#cruisequarries | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

alakeeffectgirl · 10 months

Text

do we need a cruisequarries primer? yes

Welcome to the old men and their wife fandom, these are the old men (pictured here on the press tour for Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One [a title I never want to type out fully again])

Yes, that's Tom Cruise. The guy in the John Hammond Jurassic Park cosplay is Chris McQuarrie, aka McQ, who directed MI:DR and also directed the previous two MI movies and Jack Reacher. You might also know Chris McQuarrie as the guy who won an Oscar for writing The Usual Suspects and got nominated for another two Oscars writing/producing Top Gun: Maverick.

McQ willed their friendship into being in 2006, when he was about to quit Hollywood because he was sick of it (McQ's grand dream has been to make a big bisexual Alexander the Great movie but Oliver Stone beat him to it, and after his first directorial endeavor was basically a flop, no one wanted to give him the money to make a huge epic - but you can't blame him for thinking it could work like that, because he watched Bryan Singer make The Usual Suspects and then get handed X-Men), but while out to lunch one day he overheard someone talking about how Tom's career was over because of all his recent shenanigans, and he thought, "I need to meet this guy, because he also sounds like Hollywood's shitting on him at the moment". So he got a couple meetings that got him through to Tom - and for their first meeting he drove over to Tom's house in his bachelor convertible. (No lie. Easily source-able.)

So they hit it off - in the way where they talked about movies for several hours and Tom invited him back again the next day to talk about movies some more. In this same timeline, McQ was shopping the Valkyrie script to United Artists, and when Tom expressed interest, the first thought was that Tom might produce. But then he was like, no, I actually want to play the lead. (Bryan Singer was attached to direct, and I know Bryan Singer sucks, but the backstory here is that McQ and Singer went to high school together, along with Ethan Hawke.) So everyone went to Germany to make the movie in the summer of 2007 - Tom and his family, and McQuarrie and his family.

This is Chris and Heather in 2000 at the premiere of The Way of the Gun, so before they met Tom. I include because they're adorable and also because the glow-up is fantastic. (The story of how they got together is like Jeopardy trivia and I would tell you to google Stephen Chbosky and McQ together to find it except what the fuck, it no longer comes up quickly: anyway, they did a Sundance Labs together and Chbosky gave McQ the Perks of Being a Wallflower manuscript and McQ got to the "we accept the love we think we deserve" line and thought about the woman he'd met a few times before [when they'd flirt at parties? apparently?] but thought was out of his league - Heather - and decided to go for it.)

I should mention that McQ was going to take the producing credit on Valkyrie just in name, for sort of bringing the project together, but then Paula Wagner was like, "I can't go to Germany with Tom, and he needs A Guy on scene, and I think you could be That Guy," so Chris said yes to being an actual producer - and ended up basically being the go-between guy between Tom and Singer on set.

Here's Tom & the McQs at the Valkyrie premiere in Rome:

After spending months together in Germany, the McQuarries end up becoming fast friends with the Cruises. Heather runs around NYC/LA with Katie a lot and works on Holmes & Yang, the fashion line. Here they are looking cute together:

(They're all good enough friends that the McQuarries go to Tom's surprise birthday bash in July of 2011.)

In the interests of saving just a SMALL amount of time here, I will speedrun: McQ gets brought in (by Tom) to help fix Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, and learns a bunch of stuff about how he doesn't ever want to direct a MI movie. (Lies.) He turns in the Jack Reacher script, which originally wasn't intended for Tom to be in, but when Tom wants to be in your movie, you don't really say no. Reacher films in Pennsylvania in the fall/winter of 2011, and then Tom has to go to promo for MI:GP before he starts work on Oblivion. It's now summer of 2012, and the divorce happens. Tom basically moves to London - and the McQuarries move to London - to work on Edge of Tomorrow. Tom takes Chris with him to Croatia.

Lake, you might be thinking. Is McQ now just Tom's emotional support man? Yeah, probably. They get papped going out to dinner together a lot that fall. A gossip website refers to Tom and Heather walking out of a restaurant together as Tom's "cougar date", which will be funny forever.

