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softlass27 · 4 years

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I started thinking about Robert spending his birthday this year alone in a prison cell and it made me sad. So I decided to fix it with pure fluff and self-indulgence.

No prison, no bloody Posners, Seb back with his dads where he belongs :')

AO3 link here

If I should smile with sweet surprise

It was no secret to anyone who knew Aaron and Robert, that of the two of them, Robert was the romantic one. He was the type of person who got a thrill out of making grand gestures – surprise trips away, home-cooked dinners by candlelight, too-expensive gifts that he’d bought just because I saw it and thought of you.

It took Aaron a while to get used to being with someone like Robert, but now that they were married and solid, he’d come to love the gestures, he really had. It was just, well, he never knew how to make them in return. He’d never been the particularly romantic sort, never thought he’d want to be, either. Sure, he’d booked them the odd night away, and he always tried to make sure he got Robert thoughtful Christmas and anniversary presents. But showy, full-blown declarations of love? Apart from one cold night in February when Aaron had shown up on Robert’s doorstep, determined to get his husband back, it just wasn’t his thing.

The odd time he’d hesitantly brought it up with Robert over the years, feelings of insecurity and of not being enough rearing its ugly head, Robert just smiled and said he didn’t mind, he spoiled Aaron because he enjoyed doing it, not because he expected something in return.

“You enjoy showing off, more like,” Aaron had scoffed, though something warm settled in his chest at the reassurance.

Robert just shrugged a shoulder at him and said there were plenty of things Aaron did for him – things that no one else had ever done before. Like always making his tea exactly the way he liked it, like knowing to buy his favourite chocolate after a rubbish day, like letting Robert lay his head in his lap and stroking his hair when he’d given himself a headache by staring at the computer screen for too long.

Like listening to him talk about his favourite memories of his mum, asking him questions about the kinds of food she used to cook and what her favourite songs were. Like letting him rant about Jack and Andy and the misery of his teenage years, without telling him he was overreacting.

So that was the way it was. Robert did the cheesy, over-the-top gestures of love and Aaron accepted them with a kiss and an I love you.

Until today.

Today, it was Robert’s 34th birthday and Aaron was going to sweep his husband off his feet if it killed him.

He deserved it after everything they’d been through in the last twelve months. They’d thought nothing could be worse than what had happened to Victoria only days after Robert’s last birthday. Then just as Lee Posner had crawled back into whatever dark hole he’d come from and she’d begun to turn a corner, they were hit with another bombshell.

One day in early September, Aaron dropped Seb off in Liverpool to find Rebecca had nipped to the shops and Ross was acting strangely. Despite Ross’s protests, Aaron stuck around until Rebecca got back, making small talk with him and watching him carefully. By the time he got back in the car, he’d seen enough. He knew the signs, Ross was definitely on something. Maybe cocaine, maybe spice, maybe something else entirely. It didn’t make much difference to him either way; Ross was on drugs when he was meant to be responsible for Aaron’s stepson, and he was not having it.

Aaron had broken several speed limits on his way home and wasted no time telling Robert as soon as he walked through the door. They’d already been concerned that Rebecca couldn’t seem to keep a nanny around for longer than a few weeks at a time, and it wasn’t like her brain injury had just disappeared in the last year. If anything, she seemed to be deteriorating some days. And if Ross – the one who was meant to be keeping her right – was high on god knows what, then there was no way in hell Seb was staying with them.

Although they were both tempted to go charging through Ross and Rebecca’s door and grab Seb there and then, they held back. Rebecca had threatened them with legal action before, and if they tried anything, she’d wouldn't hesitate to do it again. They had to be smart about it.

A few days later, Robert popped round to their place unannounced, having supposedly been “in the neighbourhood”, so he could get a good look at Ross for himself. It didn't take more than a few minutes for him to agree with Aaron's suspicions. The next time they dropped Seb off, they made sure to do it while only Rebecca was home and they stuck around for a coffee. Robert distracted her while Aaron snuck upstairs and rooted through Ross’s stuff until he found a stash of white powder, snapping a photo with his phone.

Robert had Ross followed by a private investigator, who eventually confirmed that not only was Ross buying drugs, he was dealing them, too. The private investigator also told them – with more than a little concern – that on one occasion he’d seen Ross and Rebecca briefly leave Seb alone in the house.

It had taken endless meetings with lawyers and social services, gathering evidence and providing character witnesses from everyone from Aaron’s therapist to Nicola (who was more than happy to throw her weight around as local councillor on their behalf). As the days and weeks passed, Robert was out of his mind with worry, not to mention guilt for having let Ross and Rebecca take Seb in the first place. He barely slept and only ate when Aaron forced him to, exhausting himself to the point of Aaron being terrified that he’d have another seizure.

The wait was agonising, but after what felt like an eternity of hardly daring to hope, Seb was released into their custody and back at the Mill by Christmas, with arrangements for Rebecca to see him under supervised visits in the new year. At first, Seb was a little withdrawn and confused by the disruption, but Aaron and Robert both showered him with as many cuddles and presents as they could, and he soon perked up. It was the best Christmas Aaron could remember having.

The first few months of 2020 had passed quickly and quietly, with most of their time spent making sure Seb settled in properly, and helping Victoria with her new baby boy, Harry. Not to mention catching up on all the work they’d both put on the back burner recently. But now, things were getting back to a new kind of normal. Seb was his happy self once again and getting into mischief at every opportunity, while Vic was regularly seeing a counsellor and taking motherhood in her stride. Things weren’t perfect, but they were getting there.

Now it was Robert’s birthday, and this year Aaron was going to treat him, dammit.

He entered their bedroom with a tray full of Robert’s favourite breakfast foods and set it down carefully before carding a hand through Robert’s sleep-mussed hair. “Hey, birthday boy.”

Robert’s mouth quirked in a half-smile before his eyes even opened. “Mornin’.”

Aaron leaned down and gave him light peck, but before he could sit up Robert slung his arms around his neck and yanked him down again, suddenly much more awake. “Oi, it’s my birthday, gimme a proper snog.”

Aaron rolled his eyes but didn’t resist, pressing his mouth to Robert’s and sliding his tongue past his lips, kissing him slowly and deeply until they were both gasping for breath. He eventually pulled away, laughing when Robert tried to chase his mouth with his own. “I made you breakfast, eat it before it gets cold.”

Robert gave a put-upon sigh but let him go, tucking into his plate of fresh fruit and pastries, occasionally letting Aaron steal a bite.

“Is Seb up yet?” He asked, sucking juice off his fingers.

“Nah, we’ve probably got a while. He’s dead excited to give you his card, though. He’s drawn what I can only guess is either a cow or a train, I’m not sure which but it’s very good.”

Robert laughed and relaxed back into the pillows, sipping his coffee. At least he was relaxed until he noticed Aaron fidgeting next to him, shifting on his side of the bed and tapping his hands against the duvet. “You alright over there?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You’re a bit… twitchy. Are you – ”

“Do you want your present now?” Aaron cut him off, unable to wait any longer.

Robert smirked and set his mug down. “Go on, then.”

Aaron reached over to his bedside table, pulling an envelope out of the drawer and passing it over. Robert waited for a moment to see if anything else would follow, but Aaron just shoved the drawer closed and turned back to him. Robert blinked at the card. “Did you… get me a voucher?”

“Did I – no I didn’t get you a voucher, you idiot. I’m not that bad of a husband.”

“Well I don’t know about – ow don’t hit me it’s my birthday – of course you’re not, you’re a brilliant husband. Amazing. Stupendous.”

“Would you just open your bloody present, please?”

Robert tore open the envelope and pulled the contents out, while Aaron pressed a fist to his mouth in order to hide the grin that was threatening to break across his face. He watched Robert’s face change as he took in the tickets and brochure, his jaw dropping as he looked at Aaron with wide eyes.

“No.”

“Yep.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Seriously?!” Robert held up tickets for flights to Iceland, due to depart the next day.

May 2016

“Oh my God, Ibiza, really?” Robert groaned. “You’re such a lad.”

“And you’re such a snob, there’s nout wrong with Ibiza.”

It was after midnight and they were lounging in Aaron’s room at the pub, chatting about everything and nothing. It had only been a couple of weeks since they’d decided to give them a proper shot, and although they’d already been through hell and back together, it still felt pretty new. They might have the, well, physical side of things down, but they’d realised there was still a hell of a lot they didn’t know about each other.

So most nights, when everyone else was asleep, they talked. Which was how they’d come to this particular argument.

“Okay whatever, just don’t expect me to go there with you. Ever.”

“Pfft, I wouldn’t want you there anyway, you killjoy, “ said Aaron, though his smile took the sting out of it.

“Alright, where else would you want to go? Any dream destinations?”

Aaron thought for a moment. “I’d like to go to Vegas one day.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, all the casinos, the shows, the fireworks. It looks amazin’. Maybe even see the Grand Canyon, too, that’d be mint.”

“Hmm, noted,” said Robert, looking at him with half-lidded eyes.

“What about you?” Aaron poked him. “Anything on the bucket list?”

Robert shrugged. “Dunno. I like city breaks, mostly. Paris, Rome, that sort of thing. Barcelona,” he said, raising his eyebrows playfully.

Aaron winced, still feeling guilty about bailing on their trip. He pressed a kiss to the side of Robert’s head. “Sorry again. We will go, promise.”

“S’fine, I told you not to worry about it. But yeah, apart from that I wouldn’t mind holing up in a villa somewhere warm with you. Doesn’t matter where. Sun, pool, sex, what’s not to like?”

“Sounds nice,” said Aaron.

They lay there in comfortable silence. Aaron was close to drifting off when –

“Northern Lights.”

Aaron’s eyes opened to see Robert looking at him with a sleepy smile. “Hmm?”

“I’ve always wanted to see the Northern Lights.”

“Yeah?”

“Ever since I was a kid. I saw this tv programme about them, used to think they were magic. I don’t now, obviously, but yeah. Would love to actually see them someday.”

His eyes fell shut, and Aaron's followed soon after.

“Vic’s gonna bring Harry here and help Liv look after Seb while we’re gone. Or he can have a sleepover at hers, or with Moira and Isaac, whichever he prefers. But starting tomorrow it’s just you and me, five days, and – hopefully – some magic lights in the sky.”

Robert stared at him for a moment before running his thumb over the printed words on the ticket. “I can’t believe you remembered.”

“I do listen, you know.”

“I know but I told you that years ago.”

“I mean, I can’t guarantee we’ll actually see the lights,” said Aaron. “But I checked the weather and it’s supposed to be clear skies for the next week, so fingers crossed.” He pulled the hotel brochure towards them. “And if not, we can still go in the hot springs and nice restaurants, and our room’s dead fancy, got a log fire and everythi – mmf!”

Robert pounced, pressing a hard kiss to Aaron’s lips, then when his grin caused him to break it he pressed more over as many parts of his face as he could reach. He bumped his forehead against Aaron’s, eyes sparkling.

“You got me the Northern Lights for my birthday,” he laughed like he couldn’t believe it.

“Told you I’m a good husband.”

“You are. The best husband I’ve ever had.”

Aaron’s reply was cut off by the deafening cry of “Daaaaaddy!” coming from down the hall. He shoved Robert back with a sigh and pushed himself out of the bed. “Better not keep his lordship waiting. There’s still presents to open and then we need to be at the Woolpack by noon, before Diane comes looking again.”

He was about to head out the door when Robert caught his hand and pulled him back until they were pressed tightly together. He cupped Aaron’s jaw and kissed him one more time.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Aaron pressed a thumb on the crinkles around Robert's left eye. “And I think 34 is gonna be your year.”

“Yeah?”

“Mm-hm. Just a feeling.”

“Well it’s looking that way so far,” said Robert, his smile suddenly turning slightly bashful. "No one’s ever done anything like this for me before. Thank you.”

God, Aaron was gone on him. “You deserve it, you daft sod.”

Three days later, Aaron watched Robert gaze up with delight at the bright streaks of light stretching across the dark sky. As they took in the brilliant colours, he grabbed Aaron’s hand tightly and whispered that they were even better than he’d imagined. He was so absorbed in what he was seeing, he didn’t notice Aaron grinning smugly to himself.

He was a romantic bastard.

#robert deserves all the happy birthdays #dammit ryan get back here #my writing #robron #robron fic

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wazzupmrstark · 5 years

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Traditions with a Twist

Tom Holland x Reader

A/N: This is the first Christmas fic I’ve ever written and also the first moodboard I’ve ever made (I’m still learning lol if you have any tips lmk)! I listened to Josh Groban’s Christmas album while I wrote this 10/10 would recommend.

Summary: Meeting Tom’s parents for the first time and spending the Holidays with them. (There’s also gingerbread house building lol)

Warnings: swearing

Word Count: 3.4k

“Let’s go inside, darling.”

