#dan stevens fluff

[that-one-gay-aew-enthusiast]

𝙳𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚜 - 𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚍

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Warnings: friends to lovers, mutal pining, smoking, wet dreams, confessions, oral (fem recieving), fingering, unprotected sex, passionate sex, quiet sex, praise kink, hair pulling, male + female orgasm Word count: 2.4k Genre: fluff + smut Summary: You and Dan are forced to share a singular double bed. Pairings: assitant!reader x actor!dan A/n: The Dan brainrot is unreal atm guys, so here is the one bed trope and my fic for the actual darling Dan. (Also i know i normally use a gif for my story banners, but i couldnt find of Dan with his longer hair :_( so instead i used that picture because it also has a chokehold on me) Proof read?: yes

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taglist: @beautifulthingsarefragile @fizzyfazzy420

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"First you have hair and makeup at 10, then immediatly after, we have the cast introduction hall where you go meet the other cast in your costume, because you just have to be in costume because it wouldn't make any differance to our lives whtether you were or weren't. Not like it makes my life any less stressful." You gave a small nervous chuckle to yourself as Dan watched you from the opposite in the limo with a slightly concerned look on his face. "Then once you have been there for ,jesus, two hours, then we are heading over to the convention center where you are doing an hour of photo ops, an hour of autographs and an hour long pannel. After that, we can head somewhere to grab food, before we head back to the hotel room where two nice big beds are gonna be waiting for us. And we can relax and sleep before another lovely long day tomorrow." You leg started to bounce as you stared down at the ipad in your hands with the schedule on it.

Dan sighed watching you before snatching the ipad straight from your hands, making you look up and try to grab it back off of him. "Daniel i need that do my job please." Dan gave you a stren look with his eyebrows raised, before you sat back and pouted, when he gave you that look he was telling you to chill out and listen to him. "Dear, you have been staring at that ipad all morning, you've had the schedule sorted for an hour yet you keep saying it out loud, so for the last half an hour of this journey, your gonna be my friend and not my assistant ok?" You sighed glaring at him before crossing your arms and muttering "Fine." He smiled and put the ipad down before picking his phone up and turning to the camera.

He nudged your shoulder and held his middle finger up to you for the picture. You looked up and failed to hold back a smile before holding your middle finger up to him as he took the picture. He showed you the picture before you started chatting to each other like friends. Although you were rather unhealthily addicted to your work sometimes, you did miss these little conversations about nothing in particular. You and Dan had known and been friends with each other for 10 years now. For 6 of those years, you had been his assistant after his old one got caught stealing from him.

Soon enough the limo pulled up to the studio, where other members of the cast of Dan's next film were arriving and heading to their own trailers. You and Dan got out the car and headed to his trailer where a hair and makeup artist was waiting. She smiled and guided Dan to the chair as you went and sat a little further down the trailer starting to look at the comic con news page to make sure things were still going smoothly over there. Thankfully they were so you started looking for new outfits for Dan. All while you were once again distracted by the ipad, Dan was in the chair having his hair tampered with slightly as his current longer hair was about right for his costume anyway.

After finding a decent suit that really screamed Dan, you got up to go show him, only to realise that he had already gone to the meet up without you because you were that distracted by your side jobs. You sighed and sat back down and waited for him to get back. After about 45 minutes, Dan finally got back, he shut and locked the door and let out a loud sigh, before pulling his shirt off. You felt yourself staring at him for a moment too long when you looked away. The thing with you was, in secret, you had the biggest crush on Dan, how could you not? His long hair always did things for you, not to mention his body, not too muscular but still had prominent muscle on his biceps. Not to mention his gorgeous blue eyes, you had always wanted to just stare into them for eternity. And he had the sweetest personality, even if sometimes he did look quite intimidating in some of his roles.

The day went on as planned, Dan met a few really sweet fans at the comic con and got to see the cast of his latest film again on the panel. After the con, you both went and got some food from some fancy food place that you quickly forgot the name of. You took the food back to the hotel, signed in, and headed up to your room. You pushed open the door once it unlocked and mostly just dumped the bags in a space next to the door. You and Dan walked further into the room chatting and put your food down before Dan gave your shoulder a tap, looking at the main area of the room. "There's only one bed love." Your eyes widened as you spun round and groaned, seeing the affirmentioned only double bed in the room. "Shit im sorry Dan, i could have sworn i booked a room with two beds." He chuckled and shook his head. "Don't worry about it, we've known each other long enough, i think we can share a bed." You gave a small smile before grabbing your food and sitting down at the small table in the room to eat.

Later on you had finished ordering Dan the suit from earlier whilst sat on the bed, when you caught a glimpse of him over the top of your laptop. He was out on the balcony with a ciggerate between his fingers. God he looked gorgeous. A few stray strands of hair had fallen into his face, covering his eyes slightly as he took a drag from his ciggerette. He had on his black suit from earlier with a leather trench coat on instead of a blazer, as it was colder outside since it was currently october. You must have been staring for a while as Dan caught the sight of you in the corner of his eyes. He turned and looked at you smiling before letting the smoke slowly flow out of his mouth. Your cheeks turned bright red before you ducked down to hide behind your laptop again.

For the rest of the evening, up until you were in the bathroom changing into an oversized shirt and shorts for bed, the image never left your mind once. Whilst in the bathroom, you splashed your face with some water and hummed before coming out of the bathroom. When you looked at the bed, there was Dan, shirtless with the covers just up to his waist. You looked down and walked to the other side of the bed silently. You layed down with your back to him and turned off the lamp. You heard Dan groan slightly from behind you. "You alright there love? You're a bit quiet." You hummed quickly in response and closed your eyes to sleep, soon enough falling asleep.

Soon after your eyes closed, you felt yourself drift into a dream. As you looked round in the dream, you saw Dan back on the balcony, again with the ciggerate between his fingers, but this time, as soon as you saw hum, Dan started to walk over. He put the cigarette in an ashtray and leaned over. His hand tilted your face up at him before he gently blew the smoke down onto your face. The whole thing felt intoxicating as he pushed you down onto the bed and crawled over you. His lips pressed against your stomach and worked their lower and lower. You softly moaned out his name as his rubbed his palm against your clothed cunt before he spoke. "Darling, darling look at me, y/n wake up."

Your eyes slowly opened to see the real Dan looking down at you from where he sat up. "Hey, you were um, making quite a bit of noise." Your eyes widened as you remembered the filthy dream you had just been having about this same man. "Dan i um-" You were about to confess before you just stiffened up, you didn't know what to do. In the dim light, you could still see Dan's lips curl up into a smirk. "Darling i don't think you need to say anything else." His eyes darkened before he pulled you into a soft kiss. You felt yourself loosen, before climbing into his lap and holding Dan's face between your hands.

You pulled back for a second and looked into Dan's eyes. "Daniel Jonathon Stevens, i have loved you ever since i met you in that filty fucking bar and i have been waiting all this time for you to do this." He grinned up at you. "Trust me sweetheart, I've been waiting just as long to have you say those words to me." Before you could give him some snarky reply, Dan flipped you both over and kissed down your neck, as his hands roamed around under your shirt. Your hands held the back of his head against your neck, the feeling was 10 times more euphoric than anything you had ever dreamt of. You let out a small squeak as Dan's hand found your breast and gave it a desperate squeeze.

Dan smiled and pushed your shirt up, taking your nipple between his teeth gently. You hummed before he started to kiss down your stomach. You subtly bit your lip watching him before he slid your shorts down your legs, along with your panties. Dan pushed your legs apart and layed on his stomach between them, before lifting one of your legs and resting it on his shoulder. He looked up at your face for approval. "Please don't tease." Already you sounded so desperate, so whiny, all for him. "Wouldn't dream of it pretty girl." He wasted no time in licking a stripe up your cunt before pressing his tounge into you. You arched your back as your hands shot to tangle up in his soft brown locks.

One of his hands gripped your thigh so tight you were sure there would be a white handprint underneath. While his other hand was blindly groping and massaging the sound mounds of flesh under the shirt. Soft moans became muffled by your hand as you covered your mouth, knowing there were other people sleeping soundly in the rooms next to you, possibly even one of Dan's costars. You felt his hand pull away from your breast causing a small whine before you let out a louder gasp as Dan pushed two fingers into you, now sucking on your clit.

You threw your head back as your legs started to writhe, which was quickly shut don by dan as he somehow tightened his death grip on your thigh. Dan hummed against your clit, as his fingers curled in a 'come here' motion inside you, stroking that one spot. You clenched round his fingers, signalling that you were close. You felt right on the edge, when you felt an absence of fullness. Your head shot up whining to see Dan licking his lips and pushing his boxers down just enough to let his throbbing cock free. You could see your wettness in Dan's beard as it shimered in the moonlight.

"Don't whine now angel, i want you to come on my cock." He crawled back onto the bed and placed his knees either side of yours as he lined himself up. Your arms wrapped round his neck and pulled him down into a kiss right as Dan pushed his full legnth into you. You furrowed your brows and laid there with your mouth open as Dan kissed the side of your mouth sloppily. He let you adjust to his ,suprisingly large, size before slowly starting to move. Dan laid his forehead on your shoulder, groaning quietly. "Fuck you feel so incredible my love." Your hands once again found his hair and wove your fingers into it. For the most part you had been fairly quiet, that was until Dan managed to hit that spot once again.

You squealed his name before Dan quickly clamped a hand firmly over your mouth. You whimpered as he whispered against your skin between leaving small purple marks on it. "Shhh, quiet for me angel, don't someone to complain and make us stop now do we?" You shook your head as he hiked your thigh up and held it at his hip with his free hand. You soon felt you orgasm building again and tugged at Dan's hair slightly, causing him to groan and dig his nails into your thigh. "You close darling?" You nodded frantically and squirmed under him. "Go ahead, let me feel how good i make you sweetheart." His tone was lust filled and sultry as he spoke and panted in your ear. His voice was the last push before your orgasm hit. Your eyes rolled back and your thighs shook. Dan thrusted into you a few more times before pulling out and cumming on your thigh, cursing under his breath as he did.

Once he was sure the last drop of his load was on your thigh, Dan flopped down next to you, panting and glistening with sweat, and yet he'd never looked hotter. "You alright angel?" You turned your head to the side and nodded, smiling. "Much better now that you know how i feel about you." Dan smiled softly and leant over, kissing your cheek before getting up and going to the bathroom. You laid there motionless, staring at the ceiling with a small smile on your face at the thoughts of you and Dan finally getting together. He soon came back with a rag and some clean boxers on. Dan wiped the cum from between your legs and off of your thigh, before tossing the rag onto the pile of dirty clothes in the corner.

Dan got you into one of his hoodies and a fresh pair of panties before laying in bed and cuddling with you, his face nestled in your neck. You hummed and intertwined his fingers with your as his hand rested on your stomach protectively. You kissed the back of his hand before closing your eyes to sleep. "Oh darling one little thing." You hummed in acknowledgement, not bothering to open your eyes. "You should probably use some foundation on your neck tomorrow." You groaned as he chuckled. "You're lucky i love you Daniel bloody stevens."

[stardancerluv]

When the Predator Becomes the Prey

Part 4

Summary: Remembering the beginning.

Notes/Warnings: Language, Implied sex, implied illegal behavior. (Be safe) Shifted the pov to reader…wanted to give a different view of him & her. A little longer of a chapter! Thank you for reading. Enjoy!

❤️s, feedback, comments & reblogs are appreciated.

Your heart was still racing from riding Nicky at the dinner table. Still breathless gripping the white porcelain edge of the pedestal sink you eyed your reflection. Your hair was in complete disarray, your cheeks were flushed and you were certain, he had left bruises on your hips from where he held you in place. He had channeled in his anger into his passion that you brought out of him just as you had channeled your angst over the entire situation.

“Doll, the take-out is getting cold.” Nicky’s voice came through the door. “Don’t stay in there all night.”

You pressed your lips together and grimaced. “I’ll be right out.” You called back.

You had not meant to make him so angry but now, now you felt much better. Worry had been prickling at you. Stepping back, you eyed the gentle swell. Becoming a mother had not ever been on your personal to-do list. But the attraction between you had been stronger then anything you had ever felt. Your body and had eagerly taken his seed as you had responded to that easy smirk, touch or kisses.

You had always thought he was bad news. He still was but was on the other side of life. There was a razor’s edge to him that you were certain, would lead to your death. It still could. Damn, maybe it was pregnancy brain or the chemistry you had between the two of you, but you’d happily die on that razor edge for him.

You splashed some cool water on your face and turning you headed back out. He had placed your fork back beside your plate.

His fingers wrapped around your wrist as you walked by. His thumb easily caressing you.

“Are you better?”

His were warm, the anger was gone but the determination he had in most situations was there in the sky blue.

You nodded.

“Let me hear you say it.”

“I am better Nicky. I am sorry I doubted you, I mean us.” You quickly spoke over the you.

“Good. Now don’t fucking let those insecurities win again.”

“I won’t.”

*******

You snapped awake. Glancing, around you spotted, What to Expect When Expecting was open and sitting on the coffee table and a blanket was draped over you.

“Nick? Nicky?”

Looking around you spotted light pouring from under the door of his room. He took care of things in there, he prepared and he finished things there as well. You never went in there.

Pulling the blanket aside, you went over. You knocked softly. “Nicky?”

You heard some shuffling on the other side, you backed up.

“Hey there sleepy head.” He gave you a half smile.

You smiled, feeling as he looked you up and down. “Are you ok?”

“Yup.” You nodded. “Just woke up.”

“I’m almost done in here.”

“Ok! You said brightly. “I was thinking of taking a bath.”

His eyes lit up. “Want me to join you?”

You were warmed by the thought. “Could be nice.”

“Alright, why don’t you get it started and I will he there shortly.”

********

You sat on the rim of the tub watching the water begin to rise. Taking a the cork out of glass bottle, with a smile you happily sniffed at the rose-hip oil before pouring some into the water.

Carefully you pulled your now wrinkled dress off and with your panties; you tossed them into the hamper. Opening your vanity, grabbing a hair tie and put your hair up.

Holding onto the rim and your tummy with careful moves; sighing you immersed yourself into the water. Relief filled you. This felt so good.

You were glad, Nicky was in a better mood. You had not meant to upset him. You remembered when you had first saw him.

******

You eyed your reflection in the backroom and twirled.

“Hi girlie, look at you.” Stacy snapped her gum and came up behind her. She smiled at your reflection. “You look hot.”

You nudged her away. “I am not.”

“You are the boys out there will love you.”

You rose an eyebrow. “All the better for tips.”

“We’ll see.”

“Go get em, girl.”

You forced a smile and went over to the double doors. Taking a quick breath you went out there.

The clinking of glasses, the hum of conversation broken up by some shrill laughs filled the air.

You saw some prospects but you hesitated, continuing to move among the tables. Before you realized it, you had walked towards the back. That’s when you saw him.

A lone man, you caught sight of him before he saw you.

“Hello there handsome, is there anything I can get you?”

With a breath, you managed your best smile. Though, your nervousness made your heart skip a few beats.

Then he looked up from his phone. Your heart picked up speed, he was so handsome. The most attractive man you ever laid your eyes on.

Hair fantastically slicked back, a glint of chain laid on under his button down shirt and their was a twinkle in his dark eyes.

He slipped his phone away, his lips curled into a smirk. “Give me a twirl baby?”

Annoyance prickled you. Your smile tightened on your face. “I’m not for sale.”

“Am I trying to buy you? No. Now give me a twirl.” His voice was sharp.

You rolled your eyes. “Fine.” Pressing your lips together, you twirled.

“Very nice.”

He leaned toward you, his lips curled into a smirk.

“Look, I got some important guys coming in. Wanna be the girl for our table tonight, and I’ll treat you right?”

You put a hand on your hip. “I’m not sure I can do that.”

You nervously glance around.

“Go tell your boss, Adam is asking for you.” He sat back and smirked.

“Oh alright.” You muttered under your breath and fluttered off.

Your heart was thumping in your chest as you made your way back to Tommy’s office. You took a breath and knocked.

“Yeah?!“

Opening the door, you peaked around it. You smiled despite how your stomach lurched at the sight of him. He always reminded you on a toad perched on a rock waiting to snatch a fly out of the air. Not once he had raised his voice to you, but he still grossed you out.

“Yes, sugar?”

You swallowed, you came more into his office. You blinked at the the swirls of cigar smoke in the small room.

“Some guy named Adam asked if I could be the girl for his table tonight.”

“Adam, huh?” He sat back in his seat, making it creak and groan under him. “Have you met him before?”

You shook your head. “No sir.”

“He’s a pretty big deal, one of our steady clients; Lambert thinks he’s a good man.”

“Ok.” You didn’t know what else to say, you didn’t know exactly what that meant.

“Be your usual sweet self. If he asks for anything unusual tell me.”

“Unusual?”

Tommy moved forward practically bracing himself against his large desk. “Blow, girls who are not ours.” The rest of his words were garbled in his big lips.

You nodded. Stacy had told you interesting things went down there but the pay was good. This would be your introduction to it, you guessed.

“Now you be a good girl because if he complains about you, I won’t be happy.”

“Yes, sir.”

As you made your way back; you don’t know why but your heart kind of sank when you saw one of the girls practically curled up to his side, making doe eyes and playing with his chain.

He became more erect, practically separating himself from her as you drew closer. He ran his fingers through his slicked back hair.

Why should he even care, you wondered. You guessed people acted differently in these kind of establishments. You’d just roll with it.

“What did he say doll?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent. Now go and get me a neat whiskey.”

“Yes, sir.”

One of the corners of his mouth twitched up at your words.

******

“Room enough in there for me?” His voice broke into your memory.

You gasped and smiled. “Of course.”

You easily scooted towards the brushed nickel bathtub fixtures. Idly you remembered how growing up having a tub like this would have been something from a dream or a catalog.

A smile curled your lips as you felt his hands take a hold of you and you were soon resting against him.

His chin rested on the top of your head.

“What had you so far away?”

Rarely, did he concern himself too much about you and your day dreams. He had enough on his mind, making sure things were taken care or getting done. He also knew you were pretty self sufficient.

“Remembering, when we first met.”

“Oh.” He chuckled. “You were the prettiest piece of ass I had ever seen. I needed someway to get to know you better.”

“Is that so?” You countered. “Jenna, was practically hanging off of you when I got back from speaking with Tommy.”

“Well, I had to ignite your jealousy.”

“Oh? And what made you think that would do it?”

You could see him smirking without even a glance back at him.

“The way you were towards me before I asked you to be the girl for my table.”

“I could have thought you were just like every other asshole that came into that place.”

He chuckled. “But I wasn’t.”

You moved easily in the water. Turning and seeing him like he was then; made your heart skip. Arms on the rim of the tub, silver chain glistening against his chest hair and pearls of water that clung to him after getting into the tub and his ice like blue eyes hooded in his confidence of the memory and himself.

“You certainly weren’t.” You kissed his jaw.

*******

His phone chirped to life as he oiled his hand gun.

Found the pack. Meeting at noon tomorrow. Warehouse on Lexington and Park. He read Lambert’s message.

He put the rag and gun down, and wiped his hands on his slacks.

Good. He typed back.

Getting up, he came out of his room. Not finding you in the living room, he went to check the bedroom. You were deep into your closet.

“Planning on going somewhere?” He leaned against the door frame.

You jumped. He smiled.

“I am trying to find something to wear to the ultrasound.”

“That’s tomorrow?” He took off his glasses and wiped away a smudge he spotted.

“Yes, I told you over breakfast.”

“Oh right. Was distracted waiting for Lambert’s call.” He admitted.

You made a face and turned back to your clothes.

“When is the appointment?”

“Twelve-Thirty.” You continued shifting through the colorful fabrics.

“I’ll try and make it.”

That’s when you turned, and took a step towards him. “We will find out what we’re having.”

He stepped closer. “Are we sure we want to find out?”

He couldn’t read your expression and that annoyed him.

“We agreed that we did.”

“I will try.”

*******

He eyed his wrist watch. Ten of twelve. It was a clear day, the sun was bright and there was not a cloud to be seen. His uber was a block away from his destination.

*******

With a small pile of clothes laid at your feet, you decided finally on a cami and hoodie and some leggings. Satisfied, you zipped up the light hoodie.

The jell for the ultrasound always left you cold. Despite having a good breakfast, you felt ill. Nicky had tried to sweeten you up by ordering in your favorite breakfast. You were upset that he would not be there.

******

He walked in. He didn’t like being this exposed. The pay off was worth it, he reminded himself.

A laugh bounced off the walls.

“I knew that you’d be the first to arrive.” The voice echoed.

Turning, he saw Lambert walking over to him and he nodded.