Tom got Heather in the divorce, clearly. MOVING ON, McQ does splinter unit work on Edge of Tomorrow and then Tom's like, hey you should direct the next Mission movie, and McQ laughs like Tom is kidding but Tom is not. Tom has gone into the other room to call Brad Grey at Paramount and tell him McQ should be the director on Rogue. (This is how McQ ends up doing all this stuff - he's like, "haha, Tom, you kid" but Tom's not kidding and then suddenly people are strapped to the outsides of airplanes and shit.) In the midst of EoT filming, it's time for Reacher promo, so Tom and the McQuarrries fly all around the world together yet again. And holy shit, am I only up to 2013? Still ten years to cover. (I have about 500 more pictures than I am including here, in case anyone wondered.) More ffwd: They make Rogue Nation. Here's everyone - including Heather - in the Vienna subway:

And here's the three of them at an art gallery in London towards the end of the filming period:

The experience of making Rogue is such that McQ attempts to swear he won't do it again. LIES. Tom goes off to make American Made, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, and The Mummy all in the space of about two years. McQ officially works on two of those, and from the way they talk about American Made, I wouldn't be surprised if he did some script work there, too.

In August of 2016, pre-production on Fallout pauses because Tom is in a pay dispute with the studio, and McQ decides maybe he doesn't want to do the movie and moves his family back to Los Angeles. SURPRISE, Tom calls him up a week or so later and asks him to come to London to talk about it. Guess what, he ends up doing the movie. (For that full story, which is great and includes Tom saying he loves Heather, please find Jeff Goldsmith's Q&A podcast for Fallout.)

Work on Fallout takes up basically the next two years. At the Tokyo premiere, Tom makes Heather cry when he says she takes care of McQ, and takes care of him, too. (Let me know if you want the video.)

Trying to speedrun this is NOT working, and I need to go stare at the ceiling for a while to process today's Sydney premiere kiss happenings. Part two coming eventually?!!? PART TWO PART THREE

#cruisequarries

93 notes · View notes

notyourwinter · 9 months

Text

Tagged by @alakeeffectgirl

fav color: lavender

last song: Dying Is Fine -- Ra Ra Riot

currently reading: Daisy Jones and the Six (for work), Seasparrow (for myself)

last movie: Batman (1989)

sweet/spicy/savory: Sweet > Savory > Spicy

currently working on: several CruiseQuarries, RoosMav road trip, Tom/Glen pining, and a few things for the polyverse. Also about 4 different cross stitch/embroideries in progress

no pressure tagging: @norsevibes @glitterfayy @tvheit @sparrow30 @othersideofthis @magicalflurry

3 notes · View notes

alakeeffectgirl · 10 months

Text

KISS VIDEO UNEARTHED

#cruisequarries #tom cruise #christopher mcquarrie #heather mcquarrie

83 notes · View notes

alakeeffectgirl · 10 months

Text

cruisequarries PART TWO

PART ONE What did we get up to yesterday? 2018? Okay. I will put everything behind a spoiler cut again (there are more pictures/a video today).

Actually, let's rewind just a little, for some Fallout premiere pictures just because.

Paris, July 12th:

London, July 13th:

Seoul, July 16th (according to the designer's website, the hanbok Heather is wearing was designed as a wedding dress, mmhmm)...

I love this picture because they're making those faces at Chris. Here's the bit of Tom making Heather cry in Tokyo:

I highly recommend listening to Tom & Chris commentary track on Fallout, which starts with McQ introducing himself as the writer/director and then Tom introducing himself - as McQ's friend. After the Fallout press tour wraps up, work starts in earnest on Top Gun: Maverick, which Tom and McQ have been discussing - idly, on McQ's part - for years now. "Our relationship is one long conversation about movies," indeed.

While TGM is filming, pre-production is also happening on MI:DR, which McQ has signed on to direct. (These two are usually juggling at least two projects at a time, and really it's probably more like five projects at a time.)

In January of 2019, they're all back in LA so Tom and McQ can pick up some awards.

The McQuarries also go to a premiere and look fantastic (I love McQ's suit):

Tom and McQ go to Ukraine to scout Dead Reckoning locations later in 2019, meet President Zelenskyy, and McQ gets to put his arm around Tom for once instead of their usual other way around.

