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chicagoindiecritics · 4 years

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New Written Review from Mike Crowley on You’ll Probably Agree: 10 Reasons Why ‘Blade Runner 2049’ is better than ‘Blade Runner’

If you haven’t’ seen the movie, see it then read this. No intro, let’s jump right in.

1. K is a replicant

The reveal of K’s genetic code, or lack thereof, flips everything we assume the movie will be on its head. We are learning along with K what it means to exist. Do we as humans, live like replicants? Do we obey a society that treats us like trash but breath anyways out of the fear of death? Where we viewed “Blade Runner” mostly through Deckard’s eyes who didn’t have much of a personality, K’s lack of a character is his entire purpose for existing. For K to emote is to face death.

Where Harrison Ford’s Deckard entire arc was us questioning if he’s human or not (despite what Ridley Scott unequivocally says), there’s nothing much of substance to Officer Deckard. He gets drunk, retires replicants, that’s it. Name one thing that makes Deckard standout? I’ll wait. Ryan Gosling’s Officer K goes from a machine that is dying spiritually on the inside to someone wanting to have a purpose in life. All while maintaining his composure, if perhaps too much poise for the film. Anything with a conscious can feel. Whether or not how it was made is as relevant as where you were born or what skin color you are. The importance is that you’re here.

K doesn’t seek gratitude nor affirmation. He doesn’t suffer from a narcissistic personality. All he wants is not just to be another useless piece of metal.

2. Deckard has depth this time

Being a daddy changes you a lot. Rick isn’t just a slouchy drunk who likes to shoot robots out of legal obligation. He’s a man who’s principles and love for forbidden things cost him his life. What kind of soul did Deckard have in the first film? Who did he care for? Please don’t say, Rachel, we all know why he was attracted to Rachel. Like Winston in 1984, Deckard rejects Big Brother for a life of pain to gain a glimmer of happiness.

3. It’s horrifyingly relevant

Denis Villeneuve based the imagery in 2049 on a planet that has become degraded with pollution. The buildings are extrapolating enormous amounts of water into the atmosphere, the sea wall at the end of the picture will be our new Mount Rushmore, the orange Vegas is happening now. Denis Villeneuve didn’t predict the earth looking like this, but his production team was still spot on. A picture that transcends its very style, developing a look that will be discussed on its merits separate from the ubiquitous original, is a stunning achievement.

Everything isn’t dystopian because that’s the way it was in the book. It’s what will happen to us in real life, why we’d look for colonies to live on if we had the technology or funding towards NASA to do so. God help us all.

4. The love story questions the essence of relationships

The story between K and Joi further examines the meaning of love, sex, and mortality, with the two being different versions of artificiality. When the default sexed-up version of a naked Joy pops up on the screen, we are emotionally mortified. Some of us may be repulsed to observe a character we care for utilized like a thirsty Godzilla.

The towering ad tries to seduce K tempting him to buy it, rendering everything Joi said to K throughout the picture questionable. Its manipulation solidifies his final decision in life to help another man. We’re not sure if she loved him or said what it thought it wanted him to hear throughout the narrative. Possibly Joi herself didn’t know her intentions. An unusual amount of nuance and uncertainty rests in the love story. Who do we love? Why do we love? Do we love by the heart or the heart of our designers whom we don’t know?

Meanwhile, Deckard was just drunk and horny when he bashed Rachel up against the wall. Sorry, that really was all there was to their passion despite what Wallace says.

5. The movie was an honest commentary about how the world views woman

Here’s a controversial one. A lot of women were disgusted by the way they were depicted in the film. Outwardly watching the movie, I can’t blame them. I’ll let Mr. Villeneuve speak for himself. “I am very sensitive to how I portray women in movies. This is my ninth feature film and six of them have women in the lead role. The first Blade Runner was quite rough on the women, something about the film noir aesthetic. But I tried to bring depth to all the characters. For Joi, the holographic character, you see how she evolves. It’s interesting, I think. What is cinema? Cinema is a mirror on society. Blade Runner is not about tomorrow; it’s about today. And I’m sorry, but the world is not kind on women.”

