#there are some stuntmen doing a few of the moves in here too

[of-fear-and-love]

Wong Mei-Mei (a.k.a. Wei Wei Huang), Richard Norton and Cynthia Rothrock fight scene from Magic Crystal (1986)

[bbcmerlinvault]

[Article] “Will's Valiant role”

by Ian Wylie for Manchester Evening News. The earliest date displayed on the page is 18th April 2010 but I feel it would have been published in the week of 21st Septemner 2008 - 26th September 2008. This is because it advertises the time the time this episode is due to air. I am currently unable to find any earlier archive of this article, so I may be incorrect.

[Original source]

Will's Valiant role

WILL Mellor made it a knight to remember when he rode into Camelot with his magic shield. The Stockport-born actor guest stars as Knight Valiant of the Western Isles in the second episode of Merlin (BBC1, Saturday, 6pm) .

Will Mellor as Valiant

WILL Mellor made it a knight to remember when he rode into Camelot with his magic shield. The Stockport-born actor guest stars as Knight Valiant of the Western Isles in the second episode of Merlin (BBC1, Saturday, 6pm).

"I'm here for the tournament," he declares, determined to defeat reigning champion Prince Arthur (Bradley James) in the annual sword-fighting contest. But Valiant has a secret. His shield contains enchanted snakes, ready to strike when commanded by their master. "He's a baddie," smiles Will, 32, star of shows including Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps, Casualty and The Street. He's come to chat up the women and kill a few people on the way." Will threw himself into the role while filming on location at the Chateau de Pierrefonds, north of Paris, which doubles for Camelot. "It was phenomenal, what dreams are made of. I had a great character to play with horse riding and sword fighting in a stunning setting." Co-star Bradley recalls: "On the first day I found myself holding a sword with Will charging at me like a maniac. It was like being thrown in at the deep end. I still have a couple of scratches on my arm from Will. It makes you feel like you are a big warrior hero suffering for his art." Will explains: "Bradley and I worked very well together because we had sword training. Obviously we had to start off very slowly and work our way up to fast pace, because when you're doing the scenes you don't want it to look like you know what's coming. You want to react late, as you would do in a sword fight. So we worked hard on that. "And then when it came, when the adrenalin kicks in and someone shouts action, you're always going to go a bit faster. That's when people can get hurt. So we rehearsed and rehearsed it and got it bang on and then we really went for it. It was great."

Injury Not that Will escaped entirely without injury. "Bradley hit me in the knee about four times. It didn't cut me or anything, the sword was quite blunt but it was very heavy. So I had bruises. "It's very physical. You're hitting these people with shields. I had to fight a lot of stuntmen. I whacked one stuntman with my shield right across his head but he didn't mind, because we wanted to make it look realistic. So you've got fractions, a couple of inches, between each hit. "It was very hot in the chainmail and armour and I got a little bit bumped about but it all felt part of it. At the end of the day I felt like I'd done a day's work. "As an actor, there's not many days you go home and feel like you've done a day's work, because often you're sat about most of the day." The budget doesn't appear to be up to providing horses as part of the tournament, although Will's character is seen riding into town at the start of the episode. "I had to do some horse training but I'm terrified of horses and the horses they have there are massive. So a lot of my stuff was stuntmen. "I had a bad experience with a horse years ago. It reared up while I had hold of its reins and it nearly pulled my arm out of its socket. And then I realised that we are nowhere near a match for a horse that wants to move. I don't like being out of control and they're far too big to fall off." As you might guess, Merlin (Colin Morgan) discovers Valiant's secret and does his best to alert Arthur before it's too late. But convincing King Uther (Anthony Head) of the truth is another matter entirely. Anthony was captivated by knights in shining armour when he was a young boy. "We used to travel to France on camping holidays and my big thing was collecting these beautifully crafted toy knights." So the role of Arthur's all powerful father was just too good to turn down. He says: "Swanning around in chainmail and armour, getting to dress up in really cool clothes because I'm a king. Has it been fun? Hell, yes. It's as if I've come home."

[comicaurora]

Recovering Soccer Goalie and Cheerleader here!

1: 100% Handsprings are ineffective and bad for movement. You can always move faster by running, especially if you already have the muscle and endurance to flip a few times consecutively.

2: Hitting the ground is kinda easy to do once you know how to. Generally if you’re going into a controlled slide to grab something (like a soccer ball) it’s going to be infinitely easier to hit the ground with your knee first and then use that leg to push off the ground than to fall from further up.

3: I’d never considered a greater awareness of how my body moves as a thing, but it makes some sense. Generally though, I’ve gotten kinda good at looking at something quickly and recognizing what is around me and where I should be moving.

(P.S: Love the Blue Lineart on today’s page.)

1: And if you absolutely MUST fling yourself bodily head over heels, cartwheels are more sustainable, lower-impact and easier to chain together!

2: Falling is not a skill I ever polished (because owie) but can confirm, it's always better to control your fall by deliberately hitting the ground with a specific limb first. Stuntmen do this too, reducing the impact of falls by "tapping" the ground with a foot or hand before the rest of the impact. Redirecting force into a roll also works and is the ideal solution for a painless impact, but requires more control than you sometimes have mid-fall!

3: Yea, proprioception is kind of the invisible sixth sense - if you were a particularly active kid you probably have it more honed than you think, but it's not something people think about much so it doesn't get discussed much.

[3pirouette]

Fic: Fighting Doesn't Make You a Hero (2/?)

Title: Fighting Doesn't Make You a Hero

By: TriplePirouette/3Pirouette

Disclaimer: They're not mine.

Distribution: AO3 Anyone else please ask first :)

Story Summary: StuntCoordinator!Steve meets Actress!Peggy, who is an absolute menace when it comes to stunts.

Chapter Summary: Steve falls hard for Peggy (figuratively) while Peggy falls hard (literally).

A/N: Here’s some more of the story I tried so hard to write last year when I put this little AU out. Also, this is the “more” that I think only one person actually asked for. Hope you like it, anyway. I’ve always loved this idea, the rest of the story has just alluded me until now. For Steggy Week ’21 Day 3: Favorite AU.

Apparently, there will be more of this, because my brain has FINALLY figured out how this is supposed to go, and it’s not just one chapter’s worth. Sheesh.

Also, if it is not clear (it should be…) I know nothing about stunts or stage fighting. Completely made up. Please enjoy.

~*~

Chapter 2: Thrust and Parry

It was hard to be nice to her when he was waiting for the next injury to occur. He was professional, clear, and concise. They rehearsed for hours straight on Wednesday for a long, single shot of her moving through a room full of stunt men for one of the climatic battles.

Though no one got seriously hurt, there were a few bumps and bruises that shouldn’t have happened.

It was hard not to be harsh with her, not to be demanding. He could see moments of beauty in how she moved, but then she’d go too far and make contact. He had to find a way of breaking her of it, if not for his own safety, for that of the stuntmen around him.

~*~

It was an early call for the shot they’d spent the entire previous day rehearsing. He was bleary and chugging coffee as quick as he could stomach it. Peggy was already on her way out of hair and make-up as he passed the trailer. She gave him a shy half smile as she passed him, being ushered from one trailer to the next to be slid into her ridiculously tight costume.

On one hand, he got it. He couldn’t deny that she looked absolutely gorgeous in that costume. (How long he’d spent thinking last night about her in that costume and what she might be able to do with that Lasso of Truth absolutely was not relevant…) But from a practical standpoint the costume wasn’t realistic at all, and she wobbled horribly on the stilettos. They had to stop rolling often to keep her taped into the thing.

The stuntmen around him were warming up, and he even heard a few near him joking about wearing cups. He gave them a sharp look, waiting until everyone was quiet before he reviewed timing and patterns while they waited for her to come out to set.

The director wasted no time once Peggy was on set. They made minor adjustments to the cameras and rolled on the first run through. He was proud as he watched them all, every move was timed right and it looked fantastic. He waited, with a smile, for the director to give his notes.

There wasn’t much for his team, but the director took Peggy aside and gave her quite notes and reset the scene quickly. He shot it over and over, from new angles and with different lenses, and by the time it was over, there were three black eyes and a cracked camera lens.

Peggy’s assistant ushered her off set as soon as they cut the last take, the star unable to look him in the eyes as she walked past.

~*~

The director decided, after a short break, he wanted another go at the capturing the pattern. Steve reluctantly went off in search of Peggy, hoping to figure out where she’d gone wrong that morning. He couldn’t find her in her trailer, and her assistant only pointed vaguely towards the parking lot.

He found her in a far hidden corner of the lot, sitting on the edge of a flower pot, crying. He was startled by a side of her he wasn’t prepared to see. He thought maybe he’d be coming out here to find her sneaking a smoke or a flask of rum. He’d heard she was dangerous, a bitch, a tough broad who didn’t care about the stunt men that she hurt. This didn’t really fit with all the stories he’d heard. “Peggy?”

She moved to wipe away her tears, manicured fingers moving swiftly and carefully around the fake lashes and caked on make-up. “I’m sorry. I’ll be right there. He wants another take, right?”

Steve crouched down next to her. “Are you… are you ok?”

She laughed, watery and weary. “Oh, good lord, no, but I’ll be there in a minute.” She waved her hand at him. “I’ll have to stop in make-up first.”

Steve stood hesitantly, astonished at how she pulled herself together so quickly. “Is there… is there anything I can do?”

She looked up at him, taking a deep breath. “I don’t mean to hurt anyone, I promise. I mean, I know I have a reputation, but… I’m not an action hero. I’ve never been physical. I’m not good at it.” She shook her head. “I’m a Shakespearean actress.” She stood, wiping at her mouth and pacing. “Give me Ophelia or Bianca or Beatrice. Hell, even give me a sword fight. I can fence, you know. But one time I get a tiny part in an action film and all of a sudden, I’m being type cast as some action hero and no one ever even taught me how to do any of this!” She was pacing quickly now, the rant spilling from her lips like a waterfall of words she couldn’t stop if she tried, her weariness evident with each syllable. “Not once was I instructed on the how, just, ‘punch here’ and ‘kick there.’ And it was fun so I kept doing it. I thought it was worth it, you know? But I should be saying no. The sane thing to do would be to say no to all of this but I mean, who says no to Wonder Woman?!” Peggy stopped, her face morphing as she realized all she’d said, her hands coving her mouth for a moment before she forced herself back into a stoic, hard shell. Her chin wobbled, betraying her hidden emotion as she pushed past him towards the make-up trailer. “Just know I don’t mean it. And I’m sorry.”

He watched her move away, stunned in her wake. He didn’t quite know what to do with that information, but he was quickly starting to feel a soft spot for her forming. He moved quickly back to set, relaying that she would be there soon and watching the team of stuntmen around him stretch to perform the scene once more.

She was back on set, looking fresh and happy, in just minutes. He ran them through the pattern again, and watched closer this time.

Once he’s shed himself of expectations, it was easy to see that she really didn’t have any idea what she was doing. She was a natural mover, to the point where he figured she was probably a good dancer, and that went a long way to hiding the technical flaws. But she was jerky when she tried to pull her punches and she wobbled off balance when she held back power in her kicks. She misjudged force when blocking constantly, and it put her on her heels, literally.

She was on her back in a blink when she shouldn’t be, coughing and sputtering. She had the air torn from her lungs with the impact, and everyone froze in place.

Steve bounded over, pushing through his stunt team to kneel by her side. Her eyes were closed, pressed tight. “Peggy, are you ok?” She was gasping, trying to get the rhythm of breathing back. “Slow in through your nose, slow out through your mouth, ok?”

He lifted her hand in his as she nodded, sputtering once more before slowly getting a deep breath in, and then another. He squeezed her hand tight. “Good, good.” He smiled when she blinked her eyes open, her breath starting to come back. “Better?”

She nodded, but he could see the frustration and fear in her eyes, welling tears following quickly.

“Let’s get her checked out,” the director called. “We got what we needed anyway.”

Peggy tried to sit her up, but Steve pushed her back down. “Wait until the medic gets here, ok?”

“I’m fine,” she argued, having tamed the tears quickly.

“Be that as it may,” he smiled, whispering, “You know what the protocol is.”

It wasn’t quite a smile, but it was the closest he saw to one today as her hand held tight to his. “Fine. Just this once.”

He moved away mindlessly when the medic came in and started talking to her, checking for a concussion or cervical injury, eyes still on her face.

Forget about the Lasso of Truth, her smile would be what was haunting his dreams tonight.

~*~

He met her in the rehearsal gym, bright and early the next day. He was on the floor, warming up, when she came in, hair pulled back messily and no make-up on, thermos of coffee in her hands. She was pretty much the exact opposite of the made-up, costumed bombshell from yesterday, but he was no less enthralled with her.

He couldn’t help it: he smiled.

Her smile back was half hidden behind another sip of coffee. “Good morning,” she said softly in her lilting English accent that she covered up for her movie appearances.

“Morning,” he stood, wiping his hands on his pants. “How are you feeling?”

“Bit of a headache,” she replied, setting her coffee down and pulling off her jacket. “Are the rest of the team coming?”

Steve hung his head, bashful. “Uh, no. I had them stay last night and run through tomorrow’s scene with your double.”

“Oh.” Peggy froze, the word slipping out softly. She started putting her jacket back on, trying to hide her disappointment. “I didn’t get the message. I thought I was doing the scene.”

“You are!” Steve corrected quickly, holding his hand out. “I just thought…” He sniffed and cleared his throat, trying to sound as professional as he could. “After I found you yesterday, I watched you do the scene again. I mean, really watched you. And you’re right. You’re missing a lot of the basics.”

Peggy wrapped her jacket back around her, crossing her arms. “Yes, well, like I said—”

“You weren’t taught,” he supplied quickly and gently, eyes kind and open. He shrugged and tried to smile. “I thought we could spend some time on that this morning. You already know the scene, so if we go back in and fill in some of those blanks you have…” He trailed off, hoping she’d understand.

She licked her lip slowly, thinking. “And you told the other stuntmen to stay home because…”

He wasn’t sure what she thought he was going to say, but he could imagine how some of his collogues might have treated her and couldn’t say that he almost expected her surprise. “I don’t want you to feel like they were watching you, or judging you. It’s not your fault no one taught you this, or that whoever you’ve worked with before didn’t take the time to make sure you were doing it right.”

She bent, grabbing her coffee to try to hide the shock he saw. She took a long swing and then nodded, pulling her jacket off again. “Alright then.”

He waved his hand, signaling her to follow him to the middle of the cushioned floor.

She was a quick study, and he’d been right as she eventually reveled somewhere in their discussions of balance and force, that she’d been a dancer before she became an actress.

“ACL surgery,” she replied, pulling up the leg of her legging and showing him the scar on her knee that he was sure must have been covered by make-up every other time he’d seen her. “Retore after the first surgery, and I never danced the same after.”

The melancholy that had started to disappear as they’d been going through their first few lessons returned, and Steve swore he’d do anything to see a smile on her face again. After a moment, he pulled up the sleeve on his t-shirt and showed her the crisscrossing pattern on his shoulder. “Cool scar, but I think this one wins.”

“Ohhh,” Peggy reached out, her fingertips lightly brushing over the flattened lines. “What happened?”

“IED just outside of Fallujah. Caught our caravan off guard.” He turned, pulling the shirt back more to show her the back of the shoulder. “Two bullets, six pieces of shrapnel, three torn tendons and almost a year of physical therapy.”

She let her hand run down his arm in a gentle way that made his heart pound. “Is that why you got out?”

He shrugged, stepping away and pulling his sleeve down. “It’s why they wouldn’t let me back in, so yeah, I guess you could say that.”

“Do you miss it?” Peggy asked, truly interested.

He paused. He wasn’t sure anyone had ever asked him that before. He must have been quiet long enough that she took his lack of an answer as not wanting to answer, because she started rambling, stepping over to get more coffee.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. I only asked because,” she paused to sip, taking a deep breath. “Well, because I didn’t really get to choose to stop dancing, my body chose for me. And as much as I love this…” she paused, her voice growing quieter as she looked down at her coffee, “sometimes I miss it.”

Steve softly stepped towards her. “This can be a lot like dancing, you know.” He held out his hand.

Peggy set her coffee down and took it, a smile on her face. “Really?”

He nodded, giving her a gentle pull that pulled her towards his body. “Think of it less like moves and add beats to it.” He started counting softly in fours, walking them through the pattern they’d just practiced: step forward, step back, parry, swing and miss, swing and block, swing, connect, turn under and sweep the leg.

Peggy laughed with delight as they stopped, standing. “That was… so much easier!”

