#Disney channel and early 2000s dance party

[echobeach2002]

[sillyengineerperson]

My very official notes on Found Heaven by Conan Gray (but with added context because it was initially written for my friend who understands most of the references i make)

My thoughts while listenting to found heaven at 12am bc what even is sleep?

(also i have to get up a 4 to go to France🙃)

Right here we go song uno

Found heaven:

whoa snazz

Choir

Ahhhh

Michael Jackson much?

😍😍😍😍🥰

I LOVE THIS

OHMIGOD AHHHHHHH

THIS IS SO SNAZZY

ITS STRANGELY BIBLICAL

What???

I don't think its going to be my favourite but still slayyhth- edit: its so much better than I initially thought

Song dos

Never ending song:

we already know I love this (Context: yes i was dancing around in my kitchen to this when i was suposed to be revising for GCSEs)

Yaaaasdd vibes

I feel like it's GCSES AGAIN🥲(Context: this song came out in the first week of GCSEs so i listened to it a lot when i was revising and also the bus back home after an exam)

NOSTALGIA BUT WEIRD AND WITH TUNA MELTS (thats what I had for lunch most days during exams) (Context: I have very oddly specific feelings and vibes acociated with that period of my life)

Ooooooooonnnnnnn

Slay cone

Song tres

Fainted love:

Je suis scared

Its either going to be a yas queen slay or break me

ohhhbh

Me encanta

LOVE IT

SLaaaayyyyyyyy

Play it on toouurrr I beg

This is sooooooo good

Yes king I love you

After listening to this about a billion times more this song is absolutely EVERYTHING AHHHHHHHHHH

Song cuatro

Lonely dancers:

we know this is not my cup of tea (Context: im so sorry to everyone but I just don't like it that much. its still vibes though :) )

But the vibes are still there

So mini silent dance party in my room

🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🪩🪩🪩🕺🕺🕺🪩🪩🪩

Song cinco

Alley rose:

THIS SONG IS EVERYTHING

TIME TO CRY

AHHHHH❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🌹🌹🌹💔💔💔

DONT LEAV ME HANGING ALONE AGAAINNNN

du du du du du on the piano

DOTN EEEEVEN CAREEEEE

😭😭😭

so

yes

beautiful

i love

Song seis

The final fight:

intrigued

I don't know

Hmmmmmm I'm worried

Oh silence

Is it supposed to be completely silent???

No its not something went wrong with my spotify 😂

I really sat there for a whole minute and a half waiting for something to happen

Right anyway

Oooooo drums

GUITAR

BASS

YES CONE

PREACH

NO DONT CRY

ME TOO

it's giving early 2000's movie montage scene where the main character has a huge revalation

He had his moment🙌

AHHH IT REMINDS ME OF THAT SONG FROM ZOMBIES 2 OR HSM 2 WHEN GABRIELLA LEAVES (Context: so in zombies the main characters have a song where its sort of a breakup song but also a thing where they're expressing how they don't feel like they fit in -which is a whole thing that I could rant about bc she literally thinks shes special for having white hair and obviously she's so oppressed because of that and then obviously the zombies have it so much easier even though there are literally laws that are in place to controll them even though they're completely safe and very human like now. I should not get this worked up over a disney channel movie- the song is called Gotta find where I belong. and then in HSM 2 I'm just refering to when Gabriella quits the country club and breaks up with troy)

Song siete

Miss you:

this better be absolutly heart wrenching

ooooooooo

Wut

Slay

He's a king

YES YES YES

his vocals are amazing

That was a straight vibe (edit from later: not straight like heterosexual. I mean it's jsut very vibey)

I'm still waiting for the saddest song of all time but he's killing it so far

Song ocho

Bourgeoisieses:

there's a whole process to typing that

um HELLO

OH MY GOODNESS

Music video when?

Kinda basic song structure (I have no idea what I meant by this) but it's soooooo good

play this on tour it's yes

Song nueve

Forever with me:

please be sad

please be sad

please be sad

don't ask why i want it to be sad

i don't know

YES

PIANO

I HAVE HIGH HOPES

YES YES YES

OHHHHHHHH

CONAN

NOT THE MAGIC SOUND

DONT BE SORRY

THIS IS BEAUTIFUL

OOOH HIGH NOTES

KEY CHANGE

AHHHHHHH

Kinda evil cone?

And whats with the wind sound?

Song diez

Eye of the night:

if it's not witchy eye of the tigeri'm sueing

that's all ive been expecting since i saw the name

whoa!!!

Bro am i wrong with my prediction though??!!😂

This is a vibe

It really is witchy eye of the tiger

🪩🪩🪩

🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺

GIUTARRRRRRR

AHHHH THE KEY CHANGE

HES ON ANOTHER LEVEL

literally 😏

Song once

Boys & girls:

bi anthem!??

maybe

Oh

yes

hello

Vibes

Yeah cone you're wrong they dont

Very vibes

Yeah no same

Okayyyyy

The vibes are there

substance maybe less (I really don't know what I thought I was hearing but my opionion has changed)

Loved it though

Song doce

Killing me:

I LOVERRR THIS SONGGGGG

I

ITS 2 AM

NO WE HAVENT

YES YOU DO

OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

YOURE KULLIBG ME

FREEREEE MEEEEEEE

YOURR UCH A GOI ACTOR

GO AWAY

OHHHHHHHHBHB

KILLING

LUCKY YOU ARRRRRAAREEEE

BU BU BU BU BU BU BU BU

BU BU BU BU BU BU

YOUR KILLING ME

OH I WANNA DIE

BUT YOU KEEP ME ALIVE

HUH

song trece

Winner:

final slay

This song is everything (I'm only just realising how many times i've said that)

AT MAKING ME FEEL WORSE

WINNNNEEEERRRRR

PEW PEW

WINEEEEEEEEERRRERERERRRR

SLAY PIANO

YOUR THE ONE WHOLE KET IT GET THIS BAAAAAD

YOUR CHAOS

WHHHHKKKKKOOOAAAJJAJHA

NIW YOU REALLY ARE THE WIIUUINNERRRRR

Laaaaaa laaa la la lalala laaaaa la

ahhhhhhh je suis deceased

Conan slay has slayed once again to slayingly produce another very very slay album

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

I think right now my favourite of the new songs is fainted love

but yes

i need sleep bc i'm getting up in 3 hours

it's 1:17

ahhhhhhhh

okay

i need sleep

bye bye

🕺🕺

so that was it

my opinions have probably changed slightly but ahhhhhh this album is so good and i definitly have some more things to say about the songs that I've noticed but thats enough for now because I have a maths test to revise for

[popentertainmentconcertreviews]

Aly and AJ – House of Blues – Orlando, FL – April 12, 2023

Seeing Aly and AJ perform in the new millennium was both amazing and nostalgic. Aly and AJ Michalka are sisters from Torrance, California who started their music careers when they were 13 and 15 years old, coming out with their first album titled Into the Rush, which featured well known songs “Rush” and “On The Ride.” Being a 90’s baby and growing up listening to them on Radio Disney and watching them on Disney Channel shows and movies like Cow Bells and Phil of the Future, you just have to know who they are, because how could you not? 

During the show, the pop rock sister duo played the entirety of their newest album, With Love From, along with a few songs from previous albums, a touch of the beat… and We Don’t Stop. I didn't listen to their new album before attending the show, so my experience felt almost like a live album release party. Of course they also played the classics like “Potential Breakup Song” and “Like Whoa” from their album Insomniatic, along with a couple other songs from the early 2000’s that pretty much everyone knew considering everyone became very excited when they started singing it and they the audience was practically yelling the lyrics word for word.

They were energetic and lively on stage and interacted with the audience like we have all been the best of friends for decades. I loved it when they referenced being Disney kids and spoke about their older music since I'm sure most, if not all, of their fans know them from their Disney acting and music days.

The energy they had with each other on stage was touching and you could really tell how much love they have for each other and performing together. Before they started performing their song “Slow Dancing,” they mentioned the song being meant to slow dance to and told the audience to dance with whoever they came with or if they came alone and were comfortable, to ask for permission to dance with a stranger next to you. Seeing the whole venue either dance with who they came with or even sway on their own, while singing along was so beautiful and toward the end of the song, people started holding up their flashlights on their phones. It was such a beautiful moment of the show.

Their performance has opened me up to their newer music and I think that everyone should “Rush” and experience Aly & AJ live because you will not be disappointed.

Kai Lyan

Copyright ©2023 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: April 14, 2023.

Photos by Kai Lyan © 2023. All rights reserved.

[your-local-uwu-artist]

djnfalkdjhfaksj

alvin and the chipmunks: meet the wolfman

^^^^^^^^^^

i rewatched it recently sense i found it free on internet archive and have fucking over 2 HOURS of me rambling sense i recorded myself my last rewatch: and it STILL holds up and now my notebook is full of doodles anyWAY

I fucking LOVE this godamn movie nfdskjafhksa

the songs fucking SLAP FJDNFKS theres only 3 but there all very catchy and storytelling wise REALLY good : like musical numbers shoudl help move along the story and express characters feelings and all that and aside from the finale song which is just a dance party ending except sense its a 2d frame by frame animated film from like im guessing late 90s early 2000s and not a 2010s cgi dreamworks or just another disney channel movie where the climax is during a prom its actually a snazzy way to end the film instead of "what are we doing??"

maybe its just the nostalgia but idk i still find it's story to actually enlgihten emotion in me fnjskfsda like i defitnly could write an anaylsis on it

lowkey plannin on making a youtube video about it at somepoint sense like: i litterally already have hours worth of content from that recording dnsjkasf

you reblogging werewolf things is going to once again unleash my childhood obsession with one very specific animated halloween movie fjsankfds

I like werewolves a lot :>

Also what movie? 👀

[hobiscloset]

Street Dance China Season 4 Captains. Henry Lau, Han Geng, Zhang Yixing (Lay), Wang Yibo Guest staring @insidious-intent from cpop tumblr as S

S - There is so much to unpack here N - Every single one of them is going to a very different event

Henry Lau N - Henry has heard that camo print helps you blend in in the wild and wants to try it out but doesn't actually know what that is so he just got every pattern to be on the safe side E - Henry was dressed by someone who works on Disney Channel original movies N - Specifically the pre 2010s ones S - Henry looks like he's going to a boyband party in the early 2000s

Han Geng N - Han-ge is just a lesbian E - I was about to say Han Geng is just the hottest lesbian at the cook out S - Han-ge does actually look like West Village's newest butch lesbian

Zhang Yixing (Lay) E - Yixing is dressed like every single one of my punk friends in sophmore year of high school like im nearly certain i have pictures of either me or my bffs in that exact look N - It gives me bisexual energy. But he definitely bought at least half the outfit from hot topic S - I can't decide if Yixing is in the High School Musical or is trying to audition for it N - He has more of a camp rock vibe to me. High school musical was a bit too preppy

Wang Yibo E - i finally figured out what vibes Yibo is giving me. Skaa. that whole like "take classic mens dress wear and punkify it but only slightly" N - I see it. N - He's giving me this is my first cosplay vibes. I just think it looks like a knockoff version of a stylized anime school uniform E - Very much an anime school uniform N - But done badly. The cuffs are not supposed to be that big. There should be either more pins or bigger ones or spaced more closely together. The tie is also wrong. But it is his first try at cosplay so everyone is being supportive E - He's dressing up as the tsundere edgy boy from the show but he's like not ready to invest fully into crafting to make the outfit perfect S - Yibo looks like he couldn't decide between a Jackie O suit and a business casual outfit

[loudestcloud]

BNHA Character Theme Songs!

Edit: anytime I try to post this, it fails and has for a few month. So, lets try again. I'm gonna take screenshot this once in done cos if I lose it again I'm gonna go mad.

PT 1

PT 2

Part 3: Big 3, Shinso and Pros

Mirio - This ones very up beat and fits really well over his funny little walk. He just wants to make people smile and has mild 2000s Disney channel vibes cos R5's singer is Ross Lynch

Tamaki - It's a song about anxiety but the music feels and tells you otherwise. I've honestly never seen anyone put a song to his name so this is all I have lol

Nejire - This is also one of the only TikTok dance songs I've ever seen and it'd be the fucking cutest shit if she did it

Shinso - most song given to him are about becoming the bad guy due to expectations but this song's music video say it all really. I just didn't wanna give their hero a villian song and this is perfect for that.

Aizawa - I feel like this song is more for younger him and his anxiety then skiing to the good part is the rooftop gang and the Aizawa we see now. It's just sweet to think about

Present Mic - It's a party song "You are now rockin' with Present Mic and Midnight, bitch!"

Midnight - I don't think I need to say anything here

All might - Or here either lol

Sir Nighteye - or hear really. If he could actually change the outcomes, he would so save all might any chance he'd get

Ingenium (Tensei) - Tensei is all about team work and this song is perfect for that plus it kinda sounds like the Ingenium hero line look? Idk if that makes sense. Work it 🏋🏻‍♂️, make it 🔨, do it ⭐, makes us harder ⛑️ better ✅ faster ⚡ stronger 💪🏻

Wild wild pussycats - It's an old song that was popular when I was like 3- I MEAN- it's totally a young new song! Na, but for real I think it's a nice fit because they seem like the type to have been very flashy and not camera shy in the prime and the "you just might get it" feels like Tiger mid transition not liking spotlight, the team later them chillin' out in the mountains and unwanted the LOV attention and such.

Fatgum - There are 3 popular songs about being Fat n proud. All about that base, Fat bottom girls and Big girls. All 3 are about women but I chose this one because I feel like Fat would 100% sing it. It's very up beat, happy and it holds really nice memories for me personally cos I was a fat girl and it made me feel nice. Fat is a lot of peoples comfort charater so i think having the most upbeat of the 3 is perfect.

Best Jeanist - He'd say shit like that and you can't tell me I'm wrong cos I'm not 🤷

Endeavour - I hate the one everyone usually gives him because it just sounds bad and as with the Mineta songs ppl pick and we don't do joke songs here cos I actually wanna play all the songs and enjoy the playlist. This song took AGES to pick cos I didn't want it to sound too heroic or too evil and fire is such a hard song to find a middle ground with. It's powerful and has a few moments of slowed down quiet bits that give a bit of a bad guy vibe but not enough for evil. He's a pro but he's not really a good person so I think it vibes well.

Hawks - This one is my weakest pick but I still like it, honestly I picked this really early on for him and just kept it and may eventually change it.

The rest are 💥✨villian songs✨💥 so get ready for edgy-ness

Okay, so I changed Bakugos song 😅 I'll show yall in the next one cos it's gonna be the last post n I have 2 new songs to add

[jamielea81]

Just a Simple Lie

Chapter 8

Description: Having worked on small independent films for the better part of a decade, your friend tells you about an opening for a script supervisor with a large studio. Wanting to advance your career, you apply and get an interview. The only downside, they prefer to hire crew who are married. It’s just a simple lie, right?

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Warnings: Cursing, Drinking, Fluff and Angst

A/N:  I really love this chapter and hope you guys do too! As always, this fic is simply for fun. I know nothing about the personal lives of the two actors in this series and mean no harm. I am also totally guessing regarding the studio talk. Comments, reblogs, and likes are always welcome.

Word Count: 4,066

Catch up with chapter 7

**

Everything was packed back into the large storage bins they came in. Your desk was cleaned out and everything in your hotel room was shoved into a suitcase and a duffle bag. Filming had been completed in the Great White North. There were a couple of scenes that needed to be reshot, but that wouldn’t be more than a week. Monica had changed your flights to an earlier time, stating she didn’t want to sit around the worn-out motel room when she could be headed home to sunny skies. This only caused slight panic on your end. You hated being rushed. Sure, you were a last-minute packer, but when it was unofficially part of your job to make sure all wardrobe and set accessories were returning back to the states, it stressed you out.

The plane would be boarding in a matter of minutes and Monica thought now was the perfect time to grab coffee. You on the other hand were digging through your carry-on bag. Joanna had quite the sweet tooth, even more now that she was pregnant. You had picked up a bag of maple candy but of course you couldn’t find it. You phone buzzed in your purse that was on the empty seat next to you. Zipping up your carry-on, you picked up the bag on your left and dug through the bottomless pit that was your purse, finding both the maple candy as well as your phone.

Chris: What are you doing?

