#This is a Nolan song too... But I actually really like it for him and this fic.

[cheeseandbretboy]

JOKER (2019) AND JOKER: FOLIE A DEUX (2024) SPOILERS !!!

still trying to sift through my thoughts but i liked joker 2. i dont get how the ratings are so bad?? were people expecting a romance???? a fun movie? i mean even i was surprised by the depressing end but im really glad it happened because thats what joker 2019 was about too. arthur was never the actual 'joker' we see in dc films, and we knew that. his whole story is tragic but a lot of people missed that in the first movie. the second speaks on that to humanise arthur (even though thats what they literally tried to do in the first one?? didnt work i guess) and shame those who use him as a symbol for misogyny and incel stuff. i think what most people are mad about is how hes not as 'villainy' as the other jokers BUT AGAIN he was never the true joker and im confused as to how people missed that !! personally i loved how it shows that even after he's secured himself the identity of joker he's still repeatedly exploited as he was before that, and he has to come to terms with it. harleys character was really surprising for me because usually she's the one being manipulated by joker- in this case it was the other way around. especially interesting was how joker was the one who sung 'bewitched' about harley (the original song is sung about a man, so they had to change he/him to she/her) and the scene of joker and harley's show where she continues singing 'to love somebody' without looking at him, instead basking in the attention the audience gives her. people were expecting a twisted sexy romance between them but instead we were given something really uncomfortable and unnerving- like that sex scene. her character also gives insight into parasocial relationships and how weird and dangerous they can get. she never really knew arthur- she knew joker. the film starts with us finally happy that he 'for once in his life, has someone who needs him' and ends with us absolutely distraught. in the first movie, he says stuff like 'you dont listen' and 'i never knew i existed' and STILL after becoming an infamous killer, getting a show about him, EVERYONE talking about him, he's still not seen. there are just so many things the film points out about its fanbase (incels, parasocial relationships, identity, the glamourisation/sexualisation of violence, columbiners, exploitation etc etc) and i guess people don't like that. they want capitalism=bad, 'men have it so bad', and mm gore! which is fair- i loved it too- but it doesnt hurt to delve into the identity of 'joker' (whatever that is) and how that influences its viewers. its quite meta i like it a lot. they didnt care that the ratings would be awful because they had to speak on what the first movie did to people

oh also the intertextuality is just amazing. the songs are great, like i mentioned before with changing the female and male roles with 'bewitched', and even though i absolutely hate musicals this really worked fo rme. i think it's because musicals often have songs smack bam in the middle of realistic scenes and the singing just ruins it for me- but in joker 2 they're more often a part of arthur's fantasies so it was actually better. i wasnt sure about the musical element at first but after rewatching joker for like the 1000th time i realised how much its intertwined in the first movie- we just never really paid attention to it. the end of 'gonna build a mountain' was amazing (you have to pay attention to the lyrics), 'the joker' was great, and the few instances of violence we see from arthur while hes singing is really entertaining i love it sm. i keep mentioning 'betwitched' but i love it. 'she is cold, i agree, she can laugh, and i love it' ahh. i loved the intertextuality with nolan's the dark knight. a lot of people hate it, but i think people should be more flexible with inspiration and interweaving similar but different stories into films. just because it follows a similar story doesnt mean that it should either perfectly fit the mould of nolan's batman, but neither does it mean they should abandon it altogether either. harvey dent really surprised me, and even though he was a pretty minor character i loved the few references to nolan's batman they give (like his gory face after the explosion at court being a possible villain origin story). most obvious is the end though, where arthur is gutted by that inmate who admires him. the use of the joke was amazing and i was really surprised by how he got stabbed. you can see in this moment that arthur has been relieved of his identity of 'joker' and can finally rest as himself, just a mentally ill guy with a history of tragic abuse. when lee and his fans betray him (the real life ones too hilariously) we realise no one truly saw or loved him, and he couldn't deal with that. so, the identity of joker was passed on to that inmate- "ah, what a fine young son to take my place"- while he cuts a glasgow smile into his face. in felt this was sort of missing from joker 2019, so im really glad they used ledger's joker as inspiration for this inmate.

there's a lot more to talk about, ESPECIALLY gary's reappearance which im so so glad about, it really fleshed out his character. when he walked up to the stand, you can see people whispering and laughing at him- arthur never made fun of him. it really helps to make people question what constitutes a bad person. sure, these people didn't kill 6 people, but how easy would it be for them just not to laugh? it showed arthur's empathy, and how uncomfortable he was with admitting to it when trying to paint himself as the joker. "you were the only one who was nice to me" was said by arthur in the first movie when he kills randal and gary says something similar to him during court.

anyways wow that was great people are mad the 2nd movie is as depressing as the first (if not more). at the end ofthe first, arthur has a whole revolution loving him, and we did the same. at the end of the second we realise we never truly knew him, but exploited his character.

[freak-accident419]

The Unlikely Postulate of Clapton’s Love Life

Clapton Davis x GN!Reader Headcanons

Content: a little bit of fluff, mentions of virginity, mentions of underage drug use, that’s pretty much it :)

(A/n: Just like in the movie, I made a chapter title card as if you and Clapton’s relationship were inserted. I was really in love with the names such as ‘The Terrible Ultimatum of Clapton Davis’, ‘The Lonely Ballad of Billy Nolan,’ etc. so I came up with one as if these headcanons were scenes in the movie.)

-

You knew Clapton since Freshman year. You knew of him, at least, and you didn’t actually have a conversation with him until junior year. It all started when he asked you for a pen.

You weren’t too popular like him. But you were sort of the sweetheart of the school. Nobody would talk about you as much as they did Clapton, but when you were brought up, only good things were said about you.

A few small things had progressed your friendship with Clapton. First, it was the pen thing. Then you two were teamed up for a science project. This showed him how smart you were, so he began to rely on you. You were also charming and he began to become infatuated with you, so he asked you for homework help a lot of the time. You went on ‘dates’ and things, like how he skated you home, went on a movie date with you, went bowling together, until you two were official partners.

You two were both in Spanish classes. You were passing and he was failing, so you had to tutor him a whole lot. He came up to you one day with a giddy smile and said ‘Tu es mucho bonito.’ It wasn’t completely correct, but you appreciated it nonetheless.

He burned a CD for you consisting of all of your favorite songs.

Sometimes he appeared in your front yard at midnight for a late night skate. Other times he appeared, he went to your window and you two just made out.

You made out a lot. And you probably lost your virginity to him.

You two got high sometimes. One time you had a very long, weed-driven conversation about who the ‘real’ karate kid was: Ralph Macchio or Billy Zabka. He said it was obviously Macchio, but you liked to argue for Billy. In retrospect, you weren’t sure why.

You two are basically each other’s best friends. It took a while for the school to realize you were dating.

As attractive and charming as Clapton was, nobody really expected him to be in a relationship. He seemed like one of those cool chill guys who wouldn’t involve himself in one. That’s why everyone was so surprised to know that he was in a relationship, let alone with you—it was highly unlikely. Everyone in the school thought you were the power couple, though. Everyone talked and gossiped about your new relationship with him a lot.

You both didn’t like the idea of extravagant prom-posals. Plus, it was sort of a mutual understanding, you two knew you wanted to go together.

He loves holding your hand. Whether he’s walking you to your class or home, he cannot go without holding your hand.

He tried to teach you how to skateboard once because you asked him. You fell. It was terrible. But he patched you up and blamed himself for not teaching you or protecting you properly.

He loves sharing his music with you. Sharing earbuds and everything. When he found out that your go-to slow dance song was “Fields of Gold” by Sting, he instantly knew you were his soulmate.

Sometimes when you two cuddle, you talk about your future together. You hope to stay together long enough to get married. Then you think about articulate things like where to live, what kind of house, pets, etc.

He always said ‘Clapton don’t dance’ but that was a lie. He’d never hesitate to slow dance with you.

You made each other friendship bracelets. He never wants to take it off.

Riley was very supportive of your relationship. As Clapton’s best friend, she was glad that he found someone as amazing as you.

He loves whenever you play with his hair. You do it a lot.

Sometimes you’d ditch school to hang out at a 7-11 or smoke pot. It didn’t matter what you did, as long as he hung out with you. He enjoyed quality time.

One time, before you two were dating, you two ditched school because Clapton wanted to show you a trick he learned on the skateboard to impress you. Clearly he wasn’t ready because he fell, suffering a terrible injury. But there was something so dorkishly charming about that moment, that that was probably the first time you realized you liked him more than a friend.

The first time he said ‘I love you’ was by mistake. You two were both very high. He genuinely meant it, however. And so, the very next day, he properly confessed. And you expressed your reciprocation.

-

This was my first set of headcanons I’ve written, so I hope you enjoyed it! I hope I did this prompt justice :’) I was so proud of the title that I was too eager to wait until I got a solid fic idea, so I just decided to write headcanons :) thanks for reading!

[maverick-prime]

post atom eve special and season 2 thoughts

INVINCIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!!! if you don't wanna be spoiled, don't read!!

okay.

okay okay okay OKAY.

oh my god this show is insane. debbie is everything to me. i was so genuinely upset when she and oliver were in danger that i felt sick. she is such an incredible character and the writers have done her immense justice. she's a wife and a mother and that doesn't stop her from being strong, it actually makes her stronger. her relationship with mark is so incredible and the symbolism of their matching black eyes was impeccable. they've both been hurt in similar ways, by nolan and by angstrom. they're marked by their trauma, but they share the weight together.

oliver is a delight and mark's instant desire to care for him and protect him was so wholesome and wonderful! he was willing to drop everything to care for his little brother and that, more than anything, makes him human and so very, very loving. at least nolan was willing to acknowledge that oliver is blameless in everything.

and nolan..... jesus. probably some of the most insane character development i've ever witnessed. he is so nature versus nurture, and he's become human through his twenty years on earth. maybe debbie feels like those years were for nothing, but there's proof that they had a profound impact on nolan and how he views life. he is, by all accounts and purposes, no longer a viltrumite. he's human. it's a pretty classic trope (the evil alien finds humanity redeemable and discovers that their "inferior" lives are just as valuable as the alien's), but invincible doesn't make this trope feel tired. it feels compelling and powerful, because we have a clear picture of the stakes. anissa and the other viltrumites make that very clear.

anissa herself serves her purpose: she's there to be a reminder of why mark and the coalition are fighting back against the viltrumite empire. she's fast, she's strong, and she completely lacks any form of compassion or empathy. mark barely holds his own against her, which is incredibly powerful after watching mark face off against the sequids and all the other big bads of this season. i really, really hope the show finds a way to avoid her assault of mark because i see no positive gains from that storyline. mark has already been through the wringer too many times over. there's no point in making him suffer further.

speaking of, mark in this season brought me to tears more than once. he is trying so damn hard to be nothing like his father. he's trying to be a good boyfriend to amber. he's trying to be a good friend, a good student, a good son, a good brother. the odds are continually stacked against him and yet he never gives up. he is so very human and his story is so, so heartbreaking. all three of the graysons have their fair share of trauma after this season, but i feel like mark's is somehow the worst. you have to remember that he's only eighteen when all of this happens. he's just barely not a kid, and he's pretty far from being an adult. his brain's not even fully developed yet, and he has to defend an entire planet from the psychotic race of aliens that he shares DNA with. he suffers so much. just give the kid a damn break, cecil. he needs a hug. and therapy.

the parallels between nolan and debbie were incredible. the song choices, the montage of them traveling aimlessly, both of them coming so close to killing themselves... my jaw was on the floor. even mark had a moment of suicidal ideation in the eighth episode, and that through line for all three of the graysons was so well done.

eve. eve is my perfect darling love and she has never, ever done anything wrong in her life. the special was so tragic and while the animation was stunning (those fight scenes alone were jaw-dropping), the true high point of it, for me, was the way it handled the found family trope. this trope is a personal favorite of mine, and it was a real treat to see it given the weight and power it deserves, with a terribly tragic twist. "you killed people i didn't even know i loved" is insane. eve changing her broken family portrait to instead depict all of her deceased family members so clearly was SO powerful. that girl has been through so much, and her special supplemented her character development in a way that she so deserves.

all in all, i am destroyed. i am in shambles. the writing in this show is next-level. there's things i didn't mention in the post that were utterly spectacular (the multiverse references, angstrom levy, rex's development, rick and donald's stories about bodily autonomy, kate and immortal) and of course are deserving of praise, but i am just so impressed with the way the graysons have been handled. it's rare that a family feels so strong and fleshed out not just as a unit but as individuals as well, and all three of them carry so much narrative weight in a way that makes it clear they're forever connected.

i can't wait to see what insanity season three brings. stay invincible everyone.

[minsu-the-cowardly-human]

Just half rewatched Ugly Dolls [listen/watching while drawing] and I have some...opinions. Cut for spoilers for Ugly Dolls n Wreck it Ralph

Firstly, I find Lou so incredibly, incredibly interesting. Just for the fact that he is a prototype at all is a really cool concept and character motivation.

I like the fact that him n Ox had a realtionship before and he was so jealous of him that he had the others harp on him and send him to be killed. But idk how much I believe that last part necessairly. Of course he did send him to the incinerator, but idk he could be super manipulative but in the flashback where Lou is gently leading Ox to it, he looks genuinely caring like he doesn't know what it leads to. Especially since he says something about not wanting to lose him in the fight they have later. Maybe I'm reading him too sympathically idk.

I also think that his program for dolls is actually a good thing! To an extent. Not necessairly pointing out everything but all the technical don't get messy or the washer won't fix u cuz the parents will throw you away is like..an actual issue? Ik some parents would probably let their kid have it as long as they please but ik some parents would definately throw the doll away. So like that's an actual concern. And to throw all that training away feels. Dumb.

Like all that beauty standard shit yeah get outta here. But even then, he is a prototype to teach others how to behave. And even with kids, you do have to look cute n cuddly or you literally won't sell and you might end up in a landfill or some shit like the ET atari games. So. Idk how to feel about that part, it depends on whether you see Lou as a separate entity that's just doing this shit cuz or if he's made by the company yk.

Also for him to compete in the gauntlet at all confuses me so much. Because obviously he had to have known he would have never won in the first place. Maybe he did it to look good, which is possible, just good sportsmanship n all and then when Moxy n friends lost he could be like "see ur just like me a prototype" or something or he thinks nobody would care. But if that is the case, then whyy did he kick the robot baby in the nose? Was he just like "fuck it, I can't win anyways"? Then why even compete? Or was he just losing it? [Or was the writing just bad-]

Also the fact that Lou tells Moxy n friends a bit abt him basically doing it cuz lonely and they put him in a washer n presumably left him there feels really really stupid. And that's not just me being a Lou apolgist rn. But like..if he did it cuz lonely and he wanted to keep his friends there like Ox presumably..and you put him in presumably endless isolation..that feels really stupid!! Like you want him to break out or something!!

Now thinking about it, he feels a little bit like a villainous version of Vanellope if she really was a glitch. That being that she could never leave, just like how Lou can't leave either and be with a real child. If we're going with this Vanellope analogy, it would just be her trying to keep her friends with her as she dies with the game by any means necessary. I know Lou isn't going to exactly die, at least not in the beginning with his school of perfection or whatever but..yknow it's like the curse of being immortal.

Also I loveee that when Nolan is like "when you were critizing me, that's because you love me?" And Lou is like "yeah" *looks to the side* "I love all of you" like I think he likes him. Also Ox x Lou is a thing I like because of its toxicity. :]

I might ramble more later but that's all i can think of for now. Oh one last thing I also love his song Ugly Truth.

[vintagepresley]

I’ve only seen a few Elvis movies so far, but I was curious how you would rank them? From best to worst. :)

Oooh.. Which ones have you seen? Also, I'd love to rank his movies! This will be fun. 😂

These are how I rank them personally. But I'd love to hear everyone else's rankings! I will be ranking the movies from the 50's first and then do the 60's, because his movies in the 50's are honestly my favorite because the stories actually made sense and weren't rushed and you can tell he actually cared.

The 50's - From best to worst

King Creole (Baby acted his ass off in this and the story was great!)

Jailhouse Rock (I really loved this because I could hope that he would've taken charge of his career the way Vince did without the asshole part. Another where the story was great.)

Loving you (He was just too darn cute in this movie with his little stuttering and I love that his parents were in it. Deke has my heart.)

Love Me Tender (Spoiler: this gets worst because he dies 😭)

The 60's - From best to worst

1. Follow That Dream (Does this even need an explanation? You guys know how much I love this movie and not even for the story. It's my comfort movie)

2. Girls! Girls! Girls! (This was the very first Elvis movie I saw and I hold it dear to my heart. I would play Return to Sender on repeat, lol)

3. Wild in the Country (I know this is like 50/50 for people but I really loved this movie. The story was great and his acting was amazing.)

4. G.I Blues (God.. This movie.. He.. Yeah, he looked fine as hell. Story was okay. The songs are my fave.)

5. Live a Little, Love a Little (This was the second Elvis movie I saw and honestly is a favorite!! Bernice is insane BUT I STAN. Greg Nolan is my baby.)

6. It Happened at the World's Fair (This movie was so cute and funny. I always love him in movies with kids! 😭)

7. The Trouble with Girls (DO I EVEN NEED TO EXPLAIN?!!? HIS EYES WERE SPARKLING. THE SUITS)

8. Change of Habit (Okay, I feel like this movie is incredibly underrated and AE made it seem like it was so terrible. But I personally loved this movie because of its serious story and plot. It was also a different character we've seen Elvis play. I think had there been no songs at all, this would've been taken more seriously. He also looked good af.)

9. Flaming Star (Despite the stereotypes and well everything else that would get this movie canceled.. I actually enjoyed it a lot. It was certainly different for Elvis. If I remember correctly, Tarantino said this was his favorite Elvis western because it was the most violent.)

10. Kid Galahad (This movie was good and another different character for him. But I'm not into boxing so it was kind of boring to me)

11. Blue Hawaii (I really enjoyed this movie, but I don't love it as much as everyone does. I don't get the hype and I also think Can't Help Falling In Love is overplayed and overrated. He's got so many better love songs. But that's just my opinion! This movie still gets a good ranking though.)

12. Viva Las Vegas (I enjoyed this movie! But much like Blue Hawaii I don't get the hype. It's not my favorite but definitely not the worst)

Now let's get into the movies that in my personal opinion were the worst. Now that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy them. Even with the stories not being great; some of them were funny!

13. Fun in Acapulco (This movie was enjoyable but the story could've been better and I didn't really like a lot of the songs.)

14. Roustabout (I just found this movie so boring and I'm not surprised the colonel loved it. But Elvis looked HOT.)

15. Girl Happy (I really enjoyed this but again the story wasn't great and his character wasn't anything special. But if you want a few laughs this is a good one. ALSO ELVIS IN A DRESS!!!) 16. Tickle Me (this movie was so funny and Elvis always has perfect comedic timing. It reminded me of Scooby Doo. But unfortunately the story was meh they also used songs from one of his old albums because they had nothing written for the film)

17. Spinout (This movie was okay, a few laughs. But nothing too special besides him threatening to spank someone, lol. Basic Elvis character.)

18. Speedway (A few good songs, but kinda boring to me)

19. Frankie and Johnny (I really liked the aesthetic of this film and some of the songs, but it certainly wasn't the best. He looked horrid in that yellow sweater lmfao)

20. Paradise, Hawaiian Style (I enjoyed the songs and his interaction with the little girl. It was too cute! A few good laughs, but nothing to rave about)

21. Stay Away, Joe (This movie was so ridiculous and stupid, but also funny as hell to me because of how ridiculous it was. Another one that would be cancelled. But Elvis looked so good lol)

22. Clambake (SNOOZE FEST. Stupid story also Elvis tried to get out of making this movie. So much drama behind the scenes of this, lol. He was fat shamed. His character.. I don't even know.)

23. Charro! (This movie could've been great since they weren't really any songs, Elvis' acting was great and he looked good with a beard. But the story was just so boring.)

24. Double Trouble (This movie was funny but that's about it. Story was eh)

25. Kissin' Cousins (Jesus Christ.. Where do I even begin with this movie? We should not be hooking up with our cousins first off, LMFAO. The only good thing was Jodie. 😂)

26. Harum Scrum (I DONT EVEN NEED TO EXPLAIN THIS DUMPSTER FIRE. I hate this movie, lol. 2.99 WASTED. Like wtf was this?? It was so bad Elvis gave up acting in the middle of it lol.)

Now let's rank the concert docs for funsies!

Elvis on Tour (THIS IS MY BABY. The amount of times I watch this is unhealthy. He's so fucking sexy in it and just watching him at all these shows doing what he loves. Ugh. The shot of him staring out the window and kind of just lost in thought.. It just makes me want to hold him.)

That's The Way It Is (The first concert doc I watched. This is just amazing. The album alone is my favorite. But seeing him up on that stage giving it his all and having so much fun doing it warms my heart.)

Aloha From Hawaii via Satellite (I know this technically isn't a concert doc but it belongs on this list. Do I even need to say how amazing this was??? How good he looked?? This certainly is underrated.)

Honorable mention

Elvis In Concert - (I wish they would release this because it only aired once I believe on October 3rd, 1977. But that was it. You can watch it on YouTube because someone remastered it and fixed the audio as best as they could. But It'd be nice if EPE would just release the actual footage and have CBS or RCA remaster it. Despite how ill he was he still put on a performance no matter what. He still wanted to make the fans happy. But I understand why they don't really want it out there.)

Sorry this was so long and I don't know if you wanted my actual opinions on them. But I felt I might as well give them, lol. Thanks for the question, bestie!

