#how is this movie 19 years old and it looks better than some movies made recently?

[coco-loco-nut]

Gen Z

pairing: Max Verstappen x Reader

summary: everyone seems to forget that Max is 26

a/n: not my favorite, but it’s something i’ve been working on for a while there will be no part two

requests open masterlist

—————

Breaking up with Kelly was extremely difficult for Max to do. Despite not being in love with her anymore, he was very aware of what would happen to P. Max knew it was better to break up than stay just because of P, so he bit the bullet. The next few months were lonely, having to readjust to being alone in Monaco with just his cats.

That’s when you came barreling into his life. Only two years younger than Max, you were a breath of fresh air for him. He really didn’t expect to fall for you, not so quick anyway.

You knew a bit about Formula One, but it was more to the extent that your home hosted a race, some drivers lived in the city, and your hairdresser’s son was a driver. It didn’t phase you when Max told you about his career and fame, you just thought the Dutchman was cute.

“Men who own cats are major green flags,” you told him over text when you first started dating. That might’ve been what really made Max fall for you. You made him feel young, understandably so. He was 19 when he first met Kelly, and she was 28.

Max taught you about the races, you helped him connect with his inner Gen Z. He taught you Dutch and how to game, you taught him slang and pop culture. The two of you were sitting on the couch a month before the Monaco GP, watching Cars of course, when Max asked you to join him at the race.

“Of course, anything for Lightning McQueen,” you squeeze his hand. You knew from TikTok that Charles, your boyfriend’s work husband, was Lightning McQueen, but how could that not be Max.

“Kachow,” Max says causing you to laugh. He has been watching the TikToks and reels you send him, usually something formula one or cars related.

Max is watching Cars 2 with you when he points out each driver in the movie. You store the knowledge in the back of your mind for when you watch classic races and Max explains things to you. You feel sufficiently ready for Monaco.

“Lewis, this is my girlfriend, Y/n,” Max introduces you to the Mercedes driver. You look at him, star stuck.

“I loved you in Cars,” you blurt out, causing Lewis to laugh and Max to hide his face in embarrassment. Max isn’t surprised, but he can’t believe this is how your first interaction is going. Lewis is just happy you aren’t with Max because he is a driver.

“Thank you, how old are you?” Lewis asks, ready to feel old.

“24, two years younger than Maxie,” you smile lovingly at your boyfriend.

“I forgot how young you actually are,” Lewis’s unspoken words hang in the air between him and Max. Now that you are dating someone closer to your own age.

Lewis’s statement seemed to be the general consensus when everyone saw you with him. Max looked and acted like he was 26. He was using slang you taught him, he was making pop culture references that he likely wouldn’t have known otherwise. He was getting to experience his twenty’s like he should have been, not as if he was much older than he was.

Lando was the most excited to meet you, not only were you his age, but you brought out Max’s inner child that Lando never could.

“I’m stealing your girlfriend,” Lando tells Max, wanting to claim you as his best friend.

“No,” Max deadpans.

“What if Lando is my bestie?” you ask Max, who can’t say no to you.

“Then I guess that’s okay,” Max kisses your temple.

“OMG, McLaren is doing another hide and seek video, you two should join,” Lando proposes.

“That actually sounds fun,” Max says, looking at you for confirmation.

“I’m in,” you smile, letting Lando lead the way.

The video is a hit, the fans are loving this version of Max. Max is loving this version of him too, for once he doesn’t feel like he has to grow up faster than he should.

“Stay away from her, she’s no good for you. Act like a grown up,” you overhear Jos tell Max as you come back to the garage from hospitality. You have yet to meet Jos, Max made it very clear that he doesn’t want you near his dad. The memes the two of you send back and forth are a good enough reason why, so you hang back.

“What do you mean? I am. I’m 26, why should I act like I’m 40? I am happier with her than I was with Kelly,” Max argues back, you hold yourself back.

“World Champions are serious, mature. Quit acting like Lando Norris and more like an adult,” Jos is seething.

“Ask Max to come back here, say the team needs him or something,” you as an engineer when you notice Jos getting angrier.

“Then why am I leading by a heavy margin already. You just can’t handle that I am putting myself first. What would you even know about being a champion? You never won a race!” Max yells. The engineer quickly cuts in and leads Max to you.

“You gagged him, baby. Are you okay?” Max hugs you, you just rub his back as he regulates his breathing.

“He’s an opp, for real,” Max mutters into your shoulder, causing you to snort with laughter.

“God, I love you,” you can’t contain the laughter. Max joins in, your smile is infectious.

“I did use it right, no?” Max asks between the laughter.

“You did, I just wasn’t expecting it,” you take a deep breath, calming down.

“No cap?”

“Alright, you are using too much. Where is old man Max, this is freaky,” you take a step back, the smile that remains on your face betrays your words.

“You got me into my gen z era, you get the consequences,” Max pulls you back into him as you groan in annoyance.

“I love you too,” he laughs, peppering your face with kisses.

And when a journalist is brave enough to ask about the shift in Max? He’s always eager to talk about you.

“My girlfriend forced me to watch hours of YouTube compilations about formula one memes. We are always sending different memes to each other, she definitely helps me remember to laugh more,” Max gushes.

“I guess we all forget that you aren’t nearly forty,” the journalist nods. Max answers a few more questions before finding you in his drivers room. He lays down on the couch, his head on your lap.

“What’s on your mind?” you run your hand through Max’s hair.

“Have I changed that much?” he asks, his blue eyes looking up at you.

“I don’t think so, I think you’ve just started being yourself around more people. You are still the same Max that I first met and fell in love with, everyone else is just seeing that Max,” you are confused about the question, but answer him. Max doesn’t reply, he just nuzzles closer to you.

“I like this version of me,” he says into your shirt a few minutes later, you keep playing with his hair.

“I’m glad, but I like every version of you, Max. Even old man Max,” you smile as he sits up.

“Old man? How about I show you how far from true that is,” there is a look in his eye that tells you that you just started something.

“And how will you do that?” you decide to entertain him as he slips his hands under your shirt.

“I don’t think I need to tell you.”

[afacelesschampion]

CONSTANTINE (2005) dir. Francis Lawrence

[pamelasmuse]

You Are In Love

Dbf!James Potter x Fem!Reader

Summary: You get caught in the shower with James.

Warnings: Light smut, angst and like fluff. Also not proofread.

A/N: This is based of a childhood movie of mine. Can anyone guess it? (Hint it is 2 words and starts with J) Also you are so lucky this fic saw the light of day bc the 1st time I wrote it I didn’t save it and the 2nd time I deleted it on accident.

You felt like you were in a dream. Something you had fantasized about for months now. Not having to hide. Your dads would hate to see you with someone older, not to mention someone married, and that someone was their best friend James Potter.

Your dads were in London with Harry and James wife (soon to be ex) was in Scotland. So you had absolutely nothing to worry about. You were so happy so happy you could finally date like a normal 19-year-old.

you smile and look down at the pink milkshake in front of you. Breakfast was your favorite meal, because you could order super sugary items.

“How is your childish breakfast?” he asks, you smile at him. “ you better be careful who you’re calling a child, James because if I recall correctly, you were inside me less than 30 minutes ago.” You pause for dramatic affect. “ I’m pretty sure that’s against the law.” Now you’re the one smiling

James is a little embarrassed, but he takes it in good fun. You motion to his matching strawberry milkshake. “ if mine is so childish, then why did you order one?” James looks down and smiles.

“ because I know you.” he stops. “ I know that you wanted a milkshake for breakfast and that you wouldn’t order one if I didn’t order one.” Your heart swells with love and happiness that you have finally found someone who gets you who loves you.

“Aw thank you” you smile you look at him for a while just memorizing his face thinking about how amazing he is “daddy” you add. Now it’s James turn to react his face is red with embarrassment and he’s coughing.

It wasn’t a uncommon for you to call him daddy, but it was in common for you to call him that outside of the bedroom. “ not here.” he warned gone with his loveing tone now it was replaced by a stern mean man you didn’t know

“ I’m sorry daddy” you smiled. To anyone passing by it just seems like an innocent smile, but James knew you, and he knew that you were starting some thing. Just then the waitress came over and in that same movement you had slipped off your shoes and one of your feet had started running up the seem of James pants.

James can think straight maybe that was the lack of blood circulating his brain since it all had bled to his lower half. “ did we enjoy everything” you and James nodded to the lady. He handed her some cash, his hands shaking, because at that moment you’re toe had touched the tip of his boner

“ keep the change” James yelled just wanted to get out of there. And she turned around he got up. “ come on.” He yelled at you. When you finally stood up, he grabbed your forearm pushing you towards the door.

“Ow that hurts” you whined. James laying down breathing into your ear. “ well, maybe you should’ve thought about that, princess because now I think you need punished.” You tried to hide your smile as he escorted you out.

* * *

When you had finally reached James and Lili’s townhouse, he pushed you inside, and then the door was shut he push you against it. His lips immediately attacked yours. It’s like he was sucking your air.

He began to kiss down your neck until he reached your(his) shirt, he pulled it off quickly, revealing the pink bra you had worn the night before. It was a surprise for him a surprise, and a thank you for having the house to yourself, and it made him harder

He kissed on your chest until he got to the top of your boobs, then undud your bra. He sucked on your nipple, causing a few moans. You pulled back for a second pulling off his shirt.

He grabbed your hips. Pulling you in and kiss you harder. “ this isn’t much of a punishment.” You quip he looks down at you smiling. “ I promise princess we will get to that.”

He starts to push you towards the stairs. You are halfway up when he finally discard his pants. Then you start to work on yours. But then you hear the door knob start jingle and you here, an all to familiar voice.

“ James” you hear your dad yell. You look at James your face panicked. You start to run up the stairs but you trip on your jeans James picks you up rushing you to the nearest room.

When you are safe in side, you start to listen. You can hear your dad mumble probably confused why there are so many clothes on the ground. But then you hear a smaller voice.Harry.

And finally you can hear your dad “ why don’t you run upstairs and use the bathroom, then we will go.” You look like a James finally surveying the room, you are in, the bathroom.

“ he’s going to come in here” you whisper yell at James. He was thinking quick he moved you into the shower. “ What are you doing?” James hurried in with you. He put a a finger over your mouth, his hands snaked behind you turning on the water. You try to protest but he kisses you to keep you quiet.

He finally pulls back “ we’re just gonna pretend I’m taking a shower”. He winks you. It feels like an eternity when you finally here a little knock. “Daddy?” You hear little Harry say. “Yes?” James calls out. “ I need to use the restroom.” Harry says.

“ OK son just hurry.” James says he looks down at you and your soaked clothes. Any smiles you hear Harry open the door and lift up the toilet. He does his business and Just then James calls out “don’t flush” but it’s too late he’s already done it in a matter of seconds you can feel the burning hot water hit your back

“Ow fuck” you scream out. James hurries and put his hands over your mouth pleading with you Harry stand back, looking at the shower curtain. “Daddy? Is mommy in there?” James is frantic, trying to think of what to do.

“No just me” he yells back. He shakes his head and walks to the curtain trying to open it you quickly try to pull it back, but it’s no use. Harry Pulls it open, revealing his dad in boxers and you in just jeans. You quickly cover your chest.

Just standing here knock on the bathroom door as if this couldn’t get any more mortifying and awkward. “ come on Harry we don’t have all day.” And then you hear the door open near met with your father is modified look as he sees you, his little girl with his best friend. 

❤️😭😬⚠️

[babydollmarauders]

TEENAGER IN LOVE — TREVOR ZEGRAS

trevor zegras x fem! hughes!reader

pt. 2

request: “hi! can i request something with trevor zegras with the prompts 20 and 23 please? thanks sm!! 💗”

20. “can we stay like this forever?”

23. “sleep over? please?”

summary: in which y/n reminisces on how her and Trevor started their secret relationship.

notes: i changed up prompt 23 a little bit to make it fit better, i hope that’s okay!

i was listening to Teenager in Love by Madison Beer quite a bit while writing this so…

Trevor and y/n are in an established relationship during the first little “present” scene.

reader is 20 in the present and 19 in the flashback.