Y/N: I can tell you what I’m not doing…sleeping. Relaxing. Sipping a Mai Tai by the pool. But not the pool here at the hotel, but the pool at my apartment complex where it’s a lot warmer.

Chris: 😂😂😂

Chris had flown to Boston for a couple of days since he didn’t have to be back to California for filming for another three days.

Chris: Bet you can’t wait for filming to be done.

Y/N: If you���re asking me today, yes. But I’m sure next week I’ll be missing it.

Chris: Yeah, this was a fun shoot. I’m going to miss everybody. Some more than others.

Y/N:  *Turns around to look behind me*

Y/N: Who me?

You could feel your face grow warmer and warmer. Thankfully, Monica hadn’t returned.

Chris: You have to know I care about you.

“Fuck,” you swore.

Chris: Of course, I’m going to miss you.

Miss. Just another point in the “this is temporary” bucket. You’d miss him too. There was no doubt in your mind.

Y/N: I’m going to miss you too.

Y/N: Monica is giving me the evil eye for not paying attention to her. See you back in Cali.

She wasn’t back, but he didn’t have to know that. This conversation was getting to be too much for you. Your resolve was breaking. You shut off your phone just as Monica appeared with two large to go cups and a small plastic bag full of cream capsules and sweeteners.

“Life saver,” you said, grabbing one of the cups.

**

Reshoots were now complete. Despite your better judgement, you had spent a large amount of time in Chris’ trailer. Purely innocent of course. He wooed you with gourmet coffee and kept you coming back with pastries. All of it better than what was being served by Craft Services. He found a bakery near the studio the day he was back on set for reshoots and just kept going back. Chris was footing the bill, so you really couldn’t complain. It was like the two of you were trying to spend as much time together as possible. Both of you knowing this would probably be it. Chris didn’t have any other projects with Stone Lite and since your contract was with the studio, you wouldn’t be working together any time soon.

The studio did indeed extend your contract for another movie. Monica apparently had the inside scoop as they did want the two of you working together again like she mentioned. The next film was a teen romantic comedy and the only names you had recognized were the two leads that had done a few things for the Disney Channel. You were a closet Disney freak, what could you say?

The wrap party was in two nights and since you were staying on with the studio, you were going. But Chris didn’t need to know that.

“You’re going,” Chris said bumping his elbow into your side.

You were snug between him and Dodger on his trailer’s couch. The sleeping dog’s nose rested slightly on your thigh. The Evans boys needed to learn a thing or two about space.

Shaking your head like a child, you kept your eyes on your phone reading through e-mails about the next film that would start filming in three weeks.

“Don’t shake your head at me. It’s the last time we’ll be together. I mean, um, all of us will be together.”

You looked up, giving him a disinterested stare. You caught his words, but you were trying to keep it together here. “I don’t know. Seems kind of lame. I mean, I see you guys every day.”

“You’re a pain in my ass. You know that?”

“I think I caught that vibe,” you said jabbing him back with your elbow. “Of course, I’m going. My contract got extended. It would look terrible if I didn’t.”

“Plus, me,” he said with a pout.

“And you Christopher.”

**

The music was blaring. Some C or D list celebrity the studio hired to DJ the party was pumping out early 2000s dance music. You could barely hear Monica who was standing next to you. Everyone was dressed to the nines including yourself. A sparkly black dress Jana threw at you because “I’ll never fit into it again!” she had said dramatically. She acted in high school and college. That was always Ian’s reasoning when she let her emotions take control of the conversation. Her loss was your gain. It hit just at the knees and had cute, puffy cap sleeves. The neckline was cut in a V and showed the tiniest bit of cleavage. Tasteful cleavage as you liked to call it. You would give it back to her at some point after the baby was born. It would sit in the back of your closet after tonight. Besides, it wasn’t like you spent your evenings in fancy Beverly Hills’ hotels every week.

You excused yourself from your small group and wobbled your way to the bar for another drink. The shoes were yours and barely used. Black, sexy leather with a tall skinny heel. You didn’t do heels, but flats just simply wouldn’t do. Not with this dress anyway.

White wine was your drink of choice for the night. You had spent a lot of money on a Lyft to the party and you would do so on the way home too, so you planned to have drinks. But you were not getting wasted. Not in your fancy borrowed dress and most certainly not in these shoes.

You leaned against the polished wood bar, careful not to lean on the parts that were wet with condensation from drinks that were placed on it earlier in the night. The small black clutch was held tightly in your left hand as the fingers on your right drummed to OutKast’s Hey Ya.

An arm was thrown around your shoulders as you felt the weight of a body pushed against you. It was Chris. You could smell the spice of his cologne without even looking.

“Howdy stranger. What’ll it be? I’m buying,” you joked, not sparring him a glance.

“Is that because the studio’s picking up the tab tonight?”

You turned to face him, his arm dropping off of your shoulder. He stepped in closer, your back hitting the bar. He breath fanned against your face, smelling like beer and mint.  

Apparently, Mr. Evans likes to pre-game it.

“Maybe so. I tip well though.” You turned back around seeing that your wine glass was waiting for you. You dropped a couple of ones into the large glass picture placed just below the counter top.

“Next round,” he said. “My brother’s grabbing us some drinks.”

“Ah, that elusive brother of yours is here?” you asked.

Chris had talked so much about Scott that you felt like you knew him.

He nodded his head, biting at his lower lip. “You look great by the way.”

You curtsied, which only caused him to laugh. “Not looking so bad yourself, Chris.” But when did he not look better than most? Black dress pants with a black button-down shirt tucked in. A textured black belt around his waist breaking up the full black attire a bit.

His cheeks tinted pink. Looking past you, he waved someone over. Most likely his brother.

“Y/N, this is Scott,” he started before his brother came into view behind you.

Two beers in hand, he walked past you, handing one off to Chris. “Finally. This one never shuts up. I was afraid he’d lost it and you didn’t actually exist.”

“And I feel like we’re already friends. I know your shoe size and favorite restaurant back in Massachusetts.”

“If I didn’t already know my brother blabs about me, I’d think I have a stalker on my hands.” He set his bottle on the bar top and wrapped you in a hug. It took you by surprise for a moment, making you wobble on your feet.

“Good to meet you too Scott,” you chuckled.

He picked up his bottle and pinged it against your glass. “You too!”

“Where’s Travis?” Chris asked, looking around the space, taking a sip from his bottle.

“He’s not here. Working,” you added as an after-thought.

Yeah, I suppose significant others comes to these types of things.

Chris furrowed his brow and gave Scott a look you couldn’t read. The two of them seemed to have a silent conversation while you nervously sipped on your wine.

“We should dance!” Scott blurted, grabbing your mostly full glass from your hand and setting it on the bar. He reached your hand and pulled you to the dance floor. You turned backed to Chris who stayed put, bottle tipped at his lips.

Get Low had just started play over the sound system. Scott held both of your hands in his while he indeed got low to the ground bringing a smile to your lips.

“Come on!” he encouraged.

A giggle erupted out of your mouth that didn’t sound like your own. With your hands still embraced in his, your hips swayed back and forth with you knees bending bringing you close to the floor. You slowly swayed back up only for Scott to start to go down. You were having a blast and you wished that you had met Scott Evans sooner.

**

The night went on with you successfully dodging the several shot glasses that were handed your way. Your big mouth had gotten you in enough trouble over the course of this shoot when alcohol was involved. You had one additional glass of wine and had already switched to water.

After taking several pictures in the makeshift photobooth with various crew members, you found yourself back on the dance floor. You didn’t have a full range of motion with the shoes you were wearing but you could sway and raise your hands up with the best of them.

Monica, who you didn’t see as much of a dancer, and Maggie, had trapped you in the middle of their makeshift dance circle along with about two dozen or so sweaty bodies. Everyone was letting loose and having a good time, so you let yourself as well.

The Evans brothers joined your intimate group on the dance floor much to Monica’s delight. You were pretty sure you heard her say “thank god” when Chris danced his way to you. The man could move and you had a hard time keeping to the beat of Usher’s Yeah! while your eyes stayed glued to him.

Hollaback came on to a chorus of screams from all the women on the dance floor. You threw your head back with laughter but sang right along with everyone else with one hand in the air.

Few times I've been around that track So it's not just gonna happen like that 'Cause I ain't no hollaback girl I ain't no hollaback girl

Chris left the dance floor a couple of times, each time returning with a new bottle of beer. Disappointment flooded your mind when you remembered this would probably be the last time, you’d see him. You really wanted to just hangout with your friend and talk in one of the booths that lined the back wall. It was quieter over there, but he was having fun and drinking quite a bit.

It was like a junior high dance when half the dance floor disappeared when Aerosmith’s I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing started to play. Maggie, Monica, and you huddled with your arms linked dancing slowly to the music. A strong tug on your arm had you dropping hands with Maggie. Chris reached for it, placing it on his shoulder while his hands went to your waist.

Oh. Oh!

You placed your other hand on his shoulder and looked around the large room as the two of you swayed. This was so much like a school dance except the cute boy had chosen you instead of you finding a seat on the bleachers.

“So, you come here often?” Humor was your distraction of choice.

You were nervous and often used humor as a way to make yourself calm down. You were already sweating from being on the dance floor for over an hour. Being so close to him wasn’t helping.

Chris smiled at you with sleepy eyes. “I’m gonna miss you, you know? Not gonna be the same.” You nodded your head, trying to concentrate on the song rather than the man in front of you. “You’re gonna meet a whole new group of people on your next film and forget all about me.”

You shook your head. “Not possible.”

“Gonna go off and get married. To that kid,” he shook his head and lowered his eyes. He had a barely there smile on his face, but he was sad. There was no mistaking it. “You happy?” he asked, eyes finding yours.

“Ye-yeah. I’m happy, Chris.”

Chris leaned his head forward and kissed your forehead with that soft pouty mouth.  You closed your eyes and took a big breath through your nose. You lowered your head so that it rested on his shoulder. This was all too much. It was all over and there was no going back. If you could do it all again, there would be no ring on your finger. No pretend fiancé. You probably wouldn’t have this job, but at least you wouldn’t have this sadness in your heart.

The song ended and you let your arms fall of his shoulder. Someone smacked your butt making you whip around to see a sly smile on Monica’s face.

“Brat!” you yelled.

She put an arm around your shoulder and pulled you close. “You lucky bitch.”

You laughed loudly and hugged her as she pulled you back into the ladies’ dance circle. You turned your head to see Chris leave the dance floor, Scott following after him.

**

It was late and about half the attendees had already left for the evening. Some of the crew were going to a diner about a block away for food since everyone was mainly drunk and hungry. You hadn’t seen Chris since your impromptu slow dance. He wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye, or at least you didn’t think he would. After searching a bit, you shot him a text telling him about the plans for the diner and to call you. You stepped outside into the chilly evening air, regretting not slipping on a jacket before you left your place. David, his wife, Monica, Joe, Javier, and Maggie were waiting for you.

“Y/N.”

You spun around to see Chris in the opposite direction on the sidewalk, cigarette in his hand. He took a puff of it before throwing it to the ground and blowing the smoke away from you. It surprised you because you’d never actually seen him smoke before.

“Hey,” you said, taking a few steps closer to him. “We’re going to grab something to eat. Want to come with? I sent you a text.” He licked his lips, hands going into his front pockets. He didn’t respond, so you spoke again. “Where’s Scott?”

“He’s inside. He knows some people here.” Chris shook his head. “Can we talk?”

“Uh, yeah. Give me a sec.”

You turned back the other way where your group was huddled. “I’ll meet you there. Save me a seat.”

“You got it,” David said.

Chris waited for you just outside the hotel door. The doorman opened it for you and the two of you stepped inside. The dance music had ended and but there were still plenty of people at the bar in the private room. Chris grabbed your hand and pulled you into a room that was labeled Business Center on the door. He shut the door behind you and turned to face you. He didn’t speak and if you were being honest, you were scared to death. He had drank a lot over the course of the night, but he didn’t seem drunk.

“What did you want to talk about?” you asked hesitantly.

This dress needs pockets.

The urge to hide is strong and you don’t know why. Something just didn’t feel right.

“Why isn’t Travis here, Y/N?”

“I told you, work.”

“That’s bullshit. That’s bullshit, Y/N. It’s late.”

“He’s working on a new script. We understand each other. Work is important to the both of us.”

Chris ran a hand through his hair, messing up the perfectly styled hairdo.

“Are you happy, Y/N?” Before you could respond, he started to speak again. “Cause you don’t seem happy.”

“God Chris. Where is this coming from?” You turned your back to him, crossing your arms.

“Why are you marrying him, Y/N?”

Every time he says your name, it’s like a nail in your heart.

“I love him.” It’s weak and even you know it. “He’s one of my best friends.”

Neither of those things is a lie. Just not the whole truth.

He comes to stand close behind you, but you don’t turn around.

“He’s not right for you. You never talk about him. We filmed for over three months and he only showed up for like two days, Y/N. You never went home to see him when you could have. He never called you or texted you when we were together. And we were together a lot.”

“What do you want me to say Chris?” You turned around to face him and he looked so damn defeated. “Not every couple needs to be together all the time.”

He shook his head. “Don’t marry him, Y/N.” You let out a puff of air, dropping your butt into one of the office rolling chairs, crossing your arms again. “He’s not right for you.”

This is too much. This was supposed to be easy.

“This isn’t fair, Chris. Why are you doing this?”

He dropped his hands onto the chair’s armrests, hovering over you. “I don’t want you to make this big mistake.”

“It’s not that simple. There are things you don’t know.”

Fuck!

He pushed away from you and turned his back.

“I care about you,” he sighed, taking another deep breath. “Does he make you laugh? Do you smile when you think about him?” He turns back around and now you can see that his eyes are glossy. “Don’t marry him.”

 “Please don’t do this,” you said softly, dropping your face into your hands.

“You deserve everything.”

Dropping your hands from your face, you stood up and turned away from him again. “Oh, yeah? Why? What do I deserve, Chris?”

“Jesus, Y/N! Can’t you see that I’m crazy about you?” he pleaded.

You turned back around, with your eyes wide. “Chris,” you said softly.

He stepped forward and took your hands in his. “You deserve to be happy. You deserve someone who loves you more than they ever dreamed imaginable. Someone who treats you like the sweet, beautiful, caring woman you are.” He brought your hands to his lips, kissing each one softly. “I want to hear your voice every day. I want to see your smile because when I’m with you, I can only smile. I want to know what you had to eat. What dumb thing David texted you about,” he chuckled. “If not me, you deserve someone who wants all those things from you.”

You couldn’t help yourself. If anyone asked you about it later, you’d say you temporarily gone insane. With you head leaning closer to his, you closed the gap between the two of you and kissed him. It was soft and sweet and over too quickly but the urge to have him stop talking and the urge to feel his lips on yours won over your rational side. You pulled back only to have him place a hand on the back of your head and pull you to him again. His tongue sought entrance as it played at the crease of your lips. You pulled away. This wasn’t fair to him. He had to know the truth.

Tears slowly trailed down your cheeks. Thick, fat tears because of all the wonderful things he’s said about you but also because you’ve been lying to this wonderful man. Chris let go of your right hand and wiped away the tears on your cheeks.

“I’m not,” you started. “I’m not marrying Travis.”

“You’re not?”

You shook your head no. “We’re not together. Can we sit down?” Chris nodded and pulled one of the other rolling chairs over to the one you previously occupied.

“What’s going on, Y/N?” he asked.

“Stone Lite has an odd hiring practice that most people in the industry know about. It’s not anything official because I’m pretty sure they could get into a lot of trouble if it were.” You took a deep breath. “You’re more likely to get hired if you’re married.” Chris furrowed his brow, but he didn’t speak. “So, I wore a ring to my interview and said I was engaged when I was asked. But I’m not.”

“Wow,” he said, eyes wide. He pushed back on the chair, putting a couple of feet between you, but it felt like a mile.

“I didn’t think it would be a big deal. I didn’t expect people to ask so many questions.” You shook your head. “But the hiring practice is true. Monica’s been with the studio for a couple of years, yet I still got to work with you and Keanu.”

“So, what? You were going to just be engaged to Travis forever so you could keep a job?” He sounded angry and you couldn’t fault him.

“No.” You shook your head. “I don’t know. For a while anyway.” He stood up and paced the small space. “I wanted to tell you. I really did.”