[lousirs]

What kind of music do you think the dolls will like? Like their genre of music (hopefully it's understandable cuz I have no clues what I just said 💀)

nah nah u good :D

hm... i mean from the get-go i'd say all the characters who have singers as their voice actors would probably listen to their singer's style of music. for instance, i can totally see lou listening to nick jonas and kitty listening to charli xcx. but aside from that...

moxy would totally listen to pop music. but like, that really cheesy pop music from the 2010s that tells you that you are beautiful just the way you are, ya know? britt nicole is someone who comes to mind (every time i listen to her song 'gold' or 'headphones' i just think about moxy). but alsoooo going back to what i said with characters listening to their voice actor's music, i find it amusing if moxy listened to rock as well, as kelly clarkson is kinda pop-rock (or used to be i haven't listened to her entire discography yet). she's just jamming out to some electric guitar or something lmao

i'm not too sure about babo (my mind is saying smooth jazz but idk if that works with him) but wage and lucky bat would totally listen to those 10 hour relaxing ambient music with the windchimes and piano... lucky bat would listen to relax, and wage would listen to ease her nerves.

ugly dog i can see listening to latin music (cause ya know...pitbull mr worldwide 305) and prolly some rock and heavy metal thrown in there for good measure.

ox would be country. for obvious reasons (yeehaw)(i found out about blake shelton through ox so everytime a blake shelton song comes on all i see is ox rotating in my mind)

with lou... you'd probably catch him listening to classical or cafe jazz, but when he's alone he'd listen to most things, i'd say. ...and also he'd listen to electro swing because i said so and i am the voice of authority I MAKE THE CANON /j (but i can see him listening to electro swing). ohhh and songs from musicals too. he is soooo a musicals fan. dunno what musicals he'd listen to tho, i'm not too knowledgeable on them uh

mandy would listen to lofi and indie music... if there's a niche artist who makes nice songs, mandy probably knows of them.

nolan... nolan is a wildcard honestly lmao. he seems like he'd listen to both acoustic and electronic music (daft punk vibes)... actually. just remembered something. you know that sound that plays when the spotlight centres upon nolan? that sounded like dubstep for a moment, and i just remembered thinking that nolan listens to dubstep because of it... so now he does. nolan listens to dubstep too.

all the spy girls would listen to pop, but probably different kinds of it. kitty would totally be hyperpop, no doubt in my mind (probably because charli xcx is more hyperpop nowadays). tuesday is similar to moxy in those 2010s songs, but it would be only the love songs and she'd imagine lou and her singing them together. lydia... probably hip-hop or funk-pop.

that's all the main and side characters... idk what michael and mehgan would listen to uh... also jazz???? maybe??? i don't know enough about tray or icebat to say what they'd listen to... BUT GIBBERISH CAT WOULD LISTEN TO BREAKCORE MUSIC HANDS DOWN

[mermaidsirennikita]

so i know the globes are no longer relevant (or at least they shouldn't be) but i will still be asking for your thoughts on the nominations.

Hahahaha thanks for your consideration!

Best Picture--Drama: I'm so glad to see Past Lives nominated! It was really gorgeous and made me cry and was touching in a way I didn't expect.

Oppenheimer obviously was going to get nominated. It's probably my favorite Nolan movie besides The Prestige (which SLAPS) so I'm fine with this. It is very impressive, even if it's a sausage fest per Nolan and it probably runs too long and has some issues (the depiction of women).

Kills of the Flower Moon... is one of my favorite movies this year. I will acknowledge critiques from Osage people noting that it is a white perspective, which I agree with; I also agree with the comments that it is the best possible perspective someone like Scorsese could offer. The acting is phenomenal across the board, the visuals are stunning, it actually EARNED its runtime, and the writing is really strong. Fantastic movie, should win this category in my opinion.

I haven't seen Maestro but based on the various issues I'm seeing surrounding it and Bradley Cooper doing... the most... for promo, I'm very turned off by it right now. I will see it in order to critique it honestly, but I'm not super thrilled to see it here.

Haven't seen the other two. This will be a battle between Oppy and KOTFM imo.

Best Picture--Musical/Comedy: I don't see a world where Barbie doesn't win this. I thought Barbie was a lot of fun, and Ryan Gosling was fab. But I don't really fully subscribe to the hype.

I'm excited for Poor Things but haven't seen it; I love Yorgos's eye and I think he and Emma do make a great team, even if I'm meh on her in general.

The Holdovers I haven't seen and don't super want to see but my brother says he's forcing me to see it so I guess I will.

May December is a great movie. It's not a comedy in any way, shape, or form. But this category usually does that so I'm not surprised. This is a dark, intense, heartbreaking, tragic movie. It's deeply disturbing. I love it, but it's not a comedy.

Haven't seen the other two.

Best Director: Again, BCoops is being insufferable and I generally dislike everything I'm hearing about this. Sorry you didn't get an Oscar nom for ASIB my guy, get over it.

I knew Greta would be nominated and I will say that I love the visuals of that movie, but I think the visual greatness of Barbie is super dependent on the production and costume design, so... I'm not saying it isn't deserved, but I'm not in love with it.

Again, haven't seen Poor Things by Yorgos is fab.

Nolan was a foregone conclusion, I think the movie does look great and is very interesting.

Scorsese should win, sorry, he put his heart and soul into that movie and you could tell with every bit of it. Listen, people can dog this man out all they want, but he is THAT GUY and I consider him one of the last Truly Legend Status directors working right now, so. I think this will go to Oppenheimer, but. Meh.

And again, I'm happy to see Celine Song nominated! Past Lives had a really unique vibe to it and I think she offered a film that we don't see as much of anymore.

Screenplay--Based on what I've seen on this list, should be KOTFM, I can see it going to Barbie. Oppy being written in the first person might woo some people, though.

Best Actor--Drama: Should absolutely be Cillian, he carried that movie and it wouldn't have worked without him. Just a fabulous performance. I can see Leo maaaaybe edging him out? He was really good in KOTFM. It is truly wild to me that Barry was nominated, lol, I haven't seen a rush of buzz for him in Saltburn though he is the best part of the movie. I don't think it was his best work, compared to Banshees.

Best Actress--Drama: If this isn't Lily Gladstone I'll screech. Incredibly moving, and another movie where this thing would not have worked if anyone else had played that role. I don't see this category being super competitive against her.

Best Actress--Comedy/Musical: I can see them giving it to Margot for the press. I think Emma has had the strongest buzz of this category, but Fantasia could totally dark horse it.

Best Actor/Comedy Musical--I have no opinion on this, but I'm going for Jeffrey Wright because he's generally so good.

Best Supporting Actor--Charles Melton DESERVES this, people. He's amazing in May December. Heart crushing. An absolute breakout revelation performance.

One person I could see him giving him a run for his money is De Niro, because he was also amazing in KOTFM. Absolutely loathsome. I can also see them giving it to RDJ, because he is entertaining in Oppy, and I'm getting "it's time" vibes, which I hate... but Charles has also been cleaning up with smaller critics' awards.

Best Supporting Actress--Da'Vine is getting some great reviews, I feel like she's got a really good shot. Julianne is very good in May December, but she's also a very decorated actress. Um, sorry, Emily Blunt was not anything special in Oppy and if she gets this I'll be so baffled.

Best TV Series--Drama: I can see this going to Succession or possibly The Last of Us. Succession has the final season going for it, and it was actually amazing. TLOUS has fandom hype going for it, which the Globes likes. The Diplomat won't win, but fwiw I liked that show a lot.

Best TV Series--Comedy: Abbott Elementary better win is all I'll say. The Bear and Barry shouldn't even be in this category lol.

Best TV Actor--Drama: I feel like this will be a duke it out between Jeremy and Kieran. I'd be thrilled with either winning, but Jeremy's already won and Kieran has an "it's his time" vibe, his last shot to win with what may end up being the defining performance of his career. Brian Cox is such a dick for submitting in this category and the awards shows are such dicks for nominating him, lol.

Best Actress--TV Drama: If Sarah Snook doesn't win I'm burning this city to the ground. Why is Emma even nominated lmao. I do love a Keri Russell, but nah man, nobody here compares to Snook.

Best Actress--TV Comedy: Tbh I think Elle gave the best performance in this category.... easily.... but Quinta is great and I'd love to see her win, too.

Best Actor--TV Comedy: I don't care for any of these nominees. Nicholas Hoult outsold everyone here, bummer that he doesn't have a nom.

Best Supporting Actor-TV: I'd love for Alan Ruck to pick something up, but Matty Mac did once again obliterate lol. Askars was amazing but I don't think he had enough PUNCHY moments.

Best Support Actress--TV: Elizabeth Debicki was great but didn't have the material, imo. Christina Ricci would be my pick here, but I feel like it's gonna go to Hannah Waddingham because last season and all that.

Best Limited Series--Beef is easily the best one here, but the horrible way that the casting controversy was handled may have ruined their shot. In that sense, I think Steven gave the best performance but it could go to Matt Bomer or Jon Hamm. For actress, I would've picked Ali Wong but.... Also, I will say, nobody saw Dead Rings but me apparently but I'm so glad Rachel Weisz got nominated here because she was INCREDIBLE. Will probably go to Brie Larson knowing my luck, though I don't think Lessons in Chemistry made the impact they thought it would.

Best Supporting Actress--Limited: Glad to see Carla here, she was great. I have no idea who this will go to but it probably won't be here lmao. Also, The Fall of the House of Usher should've gotten a nom for best Limited, but c'est la vie the awards shows hate horror. Also, I don't know if this is controversial but brave... I would've nominated Bruce for Best Actor. That could be my weird attraction to him in that role speaking, though.

[dogwittaablog]

You opened this can of sardines for me the topic of employed Nolan/what is he gonna do now. Buckle in Buckaroos as I spout some nonsense.

1. He can go work for the NHL (kinda unlikely at this point imo). Despite not being able to play he seems to actually enjoy hockey still. His dad back in his early career had always said that he was a very analytical watcher, replaying parts of games over and over again to figure out what they were doing. I can see him somewhat settling behind a bench as a playmaker, and being a little shit about it. Like making the most annoying but legal plays. I can also see him becoming a bit of an advocate for players and head injuries considering what he's had to go through.

Even if not directly behind the bench or in the NHL there is a possibility for him to work with a smaller team or a more behind the scenes role. It would be private enough for him I feel.

2. Hunting (more likely). Even in pre NHL interviews he constantly brought up his love for the wilderness and hunting and possibly being a hunting guide. This I feel is the most likely possibility. Opening like a little Patrick's hunting guides venture. If I'm being a bit more optimistic and whimsical, an actual hunting store to sell supplies.

This might also mean more social media pat as he promotes himself. He's an advocate for ethical hunting and consuming so I can see him pushing that angle and teaching about how to respect and use the animals.

3. He has a tiktok, "Why the flyers can eat my ass (NHL exposed) Part 1 of 12.

4. Joins Mt. Joy (this is the crack fic one). He's close to the band, can play guitar. Why not? Write a few songs for them, date their pianist (I think that's her role?) Would b cute.

Sorry for rambling, but I do genuinely hope he ends up okay in the end and settles down well after everything he's been through. He doesn't seem like a bad guy and holy fuck has he been put through the wringer. I want him to be okay and succeed in something and not have everything he does be over analyzed by everyone ya know.

(Imma tack this on at the end, I agree at what he was getting with with the mailloux thing cause Trudeau absolutely sucks, but my god man has poor wording choices.)

Hahahaha living for the in detail post! Feel free to ramble I’m all ears.

I think jumping in an NHL job after what he had to go through would be pouring salt on an open wound, for now at least. Realistically it’d be a solid real job to have, tho it’s probably still gonna be way too much attention for him even if it’s behind the scenes. It’d give people too much to talk about. Would be pre sweet if he even took up coaching for a local team, whatever age really.

Please if dude was desperate for money or just to do something I was even thinking how he would probably debate joining his dad in real estate and work for him 😭😭😭😭

Don’t think money is an issue tho, cause he gives me vibes he’s pretty frugal and just living life lmao. Also Manitoba isn’t the most expensive place to live in to what I’m aware of.

Conclusion I really don’t think hes finding a job that’s about $$$ but something he enjoys and what he aligns with, so the hunting and fishing guide is 100% Though he has so many resources to branch out in multiple things.

[innactives-blog]

“Stanley, I wasn't trying to send you away with the journal to get rid of you... You were just the only person I knew I could trust. I'm still... upset about the science fair project, but... I have missed you, Stan. And I'm... I'm sorry you've been through so much."

Stan's breath hitched. Sorry... When had anyone told him sorry before? Crampelter never apologized, and Pa most definitely didn't, and Ford never had to before, but he was now and wasn't even apologizing for something he'd done. He was just... sorry life had been so shitty to Stan. Tears prickled his eyes, but he swore he wasn't about to cry in front of his brother, too. Instead, he did what he always did; Deflect.

▲▲▲▲

"Maybe, maybe not. Sure hope so, though, 'cause we're all gonna need to work together to make this work."

Fiddleford quirked a brow, eyes wide. "Well, cut off my legs an' call me shorty! You actually sound sane! Most people I've seen 'round here are a few clowns short of a circus, y'know? Even Ford's a lil... well... crazy."

Nolan chuckled. "I get it. Folks 'round here are certainly... eccentric, and they don't really recognize when something is 'weird' anymore. When you live with gnomes rootin' through your trashcans and manotaurs punching your car, nothin' will faze you."

▲▲▲▲

Rico grabbed the man's throat, shaking him. "How," he growled. "do you know that? Any of that?"

"Because," the man wheezed, still smiling wide. "I know you, and I know Stan, and I know where Stan is. You're looking for him but can't find him. Lemme tell ya, you'll never find him here. He's not in Utah."

"New Mexico?"

"Not there either."

"Then where is he?"

The man smiled, eyes glinting yellow in the light of the setting sun. "You ever heard of a place called Gravity Falls, Oregon?"

▲▲▲▲

Some of my favorite moments from chapter 11 of “Meet Me On The Strange Trails”, Way Out There. This chapter was so much fun to write lol! I’m kind of excited to write more from Rico’s point of view, too 😈

Also, something I feel like pointing out because it’s a detail I really like: Toward the end of the chapter there’s a line that says ‘The man smiled, eyes glinting yellow in the light of the setting sun.’

This line is a reference to one of my favorite Lord Huron songs, “Setting Sun”.

“Now that the deed is done

I’m just waiting for night

And the fading light of the setting sun.”

[doux-amer]

I watched Barbie and Oppenheimer and they were just...okay. :/ I think I already talked about Barbie a bit. Tl;dr: it was aesthetically pleasing, but pacing and writing were horrific, Barbie's arc was all over the place and expected, and it was really dated and tried to do like three different things that didn't end up doing any of those three things well).

With regard to Oppenheimer, I didn't hate it, but I feel like it, more than any of his movies I've seen (and enjoyed or was neutral about), highlighted Christopher Nolan's limitations and inexperience with certain things.

It felt like it was two movies squeezed into one unsuccessfully, and I'd rather it have picked one. I actually think it might've been better as a limited series, but they would have never made one for lots of reasons. The pacing and editing were odd, distracting, and confusing and same goes for some cinematographic choices; the narrative choices were sooooo rudimentary to the point of being a bit childish (omg please...I wanted to take a red pen and start slashing away at the script and writing notes); and I don't know if it was just my theater, but the sound was awful. This isn't unique to Oppenheimer as we've all been aware of for several years now, but I was straining to hear a lot of the dialogue and when there was loud music, it was virtually inaudible.

The star-studded cast prevented me from immersing myself in the movie too because it screamed "BIG STUDIO MOVIE BY BIG DIRECTOR ABOUT BIG PROJECT EVERYONE IS DYING TO BE IN!" It became a game of "who's who" for me at some point. We could've gotten away with casting newbies, guys, especially for the bit roles.

And some of the actors didn't impress me; Florence and Robert were okay which is disappointing because I'm very fond of them. I'm not sure why everyone was raving that this is a RDJ Oscar nom; tbh, I thought he slipped into his usual mannerisms and RDJ-ness in the second half/last third of the movie. Still good of course because he knows how to act, but it felt like he was treading familiar territory for me despite the very different character he's playing. But he's also such a unique actor and person that it's hard to ignore all the things that make him him; it can be hard for me to forget he's RDJ. :/ Still excited that he's taking on projects like this and The Sympathizer!

But I guess...the reason why I didn't hate it was because I at least like the fact that Nolan's trying something new and I'm giving him some grace because of that? And there are still things he does that I like and the talent is there. AND OF COURSE Cillian. He made the movie. I understand wanting to put your blorbo in everything you do (this is like Bong Joonho and Song Kangho for me lakdfjsa), and what a great blorbo to have. He was SO SO SO good and I forgot how much I love watching him act and how much I missed seeing him. Everything he did was *chef's kiss *mwah.

[mayachroniquecinema]

2

HIzma HamidFollow19 JUNHello! I'm studying Film and Creative Writing and would love to get into writing screenplays professionally some day.I mostly write silly stories, articles and short film screenplays, but I have some ideas bubbling away for some cool feature length films too. I'm a big fan of David Fincher, Spike Lee and Guillermo Del Toro."WHATS IN THE BOX?!?!!?" -Se7en (Fincher, 1996) 100% one of my favourite scenes of all time, the perfect tragic ending.  Like Reply Bookmark Report

LCLaura CarterFollow18 JUNI’m curious to find out if I’m cut out to be a screenwriter. That’s my interest in this course. Like Reply Bookmark Report

KRKigudde RogersFollow18 JUNHello i am Rogers a writer and director i have done both in my first project so i need more work toajor in directing Like Reply Bookmark Report

ASAndy Rey Singh MatosFollow17 JUNHi I am a writer and an artist I am here for curiosity and love for learning. Most memorable line dialog in a film: My reign has just begun - Emilia Clarke Daenerys Targaryen in Game of thrones - that scene repeats itself in my head over and over again and i don't even know why Thank you(edited) Like Reply Bookmark Report

PSPriyanshu SharmaFollow17 JUNHey Everyone,I'm an engineering student and self proclaimed film enthusiast. Screenplay seems to be a very crucial part of any movie or film and thus I am extremely curious about it's nuances.My Favorite segment from a film is from the movie called Moneyball, the last scene when Brad Pitts Character is driving on a highway listening to a CD of his daughter singing a song and calling him a loser in jest. Like Reply Bookmark Report

Maria BakerFollow16 JUNHey all!I'm a journalist and wannabe filmmaker. I'm pretty much new to screenwriting but have been writing novels and stories so hope that helps, ha!I really love the works of Jordan Peele, Wes Anderson and Edgar Wright.One of the most memorable lines is from The Dark Knight (and no I didn't try to copy Jordan haha, I just love Batman!): "Some men just want to watch the world burn.” Like Reply Bookmark Report

JRJordan RoweFollow15 JUNHi there, i am new to screenwriting I hope in the future to write a script for a high profile film/tv show that people will enjoy for years to come! My favourite film of all time is The Shawshank redemption and my favourite director is Martin Scorsese. The most memorable line in the film of the top of my head right now is from The Dark Knight by Christopher Nolan, when Joker says "do you want to know how i got these scars?"  Like1 Like 1 Reply Bookmark Report

ETEkaterina TzvetkovaFollow13 JUNHi there! I'm a recent graduate of the Contemporary Media Practice course, I don't have much experience in Screenwriting, but I'm willing to learn. My favourite directors and screenwriters are Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino. The most memorable line of a movie on the top of my head right now is "I'm simply not there" (American Psycho, 2000).  Like Reply Bookmark Report

Jay TelfordFollow13 JUNHi, I am entirely new to screenwriting, but I have always had a fascination with it.My favourite genre tends to be sci-fi and fantasy, however, I do not limit myself to box office movies. I have enjoyed many direct to TV movies, and TV series.If you were to ask me what my all-time favourite movie was, then it would have to be Planet of The Apes (1968), and it is from that same movie that my favourite line of dialogue comes: "Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!" This line is significant because by using the derogatory terms "filthy paws" and "stinking ape," Taylor (played by Charlton Heston) challenges the apes' belief in their own superiority and highlights the injustice of their treatment of humans. However, when the line is taken within the context of the wider themes of the movie, it becomes evident that Taylor is not actually challenging the apes themselves, but rather the prejudices and assumptions of the audience, and their treatment of their fellow man. It is a line that I come back to repeatedly in one form or another, while creating profiles for my game characters.That line, and Heston's portrayal of Taylor has been a lifelong inspiration. Like Reply Bookmark Report

André BarreiraFollow13 JUNHey I'm André, I'm from Portugal and want to learn how to write a screenplay. My favorite movie is Pulp Fiction and my favorite directors is Quentin Tarantino. I hope I can learn to write a good screenplay^^ Like Reply Bookmark Report

Angela HolmesFollow09 JUNHey everyone, I'm Angie. I'm an actor and writer looking to gain more skills in creating screen scripts. I'm also a self-published author, so I'm not totally new to characters and story, but it's always good to learn and keep practicing! One of my favourite movies is the classic Casablanca, which I think has some of the best lines of dialogue ever, and I don't just mean the most quoted ones! Like Reply Bookmark Report

BCBrendan CairnsFollow07 JUNI'm Brendan, I love film for these reasons, creating worlds that people feel uncomfortable in. Ones that may leave you with a question or many. Attempting to understand parts of film or what a creator has intended are the conversations I enjoy having, and I tend to see these conversations open up other parts of humans minds, expanding them, changing them even.My goal is to allow for these spaces, to have people think about the multi layered ideas within scripts and uncover them together like finding treasure.I am inspired by people like Jordan Peele, Keegan Michael Key, Christopher Nolan and Boots Riley. Things in there movies dont make sense until you think further on the idea, One of my favorite endings to a movie is from Inception. "will they wont they", "was its real or".... "When is it the dream and when is it reality?"I continue to beg this question. Like Reply Bookmark Report

HSHASSAN SEPHAVANDFollow06 JUNI hope that in this course we can learn with each other's help and take responsibility for each other in learning and teaching. Thank you for your cooperation. Like Reply Bookmark Report

HSHASSAN SEPHAVANDFollow06 JUNThat is a good idea Like1 Like 1 Reply Bookmark Report

Danielle TavaresFollow06 JUNHello everyone! I'm from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. And I'm doing this course because I write short stories and books, so I believe it1ll help me better develop them. Like2 Likes 2 Reply Bookmark Report

MOMorenike OkeniyiFollow06 JUNHey, I am Mo from Nigeria. I am a Literature Teacher who wishes to improve my knowledge so I can be in tune with the latest trend in film making. Like Reply Bookmark Report

ELElvire LarFollow05 JUNHi, I'm not a writer nor a storyteller, but I'm looking forward to learning the basics of writing on dialogues, stories, feelings… Like Reply Bookmark Report

ANAbinav NarayananFollow02 JUNHello everyone, I'm Abinav, an undergraduate student at University of Wisconsin Madison majoring in communication arts (Film, Tv and Radio Track). Films have always had a profound impact on me right from my childhood till now. Damien Chizelle is one of my favorite screenwriters right now. His work teleports the viewer to a different world altogether. Some of my favorite dialogues are from Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.  Like Reply Bookmark Report

AvAnurag vFollow03 JUNHey Abinav, Damien Chizelle and Christopher Nolan are two of my favorite directors. I am passionate about film direction and I wanted to learn screenwriting as it'd strengthen my storytelling. Let's connect if you are open to collaborating on writing screenplays. Instagram - anurag_vallamsetty Like Reply Bookmark ReportMLYour reply. 0/1200

NyNiranjana yogeshFollow03 JUNHey, I am Niranjana! I work as a social media executive at an advertising agency. Screenwriting is a hobby that I am hoping to develop in the next few years along with my full-time job. I have a few script ideas but am unable to fully develop them into a proper script. Hoping to better my skills through this course :)My favorite quote would be, 'It's difficult to accept the difference between who you are in your head and who you are in the world', from The Kid Detective (2020).

