#okay i had to reference someday because i’m such a softie for it

[magicman-mephistopheles]

prompt for @fist-it-out

Zeddison- Moonlight Stroll

Word count: 1,283

a/n: I used this gif because it’s cute, and Zed is a precious Zombaby. Fight me😂 so this is my first time writing Zeddison, and I probably got a little too excited for it but this takes places after the zoms, poms, and wolves all peacefully co-exist with each other so no anti-monster laws or curfews here. Also, I got in my feels with this because Zeddison for life and someone please find me a boyfriend like Zed. Please😂

For Zed to say he was nervous was an understatement. He paced the small room in his home that he was grateful to call his, mulling over the thought of finally taking Addison out for a real, romantic date.

Well, as romantic as he could get with it. Zed had everything planned out, he’d pick Addison up at 7:00 PM, go on a nice little moonlit stroll with her, and finally end with a romantic picnic in the light garden where he would give her a promise ring. It wasn’t anything too bright or fancy, but he made it himself with the help of Bonzo and Eliza. He recruited the help of his little sister, Zoey to bring everything together.

                                              ————————

7:00 PM. Zed stood in front of the door to Addison’s house, his palms getting clammy.

Why was he so nervous? He’d already been with her for a few months now, shouldn’t this stage be dying down a little?

After shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, he finally rang the doorbell, only to be greeted by Addison’s father.

“Mr. Wells,” Zed gave his ever-too-confident smile, “always nice to see you. Is Addison ready?” He asked as he shook hands with her father.

“She should be, but you know how women are, huh?” Dale chuckled at his joke, much to the dismay of his wife, Missy.

Zed let out a little chuckle himself, but quickly changed his tone after Missy scolded the both of them with just a look.

“Come on in kiddo.” Dale smiled, stepping back to allow Zed inside.

“Addison doesn’t have to take forever to get ready for anything, she’s already perfect.” Zed smiled.

Both Dale and Missy smiled at Zed’s compliment. They weren’t too sure about their daughter being with a zombie at first, but they eventually came around to the idea.

“Already perfect, huh?” Addison smiled as she came down from her room, “so you’re telling me I spent an hour and a half trying to look this good?” She arched a brow in Zed’s direction.

“No-” Zed’s jaw hung slack, astonished by how beautiful his girlfriend was, “I- you look perfect. No matter how much makeup you have on, or how little.” Zed smiled, “you’re just...you’re an angel.” he sighed in content, earning a smile from Addison.

“C’mon, I’ve got a big night planned for you.” Zed gave her a goofy smile as he took her arm in his, “I promise I’ll have her back no later than 10:00 PM.” he turned to her parents, who gave a nod of approval.

“So, whatcha got planned?” Addison giggled, turning her head so she could look up at Zed as they left her house.

“Mmm, now that, I can’t tell you. I wish I could but it’s kinda top-secret.” Zed smirked.

Deep down, no matter how much confidence he used to try and cover it, he was nervous to present her with a promise ring. He knew he was madly in love with her, but was it too soon? Was he getting in too deep too fast?

“Come on!” Addison whined, “just one little detail?” She pleaded, “pleeeaasseeee?” She pouted, knowing that Zed couldn’t resist it.

“Alright, ONE little detail.” Zed caved, “I planned a romantic picnic for the two of us in the light garden.”

He smiled as they walked along the narrow canal that flowed through Seabrook and Zombietown, the beams of moonlight reflecting off of the crystal clear water.

Addison blushed as Zed gave her the detail, “a romantic picnic, a moonlit stroll?” She giggled, “sounds like you’re trying to set up for a proposal.”

“Yeah,” Zed chuckled, “but it’s definitely too early for that, right?” he shrugged, trying to play coy about everything.

In a way, he saw it as a proposal which just made him more nervous.

                                                 ————————

After a while of skipping rocks in the canal and talking about their future while they walked along the sidewalk of the canal, they finally reached the light garden, where Zoey was with a plaid blanket already spread out, with a large wicker basket and raspberry scented candles on top of it.

“bon appétit!” Zoey smiled, “a delicious romantic dinner prepared by Zed and Zoey Necrodopolous!”

Addison giggled as Zoey presented the picnic, “You got Zoey in on it too?” She looked up at Zed, who wore his famous cheesy smile.

“I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone, see ya at home Bubba!” Zoey smiled, skipping back to their home after she hugged both Zed and Addison.

“I didn’t know if you liked grape or strawberry jelly, so we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with both.” Zed laughed, “and I made some cookies from scratch and then there’s this.”

He opened a small ice chest full of lime and strawberry soda, her favorite.

“Zed...” Addison smiled, the light from the garden perfectly illuminating her face, “it’s perfect.”