“Then why didn’t you? We were friends.”

Were.

“This is my career, Chris. Getting a job here is a big deal. I’ve been floating for years on small projects and don’t get me wrong, I loved those jobs, but they weren’t enough. I was tired of slinging beer and hot wings just to make sure I could make it to the next film.”

He stopped pacing and walked the few feet to reach you. “You could have told me. You should have told me instead of having some guy fly to Canada to pretend to be your fiancé. I trusted you, didn’t you trust me?”

You looked away from him. He was right. You could have told him so many times but you were so worried it would have gotten out. “I just didn’t think this would go so far.” You honestly weren’t sure if you meant the lie, or what was happening between you and Chris. “I’m sorry,” you whispered, still too afraid to look at him.

“Yeah,” he said, sounding defeated. “Me too.”

The sound of the door opening and then closing made you look up. He was gone.

**

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summary : solar congratulate botanica for debuting and welcome them to the dorm building by throwing a party for them.

characters : all of solar + botanica ensemble

genre : comedy / fluff

warnings : swearing , they literally just make fun of each other the whole time . but mostly it’s just a lighthearted piece . it’s also the most chaotic piece i’ve written . oh my god they’re so annoying i hate them so much they’re just kids whose internet should be taken away . it’s also all over the place so if it’s hard to follow lmk

words : 3.4k

[ july 2019, 3:58 pm, botanica dorms ]

“do you think this is too much? they’re just moving in.”

“of course not!”

the party planning committee- which consisted of yongmi, elizabeth, and hyesoo- stood back and admired their work with the other five members behind them. the three of them did surprisingly decent with the small amount of space in the dorm’s living room and kitchen area and the probably under $30 budget they’d pooled from all their pockets and wallets. multicoloured streamers hung from multiple points on the wall and ceiling, bowls with assorted flavours of chips were placed artfully on the coffee table, and a big banner hung above the door that was obviously originally one of those “happy birthday!” banners, but the birthday part had been covered up and now said “happy debut!” because it was no one’s birthday. at least forty balloons were strewn out across the floor- which yongmi almost busted a lung trying to blow them all up- they were gonna get more helium ones but because of their tight budget they’d only managed six. which was fine, six balloons for six boys, right?

“it looks like an eight year old’s birthday party,” minjung said.

“hey! we had thirty dollars, i’d like to see you do better with that,” hyesoo replied, shooting her a glare, which minjung shrugged in response to.

“are they coming soon?” honghui asked, which yongmi responded to not with words but with an expression that clearly stated she didn’t know. meanwhile elizabeth was occupied with her phone seemingly texting someone.

[ new message from : DONT ANSWER//kim sangWHORE ]

[ DONT ANSWER//kim sangWHORE : are we allowed to come up yet ]

after quickly typing out a response, elizabeth announced, “they’re on their way up!”

“quick! hide!“ hyesoo exclaimed, frantically searching the room for a hiding space.

“it’s- it’s not one of those parties,” yongmi replied quietly while hyesoo spotted a nice hiding spot behind an armchair, completely ignoring yongmi’s words.

while elizabeth adjusted the chip bowls and pop bottles on the table for the twelfth time in the last ten minutes, the door opened slightly to reveal baekhan cautiously peeking in.

“are we- is this good can we come in now? are we good?”

elizabeth gave a thumbs-up in his direction, “all set! MINJUNG! get the door!”

minjung sighed, “i should be the one bossing you around,” but despite her comment, she complied and got the door for the six boys.

“so... we did the best we could, we had a tight budget,” yongmi explained as the boys made their way inside, completely ignoring or just not noticing hyesoo jumping out from behind the armchair and yelling “surprise!”.

“kinda reminds me of a little kid’s birthday party,” elliot laughed as tian dashed past him in a beeline for the chip table.

“that’s what i said!” minjung exclaimed.

“elliot! don’t be rude!” baekhan hissed, swatting him in the side of the arm, but not enough to hurt him, even though baekhan was the leader, elliot was tall and strong enough to punt him across the room if he so wanted. and baekhan wanted to set a good example and not make his group look like a dysfunctional mess in front of their seniors.

“i think it’s nice,” jaeyi said, “thanks for doing this, there was really no need.”

“i know,” beth shrugged, “just felt like throwing a party, y’know?”

jaeyi suddenly looked down as he felt someone poking his stomach, and there stood hyesoo, the one poking him, looking up at him with an expression that was a sort of weird mix of amazement, jealousy, and confusion.

“hey you!” she called out with wide eyes, “why are you so tall?” hyesoo was short on a normal day, but her 5’0 figure compared to his 6’2 absolutely dwarfed her, and jaeyi had to keep it together and try not to laugh at the tiny girl in front of him.

“oh my god hyesoo! at least use formalities or something!” minjung snapped at hyesoo, who turned around and looked at her with an innocent expression, then promptly turned back to jaeyi.

“would you rather me call you oppa?”

jaeyi shook his head, “not really, no.”

“good! me neither! i’m gonna go talk to someone else now, talking to you makes my neck hurt.”

jaeyi nodded awkwardly as hyesoo skipped away to the chip bowl, and elizabeth clapped her hands together loudly.

“isn’t it time to actually get this party started?” she announced, only earning a few scattered “heck yeah!”’s but continuing anyway.

“come on! let’s go!!”

“so, min, i have a question,” baekhan sat on the couch with his hands clasped together underneath his chin, and minjung sat next to him with her legs crossed, listening intently. “how do you do it? honestly, how do you cope with being the leader, i want some advice.”

“let me let you in on a little secret,” minjung said, and baekhan leaned in closer, “i don’t.”

“no way!” he jumped back in surprise, “same!” minjung laughed and soon, baekhan followed.

across the room, standing next to the chip table, elizabeth and jaeyi had started talking.

“soooo, how do you feel about debuting?” elizabeth asked in a light, giggly voice, twirling a strand of hair around her index finger.

“it’s... a lot, but i think i’ll get used to it,” jaeyi answered, completely oblivious to elizabeth’s cheesy early 2000s disney channel romcom style flirting attempts.

“how old are you, anyway? you don’t look that much older than me,” she asked, batting her eyelashes.

“i’m- uh- 21,” he answered simply, “why?”

“just wondering,” elizabeth replied, “i just turned 18, so you aren’t that much older than me-“

she was suddenly interrupted by elliot coming up behind jaeyi and exclaiming a little too loudly, “jae, man! there’s this really cool... pop bottle that i need to show you real quick,” he clapped a hand on the taller boy’s shoulder and leaned into his ear to whisper, “i’m saving you, man.”

“i can hear you!” elizabeth huffed, crossing her arms across her chest.

“yeah, stop flirting with my bro, it’s fuckin’ weird, man,” elliot responded in english- albeit not proper english, obviously, but being raised in america such as the former, elizabeth understood no problem.

“what makes you think i’m flirting with your bro?” elizabeth said.

“maybe the whole- oh my god, hi jaeyi! how are you? how old are you? just making sure i’ll be able to get in your pants without you catching a case!” elliot mimicked in a high voice, complete with the hair twirling and eyelash batting.

elizabeth rolled her eyes.

“just watch it, okay?” elliot said, and began walking away only to immediately bump into minjae after a few steps of obviously not watching where he was going.

“oh shit sorry,” he said quickly, still speaking english.

minjae looked up at him, not exactly understanding what he said so instead he simply replied, “hi.”

“hi,” elliot echoed, “mj, right?”

minjae nodded, “i like...” he reached up and touched his hair as he tried to find the correct word in english, a language he was in no means fluent in, “...your hair.”

elliot chuckled, “thanks,” and in realizing the other didn’t speak english well, he said, “you know i can speak korean, right?”

“oh! yeah, okay, that’s better,” minjae said with pink cheeks, obviously much more comfortable now speaking in his native tongue. “elliot, right?”

elliot nodded, “i’m fine with whatever, elliot, eli, hanryeol is my korean name if that makes it any easier for you.”

minjae nodded, “hanryeol... i like that. but what if i call you... yeollie?”

he’d never admit it out loud, obviously, but minjae’s little gesture of giving elliot a cute nickname sent his heart up into his throat and painted his face a bright shade of red. so instead he chuckled again and covered it up with a little nonchalant “...cute.”

“isn’t it? and i came up with it on the spot too.”

minjae was just as adorable as the nickname he’d given elliot. when he smiled or spoke, his eyes lit up like he was admiring a star filled sky, and without thinking, elliot blurted, “almost as cute as you.”

he didn’t really think about what he had said until he saw minjae’s smile drop and his face go red, regret set in immediately. “oh god- not like that-!”

“weren’t you just telling off that other girl for flirting with jaeyi? and now look at you two!” a voice behind elliot called causing him fly around, bringing a hand to his chest so his heart didn’t bust out of his throat for the second time in the last minute. when he saw sangwoo standing behind him with a shit-eating grin, he quickly raised a fist like he was getting ready to punch him, and sangwoo retreated.

minjae rolled his eyes at sangwoo, and surprised at his reaction, elliot asked, “you two know each other?”

he nodded, “we were on a dance team together a few years ago, we’ve never really gotten along. i mean, no offence or anything if you like him.”

elliot shrugged, “nah i get it, he’s a bit of a bitch sometimes.”

“i am literally right here,” sangwoo said, laying a hand over his chest like he was offended, even though he knew full well that he was indeed a bit of a bitch sometimes.

elliot scoffed, “get lost.”

when sangwoo eventually left to go annoy someone else, minjae leaned in closer to elliot’s ear and whispered, “i don’t actually hate him, he’s just annoying and he gets on my nerves sometimes. i don’t have the balls to say i hate someone.”

“it’s all cool,” elliot laughed. “anyways i should probably- go over- there,” he jabbed a thumb somewhere behind him.

“no- yeah- you go do that i’ll- see you around,” minjae replied just as awkwardly, and the two split up and went in separate directions.

elliot ended up at one of the snack tables next to daniel and tian, the latter busy with a bowl of chips and the former watching elliot fumble for a plastic cup and a pop bottle with a slightly exasperated look. daniel took one look at his flushed face and knew exactly what was going on.

“simp,” he snorted.

“i’ll fucking hit you,” elliot threatened, not taking his eyes off the cup he was pouring for himself, but it was all too evident that his cheeks were burning a brighter shade of red than they had been before.

“no, i get it, cute little guy, isn’t he?”

“stop trying to fit in, hetero,” elliot said in a sweet but condescending voice, looking up to meet his eye and taking a sip of his drink.

“YO!” they were suddenly interrupted by a voice, and when they looked over to see the source of the voice, hyesoo was standing on top of the kitchen counter with one of those cheap plastic megaphones. “WHO THE FUCK WANTS CAKE?!”

there were a couple scattered cheers, followed by a “HYESOO! get down from there you’re gonna hurt yourself!” from minjung.

“they bought cake? damn, they really went all out,” daniel commented, but elliot wasn’t listening, he was already walking over to where the party planning committee was bringing out a big store bought cake with icing flower decorations and the words “HAPPY DEBUT” written across it in pink icing.

“i think... peach should cut the cake!” yongmi said, “he’s the leader, he should get to do the honours.”

baekhan shot up at the mention of his stage name, and immediately his cheeks went pink and he mumbled out a quick, “ah, no... i’m not good at cutting cake,” in response.

“nonsense!” yongmi exclaimed, “how bad can you be? get over here?”

baekhan reluctantly moved up to the front, where they had the cake set up on the table. and to his (and the rest of his group’s) surprise, he didn’t mess up too bad, and the party planning committee cheering him on didn’t seem to help much.

“you guys really went all out on the eight year old’s birthday party theme huh?” elliot commented, “here- i’ll help hand it out.”

“so have you talked to anyone else yet?” honghui asked tian, who sat next to him with a mouthful of cake.

“not from my group? yeah, i talked to the girls over there that put this all together, they seem nice enough,” tian explained, “i mean- obviously i’d like to get to know you guys better, we’re gonna know each other for a while i’m assuming.”

honghui laughed, “yeah, once you get to know them you might not like them as much. they’re kind of annoying sometimes, but i love them.”

“trust me, i know annoying,” tian replied, “have you talked to eli or clover yet? then you’ll know annoying..”

“i know sangwoo,” honghui said, “i used to-“

jihoon sat down next to him with a piece of cake, cutting him off with a loud, “WHEW!” minjae sat down too, but not as loudly. “so anyways,” jihoon said as he shovelled a forkful of cake into his mouth, “what’s up?”

“tian and i grew up in the same city, isn’t that neat?” honghui said excitedly.

“big city,” jihoon replied simply while shovelling more cake into his mouth.

“talk to anyone else?” minjae asked.

“yeah! peach and jaeyi,” honghui explained, “they both seem like super genuine people, you can tell baekhan is really good at being a leader. jaeyi reminds me of myself in some ways.”

“ah, a simp? and a pussy?” jihoon said.

“a- a what? i don’t know english slang, jihoon-“ honghui replied, furrowing his eyebrows, “but anyways, they’re both super nice.”

“i’ve talked to... yeollie and sangwoo a bit,” minjae said, trying not to roll his eyes at his own mention of the latter’s name.

“...yeollie?” minjae’s eyes widened when he realized honghui’s confusion, and he quickly corrected himself.

“i- i meant eli!”

“you’re already giving each other nicknames?” jihoon exclaimed, tian snickered beside him as he got up to go get more cake.

“well- i mean- i just did that to make his name easier to remember,” minjae mumbled, shoving a large piece of cake into his mouth to try and distract from the flush creeping up his face. he then immediately started choking on said piece of cake.

“MINJAE?! oh god, oh fuck-“ jihoon exclaimed in a panic. he seized minjae around the shoulders and started yelling at him, “ARE YOU CHOKING?! ARE YOU CHOKING?!”

“he can’t respond if he’s choking, dumbass!” honghui yelled back at him, “stand up and put you hands up! i heard that helps somewhere.”

around this time is when tian came back, a plate with two more slices of cake in his hands, and immediately froze. minjae stared at him with his hands in the air, looking like he was silently pleading for help.

“do you think i should- should i go and get someone, or something?” tian said.

“NOPE! we got this!” jihoon exclaimed as he hit minjae on the back, “i took a first aid course with boy scouts when i was in fourth grade, i don’t need help!”

honghui sighed, rubbing his temples, “they’re gonna need help.”

but just as soon as tian was about to get up and call for someone, minjae managed to yell out “i’m good!” and sat back down again. jihoon patted himself on the back.

as he sat down, minjae pulled something out of his mouth, “oh! that’s probably what-“ but then he stopped when he was it was a small slip of paper. he could make out a phone number quickly jotted down in purple ink, as well as a short message below it.

call me

- yeollie

“so that’s why he offered to help with the cake...” tian glanced over to the cake table where elliot was standing with a bright red face. he saw tian staring in his direction and immediately looked away. “what a dumbass!” tian exclaimed, “does he not realize that he could’ve just asked for your number?”

“the mind of a teenage boy works in strange ways,” honghui replied.

“word,” jihoon added.

“i mean... if he wanted to be my friend he could’ve just asked,” minjae said, to which tian laughed loudly.

“this is elliot we’re talking about?” he said, “if he just wanted to be your friend he wouldn’t go through all that. he thinks you’re cute, mj.”

“ooh shit!” jihoon exclaimed as minjae sat there, red faced and staring at his hands.

“YO! LOOK OVER HERE!” they heard hyesoo yell once again, and they looked over to see her standing on the counter with her cheap megaphone. “I NEED ALL THE BOYS OVER HERE. THE NEW BOYS. DON’T CARE ABOUT MY THREE. GATHER ‘ROUND THE PARTY PLANNING COMMITTEE.”

tian looked over to hyesoo, confused, but reluctantly got up and made his way over, but not before telling the other three at the table to not touch his cake. jihoon stole a bite as soon as he turned around anyways.

“so, since we’re gonna wrap up the party soon because we don’t wanna be here too late, we’ll give this to you now. we have a present for you!” hyesoo explained, now sitting on the counter with her legs swinging in front of her, “it’s handmade because we’re great artists if i do say so myself, and we put a lot of time and emotion into it.”

yongmi pulled a medium sized canvas from behind her back. on said canvas was what appeared to be- when baekhan leaned forward slightly to get a better look- a macaroni portrait of the six of them. surprisingly well detailed for an art piece literally made out of noodles, who knew.

sangwoo was the first to speak, like usual, “that’s-“

“i know,” elizabeth cut him off, “we were on a budget, we could only get the cheap macaroni.”

