#they like framing Lucas as the one that is rebellious and more of a bad boy stereotypically | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

notasdriedapricots · 3 years

Note

🦵💇‍♀️👀 for Liz and Lucas please x Trying not to spam so sending these with gaps between them.

Iris!! Don't worry about spamming, I love your asks! And also look, I might take way too long to answer them (I haven't forgotten about the prompts, I just need inspiration 😭)

As always, thank you so much! 💗💗

🦵 for Liz:

- Are your OC’s arms and legs strong, weak, or average? Why?: Nah, Liz's strength is pretty average, although leaning on the stronger side. She does pilates and sometimes some yoga, and goes for runs regularly. She used to carry her cello with everything inside the case uphill everyday growing up, so she's used to having some strength in her arms and keeps exercising because of that. Also as far as I know the cello does tire your arms a lot so... As for legs, she does go running, as I said, and does like walking places instead of driving (even though she likes driving) when she can, and also does things like taking the stairs when she comes home and is not carrying anything heavy/is not too tired. Also she cares about what spending so much time sitting could do to her a- moving on.

- Do they have any common mannerisms that involve their limbs, such as tapping their foot or fiddling with their fingers?: She spins her rings around her fingers when she's nervous, does that count? She does have a million when she's playing, tho! Not with her arms because they're kinda busy, but she can't keep her feet still. She shuffles them back and forth, raises her heels, shifts her weight from one to the other (for reference, look up Luka Sulic from 2cellos. That's exactly the brand of "possessed" I picture Liz as).

🦵 for Lucas:

- Are your OC’s arms and legs strong, weak, or average? Why?: Well, we all know the answer to this, don't we? Yes, Lucas is pretty strong, and not only that, I feel like if he ever lost his strength (lets say if he got injured and couldn't exercise, or broke something) he would be very uncomfortable. His physical self is pretty important to him.

- Do they have any common mannerisms that involve their limbs, such as tapping their foot or fiddling with their fingers?: Whereas Liz becomes very still when she's nervous, Lucas can't stop moving. He'll crack his knuckles, bounce his knee, tap his heel...

💇‍♀️ for Liz:

- What is your OC’s hairstyle?: She has naturally wavy hair, a pretty consistent 2b, with some 2c parts here and there. Typically she doesn't do much to it; what she does or doesn't do to it depends on the weather, her clothing, and what she'll be doing. All her hair ties have bows (bigger, smaller, plain, patterned).

- How do they maintain their hair?: Just tries to avoid damaging it. Heat protection, not so hot water, lets it airdry when she has the time, sulfate and silicone free products, light styling products.

- Do they wash it and/or cut it regularly?: Washes it every other day, and gets it cut once every two months-ish.

- Have they ever dyed their hair?: Yes! She had silver hair at 17. Nothing after that, tho.

💇‍♀️ for Lucas:

- What is your OC’s hairstyle?: Very particular 🙄 We know it, and I'm bad at describing things lol.

- How do they maintain their hair?: Again, I'm the odd one that doesn't think Lucas has a million products but rather ridiculously good ones. He has an expensive shampoo, and expensive conditioner, and an expensive pomade or wax that does all the work on its own, or maybe a lightweight not-tacky-looking gel (maybe a woman's one, that has decent hold but looks like you have no product on your hair). He uses gel in the villa because it's easy to reapply after the pool and as protection from the chlorine.

- Do they wash it and/or cut it regularly?: Washes it every day. Gets it retouched every month.

- Have they ever dyed their hair?: I really don't see Lucas with anything other than black hair. I don't see him as that kind of rebellious teen, he would have been a bit more subtle lol.

👀 for Liz:

- What is the first physical feature people notice when they see your OC? Why?: It depends. If she's looking at them, she will likely be smiling, and her smile is hard to miss (I've described it a bit here). Otherwise, if she's looking serious or not paying attention, her eyes are hard to miss. You want me to be more crass? She has a great ass.

👀 for Lucas:

- What is the first physical feature people notice when they see your OC? Why?: I feel like Lucas has a charming smile. In a different way than Liz's, but he instantly flashes it at people. Also arms if they're visible, and his broad frame could be eye catching too, I think.

👄, 👁, and 🖐 for Liz and Lucas here

Physical Features OC Ask Game!

#lovely mutuals 💜#thank you!!#I'm not happy with these #but it's all my brain could manage #these are harder than they seem #Liz #Lucas

4 notes · View notes

myfandomrambles · 5 years

Text

Maya Hart Character Analysis (Expanded)

Facts:

Kermit was an extremely neglectful father. He eventually abandoned them completely when Maya was about 6

Befriended Riley by running through the windows around age 5 or 6 and stayed friends throughout the show

Her mother, Katy, was emotionally neglectful, putting her emotional issues, fixations and jobs over Maya's needs

She grew up in a lower socioeconomic class then her friends

Befriended and became deeply connected and protective of Farkle at a young age

Struggled in school academically and behaviorally

She latched on to the Matthew family. Going to their house as a sense of stability going there for food and basing her schedule on theirs.

Openly expressed fear around being inadequate and broken. Also expressed hopelessness.

Befriended Lucas, expressed romantic interest in him later on which created an emotionally complicated situation with her friends.

Formed a strong connection with Shawn Hunter, bonding over a history of feeling abandoned and neglectful parents.

Shawn married her mother and adopted her.

Developed a strong crush of Riley’s Uncle Josh. He was old enough for the relationship to be inappropriate by a maturity gap.

While undergoing a lot of personal change she had what was perceived as a kind of identity crisis around trying to be more like “Riley”.

Expressed a stronger sense of hope near the end of the show.

Her parents had a toxic possibly abusive marriage

Analysis:

Maya Hart loves her friends more than anything, has a habit of getting into trouble, and loved art. She was also deeply shaped by her father’s abandonment and her mother’s emotional neglect. She struggles with a fear of abandonment, anger, a sense of disconnection and views herself as a fundamentally broken person. This is established right away in Girl Meets World (1x01) she assumes Cory think she is not good enough for Riley and believes thinks he would be right to think that. Maya says on more than one occasion that she doesn’t get her hopes up, and doesn’t view the future as good. In Girl Meets Forgiveness Project (2x23) we see how much guilt, anger, self-blame and shame Maya had based on her Father leaving her and having not been there for her before he left

Maya is generally over realistic she believes her view of the world should be down to earth, practical and this often ends up as negative. This comes in a large part from her mother’s continuous inability to accept reality. Katy calls herself an actress when this has never been her job. We see how this affects their relationship and stresses Maya out in Girl Meets Maya’s Mother (1x07) and Girl Meets Master Plan (1x18). In Girl Meets I Do (3x11), she describes the aftermath of her father leaving them, “Just ‘cause I could always hear my mother crying in her bedroom. I’d try to go in and stop her from crying… but I couldn’t.” The fear of having to go through that again with the person who is meant to watch her falling apart, slows her ability to enjoy and move forward during Katy and Shawn's wedding.

However, her impulsivity and creativity often bump up against this practicality when she feels vulnerable like in the first episode or Girl Meets Hollywood (3x18) or when Riley and she get themselves wound up in some kind of scheme like in Girl Meets Farkle's Choice (1x19) or Girl Meets STEM (2x26). Her identity is linked to a fundamental level to her relationship with Riley. In Girls Meets Upstate (3x06) Maya explains how Riley’s family gave her a sense of safety and that she sees protecting Riley as her job. Maya pretty much always takes Riley's side even when she doesn't agree with her perspective. When Riley wants to take away the bay windows in Girl Meets Bay Window (2x29) Maya is deeply unhappy at the idea of losing this and multiple times through the show while she tries to be chill and realistic but when Riley tries to change their relationship she tends to get very emotional. In Girl Meets Yearbook (2x12) Maya tries hard to prove to Riley that they need her for who she is even dressing up as her, Maya loses herself in that identity though wanting to be things that Riley is that she doesn't know how to be.