**PRESENT**

i’ve never felt comfortable on planes. it doesn’t matter where i’m sat or what i’m wearing or who i’m with, i don’t like planes. my family knows this, my friends know this, anyone who will listen to me talk knows this, my brother however, simply does not care. and now i’m stuck on the Devils charter plane, not even sat next to Jack because he’s busy sat next to Dougie, talking about some video game they both play. so i’m left beside Jesper Bratt, who’s already asleep after only being in the air for maybe half an hour.

i didn’t intend to even tag along on this road game to California, but i moved in with Jack a couple months ago and he apparently didn’t trust me to stay in New Jersey by myself, citing his reasoning as “i don’t want any chance of you having boys in this apartment.” but the joke is on him, because he’s really just providing me with a trip to see the only guy he should be remotely worried about, Trevor.

as the only girl, growing up with three brothers, they’ve always been a bit overprotective. and by a bit, i mean a lot. even Luke, who’s a year younger than me, has had his fair share of threatening guys “in the name of my safety.” all of their friends have gotten the “if you even so much as look at my sister, i’ll make sure you never see anything again” spiel, and for a good nineteen years, their friends respected that. until Jack’s best friend, Trevor, and i were left alone for a night at the lake house last summer.

**FLASHBACK**

-

all the guys have left for a party down the road, they even took Luke along with them for his first party as an eighteen year old, and i’m looking forward to a quiet night of watching romcom’s on the couch with no judgment and no one complaining that “that would never happen in real life!”

decked out in one of Quinn’s oversized Canucks shirts, pajama shorts, and some fuzzy socks; i’m lounged on the couch, wrapped in a fuzzy blanket burrito. i’m just about to hit play on a movie on netflix when the front door opens and shuts and i hear footsteps getting closer to the living room. averting my gaze from the tv, i look over in time to see Trevor freeze in the doorway to the living room, and i become acutely aware of my current state of no makeup and probably looking like a dork with my blanket draped over the top of my head.

i’ve never had a problem acting normal around any of my brothers’ friends. usually, they’re all just like extended family, unwanted additional older brothers. except Trevor. when Jack first brought him home during their USNTDP days, i immediately got a schoolgirl crush. and unlike usual crushes, it’s only gotten worse with time. luckily, Quinn and Jack have never seemed to notice my awkward and shy behavior when Trevor is around, but Luke has and he’s made it his mission to send me scowls and snicker at my misfortune whenever it happens.

“oh hey.” he cocks his head in one those ‘sup’ nods and takes a glance towards the tv screen before fixing his gaze back on me.

“hey. what are you doing back already? are the others coming back too? i can go back into my room. i don’t wanna be a bother or anything.” cue the embarrassing rambles.

“nah, it’s just me. feeling kinda homesick, i don’t really wanna be at a party tonight.” he shrugs his shoulder and sits on the arm of the couch next to me. “whatcha watching?”

“oh, i was just gonna watch a romcom, but it’s fine, i can watch it in my room. you can have the tv if you want.” i have to crane my neck some to look up at him from my spot. “i can leave you alone.”

i start to stand up, still wrapped in my blanket burrito when Trevor grabs the back of the blanket and tugs me back down onto the couch. he stands and walks in front of me before taking a spot on the cushion next to me.

“so, what romcom are we watching?” he asks, kicking his legs up on the coffee table in front of us.

“you don’t have to watch it. we can watch something else, if you want.”

trevor’s only answer comes in actions, grabbing the remote from my hands and clicking play on the movie. i don’t bother to fight him anymore, allowing myself to get sucked into the movie instead.

i’m sat rigid throughout the entire movie, keeping aware of my limbs, not letting any stray too far towards the cushion beside me. and about halfway through the movie i remember how weird i must look and move the blanket onto my lap instead of wrapped around me. i can barely focus on anything other than the fact that Trevor is sitting next to me. the fact that i can smell his sandalwood cologne. that if i were to lay my hand next to me, i would almost be touching him.

once the movie ends, i expect him to put on something for himself or even just go to his room, but instead he turns to look at me.

“you okay?” he asks. my eyes widen slightly before i catch myself and revert them back to normal.

“yeah, why?” i try to sound calm, but my voice is slightly shaky, and i’m just hoping he didn’t notice.

“you seem uncomfortable. did i make you uncomfortable? did i do something?” i shake my head a little too violently for someone who’s supposed to be calm.

“no! i’m not uncomfortable! why would you think that? i’m cool.”

oh my god people who are cool do not say ‘i’m cool’, what is wrong with me? he chuckles and i can’t help the small smile that breaks out on my face at the sound.

“i was just checking.” he puts his hands up in a surrendering gesture. “we should play a game.”

“what game did you have in mind?”

“truth or dare? i don’t know, i’m just bored.”

“sure.” i have a feeling this will not end great for me, but i’m not about to let him know that.

“okay. truth or dare?” we turn and sit criss-cross on the couch, facing each other properly as i weigh my options.

“truth.” safest option. he takes a second to think about his question.

“okay, i got one. does it ever annoy you, how overprotective your brothers can be?”

“oh yeah. one hundred percent. they have all these rules for me; don’t drink unless we’re with you, no dating until you’re 30, don’t leave the house unless you tell us where you’re going, don’t crush on any of our friends. it’s overwhelming sometimes. and i can never stick up for myself because they’re so quick to hurt whoever hurts me, which is nice, yes, but it’s definitely taken a toll on how i present myself. it’s made me shy and my friends say i can be a crybaby sometimes because i’ve never had to handle problems on my own. like, don’t get me wrong, i’m grateful for my brothers, they’re always there for me, but sometimes it’s just too much. ya know?”

he nods, genuinely seeming interested in what i had to say, and my heart flutters.

“i can’t say i understand because i’m the older brother in my family, but i can imagine it can be difficult sometimes.”

“anyways, truth or dare?” he ponders his options before choosing dare. “i dare you to text the guys and tell them you just watched a romcom. and you CAN’T say it was with me.”

he groans and lets his head drop back for a few seconds before pulling his phone out of his pocket and typing for a minute. turning the screen so i can see what he just wrote, he lets me press the send button.

To: Jack-Attack, Huggy Bear, Moosey Hughes

just watched this great romcom on netflix called Set It Up. you guys should watch it. 10/10

i let my own head drop back in laughter and let out an ugly cackle.

“truth or dare? you evil little witch” his mocking insult rolls straight off my back when i see the smile on his face.

“truth again.” i shrug when he raises an eyebrow at my safe choice.

“have you ever broken any of your brothers rules?” my mind short circuits. there’s only one rule i’ve broken, and that’s by liking him. do i admit that? or do i just say no? technically, he didn’t say i have to say which rule i’ve broken, so-

“yes. but you can’t tell them that i have! it has to be our secret! they’d pester me to no end until they found out which one i broke!”

“okay, our secret. promise.” he holds his pinky out, waiting for me to link it with my own. a pinky swear. how adorable. fuck. i bring my own hand up, linking my pinky with his before breaking away and setting my hand back in my lap.

“truth or dare?” i ask.

“truth.” i take a few seconds to think of a question. how is this harder to think of than coming up with a dare?

“what’s your favorite part about the off season?” it’s a relatively boring question, but the first one i thought of.

“oh that’s easy. coming here. i love spending time with you guys.” more heart flutters, i may need to get that checked out. “truth or dare?”

“don’t kill me; truth.” i joke and he laughs again.

“i should’ve expected that, shouldn’t i? alright, if you wanna keep doing truth, i’m just gonna dig deeper and deeper until you tell me your darkest secret, y/n. which rule did you break?” my stomach drops. can i forfeit? can i plead the fifth? is that a thing that you can do in truth or dare? i wouldn’t know, this is my first time playing. i think i’m just gonna have to say it. it’s not like he’ll ever know it’s him.

“you can’t tell them! remember that!” i remind him before admitting- “having a crush on one of their friends.”

his jaw drops and he lets out a completely fake gasp.

“that is not what i was expecting. i expected you to say the drinking rule or the telling them where you go rule. how scandalous, y/n! a forbidden romance!” his jokes make me feel slightly better, at least he’s not judging me.

“yeah, yeah! it’s not like i’m dating the guy.” i defend myself. “truth or dare, Zegras?”

“dare, i’m feeling adventurous.”

“i dare you to go in Jacks room and steal my book back for me. he took it away from me because he said reading was boring and this trip isn’t allowed to be boring.” he bursts out in laughter, barely able to form words for a few minutes before he speaks again.

“oh you’ve got me doing your dirty work for you! i respect it!” he leaps up from the couch and within a couple minutes he’s back on the couch, my book in his hand. he tosses it on my lap and throws a wink my way. “one book for the lady.”

“my sanity thanks you. i can’t start another book until i’ve finished this one and it was killing me slowly.”

“truth or dare? although, i don’t know why i bother asking at this point.” i roll my eyes at his sarcasm and decide to throw him a curveball. mostly for myself though because i have a feeling i know what his next question would be if i pick truth.

“dare.” he grins, and for a second i regret my choice.

“i dare you to tell me which friend you were or are crushing on. c’mon, i can keep your secret.” he asked it anyways. what the hell. i don’t think you can do that. can you do that?

“that’s basically a truth! i picked dare! that’s cheating!”

“it is not!” now it’s his turn to defend himself. “i DARED you to tell me! i promise i won’t judge you, or laugh, or tell your brothers!”

oh god, i’m gonna have to tell him, aren’t i? i mean, i could always just say one of the other guys. i could say Alex, he’s always been the sweetest to me, so i’m sure Trevor would believe it. but then he might say something. it’s not that i wouldn’t trust him to keep it a secret if i say someone else, but Trevor has a big mouth, and sometimes he talks without thinking. he could slip up. so it’s smarter not to lie, to avoid any trouble or confusion. so i close my eyes and count to ten before i say it. here goes nothing.

“you.” i still don’t open my eyes. too afraid of his reaction. but now he’s quiet and i don’t like the silence. oh god, is he disgusted? is he trying trying to figure out how to let me down gently? “don’t get weird. you don’t have to say anything. you can just forget you heard that. pretend you didn’t hear any-“

i’m cut off by his mouth crashing down onto mine. i freeze, overthinking everything, before eventually melting into the kiss. moving my lips against his. it’s slow and sweet, and not at all the reaction i was expecting from him. we pull apart and i allow my eyes to flutter back open, watching his face as he slowly breathes in and out. he catches my eye and a wide grin spreads across his face.

“i’ve wanted to do that since high school.” his hands grip my hips and i let him pull me onto his lap, straddling him. butterflies are flying around in my stomach and my heart is pounding against my chest, but i let my body relax into his.

“really?”

“yeah.” he confirms, leaning his forehead against my own. “the first time Jack had me over to your house, he gave this whole lecture about how you were off limits. and i thought ‘no problem.’ but then i saw you, and i got to know you, and it turned out to be a big problem. you’re so beautiful, and then you turned to be this sweet, funny, amazing girl. and god, i could not get you out of my head. i still can’t.”

this time it’s my turn to plant a kiss on his lips, this one a chaste peck. i slouch down and lay my head on his chest, wrapping my arms around his waist.

“can we stay like this forever?” i ask, but before he can answer, his phone buzzes on the cushion beside us, and he picks it up and curses.

“Jack just texted to say they’ll be home soon. he said Cole is wasted and they need to put him to bed.” i pull back and nod my head, moving to get off him. but he wraps his arms around my middle and holds us chest-to-chest. “do you want me to tell him you’re asleep? you can come in my room. we can just cuddle, nothing else necessary. but i just got you, and now i just wanna hold you.”

i smile and nod again, silently saying a thank you to whatever higher entity above granted me such luck as to have him like me back.

“yeah, i’d like that.” we get off the couch and make our way to his room, remembering to turn the tv off on our way out of the living room. he opens the door to his room and allows me to enter first before he comes in.

“you can go ahead and lay down, i’m just gonna change into some sweats first.” he walks over to his opened suitcase on the floor and pulls out a pair of grey sweatpants and a t-shirt before leaving the room, going into the bathroom across the hall. i do as he says and lay down on his bed, on my side facing the door.

it’s not but a moment after he gets back into the room and shuts the door, that we hear the front door of the house open and shut, followed by multiple pairs of footsteps and some mumbling.

“jesus Cole, you could help me out here and actually move your feet.” i can hear Quinn say as he passes by Trevor’s door, i’m assuming helping Cole to his room. Trevor snickers and comes over to the bed, clicking off the lamp before laying down behind me and putting his arm around my middle, pulling me close against him. after about 15 minutes i can feel his breath start to even out, and i look over my shoulder to see his eyes fluttering open and shut, obviously having trouble staying awake.