[hyuckworld]

need to binge the masterlist…. long overdue but ๐·°(⋟﹏⋞)°·๐ (˃̣̣̥ᯅ˂̣̣̥) "(っ- ‸ - ς)ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 (꩜ᯅ ꩜｡) ദ്ദി˙ ᴗ ˙ ) interpret this message

also i have almost (almost......) forgiven you for The Crime™ but i will be mourning its loss while i read this #seventeen fluff fic…….. also can’t say i’m surprised about mingyu being bullied but mc better than me because i would Not let him be my EX

vernon already going through it at work and then there’s mc god (Pretending I Don’t Know What Vernon’s About To Be Put Through) but oml him geeking over how pretty she is what if i Die <///3 the disney movie discrimination is CRAZYYY if vernon was woke enough he would’ve been even More down bad after the disney princess movie question

He tried, as confidently as he could, to voice out his supposed opinion. “Nolan’s Inception is one of the greatest films ever made.”

LMFAOOOO THIS MADE ME LAUGH TOO SORRY VERNON of course he’s a christopher nolan fanboy 🤮

HIM TAKING HIS SISTERS MOVIE SET IS INSANEEEEE i would never forgive him fr but also from mc’s perspective…… waoww ❤️ he want me so bad ❤️

vernon: Mingyu was the biggest piece of shit to grace the halls of his university me: 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 #NEEDTHAT

Your smirk deepened. “Judging by your blush, you’re either terrible at lying…or,” you offered, voice lowering a little as you drummed your fingers against the counter, “You’ve never had a hot girl this close to you.”

my queen why en GET HIM AGAIN!!!!!

this might as well be a contract killing with the way they’re about to swipe mingyu’s entire collection Tbh but ACTUALLY SO VALID BECAUSE WHY IS MINGYU SLANDERING MC LIKE THIS 😡 also vernon feeling guilty for being an asshole because of his hate boner for mingyu #truelove

AND VERNON AGREEING TO THIS PLAN WITH ZERO CONTEXT OF WHAT IT IS LIKE HE IS DOWN HORRENDOUSSSS he’s so valid tho don’t let anyone hurt ur queen <3

“Please tell me, Miss Bond, how are you planning to carry this out?” You offered him an incredulous look. “I don’t know what that reference means, I’m too pretty.”

LMFAOAOOA THIS IS THEE BEST TWO LINER ok three but like. ok just the dialogue. ok.

vernon malfunctioning because he insinuated he wanted to see mc again and in the context of robbing mingyu’s house again GODDD WHAT A LOSERRR (i want him so bad u have no idea) (god i should’ve bullied u harder into writing that smut scene)

You still could not believe how your ex-boyfriend was taking this long for the realisation to hit. Even when Eric jumped up on the screen, holding onto the ship’s ropes, the watcher only regarded the character intently, as if he was somehow part of the stranger film.

LMFAOOO WHY DID IT TAKE HIM SO LONG TO REALIZE FUCKKK he just secretly really enjoyed watching it ❤️ AND HIM TAKING SO LONG ON MULAN TOO i love my men useless with innate babygirlism so somehow this isn’t even giving me the ick .

VERNON HALFWAY OUT THE WINDOW AND MINGYU STILL CALLING HIM A NERD GODDD HOW ARE U GONNA ROB SOMEONE AND STILL GET GAGGED . okay wait my bad i read further and he actually followed up with the craziest line ever #ThankYouAmourCheol like wow. true literature

the way he’s so endeared even though she’s geeking out to disney Omg that is called real true love <3 UR KIDDING HES GONNA KISS HER TO THIS SONG….WWAOWW oh i killed myself i really did <3//33 WOW WOWW….. and she likes him sm missing out on TANGLED for a man like gawd. and the shrek reveal was so perfect he really matched her freak in the end

worst timeskip of my life TELL US WHAT HAPPENED IN BETWEEN. also the fact that it was to shrek goddd they were boning to all star

THE BARBENHEIMER SCENE LMFAOOOO kitten and the reader killed themselves after reading that thank u mc Okay waow. CUTEST FACKING FIC EVER i need to die at the way he was ready to commit crimes for mc from beginning to end. his down badness needs to be studied. in a lab. with me as head scientist. anyways that was beautiful and i think fia ficology also needs to be studied because how does it hit every single time!!!!!!!

𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐨-𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝

❝Who knew all it takes is a hot girl with top-tier taste for a man to admit he's wrong?❞

𝒈 𝒆 𝒏 𝒓 𝒆 : fluff, comedy, suggestive, college! au

𝒘 𝒐 𝒓 𝒅 𝒄 𝒐 𝒖 𝒏 𝒕 : 21.7k words

𝒔 𝒖 𝒎 𝒎 𝒂 𝒓 𝒚 : self-proclaimed movie mastermind chwe vernon minds his business—whether that be avoiding the popular, problematic kids in his college to reducing customer interest in his parents' film store. his plan of isolation, however, is completely destroyed when you, a seemingly insane disney fan, slam his perfect movie taste and ask for his help to take down an evil ex.

𝒄 𝒐 𝒏 𝒕 𝒆 𝒏 𝒕 : loosely inspired by watching the detectives, film major! vernon who owns an outdated film store, fem! reader is the baddest (but also the craziest) bitch in this fic, vernon is a loser, film major! mingyu who will be violated many times in this fic sorry king, mentions of many filmbro films which will also be violated, self-indulgent mentions of some of my favourite films, a few super dark jokes nothing serious though, kissing, mentions of sex and the act of cumming (all joking wise) but no actual sex because im fearing god today (super suggestive at best), barbenheimer reference <3

𝒕 𝒂 𝒈 𝒍 𝒊 𝒔 𝒕 : @hyuckworld @junyangis @hiraethmae @lllucere @intoanothermind @kokoiinuts @shnnzsworld @lilifiedeans @talkyoongitome @vanishingboots @cookiearmy @person1fys

𝒂 𝒖 𝒕 𝒉 𝒐 𝒓 ' 𝒔 𝒏 𝒐 𝒕 𝒆 : she is finally here !! so so sorry for taking so long </3 i never thought it would be finished atp but thank you addy and alice for pushing me to complete this lil fic !! addy ur film major info birthed the filmbro slander, and alice...no smut LMAO LOSER anyway do enjoy homies <33

𝒑 𝒍 𝒂 𝒚 𝒍 𝒊 𝒔 𝒕 : if you're too shy (then let me know) by the 1975 || q&a by seventeen || wonderful women by the smiths || confidence by ocean alley || talk talk by charli xcx || oh my! by seventeen

back to masterlist

“NO, THE HOBBIT IS SET BEFORE THE LORD OF THE RINGS.”

This particular customer, however, refused to grasp the concept. “But the Hobbit was released after,” he repeated, as if he had not heard twenty minutes ago, when he first entered the store. “Wouldn’t it make sense to watch the more recent movies?”

Vernon clamped his lips together, stopping himself from saying something that would lose him a potential buyer. Well, not that it would matter much, considering the man before him could not comprehend what a prequel was, but still—he had to make this idiot understand.

“I understand that, sir, but the Hobbit is a prequel to the Lord of the Rings.” Holding onto the DVD set, he pointed to the grand picture of the movie’s protagonist. “It’s based on Bilbo Baggins’ adventures.”

“But was that not the little fellow from the Rings?”

“No, sir, that was Frodo. Bilbo is Frodo’s uncle.” The boy then clarified, tone heightening, “You know, where he reclaims his home from Smaug?”

“Smog?” The customer parroted incorrectly, scratching his hair as if the action would jog his memory. “Now why does this hobbit’s home have health violations?”

The twist of his lips was inevitable. “Smaug,” he corrected. “The dragon…the villain…the whole reason the movie was created?”

“See, I only know that one slimy creature with the ring. What was he always saying…” The man snapped his fingers, a lightbulb switching in his otherwise empty brain. “Ah, yes!” He then completely distorted his voice, rasping, “My presh-shious!”

For a split second, Vernon was a little gob-smacked at the impression. Then, he remembered he needed sales, and made sure to laugh as if that customer was the funniest man that ever stepped foot in the store. 

This particular joker, who was clearly not understanding Vernon’s analogies, instead asked, “Well, which one do you recommend?”

Ah, the fated question. 

Besides from the Lord of the Rings collection, he had been asked this very question a few too many times, when customers would browse the films on offer and ask for his opinion. Not that he considered himself an all-knowing master of movies—

He smiled. Now that was something he could chuckle about.

“Well, sir, the Lord of the Rings is a timeless classic. I would recommend it to anyone interested in a well-written, well-produced fantasy.”

The man twisted his lips. “But I don’t really like fantasy, though.” 

Vernon could not help his smile dropping. I don’t get paid enough for this.

With as much strength he could muster, he persuaded the idiot to get a rom-com instead, and ushered him out. 

He sighed, going back to the desk. The store was never busy—unsurprising, since nobody buys DVDs anymore—but that was how he liked it. The less customers that bothered him, the better. He did not want to be that type of guy, but he would rather have his own company than those who thought that the Marvel movies were God’s gift to man. (The Spiderman movies, however, he had to leave out of his apparently controversial statement).

Vernon was about to close the shop out of pure boredom when someone stepped in. 

His eyes darted to the newcomer. 

They stayed as he beheld you.

Perhaps this was a gross generalisation, but he did not expect someone so cute walking in a store this run-down. Maybe you had mistaken it for a vintage shop, planning to rob the CDs, or thought there might be decades old clothing in here. He was certain you had walked in by mistake, but then you began to browse the movie sections.

His first thought was that you seemed to have excellent taste. 

You slowed your steps in the classics section, eyes roaming at the Fan Favourites shelf which was simply movies Vernon had seen this week. Still, they were amazing fucking movies, hence their place on the shelf, now being admired by the likes of you. He wondered what you thought of the one DVD you picked up, assessing the blurb at the back. Roman Holiday. The boy could have smiled—you truly had a knack for picking out special films. 

Your fingers lingered on the movies for only a couple of minutes before you saw the desk—first the counter, and then the person behind it. 

The fact that your first instinct was to smile at the boy behind the counter had a profound effect on him.

Now, he did not want to sound pathetic; he did not know you, had never seen you before, but someone this aesthetically pleasing did not come to stores like his. Someone who picks up Roman fucking Holiday and be this cute did not acknowledge boys like him.

But Vernon Chwe will be cool about it. He will not look like a loser in front of you.

He pretended to look over some DVDs on the counter desk as you approached him. “Hey, there,” you greeted, and only then he allowed himself to look up, glancing you over. Already you had propped your arms on the top, eyes darting around the store as if finding something which deserved your attention. “I wanted to ask about a specific film. Well, films.” 

Films? Vernon really thought all the intelligent minds had rotted in this lifetime, but clearly you were an exception. “Of course,” he said, setting the movie on the side. “What genres are you interested in?” he ticked his head towards the Fan Favourites. “You were looking in the right place, to be fair.”

“Hmm?” you only spared that shelf a momentary—dismissive—glance. “Oh, sorry! I was looking for a specific box-set, but I can’t seem to find it on the shelves. I was hoping you could have it out back.”

Specific box-set? Vernon tried to contain his smile. Of course you were looking for a collection of timeless classics. “What’re you looking for?” he asked you, hoping you were going to request Hitchcock’s best. If you asked for Wong Kar-Wai’s trilogy, he might have fallen to his knees. 

You smiled at him.

Then dropped the bomb.

“I don’t know if you’d have the Disney Princess box set? You know, the complete edition?”

Vernon’s eye twitched a little. What the fuck?

Your gaze on him did not shift. “Are you okay?”

It took a moment for him to realise that you had asked him a question. “Huh? Right, sorry,” he said hurriedly, mind rushing for the many possibilities as to why you had requested a set like that. Perhaps you were braindead? No, that was too harsh. But then, who was watching Disney movies at that age?

Then an idea came into his head, and it made him feel much better. 

“So sorry about that,” he reiterated, scratching the back of his neck. “Anyway…Disney Princess set, huh?” He sighed out a laugh. “A sweet treat for your younger siblings, then.”

“Younger siblings?” A swift shake of your head, still smiling. “Haven’t got any of those.” 

The twitching was back. “...anyone under the age of 12 you know?”

“Now you’re making me sound like a freak,” you mused, locking your hands together. “Is it that shocking that I’m getting the set for myself?”

Vernon’s any attempt to diffuse the conversation died the moment you said those words.

Disney. Princess. Movies. The box-set you wanted was a Disney. Fucking. Princess box-set. 

At this rate, his eye-twitching was very much visible to you. “Don’t tell me no one’s ever bought a Disney movie from you,” you said, surprised by his change of attitude.

“Well,” he jeered, “I usually have first-time parents with their toddler kids asking me about sets like that.” 

You then titled your head back a little, taken aback with the comment. “Are you saying I’m too old to watch Disney movies?”

“No!” he instinctively defended himself, though he had virtually no defence to offer. He had, in his own words, called you a hag. 

This was it—he was usually stellar at keeping his opinions to himself. Now, the one time he could have kept his mouth shut, it spluttered open and not only embarrassed him, but one of the only cute potential customers. He was his own saboteur. His own destruction. 

After catching the flurry of emotions on his face, you had a realisation. 

Did his stupid comments get to you? Perhaps they would have, had you not seen his like before. Not only that, you had a sneaky feeling he himself had no clue on what category he was slotted into.

So you let the corners of your mouth curve upwards—up to the point where you were smirking, completely catching the boy off guard. 

“My god, you’re a filmbro!” 

Those emotions that you had witnessed now all conjoined into confusion. “Huh?” was his intelligent answer to the accusation. Filmbro?

And then you began to chuckle—little bursts of soft giggles, which escaped your mouth the more the revelation settled over you. “Wait, wait,” you began, “I need to ask this first!” You wiggled your finger at him. “What is your favourite film?”

Again, the fated question. This time, though, he felt as if his answer would not be the right one. Still—if there was one thing he was confident about, it was his expertise in films.

He tried, as confidently as he could, to voice out his supposed opinion. “Nolan’s Inception is one of the greatest films ever made.” 

There was one, solitary, quiet moment.

It was ruined by the subsequent laughter, courtesy of your mouth, which could not shut after his answer. You had to grip the counter, cackling at the response, and Vernon could only gawk at you, face reddening with every second spent watching you keel over. 

After what seemed like a lifetime (but was only about thirty seconds), Vernon finally cleared his throat. “Alright now, that’s enough comedy,” he muttered.

Another thirty seconds later, you finally seemed to calm down. The mischievous mirth on your face, although would have had any man swooning at your feet, seemed to irritate him all the more. “I’m sorry,” you gasped out, wiping a slight tear from your eye, “You just…you reminded me of my boyfriend.”

Of course. Vernon nearly clicked his tongue in disappointment. Of course the pretty, borderline-mean, borderline-terrible-taste-in-movies girl was taken. Fuck my life, son.

Your smile flickered—almost as if it turned cruel. “My mistake…ex-boyfriend.”

His eyebrow then raised a little. Maybe life can be unfucked; maybe the pretty, not-that-mean-as-he-thought, changeable-taste-in-movies girl was still attainable. 

Your eyes wandered once more, but this time to your hands. “I was actually going to get the Disney Princess set for him.”

The eyebrow decided to raise further up. He was dying to know why you were 1) getting your ex-boyfriend a present and 2) getting your ex-boyfriend the worst fucking present. But of course, due to the lack of balls in his pants, he did not ask you.

The crazier notion was, maybe you knew the lack of balls that should be present in his pants, because you iterated for him. “I’m surprised you’re not asking why I’m giving my ex a Disney Princess movie set, Mr. Filmbro.”

That term had him immediately frowning. “I don’t particularly care,” he lied as best as he could. He then crossed his arms. “Plus, I’m afraid the store doesn’t have the sets. I’m gonna have to order them in.”

A tilt of your head. “Are you lying?”

The cross of his arms was gone—now his hands were raised in surrender. “No, no!” At least not the set order bit…

Although it was quite clear that you did not believe him, you spared him this once. “Alright…” you receded your arms from the desk, taking a step back. Instead, you pointed at him. “But don’t think I’m gonna leave you alone on this!” 

Vernon’s insanely suave, cool, mystique response was giving you a thumb’s up. “Of course.” 

As you walked back to the entrance, hand on the door, you looked back at him. “I’ll see you soon, Mr. Filmbro.” 

The eye-twitch was about to come back. He did not bother waving as you left the shop.

VERNON COULD NOT STOP THINKING ABOUT YOU FOR THE SEVEN DAYS BETWEEN YOU AND TODAY. 

It was slightly embarrassing—he supposed he should have expected some extraordinary meet-cute, where someone who looked and acted like you would waltz into his dusty-ass film store and ask for possibly the worst movie collection to grace the western cinema. 

But then you called him a fucking Filmbro, and now the self-hatred might bubble to the surface of his usual calm demeanour. 

The boy scoffed as he fixed the alphabetical order of the CD covers, located in the Classics section. Filmbro…what the fuck do I look like a Filmbro for…

He firstly supposed that he should consider it a compliment—so what if he had superior knowledge of movies over the average morons that wandered into the store? He was paid minimum wage for this knowledge! Fuck, he was doing a degree within this field! (Not that he was quite sure he would end up as a blockbuster director at the fine age of 21, but the arts majors were always told to dream beyond the realistic limits.)

The more he contemplated over the vicious term, the more it began to bother him. Filmbro…Film. Bro. God, it sounded like a classist clique—a club where the members considered themselves above the laws of society, but were horrendously ridiculed by the outsiders. At the end of the day, he had always been an outsider in these clubs—he did not enjoy being the laughing stock, even if it meant being a member of an elitist group. 

Whatever. So what if you called him a Filmbro? He had only spoken to you once; the opinion of one girl—regardless of how pretty she was—was not of any relevance to him.

But then you sauntered into his store, and suddenly he forgot that he was seething over you for an entire week. 

There you were, footsteps harmonising along the bells of the entrance, and he swerved back to see you. You, in all your frill-skirted, layered-shirted, gum-chewing glory, catching his eye and bringing back the smile which you had offered him the moment you bestowed him that term of little-endearment. 

“Hello again, Mr. Filmbro.”

Don’t be a prick, don’t be a prick, don’t be a prick—

It was fine—it was okay. Vernon was a man now—no longer in his teens. He could have a normal, pleasant conversation. He was mature and able enough to interact with a girl who just happened to disagree with him on certain interests. 

He would be cordial—kind.

“How can I help you, Miss Disney-Hag?”

His skin nearly crawled. I need to kill myself immediately. 

A bit of a low blow from his nickname, but you were laughing, a silly little melody. You must have been crazy, because any other sane, rational human being would have been offended—should have been offended. Vernon fought to keep his face straight. 

“I see you’ve been thinking about me then,” you said. 

That had him looking away, walking behind the counter. “It’s not everyday I get a grown-ass woman asking me about children’s films.”

You mocked a gasp, slapping a hand over your chest. “Ouch. Do you hurt every girl that walks into your filmstore, or is this special treatment reserved for me?

Vernon focused on the cash in the register. “When another girl asks for the special edition for the Cinderella trilogy, then I’ll hurt her just the same.”

You clicked your tongue. “I should have known all men suck in their own ways.” You then approached the counter, propping your elbows atop the surface. “At least show me you’re good at your job and bring me the movie set I ordered.”

