#they had the actresses read off the script for a scene from some kind of wonderful

[chirpsythismorning]

The audition tape was revealed to be dialogue from an episode of EDtv.

Sometimes the ST production uses existing scripts from other work to have talent read off of for their audition.

If they already have a vision for the character in mind, they can use other media as a way to test out the actor skills, and also avoid spoilers and leaks in the process.

So while it could still be an audition for s5, the dialogue itself has no actual relevance in terms of what she’s saying somehow aligning with the s5 plot, bc that script already exists in another story entirely.

Though we’re not supposed to be getting any new characters. When I heard that I still expected a handful of new characters anyways, but it’s getting to a point where we’re already at 3+ rn so I’m wondering if it’s more complex than them being new characters. Maybe they could be playing flashbacks of older characters younger though?

[eupheme]

— cabin down below

dieter bravo x actress!f!reader

rated e - 1.8k

tags: cabining, co-stars-with-benefits, mentions of alcohol, references to sex and horror films, implied paparazzi trying to catch them together, oral sex

ahh nervous to post this (first time writing for him!) but excited about this gorgeous moodboard I recieved for Summer Lovin’ 24! 🏕️💖 thanks so much for hosting @pedgito, @amanitacowboy, and @chaotic-mystery!

Dieter really can talk you into anything.

The official table read is on Monday, scenes due to start shooting soon after. You really shouldn’t be thirty miles out of town right now - leaving the comforts of your apartment and the air conditioning of the limo, to hike another mile into the forest.

But you’ll trade the luxury for a chance to spend time with him. An old spot, he said. His dad’s cousin’s place, bought it off him when they needed the money. Been in the family for years.

“You gotta immerse yourself,” Dieter had told you, his arms spreading wide, “What better place to practice lines than here?”

It’s your first time in a movie with him. You’re not sure if he’s really a method actor. Equally not sure that it’s needed for a movie called Campground Carnage II - or if the city just seemed a little too loud, a little too busy.

Deep down, you hope it might just be an excuse to get you alone.

You'd be pretty alright with that.

It’s been hard to sneak around Los Angeles. There’s cameras everywhere. An obsession with one Dieter Bravo - the current hottest, most eccentric star.

You’d met before his last big break. Reading lines for Covert Affairs, but they had passed over the mutual chemistry for an actress with a little more weight to her name.

He had gotten the part, and you had gotten his number. Two desperate hookups when you both ended up in Vegas at the same time.

Only to come back together a year later.

“Long Island,” He had smiled, when he saw you, “Good to see you again.”

You had been surprised he remembered you, much less the drink he had bought. Enough alcohol in both your systems that you would’ve forgiven him if he had.

Not that you would have, though. Not with that mouth of his.

Something that you’re thinking about now, as the trees clear. The cabin tucked between them - a peeking sliver of a river cutting through the terrain behind it.

A cozy little thing, not much bigger than the apartment you’re missing. Built with thick wooden logs, two tidy windows out front, the checkered curtain pulled shut.

The key ring twirls on his finger, as Dieter moves ahead to unlock the door.

You can’t help appreciating the view, as he does. This ‘camping’ look suits him. It’s almost enough to make you a little jealous of his ability to look good in anything and everything he throws on.

A tight black tee, the hat that’s pulled down over his messy curls. Featuring an embroidered trout, with “fish want me, women fear me” scripted above and below that he found at a garage sale. Patterned crocs with matching shorts that only reach mid-thigh.

And you're at least 45-percent sure the fanny pack around his waist is filled with condoms and KitKats.

It’s been hard to keep your mind off him, on the drive over. Battering his wandering hands away, with the driver only a few feet from you. Still shy, both enthralled and not used to his open affection.

Trying to concentrate on the script. Preparing to run lines, just in case his suggestion for this weekend wasn’t some kind of euphemism.

But you kept going back to a particular scene. The two counselors - that’s you and him - sneaking off to one of the cabins in the campground.

A steamy encounter involving both the top and bottom of a bunk bed, and a lot of Bravo on his knees. Anything to showcase his physique, you’re already picturing how they’ll stage it with the female gaze in mind.

Bare back, you’re guessing. A hint of ass, but still tasteful.

The scene a fake-out - featuring a jump scare, with the shadow of a person passing by the windows behind you. Tapping into that classic trope - first to fuck, first to die.

Which might be true - if it was his first movie.

He doesn’t actually make it to the end, though. Dieter’s demise coming from a staged accident in the fishing lake, just as the movie lulls into a sense of safely. One final blow before the big reveal.

You know people will be pissed about that. As a fan of the series, even you are a little.

But the thought of having a scene with him - there is a flicker of excitement, that dulled heat in your belly - even though you know that logically, it will all be purely professional.

It’s still fun to imagine.

The door cracks open, but there’s something else with the sound. You frown, your head whipping towards the woods behind you. Searching for the source of the noise, one that sounded a little too familiar.

“Did I just hear a camera click?”

“Nah,” Dieter shrugs, “There’s no way they know about this place.”

"Yeah,” You hum, giving another glance. There’s nothing but the rustle of trees, the rush of the water. A self-conscious laugh, as you head inside, “Maybe I’m immersing myself too much.”

“No hauntings or serial killers here, sweetheart.” He smiles, “But if you’re scared I have a few ideas to get your mind off things…”

The door clicks shut behind him.

Your eyebrow arches, “Oh yeah? Like what?”

Dieter pretends to think, as he advances on you. Hands reaching out to trace up your sides, pulling you flush against him.

“Can think of a scene I’d like to start with,” He husks, eyes darkening, “There’s no bunk bed here, but I think we can make do.

Hunger flares in you, now that you're alone. Your eyes dip to the curl of his mouth, no more than a breath before you’re pressing your lips to his. A rough moan as his hands slide up your back, his tongue already brushing across your lower lip.

Tasting sweet when they part for him, your own moan swallowed as you lose your grip on your bag, letting it tumble to the floor.

It’s always so easy to get lost in him. If you’re not careful, you might just get swept away.

“You don’t want to see what the directors have in mind?” You tease, when you pull back for a breath, “Hold off on that scene until later?”

“No can do.” Dieter groans, as he pulls you back to him, “Not with you looking like this.”

You can’t help the smile, as you start the stumbling journey through the main room, wandering hands and the press of mouths.

His hand grasping your ass as your fingers slip under his shirt - the other reaching for the door he has you backed up against. A creaking swing, as it opens.

Dieter’s hands are at your hips, as soon as the back of your knees hit the bed.

“Let me taste you, baby.” It’s mumbled against your lips. His fingers dipping beneath your waistband. A nail tracing the edge of your underwear, raising goosebumps, “Been thinking about it all day.”

You remember this from before. How focused he gets. Willing to beg, shameless, if there’s something he wants.

And you’re always willing to give.

The bed is soft - covered in worn buffalo-checkered sheets - as you let yourself be lowered onto it. His hands catch your ankles, tugging you down until your legs drape off the edge.

Spread wide, so he can fit between them as he kneels. Batting your hand away as you go to push down your shorts.

“I wanna do it.” He hums. His own shorts already pulled tight, a hand coming to palm himself in anticipation.

Your hips lift for him. Nails bite into skin, grasping fabric and pulling down both layers. Easing them around the bulk of your gym shoes so his palms can press into your thighs, spreading them even wider.

A rough noise, when he sees you.

“You been thinking about this too, babe?” He coos, a thumb pressing against your slit. Rolling against the wet gleam of your center, as it betrays your desire.

You huff, the muscles in your legs flexing. Breath held as your eyes flit up to his, waiting. Watching, as he sucks your slick from his skin with a groan.

“Bet you were. Saw you eye-fucking me in the limo, all while telling me to keep my hands to myself.”

"I-I," You try to answer. To protest - to say you weren't - but his palms are smoothing up your skins. Distracting, as he slowly moves.

Those eyes focused on yours as his head tips. An open-mouthed kiss to your knee, then thigh. Moving up, as your heart races.

Inner thigh, now.

"Dee," There's a buck of your hips, with your whine, “Don’t tease.”

It’s futile, you’re certain. Unable to take what you dish out. But perhaps he’s been pushed too far as well.

“Tell me you need it.” His pupils are blown-wide, drunken already.

It’s easy to answer.

“Please. I need you.”

The next kiss is right against your slit. Messy, as his mouth covers you. Your fingers twisting in the blanket, as your knees press against his shoulders.

He’s too good. Teasing with the wet brush of his tongue. The slow creep of his fingers, the tip of one pressing against your entrance - only to withdraw just as you clench down.

Again, and then again. Slowly sinking into you, one knuckle at a time. Working you open, until you’re stretched wide around three of them - too full to form words.

“Don’t need direction for this,” His eyes flip to yours, a dimpled smile as his fingers sink deep and then curl, “Do I, baby?”

He does it again, as your answer pitches high. Your hips bucking into his touch as his tongue licks at you again. Timing it so that the point of his tongue teases your clit, each time his fingers rub against the spongey spot inside you.

He’s going to make you come. You’re too wound up, too needy for him.

“Fuck, Dieter.” You keen - your leg hooking over his shoulder, “Oh fuck, keep doing that-“

“That’s it baby,” He grins, “Improvise for me.”

It makes you laugh, which has him groaning as you tighten around his fingers. His left hand dropping to push down the waistband of his shorts. Fingers pulling from you only long enough to smear your arousal on his cock, to pump his fist until he’s covered.

It’s then that you think you hear it again. Just as his tongue slips inside you. Another mechanical sound from outside, just barely audible through the wooden walls.

“Dee,” You moan, fingers twisting in his hair. Either to pull him closer or push him away, you’re not sure, “I d-definitely heard-”

“Can’t see in here.” It’s mumbled out, gasped between your thighs.

He’s seen to that, at least. The blinds thick, the bedroom tucked away.

A grin, as his tongue flattens - licking from hole to clit, “Wasn’t planning on leaving, anyways.”

You trust him, knowing he wouldn't leave you vulnerable. The sound in your throat is muffled as your teeth clench, “But they-, what if they hear us?”

It’s only now that his head lifts, those dark eyes blown wide. Paired with a lazy smile, his lips shining as they stretch wide.

A soft croon.

“Then I guess you’d better be quiet.”

Your laugh turns into a soft groan, at the flick of his tongue. Self-conscious perhaps, but not wholly and entirely deterred by the thought of an audience.

Not when you’re with him.

“Keep that up,” You manage - as something molten floods through your belly, “And you might have to help a girl out.”

His weight presses into you as he moves up - heated, bare skin as he settles between your thighs. Dieter’s nose skimming your throat, as his hand slips between your thighs.

Just before his mouth presses to yours, swallowing you moan.

“That, baby… I can do.”

just wanted to try something fun 🏕️ thank you so much for reading! and thanks again for this awesome event!

[sixpennydame]

Make. Believe. ❖ Act 2

Actor!Levi x Fem!Reader

Levi has always kept his professional and private life separate…until you came along.

