#my family is very welcoming and my sisters are always excited when i bring friends home

[bunniekittiee]

Bi-Han’s s/o’s relationship with his brothers

I have decided to bless the Lin Kuei brothers fans and give you both the headcanons along with the fic (coming soon hehe). This is for being v supportive and very welcoming! I appreciate it all.

When you came into Bi-Han’s life, they were extremely grateful that you have begun to change him.

He was very cold (haha sub zero joke) towards his brothers and could be standoffish.

But once you and Bi-Han began your relationship, they were at ease that he was slowly changing.

Kuai Liang and Tomas think you are amazing, especially for changing Bi-Han’s demeanor.

All three of you like to enjoy tea together when Bi-Han is busy with his duties. They make sure to keep you busy if they are not busy themselves.

During tea time, they talk about quests they have went on with Bi-Han and even childhood memories.

Yes they tell you the embarrassing ones.

No please do not tell the Grandmaster, he will lose his mind.

And probably beat the living crap out of them.

Anyways, you all have good laughs during tea time and it is a way of unwinding for them.

Bi-Han may not have a craving for sweets, but his brothers sure do!

If you are skilled at baking, they are silently waiting for you to make them treats.

They don’t care what it is, they will eat anything.

The first time you make them sweets, it is during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and you decided to try moon cakes.

By the Gods, they absolutely devoured all of them.

Bi-Han watched in amusement as they stuffed their mouths with your sweets. He felt his heart swell at the fact that you could take care of his brothers.

He remembered that and kept that in his mind if anything were to happen to him, he knew that you would take care of his brothers.

Sometimes, you like to give them treats during their breaks, and they get so excited.

Kuai Liang enjoys doing yoga with you as it gives you both some bonding time one-on-one.

Yoga helps loosen his muscles and clear his mind, along with meditation, and having another person there enjoying it makes him feel good.

As I mentioned in my other headcanons, Bi-Han is not jealous of his brothers spending time with his s/o.

He has to deeply trust his siblings on missions and in battle, so he absolutely trusts them with you.

Plus he understands that it can be difficult to be cooped up for long periods of time as he is busy and doesn’t always have the time to take you out.

So his brothers will do it for him!

Dinners at Madame Bo’s is usually paid for by Tomas and they are fun.

Sometimes, Raiden and Kung Lao will join you.

Kuai Liang will bring along Harumi as well!

You and Harumi are definitely close as she is like a sister in a way. You are only surrounded by men for the most part, so having another woman is like a breath of fresh air.

Kuai is very happy that you and Harumi are good friends.

Sometimes on the dinner dates, you wish Bi-Han was there, even if he had a scowl on his face.

You missed your husband very much no matter what. There was nothing that could change that.

When you and Tomas were venturing into the forest, you both found a tiny ocelot kitten.

With no mother in sight, Tomas gently picked it up and you both exchanged the look.

“We have to keep it.” you both said at the same time.

Bi-Han was not overjoyed that you had found this kitten. He thought of it as a distraction and that you both were messing with natural selection.

After a lot of pleading and promises, he reluctantly let you keep it.

You and Tomas immediately ran to show Kuai Liang who grinned at the sight of this tiny kitten.

Just like that, this ocelot became the family pet.

As much as Bi-Han may have been against it, he did think the little ocelot was cute.

Bi-Han got to name her since it was a part of the agreement they made, so he named her Jia.

Jia was well behaved due to Bi-Han’s discipline and she was a great addition to the family.

Bi-Han is happy to know that you are close with his brothers. It makes him feel at ease knowing that you get the breaks you need from the snowy terrain and you don’t go out alone.

He’s an overthinker, so even if he knows that you are all safe, he will still think the worst.

When you married Bi-Han, you married the clan and partially his brothers as they will be with him for most of your lives.

If you had not taken a liking to his brothers, Bi-Han would not know what to do at all.

But since you are all close, he is relieved.

[ripdragonbeans]

Shakespeare In Love // Modern!Aemond x reader

CW: afab reader, p in v, creampie, second hand embarrassment, oral f receiving, smut

Summary: Your roommate and best friend, Helaena, and her older brother Aegon, have decided that both you and her younger brother, Aemond, need to go on a date. Both of you are too wrapped in your academics so they decided to take it into their own hands to bring you two together.

Ever since the accident, Aemond knew he was different. That everybody stared at him with curiosity and fear. Usually the latter. With a jagged scar running over his face, and a dazzling sapphire in the other. It’s no wonder to him why they gave him those looks.

Aemond sighed, slid his hands into the pockets of his black leather jacket, and braced himself against the cold wind that would hit him as soon as he walked out the door. He was on his way to meet up with his brother and sister, Helaena and Aegon. Surprisingly, they met someone whom they both agreed that they needed to introduce to Aemond.

He still didn't really know why he accepted the invitation. Well, he did, but was confused as to what was the why. At first he agreed to meet up because Helaena put on a pouty face and begged him to. Then Aegon kept pestering the hell out of him, constantly texting him and sending annoying ass Snapchats. But as the day to the meeting creeped closer Aemond couldn't help but feel curious, hopeful even, that there might be someone else to talk to.

Aemond was quiet; he studied hard and put all his energy into his work, but didn't have company outside his family and close family friends.

He picked up his pace to get to the cafe faster, the blistering wind slapping him in the face. Thankfully, he got there without freezing his ass off. Aemond entered the cafe and was instantly welcomed by a cozy warmth and the smell of coffee. He barely had time to take in a deep breath when Helaena called out to him.

"Aems! Over here!" She shouted. Well, not really shouted. Helaena never raised her voice above her usual delicate tone but Aemond could hear her anywhere if she was calling to him.

Aemond gave a soft smile to his sister and rolled his eyes at Aegon, seeing him sprawled over the table, most likely feeling the effects of a hangover. Aemond quickly got his black coffee before joining his siblings at the table.

"I'm so excited for you to meet my best friend, she's an absolute sweetheart!" Helaena exclaimed in a sing-song voice. She leaned closer to Aemond and gave him a sly smile, "and she has a very soft spot for Shakespeare."

Aegon groaned without lifting his head. "Did you seriously just say something about Shakespeare?"

"Be quiet and be nice when she gets here," scolded Helaena.

This time, Aegon rose, putting on the grandest voice he could muster. "Methinks the lady doth protest too much."

Helaena glared at Aegon while Aemond closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He couldn't help himself, he had to correct him. "While the sentiment is the same, that line is frequently misquoted. The correct line is actually -"

"'The lady doth protests too much, methinks.' said by Hamlet's mother from Hamlet."

Aemond's eyes went wide as he saw the girl who finished the sentence for him. She was right behind him, how did he not notice?

She gave Aemond a shy smile and gave him her name. "Hi, I'm Helaena's friend,and I guess I'm Aegon's friend, too."

A high pitched squeal erupted next to Aemond. Helaena never makes such sound unless she’s extremely excited. She shot up from her chair and nearly tackled her.

"I can't believe you made it!"

"Of course I made it, you know I always pull through for you.”

Helaena pulled out of the hug but kept her arm around her best friend.

“And I'm not proud to admit it, but Aegon did help a bit with easing the nervousness of meeting up with…"

Her eyes locked in on Aemond. She had never seen a guy so beautiful and it made her heart flutter a bit. His silver hair fell down just below his shoulders. Against his all black attire his hair and his eye beckoned her attention.

Eye. Only one. A vibrant violet eye, but still only one. In place of the other eye was a black eyepatch that sculpted his face perfectly. What the eyepatch didn’t cover, however, was the angry scar that marred his face.

"Meeting up with you. Yeah, hi, um… I'm -” she stopped herself from introducing herself again. “Sorry, I already said that when I interrupted your conversation. I just get really excited about Shakespeare, you know? And there's so much of his work to digest and analyze and his work is so prevalent even today and can really help actors because his work is just beautiful and -- shit, I'm rambling aren't I?"

Aemond couldn't help but smile at her babbling. It wasn't every day that he came across someone who gets as excited over Shakespeare as him. Even though it was brief, he noticed how her eyes lit up when she mentioned Shakespeare. He could tell she was nervous but her passion covered anything that suggested otherwise.

“My girl is here for a few weeks on her winter break. Initially it was just gonna be me and her but then Aegon brought up that our fellow sibling might need a new friend,” Helaena explained.

She reached out her hand to Aemond. “I’m going to assume you’re the famous, brooding sibling your brother and sister talk so highly of.”

Aemond went to run a hand through his long silver hair. She watched him, completely entranced by his beauty. She knew she was fucked. She knew she was fucked when she interupted their conversaion and laid eyes on him.

“Yeah, I’m Aemond,” he took her hand and gave her a little shake. “Glad to know my brother and sister speak so highly of me to others,” he chuckled.

Her eyes went wide. “Oh fuck, I’m so sorry, no that's not what I meant. I meant that they talk about you a lot and I think you're interesting and oh shit." She proceeded to flop her face on Helaena's shoulder while her best friend patted her head.

Aegon grinned at Aemond. "See? She's just your type. Rambling and all."

A muffled noise came from Helaena's shoulder.

"She’s right. Shut up, Aegon."

Aemond looked at his siblings and then her. He awkwardly coughed to break the tension.

"So…uh…" Aemond had no idea what to say in this situation so he blurted out the first thing that darted through his mind.

"Ya like jazz?" Silence fell as Aemond registered what he said. "God fucking dammit," he immediately snapped his head to Aegon. "Shut the fuck up, Aegon."

"Seriously? That's the first thing you say to someone? 'Ya like jazz?' from the Bee movie?" Aegon was almost falling out of his chair from laughing too hard.

Aemond was too focused on trying not to punch his brother in the face that he didn't notice that she had lifted her face from Helaena's shoulder and softly giggled with her.

“Okay, I’m not gonna lie, that definitely caught my attention, and in a good way,” she laughed.. “Really, it’s a nice break from my stream of consciousness.”

Aemond turned to look at her and gave a small smile. His face now had a tint of color and went down the sides of his neck.

“Glad to be of service, then,” he said, almost giving a theatrical bow before deciding against it. Instead, he opted for a cheeky wink.

Aemond locked eyes and for a moment it was just them. A violet eye meeting warm brown ones.

“And I think that’s our cue to leave, Aeg,” muttered Helaena. She knew Aemond and her best friend would hit it off, but not this quickly.

Aegon clapped Aemond on the back. “Okay, little bro. Have fun on your date!”

Aemond snapped his eye to Aegon and she snapped hers to Helaena.

“I’m sorry, a date?” she asked Helaena.

“Yeah…sorry, girl. But you know you need to go out more, especially after that, and, well, here’s my solution to that. You can’t stay cooped up in your apartment by yourself all the time.” Helaena looked at her and then Aemond. “Both of you.”

She drew in a deep breath then turned to Aemond.

“I’ll give it a shot if you do.”

A date. She was going on a date with Aemond Targaryen, her best friend's brother. The idea shouldn't excite her but she would be lying if she said it didn't make her heart leap up in her throat.

Once Helaena and Aegon left, the rest stood there not really knowing what to do.

"You said you'd give it a shot?" She asked. Aemond nodded. Offering her hand to Aemond, she quickly smirked. "Well then, let's go."

Aemond deeply inhaled, smiled back, and took her hand. She led them out of the cafe and walked them around a block before realizing she didn't know the area at all.

"So…do you know where you're going?" Aemond asked.

"Not really, but that's what an adventure is, right? And this surprise date is certainly one."

Realizing that he was still holding her hand, Aemond pulled his hand away and shoved it into his pocket. Some color stained his face as he coughed and said, "There's a bookshop nearby if you want to check it out."

She stuffed her hands in her pockets as well and glanced a look at Aemond, smiling. "Yeah, sure, that would be great."

In comfortable silence, the two made their way to a hole in the wall bookshop. Her eyes widened at the view. She thought this was going to be your usual bookshop. But this was no ordinary bookshop. This was heaven on earth. What looked like a mess to an outsider was really shelves upon shelves of books that have been loved. Some were donated books with scrawling annotations for the next reader to delve into. Others were sparkling new, completely untouched, books ready to be loved and hated.

"Hey, Aemond!" A friendly voice sounded.

At the counter was a guy who didn't look like your stereotypical bookshop employee. If anything, he was the opposite. His face was worn and he had what looked like an itchy five o'clock shadow. He obviously worked out and could easily be assumed to be an off-standish person but his eyes were kind and welcoming.

"Cregan, hey. Just wanted to show my, uh, date here,the place," Aemond introduced.

Cregan gave you a welcoming smile. "Go on in, my guys. If you find anything you want you know where to find me," he winked at Aemond before turning back to his work.

Aemond took her hand and led them through the shelves, weaving in and out. "There's this one spot here that I think you'll love," he said.

A red tinge creeped up to her cheek as she smiled and picked up her pace to keep up with Aemond. The only thing she knew they had in common was Shakespeare so she could only assume this has to do with those famous works. Her mind flooded with thoughts of The Tempest and Richard III. Those beautiful, and in Richard III's case, subtly distressing, stories.

She once saw this production of Richard III had a grunge, steam-punk style but still maintained some modern form of politics, suits and all. The beauty of it, the darkness splattered with blood, and the eerie chanting of the opening line in Richard's monologue, "Now is the winter of our discontent," over and over again, layered on top of each other until all that could be heard was a cacophony of voices. The mere thought of it sent shivers down her spine and caused her to physically respond.

Aemond felt her little shiver while he was directing her to nook that was what he considered his own private spot. He tugged her hand a little more as they closed in and came to a stop.

"We're here," he said.

She pulled her attention away from her memory and took in the beauty that was before her. Stacks upon stacks of Shakespeare's plays ranging from old and used to new and pristine. There were even programs of professional productions scattered around. She released Aemond's hand and slowly approached the book shelf closest to her. Her hand grazed the spines of these books, these plays, that have granted her an escape from reality.

Aemond watched her as she explored the section. He couldn't help but stare at the wonder in her eyes. While she was flustered and a bit scatterbrained when they first met, here she was calm and inspired. It was as though every step she took was calculated. She stopped at a book and carefully reached for it.

"Macbeth," she breathed out.

She simply stared at the beautiful copy, a collector's edition. The cover was a soft black with gold roses interwoven with snakes. In the middle was elegant silver lettering of the title sitting above a bubbling cauldron.

"You dare say the title aloud?" Aemond feigned concern.

Snapping out of her trance, she smack Aemond with the same play she was entranced with and rolled her eyes."We're not in a theater so we're fine."

Aemond crossed his arms and leaned on the nearest book shelf and chuckled. "Are you telling me that you actually believe in that superstition?"

She gently laid the book down and slowly walked up to him. "Of course I believe it. You'd believe it if the myth became reality to you too."

"I'm sorry, love, but I don't believe you," Aemond said. He silently cursed at himself for calling her love and prayed to the gods she didn't hear him.

She heard him.

"Now," Aemond started, "I've never been involved with a Shakespeare play -"

She was quick to cut him off, "and that's where I have the one up on you." She gave him a little smirk. "Let me tell you the story of the Old Valyria Theatre." She dramatically cleared her throat before beginning the tale.

"On a dark and stormy night -"

"Was it really dark and stormy?" Aemond interrupted.

The storyteller huffed and rolled her eyes. "No, but I was having fun so shut up."

Aemond gave an amused smile and nodded his head to let her continue.

"Anyway, it was fucking August, happy now?"

"Very," he said with a cheeky grin.

"Okay, so it's August and the Old Valyria Theatre decides to take on a Shakespeare show, like any other company does. Such a big brain idea, I know. Out of all the plays, they chose Macbeth hoping the audience would have some knowledge of the play and it's nuances. Old Valyria Theatre had a stellar cast, every actor playing a named role had previous experience with Shakespeare, which is always a plus. Shakespeare is fucking hard."

"Hmmm."

"Don't 'hmmm' me, Aemond. It is! You're distracting me again."

"Wonderful, experienced cast, right? Well, except for the children who played Fleance and Macduff's son; they were menaces to society. Everyone told them the significance of the 'myth' of Macbeth as well as other superstitious within theatre. Of course, like all children, they didn't really care and thought it was all fun and stupid. Until the accident." She stopped and stared at Aemond.

"The accident? Really? I don't think it's truly that dramatic, love, but go on." Aemond shook his head.

"Okay fine, it wasn't all that dramatic but it was still pretty intense. Because these kids were little shits, they tried out all the other superstitions: whistling in a theater, turning off the ghost light when everyone has gone, and yelling good luck. Once the first week of shows were finished, the cast knew they were pushing their luck by continuing the rest of the month but they kept going. The show must go on, right? Well, as they were closing up, the one playing Macduff ran up to the second floor platform and yelled out 'MACBETH!' Everyone in the theater looked at the kid in fear as he laughed his ass off. He was laughing so hard that he had to lean on the railing and, lo and behold, the railing broke and the kid fell off and nearly broke his tailbone. Aemond, I'm telling you the curse is real!"

Aemond cocked his head to the side and pondered the story. "So you're telling me," he started, "that you believe the curse of Macbeth is real because a kid decided to be a little shit, scream it, and then ended up falling off a set piece?" He chuckled and shook his head. "That's just kids being stupid and sets not being properly built."

"It was safe! We had gone on it thousands of times! There's no other explanation!" She argued.

"Okay, okay, I'll take your word for it," he said as he pushed himself off the bookshelf and slung an arm over her shoulders.

She leaned into him and snaked a hand around his waist as they headed out.

"Not buying anything?" Cregan asked when they appeared.

"Eh," Aemond said while the girl beside him called out.

"Next time, I swear!" She giggled a bit and pushed herself closer to Aemond.

The two walked out of the bookshop, still linked to each other. Aemond looked at her and thought she was the most beautiful girl he's ever seen. When he first saw her he knew she was pretty but watching her become so passionate and silly over Shakespeare made everything about her shine.

They were heading back to the coffee shop when Aemond paused, almost tripping her, and blurted out what he's been wanting to say ever since the book shop. "Wanttoheadtomyplace?" He blurted.

"I'm sorry, what? I couldn't make out what you were saying."

Aemond took a deep breath. "Want to head to my place? It's not far and it's warmer and we don't have to spend extra money."

She looked at him with bright eyes. "Yeah, let's go."

It was a bit of a longer walk to Aemond's apartment but neither of them minded it much. Aemond held her hand right, refusing to let it go for even the briefest of moments. He still couldn't believe that a set up from Helaena and Aegon would actually pull through but here she is. This beautiful young woman who is as witty as she is passionate.

Around two blocks away from the apartment Aemond squeezed her hand and came to a stop. "I know I said we'd go to my place but I want to show you this first. That okay? I know it's freezing out here."

She gave him a small smile. "Yeah, sure! I don't mind the cold, really. Kinda makes me feel alive, you know?"

"I do. The cold makes you…feel." He paused for a moment, lost in thoughts when a tug pulled him out of it.

"So this place you wanted to show me? I'm intrigued now."

"Yeah, um, right this way."

He led her through the city, weaving between pedestrians. As brisk as the walk was, she couldn't help but take in the beautiful sights, a dusting of snow beginning to lay upon it all. Shops had their Christmas lights up and began to glow. The smell of pine danced through the air along with sugary sweets as they passed a bakery. The smells and the sights had her so entranced that she didn't realize Aemond had come to a stop.

“I wanted to show you this,” he said as he turned to face you. “I don't know if this is considered moving too fast but something about you feels…right.”

No, I agree, Aemond. It does feel right,” she smiled at him and stepped closer. Wrapped her arms around his waist and resting her head against him she knew he was right. He felt right. This felt right.

Aemond wrapped his arms around her and held on tight, resting his chin on her head.

After a few moments of simply taking her in, he stepped aside to reveal the hidden beauty. It was a lake. A beautiful lake that sparkled even more than it usually would. The ice on top reflected the sun in the most perfect way it was as though it came straight out of a fairytale. Despite the lake being further from the hustle and bustle, it was also decorated with bells and lights among the trees.

“Aemond, this is stunning,” she said in awe.

A slight breeze encouraged the trees to dance and the bells that decorated them jingled a little song. Like the lights on the shops, these lights were beginning to glow as well.

She stepped forward, the pull of the lake too strong to be ignored. Aemond wrapped his arms around her waist and gently rocked them back and forth. She turned to face him and he pressed his forehead against hers. His breath was warm against hers as he gently bumped his nose against hers.

“May I kiss you?” he whispered. It was almost too quiet for her to hear.

“Yes.”

Aemond gently closed the gap between them and brought his lips to hers. It wasn’t a rushed kiss, it was simply soft and sweet.

“‘I kiss thee with a most constant heart’,” he said as they pulled apart.

“Henry IV, Part 2, good choice,” she laughed. “Cheesey, but a good choice nonetheless.”

*“Would you rather I call you my acorn, my knotgrass?” He joked.

“Really? Acorn and knotgrass? That’s an insult!” she said. “If you call me either of those then I’ll climb you and scratch your eyes out,” she grinned.

“Scratch my eyes out? Yeah, that doesn’t seem great but climbing me? Maybe I’ll take that chance.”

Aemond captured her lips once again but there was little softness this time. There was passion. Aemond swiped his tongue across her bottom lip asking for permission. She opened and let him in, all of him in. When their tongues touched it was as though lightning struck her. She wanted him and she wanted more. Her hands moved up to the nape of his neck and pulled him closer while his grip on her waist tightened. When they broke apart they pressed their foreheads together again.

“Can you take me to your apartment now?” She asked him.

“Absolutely,” he said with a kiss.

Aemond grabbed her hand and tugged her away from the lake and back to the sidewalk. This time there was a rush to get to his apartment. No waiting, no time to take in everything. The main goal was to get to the apartment.

The young woman holding his hand couldn’t keep the excitement at bay. Every time he squeezed her hand a shot of anticipation ran through her and straight to her core. All she could think about was his lips on hers, his hands all over her, his hands going under her shirt and -

“Thank the fucking gods we’re here,” Aemond interrupted her thoughts and dragged you into his apartment.

As soon as the door closed she was on him. She took charge and pushed him against the wall but Aemond wouldn’t have that. As soon as his back was against the wall he flipped them over so she was the one pressed against it.

“Trying to gain the upper hand, my flower?” He teased her while kissing down her neck.

“Flower? What happened to acorn? I thought - oh, fuck,”

Aemond brought his lips back up her neck and nipped at her earlobe. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

“I - I thought you were going to -”

He ran his hands down her body only to snake them under her sweater. The skin on skin contact shot pleasure all the way through her.

“Aemond please,” she begged.

“Aemond please what?” he smiled against her lips as he captured them once more.

“Please touch me.”

Aemond immediately brought his hands around her to unclasp her bra underneath her sweater. He slowly brought them back around and gently swiped a thumb over a nipple. His cold hands were quick to harden them and all she could do was whine. She arched her back to get more friction but as soon as she did he took a step back.

“Gods, you’re beautiful.” Aemond took this moment to take her in, her face flushed and her hair slightly messy.

She, however, took this moment to pull his hands back to her and encourage him to take off her sweater. Aemond chuckled at her impatience.

“Slow down, don’t you want to make this last?” He asked her.

“Yes, I want to make it last but I need to get out of my clothes and so do you,” she growled.

Aemond let her take off his clothes. She wanted revenge, though, and she had a plan once she stripped him of his jacket and shirt. He took her hand and led her to his bed. She pushed him down and stepped away from him.

“You want to be a tease? I’ll tease you back,” she told him.

He leaned back on one hand and watched her as she slowly stripped all her clothes off. She swung her hips and played with the hem of her shirt, making sure that Aemond could see just the tiniest bit of her tits before pulling it back down. She walked up to him and turned around to grind her ass on him as she took off her shoes and socks. She could feel him move to grab her but as soon as he did she moved away from him.

“Nope, no touching, Aemond. I told you if you wanted to be a tease then I’ll tease you back.”

She heard him growl in frustration but that only spurred her on even more. With her back still facing him, she slowly shimmied out of her jeans, leaving her in only her panties and sweater. When she turned around Aemond was out of his pants and underwear and touching himself at the sight of her. She smiled at him and lifted the sweater over her head before sauntering over to straddle him.

She bent down and whispered in his ear. “Is this what you wanted, babe?”

“Holy fuck yes,” Aemond responded. Immediately he flipped them over so he was on top and she was laying flat on his bed.

He kissed her hard before dragging his mouth over her jaw and down her neck. He nipped at her collarbone and she tangled her hands in his hair, urging him to go lower. Aemond complied and kissed his way to her tits, slowly circling from the outside of them to the pert nipple. But he wouldn’t touch her where she wanted, not yet. He kissed right next to her nipple then blew on it, causing it to become a peak. She whined and arched her back wanting more. Aemond looked up to see her eyes closed and smiled before finally taking one of her nipples into his warm mouth.