Steve couldn’t help but smile back, she looked like an excited child on Christmas morning and he wanted more of that. “See? I told you. You just needed to understand it a little more. To figure out how to make it make sense to you.”

She bounced on the balls of her feet, excited. “Can we try the second pass?”

He nodded, stepping in front of her. He started counting again as she squeaked with happiness behind him. Push, pull, drop, jump, punch, punch… they moved through with the fluidity he knew she possessed but had somehow never understood or tapped into before. He smiled at her as they finished the set: her wrists in his hands, held over her head as they stood face to face.

They both smiled, but didn’t move. Steve could feel his heart pounding, and if the look on her face was any indication, the moment wasn’t one sided.

But he was here professionally, and it did no good to lean in and kiss her breathless like he wanted. He started to pull away quickly, but Peggy grabbed his hands, keeping him close. “Thank you,” she whispered, eyes shining with an emotion he didn’t want to think too hard about.

He didn’t understand. “For what?”

“For this.” She shrugged, twining her fingers with his. “For not just believing I’m a dangerous bitch who doesn’t care who she hurts. For taking the time to actually teach me,” she smiled, “and get to know me.”

It was still between them, and he could tell what they both wanted, but he couldn’t give in. Not while they were in the middle of the movie and he knew she’d still need so much more help if she was going to make it to the end of all of the complicated fight scenes and wire work. Instead, he redirected, smiling wide. “Don’t thank me yet. We’ve got to do all that again, but this time, in the heels.”

Peggy frowned, but didn’t let go of his hands. “Bloody hell, I hate those fucking things.”

[demivampirew]

Keep calm and go to London. Chapter 2

Yep, I was bored so I wrote chapter 2 😁🤣 hope you like it

Tag list: Here’s the incredible people who showed me support (thank you so much for that) and people who asked me to tag them too ☺️ (I think I will write a few chapters of this story, if you want me to tag you, tell me ☺️ ) @cavillanche​ @mary-ann84 @henry-owns-these-tatas @yespolkadotkitty @dancingwendigo​   constip8merm8 penwieldingdreamer iloveyouyen littlefreya wondersofdreaming alyxkbrl solariumss sweetybuzz25 @thethirstyarchive​ @agniavateira​  @honeyloverogers

Trigger warning: talking about low self-stem and body image issues.

Back at the hotel, I took a shower before going to bed and then I look at my phone to check the time - it was 3 am - and I saw that I had a new message from Henry. "It was an absolute pleasure to meet you today. You were a delight to talk to and I have the feeling that we'll end up being great friends. Tomorrow I'll pick you up at the hotel at noon so we can eat something on our way to the set. Does that sound good for you?" "Yes, sounds great! Cannot wait!" I replied. "Amazing. So I'll meet you tomorrow. Sleep well." "You too. Sweet dreams." I finished the conversation. As soon as I send the last message I went to bed. It took me a while to be able to fall asleep. I couldn't stop thinking in Henry, in how excited I was about tomorrow, and that feeling I got when we met. It was strange, I've never felt that before. I woke up and I realized that I overslept. It was 11 am and Henry was picking me up in an hour. So I hurry up and take a shower, change into some jeans, a black pullover and a jacket and I put some mascara and lipgloss, there was no time for full-face makeup. I braid my hair and then put on some comfortable boots and then the room phone rang. - Hello.- I answered - Hello, Miss Y/N, someone is waiting for you in the lobby. - Oh, yeah, please tell him that I'll be there in a minute. - Sure. I'll tell him right away. Good day! - Thank you, good day to you too! I hung up the phone. I ran into the mirror to check if I was ok looking and then I grab my black bag and made my way to the lobby to meet Henry.   When I got into the hotel lobby, there he was, sitting in one of the couches, wearing a red t-shirt, white pants and a brown jacket. You saw him and couldn't believe it: he seemed even more handsome than yesterday. He was distracted looking at his feet, probably avoiding being recognize, but he looked up and saw you and smile and got up while you approach him. -Hi!- he said smiling -Hi!-you replied nervously, waving your hand slightly and he came closer and gave you two kisses in the cheeks. You knew that that was something the British people are accustom to do, but it caught you off guard and once again you felt that electricity, just that this time it ran through your whole body. -What would you like to eat? - He asked - You can never go wrong with some pasta. - I answered, smirking. - Pasta is then. - he agreed and smirked too. We went outside and we got into his car and he drove to a restaurant. We chat a little about the city, his favourite places, which he loved and didn't enjoy about London. There were more pros than cons. He talked about the neighbourhood where he currently lived, his dog - who left with his assistant for the day because he wasn't going to be welcome in a restaurant, he thought-, Jersey and his family. He took me to a really nice restaurant and I felt silly, wearing jeans and a pullover, it was the kind of place that even in the middle of the day you wear a nice dress. But thankfully, I decided not to let that detail ruin this amazing day. While we ate, he asked me about me, so I granted his wish and I talked about my family, that at the moment I didn't have any pets but I love animals in general. And then he asked me how much time I planned to stay in London. - Honestly, I don't know.- I replied - I just need some time away from LA. - It's because of your breakup? -he questioned, almost sounded worried - Yes and no. Yes, the city reminds me too much of him and that reminds me of all the pain I went through because of that relationship. No, no because of him, because of Hollywood, it's a bit too toxic. There, everyone wants to be your friend or acts friendly because you're "y/n" you're "the shit", you worked with the biggest stars, you wrote some of the biggest number ones, you fill stadiums, you started your acting career, made four movies and won three Oscars, but most of those people only want to get their piece; they want me to help them become the next Bruno Mars or the next Rihanna or Adele. I need a place where I can get some peace; I need a place where I can go grocery shopping without people caring about who I am. I want to make my art and live in peace, is that too much to ask? - I said sighing. - I completely understand how you feel and I know the pressure it must be much worse for you. -he agreed and gave you a sympathetic smile. You smile back at him and then laugh a little bit when you saw that he had some sauce on his face near his chin. You lick your thumb and proceeded to clean the stain. You took him by surprise but he didn't move at all when you touched him. He looked at you and you would swear that he was being shy. -Sorry for that, you had sauce on your face.- I explained - Oh, thank you. - he said nervously and you could see now that he was a little embarrassed. - You're welcome. - You replied and smile. You decided to continue the conversation with a more cheerful topic and asked him to continue talking about the rest of his family. So he did, he told you all about his nephews and niece. After lunch, you made your way to the set. It was impressive. In there, you saw a few stuntmen practising fights and was really exciting. You got to set lots of props and armours and even got the chance to learn a few moves from the stuntmen. One the stuntmen, a guy in his late twenties, blonde, green eyes, very good looking, came up to you and compliment you on your work; he had seen all your movies, buy your album and even went to three of your concerts. You were having a nice chat with the guy when his coordinator asked him to help him with something and as he was leaving, you almost could swear that you saw Henry sigh in a sign of relieve. "Probably doesn't like that guy," you thought. It was almost 7 pm and you were about to leave but you asked Henry for a selfie. He didn't know, but that was a big deal for you. For months, you hadn't taken any selfies or pictures except the ones from the meet and greets, due to your body image issues. But this time you didn't care about that, you wanted a picture to remember that day and the person who made it possible. He smiled at you and said "sure" and stood close enough that you could feel the heath of his chest on your back. Here we go, electricity down your body once again. You took the picture, and for your surprise, you love it, not just because of him, but you also looked pretty, you thought and smile. You send the picture to Henry like he asked you and then he took you to the hotel. Once there, he got out of the car and opened the passenger door for you. You got out, gave him two kisses in the cheek and thank him for the amazing day. He smiled and told you that he hoped to see you again soon, then he waved and got into his car and waited for you to enter the hotel and then left.

[cladnplaid]

OKAY GUYS, I’ve had all weekend to think this though so here is my essay on the Ahsoka’s lEkKuS & mOnTrAls Debate

I’m not here to cause waves, just here to point a view things out. I have a few points I would like to make about the costumes choices that they went with for Ahsoka’s character design in the latest episode of The Mandalorian  because to be honest, I’m just really tired of seeing everyone here being so damn picky.

There could be a few different reasons as to why the Mandalorian team changed the look of Ahsoka “headdress” (ie. Lekkus and Montrals), one of them mainly being for practicality and stunt work. Also it could be that the team was wanting to stick to practical effects instead of CGI as much as possible like they have been for the entire series.

But you have all heard those arguments already so here’s a hot take on another reason:

It's a marketing thing.

She already has new toys and collectables (A FORCE FX LIGHTSABER!) scheduled to come out right off the back of the series ending of The Clone Wars as well as her new appearance in The Mandalorian. They had to make her appeal to the new fans of the TCW/Mandalorian/Star Wars so they kept a similar silhouette that's easily marketable and recognizable.

Star Wars has gained a HUGE amount of popularity from new fans over the past 5 years due to the Sequel Trilogy (mainly it has grown in 2019-2020). I would say Episodes VII, VIII, & IX had the same effect to new Star Wars fans as the musical, Hamilton, had with the general public; it got you interested in a thing so you went and researched what is was based off of to see what it’s all about. Simple, right?

Except we have a huge factor that was added to this Hyper-fixation-like equation.

New Media Thing + Stress + Quarantine = BOREDOM which then = Escapism through Hyper-fixation

At the end of 2019, as Covid started to rear it annoying head, right at the launch of Disney+, right as The Rise of Skywalker was released digitally early, right as The Mandalorian was gaining traction, right as Jedi Fallen Order came out (the first single-player Star Wars adventure game since The Force Unleashed in 2008), AND people were forced to stay home until further noticed.

If you were on TikTok in the beginning of 2020 because you were bored due to quarantine, you, like me, witnessed a whole lot of people CONSUMED all Star Wars content by the droves because for the first time, everything Star Wars was readily available on a brand new streaming service, Disney+, that was easily affordable (or free to Verizon Customers) and your casual friend who only watched the Sequel Trilogy now has access to the whole Saga and more.

In 2020, The Clone Wars series is ranked 3rd most watched on Disney+, being beaten by The Simpsons at #2 and (unsurprisingly) The Mandalorian at #1 (Rebels ranted #11 on this list) After those kinds of numbers, it’s safe to say that Ahsoka’s most familiar and most popular look/style would be from The Clone Wars series.

Now on to the more practical side as to why I think they went with the “shorter Lekkus & Montrals”

As an amateur costume designer/cosplayer, I can say without a doubt it's challenging to even WALK in something as cumbersome as her “headpiece” would be if they made it as large as it appears in Rebels, let alone attempt stunts in it. Just ask any Hatsune Miku cosplayer and they will tell you that wig is a nightmare and you don’t even want to THINK about dancing in it.

Take for example, David Prowess' stunts in the iconic Vader suit in the Original Trilogy. I know canonically, that suit is supposed to be restrictive and hard to move in but that doesn't mean you have to make it actually hard to move in for the stuntmen/actor. I wouldn’t really know if there is much you can do to make The Suit more flexible, so I applaud Prowess’ work because I can’t even comprehend how he would be able to move, let alone SEE in that thing, especially in the brilliantly choreographed duel in Empire Strikes Back.

Now with some costumes, You can cheat and make it a lot easier to move in while keeping its integrity. For example, ol' Luke Skywalker at the end of The Force Awakens, his cloak was clearly stitched to his tabards/tunic because a cloak like that is heavy so it can easily slip off in the wind or when you de-hood yourself. To solve this problem, they "fudged" it by stitching it to his tunic. Simple and easy to hide (which they did not do well, I’m afraid)

Also before you come at me with the whole “BuT sHaKk Ti iN II & III” spiel, keep in mind in The Attack of the Clones, the characters like Kit Fisto, Lumimara, and Shakk Ti all had costumes with “headdresses”, all had MINIMAL screen time and were hardly shown fighting in they're costumes. I haven't seen the movie in a while but I would hazard a guess that if they are shown fighting, it’s very brief or it's heavily CGIed which is the path that The Mandalorian crew doesn't want to go down. I would say almost all the aliens in the show are entirely practical effects, aside from Grogu in a couple of instances which is astounding compared to the Sequel Trilogy’s heavy uses of CGI aliens (except for Force Ghost Yoda, they did right making him a little puppet again. That made the 10-year-old in me so happy)

I guess the point I’m trying to make is just PLEASE stop being so damn picky! We have something REALLY good here with The Mandalorian and if you just look back in recent history, “fans” bullying the creators and cast of Star Wars can have damaging effects to the series and the people in general. To name a few examples:

People complained about not wanting the film Solo, so the Kenobi Film was canceled. Two points on that, the film was released at a bad time and now we are getting a Kenobi show, so that’s a bright side

“Fans” bullied Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico in The Last Jedi) and she now has no online presence.

“Fans” complained about the PLOT of The Last Jedi so they tried to undo it all the with fluster cluck that was The Rise of Skywalker, ruining established character arcs for Finn, Kylo Ren, Rey, Rose, Poe, etc (but also idk why Abrams and Johnson didn’t share both their visions of the series bUT WHATEVER, I’m not here to debate the Sequel Trilogy)

Let’s go back further, “Fans” bullied Hayden Christensen to the point where he hardly acted in anything where he should have been getting jobs left and right after the success of Revenge of the Sith, but nooOOOoo, he was tOo WhIneY. Homeboy strait up went and had to to try farm-living to get away from the “fans”

AND DON’T GET ME STARTED on Jake Lloyd, who was literally TEN YEARS OLD in The Phantom Menace, who left his acting career because of bullies in school and constant hounding from the press.That kid’s life was ruined by bullies.

In closing, to all the purists, the gate-keeping jerk-wads, and the basement dwelling “fans” who turn their noses up at anything that came out after 1983, you can take Kylo Ren’s absurd lightsaber and shove it where the sun don’t shine.

Stop ruining Star Wars for the Fans who actually enjoy it and are having fun. GOSH

[hungama2fullmovie]

Hungama 2 (2020) Full Movie Download 720p GDrive

Hungama 2 Hindi Full Movie Free Download 1080p, Hungama 2 (2020) Movie Download 480p, Hungama 2 Hindi Full Movie Watch Online

Hungama 2 (2020) IMDB Ratings : N/A Director: Priyadarshan Writers: Anukalp Goswami (dialogue), Yunus Sajawal (screenplay) Stars: Pranitha, Paresh Rawal, Ashutosh Rana Country: India Genres: Comedy Language: Hindi Release Date: 14 August 2020 Quality: 1080p, 720p HDRip File Size:

Click Here To DOWNLOAD NOW

Kapil Sharma will speak to Shilpa Shetty's parents and tell them that he is a BBC journalist - challenging, computer-born. The actor laughs as he recounts her husband Raj Kundra's' unfortunate 'birthday party, which he jokingly calls her.

He will say he would love to get back into a role where he can do more things, even romance. He will say that while he can handle social media, it will be difficult to check his children's homework by mail and check their homework by mail. Kapil Sharma will laugh when Archana Puran Singh warns him to polish his skills with technology so she can help her daughter, and says he can't get a job because he doesn't even have an email ID.

To stream and download movies, you must register on Hungama.com (you can also add a social account) and select a price plan based on your movie preferences. Once you have selected the plan, you will stream or download your selected movies after purchasing the plan. The streaming option allows you to watch your favorite movies without waiting for the movie download to be completed. After you have selected the price of the plans you want to watch, click on PLAY for all the movies you want to watch.

You can renew your subscription by storing your payment details from your last purchase and enjoying uninterrupted entertainment. If you have used your credit card to pay, your plan will be automatically renewed and you will not renew it.

The recipient only has to pay the balance and no amount that the recipient has left with the company at the time of booking will be treated as part of the establishment of a refundable deposit. A refundable deposit can only be obtained by the Company for the sole purpose of refunding the deposit to secure a refund of a certain amount of money (the "refundable deposit").

The movie trailers are a quick snapshot of the movie, which can be viewed by most movies by selecting it from the download. The preview function is the one you are looking for before you buy, and provides you with tracks and videos of movies, TV shows, etc. that you can try and be sure that they are the ones available on Hungama.com. All measures have been taken to ensure that the content downloaded from this website is CD quality and free of viruses and spyware.

Throughout the segment, the former cricketers and politicians will mimic the style of the stage and watch the climax. If the show does well, it should be watched by the industry that has seen Adhyayan's talent And he's too good. The makers Ekant and Babani need to be supported, as they have filled the screen with sex and nudity, just like other makers do to get eyeballs.

The recipient returns the JioPhone to the company, but only after a subsequent visit to the CEO and the Marketing Director of the company. The company can offer repair or replacement of the JioPhone, including any defects it has. During the warranty period, the Company or its authorized service partners or another third party will repair or replace the defective product or part thereof and / or not damage or repair it, provided that the Consumer makes a valid claim. The consumer is advised to ensure that his information is verified through the Company's website and its jiophone.com, which may be published and updated from time to time. Such repairs or replacement of a defective product shall include the warranty period, whether it is dead on arrival or after purchase, for a period not exceeding two (2) years.

