#But I would kill for a movie version of the globe I would spend all day translating the language and just analyzing it | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

nikibogwater · 4 years ago

Note

What did you think of Nari's characterization in ROTT?

Disliked it, as with most of the other things in the movie.

The short version of it is this: In Wizards, Nari's primary character traits were empathy and compassion for others. In Rise of the Titans, her primary character traits seem to be just a general lack of awareness for what's happening around her, and a tendency to make light of very serious situations.

Now before I get into the long-form answer, I will preface by saying that the writers of RotT were at a severe disadvantage when writing for characters who were introduced in Wizards because Wizards was still in production at the time. So I understand why Nari ended up feeling like a completely different character in the movie, and I am not shaming anyone for it. But the fact of the matter is that I found her characterization in Wizards to be much more appealing, and if that characterization had carried over to Rise of the Titans, I think I would've had slightly warmer feelings towards the movie. But let's get down to brass tacks now, because I've actually been dying to talk about this. This is gonna be a loooooong boi, so I've put everything under the cut to avoid clogging people's queues (I'm just really passionate about this bean goddess, okay? 😅)

When Nari is introduced to us in Wizards, she is quietly watching the arrival of our heroes at the castle. She doesn't make herself known to them, but it is clear she is very interested in what's happening. She does not make any other appearance until the Arcane Order launches their assault on Camelot.

Nari's first spoken words are, "Merlin! This is all my fault!" and as one would expect after hearing this, she is very obviously distressed and feeling guilty for putting everyone in danger. Merlin tells her they need to escape to the past, and that he needs her help in order to do it. Nari's response is to begin charging her magic as she says "I will do what I can."

After our main characters are thrown back in time, we're introduced to Nari as she was in the past. Although she is allied with the Arcane Order in their war against humanity, it's clear that she displays the least amount of malice out of the three. In fact, it's revealed that Nari has always been rather fond of humans, and has even reached out to them in friendship a number of times. After resurrecting Morgana, Nari is the one who does most of the explaining and introductions, showing a bit of a playful/mischievous side as she pokes fun at Bellroc and Skrael. ("I told you she would, Skrael! So old, and they still haven't learned manners.")

During the Battle of Killahead, we see Nari watching the war from a distance, and it's clear from the expression on her face that she is not liking any of this. Though she does briefly aid her siblings when they join in the battle, she reveals afterwards that she can sense the pain and suffering they have inflicted on others--and she doesn't believe the Order's ambitions are worth that. She abandons the Order, presumably spending the next 900 years in hiding, before seeking Merlin's protection.

Once our heroes have returned to the present, Nari becomes a bit more involved in the plot. She expresses genuine sorrow over the destruction of Arcadia Oaks High ("Your beautiful school-home was crushed!") and is clearly distressed by Jim's agony as the shard in his chest begins to work its dark magic. ("Poor soul! Your corruption...I feel it worsening.") After Jim is taken by the Order, we can see her comforting Toby in the background. She continues to show great concern and empathy for the people around her, and is still eager to help wherever she can, though her magic doesn't seem to be combat-oriented. She is also shown to be somewhat timid, hiding behind Merlin or Claire during confrontations with the Order--she is very clearly terrified of her old allies, and seems to want to avoid direct contact with them. When Douxie is struck down by the Order and is falling to his death, it is Nari who runs to try to save him before anyone else--apparently, if someone is in need, Nari's first instinct is to rush to their aid.

So, from all of that, we can gather that Nari, as she was characterized in Wizards, is intelligent, curious, cautious, gentle, empathetic, and very aware of what's going on around her. She is also a little playful and wild, but never to the point of disregarding what's happening or how others are feeling.

In Rise of the Titans, Nari remains consistent with this characterization for all of...seven minutes.

Initially, Nari is still very much herself in this scene (though I wish we could've been told what exactly made her want to stop running and face the Order head-on. Again, in Wizards, it was abundantly clear that that was the one thing she did NOT want to do). When Douxie expresses his anxiety about the situation, she takes him by the hand, offers him a reassuring smile, and says, gently but firmly, "No. No more running, Douxie." Excellent interaction. 10/10. Five stars. That's also the only time in the movie where Nari displays any level of awareness regarding Douxie's (or anyone's) feelings/wellbeing.

The body-swap scene is when Nari's character just completely swings in the opposite direction, and she becomes near-unrecognizable as being the same character from Wizards. Douxie, being our favorite Self-Sacrificing Idiot, swaps bodies with her at the last possible second, causing the Order to take him instead. Nari, now stuck inside Douxie's body, seemingly doesn't think much of this development at all. In fact, her first response is to giggle playfully. UM, NARI. NARI, SWEETIE, YOUR BIG BROTHER IS IN THE CLUTCHES THE MOST EVIL BEINGS KNOWN TO MANKIND. LIKE, THEY LITERALLY KILLED HIM THE LAST TIME HE RESCUED YOU FROM THEM, WHY ARE YOU NOT MORE WORRIED ABOUT THIS?! Up until this point, Nari has never been shown to underestimate the Arcane Order--she seems all too aware of the kind of violence and destruction they are capable of, which explains why she was so terrified of them in Wizards. But in Rise of the Titans she seems to just....not really care anymore? The entire time she is in Douxie's body, she doesn't express the slightest amount of concern for him, or for anyone around her. She just keeps doing...cutesy forest gremlin things, like singing to her flower, batting at a light fixture, and antagonizing Archie (she's definitely not the only character who was severely lacking in empathy in this movie, but this is an essay about Nari, so I'm not going to bother touching on everyone else). This is a direct contradiction to her characterization in Wizards, where she was shown to care deeply for the people around her, and displayed genuine distress whenever they were in danger or suffering.

Nari also persists in being pointlessly cryptic for the entirety of the movie because....reasons. Before the Order breaks Douxie's body-swap spell, she tells Jim, "Trollhunter make ninth configuration--the Kronosphere will make right." Which, of course, doesn't help him in the slightest. And when they finally succeed in rescuing Nari, she doesn't elaborate or explain this at all. She just says it again. Listen, I can get behind Nari being Insanely Ancient, and maybe a little out of touch with modern trends, but I'm fairly certain that Wizards Nari at least knew how to communicate. She never showed any inclination towards being cryptic or mysterious on purpose, at least. We're never given any explanation for Nari's sudden lack of clarity, so I guess it was just there for plot reasons. Which makes it that much more infuriating.

Also I don't know why, but the little "Hehe!" Nari does when Douxie pulls her into a hug kind of grinds my gears, because Nari, love, this is a really serious moment, you were just snapped out of mind control and your siblings are currently rampaging across globe in giant magical mechs, why are you giggling like a four-year-old and not, idk, SOBBING IN A MIXTURE OF RELIEF AND HORROR BECAUSE YOU WERE ALMOST PART OF WHAT DESTROYS THE EARTH?! AS THAT WOULD BE A MORE APPROPRIATE RESPONSE TO WHAT JUST HAPPENED????!!!!! But that's just a stupid little nitpick.

Now this is not me saying that Nari's characterization in the movie is objectively bad. Actually, it's kind of fitting for the Tales of Arcadia brand of humor--Super ancient demigoddess who houses the power to completely destroy the earth is also kind of a clueless ditz and needs to be babysat like a toddler. If she had not been introduced in Wizards, I would've been fine with this. But, much like the rest of the movie, Nari's vastly different characterization felt a tiny bit like a betrayal, and it consistently bothered me in every single one of her scenes. It also kept me from feeling the full impact of her death--seriously, I didn't cry at all when she was killed. Which....yeah, I'm just as surprised as you are.

So anyways, if you've made it this far, thank you so much for the ask, Non! Normally I have a bit more self control than to just....essay-dump like this, but honestly I've been thinking about this for way too long, and I had to get it out of my system. 🥴 And to anyone who really liked Nari's characterization in RotT--that's totally valid! Again, I don't think it was a bad characterization. It was just very inconsistent with her character as she was introduced to us in Wizards. And I just happen to prefer Wizards Nari over RotT Nari. 🌿✨

#tales of arcadia #toa #rise of the titans #rott spoilers #toa nari #niki answers #long post

37 notes · View notes

terra-fatalis · 4 years ago

Text

Aerith & Marlene: a special bond

Marlene Wallace is a little sweet 4 years old child and Barret’s adoptive daughter.

The strange interaction between Aerith and Marlene in Chapter 12 of the Remake raises the mistery: what kind of information did Aerith share with this kid? And, more importantly, why?

This scene brought up a longstanding question too: is Marlene a Cetra?

I don't presume to have an answer! I have no idea about what the devs have in mind for this character. With this post I'll just try to highlight all the elements that showed the bond between Aerith and Marlene in the FFVII compilation.

Key Art

Since the early concepts of this character, Marlene’s been represented holding a flower. Nothing really strange, if it were not for the fact that flowers in Midgar are true rarety and are mainly related to Aerith.

Marlene is in Barret’s key art. The picture is more or less the same both for the OG and for the Remake and it depicts Barret and Marlene staring at the flower bed in Aerith’s church, even if this specific scene has never been showed in any entry.

Final Fantasy VII

In the OG Tifa asked Aerith to rescue Marlene from Seventh Heaven before the collapse of Sector 7 plate. They spent a relatively short time together, but Marlene became immediately very fond of Aerith and never forgot her.

The player could find again Marlene with Elmyra, while Aerith had been kidnapped by Shinra. Marlene told Cloud that Aerith liked him and she got really angry if he didn't answer in an interested way (”Stupid!”). But if he answered in a positive way she was also aware that it was the kind of information that could hurt Tifa (”I won’t tell Tifa”).

If the player had the date with Aerith, Marlene recognized her voice and, later, Cait Sith said she got really sad when she came to know about Aerith's death.

Marlene appeared again at the very end of the game where she perceived Aerith's presence when the Lifestream started to erupt from the surface of earth to reject Meteor.

On the Way to a Smile

Marlene appears also in the novel On the way to a smile, especially in Case of Tifa. She is described to be a very sensitive and mature child:

It was Marlene who noticed the changes in Cloud (...) Marlene was an observant child, sensitive to the grown-ups’ moods.

Maybe Marlene thought Tifa wasn’t listening when she said in a small, lonely voice, “Cloud and Tifa aren’t getting along”.

This would mean nothing if taken out of context but I think it fits the continuity of her character development until Advent Children, the entry where she is openly depicted to be a little copy of Aerith.

Advent Children

At the beginning of the movie Marlene is the narrator that resumes the events concerning Meteorfall, the Lifestream and the battle against Sephiroth.

She has the same hairstyle and pink ribbon as Aerith, and her white outfit slightly recalls Aerith’s dress from Crisis Core. Her skirt and socks are decorated with floral motives.

She behaves like Aerith: she is blunt, encouraging and she always sais what she thinks

Her room is full of interesting elements:

There’s a pink sleeveless dress in a corner

There are various pictures of flowers hung on the walls and a vase of Aerith’s flowers on the windowsill

There’s a picture of a church and the photo of the flower bed in Aerith’s church

(Yes I know, the quality of the images is really bad. I’m looking forward for the 4K version of the movie in June).