“you can go to sleep, Trev. i’ll go to my room once i know they’re all in theirs.” i whisper.

“no. sleep over here? please? i wanna hold you tonight.” his voice is soft and low so we don’t get caught, but also laced with sleepiness. i shake my head.

“what if one of them finds us in the morning? you know how my brothers will react.” at my words, he pulls his phone out of his sweatpants pocket and taps a few times before leaning over me and plugging it in on the nightstand.

“there. i set an alarm for 7am. you know the guys won’t even wake up before 10, so that gives us plenty of time for you to go back to your room before they can catch us.” i sigh and snuggle back into him.

“alright. i’ll sleep in here.” he plants a kiss on an exposed spot between my neck and shoulder and i can feel his smile on my skin.

[billythenightguard]

Run Away: Detention (2011) & FNAF Movie Crossover - Chapter Five

Masterlist

Mentions: childhood loves

Word Count: 1140

Warnings: None

Older!Clapton/Mike x GN!Reader

Mike was determined to start dropping hints to you, he had no idea if you had begun to question who he was or if you were truly still in the dark. He dug out his old stereo cassette deck, stuffing it into the trunk. He had decorated it back in his time at Grizzly Lake, so he’d have to wait until you left Freddy’s to retape the mixtape. He also grabbed his six year old laptop, knowing he could hook it up to the deck and use YouTube to find the songs he wanted, especially the older ones that had just come out in 2011.

Mike wanted to treat you to something for once, you always bought him and Abby breakfast, always brought him lunch and dinner and made sure he didn’t have to do grocery shopping in the two months he’s reconnected with you. Since he’s been able to save some money due to your kindness, he knew he wanted to spend it on you. What better way than to not only bring in another hint, but to also spoil you how he once did.

He couldn’t contain his grin as he drove up to the 7-11, getting out almost too quickly to properly shut his car off. Immediately going to grab all of your old favorite snacks, putting them into a nice basket he found in his attic, and finally, the only reason you two would ever take his dad’s old, rusted Beamer. The slurpees. He almost felt 19 again, quietly arguing with you about making sure you waited until sixteen for some weed, insisting that cherry was the best flavor of slurpee ever, the way you’d easily stand on your tiptoes to match his 5’5, although now it seemed you didn’t have to do that anymore, you were definitely taller than you were at 14, maybe it was a growth spurt, maybe it was the shoes you wore. It didn’t matter though, Mike loved every part of you. He missed the best friend he had for 14 years, remembering the day your parents brought you home.

“Mom, dad!” Five year old Clapton exclaimed from the front yard, his parents sitting on the porch to watch him. “They brought home a baby!” And before they could even stop him, Clapton was running over to the house next door, politely asking if he could see the baby. But he was told not yet, and he slumped down and walked back to his house. Everyday for three weeks, Clapton would run over and ask to see the new baby. Your mom giggled and gushed over his relentlessness, and finally allowed him to come in.

Clapton was quiet and careful in his steps, unlike a typical five year old would be, he carefully climbed up the chair sitting by the bassinet and peered in, gasping to himself.

“They’re so cute!” He whispered out, his eyes widening when he realized he was a bit louder than he meant to be, and that stirred you awake, he braced for you to begin crying and for him to get scolded. But you just looked up at him, and he smiled and waved to you, talking to you like you’d understand him. “Hi, my name is Clapton Davis, I’m five years old, and I live in the yellow house next to you. We’re gonna be best friends.” He laughed, and he kept that promise, every day he’d come over after school to visit you, his newest neighbor. He was there for every milestone a baby could meet, and he was damn proud of himself too. As you would grow older, probably when you were five and Clapton was nine, almost ten, you had declared something that Clapton kept a secret for years within himself.

“Clapton! I'm gonna marry you one day!” You said, holding his hand as he was walking you to the bus stop. He laughed and blushed, but quickly agreed.

“Okay! We’re gonna get old like moms and dads, and we’re gonna kiss all the time!” He grinned a Cheshire grin, and laughed when you squealed and spun around, still holding his hand. He had always felt some sort of way towards you, some calling, something more than just best friends for life, and here you were, blatantly admitting both of your feelings to the world. Both of your parents found it to be adorable.

“$14.67 sir.” The cashier said, snapping Mike out of his mind as he smiled a half grin, swiping his card to pay before heading out to the pizzeria.

“Mike!” You called out giddily when you heard him enter the security room, his heart swelling to know you got excited to see him. “It’s been so boring… I’m tempted to give you my old iPod so we can play iMessage games.” You laughed, Mike shook his head at that.

“I’m old, I don’t know what any of that means.” He teased, blushing a little as he handed you the basket and slurpee.

“You’re the same age as my best friend- oh my god you didn’t-” you looked at the basket and slurpee, a wide smile taking over and tears of happiness and remembrance welling up. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!” You squealed, setting your snacks and drinks down carefully before leaping up and hugging him, and now it was Mike’s turn to tear up, he hugged you back tightly, relishing in the moment of your touch. He missed you more than he thought he supposed.

“You are possibly the sweetest man out there, Michael Schmidt.” You laughed, pulling back to look at him.

“Oh, I don’t know, sounds like your childhood friend might be more than me.” He shrugged, wiping away a stray tear that had fallen from your eye.

“Both of you are, I didn’t think it was possible for there to be two men like you, but there is.” You whispered, leaning into his touch slightly, your heart rate picking up, was this betraying Clapton?

Mike had to usher you out when he noticed the time, he didn’t want Abby to become petty with you like she did to him when he was late for pickup. Once he was sure you wouldn’t turn around, he ran out to his car and grabbed his cassette deck and his laptop, making a set up on the desk and taking out the old mixtape, writing down the songs he would keep.

He decided he would add three new songs, It’s Not Over - Daughtry, Glad You Came - The Wanted, and finally Cigarette Daydreams - Cage the Elephants. He smiled happily, having recreated the mixtape on YouTube, letting the deck tape over the old mixtape, throwing the new songs into a random order, he wondered just what you’d think. He just hoped he wouldn’t make you mad.

|| So sorry for the delayed post today, I am exhausted with only 3 hours of sleep and not my usual 4.5 hours. ||

Tag List: @na-is-salty @cancelledkaley @mad-die45 @mschmidt @dessxoxsworld @thegirlwholoveslivesfanfiction

[eddiemunsons80sbaby]

Nobody's Fool: Chapter 11

Pairing: EddieXReader

Summary: You have bartended for years after you were forced to drop out of college due to family circumstances. You have dated your fair share of musicians, had your heart broken by one particular one, and have learned they are not be trusted. You have sworn off of them for the rest of your life. Then, one night, a new band plays at the bar, and against your better judgement, you can't help noticing the lead singer and guitar player. Could he possibly be different from the ones who came before him?

Warnings: 18+ Only due to eventual smut and language. There is also a toxic family relationship with a narcissistic mother if that is triggering for you.

MasterList

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28

You stood out front, staring up at your mom’s house. It had been two weeks since you'd had to bail her out of jail and your mom was supposed to attend her court hearing tomorrow. You knew your mom’s track record with those, but you also knew the judicial system of this town was getting pretty tired of her shit and this time she could wind up in prison if she didn’t show. 

This was the last thing you wanted to do. You had been avoiding your mother since that night. Instead, all of your free time had been filled with Eddie. You spent every minute you weren’t together wishing that you were and you were teetering dangerously on the edge of not being able to maintain the line between wading in the shallows and undeniably in way too deep, drowning, unable to keep your head above water. You weren't sure how you felt about it. It scared you but not enough to stay away from him.

He had come to your apartment a couple of nights ago and you had just had some snacks, cuddled up, and watched a couple of movies. Yet again, he didn't make a move for anything more than kissing and it was confusing the hell out of you. Jen had gotten home and wound up joining you and her and Eddie hit it off immediately. They got along like old friends. They teased each other playfully and laughed. Jen shared some embarrassing stories about you and Eddie loved every second. You, not so much.

You'd even hung out with his group of friends a couple of times and, though you'd been nervous as hell, you absolutely loved them. It was like you had all known each other forever instead of just meeting. His group were some of the nicest, easiest people to talk with. They had welcomed you in the fold with open arms. Every time you turned around, Eddie was finding some new way to show you that he was perfect and not at all like what you'd believed.

Hadn’t you been the one to tell him that people in high school were bullshit because they looked at him and thought they knew who he was based on how he looked? Weren't you doing the exact same thing? He didn’t resemble Sebastian in the slightest, his coffee-colored brown eyes and wavy brown hair that caressed his shoulders a far cry from Sebastian’s ocean blue eyes and blond hair that fell like a waterfall, straight down to his ass. But still, you had looked at him and seen a rocker, an asshole with a guitar who was in it to use girls like gum. Chew on them for a while until the flavor gets a bit bland and then throw them on the ground before searching for a new piece.

Eddie wasn’t like that. At least, you didn’t think so and if he was, well he was playing a pretty long game at this point. Most guys would have moved on to an easier target by now. You still hadn’t slept with him, not for lack of desperately wanting to, but, for one, he hadn't even made a move. And second, because you feared the minute you did, either you would be completely head over heels for him or he would be gone. Sex only stayed exciting for so long. Sebastian decided after six months that he needed something fresh but you didn’t find out until after nine months. The other guys had their fun with you on the first night and were done with you by morning, onto the next pursuit. Would Eddie do the same? 

You really didn’t think he would, but how were you supposed to know for sure? There was no way to know for sure besides jumping into it and seeing what happened. The uncertainty scared the shit out of you. You had thought you and Sebastian were in love. If someone had told you that he would screw around on you, you would have said they were crazy because the two of you were meant to be. He'd said it himself. Turned out, you were too in love to be unfaithful and also too in love to see what was right in front of your face. You’d walked in after work one night and there he was, buried deep inside some redhead with big boobs on his bed, the bed you'd shared with him for months. He’d tried to explain it away. He loved you but he wasn’t made to be monogamous. He needed variety but it was just sex. It didn't mean anything. He only wanted to be in a relationship with you. It was all bullshit. You could never be with someone who was with other people. 

You shook her head, trying to clear it. You could not afford to be distracted right now. You were going to need all of your faculties to deal with your mother. You looked at the house one more time, this house that had not been your safe place like a home should be. It had been the place you had avoided at all costs. Just walking up to it made you feel sick to your stomach because you knew you were willingly walking into being verbally and emotionally abused, something you hadn't known was even happening until a high school counselor put words to it. It was only ten in the morning but chances were, your mother was already drunk, and her mean words took on a whole new level of nasty when she had the assistance of her buddy, Jim Beam. 

You turned the doorknob and the door instantly fell open. Your mother never locked the door, not aware enough to remember. You had said something to her before only to be berated for thinking your mother was stupid.

Your mom sat in a chair, a half empty bottle of liquor in her hand, her fingers wrapped tightly around the neck. She was watching some trash talk show on tv and didn’t even glance up when you walked into the room. You weren't sure if it was because she just knew it was you or if she just didn’t care or if she was too drunk to even be aware.

“Mom?” you asked softly. 

“Is that my daughter?” she questioned, words muddled together. “What an honor to get blessed with your presence, the daughter who hasn’t had the time to visit me in weeks.”

“I’m sorry,” you responded. “I have been really busy with work and everything.”

“Mmm…I bet. You can’t possibly take care of the woman who gave up everything to give you life,” your mom sneered, bringing the bottle to her lips to take another swig. “Revolving door of losers coming through your bedroom keeping you pretty busy, huh? Can’t find time for anything other than being a whore?”

“Jesus,” you muttered, pressing the heel of your hand against your forehead, trying to push back the tension headache that always arose when you had to deal with her. Honestly, what did you expect? Of course your mom was going to jump right into shredding you apart. That's what she did best, what she enjoyed the most. “I just came to remind you that you have your court hearing tomorrow.”

“And?”

“And if you don’t go, you are going to wind up in prison this time,” you stated, hoping to get through to her. “I can come over in the morning and help you get ready so you at least look presentable in front of the judge.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Jodi yelled, swinging the bottle around. “Are you saying I don’t look good? Saying I don't know how to dress myself? Who the hell do you think you are?”

“Mom, you can’t walk into court without showering and putting on some nicer clothes.”