Warnings/Content: NSFW, Minors do not interact, vaginal sex, creampie, angst, mentions of AoT final season episodes

A/N: You know it wouldn't be me if I didn't add a little angst in there. ;-). This story will have a final, third part.

Act 1 | Act 3

“Levi! Levi! You’re needed in hair and makeup in 5 minutes.” His assistant knocked on the locked door of his trailer.

“Yeah…yeah..I’ll be right there. We’re just working on a script analysis.”

Levi currently has you hoisted up against the small kitchen counter, his pants down around his ankles as he’s pounding into you. You’re both sweaty and disheveled, and definitely not doing script analysis of any kind. 

“Don’t go, not yet..” you purr into his ear before nibbling on his earlobe. 

“God, I wish I didn’t have to.” He grabs the sides of your waist and starts thrusting even harder, his breathing becoming short and erratic. His climax comes intensely, even with a quickie like this. It’s just how his body reacts with you, he can’t explain it.

He lays his head on your shoulder. “You vixen, see what you do to me?” He looks down at his watch. “Shit, I’m gonna be late. Aaliyah is gonna kill me.”

He pulls on his pants, runs his hands through his hair, and gives you a quick kiss. “I’ll see you on set later.”

A sigh escapes his mouth as he leaves his trailer. What the hell is going on with him?

Levi had always prided himself on being a professional. He took his job seriously and others respected him for it.

He was sad that Attack on Titan was coming to a close; he’d met some of his dearest friends through the show and it allowed him to make a true living from acting. On the other hand, it had catapulted him into a spotlight he never truly wanted. The paparazzi, the tabloids, the constant prying into his personal life - it drove him mad sometimes.

The press was always trying to pair him with his female co-stars. If he was seen having dinner or even a coffee with any of them, suddenly they were a couple and the rumors would fly. Sure, he’d had some flings here and there, but nothing serious, and certainly nothing he wanted the public to know about.

Between filming Attack on Titan and his various other film projects throughout the year, Levi barely had time for romance or a relationship anyway.

And then he met you.

His first impression of you was that you were cute. But there was no shortage of pretty faces in this industry, and he wondered if you were just another one of those young actresses chosen more for their looks than skill.You fit the physicality and persona of the character of Anna well: you had a timeless, classic look about you that fit perfectly with the 1920’s time period and bright, beautiful eyes. In fact, it was your eyes that he first noticed, because he could see every emotion you were feeling through them. As time went on he’d get to know you better, and would learn how to read your emotions through your eyes. You were like an open book.

Any concern about your skill was quickly dismissed the first time he rehearsed with you. You were serious and hard-working, and you had done your homework on your character. Initially he’d offered to spend time with you because he wanted you to feel comfortable with him, but as the days passed he found that he just ‘clicked’ with you.

He’s not sure when he began to desire more. Maybe it was that first intimate scene when you threw him off guard by taking his fingers in your mouth. More than likely, it was in the quiet moments you two shared together - reading lines to each other, the way you would bite your bottom lip when you were concentrating. Or when you’d rehearse blocking, feeling your warm body against his, weaving your fingers together as your characters held hands.

When he felt himself get hard while shooting the sex scene, Levi knew he was in deep. It was the first time that he’d just allowed himself to lose control, for a brief moment. But seeing you there, your beautiful body displayed before him, your eyes wild and yearning, he couldn’t help himself. Even rubbing against you like that felt like a dream; and then you moaned his name in his ear…

God, he’d loved that. He’s not sure how he was even able to stay in character. Maybe he hadn’t. It was all starting to get mixed up.

——

Levi leaves his trailer to find Aaliyah, his assistant, waiting for him with her arms crossed and a to-go cup of tea in hand.

“Seriously, Levi?” she huffs, handing him his tea. “A locked door again?”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry. We just…needed privacy for the blocking.”

“I thought it was script analysis?” Her eyebrow raises.

They stop walking and stand in front of the makeup trailer. “Right..script analysis AND blocking. Thanks for the tea - is this English Breakfast?” He sips the drink, attempting to change the subject.

“Levi, it’s been four weeks of locked-door-script-analysis-blocking-whatever…I know what’s going on between you too.”

Aaliyah moves closer. “And it’s fine. You’re both adults, do whatever you want. But don’t get too distracted.” She puts a hand on his shoulder. “And people are starting to talk. I know you hate that.”

It’s true, the last four weeks he had been distracted. He just couldn’t get enough of you; or rather, you couldn’t get enough of each other. He loved kissing you, holding you, being between your legs. But he also just loved being with you: your loud laugh, your ability to make everything a dumb song, your kind and caring nature. Everything about you was just magic to him.

And he should have known people would start talking: the chemistry was undeniable between you two. The following week included shooting scenes of the two characters being hopelessly in love. There were montage shots of the both of you lying naked in a field, him brushing over your hip bones with flowers; next, it was swimming in the creek, your wet summer clothes clinging to your body as he teased you to jump from the rock; another yet was the two of you reading by firelight in his cabin, your legs propped on his lap as you both laughed at the story. Watching the two of you act together was like watching something intimate and special; even crew members that didn’t work that day would come and observe.

At the end of the day, one of you would end up in the other’s room, opting to be with each other rather than go out with any other cast and crew members. People probably were talking, but for the first time in a long time, Levi wasn’t thinking about what others thought - he was just doing what felt good and right in the moment. For a seasoned actor such as Levi, it was reckless and selfish…

…and very likely driving his assistant Aaliyah crazy.

“If this gets out, the rumors may overshadow the publicity events we have set up for Attack on Titan next week. Just..be cautious,” she warns with a concerned look on her face.

——

The following week, the film’s final, pivotal scenes were scheduled to be shot. Since these concentrated mainly on Anna and her husband, Levi had some free time that his publicist decided to fill with some promotions for Attack on Titan’s final season. Filming wrapped for the last episode months ago, but he and a few others were also called in for some last minute voice over work. Interviews, talk shows, and social media events were the least favorite part of the job for him, but he happily obliged to be able to see some of his closest friends again.

As he boarded the plane he thought about you, like he often did these days. Maybe he could bring you to some of the AoT premiers and introduce you to Erwin, Hange, and the others. It surprised him: he was planning a future with you after filming. He’d never done that with anyone before and it honestly scared him a little.

When Levi arrives at the studio where AoT is filmed and edited, he instantly feels like he’s at home. So many memories shared with such amazing actors. Only a few minutes pass before he sees a familiar face.

“Oh shit.”

“Levi fucking Ackerman.” Zeke steps out of the sound booth. “Look at you, still have a tea in your hand and a scowl on your face. I think you’re becoming more like your character every time I see you.”

“Well I drank it so much on set it just became a habit. But hating you might be the other thing I grew accustomed to.”

They both stare at each other intensely then break out into laughter. Levi reaches out to shake his hand. “Damn, I’ve missed sparring with you. How’ve you been?”

“Good, man. Can’t complain. You?”

“Not bad, not bad. Good to be back in the studio with you all. I’ve missed this.”

“But you missed me most of all, right?” Zeke puts an arm around Levi.

“I never get a chance to miss you, Zeke. They always put us in interviews together.” Levi laughs. “Did you see we’re doing the Vanity Fair one next month?”

Zeke nods as he walks down the hallway with Levi. “Yep. And then we have the WIRED one in a few weeks where we read the google searches about us. I wonder how many of mine will be monkey related.”

“I had to do one of those Tik Tok Challenges with the kids yesterday. God, I shouldn’t call them kids anymore, they’re all in their 20’s now. Anyway, it made me feel incredibly old.”

“Speaking of being old…” Zeke's eyes shine with mischief, “what’s a grandpa like you doing with that new, young co-star? Please tell me she’s single.”

“She wouldn’t be interested in you. She’s definitely not your type.” Levi found himself getting defensive. “And I’m not that old.”

And Zeke saw it immediately. “Ah, fuck. You’re into her.”

“Oh come on…” Levi tries to blow it off with a wave of his hand.

“No no - I’ve worked with you long enough to know that look. But good for you, man.” Zeke pats him on the back. “Press is gonna have a field day with it, though. I can speak from experience. And then there’s the constant juggling of schedules, trying to find time to see each other. You’re in your prime and she’s just starting out - who knows when you’ll ever have time for one another, especially with the schedule we’re about to have. It can strain a relationship.”

Levi’s schedule was packed the rest of the day with recording and media events, but Zeke’s words had planted a seed of doubt in his heart, and it had him troubled. He was right, dating another actor is difficult, especially if they’re both steadily working. Was getting in a relationship the best thing right now, even if it felt so right? Were you both rushing into something neither of you were prepared for?

____

Levi returned to set later that week, his mind a jumbled mess of thoughts and worries. It was late, but he’d texted you to say he was on his way so you were more than likely waiting up for him.

When he arrives to your room, you practically jump into his arms. “I missed you.”

“It was only a week,” He chuckles, then squeezes you a little tighter. “I missed you too.”

You grab his hand and lead him out of the foyer. There were candles lit and a bottle of wine and two glasses on the table.

“What’s all this?” he asks.

“I have big news.” Your face is beaming and you grab both his hands. “Remember that series I auditioned for before we started filming?” She pauses, building up the tension. “Well…I got it. I got the part!”

This was big. It was a huge HBO series that was already being talked about before casting had even started. Actors from all over were competing for roles, so the fact you got a part just solidified for Levi what he already knew:

Your star was rising.

“That’s amazing! I’m so, so proud of you. You deserve it.” He hugs you tightly.

You pour the wine and give Levi a glass. “I just can’t even believe it. First this role, and now the series? It’s happening all so fast.” You clink glasses with him and take a sip. “I’ll have like two weeks at home and then I fly out to London for costume fittings.”

Levi can feel the excitement radiating off you. “When does filming start?”

“In two months. It’s being filmed in Iceland, so I’ll be spending the rest of the year there, from the looks of it.”

His heart sank. He knows how the industry works, and he wasn’t naive enough to think that they could be together forever. He just wasn’t ready for this all to end yet.

“But I have some breaks in between, I think.” You’ve already got your phone out and are looking through your calendar and appointments. “You’ll probably be doing a lot of publicity for the final part of AoT, so maybe we can try to coordinate our breaks to be together?”

“Yeah, I’ll leave for Japan after we wrap here for the start of the publicity tour, then Europe and the U.S. once the final episode comes out. It’s gonna be difficult.” There’s a worried look in your eyes so he cups your cheek. “We can talk about it later. Right now, we have some celebrating to do!” He takes a drink of the wine and gives you a reassuring smile.

That night, he makes love to you softly and lovingly, kissing down your chest, your hips, your thighs. He wants to take in every part of you, treasure every moan and sigh. While you sleep in his arms, he runs his fingers through your hair. He wishes they could stay in this room forever, that the filming for this movie would never end. But the real world - and their careers - are waiting, and it’s not slowing down, for either of you.

It’s selfish of him to want you for himself. He knows that this film will bring a lot of attention for you and that will bring more and more jobs. To ask you to be with him, to make time for him, it isn’t fair to you.

