#although if it turns out anything like Ralph breaks the internet I will never watch another disney movie again

[zootopiathingz]

I just randomly remembered that Zootopia is actually getting a sequel, like it’s been confirmed by Disney, and I’m hyped as fuck

#although if it turns out anything like Ralph breaks the internet I will never watch another disney movie again #that movie was literal dog shit #pls I’m begging you don’t let Zootopia meet the same fate #zootopia #zootopia 2 #lady luxo rambles

[hiccanna-tidbits]

this is a genuine, curious question! what's appealing 2 u about jackunzel :^] ??

Sure, I can talk about why I ship Jackunzel!!!

@gryffindorkxdraws has some posts about why she likes Jackunzel here, here, and here, so those are a pretty good rundown of reasons to supplement mine. But I’ll make a list of my own!

Why Jackunzel Owns My Entire Soul: An Essay in Disorganized Bullet Points ~I dig the sun/moon symbolism! Like Jack was chosen by the moon and Rapunzel has the powers of the sun. It’s such a nice contrast, and it also lends itself really well to star-crossed lover-type fantasy/fairy tale AUs (which I am ALWAYS a sucker for!) ~From what little we know about Jack’s preference in girls (i.e. the slight crush he seemed to have on Tooth), Rapunzel seems like EXACTLY his type--bubbly, energetic, optimistic girls with a bit of a maternal streak. I think even the RotG director confirmed Punz is the kind of girl Jack would like! ~Jack also absolutely seems like Punzel’s type--if Flynn/Eugene is anything to go by, she’s kind of into sarcastic troublemakers with a hidden soft side XD And she also seems to like guys who are good with kids, if Eugene reading “The Adventures of Flynnigan Rider” to the younger kids at the orphanage is anything to go by! ~They both seem to be naturally pretty social people who suffered a lot from being isolated for a really long time--Jack had it worse, obviously (300 years--OUCH), but it was rough on Punz as well, growing up for 18 years with no one for company but Mother Gothel and Pascal. Jack, spending all that time with no one able to see him and only the guardians (who weren’t even really his friends from much of that time) for company, would understand that pain a lot. I feel like they’d be able to connect on a really deep and intimate level about the pain they felt at being isolated for so long, and this would give them a really strong bond that I can easily see turning into something romantic. ~They’re both just such genuinely lively and fun-loving people, and I can imagine them having a ton of fun together and just genuinely really enjoying spending time together. Like imagine the snowball fights!!! The ice-skating!!! The sledding!!! Chasing each other through the forest!!! Jack grabbing onto Punz and her wrapping her hair around a tree and swinging them around Tarzan-style!!! Like literally the entire scene where Punzel leaves her tower for the first time and is goofing off and doing Silly Shit for like an hour straight??? Like man...if Jack was there, they’d have the TIME OF THEIR LIVES together. Idk I just really love couples who I think would have a lot of fun together, it’s so pure <3 ~They’re both so loving!!! Like Rapunzel goes out of her way to be supportive to an entire tavernful of terrifying “ruffians and thugs” because they have dreams, and she’s so sweet to Flynn/Eugene no matter how many times he snarks at her and tries to alienate her!!! And Jack loves loves LOVES entertaining kids, and it genuinely makes him so happy to give them snow days :3 I just feel like they’d shower each other with love, and it’s honestly no less than they both deserve!!! ~Rapunzel especially is such an affectionate person, and I can see her doing just absolutely everything in her power to make Jack feel as seen and as loved as possible after 300 years of being alone. And god, does he NEED it, too. Like no way is this boy NOT touch-starved, and with some MAJOR self-esteem issues (although he’s good at hiding them). Rapunzel would do absolutely everything in her power to build him up and make him feel wanted and validated--and since it’s in her nature to do so, it would never feel like a burden or an effort for her. And she’d love him so much that hyping him up just comes naturally! She’s just got the kind of nurturing personality that someone as affection-starved as Jack really needs, and I think she could help him feel safe, comfortable, and loved in a way a lot of people couldn’t. ~For all the fun they’d have together, I also feel like Jack needs someone to ground him a bit and provide the Brain Cell to perhaps reign in that Unchecked Chaotic Energy of his sometimes XD Rapunzel certainly has a smart and rational side--I mean, she charted STARS as a teenager!!! She figured out how to get this stranger she captured to take her into the kingdom to see the lanterns!!! Girl can be spontaneous and goofy, sure, but she’s got smarts and kind of a mature streak that I think mesh with Jack really well. He’d never feel like she was a wet blanket stifling his fun, but she’d also have a sense of when to transition away from goofing off and focus on responsibilities (princess and guardian responsibilities in this case, I suppose?) ~On the flipside, I don’t see Rapunzel as being someone annoyed or irritated by Jack’s antics. She might like...gently scold him if he takes a prank too far, but she never finds his shenanigans to be grating and tiresome the way other people might. Rather, I think she’d be endlessly entertained by him. Like in his memory reel when he’s dicking around pretending to be a deer, she’d get a kick out of that! Jack would always be trying to make her laugh and make her smile, and Punz would love that so much about him! ~They’re both searching for a deeper meaning and a deeper sense of purpose in their lives. Rapunzel entertains herself with hobbies, but doesn’t feel like her life has really “begun” and is desperate to find out if her hunch is right and the floating lights really ARE meant for her. Jack has no idea why he was chosen by the moon or what he’s meant to do, and he’s determined to find out so he can finally have a sense of purpose. Rapunzel clearly wants a sense of purpose too, since she wants to do more with her life than pass the time with hobbies. I can definitely see them bonding over this! ~They’re both just so adventurous, and love to explore! Rapunzel is curious, and loves to read and learn, and she wants more than anything else to see the world and all it has to offer. Jack loves adventuring and flying around the globe spreading winter and fun, and he could show Punz everything she ever wanted to see. A perfect match, honestly! ~Aesthetically I LOVE the similarities!!! Like they both like to go barefoot, kinda showing their free-spirited natures. And I love how they’re both naturally brunette, but had their hair turned a different color by magic. It’s a little thing, but I think it’s a really neat parallel and it helps cement me thinking they really ARE perfect for each other in every little way! Haha XD AND they both have small green companions, and as of Ralph Breaks The Internet, they’re hoodie buddies as well!!! Not that surface-level parallels like that are actually that significant BUT I just think they’re neat XD ~While I am fond of Flynnzel/Eugenzel (still my favorite canon Disney couple!), finding out their age gap is around 8 years admittedly made me a bit uncomfy and just pushed me further into loving Jackunzel as an alternative option. I still really love Eugene as a character and adore his and Punzel’s dynamic, but these days I prefer their relationship as more of a big bro/little sis type thing. Jack I think is the best match for Rapunzel romantically, and Eugene I prefer with Elsa--or poooossibly Tooth, Astrid, or Zarina, if I read a fic that sells the pairing well enough! ~On a related note, I was into Jack x Tooth the first time I watched RotG, but after discovering Jackunzel, there was no going back--I was hooked! Rewatching the movie, Tooth strikes me more as a mom figure/”fun aunt” for Jack, and I actually prefer her with Bunnymund (I am WEAK for “the grumpy one is soft for the sunshine one” lmao)

Well, I think that just about covers it!!! I’ll add more reasons if I think of them! Thank you for the ask, and I’m always happy to answer more ship asks about CGI crossover pairings :3

Also @ the anon who asked for Jackunzel headcanons--fear not, I shall provide them!!! I just wanna make a complete list and accumulate all the ones from my various fics so it’s gonna take a while XD

#jackunzel #jack x rapunzel #rapunzel x jack #jackxrapunzel #rapunzelxjack #jack frost #rapunzel #rotbtd #rise of the brave tangled dragons #the big four #rise of the guardians #tangled #crossover #my askbox

[tomb-bloom-noctem]

Any cartoon recommendations? My friend gifted Disney+ for Christmas :)

Oooh! What a nice friend!

Okay no clue if you've seen these and I really hope I'm not just recommending stuff you've already seen or even don't like but oh my gosh for tv shows if you haven't please watch-

Ducktales 2017 of course but I probably don't have to tell you that.

Amphibia. I feel Amphibia gets a bit overshadowed by The Owl House and other shows but it is legitimately so good. The theme makes me feel pumped and despite the shorter episodes they manage to make them so funny and also so impactful. So far only season 1 is up, I wish they'd include the first half of season 2 that they've aired on tv already but ugh is what it is. Still, season 1 alone is still great and worth watching!

The Owl House. Probably most Disney fans have seen or at least heard of this by now but I cannot stress enough how good it is. It does feel familiar to Gravity Falls fans but it stands out on its own strongly as well. Just amazing.

Gravity Falls. The KING. I don't think there's anything I can say that hasn't already been said. It's clever, it's funny, it's got a great mystery element, this is a series that cannot be ignored. Short and sweet but amazing and I'll literally never forget it.

Big Hero 6 the Series. An awesome continuation of the universe that the movie started. It's really funny and legitimately has arcs that I feel could have worked for movies. Also fun fact, ideas that didn't work out for the movie have been getting reworked to be included in the show which is super clever.

Kim Possible. Classic 2000's teen spy fun that holds up so well. It looks great and it's still so fun and enjoyable.

Big City Greens. Probably the most different one on this list but it's a really silly and funny series. It feels aimed more at a younger audience but it is also surprisingly good at having humor that older audiences would like without being inappropriate. I relate to the Green family since I basically would be as lost and confused in a big city as they are. It's mostly humor but there's also heartwarming to it.

Darkwing Duck. Launchpad's favorite! It's super ridiculously out of order on Disney+ so make sure to look for Darkly Dawns the Duck parts 1 and 2 first before watching the rest. It's got that strong 90's feel to it (fitting as it is a show of the 90's of course) but it's still very funny and got great slapstick cartoon animation and humor. Don't miss this!

American Dragon Jake Long. This is an underrated great show from the 2000's! It's about a teen named Jake Long who you guessed it, is a dragon. Worth checking out! (Edit: Sources say it should be coming to Disney plus eventually. It appears to be available in some places but in America it's not currently available.)

Gargoyles. This one is such a hit from back then. It has super quality animation for the time that I still feel holds up to today with powerful messages. It's amazing, do check it out. (Edit: it turns out that yes this one is also available on Disney plus right now.)

Brain is drawing a blank on some other shows so I'll move on to some movie recommendations. Again I have no idea if you've seen any of these so hopefully I'm not just recommending stuff you already have seen 😂 If I am, sorry 😂

Big Hero 6 (the movie takes place before the series so definitely watch the movie first to get the most out of the series and the movie is incredible of course.)

A Goofy Movie. Classic 90's, an epic soundtrack, and the freaking BEST portrayal of Goofy and Max. Legitimately the second most important movie of my personal childhood. It definitely has a 90's feel to it but the performances and the way it hits the heart is timeless.

The Princess and the Frog. Legitimately one of my favorites. Tiana is one of my favorite princesses and it's such a good movie.

Brave. Merida, an icon. The music, amazing even though it's not a musical like The Princess and the Frog and other Disney Princess types. Beautiful animation. Scottish people. It's a win.

Wreck It Ralph. I have mixed feelings on Ralph Breaks the Internet but the original is such a good movie. I feel that even if you aren't a gamer it's still an enjoyable movie but if you are a gamer (which I play a lot of video games 😂) it's even more fun.

The Three Caballeros. Classic Donald fun! It's a weird trippy film but it's such fun and come on it has Donald, José, and Panchito. Win win win.

Fun and Fancy Free. Also an older film, this one has both live action and animation. The highlight is definitely the Mickey and the Beanstalk story which takes up the second half of the movie. But the first half which is the story of a bear named Bongo is still cutesy.

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy: The Three Musketeers. Seriously why does Disney not make more movies like this and the Mickey and the Beanstalk??? It's fun, it's nicely animated, it's a musical, it's really well voice acted, it's a great film.

Monsters University. I think some people brushed this off as the unnecessary prequel movie but I feel like it's a must watch. Definitely works better if you've seen Monsters Inc already though I'm sure most people have. But on it's own, it still stands really strong, it's funny, the voice acting is so strong, and it's at times painfully relatable. It's encouraging and heartbreaking at the same time. I really love it.

And lastly although this one is definitely the most unlike the rest as it's more mature and also a mix of live action and animation- Who Framed Roger Rabbit. This is such a fun film. It's a bit of a parody on the film noir genre but it's so much fun. And come on, it's got Disney and Loony Toons in it. A winner!

EDIT:

Anastasia. This one is newly added so I'm excited that it's finally here. While it is technically not a Disney film it is still an incredibly well-made animated film. Definitely took some historical liberties we'll say, it's still a very beautiful film Amazing soundtrack, stunning animation, and a great story at its heart.

This one I thought I had written down but it was missing so I must have forgotten it

Ducktales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp. This one will feel familiar like a certain Disney princess film as they are similar but this one still has enough duck flair to not feel like a rip off. It's got classic DuckTales fun as well as the classic voice actors, it's great for laughs and for the nostalgia.