Shrugging, he glanced down at his watch. Five of Twelve.

******

“Mrs. Barrett.” You said to the receptionist looked up at you.

“Oh! You’re early.”

You glanced at the big clock behind the woman. Twelve - Fifteen.

“I was told that’s best.”

“It is. Most don’t.”

You smiled and shrugged.

@the1redrose @blurpleuni-squid

[creelkobblelaufeyson69]

Fuck the rules

Warnings: smut

After Lambert had left, all they wanted was Adam all over them. They didn’t think they’d get horny during a job, but they needed their man now. Adam did think that they looked especially hot tonight, and wondered if he’d be able to not break the rule of no ass grab

But he was determined to be well behaved during the night. They sat next to him at the bar as everyone else had went to explore the place. They would look to be on his lap and straddling him, but they weren’t gonna give in no matter how much they craved him

His hand subconsciously moved to their thigh, which makes them shocked. Once the two were done with the drinks, his hand goes further up their thigh. “Frank” they started, but he immediately shushed them as he was fully aware of what his hand is doing now

He felt how much they needed him, which makes him more horny. They were a blushing mess now as they wondered if anyone would catch the two at the moment. “Fuck. Baby I need you” he whines, which makes them shocked. “Want me to take care of you sir? You know I’m good at that” they say, which makes him grasp onto their thigh that wasn’t being covered by a pair of short shorts

He insisted they wear it so he’d get a good view. He also told them not to wear underwear either. He knew that was a good idea. “Fuck” they cursed as he brings them onto his lap so they could feel how hard he was. “This is what you do to me babe” he says in a low voice as he places his hands firmly onto their waist

“Let me bring you somewhere more comfortable to sit” he says as he lifts them up bridal style once he gets off the bar stool. He brings them over to the couch, and he sits down as he props them on his lap. His hands go back onto their waist now as they now start to straddle him

His head arches back already, and he lets out needy moans. “Shh” they say as they subconsciously cover his mouth. He holds them in place as they realized what they’ve done. He takes one of his hands off of their waist to move the hand that was covering his mouth

“Don’t fucking do that again, you understand?” He asked in frustration, which only makes them more horny. “Yes sir” they moaned out quietly, which makes him amused. His hand goes back onto their waist, and he lets them continue to straddle him until he came in his pants

He was moaning the whole time, not caring about how loud he was. The thought of getting caught excited Adam, and he was determined to achieve that goal. “Take my cock out, so I can feel your walls” he orders, which they happily listen. Once his cock was out, they moved their shorts down a bit so he could easily enter them

Now they’re holding onto the chair, and bouncing up and down on his cock. His hands were grasping onto their waist more firmly now as they let out loud moans now. They wanted to caught now since the thrill excited them just as much as did for him. He uses their code name when moaning their name

Each other’s moans began to echo throughout the bar, which makes them cum. “Jesus!” Sammy shouts as she looks away from the two. This makes him cum a second time, and they also came again already as well. They stopped and pulled their shorts back up

“You guys really couldn’t have done that in the million rooms in this place?” Sammy asked in annoyance as he pulls his boxers and pants up. “We got impatient” Adam says as his forehead pressed against theirs. His glasses had been off this whole time, but he felt too lazy to get them off of the bar now

Sammy looks back to see how gentle he was being towards them after that. She found it adorable and the only redeeming quality of his. “I won’t tell anyone. I promise. I’m sure you’d like to keep this a secret to the rest of the group” she says as his eyes were on only them

They were only paying attention to his face as well. The face they loved ever since the two met. He begins to rub their back now, which soothes them. “We would” Adam says as he continues to rub his lovers back. Sammy smiles at how cute the two looked together, and went off into one of the many rooms to chill in

[lunar-writes-things]

EXTRA: SoB ideas

before we start, nothing in this is edited. You get to see the ideas I began with, the ideas that made it in, and the ideas that didn't. Enjoy my chaos of a mind

SEASON 8 BOATEM X READER 

The reader is introduced LATE season 6 (their lore is that she wondered across grain's build while traveling in her ship and just kinda stayed) 

LOTS OF FLUFF, LITTLE ANGST, AND A TINY BIT OF SEXUAL TENSION 

she had found Grian and mumbo the first day with scar and joined them. 

Her theme is gonna be something with Greek lore. She builds mount Olympus???? And all the stuff described in pjo books up there???? <---- Built cathedral 

Good at Terraforming and building 

GOTTA STAY ON THAT Y/N GRIND (literally pumping out content A LOT, she loves it but she doesn't really know how to take breaks lol. Lots of forced breaks with pouty y/n but she gets cuddles and sleeps lol)

gets a little sad when they have to move but also really hyped up for new beginnings with the rest of her friends 

VARIOUS ENDINGS:  Before the moon crashes and boatem is on Scar's rocket, Your chosen boatem member confesses their feelings, and when you say yes, they kiss the life out of you (OR YOU END UP WITH ALL OF THEM)

OR

They never confess and Y/n is just doused in the void until she pops up next season (maybe drowning in the ocean??) (OR THE REST OF BOATEM FORGOT THEM AND Y/N STAYS IN BOATEM AND GETS KILLED DURING THE MOON CRASH!!!!) 

BOATEM CHARACTER DYNAMICS/ INTERACTIONS WITH Y/N:

Grian x Y/- Tall Partner (y/n) x shorty (Grian), easy to cry (y/n) x Awkward comforter (grain), Lovers who are in total domestic mode, SIZE DIFFERENCE 

Nicknames for Grian from Y/n- Pretty bird, birdy, tweet bird, Angel, cupid, wafflehead, Lovebird

Songs to associate with: Love Like You - Steven Universe / Rebecca Sugar, Paper rings - Taylor Swift, Until I Found You - Stephen Sanchez

Scenes to write- Y/n preening Grian's wings (and vice versa), helping Grian with the Alley and terraforming, Y/n is taking the Tegg from Grian and when he tries to stop her from finding it she kisses him breathless and he short circuits and Y/n finds it and bolts while yelling an apology to grian 

Mumbo x Y/n- Flirty (Y/n) x Awkward (Mumbo),  Teasing (Y/n) x being teased (Mumbo), Bodyguard (Y/n) x being bodyguarded (Mumbo). LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

Nicknames for Mumbo from Y/n- Potato Boy, Mr. Ceo, Spud, Tater, Darl/Darling

Songs to associate with: Symphony - Cody Fry, Falling for Ya - Grace Phipps, Evermore - Dan Stevens 

Scenes to write- Y/n killing things for mumbo, Y/n helping Mumbo Terraform, Y/n becoming a mooner and passes out because of exhaustion and Mumbo feels bad 

Scar x Y/n- Literal Goddess (y/n)x Mess of a mortal (scar), Sunshine (scar) x Sunshine protector (Y/n), LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT 

Nicknames for Scar from Y/n- Willy Wonka (Because of his hat), Magic Man, Mr. Scar, Honeydew

Songs to associate with: Get this Right (Outtake) - Frozen ll, GUY.exe - superfruit, For the Record - 36 questions

Scenes to write- Scar fixing up Y/n's base when she passes out, Y/n helping scar out with resources and materials for building, Y/n being a literal sugar mommy for scar, SCAR IS PART SIREN 

"No, No, Stay right where you are, I'll put out the fire my love!" Scar said with a panicked look on his face as he grabs a bucket of water and throws it on the fire successfully extinguishing it while making Y/n laugh "I wanna make you swoon Baby! I want to rock you with my righteous romance!" Y/n is dragged up by scar who dips them down, their laugh echoing through the cave where they were having dinner 

"I wanna make a move darling!" Scar spun Y/n around and into their seat before sitting down himself with a cringe "But I sweating through the seat of my pants!" 

"One day I'm gonna take you dancing." Scar murmured into Y/n's ear and swayed while he was leaning on them 

"Then in my future builds I will try to make a courtyard so we can dance in the rain." Y/n replied smoothly 

Impulse x Y/n- practically intertwined with each other, tired parents, Redstoner (impulse) x Builder (Y/n),

Nicknames for Impulse from Y/n- Impy, redstoner, partner in crime, Puddin', Mr. candyman

Songs to associate with: I love you too much - Book of life, Burn for you - Barlow and Bear, Line without a hook - Ricky Montgomery

Scenes to write- Impulse panicking when Y/n gets sick, Y/n and Impulse treating the rest of boatem like their children, oddly domestic with each other, Wearing impulse's shirt while her dress is in the wash (WET CAT Y/N!!!!), SONG CHAP FOR I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH CAUSE ITS SO SWEET AND MAKES ME WANNA CRY

Pearl x Y/n- basically newlyweds, Bffs to flirty, Sun (Y/n) and Moon (Pearl)

Nicknames for Pearl from Y/n- My Jewel, Moony, dewdrop, Pearly-Pop

Songs to associate with: She - Dodie, Dandelions - Ruth B., Putting a Spin on Slow dancing in the dark - Egg

Scenes to write- making dinner together for the rest of the boatem crew, cuddling and sleeping on Pearl's bed, drawing out blueprints for builds together, Stargazing together 

Scenes for anyone and Y/n- WALKING IN ON Y/N CHANGING!!!!!, Y/n and (Boatem member) working in silent tandem without talking while the others are just watching in shock, Y/n and (BM) are making out in a dark unlocked room and someone walks in as (BM) starts to undress Y/n +  BOATEM MEMBERS HAVING A MEETING DISCUSSING WHAT HAPPENED WITH (BM) AND Y/N, All of them staying in Y/n's temp base for a movie night and accidentally having a cuddle pile, og boatem catching Y/n in a compromising position with a rival (Big Eye inc (Tango) or  GOAT (Doc) or etho????), Y/n being genuinely mad at one (or all) of the boys (hair is floating, eyes are glowing, fun goddess stuff), Walking in on Y/n showering?" 

"You go down just like Holy Mary, Y/n! Y/n!" Scar watched as the angel known as Y/n fought the wither for him, their hair whipping in the wind and the absolute power that radiated off of them made Scar want to bow down at their feet "Your beauty never ever scared me! Y/n! Y/n!" 

"Help me make the most of freedom and of pleasure," Y/n's voice cracked as they watched the moon fall closer and closer to their home through the rocket window and watched as _____ grabbed _____ and _____'s hands "Nothing ever lasts forever." Soon the trapdoors under the boatem crew opened and the crew was doused into the void of the Boatem hole only connected by the thick rope around their waists leaving Y/n behind and left to die  (BAD ENDING WHERE SHES LEFT BEHIND)

AND/ OR

"I CAN'T SAVE US!" Y/n sobbed as they tried to make her way down the Boatem hole with the others who were screaming for her "MY ATLANTIS! WOAH! OH-" 

With the gravity shifted and switch, Y/n never got to the rest of Boatem and the rest of the Boatem members all had to watch Y/n float away out of their reach before the moon hit the earth. Their hearts aching with sorrow and regret as Scar held them all back with tears in his eyes. He already lost the love of his life, they all did, how would Y/n forgive them?

"For the record, this is self-destructive," Grian said and watched as Impulse and Mumbo nodded 

"For the record, I'm aware of that!" Pearl dragged her hands down her face

"For the record, I've been picturing her body draped over the sofa wearing nothing but my hat," Scar piped up and covered his face with his hat with a blush

"For the record," Impulse started but was cut off by Mumbo who muttered 

"We're screwed."

 

"It needs life," Y/n said walking on the man-made cloud made of glass, bone, diorite, wool, and other white-based materials "And I may be good at building but Life was never something I've been able to convey. That is where you come in, despite being a zombie you're so full of life, and the way you convey it is so so beautiful." 

"You want me to add some armor stands?" 

"Yes, please. I'll pay you for your work." 

"I look at you, and I'm Home." The words came out in a breath and  Y/n saw tears gathering in their eyes and as Y/n cupped their face they melted like putty "And I know I'm safe because I'm here... Here with you." 

"You were My new dream," Y/n smiled, blood coming up in coughs and dripping down her chin from out of their mouth 

"And You were Mine," They sobbed and held Y/n close as they pressed the sword deeper into their heart 

"You two are so dramatic! Y/n will be fine!" Tango groaned and crossed his arms over his chest only to be punched in the arm by a crying Bdubs 

"Boy," Y/n breathed out softly, leaning into Scar unconsciously "Your eyes are like emeralds." 

"My Love for you will always burn," They said and pressed their lips to Y/n's. Full of Love and passion Y/n could stay like this forever as They cupped _____'s face

"To me, You're perfect." Mumbo sighed and pressed his lips to their forehead. When he pulled away Y/n grabbed his face and pulled him down to press a kiss to his lips, gritty with redstone dust but lighting up with the electricity between them 

"Y/n," False looked at Y/n their face pained and lips pursed "You're in love with them." 

"What?!" Y/n felt their face flush red "NO! They're my best friends! How could I be in love with them? I just really like hanging around them all the time, and maybe i purposely overwork myself so they can take care of me and sure I've have a history with 4 out of the five and maybe I love their smiles and everything about them and Okay, Fine, maybe I wanna kiss their pretty lips until we both can't breathe but that doesn't mean i'm in love with them! Not all of them!" 

"Y/n-" Stress gaped at them and Gem and Cleo were in the background laughing their asses off "Y/n darling, what was the last thing you said?" 

"I'm not in love with them?" Y/n asked

"The other last thing," Gem said still laughing 

"I wanna-" Y/n paused as they went over the sentence again "Oh. Oh."

and Suddenly, Y/n was very happy Pearl was on a vacation and not with the other girls and them. 

RIGHT AFTER (NEXT CHAPTER!!!) ^^^^ 

NIGHTMARE CHAPTER!!! STARTS OFF WITH Y/N AND WILBUR SOOT IN A HAPPY RELATIONSHIP BUT TURNS TO WHEN Y/N FINDS OUT ABOUT WILBUR'S SECRET FAMILY. MAKE IT FUCKING HURT PUT YOUR FEARS IN THIS SHIT LUNS!!!!!! Y/N RUNS TO PHIL AND BEGS HIM TO TRAIN HER FOR A ANARCHY SERVER AND BEFORE SHE LEAVES SHE GOES TO BREAKUP WITH WILBUR BUT HE LEAVES HER INSTEAD AND TELLS HER HE HATES HER AND BLAH BLAH BLAH BEFORE KILLING HER (Y/N FOUGHT WITH L'MANBURG AND DIED TWICE???? PROTECTING THE CHILDREN AND WILBUR???? <<<< Aforementioned family problems that Y/n left season 3 for????)

Y/N WAKES UP IN THE ANARCHY SERVER AND CONTINUES THEIR LIFE IN SOLIDARITY BEFORE XISUMA INVITES THEM BACK TO HERMITCRAFT. SHE ACCEPTS AND SWITCHES HER MAIN SERVER!!! "Ahh home sweet home," Y/n sighed before startign to burrow under the giant futureistic flower pot 

CUT TO WHEN Y/N REALIZES THEYRE IN LOVE WTH THE BOATEM CREW AND START EVEN MORE ANGST THERE!!!!!! 

Y/n is asleep and having a dream. Everything is realistic and stuff. Y/n is working on laundry when th rest of boatem drop by with distured, strained or disappointed faces when they caught Y/ns attention. 

Y/n lights up and goes to reach for them only to be pushed away and their touch recoiled from. Y/n instantly feels their heart drop. 

"Y/n," grian stepped up "You have to leave." 

"What-" Y/n dropped what they were holding as they looked at Grian in shock "I- I'm sorry, whats Going on here? Is this a prank? Hahaha ve- very funny guys." 

they weren't laughing though.

why weren't they laughing

this was a prank wasnt it? 

What was going on

WHAT DID THEY DO?

"Leave Y/n," Impulse said and looked away with his arms crossed over his chest 

"What- what did I do? Im sorry- Please don't leave me- please no, Not again-. I cant live without you guys! You are my happiness, my light, my worlds. Please don't leave me! Not again, Please I love you all!" 

"Thats exactly why you have to leave Y/n," Scar said "Its so selfish of you that you cant pick a single one of us. It's actually kind of pathetic." 

Y/n felt their heart crack into tiny pieces and even more so when they started to walk away. Tears blurred their vision as they treated to reach out but they couldn't move. 

They couldn't breathe

they heard nothing. 

they felt nothing. 

nothing except the tears dripping down their cheeks and their trembling bottom lip. 

"One day, I will stop falling in love with you," Y/n finally choked out "Someday, someone will like me like I like you." 

Y/n broke down sobbing until a voice in the distance called Y/n, it getting closer and closer until

Y/n woke up. 

It was a dream. 

a nightmare. 

and what a horrible one at that. 

above them were the concerned faces of Mumbo and pearl, the only two who never said a word during the dream. Y/ hugged them tightly, burying their head into both of their shoulders before taking a deep breath and inhaling their familiar scents. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Y/n muttered and never caught the sad looks Mumbo and pearl gave each other "Please don't hate me. I'm sorry." 

"Oh my sweet angel," Pearl sighed and rubbed Y/n's back "We could never hate you. We adore you. You are our happieness, Our light, Our world. I don't know what happened but we're here and everything will be okay." 

1) MCC is canon. Players have to go through a special portal to travel across smps (or dimensions for them.) And once a month, some hermits and people across many servers and dimensions come to play and watch MCC (this was purely an excuse to write Y/n interactions with a lot of other streamers / Youtubers)

2) Y/n is not a pg streamer/YouTuber. They curse A LOT off camera and they curse on camera occasionally but it's mainly cut out. Some of the hermits on the server find it funny how such vulgar words comes from such a 'sweet' person. 

 Once they were playing MCC and Tommy, being the gremlin he is asked Y/n to curse. 

"FUCK!" Y/n yelled and happy cheers reached their ears as they laughed, watching the stars around their head yell and scream in confusion while Tommy and Tubbo laughed and Sparklez scolded them. 

MCC CHAP AFTER CHAP 14!!!!! Y/n near the end of the chap 14 gets something in the mail and its an invite to MCC 16!!! AUGUST 21 2021!!!! They are a part of Purpe pandas with Grian, Scott and Joel!!!! Taking over for Fruit because he couldn't make it.

THE HC GIRLS (- Pearl because she was on vaycay) MAKING Y/N REALIZE SHES IN LOVE WITH ALL OF BOATEM (I won't say I'm in love song) 

THE BOATEM CREW CONFESSES MIDWAY THROUGH THE BOOK AND THEY TRY TO CONVINCE HER TO DATE THEM (DURING THE ENDING THERES 6 ENDINGS!!!! One for each Boatem member and one where they're left behind <---- (POSSIBLE???? idk I like the idea of boatem fighting for Y/n in front of them but it an be stressful + oblivious af Y/n) 

OR  Y/N CONFESSES TO ALL OF THEM FIRST???? ITS IN A PANIC AND SHES SAYING THE LYRICS TO THE SONG DONT YOU DARE (MAKE ME FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU) 

Essentially, y/n is crying that shes scared to fall in love and she wants to trust her feelings. ENDS UP WITH SOFT REASSURING FLUFF!!! IM GONNA MAKE ME CRYYYYYY- (Listen to that song with rain and ACTUALLY LISTEN!!!! Let the feels run trough and let the juices flow. no holding back. you have a ton of potential) (AFTER ANGST CHAP!!!!!!) 

