#movies: ready or not and ocean's 11

[r7leee]

beggars can be choosers | r.h.

merry christmas ig @liseytopia (jk love you babe)

pairing: rodrick heffley x fem!reader

summary: your boyfriend’s parents are out, yet again, for the weekend. rodrick’s idea of fun is sneaking into a concert, but that’s easier said than done

warnings: cursing, greg being a walking punching bag (again), nothing else rlly!!

word count: 1,407, should take about 11 minutes to read

THE HEFFLEYS WERE probably one of the most dysfunctional families you’d ever seen. the spoiled youngest brother, narcissistic middle brother, lazy (but ever so charming) oldest brother, the clueless mom, and the tired dad. and, just to put the cherry on the cake, how the parents did nothing to fix it but leaving so often instead.

this weekend was an example. susan and frank were going to be gone for a weekend outing to the beach. but, they had no intention to bring their two oldest sons with them.

of course, you didn’t mind. not in the slightest. it just gave you more time to run around and cause trouble with rodrick. and without them knowing!

that’s exactly what was going to happen. to prepare, you drove to the edge of the heffley’s street about fifteen minutes before their parents would leave. you had all your essentials: a change of clothes, pajamas, makeup.

then you sat and watched, waiting for their car to pull out of the driveway. sure enough, a little while later, you saw rodrick’s parents and brother get in their car and drive off. perfect.

the second they were out of eyesight, you pulled your car into the parking lot, replacing theirs and practically sprinted to the front steps.

you didn’t even knock, rodrick already knowing you’d be coming. without a moment to spare, he flung the front door open, beckoning you to come inside.

you smiled up at him as you walked in and shut the door behind you. even in your heels, you were still a notch shorter than him. “hi,” you greeted, your gleaming eyes looking into rodrick’s face.

“hi, babe.” he leaned down, pressing a chaste and fast kiss on your lips. you heard a gagging sound from the other side of the room.

turning your head, you saw rodrick’s brother, greg, in the living room. “why are you still here, shit for brains?” rodrick exclaimed.

“i was…getting water-” greg tried to explain before being cut off.

“you know what, i don’t wanna hear it.” he made a “go away” motion with his hand. “shoo.” greg just sighed and went upstairs. rodrick didn’t move until he heard the sound of his bedroom door closing.

he turned back to you, placing his hands on your waist. “you ready for the best weekend of your life?”

“you know me.”

the first half of the day was spent out and about. running around the plainview mall, going into hot topic, trying on clothes that you didn’t buy. going into record stores, browsing the selections. renting a movie from blockbuster. taking cute photos in the photobooth (you kissing his cheek, of course.) getting kicked out of yankee candle after rodrick clumsy dropped a candle (by doing a stupid, stupid dance then knocking it over with his elbow.)

after a few hours there, you knew you couldn’t call it there. so, taking a step further, you drove into the big city. just to look.

the places were all too fancy and expensive and the people too sophisticated, but it was almost comforting. you were so out of place but it was so right.

to be honest, rodrick didn’t entirely want to drive out here for no personal gain. but he knew you. and he would do almost anything to see that look in your eyes.

after a quick drive and a stop at the ocean, you headed back. the day alone was nice. you couldn’t wish for anything more as you two drove back to the heffley house.

on the way home, you planned out the rest of the day; go home, stay up late watching movies (and maybe making out), go to sleep late at night, then fuck off the next day.

suddenly, rodrick passed a small concert venue. on the sign read “bowling for soup: tonight.” you nudged rodrick in the shoulder. “hey. did you know these guys were coming?”

you pointed to the sign on your right, rodrick reading it. his eyes widened. “no. holy shit, we should go.”

you laughed and shook your head. “rodrick, i know you don’t have money for tickets.” his smile dropped, but quickly returned as he thought about something.

“who said we needed money?”

THE SECOND YOU opened the front door, rodrick was trotting up the stairs with an almost fearful demeanor. “greeeeeg!” he called out, shoes pounding up the stairs.

you watched him with a confused but amused look on your face. you followed in his footsteps, watching as he slammed his younger brother’s door open. greg, who was reading a comic book, looked over at him. “what do you want?”

rodrick walked slowly, then sat next to him on the bed. “how would you like to make your dear old brother and his girlfriend happy?” greg looked at him and replied sarcastically, “i’m good, thanks.”

rodrick let out a fake laugh before going serious. “well, it’s either that, or i call up holly hills right now and tell her you hate her stupid. guts.”

you knew there was no way that was possible; no way he had her number. but you knew for a fact that greg was gullible. and that you had a free ticket to a concert.

only fifteen minutes later, greg was in the back of the van, trying his hardest to not slam against the wall. you felt a little bad for the kid. a little being the key word.

the ride consisted of rodrick blasting some band you didn’t know while his hand was on your thigh. you knew greg was gagging in the back. “this show. babe…it’s gonna be amazing. it’s gonna be radical.”

you snorted. “radical?”

“ya. radical,” he repeated, confidence in his tone.

after taking the long drive to the city, rodrick parked somewhat near the venue. he unbuckled the seatbelt and turned to greg. “here’s the plan, squirt. you’re gonna go in there, distract those employees, then you’re gonna wait in the van as we get in. got it?”

it was clear there was some fear in greg’s eyes, but he knew there was no choice. so he simply stuck to nodding. “good.”

rodrick got out of the van, opening the side door for greg to get out as you got out as well. rodrick leaned against the side of the van, gripping your waist as greg walked in.

after a minute, you two walked in. inside the venue was a couple lines leading to the box office, then further along, people inspecting tickets near it. greg was pushing to the front of the office. you sat back and watched as he tried to get inside without a ticket. “you ever think you’re too mean on him?”

he shrugged and wrapped an arm around your waist. “it builds character.” greg had started to push past and try to run in, the employees running after him. that was your cue.

immediately, you pushed past people, trying to get to the front. you could see the employees dealing with greg as you made it to the front. quickly, rodrick took your hand and jolted to the nearest bathroom.

you two laughed as you went into the men’s room and into the handicapped stall. you tried to suppress your laughs. “rodrick!”

“i told you it’d work, did it not?”

after a couple minutes of laying low, you went to the general admission section. rodrick had plenty experience with this. taking your hand, he pushed past people, trying to get as close as possible. only the best for you.

when you stopped, it was only a few rows from the front. you’d never been this close to the stage for any concert (which you’d only been to a couple.) it felt surreal to you, and rodrick could tell. he smiled at you. “shocked?”

all you could do was smile and nod. he chuckled. “you’re cute.”

it only took a little while for the show to start. you didn’t know the band that well and nor did rodrick, but that didn’t matter. you two danced and sang to the songs you did know, joining the energy with the crowd. you felt free.

the concert went by, and after, all the people started to file out. rodrick let out a sigh, his body sweaty. “you good?” he asked.

“more than good,” you confirmed. he smiled and kissed your forehead.

“come on, let’s get home. see if greg’s still in one piece.”

[avendjarin]

500 FOLLOWER SPECIAL — 500 DR IDEAS !

thank you SO much for 500 !! this account and all of you hold such a special place in my heart, so i hope this can pay back some of the love you all have shown me over these past few months 🫶🫶🫶