At this precise moment, all the thoughts about your stubborn addiction, playful smirk and how terrible the Little Mermaid was had completely vanished.

Shit. 

Maybe his irrational dislike ran further than he thought.

“Yeah…” but then he realised he sounded incredibly suspicious, and cleared his throat, forcing a little assurance in his usual monotone. “Yes! Yeah, of course! The movie set.” He took a step back, nodding his head ever so slowly, as if his head was not churning out a million different plans. “Give me one second…”

“Sure,” you could barely get out before Vernon whirled on his heel, bursting through the backstage door, and into the Chwe flat. 

He did not know whether this was going to work out. 

Like lightning he ascended the stairs, hands brushing against the bannister as he went past his bedroom, door slightly ajar. Not the destination he was seeking, he stopped before the neighbouring door—this one firmly closed. 

The boy made sure to knock first. No answer. Perfect. Slowly turning the knob, he opened the door, peeking around just in case there was someone in the room, and then he would have to resort to more planning. Since the coast was crystal clear, though, he put his mind at ease, only focusing on the main plan.

The room he had entered was a myriad of pop culture references and childhood memories, plastered on the butterfly-covered walls, sitting atop bedside tables or hanging off the hooks. Vernon never realised how invested his sister was with certain TV shows or films till he saw Lindsay Lohan’s mugshot plastered next to her bed. He had asked about it once, but she only waved him off. You wouldn’t understand her impact, she had said to him, and went back to shitting about him to her friends. 

Prying away from the poster, his eyes settled on what he came for, settled in the middle of the huge book shelf.

Sofia prided herself with her book and movie collection, a hereditary trait which Vernon shared: the top and bottom shelves were filled with her all-time favourites, even resorting to furthering her obsessions with the merch related to her treasured characters. He remembered laughing at her ideas until he saw a Barbie FunkoPop figure staring back at him one day. That notion was already horrendous, but the black, soulless eyes had guaranteed its spot in his sleep paralysis the next day.

Thankfully, the little horror was not on show on her bookshelf—this time, right in the middle, was the very prize that he sought. 

The Disney Princess Movie Set—Complete Edition.

Packaged in pink casing, Sofia’s most treasured piece sat, almost with its head held high as the other movies orbited around its pull. As far as Vernon remembered, it held all the Princess movies, and was worth at least 6 hours of his wages.

The boy looked around the room, as if his sister would appear any second.

Then, like a thief in the night (even though it was broad daylight, and would definitely be caught), he swiped the set off the bookshelf, and hurried out of her room.

“Sorry, Sofe,” he could only murmur under his breath as he dashed down the stairs, hoping you had not been bored by his absence, and left him with stolen goods at the scene of the crime.

He opened the door adjacent to the shop, and he almost sighed in relief when you perked up, eyes darting straight to your apparent order. When he saw your face light up like fireworks in the night sky, he titled his head back a bit, stunned by your boisterous reaction.

“You actually bought it!” you exclaimed, drumming your hands against the counter as he set the movies down. “I had a feeling you would blow me off.”

“Business is business,” Vernon said, crossing his arms, “Shit taste in movies will not stop me from making my money.”

You clicked your tongue. “Spoken like a business major.”

“Film major, thank you. I would rather kill myself than submit to the horrors of finance.”

“Don’t die on me just yet.” Bringing out your purse, you fished through its contents, first setting your card on the counter. Then, you brought out a crumpled piece of paper. “I actually have a few more films I want to ask about.”

The boy was expecting another long list of early 2000s rom-coms—perhaps an opinion for every Disney movie ever made in its existence. He swore if he had to hear about Rachel McAdams’ versatility one more time, he might blow his brains out in front of a customer. 

Then you dropped the names, and he had to surge his head forward.

“What are your thoughts on Wolf of Wall Street, American Psycho, Pulp Fiction…Fight Club, Saving Private Ryan, Scarface…” You squinted at the list, finding the names neverending. “Jeez, this list keeps going, huh?” 

He could not help the scoff. “And you called me a Filmbro.” He set his forearms on the counter, locking his hands together. “What do you need these movies for?”

“They’re for my ex-boyfriend.” 

The term had him pausing. Of course—the ex-boyfriend. How has he heard of this man, but not know a thing about him? Shit, he did not even know your name.

“This ex of yours has…an interesting taste,” he said slowly. “What’s he like?”

“I can tell you he attends the same college as you. Well, us,” you clarified, jerking your head towards the college colours of your server’s hoodie. “Film major. Just like you, actually.” 

“Oh?” Small world. “What’s the name?”

“Kim Mingyu. Do you know him?” 

Vernon Chwe nearly shit his oversized jeans.

A hesitant nod of his head. “I have a few classes with him.”

“Oh?” Your stare was a little more intense now. “What do you think of him?”

Right. 

Another fated question—the people around him had to stop asking him such controversial questions, or else he was bound to piss someone off. You were already letting him off the hook too many times; one more judgemental comment, and he was having that Princess movie set smashed on his head.

Kim Mingyu. Fuckass Kim Mingyu. Film major—just like him. One of the most popular boys in the year—very unlike him. All the teachers love his essays, all the girls love his freakishly-perfect six-pack, which Vernon is extremely irritated (and devastatingly intimidated) by. 

What all these people failed to realise, though, was that Mingyu was the biggest piece of shit to grace the halls of his university—and the planet, if dramatics were in order. If you thought that Vernon was a filmbro, then Mingyu was Filmbrother. Filmcomrade. Filmnemesis. 

It was as if you could hear the thoughts churning in his head. “You can be honest, you know. He did dump me at the end of the day.” A smirk began to appear. “Say your worst.”

The reassurance did not help. “I mean,” he started, swiping your card, “He’s okay? I haven’t talked to him enough to have an opinion on him.” 

A half-truth—that should suffice. 

But because the fates like to shit on his head every now and then for kicks, they decided to leave you unsatisfied with his answer. “Or, you can keep lying!” 

Excellent intuition, really. “I’m not!” he exclaimed, slapping the card back on the counter. “I really don’t know much about him.”

The big man upstairs was testing him even further, when, with a determined gaze, you set your elbows atop the surface. You leaned closer, tilting your head to the side as you inspected him, and Vernon blinked back at the sheer lack of space you had created. His mouth twisted, eyes frantically darting at the features of your face, not quite taking in the entirety of your being. Your vision seemed to work perfectly, because it caught the slight flush at the tops of his cheeks, where it was just pale skin seconds before.

Your smirk deepened. “Judging by your blush, you’re either terrible at lying…or,” you offered, voice lowering a little as you drummed your fingers against the counter, “You’ve never had a hot girl this close to you.” 

Fuck everything and everyone, because that only made him blush more furiously. You could not help the chuckle that escaped, deciding to cease torturing him and take your card. “I’ll not say the answer, Mr. Filmbro, but I think you already know.”

Since he had no plans of turning into a human form of a ketchup bottle, he evaded the topic entirely, instead focusing on interrogating you. “You still haven’t told me how Mingyu is related to the movie list you made.”

That seemed to hold your interest. “Oh, of course!” Putting the list back into your bag, you began, “Well, the list holds my ex-boyfriend’s favourite films. I wanted to know your opinion on a few.”

He could not contain his sigh. Oh, he had an opinion on these films that you mentioned. Again, he would rather be buried with his thoughts on the specific genre than ever tell you. The curiosity, though, was eventually going to eat him alive.

So much for minding his business.

“I mean…” he began to think, trying to find the right words. “I don’t mind them? Godfather is a good film, but I’ve seen better from Brando. I like American Psycho, but again, people tend to miss the point of the movie.”

As you nodded, listening to his two-cents on the movies you mentioned, he paused, furrowing his brows. “Why do you care about my opinion?”

You smacked your lips together, folding the list back. “I don’t know much about you, Mr. Filmbro,” you began, “But you don’t run a filmstore without knowing a thing or two about the films you sell.”

“So?” He crossed his arms atop the counter. “Shouldn’t you have asked the guy who you made the list about?”

“Trust me,” you said, your smirk turning more into a rageful flash of teeth, “I know exactly what he thinks of these films.”

Don’t particularly know what to make of that comment. “Well, I don’t know what my opinion for these films is going to help you in any way.”

“It has helped.” You paused then, waiting to see if he would egg you on, asking how his seemingly tame opinions would play into the grand scheme of things. “All part of my master plan.”

Master plan? Vernon may have been interested before, but he was certain that, before, he could have hid it without letting you catch onto it. In a sudden flash, though, as if his mouth was beyond his control, he regrettably slipped out the words which had you smiling more than he would have liked.

“What master plan?”

He almost closed his eyes. Shit. Now I’m fucking invested.

The corners of your mouth, lifting upwards, had him almost nervous. “I was hoping you would say that.” 

Great. Brilliant. Fantastic. Fucking Stupendous. Vernon could not think of other pretentious synonyms. “I will tell you, Mr. Filmbro,” you began, once again settling your locked hands on the counter, “If you help me out with it.” 

That had his eyebrow shooting upwards. “What does that mean?”

“Exactly what I intended.” A pause. “Look, I know it’s a little crazy…being asked by someone to help in some mysterious plan. But hey!” you added, “You know who the target is, and you know I can be trusted.”

“Calling your ex-boyfriend a target makes this sound like a contract killing. Also, I actually don’t know that,” he corrected, crossing his arms. “The only thing I know about you is your weird obsession with children’s movies.”

“Well, buddy, that’s basically my entire personality, so you don’t need to know any more!”

Vernon sucked in a breath. “I don’t even know your name.”

Your eyes darted to his features, the sharp brows, the speculative eyes, the flared nostrils. His lips, which were twisted in a curious, bemused line. “That’s an easy problem to solve.” You decided to battle his frown with a smile. “_____.”

_____. At least he knew one important thing about you. He swore Mingyu had mentioned your name before, but then he should not also hold certainty—that boy’s favourite subject had always been himself. 

You snapped him out of his thoughts. “This is when you tell me your name now…or do you enjoy being called a filmbro?”

Man…he could not look you in the eye afterwards. “I don’t…” he got out, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “And it’s Vernon. Chwe Vernon.” 

“Vernon,” you repeated, lips curling upwards. “Alright, Vernon, since both of us know each other’s names, you can definitely help me now!” 

The said-boy tried to smile, which was more a grimace. “Well…”

“Tell you what,” you said, trying to find something in your bag. “Wait, give me a second…shit, where is that piece of paper…?” You finally managed to fish a crumpled piece out. “Right!” After catching sight of a pen lying around the counter, you took it and scribbled something quickly, sending it his way.

Taking it, he looked at the messy scribbles—your number. “You’re looking at it as if I passed you a death threat,” you snickered. Vernon gave an uneasy smile. “Just think it over. I need movie expertise, and there’s no one else I know who can help me more than a guy who runs a film store.”

The boy behind the counter listened to you, paper still in hand. Maybe Mingyu made some points breaking up with you—you did not know who Vernon was, save for the name that was tied to him, and the job he was forced to do by his parents. Realistically, he had to decline, because if he has ever learned something in his life—or from watching a myriad of golden age romantic tragedies—is that you never trust the beautiful, crazy girls. 

“Hey,” he heard you say, and he swore your chirp had softened. “I’ll go ahead with my plan in a week’s time. If I don’t hear from you, then I’ll know your answer. You don’t have to tell me now.” When he looked at you, he saw your expression shift. “That’s why I only gave the paper.” 

He supposed he could appreciate this sentiment. “Thanks,” he could only say, pocketing your number. “Is there…anything else you want? Aside from the—” a snide glance at the DVD set—”the movie?” 

“I saw that,” you scoffed, taking hold of the movie set. “And no, I’m alright. I’ll bother you about children’s movies another time.” 

“I’ll make sure these children’s movies are all conveniently sold out when you come,” he countered without thinking. 

You could only shake your head, trying to contain your laugh. “Careful, or I just might bother you after the plan.” 

Vernon did not know what he felt at that notion—would he want that? However, he did not have time to ponder, since you were already heading for the door. As you nearly left the store, bell ringing, he did not hear the door close. He glanced up, catching you looking at him with an indecipherable expression. “Yes?”

You waited a moment before parting your mouth. “I hope to hear from you, Mr. Filmbro.” 

With that, you swiftly exited the store, leaving this Mr. Filmbro even more helpless than he was between the seven days between your first encounter, and now this very second. 

“JO MADE SENSE WITH FRIEDRICH AT THE END. SHE SIMPLY…NEEDED A MAN AFTER PINING FOR LAURIE.”

The professor listened in the small circle, the rest of the students typing or writing down the answer. “Like, realistically,” Mingyu went on, twisting his mechanical pencil between his fingers, “The whole point of the movie is her relationship with Laurie, and that was shattered the moment he married Amy. Friedrich was like…” he pouted in thought, furrowing his brows. “The light at the end of the tunnel…does that make sense, Minghao?”

The said-man nodded. “Interesting take,” he noted, walking closer to the circle he was teaching. “So you agree that Jo needed Friedrich at the end of the film?”

“Absolutely.”

There were a few murmurs around the room, majority of them agreeing with the golden boy who was sitting at the head of the circular, white table. Vernon, who was sat one girl away from him, typed furiously in his laptop, adding to his notes. MINGYU IS A FUCKING IDIOT…CINEMATICALLY ILLITERATE…BORDERLINE MISOGYNIST…Okay, perhaps he was exaggerating on the last one, but his analysis of the question pissed him off. 

Did Jo need Friedrich at the end of the movie? Was what Professor Minghao had asked them about an hour ago. Vernon knew the answer immediately, and, although did not share it with the seminar, was surprised to be disagreed by the majority of the class. Not surprising, however, when his class was filled with men who could not imagine a woman in a film wanting anything else but a man beside her. 

Whatever, he thought, straying from the web page and instead checking the release date for Oppenheimer when he heard your name crop up amongst the discourse in the table. 

“Did _____ actually?” 

“Oh, yeah, said she thought Jo should have been on her own.” A click of tongue. “Not surprising, coming from her.” 

Vernon instantly perked up, fingers pausing on the keyboard. Not surprising? The boy was actually floored at that opinion—and how valid you were for expressing it. 

“I mean,” another girl, right next to him, chimed in, “Didn’t you say she was really stupid, Gyu?”

“God, I don’t know where to begin,” Mingyu said, aghast, and the boy who eavesdropped felt a little dread at every word that escaped his mouth. “Everytime I watched a movie with her she always got bored, or argued with me when I tried to explain shit to her.” 

“I remember we sat with her while we were tryna do our film project last semester,” the boy beside Mingyu recalled. “She had no fucking clue who Martin Scorcese was, man!” 

The group audibly gasped, save for Vernon, who could not help himself, refusing to mind his business. Nasty habit this—he made a note to call you out for this later on, should you walk into his store again. 

Fuck. He did not want that. Of course he did not. He should stop thinking about it too. 

You, that is.

“She’s gotta be the dumbest one yet, Gyu,” the boy snickered, snapping his laptop shut. 

“You don’t even know the half of it,” the dumper groaned, raking through his locks. “You know she was always watching those fucking Disney princess movies?” Vernon’s eyes widened a little. “Man, I remember she wouldn’t get enough of them. Like, what are you, six? Why the fuck am I watching a movie about a midget dragon?”

Then, Mingyu said the words that made the eavesdropper’s spirits shot down. 

“_____ may have been hot, but she was one stupid bitch. Thank god I got rid of her.” 

The others agreed. He may have spoken more on the matter of your lack of media literacy, but the professor was back, and the seminar had quietened, all in focus. 

All except for the boy who had not given his two cents on the matter, frozen solid at the conversation that occurred. What the fuck was that? He had first thought, over and over to the point that he nearly typed it in the seminar document. He had always known Mingyu was an asshole, but what he said about you gave him a very uneasy feeling.  

What sent him over the edge was that a lot of his grievances sounded identical to Vernon’s own words. 

Miss Disney Hag he had called you—to your face he had insulted your taste in films, and you had only laughed. He wondered how you felt when it was Mingyu amplifying those very opinions on a daily basis. 

A frown marred his features. Damn it. He knew he was a loser, but he did not know he was an asshole. Like Mingyu…

Vernon visibly shivered. 

As Minghao voiced out the objectives for the second half of the seminar, the boy brought his hand into his trouser pocket, slipping out the paper. He looked over your number, the messy scribbles dancing in his eyes. Darting to his phone on the table, he held it in his free hand, looking over the contacts. 

“Damn it,” he said under his breath. 

Was he going to regret this? Most probably. Will you probably make him do something that would result in a fatal injury, and land a permanent stain on his social record? One hundred percent. 

If he knew these things already, then what he should have done was toss the paper in the nearest bin. What he did instead, as he typed in some vital information in his phone, was something that changed his life (or at least the life he will live for the next few weeks).

vernon: u dont have to wait till next week 

vernon: ill help u with the plan

There. And now, he shall wait.

Which, he pondered as he saw the immediate response, was not very long. 

normal disney enjoyer: wait who tf is this??

Oops. 

vernon: oh mb this is vernon lmao

vernon: from the filmstore

normal disney enjoyer: oh damn why didn’t u say so !! freaky ass text 

vernon: ??? ive said it now tf

normal disney enjoyer: and im happy u have ;)

Well. Vernon sighed a little, trying to focus back on his work, but to no avail.

Let’s see what you have in store for the next week.

VERNON WAS WONDERING WHETHER HE STILL HAD TIME TO KILL HIMSELF. 

It could be quick—maybe if he jumped in front of the next incoming car, full speed, he might suffer a haemorrhage in his brain, and die bleeding out as his parents took him to the hospital. Of course, that does mean that it would be slow and excruciating, but he thought that nothing would be as painful as whatever you had planned for him.

Come on…maybe it won’t be that bad. Perhaps his thoughts were spiralling too quickly. Perhaps his assumptions of you were a stretch, and that all this anxiousness, pent up in him, would wash away the moment he saw your car pulling up to the store’s driveway.

He felt himself prepare mentally as, eventually, your small, red car slowed in front of him. Right before him, he saw the passenger window roll down, and he caught sight of your smiling face, teeth showing. 

Perhaps it truly would not be as bad as he imagined. 

“Get in loser, we’re going trespassing.”

Nevermind.

“Oh my God,” was the unsatisfying answer to your perfect reference. Seriously, you should not bother saving your precious material on such a lame boy, but there was something so exciting about his eyes sharply rolling, colour staining the tops of his cheeks. “I’m not doing this if you’re going to quote terrible movies the entire night.”

“First of all, fuck you. Mean Girls birthed half of your customers.” You flicked the lock on the passenger door, pushing it open. “Second, you don’t have a choice. You’ve agreed to ruin Mingyu’s life.”

“First of all yourself, I did not agree to that.” Begrudgingly, he settled shotgun, snapping the car door shut. “Second, Mean Girls was a waste of Rachel McAdams’ talent.” 

You scoffed, starting the car. “I don’t take opinions from men who can’t drive.” 

This shut the boy up nicely, clamping his lips together in quiet shame. He wished he could argue with that—you, he feared, had a good point. Despite that, it was not his fault that his parents insisted on the reliance of public transport; the bus was his greatest villain—aside from the middle school kids in his store that always ask for the next FIFA game. 

You could not help taking a second glance at him, chuckling at his defeat. “Don’t be sad, Mr. FIlmbro,” you reassured him, changing gears. “I like my men a little pathetic.” 

That did not help at all—his eyes widened, gawking at you, but you were already looking ahead, pressing your foot on the accelerator. 

“Jesus!” he exclaimed as he held onto his seat, taken aback by your sudden rush of speed. “I thought you wanted to kill Mingyu, not yourself!”

“My bad,” you only said, turning right. “I’m just so excited! You know, getting there.” 

“I can see that,” he mumbled, looking away from you into the back. Strapped in with the seatbelt, bizarrely, was Sofia’s Disney Princess Set, as if the dozen-movie box was a toddler in need of extra assistance. What the fuck…?

“I’m having these films in pristine condition, Vernon,” you explained, though it still made no sense in his head. “You understand, don’t you?”

Of course not. “Sure.” 

He waited for further explanation, which, as the silence continued, you decided to throw him the conversational bone. “I don’t just carry the set around with me, you know.”

Sure. “Of course not.” 

“It’s relevant to today’s plan,” was all you would offer, speeding more to reach the destination quicker. Vernon held onto the belt a little tighter, still eyeing the movie set rather suspiciously before focusing back on the road. 

The drive was not long—perhaps thirty minutes at most—but he knew he was leaving the rougher parts of the city when nicer neighbourhoods welcomed his vision, the litter on the roads disappearing, instead trees in an orderly line painting the sides of the pavement. The further you drove into these suburbs, the more he was surprised at the sheer luxury of the exterior of these houses; granted, he did not originate from poverty, but his idea of a holiday was three days in the comforts of his bed, bingeing the Miyazaki collection with a lifetime supply of mint chocolate chip ice cream on his lap. 

Vernon had to save his mouth dropping to the seat of the car floor when they rolled into the Kim household’s drive. 

He was aware that Mingyu derived from wealth—the former could not help noticing his pricey, flashy brands every time the taller boy sauntered into the Film Sound classes, but he did not expect this Bridgerton-ass looking house, nestled in between the other million-dollar homes in the neighbourhood. He was greeted with a clearer picture the closer you parked in their drive, surprisingly empty; it was around that moment that you noticed that all the lights were turned off in the house, almost a haunting image. 

The boy was on his way to make a comment about your terrible spying skills when you rebuffed him immediately, saying, “I know what you’re thinking. I have it covered.”

“Please tell me, Miss Bond, how are you planning to carry this out?”

You offered him an incredulous look. “I don’t know what that reference means, I’m too pretty.”