Villeneuve is right. Women today are still sexualized. Even with the Me Too movement, women are continually seen as sex objects or subservient slaves in a male-dominated society. Villeneuve isn’t interested in painting a rosy picture that Hollywood does for female roles to make the audiences feel comfortable. It’s an honest reflection on who we are. What we see is what we don’t want to see, but that’s part of the honesty of cinema.

6. The score is mesmerizing

Another point in which I may face some contention. Yes, Vangelis’ score is iconic, but it only works for the era it was composed in. Much of its mixture of bleeps, blops, and wind chimes are a product of its time. A lot of emotion is missing from the score other than the opening theme and “Tears In Rain.” Hearing much of the soundtrack while on the road, I sometimes thought I was listening to something from a porno. Take a listen to “Wait For Me” in the soundtrack and tell me otherwise. Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Walfisch’s score is timeless while also paying respect to Vangelis’ synthetic use in the original. It dives into the character’s mind providing a replication of something more human than what Vangelis composed.

7. It thematically ties more directly to “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” than “Blade Runner” does.

“Blade Runner” got the overall gist of Phillip K Dick’s novel. Replicants are scared, trying to find a way to survive as Deckard hunts them down. However, the Andies in the movie almost deserve to die. In their quest for more life, they torture and kill multiple civilians. What did the guy making the eyes do to deserve being frozen to death? What about J.R. Sebastian? He was nothing but pleasant to Roy and Pris. Did Roy eye gauge him when he was done with Tyrell?

Aside from Luv (Sylvia Hoeks), our replicants are fully rounded people. Sapper Morton is a watchful protector who was meant to be a NEXUS 8 combat medic; Joi’s true intentions come into question for herself and us. K’s inner conflict is the central core of the story. All of this revolves around the meaning of existence within a world that has forgotten about you. The introduction of Robo procreation is an evolution of Dick’s ideas, widening his notion of why life exists in the first place.

8. It doesn’t get lost in the scale

Many sequels love scope over characters. Remember “The Matrix”? Remember how they talked about Zion and all these other things we didn’t see? When the sequels brought in Zion, the focus got lost in the spectacle. “The Matrix Reloaded” was a bumbling CGI mess of Agent Smith Clones and cave orgies. “The Matrix Revolutions” was a glorified “Space Invaders” game. Shoot as many sentinels as you can before becoming overwhelmed. Amidst the sequels bumbling chaos, I missed the smaller scale of the Nebuchadnezzar crew.

The story of “2049” could have focused on the replicant uprising with thousands of robots slamming into humans. We could have gone off-world to finally see what all these other colonies we’ve heard about are like. Some have argued that the movie could have borrowed some of its source material from the later novels about replicants creating humans, so on and so forth. All of that sounds incredible in theory. In execution, you would likely get “The Matrix” sequels.

A movie that overreaches in scope, attempting to please fans by showing everything. What we got was an incredibly meaningful story that further explores the themes of the original while building upon its world without going too far. We see what’s beyond L.A. on the dilapidated west coast. The answer is not much. The film aims at minimalism over extravaganza.

9. We’re still talking about it

After being MIA for decades, “Blade Runner 2049” isn’t forgotten. I can’t say the same for “Superman Returns,” “Monsters University,” “The Incredibles 2,” “Live Free or Die Hard,” and “Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull.” In fairness, people do talk about Indy 4, but not in a positive fashion. “Blade Runner 2049” returned to the limelight with disastrous box office results yet high accolades, even gaining the Academy’s attention. Ironically it seemed destined to live the life of its predecessor.

“2049” may have tanked because it was a multimillion-dollar art film that respected its audience’s intelligence. Maybe “Blade Runner” was too far gone amongst the public to gain an interest geared almost entirely towards comic books and Disney. I think the trailers after the reveal teaser looked too generic for my own two cents, turning me off from the film for a short while.

Here we are with Honest Trailers in 2020, making a video about a film that came out in 2017. Bloodsoaked orange skies from the headlines mention the atmosphere of this film. Somewhere, about 100 other people are writing their analysis of “Blade Runner 2049” as I type right now. Seven years from now, we’ll be talking about why the world is still like “Blade Runner 2049.” Villeneuve made a timeless sequel to be remembered.