“Just give me another minute.”

Despite it being below freezing your palms were sweating. You rubbed your hands on your jeans nervously, attempting to wick the moisture away. You were about to meet your boyfriend’s parents for the first time and you wanted to throw up.

“Waiting out here is only going to make you more nervous,” Tom insisted, tugging on your elbow gently.

“I know, I know I just-” you stopped. Tom looked at you expectantly. “What if they don’t like me?”

“Don’t worry, love,” Tom said comfortingly and wrapped his arms around you “they’d never say so to your face.”

“Thomas!” you shoved yourself out of his grasp, affronted.

“You know I’m kidding.” Tom reached for you again. You allowed yourself to be embraced this time. “They’ll love you. How could anyone not?”

Even though it was the exact script a boyfriend was supposed to say to his girlfriend before she met his family you let the words comfort you anyway. The Hollands didn’t even need to love you, you would be satisfied if they liked you. You could even work with tolerance.

“You’ve already met all the boys, they love you, and Harrison will be here. You’ve got plenty of people on your side.” Tom was pulling you towards the house now, but you weren’t resisting.

Lights were on inside. You could hear light music and laughter and you let yourself relax the tiniest bit. Tom rapped on the door and you held your breath. Within seconds the door swung open to reveal a small woman with copper colored hair. She beamed at the two of you.

“We were wondering when you two would get here!” she exclaimed. “Come in, it’s freezing outside!”

Tom’s mom squeezed her eldest son first then gave you a warm hug. “Y/N, I’m Nicola, we’ve heard so much about you! We’re so glad you’re spending the holidays with us this year.”

Your mouth felt like it was filled with cotton but you smiled anyway. “Thank you for having me!”

“Of course! The more the merrier!”

She showed you both inside and Tom kicked off his boots. You followed in suit.

“How was your flight?”

“Long, but luckily we both slept through most of it,” Tom said, taking the lead.

“I’m glad! Did you already drop your things at your flat?” she asked and Tom nodded. “Alright, everyone’s waiting in the kitchen.”

Nicola gave you a brief tour of the downstairs, mostly just pointing at the rooms as you passed them on the way to the kitchen in the back. There was a Christmas tree set up in the living room in front of the window that was covered in homemade ornaments and string lights. Underneath the tree, an old toy train chugged around the outline of the skirt. You remembered Tom telling you about the train, and how he got it for Christmas when he was seven because The Polar Express was his favorite Christmas movie. You couldn’t help but smile. This is where Tom had grown up, his whole childhood had been spent here and now he was sharing a little piece of it with you.

Every time you passed a framed picture of Tom you wanted to stop and fawn over it. Tom had been the cutest frickin kid. He caught you giggling at a photo of him in a Bat-man Halloween costume and blushed. He pulled you by your hand to keep you moving. You couldn’t believe Thomas Stanley Holland was being shy. You wanted to tease him for it, but settled for squeezing his hand instead. You could make fun of him later.

Finally she led you into the kitchen. All of Tom’s brothers whom you’d already met were sitting at the breakfast nook, as was Haz. The boys waved noncommittally from their spots, but they smiled brightly at you. Harrison actually got up from his seat to give you a quick hug, and slapped Tom on the back.

“Would either of you like some hot chocolate?” Nicola asked, refilling her own mug from a pot on the stove.

“Yeah, Mum that’d be great,” Tom said at the same time you nodded and said “I’d love some!”

Tom left your side to retrieve two mugs from one of the cabinets and hand them to his mom. She filled them both and handed them back to Tom who brought them back to you. Tom clinked his mug against yours and you sipped simultaneously. It was sweeter than you expected, but you usually made dark chocolate back home and you figured this was milk chocolate. Still, it was good and it warmed you up just the same.

“Where’s Dad?” Tom asked his brothers. They shrugged.

“Who’s looking for me?” a voice inquired from behind you.

You turned and realized Tom’s dad had materialized behind you. Tom hugged his father and you took the initiative this time to introduce yourself. “Hi, I’m Y/N. It’s so nice to finally meet you!”

“Likewise, I’m Dom.” He held out his hand for you to shake. “Tom has been so excited to bring you home,” he exclaimed. “I don’t think he’s ever phoned us that much in one month since he left!”

“Dad,” Tom cleared his throat with embarrassment and you giggled.

“Well I’ve been looking forward to this trip for so long! I’ve never been to England.”

“Make sure to drag Tom to all the tourist spots,” Dom teased “especially during rush hour.” You grinned knowing Tom’s dad must know how impatient his son was, especially when it came to crowds. It was endearing to see him push his buttons.

“I’ll be sure to document the whole ordeal,” you promised Dom and he laughed appreciatively.

“Thanks, Dad,” Tom huffed in irritation.

“I’m sorry am I embarrassing you?” Dom asked his son.

“Maybe a little.”

“I’ll be sure to to pull the family albums out for Y/N later then,” Dom promised and you hoped he wasn’t kidding.

“Can’t wait,” you said enthusiastically and Tom groaned next to you. You took his hand and he relaxed a little bit. You hadn’t considered the fact that he was probably nervous too, but so far so good.

“Dinner won’t be ready for some time,” Dom said “but you guys can get started with the gingerbread houses.”

“The gingerbread houses?” you wondered aloud and turned to see that the table was stacked with boxes of DIY gingerbread house kits.

“It’s a tradition,” Tom explained. “Every year we have a competition to see who can build the best gingerbread house. Mum and Dad judge, and whoever wins gets to put the star on top of the tree.”

“Nicola and Dom aren’t allowed to see whose house is whose,” Haz added “so there isn’t any bias. That rule had to be implemented after Sam won too many years in a row,” he paused, “and your parents try and tell you lot they don’t have a favorite.” Tom shoved his best friend’s shoulder playfully. “That rule is how I won for the first time.” He winked.

“If you ask me, I think we’re getting a little old for it,” Paddy, Tom’s youngest brother, piped up.

“Oh hush up,” Tom chided his brother. “You’re just saying that because you’re bound to lose.” Paddy just rolled his eyes at Tom and crossed his arms.

“Are we going to start or are we going to stand around all day?” Sam asked impatiently and everyone started moving at once.

Nicola and Dom had disappeared into the living room some time ago, leaving everyone to work. There was barely any room left at the table but you were able to squeeze onto the window seat between Haz and Tom. Tom handed you your own gingerbread box.

“I get my own?” you asked in surprise.

“Well I’m not going to let you wreck my chances at winning,” Tom said in complete seriousness as he grabbed his own box from the pile. You shoved him in response. “Y/N, I swear if you make me drop this box-”

“You’ll what?” you teased. “Put me on the naughty list?”

You swore you heard a record scratch as everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at you with shock. Even Tom looked like he thought he hadn’t heard you right.

“Fuck,” your heart rate picked up instantly and you started to stutter. “I, I didn’t mean it like that, I was just trying to make a Christmas joke, but I didn’t think about how it would sound-”

Tom swooped in and kissed you on the cheek, bubbling with laughter. “I mean, if that’s what you really want, darling...” he wiggled his eyebrows at you and was met with a chorus of boos and gagging sounds from his brothers. You wanted to crawl into a hole.

Once the commotion died down everyone got down to business. The cardboard boxes were thrown aside to clear more room on the table and everyone started to assemble their houses.

You followed the instructions on how to knead the icing and started sorting all of the candy decorations into little piles. Meanwhile, the boys were already fully into it, putting up the walls to their houses and going ham on the candies.

“Wait is this timed?” you asked and everyone nodded without looking up at you.

What the fuck? You couldn’t tell if they had conveniently forgotten that detail on purpose, or legitimately just hadn’t mentioned it accidentally. Either way, it was crunch time. You hadn’t realized how seriously they were taking it.

You haphazardly put all the walls into the little slots and tried to glue them together with the icing you’d just mixed. It was working...king of. You had to hold the pieces in place and wait for the icing to harden before you could move on or they would fall apart and you’d have to start all over. You had no idea how the boys were moving so quickly.

You were tempted to glance at Tom’s creation, but resisted. You needed to concentrate on your own work. Once the walls were up you moved to the roof. The roof was much trickier because of gravity. Every time you thought they were solid, you’d let go and the pieces would slide off and onto the table. Groaning in frustration you moved on to the gingerbread men that were supposed to stand outside the house. You could come back to the roof later.

You attempted to decorate the gingerbread men with a little packet of red icing, but you weren’t very steady and Haz and Tom kept bumping you accidentally in the process of decorating their own things so it came out looking like a mess. You sighed, but trudged on. Decorating the windows and door turned out to be semi successful. At least you could tell what they were supposed to be. When you tried to fix the roof again the pieces were stuck to the cardboard base where the icing had hardened when you weren’t paying attention.

“Dammit,” you whispered to yourself, and no one acknowledged you, still preoccupied with their own crafting.

Attempting to pull the roof off of the base proved to be futile because you only broke the cookie in half when you tried. You wanted to scream. This house wasn’t fit for any gingerbread people to live in especially since it didn’t have a fucking roof, even calling it a “house” was being a little generous.

You didn’t want to show this monstrosity of a gingerbread house to anyone let alone your boyfriend’s parents that you’d met like five minutes ago. You were a grown woman and this, this was sad. You were going to have to get creative.

After thinking for a few minutes you thought you might have a way to get around the traditional gingerbread house and got to work. You worked quickly, things finally coming together. You were half decorating with the candies, and half eating them. You didn’t need all of them anyway.

You ran out of red icing so when Tom wasn’t looking you snatched his unopened packet. You figured it was payback for not telling you what you were getting into.

You finished before all the boys and sat back to watch them, satisfied with your work. Tom was working on a quaint little setup. The roof was lined with little beads that looked like Christmas lights and the gingerbread people were building a snowman out of marshmallows (that had not been included in the kit what a fucking cheater) in front of the house. He was currently working on piping some icicles onto the roof. You had to admit, you were impressed.

Harry’s looked like a winter wonderland. His was completely covered in white icing and the gingerbread people were making snow angels on the front lawn. Paddy’s looked exactly like the picture on the box had and you were shocked. How had he memorized it and replicated it so precisely? Sam’s gingerbread house was color coordinated with all green and red candy. You wondered how long it had taken him to sort through all the decorations to do that. Finally, Harrison’s house looked like it was straight out of a lifestyle magazine. The front door had a wreath on it, he’d made a picket fence out of peppermints, and he’d even drawn out perfectly shaped snowflakes on the roof as decoration.

You sighed and smiled. You should have known Harrison’s house would be extra as fuck, like him. He caught your eye and smiled.

“Sizing up the competition?” he asked.

You shook your head. “Don’t need to.”

“Famous last words,” he warned and went back to his work.

You weren’t confident in your work whatsoever, but it was fun to talk shit.

On your other side Tom leaned back against the window dramatically, massaging his right hand. You took the opportunity to rest your head on his shoulder and admire his work.

“Looks good, babe,” you complimented and he grinned down at you.

“Thanks,”

Just then, Nicola popped her head into the kitchen, hand over her eyes. “Are you all ready?”

“Just about, Mum!” Harry called and began to switch the houses around, making the order random. He stopped when he got to yours. “Wow, Y/N, really...original.”

Everyone suddenly turned their attention to look at your creation. You had turned the house into a....murder scene. One of the gingerbread men was lying in a pool of red icing, aka blood, and the other one was standing above him with blood on his hands. You’d used the red icing to decorate the house as well, smearing it on the windows and walls. The gingerbread house looked like a total disaster, but on purpose.

“Holy shit,” Tom gasped beside you and you immediately regretted going the creative route. Maybe Tom’s parents wouldn’t think it was funny.

“Is it too much?” you fretted “I can change it!”

“Love, you’re a genius!” Tom laughed and kissed the top of your head.

You breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed back into Tom as the boys gaped at your house. Even if the Hollands were appalled, you’d impressed your boyfriend which was no easy task. Your art skills, or lack thereof, had come through for you which was a first.

“Why have we never thought of this before?” Sam asked his twin who just shook his head.

Once the houses were all set up in an order that pleased Harry he called his parents back into the kitchen. Nicola and Dom stepped back in, mugs of hot cocoa still in hand.

“These look fantastic you guys!” Nicola exclaimed, giving all the gingerbread houses a onceover.

You braced yourself, holding Tom’s hand as his parents made the rounds, looking closely at each one, whispering to each other. His family was taking this very seriously. They stopped when they got to yours, and you held your breath nervously.

“This is new,” Dom said.

“Never seen anything like it,” Nicola agreed.

You relaxed when they both chuckled at it before moving on to the next one. Even if yours didn’t compare to the more traditional ones, you were satisfied that they were amused by it.