His answer to that was a thin, long line of his mouth. You chose to ignore it completely. “Mingyu’s parents are out of town right now, and his sister’s on a ski-trip in Austria.”

A glance of confusion. “In the middle of March?” 

A shrug. “You know what rich people are like.” Weirdly enough, he knew exactly what you were talking about. “But it worked out great for us.” With a hard exhale you got out of the car, the boy beside you reflecting your actions. “All the easier for what we have to do.” You opened the car door behind the driver’s one, unstrapping the seatbelt and carefully bringing out the movie set. 

“How’re we getting into the evil lair, then?” he asked dryly, crossing both his arms. “I assume the millionaires don’t happen to put a spare key under the carpet?”

“Imagine,” you said, sighing melodramatically. “I tried making them do it so I could sneak into his house, but for some reason, Mingyu never agreed to it.” 

“I wonder why,” he muttered.

“Worry not, young grasshopper!” You strolled to the very right of the house, where a thin wooden door was almost hidden from view. “Where there is a door closed, another is mysteriously open.” 

With a hard push, the door trudged back, swinging heavily away. He stared at it, not quite believing how someone can be so careless to keep their gates unlocked. “Another weakness of Mingyu’s—” You pointed at the cleared path into the house—”whenever he leaves from the garden, he never locks the gate.”

Vernon could not quite believe it. “Either the wealthy are incredibly secured in their safety, or stupid as fuck.”

“I think you know the answer to that,” you joked, going further into the journey, ushering him over. Like a siren calling his name, he followed you, unaware of the shit you might be getting him into. 

Into the fancy garden they arrived, clean-cut hedges bordering in dozens of flower bushes, peppered also with a few fruit trees—berries of every kind ripening on the green. While Vernon admired the natural luxury, you hurried to the nearby shed, where a ladder was situated right beside it. “Quick, help me out here!” you shouted in a whisper, ushering him over. Dropping the DVD set for a moment, you grunted as you held the large ladder up with his assistance, slowly making its way to the brick wall of the house. “Wait, line it up against that window over there,” you instructed, jerking your head towards the far right window, no doubt on the second floor. Once the ladder was lined up properly, you moved the boy out of the way, shaking the rails to make sure it stayed put. 

“I can’t believe we’re actually doing this,” Vernon muttered, watching you take the Disney Princess set in one hand, the other making the first step on the calendar. “We can still…you know, not commit breaking and entering.” 

“You can happily leave, Mr. Filmbro,” you offered, looking up at your destination. 

That had him scoffing. “My ass is not walking two hours back to my house.” 

“That seems more like a you problem then!” you chirped. “Now are you following me up, or pussying out?”

Once again, pussying out seemed like the obvious choice for the boy. He was not made for missions such as these—he was merely meant to watch other people act out said missions in front of his television. Unfortunately, because he was too far away from the film store, it was either sitting it out, waiting for you to come out and do something diabolical, or at least watch over you should you cross a line (if the latter were the case, then Vernon had already failed). 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he kept uttering like a mantra, waiting for you to climb up enough to hold onto the ladder as he began to follow after you. He made the mistake of looking up as you climbed up, and he got a full, HD view of your ass. He tried his very best to look away out of some semblance of respect, but you also made the mindful decision of wearing the shortest skirt known to man. His fuck, fuck fucks! rang louder, causing you to shush him.

“Stop freaking out, my guy!” you called out, right on the top of the ladder. “I know my ass is crazy built but this is not the time.”

“That’s not why I’m freaking out, _____!” he countered, but knowing you, you did not care for his explanations. He only waited as you pushed open the slight-open window, all the way to the top before climbing inside.

As he reached the top of the ladder, he watched you dust yourself before glancing back at him, ushering him inside. “Here goes nothing,” he said to himself, hands on the top of the window ledge as he put his foot on the sill, pushing himself inside. 

Vernon dropped into the unknown room, an oof! leaving his mouth as he landed rather ungraciously on his feet. Quickly, he looked up, surroundings rather dimmed due to the lack of lighting. Still, with the help of the moonlight, he could slowly make out the huge smart TV in the middle of the bedroom, beneath it a wide shelf filled with DVDs, some opened and scattered on the carpeted floor. The bed was on the opposite side, right next to the window the two of you had entered in, black and gold sheets tousled and unmade.

As you turned the light on, the boy then made out that Mingyu, in fact, did not have a bed frame, but just a mattress, with the sheets barely done properly.  The wall on his left was a full black-shutter closet, where he could see the collection of his designer clothing behind the gaps. Posters were plastered on the rest of the walls, most of them being the Tarantino classics —a reclined, raven-bobbed Uma Thurman watching him with bedroom eyes being the most prominent—with certain papers of autographs also stuck next to the posters. There was another poster—American Beauty and the girl surrounded with rose petals—which had him quickly looking away.

“Jesus,” was all he could say, but he supposed he should not have judged. He himself had only his posters in his room—except he did not have the same taste as a middle-aged incel.

“I know.” You looked around at the familiar space, and the memories you had made here. “Imagine having sex in this hellsite.”

Then the image of you having sex with Mingyu on that messy bed came into his mind, and Vernon could have combusted then and there. “I can’t imagine,” he mumbled out, walking to the door, opening to make sure no one was inside. “_____, are you sure no one’s here?”

“Swear on my life, Mr. Filmbro.”

He had to trust you now—or you had very little respect for your life. 

He kept eyeing the DVD set you had in your hand. “Are you still not gonna tell me what we’re doing with that?”

You marched over to the shelf beneath the TV, settling yourself down. “Come here and I’ll show you.” You patted the empty carpet space next to you for added emphasis.

Hesitantly, he obliged, sitting cross-legged next to you. Finger pointing as it scoured the shelf, you carefully brought out one of the films from Mingyu’s selection, all the while sliding out a Disney film from your own set. “Now, tell me,” you began, as you showed him the two movies. “Do you think The Dark Knight and Mulan are a good match?”

First pulling a face at the choice, he then resorted to keeping his twist of features as he turned to you. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“So like, you know Mulan is a woman disguising herself as a soldier in order to defeat the Huns and save her father’s honour, right,” you explained, though you had a small feeling he was not particularly listening. “And Batman is the same thing, except he dresses up as a fucking bat…stupid furry.”

Vernon could not understand how you compared one of the most beautiful, nuanced depictions of a broken, three-dimensional superhero into a furry, but he needed to get to the bottom of your plan, once and for all. “No, I mean, what are you doing? Why the hell are we here?” 

You tutted extra loud. “I’m gonna swap the CDs, dumbass!” You held up the princess movie. “Thought Mingyu could say to me that Disney princess movies sucked, huh?” Then, the classic DVD’s turn to rise. “Let’s see how he’ll like watching a talking dragon in China instead of a talking bat in Fantasyland!” 

The boy could only watch, shock growing with the successful swap of the movies, the secret Mulan CD safely tucked into the The Dark Knight’s DVD case. “It’s Gotham, actually,” he murmured, but he knew you were not listening. “Wait, _____, we really just snuck into your ex’s house to swap a few movies?”

You looked up briefly as you began opening another DVD case. “I mean, if you want to trash the place, that’s fine, but you can’t do anymore than what Mingyu’s dirty ass hasn’t done already.”

Fair point. “I think you’re going insane. Like, clinically.” He kept looking at the door, which was closed shut. “He’ll kill us if he catches us.” 

“Forget about us, you’re barely doing anything!” you exclaimed, tossing some of Mingyu’s movies to him. “Can you actually help me instead of complaining?”

What he should have done was argue with you properly, perhaps even make his escape and leave you to dig your own grave. Sure, he could not drive, but was it not just three pedals, a wheel and a dream? He could have left, never to see you again. 

But then his eyes wandered to the Inception DVD scattered beside you, no doubt collateral damage as you took out the other Nolan films, and saw a Disney Princess movie sitting beside it. Sleeping Beauty, it read out, with the picture of some skinny blonde chick slumbering with a man overlooking her. He thought it a bit strange, almost creepy how this brunette was watching her. 

And then an idea came into his head. 

He closed his eyes for a fleeting moment, clamping his lips together. Please forgive me, Mr. Nolan, for what I’m about to do. 

Hand reaching out to grasp both DVDs, he opened one of his favourites, unclipping the CD. You glanced at him, swapping the movies around. You could not help your stare lingering a little, watching his lips pout, brows furrowed as he fixed the new CD in the Nolan set, as if the task was a serious one. Well, it was a serious task for you, but you expected more complaining. 

When he looked up, he managed to catch a small smile on your lips before he quickly looked away. “And now you’re slacking,” he accused, closing the DVD and setting it atop the newly improved. 

“What’s the plot for Inception?” you asked him, cracking open The Princess and The Frog. 

“I thought you knew, since you laughed at me for saying it was my favourite.” 

“I don’t know the full thing,” you admitted. “The only reason I knew about it was because Mingyu never shut up about it…sorry about that, by the way.” 

Vernon sighed. “It’s fine…if I made fun of your Disney favourites, then bullying me for Nolan isn’t the worst…I think.” He looked at your new suggestion before picking out Alien from Mingyu’s selection. “A thief has to implant an idea into this powerful guy’s mind, and he does this through infiltrating other people’s dreams. However, he has to be asleep while he does it.” 

As you began to laugh, he threw you an irritated look. You shook your head, unable to erase your smile. “That’s a really good match.” 

His eyes widened for a moment, mouth parting. For a moment (and he did not know whether he was going to regret making this assertion), he did not care for Christopher Nolan’s disrespect, after seeing your reaction.

With that, the two of you sat in near silence, the crisp opening and closing of the DVDs, the sliding of the discs being the only sound between the two of you. The Princess of the Frog was successfully matched with the Alien—you, unsurprisingly, had not watched the movie, but Vernon had watched both (one against his will, which you could guess), and thought it the best match. Brave was slotted into The Revenant's case, while Beauty and the Beast went straight into Pan’s Labyrinth’s. 

“Okay so…” the boy held up the Pocahontas CD. “Native American princess falls for the coloniser? How the fuck are you defending this?”

You could only offer a sheepish smile. “The soundtrack is really good?”

“Knowing Disney,” he crowed, cracking open the DVD, “They probably have a song on how terrible the poor Natives are.”

You eyed him, surprised. “How the hell did you guess that?”

First, Vernon made a face, as if he himself could not believe his excellent intuition. Then, he only laughed a little, taking out the Dances with Wolves DVD from the shelf. “I’ve watched enough Disney movies with my sister to know how they work.”

“Oh, so you have watched them?” you mused, watching him exchange the discs. “All that time I thought you only watched what Mingyu watched.”

“No, I watch foreign indie films like an asshole,” he clarified, shutting the cases, and putting Dances with Wolves back on the shelf. “The thing is, I still have my grievances against the super popular films. You know the list you mentioned to me the other day?” You nodded. “Most of these film junkies get off on those movies. I’ll admit I like them, but I’ve seen so much better.” 

You snorted. “Like Inception?” Vernon watched you for a moment, biting the inside of his cheek. “What? You asked him, tilting your head. 

He followed your movement—he too, craned his head, his brown curls cascading along his forehead. “Like Inception…and better.”

“Better?” you gasped out, fingers rising to your bottom lip in shock. “Does Mr. Filmbro prefer a movie over Nolan’s grand—no, best release ever?!”

“Ha, ha,” he monotoned, only adding to your amusement. “It’s still his best film! But,” he added, shrugging a little, “I may or may not have lied to you the first time we met. Inception’s not my favourite movie.”

“What?!” you could barely contain your grin. “Oh my God, if I find out it’s a fucking Disney movie, I’m never letting you live it down!”

“Let’s not go that far,” he jeered, earning a harsh nudge of your elbow. “Hey! You should be thanking me for my honesty.”

“How about you extend that honesty and tell me which movie is your favourite?” 

Vernon mocked a ponder. “It’s a hard pass.” 

“Come on!” you pressed, scooting a little closer, almost reaching out as if to nudge him some more. “You’ve already committed a felony with me. Telling me your favourite movie is naturally the next step.” 

“Because that’s obviously how normal human interaction goes,” he countered, sarcasm clear in his voice.

“Tell me.” 

“No.”

“Tell me!” 

“Hmm…no!” he repeated, assembling the last of the DVDs. “Maybe if we raid Mingyu’s house next time.”

“Oh?” Leaning closer, you paused his hands on the movie sets. “Do you want there to be a next time?”

It was then Vernon realised the implications of your question, a consequence of his own suggestion. It was almost comical, how his eyes widened like full moons, and he immediately shook his head. “Now you know that’s not what I meant.” 

“Then what did you mean?” you asked him, and the way he exposed a slight stutter at your question had you laughing. “Would you want to see me again?”

What Vernon wanted to tell you was no, no, no, because another second with you would end with all the blood in his system rushing to his head, and other places. Damn everything and everyone, he would want to see you again—no. No. He wouldn’t. He would not. 

“You haven’t answered the question,” you said, snapping him out of his thoughts. 

The boy was about to stutter out an answer when the two of you heard a door slam downstairs. 

You whirled back, eyes instantly darting to the door. They then focused back on you, widened very much like his not long ago. “_____,” Vernon muttered. 

“Mr. Filmbro…”

The furrow of his brow appeared for a split-second before it disappeared at the shuffling underneath. “What the fuck do we do?” he gulped out, looking around to find anywhere to escape from. This was it—he thought he was getting away with trespassing just because you had convinced him to, but that fuckass ex-boyfriend was going to catch them in his bedroom, two inches away from kissing you, and—

“Wait,” you then said, catching his wrist in your hand. He barely had time to react to it before you shot up from your seated position, hauling the boy along with you. He stumbled, but then you nearly made him fall flat on his face as you ran to the shutter closets, sliding them straight open. The inside was a mess of branded clothing and boxes of sports equipment, but there was one opening with just enough for two people in trouble to hide. 

You first went in, and, with a harsh tug, pulled him in with you. He crashed into you, but you had enough control to slide the shutter door shut. There was so much commotion that when you both finally stilled, breathing harshly as you heard Mingyu enter the room, Vernon blinked back to see your face about two inches away from him. 

He was going to yelp—strong on going to, because you sensed his incoming shock, and smacked your hand against his mouth. His eyebrows could have touched the top of his forehead, but what you noticed the most was the warmth of his skin, burning the longer your touch lingered on his lips. 

The smile you offered him as you put a finger to your lips had him almost passing out. 

“Yeah, man, come round whenever,” was all Vernon could hear, still not comprehending Mingyu’s speech due to your hand. “No, Minseo’s not here, what the fuck? Why do you wanna know where my sister is?” 

Slowly, ever so carefully as not to alert him, you pulled down on one of the blinds of the shutter, spying the movie which he was about to see. Vernon should have been following your movements, but he could only sense you, inching closer and closer to him till you were pressed against him. Of course, you were only trying to better your vision of your ex-boyfriend, but the boy beside you could not focus. The hand on his mouth—God—he needed, so badly, to be put down. Your fingers were soft, and although his lips could not help brushing against your palm, everything in him resisted the urge to react.

Quickly glancing at your accomplice in glee, you dropped your hand from his mouth, silently urging him to watch. He could have rebelled against your pulling away, but he instead obliged. Bringing his face next to yours, he glanced at you one last time before peering at the vision that welcomed. 

There he was, the golden boy, raking his hair as he strolled into the middle of the room, observing the TV before him, and the DVD player sitting at the bottom. He kept humming, as if agreeing with whoever was on the phone. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll go to that party later…no, I’m not bringing _____! You know about that already!” 

The boy in hiding quickly snuck a peek at you, who soured a little at the mention. “Hmm? Yeah, whatever. What? Nah, I’m just gonna watch a chill movie before leaving.” Mingyu scanned the films on his shelf. Walking over, he leaned down, sliding out The Shape of Water from his collection, cradling his phone between his shoulder blade and his craned head as he opened the DVD. 

Vernon could not help pulling a face at Mingyu’s choice of a ‘chill movie’ being a film about a mute woman wanting to fuck a water creature. You probably did not understand the reference, but by the growing anticipation on your face, you only cared about the scene you two had created, and was about to unfold just then. 

Mingyu slid the CD into the player, pressing play as he made his way to his frameless bed, settling down in the sheets. “Yeah…no, no, it’s just starting.”

The two of you could hear clearly the opening credits, which began with the most obnoxious opening music of Disney’s intro. Vernon was taken aback by how Mingyu did not realise it from that very moment, but considering he was too busy chatting pure shit on the phone, laughing to himself, the boy assumed he was simply waiting for the action to occur.

“Any minute now, Mr. Filmbro,” you whispered, oh-so-fucking close to him. He did not respond, merely a nod.

Craning his head to see through the shutters, he noticed the animation come to life, the ship within dangerous waters sailing with uncertainty. He snuck a quick glance at Mingyu’s face, which started garnering a little confusion. 

“Are these extra credit scenes? I don’t remember any of this,” he heard the OG filmbro complain. 

You could not help the snort that escaped you. Vernon glared at you, but with little effect. “What?” you whispered. “I don’t remember him being this thick.” 

“What the fuck is this cartoon…” the two of you heard Mingyu pipe up. Finally, the buffoon is realising this is not the two-time Oscar winning animation, but the four-time Oscar winning CGI. “This wasn’t in the director’s cut.”

You still could not believe how your ex-boyfriend was taking this long for the realisation to hit. Even when Eric jumped up on the screen, holding onto the ship’s ropes, the watcher only regarded the character intently, as if he was somehow part of the stranger film. 

Only when, fifteen minutes in, Atlantis is finally introduced that something clicked in his brain. Mingyu tilted his head, thinking out loud. “What the fuck…?”

Getting up from where he sat, he ended the call, informing whoever was on the other side that he would meet later. He took out the CD from the player, examining its exterior. “Can’t see shit on this CD…” He was not wrong—you were smart, choosing the discs which did not have any images, confusing the boy all the more. “Maybe I put in the wrong one…”

He shrugged it off, taking out The Dark Knight instead, another easy, breezy movie to watch when The Shape of Water did not pull through. Now Nolan was a hard one to criticise—Vernon himself was a huge fan, but seeing Mingyu try to watch it irked him. A good thing, then, was it not, that he was bound for a second surprise?

Repeating the routine, he slid the secret CD, settling back into his frameless bed. “Great minds, huh?” you whispered to him, and Vernon only rolled his eyes, not enjoying the dig against him in the slightest. 

“You dated him,” he griped, watching the movie start up.

“Waste of good looks,” you whispered, your partner-in-crime nodding in agreement. The movie beginning had you both falling silent as a bird of prey hits on one of the soldier’s heads. The scene is set in the cold mountains of China, but the sole audience does not catch it immediately. 

“So fucking weird…” Mingyu trailed off again, leaning forwards. “This isn’t the robbery scene…”

Of course it was not—the idiot would not witness one of the best film openings in Vernon’s humble opinion. He would not feast his eyes to the workings of Joker’s bank robbery, nor the cold one-liners from the incapacitated bank manager. 

No, what he was served was the Huns crossing the Northern border, which, as the boy finally began to clock after a good ten minutes, was not what he was expecting.

“What the…” once again, he heaved himself up, walking over to the player. “Now I know something’s wrong…”

Both you and Vernon stretched further close, as much as the closet would allow, to peek at Mingyu’s frustration as he brought the CD out once more, examining the back and front. He then took out some more of his favourites, opening their cases and taking out the CDs, observing them closely. He was suspicious now. How could he not be, when he was expecting incel excellence, but was greeted with the same shit his younger sister—his crazy ex-girlfriend, even—would usually watch.

He blinked back. 

His deathly stillness had the two trespassers pausing. You two looked at each other, faces losing any humour, perhaps recognising that he had clocked on. You watched the scene as Mingyu rapidly added one CD after another, expecting one movie only to have a Disney-fied replacement, completely botching his plans. Every movie that received such Disneyfication further enraged him, the grit in his teeth heard, the tick in his jaw visible. 

The final straw was when the Godfather was slotted in, his all-time, unmatched favourite. There was darkness for the first few minutes, and he sighed too quickly in relief, about to lay back on his mattress. 

Then, a curly-haired girl, a toddler at best, in huge green glasses becomes visible, being told to open her eyes. 

“Is this where magic comes from?”

“What the fuck?!”

And as a conversation between the little girl and her elderly grandmother blossomed, there was a specific dialogue which sent the young boy over the edge.

“This candle became a magical flame that would never grow out…and it blessed us with a refuge in which to live…a place of wonder…An Encanto.”

You nearly burst out laughing. 

Mingyu, on the other hand, could have seen red. 

“Who fucked with my CDs?!” he demanded to no one in particular, though in his mind he knew there was a culprit. “My fucking CDs, man!” 

“Did you do the Godfather swap?” you whispered, barely able to contain yourself.

“Two special families with one heir that doesn’t feel connected to their lifestyle.” Vernon grinned at you, impressed with himself. “It was too easy.”

“Where did you even find the Encanto DVD? It wasn’t in our set.” 

“I found it in his little filmbro shelf.” He ticked his head towards the boy in physical agony. “My guess is that his sister is a Disney fan and left it in his mancave.”

“Oh my God,” you got out, watching the melodramatic scene of your dear ex show rage akin to a teenage boy losing Call of Duty online. 

“That fucking bitch,” he guttered, over and over again as he threw the Encanto CD across the room. Those words came out, and the boy behind the shutters stiffened. Okay—there is rage, and then there is straight up promise of violence. Vernon may not be much of a knight, but if they were caught, he knew he would have to protect you.

He hoped to everything that existed that it would not have to come to that—Vernon would rather fake having a heart attack and have you drag his body out of the Kim Manor. 

