#since the series is also called homeward bound

[thompsborn]

omg ok now that the last chapter of homeward bound is posted i can start sharing some snippets from the one shot bc i’m over 3k words into it so far and i’m literally so in love w it

[ultraericthered]

Anime Update V2 55

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 - Goddammit, this show once again reached a point where it was daring me “Drop me, man! Drop me!” only to pull me back from doing so with what it did next. The drawn out hospital sequence leading to Yuki’s offscreen death was painful and also sort of irritating to me with how it kept jerking me back and forth with what was real and what was a dream, on if Yuki was at risk of dying or not. But once the doctor gives the bad news (which is made inaudible in the moment), we’ve officially lost Yuki...only to then be re-introduced to Yuki. Mirai wakes up, Yuki is alive and just fine, Mirai acts like his death was all a horrible dream and is ready move on with a better, more talkative and openly loving relationship with him now... except the show keeps flashing us signs that something’s off. The fact that Mari never addresses Yuki and Yuki never says anything to Mari directly, the background noise that gets louder whenever Mirai starts talking about Yuki to Mari, Mari sobbing on the bridge, Yuki just up and vanishing at points and only ever reappearing close to Mirai, his happy compliance with his sister’s every word. This is not the Yuki from the last 8 episodes; this is Mirai conjuring up her dead little brother’s spirit as a coping mechanism. Knowing this cruel twist in advance makes every second Yuki is on-screen now very intriguing to watch. That’s not even getting into all the drama with Mari’s mother and daughter, who thankfully turn up alive after a nasty fake-out (and my one major criticism here is that Mari’s reaction to seeing her daughter alive needed to be much bigger). Now Mirai is homeward bound on her own, with “Yuki” struggling with how to let out the truth.

Hunter x Hunter - I cannot believe that half the episode was spent on the backstory of a character we never got to even see before he supposedly got killed and eaten by the Chimera Ants! It was more detailed, more interesting, and darker than most of what we get from any character in this series, so I call shennanigans on Gyro being dead for good! Was not pleased to see Ponzu and those Hunters she was fighting with killed by the Chimera Ant forces, but at least Ponzu got to make the most of her last minutes by sending out a warning message for the entire Hunter Association. Kite got that message and has decided to further assess the situation, and Gon and Killua are coming along with him for it whether he wants them or not.

Fruits Basket - Saw the end of Season 2 and the start of Season 3 back to back since both episodes are part of the same story point. Kureno’s a character I’m not the biggest fan of, but his whole deal with Akito is super interesting and gives me a deeper appreciation for how kind a soul he is, almost to a fault. It’s through him that we learn the truth about Akito’s gender, while also getting to meet her deranged but bold and insightful mother, Ren, who seems to have some nefarious schemes of her own, and I want Tohru and Rin to be vigilant against her and Akito’s respective machinations. The only real problem I had here was knowing that this was not the last we’d hear of the Kureno-Arisa relationship when it absolutely should have been. It was never a believable or well written side romance, but I’d be more accepting of it had it definitively ended here with Kureno making his choice and Arisa having maturely come to terms with that.

Re:ZERO - I’ve many thoughts yet very few words for the end of this anime’s initial season. It concluded pretty much perfectly. I loved the way Subaru handled things with Emilia, I loved seeing past mistakes learned from and avoided in this loop, I loved Otto coming back and really starting the friendship he and Subaru will be having going forward, I loved the final showdown with Betelgeuse, his demented entitlement to Satella’s love being a perfect mirror for Subaru’s earlier behavior, and his Bill Cipher style death, and I especially loved that final scene with Subaru and Emilia. It was beautiful. It was so good.

I guess the one thing that bothered me was that there was no Rem. Like, at all. It’ll get explained when the next arc starts at the start of Season 2, I know, but it feels beyond awkward after the writing had Rem run rampant as a major character for two thirds of this arc. This reinforces why I think Rem deserved better handling than she got.

Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works - The one where Archer and Shirou team up against Caster while Saber is fighting Assassin.

Symphogear GX - Woah. There was a lot of intense action this time around, along with new details regarding Tsubasa’s father, a glimpse at the past of Carol and her father, Kirika and Shirabe continuing to be The Absolute Best, Tsubasa, Chris, and Hibiki enduring physical and psychological torture in order to master their new Ignite Mode power-up, more Alca-Noise, more mass destruction, Carol showing her true self and fighting the Symphogears with the power of her own relic, and most surprising of all, the defeat and seeming demise of Carol? It’s halfway into the season, we can’t lose our Big Bad here!

Eureka Seven - Mostly a pretty silly episode about Renton and his struggling relationship with Eureka’s three kids, which actually got pretty sweet and wholesome towards the end as Renton, Eureka, and the kids work together to fix the mess they inadvertedly started, using their respective skills to get one over on this military leader who snarls and shouts all of his dialogue. An interesting side development occurred with Holland, who reacted badly to seeing his brother free from prison on TV and by the end of the episode suggests he’s heading into a darker mental space, punishing Renton’s screw-up by putting the kid in a cold solitary confinement. Goodbye moody and rougish manchild Holland, hello abusive jackass Holland! Fuck me.

Gintama - Was not surprised the dramatic events that Hijikata and Okita got themselves involved in last time had some immediate consequences for the Shinsengumi, but was unprepared for the hard left turn back into total wackiness we got here. Finally met the Shinsengumi’s Comissioner, a crazy old man who’s always carrying his gun and sees assassins everywhere and in everyone. He, Kondo, and Sacchan of all people go on a crazy road trip to reach the Tendoshu’s flying castle and answer to them for what happened at the arena, with all kinds of madcap shennanigans, character appearances, and even a totally random Dorombo Gang cameo. And there was a running plot threat of Kondo believing he was soon to face certain death due to the day’s horoscope for him, which pays off when Otae brutally kills him at the end! But I’m sure he’ll get better!

[littlekikichan]

Since you sent me a long ask yesterday, how about 1-10 on the soft ask game? If that's okay...

Sure.

1. What song makes you feel better?

Answer: So Called Life by Three Days Grace or Through the Valley by Shawn James I always feel better after listening to them.

2. What's your feel-good movie?

Answer: Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame and Treasure Planet I love these two films and if I had to say a live action film I would say Foster Gump and Homeward Bound these are great movies to watch that aren't a series.

3. What's your favorite candle scent?

Answer: either lavender or apple cinnamon I like my place smells like autumn I also like the Hawaiian orange scent during the summer.

4. What flower would you like to be given?

Blue lilies I find them very beautiful and they stand for tranquility and hope and inspiration and I just love the coloring on them.

5. Who do you feel most you around?

Duchy!

6. Say three nice things about yourself (three physical and three non-physical).

Answer: um...uh... People say I have pretty eyes....uh and I don't know I like my eyes too but I can't think of anything I'm skipping this question I will answer the 11 question since I couldn't think of more.

7. What color brings you peace?

Sky blue, and sunset colors.

8. Tag someone (or multiple people) who make you feel good.

Answer: everyone that I talk to on here.

9. What calms you down?

Answer: watching YouTube videos and reading Sans/Reader fanfics I also like certain music when I'm upset I usually go to music to let out all my emotions so I can function normally.

10. What is something you are excited for?

Answer: Well this one is hard one for me because of my depression but in all honesty I want to see what's next.

11. What's your ideal date?

Answer: Going to the beach during the sunset hours and running around with lightsabers and then smoking some weed to relax while watch the sunset and eat boardwalk food or what we packed in the cooler and then watch the stars come out and just talk about stuff.

[buckleyirondad]

Happy Fanfic Writer Friday!!! Is there anything in your own life that you incorporate into your fics? (Names, habits, favourite movies, favourite foods etc.)

Happy Fanfic Writer Friday!

Ooooooo there is so many, omg! Firstly, the obvious – my emotional attachment to the Frozen Franchise is the heart behind the ‘Come, My Darling, Homeward Bound’ series!  

Usually, in my multichapter fics, I include a Doctor Who reference, as a call back to my ties.

I haven’t, in a while, but I have been known to include names of family members/friends, usually as background characters. Like with my brother, Eden, who is constantly being asked to be included, haha!

Some of my eager-eyed readers may have noticed that most of my multi-chapter fanfictions include an OG character, and her name is often ‘Jasmine.’  We saw a Jasmine in CMDHB and Run For Your Children, I believe the name props up in From Now On, as well. This cameo – you could say - is usually mindless for me. I’ve been writing stories since I was very young, and my childhood best friend’s little sister was called Jasmine, so I have a feeling it stems from her being included in our little skits growing up. My sister’s name is Tasmin, so there is a chance it came from that too, but who’s to say, for sure.

Strangely, I mention ‘Mac and Cheese’ many times, it props up as Morgan’s favourite dish which came from nowhere, because I am not a fan of Mac and Cheese, it isn’t a common meal in the UK either, so I’m guessing I must have pulled it from internet research.

Lastly, some of the angst I share through fanfiction is influenced by real life. Experiencing grief and trauma, sometimes makes the best fuel for writing, in moderation – as my lecturer and I have discussed, haha – and I can, also, through said writing, present coping mechanisms, show a reader that help is out there, you know? 

There’s a reason why angst with a happy ending is my favourite trope.

Thank you!

[daily-jaspvid]

Your Ex-Lover Is Dead - Jaspvid fluff

This is the first chapter of my prequel series. This takes place the winter before the show takes place, in which Jasper happens upon David at a party. 

This was supposed to be a one-shot, but it is quickly turning into at least 3 chapters. I can’t post the second chapter here, but chapters 1 and 3 will be here! No plot happens in chapter 2, just NSFT content heh.

also the title song! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5Or6-HOveg

Here's part 1! Merry Christmas!

Gem insisted this party would be good; that she had seen this band perform before and how great they were live. With nothing better to do, I decided to tag along. After all, finals were over and we were due to celebrate before we headed home for winter break. 

When we arrived Gem was immediately distracted by the punch bowl conversation. From how many people stopped to greet her, I was reminded of how gregarious my friend was compared to me. Not wanting to harsh her style too much, I took my cup of punch towards the dance floor.  From the looks of it, the band was starting to set up, so the waiting stereo pumped out indie tunes. 

I idly bopped along to a familiar song when a firm force bumps me from behind. I stagger, holding out my drink to steady it. In the next beat, I feel hands brace my waist to steady me. The hands are warm, firm, but didn’t feel of ill intent. 

“Oh, sorry about that!” Chirped an equally as warm voice. I turn and the hands pop off me like old stickers peeling away. I see an auburn-haired man who offered a genuinely sorry smile. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I replied abruptly as anxiety swelled in me. Sure, I was expecting to meet a few new people today, but a cute ginger boy right off the bat? I guess Christmas was coming early. 

He wore a red button down and a pair of blue jeans. He appeared to be wearing a band tee, but I can’t figure out who in particular. His face shown with simply the brightest smile I have seen in years. It felt familiar. 

“So, uh… you ever see this band before?” I ask after a few awkward seconds of standing together. 

“I haven’t. Honestly, this is the first party I’ve been to this semester. I’ve been pretty busy between classes and student teaching. You?”

“Pretty much the same. I’m studying to be a writer. Not as exciting, I’m sure, but it’s an excuse to spend all my free time reading at home.” I admit with a quick and strained smile. Before he could respond, Gem came upon us with one of her friends. 

“Hey, you two! See, Cathy? I told you they would get along! We didn’t even have to enact the master plan!” Gem exclaimed, causing Cathy to stifle a laugh. 

“David, you’ve met Gem from my psych class,” she motioned to the mutual friend. “So you must be her friend from therapy, was it?”

I shoot Gem a look, which she just shrugged to. Damn psych majors and their gossip. “Yes, Jasper,” I confirm, offering my hand to her. She gives it a firm and professional shake. 

“Isn’t he just the cutest, Cathy? Hes such a little crab! It took me weeks to convince him to come!” Gem lamented. She moved in front of me to adjust my clothing, tugging at my popped collar to lay it down. I grimace, hand twitching with a desire to hide my exposed neck. I see David’s eyes flicker down to my neck before looking away, tension filling into his eyes. That was most people’s reaction when they see the scars there. The polite ones, anyway.

The conversation was cut short by the music lowering and a mic switching on. The band introduced themselves as Florist and began playing their easy, folky tunes to the milling crowd. Gem scurried off through the crowd to get closer while Gem hung back to tap away at her phone. Just as quickly as they came, I was once again left alone with the lithe ginger. I spent most of the set watching him from my peripherals. He swayed gently to the music, expression fixated intently on the band. He seemed to pour all of his focus into them and I could feel the aura force field around him, seeming to block everything else out. 

Before I could fully process his energy the set was already over. The band thanked us for listening and the previous playlist switched back on. By this point, people were beginning to collect their friends and head out. David seemed to be remembering his place among the crowd and looked around. Our eyes catch each other’s and I find my voice springing out before really even considering my words. 

“Hey. You wanna get some coffee?” The words tumble out, and by the time I get to the end of the statement, I can feel myself quivering with unease. If David picked up on this he didn’t show it. 

“Yeah, sure! I’d love to!” He chimed. David caught Cathy’s attention to let her know the plan. I felt a little bad about ditching Gem, but it wasn’t like she seemed very keen on hanging around me. It’s what she would want.

When we stepped outside it was, unfortunately, pouring rain. Freezing rain. I unrolled my sleeves to save myself from the cold a little bit.

“Damn, so much for getting anywhere in this. I’ll call us a Lyft.” We hung out on the porch while I set up the ride. 

Despite the weather, it arrived within minutes. We ducked in, only made mildly damn. Though the café was only a few blocks away, it felt longer in the silence. Once again I found myself watching him from the corner of my eye. As we turned the block the side of the road through his window showed the dark abyss of dense forest. His reflection in the window became water-warped, and the familiarity finally clicked. I let out a quick huff of my breath, catching his attention.

“Davey?” I asked tentatively. His head snapped up from his phone, eyes wide. He looked like he had seen a ghost. 

“Nobody calls me that. Not since I was a kid - except for Mr. Campbell, but-” He paused, his confused expression shifting to concern as I recoil at the name “Campbell”. Memories of my 11th summer come crashing back to me and I suddenly feel ill. As if on cue, our driver stops to drop us off. I have never been more thankful to stand in the pouring rain.

“Come on, you’ll get soaked to the bone!” David exclaimed, grabbing my hand to pull me into the café. 

Thankfully this place had good heating. The cozy café had few patrons. Most people were either at parties or already homeward bound to family. We stepped up to order and it wasn’t until the barista gave us a knowing smile that we realized we were still holding hands. Flustered, we take turns ordering our drinks. 

“So… You’re the Jasper I knew all those years ago? From summer camp? It’s been, what, 13 years? Man, it must really be a small world, huh?” He sighed nostalgically. 

“Honestly, I’m surprised I recognized you,” I admit with a shrug. “I guess I remember more about that last summer than I thought. For a long time it was such a blur, to be honest.”

We collected our drinks and headed to a space heater in the back of the café. It had a couple of chairs surrounding it that we settled in to. David flopped into his with a heavy, content sigh. I sat more forwardly in mine, resting my elbows on my knees and leaning towards the warmth. I felt numb, like neither the aching cold nor the radiating heat could break through to me. 

“You seem sad.” David’s voice broke through the silence once again. It was low and tender as he leaned over to me.

“I’m fine, really, just… a lot is coming back to me, is all,” I chew on my lip and spoke through grit. “A lot of not great thing happened that last summer we knew each other. Not great things that lead to worse things. It isn’t your fault, of course, It's just… forget it.”