10. It’s better than the first film and one of the best films in the last ten years

Here’s why you’ll probably agree with this one when you put your pitchfork down. Remove your nostalgia goggles. I know it’s hard to do, please, trust me. Look at the points I made above. Think about how ironic the love story is to our lives. The layers of meaning behind K’s existence is lightyears beyond the featureless Rick Deckard. The picture isn’t flawless. Niander Wallace is spectacularly corny in his scenery-chewing grim monologues. Dr. Eldon Tyrell had some ambiguity regarding the morale of his intentions. For that, I’ll give the original the benefit of my doubt. I understand Ryan Gosling was cast to be intentionally deadpan, but it’s okay to emote once. His distant stare in all of his other performances made it difficult for me to discern myself from the actor’s rather dull persona.

With this said, “Blade Runner 2049” understands cinema. Its atmosphere is why we venture into a dark room that takes us to a different place. Denis Villeneuve’s masterful follow up is one of the most orgasmic cinematic experiences I have witnessed in the last ten years that demands a re-screening in 2022 when theatres reopen at an entirely safe capacity. The style doesn’t overshadow its substance, which is far richer in detail than the original without grasping at blatant metaphors. “Blade Runner 2049” is slow cinema at its finest, letting us into the character’s heads, knowing when to be quiet and when to be loud.

Like “The Empire Strikes Back,” not everyone appreciated the movie at first. Time has been incredibly kind to it, though. I wish the Academy recognized “Blade Runner 2049” beyond its technical marvels in 2018. I suppose it wasn’t the type of picture that catches Oscar voter’s eyes. But it has acquired the audience’s to this day. Now, if you could just look up and to the left for me?

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terabitweb · 5 years

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Original Post from Security Affairs Author: Pierluigi Paganini

You work hard to keep your kids safe from so many different dangers, but every day they are exposed to countless threats online.

Predators, disturbing content, identity theft attempts, and other things you wouldn’t let them experience in real life are all waiting for them.

Shockingly, 1 in 5 U.S. teenagers say they have been approached in a sexual way by strangers online; only 25% told their parents.

As a parent, that’s terrifying.

Young people have access to a nearly infinite pool of content thanks to websites like YouTube and Reddit. Worse, the Internet, the rise of smartphones, and the culture of social media allow us to access these things from anywhere. No matter what you think of it or how much you know about it, platforms like YouTube are changing how children are growing up.

While that’s not always a bad thing, kids have more access to new sources of information, some good and some bad. Finding useful information on YouTube is easy, but so is stumbling across harmful or even malicious content.

How can you restrict what your children watch on YouTube?

The answer to this question isn’t simple. Fortunately, there are options available to parents when it comes to controlling YouTube and Internet access.

The number one priority for parents should be to teach their children to protect themselves online and use social media safely. As a parent, you can’t monitor everything your child does all the time, and older teenagers might want (and genuinely need) some digital privacy. Instead, focus on being proactive about their safety while teaching your children how to protect themselves online.

What Children Do Online

In 2015, the Pew Research Center found that 92% of teenagers go online daily and that 75% own a smartphone. An Australian study later reported that 95% of 8- to 11-year-olds have accessed the Internet in the last month.

The most common websites they used were YouTube, Facebook, and online games like Roblox. In fact, email and even text messaging have taken a backseat to social media for many younger users. Platforms like Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and others provide a nearly infinite supply of content.

The Threat of Online Strangers

Sites like Instagram and Twitter not only let you connect with close friends and family members, they also open communication with complete strangers. Nearly half of Facebook users accept friend requests from people they’ve never met before, and most users are familiar with stories of social media or chat requests gone wrong. But did you know that YouTube allows comments on most videos and that those comments sections can contain links posted by predatory adults hiding behind fake profiles?

Parental Controls

Many modern devices, apps, and web browsers offer parental controls that restrict access to certain content for their kids but did you know that many antivirus software titles already include parental controls? It’s two layers of protection with one installation. Some popular options include:

Bitdefender – the premium version comes with a lot of features, but some of them are intrusive. These features include a webcam filter, activity reports, history and alerts, social media and mobile phone tracking, IP monitoring and blocking, SMS and call monitoring, website and app blocking, and location tracking.

Norton – this household name features time, web, search, social media, and location supervision, protection of personal information, access request, and support for up to 10 devices.

Avast – the website blocking feature is less intrusive than the other options mentioned. Parents can block specific websites and keywords.

A quick search will show you which antivirus software includes parental controls but in our experience, the best way to encourage safe Internet browsing is education and conversation.

