he’s much taller than you expected, so you step back a little and try to remember what u had even came all this way to do in the first place lol
“ah! uh… this is the gardening club, right?”
jungwoo was smiling before, but now he grins so wide that his front two teeth resemble bunny teeth
cuteeeeee
“it sure is~ i’m jungwoo, the head of the club. did you want to join? i promise, you’ll have a lot of fun” he promises this to you and you absentmindedly think that even if he tried to sell you rat poison under the premise it was candy, you would believe him
but this club is rlly candy in this case bc once you’ve told him your name and joined, you find that it’s so much more fun than you had expected
you had really just wanted to be able to tell your counselors you were into something but now,, now u were really passionate about this
something about how jungwoo ran the club made you so interested in gardening
he taught you the basics from the ground up, but it wasn’t super hard???
he was always very simple and forward with what you needed to do, so you had v lil chance of messing up
he was also v friendly and was constantly asking questions abt your life
he always sounded so interested!!! even in the lil things
like what was your last class of the day? what flower appealed to you the most?
he helped you plant your first “honorary” flower as a member of the club
on the walkway, each member gets a flower to take care of up until graduation, after which then the other members will keep it alive to remember them and their contributions to the club
jungwoo just has a lot of sappy cute traditions ok
he tells you that you can plant anything, so you choose the flower you like most and he tells you you can plant it right next to his
even tho… there’s tons of space…. jungwoo…… it doesn’t have to be…. next to yours
this also means that when you all go out to check on the garden, you have to stand right next to him to check on your flower
your knees touch his as you water them together, make sure they’re getting enough light, etc
he always loves to talk to you about the flowers
honestly sometimes he just chatters and chatters and you’ve noticed over time that it’s a nervous habit of his
it was,,, rlly cute
since it was fall when you joined, jungwoo informed you that it was important to care for the flowers so that they wouldn’t be too affected by the weather change
you remembered one cloudy october day when the club couldn’t meet bc of the expected rain storm that evening
you had been about ready to head home for the day when you saw something strange through the windows, where the garden was
there, you could see a very frustrated jungwoo trying to set up tarps over the garden to protect them from the harsh weather
he hadn’t quite gotten it set up right
it was supposed to stand like a small tent over the flowers that weren’t covered by the trees, but it kept slipping off the middle post
rushing out to the patio, you drop your backpack next to the back door and sprint over to help jungwoo steady it
he’s surprised you’re there, but smiles appreciatively and gets back to work hammering it in the ground on the other side
“thanks,,, i honestly thought i could do this myself but i guess not” he rubs the back of his neck and laughs shyly
you just chuckle, “i saw you struggling and couldn’t help but come over”
jungwoo clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth, “where would i be without you, (y/n)?”
you bite your lip and look away before he can see how flustered that comment alone makes you
somewhere along the way, he’s gotten the tarp set up correctly, so he’s just about ready to call it a day when all of a sudden,,, it starts beating down rain
Hard
jungwoo, in surprise, grabs an extra tarp he’d taken and throws it over his shoulders before coming over to you and handing you the other side
all he tells you is to “run!” and you just start sprinting toward the cover of the trees because it’s the closest thing to you
and,,, you’re standing awfully close to each other
you don’t register jungwoo is laughing until he unknowingly presses his chest against your shoulder, the vibrations from his laughter shocking you out of your concentrated stare on the crazy rain that forced the sky to be dressed in a dreary grey
you look up at jungwoo and find him grinning at you, “why’d you run this way and not toward the school?”
the rain is beating against the tarp despite the tree cover, but it’s not nearly as much like it is out on the open grass
“oh,,, uh,,, well it was closer and.,,, uh,,,”
yeh no u can’t even find the logic in your choice
but jungwoo doesn’t seem so bothered by it
he looks around the garden and sighs, “i’m glad you came to help me when you did… otherwise the flowers would be in trouble”
you just nod, trying not to focus on how warm his skin is against your own
he suddenly crouches down so you’re uneven and you blink at him, “jungwoo, what are you doing?”
“do you wanna run out there again?”
“uh,, not right now, no”
“then let’s just sit here and watch the rain. it looks really nice like this”
to be honest, you couldn’t see how pretty it could really be sitting outside in the rain, but he was also holding one half of the tarp and it wasn’t like you could really leave him like that,,, so u sit down
you both have to cross your legs so the rain won’t get you wet, and while you’re both sitting on the walkway and looking out as thunder rumbles and flashes of lightning show in the distance, jungwoo says very softly “most people don’t like this kind of weather because it’s wet and cold and disruptive… but i find it kind of peaceful. even though it isn’t very nice for my garden, i still like it in a way. it’s like the world telling you to stay in for the day and rest”
you look over at him once more, but he’s focused on the sky, eyes alight with the same kind of admiration that he has for his flowers
he looks captivating
you smile almost instinctively, “a gardener who likes gloomy weather?”