Marlene has sort of a healing role toward Denzel, since she takes care of him when he has Gestigma symptoms (in the movie and the novels) and she is the only child who has no Geostigma. The Remnants seem to understand that she’s different from the other children and they keep a close watch on her

When she arrives at the church she tends the flowers like Aerith used to

When Loz’s going to kill Tifa she distracts him throwing a globe of Materia that looks exactly like White materia

She senses where Cloud has Geostigma (he has a puzzled look when she askes if it hurts, as if she wasn’t supposed to know it)

When Aerith intervenes in the battle she can feel her presence (in the Japanese version she sais お姉ちゃん, which means “older sister”).

Final Fantasy VII Remake

In the Remake Aerith meets Marlene in the same way as she did in the OG but this time Tseng finds them immediately at Seventh Heaven (I’m not sure if this is meant to be a relevant change or just a revised and more realistic way to show the scene, all we know is that the Whispers didn’t intervene). Despite this change something “strange” happens between them anyway...

Marlene, who was crying frightened, immediately calms down and hugs Aerith again. She notices that she smells like “their flower”, to which Aerith answers:

as if she already knew they won’t spend much time together in the future.

Before Barret and the others leave to save Aerith from Shinra, Marlene tries to warn her father saying he should help Aerith but she can’t explain the real reason.

And dulcis in fundo, at the end of the game, Marlene, once again, can perceive the “presence” of someone. In this case it’s her daddy calling her name.

And that’s all for now!

I have no idea how the story is going to develop in the next entries of the Remake, but maybe it is not so wrong to think that this young character will have a more important role in the future!

#FFVII #FFVII Remake #Marlene Wallace #barret wallace #Aerith Gainsborough #Is Marlene a cetra?#advent children

82 notes · View notes

ticklikeabomb · 4 years ago

Text

Grouch - Part 8 (Finale)

Pairing : Steve Rogers x Plus Size Reader ; Avengers x Plus Size Reader

Warning : Language ; Angst ; Death of Characters ; Fluff

Word Count : 1.9k

Disclaimer : I do not own the characters, nor the universe where they were created and interact in. This series/fiction is only for entertainment purposes.

He cleared his throat before declaring, “I talked to Wanda. She’s in.” “Bucky?”, you ask and he nods.

The room stays silent for what feels like an eternity, the only sound being your breathing. Not taking it anymore, Steve reduces the distance between you and crashes his lips with yours in a painful kiss, the warmth of your mouths consuming each other. “Fuck I missed you so much”, he breaths in your face, his hands squeezing your waist against yours. “I missed you too”, you breath out before claiming his lips in a feverish kiss. Your hands cup his face, your eyes on each other, “I hate this secret”, you whisper. “We’ll be free soon sweetheart. Just one more mission”, he says. You nod and declare, “Kill the Avengers!” He nods, lifts you up and lays you on the bed, his lips and hands claiming your body and soul the way only he knows how to do.

“We have a code red”, F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice and alarm echoed in the compound. The Avengers stood immediately up from the couch where you were previously relaxing in front of a movie, to join their respective rooms and change. You stood up, a little lost, not knowing what to do. “Follow me”, exclaimed Tony. You did as such and before you could argue if it was a good idea of you joining them, Tony handed you a revised version of your suit. “Suit up”, he declared and addressed a wink your way. “Thanks”, the whisper leaving your lips. You were in the middle of zipping your jacket and marching towards the main room, Iron Man at your side, when he covered your body with his body before the the windows blew, the explosion propulse both of you back.

“Hydra managed to break in, Sir”, you faintly heard F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice echo in the room. “Yeah we noticed”, sarcastically replied Tony, adjusting his hand propulsors. “You okay”, he quickly turned towards you and immediately flew out the pulverized windows after you nodded. Activating the earpiece, you hear Steve inquire if everyone was alright. “Yup”, you replied, running towards the Hydra men coming your way and engaging the fight. After taking them down, you made your way to the main hall were the Avengers were fighting the equivalent of a hundred men. “How the hell did they enter?”, shouted Natasha with greeted teeth. From the corner of your eyes, you saw Barnes simultaneously being manhandled by four Hydra agents. You ran and kick one of them so hard against the wall that he immediately lost consciousness, creating an enough surprise for Bucky to retake control of the situation.

The fight continued until her voice was heard shouting, “ENOUGH.” The Hydra agents stopped their movements like the obedient little dogs they were. Madame Hydra made her entrance like she just descended from Olympus itself. “I got to admit you’ve got some balls just bursting in the Avengers’s compound like it was no biggie”, Stark said before landing in the middle, the rest of team dispersed at every corner of the room. “It wasn’t difficult”, Madame Hydra replied with venom and confidence. She advanced at Stark’s level who took his helmet down, looking him up and down. “No need for more fuss. I just passed by getting to get back my pets”, she said her eyes switching from you to Barnes. “Not gonna happen”, replied Natasha. Madame Hydra’s laugh coldly echoed around the room, “Are you sure about that?”, she challenged the Black Widow.

Stepping back to where she previously was, she said “Well, I’m sorry my visit must be cut short. We have a world to blow up.” Turning around at the Avengers, she firmly declared, “Kill them!” As soon as her words fell from her mouth, you pointed your gun towards Natasha, while Bucky pointed his towards Sam. Tony was about to activate his armor in defense, when Wanda advised him otherwise, her hands glowing towards Vision and Hulk. Shocked he faced back to Madame Hydra when he was met with Steve pointing a gun at him. “What the hell Rogers?”, he whisper-yelled angrily. “Sorry Tony. Looks like you’re not such a genius after all if you didn’t see it coming. We needed to infiltrate the team, make you think we were with you, gain your trust and man how easy was that.”

“Why are you doing this?”, spat Natasha towards you. “You used to be a double agent, you know how it works. Plus, I don’t like the way you look at my man”, you responded. Her eyes flicked to Bucky but you chuckled, “Not him.” Her eyes widened, finally realizing you were talking about Steve. Sam’s rage was painted on his eyes, “I hate you”, he mumbled at Bucky who smirked amused. “Wanda, love, you don’t want to do this”, Vision’s voice filled the room, everyone’s antics making Madame Hydra roll her eyes. “You have no idea what I want”, Wanda commented her eyes glowing more and more.

She concentrated her strength, managed to use Vision’s stone power and project it at Hulk. The combination of hers and the soul stone’s power were what got to be the Hulk’s end. When the strongest of the Avengers was down, Wanda used her powers to destroy Vision’s stone and him along. You and Bucky pressed your triggers, ending two more Avengers. “I thought we were friends Steve”, Tony’s voice trembling. “Hail Hydra”, chanted Steve before pressing the trigger, killing the most famous man on the planet.

The silence in the room was broken by Madame Hydra’s applause and laugh, while all four of you harbored stern expressions. “Wow, you really did it. I’m so proud of you”, she nodded yours and Steve’s way. “And look at you Soldat, back home”, she smiled at him. Her gaze then landed to Wanda. “You. You are the surprise. I didn’t think you would join.” Wanda simply shrugged, “Stark killed my family, so I killed his.”

“Good, good”, the boss exclaimed content. “Let’s go back to work.” “There’s one left”, you declared. She looked at you perplexed and that’s when Steve took the opportunity and shot her. The other Hydra agents reached out to their guns but Wanda stopped them. “I’m your new leader now”, declared Steve firmly. You and Bucky took place next to him. “Either you follow Captain Hydra’s command or you can join Viper”, exclaimed Bucky while pointing at their former leader. No one opposing to the change of leadership, the four of you left without looking back at the carnage inside, your mission fulfilled.

At Steve’s command, Hydra was prospering, the organization’s plans taking form. You and Steve could finally be together without hiding yourselves. Proving your loyalty, the high placed trusted Steve and your team with the placement of all Hydra bases, requiring the four of you to personally train the new recruits, since you knew all the opponent’s tactics.

Everything was going perfectly fine until one day all Hydra bases were targeted at the same time across the globe. Steve, Bucky, Wanda and you were in the middle of a meeting with the organization’s high bosses when the building’s alarm echoed. You managed to take them safely outside, leading them to a secret panic room but were stopped by them.

Standing in front of you were the Avengers in all their glory. “Well well well, look who we found”, exclaimed Tony with a large smile. Passing the initial shook, one of Hydra’s leaders looked at Steve and cursed him, “You lying bastard. You played us. And you! You –“, “I what? Come on spill it”, you encouraged him menacingly, the vibranium plates whirring. “I think they should know, don’t you”, interrupted Tony.

“Your little leader and Assets here have been double, triple crossing? I lost count but the important information here is that they made you think that they were Hydra, pretty good I might add. Almost too good”, said Tony. Natasha took the rest of the explanation in hand, “Anyway, they tricked you into believing that they were Hydra and infiltrated the Avengers in order to kill us but of course they’ve always been on our side. They fake killed us, infiltrated you and gathered all the intel they needed to locate ALL the bases and destroy them from within.”

“The real question here is when in the hell did you two become a couple”, Stark turned towards you and Steve. You both declared at the same time with a smile at the corner of your lips, “2014″. “How?”, counterattacked Sam. “Fury”, you both mumbled. “After Shield fell and I lost Bucky’s track, I knew that the only way I could be a step ahead was to infiltrate Hydra. That’s when Fury introduced me to Y/N who was already infiltrated. She told me the do’s and don’ts and yeah”, explained Steve.

“Returning to out little revelation. How are we alive? Easy, thanks to my super genius brain and Stark hologram system who molded us and who were the ‘real victims’. Tadaaa”, finished Stark. “You’re fools if you think that you extinguish Hydra that easily. Cut one head and two more wi-“, “Yeah yeah we know the song”, you cut him off. “What’s the status?”, Bucky nodded at the Avengers. “All the bases have been hit”, replied Sam. “Good”, you exclaimed before shooting the remaining Hydra leaders.

There was a tension in the air, the silence finally being cut by Natasha’s comment, “You really shot me in the tit? Not cool.” You chuckled and made your way, engulfing her in a hug. “Sorry.” Everyone greeted each other after spending weeks apart, ones pretending being dead and the others being part of a not so secret evil organization. You went all home to the compound, enjoying being back with the team again. After a well-deserved shower, everyone joined in the living room, a drink in hand. “So, there’s a question that keeps coming back in my mind. I finally want to know what the hell was going on between you and Bucky?”, asked Sam confused.

You chuckled and looked at Bucky who encouraged you to explain. “Well, we never hated each other, just pretended it to keep mine and Steve’s a secret. Even though I have to admit that sometimes you pushed it bro”, you said and looked at Bucky. “Excuse me, you literally put a gun in my hand and obliged me to shoot you.” “Yeah yeah, you still crying about that”, you joked. “No but we’re actually pretty good friends. Bucky saved me when I was a child. I could never thank him enough for it and for keeping Steve and my cover intact”, you continued. “You have nothing to thank me for, I did what I had to do. Also sorry for you know, all the horrible things that were said, I absolutely didn’t mean it.”