TITLE IDEAS: A Wild Ride of Boatem, Goddess of Boatem, The Symphony of Boatem, Boatem's Stars

Masterlist

[gvtted-ratz]

>request/idea rules<

requests: open

>marvel<

anthony "tony" stark/iron man, peter benjamin parker/spider-man, wade wilson/deadpool, helmut zemo, james "bucky" barnes/winter soldier, matthew "matt" murdock/daredevil, franklin "foggy" nelson, frank castle/the punisher, william "billy" russo/jigsaw, miguel o'hara, spider-punk/hobart "hobie" brown (smatsv)

>horror/thriller<

slashers/antagonists

billy lenz (black christmas 1974), brahms heelshire, martin mathias (martin 1977), harry warden/the miner (og and remake), asa emory (the collector), jason voorhees (og and 2009 remake), michael myers (og and rz remake), lester sinclair (house of wax), vincent sinclair (house of wax), mark hoffman (saw 4/5), lawrance gordan (saw 2004), hannibal lecter (nbc hannibal), will graham (nbc hannibal)

final/”good” guys

arkin o'brien (the collector/the collection), nicholas "nick" henry jones (house of wax), peter strahm (saw 4/5), adam faulkner stanheight (saw 2004), david radford (saw 0.5)

>games<

error 143

micah yujin

john doe +

john doe

duskwood 

richy rogers, phil hawkins, jake "hakermen", thomas, daniel "dan" anderson

killer frequency

forrest nash, henry barrow

the price of flesh

machaete, thomas (tom), jackal (jack/dean), derek goffard, matt goffard, mason heiral, dragon (jace/jason), komodo (mike/michael), the announcer (fox/ren hana)

that's not my neighbour 

physicist/dr. w. afton, milkman/francis mosses, hoon (milkman doppelganger), scarlet milk (milkman doppleganger), pilot/steven rudboys, d.d.d agent (hazmat guy), teutates taranis, abducius morail, yog sothoth

studio investigrave games

rody lamoree, vincent charbonneau, protagonist, co-worker, normal guy, fake protag, fake co-worker

call of duty (+modern warfare 2)

könig, simon "ghost" riley, kyle "gaz" garrick, john "soap" mactavish, alejandro vargas, rodolfo "rudy" parra, gary "roach" sanderson

>tv/movies/web-series<

the batman (2022)

the riddler/edward nashton

 there will be blood (2007)

eli sunday

marble hornets (2009-2014)

masky/timothy "tim" wright, skully/jay merrick, alexander "alex" kralie, hoody/brian thomas

>will not do<

• incest

• suicide

• ddlg/ddlb

• scat/urine

• pregnancy

• heavy angst

• age regression

• teacher/student

• sa/rape/non-con

• full smut/sex scenes

• illnesses/issues we're unfamiliar with (ask)

• underage/child anything (papa, uncle, child, etc. reader &/or character) - this includes childhood friend AUs

• fem reader (including pronouns/detailed anatomy due to high discomfort) - anything else is fine

> can/will do<

• fics (1k+)

• past abuse

• headcanons

• past self-harm

• drabbles (100-1k)

• alpha/beta/omega

• polyamory relationships

• blood, gore, violence, etc.

• anything soft, comfort, fluff

• aus (soulmate, cafe, bookstore, etc.)

• some ships/otps/rarepairs (feel free to ask)

• death of character/reader (character/reader kills the other)

• nearly any pronouns (including neos, just provide pronouns)

• male/masc, gender-neutral, nonbinary, trans male reader, inhuman reader (this includes monster, alien, divine etc.)

• "steamy" scenes/dub-con <- will be posted on ao3 ONLY (link will be provided for requests)

[hearts-hunger]

home for the holidays — chapter two

Read on AO3 | Masterlist

Series Summary: The Cabin Fever gang spends Christmas in Frankenmuth. ||  Companion series in the Cabin Fever universe

⮡ part one

Chapter Summary: The gang explores a very festive Frankenmuth. (Danny's POV)

Pairings: Sam Kiszka x Danny Wagner, Josh Kiszka x Reader, Jake Kiszka x Reader | Genre: holiday fluff | Word Count: 3.5k | Chapter Warnings: spicy remarks, talk of sexuality, mention of the devil's lettuce

A/N: My first time writing Danny and Sam from their perspective! Also, fair warning, everything I know about Frankenmuth is from the internet, so forgive me if it's not accurate hehe. I hope you like it! ♡

Sam dropped their bags just inside his bedroom, giving a theatrical, contented sigh as he stepped in.

“Home sweet home.”

Danny chuckled as his boyfriend flopped unceremoniously on the bed, a display he’d seen many times in their youth when they came home tired from soccer games or gigs or long nights finding trouble to get into. Not that there was much trouble to be had in quiet little Frankenmuth — they’d mostly gotten their kicks from a dime bag and one of Sam’s records. This bedroom had seen countless hours of the two of them playing music, helping each other with homework, talking about everything and nothing. To Danny, the Kiszka house was a second home, and Sam’s bedroom had been the safest and most wonderful place in the world for many years.

He moved their duffle bags out of the way and perused Sam’s record collection, small as it was with most of it moved to their apartment in Nashville.

“I've been wondering where this was,” Danny said, pulling out a Cat Stevens record. He put it on the old, beat-up turntable and let Teaser and the Firecat play.

Sam rolled to his back. “We should take all those back home when we leave,” he said. “We left a lot of random stuff here.”

“That’s because you were in charge of packing up your room,” Danny reminded him. “And you're terrible at packing.”

Sam grinned as Danny sat in the edge of the bed. “Yeah, but you still love me.”

Danny gave a soft laugh. “Lucky you.”

Sam nudged his knee against Danny’s back. “Hey, you love this song.”

Danny smiled. “I know.”

“I listen to my words, but they fall far below,” Sam sang along absently. “I let my music take me where my heart wants to go.”

He sat up and stretched. “Where does your heart want to go, Dan?”

Danny moved Sam’s legs out of the way and laid back on the bed, his feet still on the floor. “Right now? My heart wants to go to sleep.” 

Their pre-dawn flight had sounded like a great idea when they’d planned it, but he was exhausted now and they hadn't even gotten started on all they planned to squeeze into one day.

Sam laughed and sat cross-legged at Danny's side. “You can’t sleep now. We just got here. We still have lots of stuff to do.”

Danny groaned and draped an arm over his eyes. “Don’t remind me.”

Sam ran a hand over Danny’s chest in a soothing motion. “You’re really tired, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“You want more coffee?” He got off the bed without waiting for an answer. “I’ll go make you some.”

Danny propped himself up. “You don’t have to.”

Sam smiled. “I want to. Maybe mom has some of that fancy creamer you like.”

Sam was only gone for a minute, and Danny gratefully accepted the mug of coffee with sugar cookie creamer when he returned.

“Thank you,” he said with a contented sigh.

Sam smacked a kiss to his cheek with a goofy muah, making Danny laugh.

“You’re welcome, honey.”

They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, Sam rifling through his things and showing Danny any interesting discoveries as Danny drank his coffee. He looked up at the posters haphazardly taped to Sam’s ceiling; they were all male rock bands and musicians, some in various states of undress like the Mick Rock photo of Queen that was almost a boudoir shoot. Danny chuckled.

“What's so funny?” Sam asked with an affectionate smile.

Danny shook his head. “I can’t believe it took you so long to figure out you were into guys.”

Sam gave him a wry smile. “Yeah, well, not all of us were born self-aware bisexuals, Daniel. Some of us had to go through gay trauma.”

Danny looked over at him. “What do you mean?” He’d known it had been a little harder for Sam to come to terms with his sexuality than it had been for Danny, but he didn’t remember anything close to trauma. 

Sam gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m kidding. There was very little trauma involved, if any. Aside from realizing I was hopelessly in love with you and not being able to tell you.”

Danny sighed. “Sweetheart, I think that was just you being dumb,” he teased. “You could have told me any of those million times we were in here goofing off and trying to act straight and I would have told you I felt the same way.”

“Not if you were making out with girls all the time,” Sam needled.

“Minor detours,” he said. He finished his coffee and set the mug on the nightstand. “I was always on the road to you, Sammy.”

“Now you sound like a Rascal Flats song.”

Danny laughed until he was out of breath, and Sam wore a lovesick smile as he watched him.

“You know I spend every waking minute trying to make you laugh?” Sam said, coming to sit beside him on the bed. “It’s my favorite sound in the whole world.”

“Aw, love. You’re secretly a romantic, aren’t you?”

“I am not,” Sam said. “Take that back.”

Danny smirked. “What are you gonna do if I don’t? Make swoony romantic love to me?”

With a quickness that made Danny blush, Sam straddled his lap and pulled his arms behind his back.

“Does this feel swoony and romantic to you?” Sam asked.

Danny smirked. “Kind of.”

Sam immediately took down the facade and released Danny’s hands to cradle his face and kiss him gently. That suited Danny better; usually he was the one giving the business to Sam, and he liked it just fine.

“I love you,” Danny said, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. Sam smiled and buried his face in Danny’s neck.

“I love you too,” he said. “You know, it’s been a while since we fooled around in this bed.”

Danny snorted. “It’s barely eight in the morning, Sam.”

Sam gave him a serious look. “You know you can do the deed even when it’s not dark outside.”

Danny laughed. “You’re funny.”

Sam was pleased with the compliment and rewarded him with a kiss. Despite what he’d said, Danny felt himself warming to the idea of “fooling around,” and he broke the kiss before it got too hot and heavy.

“Hey,” Sam protested. “Be nice.”

“Don’t tempt me. You’re the one who said we have all this stuff to do.”

“Forget I said that. We can stay in bed all day.”

Sam kissed him again, and Danny had almost agreed to stay in bed when a knock sounded on the door.

“Let’s go, lovebirds,” came Jake’s voice. “It’s too early for all that.”

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother’s impeccable timing. Danny chuckled and gently eased Sam off of him.

“Come on,” he said sweetly. “Let’s go look at Christmas lights or something.”

Sam softened. “You sure you’re not too tired? You can crash for a while if you want.”

Danny shook his head. “I’m feeling better after having some coffee. In fact, I’m rarin’ to go.”

Sam grinned and took his hand as they went to meet the rest of their friends at the door.

“Are you coming with us, mom?” Sam called, pulling on his jacket.

“No, you kids go have fun. You girls take nice pictures, because I know none of these boys can.”

Sparrow and Baby laughed.

“Yes ma’am,” they chorused. 

Bundled up in scarves and hats and big jackets they hadn’t had to use since they moved, the six of them crunched through the few inches of snow that had already accumulated on the ground. Danny took the driver’s seat again, reaching his hand back to find Sam’s.

“I’m assuming you don’t want to hold my hand,” Josh teased, slapping his palm against Danny’s.

Danny took Josh’s hand and squeezed it. “Who says?”

Josh laughed and returned the affectionate squeeze before Sam batted his hand away. 

“Hey now,” Sam said. “Hands off my man.”

Danny felt Sam’s wiry hand in his own and ran his thumb over Sam’s knuckles.

“You’re gonna freeze with no gloves, Sam.”

“I do have one glove,” Sam said. “I guess you’ll just have to hold my other hand to keep me from getting frostbite.”

The drive to town was quick, but it took ages to find parking. Even with the light snowfall, people were out and about, enjoying the snow-capped and colorfully lit Little Bavaria of downtown Frankenmuth. Danny was happy to be back; he’d missed the sights and sounds of his hometown at Christmas, and he was glad they’d decided to come home for the holidays.

They all cheered when they finally found a parking space, and Baby pointed out that they were right near one of the “Stop and Snap” picture spots. 

“Get in,” she ordered with all the seriousness of a general directing her army, gesturing to a giant ornament with a wide seat in the middle. “We’re doing all fifteen stops so we can get our collector’s edition ornament at the Visitor's Center.”

They did as she asked, squishing together, sitting on each other’s laps to fit.

“Put those long arms to use for a selfie, Daniel,” Sparrow said, just as dedicated to the cause as her best friend. 

Danny smiled and did as she said, fitting everyone into the picture and taking millions so the girls could pick out the one they liked the best. As they walked around town, they stopped and took more pictures, each one more ridiculous than the last, and Danny felt the infectious joy of good company as they explored the town they knew like the back of their hand.

“We ought to stop in and say hi to Mr. Miller,” Sam said as they rounded the corner near where the record shop stood. 

“Hey, we should!” Josh agreed. He nudged his shoulder against his girlfriend’s. “And maybe Santa can get me that John Denver record I’ve been looking for. What do you think, baby?”

She gave him an innocent smile. “I don't know, honey. Have you been a good boy this year?”

He whispered something to her that made her blush. “Joshua,” she protested, but her smile gave her away.

They came into the record store and basked in the warmth for a moment before spreading out to flip through rows and rows of second-hand vinyls. All of them had spent countless hours there searching for good finds growing up, and the owner, Mr. Miller had always been a kind friend and musical mentor to them. They went to say hello to Mr. Miller, and he was delighted to have them back; he gestured to the boxes of records he hadn’t yet put out and told them have at them.

“I know you kids like to hunt for hidden treasure,” he said with a twinkling smile. “Knock yourselves out.”

They did, and they found several records they asked Mr. Miller to keep for them behind the counter until they were headed home. He did, saying he was “always happy to see young folks interested in good music.”

Danny and Sam looked together through the jazz section. The smell of old records brought back a flood of memories for Danny, and he gently tapped his boot against Sam’s.

“You know, Sam, I think I fell in love with you in this store.”

His boyfriend gave him a heart-tilting smile. “You did? You never told me.”

“I mean, I'd been in love with you forever,” Danny, a little bashful as he remembered the years of fumbling, hesitant flirtation with his best friend. “But I do remember one time when we were in here, a few weeks before we went to the cabin. You found a copy of Teaser and the Firecat — the copy we were listening to earlier, actually, because you ended up buying it — and started singing ‘Rubylove’ loud enough for the whole store to hear. But you changed ‘Ruby’ to ‘Danny’.”

Danny was surprised to see Sam blush bright red.

“Oh, god, I remember that,” Sam said with an embarrassed laugh. 

Danny himself felt a little embarrassed at the thought that Sam didn’t remember that day with as much fondness as he did.

“I thought you were flirting with me,” Danny said, hedging. “I guess I was wrong.”

Sam looked surprised. “I was!” He came close and eased Danny’s embarrassment with a lopsided smile, tucking his hand into the crook of Danny’s arm.

“I was definitely flirting with you, honey,” he said, kind and affectionate. “I mean, I sang you a love song from your favorite album of all time. I was one hundred percent wearing my heart on my sleeve and making a complete fool of myself.”

Danny softened and gave him a chaste kiss. “I don’t think you made a fool of yourself, love.”

Sam raised a brow. “No? What if I did it again right now?”

Without waiting for Danny’s answer, he pressed his clasped hands to his chest in a dramatic gesture.

“Danny my love, you’ll be my love. You’ll be my sky above, Danny my love.”

Danny laughed and shushed him with a hand to his mouth as they gained troubled glances from other customers and a wolf whistle from one of Sam’s brothers.

Mr. Miller called to them from behind the counter. “Haven’t you boys quit flirting and actually gotten together yet?”

All of them laughed, and Jake wryly assured the older man that the two singing idiots had indeed gotten together.

Mr. Miller shook his head. “About time.”

Sam looked up at Danny with a beaming grin. “I was flirting with you this time, too, just so you know.”

Danny chuckled and gave him a quick kiss. “I figured.”

After a while, Danny found Baby flipping through the John Denver section with a look of concentration.

“Don’t you have most of these?” he asked. She and Josh had adopted John Denver as “their” artist, and from what he could remember of their collection at home, they had almost all of his albums.

“Yeah,” she said, a little distracted. “But we don’t have Rocky Mountain Christmas yet, and I wanted to get it for Josh this year.”

He helped her look, and after a few moments, he pulled out a blue and white album with painted mountains on the cover. “This one?”

She gave him a sweet, joyful smile he couldn't help but return.

“Yes!” she said happily, taking it when he offered it to her. “Thank you, Danny. That's exactly what I was looking for.”

She looked up at him. “Did you find anything for Sam?”

He shrugged. “I can’t think of a record he wants that he doesn't already have,” he said. “He’s hard to buy for, you know that.”

“Tell me about it,” she agreed as they walked to the counter together. “Josh and I got him a Polaroid, so I hope he’ll like it.”

“He’ll love it,” Danny assured her. “That’s a great gift for him. Did you have it shipped here?” Since they’d decided on the trip, they’d been sending their packages to the Kiszkas' for Kelly to hide, and they had a lot of wrapping to do that night to get everything ready.

She nodded. “Kelly said it got there yesterday, so it was just in the nick of time.”

She handed the record to Mr. Miller and asked him to keep it with the rest of their picks, and Danny blocked Josh’s way when he tried to come close.

“What are you, her bodyguard?” Josh laughed.

Danny shook a stern finger at him. “Christmas is no time for snooping, Mr. Kiszka.”

Josh grinned. “Fine. We’re ready to go when you guys are.”

They rejoined the group when they’d said their goodbyes to Mr. Miller, a little relieved to find it had stopped snowing while they were shopping. Sam took Danny’s hand as they walked, and Danny laughed when he found that Sam actually did only have one singular glove.

“Here,” he said, making to take off his own and give them to him.

“Aw, Dan, you don't have to give me your gloves,” Sam said, surprised but touched that he would offer. “Just hold my hand and I’ll be fine.”

Danny gladly did as he said. The feel of Sam’s hand in his still sent a thrill through him like the first time he’d felt it, and he knew he’d never tire of the little ways Sam came up with to be close to him. 

“Alright, boys, strap in,” Sparrow said, rubbing her mittened hands together in gleeful anticipation as they came up to Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland. The gigantic building was festooned top to bottom in garlands and lights, and even from the outside it lived up to its billing as the world's largest Christmas store. Danny smiled as he watched Jake join in his girlfriend’s excitement and saw Josh snap a picture of the sign with the disposable camera Baby had brought.

“You ready?” Danny asked, looking to his boyfriend with a grin.

Sam shrugged. “Oh, sure.”

Danny chuckled. “You promise you won’t hate it?” he teased. Though Sam would never admit it, fearing to tarnish his rockstar reputation, he loved going to Bronner’s and looked forward to it every year.

Sam gave him a grudging smile. “I think I’ll survive.”

They wove through life-size nativity scenes and towering nutcrackers until they came to the door, entering into a sprawling display of festivity. The girls gave delighted giggles and dragged their boyfriends off to look at the huge Christmas village exhibits and hundreds upon hundreds of ornaments that sparkled and shone from every corner. Sam and Danny took a moment to take it all in, looking over the waterfalls of twinkling lights, giant baubles suspended from the ceiling, and many-tiered displays of Santas, presents, and brightly-lit trees.

Danny snuck a glance at his boyfriend and softened at the look of boyish wonder and excitement of Sam’s face. Spurred by affectionate impulse, he kissed Sam’s cheek. 

“Merry Christmas, love.”

Sam pinked and gave him a bashful grin.

“Merry Christmas, Dan.”

They whiled away the morning at Bronner’s, spending a long time in leisurely enjoyment of the sights and sounds of Christmas. When they’d seen all there was to see and successfully dissuaded the girls from buying the entire store, they had lunch at the Christmas Town Pub at the farmer’s market and talked over mugs of mulled wine.

“You’re not doing this whole vegan thing with Sammy, right?” Josh asked, snagging one of the fries that had come with Danny’s bratwurst. Baby batted his hand away and pushed her fries towards him.

“I don’t mind sharing,” Danny said, giving her a smile. “And to answer your question, Josh, I think I’d qualify myself as a selective vegan.”

Sparrow laughed. “So not really a vegan.”

“Well, we’ve been doing it at home,” Sam said. “Danny’s been a real champ so far.”

“I’m not going vegan for you, Sparrow,” Jake said. “I mean, I love you, but I really, really like meat.”

“Yes, honey, I know. You and your steaks.”

Jake put a hand to his chest. “You don't like my steaks?”

She rolled her eyes but smiled all the same. “Of course I like them, Jakey. I like anything you cook. You know what else I like?”

He smirked. “My world-famous kisses?”

She laughed. “Those too. I was going to say mulled wine, but if you would be so kind as to get me some more, I’ll let you give me one of those world-famous kisses.”

Josh and Baby asked for more too, and Sam offered to help Jake carry them.

“You want another one?” he asked Danny.

Danny finished his drink and raised his mug. “Sure, why not.”

They lingered for a while over their drinks, and Danny started to feel the pull of exhaustion again as the wine and warm food worked their magic. Sam’s hand running up and down his back, though a welcome touch, wasn’t helping him in his losing battle. Sparrow and Josh, too, were looking ready for a nap, and their partners were happy to have them rest their heads on their shoulders. 

“We’re losing them, Jake,” Sam said with a laugh. He looked over at Danny. “My big guy's about ready to crash, huh?”

Danny gave him a drowsy smile. “I like it when you call me that.”

Sam chuckled. “I'm glad. You are my big guy.” He brushed Danny's hair over his shoulder. “You ready to head home?”

Danny stifled a yawn behind his hand. “Probably. If everybody else is.”

“I think we should call it before Sparrow falls asleep at the table,” Jake said, kissing her cheek. “We can take a power nap and come back for ice skating later.”

Jake offered to drive home, and Danny leaned against Sam as they rode. With a bit of persuasion, Sam got him out of the car and into bed.

“Just one more minute, sweetheart,” Sam said, kneeling down to take off Danny’s boots for him. Danny felt his heart squeeze at the selfless gesture and rested his head against Sam’s for a moment.

Sam breathed a laugh. “You alright?”

Danny hummed in agreement. “I love you a lot, Sam.”

Sam set Danny's boots to the side and tipped his face up for a kiss, which Danny gladly gave.

“I love you a lot too, big guy.”

Danny snuggled close to Sam when they were both under the covers, and Sam brushed Danny's hair back from his face.

“I’m glad I get to spend Christmas with you now, Sam.”

