#✦ ( dash games || jones )

[f-o-and-selfship-club]

Favourite character bingo but with characters I simp in my childhood

Left to right in order:

(First Row)

Luigi - Mario

Mr Scatterbrain - Mr Men Show

Meta Knight - Kirby

Discord - My Little Pony

DangerGrid - Skatoony

(Second row)

Simon Belmont - Captain N The Game Master

Ales Mansay - Rayman

Fred - Scooby Doo

Rainbow Dash - My Little Pony

Mr Nonsense - Mr Men

(Third row)

Wes Weasley - Adventures Of Sonic The Hedgehog

Astral - Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal

Mog - Meg and Mog

Killer Moth - Batman - The Brave and The Bold

(Fourth row)

Man Ray - SpongeBob

Benny - LEGO Movie

Pleakley - Lilo and Stitch

Garfield

Gomez Addams - Addams Family

(Fifth row)

Rayman

Ned Flanders - Simpsons

Luvli - Moshi Monsters

Kiyoshi - Hanazuki

Cilan - Pokémon

Pr0ships, c0mships, bigots, z00ph!les, anti-self shippers, NSFW, necr0philes and p#dophiles DNI!!!

[silverjetsystm]

SUPERNATURAL / FANTASY CHARACTER AESTHETICS.

bold what applies - italicize what sometimes applies - strike what never applies.

THE FAIRY. chipped nail polish. glitter highlight. tall trees with smooth bark. tangled hair. the taste of cinnamon sugar. talking too loud and too fast. overgrown flowers in your hair. crumbling buildings reclaimed by nature. flirting. walking home at 3am with no coat. platonic hand-holding. blowing smoke out of your nose. dragonfly wings. chaotic good. freckles. fairy rings. secret meetings. gender nonconformity. leather. smudged eyeliner. forbidden fruit.

THE REAPER. computer errors. a shiver down your spine. haunting beauty. hard liquor. crowns of thorns. shadowed alleyways. decaying plant matter. shattered mirrors and broken glass. corrupted memories. stopped clocks. the scent of stale cigarettes. tattered black hoodies. walking your friends home. the crescent moon. the sea. a graveyard on a foggy day. cold rings on cold fingers. absolution. looking out the window of an airplane. soft kisses.

THE WITCH. graffiti. pretending to know what you're doing. worn paperback books. growing up too fast. parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. lace and combat boots. moth wings. candles on every surface. a weathered deck of cards. turning the music up. fireflies in jars. calloused fingers. drawing on your skin. sunlight filtering through the clouds. petrichor. a dying rose in a jar. wearing a crystal pendant. illusions and spells. black cats. mint gum. chapped lips. dirt under your fingernails. the cycle of life and death.

THE WOLF. murders of crows. frost-bitten leaves. wolves howling at midnight. knocking on your door. leaving food out for stray animals. the twang of an acoustic guitar. honey. tiny red buds on trees. claw marks on the walls. golden eyes. slightly too long stubble. sharp canines. soft, thick fur. hunger. a small cottage in the middle of the woods. knitted fingerless gloves. sleeping on the forest floor. always finding your way back home.

tagging: @hearthoftaweret @hubrisdescent @kinomorebi @tarnishedhalo @templeofvengeance

[transgnderflag]

i need to knaw bite and chew on his arms like a rabid starved wolf i need to sink my teeth into his biceps and bite out a large chunk

[twoiesfnafocs]

How are you Color Coded?

Katie

RED CODED

Red, a study in being in love with the thrill, the ticking of a broken clock, and hearing your heartbeat in your ears. you've become addicted to the thrill of danger and living life recklessly. you've managed to make people believe that you're untouchable, that you live life so dangerously and yet so precisely that the world revolves around you and only you. but it doesn't. it moves without you, it will continue to move when you stop, and it will always move on when you never move again. the world is uncaring. and you have to match that energy. you can't stop moving, or you'll end up dead.

Tagged by: stolen >:3c

Tagging: @horrifichaunts @glammingrockinchica

[sanguinelupus]

anyways Lilly’s here for serial killing date nights xoxo !!

"So you're not impressed with my sword collection? A pity."

