#and dutch is a self centered man

[phasewashere]

i need to write vdm

[cheriladycl01]

Can you do a cute one shot please where reader gets drunk and she’s a super lovey and cute drunk and just wants cuddles with Max or Lando please?? Love 🍷 anon who is deffo not drunk and crying over max edits 🥰🥰

Drunk in Love - Lando Norris x Drunk Reader x Max Verstappen

Plot: Your were drinking for England after your first podium. To the point where you can’t tell the difference between your boyfriend Lando Norris and team-mate Max Verstappen.

Warning: Throwing up, General drunkenness.

A/N: This request was hard to choose whether i wanted it centered around Max or Lando, so i added Max being cutie.

You'd gotten your first podium and you were in a celebrating that in a London Club after the British GP. There was a load of drivers in the club with you including your boyfriend Lando Norris.

You were being offered drinks from pretty much everyone in the room, it was absolutely insane and you'd taken so many drinks without even thinking how much you'd had.

You vision was so blurry, and you were at the point where being this intoxicated was scaring you and you just wanted to get back to your apartment that you kept in London while Lando had the Monaco apartment.

"Lan!" you cry looking up at who you thought was your boyfriend because of the shirt he was wearing. It the shape, same colour and same material when you leaned in to touch it as what Lando was wearing.

Your vision was beyond fucked and you couldn't even make out your boyfriends beautiful face.

"Baby!" you cried at him, tugging him towards you, your eyes blurring more with tears as you struggle to get his attention. The body turns round, and Max is now looking down at his friends very drunk state.

"Y/N?" he asks looking over at you bending down.

"Lan, please baby. I love you but I want to go home!" you say nuzzling into his neck and wrapping your arms around his middle.

"Oh-erm Y/N" Max tries but because of how loud the club is your drunk self cant even tell that it's Max and his Dutch accent that is talking to you and trying to pry you off of him.

"Why are you trying to get me to let go! You love cuddles!" you pout looking down.

"Do you not love me anymore?" you gasp before sobs start to rack through your body at the thought of Lando, the love of your life no longer wanting to be with you.

"Hey, Hey shush!" Max comforts you, pulling you in for a hug and brushing you hair with his hand in a polite manner. You nuzzle into the hug, and you started to feel strange, this didn't feel like a Lando hug, it didn't feel like your Lando full stop.

This body was taller, but not as built as Lando. It didn't feel right. And you couldn't help but wonder who on earth this imposter was.

Max was asking around him, trying to get Charles and Carlos to find where Oscar, Logan and Lando had all wondered off to away from you.

"You are my boyfriend! WHO ARE YOU?" you ask your eyes squiting to try have a better look at the man in front of you.

"Y/N it's me Max!" he smiles kindly putting his hand on your upper arm to steady you as he can see your swaying.

"I want Lando, please get Lando!" you ask with little gasps of breath, sounding like hiccups while you try to catch you breathe a little.

"Carlos has gone looking for him, look come sit down here next to Charlie and Daniel, i'll go help Carlos!" Max says leading you next to Charles who moves over a little in the booth to give you room to get in.

You sit there quietly waiting for Lando's return.

Max was practically running round the club, looking to spy Lando or even Carlos so they could team up and look for the trio together.

After looking he finds them out on the balcony looking down at the busy London street below.

"Lando!" Max shouts making all their heads snap round.

"What's up?" Lando asks putting his drink down making it clink on the glass of the table.

"It's Y/N she's like ... I've never seen her this drunk before. She didn't even know I was me, she thought i was you!" he explains and Lando looks between Oscar and Logan with a shocked look.

"We left her for what... like half an hour!" Lando sighs before following Max back inside leaving Oscar and Logan to their own devices out on the balcony.

"Baby?" Lando asks tentatively, seeing you slouched against Charles.

"Lan!" you exclaim, jumping up and launching yourself at him. You hug him and he wraps you into a familiar warm bear hug and you know that it's him now.

"There's MY Lan!" you smile, nuzzling into him. He kisses your forehead before pulling you back and bending down to your level to look over your face. He could see how spacey your eyes look and that it's for sure about time you should be leaving.

"Come on baby lets go!" he smiles and you shake your head with a soft whine.

"My feet hurt so much" you say groggily and he cant help but laugh at the little pouty expression on his face.

"That's okay, I can carry you baby" he smiles and lifts you up as though you were the weight of a feather. He carries you bridle style all the way back to your apartment which was actually on a 15 minute walk through London.

"I love you so much! I'm sorry about tonight!" you sighed at him, not enjoying filming guilty for making him leave this early.

"Why are you sorry darling!" he laughs as he places you down in the now moving elevator of your apartment building.

"Because i made you leave early from the fun because I don't feel well!" you pout, grabbing his arm and hugging it close against you. He just smiles down at you. You were normally very affectionate anyway but drunk you was very clingy and needy.

Not that Lando minded, he actually loved it.

"Come on baby, it's bed time for the both of us. No need to feel guilty, I was kinda wanting to come back for a nice cuddle session with you anyway!" he grins and you then look down.

"Shower!" you complain looking at him as the lift doors open to your pent house. He carries you straight through to the bathroom, you collapse to your knees throwing up all the contents from that night.

Tears brim your eyes hating the sensation, while Lando rubs your back soothingly trying to help make sure you can breath.

"Okay, lets wash this down and then get you in there to clean up yeah hunny?" he smiles at you, grabbing the shower head down and turning the water on washing the sick from the floor of the shower down the drain until its gone. He helps you step in undressing you, then himself.

He helps you shower, not trusting you alone in the shower by yourself in this state before drying you off and brushing you teeth for you.

You both snuggle up in the big bed, you cuddling into him playing with his curls.

"I love you!" you whispers looking up at his expression.

"I love you more" he smiles placing a kiss on your lips before turning the lights off with the remote and laying his head back to sleep.

Taglist:

@littlesatanicassholebitch @hockey-racing-fubol @laura-naruto-fan1998 @22yuki @simxican @sinofwriting @lewisroscoelove @cmleitora @daemyratwst @lauralarsen @the-untamed-soul @thewulf @itsjustkhaos @purplephantomwolf @chasing-liberosis @summissss @gulphulp @starfusionsworld @jspitwall l @sierruhhhh @georgeparisole @youcannotcancelquidditch @tallbrownhairsarcastic @ourteenagetragedy @peachiicherries @formulas-bitch @cherry-piee @spilled-coffee-cup @mehrmonga @bigsimperika @blueberry64857959 @eiraethh @curseofhecate @alliwantisadonut @dark-night-sky-99 @i-wish-this-was-me @tallrock35 @butterfly-lover @barnestatic @landossainz @darleneslane @barcelonaloverf1life @r0nnsblog @ilove-tswizzle @laneyspaulding19 @malynn @viennakarma @landosgirlxoxo @marie0v @yourbane @teamnovalak @nikfigueiredo @fionaschicken @0picels0 @tinydeskwriter @ironmaiden1313 @splaterparty0-0 @formula1mount

[fvkvrodani]

these days i look at arthur & wonder if he'd have changed had he not contracted tb... bc he already knew that the world doesnt allow outlaws. he already knew or at least suspected that dutch didnt have the gang's best interest. he already knew how things would turn out... or at least suspected.

bc i feel like even without tb, arthur still wouldve tried to save ppl simply bc thats just who he is; hes a responsible, caring person beneath all that tough guy act. & even if dutch was his father that man was tearing the family apart w his madness & bringing other ppl—innocent ppl—down w him too...

he might have grumbled, huffed & puffed, & self-deprecated his way through but he would have still helped people in ch5 & ch6 w/o the tb... the illness just accelerated everything...

("i aint a do-gooder" mhmhmm so why did you help albert mason even tho you had nothing to gain from his friendship? why do you keep helping strangers that have nothing to benefit you financially? why did you rescue a young girl from a murderous incestuous cult, sent her back home, & refused the money her mom was offering you for her return? why do you keep rescuing & helping ppl left right & center everywhere you go?

low honor arthur is canon but high honor arthur is even more so bc of all the things you can do in some of the stranger missions... where youre basically forced by the narrative to help them. sure, some of them do give money to arthur but some dont... some of the stranger missions he does are truly out of the goodness thats hidden in him.)

[verdemoun]

Wait in the au with black belle does kieran still die

You think the O'Driscolls have a chance of getting within 400ft of Kieran with the most hostile and affectionate of black cat coded girlfriends?? Not a chance in h e double l Hell.

he still gets drunk enough to wander off at shady belle and is cornered by O'Driscolls

despite being within sight of shady belle he was too terrified to even scream because being confronted by O'Driscolls is a throat closed mouth dry anxiety attack for Kieran

as the O'Driscolls move in to knock him out and take him back to their camp with threats like 'Colm misses you', 5 shots ring out and with a half second lag they all collapse to the ground with a single bullet hole clean in the center of their heads

shots wake up the gang and Black Belle obviously gets to her boyf first while others run forward to find out what happened

Kieran is so distraught he cries while she holds him and assures him he's safe

Kieran nearly getting abducted is treated as a non-issue like when Bill got caught by bounty hunters but the fact the O'Driscolls got so close was a massive issue and the gang decided to go take them out in a final VDL vs O'Driscolls showdown.

Oh no Micah gets shot rip Micah.

Instead of killing Colm, Sadie as the only VDL without a bounty gets to carry Colm hogtied on the back of her horse and claim his bounty (his face is almost unrecognisable with the number of times she hit him). Even after her cut it tips the gang into 'holy shit we have enough'.

Strauss does some information gathering because let my man actually have a purpose other than being a toad. The gang decide to set for Australia instead of Tahiti because surviving in Australia is actually plausible.