“no, it’s not that,” sangwoo continued, “why macaroni?”

“it’s the best for art pieces,” hyesoo replied confidently.

“i think it’s cute-“ daniel said quickly before sangwoo began to speak once again.

he sighed, “no i mean- why macaroni and not, like, actual paint or something?”

“feels more personal this way,” hyesoo said, sticking her nose up in the air, “and if you have a problem with it then i guess we’ll keep it.”

baekhan lightly shoved sangwoo back so he wasn’t at the front to say something possibly rude without realizing. “i’ll take it- thank you guys, i can see all the effort you put into this.”

“where the fuck are we gonna put it?” sangwoo called from over baekhan’s shoulder, who cringed internally and desperately hoped he wouldn’t say anything else that could leave a sour taste in the mouths of the other three girls. who very obviously put in the effort they could into this party and the gift with the budget they had.

baekhan sighed, knowing he had a lot more to do to try and humble sangwoo. “i’ll take the macaroni thingy.”

jaeyi looked to sangwoo, sensing baekhan’s frustration just a little bit. “what’s the big deal? i think it’s really cute. and considerate, they already threw a party for us and gave us a present.”

“this guy gets it!” elizabeth exclaimed, throwing her arm up to gesture in his direction.

“i mean- we would’ve gotten something more extravagant if we had a larger budget,” yongmi said carefully, “but anyways- since we’ve basically done everything we were planning on doing should we start to clean up? we don’t wanna be in the way of you guys settling in here.”

while the party planning committee were talking, tian was tugging on baekhan’s sleeve trying to get his attention. when the shorter male turned to him, he asked, “can we order something? maybe pizza? we didn’t eat dinner.”

“what are you talking about- i just saw you eat three slices of cake,” baekhan whisper-yelled back.

“that wasn’t dinner,” tian replied simply, “you should know that everyone has a dinner stomach and a dessert stomach.”

baekhan sighed once more, knowing arguing with tian was essentially pointless. “does anyone want pizza?” he asked loudly, “you guys can stay for some if you want.”

yongmi slowly looked around the room, waiting for someone to respond before her. hyesoo and elizabeth looked like they wanted to say yes, honghui, jihoon, and minjae were sitting in the same spot as before, looking like they didn’t even hear, and minjung and yeonwoo sat on the couch, yeonwoo staring at them in anticipation and minjung looking confused, probably didn’t hear either.

“i’m down for pizza,” yeonwoo finally said, followed by a jumbled mix of agreements from the rest of the people in the room.

“alright!” elizabeth exclaimed, “change of plans, the party isn’t over yet!”

“what are you talking about? the party never ends when we’re here,” daniel said, playfully winking. the rest of botanica groaned in unison as baekhan dialled the number for a nearby pizza place.

[buffynha]

Naya Rivera: A Film Critic’s Appreciation of a TV Star

https://medium.com/@tomcendejas/naya-rivera-a-film-critics-appreciation-of-a-tv-star-8857ddf4e69

Naya Rivera: A Film Critic’s Appreciation of a TV Star.

I was much older than the target demographic for ‘Glee’, but I watched it semi-faithfully for these reasons: A) the intentionally diverse casting and primetime representation of many marginalized groups B) the clever reinvention and integration of pop songs and C) Naya Rivera.

Truth be told, since the show could be so wildly uneven, Rivera was often the ‘A’ reason I tuned in, always hoping she’d get a scene or a number.

Naya Rivera portrayed Santana, the tart-tongued (to put it mildly) captain of Glee’s cheerleading squad. By casting an Afro-Latina actress in the part, the show’s producers were already trouncing on stereotypes; by the year of the show’s debut, curtly dismissive cheerleaders were a staple of teen-centered entertainment, but they were usually white and hetero. As the show progressed, Santana fell for her teammate Brittany, came out to her family and friends, graduated from high school, tried to make her way in the big city, and eventually married Brittany. As a queer Latinx young woman with entrenched defense mechanisms, the character of Santana had to bear a lot of ‘representation’ duty, like an extended cheerleading ‘shoulder sit.’ But here’s the thing: Naya Rivera made it all seem as if it were as easy as a pony-tail toss.

Re-watching the early episodes, with Santana barely getting a cutaway, it’s easy to believe Ryan Murphy that the producers didn’t realize the size of talent they had on their hands when they first cast her. Rivera didn’t so much fight for more screen time as her talent compelled it, willed it. She’s mostly background in the first few episodes, until Santana and Brittany (Heather Morris) get drafted by Jane Lynch’s villainous cheer coach Sue Sylvester (the show does not lack for antagonists) to infiltrate the new Glee club and destroy it from within. From her earliest numbers and ultra-snippy encounters with the other kids, Rivera’s Santana starts to steal scenes.

This wasn’t just a function of the writing and directing. In fact, as clever, campy, sincere and delectably witty as ‘Glee’ could be (rewatching it this week, I chuckled at lots of throwaway lines) it could also be clumsy and over-reliant on whimsy and parody, sometimes in the same scene. In order to make the repeated point that Santana was caustically tough on the outside because she was hiding deep anxiety on the inside, the writers gave her so many withering and cruel things to say that emotional reality was often sacrificed on the altar of ‘Bitchy Quirkiness’ and frankly, because you imagined the writers were cracking themselves up at the saltiness of their latest insult. (Some were classics; too many of them hung on the lower rungs of humor, including easy body function jokes.)

But here’s the next thing: no matter how ridiculously florid the abuse Santana hurled at a classmate or teacher, Naya Rivera delivered the lines with alacrity and impeccable timing. And that’s what really made me sit up on my sofa and take notice.

Here was an actress who seemed to have the range of the marquee women from Hollywood’s ‘Golden Age’ of the 30s and 40s. The tumble of words the ‘Glee’ writers gave her didn’t faze her; she could deliver them with the rapid screwball comedy chops of Rosalind Russell or Jean Arthur. In an era of more tentative, introspective actors, Rivera had the steely drive of Bette Davis or Joan Crawford. Her larcenous way with a wry line was reminiscent of the great character actress Thelma Ritter; her ‘brassiness’ recalled Joan Blondell; the blaze in her eyes felt like the one emanating from Ida Lupino. (The comparisons had a visual equivalent — Rivera’s red-carpet personal style often favored form-fitting pencil skirts, modern iterations of a forties ‘dame.’)

Probably no greater compliment I can give is to say Rivera reminded me of the legendary Barbara Stanwyck. Able to navigate romantic comedy, drama and detective noir with husky-voiced fervor, Stanwyck could be devastating when she was furious yet hard to resist when she worked her charms. She was slight of figure but imposing of presence. Rivera had those cinematic assets as well. Because she started as a child actor, on ‘The Royal Family’ and especially on the great ‘The Bernie Mac Show’, by the time she got to ‘Glee’ she knew how to work a camera, as self-possessed and confident in her talents as Stanwyck was. Why this is important is that when an actor is too self-critical or tentative, we get uncomfortable or pulled out of the story. Reading testimonials from her cast mates (Chris Colfer says he sometimes was so in awe of her performance he’d forget he was in the scene with her) we see they also marveled at her self-assurance, and Rivera cannily used it to make Santana both poised and poignant.

Where Naya Rivera carved out her own space, different from most of our past silver-screen sirens, is that she could sing, and she was Afro-Latina, multi-racial, far from the whites-only casting of the Warner Brothers and MGM eras. That meant something to me; as a Chicano man of a certain age, I can remember times when I was a kid when my family would count all the ‘Latin’ movie stars we could think of and we often stopped literally with the fingers of one hand.

As someone who studies and loves writing about film, my head was nearly scratched raw from trying to figure out why Naya Rivera wasn’t swooped up from ‘Glee’ by the 2010s studio gatekeepers and given the chance to be a film superstar in vehicles that were worthy of her, bypassing the B-movie stage. She didn’t even get the big-screen ‘best friend’ parts in Hudson or Witherspoon rom-coms, which is what actresses of color with comic chops were often relegated to in the 2000s. Why this oversight happened, and I’m sure there’s a lot of background showbiz politics and personal reasons as to why, the result is we were denied someone who could have been a major screen star and given us the pleasure of an above-the-title, singing-dancing-acting triple-threat. If Rivera had been white, the big-screen star-making machinery would have overcome all obstacles to not just take a risk on her, but bet on her.

It really felt like Naya Rivera could do it all. Stanwyck and Davis had formidable talents, but singing wasn’t considered one of them, so that made Rivera a modern-day extension of their bravura, as though they’d been reincarnated in a child actress who was bristling at the confines of Disney channel and tv screens.

And Rivera had that voice! Some of us have our own version of a sort of ‘opposite ASMR’; we derive pleasure from singers who have a husky rasp in their voice, and rather than whisper, know how to belt. In this regard, Naya Rivera was a godsend. It gave her the ability to tackle songs associated with Tina Turner and Amy Winehouse and Stevie Nicks, no small feat. Yet Rivera could also narrow the grit in her wide voice to just a few flecks of hurt and hope, as in the poignant moment when she confesses her love to Brittany in a plaintive version of Christine McVie and Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Songbird.’ (This will sound like sacrilege to other Fleetwood Mac fans — I’ve seen the band in concert many times — but I just never really responded to McVie’s performance of her song except in cool, admiring ways. But I found Rivera’s vulnerable cooing of the song transfixing.)

Rivera’s musical performances on ‘Glee’ traversed many genres, but nothing seemed to catch her off-guard. I enjoyed many of the singers on ‘Glee’ —the show had over 700 musical numbers! — but if Rivera was given the lead, you knew you were about to get a showstopper, complete with signature focus, considerable ebullience and precision as a dancer. These gifts were captured best when ‘Glee’s’ hyper-active camera and editing stood still and just let her perform.

Rivera tackled Turner’s ‘Nutbush City Limits’ with ferocity. It’s too bad that the way she was filmed — with the aforementioned slice-and-dice, even leering editing — forever leaves us with a case of ‘what might have been.’ We get precious snippets of seeing Rivera singing, while the musical filming style of ten years ago, influenced by ‘Moulin Rouge’ and ‘Chicago’, attempts to whip us into an erotic frenzy with close-ups of halter-top abs and pom-pom zooms. This was a shameful miscalculation, because it has the opposite effect. If the camera had just stood planted and simply recorded the performance, Naya Rivera would have delivered the sexual fire and then some.

The best musical numbers with Rivera showcase all her talents — the ability to act out a lyric, the Fosse-flavored choreography, and a singing voice alternately tender and roof-raising. Her performance of Winehouse’s ‘Valerie’, in which she gets to ditch the ‘Cheerios’ uniform and stomp the stage in a party frock stands out as one of ‘Glee’s’ best and most effortless songs overall — it really looks like a romp that captures teenage brio and which would be electric to see live. (Later in the show, when Rivera sings ‘Back to Black’, you even got a glimpse that, as criminal as it might seem to suggest to purists, there’s a helluva Amy Winehouse jukebox Broadway musical waiting in the wings somewhere, and Rivera could have easily been its star.)

As commanding as Naya Rivera could be as a solo singer, her duets were full of a delicious tension. The job in a duet is to share the scene as democratically as possible while still bringing out the best in your partner and elevating the song. These were skills many in the cast had, though they occasionally had to juggle the meta-element that when the show became a phenomenon, the behind-the-scenes who-likes-who, who-hates-who gossip that fascinated early social media audiences could be at odds to the show’s scripted plot (though it seems the show’s creative team also deliberately worked the real-life stuff into the fictional stuff. A notable example of this was when Rivera and Lea Michele, who were rumored and since confirmed to be clashing backstage personalities — and as recent reports show, Rivera wasn’t the only one to find Michele difficult — sing a sweet song called ‘Be Okay’, almost as though they were ordered to by the network. Both are thoroughly professional, and by the end you don’t just think that maybe Santana and Rachel are really friends, but that Rivera and Michele had buried all their hatchets in a Fox studio wall as well.)

The duet partner for Santana I liked best was provided by one of ‘Glee’s’ other volcanic vocalists, Amber Riley. As Riley has since shown in her London West End role as Effie in ‘Dreamgirls’, and in TV productions of ‘The Wiz’ and ‘The Little Mermaid’, she is a formidable talent. Yet watch one of their songs together, ‘The Boy is Mine’, and see if your eyes don’t want to stay just watching Rivera’s performance in its entirety?

To see a more dynamic and perfectly matched dual performance, ‘Glee’ gave us the galvanic gift that is Amber Riley and Naya Rivera alternating and harmonizing into their own ‘wall of sound’ on the Tina Turner classic, ‘River Deep Mountain High.’ Turners vocals on the original are so singular, nothing can touch them. Just the way she crests the first line with a jagged crag in the middle of a note lets you know this is going to be sung from a place of both ache and power.

The ‘Glee’ version leans into the power angle. Santana and Mercedes brim with the ‘girlpower’ term used at the time, the youthful brio of being able to dream of scaling mountains. The choreography then counter-points and really gets it right by giving the singers the dance moves reminiscent of 60s girl-groups, and while it starts out sort of cute and ironic, by the end the choreography becomes mature and electrifying. When Riley sings the first verse, she has gospel runs and exquisite phrasing. She could easily overwhelm anyone. Rivera’s choice is to find her own place to put the appealing but melancholy cracks in her voice, harmonize beautifully, and then release her own blasts of power. The performance says more about ‘empowerment’ than pages of script could. ‘River Deep Mountain High’ is also notable for giving Rivera a chance to be charming in ways she usually didn’t get to be with all her ‘mean girls’ posing; when they get to the part about the ‘rag doll’, both singers mug, but Rivera’s brief clownishness when acting out that rag doll is unexpectedly loose and charming.

Of course, the journey for Santana on the show, and you’ll find many ‘Glee’ fans and pop culture critics who will argue that the show ultimately was about Santana, crucially centers on the classic ‘finding your voice’ view of young adulthood, and central to that, the relationship between Santana and Brittany. Nearly any news or lifestyle site of the past week that had a space for pop culture featured the heartbroken, deeply affected voices of many lesbians and queer people writing about the deep connection they felt towards the relationship and the visibility and identification it gave them.

Of more than passing interest, depending on how transgressive you thought of it, was the pairing between an Afro-Latina character and a white blonde cheerleader who could have stepped out of the background of a Taylor Swift video. Think of where we were in 2009 and that still would have been pushing boundaries. (The show was one of the first to normalize same-gender kisses.)

In Rivera’s scenes with her non-accepting Abuela (the great Ivonne Coll), she is as real as it gets — not only deeply hurt, but uncomprehending in the way so many gay kids can be when they are rejected simply because of their orientation. “But I’m the same person I was a minute ago.” One can imagine these scenes (and the contrapuntal ones between Kurt and his more accepting father) provided a lifeline to young queer people themselves caught up in the process of making decisions about how to come out, and in particular, to Latinx queer people, who found representation and resources hard to come by and certainly not in the media.

And in real life, Rivera, who did not identify as gay, proved to be a significant ally. She responded to queer fans, particularly young women, and she represented by hosting the GLAAD media awards, advocating for The Trevor Project and by speaking responsibly and articulately about what her fans had confessed to her.

The way the show frequently featured LGBTQ imagery was playful and willful. They weren’t representing all queer women; they were representing these two using a particular transgressive iconography. Teen lesbian cheerleaders weren’t invented with ‘Glee’; the queer film ‘But I’m a Cheerleader’ was released in 1999. But by keeping Santana (as well as the other ‘Cheerios’) in their squad outfits 24/7, Rivera started to look like it wasn’t just her cheer attire, it was her superhero uniform. You have your masked and fully-covered marvels; here was a fearless teen titan in sleeveless emblematic mini-skirt cutting through the hallways. Her superpowers? A withering glare that could refreeze the Arctic, an ability to shoot insults like a laser beam, and a pinkie-finger-linking with Britney that could heal your heart. Most of all, a voice that could fill a canyon and fleet feet that could leap over all calamity.

Until she couldn’t. When superheroes die, mere mortals look to the sky and feel, perhaps unreasonably but still undeniably, abandoned. Shocked, stunned, grievous. We look backward, because looking forward has just been removed as an option, and the realization of what will never be is too excruciating.