[calmlythrilling]

Standard Theme: Schrodinger's Lid from Digimon World: Next Order

Battle Theme: Starkiller by Bear Ghost

Boss Theme: We're Losing You from Neo:The World Ends With You

Emotional Theme: And Then Was Heard No More from Library of Ruina

tagging: whoever else wants to partake!!!

[startold-a]

cattell 16 factor test.

MAX -

Warmth ||||||||||||||||||||| 66% ( supportive, comforting )

Intellect ||||||||||||||| 46% ( instinctive, unstable )

Emotional Stability ||||||||||||||| 42% ( irritable, moody )

Aggressiveness |||||||||||||||||| 58% ( controlling, tough )

Liveliness ||||||||| 30% ( somber, restrained )

Dutifulness |||||||||||||||||| 58% ( conforming, traditional )

Social Assertiveness ||||||||| 26% ( shy, withdrawn )

Sensitivity |||||||||||||||||| 54% ( touchy, soft )

Paranoia ||||||||||||||||||||| 70% ( wary, suspicious )

Abstractness |||||||||||||||||| 54% ( strange, imaginative )

Introversion |||||||||||||||||||||||| 78% ( private, quiet )

Anxiety ||||||||||||||||||||| 62% ( fearful, self-doubting )

Openmindedness |||||||||||| 38% ( closeminded, set-in-ways )

Independence |||||||||||||||||||||||| 74% ( outgoing, social )

Perfectionism |||||||||||||||||| 54% ( orderly, thorough )

Tension ||||||||||||||| 46% ( relaxed, cool )

JONES -

Warmth ||||||||| 26% ( cold, selfish )

Intellect ||||||||||||||||||||| 70% ( cerebral, analytical )

Emotional Stability |||||| 18% ( irritable, moody )

Aggressiveness |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 86% ( controlling, tough )

Liveliness |||||||||||||||||||||||| 78% ( wild, fun loving )

Dutifulness ||||||||| 30% ( untraditional, rebellious )

Social Assertiveness ||||||||||||||||||||| 70% ( uninhibited, bold )

Sensitivity ||||||||||||||| 50% ( fuckhgsjkdfngh )

Paranoia |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 90% ( wary, suspicious )

Abstractness ||||||||| 30% ( practical, regular )

Introversion |||||||||||||||||||||||| 74% ( private, quiet )

Anxiety ||||||||| 26% ( confident, self assured )

Openmindedness ||||||||||||||| 42% ( closeminded, set-in-ways )

Independence |||||||||||||||||| 54% ( loner, craves solitude )

Perfectionism ||||||||||||||||||||| 70% ( orderly, thorough )

Tension ||||||||||||||||||||| 62% ( stressed, unsatisfied )

tagged by : @sindicate

tagging: @courtclover @reallifejedi / @starbornknight + anybody else who hasn't done it!

[nyazhis-jsablr]

Help me with the The JSAB Fandom Iceberg pleas

Basically it’s an iceberg chart about the JSAB Fandom, not about the game itself

Here’s what i have so far, give some suggestions and recommendations in the comments

And if enough buzz is going around, I’ll make a discord server or smth for this project

Layer 1

Basically stuff well know in and out the fandom, and general stuff

Tumblr

TikTok

DeviantArt

The Pink Corruption

Blixer x Cube

Poketom

Close To Your Heart

Ships

KofiKrumble

The name “Blixer”

New nap

JSAB Fan Animations

Fanmade Bosses

Project Arrhythmia

Wave

Level Humanizations

JSAB Geometry Dash Levels (Shapes and Beats)

Punk Catboy Blixer

DanTDM

8-Bit Ryan

CoryxKenshin

JSAB GD Comparisons

Animators VS. Games

Alex BlueBird

Merg

Layer 2

Stuff well known in the fandom, not much out of the fandom

Pink n’ Blue

Blixer x Wave

Vriska Universe

JSAB Recreation on Roblox

Alternate Universes

Excessive Angst in JSAB Fancontent

JSAB:HELP

Corrupted Bond

JSAB Overflow

Berzerk not liking Fangames

Linkyop

Topaz the crosscat

JSAB Lost Bits

Layer 3

Stuff that are semi-obscure in the fandom, basically non-existent outside the fandom

