#(they weren't evil though it was a very interesting interview!)

[blueberry-beanie]

Claus aka the evil hospital manager

Die Anstalt vom Mai 2020

[nickjunesource]

Hi, What are your thoughts on the S6 trailer? Happy? Disappointed?

Hey!

We've got a range of feelings- as always we're excited for Nick, Janine, Tuello, and Lawrence, and we're quite curious about the absence of Rose and the build up of people striking back. Aside from that this teaser itself seemed a bit dull and the bits that weren't dull seemed very over the top and dramatic for a show that once prided itself for being realistic. We're also terribly irked by the Luke and Serena content and the repetitive Lydia bits even though all of those parts were not surprising. Of course we're operating without any context in a brief little teaser trailer, so it's really a wait and see until we can get more information from the full trailer, episode titles and synopses, press/interviews, and the episodes themselves.

Our full thoughts will be beneath the cut for length.

We're wondering what our fellow Osblaines think! Let us know by voting in the poll below!

Let's talk about the things that we liked first! It's always great to get things going on a positive note.

We got three definite Nick scenes in it! We love that! The full on camera shot, the meeting with Tuello, and in the background of Lawrence's investiture are all interesting scenes that have us speculating. He is also almost certainly present in the wedding- it's up for debate if he's the man at the front centre (likely as an officiant) or if he's standing next to Lawrence at the front to the left of the aisle, but we're comfortable predicting that he is there. It is also possible -and we want to emphasize that this is us just being really hopeful as to not set up false expectations- that Nick may be present at the Boston Globe with June. So that means four, possibly five Nick scenes in the teaser! Woohoo! Good things are coming for our man.

We're particularly intrigued by what is going on between Nick and Tuello. We can see information being exchanged in a dark and secretive area and that Tuello is dressed casually, but that's all. We are really looking forward to seeing this relationship develop and are cautiously optimistic that finally, finally, finally, Nick will have a resistance story and that it may be the most realistic of the resistance stories this season. We're also cautiously optimistic that Nick and Tuello will have a good and supportive relationship that moves into a more father-son direction rather than just government employee-spy. Nick really needs something like that in his life.

We love that frontal shot with the camera panning on Nick partially dressed down as he sits in front of what we presume is his fireplace. We have no idea what is going on there, but we can see a lot of emotions on him (less happy emotions though), so we're fascinated by what is happening. We suspect it's likely to do with Rose, who we didn't see at all in the teaser and who we have so many different speculations about!

The Lawrence scenes have us very curious- it's evident his power is growing, but is he using it for good or for evil? How is this going to shape his relationship with Nick? Will he die this season after climbing so high in the ranks?

Janine appears to be a Jezebel! And she does not look happy about it either. We're very happy to see that she's alive at least and are curious to see how she copes with this new situation. It breaks our hearts to see our girl suffering and we hope that she gets some happiness this season.

June as a Martha! And seeming to be involved in the dispersal process at Jezebels, perhaps helping Janine after someone does something to her and she strikes back at them. More interestingly, we see June running in front of a car. While we're torn between the driver being either Nick or Lawrence, we're hoping that we may get an Osblaine reunion then.

We love to see D'Arcy Carden joining the cast! We adored her in The Good Place and are curious to see what becomes of her character.

Our mixed thoughts and feelings go here:

So June seems to have infiltrated Gilead as a handmaid. On a logical sense, we're not entirely sure how this is supposed to work considering handmaids are the most visible members of Gilead society and June is public enemy number one. On the other hand, it seems like we may be getting some violence as a result and, provided it's directed at the right people, we're excited for a good passionate fight! At this point the realism of the show has been thrown out the window and while we long for the tighter, more realistic days of seasons 1 and 2, we can at least enjoy the drama of this.

The possibility of a red wedding. Unfortunately June has a not-so-great history of innocent people getting caught up in her actions. The wedding seems to have many Marthas and Econopeople at it, (most of) whom are innocent victims of Gilead, along with a vulnerable pregnant Rose, Nick, and Lawrence (depending on his choices this season). If this wedding appears to go the way that we speculate it may, many innocent people and resistance members will suffer alongside the perpetrators. That being said, we are excited by the possibility of many oppressors being taken down, albeit in a manner that unfortunately seems overly dramatic.