The rest of the night continued of you explaining your infiltration more in detail. At some point, Steve stood up to grab himself another glass of mead. Tony plastered himself next to him. “So, what now?”, he asked the blond. He turned towards the scene, looking at you. “I guess now that I’ve found the right partner, I’m finally ready to settle down. Haven’t decided where yet. A farm, cottage or in a small island, maybe.” “You’re retiring on me old man?” Steve chuckled and nodded, “That’s exactly what I’m doing.” Stark nodded, “Alright, we’ll handle the paperwork tomorrow. Enjoy your final night with us then.”

Steve sat down next to you, your eyes looking up at him. He leaned and whispered “I love you” in your ear. “Love you too”, you whispered back and felt his lips leave a peck on your forehead. You pressed against his warmth, glad to have this whole Hydra episode behind you and finally be able to love him fully and openly.

*credit of gifs and picture to owners*

PERMANENT TAG LIST : @arrowswithwifi @poetic-pixie @theshortegg @kyber-hearts-and-stardust-souls @prettybubblesintheair @yafriendlyfangirl @marshmallow-witch @ms-cellanies @the-feckless-wonder @cfisher290 @thefangirltheycallviolet @river-fics @lilulo-12 @fanfictionrecommendations-com @spetzerfehn @angieptt @wayward-timetravel-collecter @ashley17jacobs @lokithedancingqueen @wildsoul1221 @introvertedsin @robertconradjr @francezka10 @titty-teetee @breezy1415 @nerdypinupcrystal @hhiggs @paintballkid711

SERIES TAG LIST: @lianadelphius @buckysthing @alicedopey @leasly @nopevilleluas @chaoticfiretaconerd @sailorgirl00 @coolest-avenger @mikaelasingswritesloves @havlindzk @everything-is-awesomesauce @supernatural-agricultural-angel @paracosmfantasy @superavengerpotterstar @shookmcgookqueen @thequeenreaders @starrykitn @el-dibidibidorado1 @krazykatkay456 @im-an-angel-of-the-lord-you-ass @thebookisbtr @cracked-pean @sslytheringhufflepufff

76 notes · View notes

twoblueheartslocked · 4 years ago

Text

Para: December/January Flashback.

Rating: PG.

Pairing: Seblaine. (And Seblaine is still very much the endgame.)

Sebastian: @colorsicantsee

Blaine: @twoblueheartslocked

Time: Four years before the events of ( Hold On To The Memories, They Will Hold On To You ) Events taking place in December/January of Blaine’s Senior Year and Sebastian’s Junior Year. Blaine (17) Seb(16).

Location: Sebastian’s House. Westerville, Ohio

Info: Blaine’s parents are tragically killed in an icy car accident on Sunday, December 28, the day after Blaine and Sebastian spend their incredible night together. A devastated Blaine deals with the aftermath of his parents death in the only way he knows how which results in two very broken hearted teenage boys.

Warnings(PLEASE READ THIS): This para includes mentions of parental death(Both) and a whole bunch of self loathing. There’s a break up and it does not have a happy ending for our boys. This was not fun to write at all, but remember they’re very much endgame- soulmates.

Extra Warnings: (This RP is not Kurt Hummel friendly. You’ve all been warned.)

Notes: Some canon events remain in place while others have been changed. Some things may even be out of order. You can consider this sort of canon divergent AU. A few changes are that Blaine’s parents are different from the show (His mother is Filipina), he didn’t cheat on Kurt or date Dave and Sebastian is younger than Blaine. Feel free to send a message if you have any questions!

Blaine’s POV:

“There was ice on the r-road. God, they’re gone, Blaine. I-I don’t know how else to say it. Mom and dad are gone…”

He could still hear his brother’s panicked, weepy voice ringing in his ear. Could still feel the icy chill run through his body as the words sunk into him, pulling him down into a darkness that he’d never felt before. That Sunday, after having the most incredible night, Blaine went from feeling the best he’d ever felt to feeling like he was suffocating in despair. It felt like someone had thrown him into the Arctic with nothing but the clothes on his back. He remembered waiting for Cooper to come home, remembered how quiet and too big the house had felt, how the silence had pushed into his brain and it was maddening...that fucking quiet. But, on the inside his thoughts felt loud and chaotic and he was screaming, screaming, screaming. But if you walked by and saw him you just see a teenager, small and lost just standing there numbly as people in uniforms and nice suits talked at him about what would happen to him next.

That had been two weeks ago. Will and Imelda Anderson had been laid to rest and Cooper had moved from California to Ohio while Blaine finished out his Senior year. All the therapists and people in charge had told Cooper it wouldn’t be fitting to take him out of school to move across the country at a time like this. So, against everything he wanted, Cooper was back in Ohio, miserable and trying to figure out how to be a parental figure while in mourning and in a house with nothing but ghosts and memories that were still too fresh- so fresh that they cut like knives to think about.

The weeks had gone by in a blur, he hadn’t been back to school yet, and was dreading the day that he’d have to. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to function as a person when his whole world had been shattered. The only thing he’d been able to bring himself to do was see Sebastian, and even that hurt him because he couldn’t even smile for him. He’d been at the Smythe’s almost every single day since it happened, he’d tried to go see Sam but all he got was pitying looks from Sam's parents and he couldn’t handle it. Sabine, Seb’s mom, had simply pulled him into a hug and in her soothing lilt told him she was there for him and that was that.

Today was the fourteen day since they’d been killed, and it had been fifteen days since Blaine had last gotten to hug them, or speak to them in person, and it was the twelfth day since his parents had been put in the ground . He wasn’t doing well at all. He was wrapped up in Sebastian’s arms on their couch in his basement, his back to the room, his face turned and pressed into Seb’s chest, his arms wrapped tightly around Seb’s slender frame, as he fought his hardest not to fucking cry again as the mumblings from some movie played in the background. Going to Seb’s house was the only place he felt a fraction of okay, but he also felt like absolute shit everytime he went there.

He always started out his trips promising himself he would find a balance and every time he went over there he’d tell himself today would be the day he’d smile for Sebastian, and today would be the day that he’d give him a real kiss, not just a peck, but a real one with that showed all the pent up feelings he still had for him- they had just been pushed down because Blaine didn’t know if he had anymore room for anything other than pain. He wanted to follow through, wanted to smile for Seb and kiss him properly because Seb deserved that. He’d been nothing but supportive and sympathetic, and had stood by him like a dutiful boyfriend (even though they didn’t say that outloud) throughout everything and Blaine was the worst kind of person because he couldn’t even muster a half smile for his person.

It occurred to him right then that he may never be able to smile again. He may never be able to properly kiss Sebastian the same way he had two weeks ago when everything was as perfect as a winter snow globe scene. Sure, Seb didn’t seem to mind and also seemed content to hold Blaine close and talked to him like a person instead of a ticking bomb, but it killed Blaine that Seb’s life was just put on hold because of him. Blaine’s broken heart ached impossibly more at the thought and he felt like the most selfish person in the world for dragging the other boy around. And all at once he found himself sobbing again, big, loud, wailing and snotty sobs that sounded so raw and the front of Seb’s shirt would be wet again. Fuck, Sebastian didn’t fucking deserve this. He deserved so much better than this version of Blaine. This broken carbon copy. He felt like the old version of himself died with his parents, leaving his friends and person with a hollowed out, crybaby version of himself.

He cried, and struggled to catch his breath, and clung so tightly to Seb that when he finally stopped there were black spots in his vision and he felt weak. Possibly because he’d hardly eaten, but mostly because crying was exhausting and that’s all he did lately. Everything hurt, mentally and physically. His voice was high pitched and pathetic when he finally found it.

“God damnit, I’m so sorry, Seb.”

Sebastian’s POV:

Sebastian hoped he was being helpful. He had never had to console somebody, had never even attended a funeral before. Never had to stand in the back of a stuffy room full of too many black ties and random casseroles and the scent of carnations heavy in the air. He did it all, though. Sebastian picked out his best suit and hung back until Blaine needed him, squeezed his hand during the procession to the graveyard, sent flowers by instruction of his mother and took a prayer card home and brought Blaine water and crackers when he cried so hard he started to heave. He did it all quietly and patiently and spoke his condolences in hugs and kisses on the cheek. Sebastian knew that saying sorry wasn’t enough and that Blaine needed time, which nobody could give him.

Sabine had made it clear that their home was open and that the other boy was welcome. Sebastian spent so many nights holding Blaine as random movie credits rolled in the background, his boyfriend sobbing until he fell asleep. He was thankful for the little slices of peace sleep brought to Blaine. Eating was pretty much out of the question but Sebastian always offered granola bars and fruit snacks. He never minded when his shirts got soggy with tears or sweat from a nightmare that Blaine had. He just wanted Blaine to feel better, just wanted him to survive this.

Seb clung tight to Blaine as he sobbed. He wished his hands could force the broken puzzle pieces of his boy back together again. He rubbed circles in Blaine’s back and kept quiet, just let him cry it all out as he stared at the flashing tv screen. Sebastian watched as Snow White ran through a haunted forest and thought to himself that it seemed like Blaine was stuck in the same place but instead of trees, it was all ice and crashing metal and broken glass.

“Hey, don’t be sorry,” Sebastian shook his head. “I have plenty of shirts.”

Blaine’s POV:

Blaine forced himself to sit up on the couch, he held onto Seb for leverage, his body swaying a bit as the dizziness took over him. He knew he needed to eat something soon, knew that he needed to take care of himself if he ever hoped to feel better at all. The thought of food made him feel nauseated, everything he’d eaten in the last two weeks had tasted like dust on his tongue and had been even harder to swallow. How long was he going to feel like this? A hopeless pit of despair that pulled him under more and more each day. Would he ever feel better? He looked over at Seb, embarrassment and pain evident on his face and the fact that his first thought wasn’t how happy the other boy made him feel anymore, but rather how miserable Seb must be sitting here with him day after day, all the hours blurring into one never-ending session of comforting Blaine as he cried or asked why over and over again knowing there wasn’t answer- was devastating to Blaine and he didn’t know what the fuck to do about it.

They’d been following this pattern for two weeks, Seb had come as soon as Blaine called him that day and had been by his side every single day since. Sure, Blaine knew this is what couples did, know that when you cared about someone you were there for them, you held them close and kissed their head and told them that you’ve got them the way Seb had been doing. But, Seb was a sixteen year old kid and his junior year was slowly slipping by him while he put everything on hold for Blaine. Lacrosse would be starting up soon, how could Blaine ask Seb to miss it? How could Blaine be so selfish to keep him here when he had no clue when he’d feel better. Seb was going to hate him for this eventually. He just fucking knew it.

