#poor Leonardo just keeps getting pranked

[itzzaira]

(Do not worry about the string that is sparkly its a candle :>)

@tmnt-fandom-family-reunion

Behold!

Leonardo, the oblivious idiot - part 2

@tmnt-fandom-family-reunion

[theyhavetakenovermylife]

Hidden Feelings (Slight Angst/Fluff)

1987!Leonardo x reader

A/N: The lucky wheel said 1987 Leo, so here is some 1987 Leo💙 PS. It’s still cold af in Copenhagen.

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Leonardo is feeling stressed and anxious because of his feelings for you, so his brothers decides to do something about it💙

Warnings: Spelling and stress over feelings.

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Leonardo had always been the calm and collected leader of the ninja turtles. Unless you asked Raphael. He would often sigh and call his oldest brother “such a downer”. But Leo liked to see himself as someone much stronger. His blue bandana, paired with his strong sense of responsibility, set him apart from his brothers. He was known for his patience and mental control. However, there was one thing he couldn't quite control no matter how hard he tried - his growing feelings for you. You, he and his brothers’ long time friend.

You were an inseparable part of their team, joining the turtles in their adventures, sharing laughter and hardship alike. But as the months passed by, Leonardo found himself stealing glances at you when he thought no one was looking, not hearing his brothers giggling or seeing Master Splinter’s small smiles. But Leo tried to push away those feelings, convincing himself that it was wrong to think of you in any other way than friendly. After all, you were like family to him and his brothers, and he couldn't risk jeopardizing the bonds that held the team together. It was selfish to let his feelings get in the way of that, so therefore he kept them hidden, settling for watching you from afar.

But the weight of his hidden emotions began to take a toll on poor Leonardo. Late at night, if he wasn’t lying in his bed and staring at the ceiling thinking of you, he would find himself training tirelessly, the clang of his swords echoing through the sewer lair, all in the hope of creating some distance between you and his thoughts. Leo brothers noticed the change in his behavior, looking at each other with knowing eyes. He couldn’t keep going like this, hiding himself away from you. Something had to be done. They had to do something. Leo was losing sleep, and he was starting to get jumpy. He was always on edge, sitting deep in thought, and quick to lash out if someone walked up on him, catching him off guard. Just the fact that they were able to catch him off guard, was reason to worry for both the turtles and their master.

One day, Leonardo found himself alone in the training room, his katanas flowing through the air. He was so concentrated that he did not notice his brothers urging you to go in there. Slightly confused, you did as they asked, and walked into the room where Leo moved on the mat, while the three turtles hid just by the opening in the wall, watching you and Leo. It took a moment before he noticed you, but when he did, he froze, staring at you. The dim lights accentuated the exhaustion etched on both your faces. In a rare moment of vulnerability, Leo did something you had never experienced before. He jumped in surprise, seeming shocked to see you there, his face burning hot.

"H- hey, (Y/N)", he stammered, his voice cracking, causing his brothers to bite their own hands, making sure they won’t laugh out loud. “W- what are you doing here?”

“You’re brothers said you wanted to talk to me about something important”, you said, concern painted in your eyes. "What's on your mind, Leo?"

For a moment Leo looked fearful, as if the world as he knew it was gone, crumbling before his very eyes. He shook slightly as he put katanas away in the back of his belt, avoiding your eyes.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about”, Leo muttered, looking at the wall just next to your head, biting the inside of his cheek. “What did they tell you? Are you sure they’re not trying to prank you?”

“Leo”, you said softly, stepping closer to him. Leo cursed himself for liking the way you said his name, and hoping you would say it again. Your soft smile made his heart jump in his chest. He wanted to run away. Find his brothers and yell at them, asking them why they brought you to him while he was unprepared. “What’s going on? The others said that you haven’t been yourself recently”.

Snitches! Those airheads ratted him out! Just they wait for training tomorrow morning. Leo would give them the worst!

Leo took a deep breath, struggling to find the right words. You waited patiently for him to speak, not pushing him for anything. Why did you have to be so lovely? So nice and so sweet to him. You made it impossible for him not to fall head over heels for you. The poor guy felt like he had no control whenever you were around, leaving him confused and unsure. Control was his thing. How were you able to take it from him so easily? Maybe this would be the way he could gain control back. He could at least try.

"I…”, Leo started. “They are right. I need to tell you something".

Your brows furrowed with curiosity, and you motioned for him to continue.

"I… I have feelings for you, (Y/N)", he admitted, his gaze fixed on the ground. The words lifted a huge weight off of his shoulders, yet he didn’t dare to meet your eyes. “I can’t get you off of my mind, and I feel like I’m going crazy. I feel like a horrible friend for viewing you in such a way, as if I take advantage of you by having such feelings for you. I’ve tried to push it away, or at least tried to make them smaller in some way, but nothing has worked. I’m so sorry, (Y/N)”.

For a moment, the room fell silent. Outside the room, Leo’s brothers stood quiet, waiting for what would happen next. The weight of Leonardo's confession hung in the air, and he feared that he had ruined everything. Surely you would find him disgusting and tell him so, before leaving the lair. That was the last time you would ever talk to him, he was sure of it.

But then you giggled. "Leo”, you said softly, grabbing a hold of his hand. “Had you ever stopped to think that I might be feeling the same?"

Leo’s eyes widened in surprise, and he finally met your gaze. The realization that his feelings were reciprocated washed over him like a wave of relief and shock. He almost did not dare to believe you, fearing it was his mind playing tricks on him. That he finally had gone crazy and was now seeing and hearing things.

“Really?”, he asked, still not sure if he could believe his own senses.

“Yes, really”, you smiled. "I’ve liked you for quite some time Leo, and was sort of just waiting for you to see it. But I’m sorry if it caused you more distress than joy. But the truth is, I do have feelings for you too, Leonardo".

As the truth sank in, Leonardo felt a weight lifting off his shoulders and his chest becoming light. The angst that had plagued him for so long gave way to a newfound sense of happiness and relief. So much relief and happiness, that Leo couldn’t stop himself from wrapping his arms around you and lifting you up into a spinning hug. You laughed and held on to him, bringing your face so close to him, it only seemed natural to press your lips together in a kiss. Leo stopped spinning, still holding you up high, as he happily leaned into the sweet kiss.

Confused by the sudden silence after so much laughter, Leo’s brothers looked into the room, only to find you and Leo in a tight embrace, your feet off the ground, and your lips together.

“Well”, Raphael said, looking at his brothers. “Seems like our job is done here”.

“Finally!”, Michelangelo sighed exhausted. “He has been so tense that I couldn’t sleep! I could literally feel his angst through the walls!”

“Well, hopefully he will relax now”, Donatello said, throwing one last glance at you and Leo smiling at each other.

[the-suicidal-lizard]

you are young that's your fault | (Rise!TMNT & Mom!Reader - Rise!Splinter x Reader)

Summary: HC’s of you being a Mom to the turtles, and slight Splinter x Reader.

Version: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Warnings: No? Not that I can thing of.

I’ve never written for the turtles of any kind, so I’m sorry if I do this wrong.

You met Lou by accident, and you met him through a small, mutant box turtle. A real cutie pie. You hadn’t freaked, and instead took the small, scared baby into your arms and fed him, rubbing his shell. Lou had rushed over, having realised he lost his youngest and freaked out upon seeing you.

You didn’t care. In fact, you recognised his hair style, despite the fact he was changing into a rat. You happily helped him, buying food and baby products, clothing and anything else he needed. Lou - now going by Splinter - was thankful, grateful.

It was only when the eldest - Raphael - called you “Mamma”, did Lou ask you out on a date.

Congratulations! You just gained a boyfriend and four sons! You then later gained a daughter through April, and a grandson through Shelldon. And an enemy in Big Mama. And, Draxum had so many bruises from you hitting him (how dare he hurt your family?). And eventually, a nephew in a Casey Jr.

You lived a strange life, but not one that you would change. And, with each one, you treated each child differently, depending on the child.

…ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ

Raphael:

He’s the eldest, so he gets it into his head he needs to be the eldest and stop relying on his Mom and Dad.

“You’ll always be my baby.”

Cue Raphael instantly relaxing, smiling. “I know, Ma.”

Calls you “Ma”, as a way to keep his old name for you - “Mama”.

You recall that day with fondness.

He wants hugs so badly, but he’s terrified to hurt you. But you helped raise him since he was a baby, so you know how to navigate his spikes.

You make him extra large clothes, and clothes with holes in for his spikes.

When he was leader, you would pamper him and give him a massage, because he deserved it.

You hated Ghostbear... hated him. But, you would listen to your baby talk about Ghostbear.

You made and bought him so many teddy bears for him. You're the reason he loves them so much.

Mrs. Cuddles - any time she’s on screen, you switch the channel or distract him.

His fear of loneliness used to be worse when he was little, but you told him you’d always be there, watching him, and protecting him. I mean, it’s still not good... but better than it was.

…ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ

Leonardo:

He went to Splinter and Señor Hueso for advice. But, sometimes he needed his Mother.

Calls you “Mom”.

You would sit and watch Jupiter Jim movies with him, and would listen to him info dump about the movies.

He needed hugs and head pats. Poor baby was touch starved, but tried to act like he didn’t need it.

“Hey so... Mom, if you want, obviously you don’t have to. Just for laughs. You wanna scratch under my chin? Hahaha — ”

“Would you like chin scratches baby?”

“... Yes please.”

Any joke he says, no matter how terrible, you laugh. It’s worth it, seeing his face light up.

He doesn’t trust Draxum, and he never will, so he hides behind you since you do not hesitate to take off a slipper and throw it at Draxum.

Spanish lessons together.

As much as he pranks and annoys the others, he will instantly stop misbehaving if you give him a Look™. That Look™ means he’s in trouble!

Cue the brothers saying “oooooo”.

So, just because he goes to Señor Hueso and Splinter more than you, does not mean he doesn’t love his Mom.

…ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ

Donatello:

Needs attention. Needs physical touch. Needs affirmation. He’s the middle child, he needs attention!

You didn’t touch his shell unless he was okay with that, and you were the only one who could give him hugs and kisses - unless he specifically stated otherwise.

Sometimes would go nonverbal, so you learned Sign Language.

Calls you “Mama”, but in the same way he calls Splinter “Papa”.

“Oh Mama! Could you give me a screwdriver!”

You sometimes cover his ears if he doesn’t have his noise cancelling headphones. You’ll just stand there and keep them covered.

He dumps Shelldon on you.

(Jokes on him, you love Shelldon!)

He gets annoyed though, since Shelldon goes to you a lot when he doesn’t comply with what Shelldon wants.

Mama: Donnie? Why did my Grandbaby just come to me crying?

Donnie: He wants grapes! He can’t eat grapes! You know that!

Mama: Make a liquified grape flavour oil, or so help me God!

Sometimes he doesn’t want you to touch him. You’ve never done anything, it’s just sensory issues. So, you kiss the air around him, as if kissing his cheek. You caress the air around his cheek, never touching him, as if caressing his cheek.

The Purple Dragons are your worst enemy, and you hate them.

Sometimes, he just needs you around and he’s happy. That’s all. He loves you a lot.

…ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ

Michelangelo:

The baby of the family, and your youngest. Therefore, constantly all over you.

Clinging to you. Hugging you. Arms and legs wrapped around you and you hold him close.

Head pats. Shell scratches.

The wall on your side of your and Splinter’s bedroom is covered in drawings and art pieces Mikey gave to you.

You taught him how to cook, and Mikey grew to love him. Gives you dishes all the time to try.

Meat Sweats and you have beef. Any time you see him, you fight him... after you forced him to sign his chef book to give to Mikey.

You didn’t treat Mikey like a baby, you treated him like an adult, much to Mikey’s delight, but at times he wants his Mom to hug and baby him.

Calls you “Momma” and “Mom”.

Mikey dislikes that you don’t get along with Draxum, so when Mikey is around, you're more tolerable of Draxum. When Mikey looks away, you give Draxum a threatening gesture.

Helped you make a photo album on your phone of them as babies. Instantly regretted it because if you're ever kidnapped, the kidnapper now knows everything about the turtles as babies, and has seen the pictures.

“Momma… you didn’t show him the one — ”

“The one where you shoved crayons up your nose? I did! You were so cute!”

“NOOOOO—!”

Mikey finds that embarrassing - especially when you showed Meat Sweats. But, didn’t mind so much when Hypno and Warren returned you out of their own free will, apologising and suddenly, he gained two new (gay? Are they evil and gay? Cool!) uncles!

…ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ

Ultimately you love your boys and your little family.

[lavenderpop]

daughters of draxum blurb

i wrote this as a train of thought, so sorry if it’s a little all over the place

i want to start off by saying, THIS AU IS PROBABLY GONNA BE A LOT DARKER THAN THE SHOW

as time goes on it’ll become a bit more goofy but the beginning? ANGST. it’s horrible and i’m horrible for putting my poor ocs through all of this <3

i’m not 100% on their names yet, so far i have (in order of age): Seraphina, Lolita, Zelda, and Jinx

i’ve changed Seraphina’s name three times now and i’m STILL unsure about it

i originally thought about making their names based on female painters but thought that would be too on the nose

(if you have any ideas for names i would love to hear them!)

Draxum probably didn’t give them names, just calls them by their experiment numbers, so they named themselves

i REALLY like the name Zelda for Donatello’s clutchmate, i don’t know why but it fits for me

also, when i say clutchmate, i mean the sibling that is from the same group of eggs.

Zelda is Donatello’s, Lolita is Leonardo’s, Seraphina is Raphael’s, and Jinx is Michelangelo’s ✌️

sad fact, but while they call each other sisters, Zelda is the only one who doesn’t truly view them as sisters

in order of fighting abilities from strongest to weakest: Zelda, Lolita, Seraphina, and Jinx

softshell turtles are naturally more aggressive because their shell is so soft, so Zelda really puts in her all when training so she’s not a hazard

Lolita HATES the fact that Zelda is stronger than her, mainly due to the fact that she’s constantly seeking out Draxum’s approval and if she’s not the best than she might as well be the worst

Zelda and Lolita don’t exactly see eye-to-eye, think of Leo and Ralph in almost every other TMNT media. yeah.

Zelda is pretty mean, very aggressive, and can come off as insensitive. she hates being referred to as soft in any way, and saying so could result in utter doom

really, Zelda is just broken inside and needs some SERIOUS therapy

Lolita is… almost completely void of emotions. you remember Todoroki at the start of BNHA before Deku went all “power of friendship” on his ass? yeah. she’s that.

(literally every time i imagine Lolita’s voice, it’s just fucking Todoroki, i can’t stop)

your feelings are not her problem, HER feelings aren’t her problem either (until they do become a problem because she’s been doing the classic “bottle up my emotions until i die” trick, and we all know how well that works)

Lolita has some… very depressing daddy issues. essentially, she’s not the favorite and she’s upset by this :)

Seraphina… sigh… i don’t know how Draxum thought this kid could be a monster, she’s sweet, she’s cuddly, and she cares deeply for her sisters. probably the one who gets punished the most because of this but it never changes how she feels.

classic older sister, has an undying need to protect her family and pretty much tries to raise them as best as she could with Draxum being… well… Draxum.

Jinx!! my girl!! my sunshine!!! my trickster!!!

i legit thought about naming her Loki

while Michelangelo likes playing pranks, Jinx enjoys pranks as well! just more… harmful than playful

it’s her form of entertainment, really. like when you see the character step on a rake and it comes up and wacks them in the face? yeah, pain is her humor.

Jinx likes vandalism, chaos, and all of the sour candy in your pantry.

she’s devious and extremely mischievous, she may be the weakest and smallest of the four, but she makes up for it by being FAST and agile

i feel like Jinx probably meets our favorite boys when she’s out causing mayhem by herself and takes a liking to them (probably teases them by calling them goofy looking)

definitely gets punished afterwards because she comes home all excited “i met four other turtles today! they were just like us!!”

she keeps sneaking out to find them because they seem really nice and whenever she watches them they all seem really close to each other and she wants that too :(

Jinx is the first to defect and become a good guy, Seraphina follows soon after because “tHAT’S MY BABY SISTER”

Zelda would take awhile because of how defensive she is, but would eventually come around

LOLITA ON THE OTHERHAND

it takes MONTHS and honestly probably ends up in a whole fight sequence just to get her to switch sides

(i have a whole fight sequence in mind and let me say :) Donatello might need some therapy after)

that’s what i have for now, i want to talk more about it but i feel like i might spoil the stuff i have planned out, if i figure out non-spoiler stuff i’ll add more but that’s it!

[blueboltkatana]

I'm gonna make tmnt 2003 headcanons for the turtles because this fandom must be kept alive at all cost! Here i go beware of longpost, cuteness, angst and gay:

Part #1-> Leo:

- the day he stops making dad puns is the day Shredder resigns and becomes a farmer

- whenever he makes a really corny one Mikey just drops everything and acts like he's having a stroke

- Cannot cook to save his poor life but it will not stop him from trying, he just wants to help Mike! "Hell no out of my kitchen Donnie just fixed the microwave!"

- Loves gardening so much, he's not the best with animals but he kills it with plants. He's got a green thumb if you know what i mean...

- He can only cook well when he's drunk. How'd they find that out you ask? They all got hammered when they turned 21 and blue boy got up and cooked breakfast at 3am and it was delicious how the fuck?!

- they have pics (thanks April and Casey) of him looking extremely concentrated while cracking an egg. April framed it.