he chuckles, meeting your eyes, “if you know plants, you know that they don’t just need sunshine all the time. they also need rain. you come to appreciate both and set up protection when needed. kinda like people… though it takes us longer to realize that for ourselves in comparison to plants.”
you’re not sure what to say after that, so instead, you scoot minutely closer to him and start to look at the rain through the same rose-colored glasses that he does
you don’t realize how long you’ve stayed out there with him until one of the teachers leaving for the day catches sight of you both and tells you to come inside before it gets too late and the storm picks up more
reluctantly, you walk with jungwoo until you get under the patio and its overhead roof, and when you grab your phone out of your bag, you find that you’ve got quite a few missed calls from your parents
“i really should go, my parents are probably pissed i missed their calls” “ok!! i’ll see you tomorrow then?”
he lets the tarp fall, and his hair is a little mussed from the rain that got on him before you both found shelter
his skin is dewy from the humidity
but he looks just as handsome as he did the first day you met
“yeah… tomorrow… hopefully we don’t get caught in the rain again” you joke
jungwoo suddenly turns bashful, “i… wouldn’t really mind”
that’s probably the day you fell for him tbh
you kept your feelings mainly to yourself, and when you found out about the valentine’s tradition, you thought that maybe,,, maybe you could just get those feelings out and be free of them
so you made your own heart instead of buying the ones you guys were selling and put it up on a random tree when you were sure jungwoo wouldn’t see
only, ,, you had expected to be the only one
it turned out that when you and some of your friends went walking through the garden to see if anyone left any for you, you found the trees decorated with so many other hearts that had jungwoo’s name
yours was the only one that was different
before you could go back and snatch it down however, jungwoo had already found it
“why’s this one look different?” you’d heard him ask his friend yukhei, who had begrudgingly tagged along
“idk dude, maybe they wanted to be special. you’ve got like a thousand fans around this school u know”
you don’t know why your heart felt so,,, pained when you heard that
after all, you just wanted to “confess” and get it out of your system in some way so you could move on
why would you care so much that other ppl liked him too? you couldn’t control that!!
however, you went home with a few hearts that your friends had left for you and decided that you would just leave it at that. the next day at school would be as normal, and you would start getting over your crush on kim jungwoo
except,,, it didn’t happen that way
if anything, the years that dragged on only made you more in love with him
and so, every year, you would leave another heart (always homemade, always the only one of his confessions that was different in some way)
and you never dared to sign them
you would stay anonymous and hope that by the time you graduated, your feelings would somewhat dissipate with age
look bih!!! it’s not working!!!
plus,,, it seems like ppl just keep catching on the longer it goes on
especially yukhei
you had never even talked to the guy but he had caught on to you after the first valentine’s incident almost immediately
he just spotted you in the hall, walked up to you, and said (in a very not subtle voice) “so you like my best friend!!”
you had to shush him and pull him around a corner where there were less students
and he’s just grinning like a fool, “you seem cute! don’t hurt him tho or you’ll wish you hadn’t”
and ur just like ;-; pls don’t threaten me i’m just tryna live my life as a simple lovestruck human being
but then he shakes his head “i’m just kidding, i know you wouldn’t hurt him,,, but why,,, won’t u tell him”
u: !!! i’m fine being just friends
yukhei: LOL yeah no really why won’t u tell him
feeling like you can’t continue to lie, you tell him that you feel like you won’t have a chance, what with the fact that he has so many admirers already and you don’t want to take any chances bc i mean,,, u really really like him
and you’ve already become his friend so why jeopardize that
but then yukhei is like “well,, i understand that much, but i think that you should still tell him. if not now, at least before it’s too late. you’re just going to keep feeling unsure and if you miss your chance, you won’t forgive yourself for that…. i know that it’s scary, but i will tell you one thing and you can figure out what to do with it: there’s a great chance your feelings aren’t as one sided as you think”
then he drops his eyelid down in a wink and pats your shoulder and leaves you like that
yet, still, you don’t confess
at least, not yet
you continue to just be friends with jungwoo and leave him that same unique heart in the garden every valentine’s but that’s it
you continue to keep yukhei’s words in mind, but haven’t yet decided went to act on them
fast forward to graduation, everything is all over the place
ppl are getting ready to head straight off to college, others are planning parties to celebrate, and others are just unsure of what to do
jungwoo knows that he’s going to miss this school with his everything
he’s already crying harder than his parents when he wakes up the morning of LOL
yukhei also comes over early that morning just to threaten remind jungwoo that he should wait for him so they can go to college at the same time
jungwoo: who even said you would get into the same college as me?
yukhei: do you think i don’t have my ways. we’re going to college together you fool
for some reason,,, jungwoo just pulls out the box of hearts he’s received
and he sets out the three unique ones he received
he had honestly tried his best to figure out whose writing it could have belonged to, had tried to rule out ppl who bought the hearts the club made, etc.