As 'new money' they get awarded a 100 hectares of crown land for agricultural purposes on a 100 year, $1 lease. and the gang are all just standing there dumbfounded because it was that easy the whole time?? They turn up at a property of rolling hills covered in grass without a city in sight and it was that easy the whole time.

House building episode where they all build little cabins under Sadie's instruction because there was none of this pre-cut houses from a catalogue. it looks like a self sustaining village with all the cabins build in a circle around a massive bonfire and they still have campfires every night before retiring to their little private cabins and having a home and peace.

Some of the gang drift apart Bill becomes a bushranger Pearson opens a little shop in town Strauss heads for the city to exploit people Grimshaw starts tailoring and selling clothes and becomes an urban legend in her own right about the cranky mysterious woman who looks and is capable of murder but dotes on children.

Black Belle is happy being the armed security who stops people trying to steal their fucking cattle and horses meanwhile Kieran is happy doting on the horses. Him and Arthur have a small horse breeding, breaking and selling operation and become besties. Sadie, Black Belle and John who learns how to herd handle the livestock. Dutch and Hosea retire and grow old but they are basically Jack's tutors they are both teaching him to read and write and giving him an education and everyone's sunshine and rainbows happy.

[artzonestuff]

Differences Between the Southern and Northern Renaissance: A Study Through Jan van Eyck's "Portrait of a Man" (self portrait?)"

Written by ArtZoneStuff, 2024

The Renaissance, a period of cultural rebirth and revival of classical learning, manifested differently in the southern and northern regions of Europe. While both regions shared a common interest in humanism, art, and science, the way these ideas were expressed varied significantly due to differing cultural, social, and economic contexts.

The Southern Renaissance, centered in Italy, emphasized classical antiquity, proportion, perspective, and human anatomy. Artists like Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Michelangelo (1475-1564), and Raphael (1483-1520) focused on idealized beauty, harmony, and balanced compositions.

In contrast, the Northern Renaissance, which flourished in regions such as the Netherlands, Germany, and Flanders, focused more on meticulous detail, naturalism, and domestic interiors. Northern artists like Jan van Eyck (1390-1441), Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), and Hieronymus Bosch (?-1516) were known for their detailed and realistic depictions of nature, landscapes, and everyday life. Their work often contained rich symbolism and a focus on surface textures and fine details.

Jan Van Eyck's self portrait

Jan van Eyck's "Portrait of a Man" (Appendix 1), also known as his Self-Portrait from 1433, is a small-scale Dutch portrait measuring 25.9 x 33.1 cm (Google Arts and Culture, n.d.). The man in the painting emerges from a dark background, with his body depicted in three-quarter view. On his head, he wears a red chaperon, often mistaken for a turban, styled upward rather than hanging down (Nash, 2008, p.154). His dark fur-lined garment resembles the attire in "The Arnolfini Portrait" (Appendix 2), indicative of wealth during an era when textiles were extremely costly (ArtUK, 2019). His detailed face features a faint stubble, white highlights in his eyes and on his cheekbones, non-idealized features such as wrinkles and veins on his forehead, showcasing the Northern realism (Hall, 2014, p.44).

As described by the English art historian James Hall, the painting appears almost fleeting and alive - with the gaze seeming to capture the viewer before the face, and just like that, the penetrating stare turns away, perhaps followed by the light streaming from the right (Hall, 2014, p.43). The portrait conveys that the artist scrutinizes everything closely, including himself, without losing sight of the bigger picture (Hall, 2014, p.43). All these naturalistic details clearly indicate a Flemish painting.

The work is considered a self-portrait due to the frame. Jan van Eyck often used frames he designed and painted to enhance understanding and add meaning to his works (Hall, 2014, p.43; The National Gallery, 2021, 4:45-5.15). The gilded original frame of "Portrait of a Man" is crucial for interpreting the piece. Inscribed at the top of the frame is Jan van Eyck’s motto: "Als Ich can," translated to English: "As I can." At the bottom is his signature, and the date in Roman numerals: October 21, and in Arabic numerals, the year 1433. This results in the inscription: "Jan van Eyck made me on October 21, 1433" (Hall, 2014, p.43). He capitalizes the "I" in "Ich," playing on the pun Ich/Eyck. The motto can be interpreted as either boastful, "As I can," or modest, "As best as I can" (Hall, 2014, p.43).

The inscription highlights the relationship between words and image, indicating his awareness of his talent. His skill in painting surpasses that of a craftsman, which painters in this period was considered as. "As I can" suggests he is the only one capable of achieving such stylistic naturalism which cannot be imitated (The National Gallery, 2021, 5:10-5:58). "Jan van Eyck made me" also reflects a high degree of self-awareness, as he claims a painting of this quality, emphasizing that he created it and is conscious of his own abilities (The National Gallery, 2021, 5:10-5:58). All of this, along with his signing of his works as one of the first artists to do so, demonstrates a desire not to remain an anonymous craftsman (Hall, 2014, p.43; Farmer, 1968, p.159; Blunt, 1962).

The motto "Als Ich can" appears on several of his works, but the self-portrait is the only one where it is so prominent and clear. Additionally, the motto is placed at the top of the frame, where he would usually write the model’s name, thus, the motto can be seen as the model's identity (The National Gallery, 2021, 5:15-6:25). This, along with his direct gaze at the viewer, suggesting it was painted from a mirror, are the strongest indicators that the portrait is a self-portrait (Hall, 2014, p.43).

However, this can be taken with some skepticism, as other portraits by him, such as "Portrait of Margaret van Eyck" (Appendix 3) and "Portrait of Jan De Leeuw" (Appendix 4), share the same penetrating gaze (Pächt, 1994, p.107). This might instead indicate his realism, where the painter’s position does not function as an observer but rather takes an active role. The model’s direct gaze towards the viewer shows that the model has looked at Jan Van Eyck. This shows Jan Van Eyck possessing an active role, which was very different from painters in this period, and by doing so, creating a new respect for the painter as an artist, again showcasing his self-awareness of his position and talent (Pächt, 1994, pp.106-108).

Literature

Books and Journals:

Hall, James (2014). The self-portrait, a cultural history. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd 

Nash, Susie (2008). Northeren Renaissance Art. New York: Oxford University Press.

Blunt, Anthony (1962). The Social Position of the Artist. Artistic Theory in Italy, 1450-1600. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press 

Farmer, David (1968). Reflections on a Van Eyck Self-Portrait. Oud Holland. S. 159 

Online

Google Arts and Culture (n.d.): Portrait of a Man in a Red Turban (selfportrait). Found at: https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/portrait-of-a-man-in-a-red-turban-selfportrait/SAFcS1U8kYssmg?hl=en  

ArtUK: Butchart, Amber (2019). Fashion reconstructed: the dress in Van Eyck's Arnolfini portrait. Found at: https://artuk.org/discover/stories/fashion-reconstructed-the-dress-in-van-eycks-arnolfini-portrait 

The National Gallery (2021). Jan van Eyck's self portrait in 10 minutes or less | National Gallery. Found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMJK1EDG2X8&t=1s&ab_channel=TheNationalGallery 

[lulu2992]

Uncovering the unreleased Far Cry 5 in-game Encyclopedia

The almost complete but unused in-game encyclopedia, reconstructed thanks to the oasisstrings file.

Please note that it’s still cut content, so some information might not be relevant anymore.

You can read the oasisstrings file here. Pictures from this encyclopedia were also extracted and posted by @xbaebsae here.

Part 6: Characters

Aaron "Tweak" Kirby

Uppers, downers, sideway-ers... Tweak is all about pushing the limits of the human condition.

Adelaide Drubman

A confident go-getter with deep pockets to do whatever she wants, like living with booze, bazookas, and boy toy Xander Flynn.

Bo Adams

A hardcore survivalist that chooses to live out in the woods and off the grid.

Boomer

A scruffy pal with unparalleled loyalty.

Cameron Burke

A U.S. Marshal with an agenda. The only thing standing between him and his political aspirations is the Project at Eden's Gate.

Casey Fixman

A grill cook with a classified past. Most locals don’t believe his outrageous war stories or the wisdom he serves up with every order.

Chad Wolanski

A self-styled prepper chef who sells food out of his food truck since his restaurant "The Grill Streak" burned down.

Dr. Charles Lindsey

A veterinarian drafted into service as a medic. There's no one else to do it, and aren't we all animals?

Cheeseburger

Orphaned as a cub and raised by Wade Fowler, he's the star attraction at the F.A.N.G. Center. He loves eating cheeseburgers.

Clutch Nixon

A legendary stuntman who left this world the way he entered it: Face first onto a pile of rocks.

Dave Fowler

Wade Fowler's brother, he runs the business end of the F.A.N.G. Center.

Richard "Dutch" Roosevelt

An old prepper who'd worked himself to the bone and lost everything even before Eden's Gate came to town. Same shit, different horse.

Dylan

(no description found)

Eli Palmer

A bonafide prepper and the leader of the Whitetail Militia. He helped Eden's Gate design their survival bunkers before he wised up.

Faith Seed

The Siren in the East. The youngest in the Seed family pacifies unruly followers to make way for the Collapse. Some believe she's only an illusion.

George Wilson

George is a Whitetail Militia and baseball enthusiast, but spends most of this time as a lookout because of his age.

Grace Armstrong

A medal-winning shooter and army sniper with a vendetta against Eden’s Gate.

Guy Marvel

A genius movie director envisioning a masterpiece of anarchy and gold statue wins. Even an auteur needs help to make movie magic.

Deputy Joey Hudson

One of your fellow Hope County Deputies who has absolutely no time for bullshit and has the fists to back herself up.

Hurk Drubman Jr.

His wit and intellect may have been blunted by paint huffing, but that hasn't stopped him from living a life of adventure.

Hurk Drubman Sr.