Hopefully this is a good list! I tried to pick stuff that wasn't just Disney princess movies or other just popular choices. Thanks for asking and sorry for the errors! 😅

#tomb talks #ducktales 2017 #amphibia #the owl house #gravity falls #big hero 6 the series #kim possible #big city greens #big hero 6 #the princess and the frog #brave pixar #a goofy movie #wreck it ralph #the three cabarellos #fun and fancy free #mickey donald goofy the three musketeers #monsters university #who framed roger rabbit #darkwing duck #american dragon jake long #gargoyles #anastasia #ducktales the movie treasure of the lost lamp

[make-it-mavis]

Anchor (part 2)

Wreck-it Ralph/Ralph Breaks the Internet AU 3151 words Characters: Make-it Mavis (murder AU), Red (Nice Turbo) Content warnings: discussion of anxiety/panic attacks

Premise: After inviting Red to come keep her company in a moment of distress, Mavis finds herself spilling a bit more than she thought she would... and receiving more care than she thinks she deserves.

Part 1

Red took gentle, but confident control of the situation when he arrived.

He showed up only five minutes later than he promised. His knock at the door was nearly drowned out by Mavis’ blasting TV, and he had to let himself in, as Mavis found it quite daunting to leave the bed. Once inside, he saw what he considered problems and dealt with them quickly. He turned the volume way down on the TV. He changed the content to softer videos. He pulled a couple bars of chocolate out of his bag and placed them on the bedside table. She protested when he went to turn off the lights, but compromised to dim them just a bit. Mavis felt as though she should have been annoyed at him for messing with everything she had set up without asking, but just watching him was distracting enough to start calming her down. She was so curious about him and the choices he made, about his thought processes. She just had to understand how he could be so… different.

Mavis leaned back against the mound of meticulously fluffed pillows on her bed, wrapped in a blanket that weighed a little heavy on her muscles that were weary from trembling. Her eyes were still fixated on the hotel's wall-mounted TV screen, but rather than boisterous gamers, she was watching a pair of hands scrape a knife along a dry bar of soap. She did not quite get it, but Red seemed to think it would help. He sat next to her, keeping a respectful distance that she appreciated his instinct for.

He had been chatting with her a bit, checking if she needed anything, offering her pieces of chocolate, which she could not refuse. Mavis did not say much, or even think all that much. She was just trying to zone out to the sound of his voice. Admittedly, the weird videos he put on were helping, too. They were kind of hypnotic.

Eventually, she asked, “What am I watchin’, Red?”

“That's kinetic sand,” he said, referring to the green substance on the screen that she wanted to stick her fingers in. “They’re stim videos.”

Furrowing her brow, she just gave him a side glance. He saw her not understanding, and there was a glimmer of a smile in his eyes for just a second.

“They help people calm down,” he explained. “Really helpful for people with anxiety problems.”

“I don’t have anxiety problems,” she said, not maliciously.

Red considered that. “That’s okay. They’re good for chilling out to regardless,” he took another careful pause. “Sorry if I came off as... accusatory or anything.”

Her gaze lingered on him for a second, but she turned her attention back to the satisfying videos with a small sigh. “Nah, you're probably right. I don't, uh, really name my issues, I just beat ‘em off with a baseball bat as they show up. I bet a shrink would have a real field day with me.”

Red took a minute to think about that. She could tell he was picking his words carefully. “Well, you don't have to name them, really. Sometimes… it's just helpful to know the shape of what you're up against, going into a fight. Y'know?”

Her head nodded lazily. “Tends to help.”

“Yeah.”

“I don't wanna see a shrink, though.”

“Oh, no, that's fine, too. You're good.”

It was some sort of gallows humor, how untrue those words were. But Mavis left them be. She watched as the next video started, one where heated glass was being shaped into a dragon. After a little while, Red commented, “That is such crazy precision work.”

She said, “Seems like I should have beaten this by now.”

Mavis could tell Red was caught off guard. “...Sorry?”

“You’d think after thirty-seven years, this wouldn’t happen anymore,” she mumbled, unsure if her openness came from a place of trust or utter indifference.

She could feel Red looking at her, but felt no prying, no scrutiny, no anxiety. After a moment’s thought, he asked softly, “So this is a regular thing, huh?”

“Mm… I guess. It doesn’t happen every day. But I’ve had… these my entire life, on and off.”

“Okay,” he said gently. “Do you mind if I ask… what does this feel like to you?”

Mavis squinted a bit in thought, her eyes still trained on the glass dragon being bathed in flame. “Like… it’s like…” her head shook a bit, “out of nowhere, for no freakin’ reason at all… it’s like I’m convinced the world isn’t real anymore. Like, uh… nothing feels the way it should. It’s like everything around me is some cheap stage prop, and just behind it all is… nothing. So I freak out, because… it’s like any second, everything could break, and I’d be swept out into this… void. Drift into nothingness forever.”

Red was quiet. She wondered if he expected her to say more.

“I know that won’t happen. I know it’s stupid,” she added.

“It’s not stupid,” he said. “It’s not your fault. That sounds awful. I’m really sorry you’ve been dealing with that for so long.”

Mavis could not find a response that felt appropriate. Silently, she bent up her knees and folded her arms over them. The blanket fell away from her shoulders as she leaned forward to rest her chin, and her skin felt blazing hot against the cool air.

“Y’know…” he continued quietly, “it’s not fair to judge yourself for still getting like that sometimes. Psychological stuff is… sticky. It’s not so easy to shake. And I wanna say that for the most part, the passage of time alone isn’t a cure-all.”

“Well… yeah, I get that,” she sighed. “But it’s like… in the time I’ve been alive, I’ve had to go through so many changes. For better or worse, nothing’s ever stayed the same for long. Except… this. This feels just the same as it did the first time it happened.”

Red was quiet for a little while again. Then he asked, “Would it be outta line for me to ask… how do you deal with this when it happens?”

“Uh…” Mavis thought, suddenly feeling embarrassed for how ungracefully she had coped with it over her life. All the drinking and buff use… and then the dependence on someone else to make her feel safe. The former was effective, but dangerous… and the latter was very effective, but… mortal.

She spoke carefully, but truthfully, “I just… try to feel things. Shock my senses. I feel as much as I can, as hard as I can. Makes the world feel a bit more real again. When it gets still and quiet, that’s when I feel that nothingness creeping up.”

“And that’s worked?”

“Usually. Not always, but usually. The weird thing is… it’s gotten worse since I came to the internet. Everything here is always moving, and there’s so much of it, and it’s all so loud and bright and bustling… but it’s like it goes on forever. And I’ve never, uh… been quite so alone… for so long. That kinda thing… gets to you. Like… I don’t know what’s keeping me tethered to the world around me anymore. If that makes any sense.”

Red took a moment, but tentatively scooted a bit closer to her. “It does,” he said kindly, “but you know… you’re not alone anymore. Yeah?”

She squeezed her knees a little bit, her gaze falling downcast, away from the video of sparkly slime. His friendliness was ill-advised, given her history… but she appreciated it more than she knew what to do with. Whispers of guilt floated around in her head for not knowing how to give him the response he deserved. The one she wanted him to have.

“I’m here for you,” he insisted softly. “And, hey, if it means anything at all… I believe in you.”

Feeling heavier and stiffer than stone, she slowly turned her head and let her cheek rest against her arm. He was looking at her with a sort of care that was all too sincere for her to understand. They had hardly known each other for a month, and yet…

“Why?” she asked, her voice barely there.

Red blinked, but his smile pulled into his cheek. “‘Cause… I believe it’s never too late to change. No one’s ever too far gone, if they’re really willing to try. I know you can beat this. I can just tell.”

“How, though? How can you say that?” she whispered. “You haven’t known me that long.”

For a second, his eyes turned down in thought, but he met her gaze again with a light, oddly admiring smile. “I dunno,” he shrugged. “What can I say? I just got this real good feeling about you.”

Mavis’ heart swelled, but it sank deep into her stomach. Trusting her was incredibly dangerous. If he only knew the things she had done. If he only knew the disgusting, despicable, arguably evil deeds she carried around on her back. If he could see how little remorse she felt for them, save for exposing such a good person to such a… foul, poisonous creature. Looking at him there, with such pure, easy kindness on his face, she could not help but feel a bit in awe of him. There was a troubling degree of adoration in her heart, but it was inevitable. The world felt so dark, but he was a ray of sunshine, almost too radiant for her eyes.

She took a deep, nearly painful breath, and let it out slowly and steadily. There seemed only one thing to say.

“...Thank you,” she whispered.

Red visibly sighed through his nose, leaning forward. He said nothing, but cautiously reached for her back, carefully watching her reaction. She looked at his hand. Although she had, for the most part, overcome her touch aversion, the instinct was still there to shrink away. But a calm surrender came over her, and she simply shifted to meet his hand halfway.

Gently, comfortingly, he rubbed her back. The touch was so blessedly relieving. She had been so starved for contact since Turbo passed, and finally feeling it again felt so good that she could have cried if her tears had not dried up long ago. As she relaxed, her eyes fluttered shut, and Red took that as a prompt to rub a bit harder, pressing his fingers in enough for a light massage. A long, quiet groan dragged in Mavis’ throat as she realized just how much she ached.

Red’s hand rose to the back of her neck, and he squeezed the muscles there, rubbing with his thumb. “Man,” he said, “I oughtta give you a real massage one of these days. You’re hard as a rock.”

She grumbled, “That’s what she said.”

His hand stopped, and with a short delay, he snorted a brief, dirty chuckle. “Yeah, okay,” he said, patting her back.

The back rubs were really great, but they prompted a greater, uncharacteristic need for closeness, comfort, security… affection. Not daring to open her eyes, she scooted right up against him and laid him back against the pillows, resting her head above his collarbone and settling in. For just a couple seconds, his arms hovered, but he gladly obliged and held her close.

“Sorry I kinda smell like a garage right now,” he muttered with a bit of a laugh.

“Nah,” she breathed. “You smell nice.”

“If you say so.”

He was so incredibly warm, as was typical of a speed demon. Like a hot bath, it relaxed her muscles until she felt herself truly go limp. As drowsiness crept in, she found herself baffled over how quickly she came to trust him, when that was otherwise so rarely earned by others in her life. Maybe it was because he looked just like Turbo, but… she was not sure. It could not trouble her in that moment. She felt safe, which had been a rare thing since she came to the internet. She was not about to waste that.

Still, her weary, dreamy mind wandered, contemplating the terrible darkness from a calm, removed head space. She remained this way for a time she lost track of… and it startled her a bit when words slowly spilled from her mouth.

“When my game was first plugged in…” she muttered, “I didn’t spawn above ground, ready to play, like everyone else did.”

Red’s head dipped down towards her face a bit as he quietly listened.

“Every game had a locked door to this… space… where all the code was stored. It was like a huge, tangled web… made of pulsing, static light… that sort of tingled if you got close… and made your hair stand up a bit. It just… it floated there, by itself, in… this… void. Just… darkness in all directions… No ground, no gravity, nothing to hold onto but hot wires… No sound… Just freezing cold, dead silent, never-ending nothingness…”

She swallowed. “That’s where I spawned.”

Red seemed at a loss to respond. After a moment, he just elected to rub his thumb against her arm and let her continue.

“Just once, the arcade owner entered my button combo to test me out, and I was pulled above ground, and it was… man, it was amazing. ‘Cause I was literally made to do it, y’know? But… when it was done… I reappeared in the dark. I figured it would only be a little while ‘til I was pulled up again, and then I could be sure to grab onto something and stay out of the void, but… it didn’t come. My combo just wasn’t pressed… for ages. I, uh… wondered, for a while, if I would ever come out again. I had no sense of time… but… when I was finally, finally let out, I discovered… I’d been down there for two months.”

Red let out a heavy breath through his nose.

Mavis squeezed the fabric of his shirt just a bit. “It was so long ago, now… and it didn’t even last that long. It feels so dumb to be so messed up about it, an entire lifetime later… It doesn’t make sense to me, why I can’t just… get over it.”

“Mavis,” Red whispered, squeezing her close, “it’s not your fault. That’s such a… I mean, that’s nightmare fuel, what you just described. And to have that be… y’know, the very first thing you experienced in life… I mean… shit, I’m proud of you for even being here with me right now.”

A deep, awful, emotional quake began to shake in her chest. Her body wanted so badly to cry, but it just could not quite make it. Besides, as much as she trusted Red… she never wanted anyone to see her cry.

All the same, she clung to him tightly, leaning her face hard against his chest. He was just too good. He was impossible. He was more than she deserved… but she found herself hoping to the Devs that her time spent with him would somehow last, and whatever disease she carried would not take him away.

She felt his nose press against the top of her head. Lips moving against her, muffled by her hair, he mumbled, “Do you want me to stay the night?”

‘No’ felt like the responsible answer, one she may not have regretted later. But, against her better judgement, she whispered, “Please.”

He rubbed her arm reassuringly. “Okay. Just hang tight a sec.”

He carefully wiggled out of her embrace and slid off the bed, moving to dim the lights just a bit more, leaving just enough of a foggy glow to illuminate shapes and surfaces. Mavis tossed what remained of the chocolate to the side table and spread the blanket out over the sheets again. While she pulled off her socks and slithered down into the covers, Red cast a new video to the TV -- just a dark, serene picture of rain, with the low, thrumming sounds of a downpour laid overtop of it. He was right to assume she liked white noise, and she found it sort of remarkable that he did not need to ask. The fact that YouTube could be a good source of it was something to remember.

Once that was all taken care of, he returned to the bed, pausing at the sight of her lying under the covers. He seemed unsure. “Do you…” he asked, “want me under, or on top?”

Half-muffled against a pillow, she slurred, “That’s what she said.”

Red snorted with a grin that mostly showed in his eyes. “C’mon.”

“Under,” she paused to consider, taking a page out of his considerate book. “If that’s okay with you.”