“Ohh…miss judgy walking in here like she’s so perfect, telling me I need to try to look better. You’re going to save me? Go to hell. You think you’re so wonderful? You’re a fucking loser. You couldn’t even finish college. You work at a bar! You pass around drinks like you pass around your body. Dirty whores don't get to judge me.”

“I am not a whore!” you argued, anger rising up in you, filling every single atom with white hot rage. God, you were so damn sick of having this same go round with your mother all the damn time. “I don’t sleep with every fucking guy who comes in the bar! And I didn’t drop out of college. I had no choice because you’re a goddamn drunk and you couldn’t hold down a job! If I didn’t quit and start bartending, we would have been out on the street!”

The slap came so fast. You couldn’t believe your mom had the reflexes to move that quickly when she was half a bottle of bourbon in. Your head snapped to the side, your cheek stinging. You reached up, covering your cheek and stared at your mother whose eyes were wild with hatred and revulsion. 

“Fuck this,” you muttered, tears burning your eyes. “You figure out your own damn problems, then. You’re the mother. I shouldn’t have to always be taking care of you! You’re supposed to take care of me! But you never have!”

“I did!” your mom screamed, spit flying out of her mouth. “I didn’t even fucking want you, you ungrateful little bitch! I had to give up my whole life because of you! I could be sitting in a huge house on the beach in Cali right now while people wait on me. Instead I am stuck in this shithole, alone, because of you!”

You just stared at her. There it was. You had always thought this was how your mother felt, but now she had said it. Your mother didn’t love you. She resented you, hated you. You weren't even sure your mother had the capacity to love anybody. She'd definitely never loved your dad. Why were you trying so hard all the damn time to get even an ounce of affection from her? It was like you were running a marathon but the finish line kept moving further away and no matter how hard you worked, you never got the prize. A mother's love shouldn't be a prize to be won. It should be given freely. 

“Fine, if I’m such a goddamn disappointment, if I’m the reason your life is such a mess, then I will stay out of your life! You can handle your own problems! Clean up your own fucking messes from now one!” you screamed, letting years of hurt and pain finally release from your body. “I don’t deserve this shit and I’m done! You just stay out of my life and I’ll stay out of yours!”

“Works for me,” your mom slurred and then slumped down on the couch. 

You stormed out of the house and got in your car, fighting back tears. God, your mom was such a bitch. While other kids had moms who baked brownies, held them while they cried about boys, and took them prom dress shopping, your mom was getting tanked, missing your performance in the school musical because she had better things to do than watch some stupid kid show, and telling you if you wanted a prom dress then you better find money somewhere because she wouldn’t waste money on some stupid dress for some stupid dance.

Why had you worked so hard for so long? You had let yourself believe if you were just a better daughter your mom would finally love you. If you could jump through enough hoops, she would finally see you. She never would. There was nothing you could do that would ever be good enough for her. You could have become a surgeon, making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, living in a sprawling mansion, and your mom would still think you were worthless. 

Maybe that was why you fell so hard, so fast for Sebastian. You had been so desperate for someone to love you, for someone to see you, to want you. He made you feel beautiful. You had ignored all the signs, ignored your best friend’s warnings because you wanted it to be real. You wanted one real damn thing in your life. He made you feel like you were actually worth something and you had dived in headfirst only to be left floating out in the water alone, praying for someone to throw you a life preserver. 

You pulled into your parking spot in front of the apartment complex and turned off your car, just sitting there in silence for a moment as you let the last hour wash over you. Then a scream erupted from your throat, a piercing cry, releasing the devastation that had been vibrating through you since you left your mom’s house. Your chest heaved as you burst into tears, allowing the sobs to take control of you. You needed to feel this pain, this anger, so you could be strong enough to stand your ground and finally be done with your mother. 

You laid your forehead against the steering wheel, your body heaving with each sob, the tears continuing to flow. It was like a dam had burst inside your body and years of frustration were finally allowed to flow free. You didn't know if they would ever stop.

Your car door was suddenly pulled open and you shrieked, jumping in surprise. Then hands were grabbing you and you were being pulled out of the car and in someone’s arms before you could fully register what was happening. His scent overwhelmed every one of your senses and you instantly knew it was Eddie. Your whole body relaxed into him. You couldn’t process what he was doing here or why. You just knew you were relieved. 

His arms felt like your own personal refuge, a sanctuary from all the drama and the grief. His arms felt like the blanket fort you made as a kid. When you were snuggled deep inside it, you felt like nothing could touch you. It was warm and cozy and safe. You buried your face into his shirt and just let him ease away all the tension.

“I got you,” he whispered softly, kissing the top of your head. “Is it your mom?”

You nodded, a soft whimper that you wished you could take back escaping from your lips.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

Reluctantly, you pulled back a bit to look up at him. Those eyes, goddamn, those eyes were the most beautiful eyes you had ever seen. And right now they were looking at you with such concern, soft and almost a deep bronze in the rays of sun. You could get lost in those eyes forever, just staring into them for the rest of your life sounded like a pretty good way to spend your time.

“I’m done,” you told him quietly. “I tried to go over and help her, like an idiot, because she has her hearing tomorrow. She wouldn’t listen. She never listens. She just said…she said all these horrible things. I wound up telling her to stay out of my life and I would stay out of hers.”

“You’re sure that’s what you want?”

You sighed, “What I want is a mother who loves me, a mother who takes care of me instead of the other way around, but that doesn’t appear to be in the cards for me. I keep trying but she’s never going to be my mom, not really. She birthed me but she’s not capable of mothering me. I feel like the only thing I can do, for my own sanity at this point, is walk away.”

“You know, you’re allowed to cut someone toxic out of your life without feeling guilty about it,” Eddie said, smoothing your hair back and cradling your face in his hands, the metal of his rings cooling your flushed skin. “It doesn’t matter who they are. People like to say blood is thicker than water, but I’ve always found the people we choose are often worth way more than the people we got stuck with.”

You smiled, tilting your head. “You know, you are a pretty wise man.”

Eddie laughed, shaking his head. “Thanks, but I’ve just had quite a bit of experience with this particular situation. It took me a while to learn it, to accept it.”

“What are you doing here anyway?” you asked, confused. The two of you hadn't talking about hanging out. “Not that I’m not happy you showed up.”

“Honestly, I just missed your face,” Eddie shrugged, kissing your nose. “Is that weird? I hope it's not weird. I was coming to see if you wanted to hang out, but clearly you may not be in the mood. So, if you want to just go in and relax, that’s okay.”

“I do want to just go inside and relax,” you replied softly, biting your lip nervously. You knew what you wanted to ask, but you were scared of making yourself so vulnerable. 

“Okay,” he nodded. “Why don’t you go put on some comfy clothes, turn on a movie, and get all cozy. I will call and check on you later.”

“That all sounds perfect,” you said, taking a deep breath, “but only if you stay. I mean, you don’t have to.” You shook her head, cringing. Shit. What were you doing? He probably didn't want to hang out with the miserable, blotchy faced girl. “I just mean, I’m probably not the best company right now so I get it if you’d rather…”

“Hey,” Eddie interrupted, taking your chin in his hands and lifting your face to his, “there is nothing I would rather be doing right now. Come on.” He offered you his hand and you took it, leaning into him as you headed into your apartment. “Why don't you go get comfy and I’ll find a movie.”

You headed into your bedroom, changing into leggings and a sweatshirt, wanting to be comfy but also cute. You walked out to find Eddie sitting on the couch, Encino Man beginning on the tv. Jen had just picked that one up at the video store yesterday. The two of you had planned on watching it together, but you knew she would understand. You would always watch it again if Jen wanted.

“I figured comedy was the way to go. You look like you could use a good laugh,” Eddie said, opening his arms. You immediately went to him. His arms came around you, pulling you against his chest. He grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch, wrapping it around the two of you and you allowed yourself to melt against him, silencing all the warnings in your head that this was letting him in too far because his embrace feeling like the safest place in the world right now. 

Taglist

@tlclick73 @bebe07011 @emma77645 @corrodedcoffincumslut @babeyglo @kimmi-kat @bblunuh @vintagehellfire @hellfire--cult @avobabe87 @just-a-sewer-goblin @emilyslutface

[andmaybegayer]

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

The series is still finding its feet and not entirely sure what it wants to be. It has however decided that this one should contain a truly incredible amount of homoerotic subtext.

2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

We check back in with Brian, who is street racing for a living in Miami now that he is no longer a cop. Ludacris, is here, for some reason. The FBI show up and put our boy over a barrel until he helps them investigate another crime ring, with his car.

The cinematography and general visual language is much more mature, they've figured out how to shoot cars driving and in particular races in a way that better conveys relative position, advantage, and speed. No more undercranked footage, much more medium to wide shots of cars weaving past each other, as well as some complicated composited motion shots.

If you look for this movie on Tumblr you mostly find gifs of Devon Aoki in her girlboss pink Honda S2000. And yeah, I get it, this look kicks ass. The leather skirt and thigh highs with garters or whatever that is really screams 2003.

Right, the plot. Even more so than last time, the core plot is extremely mid. Brian is over a barrel, and needs to help the FBI investigate a drug lord, in exchange for them forgetting about him. He doesn't trust a cop to partner with him so he gets them to offer a deal to his old boyfriend Roman, with whom he had a falling out many years ago. The two of them go undercover smuggling money for the drug lord and eventually work through their differences and get the guy. Big whoop.

Far more interesting is how the interpersonal relationship of Brian and Roman is handled. These two feel like a couple who dated all through high school and broke up over a nasty disagreement when they were 19 and never really got over each other. The first time they meet they physically throw down and it looks like this.

Just straight guy things. I made a crack about 2 bi 2 curious in the last post and I was like "someone has to have made this joke before" and a) not really it looks like only a couple tweets but b) it led me to this short video essay on a bisexual reading of 2 Fast 2 Furious. I don't agree with all its finer points and I think the author completely misread some sections of the movie but you'll find far more agreement than disagreement from me with this one.

Carrying on, there's a lot of the awkward "I want to trust you, and I know I should be able to trust you, but I don't trust you" between these two. It's great, if you want to watch two very pretty guys go insane over each other for an hour and a half, this is a movie for you. I'm going to reiterate a lot of what's said in this video because it's all very obvious.

Before we continue, I need to note that what you don't see, oddly, is really any kind of coherent heterosexual romantic subplot. Like, there's one there, they do parts of it, but it's almost homeopathic. It's purely there to check the box. Monica is an undercover cop who's been with the drug lord for like a year and, in theory, Brian is attracted to her. There's discussion of this, he checks her out, they make bedroom eyes at each other, the drug lord gets jealous, it's a whole thing, but mostly you see that Roman is worried that Brian is going to do something stupid because he's attracted to her.

In the above video the author misinterprets one scene as Brian sleeping with Monica but they do not actually fuck! She shows up in the early morning to tell Brian that he's going to be betrayed but they do not, in fact, fuck! This is important to me because man, there's so little of that subplot going on. This subplot barely develops at all, they don't talk to each other much, and when they do it's only the barest flirting.

At one point Brian does a driving stunt to impress Monica and when he's done, Roman pulls up and goes "oh, he did that stunt? He learned that one from me." which. Come on there's no way to read that that doesn't at least suggest that maybe Roman did it to hit on Brian when they were younger.

Speaking of car stunts, those are used to convey character a lot better in this movie. Dishonorable side characters drive in annoying ways in races to make themselves hard to pass, Brian and Roman do a whole elaborate game of one-upsmanship during their driving audition for the drug lord, and a doubles drag race with high stakes serves as a major bonding moment where they learn to trust each other. There's much, much less plot and character going on explicitly but I think the photography and the storytelling are working together more closely in this movie.

The movie seems to care less about the cars themselves though. The Lancer and Eclipse they drive for much of the movie are not particularly attractive nor particularly powerful cars, and the Challenger and Camaro they pick up later are more plot device than eye candy, unless you're really into American Muscle I guess. The initial race includes Suki's S2000 and Brian's Skyline that both very quickly end up sidelined, you don't see much of them again. There is much less time spent in garages and at races here, which is part of why the core plot feels like a lot of other action movies where the protagonist is a criminal helping the cops. I wonder if some of this is down to appealing to a wider audience who may just not give a shit about the finer distinctions between the Honda Civic EF and EX hatch.