A retired oil baron who is the undisputed master of his domain... what's left of it after the divorce.

Jacob Seed

The Soldier in the North. The eldest Seed brother serves Joseph by creating the army that will defend the Project with their lives.

Pastor Jerome Jeffries

The local man of God who will do whatever it takes to protect the people of Hope County – even if it costs him his soul.

Jess Black

Dutch’s niece. Jess is a loner who nearly lost her life in Jacob's camps, only to discover a new talent in the process: killing Peggies.

John Seed

The Baptist in the West. The youngest of the Seed brothers, John is in charge of reaping the land of supplies that will help the Project survive.

Joseph Seed

The Father. The middle Seed brother heard a Voice that told him to initiate a great Project, to prepare for the Collapse of everything. And so he has.

Kim Rye

A world traveler who chose Hope County to put down roots, and those roots are on the way - she's in her third trimester.

Larry Parker

Genius or crackpot? Science will decide.

Mary May Fairgrave

The tough-as-nails barkeep who blames Eden's Gate for the death of her parents.

Merle Briggs

A local prepper. Merle could talk your ears off about his dream bunker, or the shelf life of canned goods.

Wilhelmina Mable

Wilhelmina Maybelline, big cat whisperer and taxidermist. The well-being of Peaches the cougar is her top priority.

Nadine Abercrombie

The last living member of a family of hoarders, though she considers herself a collector. Much classier than simply hoarding. And more selective.

Nancy

(no description found)

Nick Rye

The best dang pilot in Hope County. Give him a chance and he'll put on a show.

Peaches

The long-time pet of Miss Mable. Probably named for the color of her fur and not the sweet disposition she lacks.

Deputy Stacy Pratt (yes, his first name is actually spelled Stacy in the files)

One of your fellow Hope County Deputies who’s a good cop when his ego doesn't get in the way.

Dr. Sarah Perkins

A lone biologist determined to unravel the mysteries of how Jacob's Judge wolves are created.

Sharky Boshaw

A wanted arsonist, Charlemange Victor Boshaw IV hides out where he can live his fire-blazing, rockstar fantasies.

Sherri Woodhouse

She gave up city life, opened a fishing store, and began the hunt for her family’s missing legendary whiskey.

Skylar Kohrs

A high-powered expert fly fisher hell-bent on landing a legendary fish.

Tammy Barnes

Once a homemaker, now the chief interrogator for the Whitetail Militia. They say her marshmallow blondies are to die for.

Tracey Lader

A woman determined to bring down Eden's Gate, especially Faith. They used to be friends and the sting of betrayal fuels her wrath.

Virgil Minkler

A trusted mayor for the past 7 terms, now hell-bent on stopping the production of Bliss after it took the life of his son.

Wade Fowler

The co-owner of the F.A.N.G. Center, an animal rescue facility that takes in orphaned wild animals.

Walker

A member of Eli's Whitetail Militia.

Wendell Redler

He made it through Nam with his buddies. Now he’s an old man, his buddies are gone, and this is not the America he fought for in his youth.

Wheaty

The smart-ass quartermaster for the Whitetail Militia who also has a radio broadcast to counter the Father's propaganda.

Earl Whitehorse

The devoted sheriff of Hope County. He believes delivering justice with a gun should be a last resort. On the eve of his retirement, duty calls.

Willis Huntley

Just a man in love with the good ol' US of A.

Xander Flynn

Left California for Hope County to detox from the city life. Ended up finding "modeling" gigs at the Drubman Marina, and a cult cramping his style.

Zip Kupka

A self-proclaimed conspiracy "realist" who finds a new reason to hate the government with each passing day.

There were three more:

Coyote Nelson

Fishing is life.

In the files, Coyote Nelson is the name of the fisherman you meet at fishing spots.

Morris

A bright kid of Blackfoot heritage and the go-to person for all things computers and arcade machines. He keeps it on the down low.

The character’s full name apparently is Morris Aubrey. He’s the person who’s always near Far Cry Arcade machines and telling you how “awesome” the game is.

Scooter

A supply runner for the Whitetail Militia.

All I know about Scooter is that, according to a deleted mission objective, this character (who was also cut) was supposed to be escorted to the Wolf’s Den at some point.

[charlewiss-writes]

blame it on fate / daniel ricciardo

masterlist

day 29: interview (part of one-word november prompts!)

word count: 1k words.

pairing: daniel ricciardo x interviewer!reader

summary: the ever so-confidently daniel ricciardo meets the one that turned it all around. can he avoid looking like an ass, or can he fix it once its done?

author's note: it's truly embarrassing how long it took me to finish this one, and i'm not completely ok with it :( i'll try to get the last day ready before the new year rolls around lol, thanks for being patient with me!!

being barely an apprentice, doing an internship for your marketing major, you always followed your senior, monica, like a lost puppy: writing down in your notepad everything you were learning from her, starting from questions that were okay to ask, noting when was it right to make a joke or two, or when to go straight to the point. but now, with her being sick and, in consequence, not making it to the race weekend, the editorial where you worked at thought it was perfect for some real-life practice: you were actually doing the interviews in the media sector, not just watching from the sidelines.

safe to say your nerves were through the roof, because in your mind, you weren’t supposed to be there in the first place. 

"excuse me, do i know you from somewhere?".

the voice of none other than max verstappen startled you out of your self conscious thoughts. you quickly put on a smile, trying to look friendly and cause a good impression on your first day in.  "yeah, i'm supposed to be assisting monica, but she's sick today, so i'm covering her up".

"oh, that's nice. well, i hope everything goes well for you! we're not that bad" max joked at the end of the interview, when the camera was already turned off. you were most nervous about interviewing the dutch man, given his 'bad man' reputation, but seeing this side of him, crackling a joke or two, left you feeling more relaxed now after the exchange. "i leave you in good hands" he said, signaling to the man that used to be his teammate a few years earlier. it wasn't unusual to hear first his laugh, and then see him around. that's the daniel ricciardo everyone in the paddock knew, and the one that everyone loved. always joking, always smiling, and always so beautifully him. 

"i'm sorry, can we start over? you're quite distracting".

"oh, sorry?" you said, frowning. his eyes widened, realization dawning on his face as he understood why you reacted the way you did. stumbling on his words out of pure nervousness, daniel rambled. "n-no, i didn't mean that in a bad way, you're just so pretty?". ending the sentence with a questioning tone didn't exactly bring you any certainty, and that's what reflected on your reply, "thanks?".

max, who was on the booth at your side, saw how the whole interaction had played out and joined in, palming daniel's shoulder while laughing. "already embarrassing yourself, ricciardo? that's a new record for you". the australian answered through gritted teeth. "shut up, max".

it would've been funny if you saw the interaction from the outside, but since you were at the center of it all, the awkwardness just spreaded through your body. max, not sensing your discomfort. he wasn’t doing it on purpose, it's just that the thrill of getting under daniel’s skin proved to be rather blinding to max. so, he continued making fun of the mclaren driver. "I don't think I've ever seen you smile that bright".

"you're on sight, verstappen. you just wait".

-

following your failed attempt at ending the day without any inconvenience after your encounter with daniel, the rest of the interviews you conducted seemed to have gone right. your biggest fear was asking an unfortunate question, or receive a short answer at something you asked, but it turned out to be fine: all were very understanding of your situation, and did everything they could to make the first-day-nerves go away. so now, with the friday coming to an end, thus ending your work-day, you were making your way out of the paddock to finally go back to the place you were staying at. at least, until you heard someone calling for you.

"hey, y/n, right?"

funnily enough, the man that was almost-shouting your name down the whole paddock was the one you tried to avoid all day since your inconvenient encounter. you replied, nonchalantly, "that's me, i guess. hope i'm not too distracting now, daniel". you didn't mean to give him the cold shoulder, but none could fault you for doing so, even if he explained right away, it still left you doubting every little thing you said all day. daniel, once again, tried to explain himself. "you weren't being distracting earlier either. i just, i don’t know, got really nervous suddendly? i'm sorry, wasn't my intention to ruin your first day here. you must think i'm an asshole" he said, touching the back of his neck in a clear sign of nervousness. which, again, wasn’t your intention to begin with, so your tried reassuring him. "no no, i don't think that, don't worry, daniel" thinking that you were desperately wanting to end the conversation, daniel gave you back a tight lipped smile and turned around, prepared to walk back to mclaren's hospitality. 

"so do i make you nervous, ricciardo?" you said, which prompted the tall man in front of you to turn around, now, with a face-splitting smile, completely changing the sheepishly expression that tinted his face before. "i guess you do, yeah".

reciprocating his smile as best as you could, you quipped "well, we already have something in common". when he deemed it safe to get a bit closer to your frame, without overstepping, you continued, now with a lower tone of voice to avoid prying ears. “are you staying at the hotel near here?" daniel nodded, with his head tilted to the side, not quite understanding yet where you were going with that question. "great!” you exclaimed, maybe in an over enthusiastic tone. “another coincidence. do you think we can, i don't know, coincide in the lobby at eight for a drink?".

you didn’t know where this rush of confidence was coming from, but maybe, you were taking a page of a book that daniel knew well: the flirty-funny demeanor that he maintained all these years on the paddock, and that seemed to have gone missing at the mere sight of you earlier today. "yeah, i guess we can. we can say it’s another coincidence, and blame it on fate".

"i'll drink to that, ricciardo".