Many platforms like Netflix have built-in parental controls that restrict content with a passcode. Netflix supports kid-focused user accounts to block adult-only shows. iPhones also have parental controls in their settings menus.

Some tech-savvy kids can bypass parental controls by installing certain software. Prevent them from doing so by giving them access to non-administrator user accounts on your operating system. Most will only let certain accounts install new software.

Finally, educating your kids on some smart browsing habits goes a long way toward ensuring their safety. You want to teach them to:

Never share personal information online, like your phone number, email, address, or personal pictures.

Think before you post. Your name is attached to everything you say online, so don’t post anything you wouldn’t want a teacher, a friend, a family member, or a potential employer to see.

Understand that their actions online can have consequences in real life.

Take some time to go through the privacy settings on Facebook and other online platforms.

Don’t share passwords.

Don’t meet someone you’ve befriended online without parental permission.

These are just general guidelines. It’s worth looking into the specific services and platforms your children enjoy using the most to see if they offer any customized parental controls.

Facebook

Facebook is still one of the most popular social media platforms, but younger audiences are increasingly turning away from it. Chances are if your child does use Facebook, having a profile plays a huge role in your child’s ability to fit in with friends at school. Not only are the usual online dangers present, but what your child posts can impact his or her livelihood down the road. College admissions officers and job recruiters have reported that content on Facebook and other channels could harm an applicant’s chances.

What does this have to do with streaming videos? Facebook introduced a streaming feature called Facebook Live. These are videos being broadcast to the user’s friends list, but the recording of it can be shared. That means raw, unedited footage of anything the user opted to broadcast can be shared to unconnected users. Unfortunately, Facebook has come under fire for some of these videos, especially ones of gang rape and of the murder of Philando Castile.

YouTube

YouTube modernized access to digital media and this popular video sharing website is used by people of all ages. Many parents rely on YouTube to entertain or instruct their children and while this works for many, there is a lot of troubling content on YouTube that masquerades as kid-friendly.

YouTube has everything: children’s shows, toy reviews, video game footage interlaced with player commentary (known as “Let’s Plays”), and so much more. YouTube’s content creators are more than eager to provide content that appeals to young children. The official Peppa Pig YouTube account, for instance, streams episodes of the show live for free.

But you can’t expect everything to be kid-friendly. Plenty of malicious and racy content can be found on YouTube. While users have the ability to “flag” objectionable videos and YouTube offers a kids’ mode, these solutions aren’t perfect. The only way to ensure safe browsing for very young children is to be aware of what they are watching.

Let them watch without headphones so you can listen in on.

Check their video history from time to time.

Understand the current trends when it comes to questionable content (more on this later).

Encourage them to watch channels that you know are kid-friendly.

YouTube’s Darker Side

Among the kid-friendly channels, it’s important to know how to recognize any questionable content your child might be exposed to on YouTube. There are countless channels that appear harmless on the surface, however, a deeper look will reveal how disturbing the content actually is.

The Logan Paul Generation

Logan Paul is a popular YouTuber with millions of subscribers, including many younger fans. The online celebrity experienced controversy in late 2017 after posting a video of a dead body while exploring Japan’s infamous Suicide Forest.

He was heavily criticized for exploiting the man’s suicide for his online show. Logan eventually took down the video and issued an official apology but it was deemed “too little, too late” by many.

Elsagate

Another YouTube controversy is the Elsagate scandal. Recently, several videos featuring iconic child-friendly characters like Spiderman, Elsa from Frozen, and Peppa Pig emerged in videos that contained disturbing, non-child-friendly themes. These videos were produced illegally without permission from the official owners, yet many children watched them daily.

While some of these videos were clearly fake, others featured standard animation, making it difficult for kids to tell the difference. In these videos, the characters would often:

Inject each other with needles.

Attack, steal, and break things.

Get another one of the characters pregnant. There were countless videos featuring pregnant Elsa and other Disney characters.

Bizarre Disney and Marvel Live Action Content

There are also popular videos in which actors dress as Disney characters and create live action skits. Once again, these videos are full of disturbing content that is far from kid-friendly.

The majority of these questionable videos often ranked well because their creators knew how to manipulate the YouTube algorithm. A simple search for Spiderman or Elsa would often put these videos near the top of the search because they were viral.