There's a beautiful sunset scene where Brian and Roman just talk it out for a few minutes and settle their differences, come to terms, and finally trust each other again. I know I'm pretty much only talking about this one relationship but it's pretty much the only part of the movie with any depth, and the other parts only gain value in their proximity to it.

The final sequence is a huge endurance run across Florida that is a lot of fun to watch and includes a very funny scene where they scramble like, a hundred cars as a distraction to throw the police off. If you watch you can see that they really just grabbed whatever cars they could find to pad out the shot, there's like three or four PT Cruisers hidden in here.

The final run is mostly a show of the reformed trust between these two, it's great, it's a decent culmination of what's been building up through the whole show, they get their freedom, together, and resolve to move on together.

The whole movie really hangs on this relationship, it elevates it from a solid 5/10 "absolutely mid action movie" to a 7/10 "compelling characters you will think about later" type deal.

[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

[shallowseeker]

Jack time travel fic idea

Mirroring Dean's speech to Mary in 12x01

DEAN (breathing heavily) Mom. Listen to me. Your name – your name is Mary Sandra Campbell, okay? You were born December 5, 1954, to Samuel and Deanna Campbell. Your father, he bounced around a lot for, uh, work, and you bounced right along with him, and you ended up in Lawrence, Kansas. MARY: How do you know all that? DEAN: Dad told me. March 23, 1972, you walked out of a movie theater – Slaughterhouse-Five. You loved it, and you bumped into a big Marine and you knocked him flat on his ass. You were embarrassed, and he laughed it off, said you could make it up to him with a cup of coffee. So, you went to, uh, Mulroney's and you talked and he was cute and he knew the words to every Zeppelin song, so when he asked you for your number, you gave it to him, even though you knew your dad would be pissed. That was the night that – that you met – MARY: John Winchester. DEAN: August 19, 1975, you were married... in Reno. Your idea. A few years later, I came along, then Sammy.

///

Jack to Dean:

I know you don't trust me, but listen. You were born on January 24, 1979 to John and Mary Winchester. You say you're an Aquarius who likes long walks on the beach, but the truth is you really hate sand.

Your dad raised you in The Life, on the road with Sam. When you were 16, you got arrested for stealing and spent time in a boys' home. You loved it there.

You've had a gun in your hands for as long as you can remember, but what you really wanted to be was a fireman, a mechanic, maybe a rock star. Your favorite song is a tie between "Ramble On" and "Traveling Riverside Blues," and you always say that all music made after 1979 sucks. You've seen the "Untouchables" over fifty times and probably "The Lost Boys" even more than that.

You know 101 ways to make mac and cheese, and you don't know it yet, but you make the best Mexican Rotel casserole.

///

Jack to Cas:

I'm Jack Kline. I'm your...your...well. It doesn't matter who I am. Just know that I...I care about you. A lot.

Your name's Castiel. You're old. At least 4.543 billion years old, but you always say being an angel is like being old and young at the same time.

You’ve been a soldier as long as you can remember. Whenever you disagreed with your mission, Heaven tortured you. Gruesomely. You told me once that it felt like how the fish looked when it got blendered in Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigolo.

You know you caused the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and defeated the Romans at The Battle of Cannae. Sometimes, you were summoned to slaughter entire armies. Other times, it was to carry out genocide against all the children of the land.

You were there during the Great Flood, and when Gabriel led the slaughter of the Nephilim and their families. You told me once that you're terrified you've had human allies before. You're scared that you'll forget us, and your life will go back to how it was before, an endless cycle of war and death.

You raised Dean Winchester to Earth on September 18, 2008. That's why you decided to rebel again, maybe even for the last time.

///

Jack to Sam:

Your name's Sam Winchester. You were born cursed. May 2, 1983. Six months later, on November 2, Azazel infected you.

You felt that burden your whole life.

Your dad trained you to be a soldier, but your brother Dean was the one to raise and protect you. You spent most of your life hopping from one hotel to the next. It was crusty and horrible and you never felt like you belonged anywhere.

But you studied hard and got a scholarship to become a lawyer at the Harvard. There, you fell in love with the most beautiful girl, Jessica Moore...but then, Azazel came after her, too.

You'd never admit it to Dean, but after that, "My Heart Will Go On" by Celene Dion got you through some of the worst moments of your life.

You--you were the first one who told me that I could be good.

///

To Bobby:

"You dressed me like you! I like how you-you dresses better than the you that I knew. Not that I knew you. You were dead before I was born."

///

Bobby's face: 🤨

How Bobby dresses Jack:

[thevillainsfangirl]

It's not lost on me how a certain portion of the Scream Hellfandom has just... weirdly scapegoated Wayne Bailey into the Big Bad Villain while watering his kids (who aren't Richie) down into Poor Abused Victims Groomed Into Killers when neither the film’s narrative nor Radio Silence themselves have said anything of the sort. And I'm sure it's because he's an Old White Man™ and a cop (As if that's worse than all of the serial murder these characters have committed over 26 years, but what's new with this fandom?), while Quinn and Ethan appeal to the new young fans who want to date some bland, OOC versions of them that they've created in their heads.

And it's extra absurd because these people will be like, "They were only teenagers, obviously their father made them kill," as if they weren't 19, as if there haven't been multiple Ghostfaces who were 17 and 18 killing of their own free will. As if Quinn's and Ethan's anger at Sam for hacking their brother to death wasn't clear as day. (Especially Quinn’s.) As if Wayne saying that he had a special bond with his first son and only child for 7 years meant that he didn't love Ethan as well. As if Ethan wasn't portrayed as the most deranged of the entire family. (He was SO excited for murder!)

(What are the papers I have? THE ACTUAL FUCKING MOVIE instead of OOC fanfiction.)

"Wayne excluded Ethan from the family!!" We don't even know who's idea that was; we know Quinn started the rumor about Sam, so who knows what Ethan may have thought of. Also... that was part of the con. (But really, it was to throw us off because they would've looked too sus if we knew they were related.)

“Richie was spoiled! Wayne did everything for Richie! The shrine, the murders, it was all for Richie!” Yeah, the other two were probably spoiled as well, we just didn’t see it because it wasn’t relevant to the plot. And of course everything was about Richie right now for Wayne; Richie was the child he lost, his child who he’d seen butchered. Do you honestly (with your whole chests) think that he wouldn’t have done the same for those kids? 🤨

These people have Crazy Anti™ written all over them because why must they bend over backward so hard and make shit up just to feel better about liking a FICTIONAL villain? (They don't actually like Quinn or Ethan, of course; if they did, they wouldn't try so hard to warp them into different people. They just want to fuck them solely for their looks.)

[brianhanes]

Why Star Wars Attack of the Clones Wasn’t That Bad

A lot of times Attack of the Clones get slack from Star Wars (especially Original Trilogy fans) but it honestly was a decent film even if it wasn’t great for Star Wars standards. 

1. The Prequels faced a very high standard

As previously mentioned, the Original Trilogy is one of the best trilogies of all time. Many consider it to be the best trilogy in cinema history. They were known for having great acting, stunning graphics, and a compelling story. This means people expected to see all the same from the Prequels and anything it fell short on caused people to ignore it’s strengths.

I’d honestly argue Attack of the Clones had better pacing than A New Hope. I’m not saying it was a better movie but for me, many of the scenes that took place in the middle of the film (in the Death Star) were dull. We also need to keep in mind the Vader vs Ben Kenobi duel was poor and the movie made stromtroopers look like a joke with them constantly missing. But nostalgia can fix many things. Don’t get me wrong, the start of the ANH was very strong and the end of it (trench run and celebration scene) brought about some of the best moments in cinema history. 

2. It reduced the sting of Jar Jar

The main reason and many viewers enjoy Attack of the Clones more than the Phantom Menace is because of Jar Jar Binks. That character had constant, over-the-top comedic scenes that just weren’t funny. Many thought he killed the movie and Attack of the Clones was at least watchable in most scenes. More so, it made such an annoying character become a mature senator. He ended up being more mature than Anakin!

3. People Took it Too Seriously

This honestly is the biggest reason people didn’t enjoy the film as much as they could have. Attack of the Clones is easily one of the funniest if not the funniest Star Wars movie of all time. I watched it as a kid, so I was able to see this, and I watched it again as an adult and enjoyed it even more. It isn’t a Rogue One type of story and shouldn’t be treated that way.

4. We get to see Anakin simp as soon as it starts

When I rewatch, this scene always has me cracking up. Perhaps some people had gotten so old that they forgot what it was like to be young. If you understand what it’s like to be a teenager and young adult, then much of what Anakin does should make you laugh. I’ve known so many Anakins in my life and honestly don’t know what we’d do without them bringing flavor in this world.

Anakin loses it with Obi Wan all because he’s flipping out about some girl. But it’s not just about that, he’s a young man who wants to prove who he is. Like many recent high school grads in the work force and college graduates. Anakin at this time was 19, still a teenager who wants to rush too quickly which gets him into trouble. I myself have had to learn this lesson so many times, to slow down.

Every time I hear Anakin impulsively say, “WHY??!!” I bust out. Even Jar Jar gulps in fear when he witnesses Anakin’s outburst. And pay close attention, you’ll notice Anakin is still staring at Padme when everyone else has moved on. Lucas knew exactly what he was doing lmao.

5. Anakin is so realistic

People like to make fun of prequel dialogue even if they believed Anakin was a decent or good actor, but I have another argument, the dialogue wasn’t even that bad. At least not as bad as many people were making it out to be. For me, realistic acting is never bad acting because the point of acting is to mimic reality.

 Let us think about Anakin’s past shall we. In the last movie he was a slave. Taken away to join a group of detached monks for ten years. For all his highschool age and younger years he never learned how to deal with women he liked. He never kissed a girl, probably had no idea what flirting was, and wasn’t trained on dating etiquette. Whether people would like to admit it or not most of us wouldn’t figure out and many of us still haven’t in better circumstances found out how to talk to people we are attracted to. 

I knew awkward adults in college and high school when it came to women. Why then is it strange for Anakin to be awkward when they who at least had more opportunities to learn about dating approaches were just as awkward?

PADME!!! 

6.The first conflict was fun

I did not watch Attack of the Clones in theaters, it was a bit before my time. The first Star Wars movie I watched in theaters was Revenge of the Sith, but I was still quite young then. I don’t know how people initially reacted when the saw the movie. but it had a strong start. There was a conflict, we knew a bounty hunter wanted to hunt down Padme. Anakin had simp tension, and an epic chase ensued throughout the Corsucant streets.

7. Anakin killing the Tuskens was also realistic

Remember when I said Anakin was only 19? There are soldiers who at 19 snapped and wiped out villages. Killing men, women, and children. More so, Anakin himself is a former child soldier. Who was recruited at 9. Jedi in the Clone Wars TV series fight at 14. Anakin in a legends comic killed someone at 10 years old. Perhaps that could have been more fleshed out, but when you are fighting at such a young age your mind is at risk.

Not to mention they just killed his mother in cold blood. I also loved the scene itself. Seeing Anakin rage and slash up Tuskens was great. I thought his acting was amazing. He was clearly ticked off and people often blame others when big incidents happen (like how he blamed Kenobi). Some people criticize Padme for staying with Anakin knowing he slaughtered tuskens of all ages. But Padme’s reaction was realistic.

I recommend people watch a movie called “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” about Tina Turner. It’s incredibly underrated. Women stay with abusive men all the time. In this case, she had a clear way to justify it because they killed his mother and Tuskens had terrorized the local villages for years. The Tuskens themselves have probably cleaned out households, so while Anakin’s actions weren’t justifiable they are not surprising and remember Anakin is from Tatooine. 

For all we know, he may have heard bad stories about them for years even while he was gone away as a Jedi. He might have been anxious about his mother well before the movie.

8, Jango Fett vs Obi Wan

This fight was epic and Jango gave us everything Boba didn’t in ROTJ, an amazing fight! Jango was the first to really show us that you don’t have to be a Jedi in Star Wars to take them on.

9. Jango vs Obi Wan in Space

Ok honestly, this was one of the best dogfights in Sci-Fi history. There I said it. It was phenomenal 10/10 the entire time. And it even did things to make it stand out as a showdown such as...

10. Seismic Charges

Jango’s use of a homing rocket was also a nice addition to the space showdown.

11. No Dull Moments

How anyone can watch Anakin riding that animal until he gets bucked off without laughing is beyond me. It’s gold and the CGI only makes it more comical. 