[agere-fandom]

regressor!micah bell!!

fictional agere challenge

day 6: an “unfitting” character (a villain, someone from horror, etc) that you hc as a regressor

note; OMG TWO POST IN ONE DAY??? WOAHHHHH- it's only because I missed out on yesterday so XD but yeah, regressor Micah!! I know that the whole agere rdr2 fandom is very small, so that's why he might be unfitting, but idk!! Anyways, I'm NOT a Micah apologist at all, but how they wrote him out as a villain in the game was AMAZING. But here's bratty Micah I guess /lh

headcanons;

Micah is a baby/toddler regressor and his age range is 2 - 5

He is one heck of a stubborn guy, like he gets upset over being told what to do and what rules there are, and for him especially, there are A LOT. He's also just a massive grump and will pout and pout his way out of things (which just makes it worse)

⬇️ He's also very well known for his tantrums, like he will go full on laying on the floor and kicking his legs and screaming and everyone absolutely HATES it. Like once they hear him screaming, they're all like "god, not this again" and they all have to sadly suffer

The only one who actually gives in to Micah is Dutch. Like this man will, unfortunately, give in to his every whim and absolutely spoils this little guy, so basically, Dutch is Micah's ticket to get out of anything he's in trouble for LAMO

One person he just despises is John. Like both of them together in the same room and regressed? It ends up being a screaming match with them both pulling their hair out and smacking each other. Why do they hate each other? No one knows... it's just real younger/older sibling relationship

When Micah is smaller and in baby mode, he's so much more nicer to everyone (except John), and he's just a little guy. And he's like those extroverted babies that just wave to everyone. It also makes him far more popular than both his big and toddler self. He doesn't understand what's going on while he's a baby, but he's just trying his best

He's that little to be like "I ain't no little >:(" while he has his whole hand in his mouth and a teddy bear in his other hand. And it adds more to him being ever MORE stubborn than before

He doesn't like to go out to places outside of camp while he's little, and he'll have a absolute fit about it. Even if he's going to ride on a horse, he'll still pout about it... until he's allowed to get candy. Then he's already propped himself on Dutch's horse and is like "I'm ready now :)" just because he can get something

He's also a very jealous type, like he's not the center of attention right now? Tantrum. No one's giving him a cuddle? Tantrum. He doesn't get a reward for doing absolutely nothing? Tantrum with FAKE tears

The people he actually gets along with are Javier, Charles, Hosea, Dutch. He HATES John and (somehow) poor Kieran. And everyone else just ends up trying to get away from him because of how he is when regressed

One person who tries to ignore looking after him is Arthur. Like he's already bad enough around him while he's big, but little Micah? Ten times worse. Even when Dutch is like "but he likes you", Arthur is not giving in. Like even if he tries to be stern he just ends up getting angry because of how stubborn and grumpy Micah is. Like man is already having a hard time with relaxing, Micah just ends up breaking his back from how much Arthur has to actually RUN after him LAMO

[fatehbaz]

[A] 1596 map of Peru by the Dutch mapmaker Arnold Van Langren. [...] Centrally located in Van Langren’s map [...] is a four-legged “beast” with a humanoid face.

The Latin text that describes it [...] roughly translates to: "This beast, which was called Haute by the Tupinambá people of Brazil, has never been seen eating or drinking: Because of this they believe them not to gather food, nor to nourish themselves through drink, nor from any other nourishment, but to live by a spilling of the air.” The description of a mythical New World beast that survives off the air dates back to the Spanish explorer and chronicler of the New World Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdes, most commonly known as Oviedo. [...] The French monk André Thevet (1568, 81), who spent ten weeks exploring the French Antarctique region in Brazil, co-opted Oviedo’s language in his 1557 travelogue [...]

Thevet’s anthropomorphic illustration of the sloth with a human-like face was widely copied, and it is the one most similar to that in the center of Van Langren’s map. [...]

The location of the sloth in the center of Van Langren’s map underscores its mythic significance. While Thevet and Léry described the sloth as living in Brazil, Van Langren placed it in the center of Peru, between the letters “PERUVI” and “ANA,” such that the viewer is forced to confront the animal when reading the name of the land depicted. [...] [T]his map follows the medieval tradition by placing the primary object of wonder or interest in the center -- where mapmakers often place themselves [...].

---

Both Oviedo and Thevet, for instance, described the sloth as a monstrous amalgamation of the body parts of other animals. Oviedo compared the sloth’s round face to that of a lechuça, or little owl, and its nose to that of a monico, or monkey.

Although the beast comprises the parts of several natural animals -- a monkey, a bear, a carp, a human child -- the aggregate produces [...] a monster. [...] Thevet made a startling mention of the “fyne of a Carpe.” In climbing a tree using a body part that resembles the fin of a sea creature, the sloth blatantly violates the natural order, bringing characteristics of a sea creature onto land. [...]

---

[E]ven the sloth’s name is tied to the notion of sin [...]. Oviedo drew on this foundation through his implicit connection between the sloth’s grotesque animal characteristics and blackness.

To introduce the animal, he writes: (Swift–Parakeet they call on the mainland the clumsiest animal in the world, and it is so slow and deliberate in its movement, that to walk the space which would take 50 steps, it needs an entire day. The first Christians that came to dry land, when they got to Darien in the province of Cueva, when they saw this animal (remembering that in Spain they tend to call the black man John White, because the opposite is understood), they gave it a name very far from its self, for being slow, they call it swift, and in the province of Venezuela they call it the lazy.) [...]

By connecting the irony of the sloth’s name, meaning “swift,” with the Spanish joke of naming a black man White, Oviedo ties the animal conceptually to a race Europeans considered to be inferior because of its members’ differing physical characteristics [...]. Oviedo later adds, “Ni he visto hasta agora animal tan feo ni que parezca ser tan inútil que aqueste” (I have never until now seen an animal so ugly, nor that appears to be as useless as this one) (414). [...]

---

The sloth on Van Langren’s map not only inherited European notions of race and monstrosity; it was also descended from a tradition of portraying New World flora and fauna through heavily gendered tableaus. Several of the figures on Van Langren’s map -- the sloth, the opossum, the floppy-eared dogs above it, and the Brazilian cannibals below -- originated from sixteenth-century prints that encoded notions of gender, savagery, and animality by portraying America as a classically muscled nude woman surrounded by plants and animals native to the New World. [...] The sloth also elicited disparate reactions [...]. While Oviedo, as we have seen, was repulsed by the animal, Thevet (1568, 81) seemed to delight in it, informing the reader of his description of the sloth that “by this ye may sée the wonderfull works of nature, how that she can make things strange, great, incomprehensible, and wonderfull [...]."

The opposing possibilities embodied by the sloth -- that it is both docile and monstrous, “wonderfull” and repulsive -- mirror the binaries present in gendered depictions of the land. [...]

The sloth, for all its monstrous characteristics, possesses a uniquely feminine potential to be tamed. Thevet, for one, referred to the sloth using female pronouns, and explorers such as José de Anchieta (1534-1597) and Fernão Cardim (1548/1549 – 1625) said that its face resembled that of a woman [...].

---

Yet the personification of the sloth as a woman came at the expense of the Indigenous inhabitants, who were in turn dehumanized. Thevet (1568, 81) wrote that “this beast is very louing to man, when she is tame, coueting to be always on his shoulders, [...] the which doings the wylde men of the countrey cannot abyde for that they are wicked [...]." Léry [...] clarified this point in his History of a voyage to the land of Brazil, writing, “his claws are so sharp that our Tupinamba, who are always naked, do not take much pleasure in playing with him.” Thevet invoked sympathy for the animal by citing the Indigenous inhabitants’ moral deformity [...]. The supremacy of wild animals over Indigenous peoples took symbolic form in Sir Walter Raleigh’s 1599 illustration of the Haute [sloth] [...].

The sloth asserts itself as the largest and most visible icon on Van Langren’s map, and can perhaps be taken, in all its contradictions, as a representation of America as a whole. It is depicted as both enticing and repulsive, alluring yet inferior. Its human qualities seem to lessen those of the “savage” Indigenous inhabitants surrounding it, while its animal qualities push it into the realm of the monstrous. It, like America, per the colonialist vision, requires European control in order to be tamed. In its docility, it appears ripe for conquest, but its sharp claws hint at a certain wildness which provokes terror.

---

All text above by: Abigail Weinberg. "Centering the Sloth in an Early Modern Map of Peru". Sloth Vol. 6, No. 1. Winter 2020. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions were added by me for accessibility.] Images and their captions are also shown as they are presented in Weinberg's article. The article is available online at: [animalsandsociety.org/research/sloth/sloth-volume-6-no-1-winter-2020/centering-the-sloth-in-an-early-modern-map-of-peru/]. Sloth is a publication of The Animals and Society Institute. ASI can be contacted by phone at (734) 677-9240 and at: 2512 Carpenter Road, Suite 202A, Ann Arbor, MI 48108-1188.

[shebeafancyflapjack]

Abigail: Do you think John will ever be the man I want him to be?

Hosea: My dear, most people will tell you that you're a fool to think you can change a man. I say those people are quitters!

Abigail: Really?

Hosea: When I first met Dutch, he was delusional, greedy and self-centered. But I stuck with him and now he's a whole new person.

Abigail:

Abigail: Hosea...

Hosea: He's a whole new person, Abigail!

[phasewashere]

shoutout to dutch van der linde bcoming the very thing he swore to destroy. his hatred for greed and the inudstrialization of the world while he himslef takes most of the money the gang makes and puts it into his tent and his appearence and the visage of a rich man. where arthur is the tragic gero, dutch is merely a fool. quite literally a tale of madness and irony and his entire self being centered in ideals he cannot keep up with and that shatter as soon as he knows he cannot survive. the way that he is a philosopher and a savior but he seems to abhor humanity and in turn despise what he is because he cannot reach a level of what he wants to be and to appear as. leading him to venture in wealth and women and sounding smarter than his fellows. how insecure this reveals him. a sheep hiding in wolf's clothing. and though he is an icarus (his intentions true and painfully human) he is still wanting and continues into the sun until there is nothing left of him.

what a bozo

[barbylion]

literally just a list of my favorite webdramas and short-run tv dramas bc this is my house

My Fuxxxxx Romance (2020)

messy not-really love triangle where four people become friends in a bar. two of them start screwing around while the guy prefers open relationships and the girl's friend is hella toxic and in love/obsessed with her so she starts sleeping with the guy to prove he's shitty. the 2nd guy is there to be the foil/naiive one that's new to this whole world tbh. it's just a really great drama where there isn't a single character you're meant to like or cheer for. they're all sucky people in their own way lol. anyway, it was literally made around and to promote Park Won's album of the same name.