Once every gingerbread house had been thoroughly scrutinized, Nicola and Dom retreated to the living room to discuss the decision.

“You smashed it, Y/N.” Harrison admitted and gave you a high five.

“Literally,” you agreed, looking at the crumbled remains of your house.

Everyone descended into light banter about whose house was better and Tom drew you close, wrapping an arm around your waist. You snuggled up to him, and went back to work on your hot chocolate. You listened to the boys talk and could still hear the soft Christmas music from the record player in the living room. You could stay like this forever. Here, with Tom and his family, bundled in his arms while snow fell outside. It was the nicest holiday you’d had in awhile and you couldn’t wait to spend Christmas with his family.

Nicola and Dom reentered the kitchen both smiling like children with a secret. Their energy was infectious and you began smiling too. You could see why the Hollands did this every year, you were having so much fun.

“After a heated debate,” Dom began, “we’ve come to a consensus.”

Everyone leaned forward expectantly. Tom’s parents paused for dramatic effect.

“Annnd,” Nicola said agonizingly slowly, “the winner is...”

“Out with it Mum!” Paddy exclaimed.

“The winner is the gingerbread house with the gingerbread men making snow angels!”

“YES!” Harry jumped up and threw his fists in the air. “Suck on that!”

Sam dragged a finger through the icing on Harry’s roof and licked it off in defiance. “Nobody likes a sore winner.”

“Nobody likes a sore loser,” Harry retaliated

“Alright, alright, let’s go put the star on the tree,” Nicola announced and everyone moved into the living room.

You stayed behind to clean up some of the mess on the table before joining them. Tom’s mom noticed you missing and came back to help you.

“We could’ve done this later,” she assured you,

“Oh, I just wanted to help.”

“I appreciate it, I’m not one to turn down help.” She smiled at you. “Which one was yours, Y/N?”

“Um, the death one.” You shifted awkwardly and Nicola laughed.

“We talked about picking that one,” she admitted “it was so creative and funny! But we thought one of the boys had done that one and we were actually trying to pick the one you had made so you could put the star on the tree this year.”

You were taken aback. “But, but I’m not family,” you protested.

“Neither is Harrison,” Nicola pointed out, “not by blood anyway, and he’s won probably around four times. And...” she hesitated “Tom’s never brought a girl home for Christmas before, so it must mean there’s something about you.” She smiled fondly. “If he loves you, then so do we.”

Your heart felt like it was going to explode right then and there. You actually had to hold back tears as you finished cleaning with Tom’s mom.

Afterwards, you joined everyone in the living room. Harry was standing on top of a chair they’d pulled from the dining table with the tree topper in hand.

“Wait!” Nicola called, running for her camera on the coffee table. “Let me get my camera ready!”

Harry rolled his eyes despite the fact that he was still beaming from his victory.

“There you are, love,” Tom whispered and snaked his arm around your waist. “Where’d you wander off to?”

“Oh nowhere,” you brushed it off cheekily and watched as Harry triumphantly stuck the glowing star on top of the Christmas tree. Everyone cheered then gasped as the star began to list to the left. It stopped before it fell, leaving it lopsided on the top of the tree.

“Excellent!” Dom exclaimed through laughter and applauded.

“It suits Harry perfectly,” Sam teased, receiving a shove from Harry as he made his way down from the chair.

“Okay, one quick picture of all the kids before dinner!” Nicola insisted and everyone immediately started whining. “I can wait all night!”

Grumbling, everyone assembled themselves in front of the tree as you watched on.

“You too, Y/N!” Nicola said waving you into frame.

You were surprised to be included in the picture, but did as you were told. You positioned yourself next to Tom and posed for the picture. You didn’t think you could smile any less than you were if you tried.

Once that was finished everyone made their way back into the kitchen for dinner, but Tom held you back by your hand. Once everyone was gone he leaned down and kissed you chastely on the lips.

“I’m really glad you’re here,” he said, nearly whispering.

There went that feeling in your heart again.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” you agreed and kissed him again in the soft white light of the Christmas tree.

Okay that was cheesy as fuck but it’s Christmas okay?? Also this was kind of inspired by the gingerbread house that I made last year which was also a murder scene lol. Ty for reading, I hope you liked it :) Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

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bella-ca · 5 years

Text

Bound: A TRR AU

Mireya has always known she was different. She just didn’t realize how much. Upon her 18th birthday she gets information that will forever change her life. The stuff of her nightmares is reality. The things that go bump in the night really do exist. It’s up to her and her family to fight these monsters. Her life will never be the same. What happens when she falls in love with one such being? Will she live up to her legacy or become what she hunts?

A/N: My muse kept telling me this story needs to be told. I love anything related to supernatural/horror beings. I decided to name my MC. the Y/N= your name format was a little too impersonal for me. This is a TRR love story. It is a slow burn. This is unbeta. All mistakes are mine. I hope you enjoy. Disclaimer: All characters belong to choices by Pixelberry. I’m just borrowing them. Same with the pics they are not mine.

Warnings: violence, cursing, murder, revenge, death, underage drinking. By reading you are acknowledging you are at least 18 years of age.

Word count: 1571

Masterlist

Chapter 3

7 years ago

Before you could scream they attack. Alex pushes you out of the way as they descend. You scream seeing the wolves bite Alex. You hear Josh scream as one attacks him. You reach for your dagger pulling it from the holster. One of the wolves tries to bite you and you lash out with the dagger stabbing it. It howls as the dagger tears into the flesh, the wound starting to smoke and burn. You stab it again and it retreats running away with a howl. You run to Alex and stab at the beast. You managed to get stab it once before you feel the other one grab you and throw you against the wall. Your head hits the concrete wall pain erupting from your skull. You feel dizzy you touch your head and see blood on your hand. You grab the dagger right before the beast comes at you again. You stab it and it howls. It takes off. The other one growls at you before following the others. Once they are gone, You look and see Josh laying next to you dead. The look of fear still in his face. “Josh!” You scream crawling to him cradling his hand in your head. “No Josh please!” you scream looking for your phone. He’s already gone. You hear moaning and look over and see Alex still alive and bleeding out from a wound to the stomach. “Alex!” you scream running over. You grab your phone seeing that it was smashed in the attack. “Shit!” you yell. You place your hand on Alex’s stomach to try to stop the bleeding. “Reya..” He says coughing up blood. “No Alex dont talk.” you tell him. Tears running down your face. You grab his phone and dial 911. You tell them where you are and wait for them to arrive. “Help!” you scream. “Someone help!” “Reya..” you hear again looking down. “Shhh..I'm here you tell him. “You're okay? He asks. “Yes Alex I’m okay.” “I…..I…” he tries to talk coughing up more blood. “No Alex..stay with me dammit. Don't you leave me!!” you tell him tears streaming down your face. “Reya, I have to tell you.” He says looking into your eyes. “I...I...have always loved you. You are everything to me...even….even if you don't love me back.” He tells you tears streaming down his face. “I...I..just had to tell you before I...I….” “No damn you No!! This is not goodbye Alex!” You tell him “You can't leave me!” “I...I..love you Reya.” You bend down and kiss him gently on the lips. You hear sirens in the distance. “I love you too Alex...please, don’t leave me.” He gives you one last smile before closing his eyes forever.

You are in a daze as the police and ambulance find you in the alleyway. You can hear them asking you questions, but their sounds far away. All you can see is Alex and Josh dead in your mind. Alex confessing his love for you and closing his eyes. You don't even notice the paramedics talking to you. “She’s in shock.” You hear one of them say. Then the voices blur once again. You begin to feel dizzy unable to catch yourself. Then darkness.

***********************

You wake up in the hospital with your mom, dad, and sister at your side? “Mireya.” your mom says grabbing your hand. “Alex, Josh...where?” you start to say, then the events of the night flash thru your mind. You try to get up. Your head pounding. “No! Alex Josh!” You cry looking at your mom as you sob. “I’m so sorry Reya.,” your father tells you pulling you into a hug. “No!” You scream crying. You fight to get out of bed. “No!..I need to see them!” you say trying to get out of the hospital bed. “I’m sorry mija. They are gone. You need to take care of yourself.” your father tells you. “No!...It’s all my fault…” you tell them. “They died protecting me! It’s all my fault.” You break down in your mother's arms until exhaustion takes over and you cry yourself to sleep.

***********************

“Is she okay? Liam asks. “Yes she is fine. Her father gave her a silver dagger. She fought and wounded Nicolas and the women and they ran off.” Drake tells him. “I tried to warn her, but she didn’t listen.” He says rubbing his forehead. “You weren't supposed to warn her Drake. You weren't supposed to be seen.” Liam glares at him. Drake looks away rubbing his neck. “What of Nicolas and the women?” Liam asks. “I took care of the women. They will no longer be a problem, but Nicolas fled. I tracked him, but he hid himself well.” “He will be a problem.” Liam says taking a drink of scotch. “Keep looking. He needs to be stopped.” Liam tells Drake. Drake nods. “Does she know what she is?” Liam asks Drake. “I don’t think so.” She has not left her home since the funerals. Liam nods. “Keep me informed Drake. “Once she knows her legacy she could become a problem for us.” “Will do” Drake tells Liam before heading out. Liam sighs. He had heard of the prophecy, the one who would put an end to all of his kind. He never thought it would be a reality. The more he hears about this woman and her heightened abilities, the more he believes that the prophecy is true. She would either destroy or unite his kind for the better good. He had yet to meet her or see her, for fear he might imprint. He has heard stories of how beautiful this woman was and how one look would make him want to protect and even love her. Drake already broke protocol by warning her of the attack. He was supposed to watch her and not reveal himself to her, but he couldn’t help himself around her. If his greatest warrior couldn’t resist her, then Liam knew he had to be strong. There might be a chance that he would have to kill this woman himself in order to save his kind. He needed to be the one strong enough to save his people. All he can do is hope she would understand and that it wouldn’t come to that. He paces back and forth. He needs to run. He waits until dark and then shifts to his wolf form. He runs thru the forest his mind on this woman and the prophecy that was foretold.

***********************

It's been two weeks since Alex and Josh’s funeral. You told the police everything you knew and they looked at you like you were crazy. They said it was probably wild wolves that attacked you but you knew better. The police confiscated your fake ID and wrote you a ticket. They did not give you jail time due to the deaths of your friends and left it up to your parents on how to punish you. Your parents put you under house arrest. You took a leave of absence from your job. You spent your days locked in your room staring at photos of your two best friends. You spent most of your time on the computer researching everything you could on werewolves. Your parents and sister did their best to console you but it was no use. You had managed to get ahold of a bottle of liquor from your parents stash and drank it to numb the pain. Your father had finally had enough and dragged you to the basement when your sister and mom were away for a weekend. “Mireya, we need to talk. This had to stop.” He tells you “Dad, I know but they were my best friends. They died because of me.” you tell him tears falling from your eyes. Your father sighed giving you a hug. “I wanted to talk to you about the attack.” “What about it? “You asked him “I believe you.” He says looking straight into your eyes. “What do you mean?” You ask him. “I believe you about the werewolves.” He tells you. “You...you do?” You ask. “Why do you think I gave you that specific dagger?” He asks you. “It was pure silver. Why do you think the werewolves ran away. Silver is one of the few things that can harm them.” You eyes grew wide taking in your father’s words. “He walks over to a statue in the corner of the room. He reaches behind it and pushes a button you had no idea was there. The wall slides open revealing an array of pure silver weapons from knives to guns, silver bullets and the like. You see a row of books on one side with the name Lycanthrope. You walk over to the hidden room. “What is all this? You ask your father. “Well for starters, It has to do with my job.” He tells you. You look at him surprised. “I am a bodyguard yes, but not the kind you think. I protect people...from werewolves. We come from a long line of hunters. Werewolf hunters.” You look at your father speechless. Your father looks at you with a grin. “I have been training you since you were sixteen for this moment. It’s time you knew about the family business.”

Chapter 4

Thank you for reading!! Reblogging and comments are appreciated. It will keep me motivated to write 💜💜

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Bound Taglist:

@bobasheebaby @itsstillnotwhatyouthink @hopefulmoonobject @alj4890 @super-secret-fandom-blog @thequeenofcronuts @indiacater @katurrade @furiousherringoperatortoad

#choices #king liam royal romance #the royal romance #trr #trr fanfic #trr liam #trr mc #trrau #choices trr #werewolves

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itsawinwinthing · 6 years

Text

Cell Block Tango - Sebastian Stan (Ch. 5)

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x Original Female Character

Word count: 1743

A/N: more chapters coming asap

Warnings: mild angst ____________________________________________________________________

May 4th, 2014

Four years, four years have flown by in the blink of an eye and I find myself drifting off, wondering how in the hell did I manage to get here. It's finally graduation day, and out of the relatively small amount of acting graduates today, I have been dealt the hand of a lifetime. I know, I know, I keep talking about this opportunity I have been given, but come on, would you be able to contain yourself if you were walking in my shoes?