12. The sand joke

Big deal, Anakin said sand is rough, course, and irritating. Is that not true? Sand really has all of those qualities. Is it more irritating that he said everything is smooth on Naboo, perhaps but is it that big of a deal. I’ve heard plenty of people make weird statements before and remember this is a monk who was not able to party, date, or do anything wild. 

If you live a socially deprived like you might make lame statements too. All we can reasonably expect Anakin to do well is fight well and he did that. Outside of that, we could somewhat expect him to conduct himself professionally, but there is always an immature person out there. Like many young people, rock stars, class clowns, and others. There is always that person, why can’t it be Anakin. 

13. The Droid Factory

This was a visually stunning scene with great action. We also got a good humor bit with R2 and 3P0. They are always 100 percent on character. Their argument about leaving the ship was noteworthy as well.

Also mentioning humor, when Obi Wan said he wanted to be left alone and Anakin literally wanted to ditch him after he was captured, I was in stitches. Seriously felt like a comedy skit. Padme of course does the mature thing and emphasizes that they need to rescue Obi Wan and lets Anakin know that she’ll be looking for Obi Wan. Anakin then has no choice but to also look for his master.

Maybe he was seriously, lol. Perhaps he had been nagged one too many times. Perhaps he was yanking her tail and knew Padme would insist. I guess Kenobi would have to hope that was the case. 

14. The Arena creatures

A great nod to Star Wars in general. Creatures have always been an essential part of Star Wars and Anakin never missed his mark. Especially when Anakin took command of one of them. That was iconic. 

15. The Arena Battle

Here Lucas did something really novel. In other depictions, we always only saw one or two Jedi around. Lucas gave us a scene with 200 Jedi fighting together as a group against a massive droid army. Like the Battle of Hoth, speeder chase, Mustafar duel, Phantom Menace duel, and Battle over Coruscant this was a staple moment in Star Wars. 

Though the scene itself might not have been cinema gold, the idea was. it really deserves to get remade more in Star Wars video games. I hope to see more scraps like this in Tales of the Jedi’s next seasons.

17. C3PO switched out

Hilarious, who’d ever imagine fighting him? Him nearly blasting Gunray made it even better.

18. The Clone Troopers

One of the most beloved aspects of Star Wars. What later became a staple of the Clone Wars 2003 miniseries and 2008 Clone Wars series. It all started here and there was something special about the early clones. While the second phase of clones was my favorite (episode 3 timeline), I really enjoyed the uniform, professional, and mysterious vibes we got form the early clone troopers.

19. Count Dooku

One of the most iconic, beloved, elegant, and unique Sith Lords of all time emerged. Dooku is a staple Star Wars character (like Maul, Vader, Grievous, Jango Fett, Luke, Obi Wan) who is listed in many fans top 10 Star Wars characters. Not only is he an amazing villain but he makes for a great anti-hero or anti-villain in the Tales of the Jedi tv series. And they picked someone who was 80 years old yet still seemed powerful at all moments and someone who they can still make a lot more content about in a new show.

20. Mace Windu

Mace Windu is a classic prequel character. He has been shown in countless tv shows, comics, and novels. He is known for his dogmatic nature, being a mighty force user, and exceptional duelist. Mace really shows us what it’s like to look at an intimidating Jedi Master. His showing against Jango Fett further displays his dominance. 

Dude is just OP!

21. Yoda in action

I’ve heard that people reacted by cheering in the theaters while watching Yoda’s first lightsaber duel. I remember watching the documentary and seeing how the Prequel devs created a unique acrobatic fighting style for the legendary Jedi master. He dueled in a way that made him seem terrifying and inspiring despite his size.

He showed he had the force feats and saber skills to easily match a lethal Sith Lord who just beat two top tier duelists. This was another groundbreaking moment in Star Wars much like Obi Wan’s duel with Grievous and the fight in the Phantom Menace with a double bladed lightsaber user. 

22. Geonosians

Star Wars has many fascinating cultures and races such as the Wookiees, Ewoks, Mandalorians, and Twileks but what makes Geonosians particularly inspiring is their insect like appearance. More so, most of them seem to have an ability to fly and they have unique weapons that make them lethal warriors. The vicious nature of Geonosian warriors was further explore in the Star Wars Republic Commando video game which came two years after the release of Attack of the Clones. 

23. Kamino

I don’t know how I skipped this but I skipped it. Kamino was an awesome water world. Similar to how Mustafar was an awesome fire planet and Naboo was stunning. Bespin was a gorgeous land in the clouds and Hoth was a nice arctic tundra. Kamino is another fine addition to Star Wars’s collection of intriguing locations.

24. It builds up beautifully with Revenge of the Sith

Especially the scene where Anakin has his vision and his mother dies. It really explains the peril he feels when Padme is also at risk. Anakin didn’t have a lot of people that he loved that weren’t involved in the Jedi Order. And that really matters because all the Jedi that he knew (even the ones he liked) constantly reminded him (whether intentionally or not) of the rules and obligations he desperately wanted a break from.

The scene where Anakin vows to never again let someone he loves die and how he reacts to his mother’s passing is huge. It really lays out why he isn’t willing to risk Padme’s death in Episode 3 and how his biggest issue is an inability to accept that some things are beyond his control. Furthermore, it laid out the foundation for the story of Darth Plageius the Wise.

My rating of ATOC is 7 out of 10 stars but I honestly enjoy it more than that rating.

25. Obi Wan’s sass

Ok how did I miss this? Anakin doesn’t get to hog all of the comedic points. Kenobi definitely deserves to join in on this fun. If you didn’t notice his blatant sarcasm during the “rescue attempt” I really don’t know what to tell you.

26. The Fireplace Scene

One of my friends mainly agrees with me, he tells me most of the scenes in this movie are decent. Some were a bit cringey but they made sense (like how Anakin acted around Padme) but the fireplace scene was just atrocious. I’m going to argue with him. I’m going to argue it was delicious. But seriously, this is an all or nothing scene. 

Either you love it or hate it and I love it to pieces! Perhaps not so much if you care about Anakin’s dignity, I mean he really went way to far here. Like I said, the sand quote wasn’t embarrassing, it wasn’t an odd thing to think though uncommon to express. But the I CAN’T BREATH, you’re in MY SOUL TOURMENTING ME! That would get a man ghosted very quickly.

Still, fighting in the battlefield and almost getting killed alongside each other might change things. I mean, maybe Padme was intending to ghost and friend zone until that happened. Being a hero, slashing droids in half, that definitely can win a woman over.

And to be fair, if a woman meets with you in a nice gown and you’re supposed to “protect her” I’m not quite sure what her real motives are.

27. Deathsticks

Brilliant, brilliant, absolutely BRILLIANT! Seriously, drugs in Star Wars were makes it feel much more real. But what’s even better about this is Kenobi himself uses his trademark jedi mindtrick to convince a man to clean himself up, stop selling drugs, and change his life. That’s inspiring, Lucas was dropping golden nuggets and making people laugh in a Star Wars movie. 

28. Little Boba

This was honestly a nice touch. Boba at this point in the story a goofy little kid, it added personality to his dry yet cool persona we saw in the OT. Which was appropriate for the Original Trilogy, but it is important to know that people are people, there is a reason they act however they do. 

Boba Fett yelling, “Get him dad. Get HIM. FIRA.” It wasn’t that bad and hey he was a kid, just rooting for his father. Boba also showed maturity by doing as Jango ordered without hesitation and being able to operate the Slave 1 on his own even managing to use it to hurt Obi Wan.

The most important scene here was him witnessing his father’s death, it completely explain how he became such a ruthless and cold bounty hunter later. But like his father Boba had some values, unfortunately AOTC didn’t do a good job showing the values Jango had or how he passed them down to his son.

29. Dexter’s Diner

It was a nice dive into a more casual aspect of the Star Wars universe. I felt the same way about the glimpses we got into Coruscant, the Jedi Temple, Naboo, and the public transport in the film. The nice thing about Star Wars is getting different themes and narratives each movie. it can’t be all doom and gloom like Revenge of the Sith, Rogue One, and you get it.

30. Look at what it led to

I pretty much wrapped it up but I want to add this. I’m not focusing on projects that came out Revenge of the Sith, which in my opinion was the best movie lore-wise (not in general) in Star Wars history. Attack of the Clones and the Phantom Meance may not be the best Star Wars movies by any means, but they were decent (well TPM is decent without Jar Jar) but lore-wise I think the Prequels as a whole are on another level to anything else Star Wars. 

Star Wars Republic Commando (2004)

One of the best video game series of all time. It was outright phenomenal and delved more deeply into the mysterious, sci-fi, war, and clone aspects of the Clone Wars that Attack of the Clones introduced us to.

Star Wars Clone Wars (2003) Volume 1

This series was epic and action packed. It really showed us the huge battles, vast frontiers, mysterious worlds, great array of vehicles, and different climates that were shown in Clone Wars battles. This is a distinct vibe from the later Clone Wars which has more of an episode 3 vibe. The biggest difference is by then both the CIS and Republic are much more developed and begin to fight in more populated and crowded worlds. 

The 2008 Clone Wars series initially gave us a blend of both feels that were in Episode II and III but eventually (post season 3) became more centered on the Episode III tone of war. The same was true with the second volume of the Clone Wars (which makes perfect sense) but the first volume is largely regarded as the favorite. And what really made it special was that peculiar vibe the era had, you never knew what you were going to encounter.

When invisible droids engaged Yoda on Illum or when Ventress dueled Anakin something about it was so new and fresh that isn’t easily implemented in other eras. And for good resaon, they all have something special about them.

Star Wars The Clone Wars (2002)

It was a phenomenal vehicle based video game that existed in a Star Wars setting. It had a compelling story, epic battles, unique vehicles, and diverse multiplayer modes. This game just showed how much potential the AOTC era had.

Star Wars Republic (2002-2004 content)

While Republic initially came after The Phantom Menace and many of it’s great comics were inspired by the character Quinlan Vos, much of it’s content that came after 2002 was influenced by Attack of the Clones. But likewise Attack of the Clones was influenced by the comic series. 

Many people though Aayla Secura was created in Attack of the Clones, but she actually first appeared in Star Wars Republic back in 1998. Still, the Clone Wars timeline brought many interesting storylines to this series.

[not-alien-girl-v]

have you seen the movie "Nerve"? could you write something where Tate and Y/N are the main characters in the movie? i help with ideas with whatever you want just please write this for me because i need to read something like this without me writing it, peace ✌🏼

Nerve Part 1 (Tate Langdon)

Summary: Y/N is a broke college kid who can’t afford tuition. He’s a struggling musician, who’s found a site called Nerve, where he can gain money and fame from doing stupid dares. But what happens when he kisses the wrong girl on a dare? The night is young, and they are shackled together for 12 hours. What could happen? (part 1)

Warning: Language, mentions of being naked?? idk the main warning for this is language because I didn’t censor at all.

Note: this is actually a really cute idea i’m so glad you suggested this. i forgot how much i liked this movie lol. anyway, for obvious reasons, tate is alive, and not a criminal, just an edgy teenager (but canonically 19 cuz idk i didn’t wanna write this knowing it’s gonna be a 17 year old kid so he’s now a legal adult) Also, I didn’t stick completely to the movie events because then it’d be boring

At Jerry’s Pizza, Y/N sat, after a long, taxing day of school and homework. She was a college student at UCLA, but all her hard work that had gotten her through her first year of college seemed for nothing. She soon wouldn’t be able to afford her tuition anymore. 

“God, what am I going to do?” She sat at the bar, an hour or two after the restaurant had closed. Normally, being 19 and all, she wouldn’t be allowed to sit at the bar like this, but seeing as she was best friends with the owner and it was after hours, the rules were bent for her. She rests her head face down on the counter.

“Look kid, it can’t be that bad, you can pick up a few extra shifts around here if you really need the money,” Jerry, the owner reasoned with her. Jerry was well into his 50s, but could often times be described as ‘young at heart’, and this was evident given the hipster style of his restaurant he owned, the bands he allows to play at said bar,  his sleeves of tattoos, and Y/N, a young woman with whom he became instant friends with when she walked in after her first day of university.

“That’s not gonna help, I need $10,000, in like, two seconds in order to keep going. Fuck, what am I going to do?” She cursed.