Maya is deeply protective of all her friends. The hard exterior she uses to protect her own friends allows her to not usually be as affected during fights like in Girl Meets Riley Town (2x17). With Farkle, Maya has a very "only I can pick on him" kind of approach, being very upset when others treat him badly but enjoy teasing him with their other friends. He is flirty with both her and Riley and they generally don't mind, Farkle also doesn't really mind when they like anyone else and dating Smackle himself. He considers them his girls stating he loves them both Maya seems to take great comfort in this. They are pretty different in a lot of ways but in general play off each other well balancing a lot of the others fears, a good example of their relationship is in Girl Meets Money (2x27) when she helps him understand that not having lots of money is fine because she knows how to be happy with what she does have.

Lucas is also one of the few people who can go toe to toe with her in trading jabs and sarcasm. He's not easily bothered by her and this annoys Maya a lot. In the beginning, I think it's trying to push him away to some extent as he drops into their life quickly and Riley and Farkle keep him around. He gains Maya’s trust through showing her he will protect her friends and him showing Riley and Farkle kindness. Their trading of jabs becomes a lot more friendly. She develops a crush on Lucas, later on, it's confusing as Riley also a crush on him. It causes a lot of emotions and confusion between all three of them. Maya later works out that her emotions were confused with overlapping feelings for him, Riley, and Josh Matthews. This is also tied to the plot about Maya's identity confusion.

Maya's relationship with Smackle is friendly throughout the whole show. They are never particularly close but they do like each other. She and Zay hit it off pretty well both being rebellious, she helps him put his focous on his friends. Her relationships with the other Matthew's are also deeply important. Cory acts as her first real father figure, and Topanga fills in a lot of the mothering gas Katy left. She cares for and likes Auggie a lot, but tends to have the same blind spots as Riley sometimes sees him as a bit annoying or doesn't take him into account. She also has a deeply moving scene of Ava helping her through her parents' breakup. Her crush on Josh, in my opinion, is a bit unhealthy. While there are only four years between them they have a huge maturity gap. When they meet he is a junior in high school, Maya is middle schooler essentially a child though he doesn't explicitly say he likes her but does call her pretty. In Girl Meets Ski Lodge (3x12/13) he does return Maya's romantic affection which is creepy, he is in college and she is a freshman in high school. From Maya's point of view, it's a natural crush on someone too old but because it ends in a "someday" I think is not a good way for her to move forward. It comes across too close to waiting until she's legal, and can stop her from fining a different partner. I also think this shows an odd pattern, her other major crush being Lucas neither of them is people she could have. They are also both very linked to Riley while not inherently bad it's interesting.

Shawn and Maya become close quickly, Riley notices that she and Shawn might be experiencing similar problems and quickly forces them to see this too. Riley was correct they both experienced abandonment, poor parental relationships and live in comparably low-income situations. They realize their the same, in the context of these shared histories and in reacting to it as being hyper-protective of their friends, impulsivity and anger. Shawn lets her know that he wants to stop anyone from growing up like that, and through his actions lets her know he wants to make explicitly her life better. They form a father-daughter relationship culminating in his marrying her mother and adopting her. Shawn helping her and caring for her I think is one of the pivotal aspects of her rising self-esteem and eventual ability to say “I’m not giving up hope just yet. I just got it.” in Girl Meets Hurricane (2x9)

In the third season Maya makes some real personal strides her outbursts decrease in severity, she starts preparing her relationships and does better in schools. However she also shifts her presentation to an “un-Maya” way, the others frame it as “becoming Riley” in Girl Meets Triangle (3x05), Girl Meets Upstate (3x06), & Girl Meets Real Maya (3x07). There is some truth, but there is also a kind of troubling implication that there isn’t internal personal growth that can come from multiple influences. I think the others probably are worried by the smaller changes she makes like say her clothes, but that Riley sees this in Maya doing better in school and behaviour I think is a little bit of Riley's own insecurity showing through. In Girl Meets True Maya (3x07) when Maya describes her impulse control as a version of Riley, this is slightly sad as the "good" in her for some reasons can only come from Riley and not be an integral part of who she is. Maya was able to have positive growth because of the influence of everyone, her friends at school, the Matthews, Shawn, and her semi-repaired relationship with her mother. Another huge aspect of this was her starting to have closure with her father, and being older. Maya is a deeply headstrong girl who loves fiercely and finds a lot of comfort in art. She shows quite a bit of growth and starts to work through her trauma in a semi-realistic model, though it would be important for her to continue to address head-on. Maya works hard to grow up and is an amazing friend and family member.

ADHD:

Trouble focusing

Struggles in school

Impulsive

Excess energy

Strong emotional reactions

Hyperarousal

RSD

Distracts easily

Hyperactive

Feeling broken

Hopelessness

Feelings of abandonment

Low self-esteem

Empty feeling

Trouble regulating emotions

Trouble with identity

Acts out because of feelings of abandonment and being inadequate

Fatigue

Oscillates between strong emotions and lack of emotion

Depression:

Feeling broken

Hopelessness

Feelings of abandonment

Low self-esteem

Empty feeling

Trouble regulating emotions

Trouble with identity

Acts out because of feelings of abandonment and being inadequate

Fatigue

Oscillates between strong emotions and lack of emotion

142 notes · View notes

glenngaylord · 6 years

Text

MY MOMENTS OUT OF TIME IN FILM 2017

Instead of a Top 10 List, every year I like to honor a long-discontinued but influential annual column from Film Comment magazine. I couldn’t wait for my father to come home from work with the “Moments Out Of Time” issue. The writers would cite their favorite scenes, images, or lines of dialogue, even from films they may not have liked, because let’s face it, even bad films may have a great moment or two, unless you were a film called RINGS, CATFIGHT, THE SNOWMAN, or THE DINNER. In that case, you suck in the most forgettable of ways. Despite some obvious stinkers, this was a great year for film. Some resonated with me, such as I, TONYA and THE FLORIA PROJECT as they tackled the issue of class in America. Despite being period pieces, films such as DARKEST HOUR and THE POST pinged on topics such as war-mongering and the need for a free press, both of which we seem to talk about daily right now. I have a few I need to catch up on, such as MUDBOUND and THE SQUARE, and one I recently saw, A GHOST STORY, wowed me, but I haven’t written a review of it yet.

Even I can’t see them all, so here, in no particular order, are my Moments Out Of Time in film for 2017:

“America. They want someone to love, but they want someone to hate, and the haters always say, 'Tonya, tell the truth!' There’s no such thing as truth. I mean it’s bullshit! Everyone has their own truth.” - I, TONYA

A little girl (the great Brooklyn Prince) stands in front of a motel room door, telling her little friends they’re not allowed to enter. She pauses, and then mischievously says, “But let’s go anyways!” in a moment of pure rebellious, but dangerous joy. - THE FLORIDA PROJECT

A young man (Lucas Hedges) begs his girlfriend (Saoirse Ronan) not to out him in one of the most touching moments of the year. - LADY BIRD

A woman (Cynthia Nixon’s blazing portrayal of Emily Dickinson) desperate to connect with someone, anyone, lights up whenever she’s around her soon-to-depart friend. It’s a joy you wish she could have at all times. It’s that ache to spar with another human that cuts to the core of this lonely tragedy. - A QUIET PASSION.