Zed cracked a smile as he offered Addison a strawberry soda and took a lime for himself, “it’s not near as perfect as you.”

He quickly felt his pocket, making sure that the small velvet pouch that contained the ring was still there, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he felt it perfectly nestled in his pocket.

As they ate their sandwiches, they talked about Addison’s endeavors as cheer captain, and Zed’s newfound shot at being the quarterback instead of a fullback.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll have no competition.” Addison smiled as she took a bite of her peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich.

“I get one game to prove myself, Addi.” Zed chuckled, “it’s literally make or break for me at this point.” He finished his sandwich, then took a drink of his lime soda, “but I won’t be using this, like I promised you.” He tapped his Z-Band, causing Addison to smile.

“Adds, listen...” Zed nervously scratched the back of his neck, “I actually have something else that I wanted to do tonight and uh...well there’s another promise I want to make.” he dug around in his pocket, retrieving the small velvet pouch that contained the ring.

He didn’t by any means have to, but he made it seem like a proposal, just for her. He got down on one knee, taking the ring from the pouch, holding it up to Addison, who sat with her legs under her and her eyes wide.

“Addison Wells,” Zed smiled, “I’ve promised you that using my Z-Band to win football games is done for. And now, I want to promise you that you will always be the love of my life, no matter what tries to come between us, and that someday, I will ask you to marry me and that this ring will be replaced with an engagement ring, because what could go so wrong with a girl and a zombie?” He shrugged, his usual goofy smile on display in hopes that Addison would accept his promise.

The ring wasn’t much, just a rose quartz crystal that Eliza cut and placed in its setting and a rose gold colored band that Bonzo made, while Zed made the crude, artistic nightmare of a drawing of the design for it to be a heart shaped stone, but it turned out perfect to him.

“I’m gonna hold you to that, Necrodopolous.” Addison giggled as Zed slid the ring on her finger, “I love it...It’s perfect.”

She smiled, cupping his face as she gently kissed his lips.

“Addison Necrodopolous...” Zed mused, “it sounds almost as perfect as you.”

He knew that someday, Addison would be his wife and that they’d be able to have a family in a perfect, harmonized community.

And it all started with a moonlit stroll...

[justanothercinemaniac]

Epic Movie (Re)Watch #108 - The Road to El Dorado

(GIF originally posted by @dreamworksmoments)

Have I seen it before: Yes

Did I like it then: Yes.

Do I remember it: Yes.

Did I see it in theaters: No.

Format: DVD

1) Not only is this one of my favorite animated movies, it is one of my favorite movies period. I found it while scrolling through Cartoon Network or HBO Family or something and watched it every chance I could get. 12 year old me found it very edgy. The mild swearing, the cigars, the blasphemy, all of it was very enticing and that’s fed my love of the film since.

2) Elton John & Tim Rice, the songwriting duo behind The Lion King, re-teamed for this film and churned out a nice set of songs. But the strange thing is if you listen to the soundtrack most of the songs are recorded differently than how they appear in the film. The one exception I think is "Someday Out of the Blue” which plays during the end credits. Still, they songs add the fun and energetic flavor to the film. The opening song in particular, “El Dorado,” does a nice job of setting up the mythology we need to get the movie started in a very short amount of time.

3) If you’re a fan of voice over work, you’ll recognize Jim Cummings as Cortez.

Cummings is one of the most prolific and talented voice over artists out there. It would be impossible to list everything he’s done, but his most notable work has been as Darkwing Duck, Winnie the Pooh & Tigger too, Hondo on "Star Wars: The Clone Wars”, Razoul in Aladdin, and Ray the firefly in The Princess and the Frog. It’s fun knowing what he sounds like because not only do you hear him in Cortez, but you also pick up the random nameless characters he plays too with his different voices.

4) The heart of the film, the thing that makes it great: Miguel & Tulio.

The bromance between Miguel & Tulio is what makes this film work as well as it does, it’s what makes it fun! Kenneth Branagh and Kevin Kline voice the pair respectively, and their chemistry is off the charts. It doesn’t hurt that the pair actually got to record their performances with each other, a rarity in animation (although Pixar has done it with Monsters Inc for John Goodman and Billy Crystal).

Their relationship and roles are clear from the start, they balance each other out. Tulio is mildly selfish with a great hunger for gold and an ability to think things through. Miguel’s heart is bigger than their brain, being the dreamer/softie of the group (wanting the map to El Dorado, saving Altivo the horse when he almost drowns, etc.). And they play off each other beautifully.

5) 12 year old me was very fascinated with the slight profanities this film had.

Tulio [when he’s about to roll his dice]: “Come on baby, papa needs that crappy map.”

I thought crap was a real swear when I was twelve. I didn’t lose my innocence until thirteen.