he never got to find out
he had once jokingly asked yukhei if he made them for him but yukhei just grinned all knowingly and told him he needed to look a lil deeper
and jungwoo was ???? but really anxious to know
but today was the last day for this mystery person to personally confess, and he felt a foreboding feeling. like it wouldn’t happen
he goes through the ceremony, taking pictures and the works
yet, the whole day, he hasn’t seen you
sure, he’d seen you walk the stage, but you had disappeared into the sea of people as soon as the ceremony ended
he had sent you several messages but you hadn’t answered any of them
he had taken his last pictures with the rest of the club and had elected the next leader of the club in a very emotional goodbye
he decided he would find you later, maybe see you before the day ended after he finished having dinner with his parents
he had one last thing he wanted to do before leaving, and that was in the garden
he looked at it now, a beautiful, ever-growing thing that had come a long way since ninth grade
now he was leaving it, and he couldn’t quite believe it
he wandered down the stone walkway and found his flower, right next to yours
he couldn’t help but snap a few pics of them, sending one or two to you in the process
when he had finished up reminiscing, he found himself just sitting on one of the benches and watching as the wind swayed the branches of the trees, distorting the sunlight that filtered through the leaves
he felt himself quietly laughing to himself as he recalled when you and him had gotten caught in the rain here all those years ago
it felt so far away now
tugging his cap off his hair, he leans forward on his knees and sighs
until something pink appears in his vision
it takes him a second to realize there is a little cut out heart in front of his face, hanging from a red string that dangles off a familiar finger
on the heart is his name, in that familiar handwriting that he had never been able to recognize
and underneath his name,,, it was signed
with your name
jungwoo follows the finger to your face, a nervous twitch in your smile as you hold the heart out to him
“i meant to leave this for you before you got here but… yukhei told me you’d beat me to it”
jungwoo breathes out in disbelief before reaching into his pocket for his own homemade heart with your name on it
“i guess we both have funny timing” you laugh, watching him stand from the bench to take your heart from you
jungwoo blushes, “the fact that we’re both here tells me our timing is good enough”
you watch as he puts both your hearts on a branch next to each other, watching the wind blow them back and forth in the breeze. the strings they’re hanging on tangle and it feels like a sign
he looks at you with that same look he gave his flowers, the same look he gave the angry, stormy sky as it shamelessly rained down on the both of you. his hand reaches for yours
“yeah,” you say softly, letting him pull you closer, “i think you’re right”
jungwoo captures your lips in a small kiss that feels like the last three years of longing finally finding a home
you suddenly don’t feel so bad about waiting for the right moment, because had you not, you might not have met jungwoo halfway like this
and it feels so, so good
also yukhei is totally taking pictures from behind a bush but dw about it
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ahouseoflies · 8 years ago
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The Best Films of 2016, Part I
Rodrigo Perez of The Playlist posted his best-of list on January 15 and spent the introduction whipping himself for it being too late to be relevant. That was over two weeks ago, and here I am. But who can feel caught up if an actual critic doesn’t? Even now, at a point when I have to turn the page, I haven’t seen Toni Erdmann, Paterson, Things to Come, or Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. Aside from pretending that my thoughts on movies are worth something to other people, I’m just a regular guy living in a film market that is not L.A. or New York, and the system for movie release schedules is broken for all of us. Most of the year is trash if we can’t go to festivals. Then we hear about interesting stuff from the critics’ top ten lists that bubble up in early December. Because the press machine follows an old model, interviews and commercials and dates on posters are timed to promote a film while it is technically on about six screens. In the case of, say, 20th Century Women, it opens in my area on January 20th. By that time it has already been judged a failure because it had to share the airspace with dozens of other pictures released in a one-month window. And Hollywood wonders why a) they lose $75 million on Live by Night or b) regular people pirate the product. Forgive those hicks for wanting to see the thing you’re selling. This pattern repeats every year, and no one learns anything because exactly two movies end up being financial successes. I hate movies. Because I hate movies, I watched 124 of them in 2016, which is a 3% decline from my viewing last year. (In consolation, my balance between classic films and contemporary ones was better.) As usual, I have ranked all 124 and divided them into the tiers of Garbage, Admirable Failures, Endearing Curiosities with Big Flaws, Pretty Good Movies, Good Movies, Great Movies, and Instant Classics. As Isabelle Huppert probably said in Things to Come, “Allons-y!” GARBAGE 124. The Bronze (Bryan Buckley) I'm reading an hour and forty minutes as the running time on imdb, but I could have sworn this laborious movie was at least five hours. The main problem here, besides profanity being a joke in and of itself, is that the film is never sure how much empathy it has toward its characters. It judges them for cheap laughs, then turns right back around and tries to wring emotion by taking them seriously. Juggling both of those modes isn't impossible, but The Bronze proves how difficult it is. I rented this on a weekend when my baby had diarrhea, which really took the viewing experience up a notch. 123. Equals (Drake Doremus) What a snoozefest of a perfume ad this is. I liked Doremus's Like Crazy a lot, but I found little nuance or invention in his world-building here, for a setting that needed something new to separate it from the emotionless dystopias we've seen before. Kristen Stewart is at watch-everything-she's-in status for me, but even her whispery performance is paint-by-numbers.