“Totally,” he said happily as he sat down. “How could I say no, when you look so cozy?”

Red lifted the covers and slipped right in. He looked at her with eyes that were glowing so clearly in the low light, and extended an arm to invite her into his embrace again. Hesitating for only a second, she squirmed over and pulled herself flush against his side again, even going so far as to tentatively hook a leg over his. His arm wrapped around her back and he rubbed her side gently, and his other hand found hers against his chest, giving it a short squeeze.

After a couple quiet moments, he muttered, “...This is nice.”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “I, uh… don’t normally do this.”

He exhaled softly. “Well… thanks for trusting me,” he paused. “With everything. Even though I haven’t really had a chance to earn that yet.”

Mavis hummed in thought. “Yeah, uh… I guess I just...” she ducked her head a bit, “I got a good feeling about you.”

Mortified at her own sappiness, she tensely waited for a reply. After a moment that felt too long, his chest hopped with a nearly silent chuckle. “You’re sweet,” he whispered.

“I’m not,” she whispered back. “I’m really not.”

“You’re sweet,” he repeated in a musical, teasing tone, rocking a bit from side to side. “Admit it.”

“Go to sleep, Red,” she instructed, fighting a smile.

“Okay,” he sighed dramatically. “G’night, Mav.”

“...G’night, Red.”

“Sweet dreams.”

“You too.”

“Sweet as you.”

“Red.”

He shook with soft laughter again, but she felt him lay his cheek against her head, and the room fell silent, save for the soothing sigh of rain wafting from the TV.   

Once she truly settled in, her emotions waged a long, losing battle against sleep. Mavis could still hardly believe what was happening, or what she was doing -- never in her life had she been one to cuddle up to near strangers… or, truly, anyone other than her long gone partner. But with her eyes closed, with his scent, with his warmth… she could so easily convince herself that she was nestled against her Turbo again.

Strangely, though, that night, she could have been just as happy with or without the fantasy.   

#wreck it ralph #ralph breaks the internet #make it mavis #turbo (red) #internet AU #fanfiction #was feeling weirdy again the other night and took the opportunity #so here have something sweet for once #i dont exclusively write angst you see!!!!

[sgtcalhouns]

Runaway

another idea bit me and i had to get this one out to you before valentine’s day officially ends! this one takes place after the events of ralph breaks the internet; parenting makes celebrating romantic holidays a bit more challenging. enjoy!

“What are you and Felix going to do for Valentine’s Day?” Candlehead asked.

“I don’t think we’ve got any big plans this year,” Tamora answered.

The pair were seated at the kitchen table as Felix prepared breakfast at the stove. The small girl frowned at Tamora’s answer.

“How come?”

“Well, we’re pretty tired from chasing you kids around all day,” she teased, giving the girl a nudge. “And besides, there wouldn’t be anybody around to keep an eye on you.”

“But don’t you want to do something special?” she asked, a flash of guilt in her eyes.

“Trust me, Felix has already given me ten years’ worth of Valentine’s Days,” Tamora replied. Felix smiled at her over his shoulder. “I’ve had enough flowers and chocolate to last a lifetime.”

“And we can always celebrate another night,” Felix chimed in as he carried over a plate of pancakes. “The date on the calendar isn’t nearly as important as making time for the one you love all year round.”

He set the plate down on the table and leaned in toward Tamora, smiling as he brushed his nose against hers. Candlehead crinkled her own nose in disgust as Tamora captured Felix’s lips in a kiss that seemed to last an eternity. Felix was noticeably flustered when she pulled away, having forgotten for a moment that they were still in the presence of the candy-coated girl. The subject was quickly changed as the other racers filed in and he began serving breakfast, but Candlehead wasn’t able to shake the unpleasant feeling that she and the other racers were getting in the way of Felix and Tamora’s life.

By the time Valentine’s Day rolled around a few days later, Felix had forgotten all about his earlier conversation with Candlehead. As a result, it confused him when he went to check in on the racers and found that she was not with the rest of the group. Figuring she must have gone outside, he left the apartment, assuming he would find her playing in one of her favorite spots by the lake. When he didn’t find her there either, he began to worry. Heading back inside, he asked the other racers if they had seen her today.

“She was totally being weird this morning,” Taffyta said, her tone lacking any sort of concern for her friend.

“I saw her packing a bag, but she wouldn’t tell me where she was going,” Gloyd chimed in. 

“What?!” Felix asked in horror. “How long ago was this?”

“A while ago, after breakfast.”

“Oh my land,” Felix gasped as he realized what had happened. 

He rushed into the living room, making a beeline for Tamora. His frantic entrance captured her attention and she eyed him with concern.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Candlehead ran away,” Felix answered frantically. “Gloyd saw her pack a bag earlier but he doesn’t know where she went.”

“Where would she go?” Tamora asked, wracking her brain for ideas.

“Back to Sugar Rush, maybe?” Felix suggested. Now that their game had been plugged back in, the racers technically didn’t need Felix and Tamora anymore, but the group had become so close that they had decided to stay in Fix-It Felix Jr. when the arcade was closed. “I just don’t understand why she would do this. Did we do something wrong?”

Tamora paused, thinking back on her recent interactions with Candlehead. Everything seemed fine, although she had noticed that the young racer had been much more concerned about hers and Felix’s personal lives in the past few days. Suddenly, it dawned on her.

“No, we didn’t,” she answered. “But she thinks she did. Come on, let’s go find her.”

The couple hurried over to Sugar Rush in the hopes of finding their missing racer. After searching high and low throughout the game, they began to think she must have run off to a different game. They had searched every room in the castle, the candy tree forest, and each racetrack, but they all turned up empty. Feeling hopeless, they began to wander aimlessly across the game’s vast, sugary landscape. 

As they neared Diet Cola Mountain, Felix paused for a moment to rest. He attempted to lean up against the mountain, only to fall straight through its surface. Upon hearing his yelp of surprise as he somehow found himself inside the mountain, Tamora followed him, carefully stepping through the hidden entrance. They barely had any time to process what had just happened when they heard sniffling nearby. Getting up off the ground, Felix headed toward the sound with Tamora close behind. Around the corner, in Vanellope’s old makeshift bed, was Candlehead, bundled up in old candy wrappers and fighting back tears.

“Candlehead, there you are!” Felix said, heaving a sigh of relief as he approached her. “We’ve been worried sick!”

"Leave me alone,” she mumbled, burying her face in the wrappers.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Felix asked, drawing closer to the girl. 

She didn’t answer, offering only a loud sniffle in response. Felix looked over his shoulder at Tamora, who had walked up behind him. She took a seat next to him in front of the bed and gave him a knowing glance before speaking up.

“Is this about today being Valentine’s Day?” Tamora asked as gently as she could muster.

Candlehead hesitated before nodding her head.

“You guys aren’t celebrating it because of us,” the girl finally spoke. “It’s our fault you aren’t doing anything for Valentine’s Day. We’re just getting in the way of your life.”

“That’s not true,” Felix said in a firm but gentle voice. It almost physically pained him to find that this is what had caused Candlehead to run away--he never wanted her or any of the racers to feel like a burden. “Having you kids in our home has only added to our life together. We wouldn’t trade you for anything.”

“Sure, things have changed since we took you guys in, but only for the better,” Tamora added. “Now, I can’t even imagine my life without you little cavities in it.”

Candlehead giggled at the nickname, knowing it had been used out of love. Felix and Tamora heaved a sigh of relief at the small smile on her face. 

“You mean it?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” Tamora answered.

“We care about you more than you know,” Felix said. “And as for today, Valentine’s Day is all about love, so I say we all go home together so we can celebrate with all the people we love.”

After returning home, Felix and Tamora spent the entire day with the racers, talking, laughing, and playing. Felix was even coaxed into the passenger seat of Candlehead’s car as she drove recklessly down the street of East Niceland. He may have been a bit frazzled when he stepped out of the vehicle, but he also had to admit that it had been thrilling. As the day drew to a close, they all headed back inside for dinner; but before they could sit down, Candlehead gathered everyone in the living room to make an announcement.

“We talked it over and decided to give you guys a present for Valentine’s Day,” she said proudly. “We’re all going next door to Ralph’s house for a while so you can have a special dinner together.”

“You all don’t have to do that,” Felix said, touched by the thought behind their gift. “We’re more than happy to spend our evening with you.”

“Too bad,” Taffyta piped up. “We’re going whether you like it or not. But I don’t wanna see any gross kissing when we get back.”

“I can’t make any promises,” Tamora smirked.

The racers soon hurried out of the apartment, suddenly worried that they might end up witnessing some of that “gross kissing” before they could leave. Felix turned toward Tamora, a soft smile on his face.

“You know, we’ve got some pretty wonderful children,” he said.

“I’ll say,” she smiled.

“So, what would you like for dinner, lady love?”

“I was thinking maybe we skip dinner and get straight to some alone time,” she said, relishing the deep blush that appeared on her husband’s cheeks. She leaned down to kiss him, sweeping her tongue into his mouth before pulling away. Felix was completely breathless when she released him. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Felix craned his neck to watch her as she sauntered to their bedroom, shedding clothes along the way. Happy Valentine’s Day, indeed.

#hero's cuties #wreck it ralph #wir fanfiction #sgt calhoun #fix it felix jr #my fic #man i suck at titles lately #in case you were wondering No the racers did not ask ralph before inviting themselves into his home

[epen409]

My Top 18 Favorite Movies, TV Shows and/or Cartoons of 2018 (in no particular order) Part Dos

10. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Ignore the neckbeards who have nothing better to do, so they complain about reboots of cartoons from the quote on quote "golden age of animation, the 80's". She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is a really great show, that yes, is better than the original 80's show. It's able to create a more fun and engaging story, while also having a lot of memorable and likable characters. It also has a theme that I found very interesting, where the villains aren't born evil, they are just misled in the wrong direction and don't truly know wrong from right. It's quite a bold theme for the show. If there is a kind of big flaw, the animation is a little wonky. Some shots and scenes look great, while others are very easy to see where the animation mistakes are. That said, it's still a great show that takes advantage of all of it's fun and interesting characters, and brings them together in a new show that blows its predecessor out of the water. And yes, LGBT fans. It's very, very gay.

11. Spider-Man Into the Spider verse

What a comeback story. Who would have thought that the studio that made the whole world of animation cry last year would end up making the best animated film of the year? But anyways, Spider-Man into the Spiderverse is not only able to live up to all the hype it's been getting for the past year, but it also blew our expectations away. First of all, it looks GORGEOUS. It's able to make a visual style that's not only very beautiful and interesting, but it also happens to create a loving tribute to the original medium of comic books. Second, they put just as much effort in the story as they did with the visuals, which is not only a very fun superhero film, but also manages to be a very engaging emotional story as well, with lots of fun, interesting and memorable characters as well. If there is something to say isn't perfect, I did notice at least one plot hole that left me a bit confused, and they kind of blew the wad for putting in a few too many characters, where, while fun and memorable, don't have that much screen time and don't leave as big of an impression as the main characters. But still, it's one of the year's best movies, so go watch it NOW!

12. Flcl Progressive and Alternative

The first anime I ever saw was FLCL. It was insane, had gorgeous animation, memorable characters and I loved every minute of it. Do its sequel series' live up to the original's legacy. Well, let me put it this way. I very much enjoyed both shows, equally too. I thought they were very fun shows, and their themes, while sometimes a little hit-and-miss, still got their points across, the new characters were very fun and memorable, and the action scenes were also animated very well. With all that said, they still don't hold a candle to the original show. But that's okay, because I imagine it'd be very hard to. I still think that both of these new shows were very good, and although not as great as the original FLCL, was still lots of fun, and somewhat worthy successors to one of the greatest animas of all time. I still recommend both, since they still were good in my opinion.

13. Hilda

Miss Gravity Falls and Over the Garden Wall? Then have I got the show for you. Hilda is a great show from Netflix that manages to capture the spirits of  both those shows, but also having its own identity and voice. One thing I appreciate about the show is that not only can it be calm and laid back in more character and establishing moments, but it also can be equally as exciting and fun for its more adventurous and action scenes. The characters are all very charming. Hilda is a free-spirited and adventurous young girl, but she's not a pushover or overly cheery either. Her friends both regular and supernatural, can sometimes fall into familiar tropes, but also are very fun and enjoyable to watch. (Alfie's my favorite). It's a great show to watch, especially on days you want to cozy up with a cup of hot liquids of some kind, and take it all in. It's a great show, and I highly recommend giving it a watch.

14. Christopher Robin

I missed Winnie the Pooh. Yes, an 18-year old male misses the adventures of a talking teddy bear. Deal with it. But anyways, for a while it seemed that Disney had somewhat given up on the bear with little brains, but they've given him another chance with this new film, but this time, mainly focusing on his human friend, Christopher Robin. One thing this movie gets right is the feeling of Winnie the Pooh. Pooh has never been known for incredibly convoluted stories, just mainly simple tales that it's colorful cast of characters can bounce off of, and this movie nails that feeling down. It's also close to the original cast of characters, since deviating away from their personalities would be considered a form of blasphemy. Also, the performances here are great too. Evan McGregor makes a surprisingly good Christopher Robin, Hayley Atwell is charming as his wife, the girl who played their daughter was pretty good too, and of course, our friends from the 100 Acre Woods are played very well by the new cast, especially the one and only Jim Cummings, the only modern voice for both Pooh and Tigger. Now it does have flaws, like the story is kind of the typical "Dad's too busy for the kids", and although I've grown to like it over time, but sometimes it got a little too dramatic for some scenes, and at time Christopher Robin himself came off a bit as whiny and unlikable in some scenes. With that said, it's very easy to see that the whole film is a big love letter to Winnie the Pooh. No, it's not the best movie of the year, Or anything like that, but if you want a nice, enjoyable and cute movie to watch, then Christopher Robin is the perfect film to watch.

15. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

I'll break my rule just this once to include a video game here. Super Smash Bros Ultimate was the biggest game from Nintendo this holiday season, and boy did it deliver. The last Smash Bros. game, was lots of fun, with it bringing all of our favorite (popular) video game characters together for a huge brawl. This next one, takes it up to 11. One thing I walkways admired from the games is that it's not the world's most complicated fighter game, while also still being oodles of fun. Only one big flaw: no Waluigi. Nah, just kidding. It's a great game, and a great farewell to the world of Smash from it's director, Masahiro Sakurai.

16. The Dragon Prince

Here's another show that didn't get that much attention on Netflix, The Dragon Prince. Made by the head writer from Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the creator of the Uncharted games, comes a massive fantasy epic focusing on the Battle between humans and fantasy creatures like elves and dragons. One thing I really love about this show is just how complex the characters and their morals are. It's a show that takes a lot of advantage from this theme. It's also filled with lots of fun, yet also very interesting characters. You will probably get attached to them by the end of the show, which may break some hearts too... But yeah, might as well address the elephant in the room, the animation. In fact, I do think that maybe the reason it didn't immediately catch on was because a lot of people were turned off by the animation style. But I still recommend it and ask that you give it a chance, because not only was it lots of fun, and very interesting, but the story and characters help redeem the animation, plus it does improve itself over time. Please, please, please give The Dragon Prince a chance, it's a great show.

17. Ralph Breaks the Internet

Don't worry. It's not another Emoji Movie. Ralph Breaks the Internet is not only a worthy successor to the original film, but it also manages to expand a lot on the heart from the original. This time, instead of arcade games, it plucks our characters into the Internet, and unlike the Emoji Movie, manages to make more clever and creative ideas while being on the Internet. And yeah, maybe the scene when Vanellope visits the Disney website might be Disney patting themselves on the back a little too hard, but it's still a very funny and enjoyable scene that also helps move the plot forward. But one thing the movie was amazing at was expanding on its characters and their development. It even manages to avoid the typical happy ending, which, without spoiling anything, actually makes a change in the characters lives. If there is a flaw, like I said, it's 10 times better than the Emoji Movie, but I will admit, between the cameos from Youtubers and the one scene where Ralph becomes a meme, did kind of make me roll my eyes, but thankfully, unlike the Emoji movie, it doesn't dwell too much on these scenes all that much, and knows when to move the plot forward in the right direction. I still say it's a worthy sequel that's worth your time.

Also, Yesss is my new waifu.

18. Mary Poppins Returns

Here's one of the few live-action Disney films in recent years, I feel are very worthy to the legacy of their original film. Mary Poppins Returns is just a complete and utter joy of a film, not unlike the original classic. The performance of Emily Blunt as the titular nanny is a worthy successor the original by Julie Andrews, and character in general. Lin Manuel-Miranda not only does a great job in continuing the spirit of Dick Van Dyke from the first film, but also in writing a plethora of great songs that are amazingly performed and choreographed by the cast, while also giving tribute to the Sherman Brother's original songs. Even the kids, who I kind expected to get on my nerves, are actually pretty likable and fun, and are given, eh passable performances by their actors and actress. The animation sequence brought a tear to my eye, not only because it was lots of fun, but because I'm just happy to beautiful 2D Disney animation on the big screen again. If there is some flaws, yeah, the story is yet another Dad needs to spend more time with kids plot again, and it does bring some more action/suspenseful moments that I don't feel are completely in spirit to the original film's more laid back tone. But regardless, it's an overall great and very charming new film from Disney, and although I would like them to try doing some more original stuff with their live-action movies, I hope can keep the spirit of both this film,and a lot of the classic live-action Disney movies (like the original Mary Poppins, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Treasure Island, Darby O' Gill, Swiss Family Robinson and some others you guys probably never heard of).

So that's about it. Thank you all for sticking around listening to me talk about all these Movies and TV shows are worth remembering from this year, and there's a lot I'm excited for next year, and I hope that this next year can be an improvement, with more kindness and joy from the world and from people. Yeah, it's wishful thinking, but it's not a bad wish to have. Thank you all for supporting this page for the last year,and I'LL see ya in 2019!

#she ra #spider man into the spider verse #hilda #Super Smash Bros. Ultimate #flcl alternative #flcl 2 #Christopher Robin #The Dragon Prince #ralph breaks the internet #Mary Poppins Returns

[followtheyellow-brick-road]

My picks 3rd week of April 2019 part 2/3

Ok that was weird my phone just glitched and i had to start over..which is kinda ironic because of something in this section...ok anyway we're on part 2/3 so I'll try to be quick before it glitches again.

This section will be MOVIES:

1. Wreck it Ralph: Ralph Breaks The Internet

Ok so this is why i said my phone glitching was a bit ironic (those who don't know watch the first movie and you'll know why) Ok! This movie like the first one was really good (and because the characters are already developed perhaps even better than first one) it is a really cute feel-good movie that is definitely rewatchable. I'll definitely watch this one again!

2. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

I enjoyed the first movie (i thought the characters and the relationships were cute) so this past week i finally got around to watching the sequal. It was alot darker and kinda got a creepy vibe at some parts. I won't give anything away but this one unlike the first one takes place in Europe. A few things: Newt is cute, Dumbledore is hot and dang there's a big twist at the end that i did not see coming!

3. Green Book

First off I'm a sucker for a good historical film, even bigger sucker for those that are based on true stories, and love the ones that are about the outsiders fighting descrimination to stick it to the man! So from reading synopsis of this film it definitely sounded like one i would like. It turned out to be a really enjoyable film. I could see that some people may not like it because i could see how it can seem a bit slow paced to some (although it didn't to me) i don't really know what to say other than : great actors and a good story. I personally always enjoy watching historical film based on true stories so i can learn a little about some pretty cool people. I really liked how at the end credits they showed photos of the real people.

4. Spiderman: into the Spider-Verse

This was a movie that i really wanted to see because i really like Spiderman movies (Toby Maguire Spiderman was the first superhero DVD i bought back in the day at Blockbuster with a Blockbuster giftcard so it holds a special place in my nostalgic heart lol) and I've heard so many great things about this movie! The animation is awesome!! I've never seen a movie with animation quite like this and having the variety of animation styles in one movie was really cool! I know the Spiderman story but i didn't know this one and it kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire movie! This movie had me laughing so much that I cried, to feeling sad and to feeling worried. This movie had it all action, drama, suspense, humour...all in all a great film, definitely will watch it again! Oh!! If you do watch it there's a short post-credit scene!

Alright done part 2...onward to final part!

#mypicks2019 #mypicksapril2019 #wreck it ralph 2 #ralph breaks the internet #wreck it ralph #crimes of grindelwald #green book #spiderman into the spiderverse #into the spiderverse #spiderverse

[servinglemonade]

Best of 2018: Movie Edition

BEWARE: SPOILERS AHEAD FOR BLACK PANTHER AND INFINITY WAR

2018 has been a great year for movies and while a lot came out (I probably didn’t even see half of them) I will be highlighting my top 3 here in this post with of course some honorable mentions! Let’s start. 

Black Panther

This best picture nominated movie was my favorite of 2018! Why? It's a movie with intriguing characters, important themes, great story, stunning cinematography plus a beautiful soundtrack and score. However, the most important thing about Black Panther to me is the cultural significance. How amazing is it to see a superhero movie with an all-black cast? How inspiring is it for kids to see characters on the big screen that look like them? How great will it be for all girls to see women on screen that are total badasses, stand up for themselves and love science? How awesome is it to see an African country (even though fictional) thriving, not having been influenced about by colonists? 

The future of Hollywood is starting to look pretty good. But let’s talk about the movie some more. I thought the movie had a great storyline with some great character arc’s, especially T’Challa’s. I also found Killmonger a very compelling villain. The core of his beliefs was really understandable, I even thought he had a point. Although the way he wanted to achieve what he had in mind (a Wakandan empire) wasn’t the best idea. However, he even managed to change T’Challa’s point of view to start sharing their knowledge and resources with the rest of the world. Nakia definitely helped as well, as she had been telling T’Challa to do this since the beginning of the movie haha. The whole cast was amazing and they brought it. So... WAKANDA FOREVER.

Avengers Infinity War

The movie to break a lot of records and that kept people talking for weeks (including myself) is THE best movie that has been released in the summer of 2018! (fight me) After 18 movies it was time for the ultimate Marvel movie. I only wanted to see this movie, because of Black Panther. I’m not lying when I tell you I have never been so surprised and shook by a movie. Characters that I had heard about before (Iron Man, Spider-Man, Groot, Thor, Hulk) became characters that I have gone to love as the movie progressed. It didn’t end with them, I had fallen in love with everyone. Only having seen Black Panther up until that point the story was good to follow for me. It was funny, smart, exciting, surprising and completely heartbreaking. The moment that Thor stabbed Thanos, I thought: “Yes, they won!”. When he eventually snapped his fingers, it went dead silent in the movie theater. I had never experienced anything like that before. When the heroes started turning to dust, when BLACK PANTHER turned to dust, I was shocked and devastated. By the time the end credits started rolling (after that shot of our heroes looking completely defeated and Thanos smiling watching the sunset on his grateful universe), I looked at my sister with my mouth basically hanging on the floor. I wasn’t really sure what I had just witnessed and it left me wanting more! Which is why I believe that Avengers Endgame is the most highly anticipated movie of next year. Props to you Marvel, you have my utmost love and respect! 

Christopher Robin

Winnie The Pooh is one of my favorite movies for very special reasons. Pooh has been my favorite while growing up, so I have a special place in my heart for him and all of his friends. So when Disney announced this movie I was excited, when Disney announced that the original Pooh voice-actor, Jim Cummings, would be reprising his iconic roles as Pooh and Tigger as well, I was ecstatic! I loved the plot of this movie, the fact that it was a new story and not a remake made me pretty happy. Maybe the plot might have been a bit generic for some, but for me it was perfect. Such a great, magical adventure which had me bawling my eyes out during some moments in the movie. Just seeing Pooh and the gang again made me so happy! Great jokes, beautiful score, a lovely message about family, friendship and that inner child that lives in all of us. This movie may not be high on everyone’s list for best movie of 2018, but to me, it is. 

Honorable mentions

Mary Poppins Returns

Bohemian Rhapsody

Incredibles 2

Venom

Ant-Man and the Wasp

The Grinch

Ralph Breaks The Internet

So those were my favorite movies of 2018. What were some of your favorites? There are some AMAZING movies coming out this year, so I’m sure the 2019 list will be even longer! 

Have an amazing day and stay flawless!

XO

Yenai

#servinglemonade #entertainment #movies #best of 2018 #blog post #movie post #black panther #avengers infinity war #infinity war #infinity war spoilers #christopher robin #marvel #disney #marvel 10 years #avengers #bohemian rhapsody #incredibles 2 #pixar #venom #ant-man #wasp #ant-man and the wasp #the grinch #christmas #mary poppins returns #ralph breaks the internet #killmonger #iron man #captain america #thanos

[truereviewpage]

#122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List…

Whether you’re house hunting, building new, or just daydreaming, you’ve probably got a mental list of favorite home features that you either love having already or really want in your next home (or a little bit of both). So today we’re sharing our seven favorite home features based on what we’ve liked (and not liked) about our current and previous houses – along with our experiences working on new builds with a local builder and renovating two beach houses. You can hear our very favorite ceiling heights, where we actually don’t like to go “open concept,” and we lay out two things that we wish our house had – but probably never will. You can also hear how we implemented a new system for holiday decorating that helped not to counteract our year-long quest to simplify our home (it still feels festive and cozy – plus it saved us money!). And it turns out science has a strong opinion about when you should start decorating for the holidays… and the answer surprised us.

You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify – or listen to it below! Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you may have to click through to the post to see the player.

What’s New

Here’s a sneak peek at how our holiday decorating is shaping up to be more simple than past years but still feels mighty festive. More to come in a blog post soon!

And here are the mercury glass tress that Sherry picked up: she got one 12.5″ one and one 8.5″ one (that’s the 12.5″ one below).

Last year was our first time trying to rein in our holiday decorations to keep the excess “stuff” under control. You can hear how that went in Episode #75.

For a few more recent conversations about simplifying our decor, check out Episode #111 and Episode #116 (this one’s our interview with Myquillyn Smith about her new book, Cozy Minimalist Home, which we reference a few times)

Here’s the article that includes both studies about Christmas decorations – including why people who decorate earlier are apparently happier according to science.

And if you want to see some of the deals we got on Black Friday, you can see our whole round-up of deals in this post. Plus the items we snagged for the duplex (and my wrist) that we mentioned in the episode are linked below. Sadly they’re not all sporting the same discounts, but some of them are still pretty darn good!

Whirlpool Top Freezer Refrigerator

Whirlpool Slide-In Electric Range

Maytag Front-Loading Washer

Maytag Front-Loading Dryer

Nest Thermostat E

Apple Watch Series 3 with Cellular

Listener Question

Here are some visual examples of the “ideal” features that we’d look for in a new home, whether we were house hunting or build new.