OH NO I ALMOST FORGOT - at the end of 2019, Tom took the whole McQ clan with him to Las Vegas to see Lady Gaga and ask her to write the TGM song. [cries in 'that's his family']

Production ramps up on DR - and then unfortunately, as we all know, COVID. Most of the cast and crew were in Venice when everything shut down, but Tom hadn't arrived yet.

Production resumes in Rome in October (their production struggles/trying to keep everyone employed/Tom rightfully yelling at people to follow protocols because a lot of jobs depend on them is all well documented), and then moves to Venice. Heather and the dogs are also part of this traveling band.

This isn't six feet apart, dudes...

Production breaks for the holidays, and resumes in Abi Dhabi for the airport/desert sequences, and also one of my favorite pictures of Tom and Heather, just for her expression.

Train sequence filming in Yorkshire in April of 2021, that's Heather in the blue coat:

DR production then breaks for a bit over the summer so Tom can take all his friends to Wimbledon, go to several car things, and make McQ watch football (the soccer version).

DR filming resumes in the fall/winter. Heather goes with to South Africa and they rent out what is basically an adults-only hotel (and save it from having to close!), for part of their stay. I love this picture because Gypsy looks so long-suffering:

OKAY IT'S 2022 NOW, time for the Top Gun: Maverick premiere tour to start - finally! (Do any of these people SLEEP? No. I think it's well-documented that Tom Cruise does not sleep, which is part of what makes him Tom Cruise, but also this means he calls McQ at two in the morning to talk about movies. There's a podcast somewhere where McQ says he thinks Tom might sleep "between the 2:05 email and the 2:40 email", or something along those lines.) (After getting back from South Africa, there was a bunch of test screening stuff for TGM, which is why there are those parking garage pictures. Wouldn't the movie be done, you'd think, since it was supposed to be out in 2020? COVID gave them a reason to tinker with it even more.) The San Diego premiere on the USS MIdway (all the McQs were there, but there aren't any good pictures):

Then Tom went to Mexico, and McQ went home to London for a few days before Tom returned, and they went to the Royal Windsor horse show together.

THEN EVERYONE WENT TO CANNES. Sorry I have just a shitty screencap with a watermark here but alas tumblr only lets you put one video per post. Tom and McQ stopped to get their picture taken en route to the actual photocall and Tom made Heather come back and be in the pictures with them. There is video here.

Cannes, of course, was amazing. I have garbage homemade gifs but they're too big for tumblr (also they're garbage) but all the Cannes red carpet footage is available on YouTube, here and here. (Worth it for Heather, tbh.)

They went straight from Cannes - on Tom's helicopter - back to London for the Royal premiere. Where the McQuarries looked amazing and McQ wore his McQ shoes.

And the after party, because heaven forbid they not all ride in the same car:

And then the McQuarries got a slight break, while Tom went to do more TGM press. But he was back in London by the end of June, and they went on what can only be described as a string of dates. First, they went to the Rolling Stones concert at Hyde Park.

McQ was on Tom's other side, but he's only visible in video (the Daily Mail might be garbage but they do come through with the media).

Then Tom and Heather went to The Eagles show at Hyde Park:

And they all went to see Adele - also at Hyde Park. (The woman in the pink sweater is Tom's CAA agent Maha Dakhil Jackson - I found the picture where you can see Heather over Tom's shoulder.)

Then for Tom's birthday, they went to the F1 British Grand Prix (with some other TGM folks, but they aren't three steps behind Tom like the McQuarries are).

Oh no, we're not done. Tom takes Heather to Wimbledon, where she holds his sunglasses (not visible in this picture).

McQ did not go with, as he was recording a Light the Fuse podcast - which he surprise-dialled in a bunch of DR folks - and his final surprise was Tom. Who was still at Wimbledon with Heather. McQ calls Heather to get Tom, and Heather plays dumb and is like, "oh I don't know where he is, did you try calling him?" and Chris says he already told the podcast guys that they were together. So Tom does his segment from the car he's in with Heather, and his part is only supposed to be like ten minutes but he talks for about forty-five and this includes telling the world they basically all live together. Then they went out to dinner!

And the next day they all went to Wimbledon with Maha and her husband.