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122. Dirty Grandpa (Dan Mazer) I'm mostly angry with myself because I thought I had gotten trash like this out of my system. You can learn a lot from bad movies, but I learned all I could by seeing whatever two movies were playing every Friday of high school. I had been making such better choices. I hope, at the very least, that one of Robert De Niro's failing TriBeCa restaurants was able to hire additional bartenders as a result of this. The experience is a bit like spending time with a child who has just learned how to use the F-word, but also if that child had a deeply-ingrained sense of misogyny? God bless Jason Mantzoukas for at least trying in all of these red-band write-offs. By the way, same diarrhea weekend. 121. Sausage Party (Conrad Vernon, Greg Tiernen) Up until now, the Rogen-Goldberg aesthetic has been "genre/premise...but it's filthy." Sausage Party, more of a brand management lark than anything else, seems to stretch the high concept side and the filthy side until the whole thing breaks. The atheism allegory stalls halfway through. (So there is a God, but that God is evil? Is death being expired or is death being taken home? How can the device be so heavy-handed and so muddy at the same time?) The villain (a literal douche) is adequately motivated, but the screenplay drops him for a huge stretch of time. In the end, I needed more than hot dogs cursing. I wouldn't recommend this movie, but I would recommend the three following things in it: 1. Tha god Edward Norton as Sammy Bagel Jr. 2. The epilogue is clever! Where was that kind of thinking the whole time? 3. The one joke that I liked, then felt dumb for liking: A lavash lamenting that he won't get thirty-seven extra virgin olive oils. 120. The BFG (Steven Spielberg) If you drink every time you hear "Bee-Eff-GeeeeEEEE," then you'll die. And you might be better off than a person asking "who cares?" to the ether for almost two hours.Now that his style is so solidified, a brand of its own even thirty years ago, Spielberg has trouble merging his voice with anyone else's. You could argue that he did it with The Color Purple or Empire of the Sun, but Minority Report feels nothing like a Philip K. Dick work by the end as Anderton rubs the pregnant belly of the wife he's back together with. In Jurassic Park he casts a literal cartoon to yada-yada the science that Michael Crichton was fascinated with. And here he tries to wrap himself around Roald Dahl, a man who was simultaneously way sillier and way more cynical than Spielberg. Here's something that happens about a dozen times: The BFG doesn't speak English well, despite hearing all the whispers of the world and being alive since the beginning of time. So Dahl creates malapropisms and nonsense words for him. He calls someone "a human bean," and the girl corrects him  with "Bee-Eff-GeeeEEEE, it's human BEING." And that's the film in a nutshell: Someone toying with the wacky only to yoke himself back to this boring world. 119. Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (Nicholas Stoller) Compared to the first movie--not a masterpiece by any stretch--this one has no stakes at all. It's always a bad sign when characters have to keep repeating what their short-term goals are as the film goes on. If (when) you look really closely at Efron's abs, you can almost make out the "lol nothing matters" gif. 118. Wiener Dog (Todd Solondz) Todd Solondz hasn't made a good movie since the first half of Storytelling, and he hasn't made a financially successful movie ever. Yet here he is in 2016, getting more chances to spray the same pointless contempt. All of his movies are mean, but they're also weirdly toothless. My mistake that I thought the people who deserved scorn were venal billionaires and hypocritical authority figures. It's actually slightly materialistic middle-class people and college kids who need to be taken down a peg. Go get 'em, Todd! Danny DeVito comes close to saving his misshapen segment, injecting pathos into a character who is a self-loathing mouthpiece for Solondz. Fewer people fit the bill of "sad-sack" more than DeVito, and he wears his character's anxiety on his slumped shoulders. I had almost forgotten about this observant, reserved side of DeVito, and he takes over until the film shuffles along to another half-scene--you know, before we, God forbid, get attached to someone.There's a reason that Solondz's best scenes take place in schools, and there's a reason why he keeps returning to his younger stand-in Dawn Weiner, his only character that rises above a type. It's because Todd Solondz is still the weird kid in the back of the classroom giggling to himself. Then, when the teacher asks what he's laughing at, he looks down and says, "Nothing."