The following is a summary of the way your personal information is collected, stored, shared, used and / or used in any way. You agree that RRL, its licensees and agents may collect such personal information about you to provide you with information about your products and services. Location data may be used by RRC and its licensees to provide or improve location-based products or services and for other purposes.

Your location data may be subject to verification and verification if you are using a third-party device or any other specific FD device that uses or provides your location data. Your location information on third-party devices and other specified RRC devices may contain links to other websites and applications and may display other content associated with third-party websites. Our team is constantly on site and works on secure setups to ensure that the site is free of viruses and spyware.

Public Safety defines itself as a non-profit organization dedicated to maintaining the safety of the citizens of New York City and its communities. Crime prevention means working with the public and holding them accountable for their crime prevention and public safety activities.

The consumer owes JioPhone a basic duty of care and all matters falling under this category, as specified in paragraph 3.1 above, are final and binding on the consumer. The Consumer's opinion on all matters covered by these categories, as stated in point 2.0 of point 1.2 of the above clause, and on all other matters covered by these categories, is final, binding and not subject to review by third parties.

If you are wondering what you can see on this site, you should know that it covers a wide range of genres, including horror, science fiction, fantasy, action, comedy, horror and many more. There are many other popular genre films, ranging from action movies to horror movies, science fiction films and even comedies. We are keeping and telling everyone who is interested how to watch some of our favorite movies on our website.

There are also biographical films that tell the story of a character, but the film itself is fiction, based on the facts of the true story, whether it is based on a "true" story or not.

Television for television, whether current or historical, and whether the series can be a comedy or a drama or both.

Stuntmen are meant to replace actors who perform difficult or extreme scenes, as is usually the case in action or action films. There is also the term extras, which is used for minor characters with few or no roles in the film. Actors or actresses must be required to have a good acting talent that corresponds to the subject of the films in which they are starring. To do this, you have to work behind the desk and start at the beginning of a film, from the beginning to the end of its production.

Commenting on the ambiguity and complexity of the characters in the story, Oscar-winner Akira Kurosawa said: "I think that people who want to see stories with that quality are watching television as we see them on television now. This refers to actors (men, actresses and women) and the roles they play in a film.

Television shows are television shows that can be presented in a variety of formats and genres such as drama, comedy, science fiction, horror, fantasy, drama and drama.

The first television programmes were black and white, which were broadcast sporadically from the 1930s onwards and continued in black and white for the next ten years. The colour change was announced in 1964, with the announcement that by autumn 1965 half of the station's programmes would be broadcast in colour at prime time. In 1966, the last daytime show on the network was switched to color, leading to a first all-color network season.

Filmmaking has become an important industry, where cinema is always waiting for the feature film, but it is also a form of entertainment that people can visualize through film. A film is a live image that is shot to create a moving image that is presented to us as a form of entertainment.

[hecohansen31]

Just Ride (Chapter 1)

A/N: Hello there, friends!

I have started too many series for my own good (and right when I am having finals, so bear with me my lack of presence her; also again not in the best mood, but I honestly wanted to write this so so much so here I come!

I want to start with thanking @sojournmichael with whom I have been talking about this concept and she is absolutely the sweetest person ever (and most caring and she is a truly angel and I can’t believe that people like her exist because she is everything you need during a bad day, completed with wonderful wrting skills!). So if you liked this, please give her account a check out, since there are a few more headcanons about this concept here (and they are better written than the ones here!).

This concept starts from the fact that my family is very into  MOTO GP (not me), but I was forced to watch a race once and I immediately saw all this very young bikers and my heart immediately went to Jim and I had to write something about him!

Also I am not a professional about this so ignore all the technical mistakes (I will try for the next chapter to do better, thanks to my sister knowledge, the true MOTO GP stan, so if you find something that doesn’t match, let me know and I will do better) (Also Eva: sister said that they have teams, but as in the bikers have like maximum two other bikers in their stable).

Also (P/N) stands professor name!

SUMMARY: Your life as a mechanic of an excellent MOTO GP stable is hard enough, but what you didn’t know is that having Jim Mason as your professional biker makes it all much more difficult... but isn’t the challenge what makes everything better?

WORDS: 3,1 K.

WARNING: None (except Jim being a little asshole, but I love you all the same, babe) (also bad MOTO GP knowledge should be counted as a warning?).

She had stumbled into professional biking thank to what looked like a quick way to make money right after she had finished her engineering degree, with the highest of grades and the congratulations of all her professors.

Which made her believe that would be out and aloud in some secret astronautic project, somehow, thinking about how that was the only name to make her name known.

Instead she found herself in a male only setting, not only extremely competitive, but also eternally looking down at her.

She had had somehow made a name for herself at her university, with her high grades and her tough exterior, avoiding any kind of exterior expression of her own inner state.

She had been the bitchy girl who knew every answer, and she had upheld to that reputation, but when she walked in the first stable, she had ever been in, she felt a strange feeling of uneasiness, probably from being out of the academic habitat.

She had tried her best to avoid being tripped over in the sudden rush of people running around with piece of engine or of tires.

She was thankful that the previous leader engineer had caught her, looking like a fish out of water and smiling as a loving grandpa.

He had taught her anything he knew about professional bikes and the home and family of the stables, and slowly she had warmed over the possibility of staying there and take over the role od lead engineer in the future, which had happened that year actually.

There had been so many parties because both the lead engineer and the professional biker of MOTO GP of her stables were moving out, the first one retiring and the second moving to superbike, which was just a tiny step before retirement in the professional biker career.

She honestly would miss the biker, a nice kind of the old ones, who knew that his mechanics were right, no matter what happened on the road and didn’t get mad at them, except when they teased him and it was a nice workplace for her to work with.

But she would miss even more dearly the previous lead engineer, her old teacher and to say she was full of tears at the party in his honor was an understatement, since she spent half of the time in his chest, hugging him tightly and asking him to stay, just for another season, for her to get used to missing him, and the fact that he was leaving.

“… oh little girl, I am going to miss you too, but I am old and terribly behind with times, this team need a young man, a strong one, someone who isn’t afraid to try something provocative, and I am sure you are that person” he had kissed her forehead before moving away “… also I believe you can’t be growing with me always over your shoulder, like a damned raven!”.

And he had made her giggle, but now she was back to her old self, the self-conscious engineer in a room full of people, outside the stables, in the yearly reunion, where they talked about how the year would go, and would give them some news, alongside the name (finally!) of the new biker for their time.

They already knew that her professor had actually asked her to stay as the leader engineer for the following year, and although she had expected some protests there had been none; everybody knew she deserved the job, having made a name for herself and not just simply the professor’s legacy.

She was also a very headstrong woman, who had gotten in a few fights with the other mechanics (mostly because apparently they had an hard time accepting a woman as a colleague, which they had quickly got over with her glaring and besting them at getting a bike engine), quickly having developed the nickname of “general (L/N).

She was sitting on the left of the CEO of their biggest brand (so he was the one who made most of the decisions), meanwhile on her left there was her new assistant, an old friend and a trusted mechanic, although she wore normal clothes (a pair of black pants and a white blouse with a simple leather jacket, formal enough for the important meeting) so nobody could truly understand her role and this made her nervous.

She was used to appear almost invisible with greasy hands and a tight polyester tracksuit, also covered in dirt and grease, so to be that “feminine” it made her feel vulnerable and exposed.

She rubbed her arms and hid her hands inside the arm of the leather jacket, shrinking herself.

She had been perfecting her mimetic skills till the door, swung open and their new biker’s manager, walked in, almost waltzing, meanwhile a figure set down on the other end of the door, partially covered and hidden by it.

But she knew immediately who he was, something that happened when you worked as a mechanic for so much: you learned that details were what made everything perfect, and if you watched everything long enough to capture them you would immediately knew what was wrong.

And what was wrong with this one was that his name was Jim Mason and he had officially almost dropped out of the professional biking system because of drug abuse, after he had been caught high before a race, which had prompted the “light” suspension of one year, and the constant testing of his blood and urine in order to prove he wasn’t under the effect of drugs anymore.

He had been lucky because no other evidence had been found on him and no other similar events had happened, plus it was a light drug they had found with him, so the big guys of the MOTO GP circuit had agreed for his license not to be revoked if he proved to be sober and if the drugs were out of his system for at least six months.

But to make him move onto the MOTO GP stage was a crazy move.

Because, not only Jim Mason was an addict, he was also one of those bikers she liked to call “stuntmen”, those crazy assholes who thought it was fine to drag the poor soul of an engine to hell and back and leave the bike destroyed by the end of the race (and most of the time even before the end of the race…) and to get on each mechanics’ nerve.

She honestly thought it was such a bad idea that she immediately wanted to jump up and say how wrong of an idea it was, but then the manager introduced Jim in great fashion, who walked in as fiercely as a victorious conquistador, with a smirk on his face, not even a little surprised by the smile of shock everyone seemed to have for him.

He was a stuntman, but he was a damn well popular stuntman; he knew how to talk his way out of everything alongside generally being described as a “lovable dork” by many of his fellow riders and friends (she wanted to know what the hell his mechanics thought of him, but…) and the fact he was easy on the eyes, helped… a lot…

There was this half legend about how he had gotten out of the original punishment, thank to a smirk and a good word.

And now that she had him in front of her she got exactly why those rumors were being spread: he was gorgeous with what she liked calling ocean eyes, clearly blue, but so deep and tortured, hiding a lot of horrible creatures behind them, regrets and passions.

And she wanted to dive into those troubled waters.

She immediately pushed herself back, immediately turning to Russel, her assistant, who smirked at her giving his approval of the new biker.

But was she seriously the only one who thought he was trouble?

He didn’t approach her, probably her pissed off aura not being the ideal environment to actually start a conversation, but just as she thought of having managed to avoid him for the entire evening, Jack, the manager, approached her, getting Jim by an arm, meanwhile he was talking with the CEO, eyeing her swiftly as if to say “YOU TWO NEED TO MEET”.

-Jimmy, let me present you, our new leader engineer, (Y/N) (L/N), the best pupil of (P/N), I hope you will have your best time together- he clearly wanted them to have a nice memory of their first meeting, but (Y/N), as Elizabeth Bennet, already knew what she thought of “Jimmy”.

He was an arrogant cocky boy, a dangerous bet for their stable, but she had no actions on her part or other properties for her to have some decisional power; no matter the fact that she fixed their engines.

She still held out her hand, and Jim held it back, but he made the mistake to just move his eyes down her body, clearly examining her as if she was just a body and not a mind; the first strike to her humor.

-(P/N)? Are you sure he isn’t already in senile state? I didn’t think that he would choose somebody like her…- and not only had he thought she was inferior for reasons which were unknown to her (she thought it was better not to investigate) and he had spoken about her as if she wasn’t there.

-You do realize that after what you just said I could very easily unscrew a few nails of your bike on your first race, right? – she knew she was being straight up petty and lowering herself to his level, which was highly unprofessional, but…

She got his attention and now he looked at her shocked, as if to say: “she can’t do that, right?”.

Oh, she could, instead.

Jack, laughed it all off, as soon as he understood that the climate was a bit tougher than what he had expected, clearly wanting to dissipate the tension:

-…oh, (Y/N) is so funny! The funniest! – he even slapped his leg to accentuate the entire act, clearly trying too hard, which prompted her to just smirk harshly at Jim, one last time, before moving past him.

-See you on the circuit, Jimmy Boy-.

It was the first race of the year and it was an hour before the MOTO GP race started, which meant she was checking out the bike one last time before everything started, all alone, only with the bike in an holy ritual she found herself to have comfort and peace, no matter the anxiety and the high expectation which happened outside of that room.

She touched the bike, remembering the biggest and best suggestion she had gotten from her professor, feeling it reeve up under her hands, in a loving way, caressing each part of the engine, the nails, the gaskets and the brakes.

It was a wonderful feeling almost as much as having a human baby in her hand, but a bike didn’t break, it if you made it fall, which made her feel a lot better.

Something was knocked over and she almost lost the grip on the bike, before turning around to glare at whoever interrupted the ritual, knowing it couldn’t be no one from her team since everybody seemed to know about her ritual, and nobody dared to interrupt it.

But it was Jim, which explained so much and made her immediately turn around to the bike, not giving him an ounce of attention, the exact same behavior she had had for his entire staying, only listening to his opinions on the bike, and most of the time ignoring them just because it was what she considered “annoying adjusting whines of a primadonna biker”.

He seemed, instead, to look out for her, a lot, probably because he had understood how the entire situation worked, realizing he had chosen the wrong person to mess with.

But the more he searched for her, the more she avoided him.

-Is something troubling you? – she made the first move, without facing him, instead reaching for a tire iron, to set down some loose bolts.

-Just wanted to make sure you wouldn’t be making good faith to that old promise about loosening my bolts- he tried to make it seem like it didn’t bother him, clearly opting for a warm approach in order for them to bury the hatchet.

-I am a professional- “unlike you” she wanted to add, but if he was trying to make an attempt at doing this, she might as well as try to sound better for him -… and I wouldn’t kill anybody-.

-And here goes my plan to get my trusted mechanic to eliminate my enemies- he laughed, heartedly something she immediately found loving, alongside those ocean eyes and she dared turning around, although she didn’t meet his gaze.

-… I am sure you will kill them on the race- she replied -… I mean metaphorically, not literally, please don’t do anything reckless-.

She didn’t know where the last part of that discourse came from, knowing perfectly “reckless” was Jim’s second nature, but still… she might have slowly started caring a tiny bit for him, although he was still a pain in her ass.

-I will try my best- he promised, holding out a hand, clearly asking for her to trust him.

-… sorry I have my hands still dirty- she didn’t trust him still, at least not before his first race as a MOTO GP champion, but he didn’t seem disappointed by her shooting him down, which prompted just a shake of head.

-Don’t worry, you can hold it after I won this-.

-Which part of “don’t be reckless” didn’t you get? – but she was smiling although the harsh tone of her voice, and he just turned, holding up his hands as if to say “I am done here”.

And she went back to her bike.

He had won.

Not a clean won, but a spectacular one since he managed to rise from his sixth place, at the start, which prompted him to reach for the third place and when the riders in front of him, the favorite ones, ended up battling for the first place and crashing with a thrilling move, he had become the first one, keeping a swift pace till the end of the race.

But she had also seen the tense way he tried to keep hold of the bike, uneasy on it and terribly insecure, but thankfully he had been generously helped by the hands of the Fortune, so she waited till the end of the game, after he had been on the podium and the press conference, to talk with him, catching him just before moving to his trailer.

He immediately beamed at her, but she just shot him down with a harsh glare.

-I did…-

-You were lucky on the circuit- she replied instead, a harsh glare on her face: she would have to work on her bike for at least a day after what he had done to it, terribly ruined by his reckless behavior, pushing it to its limits, and moving over to them -…Rossi and Lorenzo let you pass because they underestimated you, but it won’t happen in any other days, meanwhile about Marquez and Dovizioso… you were very lucky; what happened was that nobody was expecting you, so they didn’t come prepared, but now they will count your presence and analyze you for every flaw, so from now on… no reckless behavior, you listen to me-.

-You are just a mechanic- he muttered, a bit taken aback from her discourse.

Clearly, he had become used to all those people smiling at him and telling him how great he did, that he didn’t understand a harsh critique of his style.

-Yeah, that means I work on your bike, and right now the suspensions are broken, I will have to work on the engine because it overheats too quickly and don’t let me talk about your tires…- she had never had any kind of things like this with her previous biker, not because he didn’t race like it mattered, but because he knew perfectly the difference between reckless driving and careful racing style -… and I know what this means: you need to develop a tactic and understand the bike…-

-Are you offering help with all those critiques or…? – he was clearly not on his best mood and annoyed by her thoughts but at the same time he was making an effort to understand her point of view, which was… nice.

It made her blush.

-I … - she wasn’t in the mental state to be anything else than critical -… meet me in the stable in five minutes-.

She was wearing a looser version of her tracksuit (a t-shirt, already full of grease and other things and a pair of loose pants), meanwhile Jimmy had changed into his usual appearance, a jeans jacket instead of the leather one.

He seemed surprised when he saw his bike, open in different pieces, only recognizable by the number on top of it, and the colors around it.

-What does this mean? – he asked, confused.

-Want to crash your bike? Well, then you are going to help me put it back together- she replied, smirking, before passing him an iron tire, prompting an even more confused face -… the more you know about these things, the more you will understand the telltale signs of overworking a bike-.