“Fuck, Aemond,” she whined.

“Is this what you wanted, babe?” he parroted back.

“Yes, yes, please!”

“Don’t worry, there’s more.” He switched to the other nipple and brought his hand up to the one he just left to play with it.

It felt so good, she could feel herself soaking her panties. Aemond could feel it too when she tried to grind against him. He smiled against her before letting go of her nipple with a pop and bringing his lips back to hers.

“Fuck, I can feel how wet you are. But I think you need a little more, do you agree?”

All she could do was nod in response as he kissed his way past her tits and down to her core. He kissed her over her panties and made her arch up.

“Patience, babe.”

He placed a hand on her lower stomach to keep her from bucking up as he continued to kiss her over her panties. He soon let go of her to drag them down. Aemond licked his lips at the sight of her glistening pussy. This was all his, she was this wet because of him and the thought drove him crazy. He gave her little to no time to recover before he was back between her legs, kissing and licking. He pressed an open mouth kiss to her center before dipping the tip of his tongue inside her. She cried out in pleasure as he began fucking her with his tongue. He brought one hand up to knead one of her breasts and play with a nipple while the other gently stroked her clit. She could feel the pressure building up.

“Aemond, please, I’m gonna cum,” she cried.

He simply hummed against her and picked up the pace with everything. It was all too much. The pleasure building inside her was coming to a breaking point and with a slight pinch to her clit she soaked him.

Aemond pulled away smiling. “Fuck, you taste perfect,”

He bent down to kiss her and she savored the taste of herself on him. He was hers, she knew it.

“Tell me what you want,” he said against her.

“I want you to fuck me,” she whispered against her.

“Good, because that’s all I’ve been thinking about since the lake.”

He pulled away from her and let her position herself in a more comfortable position while he reached for a condom in a drawer.

“Don’t worry, I’m on the shot,” she grabbed his arm and pulled him close. “I want to feel all of you inside me.”

Something snapped in Aemond that had him on top of her in an instant. His hands were on her tits and he could feel her reaching for his cock. She gently tugged him forward, lining him with her entrance.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Now fuck me, Aemond.”

In a quick motion he sheathed himself inside her as she cried out loud in pleasure.

He let himself settle but she didn’t want to waste any time. While Aemond was catching his breath she moved her hips against him. He gripped her hips and pulled out slightly before slamming back into her. She didn’t want any slow fucking, she wanted fast and she wanted hard.

Aemond’s grip on her hips didn’t lessen as he fucked her into the bed. But he wanted to go deeper. He pulled out of her, making her whine, but was quick to flip her over so she was on her hands and knees. He pushed her down so her chest was against the bed and her ass was in the air.

“Fucking love this pussy, and it’s fucking mine.”

Aemond wasted no time joining them together again. This was even better. She could feel him hit all the right spots, making the pressure build up again. She felt Aemond’s hand snake around her hips as he started to rub small circles on her clit.

He bent down over her and whispered, “I need you to cum on my cock, babe.”

“AEMOND,” she screamed as the pleasure peaked.

“Fucking hell,” Aemond said as he felt her tighten around him. “Fuck, I’m gonna cum. You feel so good, taking me so well.”

“Please, please, please,” she begged. “Please cum inside me, I want it please. I want you.”

Aemond’s thrusts became erratic, his grip on her so tight that they would leave bruises. He began pulling all the way out and slamming back in. With one last thrust he finished inside her, collapsing on top.

Together they lay there, his cock still inside her.

“Fucking hell, that was perfect. You are perfect,” Aemond whispered as he kissed her cheek.

He slowly got up and pulled out of her. “I’m gonna clean us up, okay?”

“Okay,” she breathed out.

When he left the room she rolled over on her back and stared at the ceiling. That was the most perfect fuck she has ever had and it was with someone she actually liked. This was perfect, he was perfect.

Aemond came back with a wet rag and cleaned her up, being careful around her clit and core. When he was done he discarded the rag and got into bed with her and held her.

“So what do we think about this? Want to make this an us?” He asked.

“Yes, let’s make this an us,” she smiled at him and pressed a soft kiss to his lips before tucking into his chest and falling asleep.

*Acorn and knotgrass/climbing and clawing eyes out is a reference to Midsummer Night’s Dream when someone was called an acorn for being short*

[builtbybrokenbells]

Catch-22 | ii

Nothing good ever happens after 2am.

Masterlist

Pairing: Sam Kiszka x f!reader

Word Count: 9k

Warnings: angst, old heartbreak and some new heartbreak, mentions of hookups, crying, breakups, arguing, high school talk, mentions of insecurities, swearing, drinking, some fluff, sorry if i miss any!

hi everyone, was going to wait to post this later tonight but i am miserably tired and will probably go right to bed after work lol, so here you go. lots of backstory in this one! like I said, i plan on this story being a bit of a slowburn so please have some patience with me while we set the scene. i hope you’re liking this so far because i know i am :) as always, enjoy, be kind, and don’t mind any grammar mistakes 🫶🏻 (lightly edited my apologies)

The sun was high in the sky, casting a golden glow over the earth while green grass was tickling your feet as you tumbled through it. Your parents had given up on the battle of putting your shoes on, because you kicked them off every time they thought they had won. They were sat on a porch, looking out at you every now and again to check in, but we’re mostly caught up in chatter with the other set of parents sitting beside them. Life was simple; all you had to care about was toys and sleep, and maybe scoring well on a spelling test every now and again. In truth, as a six year old, there was no need to worry about anything more than that. Your whole life revolved around Disney movies and chocolate milk, shared most often with your best friend in the entire world.

Sam Kiszka was undoubtedly that person, from the very day you were born up until long after you moved away. Long before you were ever a thought in your parents heads, they had been good friends with Sam’s parents. Your older sister had the same relationship with Sam’s older twin brothers, and you had always been destined for the same fate. Between barbecues and beach days, school sports and sleepovers, your lives had been inevitably intertwined with the Kiszka’s since your very first day on earth. You never thought to complain, mostly because you never knew the difference. They were like an extension of your own family, and in truth, you saw them more often than you saw your actual aunts and uncles.

“Y/n!” Sam exclaimed, catching your attention. Your head turned in his direction, now uncaring for the doll clasped between your hands. A smile was on your lips, excited that he wanted your attention, but it was nothing new. You loved having his attention, and you loved when he was asking for yours. He was always your biggest priority, even back when you were that young. He was running towards you, something held tightly in his hands that you couldn’t see very well from the distance. You took off in a run, forever happy to meet him halfway. When you were within arms reach, he extended his hand out to you, showcasing what he was holding with pride.

“For me?” You asked, struggling with the pronunciation of the ‘r’ at the end of your word. The touch of the speech impediment was blatantly obvious, but he loved you too much to care about it.

“Yeah.” He nodded with a smile on his lips, too. It was nothing special, but it was incredibly important to you, just because it had come from him. He placed the cluster of dandelions he had picked for you in your hand, enthusiastic about his work.

“Thank you, Sammy.” You giggled, bringing them closer to your face to get a closer look.

“You’re welcome.” He beamed. “They’re pretty, just like you.” The childhood innocence was astounding; just two babies speaking from their heart, thrilled by each others company and hoping that your parents would never make you go home. You sat on the ground, crossing your legs and placing the flowers beside you. He wasted no time, sitting down with you, always wanting to do the same thing that you were doing. “We’re gonna be best friends forever, you know.”

“I hope so.” You agreed, amused easily by picking strands of grass from the ground.

“And when we grow up, we’ll get married, just like my parents, ‘cause that’s what best friends do.” He continued, falling back on the ground and looking up to the sky. You laid down next to him, gazing longingly at the clouds. At that age, everything seemed so much more wondrous, so much more beautiful. Colours were brighter, and the world was not yet tainted by the darkness of adulthood. Happiness was the most you knew, diminished only occasionally with sadness that stemmed from a broken toy or a scraped knee. The biggest struggle back then was when your mother made something you disliked for dinner and that bedtime was at eight. It was so much simpler, so much better. The kids in your class were not old enough to be mean, and even if they were, it never mattered because Sam was always by your side.

“M-married?” You struggled with the word, but once again, he didn’t care. He was too busy planning a life full of toy trucks and Barbie dolls, knowing that he loved you enough then to make space for your toys in his life, too, even if he didn’t necessarily like them.

“Yeah,” he said, looking over to you “we wouldn’t have to worry about our parents making us go home. We could stay up all night and play games together forever.” He theorized. Your six-year old brain thought it was the best idea in the whole world, even at that age knowing that a lifetime with Sam was a dream come true. Even if you didn’t fully know what it meant, you couldn’t think of any downsides of his plan.

“That would be awesome.” You giggled, closing your eyes.

“It would be the best.” He corrected, reaching across the grass and slipping his hand into your own.

You woke with a start, heart pounding in your chest and your forehead glistening with sweat. Your stomach was churning with unease, haunted by the innocent memories of your childhood. You sat up, head still spinning with intoxication as you looked around your room. Moonlight was pouring in the window, letting you know that it was nowhere near time for you to wake up. You found your phone tangled in the blankets, pulling it out to check the time. “Four in the morning?” You grumbled, feeling wide awake after your brain’s incessant recollection of your younger years. You did your best to stand, feeling yourself in a constant state of dizziness. You figured if you got some water into you, you could speed up your body’s process in returning to sobriety.

You creeped into the hallway, careful not to disturb any of your sleeping family members. You made it to the kitchen, feeling yourself relax as you grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. You gulped as much of it down as you could, ignoring the nausea that came along with it. Before finishing the bottle, you grabbed some Advil and swallowed those down, too. Instead of returning to your bedroom, you took a seat at the kitchen table to let the water settle in your stomach. You felt a great deal better already, your eyes more focused and your heart resuming its normal rhythm, but your mind was still racing with memories similar to the one in your dream. You reached out to the fruit bowl sitting on the table, grabbing an apple in hopes that some good nutrients might aid your shaking hands and weak muscles. As you bit into it, you knew that the ailments were not because of a nasty hangover from alcohol; they were solely due to your body’s withdrawal from Sam.

He was the worst addiction you ever had, his effect on you similar to a fever that you just couldn’t kick. You were sweaty, shaky and delirious as you tried to bring your temperature down, but it only ever seemed to spike higher. You went through bouts of missing Sam, feeling the sickness creep in the longer you thought about him, but being face to face with him always seemed to debilitate you. Just when you thought you could rid yourself of the disease for good, he showed up out of nowhere, killing off any healthy cells and engulfing them with his existence. All of your progress gone in an instant, and he didn’t even care to see how badly he was hurting you. Sam was the only thing your body knew, and it craved him so desperately that it was excruciating to go without him, but it was so toxic that as soon as you felt his presence again, you thought you might die from the illness.

As much as you wished he would disappear, you knew that even after all this time, he was the beacon of light in your darkened universe. The only thing that would guide you home when you lost your way, yet also the very thing that you wished to run away from. Back then, he made home feel more like home, but now that he was gone, the lack of his presence made the loneliness scream even louder. The love never disappeared, but it seemed as though resentment grew around it, locking it up and throwing away the key. Even while knowing you held him in such contempt, you knew it was not the end of your story. It rarely ever was, and you believed that after years of manifesting that you would be intertwined forever, you cemented it so well that there was no escape from it, now.

It was the way you and Sam had always worked; you would be inseparable to the point where you started to believe that it truly was forever, and then something would cause a drift. It was either a huge blowout, or a silent goodbye. Neither were favourable because you both wanted to make it work so badly. You would stay away for a while, swear that it was the end and you would never double back on your word, then you would cross paths in a twisted way of fate, inevitably landing right back at the beginning. There was no better way to describe it than your conversation just a few hours before; one of you displeased with seeing the other, yet both of you knowing it was bound to happen despite your efforts at avoidance. Sooner or later, you and Sam always ended up back in each others arms, and eventually, you would be hurt again from the very thing you previously wished to have just once more.

The issue did not lie within a lack of love; the two of you loved each other beyond any measure of human comprehension, but you had absolutely no idea how to love each other properly. Destined to love and programmed to hurt. It was an exhausting process, and even after a lifetime of learning it so well, you hadn’t yet managed to discover the secret to breaking it.

Loving Sam would be the death of you, but the thought of anything at his hand was so comforting that you forgot about the fear of dying itself.

“I think I love you, Rapunzel.” The nickname was endearing, yet already overused in the short time since he had come up with it. He thought he was a genius when he rattled it off for the first time, the inspiration striking him while he sat below your window waiting for you to open it and allow him inside. Living just down the street from you made it so much easier to sneak out and visit, and it had become almost a nightly routine.

“I love you too, Sammy.” You laughed, keeping your voice quiet so your parents wouldn’t hear you. The last think you wanted was to get caught. You could deal with the consequences for yourself, but you’d be miserable if they stopped allowing Sam over.

He was your anchor in your house full of constant chaos; your oldest sister was constantly terrorizing you for taking too long in the bathroom (or for anything else she could think to be angry about), your youngest sister was still in elementary school and was always amidst temper tantrum, and your parents had become experts at fighting without saying a word. Peace and quiet was a foreign concept, and the nighttime routine that you and Sam found yourselves in was the best part of your day. He would sneak over just after dark when his parents believed him to be tucked into his room getting ready for bed. He’d throw a pebble at your window to let you know he was there, and you’d let him inside. You’d spend the rest of the evening together laying in bed, talking about your fears and your hopes and dreams, then he would begrudgingly make his way back home after a prolonged goodbye. It was predictable, but it was comforting, and it was the only constant in your life when everything else seemed so chaotic.

Eighth grade had taken an incredible toll on you. With puberty, your family’s new found tension, and your struggle with not fitting in with the rest of the girls was wearing you down, yet Sam still seemed to look at you the exact same as he always did; with love in his eyes and a smile on his face. Nothing in the world could change it, and he would still love you the same no matter what you looked like, because in his eyes, you were the most beautiful girl in the world. You looked over at him, focused enough to notice that his adolescence was slowly fleeing him. His jawline was sharper and every now again his voice would crack. He sounded different and looked different, but he was the same as he always was. It seemed like time could not even begin to touch his character, nor the bond you had formed, and you were incredibly grateful for it.

“No,” he shook his head, looking down to meet your face “in love, y/n.” His voice was quiet, but it was no longer because of the fear of being caught. He was fearful of rejection and of ruining what you two had worked so hard at creating. You couldn’t explain the feeling that washed over you; it was not anxiety or any type of nervousness, nor excitement. It was comfortability, like what he said to you was less of a shock and more of a rite of passage.

“Yeah, me too.” You whispered. It did not matter that neither of you really knew what being in love meant, because you loved each other in every way you knew how, and that was the only thing that held any importance. Thirteen year olds had no true sense of reality or anything pertaining to growing up, but you knew that you wanted to be with each other and love each other in every way possible. He didn’t care about your bulky glasses or your weight, or any other differences you had from the other girls in your grade. He cared about you, and he cared so much that no other thirteen year old boy could even begin to understand it.

“Really?” He couldn’t hide the relief in his voice, and you thought it was quite endearing.

“Yeah.” You repeated, nodding your head.

“Oh, cool.” He sighed, relaxing back into the mattress. His head was rested atop a pillow that constantly smelled of his shampoo, and it was the same one you always held closest to you while you slept. Sam was your entire world, and always had been. The proclamation of love changed nothing except for giving you another way to express the way you felt for each other. “So, what now?” He asked. You looked down at your hands, fingers already intertwined with each others. You already had your head resting on his arm, leaning against him to steal the warmth straight from his body. “Does it change anything?”

“No,” you shook your head. “I think this is it.”

The memory was gut wrenching, shooting daggers straight into your heart. You weren’t sure if it was your drunken stupor or your broken heart, but you felt another round of tears begging to be shed. You craved so badly to be those innocent kids again, to go back and do it right without breaking each others hearts, but it was impossible. You craved to love Sam without any pain, but you knew that the pain shared between you both was too large to ever let go of. You were afraid that love, especially when it came to Sam, was nothing but violence. Even if the good moments were fantastic, you could not hold on to hope for a lifetime full of hurt.

The creep of footsteps could be heard down the hallway, but you were too drunk to clean yourself up before you were thrown into confrontation. Whoever dared to impose could suffer the consequences of your sadness. When the body presented itself at the other end of the kitchen table, you looked up to meet the concerned eyes of your youngest sister. “Hey, bug.” You quickly wiped away your tears. “What are you doing awake?”

Correction: you were willing to impose your sadness on anyone as long as it wasn’t her.

“You were upset when you came home tonight,” she said, referring to the state you were in after the bar. “I was worried, I couldn’t sleep.”

“You don’t have to worry, Ellie.” You assured her, sniffling back another sob. Your relationship with her was strange. When she was born, you hated her so badly that you asked your parents to bring her back to the hospital. When she started to get a little older and you realized that she was there for good, you began to warm up to her. By the time she was in school, your parents were working a lot and you took care of her more often than not. Your oldest sister, Brooke, helped as much as she could until she went off to college, but she was a lot busier with her personal life than you were, so you were most often the babysitter. You watched her grow up as you did, too, and she was your whole world.

“I do, though.” She replied, dismissing your own dismissal. “You cried yourself to sleep, and now you don’t want to be in your bed. The only time you don’t like sleeping in your bed is when Sam’s done something wrong. I know it reminds you of him.” For a fifteen year old, she was incredibly observant. “I thought you guys stopped talking?”

“We did, and we aren’t going to start again. Just ran into him at the bar. I’ll be okay, though. I’m always okay.” You assured her, closing your eyes to stop any more tears from falling.

“You always take care of me, y/n. Let me take care of you for once.” She said, unwilling to give up. Without permission, she took a seat next to you at the table after grabbing you another bottle of water. “Just because it’s happened a long time ago doesn’t mean it you have to be over it.”

“He’s like the plague.” You sighed, soothing your irritated eyes with the cold skin on the back of your hands. “He just… takes over, and I don’t know how to get rid of him. I try to forget about him, and then something else makes me fall in love all over again.”

“He was your whole world.” She shrugged, wishing there was some magic answer to ease all of the hurt you were feeling. “I mean… I remember Sam being here all of the time. He was around just as much as you were. You were best friends. He was your first love and your first heartbreak. It only makes sense for it to still hurt.” You nodded, knowing that she was right but still feeling as if you should be over him. “Do you still love him?”

You laughed at the thought, an empty smile on your lips as you pondered the best way to describe the feeling.

“I… I don’t know what else to tell you, y/n. I just think that we’ve been doing this for so long… you’re all I know.” He explained, avoiding your eyes at all costs. Your heart was breaking more with each word, your sixteen year old self never having faced such a massive loss before.

“And that’s a bad thing?” You asked, tears slipping down your cheeks. “I mean, we always talked about forever, Sam. You’ve always been my forever; I don’t need to know anything else.”

“You’ll always be my forever, Rapunzel.” He finally looked up, also unable to bear the thought of not living a life alongside you. “Just… right now, I need some space.” After sixteen years of being inseparable, you were trying your best to digest the thought of not spending every day with him. It killed you, but you were not willing to sacrifice your dignity for something that was not worth it. If he wanted to leave, you would hold the door just to make sure it wouldn’t hit him on the way out.

“Okay.” You took a long gulp of air, holding your breath and holding in the sobs begging to be heard. You walked to your bedroom door, twisting the handle and pulling it open. You stood by, waiting for him to take the hint.

“Okay?” He asked, hurt by your lack of fight. “That’s it?”

“That’s it, Sam. If you want to go, then go.” You said, lip quivering at the thought of him walking out. “If you want to break up with me, do it, but you don’t get to be upset when I let you. Why would I fight for you when you don’t want to fight for me?” He watched your face, agony striking him at the thought of being the cause of your pain. After a moment of shared silence, he gave a slow nod.

“Friends?” He asked, taking a step towards you. You watched in disbelief, unsure if he really thought you could remain friends after such a conversation.

“Yeah, sure.” You lied, knowing that once he walked outside, you had no intent of ever letting him back in. He gave you a sad smile, wishing he could hug you but knowing that it was best to leave you alone. He wasn’t even fully into the hallway before you were rushing to close the door, tears pouring down your cheeks at the idea of being without him.

“Do you remember the first time we broke up?” You asked, forcing the words through gritted teeth. “I know you were young, but-“

“I remember.” She said, cutting you off. “It’s hard to forget. I don’t think I ever saw you like that before.”

“When he left, I swore that would be the end of it, but I knew I was still in love with him.” You explained. “Just like every time after that. He left, I promised I was done, and then I’d let him come back. I let him hurt me so many times until I couldn’t take it anymore, and I had to go. You’d think after all of this time I would have learned my lesson, but I saw him last night and all I wanted to do was let him come back… let him come home.” You chuckled, shaking your head at your own stupidity. “The only thing I know how to do is love him, and the only thing he knows how to do is hurt me.”

“Do you think he changed?” She asked, listening intently to your words.

“I was hoping he did. He looks different, he acts different… god, he even sounds different, but when I look at him, something in his eyes always reminds me that it’s the same old Sam. I know that he hasn’t changed, which is good in a way, but that also means he’s still the exactly same person I fell in love with all those years ago, which is horrible.”

“Again, Sam?” You were angry, that much was clear. He cowered under the weight of your emotions, barely prepared for the blowout waiting to happen. “You let me fall in love with you just so you could break up with me again?”

“I’m sorry, y/n.” He muttered, running a a hand through his hair. “I didn’t… I missed you so much as a friend. When we got back together, I was so happy to have you around again that I didn’t realize I’m still not ready for a relationship.”

“Senior prom is in two months, Sam! What the hell am I supposed to do now?”

“I still want to go with you, Rapunzel. That was never a question.” He said, desperate to ease your worry. He reached a hand out to you, hoping that touch might calm your hurt, but you brushed him off without second thought.

“What if I don’t want to go with you? Did you think of that?” You snapped, not really meaning it, but even if you wanted to go with him, you knew it wasn’t good for you. Every time you let Sam come back around, he just seemed to hurt you more. The happiness of your childhood was long forgotten and replaced by all of the pain he’d caused you. Sometimes, it was hard to even imagine the simplicity the two of you once felt together. “You know what? Just go. I don’t have time for this.” You shook your head, realizing you were fighting a losing battle.

“I’m sorry, y/n.” He whispered, making a move to stand.

“I’m so sick of hearing that you’re sorry. Please go, and don’t try and come back. Im done, Sam.” You refused to look at him, completely missing the pain-stricken features of his face. He hated hurting you, yet it seemed like there was no way to resolve the issues without it. In hopes of avoiding any further trouble for you, he gave a small nod and turned to walk out of the room. Once again, you watched him walk away while deep down, you hoped that he would find his way back to you eventually. You were stuck, wishing so badly to escape the cycle, but more so than ever, it seemed like it was never ending.

You wished you could say that you stuck to your word, but when June of your senior year rolled around and nobody else peeked your interest as a prom date, you were left wondering why it would be so bad to go with Sam. You had always planned to do so, and you already had a dress that matched his tie. You wanted your last high school memory to be with your most important person, and it felt almost foolish to go with anyone else. So, with a shred of hope and a lot of courage, you asked Sam if he would still be willing to be your date to prom. He was ecstatic to accompany you and in truth, he was hoping you would change your mind after denouncing him from your life.

As friends, the two of you dressed to the nines and smiled through a night full of photographs. The awkwardness wore off almost immediately and you were back to your old selves, laughing over old memories and crying over your own stupidity. By the end of the night, you were both tipsy and reminiscing on the better times and confessing how miserable life was without each other. As if the stars had aligned perfectly to guide you into the darkest breakup of your life, a messy hookup cemented yours and Sam’s relationship as lovers once again. You graduated from high school and spent the entire summer immersed in each other. The air seemed different, more clear than it had been the last time you two had found your way back to each other. You had small fears about leaving for university, worried that your relationship was not strong enough to make it through the pressure of long distance, but it appeared that Sam was a changed man.

You spent your first year of university taking turns driving to see each other, spending every holiday glued together at the hip, and called whenever you had a spare minute. You survived your gruelling work with sweet messages from him and nights shared in your tiny dorm bed, and you were more in love with him than you ever thought to be possible. It was different than your younger years because back then, love didn’t mean all that much. You really didn’t know what it meant to love someone else so completely, and it all seemed a little silly in comparison to what you felt for him as you got older. He was your whole world, but even better than it was before. It seemed like the pain was obsolete, long forgotten and left in the past to die there. You both grew up, got out of your hometown and away from the same group of people who you saw every single day. It was a fresh start, something that you both desperately needed, and it served you well.