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117. The Neon Demon (Nicolas Winding Refn) Bukowski wrote: "An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way." Of course, he didn't live to see any of Nicolas Winding Refn's movies, which challenge that notion. It's hard for me to reject something crafted so meticulously--I won't be able to unsee some of these shots--but I suspect that Refn dresses these things up so luridly because he isn't saying much. (Shout-out to your best movie being the only one you didn't write.) And he falls back on provocation because he doesn't have as much confidence in us as he has in himself. That's reductive I guess. "There's no difference between text and subtext" might be closer than "not saying much." Take the bathroom scene, for example, where the labored rhythm of the dialogue really takes hold. The Jena Malone character says that lipsticks have names that conjure images of food or sex, and she asks the Elle Fanning character what her lipstick name would be. In other words, "Are you food, something devoured by others, or sex, something you are active in for your own pleasure?" Luckily, the character doesn't answer her, but the movie spends another hour and a half clinging to the line between predator and prey. (Unless it's literally placing a predator into the character's motel room to force the issue, a moment as magical as it is didactic.) Beauty is something as pure as it is ephemeral. So if beauty becomes a currency, and one is forced to use her beauty as a transaction, can it ever really survive? Is its innocence lost then? Alternately, if a truly beautiful thing enters a realm of ugliness, doesn't it become a poisoning element that corrupts that environment? Isn't beauty, in that sense.../puffs joint/...ugliness? I think I'm pretty close, but you be the judge. The Neon Demon reminded me of Under the Skin, another film I did not like, because they both spell out obvious ideas, thinking that the genuinely artful visuals will complicate that text. (And the camera loves Elle Fanning as much as it does Scarlett Johansson. None of this is her fault.) Both films could probably be played at double-speed without missing much, but then they wouldn't be fables or dreams or other things I don't like. I feel as if I get what both of them are saying but...so? Both films suggest something blinding and poetic on the margins just beyond our view, but there's nothing there. Their beauty is empty. 116. Mascots (Christopher Guest) "Hi, I'm Laci." "What's your name?" "Laci." That's the time I laughed. I could have used maybe ten fewer characters--though please keep Parker Posey and her heretofore unseen physical comedy. Eerily reminiscent of the Netflix season of Arrested Development in which none of the stars were in the same room at the same time. Do I have to go back now and make sure those other Christopher Guest movies are actually good? 115. Zoolander 2 (Ben Stiller) The first Zoolander was silly fun, and I didn't expect much more from the follow-up. But man, Zoolander 2, separated by fifteen years from its predecessor, feels stale. And it isn't tonally desperate in the way that many of these belated follow-ups are; it's just an idea that culture has zipped past, more of a satire of the fashion world of the first film than anything relevant now. I laughed a scattered handful of times, but the final third is rough. My biggest takeaway: Will Ferrell must be a loyal friend to have signed back up. ADMIRABLE FAILURES 114. Tale of Tales (Matteo Garrone) I appreciate Garrone's visual ambition: There's a shot that is manicured to look exactly like John William Waterhouse's Lady of Shalott. No two films of his look the same either. But I paused this movie to go to the bathroom, and I got really upset when I saw that there were forty-five minutes left. Most of the stories of this fractured fairy tale collection start off interestingly enough, but they all become bloody, sometimes unresolved messes that assert, well, I have no idea what I was supposed to take away actually. Violence makes the world go round? 113. Swiss Army Man (Daniels) Most reviews of Swiss Army Man start with the "what"--desperate castaway finds flatulent dead body and pals around with him--and move on to the "how"--it's actually about friendship and living life to the fullest and so forth. I'm going to flip that. I'll buy the "why," the semi-animated corpse as a device. I appreciated that it served to highlight a type of person we don't normally see on screen: sort of educated but rides the bus, social problems but resists being emo, family problems but has worked through them enough. No, the "what" is the problem. It was clear where the line between fantasy and reality was, but the filmmakers were inconsistent with that logic once the action moved into the real world. I feel as if I gave the movie the benefit of the doubt for its entire tedious second act, then it repaid me with, well, not much. 112. Elvis & Nixon (Liza Johnson) Team Shannon 4-Ever, but I think this worked better as a photograph. 111. Ghostbusters (Paul Feig) I would say that Ghostbusters was a mess, but the word "mess" implies risk-taking that went wrong. A much rarer breed, this remake is actually a safe mess. It hews closely to the original, slavishly incorporating cameos from the original cast and hitting all of the same beats. But it's also uniquely incoherent. For example, when the ghosts are released into Times Square, the lady busters can't shoot at the car Slimer is driving because "it would be like a nuclear reactor." So that problem disappears, and now the problem is that the ghosts have taken the form of a Thanksgiving Day parade? But our heroes extinguish that threat, so now everyone is possessed by the garbage villain into disco dancing? And now the ghosts are all huge again? By trying to up the stakes, the film can't even decide on what the obstacle for the characters should be. That sort of muddiness would be understandable if the film felt edited to shreds, but I watched the two hour and fourteen minute extended cut, and it still felt like that. Most of the cast is game, but Kate McKinnon is the standout, injecting weirdness (and, separately, queerness) wherever she can. It seems as if Holtzmann is the only member of the team who actually sciences, and McKinnon's mugging is just as indispensable to the team. The few shots that the film takes at protective nerds are funny, so I wish that the script had more of that bitterness. Or any tone of its own at all.