Still, the thought of being without him. The thought of not getting to touch him, kiss him, or press close to him under the covers, or to eventually tell him that he loved him- Blaine still hadn’t gotten to tell him, made him want to throw up and again, he didn’t know what to do. He swallowed hard, his mind running wild with the thought that Sebastian was secretly sick of him and his breath hitched and another little sob escaped which turned into another one. It didn’t occur to Blaine to take a deep breath, and maybe tell Seb that he loved him now, or that Seb might say it back. Blaine couldn’t convince himself that Seb was okay just holding him, that Seb was happy to be there for him while he mourned. Blaine had been slowly convincing himself since the first time he sobbed into his shirt that Seb was miserable. And that he was just being selfish by keeping him around. He sniffled, Seb’s words making his bottom lip wobble in their sweetness.

“God, you’re perfect.” He sobbed out, not able to keep the control over his words like he needed. “I lo-” He wanted to say I love you so much, you’ve been amazing, I just don’t know what to do right now, you need to live your life…And his mouth wouldn’t let him say it, and all over again he felt sick, like he was actually going to throw up even though the only thing he had in his body were a few crackers and some water from hours ago.

“I can’t. God, I don’t know what to do.”

Sebastian’s POV:

Sebastian wished he could read Blaine’s mind. He couldn’t decipher anything on his tear stained face except for pain. He just nodded as the other boy struggled for words, rubbed his back in what he hoped was soothing circles.

“You don’t have to know what to do, B.” He knew his words were never going to be enough but he couldn’t let Blaine’s hurt hang in the air ignored. Seb was okay pushing his homework off until Blaine left, was okay with driving to Blaine’s directly after Warbler rehearsal, could tolerate watching one million Katy Perry videos and old movies in an effort to cheer the other boy up. He was down for anything even if it meant sitting in silence. Sure, he missed how Blaine was just a few short weeks ago. But, he knew he’d never get him back unless they dealt with the monstrous tragedy that clung to his guy. If that meant tear soaked hoodies and half drunk water bottles and cracker crumbs then so be it.

“Do you want me to go get you anything?” Sebastian hated forcing Blaine to eat but he knew he probably needed something soon, he could feel him shake. “I’ll get you whatever you want.”

Blaine’s POV:

Blaine could feel his breathing pick up, he was balancing on the edge of a full on panic attack and he didn’t know how to reel it all back in. He teetered there, and he knew in his hearts of hearts all he had to do was reach out and ask Sebastian to help him through it. All he had to do was lean on him for a little bit longer and eventually he’d be there, he’d get through all of this but… his brain seemed to be blocking him from accepting that. He’ll wake up one day and he’ll find that he hates you for ruining what’s left of his junior year. He could have been out having fun, but he stayed cooped up in a basement for god knows how long you feel like this and he missed out on everything good. He won’t be able to concentrate on Lacrosse or the Warblers because of you. He’ll miss out on dances and prom and touching and sex all because you’re sad, Blaine. You've got to let him go.

He looked at Seb, really looked at him- Taking his beautiful face, his green eyes wide and eager to please him, ready to help him however he could. And Blaine had never loved another person besides his parents as much as he loved Sebastian Smythe in this moment. Tears slipped quietly down his face as he cupped Seb’s in between his hands and leaned forward to press a kiss against familiar lips. The kiss tasted salty from his tears and Blaine wondered if he’d ever get to do it again.

“You, god Seb, you’ve been so perfect.” His words were choppy and his breath hitched and he felt so sick to his stomach. How was he supposed to do this? How was he supposed to be unselfish when all he wanted was to cuddle back up and let Sebastian take care of him? “I-I think we-” his words felt heavy and wrong and he stood up, wrapping his arms around himself and he felt so small and if only his mother were here, she’d help him understand why he was about to break his own fucking heart. She’d tell him how to deal with his feelings and keep what he loved in the process.

A little voice in his head that sounded very much like himself, only weaker spoke up, pleading with this new, sorrowful version of Blaine. You don’t want this, Blaine. He’s the best person for you to be around, he’s the only one that makes you feel halfway okay. Just fucking tell him that you love him finally and that you’ll feel better one day and thank him for being there for you. But, Blaine’s mouth said something different and what was left of his tattered heart broke right in two as he spoke and he sounded like a stranger to himself.

“I think we should maybe take a break for a bit.” He could hardly look at Seb, his person's handsome face went from confused to shocked, like he had been slapped, in a split second. “I want to be with you, I just don’t know how to be right now, Seb and it’s not fucking fair to you and I think maybe if I could just try to figure how to breathe maybe I could be better for you and I think the only way I can do that is if I-I do it alone.” You’re so stupid, Blaine. You’re so wrong. Don’t do this to him. Don’t do this to yourself… More miserable tears fell, this time wetting his own shirt and not Seb’s. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know how else to do this…”

Sebastian’s POV:

Sebastian kissed Blaine back but it didn’t feel like the kisses they usually shared. It felt too slow, tasted like salt instead of cherry, and it felt like the last one they’d share. He blinked a few times and tried to shake the empty, sunken feeling that started to fall through his body. Suddenly Blaine was speaking but he didn’t sound like himself and Seb felt like he was having an out of body experience. Was he being broken up with? What had he done wrong? Blaine constantly told him how good he was but now it felt like he wasn’t good enough and that was too familiar of a feeling for him.

He swallowed the thick lump in his throat and closed his eyes for a moment, Sebastian really didn’t want to burst into tears, the thought made a swirl of anxiety rush through his head. He also didn’t want to beg but everything in him was screaming for another chance. Sebastian put his hands up in an effort to stop Blaine from speaking. He suddenly felt so pissed off his hands trembled.

“You don’t get to decide what I need or want. Nobody gets to decide any of that except for me!” His voice was higher than he had intended and he hoped Blaine didn’t notice the warble of tears trapped in his throat. Sebastian stood up from the couch. He wanted to punch the wall, wanted to knock the tv over, wanted to run to his room and burrow into the covers, wanted to scream and cry into his pillows.

“This makes no sense. I thought I was helping you. You….you said I was good. You just….get to throw me away like everybody else.”

The tears finally fell down his face and he felt like he couldn’t breathe. He was so mad at himself for giving into crying, for looking weak in front of the only person he wanted to impress,

“Get. Out. Get out! I don’t fucking want you here anymore.”

The words were out of his mouth before he could take them back and his feet stomped up the basement stairs, past his mother in the kitchen, his back was pressed to his bedroom door before he let himself take a deep breath that ended in a sob.

Blaine’s POV:

Blaine watched as Sebastian struggled through what he’d said, the other boys face breaking his heart just that little bit more and Blaine wanted to reach out to him and pull him close and tell him that he didn’t mean it. Because he really didn’t mean it, he didn’t want to do this. He knew that with his whole heart that he shouldn’t have done this, that there had to be a better way to deal with his hopelessness, but he didn’t know what it was. He was just trying to save Seb from the inevitable catastrophe of being stuck with someone that was only half living. He wanted more than anything, except maybe to have his parents back, to stay right here and let Seb bring him back to life one day. But, he knew it was selfish, even if Sebastian couldn’t see it right now.

“Seb you are good, please, that’s not what this is about. You did everything right! I’ m not doing this beca-” The rise in Sebastian’s voice cut him off and his breath hitched at his angry words and Blaine tried to reach for him as he pushed past him and took off up the stairs, but Seb was fast and his words were still echoing in his ears minutes after he had left. The space where he’d been still felt charged and full and Blaine wondered if he’d always feel him there.

The air around him felt suffocating and and the room was so still, so quiet that the voice in his head was screaming desperately at him to go up the stairs and to find Seb and tell him that he’d been wrong to say that, that his head was just messed up and that he needed him by his side while he figured everything out. But, his self hatred had already started to settle and he had already convinced himself that he didn’t deserve that comfort. If he could make that wonderful, beautiful boy sob like that how could he ever think he deserved to keep him around? His body ached as he forced himself to put his coat on and then his shoes and each step up into the main part of the house felt like glass on bare skin and he prayed to a god he didn’t know if he believed in that Sabine wasn’t still in the kitchen. He hoped she’d gone to Seb, hoped that he wouldn’t have to see her disappointed face. Though a tiny little part of him hoped she might hug him like mother’s do but he knew he didn’t deserve that and that it was selfish to want it.

He managed to get himself out of the house without running into anyone and without looking at anything, lest the memories grab hold of him and pull him under. It didn’t occur to him until he was outside in the cold January air that he hadn’t driven here. He’d been too nervous to drive since his parents' accident, so afraid that he’d slide off the road too so Seb had been picking him up and bringing him to his house. Blaine’s bottom lip quivered at the thought, how sweet it was that Seb would go out of his way like that so he wouldn’t have to think further about his mom and dad. He pressed a hand over his mouth as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and tried to ignore the background photo of him and Seb smiling up at the camera. He thought about calling Sam to get him, but Sam was in Lima and it would take him too long. Instead he was forced to call Cooper. His big brother made it known that Blaine was being an dumb and that he wasn’t thinking clearly and why would he do this, but something in Blaine’s face maybe told him that he knew all of that and Coop shut up for the rest of the ride home.

He’d managed to make it into his bedroom before bursting into a new wave of tears. This time with an added loss, one of his own making. He cried so fucking hard he threw up, he’d only eaten crackers and water so it hurt and he thought maybe he deserved it. And as he pressed his forehead to the cold toilet seat it hit him how much he didn’t want this. He knew he’d fucked up. He knew it without a doubt and regret and self loathing filled him up and he threw up once again. Finally he managed to pull himself up and he put himself into pajamas and cleaned his teeth and face before curling up on his bed. It had been four hours since he’d left Seb and each hour hurt so badly he thought he might die. He’d never experience this kind of thing before and he wondered if he’d ever feel good again. With shaking hands he tried to reach Sebastian, one last plea for understanding or maybe forgiveness.

Blaine(8:02 pm): I know you don’t want to hear from me right now, but please give me this chance… Blaine(8:07pm): I’m not throwing you away, you’re not something anyone could do that to, you are so much more than that. You’re an amazing person that deserves so much more than I can give you right now. I’m trying to keep you from hating me in the long run. Why would you want to spend your time trying to fix someone that may not be able to be fixed? I don't know if I’ll ever feel right again and god… Blaine(8:13pm): You’ve done everything right. I need you to know that. You’re perfect. The best thing that’s ever happened to me, you mean so fucking much to me. I didn’t do this because I don’t want to be with you. I want to be with you more than anything... I just don’t know when I’ll ever feel like me again and that’s not fair to you. Please, don’t think it’s because of you. I’m the messed up one and you deserve better. Blaine(9:15pm): Please, Seb. Talk to me. I’m begging you. Anything, I’ll take anything. I miss you so much already.