This is the beach house living room (which is downstairs where the ceilings are 9ft tall).

Meanwhile upstairs they’re 8ft tall (you can see more photos of downstairs in the before & after round-up we posted recently).

And we thought the best way to demonstrate what’s nice about having a lofted ceiling above your stairs was to share this before photo of the duplex when we first bought it (you can see more duplex before photos here). Notice how the slope of the ceiling matches the slope of the stairs, creating a “tunnel” of sorts?

It made a HUGE DIFFERENCE when we raised the ceiling during the renovation (and moved the wall at the top of the stairs)- so now it looks a lot more spacious! Don’t mind the stairs themselves, we still need to paint the risers.

I wanted to share a photo of how the open concept living area at our showhouse made it more challenging to decorate, but I don’t think we took any “after” pictures showing it from this far back (where you can see all three zones) – but here’s an in-construction photo that shows how seamless the living room, kitchen, and breakfast nook were. You can tour the full house here.

Below is a photo of the cased opening that separates our kitchen from our living room. We could’ve left the entire space completely open (it’s not a load-bearing wall) but the little bit of separation and definition between each room helped us furnish both spaces more easily and gave us a spot to build those wrap-around bookcases for extra storage and display space.

We also mentioned how maximizing natural light – like the sidelights around our front door – can help spaces feel brighter and cheerier. You can see the sunlight streaming through them onto the floor in the photo below. If you don’t have room for sidelights, a half-lite door (one that has glass on the top half, like the beach house front door) is a great option to let more light into your entryway.

Below you can see how our makeshift “mudroom” that’s situated in our kitchen (more on that here) but you can also read about how we actually considered adding a proper mudroom (emphasis on the ROOM part) in this kitchen floor planning post.

To hear more about why we prefer an upstairs laundry room, check out the listener question that we answered in Episode #105.

Below is the master bathroom in the showhouse where you guys convinced us (thank goodness!) to put in a water closet so the toilet could be behind its own door (more on that here). You can find more finished photos of this room (and sources, etc) here.

Lastly, since we asked your opinion about jack-and-jill bathrooms, here’s the one we designed for that same showhouse. This green vanity was in the room that connected the two kids’ bedrooms and behind another door was the toilet, shower, and tub.

So if you’ve lived with a similar jack-and-jill style bathroom, what’s your verdict on them?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

We’re Digging

Our new furniture line is officially live and for sale! You can browse everything here on Wayfair or check out this post for more photos & information.

Below is a shot of one of the smart switches I installed after buying a couple more on Black Friday. This one is a three-way smart switch, but I’ve also used the single-pole switches as well.

And for reference, here are the smart plugs we use for our Christmas trees. There’s also a slimmer version if outlet space is an issue for you, or a full smart power strip!

NOTE: None of these switches or plugs require a separate hub to operate, so you don’t need to purchase anything else to use them – although voice control requires something like an Echo or Google Home. But without that you can completely control them with your phone. 

You can read more about the smart home tech around our house and how we use it.

And if you need a good movie for you and/or your kids, we highly recommend Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks The Internet!

Also, just for kicks, I found the mattress commercial we remember from our NYC days and the Salute Your Shorts theme song we both still know the words too. Life is weird.

If you’re looking for something we’ve dug in a past episode, but don’t remember which show notes to click into, here’s a master list of everything we’ve been digging from all of our past episodes. You can also see all the books we’ve recommended on our Book Club page.

And lastly, a big thank you to The Citizenry for sponsoring this episode. Start shopping beautiful goods from artisans all over the globe at CitizenryPodcast.com/YHL and use the code YHL to get $50 towards your first purchase of $200 or more!

Thanks for listening, guys!

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post #122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List… appeared first on Young House Love.

#122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List… published first on https://aireloomreview.tumblr.com/

[endlessarchite]

#122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List…

Whether you’re house hunting, building new, or just daydreaming, you’ve probably got a mental list of favorite home features that you either love having already or really want in your next home (or a little bit of both). So today we’re sharing our seven favorite home features based on what we’ve liked (and not liked) about our current and previous houses – along with our experiences working on new builds with a local builder and renovating two beach houses. You can hear our very favorite ceiling heights, where we actually don’t like to go “open concept,” and we lay out two things that we wish our house had – but probably never will. You can also hear how we implemented a new system for holiday decorating that helped not to counteract our year-long quest to simplify our home (it still feels festive and cozy – plus it saved us money!). And it turns out science has a strong opinion about when you should start decorating for the holidays… and the answer surprised us.

You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify – or listen to it below! Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you may have to click through to the post to see the player.

What’s New

Here’s a sneak peek at how our holiday decorating is shaping up to be more simple than past years but still feels mighty festive. More to come in a blog post soon!

And here are the mercury glass tress that Sherry picked up: she got one 12.5″ one and one 8.5″ one (that’s the 12.5″ one below).

Last year was our first time trying to rein in our holiday decorations to keep the excess “stuff” under control. You can hear how that went in Episode #75.

For a few more recent conversations about simplifying our decor, check out Episode #111 and Episode #116 (this one’s our interview with Myquillyn Smith about her new book, Cozy Minimalist Home, which we reference a few times)

Here’s the article that includes both studies about Christmas decorations – including why people who decorate earlier are apparently happier according to science.

And if you want to see some of the deals we got on Black Friday, you can see our whole round-up of deals in this post. Plus the items we snagged for the duplex (and my wrist) that we mentioned in the episode are linked below. Sadly they’re not all sporting the same discounts, but some of them are still pretty darn good!

Whirlpool Top Freezer Refrigerator

Whirlpool Slide-In Electric Range

Maytag Front-Loading Washer

Maytag Front-Loading Dryer

Nest Thermostat E

Apple Watch Series 3 with Cellular

Listener Question

Here are some visual examples of the “ideal” features that we’d look for in a new home, whether we were house hunting or build new.

This is the beach house living room (which is downstairs where the ceilings are 9ft tall).

Meanwhile upstairs they’re 8ft tall (you can see more photos of downstairs in the before & after round-up we posted recently).

And we thought the best way to demonstrate what’s nice about having a lofted ceiling above your stairs was to share this before photo of the duplex when we first bought it (you can see more duplex before photos here). Notice how the slope of the ceiling matches the slope of the stairs, creating a “tunnel” of sorts?

It made a HUGE DIFFERENCE when we raised the ceiling during the renovation (and moved the wall at the top of the stairs)- so now it looks a lot more spacious! Don’t mind the stairs themselves, we still need to paint the risers.

I wanted to share a photo of how the open concept living area at our showhouse made it more challenging to decorate, but I don’t think we took any “after” pictures showing it from this far back (where you can see all three zones) – but here’s an in-construction photo that shows how seamless the living room, kitchen, and breakfast nook were. You can tour the full house here.

Below is a photo of the cased opening that separates our kitchen from our living room. We could’ve left the entire space completely open (it’s not a load-bearing wall) but the little bit of separation and definition between each room helped us furnish both spaces more easily and gave us a spot to build those wrap-around bookcases for extra storage and display space.

We also mentioned how maximizing natural light – like the sidelights around our front door – can help spaces feel brighter and cheerier. You can see the sunlight streaming through them onto the floor in the photo below. If you don’t have room for sidelights, a half-lite door (one that has glass on the top half, like the beach house front door) is a great option to let more light into your entryway.

Below you can see how our makeshift “mudroom” that’s situated in our kitchen (more on that here) but you can also read about how we actually considered adding a proper mudroom (emphasis on the ROOM part) in this kitchen floor planning post.

To hear more about why we prefer an upstairs laundry room, check out the listener question that we answered in Episode #105.

Below is the master bathroom in the showhouse where you guys convinced us (thank goodness!) to put in a water closet so the toilet could be behind its own door (more on that here). You can find more finished photos of this room (and sources, etc) here.

Lastly, since we asked your opinion about jack-and-jill bathrooms, here’s the one we designed for that same showhouse. This green vanity was in the room that connected the two kids’ bedrooms and behind another door was the toilet, shower, and tub.

So if you’ve lived with a similar jack-and-jill style bathroom, what’s your verdict on them?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

We’re Digging

Our new furniture line is officially live and for sale! You can browse everything here on Wayfair or check out this post for more photos & information.

Below is a shot of one of the smart switches I installed after buying a couple more on Black Friday. This one is a three-way smart switch, but I’ve also used the single-pole switches as well.

And for reference, here are the smart plugs we use for our Christmas trees. There’s also a slimmer version if outlet space is an issue for you, or a full smart power strip!

NOTE: None of these switches or plugs require a separate hub to operate, so you don’t need to purchase anything else to use them – although voice control requires something like an Echo or Google Home. But without that you can completely control them with your phone. 

You can read more about the smart home tech around our house and how we use it.

And if you need a good movie for you and/or your kids, we highly recommend Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks The Internet!

Also, just for kicks, I found the mattress commercial we remember from our NYC days and the Salute Your Shorts theme song we both still know the words too. Life is weird.

If you’re looking for something we’ve dug in a past episode, but don’t remember which show notes to click into, here’s a master list of everything we’ve been digging from all of our past episodes. You can also see all the books we’ve recommended on our Book Club page.

And lastly, a big thank you to The Citizenry for sponsoring this episode. Start shopping beautiful goods from artisans all over the globe at CitizenryPodcast.com/YHL and use the code YHL to get $50 towards your first purchase of $200 or more!

Thanks for listening, guys!

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post #122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List… appeared first on Young House Love.

#122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List… published first on https://bakerskitchenslimited.tumblr.com/

[billydmacklin]

#122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List…

Whether you’re house hunting, building new, or just daydreaming, you’ve probably got a mental list of favorite home features that you either love having already or really want in your next home (or a little bit of both). So today we’re sharing our seven favorite home features based on what we’ve liked (and not liked) about our current and previous houses – along with our experiences working on new builds with a local builder and renovating two beach houses. You can hear our very favorite ceiling heights, where we actually don’t like to go “open concept,” and we lay out two things that we wish our house had – but probably never will. You can also hear how we implemented a new system for holiday decorating that helped not to counteract our year-long quest to simplify our home (it still feels festive and cozy – plus it saved us money!). And it turns out science has a strong opinion about when you should start decorating for the holidays… and the answer surprised us.

You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify – or listen to it below! Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you may have to click through to the post to see the player.

What’s New

Here’s a sneak peek at how our holiday decorating is shaping up to be more simple than past years but still feels mighty festive. More to come in a blog post soon!

Last year was our first time trying to rein in our holiday decorations to keep the excess “stuff” under control. You can hear how that went in Episode #75.

For a few more recent conversations about simplifying our decor, check out Episode #111 and Episode #116 (this one’s our interview with Myquillyn Smith about her new book, Cozy Minimalist Home, which we reference a few times)

Here’s the article that includes both studies about Christmas decorations – including why people who decorate earlier are apparently happier according to science.

And if you want to see some of the deals we got on Black Friday, you can see our whole round-up of deals in this post. Plus the items we snagged for the duplex (and my wrist) that we mentioned in the episode are linked below. Sadly they’re not all sporting the same discounts, but some of them are still pretty darn good!

Whirlpool Top Freezer Refrigerator

Whirlpool Slide-In Electric Range

Maytag Front-Loading Washer

Maytag Front-Loading Dryer

Nest Thermostat E

Apple Watch Series 3 with Cellular

Listener Question

Here are some visual examples of the “ideal” features that we’d look for in a new home, whether we were house hunting or build new.

This is the beach house living room (which is downstairs where the ceilings are 9ft tall).

Meanwhile upstairs they’re 8ft tall (you can see more photos of downstairs in the before & after round-up we posted recently).

And we thought the best way to demonstrate what’s nice about having a lofted ceiling above your stairs was to share this before photo of the duplex when we first bought it (you can see more duplex before photos here). Notice how the slope of the ceiling matches the slope of the stairs, creating a “tunnel” of sorts?

It made a HUGE DIFFERENCE when we raised the ceiling during the renovation (and moved the wall at the top of the stairs)- so now it looks a lot more spacious! Don’t mind the stairs themselves, we still need to paint the risers.

I wanted to share a photo of how the open concept living area at our showhouse made it more challenging to decorate, but I don’t think we took any “after” pictures showing it from this far back (where you can see all three zones) – but here’s an in-construction photo that shows how seamless the living room, kitchen, and breakfast nook were. You can tour the full house here.

Below is a photo of the cased opening that separates our kitchen from our living room. We could’ve left the entire space completely open (it’s not a load-bearing wall) but the little bit of separation and definition between each room helped us furnish both spaces more easily and gave us a spot to build those wrap-around bookcases for extra storage and display space.

We also mentioned how maximizing natural light – like the sidelights around our front door – can help spaces feel brighter and cheerier. You can see the sunlight streaming through them onto the floor in the photo below. If you don’t have room for sidelights, a half-lite door (one that has glass on the top half, like the beach house front door) is a great option to let more light into your entryway.

Below you can see how our makeshift “mudroom” that’s situated in our kitchen (more on that here) but you can also read about how we actually considered adding a proper mudroom (emphasis on the ROOM part) in this kitchen floor planning post.

To hear more about why we prefer an upstairs laundry room, check out the listener question that we answered in Episode #105.

Below is the master bathroom in the showhouse where you guys convinced us (thank goodness!) to put in a water closet so the toilet could be behind its own door (more on that here). You can find more finished photos of this room (and sources, etc) here.