I'm stopping here because this is already SO LONG and 2023 is going to be wild just by itself! PART THREE

#cruisequarries

39 notes · View notes

alakeeffectgirl · 10 months

Text

cruisequarries part THREE (aka, 2023)

PART ONE PART TWO Did I realize how long this would be when I started, no, but I should have - considering we're covering seventeen years of "one long conversation about movies occasionally interrupted by production", as McQ is fond of describing it.

2023 begins somewhat low-key, for them, but they do go out to dinner -

(I left out previous dinners in previous years, because there are a lot.) In February, of course, they all go to the Oscars nominee luncheon. There they are all touching.

Tom did a bunch of other stuff while they were in LA, including the Corden taping, and then DR went to film off the coast of Italy on an aircraft carrier for a few days, so whether or not they'd go to the actual Oscars was up in the air. That morning the news hit that Tom wouldn't be going, but McQ flew back at the last possible minute (Heather was still in LA) to attend the ceremony. The lack of pictures is DEVASTATING to me, the person who loves to see Heather in a fancy dress, but here they are with Maha:

Two days later, the three of them were at Sir Michael Caine's birthday party, and two days after that Tom and Chris were on the ice cap, as DR filming moved to Svalbard.

BIG COATS. And Mario. After Svalbard, they go back to the UK for some more DR work there, and then head to the States for test screenings and editing, etc. The McQuarries do some stuff with their kids, Tom films his thing for the Coronation and goes to see Janet Jackson, and everyone goes back to London for the cast screening of the movie before the premiere circuit starts. Everyone then heads to Rome! Cast and crew cocktail party! Tom, you look so serious here.

Premiere!! Heather's dress has POCKETS!

After Rome, they went back to the UK in Tom's helicopter.

London premiere...

And then they randomly went on a one-day yacht trip around Sardinia? (At this point I was just wailing "Is this real life?" into my hands, basically.)

From there, they went to Abu Dhabi for the next premiere - alas, no official threesome portrait but here's Heather and Chris.

Seoul next... (Heather arrived with them but left them to these shenanigans)

No threesome premiere shot but we did get this, courtesy of the gaffer on DR.

Aaaand they went out for dinner one last time before heading to the airport -

After landing in Australia -

Sunday they do press, and Monday is Tom's birthday and the premiere. AND THIS HAPPENS:

And now we're here and my brain is on fire.

#cruisequarries

35 notes · View notes

alakeeffectgirl · 1 year

Text

Taken from @youbegmetostop

RULES: Post the first paragraph of your last 10 fics posted to AO3. (Sort by date posted.) If you have less than 10 fics posted, post what you have. Lake’s note: Fics that are archive-locked are marked with ** (as I don’t need McQ’s kids finding them, unless they’re already on AO3 and at that point: devil’s sacrament, etc.)

1. the sound of your heart ** (RPF, Tom C/Heather McQ, background implied OT3)

Tom sees Heather sitting alone at a table near the bar, in a low-cut sky blue dress and heels, her purse in hand and looking studiously at nothing. It's exactly what they'd planned and yet - his lungs still feel like they're tightening just slightly in his chest. The dress is much shorter than she usually wears, and the visible expanse of pale skin is so much more than he's used to seeing. Already, he wants to press his mouth to the freckles just south of her elbow.

2. if I never laid eyes on you, would I feel something missing ** (RPF, Tom C/Chris McQ/Heather McQ)

"You look good," Tom says, in that tone that Chris knows means there's more coming. "But you could look better."

3. could have sworn I saw fireworks (Top Gun: Maverick, Mav/Rooster)

Mav's first thought upon regaining consciousness is that he's warm. His second thought is that his head hurts worse than he can remember it hurting, since - since… woozily, he registers that he's probably concussed. There's probably blood. Something feels sticky near his ear. And near his collar.

4. how good does it feel ** (RPF, Tom C/Heather McQ, Tom C/Chris McQ/Heather McQ)

It's 2008. Tom is on the small dance floor of an exclusive, members-only club. He's got one arm loosely around Heather's waist as the DJ plays Kings of Leon. At a nearby table, Katie and McQuarrie are talking about theater.

5. drop shot ** (RPF, Tom C/Chris McQ/Heather McQ)

"I've got stuff to get done," he says, when Tom brings up Wimbledon. "Heather might go, though."