6) Chekov’s Fake Fight.

(GIF originally posted by @somehow-you-will)

The fight comes into play later in the film too, but is a showcase mainly for the wonderful banter between Miguel & Tulio and - therefore - the excellent writing of screenwriters of Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. These guys were my favorite screenwriters when I was twelve, and can you blame me? Their resume consisted of: Aladdin, The Mask of Zorro, Shrek, The Road to El Dorado, every Pirates of the Caribbean film, Treasure Planet, and both National Treasure films. They have a strong penchant for strong dialogue too. Consider the exchange above, and also this:

Miguel: “You fight like my sister.”

Tulio: “I’ve FOUGHT your sister! That’s a compliment!”

I love that.

7) According to IMDb:

The film shares several attributes of its namesake, the "Road" comedies made famous by Bob Hope and Bing Crosby during the 1940s (which helps explain anachronisms such as shared language, pop culture references and lack of historical accuracy).

I just thought that was a fun share.

8) God, I love the banter between these two.

[Tulio & Miguel jump into barrels of water in a chase scene but can’t escape because the barrels are being loaded onto a ship]

Tulio: “What’s happening here?”

Miguel: “We’re both in barrels. That’s the extent of my knowledge.”

9) Even the bad guys have great dialogue!

Cortes (upon discovering Miguel & Tulio on his ship): “My crew was as carefully chosen as the disciples of Christ.”

10) I’m just going to let you know now, so many of my notes here are just quotes from the film I love.

Miguel [giddily, after Cortes tell the pair they will be enslaved in Cuba for being stow aways]: “Alright! Cuba!”

11) For example, another quote:

Miguel: Yes, that's it Altivo. Find the pry bar!

Tulio: Yes, "find the pry bar". He doesn't understand "pry bar"! He's a dumb horse, there's no way he could understand...

[Altivo drops keys into the brig]

Tulio: Well... it's NOT a pry bar.

12) The Trail We Blaze

Animated films are usually short so as to be not too time consuming. It can take years to make 80 minutes of animation. This film has a nice device of compacting what could be very long scenes into neat little montages with the use of a song. We still get Tulio & Miguel’s fun journey through the jungles to find El Dorado, but it’s done in three and a half minutes to a fun Elton John tune. It keep the energy, the adventure, but doesn’t waste the time of the animators or the audience.

13) Immediately Tulio and Chel have great chemistry as they play “pass the golden idol” together!

14) El Dorado.

(GIF originally posted by @dreamworksmoments)

Immediately upon entering the city the audience is filled with a sense of wonder, achieved through gorgeous animation and also Hans Zimmer’s subtle music which adds for extra bone tingling. You marvel at it with Tulio and Miguel, and you understand how it is such a mythical place.

15) Edward James Olmos does some great voice over work as Chief Tannabok.

I’ve never seen “Battlestar Galactica” so I am mostly familiar with Olmos from his work in Blade Runner, Stand & Deliver, and even “Agents of SHIELD”. I think he shows off a nice amount of range with this addition to his resume. Chief Tannabok is not an angry man. He is kind, soft, gentle, patient, but also you can tell that he’s kinda sad. You don’t HEAR Olmos, you hear the chief and that makes him an excellent addition to the cast.

16) And of course our big bad, Tzekel-Kan

Tzekel-Kan is the opposite of Chief Tannabok. He is angry, an overlord of sorts. He wants blood because he believes it is what’s needed. He believes people are wicked and evil just for enjoying life and being kind, and it is his righteous duty to smite them. He pisses me off way more now than he did when I was twelve.

17) This whole bit with the volcano! Miguel goes too far and says that the gods should not be questioned or else they will be forced to release their awful wrath...but Tzekel-Kan wants to see that. Only they’re not gods! So he and Tulio turn away to try and figure it out and we get this...

There’s an old addage in writing: “A coincidence to get a character out of trouble is lazy.” However in this case I’m 100% okay with that because it’s just funny as hell.

18) How many of us have used this GIF?

19) Chel.

Chel is a nice way of making the duo a trio. Voiced wonderfully by Rosie Perez, she is just as crafty and cunning as Tulio (if not more so) but also understand Miguel’s sense of adventure. The pair balance each other out already, bit if Miguel acts too dreamer-y or Tulio is too gold hungry they throw each other out of whack (as this film shows). Chel helps stabilize them by film’s end and is a lot of fun to watch. Also, bonus points for being an animated female character with a body that is physically possible.

20)

Chel [on why she wants a life of adventure]: “You’ve got your reasons...and I’ve got mine. Let’s not make this personal, okay?”

WHAT ARE HER REASONS!?!? WE NEVER LEARN!!! I MUST KNOW!!!

21) So Chel needs to prove to Tulio and Miguel she’s a good con artist...