Lastly, since we asked your opinion about jack-and-jill bathrooms, here’s the one we designed for that same showhouse. This green vanity was in the room that connected the two kids’ bedrooms and behind another door was the toilet, shower, and tub.

So if you’ve lived with a similar jack-and-jill style bathroom, what’s your verdict on them?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

We’re Digging

Our new furniture line is officially live and for sale! You can browse everything here on Wayfair or check out this post for more photos & information.

Below is a shot of one of the smart switches I installed after buying a couple more on Black Friday. This one is a three-way smart switch, but I’ve also used the single-pole switches as well.

And for reference, here are the smart plugs we use for our Christmas trees. There’s also a slimmer version if outlet space is an issue for you, or a full smart power strip!

NOTE: None of these switches or plugs require a separate hub to operate, so you don’t need to purchase anything else to use them – although voice control requires something like an Echo or Google Home. But without that you can completely control them with your phone. 

You can read more about the smart home tech around our house and how we use it.

And if you need a good movie for you and/or your kids, we highly recommend Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks The Internet!

Also, just for kicks, I found the mattress commercial we remember from our NYC days and the Salute Your Shorts theme song we both still know the words too. Life is weird.

If you’re looking for something we’ve dug in a past episode, but don’t remember which show notes to click into, here’s a master list of everything we’ve been digging from all of our past episodes. You can also see all the books we’ve recommended on our Book Club page.

And lastly, a big thank you to The Citizenry for sponsoring this episode. Start shopping beautiful goods from artisans all over the globe at CitizenryPodcast.com/YHL and use the code YHL to get $50 towards your first purchase of $200 or more!

Thanks for listening, guys!

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post #122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List… appeared first on Young House Love.

#122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List… published first on https://carpetgurus.tumblr.com/

[interiorstarweb]

#122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List…

Whether you’re house hunting, building new, or just daydreaming, you’ve probably got a mental list of favorite home features that you either love having already or really want in your next home (or a little bit of both). So today we’re sharing our seven favorite home features based on what we’ve liked (and not liked) about our current and previous houses – along with our experiences working on new builds with a local builder and renovating two beach houses. You can hear our very favorite ceiling heights, where we actually don’t like to go “open concept,” and we lay out two things that we wish our house had – but probably never will. You can also hear how we implemented a new system for holiday decorating that helped not to counteract our year-long quest to simplify our home (it still feels festive and cozy – plus it saved us money!). And it turns out science has a strong opinion about when you should start decorating for the holidays… and the answer surprised us.

You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify – or listen to it below! Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you may have to click through to the post to see the player.

What’s New

Here’s a sneak peek at how our holiday decorating is shaping up to be more simple than past years but still feels mighty festive. More to come in a blog post soon!

Last year was our first time trying to rein in our holiday decorations to keep the excess “stuff” under control. You can hear how that went in Episode #75.

For a few more recent conversations about simplifying our decor, check out Episode #111 and Episode #116 (this one’s our interview with Myquillyn Smith about her new book, Cozy Minimalist Home, which we reference a few times)

Here’s the article that includes both studies about Christmas decorations – including why people who decorate earlier are apparently happier according to science.

And if you want to see some of the deals we got on Black Friday, you can see our whole round-up of deals in this post. Plus the items we snagged for the duplex (and my wrist) that we mentioned in the episode are linked below. Sadly they’re not all sporting the same discounts, but some of them are still pretty darn good!

Whirlpool Top Freezer Refrigerator

Whirlpool Slide-In Electric Range

Maytag Front-Loading Washer

Maytag Front-Loading Dryer

Nest Thermostat E

Apple Watch Series 3 with Cellular

Listener Question

Here are some visual examples of the “ideal” features that we’d look for in a new home, whether we were house hunting or build new.

This is the beach house living room (which is downstairs where the ceilings are 9ft tall).

Meanwhile upstairs they’re 8ft tall (you can see more photos of downstairs in the before & after round-up we posted recently).

And we thought the best way to demonstrate what’s nice about having a lofted ceiling above your stairs was to share this before photo of the duplex when we first bought it (you can see more duplex before photos here). Notice how the slope of the ceiling matches the slope of the stairs, creating a “tunnel” of sorts?

It made a HUGE DIFFERENCE when we raised the ceiling during the renovation (and moved the wall at the top of the stairs)- so now it looks a lot more spacious! Don’t mind the stairs themselves, we still need to paint the risers.

I wanted to share a photo of how the open concept living area at our showhouse made it more challenging to decorate, but I don’t think we took any “after” pictures showing it from this far back (where you can see all three zones) – but here’s an in-construction photo that shows how seamless the living room, kitchen, and breakfast nook were. You can tour the full house here.

Below is a photo of the cased opening that separates our kitchen from our living room. We could’ve left the entire space completely open (it’s not a load-bearing wall) but the little bit of separation and definition between each room helped us furnish both spaces more easily and gave us a spot to build those wrap-around bookcases for extra storage and display space.

We also mentioned how maximizing natural light – like the sidelights around our front door – can help spaces feel brighter and cheerier. You can see the sunlight streaming through them onto the floor in the photo below. If you don’t have room for sidelights, a half-lite door (one that has glass on the top half, like the beach house front door) is a great option to let more light into your entryway.

Below you can see how our makeshift “mudroom” that’s situated in our kitchen (more on that here) but you can also read about how we actually considered adding a proper mudroom (emphasis on the ROOM part) in this kitchen floor planning post.

To hear more about why we prefer an upstairs laundry room, check out the listener question that we answered in Episode #105.

Below is the master bathroom in the showhouse where you guys convinced us (thank goodness!) to put in a water closet so the toilet could be behind its own door (more on that here). You can find more finished photos of this room (and sources, etc) here.

Lastly, since we asked your opinion about jack-and-jill bathrooms, here’s the one we designed for that same showhouse. This green vanity was in the room that connected the two kids’ bedrooms and behind another door was the toilet, shower, and tub.

So if you’ve lived with a similar jack-and-jill style bathroom, what’s your verdict on them?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

We’re Digging

Our new furniture line is officially live and for sale! You can browse everything here on Wayfair or check out this post for more photos & information.

Below is a shot of one of the smart switches I installed after buying a couple more on Black Friday. This one is a three-way smart switch, but I’ve also used the single-pole switches as well.

And for reference, here are the smart plugs we use for our Christmas trees. There’s also a slimmer version if outlet space is an issue for you, or a full smart power strip!

NOTE: None of these switches or plugs require a separate hub to operate, so you don’t need to purchase anything else to use them – although voice control requires something like an Echo or Google Home. But without that you can completely control them with your phone. 

You can read more about the smart home tech around our house and how we use it.

And if you need a good movie for you and/or your kids, we highly recommend Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks The Internet!

Also, just for kicks, I found the mattress commercial we remember from our NYC days and the Salute Your Shorts theme song we both still know the words too. Life is weird.

If you’re looking for something we’ve dug in a past episode, but don’t remember which show notes to click into, here’s a master list of everything we’ve been digging from all of our past episodes. You can also see all the books we’ve recommended on our Book Club page.

And lastly, a big thank you to The Citizenry for sponsoring this episode. Start shopping beautiful goods from artisans all over the globe at CitizenryPodcast.com/YHL and use the code YHL to get $50 towards your first purchase of $200 or more!

Thanks for listening, guys!

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post #122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List… appeared first on Young House Love.

#122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List… published first on https://novaformmattressreview.tumblr.com/

[lowmaticnews]

#122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List…

Whether you’re house hunting, building new, or just daydreaming, you’ve probably got a mental list of favorite home features that you either love having already or really want in your next home (or a little bit of both). So today we’re sharing our seven favorite home features based on what we’ve liked (and not liked) about our current and previous houses – along with our experiences working on new builds with a local builder and renovating two beach houses. You can hear our very favorite ceiling heights, where we actually don’t like to go “open concept,” and we lay out two things that we wish our house had – but probably never will. You can also hear how we implemented a new system for holiday decorating that helped not to counteract our year-long quest to simplify our home (it still feels festive and cozy – plus it saved us money!). And it turns out science has a strong opinion about when you should start decorating for the holidays… and the answer surprised us.

You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify – or listen to it below! Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you may have to click through to the post to see the player.

What’s New

Here’s a sneak peek at how our holiday decorating is shaping up to be more simple than past years but still feels mighty festive. More to come in a blog post soon!

Last year was our first time trying to rein in our holiday decorations to keep the excess “stuff” under control. You can hear how that went in Episode #75.

For a few more recent conversations about simplifying our decor, check out Episode #111 and Episode #116 (this one’s our interview with Myquillyn Smith about her new book, Cozy Minimalist Home, which we reference a few times)

Here’s the article that includes both studies about Christmas decorations – including why people who decorate earlier are apparently happier according to science.

And if you want to see some of the deals we got on Black Friday, you can see our whole round-up of deals in this post. Plus the items we snagged for the duplex (and my wrist) that we mentioned in the episode are linked below. Sadly they’re not all sporting the same discounts, but some of them are still pretty darn good!

Whirlpool Top Freezer Refrigerator

Whirlpool Slide-In Electric Range

Maytag Front-Loading Washer

Maytag Front-Loading Dryer

Nest Thermostat E

Apple Watch Series 3 with Cellular

Listener Question

Here are some visual examples of the “ideal” features that we’d look for in a new home, whether we were house hunting or build new.

This is the beach house living room (which is downstairs where the ceilings are 9ft tall).

Meanwhile upstairs they’re 8ft tall (you can see more photos of downstairs in the before & after round-up we posted recently).

And we thought the best way to demonstrate what’s nice about having a lofted ceiling above your stairs was to share this before photo of the duplex when we first bought it (you can see more duplex before photos here). Notice how the slope of the ceiling matches the slope of the stairs, creating a “tunnel” of sorts?

It made a HUGE DIFFERENCE when we raised the ceiling during the renovation (and moved the wall at the top of the stairs)- so now it looks a lot more spacious! Don’t mind the stairs themselves, we still need to paint the risers.

I wanted to share a photo of how the open concept living area at our showhouse made it more challenging to decorate, but I don’t think we took any “after” pictures showing it from this far back (where you can see all three zones) – but here’s an in-construction photo that shows how seamless the living room, kitchen, and breakfast nook were. You can tour the full house here.

Below is a photo of the cased opening that separates our kitchen from our living room. We could’ve left the entire space completely open (it’s not a load-bearing wall) but the little bit of separation and definition between each room helped us furnish both spaces more easily and gave us a spot to build those wrap-around bookcases for extra storage and display space.

We also mentioned how maximizing natural light – like the sidelights around our front door – can help spaces feel brighter and cheerier. You can see the sunlight streaming through them onto the floor in the photo below. If you don’t have room for sidelights, a half-lite door (one that has glass on the top half, like the beach house front door) is a great option to let more light into your entryway.

Below you can see how our makeshift “mudroom” that’s situated in our kitchen (more on that here) but you can also read about how we actually considered adding a proper mudroom (emphasis on the ROOM part) in this kitchen floor planning post.

To hear more about why we prefer an upstairs laundry room, check out the listener question that we answered in Episode #105.

Below is the master bathroom in the showhouse where you guys convinced us (thank goodness!) to put in a water closet so the toilet could be behind its own door (more on that here). You can find more finished photos of this room (and sources, etc) here.

Lastly, since we asked your opinion about jack-and-jill bathrooms, here’s the one we designed for that same showhouse. This green vanity was in the room that connected the two kids’ bedrooms and behind another door was the toilet, shower, and tub.

So if you’ve lived with a similar jack-and-jill style bathroom, what’s your verdict on them?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

We’re Digging

Our new furniture line is officially live and for sale! You can browse everything here on Wayfair or check out this post for more photos & information.

Below is a shot of one of the smart switches I installed after buying a couple more on Black Friday. This one is a three-way smart switch, but I’ve also used the single-pole switches as well.

And for reference, here are the smart plugs we use for our Christmas trees. There’s also a slimmer version if outlet space is an issue for you, or a full smart power strip!

NOTE: None of these switches or plugs require a separate hub to operate, so you don’t need to purchase anything else to use them – although voice control requires something like an Echo or Google Home. But without that you can completely control them with your phone. 

You can read more about the smart home tech around our house and how we use it.

And if you need a good movie for you and/or your kids, we highly recommend Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks The Internet!

Also, just for kicks, I found the mattress commercial we remember from our NYC days and the Salute Your Shorts theme song we both still know the words too. Life is weird.

If you’re looking for something we’ve dug in a past episode, but don’t remember which show notes to click into, here’s a master list of everything we’ve been digging from all of our past episodes. You can also see all the books we’ve recommended on our Book Club page.

And lastly, a big thank you to The Citizenry for sponsoring this episode. Start shopping beautiful goods from artisans all over the globe at CitizenryPodcast.com/YHL and use the code YHL to get $50 towards your first purchase of $200 or more!

Thanks for listening, guys!

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post #122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List… appeared first on Young House Love.

#122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List… published first on https://landscapingmates.blogspot.com

[vincentbnaughton]

#122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List…

Whether you’re house hunting, building new, or just daydreaming, you’ve probably got a mental list of favorite home features that you either love having already or really want in your next home (or a little bit of both). So today we’re sharing our seven favorite home features based on what we’ve liked (and not liked) about our current and previous houses – along with our experiences working on new builds with a local builder and renovating two beach houses. You can hear our very favorite ceiling heights, where we actually don’t like to go “open concept,” and we lay out two things that we wish our house had – but probably never will. You can also hear how we implemented a new system for holiday decorating that helped not to counteract our year-long quest to simplify our home (it still feels festive and cozy – plus it saved us money!). And it turns out science has a strong opinion about when you should start decorating for the holidays… and the answer surprised us.