"Rachel! Come on, we're going to miss the entire ceremony at the rate you're going!" I shout down the hallway, my royal purple gown draped over my arm, as I stared at the cap that I held between my hands.

"I'm ready," She exclaims, drawing my attention to her.

"You look beautiful Rach," I smile, emotions flooding my body.

"Don't you start crying on me now," She giggled, clearly just as emotional as I am, "You don't look too bad yourself Deitrich," She grinned as we ushered ourselves out the door in a hot hurry.

"Are Sebastian and Chris going to sit with your parents?" Rach asked curiously, pulling on my arm cheekily.

"Are you kidding me! No way, that would be the most awkward thing ever if I wasn't there to introduce them. No, they're sitting somewhere else. That's if they actually show up," I reply as we funnel through the stadium's access road when the sunlight and the cheers of a packed stadium erupt into a glorious scene.

"Can you believe it! We did it, Nicola," She grinned excitedly from ear to ear. We held hands as we circled the stadium, the people cheering only growing louder as the graduate filled the stadium.

It wasn't like a high school graduation, the speech given by the dean was brief yet meaningful, and we, the students, stood in line waiting for our names to be called and retrieve our degrees. My heart was racing as I scanned the stadium, somewhere in this massive crowd Sebastian and Chris are sitting, probably looking for me, and trying not to draw attention to themselves.

I half listened to what the dean was saying as my mind drifted to these two men who literally came up out These amazing human beings chose me and have showered me with love since the moment I met the two of them. My attention was once again returned to reality when Rachel excitedly began to pull on my arm and I realized they were starting to call off names.

3RD PERSON P.O.V

The two men walked up to the stadium, glancing around at the scene as thousands of people flooded in through the stadium gates like schools of fish. It had already been an interesting morning for the duo, they spent most of their time trying to decide whether or not they were going to try and lay low and wear something that hides their identities from other people or if they were going to dress a little nicer.

Surprisingly, the duo decided to take the not so discrete route and be 100% present for Nicola and not hiding under a baseball cap. The two looked dashing in there denim jeans and button-ups as they approached the ticket booth to claim the tickets Nicola had left for them.

"Hi, we had two tickets left for us by a student, her names Nicola Deitrich," Sebastian stated to the young woman sitting behind the glass ticket window as the two rested their sunglasses on top of their heads. When she looked up at the two men her eyes grew as wide as saucers, her mouth falling slightly ajar.

"You're-you're. . ." She stuttered out her cheeks turning intensely red.

"Yes, yes we're us," Chris said softly, raising his finger to his lips, signaling to her to be as discrete as she possibly could.

"You guys are amazing, I love your films," She smiled idiotically.

"Thank you very much . . . Fernanda," Sebastian said kindly as he read the name tag pinned to her shirt, causing her cheeks to flush an even deeper shade of red.

She glanced around the sides of them before sliding them their tickets, and slip of paper. The two men stared at the sheet of paper until she returned her attention to them and motioned for them to sign it with a please at the end. They, of course, signed the note for her giving her a wink before they disappeared around the booth.

They shuffled through the people, flicking their sunglasses back on as they searched for their seats with a high level of determination. Ironically, the two were seated at the front on the railing on the second level with just two seats side-by-side, it was a disabled peoples area, and it allowed just the two of them to sit with a certain level of privacy, and not detour the people from the graduation.

As the men settled into their seats the music began to play and people began to appear from the other end of the stadium. Nicola suddenly came into view and Sebastian's eyes were helplessly glued to her. People's loud cheers continued to grow in volume as more students filed into the stadium.

"Seb look! There she is!" Chris shouted pointing off into the distance, her vibrantly blonde hair glistening in the sun, you couldn't mistake her for anyone else, no one was that blonde.

. . .

NICOLA's P.O.V

"Nicola. Elaine. Deitrich." The dean's voice echoed over the speakers as Rachel pushed me forward and the crowd began to clap.

Then the most outrageous sound I had ever heard caught my attention from the right side of the stadium. I looked up to see Chris and Sebastian screaming as loud as they could, jumping up and down, causing one hell of a scene.

They came! They really came! A massive smile spread across my face as I laughed, raising both hands to wave, such a pure state of joy consuming me as I reached the table. Meconis was there to hug me warmly as I shook the dean's hand and retrieved my degree.

. . .

"Oh honey, we are so proud of you," My mother cooed, wrapping me in her arms, as my dad patted me on the back, the field was now full of the graduates and their attendees.

"You've done a great job kid," My dad smiles as my mom releases me from her strong embrace.

"Nicola!" I heard from behind, turning around in time to see Sebastian and Chris working their way through the ground.

"Guys!" I exclaimed cheerfully, walking to them and jumping into their arms as they both held onto me with resounding laughs.

"Nicola you did it!" Chris said happily shaking my shoulders slightly.

"Sorry it took us so long to get to you, there were a few people along the way who spotted us and wanted pictures," Sebastian said bashfully gripping the back of his neck.

"No worries, I'm just so glad you guys actually came," I smiled.

"Of course," Chris gawked.

"We wouldn't miss it for the world!" Sebastian retorted jovially.

"Care to introduce us, honey?" I hear my fathers voice from beside me. For whatever reason, a massive amount of nerves rose up within as I swallowed the lump forming in my throat.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Deitrich I'm-," Sebastian began before my mother cut them off.

"We know who you are gentlemen," She says softly.

"Nice to meet you," My father said shaking their hands as they both took turns giving my mother a hug.

"Nice to meet you as well," Sebastian and Chris said in unison. For a brief moment, there was an awkward silence before my mother spoke up.

"We'll see you back at your apartment sweetie," She said sweetly, bidding farewell the boys before pulling my dad away with her. I could tell that she felt like she was intruding so she made an executive decision.

"I'm so sorry, that was terribly awkward. I didn't even think to make the connection that you were going to meet my parents," I started feeling like I had just thrown them in the lion's den.

"Don't sweat it, we've dealt with our fair share of awkward experiences," Chris chuckles.

"Besides, they seem like really kind people," Sebastian chimes in.

"They really are, they're the best," I reply.

"Let's get outta her shall we?" Sebastian suggests looking around, as the stadium field just continued to become more and more packed.

As the three of us maneuvered our way out of the stadium Chris has us stop at the entrance to the field, gushing about how we needed to capture the memory. Chris tossed his phone to Sebastian as we stood with the Yankee Stadium sign in the background, we did a few smiling ones until Chris insisted we do a funny one.

So he knelt down and busted a move that looked as if he was pulling some sort of Captain America move throwing his shield. I busted up laughing before I pulled myself together and posed for the ridiculous shot.

Chris quickly traded spots with Sebastian as he weaved his arm around my waste for the photo. He and I also took a few smile shots before we both busted a few off the most ridiculous shots in the history of mankind, causing Chris to laugh so hard his hand rested against his chest as he tried to breath.

Sebastian then turned back to me, smiling down at me just staring into my eyes as he removed my cap from my head, messing my hair up a little. He then gently tucked my hair behind my ear as he leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on my cheek before whispering to me.

"Congratulations Nicola," He said softly, pulling away with that same soft smile on his lips. Suddenly that same weird heat I felt yesterday began to find it's home once more in my chest. The way my name rolled off his lips, made me, for the first time in my life, like the way it sounds.

Ohhhh boy.

chapter 6

#sebastian stan #chris evans #nyu #marvel #new york

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monster-mum · 6 years

Text

Private time and a Kilt-tastrophy

Weddings are generally great. Unless you know a load of grumpy people who are not fun, then weddings are not great for you. These happy occasions can bring out lots of different emotions. From tears of joy for the hopefully happy couple, to tears of sadness for those who aren’t able to be there on the day. Laughter. Is laughter an emotion? For the purpose of this sentence it is. There’s fear. That moment when you are barefoot dancing and drunk cousin Bob starts bustin’ out some fierce moves right next to your poor unprotected, vulnerable feet. Then there’s anger. We’ve all been there. You’ve been stood in the queue for a slice of the fancy pants wedding cake for what seems like a year. You are almost there when all of a sudden Susan from the office grabs the perfect slice you have been eyeing up! Susan! Why? The pain is real my friends. As I said weddings are emotional. The most emotional wedding I have been to was my brother’s wedding last Friday. Chris pointed out that I was more emotional at my little brother’s wedding than at our wedding. Totes awks! Generally, I am not a crier, but I was a sobbing mess during the ceremony. It was so wonderful to see my brother so happy.

My brother and his husband Jeremy’s wedding was possibly the most beautiful wedding I have ever been to. And I have been to some pretty amazing weddings. The setting was perfect with the weather and company following suit. It very much felt like everything went to plan perfectly.

The day began like many others with me waking up and panicking “Shit! I’m running late!” Only to discover it was five am. By that point I was so excited and nervous that I couldn’t sleep so I got up and started getting stuff ready for the big day. Showers were had by all and then shortly after breakfast myself, Steven and Lyla were whisked away over to the hotel where the rest of the wedding party were staying. As we entered the hotel we were met by my little big brother. As I saw him walk into the reception area from the bar I flashed back to when he was little. So much time had passed since we were kids. We used to hang out all the time as kids and as teenagers. I can remember worrying that he would look back and just remember his school and college books. So I would take him everywhere with me. I wanted to make sure he had some fun times. I remembered all the times I had stuck up for him. The fights I had been in to protect him and keep him safe. Now a grown man on his wedding day he no longer needed his big sister. We both live such separate lives now with our own friends. It had been true for some time. Standing there in the hotel reception it hit me all of a sudden how much time had passed. How our lives had changed and moved on.

We headed upstairs to where all the beautifying was happening. I walked into Jeremy’s best man’s ginormous bedroom to find a hair salon fully equipped with one of Andrew’s best friends and fellow groom’s maid Kat sipping Prosecco on the bed. I’ve known Kat for a few years now and she is someone who is infectious. Not in a leprosy kind of way but in a spreading laughter and happiness way. Kat enters a room and immediately everyone’s spirits lift. As I sat down on the bed Rob entered. My brother’s best man. I only met Rob recently but he is such a funny, grounded person who is great at putting people at ease and making them feel comfortable. I was in good company.

Set scene: Kat and Rob are chatting away with me with their groom’s maid and best man glasses in hand. I am feeling jealous as my groom’s maid glass is in my Dad’s car. At my hotel. My Dad, with his car keys, was in this very hotel. Not ideal.

Rob: “Hey Nicola! Where’s your drink?”

Me: “I don’t have one yet.”

Rob: “Well I’ll get you one. What do you want? Where’s your glass?”

Me: “It’s in my Dad’s car. At my hotel. Hopefully he’ll bring it soon.”

Rob: “Okay! I’ll find you one to use.”

I watch him and Kat peruse the area looking for a glass for me and then at exactly the same moment all three of our eyes fall upon a glass sat on the side. This was a glass the same as ours except it had something else written on it.

Rob: Reaching down to pick up the glass “Just use this one.”

Me: “Whose is it?”

Rob slowly turns it around and in cursive gold letters we all gaze upon the one glass we probably shouldn’t use. As we looked at the beautifully written “Groom” on the glass. We all paused to think for a second. From what I can gather we all came to the same conclusion. Andrew doesn’t drink alcohol. He’ll probably just have a can of coke.

Rob: “It’s Andrew’s he won’t mind. He’s not using it.”

I shrug and accept my brother’s groom glass from his best man.

Rob: “He won’t even notice it’s missing. It’s fine.”

We all sit and chat until it’s my turn to get my hair done.

Ten minutes into the process and Andrew walks in. He heads straight over to where his glass was. He has a quick hunt round and then…

Andrew: “Where’s my glass?”

Uh oh.

It’s okay. Rob would never tell on me. We wedding party members and a strong bond of trust. We have got each other’s backs.

Barely a breath was taken when…

Rob: “Nicola’s using it.”

What! Snitch!

Where is the comradery Rob! Jeez.

Andrew: “Why are you using my glass?”

Me: “Rob gave it to me.”

Ha! Take that Rob.

Andrew promptly found me a non-groom glass and poured my drink into it. My groom’s maid glass appeared shortly before we left for the wedding.

The rest of the morning was spent primping and preening. About forty minutes before we were about to leave for the wedding I look out of the window in my parent’s room to see Andrew, still in his normal clothes playing peek-a-boo with Steven and Lyla.

Me: “Andrew, your wedding is in just over an hour. Maybe you should go get ready?”

Andrew just looks at me and just when I think he’s gone to get ready I see his head appear over the balcony divide and the kids fall over themselves laughing.