I couldn’t figure out what happened to Naya Rivera after ‘Glee’, given my hopes and expectations. She released quite a catchy single, ‘Sorry’, and later a memoir, ‘Sorry (Not Sorry.’) I didn’t realize she had joined a new show, the Youtube continuation of the ‘Step Up’ series, but now I do and she’s terrific in it. But to those of us who dropped our eyes from her a bit, I just remember it was because it seemed like there was tabloid stuff, personal tumult, a few seemingly misguided appearances or comments here or there. I was a hopeful, hopeful fan of her talent, not slavish to any TMZ notorieties — but those great female stars of the 30s and 40s? They were no strangers to splashy headlines either.

When I did watch ‘Turner Classics’ or my library of DVDS with some of those ‘Golden Age’ actresses, more than a few times I’d think of Rivera, search IMDB to see if she was getting that Oscar-worthy role yet. Or when there were increasing public discussions that called for better representation of people of color in media, I’d think: Naya Rivera! What’s she doing now? Why isn’t she in a big movie, headed for her superstardom? How did Hollywood’s famously white-screen blindness eclipse even gifts this generous?

So I’d check in the way we do now, with her IG feed or in passing hear about the occasional tweet. There would be a picture of her beauty, sometimes posed in the ‘sexy’ currency that builds and keeps ‘followers’ entranced and ‘promotes content.’

But occasionally Naya would post a picture with her son Josey, who she eventually was raising as a single mom. As many of her followers saw, in those fateful days of early July, I ‘liked’ a beautifully tender picture with Mom and Josey, eyelash close, captioned ‘Just the two of us.’ It seemed so peaceful. This must be what she wants to be doing, I thought. Happy for her. One of the miracles of ‘Glee’ was how they put on hour-long musicals once a week for six years, with 18-hour days. Who could begrudge anyone some rest after that?

But selfishly I also still wanted that album, that movie, that new film directed by her, something more from the force of nature that is, was, Naya Rivera and I gave more than a passing thought that with today’s reckonings, with greater sensitivity to the racism that undergirded so many institutions, the world would finally open up to her in the way it did for so many white actresses before her. It was her time.

Until it wasn’t.

That’s hard to reconcile. We’re supposed to say, as fans from afar, our grief is nothing compared to that of her family, friends, cast mates and of course that’s true. But it’s also true that the grief of a fan is not nothing. Those of us who didn’t know her personally, but were in awe of her talent, shouldn’t shut feelings of loss down. I think it honors Naya Rivera to mourn publicly the way so many fans have, ‘Gleeks’ or not. She was someone who had such hard-won achievement yet still such potential. And for some reason, the power brokers that be didn’t see it or find a place for it in time. We can grieve that mistake, and that which can’t be brought back or won’t be left as a long-career legacy.

That someone with so much soulful presence could suddenly disappear from this earth, at a time when we are all so careful not to lose each other, was wrenching. In consolation, I turned to a lot of Rivera’s performances from the show, though now of course they all carry a melancholy, stinging twinge. (For more on this, just look at the many comments on the pages where the videos are originally posted.)

You hear Naya Rivera sing Winehouse, and it’s hard not to think of how they both died young. You see her love for Brittany acted so convincingly, you think about Heather Morris, the actress who played her and wonder how she will weather this — thoughts that are none of your business, but you still have them. I found myself thinking of Kevin McHale who played ‘Artie’ on the show, and who seems so clear-headed; what would he say? You read Chris Colfer’s tribute to her and shed more than a few tears. You hear her sing ‘If I Die Young’ in tribute to Corey Monteith, and you recall that Rivera’s body was finally found on the day that Monteith died. It’s a lot.

There’s a memorable moment in the early run when Monteith’s Finn stops Santana in the familiar Glee alley of lockers and linoleum. She’s annoyed that he has outed her, and indeed he’s done her wrong. But the character is also written as sincere. Finn’s logic may be that of a teenager’s but he tells Santana that he didn’t ‘out’ her to hurt her, but to help her realize that she would still be accepted. He’d heard of someone who recorded an ‘It Gets Better’ video but later killed himself. He doesn’t want that to happen to her; ‘you mean something to me.’ He tells her that if something ever happened to her and he didn’t do everything in his power to stop it, he could never live with himself. Santana is left speechless at the tenderness, even as she’s furious — Rivera could convey both in a single look.

The context we have now in 2020 makes the brief scene heavy with portent and sadness. In actuality, Rivera was saddened that she couldn’t do more to stop Monteith’s untimely death from a drug overdose. That would be subtext enough. But now, with the timing of her death and the anniversary of his? It’s shattering. But I kept watching, and there was something that reminded me of my own experience teaching high school. A few minutes later, or a few episodes later, the kids are singing and dancing and throwing ‘Big Quenches’ at each other, and seldom has the show’s mission to show the fullness of life seemed so clear. I’ve found that to be true when I’ve gone through difficult times, or my school has, and still had to walk through the classroom door. No matter how sad I’ve been, there’s always a student offering, well, cheer.

Maybe we did get the movie Naya Rivera was on this earth to make after all. Because that scene between Santana and Finn was early in the show’s run. By ‘Glee’s’ end several years later, Santana didn’t hurt herself. She survived high school, she stumbled a little but recovered, she found her way, she was able to get onstage at a Broadway audition and sing ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade’ and give us a big, big moment of triumph; maybe she’ll get the part, she’s definitely going to get the girl. Just like an old musical.

And that’s why I wrote this: we talk about ‘Glee’ as a TV show, but maybe it was one long film. If you go back and watch ‘Glee’ with a particular focus on Rivera, you’ll see an extraordinary rise-and-fall-and-rise-again achievement; she’s one of the major leads of an epic. Sure it’s a movie full of silliness, toss-aways, occasional meanderings or repetitive plotlines, but it’s also full of heart and compassion. This seasons-long coming-of-age starred this African/Latina/Queer Ally/Queen who reigned with a crackling laugh, a stunning beauty and vivacious spirit.

If that’s all we were fated to get of Naya Rivera, she hit her mark — the line where enough and not enough meet. Maybe the silvery phantoms of Bette Davis, Rosalind Russell, Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck, who all knew their own injustices within the Hollywood system, maybe they were all waiting in the wings as she sang the curtain down. “Come on kid,” they might say, in old movie parlance. “You went out there a youngster but you came back: a Star!”

✍️The Couch Tamale✍️

Film, Music, Peak TV, Diversity— Tom Cendejas is sitting on a sofa and unwrapping Pop Culture with a Latino eye, one husk at a time.

[randomvarious]

S Club 7 - “S Club Party” Now That's What I Call Music! 6 Song released in 1999. Compilation released in 2000. Pop

We love the overly transparent crass commercialism of the 90s and early 2000s, don’t we folks? S Club 7 were the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed septet of British teens and 20-somethings that were concocted in a lab and thrust upon hordes of impressionable tweens across the world. The story of S Club 7 is a rather gross one that consists of young and attractive, moderately talented people being taken advantage of by their manager and his company to churn out gobs of content without just compensation. If you’re an American of a certain age, you probably know a little something about S Club 7. Their ballad, 2000′s “Never Had a Dream Come True,” peaked at #10 and #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Mainstream Top 40, respectively. Two of S Club 7′s other biggest global hits, the Jackson 5-inspired “Bring It All Back” and “S Club Party” never charted in the US, but lots of Americans still seem to be familiar with them.

S Club 7 was the brainchild of Simon Fuller, one of history’s most successful music  managers, who had managed the Spice Girls. Fuller was known for manufacturing a bunch of British boy and girl bands throughout his career and, at the time, also managed Annie Lennox of the Eurythmics and athletes, too. After helping the Spice Girls skyrocket into global superstardom as a brand that sold itself on a gimmicky blend of “girl power” and quirky British-ness, Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice) orchestrated his firing. Citing his unbearably controlling nature and his marketing schemes, the Girls decided to proceed without Fuller.

But the day after his firing, Fuller was back at it. This time, he decided he would start a new band, but rather than it being a boy band or a girl band, it would be a boy-and-girl band, modeled after an idea put forth by another British group, Steps. Steps are a quartet, and while they’ve achieved little to no success in the US, they have enjoyed wild success in Europe, especially in the UK. And they’re still around. After a five year hiatus that followed a twelve year hiatus, Steps released an album in 2017 that reached #2 on the UK charts. 

But they weren’t a Fuller group. Fuller seemed to have the connections and gravitas that Steps’ managers didn’t. To start his new group, Fuller held an audition of an astonishing 10,000 people, which eventually was culled down to seven. These seven would then be formed into a group and be dubbed S Club 7. None of the members had known each other prior, but according to all the articles I could find, they hit it off and they all became close friends.

With this crop of kids, Fuller saw dollar (or pound or Euro) signs. S Club 7 were going to be way more than just a pop group; they were going to be a marketable brand. And to achieve that goal, the first thing they were going to do was not get into the recording studio, but instead shoot a fictional TV series to air on CBBC (Children’s BBC) to introduce themselves to British pre-teens. Each character would have their own personality, which would be loosely based on their true selves, and together the group’s adventures would strengthen their bond. And each episode would consist of a choreographed song performance, too. The first season, set in Miami, would depict the seven constantly being exploited by a seedy hotel manager and made to perform housekeeping duties.

Unfortunately, these fictional circumstances were loosely based on their own reality. Over twelve weeks of shooting in Miami, the group worked tirelessly for eighteen hours per day, and after a long day’s work, would have to take care of their own cooking and laundry. Fuller and his company, who were flush with cash, didn’t provide S Club 7 with any of these needed amenities. The S Club 7 TV series would become an immense hit in the UK and ended up being sold to 120 different countries. As a result, each group member pulled in 52,000 Euro; a total pittance compared to the total sum of all the TV contracts the show received.

Seven months after its UK debut, the S Club TV series would make its way stateside on kids’ TV purgatory, Fox Family. Formerly The Family Channel, which was founded by horrible and insane Christian shitbag grifter, Pat Robertson, it would be acquired by NewsCorp. Fox would control the network’s programming, save for some hours in which Robertson’s daily spoonful of Christian conservative nonsense, The 700 Club, would air. Admittedly, for a time, I was an avid viewer of Fox Family (except when 700 Club was on), but I’m pretty sure I was rare. Year after year, Fox Family would try to replenish its lineup with new shows to attract new viewers, but they failed to peel many eyes off of the likes of Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and the Disney Channel.

The release of the S Club TV series in the U.S. coincided with the group’s debut album. And maybe it was the fact that they only managed to get on Fox Family that led to them peaking at an unimpressive #112, but back home, they topped charts. The TV series-first formula more than paid off (for Fuller, though. Not so much for S Club 7). “Bring It All Back,” the group’s first single, which was released two months after the TV show’s debut, went to #1 in the UK. Its follow-up, “S Club Party” topped out at #2. And their debut album reached #2 as well.

And along with the TV show and the music came all the merchandise. Dolls, makeup, perfume, clothes, school supplies, a PC game, you name it. If there was an object that a kid could use, Fuller wanted it to bear the S Club name. There were also more seasons of TV and movies, too. And Fuller would reap great profits from all of it, but once again, S Club 7 saw minuscule returns from their name and likenesses being marketed and sold. 

Fuller’s cartoonishly-evil-yet-real-life-record-executive persona became more than apparent during a meeting between he, S Club 7, and some of the members’ parents. Asking how they could receive such little compensation as Fuller and his company made millions off of their efforts, Fuller told the members that he could replace them on stage with cardboard cut-outs and it wouldn’t make a difference. Fuller would also be publicly shamed by a radio DJ when it was revealed that while the S Club kids were traveling the world and making him literally millions, he flew them in economy class. Only after his miserliness was made public did he bump them up to business class.

And although Fuller knew the right people to get his band spoonfed to British kids, it didn’t mean S Club’s songs were bad for what they were. They were well-produced bubblegum pop. Five songs on the debut album ended up being produced by a Norwegian duo called Stargate. Total unknowns at the time, Stargate went on to write or produce for some of the pop world’s most successful groups and artists, including Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Lionel Richie, Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Selena Gomez, Janet Jackson, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Sam Smith, Mary J. Blige, Ne-Yo, Katy Perry, Coldplay, P!nk, Sia, Kylie Minogue, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Charli XCX. Throughout their careers, Stargate have managed to rack up a whopping seventeen Grammy noms, including four wins  But before building up that long list of accolades, they began with S Club 7. 

The first single Stargate ever produced was “S Club Party”. A piece of sunny and breezy, anthemic kids’ pop, this song is a natural earworm. Underneath mostly loud and shouted vocals, Stargate weave a celebratory, feelgood g-funk whine throughout the choruses as a series of electro-funk synths and string and horn stabs predominate the rest. The first verse, sung solo by member Jo, proceeds from relative sparseness to an addition of hand claps and a simmering choir of backup vocals, before launching into the undeniably catchy chorus. The four female members soothe in unison as the boys contrast with revelrous chants. In the post-chorus, the girls get in on the chanting, too. The second verse, which packs more energy than the one that precedes it because it’s sung in unison, introduces each member of the group with a simple rhyme. Following the bridge, the song undergroes an unexpected key change, which raises the enjoyment, and as the song fades out, Bradley, the group’s lone black member, does some light scatting. 

You know, Fuller admitted that since he was fired by the Spice Girls, there were some ideas he had had for them that he wasn’t able to use, and instead used for S Club 7. Maybe musically, he wasn’t quite finished with that g-funk infused pop sound. The Spice Girls’ “Say You’ll Be There” has that summery g-funk pool party vibe much like “S Club Party” does. Just a thought.

Here’s the music video, which shows the group transporting back to a California desert in 1959 to race a bunch of people. A choreographed song and dance seemingly materialize out of thin air, too: It comes from the movie they shot called Back to the ‘50s.

For the next few years, S Club 7 continued to release high-charting hit after high-charting hit in the UK, but in 2002, band member Paul decided to leave. This ultimately resulted in possibly the worst sentence ever written on Wikipedia:

Talking about his former musical venture three months before he left S Club 7, Paul Cattermole described his school nu metal band — called Skua— as having a "Limp Bizkit vibe" as well as comparing their style to Rage Against the Machine.

Wat.

Following Paul’s departure, S Club 7 shortened their name to S Club and continued to make hits. However, their star was clearly fading, and in 2003, they agreed to a mutual split. In 2008, some of the members got back together and formed S Club 3. In 2014, they expanded by a member and became S Club Party. Eight months after that, all seven members regrouped for a reunion tour to cash in on some nostalgia. Needless to say, Simon Fuller was involved, and hopefully, the contracts weren’t as exploitative this time around. In the meantime, Fuller would continue unabated, amassing management deals with the likes of Carrie Underwood, Amy Winehouse, and Kelly Clarkson. In 2001, he launched Pop Idol, which would be imported to the States as American Idol.

Now you know more than you thought you’d ever know about S Club 7. It’s tragic how Fuller treated them, but the group is responsible for some great turn-of-the-millennium pop hits, despite how manufactured and seemingly preordained their success was. Oh well, we can’t help what we listened to when we were kids and nostalgia has a way of making us love things we definitely wouldn’t as adults. Nothing wrong with coming to terms and embracing that fact.

Stay the fuck inside you freaks.

[that-girl-from-ap-geography]

Dear Early 2000's Kids:

I miss:

Papa's games

DVD's

The big projectors your teacher would wheel into the class to teach you math

Cool math games and all the time I could waste playing all of them in general tbh

Bandalooms were a token of friendships

CD and cassette players

Cars with no ac in the back

The little tablets you could put in water and they grow

Foam bath letters that you stick on the shower wall while in the bathtub

Barbies

The things you could buy for a quarter

The computer keyboards with the big keys that were so satisfying to type with

The giant toy clocks you used in kindergarten

The OG willy Wonka and the chocolate factory

The Where's Perry? Phineas and Ferb special

Cable TV

Call Me Maybe

One Direction

When Nickelodeon was actually cool

Watching late enough that the adult shows started playing

Do y'all remember when you would order a movie from Netflix and get it in the mail

Charlotte's freaking web

No one: Every fourth grader on the bus: *claps to we will rock you* *some popular guy with a deep voice and bad singing screws up the lyrics*

MY PLATE

Dance mat typing

Heelys oh my gosh you were so cool if you had heelys

Classic star wars before Disney bought it

asdf

do do do do do do do do do, do do do do do do do, SAIL

Sugar, spice, and everything nice, that's what girls are made of. Sticks and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what boys are made of.