- he was a pretty picky eater as a kid but outgrew it

- doesn't partecipate in prank wars because he's too op and outpranks everyone (except master splinter) so he's been banned

- is the only one who studied japanese well and has lengthy conversations with master splinter.

- walks into Donnie's lab when it's time to eat and just looks at him, doesn't speak a word, just stares deadeye for a few seconds and then leaves. It scares Donnie shitless every time but it gets him out of the lab so...

- calls Mikey *Raph* by mistake all the time, only does this with Mikey, still can't understand why he does that

- is a clean freak and very minimalistic. Which means he avoids Mikey's and Donnie's rooms like the plague.

- watches anime with Mikey (who forced them all to watch at least one) and comments on the fight scenes all the damn time. Raph does that too, and they fight about it constantly

- his favorite thing to do is to pick up on popular trends once they've died and do them around Mikey to drive him crazy "noo someone ate my yogurt!" "Ah that's so sad Alexa play Take on me" "Leonardo i am begging you to stop"

- Donnie is skinnier than his brothers since he doesn't eat much, being in his lab working all the time and all, so Leo walks in every hour to make sure he stays hydrated and has a snack. And smacks him in the head once in a while to "get the engine working"

- Being the oldest, he used to lie to his brothers about things to make them seem cooler than they are or just to sound like he knew his shit, Donnie caught on quickly unfortunately

- he still keeps his old teddy bear to sleep with, then again that's better than Mikey's 5 feet long Sasuke body pillow

- Raph used to make a bit fun of him for not showing any interest in girls as in "are you too honorable for hormones as well?" Until they figure out he's gay and it's a very "Ooohhh" moment for the whole family

- he has trouble sleeping sometimes and when it gets bad you notice cause he knocks into things

- he does the very unhealthy thing of "instead of dealing with this i will exhaust myself then pass out" and that usually results in a braindead turtle wandering around the lair eating cereal at 6 pm and not responding to his own name until the third call then passing out on the couch

- he still keeps some of Mikey's earliest comic drawing attempts, the first thing Raph knitted him (a cute beanie) as well as this toy car Donnie fixed all on his own for his birthday, because he's a sentimental slut

[ikevamp-annalyne]

Hey! I am asking again for a headcanon! Since I am a trouble-maker female and since I never see post about it, how would some of the suitors react to a mischievous(i don't know if it's well spelled😂😅) trouble-maker MC, who at the first look seems innocent and child-like(even if she's in her twenties) . I am asking this hc for Theo, Leo, Arthur, Jean and Dazai (but if they are too many, just for Theo, Arthur and Dazai). Love you and your blog💕💞❤️, you are amazing🥺💖

Hello there! ( ´ิ(ꈊ) ´ิ) Thank you so much for requesting again and omg, the compliments go right to my heart T^T thank you! Here goes nothing, then! ／(=´x`=)＼

Theodorus:

Oh God he hates troublemakers -or more like, he wants to hide he actually like them, like his bff Arthur-. He will do anything to prevent Vincent from approaching your troublemaker self -you innocent-faced devil-

Everytime you are near, he will look everywhere to see if you have pull out any prank: buckets full of water above the doors, strings at the base of doors to make them trip, pancakes made with pepper and not sugar...

He gets very suspicious of you, yeah. But you already changed his maple syrup for gravy and he got so mad he ran after you in the whole mansion to stuff your mouth with these inhuman pancakes!

However, he really likes you and find it amusing at times -especially since you're this cute-. He only really gets annoyed if: you messed with his pancakes, pranked Vincent and/or messed with his paintings, teamed up with Arthur.

He will get back to you at some point, messing with your food and replacing your water with vinegar. And honestly, you loved it when you realised it was him. Because he counterattacked and it was unexpected.

Leonardo:

He laughs a lot. Any prank pulled on him makes him laugh for a good while. Hiding his coat? He found it in 5 minutes -hanging in a tree...- and he laughed like a maniac. Flour in a book? He laughs and just cleans his clothes.

But he knows it is all your doing and he gets back to you right away. Not pulling pranks on you, but rather punishing you: "Cara Mia, it was funny. You're a troublesome little lady, aren't you? Come with me."

What he does? Either making you clean your mess or going to the Comte's room to "design" a brand new prank Leonardo wants to pull on his friend. And if it is the prank option, Comte beats the crap out of his friend.

Still, you keep on pranking Leonardo just to hear him laugh his heart out. You coated his apples in peppers, replaced his rouge by tomato juice, hid his sketches under the mess of his room...

He laughs if off but he will reprimand you if you go too far and it is dangerous. "Cara Mia, life's all fun, I know. But not this far. It's dangerous. Could have hurt yourself." He says while patting your head.

Arthur:

He lives for pranks and will be glad to be of help. Pull a prank on him, he gets annoyed. Pull pranks on other residents, he laughs like a maniac and high fives you for the good entertainment it was.

He will give you inspiration for your new pranks and will also participate if it deals with Theodorus, Dazai and Isaac. But if it is Comte? Heh, he always gets punished by Mama Comte so... He avoids all troubles with him.

But your favourite victim is still Arthur and poor him. Replacing his coffee with soy sauce, startling him with a whistle, hiding his glasses... At times, he is really annoyed but since it is you and your innocent face... He forgives.

But he will get back to you and pull pranks loads of pranks on you as well, and then punishing you with surprise butt slaps, cheek pinching or kisses. And because you like these, you intensify the pranks.

Everyday means a new prank, or you wandering somewhere and no one knows where and everyone is dead worried and Arthur finds you and makes sure to punish you the sexiest worst way possible... *coughcough*

Jean:

Why. Why would you be troublesome around this pure baby. He falls in all the traps you make. He falls for every prank. He ended up soaked from head to toe by a bucket of iced water above his door.

The worst? He keeps on thinking God is behind all of this and that he deserves it. He doesn't know you are behind all these things. And when the other residents tell him, he doesn't believe them and defends you.

However, if you cause trouble by hiding, going somewhere dangerous like a forest, wandering somewhere else than the mansion without anyone knowing it, he will be the first one looking for you.

And when he finds you, be ready for the punishment. He will shout at you, hit the back of your head because of how afraid he was. So for his sake, you decide to keep up with the innocent pranks, not more.

But you pull out nicer pranks on him: for example, one day, you made a card with a heart popping out of it. He was surprised and startled, but since you signed it, he smiled and went to you for a cute kiss.

Dazai:

It becomes a competition on who is going to be more troublesome than the other. Pranks, hide-and-seek, cooking contest, playing in the stairs, jumping from the window... You two together are a mess.

Everyone is tired of your antics and will slap the heck out of you two when you go too far. Comte will be as severe with you as he is with the other, since you are a troublemaker just like them...

You two often get punished: cleaning the kitchen, taking out the trash -Sebastian definitely did not laugh when you put Dazai in the trash bin and pushed him in the garden-, hanging the laundry...

Honestly, you always have new ideas for pranks and causing troubles. Sometimes, you both go too far and hurt yourselves -you tried to use the hung sheets as swing; the rope broke and you both fell hard on the ground-

You will cut a bit on the pranks after all these wounds, but you keep provoking tiny troubles: Dazai will always giggle and his laugh drives you nuts. You will also stop all things dangerous for you both.

I hope you liked it! By mischievous, I picture a pranking MC; I hope it is what you meant! (｡･ω･)ﾉﾞ

[memes-in-a-half-shell]

I have been in love with the turtles since like forever. And I am facinated with alternatives. I'm new to your blog but I already love you too!!

Hi !!! I love you too ;o; you’re so sweet !!!

That’s kinda hard to answer, to be honest ! It would all depends on if they would keep the same shape (looking at Raph and Donnie here HAHAHA) and if they would keep some of their basic personality too. I’ll try my best !

Leonardo

Tough Guy: Definitely the dark, brooding type. Would probably be worse than Raph at some point and would easily go on secret lonesome patrols.

Nerd: Not gonna lie, he’d be an anime/manga nerd xD Expect some naruto-style running from him!!!!

Playful: He’d be playing so many pranks on his bros! His high ninja skills definitely help him to set up traps in secret and then watch the others get caught in them.

Raphael

Leader: Tends to plan as things go on and has very poor team coordination in the beginning. But as time goes by, he definitely shows that he has a heart of gold and cares very much about his bros

Nerd: He would be the kind of person to always come up in conversations and correct others about facts and trivial stuff. … A bit a pain in the ass :B

Playful: Would playfully roughhouse his bros a lot and do a lot of sarcastic comments/jokes. He’d be smiling a lot more and his laugh would gladly fill the Lair.

Donatello

Leader: A tactical leader, he would thoroughly plan his missions before completing them. He’s very in tune with his team’s needs and will always take time to listen to each of them.

Tough Guy: He’d be some sort of punk/early 2000′s skater tough boy who’s somehow laidback and just ‘‘meh’‘ about many things. Anyone: “WANNA GO DO SOMETHING FUN?!?!?!” Donnie: “HHhhMmeehhh. Idk. *dabs*” (

Playful: So many puns, oh god. Definitely the life of the group with his snarky comments :’U

Michelangelo

Leader: Very heart-to-heart with his bros and always on the lookout for what’s best for them. He’d surprisingly be a good leader!

Tough Guy: I can’t help imagining a very ghetto attitude out of him. It’s definitely not in a bad way as I think it mostly fits his overall personality! Don’t you dare mess with his bros or else~

Nerd: A comic book/movies enthusiast! He’d try to reenact some of his favorite scenes or act like one of his favorite superhero. A real encyclopedia when it comes to his favorite subjects!

[bcwallin]

One Big Joke

Four years after the end of World War II, there was still rubble on the streets of Vienna. The shockwaves of war were still being felt. Terror was apparent in the understanding of how low man could sink, how evil humans could become. This is the world of noir thrives: one of distrust and darkness. Filmed on the location of the war’s aftermath, The Third Man utilized the time and era to tell a classic noir tale. Director Carol Reed created a nightmarish world where morality is as warped as the shadows and the dark characters who hide therein. Everything in the story is plausible, and yet, there are hints of a shift in reality where black magic alters the Viennese streets and everything above or below.

Reed’s film is almost all a big joke. The beginning unravels with the visual of zither strings below the credits, evoking the ever-present shadows of cell bars in film noir, yet the sensation is immediately dispelled by the cartoonish tones played by Anton Karas. The music is followed by the narration of Reed himself. Title cards are displayed above the strings of a zither that is plucked to play the theme of the movie while the names pass by. The lines of the strings evoke common symbolic imagery in film noir. Resembling the bars of a jail cell, these ever-present shadows are depicted in this film over a cartoonish instrument that plays repeatedly without the accompaniment of other instruments.

As the credits end, the music continues and meets up with a narration spoken by Reed. The director effectually informs the audience that he is going to tell them a story by presenting a dead body floating in a river. “Of course a situation like that does tempt amateurs but, well, you know, they can't stay the course like a professional,” he remarks. This dark humor—mixed with the comedic music and the director’s own depiction of this story—apprises the viewer that this is all a joke in more ways than one. Though his voice does not return again in the movie, it sets a darkly comedic tone for the film that can be seen when the narrator suddenly introduces a character: “Oh, I was going to tell you, wait, I was going to tell you about Holly Martins, an American.” After the introduction, Holly Martins is seen in a train that is moving toward the left side of the screen. This is important to note since, in the classic language of cinema, this indicates a regression—a journey backwards—as the western eye is accustomed to reading from left to right. Martins is then seen heading towards his friend, Harry Lime, but walks under a ladder—a notorious symbol of bad luck. He enters Lime’s home and the person to whom he speaks to can barely speak his language. That person is the porter and he tells Holly, while pointing upwards, that his friend is in hell.

Each of these elements is building the world for Holly Martins to enter. It is a strange world where four different nations live together and struggle to understand each other. It is a place of bad luck for Holly, one where he has regressed backward from the American world of idealism to the cold streets of Austria. Even heaven and hell are confused in this place, as ambiguity clouds judgment and language acts as a barrier.

Holly Martins later walks with Anna, Harry’s lover, to a planned meeting with the porter. At his arrival, he is greeted by a crowd of people and the message conveyed to him in broken English is that the porter “is kaput.” Suddenly a child, the son of the porter, approaches Holly Martins and begins to cry out in German. Everyone—with the exception of Holly—realizes that he is being accused of murder. When Anna informs him, Holly runs away from the crowd with her, followed by the boy, in a demented game of hide-and-go-seek. This game is played out over and over with Martins being chased by racketeers, Limes by Martins, and eventually, Limes by the combined armed forces of Vienna. While a sting is being set up for Harry Limes, an old man tries to sell balloons to Major Calloway. A meeting between Harry and Holly takes place on a Ferris wheel. Shadows are distorted to look like those of giants. Rubble distorts the street itself. Simultaneously, a zither plays along, laughing at the idealist who is laughing at the audience. It keeps on laughing, like the impish smile on Harry Limes’ face when he gets caught in what he sees as just one elaborate prank. It’s a world where “there isn’t enough for two laughs,” and yet, the film itself seems to be laughing anyway. It is a horrifying and carnivalesque sense of humor—one characteristic of film noir.

The hero of the noir film tends to be one that is pessimistic and lacking morals. There is no true hero in noir and the protagonist of this film is one who does not belong in the world of the film or in its genre at all. He is an idealistic author of “cheap paperback novelettes.” He sees himself as a cowboy, and the army, led by Major Calloway, as the sheriff. In this world, which he writes about, there is a simple balance of good and evil how heroes are recognizable by the outfits they wear and everything is solved by the time the final page is turned. Nonetheless, the streets of 1949 Vienna are not suited for Holly Martins; yet he seems to be the only one who doesn’t realize this. Military men attempt to send him on a plane while Anna tries to tell him to return home. Even a crowd of art enthusiasts walk out on him as he fails to properly answer a single question asked of him. As Holly Martins walks the streets of Vienna, he is being watched. The porter’s wife keeps her eyes on him as he goes over the crime scene of Harry’s “death,” while Baron Kurtz observes Limes’ friend at the former’s funeral. The camera repeatedly shows Holly Martins in angular shots, emphasizing how out of place he is and how surreal the world is around him. The film captures the bombarded scenery of the streets of Vienna, which The Third Man develops a language that says: “Go home. You are out of place in this strange, strange world.”

This idealistic man, protecting his friend to the very end comes to learn of the power of corruption when he hears that Major Calloway was trying to catch his friend. Holly asks him why he wasn’t chasing murderers and the Major responds: “Well, you could say that murder was part of his racket.” It is an arrogant response to stand up for his friend, Limes, who he believes was just mixed up in some bad business. Martins tries to hit him, again and again. It is only when he sees the bodies of children harmed by watered-down penicillin is he able to understand the truth and how little he had really known. Then he turns on his friend, waiting to trap him while drinking at a local bar.

Harry Limes is very reminiscent of the character Jay Gatsby from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. He is a racketeer, he calls his friend “old man” repeatedly, and he holds his friend’s fascination. Even his famous grin can remind a viewer of Leonardo DiCaprio’s smile as the titular character in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby. Yet, once again, the world asserts itself. In the 1920s, a Gatsby figure was the American Dream personified. He could be idealized and appreciated, but in a world of corruption and a lack of morality, the suave and smiling trickster becomes a sociopathic near-murderer trying to make a buck.

Just then, a cowboy enters a town ravaged by war and greed. Riding in on a steel horse, he plans to find a position of import, so he can protect the people and return these shambles to their former glory. The only problem is that the cowboy is not a cowboy, the horse is a train that is taking him the wrong way, the position is nonexistent, and there is no chance to fix the town. Holly Martins is a man out of his element and everybody else knows it. He has come to a world of cruel games—one without heroes or clear villains. This world continues to laugh at him throughout his visit as Carol Reed tells the audience about the “poor chap.” By the time the music winds to an end and the leaves begin to blow away, even the viewers begin to laugh at him, as he foolishly waits on the side of a road for a girl who is not stopping. For a girl who keeps on moving forward into a world that is not meant for him.