Plus, he’s quite a bit older than you are. He can already hear the tabloids having a field day with that one. They would probably blame your rising celebrity on being with him. You don’t need that kind of negative attention.

He feels a heaviness in the pit of his stomach, fearing what is inevitable.

____

The final scene of the film is shot deep in the mountains, where Levi’s character has moved. In the script, he’s left the estate in order to escape his feelings for Anna, but in the end, she leaves her husband and seeks her lover, choosing to be with him.

It’s a beautiful moment. The sun is just rising over the mountains as you walk towards the cabin. Levi turns around and sees you, but neither of you say anything. The wind whips your hair across your face as you approach him, and he pushes it back, cupping your cheek and bringing you in for a kiss. All the crew watches in silence.

“And cut! That was perfect, you two.” The Director gets up to face the crew. “And that’s a wrap, everyone!”

There’s applause, then the crew starts taking apart equipment and loading it into trucks. You look at Levi and smile. “I guess that’s it then.”

Crew members start coming by to congratulate you both and to spread information about the wrap party later that night. Levi wants to get you alone, to talk with you privately, but you’ve already been whisked off by your assistant.

You ride together back to town in the same car, but since you’re not alone, Levi decides to text you:

Can we talk when we get back to the hotel?

Sure. <3, was your reply.

____

Levi’s palms are sweaty and his heart races as he waits for you in his room. When you knock, he opens the door to see your beautiful, smiling face. He can feel his heart breaking already.

“Sit down. We need to talk.”

“Ok,” you sit down next to him and he takes your hand, “what’s up?”

He knows he has to just say it, even though it’s hard. There’s no way to ease into it. “Now that filming has wrapped, I’m thinking we should cool things off.”

She pulls her hand away. “What do you mean, cool things off?”

“We had fun together, but once this is over we’ll be in two totally different parts of the world. It’ll be that way for a while.” He looks down. “You don’t need to worry about seeing me or being in a relationship.”

That makes her scowl at him. “Don’t put this on me, Levi. Because that is not what I want. I want to be with you,” she pauses, searching his face, “I thought you wanted that too.”

“I-“ he thinks carefully about what he should say next. “It’s not realistic.”

He looks into your eyes - those beautiful eyes he’s learned to read so well - and knows he’s hurt you deeply.

He cups your cheek. “You are such a talented actress. Working with you, getting to know you, has been the greatest experience the last few months. But you are about to do big things. You need to focus on your career, and I don’t want to get in the way of that.”

“So this was just a fling for you? Something to pass the time?”

“Of course not.” Levi’s stomach is in knots. “I haven’t felt this way about someone since…God, I don’t know if I ever have. But I don't want to start a relationship I can’t give one hundred percent to. You deserve to be taken care of and treasured. I,” he struggles to say the words, “can’t give you that right now”

He sees a few tears running down your cheeks and he wipes them away with his thumb. Then he brings your forehead to his. If this is the right choice, why does it hurt so badly? He thinks to himself.

Levi expects you to yell or push him away, but you don’t. “What we had - it was good, wasn’t it?” you ask, sweetly and sadly.

His adam’s apple bobs as he swallows hard, pushing down all the things he wants to say. “It was. Really good.”

He can still feel it - the pull you have on him. He tries to will himself to move, but he can’t, he doesn’t want to. You plant a soft kiss on his lips, then another. He opens his mouth and feels your soft tongue mingle with his, as the kisses grow more passionate.

Your leg moves across him and you now straddle his lap while Levi’s hands grab your ass, pulling you closer to him. You wrap your arms around his neck as you both continue to kiss and Levi’s hands move under your shirt to cup your breasts.

You begin to grind on top of him and Levi adjusts himself on the sofa so that his hardening cock can rub you exactly where you want it. God, he can’t get enough of your body.

There’s a sudden stop in your movements and then you’re hiking up your skirt and pulling off your underwear. In answer to your actions, Levi undoes his pants and pulls out his cock right as you sit back on him. In one fluid motion he slides into you; you’re already so wet but tight, so he wants to take it slow, but you won’t allow it. You raise up your hips so that only his tip is inside you and then you sit back down, taking him in fully.

You undulate on top of him and he can feel you tightening around his cock as you move. Maybe this is your way of punishing him or just a way to use him, but he doesn’t care. If he can be with you, just one more time, then he’ll let you do whatever you want.

He grabs your hips as you move up and down, your pace turning fast and relentless. When he leans in to kiss your neck, you push him away, forcing his back against the sofa. Your hands on his shoulders, there’s not much Levi can do other than let you have your way.

Neither of you say anything, not even through moans, but your sad eyes stay fixed on him. You’re so warm and so wet, Levi can feel one of those intense climaxes coming again for him.

He cums inside you, and a deep guttural moan escapes his lips. Your movements switch to a deeper grinding motion as you pursue your own end.

You lay your head in the crook of his neck as he puts his arms around you. Minutes pass and neither of you say a word or move a muscle.

He’s a fool to give this up.

“Goodbye, Levi.”

You get up, quickly slip your underwear back on and leave without another word.

——

Levi reluctantly goes to the wrap party later that night, only planning to show his face then get out of there as soon as possible. Maybe if he only stays for a brief moment, he won’t have to see you.

But then you show up with a few other cast members. He can tell you’re already drunk because you're talking loudly and hugging everyone. Either you haven’t noticed he’s there or you refuse to acknowledge him, and both pain him. He has to get out of here, but before he can make his exit he’s grabbed by the Director.

“Everyone, let’s give a round of applause for our two leads…hey where is our Anna? Get over here!”

You walk out of the crowd and stand next to Levi. As the Director pushes you two together, you smile and take turns thanking the crew and supporting cast. Your smile is radiant as you speak, but Levi notices one difference:

Your eyes, once so easily readable, were now closed off to him.

You work your way around the room and Levi decides he shouldn’t leave the party yet, especially since he thought a guy from the supporting cast was flirting with you. Jealousy begins to build up in his heart as he watches you from afar; you laugh, placing a hand on the man’s arm then pulling it away. Levi’s own hand grips his whiskey tightly before downing it in one shot.

When you’re finally by yourself and ordering another drink at the bar, he can’t resist walking over to you.

“You seem to be enjoying yourself,” he says with vitriol and a hint of inebriation in his voice.

You don’t look at him. “Yeah, that’s what you do at parties.”

“And you’re flirting with everyone here…is that what you do at parties too?” The words start falling out and he does nothing to stop them. “Looking for the next person you’ll fuck tonight?”

You turn your head at that last remark, as your eyes flash and shoot him a pained look. “You don’t get to judge who I talk to tonight,��� you move closer to him, your voice lowered to a whisper as you speak, “or who I fuck.”

All he can do is watch as you turn your back to him and join your group at the table.

——

The next morning, Levi is awakened by a knock on his door.

“Levi! We need to leave in 30 minutes to catch the flight to Japan. I hope you’re packed in there,” Aaliyah says in an authoritative tone.

Levi rolls out of bed and grabs the water on his bed stand. He shouldn’t have drank so much last night, but it was the only way he could deal with seeing you. He’d refused to leave that party until he knew you went back to your room safely - and alone.

He opens the door to see Aaliyah waiting for him, tea in hand, as usual.

“Ugh, you look like shit. Please put these on.” She hands him her Rayban sunglasses.

As they walk down the hallway, Levi stops at your door and almost knocks. Maybe he can take back what he said last night; maybe they can make this work.

“She already left. A few hours ago.” Aaliyah puts a hand on his slumped shoulder. “Come on, we have a flight to catch.”

Levi sighs, then something shifts inside him. This is over. And he has work to do.

He puts on the sunglasses and prepares to face the growing crowd of fans that have heard he’s leaving the town today. “Right. Let’s go over my Japan schedule on the way to the airport.”

Join my taglist!

@thevelria @lunaheroine18 @meltingforthatackerman @adanfore @blondebebop @levisfavoriteacup @dont-f-with-moogles @itty-bitty-baby-face @ricecrispiebirb @whorenamedbee @rec-a-fic @leviismybby @littlerequiem @satorizz @lost-in-the-daylight @nube55 @kingkonoha @mrsackxrman @youre-ackermine @luvjiro @wanderlustqueen-writes @mrsackermannx @honestlywtfisgoingon @bejewelledd @cometlevi @sea-after-a-storm @notgoodforlife @belovedackerman @y44sherlock @xyumemi @armani78 @humanitys-strongest-bamf @thalia-prior-of-ravenclaw @woozzz @imlevisoneandonlywife

[supercalime]

Girl who’s too old for DCOMs talks about Descendants Rise of Red for way too long:

- Literally no joke, I’m a firm believer that this is the best descendants movie and I wish we could’ve followed this story since the beginning

- im so so happy that they had a much bigger budget! This franchise really needs big set pieces, a lot of CGI, costumes that look expensive and a cast that can actually act, so it paid off

- ok so I’m gonna highlight a few things, let’s go

- I was really shocked they killed Carlos off (for obvious reasons, my respects to Cameron), as this franchise is for younger kids and dumbs down a lot of things. China’s delivery and her tears made me very emotional. Which is no surprise as she carried the other 2 movies she was in on her back

- Red is a very likable protagonist but some choices made for her character were boring. She’s not really looking for approval from her mom and she clearly has a good head on her shoulders so I don’t see the reason of having the “fake outs” that she will actually sentence someone to death but again, kids movie

- we only got one and a half scene of Maddox but I already love him

- Rita Ora and Brandy ate and left no crumbs. They play queens because they are queens

- after the reveal that there was a prank that turned the QOH evil, I expected that Cinderella had something to do with it (more of that later)

- I did cringe a little on how much rapping/sing-talking there was. If you want that hire Lin Manuel Miranda

- I’ll forever be bitter that Disney flipped Kenny Ortega off and stabbed him in the back, but that being said, Jennifer Phang couldn’t have done it better. She knew how to work with the script and the budget. Although some of the photography and choreography felt a bit weird

- it was certainly a choice that young Bridget looks nothing like her older self. Specially um…skin tone wise. There’s some implications I won’t get into

- im very surprised on how little we saw of the supporting characters. I thought Aladdin, Jasmine and Fay were going to be more prominent. And poor zellie (btw stupid name, just use Rapunzel)! Who got cut out of the movie completely!

- Aladdin and Jasmine were absolutely adorable!

- uliana and the other villains were fun antagonists. They were what I expected so I don’t really have notes.