It’s Over For Me

Broken Melodies

Redemption Paradise

Cube x Lythorus

AmeenDoesStuff

Heli x Boat

BreaBear Jones Controversy

Shapes of May

Shapetober

GD Colon

Uncle

Layer 4

Stuff that are very obscure

Pink Roses

TPC: Continued

Basically: TPC

Cube x Cyan

Blixer & Cuda are on the Sexypedia

Cube Gender Wars

Roblox JSAB/TPC Roleplay Games

Layer 5

THE MOST SECRET OF SECRETS AAAAH!!!!! (mostly joke entries)

Battle of the Blixers

Every Copy of JSAB is Personalised

The Macabre Apparition

Every JSAB comic is interconnected

PnB is a Chara x Sans story

Subspace PHIGHTING! is Blixer JSAB

Blixer.exe (DO NOT RESEARCH)

[f-o-and-selfship-club]

Childhood lovelies

[strawberryforks]

new to this whole fanfiction thing and these are the characters i know i would enjoy writing about! send scenarios you’d like me to write and i will happily do so! that being said, happy new years! <33 red highlights are my favourite characters (feel free to psychoanalyse me based on my type in fictional men baha)

the vampire diaries — damon salvatore, stefan salvatore, klaus mikaelson, rebekah mikaelson

outerbanks — jj maybank, john b routledge, rafe cameron (regrettably), pope heyward

marvel — peter parker, bucky barnes

dc — jason todd, gar (beast boy from netflix’s titans)

station 19 — jack gibson, victoria hughes

grey’s anatomy — derek shepherd, mark sloan, jackson avery

macgyver — angus “mac” macgyver

the 100 — bellamy blake, john murphy, raven reyes

the hunger games — finnick odair, peeta mellark, even the primreaper if you ask really nicely

call of duty — simon “ghost” riley, john “soap” mactaviah, kyle “gaz” garrick

stranger things — steve harrington

one tree hill — peyton sawyer, lucas scott, nathan scott

supernatural — sam winchester, dean winchester, castiel

my life with the walter boys — alex walter, cole walter, issac garcia

misc. — chat noir (mlb) draco malfoy (harry potter), harry potter (explanatory), dash (dash & lily), carl gallagher (shameless), lip gallagher (shameless), marcus baker (ginny & georgia), gilbert blythe (anne with an “e”), killian jones (once upon a time)

[silverjetsystm]

SEVEN DEADLY SINS CHARACTERISTICS

⤷ bold those that apply to your muse. italicise for sometimes.

𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐓 : desire for connection, pursuit of pleasure, emotional intelligence, obsessive, lovesick, one-night stand, seductive encounter, flirtatious conversation, erotic party, seductive attire [if you like a man in a suit?], revealing clothing, passionate gaze, provocative makeup, sensual expressions, suggestive gestures, flirtatious smiles, lingerie, love letters, perfumes [well. cologne], provocative behaviour, love poems, erotic art

𝐆𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐘: indulgence in experiences, savouring moments, 'hospitality', 'generosity', hedonism, culinary expertise, wine tasting, excessive snacking, overloaded plates, excessive portions, bloated stomachs, messy eating, greasy fingers, full tables, indulgent spreads, overflowing cups, satisfied expressions, wine bottles, can't get enough, fast food wrappers

𝐄𝐍𝐕𝐘: motivation, competitive spirit, strategic planning, observational skills, bitter, rivalry contest, envious gossip, resentment-filled argument, social media jealousy, furrowed brows, clenched jaws, side-eye looks, pursed lips, tense posture, whispering behind backs, crossed arms, gossip magazines, keeping up with the Joneses, the grass is always greener, feeling inadequate

𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐃: resourcefulness, entrepreneurial spirit, negotiation, materialistic, aggressive investment, lavish spending spree, resource hoarding, get-rich-quick scheme, auction bidding war, property acquisition, piles of money, overflowing wallets, luxury items, locked safes, penny-pinching, rare collectibles, selfishness, unwillingness to share

𝐒𝐋𝐎𝐓𝐇: calmness, stress management, nonchalance, relaxation techniques, lethargic, apathetic, inactive, lazy weekend, binge-watching marathon, neglected chores, skipped workout, long nap, lounging on the couch, missed deadline, unkempt appearance, messy hair, pyjamas, blankets, slippers, procrastination station, self-care routines

𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐄: confidence, self-assurance, self-respect, dignity, public speaking, self-promotion, arrogant, conceited, egotistical, self-important, vain, boastful speech, puffed chest, raised chin, smug smiles, spotlight, tooting your own horn, showing off, refusing to admit mistakes, feeling entitled, personal branding, leadership development

𝐖𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐇: assertiveness, decisiveness, strength, intensity, boundary setting, courage, indignant, heated argument, road rage incident, physical altercation, angry outburst, clenched fists, glaring eyes, tense muscles, raised voices, reddened faces, aggressive gestures, stormy demeanour, intense frowns, destructive actions, broken objects, punching bag, out for blood, fists, simmering anger

tagged by @revenantinflames

More on why Grant's money is important and meaningful beyond "he's rich. rich makes the plot easier. MK gets nice tools" here.

He's also the one with the best business acumen. Marc has to get outside help if Grant isn't fronting.

Grant's wrath is icy cold.

"The next costumed idiot [MK] sends here will bring a message: that there's a price on your head. You know the kind of people in the Myrmidon, Zodiac. People like you. How much do you think I'd have to offer? Ten thousand? Five? I'll bet Deadzone would do you for less than four figures" (MK 2021 #25, MacKay).

[sweetreveriee]

WELCOME BITCHES (affectionate)

────୨ৎ────

FANDOMS: maxton hall, the inheritance games, shatter me, fourth wing, the naturals, an enchantment of ravens, sorcery of thorns, kingdom of the wicked, twisted series, the reappearance of rachel price, a good girls guide to murder, powerless, this woven kingdom, once upon a broken heart, caraval, divine rivals, riverdale (s3), my lady jane, miraculous ladybug, divergent, the hunger games, intertwined, five survive, plated prisoner (book two), the folk of the air, wednesday

MUSIC: sabrina carpenter, gracie abrams, modern talking, maude latour, no mercy, isabel la rosa, renee rapp, thomas anders, chappell roan, super sako, sabrina salerno, paul baghdadlian, five seconds of summer, tv girl, sandra

HOBBIES: reading, writing, volleyball, shopping, fucking talking to bots on j.ai, being a hater (in a funny way)

GAMES: sims 4, roblox

────୨ৎ────

CURRENTLY READING: glint (plated prisoner two)

CURRENTLY WATCHING: riverdale (s3), how to sell drugs online fast (just started), maxton hall (rewatch), legacies (last season, will get back to it I promise)

CURRENTLY LISTENING: tsou deluxe (specifically ilyis live and i told you things)

────୨ৎ────

HUSBANDS (totally not fictional): james beaufort (MINE BACK OFF BITCHES), alex volkov, grayson hawthorne, wrath, dean redding, theo james, cole sprouse but only jughead jones era, any those random men on pinterest

WIFEYS: paedyn gray, renee rapp, ruby bell, avery kylie grambs

────୨ৎ────

TAGS:

⋆˚ yapper olympics 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : me yapping

⋆˚ love letters 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : asks

⋆˚ actually obsessed 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : fandom stuff

⋆˚ simping central 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : me simping

⋆˚ fun n games 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : tag/dash games

⋆˚ the gang 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : my moots

⋆˚ keeping out the voices 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ : music

────୨ৎ────

OTHER BLOGS:

@veri-xo - writing blog

@burn4youx - only diary

@hisreveriee - discord harassment rp w the gang

────୨ৎ────

DNI: basic dni, creeps, assholes, religiophobes, homophobes, racist, pedos, porn blogs, over 30s (current moots exempt but idt anyone is over 30)

[clown-friend-gt]

Up, Up, and Away Chapter 21

Finally back! We're pivoting away from Trevor's perspective for a moment to introduce our final main character, Addie. If you've been following this story for a while, you're probably familiar with her already, although this is her first introduction in the story proper.

Thanks for your patience with the infrequent updates, and I hope you enjoy!

Link to Masterpost

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

Escapism

2k words

(CW: Descriptions of vertigo, controlling parents)

Addie Jones was at her limit. In front of her sat a textbook, the words on the page blurring together. She had to study, but she was completely wiped from dance practice earlier today. To make matters worse, her brothers were yelling at each other over some video game in the other room.