Shortly afterwards the majority of the wedding party headed downstairs to wait for the bus. The wedding party minus Andrew, Jeremy and my Dad (Andrew needed help with his kilt. I referred to it as a kilt-tastrophy).

As we’re waiting for the coach to arrive we all hear a wee voice shout “there’s the bus.”

Like mindless sheep we follow the voice over the busy road to a layby. Only for me to discover that Steven was in fact the one to shout about the bus and he was pointing at a normal bus stop. So there we all are, wedding party and guests all stood in our glamourous finery at a bog standard bus stop. As we all stood awaiting the bus we watch as a very smart looking blue double decker coach pulls up, on the other side of the busy road, outside of the hotel we all just walked from.

Thanks Steven! Jeez my kids.

So all of us trot back over in a long line to the hotel and climb aboard the super nice coach.

As we pull up to the spectacular location it dawns on me that there is a bit of a walk and I am wearing heels that were designed to punish feet. As each step brings me closer to where the ceremony is I start to feel more and more pain. My feet are being crushed. I begin to worry for the health of my feet. Blisters are already out and are causing me quite a bit of discomfort. Super best man Rob has already magically produced plasters but the shoes are disintegrating them. The pain and fear become real as I realise that I have to get through the ceremony with my feet in absolute agony.

As we wait for the wedding to start I head in to the holding pen where all the guests are waiting. I lay on the floor and put my feet up on the window sill. I need to get blood out of my feet to make them smaller! What? It’s a thing. With the support of Diana, one of Jeremy’s best friends and groom’s maids I lay down on the floor praying to whichever God could hear me that I would make it through the ceremony.

As the guests settle themselves in and the music begins I am the first one in and I am hoping that my smile does not show the pain I am feeling. While I enter the room my brain is filled with images of me falling arse over tit. I decided if that happened I would just play dead until the ceremony was over and everyone left the room.

Timing is very important when walking down the aisle. We had practiced the day before and as I was the first one in I was to set the pace. I think we can all gather that I could not go particularly fast due to the Chinese foot binding I was enduring. Slow and easy won the race.

The ceremony was perfect. I cried my eyes out and as I looked around the beautiful ornate room I noticed that there was a whole lot of synchronised crying going on amongst the guests too.

As the ceremony ended and the officiant announced them husband and husband more crying occurred with cheers and whooping as we all celebrated their marriage. We stood for photos. They posed for photos. I tried not to fall down.

Or cry out loud.

There are photos of me on the wedding day where you can see the pain on my face. I could not wait to get the hellish shoes off of my feet! Once the bubbles were blown and cheers were shouted I collapsed on the stairs and attempted to remove the torturous things. As I pulled my poor foot out it was noticeable that it had been crushed. I think a few guests may have physically recoiled from me as my poor deformed feet were laid bare.

Flat shoes were dug out of the buggy and all became right with the world. That was until Lyla decided that the post ceremony photos were the best possible time to have a complete screaming meltdown. I have never seen Chris scoop up Lyla and flee a place so quickly in my life.

Tantrum dealt with the rest of the afternoon went really well. It was great fun with some brilliant and hilarious speeches. The best men and the matrons of honour did a fantastic job with their speeches. It was so much fun.

The meal was delicious and drinks were flowing. Conversation was happening at every table. It amazed me how just two people could bring so many different people together from different lives and backgrounds and they all have a great time.

As the light faded and the starlit dance floor sparkled people kicked off their shoes and danced the night away. Lyla held court in the centre as she threw herself into a full on one-woman headbanging mosh pit. She was quite the sight in her long white dress, sparkling belt and tiara while throwing herself around the dance floor.

After a few songs I decided to go and find Chris and see how he was getting on. He was on child duty and was doing an amazing job.

I found him chatting in the garden with Kat and her friend Sarah.

I joined in the conversation. It didn’t take long for me to find out that half an hour earlier Chris, Steven and Sarah had been in the pagoda chatting when Steven requested Chris leave and give him and Sarah some “private time.” As soon as Chris had gone Steven had bent down, picked up a dead flower and held it out to Sarah declaring “look what we are doing to the world!” He then went on into what can only be described as a monologue about heaven and hell.

Poor Sarah!

As me and Chris heard this story from Sarah we glanced at each other and I like to think we both came to the same conclusion.

It was time to include a warning/disclaimer on the kids. Something along the lines of a recording that would kick in and say something like:

“Hi I’m Steven. I am a happy, chatty kind of guy but I like to say random stuff that’ll leave you speechless and uncomfortable. Disclaimer: As Steven’s parents we cannot be held responsible for Steven’s actions or words.”

And also:

“Hi I’m Lyla. I am lovely and sweet until I’m not. It’s probably best for you to just be constantly on your guard for a change in my mood. Disclaimer: As Lyla’s parents we cannot be held responsible for Lyla’s actions or words”

I’m pretty sure the only disclaimer we would need for Lachlan would be a warning for dribbles and potential sick.

Overall the day was a huge success. As much of a success as it can be when there are children involved and your feet have become crippled.

I had a wonderful time.

It is the first same sex wedding I have been to. And do you know what I thought of as I saw two men, one of them my brother, stood kissing each other and holding hands as they were announced as husband and husband? Wow, they are so in love. They are so happy. I am so glad they found each other. Not everyone is that lucky in life to find the other half of their soul. I fail to understand what gender has to do with love. Seeing and hearing the joy and love that was surrounding my little brother and my new little brother-in-law was overwhelming and just beautiful. I truly hope they felt every minute of the love and support that enveloped them both that day because they deserve it. They really do. As do we all, sexuality aside. We all deserve happiness and the love and support of others in finding the other half of ourselves.

#wedding #lgbt #lgbtqa #lgbtwedding #mummyblogger #parentblogger #mylife #funny #humour #loveislove

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sinceileftyoublog · 4 years

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Prong Interview: Quality Control

Prong (from left to right: drummer Aaron Rossi, vocalist/guitarist Tommy Victor, bassist/backing vocalist Jason Christopher); Photo by Tim Tronckoe

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Prong’s not a one-hit wonder--not because they have more than one hit, but because despite its appearance on a Beavis and Butthead episode, you can’t really call “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck” a hit. It doesn’t even have its own Wikipedia page. And as much as the band’s sole consistent member is concerned with their lack of hits, he--and they--are better than that.

Save for a five year period of inactivity, the Tommy Victor-helmed metal band has been making music for over thirty years, with some of its most inspired material coming in the 2010′s. The inspired Carved Into Stone and Zero Days were career highlights, seeing the band combine the heavy hooks and progressive riffs they’ve always been known for. (Before the release of those records, Victor was devoting time to Ministry, with whom he likely had a falling out, based on his words about frontman Al Jourgensen, and he’s also still the guitarist of Danzig) And now, the band has offered a five-song EP, released on the label that’s represented them the better part of the past decade, Steamhammer, to whet the appetite of fans for their next release, whenever it may come. Age of Defiance contains two new songs and three live recordings with the current lineup of drummer Aaron Rossi and bassist/backing vocalist Jason Christopher. Its three live recordings are not from Zero Days, let alone from this past decade. Instead, they included “Another Worldly Device” and “Cut-Rate” from their 25-year-old breakout Cleansing as well as the title track to its follow-up, Rude Awakening.

Speaking to Victor over the phone late last year, it’s clear he’s constantly reflecting on his entire career, where both Prong and the metal and music world were then and are now. On paper, his general observations may come across as “ok boomer” dismissiveness, but I can tell you from his tone that he legitimately ponders and is curious about his place. The conversation eventually turned into me expressing generalized, likely unearned pearls of wisdom about the state of things, and him playing the weary cynic. The whole time, it was enjoyable and illuminating.

Read the Q+A, edited for length and clarity, below.

Since I Left You: You released the Age of Defiance to tide fans over. What’s the history of the two studio recordings on it?

Tommy Victor: That’s a good question. [In 2018], in January, I came off a tour and wrote a whole bunch of songs. I think 11 I fully demoed in crappy home recordings. That was gonna be for a full-length record. We were trying to expand the life of Zero Days, so we put out the “Blood Out Of Stone” video and single. We had that in the works and thought we shouldn’t put out another album for a while. People tend to just listen to a couple songs anyhow. I thought a lot of songs off of Zero Days got ignored or overlooked. And we had put out a series of long players over a good period of time, so an EP sounded like a good idea. I just picked one song [from the demos, “Age of Defiance”], and thought the quality control has really been upped, because out of the 11 songs that were demoed, I was only picking one song out of this to really focus on. I liked that idea, so we recorded that one. Then I wrote a brand spanking new song specifically for the EP once it was decided just to do two songs, and that was “End of Sanity”. Completely new for this. I think the other songs are gonna go in the trash pile.

SILY: So that’s why you chose “Age of Defiance” to represent this release?

TV: Right.

SILY: “The End Of Sanity” you describe as a crossover track. It’s pretty catchy but still really heavy.

TV: Good. I always worry about that.

SILY: You still worry about how your music is gonna be received?

TV: Oh, absolutely. I’m an artist, but I’m not that much of an artist. I’m still insecure about a lot of the stuff. I do the best I can. That song, too, to go into the depths of how I come up with something like that. Apart from the demos, I recorded a bunch of riffs on my phone, whether on the road or hanging around. I spent the day going through all of them. I was like, “This one’s pretty cool.” I downloaded it off my phone and put it on the computer. Apparently, it was recorded during a Danzig tour. I rearranged it and came up with something completely different. There’s a lot of work that goes behind this. Then I added the other riffs on the spot. But I try to have a lot of quality control and effort put into this. And the lyrics are a whole other thing. I like to have the opportunity to do two songs. I don’t have this huge chore or task of doing 14 songs. This is great! I’d love this to continue, to put out a couple songs here and there. It’s been a lot of work but a lot less of a headache.

SILY: It’s the same work, but put into less songs.

TV: Yeah!

SILY: What would prevent you from doing that? The label release cycles?

TV: I’m confused about their whole release cycle. I don’t really know what their strategies are. Because I don’t know that, I think they’ve gotten the wrong idea that I’ve criticized them about it. I’m not; they’ve done a fantastic job with Prong. It’s just that I’m confused about how they decide what has to be done. I don’t really know. I know he told me this is gonna carry through this year, but we’ll see what happens.

SILY: From an artistic standpoint, coming out with a whole album as opposed to releasing one-off songs is different, but from the perspective of keeping people interested, people are used to these short bursts.

TV: I guess they are. Our label is an old-fashioned heavy metal label, which may sound wrong, but they have the metal integrity of full-length albums and vinyl. They don’t really care too much about what the pop world is doing. But I know R&B artists team up with other people for a constant barrage of singles. I don’t listen to those pop playlists, but I know billions of people do. It’s what people listen to these days, when you go to the gym. Whoever with whoever. These singles that come out.

You can make money from Spotify if you generate the type of digital-only releases these artists are doing. It’s a mythos to say nobody’s making money from Spotify. Yeah, metal bands are not, because nobody listens to metal. But in the wide scope of things, 15 million plays in a day, you’re making a good chunk of change. And that’s just on Spotify.

SILY: It’s also being counted towards the charts.

TV: Yeah, it’s Gold now. It’s ridiculous. Nobody sells 500,000 copies of a record anymore. There’s no place to buy records!

SILY: No big places.

TV: Yeah.

SILY: When I heard that this release was going to be two never-heard-before studio recordings and three live cuts, I expected the live cuts to be three recently released Prong songs. But there’s one from 10 years ago and two from the early 90′s. Why these songs?

TV: Well, it’s the 25th anniversary of Cleansing. As far as why “Another Worldly Device” and “Cut-Rate”, I don’t know. We could have done “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck”. And I think “Rude Awakening” is one of those Prong songs that’s been overlooked a little bit, and it shows a side of Prong where people are like, “That’s a really good song!” but they don’t really get it. We rolled the dice with that one, sort of.

SILY: Do you play that one a touch slower live?

TV: Probably. Alexei [Rodriguez] would play fast, and Ted [Parsons] would play it fast. We’re probably a little slower now. It moves up and down. Sometimes, we’re trying to get the hell out of there at night.

SILY: When were these recorded?

TV: Several years ago. 2014 at the earliest, maybe 2015. I should know that.

SILY: Were they from different shows?

TV: No. The whole session was different shows, but I think those were all from Berlin.

SILY: What’s the story behind the album art?

TV: I’ve been dabbling with painting. I sent a bunch of my art to the art director, and this is what he came up with. I was like, “Wow, this is awesome!” I had done one piece which was my idea for the cover, which was nothing really that great, just a black canvas and sort of distorted Prong logo in red and that kind of lettering. He just went full force with [the image I gave him] and came up with the rest of it. I really like the color scheme--it was something really different. He really got it, he really nailed it. Nicolas Fritz is this guy’s name. He’s from Steamhammer. Normally, we haven’t gone with the guy from the label, but I thought, “I’m gonna give it a shot. I’m gonna start with something and send it to him and see if he can manipulate it.” He went in a totally different direction, and I really liked what he was doing.