But, all good things must come to an end, and that time, the end was nothing short of catastrophic.

“Maybe you’re just too invested in the Sam you knew when you were kids.” She offered. “It’s been two years, y/n. If you still feel that way for him, maybe it’s worth a shot to try and get to know the new version of him.”

“I’d love to, but there’s something telling me that it’s just going to end the same way. It never seems like I can love him enough to make him want to stay.” Your voice cracked at the thought, the emotion too profound to hide. You loved Sam with every ounce of your heart and soul, but it never seemed like it was good enough for him, and it never mattered in the end, because he was bound to break you every time you let him get close.

“It’s up to you whether you want to talk to him or not. You know your heart the best, and you know him the best. If you don’t think it’s worth it, then please don’t give in to him. If you think he deserves another chance, then do it. Whatever you decide, I’ve got your back, and whatever you do, just don’t let him make you think that you’re not good enough, because it’s not true.”

“Thank you, bug.” You reached out for her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “You should get some sleep and stop worrying about me.”

“I always worry about you, and you always worry about me. It what we do.” She shrugged. “Are you going to bed, too?” You nodded, looking at the time displayed in green numbers on the stove.

“Yeah, probably should.” You said, but you were in no rush to get up and go. Your bed was haunting you with Sam’s memory, making it impossible to forget about him even in a slumber. His name was plastered on the walls and his face had seeped into the foundation, making it impossible to get away. He was the whole world, and you were just living in it. Everywhere you turned led you straight to another reminder of him, and it was sickening. But, even in the sickness, there was an odd comfort that came along with it. Being heartbroken over Sam had become the most consistent thing in your life, and being thrown so violently into it again, the familiarity made the stay more comfortable.

“If you can’t sleep, you can stay in my room.” She offered, a tired smile on her face. “Do you remember when we used to do that as kids?”

“Of course I do.” You chuckled. How could you forget? When your parents would fight, usually keeping everyone awake at night, she would sneak to your room to stay in bed with you. Usually, Sam was there, too. The three of you would always sleep soundly together in bed, no care about the lack of space or the uncomfortable positions because your company allowed for her to get some rest. When you and Sam would fight, you would find solace in her room because your own was too hard to be in. Back then, she didn’t know why you so often stayed the night in her room, and your tears would not fall until she was long asleep. When she started to get older, she understood better without you ever having to tell her.

“I’ll leave my door open just in case.” She promised, making a move to stand. “I love you.”

“I love you, El.” You gave a weak smile, watching as she disappeared up the stairs. It took you a while to find the courage to follow, but after a few moments, you made your way to your own bedroom. It felt like there was weights around ankles, dragging you down in hopes of delaying your return. Your bedroom was the last place you wanted to be, but you knew that after all you had overcome, you could conquer the last obstacle in your way of removing Sam from your life. Once you convinced yourself that his aura no longer lived inside your bedsheets, you would be better for it.

You closed your door softly behind you, letting out a long sigh to rid yourself of the looming torment of the night. You crawled into bed, checking the time once more to see that it was close to sunrise, now. You looked out at the sky, noticing the darkness slowly turning into purple and pinks. You let your head fall back on the pillow as you stared at the ceiling, noticing the pathetic illumination from the glow in the dark stickers you’d placed on it years ago. You let your eyes close, but your mind did not quiet even in the darkness.

Then, it came like a premonition of imminent disaster.

A weak thud sounded on the glass of your window, echoing through the entire room as if it was a noise so powerful it shook the foundation. But, it was not loud, nor was it anything that was truly attention grabbing. Perhaps the only reason you heard it so clearly was because you were listening for it, hoping it would happen. In truth, you could have ignored it and realized that it was likely due to nothing more than the wind blowing something against the glass, but your brain would not allow you to believe it was a coincidence.

It’s almost funny how the simplicity of a moment can appear so extravagant in our minds.

You slowly stood, cautiously approaching the sill with disbelief written all over you. With hope in your heart, you looked out into the night, first noticing the gentle sway of the tree line in the breeze. Your gaze drifted down towards the ground, eventually settling on an outline of a body. You blinked twice, just to be sure that the figure was still there after you refocused your eyes. You leaned closer to the glass, finding the features on his face break through the darkness with the utmost clarity. You flipped the lock, slowly sliding the window open as your heart swelled with affection. Even if you hated him, you could never seem to be mad when he showed up at your house with love in his eyes and hope in his heart.

“I didn’t know if you would answer, but I had to try.” He confessed, his voice a little raspy and his words ending with a slight slur.

“You’re drunk, Sam.” You whispered, but you couldn’t seem to turn him away.

“I know, I’m hammered.” He said, nodding his head. “Everyone told me I should go home, but I’m drunk, and I miss you, and this is the only home I know. You’re home, Rapunzel, and I’m so stupid for thinking otherwise.”

“Sam,” you sighed, almost wishing he never came. As much as you wanted to invite him inside, you knew it was a terrible idea.

“Please,” he pleaded, taking a step closer. He was so tall he could almost reach the windowsill himself without your help. “I know I don’t deserve anything from you, y/n, but I just want to talk.” You were frozen in place, unsure of how to handle the situation. You wanted to let him in, but you so badly wanted to tell him to leave and never come back. Every option was painful, and every decision was hard. You wished for once it could be easy with Sam, no matter which way it went. You just wanted it to be simple, for one decision not to be laced with regret or remorse. “Let your hair down? For old times sake?” He asked, looking up at you with nothing but love in his eyes.

You watched him, wondering if it was really him standing down there or if it was a figment of your drunken and delusional imagination. After a few seconds, you gave a small nod, popping the screen out of the window. You placed it on the floor and leaned down, holding your hands out for him to grab. He wasted no time responding, allowing you to pull him up just enough to grab the ledge. From there, he navigated the rest of the way himself. You took a step back, allowing him to move without worry of bumping into you. Once he was steady on his feet in front of you, you could see the emotion in his face. His eyes looked bloodshot, puffy just the same as yours were. He was exhausted, clearly going through just as much turmoil as you had that night.

“What are you doing here?” You asked, unsure why you even let him inside in the first place.

“I don’t know,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “I know that you don’t want to see me, and I know why, but I couldn’t… I couldn’t just let you walk away again. I had to try, and even if you tell me to leave and that you never want to see me again, at least I know for sure.”

“Sam, we’re not… We’re not the same people, anymore. You can’t just show up at my window and expect me to let you inside. You can’t just say sorry and expect things to go back to normal.”

“But you did let me in. That counts for something, right?” You couldn’t argue with his logic, because you did allow him inside. As much as you would have liked to blame him for the ridiculous situation you had found yourself in, your own stupidity played a large part in the outcome. “Jake told me this was a terrible idea, and maybe he was right, but I got further than anyone thought I would.”

“Don’t be an idiot, Sam.” You mumbled. “You know I’ll always let you in.” You look to the floor, almost ashamed at the confession.

“And I appreciate that, even if I know I don’t deserve it.”

“You don’t,” you agreed “but you made the effort, so I have to give you that, at least.”

“I’m sorry, princess. For everything.”

“We’re long past that, honey.” You chuckled, taking a seat on the edge of your bed as you pulled a blanket over your shoulders. “Why are you here?” You asked again, waiting for a real answer. So far, you had only grown more confused by his drunken rambling.

“I don’t know, to apologize?” He said, taking a seat in your computer chair. He had enough sense to know that his presence was not welcome on the bed with you. “When you told me we could go for drinks some other time, I knew you didn’t mean it. You planned to ignore every text and call until you went back to university, and then we’d never see each other again. I couldn’t risk that, because these last two years without you have been miserable.”

“You could have apologized two years ago.” You offered, feeling more awake than before. The anger rising in your heart was a great adrenaline boost, and you were ready to face him with all of the hurt you’d been feeling since the last time you saw him.

“I tried, you didn’t want to hear it.” He argued.

“I wonder why.” You rolled your eyes, astonished at his inability to own up to the truth. He was not the victim nor was he a saint; your lack of communication stemmed directly from his inability to grow up and be in a relationship, and he had no right to be upset about it.

“I don’t. I know why, y/n, but it doesn’t mean I liked it. I fucked up that night, and I have been living with that every day since. I’m trying to make it right, but it seems like you don’t want me to.”

“That night?” You asked, raising an eyebrow. “Sure, you put the nail in the coffin, but you fucked up plenty more times than just that night. You’ve been breaking my heart since we were old enough to understand what that meant. Maybe I don’t want to let you back in because I’m fucking terrified you’ll do it again.”

“I know.” He sighed, closing his eyes to regain his confidence. He could not express the guilt he felt for all he put you through, but he was trying his best to explain it. He did not want to argue, and he did not want to portray himself as angry, because he wasn’t. He deserved every harsh word that you were throwing his way. “I can’t take that back even if I wish I could, but I can tell you that I am so sorry I did that to you. You are the most wonderful person in the whole world; you’re my best friend, my soulmate, and I know that you’re the love of my life, even if I’m not yours anymore. I hate that I hurt you, and I hate that I don’t know how to fix it, but I still love you, y/n. My life has been empty, even if I’m travelling the world and doing what I love. At first, I wasn’t sure why, but now I know it’s because you’re not there with me. I miss you so much that it’s hard to think about anything else.” You watched him, curious about his profoundly disturbing confession. It was sweet, but it was not the Sam you knew. All those years ago, he was just a boy who had no idea how to express himself. Words were always difficult, and he never knew how to say I love you without lacing it into a joke.

Maybe, in some violent twist of fate, he really had grown up.

“How long have you been working on that one?” You asked, pulling the blanket tighter against your body.

“Two years.” He replied without hesitation.

“Two years and that’s all you’ve got?” You gave a small laugh, but this one was genuine. You looked up to meet his eye, the snide comment striking him odd until he saw the playful gleam in your face. “I expected more from you.”

“You know I’ve never been good at this stuff.” He found himself smiling, too. “So you’ve been thinking about me, too?”

“Stupid question.” You snipped. “You already know the answer.”

“Yeah, me too. Obviously.” He gave a nervous laugh. “I thought that you forgot about me. When I look at your Instagram, it just seems like you’re a whole different person. I’m happy you got out of here and you look like you’re doing okay. Your new friends seem cool, too, but I miss you and I wish I could be a part of that life, too.”

“You could have, Sam.” You reminded, not wanting to talk too much about the incident in which severed the ties between you. “But you do, too. I listened to some of your music off the new album. It’s fantastic, and I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you.” He whispered, touched that you cared enough to listen to it despite your ill feelings towards him. “You’re almost finished school, now. Where are you going next?”

“I don’t know,” You shrugged, hating the small talk you had fallen into. You knew Sam too well for such simple formalities. “Away from here, but that’s all I really know.”

“You always wanted to get out of here,” he chuckled, recalling the endless conversations about your desire to leave the town behind. “Times finally come.” He couldn’t help but feel a sense of sadness at the idea, knowing that once you packed your bags, you would never come back. There would be no late night sneaking around, no conversations about the future under the stars in your backyard. He was ecstatic for you to move on and start living, but he was also sad for the kids who used to dream about doing it together.

“It’s scary, but I’m ready.”

“You’ve been ready since you learned how to walk.” He corrected. “Do you want to leave me behind, too?” Your heart broke at the sight of the pain in his eyes, knowing that once you were gone, it could be the end of a lifetimes worth of love.

“Come on, Sam. We both know you left first, and a long time ago at that.” You muttered, nervously playing with the hem of the blanket. “Besides, knowing us, we’re bound to run into each other again somewhere. Just the way it works for us.”

“We don’t have to wait to run into each other again.” He said, begging to meet your gaze again. “We ran into each other tonight, and it has to be for a reason.” Your eyes flickered to his face, also in search of the familiarity, yet scared to see the foreignness.

“I think after all this time, we should know the reason is no good.” You tried to stand your ground, even if you wanted nothing more than to invite him in. It was wrong, and it would end so badly that you would never be able to pick up the broken pieces again. Loving Sam was painful, and your brain was begging you to remember that. Even when it was good, it seemed to hurt somewhere.

“I changed, y/n, and I really want to show you that. I still love you the same, but I’ll do it better this time, if you give me the chance.”

“We can’t just pretend that the past didn’t happen.” You shook your head, appalled that he was even suggesting it. “It’s too much Sam, and after everything, we should know that it’s never going to work.”

“I want to make it work, Princess. For you, I’d do anything. I know that I haven’t been the best, but I want to be the best, now. You deserve it, and I’m not saying I deserve another chance, but I would like to prove to you that you are my whole world.”

“I can’t… you can’t just come in here and expect me to forgive you and come crawling back again. It’s too much, and I’m better than that, now. I love you, but I can’t let you hurt me, again.”

“Just come out for dinner with me. Or drinks, or whatever you want. One night, just to hear what I have to say. No strings attached, just fun, like we used to do.” You watched him, unbelieving of his determination despite the pain he had caused. You loved him, that was certain, but after so long of loving someone and only being burned in response, you could not find that hope in your heart that you once had. The whole notion was ridiculous, and the fact that he’d shown up drunk at five in the morning to profess it was even worse. Sam had no ability to speak his truth when he was sober, and you feared that his courage would wear off when the morning came. Even worse than that, you feared that his drunken confession stemmed from the melancholic familiarity of seeing you, and not because he was genuine in his desire to try again.

You loved him, but it was not worth the risk. It hardly ever was, and you should have learned that years ago.

“No,” you shook your head. “I don’t think that is a good idea.”

“Oh.” He breathed, the rejection staggering and cutting him like a knife.

“You should probably go home, Sam. It’s late and we’re drunk. We shouldn’t be doing this.” You said, trying to hide the sadness in your voice.

“Yeah, okay.” He nodded, standing without another word. “C-can I hug you? Just one last time?” You looked up, attempting to ignore the tears that were forming in his tired eyes.

“Yeah, sure.” You agreed, standing, too. You let the blanket fall from your shoulders, practically falling into his arms. Just because you knew he should leave did not mean you didn’t miss his touch. It was home, and you hadn’t felt it in a long time. Perhaps once you felt it again, you could finally come to your senses and realize it was no longer your hiding place, or a safe haven from the harshness of the world. Once his arms were around you and you were enveloped in the warmth and the familiar scent, you knew that you would never love anything more, and that’s exactly why you needed to stay away. You loved Sam so much that it was dangerous, because he did not know how to love you enough. No matter how many chances you gave him, that fact would never change.

Before he pulled away, he placed a kiss on the top of your head. He was aching all over knowing he might be leaving you behind forever, anguished at the fact that it might be the last hug he would ever have from you. “If you ever change your mind, Princess, you have my number.”

“I do.” You nodded, biting back your own tears. “Who knows, maybe someday it’ll be different.”

“I hope so, y/n.” He said, staring out the window and hating the sun that was rising in the sky. The day should never continue as normal when two people were hurting so badly. It seemed like a stab to an already open wound, and there was no sign of ever being able to stitch it back up.

“Bye, Sammy.” You whispered.

“See you later, Princess.” He said, taking one last breath of courage before climbing through the window. You watched as he descended to the ground, his feet firmly planting to the grass before he began his journey home. You waited until he was completely out of view before popping the screen back in place and locking the window shut, keeping out any more visitors and locking in all of your sorrow.

You climbed back into bed, the memory of him still latched onto your mattress and buried in the pillows. You knew that not even time could rid him from the place, because after so many years, it was more his than it was your own. You wiped the tears away from your cheeks, feeling no sympathy for yourself despite the overwhelming ache that settled in your chest. Your hurt was solely because of your own inability to control yourself around Sam; after all, he could not cause any pain if you did not allow him to, and allowing him to hurt you had become your favourite pastime. Opening that window for him was nothing but an excuse to worsen your suffering. The temporary fix for your loneliness was barely enough to take away from the lasting damage his company always seemed cause. Nothing had changed except for the maturity of your faces, and even if you hated to admit it, it never would.

You tossed and turned, begging for a second of sleep, but you were haunted by the interaction that appeared to be completely innocent. Then again, innocence is a thing that neither of you had when it came to each other, and just like your mother used to tell you, nothing good ever happens after 2am. You knew it to be painfully true, but it was even more so when it came to Sam Kiszka. You had opened the door to a whole other world of trouble, and now you couldn’t seem to latch it shut. Even when you managed to drift into sleep, your mind was still plagued with memories of the boy you were begging to forget.

TAGLIST: @itsafullmoon @freefallthoughts @lightsofthe-living-gvf @heckingfrick @sagekiszka

[tswaney17]

Like Dad

Happy @azrielappreciationweek, Day 7: Free

I was very excited to bring back my Oh Baby AU for this week. I'm slowly coming out of my creative funk, and I hope to be back to posting on the regular here soon! 💕

Catch up here: Little One, My Son

My fanfic account: @tswaney17fics​​​

My ao3 account: tswaney17

Please let me know what you think about this update. I love getting your feedback. Constructive criticism is always welcome. 💕

Trigger warnings: none

Word Count: 2,224

This fic will be posted on AO3 only. Read here.

Azriel slid Rosalie’s plate back in front of her after cutting her roasted chicken up into more manageable bites.

“Thanks, Daddy!” she announced, spearing a piece of meat and popping it into her mouth.

He leaned down, kissing the top of her head.

“How is training going?” Elain asked her elder sister.

They were having their weekly family dinner at Rhys and Feyre’s manor. Since they all started having children, the sisters pushed to keep up these traditions so the cousins could grow up together. Or at least they tried to as much as possible. Occasionally, one group wouldn’t be able to make it, like when Amren and Varian were in Summer, or Cassian took his lot to the Illyrian Steppes. But, for the most part, they all showed up for this set-aside, few hours to reconnect as a family.

And it worked. Kaden and Nyx were as thick as thieves, and Rosalie and her younger cousin Sutton were already the best of friends. He loved seeing their children together. It reminded him much of his childhood with his brothers. The bond formed through centuries that could never be broken.

Tested, yes.

Broken, no.