Originally published on Refract Magazine

[cryptidwizard]

Okay, I got one: Mikey and April doing a slumber party. Shenanigans.

okay so i actually tried writing this a few times when i was without my computer for two months but then completely forgot about it. i’m sorry for the wait and hope it was worth it. fic under the cut! tumblr is fucky and didn’t space it correctly so heres an ao3 link

April lovedher new friends, how could she not? They had saved her life, helped her findher father, taught her to protect herself, trained her as one of their own,befriended her in a time she had felt so alone, and became family to them. Theywere a little strange sure, but they were her’s. Leonardo was like a loveableolder brother, sort of nerdy but a welcome and reassuring presence. Raphael wasan enthusiastic and passionate brother, a little intense but a great sparringpartner. Donatello was smart, a genius even, sure she didn’t return hisfeelings and saw him more as family, but she still cared about him. (Besidesshe was still struggling to deal with her crush on her best friend Irma.)Michelangelo however, she felt closest to. He was fun and like a ray ofsunshine despite the darkness of the sewers. He was talented and the sweetyounger brother you always wanted to have, mischief and pranks aside. So, whenMikey had nervously asked her if she wanted to have a sleepover with him likepeople always did in tv shows he’d watch, she jumped at the chance, grinningwildly. So, Aprilhad told her father she was sleeping over at a friend’s house, loaded down withsome face masks and other fun sleepover supplies (nontoxic to mutant turtles ofcourse, she had done her own research and had asked Donnie to make sure). Sure,she had gone all out but this was Mikey, he was like a baby brother and he hadnever had a human friend or a sleepover. So, it became April’s mission to makethis the best sleepover ever. The turtles had offered to meet her and walk herto the lair, but she insisted she was okay, feeling confident with her weaponof choice the Tessan and a large can of pepper spray. After ashort trip through the sewers she arrived in the abandoned subway station,leaping over the turnstiles. April knew the others already knew she was here,from Donnie’s security cameras no doubt. Her suspicions were confirmed when anexcited shriek of “APRIL!!” sounded the room and she was pulled into anenthusiastic hug. She laughed and returned the hug, jeez she had gotten a lotstronger since training to be a kunoichi but wow the turtles were strong. “Hi Mikey! Are you prepared for your first and best sleepover ever?” She asked,faking a serious tone as her grinning companion released her from his hug trap.“Hell yeah I am!” Mikey shouted, barely containing his excitement.An annoyed “Language.” came from beloved stick in the mud older brother Leofrom the kitchen. April and Mikey exchanged looks, muffling their giggles. “Right sorry, I meant shell yeah I am!” He shouted again. April snorted atMikey’s attempt to recover from cursing. He took her hand and enthusiasticallylead her to his room, she waved to Leo as they passed by the kitchen, havingalready briefed the three brothers and Sensei on her sleepover plans.April letout a low and impressed whistle upon seeing Mikey’s room, he had cleaned up forher, aww. There were no left-over pizza slices or boxes left around! MasterSplinter couldn’t even get Mikey to clean his room, she kind of felt honored. The orange mask clad turtle noticed her expression and grinned, pretty proud ofhimself, “I know right? That’s how hyped I am.” April snickered and pulled outher duffle bag which had been filled to the brim with fun sleepover things todo, sure it was kind of middle school of her but hey Mikey has never done thisbefore, so she was pulling out all the stops. “Okay so I know you like makeup and pretty stuff like that, so I grabbed someof my makeup kits from when I was younger and some stuff Irma left at my house.I also got facemasks and nail polish along with some of those sleepover gamesmy dad got for me to get to know my friends with. Sound good?” She asked,pulling out some of the supplies, sure she wasn’t that into makeup and all thatbut upon seeing the amount of excited emojis Mikey had sent upon hearing shehad stuff like that in the group chat she just had to bring some. Mikey openedhis mouth to ask a question, but April beat him to it, “And yeah everything is mutantturtle safe I already asked Donnie about it, we don’t want your skin gettingfucky again.” Mikey nodded satisfied with the answer, shuddering at the thoughtof his shellacne.He brightened again, “Sounds awesome! Let’s do this!” April grinned and the funbegan. They put on some cheesy movie Mikey had rented, vowing to watch the actionflick that April had brought afterwards. She was now demonstrating how to paintnails on Mikey’s, thankfully since he had less fingers than she did it got donefaster. When April had asked what colors Mikey answered, blue, red, and purple.She arched an eyebrow at him, a smile on her face, it was no wonder why he hadchosen those colors. Mikey grinned, “Okay they’reaesthetically pleasing colors but I also love my dumb brothers.” He retorted,pretending to pout but not bothering to fully mask his smile. April rolled hereyes with a grin and finished up painting his nails. “Whatdya think?” She asked, she wasn’t the best with painting nails, but shehad nail polish remover packed and cleaned up her mistakes. Michelangelo beamed, “Oooh fancy I approve.” He said in a fake haughty tone ofvoice. April snickered and moved on to his toes, “Once they dry you can do mine if youwant.” She offered, Mikey nodded excitedly. After finishing she held out herhand for her friend to paint, trusting him to do a good job since he was themost artistic of the turtles after all. (Besides she would’ve let him do iteven if he couldn’t paint for shit.) “What colordyou want?” He asked. April thought for a moment and shrugged, “Surprise me.” Mikey grinned and gotto work as April turned her attention back towards the movie, assuring Mikeyshe wouldn’t peak. An enthusiastic “Ta-da!” distracted her from the movie, shelooked down at her nails. She smiled softly, her heart effectively warmed. Thecolors Mikey had chosen were blue, red, purple, orange, and yellow. Judgingfrom the turtle’s expression and her regular outfit, yellow represented her. “Y’know cause you’re like an honorary Hamato now…” He said softly, Aprilblinked rapidly, a grin spreading across her face. “I love it.” She said pulling him into a hug.Mikey giggled, “Hey c’mon don’t mess up my nails!” He complained, obviouslyjoking. The girl began to laugh, “You sound like Irma.” Mikey began to paint her toes when his grin became catlike, “Ooh Irma huh? Is she the goth girl you arealways making goo-goo eyes at whenever we were shadowing you to make sure youwere safe from the Kraang?” He asked, a smug tone in his voice as if he alreadyknew the answer. April’s face reddened, and she resisted the instinctive urgeto kick her friend in the face and bolt.“W-what?! No!” She exclaimed, hiding her flushed face with her still dryinghands.Mikey made a pouting noise sounding like a kicked puppy, “C’mon Apriillllllll,you’re a Hamato nowwww you gotta tell me, your sweet innocent baby brother.” Heprotested. April sent a mock glare at him, jeez now she knew why Mikey had hisolder brothers wrapped around his finger.She sighed, “Okay one, pulling the family card like that is cold. Two, you areanything but innocent. Three, stop grinning like that. Four, y-yeah that’s her…She’s so cute Mikey you don’t understand!”He finished painting her toes looking satisfied with his handiwork before leaningin close, “Tell me everything.” He replied, a serious expression on his face,poorly masking his smug grin.After a long-winded explanation of just how pretty Irma’s eyes were and abouthow they met, and Irma’s kissable lips April let out a loud groan. “I’m so gayMikester, I don’t even know my sexuality yet but I’m so gay.”Mikey giggled, bumping her shoulder reassuringly with his, “Don’t worry aboutit, Leo practically has a heart attack every time he sees a cute boy on patroland he still claims he’s straight. You’ll figure it out.” He reassured. April looked up at him from where he was doing her makeup, armed with aneyeshadow brush. “How’d you get so wise?”“I took a bunch of quizzes on BuzzFeed, I’m pan ace. Close your eyes.” Hereplied, she complied and closed her eyes, wrinkling her nose as she felt thepowder tickle her eyelids. After he finished she looked up again, “Huh, cool. I had no idea.” Mikey grinned, posing almost dramatically, added with the fact she had alreadydone his makeup he looked pretty great. “Of course you didn’t, I’m like anonion. I got layers.” He replied, struggling to keep a serious expression onhis face.April groaned loudly, “You did. Not. Just quote Shrek. Mikey no stop laughingI’m gonna pepper spray you.” She said deadpan, both knowing she was joking.Mikey stuck a defiant tongue out at her. He brightened, “Wait I just had two, (2) great ideas. First, you take someselfies and send them to Irma. And second, we water balloon my poorunsuspecting brothers.”April grinned widely, “Let’s do it.”After taking some pictures together and a few of just themselves April sentsome to Irma. They then loaded up on water balloons, Mikey already having abunch prefilled. She didn’t ask why, he was Doctor Prankenstein after all. Theysnuck out into the lair, keeping their feet light with ease given they both hadsome degree of ninja training. Raph was in the dojo practicing getting out someenergy, Donnie was in the lab, Leo was in the kitchen making tea. “Okay, to get away with an assault of this scale all at once we gotta getDonnie first, he might help since you are on my side. Then we gotta get Raphand we have to flip him, he’ll be so impressed he won’t yell. Then we get Leo,he’ll be expecting my attack with big bro instincts so you gotta get him withyours.” Mikey informed just above a whisper, April nodded seriously. They entered the lab, Donnie was working on something by the algae pool. Theduo had entered via the garage entrance rather than the clunky metal door of thelair hoping to not alert Donnie. He didn’t look up, “Oh hey Mikey I’m justcollecting some sampl- “Donatello began to say before being interrupted by awater balloon colliding with his shell, surprising him and sending him tumblinginto the pool. April let out a startled and soft laugh,“Sorry Don, do us a favor and don’t tell?” She asked, pulling him from thepool. Donnie looked bewildered and was dripping wet, he grabbed a towel from adesk, having fallen in the pool before. He opened his mouth as if to complain before catching a glimpse of the pleadingand gleeful look on April’s face before shutting it and sighing, “Okay but onlyif you are getting Raph too.”Mikey grinned wickedly, “Of course.” They slipped into the dojo, Raph was jamming out to some loud rock music withhis earbuds and hadn’t heard them come in. They gave two quick thumbs up toDonnie who was waiting in the living room with an exasperated expression. Mikeynodded to April wordlessly saying it was her turn and she pulled back and flungthe water balloon to Raph’s shell. Before he had time to react they rushedforward and grabbed both of his arms, Mikey’s leg slipping out and trippingRaph’s using the momentum to flip him over both of their shoulders. He lookedup at them stunned, taking out his earbuds. “…Nice shot.” He said surprised.Mikey and April grinned and high-fived.Last was Leo, but he was going to be the most difficult. Mikey had complainedin the past that Leo had some crazy way of telling every time he was going topull a prank, he’d bested him before but never all three of his brothers in onenight. With April’s help he was going down. Leo was sipping his tea, his Space Heroes marathon just ended so now he wasrelaxing. He swore he heard something, he frowned, narrowing his eyes andunconsciously slipped into a defensive stance. A water balloon whizzed towardshim, he dodged narrowly, it splattering on the wall behind him. “Mikeeeeeeey.” He said in his annoying big brother tone. Suddenly a waterballoon came from the ceiling and landed dead center on his plastron. He made asurprised noise as April and Mikey leaped down from the rafters they hadclimbed in order to get the drop on him, both incredibly proud of themselves.“How- how did you?” He began to ask, slightly incredulous and a littleimpressed. “We’ll never tell! Just another shocking attack by the hands of DoctorPrankenstein and Lady Pranksalot!” Mikey yelled loudly, a wide and satisfiedgrin on his face. April giggled, struggling not to burst into laughter. Donnieand Raph filed in, both still damp before pulling out a pizza from the fridgeand placing it in the microwave.Leo sighed, a fondly exasperated look on his face. “Nice job enlisting April inyour plan.” He scanned their smug faces for a second before frowning inconfusion. “Are… Are you both wearing makeup?” He asked.Mikey and April nodded, “Yeah bro makeovers are a huge part of sleepovers, duh.”Mikey replied, stealing a spare slice of pizza that had just been removed fromthe microwave, not caring the cheese slightly burned his fingers.Leo thought for a moment, “Can… Can you do mine?” The Hamatos sans Splinter who retired to bed early were all lounging on thecouch, wearing facemasks having removed their makeup after plenty ofshenanigans. April and Mikey wordlessly fist bumped, satisfied that they haddragged the others into their fun. Raph grumbled, “I can’t believe you both talked me into this.”Donnie who was blowing on his freshly painted nails to dry them looked over athim, rolling his eyes. “Raph please the second Mikey said facemasks youinsisted on trying some out. Your skincare routine is almost as intense as Leo’s.”The turtle in question made an offended noise at the teasing of his skincare.April snickered, normally she dreaded this kind of thing and avoided sleepoverswhenever possible but with the turtles she didn’t mind and if it meant spendingtime with them all aside from missions and training she’d jump at the chance todo it again. She sighed contently, feeling at home in the abandoned subwaystation of all places surrounded by the mutants who had become her family. 

[sandhyamodi]

The Best Movies on Amazon Prime Video in India

Amazon Prime Video's movie acquisitions might not have the same international depth as Netflix, but it's undoubtedly stronger and richer in its local variety, with its titles spanning the Tamil, Telugu, and the Malayalam world of filmmaking in addition to Bollywood. And that's matched with a powerful collection of American imports, to deliver a collection that can more than stand its ground against the world's biggest streaming service. It lacks with its original efforts — a few are present below, for what it's worth — but it's also a lot more affordable at Rs. 999 per year, versus Netflix's Rs. 650 a month. To pick the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, we relied on Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, and IMDb ratings to create a shortlist. The last of them was preferred for Indian films given the shortfalls of reviews aggregators in that department. Additionally, we used our own editorial judgement to add or remove a few. This list will be updated once every few months if there are any worthy additions or if some movies are removed from the service, so bookmark this page and keep checking in. Here are the best films currently available on Amazon Prime Video in India, sorted alphabetically. 12 Years a Slave (2013) Duped into slavery on the account of a job, Steve McQueen's adaptation of a free New York black man's (Chiwetel Ejiofor) 19th-century memoir is an incredible true story, and an important watch. 3 Idiots (2009) In this satire of the Indian education system's social pressures, two friends recount their college days and how their third long-lost musketeer (Aamir Khan) inspired them to think creatively and independently in a heavily-conformist world. Co-written and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who stands accused in the #MeToo movement. Agantuk (1991) In Satyajit Ray's last film, a mysterious and world-weary explorer returns to India after 35 years to see his only surviving relative, his niece, but has trouble convincing the family who he claims to be. Aladdin (1992) Disney puts its animation flavour onto the famous folk tale of a street urchin who disguises himself as a wealthy prince after finding a genie in a magic lamp, in an attempt to impress the Sultan's daughter. Amal (2007) After a poor Delhi auto-rickshaw driver (Rupinder Nagra) is named as the sole inheritor by a local billionaire (Naseeruddin Shah) just before his death, he must decide whether to keep it. American Beauty (1999) A depressed advertising executive (Kevin Spacey) in the midst of a midlife crisis falls for his teenage daughter's best friend, in Sam Mendes' satire of American middle-class that ultimately won five Oscars including Best Picture. Anand (1971) Rajesh Khanna stars as the eponymous happy-go-lucky man, who doesn't let his diagnosis of a rare form of cancer get in the way of enjoying what's in front of him. Told from the viewpoint of his doctor friend (Amitabh Bachchan). Hrishikesh Mukherjee directs. Anbe Sivam (2003) Kamal Haasan and R. Madhavan star in this Tamil cult film, in which the two are stranded over a thousand kilometres from home after heavy rain cancels all flights and strike up an unlikely friendship on their way back. Haasan also wrote the script. Andaz Apna Apna (1994) Two slackers (Aamir Khan and Salman Khan) who belong to middle-class families vie for the affections of an heiress, and inadvertently become her protectors from a local gangster in Rajkumar Santoshi's cult comedy favourite.

Ankhon Dekhi (2014) After an eye-opening experience involving his daughter's marriage, a man in his late 50s (Sanjay Mishra) resolves that he won't believe anything he can't see, which naturally leads to some dramatic complications. Aruvi (2016) A social satire from a debutante writer-director, which follows an eponymous young woman (Aditi Balan), who going through a bout of existential crisis, decides to shine a light on the consumerist and misogynistic behaviours in her society. Back to the Future (1985) Not many films come close to the worldwide appeal and legacy left by this sci-fi entry featuring the iconic DeLorean that Michael J. Fox's character uses to (accidentally) time travel to when his parents were his age. Strange then that it didn't get the green light for years. Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015) The heavily controversial Salman Khan stars as a devout Hindu Brahmin and an ardent devotee of Hanuman, who embarks on a journey to reunite a mute six-year-old Muslim girl, lost in India, with her parents in Pakistan. Kareena Kapoor co-stars. Salman is a convicted poacher, out on bail, and accused of culpable homicide, pending appeal. A Beautiful Mind (2001) The life of John Nash, a brilliant but asocial mathematician, from his spiral into paranoid schizophrenia and working on a secret project he made up, to regaining control over his life and becoming a Nobel Laureate. The Big Sick (2017) Kumail Nanjiani stars as himself in this rom-com loosely based on his romance with his wife, in which an aspiring comedian connects with his girlfriend's parents after she falls into a mysterious coma. Blood Diamond (2006) Set during the Sierra Leone Civil War at the turn of the century, an arms smuggler (Leonardo DiCaprio) promises to help a fisherman (Djimon Hounsou) find his family in exchange for a priceless diamond the latter found in a river. Bombay (1995) Set during the 1992–93 Bombay riots, writer-director Mani Ratnam offers a look at the communal tensions that cause a strain on the relationship between a Muslim woman (Manisha Koirala) and a Hindu man (Arvind Swamy). The Bourne trilogy (2002–07) Technically not a trilogy, but the first three chapters — Identity, Supremacy, and Ultimatum — starring Matt Damon in the lead as the titular CIA assassin suffering from amnesia were so good that they changed the longest-running spy franchise of all-time: James Bond. Brazil (1985) Terry Gilliam blends social satire with his signature visual inventiveness in this dystopian sci-fi set in a retro-future world, which follows a lowly clerk who becomes an enemy of the state after trying to correct an administrative error.