SILY: What else is upcoming for Prong?

TV: More touring. There’s the European tour. We’re trying to get down to South America. If the Foo Fighters want us to go out with them in America, I’ll take that tour. Other than that, I don’t know what we’re gonna do. Three tours [this year] would be good.

SILY: Have you played the two new songs live yet?

TV: Good question. We have not! We were planning to. We just got off a tour; we were just out with Agnostic Front. Based on the shortness of our set time, we decided it wouldn’t be a good idea to be interfering with the show by playing new songs.

SILY: Have you practiced them a bunch?

TV: No. We need to start. We’re gonna do them on the next tour.

SILY: How was your show at Reggie’s?

TV: I think we were competing with someone of major significance playing elsewhere that night. I’ve never been to that venue before. We played a lot of places that normally we wouldn’t have played or never heard of.

SILY: In terms of metal, Queensryche was playing that night, but I don’t know who else. You never know why people don’t come out.

TV: It wasn’t a disaster, but somebody else of significance definitely played that night. I think it was just right after a festival.

SILY: Riot Fest.

TV: Riot Fest was that weekend.

SILY: Do you tend to play festivals at all?

TV: We try to. We try to get on ‘em. In Europe, we do. In America, for some reason, we’re bypassed. I do know the reasons, but I’m not gonna share that with you. In Europe, we do a lot of festivals.

SILY: I imagine Riot Fest would be receptive to a band like you. They’re not a metal festival and call themselves a punk festival, but they have metal. Slayer just headlined it.

TV: I don’t know what dictates these things. When we’re asked, we’ll do it. But right now, to beat down doors to get on these things, fly in, and make no money isn’t really that interesting to me.

SILY: You’d rather go on a tour where people are gonna come to your shows, even if small.

TV: I gotta keep an eye on finances. We’re not a bunch of kids excited to do things for nothing. I’m not gonna wind up broke.

SILY: Is there anything you’ve been listening to, reading, or watching lately that’s caught your attention?

TV: I’m always watching stuff these days. Right now, I’m watching Rebellion. It’s about the Easter Uprising. Good show. I watched El Camino. It was good; I wasn’t blown away by it.

Now, you’re really gonna get another side of me. We were dying to see this movie, and it did not disappoint, because the TV show was unbelievable: Downton Abbey. That was amazing.

As far as listening, I go back and forth. I listen to anything from Interpol to Death From Above 1979 to old Jeff Beck Group stuff. I went through a whole big jazz period, Ornette Coleman and Miles Davis. I’m really into musical theater, too. I was listening to the Rent soundtrack on the road. [laughs] Like, a lot!

SILY: Do your other band mates share your tastes?

TV: No one listens to anything publicly anymore. It’s just headphones. Everyone’s so isolated. Years ago, we’d jointly listen to stuff, complain, throw CDs out the window of the van. There’s no camaraderie anymore. Everyone’s on their own little agenda in their own heads.

SILY: I imagine that’s both good and bad.

TV: Uh...I don’t know. People are more intolerant of one another these days.

SILY: So they keep to themselves.

TV: They keep to themselves. I’m better off that way because I listen to podcasts that other people will definitely not listen to. There’s a lot of stupid shit out there, so that’s really what goes down. As far as music, though, it goes all over the place. Doom metal, some of it’s good, but I don’t pay that much attention to it.

SILY: There are so many different sub-genres of it.

TV: I was just talking about that to someone the other day. It’s disgusting. I don’t like that. Their audiences are too divided. It’s really a sad shame that it’s like that. It’s just the way it is. Doom metal people. People who only listen to hatecore bands or deathcore. Even industrial has a million different sub-genres.

SILY: It’s cool to take things in different directions but bad to be insular about it.

TV: Digital technology did this. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry can make his own record and put it up on Spotify. There are 30,000 releases a week or something now.

SILY: The good music’s out there, it’s just harder to find.

TV: Everything’s algorithmically done. The new Prong single, “End Of Sanity” is out, and automatically, unless you’ve somehow gotten in touch with the programmers, after the first week, it’s gonna get bumped down on some of the playlists. It just starts dwindling down, and your plays after a week have already gone down. It’s disappeared. Prong has the luxury of being a luxury band with a song that gets played on some of the other playlists, so we stay up there, but if it wasn’t for that, we’d be in the doldrums, that’s for sure.

SILY: I guess you gotta be thankful for that.

TV: I’m thankful for that. There could be more songs of that nature, but they seem to be concentrating on the one hit and that’s it. There’s Metallica, Godsmack, and a bunch of other bands. Rob Zombie, Tool, and everyone else suffers.

SILY: Or it becomes a token. You get these execs going, “Let’s make a diverse playlist, let’s put one metal song in there.” Who’s it gonna be? The most popular band.

TV: Oh, yeah.

SILY: Who do you consider your peers?

TV: That’s a really good question. I don’t really consider anybody. I think about that all the time. Not in a pompous fashion, but we just stand alone. A lot of people don’t get it or don’t like it; it is what it is. We’re not part of genre groups. It doesn’t fit into anything. The band we thought we were closest to--and we’re not--was Helmet, because we just toured with them a couple years ago. It was a great tour, and there’s a huge difference between both bands.

SILY: It’s funny you say that--in preparation for this interview, I was listening to an old song of yours on YouTube, and it auto-played into Helmet.

TV: Yeah. It’s the closest thing, but there’s a huge difference between the bands. There’s nobody that’s in the Prong realm. It’s completely on its own.

SILY: Do you like that?

TV: No, I do not like that. It’s out of my own choosing, that’s for sure.

SILY: You’d rather have a frame of reference or grouped contextually with other bands?

TV: It would help marketing-wise and popularity-wise, getting on tours, package deals, festivals, etc. It would have helped tremendously. But being this weird anomaly that stands outside the pack, it’s not helpful when you’re trying to get packages to tour with, and being on playlists, the way things are now, with everything so filed and separated. A band like Yes, years ago--I guess Genesis was somewhat similar--but they were popular. They didn’t fit in with anybody. Neither did Jethro Tull. To me, that’s progressive rock. Now, forget it. Especially in metal. It’s just ridiculous. It’s really bad.

SILY: At least you have the artistic integrity.

TV: I don’t even have that. I try the best I can. I don’t put out any old garbage. I try to have quality control. I’ve always been like that. When I was a kid, I had to study extra for tests. I can’t slam-dunk stuff. It doesn’t happen.

SILY: Sometimes it’s a blessing, sometimes, it’s a curse.

TV: It’s having a legacy of a career that’s what’s important at this stage. There are some bands with a huge legacy, but the last four records have just been, “What the hell is this garbage?” Like really bad. At least I can say with Prong--and maybe it’s because the early records weren’t that good--but the recent records aren’t that bad. A lot of people haven’t heard them, but I can’t be ashamed of them. I haven’t been mailing in any records lately.

SILY: I like Carved Into Stone quite a bit.

TV: We put a lot of time into that. It was a big project, major project. It took a year to put that whole thing together. I was out of Ministry, like “Fuck Al Jorgensen.” “Rio Grande Blood”, “Relapse”, and “The Last Sucker”’s riffs could have been Prong songs but went to Ministry. I just never made a fucking penny off of those songs, and they could have been put into Prong stuff. I shot my load on those, but I put a stop to it and went in and did Carved Into Stone and somehow salvaged that period of my life. [laughs]

Tour dates:

2/14 - Dynamo - Eindhoven, Netherlands

2/15 - Student Central (ULU) - London, United Kingdom

2/16 - Muziekodroom - Hasselt, Belgium

2/17 - Z-Bau - House of Contemporary Culture - Nuremberg, Germany

2/18 - Backstage Halle - Munich, Germany

2/19 - A38 Hajó - Budapest, Hungary

2/20 - Barrak music club - Ostrava, Czech Republic

2/21 - Arena Wien - Wien, Austria

2/22 - Legend Club - Milano, Italy

2/23 - Kiff - Aarau, Switzerland

2/24 - Garage - Saabrucken, Germany

2/25 - KufA e.V. - Braunschweig, Germany

2/26 - Kulttempel - Oberhausen, Germany

2/27 - Bahnhof Pauli - Hamburg, Germany

2/28 - SO36 - Berlin, Germany

2/29 - AJZTalschock - Chemnitz, Germany

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numberplates4u-blog · 5 years