He immediately nodded, still a bit surprised by her approach and sitting down himself next to her and the “bike”.

-… is that a Miyagi way of teaching me not to mess with your precious bike? – he asked, although smiling, lightly meanwhile she instructed him on how to use the iron tire, he held so tightly in his hand.

-It’s a (L/N) way to teach you to be a better rider, Jimmy Boy, now move your ass, we need to be finished before dinner, you have a party to attend-.

He seemed even more shocked by this admission, but then moved to do what he was expected to be done, tightening bolts and nails.

-… are you coming to the party? – he asked, meanwhile keeping his eyes on the work, meanwhile she overviewed his work.

-Do I look like the kind of person who goes to parties? – she replied, meanwhile adjusting his grip on her hand, much larger than hers, but also clumsier than hers -… also after you are done here, I will keep on working here, you have another race in two weeks-.

-Two weeks, (Y/N)! - he uttered, calling her for her first name since they had met, making it sound so jovial, as if they were two best friends, just working on a bike, meanwhile his hands weren’t in hers.

-… and you have two weeks to learn how to drive, so this needs to be ready by tomorrow-.

---

And that is all for today!

Let mw know what you thought about it (I really hope you will like it, because I had tons of fun writing it and now I will go back to watch “Dumpling, write two reviews and then maybe start a new seris about Duncan (set before “A Relief For The Stress)!

Any feedback is welcome!

Love you, lovelies!

See you soon!

Heco Hansen

[themurphyzone]

Aspects Ch 6

Warning: Stuff goes down!

Ch 6: Thoughtless

Aside from a permanent frown, the aspect didn’t have any distinguishing traits that separated him from the normal Heinz Doofenshmirtz. But Vanessa didn’t like the way his eyes bore through her, scrutinizing her every move as he waited for her to make a mistake. 

Well, she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. 

“Alright, back into the penthouse you go,” Vanessa said, not giving him time to react. 

Heinz scowled at her. “Don’t even think about buttering me up just so you can get a tattoo. Cause it’s not working.” 

“What? No! I don’t care about that stupid tattoo right now!” Vanessa protested, finally getting the door open. She quickly pulled the aspect inside before he had the chance to escape.

He waggled his finger at her, as if he were scolding a naughty child. “Don’t lie to me, Vanessa. You can’t wait to be independent. But you’ll just run off to who knows where and leave me behind. That’s the way it works.” 

The others weren’t nearly as difficult to handle, even though they fought all the time. 

Vanessa turned away, deciding to break up the fight between the Father and the Scientist so that she could preserve some of her sanity. While her dad lacked a filter at the best of times, he wasn’t usually so direct about his varying issues. From what she’d observed of nemesis battles, Perry usually had to pick out the real problem from a bunch of trivial, rambling fillers. 

“Can’t a guy just install modifications to the showerhead so the water will be the perfect temperature in peace?” the Scientist complained. 

The Father scowled, his eyebrows knitting dangerously together. “I don’t want my kids to be blown up by a self-destruct button in the shower! Do you even hear yourself right now?” 

“Norm won’t even fit in the tub! He’ll be fine! I wonder what kind of circuitry he’s got that makes him waterproof....” 

“You’re not treating Norm like a science experiment!” 

Before the Father could lunge at the Scientist, Vanessa stepped in between them. Holding both aspects at arm’s length, she glared at the Father in disapproval. He leveled one last threatening stare at the Scientist before backing off. 

“Both of you knock it off,” Vanessa said sternly, before turning to the Scientist. “And you should be getting back to the repairs.” 

The Scientist perked up. “I’m almost done with the barrel. Maybe a fresh coat of paint wouldn’t hurt either. I’m thinking forest green. Not too hard on the eyes like neon green, and definitely not ugly to look at like army green.”

“Yeah, you do that,” Vanessa agreed. 

The newest aspect folded his arms, scoffing at the Scientist as he stopped to gather several bolts that were lying around on his way back to the lab. “You’re really gonna let this guy build a machine for you? He’ll ruin everything with a self-destruct button. Or blow up cause he matched the wrong wires. Or it won’t function as expected. You’re banking on way too much.” 

“I can try again,” the Scientist muttered stubbornly. “With a few minor adjustments-” 

“The physical parts don’t matter,” the aspect said cruelly. “No matter how many times you’ve checked your math, no matter how many times you tighten a screw, the results always end in failure.” 

Norm raised his finger to interrupt the tirade. “AT LEAST DAD BLOWS UP AND DOESN’T GIVE UP,” he stated bravely. 

The Father grabbed Norm’s arm, tugging him in the direction of the closet. “I appreciate the spirit, Norm, but maybe we should just go into the closet for the time being. You can pick the game this time.”

Now that the aspect’s attention had been directed away from him, the Scientist stood up and made a break for the safety of the lab. 

“As for you,” the aspect snapped. “Stop pretending Norm is your son. He’s a hunk of scrap. There’s nothing that separates him from any other inator.” 

Norm’s permanent smile flipped downwards, and he took a step backwards. 

Before Vanessa could react, the Father launched himself at the thoughtless aspect, knocking him onto his back. 

She couldn’t find a better word to describe him. 

Thoughtless. 

As the two aspects hurled insults and used the nearby furniture as projectiles, Vanessa could only hope Perry was coming soon. She averted her gaze, doing the only thing she could. 

“Come on, let’s find something to do,” Vanessa said, leading Norm away from the battle. 

Interfering would only cause more pain. And she wasn’t keen on taking Perry’s job. 

After dragging the Performer away from five different pedestrians who didn’t have the time to listen to a monologue or song, they’d finally reached the door to the penthouse. 

“Not exactly grand, but I guess everyone’s gotta start somewhere,” the Performer commented. “At least it’s lively.” 

There was a loud crash on the other side, which worried Perry. His mind jumped to several possibilities, and none of them were good. He didn’t bother with the keys, and simply went for a well-aimed kick that broke the door off its hinges. 

“You should really perform with me sometime. Those kicks would completely dazzle an audience! Really, chorus girls don’t hold a candle to that sort of thing,” the Performer suggested. “Whoa, are those guys stuntmen or something?” 

Two aspects were throwing every piece of furniture they could reach at each other. 

“So you think you’re actually a good father, huh?” the other aspect jeered. The Father paled, rubbing his arms in an attempt to reassure himself. “Maybe if you hadn’t leeched off Charlene during your short-lived marriage, you could’ve had a whole family. You wouldn’t be stuck living on alimony for the rest of your life. You could’ve seen your daughter every day. Home movies, reading to her, comforting her. You couldn’t even give something as simple as that to her!” 

Perry had heard enough. He stormed up to the other aspect, who still hadn’t let up on the harsh insults. Perry swept his tail forcefully against the other aspect’s knees, sending him tumbling to the ground. Feeling his phone buzz with a text message, Perry quickly pinned one of the aspect’s arms behind his back as a warning. 

Found another aspect but couldn’t text you right away. Sorry bout that. Calling him Thoughtless cause everything out of his mouth is an insult. Norm and I are in the storage closet. Don’t worry, we got games here. 

-Vanessa

Perry sent her a thumbs up emoji and put his cell phone away. 

The Performer was already leading the Father away, trying to lighten the mood with some nonsensical rant against plastic flamingos. Perry waited for them to leave the room, then he released his hold on Thoughtless. 

“Oh like you’re any better than the rest of them,” Thoughtless snapped. “Why don’t you leave too? Go on. Find some other nemesis who’s higher on the threat scale. Get a higher paycheck from breaking their toys.” 

Perry folded his arms. Heinz should’ve known him better than that. OWCA could send him on a literal wild goose chase, refuse to let him take vacation days, or reassign him to a completely new area without his consent all they wanted. But his heart belonged to the Flynn-Fletcher and Doofenshmirtz family entirely.

Nothing the agency did could change that. 

“Besides, what do you need me for? Absolutely nothing,” Thoughtless sighed. 

Thinking of nothing else he could do, Perry placed on a hand on Thoughtless’s knee and squeezed. 

“NOW THAT YOU ARE 83.3% CLOSER IN YOUR QUEST TO HAVE DAD NOT BE NICE TO ME ANYMORE, PLEASE TELL HIM I LOVE HIM BECAUSE HE WON’T HEAR IT FROM ME,” Norm declared. “DO YOU HAVE ANY SEVENS?” 

Vanessa picked through the wad of cards in her hand. Maybe it was time to find a robot-friendly pack that was resistant to tearing and crumpling, she thought. She handed two sevens to Norm. “You can tell him, Norm. Just do it in front of me or Perry, and we won’t let him try to wriggle his way out. Promise.” 

“OKAY, SIS. DO YOU HAVE ANY ACES?” 

“Go Fish,” Vanessa said. 

It was strange. She’d never spent so much time in the storage closet before. It needed some sprucing up. Some extra lights,a few posters, and a couple tchotchkes would do wonders for a room. Then her eyes wandered back to the cardboard flaps that served as Norm’s diary. 

They had the Shell, who existed and nothing more. 

The Father, who held nothing but love for them. 

The Scientist, with the brilliant mind and enough curiosity to kill a thousand cats. 

The Performer, who revelled in the attention his musical number brought. 

The Thoughtless, who pushed everyone away to protect himself. 

So who were they missing? 

“Norm, you saw them when Dad used the inator on himself,” Vanessa said. “Who’s the last aspect we need?” 

Norm remained silent. “IF I TELL YOU, YOU’LL TELL PERRY,” he said in the quietest voice Vanessa had ever heard from him. 

Vanessa set her cards aside, taking Norm’s large hand in her own. “I’m sorry. But you don’t have a choice. I just want to know what we can look for.” 

“IN THAT CASE, I’LL MAKE A CHOICE,” Norm told her, his usual smile flipping upside down. Smoke quickly started to pour from the soles of his feet. “I’LL FIND HIM BEFORE PERRY THE PLATYPUS AND YOU CAN’T TAKE HIM AWAY.”

Vanessa bolted for the door, barely managing to make it to the outside before the smoke enveloped the storage closet. Perry was by her side in an instant, a rare look of alarm on his face. Seconds later, a loud crash shook the entire penthouse. 

They raced out to the balcony, only to see a hole in the roof and an angry, desperate Norm in the distance. 

AN: Thoughtless is the self-loathing side of Heinz. He lashes out at the world, which only brings further misery on himself. He hurts himself with self-defeating thoughts and the ones he loves by suggesting they abandon him. 

[imjustthemechanic]

The French Mistake

Part 1/? - A Visitor Part 2/? - The Kulturhistorisk Museum Heist Part 3/? - Cutscene Part 4/? - The Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 5/? - Breathless Part 6/? - Escape at Last Part 7/? - Fox in Socks Part 8/? - Things Go Wrong Part 9/? - Downey and Out Part 10/? - Road Trip Part 11/? - Temptation Part 12/? - An Awful Reunion Part 13/? - Unreality Intrudes Part 14/? - A Call for Help Part 15/? - Loki’s Guests Part 16/? - Stan Lee Cameo Part 17/? - Reassessment Part 18/? - Midnight Invasion Part 19/? - Elevator Fight Part 20/? - Courage Part 21/? - Unwelcome Back Part 22/? - Darkest Hour Part 23/? - They Are Here Part 24/? - The Jet Propulsion Laboratory Part 25/? - Word of God Part 26/? - Avengers Assembled Part 27/? - The Houston Underground Part 28/? - Houston has a Problem Part 29/? - Onward and Upward Part 30/? - The Chi’Tauri Queen Part 31/? - Through the Wormhole

I’d hate to disappoint kiralamouse.

The first plan that occurred to Steve was the self-sacrificing wanker one – he could crash the Leviathan.  That would probably kill them all, but it would take the queen with them…

That wasn’t what they were trying to accomplish here, though.  Their whole purpose was to get back home alive.  There was self-sacrificing, and then there was self-defeating.

Suddenly something moved on the console.  The screen Steve had been using to navigate shrank into a corner, and another open popped up.  This was the point of view of one of the remaining soldiers, and it was looking at a tablet, being held up by a terrified NASA employee.

The image was of Ochoa, standing in front of a metal door that Steve recognized as the same type in the tunnels of the Houston underground.  She was still filthy and sweaty, but she had washed her face and was standing up tall, with Colleen and Kevin on each side of her.

“This is Ellen Ochoa, director of the Johnson Space Center,” she said, “and I have a message for you, visitors from space.  You said we have no heroes, but you made two big mistakes.  The first was assuming we can’t make our own wormholes. It just so happens that Dr. Kevin Farinas here is one of the world’s experts.”  Next to her, Kevin held up her drawing of the inner workings of her wormhole machine.  They did look very technical and impressive.  “You may have some of the Avengers,” Ochoa went on, “but we have the rest!”

The metal door behind her rolled up, and a group of figures stepped out.  They were brilliantly backlit and at first it wasn’t possible to see anything but their silhouettes, but those were in themselves familiar.  The stuntmen representing Steve, Thor, and Natasha were not there, but Elizabeth Olsen was, and Jeremy Renner, and Colonel Rhodes, whose actor’s name Steve hadn’t caught.  Spiderman was there – that must be Donny – and Sebastian Stan, dressed as Bucky complete with a special sleeve to represent his mechanical arm, and Pietro, who must have arrived late but there he was, alive and whole.  And finally, Bob Downey, dressed in a tailored suit and red sunglasses that were perfectly Tony Stark.  He stepped up beside Ochoa and took the glasses off.

“That second mistake she mentioned?” he said.  “That was assuming we wouldn’t come for our team-mates.  Avengers,” he turned and pointed at the others.  “Assemble!”

With that, the video was over.

It would never work, Steve thought.  Even with the re-write, the Chi’Tauri would know now that it was a bluff, a distraction.  Just for a split second, however, the queen stopped, staring at the screen and trying to figure out what importance to attach to it.

A split second was all Natasha needed.  She kicked out and hit the pink gem on the queen’s belt.  The force field protecting her flickered and died.  Loki grabbed the end of the staff weapon the queen had taken from him, its shaft still in her hand, and set it off.  The bolt went right through her arm, severing it at the shoulder.  She shrieked and dropped Thor and Natasha, and Loki jammed the muzzle end of the weapon into the bloody stump and fired again, directly into the queen’s flesh.  This shot went right through her and out the other side, spattering Thor with blue-black gore, and the queen collapsed.  Steve had to dive out of the way to avoid her massive body coming down on top of him. Natasha rolled under the console and curled up, preparing to be crushed.

The corpse hit the console, slid a bit, and pushed against the control stick.  The Leviathan rolled over and went into a dive.

Steve dragged himself upright again and tried to push her off.  Thor, on the other side, attempted to pull.  Natasha, trapped under the edge of the console, joined Steve in pushing, and after a moment Loki dropped the staff weapon and did as well.

“You cannot blame me for breaking this!” Thor said.

“Don’t you two dare start!” Natasha ordered.

Warnings blared all around them as they dropped, but the queen’s body was literally dead weight, and it refused to move.  Steve could barely believe this was happening. He felt as if he were outside himself, watching this all go on in slow motion from a million miles away.  They couldn’t have survived everything so far, from the movie set to ruining their alternates’ lives and careers to fighting the Chi’Tauri, only to die in a stupid, stupid accident only moments after they’d won.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the screen with the starfield on it.  There was an icon in the corner like a pulsating circle, spinning end over end. They had nothing to lose now – no harm in experimenting.  He reached up and touched the icon.

It shrank to a point and vanished, and there was a flash of light.  A blue sizzle passed through the cockpit of the Leviathan, bringing with it a prickling sensation and a metallic taste in the mouth, and then suddenly they were weightless.

Zero gravity was not a sensation Steve had felt before, and it was a deeply disorienting one.  His gut told him he was falling, but the air around him was perfectly still.  Loki, who’d still been pushing on the queen, was thrust backwards by his own efforts and set spinning in the air.  Thor, pulling from the other side, could no longer keep his feet on the ground, and grabbed the queen’s arm to keep from floating away.  Natasha squirmed out from under the console and hung there in midair, waving away globs of dark blue blood that were now floating freely.

“I think I just activated the wormhole,” Steve told her.

“Oh, really?” she asked, her face perfectly, sarcastically neutral.

“Yes,” Steve said.  “As a matter of fact.”

The star map screen had now grown larger, to take the place of the front view.  Steve couldn’t identify any of the stars they were seeing, but he wondered…

“Do you think we’re back in our own universe?” he asked.

“We’re certainly not back in our own bodies,” Loki observed.