⋆⭒˚ . MOVIES ⋆ ｡˚ ⋆

1. 10 Thing I Hate About You

2. 13 Going on 30

3. 27 Dresses

4. About Time

5. The Adjustment Bureau

6. The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl

7. Alice in Wonderland

8. Amélie

9. Alvin and the Chipmunks

10. Avatar

11. Back to the Future

12. Barbie

13. Beetlejuice

14. Big Hero 6

15. Blade Runner

16. Bottoms

17. The Breakfast Club

18. Bring it On

19. Bullet Train

20. But I’m a Cheerleader

21. Challengers

22. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

23. Cinderella

24. Clueless

25. Coraline

26. Corpse Bride

27. Crazy Rich Asians

28. DC

29. Dead Poets Society

30. Descendants

31. The Devil Wears Prada

32. Dirty Dancing

33. Divergent

34. Do Revenge

35. Dune

36. Ella Enchanted

37. Encanto

38. Enchanted

39. Equestria Girls

40. The Eternals

41. Everything Everywhere All at Once

42. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

43. Fantastic Four

44. Fast and Furious

45. Fear Street

46. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

47. Frozen

48. Gladiator

49. Good Will Hunting

50. Grease

51. The Greatest Showman

52. Guardians of the Galaxy

53. Harry Potter/Marauders

54. Heathers

55. High School Musical

56. Hocus Pocus

57. The Holdovers

58. The Holiday

59. Hotel Transylvania

60. How to Train Your Dragon

61. Howl’s Moving Castle

62. Hugo

63. Inception

64. The Incredibles

65. Indiana Jones

66. Instant Family

67. The Internship

68. Into the Woods

69. It

70. Jumanji

71. Jurassic Park

72. Kingsmen

73. Knives Out

74. Legally Blonde

75. The Life List

76. Little Miss Sunshine

77. The Lorax

78. Lord of the Rings

79. Love Actually

80. Luca

81. Maleficent

82. Mamma Mia

83. The Matrix

84. MCU

85. Mean Girls

86. Meet the Robinsons

87. Men in Black

88. Midnight in Paris

89. The Mitchells vs. the Machines

90. Moana

91. Moonrise Kingdom

92. Monsters, Inc.

93. Mr. Peabody and Sherman

94. Night at the Museum

95. The Nightmare Before Christmas

96. Notting Hill

97. Now You See Me

98. Ocean’s Eleven

99. Paddington

100. Passengers

101. Peter Pan

102. Pirates of the Caribbean

103. Pitch Perfect

104. Pixels

105. The Polar Express

106. The Princess Bride

107. The Princess Diaries

108. Ready Player One

109. Rise of the Guardians

110. The Rocky Horror Picture Show

111. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

112. Scream

113. Secret of the Wings

114. Shazam!

115. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants

116. Spiderman

117. Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse

118. Spy Kids

119. Stand By Me

120. Stardust

121. Star Wars

122. Suicide Squad

123. Tangled

124. Terminator

125. Thunderbolts*

126. Top Gun

127. Transformers

128. Tron

129. Treasure Planet

130. Twister

131. West Side Story

132. Wicked

133. The Wizard of Oz

134. Wonka

135. Wreck it Ralph

136. X-Men

137. Zathura: A Space Adventure

138. Zombieland

⋆⭒˚ . TV SHOWS ⋆ ｡˚ ⋆

139. The 100

140. 9-1-1

141. Abbott Elementary

142. The Addams Family

143. Adventure Time

144. Agatha All Along

145. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D

146. Alice in Borderland

147. The Amazing Digital Circus

148. The Amazing World of Gumball

149. Anne with an E

150. Arcane

151. Arrested Development

152. Attack on Titan

153. Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse

154. The Bear

155. The Big Bang Theory

156. Bob’s Burgers

157. Boy Meets World

158. The Boys

159. Brooklyn Nine-Nine

160. Bratz

161. Bridgerton

162. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

163. Chainsaw Man

164. Charlie’s Angels

165. Charmed

166. Chicago Fire

167. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

168. The Clone Wars

169. Community

170. Cowboy Bebop

171. Criminal Minds

172. Dance Moms

173. Daredevil

174. Deadly Class

175. Death Note

176. Demon Slayer

177. Dexter

178. Doctor Who

179. Downton Abbey

180. The Dragon Prince

181. Elena of Avalor

182. The End of the F***ing World

183. Euphoria

184. Ever After High

185. Family Guy

186. Friday Night Lights

187. Friends

188. Full House

189. Futurama

190. Game of Thrones

191. Gilmore Girls

192. Glitter Force

193. Good Omens

194. The Good Place

195. Gossip Girl

196. Gravity Falls

197. Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies

198. Grey’s Anatomy

199. H2O: Just Add Water

200. Haikyuu

201. Hazbin Hotel

202. Henry Danger

203. Heroes

204. High School Musical: The Musical: The Series

205. How I Met Your Mother

206. House MD

207. Hunter x Hunter

208. iCarly

209. Invincible

210. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

211. Jessie

212. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

213. Jujutsi Kaisen

214. Kim Possible

215. Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts

216. Law and Order

217. The Legend of Korra

218. Liv and Maddie

219. Loki

220. Lolirock

221. Love Island

222. The L World

223. The Mandalorian

224. Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir

225. Misfits

226. Mob Psycho 100

227. Modern Family

228. Moon Knight

229. Monster High

230. My Babysitter’s a Vampire

231. My Hero Academia

232. My Life with the Walter Boys

233. My Little Pony

234. Nana

235. Narcos

236. Naruto

237. NCIS

238. Ninjago

239. NYPD Blue

240. Obey Me

241. The O.C.

242. The Office

243. Once Upon a Time

244. One Piece

245. Our Flag Means Dearh

246. Outer Banks

247. Owl House

248. Parks and Recreation

249. Phineas and Ferb

250. The Pitt

251. The Powerpuff Girls

252. Power Rangers

253. Pretty Little Liars

254. Prison Break

255. The Queen’s Gambit

256. The Real Housewives

257. Rick and Morty

258. Riverdale

259. RuPaul’s Drag Race

260. Sabrina the Teenage Witch

261. Scooby Doo

262. Scream Queens

263. Seinfeld

264. Severance

265. Sex and the City

266. Shameless

267. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

268. Sherlock

269. The Simpsons

270. SK8 the Infinity

271. Skeleton Crew

272. Smallville

273. Sofia the First

274. South Park

275. SpongeBob

276. Squid Game

277. Star Trek

278. Star vs. the Forces of Evil

279. Steins;Gate

280. Steven Universe

281. Stranger Things

282. Strawberry Shortcake

283. Succession

284. Suits

285. Supernatural

286. Totally Spies

287. Teen Titans Go!

288. Teen Wolf

289. That 70s Show

290. To All the Boys I Loved Before

291. Tokyo Revengers

292. Total Drama

293. Twin Peaks

294. The Umbrella Academy

295. The Vampire Diaries

296. Victorious

297. The Walking Dead

298. Wednesday

299. White Lotus

300. Winx Club

301. The Witcher

302. Wizards of Waverly Place

303. The X-Files

304. Yellowjackets

305. Yellowstone

⋆⭒˚ . VIDEO GAMES ⋆ ｡˚ ⋆

306. Animal Crossing

307. Baldur’s Gate 3

308. Bendy and the Ink Machine

309. Call of Duty

310. Castlevania

311. Cats and Soup

312. Cozy Grove

313. Cyberpunk 2077

314. Dead Space

315. Destiny

316. Detroit: Become Human

317. Doki Doki Literature Club

318. Elden Ring

319. The Elder Scrolls

320. Fallout

321. Final Fantasy

322. Five Nights at Freddy’s

323. Genshin Impact

324. God of War

325. Good Pizza, Great Pizza

326. Halo

327. Haunted Chocolatier

328. Heavy Rain

329. Hogwarts Legacy

330. Honkai: Star Rail

331. Kingdom Hearts

332. The Last of Us

333. The Legend of Zelda

334. Life is Strange

335. Mario (any of them)

336. Mass Effect

337. Minecraft

338. Outer Wilds

339. Persona 5

340. Phasmophobia

341. Pokémon

342. Portal

343. Potion Craft

344. Red Dead Redemption

345. Resident Evil

346. Sally Face

347. Scribblenauts

348. Slay the Princess

349. Slime Rancher

350. Starbound

351. Stardew Valley

352. Terraria

353. Tomb Raider

354. Twisted Wonderland

355. Uncharted

356. Undertale

357. Until Dawn

358. Watch Dogs

⋆⭒˚ . BOOKS ⋆ ｡˚ ⋆

359. Babysitter’s Club

360. Chronicles of Narnia

361. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

362. Dork Diaries

363. Fourth Wing

364. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder

365. The Great Gatsby

366. Heartstopper

367. The Hunger Games

368. Little Women

369. The Maze Runner

370. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

371. The Outsiders

372. Percy Jackson and the Olympians

372. The Perks of Being a Wallflower

374. Pride and Predjudice

375. Rainbow Magic

376. The Rosewood Chronicles

377. A Series of Unfortunate Events

378. Shadow and Bone

379. Six of Crows

380. The Summer I Turned Pretty

381. Twilight

382. Warrior Cats

⋆⭒˚ . MISCELLANEOUS ⋆ ｡˚ ⋆

383. Actor

384. Ancient Egypt

385. Ancient Rome

386. Angels and Devils

387. Apocalypse

388. Astronaut

389. Athlete

390. Author

391. Backrooms

392. Bakery

393. Ballerina

394. Band

395. The Beatles

396. Better CR

397. Big City

398. Boarding School

399. Cat

400. Celebrity Assistant

401. Cheerleader

402. Chef

403. Childhood

404. Circus Performer

405. Coffee Shop

406. Comedian

407. Cooking Show

408. Cowboy

409. Crossover DRs

410. Dancer

411. Dark Academia

412. Demigod

413. Detective

414. Director

415. Disneyland

416. Dungeons and Dragons

417. Empty mall with unlimited money

418. Escape the Night

419. Fairy

420. Fanfic

421. Fangirl

422. Fantasy

423. Farmer

424. Farmer’s Daughter

425. Fashion Designer

426. Figure Skater

427. Food Critic

428. Formula 1 Driver

429. Formula 1 WAG

430. Futuristic

431. Gender Swap

432. Goddess

433. Greek Mythology

434. Grunge

435. Gymnast

436. Hallmark Christmas Movie

437. A Heist/In Space with Markiplier

438. Influencer

439. Interior Designer

440. Interviewer

441. Inventor

442. Kardashians

443. K-Pop

444. Last person on Earth

445. Librarian

446. Library of Alexandria

447. The Magnus Archives

448. Mermaid

449. Model

450. Movie Critic

451. Murder Mystery

452. Music Producer

453. Musical

454. Musical Theatre

455. Nascar Driver

456. Nepo Baby

457. North Pole

458. Old Money

459. Olympic Athlete

460. Painter

461. Paranormal Investigator

462. Parent

463. Photographer

464. Pirate

465. Podcast

466. Poet

467. Psychic

468. Rapper

469. Rockstar gf

470. Royalty

471. SCP

472. Screenwriter

473. Shifting School

474. Singer

475. Siren

476. Skateboarder

477. Small Town

478. Smosh

479. Socialite

480. Soulmate AU

481. Spy

482. Steampunk

483. Streamer

484. Summer Camp

485. Surfer

486. Swimmer

487. Tattoo Artist

488. Teacher

489. Therapy

490. Timeloop

491. Vacation

492. Vampire

493. Van Life

494. Vlogger

495. Waiting Room

496. Werewolf

497. Winter Wonderland

498. Witch

499. Your mind (inside out type of thing)

500. Youtuber

[andmaybegayer]