David reached out a hand and placed it on my leg, giving it a squeeze. his eyes scanned as if searching for the right words to say but ultimately decided to remain quiet. We sat like this for a few minutes before I pulled out my phone.

“Hey, can I have your number? I’d like to keep in touch again if that's ok?”

“Of course! I would love to catch up!” Davey perked up as he received my phone and punched in his number. “So, what do you like to write?”

Hours soon had drifted by as we conversed. I soaked in every smile and laugh. Craved every new emotion I could draw out of his expressive being. Anything he had to give, really. Davey radiated with life. It poured out of his being, passion radiating like a star.

Oh, God.

I can’t be falling in love.

I feel my breath hitch as I suck in air. Davey notices and pauses his story to ask if I was alright, only for the clock to ding for 4 am. Shit. 

“You can crash at my place if you’d like.” he offers as we stand. I feel like I am going to faint back into the chair. Clearing my voice and adjusting my flannel, I nod.

“I’d like that more than anything right now.” I reply, taking up his offer and hoping I don’t sound too desperate. Just like that, we set back off into the rain and caught a ride across town to his apartment.

[jean-arclight]

Somethings I see now looking back.

The finale was awesome. Now before you rant or continue to move on, let me explain and then you can go. I respect your opinion so respect mine and others. Also major spoilers ahead!

First off, I love that they defeated Steven with a hug. Listen, you can say that is not a realistic way or it was too rushed. But think. Rebecca wasn’t trying to make her show famous with violence or action. No. She made this show with a message to all who watches. Think about it. Why fight to poof or kill someone who you know that has PTSD, Depression, or is in a lot of stress? Is that a way to really go?

No, someone who does, needs love, comfort, and a willing hand to help them through their trauma, ptsd, stress, etc. I understand. I have friends and family who have this. Its tough. They may think they need to hide so that they won’t be a burden, or like Steven, thought he was a fraud and a monster. The way to help is with love. Let them know your there. Hold them. Listen to them. Cheer them on! Thats what Rebecca showed in the second to last episode. Lets be honest, we all wanted to hug Steven there and we were all happy he can now fully grasp on who he wants to be. I love it! Rebecca and her crew really showed PTSD really well.

Now other things I realized.

First off, when Steven first turned into his monster form, notice how he hurts himself. Sometimes when one thinks of themselves as a monster, they will hurt themselves as they think they deserve it. This may have been Steven’s last thought before he became fearl. Actually, let me refraise that. Second to last thought. The last thought was when he grasp the temple. It looked like he was hugging the temple. Someone mentioned this earlier. He just wanted some comfort. Thus he hugged the temple... but it wasn’t enough.

Second, notice when the others are huggin Steven, White only holds him with her hands. Its like she was hesitant. I was thinking, maybe she wasn’t really into hugging or maybe she was squimished? But then I may have gotten the idea. She was letting Steven have a chance in choosing if he wanted her hug or not. Think, before all this happened, she allowed Steven to talk to “himself”. She may have not been in contol of her body, but she could still see everything going on. Thus she must have seen that Steven was still afraid of her as there was a flashback that showed her pulling out his gem. Later in the hugging scene, she is full on hugging him, showing that he accepts her hug. She is really trying to change. Maybe her first actual chance to make amends with Steven beside her wanting to help Steven when he came directly to her for help.

Thirdly, I like how we get some cameos in Everythings fine. For example, we get more Volleyball when Steven comes to little homeworld and the gem we first got to meet when Steven Universe Future aired. Another is Blue and Yellow Pearl are in Bismuth class and I have a speculation that they may get married as Bismuth is making a wedding armor. Also freaking Larmar... she’s so cute.

Fourth, can we all appriciate that Garnet is a couple counciler?

Fifth, those details on Steven’s scales on closeups man!

Sixth, notice how Connie kissed CorrputedSteven? I was thinking at first, awe cute, the most powerful of love. But I also thought of later was that Steven healed Connie’s eyes with an indirect kiss, thus in a way, Connie healed Steven with a direct kiss.

Seventh, also notice after the kiss, Steven’s tears are back. His healing tears. Again, I didn’t realized until watching over and over again. He’s healing. He’s finally self healing. After everything he’s been through, all the people and gems he healed, after all the beatings and truama he was put through, he can finally heal. Thus he begins to heal himself. Also since corruption is healed through all of the diamonds, all diamonds are there. Steven was brough back to were his tears work again (not saying that they didn’t work before).

Eight, This is the freakin first time that Steven burst out sobbing! (Not really counting the time when he was vaccumed into space and was brought back to the gems who cried with him as it was more of relief than letting go).

Nine, the last episode brought back soooooo many memories from the series, for example Steven is now doing yoga, like when he was trying to be the life couch and when he sang strong in the real way. (Just listing some stuff in the next final list).

Ten, Cat Steven made his last appearence!

Eleven, Wow. They began with cookie and that being the first song as well (again not counting the intro) and end it with cookie cat and a refrise of the song.

Twelve, on the fridge in the background, the picture that Steven and Centi made is hanging on the fridge along with the breakfast gang magnets.

Thirteen, Peridots machines (can’t remember what they are call but the things that fix the warps) is on the sheld in the kitchen.

Fourteen, Pearl ate something! (If I remember right, that was the third time).

Fifteen, this is why I watch things over and over again, at first I thought, oh cool, Jasper made a final appearence... then I realized that she’s now in little homeworld and not at her camp. Also it seems that she took Steven’s advice and is looking for something to do with her life. Yay!

Sixteen, notice when Steven gives his game to Amethyst, that Rose’s sword is on the shelf.

Seventeen, OMG!! Steven gave his hamburger backpack to Onion! How cute!!!

Eighteen, Pumkin is alive and well with his own friends!

Nineteen, The two gems introduced in Homeward bound when Yellow was fixing one of them, made one more cameo when Steven is leaving (flint and I can’t remember the other names). It also seems Volleyball is taking a picture for them.

Lastly, I understand why Steven would leave and its kind of funny on how it was hinted all along that Steven was leaving Beach City. A place where he spent 16 years of his life in fear, truama, and stress. You would need to move from it as it can cause some unpleasant memories. However, I believe that Steven will come back to visit but his new home will help him move on. Its a step we all must take someday. Its a sign of moving on and continuing with life. Steven wants to move on. Thus he’s finally putting away his past and is going towards his future. Such a bittersweet and loving ending.

Of course, I too have somethings that I’d wish I knew. Such as the chest and what about the other characters. But I understand that they had little time. It such a great way in ending a series as Rebecca had wanted it to be. This season was about moving on. Like as the title says. Steven Universe Future.

Thank you Rebecca.

[carriagelamp]

Since it’s 🍁 Canada Day 🍁 I figured I’d do the same thing I did for Pride Month and post a round up of Canadian books. Canadian literature has a tendency to be overlooked, but there’s some amazing gems out there!

That being said, this is definitely not a definitive list. There’s lot of lists out there that probably better, more relevant books. This is just a personal list as a Canadian person of Canadian lit I’ve read that stood out to me for whatever reason. I definitely encourage you though to look into some of the new Canadian novels being written write now, especially all the awesome own voice stories being written by First Nations authors across the country!

I’ve read a fair few Canadian novels over the years, so I’m going to break them up into one post of highlights each day for the remainder of the week: one for Children’s Novels / Chapter Books one for YA / Adult Novels, one for Graphic Novels and one for Picture Books.

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

This is like… The Canadian Novel ™ isn’t it? I imagine that even if you’ve never heard of any other Canadian novel, you’ve probably heard of Anne of Green Gables, if for no other reason than it’s been adapted a million times over. If you’ve never bothered to read the original though, I highly recommend it. Since it was written in 1908 the language is definitely old-fashioned, but that somehow makes it engaging enough to keep an adult reader hooked, while not being too difficult for a child reader who’s moved on to full length novels. It also, of course, makes a fantastic read aloud – I’ve reread this book easily a dozen times over the years since first having it read aloud to me by my mom, during which we both bawled our eyes out together.

If you somehow haven’t heard of Anne, it’s about Anne Shirley, a wildly imaginative (and just wild) orphan girl who is adopted by the Cuthberts and brought to live with them on their Prince Edward Island farm, Green Gables. The Cuthberts had originally intended to adopt a boy who could help with the farm work, but when Matthew Cuthbert finds a girl waiting for him at the train station he can’t bring himself to turn her away. And so begins the hijinks and misadventures of Anne as she grows from child to young adult.

Le Champ Maudit by François Gravel

I’ve always loved the genre of child-horror and this book absolutely delivers. The creature, vieux Nick, and the way it exists in space is delightfully chilling even as an adult. The story is about Oliver, who has often been warned by his uncle not to go into the cornfields – it makes sense after all, the cornfields are vast and uniform, it would be easy to get lost in them. Oliver has no reason to assume there’s something more sinister lurking in them, or that it could be tied to the other people who have gone missing over the years. That is, not until he makes the mistake of chasing a rabbit into the stalks one evening…

The Dragon’s Egg by Alison Baird

I was absolutely a “dragon kid” as a child, I loved any sort of dragon book I could get my hands on and I read this one over and over when I was in grade three. It’s about Ai Len who is given a lovely river stone by her father from his trip to China. Ai Len is shocked one night when, all of a sudden, she realizes that it wasn’t a stone at all, but rather a dragon’s egg. Lonely Ai Len befriends the baby dragon (who disguises himself as one of her gold fishes during the day) and helps him grow and learn as they try to figure out how he can get back home to the river his family inhabits.

Fatty Legs by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton

Fatty Legs is the true story account of Margaret Pokiak, an Inuvialuit child who grew up with her family in the Arctic. At the age of eight, despite their reputations and her father’s reluctance, Margaret begs to be allowed to attend the Catholic residential school because there was nothing she wanted more than to learn to read. There, far from her warm, loving family, Margaret learns about the cruelties and humilities of residential school. This book is a good introduction to residential schools for young children – it shows the horrors while still keeping the story child-friendly and relatable.

The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford

The classic novel that inspired Disney’s film Homeward Bound. This story is about three pets – two dogs and a cat – who are left behind under the care of a family friend at an isolated cabin. These three determined pets though refuse to abandon their humans that easily. After a couple weeks of no contact, a decision is made: they will make the trek across the dangerous North Ontario wilderness in order to find their owners. This is a great animal story that genuinely feels perilous at times as these three house pets are forced to contend against the elements, wild predators, and even other humans.

Inkling by Kenneth Oppel

Kenneth Oppel is a human name in Canadian middle grade literature – not only is he a great writer, but an incredibly prolific one. If you have a middle school child in your life, consider checking out this man’s library of works because he has books that range across all sorts of different genres and topics, and they tend to be unique and gripping. They’re a staple in any Canadian school library.

Inkling is about a boy, Ethan, who is struggling with his life. His family has gone through a personal tragedy, his artist father is struggling to write a new graphic novel, and Ethan’s been entrusted with drawing the art for his school group’s graphic novel assignment, and he can’t bring himself to tell them his father’s talent wasn’t hereditary. Everything changes though, when one night, his father’s ink wakes up… This book is really heartwarming, with sweet family moments, lots of action, and an adorable ink blob that’s just trying to do its best.

My Name is Seepeetza by Shirley Sterling

Another own voice novel, this time written by West Coast Salish and residential school survivor Shirley Sterling. This novel is written like a weekly diary by six year old Seepeetza who is taken from her joyous family home and forced into a residential boarding school. While there she is forced to change her name, her language, and all the things that made her life happy and complete. Despite all this, Seepeetza finds ways to survive and still find joy. This book is written for a slightly older audience than Fatty Legs, more of a thin middle grade novel but still balances the brutal horrors of residential schools with a child-friendly narration.

The Secret World of Og by Patsy Berton

This is another Canadian children’s classic, though a much less well-known one than Anne of Green Gables. My mom read this to me and my brother in early elementary school, a chapter a night, and I remember being completely wrapped up in it and it’s strange, quirky pictures. It’s about the five Berton children who discover a strange, cavernous world hidden beneath their club house, inhabited by little creatures called Ogs.

Secrets in the Sand by Sharon Siamon

This is exactly what it looks like: a true to form Horse Girl book. There’s nothing overly special about it, but I read it this month and was charmed by it. This is technically the second book of the Saddle Island series (and she has two other Horse Girl related series as well though I haven’t read them) but for whatever reason I read the second first and actually enjoyed it more of the two. It has it all! A spunky, head-strong girl! Her best friend and annoying brother! A small, financially struggling Maritime town! A brave horse that loves the ocean and swims into underwater caves! The promise of pirate treasure! Saving The Family Farm (and rebuilding it from the ground up on a tiny island)! Want a fun mindless horse adventure? Well here it is!

Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel

I know, I know, another Kenneth Oppel book but listen… he is so prolific and also it might be a crime to do a Canadian book list and not mention Silverwing. This was a childhood staple when I was growing up, practically everyone had either read it for class, read the entire series on their own because who wouldn’t want to, or watched the weird ass TV series. Or done all three! If you haven’t read Silverwing but like animal adventure stories, this is honestly one of the peaks of the entire genre imho. It’s about Shade, a small silverwing bat that struggles with the rules and limits placed around bat colony life. He’s constantly pushing things, constantly challenging others regardless of if they’re his bullying yearmates or if they’re the clan elders. But one day, Shade takes it too far and breaks a vital law: he stayed up and saw the sun. Now the owls are determined to have Shade killed and the clan is prepared to exile him for his transgression. All this just as the clan is preparing to migrate, and Shade, with his small runty wings, ends up falling further and further behind in the storm…

Underground to Canada by Barbara Smucker

I debated whether or not to include this book, given all the BLM movements going on. This book isn’t own voice, and in the research I’ve done since becoming an adult has made me realize a number of the problems that surround it. But still, it felt wrong to leave out, both because of the social climate right now and because this was another classroom staple when I was growing up. It’s about a pair of young slave girls who are horribly abused on the planation they live on, and who eventually join in on a plot to run away, to find the rumoured “underground railroad”, a network of people who help black slaves escape captivity and escape – in this case across the border into Canada. Despite its flaws, this was a book we read in school and, through the book and classroom discussions, really introduced me to the concept of slavery and racism… and the fact that racism is still horribly alive today. It shook me as a child – it was written to be optimistic and adventurous for children, but it still had more violence and horror than I was used to in books at that age and it really shook me. So I included it in the list because, for me at least, I believe it had a positive effect on my growth as a person.

Up In Arms by Amanda Spottiswoode

This is a woefully underrated series because it really delights me. It’s about six friends, spread across two families. Though they’re from the UK, this series is all about their adventures with their uncle in Canada. Spottiswood writes children travel adventures, all set around the 1940s. The first, Brother XII’s Treasure is a treasure hunt along the West Coast during a sailing vacation; the second, The Silver Lining take them into British Columbia’s interior on cattle drive as the kids get drawn into adventures on horseback, a familiar villain, and old mining secrets. This third book I actually read before the others, and is my favourite of the series. It’s back on BC’s west coast, only this time rather than a vacation the kids of be sent to Canada because of the outbreak of WWII. You get high-flying adventure, wilderness survival, and planning a heist to help right the wrongs done to a local Indigenous community by the white settlers. It’s just a lot of fun.

[heyyyharry]

My Girl Series: Chapter 2 - Homeward Bound

…in which childhood friends meet again, this time, at a funeral.

Series description: Y/N falls in love with the older boy next door who doesn’t feel the same, years later they meet again at a funeral.