Like the rest of them, the body of the queen was now floating gently, leaving the controls once again accessible.  Steve took the column and flew the Leviathan in a wide arc, hoping for a look at what was behind them.  He was out of the habit of formal prayer, but in the back of his mind he was murmuring please, God, please… please let him find himself looking down at Earth.  His own Earth, where he was, or had once been, Captain America.

Stars rolled by.

Steve’s hopes sank slowly.  It looked like there was nothing out here… just the black void in all directions.  Then he realized that stars were winking out in one part of the view, and back in a moment later… there was an object there.  Multiple objects.  Multiple big, dark, symmetrical objects, floating out there in space.

The Leviathan’s computer recognized them.  Outlines appeared on the screen of giant ships with smaller companions, and Steve realized they were looking at an entire armada. There were at least six of the big vessels and too many of the small ones to properly count… and here were Steve and the others with their one relatively tiny ship, in bodies that had barely survived four Chi’Tauri.  Who knew how many thousands more were waiting for them out here.

Stark had said that he’d seen what was coming on the other side of the wormhole over New York.  Was this it?  No wonder the man was scared to death.  Scared enough to do anything, even try to use the Mind Stone, if he thought it might save the world from this.

“Steve,” said Natasha, her voice calm but wavering very slightly, “whatever you just did, I think it would be a good idea if you did it again backwards.”

“What if we crash into the ground?” asked Steve.

“Then I guess we crash into the ground,” said Nat.

He reached for the circle icon, which had reappeared in the corner of the screen, but then suddenly the starfield flicked back to being a side image rather than a focus, and a different screen took its place. This one was for communication, and it showed another Chi’Tauri queen even more ornately armored than the last one, draped with metallic cloth and, Steve realized a moment later, much, much bigger.  The tips of staves were visible on either side of her, and the tops of guards’ heads that barely came up to her waist.  She was nearly twenty feet tall.

Steve and Natasha, Loki and Thor all pulled themselves off to the sides or ducked under the edge of the console, hoping they would not be seen.  Perhaps they were not, but there was nowhere to hide the dead body of the smaller queen. It was plainly visible, floating inertly along with its own severed arm.

Other screens lit up, and Steve heard noises as machinery came to life.  The bigger queen vanished again and the star map returned, but this time it had a blinking crosshair on an outer corner of the nearest mother ship.  For a moment they seemed to be standing still, and then Steve saw a few more stars vanish behind the outlines.  They were moving towards the armada.

The group exchanged some glances.  They were all injured to various degrees, beaten and bruised and exhausted.  Nobody felt capable of another fight.

Loki reached out and retrieved the staff weapon, which was floating nearby.  He checked it, and then nodded.  “Still has a charge,” he said.

“Thor,” said Natasha.  “Let’s get some more weapons.”

“I’ll see if I can disengage the autopilot again,” said Steve.

He’d done that before just by pushing hard enough on the steering column, so he tried it again.  It was much more difficult now.  In the lack of gravity he couldn’t push against the floor, so when he tried to rotate the controls he ended up rotating himself.  He had to tuck his knees under the edge of the console for leverage, and then pushed as hard as he could, but it did nothing. The mother ship had control and was not going to relinquish it.

Thor and Natasha returned, and Nat handed Steve a plasma rifle.  It was, as Loki had discovered on the ground, surprisingly heavy.  If Steve had been fighting humans, he would have wanted to use it as a club rather than a gun.  His arm was just barely long enough to reach the firing mechanism inside, and he understood why Loki had found it so awkward to aim.

“Where’s that force field switch?” asked Nat.

“Here.”  Loki showed it to her, on the bottom of the device.  “Just remember that it will not fire with the field activated.”

“Got it,” said Nat.

The mother ship was looming very large in the viewscreen now, like the Death Star dwarfing the Millennium Falcon.  Steve wondered how big it was.  It had to be at least the size of Manhattan.  If one of these had come through to Earth, SHIELD’s helicarriers would have looked like mosquitos buzzing around it.

“My friends,” said Thor, “it will be an honour to die by your sides.”

“I would have counted it a greater honour not to have died at all,” Loki observed.

“Same,” said Nat.

Distant sounds echoed through the structure of the Leviathan as it docked.  Steve heard metal scrape on metal, clicks and thumps of things sliding into place, and then with a final dull, reverberating clang, the gravity came back on.  The queen’s body hit the cockpit floor with a sound like dropping an enormous leather coat, and Steve squeaked as he came down on his bad ankle, but quickly silenced himself again.  Everybody double-checked their weapons, and Steve observed that he was proud of them – all of them, including Loki.  They had no fight left in them, but they were going to keep fighting anyway.

Something below them rumbled.  It must have been a door open.  Perhaps it was the Leviathan’s mouth.

Heavy, leathery footsteps were heard, very loud now that the motion of the Leviathan had ceased.  The ladders creaked.

The first soldier poked its head through the entrance on Steve’s left.  Natasha took aim and shot it in the face.  It dropped out of sight again, with a series of cries and thumps that suggested it had fallen on top of several of its fellows.  A second soldier popped up on the right.  Loki blasted it with the staff weapon.

The Chi’Tauri were not stupid, though – the next ones that appeared had their force fields on.  That meant they couldn’t shoot, but they also couldn’t be shot, and Steve and the others would have to take them on hand-to-hand.  Thor tried Steve’s move from the foyer at the Johnson Space Center, throwing himself at a Chi’Tauri’s legs to knock it down.  This worked, but the next alien behind it grabbed him and held him off the floor by one leg.  Loki slashed with the staff weapon’s bladed end and stabbed one Chi’Tauri in the belly, but another one wrested it from his hands with ease.

It didn’t take long, just a few desperate, panicky, painful seconds.  None of them were capable of putting up a decent fight in their current state. Steve, too, was lifted off the ground. His captor snarled at him, and Steve could only hope that wherever he was now, Chris Evans would forgive him.

[mst3kproject]

108: The Slime People

You'd think I could find something to say about this movie.  It's got unique and intimidating monsters with an unusual weapon – how many movies have you seen with underground reptilian-catfish creatures who wall us out (or in) with solidified fog?  And yet... I'm at a loss.  I've watched the movie twice, and now I'm sitting here staring at a blank screen with my fingers on the keyboard, and my brain is giving me static.  What is up with The Slime People?

A pilot lands in Los Angeles to find the airport utterly deserted... almost.  After wandering around a while, he is met by an elderly scientist and his two attractive daughters – all elderly scientists in old movies have at least one attractive daughter, it's just a thing.  They explain to him that the city has been attacked by a race of humanoid slime monsters who have imprisoned them under a dome of fog.  Joined by a marine and a cantankerous writer, the group tries to find the edge of the dome and figure out how to escape from it.  Meanwhile the Slime People are still at large, killing every human they find, and the other survivors can be pretty dangerous, too.

This is another movie that seems to begin two or three times.  First we get the opening with the Slime Person emerging from underground, spear in hand, and the shot of the dead body on the beach that somehow manages to roll over despite having a spear stuck right through it.  Then we get our protagonist, Tom (played by writer/director Robert Hutton, who for some reason doesn't get the crap for this that Vivian Schilling got for Soultaker), who lands his plane and finds the abandoned airport.  This is fairly creepy, and the fact that we've already seen a Slime Person and a dead body means we're expecting him to run across one or the other at any moment.

Instead, however, he meets Professor Galbraith and his two daughters, and they sit and watch some news footage that introduces them to the moist, foggy invaders.  This is of course not the only movie to use news reports for exposition, but it feels a bit padded and unnecessary when we, the audience, already know what's going on.  I wonder if this was a holdover from some earlier version of the script, in which we would have actually seen the Slime People situation as it began rather than blundering into it with Tom.  Maybe Hutton later decided he wanted to start with his own character and the abandoned airport, but kept the news report sequence so as not to waste what he'd already filmed.

Speaking of which... the news reports make it seem like this Slime People situation has been going on for several days at least, and it's clearly common knowledge not only throughout the city but probably across the country.  Why hadn't Tom heard about it?  Writer/goatherd Mr. Tolliver seems to be a pretty reclusive sort, but while he didn't believe in the Slime People he still knew about them.  A plane as tiny as Tom's isn't going to be in the air for more than a few hours, so there's no way this whole business happened since he took off.  Was he abducted by aliens, or what?

In a different movie I might be upset that we never find out what the Slime People want.  Dr. Galbraith theorizes that they're unhappy with humanity's atomic tests, but this is just his opinion, and we never delve deeper into the question.  It actually works for The Slime People, though, because the story we're following isn't that of the military or the government dealing with an invasion, but merely of a few people who got stuck inside the fog dome.  They aren't trying to save the world, they're trying to save themselves, and they don't need to understand the bigger context of the events around them in order to do that.

Choosing to focus the movie this way was a very wise move on Hutton's part, actually.  He clearly had no budget at all (the movie's Wikipedia page says the stuntmen playing the Slime People themselves were not even paid) and an attempt to make this into a spectacular military-versus-monsters epic would have crashed and burned before it even got off the runway.

I could go on like this, writing disconnected paragraphs about every little thing that sucks in The Slime People.  I could gripe about how the movie feels a need for two time-filling romantic subplots, only one of which comes anywhere near having an effect on the main plot (and only because Bonnie Galbraith is an idiot).  I could complain that the fog goes way beyond Atmospheric and often passes I Can't See A Fucking Thing.  I could wonder how the marines were defeated by slow, clumsy Slime People wielding spears, and whether the Slime People are like leeches (or their own Wall O Fog), which shrivel up and die if you put salt on them.  I feel like that would be obvious and boring, though, and I'm not here to rehash observations Joel and the bots already made unless I can expand on them in some way.

I've got another seven hundred words to write, though, so instead of yammering on about any of that, I'm going to talk about the concept of a civilization of reptilian creatures that live underneath Los Angeles!  Believe it or not, the movie didn't pull that out of its ass – the idea has a history.  It's a weird history.

Underground lizard people seem to have made their first appearance in fiction in 1929, when Robert E. Howard (the guy who wrote the Conan the Barbarian books) published a story called The Shadow Kingdom.  Wikipedia describes how this idea was picked up H. P. Lovecraft, among others, and was actually fairly well-known in the early 20th century.

This is possibly a background to January 29th, 1934, when the Lizard People are first associated with Los Angeles.  On that day, the Los Angeles Times ran a headline that said Lizard Peolpe's Catacomb City Hunted (apparently the editors didn't catch 'peolpe').  The article is a hell of a read.  It describes how a dude named G. Warren Shufelt used a dowsing pendulum to map out a hidden city underneath Los Angeles. Supposedly a Hopi friend of his told him that the 'Lizard Clan' had lived there long ago, and had buried vast wealth, so naturally Shufelt tried to raise money to dig up the treasure – and naturally he didn't find squat.  According to Brian Dunning of Skeptoid, the Hopi did have a story about a 'Lizard Clan', but that was just a name.  The clan members were as human as anybody else.

You'd think everybody would have had a good laugh at Shufelt's expense and then forgotten the whole thing, but no, the underground lizard-people linger to this day and they keep getting weirder.  A guy named B. E. Lewis wrote a book called Ancient Serpent Gods, which is about how the Lizard People (a) totally exist and (b) are dinosaurs who survived and continued to evolve, like in that one episode of Star Trek: Voyager.  Alien Abductees claim that Lizard People are either working with the evil Gray aliens or else are their worst enemies.  A guy named David Icke has become famous for claiming that all world rulers are secretly Lizard People (and Jews) and need to be overthrown.  A Canadian politician insulted his opponent in public by calling him an 'evil reptilian kitten-eater from another planet'.  While not quite on the level of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster, underground Lizard People are well on their way to becoming a fixture of our cultural folklore.

The Slime People was made in 1963, halfway in between the original proposal that there were Lizard People under Los Angeles in the 1930s and the resurgence of the idea in the 1990s. The possibility that the movie was inspired by Shufelt's gold-mining scam definitely exists, and I’m not the first one to suggest that – Monsters and Mysteries in America made the same connection in January 2015 – but did this actually happen?  I'm not sure. While the invaders do look scaly and semi-reptilian, the movie focuses on their sliminiess.  Reptiles aren't actually slimy, but then again, a lot of people think they are.  Tom Servo notes that the Slime People can't be reptiles because reptiles require heat to survive and the Slime People like it cold, but again, a lot of people don't know that.  The focus on slime may just be because Slime People sounds yuckier and more threatening than Lizard People.

If Shufelt wasn't the inspiration, then we need to ask why the story is set in Los Angeles.  Dr. Galbraith speculates that the Slime People are attacking because they're upset about our nuclear testing.  In that case, why are they in Los Angeles instead of Los Alamos?  Why not strike at someplace where the tests are actually happening instead of at a city full of civilians?  An existing idea of reptilian humanoids underneath that particular city offers an explanation: the Slime People are defending their home.  On the other hand, there's a good possibility that the movie was set in Los Angeles simply because that was where the studio and the actors were. Going anywhere else would have been too expensive for a production that couldn't afford to pay its stunt people.

The thing that makes me think maybe Hutton hadn't heard of Shufelt was that the movie never mentioned the idea of an 'Old Indian Legend'.  Movies love Old Indian Legends, as Track of the Moon Beast, Werewolf, and Lockhart only knows how many stupid Bigfoot films will attest.  Maybe it was dropped because it didn't mesh well with the sci-fi angle Hutton was trying to go for.  Maybe they just never found a place to bring it up.  Or maybe I'm making a connection that never existed, I dunno.

Happy New Year, everybody.  This last year wasn't great, but we as a planet survived, which is honestly more than a lot of us expected. Here's to the world not ending in the next one, either.  See you in 2018.

[hope-for-olicity]

Fabulous Olicity Fanfic Friday - October 20th, 2017

Happy Friday! So this is my attempt to both thank awesome fanfic writers for their amazing work and offer my recommendations to anyone who is interested. Here are the fantastic fanfic stories I read this week! They are posted in the order I read them.

The Life They Knew multi-chapter by @bytemegeekette - AU - Olicity - Felicity loved watching the happy life that her best friend had built for herself. Oliver watched his best friend reach every milestone he himself feared. An unexpected tragedy thrusts their lives together in a way neither could imagine. Could they over come their hate for each other to help fulfill the last wishes of their best friends. Loosely inspired by the movie 'Life as We Know It http://archiveofourown.org/works/4944559/chapters/11349703

May I Be Your Shield multi-chapter by @aussieforgood and @ghostfoxlovely - She could always tell him about her day. She could always tell him anything. Except she didn’t. The woman closest to him was keeping the biggest secret of all; a dark secret, a dangerous secret. Felicity Smoak is not safe, that much is true, but whether Oliver can save her from that is another matter. Sooner or later, we find out exactly how far we’ll go to protect the person we love most. http://archiveofourown.org/works/5721514/chapters/13182745

Time for a Story multi-chapter by @smkkbert - This fic shows Olicity and their life as a (married) couple with family. Although Olicity (and their kids) are the protagonists, other characters of Arrow and Flash make appearances. YOU NEED THIS STORY IN YOUR LIFE. http://archiveofourown.org/works/3912157/chapters/8757172

Waiting by the Phone by @felicityollies - Oliver and Felicity have taken to having phone calls every night before bed. Some of them are steamier than others. https://archiveofourown.org/works/12351333

6x01 Post Episode Fic by @anthfan - What takes places right after the credits roll, Part 1: http://anthfan.tumblr.com/post/166373524542/6x01-post-ep-fic and Part 2: http://anthfan.tumblr.com/post/166569312432/post-6x01-fic-part-2

If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Want To Be Right) multi-chapter by @smkkbert - They live in a society where the Ministry for Procreation decides who you get to marry. Once you get the letter with the contact details of your partner, you are supposed to marry within few months. Sexual relationships with any other partner are forbidden, even before you receive the contact details. Everyone who disobeys that law will be punished brutally.  Oliver and Nyssa have come to terms with that. Although they are married, Nyssa can secretly be with Sara, and Oliver can do whatever he wants to do. When Oliver decides to make changes, he falls madly in love with Felicity. Therefore, his life takes a pleasant turn because although they cannot publicly be together, at least they can be in secret. Things soon get complicated, though, when Felicity receives a letter that shall change her life. http://archiveofourown.org/works/11847900/chapters/26747613

Trust Me multi-chapter by @felicityollies - When a prostitute meets the perfect client, she has to remind herself that there’s no room for getting close to someone in her line of work. http://archiveofourown.org/works/8487226/chapters/22503983

Dear Hopeless by @wherethereissmoak - Through letters, Oliver and Felicity have a connection before they ever officially meet. This was written for ME! I'm beyond flattered!! IT IS A MUST READ!! https://archiveofourown.org/works/12369144