It was at this moment that the rowdy group of men behind her, standing with their instruments on the stage were getting increasingly louder, annoying the shit out of her.

“UGH! Can you assholes shut up?” She bursted at the four men, horse playing now that their set had finished several hours earlier.

A few of the men gave Jerry an offended look, as if he should reign her in in some way. “Hey guys, it’s getting late, your set ended a while ago, you should probably pack up,” he decided to take the easy way out of confrontation with the band.

“Yeah, yeah, I just need to get something done really quick,” a blond man, the guitarist, Y/N had recognized, spoke up and came forward. He wore a striped dark green sweater and distressed jeans, very Kurt Cobain-esque, and his dirty blond hair added to the look, the shagginess of it showing he wasn’t exactly high-strung.

Suddenly, he ran up to Y/N, gripped her face so tight she was certain it’d leave a bruise, and smashed his lips into her own. She expected to taste liquor, some type of brain altering substance to smell on him, but he only smelled of cologne and sweat.

His band mates counted down 5 seconds in the background, then he ran out with the group the moment the count was over.

“Hey! Stay out you fuckwads!” Jerry called after them, knowing better than to chase after them, given he’s not as young and fit as he used to be.

“NERVE RULES!” another one of the men screamed as they made their way out of the restaurant.

Meanwhile, Y/N, still disgruntled and shocked from the previous event, looked at Jerry in confusion.

“What just happened? What’s Nerve?” She asked, disregarding the fact she had just been kissed and could probably be at risk for mono or something stupid.

“Oh, it’s just some dumb site the kids nowadays are using. Basically, you complete dares for money, or you pay to watch people and dare them to do stupid shit, I mean, real dangerous shit, I heard a couple years back, some kid fell off a construction crane in a dare,” Jerry rubbed his hand down his face, then returned to tidying up the bar.

“They do it… for money?” Y/N asked with curiosity and Jerry nodded, not understanding what she meant by that.

“Yeah, I heard if you get to the finals without giving up on it, you can make some big bank. It’s some real stupid, dangerous shit, though. I see kids coming in here everyday on some dumb dare, scaring off my customers, making fools of themselves.”

This sent Y/N into a bout of quiet contemplation. Looking at their past, there was little Y/N wouldn’t do for money. Feet pics, car washes, hell, she even considered trying out prostitution until she got a job at the pizza place. 

What’s a few little dares?

“Hey, I gotta- I’m gonna head out, see you tomorrow!” Y/N packed up their bag and all but sprinted out of the restaurant to catch up with the boys, who couldn’t have been far from the building. 

With some luck, she found the blond one alone, outside, standing on a ledge of a bridge. “So what, are you gonna like, kill yourself or something?” She jokingly asked him.

He turned his head back and met her beautiful eyes with his own chocolate brown ones. “I gotta jump off this bridge and do a flip,” he stated simply, like she was a part of whatever he was in on. She wanted to be, but she wasn’t.

“Why?” She questioned, although she was beginning to piece a few things together. If she was being honest with herself, that band kind of sucked during their set, with their cheap guitars and mics that kept cutting in and out during the performance. Not to mention their messy hair and tattered clothes. 

Sure, grunge was making a comeback, but who was she kidding? Those boys were as broke as she was. She noticed his phone next to him on the cold gray stone of the bridge, propped up against an empty beer bottle, about to record his act. “Do you need someone to film?” She asked.

“Yeah, could you?” He smiled kindly at her, and she didn’t want to admit it at that moment, but he was actually really cute. Sure he kissed her without asking, but if he asked again, she’d probably be okay with it the next time.

She filmed the entire dare on his crummy little iPhone 6 camera, and when he came out, soaking wet, he walked over to her to see what the watchers were commenting. The way he stood so close behind her, his rugged breath harsh against her neck with adrenaline, she felt nervous to say her next words.

“This whole Nerve thing, how’s it work?” Her words made him change his focus from the screen in her hand to her face, and he erupted in a smug smile.

“Why, you wanna join or something?” 

“Well, I don’t want to, but you just made $300 doing that, and I need to afford my college tuition. So, you think you can help me?” She hopefully asked, hoping this site could keep them together a few hours longer.

Within the next span of 10 minutes, the boy helped her join Nerve as a player, then he soon went on his way to find his friends again. 

She sighed at the loss of a cute boy, before a new dare popped up on her screen.

‘Find the boy and kiss him for 1 minute’

Weird, almost identical to what she imaged his dare looked like back in the restaurant. Oh well, a dare’s a dare, and she was being offered $100 for it. 

She bolted forward to catch up with him, who was now with his pals again. Similar to previous events, she turned his face to look down at her and smashed her lips into his for the second time that night. He seemed surprised, but not offended, since he didn’t reject her, and kissed back, despite not knowing she was being dared.

His friends hollered and cheered as she they all filmed the kiss like the watchers they were. Y/N’s world spun around rapidly for only a moment before the minute was up and she pulled away. She checked her phone, and like clockwork, $100 was transferred into her bank account.

“Fuck yeah!” She hollered to the group. 

Now seeming to understand her motive, his genuine smile dropped for a split second, before recovering. “Wow, how much was that for?” He asked.

“$100 man, this shit’s gonna be easy,” she laughed to herself. 

Suddenly, the group was approached by a tall blonde man in a leather jacket, who handed them a plastic shopping bag, gave them a quick ‘here you go,’ then ran away as fast as he approached. 

“What’s in there?” Y/N asked as the boy tore open the bag and reached inside. With curiosity, he pulled out a pair of silver electronic handcuffs, with a digital screen on it, displaying the word ‘Nerve’ over and over again in blinking blue light.

At the same time, they both got a chime on their phones, which they opened in synch, to see the exact same dare.

‘Handcuff yourselves together for 12 hours,’ it read.

“Wait-” Y/N starts.

“Oh shit,” the boy quietly cursed. At this, his bandmates were screaming and hollering, their phones blowing up with over 700 watchers now. “Look, if you don’t want to-”

“It’s $600, I don’t know about you, but I can’t pass that up,” Y/N explained, then turned to look at one of the boy’s friends, extending her left wrist to him, as he now held the cuffs. “Cuff me.”

The blond boy gave her a surprised look, but nonetheless, extended his right wrist out to his friend as well. When the cold metal clicked around both of their wrists, a timer on the digital screen face of the cuffs started, counting down from 12 hours.

“Have fun man!” The drummer shouted to the blond boy as the rest of his friends left to go elsewhere, leaving Y/N and the blond boy alone together, something they were going to have to get used to.

“Well, this is-” He started before getting interrupted once again, this time by a chime on his phone.

‘Go skinny dipping in the community pool with her’

He just sighed in defeat, knowing he was in for it now, for a whole 12 hours alongside this girl he just met, and not to mention kissed twice. He looked at his right wrist tethered to her left. “You’re right handed, right?”

She nodded. “Good, I’m a lefty. You sure you wanna go through with this? If you want to quit now, I’d be okay. I’m not gonna make you do anything you don’t want to,” he spoke sincerely, looking deep into her eyes and making a connection with her.

“I’m in, I’m all in,” she spoke back, not breaking eye contact, studying every part of his handsome face.

“Good,” he grabbed her hand through the chains of the cuffs, giving it a squeeze. It was just them together against the world. For 12 hours at least.

“Oh, and by the way, what’s your name?” She asked, giggling with excitement from being close to a complete stranger.

“My name? It’s Langdon. You?”

“Y/N.”

“Well, Y/N, we have a pool to break into. Shall we?” He nodded his head towards the general direction of the pool. She nodded with a cute smile on her face, and then the two were off, hand in hand.

[cyazurai]

Sims Tag Game! <3

Tagged by @gorgosim! Thank you!

1. What’s your favourite sims death? I normally just let my sims die of old age, but I definitely have some favorites. My favorite from TS4 is being Consuming by the Mother. And my favorite from TS3 is jellybean plant - mostly because I love the color of the jellybean ghost, haha!

2. Alpha CC or Maxis Match? Maxis Mix! I will use an Alpha hair if the edit I'm doing works better with that, but otherwise I only use MM hair, and a mix of Alpha and MM clothes.

3. Do you cheat when your sims gain weight? No. I like to make them lose weight naturally if I want them to, if not? They're gonna just be like me.

4. Do you use move objects? I have a mod that makes it so move objects is always on, so yeah.

5. Favorite mod? Oh gosh... I have a lot of mods I can't live without, but for modern gameplay I gotta say the LGBTQIA+ mod by Lumpinou has changed my life. I don't have to choose my sims' orientations and genders anymore! Finally!

6. First expansion/game/stuff pack you got? For TS4, the first pack I got was Get to Work.

7. Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing? aLIVE, but that's because I think of it like "we're going live," like for TV and such.

8. Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? I don't know if she's my absolute favorite, but one of my favorites is Ikari Karma, the founder I made for a RainbowSin legacy that I still haven't gotten around to:

9. Have you made a simself? Yes actually! She's the founder of my current NSB, though her traits are completely different from what my real ones are.

10. What sim traits do you give yourself? Geek, Loner, Cat Lover, usually.

11. Which is your favorite EA hair color? Platinum blonde!

12. Favorite EA hair? The movie hangout stuff hair that's a side part and shoulder length. I put that on all my sims back when I was CC lite.

13. Favorite life stage?  Young adult probably - you can do the most things while still being young enough to have a lot of time left. Plus, this is the time when you can move spares out of the house, haha.

14. Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? Definitely in it for the gameplay. Occasionally, I LOVE building, but I have to be in the right mindset for it.

15. Are you a CC creator? Sometimes! More mods than CC, though. I can't mesh to save my life, but I can make poses, CAS backgrounds, loading screens, and the occasional small mod.

16. Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad? Mmm yeah I'd say so! Maybe not a sim squad, but definitely some simblr friends.

17. What’s your favorite game? (1, 2, 3, or 4)  I have the most fond memories of 3. If my computer was better, you'd have to suffer through a TS3 legacy from me too. 😌

18. Do you have any sims merch? I don't actually!

19. Do you have a YouTube for sims? I do, but I don't post regularly. I want to, but every time I start to get more regular, things come up.

20. How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing?  Oh for sure. My first TS4 sims are not very good looking, and now I like them quite a lot. Can't say they're unique because I have same face syndrome, but I like them and that's enough for me.

21. What’s your Origin ID? Cyazurai

22. Who’s your favorite CC creator?  Ahh... that's so hard. For hair it's daylifesims, and for clothes it's Sifix.

23. How long have you had a simblr? Since early 2020 I think. I mean, I started posting sims stuff occasionally back in 2015, but I wouldn't consider myself a simblr until I started posting regularly.

24. How do you edit your pictures? Reshade + MS Paint or iPiccy. I'm not clever or rich enough for fancy programs.

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next? I think I want the Cool Kitchen Stuff next, because... ice cream.

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far? Oh goodness. Probably Realm of Magic, because I use Spellcasters a LOT.

And I will tag @melsie-sims, @oswanily, @daisydezem, and @katmk36!

[bethaven]

#25 Summation, reflections and plans for 2024

Now that the calendar is over I want to wrap things up with some thoughts and facts about of what have been and what is coming.

The calendar

In this calendar I've written about 24 series that have meant something to me through my life. There are other series I might actually like more than some of them today, but they've all changed how I see things or how I feel about a certain subject. I started of with M*A*S*H, which will always be my all time favourite and which came into my life early. I ended with Julie and the Phantoms, which just recently came into my life and about which I still have a lot to learn. Some posts almost wrote themselves, while others needed some rewatches and reminiscing.

Here are all the posts:

#1 M*A*SH

#2 The Big Bang Theory

#3 Gilmore Girls

#4 Sex and the city

#5 Oc

#6 How I met your mother

#7 New Girl

#8 Please like me

#9 Modern family

#10 Glee

#11 Gossip Girl (2007)

#12 Miss Fisher's murder mysteries

#13 Tales of the city (2019)

#14 Hollywood

#15 Grace and Frankie

#16 Bridgerton

#17 Young Royals

#18 Emily in Paris

#19 Find me in Paris

#20 Sex Education

#21 Ginny and Georgia

#22 Heartstopper

#23 Xo Kitty

#24 Julie and the Phantoms

Other series/movies that were recommended in posts

Never have Iever, Angus, thongs and perfect snogging, Anne with an E, Queen Charlotte - a Bridgerton story, Younger, Girls, Skam, Élite, Skins, Atypical, Pose, A secret love, Boys in the band, Minx, Tales of the City (1993), More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City, Looking, Queer as folk, Glamorous, Orange is the new black, Everything's gonna be ok, Nanette/Something special/Douglas, The Good Place, Friends, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, How I met your father, Scrubs, Beverly Hills 90210, 90210, One tree hill, Dawso n's creek, Hart of Dixie, Young Sheldon, Gilmore Girls - a year in the life, Grown-ish, M*A*S*H (1970) and After MASH.