AU: actor!harry, older!harry, younger!y/n; (4-year age gap)

Chapter 1 - Treehouse: Y/N falls in love with the older boy next door who doesn’t feel the same.

wattpad link

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Four years had gone by, and the small town called Holmes Chapel had partly faded from Harry's memories. He had his own life now, which was more than the life of any ordinary 22-year-old, and of course, he must make room in his mind for new, bigger, and better things.

Many years ago, had anybody told him he was gonna get a massive movie contract, and turn famous before graduating from university, he would've laughed and called them crazy. Now his face was everywhere on billboards, on televisions, on the internet. People followed him around and took photos of him. He had all the money to spend, got invited to exclusive parties, and won big awards with his name on them. So there was no reason for him to come back to his little house in Holmes Chapel.

His family still lived there, but he flew his mum out to stay in London for most of the time, and his sister now had her own life with a boyfriend. The Styles hadn't sold that house because it still had emotional value to them, but they were rarely there anymore. Harry couldn't even remember most details of his childhood bedroom, let alone the treehouse in his backyard, or the girl who came there every single day, waiting for him to come back.

He did come back. But it was for a different reason, one he had never expected.

A funeral.

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"Look at all of these paparazzi on the street."

Celine heaved a sigh as she peeked through the window curtains to take a look. The heavy silence in that living room was the opposite of the loud and intrusive crowd waiting in front of the house next door.

Eighteen-year-old Y/N was sitting on the bottom stair with her head in her hands, her eyes were red and swollen, while another girl was comforting her. The girl was Amala, Celine’s girlfriend. They had been dating since junior year, now both graduated from high school and were still together.

Even though Y/N wasn't the only special girl in Celine’s life anymore, she had never felt deserted, knowing her tiny best friend would always be by her side and she would also do the same. Now with Amala in the picture, the three of them were inseparable. Those two had been Y/N's rock since her mother's death, and she could never thank them enough for just being there for her.

"Why did he have to come back?" Y/N exhaled, fingers gripping her own hair. "I don't want all these people at my mother's funeral."

"Calm down, I'm sure they'll get tired and leave in no time," said Celine, who quickly exchanged looks with Amala, because they both knew those paps wouldn't leave until Harry did.

"Why couldn't he just stay gone?" Y/N mumbled, mostly to herself, and she really meant it. She wished he had never returned. She'd gone as far as avoiding all the news about him and she'd been doing so well in the last four years. But her mother's death seemed to be just the calm before the storm. With his unwanted return, he would bring a whole crowd of people with cameras to her mother's funeral.

"When is Blake gonna be here?" Asked Amala, but Celine shook her head fast to tell her girlfriend not to mention that name. It was too late since Y/N had already heard her.

"He's not coming," she replied, eyes glued to the floor. "We broke up."

The hurt was still etched in her voice when she talked about him. Even though she would never admit it, her two friends both knew she had really loved that boy.

Blake Roman was Y/N's first official boyfriend. He had treated her so well, and even though she'd lost her first kiss in the treehouse four years ago, Y/N had given all her other firsts to Blake. But two foolish teenagers fell in love at seventeen, what did they know? It wasn't until graduation and facing big decisions of futures and dreams that they realized it wasn't going to work. They weren't going to work.

Blake went to America to become a lawyer, but Y/N wasn't bitter or depressed because she also had plans of her own. Her mother had told her that everything happened for a reason, and that was what she chose to believe. Had they stayed together, a long distance relationship would tear them apart eventually. Take her parents as an example, they had lived under the same roof for that many years but they didn't make it still.

"Y/N..."

The girls turned their head to the kitchen doorway and found Y/N's father with hands in his pockets, dressed in a black suit and a tie. The last time he was that well-dressed was at his wedding, sadly now it was his wife's funeral. He told them it was time to go then grabbed his keys and walked out of the house without saying another word.

Once he had left, Celine asked Y/N how her father had been dealing with her mother's death, and to be honest Y/N didn't even know. She had never known the man well enough to give her best friend an answer, but there was one thing she knew for sure, it didn't hurt him as much as it did her.

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Y/N's mother funeral was held at a funeral home in the town central, and only those who were close to the family had been invited, so it was a very small gathering.

Though a part of Y/N didn't want Harry to show up and bring in chaos, during the ceremony her eyes still searched around the room for his face. She saw his mother Anne, and his sister Gemma, but she didn't see him. Maybe for some particular reasons, he'd changed his mind and decided not to go; or maybe he couldn't get past those paparazzi to get out of the house. But without his presence on her mother's sad day, Y/N felt awfully incomplete.

After the burial, all the guests headed back to her house for a wake. There was a small dinner, and the people at the table talked about what a lovely woman Y/N's mother had been. They told stories about her, saying she'd always been wise, and kind, and tolerant, which Y/N knew were all true. But as she stole a glance at her father, who was sitting at the end of the table, focusing on his own food rather than the stories about his late wife, she felt like none of it mattered to him, and that just broke her heart.

Thankfully, dinner was over soon, but the guests stayed for a few drinks while carrying boring conversations to keep the atmosphere indoors alive. It was getting late, a few had left and Y/N couldn't wait for the rest to follow so she could call it a day. The last thing she would expect at that moment was for a new guest to show up, but as soon as her eyes turned to the left corner of the living room by accident, she spotted a familiar face. It wasn't her imagination doing tricks on her like she'd thought at first, it was really him.

Y/N swore the moment their eyes met in the crowded living room, everything else besides them immediately faded away. The background noise was muted and the living room sank to utter silence, so silent that she could hear her blood flowing through her veins and her heart beating all out of rhythm. It almost felt like a scene in those cheesy romantic films she had watched too often.

He was there in person, dressed in a simple black suit but he looked so expensive compared to all the others. His hair was much longer than the last time she saw him, all tied up in a small bun at the back of his head. That new hairstyle almost turned him into a whole different person.

There was a strange kind of familiarity as well as ignorant in that look he was giving her. Then he pressed his lips into a smile, for a second neglecting what the white-bearded man was telling him. She didn't know what to do but smile back and instantly look away as she carried on the conversation with her relatives, acting as if she wasn't bothered at all by his presence. Deep down inside, however, the girl wasn't as calm as she was pretending to be.

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Y/N mumbled quick apologies as she grabbed Celine by her elbow and pulled her away from the unfinished conversation, to the back of the staircase.

"How did he get in here without anyone knowing?"

At first, Celine didn't know whom her friend was referring to. But a face like Harry Styles' couldn't just blend into any crowd, especially one as depressing as that. It literally took her less than a second to spot him in the far corner of the living room.

"He must've used the back door," she said, seemingly as shocked as Y/N had been. "Maybe he didn't want to cause a scene, maybe that was why he skipped the funeral."

"Maybe..." The taller girl let go of her friend's arm, keeping her stare fixed on Harry.

"Will you talk to him?" Celine asked.

"I don't know."

"What if he talks to you?"

"I...don't know," Y/N repeated the same three words, eyebrows furrowed at the boy next door.

His name was still Harry Styles, his smile still shone like the sun, and he was still the most beautiful person she had ever seen, but she didn't know him, not anymore. It had been four years since they last saw each other. She was obviously not the same fourteen-year-old girl who had begged him to be her first kiss; and he, now a famous actor, must be very different too. So instead of walking up to him and starting a conversation, Y/N chose to stay away, hoping that he would also do the same.

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As the last few guests were heading out and so were her two best friends, Y/N came to her backyard to be alone. It was a long day after all, she needed to recharge herself by spending some time with her own thoughts, and the only place that she could come to think, was the treehouse in her neighbor's backyard.

Unlike people, it never left her.

With her feet dangling in the air as she sat on the edge of her childhood fort, the girl let her thoughts wander with the summer breezes to faraway places, but mostly to the past, to the things she couldn't change, to when her mother was alive and Harry was her friend. Then she couldn't help but wonder if he was still talking to her dad in the kitchen. Was he thinking about her too? Probably not. But a tiny part of her secretly hoped that he was.

"Bambi."

The endearing sound of that nickname got Y/N's head turned in a split second. She hadn't heard it in so long. She hadn't heard that voice in so long, and her heart felt the same warm fuzzy feeling she used to feel whenever he called her that. She rushed to the other side of the treehouse, to the entrance, one hand on her heaving chest as she looked down.

There he was, standing in the middle of his backyard, eyes on her, and the scene was all so familiar yet so foreign. He was different, she was different, and their surroundings were also different.

His garden was no longer the magical place she had always fantasized about when she was a kid. Now that nobody was taking care of it, all the flowers had wilted, the grass had grown much higher, and the sprinklers didn't come on at 6AM anymore. Somehow she felt like it represented what was left between them, absolutely nothing.

He waved his hand to get her attention as if she couldn't see him, and so she did the same, not a single word was exchanged. There was a long pause when they just stood still and stared at each other like two strangers meeting for the first time, probably to take in the new appearance of the other person. She probably had changed more than he had, so she would kill to find out what he thought of her now that she wasn't a kid anymore.

It was Harry who said the first words.

"May I join you up there?"

She hesitated. Fourteen-year-old Y/N would never.

"Uhm...S-Sure," she said at last and watched him make his way towards the tree. Harry struggled to step on the rope ladder and somehow she found it quite funny. When he heard her laugh, he shot her a playful glare, and told her that she was distracting him from his climb.

"Oh God, I'm really getting old."

The man sighed in relief once he had made it to the treehouse in one piece as he took a bow, making the girl shake her head and giggle at him. Once again, they sat side by side with their bare feet dangling in the air like the night he had left. This time, however, she was staring blankly ahead and he was looking at her. He was second-guessing what she was going to say, but she remained in silence until he was once again the first to speak.

"Bambi," he said. "Are you okay?"

She turned to look at him, flashing a single smile. She didn't need to say anything else after that, since he already knew she wasn't okay. She took a deep breath, letting it all out as her eyes turned to focus on her fingers toying with the hem of her black dress.

"Bambi's mother died in the movie too, right?"

That one question shattered Harry's heart at once. He was so used to seeing her as a happy and positive little girl. Now she wasn't little anymore, and she wasn't happy either. He used to know everything about her because she had never kept a secret from him, now he had to try and read her mind because he knew there was more than she was willing to confess.

He waited for her to tell him about her plans after graduation, which university she'd got accepted in, fill in the blanks about all the things he'd missed in the last four years. However, she gave him nothing. Maybe she didn't even trust him anymore. He couldn't blame her though. He'd been gone for too long.

"The car accident happened right before my graduation. She didn't get to hear my speech." Y/N lifted one hand to wipe the tears running down her cheek though she didn't want to cry, at least not in front of him. But the girl had been holding back for too long now and that moment was her breaking point. "Had she been there...she would...she would've been so proud of me..."

Harry quickly wrapped his arms around the girl's shoulders and pulled her close to his chest. She let him hold her, drowning her in the unfamiliar scent of his expensive cologne, which made her feel as though she was in the arms of a complete stranger. But right now she needed that hug more than anything else.

"Your mother didn't have to hear your speech to be proud of you, Bambi. She'd always been proud of you," he mumbled into her hair, one hand stroking her back.

It took Y/N a moment to quiet down and pull away a bit to look at him. They were face to face again in four years, this time, in the kissing distance. She had never sat this close to him before, and he had never looked at her that way before.

The childhood best friends held each other's gaze as if trying to recollect each memory of their past, to form the complete picture of the many years they had left behind. There was a quiet moment, followed by awkward hesitation, as they both leaned in, eyes closed. Neither was thinking when their lips attached.

This time, they were really kissing.

She felt his fingers tangled in her hair as he deepened the kiss and she kissed him back with as much passion, like she had never been kissed before, like it was their first. For a second there, she wished it had been.

The sound of his ringtone broke them apart, and it was only then that they realized what they'd done. She expected silence from him, or at least something else, but instead what she received was, "I have to take this. I'm very sorry." 

Just like that, he stood up and hurried his way back to the rope ladder. The first time they kissed, she was the one to run away. This time, it was him.

He set his feet back on the ground and picked up that call as he hurried to his house, without a second look back. Y/N was still sitting there, not sure what had happened. It didn't even feel real, though she knew it was, because she could still taste his lips on hers. She didn't know who had called, and why it was so important that he couldn't stay and give her an explanation for that moment between them.

If that was revenge for that kiss she had stolen from him four years ago, when she was only fourteen, then it just wasn't fair.

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The next morning, Y/N came to Harry's house to talk to him, and once again, his mother said he had already gone back to London; but afterward, the kind woman gave Y/N his phone number and told her to give him a call.

Maybe Anne could see how much her son still meant to the girl, and that she needed his comfort now more than ever. Y/N wondered why Harry couldn't see that as well. Was it really because he was a boy? Or was he just denying everything he saw because he didn't want to believe it was real, that her feelings for him were real? There were too many questions needed answers, and Y/N couldn't be patient anymore.

That night she decided to call him and talk about that kiss. She wasn't gonna sit there and second guess his next moves like Rapunzel in the high tower, waiting by the window for her prince to come back on his white horse. Because this wasn't a fairytale with a happy ending, she was never a princess, even though in her eyes he'd always been the prince.

The girl started biting on her nails while her heart was beating in time with the beeps on the phone. It took a couple ones until someone finally picked up, and she didn't even hesitate.

"Hey, Harry, it's Y/N," she said. "Your mum gave me your number and—"

"Sorry? Who is this again?"

That wasn't Harry's voice. That was a woman. Y/N double-checked the number on the piece of paper Anne had given her, and as she was sure she had put in the correct one, her heart fell to the bottom of her chest.

As Y/N remained silent, the woman on the phone went on, "Harry's in the shower right now, is this urgent?"

"No..." Y/N faked a soft laugh. "I...uhm...Could you please tell Harry that...Y/N called and...please tell him to call me back when he's free?"

"Sure," said that woman, and it was a lie. Harry never got to find out about Y/N's call, but Y/N didn't know about that, so she waited. She waited for that entire week, and by the end of that week she'd made up her mind, this time, to give up on him for good.

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(two years later)

"Hey little girl, get up."

"No...One more!"

"Enough, time to go home," said the big fat bartender as he refused to sell the girl another pint. Normally he wouldn't care if his guests got so drunk they forgot their own names, but since that girl had come to the bar every night that week, and got wasted almost every single time, he felt like it was his responsibility to stop giving her what she thought she needed.

"I'm not a little girl" Y/N grumbled, lifting a finger as she narrowed her hooded eyes at him. "I'm turning twenty next month! You're a little girl!"

The man shook his head and took the empty glass in front of her away before she drunkenly smashed it like she had before.

"Do you even have a life, kid?" He asked.

"I do!" She shouted with her eyes closed, pointing a finger to the ceiling. "I'm a...uh...a college student...and a writer..."

The big man rolled his eyes when she said 'writer' but he hadn't got time to argue with a drunk 19-year-old that owning an emo online blog (he assumed) didn't make you a writer.

"Look, kid, this is London. There are plenty of other fun places for young people to hang, you shouldn't be spending this much time here, drinking your ass off."

"But I want some more!"

"Trust me you don't."

"I do! Now give me another..." She trailed off, then cracked a weird smile at him.

The man raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to finish that sentence, but she never did. Y/N dropped her head down on the counter and just lied there like a dead body. Of course, the bartender knew she didn't die, she was still breathing. But he couldn't just leave her there because the bar was closing soon. So he asked a waitress to search for her phone in one of her pockets and called one of her emergency numbers.

That same night, Harry received a call from a bar not so far from his home in London, telling him to pick up a girl named Y/N.