It seemed as that might have been a real possibility, until the boy called out a threat to a name they were not expecting.

“Minseo, I’m gonna kill you!” Mingyu roared as he stormed out of the room, undoubtedly on his way to destroy her room, even take his anger out on her Jellycat collection.

As you heard his frenzy disappear down the halls, the trespassers took this as the opportunity to escape the closet, Vernon already creating a little distance in case you come too close and cause his passing out.

“We need to get out now,” he declared as you crept out of the wardrobe, his head whipping to the door which Mingyu left from. 

You nodded, not quite looking at him as you dashed straight for the final DVD. “Oh, Jesus,” He groaned, watching you scramble for the movie, trying horrifically to hide it within your clothes. “You do realise he can come in any second!” 

“Okay, okay,” you said, hurrying over to the window. “Wait, you can go first.”

Vernon raised a brow, following after you. “How come you don’t want to go first?”

You only ushered him further, grinning. “You can peek at my ass again.”

“My eyes will be closed,” he sniped, already carrying it out, trying his absolute best not to imagine your ass in his mind—maybe stakeouts for goofy purposes were not for the weak-willed. “You know, just for that alone, you’re going down first.” 

“Whatever suits you, Mr. Filmbro,” you almost chanted, aggravating him all the more as you stepped out of the window, beginning the trek down. 

He looked down as you descended with one film in hand, still stealing glances at the only door in the room, terrified that the boy would burst through the door, see you both and bring about his downfall. Subconsciously, his fingers hovered just before his mouth, biting the skin around his nails. He knew he should have run himself over with an oncoming vehicle. A messy plan, but still fool-proof. 

“Stop panicking and come down here!” your voice snapped him out of his anxious frenzy. “I know you’re biting your nails off right now!”

The boy instantly repelled his hand, instead furrowing his brow. A little irritating—scary, as well, really—how predictable he was in your eyes. How quickly you had figured him out.

“Alright,” he said, absent-mindedly as he reached for the windowsill. He peaked down again, not realising how far down the descent truly was. Rationally, he knew it was not the worst drop he’d seen on the first floor, but the nerves had started affecting his mind. Now, this entire time he was watching you take one step, two steps down, but he did not have the strength to follow you. 

Still, he knew it was now or never.

Vernon was going to be at your heels (or, more anatomically correct, at your head) when he heard a shuffle from behind him.

He whipped his head around, anticipating the worst.

The worst arrived in all his golden-skinned, empty-headed glory. Holding one of his DVDs, Kim Mingyu stood at the doorway, his eyes widening with every second they beheld the intruder, one leg out of the house, the other a moment away from heaving him up.

Oh. Jesus. Christ.

“The nerd from film theory?”

Vernon’s face dropped. 

The Nerd from Film Theory? The Nerd from fucking Film Theory? 

It was then and there, in that exact moment of time, that the filmbro in question did not give a single care for what the popular boy thought of him. Vernon knew everything about this boy (whether he wanted to or not); his every class, his every terrible friend, even his film preferences, thanks to yours truly. Yet Mingyu did not even know his name—did not even bother to remember.

It was because of that that he managed to garner some essence of his bravado, finally settling both feet on the ladder steps. 

He also decided to add in some corrections to Mingyu’s knowledge. 

“Jo March did not need any man after Laurie…in fact, she did not need any male support, asshole.”

For added effect, he raised his middle finger, as if the burn was sick enough to hurt. 

Mingyu’s devastating response was a confused tilt of his head, clearly not understanding his reference. 

It was enough time for Vernon to hurry his descent down, catching the former more off guard. 

“What the fuck—” was all the boy heard before he quickly tried to travel downwards, feet nearly slipping on the steps by his sheer carelessness. Mingyu’s head popped out from the window, and saw the great ladder leaning against the sill, shocked gaze lowering to where Vernon was descending to.

When his eyes found yours, he could have choked on his gulp. Even more so when you smirked at him.

“_____?”

As Vernon finally dropped off the ladder, dusting himself off, he watched the two of you, staring each other down. When he gauged Mingyu’s fear of you, there was a small part of him that was filled with admiration.

Mingyu’s demand sounded more like a whimper. “What are you doing here?”

You only curled your lips further upwards, grinning like a wild animal. It chilled your ex-boyfriend to the bone when you held the Tangled CD up for him to see, with your other hand raising your middle finger. 

“This is for calling me a stupid bitch.”

His mouth dropped open. That gave you just enough time to grab onto Vernon’s hand, enveloping your fingers around his wrist. 

And run for your life.

Vernon let out a yelp as he was yanked forward by your hold, barely hearing Mingyu’s loud curses and retreating back into the house, no doubt to follow after you two—the trespasser could only guess, much too occupied by your hand, a guiding beacon of mischief, never absent in his life as you ran and ran and ran out of the garden, out of the sleek maze which you two first entered, catching sight of the open garden gate.

The boy heard distant footsteps coming from the house, and as you both saw your car parked beyond the greater gates, you fished out your keys, finally letting go of his hand to dash over to the driver’s side, jamming the key in the lock. Vernon let out a startled noise as the car unlocked, wasting no time to jump inside, heart beating loud enough for the entire neighbourhood to hear. Mingyu appeared at the main doorstep at the exact same time, even more shocked to realise he had not noticed his ex-girlfriend’s car casually parked before him. 

Just as you climbed inside, swivelling the keys into ignition, Mingyu began to run after the car, a mere ten seconds between him and catching you two.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, _____, just start it already!” the nervous boy in shotgun begged, his head swivelling back at every chance, heart lurching at every metre closer the filmnemesis crept.

The car revved to life at your signal.

It was time to get the fuck out of here. 

“GO, GO, GO!” Vernon screamed at the top of his voice, fisting the handle at the roof of the car as you slammed on the accelerator, racing out of the driveway with Mingyu’s bellowing following after you. Of course, since he was a mere, enraged college student, and you both were in a (slight) state-of-the-art vehicle, you zoomed out of the neighbourhood, his curses fading with every turn further out, you managing to escape. 

Vernon, because he had never done such a thing before, was still screaming to leave for the next ten minutes until you had had enough, swerving to the side of the road, not far from his DVD store. You almost crashed into the nearby park, frightening a few birds that expected peace within the sidewalk trees, only to be disturbed by a troublesome ex and a film-obsessed loser. 

You gushed out an exhale, fingers gripping tightly to the wheel, almost as stunned as the boy beside you, who seemed to take in the town’s worth of air in his little body. But then, you realised the gravity of the situation, the sole movie at the back which could not be swapped, and the valiant escape from something you never thought you would come out of alive.

Just then, you burst into laughter. 

The boy whirled his head to you, who could not stop the tumbles of laughter that escaped your mouth, hanging on to the car wheel as you cackled and cackled like the Wicked Witch of the West. Well, that was what you thought you sounded at that time, but you, as always, did not care.

Only that you were wrong—at least in Vernon’s eyes. You were wrong, because if you were laughing like some Disney villain, then he would have been more pissed off—enraged even. He was instead in awe, shocked at the raw guffawing that spluttered out of you without shame. Had the two of you not evaded a great danger? Nearly been arrested for your legally ambiguous behaviour? 

For the first time in his life, he was not embroiled with dread. 

There was no anxiety in his body, no essence of panic at the consequences of your actions. No, he could only stare at you and your mirth, and find himself raising his brows, the beginnings of a scoffed laugh creeping from his lips. 

The more he looked at you, the more his own laughter joined yours. 

And then you were both laughing, giggling beyond control at the narrow escape, and the near crash against some tree. Vernon knew how stupid this whole situation was, but strangely, he did not seem to care—not when you did not see it like that. A very odd prospect. 

After a few minutes, when it finally seemed as if you would settle down, you sighed, leaning back into the driver’s seat. “We should do that again.”

Despite the amusement lingering, he immediately shut the idea down. “Not a chance.”

You admired the ancient lining of the tree’s bark in front of the car. “The way you were laughing with me just now, you’d think you want to commit crimes from now on.” 

A dramatic roll of eyes. “I’m not going to jail. They don’t even have a TV there.”

“You and your fuck ass movie collection…”

That brought out another chuckle from the boy—you smiled at the notion. He then looked at the rearview mirror, where the last movie was splayed, all alone and away from the others. “Kind of a shame we missed out on one last movie.”

“Right?” You followed his line of sight. “Fuck, Tangled of all movies?”

“Wait, isn’t that the one with Rapunzel?” 

You let out an impressed hum. “A week of seeing my face, and you’re already catching on!” A mischievous raise of brows. “Another month with me and you can sing all the tracks from the film.”

“You really shouldn’t have this much faith in me, _____,” he said, shaking his head. “Plus, this might be the one movie I didn’t watch with Sofe.” He saw you perk up at the new name. “My sister. She’s the one who forced me to watch all those Disney films years ago.”

“I like her already,” you mused, a finger on your chin. You paused for a bit, looking down at your shoes, settled lightly upon the pedals. Then, you started the engine once more.  “So…Tangled is the only one you haven’t watched, huh.” 

A glance at you. “Yep.” 

You looked back, hoping to reverse away from the tree. “Right…” You checked your watch, the car slowly moving out of the pavement. “Interesting…super duper interesting.”

It was something insane, fantastical the way Vernon’s nerves seemed to hum at the implications. “I don’t like where this is going.”

“What? I just said that it’s interesting you’ve never watched Tangled…”

The boy scoffed, crossing his arms. “This is where you’re gonna force me to watch the stupid movie.” 

But then he caught the look of surprise on your face, as if you had been caught. “Oh, Jesus, you’re not gonna let me out the car, are you?”

“No, no!” you countered at once, raising your hands. “Well, yes as in I was hoping you would watch the movie with me, and no, I won’t force you.” You sighed a little, fingers back on the wheel. “You’ve already done so much today. If you want to go home, I’ll drive you straight there.”

He watched your expression, the prepared acceptance, the anticipation—the sliver of hope, hiding itself amongst the flurry of other emotions. In all honesty, he was tired; the entirety of this evening had exhausted his social battery (which he doubted he had to begin with) and he still had some sound image work left back at the college studio. If it was any other person asking, he would have happily bunked them off—pretended that he had suddenly developed a terminal illness in the span of minutes, and begged them to drive him back home to ‘live out the rest of his days’.

You, on the other hand, were a problem. He could not let you down—not anymore. Not after today.

When he let out a soft sigh, you were anticipating the worst. Then, he revealed the answer. 

“Let’s watch a fucking Disney Princess movie.”

VERNON DID NOT WANT TO WATCH A FUCKING DISNEY PRINCESS MOVIE. 

The moment you opened the door to your house—a shabby, student house about twenty minutes from campus—stepping inside, he realised there was no way back, and that he had to humour your wish, or else lose respect in your eyes. 

As you brought him down the small hallway, leading into the little living room, you quickly grabbed the takeout boxes of your flatmates, murmuring hurried apologies as you left the room. The boy looked around, the slight cracks of the blue walls, the 32” TV sitting at the opposite end of the fraying couches. Posters of Bridget Jones, Notting Hill, and other Hugh Grant movies were plastered on one end of the wall, while Vernon nearly had a jumpscare when he caught a life-size cardboard cutout of some Disney hero—this one unrecognisable. 

“That’s the love of my life you’re staring at,” came the voice behind him, and he whirled to see you, a huge bowl of popcorn cradled in your hands. “Why’re you standing in the middle like an idiot? Sit, sit!” Vernon obliged, making to settle on the sofas when you tutted. “Are you mental? No, sit on the bean bags near the TV!” 

How stupid of me to assume I could sit on furniture designed for sitting, he meant to crow, but the moment he settled on the bean bags, he instantly preferred their malleable comfort. When he let out a relaxed sigh, you huffed out a laugh, propping the bowl before him. “See?” 

“I was gonna say…” Vernon trailed off, watching you press a few buttons on the DVD player. “Where’s the CD?”

“Already in,” you said, picking up the remote as you settled in the beanbag next to him, scooting closer. Catching a look at his face, you bellowed, “Yes, Mr. Filmbro, I watched it recently!”

“How recently are we saying?”

“...yesterday evening.” 

“And this is the masterpiece you wanna show me,” Vernon murmured, sneaking a look back at the cardboard cutout. “Don’t tell me he’s the floozy that’s leading the film.” 

You turned the TV on. “Fine. I won’t tell you.”

He then looked at you. “Oh, Jesus.”

“Trust me!” you then reasoned, putting a hand on the boy’s knee—the mere touch had his brain rewiring, nerves all ceasing to work on the one point where your touch remained. You really had to stop—first your hand was on his mouth in that damned (blessed) closet, and now this soft reminder. He tried his best not to fix his eyes on your lingering fingers as you carried on, “This film is a modern classic. I promise.” 

Well shit, he thought. When you looked at him like that, you could have convinced him that Quentin Tarantino was a better foot fetishiser than a filmmaker. 

“Okay,” he said, almost believing in your words. 

With that, the landing page for the movie turned on, and there were the main characters; he assumed the chick with the long, blonde hair was Rapunzel, and the man behind her—which, Vernon thought, did not deserve to be celebrated as a life-sized cardboard cutout—was the love interest. Whatever. 

“Let’s just get this over with,” he mumbled as you pressed the fated Play, anticipating the worst. 

And as the two of you fell silent, Vernon still holding out on the popcorn, watching suspiciously at the screen, the voice of a man flooded the TV speaker.

“This…this is the story of how I died.” 

The boy immediately reacted, face dropping. “The fuck?” he got out, catching the WANTED! Poster of the very man he bad-mouthed not two minutes ago. 

“But don’t worry, this is actually a fun story…and the truth is…it isn’t even mine.” 

“Wait, this dude is already dead?” he asked.

“Just watch the movie!” you answered impatiently, making the boy sigh and lean back into the bean bag.

“This is the story of a girl named Rapunzel. And it starts…with the sun.”

You wanted to keep your eyes rooted to the screen, watch the unfurling of Mother Gothel’s backstory, but that was precisely when the incessant complaining began. 

“Now why are we already getting context of some random witch’s actions? Less telling, more showing, man!” Vernon kept his arms crossed, shaking his head at the TV. “Oh, great, poor little king and queen in their big ass castle!” 

“Having basic sympathy will take you great places, my guy,” you merely said, scoffing down the popcorn in the bowl. “Their kid just got stolen by some crazy bitch.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he murmured, piping down once more when the flashbacks ceased, and the present day was introduced into the story. On the screen, a small, green chameleon entered, camouflaging himself behind a pot of flowers. He guessed that the chick with the long hair—Rapunzel—would be finding him, and, lo and behold, he was right. In all fairness, though, it did not take a film degree to work that out.

He also did not need a film degree to guess that a musical number was about to be introduced, not even ten minutes into the movie. That he worked out all by himself, when the guitar riffs sounded. Beside him, you instantly brightened, smile widening as TANGLED morphed on the screen, the song about to begin. 

It was around that point when, as he spared you a glance, he realised you were about to sing along.

“Oh, Jesus—”

If his life was a romantic film, this would have been the perfect setup; the girl that made his heart flutter was seated dangerously close to him, bean bags already touching with shoulders barely following, watching the cheesiest animated movie. He could have seen the shot now, with his gaze turning rose-y as you would open your mouth and sing along to the song. Of course, you would sing beautifully, better than the original singer, and he would sit there, absolutely mesmerised. 

Oh, he was stunned alright. 

“SEVEN AM THE USUAL MORNING, LINE UP—!”

The boy flinched at the sheer volume of your chant—screech would be the better word for it, for he guessed singing was not one of your natural talents. 

You could not see his judgement at all, eyes closed and clutching your fists to your chest, continuing the song. “START ON THE FLOOR AND SWEEP TILL THE FLOOR’S ALL CLEEEEEANNNN—!”

A scoff escaped him, not quite believing the scene before him. He was shocked to silence, the movie’s music now in his background, the forefront being your attempt to outsing the princess. Either no one had told you how horrendous your singing was, or you simply did not care for the opinions of others. A part of him hoped that it was the latter—for you to be so comfortable in singing away, despite what others thought, made his judgement disappear. 

Shamelessly you sang the entire number, up to the point where the scene cuts and the supposedly hot love interest—whose name was Flynn Rider, apparently, which he should have known if he just read the poster at the start of the movie like a normal viewer—was now trying to steal the crown jewels. 

Vernon was too busy thinking about how stupid ‘Flynn Rider’ was as a name to realise that another song had just started. Immediately you changed your tune, your tone lowering, almost sultry. 

This time, you looked at him when you started singing. 

“Look at you, as fragile as a flower…”

“Ayo?” A glance at the TV screen, where Mother Gothel was now singing. “Another song?”

But you did not answer his question, only singing further as you reached your hand out to him. “Still a little sapling, just a sprout!” You continued, and, at that, your hand patted his mess of curls atop his head, mirroring Mother Gothel’s actions. 

Blinking back repeatedly, he could not even shrug it off, stunned once again by how you were casually able to touch him and not feel anything—while his entire system shuts down like a lagging desktop when it tries to run the Sims. 

The overdramatic flair was present in your singing, changed from the sweetness of the previous song. It was crazy how you remembered each word, not slipping at any chorus—you were a true fan, a committed admirer of the film. Even he could not comprehend knowing every single line of his favourites. 

It was admirable indeed—to love a film as you did this one.

It was what made Vernon smile a little, turning away from your melodrama and focusing on the screen, where Mother Gothel now threatened to never be asked to leave the tower. Again.

This time, he would give the movie a chance. Thank God he decided to wake up.

The movie picked up the pace instantly—he had not expected Flynn to meet—and be whacked out by Rapunzel’s frying pan—so quickly, and had reflected her dejection when the mother screamed at her. He could tell where this was going, especially with the thief now in the closet, but he found himself grabbing a handful of popcorn from the bowl without turning away from the screen.

By the time the third song of the movie came around, he was taken aback that it arrived further in, surrounded by the thugs of the Snuggly Duckling. Without realising, he turned to you, anticipating you breaking out into a song, but you were merely watching the movie, bobbing your head along to the beat.

Noticing his stare, you glanced at him. “Expecting a show?”

“Since you were giving them out without request, I figured this time would be like any other.”

You snorted, grabbing the popcorn. “I’m saving my heavenly voice for the best song, actually.”

Vernon mocked a gasp. “So you’re telling me Mother Knows Best isn’t the best feature?”

“Don’t chat shit, Mr. Filmbro, because Mother Knows Best is one of the top five.”

“I look forward to seeing which song you’re holding out for,” he only said, turning back to the movie again. The popcorn ran out about this time, and you shot up from your bean bag, promising more as you exited the room, leaving him to continue. 

By the time you returned, the protagonists were escaping, chaos ensuing all around them with the guards, his partners and that eccentric white horse chasing them. Ending up in the cave, they recognise a lack of way out, and although Vernon was aware that the movie ends on the happiest note, a small part of him filled with dread. 

That dread disappeared instantly when Flynn confessed his little secret.

“Eugene Fitzherbert?!” The boy demanded.

You chuckled at his disdain. “Yeah, Flynn Rider was hotter. Eugene Fitzherbert ages him about forty years.”

“Flynn Rider was silly, but Eugene is straight up diabolical.” 

“He is still fuckable regardless!” you shushed him, raising your pointer at him. “You wish you had his sex appeal.”

The boy rolled his eyes. “Yeah, let me just change my name to Bartholomew Whiteman real quick.”

“Hey!” you whacked him on the arm, this time laughing heartily at his quip. “Let my man live!”

He decided to spare your fictional man any more bullying, taking in the town atmosphere where the two adventurers and Maximus had now ended up. “Ooooo, the castle dances are my favourite scenes!” you gushed, scooping popcorn in one hand and eating with the other. “Wait, look, look at the braid!”

“Jeez, I’m looking!” he insisted, watching the girls braid Rapunzel’s hair. Flynn—which Vernon is continuing to identify him as, because Eugene was too much for him—stared at her longingly at the results. Vernon used the popcorn as an excuse to gaze at you matching Flynn’s longing at the screen. Your head rested on your knees, locking your hands in front of them, forming a lazy smile. This smile remained throughout Rapunzel and Eugene’s activities, even to the point when the couple were settled in a boat, waiting for the lights. 

“It’s happening,” you declared, the smile widening as you released your legs from your hands. “Oh my God, it’s fucking happening!”

Raising the volume, the boy watched the screen, where thousands of lanterns were sparking alight at the king and queen’s signal. The lanterns’ lights broke across the borders of the town, melting into the sea, the docked ships. Rapunzel had not noticed though, too busy dropping flower heads upon the water’s surface, Flynn helpfully holding out the bunch. 

As the princess dropped another upon the waterbed, she finally noticed the beginning.

It was then Vernon heard your favourite Disney song.

“All those days, watching from the window…All those years, outside looking in…” 

You followed this time, not as loud as the other songs, quiet and soft, as if letting the blonde shine in her song. “All that time, never even knowing, just how blind I’ve been…”” 

You exhibited the same excitement as Rapunzel, who, noticing the lanterns, threw off Flynn’s balance, hanging onto the curling bow of the boat.

The boy, however, was not really focused on the screen.

Because the music that surrounded the two crept into his ears, playing the strings of his senses; because the lights were off save for the TV, shining its dimmed lighting upon your face, making you glow with the dark purples, blues, golds of the Tangled scenery. He lost all interest in everything because you were looking something out of a daydream, watching the events of the movie as if they were scenes of salvation. The two of you were definitely not on any kind of boat, merely sitting on bean bags. Despite all of that, he began to float—swaying from where he sat, as if he was truly settled on water. 