You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify – or listen to it below! Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you may have to click through to the post to see the player.

What’s New

Here’s a sneak peek at how our holiday decorating is shaping up to be more simple than past years but still feels mighty festive. More to come in a blog post soon!

Last year was our first time trying to rein in our holiday decorations to keep the excess “stuff” under control. You can hear how that went in Episode #75.

For a few more recent conversations about simplifying our decor, check out Episode #111 and Episode #116 (this one’s our interview with Myquillyn Smith about her new book, Cozy Minimalist Home, which we reference a few times)

Here’s the article that includes both studies about Christmas decorations – including why people who decorate earlier are apparently happier according to science.

And if you want to see some of the deals we got on Black Friday, you can see our whole round-up of deals in this post. Plus the items we snagged for the duplex (and my wrist) that we mentioned in the episode are linked below. Sadly they’re not all sporting the same discounts, but some of them are still pretty darn good!

Whirlpool Top Freezer Refrigerator

Whirlpool Slide-In Electric Range

Maytag Front-Loading Washer

Maytag Front-Loading Dryer

Nest Thermostat E

Apple Watch Series 3 with Cellular

Listener Question

Here are some visual examples of the “ideal” features that we’d look for in a new home, whether we were house hunting or build new.

This is the beach house living room (which is downstairs where the ceilings are 9ft tall).

Meanwhile upstairs they’re 8ft tall (you can see more photos of downstairs in the before & after round-up we posted recently).

And we thought the best way to demonstrate what’s nice about having a lofted ceiling above your stairs was to share this before photo of the duplex when we first bought it (you can see more duplex before photos here). Notice how the slope of the ceiling matches the slope of the stairs, creating a “tunnel” of sorts?

It made a HUGE DIFFERENCE when we raised the ceiling during the renovation (and moved the wall at the top of the stairs)- so now it looks a lot more spacious! Don’t mind the stairs themselves, we still need to paint the risers.

I wanted to share a photo of how the open concept living area at our showhouse made it more challenging to decorate, but I don’t think we took any “after” pictures showing it from this far back (where you can see all three zones) – but here’s an in-construction photo that shows how seamless the living room, kitchen, and breakfast nook were. You can tour the full house here.

Below is a photo of the cased opening that separates our kitchen from our living room. We could’ve left the entire space completely open (it’s not a load-bearing wall) but the little bit of separation and definition between each room helped us furnish both spaces more easily and gave us a spot to build those wrap-around bookcases for extra storage and display space.

We also mentioned how maximizing natural light – like the sidelights around our front door – can help spaces feel brighter and cheerier. You can see the sunlight streaming through them onto the floor in the photo below. If you don’t have room for sidelights, a half-lite door (one that has glass on the top half, like the beach house front door) is a great option to let more light into your entryway.

Below you can see how our makeshift “mudroom” that’s situated in our kitchen (more on that here) but you can also read about how we actually considered adding a proper mudroom (emphasis on the ROOM part) in this kitchen floor planning post.

To hear more about why we prefer an upstairs laundry room, check out the listener question that we answered in Episode #105.

Below is the master bathroom in the showhouse where you guys convinced us (thank goodness!) to put in a water closet so the toilet could be behind its own door (more on that here). You can find more finished photos of this room (and sources, etc) here.

Lastly, since we asked your opinion about jack-and-jill bathrooms, here’s the one we designed for that same showhouse. This green vanity was in the room that connected the two kids’ bedrooms and behind another door was the toilet, shower, and tub.

So if you’ve lived with a similar jack-and-jill style bathroom, what’s your verdict on them?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

We’re Digging

Our new furniture line is officially live and for sale! You can browse everything here on Wayfair or check out this post for more photos & information.

Below is a shot of one of the smart switches I installed after buying a couple more on Black Friday. This one is a three-way smart switch, but I’ve also used the single-pole switches as well.

And for reference, here are the smart plugs we use for our Christmas trees. There’s also a slimmer version if outlet space is an issue for you, or a full smart power strip!

NOTE: None of these switches or plugs require a separate hub to operate, so you don’t need to purchase anything else to use them – although voice control requires something like an Echo or Google Home. But without that you can completely control them with your phone. 

You can read more about the smart home tech around our house and how we use it.

And if you need a good movie for you and/or your kids, we highly recommend Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks The Internet!

Also, just for kicks, I found the mattress commercial we remember from our NYC days and the Salute Your Shorts theme song we both still know the words too. Life is weird.

If you’re looking for something we’ve dug in a past episode, but don’t remember which show notes to click into, here’s a master list of everything we’ve been digging from all of our past episodes. You can also see all the books we’ve recommended on our Book Club page.

And lastly, a big thank you to The Citizenry for sponsoring this episode. Start shopping beautiful goods from artisans all over the globe at CitizenryPodcast.com/YHL and use the code YHL to get $50 towards your first purchase of $200 or more!

Thanks for listening, guys!

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post #122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List… appeared first on Young House Love.

[statusreview]

#122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List…

Whether you’re house hunting, building new, or just daydreaming, you’ve probably got a mental list of favorite home features that you either love having already or really want in your next home (or a little bit of both). So today we’re sharing our seven favorite home features based on what we’ve liked (and not liked) about our current and previous houses – along with our experiences working on new builds with a local builder and renovating two beach houses. You can hear our very favorite ceiling heights, where we actually don’t like to go “open concept,” and we lay out two things that we wish our house had – but probably never will. You can also hear how we implemented a new system for holiday decorating that helped not to counteract our year-long quest to simplify our home (it still feels festive and cozy – plus it saved us money!). And it turns out science has a strong opinion about when you should start decorating for the holidays… and the answer surprised us.

You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify – or listen to it below! Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you may have to click through to the post to see the player.

What’s New

Here’s a sneak peek at how our holiday decorating is shaping up to be more simple than past years but still feels mighty festive. More to come in a blog post soon!

Last year was our first time trying to rein in our holiday decorations to keep the excess “stuff” under control. You can hear how that went in Episode #75.

For a few more recent conversations about simplifying our decor, check out Episode #111 and Episode #116 (this one’s our interview with Myquillyn Smith about her new book, Cozy Minimalist Home, which we reference a few times)

Here’s the article that includes both studies about Christmas decorations – including why people who decorate earlier are apparently happier according to science.

And if you want to see some of the deals we got on Black Friday, you can see our whole round-up of deals in this post. Plus the items we snagged for the duplex (and my wrist) that we mentioned in the episode are linked below. Sadly they’re not all sporting the same discounts, but some of them are still pretty darn good!

Whirlpool Top Freezer Refrigerator

Whirlpool Slide-In Electric Range

Maytag Front-Loading Washer

Maytag Front-Loading Dryer

Nest Thermostat E

Apple Watch Series 3 with Cellular

Listener Question

Here are some visual examples of the “ideal” features that we’d look for in a new home, whether we were house hunting or build new.

This is the beach house living room (which is downstairs where the ceilings are 9ft tall).

Meanwhile upstairs they’re 8ft tall (you can see more photos of downstairs in the before & after round-up we posted recently).

And we thought the best way to demonstrate what’s nice about having a lofted ceiling above your stairs was to share this before photo of the duplex when we first bought it (you can see more duplex before photos here). Notice how the slope of the ceiling matches the slope of the stairs, creating a “tunnel” of sorts?

It made a HUGE DIFFERENCE when we raised the ceiling during the renovation (and moved the wall at the top of the stairs)- so now it looks a lot more spacious! Don’t mind the stairs themselves, we still need to paint the risers.

I wanted to share a photo of how the open concept living area at our showhouse made it more challenging to decorate, but I don’t think we took any “after” pictures showing it from this far back (where you can see all three zones) – but here’s an in-construction photo that shows how seamless the living room, kitchen, and breakfast nook were. You can tour the full house here.

Below is a photo of the cased opening that separates our kitchen from our living room. We could’ve left the entire space completely open (it’s not a load-bearing wall) but the little bit of separation and definition between each room helped us furnish both spaces more easily and gave us a spot to build those wrap-around bookcases for extra storage and display space.

We also mentioned how maximizing natural light – like the sidelights around our front door – can help spaces feel brighter and cheerier. You can see the sunlight streaming through them onto the floor in the photo below. If you don’t have room for sidelights, a half-lite door (one that has glass on the top half, like the beach house front door) is a great option to let more light into your entryway.

Below you can see how our makeshift “mudroom” that’s situated in our kitchen (more on that here) but you can also read about how we actually considered adding a proper mudroom (emphasis on the ROOM part) in this kitchen floor planning post.

To hear more about why we prefer an upstairs laundry room, check out the listener question that we answered in Episode #105.

Below is the master bathroom in the showhouse where you guys convinced us (thank goodness!) to put in a water closet so the toilet could be behind its own door (more on that here). You can find more finished photos of this room (and sources, etc) here.

Lastly, since we asked your opinion about jack-and-jill bathrooms, here’s the one we designed for that same showhouse. This green vanity was in the room that connected the two kids’ bedrooms and behind another door was the toilet, shower, and tub.

So if you’ve lived with a similar jack-and-jill style bathroom, what’s your verdict on them?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

We’re Digging

Our new furniture line is officially live and for sale! You can browse everything here on Wayfair or check out this post for more photos & information.

Below is a shot of one of the smart switches I installed after buying a couple more on Black Friday. This one is a three-way smart switch, but I’ve also used the single-pole switches as well.

And for reference, here are the smart plugs we use for our Christmas trees. There’s also a slimmer version if outlet space is an issue for you, or a full smart power strip!

NOTE: None of these switches or plugs require a separate hub to operate, so you don’t need to purchase anything else to use them – although voice control requires something like an Echo or Google Home. But without that you can completely control them with your phone. 

You can read more about the smart home tech around our house and how we use it.

And if you need a good movie for you and/or your kids, we highly recommend Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks The Internet!

Also, just for kicks, I found the mattress commercial we remember from our NYC days and the Salute Your Shorts theme song we both still know the words too. Life is weird.

If you’re looking for something we’ve dug in a past episode, but don’t remember which show notes to click into, here’s a master list of everything we’ve been digging from all of our past episodes. You can also see all the books we’ve recommended on our Book Club page.

And lastly, a big thank you to The Citizenry for sponsoring this episode. Start shopping beautiful goods from artisans all over the globe at CitizenryPodcast.com/YHL and use the code YHL to get $50 towards your first purchase of $200 or more!

Thanks for listening, guys!

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post #122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List… appeared first on Young House Love.

#122: If We Had To Make A House “Must Have” List… published first on https://ssmattress.tumblr.com/

[mayoperry-blog]

Six Unsent Letters

This is a project I did for an English 3 class in sophomore year. After reading “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992″ by Anne Deavere Smith, I responded to the written play in a series of letters that I wish I could send to the characters in the play or to the world. 

Dear Latasha, You were too young. Just like that, your life were cut short by Soon Ja Du with to a single bullet. Du was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, which has a maximum sentence of 16 years in prison. That’s some consolation, right? The judge gave Du probation, 400 hours of community service and a $500 dollar fine. Apparently your life is worth 16 days of community service and a couple hundred dollars. This horrific injustice did not go unnoticed. Your murder, along with Rodney King’s beating sparked outrage in Los Angeles that eventually turned into riots in 1992. You are not forgotten. I’m assuming you like Harry Potter, because you were 15 and what teenager doesn’t like Harry Potter, or at least heard of him? One of my favorite moments comes in the last book, when Harry is speaking to his parents and those who have guided him, and given their lives for him. “‘Dying? Not at all,’ said Sirius. ‘Quicker and easier than falling asleep’ ”. I hope this is how it was for you. I know that your family tries to take comfort in the fact that you did not suffer, nor did you have a single moment to feel the pain caused by that woman. No one has forgotten you, even now. Even after all these years, you are still as relevant as ever. On the 25th anniversary of your death, your family and community gathered where you died. They held candles and exchanged memories of your life cut short. The late rapper 2Pac referenced you in his posthumous 2002 hit, “Thugz Mansion”. Shakur raps, “Little LaTasha sho' grown/Tell the lady in the liquor store that she's forgiven, so come home”. The song talks about how he would rest in peace and find happiness when he is in a place where all the troubles and pains of his life come to an end. 2Pac also dropped names of African American icons, including Marvin Gaye, Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke, and Malcolm X. You are referenced among those who made an impact on the world and the African American community, because you’ve done exactly that. You have not been forgotten, and you have pushed your people to begin the contemporary fight for equality and justice in the eyes of the government. Latasha, you have done more for your people than you will ever know, and I hope that you, wherever you are, can realize that. You have not, and will never be forgotten.