Read More

~~~~~

Remember, sharing is caring! Please reblog if you liked the fic. It helps spread my work and I truly appreciate it. 💕

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[mrs-johansson]

Escape from LA - Lisa Manobal x Fem!Depp!Reader

Part 1:

“And the Grammy goes to… Y/n Fleur Depp!” The present read out the card and I just let my head fall back as I let out a big sigh. My sister was the first to bring me in a big hug and then my manager and producer who were also such a big part of this album. I hugged everyone around me and at the table next to us was Harry sitting. I looked over and he was already on his feet clapping with a genuine smile on his face. I put my hands together and leaned forward a bit to express my gratitude.

Walking up the stairs will never get old or boring, it’s always a huge honor. Accepting the award I stepped up to the mic.

“Thank you so much for this. Ugh… It’s always an honor to get one of these but I think it’s even more special to me to be named beside my fellow nominees. I would’ve never thought that my name would be in the same conversation as ABBA. Absolutely insane to me,” I chuckled looking down at the award. “And everyone else in the category, you guys are incredible and the art that you all create is what this world needs and I’m just happy to be named beside you. I uhm… I wanna thank Romeo and Phil, my producers and Jenna, my manger. My family, of course, you guys are the best. But mostly my amazing fans, who relentlessly support and love me, and without you, I wouldn’t be standing here, so thank you.”

***

Y/n Fleur Depp parties with sister, Lily-Rose Depp and ex-boyfriend Harry Styles at the 2023 Grammy after party

The Depp sisters enjoy a night out in Los Angeles after the Grammy Awards

Y/n Fleur Depp bags 2 Grammys just before kicking off her Reflections World Tour

Y/n Fleur Depp supports Harry Styles at his Melbourne concert just a week before her world tour kicks off

***

“Tonight we have a very special guest with us, multiple Grammy award winner singer, and songwriter, please welcome Y/n Fleur Depp,” said Jimmy Kimmel, and as the door opened I stepped out, waving to the crowd and making my way to the chair after sharing a hug with the host.

“Y/n, welcome to the show, how are you doing?” Asked Jimmy. “Thank you, happy to be here. I’m great, how are you?” I asked politely. “Great, thanks. Are you and Harry back together?” He replied so fast and my eyes just went wide as the whole crowd started cheering. “Oh no, we’re not. I’m absolutely single, believe me. I don’t need anything right now,” I chuckled uncomfortably. I admit I’ve been talking the most with Harry since we’ve broken up but there’s nothing between us and we both know there’ll be nothing. “Okay, just making sure. Did you enjoy his concert?” “Yes, definitely. He is an amazing performer so I wasn’t worried.” “You start your tour in two days and it’s gonna be a very long journey. You start in LA on February 22nd and the last date is in Soul, Korea on February 21st. That’s a long tour.” “Yeah, it is. But it’s gonna be awesome. We’ve been preparing for a while now and I’m very excited to see everyone and sing the new songs,” I smiled giddily and the crowd cheered hearing my words. “How do you prepare for a tour like this? I mean obviously, you have the dance stuff and all but mentally and physically?” “Yeah, I prep for the show with all of the dancers 3 times a week for like… 3 months. But I work out every day also, even if it’s pilates or gym. Shows can be very hard on your body when you perform 5 times a week for two and a half hours, so I try my best to prepare for the year. And mentally I guess I just try to enjoy every quiet moment before going on the road. It’s very hard obviously being away from my friends and family but someone always comes to each show so that’s nice,” I explained. “And as I know, you bring your cat on tour with you.” “Oh absolutely. He’s my baby, I can’t leave him for that long.” “His name is Bucky, right?” “Yeah,” I smiled. “How did you get the name?” He asked. “Uhm… I really like the Marvel movies and Bucky is one of my favorite characters of all time so I thought why not? The Winter Soldier already seems like a black cat type of guy so I chose that.”

After the interview, I got back to the green room and I was a little angry not gonna lie. “I go to one of his shows with literally multiple people and have one drink with him at the fucking Grammys, and suddenly we are back together. How does that work? And besides, we broke up over 4 years ago,” I packed up my bag and grabbed my phone. “You know they always do this, don’t bother,” said Chloe, my assistant, as we made our way to the car. “I know they do, but fucking hell, I can’t be single for one goddamn minute.”

***

“Hello, it’s Y/n Fleur Depp and today I’m gonna let Elle ask me anything,” I smiled at the camera.

“What’s your favorite memory from doing your last album?” Asked the journalist.

“I’ve got to work Doja Cat on one of the songs and I think it was one of the greatest days of the album making. We just had such a fun time with that song and we were just vibing a lot. She has a really interesting character and it was refreshing to work with someone like her.”

“What are you most passionate about outside of singing?”

“Ooh, that’s a hard one… food? I don’t know, I just love to try new stuff and cook new stuff. It’s a fun thing to get into.”

“Biggest pinch me moment in your career?”

“Oh my god, on my last tour, I was in New York, performing at Madison Square Garden and it was like halfway into the show and I looked up to the… well VIP section I guess and Rihanna was there, dancing and singing along. I almost fainted.”

“What is the best industry advice you’ve received?”

“Enjoy every second of it. I think especially now with social media, there are so many opportunities for people to make it in the music industry. And now, someone can easily take your place overnight if their song is gonna be a trend on TikTok. So I enjoy every little moment.”

“Who’s your biggest cheerleader?”

“My sister Lily, for sure. She has always been my biggest supporter. Since we were little kids, she always made me sing her favorite songs. And even now, even if I have a show on the other side of the world she will fly out and dance and sing through the whole thing. She’s the best.”

“What’s your 5-year plan for your personal life?”

“Oh damn… Uhm… I just want to be in a secure and stable place. Definitely move out of Los Angeles, it’s been too long for me to live here. I want to live somewhere different and new and have new experiences. And uhm… be in a calm and loving relationship.”

***

“Come on people, night one,” I stood in a circle with all of my dancers. “I just want to say how proud I am of us and the work all of you put into this tour. I am extremely grateful for all of you because everybody in this crew is so amazing, dedicated, and talented. I want us to have fun. It’s gonna be a long road but we’re gonna shake up the world and do some incredible stuff. I love you all and let’s have some fun,” I said and we cheered before putting our hands in the middle. “Reflections on 3, 2, 1!” “REFLECTIONS!”

I stood on the lift and I got my mic handed to me. Then the intro for Ready for it began playing on a loop.

The podium rose and the crowd erupted in cheers and screams. “Los Angeles… Are you ready for it?” I said and seconds later the song started.

About an hour into the show, I was at the front of the runway part of the stage. Sitting on a chair with only a guitar and a mic stand.

“Before we dive into the next song I wanna thank all of you for coming,” I said and as soon as they started cheering I smiled widely. “The last few years were absolutely crazy. ” I looked around the stadium. “But now, we are finally at peace kind of and I think we should enjoy it. We worked so much on these shows because I think we all took doing concerts for granted and me and my crew want to give you the best. It’s so cool to be back on stage, in front of all of you. Uhm… I love you and thanks again,” I smiled and they all cheered which made me smile even more. I just love that they love me.

Doing another hour and a half was a little exhausting but I enjoyed every second of it. “Thank you so much, Los Angeles, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I blew kisses all around the stadium as the lift was moved down.

I walked behind the stage and as soon as I stepped into the hallway, I had champagne sprayed all over me as my friends and family screamed around me. “Oh shit,” I covered my face as the champagne was just coming. “Congratulations!” heard Lily’s voice before she hugged me as soon as the alcohol stopped flowing. “Thank you, it was so fucking cool,” I said. “Oh my god, it was!” She shook my shoulder and I hugged everyone who was around basically then made my way to the dressing room, changing to something that wasn’t covered in champagne.

Once I cleaned up, I checked a couple of messages on my phone when I heard a knock on the door. “Come in,” I said, still scrolling through my phone. “I brought some guests, sissy,” Lily spoke and I looked up immediately, not hearing a noise from the guests.

All of a sudden Blackpink was standing in front of me with shy smiles. I’ve met Jennie before and we clicked really well. She is a very funny and sweet person, but I haven’t met the other members yet. “Oh my god, hello,” I went to hug Jennie and she was quick to greet me too, before turning to her members. “It’s Jisoo, Rosé, and Lisa,” she pointed at each of them. “I know, I’m a fan, you know that. It’s so nice to finally meet you,” I said, honestly feeling happy to meet them. “We’re happy to see you, it was an amazing show by the way,” said Rosé with a noticeable Australian accent. I put my hands together and bowed my head. “That means a lot coming from you. We should hang out. Are you guys free for the next…” I looked down at my watch, checking the time. “…couple of hours?” I asked and they all looked at each other before nodding their heads. “What do you have in mind?” Asked Jennie. “We could have some drinks back at the hotel if you’d like. It’s a calm place,” I suggested. “Let’s do it.” Jisoo excitedly said and we all chuckled. “We’re gonna be great friends, Jisoo.”

[beaker1636]

MIW head cannons for taking you to meet their family for the first time

Vinny

I feel like for him this is kind of a test

He’s extremely close to his family, we all know this from what he has posted as far as photos and stuff with them, so if they didn’t approve in any way it would be an automatic game over… “sorry my mom didn’t like you”

But if they did, home boy may have thought he was in love with you before but now he knows for sure he is

Loves seeing how well you get along with his parents, may be slightly jealous that the first time you meet them they’re paying more attention to you then him.

Would probably be more nervous than you, he doesn’t usually take anyone he’s dating home so if he does it’s a big big deal.

Would lowkey ask his mom to make his favorite meal for both of you.

Embarrassed when his mom breaks out the photo album of embarrassing childhood moments

Almost dislikes how much you clique with his mom because now he knows the two of you are going to gang up on him and embarrass him when the chance arrives

Ricky

I feel like y’all would have to be very serious before he would take you home to visit his family… mostly because of how far away from them he lives

Like we’re talking you guys have been together for months

Would low key adore watching you with his nephew, might make him want kids idk? My brain immensely went to this.

I feel like it wouldn’t matter quite as much to him as it would the others that they like you, mainly because you aren’t around them much so if they do or don’t they don’t really know you, if you get what I’m saying.

Honestly I could see him being the anxious one

Chris

I don’t know if he’s a mommas boy confirmed but for some reason I get the vibes he’s a mommas boy.

So clearly when he does introduce you to her what she thinks means a lot

Would really hope that you get alone and are close to his family

Would love seeing you bond and be friends with his sister… even if it means both of you tease and torment him quite a bit.

I feel like you’d have to be pretty established in the relationship for him to take you home given his struggles with relationships in the past, he doesn’t want to get his or their hopes up again by you getting close to them and then the relationship ending.

10/10 would do as much as he could to dispel any anxiety you may have, especially never the sweetest boyfriends you could have in that regards.

Ryan

He’s the one I feel like would be the most chill about bringing you home, he just gives me those vibes

That’s not saying he doesn’t care what they think but I feel like if it’s serious enough he’s willing to take you home then he won’t be as worried about what they all think. If they out right hate you that’s one thing but otherwise I don’t see him letting it get to him too much.

Like hey, this is my girlfriend instead of what do you think about her if that makes sense?

But low key would still love if you got alone with his family because that’s always a good thing

Low key you wouldn’t be nervous or anxious because he isn’t nervous or anxious, so that would keep you pretty relaxed about it all

Justin

Going off the fact that he has a child I feel like he would be the one it is most important to.

Like if that little one didn’t like you, goodbye

But if we pretend for this case that he doesn’t have a child then I think it would be similar to Ryan

He’d be pretty relaxed, excited for sure that you mean enough to meet them but not stressed that you are

I could see him being one where you’d meet at a restaurant instead of at home just so nobody feels pressured at his parents nor your place to make everyone feel at home and a meal everyone would like

10/10 sweetest boyfriend ever when it comes to calming down your nerves about it all.

Would make sure you know that they liked you after so that you feel welcomed and at ease.

AN: I genuinely struggled with Justin and Ryan a little bit but I tried to just go with it 🤷‍♀️ you can tell this isn’t my speciality or a subject I’m familiar with 😂

[lorellaishc]

A New Journey

(( DWC February 2024 Day 7, Rumour/Discovery, CW: none, @daily-writing-challenge ))

In the weeks and months that followed the blooming of Amirdrassil, much of the dragonscale expedition found itself winding down. The Dragon Isles was secure and mostly safe now, and while there would doubtless be archaeological efforts for years to come, the expedition had accomplished most of its goals, and that meant it was time for many to return home.

Or, in some cases, seek other new experiences.

Lorellai was up like a flash when the captain's call echoed down into the ship where she and her team had been cooped up for weeks. Knowing they were close washed all that travel fatigue away though, as she and the others gathered their things and climbed up on deck. Ghorren was already up there, holding the rigging and wearing the biggest smile she'd ever seen on his face. He turned as they all came topside.

"Well friends, this is it! Welcome, to Zandalar!" Ghorren exclaimed, dramatically motioning to the great city that rose above them to the north.

"Now remember, stay with the group, and do not wander away from the port quarter. War might be over but the laws are still clear about where non-horde citizens are and aren't allowed to be here in Dazar'alor."

"We're still going to get to visit your family restaurant though, right? You said that was in the zocalo?" Lorellai asked, adjusting her pack and all but vibrating with excitement.

"No such luck, but you're getting the next best thing, my sister will be bringing us a whole meal to share tonight." Ghorren replied, eagerly stepping off the ship onto the docks. "Ah, it is good to be home!"

"And yet you are always in such a hurry to leave!" a woman's voice called out, eliciting a bark of laughter from the troll. Pushing through the crowd were three troll women, each distinctively dressed. The eldest of them still had her apron on over a simple dress, and hugged Ghorren even as she scolded him. "Never willing to just stay and work for a living like the rest of us."

"Ah, you know me sister, I like the good things in life, and foreign gold spends well!" he laughed, hugging her back before turning his gaze to the others. "Anwé! Qirra! My beautiful daughters!" he exclaimed, excitedly running over to hug the others.

The younger laughed as her father embraced her, her rainbow colored mohawk standing out next to her very somberly dressed and tattooed older sister. "Welcome home, Papa!"

"Yes, welcome home, Father," the older of the two echoed. She held herself aloof and proper, her robes and skeletal face paint serving to hide her mood. Lorellai couldn't help but note how she smiled as Ghorren pulled her into a hug, nudging Pinapple with a smile of her own.

Ghorren couldn't seem to stop chuckling in joy. "My daughters, please, meet my friends from the dragon isles!

-----------

Hours later, after the introductions, the tour of the docks, and the incredible dinner, the team and Ghorren's family lounged in their rented space. Lorellai looked over at the closed lavatory door. "Think Edmund's gonna be alright?"

Anwé smirked at the dwarf. "I think he has discovered his limit for Zandalari spices. Auntie -did- warn him about it."

"Yeah, but then your dad dared him, so that was a wasted warning."

"Oh come now, he's a big strong man, should be able to handle his spice!" Ghorren laughed, earning a smack from Ulabi.

"Honestly, bringing outsiders here and feeding them the food I make special for you, you'd think you wanted to start a war. And now he's wasting all my hard work."

"Forgive me sister, it was just a joke between friends!" Ghorren smiled. "So friends, I know you're going to be exploring the city tomorrow, but what's next when you leave here?"

"Oh, we got that all planned out, Ghorren." Lorellai replied, beaming. "When we leave here, we'll be on a ship bound for Pandaria. Rumor has it the lorekeepers there have found an untouched vault and need experienced delvers to help them investigate it!"

"Tch, no rest for you youngin's, hm?"

"There's always room for another, Ghorren!" Lorellai replied, all smiles.

Ghorren shook his head, and took a long sip from his drink. "Some other time, I think I've earned some well deserved rest and family time."

"Papa, you know Auntie's not going to let you rest" Qirra said, giggling. "She's going to have you in the kitchen by the end of the week!"

"Tch, we'll see. But that's then, this is now. And for now, I'm going to get some sleep, because I know none of you are going to permit me a moment's rest during tomorrow's trip around the city."

"Until tomorrow!" Lorellai said, and returned to her maps. There was a whole world to explore, and she suspected she'd never be satisfied staying home for long ever again.

[minnieposting]

hsr ramblings to get out of my system

sunday and aventurine focused. also about how sunday's totally dying in 2.2. and some other stuff

⚠️lots of talking out of one's own ass⚠️

prefacing this with saying this is just my stream of consciousness tbh, things might be all over the place. i am again literally just talking out of my ass tbh! i love stories and thinking about narrative as a system, so ive been going a lil nuts with penacony and its characters

but i decided to write this because i keep realizing so many things about both sunday and aventurine. i've been making a huge list in my notes and mainly my head about it so lets just get into it...

1. my friend and i were talking about it being hinted that sunday is not his real name. when sunday is first introduced, we have the option to ask if everyone in the family has a strange name. march says it might just be a stage name.

i've seen lots of talk about sunday's connection with dominicus, usually either about sunday actually being him or channeling him somehow. but either way, im very 👀👀

just earlier, i was thinking about how both sunday and aventurine are putting on grand final shows and how they're both bosses. the fact 'stage name' is being used here is very interesting in that case. just something im also very 👀👀 about

2. following up on aventurine and sunday and how they're both bosses putting on a 'show'... im now gonna talk abt their insane similarities and also their opposing traits. i feel like every single similarity i notice is also paired with an opposite

for example, their losses

sunday - older brother, lost his sister + family recently

aventurine - younger brother, lost his sister + family a long time ago

this is actually one of the reasons i think sunday will be gone forever 🫡 with the two of them being opposites, sunday is the older brother who won't survive, while aventurine is the younger brother who did. plus, if aven's sister is dead, and robin ends up being fine, that just further proves to me sunday has to die. theyre flipped!!

along with that, aventurine will come out of this fine, because we know he's blessed and he's said it himself, he always comes out as the final victor, and we see that he's coming out of this with a new reason to keep going. between sunday and aventurine, it's pretty clear who's going to come out on top. speaking in terms of their roles in the narrative again

which makes me curious about sunday's end goal, as we all must be... which brings me to

3. the shared goal of freedom

this actually expands to pretty much everyone. i noticed that freedom is a very big theme in penacony. prisoners were once held there, aventurine is a prisoner himself (both figuratively and literally), the family's shady shit as a whole and how some people are literally just being forced to stay, firefly's whole thing about feeling trapped, so on... and of course, there's aventurine again, with his thoughts of suicide and wanting to be free

a while ago i was thinking about all this in relation to sunday specifically, the family as a whole, and harmony specifically too. to unite as one harmonious beautiful being, free from chaos. i wonder if sunday's boss will be related to freeing people. it's clear he has connections to the order, which also doesn't welcome chaos and strife.

may be totally far fetched especially since the story will be complete in just a few days, but!! sunday boss being meant to get everyone absorbed into the choir, free from all those exact things. i think a lot about how the charmony festival invited out all the factions for the first time, but i'm not sure where to place it. could've just happened because 'the right time has finally come', aka, dominicus' arrival? whatever tho i have other things to talk about that im more excited over. sunday sacrificial lamb vibes? who knows

honorary mention to the siblings maybe feeling trapped by family, or actually straight up being trapped, WHO KNOWS! i dont know anything actually, i've never known a single fact in my life, but i will on may 8

4. more sunday aventurine similarities and opposites

- both described as madmen, sunday literally being told by ratio he needs to see a shrink because he thinks the same way as aventurine

- both extremely logical, always pulling damn tricks up their sleeves, infinite amount of room in those sleeves

- as mentioned before, both lost their sisters, although in a different order. both lost their parents around the same time though

- (from gagwanju on twt) aventurine utilizing and working with those around him to achieve his goal, while sunday has been working alone. again, another thing that makes me think that sunday will be the unsuccessful one in the end. not that sure what i mean by 'unsuccessful' currently, tbh.

- (from someone else on twt but i cant remember or find the post 💀) sunday and aventurine both brought into high institution and forced into a role

i'm getting tired so i'm gonna cut it short here but

honorary mention to yesterday night? where i was thinking about how they both put up fronts. inside, aventurine is tired, fearful. just being a struggler ykyk. sunday is described as having a twisted personality... aka just ocd, and getting worse everyday after losing his sister and being told he can't do anything about it bc charmony festival. ocd makes you have lots and lots of anxiety, so i wonder what's going on underneath. is he the opposite of aventurine in this case? instead of being just Exhausted, he might be fired up completely. an irritable mess, potentially very angry, etc etc, since his grief is so recent. maybe he's experiencing everything aventurine did back when he first lost his sister in particular, since they are two sides of the same coin (AGAIN).

uugjrjajd i feel my brain getting stupider as i type, but the final thing i wanna bring up is the name of the charmony festival. i was just wondering what it could possibly mean, and why it isn't just called the Harmony festival. whats the ch? is it CHARM ony festival? makes sense to me if the choir is just going to hypnotize people and try and absorb everyone, but im not too sure bc the order is also involved here. idk i dont know anything i actually only started playing this game a month ago

ending this with: sorry if i got anything wrong or confused. im very bad at explaining myself properly and may have remembered things wrong but also i have bad anxiety all the time so IDK

these r just stuff ive been brainrotting over for the past week, and its not even everything, i just needed it out of me 😭😭😭 i am very excited for 2.2. didnt even get into all those damn BABY SUNDAY AND ROBIN TRAILER IMPLICATIONS like omfg... goodbye. why is the sunday boss a childhood drawing why did sunday hesitate when saying 'right! both of us' WHAT HAPPENED. i think he knew he was never going to sing with robin, but why???? ahhhdhdbf

to those who may have read all of this.... DAMN i cant believe u did that, fun fact scallops have eyes

omg... editing this a while after posting, but i totally forgot about the lore of the xipe emanators, and how they can assume the form of any family member when necessary???? not sure where to place that in ^^^^ all that, but something i just wanted to add in... ACKNOWLEDGED.......... 2.2 is going to be a wild ride. hwat the fuck do u mean they can just do that.

[angelosearch]

Here's a long mushy post because today is a special date.

Way back in the early oughts, I was talking to this guy on AIM (blast from the past, I know). We started talking in November of 2008 and from the first time we chatted, I felt like there was something special about him. We became fast friends and would chat into the early hours as we put off doing our homework. He was funny and smart and would help me with my physics homework and occasionally Rick Roll me.

One time, we worked together to try and figure out if every person in the world moonwalked against the earth's rotation on the equator, could they get the planet to stop spinning (inconclusive, but probably no).

The first time we spoke on the phone (the first time we heard each other's voices) it was the day that Obama was inaugurated. I remember this because I felt overwhelmed and awkward. I didn't know what to talk about, so I brought that up.

I got the sense that he liked me - or at least I hope he did, because I liked him. A super nerd, captain of the fencing team, loved his dog - I DEFINITELY had a crush.

But I wasn't certain that he liked me until February 10th, when he messaged me on AIM and quoted Newton's third law. He said something to the effect of "Newton's Third Law states that reactions are equal and opposite. I really like you - does the law apply here?"

Well, that guy and I have been together 15 years now. After a long distance relationship through the rest of highschool and college, we moved in together in 2014. We got married in 2016. His sister Rick Rolled us at our wedding. We got a congratulations card from Obama (someone mailed him our wedding invite, to this day I don't know who).

It's been an eventful couple of years. We've had jobs and apartments and dogs and roommates. We've gone on amazing adventures, engaged in so many hobbies together, and played through a bunch of videogames side-by-side. There's been hundreds of hours of audiobooks and probably months worth of television. Oh, and A LOT of BeatSaber.

He has been very excited about my return to fanfiction and my renewed love of FFVIII. He has never played the game but he will let me talk about it endlessly and bounce fanfiction ideas off him. Everytime I finish a chapter of something, I send it to him and he gives me feedback. If that's not love, I don't know what love is!

He was there to help me into the car when I was loopy from having my wisdom teeth removed. Before I learned to drive, he took me anywhere I couldn't reach from walking/transit without question. He has seen me through my career ups and downs and is now my biggest cheerleader as I apply to grad school.

Once I hosted an event for a job I had. Doing that always pushed my mental health to the brink. I was staying at a friend's place in the city after the meeting with the plan to metro home in the morning, but the wave of a manic episode that had manifested over the week crashed into my mind and I was caught in the riptide of a panic attack. He drove out during a blizzard in the middle of the night to bring me home and rubbed my back as I laid on the floor of our apartment, sobbing.

Our relationship survived a whole pandemic. When I had struggles with my birth family, we became each other's family, and his family welcomed me too. Then he saw me through my darkest timeline and has supported me through every step of my mental health journey. Just a few hours ago, I was stuck in some memories and he talked me through it. I am tremendously grateful everyday to have such an amazing person in my life.

In October of last year, we moved into our home. For the first time in my life, I feel safe and comfortable in the place I live and waking up to be with him, here, everyday brings me so much joy. I recently heard this song, which really captures how we feel in this moment of our lives:

So happy anniversary to "my Rinoa" - @tharinock (funnily enough the same handle I first got to know you by). Here's to the next 15 years of fun and love.

[stellarstarcelios]

🎈Brine: A Minecraft OC Post 🎈

🎈 I wanted to make a little post about Brine, who's my favorite of my Minecraft OCs. He's been there for a long time for me, so I wanted to gush about him and talk about him a little bit. <3

🎈🎈🎈

🎈 Who's Brine? 🎈

🎈 So, for those who don't know: Brine was originally my version of Herobrine from Minecraft. When I was 13 years old, I started playing Minecraft and discovered Herobrine a year later. 🎈 When I got into high school, I started making a comic about my at-the-time Minecraft persona making friends with Herobrine and helping him become a good person. 🎈 As I got older, Brine grew up with me. He grew, changed, and became his own character separate from how I imagined Herobrine. Brine became so sweet, open, and happy to make new friends. When he originally started out with me, he was very closed off and cold, and he only let down that facade with his friends. 🎈 Brine began to make new friends and Celina and Steve, two of my other Minecraft OCs, showed him how wonderful people could be and helped him be kind again. He had to find himself again and remember who he was and is again, who he really is.

🎈 What's His Story? 🎈

🎈 Brine came down from the Aether when he was younger, because humans fascinated him and he wanted to live like one. A decade later, he ended up meeting some in a kingdom and they saw him as someone sent to help them learn to survive. 🎈 Brine was welcomed by the royal family, and he ended up becoming part of it when he fell in love and married the middle daughter of the family, Cebrina. The two lived a happy life for a while, and he even had children with her. 🎈 However, Brine's sister-in-law became envious of him and set off a chain of events that ended up turning the kingdom on him and his wife. Cebrina and his children ended up dead, and he became to ruler of the mobs after destroying that kingdom. 🎈 Millennia later, he met Celina, and she helped him remember who he was and who he could still be if he changed his ways.

🎈 What is Brine Like Now? 🎈