Project “Let’s watch every single Fast & Furious movie”

This is the point at which they totally give up on the cars as the main conceit and switch to a much more lucrative and commercially viable format, the heist movie.

Fast Five (2011)

Following The Fast and The Furious and Knuckles, Brian and Mia have fled to Brazil while Vin Diesel nebulously sneaks across the Americas after they break him out of prison in the last five minutes of that movie and the first five minutes of this one. In Brazil they immediately get on the bad side of the baddest dude and decide the only way out is down. They get the gang (back?) together and use a variety of car-themed stunts to kill a drug kingpin in an extremely complicated Rube Goldberg machine. The Rock is here and the movie can't remember if he's a protagonist or an antagonist.

This is a heist movie! It is pretty thoroughly All Heist, with Left Car. Specifically it kind of wants to be an Oceans 11 style heist movie, there's a lot of set-up, dealing with the Guy Who Wants To Kill You And Who Will Kill Your Ass If You Fail, you have to get the gang together, do a bunch of smaller jobs to get ready for the big heist, and then do the thing under adverse circumstances. The entire sequence of fucking with the Police station, (Casing the joint, Roman as FBI agent, poop bomb) is straight out of an Oceans movie. And, of course, "We did the heist and it looked like we left the money behind, but actually we didn't because of a thing we did off-screen" is another Oceans staple!

As a heist movie, it's solid, and the cinematography for Heist works. The opening heist, yanking cars out of the side of a train car, is dynamic and interesting and only really loses track of who is where once. The driving force is both that they need not to get killed by the drug lord they pissed off, and that Mia is pregnant and so Vin Diesel can't just send them on the run. It works to the Family aspect that when this comes up everyone is like yo you're pregnant hell yeah.

The opening of this movie, and a few periods in the middle, manage to be quite subtle, tell an interesting story with small moments of character direction and good cinematography, and are genuinely quite good to watch. However it occasionally becomes a Stupid Movie and has to explain itself out loud. The first time this happens is about 20 minutes in when they have to explain why it's bad to be framed for killing DEA agents.

This is also a movie with good moving aerial shots at a time when aerial shots were still pretty expensive, I think these are probably helicopter shots, not drone shots, you wouldn't really see those in movies for a few more years.

The Rock enters the movie. He's a cop! He's the most cop, because he's a drugs cop. There is a very strange air of divine authority backing him. Brian describes him as "Old Testament", there's a real air of him as a holy warrior, I guess some of this is because he's a drugs cop and drugs are ontologically bad. Except here Divine Authority is the DEA, because it's pretty well established that if you hand The Rock a warrant for someone he will annihilate them no questions asked, unless they're A Cop Cognitohazard (Vin Diesel).

It is a little funny to see the size scale of Normal Human < Paul Walker < Vin Diesel < The Rock.

I have flagged multiple scenes as this movie becoming a Gun Movie. The previous movies have mostly not been Gun Movies! People are often threatened with guns, but they are usually killed by cars! In Tokyo Drift, Han is killed following a long, arduous chase through Tokyo where he flips his car and explodes. Here very few people are killed by cars, most people are killed with guns! Cars are a refuge here, almost no one gets killed if they're inside a car, even if they're being shot at.

There is some interesting cultural depiction of The Badass here. The Rock and his squad are American Military, they wear the tactical vests with rope coiled across the back, they carry a suite of special forces weapons (FN P90 spotted etc.) and they operate like a Special Forces squad, not like cops. Similarly, Gal Godot's character is explicitly Ex-Mossad, a thing that I don't think is invoked so directly any more these days, not because the public have turned on The Mossad but because I guess people now get the implication?

Vin Diesel has some truly bizzare line deliveries, I'm not sure if he's affecting this accent or if this is just how he sounds. They're doing Dad Comparison (it is a good bit to make the cop have an absent father and the crimes man have a loving and present father) and he says "My Father" like he has a mouthfull of cotton wool

It is interesting that this discussion of Dads comes right before they get the gang together, it sets a tone for why all these people would show up. Yes, ten million dollars, but also because Vin Diesel is a guy who you all want to help for some reason.

This leads us into The Family. This is the first movie where I think I actually got the concept, because during the scene where they're introducing all the people they're getting back together I point at the screen and go "Yo it's my boy!" two or three times and I'm like okay I get it. Han is back, Roman is back, Ludacris is back I guess because they didn't want to keep looking for a new rapper for each movie. Gal Godot is back, the two guys from the first movie are also here, although I do not think they appear for the rest of the series. The characters do actually seem like they enjoy hanging out with each other. By all accounts I have read that also seems to extend to the cast, yet another way in which this seems to be an Oceans 11 wannabe. This is a works program run by Vin Diesel.

"We have to get out" <- sentences said by people who did not know they were making six more of these.

They try much too hard not to make Roman look gay in this one. The closest he gets to whatever was going on in 2F2F is that he is staring a lot at Vin Diesel, but it feels like they're compensating! Someone figured out that this man looked gay as hell in 2F2F and instead of leaning in on it they had to swing hard the other way, because it was 2011 and we couldn't put gay people in movies yet. It doesn't help that bisexuality wouldn't be invented for another four years. They give him the fucking insane line of describing eleven million dollars as:

a totally normal thing for a normal very straight man to say, about sex. The word ass is right there! Someone fucking told them that 2F2F was gay!

There are still cars in this movie, but specifically car culture is pretty rare. They go to a car show to win some fast cars to do a timed run as part of the heist and when they started the race I had the horrible feeling they were going to cut to black and cut back in already having won the race, and they did! The GT3 RS they steal here is barely even on screen, it gets used for some practice runs but they almost immediately start getting different cars to try and make the run faster!

That's not to say there aren't car scenes, but there aren't car culture scenes. The whole team takes turns doing the timed run (Han falls in love with Gal Godot because she drives good), they drag race stolen police cars, and of course the actual heist is all built on a single car stunt, dragging a huge safe through the streets behing two Chargers, doing all kinds of environmental kills on cop cars.

Sometimes instead of becoming a Gun Movie this becomes a Punching Movie but really only the one time when they get Vin Diesel and The Rock to fight, and it really does show that The Rock is fucking massive. Insane shape for a guy.

A sort of running thing here is that Vin Diesel has some kind of incredible magnetism that makes people want to help him, but most importantly it seems like he has some kind of Cop Event Horizon where if you get too close to him you just defect, which like, direct action but also this works on The Rock! This is why they can't remember whether The Rock is a protagonist. The other antagonist of the movie is a Drugs Guy so The Rock is already at odds with him, the Drugs Guy killing The Rock's entire team was just the last straw.

Speaking of The Rock's team, we also have the naive Brazillian cop who has been sadwoman deadhusbanded, which, feminism! It is ridiculous as a concept to see your cop husband get killed for being a clean cop and decide that the thing to do is join the force as a clean cop also, but fortunately she wisens up and gets out at the end, by hooking up with Dom. They do a bit where they both talk about how they care about their dead spouse which is as good of a thing to hook up over as anything. Presumably this will be paid off in some interesting way by Letty not being dead in the post-credits scene. At this point they should probably invest in the Heist Polycule upgrade.

This is not an analysis point but they have a bunch of cute "where are they now" end screens which include like, Roman and Ludacris having both bought the same one-of-four special edition Koenigsegg, Brian and Mia and Dom and The Brazillian Cop hanging out, and the one scene that took me the fuck out which is Han and Gal Godot's scene, where Han is driving an LFA down the autobahn while making out with Gal Godot. Shot that makes me go ah fuck they got me do you have any idea how much I want to be either of these two people. An LFA is not a comfortable car to make out in I've sat in one at car shows they are tight and narrow but they are the world's perfect car and you can and should put up with it for the art. You ever see someone get a new kink in real time? If you don't know what an LFA is this probably doesn't hit as hard I guess.