“That’s not fair! You can’t keep comboing me like that!” cried out her youngest brother, Anthony.

“It’s part of the game,” she heard her other brother Andre retort smugly.

“Take it easy on him, Dre,” she called out, not bothering to get up.

With her mom picking up an evening shift, she was once again saddled with the responsibility of looking after her brothers. It was apparently too much to ask that they keep it down for one night so she could study for her honors physical science test in the morning. At this rate, she wasn’t going to have time to rehearse the new routine for the dance team tonight.

She stared down at the text, willing the words to come back into focus. Science was definitely not her strong suit, but she had to do well on this test if she wanted to maintain her GPA. And she knew she needed good grades if she wanted to get into college.

“Dancing won’t get you anywhere,” her mother never failed to remind her. “You better keep your grades up if you even want to think about going to a good school.”

A few lines into her reading, an obnoxious laugh from the living room pulled her attention away again.

“Bro, you cheated!” Anthony complained.

“Maybe you should try being better at the game,” Andre taunted his little brother.

Instead of a response, she heard a loud smack from the other room.

“Ow! You little—!” was all she heard from Andre before the telltale sounds of her brothers roughhousing started up.

I can’t take this anymore, she thought bitterly as she tossed her book onto her bed and got to her feet. She marched to the door and threw it open, preparing to tear both of her brothers a new one.

She got as far as, “Dre, Tony, I swear to God—" before a wave of dizziness hit her, stronger than anything she’d ever felt. Her stomach flipped and turned like it was doing a floor routine.

Thinking she was going to be sick, Addie pivoted, making a mad dash for the bathroom. But after a few steps, her foot landed on nothing but open air, like she’d been walking up the stairs in the dark and accidentally took one step too many. She felt herself falling forward. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for an impact that never came.

After a few moments, she tentatively opened her eyes. Instead of falling on her face like she’d been expecting, she was hovering a few feet above the ground. Her earlier momentum was causing her to flip forwards in slow motion.

She gawked at her brothers, who appeared to be upside-down from her position. They ogled back, eyes wide and mouths agape, their earlier quarrel completely abandoned. The victory screen from the game they’d been playing flickered gently behind them, all but forgotten.

Then, as quickly as her experience of weightlessness had begun, it ended. Gravity snapped back into place, slamming her back down to Earth. She landed on her back on the carpeted floor with a soft “oof!”

Addie stared up at the ceiling, trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened. Her brothers soon emerged from either side of the couch to watch her with concern on the floor below. They all looked at each other without a word, each waiting for someone else to break the silence.

“Don’t tell mom,” Addie said finally.

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

If only her life had gone back to normal after that. But more and more, it looked like nothing would ever be the same again. Over the next several months, every time Addie felt herself getting stressed out or overwhelmed, that feeling would take over, and gravity would temporarily lose its grip on her.

So far, she’d managed to keep her new powers hidden, but the tenuously balanced routine she’d constructed was falling apart. Every time she’d had one of her little floating episodes, she’d have to run off to a bathroom or closet to ride it out away from prying eyes. And she could tell people were starting to get fed up with her constant disappearing acts.

She’d already been kicked off the dance team due to all the time she’d been absent from practice. And with the way her grades were dropping, her GPA would surely be the next thing to go. Her English teacher stopped her after class one day to discuss things with her.

“Addie, is something the matter?” she asked, placing a gentle hand on Addie’s arm.

“What do you mean?” Addie replied, eyes darting towards the door.

“You seem so distant lately. You used to be one of my best students. But now you’re missing class half of the time, and the other half it seems like your head is always in the clouds.”

She swallowed dryly. Her teacher probably hadn’t meant anything by that particular phrase, but she was closer to the mark than she realized.

Addie shrugged, trying to appear casual. “Just stressed out, I guess.”

Her teacher’s brow knit in concern. “Is there any particular reason why?”

Of course there was. But Addie couldn’t just tell her what she was really worried about. That the reason why she kept having to leave class was that she had developed superpowers that she couldn’t control. There was no way she would understand what that was like.

So, she lied. “No. Just normal stuff.”

Her teacher sighed, then shook her head. “If you say so. Just know that you can talk to me about anything, right?”