The list for 2024

I stream A LOT of media, and mostly series, some weeks up to 40 hours. This because I usually have something on in the background, it makes me focus even better. I work from home about half the time and the TV is always on, on these days. But it's normaly rewatches and comfort series and I have a hard time starting new ones. So, to help with this, my goal for 2024 is to complete a list of series I want to watch, but haven't dealt with yet. I might not complete them all if I don't like them, but the goal is to start them all.

The unlisted

The irregulars

Raising Dion

Cloak and Dagger

Never have I ever

Everything sucks

Heartbreak high

Elite

Derry Girls

Umbrella academy

Bodies

White Lotus

My life with the Walter boys

The Crown

Minx, season 2

Smiley

BONDING

Everything Now

Todas las veces que enamoramos

Dead to me, season 3

Love and anarchy, season 2

Cunk on earth

Survival of the thickest

Kitz

Julia

Parks and Recreation

The Flight Attendant

It's a Sin

Gentleman Jack

The Sex Lives of College Girls

The Comeback

This is us

Griselda

I'd love to get other tips you think I might like to add to the list! it's mostly Netflix, HBO Max and Disney+ that works, but feel free to tip on anything.

New seasons in 2024

Apart from new discoveries I'll surely get back to some old favourites from time to time. And some of them have some very interesting updates coming up.

Young Royals, season 3 (March)

Bridgerton, season 3 (May 16th and June 13th)

Emily in Paris, season 4

Heartstopper, season 3

Ginny and Georgia, season 3

Confirmed seasons but not confirmed year

Bridgerton, season 4

XO Kitty, season 2

That 90's show, season 2

Ginny and Georgia, season 4 (2025)

Thank you.

Thanks to all of you who've hade the patience to read at least one of these posts. I made them mostly for myself, to be honest, but I'm always glad if someone else enjoys it too! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you!

[doevademe]

Emmy's not the only one who NEEDS to know 😜 as a prompt please: the kids are asking for part two now, how did dad fell in love 😌? (I guess they gotta be older now to hear this?)

Asher had always thought of his parents when he imagined people in love.

The way his dad and papa would look at each other and just... talk, in such a way that they would forget the world around them filled him with awe.

Even after he found out it wasn't love at first sight, the idea of his parents loving anyone but each other was dumb and ridiculous.

Now, the seven year old knew better, and it was worse than he could have imagined.

"You cheated on papa?" He asked, flabbergasted. "And he took you back?!"

His father looked at him with wide eyes before shaking his head vigorously.

"No!" He said, looking between him and his older sister. Emilia's eyes were wide, and she looked at dad with such disappointment... "Your papa and I weren't together yet!"

"But he loved you!" Asher insisted. "And you still kissed Aunt Annabeth!"

"I didn't know!" he said helplessly. "I... this is why I try not to tell you all the details."

Yes, his dad mostly only told stories about monsters and gods in case they needed to fight anything of their hidden world, but tonight had been different.

After years of asking, their dad was finally telling them how he had made Mount Tamalpais blow up to destroy some monster base... and that he had recieved a kiss from their aunt before it happened.

"They were bound to find out sooner or later," their papa said, sighing. "Listen kids, life is not like one of your movies. Sometimes, people fall in love more than once in their lives."

"You didn't!" Asher protested. "You always loved dad, right?"

Nico smiled at his son.

"Yes, a part of me has always loved him," he confirmed. "But I did date someone else before we got together."

Asher's already frail world crumbled further.

True love was a lie.

"Is it time now?" Emilia asked. Asher turned to look at her. She didn't look as shocked as he was. "Will you finally tell me how dad fell in love?"

Whenever a story of their dad's featured their papa, Emilia always asked the same question. Their parents always said that, since the story was not demigod quest related, they could shelf it until they were older.

Well, Asher felt way too old after tonight's revelation.

"I guess I have to," Percy said. "But you guys have to understand... it isn't my proudest moment."

"Why not?" Asher felt offended for his papa's sake. "Did you not want to fall for papa?"

"It's complicated!" Percy exclaimed. "Kids, what you need to understand is that your dad was a dummy. He was 19 and living a life that... was not his."

"What do you mean?" Emilia asked, already immersed.

"After Chronos's defeat, your aunt Annabeth and I... dated for a few years," he admitted. "She's always been smart, and she had saved my butt so many times, I just sort of went along with anything she said, because she knew better."

Asher nodded. It was true. Aunt Annabeth knew everything about everything.

"So, I followed her to New Rome to study," he continued. "We lived together, we went to school together, we did everything together... and I felt like a prisoner."

Emilia hanged on every word their dad spoke. Asher just felt confused.

"Turns out, the life I wanted and the life Annabeth wanted were pretty different... that we were pretty different." their dad slumped on the couch. "I... didn't even know why I was studying, so I left, and went back to Camp Half-Blood to clear my head."

"And papa was there," Emilia guessed.

"Papa was there," he confirmed. "And he was not alone."

"As I said, people don't always date The One and no one else," their papa interjected. "I was... dating someone else. A boy who was helping me with some of my issues at the time."

"The thing is, I knew," Percy said. "I knew he was dating someone else, and I didn't mind... I thought I didn't mind... but seeing them together was... too much."

"You were jealous!" Emilia said, delighted.

Their dad looked even more ashamed.

"I knew then, the reason me and Annabeth weren't working anymore was because... I had fallen in love with your papa without realizing it. Seeing him together with someone else made me notice it."

"But that's a good thing!" Asher said. "Why do you look so embarrassed about it?"

"I was... very mean to that boy," he said. "I beat him in sparring matches, I went on quests to drag Nico along and away from him, I was constantly hovering over them to make sure nothing ever happened between them!"

"He swept me off my feet," Nico said, winking at them. "But don't think badly of your dad, he wasn't trying to make me and that boy split. He just was very bad at dealing with his feelings."

Asher felt like a puzzle piece slotted back in place.

"Dad loved you so much he couldn't help it!" He said, giddy. "And he made you fall back in love!"

Emilia nodded enthusiastically at her brother's words.

"Now, Asher, things aren't always so simple. When you're older, relationships..."

But Asher wasn't listening anymore.

Love wasn't a lie!

His parents were still meant to be, and had always been!

They had just been teenagers. Dad was always saying teenagers were dumber than kids.

"You got that, buddy?" Dad asked. Asher nodded. "Well, I'm all storied out. What do you say if we continue the Mount Tam story tomorrow?"

"That's okay!" Asher agreed.

No story right now could top his new understanding of love.

[stuckysdaughter]

I just watched Disenchanted for the second time, thoughts (and spoilers!) below the cut.

Ok, ok. I freaking love this movie! My family and I have been waiting 15 years for this sequel and it did not disappoint!! I was so little when Enchanted came out, and it was my absolute favorite. So much so that I still have the soundtrack memorized and watch the movie almost religiously every year. I think Disenchanted will also be a comfort movie too, since it is quickly rising in the ranks of my favorites.

The first thing I want to mention is the little nods to original Disney tales even from the opening credits. It uses the old style where the choir opens the film (stopped right around the 60’s/70’s but started all the way back with Snow White and I miss that so much can we bring that back?). It really got me in the mood, like i was small and watching my other favorite Sleeping Beauty. You can start seeing where the town already looks like a fairy tale with small hints at what will change when Giselle makes the wish. The three women who offer to help with Sofia are color coded to be Flora, Fauna, and Meriweather. There’s a freaking wishing well in the backyard that looks exactly like Snow White’s! The clock tower of course, and Melvina right away you pinpoint as the Evil Queen (that one wasn’t subtle). You have the two dumb henchmen, and the meet-cute for Morgan and Tyson (that's like my one thing, who names their kid tyson?!). So right away it feels like a classic Disney film from the 40's or 50's which honestly were some of my favorites (but that's another discussion post for another day lmao).

Next, the soundtrack. My family and I are music nerds, and we were hoping for any nod to the original. We appreciated the small “how does she know” in the beginning. You have to listen a little bit, but you hear it. “Nice” was heard from both my dad and I. I was a bit sad that nothing else made the cut, but I'm more glad that the new soundtrack was allowed to shine as it deserves. Alan Menken is the king of good Disney soundtracks (Tangled, Aladdin, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Beauty and the Beast, etc) and boy did he deliver. The new songs are so good, and they finally got the good sense to utilize Idina Menzel in a style where she really shines (Frozen didn’t quite hit this like Menken did. Here she sounds more like she did in Wicked 19/20 years ago just before Enchanted came out and the endings are much bigger than Frozen II or even Let it Go). James Marsden didn’t get as much singing attention in this one, but he was so good when he did. It made me want to rewatch him in Hairspray so I can listen to him some more. Maya Rudolph surprised me a bit, I'll admit. I didn't peg her as a singer, but she proved me wrong. Badder is such a good song. "Every good movie (musical) should have a tango" is also heard in my house often. These two women blend so well I almost can't tell who's singing what part when they're together. Amy Adams of course is a Goddess! Who I love!! I think she really found her sound in this (can you tell i go to music school lmao) and obviously she wouldn't sound the same as 15 years ago, but this fits her better in a way. She sounds more comfortable, and was able to show off more in Even More Enchanted (After the Wish). That's another Snow White nod, by the way, it mirrors pretty closely what she sings to the birds at the wishing well. All this to say, I instantly added all the songs to my Spotify, they have now become part of my walks to class. And no, I'm not ashamed of that. (continue later)

I don't know much about film and how it works, but my god there were some gorgeous shots and set design. You can tell there was a pretty big budget for this, and it shows. It was all just so beautiful to look at, and it seemed to flow along really well. There are always those camera angles or transitions you wish were smoother but I didn't see any. It was all very aesthetically pleasing, and I love that you can see Giselle's transformation into a wicked stepmother through her dresses and her hair. She starts the tale with a dress almost identical to her dress for "That's How You Know", and eventually goes full on Lady Tremaine. (I want that red dress so much holy shit) "My hair's so high! And my dress is so low, oh!" I love you Giselle never change please. And Pip's "I feel like the most superior being in the whole world". I have cats and that is so true, we laughed far too much at that line...

The plot!!!! I love this idea so so much! I remember throughout the years hearing rumors of what the plot was (well before we ever had a real announcement from Disney). From what I can recall, the plot was originally (or supposedly, anyway) that they all were living happily in NYC, but Morgan's biological mom came back into the picture and was trying to muck things up. I don't know how that would've worked, which is probably why it didn't go that way lmao. Anyway, this plot is so cool! And I wish that i could watch it again for the first time! I don't think I will ever react as genuinely as I did that first time with my parents. The acting is top notch, and Amy Adams really pulled out all the stops to convince us that there's two of her inside fighting for control. I like that even when the wish occurs, there's still a lot of nods to other tales. Morgan has a whole "Belle"-esque number while dressed like her, and they even have her plot match Cinderella (mostly). Disney definitely did the same thing here with Morgan that they did with Andy in Toy Story 3. The kids who were roughly Morgan's age (like me) who have grown up with Enchanted are now adults in their late teens or twenties, and are maybe struggling to find themselves and what that means. My mom and I were definitely not crying (and by that, I mean, we bawled like children) at the end where Giselle reassures Morgan that she is her daughter, and that her love for her has power. That's something that I (and I'm assuming just about everyone else my age) needed to hear. Even if it wasn't from my own mother, I know the sentiment was shared. And even Robert's feelings of time slipping away from him and his hopelessness resonated with me and I'm guessing others too.

In conclusion, this was a fantastic movie, and the sequel Enchanted deserves. An amazing plot, excellent soundtrack, and beautiful design. I couldn't have asked for a better way to suitably sate my nostalgia while giving me a whole new movie to love. People can criticize me all they want, but it won't change the fact that this movie is brilliant and one of my new absolute favorites.

(what my family sees sometimes when they look at me and my cats)