He curled into himself, his phone clutched in his fingers like a life line and while he thought he might not be able to cry anymore he managed to cry himself into a fitful sleep. When he woke up the next afternoon, the only messages he had were from Cooper and Sam and he cried all over again. He’d broken his own heart into tiny little pieces and now he was sure he’d done the same to Sebastian, he regretted it more than anything he’d ever done and probably anything he would ever do again. He stayed in bed and ignored everyone for the rest of the day. His heart aching with each beat as if it could also feel the three giant holes December and January had left in him. He’d not only lost his parents, but he’d lost his person, someone he was sure he was meant to be with and he’d done it to himself all because he couldn’t figure out how to exist anymore.

He’d give anything for his dad to tell him he’d be okay and to feel the squeeze of his hand on his shoulder, or to feel his mothers arms around him again, whispering how much she loved him, or to see Seb’s for Blaine only smile light up the room and take his breath away. None of these things were possible. He felt worthless and alone, and still so very much in love and he knew, without a shadow of doubt, that he’d feel this way forever.

Sebastian’s POV:

Sebastian didn’t know when he fell asleep. It was somewhere between his mother softly knocking on his bedroom door and the snow beginning to fall outside his bedroom window. His entire body felt tired and heavy in a way he had never experienced, not even after Lacrosse games or Warbler rehearsal. Sebastian reached for his phone in the tangle of blankets out of habit and saw the splash of texts across his screen. Seeing Blaine’s name brought up another surge of confusing emotions- sadness, anger, loss. He didn’t want to respond. He wasn’t sure how to articulate how he felt and his gut reaction was to say something mean. Seb decided to not say anything at all and deleted all of the messages. Maybe it wasn’t fair but was it fair that Blaine was already saying he missed him?

In the back of his head, behind all of the stubbornness, Sebastian knew that Blaine was going through a lot and this was all a part of his mourning. He just couldn’t let go of the hurt or the embarrassment or the fact that the other boy decided to make the decision for the both of them. Sebastian threw his phone across the room, he didn’t want to hear from anybody for the rest of the night or maybe even the rest of the week. He wondered if his mother would let him skip class tomorrow or if his father would let him move onto campus during the week (it might help in avoiding Blaine).

Sebastian stared at his dark bedroom ceiling and a million feelings and thoughts infiltrated his mind and body. He took a deep breath but it wavered with the threat of tears. He wanted this to be over, wanted to numb how sad his heart felt and how unwanted he was. How terrible was love anyway? You give everything for another person, you let them see every ugly part of you and you give up all of your time for them and you still end up thrown away like old newspapers. Was it ever enough? Everybody reminded him all of the time he wasn’t worth it and Blaine had solidified that for him. Sebastian decided he’d never fucking do it again.

Seb snuck into his father’s study, stole a bottle of whiskey and made it back into his bedroom without being seen. He drank until he didn’t feel anything but the floaty, dizzy spin of too much alcohol. The whiskey lulled him to sleep but he dreamt of Blaine the entire night.

/fin.

#seblaine angst #seblaine #seblaine para #seblaine canon divergence #Para: December/January Flashback #colorsicantsee #twobluehearts locked

4 notes · View notes

cjgw312 · 8 years ago

Text

Random Musings

Yeah, yeah, I watched Allegiant again. Theo is hot, so sue me. And once again, I got an idea for a new scene in my post movie potential story.

“Tobias, please, come in.” Phillip said as he opened the door. He gestured to the couch and chairs in the room behind him. “Have a seat.”

Tobias cautiously made his way into the room, dropping on the couch. Phillip sat in a chair opposite him, a table between them.

“Tea?” Phillip asked, pouring the dark liquid into cups without waiting for approval. He looked up, noted the suspicious look on Tobias’ face and chuckled. “It’s just tea, I swear.” He sat back, sipping the cup as if to prove it.

Tobias reached out for the other cup and sipped. As much as he hated to admit it, he had grown fond of the intensely dark blend of tea commonly served in Providence. It was much more intense than the light green version they had in Chicago. “What do you want, Phillip?” He asked bluntly.

Phillip approved of the young man’s blunt approach. There was much to admire in him, despite his genetic damage. “I want to know why we should help you break from the Bureau?”

“Why are you asking me? Why isn’t Tris here?”

Emptying his cup, Phillip set it back on the table. “Honestly?”

Tobias shrugged. “Sure, why the hell not?” he asked sarcastically.

Phillip’s lips quirked in a small smile. “I can’t be sure about Tris. She had a strong connection to David when she was here last.”

Tobias set the cup down on the table with a bit of force. “Tris isn’t loyal to David. Her loyalties lie with Chicago,” he said tightly. He’d forgiven Tris for her lack of judgment where David was concerned but for Tobias, it was still a slightly sore subject. He’d never be able to fully forget that at one point, he hadn’t been enough for Tris.

Phillip shook his head. “I have no doubt that she wants to help Chicago but if push came to shove, would she support the Council if we decide David should be killed?”

Tobias shifted a little in his seat. “Is that a possibility?” he asked, sidestepping the question.

The older man shrugged. “Perhaps. David has strong allies on the Council,” he admitted, “but we take his attempts to wipe everyone’s memory seriously. Reestablishing the experiment would be a great expense and there are those among us who would prefer to spend our money on discovering if there are other pockets of humanity that have survived across the globe.”

The logic made sense, Tobias admitted. “David had been lying to you about the experiment so you have to know that any so-called science he’s provided is suspect. As you’ve said, you’re wasting your money; money that could be better spent by creating an alliance with us, exploring the rest of the planet. We can be made self-sustaining very easily. We’ve made alliances with other Fringe camps which could help reestablish new cities, new bases from which you can launch those exploration teams. We have experience with being on our own so we could act as liaison to Fringe settlements wanting to join in. An expedition of that nature will require people, which we can provide.” Tobias sat back, warming to his argument. “And supporting us has another benefit. I’ve spoken with some of our scientists at Erudite. They are giving fresh eyes to the research to determine if there ever was any viability in the experiment.” Tobias stared at the older man. “I think you also know that the division of genetically pure and genetically damaged is unsustainable if you really want to expand Providence’s reach.”

Phillip smiled. Yes, he’d chosen well in deciding to speak to Tobias. The young man was astute. “I admit, there is some truth to the need for cannon fodder.” He laughed as Tobias bristled. “You know that any future exploration into the depths of the wasteland would include an aspect of risk. Why should we do it? The way I see it, you GD have nothing to lose.”

Tamping down on his temper, Tobias took a deep breath. The arrogance of these people was unbelievable but Chicago was not able to fend off David alone. If he had to swallow his pride to provide resources for his city, he’d do it. At least at first. “At least you’re honest.”

“There’s no point in prevaricating,” Phillip shrugged. His eyes turned sly. “So, you are willing to help us set up new settlements, to provide bodies for our exploration teams?”

“I’m willing to take that back to my people in Chicago and I’m willing to talk to other settlement leaders. But only after you provide us with the support we need.” Tobias’ voice was firm. He had no more reason to trust Phillip than he had David. He’d never ascribed to the enemy of my enemy philosophy.

Phillip stared at him quietly for a moment. “All right. You work on Chicago and the Fringe leaders you know, I’ll secure an agreement from the Council. But be aware,” he warned, “you’ll need to sweeten the pot for them with something. There are powerful interests on the Council who have a vested interest in the experiment. You’ll have to prove to them that their money has not all been a waste.”

Tobias gave one sharp nod and stood. “Do I have your word?”

Standing, Phillip held out his hand. “I’m sure you’re smart enough to have recorded this conversation so you have enough to blackmail me, don’t you?” His eyes twinkled at Tobias’ stoic expression.

Taking Phillip’s hand, Tobias gave it a firm shake. “How did you know?”

Phillip laughed as he came around the table and clapped Tobias on the shoulder. “Because it’s what I would have done.”

#fanfic

6 notes · View notes

lightshade393 · 6 years ago

Text

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Now we come to the Best Director category. Like quite a few categories that year, the Academy still seemed to be finding their feet. They divided up Best Director into two categories, one for Best Dramatic Picture and one for Best Comedy Picture, not unlike how the Golden Globes eventually ended up dividing some of their categories. I’m sure they soon realized that some years this wouldn’t have ended up feasible, for while there’s always a ton of great dramatic films each year, it’s much harder to find good comedies. It’s much harder to make someone laugh then make someone cry. I will stand by this no matter what anyone says.

The first picture nominated in the category was Sorrell and Son, directed by Herbert Brenon. Maddeningly, as much as I scoured the internet, I was unable to find a copy of it anywhere, though the Academy Film Archive is said to have a partially restored print. Someone tell them to get that out on a DVD and for download toot-sweet!

So that takes us to the other picture nominated that year: The Crowd. As finding a copy of this film on the net is an exercise in maddeningly ever getting closer to the edge of the abyss while you tear your hair out, I’ve included a link for it above. Now, I am all for paying money to watch films in a legal format and supporting good films that way, but that’s only if they’re actually available. But TCM, who runs this movie occasionally, has not done so, so I was forced to watch the pirated version. I feel no shame in telling you to do the same.

The Crowd is an All-American tale of a young man named John who moves to the big city with the intent of making it big. He wants to be a somebody that people will remember as his late father always wanted him to be. Rather hard in New York City, where there’s millions of people right along side you who want the same thing. Now, The Crowd managed to make this picture feel larger-then-life by filming right on the streets of NYC, sometimes covertly for crowd scenes. You get a sense of just how massive the place is as people stream about going from place to place. The camera has large, sweeping shots all over the place, as well as a lot of tracking shots, a style which would be lost for quite some time due to the limitations that sound pictures would soon present.

Now, just to get the elephant out of the room right away, there are a few moments in the picture where black actors are portrayed in the title cards to have the “black minstrel accent”, examples like ‘Did I hear you-all speakin’ ’bout havin’ yo’ bed made up?’ and ‘I detend to be a preacher man! Hallelujah!’ There’s also a moment you might cringe as the token black boy in John’s childhood town is nicknamed Whitey. So if you’re a bit sensitive to these things, which are somewhat common in this silent era, turn it off or fast-forward a bit. Remember, not everything in the past conforms to today’s standards. To be fair, in a nice bit of solidarity, Whitey is shown to be playing with the white children of the neighborhood without being ostracized or shown to be anymore comical then any of the other little boys, a scene that would begin to be lost as films progressed. Alright, with that out of the way, time to move onto the rest of the picture.

As usually happens in these kinds of pictures, he finds a nice girl named Mary, and they soon marry, with his best friend cynically saying it’ll last maybe a year. Despite her disapproving brothers and mother, and a few small squabbles, the two weather the storm together, and soon Mary is pregnant. They have a boy and then soon a little girl some time later. The picture skips ahead five years and everything is going along alright.

The family is at the beach on a picnic and their characters are laid out nicely for us: Mary is trying her best to make the picnic nice while John sits there lackadaisically playing a ukulele instead of contributing any help at all. When Mary asks him why he hasn’t gotten anywhere in his company, he protests it takes time. But based on what we’ve seen thus far between young John blowing off his studies to go on a date with Mary, then blowing off spending time with Mary’s family to get drunk with Bert, and this idea of letting his wife do all the work while he futzes around, it comes off more like he’s just lazy. She points out his best friend Bert has gotten somewhere and again he protests that rubbing elbows with the big bosses will get you anywhere. Well…yeah, and what’s wrong with that? A little hard work plus kissing up to the bosses never hurt anyone in my opinion.