Try watching the “I did not hit her” rooftop filmmaking sequence without bursting with glee. One of the best-sustained comedy sequences of the year. - THE DISASTER ARTIST

A beautiful, long final shot of a young man (Timothée Chalamet) swimming in his tearful thoughts as the end credits role will break your heart. - CALL ME BY YOUR NAME

So will his father’s (Michael Stulbarg) 11th hour speech to him. - CALL ME BY YOUR NAME

A ghost in a white sheet with two eye holes, who has traveled across time for centuries, finally finds something important, which jogs his memory, making him feel less alone in the world, and then in a startling swish, is gone. - A GHOST STORY

Meryl Streep, in the most delicious long pause of 2017, struggles with the tough decision whether to publish the Pentagon Papers or not. She conveys every pro and con with a series of reactions, leaving the audience breathless until she finally, and thrillingly, becomes a feminist heroine for the ages. - THE POST

Sure, it’s ostensibly Daniel Day-Lewis’ last film, but it’s the women, one with a deadening stare (Leslie Manville) and the other with the best eye flutter I’ve ever seen (Vicky Krieps), who take charge of this fascinatingly perverse story of control. - PHANTOM THREAD

A cleaning woman (Octavia Spencer) dusts a giant steampunk contraption as her mute co-worker looks on, sending the increasingly magical fable into a visually stunning dreamscape. - THE SHAPE OF WATER

“You know I can’t give you the keys, right babe?” A chilling line in a scene in which a sympathetic, engaging character transforms into a monster, making Allison Williams, so often hated and too easily dismissed on GIRLS, as someone to REALLY watch as her career rises and rises. - GET OUT

A beloved, iconic character from the original film makes a stunning, surprise appearance. Despite it being CGI, this was the movie-movie moment of 2017. - BLADE RUNNER 2049

A bellicose, raging Prime Minister, known for his speeches, sits quietly with the square-ish frame filled with dark, negative space and seemingly lit by a single, too-bright light bulb. He’s alone and yet belongs to us all, the push-pull of this theme resonating throughout the entire film. - DARKEST HOUR

“This didn't put an end to shit, you fucking retard; this is just the fucking start. Why don't you put that on your Good Morning Missouri fucking wake up broadcast, bitch?” - THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

Bill Skarsgård’s reading of the line, “Take it!” will haunt me for years. His Pennywise proved to be surprisingly haunting and indelible. - IT

The film’s not great, but Christopher Plummer and Ridley Scott deserve all the “We’re Not Worthy’s” for pulling off the Great Kevin Spacey Replacement of 2017 in 9 days, and actually delivering a full-bodied, memorable character in the process. - ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD

A desperate thief uses his smarts to wheel his badly-injured brother out of the hospital in an impressive feat. It shows a whip-smart mind in the body of person with lost potential, and in a moment which proves this well-meaning guy just can’t get a break, it turns out he took the wrong person. - GOOD TIME

Michael Cera, even more villainous and sociopathic than he was in THIS IS THE END, and apparently channeling Tobey Maguire, freaked me out as a hateful, poker-playing celeb. - MOLLY’S GAME

Ok, people will be talking about the biplane scene forever, but nothing made me laugh more than Tiffany Haddish’s reading of this line: “Girl, you can't get no infection in your booty hole! It's a booty hole!” - GIRLS TRIP

Bridget Everett, in a blazingly intense performance, sings the shit out of Lita Ford’s KISS ME DEADLY in a dive bar and transforms herself from comedienne to serious dramatic actor. - PATTI CAKE$

A crazed woman (Aubrey Plaza) barges in on the wedding of a social media friend and maces her for not getting on the invite list, giving the Facebook effect its full and insane due. - INGRID GOES WEST

A young woman, unable to take one more second of her overbearing, judgmental mother (Laurie Metcalf), surprisingly jumps out of a moving car. - LADY BIRD

Charlize Theron kicks one ass after another in a seemingly single shot (but not really), making this one of the greatest fight sequences ever filmed. - ATOMIC BLONDE

Algee Smith finds the heart of the story as a musician who struggles with his ambitions after a harrowing all-night encounter with racists cops. - DETROIT

Say what you will about the insanity that unspools, but Michelle Pfeiffer as the houseguest from hell was fun to watch and sorely missed when not onscreen. - MOTHER!

As Elton John’s ROCKET MAN plays on the radio, Bille Jean King (Emma Stone) and her new girlfriend Marilyn (Andrea Riseborough) drive in sun-dappled glory, their hair blowing around with each surprising gust of wind. It’s a perfect evocation of the 70s. - BATTLE OF THE SEXES

After following around an imaginative, enterprising man (Michael Keaton as Ray Kroc) as he develops the most successful fast food chain in the world, and seeing his as a hero, he transforms into a terrible villain about halfway through, making us question the value of the American Dream. - THE FOUNDER

A suicidal Spud, his head covered in suffocating plastic, leans back in his chair and falls backwards off the top of a building, but a flash cut send him to the floor of his apartment where Renton (Ewan McGregor) slides under him to catch him. One of the most imaginative, emotional cuts in a film I’ve seen this year. - T2 TRAINSPOTTING

Don’t heckle Kumail Nanjiani! Holly Hunter WILL read you to filth by interjecting, “That is like saying that all frat boys wearing country club hats and Hawaiian shirts have shriveled up tiny little dicks!” - THE BIG SICK

A young man throws himself down in the sand as bombs explode closer and closer to him. A spectacular feat of cinematography and muffled sound, and one of the greatest shots in cinema history. - DUNKIRK

A mother kicks the chair her little daughter sits in, sending her flying. A sudden, impactful depiction of abuse. - I, TONYA

Tom Cruise emerges from a crashed plane, his face hilariously covered in cocaine. - AMERICAN MADE

A seemingly sweet young man (Barry Keoghan, my favorite new actor of the year) changes his entire demeanor and quickly, chillingly tells a doctor (Colin Farrell), in no uncertain terms, what is going to happen to him and his family. - THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER

The best opening sequence award of the year easily goes to a film which mixed musical filmmaking with kinetic car chases and an endearing sense of rhythm. - BABY DRIVER

Eels creepily slither around a woman in a tub in an otherwise completely forgettable, indulgent film - A CURE FOR WELLNESS

Adam Sandler winningly loses his shit as he searches for a parking space. - THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES - NEW AND SELECTED

“See! I took you on a safari!” exclaims Brooklyn Prince to her friend as they stand in front of a herd of cattle. - THE FLORIDA PROJECT

An ape, bigger than ever portrayed before, emerges out of nowhere and swats down helicopters like flies as the camera gloriously swirls around him. It’s APOCALYPSE NOW’s famous attack scene, but this time the invaded kick the invaders’ asses. - KONG: SKULL ISLAND

A messy trainwreck of a person (Anne Hathaway) lugs a mattress around town and literally confronts her inner demons. - COLOSSAL

A major character unexpectedly spits up blood on another, in a shocking moment (and there are a few in this film) I’ll remember for a long time. - THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

French ACT-UP AIDS activists throw blood all over the offices of a pharmaceutical company, and heroically help change the speed at which drugs were approved for a population in desperate need of good news. - BPM

Despite being a thrilling adventure film, the quiet moments, such as the wonderful final shot of a woman walking out of a room and into the jungle, made this stirring yarn into something more internal and thoughtful. - THE LOST CITY OF Z

By this time, we’ve seen too many cars racing around, so instead we focus on the pleasure of seeing a dreadlocked Charlize Theron deliciously chewing the scenery from the evil lair of her jet, sending her into Faye Dunaway territory. - THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS

The unexpected death of a major star, as a gelatinous, alien creature slides down his throat, destroying him from the inside out in zero gravity, may feel straight out of the ALIEN textbook, but it’s memorable nonetheless. - LIFE

I’m usually not a sucker for Disney movie songs, but I have not been able to get EVERMORE out of my head ever since I saw the film, and I mean that in a really good way. - BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Same goes for Elvis Costello’s fantastic contribution with YOU SHOULDN’T LOOK AT ME THAT WAY, from a beautiful but not-great movie. - FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL

Instead of the chestburster, we get the backbreaker, and instead of John Hurt, we get a character we don’t care about…but it STILL manages to be freaky and cool in an otherwise execrable film. - ALIEN: COVENANT