“Now I’m here—” You put your hand to your chest— “Blinking in the starlight…now I’m here, suddenly I see…”

You kept singing the lyrics, voice more subdued than your last outbursts, and Vernon could only watch you, the pure love of this song radiating off your very pores. Vernon’s anticipation rose with every octave of the singer’s voice rising, eyes never leaving your face, the parted mouth. 

“Standing here, it’s oh! so clear…!”

As the viewers themselves were about to observe the thousands of lanterns Rapunzel witnessed, Vernon himself waiting, he made the mistake of averting his gaze from you, if only to see the grand reveal.

It was what made you unconsciously envelop your fingers with his, clasping his hand with yours.

He whipped his head to yours, eyes widening to the point of spilling. 

You were already looking at him. 

When you sang the next lyrics, Vernon could have melted molten.

“I’m where I’m meant to be!” 

And as the lanterns surrounded the protagonists, lighting up the entirety of the night, you sang the chorus to the boy in your little college flat, no one to witness it but two of you.

“And at last I see the light! And it’s like the fog has lifted!” 

Your voice was hoarse now, all the screech-singing catching up to you. Vernon, in another lifetime, would have instantly resisted, ran for the hills if it was literally anyone else in the room but you.

“And at last I see the light! And it’s like the sky…is new…” 

But it was you—you holding his hand tightly, you looking at him with the light of the lanterns in your eyes, you opening up to him in your little haven, away from anyone else. Granted, you could have offered this performance to anyone, but he liked to think—shit, he was truly hoping—that you would not have done this for anyone else. 

You would have only sang your favourite song to him. 

“And it’s warm, and real, and bright! And the world has somehow…shifted…”

Vernon watched you halt a moment, waiting for the next verse, your hand tightening in his. 

“All at once…everything looks different…”

You were right—the world had shifted underneath him, stilled under the dimmed lighting of this dingy living room. The two of you now faced each other, music still tuning from the TV, but the characters long forgotten, as if they never existed. Yes, you were right in that everything looked different, seemed different, as if he was seeing you for the very first time. 

“Now that I…see you.”

Shit. You were rather beautiful before him.

You paused then, watching his reaction. You tilted your head, thoroughly amused by the sheer awe that radiated from his face, but then you noticed his chest rise and fall, more unevenly the longer you observed him. 

The next detail you caught was how his eyes darted down—down to your lips.

It was the lips, which were watched so intently, that parted.

You attempted at a little humour. “Out of all my talents, I guess singing isn’t one of them.”

But Vernon did not respond with words. Sure, he would have agreed with you, but singing was irrelevant now. Out of all these infinite talents you possessed—your natural charm, your ease in making him laugh, your trespassing and eventual escaping of such crimes—Vernon could not have given less of a shit about singing. Not when you were before him, bathed in an unnatural, extraordinary light, soft music playing in the background. Almost as if he had adorned the rose-tinted glasses, courtesy of the universe.

In any romantic comedy, he would have kissed her.

The boy was not known to be courageous—anything but brave. Real Life, Not Clickbait Vernon would have left by now. The Real Vernon should have pussied out. 

You, however, looked a little too beautiful to be treated with cowardice. 

“Are you going to kiss me, Mr. Filmbro, or are you gonna make me wait till the end of the movie?”

He parted his mouth for a split second, gob-smacked at your question. The twinkle in your gaze, though, had him spluttering out a harsh chuckle, craning his head down at the sheer absurdity of it all. But then he looked up, smiling, not quite believing what he was about to do.

“I should make you wait.”

That was what he said. What Vernon instead did was finally grow the two balls that were supposed to be hidden in his pants, leaning in and pressing his lips against yours. 

Now the boy always wondered whether the movies were right—when mouths would touch, move against each other, whether a fire would ignite between souls, whether one really felt as if they were not of this world.

It seemed like Hallmark-level bullshit to him, but the moment his lips touched yours, he began to float out of this room. A soft hum reverated from you, approval at his actions, and he could have burst as he felt you smile against him. 

Maybe Disney was right. God, he really did not want to be in such accord with that stupid corporation, but they were onto something with the fireworks, the orchestral singing when couples kiss. He himself felt a choir-like chant all around him as he brought his hand to your face, angling it slightly so he could gain better access, boost your pleasure as he delved slightly deeper.

He was unstoppable. He was alive and ecstatic and delirious, opening his mouth wider, his other hand now finding your waist, snuffing out any distance between you two. It was not like he was a pro in these situations—he had only ever had one serious girlfriend, and that was at an age where a boy could get away with merely ‘french-kissing’ (as the kids back then would have gloated) your significant other. Again, he may have fooled around a little in college, too, but never had he experienced this haze of lust, this newfound desire. 

This desire enhanced further when you slipped your tongue from the seams, sliding it along his as an invitation for more, and he could have honestly thanked that heinous hag Walt Disney for making movies you adored so much, to the point of showing him and landing him in this situation. Of course he indulged you, opening his mouth enough to let you inside. The sensation of your tongue slipping past his lips had a soft noise releasing from his throat. 

Tangled was all but forgotten, the two of you too occupied being entangled with each other. You pulled him even closer, wrapping your arms around his neck, fingers brushing against the ends of his hair. The soft touches had every strand of his locks standing on edge, a wave of delight washing over him. 

You were sagged into the bean bag, Vernon’s weight upon you sinking you further, but you did not mind it—relished it, his scent engulfing you, the sighs and soft murmurs of his every exhale haunting your eardrums. Who would have thought that a boy who could recite every Joker quote from The Dark Knight—Virgin Supremism you termed the talent—had this kind of game hidden underneath? How was he able to ignite such powerful emotions from you?

How was Vernon ‘Filmbro’ Chwe able to make you feel so good you did not realise Tangled finishing right before you?

The two of you could have spent all night intertwined in each other, perhaps would have gone past the boundaries of mere making out. However, between the haze of his soft whispers to you, your own mist swimming in your head, you heard the starting music of the DVD reverting to the home page, and like instinct you opened your eyes, finding that the movie had ended.

You must have paused, because Vernon immediately stopped, concern staining his pretty features. His knitted brow, eyes laced with nervousness, shamed you for ever stopping. “What’s wrong? Did I do something?”

“Oh, no, no!” You felt like a fool for the answer you attempted to give him. “It’s just, um…”

He followed your line of sight, turning around. Once he realised, he looked back at you, you surprised to find a little shock replacing his concern. “We were going for that long?”

Your smirk had his stomach knotting. “This is what happens when you make out with someone you like, Mr. Filmbro.” 

He could not respond, looking away as his flushed face managed to redden some more. You only laughed at him, playing with the hem of his shirt, his arms still steady as they caged you. “You are so lucky, you know.”

He quirked a brow. “And why is that?” 

“I would never miss the second half of Tangled for a man.”

It was so incredibly stupid, how he felt a semblance of pride at the notion.“Happy to know I’m an exception.”

“You do know I’m gonna make you watch it again so you can say you’ve watched it.”

Vernon tilted his head to the side, lost in thought. You watched him, anticipating. “This is the part where you say you’d rather Mingyu jump you than rewatch Tangled.” 

“Well yes, but…” He glanced over his shoulder, where your shelf of DVDs were stacked, a particular movie which had caught his eye previously now standing out all the more. “I, uh…” 

He looked back at you, and the self-conscious glint in his gaze had you watching his every movement. “I was hoping to show you my favourite movie instead.”

You were ready to make a comment on how you prided on avoiding Nolan films like the plague, but then you remembered the conversation at Mingyu’s house. Your eyebrows could have touched your hairline. “You said I could never know.”

“Well…” a small smile escaped him, slowly pulling himself away. “If I am to be your exception, _____, then I suppose you can be mine.”

Gaping at him, you could only keep silent as he, with great effort on his part, heaved off you, making his way to the shelf. He was lucky, you thought—had he been a moment slower, that comment alone would have had you kissing him again. 

What quickly caught your attention was him sliding his pointer finger through your collection, a series of your favourites. The anticipation was rising, you not quite believing that Mr. Filmbro’s favourite film was within your arsenal. Weeks ago, you would have bullied him relentlessly for the ironic hypocrisy.

When he pulled out the fated DVD, you let out the greatest laugh.

The boy instantly frowned, but you did not realise, cackling and cackling away at the selection, the final boss of Vernon’s favourite film, nestled between his fingers. “Shut up,” he mumbled, but again, you did not hear him, lost in the shrill sound of your laughter, erupting the room to life. 

“Oh, Jesus—” Your chortling did not seem to stop, almost to the point of hiccups. “Your ass…this entire time—!”

“And suddenly I’m leaving!” Vernon announced, getting up and about to drop the DVD. 

He did not last long in his determination when you grabbed onto the end of his shirt, grinning still. “Thank God you’re not a Nolan kiss-ass…that’s all I’m saying.”

All he could do was stand like an idiot, the tips of your fingers caressing the skin just above his trousers. “But I am a Nolan kiss-ass,” he murmured, crossing his arms. 

“That’s what I thought, too, but this film—” you jerked your head towards the prize in his hand. “You’ve redeemed yourself.”

“Stop it,” he only said, crouching down to pull out the Tangled CD, replacing it with the new, and, in his opinion, improved movie. “This is why I didn’t want to tell anyone.”

“And nobody will know,” you assured him, watching the movie’s main menu pop up, the PLAY option highlighted. “This’ll be our secret.”

“First the trespassing,” Vernon began, sitting down beside you, “Then the tampering of movies, and now this.” He grabbed the remote, about to play the movie. “How much more are we gonna sneak around?”

You looked at him, and the smile you offered him had him glancing away—only for a second. “Have you not had fun, though? Sneaking around with me?”

Normally, in a situation where he had zero balls, he would have evaded such a question, not fanned the flames of your fire. But tonight he had watched a Disney movie with you, felt your fingers caressing his skin, had even kissed you in the purple hues of Tangled’s light. Tonight, he could conquer the world.

What would answering a heated question do any harm?

Vernon locked eyes with you then, trying to fight his smile. “I think I could have fun with you anywhere…in secret or for anyone to see.”

As something in your gaze shifted, he turned the film on (an entendre which was completely intentional). 

Once again, the two of you were in the same position, watching yet another film, this time another’s all time favourite. The narrator began in a strange, European accent, explaining the tale of an unfortunate princess, much like Rapunzel, and her dire situation. 

Although it was undoubtedly his most treasured film, the boy had a very hard time paying attention when all he could feel was that penetrating stare of yours, capable of revealing his very soul from beneath his measly shirt. Even when the stranger main character was introduced, following his main routine in his strangest abode, Vernon was not particularly concentrating anymore.

Not when he heard your voice, a soft question amongst the gaudy music of the 2000s. “Do you mean that, Vernon?”

And perhaps it was because you said his actual name, especially when your voice sounded like…like that. Like something from a perfect movie soundtrack, akin to the end-credits of an unforgettable TV show. 

Because he was too occupied with simply admiring you, he merely nodded, biting the inside of his cheek.

And because you were too busy admiring him, his words, the entire night where you had felt pure, euphoric joy, you did Mr. Filmbro a little dirty by making a decision that negated his film.

You shifted closer once more, hands reaching out to hold his face. 

This time, Vernon was prepared when you kissed him.

There was a certain eagerness in your lips this time which was newer—more enjoyable to his senses. It made sense now, why all these couples in movies made out for hours and hours on end. He felt as if he could kiss you forever, move against your mouth, delve inside until his tongue memorised your very imprint. 

You moaned a little louder this time, and the very sound had his heartbeat racing, moreso when, as he pressed you against him, shifting upon his beanbag, he knew then and there that something in the air shifted.

Last time, you had stopped. This time, there was no such indication—the very thought had him skirting his hands around you, holding you tight enough to never let go.

Still—even with such possibilities, there was no way you and him would escalate to the point of losing his virginity.

Whatever happens though, he will still watch the end of his favourite film. 

Whatever happens, Vernon would not be having sex with you if Shrek was playing in the background.

VERNON LOST HIS VIRGINITY WITH SHREK PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND.

Certainly not his greatest achievements, considering he could not focus on his favourite movie, but it was certainly not his fault. You were—to put it quite plainly—hot as fuck.

He did not leave until the very next day because—as he had stated that night—he still wanted you to watch Shrek, and did, somehow, end up watching it properly. You did not stop teasing him, and he did not stop shutting you up by kissing you senseless. 

Unfortunately, the boy did have college the next day, so he had to leave at some point, but not without promises of meeting you again. This time, however, you two did not continue the crimes he committed with you. You and Vernon were not modern-day Joker and Harley Quinn.

When the two of you were not terrorising Mingyu’s livelihood, you decided to hang out at the filmstore, where it all began. Vernon would host weekly movie nights, and both of you would eat popcorn and watch each other’s recommendations, scoring them differently in accordance to what was most important for each other.

For the film majoring student, the rating was influenced not only by the actors’ performances, but also from the intricate storyline, the character developments, their relationships. A story, for him at least, was about relationships. Good cinema was about the chemistry between two actors, the emotional connection they had not just with each other, but also their effect on the audience. The actual editing of the film, too, was another bullet point in his criteria.

Your rating, on the other hand, differed slightly. 

“Michelle Yeoh is such a MILF,” was your only comment upon finishing Everything Everywhere All at Once. 

This comment nearly made Vernon lose his mind. “One of the greatest movies of this decade, and this is your only input?”

“But am I wrong, though?”

Vernon sighed a little at that—at the end of the day, you were absolutely in the right. There was a reason Crazy Rich Asians went platinum in his dingy little room. 

Of course, it was not just his personal recommendations that played. You had compiled a list of your all-time favourites, going beyond Disney’s borders, and Vernon was introduced to the dashing timeless genre of the rom-com. Now having a younger sister who (he thought) was a basic bitch meant he did possess some knowledge of the genre, but he had never really sat down and watched a rom-com without falling asleep in Sofia’s bed. 

For you, though, he braved the most famous romances, which he found himself enjoying more than he would have liked—more so when he found one of his favoured actors in 10 Things I Hate About You.

“Heath Ledger singing was something I never thought I needed,” Vernon commented as the ferocious couple finally kissed. 

“And this is the same fella who was the Joker in your little Nolan film,” you reminded him, as if he was not aware already. “Oh, and he was the gay cowboy in that movie.”

“Gay cowboy?” His confusion lasted for approximately thirty seconds before he groaned, pushing you over on your beanbag. “My god, are you talking about Brokeback Mountain?”

“Yes, that one!” you exclaimed, picking up the TV remote. “My guy has range, but him as a high schooler is still my favourite role.”

“You do realise how bad that sounds, right?”

“You know what I mean,” you said, waving him off as you began searching for the next movie. “Now, Two Weeks’ Notice or The Proposal?”

Vernon endeavoured to weigh in on the options. “Which one do you think I’d like?”

“Well, both have Sandra Bullock in them…”

He looked over both DVDs. “Now that’s a white woman I can get behind.” 

You scooched a little over to him, locking your hands together. “We can watch something you like…” When he knitted his brows together, not quite answering you, you went on, almost unable to look him in the eye. “You’ve been super nice, you know…sitting through all my favourites.” 

The boy could not help it, unable to let a smirk slip. “Is this _____ appreciating me for once?” The beginnings of his shit-eating attitude did not develop, since your smack on his arm completely snuffed it out. “Ow, damn!”

“You deserved that,” you muttered, beginning to scoot away until Vernon’s hand on your wrist stopped you. 

When you focused your gaze at him, he already beat you to it. “Let’s watch both today.” 

It was silly, how that made your heart beat faster. “Really? You would watch two rom-coms in a row?”

As his hand pulled you closer, his stare had you almost—almost—nervous. “I’ve done worse for you.”

“Very true,” you said, absent-minded, more lost in the twinkle of his eyes. “Very, uh…good point.”

Vernon thanked all the higher bodies that may have existed for the pure, unadulterated rizz he was attempting to spew. “I’m full of good points,” he crowed. “Now, are you going to stare at me all night, or are we going to watch Sandra Bullock?”

Although your cheeks burned, you pushed him off, earning a chuckle from him. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Mr. Filmbro. The only man I’ll be staring at will be Ryan Reynolds in The Proposal.”

All of the boy’s suave attitude dissipated at his shock. “The Deadpool guy?!”

“Ryan Reynolds did have range before,” you explained, shaking your head. “Then the superhero bug bit him.”

“What a shame,” he only said, as if Vernon did not follow the Deadpool universe to the point of possessing special editioned comics in his room. Still, he happily slotted the CD inside the player, and excused himself to make more popcorn for the two of you.

As the boy prepared snacks, glancing back every time at the opening scene, he managed to sneak a look at you, eagerly watching the screen. 

He could only smile, putting all the popcorn in the huge bowl before hurrying back to you. 

THIS WAS PROBABLY THE FIRST TIME YOU WORE A SUIT TO A CINEMA. PERHAPS THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME YOU WORE A SUIT AT ALL.

Admittedly, it was not as if you had intended to go into the cinema in formal attire—or, at least the only formal clothing you had. Your first plan was to steal something from your father’s wardrobe, but when you tried it on, it did not fit properly, and you refused to look like an idiot in public.

Not that you cared much about looking like an idiot in public before, but there was another person to look out for. And that person, although had already done embarrassing enough actions for you, did not want to push it further. One more ceremonious act of humiliation, and Vernon would have run a thousand miles from you—or that was what you thought. 

You observed your cinema fit one last time before your bathroom mirror, fixing the lapels for the nth time. Your rented three-piece suit was almost a second skin, waistcoat snug underneath the tweed jacket, matching coloured trousers adorned alongside. You borrowed some Oxford brogues from a friend, which made you realise that you had more posh friends than you knew. You tried to find a hat similar to the one Cillian Murphy wore in the promotions, but because you did not have the wardrobe of a middle aged man, you resorted to let your head rest. 

All of this elaborate planning to see Nolan’s (apparently) greatest release yet—Oppenheimer. 

Because the cinema was not far away from you, you decided to walk, messaging your date to let him know that you were on your way. You were certain he was already there in the cinema; Vernon, since you had started hanging out more with him, had only ever talked about Nolan’s upcoming epic. You swore if you recited the IMDB plot out to him during sex, he would have spunked within minutes (a mental note to experiment on that later). His excitement had you booking midnight release tickets, which consequently made him so happy you thought you had invited Nolan to the town cinema. 

The night, furthering along, had beautified the black sky, stars twinkling on your journey. The consistent vibrations from your phone indicated the boy’s imminent excitement, and you smiled, double-checking your formal attire once more. You would have romanticised the nighttime further but living in student area brought you right back to fearing slightly for your life, so you quickened your step, cinema already a close speck in the distance. 

You knew you were nearer to the destination when the flocks of pink and black grew, the cowboy hats and fake pipes all piling up in your vision. Seeing the pink reminded you of Barbie’s influence, also being released tonight alongside the more serious counterpart. 

A small part of you really wanted to see the midnight release for the new movie. The original plan most people were following was either to watch Oppenheimer and then Barbie, or the other way around. You were so close to procuring tickets for the latter, but decided that it was important to accompany Vernon to the seemingly bigger release. After all, you were never as excited about films as the dear film major you had rather grown to like.

Another vibration of your phone, and you finally decided to stop ignoring said-film major and text him, possibly informing you of his arrival.

mr. filmbro: yo where u at

mr. filmbro: they’re too many pink mfs out here im getting suffocated

You rolled your eyes.

_____: im coming to save u kitten.

mr. filmbro: :0

Once you were inside, it was a complete sea of pink and black and grey. Two sides, which one would assume would be opposing, were all celebrating, sharing their drinks, anticipating when the theatre doors would open to let everyone in. Within this myriad of fans, you tried to search for the most mentally ill one—the one who you were certain had a finer three-piece set than you, who would have happily stolen Cillian Murphy’s set clothes to truly honour the movie. 

Strangely enough, after a few minutes, you could not find him, even after confirming your seats. You searched for anyone wearing anything devoid of colour, but did not find the boy. This time, you decided to bother him, calling him and pressing the phone to your ear. 

“Where are you, kitten?” you purposely growled, lowering your voice an octave. “Daddy’s waiting.”

“Kitten actually killed himself after hearing that,” was his purposeful monotone. 

“Can you resurrect yourself for me real quick? I’m tryna find where you are.” 

“I’m next to the Oppenheimer popup.” Immediately you tried to find it, scouring through the crowds. “I figured you’d find me easier.”

Scoffing, you ignored the Barbie stalls, walking further ahead. “How very smart of you to wear Oppenheimer clothing while standing next to it. So much easier to find you, isn’t it?”

He did not retort back, instead inciting your excitement. “Wait, I think I can see you…?”

Your eyes darted over to the fresh faces of the Nolan fans, all taking pictures of the cast pop-ups. What you were observing were the men and women, all lack of colour. 

What your gaze ended up on was someone completely different. 

What you were expecting was a mini-Oppenheimer, the too-large blazer, the sashed hat upon pretty brown curls. What you received instead was a boy engulfed in all the pinks of the colour wheel.

Pink was the colour of his top, bubblegum pink the colour of the stringy fur coat sporting over said shirt. Magenta was the colour of his flared trousers, whilst rose was the colour of his converse. What topped off the entire look was the hot pink cowboy hat, sitting perfectly upon his wavy locks, completing his fit—a fit which was perfect for the Barbie movie. 

It was around that point that he caught on to your stare—through the oceans of opposing fans, he, too, finally found you.

Vernon heard your curse murmur through the phone. “Oh my fucking God.”

That was when his own gaze roamed over you, shocked and shameless amongst the crowds. Not that the crowds mattered, not anymore. He was a little nervous, he had to admit it to himself, only because there were so many people, and they were only watching for the fad, for the trend. A part of him wanted just you and him in this midnight cinema, the biggest official date yet. 