Captain Fantastic (2016) After his bipolar wife suddenly dies, a single father (Viggo Mortensen), who brought up his six children living off the grid and isolated from society, must introduce them to the real world for the first time. Carol (2015) Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara star in this intimate, thoughtful and gorgeous drama about two lesbians living in polar-opposite worlds in 1950s New York, as they navigate societal customs and their own wants. Based on Patricia Highsmith's novel, The Price of Salt. Cast Away (2000) After his plane crash-lands in the Pacific, a FedEx employee (Tom Hanks) wakes up on a deserted island and must use everything at his disposal and transform himself physically to survive living alone. Catch Me If You Can (2002) Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks star in Steven Spielberg's biopic of Frank Abagnale (DiCaprio), who forged millions of dollars' worth of cheques as a teenager, while being pursued by an FBI agent (Hanks). Chak De! India (2007) Ostracised and vilified by the press and public, a former Muslim men's hockey captain (Shah Rukh Khan) plans to redeem himself by coaching the unpolished Indian women's hockey team to glory. Charade (1963) After her husband is murdered while trying to leave Paris, a young woman (Audrey Hepburn) is pursued by three men, who want a fortune he had stolen, and seeks the help of a stranger (Cary Grant). Known as “the best Hitchcock movie that Hitchcock never made”. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) Frequent collaborators Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are behind this ‘remake' of the 1971 original based on Roald Dahl's 1964 book, in which the title character — a young boy (Freddie Highmore) — wins a tour of an imaginative chocolatier's chocolate factory with four other kids. Chhoti Si Baat (1976) This remake of the 1960 British film School for Scoundrels transports the story to then-Bombay, where a meek young man (Amol Palekar) turns to life-coach Colonel (Ashok Kumar) to battle a suave, bold man for the affections of a woman. Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, and Hema Malini cameo as themselves. Basu Chatterjee directs. Chupke Chupke (1975) Hrishikesh Mukherjee's remake of the Bengali film Chhadmabeshi, in which a newly-wedded husband (Dharmendra) decides to play pranks on his wife's (Sharmila Tagore) supposedly smart brother-in-law, released in the same year as Sholay. Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan also star. Collateral (2004) Tom Cruise plays a hitman who takes a taxi driver, played by Jamie Foxx, hostage in Michael Mann's neo-noir crime thriller, in which the latter must figure out how to stop the former. The Conjuring (2013) A pair of paranormal investigators (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) are hired by a family who have been experiencing increasingly disturbing events at their farmhouse, in this effective horror from James Wan.

Crazy Rich Asians (2018) Based on the novel of the same name, a Chinese-American professor travels halfway around the world to Singapore to meet her boyfriend's extremely-rich family, where she must contend with weird relatives, jealous socialites, and the boyfriend's disapproving mother (Michelle Yeoh). A Death in the Gunj (2016) In Konkona Sen Sharma's feature-length directorial debut, a shy and sensitive Indian student (Vikrant Massey) pays a heavy price for his gentleness, while on a road trip with his conceited relatives and family friends. Ranvir Shorey, Kalki Koechlin star alongside. The Death of Stalin (2017) Veep creator Armando Iannucci approaches this momentous occasion in the history of Russia through the lens of black comedy and political satire, depicting the power struggles that ensued following the titular dictator's death in 1953. Jeffrey Tambor, who stars, stands accused in the #MeToo movement. Dil Chahta Hai (2001) Farhan Akhtar's directorial debut about three inseparable childhood friends whose wildly different approach to relationships creates a strain on their friendship remains a cult favourite. Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, and Preity Zinta star. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol's characters fall in love during a trip to Europe with their friends in this now iconic film — which is still playing over two decades later in a single-screen Mumbai theatre — but face hurdles as the woman's conservative father has promised her hand in marriage to someone else. Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015) After a court order mandates a video cassette store owner and an RSS volunteer (Ayushmann Khurrana) and a plus-sized teacher-in-training (Bhumi Pednekar) to salvage their failing marriage, the two begin to put themselves in each other's shoes, before deciding to take part in a piggyback race. Won a National Award. Ee. Ma. Yau (2018) A son struggles to organise the grand burial he promised his dad in this Malayalam-language black comedy that's largely shot in natural light. Lijo Jose Pellissery directs. The Exorcist (1973) One of the greatest horror films of all time, that has left a lasting influence on the genre and beyond, is about the demonic possession of a 12-year-old girl and her mother's attempts to save her with the help of two priests who perform exorcisms. Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) Roald Dahl's children's novel about a fox who steals food from three mean and wealthy farmers gets the stop-motion treatment from Wes Anderson, featuring the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, and Michael Gambon. Fight Club (1999) Brad Pitt and Edward Norton star in this cult hit from David Fincher, about a white-collared insomniac disappointed with his capitalistic lifestyle, who forms an underground fight club with a devil-may-care soapmaker, which evolves into something much more.

Forrest Gump (1994) A slow-witted but kind-hearted man (Tom Hanks) takes part in a series of defining events of the second half of the 20th century in the US, while pining for his childhood love. Forushande (2016) Oscar-winner Asghar Farhadi uses Arthur Miller's play “Death of a Salesman” as his story within a story, to depict thematic parallels with the deteriorating relationship of an Iranian couple after an assault on the wife. The husband wants to find out who the attacker is against her wishes, while she deals with post-trauma stress. Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) Inspired by the 2008 Tamil-language film Subramaniapuram, Anurag Kashyap concocts a gangster epic that blends politics, vengeance, and romance as it looks at the power struggles between three crime families in and around the Jharkhand city of Dhanbad, the epicentre of the coal mafia. Ghare Baire (1984) Based on Rabindranath Tagore's novel of the same name, and set in the chaotic aftermath of the partition of Bengal, writer-director Satyajit Ray tells the story of a woman married to a forward-thinking man whose lives are upended by the appearance of the husband's radical friend. Ghostbusters (1984) A bunch of eccentric paranormal enthusiasts start a ghost-catching business in New York, and then stumble upon a plot to wreak havoc by summoning ghosts. Gave birth to one of the most iconic song lyrics in history. Gladiator (2000) Winner of five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Russell Crowe, this Ridley Scott-directed film tells a moving story of a Roman general (Crowe) who loses everything — his family and rank —to end up as a slave and then seeks vengeance on the perpetrator (Joaquin Phoenix). The Godfather (1972) In what is considered one of the greatest films of all-time, an aging leader (Marlon Brando) of a New York mafia transfers control of his empire to his youngest son (Al Pacino), who goes from a reluctant outsider to a ruthless boss. The Godfather Part II (1974) Francis Ford Coppola's follow-up to his original, centering on Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) at the top of the pecking order while offering a look back at his father's (Robert De Niro) past, is considered by some to be better than its predecessor. Gol Maal (1979) A chartered accountant (Amol Palekar), with a knack for singing and acting, falls deep down the rabbit hole after lying to his boss that he has a twin, in this Hrishikesh Mukherjee comedy. Gone Girl (2014) Based on Gillian Flynn's best-selling novel and directed by David Fincher, a confounded husband (Ben Affleck) becomes the primary suspect in the sudden mystery disappearance of his wife (Rosamund Pike).

Gravity (2013) Two US astronauts, a first-timer (Sandra Bullock) and another on his final mission (George Clooney), are stranded in space after their shuttle is destroyed, and then must battle debris and challenging conditions to return home. Gully Boy (2019) An aspiring, young street rapper (Ranveer Singh) from the slums of Mumbai sets out to realise his dream, while dealing with the complications that arise out of his personal life and the socioeconomic strata to which he belongs. Zoya Akhtar directs, and Alia Bhatt stars alongside. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) Alfonso Cuarón stepped behind the camera for what many consider to be the best Harry Potter film, as the boy who lived enters his third year at Hogwarts, and is told that Sirus Black, an escapee from the wizarding world prison Azkaban, is after his life. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) Working off the tone set by Alfonso Cuarón, the fourth entry in the series finds the titular chosen one pulled into an inter-school magical tournament, while battling the disturbing visions and the aching pain that stem from his forehead scar. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) In this final thrilling chapter, the famous trio — Harry, Ron, and Hermione — face a race against time to find and destroy Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes, while the students and teachers of Hogwarts unite to defend the school. Heat (1995) Al Pacino and Robert De Niro star on opposite sides of the law — the former a detective, the latter a thief — in Michael Mann's stylistic crime drama, with a group of bank robbers planning a heist unaware the police are onto them. Hera Pheri (2000) Unemployed and struggling with money, a landlord and his two tenants (Paresh Rawal, Akshay Kumar, and Sunil Shetty) chance on a ransom phone call and plan to collect the ransom for themselves in this remake of the 1989 Malayalam film Ramji Rao Speaking. How to Train Your Dragon (2010) Brought up in a world where Vikings have a tradition of being dragon slayers, a young teenager becomes an unlikely friend with a young dragon and learns there may be more to the creatures than everyone thinks. The Hurt Locker (2008) Best picture winner at the Oscars, a new leader (Jeremy Renner) of a bomb disposal squad surprises his subordinates with his views and reckless approach to the job in the Iraqi capital. Kathryn Bigelow became first woman to win best director. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Directed by Steven Spielberg off a story by George Lucas, an eponymous archaeologist (Harrison Ford) travels the world and battles a group of Nazis while looking for a mysterious artefact, in what is now often considered as one of the greatest films of all-time.

Into The Wild (2007) Based on Jon Krakauer's nonfiction book, Sean Penn goes behind the camera to direct the story of a top student and athlete who gives up all possessions and savings to charity, and hitchhikes across America to live in the Alaskan wilderness. Iruvar (1997) Aishwarya Rai made her acting debut with a dual supporting role in Mani Ratnam's biographical film, which is inspired by the real-life rivalry of 1980s Tamil Nadu political icons M.G. Ramachandran (Mohanlal) and M. Karunanidhi (Prakash Raj). Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983) In this satire of politics, bureaucracy, and the media, two photographers (Naseeruddin Shah and Ravi Baswani) inadvertently capture a murder while trying to expose the rich. A Mahabharata dramatisation in the third act is a renowned highlight. JFK (1991) When a New Orleans district attorney (Kevin Costner) tries to unearth the mystery and possibly conspiracy behind the assassination of former US President John Kennedy, he's faced with considerable pressure from the government. Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Oldman co-star. Oliver Stone directs. Jurassic Park (1993) It might be over 25 years old at this point but watching the very first Jurassic film from Steven Spielberg — based on Michael Crichton's novel, which he co-adapted — is a great way to remind yourself why the new series, Jurassic World, has no idea why it's doing. Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) Guru Dutt directed and starred in what is regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, about a famous director (Dutt) who casts an unknown woman (Waheeda Rehman) in his next film, and the opposing trajectories of their careers thereon. Kannathil Muthamittal (2002) Upon learning that she is adopted, a young girl embarks on a journey across civil war-ravaged Sri Lanka to find her biological mother who is part of the revolutionaries. Mani Ratnam directs. The King of Comedy (1982) In Martin Scorsese's overlooked satire of celebrity worship and media culture, an aspiring comic (Robert De Niro) stalks his late-night talk show idol to earn a big break, and then kidnaps him when things don't work out. Kumbalangi Nights (2019) Four brothers who share a love-hate relationship stand behind one of their own in matters of the heart in this Malayalam-language family drama that explores masculinity with nuance and in detail. Directorial debut of Madhu C. Narayanan. Kung Fu Panda (2008) After an obese kung fu enthusiast panda is supposedly mistakenly chosen as the Dragon Warrior to fight an impending threat, he is unwillingly taught by an elderly master and his students who have been training for years.

L.A. Confidential (1997) As corruption brews in post-war Los Angeles, three police officers — one sordid (Kevin Spacey), one brutal (Russell Crowe) and one moralistic (Guy Pearce) — investigate a series of murders in their own way, and form an uneasy alliance. Spacey stands accused in the #MeToo movement. Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006) In this sequel to the 2003 original (also on the list), the Mumbai underworld don (Sanjay Dutt) starts to live by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi to impress a radio jockey (Vidya Balan) he's smitten with. Some felt it dumbed down Gandhism. Co-written and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who stands accused in the #MeToo movement. The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002) Ajay Devgn plays the titular socialist revolutionary and freedom fighter in writer-director Rajkumar Santoshi's biopic, which follows Singh — and later his associates, Shivaram Rajguru, Sukhdev Thapar, and Chandra Shekhar Azad — from the Jallianwala Bagh massacre to the bombing of Parliament House. Some did not like its treatment of Gandhi. The Lego Movie (2014) An ordinary, rules-following Lego minifigure (Chris Pratt) is mistakenly identified as the most extraordinary person and the key to saving the world from an evil tyrant, for which he is hilariously underprepared. It spawned the hit single, "Everything Is Awesome". Lipstick Under My Burkha (2016) Denied for a release for six months, this black comedy centres on four women in small town India who set out on a journey to discover freedom and happiness in a conservative society. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003) Peter Jackson brought J.R.R. Tolkien's expansive Middle-Earth to life in these three three-hour epics, which charts the journey of a meek hobbit (Elijah Wood) and his various companions, as they try to stop the Dark Lord Sauron by destroying the source of his power, the One Ring. Maanagaram (2017) Crises befall a few youngsters — a cab driver, a BPO interviewee, and a hot-headed lover — whose lives are interlinked after they arrive in a big city in this Tamil-language thriller. Feature-length debut for writer-director Lokesh Kanagaraj. Manichitrathazhu (1993) In this Malayalam-language psychological thriller classic, a young wife (Shobana) is possessed by the spirit of a vengeful dancer after she opens a locked room in their new haunted mansion. To help get rid of it, the husband's psychiatrist friend (Mohanlal) suggests an unusual cure. Mean Girls (2004) Tina Fey's cult hit teen comedy follows a home-schooled 16-year-old (Lindsay Lohan) who's an instant hit with A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for the ex-boyfriend of the clique's alpha.

Men in Black (1997) Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones star as two agents of an eponymous secret organisation, whose job is to monitor extraterrestrial life on Earth and hide their presence from humans, using neuralysers to erase memories if need be. Mera Naam Joker (1970) By far the longest film on this list with a four-hour runtime, this semi-autobiographical take on director, producer, and lead star Raj Kapoor's own life is about a circus clown (Kapoor) who must make his audience laugh no matter how unhappy he is within. Told in three chapters, it features three women — Simi Garewal, Kseniya Ryabinkina, and Padmini — who shaped his world. Negatively received upon release, it later underwent a critical revaluation. Minority Report (2002) Steven Spielberg loosely adapts Philip K. Dick's short story of a future where a special police unit can catch criminals before a crime is committed thanks to a technology, and what happens when an officer from that unit (Tom Cruise) is himself accused of a murder. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) After the agency he works for is wrongly implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and a new team are forced to go rogue and clear their employer's name in this fourth entry of the franchise. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) With the organisation he works for disbanded and his country after him, Hunt (Cruise) races against time to prove the existence of the schemers pulling the strings in this fifth chapter. Introduced Rebecca Ferguson to the franchise. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) In what is arguably the best entry in the franchise yet — sixth, if you're counting — intelligence agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) & Co. set off on a globe-trotting adventure from Europe to Kashmir, to retrieve three plutonium cores from the hands of terrorists. Henry Cavill joins the fun. Moneyball (2011) Based on the true story of Oakland Athletics and manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), it follows the latter's attempts to build a competitive team by relying solely on statistical analysis, with help from a Yale graduate (Jonah Hill). Munich (2005) After a Palestinian terrorist group kills 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, the latter's government launches a secret retaliation, tasking five men to hunt and kill those responsible for the massacre. Steven Spielberg directs, based on a true story. Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003) After his parents find out he has been pretending to be a doctor, a good-natured Mumbai underworld don (Sanjay Dutt) tries to redeem himself by enrolling in a medical college, where his compassion brushes up against the authoritarian dean (Boman Irani). Co-written and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who stands accused in the #MeToo movement. Mustang (2015) Set in a remote Turkish village, this debut feature by a Turkish-French director depicts the lives of five young orphaned sisters and the challenges they face growing up in a conservative society.

Nayakan (1987) Inspired by The Godfather — though good luck getting writer-director Mani Ratnam to admit it — and the life of Bombay (now Mumbai) crime boss Varadarajan Mudaliar, it depicts and the life and death of Velu (Kamal Haasan) who becomes a gangster and builds an empire. Newton (2017) Winner of the National Award for best Hindi film, in which Rajkummar Rao stars as a government clerk who tries to run a free and fair election in the Naxal-controlled conflict-ridden jungles of India. Once Upon A Time in America (1984) Spanning four decades, Sergio Leone's final sprawling film about a kid in a Jewish slum (Robert De Niro) who rises to prominence in New York's world of organised crime remains one of the greatest gangster films of all-time. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019) Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie lead the ensemble cast of Quentin Tarantino's “fairy tale tribute” to the waning days of Hollywood's golden age, which follows an ageing actor (DiCaprio) and his long-time friend and stunt double (Pitt) as they navigate a changing industry. Padosan (1968) Sunil Dutt, Saira Banu, Mehmood, and Kishore Kumar star in this remake of the 1952 Bengali film Pasher Bari, about a young man (Dutt) who falls in love with his new neighbour (Banu) and then enlists the help of his singer-actor friend (Kumar) to woo her away from her music teacher (Mehmood). Pariyerum Perumal (2018) An idealistic young man from a poor, oppressed caste family strikes a friendship with a much wealthier female classmate at law school in this Tamil-language film, earning him the wrath of her relatives and the society at large. Debut for writer-director Mari Selvaraj. Peranbu (2019) After his wife abandons him and their cerebral palsy daughter for another man, a single father (Mammooty) working as a cab driver in Dubai must return home and raise his only kid, while on the brink of homelessness. Pinjar (2003) Based on Amrita Pritam's Punjabi novel of the same name and set in the years before and after the Partition, a Hindu woman (Urmila Matondkar) returns to her Muslim kidnapper (Manoj Bajpayee) after she's disowned by her family upon escaping. Won a National Award. The Prestige (2006) After a tragic accident, two fellow magicians (Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale) turn bitter enemies in this thriller from Christopher Nolan, and engage in a battle to create the ultimate illusion, while sacrificing everything they have. Prisoners (2013) After his daughter and her friend are kidnapped, a father (Hugh Jackman) takes matters into his own hands while the police methodically track down multiple leads, getting himself into trouble. Jake Gyllenhaal co-stars. Pyaasa (1957) Guru Dutt directed and starred in this classic set in then-Calcutta which follows a struggling, anguished poet named Vijay (Dutt) who is unable to get recognition for his work until he meets Gulab (Waheeda Rehman), a prostitute with a heart of gold. Raazi (2018) Based on the real-life events depicted in Harinder Sikka's 2008 novel “Calling Sehmat”, Alia Bhatt stars as an undercover Kashmiri RAW agent who marries into a Pakistani military family to spy on the enemy prior to and during the 1971 Indo-Pak War. Some critics found it improbable.