Can we please distribute LICK MY ASS, DIANE t-shirts to every person on earth, or at least make it THE trending hashtag of the year?!! - I, TONYA

Gal Godot donning the titular, classic costume for the first time in the film, charges through the emotional No Man’s Land sequence and into our hearts. - WONDER WOMAN

A seemingly liberal father over-explains his love for Obama to his daughter’s new black boyfriend (Daniel Kaluuya), who makes the Dad feel ok about his issues with race. It keenly pinpoints the struggle people of color have trying to make white people more comfortable about their discomfort. - GET OUT

Willem Dafoe’s Manager expertly takes charge of a potential child molester, demonstrating his heartwarming, soulful protection of the lovable but annoying little brats who live in his motel. - THE FLORIDA PROJECT

The camera whooshes from ground level to an overhead shot as a determined skater prepares for an important routine. - I, TONYA

Yes, the movie is an unholy mess, but Hong Chau’s “I go to Norway” speech is just a little masterpiece. - DOWNSIZING

Feet moving on red splotches of sand as they battle with their light sabers. - STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

A return to the iPhone footage he used in TANGERINE pays off perfectly in the final sequence, a rush of imagination, and a surprising and unforgettable place to take your little survivor of a main character, even if it’s potentially just a fantasy. It doesn’t change the fact that a neglected but loved little girl wants a little escape. - THE FLORIDA PROJECT

5 notes · View notes

mattbrothersscriptwriter · 6 years

Text

My Top 20 Films of 2017 - Part Two

Ok, so about ten minutes ago I finished watching my last 2017 film of the year. For my FULL list - all 127 films watched in order of preference - jump on over to my Letterboxd page: https://letterboxd.com/matt_bro/list/films-of-the-year-2017/

Alright, top 10:

10. Logan

In a time when a lot of people still bemoan the existence of so many comic book movies (occasionally, with a point) this has been a stellar year for them. Marvel’s triple whammy of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Spiderman Homecoming and Thor Ragnarok were all excellent, heartfelt, fun knockouts and Wonder Woman was a terrific showcase for both Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins (not to mention hugely important in its own right). Only Justice League really fell back on old tired habits and resulted in a bizarre mashup of tone and purpose and featured the single most damning piece of CGI buffoonery ever conceived in Henry Cavill’s ‘we’ll fix it in post’ deleted moustache. That really is one for the ages.

But I could never have foreseen the power and beauty of something like Logan, a near-perfect capper to a spinoff trilogy that began with the God-awful Wolverine Origins. It’s strengths come from it’s convictions – this isn’t an episodic story servicing a franchise, this is a true stand alone character piece, focusing on the rarest of things – an actual ending to a beloved, previously untouchable, immortal superhero. Played out as a tragic western with claws, the film beautifully champions the importance of family and love, seen (at last) through the eyes of those that never dreamed they would experience it, let alone fight for it. With some fantastic action set pieces to boot too, this one really has its cake and its eat and is also a real sight to behold – I saw it for a second time in it’s gorgeous black and white ‘Logan Noir’ cut and every frame is a revelation. Huge props to Patrick Stewart too, delivering a devastating performance of a character is has also lived with for the past SEVENTEEN years.

9. Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool

This film is a heartbreaker. My God. Definitely the most surprising cinema-going experience I had this year. I went with a friend of mine and by the time the credits were rolling, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house – best encapsulated by a burly scouser sat behind us who was openly saying “Fuck me, didn’t expect that for a Sunday afternoon. Jesus! How bloody brilliant was that!? Got any tissues?’.

Focusing on the later years of Hollywood starlet Gloria Grahame (Annette Bening on Oscar sweeping form), it finds her semi-washed up and treading the boards in London where she meets and falls for Peter Gallagher (Jamie Bell – never better than this) another actor, half her age. The tenderness and straight forwardness of their pairing is so refreshing, never making an issue or point about the older woman/younger man dynamic unless directly challenged by other characters (including Gloria’s bratty sister Joy) or themselves. The most effective emotional beats of this film aren’t signposted and drawn out for Oscar clip schmaltzyness but instead hit you in a sudden burst of passionate regret; hurtful words said in anger or defence – truly proving that the most harmful things you can say to someone you love are all too easy to let slip out before you’ve had a chance to think about what you’re saying. But the damage is done.

The film-making here is exceptional too. What could have been a rather dry biopic is given such momentum through brilliantly executed scene transitions and a flashback-enhanced narrative that keeps us embroiled in the present day scenes of Gloria succumbing to cancer whilst we watch their initial courtships and brutal arguments from the months and years leading up to it. The supporting cast that includes Julie Walters, back as Bell’s mother and Stephen Graham as his brother are brilliant but this is Bening/Bell’s movie and they knock it out of the park.

8. Baby Driver

My big birthday blowout screening of the year, following last year’s Aliens 30th anniversary showing, Baby Driver did not let me down. All the usual energy, narrative foreshadowing and tightly controlled construction you’ve come to expect from an Edgar Wright flick blown out onto a much bigger and more confident scale. The genius pairing of getaway driver crime heist flick and vehicular musical allows for some hugely inventive set pieces, from the opening police chase set to Bellbottoms by the John Spencer Blues Explosion to the car-on-car parking lot duel with Queen’s Brighton Rock echoing through the tunnels.

Ansel Elgort delivers a breakout turn and everyone from Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx and Kevin somebody-or-other are having a ball playing bad. The romance with waitress Lily James initially feels a little under cooked but it all plays into the escapist fairytale of the action and seeing them dance together in a laundromat whilst sharing headphones is one of this year’s purest joys.

7. Get Out

Where It soaked up much of the straight spooky horror acclaim this year, Get Out walked a much more tantalising and complex line between thriller, social drama, satire, comedy and horror – and pulled it all off effortlessly. Jordan Peele has long had grand cinematic aspirations as evidenced in some of the larger scale sketches in his fantastic show Key and Peele but this clearly represents everything he wanted to say and do in a debut feature. I think the odds of so perfectly nailing your voice and intentions in your very first film is astronomical but damn, he must be proud, not only of the film itself but the cultural reach, impact and resonance it has had with audiences.

Daniel Kaluuya is excellent as the everyman battling his own (rational) fears and paranoia before his instincts slowly become the domineering voice in the back of his head. Trust in oneself is the saving grace here and it’s great to see an array of other ‘traditional’ characters for this genre twist the knife and reveal their true colours. The “Rose, where are my keys” turning point is perhaps the tightest I’ve gripped the arm of my chair all year. And the eventual climax is one of the best examples of subverting expected genre tropes. Brilliant.

6. Raw

Speaking of confident debuts, Julia Ducournau’s is equally astounding. Not for the faint hearted, this queasy, cannibalistic coming of age tale is a near perfect slice of fucked up fever dream. It follows a young vegetarian attending veterinary college who is forced to eat rabbit meat in a sick hazing ritual – one that her fellow student and older sister has clearly already experienced. Slowly but surely, a triggering of her animalistic appetite grows, coinciding both with her own first steps into a sexual awakening as well as a growing sense of unease that something isn’t right in her family to begin with.

The plot takes some nutty turns, not least in the last few minutes, but everything works; from the gorgeous imagery to the tonal juggling to the assured performances. This would make an excellent entry in an ‘arthouse does horror subgenre’ triple bill, doing for cannibals what A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night does for vampires and The Witch does for... witches.

5. Jackie

This is a breathtaking biopic - interested less in the broad strokes of history and what we think we know about the aftermath of one of the most infamous events of the 20th century and more in the nuanced, private, personal moments of grief in the public eye. Natalie Portman is astounding as Jackie Kennedy, nailing everything from the look to the voice to the affectations, and its the dreamlike, woozy way that the film unfolds that really draws you in and positions you in the eye of a hurricane. The JFK assassination was a monumental cultural milestone but this story asks you to put yourself in the shoes of a woman who was unavoidably trapped at ground zero - and largely all alone with her memories and emotions, despite the surrounding pressures of aides, the press and the American people.