Suggested Content

Another issue parents have to deal with is suggested content. Many children are still building their attention spans, and after a few minutes in one video, they might click a suggested video from the sidebar. Suddenly, they’re falling down the rabbit hole that is YouTube’s suggested content feature.

YouTube displays suggested content based on a set of specific ranking factors. If a video is extremely popular and somewhat related, it will be displayed. So, if your children click suggestions after watching a Frozen clip, it won’t take long for pregnant Elsa and Spiderman videos to pop up in their feed. As parents, this means your children are being served content that even adults would find creepy.

How can you stop it? There’s virtually nothing you can do to stop this other than strict parental controls and monitoring your kids’ internet use in real-time.

YouTube Parental Controls

Parental controls exist on YouTube. They are far from perfect and some bad content will still sneak through, but you can minimize the risk that your children will see something disturbing. Here’s what you can do through YouTube’s parental controls:

Block specific content types and creators. If there’s a specific channel you are aware of or a genre of content, you can block it.

Allow approved content only. Parents can also limit what their children watch by approving specific content. Kids will only be able to watch this content and nothing else.

Turn the search off. The search function on YouTube can be turned off. This is a great option for parents of children who are able to read and write.

Limit use to YouTube Kids. This is a popular option for parents who want a kid-friendly version of YouTube. While it doesn’t block everything, it does remove a lot of the adult content.

Snapchat

Snapchat is a messaging app for mobile devices where users can send images and videos to friends. The app is popular with teens and young adults, and surveys have shown that 32% of US teens have used Snapchat.

Unlike Facebook, you cannot monitor your child’s activity on Snapchat without having direct access to his or her account. Instead:

Ask your child to open Snapchat messages along with you.

Go into the app’s settings and make sure messages can only be received from friends rather than strangers.

In 2014, Snapchat was in the spotlight after a third-party “snap saving” app was hacked. Over 90,000 revealing photos were leaked on the Internet, many of which contained underage nudity.

Remember, “snaps” can be pictures or videos, so the same concerns you may have about Facebook Live or YouTube content applies to Snapchat.

Online Gaming

Video games have increasingly moved toward an online multiplayer business model where players can interact and communicate with other players. Games like StarCraft, World of Warcraft, PUBG, and Fortnite are entirely multiplayer, while others like Minecraft and Call of Duty offer both single player and multiplayer modes.

It’s important to understand that the ESRB rating system for determining age and content ratings for video games typically doesn’t consider online interactions. So, while a video game like Fortnite may seem child-friendly on the surface with its colorful graphics and cartoony art style, adult players can say anything they want to in the game’s voice chat.

Gambling Online – The CS: GO Gambling Scandal

Video game controversies can be extremely complex. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is an online multiplayer combat video game that offers in-game microtransactions, where virtual in-game items can be purchased using real money. In particular, CS:GO sells “skins,” or spray-painted designs to decorate a player’s weapons or character. Certain skins have been known to cost upwards of a thousand dollars.

It’s also possible to trade skins between accounts. This has led to the creation of websites built to allow players to wager the value of their skins against other user’s skins. Trading websites like these employ famous YouTube celebrities to advertise the service to millions of viewers as well.

Don’t fool yourself, these are gambling websites.

On these websites, players bet and win skins based on random chance and betting on live matches. While this setup is essentially gambling, trading skins manages to dodge the legal definition of gambling by not involving actual money, but rather virtual items that can be sold for money. Nonetheless, the game’s developers have been hit with class-action lawsuits over the possibility of underage players gambling on these sites.

There was even a major scandal in 2016 when popular Counter Strike YouTubers TmarTn and Syndicate, who were famous for creating videos of them gambling on these types of websites, were caught rigging bets on a website they owned. In these videos, the two players would gamble and show players how much they were winning. However, they never revealed to their audience that they were gambling on a website they owned. All of their winnings were staged, misleading their millions of supporters, many of whom were underage, and encouraging them to gamble.

Loot Box Addiction

A similar new trend is the rise of “loot boxes.” In certain games, players can purchase or earn a virtual crate which, when opened, give the player a randomized selection of further virtual items that can be used in-game. Thanks to the randomization factor, loot boxes have been claimed to be gambling in disguise.