[Chel shows the pair the dice she stole from Tulio]

Tulio: “How did you get those?”

Miguel: “Where was she keeping them?”

I’m with Miguel, that’s the more important question.

22) Oh Miguel...

23) It’s Tough to be a God.

The only time this film is a traditional musical (ie: the characters themselves break into song & dance), and considering Kevin Kline’s and Kenneth Branagh’s singing here that might not be the worst thing. The interesting thing is that their version doesn’t even appear on the soundtrack. Instead we get a duet with Elton John and Randy Newman.

24) I need to remember this excuse.

Tulio [trying to convince Tzekel-Kan not to make a human sacrifice to the gods/them]: “The stars are not in position for this tribute.”

Miguel: “Like he said...”

(GIF source unknown [if this is your GIF please let me know].)

25) I don’t identify totally with Miguel or totally with Tulio, but with parts of them. Like I identify with Tulio being kind of the dreamer who thinks things are possible, but this is a very me thing to say:

Tulio [after Miguel tells him he worries too much]: “No, I worry just the right amount! You can never worry too much!”

Same, Tulio. Same.

26) Remember how I said this movie was edgy to 12 year old me. Well it features a scene where Chel tries to seduce Tulio. Like, more than wanting a kiss. But like she shows off her shoulders for a back massage, they’re later found on the ground together all disheveled, it’s not even very subtle when you know what’s going on. Twelve year old me was very innocent.

27) I love their banter.

Miguel [when he and Tulio end up in a big arena to play ball for the locals]: “Well don’t blame me!”

(GIF source unknown [if this is your GIF please let me know].)

28) The ball game is a lot of fun to watch, if for no other reason then Chel on the sidelines.

Chel: “Foul! That was a foul!”

And then it’s her idea to use the armadillo as a ball replacement to cheat.

29) So earlier in the film we got this line from Miguel:

(GIF source unknown [if this is your GIF please let me know].)

And then later in the film Miguel tries to convince Chief Tannabok that the boat they are using to leave isn’t good enough (because Miguel wants to stay) when in fact it’s perfect. When Miguel admits his mistake, we got this line from the chief.

Chief: “Hey, to err is human.”

Miguel goes to get in the boat, but then he looks over his shoulder at the chief and the chief looks at him knowingly. And they don’t say anything else about it.

I love that. I love that the chief isn’t an idiot, but he knows. He knows and he knows it’s good for his people and he knows Miguel is a good guy and...I just love it!

30) I love little things like this.

[A giant stone jaguar, controlled by Tzekel-Kan, attacks the city. It grabs a warrior, ruffs him up A LOT, then lets him fall to the ground.]

Warrior [patting himself down]: “I’m okay!!!”

[Jaguar steps on warrior]

Warrior [from under Jaguar’s foot]: “I’m still okay!”

31) Remember how I talked about Chekov’s Fake Fight?

Tzekel-Kan [when he was Miguel & Tulio cornered]: “I know what you are and I know what you are not. And you are not GODS!”

Tulio [after a beat]: “Y-you’re not a god!?”

The pair then continue to have a very real argument where they say some pretty cold things to each other...

Tulio: “You’re buying your own con!”

Miguel: “At least I’m not DATING mine!”

But it has the same effect. Tzekel-Kan is distracted, enjoying their fighting, and the audience is as surprised as he is when the pair work in sync again and punch the guy out. It’s a nice way of playing the scene out.

32) Friends Never Say Goodbye. A very sad song that plays when it seems like Tulio and Miguel are going to take separate paths in life and are really mad at each other. It actually has some nice truths to it, and again is slightly different on the soundtrack. Elton John is backed up by the Backstreet Boys for the song on the album. I hope that didn’t ruin it for some of you.

33) The film ends with the citizens of El Dorado crashing a pillar into their gate so as to keep Cortes from finding the city, only it is falling too soon. So Chief Tannabok grabs some of the ropes and holds it back for a while. And this is probably REALLY mean of me and I apologize in advance but I just thought of this:

I’m so sorry.

34) According to IMDb:

A series of sequels featuring Miguel, Tulio, Chel, Altivo and even the armadillo going after other legends about gold was planned, similar to the Shrek (2001) series, but following the disappointing box-office results they were immediately canceled.

While that would’ve been interesting I’m kinda glad this film just stands on its own. It’s a nice little gem that way.

I love this film, and think a lot of people out there will too. People don’t really talk about it these days except to talk about how no one talks about it. It’s a nice variation from standard Disney fare, the music is great, freaking Miguel & Tulio are just awesome, and it is just such an enjoyable/adventure filled film. I think you should all watch it now! It’s on Netflix if you have it. So go. Go follow that trail! (Too easy?)