Sam's laugh was soft. “We’ve always spent Christmas together, love,” he said. “Even when we were kids.”

Danny cuddled closer. “You know what I mean. I’m glad I get to spend Christmas with you like this.”

Sam relaxed with a contented sigh and gave Danny a gentle kiss.

“Yeah,” he agreed, and Danny could hear the smile in his voice. “You’re right. This kind of Christmas is way better.”

if you’d like to be tagged in this fic, please send me an ask! ♡

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sorry if tumblr didn’t tag you — it’s stupid sometimes. but i’m real thankful for you, sweet peaches! and if you’re a new bestie and would like to be added to my taglist, check out the form right here!

[marie-swriting]

Proche De Moi - Dove Cameron

Masterlist

Résumé : Toi et Dove êtes meilleures amies donc vous avez toujours été tactiles. Quand elle a réalisé ses sentiments pour toi, elle a décidé que c'était mieux de ne plus être aussi proche de toi, mais tu ne comprends pas pourquoi ta meilleure amie est si distante.

Warnings : pining, fluff, dites-moi si j'en ai loupé d'autres !

Nombre de mots : 1.9k

Version anglaise

Prompt : "I know it's 2 in the morning but do you want to..." (Je sais que c'est 2h du mat, mais tu veux...) de cette prompts list faite par @homesweetnothings, fluff n°19

Chanson qui m'a inspiré : "Do You Wanna Be Friends ?" par Leanna Firestone

Dove te regarde au loin pendant que tu danses sur la piste de danse. Normalement, elle est toujours à tes côtés, dansant et s’amusant avec toi, mais pas ce soir. Il y a quelques semaines, elle a réalisé qu’elle avait des sentiments pour toi donc, elle a décidé de prendre un peu de distance avec toi, ne voulant rien ruiner. Mais de ton point de vue, tu as juste l’impression que ta meilleure amie agit bizarrement avec toi. Tu as remarqué qu’elle n’avait presque pas tenu ta main ou parlé avec toi ce soir. Au début, tu pensais qu’elle était peut-être juste fatiguée, mais tu sais qu’elle danserait au moins une fois avec toi si c’était le cas. Donc, tu marches vers elle, voulant la sentir auprès de toi, comme toujours.

Quand tu es face à elle, elle ne peut s’empêcher de sourire. Comme toujours, elle te trouve jolie. Exceptionnellement, elle ne te l’a pas dit ce soir. Elle avait peur que ça soit trop évident qu’elle veuille juste t’embrasser à ce moment-là.

- Danse avec moi, Dove ! Tu ne l’as pas encore fait, t’exclames-tu.

- Je suis fatiguée, Y/N. La prochaine fois, promis, te répond-elle avec un sourire.

- Allez ! Je t’ai déjà vu plus fatiguée que ça et tu t’amusais quand même.

- Je préfère rester ici.

- Ok. Mais la prochaine fois qu’on sort, tu as intérêt à être reposée parce que tu vas danser plus que d’habitude ! l’informes-tu, ne voulant pas passer une autre soirée sans elle.

- C’est réglé.

Tu lui souris avant de retourner vers tes amis et danser à nouveau. Dove garde ses yeux sur toi pendant que tu t’amuses. Elle ne peut s’empêcher d’être un peu jalouse quand elle te voit proche de quelqu’un d’autre, mais si tu n’as pas l’air intéressée par la personne. Elle sait qu’elle te blesse en ne te suivant pas sur la piste, mais tu es trop magnifique et elle n’est pas sûre qu’elle sera capable de résister l’envie de confesser ses sentiments le moment où tu poserais tes mains sur ses hanches.

Quand toi et tes amis, vous décidez de quitter la boite à environ quatre heures du matin. Steven et Peter, qui sont restés sobre toute la nuit, sont prêts à vous ramener chez vous. Steven est celui qui te ramène alors que Dove doit aller avec Peter. Donc, vous vous dites au revoir avant de rentrer dans la voiture. Tu prends tes amis dans tes bras et quand tu vas vers Dove, tu la serres également, t’attendant à ce qu’elle embrasse ta joue, comme elle le fait d’habitude mais elle ne le fait pas. Elle le voulait, mais elle s’est arrêtée. Elle te serre un peu plus fort et sourit avant de suivre Peter à sa voiture. Tu ne peux cacher ta déception quand tu comprends que Dove a complètement changé de comportement avec toi ces dernières semaines. Tu avais des doutes, mais ce soit ils ont été confirmés.

Pendant le trajet, tu essayes de trouver le moment où tout a changé. Tu penses que tu as peut-être fait quelque chose de mal, mais tu ignores quoi. Alors, tu penses à sa vie en général. Tu imagines que son nouvel album lui prend tout son temps donc elle est fatiguée. Peut-être qu’elle n’a rien contre toi, tu tentes de te rassurer.

Le jour suivant, tu passes ta journée à te remettre de ta gueule de bois et à penser à Dove. Tu tentes de comprendre pourquoi le fait qu’elle ne soit plus aussi tactile avec toi te dérange tellement. Bien sûr, elle est ta meilleure amie et tu n’es pas tactile avec beaucoup de monde, mais le fait qu’elle ne le soit plus avec toi te chagrine plus que tu ne veuilles l’admettre. Tu tiens évidement à elle, mais il y a plus. Ta tête est sur le point d’exploser à force de chercher à comprendre la situation.

Pour Dove, ne plus être proche de toi brise son cœur. Elle veut juste avoir tes mains dans les siennes chaque seconde de la journée, embrasser tes joues quand elle le souhaite et enfin, elle veut embrasser tes belles lèvres. Mais elle ne peut pas. Elle commence à penser que changer de comportement aussi soudainement n’était pas la meilleure idée. Elle a vu ta peine dans tes yeux le soir d’avant quand elle n’avait pas posé ses lèvres sur ta joue. Mais c’est la meilleure chose à faire… n'est-ce pas ? Ses pensées deviennent trop pour elle, elle ne sait plus quoi faire donc elle prend son téléphone, prête à te parler, peu importe ta réaction. Elle commence à écrire un message simple :

Brouillon de Dove à toi, 1h55 :

« Hey, t’es réveillée ? J’aimerais te parler. C’est important. »

Avant qu’elle ne l’envoie, elle le relit, encore et encore jusqu’à ce qu’elle panique. A la dernière seconde, elle le supprime, sachant que c’est probablement une autre mauvaise idée. Elle pose son téléphone et prend une feuille et un stylo. Elle commence à écrire ses sentiments pour toi. Peut-être que ça l’aidera à comprendre ce qu’il faut faire ? Elle l’espère. Quelques minutes plus tard, son téléphone sonne deux fois, signalant des nouveaux messages. Elle le prend et voit que ces notifications sont de toi. Elle les ouvre sans réfléchir.

Messages de toi à Dove, 2h03 :

« Hey, t’es réveillée ? »

« Je sais que c’est deux heures du mat mais tu veux venir manger des donuts avec moi et boire un chocolat chaud comme on le faisait ? On a pas fait ça depuis un moment. »

Elle n’attend pas une seconde avant de répondre.

Message de Dove à toi, 2h04 :

« Bien sûr, avec plaisir :) »

Message de toi à Dove, 2h04 :

« Parfait, je te récupère dans dix minutes. A tout de suite ;) »

Tu mets le premier sweat qui te tombe sous la main, prends tes clés et porte-monnaie avant de quitter ton appartement. Tu conduis jusqu’à chez elle. Quand tu arrives, tu lui envoies un message pour lui dire de descendre. Deux minutes plus tard, elle est dans ta voiture, un grand sourire au visage. Vous vous rendez à Jeff’s Donuts. Une fois que vous êtes arrivées, vous prenez votre commande habituelle. Tu ne demandes pas à Dove ce qu’elle veut, sachant que sa commande est toujours la même quand vous manger des donuts la nuit. C’est une habitude que vous avez prise il y a deux ans. Tu ignores comment c’est devenu une tradition pour vous deux, ça l’est juste devenue. A chaque fois que l’une de vous deux est éveillée ou a eu une mauvaise journée, vous allez à Jeff’s Donuts. Mais vous n’aviez pas fait ça depuis deux mois, car tu étais occupée puis, Dove est devenue distante avec toi.

Quand vous avez vos donuts et vos chocolats chauds, vous vous garez proche du café et commencez à manger en silence. Tu essayes de regarder ses expressions faciales, tentant de trouver le moment parfait pour lui poser des questions. Quand elle finit son premier donut et boit un peu son chocolat, tu décides que c’est le bon moment. Tu arrêtes de manger et te tournes vers elle.

- Dove, je peux te demander quelque chose ?

- Bien sûr, qu’est-ce qu’il y a Y/N/N ? dit-elle, posant sa boisson.

- Est-ce que tu as été occupée ces dernières semaines ? On ne se parle presque plus, sort plus. Donc je pensais que, peut-être, comme tu travailles sur ton album, ça te prenait tout ton temps. D’ailleurs, ce n’est pas grave, je veux ce qu’il y a de mieux pour ta carrière, mais tu as été si distante. Ou… ou peut-être c’est parce que j’ai fait quelque chose ? Si c’est le cas, dis-moi. J’espère que je ne t’ai pas blessée, car c'est la dernière chose que je veux, t’exclames-tu, effrayée par sa réponse.

- Pourquoi tu penses que tu as fait quelque chose de mal ? C’est vrai que j’ai été plus fatiguée récemment, mais on s’est vues hier et on a même parlé, contredit-elle, tentant de paraitre normale.

- Tu n’agis plus de la même façon. Ça fait longtemps qu’on ne s’est pas parlé, juste nous deux. Aussi, tu ne m’as pas embrassée pour me dire au revoir, comme tu le fais, ou tenu la main quand on marchait ou juste dansé avec moi. C’est peut-être stupide, mais je suis habituée à ce que tu sois tactile et donc le fait que tu ne l’es plus est juste bizarre. ‘Fin, j’aimais la façon dont tu agissais avec moi avant. Je… je veux juste comprendre.

- Y/N, crois-moi quand je te dis que tu n’as rien fait de mal. Toute cette situation est à cause de moi et moi seulement, déclare-t-elle, te regardant et se sentant coupable pour t’avoir autant blessée.

- Mais pourquoi ? Tu ne veux plus être amies ?

- Au contraire ! Je veux être ton amie. Tu es tellement importante pour moi. Tu n’as pas idée. C’est juste que…, commence-t-elle et elle s’arrête.

Tu lui as donné la parfaite opportunité pour confesser ses sentiments, mais ses peurs sont de plus en plus fortes dans sa tête. Mais elle ne peut pas continuer à agir de cette façon. Ça lui brise le cœur et le tien également.

- C’est juste que je veux être sûre que je puisse encore être ton amie. C’est pour ça que j’agis comme ça.

- Je ne suis pas, dis-tu, fronçant tes sourcils.

- J’ai peur que si je continue à être tactile avec toi, je serai pas capable d’être silencieuse sur mon vrai désir. Je t’aime vraiment beaucoup, Y/N et mes sentiments ne font que grandir et je ne veux pas ruiner notre amitié. Si c’est la seule chose que je puisse avoir avec toi alors ça me va. C’est parfait. Je veux juste être proche de moi. Mais je ne vais pas mentir, si on pouvait être plus, j’adorerais.

- Tu veux… plus ? demandes-tu, surprise. Depuis combien temps tu sais que tu as des sentiments pour moi ?

- J’ai compris il y a deux mois.

En d’autres termes, quand elle a commencé à agir bizarrement, penses-tu. Et c’est le moment où tout s’éclairci. Ce que tu ressens pour Dove, c’est plus que ce que tu pensais.

Tu poses tes yeux sur elle, remarquant à quel point elle est anxieuse. Tu prends sa main pour la rassurer, sachant qu’elle a peur que tu la rejettes.

- Dove, j’ai toujours tenu à toi. Je veux dire, j’aime t’avoir proche de moi. Je pensais juste qu’on était meilleures amies et que c’était pour ça que notre relation était si spéciale pour moi, mais clairement, j’ai des sentiments pour toi aussi. Je suis désolée de ne pas avoir réalisé avant. Mais Dove, je t’aime beaucoup aussi.

- C’est vrai ?

- Bien sûr, tu es spéciale pour moi.

- Est-ce que ça veut dire que je peux enfin t’embrasser sur les lèvres ? demande-t-elle avec hésitation.

- Fais le.

Elle avait juste besoin d’entendre ces deux mots pour trouver le courage de poser ses lèvres sur les tiennes. Si elle avait su que c’était si simple de t’avoir comme sa bien-aimée, elle l’aurait fait bien avant. Ses mains autour de ton cou, elle te rapproche le plus possible. Tes lèvres sont douces sur les siennes. Elle les aime plus qu’elle le pensait. Pour toi, l’embrasser te fait comprendre à quel point tes sentiments sont forts. Avec sa confession, tu étais sûre d’en avoir, mais tu ne savais pas leur étendue.  Quand vous brisez le cœur, vous vous regardez, les yeux remplis d’amour.

Masterlist

{Ceci est mon blog secondaire donc je répondrai aux commentaires sous le pseudo @marie-sworld}

[buckleyx]

WAR LETTERS M.C

(x)

Author’s note: unedited woops

Warnings: bit of angst but a fluffy ending, mentions of war, anxiety and ptsd

Requested: Yepp by this angel: Could you do a matthew crawley fluff where he comes home from war (assuming no mary or lavinia) and confesses his love for the Crawley!reader.

masterlist

You and Matthew always had a special bond. Since the first day he walked into Downton it clicked and everybody knew it. You both were inseparable, doing almost everything together.

He was your best friend and you hated yourself for wanting more. But the fear of rejection and losing the friendship you both already had was too much of a risk so you did what you did best, you kept quiet and bottled up your true feelings.

And now you missed him, god you missed him and it was painfully obvious for everyone around you too.

"Have you heard anything from Matthew yet?" Your father asked carefully. You could tell by the nervous tremble in his tone that he was trying to hide his own concern.

"Not yet." You sighed, taking a sip of your warm tea. Your eyes shifted to the floor, not wanting to deal with the pity words and looks from your family.

The war was long, longer then anyone had ever imagined. When Matthew first left, he told you he'd be back in no time, bragging and joking about the fact you couldn't handle two seconds without him.

But the truth was you couldn't, two weeks was already long enough when he left once to London for business and now you had to deal with him being gone for six months?

Six months, thats what stood in the letter, just six months. But soon six months turned into a year and a year turned into two.

And now after three years, you had to admit that your hopes of holding Matthew in your arms again were rather low. The chance of seeing him again grew more little everytime he woke up in that hell fire.

But he couldn't leave you here all alone and by yourself, his heart belonged to downton and especially to you, so you both promised to write.

And you did, three years long, every week, talking about your day and how you were helping Sybil with nursing, joking about how Carson was so against the idea of turning downton into a hospital but most importantly you wrote about how much you missed each other.

Until now.

Two months had past since you received his last letter. You opened it so quickly, wanting to hear all about whatever he got to say.

Matthew never told you how the war really was, how over time the battlefield had grow more and more red and how he woke up with the most horrifying nightmares anyone could ever imagine.

No, he wanted to keep you out of it. You were his safe place, the one person he wouldn't have to talk to about the war and the one person he just could be himself with again, laughing over the stupid things that made life so exciting.

You loved him, you truly did and the tought of losing him without telling it to his face was terrifying.

"Y/n?" Edith asked softly, snapping you out of your thoughts. Your eyes shot up, seeing her face fall at your broken expression. "Dinner's ready." She announced, giving your shoulder a light but reassuring squeeze.

You nodded slightly, putting the cup of now cold tea on the piece of furniture in front of you. You gave Edith a look, meaning she could go on without you and that you would be following soon after her.

When everyone left the room and the door fell shut, you couldn't help but let out a heavy breath. The tears that were building up, finally let out. Your breath got stuck in your throat, trying to hold back a sob as the door opened again.

Thank god, you were faced the other way.

The puffiness of your eyes would immediately give away you had been crying and you were absolutely not in the mood to talk to someone.

"I have a slight headache", you lied as you fixed your posture, "you can start diner without me." You looked out the window, not really interested in what was happening outside, just wishing the person behind you could leave so you could sneak back upstairs.

"Such a lovely presence, we can't miss that." A familiar voice spoke, making your eyes grew wide. "Certainly not on my first day back."

The tears of sadness were immediately replaced with one of pure happiness. Turning around you were met with Matthew's twinkling eyes, a smile plastered on his lips. He still wore his uniform with his hat formally propped under his arm.

He came back.

The pure excitement pumping through your veins made you run up to him, wrapping your arms around his neck as he nuzzled his face in your shoulder. "I missed you." He cried softly, feeling a tear roll down his cheek. "I missed you so so much."

"I missed you more Matthew, believe me, you have no idea how much I missed you."

You let go of his embrace, arms still wrapped tightly behind his head as he holded you close.

You noticed the slight scars on his face and the way his hair had grown a little while he was away. You kissed his cheek, wanting to be as close to him as possible without overstepping the "friendship boundaries."

His eyes lighted up, missing the way he was so soft whenever he was with you, finally being able to show you all his emotions without being judged for it. He could finally show how terrified he was, terrified of losing you, and everything he loves.

"Marry me." He breathed out. "God, please, marry me Y/n. I can't go another day without you."

"Yes!" You laughed, tears rolling down your cheeks. "Yes! More then anything, yes."

My requests are open! :)

[treasureswordsgirl55]

My Everything

Character: Marc Spector

Pairing: Marc Spector x Fem!Reader

Inspired by: Lipstick - Dan & Shay

Warnings: Fluff. Mentions of bad days. Thoughts. Marc's POV. Mentions of Steven. Mentions of Layla. Post!Moon Knight. Insecurities.

Author's Note: Hello Everybody again!!!

I'm sorry about being out of Tumblr all this time, but my exams don't let me some rest. Just today I'm free and for a few days.

And I was having a writer block. I have a lot of ideas but the inspiration wasn't there. I hope you understand me.

So, sorry again. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

But, I'm here with another fic with one of my beloved Moon Boys. So I hope so so much that this fic likes you, that enjoy your reading and thanks all the likes and reblogs, and welcome to my new followers!

XOXO Noe! 😘

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

It's just another friday

staring at herself in the bathroom mirror...

I watch her get ready in our room and I can't help but laugh. She hurries through her clothes for something to wear, but she still doesn't realize that to me, she always looks amazing in whatever she's wearing: Whether she's wearing teddy bear leggings, her work uniform, or those blue bunny pajamas she wears when she is on her period.

She is always beautiful to me.

I lean against the bathroom door frame as she walks past me blowing a kiss in the air and I carefully watch her movements as if it's something I want to learn.

And in fact, I want to learn.

I want to learn to have that delicacy that she has every time she caresses my hair when I come back from one of those nights that I want to forget, making me think only that she is in front of me and nothing else exists.

In conveying emotions like those worried eyes that I know very well suffer every time she sees us leave.

In the brightness they have when she see me enter our apartment crawling towards their side, in that horrible armchair where they wait for me awake every night, reading a book, listening to the radio with their headphones on or dozing, where I know that I have my safe place dropping to my knees in front of her with my head resting on her lap as she mumbles words I catch in breaths about a hot shower, microwaved food, and a "I'm glad you're here" that just makes me thank heaven, every second I breathe, for that moment when Steven decided to use his daily ration of courage to say that simple "Hello" to her at the bus stop on his way to work.

I want to capture a little of that softness with which she slips out of my arms as she smiles at me and indicates with a mischievous, teasing gleam the bathroom, where she is now putting on her makeup as if it were a work of art that she must not ruin in front of the mirror.

She frowns as she searches through the 10 or so lipsticks she has in her little blue bag and I get close enough to grab the red lipstick that's on our bedside table and hand it to her with a smile.

If there is something that I consider my weakness is to see her with that lipstick.

Damn, if she looks hot without any makeup, that lipstick is my downfall.

I even found myself searching the internet in the middle of the night while she slept how to buy the damn company or at least patent the color so it would only be made for her.

- Marc?

She avoids looking at me as she takes the lipstick from my hands because she knows what goes through my head when I see her wearing it.

She knows very well that the only thing my primitive instinct thinks about is not letting her out of these four walls and deep inside of me, in reality I only think about excluding her from a world that I feel can and will try to take her away from me.

- Umm? - I watch her turn as she swipes her lipstick in front of my face getting my attention.

- Are you okay? - I focus on her voice as I hear Steven complain that I don't answer her question and that I sure look like an idiot staring at her.

But I can't do anything else but look at her, look at her with the hope that her image will be engraved in my head and erase the vast majority of thoughts that don't let me rest at night, like the sight of my hands covered in blood every time that I come home and try to clean up so she doesn't notice it enough to freak out, or the fact that I'd like to tell her that it was a quiet night and that I only saved people without taking anyone's life, but we both know which is not so.