My take here is I think this is mostly a solid heist movie at the expense of being a pretty mediocre car movie. This was so much better than The Fast And The Furious Electric Boogaloo though so I'm looking forward to the rest of the series being mostly normal heist movies, although. I think they go to space in one of them? So maybe not.

[lynnington]

Thunderbolts Fanfic!

I'm so deprived of them on DVD I'm writing a fanfic. It's inspired by both Ocean's 11 (eventually) and The Hangover (can't recommend this movie because it aged like milk and the humor is very not 2025, but the scenario was kind of funy). This is supposed to be light-hearted and comedic without too many serious undertones, since I really need to see them having a semi-decent time and not the worst week of their lives.

I plan on updating semi-regularly; chapter 2 is already written, but it won't be ready until later I fear. Feel free to share thoughts!

[nicohischierz]

i need another hughes sister story i would gobble that shit up. maybe at the lake house or something and they’re upset cause they missed her and she spending time with bf. and she makes it up to them with movie night ????????

you and will were currently in the living room having an intense Mario kart competition. currently, you were in the lead with one point but will was slowly catching up.

outside the window, you could hear the laughter coming from your brothers and their friends. the group were currently playing a game of football outside and you could see jack teasing luke with quinn trying to get in the middle.

it reminded you of when you were younger.

when the three brothers walked into the house, they were met with the sight of you cuddled up against your boyfriend, his arms wrapped protectively across you.

"i thought she was going to spend more time with us?" jack asked, sneering slightly at the two nineteen-year-olds.

quinn ignored his brothers complaint and sighed a little. he had missed his younger sister a lot and the fact that she wasn't spending a lot of time with them hurt.

luke rolled his eyes. he loved his siblings but he just wished that they would all get along better.

"she has been spending time with us rowdy," luke defended.

jack scoffed. "only if she's with her boy toy. when was the last time we hung out as just the siblings?"

"i don't see you putting in any effort to tell her how you feel," luke spat before walking to his room.

"rowdy, i know you're hurt because so am I but you can't just go be mad at her for spending time with her boyfriend. remember how she felt before christmas?" quinn let his words settle in his younger brothers mind before adding.

jack sulked and headed to his room.

the boys didn't know you were awake, but you heard everything that they said and you were filled with guilt.

"hey bub, do you want to head out for a late night drive?" will asked. you shook your head and continued browsing your laptop.

the blonde furrowed his eyebrows and slowly pulled your hand away from your mouth where you were biting your nails.

"what's wrong?" he asked.

"my brothers are hurt that i'm not spending time with them," you whispered.

will brought you in for a hug as you nuzzled into his neck. he had been on the receiving end of your many rants on how your brothers rarely put effort into your relationship, so he knew how much this affected you.

he glanced at your laptop screen and understood what you were trying to do.

“why don’t you pick a movie and i’ll get the guys down to the basement?” he asked.

you nodded and got to picking oceans 11 and setting up the basement like every movie night.

once you were set will ran up to get your brothers. he led the three down before dashing back up the stairs and making sure everyone left the house.

“i’m sorry for not spending time with you guys,” you whispered. quinn noticed the tears starting to fill your eyes and hugged you.

“you don’t have to worry squish. just knowing that you’re in the same house is alright with me,” he reassured

you shook your head. “i complained that you guys didn’t make any effort to hand out with me but now that you guys are, i’m the one not making an effort,” you hiccuped.

jack shook his head. “you have every right not wanting to see us. but right now i’m ready to spend the night with my annoying little sister,” he teased.

you giggled and played the movie.

luke had the popcorn bowl in his hands the whole time whilst you fought for your snacks with jack.

it felt just like the old times and none of you were going to forget that.

[caitylove]

10 Things for 10 People You’d Like to Know Better!

Tagged by @divinemissem13 AND @pattarainn Sorry it took over 11 days to do lol.

• Last Song: Somebody I F*cked Once - Zolita (the darn asterix is literally part of the song title)

• Last Book: Not finished yet cause I am taking forever to read something. Reading Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros. Its okay. Good distraction

• Last Movie: Wicked- I have watched it a million times.

• Last TV Show: Hacks --started rewatching this in preparation for season 4

• Favourite Colour: I used to say green, but actually think its a pink.

• Sweet/Savory/Spicy:SALTY

• Relationship Status: I am married.

• Last Thing I Googled: Lunar Eclipse 2025. Wanted to find out what time it would be visible tonight!

• Current obsession: Always BSG. Oops. And The Closer/Major Crimes.

• Looking Forward To: I am so ready for my next cruise in June! I need the sunshine and ocean. I crave it!

Tagging, but don't feel pressured! @dixoonn @onenerdyheart @kate04us @transpidergwen @ryuhoshi @themostpowerfulmagicofall

[nothingunrealistic]

Elena Oxman makes her feature debut with a queer coming-of-age story, Outerlands, that begins well into adulthood, as confronting past traumas and addiction become milestones in the journey of coming to your own. Asia Kate Dillon��(Orange Is the New Black) takes the lead in this production as Cass (they/them), a reserved San Francisco resident who juggles multiple streams of income, including babysitting children, serving at restaurants, and dealing party drugs. After a steamy encounter with Kalli (Louisa Krause), Cass agrees to babysit her 11-year-old daughter Ari (Ridley Asha Bateman), only for Kalli to mysteriously disappear. As the film progresses, Cass comes head-to-head with the demons they have been running from, leading to a heartfelt exploration of self-acceptance, queer family, and childhood healing. Outerlands screened at South by Southwest (SXSW) 2025, where Oxman, Dillon, Krause, and Bateman talked to Steve Weintraub in Collider's Media Studio at the Cinema Center in Austin. Oxman discusses her goals of trying to honor real life and respecting her audience by scaling back the script, as well as how video games became integral to the story. The cast members also reveal their anxieties about filming, from shooting 17 scenes a day, learning to drive a scooter, or sprinting into the ocean. Hear about how Dillon managed to secure a song from one of their favorite bands and more in the video above, or you can read along via the transcript below.

'Outerlands' Is a "Queer Coming-of-Age" Drama "We all, even as adults, are still coming of age." COLLIDER: What's interesting is, there was just a film here that took place in San Francisco, and your film takes place in San Francisco and I really enjoyed both films. It must be something in the San Francisco water. ELENA OXMAN: Definitely. It's a magical city. Very photogenic, very inspiring to film there. I have a lot of things I want to talk to you about, but I have to start with the generic up front, which is most people watching this will not have seen the movie yet, so how have you been describing it to people? OXMAN: We've been describing it to people as a queer coming-of-age movie that is about a person who works as a nanny in San Francisco who gets left with an 11-year-old girl, and her mother disappears. That's the setup of the film, but really, it's a drama. It's about coming home to ourselves and acknowledging wounds that we might not have acknowledged in the past. Ultimately, when I say coming-of-age, we all, even as adults, are still coming of age, so it's like, how do we come into adulthood? One of the things that I commend you on is that the characters and the situations felt very authentic and real like this could really be happening. Can you talk about trying to capture that and put it on screen and not make it feel like Hollywood? OXMAN: I think that's staying true to what life feels like to me as a writer. I feel like when we make movies, we're aspiring to honor how rich and deep life is, and I don't think [we] ever get there. It's a very hard thing to do, but as a writer, I always try and just stay close to it and avoid the clichés of the ready-made ideas but stick to my experience or the experience of people I know and be loyal to that, and then I think it flows from there.

'Outlanders' Honors Real Life Through a Pared-Back Script "Trusting and respecting the audience." For all three of you, what was it about this script and this story that said, "I really want to do this?" ASIA KATE DILLON: The writing, first and foremost. The story was so clear. The first time I read through the draft, I immediately understood not only my character, Cass Marks, but also all the characters. It felt very, like you said, real. I hadn't ever read a script like this before. I hadn't read this particular story before. I hadn't played this particular type of character before. It felt very new, very relevant, but also there were elements of the story that were personally nostalgic for me, and/or synchronistic for me. I read the script on an airplane, and I immediately texted my manager and I just said, "I have to make this film. Please set up a meeting with the director as soon as possible." The writing was the answer. RIDLEY ASHA BATEMAN: Just the fact that it was so real, and it could actually happen in real life. It just spoke to me in a way. You bring up something that I wanted to talk about, and another thing that I really commend you on is the lack of unnecessary dialogue and exposition that's not needed. People speak when they would really speak, and it's honest conversations. Can you sort of talk about that aspect? OXMAN: For me, a lot of that is trusting and respecting the audience. I wish more people did. OXMAN: [Laughs] We participate when we watch things, and I love it when films leave spaces and gaps for us to actually use our hearts and minds to fill those in rather than telling us everything. I make films because I'm in love with the visual medium, so it can say so much. This film happened to be about a character who's a person of few words—that's part of their character; they're kind of stoic. That was one of the reasons for casting Asia and really choosing Asia as, "This is Cass," is I just knew that they were an actor who's going to be able to convey so much with so little because so much of the performance is really unspoken.