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When Y/N opened her eyes, she found herself in a room she had never seen before. At first, she thought she was dreaming, that in her dream she'd become rich and finally got a bedroom twice the size of her current flat. But everything seemed too real to be just a dream. She could actually feel the softness of the mattress she was lying on, and the pillow beneath her head was so comfortable that she didn't want to get up. But she must get up, because Y/N soon realized she wasn't dreaming and it was somebody else's bedroom.

Quickly, she kicked off the duvet, and sighed in relief to see that she was still wearing her clothes from the night before. She thought if she'd been kidnapped, then her kidnapper must be a decent man. But why would anyone want to kidnap a lonely and depressed university student, who could barely pay her own rent? If that person didn't want her or her money (which she didn't even have), what did they want?

The answer to her questions showed up at the bedroom door just as she sat up and threw her legs off the bed.

"Harry?"

Y/N blinked fast because she couldn't believe it was him. But it was, unfortunately. He was standing there, staring back at her with the same dimpled smile on his face. It'd been two years so she'd expected him to look different, yet she was still surprised. His hair was shorter and one could hardly imagine he used to have hair so long that he could put it in a man bun. Overall he still looked good, the opposite of what a mess she was at that moment.

Harry didn't wait for her to ask, he went ahead and explained the situation last night, saying he had to drive to a bar at 1:30 AM just to pick her up, and bring her to his house because she was too drunk to remember her own address. She was glad he didn't ask her why he was in her emergency contact list, because she didn't even know what had been on her mind when she put his number there. Maybe in case something bad ever happened to her, she wanted him to know as well. She just had never expected it to be like this.

"How bad was I?" She asked.

"You threw up all over my shoes." He slightly chuckled.

"I'll get you another pair, I promise!"

"It's alright. You don't have to."

"They're very expensive, aren't they?" She scoffed, and he nodded his head to confirm it was true.

"They're Gucci," Harry emphasized the brand name with a funny grimace to make her laugh, but all that he received from the girl sitting on his bed was a nervous frown. "So..." He trailed off, taking a deep breath. "Mind telling me why you drank to the point you passed out last night?"

"I don't have to tell you anything."

"You don't." He agreed. "But I'd appreciate it if you do."

The girl turned her eyes away from him and let the silence take over once again. Harry prayed that she would say something, anything. She could just start yelling at him if she wanted to, even though he knew she never would.

"Thank you for everything. But I think I should go now," Y/N finally said and rose up from the bed. But the older man didn't move out of the way for her to walk out.

"You expect me to let you go after what happened last night?" He asked, giving her a stern look as he shoved both hands into his pants pockets.

"What?" She scoffed. "So you're gonna keep me here?"

"If I must. Yes."

"Don't try to be my dad, one is enough already," said the girl as she tried to get past him, but he quickly placed both arms on the doorframe to block her path, forcing her to finally look him in the eyes.

"Bambi, talk to me," he pleaded, eyebrows knitted together, looking more serious this time.

Y/N took a step away from the older man with her head held high and her arms crossed as she told him they didn't have anything to talk about. "If you really wanted to talk, you would've done it two years ago."

Just like that, she pushed him aside to head out, but Harry was quick to grab her elbow and stop her before she left.

"I owe you an apology, I—"

To his surprise, Y/N cut him off by yanking her arm away from his grip. Then she looked up, eyes to eyes with him this time. He knew that look so well, she used to give the same one to the bigger kids who had always teased her on playground, but that was actually the first time she had ever looked at him that way.

"We don't owe each other anything. Goodbye, Harry," she said, and he knew better than to try and convince her to stay. Once Y/N had made up her mind, she wouldn't change it for anyone, not even her mother, and certainly not him.

So he had no choice but to let the girl go even though it was painful to watch her walk away like that, it hurt him even more now that he began to think about her cold look from earlier. Maybe that was the moment Harry realized the part of him in her was barely there anymore.

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Not until Y/N had walked a pretty far distance from Harry's house did she finally stop and burst into tears. She had never got so emotional that she ended up crying in public before, but now the girl was too upset to care who might be judging her. It wasn't only Harry, it was the entire series of unfortunate events, a circle, all leading back to him.

When she saw his face again, it hurt her so much because she wanted to tell him about everything, why she had been at that bar, why she had been drinking. Y/N wanted to hear him say everything was gonna be okay, and that he would be there for her through it all. But the last time he tried to comfort her, he left a bigger hole in her heart, so maybe this time she should deal with the problem on her own.

The girl told herself to stop crying, and all of a sudden, she heard the camera sound as someone had taken a photo. Y/N looked up and saw a tall man holding his camera, she assumed he was a paparazzi and had seen her walking out of Harry Styles' house.

"Did I give you permission to take pictures of me?"

Her loud voice caught the stranger by surprise, causing him to instantly lower the camera as he apologized, and swore he was just a street photographer. He probably thought that she saw him as a creep, but he didn't seem like one at all. It wasn't just the fact that he had a pretty face, but also because the look in his eyes was genuine.

Y/N's first impression of the man was that he was tall, very tall. She guessed he was the same height as Harry, but his thin build created an illusion that he was at least two inches taller. She didn't consider herself as petite, still, she felt so small standing next to this stranger.

The man, probably just a few years older than her, had smooth, dry skin with little freckles sprinkled here and there across his nose and his cheekbones. His blonde hair looked even more golden in the sunlight. It was short and unruly, yet perfectly framed his face.

Now that Y/N had made eye-contact with him, she couldn't look away anymore. Those were the bluest eyes she had ever seen. The shade resembled a cloudless sky in the spring, full on Prince Charming kind of blue. The more she looked the more prominent they became.

Maybe it was just an illusion, but Y/N swore she could see a bit of green in them.

"This is for a small project I'm working on. I'm taking photos of random scenes and people I come across," the stranger explained as she approached him, and didn't hesitate to show her the proofs on his camera. "Here's an old man feeding the birds, a cute puppy, uhm....a lady who sells flowers on the sidewalk, a kid with his new soccer ball...and a pretty girl crying on the street."

Y/N glared at the young man for what he'd just said, but his cheeky smirk remained as he shut down the camera and introduced himself. He told her his name was Isaac, and he was a professional photographer. Since he'd already shown her those photos he'd taken that day, she could confirm that he wasn't just boasting.

"I'm sorry if I offended you, Miss..."

"My name's Y/N."

"Alright, Y/N, I'm really sorry." Isaac paused to bite his lip, waiting for the girl to speak, and when he was sure she wasn't gonna say anything else, he went on, "I could just delete the photo."

"It's okay, keep it," she said, sighing. "If you wanted to take pictures of me, all you had to do was ask nicely."

"Really?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Okay then, Y/N." His emphasis on her name made the girl smile and roll her eyes. "May I take a few more photos of you?"

Y/N actually thought twice about that offer. She had just met the guy, for all she knew he could still be a psychopath, a very charming one if that was the case. But since she had nothing else to do on that Sunday morning, and needed a distraction from reality, getting to know a good-looking stranger didn't sound like a bad idea. If he turned out to be a real psychopath, then maybe she was just very unlucky.

"Okay." She nodded, turning her face to the right. "But only on my good side, got it?"

"Got it," Isaac said with a grin, and quickly snapped a shot of the smiling girl.

[thephantomofthe-internet]

Homeward Bound: Chapter 8

Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader, Billy Hargrove x Henderson!Reader

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13

Chapter Summary: Going from Hargrove to Harrington can give a girl whiplash, or at least it should.

Words: 3,213

Warnings: Swearing, slight smut referenced oops, death mention

Permanent Tag: @hotstuffhargrove @denimjacketkisses @hargrovesgoldilocks @casaharrington @lilmissperfectlyimperfect @hipsmcgee

Series Tag: @moonstruckhargrove @kurt-nightcrawler @baebee35 @thoughstofaredhead @supernatural-pants @bby-becca @fear-the-reaper115

You awoke to the sun burning your eyes. Your neck was sore and locked up, your back aching. As you sat up, it took you a minute to remember where you were. This wasn’t your bed, nor was it your room, but your things were everywhere.

You were at Billy’s. And you’d slept with him.

And you hated yourself for it. You shouldn’t have done it, he loved you for Christ’s sake, and you used him.

And the worst part was it wasn’t even good. It was terrible, god awful, embarrassingly bad. You were certain that your memory of him being a god in bed was just the memory of an inexperienced teenager, because this was not good by any means. You’d never felt more ignored by the person on top of your in your life-you were a complete afterthought in the whole event. You swore you’d never been further from an orgasm in your entire life. That would’ve been shitty but if it hadn’t lasted forever; that was the one thing your memory had correct, he lasted long. Too bad that’s all he had going for him.

You crept out of bed; Billy was still snoring next to your place in bed, and slowly gathered your things off the floor. You made sure to not miss a piece of yourself, pulling back on your skirt and blouse, your bra was still around your waist when you awoke. You pulled on your underwear and tiptoed out of his bedroom.

Your shoes and purse were still by the door and you grabbed them, slipping out the front door before he could even stir.

You knew well enough that you looked awful-signs of sex were all over you. You were more than glad that the hickeys weren’t on your neck, only your chest and collarbones. Your body was desperately sore, though it was only because you’d tried and failed to share a twin bed.

As you made your way out of the apartment, you wondered how you were going to spin this into a good lie. Your mother was going to kill you, god that felt so immature to you. You weren’t supposed to be out with boys, unless the boy was Dustin, and you certainly weren’t supposed to be spending the night with them. And you’d been gone all night, how the hell were you supposed to cover for yourself. Steve had to have told your mother where you were going, he always had to have the moral high ground over you.

The honk of a car horn startled you out of your thoughts, though you chose not to turn around to see who it was. You didn’t want nor need to see whoever thought it was a good idea to honk to get a lady’s attention.

“Henderson!” the driver cried and you let out a small sigh and a tired laugh, turning to smile at the driver.

Steve Harrington was behind you and his timing was excellent.

“You need a ride?” he asked, slowing the car as he got closer to you. You nodded, pulling open the door and hopping in quickly. Steve chuckled, watching you straighten out and slump down, defeated.

“Have fun last night?” he asked with a smirk.

You groaned “No…well yeah, and then no. Ugh, it was not a good choice.” You admitted glumly. “And now I’m gonna get grounded, god I feel like I’m sixteen or something…”

“Relax, your mom’s not gonna do shit to you.” Steve replied easily. You scowled at him, rolling your eyes.

“Have you met my mother?” you asked sarcastically.

“Yes, and I know lying to her solves most problems, which I already did. As far as she knows, you were at Jenny Stein’s. And since she lives in the same complex as your Mr. Hargrove, I think it’ll work out fine.” Steve said with a shrug.

“You lied to my mom for me?” you asked, wide eyed.

“Yeah, yeah I did.” He replied.

“Thank you…” you said. You had no idea what else, it shocked you. He wasn’t supposed to be protecting you, that wasn’t his role anymore. But he was, and while it should’ve annoyed you, it warmed your heart.

“Don’t worry about it, you hungry?” he said “Cause I haven’t eaten yet and I’m starving.”

“Yeah, yeah I can eat.” You said, ignore the way your stomach growled at the very mention of food. Steve drove off towards what was once a crime scene, the diner formerly owned by Benny Hammond, the first outside victim anyone had ever heard of.

The place lived in a strange place in your mind; filled with both happiness and second hand grief. It lived there because you didn’t know Benny, you never would, but you spent hours in the place he died. Benny’s had been bought by a third party chain and soon became a fifties themed diner-complete with waitresses on roller skates. It had lost its down-home sheen and became an outside force. People protested the change but nothing could be done and suddenly it was someplace without feeling; a cold, sterile environment wrapped in pastels and kitsch. It felt fake and yet real, you spent nearly every afternoon there, planning schemes but also drinking shakes and relaxing, planning school dances or weekend trips. You went on dates there, saw hearts break and explode with love. You both loved and hated that diner.

And sitting there now, in your old booth from years past, you felt both at home and in a strange land. You’d been on your first date with Steve in that same booth, sharing a shake and wondering how your lives had gotten to this point. Now, you sat as strangers, sipping coffee, unsure of your places in each other’s worlds. Silence was the wall in between you. You intended to remove the first brick; you’d built the wall after all.

“He said he loved me.” You said simply, swallowing a mouthful of warm coffee, slightly too sweet for your liking.

“He did?” Steve asked, clearing his throat. He was obviously holding back a laugh, trying to be polite to you, but it wasn’t working; his face fully gave him away.

“He did.” You replied, chuckling softly.

“How did you respond?” Steve asked, leaning closer to you, elbows on the table, dangerously close to knocking the salt over

“I nearly jumped out the window!” you cried, earning a boisterous laugh from Steve, who fell back against the white vinyl booth. The whole thing was as silly as it felt, which was reassuring. But it was also nice to laugh about it-when it happened, you wanted to die, but now you were okay. You didn’t have to love him, and you sure as hell didn’t, but it was good to know that the whole thing was as stupid sounding as it felt.

“Jesus Christ and you still slept with him?” he asked, dumbfounded, shaking his head with a wide smile.

“Apparently! I guess I pitied him or something…” you sighed, rolling your eyes at your own stupidity.

“Was it…sorry, no I shouldn’t ask that.” He replied, stumbling over the question he gave up on. Your roller-inclined waitress, Katherine, placed your plates in front of you, refilling the coffee cups and skating off before you could even thank her.

“No, it’s cool.” You shrugged “It was awful. Absolutely terrible, it was like sleeping with a virgin except it lasted for like two and a half hours.”

“Wait seriously?” he asked, dropping his fork. This was a new side of Billy Steve never got to see-the side where he wasn’t the king. Even long after high school, he still ruled over their peers. Sure, now he ran Miller’s Bar like he owned the place and made the young parents of Hawkins feel bad for starting their families early. But he was still admired, still wanted and lusted after. Steve hadn’t had a date in months but Billy was out every weekend from what he heard. On major drinking holidays, he’d been called to take down a couple of Billy’s altercations but nothing really ever became of them-nobody pressed charges and every generally forgot, leaving him with the paperwork.

“Really!” you cried, giggling “I swear, the guy I lost my virginity to was better, at least it was shorter.”

“Was I? I mean…never mind.” Steve started, immediately giving up on the sentence again. He was blushing now, his eyes downturned to his eggs, suddenly small in his seat.

“You were better, don’t worry.” You said easily, shrugging softly as you took a bite of the giant pile of pancakes. Steve perked up just a little, a small smile spreading across his face. He looked more confident, at ease with himself again. You were glad to be of a little help to his self-esteem, even if you weren’t necessarily ready to be having these conversations again.

“Well good…not that I asked, but you know…good to know.” He said, his voice smoother. He was trying to play it cool now, finding his groove again, although he seemed to be stumbling just a bit. You found it oddly endearing, like an elementary schooler trying to imitate their cool older brother instead of an adult.

“Oh totally…totally completely, you’d never ask me that…” you replied, shaking your head as a small smile slipped onto your lips. It was hard not to laugh; he looked so serious, you could almost take him seriously if you didn’t know him. As he puffed out his chest, doing a silent imitation of Billy, you lost it. He just looked so silly; a false attempt at masculinity and suaveness, like a marionette instead of a real boy.

“Good and, ya know girl…I still love ya…” he added, trying his best to mock the Californian’s accent, slightly marred by Indiana’s tone.

You snorted loudly, coffee nearly coming out of your nose, making you choke just for a second as you shook your head, holding up your palm in the universal sign of ‘stop, wait I got one’.