6. all we are is indestructible (RPF, Tom C/Chris McQ)

"It's not like I'm in a minority here," Chris points out, the first time Tom asks why he keeps his wings up, out of the way with a soft leather harness. He gestures around at the crew, most of whom are wearing something similar. None of the actors are, but that's part of their jobs unless the role calls for their wings to be bound. He waves a hand. "Plus, you're comfortable with yours just being... everywhere. I'm not."

7. Dans les coulisses ** (RPF, Heather McQ/Jennifer Connelly, Tom C/Chris McQ/Heather McQ)

Jen's dress barely moves as she steps out of it, and Heather can't help but laugh as it then slides very slowly onto the carpet. Jen grabs it up before it can truly puddle, and Heather realizes Jen's completely topless. Her breath stops in her throat and it takes a second before she can swallow and draw another. It must be audible, because Jen glances over and gives her a smile. "You get used to it," she says dryly, "being nearly naked around other people."

8. yeah, when you lay me out ** (RPF, Tom C/Chris McQ/Heather McQ)

"Haven't we danced around this long enough, darling," Heather says, just as Tom sets his empty wineglass back onto the table, right next to him in her pajamas and robe, smelling of jasmine. He blinks in slow surprise as she slides her hand up his chest, then grips the collar of his shirt and pulls.

9. everyone seems a damn genius lately (Top Gun: Maverick, Mav/Rooster)

They were three days out from Oceana when Bradley's world turned upside down yet again, another Maverick curveball. The third one in three weeks. He's not sure what number they're up to, if he counts the whole rest of his life.

10. reading about yourself on a plane ** (RPF, Tom C/Chris McQ)

Chris has just taken off his glasses and folded them on the nightstand next to his phone when there's a soft knock on the door. It can only be Tom - the last staffer left more than an hour ago, so there's no one but the two of them in the house. "Yeah?" he calls.

#fic announcement #sorry tom cruise #cruisequarries

2 notes · View notes

alakeeffectgirl · 10 months

Text

Welcome new converts to cruisequarries nation, we have snacks but most of our fic is locked to registered users only on AO3.

#tom cruise #christopher mcquarrie #heather mcquarrie

45 notes · View notes

alakeeffectgirl · 8 months

Note

22, 26, 54, 60, 69, 77 (anything mcqruise you’ve written) for the ask game <3

22. Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc) I like to think I'll try anything once, especially since I have written a lot of fanfic over the years (a lot of my old, previous pseudonym stuff isn't on AO3), but I don't see myself writing first person POV again, and I wouldn't write non-con, or all hurt with absolutely no comfort. Real life is already unkind enough, and I want the fanfic I write to be an escape from that, for both myself and my readers.

26. Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride? Hmm. I have been stuck on this question for several days because I don't know what it's really asking. If it's actual wild ride re: plot, I don't write much that has an actual crazy plotline, soooo none of them. If it's the thing where I'm just whispering "oh god I'm getting sued for this" under my breath the whole time I'm writing it, then definitely a) the first Matt/Ben thing I ever wrote - now lost to disappearing domains and the shutdown of mailing lists - and b) the first cruisequarries.

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process? That "aaaah I must write this" rush whenever I get a new idea. Which sometimes lasts through writing the whole thing, and sometimes only lasts through jotting down a couple notes.

60. Have you had a writer you admire comment on your fic? What was that like? Yes! It's been lovely. I have also done a lot of exchanges over the years and have a few times been assigned to write for authors I enjoy - which is both terrifying and thrilling, because so far it's always been a request I really want to write, while being very "omg I really hope they like it" at the same time.

69. What work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing? Well, most of the super embarrassing stuff either isn't online anymore, or you have to know where to look for it. 😂 Nowadays, if I was embarrassed by it, I wouldn't post it. Also I'm not embarrassed by much, when it comes to fic - after all, I wrote a story where Eddie Brock puts Venom through a pasta roller. I have been writing fanfic a long time, and while there's a part of me that cringes a little when confronted by decades-old past works (such as when AO3 imports an old archive), I try to remember that I wouldn't be the writer I am now without those stories.

77. Do you have a favorite scene you’ve written from [any of the cqs stories as @opera-gown asked above]? Ooooh, I think my favorite scene from any of the cruisequarries fics is honestly the Chris and Heather sharing the ice cream scene in the book of love has music in it.

#ask game

5 notes · View notes