Video Games Are a Major Aspect of 'Outerlands' "There's a lot of solace in that activity." I don't want to get too specific—I don't want to do any spoilers or ruin any aspect of the movie—but there is a video game component. I'm a big video game fan, I grew up with games, but you have the Super NES, and the game "Outerlands" plays a big role in the movie. The game is not real, as far as I know. OXMAN: Well, I can say something about that. The game is actually real. It's a game called "Redder" by a video game designer named Anna Anthropy. But it wasn't called "Outerlands." OXMAN: It was not. "Outerlands" is not real, that's correct. The end sequence was written into the script, and she designed that very end sequence that comes at the end of the film. We did use a Super NES. People who know that system will recognize it, but it was meant to be generic, of a certain era, but not something in particular. [Asia], your character goes to the arcade, plays video games and pinball, and I think that a lot of video game players—not all, but a lot—use video games as a form of escapism. It's entertainment, but for some people, it's just an escape from the reality of life. Is that something you thought about, or am I digging too deep? OXMAN: Oh no, definitely. This isn't giving anything away; the movie begins with Cass playing a little game on their phone, and, in the context of that scene, it's soothing. It's a self-soothing kind of mechanism. At the same time, when we say "escape," there can be a negative connotation to escaping into phones or video games or whatever. It's more complex than that because there can actually be a lot of solace. A lot of people, for video games, there's a lot of solace in that activity, and I think the same goes for Cass. So, it's both. I'm not trying to make it so it's all negative, but I've seen both sides of it. OXMAN: Totally. No, you're totally onto something because I think a big theme of the movie is how we avoid pain. Absolutely.

'Outerlands' Filming Schedule Had Multiple Little Challenges "The scene that gave me the most anxiety was running into the ocean." For the three of you, you know the shooting schedule, and you see what's coming up. What day do you have circled in terms of, “I can't wait to film this,” and what do you have circled in terms of, “How the F am I going to film this?” Sorry for my language. DILLON: Please don't swear around me. [Laughs] Okay, I had the entire film circled as I can't wait to show up every day. Truly, every single day was a joy and also a creative challenge, which I love. I pretty quickly realized that I had to approach each filming day very differently than I had on previous projects. For example, on a given day, there would be 17 scenes on the call sheet because those scenes were just moments, like, "Cass wakes up and looks at their alarm clock. Cass wakes up on the couch and looks at the beer bottles. Cass is running down the stairs." It's all these little moments, but all of them obviously probably require a costume change, certainly a different emotional state. Because Elena and I did so much prep for the film, and I knew the film inside and out, backwards and forwards, all the other metaphors, I just actually said, “I need to show up on the day, and you just tell me actually what we're going to do next," because if I look at it and I say, "Oh, I have these 17," I'm going lose my mind, actually. So, it was a different way of working for me that, ultimately, I found really benefited me and, therefore, I hope, the film. But also, it sounds like you had done so much work prior to stepping on set thinking about everything. DILLON: Definitely. They were like, “We're going to do this now,” and I was like, “Great, I know what that is.” BATEMAN: There weren't days that I didn't want to do. There were days that were more challenging than others. It was always fun to be on set, and it was just more challenging than others on certain days. Good answer. DILLON: Yeah, I had to learn to drive a scooter, but Ridley also had to learn to be a passenger on a scooter with me. I feel like those days might have been just a little more challenging, certainly because of the physical aspect. KRAUSE: Same. It was just fun to show up. We knew what we were signing up for, so we're all game. It's so funny. The intimacy scene was so easy to do because it was just well guided and that was a piece of cake. I think the scene that gave me the most anxiety was running into the ocean potentially. People were standing by with blankets, and we were so well taken care of, and it was actually exhilarating to be able to do that. It was very cold. I think we were right next to the Cliff House in San Francisco on the beach, but it was a thrill, actually. So, yeah, lucky.

'Outerlands' Features a Mystery Band Allied With the Queer Community "It was a very easy and genuine letter to write." This is not a spoiler, but over the end credits, you have a song by a band that I love. I don't know if I can say it or not. DILLON: My instinct is don't, because I have a good story about it, but we don't need to spoil it. I want to know how you managed to get this band to give you a song. DILLON: I can answer without telling you what the band is. I wrote them a letter at the advice of our producers and our PR team. Everyone was like, “Just write them a letter.” They are one of my top five favorite bands of all time—one of the best live shows I've ever seen. Their records have been on repeat for me for, like, 20 years at least. It was a very easy and genuine letter to write, and it was just about whether or not we could get that letter to them. Magic and hard work and diligence made it happen. It's just cool to know that they read my letter, and they were like, “Yeah, we want to give you this song for this film.” Part of it was acknowledging that dance music is so integral in the LGBTQIA+ community, how they've been allies for so long, and how it would really mean so much to have their song in the film. So, yay! [Laughs] I am a huge fan of the band, and without giving anything away, they have a soundtrack out for something, and I have listened to that soundtrack probably 1,000 times. It is one of my favorites of all time. I'm almost out of time, but I like talking about editing. So, you're editing, you have a cut, you're showing it to friends and family. Did you jump out the window, or were you like, “It's coming together. This is good. Just some small tweaks?" OXMAN: [Laughs] Yeah, a little bit of both, I'd say. It's very nerve-wracking the first time you show what you've been working on to an audience. What was reassuring is that [for] my amazing editor Chris Brown and I, who'd been kind of holed up in his apartment/our editing suite, working on this, the same things that our gut told us needed work were what got reflected back to us by our audience, and that's always just such a great thing when that happens. It was just reassuring that we're on the right track. We had one small little test screening when we were about, I'd say, three-quarters of the way there, 80%, and then from there, finished the cut. Did you end up making any sort of big changes to the film that you were not expecting, or was it more little like surgical cuts? OXMAN: There were both. There were definitely surgical cuts, but there was a substantial change towards the ending of the film. It was nothing that wasn't in the script, but it was cutting and pruning to streamline things. I think something that can happen, this happened with my script, is there can sometimes be multiple endings, or multiple low points, and we sort of had that going on. That, unfortunately, meant we lost some great performance moments and whatever, but you have to always sacrifice for the flow of the story.

[renee-writer]

I’m five. Maybe six. Dad says “It’s a school night. Time to get ready for bed.”

I ask for one more minute. I’m not quite ready.

I’m 11. I spent the night at my best friend's house. Six of us in total—sleeping bags lined up on the carpeted basement floor. There’s makeup, and giggles about boys, and silly tricks on the one who fell asleep first. My mother calls in the morning to tell me she’s on her way.

I ask for one more minute. I’m not quite ready.

I’m 15. It’s a beautiful summer evening. I’m sitting on the beach in front of a bonfire with my best friends around me and a cute boy's hand in mine. It’s almost my curfew. I run to my friend's house to call my mom.

I ask for one more minute. I’m not quite ready.

I’m 17. My mom is in a bed with four rails, in a hospital room that has been her home for three months now. I’m asked if I would like to be alone with her before she goes to Heaven. It’s now just her, and I, and a glowing light above her bed. The door creaks open and they ask if I’m done saying my goodbye.

I ask for one more minute. I’m not quite ready.

I’m 21. I just hid in the bathroom and took a pregnancy test. Two little pink lines show up, just like it does in the movies. When I come out—my boyfriend asks what’s wrong.

I ask for one more minute. I’m not quite ready.

I’m lying in a hospital bed, and am wearing a blue gown (that was worn by many before). Life is about to become separated into two parts—before motherhood, and after motherhood. They tell me that it’s time to push.

I ask for one more minute. I’m not quite ready.

I am moving out of my childhood home, and am about to move into a house where I now pick out the throw cushions and am responsible for buying the toilet tissue and eggs. I’m standing in the entrance where my mom used to help me put on my shoes and would do up the buttons on my winter jacket. After taking out boxes filled with bits and pieces of my life, he says “C’mon, Sweetheart. The baby’s in the car. It’s time to go.”

I ask for one more minute. I’m not quite ready.

It’s another month of trying—another month of looming disappointment. He comes home from work and asks if I had taken the test yet. I’m too tired to see another single line.

I ask for one more minute. I’m not quite ready.

There are three of them now, bouncing around downstairs and arguing over whose turn it is to choose the cartoon. One is still not walking, and is still being nursed. The bedroom door opens, and in walks the man who made me his wife, telling me that the baby seems hungry.