“No no it’s like this.” You puffed your chest, widening your stance to make yourself as big as possible. You jutted out your jaw and pulled your best open mouth smirk, eyeing him like a piece of meat, which immediately made Steve cower away, watching you almost mystified. You ran your tongue over your upper teeth and lip, nodding at him. “You know I just…I love you, pretty girl…” you crooned, your voice not quite low enough to reach his tone and not quite skilled enough to imitate his accent, turning the words into a strange mix of choices that broke Steve’s resolve immediately.

“What was that…” he cried, his voice hoarse and breathless. You merely grinning, shrugging easily. “How do you move like him and sound nothing like him at the same time?” he guffawed.

“I’m not good at accents!” you said with a laugh, only making Steve laugh harder. The whole scene felt homey, like a warm blankets on a cold winter’s night. It was one of those moments you wished you could sink into like a warm bath, but time was physical and you had to move on, taking a sip of coffee and watching Steve come down from his giggle fit.

You finished breakfast in relative silence, although it was comfortable one. The kind you had with your father before he got his divorce and ran off with his mistress, back when you were young and naïve of the ways the world can ruin a person. It was strange to find yourself comparing Steve to your father, especially because you hated your father.

You hated him for abandoning you and Dustin. You hated him for not paying child support. You hated him for marrying Marnie and forcing you to play bridesmaid while Dustin was none the wiser. You hated him for moving on with his life while your mother struggled to find her footing again. You hated him for taking away the music in your life and forcing you to find it again on your own.

But Steve…well he wasn’t your father. Not by a long shot. Your mother swore that once he had a sense of humour and a heart, but you never really got to see it. But this breakfast with him, you felt as though you slipped back into your childhood in Chicago.

Your feet dangled off the floor as you sat on the edge of your big wooden kitchen chair, trying to keep your freshly cleaned and absolute favourite pink shirt, the one with the big crocheted butterfly on the front, clear of cereal bites and spilled milk as you took too big bites of sugary breakfast cereal. Across the table, your father sat in his equally clean and pressed black suit, the jacket hanging off the chair like clockwork. He was reading the newspaper, the ink turner the tips of his fingers black, and drinking black coffee from the boring, plain white mug he used every morning like clockwork. You made him a mug for father’s day, covered in bright splotches of colour and squiggly doodles that vaguely mimicked smiley faces, hearts, and stars. He used it once, and then it became a holder for pens and pencils on his desk. You didn’t mind, you were just happy he appreciated it, that he even used it at all.

Your mother was frazzled upstairs. Dustin had just been born, he was hardly alive and yet he insisted on making his presence known by screaming. He’d been in and out of the hospital since he was born. Your father wasn’t pleased about it, you’d heard them fight, but when you looked at your baby brother, he seemed fine to you. He didn’t have collar bones, fair, but you thought it was cool. And besides, his big eyes made up for it. You thought he was beautiful. Your father disagreed.

On mornings like this, you had to make your own breakfast, which meant whatever the sugariest cereal you had in stock was with too much milk because the jug was too heavy for you to lift and your father was never really watching to make sure you could handle it. You ate at the table in as close to silence as a five year old could muster, which meant you hummed to yourself and muttered whatever thoughts you had to yourself, and your father read in silence. It was nice though-your father worked long hours and you hardly saw him because of it. Those brief moments at the table before he left for work gave you simple moments with him, the tangible kind you could taste and smell and hear and feel when you recalled them.

You heard your mother let out a sharp cry, a word you knew you weren’t supposed to use and mommies weren’t supposed to say. “Cliff!” she cried from upstairs “I think he’s sick, I think we have to go back to the hospital!”

Your father looked up from his paper for the first time that morning, calling back “I’m sure he’s fine, Claudia! He’s just acting like a baby!” and then, he looked to you. He hadn’t looked at you all morning. And he smiled, he rolled his eyes. This was an intimate moment, a brief beat where your sentiments were aligned and he treated you like his equal. He believed that you two had the same feelings on the situation happening just above you. And you complied; you shrugged with a giggle, a secret shared between you two. For the first time in your life, you and your father were aligned, comrades in battle instead of trailing daughter to distant, aloof father. That little look you shared was a moment you held onto for the rest of your life, until he sent you back to Hawkins without a second look.

You wondered if that was who Steve could become. You could almost see it-if life led him done the same path it led Hopper, you could see him becoming jaded and cynical and distant. But then there was something in him, an eternal sense of hope, which kept him away from that path. He didn’t believe that the world was inherently good, he knew that there was evil always lurking around the corner, but he still believed in some sense of good and truth in the world, something you couldn’t fully get on board with anymore. You wondered if he had a cynical bone in his body. You guessed not.

“You ready to face the wrath of your mom?” Steve asked, drawing you out of your thoughts, an ease to his whole demeanour that felt unearned. You wished he was still nervous around you instead of so cool and collected.

“Eh, I guess…as long she actually believes I was at Jenny’s I should be fine. If not…well I would really appreciate if you were a poll bearer at my funeral.” You replied.

“Oh yeah? Who else should I ask?” he asked with a grin, pulling out his wallet to pay for breakfast before you could even ask for separate checks.

“Well Dusty, obviously, then get Lucas and Mike, I don’t really think Will can do the heavy lifting, not that Mike really could either…maybe get Marvin Rubio to do it, he’ll cry his way through it but he’s stronger than Mike and should be able to help hold my ass up, as long as he’s got a strong support around him to lift I won’t end up on the floor.” You said decidedly.

“What should we do about lover boy then?” he asked “I’m sure he’d want to carry you down the river.”

“Don’t let him touch me, and don’t let him make a speech! My mother will kill my ghost and I wanna haunt some people.” You replied.

“Duly noted, now let’s get out of here before Callahan puts an APB out on my location.” Steve said and you nodded, getting up from the plastic seat, your thighs sticking to the material slightly. Going home sounded both good and bad to you now; good, because you could finally change and wash the sins off your body, but bad because you have to finally deal with your mother. And the negatively were vastly outweighing the positives. Still, there was nowhere else for you to go, so you gritted your teeth and climbed back into Steve’s car.

The drive was short, much to your chagrin, and you were home before you could find your strength again. Unlike before, Steve wasn’t parking, so you quickly gathered your things.

“Thanks, for picking me up…and for breakfast, it was nice.” You said awkwardly, slinging your purse over your shoulder. He nodded and you climbed out quick, set to begin the dreaded ascent up your driveway.

Steve rolled down his window, calling after you “Hey! Before you try to make other plans, you wanna hang out with me and Dustin tonight? I’m sure the kid would love having you around.” He asked.

You nodded “Sure! Sounds good!” you replied with a grin, waving as he drove up before rushing up the steps. It was still early, maybe she was still asleep.

The door burst open. “Y/N!”  

You were so dead.

[thompsborn]

Don't want to end up oversharing, but I've been following homeward bound from chapter 3 and so much has changed in my life for the better ever since then. I weirdly feel like I've been maturing alongside the fic. I'll be getting my bachelor's degree in two months and I started reading during my first year. You have no idea how special this piece of work is for me and I'm very thankful you've decided to share it with us. I absolutely trust your process cuz each chapter you release is just perfection, whenever you're ready to release more I'll be there to read it. Now getting on with the actual question (sorry for writing so much ijbol), what do you think Harley and Peter think their dream home would be? What style, is it an apartment or a house and all that stuff.

oh my god i ?? i am lowkey crying omg

homeward bound is so special to my heart, i could write pages upon pages about my emotional attachment to this fic, but that would take a whole lot of time and i wanna try and answer your question, but just !! like i know logically people really care about hb too, like i’ve read so many comments and gotten asks and i know it but getting new asks or comments still sends me reeling because it’s so mind boggling and i’m just like?? damn!! thank u sm i’m glad that my post nwm coping mechanism turned general life coping mechanism has been with you like this <3

also! congratulations on getting your bachelors!! hell yeah!!!

okay, okay, okay, so to answer your question, i think it varies on the era of their lives, so like

peter growing up probably always thought it would be nice to have a house one day because he knows his parents had a house that he could very vaguely remember living in, but he was pretty open to home being anything. harley, on the other hand, grew up in tennessee and probably always assumed he’d live in a house because he’s always lived in a house. it probably wouldn’t have been until after meeting tony and thinking about maybe going to new york one day that he even considered the idea of living in an apartment, but even then, he couldn’t imagine it being permanent

by the start of homeward bound things are different. harley is living in the city for the first time, living in a dorm and sharing close quarters with harry, and he’s mourning tony and his life before the snap, still struggling to a world that’s so different from the one he remembers, so for him the concept of a dream home feel irrelevant. like, he’s focusing more on just making it to his classes and his shifts at late night and the unexpected social life that he sort of develops with the friends he was not planning to make, so picturing his future doesn’t extend further than getting through his first year at ESU and signing up for classes, yk?

peter, at this point, has entirely lost his sense of home and assumes he’s never going to get it back (which is why he has not once referred to his apartment as home, outloud or in his head) so he has no dream home because he doesn’t think he’ll ever have a home

i’ll keep this as light in spoilers as possible, but i’ll tag it homeward bound spoilers and give a warning here that this is future hb stuff butit doesn’t actually give away the plot if that makes sense?

the series is called homeward bound for a reason, basically—it’s following the theme of home. the mcu trilogy is titled with home becoming inaccessible (homecoming, far from home, no way home) so i want this series to explore an idea of finding it again

as the series progresses, ideas of home and what it is and what it looks like are going to change and adapt, but in terms of your question specifically, harley and peter are going to wind up with the same idea of a dream home: a small cozy house, not in the suburbs but not in the heart of the city either, within a reasonable driving distance from their friends.

(bonus: harry loves the idea of a penthouse, but in reality would like a house like his moms, or a nice apartment if the location is worth it. gwen grew up in apartments and likes the idea of a house but wouldn’t care if she never moved into one.)

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

hello lovelies, do you know any fics where stiles is a hit man or just a very powerful being where people hire to kill people/take care of their problems? Sorry if that's too specific!

AND

Anonymous said:Any American assassin/ teen wolf fics?

AND

mais5minutoos said:I just watched John Wick and now the only thing i need is a good hamburger and sterek fic where one of them is like a super awesome and hot assassin. Thank you so much for this peace of heaven.

I combined asks cause they fit together, I think. And here’s our assassins tag.  - Anastasia

They Say An End Can Be A Start by verob2002

(1/1 I 1,330 I Not Rated I Sterek)

Captain Derek Hale leads a mission to rescue and retrieve an unwitting asset to the CIA.

Takes one to know one by Mysenia

(1/1 I 1,374 I Teen I Steter)

Peter watches Stiles and comes to the conclusion that the Spark is taking care of the pack’s loose ends in less than legal means.

(it looks like) you might be one of us by pprfaith

(1/1 I 2,234 I Teen I Steter)

In which Stiles is his mother’s son with her razor in his pocket and other people’s blood on his hands.

Trembling Stars by Meta

(1/1 I 6,049 I Teen I Sterek)

Stiles returns home after years of working for the CIA.

American Wolf by SRapp

(4/? I 6,597 I Teen I Stalia)

Five years, Stiles has been gone, disappeared. But when a video is released will the search for him resume.

Mitch Rapp wasn’t aware that his family was looking for him, he didn’t even know who they were, or who he was anyways.

Worn to Paper by Batwynn

(3/? I 13,159 I Teen I Sterek)

Stiles is selected by the elders of his village to complete his first assignment as a Journeyman. He’s given a knife, directions to the castle, and told his target is a woman. They might have neglected to tell him it’s the Queen Alpha.

When he can’t complete the mission and he returns to the village, they immediately punish him for his failure by removing him from everyone’s memory and consciousness. He is invisible, nameless. Stiles is no more. Now there is only Fox.

And Fox seems to be the target of a very angry ex-prince Derek.

007 by captivated

(7/? I 13,709 I General I Mitch(Stiles)/Anna)

❝where there’s smoke, there’s fire❞

Stiles Stilinski is gone, and all there is left of him is Mitch Rapp. After leaving Beacon Hills because of his best friend, Scott McCall, Stiles tries to live a normal life. Meeting a girl named Maureen “Mary” Eliot, he finally has a chance until a terrorist attacks hits her plane and kills her along with the innocent passengers on board. About a year later after the death of his beloved, he’s recruited into the Central Intelligence Agency by Irene Kennedy. Killing terrorists, officially being promoted as CIA, and becoming the most professional marksman against terrorism; it was only the beginning.

Now, he’s called in by an old, Deputy Jordan Parrish, who reports to him that his father has been shot in the line of fire. He’s set to go back but it means that he had to be known as Stiles Stilinski; the teenage boy he used to be. He’d be the only ones putting them in danger, not the other way around. After five years of leaving Beacon Hills, he’s a different man. A changed man. He’s a 007 (double-oh-seven).

The Ruler & The Killer by rainsoakedshoes

(11/? I 27,950 I Mature I Sterek)

Stiles Stilinski AKA Red is a ruthless assassin known for his accuracy and efficiency. All of the crime families of Beacon Hills want his services, but Stiles is very careful with how he conducts business. Stiles has three rules:

1) Money upfront2) Leave no witnesses3) No affiliation with any one crime family

Then Derek Hale organises a meeting with the elusive Red, gives him an interesting offer, and suddenly Stiles is rethinking his rules.

Stiles’s Secret Life by AlexandriaBusch2828

(10/10 I 42,276 I Teen I Sterek)

At a young age Stiles’s family was no ordinary, neither was he. In the Supernatural world you’re always in danger. On top of that your family works in a facility called The Fireflies which were also known as the deadliest assassin group. Claudia and John Stilinski were known as the deadliest assassins ever. Everyone who knew them were scared, but those were very few people. If you messed with them, you ended up dead by sunrise. Stiles grew up trained to be the next best assassin but after a mission leading to a death of a member, both father and son retired with massive fear of using their skills ever again. Years later they come across the odd town of Beacon Hills revealing a series of unexpected events one of them being Stiles getting himself into a pack. Stiles’ secret life is coming to a thin thread and at any moment could be cut lose and all the dangerous people from his past might crawl back to haunt him and the people he loves. Will he face the past when his friends and pack are in terrible danger or will he keep pretending to be the harmless human in the pack?

Homeward Bound by RivanWarrioress

(25/? I 82,002 I Teen I No Stiles Pairing)

Seven Years ago Stiles Stilinski had boarded the Queen’s Gambit, in an attempt to escape the memories of what had happened during the last few months in Beacon Hills. It was only supposed to be for a week. He was supposed to be back home for Christmas.

Then the Queen’s Gambit had gone down somewhere in the North China Sea, and everything changed.

Now, Seven years later, Stiles is back in Starling City, the closest he’s been to home since he left…but is he ready to make that final journey back to Beacon Hills?

[miranda-pfeiffer]

Move Over Oscars, It’s The Pawscars™!

Pauley Perrette and Lou Wegner Host Annual American Humane Association Awards revealing top creature stars of the year; See it today online!LOS ANGELES, CA February 18, 2015 -- Proceed, Oscars!  Now, American Humane Association is showing the REAL champions of the year's top acting awards with all the PAWSCARS ?, honoring the very best animal stars in film and television.  Hosted by TV superstar Pauley Perrette and Lou Wegner, the 2015 American Humane Association PAWSCARS are now available for viewing online at www.americanhumane.org.

And the 2015 PAWSCARS visit...Best Puppy Under Stress --"The Interview"

One of the most notorious movies from 2014 has been"The Interview," and its own most adorable star was certainly Wolfie, a King Charles spaniel who appeared in the film.  American Humane Association always made sure Wolfie was kept secure, especially in the middle of all the chaos and action.  He was not near any of the explosions, gunfire, or loud sound -- all that was added in post-production, or a stuffed double was used.  In the boat scenes, Wolfie was always kept strapped-in for safety, while in between takes, he was kept warm with a hot water bottle.