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110. A Hologram for the King (Tom Tykwer) Spoiler: Tom Hanks gets wi-fi for his team. There isn't much "there" there in yet another low stakes tale of a White guy lolwutting a foreign culture. To be fair, Tykwer doesn't other the Saudis as much as most films of this type, but even with that respect, this feels like a movie we've seen before. Without Tykwer's surreal touches and without an actor that has built up so much goodwill, the film wouldn't have worked at all. 109. Amanda Knox (Brian McGinn, Rod Blackhurst) The recent true crime works that prompted Netflix to snatch up this one have been objective and gripping, reaching past their tawdry roots to reveal something about our own prurient interest in the subjects. Amanda Knox, on the other hand, can't get past tawdry. It exhibits just as much sensationalism as it decries in others. It is nice to hear Foxy Knoxy in her own words for once though. (For the record, I would have had enough reasonable doubt to acquit her.) 108. Jason Bourne (Paul Greengrass) Even the title makes it seem as if there's no reason for this movie to exist, so the least I can do is provide alternate titles: 1. The Bourne Pickpocket 2. Bourne: Folder Labeled "Black Ops" 3. Bourne: Last of the Jump Drives 4. The Bourne Cable-Knit Sweater 5. The Bourne Daddy (That one is accurate and true to the The Bourne ____ structure, plus you get a millenial hashtag.) I think Greengrass knew what he had with that trill car chase at the end, so everything else could be rote. Jason Bourne felt like returning to the house you grew up in and going, "Oh, they turned my bedroom into an office."  107. Money Monster (Jodie Foster) Dumb in small ways--a billionaire didn't hear about a national news story involving his company because he was on a plane?--and fairly big ways--dropping threads left and right and failing to give resolution to one of its main characters. Films involving finance are often too complex, but Money Monster isn't complex enough; it's missing a B story. If you think about the best possible version of a movie like this, it's probably Dog Day Afternoon. That film works because we care about Sonny just as much as we do about the boyfriend on the other end of the phone. There's no equivalent for Money Monster, though it could have been the cop, it could have been the girlfriend, it could have been the code-writers. There are a few surprises, good intentions, and Foster has a deft hand for the pacing. But any time the script asked me to care about these characters as people, I felt like it was faking. Maybe the smartest, most modern touch is the suggestion that becoming a meme on Vine is a deeper indignity that going on trial for breaking international law. 106. Jane Got a Gun (Gavin O’Connor) Jane Got a Gun makes sense as a vanity project for Natalie Portman because it allows her to play a lot of qualities she never has: steely, street-smart, matronly. The problem is that she doesn't play any of those particularly well, and the title character is not the most interesting or active one in the piece.That designation would go to Joel Edgerton's Dan Frost (not the woefully miscast Ewan McGregor). When the movie works, it's because he's selling the doomed nature of the Dan-Jane love affair, tugging at his own pride. But just as the film is cresting to an elegiac place, it pulls into the final shootout station. All of these movies end with the same twenty minutes, and if you aren't invested in the characters, that last leg can go on forever. 105. April and the Extraordinary World (Franck Ekinci, Christian Desmares) Like anything steampunk, April and the Extraordinary World has at least one dumb thing for each cool thing. I think the problem is that it can't decide how much of a mystery it wants to be; that is, which elements are unexplained to engage the viewer and which elements are unexplained because the filmmakers don't feel like explaining them. The art direction has so many tiny ingenious touches that define this alternate past in Paris, so of course the movie leaves Paris for a fake jungle created by sentient lizards. The animation does have some cell-shaded, Ghibli charm though. I almost forgot how water splashing looked for ninety years. 104. Florence Foster Jenkins (Stephen Frears) Meryl Streep is in this, I guess, so feel free to throw any awards you want its way. It would be impossible for Stephen Frears, Streep, and Grant to turn in something less than competent, but, other than normalizing adultery, I don't know what Florence Foster Jenkins is doing that is novel or unsafe. Here's something: Has any review mentioned that at least fifteen minutes of running time is made up of someone singing poorly? Not a starting-to-sing and we cut away after a few reaction shots. We're riding out full performances that are--such is the premise of the film--supposed to be unlistenable. Customize your back speakers to really steer into that piercing quality on minute eight of the Carnegie Hall performance. We got the point in the first half-hour, but let's really make it unpleasant. If you like this movie, it probably reminds you of splashy, unchallenging pictures that used to get made for adults. But, as a story about a person of privilege who is coddled to absurd, harmful degrees to hide her from an undeniable objective truth, it might be the most 2016 film I saw all year. 103. Cemetery of Splendor (Apichatpong Weerasethakul) If you say so. I still don't really get this guy. Part of the point is that these mystical things are happening all around us: goddesses chopping it up at picnic tables, intermediaries taking over dead bodies and going on dream walks. And all of that is written with deadpan certainty. But if the supernatural is always presented in that nonchalant way, then is it noteworthy? At the risk of sounding like an ugly American, what else is there if the film is about a bizarre sleeping illness, but we aren't meant to believe that the condition is bizarre or an illness at all? From a directing standpoint, other than a graceful dissolve at the halfway point (and who can't do graceful dissolves?), it's just full two-shots for the length of scenes--even simpler than the composition of Uncle Boonme Can Recall His Past Lives. The last five minutes play out like an observational music video, and I think I would prefer a music video from Weerasethakul to another film.