- it probably has something to do with the IP but I don’t see why not have Uli just be Ursula but whatever

- I do appreciate that this installment finally made clear of what the lore is. We finally got confirmation that this universe isn’t a sequel to the movies, which was very confusing in the first 3

- this is gonna sound horrible but. Im so glad they committed to killing Cinderella. I do wish they had done that before Chloe and Red time travelled to give Chloe more motivation. In fact I’m very happy that this movie was darker than the other. Disney animated movies always had a lot of death so this feels closer to them than the other 3 ever did

- Now onto me thinking Ella was in on the prank, this will be long: the movie has third act issues and it was very anti climatic, which even led me to believe there was going to be a twist until I saw there were like 5 mins left. Anyway, when Cinderella told the QOH “it was just a prank and that was so long ago” I was convinced she had been involved, so I was looking out for it. I was reading into every expression Ella’s actress had and thought I saw that she was pretending to be Bridget’s friend to get out of her abusive home. I thought that it would’ve been revealed that when the prank was done, she’d maybe just do nothing and leave Bridget helpless because she was afraid that if she did help, she’d never be like the other princesses or something. It would’ve been so cool to see Chloe’s view of her mom shatter, as she only knew her as this benevolent queen who’s only kind and perfect.

- obviously none of that happened and the climax felt really flat. We should’ve seen the dance in the beginning of the movie, not knowing who the characters were, then we go to the present, then once the time travel happens, we don’t spend as much time before the dance and we get the dance a little before the third act and see a few of the things play out. Like Ella and charming falling in love, or even Fay giving her the dress and shoes before, and a Carrie like scene of the prank almost happening that is stopped by Red and Chloe. Then back to the present and a BIG ENDING MUSICAL NUMBER!

- All that being said, I hope we get more sequels. I think it would be cool to see this as more of an anthology thing, following different protagonists so the stories don’t feel too stuck into a few characters. Also Disney, cmon. You’re a streaming site now, let’s get some cannon queer characters please

[trillscienceofficer]

from Cinefantastique Volume 28 #4-5, November 1996

KLINGON ENGINEER: Roxann Biggs-Dawson as B'Elanna Torres gives heart to the hard-working Maquis engineer.

By Anna L. Kaplan

A bedroom scene between B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Biggs-Dawson) and Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) appeared in the second season VOYAGER episode, "Persistence of Vision." This scene provoked a very loud and negative response from fans. A surprised Biggs-Dawson laughed and said, "So many people gave me so much flak about that, as if I had written it. It was amazing, the letters, and the comments. Mostly the women really spoke out strongly against it, and felt that it was a weak cop-out. I totally disagreed with that."

In the episode, an alien was able to subdue the crew and put them into trance-like states by mind control, whereby each individual believed himself to be with someone extremely psychologically important. Tuvok, for example, joined his wife on Vulcan, while Tom Paris saw his father. B'Elanna, hard at work in engineering and determined to save the ship, found herself talking to Chakotay, apparently, who convinced her to stop work and join him. While she knew it was not really Chakotay, and said so, B'Elanna succumbed to the temptation.

Noted Biggs-Dawson, "I felt that the strength of that alien, the way he could get to us as humans, was that he understands the deep need, whether you're a Vulcan, or a half-Klingon or whatever, that we all have to love and to be loved. The things that would put us into those trances were those very deep needs. I think for B'Elanna, it wasn't a reflection of a direct attraction to Chakotay. He represents so much to her, a father figure, a mentor, her teacher, her coworker, and he is an attractive man. I think it was a desire to give in to a side that she does not give into easily, and that was what caused her particular trance. I don't think that necessarily means that he is always on her mind. It probably took her by surprise as much as it did the audience. It was more of a reflection of her need to please, to fulfill, all of these things are very real, very human.

"At [STAR TREK] conventions, a lot of people [were] feeling that the writers just felt that the only thing B'Elanna was about, was being in love with Chakotay. That wasn't what the message was at all. I didn't read it that way when I read the script. It did say something about all of the characters who succumbed to those needs of wanting to love and to be loved, those things that we shove away, and push away, and don't want to deal with." It is readily apparent that Biggs-Dawson thinks a lot about B'Elanna Torres and what makes her the person she is. She noted about the second season, "I think it's been interesting. I've had some interesting costars, one was a computer, and one was a mechanical man. I'm waiting for them to give me a real person to play off of." She laughed. "I keep joking. I had an episode last season where I played opposite myself, then opposite a machine, then opposite a machine with my voice. So it's obviously a theme. Hopefully [this] year I get to talk to a real person. The second season episodes the actress is referring to were "Prototype" and "Dreadnought." She noted more seriously, "When I saw both 'Prototype' and 'Dreadnought' they scared me a bit, because it was going to be difficult to pull off. I think the end result was that we found some interest- ing themes I didn't know were there in the beginning." In "Prototype" Torres repairs a robot whose creators are gone. The robot then wants her to make new robots. Biggs-Dawson observed, "So much of 'Prototype' was the only way B'Elanna could deal with her own mothering instincts and creation [instincts]. At this point in her development, probably the only way that she can confront her feelings and herself, is through the creation and adoption of a mechanical being, of a robot, and to be as excited about that as some people [are] about children or other kinds of creation."

In "Dreadnought" Voyager encounters a Cardassian missile whose computer Torres had reprogrammed when she was a Maquis, using her own voice for the computer. She has to stop it from destroying a highly populated planet. Said Torres [sic, the author meant Dawson], "'Dreadnought' was an interesting challenge because it was very much dealing with who B'Elanna used to be, confronting her former self. She was forced to see how much she had changed, and who she was at the time. She was forced to battle that in a very, very tangible way. That I found to be the most interesting: think I had most of my revelations when I went in to do the computer voice. As I was recording that side of the episode, later on, there was a real sense of growing to understand who I was before, who B'Elanna was who was actually programming all that stuff into the computer."

Biggs-Dawson likes B'Elanna Torres. She said about B'Elanna, "She makes mistakes. I love that the writers allow her to be flawed and fallible. I think that's what makes her so interesting. So often on television you have these characters that are playing all good or all evil, and they battle it. Here you've got this character that is a little bit of both, which I think we all are. Her decisions and her struggles, what makes them so human, in a way, [is that] there is often not a definite right and a wrong. There's a lot of gray area in there, and I think that's where B'Elanna lives." Biggs-Dawson has some ideas about how to explore her character, but hasn't yet approached the show's producers or writers to discuss them. "We can say whatever we want, whether anything's ever done about it, that's another story," she said, laughing. "They're very open to listening to us. I actually haven't felt the need to discuss the future of my character with them at all, because I feel like so far they've been very much in line. It's only been in the last few weeks that I've had some desires or thoughts that I might want to approach them about. But it's really been the first time in this two year process that I might want to go to them and say, 'Why don't we look at this side of her character. We want to explore this.' I think in the beginning, they hand you a character. They know so much more about this character than you do. Now it's been two years and she's starting to meld vith me. I think they understand that. As we play these characters, we start to almost take them, and they become ours, and our insights mean that much more."

The versatile and talented Biggs-Dawson, who played Diana in A Chorus Line on Broadway, has film credits which include DARKMAN II and GUILTY BY SUSPICION, and has appeared on such television shows as MATLOCK, THE UNTOUCHABLES, and POINTMAN. As B'Elanna Torres in VOYAGER, she hopes to inspire and teach, something that has always been possible on a STAR TREK series. She speculated about the future on VOYAGER, "It's important, as relationships develop, and I hope they will, that being a strong woman doesn't mean that you can't have a partner, or you can't show romantic feelings toward the opposite sex. I think that the rules have to be redefined. To think that in order to be strong you have to be alone the rest of your life is kind of frightening, and I hope that STAR TREK will be at the forefront of showing a new kind of woman, who will redefine the love relationships between male and female. I'd like to see that."

But facing the hiatus before third season, she is ready for some time off, which she said she will use, "Mostly to relax. I've go a few conventions, and a couple little vacations planned. But I think mostly to relax, it goes by so quickly."

[devisrina]

Another comparison between Sydney and Claire - The Meet Cute

Credits to: @velvetimbre for this post

We all know the infamous speculation about whether Sydney lied about eating at The Beef or not. What is found even more hilarious is the fact that we're speculating that Claire planned her grocery store encounter with Carmy.

This is unhinged. Like, truly mind-boggling.

Because, the biggest hint that we ever got to Sydney lying was in episode 8, aka the season 1 finale, when she reveals to Marcus that she didn't eat out a lot.

Similarly, we find out in episode 10 aka the season 2 finale Claire has always had this huge crush on Carmy. Meaning that there could be a decent enough chance that she planned the encounter.

It's just the way that these fan theories directly have similarities about how deliberate the planning was while also working as juxtapositions as their reasons were different.

Sydney, while yes, could hold attraction to him, was more on the professional side for her career. Carmy is the best chef in the country and she strives to learn a lot from him to improve her skill. I also want to add that while I think she was planning to talk to him about his career, I feel like she isn't necessarily holding onto that question. I feel like she would have been fine with waiting to ask him at a later day. But because he's the one who is asking her more about herself, she decides to return it by asking about what he's doing there.

It's also really sweet that she asks him before to clarify if it's okay, to ask him a question. This might allude to her thinking that it was a touchy subject, so she made sure to ask first if it was okay. And it's so sweet, especially since we know Carmy, we know he's shy. He runs along with people always telling him what to do or say, and even though this is little detail, it's nice that she gives him a choice with this.

Throughout the show, he's more of the person who kind of breaks down her walls a bit and wants to get to know her on a more personal level. And she begins to feel more comfortable with this and is really glad to have him as a maybe friend.

With Claire, (this isn't meant to be taken in the wrong way) her motive came from wanting to pursue a relationship with him. It begins with some small talk that feels natural but then starts to feel a bit rehearsed when she says "Cause you're the bear, and I remember you." And she segways their earlier banter as a way to get his number.

Her actions and body language are purposely flirty. The way that her voice is when she talks to him, she wants to mesmerise him with her actions. Specifically after he gives her his 'number' she looks back up with her wide eyes and slightly says "Kay."

I also remember thinking when I saw their meet-cute and how Claire/Molly was acting out her lines, how it felt like she was reading off a script for an audition tape. (Molly is a talented actress in Shiva Baby, Good Boys, Broken hearts Gallery and Booksmart, so watching this scene felt off). But then it hit me. It was meant to be that way. Claire essentially rehearsed her lines to come off confident and cool when she finally got a chance to see Carmy.

Like, I feel like she would look way more shocked, nervous and stumbling over her words and sentences if that was the first time she saw him.

Even the most confident person feels so jittery over seeing their long-term crush. She seemed like she planned what to say to him before she saw him again. Even if it had not been that specific day that she thought she would see him, she probably has walked around here and there in hopes that she would see him again.