The Report (2019) An idealistic government investigator (Adam Driver) uncovers shocking secrets as he dives into the CIA's post-9/11 use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” — in simpler words, torture — and faces severe pushback from those in the know. Roja (1992) Before Dil Se.. and Bombay, Mani Ratnam's exploration of human relationships against the backdrop of politics began with this Tamil-language film, about a newly-wed woman who moves to Kashmir and struggles to find her husband after he is kidnapped by Kashmiri separatists. Rosemary's Baby (1968) In this psychological horror based on Ira Levin's best-selling novel, a young pregnant woman (Mia Farrow) suspects an evil cult — involving her neighbours — wants to take her baby for use in their rituals. Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) Based on Bimal Mitra's similarly-titled 1953 Bengali novel and set during the fall of British Raj feudalism, a part-time servant (Guru Dutt) develops a close, platonic bond with the ignored, lonely wife (Meena Kumari) of an aristocrat (Rehman). Waheeda Rehman also stars. Sankarabharanam (1980) Winner of four National Awards, a classical music legend faces ruin in this Telugu-language drama owing to changing music trends and the unexpected bond he forms with a prostitute's daughter, who is driven into exceptional circumstances. Saving Private Ryan (1998) In Steven Spielberg's World War II drama, while war rages on in Normandy, an army captain (Tom Hanks) is given the task of searching for a particular private (Matt Damon), whose three brothers have already been killed. Searching (2018) Told entirely through screens — computers and smartphones — a father (John Cho) breaks into his teenage daughter's laptop after she goes missing and detectives are unable to find a single lead. A Separation (2011) Asghar Farhadi's Oscar-winning drama follows an Iranian middle-class couple, whose 14-year-old marriage begins to dissolve after they reach a crossroads over the wife's wishes to leave the country and the husband's concerns for his elderly Alzheimer's father. Sholay (1975) Not many films have a level of prominence in popular Indian culture that is enjoyed by this fine example of “Curry Western”, which blends real-life elements with the works of Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone. Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Sanjeev Kumar, and Jaya Bhaduri (now Bachchan) star. Shutter Island (2010) Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese collaborate for this adaptation of Dennis Lehane's 2003 novel, about two US Marshals (DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo) investigating the disappearance of a criminally-insane patient, who was imprisoned for drowning her three children. Siddharth (2013) After a poor Delhi man's (Rajesh Tailang) 12-year-old son goes missing while away on work hundreds of kilometres away in Punjab, he sets out across the country to find him, fearing he's been trafficked.

Spider-Man 2 (2004) In what many consider the best Spider-Man movie of all-time, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) can't catch a break. He loses his job, his powers, and the love of his life Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst). And his best friend (James Franco) is out for Spider-Man's blood to avenge the death of his father. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) Drawn with a mix of computer-generated and hand-drawn art, Miles Morales is drawn into an inter-dimensional conflict soon after he's bit by a spider and gains superpowers, pushing him to team up to save the multiverse. Set for a 2022 sequel. A Star Is Born (2018) Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga star in this latest — fourth, if you're counting — remake of the 1937 classic tale, of an alcoholic fading star (Cooper) meeting and discovering a future star (Gaga). Cooper marks his directorial debut. Star Trek (2009) J.J. Abrams reboots the Trek film franchise by taking it into an alternate reality, where the young Kirk and Spock aboard USS Enterprise must combat a determined enemy from the future, who's creating black holes to destroy planets one by one. Sully (2016) The true story of the 2009 emergency plane landing on New York's Hudson River gets the everyday-hero treatment from Clint Eastwood, focusing on the pilot's (Tom Hanks) heroics and the subsequent investigation that tried to paint him otherwise. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as the android, now reprogrammed and sent back in time (again) to protect a younger version of a resistance leader, in James Cameron's sequel to the original that is considered one of the greatest films of all time. Thalapathi (1991) Mani Ratnam directs this Tamil-language crime drama loosely based on Karna and Duryodhana's friendship from Mahabharata, in which everything changes for a slum-dwelling orphan (Rajinikanth) who's taken under the wing of a local gang lord (Mammooty) with the arrival of a new district magistrate. Tumbbad (2018) While looking for a secret treasure in a village in 20th-century Maharashtra, a man and his son face the consequences of building a temple for a legendary demon who's not supposed to be worshipped in this psychological horror film. Unda (2019) Based on a true story, a nine-man Kerala police unit (Mammootty among them) must ensure peaceful elections in the Maoist-prone areas of Chhattisgarh with an insufficient number of bullets — unda is Malayalam for “bullet”. Vaastav: The Reality (1999) Loosely based on the life of Mumbai gangster Chhota Rajan, a young man (Sanjay Dutt) from the ghettos accidentally murders someone, which leads him into a life of crime where he swiftly climbs up the ladder — before launching into a spiral. Virus (2019) Set against the backdrop of the 2018 Nipah virus outbreak in the Indian state of Kerala, individuals from various walks of life come together to contain its spread in this gripping Malayalam-language thriller. Parvathy, Tovino Thomas, and Revathi star. Whiplash (2014) An ambitious young drummer (Miles Teller) is pushed to his limits and beyond by an abusive instructor (J.K. Simmons) in what became writer-director Damien Chazelle's breakthrough. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a real-life stockbroker who swindled over $100 million from buyers and scammed his way to the top, before he was caught and charged with fraud, corruption, and money laundering. Martin Scorsese directs, in ways that were accused of glorifying its protagonist's reprehensible actions. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, and Abhay Deol star as three childhood friends who set off on a bachelor trip across Spain, which becomes an opportunity to heal past wounds, combat their worst fears, and fall in love with life. Source link Read the full article

[kpop--fics]

Hansol Vernon Chwe (Vernon) fluff

[Roommate AU]

I wrote this with @theliqht check her out! She writes amazing stuff! She is an adorable fluffy marshmallow who I like very much :D

—

you hurried down the halls to your dorm 

late as always 

like you were an hour late lol

you were supposed to get to the office at 10am to be assigned to your room but

heh

you apologized repetitively to the office woman (you still didn’t get her name) and she just shook her head AHAHA oops

so you quickly found your dorm building and room

when you enter, you see all these delivery food packages on the floor 

wOW is this a welcome present

ok no but it was messy lol 

“whiCH pig is living with me”

then you saw leonardo di caprio your roommate(??) sitting on one of the two beds

like the one further away from the wall

he looked strikingly like the celebrity actor omg

he got really surprised when he saw you enter and you were kind of embarrassed bc you,, forgot,,, to knock?

he quickly puts the last mouthful of pizza in his mouth and wipes his hand with a tissue and walks over to you

“hi, i’m vernon!” he introduces himself.

you introduce yourself too and he helps to move your luggage in

you noticed his handsome features after he came closer to you

like ok

how could that boy still look so good after all that greasy food

because you eat it too and you just gain weight lol

“Just not eat too much.”

you look at him and he’s just laughing

and you chuckle embarrassed-ly like

“I said that out loud?”

vernon just hums in response and laughs again

somehow 

this boy gets the best grades 

you always use that to copy his homework lolol

but like,,,,, how

all he does is eat and rap and make noise in the dorm

he’s noisier than everyone thinks he is lol

everyone has that impression that he’s very polite, soft, sophisticated

LIKE HA WHAT FAIRYLAND ARE YOU FROM

he literally wakes up in the morning and stretches while screeching

and that results in your pillow flying to his face bc

yOU nEEDED yoUR BEAUTY SLEEP

he keeps dropping things too and you never understood why

like he can hold a single book in both hands and drop them 

“oops i did it again”

siGh

the neighbours complain a lot

especially the ones living right below you

so you just

“vernon, honey”

“guess what came in today”

vernon is oblivious asf istg bc he’s just like

“? what??”

“complains about your noisy ass, you idiot”

and he doesn’t give a shit

“so?”

“shUT iT PLS”

“BUT I”M A CAREFREE HUMAN BEING”

and

this boy 

,,,,rude af 

like you would be putting on a dress and

“that ain’t gonna fit woman”

“ZIP IT YOU PIG” 

and he just laughs charmingly

but he’s just fooling around, honestly. 

when you get the dress on and he sees it, he’ll just smile

“ok yeah it looks pretty good”

yes he! is! very! subtle! in! his! compliments!

but on the other side 

the perfect person to play pranks with cause he always agrees to them 

childish but fun 

you two become pranking partners-in-crime

he has enough friends to play them on

especially on seungkwan from next door

that poor little precious treasure HAHAHA

seungkwan always gets scared late at night 

so 

what keeps you two from hiding in his room and making him scared?

that’s right 

nothing !!!!!

you and vernon are perfect ninjas

ya’ll would sneak into seungkwan’s room and hide under his bed

and when seungkwan lies down to rest after turning off the lights

you guys start slow >:)

//silently knocks the bed planks

seungkwan would start tossing and turning and the two of you know how he’s getting tense after hearing the knocking sounds from under his bed

there was once seungkwan started talking to himself to calm himself down like

“go to sleep seungkwan”

“you’re thinking too much”

“no ghosts would come and haunt such an adorable fluff like yourself who has committed no sins”

vernon started laughing so hard he was shivering

his own hands over his mouth isn’t helping 

so you press your two hands over his mouth too

yes it literally required four hands

but a snort manages to get out and seungkwan literally jerks on the bed

and you try so hard to shut vernon up but it’s not going very well because you’re trying to control your laughter too

so you and vernon just decide to attack now because ya’ll can’t contain your laughter anymore

and the both of you jump out from both sides from under the bed

and seungkwan just screams really loud and throws his pillows towards the both of you and pulls the covers over him

and he starts crying 

and you run to the light switch to turn on the lights and vernon is still trying to calm his shit down

vernon pulls the covers off seungkwan who was sitting upright on the bed

and seungkwan’s eyes are shut as tears just squeeze out from his eye slits and he just whines nonstop 

vernon and you are still laughing tbh

you just hug seungkwan and apologize and like just pat his head a few times

while chuckling a bit

seungkwan and you would’ve gotten really close because of this

“why would you guys do this tO MEE” 

^seungkwan would whine 

which makes everything funnier

you and vernon became closer bc of these kinds of pranks too

like it requirED A LOT OF TEAMWORK OK

yes so that’s vernon as your roommate slash best friend HAHA 

[andrewdburton]

Lifestyles of the Rich and Foolish

It's the first of April. You know what that means. Spring is here! Your friends and family are pulling April Fools' Day pranks. And my tree allergies are kicking my butt. Every year, tree pollen makes my life miserable. This year is no different.

Facebook kindly reminded me this morning that three years ago, Kim and I were in Asheville, North Carolina. After wintering in Savannah, Georgia, we'd resumed our tour of the U.S. by RV.

While in Asheville, we toured the Biltmore Estate, the largest home in the U.S. This 250-room chateau contains 179,000 square feet of floor space — including 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces — and originally sat on 195 square miles of land. (Today, the estate “only” contains 8000 acres.)

“This feels like Downton Abbey but in North Carolina,” I said as we walked the endless halls. Just as Downton Abbey documented the excesses of British upper class, so too the Biltmore sometimes feels like an example of how rich Americans indulged in decadence.

George Washington Vanderbilt II, the man who built Biltmore, was a member of one of the country's wealthiest families. His grandfather, Cornelius Vanderbilt, was born poor in 1794, but by the time he died in 1877 he had become one of the richest men in the world. During his lifetime, he built a fortune first from steamships and then as a prominent railroad tycoon.

By family standards, grandson George didn't have a lot of money. He inherited about $7 million, and drew income from a $5 million trust fund. He decided to use the bulk of his fortune to build a huge house high in the Appalachians. Work on the Biltmore Estate began in 1889, when George was 26 years old. Six years and $5 million later, he moved into his palace. (That $5 million would be roughly $90 million in today's dollars.)

Strolling the grounds of the Biltmore Estate got me thinking about the stories we hear of wealthy people who squander their riches. How and why do they do this? Are there lessons from their stories that you and I can put to use?

We hear all the time about the “lifestyles of the rich and famous”. Today, on April 1st, let's look at some lifestyles of the rich and foolish.

Lifestyles of the Rich and Foolish

There are so many stories of athletes and entertainers who have blown big fortunes that it's tough to know where to start. Who should we pick on first? Since I've never been a fan of Nicolas Cage — and since he seems to be especially bad with money — let's use him an example.

Over a period of fifteen years, Cage earned more than $150 million. He blew through that money buying things like:

Fifteen homes, including an $8 million English castle that he never stayed in once.

A private island.

Four luxury yachts.

A fleet of exotic cars, including a Lamborghini that used to belong to the Shah of Iran.

A dinosaur skull he won after a bidding contest with Leonardo DiCaprio.

A private jet.

It's not fair to characterize Cage as “broke” — he's still a bankable movie star — but his net worth is reportedly only about $25 million. (That's like someone with an average income having a net worth of roughly $25,000.) He could be worth ten times as much but his foolish financial habits have caused him woe.

Cage got in trouble with the IRS for failing to pay millions of dollars in taxes. He's been sued by multiple companies for failing to repay loans. His business manager says that he's tried to warn Cage that his lifestyle exceeds his means, but the actor won't listen.

Cage is but one of many celebrities who have done dumb things with money. Other prominent examples include:

MC Hammer sold the rights to his songs to raise money after being bankrupted by his lavish lifestyle. Hammer earned more than $33 million in the early nineties, but spent the money on a $12 million mansion (with gold-plated gates), a fleet of seventeen vehicles, two helicopters, and extravagant parties. [source, source]

Actress Kim Basinger paid $20 million to buy the town of Braselton, Georgia in 1989. When Basinger filed for bankruptcy just four years later, she was forced to sell the town. [source]

On the night of 01 February 1976, Elvis Presley decided he wanted a Fool's Gold Loaf, a special sandwich made of hollowed bread, a jar of peanut butter, a jar of jelly, and a pound of bacon. He and his entourage flew from Memphis to Denver. The group ate their sandwiches and then flew home. Price: $50,000 – $60,000. [source]

Even authors get in on the act. Writer Mark Twain made tons of money through his work, but he lost much of it to bad investments, mostly in new inventions: a bed clamp for infants, a new type of steam engine, and a machine designed to engrave printing plates. Twain was a sucker for get rich quick schemes. [source, source]

When it comes to frittering way fortunes, it's hard to compete with sports superstars. In a 2009 Sports Illustrated article about how and why athletes go broke, Pablo S. Torre wrote that after two years of retirement, “78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress.” Within five years of retirement, roughly 60% of former NBA players are in similar positions.

Some examples:

Boxer Mike Tyson earned over $300 million in his professional career. He lost it all, spending the money on cars, jewels, pet tigers, and more. He eventually filed for bankruptcy. [source]

When Yoenis Cespedes signed a new $75 million contract with the New York Mets, he drove a new vehicle each day during the first week of training camp, including a Lamborghini Aventador ($397,000) and an Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione ($299,000). [source]

Basketballer Vin Baker earned $100 million during his career. He's now worth $500,000. He manages a Starbucks store in a small town in Rhode Island. (To be fair, Baker sees to be turning his life around, which is awesome.) [source]

Hall-of-fame pitcher Curt Schilling earned $112 million during 20 years in the big leagues. It wasn't enough to keep up with his spending. Plus he lost $50 million through the collapse of a company he owned. In 2013, he held a “fire sale” to avoid bankruptcy.

It can be tough to sympathize with these folks. Used wisely, their immense fortunes could sustain them and their families for a long time. Instead, they squander their money on fleeting pleasures and the trappings of wealth.

Still, I believe it's best to keep the schadenfreude in check. “There but for the grace of God” and all that, right? I've seen plenty of examples of average folks who have wasted smaller windfalls. In fact, this sort of thing seem to be the rule rather than the exception.

But why does this happen? The answer might be Sudden-Wealth Syndrome.

Lottery winners have the same kinds of problems. A 2001 article in The American Economic Review found that after receiving half their jackpots, the typical lotto winner had only put about 16% of that money into savings. It's estimated that over a quarter of lottery winners go bankrupt.

Take Bud Post: He won $16.2 million in 1988. Within weeks of receiving his first annual payment of nearly half a million dollars, he'd spent $300,000. During the next few years, Post bought boats, mansions, and airplanes, but trouble followed him everywhere. “I was much happier when I was broke,” he's reported to have said. When he died in 2006, Post was living on a $450 monthly disability check.

Sudden-Wealth Syndrome

In 2012, ESPN released a documentary called Broke that explores the relationship between pro athletes and money. How does sudden wealth affect young men? What happens when highly-competitive athletes with high incomes hang out together? Lots of stupid stuff, as it turns out.

Here's a nine-minute montage from Broke in which wealth manager Ed Butowsky talks about why athletes get into trouble with money:

Broke is an interesting film. The players speak candidly about the mistakes they've made: buying 25 pairs of shoes at one time, buying fur coats they never wore, buying cars they never drove. They're not proud of their pasts — some are ashamed — but they're willing to talk about the problem in the hopes they can help others avoid doing the same dumb things in the future.

Curious how much your favorite actor or athlete earns? Check out Celebrity Net Worth, a website devoted to tracking the financial health of people in the public eye.