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102. Elle (Paul Verhoeven) It's useless to think about what a movie is not, but it would have been interesting to gauge the reception of this film if it didn't have the imprimatur of an interesting director and a truly great actress. Because what we get is tawdry on the level of a Cinemax feature, despite the handheld trappings of art cinema. People who laugh with the film instead of at it might point to Michele's job as a video game designer as layered: She's in the business of devising fantasies publicly, and that's often what drives her privately. But the dialogue in that space--"This is our one chance with Activision," "given your publishing and literary background..."--is too clunky and artificial to seem lived-in. (That’s what happens when a novel is written in French, the screenplay is written in English, the screenplay is translated into French, and French is the director’s third language.) And, at the most basic level, the character just doesn't seem to know what she's doing. There's one specific plot thread that I found ridiculous, but in general the screenplay seems to confuse lots of stuff happening to the character with the character authentically developing. I can see what the filmmakers were trying to do by refusing to make Michele traditionally sympathetic, but I'm out on this. 101. The Fits (Anna Rose Holmer) For a debut film, The Fits is visually decisive and polished, but it's as thin as its 72-minute runtime might suggest. The girls in the movie, for reasons no one can figure out, fall victim to fits, and those seizures become a metaphor for the inexplicable, almost mournful dread of becoming a woman. It's rare that a movie of this type works on the level of metaphor but fails as a slice-of-life thriller--the thriller tropes are kind of the easy part. I liked how locked into the setting we were, but there wasn't enough meat on the bone for me. 100. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Gareth Edwards) The first Star Wars film that doesn't feel like an event, Rogue One has one interesting thing (what we learn about the retro-conned nature of something that happens at the end of A New Hope) and one cool thing (Darth Vader smoking some dudes). Ben Mendelsohn avails himself well I guess. But mostly the film feels like bloodless, sexless information in search of any type of humanity. What's weird, considering that A New Hope is one of the most mythologically sound films ever made, is that there isn't a lot of care spent on setting the scene. Can we see a bit more of the type of evil the Deathstar can wreak to build some stakes? Can we stay in one location for more than a few minutes? Can we not have a location named Jedah because it sounds too much like Jedi and makes me confused for a split second every time it's mentioned? I don't think I can say it any better than A.O. Scott, who considers Rogue One "a schoolbook exercise in a course of study that has no useful application and that will never end."
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huginsmemory · 5 years ago
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50 Unusual Questions
1-What is the colour of your hairbrush?
It has a wooden handle, so... light honey brown I guess?
2-A food you never eat?
I'll eat pretty much everything but I hate peppers.
3- Are you typically too warm or too cold?
Too cold :/ my circulation is probably shit, and I hate it cause I get really cold if I study for too long without getting up which I do way to much
4-What were you doing 45 minutes ago?
Finally getting out of bed, lol
5-What is your favourite candy bar? 
Kinder bueno I think? I fucking love any kinder chocolate bars, there's also the one with puffed rice in it? Delicious.
6-Have you ever been to a professional sports event? 
Surprisingly enough I have! I've seen a couple hockey games of the ones that play in the city nearby, and the opening game of women's world cup when it was in Germany a while back- it was Canada against Germany. Also I've watched the 2010 winter paralympic slalom, which was really neat even if I froze my ass off.
7-What is the last thing you said out loud?
Probably something to my dad about him taking lampchops out as a celebration of both my sister and I finishing the school year. Something like, "yeah sounds good"
8-What is your favourite ice cream? 
Matcha or mango, absolutely love those.
9-What was the last thing you had to drink? 
This botched dirty chai latte, we didn't have any milk left so it's more just chai tea, a expresso shot and a bunch of condensed milk. It's pretty good I guess.
10-Do you like your wallet?
Yeah it's ok, like it fits money in it and I have been meaning to get a new one that's leather with more pouches since its more of a coin purse then anything. It does have an owl on it tho which is cool.
11-What was the last thing you ate? 
Apple cinnamon left over porridge! I dumped in this walnut apple raisin sauce mic thing we made for crepes a little while back and it was really good
12-Did you buy any new clothes last weekend? 
Nope. Haven't bought really anything since covid started other then embroidery thread I guess.
13-The Last sporting event you watched?
No idea honestly. I don't really watch a lot of sports
14-What is your favourite flavour of popcorn?
Probably salt and vinger or white cheddar. Depends on if I'm going for more zangy or sweet flavour
15-Who was the last person you sent a text message to?
Malaurie, a friend I met while I lived in Brazil.
16-Ever go camping?
Yup! My family loves to go wilderness camping on my home territory so we usually go for a week every summer. We rarely tho actually use and go to those 'proper' campsites where you have to pay and they actually have facilities. If you need to pee then you can enjoy it the way we used to do thousands of years ago.
17-Do you take vitamins?
Occasionally, like my sister takes vitamins so I'll sometimes eat hers, but I don't go out of my way to have them.
18-Do you go to church every Sunday?
Not really, my family is religious but I have a lot of difficulties with the church we go to and the church in general. Sometimes I still go cause my parents still think I'm Christian (I don't really know what I am or believe at this time) and they'd be really disappointed if I told them I'm not.