Best Magical Cow -- "Into The Woods"

While"The Interview" didn’t receive any Oscar nominations, this PAWSCAR winner got three Oscar nominations too.  "Into The Woods" is Disney’s variant of the Stephen Sondheim fairy tale mash-up musical.  The award for Best Magical Cow belongs to “Milky White” played by animal actor Tug.  In the film, Jack trades his household ’s white cow for magic beans.  From the scene where Jack milks her, American Humane Association Certified Animal Safety Representatives ? proved just off camera ensuring she stood still and Jack was taught the way to milk the cow before trying it .  In the scene where Tug is eating strange things like hair and old shoes, she was actually fed edible replacements and at the scene where she awakens it was not her at all, it was a fake squirt bunny.

Greatest Speeches Performance --"Dolphin Tale 2"

In this sequel to"Dolphin Tale," Winter’s companion Savannah, dies of old age and the aquarium has only 30 days to find Winter a new mate.  Once an injured baby dolphin can be found stranded on a sandbar, they name her Hope from the “hope” which she'll become Winter’s new companion.  American Humane Association assessed all swimming places for potential hazards and saw that the dolphins never worked over an hour without a break.  When audiences watched Savannah lying at the base of the tank, it was not a true dolphin, but an animatronic prop.

Best Chase Sequence --"Sex Tape"

In this movie, Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz attempt to track down their personal sex tape which has inadvertently been sent to their pals.  As Segal is looking one buddy ’s residence, he encounters a German shepherd -- performed by both Nicki and King -- and the chase is on; American Humane Association Certified Animal Safety Representatives were on set for those scenes.  At the treadmill gag, the machine was never running as soon as the dog was on it; stuffed animals and CGI were used for all of the dangerous parts and the full scene was assembled in post-production.

Best Supporting Equine -- "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes"

"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" is part of a hugely successful franchise that frequently gets awards for its visual effects.  It wins a PAWSCAR, not for its apes, but for a horse called Dale ridden from the apes' leader, Caesar.  It looks like he -- and another Apes -- are riding bareback but that is just another example of movie magic.  The actors playing the apes on horseback used saddles, so Dale and the other horses had been dotted with particular effects markers which allowed the saddles to be eliminated in post-production.  American Humane Association made sure those markers were non-toxic and they also had the horses fitted with rubber hooves for scenes if they were on sidewalk.  In scenes in which there was gunfire, flames, or explosions, the horses were filmed separately from this action.  Even when they jumped over"fire," the horses were only leaping over a 1 foot high bar with flickering lights.

Greatest Young Animal Performer(s ) ) --"The Fall"

"The Fall" is a stressed cop play notable for being James Gandolfini’s closing film.  At the heart of its story is a pit bull pup named Rocco.  Since puppies grow up so quickly, the production had to use three individual dogs, Puppers, and Ice -- to maintain age continuity.  Because different dogs were utilized to perform the exact same character, some make-up was required to make them all match.  American Humane Association made sure that the makeup utilized was nontoxic.  Certified Animal Safety Representatives ensured that none of the pups were overworked, asked to do anything outside of their capabilities, and that they had a secure and comfortable surroundings in place and off.

Finest Ensemble --"Wild"

This award may appear to be an odd choice considering that the film is about Reese Witherspoon’s personality hiking the Pacific Crest Trail .  But she’s not alone, and across the way she encounters a horse played by Muffet, a fox played by Dharma, a rattlesnake played with Fred, a puppy played by Tess, a bunny played with Sport, and even a llama played by Taiga.  American Humane Association Certified Animal Safety Representatives assessed every place where the animals worked and supervised the scenes to be sure none were placed in damage ’s way.  In the scene where frogs are released on to Witherspoon, the region was surrounded with an individual foot-high barrier so that none of them got away and 40 hens were kept safe.

This season, American Humane Association's"No Animals Were Harmed " program celebrates 75 years since the sole official film-industry sanctioned group ensuring that the humane protection, safety and welfare of animal actors on the sets of movies, tv shows, and commercial shoots.  Each year the program manages the protection of over 100,000 animal actors on more than 2,000 places from the U.S. and around the globe.  In honor of this special anniversary, American Humane Association represented on the history of animal actors and requested America who its favorite cat and dog celebrities of all time were.  With 2,527 votes, the results have been....

Best Dog Star of all Time -- Lassie

This lovable collie's been around for at least 75 years.  Her first movie was"Lassie Come Home" with Elizabeth Taylor in her first starring role.  Taylor was paid $100 per week, but Lassie got $250.  There have been many more films since then in addition to a very successful television set.  Lassie was the very first monster celebrity to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the first inductee to the Animal Actors Hall of Fame.  She's a long relationship with American Humane Association, winning 11 of its Animal Television Star Awards, the PATSYs.

Top Cat Star of Time -- Sassy

This Himalayan kitty starred in Disney’s"Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey" and the sequel,"Homeward Bound 2: Lost in San Francisco."  In both films, Sassy was played by a cat named Tiki and voiced by Oscar winner Sally Field.

Finally, a very special Lifetime Achievement Award was given to....

Lifetime Diva Achievement Winner -- Crystal

This cherished capuchin monkey was a creature star for 18 years starring in over 25 movies such as the"Night At The Museum" series,"The Hangover: Part two,""American Pie," and the"Dr. Doolittle" movies, in addition to tv shows, and advertisements.  1 amazing truth about Crystal is that she is a rescue animal.  Crystal is far from the only rescue creature working now: roughly 80 percent of the dogs and cats that you see on the large and small screen are rescues or adopted from predators.  This fighter is so beloved that the late Robin Williams called her"his favourite leading lady."

"Our 2015 Pawscars champions are truly worthy of the honor for all they've done to entertain us not only over the last year, but indeed, in Lassie's instance, for decades and decades," said Dr. Robin Ganzert, American Humane Association's president and CEO.  "Animal stars really are such an significant part the movies and TV shows we see every day and this year's PAWSCARS are our distinctive way of paying tribute to the rich history of animal actors.  Our deepest thanks to Pauley Perrette and Lou Wegner for co-hosting this year's series and to everybody who voted for their favourite cat and dog stars of all time."

To give audiences the inside scoop on even more of the Garbos and Gables of animal actors, a brand new publication was published together with the 75th anniversary of the"No Animals Were Harmed" app.  American Humane Association President and CEO Dr. Robin Ganzert composed and published the book"Animal Stars: Behind the Scenes with Your Favorite Animal Actors," with Allen and Linda Anderson, the husband-and-wife founders of the Angel Animals Network.  Featuring a foreword by"America's Veterinarian," Dr. Marty Becker,"Animal Stars" provides a peek at the fascinating world of animals and animal trainers in today's movie and television industry -- along with the celebrities with whom they operate.  Proceeds from the sale of this publication support American Humane Association's lifesaving work and programs protecting America's kids and animals.  Dr. Ganzert traveled the country on a book registering for"Animal Stars" last autumn.  To watch the full 2015 PAWSCARS, please visit www.americanhumane.org, see them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/americanhumane or @americanhumane on Twitter.  Media can acquire broadcast-quality footage in https://bit.ly/2015pawscars-video.  To learn more concerning the"No Animals Were Harmed " program, including reviews of the films it has tracked through time, please visit www.humanehollywood.org.

About American Humane Association

American Humane Association is the country's first national humanist organization and the only one dedicated to protecting both children and animals.  Since 1877, American Humane Association has been at the forefront of virtually every major advance in protecting our most vulnerable by cruelty, neglect and abuse.  Now we are also leading the way in understanding the human-animal bond and also its role in therapy, medicine and society.  American Humane Association reaches millions of people daily through groundbreaking research, instruction, training and services which span a wide network of associations, agencies and businesses.  You can help make a difference, too.  Visit American Humane Association atwww.americanhumane.org now.

[otakugirl11324]

Destiel Fic Rec

These aren’t in any specific order, and these are all (but one) complete fics!

Multi-chapter Fics:

Lost and Found by a_dusky_gold 

Omega were Dean Winchester gave birth to a stillborn - his pup died in his belly in the accident barely three weeks before she was due to arrive. He spends the next seven years mourning Emma Mary, unaware that a new life is right around the corner. Were alpha Castiel Shurley never expected to receive two gifts back to back - his late mother’s business empire as well as an abandoned pup who has no were to offer her a comforting touch. The only thing he knows about her is the name her omega dad’s left with the foster home where he finds her - Emma Mary.Fate has a funny way of giving you what you want, even if you don’t realize it at first.A Harlequin-esque romance with an ABO were twist.

Language: English, Words: 49,639, Chapters: 10/10

Have Love, Will Travel by squeemonster

Castiel Novak is a reclusive writer with a childhood so tragic it's left him terrified to leave his home—until his overbearing brother, Gabriel, drags him out for a night on the town full of booze and strip clubs, and he encounters Dean Winchester, a mesmerizing and mysterious stripper with secrets of his own. Both men find themselves inexplicably drawn to each other, and soon Dean's private dances for Castiel become much more, as both men confess their troubles and find solace in each other's company. But neither can seem to find the courage to take their relationship further than the intimacy of the club's VIP Room—and just when Dean's own brother gives him the excuse he needs to finally admit his feelings, Dean discovers something that brings it all crumbling down. Will they find a way past their demons and their trust issues, and back to each other? 

Language: English, Words: 94,054, Chapters: 13/13

Bonded by Luciel89

Demon/Angel College!AU: Dean is a demon who dislikes angels and Castiel is his new angel roommate at college. Dean finds himself fascinated with Castiel’s wings, much to his own annoyance, which only leads him into trouble. When they become accidentally mated to each other, things get complicated and feelings get hurt, but can it be the start of something good?

Language: English, Words: 56,538, Chapters: 20/20

Doctor AU by Dean_can_ride_my_impala

Dean Winchester has been in love with his roommate for years now. He thinks he will never reveal his feelings for Castiel, but his mind changes when Castiel is in a car accident and hurt. Deciding that he will get Cas to fall in love with him, Dean now has to deal with his own insecurities, an angry demon-woman pining after Cas, divorcing parents, a new brother, a heart-broken moose, and gossiping nurses. 

Language: English, Words: 69,869, Chapters: 28/28

I Will Watch Over You by sydkn3e for Kayla Mcconnell 

Based on the following prompt: Sometimes when Dean is having a nightmare, he cries out for Cas. Usually it's just his name, but occasionally he'll cry out for Cas to raise him out of hell. Sam has never told Dean about this, but during some of these nightmares Sam will wake up and Cas will be sitting at the foot of Dean's bed whispering things in Enochian until Dean stops shaking in his sleep. 

Language: English, Words: 1,613, Chapters: 1/1

Kiss the Baker by Ltleflrt

Jo is pregnant and craving something a little bit unusual. When she sends Dean on a mission to find her some chocolate cake donuts with bacon sprinkles, he's sure that he'll fail. Luckily his partner Benny comes to his rescue and introduces him to a quirky little bakery that sells all kinds of weird (and delicious!) baked goods. And they do special orders!Dean finds excuses to keep going back, and Castiel finds excuses to keep giving him special treats.

Language: English, Words: 112,697, Chapters: 27/27

Broken Wings by smoviescenes

Where do angels go when they die? Heaven? Angels don't have souls, right? So where do they go when they die? Castiel is dead, he knows that much. He remembers the demon and Dean's devastated face, but not much more. The question now is: how is he going to get back? 

Cas is dead, Dean is trying his damn hardest not to fall apart, Sam is a supportive little brother and everything is a bit messed up.

Language: English, Words: 23,153, Chapters: 8/8 

Homeward Bound by Englandwouldfall

Castiel needs to learn how to human, to acclimatise to high school and deal with at least some of his daddy issues. Dean needs a tutor, among other things.

Language: English, Words: 154,630, Chapters: 37/38 (I know I said they’re all complete, but this one only has one more chapter to go as of right now and it’s too good to leave out)

Omegaism by Brynn_Jones, eureka1 

Dean is an omega who has always profited from people being attracted to his scent, guys and women alike buying him drinks at bars or people letting him sit on the bus. So what if he can't exactly go out after dark so he doesn't provoke the alphas lurking around in the night? He's been taught since he was young and unpresented that omegas shouldn't tempt fate and just stay home. It was normal and he was fine with that. Until now. Faced with a blatant discrimination, Dean decides to inform himself about omega rights and try to improve their standing in society. 

Language: English, Words: 72,624, Chapters: 54/54 

Film Books by blackimpala 

Dean Winchester is the owner of a bookshop in Vancouver. He doesn’t know that his life is going to change the moment Castiel Novak, the famous actor, walks into his store. Something sparkles in between them the moment they see each other.It starts with a friendship that becomes something else pretty quickly. But what they have is a temporary thing, given that Castiel is only going to stay in Vancouver for a month and he will be back to New York as soon as he stops filming. But they can’t help developing strong feelings for each other.They belong to two different worlds; while Dean has a simple life and he is quite happy about it, Castiel has a stressful and busy one.But for how long can they pretend that this is only a temporary and casual thing and that there aren’t any feelings involved?

Language: English, Words: 139,410, Chapters: 29/29 

People are monsters by Nachsie

Castiel is the only prince in the long line of werewolves, soon to inherit all of his father’s rule. He until then occupies his time as a very known and respectable cop who just so happens to hate the owner of the roadhouse bar. Dean winchester is a human man who cares too much about money and doesn’t cut off his patrons till their card declines. Castiel hates him. Especially since Castiel has to come clean up their mess, and deal with the drunks every night.After one drunken mistake, Castiel accidentally ends up mated to Dean, which is suppose to be IMPOSSIBLE! But if that wasn’t also a problem. Castiel is ALREADY engaged to a female chosen at birth to be his mate. He needs to clean up his mess ASAP. However, the only way he seemed to come up with is...to kill Dean...Easier said than done, when all of Castiel’s plots to murder Dean keep end up with their clothes on the floor.

Language: English Words: 7,498 Chapters: 1/1 

People are monsters (series) by Nachsie

Dean's been having these...weird dreams since he became a werewolf...They are like bits and pieces of imagery and Dean doesn't understand them one bit, always startling him awake. Being the first of his kind he calls Omegas, the first changed human. It's not like he can go around asking anyone if this is normal. Maybe he is overthinking this.Dreams are just Dreams.Though when his dreams start to show visions of the future, Dean wonders if they are really just dreams or something much more.

Language: English Words: 178,364 Chapters: 56/56 

Oxymora by thejabberwock

Good things don’t happen to Dean, so he’s not even surprised when Cas tells him he misunderstood the I love you. 

Language: English Words: 27,598 Chapters: 1/1

Lemon/Smut:

Dean Talks Dirty In His Prayers by chugster 

Dean really should've payed more attention when Castiel was telling him how this praying thing actually works. 

Language: English, Words: 7,617, Chapters: 2/2

Allow Me by shadowofz

Cas is woken up by a distressed prayer from Dean- but Dean's not in danger. In fact, he doesn't even know he's praying. 

Language: English, Words: 2,002, Chapters: 1/1

Sam Accidentally Sees the Whole Picture by almaasi

Sam's been through a lot lately, what with tonight's hunt rendering his skin an aching shade of purple and all. He can deal with Dean being overly concerned about Cas' broken finger, and - God help him - he puts up with the sound of their preposterously soppy love confessions and first kisses on the adjacent bed. But he cannot be expected to remain silent and feign sleep throughout the entire duration of their first-ever lovemaking session. He just can't. Especially not, because it seems apparent that Cas is more intent on deflowering himself than letting Dean do it. 