🎈 Brine started off with being a bit cautious towards anyone not in Celina's kingdom, but after a year or two, he let the tough guy facade fall and fade away completely. Brine remembered how much he loves humans and how kind they could really be to beings like him. 🎈 Brine slowly made more friends with not only humans, but many mobs and many out of Minecraftia beings, usually my closed species OCs. 🎈 Brine is very kind and gentle now, he's got a very sweet soul and sometimes, he has more humanity then a lot of humans. He's someone who believes in second chances and helping people feel safe and happy if he can. 🎈 Brine is someone who knows he was given a second chance by Celina when anyone else would have used that opportunity to take him out for what he's done. Celina had to beat him in a fight for him to stay at the castle, and when anyone else would have taken him down, she showed him mercy.

🎈 What Does Brine Mean to Me?

🎈 Honestly, Brine grew up with me, and he was and still is my comfort character when I was experiencing self-doubt or struggling with my mental health. Brine has always been an OC who brings me peace when I really needed it. He's sunshine on a dark day to me. 🎈 I'm even getting a custom plushie of him made by Budsies, and I'm so excited to be able to hold him close to me and tell me how much he means to me, and thank him for always being there for me. He'll be shipping in from Florida! 🎈 I can't wait for you to come home, Brine, and thank you for being there for me. I can't wait to see you. 🧡

[the-rewatch-rewind]

Long fun episode featuring my brother!

Transcript below the break

Hello and welcome back to The Rewatch Rewind! My name is Jane, and this is the podcast where I count down my top 40 most frequently rewatched movies in a 20-year period. Today I will be discussing number 20 on my list: Miramax, Jane Starz Productions, and Blessington Films Productions’ 2004 fantasy comedy Ella Enchanted, directed by Tommy O’Haver, written by Laurie Craig, Karen McCullah, Kirsten Smith, Jennifer Heath, and Michele J. Wolff, based on the book by Gail Carson Levine, and starring Anne Hathaway and Hugh Dancy.

Cursed with the “gift” of obedience in infancy, Ella (Anne Hathaway) becomes increasingly desperate to break free when her father remarries, and her step-mother and step-sisters (played by Joanna Lumley, Lucy Punch, and Jennifer Higham) take advantage of her forced compliance. Finally she runs away to find and confront the fairy who cursed her, and makes several friends along the way, including an elf named Slannen (Aiden McArdle), and, of course, a prince named Charmont (Hugh Dancy).

I didn’t see this movie in theaters, but I did see it the year it came out. I watched it once in 2004, seven times in 2005, once in 2006, once in 2008, once in 2009, once in 2012, once in 2013, twice in 2014, once in 2015, once in 2016, twice in 2019, and once in 2021. The vast majority of those viewings were with my brother Quinn, so I asked him to join me and help explain why we love this movie so much. We had a very long, very fun conversation that I hope you will enjoy.

Hi, Quinn!

Quinn

Hello!

Jane

Welcome to the Rewatch Rewind. 

Quinn 

How exciting to be here! I feel famous. 

Jane 

Yes, you've definitely been mentioned in many previous episodes. 

Quinn 

It's very fun for me as your sibling, having grown up with you and been in the background of a lot of these watches, I'm guessing, to hear some of your takes as as a grown person on on these movies. And just kind of revisiting, you know, it takes me back to a time and place as well hearing you talk about them. So this podcast is personally very fun for me. 

Jane 

Have there been any movies that you hadn’t seen? 

Quinn 

You know none that immediately come to mind. There's definitely movies I didn't watch nearly as much as you did. Like, I think there's a couple movies that I've heard your, your… you explaining on the podcast, your affinity for them is kind of the first time I've heard, like, your insights, and like all the, the nuances that you notice about each of the movies. But no, I'm pretty sure I've been familiar with all of the movies that you've talked about. Like Adam's Rib, like I maybe never watched it all the way from start to finish, but I've certainly seen the “like a sound part” and the the highlight parts of the movie that you noted in the podcast. 

Jane 

Yeah, cause I think Rosemary's told me there's a couple that she was not sure that she'd seen. 

Quinn 

OK, it was news to me that everyone hated Bringing up Baby. I think I probably did at some point know that, and then just like forgot overtime but…

Jane 

Yeah, I feel like the rest of the family would never watch it with us.

Quinn 

Well, no and I didn't… I I completely didn't realize that that I… it always stuck out to me as one of my favorite movies of that time and era, and I don't think that I was ever old enough when I watched it to really question the like logistics of it, or like the premise. So, but I always loved Bringing up Baby. I thought it was funny. And I think that it's funny that people were so irritated with Katharine Hepburn because I think she's hilarious in the whole thing. 

Jane 

Yeah, yeah, so I did remember, like I almost was like, oh, yeah, everyone I know hates this movie, I was like, oh no, Quinn likes this movie! 

Quinn 

Well, I'm glad to get the shout out. I really didn't realize it was a controversial stance that I had. 

Jane 

Yes, well, I know a lot of like old movie fans that I've met online were telling me, like, “Oh yeah, I love Bringing up Baby!” So it's not just us, but... 

Quinn 

Yeah, definitely. You talked about its reputation as being kind of like a standout screwball comedy. I think that definitely makes sense. I think that it doesn't get screwier than Bringing Up Baby.

Jane 

Yeah, it is, it is THE screwball comedy. Yeah, so as far as the movie we're talking about today though, I think…

Quinn 

Made many decades later. 

Jane 

Yes! I think that that's one that we definitely fell in love with together, that like a lot of the movies I've talked about so far are like specific to me watching and then you would kind of watch them with me. But I think with Ella Enchanted, we watched it together and grew to love it together, so that's why I wanted to have you on for this episode. 

Quinn 

Well, yeah, I definitely think that like looking at your list and like thinking about like oh what are some of the reasons why they ended up here? Like Ella Enchanted, I feel responsible for in ways that I might not feel responsible for other movies on this list. 

Jane 

Yes. Well, I think what's important for our listeners to understand is that when you were younger, like you're quite a bit younger than me. And when you were little, you really liked to, like, pick a movie and watch it a bunch, like, really close together. Is that fair? 

Quinn 

Oh yes, I had phase movies for sure. Like it was, I can think of particular movies that I would watch all the time and I could never tell you the reason why I stopped watching any of these movies. But there would be a period of time that I would just get really hot with a certain movie and that would be all I wanted to watch and then… I guess I would just get over it. 

Jane 

And I think that Ella Enchanted is the only one of those that has made it onto my list. 

Quinn 

Yes, I would say that's fair. And I, Ella Enchanted was for sure one of those movies, and I would actually say one of the things I for sure wanted to talk about today was the soundtrack for Ella Enchanted, I would say is has been a pillar of my music appreciation over the years and like that soundtrack is actually very good…

Jane 

It's very good. 

Quinn

…and I think introduced me to a lot of like older songs like classic songs that I otherwise wouldn't have known that I think was important in my developing a music taste as well. 

Jane 

Yeah, yeah. There's definitely a lot of covers of really famous songs. It's kind of weird that they chose to go that direction with, like, this fairy tale story like that they did more like rock songs. But it works really well. It was just kind of an odd choice when you, like, read the book, you don't necessarily think like, oh, this would be perfect to have like a Queen song. 

Quinn 

Well, yeah. And I was actually thinking about, you had mentioned fans of the book Ella Enchanted that the movie is adapted from tend to be pretty disappointed with this adaptation. And I agree that it's a pretty poor representation of the book, and I guess I've sort of reimagined the movie as more just like another like retelling of Cinderella and, and I guess, like kind of with Ella Enchanted flavor to it. Like there's a lot of the plot points that like kind of the core characterizations of some of the characters are borrowed from Ella Enchanted. But yeah, I mean, I think there's so many adaptations of fairy tales out there, and like I think that it's a very fun and ultimately like kind of visionary choice that they went with like sort of this like 70's rock theme for the soundtrack that sort of like didn't really have any other connection to the story, but just those were the songs that they went with. And I do know that like specifically with Somebody to Love, which I think is kind of the key musical moment in the movie that was really sort of driven from like, I guess Tommy O'Haver was working with Anne Hathaway on some kind of like more traditional, like folksy fairy tale song. And it didn't suit her voice as well as Somebody to Love. So I feel like it was also very driven by like who were the people making the movie and what their tastes were, which is, I also think probably why it works because it was driven from an organic place. 

Jane 

Yeah definitely. And I think that casting Anne Hathaway and then like using her, because like, at that point, she was mostly known for Princess Diaries, which I guess she still is known for Princess Diaries, but, like, kind of taking that sort of flavor of princess of, like, I guess it's not really like a modern story, Ella Enchanted, because it's sort of set in this…made-up fairy tale-ish place, but like definitely has, like modern sensibilities that I think that like putting… I mean, Anne Hathaway has also done period work that's been good. I mean, she won an Oscar, but like, I think that taking her like personality and more modern sensibilities and putting it into this fairy tale thing worked really well. And I think that if they had tried too hard, like again, like, recognizing that that song didn't fit her voice and tried too hard to push her in a different direction. I don't think the movie would have worked.

Quinn 

Oh yes, Anne Hathaway is very much allowed to be Anne Hathaway in this movie and it's fantastic. I think one of my biggest takeaways from this movie in watching it relatively recently in preparation for this conversation was just how essential I feel it is in the Anne Hathaway story. Because, I mean, you see her, I think debuting in a lot of people's eyes, I think she was in a movie or two before Princess Diaries. Or was that her debut? 

Jane 

I think it might have been her debut. 

Quinn 

And I feel like you have definitely a star is born moment with Princess Diaries and she really I think emerged as someone to watch and as a a star that could like hold their own with Julie Andrews and and sort of have this kind of fun, relatable charm. Like I do see sort of like the Emma Stone and Jennifer Lawrences that come after really sort of taking something from the Anne Hathaway School of being a young it girl actress. And I feel like it was Ella Enchanted that really I think the singing particularly introduced this new layer to her talent, you know, circle and now all of a sudden, Anne Hathaway can be in musicals and she's very good at singing. And I just think that it was a very important stepping stone to her becoming a superstar. And I mean, she won the Oscar for a musical. So I think you know I can see, you know, maybe she would have ended up in Les Mis regardless of Ella Enchanted, but I do think this movie really put her on the map. And it's funny because I don't think it's a like particularly well regarded movie in any sort of circles, but I have to think that it had some really important impacts on Anne Hathaway's career following. 

Jane 

Oh yeah, definitely. So had you read the book before seeing the movie, do you remember? 

Quinn 

I actually I don't remember, but if I had to guess, I would say I saw the movie first, and I think you knew the book and so were able to like give some context when I would see it early. And then I did eventually read the book and like it. It has been a long time since I've read the book though, so I cannot really recall what is different about the movie in the books now. 

Jane 

Yeah, I haven't read the book in a long time. I had read the book definitely before I saw the movie, and it was kind of like, I feel like the book was different than this. But like the, I mean the basic premise is the same, but it's different to the point that I, like you said, I kind of consider them two different things, and I can definitely see why fans of the book would think that the movie was a bad adaptation, but at the same time it's like, it's fun. They did their own thing with it and…

Quinn 

Well, and Ella Enchanted is an adaptation too, which I think it for me is what makes it work. 

Jane 

Right. 

Quinn 

And like I have been thinking in a lot of like media that I've seen recently with elements of the Cinderella story in it of like, what are some of the things I like about each retelling? And like I I texted you out of the blue when I was watching Into the Wood randomly and I was like, I think the Cinderella in Into the Woods is my favorite all time Cinderella. So like I did also, when I watched it recently was kind of thinking about like what are my favorite interpretations of the Cinderella story like in Ella Enchanted and what are some of the things that I think work better in other retellings? It's a story that is just very familiar at this point. 

Jane 

Yeah, it's been told and retold time and time again, and I I know you haven't listened to the Enchanted episode yet, but we talked about Cinderella quite a bit in that episode, too, because it's sort of like the fairy tale. And I think it's so interesting in Ella Enchanted that they added this layer of her being cursed. And it's not just that she has a really mean stepmother and step sisters. But it's like, literally they could order her not to leave and she would not be able to leave. 

Quinn 

Yeah, the curse is awful. And I do think Cinderella in all tellings of the story is someone who is abused,

Jane 

Right. 

Quinn 

and I think that that is a very important  facet of the story, and I think you and I've talked a lot about how there's a lot of like dismissal of Cinderella as a character in many iterations of just like being this damsel, like this bad representation of, you know, femininity and you know, just waiting around for a man. But I think that the curse really illuminates just some of the cruelty that I think Cinderella in all versions of the story experiences. But it's they almost don't really emphasize the chores, and like the the working and the cinder part of Cinderella, and they even dropped that from her name. It's it's less about the labor that she's expected to do and more just that this curse really defines all aspects of her life and turns even people that are trying to help her against her. And yeah, it's a terrible, terrible curse. And I think that it's a very lighthearted movie, but it's very dark what she has to go through. 

Jane 

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that it also… they do a good job of showing her sort of fighting the curse. And again, like you said, there's this perception that Cinderella is sort of a weaker, more passive character, but she really has always been, you know, very strong in being able to break away from her horrible situation. And I think they show Ella really doing everything she can to fight the curse and be like, OK, I'm gonna do what you told me, but I'm gonna do like, my own version of it. Like I'm gonna try and find loopholes in these orders so that I don't have to actually be under your thumb. And yeah, I I just, I think that's very well done. 

Quinn 

From a narrative perspective, it's a really powerful way to empower the character of of Ella and make her, I think, have people see more of themselves in her too, by giving her something to really fight against and be subversive against. And I think that that, I mean, it drives the plot of the movie. It's it's a good a good narrative tool. 

Jane 

Yeah and then there's the whole thing about that she's trying to fight for the rights of like elves and giants and other types of mystical beings who have been subjugated by the government. And I think that there's a little bit of an element of like sort of a savior complex in some of what she does, but I think that ultimately she feels a kinship with these people that are being forced to do things against their will because she's literally being forced to do things against her will all the time when people tell her to do stuff, she has to do it. And I think that that gives her a lot of empathy for, like giants being forced to do farm labor, and elves being forced to sing and dance. And I think they do a good job of showing that in the story. That like she feels like she kind of understands some of what they're going through and that's part of why she feels so strongly about trying to help them. 

Quinn 

Yeah, yeah, I think that it's also, I would love to see sort of the same premise of this story exist now and kind of retold now that we know a little bit more about how to be maybe a better ally or to sort of be a little bit more inclusive and less performative. Because I do think you know, in watching it recently, there were some things Ella said and did that I was like, ooh I don't know about that as you know, good activism. Like thinking specifically about how, when her and Prince Char returned to Lamia, which is where the palace is, you know where the Prince is there. He clearly has some kind of status and they're with an elf companion, their elf friend Slannen, and like they just he gets thrown out of the the palace and they stand there and don't seem to like, do anything to try to stop it. It's like, OK, well, we need to, like, act upon our convictions. So yeah, there's little things like that. And also like when Slannen the elf is trying to talk to Prince Charmont about working with his uncle to maybe allow elves to have other careers than being performers or entertainers cause he wants to be a lawyer and he's saying, “Well, can you petition your uncle the literal king for me to be a lawyer?” And he's just like, “I can't do that! That would be weird. It simply isn't done!” And so those are the types of things where the movie does let me down a little bit because I want to see, you know, some real advocacy and allyship. But I do think that you make such a good point about Ella feeling a kindred spirit to these marginalized peoples and really having that empathy and speaking up and saying something. I think that that is very clear throughout the movie and that is what allows her to be successful ultimately, is these relationships that she's built that she has built through empathy and through, you know, walking in people's shoes and hearing their stories and listening to them. So I think that there is a really beautiful message of of caring for the marginalized and advocating throughout the movie. 

Jane 

Yeah and I do think that there's they show that Prince Char, at least they show him as very like privileged and ignorant initially and that he, like again, he definitely could do more, but I'm thinking about like the scene when he listens to the giant leader and like, he's actually like, oh, wow, I didn't realize how bad things were. I'm going to try and make things better, and again, I don't know what he actually does, but he does become king, presumably at the end after his uncle dies. So hopefully he does…. 

Quinn 

He does sing Elton John. That we do know. 

Jane 

Yes, so I mean obviously there's only one step between sing Elton John and free the marginalized people, so… 

Quinn 

He's on the right path. 

Jane 

Yeah, yes. So again, yes, you're right, it definitely could do more, but I also think that they have some good points. There's some almost there moments, I think. 

Quinn 

Oh yeah, and in in thinking about the times, like, I think that those some of those interactions and conversations were like stepping stones to, I think more fruitful ways to interact in those spaces and in those conversations, but it definitely, you know I I think that's a very presentist mindset to even look at some of those conversations critically, because you know, at that time those were conversations that were the most tolerant things got. So, you know, it's definitely have to make allowances for differences in in time. And I do have to say, I think talking about Prince Charmont as a character, I think he is one of the better, more developed Prince characters that you get in one of these Ella Enchanted Cinderella retellings, and I think Hugh Dancy really played like, I think, all of the acting in this movie is really phenomenal. I think that's a headline for me is that it's a very well acted movie, even though it's probably objectively pretty bad. 

Jane 

The script left something to be desired, but the actors did the best they could with it. 

Quinn 

Well, yeah, OK, let's just dive into it because I think that there is no better argument for “there are no small parts” than this movie because every single one of the actors in this movie like nails - and I don't mean like this in a casual like - nails their role. Like every performance I can think of, like one of my favorites to just like think about is Minnie Driver and like as Mandy who is like the fairy kind of governess of Ella and like she's not a very powerful fairy, so she's not that helpful in terms of her magical skill abilities, but like, she's kind of an ally to Ella in her abusive home and like, plays a role throughout the story. Very minimal and like the character of Mandy, I think I remember being pretty important in the Ella Enchanted book, and like they really, I think the writers really stripped this character of, like any kind of, like, notable personality. But Minnie Driver was just like, “Nuh-uh! Not my part!” And she just like, finds these like perfect comedic moments, and it's like she has like one line in a scene, and just like is so in character the whole time and is just like hysterical., completely matches like the attitude of just being like a little, like, sassy, and over it. And I'm like, that's just like one of the very bit parts. Like you've got like the the, I don't remember her name, but the actress who plays Olive, who's just like deranged and like all the, like, kleptomaniac stuff. And she's just like, “Ooh hoo hoo!” like, the whole time completely in character. Joanna Lumley is there, like, serving evil stepmother. Like she is not letting a moment go by without just like commanding the scene. Vivica A. Fox like comes in and does her like flashy, sassy little, like unhelpful cutaway scenes that are, like, again, all of these roles are pretty insignificant, don't have a lot of screen time, don't have much to work with, terrible script and like these actresses are just like, “This is the best role I've ever played in my life!” It's so much fun. It's like you talked a couple of podcasts ago about your favorite movies to watch being like ones where the actors are clearly having a good time. And like, I just feel like, you know, Anne Hathaway gives a fantastic performance and is committed and plays all the emotional highs and lows. She has the most terrible lines to say and she just like, gets through it like a professional. Hugh Dancy is like also having a good time, and it's like appropriately, like, kind of like charming and aloof. And like Slannen is memorable. Like he's got that, like, you know, conviction. And he has some very, like, silly, like, physical comedy moments as well. And then you've got like Jim, who's on Downton Abbey? Like playing this like ogre, who like has these dramatic cutaways while he's trying to eat people like just great performances all around.

Jane 

Yeah, I agree. I think that you're right. That is a big part of why I enjoy this movie is that it's very apparent that everybody was just having fun. And you get that, especially with the big dance number at the end, which is just kind of random and like, why are they singing Don't Go Breaking My Heart at a wedding? Like…

Quinn 

Ohh my gosh, it's so. It's fun though.

Jane 

It's just, yes. 

Quinn 

Like I I've never questioned… Like it's a weird song choice, but I'm just, that is one of the most joyful, perfect finales to a movie that I've ever seen, like where everyone gets a little bit of something to do. You like, get that fun, like end credits. Here's everyone's final bow, and it's just like a ton of fun. 

Jane 

Yeah, it's just unfortunate that Lucy Punch. Is that her name? 

Quinn 

Oh yes. 

Jane 

She doesn't get to be in it because- 

Quinn 

Well, and I just realized I didn't mention her performance, but I feel like it deserves its own subsection. So Lucy Punch, who plays Hattie, the step sister of Ella, the mean stepsister, I…. that is my all time favorite interpretation of the evil stepsister character, because Hattie is just like, very impetuous, but she is dangerous and she, like, serves a role in the story that actually, you know, like her ratting out Ella is what leads to some of the highest stakes in the story eventually, s I do feel like so often the step sisters are really just like bit characters that don't really have much to do other than like be mean to Cinderella in like one or two scenes. And I feel like she both took that sort of like superfluous, frivolous quality that the step sisters have and like, did that, but also, like, they did find a way to work her way into the plot. She had a bit of menace and a bit of intelligence that she was able to use to try to achieve her own goals. And then I think has a great, like, humiliating downfall. And this is made all the better by the fact that Lucy Punch is like this was her dream role to play a step sister. And be this character and like she is a step sister in Into the Woods and in something else, I'm pretty sure. 

Jane 

I feel like she's played Cinderella's step sister at least four times. 

Quinn 

Yes. And like that was her dream role and this actress is just like having the best time being this character. Like it totally shows and I think that Hattie is like a standout character and performance throughout the entire thing as well. And it is a shame that she is not in the finale, but it's because of a deleted scene. And you can see the deleted scene if you get the DVD. 

Jane 

Yes, which I think is a good way to transition into why we have seen this movie so many times because yes, it is fun. And yes, we would watch it a bunch probably normally anyway, but the reason that we have watched it quite this many times is because we had the DVD and we discovered how delightful the audio commentary is. And I didn't keep track of how many times I watched it with or without commentary. But I would say that more than half of the times I watched it were with commentary. 

Quinn 

Yes, I mean, I think it became… you could have almost kept track of this movie two different ways, like watching it in its original form and watching it with commentary, because I think you we went to either at different times when we were looking for different things in a viewing experience. 

Jane 

Yeah, but I would, I think that…that even if I counted them separately, the commentary watching would be enough to be in my Top 40. 

Quinn 

You know, I I was gonna say I Jane mentioned this episode. You mentioned it to me. And I kept thinking you were going to schedule it and schedule it. And I'm like, wow, Ella Enchanted really made it far up this list because it's been several weeks now. It's pretty deep in the ranking. 

Jane 

Yeah, it's #20 so it's in the top half. 

Quinn 

Yeah. Top half. I'm stunned. 

Jane 

Yes, but yeah, so I don't remember how many times I'd seen it just normally before we discovered the commentary. But the commentary is just… it just adds a whole other level and like one of the things that you said earlier that made me think of it was when you were talking about Vivica A Fox being fabulous. And like, Anne Hathaway mentions in the commentary the scene when she's tied up to a tree and Lucinda shows up and she's like, oh, I'm going to help rescue you. And she's like, no, I want to be chained to this tree so I don't have to kill Char. And in the commentary, Anne Hathaway says that, like Vivica A Fox was so excited to do that scene. And she, Anne, was kind of like, “I don't know. I don't really like the lines” and Vivica’s like, “Oh, I'm not gonna say the lines. But we're gonna have fun!”

Quinn 

Yes, one of an Ella Enchanted moment that I think about probably most of any other, although there's so many, is like right after she sets her free, Vivica A. Fox, is just standing in this, like, fabulous pose and she's like, “Well, aren't I fabulous?” while Ella is just like, “This is terrible! This is not what I wanted!” It's just like a fabulous moment of just, like, completely not taking in any of your surroundings. You're the main character, the story is you, forget about everybody else, forget whose movie it. It's, it's Vivica A Fox. It's just, it's fabulous. But yes, the commentary which it features, Anne Hathaway and Hugh Dancy. So the two romantic leads of the movie and Tommy O’Haver, who is the director, he's like maybe the one you don't know, but if you don't know him you should. They just narrate the whole movie and it is absolutely hysterical, like the tone that these three have together is great. It's as if they're the best friends. They probably haven't spoken to each other in a decade now, which makes me sad because in my mind they hang out every day and commentate on things. Like they just have great chemistry. You can tell all three of them had a lot of fun making the movie and they're just like having a good time, and you can really you feel like you were there with them, like making this ridiculous movie that really wasn't that good, but damn it, they worked hard. 

Jane 

Yeah and it's like it's exactly what you would want from audio commentary, I think, which is like behind the scenes trivia because they have quite a bit of that. And then just like some like tea, like a little bit, not a lot of tea, but just like sort of like, oh, this didn't work very well or like, I was actually really miserable this day or something like that.

Quinn 

Well, they talk about like, little like spats they had with each other, but it's like, “Oh yeah, we got in a fight about that that day. I felt very this way” like it's it's all like it clearly happened like over a year ago. 

Jane 

Yeah, so there's that. But then just also like. Each one of them has a different thing that they kind of focus on more, which is nice that like they're not just kind of saying the same thing because like Hugh Dancy talks a lot about, like the stunt people. And like he was friends with them. And then Anne Hathaway- This is another thing, too, is like the commentary, like, really shows you how and how Anne Hathaway was like, set up to be super successful in Hollywood because she, like, remembers everybody's name, everybody who worked on this, like even like all the like, minor crew people and she's just like, yeah, this person did a great job and she, like, seems very like gracious. And like she actually cares, but is also very good at networking. And I think that that's exactly what you have to be to be like successful and someone that people like. 

Quinn 

Well, and you really get a sense of Anne Hathaway's work ethic, too. 

Jane 

Oh yeah. 

Quinn 

Which I think very much it comes through in the commentary where you just, like, get a sense of, like, all the things that she's thinking about. You hear a lot of the things that she's insecure about, and just like all of the the dynamics of being the Anne Hathaway of of this movie, being a movie star, being the the center of attention, both like in the internal world of the movie and in the external world of making the movie and in the even more external world of like marketing the movie and being the star.

Jane

Right.

Quinn

Like it's a very actually like I think nuanced character study of Anne Hathaway listening to the commentary while being very fun. 

Jane 