Please Find Her (2017)

it's CUTE, it's an ad for Itaewon, you learn some Korean at the end of every episode lol. about a mixed Dutch man named Jan who flies to SK to find the girl he fell in love with. the plot's a little all over the place, but it's an ad. and it's cute >:( Lee Hyun Jae is the love of my life. Hayoung and Hyungwon are there

You Raise Me Up (2021)

a man is going THRU IT with his life and self confidence and anxiety and everything genuinely sucks for him. his urologist and old gf (Hani) brags about him being this super amazing and jealousy-worthy first love bc her current boyfriend sucks. lots of emotional vulnerability and growth. i love it sm

The Witch's Diner (2021)

honestly this one's just fun! i love every single main actor, i love the dark witchy aesthetic. each ep follows a different main subject who needs their lives fixed in some way. but ofc if you make a deal with the devil/a witch, it's not gonna go exactly how you expected. idk i love this one, it's got my mother Song Ji Hyo in it

Little Mom Scandal (2008) and Little Mom Scandal Season 2 (2008)

a very old one that i watch yeeears ago but it still holds a special place in my heart. super real, less fairy-tale idealistic romance, as most 2000s dramas were. it's about an 18-year-old teen mom and her struggles with raising a baby, being a wife, and trying to live her life. the friendships in this one are what stuck out the most tbh. they're the primary focus, despite the title/attention grabber.

Birthcare Center (2020)

this one's about a successful career woman who suddenly finds herself pregnant. she spends the time after giving birth in a birthcare center, common places for moms to get help when starting out. she's self concious about being much older than the other women but makes a bunch of friends in the other mothers who have stories and struggles of their own and she actually has a healthy relationship with her husband. we love to see it. uh, found family :( <3

The Killer's Shopping List (2022)

about a guy who has an incredible memory and is locally praised for stopping a dangerous robbery when he was a kid but struggles to pass his civil service exam. he's determined to make it while working at his mom's convenience store. but a murder happens at the apartment building he frequently delivers to and they're huge suspects bc the delivery bag at the victim's house. so he, the market workers, and his cop gf (Seolhyun) try to solve the serial murders themselves. it has good queer rep imo, not gimmicky but not so subtle it might as well not be there.

Our D-Day (2023)

big tw for suicide mention, attempts, and ideation. tw for abuse, as well

it's still airing! one week left. but it's about a suicidal 30-year-old and his friends all trying to navigate their lives. he literally spends the entire drama so far trying to figure out how to end things and you slowly learn why throughout. it's pretty dark right from the beginning tbh but they balance it with humor that might not be everyone's taste. tbh it just feels real to me, so that part doesn't personally bother me. i do know why it would affect someone else, though. definitely not for people sensitive to the subject matter.

[multifandomplushie]

Annabel

Full Name: Annabel [REDACTED] (formerly), Annabel Crookedman (currently)

Aliases: Pretty Little Dutch Girl

Relatives: Unnamed biological mother, unnamed biological father, Barnaby Crookedman (current adoptive father)

Species: Human

Gender: Female

Age: Same as Jill

Eye color: Emerald green

Hair color: Honey blonde

 Personality

In addition to being quite pretty, Annabel is also very outgoing and charismatic, which often makes her the center of attention and helps her meet new people easily.

She's a very active child and enjoys things like jumping on the rope, drawing and riding a bike.

She's very helpful, compassionate and open-hearted to people and follows the rule of not judging a book by its cover and treats everyone the same regardless of how they look. Eventually, she also learned not to trust the impression based on the person's demeanor right away either: she had the misfortune of getting betrayed by people who were originally very sweet to her, such as her lovely-looking bff who talked badly of her behind her back out of envy or her far-from-charming boyfriend who cheated on her with what he assumed was an even prettier girl.

Betrayals like these by the people she cares so passionately about are quite the painful stabs to her sensitive heart, which often makes her commit some really vile actions as a result.

It's worth noting that she's not the person to remain in debt, so before she hurts the wrongdoer back and cuts ties with them, she makes sure she doesn't owe them anything and there would be no more strings attached.

Nowadays, because of these bad past experiences, Annabel is more cautious of other people, especially if they seem nice. Ironically, she's the person who is very friendly from the get-go herself and still tries to be as welcoming as possible.

The failures in the previous relationships of any kind prompted her to be more manipulative and controlling in order to keep people in her life or reach what is, in her opinion, the best outcome of a conflict or another difficult situation.

 Relationships

Barnaby Crookedman

At first glance, the reserved, rude, cold, greedy and selfish Barnaby and the sociable, polite, warm, generous and affectionate Annabel really seem like an unlikely duo, but upon closer look, it can be noticed that they are somewhat on the same page and grow to display a high compatibility as a family.

Due to the fact that a number of people in her life who acted caring towards her ended up breaking her heart, Annabel decided to try reverse psychology and build a bond with a person who's initially mean towards her (but not too hostile though, she's not stupid), which wasn't a very easy task. Eventually, while the girl was an orphan and on the run, Barnaby immediately caught her eye with his unpleasant but stable demeanor towards everyone around, including her, so she made it her goal to get this old man to be her new guardian, understanding that, with the cold straightforwardness like his, she would always know where he stands and hoping that, for once in her life, it'll go from hate to love and not vice versa.

Unbelievable as it is, it actually worked! While Barnaby enjoyed the Annabel's useful helpfulness, he still found her disgustingly sweet and too intrusive at first, but a bit later learned about the girl's inner demons and, being his twisted self, was absolutely fascinated by the manipulations and malicious acts she is willing to use to reach her goal when she feels she's out of civil option and how well she's able to mix the devilish precaution and dangerous nature with the tender sweetness and benevolence of an angel.

Jill, Jack, Tom Piper, Mary and Scat

Technically, they are also family to Annabel, since Jill and Jack are still Barnaby's niece and nephew, Tom and Mary are their parents now and Scat use to be Barnaby's pet, so she does try to be on good terms with them and enjoy the time she spends with them, despite always being on the alert around all of them like she usually does with overly nice people (perhaps, given enough time, she we learn to see that they're genuinely kind, loyal and caring people).

The Piper family, being very friendly and supportive people, are very good to Annabel and they aren't really bothered by the fact that Annabel is the adoptive daughter of Barnaby (since quite some time have passed since that last Christmas and Barnaby haven't done something as extreme again yet, the family aren't that angry with him anymore and treat him the same they did prior to that), they were just surprised to see a father-daughter unit like that at first.

Mr. Humpty Dumpty

The two are equally cautious of and passive-aggressive towards each other.

Annabel was already suspicious of him as she is of everyone because of her trust issues, but the passive-aggressive dynamic started because Barnaby has had this dynamic with Humpty too for quite a while now.

Humpty Dumpty felt something was fishy from day one because he not only knew that it was an awful idea to trust Barnaby with kids (based on the situation with Jack and Jill), but it was very odd to see someone who behaved so kindly get along with and be liked by someone like Barnaby.

So, they're are stuck in a loop (that may break eventually) of Humpty Dumpty thinking Annabel is a disingenuous schemer and Annabel being genuinely helpful and generous but thinking that it's everyone else who's deceitful and precarious.

[imaginationofomi]

Come Together

Thirty-Three

She stared at the shadows on her wall, inhaling the scent of rose and hibiscus incense that burned on her dresser. Candles bathed the bedroom in subtle, warm lighting. The flames flickered from the breeze drifting through the open window.

Nayeli sat in the center of the bed, legs folded in front of her, contemplating her position in life. She was struggling mentally and emotionally, unsurprising all things considered. She would have some good days, then a bad one would send her a few steps back. It got harder and harder for her to keep the positive mindset she always held near and dear for most of her life.

She didn't like that who she was at her core was changing. She enjoyed being a beacon of sunshine, and more often than not, recently, her moods were clouded with bouts of anxiety and the occasional self-reproach. Trauma would do that to person.

The facade she kept up didn't change how she felt on the inside. Fake it 'til you make it did not work for her, but life wasn't all bad.

Grown, sexy, and single Nayeli was something. The dating scene in Briton Beach was abysmal, yet she was having a time experiencing all of the different personalities the city had to offer.

She'd thrown a drink in the face of a man that grabbed her butt without permission. She cursed one out for feeling entitled to sex because he bought her dinner. She spent one evening listening to a man explain why he thought the earth was flat and another with one that kept talking about all of the ways he was a catch, snooze. One eyeballed every woman that walked past their table. One wouldn't stop calling his ex psychotic. The most decent personality out of the bunch was a mouth breather with halitosis.

She went to different escape rooms and found that men that weren't problem solvers dried her out. She couldn't stand men that didn't open doors, going dutch was out, she hated seeing people chew with their mouth open.

Lack of tables manners turned her off along with treating waitstaff terribly. She ended a date early because a man didn't tip the bartender for their drinks. Having to carry the conversation bored her, and she considered certain hobbies red flags.

There were no questions in her mind about why women were discouraged when it came to finding a life partner. Her fears when it was time to end things with Jalen were confirmed and then some. At that point, the only choices were to stay single or find the least crappy person one could and try to make things work. The thought was depressing. Who wanted to pick the lesser of multiple evils?