Broke does a good job of explaining why our sports heroes can't seem to make smart money moves. The problem is Sudden-Wealth Syndrome. Essentially, young folks who earn big bucks don't get a chance to “practice” with money before they're buried with wealth.

The typical person earns a little when they're young, but watches their salary grow slowly with time. Their income peaks during their forties and fifties. As a result, they get time to make mistakes with small amounts of money first which means (in theory) that they're less likely to blow big bucks down the road.

On the other hand, athletes (and entertainers) have a completely different earning pattern. They leave school to instant riches. For a few years, they earn great gobs of money. But usually their income declines sharply with time — until it stops altogether.

Here's a (pathetic) chart I created to help visualize this phenomenon:

Athletes and entertainers need to figure out how to make five years of income last for fifty years. This never occurs to most of them. “[A pro athlete] can't live like a king forever,” says Bart Scott in ESPN's Broke. “But you can live like a prince forever.”

Sudden-Wealth Syndrome doesn't just affect athletes and actors. Lottery winners experience it too. So do average folks who inherit a chunk of change or business owners who sell their companies.

The fundamental problem is that nobody ever teaches us how to handle a windfall. Windfalls are rare, and in most cases they can't be planned for. (Some folks might be able to plan for an inheritance or the sale of a business, but these situations are relatively uncommon.) As a result, when the average person happens into a chunk of change, they spend it.

Here's what you should do instead.

How NOT to Waste a Windfall

When you receive a windfall, whether it's a tax refund, an inheritance, a gift, or from any other source, it's like you've been given a second chance. Although you may have made money mistakes in the past, you now have a chance to fix those mistakes (or some of them, anyhow) and start down the path of smart money management.

It can be tempting to spend your windfall on toys, trips, and other things that you “deserve,” but doing so will leave you in the same place you were before you received the windfall. And if that place was chained to debt, you'll be just as unhappy as you've always been.

If you receive a chunk of cash, I recommend that you:

Keep five percent to treat yourself and your family. Let's be realistic. If you receive $1,000 or $10,000 or $100,000 unexpectedly, you're going to want to spend some of it. No problem. But don't spend all of it. I used to recommend spending one percent of a windfall on yourself, but from talking to people, that's not enough. Now I suggest spending five percent on fun. That means $50 of a $1,000 windfall, $500 of a $10,000 windfall, or $5,000 of a $100,000 windfall.

Pay any taxes due. Depending on the source of your money, you might owe taxes on it at the end of the year. If you forget this fact and spend the money, you can end up in a bind when the taxes come due. Consult a tax professional. If needed, set aside enough to pay your taxes before you do anything else.

Pay off debt. Doing so will generally provide the greatest possible return on your investment (a 20 percent return if your credit cards charge you 20 percent). It'll also free up cash flow; if you pay off a card with a $50 minimum monthly payment, that's $50 extra you'll have available each month. Most of all, repaying debt will relieve the psychological weight you've been carrying for so long.

Fix the things that are broken. After you've eliminated any existing debt, use your windfall to repair whatever is broken in your life. Start with your own health. If you've been putting off a trip to the dentist or a medical procedure, take care of it. Do the same for your family. Next, fix your car or the roof or the sidewalk. Use this opportunity to patch up the things you've been putting off.

Deposit the rest of the money in a safe account. It can be tempting to spend the rest of your windfall on a new motorcycle or new furniture or new house. Don't. After attending to your immediate needs, deposit the remaining money in a new savings account separate from the rest of your bank accounts — and then leave this money alone.

To successfully manage a windfall, you must allow the initial euphoria to pass, getting over the urge to spend the money today. Live as you were before. Meanwhile, calculate how far your windfall could go. Most people have unrealistic expectations about how much $10,000 or $100,000 can buy.

In 2009, I received an enormous windfall. The old J.D. would have gone crazy with the money. The new, improved model of me was prepared, and made measured moves designed to favor long-term happiness over short-term happiness.

Today, the bulk of my windfall remains in the same place it's been for the past five years: an investment account. That cash eases my mind. It helps me sleep easy at night. And that's more rewarding than spending it on new toys could ever be.

Setting a Good Example

Not everyone who gets rich quickly does dumb things with money. Especially as the plight of pro athletes becomes better known, there are prominent examples of young superstars making savvy money moves. They're learning from the lessons of those who came before.

Take Toronto Raptors superstar Kawhi Leonard, for instance. This 27-year-old NBA MVP earns $23 million per year — but still clips coupons for his favorite restaurant. He drives a 1997 Chevy Tahoe. Sure, he bought himself a Porsche, but he's not interested in flash and bling. “I'm not gonna buy some fancy watch just to show people something fancy on my wrist,” he says. [source]

Jamal Mashburn has made wise use of his wealth. So has LeBron James, who takes his investment advice from Warren Buffett:

Here are other superstars who act as money bosses:

During his 12-year career in the NBA, Junior Bridgeman never earned more than $350,000. Unlike most players, however, he planned ahead. He recognized his basketball income would eventually vanish. He bought a Wendy's fast-food franchise and learned the business inside-out. He became a hands-on owner. He expanded from one store to three to six — and then to a small empire. Today, twenty-five years after retirement, Bridgeman owns more than 160 Wendy's restaurants and 120 Chili's franchises. His company employs 11,000 people and generates over half a billion in revenue every year. His personal net worth tops $400 million. [source]

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski — who just retired last week — is a shining example of how to handle sudden wealth correctly. The 29-year-old earned over $53 million for playing on the field — and hasn't spent any of it. Here are his own words: “To this day, I still haven't touched one dime of my signing bonus or NFL contract money. I live off my marketing money and haven't blown it on any big-money expensive cars, expensive jewelry or tattoos and still wear my favorite pair of jeans from high school.” [source]

Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch has a similar story. During his twelve-year NFL career, Lynch has collected nearly 57 million from his contract. Reportedly, he hasn't spent a penny of that money. Instead, he's been cautious to live only off his endorsement earnings. Whether this is true or not, Lynch is known to be a good example to his teammates, helping them with their 401(k)s and other financial issues. [source]

Sometimes superstars who have been poor with money have a flash of insight and they're able to turn things around. Former NFL player Phillip Buchanon is a perfect example. After watching ESPN's Broke, he realized he was headed for trouble. He mended his ways and started managing his money wisely. Now he's written a book with advice for other folks who are fortunate enough to encounter a windfall. [source]

When people make a lot of money, they're able to spend a lot of money. Sometimes the super-rich can afford to build a place like the Biltmore Estate. The problem isn't a single extravagant purchase, but a lavish lifestyle in which they spend more than they earn. Real wealth isn't about earning money — it's about keeping money.

The post Lifestyles of the Rich and Foolish appeared first on Get Rich Slowly.

from Finance https://www.getrichslowly.org/lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-foolish/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[michaeljtraylor]

Lifestyles of the Rich and Foolish

It’s the first of April. You know what that means. Spring is here! Your friends and family are pulling April Fools’ Day pranks. And my tree allergies are kicking my butt. Every year, tree pollen makes my life miserable. This year is no different.

Facebook kindly reminded me this morning that three years ago, Kim and I were in Asheville, North Carolina. After wintering in Savannah, Georgia, we’d resumed our tour of the U.S. by RV.

While in Asheville, we toured the Biltmore Estate, the largest home in the U.S. This 250-room chateau contains 179,000 square feet of floor space — including 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces — and originally sat on 195 square miles of land. (Today, the estate “only” contains 8000 acres.)

“This feels like Downton Abbey but in North Carolina,” I said as we walked the endless halls. Just as Downton Abbey documented the excesses of British upper class, so too the Biltmore sometimes feels like an example of how rich Americans indulged in decadence.

George Washington Vanderbilt II, the man who built Biltmore, was a member of one of the country’s wealthiest families. His grandfather, Cornelius Vanderbilt, was born poor in 1794, but by the time he died in 1877 he had become one of the richest men in the world. During his lifetime, he built a fortune first from steamships and then as a prominent railroad tycoon.

By family standards, grandson George didn’t have a lot of money. He inherited about $7 million, and drew income from a $5 million trust fund. He decided to use the bulk of his fortune to build a huge house high in the Appalachians. Work on the Biltmore Estate began in 1889, when George was 26 years old. Six years and $5 million later, he moved into his palace. (That $5 million would be roughly $90 million in today’s dollars.)

Strolling the grounds of the Biltmore Estate got me thinking about the stories we hear of wealthy people who squander their riches. How and why do they do this? Are there lessons from their stories that you and I can put to use?

We hear all the time about the “lifestyles of the rich and famous”. Today, on April 1st, let’s look at some lifestyles of the rich and foolish.

Lifestyles of the Rich and Foolish

There are so many stories of athletes and entertainers who have blown big fortunes that it’s tough to know where to start. Who should we pick on first? Since I’ve never been a fan of Nicolas Cage — and since he seems to be especially bad with money — let’s use him an example.

Over a period of fifteen years, Cage earned more than $150 million. He blew through that money buying things like:

Fifteen homes, including an $8 million English castle that he never stayed in once.

A private island.

Four luxury yachts.

A fleet of exotic cars, including a Lamborghini that used to belong to the Shah of Iran.

A dinosaur skull he won after a bidding contest with Leonardo DiCaprio.

A private jet.

It’s not fair to characterize Cage as “broke” — he’s still a bankable movie star — but his net worth is reportedly only about $25 million. (That’s like someone with an average income having a net worth of roughly $25,000.) He could be worth ten times as much but his foolish financial habits have caused him woe.

Cage got in trouble with the IRS for failing to pay millions of dollars in taxes. He’s been sued by multiple companies for failing to repay loans. His business manager says that he’s tried to warn Cage that his lifestyle exceeds his means, but the actor won’t listen.

Cage is but one of many celebrities who have done dumb things with money. Other prominent examples include:

MC Hammer sold the rights to his songs to raise money after being bankrupted by his lavish lifestyle. Hammer earned more than $33 million in the early nineties, but spent the money on a $12 million mansion (with gold-plated gates), a fleet of seventeen vehicles, two helicopters, and extravagant parties. [source, source]

Actress Kim Basinger paid $20 million to buy the town of Braselton, Georgia in 1989. When Basinger filed for bankruptcy just four years later, she was forced to sell the town. [source]

On the night of 01 February 1976, Elvis Presley decided he wanted a Fool’s Gold Loaf, a special sandwich made of hollowed bread, a jar of peanut butter, a jar of jelly, and a pound of bacon. He and his entourage flew from Memphis to Denver. The group ate their sandwiches and then flew home. Price: $50,000 – $60,000. [source]

Even authors get in on the act. Writer Mark Twain made tons of money through his work, but he lost much of it to bad investments, mostly in new inventions: a bed clamp for infants, a new type of steam engine, and a machine designed to engrave printing plates. Twain was a sucker for get rich quick schemes. [source, source]

When it comes to frittering way fortunes, it’s hard to compete with sports superstars. In a 2009 Sports Illustrated article about how and why athletes go broke, Pablo S. Torre wrote that after two years of retirement, “78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress.” Within five years of retirement, roughly 60% of former NBA players are in similar positions.

Some examples:

Boxer Mike Tyson earned over $300 million in his professional career. He lost it all, spending the money on cars, jewels, pet tigers, and more. He eventually filed for bankruptcy. [source]

When Yoenis Cespedes signed a new $75 million contract with the New York Mets, he drove a new vehicle each day during the first week of training camp, including a Lamborghini Aventador ($397,000) and an Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione ($299,000). [source]

Basketballer Vin Baker earned $100 million during his career. He’s now worth $500,000. He manages a Starbucks store in a small town in Rhode Island. (To be fair, Baker sees to be turning his life around, which is awesome.) [source]

Hall-of-fame pitcher Curt Schilling earned $112 million during 20 years in the big leagues. It wasn’t enough to keep up with his spending. Plus he lost $50 million through the collapse of a company he owned. In 2013, he held a “fire sale” to avoid bankruptcy.

It can be tough to sympathize with these folks. Used wisely, their immense fortunes could sustain them and their families for a long time. Instead, they squander their money on fleeting pleasures and the trappings of wealth.

Still, I believe it’s best to keep the schadenfreude in check. “There but for the grace of God” and all that, right? I’ve seen plenty of examples of average folks who have wasted smaller windfalls. In fact, this sort of thing seem to be the rule rather than the exception.

But why does this happen? The answer might be Sudden-Wealth Syndrome.

Lottery winners have the same kinds of problems. A 2001 article in The American Economic Review found that after receiving half their jackpots, the typical lotto winner had only put about 16% of that money into savings. It’s estimated that over a quarter of lottery winners go bankrupt.

Take Bud Post: He won $16.2 million in 1988. Within weeks of receiving his first annual payment of nearly half a million dollars, he’d spent $300,000. During the next few years, Post bought boats, mansions, and airplanes, but trouble followed him everywhere. “I was much happier when I was broke,” he’s reported to have said. When he died in 2006, Post was living on a $450 monthly disability check.

Sudden-Wealth Syndrome

In 2012, ESPN released a documentary called Broke that explores the relationship between pro athletes and money. How does sudden wealth affect young men? What happens when highly-competitive athletes with high incomes hang out together? Lots of stupid stuff, as it turns out.

Here’s a nine-minute montage from Broke in which wealth manager Ed Butowsky talks about why athletes get into trouble with money:

Broke is an interesting film. The players speak candidly about the mistakes they’ve made: buying 25 pairs of shoes at one time, buying fur coats they never wore, buying cars they never drove. They’re not proud of their pasts — some are ashamed — but they’re willing to talk about the problem in the hopes they can help others avoid doing the same dumb things in the future.

Curious how much your favorite actor or athlete earns? Check out Celebrity Net Worth, a website devoted to tracking the financial health of people in the public eye.

Broke does a good job of explaining why our sports heroes can’t seem to make smart money moves. The problem is Sudden-Wealth Syndrome. Essentially, young folks who earn big bucks don’t get a chance to “practice” with money before they’re buried with wealth.

The typical person earns a little when they’re young, but watches their salary grow slowly with time. Their income peaks during their forties and fifties. As a result, they get time to make mistakes with small amounts of money first which means (in theory) that they’re less likely to blow big bucks down the road.

On the other hand, athletes (and entertainers) have a completely different earning pattern. They leave school to instant riches. For a few years, they earn great gobs of money. But usually their income declines sharply with time — until it stops altogether.

Here’s a (pathetic) chart I created to help visualize this phenomenon:

Athletes and entertainers need to figure out how to make five years of income last for fifty years. This never occurs to most of them. “[A pro athlete] can’t live like a king forever,” says Bart Scott in ESPN’s Broke. “But you can live like a prince forever.”

Sudden-Wealth Syndrome doesn’t just affect athletes and actors. Lottery winners experience it too. So do average folks who inherit a chunk of change or business owners who sell their companies.

The fundamental problem is that nobody ever teaches us how to handle a windfall. Windfalls are rare, and in most cases they can’t be planned for. (Some folks might be able to plan for an inheritance or the sale of a business, but these situations are relatively uncommon.) As a result, when the average person happens into a chunk of change, they spend it.

Here’s what you should do instead.

How NOT to Waste a Windfall

When you receive a windfall, whether it’s a tax refund, an inheritance, a gift, or from any other source, it’s like you’ve been given a second chance. Although you may have made money mistakes in the past, you now have a chance to fix those mistakes (or some of them, anyhow) and start down the path of smart money management.

It can be tempting to spend your windfall on toys, trips, and other things that you “deserve,” but doing so will leave you in the same place you were before you received the windfall. And if that place was chained to debt, you’ll be just as unhappy as you’ve always been.

If you receive a chunk of cash, I recommend that you:

Keep five percent to treat yourself and your family. Let’s be realistic. If you receive $1,000 or $10,000 or $100,000 unexpectedly, you’re going to want to spend some of it. No problem. But don’t spend all of it. I used to recommend spending one percent of a windfall on yourself, but from talking to people, that’s not enough. Now I suggest spending five percent on fun. That means $50 of a $1,000 windfall, $500 of a $10,000 windfall, or $5,000 of a $100,000 windfall.

Pay any taxes due. Depending on the source of your money, you might owe taxes on it at the end of the year. If you forget this fact and spend the money, you can end up in a bind when the taxes come due. Consult a tax professional. If needed, set aside enough to pay your taxes before you do anything else.

Pay off debt. Doing so will generally provide the greatest possible return on your investment (a 20 percent return if your credit cards charge you 20 percent). It’ll also free up cash flow; if you pay off a card with a $50 minimum monthly payment, that’s $50 extra you’ll have available each month. Most of all, repaying debt will relieve the psychological weight you’ve been carrying for so long.

Fix the things that are broken. After you’ve eliminated any existing debt, use your windfall to repair whatever is broken in your life. Start with your own health. If you’ve been putting off a trip to the dentist or a medical procedure, take care of it. Do the same for your family. Next, fix your car or the roof or the sidewalk. Use this opportunity to patch up the things you’ve been putting off.

Deposit the rest of the money in a safe account. It can be tempting to spend the rest of your windfall on a new motorcycle or new furniture or new house. Don’t. After attending to your immediate needs, deposit the remaining money in a new savings account separate from the rest of your bank accounts — and then leave this money alone.

To successfully manage a windfall, you must allow the initial euphoria to pass, getting over the urge to spend the money today. Live as you were before. Meanwhile, calculate how far your windfall could go. Most people have unrealistic expectations about how much $10,000 or $100,000 can buy.