Language: English, Words: 10,405, Chapters: 1/1

Thoughts or Prayers? by dearcst

Prayers are complicated to understand, after all, they are essentially thoughts. Every thought Dean has directed or about Castiel is definitely received, and very distracting. And when Castiel mistakes a thought for a prayer, he flies in ready for battle to a scene he really wished he never saw. Well, he tried to tell himself that anyways 

Language: English, Words: 2,174, Chapters: 1/1 

[ramajmedia]

5 Things Confirmed (& 5 Things We Hope To See) In The Live Action Remake Of Lady And The Tramp

Disney fans recently got to watch the first trailer for the live-action remake of Lady And The Tramp. Disney has been turning many of their classic animated films into live-action movies, and it seems that they don’t plan on stopping with this one.

Since the first trailer for the film was just released, not much is known about it. But there are a few things that have already been confirmed. Here are some of the things fans know for sure about the film, as well as some things they are hopeful about.

RELATED: Mindhunter Season 2: 5 Things That Are True (& 5 Things They Took Creative Liberty On)

10 Confirmed: The Dogs Are Rescues

One of the best things about this new film is the fact that some of the stars of it are actually rescue dogs. That means that because of the creators of this movie, the canine cast members went from looking for a home to being loved and adored by people all over the world.

Monte, who plays Tramp in this updated version of Lady And The Tramp, previously lived at HALO Animal Rescue, which is in Phoenix, Arizona. The animal trainer who worked on the film ended up adopting him, and the rest of the canine cast members found homes as well.

9 Hope: Those Who Watch It Will See A Film That Lives Up To The Original

The original version of Lady And The Tramp is considered a classic by many, and lots of people are not sure whether or not this new version of it will be as good as the first one. The legendary spaghetti scene, and the love that the two main characters share for one another might not seem as great in a live-action film as it does in the cartoon.

RELATED: 5 Things Futurama Does Better Than The Simpsons (& Vice Versa)

This is actually a very big concern amongst fans. But since there is very little information known about the updated version right now, fans can still hold onto some hope for now.

8 Confirmed: It Will Release In November

Lady And The Tramp will be released on November 12, 2019. The only catch is that it is not coming to any movie theaters.

Instead, it will be featured on the Disney streaming service, Disney+. But that was not always the plan. In the beginning, the company did plan on giving it a theatrical release, but they thought that putting it on their new streaming service would give people more of an incentive to subscribe to it.

This is actually the first film Disney has done this with. But there will be lots of other great things to watch on Disney+ as well.

7 Hope: The Film Doesn’t Make Being A Stray Dog Look Fun

In Lady And The Tramp, Tramp has a few lines that make it seem like he is enjoying living the life of a stray dog, and some fans hope the movie does not make being a stray, homeless animal look like a fun life for a pet.

Living as a stray dog is definitely hard, but there are still lots of abandoned animals out there, and no one wants to see those numbers rise. Hopefully, Lady And The Tramp will show just how hard life is on the streets for dogs who have nowhere to call home. It is possible that this film could teach people about why they should never abandon their animals, but the trailer kind of makes it look like a fun and thrilling lifestyle, since Tramp enjoys it so much.

6 Confirmed: It Has A Star-Studded Cast

There are a few reasons to check this movie out, and one of them is the fact that the cast is full of well-known actors and actresses. Actress Tessa Thompson is the voice behind Lady, and she has been in lots of popular films, such as Creed and Thor: Ragnarok. Thompson was also in Dear White People.

The actor who provided the voice for Tramp is Justin Theroux, who is known for films such as Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Mulholland Drive, and American Psycho. Actor Sam Elliott is also part of the cast, and he provided the voice for a character named Trusty. Any film with a cast like that is sure to be a fantastic film.

5 Hope: The Animation Won’t Make It Seem Creepy

There is still some animation in this film, and some fans are worried that it will make the movie seem a bit creepy. This new version of Lady And The Tramp might be live-action, but some special effects were still used since the canines in the film speak to one another, and they have the voices of well-known movie stars.

RELATED: 5 Things Alien Did Better Than Aliens (& 5 Things Aliens Did Better)

That is causing a problem for some moviegoers because it makes the faces of the dogs look a little awkward. Maybe after some time passes, audiences will be used to seeing them talk, and it will seem less creepy to them. But for now, this is kind of a big concern.

4 Confirmed: One Of The Characters’ Genders Was Switched

Jock’s gender was switched, and then his name was changed. The character was a male in the original version of this movie, but in the updated version, Jock is a female named Jackie.

Actress Ashley Jensen provided the voice for this character. The star has been very busy lately, since she has been working on Afterlife, which is a Netflix series.

This was the second time Disney did this to one of their male animated characters. The same thing happened to Kaa, who was a character in The Jungle Book. In the 2016 version of that film, the character was voiced by actress Scarlet Johansen.

3 Hope: It Won’t Be Very Similar To Homeward Bound

The new Lady And The Tramp looks a lot like Homeward Bound, which is another live-action movie that features talking animals. As great as Homeward Bound is, no one wants this film to share too many similarities with it.

Audiences have already seen that movie, and they do not want another version of it. But perhaps only time will tell fans whether or not these two movies will have a similar tone. Even if they do, maybe it will still be enjoyable, since Homeward Bound is a good movie. Even if the film isn’t good, audiences still get to look at adorable dogs for a couple of hours, which is always nice.

2 Confirmed: The Siamese Cats Are Gone

The two Siamese cats that appeared in the animated version of Lady And The Tramp will not be making any appearances in the new version. Some of Disney’s older content is very controversial these days, and these cats are definitely part of the controversy.

They were cut from the film because they present a very racist image of Asian culture. That means that any Lady And The Tramp fans that were looking forward to hearing their song “The Siamese Cat Song” will have to stick with the cartoon, since it won’t be in the new version.

1 Hope: It Will Have A Bit More Humor In It Than The Trailer Does

The new Lady And The Tramp film looks very serious, so hopefully there will be a few light, fun scenes in it to lighten the mood up. Based off of the trailer, this movie has the tone of a slightly somber romantic drama, but the part that makes it really weird is the fact that it is about dogs.

The original movie was very serious as well, but the animated nature of it made it seem as though it was a bit more lighthearted and kid-friendly. Since this movie stars real people and real animals, there is no animation that can make it feel a bit less serious. But since the movie has not been released yet, fans can still hope that the romance between Lady and Tramp won’t seem too strange to watch.

NEXT: James Bond: 5 Reasons We’re Excited For No Time To Die (& 5 Things We’re Worried About)

source https://screenrant.com/disney-live-action-lady-tramp-confirmed-facts/

[floralmotif]

Edit Annotating some of 9.06

Ok, so I was looking through Mick’s last scene in 12.17 but I got distracted by the blocking... and Homeward Bound. I also still have to rewatch 12.18 again to finish that post, but @obsessionisaperfume talked about 9.06 and it intrigued me to have a look again since it does heavily remind me of the current arc with Cas. It’s also on Netflix so yay not dealing with ads. I had used this lens before but actually writing it down showed some interesting patterns. Have 3 scenes from 9.06 with Cas and Dean annotated with editing.

As before, bold text doesn’t necessarily mean important, it just means coverage. Not in coverage is a reaction shot. I’ll note inserts of other things but  there really aren’t many. These scenes are all pretty focused.

Some notes about these scenes: There is a lot of OTS (over the shoulder). This shot is often used to show connection and closeness. Having a character in 2D space OTS minimizes the space between the characters in the shot. It also builds a connection and sense of space. Some of these shots could be considered a 2 shot, but they sort of osculate between 2 shot and OTS.

Both denote connection, the 2 shot says that what’s happening from both characters is important.(unless the focus is the environment or space. You can usually tell which is being used when in practice) In western film, if the shot is close, the subject is important, if the subject is far, the environment or space is important. People generally take a more individualistic approach in western cinema, so if someone is in the shot with another character, it probably means something. It could mean that whatever is happening affects both of them, or it could mean that they are the only couple in the crowd. It depends on the narrative.

Scenes below with notes:

1) [2 shot mid, profile] CASTIEL Good day, ma'am. [mid-close OTS] (CASTIEL gives her an emphatic thumbs-up, and says very intensely:) And good luck!

[Technically 2 shot, focus shifts from customer to Dean]

[Quick insert of mid-close Cas for reaction]

DEAN I'll have some beef jerky and a pack of menthols.

[Camera lingers on Dean]

[Mid close]CASTIEL ...What are you doing here?

[OTS mid close] DEAN Gee, it's nice to see you, too, Cas.

[OTS mid close]CASTIEL It's … Steve now. (gesturing towards his employee name tag) And... uh, you surprised me.

[OTS mid close]DEAN Well, the feeling is mutual. I mean, I knew you had to lay low from the angel threat, but, uh, wow. This is some cover.

[OTS mid close on Cas, he crosses behind the register. The camera settles in an OTS pos]

[OTS mid on Dean, cuts to OTS mid close on Cas’ coverage. Cas’ profile can be seen during Dean’s coverage.]

CASTIEL My Grace is gone. What did you expect? Do you have any idea how hard it was? When I fell to earth, I didn't just lose my powers. [cuts to OTS mid close on Dean] I –

 [cuts back to OTS mid close on Cas] I had nothing. Now... I'm a sales associate.

[OTS mid] DEAN A sales associate?

The beer delivery guy hands "Steve" a clipboard from out of frame. Cas reaches for before Dean can continue.

[Hand into frame] DELIVERY GUY Hey, Steve. Sign here?

[Mid 2 shot of Dean and Cas across from each other in profile with the counter between them. Delivery guy partially obstructs our sightline of Dean. Dean is not pleased with his blocking being blocked.

CASTIEL takes the clipboard and signs it, continuing to speak to DEAN.

[OTS close mid] CASTIEL I'm responsible for inventory, sales, customer service. I keep this place – (he hands the clip board to the delivery guy, who says "Thank you" and leaves) – Thank YOU (to the delivery guy) – clean and presentable. And when my manager's busy, I even prepare the food.

[OTS close mid] DEAN Wow. So you went from fighting … heavenly battles to nuking taquitos?

[OTS close mid] CASTIEL (nodding) Nachos too.

Scene.

^Notes about the scene above:

The shots make the characters seem a lot closer to each other except when it pulls back to the master and a couple of high angle OTS shots.

Dean and Cas being interrupted by the delivery guy is interesting. It kind of shows a sudden amount of space between them from what was a series of very close shots in 2D space.

The dialogue that’s given importance when it’s on coverage is generally regarding Cas’ job and humanity. Off coverage is reaction shots mostly. This editor seems to mostly cut around dialogue, or cut like mad. Check this out:

CAS: What are you doing here?

DEAN: Gee, it's nice to see you, too, Cas.

CAS: It's … Steve now. you surprised me.

DEAN: low from the angel threat, but, uh, wow. This is some cover.

CAS: how hard it was? When I fell to earth, I didn't just lose my powers. I had nothing. Now... I'm a sales associate. DEAN: A sales associate?

CAS: I keep this place – Thank YOU – clean. I even prepare the food.

DEAN: Wow. So you went from -  to nuking taquitos?

CAS: Nachos too.

----Interesting. Next!

2) Cas walks out of the Gas n Sip storage room [Master tracking mid 2 shot, follows Cas], Cas is annoyed.

DEAN: This is not you man, you are above this. C’mon!

CASTIEL: No Dean, I’m not.

[Ots Close] CASTIEL (cont.) I failed at being an angel... everything I ever attempted came out wrong. But here, at least I have a shot of getting things right.

[OTS close 2 shot, Dean in focus] Castiel (cont.) I guess you can’t see it, but... there’s a real [back to Cas’ ots close] dignity in what I do. A human dignity.

[OS to 3 shot mid wide] NORA: I hate to interrupt you guys but Steve, a customer had an accident in the men’s room.

[OTS mid 2 shot of Dean and Cas] CASTIEL: I’m on it.

[CAS OTS mid] NORA: Oh, and tonight. 7 at my place work for you?

[Back to the Dean/Cas OTS mid 2 shot] CASTIEL: Great.

[Close mid] NORA: You’re the best.

[Mop OTS mid 2 shot] DEAN: That’s what this i-[cuts to OTS close when he looks to Cas] -s about.

(Agh, the way Dean looks during this part of the scene is really similar to how he looks in the diner in 12.12 during his “support” there too)

[OTS mid close] CASTIEL: What?

[OTS mid close] DEAN: A girl.

[OTS mid close] CASTIEL: No, Dean. It’s not. Nora... She’s a very nice woman. [shot cuts to include more of Cas and a closer shot of Dean] I’m pretty sure she’s not a reaper intent on killing me... and she’s asked me out. Going on dates is something humans do right?

[CU Dean’s focus with Cas in profile] DEAN: Yeah, I mean my dates usually end when I run out of singles but yeah.. it’s something that.. humans do.

(Dean’s phone starts to ring)

[Master tracking mid 2 shot, follows Dean] DEAN: This is agent Lee Ermey. I’ll be right there.

[2 shot, Dean’s focus, Close mid CAS] DEAN: There’s another kill. Up at the highschool. You coming?

[OTS Close mid] I wouldn’t be much use, and I don’t have my powers.

[Dean’s focus mid close with close Cas’ profile] DEAN: So? I’ve never had powers.

[OTS mid close] CASTIEL: You are a hunter.

[Dean’s focus mid close with close Cas’ profile] DEAN: You’re a hunter in training, remember?

CASTIEL: Yeah, I remember. [cut to OTS mid close] you said I sucked.

[2 shot mid Dean’s focus, mid close Cas] DEAN: I didn’t say that. I said that there was uh, uh... you know, room for improvement. Come on!

[Master OTS 2 shot mid Cas focus] CASTIEL: *sigh* alright, my shifts over in 5 mins and my date’s not until later so..

[OTS mid close] DEAN: That a boy. I’ll go get the car. (pats Cas on the arm)

CASTIEL: Not just yet.

[OTS mid close] CASTIEL: I have to clean the bathroom.

Scene.

Some notes: Again, coverage dialogue involves stuff regarding humans and dignity.

This scene’s closest shots are of Dean when he decides Nora is the reason for Cas’ dignity. Dean is not pleased about it. It really reminded me of the diner scene in 12.12. Seriously, watch those scenes back to back, it’s freaky.

The mop gets a OTS mid wide 2 shot... Cas has a connection to the mop... Damnit director.

Cas and Dean sort of have their own space throughout the scene. We enter their “space” by following Cas’ track. We exit it briefly following Dean’s track when he gets the call. He goes back and we end the scene in the space but Cas exits it.

-----Onward!

3) [Wide of the Impala] DEAN: Cas.

[OTS mid. Most of Dean can be seen with Cas. Cas focus] DEAN: Wait.

[OTS close] DEAN: I can’t let you do this.

[OTS mid close] CASTIEL: What?

[OTS close] DEAN: You’re gonna wear that on a date?

[OTS mid close] CASTIEL: This is all I have, Dean.

[OTS mid. Most of Cas can be seen with Dean focus] DEAN: Okay. Uh.. lose the vest.

[Mid close, 2 shot, Cas focus] CASTIEL:  What are you-?

[Focus shifts to Dean at the end of his line] DEAN: Lose the vest. Come on.

[Mid close on Cas. He’s taking the vest off] DEAN: That’s a little better. Alright.

[OTS close] DEAN: And now your buttons. Why don’t you unbutton it?