19-Do you have a tan? 
Not really? I probably have a bit of one since I really like being out for walks and gardening but I also wear a lot of clothing still currently so it's probably only on my hands and face if I do.
20-Do you prefer Chinese food or pizza? 
Oh man, honestly probably Chinese food. I love ethnic food and I rarely actually have Chinese food so I like to have it when I can, although I always feel terrible afterwards since I love the sweet dishes. I eat a lot more pizza so it's less preferred I guess hahaha.
21-Do you drink your soda with a straw? 
No, straws and bubbly drink are always kinda wierd. If it's like, not very bubbly then it's ok with a straw but otherwise no. Only fancy drinks gets straws for me.
22-What color socks do you usually wear?
I have a bunch of different sock colours but they're all pretty much neutral toned, so grey's, purples and blues. My favourite socks tho are these socks that says I fucking love it out here in a speech bubble coming from the middle of a forest since it's a mood.
23-Do you ever drive above the speed limit?
Yup. The speed limits where I live are really slow I find.
24-What terrifies you? 
I guess being forgotten by all those I love. I'm not that bothered by a lot of the common fears people have oddly enough. I don't particularly care for maggots but I also find them fascinating in a way.
25-Look to your left, what do you see? 
Shower curtain :/ I'm currently in my bathroom, rip.
26-What chore do you hate?
I don't really hate certain chores? I find it soothing to clean and it's only really when someone is pissing me off and I'm stressed and have other things I need to do that I don't like cleaning. But I do hate dealing with anything money wise so I hate dealing with banks when I have to and that's kinda a chore?
27-What do you think of when you hear and Australian Accent? 
Australia I guess? The outback? I dunno I'm also not that good at distinguishing accents so I might think it's like English, rip.
28-What’s your favourite soda? 
Ginger ale probably, or iced tea. I don't really like soda as I find it too sweet.
29-Do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? 
Drive through, although it depends on what situation it is. But majority of time drive through.
30-Favourite cut of beef? 
I don't really know the cuts of beef so I can't really say. But sirloin steak is always really good when barbequed rare and with spices on it so I'll go with that.
31-Who’s the last person you talked to? 
My sister, and Amy who runs a research station. I was just on a call about going up to the research station to help with field work (were both going to have to do two week quarantine).
32-Last Song you listened to? 
Fool for Love by Lord Huron
33-Last Book you read?
I haven't finished it yet but the Master and Margarita by Mikhail bulgakov. It's a lot funnier then I was expecting, and I recommend it if you need a read (I'm used to really dry Russian authors)
34-Favorite Day of the week?
Hm not sure. I like Wednesdays on principle (don't know why) but I'm actuality it's probably Friday.
35-Can you say the alphabet backwards?
Absolutely not.
36-How do you like your coffee? 
If I'm having coffee it's with a fuck ton of sugar or in something else.
37-Favorite pair of shoes?
Currently these knock-off blundstones since I can just slip em on and theyre decent looking and decent for doing anything in. But I have a pair of fluevog boots and I love those as well.
38-At what time do you normally go to bed? 
Currently between 1am-3am. It's not a good schedule.
39-At what time do you normally get up?
9-10 ish, depending on how motivated I am and the weather.
40-What do you prefer sunrise or sunsets? 
Neither. I see a lot more sunsets cause I get up really late usually, so I guess when I do see sunrises it's more special. So actually those I guess.
41-How many blankets are on your bed? 
I have a big duvet and a smaller throw squished against the wall for my cat to sleep on.
42-Describe your kitchen plates? 
Ikea white cream round and kinda bulky. We also have older bone white thinner round plates and other thinner ones with dark red print showing a hunting scene. The last two we don't have many left of tho.
43-Do you have a favourite alcoholic beverage? 
Probably wine actually, red or white both is good I really enjoy cocktails as well but I don't have them as much. Although we have a maple liqour that I'm really enjoying recently before bed.
44- Do you play cards?
Not a lot recently. I really do enjoy playing tho, and when I've lived communally I've always played a lot of cards.
45- What colour is your car?
I don't have one but I kinda share one with my sister and it's a cherry red convertible smart car lol.
46-Can you change a tire?
I've done it before a while ago, so I think I could?
47-What is your favourite state/providence?
Where I live hands down, sorry everywhere else. So British Columbia the good old PNW.
48-Favourite job you’ve ever had?
Uhhhh probably when I made an animation for a art gallery involving my indigenous heritage and rights. That was really an amazing opportunity and I even got paid for it.
49-How did you get your biggest scar?
I was younger and was jumping on my omas bed and fell and cut open my head so I have a big scar on the back of my head that doesn't grow any hair. I had to get helicoptered out since my oma lives in a remote area where you can only get out my boat or my plane/helicopter. I don't remember any of it tho.
50-What did you do today that made someone else happy? 
I guess I was discussing with my sister about her sweater she wants to buy, and was more excited about going to the field station then earlier.
I tag @timugamaileilani and @petrichordragon and anyone who also wants to do this!
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