Zip by @someonesaidcake - Her dress has a zip. A zip that goes all....the....way....down. Set just before 6x01. That purple dress is stunning, gorgeous and Oliver has seen it before....https://archiveofourown.org/works/12370095

Finding Felicity by @lynn8828 - Because I still need to see this on the show…. 6x01 didn’t show us Oliver finding Felicity on Lian Yu and I was really looking forward to it. https://lynn8828.tumblr.com/post/166439559401/finding-felicity-because-i-still-need-to-see-this

(Don't) Let Me Go multi-chapter by @emmilynestill - Felicity told him to let her go, but even when Oliver tried, it didn’t seem to be something he was capable of. In the end, there would be nothing in the world Felicity was more grateful for. Weaving in and out of the final four episodes of Season 5 and beyond, follow Oliver and Felicity’s emotional journey back to one another, one step at a time. http://archiveofourown.org/works/11591223/chapters/26051715

I Just Need to Hear Your Voice by @alanna-the-lionheart - Coda to 6x01 (takes place at some point in the near future). In an attempt to slowly rebuild their relationship without complicating William’s life, Oliver and Felicity get in the habit of calling each other every night. Sometimes they watch TV together. Sometimes they discuss Team Arrow business. Most nights they just talk about their days. But then sometimes the nightmares come...and all they really want is to hear the other’s voice. This is one of those nights. http://archiveofourown.org/works/12368517

Our Version of Events multi-chapter by @machawicket and @geneeste - Action star Ollie Queen is trying to clean up his image and land parts that require him to do more than appear shirtless while fighting stuntmen. Pop star Felicity Smoak wants to be seen as an adult in time for the release of her new, grittier album. And talent manager John Diggle’s got an idea about what coverage of Oliver and Felicity’s brand new (and totally fake) romance could do for them both. http://archiveofourown.org/works/8025382/chapters/18375349

Little Flowers of Eloquence multi-chapter by @dettiot - After two bad relationships, Felicity Smoak has accepted that she’s not physically attractive to men.  That doesn’t mean her life isn’t good, but her friends make her realize that something is missing.  Something that might be fixed if she gives a chance to a certain newly-back-from-the-dead ex-playboy . . .https://archiveofourown.org/works/5783689/chapters/13329190

Why Don't Men Ever Listen? by @writewithurheart - AU Felicity tells Sara about an encounter with Ray Palmer and her Mystery Man. http://writewithurheart.tumblr.com/post/166452289044/birthday-prompt-why-dont-men-ever-listen

Between Love and Skate multi-chapter by @dettiot - After an injury ends his chances for a career in professional hockey, Oliver Queen doesn’t know what he’s going to do.  And then he gets an offer to become a figure skater and partner with a beautiful, babbling blonde skater: Felicity Smoak.  With a gold medal at the Olympics on the line, can love stick its landing? http://archiveofourown.org/works/3343235/chapters/7313252

Pieces of Always multi-chapter by @so-caffeinated and @dust2dust34 - Life continues after Forever is Composed of Nows. Ongoing non-linear collection of family moments for the Queens. http://archiveofourown.org/works/8220479/chapters/18840356

Radiate or Drain by @turtlejustice - Post 5x17 fic http://archiveofourown.org/works/12384441

Baby's First Salmon Ladder by @muslimsmoak - Little tommy queen inherited his father’s athleticism and that’s not a good thing. Especially when his mother felicity is trying to multitask managing the comms and watching her son in the bunker. http://archiveofourown.org/works/12382086

Shattered into Pieces multi-chapter by @diggo26 - Having to blow up the Foundry and last minute Oliver goes back in having forgot “something”…BUT it turned into a speculation/spoiler for 3x19 http://archiveofourown.org/works/3557969/chapters/7835702

South of the Equator multi-chapter by @charlinert -  A young teacher from Boston will do anything in her power to ensure that her upliftment project goes ahead, when the ground of a small farm school is threatened to be sold to a buyer who has no interest in her project. Oliver Queen, movie director of Queen Studios volunteers to do a documentary on upliftment work in a small farm town to put as much distance as possible between women, love and his broken heart. Oliver and Felicity’s paths cross 9000 miles from home, when their worlds come crashing in the heart of Southern Africa. http://archiveofourown.org/works/11568378/chapters/25990497

Pink on Green: Why do you keep her around? by @sssssssim - Oliver overhears Laurel being mean to Felicity and has had enough http://archiveofourown.org/works/1414105/chapters/3743612

Nightmare by @geneshaven - Felicity joins Oliver and William for the evening. https://geneshaven.tumblr.com/post/166518679404/nightmare

Better Together by @adiwriting - Oliver and Felicity attend a middle school dance http://adiwriting.tumblr.com/post/166519844071/fic-better-together

Thursday multi-chapter by @someonesaidcake - There is something about the girl next door that Oliver Queen is only now noticing... Felicity is moving to college just down the road from where Oliver is a senior.  He suddenly becomes very protective of the girl next door.  Thursday night dinners might not ever be the same again. This story gets better and better! http://archiveofourown.org/works/10688658/chapters/23670255

Blood Hands multi-chapter by @dust2dust34 - When new Bratva business comes to Starling City, it brings Oliver’s past with the brotherhood into sharp, ugly focus. But when it strikes too close to home, endangering the one person he never wanted that darkness to touch, he finds out his and Felicity’s pasts are more tangled than he could have ever imagined. (Set between 2x06 and 2x07) http://archiveofourown.org/works/3628926/chapters/8013672

Love and Little Cupcakes multi-chapter by @xtina-lynn - Felicity loved sweets so much that she paid no attention to her love life. Until Thea Queen came into her store wanting fabulous cupcakes for her sixteenth birthday. http://archiveofourown.org/works/12400539/chapters/28216053

On-Call for Christmas by LoisLane89 - Short Christmas fic I forgot I wrote a while back and just found. - Felicity is working the emergency call line of the QC IT Department and gets called to her boss's house. http://archiveofourown.org/works/12407439

First Impressions multi-chapter by @entersomethingcleverhere - Modern Pride and Prejudice AU: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a young woman in possession of a great intellect must be in want of job that requires its use.” But Felicity Smoak seemed stuck in the quiet beach town of Hertfordshire forever. Will the handsome summer tourist and his snobby best friend save her from another season of boredom or will Oliver Queen’s stuck up attitude make Felicity want to strangle him before it’s even over? http://archiveofourown.org/works/6033276/chapters/13834785

What Might Happen by @dust2dust34 - 6x03 spoiler fic http://dust2dust34.tumblr.com/post/166557840799/what-might-happen-is-this-felicity-stared

It's Going Down in Ivy Town by @jsevick - NSFW, Oliver and Felicity have fun in an Ivy Town hotel room.http://jsevick.tumblr.com/post/166582904437/just-reread-some-of-your-fever-dreams-smut-and

Oliver's Journal: November 1st, 2017 by @geneshaven - post 6x03 spoiler fic https://geneshaven.tumblr.com/post/166586483544/olivers-journal

// @almondblossomme // @emmaamelia95 // @mel-loves-all // @oliverfel4 // @green-arrows-of-karamel // @coal000 // @miriam1779 // @memcjo// @captainolicitysbedroom // @tdgal1 // @spaztronautwriter // @lalawo1// @quiveringbunny // @quant-um-fizzx // @thebookjumper // @vaelisamaza // @myhauntedblacksoul // @lovelycssefan // @laurabelle2930 // @wrongshipper //

[miss-m-and-her-blog]

He’s My Girl (Chapter 6)

TITLE OF STORY: He’s My Girl

CHAPTER: 6

AUTHOR: miss-m-and-her-blog

WHICH TOM/CHARACTER: AU Actor!Tom

GENRE: Romance, Action, Drama

FIC SUMMARY: He’s a guy, she’s a boy in disguise. He’s an actor, she’s a stuntman or -woman. How can it ever work when the famous Tom Hiddleston stars in an action film, with Charlie or Charlene as his stunt choreographer

RATING: T

WARNINGS/TRIGGERS/AUTHORS NOTES: Again, there would be swear words. But the readers will see interactions between Tom, Charlie, Ian, Paula, Gwen, and Julian :D I also had a part where Ian speaks Spanish

FEEDBACK/COMMENTS: Only thanks and love for the readers for their likes and reblogs that they gave the past chapters ^_^ Lovelots, dearies ^_^

A week later...

As early as  9 o’clock in the morning, the training quarters were already filled with people on a warm-up routine for the stunt training. Al headed the warm-up while all of the actors and stunt performers involved in action sequences, lined up row by row doing the exercises.

Tom stood at the back; he and Julian had Charlie in the middle of them.

“And now for the leg stretches…” Al spoke up over the gym and he lunged in so that his calves would be stretched.

All of them followed, but at the second row of the file, Ian was looking back at Charlie. At that time, Charlie has no idea that Ian was looking at him, but Tom caught Ian’s glimpse.

They both looked at each other, but even when Al had moved on to another stretching position Ian was still trying to get a glimpse of Charlie.

Tom somehow cockblocked the way Ian was looking out on Charlie. Ian almost glared back at Tom for cockblocking, but Tom shot a sharp look back at him.

Ian then turned his head forward, but also rolling his eyes at Tom.

“Prick.” Tom said under his breath.

“What?” Charlie asked him.

“Nothing.” Tom only replied as he followed also the new position that Al did.

After the last exercise, they all dispersed and went to each assigned teams. Some were assigned to the fighting choreography, while the others were on the tactical stunts. Al as the head stunt choreographer, he is in charge of each teams.

But he also trains Ian, and the reason why is that Ian and Tom's fighting style needed to be different in the film for the sake of the script and plot.

Meanwhile, Charlie was trying to blend in and also evade Dodong who was assigned in the fighting choreography team.  His Auntie Baby had told him that Dodong kept calling at home asking about her.

Charlie have responded to him in a personal text one time that he works for another studio as a production assistant but that was the last thing that he told Dodong. He can only hope that Dodong won't recognize him when they're finally face to face.

Tom and Julian on that time were having a conversation on how to execute some stunts, as Charlie is also training Julian because he is Tom's body double.

In the middle of their conversation, Ian came prancing around and he was directed for Charlie.

"Gentlemen, and Charlie Go, my man!" Ian went on to give Charlie a high-five to which Charlie responded also with a laugh.

"So, is this two giving you a hard time training them?" Ian then placed an arm around Charlie who was very surprised by that move.

"Uh... Not really." Charlie shyly replied as he can feel Ian's abs while he was being held so close to Ian's body.

Tom then narrowed his eyes, and at that time Julian noticed that Tom is projecting a Loki-ish vibe.

"Charlie is actually a good trainer. If you think we're giving him a hard time, you wouldn't even know, because your trainer is Al, isn't it?" He almost sneered but he kept it cool.

Tom's English accent was so menacing yet seducing that Charlie couldn't help but stare longer at Tom than he has permitted himself.

In the middle of it, Julian threw a look of confusion from his left to right. He didn't knew that there is a subtle rivalry going on between Tom and Ian.

Ian only gave out a Pfft and he finally let go of Charlie.

"And so it is. See you later at lunch, Charlie." Ian whispered the last part into Charlie's ear to which he only froze from where he is standing.

Ian went to Al to start his training for the day, and to not make it awkward, Charlie excused himself,

"I'll get the target pads then we'll start right after." He pointed out and then he carefully walked away.

Julian faced Tom, "What was that with Ian? Are you hating on him on purpose?"

Tom still has the malevolent look on his face when he replied, "I don't like the way he flirts with Charlie. Paula already warned me about Ian and that he's pretty much a horny bastard."

Julian's brow raised, "So what?"

Tom finally loose the Loki look and said, "So what? Look at Charlie--he looks so innocent. And Ian will just corrupt him or whatever when he finally gets him."

Julian snickered, "Tom, please. We don't even know if Charlie's also into girls or guys, for that matter; maybe you're just overreacting with Paula's warning? Maybe the two of them can be just friends?"

Still not giving up from the argument, Tom crossed his arms on his chest and chewed his thin lips with contempt.

"Why are you even being so protective of Charlie all of a sudden?" Julian asked.

Tom didn't get to speak for a few seconds. Maybe he's just protective of Charlie because he can see that he's a gentle soul, and he's also kind though very quiet sometimes.

"I'm just concerned, that's all. And he's only 19, for fuck's sake." Tom explained.

"I see. If you want to play the big brother role, that's fine. But you don't get to judge who Charlie dates or who he doesn't." Julian declared the last statement of their argument.

"Now here comes your boy." Julian tapped his chest when Charlie came around.

Charlie arranged a mat beside them as he is going to teach them some kicking techniques and slamming the opponent.

For the time they started the routine, Tom had still an internal argument going on in his mind--he also wonders why he is protective of Charlie.

You're just concerned that's all. Tom calmly pondered.

In his view, there was nothing wrong with being concerned for someone he is acquainted with. And that's the idea that Tom would like to believe in.

It was already 11:30 am and Al had called out a lunch break for all of the actors and stuntmen.

As expected, Ian had already nabbed Charlie away into the cafeteria where a buffet will be served. Ian was not letting Tom be a cockblock again.  He even thought to himself what was Tom's deal. Then he remembered that he's dating Paula Weissman; whom he was linked to, while filming the period drama film that he had done last year.

Ian didn't really dated Paula or anything--as his memory serves him right, they were just really friends at first, but Paula assumed that he had feelings for her. She wasn't really just his type and maybe she had just underlined his name with a red marker on her list of names for people she hates.

The thought of Paula looking like Regina George made him quietly chuckle.

Charlie noticed this, "What's so funny?"

Then Ian spoke, with another answer in mind, "Nothing. I just kidnapped you from your English nanny."

"What?" Charlie cocked her head to the side, confused.

"He was being a dick, and I know you saw that." Ian pointed out.

Ian kept an arm around Charlie's shoulder as they walked side by side on their way to the cafeteria. Ian started, "You know, I thought before that Tom's quite fine. He's hot and he's British. He was my type, but then again, he's just another asshole in the show business."

Now Charlie's brows furrowed, "What? He's your type?"

Ian giggled at Charlie, but then he saw that Charlie is actually clueless of his gender. "Yeah. Well, I thought you knew that I'm..." Ian trailed off as he slowly removed his arm from Charlie's shoulder.

"You're what?" Charlie pushed to get to the final answer.

"I'm Bi--Bisexual. I like girls and I like boys."

Charlie as Charlene knew a variety of people and their personality from the past years of her life. She had gay friends and also lesbian friends; even her closest cousin is gay. But there was still a soft shock to her now that she finally can put it down that her conclusion about Ian is true--he is hitting on her but Ian likes Charlie-- not Charlene.

Charlie only nodded first, understanding him, but he had to ask Ian so it wouldn't look like he just assumed that Ian is into him.

"That's good. So, I'm just wondering, and I may sound rude or assuming--" then Ian cut him off, "If I like you?" Ian narrowed his eyes on Charlie, and he felt like a helpless prey from Ian's enticingly predatory look.

"Y-Yeah... Something like that." Charlie stammered.

Ian's chocolate-brown eyes now beheld him instead of stabbing him with a mean look, and there was a sincere tight-lipped smile that appeared on his face.

He placed his hands on Charlie's elbows and slowly pulled him close, "I know that I'm too obvious, and I'm not the one to hide my desires. But I do have a crush on you, Charlie."

As if Charlie got poured on a bucket of cold water from his head; he felt something like a cold shiver run up his spine, but then was replaced with a burn that blazed off his cheeks.

Deep inside, Charlie was trying to process the confession he just heard from Ian. Would he decide about this as Charlie Go or as Charlene Lee?

Ian booped his cheek, as Charlie had gone so quiet afterwards.

"Hey. Tell me something--anything. Just don't be silent, like that." He flashed Charlie his puppy-dog eyes and fiddled with Charlie's fingers

Finally, Charlie finally got to speak, "I-I just... I never had someone tell me that they have a crush on me."

"Or maybe this is the first time that a man had told you this kind of confession?"

Charlie looked away for a while, thinking that it is really his first time having a situation like this. But he felt worried--Ian doesn't have a crush on Charlene, but with Charlie, an identity created to get even with the asshole Andy Lockley is.

"Well, yes. I guess so." He mumbled as a reply.

"How about girls? I bet you've had a lot of confessions from girls, didn't you?" Ian teased Charlie.

Charlie tilted his head from side to side, feeling anxious, "Well... More or less."

"I hope that this doesn't change anything. Are we still friends?" Ian's voice seemed to chime and his smile was wide and bright.

Charlie nodded, "Friends."