In 2009, I received an enormous windfall. The old J.D. would have gone crazy with the money. The new, improved model of me was prepared, and made measured moves designed to favor long-term happiness over short-term happiness.

Today, the bulk of my windfall remains in the same place it’s been for the past five years: an investment account. That cash eases my mind. It helps me sleep easy at night. And that’s more rewarding than spending it on new toys could ever be.

Setting a Good Example

Not everyone who gets rich quickly does dumb things with money. Especially as the plight of pro athletes becomes better known, there are prominent examples of young superstars making savvy money moves. They’re learning from the lessons of those who came before.

Take Toronto Raptors superstar Kawhi Leonard, for instance. This 27-year-old NBA MVP earns $23 million per year — but still clips coupons for his favorite restaurant. He drives a 1997 Chevy Tahoe. Sure, he bought himself a Porsche, but he’s not interested in flash and bling. “I’m not gonna buy some fancy watch just to show people something fancy on my wrist,” he says. [source]

Jamal Mashburn has made wise use of his wealth. So has LeBron James, who takes his investment advice from Warren Buffett:

Here are other superstars who act as money bosses:

During his 12-year career in the NBA, Junior Bridgeman never earned more than $350,000. Unlike most players, however, he planned ahead. He recognized his basketball income would eventually vanish. He bought a Wendy’s fast-food franchise and learned the business inside-out. He became a hands-on owner. He expanded from one store to three to six — and then to a small empire. Today, twenty-five years after retirement, Bridgeman owns more than 160 Wendy’s restaurants and 120 Chili’s franchises. His company employs 11,000 people and generates over half a billion in revenue every year. His personal net worth tops $400 million. [source]

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski — who just retired last week — is a shining example of how to handle sudden wealth correctly. The 29-year-old earned over $53 million for playing on the field — and hasn’t spent any of it. Here are his own words: “To this day, I still haven’t touched one dime of my signing bonus or NFL contract money. I live off my marketing money and haven’t blown it on any big-money expensive cars, expensive jewelry or tattoos and still wear my favorite pair of jeans from high school.” [source]

Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch has a similar story. During his twelve-year NFL career, Lynch has collected nearly 57 million from his contract. Reportedly, he hasn’t spent a penny of that money. Instead, he’s been cautious to live only off his endorsement earnings. Whether this is true or not, Lynch is known to be a good example to his teammates, helping them with their 401(k)s and other financial issues. [source]

Sometimes superstars who have been poor with money have a flash of insight and they’re able to turn things around. Former NFL player Phillip Buchanon is a perfect example. After watching ESPN’s Broke, he realized he was headed for trouble. He mended his ways and started managing his money wisely. Now he’s written a book with advice for other folks who are fortunate enough to encounter a windfall. [source]

When people make a lot of money, they’re able to spend a lot of money. Sometimes the super-rich can afford to build a place like the Biltmore Estate. The problem isn’t a single extravagant purchase, but a lavish lifestyle in which they spend more than they earn. Real wealth isn’t about earning money — it’s about keeping money.

The post Lifestyles of the Rich and Foolish appeared first on Get Rich Slowly.

* This article was originally published here

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8312273 https://proshoppingservice.com/lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-foolish/ from Garko Media https://garkomedia1.tumblr.com/post/183874605274

[garkomedia1]

Lifestyles of the Rich and Foolish

It’s the first of April. You know what that means. Spring is here! Your friends and family are pulling April Fools’ Day pranks. And my tree allergies are kicking my butt. Every year, tree pollen makes my life miserable. This year is no different.

Facebook kindly reminded me this morning that three years ago, Kim and I were in Asheville, North Carolina. After wintering in Savannah, Georgia, we’d resumed our tour of the U.S. by RV.

While in Asheville, we toured the Biltmore Estate, the largest home in the U.S. This 250-room chateau contains 179,000 square feet of floor space — including 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces — and originally sat on 195 square miles of land. (Today, the estate “only” contains 8000 acres.)

“This feels like Downton Abbey but in North Carolina,” I said as we walked the endless halls. Just as Downton Abbey documented the excesses of British upper class, so too the Biltmore sometimes feels like an example of how rich Americans indulged in decadence.

George Washington Vanderbilt II, the man who built Biltmore, was a member of one of the country’s wealthiest families. His grandfather, Cornelius Vanderbilt, was born poor in 1794, but by the time he died in 1877 he had become one of the richest men in the world. During his lifetime, he built a fortune first from steamships and then as a prominent railroad tycoon.

By family standards, grandson George didn’t have a lot of money. He inherited about $7 million, and drew income from a $5 million trust fund. He decided to use the bulk of his fortune to build a huge house high in the Appalachians. Work on the Biltmore Estate began in 1889, when George was 26 years old. Six years and $5 million later, he moved into his palace. (That $5 million would be roughly $90 million in today’s dollars.)

Strolling the grounds of the Biltmore Estate got me thinking about the stories we hear of wealthy people who squander their riches. How and why do they do this? Are there lessons from their stories that you and I can put to use?

We hear all the time about the “lifestyles of the rich and famous”. Today, on April 1st, let’s look at some lifestyles of the rich and foolish.

Lifestyles of the Rich and Foolish

There are so many stories of athletes and entertainers who have blown big fortunes that it’s tough to know where to start. Who should we pick on first? Since I’ve never been a fan of Nicolas Cage — and since he seems to be especially bad with money — let’s use him an example.

Over a period of fifteen years, Cage earned more than $150 million. He blew through that money buying things like:

Fifteen homes, including an $8 million English castle that he never stayed in once.

A private island.

Four luxury yachts.

A fleet of exotic cars, including a Lamborghini that used to belong to the Shah of Iran.

A dinosaur skull he won after a bidding contest with Leonardo DiCaprio.

A private jet.

It’s not fair to characterize Cage as “broke” — he’s still a bankable movie star — but his net worth is reportedly only about $25 million. (That’s like someone with an average income having a net worth of roughly $25,000.) He could be worth ten times as much but his foolish financial habits have caused him woe.

Cage got in trouble with the IRS for failing to pay millions of dollars in taxes. He’s been sued by multiple companies for failing to repay loans. His business manager says that he’s tried to warn Cage that his lifestyle exceeds his means, but the actor won’t listen.

Cage is but one of many celebrities who have done dumb things with money. Other prominent examples include:

MC Hammer sold the rights to his songs to raise money after being bankrupted by his lavish lifestyle. Hammer earned more than $33 million in the early nineties, but spent the money on a $12 million mansion (with gold-plated gates), a fleet of seventeen vehicles, two helicopters, and extravagant parties. [source, source]

Actress Kim Basinger paid $20 million to buy the town of Braselton, Georgia in 1989. When Basinger filed for bankruptcy just four years later, she was forced to sell the town. [source]

On the night of 01 February 1976, Elvis Presley decided he wanted a Fool’s Gold Loaf, a special sandwich made of hollowed bread, a jar of peanut butter, a jar of jelly, and a pound of bacon. He and his entourage flew from Memphis to Denver. The group ate their sandwiches and then flew home. Price: $50,000 – $60,000. [source]

Even authors get in on the act. Writer Mark Twain made tons of money through his work, but he lost much of it to bad investments, mostly in new inventions: a bed clamp for infants, a new type of steam engine, and a machine designed to engrave printing plates. Twain was a sucker for get rich quick schemes. [source, source]

When it comes to frittering way fortunes, it’s hard to compete with sports superstars. In a 2009 Sports Illustrated article about how and why athletes go broke, Pablo S. Torre wrote that after two years of retirement, “78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress.” Within five years of retirement, roughly 60% of former NBA players are in similar positions.

Some examples:

Boxer Mike Tyson earned over $300 million in his professional career. He lost it all, spending the money on cars, jewels, pet tigers, and more. He eventually filed for bankruptcy. [source]

When Yoenis Cespedes signed a new $75 million contract with the New York Mets, he drove a new vehicle each day during the first week of training camp, including a Lamborghini Aventador ($397,000) and an Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione ($299,000). [source]

Basketballer Vin Baker earned $100 million during his career. He’s now worth $500,000. He manages a Starbucks store in a small town in Rhode Island. (To be fair, Baker sees to be turning his life around, which is awesome.) [source]

Hall-of-fame pitcher Curt Schilling earned $112 million during 20 years in the big leagues. It wasn’t enough to keep up with his spending. Plus he lost $50 million through the collapse of a company he owned. In 2013, he held a “fire sale” to avoid bankruptcy.

It can be tough to sympathize with these folks. Used wisely, their immense fortunes could sustain them and their families for a long time. Instead, they squander their money on fleeting pleasures and the trappings of wealth.

Still, I believe it’s best to keep the schadenfreude in check. “There but for the grace of God” and all that, right? I’ve seen plenty of examples of average folks who have wasted smaller windfalls. In fact, this sort of thing seem to be the rule rather than the exception.

But why does this happen? The answer might be Sudden-Wealth Syndrome.

Lottery winners have the same kinds of problems. A 2001 article in The American Economic Review found that after receiving half their jackpots, the typical lotto winner had only put about 16% of that money into savings. It’s estimated that over a quarter of lottery winners go bankrupt.

Take Bud Post: He won $16.2 million in 1988. Within weeks of receiving his first annual payment of nearly half a million dollars, he’d spent $300,000. During the next few years, Post bought boats, mansions, and airplanes, but trouble followed him everywhere. “I was much happier when I was broke,” he’s reported to have said. When he died in 2006, Post was living on a $450 monthly disability check.

Sudden-Wealth Syndrome

In 2012, ESPN released a documentary called Broke that explores the relationship between pro athletes and money. How does sudden wealth affect young men? What happens when highly-competitive athletes with high incomes hang out together? Lots of stupid stuff, as it turns out.

Here’s a nine-minute montage from Broke in which wealth manager Ed Butowsky talks about why athletes get into trouble with money:

Broke is an interesting film. The players speak candidly about the mistakes they’ve made: buying 25 pairs of shoes at one time, buying fur coats they never wore, buying cars they never drove. They’re not proud of their pasts — some are ashamed — but they’re willing to talk about the problem in the hopes they can help others avoid doing the same dumb things in the future.

Curious how much your favorite actor or athlete earns? Check out Celebrity Net Worth, a website devoted to tracking the financial health of people in the public eye.

Broke does a good job of explaining why our sports heroes can’t seem to make smart money moves. The problem is Sudden-Wealth Syndrome. Essentially, young folks who earn big bucks don’t get a chance to “practice” with money before they’re buried with wealth.

The typical person earns a little when they’re young, but watches their salary grow slowly with time. Their income peaks during their forties and fifties. As a result, they get time to make mistakes with small amounts of money first which means (in theory) that they’re less likely to blow big bucks down the road.

On the other hand, athletes (and entertainers) have a completely different earning pattern. They leave school to instant riches. For a few years, they earn great gobs of money. But usually their income declines sharply with time — until it stops altogether.

Here’s a (pathetic) chart I created to help visualize this phenomenon:

Athletes and entertainers need to figure out how to make five years of income last for fifty years. This never occurs to most of them. “[A pro athlete] can’t live like a king forever,” says Bart Scott in ESPN’s Broke. “But you can live like a prince forever.”

Sudden-Wealth Syndrome doesn’t just affect athletes and actors. Lottery winners experience it too. So do average folks who inherit a chunk of change or business owners who sell their companies.

The fundamental problem is that nobody ever teaches us how to handle a windfall. Windfalls are rare, and in most cases they can’t be planned for. (Some folks might be able to plan for an inheritance or the sale of a business, but these situations are relatively uncommon.) As a result, when the average person happens into a chunk of change, they spend it.

Here’s what you should do instead.

How NOT to Waste a Windfall

When you receive a windfall, whether it’s a tax refund, an inheritance, a gift, or from any other source, it’s like you’ve been given a second chance. Although you may have made money mistakes in the past, you now have a chance to fix those mistakes (or some of them, anyhow) and start down the path of smart money management.

It can be tempting to spend your windfall on toys, trips, and other things that you “deserve,” but doing so will leave you in the same place you were before you received the windfall. And if that place was chained to debt, you’ll be just as unhappy as you’ve always been.

If you receive a chunk of cash, I recommend that you:

Keep five percent to treat yourself and your family. Let’s be realistic. If you receive $1,000 or $10,000 or $100,000 unexpectedly, you’re going to want to spend some of it. No problem. But don’t spend all of it. I used to recommend spending one percent of a windfall on yourself, but from talking to people, that’s not enough. Now I suggest spending five percent on fun. That means $50 of a $1,000 windfall, $500 of a $10,000 windfall, or $5,000 of a $100,000 windfall.

Pay any taxes due. Depending on the source of your money, you might owe taxes on it at the end of the year. If you forget this fact and spend the money, you can end up in a bind when the taxes come due. Consult a tax professional. If needed, set aside enough to pay your taxes before you do anything else.

Pay off debt. Doing so will generally provide the greatest possible return on your investment (a 20 percent return if your credit cards charge you 20 percent). It’ll also free up cash flow; if you pay off a card with a $50 minimum monthly payment, that’s $50 extra you’ll have available each month. Most of all, repaying debt will relieve the psychological weight you’ve been carrying for so long.

Fix the things that are broken. After you’ve eliminated any existing debt, use your windfall to repair whatever is broken in your life. Start with your own health. If you’ve been putting off a trip to the dentist or a medical procedure, take care of it. Do the same for your family. Next, fix your car or the roof or the sidewalk. Use this opportunity to patch up the things you’ve been putting off.

Deposit the rest of the money in a safe account. It can be tempting to spend the rest of your windfall on a new motorcycle or new furniture or new house. Don’t. After attending to your immediate needs, deposit the remaining money in a new savings account separate from the rest of your bank accounts — and then leave this money alone.

To successfully manage a windfall, you must allow the initial euphoria to pass, getting over the urge to spend the money today. Live as you were before. Meanwhile, calculate how far your windfall could go. Most people have unrealistic expectations about how much $10,000 or $100,000 can buy.

In 2009, I received an enormous windfall. The old J.D. would have gone crazy with the money. The new, improved model of me was prepared, and made measured moves designed to favor long-term happiness over short-term happiness.

Today, the bulk of my windfall remains in the same place it’s been for the past five years: an investment account. That cash eases my mind. It helps me sleep easy at night. And that’s more rewarding than spending it on new toys could ever be.

Setting a Good Example

Not everyone who gets rich quickly does dumb things with money. Especially as the plight of pro athletes becomes better known, there are prominent examples of young superstars making savvy money moves. They’re learning from the lessons of those who came before.

Take Toronto Raptors superstar Kawhi Leonard, for instance. This 27-year-old NBA MVP earns $23 million per year — but still clips coupons for his favorite restaurant. He drives a 1997 Chevy Tahoe. Sure, he bought himself a Porsche, but he’s not interested in flash and bling. “I’m not gonna buy some fancy watch just to show people something fancy on my wrist,” he says. [source]

Jamal Mashburn has made wise use of his wealth. So has LeBron James, who takes his investment advice from Warren Buffett:

Here are other superstars who act as money bosses:

During his 12-year career in the NBA, Junior Bridgeman never earned more than $350,000. Unlike most players, however, he planned ahead. He recognized his basketball income would eventually vanish. He bought a Wendy’s fast-food franchise and learned the business inside-out. He became a hands-on owner. He expanded from one store to three to six — and then to a small empire. Today, twenty-five years after retirement, Bridgeman owns more than 160 Wendy’s restaurants and 120 Chili’s franchises. His company employs 11,000 people and generates over half a billion in revenue every year. His personal net worth tops $400 million. [source]

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski — who just retired last week — is a shining example of how to handle sudden wealth correctly. The 29-year-old earned over $53 million for playing on the field — and hasn’t spent any of it. Here are his own words: “To this day, I still haven’t touched one dime of my signing bonus or NFL contract money. I live off my marketing money and haven’t blown it on any big-money expensive cars, expensive jewelry or tattoos and still wear my favorite pair of jeans from high school.” [source]

Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch has a similar story. During his twelve-year NFL career, Lynch has collected nearly 57 million from his contract. Reportedly, he hasn’t spent a penny of that money. Instead, he’s been cautious to live only off his endorsement earnings. Whether this is true or not, Lynch is known to be a good example to his teammates, helping them with their 401(k)s and other financial issues. [source]

Sometimes superstars who have been poor with money have a flash of insight and they’re able to turn things around. Former NFL player Phillip Buchanon is a perfect example. After watching ESPN’s Broke, he realized he was headed for trouble. He mended his ways and started managing his money wisely. Now he’s written a book with advice for other folks who are fortunate enough to encounter a windfall. [source]

When people make a lot of money, they’re able to spend a lot of money. Sometimes the super-rich can afford to build a place like the Biltmore Estate. The problem isn’t a single extravagant purchase, but a lavish lifestyle in which they spend more than they earn. Real wealth isn’t about earning money — it’s about keeping money.

The post Lifestyles of the Rich and Foolish appeared first on Get Rich Slowly.

* This article was originally published here

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8312273 https://proshoppingservice.com/lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-foolish/

[ikevamp-annalyne]

Hi there !! I love your writing and I wish you lots and lots of followers !! 😄👏🏻💖💖 if it’s possible I would like to request some headcanons for the Ikevamp boys reacting to some horror videogame like outlast or slender man or anything that inspires you!! Thank you !! 💖❤️💖💕✨✨

Hi there!!! ＼(^▽^＠)ノ

Ah I am so damn happy! My first ask ever TwT thank you so much for requesting! Sounds very cool; I hope you'll like my headcanons! ^^

Napoleon: Napoleon is a soldier; he has seen countless of death, dead bodies, etc. What he lived was worse than a horror videogame. He will be the chill one. He won't tryhard but he will be suuuper into the plot and super strategic. In case of screamers, he will just shrug his shoulders. Seriously, he isn't that fun to play with: he doesn't talk at all and just focus on the game.