It is very difficult to have a quiet night with Khonshu at our backs.

- Marc? You worry me.

I shake my head without answering her questions as if it's enough for that sad and fleeting look to disappear from her eyes, but I am distracted by them, by those rosy cheeks that make me smile every time I remember how she blushes when I whisper things to her inappropriate to the ear when passing by her.

- I'm good, baby.

- Are you serious? - She turns as she leans the same way I do on the other side of the door and our lips are inches apart. I close my eyes losing myself in that aroma of strawberries that her lipstick gives off and the notes of that Arabic perfume that she loves so much. Those little details stick in my head every time I'm away from her. When I open them again, she looks at me curiously, with a hint of mistrust at my words and a sigh trapped between her lips.

I close the distance between us and give him a short kiss before my thoughts become responsible for my actions. As always, she blushes and shakes her head, accepting that I don't want to talk about whatever is on my mind.

That's my way of saying "Not today" and she silently denies my "seductive" way of ending or avoiding a conversation that may be uncomfortable and, for sure, painful for both of us.

She gives me my space and intrudes on it when I need it most and I can't bring myself to say it out loud.

She's my light at the end of my dark road.

It was from the first day I saw her myself, standing in that bookstore, looking at the window full of copies of different colors, themes and sizes with as much admiration as if they were candy that a child is dying to devour, looking for perhaps, the next reading that would invade her thoughts or that, perhaps, would take her away from this world.

And she is not even aware that she takes me away from the torments of my world.

- Will you go like this?

Her question brings me back to the here and now, and I can't help but sigh seeing her in that beautiful red dress she bought weeks ago at Layla's encouragement and only tried on once in front of Steven, who ended up cursing several times when he should have left. to work. I never agreed with him so much on anything.

I even heard Jake's annoyed mutterings in Spanish about "Trabajo del demonio" and suggesting we stay with her.

He was so right that it didn't bother me to tell him about it.

But Steven and his dream job was something that we were forbidden to screw up. Even if Steven wanted to do it.

- You look… Wow. You look so beautiful baby.

- Thanks, Spector - She smiles at me as she walks over to the mirror and takes the little moon charm I gave her for our first anniversary and holds it out for me to put on. As I did so I touch her neck and I hear her release a sigh that does nothing but affect my little self-control - You know I love you but you didn't make me dress like that for you to go with something so simple.

- If you want, you can go only with one of my t-shirts and you will be amazing. It doesn't bother me, even that would tell whoever looks that you're only mine.

- You and your possessiveness - she turns and takes my hand while she pulls me towards the closet and I let myself go as if I wanted to fulfill each of the desires that go through her head - That one I love so much.

- Don't give me ideas.

We both laugh and as soon as she turns around, I summon the Mr. Knight suit while asking Steven not to make a big deal out of it and lend it to me just for tonight.

I know she has a soft spot for that suit, and honestly, I grew to appreciate it over time.

- Is that good for you, baby?

- I won't tell you what to wear because practically what you wear looks good on you, but you should try wearing a white shirt… - Silence. A deep silence of those you feel when someone is speechless, amazed or distracted. I lean against one of the bedposts while the woman in my thoughts is looking at me like she's some kind of candy that she wants to devour. For a moment her eyes sparkle and she bites her lip in an unconscious act that wreaks havoc on my insides. She likes what she sees, but deep down I know she likes the idea of ​​me wearing it and not Steven - Oh...

That's the answer I expected.

It is always a very good sign leave her speechless. Therefore, the velvet box that I carry in my pocket will also leave her speechless.

- Marc….

Her breathing is just as agitated as mine, but I know that if I approach responding at my name made a plea coming out of her lips, there will be no dinner, no plans, or anything that this outing implies.

God, I love her so much that I forget the most primitive thought about myself.

- We have…?

- Yes baby. We have to go to that dinner - She shakes her head as she walks over and grabs both lapels of my vest until she pushes me against the nearest wall like she has all the strength in the universe. I give her a mischievous smile as I wrap my arms around her and pull her close enough so that there isn't the slightest distance between our bodies, which are connecting in the right parts. Fucking God. I hate to do the "Good Boy thing's" - Listen to me, today I want to show you off. I want every man on this fucking planet to know that you're with me. That you are mine, that I own your laughter as well as your moans. Let them know that only I am for you and that nothing, and no one, will take me away from you. You've heard?

- It's okay. But it surprises me since you usually don't want to go out once you get deep into these topics, you know what I mean.

I let out a laugh as I turn around listening to her screams as I corner her in the place where she was before and she sees me with the only expression I hope to imitate until the day I die: Love.

- Marc?

- huh?

- I love you.

- And I love you, baby - He puts his arms around my neck and hugs me as if we hadn't seen each other in a long time. And for a moment, I hold back the urge to cry.

"Thank you Steven for talking to her that day"

"I knew I had to do it, it was the right one for her and I couldn't let her go. Go and make sure she accepts our proposal, it's the most important thing now"

- Do you want to share with me what makes you smile?

I turn my attention back to her smiling and simply nod in her direction.

- You. And Steven too.

We both laugh as I pull away enough to pick up her small bag and extend my hand to her, which she takes without hesitation, making me feel like gravity doesn't affect me and I'm tied only to her.

- We go?

- Of course. Will you at least tell me where we're going?

- No, it's a surprise.

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Saving The Other Masterlist

A Literal Pain In The Ass - philsdrill

Summary: Late into the night, Dan’s boyfriend Steven takes an abusive turn. It’s up to Phil to rescue him and give him the aftercare and consolation he needs.

A New Beginning - ultxmasunicornphanfics

Summary: Phil saves neko!Dan from an abusive life. A little angsty at first, but really fluffy.

Dogs - dans-awkward-phanfics

Summary: Phil’s dog has the habit of getting him into bad situations and Dan is Phil’s next door neighbour that seems to hate him and his dog. Oddly enough, their dogs like each other. Really like each other.

Folktales From the Sea (ao3) - glowingatmosphere

Summary: An unusual stranger saves Phil from drowning.

Hearts on Fire (ao3) - xoPrincessKayxo

Summary: "I trapped myself in the closet and the you're the cute firefighter that got sent to rescue me" AU

Home Safe (ao3) - letspartyrightnow

Summary: Phil saves Dan from an attacker at some club. Surprisingly, the guy from his dreams decides to go home with him.

I Like Trains - ultxmasunicornphanfics

Summary: Basically, shy pastel!Dan meets punk!Phil on a train and Phil saves him from an attacker later. Super fluff, maybe a lil angst.

Life Saver - dxnhowell

Summary: Dan and Phil used to be in a relationship, but they had to call it quits because Phil was committed to his job of being a fire fighter. Luckily they were still best friends, which Phil was grateful for. One day, there’s a fire in town and Phil finds out that it’s none other than Dan Howell’s house.

Magical - trysomecats

Summary: Dan has an existential crisis during Playlist Live, and Phil saves the day.

Saved from Slavery - joshfrankgerard

Summary: When Dan’s roommate moves out Dan finds it hard to live alone. Little does he know that his decision to buy a slave, Phil Lester, will change his life forever. But can Dan truly rescue Phil when Phil has been abused and sold as a sex slave for so long? And what happens when Dan finds himself falling in love?

The Magic Protector (wattpad) - So_Totally_Phan

Summary: AU where Dan the prince falls in love with Phil his protector. They are forbidden to be together but a war shows Dan’s parents how much Phil means to him.

Trading Harsh Bars for a Warm Embrace - Phandabbydosey

Summary: Phil works for a charity that rescues nekos from the widespread cruelty still rampant despite the laws forbidding it. After saving a certain, brown haired neko from horrible conditions, Phil’s reminded of just why he does his job.

With You I'm Safe (ao3) - Phandiction

Summary: Dan seems to have enemies everywhere. Abuse comes from his father at home as well as a bully at school. A boy he's never met, Phil, saves him from the bully one day and it sparks a friendship in which both rely heavily on. Dan often escapes his father's rampages by slipping into Phil's bedroom window. Deeper feelings toward each other are realized and expressed but with it comes harsher treatment from Dan's father.

Worship (ao3) - phanhowlterstuff

Summary: Phil getting kidnapped and some hot police officer saves him

[that-one-gay-aew-enthusiast]

Dan stevens masterlist

☆ - Smut

◇ - Other warnings

♡ - Part of a series

One bed ☆

[droppingpetals]

will i ever stop reposting this ad bc i want more plots and ships ? the answer is no .

i’m looking for more plots, ships and rp partners bc i’d die for some new ships to obsess over !!  SO here’s my rp information :  

i only really write on discord now bc tumblr is a lot of work

i play both males and females and i’d appreciate it if you did too !

i do all pairings ( m/f, m/m and f/f )  with a slight preference for gay thangs !

i love playing characters of all ages — everything from 18 all the way up to even 50 is good to me, and i will give you my love if you do older muses with me ??

i absolutely LOVE pinterest boards n making playlists and edits and whatnot for ships

i have a bunch of character ideas i’d love to do and fcs i’d love to use and some of them will be listed underneath the read more, along with a few base plots to give an idea of what kind of plots i generally like to do ! but pls remember, the things i do are not limited to things that i’ve listed below !

if you’d be interested in writing with me, please go ahead & like this post and i shall come to you via tumblr ims <3

fcs i want to play but are not limited to :

kaya scodelario  /  keira knightley  /  ana de armas  /  axel auriant  /  cillian murphy  /  josh stewart  /  sebastian stan  /  andrew lincoln  /  elle fanning  /  katie mcgrath  /  amanda seyfried  /  lily collins  /  kristine froseth  /  lucy boynton  /  jaime lorente  /  arón piper  /  samara weaving  /  henrik holm  /  margaret qualley  /  rocco fasano  /  victoria pedretti  /  haley bennett  /  rachael taylor  /  álvaro rico  /  oliver jackson-cohen /  rosamund pike  /  rob james-collier  /  federico cesari  /  emily blunt  /  richard armitage   /  willa fitzgerald  /  michiel huisman  /  robert pattinson  /  emily vancamp  /  dan stevens  /  chase stokes  /  yvonne strahovski  /  matthew mcconaughey  /  james denton   /  !! björn mosten !!  /  all skam fcs  / adam demos  / bridgerton cast!!!

fcs i’d love to play against but are not limited to :

henry cavill  /  james mcavoy  /  john krasinski  /  mike vogel  /  hugh dancy  /  richard madden  /  chris evans  /  gwilym lee  /  armie hammer  /  max irons  /  rocco fasano  /  oliver jackson-cohen  /  maxence danet-fauvel  /  jai courtney  /  evan roderick  /  chase stokes  /  literally any girl ever ok  /  jessica chastain  / all skam fcs  /  the entire elite cast  /  bridgerton cast!!!!

this list is much shorter bc i couldn’t come up with any more and these are just the ones that Really came to me off the top of my head

some plot ideas :

period plots!!! historical plots!! anything based on period dramas!!!

mumus!!! give me plots with multiple muses!!

something kinda like outer banks ??

anything to do with the worlds of got / lotr / potc and such

domestic plots!!!! give me hs sweethearts who made it!!!! (but especially if it gay??) also divorced couple still having to be around each other bc kids and cue pining?? or any kind of other domestic plots!!! with fluff and angst!!!

college plots!!!! frat plots?? no homo plots??

fantasy plots?? i wanna dive into those, think got and lotr etc

crime plots!!! especially if you let me play a mob boss matthew mcconaughey!!!

apocalyptic plots!!!! zombies!!! zombie apocalypse plots!!!

this vibe?? “unlovable” characters experiencing love for the first time??

lowkey also toxic relationships .... give me a pair that doesnt work together but they’re so in love that they cant stay away :/

this plot!!! please!!! high school sweethearts!!!

sports plots?? ice hockey, football / soccer, cheerleading, figure skating??? boxing???

some ships i’ve also been dying to do :

brandon flynn x richard madden

timothée chalamet x armie hammer

andrew lincoln x hugh dancy

federico cesari x rocco fasano

axel auriant x maxence danet-fauvel

ana de armas x jai courtney / edgar ramirez

yvonne strahovski x jai courtney / henry cavill

emily blunt x john krasinski

lucy boynton x gwilym lee

rachael taylor x krysten ritter

regé-jean page x phoebe dynevor

[bringbackthelight]

Belle/Adam Post-Curse Fluff

"Catch Me if You Can" • belle and adam running around the castle gardens and playing hide and seek in the labyrinth‬ ‪• belle's a good hider but adam finally catches her from behind and puts his hand over her eyes‬ ‪• "guess who" *belle makes ridiculous sarcastic guesses*‬ ‪• adam lets go of his hands and belle turns over to hug him‬ ‪• they release from the hug and belle runs away (again) "catch me if you can!!"‬ ‪• adam is a faster runner so he quickly catches up with her pace and tackles her to the ground‬ ‪• they look at each other and have a lil makeout session "Surprise" • belle has been talking about building a school for as long as adam can remember • "maybe one day, darling" • but what belle doesnt know is adam's been secretly planning and building this dream school of hers ever since she first brought it up • belle wakes up one day to find her husband's side of the bed empty • adam only left a note that said to meet him outside of the castle • belle is suspicious, but just laughs to herself and gets dressed to go be with him • adam is nervous and afraid she might not like his surprise, thinking of all the worst possible scenarios • he gives this whole speech about his upcoming surprise and asks her to close her eyes as he guides her way to the secret hes been keeping for a long time • belle opened her eyes and was dumbfounded. she was speechless and adam mistook this as a sign of disappointment, so he started rambling on and on about how he tried his best to make her happy • belle cuts him off by cupping her hands to his face and kisses him • "so does that mean you like it?" • "like it? i LOVE it? thank you so much adam" *hugs him so tight he could hear his bones crack* • they kiss again and spent the rest of the morning making plans for the school "I'm Pregnant" • belle gets suspicious when she realizes she had been late for almost 3 weeks now • she also wakes up one day with a sudden urge to throw up all over the floor • belle notices a teeny tiny bump on her stomach while getting dressed one day and comes to the conclusion that she is pregnant • she's terrified. she doesnt know how she'll tell adam, and she certainly doesnt want to know how he'll react • she knows its foolish of her to think that adam might be the slightest bit disappointed because of the way she sees him play with chip, but she still holds on to her doubts and worries • when she finally gets around to telling adam, he gets so excited that he runs off to the library and reads every single book about pregnancy and children • his excitement suddenly turns to fear as he remembers his cruel father and how he used to treat him • he's nervous about fatherhood and scared about the mere thought of holding a fragile, tiny baby • he starts having a breakdown, but belle makes sure to keep giving him assurance that he would, in fact, be a wonderful father to their unborn baby and that he is not who his father is

[barnesandco]

Ayesha’s 1k+ Writing Challenge!

Writing Challenge Submission Masterlist

Hey, everyone, I'm so happy to be back online - I think I was only gone for a week so that announcement was very extra of me - and to be introducing my first writing challenge! I'm so honored and flattered that so many people enjoy my work, and I'm incredibly grateful for your support since I joined this community. Tumblr is my greatest escape, and you've made it a very welcome and comforting one. 

A sense of community and friendship is particularly important in these trying times, and I extend my heartfelt prayers to everyone struggling right now. I'm here to listen if there's anything you need to say, and I'm sorry I can't do much more than be a metaphorical shoulder to cry on, and to offer this distraction as a brief reprieve from whatever you might be going through.

In order to present a gift of relief, and to share and create more stories of heroism - not that any of it can ever compare to the courage displayed by our health professionals and essential workers these days - and to honor and promote our collective of Marvel fanfic writers, I've decided to host a writing challenge. You don't have to follow me to participate - although that would be appreciated - you just need to follow the rules I've outlined under the cut. If you need clarification on anything, don't hesitate to ask! I hope you'll join, and I look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with. 

Rules:

Your fic can be about any character(s) from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You can also include original characters that you create. If you want to write a romantic fic, I think it goes without saying that it shouldn't be underage (or having an excessive age gap), non/dub-con, incest, abuse, power imbalance/manipulation (e.g. employer x employee or teacher x student), etc. 

The sky’s the limit when it comes to the type or genre of the story, so let your imagination fly! You can write reader-inserts, pairings of pre-existing characters, OCs, or even just solo fics about the character you've chosen. I'm open to canon fics, AUs, fluff, smut, angst, romance, platonic fics, and whatever else you guys can dream up. (If you're writing smut, please let me know, as there are some additional guidelines I'm setting for that.) 

Word count is minimum 250 words, and anything above 500 words must have a keep reading tab. Multi-chapter fics will obviously be accepted - and with a lot of enthusiasm! - but please make a masterlist for any such series.

Kindly include any and all warnings that apply to your story.

The deadline for submission is the 31st of December, 2020.

Please tag me @barnesandco​ in the completed fic - and in every chapter of a series if you've chosen to write one - and also tag your work with #ayesha1kwritingchallenge. If I don't acknowledge that I’ve seen your work within a week of you posting it, please DM me.

One entry is allowed per participant, and you can send in an ask or a DM to participate, in which you should mention the one prompt you would like to use and for which character(s) from the list below.

Prompts

Dialogue Prompts:

"You fell asleep on me." --Taken by @lancsnerd

"Screw you." --Taken by @need-a-fugue

"I've got this." --Taken by @filia-sapientiae​

"I'd never forgive myself for it." --Taken by @oreostars​

"I trust you." --Taken by @readerandcinephileingeneral

"Oh, I'm so offended." --Taken by @iamthe-shadow-on-the-wall​

"Who, me? I would never." --Taken by @kaunis-sielu

"I don’t want to hate her/him/them." --Taken by @suz-123

"I can't explain it, but loving her is just… easy." --Taken by @littledarlinwrites

"You're my everything." --Taken by @chrisevansdaddycap​

"Leave me alone." --Taken by @constantaking​

"That's disgusting." --Taken by @ruffalomakesmyday​

"What on God's green earth was that for?" --Taken by @sweetwritesx​

"Is that a threat?" --Taken by @glxy-otter​

"Promise. Please just- promise me." --Taken by @blue-like-barnes​

"Oh, I could kiss you right now, you brilliant, brilliant woman/man/person!" --Taken by @megthemewlingquim

"You know that'll never work on me." --Taken by @allaboardthereadingrailroad​

"I'd let you if you asked." --Taken by @wordywarriorwrites

"___, I swear to God, if you do that again, I'll feed you to Tony's stupid robot." --Taken by @nekoannie-chan

"You can't do this." + "Then I'll die trying."

"You're stronger than anyone I've ever known." --Taken by @companionjones

"How did I get here?" --Taken by @thestorydetective​

"Why are you smiling this wide this early in the morning?" --Taken by @tinymalscoffee​

"What's the worst that could happen?" --Taken by @phant0m-queen​

"I can't believe they haven't caught us yet." --Taken by @indyluckycharlie​

Song Prompts:

Watermelon Sugar - Harry Styles --Taken by @softpeachbarnes​

Finally//Beautiful Stranger - Halsey --Taken by @shield-agent78​

To Build a Home - The Cinematic Orchestra --Taken by @whistlingwillows​

Floating - Alina Baraz ft. Khalid --Taken by @chuuulip​

Summertime - Ella Fitzgerald

Wind Beneath My Wings - Bette Midler

To Die For - Sam Smith --Taken by @hailhydra920​

I Scare Myself - Beth Crowley

Speechless - Dan + Shay --Taken by @captain-kelli​

Growing Pains - Alessia Cara

Levitating - Dua Lipa --Taken by @samingtonwilson​​

Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers --Taken by @mermaidxatxheart​

Human - Christina Perri

10 000 Hours - Ella Mai

Despacito - Luis Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee

Let's Do It - Ella Fitzgerald --Taken by @smediumsmeatbae​

Honey - Raveena --Taken by @opalsandlace

Talk Too Much - COIN --Taken by @subtlebucky​

Put a Little Love on Me - Niall Horan --Taken by @buckysbest​

Thinking Out Loud - Ed Sheeran

Meet Me on the Battlefield - SVRCINA

Centuries - Fall Out Boy

Titanium - David Guetta ft. Sia

Stay - Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko --Taken by @jalapenobarnes-main​

Eyes Open - Taylor Swift --Taken by @helahades​

One-Line Prompts:

Recovery is tender, straining yellow-blue over his/her/their shoulders and delicate in the shadow of his/her/their smile. --Taken by @iced-capsicle

Laughter tastes like cotton candy. --Taken by @rogersumbra

" All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages." -As You Like It, William Shakespeare --Taken by @shakespeareanqueer​

How do you miss something you never had? --Taken by @shellbilee​

They're stuck, and it's all ___'s fault. --Taken by @buckybarney​

Gabe Jones' French skills come to good use. --Taken by @raindroptv​

Self-discovery is a path nobody likes taking, but sometimes, there is no other choice.