Rest In Paradise Latasha. Sincerely,

Perry Mayo

Dear Mr. King, You are a legend. After your infamous beating from the LAPD, you became the face of your people. They fought, and are still fighting, in your name among others for justice. Your excessive beating stemmed from a high speed chase that ended with you on the ground. Although only two of the four attacking police officers were indicted for your attack, it lit the fuse on a deadly civil bomb. On May 1, 1992, you came forward with a plea for peace. You requested, "People, I just want to say, can we all get along? Can we get along? Can we stop making it horrible for the older people and the kids?" You are exactly correct. There’s nothing standing in the way of justice except insane bigotry, ground­breaking excuses, and white privilege that goes back for generations. You were not the first to experience unfair treatment from those who believe themselves to be better than you, and you won’t be the last. There were the jews, the Hispanics, the African Americans, and people of color in general. Now, a new group that just has to be oppressed, the LGBTQ+ community, with a special bright red target on those who identify as transgender. Your bravery and resilience empowered those who were too afraid to stand up to their oppressors, and has inspired the silent to voice their opinions. You know what I find almost laughable? The blatant double standard for blacks versus the whites. You’ve experienced this first hand, and you won’t be the last person to do so. You were caught in a high speed chase, and then beat within minutes of death, while in 2012, Dylann Roof was captured by the police after killing nine African Americans in a church in Charleston, North Carolina. You were nearly killed for driving 110 miles per hour, while Roof was taken into custody and given a bulletproof vest during transportation. Why protect the life of a homicidal maniac, while endangering that of a speedy driver? Thank you for your fighting spirit. I’m glad that your people have such a strong sense of unity and fight, because your uphill battle for justice is long from over. History will inevitably repeat itself, but I know that you are ready for the fight, and you will overcome whatever obstacles are thrown in your path. I can only hope that you are proud of yourself for sparking this revolution, and that you realize how many doors you opened for your people. Rest in peace, Rodney.

Sincerely, Perry Mayo

Dear Miss Rae, or Queen Malkah, Author Ralph Ellison wrote that as an African American “I am invisible... simply because people refuse to see me...When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination—indeed everything and anything except me.” You can relate and absolutely agree, I’m sure. After the murder of Latasha Harlins, you spoke out about the unity of the African Americans, and your opinion on Charles Lloyd, a well­known black attorney, and how he represented and defended Soon Ja Du, who had killed one of his fellow African Americans. You’re right. He sold his card. He’s a sellout, trading in the pride of his ethnicity and the history for a fat paycheck. He doesn’t deserve to stand by you, if you thought for one second that he was a loss, you are sorely mistaken. He is as useless as a bicycle to a fish in my eyes. It’s people like you who will keep the fight alive, and keep spirits high. You value unity and standing together, especially in times of oppression and opposition. You recognize the disparity of justice between the African Americans, or people of color for that matter, and the white community. Not only do you recognize it, you speak out against it, something many would not do in the 1990s. You see beyond the fake promises of the Pledge of Allegiance for God’s sake. Liberty and justice for all, as long as you’re white, cisgendered, and heterosexual. What a great country we live in. You told Anna Deavere Smith, “if­the­white­media­does­not­decide­to­print­something­that­happens­to­us,­we­won’t­know/ ... Because justice denied Latasha Harlins/Is justice denied every American citizen.” Once again, your majesty, you’ve hit the nail right on it’s pretty little head. Skin tone doesn’t determine what someone deserves, in any circumstance. As soon as people see things from your point of view, the world will be infinitely better. You’d be proud, I think. With all of the movements that have sprung from your injustice, from chanting “Hands up, don’t shoot”, to staging “die­ins” based on the times that the victims cried for help or lay slain on the sidewalk, I’d imagine that you’re pretty proud. You’ve always been aware of the fact that based on the amount of melanin in your skin, you will have higher, harsher, and millions more hurdles than any of us out here, any of us trying to get by. But you, my dear, have navigated those roadblocks with ease and the grace of a golden pheasant. Your people need someone like you.

Here are my instructions for you, Queen Malkah: When times get tough, and big, bad history rears it’s head and tries to trample you and your spirits, you be there to lead your people. You hold your head high, raise your sword to the sky, unleash a battle cry more chilling than death itself, and run. Sprint headfirst into injustice, slashing anything in your way and reduce it to a dust. You charge, and you fight, and fight, and fight until you can’t fight anymore. Even then, you push through, until you’ve made it to the other side with your people close behind. Once you are in the beautiful forest clearing with your warriors surrounding you, only then, can you relax and celebrate your victory as equals of those who have pushed you down. But until then, rally your troops, and continue your battle for equality. We’ll be behind you, waiting for your cues. Thank you, your highness, I applaud you for your bravery.

Sincerely, Perry Mayo, a willing warrior at your service.

Mr. Zimmerman, I will not start this letter with “dear”, because that word implies adoration. You murdered an innocent man. It doesn’t matter if Trayvon Martin seemed “suspicious”. You were told, by the authorities, to star in your SUV and to not approach the teenager. Even if it was self defense, you went against the orders of police and instigated a fight with Trayvon, which ended with the teenager dead in the street. That’s not the worst part, I believe. In my eyes, the most sadistic part of the situation came after you murdered a 17­year­old boy. You put the gun used to kill Trayvon online, and tried to auction it off. Bidding in an online auction for the gun reached $65 million at one point as people on the Internet drove the offers to astronomic levels. Many of those were sarcastic, George, I can assure you that. A top bidder whose account has been since deleted, at one point used the name “Racist McShootface”. Another bidder competed for the weapon under the name Tamir Rice, another victim of police brutality. Tamir was killed by police while carrying a toy gun. He was 12. I just want to make it known that people are against you. I also hope that you know that by murdering Trayvon, you added about a thousand gallons of fuel to the fire that is propelling the black community. So, in a dark, twisted sense of the phrase, thank you, George. Thank you for showing adults that they can’t trust the police or neighborhood watch to keep their community safe or their children alive. Thank you for teaching teenagers that they should stay clear of the police instead of going to them for help. Thank you for teaching kids that the police are more dangerous than criminals themselves, and that you won’t protect them, you’ll kill them. Thank you for giving the next generation and the generations to come a precautionary tale about what happens when white privilege is added to racism, and multiplied by an accessible deadly weapon. So thank you, again really, thank you George, for opening our eyes to more horrors, and teaching us that monsters aren’t just in closets or under beds, on wanted posters or in jail. They’re on our streets, wearing government uniforms, and are trusted with the responsibility protecting the community. Thank you, George Zimmerman, for pushing the black community to fight that much harder for themselves, against people like you.

Sincerely, Perry Mayo

Dear Mr. Garner, You did not die in vain. After being choked to death for selling loose cigarettes, you became one of the faces that headed the “Black Lives Matter” movement. Your plea for help. “I can’t breathe!”, is being used as a battle cry for those fighting for justice. It’s not just in your city, or just those who know you. For two days in a row, a group of white collar professionals staged “die­ins” in support of calls for increased police accountability following the deaths of unarmed black men. Also, dozens African American men gathered on the front steps of the courthouse in downtown L.A. and held a silent vigil for those who have died in police confrontations. At about the same time in Oakland, protesters chained themselves to the city Police Department's headquarters. You helped fuel a movement that is sweeping this nation. Don’t you ever doubt for a second that you died for nothing. Something I find sick is that media has tried to humanize your killer. Daniel Pantaleo, the NYPD officer who choked you, has received so many death threats that a police detail guards his Staten Island home around the clock. People want to avenge you. The media has tried to cover up the crime of Pantaleo, by telling us about his childhood, his achievements, his innocence. They tell us about his teachers glowing comments, and that he received awards as an honorable Eagle Scout. We see past that. We know that the media is whitewashing your death, and making it seem like you asked for it. They say, “well, he was a threat who needed to be subdued”. It’s all bullshit. We know, and we are fighting for others to join us. Your untimely death has helped millions realize the type of false reality that we live in, and you’ve opened people’s eyes to the fact that the police aren’t always the good guys, and that black men aren’t always the bad guys. You’ve given people another reason to fight, and one more name to drop when the topic of injustice is breached. With three words, you’ve dumped gallons of butane on the roaring wildfire of black rage, and for good reason. “I can’t breathe”, and the entire black community is suffocating. You’ve given everyone, black or not, stranger or family member, one more thing to fight for. You should be proud of yourself, even if it doesn’t feel that way. Just know that you’ve done well by yourself and your community. I hope that you can finally breathe. Rest In Paradise, Eric.

Sincerely, Perry Mayo

Dear World That I Live In, These past two years, I’ve had my eyes opened to the world around me, and the world within myself. I have not yet fully come to consciousness, for that takes hundreds of years. I personally believe that no one has ever completely come to consciousness. What even is consciousness in the first place? Who am I to determine when or how one has their eyes opened to everything and anything, to the core of what holds our thoughts together, and what keeps us from literally going insane? I’ll tell you what consciousness is. Consciousness is everything and nothing. It is the balance between finding co­dependence and self love. It is realizing why we’re here and what we’re doing, while also not questioning why or how or what, and just being. You don’t need answers.

Consciousness is. How do we come to consciousness? How does one begin to become aware, while remaining in their personal matrix? We don’t. Here’s the only thing that we can do. Fall back into your beingness, let it catch you, and you are at home. There is nothing to do, nothing to change, nothing to fix. Just be. History repeats itself. The same ideas circle around every hundred years, and every hundred years, those same ideas drag the human race to the lowest of low,, to the depths of rock bottom. We sit, and wallow, and fight, until finally, one or two sensible people realize what humans have done to each other, and they pull us back up to a point where we can once again be proud of ourselves. When any given group oppresses another, the oppressed will soon enough turn around and take down another group. The vicious cycle has killed billions and will continue to kill until the world is reduced to a devastatingly singular and lonely person who has no one left, for everyone else was killed by the cyclical hate. One will remain, after the rest of the world has committed global suicide.

You, my dear, are sailing on the widespread and glistening wings of pure imagination if you think, for a single second, that the human race can go forth without destroying itself through a made up hierarchy based on one’s skin tone or who they fall in love with, how much they earn or what lies between their legs.

Here’s my two cents, coming from a teenager who’s seen more than they need to see to make a decision. I call my theory “The Fiji Complex”. I’ve been to Fiji twice, and I came to one

of the biggest realizations of my life during my second trip. I experienced an epiphany, if you will. I realized that the community had a completely different outlook on life, one that seems foreign and possibly laughable to anyone else. The way that Fiji operates is simple, with every citizen living their lives almost identically to their neighbors, whether they realized it or not. They put others before themselves. This is how I see it. Whoever it is, their needs, preferences, assurances or fears come before yours. When you are with someone else, they are top of mind.

Now, it may seem stupid and unrealistic, but it’s not. By putting someone before yourself, you don’t have to ignore your needs, you don’t have to sacrifice yourself for them to live. It’s not, and will never be, a win­lose situation. It’s a mindset. The way that they operate on the islands resonates with me, because it’s one of the most simple theories I’ve ever come across. When you help someone, they’ll turn around and help you. That’s what it comes down to. If you go out of your way to make someone comfortable, sooner than later, they’ll return the favor when you’re in need. If you put ten people before yourself, when the time comes, and you need help, there are ten people on hand who will be at your side at the drop of a hat, simply because you were there for them however long ago. It’s stupidly simple. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. In Fiji, there was no moral hierarchy. People were classified by clan and bloodline, income and gender, but inside, everyone was the same. No one was better or worse, morally or in terms of their mindset. They all had the same core value: the comfort of others. Whoever you are, foreigner, local, man, woman, child, gay, straight, whatever. If you are there, they will make you comfortable, and you will inevitably return the favor.

Now, you may not think, “because they helped me, I have to help them”. As a matter of fact, that thought won’t ever cross your mind. Something from inside will spark, and you will want to help. You’ll long for the feeling of being able to help someone, purely because you want to and you know it’s the right thing to do. With their comfort, yours will come. If you touch 100 people, just by doing small things like opening a door for them, giving up your seat, or even greeting them and acknowledging their existence, you have made 100 allies. You will have 100 people who will stand behind you and push you forward, and 100 people who will be ready to catch you if you fall, and help you back to the place you were at before you fell. Now, imagine if you did this with every person you met, every person you’ve interacted with. When the time

comes, you will have an army bigger than the Romans, stronger than the Spartans, all fighting for you. We need to remember who we really are. There is one earth but a million worlds, and no world is more important than another.

Behind race, income, orientation, gender, we are all humans. We all live together, and we’re all going to end up six feet under sooner or later. There’s not a single reason as to why you wouldn’t help someone. Social norms be damned. I can assure you, with 100% confidence, that helping that man on the street carry his bag is a million times more important than making your subway ride. I can say, without a doubt in my mind, that stepping in front of a child harassing another kid is a billion times more noble and touching than donating a fat check to a charity. The Fiji Complex takes everyone’s fears and social biases, innate or taught discriminations, and throws them out the window. Nothing is more important than a human life, and the value of the person, no matter who they are. A “lowly” beggar is worth just as much as a king adorned in jewels. Both have a heartbeat, a brain, and a conscious. Those are all the similarities you need to treat someone well and with respect.

Once people realize this, everything will be fine. Once people decide that your neighbor is more important than yourself, even just for a second, the world will be one step closer to living in peace, without fear of obliterating the human race. Police will be heroes again, black people will just be people, wars will be a thing of the past. Now, I can’t say how long this will take. Thousands of years. Maybe millions. We may even kill ourselves with pollution before this idea fully circulates the globe, but as long as people begin to realize what they’re doing, progress will be made. As long as two people have their eyes opened to reality, and what we can do as a human race to turn it around, I will feel satisfied. As long as one kid becomes aware of himself and those around him, I’ve done my job. But, until then, we won’t stop fighting. Queen Malkah, myself, and any other person who sees how pure this world can become will continue to preach and spread our message until the day we die. I hope that this idea of a united world isn’t just a dream.

For the last time, Sincerely,

Perry Mayo

#2016 #march 2016 #assignment #english 2