The lack of Osblaine. It sucks not to get to see them after such a long break and especially so after a lackluster previous season. However, we are very hopeful that we will get some good romance content! It is very possible that while we did not see anything obviously Osblaine in this trailer, that everything to do with this season is so amazing and so great that it can't possibly be shown. Historically speaking, the best Osblaine moments have been hidden. What is also possible is that due to current political situation (and that's all we're going to say on the subject) that they may be taking a more serious, rebellious tone in the marketing, more in line with what we saw in the first season rather than season four. Anyway, we love the idea that things for Osblaine are so good that we'd be far too spoiled if they were included in the teaser.

What we didn't like:

Luke being out of prison and seemingly rebelling and being reunited with June. We had a Luke and Juke overdose last season and were hoping for his presence to be seriously dialed back. Unfortunately that does not appear to be the case. While we're glad he only has one little clip in the teaser, we're not at all thrilled by the content of it. We're just trying to be hopeful that: a) they didn't bother to hide the Juke reunion as it is not significant nor of great interest to the audience, b) that Luke's rebellion will be clumsy and focused on matching up to Nick rather than about truly making the world a better place or righting his own wrongs, thus making it less noteworthy than the other resistance plots this season, and c) his line may not be directed to June at all.

Serena. We're bored of her. We don't really have a whole lot to say when it comes to her plot, we just hope that there's less retconning this season compared to the previous one and that her abuses are not downplayed.

Lydia's bits just feel like more of the same. We're well aware of her plot in The Testaments, but we do not have faith in this show's ability to get her to that point in a concise and realistic manner. They've spent the past three seasons spinning their wheels with her and ultimately going nowhere. We expect her change of heart to be dramatic and eye-roll worthy. "Oh no, my handmaid girls are actually treated terribly! I need a fainting couch!"

[doloresdisparue]

I feel like nobody talks about Daniel Handler of ASOUE fame calling Lolita 'kind of sexy' (to be fair, he did say in another interview it would be horrific if it were happening in real life, but what makes even the idea of it so appealing to him?) and flippantly justified calling it a love story because 'love is quite crazy'. Even more so, no one talks about how one of his villains is named after Dolores (Carmelita = portmanteau of Carmen and Lolita) and reads like a bad caricature of how people see her, as this insufferably bratty and evil child. Sometimes, I can't help but wonder what else if it weren't a children's series.

Interesting, I know next to nothing about Daniel Handler aside from the mention that he recommended Lolita as his favourite book on the Lolita podcast. I'm also not very familiar with the ASOUE books I have only seen the Netflix adaptation. Though I firmly believe Count Olaf and his disguises stem from the trend the Kubrick movie established of having Quilty chasing them in elaborate disguises wherever they go. And he does try to marry Violet even if it is ostensibly for inheritance reasons the subtext is very much there for adults who can pick up on it. I'm not sure Carmelita is named after Dolly, since the "-ita" type suffiix is very common in Spanish but I also don't remember that character. From this ask it sounds like he had a genuine fascination with the novel on a technical level (the unreliable narrator and all that jazz) and clocked the reality of it slightly better than a lot of other old writer men (I say this only because the bar is in hell) but still not well enough to not put his foot in his mouth about it. But as I said I personally haven't looked into it him at all and read neither his kids nor adult books. Any Handler literate followers want to weigh in here?

[the-bar-sinister]

The Nature of the Law (694 words) by thesavagesabretooth

-

Apollo listened eagerly, taking notes as Mr. Gavin interviewed their client.

After a while his boss turned to him with a sweet smile. "Today's an interesting day, Justice. This case is worth doing a little of our own investigation."

"Sir?" Apollo gave him a quizzical look. Defense Attorneys weren't strictly allowed on crime scenes after all– that was prosecutorial business.

Gavin wagged a finger at him however. "Tut tut, Justice. We won't do anything illegal, obviously. Come along. The game's afoot!"

-

They'd been poking around the scene of the crime for about an hour. Mr. Gavin had gotten permission from the detective in charge with a smiling conversation.

It was thrilling, really. Not part of the job that he typically had gotten to see yet in his internship. Not technically part of the job at all, though he knew his idol, Phoenix Wright was known for doing such things.

Still, the more they investigated, the more Apollo began to feel unsettled.

"Sir," Apollo finally said, pulling his boss aside quietly. "I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this."

Gavin cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? Do elaborate, Justice."

"Well…" he rubbed his arm, his fingers trailing over his old bracelet. "I'm starting to get the feeling that our client actually did it."