Luckily, she didn't have to worry about the randoms that never got past a second date with her. No, her worries were much bigger. While she had her fun testing the waters of the dating pool, there were two exceptional men in her life that she was having a hard time choosing between.

One was meant to be a friend and the other a lover and partner, but with lines crossed and blurred, she knew she would have to choose, and not the option she really wanted, which was to keep them both in her life as long as she could.

Her days and nights out with Isaiah were some of the best experiences of her life. Not once had she had a bad time, nor had he given her a reason to dislike him. He was respectful, chivalrous, protective if someone tried her. He never stopped trying to make her smile. They just had one problem; she wanted back on his dick bad and was conflicted about it.

Their first time was a drunken fluke, one she could wave off as a lapse in judgment. Anything after that would be a conscious choice, and she felt guilty for wanting to make it when she had EJ, although she didn't really have him. They were both running the streets, and she couldn't imagine him feeling guilty for sleeping around.

But he wasn't fucking her opp. It made things worse that the men almost came to blows over her. Hanging out with Isaiah started to feel like a personal attack, and if EJ saw his name on her phone, his attitude would get out of hand.

A reminder that they were both single and that he chose to embarrass himself would bring him back to solid ground, but the fact remained that Isaiah was a problem for him. Whether she fucked him again or not.

She was stuck in between a rock and a hard place with a desire for two men that she never experienced before. She'd been a one man show her whole life. How was it possible to be completely fulfilled by two at the same time? Was this a norm she was unaware of? Felt but not discussed because it was considered taboo? It was something for her to unpack, but she had no clue where to start.

Her parents would shun her if she brought it up to them, Leti's judgmental ass would let her have it before she could get the full story out, and the twins were too young for that conversation. April and Morgan would tell her to pick one, Brittany was likely to be triggered, and Renée just wasn't an option. Max was her only go to, and she was 50/50 on what response she would get.

Nayeli felt like a fish out of water, a bad thing to be with a little girl that noticed everything and loved to ask questions.

It was Tatiana's last day in Briton Beach for half a month, and per the baby's request, she, Nayeli and EJ were headed to a trampoline park that afternoon as one big happy family. Nayeli wasn't prepared for it, knowing what might come after.

EJ was trying, however he could whenever he could, to get back in her good graces. Flowers, food, random visits, everything he did when he was wooing her. She appreciated the gestures, though they could come off as not being genuine because there was still a line of women waiting for their weekly phone call from him. She often thought about how many times he left her presence and ended up in another woman's bed.

No doubt he would try to make something shake between them with the house to himself for two weeks, and thinking about that made her wonder where she would be in the rotation, if he'd kick her out to bring someone else in. She wondered how many women had been in his bed since they broke up and started to get nauseous which led to another branch of her dilemma.

Was she strong enough to keep EJ and Isaiah in her life while allowing them both freedom to pursue other connections? It wouldn't be fair if she was the only one with the option. If she presented that as a choice, would they be more accepting of the outcome?

More importantly, did Isaiah want to be involved with her that way at all? He tried nothing with her; no inappropriate touching, no innuendo when they talked, no flirting. She could be stressing over a man that didn't want her like that to begin with.

"I need to get over myself," she sighed and flopped back onto the mattress. Her head was everywhere and nowhere. She had to make a decision soon, and she had no clue what it was going to be.

Dawn rolled around, ushering in a new day. She put out the candles, allowing natural light to fill the room as she changed for yoga and went into the backyard. Her plants were alive and well, eggplant, spinach, strawberries, beans, peppers, tomatoes and squash varieties filled her raised beds while the grow bags were full of herbs and flowers that attracted helpful insects and repelled harmful ones.

Greeting her garden, she made a mental note of what needed to be harvested and set her mat on the grass. Her body thanked her for the stretch and deep breathing. She meditated as the sun finished coming up, stretching her neck and shoulders before she opened her eyes. Time was on her side. She rolled up her mat and pulled on her gloves. Her choice of baskets kept her in check. The kitchen wasn't big enough to hold everything.

Tomatoes were first. She pruned before she picked to help with airflow, filling up a corner of the medium sized basket with a few Beefsteaks and San Marzanos. The eggplant wasn't quite ready, but there were plenty of beans, bell peppers and strawberries to grab. The handful of spinach ready was only big enough for a side salad, and she decided to make one with her breakfast, sparing a few pieces for her loaded omelette.

Whipping up a quick balsamic vinaigrette, she washed the remainder of the spinach and topped it with sliced strawberries, chopped walnuts and some feta cheese. She drizzled vinaigrette over it, said a prayer for her hearty meal and ate quietly with a new book in her hand. She went for a self-help novel instead of romance. No reason to feed herself more unrealistic expectations of what love looked like.

Plenty rested in her subconscious. After she finished breakfast, she cleaned up and processed her harvest. She showered, refreshing her three day old wash and go and taking the time to cover up the obvious lack of sleep under her eyes. She lengthened her lashes with mascara and added some color to her cheeks with a little bit of bronzer and some blush.

Before she knew it, the afternoon arrived and she was locking up and climbing into the passenger's seat of EJ's truck.

"Mommy, you look so pretty!" Tati said.

"Thank you, Princess. I try."

"Try for what? You were born beautiful," EJ added. Nayeli gave him a tiny smile and thanked him. There was too much on her mind to give a different response. Like a typical weekend afternoon, the trampoline park was filled with family and friends flipping into pits of foam squares or throwing back handsprings.

"Let's goooooo!" Tatiana couldn't get her shoes off fast enough, putting the special socks over her own and tugging Nayeli to an empty trampoline by the basketball hoops and obstacle course.

"Are you excited to go stay with Grammy and Grampy?" Nayeli asked.

"Yeah, but I'm gonna miss you and Daddy."

"We'll miss you, too. Remember, you can always call us, and look on the bright side, you can eat all the junk food you want and you get to see your cousins. That's gonna be so much fun."

Tatiana shrugged and picked up one of the dodgeballs that ended up by them from the game going on at the other end of the park.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Why don't you sound excited?"

"I kinda want to stay home."

"Why?"

She tossed the ball to a kid that came searching for it, looking up at Nayeli with a sad expression before she sighed, "Face it, you guys need me," Tati said, "Without me, you and Daddy wouldn't be nice to each other. I don't want to come home and it's worse."

"Oh, honey. Listen to me." Nayeli paused her bouncing and put her hands on Tatiana's shoulders, "It's not your responsibility to keep the peace between us. We're supposed to worry about you, not the other way around. No matter what happens with me and your dad, we love you immensely. You don't need to worry about anything else."

"But I want to be a family for real. I want you and Daddy to get married. I want to be the flower girl, and I want you to live with us. I don't want to go back and forth from our house and your house. We are supposed to be together."

The conversation was hitting a sore spot for Nayeli. When her parents announced that they were getting divorced and that her father was moving out, she didn't take it well. It affected her so much that Maxwell ended up staying with them for a lot longer than he should have.

She didn't want Tatiana to go through the same thing, but now that she was an adult, she had a different understanding of relationships and choices that needed to be made within them. But Tati wasn't finished.

"I just want to be normal for once. All my friends live with both their parents. I'm the only one that didn't have a mom for years, and I finally get a good one and you guys just fight. I told Daddy to stop being mean to you. I don't know if he listened or said sorry, but I told him. Is that why you don't want to be with us?"

Nayeli's heart broke. Worse than when EJ dumped her. She dug her nails into the palms of her hands, forcing tears down because she couldn't turn back the hands of time and fix every mistake made. She was extremely conflicted about her next moves and could feel herself shutting down.

"Don't worry about this stuff anymore," she said, "We're the adults. Let us handle it. You just worry about being a happy kid. Let's go to the obstacle course."

☼☼☼

Parenting was not for the weak. Nayeli found herself stressing about a number of choices she wouldn't have considered a year ago. She had so much on her mind already, and Tatiana gave her more to think about.

Life didn't stop because she was going through something. Folks were busy, but when time permitted, she went to her sister's house. If anyone could straighten her out, Maxine could. The home was quiet but not peaceful.

Diesel was doing homework in his room, and Lanai sat in her bouncer in the living room, snacking on organic sweet potato puffs. Stella was out for the evening. It made Max irritable, but she spoke about it briefly before shutting the subject down to keep her anger in check in front of the baby.

The conversation focused on Nayeli instead. She started with the trip to the trampoline park as that was the most prevalent in her mind. An uncomfortable conversation with EJ cooled the outing. They had too much to talk about, and that day was only the tip of the iceberg. Nayeli explained the conversation with Tatiana and how devastated she felt. She became emotional all over again.

"Max, I don't know what to do or say anymore. I can't tell her everything, but she'll never stop asking questions and I don't want to lie to her," she said.

"Permission to speak freely?"

"Always."

"I understand where niece is coming from. The harlot that gave birth to her dipped in and out of her life with excuses and false promises and stirred up a bunch of shit. She's only ever known her daddy and now you. When you stayed with them, she felt what it was like to have mommy and daddy happy in the home and her raggedy ass egg donor ripped that away. Why wouldn't she want that back? Why wouldn't she be sad to see you and EJ not getting along? Her feelings are valid, but you need to put your foot down. She's seven, and you're her mother. Don't let her run over you, and don't choose to be with EJ because of what she said. Staying for the kids is never a good idea," Max sighed, pouring more puffs out for Lanai when she finished the last of her small pile.

"That's not the issue. When I think of the future, I see myself with them. There's a bunch of stuff that needs to be sorted out before that happens, but that's the plan. I have another problem."

"Another problem? How many you got?"

"This one is big, so I'm going to count it as two and ask that you pretty please do not judge me for anything I say." Nayeli tugged on a curl and chewed her lip. She was about to acknowledge certain thoughts out loud for the first time, and she felt a little sick.