"Demons run when a good man goes to war." - Doctor Who, Steven Moffat --Taken by @harley-sunday​

Star-crossed lovers find a galaxy to take refuge in from the rest of the universe. --Taken by @sgtjbuccky​

The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that everything goes from order to disorder. --Taken by @alyxkbrl​​

One-Word Prompts:

Sacrilege

Bibliophile --Taken by @nacho-bucky​

Soldier --Taken by @writing-mermaid​

Chrysanthemum(s)

Schadenfreude

Deja Vu

Picasso

Self-Partnered

Petrichor --Taken by @redhairedfeistynerd​​

Serendipity --Taken by @xoxoeeveewritez​​

Momentum

Equilibrium

Entropy

Resplendent

Anemone(s)

Effervescence

Sweetheart

Absolute

Echo --Taken by @wintersoeldiers​​

Nefarious

Picture prompts:

1. Taken by @infj-slytherclaw​

2. Taken by @starrysebastians​

3. 

4. 

5. Taken by @corneliabarnes​

6. 

7. Taken by @bucky-smiles​

8. Taken by @monarchofallisurvey​

9. 

Special thanks to the following authors, who not only inspired and initiated my desire to write, but then encouraged me, supported my work, and were - and still are - tremendously helpful. Others in the following list I befriended later on, and I'm so grateful that I did, because they've helped transform my experience on this site, too. Point is, all of these people are so kind and amazing and marvellous beyond what words can describe. Thank you:

@samingtonwilson @suz-123 @nacho-bucky @evanstarff @tropicalcap @kentuckybarnes @buckyreaderrecs @mermaidxatxheart @corneliabarnes @buckyland​ @bucky-smiles​ @sebbytrash​ @jalapenobarnes​

And thank you of course to my wonderful, magical followers who comment and reblog my stories, and give me all the praise I do not deserve. Thank you for your kindness and your enthusiasm - I cherish it and do everything I can to earn it. Special mentions:

@readerandcinephileingeneral​ @notsomellowmushroom​ @sonjashuterbugjohnson​ @anjali750​ @severelytinyeagle​ @redhairedfeistynerd​ @parmisaanowl @starnight-charmer​ @alyxkbrl​

I'd like to conclude by saying that I debated whether or not to host this writing challenge now, in a time like this. I decided to do so in the end because I need it. Call me selfish, but I need a reprieve. I need to feel like this disaster that has us surrounded right now isn't all there is to the world. And if I've learnt anything from being on this platform, it's that you're very rarely alone. So I hope that this activity can provide some semblance of hope for others that feel the way I do, and if not, then at least a little escape.

So my last but not least thank you goes to everyone who participates in this challenge and thereby makes this shelter from the world's storm, a little stronger, a little safer, and a little warmer. 

I’m excited to see what everyone comes up with, and I look forward to making some new friends. Thank you all and good luck!

[p-isforpoetry]

"O Tell Me the Truth about Love" by Wystan Hugh Auden (read by Dan Stevens)

Some say that Love’s a little boy And some say it’s a bird, Some say it makes the world go round And some say that’s absurd: But when I asked the man next door Who looked as if he knew, His wife was very cross indeed And said it wouldn’t do.

Does it look like a pair of pyjamas Or the ham in a temperance hotel? O tell me the truth about love.

Does its odour remind one of llamas Or has it a comforting smell? O tell me the truth about love.

Is it prickly to touch as a hedge is Or soft as eiderdown fluff, Is it sharp or quite smooth at the edges? O tell me the truth about love.

I looked inside the summerhouse, It wasn’t ever there, I’ve tried the Thames at Maidenhead And Brighton’s bracing air; I don’t know what the blackbird sang Or what the roses said, But it wasn’t in the chicken run Or underneath the bed.

Can it pull extraordinary faces, Is it usually sick on a swing? O tell me the truth about love.

Does it spend all its time at the races Or fiddling with pieces of string, O tell me the truth about love.

Has it views of its own about money, Does it think Patriotism enough, Are its stories vulgar but funny? O tell me the truth about love.

Your feelings when you meet it, I am told you can’t forget I’ve sought it since I was a child But haven’t found it yet; I’m getting on for thirty five, And still I do not know What kind of creature it can be That bothers people so.

When it comes, will it come without warning Just as I’m picking my nose? O tell me the truth about love.

Will it knock on my door in the morning Or tread in the bus on my toes? O tell me the truth about love.

Will it come like a change in the weather, Will its greeting be courteous or bluff, Will it alter my life altogether? O tell me the truth about love.

Source: The Poetry Hour

[artycloudpop]

1hey are u bored at home, wanna chill and netflix....... but just can’t find some thing nice to watch? here’s a list of movies for u watch

A Ghost Story (2017)

Director David Lowery (Pete's Dragon) conceived this dazzling, dreamy meditation on the afterlife during the off-hours on a Disney blockbuster, making the revelations within even more awe-inspiring. After a fatal accident, a musician (Casey Affleck) finds himself as a sheet-draped spirit, wandering the halls of his former home, haunting/longing for his widowed wife (Rooney Mara). With stylistic quirks, enough winks to resist pretension (a scene where Mara devours a pie in one five-minute, uncut take is both tragic and cheeky), and a soundscape culled from the space-time continuum, A Ghost Story connects the dots between romantic love, the places we call home, and time -- a ghost's worst enemy.

Airplane! (1980)

This is one of the funniest movie of all time. Devised by the jokesters behind The Naked Gun, this disaster movie spoof stuffs every second of runtime with a physical gag (The nun slapping a hysterical woman!), dimwitted wordplay ("Don't call me, Shirley"), an uncomfortable moment of odd behavior ("Joey, have you ever seen a grown man naked?"), or some other asinine bit. The rare comedy that demands repeat viewings, just to catch every micro-sized joke and memorize every line.

A24

American Honey (2016)

Writer/director Andrea Arnold lets you sit shotgun for the travels of a group of wayward youth in American Honey, a seductive drama about a "mag crew" selling subscriptions and falling in and out of love with each other on the road. Seen through the eyes of Star, played by Sasha Lane, life on the Midwest highway proves to be directionless, filled with a stream of partying and steamy hookups in the backs of cars and on the side of the road, especially when she starts to develop feelings for Shia LaBeouf’s rebellious Jake. It’s an honest look at a group of disenfranchised young people who are often cast aside, and it’s blazing with energy. You’ll buy what they're selling.

Anna Karenina (2012)

Adapted by renowned playwright Tom Stoppard, this take on Leo Tolstoy's classic Russian novel is anything but stuffy, historical drama. Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander are all overflowing with passion and desire, heating up the chilly backdrop of St. Petersburg. But it's director Joe Wright's unique staging -- full of dance, lush costuming, fourth-wall-breaking antics, and other theatrical touches -- that reinvent the story for more daring audiences.

NETFLIX

Apostle (2018)

For his follow-up to his two action epics, The Raid and The Raid 2, director Gareth Evans dials back the hand-to-hand combat but still keeps a few buckets of blood handy in this grisly supernatural horror tale. Dan Stevens stars as Thomas Richardson, an early 20th century opium addict traveling to a cloudy island controlled by a secretive cult that's fallen on hard times. The religious group is led by a bearded scold named Father Malcolm (Michael Sheen) who may or may not be leading his people astray. Beyond a few bursts of kinetic violence and some crank-filled torture sequences, Evans plays this story relatively down-the-middle, allowing the performances, the lofty themes, and the windswept vistas to do the talking. It's a cult movie that earns your devotion slowly, then all at once.

Back to the Future (1985)

Buckle into Doc's DeLorean and head to the 1950s by way of 1985 with the seminal time-travel series that made Michael J. Fox a household name. It's always a joy watching Marty McFly's race against the clock way-back-when to ensure history runs its course and he can get back to the present. Netflix also has follow-up Parts II and III, which all add up to a perfect rainy afternoon marathon.

NETFLIX

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

The Coen brothers gave some big-name-director cred to Netflix by releasing their six-part Western anthology on the streaming service, and while it's not necessarily their best work, Buster Scruggs is clearly a cut above most Netflix originals. Featuring star turns from Liam Neeson, Tom Waits, Zoe Kazan, and more, the film takes advantage of Netflix's willingness to experiment by composing a sort of death fugue that unfolds across the harsh realities of life in Manifest Destiny America. Not only does it revel in the massive, sweeping landscapes of the American West, but it's a thoughtful meditation on death that will reveal layer after layer long after you finish.

Barbershop (2002)

If you've been sleeping on the merits of the Barbershop movies, the good news is it's never too late to get caught up. Revisit the 2002 installment that started Ice Cube's smack-talking franchise so you can bask in Cedric the Entertainer's hilarious wisdom, enjoy Eve's acting debut, and admire this joyful ode to community.

NETFLIX

Barry (2016)

In 1981, Barack Obama touched down in New York City to begin work at Columbia University. As Barry imagines, just days after settling into his civics class, a white classmate confronts the Barry with an argument one will find in the future president's Twitter @-mentions: "Why does everything always got to be about slavery?" Exaltation is cinematic danger, especially when bringing the life of a then-sitting president to screen. Barry avoids hagiography by staying in the moment, weighing race issues of a modern age and quieting down for the audience to draw its own conclusions. Devon Terrell is key, steadying his character as smooth-operating, socially active, contemplative fellow stuck in an interracial divide. Barry could be any half-black, half-white kid from the '80s. But in this case, he's haunted by past, present, and future.

Being John Malkovich (1999)

You can't doubt the audacity of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Anomalisa), whose first produced screenplay hinged on attracting the title actor to a script that has office drones discovering a portal into his mind. John Cusack, Catherine Keener, and Cameron Diaz combine to create an atmosphere of desperate, egomaniacal darkness, and by the end you'll feel confused and maybe a little slimy about the times you've participated in celebrity gawking.

A24

The Blackcoat's Daughter (2017)

Two young women are left behind at school during break... and all sorts of hell breaks loose. This cool, stylish thriller goes off in some strange directions (and even offers a seemingly unrelated subplot about a mysterious hitchhiker) but it all pays off in the end, thanks in large part to the three leads -- Emma Roberts, Lucy Boynton, and Kiernan Shipka -- and director Oz Perkins' artful approach to what could have been just another occult-based gore-fest.

Bloodsport (1988)

Jean-Claude Van Damme made a career out of good-not-great fluff. Universal Soldier is serviceable spectacle, Hard Target is a living cartoon, Lionheart is his half-baked take on On the Waterfront. Bloodsport, which owes everything to the legacy of Bruce Lee, edges out his Die Hard riff Sudden Death for his best effort, thanks to muscles-on-top-of-muscles-on-top-of-muscles fighting and Stan Bush's "Fight to Survive." Magic Mike has nothing on Van Damme's chiseled backside in Bloodsport, which flexes its way through a slow-motion karate-chop gauntlet. In his final face-off, Van Damme, blinded by arena dust, rage-screams his way to victory. The amount of adrenaline bursting out of Bloodsport demands a splash zone.

Blue Ruin (2013)

Before he went punk with 2016's siege thriller Green Room, director Jeremy Saulnier delivered this low-budget, darkly comic hillbilly noir. When Dwight Evans (Macon Blair) discovers that the man who killed his parents is being released from prison, he returns home to Virginia to claims his revenge and things quickly spin out of control. Like the Coen Brothers' Blood Simple, this wise-ass morality tale will make you squirm.

WELL GO USA ENTERTAINMEN

Burning (2018)

Some mysteries simmer; this one smolders. In his adaptation of a Haruki Murakami short story, writer and director Lee Chang-dong includes many elements of the acclaimed author's slyly mischievous style -- cats, jazz, cooking, and an alienated male writer protagonist all pop up -- but he also invests the material with his own dark humor, stray references to contemporary news, and an unyielding sense of curiosity. We follow aimless aspiring novelist Lee Jong-su (Yoo Ah-in) as he reconnects with Shin Hae-mi (Jeon Jong-seo), a young woman he grew up with, but the movie never lets you get too comfortable in one scene or setting. When Steven Yeun's Ben, a handsome rich guy with a beautiful apartment and a passion for burning down greenhouses, appears, the film shifts to an even more tremulous register. Can Ben be trusted? Yeun's performance is perfectly calibrated to entice and confuse, like he's a suave, pyromaniac version of Tyler Durden. Each frame keeps you guessing.

Cam (2018)

Unlike the Unfriended films or this summer's indie hit Searching, this web thriller from director Daniel Goldhaber and screenwriter Isa Mazzei isn't locked into the visual confines of a computer screen. Though there's plenty of online screen time, allowing for subtle bits of commentary and satire, the looser style allows the filmmakers to really explore the life and work conditions of their protagonist, rising cam girl Alice (Madeline Brewer). We meet her friends, her family, and her customers. That type of immersion in the granular details makes the scarier bits -- like an unnerving confrontation in the finale between Alice and her evil doppelganger -- pop even more.

THE ORCHARD

Creep (2014)

Patrick Brice's found-footage movie is a no-budget answer to a certain brand of horror, but saying more would give away its sinister turns. Just know that the man behind the camera answered a Craigslist ad to create a "day in the life" video diary for Josef (Mark Duplass), who really loves life. Creep proves that found footage, the indie world's no-budget genre solution, still has life, as long as you have a performer like Duplass willing to go all the way.

The Death of Stalin (2017)

Armando Iannucci, the brilliant Veep creator, set his sights on Russia with this savage political satire. Based on a graphic novel, the film dramatizes the madcap, maniacal plots of the men jostling for power after their leader, Joseph Stalin, keels over. From there, backstabbing, furious insults, and general chaos unfolds. Anchored by performances from Shakespearean great Simon Russell Beale and American icon Steve Buscemi, it's a pleasure to see what the rest of the cast -- from Star Trek: Discovery's Jason Isaacs to Homeland's Rupert Friend -- do with Iannucci's eloquently brittle text.

Den of Thieves (2018)

If there's one thing you've probably heard about this often ridiculous bank robbery epic, it's that it steals shamelessly from Michael Mann's crime saga Heat. The broad plot elements are similar: There's a team of highly-efficient criminals led by a former Marine (Pablo Schreiber) and they must contend with a obsessive, possibly unhinged cop (Gerard Butler) over the movie's lengthy 140 minute runtime.  A screenwriter helming a feature for the first time, director Christian Gudegast is not in the same league as Mann as a filmmaker and Butler, sporting unflattering tattoos and a barrel-like gut, is hardly Al Pacino. But everyone is really going for it here, attempting to squeeze every ounce of Muscle Milk from the bottle.

NETFLIX

Divines (2016)

Thrillers don't come much more propulsive or elegant than Houda Benyamina's Divines, a heartwarming French drama about female friendship that spirals into a pulse-pounding crime saga. Rambunctious teenager Dounia (Oulaya Amamra) and her best friend Maimouna (Déborah Lukumuena) begin the film as low-level shoplifters and thieves, but once they fall into the orbit of a slightly older, seasoned drug dealer named Rebecca (Jisca Kalvanda), they're on a Goodfellas-like trajectory. Benyamina offsets the violent, gritty genre elements with lyrical passages where Dounia watches her ballet-dancer crush rehearse his routines from afar, and kinetic scenes of the young girls goofing off on social media. It's a cautionary tale told with joy, empathy, and an eye for beauty.

Dolemite Is My Name (2019)

Eddie Murphy has been waiting years to get this movie about comedian and blaxploitation star Rudy Ray Moore made, and you can feel his joy in finally getting to play this role every second he's on screen. The film, directed by Hustle & Flow's Craig Brewer, charts how Moore rose from record store employee, to successful underground comedian, to making his now-cult classic feature Dolemite by sheer force of passion. It's thrilling (and hilarious) to watch Murphy adopt Moore's Dolemite persona, a swaggering pimp, but it's just as satisfying to see the former SNL star capture his character at his lowest points. He's surrounded by an ensemble that matches his infectious energy.

The Edge of Seventeen (2016)

As romanticized as adolescence can be, it’s hard being young. Following the high school experience of troubled, overdramatic Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld), The Edge of Seventeen portrays the woes of adolescence with a tender, yet appropriately cheeky tone. As if junior year isn’t hellish enough, the universe essentially bursts into flames when Nadine finds out her best friend is dating her brother; their friendship begins to dissolve, and she finds the only return on young love is embarrassment and pain. That may all sound like a miserable premise for a young-adult movie, except it’s all painfully accurate, making it endearingly hilarious -- and there’s so much to love about Steinfeld’s self-aware performance.

FOCUS FEATURES

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Romance and love are nothing without the potential for loss and pain, but most of us would probably still consider cutting away all the worst memories of the latter. Given the option to eradicate memories of their busted relationship, Jim Carrey's Joel and Kate Winslet's Clementine go through with the procedure, only to find themselves unable to totally let go. Science fiction naturally lends itself to clockwork mechanisms, but director Michel Gondry and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman never lose the human touch as they toy with the kaleidoscope of their characters' hearts and minds.

The Evil Dead (1981)

Before Bruce Campbell's Ash was wielding his chainsaw-arm in Army of Darkness and on Starz's Ash Vs. Evil Dead, he was just a good looking guy hoping to spend a nice, quiet vacation in a cabin with some friends. Unfortunately, the book of the dead had other plans for him. With this low-budget horror classic, director Sam Raimi brings a surprising degree of technical ingenuity to bear on the splatter-film, sending his camera zooming around the woods with wonder and glee. While the sequels double-downed on laughs, the original Evil Dead still knows how to scare.

The Firm (1993)

The '90s were a golden era of sleek, movie-star-packed legal thrillers, and they don't get much better than director Sydney Pollack's The Firm. This John Grisham adaptation has a little bit of everything -- tax paperwork, sneering mobsters, and Garey Busey, for starters -- but there's one reason to watch this movie: the weirdness of Tom Cruise. He does a backflip in this movie. What else do you need to know?

A24

The Florida Project (2017)

Sean Baker's The Florida Project nuzzles into the swirling, sunny, strapped-for-cash populace of a mauve motel just within orbit of Walt Disney World. His eyes are Moonee, a 6-year-old who adventures through abandoned condos, along strip mall-encrusted highway, and across verdant fields of overgrown brush like Max in Where the Wild Things Are. But as gorgeous as the everything appears -- and The Florida Project looks stunning -- the world around here is falling apart, beginning with her mother, an ex-stripper turning to prostitution. The juxtaposition, and down-to-earth style, reconsiders modern America in the most electrifying way imaginable.

Frances Ha (2012)

Before winning hearts and Oscar nominations with her coming-of-age comedy Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig starred in the perfect companion film, about an aimless 27-year-old who hops from New York City to her hometown of Sacramento to Paris to Poughkeepsie and eventually back to New York in hopes of stumbling into the perfect job, the perfect relationship, and the perfect life. Directed by Noah Baumbach (The Meyerowitz Stories), and co-written by both, Frances Ha is a measured look at adult-ish life captured the kind of intoxicating black and white world we dream of living in.

NETFLIX

Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (2019)

Everyone's favorite disaster of a festival received not one, but two streaming documentaries in the same week. Netflix's version has rightly faced some criticism over its willingness to let marketing company Fuck Jerry off the hook (Jerry Media produced the doc), but that doesn't take away from the overall picture it portrays of the festival's haphazard planning and the addiction to grift from which Fyre's founder, Billy McFarland, apparently suffers. It's schadenfreude at its best.

Gerald's Game (2017)

Like his previous low-budget Netflix-released horror release, Hush, a captivity thriller about a deaf woman fighting off a masked intruder, Mike Flanagan's Stephen King adaptation of Gerald's Game wrings big scares from a small location. Sticking close to the grisly plot details of King's seemingly "unfilmable" novel, the movie chronicles the painstaking struggles of Jessie Burlingame (Carla Gugino) after she finds herself handcuffed to a bed in an isolated vacation home when her husband, the titular Gerald, dies from a heart attack while enacting his kinky sexual fantasies. She's trapped -- and that's it. The premise is clearly challenging to sustain for a whole movie, but Flanagan and Gugino turn the potentially one-note set-up into a forceful, thoughtful meditation on trauma, memory, and resilience in the face of near-certain doom.

A24

Good Time (2017)

In this greasy, cruel thriller from Uncut Gems directors the Safdie brothers, Robert Pattinson stars as Connie, a bank robber who races through Queens to find enough money to bail out his mentally disabled brother, who's locked up for their last botched job. Each suffocating second of Good Time, blistered by the neon backgrounds of Queens, New York and propelled by warped heartbeat of Oneothrix Point Never's synth score, finds Connie evading authorities by tripping into an even stickier situation.