This is supremely confident filmmaking, incredibly affecting and features another stand out score from Mica Under the Skin Levi.

4. 20th Century Women

The second film on my list for both Annette Bening and Greta Gerwig, this is a wonderful story about the strengths and flaws found in both the family we’re given and the family we choose. With an anecdotal, episodic structure, it is less focused on plot and more on the individual moments that the characters in our lives provide us with; how they affect our own life story and evoke memories of a certain time and place.

It’s highly emotional, with touching asides and rambling voiceovers telling us numerous stories whilst keeping a sense of an anchor through the relationship between Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann) and his mother Dorothea (Bening). The supporting cast is uniformly great, from Elle Fanning as the girl next door to Billy Crudup as a lonely tenant/handyman, this one really hit me hard. The late 70s period details, along with the soundtrack, and the sun bleached cinematography recalls the joy of discovering yourself through questionable music, bad decisions and rebellious behaviour. Check it out.

3. A Ghost Story

I doubt any other film this year left quite a long lasting impression as this one did. I couldn’t stop thinking about it afterwards and became rather obsessed with pretty much everything it accomplishes. It’s a fairly straight forward tale of a couple (Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara) whose relationship begins to feel the strain as they quietly realise they might want different things in life. We’re not privy to many more details, positioned as a voyeur which will continue as things unfold but before long, Affleck is killed in a simple car accident outside his home and seemingly rises from death to haunt his old home, dressed entirely in the hospital bed sheet his corpse was covered in. It’s a genius depiction of the traditional ghost - simultaneously off-putting, amusing, whimsical and ridiculous - and it’s also rooted in logic too. As the ghost continues to watch his Mara grieve for him (mesmerisingly encapsulated in an unbroken take of a depressed Mara eating an entire pie that her neighbour brought round), he (and us) slowly begin to notice time... breaking.

The way the passing of time is visualised here is beautifully simple - rather than the long slow fades that normally indicate transitions, here it is as sudden as the ghost turning around to look over his shoulder, through a series of hard cuts or sometimes, no cuts at all. That feeling of time literally slipping away is brutal and the ghost can do nothing but wander about, seemingly helpless to how fast things change. One moment, Mara packs up and leaves, the next a new family of three have apparently been living there for months. Ultimately, the film becomes a meditation on the importance we embue in places, not so much people. The house is the anchor - the core - of what the ghost latches on to and if you’ve ever had the feeling of wondering who lived in your home before you and who will be there after you’ve gone, this film will dig deep into your mind.

I found this to be a brilliantly low-fi way to tell a huge thematic story and the use of music throughout - including one central track in particular - only adds to it. If you can get past the pie-eating without thinking ‘da hell is this’, you’re in for a treat.

2. Dunkirk

I’m almost scared to put this so high. I’ve no doubt in my mind that it’s a five star film and it’s certainly the most visceral, immediate cinema going experience I’ve perhaps ever had (I caught it at the BFI IMAX, opening night, at a late showing and it truly does fill your entire periphery vision) but a part of me wonders if it will hold up on second viewing - i.e. if seeing it anywhere other than the IMAX will diminish it. Well, I’m sure it won’t be the same but I’m also convinced it won’t matter either because this is clockwork precision film making of the highest order; an exercise in narrative structure as well as simply being the most accurate representation of the event in question as there possibly could be.

Some people have complained that this film does a disservice to its characters but I disagree. The power of this story is that it’s the tale of the everyman - how all of these people, no matter the extent of their involvement or the merits of their bravery, became heroes. I don’t need to see the ‘movie’ version of this - where characters chat about their backstories or show photos of loved ones or do every other cliche around. I KNOW all that is going on within the frame but I don’t need to see it. What we’re seeing is the immediacy of these events, which heightens the terror and the hopelessness felt by everyone on that beach or in those boats or in those planes. The land/sea/sky split is impeccably done and the devotion to practical battle scenes is stunning. The aerial dogfights - in full IMAX - practically made me feel like I was strapped to a wing. But even looking past the spectacle, the performances DO bring out the heart of the characters we’re presented with. From Cillian Murphy’s PTSD riddled soldier to the steely determination of Mark Rylance to the rather genius casting of Harry Styles - the exact kind of kid who would have been swept up in this war - everyone is all in and they all blew me away. Especially Tom Hardy, in perhaps his most restricted role yet (it’s like Bane meets Locke), who garners the biggest cheers.

And Hans Zimmer’s epic score can make me sweat just thinking about it. A perfect compliment to the tightening framework and increasing stakes of the action.

1. La La Land

Where do I even begin with this? Full spoilers ahead, I couldn’t help myself.

Clearly, this isn’t a film for everyone. And I get that. Some people think it’s fine but kinda hate musicals. Others get frustrated with the character’s choices. Others would have preferred it to actually remain a musical throughout. I understand all of these criticisms but for me, it does perfectly what it sets out to do.

First of all, I personally love the musical numbers - from the jaw dropping opening of Another Day of Sun to the kinetic, glamourous rush of Someone in the Crowd to the heartfelt yearning of City of Stars. I think they’re great tunes, wonderfully performed and exceptionally shot. I think of the long one-shot takes of the first, the swimming pool splashdown of the second and the little smack on the shoulder of the third. They’re rooted in feeling, in character and in the tradition of Hollywood. They wear their influences on their sleeve but never feel like a parody. And to me, the sudden shift away from being a flat out musical at the end of the first act is not a misstep but entirely organic - this is the rare love story that has its head in the clouds (romantic dating montages, dreamlike dancing through the stars) as well as being brutally honest about what we want, how we get them and the sacrifices these things cost.

The movie starts out as this fantastical anti-meet-cute before morphing into a romantic fable full of wonderment but the moment the characters get together, it switches gears and becomes more grounded in reality. The music largely stops and the real world catches up. Arguments are had, compromises are made, promises are broken. This is the harsh truth of getting what you want at the cost of losing what you’ve perhaps always wanted. The tension between Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and Mia (Emma Stone) becomes uncomfortable - he’s lying to himself about doing what he must to achieve his real dream, even despite Mia’s support and she is battling her own demons in chasing hers. It’s only when the film brings them to their lowest points does it slowly turn back into being something more magical. Sebastian returns to Mia with the news of a new audition, which results in the most raw song/anecdote of the film ‘Audition (The Fools Who Dream), and just as we’re swept into the happy ending we were promised from decades of these movies, the pair realise they have to do their own thing. “We’ll just have to wait and see”...

The film’s extended epilogue is where it really doubles down on this idea. As we’re treated to a return of the ‘full blown musical’, we see the true Hollywood version of this entire story, played out in dreamlike fast forward. Sebastian leaping off his piano to kiss Mia the second he meets her, the villainous J.K. Simmons snapping his fingers and stepping aside, Sebastian giving a standing ovation at Mia’s one woman show that he missed entirely before, the two of them travelling to Paris and crafting a life together that Mia actually did alone. On the surface, it’s a joyous, colourful, happy finale but the final curtain reminds you that it’s all been... a daydream. The road not travelled. So while the film ends with them both achieving their own desires, they’ve lost one another. This is the all-too-often-true cost of creative pursuit and fulfilment and it’s so rare to see it held aloft in the final reel of an Oscar winning movie that appears to be the exact opposite on the surface.

It’s daring, brave and imaginative and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Maybe I’m too soppy and maybe I’ve just ruined the entire plot for you (I definitely have) but I just couldn’t see anything topping this the moment I saw it. And I guess I was right. Damien Chazelle is a wizard and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

#top 10 #Films of 2017 #2017 #logan #film stars don't die in liverpool #baby driver #get out #raw #jackie #20th century women #a ghost story #dunkirk #la la land

2 notes · View notes

girlmeetsworlddrabbles · 7 years

Text

Hurricane

This is random and started as something that wasn’t GMW. I think I got all of it switched, but if I missed something I apologize.