I ask for one more minute. I’m not quite ready.

After six years of having a child in the house, the baby of the family is putting a knapsack on his back, excited for his first day of school. Someone yells through the house “It’s time to go! He’s going to miss the bus!”

I ask for one more minute. I’m not quite ready.

I’m standing in a cemetery. The leaves are turning shades of yellow, orange, and red. The air is cool. I’m stood by a dark brown casket, not yet ready to physically part ways with the man who loved me every day that I was on this earth. This is how it’s supposed to go (him before me) but the pain in my chest is not yet comforted by that fact. They tell me that it’s time to go.

I ask for one more minute. I’m not quite ready.

We wake up in a cabin, in the middle of the woods, where there is no cellphone service, but there is copious amounts of laughter, and red wine, and cream cheese-filled dips. We drink coffee out of vintage mugs, and someone says “I guess it’s time to head home, ladies. Back to reality.”

I ask for one more minute. I’m not quite ready.

He and I have taken our children to a beachside escape. There were night swims, and pizza on the beach, and morning walks on the sand, and for one week it was just us. Just us. The bags are packed up in the entrance. Passports laid out on the table. I’m sitting on the deck looking over the ocean, when he slides open the door, and reminds me that the plane will be leaving in just a few short hours.

I ask for one more minute. I’m not quite ready.

We’ve packed our oldest up and have driven eight hours to the campus that he will now call home. I snuck a family photo into his luggage and place it on the shelf above his desk. I want to tell him that I printed off another one to keep on our fridge at home (as if this invisible string will hold us together while we’re apart) but the words will not come out. It’s getting late. We need to be at work the next day. It’s time to get on the road and drive away from here (away from him)—while trusting that the roots we’ve created will now grow into wings.

I ask for one more minute. I’m not quite ready.

To some it may be "just one more minute"—

But to me, it’s been the greatest pause—the last moment to savor it all, and to soak it all in.

To just be there. For that one more minute.

To wait until I was ready.

If someone asked me my advice for living a full, intentional life,

I would have to respond with:

Stop rushing.

Sit in what is.

Feel humbled to be here, for the good and the bad.

. . . and never, ever be afraid to ask for one more minute 🤍

Shared with permission from Love Always, Heather

[helluvabosshazbinbeadwhore]

Wow, people on YouTube are REALLY LIKING my silly little plush's adventures even tho my camera work is still shite. To everyone here who subscribed (haha, two people so far XD ), thank you so much from Blitz and myself. I didn't expect the sharp uptick in views, let alone that peeps would want to tag along. Thank you all!

I apologize for not posting last week. We are just down the street (and over the hill) from the Pacific Palisades Fire in Southern California (11 miles, but that's NOTHING for the speed of the spread of this fire!), the Kenneth Fire (7 1/2 miles, though now thankfully IT'S OUT!) and the fires that were at the 5/14 fwy junctions. Sheesh! We were packed and ready to go Thursday night with BlitzPlushie watching over our luggage on the couch. He was there mostly so I wouldn't forget him (I don't let on how much I love him, Satan forbid), but gads, it was an exhausting, frantic night that started Monday evening when DWP shut our apartment complex's power off as a precautionary measure so they could de-energize the local grid and downed power lines wouldn't cause another fire. That happened a few years ago with the Woolsey Fire, which was in the Santa Susanna Pass mountains right next to our city. That fire tore through barren terrain perched on top of craggy, barren (except for shrub brush) granite hills, decimated TWO exclusive gated communities full of movie and industry stars and didn't stop until it hit the Pacific Ocean!

So yeah, was a little nerve-wracked in our house the entire week. The Santa Ana winds are back, but they are blowing back OVER the burned-out, destroyed terrain, so there's literally NOTHING left to burn. Our Watch Duty Fire app. has been blissfully quiet - no new fires or evacuation updates since Saturday. We're praying it stays that way.

Now that that exhausting and stressful update is out of the way, I updated the YouTube channel that'll be hosting my little fuzzy squatter's adventures from now on. (I'll still post here, too, so don't panic!) If you like his antics, please go over, watch, like and subscribe so as not to miss another misadventure in the future.

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🦇 Heiress Takes It All Review 🦇

❓ #QOTD What's your favorite heist book or movie? ❓ 🦇 "Something borrowed" is about to be the understatement of the year. After being cast out by her cheating father, Oliva Owens is ready for revenge. She'll play the part of dutiful daughter at his upcoming wedding, letting everyone see a spoiled heiress while she steals millions from his online accounts. All she needs is the passcode locked tight in his safe. With the help of an electric crew of high school students (and one former teacher), she's plotted the heist down to the second. Too bad her pleading ex, greedy Swiss cousins, father's vengeful second wife, and massive security team are in the way. Can Olivia steal her rightful inheritance right under her father's nose?

💜 I will probably read anything that comes from writing duo Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegmund-Broka, who know how to weave together a rich tapestry of plot, character development, and hard-hitting prose. A good heist story isn't easy to pull off--it's as difficult as the heist itself. Like a chess game against a worthy competitor, there are moving pieces, gambits, and traps around every corner. You need to think ahead. Wibberley and Siegmund-Broka do so with precision, giving Olivia and her crew plenty of obstacles to navigate as they try to pull off a heist in the middle of a messy, drama-filled wedding. More than the heist, I appreciate the emotional depth and development we see in Olivia throughout the story. Despite hating her father and wanting vengeance, she yearns for her father's approval. No kid can help that, even when wounds are still raw. Olivia struggles with an ex who cheated on her, the pain echoing after her father cheated on her mother. Olivia clings to her anger and thirst for revenge as a motivator throughout the book, but we do see her develop, grow, and forgive.

💙 Usually, I don't comment on covers, but I want to point on the detailing on this one. The crossed dagger cufflinks, Olivia's necklace, the chess pieces. The stark mess of red cutting against stunning, pure white, reflective of the messy con occurring during an otherwise perfectly planned wedding. Well done.

💙 The first 30% of the book was a little difficult to fall into, namely because it's more exposition than action. The entire story feels a bit more tell than show, despite the setting's opulence and potential for strong visuals. Usually, I annotate Wibberly and Siegemund-Broka's prose like crazy, but there were only a few delectable one-liners to choose from this time. I also found Olivia to be a bit...exhausting, especially since the story was in her first-person POV. She puts on the act of being a spoiled heiress, but her "true" persona isn't any more likable, even when we see dashes of empathy. I also guessed at Abigail's identity the moment she was mentioned--a great twist, but not well concealed.

🦇 Recommended for fans of Thieves' Gambit, Women of Good Fortune, Leverage, The Inheritance Games, and Ocean's 11.

✨ The Vibes ✨ ♟️ Heist ♟️ Found Family ♟️ Young Adult ♟️ Family Drama ♟️ Messy Romance ♟️ Single First-Person POV ♟️ Mystery

🦇 Major thanks to the authors @wibbs_ink & @austins_b and publisher @littlebrownyoungreaders for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #HeiressTakesItAll

💬 Quotes ❝ If he’s spoiled cream, I’m cotton candy laced with arsenic. ❞ ❝ Forever. Forever. The syllables pound in my ears. Poem, promise, or prison sentence? ❞ ❝ My heist is worth millions— this kiss is priceless. And everything priceless is dangerous. ❞

[elijahhendley]

７月27號 Day 16: Day in Taitung!

Today I decided to wake up around 6:30am. After getting ready, I went to breakfast around 7:15am and I was the only person in the entire room. The hotel breakfast room was giant and could probably seat almost 200 people yet I was the only one there. There was even a lot of food there that was prepared really nicely and I was the only one eating it. After a while some of my friends walked in, but no strangers. The county we are in is known for having the least amount of people. We are staying in a hotel that has 2 buildings and 15 floors for rooms. Since the hotel was so big I was expecting there to be more people at breakfast. But after breakfast, I went back upstairs and noticed something that I noticed in the last hotel. A lot of the electricity around the hotel was off. Like the central AC seemed to be off because the hallways and laundry room were hot. Then I went to the room balcony and every room that I could see had the AC unit off. So I don’t think there were many people staying in this hotel. So they turn the electricity off to save money.

We loaded up on the bus at 9:30 and our first stop was to the rice school museum. It was a small place with not that much going on but it was cool to see how the different types of rice are made and the different stages of rice. Peter also bought us snacks to try. He bought apple mochi and dried squid. The squid was really good. Then we made a quick stop at the “green tunnel” which was just a nice canopy of trees. As we drove through the green tunnel there were some graves which were very detailed. Then we continued on our way to get hot pot on Peter(such a great guy)! It was really good and he even ordered an extra plate of beef for our table. After eating hotpot, we went to the national museum of prehistory. I learned and saw so many different things. It was one of the best museums we have been to in my opinion. Especially since everything was in chronological order. It was amazing to see how things advanced and some things remained the same. 