"I'm the last to judge."

"I don't know how you're going to feel once I tell you."

"Come on, Duckie. You're getting too old to be afraid of talking to your big sis. You know I have your back no matter what," Max assured her.

"Isaiah and I have been kicking it for a while." Nayeli sounded unsure when she spoke.

"Pretty nigga with the blue eyes that EJ tried to manhandle?"

"Uuugghhh, I hate that that happened. Yes him."

"I actually love that for you. I got to talk to him a little at the barbecue. He's a solid dude. Where's the problem?"

"Besides the fact that EJ tried to hit him?"

"When you start calling the man EJ?" Max's loud laughter startled Lanai, and she frowned like she was about to start crying for several seconds before Max put her pacifier in her mouth, "He really tore his drawers with you. That's funny. He's regular to you now."

"He'll never be regular to me. We've hashed everything out, and we're cool, but I wanted time to do me. And for the sake of honesty, I'll be real and say that I have been outside. It's been weird and fun. I like having the freedom to do whatever. I am getting to the point where I feel like I'm past wanting to meet new people, but I want to make him sweat a little longer for the way he treated me. It was uncalled for. And I know that if we get back together, I have to cut Isaiah off. I have absolutely no desire to do that."

"Dick too bomb?" Max snickered.

"From what I remember, but he hasn't tried to touch me since."

"You lie."

"Nope. He hasn't tried to kiss me, no brushing up against my booty, nothing. So I feel like fiending loser." Nayeli looked like a baby as her face slipped into a pout.

"What do y'all do?"

"We've been to some concerts, a museum, we eat, we help out at some shelters together. He took me ax throwing. I'm kind of good at it, too. We're friends. He's someone I don't want out of my life, but I want to jump his bones so bad." She hated to sound whiny, though it wasn't her fault that the man was fine and walked like it was heavy.

"Aww. You are a fiending loser." Max appeared thoroughly entertained, and why would she not? She had front row seats to a primetime show.

"Thanks a lot." Nayeli gave her a thumbs up and fake smile, rolling her eyes as she slumped into the love seat.

"Have you told him you want to ride him like a pony?"

"Isn't that sort of desperate?"

"Closed mouths don't get fed. Maybe he's waiting for the green light or for you to make a move. I mean, EJ did try to take his head off. That doesn't exactly read single. He could be setting boundaries or respecting one he feels you set. Address that elephant in the room first."

"I guess that is more important than stressing over wanting a husband and a boyfriend."

"You said what?" Max let out another howl of laughter, reached over the arm of the couch to put her hand on Nayeli's wrist, "You really are my favorite, Baby Love. You can barely handle one man and now your ass wants two? Two that don't get along at that. How's that going to work out?"

"I have no idea. I said I had a big problem."

"Yes, you do. I can tell you right now EJ's not going for that."

"I know, but what if he could keep someone too? He's got plenty to choose from."

"Who is talking to me right now? My angel of a little sister that rarely ever goes against the grain is considering an open relationship?" Max couldn't believe her ears or her eyes showing her that it was something Nayeli had seriously contemplated.

"I think it's a fair trade off. I feel like it would be selfish for me to be with both of them but expect them to just be with me."

"Stranger things have happened. You need to find out where Blue Eyes stands before you think that far ahead, though. Don't get yourself worked up over possibilities."

"You're right, thank you. I'm glad I came to you."

"Me too, bitch! The tea is scalding. Who knew Lil Miss Goody Two-Shoes would have the most interesting life." 

Nayeli certainly didn't.

☼☼☼

Procrastination was a bitch. A cold bitch that often had consequences. Nayeli normally wasn't a procrastinator, but being overwhelmed put many tasks on the back burner for her. Anything that didn't absolutely need to be done right then and there didn't get done.

But she was doing better. Months after she had the idea, she finally set aside time to paint the inside of her house. White would become Frost Blue, and she had a decent amount of work cut out for her because she planned to paint everything except for the bedrooms. Each would be getting an individual makeover.

She moved her furniture, covered it with sheets she didn't mind messing up and placed plastic on the floor, curating a playlist and sipping a latte while she waited for her companion to show up. Projects were always more fun with friends, and she didn't want to deny the offered help or the person it came from.

He arrived with food, two breakfast platters from a soul food place halfway between their homes. She saw his lips first, lips that kissed her clit so delicately after making her flood his mouth. And she looked up into his eyes, cerulean orbs alight with mischief as he grinned at her.

"G'morning Lil Bit," he said and gave her a one armed hug around the shoulders after she let him into the house. He smelled like good soap, deodorant and laundry detergent, simple but powerful and delightful.

"Morning," she said back, "What's that? It smells delicious." Taking the paper bag from him, she unfolded the top and peeked in at the cardboard containers.

"Shrimp and grits, scrambled eggs, bacon, and biscuits with gravy."

Her mouth watered at the list, and she walked to the kitchen a little faster, pulling out plates, flatware and cups for them to use. They caught each other up on what happened during their time apart as they ate in the backyard. Isaiah helped her with a broken branch she couldn't reach, and she filled a basket with fruit and vegetables for him to take home as a thank you.

They started painting just before noon, covering the wall coming from the entryway into the living room first. Nayeli's curated playlist might as well have been a live concert with all of the singing and dancing they were doing.

It was funny to learn that Isaiah was a big Whitney Houston fan. He knew more of her lyrics than Nayeli did, citing the legend as his mother's favorite artist. It wasn't so funny then, but he let Nayeli know that he was okay. Whitney brought him peace and reminded him of happier times, no reason to be sad for him, but she felt it anyway.

She couldn't imagine losing one parent let alone both within such a small amount of time. The fact that he could still get up everyday and save lives with a smile on his face made her appreciate the person he was. They were similar in that regard, never letting life really stop them from living.

When they finished the first two walls, they sat down to take a water break, giving the paint fumes a chance to be carried away by the wind via open windows and doors. Nayeli picked at some dried paint on her hand and admired their work.

"It's looks nice and even," she said. She really liked the color, more than she did when she picked it out, "This would've been good for the exterior, too."

"Are you going to paint the whole house?"

"Eventually. I've been meaning to get this done for almost a year. It's way overdue." But every little bit counted, "Thanks for offering to help."

"It's nothing. I like being around you," he said, finishing the last of his bottled water, "You recycle?"

"Yeah, there's a little trashcan under the kitchen sink." She tried not to ogle his butt as he walked out of the living room. He was wearing a pair of grey shorts, similar to the pair he had on the morning after their tryst. The amount of effort it took to curb the flashbacks threatening to burst out of the box she put them in should've been awarded. But as she was learning, Isaiah was a lot more in tune with her than she thought.

"You look like you got something on your mind, Lil Bit." He reoccupied his spot next to her on the couch, angling his body to face hers. Though small talk and banter were large parts of their friendship, they did have moments of seriousness.

Nayeli hadn't forgotten her conversation with Maxine. Now was as good a time as any to figure out if she was wasting thoughts wondering what sex with him would be like sober or worrying about whether or not she could continue seeing him once she was back in a relationship.

"Why haven't you touched me?" she blurted out, cringing internally at the question. There was a better way to ask, for sure.

"Huh?" His eyebrows pushed together, head tilted in confusion.

"You have not touched me since that night. You haven't even tried, but we hang out all the time. I just thought......ugh, you know what, don't worry about it. Forget I asked." She was too chicken shit to say anything else, escaping the living room for the kitchen to hide her embarrassment. Nayeli never went after men that weren't sure things. Everyone she dated pursued her. It was odd being on the other side of the coin. Scary, even. She held no power in her hands. It all rested with Isaiah, who didn't let her stay alone for long.

"Do you want me to touch you?" he questioned, leaning next to her against the counter, though he kept a respectful distance between them.

"I want to know why you haven't." Maybe things didn't go as well as she thought and he was sparing her the heartbreak of bursting her bubble. Whatever the case was, she was just ready for the answer so she could move forward.

"How much of that night do you remember?"

"I'd like to think most of it. It's in snippets, but it's there."

"And the next morning?"

"I remember that vividly."

"Then you remember me catching you trying to sneak out and how uncomfortable you were after," he said, reminding her of the extremely awkward encounter.

"That was more about me than it was about you."

"Regardless, you made it clear that what happened wouldn't happen again. You drew the line in the sand, and I respect your decision. We've known each other for years. You've always been somebody I care for deeply and can really talk to, and that's more important to me than satisfying a want or a need. I'm cool with what we have. Are you?"

"In a way." Nayeli exhaled slowly, unsure if she was ready to blow up the careful relationship they'd formed. The vibe she got from Isaiah was that he saw her as a friend and a friend only, but he'd be willing to go a step further if she was. The notion didn't give her a lot of confidence. It had the opposite effect and made her switch up her next line of questioning, "If I told you to kiss me right now, would you do it?"

"If you meant it."

"Because you want to or because I said to?"

"Nayeli, tell me what you want." He rarely used her first name, a good indicator he was taking the conversation seriously like his face didn't say enough.

"What do you want?" The answer to that would determine where she went next. Her mind was telling her to bow out gracefully. She hadn't heard anything that made her feel sure she was making the right decision. It was better to quit before she embarrassed herself further.

"Don't punk out on me," he said, features softening when he picked up on how nervous she was. She shook her head.

"Never mind." Obviously her desire was one-sided. She didn't want him to pity fuck her, "We don't need to have this conversation again." She damn sure wasn't going to bring it up.

[drmaqazi]

FACT SHEET: JIHAD

Struggle in the Way of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala)

IMPACT: Jihad is an Arabic term meaning “to struggle” or “to strive.” Most Muslims agree that the concept is best understood and practiced as an inner spiritual struggle towards faith and good deeds, but anti-Muslim groups and militants have co-opted the word and equate it to violence, “holy war” and terrorism.