But then seeing you here, in all your black-clad, Oppenheimered glory, had stunned him to his core. Although he had specifically brought you here to watch the movie, he had completely expected you to arrive in the pinkmania fit. Because you had kindly booked tickets for his anticipated film, he thought at least to participate in the Barbie craze fit.

It was like instinct, how his steps gravitated towards you, his phone still pressed against his ear, very much like you. You followed him slowly, hearing his ragged breaths through the speaker, watching him walk closer and closer until you both were a mere couple of feet away.

Only then did you drop the call, your hands at your sides as you admired him. It was a while before any of you spoke. 

Like always, you spoke first. “Tell me the fur coat is yours.”

A ghost of a smirk. “Sofia’s.”

“Stealing’s like second nature to you now, isn’t it?” you taunted. 

Like always, he dodged your taunts. “I thought you were gonna wear all pink.”

“I thought you were gonna wear all black.”

He tilted his head. “Well, I thought since we were watching both movies…”

Your confusion was clear, the corner of his lips curling further up. “Wasn’t Oppenheimer first?”

He then went inside his flared trouser pockets, fishing out two tickets—its colours matching his outfit. “I know how much you wanted to see Margot Robbie be silly.” 

“I did!” you exclaimed, taking the tickets from him, admiring how pretty they were designed, especially when compared to the Oppenheimer marketing tickets. In your admiration, though, you noticed a detail which had your excitement faltering. “Wait, are you sure? It says the movie’s at the same time.”

Vernon then checked the timings, mouth parting. “Oh shit. Didn’t think about that.” He shook his head, mouth straightening in a line, dejected. “This is what happens when I try to do something romantic.”

“I have to give points for effort,” you offered, bringing your hands to his wrist. “Hey, it’s okay. Let’s watch Oppenheimer, honestly. Cillian Murphy is still hot when he’s old.”

“No, no,” he countered, clasping your hands on his wrist. “It’s chill.” He glanced down. “Let’s do Barbie first.”

You attempted to argue him on this, but he simply let go of your hands, with his one hand wrapping around your waist, and the other hand’s wrist being checked for the time. You bit back a smile at his mere actions, relishing his fingers skirting under the suit, the waistcoat. “Vernon,” you attempted. 

“_____,” he said back, staring at you with an awe that you would have deserved had you worn a couture gown, not some rented hand-me-downs. 

You knew he would not take no for an answer now. “But what about Oppenheimer?” you asked anyway as the two of you made your way to the cinema. 

Vernon only pretended to think extremely deeply of the situation, making you elbow him playfully. “Now tell me, Dear Disney Hag, how did we enter Mingyu’s house?”

“Why, we walked straight in!” you answered like an over-enthusiastic student, in which he sarcastically clapped for you. 

“Right on.” As you both walked towards the Barbie theatre, the opposing movie was being screened right beside you, where people were bursting in. “See how everyone is walking in right now?” He gave you a knowing glance. 

That knowing glance had you scoffing in excited disbelief. “My God! Look at you, all ready to commit crimes!” you looped a hand around his arm. “I have taught you well, young man.”

He patted your arm. “Mr. Filmbro has come a long way from chatting shit about your movie taste.”

“So you admit it?” you leaned in. “Disney makes better movies than your flop directors?”

“That’s a completely different claim,” he clarified. “My taste in films is objectively better.”

“Still doesn’t change the fact you're watching the Barbie movie before Oppenheimer.”

He rolled his eyes, tugging you closer. “That’s ‘cause I like you a lot, Disney Hag…”

You did not stop your smile from lighting up your entire face. “You’re not the most insufferable filmbro I’ve dated I guess…”

”I better be the last filmbro you date,” he muttered, watching over the last of the crowds, where they now stood, waiting to enter the theatre.

The longer you waited to answer him, the more incredulous his face became, brows knotted in disbelief. You only chuckled, leaning in and pressing your lips upon his. Of course, he was taken aback, but surprises like these were pleasant, welcomed with open arms as Vernon closed his eyes, pulling you in. 

The moment the line started quickening you broke away, only to make sure no one skipped in front of you and him, and thus deal with yours and his passive aggression. You could not help the giggle that escaped you at breaking away from his lips, relishing in his dazed state. 

Honestly—you truly would not have minded being anywhere with him.

When it was finally your turn to go inside the Barbie screening, you held tightly to his hand. “Let’s go, Mr. Filmbro.”

Vernon only smiled. “Right behind you, _____.”

And as the two of you entered the theatre, hand-in-hand, the boy learned that perhaps he, too, would have gone anywhere with you. 

[tracking-these-wolves]

Blog #7

another day another blog!

lol, its so late rn. at least for me. its nearly midnight!

today was really good. i woke up at my usual time and crocheted and did a deep stretch before going to chemistry. Chemistry was pretty good --- i actually kinda knew what was going on! after chem, i went to the library and attended NR 1010. Kaede (my BFF) is going to start joining me she says :)))) im really excited about it. Also, Tristen shotgunned a yerba mate. it was really funny.

I researched possible winter camping places for a bit -- im looking at eastern canada and maine. Somewhere far enough away that it's different. I really hope Adam is able to join me on this little adventure! if not, I may be going alone... Which would be fun, but not nearly as fun as going with someone.

NR 1050 was meh, like always. I went to the library to study with my chem lab partners... we didn't get much done lol. We played some kahoots (including one about elephants) and did the post lab problems, and that was about it. never a waste of time though. Then, I had NR 1999, and that was actually pretty fun. There's a really cute boy in both NR 1050 and NR 1999. His name's Gabe, but I know he's not interested. I asked him out a while back and he claimed he was "too busy"... It's okay, I don't have time for boys who can't communicate.

I hung out with Nolan today! Omg, the weirdest thing happened... We were going to watch Over the Garden Wall, so I had to run back to my dorm to grab some stuff, and while I was there, I thought to myself that I might as well bring my tarot deck. I don't know why, but I grabbed the cards and headed off. When I got to Nolan's, we first went to some birches, then decided to move to the LL courtyard. After we set up our hammock, I mentioned to Nolan that I brought my cards. This dude overheard me (he was smoking weed lmao) and asked me if I could do a reading... I agreed, so I set up my cards, did a little ritual with him to clear the energy, and then gave him a reading. I don't know what he was thinking about or what he asked, but I feel like the reading went really well. The past, present, and future cards made a lot of sense, and he seemed to agree.. Although he was high out of his mind lmao. It gets a little weird though. His name's Nadey? I think that's how you spell it, and he had literally just followed me on instagram the other day through a mutual friend. He was a little strange tho... He called my name beautiful and hugged me three times... Apparently, he's also said the r slur, which I don't jive with. Anyways. It was really strange. I hope I helped a little.

Over the Garden Wall was SO perfect!!! new favorite show!!! it was so whimsical and fun, and one of those shows were it's as deep as you make it. The art style was so cute, the humor was crafty and witty (yet immature which i lvoed), and the story was sentimental with a good ending. Truly a 10/10 experience. My favorite part was when Jimmy was revealed to have been in the gorilla suit for three days. Then, me and Nolan talked for a while -- we talked about highschool, and one of Nolan's friends, and I told him more about my ex (luca). We actually listened to some of Luca's music together... It was really bad. I really didn't like it. Also, 6 songs about a girl you dated for a month is actually insane. Anyways. It was a really good time. I love Nolan so much!

I didn't see Inka today :( A mother's regrets </3

Goodnight <3

[dang-dood]

my thoughts on doctor who characters and their opinions on barbie (my mental illness has reached its peak)

rose went to see barbie and she wore full pink and for sure cried because that disconnect in mothers she has had w/ jackie (mickey tagged along but like found himself in ken and so rose got grossed out and left him there and he went to see oppenheimer after) (jackie cried)

nine watched barbie but because rose made me, he actually liked it but did NOT wear pink. he went to watch oppenheimer after and threw popcorn when it was wrong

martha watched barbie and LOVED it she wore a pink top and expected it to be camp but cried (mother issues </3) and she kinda found similarities in ken and the doctor and she avoided analyzing that too deeply

donna wore so much pink for barbie and she fucking loved it she for sure cried (mother issues 3.0) she couldn’t stop talking about it for a week she loved the soundtrack and has at least one song on repeat. she almost punched the doctor when he said he was watching oppenheimer

jack would want to see oppenheimer but ianto wanted to see barbie so they went to barbie with gwen, tosh, and owen and tbh they had a group cry after and it’s all they talked about for the following week.

ten wanted to watch oppenheimer for the incorrect trivia but every one of his companions kidnapped him and so he watch barbie and he loved it but the way martha looked at him after left him shaking in his boots

amy wanted to watch oppenheimer but rory wanted to watch barbie (they went to see oppenheimer because rory would do anything for amy) they enjoyed it and after watched barbie because amy felt bad and tbh she liked it more but she wouldn’t admit it (mother issues 4.0)

river went to see indiana jones but also barbie and oppenheimer (over the course of a week or in one day vortex manipulator) she LOVED barbie indiana jones opened her up to phoebe waller bridge and she found fleabag… let’s just say “it’ll pass” left her thinking of the doctor…

eleven went to see indiana jones because it reminded him of river but after he went to oppenheimer and actually he got so mad at the incorrect things (it could’ve been one item and he would’ve still done this) he went back and talked to nolan himself eleven also watched barbie and he wore a pink bow tie and cried, he left feeling depressed because he over thought (also during oppenheimer he got bored so he for sure left in the middle of the movie) (also for barbie if he didn’t go on his own clara would’ve dragged him)

vastra and jenny both watched barbie and jenny loved it more but vastra loved it cause of how much jenny loved it

clara went to see barbie and LOVED it she wore a pink floral shirt (or skirt, i could see either one) and cried (mother issues what is this now 5?) but i also know she loved making her barbie’s kiss other barbie’s but also kens (me too) she also loved allen but because he looked goofy

bill went to see barbie and loved it SHE WORE A FULL PINK OUTFIT she loved it so much she begged the doctor to let her see it twice she wanted to fight ken and i know she would argue with anyone who had a shit opinion on the movie (she considered oppenheimer for florence pugh) [she also cried bc of mother issues]

twelve wanted to see none of them but got dragged to barbie by both bill and clara and he will NEVER admit it but he cried (he didn’t wear pink which almost got him smacked) he thought about that movie for weeks and even went back in time to be on set

yaz went to see barbie and cried (mother issues how many more can we get) and she definitely wore a pink outfit. she was so excited for this movie she made the doctor bring her to the future to see it (she went again with her sister and they cried together)

ryan went to see barbie and wore a pink shirt OR dressed as ken (cried mommy issues AGAIN) he really enjoyed it and i know he thought about what his ken would be like after the movie

graham went with ryan and yaz after yaz begged for them to go and he liked the film (he wore a pink hat idk why) and he is VOCAL about his opinions but like not in a bad way, he listens to feedback for different opinions and he has the mentality of “it wasn’t meant for me was it”

thirteen watched barbie with yaz on a date and loved it, she watched barbie grow up when visiting earth and was always fascinated by them, she has a few barbie’s somewhere in the tardis and even went back and bought a few after watch the movie (she bought allen and she also bought yaz a very limited barbie… well i say bought…)

simms!master watched oppenheimer because barbie was too bright in his opinion, he laughed during oppenheimer.

missy watched both oppenheimer and barbie, season eight missy would’ve liked oppenheimer more because it gave her ideas. season ten missy? she LOVED barbie the depth in character + finding your own purpose resonated so well with her and she cried even if she would never admit it

dhawan!master loved barbie IDCC look he made oppenheimer for thirteen like he didn’t need a 2for1 deal. he resonated so hard with barbie and the mother issues (but it’s the older timelord shunning him for the problem they caused) like yeah he was frothing at the mouth holding back tears. the whole “what is my purpose” feeling pre-blowing up galifrey probably would’ve left his ass question if he was making a bad decision. he considered seeing oppenheimer but heard it’s as three hours and got mad so he just read the wiki to it and still got bored

[denimbex1986]

'Not sure if you’ve noticed, but it’s hot out there.

So hot that I actually took a peek at this great guide my Times colleagues put together titled: “Cool off in 14 of L.A.’s hottest pools with day passes.” Which, back in the day, I used to do all the time, except then a “day pass” consisted of waiting for a hotel guest to leave the pool area and then slipping in the gate. Or hopping the fence when no one was around. But, admittedly, that was a long time ago, all the way back in nineteen-dickety-two. We had to say “dickety” ’cause the Kaiser had stolen our word “twenty.” I chased that rascal to get it back, but gave up after dickety-six miles ...

I’m Abe Simpson ... er, Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope’s Friday newsletter. Pull up a chair, turn on the misting fan and let’s see what’s happening this week.

‘Barbenheimer’ the sequel set for the weekend

One way to cool off would be to head to the movies, sit in an air-conditioned theater and check out “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” for the first time, or maybe the third time. They’re pretty addictive. And it’s so freakin’ hot outside that you might not even mind the 30-minute barrage of commercials and trailers before the movie starts. Bonus time in a cool, dark place. What’s not to like?

My colleague Brian Contreras writes that both movies are expected to continue doing robust business — as they have during the week. So, go, get into the spirit and put on some pink or don an exaggerated porkpie hat. You won’t be alone in your enthusiasm.

Ken’s ‘sweet kind of rebellion’ in ‘Barbie’

That’s how my pal Mark Olsen described Ken’s journey in Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” as he discovers this thing called the patriarchy — and that he loves it — and then brings those ideas back to Barbie Land to rechristen it his “Ken-dom,” refashioning Barbie’s dream house into his “mojo dojo casa house.”

Of course, he does all this simply because he just wants Barbie to notice him.

Mark spoke with Ryan Gosling, who plays the movie’s main Ken, and Greta Gerwig, who directed and co-wrote “Barbie,” not too long ago about the movie, their collaboration and, yes, Gosling’s uproariously straight-faced performance of the 1997 Matchbox 20 song “Push,” which, as Mark writes, gets to the “emotional manipulation underneath the song’s lyrics.”

“When you put on Greta Gerwig glasses, you start to see,” Gosling says. “I heard that song my whole life, but I had never heard that song really until she pointed it out.” (I was always more partial to “3AM.”)

Christopher Nolan goes deep on ‘Oppenheimer’

Meanwhile, my old friend Kenny Turan sat down with Christopher Nolan, enjoying — what else? — freshly brewed cups of Earl Grey and some good conversation about Nolan’s extraordinary new movie, “Oppenheimer,” an absorbing look at J. Robert Oppenheimer, the “father of the atomic bomb.”

“More than anything,” Kenny writes, “Nolan is intent on honoring his subject’s often contradictory impulses, neither fleeing from nor fudging the ruinous difficulties he got himself into, in the scientific arena and in personal and political matters as well.”

“We don’t want to judge him, we want to be him, we want to be swept up in his life, to see the world through his eyes,” Nolan says. “In film we don’t often get the opportunity to drill down on these particular moments. Do we know exactly why we do things? Oppenheimer was an extreme form of what we all do.”

Me ... I’m drinking margaritas from a blender right now ... and I know exactly why I’m doing it. It’s scorching out there! See you next week.'

[inkybinkyboink]

okay no one asked but here's how i would rewrite it

im gonna break this up into 3 components. the way arkham is depicted, the musical aspect (because i do think that has potential), and the characters

my credentials? im autistic and am currently hyperfixating on batman, and i've been a musical theatre student at the university level for the past four years.

message to todd: bro im sorry im not trying to get in the way of ur craft or whatever but like bestie you gotta reel it in, anyways, this is not written out of hate. just spite.

part 1- arkham asylum

the more i think about it the more i feel like this section should be titled 'worldbuilding'. i think that each batman movie or adaptation has its own highlight as to what separates it from the rest. the nolan movies ground absurd comic ideas. batman 2022 sort of takes advantage of the fact that its absurd and lets it be absurd, i think they've got a really very good Gotham. interestingly, i found that in joker 2019 gotham (and its citizens) reflected the real world. it highlights poverty, classism, and ableism as large issues. most importantly, i think phillips completely flipped what we see of Arkham Asylum. in the first movie, its depicted as a sort of sad place, kind of the last place you'd want to end up and it gives the impression that this is where gotham locks up the people they just dont know what to do with. the secretary man is actually really nice to arthur and there's nothing in the brief scene that indicates that police violence runs rampant here. even in the last scene when he's back in arkham, it's not violent. it's very clean, white, sterile. my question is, why would you then turn arkham into a fucking prison when you've already established that its not a prison.

part two- the musical aspect

this one might make me the most annoyed. this is where im going to stand on a pedestal. musical theatre is a very tailored craft. when you enter into the theatre world theres things you have to do in order to maintain suspension of disbelief and also keep your story organized. the number one rule of musical theatre is "if it's too much to keep talking, start singing. if it's too much to keep singing, start dancing", and the cycle repeats. the other really important thing is that in most musical theatre plays there are specific songs your want to see at specific points of the play.

usually, in a musical, near the very beginning, you want something called an "I Want" song. In Hamilton, for example, this is My Shot. He's explaining to the audience what he wants and what he's going to do to get to his goal. Then there's something called the "I Am" song, which is basically a character explaining who they are, (usually this is reserved for the villains, so that you dont empathize with them as much). Interestingly, in Hamilton, the closest thing i can find is Aaron Burr, sir, and Schuyler Sisters (though arguably neither of these are villains). But think of like Dentist from Little Shop or Poor Unfortunate Souls from Little Mermaid. Then, there's also the 1st act show stopper (One Day More from Les Mis, Bottom's Gonna Be on Top from Something Rotten, Tonight (Quintet) from West Side Story, etc), and the 11 o'clock number (Santa Fe from Newsies, Made of Stone from Hunchback, Legally Blonde from Legally Blonde).

none of these tropes show up in the movie and YES i went through the entire album on spotify.

i dont know what was going on there, funny enough, every single track on the album has a DIFFERENT producer and composer, which might explain why they're all just a different iteration of the same goddamn message with a slightly different beat. this is not a musical. these are just songs. i honestly can't figure out how they fit within arthurs character either because the movie doesnt even follow Rule 0. he starts singing at the most unorthodox moments. like the first song, for example, For Once in my Life comes WELL after meeting Harley for the first time. Why not have him sing that song on his way back to the E Wing right after meeting Harley.

here's the thing. i maintain that the movie could have gotten away with the musical aspect. the first movie makes it a point to emphasize that the music we hear is also heard by arthur, indicating that the music that's played is a reflection of his psyche. so absolutely make it a musical if you're doing a sequel, but for god's sake make it consistent. let the music tell the story, not exclusively what the characters are feeling. and if they are feeling something they need to have an arc within the song. it cant be stagnant. they really muddied the waters as to what was diegetic and what wasn't. i think it would have been really funny if we saw people like harvey dent, or the judge reacting to arthur randomly bursting into song. he's living a fantasy, we know this, let the other characters see it as well.

part 3- the characterization

im going to address the elephant in the room. stop giving dogshit, inaccurate depictions of DID. it's harmful. just. stop. bro. to quote my sibling, "why would you try to explain what's wrong with the joker". let him be a freak. dont use his trauma as an excuse for him fucking murdering people. this is where i think they should have stayed true to the last movie. arthur has a defense regardless of whether or not he's mentally ill. we know he's mentally ill. we also know he's living in abject poverty in a city with a crime rate that's insurmountable. that in an of itself is a more reasonable defense for pleading not guilty than having mental illness is. i think it would have been more effective to allow arthur to come to terms with his actions through that lens rather than through the veil that he's genuinely not guilty by "reason of insanity".

harley quinn's character was cool, that's one of the few things i liked. i liked that she lied about her upbringing, but apart from that they rlly made her the most shallow person in the movie. like fuck dude, give her some substance. why didn't she set off the bomb at the end? why didn't she like, disrupt the court, or something like give her something to do oh my god.

they did harvey dent so fucking dirty. like first off, you cast the most beautiful man. and then he does nothing. you had two-face but you gave the- AHHH. IT WAS RIGHT THERE YOU FOOLS. and i get wanting to make your own version, and i get that the joker corrupting harvey dent has already been done but then why did you put harvey dent in it. like it felt like a carrot and a stick. it went no where. also??? one of the guard's is called Bullock, but that also goes no where and oh my god the guards.

look. i'm a big fan of post-modernism. i think it's cool. i think shocking people into a state of realization can be really effective. but i also think that you shouldn't just. abruptly assault your main character. i think that if arthur, instead of being assaulted, had been violently beaten up, it would have a) paralleled the first movie and b) shown both arthur and the viewer that violence is prominent everywhere. no matter where arthur goes, he's going to be kicked while he's down. you didn't need to fucking assault him to break him.

bonus part 4- how i would have written it

it's gotham. i would have found a loophole to get arthur out on bail. i would have allowed him to interact with different parts of society. he could still meet lee, along with the people that agree with the joker, people who don't. people who fall in between. people who don't care. and then you could give each different person a different song. then, maybe shit goes down in the "second act". maybe there's a provision that screws up arthurs bail, and thats when he's locked up in arkham. the isolation and police brutality (because i do think that's an important thing to showcase) causes arthur to develop as a character and bring us to the final scene. maybe harley sets off the bomb to break him out. ALSO (and I KNOW it's a joker movie, not a batman movie), i would have tied off the batman line from the first movie. maybe the wayne trial is running concurrent with the joker trial. if you're going to have harvey dent for gods sake add in jim gordon. also??? give the little gay guy some more things to do. let him kiss other gay guys. maybe dont kill him. sorry they did that 2 u ricky r.i.p.

guys im gonna rewrite Joker 2