[bluemoose86]

Thoughts on The Woman King

Spolier-free:

First of all, I loved this movie! And so did the other two people I went with; the three of us literally talked about how we all wanted to see it again after it was over

Great fight choreography, loved getting to see a bunch of women go absolutely feral in battle without them being sexualized or still having to “look pretty.” There’s a lot of close-ups during fights of the Agojie killing people and it’s not pretty, it’s brutal and it’s fucking awesome (the movie is PG-13 though so it’s not overtly gory, which I personally appreciated)

THE ACTING???? On point the ENTIRE movie. Give Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, and Lashana Lynch ALL the awards RIGHT NOW. Viola Davis embodied Nanisca perfectly and was equally impressive in the epic battle scenes and in the emotionally vulnerable scenes. I’ve seen several articles talk about how this was a career performance from her, and she herself called the film her magnum opus. Lashana Lynch stole every single scene she was in. Izogie my beloved. I also enjoyed John Boyega’s portrayal of King Ghezo and Sheila Atim as Amenza

Also I literally had to do a triple take when I found out Thuso Mbedu, who plays 19 year old Nawi, is THIRTY ONE?????? SHE’S ONLY THREE YEARS YOUNGER THAN LASHANA LYNCH???? SHE’S THE SAME AGE AS SHEILA ATIM???? In other pictures she looks older but I am actually 19 and I stg when I found that out, I felt old

And still speaking of the actors, really cool how the majority of, if not all the Black actors in this movie were dark skinned, particularly the women. I read that when the movie was first being pitched, some studios wanted to cast light-skinned and well-known actresses, but the producers refused

The beginning felt a little rough to me in terms of pacing, but the movie hits its stride around the mid-point or so. And trust me, when it starts working, it works.

The script was also a bit weak sometimes, but I thought the performances made up for it

I’ve seen some people online saying the movie glorifies the slave trade or glorifies Dahomey while brushing the kingdom’s involvement in the slave trade to the side, which really confuses me because...it doesn’t? The movie opens with a text-scrolling intro à la Star Wars that literally mentions the slave trade, and several characters in the movie talk about it as well. Nanisca and King Ghezo have a conversation about how Dahomey profits from the slave trade, and how Ghezo’s brother sold their people—including his and Ghezo’s own mother—as slaves for profit. And then it gets more overt when some Portuguese men land at the port city, one of them specifically to buy slaves, and when we go into the city and LITERALLY SEE slaves being chained up, kept in cages, and brought onto the block to be sold. The movie both shows and tells you how awful the slave trade is, and how the people in the movie are impacted by it. At one point, some of the women are captured and prepped to be judged and sold and the entire process is presented as brutal and degrading. I’m seriously convinced that the people who say the movie is “glorifying slavery” have never seen it

Wanted to end this section on a good note lol so I’ll once again say IZOGIE MY BELOVED!!!!! Favorite character without a doubt, also gave off fruity vibes but y’all let me know if you picked up on that too lol

Overall, I definitely recommend this movie and I will 100% rewatch it in the future. Also this movie BETTER win some fucking Oscars or else 😤😤

Spoiler thoughts below!!

Izogie’s death scene was very well done. I kind of guessed they would end up killing her off since they really built her up as a character, but that didn’t lessen its impact at all. Lashana Lynch and Thuso Mbedu acted their asses off (as they did the whole movie, but particularly here). The actual set-up was good too: having Nawi convince her to stay alive so they could all escape together, setting her broken arm and then having to pretend like it was never broken, having her be the only one who actually escaped but deciding that Nawi was right that the Agojie should help each other and trying to go back for her, only to get killed while Nawi is begging her to keep running. Heartbreaking, but that’s what made it so good

By contrast, Nawi’s friend’s death (the Mahi prisoner, I forgot her name I’m so sorry) was not really impactful at all, beyond her dying right after being accepted by the other Agojie who had a problem with her before. I wish they had spent a little more time on both Nawi’s friends as individual characters and their relationship with each other. We barely saw Nawi interact with either of them before they became best friends, and after the Mahi girl died, neither Nawi or her other friend mourned her on screen (I know Nawi had been kidnapped at this point, but the other girl survived and wasn’t kidnapped)

I loved how Nanisca and the other Agojie went to the city intending to just rescue their own but she found out that the slave traders killed Izogie and Nawi was missing and she said “burn it to the fucking ground.” Iconic as HELL and I wish more stories would let their MC react like that

Also loved that the prisoners that Malik freed drowned the slave trader he came with. Fuck you dude

A woman literally getting to kill her abuser? We love to see it

I wish they’d brought up Nawi being an orphan a bit earlier in the movie, since it seemed like it was introduced rather suddenly after she became an Agojie. They could have pretty easily tossed in a line from her parents admonishing her for acting so terribly after they “rescued” her from the orphanage. 

I also really enjoyed Nanisca and Amenza’s relationship! I got kind of gay vibes but the only thing that was explicitly confirmed was how close they are and how much they mean to each other, which I was also happy with. I’m so glad Amenza survived the movie lol

[bluedalahorse]

So I wrote a little something about the RWRB movie, particularly the erasure or diminishing of some other queer characters’ (not Alex or Henry’s) identities. I’m cutting it so you don’t have to read it, but of course you can if you would like to. Not going to tag it for now, just for peace of mind.

So overall, there were parts of the movie I found charming and enjoyable, and I think things really picked up in the second half. I did find the whole thing kind of uneven on a writing level. I know changes have to be made and things have to be cut when you go from a novel to a two-hour movie, and I sort of like looking at how the adaptation process works. After a second watch I can probably pin down some of the writing issues and appreciate what did work. I don’t know if I will or won’t post about it.

Really, right now, the thing on my heart that I want to discuss, is the representation issue.

I actually think they did a good job representing Alex and Henry’s relationship mlm onscreen, once it got going. The tender moments were tender, the spicy moments were spicy. You didn’t get actors looking at one another like “oh god I have to be in love with a man now” and we didn’t cut away from the intimacy scenes like we were ashamed of them.

But—sigh. The way they cut or diminished every other queer character in the story. Obviously I knew Luna and Liam had been cut out, so I was ready to adjust my expectations there. I’m glad Amy was played by a trans actress, although I also wish we like… knew Amy was trans and sapphic? Maybe there was a line about Amy’s wife that I missed, but I don’t remember one. 

My biggest feelings of frustration, though, is how they handled Nora, who is very much bisexual and Jewish and a statistical analysis nerd. I get combining Nora and June to streamline things for the movie, but I do not understand why you wouldn’t make Nora bi? You can keep roughly the same number of scenes with her and Alex, and just rewrite their interactions to sound like two queer friends talking instead of a protagonist and his Black Best Friend archetype the protagonist says things to because he needs to say his internal monologue externally. Rachel Hilson did bring great energy to the role, so I liked seeing her onscreen. I just wish the script gave her more to work with and didn’t erase her bisexuality. Like there’s a certain audacity to the script saying that the B in LGBTQ isn’t silent (an important line to have!) when the film is either very much silent about a key character’s bisexuality or has written it out completely.

(Although, the part where Nora was obviously playing a drinking game over political debates? Loved that, excellent example of DC behavior right there, I did cheer at that scene. I am 100% serious.)

Also. There’s just… something. About implying that the gay Mexican journalist character was the one who leaked the emails, instead of the Republican Party. There’s something about writing that storyline in an America where gay people, Mexicans, and ~the media~ are regularly demonized. At a time when the actual Republican Party IRL is literally out here trying to do a genocide on trans people, and Florida’s Don’t Say Gay ban is on the books, and everything. I get that Prime was probably trying not to piss off the actual GOP and draw their ire, but like, conservatives are not going to watch this or like this anyway? I get changing the antagonists, maybe, but maybe we need to go in another direction with that. Hm.

One more thought, as far as overall vibe. Washington DC is statistically the city in America with the highest LGBTQIA+ population. Queer rights are visible in our city’s culture—maybe in a nerdier way than some of the more “hip” US cities but it’s still there if you know where to look. The West Wing/federal government are a bit removed from DC’s broader culture, depending on the administration, but Ellen Claremont is a liberal Democrat with a diverse staff, so she’s more likely to have an open relationship to DC’s queer culture than say, a conservative Republican president. So… idk. Let Alex move through scenes that reflect this culture, is what I’m saying.

Tl;dr I think the RWRB movie worked as a gay romcom in the Netflix Christmas movie sense. It reflected an mlm relationship and did it well enough. At the same time, Casey McQuiston writes books about queer community, which has always been one of the reasons I gravitate toward their work and come back to it. I feel like this movie chose queer individualism over queer community, and that makes me sad. It especially makes me sad in a time where we’re getting tons of mlm-themed things released but every other aspect of LGBTQIA+ identity has been ignored or diminished.

For comparison, RWRB is about the length of half a season of Heartstopper, and even half a season of Heartstopper depicts a range of LGBTQIA+ identities and knows how to write queer community, even when centering the story on a main mlm relationship. And yes, Heartstopper is different, different things need to be considered and so on. I do think the People Who Make Heartstopper looked at what the comic said, went “oh, one of the things this comic is about is about is queer community” and created a show that reflected that, even if they couldn’t adapt everything from the comic. I wish the People Who Make RWRB had looked at Casey’s book and done the same.

I hope we can simultaneously hold the competing truths that like, 1. it’s okay if the RWRB movie isn’t groundbreaking art, because some LGBTQIA+ movies are just allowed to be mid romcoms, but also 2. it didn’t do right by the queer community themes in the book, and it erased the queer women especially, and this feels like part of a larger pattern when so many mlm releases are happening all at once.

Anyway I’m done, for now. More thoughts later? I mean who knows.

Who’s looking forward to Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe?

[corellianhounds]

For the character ask game… 25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now? (Din, Grogu, Boba and Fennec—all, some, or just one if you don’t want to do too many 😉)

I LOVE this question tysm 💕

My first impression of Din was colored by intrigue; I knew next to nothing about the show going into it, but I’ve always loved silent stoic masked characters, and then they made him a cool, capable lone gunslinger type?? Awesome, I’m already into it

And then as the first episode went on and we get the religious/cultural aspect of his code going into the covert, the deference he gives the Armorer and the mere GLIMPSES of his past in the flashback (all of this sequence of scenes scored by Ludwig Göransson’s incredible soundtrack), I was suddenly SUPER invested in this guy. They’ve already made him complex and interesting and I’ve loved every second so far, what’s next??

And then they introduce the kid at the end. And he’s possibly the cutest thing to come out of Star Wars. And you know just from looking at him what his species is meant to imply. And the second Din shot IG-11 I knew immediately what kind of story this was going to be and I was hooked

I was a fan of Star Wars before season 1 of The Mandalorian, but season 1 made me a Star Wars Fan™

I was also super intrigued by Fennec and was really impressed with Ming-Na Wen (no surprise there, she’s a great actress) and I was SHOCKED that they legitimately killed her off bUT THEN WE GET A POST-CREDITS SCENE!! I’M ALL IN BABEYYY! GIVE ME MORE OF HER!

As far as first impressions go of Boba Fett, I was passingly familiar with the character beyond surface level canon lore and I’d read half of one book where I really loved his character (The Mandalorian Armor by K. W. Jeter, Boba’s characterization there is solid and a lot of the basis for how I’ve always viewed and written him), but his reintroduction via “The Tragedy” was one of THE BEST character intros EVER. It’s one of the best fight scenes in terms of how it was shot and how he’s depicted; Fett is framed as and successfully shown to be a POWERHOUSE of strength, skill, intimidation, and sheer stage presence. It’s one of my favorite sequences to come from Star Wars, especially season 2 of Mando. I was so jazzed about it I was scream-texting my sister and I could just KEEP going on about it. Boba Fett in that episode is SOOOOO GOOD

Aaaaand… Then season 2 finishes and we get TBoBF.