Kristoph Gavin smiled. "Oh, is that all? Yes, Justice, well spotted. That does seem to be the very likely probability. I've expected that the entire time. Even before I took her case."

Apollo looked up at him with wide eyes. "You did? But–"

"The law is absolute, Apollo," Kristoph said, lifting his chin up. "It is absolute, and it applies equally to every person, to widows and to orphans, in every case, without regard for pity. But courtroom procedure, thank lady justice, is part of the law. Our client may have killed someone, but we will see to it that the law does not find her guilty. I invoked Sherlock Holmes earlier, did I not?"

"You did," Apollo murmured.

"In the stories of Sherlock Holmes, it was solving the mysteries that were important to Holmes," Kristoph explained. "He often, in his mercy, let a criminal escape. Refused to explain the mystery or even lied to the police to allow it to be so. Sometimes the law and justice are incompatible."

"The law and justice are incompatible?"

"Sometimes," Kristoph said. "The law is absolute, as I said. It is a blunt instrument when its wielded by the prosecution, without pity and without mercy. We are Defense Attorneys. And it is our job– our duty– to protect our client from the law wherever we can. It is their right to a good defense."

"But…" Apollo wrinkled his nose. "But sir, she killed someone."

"Indeed," Kristoph agreed. "At least that would appear to be the case. But what do you think of the victim? Now that we've had a chance to do some investigating."

Apollo bit his lip, thinking over the evidence. He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. "It ah, it seems like he beat her quite badly, sir. For a long time."

"And do you think our client has suffered enough, perhaps?" Kristoph looked down at his student.

"I don't know, sir, that's not up to me to decide."

Kristoph shook his head. "No, Apollo Justice, it isn't. It's up to the judge to decide. The law is our battlefield, and we are defense attorneys. A defense attorney is a shield against the attack of the law. And the law attacks the evil, and the good with equal and pitiless ferocity. We must do our duty as a proper shield. If you would like to be a sword of the law instead, you will have to join the prosecution."

"I… understand, sir," Apollo said, thinking it over. "It just seems… morally dubious."

"Perhaps, Justice. But the law and morality aren't the same thing. The law is a great web in which we are all ensnared. Thank lady justice that the web has as many holes as it does strands, wouldn't you say?"

Kristoph offered his hand to his pupil. "Now come along, Justice, and we'll properly prepare our shield at the office."

[rindecisions]

A Being of Bad Luck Based on From Hell and Back

Teen+ | 824 | Demon Eddie

Find the rest and more here

Art by @lady-lostmind

Written for @batboysxprompts Friday the 13th prompt | Luck

༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒༒

Contrary to popular belief, angels and demons weren’t enemies. In fact, they intrinsically required the other. Every demonic regiment had a direct angelic counterpart. One side thrived on creation, the other on consumption.

Where the angels of love created pure bonds of intimacy, the demons of lust altered them to a tainted desire, consuming the result. And where the demons of wrath created misfortune, the angels of patience consumed it to promote peace and order.

Typically, these jobs were done in the realm of the dead. Be it in Heaven or Hell, their tasks could be completed with ease without a physical form and without directly interacting with humans. How this was accomplished was an incomprehensible feat and contained knowledge that would be best left for the afterlife.

As a demon of Hell, Eddie was one of millions, and that was just within his own legion. Each demon and angel may have had their own look, just as humans did, but that didn’t make him particularly special. He had a job, as did everyone else. It wasn’t a hard job, and it brought him at least a little joy. Eddie was a Discord, also known as a bad luck demon, meaning it was his job to create minor misfortune.

When Steve summoned him into the realm of the living, that didn’t mean Eddie could take a break from his hereafter job, it just meant he had to get creative. Causing chaos and misfortune while being stuck in a physical body was a bit harder than Eddie had expected, especially when most of his time was spent in Steve’s tiny apartment.

From Hell, he could reach various parts of the globe with minimal effort. Here he was anchored. Thanks to his powers, though, he could make the most of his time by effecting what he could see from Steve’s windows.

One of the things ethereal and infernal beings had to contend with was freewill. Some found it an annoying hurdle, to others it was a stimulating challenge. They were unable to influence a human’s freewill up to a point, and things like possession were unavailable to those that weren't physically in the same realm. The person had to be willing or asleep to some degree in order for them to influence their actions directly, and if the person willed it hard enough, they could break any control. The more powerful the being, the more willpower it took to break the control. Demons like Eddie, well, they were of the weakest variety. Meaning him and his cohorts needed to get creative with their influence.