In fact, the Belgian government ruled against loot boxes, calling them a form of gambling. Major corporations continue to push loot boxes because of how lucrative they are. In the video game industry, major companies have even coined the term “whales” for users who purchase an excessive number of loot boxes.

You might hear about loot boxes under different names. The video game Rainbow Six: Siege, for instance, refers to them as “Alpha Packs.” The screenshot above shows a seasonal “loot box” from Overwatch.

In-Game Purchases

Mobile phone games usually include microtransactions. These transactions involve any form of transaction that takes place in a game. They typically charge whatever credit card is linked to your App Store or Google Play Store account. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Pokemon Go, and Roblox are a few examples of free-to-play games that include excessive microtransactions.

Parents need to be aware of microtransactions. They can be addictive for your children, and in extreme cases, your child may rack up a large bill on your credit card.

The Takeaway

For the majority of kids and teenagers, the Internet has had a positive impact on their lives. Your responsibility as a parent, though, is to ensure a healthy balance between Internet use and your kids’ online privacy and digital security. Talk to them extensively about social media and content consumption, and be prepared to step in whenever issues do come up.

Be an active listener, educate them about the dangers of specific content, and make sure they understand that their actions online can have consequences. Take some time to understand the websites and services your children use the most as well. Teaching them how to engage with others online is integral to succeeding in an increasingly Internet-centered society.

Original post:

https://www.safetydetective.com/blog/parents-guide-for-safe-youtube-and-internet-streaming-for-kids/

About the author: AVIVA ZACKS

Aviva Zacks is a content manager, writer, editor, and really good baker. When she’s not working, she enjoys reading on her porch swing with a cup of decaf.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – kids, hacking)

The post Parents’ Guide for Safe YouTube and Internet Streaming for Kids appeared first on Security Affairs.

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Go to Source Author: Pierluigi Paganini Parents’ Guide for Safe YouTube and Internet Streaming for Kids Original Post from Security Affairs Author: Pierluigi Paganini You work hard to keep your kids safe from so many different dangers, but every day they are exposed to countless threats online.

#Security Affairs blog

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bexsbaxters · 7 years

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the one in which chris's music taste is shit

Book: The Freshman/The Sophomore   Pairing(s): James x Chris x Zig x MC, Abbie x Tyler, Zack x Brandon, Kaitlyn x Becca (can be seen as either platonic or romantic)  Rating: PG (besides the occasional use of the word shit ?? is that like even a proper swear word ? idek anymore)  Summary: in which mc loses her boyfriends, starts her preparation for facemasks friday and gets it up to here with her boyfriend’s hair gel addiction.  A/N: i lowkey decided to make this poly fic because i love all three of my boy babies, i would’ve added kaitlyn but the way she treated mc was horrible and she wasn’t really apologetic ?? and becca is meh, especially after this new episode. i highkey wish we had the chance to romance abbie 😭😭. btw for future reference, in my fic land, all the original roomates + zig and james, live in vasquez’s old house. —–

mc stood in the middle of the busy supermarket, her basket on the floor as she studied the confectionary aisle, mind lost in thought. she had decided to leave her loose wavey hair hanging, yet when it started to annoy her she ached for a hair tie to be available to put it out of the way.

she had originally arrived there with james, zig and chris but had lost them in the throng of shoppers. she dithered between the sour patch kids or a packet of skittles but being the weak person that she was, she had caved and put them both in.

her weakness was probably the number one cause for her brokeness.

she moved between the shelfs, looking for her three musketeers. she thought she vaguely saw a flash of black leather and slicked hair by the frozen food but it turned out to be some high school student. but she had lost them for over twenty minutes and she was slowly getting desperate.

“zig? james? chris?” she called out, but softly trying not to attract attention, she held on her basket tighter, heart beat quickening when she thought she had lost them forever until she stumbled on them in the cereal aisle.

“i thought i lost you!” she cried out, as they all turned to look at her. hair frizzing, eyes watering and her strong grip had turned her knuckles to white.

yet, she still looked beautiful.

they didn’t know how she did it, was it some sort of cream? a potion? they all made a mental note to ask sometime in the preferably future.

“it’s all zig’s fault!” chris blurted out, pointing at the man with the white t-shirt who held his hands up as if to prove his innocence.