Yeah, yeah. And it's just like she never comes across as like, “Yes, I'm the star and I'm super famous and everyone should love me!” It's kind of like, “Yes, I'm putting in the work and I like really thought about this character and I really wanted to do a good job in this movie and I think everyone else worked really hard on it too.” And like definitely giving credit where credit is due and not really being super like... I mean obviously she talks about her own experiences, but not being super self-centered and like like everyone should be talking about me right now. 

Quinn 

And I think all three of the commentators really had that posture because Anne Hathaway does a great job of like mentioning like the lighting in this scene is beautiful and done by this person, that tailor was a tailor who works in Ireland. But I also think that like Hugh Dancy talks a lot about the stuntmen and like it's clear that he was like, legitimately really good friends with them, like during filming and would hang out with them. And like I think Tommy O’Haver also really like spotlights you know, actors and other people that worked on the movie. Like, I think you listen to it and it's like not like just them listing the credits, but it's like interesting seeing all of the different people that they each had to work with and spent time with. And like, how interesting it is just to put all these different people with all these different specialties in the same project together and just like stunt men interacting with movie stars and interacting with directors, interacting with lighting designers, interacting with other actors, it's all just very interesting to hear about the interactions that went into making the movie. 

Jane 

Yeah, it really highlights which I think I mean is probably true of pretty much every movie is that, like, just how interactive making a movie is, and just like what a collaborative effort it is. And it's not just like, oh, there's a few people involved and then there's, like, the background people that kind of help a little bit. It's like everybody really has to work together and like that's probably obvious to people who have made movies before. But I think when you're in the audience, you might not necessarily realize, I mean you see the long credits at the end, but just like how many people are involved in bringing this together and just how much they have to work together and trust each other to do their jobs. And I think that the Ella Enchanted commentary was kind of one of my first glimpses into just exactly what that looked like. And I think that that's part of what has like led me to be further interested in like, I'm not saying like I'm a filmmaker, but just sort of finding out a little bit more of the behind the scenes filmmaker stuff was really interesting to me without it feeling like, OK, now you're sitting down to a Filmmaking 101 class it it's all very fun the way they present it, but just like it gets you thinking of like, wow, there's so many people who work on movies that you never see who are really crucial to the process, and I really like that aspect of it and that they're definitely sure to give people as much credit as they can and not like you said, not listing the credits, just saying like, oh, this scene was really this person, like, really made it by doing their job kind of thing. And yeah, I really like that.

Quinn 

Yeah, and I think lots of DVD features have commentary on them, and so we've talked a lot about this commentary and it kind of leads to the question like what do you get from this commentary that like maybe you don't get in other movies with commentary? Cause I can't imagine there's another one on your list that like truly, you couldn't think of without the commentary which Ella Enchanted, I mean, it's inextricable from why you've watched this movie so many times. You wouldn't have watched this movie so many times without this commentary. I think it has all of these great things we've been talking about how deep it is, but it's also very funny.

Jane

Yes.

Quinn

And I feel like, you know, we quote and we've Mandela effected quotes from this commentary where like they don't actually say what we have ended up quoting years later, but like we quote this commentary so much to each other. Like probably the most quotable moment is like there's a point where Ella is supposed to in the movie like end up stopped in the middle of the road and there's like a horse drawn carriage that’s going to come and roll her over and she can't move because she's been ordered to stay because the Prince is going back to get the purse that she was carrying with her. And like they just describe how the line was originally, “MY SATCHEL!!!” when she realizes that she doesn't have it, and then the Prince is like, “Wait right there. I'll go get it.” And they're like, we had to cut that because we couldn't say it without laughing and they were like, then we I think we said, well, where's my satchel? We changed mine to where's my satchel and we still couldn't do it. S then in the movie is like, “Where's my purse?” is what she ends up saying. But like the “MY SATCHEL!” quote like, it's just the whole commentary is stuff like that. My other one of my other favorites, I can't even say things are above the other because it's all amazing. It's like, I guess all the sets had these different like almonds for Prince Char? 

Jane 

Yeah, all the, the castle sets had these dishes of candied almonds. 

Quinn 

Yeah, and it was just like this weird character study. And they're like, we want everyone in the Kingdom to enjoy my almonds! Like that Prince Char has his, like, favorite almonds. It's like this random detail that, like, you never would notice. There's just so many quotable moments, and like by all of them, all three of them really have great, hysterical little one liners. 

Jane 

Yeah, I was struggling to come up with a quote to use at the end of last episode because I was like all the good quotes are in the commentary. Yeah, cause the my satchel thing in particular, I feel like, I can't hear the word satchel without thinking of that, and sometimes I just think of it randomly. Just like “MY SATCHEL!!!”

Quinn 

Yeah and I also think one of the things that we have not yet talked about that I think the commentary does a good job of highlighting too, is that I love the costuming for that movie. I think that the costuming is perfect and they do a great job of talking about the different costumes, and you notice that characters have like signature colors, which I'm always, I don't know. I always really like that in movies when characters have signature colors. I think it's fun. And I I like that what that does visually is kind of like builds like a recognition for a certain character and seeing what color they're wearing, but like, I think it's cool. Like the characters have signature colors. I think the costumes are beautiful and well done, and the commentary does a good job of pointing out when that's the case. I think that Ella Enchanted is such a weird world and like you hear about all the different weird ways that this weird world was created together. But I do think it works surprisingly well like all told. You know, having these like kind of 70s-80s musical influences with kind of this like modern sensibility and the humor with like, costume, that kind of blended old and new with the signature colors, like something whimsical that pops like it all kind of like doesn't make sense in a way that makes sense. 

Jane 

Yeah, I think that the world is kind of similar to the world of Shrek in a way? Like, I think Shrek has a lot of those like… it's like sort of a medieval world, but also there's a lot of modern jokes. And I think that Hercules kind of does that too, of like being like set in the past, but also with these very modern jokes. And I think that was just like a really big thing in like the late 90s/early 2000s to kind of make that sort of world? And they really ran with it and Ella Enchanted. I think they really just leaned into, like, we're going to make this weird. And yeah, it works so much better than you would think it would on paper, if just like, yeah so it's like kind of medieval castle fairy tale but also modern, but also like from a few decades ago, and we're just going to throw all those things together. And yeah, it just really works. And I do agree that the costuming really helps with that because the costumes are, like sort of whimsical, but also like very focused on like the characters and like Ella’s are a lot more practical than like the step-sisters have, like the most ridiculous costumes, especially at the end. 

Quinn 

Shout out to Hattie’s ring in the ball scene. 

Jane 

It is like…her ring is like as big as her hand.

Quinn 

It is so ridiculous and so it's just perfect. 

Jane 

Giant orange. 

Quinn 

And I mean, I love the the fairies, like, especially like Lucinda, like has a very, I would say modern, like it's a very costumey, like think like, sexy fairy at Halloween outfit, but it's like Nope, it works. Let's go for it. And I think also having Heidi Klum in the movie helps with its fashion appeal. 

Jane 

Oh yeah. 

Quinn 

Heidi Klum is a giant. 

Jane 

I wonder if they consulted her, if like, she was a costume consultant too. 

Quinn 

I also have to say that we have not talked at all about Cary Elwes yet.

Jane

Oh yeah! Quinn

And I love his performance, talking about performances, he is clearly having a marvelous time. And I also love kind of the meta connection to Princess Bride because I do also think that there are some elements of, like it's like almost like a more modern frenetic world than Princess Bride is, but there's like, I think they serve as like similar kinds of movies, at least on paper. 

Jane 

Yeah, it does have kind of a similar tone to that. It doesn't have nearly as witty of dialogue as Princess Bride, but it definitely has like, a similar like world feel. Yeah, I definitely see what you’re saying. 

Quinn 

Like you could imagine, some of the characters interacting, so I think it's very… there's a fun parallel that like he's sort of in the story as more the Humperdinck character than, you know, being the romantic lead ultimately that he is in Princess Bride. 

Jane 

And he he was like just… He's so good, like, especially because like, as his character progresses. Like earlier in the movie, he's just sort of, like, vaguely menacing. And by the end, he's, like, completely like… maniacal laughing, just like going completely overboard with, like, I've just completely lost my mind! And he does that so well, like- 

Quinn 

And that's you can tell that's a choice that he made as an actor because you could have very easily played all of that very flat and probably not gotten the effect like you get that from his performance is what really gives you that story. 

Jane 

Yes. Oh my gosh I love the scene when he, after Hattie, has told him that Ella has to do whatever she's told, and he's, like, making her do the hokey pokey and all this stuff. But he's doing the most ridiculous dance in the background and it's like you're trying to make her look silly, but you look way sillier and it's so good. 

Quinn 

Yeah, like just the the gleeful evil of of it all. Yeah, it's it's really, it's fantastic acting. I'm telling- like, up, up, down, anywhere you look in this movie: well acted. 

Jane 

Yeah, 100% of the time. And then he has a snake sidekick. Which is very like reminiscent of a lot of Disney villains - which is part of why I always think this movie is Disney, but it's not Disney - but I think that they did a really good job with that snake. I guess originally they were going to have like an animatronic puppet and they just couldn't get it to work so they ended up-

Quinn 

Can you imagine how silly that would have looked? Like, I think them talking about their pathway to arriving at the conclusion that this snake had to be CGI is very funny in the commentary. 

Jane 

Yes, yes. Because it's like, um yeah, no, that wouldn't have worked. So they ended up with a CGI snake. And I think it looks good. 

Quinn 

It's very well done. It's fantastic and I think the the actor, I mean it's mostly a voice performance, but the acting is very good with Heston as well. 

Jane 

Yeah! Yeah , so I think that and that really adds to carry out was his character. What is his name? Edgar?

Quinn 

Edgar, who is the evil uncle. Sorry if we haven't said that. Yes, he is the king, who is the uncle of Prince Charmont, who is Hugh Dancy.

Jane 

And I think like the uncle killed the father? 

Quinn 

Yes. 

Jane 

It's like a little, little Hamlet moment. 

Quinn 

It’s kind of – a criticism: It's kind of thrown together. It's like, OK, I guess he killed the father. Like I want to see him killing the father. I wanna see the blood on his hands! 

Jane 

And then he's trying to kill Char also, I'm not exactly sure why… 

Quinn 

It's kind of Lion King action like… 

Jane 

Because Char was going to be coronated. Yes!

Quinn 

So I guess he was like kind of a Regent ruler because the dad had been killed and and the dad was much more, the king was much more tolerant of other life groups like ogres and elves, and then Edgar becoming the king, he made a lot of these like species segregationist policies so...

Jane

Yeah

Quinn

It's presumed that with Ella next to the throne and with Char being a much more morally upright person that with Edgar's passing and his coronation, things went right in Frell or Lamia or whatever the kingdom's name is, because Ella’s from Frell and Lamias where the castle is. I don't know what the whole common is called. Andalasia. 

Jane 

[laughs] Probably. It's also really interesting how they decided that, like the people from Lamia would have English accents, and the people from Frell would have American accents, and then they cast like mainly American people to be the Lamia people and mainly British people to be the Frell people. 

Quinn 

It was chaotic what was going on with the accents. 

Jane 

Yeah so people had to do different accents. I mean not entirely, cause like Hugh Dancy is actually English and had his normal accent. Anne Hathaway had her normal accent, but like, just like Minnie Driver had to do an American accent. 

Quinn 

And that one notable fairy who has that bit part does like a New York accent in in Lamia, but she was like Irish. 

Jane 

Yeah, well, yeah. And the person who plays Ella's mom was actually British or Irish or something, and…

Quinn 

[New York accent] Finding her would be something terrible.

Jane

[laughs] Yeah.

Quinn 

So many good lines! 

Jane 

There's some, there's some very strange accents going on, but it's fine. It works. 

Quinn 

Also Parminder Nagra is there.

Jane

Oh yeah.

Quinn

And she is honestly not one of the more memorable performances, but she does a really good job! 

Jane 

It's really upsetting, like, that's like one criticism that I have: I would really like to have seen another scene with Parminder Nagra's character at the end like… 

Quinn 

It's really stuck in there, like the resolution of that storyline with like like it- you can tell they like there was probably some scheduling problem of like her filming ER or something because like, it is weird. Like Areida is Ella's best friend. And and like they set up their characters and Ella actually like, really like screws her over because of the curse. 

Jane 

Yeah, it's a heartbreaking scene. 

Quinn 

It's a really sad scene and then I think that for whatever reason, they couldn't film any better resolution to that story other than like she just comes to the wedding and like, there's a cutaway scene where she's waving to the carriage and just goes, “Good luck, Ella!” 

Jane 

And you know she was waving at nothing. 

Quinn 

And yeah, like, there's no way those women were in the same room when that happened. 

Jane 

Yeah, I mean, she is in the room at the wedding, like with her, and they cause she's part of the Don't Go Breaking My Heart 

Quinn 

Yeah, but like I that could have been filmed in post too, that cutaway shot. 

Jane 

That is true. Um, yeah so I think they really needed a scene where Ella explained what had happened. 

Quinn 

And like you assume that they were, you know, they healed the friendship, and they were in a good place. But like, they never said that. 

Jane 

Yeah, it's like, I mean, I get that they put that in there to show just like how bad, because that kind of was what pushed Ella over the edge of like, I guess I just have to live with this curse to being like, no, I need to get rid of this because her stepmother made her tell her best friend, like, “I could never be friends with you, and you suck, go away” basically. 

Quinn 

And yeah, I really, I think if it was a better script or like a better story, like the movie version, I don't really remember like how it happened in the book, but for the movie world that was created, I think involving Areida in some of the machinations at the end to, like take down Edgar would have, really fixed a lot of the, like narrative hole that is left with that storyline, like just to have Areida like give her some marginal role even where like she's for some reason there and can like help them do one thing like in the sequence to take down Edgar. Like just plug her in somewhere. And I think that would have been really nice to like have like her helping the cause and like reestablishing their relationship and then like then maybe you don't really need a final scene between them. You can just kind of use what you have at the end and be like, yeah, they figured it out. 

Jane 

Yeah, I agree that definitely would have been a really good way to do it, but… 

Quinn 

I mean, they have Heidi Klum in the end part like... 

Jane 

Yeah, yeah. Because she and Slannen have a thing. 

Quinn 

Yeah, they get together, which is there's a lot of questions I have, but it's fine. 

Jane 

Yeah, but I think that that's really, I mean, no offense to the writers, but I think there were like 5 writers on this movie, and like I don't know that they had a cohesive idea of what they were going to do with it. I think it was kind of like, OK, there's this really popular book and this really popular actress that we can write a thing for. 

Quinn 

And doing movies like this is very popular. 

Jane 

Yeah, exactly. So yeah, this is the time to do this sort of modernized but not fairy tale type thing. And we're just going to throw it together and hope for the best. And I think that it does work a lot better than it had any right to on paper, based on the dialogue and the script. And they talk about that a little bit in the commentary. They're like, very gracious about it, but there's certain moments where they're like, “Yeah, I never really liked this line,” or, like, “I never really felt like I said this right.” 

Quinn 

I think they're pretty upfront with saying the lines that they had issues with saying. 

Jane 

Yeah, but they're not, they're not gonna, say like, “Oh this whole script was trash.” 

Quinn 

Yeah, yeah. And I mean, in fairness, there's a couple funny, like “My tongue itches” is funny. 

Jane 

That is true. Yeah, there's some good lines in the actual script, but I think overall that's really the weak point. And just like the fact that they were able to get these amazing actors and some of them are like super famous, others I like, haven't really seen in anything else. 

Quinn 

Eric Idle is in the movie also. 

Jane 

Oh, I forgot about him! 

Quinn 

See, like you just keep thinking of people. There's a lot of performances. 

Jane 

And I think that they all just showed up and were like, “We're gonna have fun. We're gonna make this movie.” And it just really comes together in a very entertaining way. 

Quinn 

I do think also what helps is that the characters they're playing are all kind of archetypes. What talented actors are able to do, they're able to take these archetypal characters and sort of have an interpretation of them kind of ready to go. And so I'm, I'm also kind of thinking like, that's these are just good professional actors that like these are not like tough characters. They're just like they're ones that you can really like sink into and, like, get- they're, they're like, really meaty roles that like a good actor, will know what to do with. 

Jane 

Yeah, yeah, I agree with that, that's a good way of putting it. So yeah, so it's just it's just fun entertainment, but again, it just becomes like so much more fun and entertaining when you have the commentary on and you just hear them chatting with each other about their memories of making this movie and the good and the bad and the ugly. 

Quinn 

And if you like podcasts, I imagine you'll like the commentary because it it really does, I think feel like you're just sitting around the table with friends or sitting on the couch watching the movie with, you know, the friends or like people that were making the movie. Like it's a a really good aura that the commentary has. I feel like and again and thinking about like what does the commentary have that other commentaries don't? Like I think a lot of other commentaries are very cold and very like stale almost and like they come in for these very like discrete parts and they'll say, I did want to mention when we were watching this that this blah blah blah. And then they'll stop and they'll go back to the movie. Like, this is just this continual conversation that goes throughout the movie pretty much. 

Jane 

Yeah, I think a lot of times, especially when the commentary just has the director, they can get very technical with like just saying, like explaining how each shot was set up. And just like, I mean some of that is very interesting, but I think it almost feels like you're like going to film school or something or like you're sitting in a lecture and I definitely tend to prefer the ones that have multiple people and especially like, I mean, I don't want to say like we only care about the actors, but I think actors know how to perform better than directors do a lot of the time, and so they know how to be entertaining. I would say Ella Enchanted is like far and away my favorite, but there's a few others, like I talked about the Mary Poppins one. And I think that one is really fun for different reasons, because they're looking back with like 40 years of distance. But it's the same sort of thing of like they're interacting with each other and reminiscing together. And I think that's a lot more interesting than just hearing one person sort of give you a lecture about how this movie came together. 

Quinn 

Well, yeah, and what the actors do, and I mean that's what they are when you're watching the movie, they are the audiences perspective, like into the world of the movie and, and so I think that you you feel like, you know, actors in a way that you don't feel like you know directors or people that are not on camera. And so, yeah, I think they're very practiced at bringing that perspective to an audience and sort of serving as that messenger or the gateway that an audience has to a story. And then I think to Tommy O’Haver’s credit. I think he's very charismatic. And so you feel like you know him or you like, get to know him through the course of the commentary. There's many directors whose commentary I've seen that I didn't really get a sense of who they were as people, but I feel like you get to know Tommy O’Haver and you like him. 

Jane 

Yeah, I think that he, like, definitely takes his work seriously, but I think he doesn't think too highly of himself. I think a lot of directors have really big egos, which I think to a certain extent you have to for that job because you have to be in charge and you have to like get people to listen to you and so you have to think relatively highly of yourself. Otherwise you're gonna be like, “Well or- or not or whatever.” And you can't do that when you're a director. But I think that with Tommy O'Haver, he's like, he wants people to have fun on his sets, I think. And he's like, very proud of his work on this movie, clearly. But he's also, like, very gracious to the stars that he's talking to and like, very quick to point out when they did a good job, which I think they're more hesitant to do, like they don't want to toot their own horns as much. And so he's like, very much like, saying, “Wow, you guys were really great to work with and you did such a good job too.” And like that, they were exactly what he wanted for this movie. And I think that really helps make the commentary just seem a lot more fun, too, is that he's not being like, “I made this movie and I was so great.” It was like, “Thank you guys for doing such a good job.” and all of that, so I really like that. 

Quinn 

Yeah, he's he seems like- I would, I would be an actor or, like, work on a movie that he was the director for. I feel like he would be a good person to work with. And yeah, I do, it's interesting that you note that they the actors do I feel like have a hard time like tooting their own horn and like one of the main things that I feel like Anne Hathaway is comfortable like talking about is like her physical appearance. And like, she'll be like, “Oh, my extensions look so good at that point.” And I do feel like that's something that, like you think about, like the Harvey Weinstein of it all and like just a lot of some of the really, like, dark things about Hollywood and like, how sad that is that like, that's what she felt like, you know, those were some of the ways that she could, like, step into her own and, like, talk positively about herself. And then you think about like all other things that were going on like in the industry at large. I also think it's really great to hear like, a man complementing like the female star of the movie, who was like indisputably the star of the movie. And again, another good example of like female led projects like they're this idea that they're not as successful. It’s like here is another like- that's something I love about this movie, that it is a female led movie, that it's like, yeah, Anne Hathaway is perfectly capable of carrying a movie on her own shoulders. 

Jane 

Yeah, and it's interesting too that like the director doesn't at any point that I recall in the commentary. Maybe, he says, like… Because I do think like Anne Hathaway does complement her own appearance, she all is also very critical of it. 

Quinn 

Well, and and that's also true too. I mean just I think that's sort of where I was going, too and tying in like some of the larger cultural things, she is very critical of her appearance at times too. 

Jane 

One of my favorite parts though, is when she's like watching herself perform and she's, like, cringing. And they're like, “What are you..? And she's like, “Oh, it’s just a tooth thing.” 

Quinn 

Well, they're in the middle of complementing the lighting in the scene, and they're just like, “Oh, this lighting is so beautiful” and it is really beautiful. It's like flickering flames that of course, were, like, done digitally, but it looks very real and they're complimenting it and then and and Hathaway just goes, “Eugh!” And then then she's just like, “Sorry, it was a tooth thing.” 

Jane 

Yeah, but I think that what I was gonna say is I don't remember at any point, I don't think he ever really talks about her appearance other than to say, like, “Oh you look fine” when she's criticizing herself. I think that he's way more focused on her work and her her performance and like how dedicated she was and like she was in basically every scene and that she had to work really hard and he really gives her a lot of credit for that. And I think that's, like you were saying, a big problem in Hollywood is that a lot of actresses like you focus more on their appearance and what they're wearing and all this stuff. And I think it’s really great to see a male director recognizing that his female star really put in a lot of work and did a lot of stuff besides, just like looking pretty in this movie. And that's yeah, it's really great to hear that, especially on a movie that was produced by Harvey Weinstein. 

Quinn 

Mm-hmm. Yeah, it's very true. And I just, I think. We've already spoken a little bit about this, but like, Anne Hathaway is just such a treasure, I think, like, and it's been very interesting, and like I I mentioned her in the same sentence with like Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone earlier in this conversation. And like, just thinking about, like, what Anne Hathaway's trajectory has been, and then what those actresses’ trajectories have been where I think there there was, you know, generally good favor around Anne Hathaway for a long time. And then, like all of a sudden kind of around the time of her Oscar win, people kind of soured on her and felt that she really was sort of distasteful. And then just like having her image kind of come back around from there and now I think she has a very like, you know, people have a lot of, like, nostalgic affection for her being in all these beloved classics like Princess Diaries and Devil Wears Prada and Ella Enchanted. But then she's also, you know, an Oscar winner and like, taken very seriously, like, I think she's kind of reached that, like, you know, prime part of her career where she's been through all of these things. And we've seen actresses like Emma Stone and Jennifer Lawrence kind of on a delayed timeline, go through some of these same things like, I just think that Anne Hathaway, I really have a lot of respect and appreciation for all of the things that she's weathered. Being a young woman in Hollywood and having to kind of- that she was in these beloved projects. She's had periods of being very well loved, periods of being kind of hated and has sort of weathered the storms and has continued to to work and deliver really phenomenal performances, I just- I think she's such a gift and I'm glad that she's still out there kicking ass and making amazing movies. Like I love Ocean's 8, that's fairly recent, and I think that she still has some very exciting career moves left. I'm- I can't wait to see her as she continues. 

Jane 

Yeah, and I think it's really interesting because she was getting a lot of hate for a while, for like no really good reason. Like, I don't feel like anyone could point to like something horrible that she said or did. Like maybe she like said something that was maybe a little bit questionable, but like, I think now people are coming around to being more like, you know, she was never actually terrible. People were just mad at her for being a successful woman like, cause, I mean, some people like they said something super racist or something or like that was interpreted in a bad way. But I don't even know that anyone's been able to point to something like that. 

Quinn 

I think probably the thing that I heard or that that's been on in the news cycle was the Witches movie that she was in and sort of depicting people with limb differences as like witches and, there was some backlash to the way that the witches were portrayed and how that looked similarly to people with limb differences and sort of othered people with limb differences, or at least this was some criticism of that movie. And I thought that Anne Hathaway had a really, um… I was impressed with the apology that she offered and she made, I thought, a really powerful, well thought out statement that just said, “I didn't really do my homework fully here and this is upsetting because I upset people that I did not want to upset” and it owned the mistake, and just you know, said that she would be more careful moving forward and you know, like, I just think that's something that I appreciate someone that can stand up and apologize when they did something not fully thought out. 

Jane 

Yeah. Well, and I don't remember hearing anything about that, but like the Witches was based on a novel by Raold Dahl, whose prejudices are well known at this point. 

Quinn 

Yeah, so I I think it's… I don't think that Anne Hathaway should be held accountable for like production decisions that were probably outside of her control, but she still did take accountability. And I thought in a way that- I appreciated the thoughtfulness of the statement I ended up reading. 

Jane 