Mozart: Mozart is the seemingly cool one. Like, he will try to look unphased and calm. However, he is dying inside. He is very sensitive to music so the soundtrack and all the noises will kill him. He looks reactionless but his spirit has already escaped and reached Heaven. In case of screamer, he is likely to faint and everyone thinks he is just asleep. But he doesn't let out a shriek. Silent terror.

Leonardo: this one is the laughing type. He is not impressed the least and will spend the whole game laughing, screaming of joy and just having the time of his life. He enjoys these games so much he would play all day and tryhard to kill them all. He is also super strategic so very likely to not get killed and finish the game in a day. Screamers? He loves them. He just laughs and comments on how hideous the creature is.

Arthur: Arthur is the trying-to-be-manly one. You know him, the one being "pff these are not even scar- AH BY FUCKING JOVE!" He tries to be the man but he will get hella scared. He is also the more likely to be a sour loser. Especially if it is MC. His man pride, damn it! He will tryhard while being super scared just to show off to others. And if there is a screamer... You can hear his scream from the garden.

Vincent: Vincent is surprisingly strong so I guess he will not be that much impressed. He will not play but comment the whole game, especially on the graphic aspect. He will kinda be the Dungeon Master: he will tell the player where to go, what to do, what to find. In case of screamers, he will be surprised and jump, but not scream. Just, a surprised reaction.

Theodorus: he may seem strong, he will DIE if he watches or plays a horror game. Noises, graphics, story, screamers, everything scares the crap out of him and his man pride will not come unharmed by this. When there is a screamer, he muffles his screams on a pillow -maybe shed a tear- and he will probably have nightmares. Vincent will cuddle him to sleep so he is willing to hold the pain in just for this brotherly moment.

Isaac: he is such a cute scaredy cat. The one being scared af but he will play anyway just to say "I did it, I survived" in the end. He will play it in broad daylight to minimise the fear effects. Also, he lowers the volume to the minimum and probably covers his eyes when he suspects a screamer. And if there is a screamer, he will scream and take some time to calm down.

Dazai: hard to say but I guess he will be the spectator. Commenting everything, mocking the scaredy cats, pulling pranks on the scared ones like jumping behind them, touching them out of nowhere... That one annoying friend. And in case of screamers, he has either escaped the room (if he is surprised) or already prepared himself to scare the players even more.

Jean: poor babe, bless his soul. He doesn't even understand what is a horror game so he is hella surprised and scared. It reminds him of all the horrors he has lived. He will draw his sword and attack the tv; Mozart has to lead him out of the room. Worse if there is a screamer: he has probably already thrown his sword at the tv and destroyed the game station...

William: oh God he enjoys it SO MUCH it gets creepy. He just plays it while laughing creepily and enjoying the pain the characters are in. He will always choose the worst case scenario to see the tragic outcome. He also enjoys screamers and it gives him ideas for his future plays... Be scared, yes.

Sebastian: he hates horror games because he cannot keep up his stoic behaviour. He hates this useless pain and gore thing. He is the judging one, silently judging all the players. He is internally scared, lets out a small shriek when there is a screamer but he covers it by coughing.

Comte: he loves seeing the residents having fun but himself doesn't join in. He doesn't like these games. Actually, if there is an interesting plot, he enjoys watching other plays and helps them. If it is just a beat them all, he finds it useless and stays in his room while smiling and reading reviews on the best horror games to buy them. In case of screamer, he shrugged but quickly forget it.

I hope you liked it and that it meets your expectations (=^-ω-^=)

[garkodigitalmedia]

Lifestyles of the Rich and Foolish

It’s the first of April. You know what that means. Spring is here! Your friends and family are pulling April Fools’ Day pranks. And my tree allergies are kicking my butt. Every year, tree pollen makes my life miserable. This year is no different.

Facebook kindly reminded me this morning that three years ago, Kim and I were in Asheville, North Carolina. After wintering in Savannah, Georgia, we’d resumed our tour of the U.S. by RV.

While in Asheville, we toured the Biltmore Estate, the largest home in the U.S. This 250-room chateau contains 179,000 square feet of floor space — including 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces — and originally sat on 195 square miles of land. (Today, the estate “only” contains 8000 acres.)

“This feels like Downton Abbey but in North Carolina,” I said as we walked the endless halls. Just as Downton Abbey documented the excesses of British upper class, so too the Biltmore sometimes feels like an example of how rich Americans indulged in decadence.

George Washington Vanderbilt II, the man who built Biltmore, was a member of one of the country’s wealthiest families. His grandfather, Cornelius Vanderbilt, was born poor in 1794, but by the time he died in 1877 he had become one of the richest men in the world. During his lifetime, he built a fortune first from steamships and then as a prominent railroad tycoon.

By family standards, grandson George didn’t have a lot of money. He inherited about $7 million, and drew income from a $5 million trust fund. He decided to use the bulk of his fortune to build a huge house high in the Appalachians. Work on the Biltmore Estate began in 1889, when George was 26 years old. Six years and $5 million later, he moved into his palace. (That $5 million would be roughly $90 million in today’s dollars.)

Strolling the grounds of the Biltmore Estate got me thinking about the stories we hear of wealthy people who squander their riches. How and why do they do this? Are there lessons from their stories that you and I can put to use?

We hear all the time about the “lifestyles of the rich and famous”. Today, on April 1st, let’s look at some lifestyles of the rich and foolish.

Lifestyles of the Rich and Foolish

There are so many stories of athletes and entertainers who have blown big fortunes that it’s tough to know where to start. Who should we pick on first? Since I’ve never been a fan of Nicolas Cage — and since he seems to be especially bad with money — let’s use him an example.

Over a period of fifteen years, Cage earned more than $150 million. He blew through that money buying things like:

Fifteen homes, including an $8 million English castle that he never stayed in once.

A private island.

Four luxury yachts.

A fleet of exotic cars, including a Lamborghini that used to belong to the Shah of Iran.

A dinosaur skull he won after a bidding contest with Leonardo DiCaprio.

A private jet.

It’s not fair to characterize Cage as “broke” — he’s still a bankable movie star — but his net worth is reportedly only about $25 million. (That’s like someone with an average income having a net worth of roughly $25,000.) He could be worth ten times as much but his foolish financial habits have caused him woe.

Cage got in trouble with the IRS for failing to pay millions of dollars in taxes. He’s been sued by multiple companies for failing to repay loans. His business manager says that he’s tried to warn Cage that his lifestyle exceeds his means, but the actor won’t listen.

Cage is but one of many celebrities who have done dumb things with money. Other prominent examples include:

MC Hammer sold the rights to his songs to raise money after being bankrupted by his lavish lifestyle. Hammer earned more than $33 million in the early nineties, but spent the money on a $12 million mansion (with gold-plated gates), a fleet of seventeen vehicles, two helicopters, and extravagant parties. [source, source]

Actress Kim Basinger paid $20 million to buy the town of Braselton, Georgia in 1989. When Basinger filed for bankruptcy just four years later, she was forced to sell the town. [source]

On the night of 01 February 1976, Elvis Presley decided he wanted a Fool’s Gold Loaf, a special sandwich made of hollowed bread, a jar of peanut butter, a jar of jelly, and a pound of bacon. He and his entourage flew from Memphis to Denver. The group ate their sandwiches and then flew home. Price: $50,000 – $60,000. [source]

Even authors get in on the act. Writer Mark Twain made tons of money through his work, but he lost much of it to bad investments, mostly in new inventions: a bed clamp for infants, a new type of steam engine, and a machine designed to engrave printing plates. Twain was a sucker for get rich quick schemes. [source, source]

When it comes to frittering way fortunes, it’s hard to compete with sports superstars. In a 2009 Sports Illustrated article about how and why athletes go broke, Pablo S. Torre wrote that after two years of retirement, “78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress.” Within five years of retirement, roughly 60% of former NBA players are in similar positions.

Some examples:

Boxer Mike Tyson earned over $300 million in his professional career. He lost it all, spending the money on cars, jewels, pet tigers, and more. He eventually filed for bankruptcy. [source]

When Yoenis Cespedes signed a new $75 million contract with the New York Mets, he drove a new vehicle each day during the first week of training camp, including a Lamborghini Aventador ($397,000) and an Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione ($299,000). [source]

Basketballer Vin Baker earned $100 million during his career. He’s now worth $500,000. He manages a Starbucks store in a small town in Rhode Island. (To be fair, Baker sees to be turning his life around, which is awesome.) [source]

Hall-of-fame pitcher Curt Schilling earned $112 million during 20 years in the big leagues. It wasn’t enough to keep up with his spending. Plus he lost $50 million through the collapse of a company he owned. In 2013, he held a “fire sale” to avoid bankruptcy.

It can be tough to sympathize with these folks. Used wisely, their immense fortunes could sustain them and their families for a long time. Instead, they squander their money on fleeting pleasures and the trappings of wealth.

Still, I believe it’s best to keep the schadenfreude in check. “There but for the grace of God” and all that, right? I’ve seen plenty of examples of average folks who have wasted smaller windfalls. In fact, this sort of thing seem to be the rule rather than the exception.

But why does this happen? The answer might be Sudden-Wealth Syndrome.

Lottery winners have the same kinds of problems. A 2001 article in The American Economic Review found that after receiving half their jackpots, the typical lotto winner had only put about 16% of that money into savings. It’s estimated that over a quarter of lottery winners go bankrupt.

Take Bud Post: He won $16.2 million in 1988. Within weeks of receiving his first annual payment of nearly half a million dollars, he’d spent $300,000. During the next few years, Post bought boats, mansions, and airplanes, but trouble followed him everywhere. “I was much happier when I was broke,” he’s reported to have said. When he died in 2006, Post was living on a $450 monthly disability check.

Sudden-Wealth Syndrome

In 2012, ESPN released a documentary called Broke that explores the relationship between pro athletes and money. How does sudden wealth affect young men? What happens when highly-competitive athletes with high incomes hang out together? Lots of stupid stuff, as it turns out.

Here’s a nine-minute montage from Broke in which wealth manager Ed Butowsky talks about why athletes get into trouble with money:

Broke is an interesting film. The players speak candidly about the mistakes they’ve made: buying 25 pairs of shoes at one time, buying fur coats they never wore, buying cars they never drove. They’re not proud of their pasts — some are ashamed — but they’re willing to talk about the problem in the hopes they can help others avoid doing the same dumb things in the future.

Curious how much your favorite actor or athlete earns? Check out Celebrity Net Worth, a website devoted to tracking the financial health of people in the public eye.

Broke does a good job of explaining why our sports heroes can’t seem to make smart money moves. The problem is Sudden-Wealth Syndrome. Essentially, young folks who earn big bucks don’t get a chance to “practice” with money before they’re buried with wealth.

The typical person earns a little when they’re young, but watches their salary grow slowly with time. Their income peaks during their forties and fifties. As a result, they get time to make mistakes with small amounts of money first which means (in theory) that they’re less likely to blow big bucks down the road.

On the other hand, athletes (and entertainers) have a completely different earning pattern. They leave school to instant riches. For a few years, they earn great gobs of money. But usually their income declines sharply with time — until it stops altogether.

Here’s a (pathetic) chart I created to help visualize this phenomenon:

Athletes and entertainers need to figure out how to make five years of income last for fifty years. This never occurs to most of them. “[A pro athlete] can’t live like a king forever,” says Bart Scott in ESPN’s Broke. “But you can live like a prince forever.”

Sudden-Wealth Syndrome doesn’t just affect athletes and actors. Lottery winners experience it too. So do average folks who inherit a chunk of change or business owners who sell their companies.

The fundamental problem is that nobody ever teaches us how to handle a windfall. Windfalls are rare, and in most cases they can’t be planned for. (Some folks might be able to plan for an inheritance or the sale of a business, but these situations are relatively uncommon.) As a result, when the average person happens into a chunk of change, they spend it.

Here’s what you should do instead.

How NOT to Waste a Windfall

When you receive a windfall, whether it’s a tax refund, an inheritance, a gift, or from any other source, it’s like you’ve been given a second chance. Although you may have made money mistakes in the past, you now have a chance to fix those mistakes (or some of them, anyhow) and start down the path of smart money management.

It can be tempting to spend your windfall on toys, trips, and other things that you “deserve,” but doing so will leave you in the same place you were before you received the windfall. And if that place was chained to debt, you’ll be just as unhappy as you’ve always been.

If you receive a chunk of cash, I recommend that you:

Keep five percent to treat yourself and your family. Let’s be realistic. If you receive $1,000 or $10,000 or $100,000 unexpectedly, you’re going to want to spend some of it. No problem. But don’t spend all of it. I used to recommend spending one percent of a windfall on yourself, but from talking to people, that’s not enough. Now I suggest spending five percent on fun. That means $50 of a $1,000 windfall, $500 of a $10,000 windfall, or $5,000 of a $100,000 windfall.

Pay any taxes due. Depending on the source of your money, you might owe taxes on it at the end of the year. If you forget this fact and spend the money, you can end up in a bind when the taxes come due. Consult a tax professional. If needed, set aside enough to pay your taxes before you do anything else.

Pay off debt. Doing so will generally provide the greatest possible return on your investment (a 20 percent return if your credit cards charge you 20 percent). It’ll also free up cash flow; if you pay off a card with a $50 minimum monthly payment, that’s $50 extra you’ll have available each month. Most of all, repaying debt will relieve the psychological weight you’ve been carrying for so long.

Fix the things that are broken. After you’ve eliminated any existing debt, use your windfall to repair whatever is broken in your life. Start with your own health. If you’ve been putting off a trip to the dentist or a medical procedure, take care of it. Do the same for your family. Next, fix your car or the roof or the sidewalk. Use this opportunity to patch up the things you’ve been putting off.

Deposit the rest of the money in a safe account. It can be tempting to spend the rest of your windfall on a new motorcycle or new furniture or new house. Don’t. After attending to your immediate needs, deposit the remaining money in a new savings account separate from the rest of your bank accounts — and then leave this money alone.

To successfully manage a windfall, you must allow the initial euphoria to pass, getting over the urge to spend the money today. Live as you were before. Meanwhile, calculate how far your windfall could go. Most people have unrealistic expectations about how much $10,000 or $100,000 can buy.

In 2009, I received an enormous windfall. The old J.D. would have gone crazy with the money. The new, improved model of me was prepared, and made measured moves designed to favor long-term happiness over short-term happiness.

Today, the bulk of my windfall remains in the same place it’s been for the past five years: an investment account. That cash eases my mind. It helps me sleep easy at night. And that’s more rewarding than spending it on new toys could ever be.

Setting a Good Example

Not everyone who gets rich quickly does dumb things with money. Especially as the plight of pro athletes becomes better known, there are prominent examples of young superstars making savvy money moves. They’re learning from the lessons of those who came before.

Take Toronto Raptors superstar Kawhi Leonard, for instance. This 27-year-old NBA MVP earns $23 million per year — but still clips coupons for his favorite restaurant. He drives a 1997 Chevy Tahoe. Sure, he bought himself a Porsche, but he’s not interested in flash and bling. “I’m not gonna buy some fancy watch just to show people something fancy on my wrist,” he says. [source]

Jamal Mashburn has made wise use of his wealth. So has LeBron James, who takes his investment advice from Warren Buffett:

Here are other superstars who act as money bosses:

During his 12-year career in the NBA, Junior Bridgeman never earned more than $350,000. Unlike most players, however, he planned ahead. He recognized his basketball income would eventually vanish. He bought a Wendy’s fast-food franchise and learned the business inside-out. He became a hands-on owner. He expanded from one store to three to six — and then to a small empire. Today, twenty-five years after retirement, Bridgeman owns more than 160 Wendy’s restaurants and 120 Chili’s franchises. His company employs 11,000 people and generates over half a billion in revenue every year. His personal net worth tops $400 million. [source]

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski — who just retired last week — is a shining example of how to handle sudden wealth correctly. The 29-year-old earned over $53 million for playing on the field — and hasn’t spent any of it. Here are his own words: “To this day, I still haven’t touched one dime of my signing bonus or NFL contract money. I live off my marketing money and haven’t blown it on any big-money expensive cars, expensive jewelry or tattoos and still wear my favorite pair of jeans from high school.” [source]

Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch has a similar story. During his twelve-year NFL career, Lynch has collected nearly 57 million from his contract. Reportedly, he hasn’t spent a penny of that money. Instead, he’s been cautious to live only off his endorsement earnings. Whether this is true or not, Lynch is known to be a good example to his teammates, helping them with their 401(k)s and other financial issues. [source]

Sometimes superstars who have been poor with money have a flash of insight and they’re able to turn things around. Former NFL player Phillip Buchanon is a perfect example. After watching ESPN’s Broke, he realized he was headed for trouble. He mended his ways and started managing his money wisely. Now he’s written a book with advice for other folks who are fortunate enough to encounter a windfall. [source]

When people make a lot of money, they’re able to spend a lot of money. Sometimes the super-rich can afford to build a place like the Biltmore Estate. The problem isn’t a single extravagant purchase, but a lavish lifestyle in which they spend more than they earn. Real wealth isn’t about earning money — it’s about keeping money.

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