Oh my gosh you guys the Ramona and Beezus series

Zebra cakes 😏

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Seeing Up, Wall-E, and Tangled in the theatres

Those cootie catchers only two people in the class could make so they dealt them out during recess

Kowalski, analysis

Razor scooters

Playstation one and two

Party Rock Anthem, Dynamite, Forget You, and other classic party songs literally everyone knew

If you don't like Just Dance now, you have aren't a true 2000's kid

The beads you made into a weird design and ironed them to make a...what is the purpose of that?

Friendship bracelets

BILL BILL BILL BILL

Plastic flutes and cheap recorders they lent you in music class

Poptropica...that's all I've got to say on that

Spongebob

liFE IS A HIGHWAY

When All Star wasn't a meme song

Hi! I'm Phineas, and this is Ferb, and we're gonna sing you a song! Ready? Bow chicka wow wow, that's what my baby said!

The coolest prize was a smencil oh gosh those are awesome

When crayola did the thing where you could take a pic of yourself and make you a colouring page

comiNG SOON, children take cover* TO THEATRES NEAR YOU *entire house blows up*

*tinkerbell flies onto the screen* Welcome, to Disney's fast play!!!

What are those cursed little hamster things? Like zoom zooms or something? Oh that's team umi zoomy...but the little hamsters you would see how far they could yeet across the hall.

Hey, this is ______, and you're watching Disney channel! *takes lightsaber and cuts a perfect Mickey mouse logo into the backdrop*

Oh my goodness muppets

Making miis for everyone then making cursed ones with pet flies and the paRADE

Also Wii sports resort and getting the high scores

Toontown in Disneyland

Sabrina the Teenage Witch

Stuart little that movie freaked me out

"Guys I stayed up so late last night omg like 10:30"

Megamind freaking megamind

I don't think I'm imagining this, like dragon tales actually happened, right?

Everything is not what it seems...

When people actually used lol right

The little sequin things you put on your eyes

Trying to catch butterflies

[levelstory]

Music Reflection I, The Cringe is Real

The other day, my mother made a comment to me that there really is no sense that can bring back memories quite like your sense of smell. I agreed with her, but commented that sound and music may be tied for that ranking. Smell certainly brings me back to certain moments of my life, in ways I can't always explain to myself. But music brings back memories in a different kind of way. Songs are attached to specific thoughts and actions, to who I was at the time of listening. 

I thought it could be fun to revisit some of these songs from the past and talk about my feelings toward them, then and now. I imagine this will be a series of blogs so you can always look forward to more...

No Strings Attached by NSYNC

One of the most loaded questions you could ask a nine year old girl in the '90s was: do you prefer the Backstreet Boys or NSYNC? I was a hardcore Backstreet Boys listener. I owned all of their albums (except Millenium which was a damn shame) and listened to them rigorously, practicing for dance recitals next to "Quit Playing Games with My Heart" and making up dance moves to "As Long as You Love Me" and "Get Down." When my brother received the Chapter One album for his birthday, our home videos show my face sink into a pit of jealousy that he got the album instead of me. We even had Backstreet Boy action figures from Burger King which I am sure can be found somewhere in our basement to this very day, as well as a poster that had a button that when pressed would play a clip from "Don't Want You Back." 

I had an intense loyalty toward them, for reasons that are very unclear to me as I never outright disliked NSYNC's music. I heard them enough at the skating rink and at birthday parties. For some reason, all I can remember is disliking their look compared to BSB. Both groups were distinct in this regard, and I very much clung to the group I had spent most of my elementary career listening to on repeat.

One of the cool toys in the late '90s, early 2000s was called HitClips, little cartridges that would play 30 second clips of songs from popular artists like Britney Spears, Hanson, and of course BSB and NSYNC. I remember a girl in my fifth grade class bringing her hit clips in and being nice enough to let me borrow them and bring them home. Of course some of them were NSYNC and I remember replaying "Bye Bye Bye" and "It's Gonna Be Me" over and over, aching to listen to the full tracks. Shortly after returning them, I imagine I got my mom to take me to Target (which was my go to music store at the time) and used my allowance money to purchase the NSYNC album, No Strings Attached.

There are so many memories I attach to listening to this album. I had just gotten my very first desk for my bedroom and I remember my boom box sitting at the back of the desk where I would pop in CD's and cassette tapes. This was also around the time my room was painted from plain white to a soft pink. One of my best friends at the time also owned this album. Her father owned a camper that sat in their driveway, and we would sit inside with her stereo and listen to music while we pretended to be camping far away from our suburban reality.

"No Strings Attached," the titular song in which the album was named, was not always a favorite of mine. At first it was the well known tracks that held my interest before I gave the rest of the album a chance. Songs like "Space Cowboy," "Digital Get Down," and "That's When I'll Stop Loving You" were tracks I came to love later, along with "No Strings Attached." The song is one that so easily gets stuck in my head (along with "Just Got Paid"). Once I hear it, I can't unhear it for some hours and I find myself humming it throughout the day. More than anything, this track in particular seems to be the most nostalgic. Whereas songs like "Bye Bye Bye" and "This I Promise You" I have returned to regularly throughout my life, "No Strings Attached" is one that I love all the more because it isn't one I necessarily return to all that often, and in that way it feels rare and distant, and therefore nostalgic.

Listening to this track with the modern ear does not do it any favors. Sure it sounds good, if not a bit chaotic like much of this album, but the lyrics lean toward the "nice guy" narrative which I am so over in 2019. I appreciate it from a distant, but can't say it has aged particularly well. NSYNC sing to this supposed lady that they want to have a relationship with her, with no preconceived expectations, or no strings attached, unlike the guy she is currently with who doesn't pay her any attention or return her calls. It all feels very '90s...and if I am being honest, returning to the '90s is one of the main reasons I return to these tracks. While I can't give it too much credit, I won't deny that it is a banger to listen to and enjoy. No Strings Attached remains one of my favorite albums from the ‘90s.

Why Not? by Hilary Duff

As a teen, I never really got on the Hilary Duff / Lizzie McGuire train. For reasons that are way too dense and difficult to unpack here, I really disliked the live action Disney "sitcoms" as a kid. Many of my friends watched and enjoyed them, while I hated them. So when the Lizzie McGuire movie came out to theaters, it was the last thing I wanted to see. Yet I did end up seeing it...at least, I feel like I saw it in theaters. I don't remember who convinced me to see it or why I gave in to my dislike, but I did see it. I also remember being at a friends house and she wanted to watch the DVD while I adamantly didn't and it caused a bit of a rift between us for a few hours. We got over it of course, and to go into all of that would be another tangent so I shall move ahead.

My friend who loved the show bought the movie soundtrack and we listened to it constantly. I remember sleeping over her house and making up dances, jumping on the bed, and running around like crazy kids with a ton of energy tend to do. "Why Not?" was my favorite song from the Lizzie McGuire soundtrack. I remember I loved Hilary Duff's voice, and was convinced that my own voice was almost identical to hers. I have a distinct memory of sitting at my bedroom window and singing her music to myself, carefully measuring my voice and making sure I sang just like she would.

This song was heavily marketed upon the release of the Lizzie McGuire movie. The music video was on TV all the time. In many ways it fit very well with the film's core themes - why not take chances? Why not do the thing you are most afraid of? If you don't take the chance, you may never have the opportunity to do so again. The lyrics are a mixed bag. One line that I never grow tired of is, "you always dress in yellow, when you want to dress in gold, instead of listening to your heart, you do just what you're told." It is certainly not a lyric that contains much depth and I assure you it isn't the message of the lyrics that have always captured me, but rather how they bounce and flow and how effortlessly Duff approaches them. It is a portion of the song that I always enjoy. 

The bridge, like most pop songs, is tragically boring. I enjoy Duff's humming (is that the word for what she does immediately after the bridge? What would you even call that?) but then the lyrics move toward the point where the song writers must have been on a time crunch saying, "You'll never get to heaven, or even to LA, if you don't believe there's a way." This lyric caught me off guard recently because I never really thought about it before but I just find it funny that the song talks about going to heaven, something that contains so much religious meaning and cultural significance, and then immediately puts going to LA on the same scale. Like, you'll never escape eternal damnation if you don't take chances, but you might also not make it to LA where you could become famous...yes, those are equally important. Sure I knew the song was generic, but my god it just drops into the absurd and pitiful by the bridge. 

Despite this, I still really enjoy the song. It isn't perfect but it speaks to a particular time of my life and I enjoy the memories associated with it. 

I'm With You by Avril Lavigne

Avril Lavigne's album "Let Go" was a big deal when it came out. It has a distinct place in my memory, coming out the year I moved into a new house, went to a new school, and started entering my teenage years. This was a time when burning CD's was still considered legal and so I never actually owned the album. My cousins burned the album on a CD for me, and I made a cover in Microsoft Word compiled of the album name made in Word Art and pixelated images of Lavigne scattered about. At the time, I thought my album cover looked really cool. 

"Let Go" was released around the same time Lizzie McGuire was on the rise, but unlike Hilary Duff and the Disney Channel, Lavigne made us 12 year olds feel like we were listening to adult music. Listening to this album felt hardcore at the time. It was low key grunge music, with themes and ideas far more sanitized than we knew.

I can remember a friend I made at my new school and going to her house where we listened to Avril Lavigne, rocking out to "Sk8ter Boi" and playing air guitar along with "Complicated." But "I'm With You" took on a much darker tone than either of these songs, and used a word that was off limits, "damn." There is a home video we have, which I believed I tried to tape over and remove from existence in case of blackmail, where I filmed myself singing the song and every time Lavigne belts, "It's a damn cold night!", I would fall silent at the "damn" and not say anything at all, for fear of being heard by my parents.

I can't say Lavigne's album has aged all too well. It isn't horrible but it is also nowhere near as good as we believed. Full of angst and "edgy" guitar, it definitely remains a product of its time. What is strange is that Lavigne's album is not one I have felt the need to return to much as I have grown older. The strongest memory with the album is listening to it in the car on my portable CD player on the way to North Carolina in the summer. Apart from that, my memory usually paints in broad strokes and just remembers the album being super popular when I was a sixth grader. All of the girls my age loved it, as did I, and my friends performed "Sk8ter Boi" at a lip sync competition. 

"I'm With You" stands out for its slow pace when compared to all of the other tracks. "Losing Grip" is sharp and industrial sounding, "Complicated" is the soft rock track that fits perfectly on the radio, "Sk8ter Boi" is the song to rock out to, and "My World," my personal favorite as a kid, is a fun guitar jam. But "I'm With You" isn't fun. It really showcases Lavigne's vocal range as well as her vulnerability as a songwriter. It builds up slowly and concludes with a strong crescendo of instrumentation. Okay, that might be overstating things just a tad. But there is something about this song that always gets me and I know that is the nostalgia talking. 

Lucky by Britney Spears

I have something to admit...I never owned a Britney Spears album. How can I call myself a real '90s kid if I didn't own a Britney Spears album? It is embarrassing. There were plenty of her songs I loved, but I guess I got by with her song "Sometimes" being on the compilation record, Now 3, which I listened to quite frequently. 

When "Lucky" was released, I really loved it. It was one of those songs that I loved so desperately that I am surprised I never got around to asking my parents for the album it was on. Luckily, a friend of mine owned said album and brought it over for my 10th birthday party. I imagine we listened to the album a lot that night, but all I can really remember is me dancing to "Lucky" on my screen porch while my friends watched, giggling. In fact, we have video evidence of this and it doesn't embarrass me...well, it embarrasses me a little. The video is somewhat cringy in that I am not a good dancer, but I make up for it with silliness for sure. 

"Lucky" tells the story of a celebrity who isn't happy. It comes off as very Marilynne Monroe; you expect this person to have it all but actually they don't and it makes them very sad. It isn't a very complicated song (though I guess none of the songs I am writing about are complicated). The storytelling is straightforward and easy to grasp. 

It is expected for listeners to wonder if the song is autobiographical and if Britney really was unhappy in her current predicament. Hindsight certainly reveals that this was most likely the case in some regard. Seeing where she is now and where her career has gone doesn't bode well for this song which makes me much more sympathetic toward her as a human being. If this was the case, listening to the track makes you sad. Still, if you can look past the blatant message, it is a track that remains catchy though I don't find I love it as much as an adult. The song just doesn't sound as catchy anymore, and it only makes me feel sad for Spears. 

All for Love by Stevie Brock

This track is easily the most obscure of the bunch. Stevie Brock never acquired the same celebrity as the other artists on this list. However, he did enjoy a few good years of teenie bopper fame and air time on Radio Disney. He was one of the many Aaron Carter wannabes that arrived on the music scene. This isn't to say he didn't have talent. His still immature voice was catchy enough and he was clearly a great performer. But like many child artists, his record was generic and…well, bad. Very bad. 

One huge trend of the '90s and early 2000s was this weird thing where young boys on the verge of becoming teens would sing songs about getting the girl and dating and complex romantic topics that made little sense to a teenager. The result is that the songs are super hetero-normative and a bit creepy. I am sitting in the car, reliving my childhood memories by listening to this song, and I can't help but think, "is it weird that I, a 29 year old woman, am listening to a 13 year old, whose voice still hasn't matured, sing about his 'romantic troubles' with a girl in his class who clearly doesn't want to date him but he wants it so it is okay that he keeps pursuing her?". Yes, it is a little weird. 

What is really weird to me is that I remember this song as if it came out way before it actually did. The album didn't properly release until summer of 2003 and I seem to recall listening the year previous. This could be because when I bought the album I was 12 going on 13 and thus I associate it more with being 12 than a 13 year old middle-schooler. But it would make sense. After all, the whole reason I even heard of Stevie Brock was because when on vacation in 2003 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, my family ate at the Hard Rock Cafe and on the big screen where they played music videos, Brock's cover of "All for Love" came on the screen. I've always been the type of person who loves music so when I hear a song I enjoy, I have to write it down so that I can listen to it when I would get home. These days we have apps that allow us to listen to songs and tell us what they are called. But back then when music wasn't as readily available and I was a child who didn't really have enough money to buy things at the ready, this act was more of a scavenger hunt than anything else. Would I be able to find this guy's album when I got home? What if it wasn't at Target? What would I do then? 

Fortunately, Brock captured a strong, if not temporary, following and his album was on store shelves. "All for Love" is a fine song, mostly due to it being a cover from another band. As already addressed, the lyrics feel very odd coming from someone so young. He addresses the girl he is singing to as "sugar" which just makes me skin curl. It is creepy that the music industry breeds young boys to sing about these things so early. This was easily my favorite song from the album. My strongest memories of the song, besides first hearing it at the Hard Rock Cafe, are listening to it and the entire album at my friends house. We had a fun tradition of bringing her boombox outside and dancing around the front lawn. I remember her birthday party and us tween girls dancing through the summer air, our bare feet wet from the moist grass. I'm sure the neighbors had fun watching us act like total maniacs. 

Revisiting these songs was fun, but I know there are more I want to talk about in the future! Stay tuned! What are some songs you listened to as a kid that make you feel super nostalgic today? Let me know in the comments!

[blackistory]

Best known for his role as Willie Jones for the Friday series,[1] Witherspoon also starred in films such as Hollywood Shuffle (1987), Boomerang (1992), The Five Heartbeats(1991), and Vampire in Brooklyn (1995).[1] He has also made appearances on television shows such as The Wayans Bros. (1995–99), The Tracy Morgan Show (2003), Barnaby Jones(1973), The Boondocks (2005–2014), and Black Jesus (2014).[1][2] He wrote a film, From the Old School, in which he played an elderly working man who tries to prevent a neighborhood convenience store from being developed into a strip club.