But things seem to be turning around for the family as John, who keeps sending in slogan after slogan to contests that will select them as the new one for their brand finally wins a bit of money in the form of $500. ( That’s $7,345.99 in today’s money, people!) They happily pay off debts, buy a new dress for Mary, and buy new toys for their children. They excitedly tell them to come inside and that’s when tragedy strikes. In a masterful series of shots that hype up the tension by never showing us the actual moment of impact, their little girl is struck and badly injured by a truck.

The scene fades to a sad one as the little girl starts to slip away. Small wonder that John seems to lose it a little bit, hyperfixating on the idea that if it’s just quiet enough, she’ll get well. He goes all the way to running into the crowded streets of the city, battling against the crowd and futilely trying to get them and the fire trucks to be quiet. There’s a wonderful parallel here as the crowd which was once a source of inspiration and happiness has now turned cold and unfeeling, with a policeman flat-out telling him that the world isn’t going to stop just because his baby is sick.

The little girl dies, and in a scene full of pathos that never goes over the top, we see Mary and John in the throes of grief, both trying to be comforted by their family and failing. What happens next is best summed up by the title card: “The crowd laughs with you always… but it will cry with you for only a day.” John can’t focus on his work anymore and quits his job. This proves to be a dumb mistake as he then spends his time getting jobs and losing them just as quickly. This would be eerily prescient for the Americans watching this film, soon to be plunged into the Great Depression. By the time the story picks back up, they’ve moved to a small, dingy house, Mary is forced to take in sewing to make ends meet in addition to all her other work, and their poor firstborn son Junior is completely neglected.

Mary’s brothers sum it up nicely when they bitingly ask John if he plans to go on a vacation from life for the rest of his life. At this point, I started to lose my sympathies for John a bit. He just sits around in a daze, which is understandable, but in the meantime, his wife is holding the family together by taking on the lion’s share of the work. To contrast, while he’s throwing a fit and impulsively quitting his job, she’s busy making a feast for the company picnic while still in the throes of her own grief. As I’m sure all of you well know who have lost any beloved family member, life doesn’t stop just to let you spend your days grieving. Eventually, you have to get back out there and try.

Then comes the part in the picture where I wanted to smack him. Mary’s brothers say they’ll give him a job, but he refuses, saying it’s a “charity job.” This comes from a 2019 perspective, and I’m sure things were different ninety-one years ago, but this seems to me to stink with a bit of toxic masculinity. So it’s “charity” to take a job from relatives because of your stinking pride but sitting on your ass day after day moping is what…heroically supporting your family? Men have their pride, but they also have families that need to eat. Mary rightfully calls him out on this stupid line of thinking and slaps him, saying she almost wishes he were dead.

Junior follows his father as he walks around town depressed. He considers killing himself by jumping off a bridge but then reconsiders. After all, what’s the point? The shots here of the train and bridge are beautifully done. Junior, the poor little neglected son, finally breaks through to his father by telling him he believes in him. This finally snaps John back into action. He looks all over town for a job, eventually finding one as a clown wearing a sandwich board who juggles. It’s a contrast to the start of the picture when he made fun of just such a man with the same job when they were on a date.

But it appears to be too late, as when he returns, Mary seems set on departing with her brothers and taking Junior with her, even after he reveals he’s gotten a job. It’s a very tender scene, and at the end of it, Mary can’t do it. She stays with her husband and her brothers exasperatedly toss her luggage onto the porch when it becomes clear she’s not coming. The picture ends with the family attending a vaudeville show and seeing John’s winning slogan from earlier in the program. The shot fades out into a masterfully done tracking shot, pulling back from the little family we’ve followed until once again, they are lost in the crowd of people that make up the audience.

Now with such a good picture done about ordinary people, it is a bit of a headscratcher as to how it didn’t win a single award that year at the Oscars, though even I will admit the eventual winner was a smidge better. However, it makes a little more sense when you discover Louis B. Mayer, head of MGM, hated the picture and vocally urged his fellow members at the Academy not to vote for it, which honestly might have caused it to lose in both categories that it was nominated in. Small wonder, with the country going into the Depression five months after the awards ceremony, that people didn’t want to see movies with downer endings. Honestly, by today’s standards, it seems pretty optimistic, but back then, it was a bit of a bummer to see the family still struggling.

King Vidor was actually forced to shoot anywhere between reportedly seven to nine alternate different endings so that theaters could choose which one they wanted to show. To quote IMDB, one of the alternate endings was “set in a mansion showing John and Mary by a glittering Christmas tree. John has become a success at writing ad slogans. Mary’s new dialogue title was to read: ‘Honest, Johnny, way down deep in my heart, I never lost faith in you for a minute.'” Overwhelmingly, the theaters still showed the original ending, which says something about how people viewed it despite the negativity the ending might have stirred up.

Best Director, Dramatic Picture 1929: King Vidor for The Crowd and Herbert Brenon for Sorrell and Son Now we come to the Best Director category. Like quite a few categories that year, the Academy still seemed to be finding their feet.

#1929 #Best Director #Sorrell & Son #The Crowd

0 notes

back-and-totheleft · 6 years ago

Text

The political, the personal

You ask Oliver Stone if his films are political and he looks you square in the eye and says, "No sir." He says, "The political Oliver Stone has been the one talking between films. My politics have always been off camera."

Whoa. Didn't "JFK," his incendiary take on the assassination of John Kennedy, all but name Lyndon Johnson and a shadowy cabal within the federal government as the culprits?

"That's a lie that's been spread," Stone snaps. "They say that the movie proposes there were 20 agencies in the government, unified to kill Kennedy, and that Lyndon Johnson was part of it. If you look at the movie, it's clearly not that."

So what is it? "What I said about 'JFK' is that It's a counter-myth to the myth of the Warren Commission," he says. Oh.

That his films become political, he maintains, is neither his intention nor fault. "I don't want my movies to be political or divisive. I really don't," he says with a straight face.

Horsefeathers. "JFK" is political to its core, along with the likes of "Born on the Fourth of July," "Salvador" and "Comandante," his film about Fidel Castro that HBO pulled because of its fawning portrait of the dictator. "Natural Born Killers" wallows in gore stunning even by Stone's standards. (He calls it "cartoon violence" and professes shock and amazement at the thrashing it took.)

So it is with an admixture of surprise, relief, and disappointment we learn that his new movie that opened Wednesday is utterly un-Stone-like. "World Trade Center" is a solid, safe effort stripped of politics, conspiracy, and attendant existential funk.

What it is is a small tale, tightly wrapped, about two Port Authority police officers who are trapped in the rubble of 9/11 before being rescued. True story. No spin. Serious verisimilitude. A well-made Hollywood offering that brings a message of hope and heroism. Oliver Stone?

9/11 is a hanging curve ball of a topic for a gifted propagandist like Stone that, one assumed, would stir his political juices. Wrong. "This movie had no call for politics. It was a 24-hour period in these five people's lives," he says about the police, their wives, and one rescuer. [...]

All of this has made Stone — are you sitting down? — a new darling of the right. His storied leftist bent has infuriated the right for ages. "Stone has delivered one left-wing screed after another specifically intended, I'm convinced, to bring my blood to the boiling point," wrote right-wing bloviator Brent Bozell after seeing "World Trade Center."

He continued, "Let me be unequivocal, Oliver Stone has delivered a masterpiece."

So where, for the record, does Stone put his politics?

"I would describe myself as an independent centrist," he says. "I admire slower change in society. I believe conservatism is a good thing in many ways. Change is a big thing. The '60s shook me. I went from very conservative to exploding war veteran."

Speaking of masterpieces, Stone, now 59, could use one, or at a bare minimum, a hit. He's coming off of "Alexander," a critical and commercial disaster of leviathan proportions. Any number of directors would be on a suicide watch in a locked ward after the experience, but not Stone. Part of his charm is his refusal to quit. He is hard at work confecting a longer version of "Alexander," a capacious three hours and 40 minutes, complete with intermission, for our viewing pleasure.

"It's my Cecil B. DeMille version," he says, gap-toothed grin ascendant. "It's going to be glorious."

Stone is not particularly surprised that Hollywood allowed him back in the ring after the "Alexander" debacle. To the contrary, he utters this arresting statement: "Hollywood is very forgiving."

"Certainly after 'Alexander,' it was cold," he says about Tinseltown's treatment of him. "After 'Nixon' it was cold. After 'Heaven & Earth' — which I put a lot of energy into — it was cold. And after 'The Hand,' the horror film I did after 'Midnight Express,' it was cold.

"So I've been in at least four cold periods in Hollywood. When I say 'forgiving,' I mean if you somehow get it together and make the movie they like, it moves on. The memory is short."

The Stone experience astonished and exhausted [writer Andrea] Berloff. "There was not a word in the script we didn't spend time discussing, over and over again," she says. "He was incredibly demanding. He makes you work to your limit — not just me, everyone around him. His attention to detail is unlike anything I've seen."

Stone antagonists will be crestfallen to learn that he was not a maniac on the set. "Nobody was out of control. It was focused from the top down," recalls Berloff. "It was a quiet set. Very civilized. Oliver's not a yeller."

Nor, she was relieved to learn, a script killer. "I thought he'd just fire me," she says. Instead, he gave her mountains of notes: "We did it together. Ninety-eight percent of the content stayed the same. People who saw my first draft and then the movie said they saw no difference.

"The most interesting thing to me was his embodiment of the project. He lived for months as if he was buried in the rubble." [...]

Oliver Stone has been wrestling with demons since his parents divorced when he was 14. He dropped out of Yale twice: first to teach English in Vietnam and then to fight there.

One thing to remember is that he volunteered for infantry. No one in his right mind volunteered for infantry. "It was a form of suicide to go in and ask for infantry," he says. "I just didn't know if life was worth the candle.

"I was the only child. I had no family. There was no place to go," he says of his parents' divorce. "I basically said, 'Let's let God sort this out. I'm confused, I don't know if I want to stay alive.' "

He did 15 months as a grunt with the 25th Infantry and the 1st Cavalry. Saw a lot of combat. Won a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. Returned home a very different puppy. Which may account for the personal and professional mayhem — the drugs, the booze, the women, the rage — that infused his subsequent life.

He may have finally calmed down. After two failed marriages, he now lives with his third wife and plays father to three kids. That said, he mounts a robust defense of his past use of psychedelics and does not deny reports that he still adores an hallucinogenic tea called ayahuasca. Reports of a volcanic temper pop up, so you make Ozzie Nelson comparisons about this guy at your peril.

And Vietnam? "My feeling was we all came out of there stained, darkened forever," he says. "It changed me forever. I was never going to be like the other filmmakers.