Insert Mid of Cas undoing the buttons.

[OTS close] DEAN: Okay. That- that’s far enough, Tony Manero.

[OTS close] DEAN: Uh.. Yeah. Good. All right. Listen to me.

[OTS mid close] DEAN: Always open the door for her, okay?

[OTS mid with Cas’ profile] DEAN: Ask a lot of questions. They like that. And uh.. oh, if she says she’s happy to go Dutch? She’s lying.

[OTS mid close] DEAN: All right?

[OTS mid with Cas’ profile] Go get ‘em, Tiger.

The focus shifts from Dean to Cas and back to Dean. We can see Dean watching Cas leave.

Cas steps out of the Impala with Dean still watching. Dean watches the rest of the scene play out and gives Cas encouragement.

Cas approaches the house intercut with Dean’s PoV. We get a close shot of Dean watching him.

Heh, Dean tries to leave after being waved off but a truck with the brown and cream motif Cas’ current truck has, blocks him.

Scene.

^Ok, that scene there. Serious 11.23 vibes. Like, I had them before but man. I just watched the scene 4 times and agh. Dean even handles it more or less the same way. He leads in, and then backtracks. That was a long ass pause, and yeah, it may have been a joke, but there are only so many close shots you wanna doll out in a scene. These are the only close shots. All of them have coverage dialogue except the last one:

[OTS close] DEAN: I can’t let you do this.

[OTS close] You’re gonna wear that on a date?

[OTS close] DEAN: And now your buttons. Why don’t you unbutton-

[OTS close] DEAN: Uh.. Yeah. Good. All right. Listen to me.

[OTS close] DEAN: Tony Manero.

Close of Dean watching Cas approach the house.

By the way, that last one? It probably wouldn’t exist if it didn’t mean something. If there wasn’t some reason to show that close up, they probably wouldn’t have. They likely have tons of footage from different setups of that scene. They chose that shot. Why?

Actually, this entire episode feels that way. Especially that scene. Scenes are supposed to go through a -/+ emotional change or a +/- change. So.. what changed in the scene emotionally? What purpose did it serve in the ep overall? In the arc overall? What purpose did this ep serve?

Obviously, I can’t really know about the intent for any of this, but it really seems like Dean has a thing for Cas and vise versa by the editing. Not only that, but this ep is just saturated with romance film tropes.

Some of s12 really feels like an exploration of some of the concepts of this ep. Not sure if intentional, but it’s sure there.

Oh, and @obsessionisaperfume, if you wanted different scenes, just let me know.

[waddlesdpig]

The Lego Movie Franchise Retrospective ( Or how to build Masterpieces)

The following is a opinionated review on the “ Lego Movie” franchise as a whole, spoilers and bad jokes ahead.

Its kinda crazy if we’re being honest here, in the five years since it’s creation the “ Lego Movie “ franchise has made close to a billion dollars domestically and probably more than that total internationally. All for what is essentially a series of really long commercials, albeit very entertaining and ( mostly) heartfelt commercials. No matter how you look at it however, these films on a whole have been a grand success worthy of artistic recognition ( WB has left chat).

This trend of profitably praised pictures seems sure to continue, with the soon to be released fourth installment in the “ Lego Movie” franchise “ The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.” 

( A sentence as redundant as me writing reviews on Tumblr.)

As a lover of the original “ Lego Movie” this sequel comes like the missing brick in my Lego heart set that i didn’t know existed. In that same breath however, i can’t help but feel anxious over how the movie will turn out. Early reviews have skewed favorably for the film and yet there is a disturbing trend in the Lego franchise that one cannot ignore. Each Lego Movie has had diminishing returns in terms of quality ever since the first. 

Don’t get me wrong, the animation, production, and voice work for has been ( mostly) top notch for every installment. No when i mean quality, i’m talking about the strength of each films script and the way they are constructed. This problem is far more reaching than the common “ It wasn’t as funny as the first” comment one might make concerning the latter two Lego movies. Although i would be remiss to suggest that the humor isn’t itself a issue. 

“ The Lego Movie” is filled to the brim with weird wacky comedy that still holds up five years later, but is coupled with satisfying storytelling that complements the silliness. Out of everything that could have been taken away from that original film the sequential Lego flicks focus is firmly placed on the hijinks and shenanigans. Much like a child who stacks his Legos as high as he can without any regard to building a solid foundation, Lego Batman ( to a lesser extent) and Ninjago lives or dies on the strength of it’s humor, often times tumbling because of that fact. So to help illustrate my point i would like to go back to the beginning and exam why each film worked or failed.

THE LEGO MOVIE

Out of all the things this film is praised for, the animation, the comedy, the amazing cast, i hardly ever hear anyone talking the story structure. While nothing shakespearean, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller masterfully employ the monomyth ( or hero’s journey) to lay the emotional foundation for the film, using it quite literally to a T’. 

After setting the movies conflict into motion with the “ Piece of Resistance” and the “Krangle” we flash forward 8 1/2, enter Emmet Brickowski, your average abnormally normal citizen of Lego City Bricksburg where everything is honky dory. Following him throughout his day we come to find that Emmet is so average that he has fallen into the background of the collective consciousness of those around him. Only by chance does he comes across the Piece of Resistance literally calling him to adventure.

Now melded with the piece of legend, Emmet now bears the name “ The Special” which he is hesitant to hear at first, as he faces persecution from Lord Business forces, who is H’ E’ double hockey sticks’ bent on gluing the entire universe into place. 

Through shenanigans he teams up with local DJ Wyldstyle, warms up to the idea of being, and i quote “ the most important, most talented, most interesting, most extraordinary, mostest most person in the universe.” The two escape from his capturers and crosses the threshold, by also literally crossing into another realm. 

Duding it up in the Old West, Emmet’s lie is exposed like me on Omegle, earning him the disdain of his would be love interest. Trying to decipher next with the piece, the duo finds the wizard Virtuvius ( MVP of the film) who after finding out Emmet’s quandary determines to mentor him to be a Masterbuilder. 

More shenanigans, Batman shows up, Emmet experiences cuckolding with Bat’s and Sty’s blockholding, ( seriously this is supposed to be a family film for krangle’s sake!) they all take a road trip to cloud coo coo land, group meets “ OC do not steal” and the other Masterbuilders to come up with a plan to take down Lord Business and stop his TAKOS! Surprise surprise Bad Cop rolls up to the club and the Masterbuilders aren’t ready to jam so they get sent to the slam. Emmet and crew manage to escape only by hiding in this absolute masterpiece. 

Now beaten and bruised Emmet rallies the troops, and together as a team they set to enter the dragon’s lair that is Lord Business office building. ( Nightmare of college dropouts and unpaid interns everywhere) The story comes to a head as Virtuvius loses his, the piece of resistance is thrown into the abyss that is my grandma’s purse, all the masterbuilders are captured and Lord Business has set up an overly elaborate death trap to get these dang kids off his lawn. In this moment of despair the ghost of Virtuvius appears before Emmet assuring him that cat posters hold the secrets of the universe. Motivated Emmet bids a tearful farewell as he sacrifices himself to save the other Masterbuilders.

On the other side of the abyss, Emmet haves an out of body experience and has a face to face with the pink sausaged-eagle-squid creatures that serve as the lands God’s. It is here that he finally becomes equipped with the Ultimate Treasure: believing in yourself! Now ready to face the odds Emmet is sent Homeward Bound back to the Lego world. 

He returns, Reborn as a Masterbuilder. Emmet confronts Lord Business and stops him by extending him his hand ( claw-grip thing?) in friendship, helping Lordy realize that he doesn’t have to be bad and that in reality we are all the Special. The two reconcile and the story wraps up with the world at peace until the immediate sequel bait.

There’s a reason many a tale uses this storytelling device, when done properly it works to enact growth and change in the protagonist, resulting in a compelling and satisfying character arc. The Lego Movie not content to rely on this alone also explores “ The Chosen One” trope, as well as themes about creativity vs conformity. There is quite a surprising amount of depth once you start deconstructing this film brick by brick, something that would be sorely missed in it’s spiritual sequels.

THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE

Without a doubt there is a lot to like about “ The Lego Batman Movie,” they managed to kick the already amazing animation up to 11, on a whole it is a very funny movie ( giving birth to probably one of my favorite scenes ever. Kazow!), and it joyfully revels in the Batman mythos and world. In addition to that, it’s story tackles a very interesting premise not often explored with the Caped Crusader. Yet in my mind, there is a distinct issue which holds the film back from being as solid as Batman’s ninepack, this being pacing in the third act.

Batman is one of the rare characters in pop culture that require almost no real introduction, as it can be assumed that most will in one way or another have some basic idea of his mythos. Using this to their advantage, the people filming choose to focus on a intrinsic part of the Dark Knight, that of lose and fear of losing. Building on “ The Lego Movie” interpretation of the character, we have here a extremely egotistical, selfish Batman who exhibits these qualities in order to close himself from anymore emotional pain. 

This is plainly stated in the first act by Alfred, “ Master Bruce, you live on an island figuratively, and literally.” It’s the same reason why he can’t admit to Joker being his greatest enemy, because even if the relationship is hateful in nature, it is still a connection to another person. So Batman’s gotta learn to open himself to others, great! A good premise and character arc that the film executes fairly well, up until the beginning of the third act.

See throughout the story we see Batman nudged and guided into becoming a better person by those around him, particularly Alfred and Barbara in the first act. Come the second act, Batman has stubbornly enacted his own plan to stop the seemingly harmless Joker, after succeeding he is berated by Barbara “ You can't be a hero if you only care about yourself.” Batman’s plan backfires giving Joker the means to unleash every villain from your local bar’s trivia night. As such Fatman rectify his mistakes by teaming up with his loves ones to make wrongs right. 

Though hesitant to the idea at first, Bats warms up to his new superhero buddies only for him to push them away as soon as he realizes their importance to him. This is where the problem of pacing really begins to show itself. After sending away the Bat-lites, Batman immediately confronts Joker, only for the Joker to recapitulate something that was just clearly shown to the audience “ I'm not your greatest enemy. Your greatest enemy is you.” 

Joker then banishes Batman to the doom dimension where he is greeted by a literal judge of right and wrong, who then plays a highlight reel showing just how big a betty batty’s been. The thing to note is this all occurs within a span of five minutes, stopping the story completely just to point at something that’s already solidly established in the story.

The real shame is that all this guilt dog-piling undercuts a great moment. In the doom dimension Bat’s gets a peek of the situation to find his friends returning to help him, there he sees Robin emulating Batman’s reckless attitude, and it is there where he is finally able to recognize the harm he’s bringing to others with his selfish actions. A moment i feel could’ve been the emotional pillar of the movie if it had been better builded towards and executed.

To be fair the movie from then on picks back up rather quickly, Batman learns his lesson, forms the “ savi-cide squad,” and in the end is able to save Lego Gotham by literally making connections with others and bringing everyone closer to each other. Capping what is undeniably, despite it’s flaws, a very fun movie. If only i could say the same about the last film here…

THE LEGO NINJAGO

The Lego Ninjago movie was always going to be in a peculiar situation, it’s branding and world aren’t well enough established in the minds of the average movie goer to solely create a story based on in-world lore. Nor is it enough of a clean slate that one could be free to do whatever it wanted if the story ala “ The Lego Movie.” And as such it creates this disjointed hodgepodge of elements borrowed from the two previous entries. This particularly can be seen through the journey of the protagonist Lloyd.

By the time the movie chooses to introduced Lloyd we are already informed that he as the Green Ninja along with the others have already time and again defeated and repelled the big bad Garmadon. In a way Lloyd as already undergone his own hero’s journey, meaning they’ve already skipped any satisfaction that could be gained from seeing a powerless boy becoming a hero and vanquishing that which threatens his home.

Bah whatever, origin stories are overdone and boring. Who’s with me?! Let’s get right into the good stuff. And to the films credit it does just that, right off the bat we are introduced to what will be the main conflict of the story, Lloyd and his relationship with his father. However here too “ The Lego Ninjago” movie stumbles. Lloyd as a character is defined solely by this conflict. During nearly the entire first act you will rarely find a scene, or piece of dialogue featuring Lloyd that will not involve Garmadon or the fact that he is Lloyd’s father in one way or another. 

But hey he’s also the leader of the Ninjas and does a great job of, uh, telling people what to do? Now let’s quickly compare how the “ Lego Batman Movie” handle this. In the opening moments of that film we spend time with Batman before the grand conflict is set into motion, we see he’s egotistical, a showboat, selfish and willfully ignorant to any flaws he might have. Having established his personality, ( what a notion) the story is able to show how that feeds into his fear letting people back in and colors his character arc for the film.

With the “ Lego Ninjago” movie failing to this, it leaves Lloyd as just sort of a blank slate with daddy issues. It’s probably why they have him from the start with a fully assembled team of fun personalities to bounce off of and carry the load of protaganizing, oh wait. Oh boy, we got Flame Fella the spiky hair one, Dirt Dude who is essentially Flame Fella, Wa Wa Womah ( she’s the water element cause she’s so good at retaining water), and the only two with any semblance of personality Jay and Zane. 

Without trying to disrespect fans of the original series, you know where they actually mattered, the other Ninjas here are little more than filler. Functionally they have no real role in the story except to bolster Lloyd’s in-world importance by making him leader, as well as holding him responsible after he unwittingly unleashes destruction upon Ninjago. Towards the start of the third act, our blockhead Ninjas haphazardly realize that all they to do was believe and only now is there any hint of development for the group. Way too little, way too late to have any significant impact on the story. 

Leaving us with the “ Father/Son” plot to essentially carry the whole film. To the movie’s credit it does a serviceable job in accomplishing this. While far from masterful, there is some satisfaction in two opposing fractions learn to work together and eventually reconcile. However even here the film fails to execute on this idea.  After spending the entirety of the second act building up this relationship between the two, Garmadon literally asks Lloyd to join him and rule the galaxy together. Green bean rejects the offer because what else would you expect him to do, and Gar once again pushes his son away from him. Less than five minutes later, the climax of the movie ends with Lloyd talking to his dad through a cat and the two finally reconcile as family.  

In this way “ The Lego Ninjago Movie” fizzles out, leaving a lackluster ending and Jackie Chan to close out an already underwhelming story. 

Finally some more miscellaneous criticisms. 

They reuse a lot of shots in the first act, Lloyd’s dragon cannon being of the more obvious examples. 

There isn’t as much effort to establish “ Ninjago” as a Lego world, often times you see Lego structures mixed with what is supposed to be natural foliage. This is a huge issue in the second act as the majority of the scenery is composed of non-Lego elements. And the stuff that isn’t Lego’s don’t look to hot, the water effects being the biggest offender in this case.  

Jackie Chan as Master Wu is probably the weakest performance in the movie, i don’t know if it’s  because of the voice director or because Jackie just wasn’t feeling the powah.

The movie’s live action intro and outro is just bad. 

But hey Garmadon has a “ Shark-Shooter” gun! 8/10 movie

CLOSING THOUGHTS

In conclusion, the thing that worries me most from the last two movies is the lack of thought and care into execution that the original “Lego Movie” had in spades. Pacing, strong character work for the whole cast, attention to story structure, all of these things have been mostly stepped on in favor of cramming as much hijinks as possible. And as a result leads to painful lackluster conclusions that try to be heartwarming but fail due to poor build up. 

As much as i sound like a negative nancy right now, with “ The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” being helmed by the dynamic duo which created the first, i am confidant that this will be a return to form for the Lego franchise. 

Thanks for reading this monstrous mess.