Summary: AU where the clique six weren’t the clique six. Lucas wasn't the best friend. He and Riley never dated, but he and Maya have something back in high school. What happens when they meet up at a wedding years later?

You hit me category five With your smile Blew me away And girl, it ain't but midnight You done killed the lights Bent my heart back to your bedside

She wasn't sure why she decided to come to that dastardly get together. Her best friend had all but begged her to make an appearance at the party the was being held after her rehearsal dinner. As maid of honor—it would look bad if she didn't show up to everything that involved the wedding. It didn't matter she needed to be up at the crack of the dawn to get Riley ready for her wedding. So there she sat, at the hotel bar chewing on the stirrer that came with her fruity drink that she couldn't remember the name of. It wasn't from having one too many, but all of the names blended together. It had peaches and strawberries in it and it didn't burn her throat as it went down and that was all that mattered to her.

“Do you want another one?” The bartender asked who looked creepily like her math teacher senior year even down to the kind smile that exuded his unshaven face.

She gave a polite smile—the same she reserved for her student’s parents. “Just a water please.”

She hears a throat clearing and she turns to see two boys from high school standing in front of her.

Curse her best friend for marrying her high school crush. They had ran into each other when he came in with a bad burn he had gained during a lab practical. Riley was the nurse on duty and by the end of the visit, he was asking her out for coffee.

“Maya, right?”

She squinted her eyes, reminding herself to be kind to Billy. It didn't matter that they had had classes together since first grade when he moved to their town. It didn't matter she was his tutor for a year their junior year of high school.

He was annoying then and it seemed like he was going to be annoying now. He was using the classic, I think I know your name and you are going to feel great when I remembered correctly. But they both knew he remembered her name just as well as she knew his.

“Mhmm” She settled with the nicest thing she could think of. She wasn't the same girl as she was in high school.

High school Maya was crass and rude. She was angry and spent more time glaring than grinning. She had a reputation she wasn't proud of and if she was going to have to spend this whole weekend with Abigail Adams High Alumni, she wasn't going to be that hateful girl.

“What are you doing sitting by yourself?”

At this point, Maya had completely ignored the body standing next to Billy. She wasn't ready to look at him and see how much better looking he had gotten since graduation. She kept her eyes trained on the annoying tool talking to her.

She continued to chew the stirrer which had flattened considerably since she began—but hey it calmed her and stopped her from biting her nails and picking at her intricate hair style. Riley had put way too much time in the intricate crown braid and making Maya’s thick blonde hair into a messy bun with curls falling out of it and framing her face “perfectly” as Riley gushed.

She shrugged hating how incredibly awkward she could be. “I don't like crowds.”

“Billy, just get your drink and leave Maya alone.”

She looks at him then. His voice too much like home for her not to. His voice pulls her in like she is wrapped around cord that turns to wherever he is. His hair is shorter than it was in high school. No longer so long that he keeps it in a messy bun most days, but buzzed on the sides and longer on top—long enough for him to still run his hands through it to keep it standing up.

He is in a suit that looked like it is tailored to fit him and the charcoal eyes makes his green eyes pierce her once she finally looks into them.

“You know Maya?” Leave it to Billy to start the conversation acting like he had no idea who she was and ending it as though they are old friends.

Billy wasn't a mean guy, he never was. Just perpetually stuck in high school and thinking who you were then meant who you were now.

She has lost all focus of Billy. Too stuck staring at Lucas—their history flashing through each others eyes. Both thinking of how to answer that question.

With the truth?That it started with just staring at each other—though neither knew why that every time the other entered a class, they couldn't stop staring.

They ended up purposely sitting in spots they could make eye contact—once again, you wouldn't get them to admit it. Then, when we they passed each other in the hallway, they found each other getting closer and closer to the middle of the hallway—the outskirts of who they were walking with—for the chance they might just graze each other.

His eyes searched hers as he thought of the times he refused to follow after her when she was upset with him because he said something hurtful. Neither willing to have a relationship, but not being able to get enough of each other. He would corner her in a bathroom, she would find him in the locker room. They would get so close, close to being more than just a few kisses before inevitably one would walk away.

Admit when he got a girlfriend, neither stopped following after each other, though neither broke the cheating code of pulling each other in like they both so badly wanted to do.

Own up to the fact that months of toeing around each other ended with a night of debauchery after junior prom. Where he pulled her into his hotel room and she didn't stop him. But that would mean they would have to admit that she left before he woke up and he was back with his girlfriend a week later.

The class jock and the rebellious artist didn't make sense. They both knew that and so they never spoke about it. The following year, when of course they had four classes together, they sat as far away as possible and she never looked at him. Not until she had nowhere else to look their senior prom and once again—maybe it was the heightened adrenaline or being dressed up for dance—or maybe it gave them excuse to be near each other one more time before they graduated— he was pushing her against a wall and ruining her make up.

She told herself to stop and leave because it was going to just end with her hurt, but she was the opening her room that Riley’s parents had gotten incase they got too drunk and one Riley had no intention using (she had her own date’s room), and the next morning, she kicked him out and blamed it on the alcohol— alcohol that neither had drank.

“Just had a few classes together.” She can't look away from him. Years of forcing herself to not think about him, to not miss him, crumbles at the sight of him standing there— so close it was almost painful.

“Hmm, so what are you up to tonight?” Billy grinned and Maya sighs finally bringing her attention back to the other man there.

“I’m going to bed.” Billy is about to open his mouth and she almost can hear his crude pick up line, “No I don't need help.”

She pulls a twenty out of her sparkly clutch and slides it to the bartender who takes it graciously knowing her five dollar drink didn't warrant a fifteen dollar tip, but he wasn't about to question it. She gives him a kind smile and pulls herself off the stool gracefully.

Her pale pink dress falls heavily around her, swishing as the lace falls into place. Her pink suede Mary Jane's click onto the tile and Maya pats her backside to rid of any wrinkles. She feels the fan induced chilly air hit her backside and she curses her past self for wearing the open back scalloped dress because though it kept her from overheating while they ran through the wedding at the church that had no air on, in the hotel bar it chilled her a little too much.

She could easily walk around them—pushing through Billy and making her way up to the room, but her feet have other ideas. She is stepping passed Lucas and she stops breathing when his hand inconspicuously caresses her forearm. He doesn't grip her thin wrist, but it was as though he just needed some reason to feel her. She closes her eyes until she is out of reach and she feels like she can finally breathe again.

She leaves the bar, clicks her way through the lobby and into the elevator. Once the doors close, she lets out a heavy breath and reaches for the bar to hold her upright. Well that was unexpected to say the least.

She should have figured he’d be here. Farkle and Lucas were friends in high school, not as close as Farkle was to Zay, but close enough to be on the guest list. It wouldn't be like Riley would have asked for her permission since no one knew of the escapades that happened through out her last years of high school. She's nearing her hotel room, so close for the night being over and when she is right at door, she drops her keycard and the elevator bell dings. She is begging God for it not to be Lucas getting off that elevator, but he must have sick sense of humor because once she stands back at up, she chances a glance at the open doors to find him stepping off.

Of course their rooms are the same floor.

She looks up at the ceiling. “You are not nice.” She whispers and she wouldn't be surprised if God and her grandmother are sitting together laughing at her misfortune.

He has stopped from his end of the hall, shocked to see her, and she could easily slip into the room, but they have both seen each other at this point, and it would lead to bigger issues if she coward her way out of this.

So she steps near him as he inches closer.

“I’m sorry about Billy.”

“It’s okay. I’m sure he won’t remember in the morning.”