Green Room (2015)

Green Room is a throaty, thrashing, spit-slinging punk tune belted through an invasion-movie microphone at max volume. It's nasty -- and near-perfect. As a band of 20-something rockstars recklessly defend against a neo-Nazi battalion equipped with machetes, shotguns, and snarling guard dogs, the movie blossoms into a savage coming-of-age tale, an Almost Famous for John Carpenter nuts. Anyone looking for similar mayhem should check out director Jeremy Saulnier's previous movie, the low-budget, darkly comic hillbilly noir, Blue Ruin, also streaming on Netflix.

The Guest (2014)

After writer-director Adam Wingard notched a semi-sleeper horror hit with 2011's You're Next, he'd earned a certain degree of goodwill among genre faithful and, apparently, with studio brass. How else to explain distribution for his atypical thriller The Guest through Time Warner subsidiary Picturehouse? Headlined by soon-to-be megastar Dan Stevens and kindred flick It Follows' lead scream queen Maika Monroe, The Guest introduces itself as a subtextual impostor drama, abruptly spins through a blender of '80s teen tropes, and ultimately reveals its true identity as an expertly self-conscious straight-to-video shoot 'em up, before finally circling back on itself with a well-earned wink. To say anymore about the hell that Stevens' "David" unleashes on a small New Mexico town would not only spoil the fun, but possibly get you killed.

THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

The Hateful Eight (2015)

Quentin Tarantino has something to say about race, violence, and American life, and it's going to ruffle feathers. Like Django Unchained, the writer-director reflects modern times on the Old West, but with more scalpel-sliced dialogue, profane poetry, and gore. Stewed from bits of Agatha Christie, David Mamet, and Sam Peckinpah, The Hateful Eight traps a cast of blowhards (including Samuel L. Jackson as a Civil War veteran, Kurt Russell as a bounty hunter known as "The Hangman," and Jennifer Jason Leigh as a psychopathic gang member) in a blizzard-enveloped supply station. Tarantino ups the tension by shooting his suffocating space in "glorious 70mm." Treachery and moral compromise never looked so good.

High Flying Bird (2019)

High Flying Bird is a basketball film that has little to do with the sport itself, instead focusing on the behind-the-scenes power dynamics that play out during an NBA lockout. At the center of the Steven Soderbergh movie -- shot on an iPhone, because that's what he does now -- is André Holland's Ray Burke, a sports agent trying to protect his client's interests while also disrupting a corrupt system. It's not an easy tightrope to walk, and, as you might expect, the conditions of the labor stoppage constantly change the playing field. With his iPhone mirroring the NBA's social media-heavy culture, and appearances from actual NBA stars lending the narrative heft, Soderbergh experiments with Netflix's carte blanche and produces a unique film that adds to the streaming service's growing list of original critical hits.

PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Hugo (2011)

Martin Scorsese hit pause on mob violence and Rolling Stones singles to deliver one of the greatest kid-centric films in eons. Following Hugo (Asa Butterfield) as he traces his own origin story through cryptic automaton clues and early 20th-century movie history, the grand vision wowed in 3-D and still packs a punch at home.

I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016)

A meditative horror flick that's more unsettling than outright frightening, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House follows the demise of Lily, a live-in nurse (Ruth Wilson) who's caring for an ailing horror author. As Lily discovers the truth about the writer's fiction and home, the lines between the physical realm and the afterlife blur. The movie's slow pacing and muted escalation might frustrate viewers craving showy jump-scares, but writer-director Oz Perkins is worth keeping tabs on. He brings a beautiful eeriness to every scene, and his story will captivate patient streamers. Fans should be sure to check out his directorial debut, The Blackcoat's Daughter.

NETFLIX

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017)

In this maniacal mystery, Ruth (Melanie Lynskey), a nurse, and her rattail-sporting, weapon-obsessed neighbor Tony (Elijah Wood) hunt down a local burglar. Part Cormac McCarthy thriller, part wacky, Will Ferrell-esque comedy, I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore is a cathartic neo-noir about everyday troubles. Director Macon Blair's not the first person to find existential enlightenment at the end of an amateur detective tale, but he might be the first to piece one together from cussing octogenarians, ninja stars, Google montages, gallons of Big Red soda, upper-deckers, friendly raccoons, exploding body parts, and the idiocy of humanity.

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

With a bullwhip, a leather jacket, and an "only Harrison Ford can pull this off" fedora, director Steven Spielberg invented the modern Hollywood action film by doing what he does best: looking backward. As obsessed as his movie-brat pal and collaborator George Lucas with the action movie serials of their youth, the director mined James Bond, Humphrey Bogart, Westerns, and his hatred of Nazis to create an adventure classic. To watch Raiders of the Lost Ark now is to marvel at the ingenuity of specific sequences (the boulder! The truck scene! The face-melting!) and simply groove to the self-deprecating comic tone (snakes! Karen Allen! That swordsman Indy shoots!). The past has never felt so alive.

Inside Man (2006)

Denzel Washington is at his wily, sharp, and sharply dressed best as he teams up once again with Spike Lee for this wildly entertaining heist thriller. He's an NYPD hostage negotiator who discovers a whole bunch of drama when a crew of robbers (led by Clive Owen) takes a bank hostage during a 24-hour period. Jodie Foster also appears as an interested party with uncertain motivations. You'll have to figure out what's going on several times over before the truth outs.

DRAFTHOUSE FILMS

The Invitation (2015)

This slow-burn horror-thriller preys on your social anxiety. The film's first half-hour, which finds Quarry's Logan Marshall-Green arriving at his ex-wife's house to meet her new husband, plays like a Sundance dramedy about 30-something yuppies and their relationship woes. As the minutes go by, director Karyn Kusama (Jennifer's Body) burrows deeper into the awkward dinner party, finding tension in unwelcome glances, miscommunication, and the possibility that Marshall-Green's character might be misreading a bizarre situation as a dangerous one. We won't spoil what happens, but let's just say this is a party you'll be telling your friends about.

Ip Man (2008)

There aren't many biopics that also pass for decent action movies. Somehow, Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen and director Wilson Yip made Ip Man (and three sequels!) based on the life of Chinese martial arts master Yip Kai-man, who famously trained Bruce Lee. What's their trick to keeping this series fresh? Play fast and loose with the facts, up the melodrama with each film, and, when in doubt, cast Mike Tyson as an evil property developer. The fights are incredible, and Yen's portrayal of the aging master still has the power to draw a few tears from even the most grizzled tough guy.

NETFLIX

The Irishman (2019)

Opening with a tracking shot through the halls of a drab nursing home, where we meet a feeble old man telling tall tales from his wheelchair, The Irishman delights in undercutting its own grandiosity. All the pageantry a $150 million check from Netflix can buy -- the digital de-aging effects, the massive crowd scenes, the shiny rings passed between men -- is on full display. Everything looks tremendous. But, like with 2013's The Wolf of Wall Street, the characters can't escape the fundamental spiritual emptiness of their pursuits. In telling the story of Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), a World War II veteran and truck driver turned mob enforcer and friend to labor leader Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino), director Martin Scorsese and screenwriter Steven Zaillian construct an underworld-set counter-narrative of late 20th century American life. Even with a 209 minute runtime, every second counts.

It Comes at Night (2017)

In this post-apocalyptic nightmare-and-a-half, the horrors of humanity, the strain of chaotic emotions pent up in the name of survival, bleed out through wary eyes and weathered hands. The setup is blockbuster-sized -- reverts mankind to the days of the American frontier, every sole survivor fights to protect their families and themselves -- but the drama is mano-a-mano. Barricaded in a haunted-house-worthy cabin in the woods, Paul (Edgerton) takes in Will (Abbott) and his family, knowing full well they could threaten his family's existence. All the while, Paul's son, Trevor, battles bloody visions of (or induced by?) the contagion. Shults directs the hell out of every slow-push frame of this psychological thriller, and the less we know, the more confusion feels like a noose around our necks, the scarier his observations become.

WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Jupiter Ascending (2015)

Jupiter Ascending is one of those "bad" movies that might genuinely be quite good. Yes, Channing Tatum is a man-wolf and Mila Kunis is the princess of space and bees don't sting space royalty and Eddie Redmayne hollers his little head off about "harvesting" people -- but what makes this movie great is how all of those things make total, absolute sense in the context of the story. The world the Wachowskis (yes, the Wachowskis!) created is so vibrant and strange and exciting, you almost can't help but get drawn in, even when Redmayne vamps so hard you're afraid he's about to pull a muscle. (And if you're a ballet fan, we have some good news for you.)

Jurassic Park (1993)

Perhaps the only movie that ever truly deserved a conversion to a theme-park ride, Steven Spielberg's thrilling adaptation of the Michael Crichton novel brought long-extinct creatures back to life in more ways than one. Benevolent Netflix gives us more than just the franchise starter, too: The Lost World and JP3 sequels are also available, so you can make a marathon of it.

THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

Killing Them Softly (2012)

Brad Pitt doesn't make conventional blockbusters anymore -- even World War Z had epidemic-movie ambitions -- so it's not surprising that this crime thriller is a little out there. Set during the financial crisis and presidential election of 2008, the film follows Pitt's hitman character as he makes sense of a poker heist gone wrong, leaving a trail of bodies and one-liners along the way. Mixed in with the carnage, you get lots of musings about the economy and American exceptionalism. It's not subtle -- there's a scene where Scoot McNairy and Ben Mendelsohn do heroin while the Velvet Underground's "Heroin" plays -- but, like a blunt object to the head, it gets the job done.

Lady Bird (2017)

The dizzying, frustrating, exhilarating rite of passage that is senior year of high school is the focus of actress Greta Gerwig's first directorial effort, the story of girl named Lady Bird (her given name, in that "it’s given to me, by me") who rebels against everyday Sacramento, California life to obtain whatever it is "freedom" turns out to be. Laurie Metcalf is an understated powerhouse as Lady Bird's mother, a constant source of contention who doggedly pushes her daughter to be successful in the face of the family's dwindling economic resources. It's a tragic note in total complement to Gerwig's hysterical love letter to home, high school, and the history of ourselves.

A24

The Lobster (2016)

Greek style master Yorgos Lanthimos' dystopian allegory against romance sees Colin Farrell forced to choose a partner in 45 days or he'll be turned into an animal of his choice, which is a lobster. Stuck in a group home with similarly unlucky singles, Farrell's David decides to bust out and join other renegades in a kind of anti-love terror cell that lives in the woods. It's part comedy of manners, part futuristic thriller, and it looks absolutely beautiful -- Lanthimos handles the bizarre premise with grace and a naturalistic eye that reminds the viewer that humans remain one of the most interesting animals to exist on this planet.

Mad Max (1979)

Before Tom Hardy was grunting his way through the desert and crushing tiny two-headed reptiles as Max Rockatansky, there was Mel Gibson. George Miller's 1979 original introduces the iconic character and paints the maximum force of his dystopian mythology in a somewhat more grounded light -- Australian police factions, communities, and glimmers of hope still in existence. Badass homemade vehicles and chase scenes abound in this taut, 88-minute romp. It's aged just fine.

Magic Mike (2012)

Steven Soderbergh's story of a Tampa exotic dancer with a heart of gold (Channing Tatum) has body-rolled its way to Netflix. Sexy dance routines aside, Mike's story is just gritty enough to be subversive. Did we mention Matthew McConaughey shows up in a pair of ass-less chaps?

The Master (2012)

Loosely inspired by the life of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard -- Dianetics buffs, we strongly recommend Alex Gibney's Going Clear documentary as a companion piece -- The Master boasts one of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman’s finest performances, as the enigmatic cult leader Lancaster Dodd. Joaquin Phoenix burns just as brightly as his emotionally stunted, loose-cannon protege Freddie Quell, who has a taste for homemade liquor. Paul Thomas Anderson’s cerebral epic lends itself to many different readings; it’s a cult story, it's a love story, it's a story about post-war disillusionment and the American dream, it's a story of individualism and the desire to belong. But the auteur's popping visuals and heady thematic currents will still sweep you away, even if you’re not quite sure where the tide is taking you.

NETFLIX

The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (2017)

When Danny (Adam Sandler), Matthew (Ben Stiller) and Jean (Elizabeth Marvel), three half-siblings from three different mothers, gather at their family brownstone in New York to tend to their ailing father (Dustin Hoffman), a lifetime of familial politics explode out of every minute of conversation. Their narcissistic sculptor dad didn't have time for Danny. Matthew was the golden child. Jean was weird… or maybe disturbed by memories no one ever knew. Expertly sketched by writer-director Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale) this memoir-like portrait of lives half-lived is the kind of bittersweet, dimensional character comedy we're now used to seeing told in three seasons of prestige television. Baumbach gives us the whole package in two hours.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

The legendary British comedy troupe took the legend of King Arthur and offered a characteristically irreverent take on it in their second feature film. It's rare for comedy to hold up this well, but the timelessness of lines like, "I fart in your general direction!" "It's just a flesh wound," and "Run away!" makes this a movie worth watching again and again.

A24

Moonlight (2016)

Chronicling the boyhood years, teenage stretch, and muted adult life of Chiron, a black gay man making it in Miami, this triptych altarpiece is at once hyper-specific and cosmically universal. Director Barry Jenkins roots each moment in the last; Chiron's desire for a lost lover can't burn in a diner booth over a bottle of wine without his beachside identity crisis years prior, blurred and violent, or encounters from deeper in his past, when glimpses of his mother's drug addiction, or the mentoring acts of her crack supplier, felt like secrets delivered in code. Panging colors, sounds, and the delicate movements of its perfect cast like the notes of a symphony, Moonlight is the real deal, a movie that will only grow and complicate as you wrestle with it.

Mudbound (2017)

The South's post-slavery existence is, for Hollywood, mostly uncharted territory. Rees rectifies the overlooked stretch of history with this novelistic drama about two Mississippi families working a rain-drenched farm in 1941. The white McAllans settle on a muddy patch of land to realize their dreams. The Jacksons, a family of black sharecroppers working the land, have their own hopes, which their neighbors manage to nurture and curtail. To capture a multitude of perspectives, Mudbound weaves together specific scenes of daily life, vivid and memory-like, with family member reflections, recorded in whispered voice-over. The epic patchwork stretches from the Jackson family dinner table, where the youngest daughter dreams of becoming a stenographer, to the vistas of Mississippi, where incoming storms threaten an essential batch of crops, to the battlefields of World War II Germany, a harrowing scene that will affect both families. Confronting race, class, war, and the possibility of unity, Mudbound spellbinding drama reckons with the past to understand the present.

NETFLIX

My Happy Family (2017)

At 52, Manana (Ia Shughliashvili) packs a bag and walks out on her husband, son, daughter, daughter's live-in boyfriend, and elderly mother and father, all of whom live together in a single apartment. The family is cantankerous and blustery, asking everything of Manana, who spends her days teaching better-behaved teenagers about literature. But as Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Groß's striking character study unfolds, the motivation behind Manana's departure is a deeper strain of frustration, despite what her brother, aunts, uncles, and anyone else who can cram themselves into the situation would like us to think. Anchored by Ia Shughliashvili's stunningly internal performance, and punctured by a dark sense of humor akin to Darren Aronofsky's mother! (which would have been the perfect alternate title), My Happy Family is both delicate and brutal in its portrayal of independence, and should get under the skin of anyone with their own family drama.

The Naked Gun (1988)

The short-lived Dragnet TV spoof Police Squad! found a second life as The Naked Gun action-comedy movie franchise, and the first installment goes all in on Airplane! co-star Leslie Nielsen's brand of straight-laced dementia. Trying to explain The Naked Gun only makes the stupid sound stupider, but keen viewers will find jokes on top of jokes on top of jokes. It's the kind of movie that can crack "nice beaver," then pass a stuffed beaver through the frame and actually get away with it. Nielsen has everything to do with it; his Frank Drebin continues the grand Inspector Clouseau tradition in oh-so-'80s style.

The Notebook (2004)

"If you’re a bird, I’m a bird." It's a simple statement and a declaration of devotion that captures the staying power of this Nicholas Sparks classic. The film made Ryan Gosling a certified heartthrob, charting his working class character Noah's lovelorn romance with Rachel McAdam's wealthy character Allie. The star-crossed lovers narrative is enough to make even the most cynical among us swoon, but given that their story is told through an elderly man reading (you guessed it!) a notebook to a woman with dementia, it hits all of the tragic romance benchmarks to make you melt. Noah's commitment to following his heart -- and that passionate kiss in the rain -- make this a love story for the ages.

NETFLIX

Okja (2017)

This wild ride, part action heist, part Miyazaki-like travelogue, and part scathing satire, is fueled by fairy tale whimsy -- but the Grimm kind, where there are smiles and spilled blood. Ahn Seo-hyun plays Mija, the young keeper of a "super-pig," bred by a food manufacturer to be the next step in human-consumption evolution. When the corporate overlords come for her roly-poly pal, Mija hightails it from the farm to the big city to break him out, crossing environmental terrorists, a zany Steve Irwin-type (Gyllenhaal), and the icy psychos at the top of the food chain (including Swinton's childlike CEO) along the way. Okja won't pluck your heartstrings like E.T., but there's grandeur in its frenzy, and the film's cross-species friendship will strike up every other emotion with its empathetic, eco-friendly, and eccentric observations.

On Body and Soul (2017)

This Hungarian film earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Film, and it's easy to see why. The sparse love story begins when two slaughterhouse employees discover they have the same dream at night, in which they're both deer searching the winter forest for food. Endre, a longtime executive at the slaughterhouse, has a physically damaged arm, whereas Maria is a temporary replacement who seems to be on the autism spectrum. If the setup sounds a bit on-the-nose, the moving performances and the unflinching direction save On Body and Soul from turning into a Thomas Aquinas 101 class, resulting in the kind of bleak beauty you can find in a dead winter forest.

NETFLIX

The Other Side of the Wind (2018)

Don't go into Orson Welles' final film expecting it to be an easy watch. The Other Side of the Wind, which follows fictional veteran Hollywood director Jake Hannaford (tooootally not modeled after Welles himself) and his protegé (also tooootally not a surrogate for Welles' own friend and mentee Peter Bogdanovich, who also plays the character) as they attend a party in celebration of Hannaford's latest film and are beset on all sides by Hannaford's friends, enemies, and everyone in between. The film, which Welles hoped would be his big comeback to Hollywood, was left famously unfinished for decades after his death in 1985. Thanks to Bogdanovich and producer Frank Marshall, it was finally completed in 2018, and the result is a vibrant and bizarre throwback to Welles' own experimental 1970s style, made even more resonant if you know how intertwined the movie is with its own backstory. If you want to dive even deeper, Netflix also released a documentary about the restoration and completion of the film, They'll Love Me When I'm Dead, which delves into Welles' own complicated and tragic relationship with Hollywood and the craft of moviemaking.

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Guillermo Del Toro’s dark odyssey Pan’s Labyrinth takes a fantasy setting to mirror the horrible political realities of the human realm. Set in 1940s Falangist Spain, the film documents the hero’s journey of a young girl and stepdaughter of a ruthless Spanish army officer as she seeks an escape from her war-occupied world. When a fairy informs her that her true destiny may be as the princess of the underworld, she seizes her chance. Like Alice in Wonderland if Alice had gone to Hell instead of down the rabbit hole, the Academy Award-winning film is a wondrous, frightening fairy tale where that depicts how perilous the human-created monster of war can be.

Paranormal Activity (2007)

This documentary-style film budgeted at a mere $15,000 made millions at the box office and went on to inspire a number of sequels, all because of how well its scrappiness lent to capturing what feels like a terrifying haunted reality. Centered on a young couple who is convinced an evil spirit is lurking in their home, the two attempt to capture its activity on camera, which, obviously, only makes their supernatural matters worse. It leans on found footage horror tropes made popular by The Blair Witch Project and as it tessellates between showing the viewer what’s captured on their camcorders and the characters’ perspectives, it’s easy to get lost in this disorienting supernatural thriller.

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Poltergeist (1982)

If you saw Poltergeist growing up, chances are you’re probably equally as haunted by Heather O’Rourke as she is in the film, playing a little girl tormented by ghosts in her family home. This Steven Spielberg-penned, Tobe Hooper-directed (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) paranormal flick is a certified cult classic and one of the best horror films of all time, coming from a simple premise about a couple whose home is infested with spirits obsessed with reclaiming the space and kidnapping their daughter. Poltergeist made rearranged furniture freaky, and you may remember a particularly iconic scene with a fuzzed out vintage television set. It’s may be nearly 40 years old, but the creepiness holds up.