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Every Healey has a story

Austin Healey 3000 MK I at the start of a 1960s Dubonnet Rally (update Jan 2017) Please note that since writing this Blog this car has been Sold and off to create a new part in this story….. Middle Aged or Classic? “Don’t regret getting older, it is a privilege denied to many”. Which it could be said is true of people and objects. The Healey has definitely stood the test of time and with age it has become more treasured, loved and desired. If a Healey was a human it would be classed as middle aged. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, middle age is 45-65. There is no shortage of sayings that poke fun at growing older. It is thought that after 45 your ‘get up and go’ gets up and goes”; you start making funny noises, creaking and moaning; you get out of shape; don’t keep up with technology, slow up and lag behind with the times. Some even say “life not only begins at 40, it begins to show”. With time, humans and Healeys become classic, a bit quirky and full of interesting stories. Forget the negative, cruel outlook on ageing. With passing time we gain experience, we have the chance to leave a positive legacy, an opportunity to touch many people’s lives, add enjoyment, enrichment and fulfilment; to make a difference. Just like an old classic car. So the story begins The story begins with the most iconic and easily recognised of all the Austin Healey models, the “3000” Early in 1959 the Austin Healey “100-6” (the six cylinder engine cars) finally came to the end of production and in its place was born the Austin Healey “3000” model. The legendary Big Healey was born and kept rolling off the production line until 1967. The car’s bodywork was made by Jensen Motors, and the vehicles were assembled by Austin-Healey at the Abingdon works. Who would have known at this time that it was the model which would go on to have the longest production life, the greatest marketing success and the largest number of sales. To begin with the changes from a “100/6” to the “3000” were small on the surface but over time improvements and modifications kept evolving and it became the car to have in its day and of course its popularity still remains today. The car went on to have MkI and MKII models and the final statement was in the creation of the MKIII.The 3-litre “3000” was (and still is) a highly successful car, which won its class in many European rallies in its heyday and is still raced in classic car competitions by enthusiasts today. The Austin Healey just goes on and on creating stories to be told and re-lived. Fast forward to today Austin Healey 3000 MK I YUC 276 in recent years has been maintained at Bill Rawles Classic Cars As a classic car garage we see many interesting people and their vehicles. However, it is not often that you have the opportunity or take the time to find out a little bit more of the events, journeys, exploits and ownership of the car. Sometimes it is because there is no documented history on the car and other times is because the stories, photos, letters and newspaper articles are hidden from the light of day. This July 2016, a car which has been maintained at Bill Rawles Classic Cars over a number of years was brought to us to be sold. After going through the numerous receipts, Invoices, MOT Certificates and DVLA related documents, a personal letter and some photos were revealed. This is what brought it to our attention that every car, when it has been on the road for more than half a century, must have some tales to tell. Rallying, racing drivers, marriage and children Colour change, conversion to wire wheels and a missing radio aerial This Austin Healey 3000 MK I, YUC 276, was registered in February 1960 making it a grand old age of 55 years. The current owner has cherished, looked after and enjoyed this Healey for 27 years. Which means it was already 28 years old when he took ownership in 1989. In 2007, out of the blue, the owner received a letter and this is what it said…. “Dear… I was delighted to receive your telephone call and to hear that YUC 276 had survived many years since it left me. When I saw your photograph yesterday I immediately noticed a couple of things apart from the colour. The major change was the conversion to wire wheels and secondly the radio aerial is no longer in the offside front wing. The spokes in wires had the reputation of coming loose in the rough and tumble of competition, especially rallying, and as I could not afford the luxury of two sets of wheels, steel rims it had to be, but it does look much nicer with wires. Unfortunately it never occurred to me that accurate records would be important some 44 years on but I can give you some information that may be of interest. I was in my mid-twenties, living in Bedfordshire, when I acquired the car in 1961 from an Austin Healey dealer in Brighton. I was the second owner but cannot recall the first. I had already been rallying for some while in an Austin Healey Sprite which I traded in for YUC 276. I competed with YUC 276 regularly in club and National rallies with my navigator/co-driver, Brian James, until our first baby arrived in 1963 at which time economics caused me to have to give up the big Healey. We were fairly successful but never hit the high spots. Enclosed are two photographs, one of which is at the start of the 1961 or 1962 Dubonnet Rally. During its time with me it only suffered minor damage to the nearside front wing and this was the result of a scary moment on a snow covered mountain section in Wales during one of the Dubonnet rallies. I passed the car on to Tony Hegbourne down in Middlesex so it seems likely that it spent most of its time in the South. Tony was well known in motor racing but unfortunately was killed in a racing accident in 1965 at Spa Francorchamps, driving an Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ and I am enclosing the motor sport memorial entry of his career. I had little contact with him after he acquired the car so have no knowledge of what use he made of it or how long he kept it. We were out the country for many years after 1966 so completely lost track of all my motor sport contacts. It would give me a lot of pleasure to see the car again if this could be arranged. Yours Sincerely……………” So who was Tony Hegbourne? (photo: Ford Motor Co.)Left to right: Tony Hegbourne, Frank Gardner, Peter Harper in dark glasses, Alan Mann, Sir John Whitmore. Roy Pierpoint is concealed behind Gardner and Hegbourne Anthony Victor Hegbourne, who lived in Kenley in Surrey, was a Director of Godfrey Lambert Automobiles Ltd. He started competing on motorcycles in1955 and 19656 racing 350 and 500 cc Norton motorcycles. In 1964 he won the Hartley Award for the best amateur rider, he finished 13th in the Junior Manx GP on the Isle of Man and retired on the last lap while lying 9th in the senior event. Hegbourne switched to motor racing in 1957, winning at Brands Hatch in the ex-Bristow Cooper T39 Bobtail. He also raced in the North Staffs Silverstone meeting on October 05th and, a week later, at the Lancs and Cheshire Oulton Park meeting. He continued racing in 1958 and 1959 and then took a break and resumed motorsport in 1962. Back on track in 1962, he won The Brooklands Memorial Trophy Championship with a MK I Lola Climax. In 1963 he raced a Lotus 23B for Normand Ltd, winning races and finishing well in the United Kingdom and in Europe. He took a second place overall behind Lorenzo Bandini, the 1960s Italian Formula One driver for Scuderia Centro Sud and Ferrari teams, in the Auvergne Trophy at the Circuit de Charade, Clermond-Ferrand. He set the fastest lap at 3:50,100 – 126.023 km/h in the Lotus 23B. In 1964 he was invited by Ian Walker to drive the first Lotus 30 ever built in one of the supporting races for the 1964 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. Unfortunately the race car broke in two at the bottom of Dingle Dell, completely destroying it, but luckily Tony walked away with only minor injuries. In 1965 Hegbourne was signed to race for two of the top privateer teams, John Willment in Formula 2 and Walker-Day Racing in sportscars. He competed in various races, with results, in the UK and internationally with these teams. In May 1965, Walker Day racing transported the TZ1s to the Circuit de Spa Francorchamps, Belgium. Only 26 cars showed up for the race. Hegbourne best lap in qualifying was 4min 36.49s, which was good enough to qualify 15th on the grid. It was overcast but dry for the start of the race. By lap 3 Tony was leading the class. After pitting for fuel he dropped to 3rd in class to Boley Pittard and Nicolas Koob. On lap 26 Hegbournes Afa Romeo TZ1 Zagato somersaulted going flat out down the Masta straight. The car landed in a field and Tony Hegbourne suffered multiple injuries including a fractured spine and a broken leg. He was taken to hospital in Verviers, Belgium. His prospects were looking better and he was transferred to hospital in Stanmore, Middlesex. Very sadly his condition deteriorated and he died six weeks after the accident, on 01st July 1965 (51 years ago) The current chapter It is quite astounding to think that one of the most promising British racing drivers of the 1960s once owned this Healey. Sat in it, enjoyed it and probably drove it to its limits and today we are offering this car for sale at Bill Rawles Classic Cars (Jan17 now sold since writing this Blog). As one chapter closes another one begins. The car is ready for a new owner, a new life, new stories and more adventures. For Sale (NowSold since writing this Blog) at Bill Rawles Classic Cars ready for a new owner and more adventures This For Sale (Jan 2017 – Now SOLD since writing this Blog) Austin Healey 3000 MK I, YUC 276 was registered in February 1960 and has been with the present owner for the past 27 years. The vehicle has been well looked after and maintained regardless of cost and at present it is in a superb condition and ready to use straight away. It comes with a large history file and past invoices supporting the work that has been carried out. Over recent years our client has had the vehicle brought up to the condition you see today with the addition of the Old English White side panels. The car comes with an MOT certificate that does not expire until 08th June 2017. The MK I Healeys were the first model to have front disc brakes fitted as standard. The car comes with overdrive and all wet weather equipment is present. This Austin Healey 3000 MK I is a genuine UK right hand drive car supplied to the home market. If you are looking for a genuine RHD Healey with lots of history and originality and at a very competitive price this must be a strong contender. Please call Bill Rawles on 07763 362470 to arrange a viewing and test drive. Alternatively call the workshop on 01420 564343 Austin Healey 3000 MK I For Sale (now sold since writing this Blog) a well maintained car with a great history record The post Every Healey has a story appeared first on Bill Rawles Classic Cars.

https://www.rawlesclassiccars.co.uk/blog/every-healey-has-a-story/

#Classic Cars #3000 #Austin Healey #For Sale #healey #motorsport #Rally #Rawles #sold #Story

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sailingbrisa · 7 years

Text

February Adventure!

As February comes to a close… I figure it is time to post some of this months action….. However there has been so much of it that I feel like it is too long of a story.

Before I left my job and my little house in Panama life went by very very quickly… now it seems to be doing the opposite, days filled with activity and adventure, floating leisurely by.

The Coombes family may have misplaced their boat, ( read about it on their blog https://westerlyadventures.wordpress.com ), but I am very happy to say they have definitely not lost their spirit, and early every morning for almost the last three weeks I have woken up on Brisa to the sound of happy family noises. Sometimes it sounded more like a large heard of elephants… but always no matter what there were little happy voices saying in awesome English accents, Mummy I’m starrrrving. Then kids learning times tables, parents frothing over the possibility of surf ( both Fran and James are just big groms still, and James will LITERALLY surf anything….and for that matter eat almost anything, no matter what it smells like… ), he is however a bit of an anomaly, charging literally dry reef breaks without a scratch, only to making sure to take skin off of his left leg at every other fairly easy surf spot after that. ) If you check their blog you can also see their thoughts on the Brisa adventure.

There was hiking,…sighting another fish off of BVI chart of fish that the kids scrounged up somewhere, free dive training, party pool sitting, surfing, lobster hunting, paddle boarding, tow surfing, kite flying, swimming, paddle training, headstand practice etc. Brisa has never before seen so much energy, enthusiasm and full time activity since I have owned her. I have no idea how James and Fran keep the hectic pace up. Needless to say everyone sleeps very early and very well, usually going to bed with nightfall around 730 or 8.

Without a doubt I think the Penguins of Madagascar will eternally be burned into my brain. The kids fell in love with that movie.

Today is the first time I have woken up to a quiet, still boat in a very long time and it took a bit of adjusting… so I went back to sleep and woke up a bit later today. However I do miss the little monsters!

Lets go back a bit to where this month started …. Quite hard to think back to when we arrived in the BVIs as we have been so many places and seen and done so many things. Brisa and crew ( read that to mean Coombes family ) arrived in Virgin Gorda about 3 or four days before Susi and Bills MaiTai ( www.maitai.com ), this year combined with www.xtremetechchallenge on Sir Richard Bransons Necker Island. We spent the time napping, homeschooling, hiking and trying to find good fresh fruit…. $5. Usd for a small ( but yummy ) grapefruit. We found tins of tuna that were $1.05 in St Martin for $3.85c, basically everything and anything is triple the price if you are in a boat harbor in the BVIs. Also $35 dollars a night for a mooring ball. Needless to say we have a great anchor and have only paid for one night on a mooring.

We were expecting at least three additional guests onboard for four or five days. Cameron Dietrich from www.Kiteclub.com, an old friend was the guest of honor and much to the kids enjoyment very happy to sit and talk story with them for hours. Unfortunately he was off on a beautiful super yacht for most of the time he was here, taking good care of his VIP guests in the BVI. We didn’t see a lot of him other than when we woke up in the AM and before he was off for his days adventure.

The first day of MaiTai kicked off and I took the dingy up to Necker to see the crew. It was quite a bit different this year with security greeting me at the beach and after a few radio calls I was sent up to the main beach house, walking past my old friends the Lemurs, parrots and newish arrivals, Toucans. I had never been up close to these beautiful birds, so I stopped and checked them out for a while… then walked up the stairs greeted by Sabine Schindlbauer, u I walked up to See Susi and she was sitting with Richard and Ben Meyer so after a few hugs and his we sat at lunch for a while and talked story and catching up .. mostly fishing this time. The infamous Marlin story was re-told and we sat for half and hour catching up with Susi and Ben with Richard entertaining us.

That night we had two more of our guests arrive on Brisa. I can honestly say that I had not met an astrophysicist before, but these two guys were prototype drone specialists, building their own amazing three D drone. ( we watched it on VR goggles and it was literally an amazing tour of Necker Island ( see if there is a link ) It was a total pleasure to have Both Nicolas Chibac and Markus Bobbe from Germany sleeping with us on Brisa. Check out their website and have a look at their absolutely amazing 3d drone footage. http://www.spicevr.com

Was also great to see Bill Tai again after four years and as always the awesome team on Necker.

I also had the pleasure to kitesurf with President Obama for an hour or so. His secret service team was right there beside the Necker boat teaching him how to kite all the time and wouldn’t let us get too close…. But I can say I have now kited with the president.

https://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/richard-vs-barack-kiteboard-and-foilboard-challenge

The next day was nice and windy so Cam and I went for a kite from Virgin Gorda to Necker and I got to hang for ages with Ben and the Mai Tai kite crew on the beach. Awesome fun and perfect 12m kite weather, with crystal clear water and spectacular reef.

As all our MaiTai guests departed at the end of the week, Brisa once again went back to the core crew and we set sail early one morning for Anegada, as part of a daily flotilla of charter boats heading that way. It was a nice fast two hour sail up there in some choppy seas and up to 22 knots of wind. We towed both dinghy’s and hit a top speed of 9.2 knots, slowing ourselves so not to have the dinghy’s fly out of the water.

We originally anchored close to the main mooring field amongst the rowdy charter boats, but soon found a great anchorage further west in front of an amazing kiting beach… so we moved Brisa down there and anchored in about 7 feet of water swimming distance to a picture perfect white sand beach. The Coombes went for waves, the kids and I chilled and watched the sunset and flew the drone.

We kited, surfed and explored the island… awesome kiting.. awesome location and highly recommended as a surf, or kite destination.

Our next port of call was the Baths on the southern end of Virgin Gorda and let me tell you. SPECTACULAR. The water was so clear and calm you didn’t need to get in the water to go snorkeling.. you could just sit on the boat and watch the fish from the deck. The amazing swim-throughs in the huge boulder field, combined with teaming sea life, made this probably one of the kids favorite stops, and we all enjoyed all day long snorkeling and exploration. If you have not seen this place, it is truly spectacular, with some of the clearest waters I have seen so far.

We left the Baths and headed for Cane Garden Bay in front of a nice looking North East swell. We anchored in Cane in amongst the mooring field and got chased out to another part of the Bay by Slim.. the guy collecting the money for the moorings. We spent a couple of great days in Cane before the swell arrived, of course in the middle of the night of the full moon party, accompanied by unbearably loud mid 90s gangster rap, proudly sung along to by the horrendous DJ. I really thought how horrible the experience must have been for the guests, if they were not born in or around 1980 in Compton, lived a life of crime and somehow managed to get to the full moon party in Cane Garden Bay…

Anyways.. the boat was rolling and bashing and booming and Brisa clearly loved the music as she danced the night away on top of the waves as they grew. After not sleeping at all, we all got up at three am and moved the boat to a little sheltered corner of the bay and caught a couple of hours sleep before the first of many surf sessions on a beautiful long right point break. The crowd was very chill and loads of great surf for everyone. I managed to surf three boards during the day. Got lucky with one stupid wipeout as I landed bum first on my quad fins, knocking out two of the fin boxes. Luckily I did not manage to cut my bum on the fins… bit bruised, but no blood. Buns of steel. The board didn’t fear so well and will need some repair at the next board repair stop.