He smiles at her and all those times Riley said Farkle made her weak in the knees makes sense because she is pretty sure she just wobbled. She is twenty two for God Sakes. She shouldn't be this affected by a boy from when she was seventeen.

He stops in front of her, but not too close. Actually the space between is that awkward not close enough, but not too far. He can’t see her goosebumps and she can’t reach for him, but close enough she can smell his cologne.

Her heart is racing, pounding at an alarming rate and she feels with each breath she is gaining less and less air.

“It’s been a while.”

It is so painfully awkward that she feels like her anxiety is clawing to come out, but she punches it away. “Five years.”

“What are you up to?”

She crinkles her nose at the question, finding the whole moment so odd and surreal: “I’m a Kindergarten teacher.”

He smiles such a proud smile that she almost preens. “That makes sense.”

“Yeah? Everyone else just looks on in confusion when I tell them.”

He steps closer now and she almost steps back, but she tells herself she is strong and so she stays firmly planted in her spot.

“We aren't the people we were in high school.” She knows he is talking about the fact people base their confused looks of intimidating Maya on being a Kindergarten teacher. She knows it has nothing to do with them—the decisions they made that led them to once again standing in a hotel hallway.

“What do you do?” She asks trying her hardest not breathe him in.

“I actually am a veterinarian.”

She grins because she has to. There is no other option after hearing he was doing something he loved. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He smiles because he can’t help it. She is smiling at him and it is just as beautiful as it was before.

But then it is over because she can’t stand being so close to him even though it is irrational (because it is so irrational) and they both have taken turns in breaking the other down.

“I should probably be getting to bed.” She looks over her shoulder at the door to her room.

He nods stepping back from her and she has the mental image of reaching out to him. “Of course. Long day tomorrow.”

She nods and they stare for a few moments longer wondering if the other had anything else to say or do.

But neither say a word and she nods and steps to turn. She makes it two steps before he calls her and her name flows out of his mouth so easily that she feels like her insides might burst.

She turns to him. “You bringing anyone tomorrow?”

She is so floored by the question that she doesn't even have time to think about the weight of what he was asking. “No. You?”

“No.”

She nods and sighs a heavy oh before believing the conversation is over. She once again inches towards the door and before she can even comprehend it—his hand is wrapping around her arm once again, but this time gripping tightly and pulling her around into him.

Their lips find each other with ease and she stumbles only slightly into him—his right arm wrapping around her waist to steady her, his left tangling into her hair and effectively ruining her updo.

It felt just like it did before. Overwhelming and heart wrenching and the feeling of falling through the air. Him kissing her was like she had never been touched before and he is holding so tightly as though he is afraid at any moment, she would disappear just like she always seems to.

Her back finds a wall and she pulls at his shirt trying anyway she possibly can to pull him closer. His tongue battling with her and his hands holding her face tightly.He pulls away and she whimpers at the loss, opening her eyes to him staring down at her. Even in four inch heels, he towers over her.

“It is irrational to have missed you so much.” She whispers out of breath and he nods, trying to catch his and planting his hands on either side of her head. “It shouldn't still feel like this to be near you.” She continues and again—he nods.

“You hurt me so much last time.” It pains him to hear it and he closes his eyes to not see her broken features. It pained him to think of the stupid things he did when he was a teenager. His adult self cursed his teenage self for walking away from her all those times. For allowing her to kick him out the morning after prom. “And I hurt you.”

“We aren’t the same people we were in high school.” He whispers and it is her time to nod.

Her body was battling with itself. She shouldn't rush into this. All of these feelings could subside by morning and then she is left feeling broken just like she did last time.

But she had gotten through it before—and now they were adults. And the way he was acting and the things he was saying and the way his heart was racing just as fast as hers had her heart begging her brain to not walk away from him again.

“I won’t leave this time.” She finally says, looking into his dark eyes.

“I won’t let you.” He responded pulling her back up to meet his lips and she sighs against him.

It doesn't take long for her to be pulled down the hall and into his room. For him to shed her dress and her to throw his tie across the room. For her to hold tight as he picks her up and settle her gently on the bed. It isn't fast like it was back then when both were too afraid the other was going to realize how ridiculous it all was.

Instead, he takes his time kissing up and down her body. He slowly brings her to the edge with his tongue and fingers before she is clawing at him to bring his face back into contact hers. He enters her at such a lingering pace that she has to slam her eyes shut before he is whispering at her to look at him.

“I missed you.” He whispers and he stares into her eyes and she feels like she could spontaneously combust on the spot. She tries to respond but her body has other thoughts in mind as it pushes her over and she breathily and quietly cries out his name, he not far behind her.

And for the first time, they don't rush to pull away from each other or push the other away. Instead he watches her for moments and moments and when he finally rolls off her, he pulls her into his side and she wraps her arms around his middle.

They fall asleep that way and when they wake up in the morning, he grins at her still sleeping form and rouses her awake once again.

She doesn't blame what they did on anything other than the feelings she somehow still felt for him. She tells him to save her a dance and he doesn’t hesitate to agree.

#lucaya fanfiction #lucaya #riarkle #lucasxmaya #rileyxfarkle

70 notes · View notes

rosalinesbenvolio · 7 years

Text

I Want To Leave You Feeling Breathless

Maya's feet hurt. Lucas notices.

man I've had this idea in my head fOrever & this isn't exactly what I planned so idk if I'm gonna write another very similar But Not The Same fic or not but have this pile of fluff. title from celion dion's steve mcqueen

also on ao3

It’s not noticeable at first, actually, which Maya likes to put down to the sheer overwhelming nature of nearly doubling the size of her friend group and the amount of people she has to (wants to, is honored to be able to) worry about.

In hindsight, it’s entirely unsurprising that Lucas is the one who brings it to her attention: Lucas has rapidly become someone she can count on to give it to her straight, since Riley loves her too much to take fault in any of her bad traits and Farkle may be a genius, but he misses increasingly huge parts of her life.

Lucas calls her a short stack of pancakes and Riley agrees and the argument is settled by Mr. Matthew’s weird older brother, but Maya still goes and trades her favorite winter jacket for a pair of heeled booties at Demolition. How’s she meant to protect Riley from the big bad world if she’s too short for Riley to hide behind, anyway?

Of course, that isn’t the end of it. Riley just keeps on growing, and it’s getting quite clear that Maya’s not. Maya finds herself looking up to meet her sister’s eyes on a near-weekly basis, and she finds herself trading in each pair of shoes for a new-to-her even taller pair.

The good thing about the triangle dissolving and the whole group of them being overwhelmed with high school and relationship drama and extracurriculars and friendships outside of the circle is that no one really notices that Maya is coming to school in what is, basically, a half step away from stilettos. Or, if they do, they don't realize it's a part of some sort of weird insecurity-slash-pathological-protective-instinct and instead chalk it down to her fashion sense, which has settled into a happy medium between Rebellious Maya and Maya With A Father Figure. (It's fun to test Shawn, with skirt length and transparent blouses, but it still feels warm and fuzzy somewhere between her lungs when he tells her she's too young for such clothes.)

The downside, of course, is that she can only complain about her arches and the balls of her feet killing her so much before someone goes ahead and points out well, why are you wearing those kinds of shoes? like they think they've solved climate change or something.

In their sophomore year, when teachers start making noises about the ACTs and the SATs and their AP exams, Riley institutes a mandatory weekly study session, telling them they'd best all show up or else she’d sic her father on them. Cory’s gotten even more ridiculous ever since Shawn came home and married her mom, insisting that he's now her actual uncle, and Maya appreciates the excuse of not wanting to deal with Mr Matthews any more than she has to. She’d have come anyway, because she sort of misses Riley and the rest of them, for all they still hang out every few days, and she hates studying alone, but it's nice to be able to claim a less sappy, more selfish reason.