Jihad is an Arabic word meaning “to struggle,” or “to strive.” Jihad is a concept often used to describe a person’s “personal, spiritual effort to follow God, live out one’s faith and strive to be a better person.”  Generally, the word has many meanings depending on context. Oxford Islamic Studies Online, an encyclopedia of Islamic Studies, states that “Muslims use the term to refer to battles within themselves or to efforts to improve the Islamic community.”

Western public discourse and militant groups often incorrectly translate the word to mean “holy war.” The Arabic word for war is “harb.” Professor Asma Afsaruddin, an expert on religious and political thought in Islam, states that in the Qur’an, “jihad’s nonviolent aspects are encapsulated in the term śabr, or patient forbearance, to connote individual striving to fulfill God’s commandments in all aspects of life.” However, she states that Islamic juridical literature “conflated jihad with fighting.” In the Qur’an, Jihad is used in multiple contexts including self-defense.

There are four types of “Jihads” or struggles: the Jihad of the heart, the tongue, the hand, and the sword. Jihad in the context of self-defense is carefully controlled in Islamic law with specific guidelines surrounding defensive military actions, which have been compared to those articulated in Just War Theory.

While the majority of Muslims agree that the concept details activities describing inner spiritual struggle to be better for the sake of God, violent militants and anti-Muslim activists have co-opted the word and equated it to violence, “holy war,” and “terrorism.”

During the 2016 presidential election, Republican presidential nominee Dr. Ben Carson promoted a conspiracy theory about a Muslim “civilization jihad” plan to take over America. The Bridge Initiative debunked this claim, which still appeals to Americans who already hold largely negative views of Islam and Muslims. Carson’s source for this claim is the Center for Security Policy (CSP), an organization designated a hate group and run by anti-Muslim activist Frank Gaffney.

During the second Democratic debate in 2015, Hillary Clinton called on the U.S. and the international community “to root out the kind of radical jihadist ideology that motivates organizations like ISIS.” Following the July 14, 2016 terrorist attack in Nice, France, Clinton went on Fox’s O’Reilly Factor program and stated, “We’ve got to do more to understand that this a war against these terrorist groups, the radical jihadist groups.”  

In 2015, CSP held the “Defeating Jihad Summit,” which CSP described as the “war for the free world” attended by “freedom-fighters.” The summit included Senator Ted Cruz, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Dutch politician Geert Wilders, former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy, current CIA director Mike Pompeo, and anti-Muslim speaker Nonie Darwish. The summit involved discussions about various forms of “global jihad,” described as the “violent kind; civilization” or “cultural, stealthy and subversive jihad; institutional jihad” (identified as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the United Nations); “individual jihad (its perpetrators are mistakenly being described as “lone wolves”); and material support.”

In 2012, the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) is an organization dedicated to stopping the “Islamization of America.” Led by anti-Muslim activist Pamela Geller, the AFDI ran ads on public transit in cities like New York City and Washington D.C. The ads read: “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man,” with the tagline: “Support Israel/Defeat Jihad.” The ads recycled orientalist tropes identifying Muslims as the “savage man.”

On her website, Pamela Geller pairs the word “Jihad” with varying subjects to create phrases like “adoption Jihad,” “food Jihad” and “election Jihad.” Other anti-Muslim activists who use this strategy include Robert Spencer who runs the online platform Jihad Watch, an anti-Muslim website funded by David Horowitz, identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as the “godfather of the anti-Muslim movement.” Spencer’s website claims that “violent jihad is a constant of Islamic history and a central element of Islamic theology.” Another website focusing on the “Global Islamic Jihad Movement” is Counterjihad, which seeks to inform the public about this alleged threat by engaging in a “battle of ideas” with the “extremists.”

In the United States, ex-FBI agent John Guandolo, identified by the SPLC as an anti-Muslim extremist, has been holding training sessions for law enforcement entitled “Understanding and Investigating the Jihadi Network.” The sessions are run by his “training and consulting” group, Understanding the Threat, which teaches security professionals and leaders “how to locate and map out jihadi organizations, locate jihadis, and dismantle the network at the local and state level.” The Arizona chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has stated that Guandolo’s “hateful message” is “so symbolically wrong because it’s a message of hate and racism.”

In mainstream media and public discourse, “Jihadist” is often used to identify any Muslim who engages in a violent act. According to a BBC, the “term “jihadist” has been used by Western academics since the 1990s.” According to Stimson, since 2001, the “U.S. press” has primarily “referenced Jihad” in violent contexts.  Following the 9/11 attacks, it has been more widely used “to distinguish between violent and non-violent Sunni Islamists.” Many Muslims do not use the term “because they see it as wrongly associating a noble religious concept with illegitimate violence.”

During a campaign speech in 2016, then Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, referenced Jihad when discussing the San Bernardino attack. Former and current members of the Trump administration, including Stephen Bannon, Stephen Miller, and Sebastian Gorka, have utilized the word “jihad” or “jihadist” when referencing violence committed by Muslims.

In July of 2017, an edited video of Muslim social justice activist Linda Sarsour’s speech at the Islamic Society of North America conference went viral on Twitter. The activists word’s were tweeted out of context by conservative media outlets like Fox News and figures such as Donald Trump Jr. The viral story led to death threats, calls for rape, and deportation against the activist. In the speech, Sarsour “told a story from Islamic scripture about a man who once asked Muhammad, the founder of Islam, ‘What is the best form of jihad, or struggle?’ And our beloved prophet … said to him, ‘A word of truth in front of a tyrant ruler or leader, that is the best form of jihad.’” In an interview, she stated she was advocating solely for peaceful, nonviolent dissent.

REFERENCES:

[mrsirenze]

Embark on the Ultimate Thanksgiving Movie Marathon with These 20 Modern Classics

Get ready for an epic cinematic journey that will elevate your Thanksgiving celebrations with a burst of movie magic! As the holiday season approaches, immerse yourself in contemporary films that capture the essence of gratitude and family. Here’s an extensive list of the top 40 Thanksgiving movies that will infuse a fresh and modern vibe into your November nights.

1. Free Birds (2013):

Kick off your Thanksgiving movie marathon with this animated adventure featuring time-traveling turkeys on a mission to rewrite the holiday menu. It’s a delightful blend of humor and heart that sets the perfect tone for the festivities.

2. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973):

Join Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang in this timeless animated special that promises to bring joy to audiences of all ages, reminding us of the true spirit of Thanksgiving.

3. The Family Stone (2005):

Immerse yourself in the complexities of modern family dynamics during the holidays with this star-studded cast led by Sarah Jessica Parker and Diane Keaton.

4. The Blind Side (2009):

Experience the uplifting story of Michael Oher and the Tuohy family, blending football and family bonds in this heartwarming tale that resonates with the spirit of Thanksgiving.

5. Pieces of April (2003):

Katie Holmes stars in this indie gem, portraying the challenges and joys of Thanksgiving as a wayward daughter attempts to host a memorable dinner.

6. Addams Family Values (1993):

Delve into dark humor and eccentricity with the Addams family in this Thanksgiving-themed sequel that adds a unique twist to your holiday movie lineup.

7. The Hollars (2016):

Directed by John Krasinski, this touching comedy-drama explores family dynamics during a Thanksgiving reunion, offering laughter and poignant moments.

8. Sweet November (2001):

Starring Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron, this romantic drama unfolds over the course of a year, culminating in a heartfelt Thanksgiving celebration.

9. The Oath (2018):

This satirical comedy follows a politically divided family navigating the challenges of Thanksgiving amidst a controversial government policy.

10. Hugo (2011):

While not directly related to Thanksgiving, this visually stunning film directed by Martin Scorsese provides a magical escape for the whole family during the holiday season.

11. The Thanksgiving House (2013):

Dive into this Hallmark Channel original movie that combines romance and family secrets during the Thanksgiving holiday.

12. Sweet Home Alabama (2002):

Join Reese Witherspoon on a journey of love and self-discovery set against the backdrop of a Southern Thanksgiving.

13. Krisha (2015):

A unique Thanksgiving drama that unfolds as a woman attempts to reconnect with her estranged family, bringing tension and emotion to the dinner table.

14. Dutch (1991):

Ed O’Neill stars in this classic comedy about a man’s cross-country journey to bring his girlfriend’s son home for Thanksgiving, leading to unexpected adventures.

15. The Ice Storm (1997):

Explore the complexities of suburban life in the 1970s during a Thanksgiving weekend filled with familial tensions and societal changes.

16. The Night Before (2015):

Dive into the holiday chaos with three friends on their annual Christmas Eve quest, featuring a hilarious Thanksgiving detour.

17. What’s Cooking? (2000):

This ensemble film weaves together diverse Thanksgiving celebrations, exploring family traditions and cultural differences in Los Angeles.

18. Son in Law (1993):

Enjoy a comedy with Pauly Shore as he shakes up a conservative family’s Thanksgiving with his unconventional charm.

19. Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors (2015):

Immerse yourself in this heartwarming tale inspired by Dolly Parton’s childhood, centered around family bonds and resilience during Thanksgiving.

20. The Myth of Fingerprints (1997):

Join a dysfunctional family as they navigate Thanksgiving, bringing secrets and emotional revelations to the dinner table.

With these 40 contemporary gems, your Thanksgiving month is destined to be the ultimate modern cinematic feast! Whether you’re surrounded by loved ones or enjoying a cozy solo movie night, these films promise to create lasting holiday memories. Grab your favorite snacks, hit play, and let the Thanksgiving movie extravaganza unfold!

LETS CONNECT 🫶🏼

Facebook @mrsirenze 

Instagram @mrsirenze 

TikTok @mrsirenze 

YouTube @mrsirenze

Pinterest @mrsirenze