Early life

John Weatherspoon was born on January 27, 1942, in Detroit, Michigan.[3][4] He later changed his last name to "Witherspoon".[5]Witherspoon was one of 11 siblings.[6] His elder brother, William, became a songwriter for Motown, with whom he penned the lyrics of the 1966 hit single "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted".[6] Another sibling, Cato, was a director of the PBS-TV Network/CH56 in Detroit for almost four decades.[citation needed]Their sister, Gertrude Stacks, is a pastor in Shalom Fellowship International church in Detroit.[7]

Witherspoon had a passion for music and learned to play the trumpet and French horn.[citation needed]

Career

Witherspoon worked occasionally as a model. During the 1960s and 1970s, he began to take a liking towards comedy. During that time, he began his stand-up comedy career. As a result, he had many friends in the business, including Tim Reid (while he was working on WKRP in Cincinnati and The Richard Pryor Show), Robin Williams (also on The Richard Pryor Show), Jay Leno, and David Letterman.[2]

Witherspoon has performed in many feature films (usually comedies), including Friday (and its sequel Next Friday) as well as Hollywood Shuffle, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, Bird, Vampire in Brooklyn, and The Meteor Man.[3][8][2]

Witherspoon was also known for his over-the-top characters in films such as House Party, in which he played an irritated neighbor who is repeatedly woken up by the party,[2] andBoomerang with Eddie Murphy, where he plays Mr. Jackson, the ill-mannered father of Murphy's best friend.[8]

Television

His first television appearance was on the 1970s CBS television show Barnaby Jones,[9]playing a camp counselor for drug addicted youth.[citation needed] Subsequent appearances were on Good Times,[10] What's Happening!![citation needed] and The Incredible Hulk.[11] In 1977, he became a regular on the series The Richard Pryor Show, an NBCAmerican comedy series.[2] This then led to his appearance in WKRP In Cincinnati in 1982 in the fourth-season episode "Circumstantial Evidence" in which Witherspoon played Detective Davies.[12]

In 1981, he appeared in Hill Street Blues, an NBC police drama, as a man who tries to buy a hotdog from undercover Detective Belker.[13]In 1981, he had an appearance on L.A. Law, an NBC legal drama, in the episode "On Your Honor" as Mark Steadman. He appeared in other television series including You Again? as Osborne, 227, which was an NBC comedy about women who lived in a majority black apartment complex, and What's Happening Now!!, the sequel to What's Happening!!.

A year later Witherspoon was in Amen (1988), an American television sitcom that ran on NBC, as the bailiff. The show was known for being one of the shows during the 1980s that featured an almost entirely black cast.

Next came spots on Townsend Television(1993), Cosmic Slop (1994), and Murder Was The Case (1994) as a drunk.

He appeared in Fox's Living Single (1997) episode "Three Men and a Buckeye" as Smoke Eye Howard. His largest role in a television series was in The Wayans Bros. (1995–1999) which aired on The WB and starred Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans, who played brothers Shawn and Marlon Williams.[8]Witherspoon played their father, John "Pops" Williams.

Witherspoon was on the Kids' WB animation series Waynehead, which was about a young boy growing up poor in the Harlem, New York City. The show was aired on Saturday mornings and was based on creator Damon Wayans' life.

In 2003, Witherspoon made a showing on NBC's Last Comic Standing, a reality television show that selected the comedian out of a group and gave him a contract, in the Las Vegas finals. Also in 2003, he performed in The Proud Family, an animated series that aired on Disney Channel, as Oran Jones in the episode "Adventures in Bebe Sitting." He also performed in an episode of another Disney Channel's animated series, Kim Possible.

He starred in the comedy series The Tracy Morgan Show as Spoon in all 18 episodes of the show.[2]

In 2004, he was in Pryor Offenses, a television movie where he played Willie the Wino. In 2005, he was seen in the Comedy Central talk show Weekends at the D.L. where he played the character of Michael Johnson. In the same year, he began starring in Aaron McGruder's animated series The Boondocksas Robert Jebediah "Granddad" Freeman; this Cartoon Network series ran for four seasons.[8][2] In 2006, he performed in a television movie, Thugaboo: A Miracle on D-Roc's Street, a story about a group of kids who find the true meaning of Christmas. In the movie he plays Real Santa, a Christmas singer on the radio. His next appearance was on The Super Rumble Mixshow in 2008. He also appeared in another Aaron McGruder series, Black Jesus, portraying Lloyd, a homeless man.[2]

In 2011, he starred in a Final Destination spoof with Shane Dawson on YouTube. In May 2013, he featured on "Saturday (skit)", from rapper Logic on his latest mixtape Young Sinatra: Welcome to Forever.

Music videos

Witherspoon appeared in a number of music videos in the music industry. He was in the music video for hip-hop superstar Jay-Z's 2000 single "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)". He was also in Field Mob's music video for their song "Sick of Being Lonely". Other music movies include Goodie Mob's "They Don't Dance No Mo'" and LL Cool J's "Ain't Nobody".

Comedy tour

Witherspoon went back to his comedian roots and started a comedy tour that premiered on television on March 28, 2008 on Showtime Network. On his 2009 tour, he had 19 stops across the country. In December 2011, Witherspoon performed his stand up comedy act once again on stage at the Funny Bone comedy club at Harrah's Casino in Tunica, Mississippi.

Personal life and death

Witherspoon married Angela Robinson in 1988.[14] They have two children, John David ("J.D.") and Alexander.[5] J.D. is known for making skits and gameplay videos on YouTube, and currently hosts the mobile game show Confetti on Facebook Watch. David Letterman is the godfather to Witherspoon's two sons.

Witherspoon died at his home in Sherman Oaks, California on October 29, 2019.

Witherspoon's funeral was held on November 5, 2019 and he was laid to rest at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

[incorrectmlpquotes]

My Thoughts on Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks

Or: Are we sure this didn’t come out in 2004 rather than 2014? Because the “battle of the bands”  story line feels super dated for some reason. I feel like almost every early 2000s cartoon had some sort of music contest episode, and I never liked them. I blame American Idol for making those popular.

Some History:

I’m under the impression that everything in this movie I dislike is a completely subjective thing that wouldn’t bother someone else. I know that, from a movie standpoint, this is much better than the first, but I just don’t like it as much. Everything that warrants complaint comes from a personal hangup that I have (such as: my lack of any musical ability causes me to not care at all whether their band is successful), so if you disagree, I completely understand. These are all my opinions, and I’m aware that this is probably the best of the four movies. (As stated on a previous post, I haven’t watched any of the shorts from 2017 or 2018 as of this entry)  

There were a series of promotional shorts released before the movie debuted that explains how the members of the Main 5 came to play their instruments in Rainbow Dash’s band, and some other random stuff. Here’s the link to the playlist on youtube. Here’s a quick rundown of what I think:

Music to My Ears : meh

Guitar Centered : funny, but kind of mean spirited

Hamstocalypse Now : Hilarious.

Pinkie on the One : exactly what you’d expect it to be

Player Piano: a masterpiece

A Case for the Bass: Applejack is one word, why would she have AJ embroidered on the strap? I know people call her that but those aren’t her initials

Life is a Runway: There’s a reason they didn’t let Rarity write the songs

Shake Your Tale: Bad.

This was a pretty clever way to establish some musical background within the group without taking up time in the movie. It also is some sneaky foreshadowing with Trixie, which I appreciate.

In the actual movie: My nitpicks are going to be less Why is no one in class? Why is doesn’t anyone have homework? Because I realize this is a movie and depicting high school as it actually is would be boring to watch. Besides, there are plenty of other things to complain about.

We open on a scene of this film’s villains. And yes I am going to refer to them as villains instead of antagonists because 1) they are actually a threat and we see them doing bad things, and 2) other people will serve as antagonists. A villain is different from an antagonist, even though the terms are often used interchangeably. 

The Dazzlings are so cool, they make a cameo four years later. Either this is some really deep foreshadowing, or by season seven the writers were so desperate for an ongoing arc, they looked to other properties. But we now know that the guardians banished them over 1,000 years ago. So they really are ancient magic. And now they have to go to high school. Talk about eternal torment… 

Way to take all the credit, Starswirl

We are shown how they are a sort of siren, who feed off of people’s negativity and discord and use their beautiful enchanted voices to cause mayhem. Kind of like a mix between Ursula the sea witch and Spectra from Danny Phantom. Oh my gosh, this is the second one of these reviews that I’ve brought up Danny Phantom. Maybe this is why Butch thinks he’s so popular.

The Dazzlings, we can infer, have been exiled to the EQG-verse from Equestria. So apparently this universe is like the pony version of colonial Australia, where they send all their criminals and miscreants. A solid plan that couldn’t have any negative repercussions. The sirens see a beam of light that must be the one from the last movie. This is good news for them, but bad news for me because now I have no idea how much time has passed the two films. Has it been a couple days? Weeks? Moons? This will make a difference in regards to why people still don’t trust Sunset. But why waste time setting up the story when we can get right into the remix title card?

At this point, I can only assume that principal Celestia threatened to expel students if they told the news or the FBI about the magical winged demon that attacked the school, because no one seems too concerned about that incident.

But they have plenty of time to hurt my baby’s feelings

I’m going to be honest, when I first watched EQG I thought that Sunset was faking her remorseful act after being defeated. As cool as that would have been, she makes a much better reformed bad guy than an antagonist, because she really wasn’t in the last movie that much.

List of “evil” things Sunset Shimmer has done: send fraudulent text messages and emails that honestly could have been pretty easily disproved, made fun of Fluttershy, made fun of the steamers in the gym, somehow divided the school into cliques, ran a mostly unsuccessful smear campaign against Twilight’s bid for dance princess, threatened to destroy the portal to Equestria, transformed into a demon to hypnotize the students, and she dissed the Apple cider. 

Ok, that last one is pretty evil. But what really makes this and all subsequent movies great is that we get to see her learn and grow and change from the experience into a real friend.

I am glad to see that the Main 5 have forgiven her, but no one is quite ready to absolve her of guilt. Like, I might not think she did all that much bad junk, but the students of Canterlot High seem to think she was one tier below Mussolini  in terms of maniacal dictators, so I don’t blame them for being cautious. It takes a lot to earn back trust.

Back in Equestria proper, the Mane six plus Spike are sitting around waiting for the plot to affect them. They kindly provide some exposition and once again setup the fact that only Twilight can go through the portal, because the others can’t interact with themselves. So we think. I will be bringing this up when we get to The Friendship Games.

Back through the portal, Twilight  gets looped into the fact that Sunset has changed her ways. It’s fair to be a little apprehensive to trust someone who, the last time you saw them, was an actual literal demon. (Don’t worry though, Twi, you’ve still got two more unicorns to reform. It’s kind of your thing.)

Don’t reject her love Twilight, it’s all I have to live for

And now it’s time to discuss the small blue elephant in the room. I feel like I really need to explain why I dislike the addition of Flash to any of the plots. He’s kind of a waste of a potential. You want to add a male character: fine. But make them an actual real fleshed-out character. The show has proven that they can do it and do it well. Sunburst and Thorax are great characters who feel like a good addition to the story. And we got a real sense of who they were in one or two twenty minute episodes. I have no clue what this guy’s purpose is except to be a love interest, and this is not the show to do that with. With very few exceptions, the main characters of MLP have not sought out romantic partners, Twilight included. Why would she choose to do so now? I mean, I get why he’s into Twilight: she’s taken the form of a cute teenage girl. But he’s a species that doesn’t even exist in Equestria. She just fell through a portal and instantly got the hots for some weird otherworldly creature…

Wait a minute. Wait just a minute. Perhaps this isn’t compulsory heterosexuality. Perhaps Twilight Sparkle is just a Monster Lover™. I can respect that.

Moving on.

It was so very smart of the writers to have the Dazzlings brainwash the principals in order to get away with this scheme. That makes so much more sense and covers any plot holes that could arise (such as, someone claiming to be a new student despite having no transcript, no grades, and no knowledge of how to hold a pen).

Does time work differently between these two universes? Has it been months in Equestria but only a week in this world? (It really threw me off that the first four season of MLP took place over one year, and these movies don’t help that). And the sad thing is, this could be easily hand-waved away by a single throw away line, but it isn’t.

The Dazzlings are already better villains than Sunset, even from a character standpoint. We know their powers, we know their motivation, and we know they are capable of bringing about an actually believable rift between friends.

Then the best song, best montage, and possibly best scene in any of these films happen: the Dazzling come into the lunchroom and hypnotize everyone. This song is beautiful and eerie and exactly what you would expect a magic spell to sound like. I also enjoy the visual representation of the bands competing (and not just because I didn’t want to hear any of them perform) that we’ll see later. To give credit where credit is due, this movies has some great visual sequences.

Give ‘em the o’l razzle dazzle

At first I thought it was unrealistic that this many kids had bands, but I realized it was probably an effect of the spell. But I might not be the best judge: I think I know maybe three people, plus myself, who don’t play an instrument. I’ll just assume that the Disney channel exists in this universe, and all these children just really want to be famous.

It’s worth sitting through this movie just to see everyone’s pajamas. That’s not weird, right? No really, the scene of them all having a big slumber party is everything I ever wanted from this series. They managed to capture everyone’s personality from an article of clothing. Now THAT’s good character design.

I get the distinct impression that the writers of this don’t like Rainbow Dash.

Oh good, references to technology that couldn’t possibly date this movie in the slightest. Wait… this is Pinkie’s house. Aren’t the Pies supposed to be like Amish or resembling Amish-type folk? What is the human equivalent of rock farmers? Not actual farmers because those exist in the pony-verse. This really confuses me, but Maude’s cameo is fantastic.

The scene with Twilight and Sunset is one of those really well-done moments that reminds me why I love the show so much. It feels really genuine, and supports my argument that it was worth having Sunset as a crappy villain just to reform her.

Ah yes, the sweet, lingering glances that totally platonic female friends share with each other late at night. I know them well.

Our girl Twily seems to be having trouble writing a spell that can double as a catchy pop song (She’s no Lana Del Rey), so they go with an old set list. How long has this band been operational? Weren’t they in a huge feud for several years?

Mac is a close second for best cameo

So we get to watch the band audition, and it goes about as well an actual high school talent show. The CMC are in the outfits from Showstoppers (which is hilarious) and Snips and Snails rap (which is disturbing). In order to keep my goblin brain from exploding while trying to figure out the ages of everyone, I’m just going to assume that this is a combination Middle School and High School. So, if Sunset won fall dance princess four years in a row, she would be in the tenth grade now, so they would be about 15-16. The Equestria Girls Holiday Comic shows Rarity driving a car, so that could be a possibility.

A. Daft. Punk. Reference. Wow. Just wow. (Note: this was more shocking before season five, when there was a character that was basically Lady Gaga. And by basically, I mean very obviously Lady Gaga. Remember when the pop culture references in this show were subtle?)

Dash’s song is quite possibly the most cringeworthy thing I have ever heard. The only defense is it does sound like something a high schooler would write.

On that note, why is Rainbow Dash the lead singer of the group? I mean, I know why, but WHY? (and yes, I am aware that her voice actress is a singer. But Ashleigh Ball uses her normal voice when she performs. Think back to all the songs RD has sung in the previous four seasons before this aired. There are not a lot of solos or high notes. When she sings as Applejack, it is beautiful, but Dash’s voice is grating sometimes)

Really? A battle of the bands is the greatest thing you’ve done at the school? That whole “stopping an actual demon with magic” was just a regular Friday for you? I’ll chalk that up to the brainwashing, otherwise I might go full on rage and throw my laptop out a window.

I guess our merry band of protagonists weren’t paying attention to big cafeteria scene, because they just now figured something suspicious is going on.

Still haven’t fixed the lights in that dim corner of lockers. Fortunately, there are many dramatic confrontations to be had.

I think we’re supposed to see Rarity’s obsession with the outfits as a ridiculous thing, but I think it’s important to distinguish this universe from the one with the professional seamstress who has unicorn magic at her disposal. This is a teenager who has school, extracurriculars, and parents to contend with. If I went through the trouble to hand-make seven costumes for my friends, then found out no one would wear them, I’d be pretty ticked off as well.

Now this is how you montage. We get to play a fun game of “guess which characters are in which band,” and seeing their “humanized” designs. Lotta bootcut pants in this show.

I’m just going to leave this here...

This is some actually effective villainy. The whole school has turned against each other. Maybe they need to learn about the magic of friendship. Unfortunately, the gang is too busy squabbling over band stuff, and Twilight is too distracted to give an overly emotional speech.

No one in the rule book does it say magically turning into a pony is grounds for disqualification...I would assume.