I still love Mando and the kid as they were originally written, but I don’t love what they’ve done with the story and direction of this (and adjacent shows). Season 2 was messy and I wasn’t as big of a fan but I thought “okay maybe the story’s just going in a different direction and I should see what the creators have in mind” but by TBoBF I realized (with all four of those characters) OH, no, the showrunners didn’t have a cohesive game plan or long term story planned out with any meaningful thought, and by season 3 I realized I was pretty much done with whatever direction the original creators were taking the characters. I have better ideas and creators of something I used to like aren’t above criticism and they’re not immune to fans expecting better of them. You have control of one of the biggest franchises on earth and you can’t afford better writers? I don’t care about production quality or quantity of shows if the stories themselves are bad. Do better.

(Also not only are the stories not great, it sucks to see TBoBF, a show led by two veteran actors and people of color, be as badly written and received as it was. It, like many things, wasn’t the actors’ faults. It had a bad script and bad direction and now it seems like Boba’s character— one that has had a long and LASTING cultural presence— is being put on a shelf because the show wasn’t received well, but Disney/the Star Wars producers aren’t admitting to their role in its failure.)

These actors deserved better, the source material deserved better, and I’m disappointed by how quickly it went downhill and, in my opinion, isn’t salvageable based on how they’ve handled all of the original story hooks and character arcs. I have zero excitement for the movie and aside from Andor (which is not without its own flaws in other ways) I’ve haven’t enjoyed any of the other Star Wars shows in the last four years 🤷‍♂️

So I guess I’m short, love the initial characters, dislike the present depictions based on later material

Ask Game

[tigerexe]

so you seem like a saavik fans, maybe youll have an answer for this. whats her deal? i thought she was like spock adopted daughter, but did she actually sleep with him??? thats very weird

I'm THE Saavik fan and I will happily clear this up!

Saavik is kind of a schrödinger's cat situation depending on How Canon you decide certain things are, but here are the facts:

Heres what happens ON screen, not taking into account beta canon or scrapped/deleted scenes yet:

-Saavik is Spock's student/protege, their past is unknown but they speak vulcan when in private and seem pretty at ease with eachother and Saavik sheds tears openly at Spock's funeral

- Saavik and David find reincarnated baby Spock on the Genesis planet and take care of him as he matures rapildy

- when genesis Spock (for some fucking reason) starts going through ponn farr as a teenager Saavik does some vulcan hand stuff that calms him down, next scene theyre seen sleeping leaning on eachother

- when the enterprise crew leaves vulcan to go on their whale adventure, Saavik decides to stay on vulcan and is never seen again in canon

So yeah, not much to go on besides the TSFS ponn farr scene which of course carries implications but is almost completely off screen and kept PG, so it's kind of up for the viewers interpretation

Where things get interesting is when we look at beta canon and plot threads dropped from the movies:

-in a deleted TWOK scene, Spock says Saavik is half romulan, half vulcan, but its left at that

-this plot is picked up MY FAVOURITE star trek novel, The Pandora Principle, in which Saavik is born as essentially a genetic experiment on a romulan military base, lived as a starving feral child for 10 years until Spock finds her on a mission. Spock takes leave from the Enterprise and lives with 10 yo Saavik for at least a year and stays in almost daily contact once Saavik enters the starfleet academy. their familial bond is explored in the novel, but never referred to anything else besides student and teacher. Its also a very very good book i think everyone should read

-meanwhile back in dropped plots from the movies, it was planned for Saavik to become PREGNANT with Spock's child after the ponn farr scene in TSFS, which is why she stays on vulcan to take maternity leave in TVH 🤮🤮🤮 this was thankfully cut by Nimoy himself because he was really uncomfortable with it.

-in the last TOS movie, Spock has a new protege, a vulcan girlie named Valeris. She was originally going to be Saavik, but the actress was unavalible so they just made a new character. SPOILERS for star trek 6 but Valeris betrays the Federation and Spock in the process, and it is safe to assume if the character had remained as Saavik, she wouldve done the same thing in the script.

-jumping forward to TNG, Picard has the line "I met [Sarek] once, at his son's wedding." It is never elaborater on WHICH son or WHOMST the son was marrying, and when Spock actually appears in TNG no wife is ever seen or mentioned. But in the novel "a Vulcans Heart" the wedding was between Spock and Saavik. I have not read said novel and never will 😬 its apparently a series of novels as well

-misc. beta canon appearences happen in the comics as well, most of which i havent read, but at least a couple seemed to loosely follow the origins established in the Pandora Principle, i.e Saavik is half romulan and rescued by Spock as a child

Tl;dr

Canonically Saavik is Spock's student, anything else is up to viewer interpretation and what beta canon you prefer

PERSONALLY i fully subscribe to the canon the Pandora Principle weaves, and pick and choose my way when it comes to the movies (ignore the TSFS ponn farr scene entirely) and completely disregard anything else. I know its literally my own but I highly recommend this approach, Saavik is like my favourite Star Trek character because of it!

[drakedoo]

My thoughts on the fnaf movie. ⚠️spoilers ahead, if you haven’t watched the movie yet, I urge you to watch it and then come back and read this⚠️

Hey, so I just got finished watching the five nights at Freddy’s movie and let’s just say it was pretty good. I don’t normally put out my thoughts on movies that I watch or reviews on them but I thought this would be a little fun and like I said if you haven’t seen it yet, I kindly ask you to go watch it and then come back here and read what I have to say so that I don’t spoil the fun for you. If you read this without watching the movie, please do not get mad at me for spoiling it because I did warn you and asked you to watch it first . Without further ado, here’s my thought on it.

Things I liked about it:

At first, I had my doubts with Matthew Lillard, playing William Afton, but he did an amazing job, especially at the end. I really enjoyed his take on our beloved villain of the story.

I found it really cool that one of MatPat’s lines is “but that’s just a theory.” because it references his oh so popular phrase that he always says on his channel.

The animatronics designs. I love how they look almost like they just stepped right out of the video game and look absolutely amazing and say what you will about them having red eyes, but I really didn’t mind it.

Foxy humming. There are parts were foxy hums while he hunts, and it brings back a detail from the game

The miniature doll of balloon boy popping up every so often in cabinets and scaring the shit out of Mike. He did what we were all thinking, and turned that fucker around.

The game poster in the background of the office

Some of the 2016 Halloween store, costume masks hanging on the prize counter wall, and a few Funko plushies scattered here and there

Mike’s little sister having the same legal name as me because it just felt refreshing and a little bit joyful, hearing, my name, said, over and over in one of my favorite things in the world

The animatronics, helping Abby build a fort in the pizzeria. I just found it really adorable and cute.

The living tombstone song playing during the credits. It brought a lot of nostalgia back to me.

Spring lock failure scene

OK now that I got through the things that I liked and enjoyed in the movie here’s the things that I wish could’ve been different and didn’t necessarily like or find necessary

I wish they there was more scenes at the pizzeria and a little more time with the animatronics because they were so cool, and I wish the movie was a little longer because it kind of just felt rushed at some parts.

I wish the spring lock screen was a little more than what we got and had a little little more dramatics I guess, like, for example, more violent thrashing, and more blood but I mean it is also a PG-13 movie so they can’t really have a lot of blood and gore

 I wish they actually played Toreador March at some point like they did in the trailer

Scott Cawthon should’ve been the one on that training tape

 I feel like Vanessa could’ve been written better . No hate to the actress though, because she was just doing her job and going off of the script.

I know we all wish we could’ve seen Markiplier since he’s the reason the game really took flight mainly but since he had scheduling conflicts with the iron lung movie, he’s working on unfortunately he couldn’t do it but it would’ve been really cool to see him in it.

So I had a lot more things I enjoyed and liked rather than not. I’m just happy we finally got a five nights at Freddy’s movie after many many years, and many many trials and errors, and rewrites. Mind you, this isn’t going to be exactly like the games because the movie is an entire new story and lore, with some five nights at Freddy’s game lore, mixed in(there’s so many different five nights at Freddy’s universe lores) if I had to rate it, I’d probably give it an eight or nine out of 10 because I actually thoroughly enjoyed it and it made my inner child really happy because in a weird way, Five Nights at Freddy’s saved my life because the lore and the games and the fandom, was my escape from my reality in school(I was what you could call a Carrie White in junior high and high school) and it really helped me find my passions, which was cosplay because some of my first cosplays were five nights at Freddy’s. So finally getting to see the movie we were promised is amazing and made 12 to 13 year-old me really happy.

Anyways, I’m gonna go to bed now because it’s almost 5 in the morning so peace out✌️

[consumeronionbulletin]

Doona! / Lee Doo-na! (2023)

The silent, hangry, chain-smoking, giving-no-f-ks version of Bae Suzy that I didn't know I needed.

This series felt like a lighter version of Something in the Rain with a much better soundtrack, which is how I found myself spending most of my weekend watching it.

The show is an extremely no plot, just vibes, slice of life type of thing. I liked that, but I know it'll be slow going for some people. I haven't read the webtoon this is (allegedly) based on, but I can already tell writers for the show took more than a few liberties with the material.

What Worked

Bae Suzy's performance as a sad, jaded, burned out, misunderstood idol worked. This feels like something Hollywood has already done to death. Kind of a cable TV version of a pop star (male or female) who's slumming it with ordinary people and ends up finding their voice again. Along with true love.

The reason why this never felt cliche is because Suzy made you believe in it, and because the directors and cinematographers were so good at their job that you just had to believe in it too. I was willing to suspend disbelief, because I wanted to just live in the moment with them in that beautiful fantasy.

What Didn't Work

Look, Yang Se-jong had great chemistry with Suzy, and with most of the cast, but it is a complete fantasy that an ordinary, decent, hardworking guy would have that many women chasing after him. It works in a webtoon because you know what kind of story you're in for. It kind of worked here, but there were moments when I had to just actively accept the premise and move on with it. It was okay since there were only 9 episodes, but if we'd had 20, I think it would have been too much.

The Performances

Bae Suzy as "smoking idol" Lee Doo-na. Whatever they paid Suzy, it wasn't enough. She was willing to put her dignity on the line to get a good performance. There are like three other idol / actors that maybe could have made this script work, and I still think she would have beaten them out if they had open casting. I know there are people who loved her in Start-up, but this is the performance from Suzy that I'll remember most.

Yang Se-jong as "Gary Stu" Lee Won-jun. I really want to read the webtoon just to figure out how many liberties the TV show took with this character. I liked this actor in Still 17, and I enjoyed his performance here. I liked how this was (in some ways) a gender-flipped version of the sweet caretaker love interest girlfriend that you'll find in so many other forms of media. I just had trouble believing that guy could grab as much attention as he did in the real world.