Bad luck was an interesting subsection of wrath. In and of itself, bad luck didn’t breed wrath, but it was commonly met with it. A puddle on the side of the road or a shine off of a mirror wouldn’t inspire anger by themselves, but if a blinding light encouraged someone to stop in their tracks, just in time for a car to run through a puddle beside them, the resulting splash on the outfit they wore for an interview would absolutely insight frustration, at the very least.

He couldn’t help but smile when there was clear intervention from an angel. Being a demon didn’t mean he was evil, and being an angel didn’t mean they were good. It was simply a case of morals. Eddie had no issues ruining someone’s day, but that didn’t stop him from enjoying when it was ultimately made better as a result.

As anger bubbled up in the man that was splashed, it was quelled when a waiter from a street-side restaurant came running up with some towels. The list of angel legions that could have encouraged that was long, and there’s always the chance that it was purely a human action.

“Ready to watch those movies I picked up?” Steve asked, towel drying his hair as he walked out of the shower.

Eddie spun away from the large window with a wide grin. “Did you get that Beetle-what’s-it movie?” he asked eagerly.

Could Eddie have made the tile under Steve’s foot slick enough for him to slip? Easily, but he didn’t enjoy causing Steve bad luck. Plus, he was stuck living with him. Even if Steve was hot when he was mad, he preferred him happy. Instead, he just caused mischief around him.

He quietly clicked his claws behind his back, and while you couldn’t hear the shout due to the thick walls of the apartment, Steve’s neighbor just fell in the tub while washing her dog.

“Beetlejuice?” Steve corrected with a laugh. “Yeah, I got it.”

“Sweet!” Eddie exclaimed, jumping into the air and staying there. “What about—”

“Ghostbusters Two?” Steve guessed. By Eddie’s bright eyes, he could assume he was right. “Yeah, I got that too.”

“I could kiss you,” Eddie beamed, swiftly flying up to Steve and doing just that.

Steve draped the towel around his neck and smiled into the kiss.

@steddiebang

[zachsgamejournal]

PLAYING: Resident Evil 7

I know I'm about 3 years late to the party, but I was hesitant to trust that Capcom could get back in touch with their Survival Horror roots.

My very regrettable mistake...

So: Resident Evil for PS1/Saturn was great!

Cinematic Storytelling: The game could be completed in under 2 hours (if you knew what you were doing). So that means you're not spending days to get through a feature-film level story (unlike SOME games). It makes the plot and characters a more crucial part of the experience.

Puzzles: Sure, the puzzles are little wacky: like clicking buttons under pictures in chronological order or you get attacked by well-trained zombie birds. But it made the game more than moving from point-a-to-b. It's about exploring and understanding your environment. Speaking of which...

The Environment: The Mansion (and it's other areas) was a character unto itself. It had secrets and a past. And since the game wasn't designed as a series of sequential levels, you really get to know the environment.

Zombies: Zombies were not the mainstream success they are now. Hell, Vampires were just barely getting attention through Interview the Vampire. I became obsessed with zombies and bought all 3 major films in existence.

Such a different time...

Anyway, the point, RE1 was great, RE2 was better, RE: Code Veronica was pretty good, and RE4 is stupid.

Well...not stupid, but it completely changed Resident Evil, and not for the better. While folks loved RE4, it really was the start of a new franchise, which RE5 and RE6 followed. And that's fine--except they sacrificed what Resident Evil was to make way for this new product.

Succinct, mystery-driven storytelling was replaced with nonsensical twist and turns that did little to grow the overall world or its characters. They just stretched contrived cliffhangers across overlong campaigns of mass murder.

Puzzles, as best i can remember, were sacrificed for challenge rooms filled with enemies while the player looked for the exit switch.

The environment, as great as the graphics were, simply became battle zones meant to offer shallow context to the bloodbath gameplay. RE4 did have a strong aesthetic, but you don't get to know each room and hall like you do in the classics. Nothing but well-dressed strangers to high-five as you pass by.

And what happened to the Zombies. I mean, they still had zombies--but they weren't zombies. Whatever. Resident Evil has always had a diverse set of monsters. They didn't have to sacrifice zombies...