Maya gets to the Matthews’ residence first, even before Riley, who’s been distracted with flirting awkwardly with a girl on the cheer team, and the entire place is empty, so Maya unlocks the door with her own key, hobbles over to the fridge and pulls out what she assumes is the rest of the previous night’s dinner, leaning heavily against the countertop as she watches it go ‘round and ‘round in the microwave.

The front door opens at the same time the microwave dings, and Maya straightens up and forces her face not to wince as she carries her plate over to the couch, heels clicking against the wooden floors. Lucas is at the coffee table, already pulling two prep books out of his bag, his baseball duffel leaning against the wall by the door, his hair dropping with what Maya hopes is shower-water and not sweat.

“Riley still putting the moves on Sam?” Maya asks as she sinks into the couch, stirring up her pasta and reluctantly accepting a stack of flashcards from him.

“I think Sam finds it more endearing than uncomfortable,” Lucas says, and he grins a little knowingly when Maya lets out a tiny sigh of relief—they'd all been worried when Riley came out as bi to the cheer team, because some of the upperclassmen had been a little mean about it, but they'd graduated and the rest of the team seemed mostly fine with it in that shitty denial sort of way.

“You think she's got a shot?”

“I'd say the hair twirling was pretty telling,” Lucas gossips, raising his eyebrows and waggling them until Maya snorts.

“Riles’ gonna get some,” Zay announces when he, Farkle, and Smackle come crashing in. “Farkle saw Sam leaning over and holding Riley’s elbow, and I heard them set a date for Saturday.”

“He also whooped and got us caught,” Smackle says, shrugging out of her sweater and sinking into the love seat next Farkle. “I find myself unable to believe believe that this is who got me an etiquette book.”

“Is no one gonna let me forget that?” Zay mumbles. “It was a nice gesture!”

“Almost as nice as pity-asking me out,” Maya quips and Zay groans, messing up her hair as he passes by on his way to the pantry to look for Mr Matthews’ secret poptart stash. Every time he finds them, Cory changes the location, and it's been almost a year of passive aggression, and Maya wholeheartedly approves.

“I helped him hide them,” Farkle calls out to Zay, who is halfway underneath the sink. “You'll never find them this time.”

Zay does a passable imitation of Farkle’s old favored honk-laugh and Farkle whirls, half out of his seat, to throw his copy of The Scarlet Letter at Zay’s back.

“You swore you'd never do that!” Farkle half-shouts, patting Smackle’s calming hand on his forearm absently. “Now I get to tell everyone about you getting locked in the chicken coop.”

Lucas snorts and then starts laughing, ducking his head and pressing his hand to his mouth. Maya reaches out and prods him in the back of the skull, easy enough to reach, for once, since he's finally taken his regular seat on the floor, between the couch and the table, in front of her.

“Do you already know this tale, Sundance?” Maya presses when his shoulders keep shaking, even as he mostly controls his expression. Zay’s struggling to get out from under the sink and yelping loudly in protest, swearing and shouting that Farkle had better not, but Maya’s attention is entirely on the green-eyed cowboy at her feet. “How come you haven't told me?”

“Zay knows too many things about me,” Lucas admits, grinning ruefully even as he reaches back and catches her hand to stop her from continuing to jab her little fingers at him. “But I think Farkle is just annoyed enough to share.”

Zay yells nonsense the entire time Farkle speaks, and Farkle only just gets louder until the both of them are nearly screaming over each other. When Riley finally shows up, looking dazed and well-kissed, Farkle has to tell the story again, since they're all cracking up and she's curious. Zay pouts the entire second time, making menacing noises, but he's ultimately a good sport about blackmail deals.

They break for dinner when Auggie gets home, and they all take turns talking to Cory and Topanga when they call from their date-night vacay hotel in the Hamptons, like the upper-middle class white people they are.

Between biology and trig Maya brings up Sam, and Zay leaps at the change to tease someone else for a change, but Riley is, Maya is proud to note, somewhat more composed about this love interest than she has been in the past, only pinkening a little when Maya makes kissy noises, and only gushing for a moment about Sam’s eyes and how smart she is before she fairly adeptly turns the subject to Lucas’ most recent game.

Maya leans over and cuddles into her sister for a while after Lucas and Smackle get into it about the validity of baseball as a hardcore sport and the comparable mathletes team. Riley allows Maya to pet her hair and snuffle at her cheek, smiling gently and fondly as she wraps her skinny arms around Maya’s frame, squeezing and giving her a look like we can gush more later.

Maya blows a raspberry against Riley’s elbow-pit in a and don't be stingy on the details and eventually drags herself to settle back against the other arm of the couch, one leg bent at the knee, other one dangling over the side, heels still strapped to her feet.

Eventually it's time for Auggie to go to sleep, and the group settles into their quieter selves, Farkle and Zay quizzing each other on the periodic table, Smackle typing steadily on her laptop, working through her English essay with a sort of efficiency that still impresses and terrifies Maya in equal measure. Riley is the first one of them to nod off, curled up tinier than she should be able, all those long limbs and huge personality, hugging her math notes and her phone tight to her chest. Zay is next, and Farkle pulls out a book to read. Lucas is still working through his ACT prep book, setting his phone’s timer and taking test after test, eyebrows furrowing a little when he doesn't finish with the results he'd wanted.

Maya stretches hard, arching her back and pressing her shoe against Lucas’ cheek when he wrinkles his nose at the sound of her spine cracking. He blinks and finally looks up from his workbook, hands catching Maya’s heeled foot and holding it steady, his expression like he's working through some tough problem.

“Still wearing these, Shortstack?” He says, not really a question, more under his breath than anything else. His eyes are glinting in the dim room, and Maya knows she's been caught. Because Lucas is a fundamentally different person than she is, he doesn't immediately start laughing or crowing at this new knowledge. He barely even smirks.

He does, however, shift around until he’s more or less facing her, pull her foot a little closer to his chest, and unbuckle her shoe, sliding it off her aching foot with an overwhelming sort of gentleness.

He motions for her other foot and, somewhat dazed, she slowly slings it towards him, taking care to not jostle Riley with the movement. He removes that shoe too, and just holds her feet in his hands for half a second before he digs his thumbs into her arches and Maya has to bite down on her lip to hold back a damn moan, the pleasure-pain is so good.

He keeps doing it, too, massaging her feet and her ankles, soothing and firm in an alternating, mind-blowing pattern, those green eyes looking up at her from his spot at her feet.

“How long have you needed this?” Lucas murmurs, and Maya—Maya flushes, eyes glancing around the room to make sure Smackle and Farkle finally succumbed to sleep.

“How long have you wanted to do this?” Maya retorts quietly, and Lucas doesn't answer her any more than she answered him, but his hands drift up a little, working her calves with strong, slightly calloused fingers, never leaving her feet for long.

Maya tilts her head, hair falling around her in a way she knows is attractive, and Lucas’ eyes dilate, obvious only because of how closely she's watching him.

“I won't pretend that I think anything I say will convince you to stop,” Lucas muses, brushing his thumbs across the delicate bones in the top of her feet.

“They're kind of my thing, now,” Maya says, with a casual shrug that doesn't do too great a job of disguising her shudder. Lucas is polite enough not to mention it, although now—now, he's smirking.

“Gotta give the people what they want,” Lucas agrees.

The words are on the tip of her tongue: and what do you want? but she's only ever been brave with Riley, and this ain't something Riley can help her with. Lucas seems to read the question in whatever expression is on her face anyway. He bends down and presses a feather-light kiss against each foot before giving Maya her feet back and smiling, that proper, Huckleberry smile that Maya won't admit for a million dollars that she's missed.

“I'll make sure to hear you, the next time you complain about them,” is all he says. It's almost a letdown. Her stomach swoops at all the promises in his expression. It kind of feels like a beginning, though.

#lucaya #lucaya fanfiction #gmw fanfiction #show: girl meets world #ship: lucaya #writing #mystuff

41 notes · View notes