Ian gave out a sigh as he beamed down on Charlie. But deep inside, Charlie felt trapped.

His male identity is already having more from what he bargained for. But somehow, he also thought of Tom.  He would be leading Ian on if he kept Tom the muse of his heart.

As they approached the cafeteria, Charlie finally thought; maybe he can give Ian the romantic attention, and so he could take his mind away from Tom. At least, he doesn't have to worry about a moment when he'll be caught staring longingly at Tom.

Maybe that's what's best for now.

He almost forgot that they have entered the cafeteria and that Ian opened the door for him. But he was lost in his thoughts that he almost didn't noticed this.

Maybe there's nothing wrong if I returned the crush he is having for me. I like Ian, too. He may be too coquettish sometimes, but he's fun to be with. Charlie pondered.

Ian then lead him to the queue for the buffet only intended for the actors and other execs. Charlie almost didn’t noticed this and he was going to pull himself out of the line.

However, Ian already placed his long arms at Charlie and kept him locked in it to make him fall on line.

"Ian, no! I don't get to fall in line here!" Charlie tried to get away but Ian only kept him close.

"No, I got you, Charlie. Hey, Tino!" Ian then called out the chef behind the buffet table who came out and shook hands with Ian.

"Ah, mi muchacho! Que tu quiero por la almuerzo?" Tino asked Ian.

"Es depende. Aqui es mi amigo, Charlie Go. Darle todo lo que le guste." Ian tapped Charlie's shoulder.

"Muy bien." Tino obliged happily.

Charlie only stood there, and he was amazed with the way Ian spoke Spanish.

"You're in." He winked at Charlie.

Charlie didn't get to speak back, but Ian followed up saying, "I grew up in a Bilingual home. Maybe that's why I ended up being Bisexual, too." Ian joked and that made Charlie snort then cover half of his face.

Ian and Charlie kept their banter all the while they were waiting in line. Charlie faced Ian at that time and that when they finally approached the table, filled with breakfast foods of different sorts, he didn't realized that he bumped to another person. Charlie immediately apologized but he was met with the glare of his baby-blue eyes.

There Charlie realized, it was none other than Tom himself.

Tom loosened his glare when he finally saw that it was Charlie who bumped into him that he almost spilled the soup at the next person in front of him.

"Charlie! What are you doing here?" Tom asked this because it would be unusual to see him falling in line for the buffet, but not because he wanted Charlie to get off the line.

But Ian mistook the latter meaning and protectively stood beside Charlie, "He's with me."

In that moment, Tom paused and he had a stare-down with Ian. Tom wanted to say something but he realized not to bother with it.

He left the queue but Charlie felt like he was in the middle of two boulders, being squeezed in so tight in the middle.

Fine. Charlie likes the bad company. Maybe I ought not warn him about anything, then. Tom's thoughts felt like it was pounding his head.

But there was a faint nagging feeling up inside him whenever he sees Ian together with Charlie. Tom tried to shake it all off and went to their table.

He sat next to Paula who had just her wardrobe fitting this morning; while Julian and Gwen sat side by side, to which the former ate very slowly as possible to savor the moment being close to his crush.

"Oh, look at that, Ian's pampering his target." Paula sarcastically remarked.

But Gwen, she looked like a strawberry because of her freckled cheeks blushing at the sight of Charlie. Julian immediately noticed this as he traced Gwen's line of sight, and he couldn't well believe what he was witnessing.

"I couldn't care less about them, hon." Tom tried not to sound bitter.

Paula shrugged and went on to eat her low-calorie salad. She then noticed Gwen following Charlie with her eyes.

Paula then gently stomped on Gwen’s foot under the table to get her attention. "Not too much, dear, you'll melt him." Then she winked at Gwen.

But Paula was thinking, That fucker is ruining Gwen’s chances with Charlie.

The main reason why Paula dislikes Ian this way is because of his arrogance that got them entangled in some kind of dating rumors last year. She only wanted to be friends with him because at that time she thought Ian was cool. And she wouldn’t dare cheat on her rockstar boyfriend at that time when she was still head over heels for him.

She observed the pair of Charlie and Ian sit together just a few rows away from them.

I need to make a move to get Charlie notice Gwen. and Paula was determined to help out Gwen with her crush on Charlie.

During lunch, Julian wanted to talk to Gwen but she was somehow distracted.

Tom caught Julian’s gaze and urged him to go and speak out with a nod. But, Julian could only furrow his brows and nervously glance Gwen’s way.

If there was someone watching them, it would look like they are telepathically communicating. Because the two men are so close together, they already understood even the movement of their brows to know what the other means.

Julian shrugged and thought, Here goes nothing.

Before speaking, Julian cleared his throat,

“So, Gwen... I heard that you paint.” Julian’s voice honeyed and that’s why he was met with an eye roll before she replied.

“I do still-life. I also like landscapes using watercolor. Doodles.” She disinterestedly replied.

“Wow, you are a work of art.” Julian gave his shot in giving off that pun, but Gwen instinctively dropped her fork down and sighed.

Tom could only cringed but Paula almost giggled. All of them witnessed, and it is now known as a fact; that Julian is not good in flirting.

Gwen didn’t spoke again as she looked back to where Charlie was sitting.

Her mad crush for Charlie only began when she first saw him audition for the stunt team. And ever since, she’d promised to herself to never take her eyes off of Charlie whenever she has the chance to see him.

But she can’t help feel hopeless as Ian is already making a move on Charlie.

And here I am, two or three steps losing. Gwen thought.

When she met Paula’s eyes, she was smiling and felt like there’s some shenanigans that she wanted to share with Gwen. Gwen knows Paula too well when she’s hatching a plan, and it all confirms it when she gave Gwen a wink.

Paula was sure she’d help Gwen get closer to Charlie, and maybe get even with Ian too.

----

Ian and Charlie left their table and went outside the cafeteria to go back to the gym. When they finally got out, Ian noticed that his phone was not on his pocket.

“Shit. I have to go back, I think I left my phone inside. I hope it’s still there.”

“Oh no. I’ll wait for you here.” Charlie replied.

Ian had gone inside and Charlie could only stand outside and wait. After a few moments, he heard someone call him out.

“Charlie? Charlie Go?” A woman called him out and he turned to see who it was.

He had to keep his face straight when he saw Paula standing behind him, along with another woman (Gwen) that he doesn’t know yet. Charlie was taken once again to his memory when he first met Paula as Charlene.

The memory of Paula’s beautiful and angry face had been indelibly printed into his brain that he felt his chin wobble for a moment. But this time, Paula is wearing her best and brightest smile that made her look like a blonde angel sent from heaven.

She and her companion approached Charlie and he also tried to smile and pretend that he has not met Paula ever.

“Hi there. I don’t think we’ve met?” He calmly replied.

Paula lightly chuckled and was now standing in front of Charlie.

“Tom, my boyfriend, had told me that you are his trainer.” She explained.

All the while Paula was talking, Charlie couldn’t help but be mesmerized by Paula’s beauty. She was far from the image that Charlie had remembered in his mind; an insolent and haughty woman. But when she mentioned who is Tom to her, Charlie felt insecure.

She is Tom’s girlfriend. Wow. He has high standards--and as if I would be able to reach that now I’m disguised as a guy. He pitifully thought.

“Oh. That’s how you’ve come to know me.” Charlie replied, masking his thoughts off with a jolly tone.

“Yes, and I’ve been wanting to talk to you ever since your training with Tom started.” Paula then flashed Charlie her a pleading look with her blue eyes.

“You wanted to talk to me?” Charlie couldn’t well believe it but he was curious as to why.

“Well, you know Tom that is really important to me. And I hope that you go easy on him on training, because sometimes it just breaks my heart when he comes back to me with a bruise or some sore muscle.” Paula sounded like a parent who treats her child with utmost care.

Charlie didn’t know how to answer that, and so he crossed his arms on his chest and said, “I can’t guarantee that he won’t have a sore muscle every now and then, and of course, some bruises can’t be avoided because he’s doing Taekwondo and Capoiera.”

For a while, Paula’s superficial smile faded into a tight-lipped smile. But she spoke again and took Charlie’s arm and she slowly lead him back to the girl she was with,

“Aww. Too bad. So they can’t really be avoided, huh? Well, I’m just concerned that’s all. I’m very well protective of people I really adore and love.” She gently remarked.

Protective? Or Clingy?  Charlie thought.

Before he could say anything else, Paula had lead him to the girl and he had a feeling that Paula intended this to happen.

“Anyways, all I can say to Tom is that he should also take care in training,” she paused, “By the way, have you met my assistant? This is Gwen Johnston.” then Paula took off her arm from Charlie and placed him in front of Gwen who had been blushing again.

In all seriousness, Charlie was clueless as to why Paula is introducing him to her assistant, so to look casual, he reached out to shake her hand.

“I’m Charlie Go. How do you do?” Charlie then smiled.

If only Charlie knew, Gwen’s inner self was jumping around with joy when she saw his charming boyish smile.“I’m fine. I guess, we might be seeing each other for the next few months?”

“I think so. I’m just curious, do you dye your hair red?” Charlie pointed out.

Gwen carefully tucked her hair behind her ear, “No. I’m really just a ginger.”

“Oh. That’s cool.” But actually, Charlie just like the shade of her red hair because as Charlene, he have always wanted to dye his hair red but didn’t got the chance.

As the two of them talked, Paula knew that her match-making conquest is finally bearing fruit. But behind that scene, Julian was observing them. He had made Tom go without him back to the gym when he saw that Paula and Gwen are talking to Charlie.

And his assumptions were right, Gwen does have a crush on Charlie and Paula is helping to have them get together.

I won’t accept that short-ass man as a rival to Gwen’s heart. There can only be one man in her life. And that would be me--Julian Felix Tanner. Julian thought as he made his fist into a tight ball.

But then he muttered under his breath, “But I need to flirt better.”

And Julian could only sigh and drop his shoulders. There, he decided to get back to the gym also before he could be drowned with hopelessness and jealousy.

Ian had finally found his phone and he came back only to see Paula and Gwen talking to Charlie. He came in to the scene as soon as possible with a loud entrance,

“Well, look what we have here! Our famous It-Girl, Ms. Paula Weissman.” He flamboyantly declared then he proceeded to place his arm over Charlie’s shoulder.

“Fuck off, Ian.” Paula narrowed her eyes at Ian.

“Wow, it’s just 1 o’clock, no need to be a sourpuss.” He joked but Paula was only glaring at him, but both Gwen and Charlie were just dumbfounded with these exchanges of insults.

“Excuse us, girls, this fit piece of perfect specimen and I needed to be getting back to training.” Ian took Charlie away and they started walking back to the direction of the training quarters.

Paula only crossed her arms on her chest and narrowed her eyes.

“Fucking asshole. Come on, Gwen!” Paula barked at Gwen who was still smiling at the thought of Charlie.

[wickianaa]

i’m finally gonna do it and today we’re talking fighting styles for john. these movies are Obviously known for the amazing action and the amount of work keanu put into being able to do a lot of the action, so i’m gonna talk about as many fighting styles that can be identified and even why john uses them and for what. for visual examples of these, feel free to head to this post as well.

*DISCLAIMER : i am not and do not claim to be an expert in any of these fighting styles, nor have i practiced any of them personally. i’ve simply done my research, watched a lot of training videos and studied moves, as well as the bonus features of the wick films which often talk about the fighting styles in these movies.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu : we’re going to start with this since this is one of the fighting styles that is most utilized since it’s one of the primary styles keanu was trained in for these movies. this is obviously the brazilian variant of the japanese martial art jujutsu / jiu-jitsu (we know keanu was trained specifically in BJJ because he was taught by the machado brothers, who are a family of BJJ practitioners). the biggest foundation of BJJ is the concept that a smaller and/or weaker fighter can defend themselves from and defeat someone who is bigger, stronger, or heavier. this is kind of the case for john. he is on the taller side, at 6′1″, but he’s not incredibly big, honestly. he has a decent amount of defined muscle, but it’s not crazy to say that most of the guys we see him fight are bigger, stronger, and heavier than he is. which is why BJJ works so well for him. as we see, this fighting style primarily works through gaining leverage in a fight and taking the fight itself to the ground through grappling, where the fighter can execute joint locks and choke-holds on their opponent. taking the fight to the ground and properly executing BJJ techniques can and will allow a smaller fighter to defeat bigger or stronger opponents. 

Judo : there are many similarities to BJJ as these fighting styles are both grappling focused, but judo has a few extra techniques that set it apart from BJJ. these are their throwing techniques and striking techniques, with the grappling techniques it partially shares with BJJ. we see john throw a lot of his opponents, whether over his shoulder or with his hip (standing technique), or occasionally even drop himself to the ground in order to pull his opponent down (sacrifice technique). these are all primarily judo-based and they’re pretty popular when it comes to grappling-style fighting in hollywood movies. the striking techniques share a lot with other martial arts and we see a good amount of that in the opening sequence of chapter 2 since he opts not to use his gun during that time (up until he shoots that one guy in the knees). the grappling techniques are, as i said, very similar to BJJ, in that they are: holding and pinning, strangulation, and joint locks.

Sambo : this is a russian martial art that takes many of its techniques from a lot of eastern martial arts, including jiu-jitsu and judo (the founders of sambo studied judo in japan). sambo is actually the fighting style that we see the boys in the tarkovsky theater practicing in chapter 3, so, considering what we know about john, he would have been taught and be proficient in sambo. this is also the fighting style that viggo utilizes in his fight with john at the end of the first film and john matches him with sambo techniques, possibly just to make the fight fair lol. sambo’s focus is a little more wide since it’s inspired by and modeled after many different types of martial arts, but still very much grappling-based. in sport sambo, it very much resembles catch wrestling, but combat sambo was made specifically for the military so it uses striking and grappling, also allowing punches, kicks, elbows, knees, laid kicks, headbutts, and groin strikes.

Aikido : yet another grappling martial art, aikido has some similarities to judo and BJJ. chad stahelski confirmed that some aikido techniques were incorporated into keanu’s training and ultimately john’s fighting style, specifically in chapter 2. this japanese martial art uses throwing techniques and joint manipulations to injure and subdue. in aikido specifically, it’s a matter of redirecting an opponent’s attack momentum to throw them off. we see john execute a couple of aikido-style throws in the rome sequence of chapter 2.

Hapkido : following somewhat of a pattern, this is one more combat style that deals with ground fighting, although not as much grappling as judo and BJJ. hapkido and aikido share the same japanese origins and some similar techniques but they have become distinct and different with time (aikido is meant to be purely defensive while hapkido is usually considered more offensive and more violent). hapkido is a korean martial art that’s a form of self-defense and deals with strikes, joint-locks, and throws. furthermore, hapkido has a large emphasis in all of this while using techniques with weapons, like knives, swords, staffs, and rope/belt (which is the techniques john uses). these rope techniques are designed to block incoming attacks and then trap the attacker’s limb and use that leverage against them in some way, usually through throwing them, knocking them down, or disarming them. specifically, we see john use pho bak (rope) hapkido techniques in the hotel fight with ms. perkins when john uses his sling as a defensive weapon ; and in the glass house when john removes his belt and uses that as a weapon. as a note : hapkido has not been confirmed in any way as being a fighting style of john’s ; i just simply did a ton of research into martial arts that use these kinds of techniques and hapkido was the one i stumbled upon. and with the confirmed inclusion of aikido, it doesn’t feel too insane that hapkido might have been a thought-point as well by fight coordinators and trainers.

Boxing : i do want to state that the filmmakers specifically chose not to make john’s fighting style boxing because boxing is notoriously hard to fake on film. it’s way harder to fake a punch to the face than it is to throw a stunt guy to the ground, without an edit. which is why they decided to shake things up. but like i said with BJJ, a lot of his opponents are bigger than him, so boxing as a primary fighting style wouldn’t work well for john anyway. but he still knows how to throw a solid punch. there are a couple of solo punches (one in the bath house at the red circle and one in the fight with ms. perkins) and then a few more in john’s fight with viggo, but boxing techniques aren’t things john often uses, except simple boxing blocking which is the motion of raising the arms towards the head and ears to block incoming attacks. western boxing and muay thai blocks are incredibly similar to each other, but i am inclined to list boxing here rather than muay thai (which is another style of boxing), because, based on my non-expert opinion and observations, john doesn’t show much muay thai technique at all. that’s not to say he doesn’t know some muay thai, he just isn’t proficient enough in it for it to be considered a combat style for him.