"It was like, once you've seen that, you've got to say to yourself, 'This is political.' If George Bush had spent two months in the bush in Vietnam, he would never have gone to war so easily. Nor would Rumsfeld or Cheney, and that's what makes the military sometimes the best leaders. They've experienced the pain."

I ask him to compare the truths of three major Vietnam films — "Platoon," Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" and Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket."

"I would look at 'Platoon' as a tunneler," he says. "Both other movies were made with a lot of money and they're beautiful. 'Platoon' was made for $6 million. We shot it in 55 days in the Philippines. When I say 'tunneler,' it was a realism movie. 'Full Metal' was a great movie but it's Stanley at his metaphorical self and 'Apocalypse' is Francis at full operatic mode. 'Platoon' was an attempt by me to go underneath and find out what it was like at ground zero. Much like 'World Trade Center.' "

The message of Vietnam, he maintains, resurfaces in "World Trade Center": "At the end of 'Platoon,' if you remember, Charlie Sheen in the voiceover says something to the effect that we the survivors have an obligation to those who didn't make it, to bring with what's left of our lives a goodness and meaning to this life."

-Sam Allis, "Stone's 9/11 film solid, true story," The Boston Globe, August 11 2006 [x]

#oliver stone #platoon #World Trade Center #the vietnam war #ptsd

0 notes

sheminecrafts · 6 years ago

Text

Inside Facebook Stories’ quest for originality amidst 300M users

There’s a secret Facebook app called Blink. Built for employees only, it’s how the company tests new video formats it’s hoping will become the next Boomerang or SuperZoom. They range from artsy Blur effects to a way even old Android phones can use Slo-Mo. One exciting format in development offers audio beat detection that syncs visual embellishments to songs playing in the background or added via the Music feature for adding licensed songs as soundtracks that is coming to Facebook Stories after debuting on Instagram.

“When we first formed the team . . . we brought in film makers and cinematographers to help the broader team understand the tropes around storytelling and film making,” says Dantley Davis, Facebook Stories’ director of design. He knows those tropes himself, having spent seven years at Netflix leading the design of its apps and absorbing creative tricks from countless movies. He wants to democratize those effects once trapped inside expensive desktop editing software. “We’re working on formats to enable people to take the video they have and turn it into something special.”

For all the jabs about Facebook stealing Stories from Snapchat, it’s working hard to differentiate. That’s in part because there’s not much left to copy, and because it’s largely succeeded in conquering the prodigal startup that refused to be acquired. Snapchat’s user count shrank last quarter to 188 million daily users.

Meanwhile, Facebook’s versions continue to grow. The Messenger Day brand was retired a year ago and now Stories posts to either the chat app or Facebook sync to both. After announcing in May that Facebook Stories had 150 million users, with Messenger citing 70 million last September, today the company revealed they have a combined 300 million daily users. The Middle East, Central Latin America and Southeast Asia, where people already use Facebook and Messenger most, are driving that rapid growth.

With the success of any product comes the mandate to monetize it. That push ended up pushing out the founders of Facebook acquisition WhatsApp, and encroachment on product decision-making did the same to Instagram’s founders who this week announced they were resigning.

Now the mandate has reached Facebook Stories, which today opened up to advertisers globally, and also started syndicating those ads into Stories within Messenger. Facebook is even running “Stories School” programs to teach ad execs the visual language of ephemerality since all four of its family of apps will monetize Stories with ads. WhatsApp will start to show ads in its Status version of Stories starting next year now that its founders that hated ads have left.

As sharing to Stories is predicted to surpass feed sharing in 2019, Facebook is counting on the ephemeral slideshows to sustain its ad revenue. Fears they wouldn’t lopped $120 billion off Facebook’s market cap this summer.

Facebook Stories ads open to all advertisers today

But to run ads you need viewers, and that will require responses to questions that have dogged Facebook Stories since its debut in early 2017: “Why do I need Stories here too when I already have Instagram Stories and WhatsApp Status?” Many find it annoying that Stories have infected every one of Facebook’s products.

Facebook user experience research manager Liz Keneski

The answer may be creativity. However, Facebook is taking a scientific approach to determining which creative tools to build. Liz Keneski is a user experience research manager at Facebook. She leads the investigative trips, internal testing and focus groups that shape Facebook’s products. Keneski laid out the different types of research Facebook employs to go from vague idea to polished launch:

Foundational Research – “This is the really future-looking research. It’s not necessarily about any specific products but trying to understand people’s needs.”

Contextual Inquiry – “People are kind enough to invite us into their homes and talk with us about how they use technology.” Sometimes Facebook does “street intercepts” where they find people in public and spend five minutes watching and discussing how they use their phone. It also conducts “diary studies” where people journal about how they spend their time with tech.

Descriptive Research – “When we’re exploring a defined product space,” this lets Facebook get feedback on exactly what users would want a new feature to do.

Participatory Design – “It’s kind of like research arts and crafts. We give people different artifacts and design elements and actually ask them to a deign what an experience that would be ideal for them might look like.”

Product Research – “Seeing how people interact with a specific product, the things they’re like or don’t like, the things they might want to change” lets Facebook figure out how to tweak features it’s built so they’re ready to launch.

Last year Facebook went on a foundational research expedition to India. Devanshi Bhandari, who works on the globalization, discovered that even in emerging markets where Snapchat never got popular, people already knew how to use Stories. “We’ve been kind of surprised to learn . . . Ephemeral sharing wasn’t as new to some people as we expected,” she tells me. It turns out there are regional Stories copycats around the globe.

To make Stories global, Facebook adds Archive and audio posts

As Bhandari dug deeper, she found that people wanted more creative tools, but not at the cost of speed. So Facebook began caching the Stories tray from your last visit so it’d still appear when you open Facebook Lite without having to wait for it to load. This week, Facebook will start offering creative tools like filters inside Facebook Lite Stories by enabling them server-side so users can do more than just upload unedited videos.

That trip to India ended up spawning whole new products. Bhandari noticed some users, especially women, weren’t comfortable showing their face in Stories. “People would sometimes put their thumb over the video camera but share the audio content,” she tells me. That led Facebook to build Audio Stories.

Facebook now lets U.S. users add music to Stories just like Instagram

Dantley Davis, Facebook Stories’ director of design

Back at Facebook headquarters in California, the design team runs exercises to distill their own visions of creative. “We have a phase of our design cycle where we ask the designers . . . to bring in their inspiration,” says Davis. That means everything from apps to movie clips to physical objects. Facebook determined that users needed better ways to express emotion through text. While it offers different fonts, from billboard to typewriter motifs, they couldn’t convey if someone is happy or sad. So now Davis reveals Facebook is building “kinetic text.” Users can select if they want to convey if text is supposed to be funny or happy or sad, and their words will appear stylized with movement to get that concept across.

But to make Stories truly Facebook-y, the team had to build them into all its products while solving problems rather than creating them. For example, birthday wall posts are one of the longest running emerging behaviors on the social network. But most people just post a thin, generic “happy birthday!” or “HBD” post, which can feel impersonal, even dystopic. So after announcing the idea in May, Facebook is now running Birthday Stories that encourage friends to submit a short video clip of well wishes instead of bland text.

Facebook recently launched Group and Event Stories, where members can collaborate by all contributing clips that show up in the Stories tray atop the News Feed. Now Facebook is going to start building its own version of Snapchat’s Our Stories. Facebook is now testing holiday-based collaborative Stories, starting with the Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam. Users can opt to post to this themed Story, and friends (but not the public) will see those clips combined.

This is the final step of Facebook’s three-part plan to get people hooked on Stories, according to Facebook’s head of Stories, Rushabh Doshi. The idea is that first, Facebook has to get people a taste of Stories by spotlighting them atop the app as well as amidst the feed. Then it makes it easy for people to post their own Stories by offering simple creative tools. And finally, it wants to “Build Stories for what people expect out of Facebook.” That encompasses all the integrations of Stories across the product.

Rushabh Doshi, Facebook’s head of Stories

Still, the toughest nut to crack won’t be helping users figure out what to share but who to share to. Facebook Stories’ biggest disadvantage is that it’s built around an extremely broad social graph that includes not only friends but family, work colleagues and distant acquaintances. That can apply a chilling effect to sharing as people don’t feel comfortable posting silly, off-the-cuff or vulnerable Stories to such a wide audience.

Facebook has struggled with this problem in News Feed for over a decade. It ended up killing off its Friend List Feeds that let people select a subset of their friends and view a feed of just their posts because so few people were using them. Yet the problem remains rampant, and the invasion of parents and bosses has pushed users to Instagram, Snapchat and other younger apps. Unfortunately for now, Doshi says there are no Friend Lists or specific ways to keep Facebook Stories more private amongst friends. “To help people keep up with smaller groups, we’re focused on ways people are already connecting on Facebook, such as Group Stories and Event Stories” Doshi tells me. At least he says “We’re also looking at new ways people could share their stories with select groups of people.”

At 300 million daily users, Facebook Stories doesn’t deserve the “ghost town” label any more. People who were already accustomed to Stories elsewhere still see the feature as intrusive, interruptive and somewhat desperate. But with 2.2 billion total Facebookers, the company can be forced to focus on one-size-fits-all solutions. Yet if Facebook’s Blink testing app can produce must-use filters and effects, and collaborative Stories can unlock new forms of sharing, Facebook Stories could find its purpose.

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://ift.tt/2xBiBdm via IFTTT

#IFTTT #iraidajzsmmwtv

0 notes

technicalsolutions88 · 6 years ago

Link

There’s a secret Facebook app called Blink. Built for employees only, it’s how the company tests out new video formats its hoping will become the next Boomerang or SuperZoom. They range from artsy Blur effects to a way even old Android phones can use Slo-Mo. One exciting format in development offers audio beat detection that syncs visual embellishments to songs playing in the background or added via the Music feature for adding licensed songs as soundtracks that is coming to Facebook Stories after debuting on Instagram.

“When we first formed the team . . . we brought in film makers and cinematographers to help the broader team understand the tropes around storytelling and filmmaking” says Dantley Davis, Facebook Stories’ Director Of Design. He knows those tropes himself, having spent seven years at Netflix leading the design of its apps and absorbing creative tricks from countless movies. He wants to democratize those effects once trapped inside expensive desktop editing software. “We’re working on formats to enable people to take the video they have and turn it into something special.”

Facebook’s versions continue to grow. The Messenger Day brand was retired a year ago and now Stories posts to either the chat app or Facebook sync to both. After announcing in May that Facebook Stories had 150 million users, with Messenger citing 70 million last September, today the company revealed they have a combined 300 million daily users.

Facebook now lets US users add music to Stories just like Instagram

Now the mandate has reached Facebook Stories which today opened up to advertisers globally, and also started syndicating those ads into Stories within Messenger. Facebook is even running “Stories School” programs to teach ad execs the visual language of ephemerality now that all four of its family of apps including Instagram and WhatsApp monetize with Stories ads. As sharing to Stories is predicted to surpass feed sharing in 2019, Facebook is counting on the ephemeral slideshows to sustain its ad revenue. Fears they wouldn’t lopped $120 billion off Facebook’s market cap this summer.