After leaving the museum we drove by the Music Village, which was almost empty due to the bad weather. Then we ended the day going to a pharmacy, 7-11, and a bakery. At the pharmacy store a couple of us had fun taking our blood pressures while waiting for others to finish buying medicine. There is a sickness going around. Then we went to the hotel and we played poker and Cambio again.

Academic Reflection.

It is surprising to me and it probably will be surprising to you, that the rice industry in Taiwan is actually at risk. The amount of rice eaten, according to the Taiwan panorama article “A Rice Renaissance”, has reached an all time low in Taiwan. It is being outcompeted by wheat products, such as pasta and bread, and also rice imports from other countries. Ever since 2002 when Taiwan opened its borders to rice imports, domestic sustainability of rice has decreased. It is a sad reality that is slowly trying to be changed. I also learned about the main types of rice. The article splits it into 3 varieties. First being sticky rice, like Japanese Koshihikari rice. The second, a high water content, gelatinous rice with a soft texture known as Congee rice. The last being firm “frying” rice. 

Another thing I want to highlight about today was the Prehistory museum. Besides experiencing how the people of Taiwan lived, how they made pots both red and black, how they made and used knives, cultivated farm land, and even how they buried their dead during the prehistoric times. I learned a lot of interesting things. Moana, my favorite Disney movie, was based on the oceanic cultures and had a lot of influence from Taiwan prehistoric native culture. I saw boats similar to those depicted in the movie. I also learned that the movie Godzilla was inspired from a nuclear bomb that was tested by the US in the pacific ocean. A nearby fishing boat named Lucky dragon 5 was near this nuclear bomb testing and all the crewmates were contaminated. Thus, Godzilla was formed.

Until next time, 再見！

[gifmourningu]

Tropical-Rouge! Precure Watch Guide

Want to watch Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure, but it feels like there’s too many episodes?

...Well, let me stop you right there, because this season is the ultimate comedic filler show and has barely any plot at all. If you're not ready to kick back, relax, laugh here and there, and follow maybe 1 plot point throughout the whole season, you're better off skipping this season. (On the other hand, if you're just ready to vibe, you might as well watch every episode. Who will this guide be useful for? Unclear.)

Since there's so much "filler" (aka just vibing), my usual scheme doesn't work here. So here's how we're gonna do this...

Green = Plot; Blue = Recommended Filler; Yellow = Fun but way more optional filler; Red = More Boring Filler and recommended skip

1 — Start

2 — What are Priorities? (Manatsu & Laura focus)

3 — Cure Coral

4 — Cure Papaya

5 — Cure Flamingo

6 — Club finalized

7 — Kururun (Laura & Minori focus)

8 — Fun with cooking (Manatsu & Asuka focus)

9 — Movie-making (Sango focus)

10 — Group finisher

11 — Sand art 

12 — Rules Drools (Laura & Asuka focus)

13 — Mermaid song (Laura focus)

14 — Babysitting This isn’t that interesting but has a fairly long battle.

15 — Body Swap (Laura & Minori focus)

16 — Cure La Mer part 1

17 — Cure La Mer part 2

18 — Laura’s first day as a student (Laura focus)

19 — Ghost stories (Manatsu focus)

20 — Detective Minorin (Minori focus)

21 — Start of Summer Break (Manatsu & Laura focus)

22 — Mermaid Treasure (Laura focus)

23 — Summer Festival (Laura focus)

24 — Showdown with the student council (Asuka focus)

25 — Teacher Evaluation

26  — Meteor Shower (Asuka focus) You get to see Asuka’s dad, if that’s interesting to you.

27 — Dolphin Propaganda Slightly more interesting villain plan.

28 — Makeup Propaganda (Minori focus)

29 — Precure Powerup This episode has jaw-dropping animation through the entire episode.

30 — Laura for Student Council President Gives background note on Asuka’s past club

31 — Asuka train shenanigans (goes into her relationship with Yuriko)

32  — Sango Fashion Show

33 — Clip Show (Short clips and jokes only)

34 — Future Plans

35 — Halloween Mentions some mechanics of the mermaid aqua pot, i.e. that only mermaids can return motivation power.

36 — Gran Ocean

37 — Gran Ocean 2

38 — Asuka vs Yuriko

39 — Sango’s dream

40 — Minori and Papayas

41 — Deciding the play plot (a LOT of reused footage)

42 — Giant Yaraneda

43 ~ 46 — Finale

[icarusthelunarguard]

This Week’s Horrible-Scopes

It’s time for this week’s Horrible-Scopes! So for those of you that know your Astrological Signs, cool! If not, just pick one, roll a D12, or just make it up as you go along. It really doesn’t matter. Better yet! Check out “Heart of the Game, Fredonia” and see if they can sell you those D12’s with the symbols on them. Tell them “Shujin Tribble” sentcha. And “Hail, Hail, Fredonia!” Home of the Blue Devil!

Time to hit the slopes or shoot the tubes! It might be winter or summer where you are, but either way we’re going to find something for you to do. So get ready to break your leg or swallow some salt water. Either way, you’ll have fun right up until that point.

Aries 

Being that you’re in the Summer part of the planet, you’ve got some work to do. Get out the extension cord and call in the flock because you’ll be shearing sheep all week. Normally you’d wait until Spring for this, but that ONE sheep’s been growing out wool faster than an 80’s action movie star growing out his mullet. So This Week… do NOT try to shave that BIG one! That’s an Alpaca and it will NOT appreciate being manhandled right now.

Taurus 

It might still be winter, but if you’re following American Major League Baseball you know that Spring Training started already. If you’re a Dodger’s Fan, you better know a little history on the team - specifically that they’re originally from Brooklyn, New York and left in 1957. So now when they come “Home” to play against the Mets, there’s always folks in the stands wearing the old Dodgers’ memorabilia. So This Week… Take a turn in the Indoor Batting Cages and see if you can hit a couple balls. Or if that’s too intimidating, maybe Wii Sports Baseball?

Gemini  

We’d love to suggest you hit the skate park with a skateboard, but we all know how this’ll end. You’re gunna need some serious wrist and knee and head and elbow protection… and even THEN we don’t think you’ll come away unscathed. So This Week… Don’t even THINK about hauling out your old Razor Scooter! You’ll shatter your shin as soon as that thing swings around and clocks you! 

Cancer Moon-Child 

Let’s face facts - you were never the athletic type, Cancer. Taking your Middle School stairs two at-a-time to get to the library in the middle of lunch was about as good as it got for you. You’re more the intellectual type, so let’s feed that part of your body. So This Week… Drive out to a planetarium and take in the midday show with an elementary school class trip. It’s as good as you remember it to be! 

Leo 

Let’s take you out on a Latin American cruise and give you the best of all worlds: Sun, Sea, Dancing, Swimming Pool, all the shrimp you can eat, and a chance to try out Water Skiing. There’s more to this than meets the eye, so pay attention to the most important piece of advice. When you fall, and you will, Let Go Of The Tow Rope! And when you don’t, do NOT open your mouth or your eyes! So This Week… You never do what we tell you to anyway. Enjoy swallowing krill. 

Virgo 

It won’t matter if it’s Winter or Summer for you, you’re playing indoors this week. And you are SO gunna lose so hard! We’re sending you to play in a game of TAG! Professional or Competitive Tag Games are on a 12 by 12Metre field filled with all kinds of obstacles or ramps, so you better have all your parkour skills ready. So This Week… We know you don’t have any stamina or jumping skills, but at least TRY to survive 11 seconds. We’ve got a lot in the betting pool on this. 

Libra

Not only are you getting to be in the ocean, but your boat will be tipped SO far over that you might get vertigo. We’re giving you time on a competitive speed sailboat - but calling it a “sailboat” is misleading. It’s got a hydrofoil, meaning you’ll be cranking away at 50 knots, tilted almost 45 degrees over. How fast is that? Highway Speed! So This Week… Get fitted for a Personal Floatation Device. You’re gunna need it.  

Scorpio 

We’re giving you something a little better suited to your skillset. Strap on a VR headset and grab the controls to a Remote Controlled fighter jet plane. Get out there in the air and start dogfighting with the best of them. So This Week… Check your plane before it leaves the air - if someone attached bottle rockets under the wings, do NOT shoot at someone on the ground! It might be YOU! 

Sagittarius 

Let’s give you some serious Winter Weather fun - and have you do some serious construction work. This week we’re having you build.. AN IGLOO! But we’re challenging you to do it in such a way to make the ice clear! It’ll take some time and some technical know-how, but you’ll be able to do it. We believe in you. So This Week… If you’re successful you’ll get to lie back and enjoy the Northern Lights… assuming there’s no active volcanoes nearby.