Shinobi-Iri : this is stealth and infiltration techniques, plain and simple. we see it a little bit at the start of chapter 2, when he very quietly enters the warehouse where his car is being kept. he sneaks up on a number of guards and incapacitates them. we see this even more in chapter 3 in the glass house sequence with his ability to hide from zero and even disappear at a moment’s notice. we also see it once in grand central station in chapter 3 when he disappears right before zero’s eyes.

Close Quarters Combat : it’s not an uncommon idea that john has military history. it’s a headcanon of many, many fans and, when he was making the first movie, keanu himself thought of john as having a military background. that is something i also attribute to my portrayal of john, specifically with him being a marine. so john having been a marine for some time, he would absolutely be knowledgeable of and have proficiency in close quarters combat. CQC is all about tactical organization in confined spaces with a small unit of people, usually engaging with opponents hand-to-hand and with short-range firearms. we see john do a lot of this, although in a solo scenario. this is what the red circle sequence is, the shootout in rome as well, and the hall of mirrors in chapter 2. it’s all john in close quarters with his attackers, with short-range weapons (ranging from sidearms, to shotguns, to the occasional assault rifle). 

Gun-Fu : yes, last but not least, i’m throwing gun-fu in here. obviously it’s not a real martial art, but it’s pretty relevant for john and how he fights. a lot of the fighting styles listed above don’t incorporate many weapons, and especially not large weapons or firearms. they are body-based. many of them have to do with ultimately knocking the opponent out. what gun-fu is for john and in these movies is the substitution of a gun in place of the completion of many holds and locks to knock an opponent out. there are many times where john executes techniques that would leave him able to knock his opponent out but instead shoots them in the head to finish them off.

that’s about all i have, frankly. i really love the fighting styles and choreography that they’ve managed to pull off in these movies. it’s all so exciting and gorgeous and impressive what the actors and the amazing stuntmen and women are able to pull off.

[howrv]

Fargo Chapter One

I slid onto a stool in front of a huge elk head, mid-point behind a U-shaped oak bar. I ordered a beer and tried to listen-in on the conversations to either side of me. The two couples to the right were decidedly out-of-towners. They talked about the sights they had seen that day; the Rex Allen Museum, the surrounding vineyards, a quilt shop, and antique stores. It didn’t take long before I lost interest and turned my attention to the other end.  

To my left sat an old man in a weathered Stetson, jeans, a neatly knotted pale pink neckerchief, a pearl buttoned green western shirt and leather boots. His ornate boots had an inlaid brand mark, FG.  On his heals were silver spurs. A few older ladies around him were gathering their things to leave when the bartender offered me another drink.

“I’ll take one,” I replied, “but I think I’ll slide down here by the gentleman on the end, he looks like he has some interesting stories.” I said in a voice loud enough for the Stetson to hear my comment.  Grabbing my beer and heading in his direction he said, “well, I don’t wanna’ talk to no goddamned long hair short pant wearin’ hippy.” That comment stopped me short about three stools away from him.  The lady fixin’ to leave scornfully addressed the old man and said, “now you be nice to that man Fargo,” then turned to me and said, “never mind him, his bark is worse than his bite. Now sit down here and talk to him!”  I, half-way apologizing, explained that I had just come from hiking six miles in the near-by Chiricahua mountains and these were my hiking clothes. I figured I would appease him by offering him another long neck in exchange for a few stories, which he accepted and began telling me a little bit about himself.

He pointed out a couple of repaired gouges in the oak bar in front of me, and said. “See those? That's where I spurred this bar over 20 years ago. Spurred a bunch since too.”

He was brash and at the same time polished. He captured my interest as we learned of our common careers in film, albeit on different ends of the spectrum.  I learned that he was a retired rancher and was in the motion picture livestock and equipment rental business. He leased livestock, wagons, stage coaches and dressed sets for most every major western motion picture from the 50’s to the 90’s.  He and his hands drove cattle, rode horses, broke broncs and served as stuntmen.

In two beers time I learned that Fargo had been featured on American Pickers, had worked on films from Green Valley and Bonanza to City Slickers and Three Amigos. He had worked with and knew, Maureen O’Hara, Ronald Raegan, John Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Clint Eastwood, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and a huge list of notables.

When the long necks were emptied and it was time to leave, he flipped his business card at me and said, “I like you. Why don’t you bring that big-ass bus of yours out to my ranch and I’ll show you around? But call first. I never know what tomorrow holds.”

His card read “MUSEUM RANCH. 12 miles & 100 years from town.”

On my way out, the lady at the bar said to me, “few people ever see what you’ll see at Fargo’s.  If you’re not invited, you can’t go”

Plans change:

The following day Becky and I Jeeped to sand dunes about 60 miles north of Wilcox and took an afternoon soak in the natural Hot Well Springs in the shadow of the snow-capped Graham mountains.  We had already hiked the Chiricahua mountains, made the 6-mile climb up and down Echo Canyon and hiked the trek into Fort Bowie. Our plan was to move the rig the next day and head to Deming, New Mexico to hike and explore the Florida Mountains to the south and the Gila Mountains to the north.

But Fargo’s card was burning a hole in my pocket.  I told Becky, “We need to do this.”  I had bonded with that ole’ man in a short period of time and I felt like this would be an important piece of our never-ending quest for adventure.  I knew Becky and Fargo would get along just fine.

The next morning, I called Fargo and arranged to drive out to his ranch.  We took the Jeep because I wasn’t sure our 40 foot by 8’4” bus would fit down his lane and the satellite pictures didn’t help much.

Per his instructions, we drove out Kansas Settlement Road and turned onto a dirt road that passed cattle grates, rolling tumbleweed, mesquite trees and open prairie with a patchwork of long-horn cattle, as far as you could see.  The wind kept the desert sand suspended in the dry air so you could barely see the surrounding mountains in the distance. Just as he said, the 3 miles of dirt road ended and we made a left-jog into his narrow lane with old signage on weathered planks that read MUSEUM RANCH, NO TRESPASSING.

At the end of his lane, we parked the jeep and walked past an open gate made of upright mesquite branches tied with wire.  We walked into the courtyard all the while calling his name.  There were covered buildings that housed a dozen or more old carriages, ox carts, stage coaches and wagons.  Corrals encircled the camp housing goats, and a few steers, most were empty.  Pigeons flew in and out of their home-made housing and brightly colored chickens strutted about the yard with a few guinea hens.

With a closer look, we realized we had just stepped back in time.  It was familiar turf, because we had been here before.  It struck me that I had experienced every bit of it, but where was it?   Then it all flooded back into my mind: Bonanza, Gunsmoke, McClintock, Big Jake, Magnificent Seven, Little House on the Prairie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Three Amigos.  I’m there! Only this is not on a screen, it’s all right here!

We walked around the small buildings and barns yelling Fargo’s name. Adrenalized by the moment, I didn’t want to get shot and I feared this would be the perfect place for such a thing to happen.  

About that time, Fargo Graham walked from behind a feed shed and greeted us.  He was taller and leaner than I had remembered. His work-worn clothes looked as if he stepped out of the movies we were imagining.  The Stetson, belt buckle, branded boots, western kerchief, all orchestrated to fit his unique cowboy persona.

I was glad I had remembered to wear my jeans.

[patriciaselina]

Seiyuu Picture Book: Komatsu Shohei

I think that I just normally don’t bring my feelings to the surface. I won’t be able to make it if I don’t push my comfort zone to the point of overdoing it, and isn’t that the fun of being onstage?

Da Vinci News’ solo interview/photoshoot featuring Idolmaster Side M and DAYS’ Komatsu Shohei! The entire interview can be seen on Wordpress but is also under the cut.

[Source]

We go interview seiyuu who catch the eye of our editors, seiyuu we have our eyes on, about their first jobs, up to their private time, and other things that we’ve noticed, and combine them with professionally-taken pictures for our popular project, the “Seiyuu Picture Book”.

For this 162nd chapter, we have Komatsu Shohei, who plays Idolmaster Side M’s Kizaki Ren, and DAYS’ Satou Hideaki, among other roles.

Komatsu-san, you became a seiyuu through your experience with stages; how did you start getting into plays?

Komatsu: As a member of the theatre club in high school, I joined a prefectural tournament in my hometown of Fukuoka, but I missed getting the grand prize, and that was when I thought I wanted to continue acting. As I was being handed the consolation prize, I thought I wanted to try for the top prize another time, so I went to the Kyushu tournament.

Why did you join the theatre club?

Komatsu: Somehow…my father’s a karate black belter, and I also did karate since I was in elementary – I’d strike at the sandbag we had in our garden – all that I’d done up to middle school graduation was related to martial arts, so I said that come high school, I’d like to try doing something I want to do. At first I was too shy to go onstage, so I’d been in charge of stage backgrounds. But, since there was so few male actors, I’d also done acting on the side, and it reached a point where I started thinking taking part in plays was fun.

So it’s because of you losing in that tournament that the current Komatsu-san is here.

Komatsu: During that time, it was then that I realized just how seriously I had come to take acting. But because I was in a high school that focused on getting its students into university, I had to stop taking part in club activities after my second year. For the sake of continuing acting, I tried out saying “I’ll drop out of school!” and running away from home (lol)

You ran away!?

Komatsu: My father was against my plans, so I took a night bus going to Tokyo, and up until I reached Kokura Station, I didn’t take any calls from my parents. But since I took a phone call from my sister, somehow or another my family managed to chase me to Kokura. When I saw my mother crying, of course I ended up thinking that I was horrible for making her cry. In the end they told me it was okay even if I didn’t go to college, as long as I finished high school, and I’d taken up part-time jobs in order to save up money so I could go to Tokyo.

Something straight out of a drama, wasn’t it. After all that, did your dad accept your choice?

Komatsu: Right now, they’re cheering me on. While I’m still far from getting the chance to be a lead actor, when they saw the live viewing at Fukuoka for the last Idolmaster Side M concert, he said something like “If that was me, I’d have done more. I’ll teach you how to kick.”

When I was still at my parents’ house, I’d taken up roles as an extra, but even then, if I didn’t take my morning prepwork seriously, my dad would get mad and I’d hear him say, “If you wanna do this, take it seriously!” I don’t think he’s given me his approval yet, but I think he at least recognizes that I am taking this seriously.

You’d been engrossed with the stage to such an extent – what do you think are its charms?

Komatsu: It’s probably because the stage is the only place where you can set yourself free of inhibitions, while still staying true to your real nature. Of course I’d caught the chuunibyou illness on my second year of middle school (lol) It came to the extent that my friends grew worried, and quickly stopped talking to me. I’d noticed that as I entered high school, so I kept to myself, didn’t talk much, stopped expressing myself.

So it was all thanks to your chuunibyou growing worse…!?

Komatsu: Well, it’s not just because of that (lol), I think that I just normally don’t bring my feelings to the surface. I won’t be able to make it if I don’t push my comfort zone to the point of overdoing it, and isn’t that the fun of being onstage?

In the beginning you belonged to the group called HIROZ. What kind of stages did you do?

Komatsu: Since I’d thought of going onstage, from the start I looked for a place whose main points were “action” and “performances”, and as part of that special troupe I’d been assigned to Kagawa prefecture; for around two years, every day, from morning ’til night, we’d do shows in the amusement park. As the stuntmen in hero shows, the main MCs on cruise attractions, as gourmet reporters, and the like. At the time, I was praised by people who told me “Your voice lingers in our ears.” I accepted that evaluation, and thought that, if I were to use [my voice] as ammo, wouldn’t it be better if I honed and weaponized it, so I set my sights on being a seiyuu.

And after that, you applied for the Seiyuu Awards’ Newcomer Discovery Audition.

Komatsu: I was around 23 when I left Kagawa for Tokyo – if I’d gone into a vocational school then, the risk would’ve been too high. So I self-studied with my voice, and as I searched for a company, I got accepted into auditions. I got rejected the first time around, and the second time I got into an internet training school named “Koebu”, and thankfully, during that year I was able to garner the most amount of votes. I wonder if that was the effect of me being able to do action and doing a high kick right there and then (lol)

Starting 2016, you became the voice for Idolmaster Side M’s Kizaki Ren. A carnivorous character, isn’t he.

Komatsu: Within the series his dancing is good enough to be considered top-class, and he’s a martial artist. I thought it best to apply for a role that suited me. Until a little while ago I knew nothing about the seiyuu industry, so I thought that if I became a seiyuu, I wouldn’t have to show my face [to the audience]. If that was so, I thought that I’d never get to take advantage of my own strengths, such as doing action [stunts]. But because Idolmaster Side M is the kind of franchise where one could actually end up singing and dancing on stage, if I take advantage of my action experience, I think that I’d be able to do a performance that won’t lose to anyone else.

That isn’t just limited to Idolmaster Side M; even in anime and games, there are lots of action-packed scenes.

Komatsu: For example, the voice that comes out when you punch someone – I have confidence that I can play that kind of situation with a sense of presence.

Last summer, you got to take part in the release event for your CD. What kind of feelings did you have, standing on stage as an “idol” for the first time?

Komatsu: More than the passion from just going onstage, I felt the power of the franchise even more strongly. I’m getting to see this scene through the eyes of the character I portray. That’s why, in order to prevent both the world within the franchise and my character’s image from collapsing in on itself, I make a conscious effort to only show what is expected from me, even if I’d want to show more.

As part of the three-man unit THE Kogadou, are there any things you keep in mind?

Komatsu: Taiga Takeru’s seiyuu Terashima Junta-san and Enjoji Michiru’s seiyuu Hamano Daiki-san are two people who I’d been deeply entangled with since I first entered the seiyuu world. I’m really grateful to have such good senpai as them, and thanks to that I think the atmosphere within our unit has become a good one. I’ve learned a lot from them in terms of performing, so I think I’d like to give back to them through my specialties of action [stunts] and dancing, and I hope to grow with them as both a member of the unit and as a seiyuu.

It’s now your second year since becoming a seiyuu. Did you get to have more seiyuu friends?

Komatsu: Sometimes I’d get to meet some when we work for Side M together. Because there’s little time for intermingling, we’d just chat about how we’d do our best together and stuff. I started as a seiyuu pretty late, so I’m older than everyone else. In the beginning everyone talked to me using keigo, but that doesn’t feel equalizing, so I’d tell them “casual speech is fine, let’s get along better.” One time we all went out for drinks, the next time we went flower viewing (lol)

If you go to an amusement park, you might confuse everyone, after all (lol) Do you have any hobbies you do during your private time?

Komatsu: Since I don’t have any hobbies and am searching for one, I got invited by my peers to play tabletop board games together, and I’ve started to think they’re fun. And then there’s muscle training in order to keep the muscles I have now. Since I keep saying action is my specialty, I’d get embarrassed if my friends from back then would think I’ve let myself go (lol)

You do your muscle training at home?

Komatsu: No – recently, I’ve found a nice place where I could do muscle training. It’s a public park near my house, but people never go there, so at night I do sit-ups on the bench, and I practice backflips (lol)

What kinds of works do you want to appear in as a voice actor from now on?

Komatsu: The fun in being onstage is where you get to interact with people, so as long as it’s a place where I think I can move forward with my own emotions, I’d do any kind of work, whether it be in anime or dubbing. Since I usually record my lines for app games on my own, and I’ve yet to have many lines in DAYS, I hope I’d be able to take part in more roles I can apply myself to.

Any current challenges?

Komatsu: Getting my emotions across, facing nothing but a microphone, with no conversation partner or audience in sight. It’s a very basic thing, but it’s very difficult and I still struggle with it up to now. I’d like to be better at acting.

Lastly, please go ahead and give a message to our readers.

Komatsu: If you know of a seiyuu named Komatsu Shohei – it doesn’t matter how you knew me; if you’d remembered me, that’s good enough. I’m not going about this [being a seiyuu] thing in the usual manner – I do stunts, backflips, and all that – but if you think you’d be fine with someone unusual, then by all means, please see the franchises I’d gotten to be part of. And from now on, I’ll do my best to be someone you’d be able to like more.

Profile (KenPro) | Twitter | Video comment

my translation index

The incident he mentions in the first question (losing at the tournament) is the same one he mentions in his first interview for Nizista.

Chuunibyou – the middle school second-year sickness; being an overly self-conscious teenager.

Like I kept saying in the Nizista interviews, Shohei means “action” in the sense of “action stunts”, so keep that in mind!

There are a lot – a LOT – of nuances that get lost in translation – he makes particularly deliberate word choices in some parts, but in some points the grammatical correctness wins out, and in some points the motive behind the sentence wins out. Like I keep saying, I can only promise up to “reasonable assurance” on this…

Keigo – polite speech, used by younger kouhai on their elders.

There is a picture of him playing what seems to be tabletop DnD with his Side M costars. He was the dragon.

Thanks for reading! Please do not redistribute this translation anywhere without credit or permission!