“Sure,” Addie said, nodding absently. Her eyes flicked back to the door. “Can I go now?”

“Just one more thing,” her teacher said. She bent down and retrieved a slip of paper from her desk. She handed it to Addie, a grim expression on her face.

Addie took it and scanned it briefly. “What is this?”

“It’s a note to your mother, explaining that you’re failing. Have her sign it and bring it back to me.”

Addie felt like she might be sick. English was her best subject. How could she be failing? She could understand why she was failing at things like science and math, but English? What else did she have left?

There was that feeling again. Almost like vertigo, like the floor was about to fall out from beneath her. She felt lighter, and not in a good way. Involuntarily, her heels began to rise into the air.

Before she could lose control completely, she squeezed her eyes shut and did her best to choke the feeling down. Her throat felt tight, and her stomach felt as if she’d just swallowed lead. But her feet sank back down to the ground.

“Addie?” Her teacher’s alarmed voice pulled her from her stupor.

Addie opened her eyes and gave her teacher a weak smile. “I’m fine.”

Before she could be questioned further, Addie left the room. The sounds of voices and clamoring in the hallway between classes felt far away. She gripped the note in her hand so tightly it was beginning to crumple. She slunk back to her locker so she could put it away and out of her mind.

She twisted open the combination lock on autopilot, her mind otherwise occupied. All she could think about was what her mom’s reaction would be to her latest failure. Her chest tightened in anticipation.

As she opened her locker, a pamphlet fell out. She didn’t plan on sparing it another look, but her eyes fell on the cover as she picked it up. “Future Heroes and You!” it read on the front, the grinning faces of young heroes-in-training staring back at her, the logo of the Lively Institute emblazoned on the uniforms they wore.

Addie turned the pamphlet over in her hand, regarding it bitterly. There was a time, when she was much younger, when she would’ve been thrilled to receive it. She remembered pointing to the superheroes on the tv as a child, excitedly telling her mother of her dreams of someday joining their ranks.

“Forget it,” her mother had chided her. “Even if you did get superpowers one day, there’s no guarantee you’d get a good one. Set your sights on something more realistic.”

She’d long since forgotten those fantasies. And when she’d received this brochure towards the beginning of the school year, she’d shoved it in her locker without much thought. Her mother was right, she’d have no chance of joining the ranks of the Lively Institute, especially not with some lame power she couldn’t control.

But against her better judgement, she’d stuffed it in her bag to look at later.

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

Up, up, into the sky Addie flew, wind whistling past her face. The thrill of it all spurned her onwards and upwards. She passed through the clouds, their soft fluff caressing her from all sides, a giggle escaping her lips. She felt so light, so free.

Addie.

Finally, she broke through the clouds into the sky above. The sun shone brightly in vast expanse of blue above her. She basked in its glow, feeling its warmth on her face. Nothing could ever keep her down.

Addie!

But it couldn’t last forever. Her descent started slowly, so slowly she barely noticed at first. But soon, there was no denying it. She sunk like a stone in water, her arms flailing, looking for something to hold onto. But nothing could stop gravity’s cruel embrace once it got ahold of her once more.

“ADELAIDE LUANDA JONES, WHAT IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!"

Addie jolted awake. She was looking down a sheer drop from her fifth-story apartment window all the way down to the pavement below. Her mother was screaming at her from somewhere behind her. She hung in place, as if suspended in air. The feeling that always accompanied her flying episodes was fading fast.

She jolted and squirmed, trying desperately to wiggle her way to safety. But, with rising embarrassment, she began to realize that she wasn’t flying. She was stuck halfway out of her bedroom window, tightly lodged in its open frame.

In between all the chaos of prying herself from out of the window and her mother viciously laying into her, it was a miracle that’d she’d managed to pull herself together enough to catch the train to school that morning. While she sat in the relative peace of the train car, she tried to put together what had happened the night before.

The only thing that made sense to her was that she had been sleepwalking. When she was a kid, it used to happen all the time. But that had been years ago, and while she’d had some risky moments before, she’d never done anything so dangerous as to try and climb out her window in her sleep.

Then she thought back to the dream she’d been having. Maybe there was something significant about the fact that she’d been flying away from something in her dream. Was she unconsciously trying to do the same in her real life?