“it wasn’t me, honest”

james was holding a box of lucky charms, eyes rolling at the other two’s antics as they got in a row over who was to blame.

“honestly, without you james i wouldn’t be sane with these knuckleheads” mc said fondly, leaning her head on james’s shoulder, sighing contently.

“we still haven’t finished the list you know, zack is probably going to kill us” james commented, resting his head on top of her’s and snaking an arm around her waist.

she nodded, before moving to grab both chris and zig’s ears. they hissed in pain, even though that mc’s grip wasn’t strong but it was due to the fact she had caught the two burly football players out when they weren’t paying attention. james tried to hold his laughter so he started chewing gum to conceal his giggles at the thought of his small 5'8 girlfriend berating two 6'2 men.

“we need to actually get some shopping done before kaitlyn and zack kill me!” she moaned, the boys nodded not wanting to face her wrath any longer.

“chris and james, you can go get this half of the list” mc said, tearing the piece of paper in half and handing it to james aka the more responsible one. chris had his moments, either on the football field and when he was doing his presidential duties but all the other time, he was very goofy (let’s put it that way).

“zig and i, will get the rest and we will reconvene here in twenty-five minutes” mc stated as the other two nodded, already on their search for garlic bread. mc took out a pen where she had started to cross off certain items she had already added.

“you know i love it when you act all strategic” zig murmured, putting his hand on her lower back as she rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

“babe, this is not a time to get horny, we’re in the dog food aisle, i can hardly see how that’s a turn on” she replied, kissing his shoulder before moving to a different shelf and grabbing some toilet paper.

zig had offered to take her shopping basket for her, so he held it with his left and moved to hold her hand with his right.

“we should buy not another teen movie for facemask friday” zig commented idly, as mc grabbed some milk and butter. “i mean who doesn’t love young, dark haired chris evans?”

“you drive a hard bargain sweetheart” mc laughed before giving the go ahead for zig to put it in the basket. now, zig was holding two baskets and his arms were straining, veins almost popping out against his olive skin.

“you need any help with that?” mc asked, looking worried as zig shook his head.

“nope i’m good!” mc side-eyed him.

“ok, if you say so, it’s your funeral”

she grabbed a packet of cookies and started moving to meet up with her other two boyfriends.

chris ran to her, sweeping her up in a hug as she giggled.

“i missed you so much mc, don’t ever leave me again”

“chris i was literally only two aisles from you”

“i know! the torture!”

mc laughed before motioning him to let her out of his grasp which he stubbornly refused, half-carrying her to the checkout in which there was a cute boy working. his name tag spelt kian in bold lettering, his strawberry blond hair was swept up in one of the latest hair styles and his green eyes twinkled when he caught a glimpse of the foursome.

“how many bags will you be wanting” he asked, his voice had a soft irish accent lacing the words.

“um, about seven?” mc replied, kian nodded and started scanning the items through. zig leant on james, putting his arm around his waist and leaning his head on his shoulder which james responded happily to. they then wandered off to go find where chris had disappeared to, most likely to try and pick some more hair products to sneak in with the shopping.

“you’ve picked a lot of popcorn, you planning on having a movie night?” kian politely intruded, trying to make some sweet small talk.

“yes, i mean my roommates and i usually have a facemask friday in which we all make facemasks for each other, eat ice cream, popcorn and order pizza and watch a cheesy chick flick that zack and brandon will ultimately ignore as they would be too busy making out on one of the beanbags.” mc laughed as kian chuckled appreciatively.

“it sounds fun”

“it is super fun, i mean all of our main friends come around and it’s a time where everyone can just relax you know?”

“yes i agree, i mean my roommates are die hard study geeks and i wish they had that time to take a breather, because they shouldn’t just be focused on work but more about they mental health and relaxation so i might induct this into our roommate time if you don’t mind me stealing your idea?”

“go ahead by all means, i think i lowkey stole it from pinterest anyways” mc giggled as kian smiled, they had finished packing just as james, zig and chris returned, holding a something small in their hands.

“what is that” mc questioned as the boys looked sheepish.

“i swear to god if it’s more hair gel i’m jumping you”

“by jumping us you mean jumping our bones then it is hairgel but if you meant jumping us like attacking us it’s not?” james started out confident then ended up drawing slowly into silence.