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

Taking Jane Austen's literary classic and tricking it out with gorgeous long takes, director Joe Wright turns this tale of manners into a visceral, luminescent portrait of passion and desire. While Succession's Matthew MacFadyen might not make you forget Colin Firth from 1995's BBC adaptation, Keira Knightley is a revelation as the tough, nervy Lizzie Bennett. With fun supporting turns from Donald Sutherland, Rosamund Pike, and Judi Dench, it's a sumptuous period romance that transports you from the couch to the ballroom of your dreams -- without changing out of sweatpants.

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Private Life (2018)

Over a decade since the release of her last dark comedy, The Savages, writer and director Tamara Jenkins returned with a sprawling movie in the same vein: more hyper-verbal jerks you can't help but love. Richard (Paul Giamatti) and Rachel (Kathryn Hahn) are a Manhattan-dwelling couple who have spent the last few years attempting to have a baby with little success. When we meet them, they're already in the grips of fertility mania, willing to try almost anything to secure the offspring they think they desire. With all the details about injections, side effects, and pricey medical procedures, the movie functions as a taxonomy of modern pregnancy anxieties, and Hahn brings each part of the process to glorious life.

The Ritual (2018)

The Ritual, a horror film where a group of middle-aged men embark on a hiking trip in honor of a dead friend, understands the tension between natural beauty of the outdoors and the unsettling panic of the unknown. The group's de facto leader Luke (an understated Rafe Spall) attempts to keep the adventure from spiralling out of control, but the forest has other plans. (Maybe brush up on your Scandinavian mythology before viewing.) Like a backpacking variation on Neil Marshall's 2005 cave spelunking classic The Descent, The Ritual deftly explores inter-personal dynamics while delivering jolts of other-worldly terror. It'll have you rethinking that weekend getaway on your calendar.

NETFLIX

Roma (2018)

All those billions Netflix spent paid off in the form of several Oscar nominations for Roma, including one for Best Picture and a win for Best Director. Whether experienced in the hushed reverence of a theater, watched on the glowing screen of a laptop, or, as Netflix executive Ted Sarandos has suggested, binged on the perilous surface of a phone, Alfonso Cuarón's black-and-white passion project seeks to stun. A technical craftsman of the highest order, the Children of Men and Gravity director has an aesthetic that aims to overwhelm -- with the amount of extras, the sense of despair, and the constant whir of exhilaration -- and this autobiographical portrait of kind-hearted maid Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio) caring for a family in the early 1970s has been staged on a staggering, mind-boggling scale.

Schindler's List (1993)

A passion project for Steven Spielberg, who shot it back-to-back with another masterpiece, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List tells the story of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who reportedly saved over 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust. Frank, honest, and stark in its depiction of Nazi violence, the three-hour historical drama is a haunting reminder of the world's past, every frame a relic, every lost voice channeled through Itzhak Perlman's mourning violin.

A Serious Man (2009)

This dramedy from the Coen brothers stars Michael Stuhlbarg as Larry Gopnik, a Midwestern physics professor who just can't catch a break, whether it's with his wife, his boss, or his rabbi. (Seriously, if you're having a bad day, this airy flick gives you ample time to brood and then come to the realization that your life isn't as shitty as you think.) Meditating on the spiritual and the temporal, Gopnik's improbable run of bad luck is a smart modern retelling of the Book of Job, with more irony and fewer plagues and pestilences. But not much fewer.

WELL GO USA

Shadow (2019)

In Shadow, the visually stunning action epic from Hero and House of Flying Daggers wuxia master Zhang Yimou, parasols are more than helpful sun-blockers: They can be turned into deadly weapons, shooting boomerang-like blades of steel at oncoming attackers and transforming into protective sleds for traveling through the slick streets. These devices are one of many imaginative leaps made in telling this Shakespearean saga of palace intrigue, vengeance, and secret doppelgangers set in China's Three Kingdoms period. This is a martial arts epic where the dense plotting is as tricky as the often balletic fight scenes. If the battles in Game of Thrones left you frustrated, Shadow provides a thrilling alternative.

She's Gotta Have It (1986)

Before checking out Spike Lee's Netflix original series of the same name, be sure to catch up with where it all began. Nola (Tracy Camilla Johns) juggles three men during her sexual pinnacle, and it's all working out until they discover one another. She's Gotta Have It takes some dark turns, but each revelation speaks volumes about what real romantic independence is all about.

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

The late director Jonathan Demme's 1991 film is the touchstone for virtually every serial killer film and television show that came after. The iconic closeup shots of an icy, confident Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) as he and FBI newbie Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) engage in their "quid pro quo" interrogation sessions create almost unbearable tension as Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine) remains on the loose, killing more victims. Hopkins delivers the more memorable lines, and Buffalo Bill's dance is the stuff of nerve-wracking anxiety nightmares, but it's Foster's nuanced performance as a scared, determined, smart-yet-hesitant agent that sets Silence of the Lambs apart from the rest of the serial killer pack.

THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, and David O. Russell’s first collaboration -- and the film that turned J-Law into a bona fide golden girl -- is a romantic comedy/dramedy/dance-flick that bounces across its tonal shifts. A love story between Pat (Cooper), a man struggling with bipolar disease and a history of violent outbursts, and Tiffany (Lawrence), a widow grappling with depression, who come together while rehearsing for an amateur dance competition, Silver Linings balances an emotionally realistic depiction of mental illness with some of the best twirls and dips this side of Step Up. Even if you're allergic to rom-coms, Lawrence and Cooper’s winning chemistry will win you over, as will this sweet little gem of a film: a feel-good, affecting love story that doesn’t feel contrived or treacly.

Sin City (2005)

Frank Miller enlisted Robert Rodriguez as co-director to translate the former's wildly popular series of the same name to the big screen, and with some added directorial work from Quentin Tarantino, the result became a watershed moment in the visual history of film. The signature black-and-white palette with splashes of color provided a grim backdrop to the sensational violence of the miniaturized plotlines -- this is perhaps the movie that feels more like a comic than any other movie you'll ever see.

Sinister (2012)

Horror-movie lesson #32: If you move into a creepy new house, do not read the dusty book, listen to the decaying cassette tapes, or watch the Super 8 reels you find in the attic -- they will inevitably lead to your demise. In Sinister, a true-crime author (played by Ethan Hawke) makes the final mistake, losing his mind to home movies haunted by the "Bughuul."

NETFLIX

Small Crimes (2017)

It's always a little discombobulating to see your favorite Game of Thrones actors in movies that don't call on them to fight dragons, swing swords, or at least wear some armor. But that shouldn't stop you from checking out Small Crimes, a carefully paced thriller starring the Kingslayer Jaime Lannister himself, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. As Joe Denton, a crooked cop turned ex-con, Coster-Waldau plays yet another character with a twisted moral compass, but here he's not part of some mythical narrative. He's just another conniving, scheming dirtbag in director E.L. Katz's Coen brothers-like moral universe. While some of the plot details are confusing -- Katz and co-writer Macon Blair skimp on the exposition so much that some of the dialogue can feel incomprehensible -- the mood of Midwestern dread and Coster-Waldau's patient, lived-in performance make this one worth checking out. Despite the lack of dragons.

Snowpiercer (2013)

Did people go overboard in praising Snowpiercer when it came out? Maybe. But it's important to remember that the movie arrived in the sweaty dog days of summer, hitting critics and sci-fi lovers like a welcome blast of icy water from a hose. The film's simple, almost video game-like plot -- get to the front of the train, or die trying -- allowed visionary South Korean director Bong Joon-ho to fill the screen with excitement, absurdity, and radical politics. Chris Evans never looked more alive, Tilda Swinton never stole more scenes, and mainstream blockbuster filmmaking never felt so tepid in comparison. Come on, ride the train!

The Social Network (2010)

After making films like Seven, The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room, and Zodiac, director David Fincher left behind the world of scumbags and crime for a fantastical, historical epic in 2008's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The Social Network was another swerve, but yielded his greatest film. There's no murder on screen, but Fincher treats Jesse Eisenberg's Mark Zuckerberg like a dorky, socially awkward mob boss operating on an operatic scale. Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin's rapid-fire, screwball-like dialogue burns with a moral indignation that Fincher's watchful, steady-handed camera chills with an icy distance. It's the rare biopic that's not begging you to smash the "like" button.

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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

In this shrewd twist on the superhero genre, the audience's familiarity with the origin story of your friendly neighborhood web-slinger -- the character has already starred in three different blockbuster franchises, in addition to countless comics and cartoon TV adaptations -- is used as an asset instead of a liability. The relatively straight-forward coming-of-age tale of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), a Brooklyn teenager who takes on the powers and responsibilities of Spider-Man following the death of Peter Parker, gets a remix built around an increasingly absurd parallel dimension plotline that introduces a cast of other Spider-Heroes like Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage), Peni Parker (Kimiko Glen), and, most ridiculously, Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), a talking pig in a Spider-Suit. The convoluted set-up is mostly an excuse to cram the movie with rapid-fire jokes, comic book allusions, and dream-like imagery that puts the rubbery CGI of most contemporary animated films to shame.

Spotlight (2015)

Tom McCarthy stretches the drama taut as he renders Boston Globe's 2000 Catholic Church sex scandal investigation into a Hollywood vehicle. McCarthy's notable cast members crank like gears as they uncover evidence and reflect on a horrifying discovery of which they shoulder partial blame. Spotlight was the cardigan of 2015's Oscar nominees, but even cardigans look sharp when Mark Ruffalo is involved.

The Squid and the Whale (2005)

No movie captures the prolonged pain of divorce quite like Noah Baumbach's brutal Brooklyn-based comedy The Squid and the Whale. While the performances from Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney as bitter writers going through a separation are top-notch, the film truly belongs to the kids, played by Jesse Eisenberg and Owen Kline, who you watch struggle in the face of their parents' mounting immaturity and pettiness. That Baumbach is able to wring big, cathartic laughs from such emotionally raw material is a testament to his gifts as a writer -- and an observer of human cruelty.

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Starship Troopers (1997)

Paul Verhoeven is undoubtedly the master of the sly sci-fi satire. With RoboCop, he laid waste to the police state with wicked, trigger-happy glee. He took on evil corporations with Total Recall. And with Starship Troopers, a bouncy, bloody war picture, he skewered the chest-thumping theatrics of pro-military propaganda, offering up a pitch-perfect parody of the post-9/11 Bush presidency years before troops set foot in Iraq or Afghanistan. Come for the exploding alien guts, but stay for the winking comedy -- or stay for both! Bug guts have their charms, too.

Swiss Army Man (2016)

You might think a movie that opens with a suicidal man riding a farting corpse like a Jet Ski wears thin after the fourth or fifth flatulence gag. You would be wrong. Brimming with imagination and expression, the directorial debut of Adult Swim auteurs "The Daniels" wields sophomoric humor to speak to friendship. As Radcliffe's dead body springs back to life -- through karate-chopping, water-vomiting, and wind-breaking -- he becomes the id to Dano's struggling everyman, who is also lost in the woods. If your childhood backyard adventures took the shape of The Revenant, it would look something like Swiss Army Man, and be pure bliss.

NETFLIX

Tallulah (2016)

From Orange Is the New Black writer Sian Heder, Tallulah follows the title character (played by Ellen Page) after she inadvertently "kidnaps" a toddler from an alcoholic rich woman and passes the child off as her own to appeal to her run-out boyfriend's mother (Allison Janney). A messy knot of familial woes and wayward instincts, Heder's directorial debut achieves the same kind of balancing act as her hit Netflix series -- frank social drama with just the right amount of humorous hijinks. As Tallulah grows into a mother figure, her on-the-lam parenting course only makes her more and more of a criminal in the eyes of... just about everyone. You want to root for her, but that would be too easy.

Taxi Driver (1976)

Travis Bickle (a young Bobby De Niro) comes back from the Vietnam War and, having some trouble acclimating to daily life, slowly unravels while fending off brutal insomnia by picking up work as a... taxi driver... in New York City. Eventually he snaps, shaves his hair into a mohawk and goes on a murderous rampage while still managing to squeeze in one of the most New York lines ever captured on film ("You talkin' to me?"). It's not exactly a heartwarmer -- Jodie Foster plays a 12-year-old prostitute -- but Martin Scorsese's 1976 Taxi Driver is a movie in the cinematic canon that you'd be legitimately missing out on if you didn't watch it.

FOCUS FEATURES

The Theory of Everything (2014)

In his Oscar-winning performance, Eddie Redmayne portrays famed physicist Stephen Hawking -- though The Theory of Everything is less of a biopic than it is a beautiful, sweet film about his lifelong relationship with his wife, Jane (Felicity Jones). Covering his days as a young cosmology student ahead of his diagnosis of ALS at 21, through his struggle with the illness and rise as a theoretical scientist, this film illustrates the trying romance through it all. While it may be written in the cosmos, this James Marsh-directed film that weaves in and out of love will have you experience everything there is to feel.

There Will Be Blood (2007)

Paul Thomas Anderson found modern American greed in the pages of Upton Sinclair's depression-era novel, Oil!. Daniel Day-Lewis found the role of a lifetime behind the bushy mustache of Daniel Plainview, thunderous entrepreneur. Paul Dano found his milkshake drunk up. Their discoveries are our reward -- There Will Be Blood is a stark vision of tycoon terror.

Time to Hunt (2020)

Unrelenting in its pursuit of scenarios where guys point big guns at each other in sparsely lit empty hallways, the South Korean thriller Time to Hunt knows exactly what stylistic register it's playing in. A group of four friends, including Parasite and Train to Busan break-out Choi Woo-shik, knock over a gambling house, stealing a hefty bag of money and a set of even more valuable hard-drives, and then find themselves targeted by a ruthless contract killer (Park Hae-soo) who moves like the T-1000 and shoots like a henchmen in a Michael Mann movie. There are dystopian elements to the world -- protests play out in the streets, the police wage a tech-savvy war on citizens, automatic rifles are readily available to all potential buyers -- but they all serve the simmering tension and elevate the pounding set-pieces instead of feeling like unnecessary allegorical padding. Even with its long runtime, this movie moves.

STUDIOCANAL

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

If a season of 24 took place in the smoky, well-tailored underground of British intelligence crica 1973, it might look a little like this precision-made John le Carré adaptation from Let the Right One In director Tomas Alfredson. Even if you can't follow terse and tightly-woven mystery, the search for Soviet mole led by retired operative George Smiley (Gary Oldman), the ice-cold frames and stellar cast will suck you into the intrigue. It's very possible Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, and Benedict Cumberbatch are reading pages of the British phone book, but egad, it's absorbing. A movie that rewards your full concentration.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018)

Of all the entries in the rom-com revival, this one is heavier on the rom than the com. But even though it won't make your sides hurt, it will make your heart flutter. The plot is ripe with high school movie hijinks that arise when the love letters of Lara Jean Covey (the wonderful Lana Condor) accidentally get mailed to her crushes, namely the contractual faux relationship she starts with heartthrob Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo). Like its heroine, it's big-hearted but skeptical in all the right places.

Total Recall (1990)

Skip the completely forgettable Colin Farrell remake from 2012. This Arnold Schwarzenegger-powered, action-filled sci-fi movie is the one to go with. Working from a short story by writer Philip K. Dick, director Paul Verhoeven (Robocop) uses a brain-teasing premise -- you can buy "fake" vacation memories from a mysterious company called Rekall -- to stage one of his hyper-violent, winkingly absurd cartoons. The bizarre images of life on Mars and silly one-liners from Arnold fly so fast that you'll begin to think the whole movie was designed to be implanted in your mind.

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Tramps (2017)

There are heists pulled off by slick gentlemen in suits, then there are heists pulled off by two wayward 20-somethings rambling along on a steamy, summer day in New York City. This dog-day crime-romance stages the latter, pairing a lanky Russian kid (Callum Tanner) who ditches his fast-food register job for a one-off thieving gig, with his driver, an aloof strip club waitress (Grace Van Patten) looking for the cash to restart her life. When a briefcase handoff goes awry, the pair head upstate to track down the missing package, where train rides and curbside walks force them to open up. With a laid-back, '70s soul, Tramps is the rare doe-eyed relationship movie where playing third-wheel is a joy.

Uncut Gems (2019)

In Uncut Gems, the immersive crime film from sibling director duo Josh and Benny Safdie, gambling is a matter of faith. Whether he's placing a bet on the Boston Celtics, attempting to rig an auction, or outrunning debt-collecting goons at his daughter's high school play, the movie's jeweler protagonist Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) believes in his ability to beat the odds. Does that mean he always succeeds? No, that would be absurd, undercutting the character's Job-like status, which Sandler imbues with an endearing weariness that holds the story together. But every financial setback, emotional humbling, and spiritual humiliation he suffers gets interpreted by Howard as a sign that his circumstances might be turning around. After all, a big score could be right around the corner.

Velvet Buzzsaw (2018)

Nightcrawler filmmaker Dan Gilroy teams up with Jake Gyllenhaal again to create another piece of cinematic art, this time a satirical horror film about the exclusive, over-the-top LA art scene. The movie centers around a greedy group of art buyers who come into the possession of stolen paintings that, unbeknownst to them, turn out to be haunted, making their luxurious lives of wheeling and dealing overpriced paintings a living hell. Also featuring the likes of John Malkovich, Toni Collette, Billy Magnussen, and others, Velvet Buzzsaw looks like Netflix’s next great original.

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Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)

Oscar-baiting, musician biopics became so cookie-cutter by the mid-'00s that it was easy for John C. Reilly, Judd Apatow, and writer-director Jake Kasdan (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) to knot them all together for the ultimate spoof. Dewey Cox is part Johnny Cash, part Bob Dylan, part Ray Charles, part John Lennon, part anyone-you-can-think-of, rising with hit singles, rubbing shoulders with greats of many eras, stumbling with eight-too-many drug addictions, then rising once again. When it comes to relentless wisecracking, Walk Hard is like a Greatest Hits compilation -- every second is gold.

The Witch (2015)

The Witch delivers everything we don't see in horror today. The backdrop, a farm in 17th-century New England, is pure misty, macabre mood. The circumstance, a Puritanical family making it on the fringe of society because they're too religious, bubbles with terror. And the question, whether devil-worshipping is hocus pocus or true black magic, keeps each character on their toes, and begging God for answers. The Witch tests its audience with its (nearly impenetrable) old English dialogue and the (anxiety-inducing) trials of early American life, but the payoff will keep your mind racing, and your face hiding under the covers, for days.

Y Tu Mamá También (2001)

Before taking us to space with Gravity, director Alfonso Cuarón steamed up screens with this provocative, comedic drama about two teenage boys (Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal) road-trippin' it with an older woman. Like a sunbaked Jules and Jim, the movie makes nimble use of its central love triangle, setting up conflicts between the characters as they move through the complicated political and social realities of Mexican life. It's a confident, relaxed film that's got an equal amount of brains and sex appeal. Watch this one with a friend -- or two.

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Zodiac (2007)

David Fincher's period drama is for obsessives. In telling the story of the Zodiac Killer, a serial murderer who captured the public imagination by sending letters and puzzles to the Bay Area press, the famously meticulous director zeroes in on the cops, journalists, and amateur code-breakers who made identifying the criminal their life's work. With Jake Gyllenhaal's cartoonist-turned-gumshoe Robert Graysmith at the center, and Robert Downey Jr.'s barfly reporter Paul Avery stumbling around the margins, the film stretches across time and space, becoming a rich study of how people search for meaning in life. Zodiac is a procedural thriller that makes digging through old manilla folders feel like a cosmic quest.

13th (2016)

Selma director Ava DuVernay snuck away from the Hollywood spotlight to direct this sweeping documentary on the state of race in America. DuVernay's focus is the country's growing incarceration rates and an imbalance in the way black men and women are sentenced based on their crimes. Throughout the exploration, 13th dives into post-Emancipation migration, systemic racism that built in the early 20th century, and moments of modern political history that continue to spin a broken gear in our well-oiled national machine. You'll be blown away by what DuVernay uncovers in her interview-heavy research.

20th Century Women (2016)

If there's such thing as an epistolary movie, 20th Century Women is it. Touring 1970s Santa Barbara through a living flipbook, Mike Mills's semi-autobiographical film transcends documentation with a cast of wayward souls and Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann), an impressionable young teenager. Annette Bening plays his mother, and the matriarch of a ragtag family, who gather together for safety, dance to music when the moment strikes, and teach Jamie the important lesson of What Women Want, which ranges from feminist theory to love-making techniques. The kid soaks it up like a sponge. Through Mills's caring direction, and characters we feel extending infinitely through past and present, so do we.

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