Addie didn’t know. Besides, what was the point in trying to escape?

Then it hit her. With an enthusiasm she’d been lacking for months now, she opened her backpack and dug around inside. Finally, her hand found what she’d been looking for.

Brushing a stray hair from her face, she turned the brochure for the heroes-in-training program over in her hand. Who cares if her mom thought it was idiotic of her? Who cares if she had some lame, almost-useless power? If she really put her mind to it, she could make it work, right?

A small, hopeful voice whispered in the back of her mind, Maybe this is the answer.

First/Last/Next

[stelly38]

I thought Cambridge Spies was *the* most British thing I’d ever seen, until I watched Maurice shortly after. I’m still on my Toby Stephens kick, which explains Cambridge Spies, and lord, is he pretty in it. But I also wanted to ogle the very young, stunningly beautiful Hugh Grant in Maurice, so I watched both.

I nursed a bit of a crush on Grant back in his Four Weddings days, around the same time as Maurice, but I’d honestly forgotten how incredibly, ethereally gorgeous he was, like some androgynous nymph out of a Waterhouse painting, smooth and luscious, too perfect to be real. For the record, I do love today's older, rougher Hugh, who has managed, over time, to turn ass-hole-ish curmudgeonliness into a charming brand all his own.

My overall impression of Merchant Ivory flicks is that they are much like paintings: pretty to look at, and if you stare long enough, something in your field of view eventually moves, but it takes, like, days. Days. I don’t know if my attention span has been worn down over the decades like everyone else’s, or if these movies need some tighter editing, but good lord, at two hours and twenty minutes, not much happens in Maurice. Or is it EM Forster?  Maurice is a Forster adaptation; and similarly, so is A Room with a View, which also flows like molasses. I’ll never know if it’s the writing or the editing, because I’ve never read anything of Forster’s except for Room, which I attempted when I was a teenager and quit halfway through, because what in the fuck was he going onnnnn about? And I even had a better attention span back then, in the nineties. I said to my husband after Maurice ended, perhaps he and I needed a course on Forster to truly appreciate the literature and the movie adaptations. It’s unlikely to happen, but there it is.

Maurice follows the lead character, played by James Wilby, as he discovers and wrestles with his latent homosexuality. Hugh Grant plays Clive Durham, Maurice’s good school friend and first (unconsummated) love. The two men pal around London and the countryside as they age well into their twenties, spending time together and apart, both grappling with their sexual identities in different ways. The movie also casts a very cute Rupert Graves as Maurice’s first lover, and Ben Kingsley (with hair and a weird American accent—what a hoot) appears in a cameo as a shrink who attempts to hypnotize Maurice into heterosexuality.

My bitching isn’t a condemnation of Forster or Merchant Ivory; the film was a rather pretty little trifle to look at. I thought the story was good, and I love that a major film studio was tackling the horrors of being gay in Edwardian England so long ago (1987, when AIDS was still considered “the gay cancer.” —Hats off to them.) And I’m always game to watch pretty boys cavorting about. There was a good deal of that, one scene with full frontal nudity (gasp!)

Speaking of pretty boys, several feature in Cambridge Spies, which takes place about thirty years after Maurice, shortly before WWII. The prettiest of them is Toby Stephens, who is just dashing dressed in wide leg trousers, fedoras, and the well-tailored suits of the era. He plays Kim Philby, one of the notorious Soviet spies that comprised the group known in real life as the Cambridge Five. Rupert Penry Jones plays Donald Maclean; Samuel West is Anthony Blunt, and Tom Hollander is Guy Burgess. Since American public-school curriculum doesn’t teach any history but its own, (much of which is white-washed lies, but that’s a kvetch for another day), I never knew about the British turncoats until I watched this, which was last week. Yay for me.

Spies is a four-part miniseries, the last two episodes of which are far, far more entertaining and engaging than the first two. It’s good they decided to balance the episodes thusly, as I was ready to throw in the towel after the second one. The only reason I continued on was because I’d already invested time in watching the first 50 percent—in for a penny, in for a pound. I think the writers wanted the first two episodes for back-story and character development, but there is little that reveals the principals’ various motivations for spying other than that they were all friends at Cambridge, and they shared a deep hatred of fascism. Weird that that was all it took, right? I dunno, maybe I missed something—these were the two most boring episodes.