Shin Ha-young as "Fake High School Girlfriend" Kim Jin-joo. The actor did a good job with what she was given, and I liked the fact that she's the same age as the two leads, but the character was just not given enough to do in the story. In a longer drama (with maybe a different actress like Roh Yoon-seo) they would have made her a viable option for Won-jun. As it is, we spent 1/3 of her time dealing with her backstory (which was mostly just to make Won-jun look good), and 1/3 of it having her pine after Won-jun and ultimately get dumped. It just felt like a waste.

Park Se-wan as "Fake Grade School Girlfriend" Choi I-ra. The actor was entertaining as heck in this show. I liked her love-line in the background and she brought some good moments of comedy to the show. But the character definitely felt like something from a webtoon (for good and bad).

Kim Sun-young as Doo-na's mother. I'm always happy to see her on my screen, but why didn't they have her do more? It's a waste of top notch talent. She could have been a menacing record executive, or the fun landlady who messes with (and secretly looks after) the young cast. If they were gonna cast her, they should have been given more than a few scenes where she yells at Doona and steals all her money (off screen). What a pity.

Everyone else. They managed to bring in alot of extras and fun little side characters that made the show feel bigger than it was, and I enjoyed that.

TL; DR:

This show is all mood and very little plot. If you like the first episode or so, then you'll probably like the rest of it. Otherwise, you might want to skip it.

[justanotherfangirlst]

    Today I had the honor of interviewing the amazing and talented Daniella Carter. You may know her best from her role from the hit tv show Ninjago, where she plays the part of Daniella Garmadon, older sister of Lloyd Garmadon and the Master of Dragons. But this talented actress as also starred in many romance and holiday movies as well as other tv series. I asked the readers in a poll what questions you would like this amazing actress to answer, and I took the top 10 questions and got her answers. Daniella is such a lovely person and she leaves you feeling loved and happy when she bids you farewell, at least I know I did. It's no wonder that she is one of the most beloved actresses out there. 

Q: Did you ever think that you would be part of a tv series that has lasted over ten years? A: Oh most definitely not, but I can't say that I'm not grateful for the amazing opportunity. We've become a family and I wouldn't have it any other way to be honest. The familial bonds between the characters as the show progresses is rooted in our feelings for each other in real life. 

Q: What's it like working with your husband on set? A: Oh it's a blast. I can't say that we don't make each other laugh after serious fights that our characters have in the show, just to lighten the mood. Funny story, we didn't even know that we would be working with each other. When my agent called me with the role, she told me to keep it to myself and not to tell anyone. Well, apparently so did Michael's agent. We came up with these lame excuses on why we would be gone for an hour or so, and we were both so shocked when we saw each other at the script reading! 

Q: Out of all the seasons, which one is your favorite? A: Oh goodness. All the seasons have been so wonderful, and it is really hard to pick just one. But if I had to pick just one, it would have to be Prime Empire. I loved the avatar costume that I got to wear while we were in the video game hunting down the three Keytanas. The extensions were kinda heavy though, [laughing]. As pretty as they were, it was pretty hard on my neck not gonna lie. I am so grateful that she doesn't have hair that long all the time. 

Q: Have there been any injuries on set? A: Well, there have been many bumps and bruises from accidents here and there. But the major injury that I know of is when I broke my ankle on set. We were filming The March of The Oni season and I had gotten tripped up in some of the cables that were running across the floor. The producers had moved some cameras around and I didn't lift my foot up enough. I only had a small fracture but it was still enough to be put into a cast. I had thought that the writers would have rewritten the script and Dani would have been off on some other adventure, but the writers and producers were so kind and let Dani stay in the season. We just had to redo one little scene where Dani's ankle is hurt. 

Q: What is the meaning behind your tattoo? A: The lotus? This was one of the symbols that was pitched for Daniella's gi. It may not have been chosen, but it is one of my favorites. It's simple but it means so much. I got this tattoo like a week before the 10 year anniversary. I've loved the other characters that I have played, and the ones that I am playing now, but Daniella will always be closest to my heart. She's been such a big part of my life and I don't think I'm ever gonna be ready for the series to end.

Q: Are you really knitting on set? A: Yes! I! Am! I've been knitting ever since I was a child, and when the producers said that we could give our character's one hobby, I jumped at the opportunity. Most of the things that I knit on set are gifts for the other cast members or something for myself. But every once and a while, I'll be working on something that I sell on my online store. One time, like way early in the series when I first started knitting on set, thought that it would be funny to mess up the scene on purpose, thinking that I would undo my work to start again. Boy, were they so wrong. I just kept on knitting, and that is where Dani's sass face came from to actually. The director saw the face that I gave them and asked if I could do that face on command. And the rest is history. 

Q: What are your future projects? A: I can't give away too many spoilers. I don't think the producers and writers would be to happy about that. But what I can say is that Michael and I are finally living a dream of ours and are going to co star in a holiday romance movie together. We've been wanting to star in a movie like that for so long, and working together on the Ninjago set as only reignited that dream. We also have a holiday special in the works as well, so stay tuned for that!

Q: What was your favorite moment working with your husband on set? A: There are so many moments that I will cherish but I think by all time favorite would have to be when we celebrated his birthday and we pushed his head into the cake. He looked so cute when he lifted his head and there was just chocolate cake everywhere. I'd show a picture, but I think I might get in trouble [laughs]

Q: We keep talking about you and your husband, but we all know that you two got married in between seasons. What was that like? A: Crazy for sure. It was in between the Hands of Time season and the Sons of Garmadon season. Well, the filming of it anyways. We had been planning during the Hands of Time season when we could, and the others helped a lot when we had a break. And then when we finished filming, the directors gave us some time in between and boy did we hit the ground at a dead sprint. Just task after task after task. I never want to plan another wedding, EVER. Granted, there won't be another wedding for me. Michael is my true love and I don't think I could be married to anyone else.

Q: What were your inspirations when figuring out how to play Daniella in Ninjago? A: I wanted a young woman, who no matter what life threw at her, she would bounce back. I didn't want her to be invincible, or didn't feel the pain of guilt and longing. But that she would use what she was going through to really fight for what was right, and for her family, friends and home. I didn't want Daniella to become this side character that was "too ladylike" or someone who was easily dismissed. I wanted someone who could speak her mind when she wanted to and not just give in to what everyone around her was saying if she didn't believe it was right. I wanted her to be the woman that I wanted to be as a kid. And I hope that she sparks inspiration into the young girls watching to be the best that they can be, no matter what anyone says. 

***********************************

Ah yes, another AU for Dani. XD Shoutout to @the-angel-creator ! Thank you for helping me come up with interview questions ^^

Daniella belongs to me Please do not use my art or character without my permission.

Pose that I used

[virgorisingmusic]

death of passion

I put on a wine red lip gloss at work the other day. It was the same shade my friend wore earlier that day. Her lips and mouth are shaped differently than mine - almost opposite. But even knowing that, I still wondered why I didn't look the same as her. 

The other night I had a dream that I was going back to school. I was going to apply to an English program, which is what I’ve thought about doing for a while. I think I squashed that idea because I didn’t know what I would want to do with that degree.

I don’t like wearing dark lipstick because it makes me look the way I looked when I was 14.

I get anxious when I leave the house without my favourite lipstick on me. I’ve avoided kisses in the past because I know it will come off and I will be exposed. I often think about how smoothly I’d walk through my day-to-day if my lipstick never rubbed off.

During the span of four years, I’ve been set to start four-year BAs in three different departments at UofW: Anthropology, History of Art, and Theatre and Film. I studied communications in 2020 stopped in 2021.

I wanted to be an actress in the spring of 2023. I spent a lot of money on online acting classes that were based out of a studio in Toronto; it was just a few blocks from my friend’s apartment at the time. 

My first assignment was a monologue from Erin Brockovich. I performed it for my class after two weeks of practising my lines and delivery, and some of my classmates told me that my performance gave them goosebumps. My second and last assignment was one of Anne Hathaway’s monologues from Rachel Getting Married. I read off a script with a rock in my gut as I performed the monologue to the class. After getting through the second half of the text, I knew I didn’t want to do it anymore. I gave up - I wasn’t any good and I felt too shy. 

“I’m too anxious and I can’t get into character. All I keep thinking about is if I look bad and if I’m doing well or not,” I admitted to my instructor.

He ghosted me on Facebook Messenger when I told him I didn’t think acting was for me anymore. I think he was either disappointed or he didn’t care because he had too many things to worry about. Maybe he was confused and wondering what happened - I know I was.

How do you even act? To act is to not act - is that what they say?

“An ounce of behaviour is worth a pound of words,”

and that sort of stuff.

It’s beyond me. Before I quit, I bought Michael Caine’s book “Acting in Film: An Actor's Take on Movie Making” at my old thrift store job and I read a few pages. I felt more inspired than I ever had before because I thought my new goal in life was to become a great actress and to be like Emma Stone or Julia Roberts. La La Land came out when I was in high school and everyone watched it but me. I watched it for the first time with Lauren and Jenna when we started doing wine + movie nights and they for some reason wanted to watch a musical every time. 

I was like,

“I will never watch Les Mis and I will never watch La La Land,” 

and I ended up watching both and loving them. I listened to I Dreamed A Dream around nine times in a row the day after watching Les Mis. I listened to it on YouTube because I wanted to watch the scene, too. I listened to it after getting off the bus to go to an employment program-thing. I was going through something at the time and it was really funny. 

★ Maybe you can listen to it in the background while you read the rest of this post.

“There was a time when men were kind...”

I watched La La Land twice and I cried even harder the second time around. I watched it again with my mom and I couldn’t get past Emma Stone’s first song because I couldn’t stop sobbing. I thought it was so beautiful that her character was following such a big dream - a dream I could’ve had if I was passionate or good enough. I was also on my period, so my mom and I ended up getting into a spat because she wasn’t interested in the movie and I was offended because it meant a lot to me at the time. 

I’ve felt passion, adrenaline and sureness in my bones only a few times. I felt genuine passion and sureness one evening in February of 2020. We played a show (the last one before the pandemic stopped the world dead in its tracks) and I had so much fun on stage that night. I felt so proud and sure of myself, that the second the set ended, I told everyone that this is what I want to do with my life.

I performed a few scenes in high school for a play called Love and Information by Caryl Churchill. The play has no set descriptions, props, characters, and almost no direction - just lines. We got to choose our own scenes and pull every detail from our imaginations. I think about it a lot and how passionate my class and I got about changing and adding little details in our scenes. I went back to the drama room close to the end of the school year and looked around at all the props in the back. There was a battered, armless doll leaning on a fake fridge behind the curtains. It reminded me of cooking in those toy kitchens in kindergarten. Plastic steaks and the sizzling sound the stove would make when you turned the knobs. Fake sink and empty cupboards. Fridge with plastic bananas and apples. I’d always want to play in the kitchen, but so did every other kid. It was a battle if you came to school wanting to cook a sirloin because every other child wanted to do the exact same thing. It makes me sad that I can’t remember more from back then.