Capricorn 

Winter or Summer, it doesn’t much matter what season it is. We’re letting you let your inner Viking Warrior out by learning to throw Axes! You’ll get proficiency in Single and Double-Handed Axes - and if you get creative you might be able to get a Triple-Headed axe too! And if you think it’s dangerous now, wait ‘til you go to a bar that’s hosting an Axe throwing Event in-house! So This Week… Learn where the balance point is on your own axes. You’ll be able to get the rotations so much better when you know that.

Aquarius 

Not only are we sending you a CASE of Coffee Crisp bars like we promised last week, but we’re sending you out to Quebec to go out there Ice Fishing! There’s GREAT Fishing in Quebec! (PLENTY of fishin’ in Quebec!) [I fuckin’ HATE “KEY-Beck.”] Look, this is NOT about you this time, it’s all for Aquarius, ok? (All Good) [Fi-i-ine.] Good. So This Week… Make sure you know what fish you like to eat and plan on making the freshest sushis you’ve ever had! [That’s not a word] (That’s true.) ZIP IT, YOU TWO! 

Pisces  

You… Are going… To get HURT. You are going winter tubing, and you are going to end up face-first into a pile of white. Your legs are going one way, your arms another, and you’re going to look like the Dead Family Guy Pose. Expect to be wrapped in a full-body cast. So This Week… you aren’t going to have all your arms and legs broken. It’s just gunna be too funny to hear you complaining about how itchy you are. Good Luck!

And THOSE are your Horrible-Scopes for this week! Remember if you liked what you got, we’re obviously not working hard enough at these. BUT! If you want a better or nastier one for your own sign or someone else’s, all you need to do to bribe me is just Let Me Know - or check out the Ko-Fi page ( https://ko-fi.com/icarusthelunarguard )! These will be posted online at the end of each week via Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Discord, and BLUESKY.

[againstacecilia]

Stayed home sick today because my period is Out Of Control but I had a Pedro Pascal dream that I want to share with you. (It's really only important to me so feel free to scroll lol)

We're in a coastal town somewhere (not sure where, just restaurants and shops right along the ocean) when Pedro and Oscar Isaac show up. Minimal paparazzi, we're just able to sit down and all have a conversation as a big group. As they're getting ready to leave, I ask Pedro if I can have a private conversation with him (??) and he smiles and says sure. We step away from the group and I start bawling, telling him something along the lines of:

"Watching you act is more than just watching a show or a movie. It reminds me why I used to love acting as well. You help me get lost in a character and, subsequently, the story. When I watch you act, I get to see the love you have for the craft and it both makes me miss it desperately but also makes me feel at home again."

This man, after wrapping me in the warmest hug, said:

"If I remind you of all that, then it's time to do it again. Get back on stage."

He said other things that I'm having a hard time remembering, but I'm surprised I didn't wake up sobbing. They were all so supportive of picking performing back up again and in such a "if your heart is there, do it" kind of way. And it just felt so genuine. Like I was actually talking to one of my heroes and they were giving me advice. And it was all in my brain??

I haven't thought of auditioning for a play in so long, but I miss it all the time. I started acting when I was 11 and was pretty consistently in plays and musicals though my Freshman year of college. Then I changed my major and stopped. Life caught up to me.

I'm rambling now but also just processing whatever my subconscious is trying to tell me. Using Pedro Pascal lol. Also, I never got to talk to Oscar before the dream ended so maybe my brain will pick up a part two someday. 😂

[teddybeartoji]

Congrats on the job!! 💞 I’m trying to get one too please wish me luck 😭 if you don’t mind me asking, what does your job entail? I hope it’s something you enjoy doing 💞 also do you have any interview tips.:. I always get so nervous in interviews 😭

THANK YOU BABYYY💓💓💓💓I AM CROSSING ALL OF MY FINGERS FOR YOUU!!! as for tips... this is gonna sound ridiculous because well... it is ridiculous. i always think about george clooney. especially him in ocean's 11 bc he's just thee most charismatic guy in the world??? he looks like he can do anything, he looks like he can talk his way out of everything and so i just try to channel his energy. and it works btw. literally just watch the movie, he's so good.

but as for more practical tips mmmmm i always like to write down some things beforehand. i'm not gonna actually bring the paper with me but it just helps me stay more on track if i've already answered the questions at home by myself. i know about the interviews bc i was very close with my last manager and she always told me everything about the interviews lmao. and ok it seems like i'm gonna ramble so....

the most important thing is to be prepared. and it's actually very important to think of questions for the employer!!!!!!!!! seems silly but it is. it shows that you have, in fact, prepared for this and that you do want the job. and that you are ready to "work for it". please also think about what you want from the job overall – the pay and the hours. if they don't bring them up 1. this is a red flag 2. you need to do it yourself. even if it's scary, you have to, otherwise they just might stomp on you.

never complain about your last employee or the workplace in general. makes you look really bad. even if you absolutely fucking hated the last place, please just say smth else lmao. you don't have to suck up in any way, just refrain from shitting on others. maybe it seems logical but uhh a lot of people do that and yeah. never goes well.

mmmm also keep an eye out for manager red flags too! if they shit on their own company or workers💀💀💀 or when they keep repeating that the Job Is Very Hard. that most likely just means that the management is garbage. i also hate when the interview is half-assed – they want YOU to come and work for them, so they should act like it lmao.i can't stand managers and ceo's who are just way too full of themselves. they have to have the paperwork ready, they have to introduce everything to you, they have to ask about the hours and the pay before going any further.

anywayyy i think that's all for the tips lmao i have big authority issues💀💀💀 so i don't really get nervous. well actually i do bc i do have social anxiety but i'm just so spiteful and i hate obnoxious bosses, so that helps me get over it a little.

the test day is gonna be for a store room job!!! it's nothing special but i do like the work, i used to work at a retail store so i'm very familiar with it. i like work where it's very... repetitive? i like the things a lot of ppl call boring lmao. so i do have high hopes!!!

[playlistjunkie]

Best Hip-Hop Album Covers & Their Most Popular Songs

(Capital Xtra/Apple Music)

Feds Watching - 2 Chainz

33. B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time (Deluxe) - 2 Chainz

Don’t Believe the Hype - Public Enemy

32. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back - Public Enemy

Work Hard, Play Hard - Wiz Khalifa

31. O.N.I.F.C. - Wiz Khalifa

m.A.A.d city (feat. MC Eiht) - Kendrick Lamar

30. good kid, m.A.A.d city - Kendrick Lamar

She (feat. Frank Ocean) - Tyler, the Creator

29. Goblin (Deluxe) - Tyler, the Creator

Power Trip (feat. Miguel) - J. Cole

28. Born Sinner - J. Cole

Red Dot Music (feat. Action Bronson) - Mac Miller

27. Watching Movies with the Sound Off - Mac Miller

Paid in Full - Eric B. & Rakim

26. Paid in Full - Eric B. & Rakim

Me Myself and I - De La Soul

25. 3 Feet High and Rising - De La Soul

Black Skinhead - Kanye West

24. Yeezus - Kanye West

N.Y. State of Mind - Nas

23. Illmatic - Nas

A Milli - Lil Wayne

22. Tha Carter III - Lil Wayne

Stronger - Kanye West

21. Graduation - Kanye West

Izzo (H.O.V.A.) - Jay-Z

20. The Blueprint - Jay-Z

Gin and Juice - Snoop Dogg

19. Doggystyle - Snoop Dogg

ATLiens - OutKast

18. ATLiens - OutKast

F**kin' Problems - A$AP Rocky

17. Long. Live. A$AP - A$AP Rocky

Passing Me By - The Pharcyde

16. Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde - The Pharcyde

Doo Wop (That Thing) - Lauryn Hill

15. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Lauryn Hill

Fight For Your Right - Beastie Boys

14. Licensed to Ill - Beastie Boys

Kick, Push - Lupe Fiasco

13. Food & Liquor - Lupe Fiasco

3005 - Childish Gambino

12. Because the Internet - Childish Gambino

No Vaseline - Ice Cube

11. Death Certificate - Ice Cube

Day ‘n’ Nite - Kid Cudi

10. Man on the Moon: The End of Day - Kid Cudi

Take Care (feat. Rihanna) - Drake

9. Take Care - Drake

Holy Grail (feat. Justin Timberlake) - Jay-Z

8. Magna Carta Holy Grail - Jay-Z

The Real Slim Shady - Eminem

7. The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem

Nuthin' but a "G" Thang - Dr. Dre

6. The Chronic - Dr. Dre

Killing Me Softly With His Song - Fugees

5. The Score - Fugees

Hey Ladies - Beastie Boys

4. Paul's Boutique - Beastie Boys

Hold On, We're Going Home - Drake

3. Nothing Was The Same - Drake

Heartless - Kanye West

2. 808s & Heartbreak - Kanye West

Juicy - The Notorious B.I.G.

1. Ready to Die - The Notorious B.I.G.