The next morning we woke up early, watched the little waves peeling along the point and pulled anchor and headed to meet up with Tash, the owner of the Coombes new home for a week or two, aboard Puffin. We went into Road Town, had some Great Conch fritters, took care of immigration extensions and found the surf shop still there for James to get some new fins. Then off to drop off my awesome crew form England in Trellis bay, with just a slight detour into Fat Hog Bay as I may have gotten a little lost… :o

We unloaded Brisa and loaded Puffin, did laundry, ate chicken roti while clothes dried and Tash cooked a fantastic meal to welcome the Coombes family from Brisa. I downloaded the damn Penguin movie and all the amazing photo memories onto James’ hard drive, and with a bit of a teary farewell said goodbye to the Coombes, for now as I am sure our paths will cross again, probably Wednesday as we go back to Cane Garden to chase some more point break perfection. I had to find a way out of the mooring bouy field in Trellis Bay, not an easy thing to do on a very dark night, so after creeping carefully out at about 9 pm, I motored up to Virgin Gorda sound again, arriving about 10.30 pm anchored and had a fantastic sleep in the same exact spot as we had originally anchored, only three weeks before.

This morning I spent it cleaning up, washing down Brisa and did a little shopping. The trip back to St. Martin from the BVIs Is not pleasant to say the least so I have been watching the weather closely. The plan for now is to go back down to Cane Garden tonight, surf Wednesday, Thursday am and leave back to Virgin Gorda Thursday, in time to check out of customs, leaving BVI for St. Martin late Thursday night, arriving in the afternoon Friday if I'm lucky.

The next installment will cover the next amazing surf.. the trip home.. some deep sea adventures in a cold front, a little marlin story and a lot of maintenance!

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'A total blast': our writers pick their favorite summer blockbusters ever

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'A total blast': our writers pick their favorite summer blockbusters ever

As the season heats up on the big screen, Guardian writers look back on their picks from the past with killer sharks, mournful crime-fighters and time-traveling teens

Face/Off (1997)

Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext/PARAMOUNT

Madman bomber Nicolas Cage stole John Travoltas dead sons life. So gloomy FBI agent Travolta steals Cages face. When Cage steals his face and his wife and freedom John Woos Face/Off becomes the biggest, wackiest and most operatic summer blockbuster in history, a gonzo combustion that flings everything from pigeons to peaches at the screen.

Hong Kong cineastes might applaud a script with roots in the ancient Sichuan opera genre Bian Lian, where performers swap masks like magic. Popcorn-munchers, of which I am front row center, are here to watch whack job Cage and soulful Travolta, two actors who love to go full-ham, play each other and go deep inside their iconographies. Call it hamception. Or just call it a crazy swing that hits a home run as Cavolta and Trage battling it out in a warehouse, a speedboat and, of course, a church. As Cage-as-Travolta gloats to Travolta-as-Cage, Isnt this religious? The eternal battle between good and evil, saint and sinners but youre still not having any fun! Maybe hes not, but we sure are. Bravo, bravo. AN

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Photograph: David James/Publicity image from film company

Theres been an increasing sense of desperation clinging to the majority of roles picked by Tom Cruise in recent years. Outside of the still shockingly entertaining Mission: Impossible series, he was miscast in the barely serviceable Jack Reacher and its maddeningly unnecessary sequel, his awards-aiming American Made was throwaway and his franchise-starting The Mummy was a franchise-killer. But four summers ago, he picked the right horse just maybe at the wrong time.

Because despite how deliriously fun Edge of Tomorrow was in the summer of 2014, audiences didnt show the requisite enthusiasm. It was a moderate success (enough to warrant a long-gestating sequel) but it should have packed them in, its combination of charm, invention and sheer thrills making it one of the most objectively successful blockbuster experiences in memory. The nifty plot device (Cruise must relive a day of dying while battling aliens over and over again) allowed for some dark gallows humor and a frenetic pace that kept us all giddily on edge while it also contained a dazzling action star turn from Emily Blunt whose fearless Full Metal Bitch wrestled the film away from Cruise. Blame its relative failure on the bland title? Cruise fatigue? Blockbuster over-saturation? Then find a digital copy to watch and rewatch and repeat. BL

Back to the Future (1985)

Photograph: Allstar/UNIVERSAL/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar

Back to the Future very nearly wasnt a summer blockbuster. The reshoots required after Eric Stoltz was booted off, then the fact Michael J Foxs Family Ties commitments meant he could only shoot at night all meant filming didnt wrap until late April. Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg duly pencilled in an August / September release.

But then people started seeing it. Test scores were off the scale. Said producer Frank Marshall: Id never seen a preview like that. The audience went up to the ceiling. So they bagsied the best spot the year had to offer 3 July hired a squad of sound editors to work round the clock and two print editors with instructions to get properly choppy. They did, and those big trims tightened yet further one of the tautest screenplays (by Bob Gale) cinema has ever seen. The only bit of fat they left was the Johnny B Goode scene: sure, it didnt advance the story, but the kids at those test screenings knew we were gonna love it. Back to the Future is a pure shot of summer cinema: grand, ambitious, insanely entertaining. Deadpool, Avengers, take note: a blockbuster can be smart as hell so long as it wears it lightly. In the end, by the way, the film spent 11 weeks at number 1 at the US box office. Thats essentially the whole summer. CS

Teminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Photograph: Allstar/TRISTAR/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar

The first film I ever saw at the cinema was The Rocketeer. We drove into Bradford city centre, bought our tickets at the Odeon and sat through the 1991 tale which followed the fortunes of a stunt pilot, a rocket pack and a Nazi agent played by Timothy Dalton who sounded like he was from Bury rather than Berlin. The way into the multiplex there was a huge poster for Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Arnie sat on a Harley with a shotgun cocked and ready. My dad was a huge fan of the original but he still couldnt swing taking a seven-year-old to see it. It wasnt until I borrowed a VHS copy that I finally got to see what was behind that image. Skynet, dipshits, T-1000s, a nuclear holocaust and a motorbike chases on the LA river.

Blockbusters dont usually have that edge: theres a more brazen mainstream appeal. But Judgment Day was and still is an exception. It did huge numbers at the box office (more than $500m), was a rare sequel that was arguably better than the original and introduced really odd bits of Spanish idiom into the Bradford schoolyard lexicon. I probably would have been scarred for life watching it as a seven-year-old, but as a teenager it gave me a story I doubt Ill ever get tired of revisiting. LB

The Dark Knight (2008)

Photograph: Allstar/WARNER BROS.

The summer of 2008 was a busy one: Barack Obama emerged from a contentious democratic primary to become the first ever black presidential nominee of a major party. The dam fortifying the entire global financial system was about to burst. China hosted its first ever Summer Olympics. But somehow, and not exactly to my credit, what I remember most from that summer is the uncanny, ridiculously over-the-top publicity blitzkrieg that preceded the release of The Dark Knight, which has since emerged as not just an all-time great summer blockbuster, but an all-time great American film, period.

There were faux-political billboards that read I believe in Harvey Dent; a weirdly nondescript website of the same name; Joker playing cards dispersed throughout comic book stores, which led fans to another website where the DA was defaced with clown makeup. Dentmobiles, Gotham City voter registration cards, a pop-up local news channel: the marketing campaign might have seemed excessive had the movie not so convincingly topped it. Ten years later, as films like Deadpool and Avengers: Infinity War try to reach those same heights of virality, The Dark Knight remains the measuring stick by which every superhero movie, and superhero villain, is measured. JN

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Photograph: Jasin Boland/AP

In many ways, Fury Road is summer: arid, scorching, bright enough to be squinted at. The driving force behind all the high-impact driving is scarcity of water, the essence of life in a desert where death practically rises up from the burning sand. Even in the air-conditioned comfort of a multiplex auditorium in Washington DCs Chinatown, watching George Millers psychotic motor opera left this critic sweaty and parched. My world is fire and blood, warns the weary Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) in the scripts opening lines. Staggering out of a theater into the oppressive rays of the sun, it sure can feel that way.

Millers masterpiece fits into the summer blockbuster canon in a less literal capacity as well, striking its ideal balance of dazzling technical spectacle and massively-scaled emotional catharsis. There was plenty of breathless praise to go around upon this films 2015 release, much of it for the feats of practical-effects daring, but the hysterical extremes of feeling cemented its status as a modern classic. I cant deny that Ive watched the polecat sequence upwards of a dozen times, but Millers film truly comes alive in Furiosas howl of desperation, and in Maxs noble disappearance into the throng. CB

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

Its the music, its the giant boulder, its the Old Testament mysticism, its the whip, its the Cairo Swordsman, its Harrison Fords crooked smile, its the bad dates, its Karen Allen drinking a sherpa under the table, its the melted faces and exploding heads. Its all these things plus having the good fortune of seeing this at the cinema at a very young age, therefore watching most of it through my terrified fingers. (Indy tells Marion to keep her eyes shut during the cosmic spooky ending; way ahead of you there!)

The modern blockbuster as we know it was created by Steven Spielberg with Jaws and George Lucas with Star Wars, so the hype was unmatched when the two collaborated in 1981 with Raiders of the Lost Ark. As a kid I had no idea this was a loving homage to cliffhanger serials from the 30s and 40s, I took it as pure adventure. The seven-and-a-half minute desert truck chase (I dont know, Im making thus up as I go) is probably the best action sequence in all of cinema (John Woos Hard Boiled does not have a horse, sorry), but watching as an adult one notices a lot of sophisticated humor, too. (Indy being too exhausted to make love to Marion, for example, is something that didnt connect when I was six.)

Its strange to think I watched these cartoon Nazis on VHS with my grandparents who had escaped the Holocaust, and no one benefits when you do the math to figure out how young Marion was when, as Indy puts it, you knew what you were doing. But for thrills, laughs and propulsive camerawork (though a little mild Orientalism), nothing tops this one. JH

Independence Day (1996)

Photograph: Everett/REX/Shutterstock

Short of actually calling their film Summer Blockbuster, rarely can a films height-of-summer release date been so central to a films raison detre. This being the mid-90s, when po-mo and self-referentiality was all the rage, brazenly hooking your tentpole film to 4 July was seen as a pretty smart idea.

Fortunately, all the ducks did line up in a row for ID4: a game-changing performance from Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum at (arguably) his funniest, a rousingly Clintoneque president in Bill Pullman and most importantly in that run-up to the millennium physical destruction on a gigantic scale. Much comment at the time was expended on the laser obliteration of the White House (an early shot from the Tea Party/Maga crowd?), but I personally cherish director Roland Emmerichs signature move of detonating cars in somersault formation. Like many other huge-budget films then and since, Independence Day was basically a tooled-up retread of cheap-as-chips format of earlier decades though who these days would roll such expensive dice on what is essentially an original script, with no comic book or toy branding as a forerunner? We shall never see its like again. AP

Aliens (1986)

Photograph: Allstar/20 CENTURY FOX/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar

An Aliens summer is one for moviegoers who prefer to sit in in darkened rooms when the sun is shining; the brutal confines of the fiery power plant make an excellent subliminal ad for air conditioning. In 1986, James Cameron took Ridley Scotts elegant, iconic horror template and turned it into an all-out action blockbuster, forcing Ripley once again to face down her nemeses in a breathless fug of claustrophobia, sweat and fear. Its relentlessly stressful and unbelievably thrilling.

I first saw Aliens many years after its initial release. Owing to its sizeable and long-lasting legacy, it was at once immediately familiar, yet also brisk and brutally fresh. I understood that it was a classic, but I wasnt prepared for just how good it is, for the pitch-perfect management of tension, the pace that never really lets up, the emotional pull. The maternal undertow of Ripleys protection of Newt, and the alien mirror of that, adds a level of heart unusual in most blockbusters, and her frustration at being a woman whose authority must be earned again and again, and then proven again and again, remains grimly relevant, 30 years on. Its also a total blast. Now get away from her, you bitch. RN

Jaws (1975)

Photograph: Fotos International/Getty Images

It is the great summer blockbuster ancestor the film that in 1975 more or less invented the concept of the event movie. And unlike all those other summer blockbusters, Steven Spielbergs Jaws is actually about the summer; it is explicitly about the institution of the summer vacation, into which the movie was being sold as part of the seasonal entertainment. It is about the sun, the sand, the beach, the ocean and the entirely justified fear of being eaten alive by an enormous shark with the appetite of a serial killer and the cunning of a U-boat commander. And more than that: it is about that most contemporary of political phenomena: the coverup, the town authorities at a seaside resort putting vacationers at risk by not warning them about the shark. The Jaws mayor has become comic shorthand for the craven and pusillanimous politician.

A blockbuster nowadays means spectacular digital effects, but this film is from an analogue world. It bust the block through brilliant film-making and an inspired score from John Williams, summoning up the shark with a simple two-note theme which became the most famous musical expression of evil since Bernard Herrmanns shrieking violin stabs in Psycho took the place of actual knife-slashing. I still remember the excitement of the summer of 1975, and the queues around the block at the Empire, in Watford, round the corner from the football ground. The inspired brevity of the title meant the word was repeated over and over again to fill the marquee display: JAWS JAWS JAWS as if they were screaming it! PB

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us

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