Yeah, I think that she's always been very good about responding to things which, like, maybe she just has a really good PR team. But like, she definitely always knows how to, like, stand up for herself when she needs to, but then also, you know, not just double down when she makes mistakes. And I think that's really great. I know she was like a really big advocate for legalizing gay marriage and things like that. Like, she's really been somewhat of an activist in terms of issues that she really cares about, which I think is great. She's just a really… seems like a really good role model to be a movie star. I mean, obviously she's not perfect. I don't think that anyone has a right to expect her to be perfect, but I did really appreciate that, like when Ocean's 8 came out and everybody was like, “Wow, Anne Hathaway is like, the best part of this movie that is a great movie and has a lot of great parts.” And then some people were like, “Yeah, she's the best part of every movie she's in. Why has it taken you this long to notice?” Like people kind of coming back around to being like, “Yeah, she's always been good. Why did we hate her?” 

Quinn 

Well, and I think it's fabulous because in that movie she plays an actress who you kind of think is going to be like, obnoxious and not really that great. And then she ends up being, like, essential to the con and… 

Jane 

Yes, I love that. And like I kind of wish that they had done something like that in Ella Enchanted with Parminder Nagra's character. 

Quinn 

Right. 

Jane 

Like, that's what they needed to do is like bring her back and have her be like, “Yeah, OK, you really hurt me. But now I'm gonna help you” kind of thing. Yeah. 

Quinn 

Well, yeah. And I mean, I guess I do feel like you tend to have things for actors and actresses that are older. You know, I think of a lot of your actor obsessions being, you know, people from a bygone era that were dead before you were born. I feel like Anne Hathaway has been an actress that sort of we've grown up with that we've sort of seen come of age - we remember a time before Anne Hathaway and saw her rise - that you've really enjoyed. And I think have looked at as like I would say, I think you're a particular fan of Anne Hathaway. And like I I think that that's that's interesting, and I'm curious if… you've probably already described many of the things that maybe have drawn you to her more so than like other actors of her generation. 

Jane 

Yeah, I would definitely… I mean, I'm sure there's bigger Anne Hathaway fans than me, I'm not like her number one fan or anything, but definitely she's one of the actors that I've been more of a fan of. And like, she's less than 10 years older than me, so she’s like pretty close to my generation and I think that a lot of it is that, like, she's an Old Hollywood fan, like she has a lot of those sensibilities of, like, the Old Hollywood actors. And I think that that is something that I've picked up on even without like that consciously being why I like her. But I do think that that has helped. That like she is definitely very modern, but in a way that takes things I liked about the older Hollywood style. Like I think she probably would say that she's more of a method actor and a lot of the actors I like are kind of before that became the norm. But like, I think she's still very much the like, get up there, say the lines and think about that rather than just being like, “I'm going to fully embody this character!” which is something that kind of irritates me about actors sometimes as being like, “I'm just becoming this person now.” It's like, I think she she's got that sort of line between herself and her characters that a lot of the like, more like modern stars… I mean, I'm, I know there's modern actors who are great, but I think the like movie star leading role people kind of rub me the wrong way sometimes. But like I think that she has similarities to like the old Hollywood stars that I'm a fan of, and sort of bridges that gap into the modern era, if that makes any sense? I truly don't know if I’m explaining this- 

Quinn 

I think that's all really interesting and I think makes a lot of sense. I think that's a cool observation and I'm just thinking tying it back to Ella Enchanted, I was thinking the last time I watched it specifically, I was like, what is different about Ella from Princess Mia? Like where… where are the lines there? And in truth, I think that there's a lot that's similar about Princess Mia and about Ella. And like I think that, yeah, that makes a lot of sense because I know that you really love like Cary Grant, for example, who I think Cary Grant has range and has performances that it's very transformative between roles, but he does have a brand and he has a style and like a lot of movies, it's like here's like a specific character, like this one's a scientist, this one's a teacher, this one's a, a that and we're just going to do the Cary Grant version of like that profession or like that. Like we're going to give him a few boundaries to work with that are like character defining traits, but then he's going to bring the Cary Grant brand to it. And they feel like that's almost what the transition from Princess Mia to Ella Enchanted is, is it's like, we're going to change the the formation of these characters in a little bit of different ways, and like I I notice like the Princess Mia, Lily friendship is kind of flipped in Ella Enchanted, and like Arieda is much more like Mia, and Ella is much more like Lily in that dynamic and like that, the fact that they're activists and like going to, like protests and stuff, I feel like kind of mirrors each other. But it's very much Anne Hathaway bringing the Anne Hathaway brand to each of those characters, and like they're both very Anne Hathaway. Like, you get her as a star, you get the brand of her, you get the identity of her while she's in kind of just these different formations of like, that protagonist character that leads the movie one way or the other. 

Jane 

Yeah, I think it's like there's certain movie stars who, just like, always play the same character. And it's like, OK, that's that actor, that's that actor, that's that actor, and it gets a little bit redundant. And then there's other actors who are like very much blend into their roles, which if it's done well, I think that that's really good and I really appreciate that. Like, I like Meryl Streep, and like those kind of like… really good. But I think there's some actors who are like, “I'm just going to be completely different in this movie!” and it just, like, doesn't quite… gel with me, I guess? I don't know. But like, I think my favorite kind of actors tend to be the ones where, like you can always tell it's them, but they're doing different things and like they're very versatile within their wheelhouse, like it's not they're doing the same thing every time, but at the same time they they bring themselves to it. And I think that that that Anne Hathaway is very much like that. Because obviously like playing Fantine in Les Mis is very different from playing Ella in Ella Enchanted like they're completely different characters. And I'm not saying like, “Ohh yeah, but it was just Anne Hathaway doing that.” Like, she's a good actress. But I guess I just, I feel like I get her persona a little bit more and like I… I don't want to say it like I'm trying to like insult any actors, but I just think that I tend to resonate with the ones that are more in the style of the Old Hollywood people who were like themselves, like you were saying bringing Cary Grant brand to different characters and I think Anne Hathaway has a very strong star personality and I think that that really comes out in the Ella Enchanted commentary and I think that it's very telling that that was like so early in her career because it was only a few years after Princess Diaries. But she was already like, “This is me. This is who I am. I'm a fully formed person and I'm not going to let Hollywood mess me up too much,” I think, because I think a lot of people fame can really go to their head. And I think that, I mean, there's no way for it not to a little bit, but I feel like… at least the way she comes across, I'm not claiming to know her, but I feel like Anne Hathaway has- seems to have kept her integrity throughout the fame. And I really respect that and it's been really fun to see that like through the ups and downs of her career so far, and I'm sure there's much more to come from her, she's not that old, so I'm sure she'll be- 

Quinn 

Right. No, we're it's not… this is not a memorial of Anne Hathaway. But yeah, I think that makes sense. It's interesting to hear what's really attractive about her from your perspective. Because I I, I think that does make a lot of sense, and I really do kind of see her as someone in that that just kind of feels right, you know, in thinking about Anne Hathaway as someone who's sort of… is in the older school of, you know, being that type of star, and I really do think that that's some of her best strengths as an actor and that she's she's immediately someone familiar. Like she, we've grown up with her on screen in various roles and like I think that that is something that a lot of those older actors really bring to like a sense of familiarity, and that allows you to really get into the story because they have such potent brands and their brands are not necessarily like “I'm a completely different person in everything I'm in.” Like I'm almost like Meryl Streep is an actress who people talk about as being very transformative. I almost think like Nicole Kidman is kind of that actress. I'm just like, “Satine is the same person as Virginia Woolf?!” Like she's someone to me that I'm like, Nicole Kidman could be anybody, like… 

Jane 

Yeah, or like Daniel Day-Lewis. 

Quinn 

Yeah. Yeah, like additional people. 

Jane 

And like, no offense to them like, I think they're amazingly talented and I- 

Quinn 

I think what you're describing is like actors that maybe don't have the ability to be that transformed or just like are overcommitted to the process, to the point where it's just like an excuse to be mean to people. Like Jared Leno. 

Jane 

Oh yeah, everybody who's played the Joker has been like, “I'm going to use this to be mean to people.” So yeah, there are definitely actors who do that really well and like, all power to them, tons of respect. But I think that there's some actors that just try to do stuff throughout their career that I'm just sort of like, that's fine, but I don't really like love that as much. And I think that in the Princess Diaries 2 commentary Anne Hathaway talks quite a bit about old movies that she likes. And I think that that is sort of what has given me the impression of, like, oh, that's why I like her. Because she also is taking from these old movies. And I think that a lot of the more modern actors who I like have something in common with the Old Hollywood style of acting. 

Quinn 

Is this the first Anne Hathaway movie on the podcast? 

Jane 

I think so.

Quinn

Oh!

Jane

I think it's only this and Princess Diaries. 

Quinn 

OK. That makes sense that I haven't really heard your thoughts about Anne Hathaway on the podcast yet. Another comment that I wanted to make about Anne Hathaway's performance style: I actually see a lot of similarities to Ginger Rogers and like how you were describing Ginger Rogers was like, at least perceived by Katharine Hepburn at like the time of Stage Door. I can see some similarities in like how they came across, and I think Anne Hathaway is less known for her dancing, but just the, you know, the really like competent professional model that can deliver really versatile performances and kind of has a few like tricks. And it's not just the acting, it's also the singing, or also the dancing or both. I I see, I see there being something sort of similar between the two of them. 

Jane 

Yeah. And just like that, people wanted to work with them. Because I think that was part of Katherine Hepburn's issues earlier in her career is that she was very difficult to work with, which like I understand like- 

Quinn 

 [laughing] I can't imagine Katharine Hepburn being difficult. 

Jane 

I know, right? 

Quinn 

That's why she's the perfect Susan Vance! 

Jane 

She was like like, I mean, obviously I feel like even now women are not treated very well in Hollywood. And back then, it was very bad in a lot of ways. And so, like, I can't really fault her for like, standing up for herself, and that got you labeled as difficult, so I think some of it was that, but I think also just like I think Ginger Rogers would have been willing to be friends with her, and she was very much like, “No. We are not friends.” Based on Anne Hathaway’s commentary, like, it seems like she’s very gracious towards everybody she was working with and like, I mean, maybe there's people out there who've worked with Anne Hathaway who were like, “Oh, no, she was horrible.” But I don't think I've heard any stories about her actually being hard to work with, whereas like some stars like I just off the top of my head, Christian Bale comes to mind of like crew members being like, “He just always yells at us” and stuff like that, and I think that like easy to work with for actresses can be code for just like very compliant and never standing up for themselves. And I don't think that that's what Anne Hathaway is like. But I do think that, yeah, she's more of a Ginger Rogers than a Katharine Hepburn in terms of like people want to work with her. So yeah, I think that's a good, that's a good analogy to draw. We’ve talked a lot about Anne Hathaway, but I think she deserves it. 

Quinn 

Yeah, well, I'm… knowing that this is her debut on your countdown, I I feel like she's somebody that I think of as a modern interest of yours. Someone who's still alive that you like and follow to some extent. 

Jane 

Yeah, well, there's- when I keep track of the movies I watch, there are certain actors who I update every year when I update my spreadsheet of like how many movies I've seen of theirs and how many times, and like list out like which movies I've seen which number of times for each of them, and most of the actors I track are from Old Hollywood. There's a few more modern ones. Yeah, Anne Hathaway is definitely one of those. And I think that also like being introduced to her along with Julie Andrews, like I wasn't a huge Julie Andrews fan before Princess Diaries. And so I think that like that movie, which I will talk about later, but that really made me really like both of them. And so I kind of think of like, me being a fan of Anne, starting at the same time as Julie Andrews. And so they kind of, like, go together in my mind. And I think having this other movie that's kind of similar to Princess Diaries in that she's playing sort of a princessy type character, but different soon after that really helped fuel my interest in like, keep my interest in Anne Hathaway after Princess Diaries. 

Quinn 

Yeah, it's honestly beautiful in many ways to think about that pairing for Princess Diaries cause I think I'm sure you're not alone in some way in that story of being introduced to both of them at the same time, or reintroduced, I think a lot of people probably know the Sound of Music and Mary Poppins at least. But yeah, I mean, I think that it's very cool that like, what a great, you know, way to burst onto the Hollywood scene than with the Julie Andrews movie and yeah, I think it's cool to think of how a lot of people must have become fans of both of them at the same time and must kind of attach these two very talented women who have both dominated the entertainment industry for quite some time. I think it's, yeah, it's, it's cool to think about that that's where Anne Hathaway started in a lot of homes. 

Jane 

Yeah, you know, and Julie Andrews continues to have a career, but also is more known for being sort of at the end of the classic Hollywood era, and that she similarly burst onto the scene with a big role that made her an instant star because- 

Quinn 

And that was sort of a kids’ movie too. 

Jane 

Yeah, yeah, exactly. It was a Disney movie. And so like to start as the star of a Disney movie and then just kind of go from there. And Julie Andrews has also had many ups and downs in her career with people loving her and then not liking her that much and like that has happened to her as well, which I think it happens to anybody if you're around long enough. But yeah. So I think that having that connection to Old Hollywood directly also seems more of my jam. And it was fun for me to see somebody closer to my age also talking about liking old movies and things like that. I'm like, OK, cool. I'm not alone in being interested in Old Hollywood, as a younger person who's still alive. And I'm sure that there's a lot of other actors who feel similarly also, like I think you kind of have to if you know your craft, you're going to have seen older movies. But yeah, I think she's been open about like, “Yeah, I I like Audrey Hepburn” and things like that, so… 

Quinn 

I was going to say she does give me a very Audrey Hepburn type vibe, but like almost like spunkier than Audrey Hepburn but Audrey Hepburn was pretty spunky too, so I wouldn't. I wouldn't take that away from her.

Jane

Yeah.

Quinn

To completely change the subject: amatonormativity. This movie is a love story. How do you feel about that? 

[both laugh]

Jane 

Yeah, it is definitely a love story. I do think that it's interesting that like, Ella does not at any point set out to find love. She does fall in love with Char definitely, but that's not her objective. Like it's an important part of this story, but ultimately like, that's not what the story's about. Like, I think it's much more about her curse and trying to break away from her having to be obedient. 

Quinn 

And really, her learning to use love as a tool to be the, you know, the most, like, actualized curse-liberated version of herself. I think that that's like important, too. Like she she realizes that love is something that she wants in her life, like a romantic love is something that she she wants and that that is sort of how she learns to use love as a way to break the curve. 

Jane 

Yeah and I feel like it's never really been an option for her up until that point, because I think that one of two things would happen. Either she would marry someone who would then, like, completely take advantage of her curse and just- 

Quinn 

Yes, that would be very scary for her. 

Jane 

Or she would end up really hurting her partner by having to do stuff because someone else told her to, and that kind of almost happens the second one. Because Char is very kind and understanding and like even there's certain moments in the movie when he like says something and she starts to do it and he's like “That wasn't an order. Like, I'm not trying to make you do stuff you don't want to do.” 

Quinn 

He's very taken aback by her in all ways because he's used to women throwing themselves at him and so he's very taken aback that Ella doesn't do that at the beginning. And then he's taken aback when she's like overly compliant on things that he meant as more like suggestions and just like interpersonal interactions. 

Jane 

Yeah. 

Quinn 

There's a lot of commands and casual conversation we learn through Ella Enchanted. 

Jane 

And I think they do a really good job with that and there's this great moment when he says, “You have to stay,” and she's like, “OK, I'll stay.” And he's like, “Well, no, you don't HAVE to stay.” And she's like, “OK” and she, like starts to leave. He's like, “But I would like you to stay.” And then she does. And I think that she really appreciates that he wants to give her her own agency when she's never been able to have that. But then of course, Edgar manipulates it and tries to get her to kill Char, and I think that that is part of why she was like, “it's not good that I'm in love with him” cause she knew something that could happen. I don't think she anticipated it happening quite like that or quite that soon. So I think it's very strong of her to allow herself to fall in love with Char and then to be able to overcome the curse, fully break it, rather than killing him, and… side note: another of my favorite parts of the commentary is when she says “I do love you, Char,” and then she raises the knife cause she's like being forced to. And in the commentary, the director goes, “I'm just not in love with you.” It's like, that's what you do. You kill them when you say that!

Quinn

It's iconic.

Jane It's great. But anyway, she is in love with him and so I think that again a lot of what I'm learning through this project is a lot of my favorite love stories are the ones where like falling in love is not the path that they were supposed to go on. Like with Sound of Music like she wants to be a nun. She's not supposed to fall in love with anyone. And then she does. And I think that often with amatonormativity the path is like you are going to fall in love and get married and have kids. And for Ella that's not her path at all initially. And so I think I really enjoy stories where people are forging their own path and not doing what society or other people around them tell them to do. Which is especially poignant in this movie because she literally has to do what everybody tells her to do for most of the story. And so I think that like, because there are all these things about like why, not only should she not end up with Char, she shouldn't end up with anybody. And so I think seeing like, but she wants to and she makes that happen for herself is more powerful than a lot of the like, typical romantic stories where it's like, maybe these two people are pulled apart by various forces, but like, they're going to find someone and marry someone. That's less interesting to me than stories like this. 

Quinn 

That's interesting. 

Jane 

But again, it's like there is the romantic element of it, but there's so much more going on and it's so much more about Ella finding herself and finding her own voice when she's being constantly talked over and drowned out. And I think that that's…that's what I like about this story. And like the love story is incidental. But I do think that it's good that Char is so much kinder to her than most of the other people she encounters besides Slannen I guess. 

Quinn 

Other than the romantic relationship, what are your favorite relationships in Ella Enchanted? 

Jane 

Ooh, that's a good question… ha, Edgar and his snake? 

Quinn 

You know that's a good one. I honestly think I might like the Ella and Mandy relationship.

Jane

Oh, yeah.

Quinn

I know it's not emphasized much, but you can just tell that they have a good rapport. I I guess I like Minnie Driver and Anne Hathaway in scenes together, they seem to really have a good chemistry, but yeah, I I like, I like that bond. I think that the step sister bond is funny and interesting. One of my least favorite relationships is the relationship between the father and Ella? Like he is so weird, like because he does- you get the sense he cares about her, and is like mildly intelligent. He's just, like, distant, like, absent, like always on on the road. So he can't be involved in the home situation, but like he's kind of a little weird. 

Jane 

Yeah, he- Well, he's very underdeveloped. And I also think it's very interesting how like, it takes him a really long time to notice that she's gone and you just see, like, this one random scene where he's, like, talking to the stepmother and “Where's Ella?” And she's just like, “Oh, she's off with Hattie and Olive, it's fine.” And it's like she's been gone for many days at this point. Like, did you just notice that she left? 

Quinn 

[stepmother impression] “She’s taking a tour of the castle.” 

Jane 

[continues stepmother impression] “With Hattie and Olive.” I mean, Joanna Lumley just is very, very funny. 

Quinn 

It's honestly the main performance of hers that I think of. I feel like this is very embarrassing. I know she's in lots of other things, but I mainly think of Joanna Lumley as an Ella Enchanted actress. 

Jane 

I mean, I feel like most of the people in this movie, there's like two different levels of people. It's like either, “Oh yeah, from Ella Enchanted!” or like, “They were in Ella Enchanted?!” 

Quinn 

Yeah, there are two choices. 

Jane 

Yeah, except for like Anne Hathaway, obviously it’s like, I know she's in Ella Enchanted, but I don't automatically think of Ella Enchanted. But like Hugh Dancy…

Quinn

He’s Prince Char!

Jane

He's just so ingrained in Ella Enchanted for me and I think that like, obviously, Anne Hathaway is the main star of this movie, but Hugh Dancy does a great job and I think he does a good job also of like stepping back and letting her be the lead of the movie. 

Quinn 

Yeah, he's really fantastic and I like the character of Char and it's all a yes for me on the Prince Char front. And I think like their relationship feels very earned throughout the movie. And I agree, you know, I think that it's like, ugh does every movie have to have a romance? Like there is a a quality of like, this probably didn't need to be there, but it is, but I think it's an earned relationship. I think you can see how they're both willing to be supportive of each other. I think you can see how they're helping each other grow. I think that Ella really does challenge Char’s complacency in his privilege. And I think that, I don't know what does Char really do for Ella? Um... 

Jane 

He saves her! 

Quinn 

Oh yes, he does save her from the ogres. I think that she does view the world in a really adversarial terms because she has to, to, like, protect herself, and I think that he kind of helps her bring down her walls a little bit. I think you see that throughout the course of the movie. So, yeah, I think they're both, like, really enriching each other's lives in a way that is nice, and they have good chemistry. I feel like I would watch the Hugh Dancy/Anne Hathaway rom com in the future, like I would see them paired up in another movie. 

Jane 

Yeah, I think that that one objection that I tend to have for a lot of especially rom coms, but romantic movies in general is that a lot of times I feel like the relationship between the leads is actually kind of toxic if you think about it and, like…

Quinn 

Yes, it's true. 

Jane 

…one of them is stalking the other, like something really creepy is happening that you're supposed to think is cute, and I don't feel like we get that with the Ella Enchanted one. I feel like they have a really good organic falling in love. And also like with a lot of Cinderella adaptations, I feel like the Prince is usually very underdeveloped as a character. 

Quinn 

And it's we talked about this when we watched all the Disney movies. Like it's probably one of the biggest flaws in the Disney Cinderella, which is sort of a standard classic interpretation of Cinderella. I think there's other versions of Cinderella that improve on it a little bit, but there's frankly many that follow in the same footsteps of having kind of an anonymous prince. 

Jane 

Yeah. And like on the one hand, that's fine, cause it's Cinderella's story. But on the other hand, I'm like, this is very much Ella’s story, but I feel like we understand who Char is and he's very well developed and their relationship is very well developed. Like we have many scenes together. At first, like she really doesn't like him. It's a trope that happens in many romantic films of like initially one of them is like, “Ugh, I hate you,” and then they get together eventually. But I think it's very gradual and just feels very organic and it makes sense. And so yeah, I I am in favor of their romance. Like I- 

Quinn 

Well, and he's also, not looking at Ella as a conquest, even though it's very clearly established when they meet that like she's not into him and he is sort of like allured by that because he's very used to like running from a screaming horde of fans. And so, like, you can tell that he's both like this is of interest to him that Ella has resistance to him because it's unusual, but it's not like- There's a very easy way to make that character very toxic then, and to say, like, oh, I'm going to conquest this, and I don't think that that's how he feels about her. And it's really they don't cross paths again until he's saving her life from the ogre. So there's like a very good, like, high stakes reason for him to intervene in her life at that time. Like, there's not, like, a creepy, like, I'm gonna get that girl who resisted me. 

Jane 

Well, and he doesn't know the full story of what she's doing because she's not allowed to tell anyone about the curse. But like he's willing to help her find her fairy godmother, like, basically no questions asked. And you don't ever get the impression that he's, like, doing it to like, because there's, you know, the whole friend zone of, like, “I was nice to her, and now she's not sleeping with me.” Like you don't get the impression that he's helping her to get in her pants or anything. Like he really wants to help her. 

Quinn 

Yeah, there's not really any like subversive stuff that you feel like subversive motivation that he has that you sense he has ever. 

Jane 

Yeah, yeah, I think they do a really good job of that of like, I think he would be OK with being her friend and advocate. 

Quinn 

Well, yeah, and you get the sense that he wants a peer to, like, talk to because he can't talk to any other young women because they're too busy, like screaming about him.

Jane

Yeah.

Quinn

Like, I don't… I can't imagine he's having, like, really deep conversations with a lot of the other people that are in the fan club that are just like, “Char’s naked in the shower?!” and like, just like screaming. Like literally screaming and like chasing him down. Like I think if there's anything that Ella Enchanted is a cutting analysis on stan culture because they really put the stans out there and say “You're blowing your shot by acting this way. It's not cute!” 

Jane 

Yeah, and I I think he also he's like tired of being overly sexualized. And so the fact that she sees him as a person is really like not just to turn on for him. Like obviously that's part of it. And like he falls in love with her partly because she is not screaming at him. But I think, like, just they're able to get to know each other, person to person, and that's really what you feel like their falling in love is is like now that I know you as a person, I really have this deep connection with you, and I think they have some great scenes together that really show that. So again, I like that the romance isn't the main part, but I also really like the way they do the romance in this movie. So I think it gets a pass from me of being like this is a good romance movie. 

Quinn 

The Jane Ace star. 

Jane 

Yes, exactly! You could be aroace and still appreciate the relationship that they have. 

Quinn 

The aroace sealed romance. 

Jane 

There you go. And, yeah, I do think that there's other good relationships. I really wish that the Ella/Areida relationship was better developed because I would really like to have that strong female friendship because again there’s… it is a female driven story, but the secondary characters that are more developed tend to be male characters like Slannen and the ogre Nish…

Quinn

Edgar.

Jane

Edgar, yeah. Whereas like you have, like, the stepmother and the step sisters who are great. And then... 

Quinn 

And and Minnie driver, you have Mandy. 

Jane 

Mandy, yeah, but I would love to see more from them. 

Quinn 

And Lucinda. 

Jane 

Yeah, but Lucinda is, I think every moment she has great. 

Quinn 

And there could be more diversity in the cast, too. That's also a critique. 

Jane 

Yeah, always. But at least they're not all white. 

Quinn 

It's true there is some diversity. 

Jane 

Minimal diversity, but yeah, yeah, absolutely. More diversity, would love to see a… like because everybody kind of, not everybody, but some of the other characters get paired up because you have that random like Slannen and Heidi Klum thing. It was like he could have found a man to be with. Like we could have some, queer pairings here. I mean it’s fine. I think that like I do enjoy this movie on its own. I don't feel like it would have made it into the Top 40 without the commentary. 

Quinn 

Well, yeah. And I think I think it's probably like a less polished version of, like, Mamma Mia in the sense of like, I imagine, like, you would watch this movie for similar reasons that you would watch something like Mamma, Mia and maybe Mamma Mia is just like a little bit sharper of a movie. Although it is also, I think in the same like it's kind of stupid at times and like embraces being stupid and yeah, it's like it's a random musical for no real reason. It's fun and so I feel like that's why it's also easy to watch the commentary because that just like makes it more fun. 

Jane 

Right, yeah. 

Quinn 