The entire series really belongs to Tom Hollander. He steals every scene he’s in; he has the best lines, the most cuttingly funny remarks, and he’s the craziest and loosest cannon of the bunch, hence, the most entertaining. Previously, I’d only known his work from 2005’s Pride and Prejudice (the boiled potatoes), and from his creepily-repressed turn as art critic John Ruskin in Desperate Romantics. He’s great and memorable in those, but he is phenomenal in Spies.

Hollander’s Burgess, as well as West’s Anthony Blunt, are gay men, compelling because they'd opted into an overwhelmingly straight-male power structure: espionage. Spies doesn’t really speak to this much, rather than to have Hollander portray Burgess as an out and proud gay man, I suppose as much as one could be on the brink of WWII in England. But it is striking to see the difference just three decades made in how gays were perceived by English society (or not) when you compare the attitudes on display in Maurice to those in Spies. Homosexuality was the worst sin one could commit in the world of Maurice; but by the time we get to Spies, it’s barely an issue. I suspect that homosexuality was still offensive to many in England at the time, as that country’s decriminalization law only took effect in 1967, but for some reason unknown to me, the writers and producers of Spies made it mostly a non-issue.

Overall, Spies was a good series, educational for me, at least, and I got to stare at Toby Stephens for four hours, including a couple safe-for-granny sex scenes. Would I write home about the show? —probably not, but it was not wasted time.

Tom Hollander’s best scene (and they’re all good) is a tantrum he throws during a trip to the States, where he drives across suburban lawns, destroying several white picket fences, then stands atop his car screaming “God Bless America” (in a good American accent), and decries this country’s never-acknowledged social and political hypocrisy.

Brilliant. And funny.

[severalpossiblemusiks]

Trick or treat!!!

You get...

Joel McNeely's 1996 soundtrack for "Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire".

With Star Wars having been dormant since 1983 and "The Return of the Jedi", and with plans in place for the 20th Anniversary and the upcoming Prequel Trilogy, George Lucas and Lucasfilm wanted to reignite interest in the franchise.

The solution: make all the media that would accompany a movie (novels, games, toys, etc.) but without the movie.

This was born "Shadows of the Empire", which had novels, comics, video games, tabletop RPGs, action figures, trading cards, toy models, and a soundtrack, but no movie. Instead the novels, comics, games, and soundtrack told the story, each having slightly different subplots, so a fan would need all the media to get the whole story.

The story follows the Rebels after the events of "The Empire Strikes Back" as they try to get the carbon-frozen Han Solo before he is taken to Jabba the Hutt. It also explains how Luke Skywalker got his green lightsaber and how the Bothans got the plans for the Second Death Star in "Return of the Jedi". It introduces characters like the Empire-aligned crime lord Prince Xizor, his human-replicant android assassin Guri, and the Han Solo stand-in Dash Rendar.

The soundtrack was composed by Joel McNeely, who made the Young Indiana Jones soundtracks for Lucasfilm. As John Williams was unavailable, McNeely used William's themes to great effect, and found the fact that the soundtrack didn't have to be strictly governed by being stuck in a film greatly freeing, allowing him to make each section as long or short or simple or complex as he wanted, while still matching the classic Star Wars soundtrack sound.

I'm not a big Star Wars fan, but I love these random extra media bits, usually tied into the Original Trilogy

[startold-a]

WHAT DOES YOUR HEART LOOK LIKE?

MAX -

broken, missing pieces that once were there

Your heart has been torn before, chipped and maybe even shattered. Some pieces will never be recovered, and you are shaped by the loss. But it can still be shaped into something tangible, something good, even with its flaws and imperfections. You don’t have to do all the work of rebuilding by yourself. Allow other hands to leave their fingerprints on the new heart you create from the remnants.

JONES -

a compass that doesn’t waver

You are someone who is certain of what you want. Maybe you always have been, or maybe you made a discovery that you haven’t been able to tear your eyes away from. Your heart is set and certain. You fight endlessly for your goals. Above all else, you know who you are and what you are trying to achieve. Just be careful not to tear yourself or others apart in pursuit of your ideals.