All this to say, Resident Evil 7 is awesome!

The opening was a little cheesy with poorly synced dialog and a helicopter shot of Louisiana swampland I'm sure they stole from True Detective stock footage.

But once I took over the character, I was hooked. The game looks great on my phone and TV via Stadia. I enjoyed walking through the woods and house, looking at every little detail the artists meticulously placed.

I've seen most of a playthrough on Youtube (though I was distracted). So I kind of knew what to expect. It's way more intense when you play. Having dialog and cutscenes playout without leaving the first person camera is great at making you feel "there". So all that goes down and I end up in the house for dinner.

Watching this bit on YouTube, I was a little turned off by the obvious Chainsaw Massacre connections: but original RE was heavily influenced by horror films, why not this? (I also have a better understanding of this family cause I know some things.)

Once I gained control, roaming around the kitchen/dining/living room area was great. I was seeing hints to future puzzles, scavenging for supplies, and finding notes giving clues to events that were happening. Very Resident Evil.

I struggled a bit trying to get away from Jack. Since they gave me a hiding spot, I assumed stealth was gonna be a major component. Nope. Not really. Eventually I get to the save room (A SAVE ROOM!!) and then on to the garage fight.

I wasted all my ammo when I probably just needed to grab the car keys. Lesson learned. Jack trying to run me over was kind of crazy, and maybe a little laughable since I was just swiping at him with a pocket knife for five minutes.

After that, more of the house opens up. It's insanely huge and illogically designed. While it creates some great hallways, and helps the designers break the home up into controllable sections: there's no house build like this: wtf...

Going into the basement reminded me of RE2. The molded, I think, are people the family has kidnapped and infected with something. Some change and some don't. Know they've turned into very lethal zombie-esque creatures. Since they're infected people stumbling about, I'm gonna say they've rekindled the zombie. Kinda.

To fight these guys, I've resorted to my pocket knife. Saves ammo. I basically dance around them like I did guards in Thief, wacking where I can. Eventually I chop off their hands, often without taking damage. But the crab guy in the incinerator required a shotgun blast.

One of the fights, he cut off my leg and I was crawling around. I thought it was a scripted scene (I mean, I lost my arm already). Nope. You're supposed to pick it up and reattach it. Ah-well.

Jack wandering around the new area was frustrating. It seemed I could never lose him, so wasted a lot of health and ammo stunning him. His boss fight was pretty rough. I nearly gave up. It took some time getting used to the chainsaw. Right as I was about to switch to easy, I had a near perfect run and defeated him. My wife laughed at the way I was squirming on the couch trying to get a hit in without being cut in half!

Made it to the old house with the bugs. This went way faster. It reminded me of the guard house from RE1, which also had giant wasps. Without Jack or molded zombies, it was actually really easy to explore the house and solve its secrets. Once the old lady showed up, I thought I could lure her away from the exit room. She didn't buy it, so I just ran past her.

When it came to her boss fight, it reminded me a lot of Laughing Octopus in Metal Gear Solid. Which that boss was practically a horror movie in of itself. I thought the flame thrower was gonna be the way to go, but a guide suggested focusing on her belly. And I kept running out of fuel, then being harassed by flies. So I opted for the shotgun and had a successful run.

About a year and a half ago, I played through the original RE as Chris. I remember there was a point about a third of the way through that I had about seven rounds of pistol ammo, and a single green herb--yet several zombies stood in my way. I wasn't sure I was going to make it. But then, I unlocked the shotgun and the game became a breeze. Suddenly I had too much ammo, and too many healing items!

That has kind of happened here. I'm doing well on healing items (though I've used up my shotgun). Still, I feel confident sprinting around and doing quick searches of spaces. I don't even fight the molded much anymore.

Getting into Zoe's trailer was interesting, but you can interact with her bra. I thought that was kind of pervy. I'm guessing Zoe is a part of the family? I imagine she's some how the source.

I think it's great they keep putting the grandma in different places without explanation. The way she looks at you sometimes is creepy...

I'm not a huge fan of the VHS flashbacks. Often, they have you play areas you've either already played or will play. While it's inspired some game ideas of my own, it just feels like a cheap gimmick to get more playtime.

Anyway, this really does feel like a reboot of Resident Evil. It's capturing the strong environmental storytelling of the originals, and making it more about the horror, less about the action. I'm actually getting into the plot and mystery. I look forward to getting my answers.