And so, you know, I think I agree, I don't know that this is like the best movie on its own. But I think the combination of it being a lot of fun, having fun commentary, sort of striking some of the same balance of like Mamma Mia and other movies that have ended up high in your countdown. That could be what it is. It's just it's just the right cocktail of all of those things. 

Jane 

Yeah. Well, I think it's very chaotic and eclectic, but ultimately, like everybody was making the same movie. And I think that really helps that like, yes, there's all these different pieces and all these different things going on. Which I guess is kind of what makes it feel a bit more old movie-ish that there's like this very convoluted plot of several different characters doing things. But yeah, everybody, I feel like everybody was on the same page. Everybody knew what movie they were making. They knew it was kind of silly and not really that amazing. And they were all just OK with that. And I think that really makes it work a lot better than it would have if people were like, yeah, this is whatever a trashy movie, we're just gonna get paid. And I feel like everybody was just like, we're gonna show up, we're gonna have a good time. And yeah, I think that that really comes across to the audience and that's what makes it an enjoyable movie, despite not being a great movie. 

Quinn 

Yeah. Sounds like the right recipe to end up on your countdown. 

Jane 

Yes, exactly. So thank you so much for being here with me and talking for a very long time about this movie that we both love. 

Quinn 

Thank you so much for having me. This was a lot of fun. I love discussing anything related to Ella Enchanted. 

Jane 

Yes, and I'm so glad that you were here to discuss it with me.

Thank you to Quinn for all of your insights and questions, and thank you listeners for sticking through my longest episode yet. I hope it was still fun and interesting for you – it certainly was for me. Now that we’re in the top half of the list, I feel like I’m going to have more to say about each movie, so they will probably start trending a bit longer, although I’m sure my solo episodes will still be much shorter than this. But before we get back to just me talking I have one more special guest episode lined up, so stay tuned for another long one next week, about a very different type of film. As always, I will leave you with a quote from that next movie: “She may be risking her life, but when it comes to being a lady, she doesn’t hold a candle to your wife, sir, sitting in Washington, playing bridge with three other ladies of great honor and virtue.”

[the-clan-of-the-stars]

Aether Notes, from The Clan of The Stars

~Author(s): Niobe (myself), assisted by my good friend/star sister, Nebula -Page 1-

We have recently assimilated new dragons into our clan, as many have recently. An old Arcane spacecraft crashed down onto Sornieth, turns out that Nebula and I’s lovely star father tossed ALL of a species known as “Aethers” into space. They are paper eaters, and apparently had eaten the only instructions given to him by our father. Which were on paper. Paper that he surely must have known they would eat. Sometimes I wonder if I’m really blessed at all to share power with our deity. (Nebula speaking..er..writing whilst my sister is eating a snack, we are indeed blessed, Niobe is still getting over her whole self-crisis thing she had a year ago. Arcanist, if you are peering down as I scribble this, I apologize for my sister.) I will speak with Nebula later. Anyways, as I was saying, these spacebound dragons have finally returned to our grand home. The current population upon the ship is comprised of dragons who have never even touched the grass beneath their claws before. They’ve also never eaten a properly home-cooked meal like the ones our lovely leader’s family prepares each day. They were dazed and all very nervous as many of us in the Arcane Flight rushed to their aid. I personally was viewing the “shooting star” close up when it suddenly veered into the earth nearby. I requested Amethyst find Sunfire so that we could also provide first aid to any injured in the crash An interesting sight for sure, parents holding their mysterious six-legged fluffballs close to their chests as they were escorted to safe and dry land, young Aethers chittered and shouted excitedly as they pointed and stared at all of the dragons and flora surrounding them. Their very first time seeing Sornieth from a ground-level view. Many clans have offered to take Aether families in until they figure out what they want to do, and as always, Amethyst was happy to help out a poor dragon returning to or joining us here. As she’d done with our Obelisks, our Abberations, and the three newly christened clan members: all Undertides. The Undertides have only recently joined us, so it’s certainly jarring to have yet another new (technically ancient) species joining us. But I have to admit, I’m excited to see what these new friends have in store for us. Welcome to the clan, Skychaser and Starseeker, we are incredibly excited to bring you home.  (Nebula again! SO excited!! They’re so chattery and psyched about literally everything, just like I was!) ... My sister is still chattery and psyched about everything on Sornieth. Even if it isn’t new to her anymore.

-Page 2- (W.I.P)

[modestcatholiclife]

Anticipation, Excitement, & Connections

This week has left me feeling optimistic and determined. First off, the notice I mentioned last week was indeed for my fiance's books so I was able to pick them up from the post office when I went out grocery shopping. I'm so glad to have finally given him his birthday present even if it was almost a month late.

I went driving again around another carpark. Next time I should be driving around on some quiet roads which is exciting and frightening at the same time.

My fiance had two trial shifts for a baker apprenticeship this past week. He had to start ver early for them, but that is par for the course of a baker. I prayed for him the night before each one and God was definitely listening because he got the apprenticeship! Not only that, when the owner of the bakery called to let him know, he said he'd received such great reports on my fiance that my fiance's parents should be proud to have raised him! Praise God in all things!!!

As for me, I am looking into a career change of my own. I've been thinking of doing early childcare so I've applied to about a ten or so traineeship openings and so far have gotten two interviews lined up for this coming week. Please pray for me. I also got to visit my parents' house recently and pick up my stuffed toys to bring home. Only my mum and one of my brothers were home but it was still good to see them and my cats!

My young adults community was invited to a dinner party on Friday with the Sisters of the Visitation, a Vietnamese religious order, to celebrate the centenary of the founding of their order. Getting there was a slight pain, I was fortunate enough to get a lift but the rain was so heavy that I got soaked waiting to be picked up. The dinner was completely worth it, though. The sisters were so welcoming and seemed like such happy and friendly women. They made us such amazing food and spent the night encouraging us to continue eating. I got to spend the night eating and laughing with friends and I couldn't ask for anything better.

Divine Liturgy was, as usual, beautiful. The priest that said it (or rather, sang it) has been going through a difficult time as of late so it was good just to be there and say hi to him after Liturgy. We were up at St. Andrew's today, attending the English Liturgy which is attended almost solely by young adults so it's always a very nice social experience after Liturgy. We went to a cafe nearby for lunch which was a lot of fun.

Today, my fiance and I went to Officeworks together. He needed some things to help assemble his icon corner and I wanted to print some family photos and buy some photo albums. They only had some very small albums and I bought two but I think I'll need a third one. They were only about $2.20 so it won't be a problem. I'll just need to make time to go back over there. Finally, both Uber Eats and my bank refunded that $82 that was taken out so now I've got an extra $82? I'm not really sure what to do with it but I guess I'm not complaining.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

[lunarcovehq]

Leyla Selvi is a pixie that currently resides in Celestial Hills and has been a Lunar Cove resident for 5 years making drin— hey, where’s my wallet??

ITS THE END OF THE WORLD

GENDER/PRONOUNS: Cis Woman, She/Her

DATE OF BIRTH: May 21, 1994

OCCUPATION: Owner of The Daily Drip

FACECLAIM: Burcu Özberk

AS WE KNOW IT, AND I FEEL FINE

SPECIES: Fae

SUBCATEGORY: Pixie

REGENERATED: No

FAE COURT POSITION: High Fae (Court Member)

AGE THEY APPEAR: 28

WELCOME TO LUNAR COVE, LEYLA SELVI

Trigger Warnings: Memory Loss, Violence, Kidnapping, Parental Death & Abandonment

Once upon a time, there was girl who believed in fairytales. Now known by the name of Leyla, Eda Yildiz used to ‘waste’ her summer vacations away, as her ‘mother’ liked to say, curled up by the pier with her nose buried deep within some book. The smallest up-tilt of a smile stained in romanticized dreams lay across her lips as she flipped through crisp page after crisp page, all too eager to make it to the end. Only unlike the heroines and heroes of her novels who were scarred with tragic backstories and a desperate need to escape their current circumstances, Eda’s life was the reverse. She started off with her ‘happily ever after’. She was born to a family of five or so she thought. She grew up with two of the most loving parents in the world who would rope their kids into family game nights and sneak off on a date night of their own each week. She grew up with two siblings- a sister who would always steal her clothes and encourage her to stop hiding behind her fantasies and actually put herself out there and a brother who would bicker with her to no end and yet would always be there to stand up for her when she needed him to. She grew up with a picture perfect family in a small town with a house right on the water and where the most exciting thing that ever happened was the silly gossip at school as to who was hooking up with whom and some resident disputes between neighbors. Only the perfect life Eda was living didn’t belong to her…

Eda knew something was different the moment she reached puberty. Suddenly, random and unexpected good things kept falling into her lap. The math final she hadn’t had time to study for was pushed a week later. She won a contest where her friends and her could take a weekend trip into the city to watch their favorite band perform and, every time she went into the school cafeteria, she found herself stumbling upon the last slice of pizza one day or cookie the next. She was becoming incredibly lucky practically overnight and the bizarre occurrences didn’t stop there. After watching someone play piano once, it was as if she suddenly and inexplicable could play it too. Her ‘mother’ just chalked it off to her being talented, but she knew in her gut something wasn’t right as much as she tried to convince herself that the shifting gaze her mom would occasionally cast her way, as if she was trying to remember something she couldn’t quite bring to the tip of her tongue just yet, was only Eda reading into things and being paranoid. But, the truth was far worse.

While Eda’s loving and all too normal family were human, she was not. But, she hadn’t been reborn into this life. She had been swapped. The Yildizs should have had a daughter around her age, that much was true. Only she wasn’t the real Eda. She was an imposter living under their roof and in their home. A changeling her birth parents had convinced the Yildizs was there’s, only the mirages her birth parents had casted over the household were wearing off and, right after Eda’s fifteen birthday, she found herself wandering through the kitchen door like she always did and calling out to her mother, only for her to meet the eyes of a woman who looked at her as if she was nothing more than a cruel stranger. What happened next is still very much a blur, but she remembered her mom breaking down into tears as her dad berated her, shouting questions at her over and over again that she didn’t quite understand. Where is she? Who even are you? Where is our daughter? Please Ed- please whoever you are, just tell us where she is?

In a matter of seconds, her family, the people she had grown up believing would love her until the end of time turned on her and, logically she knew they were in shock and maybe if she had stuck around long enough to give them more time to process everything, things might have been different. But, she was barely fifteen and when the people whom had only weeks before been lovingly singing her happy birthday, now treated her like some manipulative criminal, she did the only thing she could think of doing. She ran upstairs, hastily packed up a bag and left.

She didn’t know where she was headed. She didn’t even fully know what she was, but crashing at a friends house in a small town where gossip seemed to travel at the speed of light and whose parents would immediately send her back didn’t exactly seem like an option. So, Eda bought the first bus ticket out of town. She didn’t go far, crashing at a motel on the way into Hartford, but it was far enough for her to feel completely and utterly alone. She spent those first few nights cradling herself to sleep as she clutched her phone in her hand as if to try to will one of her parents or siblings to call. Only they never did and instead she found herself having a run-in with a family member she hadn’t even known she had - a sister going by the name of Hande Kaplan.

Hande, though, was far from a friendly lost sibling who would welcome her in with open arms. No, it appeared Hande harbored quite the resentment against Eda. Apparently, the Kaplans, their birth parents, had been two fae whom had been on the run from a group of hunters and, in desperation to save their children, ended up committing one of the most taboo acts a fae could. They swapped their two youngests at birth into what they had hoped to be loving families which was how Eda had ended up with the Yildiz. While, it seemed she had another sister out there unaware that the family they claimed as their own wasn’t biologically related to them. And as for Hande? Their parents never had a chance to find a loving family for her. The hunters took their lives before they could, leaving young Hande alone with the group of humans who not only killed her parents but hated her own existence. Only, rather than kill her too, they decided to train the small fae and mold Hande into a weapon of their own design that they could use to aid in their hunt for others like her. And it now seemed that the fae turned hunter had appeared before Eda to hunt her down too.

But, Eda was lucky alright, because in the midst of her fear, she turned invisible for the first time in her life and in doing so was able to narrowly escape. And yet, after everything she had been through, she was hardly the same girl she was before. The name Eda Yildiz now felt foreign on her tongue. She still had no idea what her birth parents had done with the real Eda, but she knew she no longer deserved carry that name anymore. It didn’t belong to her and, at this point, she didn’t even want it. She’d rather be someone new. So, by the time she bumped into the other fae Hande had been hunting in addition to her whom she could only deduce was her other biological sibling, Dilan, she found herself introducing herself by the name of Leyla. A new name that she had selected for a new her. Someone who wouldn’t hide behind her books anymore, but take action which is exactly what Dilan and her did.

Maybe it was the fact that they were both on their own or being hunted down by an older sister they would both rather have no relations with, but Dilan and Leyla seemed to quickly develop somewhat of a kinship between each other. The two looking out for each other as they did what they felt they needed to, to get by and later thrive. While Dilan became a con-artist, using her looks to her advantage as she manipulated those around her, Leyla feel into the world of recon and theft- what started out as pickpocketing to get by turned into breaking and entering and larger cons performed with her sister acting as the front. The pair becoming an unstoppable tag team as they traveled from city to city up until they came back to the hotel room they had been crashing in one night to find it raided through. Hande had found them once more. Their past was once again catching up to them, so the pair of sisters packed up their things and found their way to Lunar Cove, the one place they knew the hunter wouldn’t be able to reach them and, ironically only an hour drive away from where Leyla had originally grown up.

[hardrowcrossedpalm]

I let myself be played for a fool for 18 years. This is how it happened. A decade before I got married, I realized my life choices were being dictated by extreme trauma in my childhood, and I sought therapy. I stayed single and worked hard on truly knowing myself and what I wanted. I had kissed a lot of frogs in my past, and I thought that after intense treatment and hard experience I could see through anyone's bull.

Then I met my husband. Let's call him Andy. He was far and away an improvement on the men I'd been meeting, but NOT too good to be true. He was open about his flaws. He's 4 months older than me, from the same general area but far enough away that our high school sports teams never played against each other. It seemed like we had an instant connection. We dated for 3 1/2 really wonderful years before we got married. His proposal was like something out of a Hallmark movie, there were literal fireworks (professional ones!). We had a beautiful wedding, an absolutely magical honeymoon in Hawaii, we bought a 3 bedroom mid-century ranch on a 1/2 acre lot in an established neighborhood, with 24-hour, fully licensed and accredited day care and one of the best elementary schools in town within walking distance. We had 14 months of newlywedded bliss.

Then came doubts that were harder and harder to dismiss. We were working opposite shifts, and things felt... off. He'd always had mostly female friends, but my gut was telling me something wasn't on the level. The night before our first big dinner party with his family and my family together in our new house, I decided to get peace of mind by taking a look at his email. We both knew each other's passwords, it wasn't really any kind of breach. I thought if I could just gauge the way he talked to his friends, I could understand him better. I logged in, and there was nothing in his inbox, nothing in trash, everything was deleted. Except for his sent folder. He forgot to delete the most recent one.

It started out with "Cindy, I fantasize about you coming to my house wearing nothing but a flannel shirt". It went on in very explicit detail about what he'd do with her and to her, in specific locations of MY house. I hadn't expected to see that, and I was beyond devastated. I had never even heard of "Cindy", but it was clear they had an established relationship. It broke me. I thought I'd been so careful to pick someone honest. I was in free fall. I didn't remember standing up from the office chair, but I found myself backing away from the computer like it was a venomous snake. I made it to the doorway of the office and collapsed. I have no idea how long I lay there weeping. I wasn't in the world. I was lost. At some point, I came back to myself, I sat up, and decided I needed to make a plan. I felt so ashamed that I'd been fooled, I couldn't bear the thought of getting divorced so soon. I didn't have anywhere to go. To say that my stepdad and I didn't get along was the understatement of the century. He was a disgusting animal. My mother believed my grandmother's vile, abusive rhetoric, so she stayed with him because she thought that's what she deserved. My mother would have gladly welcomed me back home, we were very close, but I couldn't live with him, and I couldn't bring myself to make life harder for her by fighting with him. My only living grandparents were my abuser and her enabler. I had no other family. With one year down on a thirty year mortgage, I knew I couldn't afford the house on my own. I didn't feel like there was a move to be made. I decided death was the only way out. I was giving the bathroom a quick once over because I didn't want to be found surrounded by dingy tile when I was struck with a vision. A real, sent-by-God epiphany. My mother's only sister had suffered a stroke about 3 months before I got married. She was in the hospital for a full year. My mom went to visit her one Sunday, and my aunt was really excited about something. The stroke had affected her speech, and because she was trying to express herself so exuberantly, my mom couldn't understand her. My aunt chattered joyfully until she got sleepy, then my mom went home. An hour later, the hospital called my mom to say my aunt had quietly passed away. In my vision, I suddenly understood that if I died now, just a few months after my aunt, it would be too much for my mom to bear. I felt it was revealed to me that what my aunt was so eagerly trying to tell my mom was that she was being released from a life of agony, and her death would save my life. It did. I snapped back to reality, and realized my suicide would have destroyed my mother. But I swerved too far in the other direction. I still couldn't cope with what I read, so I put it out of my mind. We had our big dinner party, and I carried on like nothing happened.

Three days after the party, I worked up the strength to confront my husband about the email. He was unflappable, completely not bothered. He calmly explained that it was all just a silly joke. "Cindy" was a friend from high school, and everyone from his small town had the same sense of humor, they just get carried away with jokes sometimes. It sounds utterly ridiculous to my ears now, but he spoke so matter of factly, and I was so desperate to believe my husband loved me that I wholeheartedly swallowed his excuse.

Years passed in a haze of new homeownership, financial ups and downs, and career changes. I pinned my hopes on a baby, we had planned our whole married lives around preparing for kids. But a baby never came. Then my mom got cancer. She told me about her diagnosis in December. She died in September of the following year. I was bereft. I didn't know how to be in the world without her, but I was raised to keep up appearances, so I soldiered on. My stepdad ran amok. He was always a slovenly pig, and without my mom, he was free to wallow in his own filth. Various neighborhood skanks traipsing in and out of my childhood home, my mother's little gingerbread cottage. One day, about a year after my mother was gone, I discovered the front door of her house standing open, and the inside completely ransacked and vandalized. All of my childhood belongings were lost or destroyed. He hadn't paid the mortgage and the bank was going to take the house, so he just walked away. Our shame was posted in my hometown newspaper, back taxes and foreclosure. Because my mother died without a will, my stepdad was considered the only heir, as her spouse. He never adopted me, so to probate court, I was no one. The house sat empty for a while until it was condemned and torn down. There's a weedy, overgrown lot with no street number where my home used to be.

Not long after, my employer of nearly a decade decided to "streamline" the company and I was unceremoniously "released". Now I was sinking in an ocean with no bottom. I clung to my husband and he assured me it was us against the world. Still no baby. I struggled with depression and ineffective treatment for a couple of rough years. When I found a new job and finally started to wake up to the world again, I realized I was feeling that same old something's-not-right feeling. I thought, it can't be, IT. CAN'T. BE. Not after all I've been through. On an afternoon in the summertime, we went for a drive in my husband's little sports car, then stopped to pick up a pizza on the way home. I stayed in the car while he ducked into the tiny shop. As I waited, I noticed a thumb drive sitting in his cup holder. As I looked at it, I swear it was glowing, highlighted like a bonus object in a video game. I picked it up just as my husband opened the car door and blindly handed me the pizza box. The ten minute drive home felt like an eternity, trying to stay focused on my husband's small talk while my brain was screaming THIS CAN'T BE A THING. IT'S PROBABLY BLANK OR SOMETHING FROM HIS WORK. YOU'RE SO FREAKING PARANOID, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU??? I waited until the next morning, after my husband went to work, then plugged in the drive, and there was "Cindy" in her fully naked glory. Since the email incident, I had poked around and found out that "Cindy" was Andy's high school dreamgirl. She mostly strung him along, but they did go on a few dates. Apparently her marriage wasn't going the way she'd hoped, so she reconnected with her simp.

I told him that evening that we needed to get into couples counseling ASAP, but I didn't mention the picture. We had a tense couple of weeks while we waited to get in to see someone, but he never asked why I felt it was so important. In the getting-to-know-you first session, he acted like "gee willikers, I don't really know why we're here, I just do what my wife says", and even though I had a copy of the picture in my purse, I couldn't bring myself to show it to the counselor. Right after we got home, I brought out the picture and asked him to explain. He started crying, saying it was a mistake, and nothing else happened, then he blamed my depression. I couldn't comprehend that, I was too astounded to even reply.

Therapy was an utter failure, we had the worst counselor in history. After two months of zero progress, we fired her, and decided we could make our own way. He convinced me I was who he wanted, and we would make it work. I know it sounds implausible that I would believe him. I think I needed to because I couldn't face being alone in the world.

Skip many years into the future. We gave up hope for a baby and accepted our lives as a child-free couple. We traveled, we aged, we carved out a comfortable existence. Through a quirk of modern technology, I intercepted an odd message from "Cindy", who was supposed to be banished from our lives. She and her husband finally split, her divorce was just finalized, and she was coming to town. In the following messages, Cindy and Andy made plans to hook up in a Super 8 motel instead of coming to my home while I was at work, because "she just couldn't get comfortable at the house". I moved out. But guess what folks? I couldn't tolerate the idea of losing the house I worked so hard for. The thought of another woman sitting in front of my fireplace was more than I could take. I'd already lost so much, when I wasn't the cheater. It just felt too unfair. So I came back. Only I discovered all my trust was gone. I'm not even interested in trying to believe anything he says. I just want my home, my only home in the world.

[tomiokasensei]

oh oh ohhh~~ 🎅🎅 hello hello dear marilyn! another week went by and we are so close to xmas day by day 😊😊 are you getting excited? is it your holidays coming up or did they started already? may you get lots of rest and fun on your holidays marilyn! hope your week has been treating you well! ah thank you very much, it's beginning to get more organized and hopefully next week i can take some time off to chill and pass some quality time with my family 🥰🥰 btw! i finished your christmas gift yesterday, i am definitely very satisfied and happy how it turned out! hopefully you too will love it marilyn! 😊 i'm so glad that i got you excited from my expercience on italy! i too hope you will have an amazing experience when you get the chance to go there and to your soon travel to japan too! their traditions, food, places are full of goodies and beauty i'm so excited for you and i can't wait to know and see of your time you've spent there marilyn! ^^ oh god i surely need to start watching blue lock, since my break is coming i hope i will get some time to watch it ^^ i see so many people talking about such awesome stuff of the anime so it gets me more and more excited to see 😆😆 it's always so awesome when we have THE anime that we associate and have that feeling of belong!! everyday i thank myself and my sister to get into anime, cause it's such a cool quality time to watch it and it seems not like it but you do learn some stuff from it!! i thank community of japan for making anime and mangas! thank you! 🙏🙏🙏 when you start watching let me know your thoughts!! i'm super curious how you will give your feedback about it 😊😊😊 oh wow marilyn! we have the same major then! that's amazing! when i was reading your reply i was seeing myself in uni xDDD so cool! i'm happy you are having fun with your major and i felt like you're having so much fun to learn more new softwares!! ^^ your dream job is wonderful it's similar to mine too! i recently started working on what i've always worked for, to be an illustrator! but like you said, i wanted to be illustrator by doing art of my free will and ideas! i'm working for someone so i basically draw what they give to me every week, so i'm kinda feeling a bit meh cause of the ideas my boss has.. but i hope with the help of her i can one day open a new door experience to start working on my own and my own bussiness ^^ hopefully we two can do that in the future marilyn, i'm rooting for you! 🥳🥳🥳 you deserve all happiness and all your dreams come true! we have similar dreams so i know how you're going through and i bet you will do a wonderful job! i would be so happy to see your art! 🤩🤩🤩 you're welcome marilyn i'm always so happy to know that my messages bring you a smile to your face, it just shows how you have fun talking with me!! i too am having such an awesome time to know you bit by bit and thank you everyday for animanga having another secret santa this year! it's such an amazing way to know more people, bring more positivity and do more friendships! we need more love and happy times on this website! thank you again for being so lovely and amazing marilyn! i too smile so much whenever i see your replies! thank you sharing everything with me! 💕💕💕💕 wish you a continuation of a great week! see you soon marilyn!! 😘😘😘😘

hello once again, secret santa~! ! ! 🤩🥰 christmas is just around the corner and so close to exchange our gifts all around tumblr!! very excited for that and to see all the creative edits and art ppl have made 💜 i hope you are enjoying yourself with your family and friends as the holidays are almost here~💕and i know i will love the gift you have made for me, i can tell through your messages that you have poured so much love and enthusiasm into it and i cannot wait to see it!!! 💜💜💜

definitely! i am also very grateful for the wonderful japanese community to have brought us anime and manga! a true blessing for sharing with the rest of the world their creative art! it has been a big part of my life since childhood and seeing how it evolved in both animation and storytelling is so amazing and inspiring... it was because of that my love for art and the pursuit of a creative career has been realized! was your passion for art and illustration similar for you? as you have went into uni and gained the experience into the work of illustration, has there been an anime influence or perhaps your ideas in your work have ventured into new routes?😊 and thankyou for your encouraging words on my journey to achieve my dreams in art! i, too, am also interested in seeing your artwork, secret santa! maybe i could commission you sometime soon?🥰

i agree that it is events like this tumblr has been more engaging, if i am being honest there has been a lack of that lately and i've noticed ppl have been getting so discouraged in creating due to the lack of interactions and interests... but nonetheless i am positive that things could get better and more friendships can be built from this site!💗definitely more happy times here! 💜💜💜

i am so thankful for all your wonderful messages, secret santa, and it is so nice that you have enjoyed spending your time to get to know me as i have also learned about you in the process!🥰just how so much we have in common is so cool!! stay positive, happy, and healthy as the weekend continues! until next time 🎅~ ! ! ✌️😃