If we’re being honest here, the Dazzlings are better performers than the Rainbooms.

And we’ve come to the crux of things. The scene where they’re locked under the stage is the perfect example of my biggest issue with this movie. I do not like to see Mane 6 fight. I don’t like Trade Ya, I don’t like Putting Your Hoof Down, and I despise Look Before You Sleep. Seeing this otherwise close group of friends constantly have petty arguments, even if it’s for completely valid plot reasons, make me want to turn the movie off. This isn’t a criticism of the screenwriting, it is just a reason why I personally dislike Rainbow Rocks more than the other films.

Of course, they make up because this is about the magic of friendship and what not, but notice how no one actually apologizes for their behavior. No, “I’m sorry that I minimized your contribution to the group or made fun of something you were passionate about.” I realize they were under the influence of magic, but they also knew that! They knew the Dazzlings had the power to turn people against each other! An apology is just a preamble to fundamental behavior change, and if they don’t realize why they were being bad friends, how can they learn from anything?

And the real kicker is, they knew what the Dazzlings were capable of. Twilight read a book about them immediately before going through the portal. It’s not they they just learned that they spread chaos. Why are we fighting? Gee, I don’t know.

DJ-ex-machina. I’m ok with this.

To the movie’s credit, the finale really has one of the best song of the movie. And by that, I of course mean Trixie’s song. Trixie is the most fun addition to the cast. She makes for a fun antagonist, on her own and as a Pawn to the Dazzlings.

Fight scene! Fight scene! We’re gonna have a fight scene!

Now that they’ve put their petty squabbles behind them, it’s time for a big music battle. The Dazzlings pony up harness the energy of the audience to project their Equestrian selves to...I don’t know. Take over the world or something.

This isn’t even their final form

Oh. This design looked better in book form

Sunset is Magic. That’s the show.

So the stones auto-tuned them, and that made everyone mindlessly antagonistic. I’m sure there’s some clever commentary there.

T’was the magic of friendship that killed the beast.

No, you don’t get to just rejoin the plot

Thank you, Trixie.

The real story here is how Principal Celestia will pay off the press.

Thus Twilight goes back to the land of horses, Starlight has been truly forgiven, and my Netflix suggestions will never been the same again.

I want to give a big shout out to the person who put all the captions on the image gallery for this movie’s wikia page. They are funnier than I could ever hope to be.

Some general thoughts:

The scene of Twilight awkwardly yelling “Friendship is magic!” to a room of confused teenagers is the cringiest thing I’ve ever seen, but it got a good laugh out of me. Look at the Dazzlings faces in this scene. “Ok, we legitimately didn’t see that coming.”

One of the reasons that I am so drawn to the show is that they are able to create conflict and drama without being mean-spirited. I have to deal with that kind of nonsense so much in my daily life, I just don’t want to subject myself to eighty minutes of it. But i get it: from a narrative standpoint, this is the most cohesive. There’s some good set up and pay off, and an actually intimidating villain who is actually present in the plot.

I love Trixie so much, I should be dead. She really is the star of the show. I forgot how little we saw of her before season six.

The stinger, oh the stinger. Forget what I said about the pajama party; it was worth sitting through this for the promise of an interesting sequel.

We’ll get to you soon, you marvelous lesbian disaster.

Starlight’s redemption is the best part of this franchise, and it’s worth all the nonsense to hear Rebecca Shoichet’s angelic voice.

From a purely film standpoint, this is probably the best one of the bunch. It has a clear structure, everyone’s motivations check out, there’s an actual climax that feels earned. I just don’t enjoy it. There are worse ways to spend eighty minutes 3.7/5

The worst thing to come from this, however, is the terrifying merchandise:

What Fresh Hell is This?

[junker-town]

The Disney Channel Original movie ‘High School Musical’, reviewed

Upon further review, ‘High School Musical’ still slaps today.

Hello. I, Harry Lyles Jr., will review a different Disney Channel sports movie every Thursday on SB Nation. For the purpose of nostalgia and saving you time so you don’t have to watch these movies yourself (though I encourage you watch them anyway for your own entertainment), I’ll briefly run down my favorite moments.

High School Musical is about Troy Bolton — the best basketball player at East High — and an intelligent new girl at school, Gabriella Montez. The two meet on vacation, where they sing a duet together, and exchange numbers before meeting again on the first day of school.

Their friendship, and Troy’s new interest in singing, creates a divide among all the students in the school. In the film, Troy and Gabriella are pegged against popular theatre kids Sharpay Evans and her twin brother Ryan in auditioning for the school play.

The movie doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in the beginning in terms of Could This Happen, but it’s fine because it’s funny that way

In the opening scene of the movie, Troy and Gabriella are both conveniently chosen to sing at a New Year’s Eve party while on vacation. That seems really odd because do people actually do karaoke at a New Year’s Eve party?

A hilariously bad moment that was also good was Troy turning around when she starts singing, because he immediately thought she was going to leave him in the dust.

It was kind of like the IRL version of getting salty when you send a text and don’t get a reply within the first minute. Give her a second, chief.

Disney could have set up the backstory of their singing ability in a better way than they did. They later explain that Gabriella sang in church choir, but the most Troy had ever sung was in the shower. You don’t just learn you got pipes by randomly being selected to sing karaoke at a New Year’s Eve party on vacation.

Also, his shirt is awful. Disney stays letting these young actors down.

All that said, it was a good opening song to set the scene for the movie, though.

The way that the characters were set up is hilarious

These introductions on the first day of school could not have been more typical of a movie based at a high school, and I honestly loved it. Troy comes off the bus, and is immediately met with dap and excessive cheers, because everybody is happy to see their favorite mid-mid-range (no error on the double-mid, more on that later) shooter back on campus.

Then there’s Sharpay walking between the jocks with her phone, with no regard for anybody’s space.

Then the smart students/brainiacs/whatever you wish to call them are disgusted with the jocks. This all checks out.

And of course it’s not complete without the shy new student who is very nervous to start at a new school, and that’s where Gabriella comes in.

“I don’t want to be the school’s freaky genius girl again,” were her exact words.

Textbook, Disney. Textbook.

These Eastbay-ass lookin’ uniforms

This movie was made in 2006, right when we were somewhat in the middle of basketball uniforms having wider shoulder sleeves. But this is just a poorly fitting t-shirt with incredibly basic numbers and letters.

Disney came up with the Mighty Ducks uniforms, right? East High could have at least gotten a Russell Athletic sponsorship.

Search the Internet

Sharpay and Ryan are trying to find “dirt” on Gabriella, and simply find that she is a “whiz kid.”

Here is their version of Google.

I’ve always been a big fan of simply Saying The Thing. We need more Search the Internet websites online.

Stick to the Status Quo was essentially “shut up and dribble”

In a key scene in the movie, many of the school’s students are expressing their true passions after learning Troy likes to sing. That includes another basketball player, Zeke (the result of Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, and Jermaine Jackson in a blender), admitting he loves to cook.

That’s where the “shut up and dribble” was delivered in song-form.

Another student admits she loves hip-hop dancing, and another student asks “is that even legal?” [glares at Disney yet again for casual racism]

“Skater #1” as he’s called in the movie credits admits to playing the cello, and his stoner friend has no idea what it is.

But the best part about this song was the few seconds where the students who spoke their truths got up on the lunch table and danced. It’s kind of odd how the message of the song is to stay in your lane, but I suppose it kind of worked since everyone still spoke their truth?

What the hell is this lunch?

It appears that Gabriella eating chili cheese fries with milk and an orange with some apple sauce?

Michelle Obama would never let that happen.

Lmaoooooooo

I don’t know what this move is that Ryan is doing, but it’s hilarious.

I’m sure it looks less awkward from other angles but this is the one we got. Sometimes you can’t overturn the call on the field.

Go hard or go home

Troy does some half-ass Michael Jackson move during his Breaking Free performance with Gabriella.

Either you lean into it (you probably shouldn’t!) or you don’t do it at all. This was a case where you don’t do it at all, since the song wasn’t up to that kind of speed.

WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER

I’m just going to slap the entire video in here, because you should watch the whole thing and watch it closely. I could make an entire blog based on just this performance — the grand musical finale of this movie — but I’m going to let you cast your own judgements and observations, for the most part.

However, I would like to point out Macaulay Culkin Lite/Joe Burrow Without A Barber Ryan in the crowd. He was very into all of his performances in the movie, and deserved these five seconds of being the guy without Sharpay.

We’re All in This Together won’t be the same for you after you notice this young king

Disney tried to help y’all out at the beginning of the song. The best character in the movie daps up Troy early in the song, showing the actual star of this here production.

And he just kills it from there on out. In that baggy dress shirt, jeans that could fit two grown adults in them, and tie flailing everywhere, he owned the floor.

Much like Buckhead bars and clubs in Atlanta did for people of color during the ‘90s and early 2000s, Disney gave him his time at the end credits when they thought no one was around to watch him shine.

Brother, I see you.

Troy never took a shot beyond the free throw line

His shot chart would be hilarious. Troy’s game is like Bob Cousy’s — he’s got awful handles and takes jumpers seven feet from the basket. I took a screenshot of every shot he took, except for the ones he shot in his driveway when Gabriella was mad at him for being a Typical Dumb Jock.

Also, we never got to see the high school’s musical

We saw the auditions! But we never actually saw East High’s production. Bet it was fire, though.

Movie rating based on all things good and bad: 9.5/10

[biofunmy]

15 best nostalgic movies and TV shows to watch immediately

CLOSE

Cable watching may still be more popular than streaming, but as Disney+ and others join the battle, will streaming remain the cheaper option? Just the FAQs, USA TODAY

The Disney Vault is, at long last, open. 

With the debut of Disney+, the new streaming service from the Mouse House, many films and TV shows that have been out of public circulation for years are now available at the click of the mouse, delighting diehard Disney fans and nostalgic millennials alike. 

The service is billed as a mix of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, “Star Wars” and National Geographic, and while the other brands are great, they weren’t locked away in a “vault” for years on end when you just wanted a VHS copy of “Beauty and the Beast” for Christmas. One of the biggest benefits of the service is access to Disney’s theatrical animated films, along with the campy collection of Disney Channel Original Movies, series and a few gems from the 20th Century Fox studio that Disney acquired this year.

More: Disney+ to Apple TV+ to Netflix: All the major streaming services, ranked

Disney+ includes more than 7,500 episodes of television and 500 movies, which might make choosing just one childhood classic difficult. But fear not, we’ve picked 15 films and shows that should be at the top of your queue, from everyone’s favorites to hidden gems you probably haven’t thought about since you were 12. 

A scene from Disney’s”Hercules” featuring Phil and Hercules. (Photo: Walt Disney Pictures)

Animated treasures

‘Hercules’

Before you dive into the heavy hitters from Disney animation (and we have several on this list), take a moment to enjoy one of the most underrated films from the “Disney Renaissance” of the 1990s: “Hercules.” The powers and adventures of the Greek gods are brought to life in the film, which uses a gospel and jazz score and original music to bring it all back down to Earth. Definitely a hero, not a zero. 

‘Aladdin’

Please, we beg you, ignore this year’s Will Smith remake of this story and stick to the one with a brilliant voice performance from Robin Williams. There are few times in animated films where the vocals and animation feed off each other in such wonderful ways, and it’s infinitely better than a guy covered in blue makeup. 

‘The Little Mermaid’ 

While you’re forgetting “Aladdin,” forget ABC’s “live” version of “Mermaid,” too. The original 1989 film, in all its hand-drawn glory, is all you need to be “part of that world” (get it?). The music, by the legendary team of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, is among the best Disney’s ever produced, and it’s worth revisiting just to hear the songs in context again. 

‘101 Dalmatians’

One of the movies that feels like it was sealed in the vault forever (in part because of Glenn Close’s later live-action films), “Dalmatians” is a veritable explosion of puppy love and good boys and girls. The film has a great villain and an even better villain song. If Cruella de Vil doesn’t scare you, no evil thing will. 

‘The Aristocats’ 

“Dalmatians” is for dog people, and “Aristocats” covers cat people. One of the more under-the-radar Disney films, “Aristocats” is sleek and sweet with a great soundtrack. Released in 1970, it’s a little dated (though not as dated as other Disney films), but still full of cool cats. 

Pups gather around the TV in “101 Dalmatians.” (Photo: DISNEY)

Live-action films that aren’t remakes

‘Escape to Witch Mountain’ (1975) 

No offense to Dwayne Johnson, but there’s no beating the original version of this paranormal tale about two mysterious orphan siblings with powers and a mad millionaire chasing after them. The retro special effects and action sequences just make the the whole film better. 

‘Heavyweights’

Though not a Disney Channel original, this Ben Stiller comedy aired on the network so often in the 2000s you wouldn’t be remiss for thinking it was. The sometimes problematic story of young boys sent to a torturous fat camp run by a psychotic fitness instructor (Stiller) is a celebration of individuality and adolescence. That Stiller makes an incredibly hilarious bad guy is simply gravy. 

Millennial DCOM Favorites

‘Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century’ 

There is, and never will be, a better Disney Channel Original Movie than this campy sci-fi classic, about a girl raised on a space station who faces a tough transition to life on Earth. The film portrays a version of the 21st century with a distinctly 1990s flair (all the cars are Volkswagen Beetles), its own catchphrase (Zeedus Lapidus!) and a boy-band tune that you won’t get out of your head anytime soon (“Supernova Girl”). 

‘Smart House’

This 1999 movie beat “Black Mirror” in depicting technology as dangerous instead of empowering. Before we had Alexa or Siri, this Ryan Merriman DCOM asked, “what if Alexa could cook and had separation anxiety?” Come for the dance parties, stay for Katey Sagal (“Sons of Anarchy”) as the human embodiment of the Smart House. 

‘Quints’ 

Millennial fans of Disney Channel may know Kimberly J. Brown better from the “Halloweentown” films, but “Quints” is just as worthy a use of her Disney charm. The movie follows 14-year-old Jamie (Brown), who hates being an only child until her mom gives birth to (you guessed it) quintuplets. Diaper humor is mixed with some surprisingly deep insights about forging an identity as a kid, and what you want and need from your parents. 

Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn, left, with John Payne) is put on trial in the 1947 classic “Miracle on 34th Street.” (Photo: 20TH CENTURY FOX)

The Fox lot 

‘Miracle on 34th Street’ (1947) 

The Christmas classic, from the vast and historical catalog that went to Disney after its 20th Century Fox deal, airs often on broadcast TV during the holiday season, but now you can queue it up whenever you want. As many new Christmas movies as we get each year, there’s really no replacement for a young Natalie Wood learning to believe in Santa Claus. Sorry, Hallmark. 

‘X-Men: The Animated Series’ 

Almost a decade before Hugh Jackman stepped into Wolverine’s clawed shoes, the comic book mutants came to life for kids in this fabulous animated series. Part of Fox’s old Saturday morning cartoon lineup, the series told complex, deep stories of heroes and villains while we ate our cereal from 1992-96. Now you can binge all 76 episodes over overnight oats. 

Cory (Ben Savage) and Shawn (Rider Strong) in “Boy Meets World.” (Photo: Disney)

Disney and ABC TV series

‘Boy Meets World’

Cory (Ben Savage), Topanga (Danielle Fishel) and Shawn (Rider Strong) are the kind of friends you can count on for a very long time. “Boy” seems as if it was made for the binge-watching era, considering the long-running series (1993-2000) covered the trio from junior high to college and marriage. One of the best shows about growing up, it now can help teach a new generation about the ins and outs of puberty and young adulthood. 

‘DuckTales’ (2017) 

A rare instance where the reboot outshines the original, this recent take on Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck (along with the evil Scrooge McDuck) is an absolute delight. Parents can enjoy watching with kids, in part because the voice cast includes so many talented actors, including Ben Schwartz, Danny Pudi, Bobby Moynihan and David Tennant.

‘So Weird’

“So Weird” is something of a kid-friendly take on “The X-Files,” in which a family (with “One Day at a Time” star Mackenzie Phillips as the mom) travels around the country and encounters supernatural occurrences. The series covers a wide variety of weird, including crop circles, mythic Sirens and curses. Today’s kids may have a little trouble identifying with the early internet website protagonist Fi (Cara DeLizia) uses chronicles her adventures, but it’s important to learn there was life before TikTok. 

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