“put it through i guess,” mc exhaled, the boys whooping loudly until mc with flushed cheeks told them to be quiet.

“how much is that?”

“$86 dollars”

mc pulled out their house affairs credit card, paying for the items quickly and letting the boys hold them not because she couldn’t but mainly due to fact she wouldn’t.

“i’m driving!” mc called as james threw her the car keys from where they had been safely stashed in his pocket.

“i’m riding shotgun!” chris shouted as zig let out a groan of discontentment, james rolled his eyes before opening up the boot of the car and placing the groceries in, the other two following suit.

“i only agree with this if chris isn’t allowed to play his shitty music”

“james ashton how dare you” chris exclaimed in mock anger, clutching his chest. “my music taste is very well refined”

“well refined where? if big green tractor was a person that person would be you with that ugly green sweater on” zig declared crossing his arms over his chest, chris frowning and james and mc falling about in giggles.

“leave chris’s sweater alone zig, babe your sweater is cute” mc said, wiping the tears from her eyes before starting up the engine. chris leant forward and gave her a kiss as zig grabbed a hold of james’s hand in the backseat, playing with the older man’s fingers.

“so does this mean i can play my music then?” chris queried hopefully after a few minutes of silence.

“NO” came a joint reply as chris moaned and slunk back into his chair like a four year old, sticking his tongue out at his two boyfriends and girlfriend.

“your music taste isn’t any better then mine!”

“um yes it is”

“james just listens to the hamilton soundtrack, zig just listens to 808s & heartbreak and mc just listens to old throwback songs and beyoncé.”

“i dispute that” james said, “i occasionally listen to disney soundtracks i am a very musically cultured person!”

“i listen to other songs! i mean fr example, just yesterday i listened to despacito” zig called out, as mc looked shocked.

“zig, hun, that song and the remix have been out for ages, how is this the first time you’ve heard of them?”

“i, um, well as you can tell, i don’t get out much”

“i can see”

mc laughed as zig pulled a face in the backseat in reply.

“and what’s wrong with listening to throwback songs and beyoncé?”

chris kept quiet, moving to the window so that mc didn’t interrogate him further.

“it’s only tuesday, why can’t this week be over already” abbie moaned as they walked in the house with the groceries, tyler and kaitlyn getting up to help them.

“damn, how much shopping did you guys buy!” tyler asked as they started to put them away.

“blame zack, he gave us the list”

“blame zack for what?” zack said, moving into the kitchen to grab some apple juice.

“blame zack for forcing me to go out with this loser bunch and get shopping” mc said, hip bumping james smoothly to get to the refrigerator.

“hey, i just wanted to give you a little time with your boys, sorry for helping you sheesh” zack replied, smiling as he held up his hands, mc lightly slapped his knee as he chuckled.

“who’s cooking today?”

“it’s kaitlyn and becca’s turn!”

“if they can stop making lovey-dovey eyes at each other for a second to actually make the food” abbie commentated, sitting on the counter and chomping on an apple. “i honestly don’t know what you see in that girl but you should make a move liao”

“i will! i mean i’ll try?” kaitlyn replied sheepishly, abbie smiling fondly at her.

they had patched up their friendship after their falling out and although it wasn’t like before, it was better then it used to be.

the doorbell rang.

“that’s brandon!” zack gasped, rushing to greet his barista boyfriend as james draped his arm over mc’s shoulders, leaning down to give her a kiss as zig and chris were preoccupied with trying to fit as much pizzas into the same freezer compartment.

“i’m actually worn out after today, i’m gonna take a nap, care to join me?” mc asked, a smirk playing on her lips.

“when would i ever deny that opportunity my lady?” james responded, giving her another kiss.

“come on, we’re going in your room because it smells like you” mc said as james nodded, letting mc pull him up to his room and when chris and zig had finally fit in six pizzas, they were fast asleep. —

(nine minutes later)

“so what do you want to do now then?”

“i don’t know, do you wanna have sex?”

zig hesitated before turning to his blond boyfriend with a dimpled grin.

“last one up to your room is a smelly egg!”

— will i return and write a saga about the gang’s facemask friday ?? perhaps i shall, perhaps i shalln’t (which isn’t a word i probably made it up) but feel free to message me so we can talk about the freshman/the sophomore headcanons ! 😋✊🏾

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