I’m 22 and I’ve been trying to meal prep. I walk on the treadmill at 4.8kph and go to work 3-4 times a week. I spent $60 on groceries this week and accidentally marked them for pickup instead of delivery, so I had to ask my parents to pick them up for me because I can’t drive. I regret being mean in elementary school. I wore my cap too low on the back of my head at graduation. I love kissing. I budget. I will be 29 someday. My scalp is coming up with shiny silver baby hairs. I fry frozen dumplings in a real pan on a real stove.

Every kid in my kindergarten class got a pair of orange safety scissors on the first day of school and I hope my mom still has mine.

★

Emily

[ireneworth]

Frank Marcus's Notes On His Love Affair

By Frank Marcus

Plays & Players Magazine, July 1972

THE WRITING OF IT WAS THE EASIEST PART. I took as my text Robert Frost's 'You don't take notes during a love affair', amplified in Dora's opening speech with a quote from V S Pritchett's auto-biography. Cyril Connolly's words (on Thomas Mann) would have served equally well: '... one must be content to remain an observer of life and of one's own life, often deprived of the experiences which render more rounded and full those of other human beings.'

The tragi-comical predicaments of a writer's life (any writer's life), not untinged perhaps with a degree of self-disgust, were naturally close to me, and the creative pot was kept effortlessly on the due us is dices lie weeks it look to write the plastlessly end product—as is often the case with me was inordinately long but all of it seemed to me essential.

The character of Dora I modelled closely on the artistic persona of the great Swiss actress Maria Becker, and I hoped I might lure her to London. Hence the original Dora was given a German origin and there was a flashback scene, just before her final destructive rage, which showed Jim rescuing her from the post war holocaust, with both of them embodying a spirit of vouth, passion, and untainted love. In Ronald Bryden's opinion. the fact of my own German origin gave these scenes a deeper and integral significance.

As is my usual practice, the completed script was shown first to a varied kind of panel of readers (friends, but by no means sychophants) and their reactions were overwhelmingly favourable.

Not so the managements. The play's length, added to my wish to import an actress totally unknown in England, brought a sheaf of rejections. My stated willingness to make cuts, preferably in cooperation with the director, made little difference. The script gathered dust, and was shown occasionally to friends in the theatre. As these included actresses, I made the mistake of forgetting that they would assume I was offering them a part in the play. I shall not make that particular mistake again.

At this time—roughly a year ago—the impresario Marvin Liebman made some tentative moves to bring the immensely successful revival of my earlier play, The Formation Dancers, given at the Hampstead Theatre Club, to the West End. When these plans collapsed, he read my new play, liked it, and showed it to Robin Phillips. Robin reacted positively, and for the first time the project showed signs of getting off the ground.

The organisation of the German theatre, which compels actors to plan as long as two years ahead (and in the process turns them into civil servants), ruled out Maria Becker. To my mind, the only English actress with the necessary quality for Dora was Irene Worth.

Irene had just returned after a year with Peter Brook's experimental company in Paris and Persia. I handed her the script with trembling hands in the foyer of the Cambridge on the first night of West of Suez and watched her with horror starting to read it, sitting alone in the auditorium during the interval. I should add that, by now, I had cut more than 500 lines of dialogue from the play and reduced it to manageable proportions.

She studied the text with enormous care—in fact, she took herself off to Aldeburgh for a week to do so. She returned with six pages of notes, and I can honestly say that they were among the most stimulating, challenging, and intelligent comments any play of mine has received.

I assented to nearly all her suggestions for alterations. The only point of contention concerned the status of Dora as a writer. I had meant her to be a competent but run-of-the-mill novelist; I didn't want her to have the alibi of genius. It's easy (posthumously) to forgive the outrageous behaviour of a Strindberg or a Rimbaud, and Ibsen, Tolstoy, and Joyce—among many others—regarded their lives with icy disillusion. Irene wanted to use Dora to convey some of her own thoughts and emotions. With a star of that magnitude you don't argue, you comply. I rewrote totally the opening cadenza and tried to accommodate Irene's wishes as best I could. The original Dora was imprisoned in her room and addressed an imaginary audience: Irene stretched out her hands.

The rest followed smoothly. Nigel Davenport was Irene's first choice for Jim: we all concurred and were delighted when he accepted. Contrary to speculation, Jennie was not written for Julia Foster. I had written a play for her, shortly after she appeared in my first television play in 1966. It was called Studies of the Nude, produced at Hampstead, but Julia—alas—was held up on a film and could not play in it. I shall never cease to regret it. Ever since, I have been acting as her career adviser (unpaid). I implored her to go after Lulu and thought that Jennie in Notes, who is the exact opposite of the theatre's greatest sex symbol, might enable her to demonstrate her versatility as an actress.

As is my custom, I stayed away from the early rehearsals. When I rejoined them, I was struck by Robin's brilliant and unorthodox methods, but sensed that the tremendous rapport between him and Irene, which had proved so successful with the RCS's Tiny Alice, was somehow lacking. Marvin Liebman, as ever the epitome of kindness and generosity, hovered in the background, giving us total artistic freedom. Dora, by the way, had by now become English and the flashback scene, while retaining some of its intensity, had been transposed to a house near an airfield during the Battle of Britain. We tried it during our first week out-of-town in Southsea, but decided to cut it. as it came too late and seemed redundant.

Our second (and final) try-out week was in Brighton: a notoriously unreliable venue for a new play. We were triumphant. By the end of the week performances were sold out; the actors were cheered; the press was wonderful. The resident theatrical contingent turned out in force and were most complimentary. I was particularly pleased by a personal letter from T C Worsley: until his retirement a few years ago one of the most respected theatre critics in London. He wrote: 'Just a line to tell you how much I both enjoyed and admired your play on Saturday. It has great ingenuity, great elegance of form, and much human feeling. And how delightful for once to see a play that is really written and neatly constructed. I don't see how it can fail to be a great success: it certainly deserves to be.'

After the first night in Brighton, we were offered the Globe, and we returned to London confident, if not euphoric.

The two preview performances were also encouraging. I should like to believe that it was not accidental that the three critics who attended a preview as well as the opening night responded to the play with enthusiasm.

On the first night, I sat in a box, well hidden behind a curtain. The audience looked fashionable, a trifle elderly, with a sprinkling of ageing film stars. That curious and (I had hoped) defunct phenomenon, a West End audience, had descended on my play, hoping to see—I should guess—an amusing Shaftesbury Avenue comedy. Neil Simon would have served them excellently.

I knew within seconds that the play was misfiring. I'm not searching for alibis, but this audience refused to 'meet' the play. They sat back, elegantly attired, daring the actors to entertain them. The evening was not a calamity, but it was equally clearly not a smash hit.

In the circumstances, the notices were better than expected. The critics were split clean down the middle; there was praise as well as stricture. I was saddened only by Irving Wardle, who failed totally to connect with the play, mistook parody for imitation (Anouilh), and credited the deliberate clichés to me instead of to the characters who uttered them (ditto Jim's lame attempts at epigrams).

The experience certainly put paid to the myth that dog doesn't eat dog. There were examples of venom, a gleeful desire to insert the knife where it hurts and, in one case, near-libellous innuendo. As a practising theatre critic, I can't say that I was surprised.

Irene Worth bore the brunt of the attack. Her fortitude and kindness to her fellow actors increased my huge admiration for her. But, far more significantly, she proceeded to develop her performance, turning each occasion into a 'happening'. With Irene Worth in the cast, no play could be less than vibrantly alive. I'm glad to say that it didn't take long before she received the praise that she deserved.

As for myself, I have once again been privileged to see my fantasy embodied on the stage. I can proceed now to new fan-tasies. Irrespective of applause or abuse, there is only one road open to me. It leads back to the typewriter.

[ericac318]

The Next Steps

Summary:

A sequel to ‘Time for Class’ continuing the story of Gene Cousineau and my OC.

The rest of the story, which is in progress, can be found here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15801549/chapters/36774993

Chapter 1

Alyona had Gene’s hand as they stepped out of their limo at the premier of their film, Naughty Teacher . They reached their first reporter within seconds.

“Gene and Alyona, there is a lot of buzz for your movie, what do you think is drawing crowds to it?” the reporter asked.

Alyona looked to Gene for a cue on who should answer which he replied with a nod for her to speak. “Forbidden love is always an exciting storyline,” she began, “But with this one, Gene and my story is very similar making it even more of a must see for our fans. Though most are his,” she looked to him wearing a warm smile.

The reporter continued, playing off of her answer, “So, you two also began as a forbidden love?”

Gene spoke, “We did, actually,” he glanced at Alyona before continuing, “She started in my class and within two weeks, we were sneaking around with each other. And now, if she’ll have me, I would like her to be my fiance,” he let the words linger in the air while she took them in.

Alyona narrowed her face, “Did you just propose to me in an interview?” she decided to make him work for it and added, “Is this a publicity stunt?”

Gene shook his head, the other cameras moving in their direction along with the fans, everyone waiting to see what would happen. “No, my dear, this is genuine,” he replied, “I was planning to ask you after the film,” he pulled out the ring, “But, I can’t wait another moment. So, what do you say?”

Alyona couldn’t stop a smile from taking over her lips as she nodded, “You’re lucky I love you so much,” she continued to tease while Gene placed the ring on her finger.

“Shall we go into the theater?” he offered his elbow while she was looking at the diamond on her finger.

His question shook her from her thoughts and she took his arm, “I would love to, husband-to-be,” her beaming smile impossible to hide.

Gene guided her past the rest of the press straight into the cinema where they were guided to their seats, next to the director and other actors from the film.

“I’m glad you didn’t make me get down on one knee,” Gene joked, leaning toward her and whispering in her ear, “You are insatiable and I’m afraid I wouldn’t have been able to get back up.”

Alyona laughed, “I’m sure you would have managed just fine, but it was already a scene without me demanding you being on one knee,” she gave him a smile, “Plus, who knows what the story headline would be if I’d done that.”

Gene laughed audibly, “Diva actress forces much older actor boyfriend to propose to her properly. Crowd laughed when she had to pull him up from the position.”

Gene and Alyona arrived in Seattle to film their movie a week early to go over their scripts and do some sight seeing.

“Are you going to take me to the Space Needle if I get these lines right?” she asked, her voice pleading.

Gene gave a small smile before he answered, “I think that can be arranged,” he began as he flipped through the pages, “How do you feel about the romantic scenes?”

She moved the area of the script he was referring to and read through the details before shrugging. “I don’t have a problem with it. The only strange thing will be that it’s kind of real since we’re an actual couple, but I’m happy to put my hands all over you anytime,” she added, a playful wink joining her words.

He reached for her hand, “I had a feeling that would be your response. I don’t usually film anything past a suggestion of sex, but I can handle it this time,” he gave her his conditions, “Alright, if we can get the first act down then we can go tour the city, deal?”

Alyona regretfully nodded as the two continued reading through their scenes, some of them putting them in the mood to do something that didn’t require them to leave their room.