But to run ads you need viewers and that will require responses to questions that have dogged Facebook Stories since its debut in early 2017: Why do I need Stories here too when I already have Instagram Stories and WhatsApp Status.

Facebook user experience research manager Liz Keneski

The answer may be creativity, but Facebook is taking a scientific approach to determining which creative tools to build. Liz Keneski is a user experience research manager at Facebook. She leads the investigative trips, internal testing, and focus groups that shape Facebook’s products. Keneski laid out the different types of research Facebook employs to go from vague idea to po lished launch.

Foundational Research – “This is the really future looking research. It’s not necessarily about any specific products but trying to understand people’s needs.”

Descriptive Research – “When we’re exploring a defined product space”, this lets Facebook get feedback on exactly what users would want a new feature to do.

Last year Facebook went on a foundational research expedition to India. Devanshi Bhandari who works on the globalization. She discovered that even in emerging markets where Snapchat never got popular, people already knew how to use Stories. “We’ve been kind of surprised to learn . . . Ephemeral sharing wasn’t as new to some people as we expected” she tells me. It turns out there are regional Stories copycats around the globe.

As Bhandari dug deeper she found that people wanted more creative tools, but not at the cost of speed. So Facebook began caching the Stories tray from your last visit so it’d still appear when you open Facebook Lite without having to wait for it to load. This week, Facebook will start offering creative tools like filters inside Facebook Lite Stories by enabling them server-side so users can do more than just upload unedited videos.

To make Stories global, Facebook adds Archive and audio posts

That trip to India ended up spawning whole new products. Bhandari noticed some users, especially women, weren’t comfortable showing their face in Stories. “People would sometimes put their thumb over the video camera but share the audio content” she tells me. That led Facebook to build Audio Stories.

Dantley Davis, Facebook Stories’ Director Of Design

Back at Facebook headquarters in California, the design runs exercises to distill their own visions of creative. “We have a phase of our design cycle where we ask the designers . . . to bring in their inspiration” says Davis. That means everything from apps to movie clips to physical objects. Facebook determined that users needed better ways to express emotion through text. While it offers different fonts from billboard to typewriter motifs, they couldn’t convey if someone is happy or sad. So now Davis reveals Facebook is building “kinetic text”. Users can select if they want to convey if text is supposed to be funny or happy or sad, and their words will appear stylized with movement to get that concept across.

But to make Stories truly Facebook-y, the team had to build them into all its products while solving problems rather than creating them. For example, birthday wall posts are one of the longest running emerging behaviors on the social network. But most people just post a thin, generic “happy birthday!” or “HBD” post which can feel impersonal, even dystopic. So after announcing the idea in May, Facebook is now running Birthday Stories that encourage friends to submit a short video clip of well wishes instead of bland text.

This is the final step of Facebook’s three-part plan to get people hooked on Stories, according to Facebook engineering director Rushabh Doshi who leads the product. The idea is that first, Facebook has to get people a taste of Stories by spotlighting them atop the app as well as amidst the feed. Then it makes it easy for people to post their own Stories by offering simple creative tools. And finally, it wants to “Build Stories for what people expect out of Facebook.” That encompasses all the integrations of Stories across the product.

Rushabh Doshi, Facebook’s engineering manager who oversees Stories

Still, the toughest nut to crack won’t be helping users figure out what to share but who to share to. Facebook Stories’ biggest disadvantage is that it’s built around an extremely broad social graph that includes not only friends but family, work colleagues, and distant acquaintances. That can apply a chilling effect to sharing as people don’t feel comfortable posting silly, off-the-cuff, or vulnerable Stories to such a wide audience.

At 300 million daily users, Facebook Stories doesn’t deserve the “ghost town” label any more. People who were already accustomed to Stories elsewhere still see the feature as intrusive, interruptive, and somewhat desperate. But with 2.2 billion total Facebookers, the company can be forced to focus on one-size-fits-all solutions. Yet if Facebook’s Blink testing app can produce must-use filters and effects, and collaborative Stories can unlock new forms of sharing, Facebook Stories could find its purpose.

from Social – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2xBiBdm Original Content From: https://techcrunch.com

#Technical Solutions #SEO #Online Earning #Youtube Marketing #Android Developer

0 notes

thegloober · 6 years ago

Text

Inside Facebook Stories’ quest for originality amidst 300M users

Facebook now lets US users add music to Stories just like Instagram

Facebook user experience research manager Liz Keneski

Foundational Research – “This is the really future looking research. It’s not necessarily about any specific products but trying to understand people’s needs.”

Descriptive Research – “When we’re exploring a defined product space”, this lets Facebook get feedback on exactly what users would want a new feature to do.

That trip to India ended up spawning whole new products. Bhandari noticed some users, especially women, weren’t comfortable showing their face in Stories. “People would sometimes put their thumb over the video camera but share the audio content” she tells me. That led Facebook to build Audio Stories.

Dantley Davis, Facebook Stories’ Director Of Design

But to make Stories truly Facebook-y, the team had to build them into all its products while solving problems rather than creating them. For example, birthday wall posts are one of the longest running emerging behaviors on the social network. But most people just post a thin, generic “happy birthday!” or “HBD” post which can feel impersonal, even dystopic. So after announcing the idea in May, Facebook is now running Birthday Stories that encourage friends to submit a short video clip of well wishes instead of bland text.

Rushabh Doshi, Facebook’s engineering manager who oversees Stories

Still, the toughest nut to crack won’t be helping users figure out what to share but who to share to. Facebook Stories’ biggest disadvantage is that it’s built around an extremely broad social graph that includes not only friends but family, work colleagues, and distant acquaintances. That can apply a chilling effect to sharing as people don’t feel comfortable posting silly, off-the-cuff, or vulnerable Stories to such a wide audience.

At 300 million daily users, Facebook Stories doesn’t deserve the “ghost town” label any more. People who were already accustomed to Stories elsewhere still see the feature as intrusive, interruptive, and somewhat desperate. But with 2.2 billion total Facebookers, the company can be forced to focus on one-size-fits-all solutions. Yet if Facebook’s Blink testing app can produce must-use filters and effects, and collaborative Stories can unlock new forms of sharing, Facebook Stories could find its purpose.

Source: https://bloghyped.com/inside-facebook-stories-quest-for-originality-amidst-300m-users/

0 notes

lettersforyoulettersforme · 6 years ago

Text

September 9, 2018

It’s hard to have patience when speaking to my parents. The biggest irony of the whole situation is that I’m cultured and more educated and more open minded because of their choices. Their decision to allow me to go away to boarding school, their hard work that provided the funds for NYU, their willingness to pay for Catholic and for my Masters. I am a smarter, more vibrant version of myself because of their choices. (By the way, it feels uncomfortable to refer to myself as “cultured,” “brighter” and “educated” but I want to put that on a self because that concept is another post at another time.

We just got off the phone. Our conversation ran the gambit from talking about my Dad wanting to house sit people’s homes and travel around the globe after they retire. Direct quotes include “There is no one else who can sell themselves like we can. Two SUCCESSFUL lawyers who raised two beautiful, successful girls, who have a successful law practice who have now successfully retired and want to travel the world. As dog lovers.”

How do you even fucking measure success? We’ve been talking a lot in class about measurement tools and how an agency/ a person/ a nonprofit measures whether their services/ therapy/ what have you is, in fact, working. Or if it’s not working. And why it isn’t working. Feedback is important. Duh. But taking the time to design a tool that really allows people to feel heard and respected and represented is the hard part.

All this is to say that it is truly and honestly impossible to find one measurement tool of success. But there are other scales. Socially imposed scales (wedding, kids, bank account, credit score), educational scales (private school, undergrad, grad, Doc program), material wealth scales (perfect house, perfect car, perfect bangs). The list goes on. It’s hard to check all of the boxes. I guess I just ask that we can all broaden our minds to ASK others how they measure their success. Do you feel successful? Why or why not? Do you feel happy?

I don’t know the last time someone asked if I felt happy. I do feel happy, but it’s more nuanced than that. The nuance, the grey, that’s where the magic happens. That’s where creativity comes to the fucking surface. Creativity used to be on the surface for me, it’s buried down now. Which would imply that it’s dead, cold, tucked away, handfuls of dust on a shallow grave, ashes to ashes you shall return. But I think I shifted the creativity to make room for other ideas. For more empathy, for more listening, for more questions. I have so many questions. It’s hard for my anger to lay dormant while I ask those questions. Even harder while I listen to those answers.

I had a lovely dinner with some girlfriends last night. And Sophie’s mom, who is truly a one of the gals. I fucking love Roanne. And Roanne said: “I love that we can talk about lovely things like art and music and books. But then we always feel a responsibility to return to the hard stuff, the unanswerable questions.” She meant, at least I think, the policies, the politics, the sexism, the fact that a black man was shot and killed in his OWN home and we aren’t all screaming. Why aren’t we flinging open our windows and our car doors and our sun roofs and screaming bloody murder? Why aren’t we in tears 24/7? What protective measures have to be in place to remain sane? It’s the books, the boys, the playlists, the new bangs, the trailers, the promise of a wine tasting class. For me, those ideas have to co-exist with the mess that is this world around us. Without the art, the creativity, the friendship, the apple crisps, the autumnal spreads, there is no joy. There has to be joy with the pain. Sometimes I want to swallow up all the joy, sip after sip, cup after cup, bowl after bowl of golden nectar that’s mine, it’s all mine. And then sometimes, I want to slowly sip the broth that is evil, I have no choice but to force feed it to myself, like a parent to her child. The news, the Tweets, the NY Times, Fox news, the alt- right marches, the hate crimes, the police brutality. It’s there and it scares me. And I’m not even the target.

I’ll take a sip of the broth. And then watch a movie. I’ll swallow and then bake. I’ll cry and then cry some more. If this past year has taught me anything, I know that the joy co-exists with the pain. They are friends, two roommates who are forced to co-habitate. I have the privilege of picking and choosing which roommate I want to have come and spend the night. I have the joy of putting in my headphones and then the unique experience of consciously removing the pieces of plastic, the cotton in my ears, and listening. Eyes open under water because what other way is there?

This all brings me back to my initial point of patience. Where does one muster the patience to be the sponge of it all? Of chocolates and wines, of scary bedtime stories, of CNN notifications that won’t quit, of marches that make you soar and feel alive, of circles of people who do not see you as an equal, of a father who seems to value the American economy over children locked in cages, of movie color palettes so lush and invigorating that you feel like you’ll give up your entire afternoon to walk into that world, cleansed in the bath water of another human who doesn’t exist in this fucked up world.

0 notes

jonnievilla379-blog · 7 years ago

Text

FIFA Mobile Cheats, Coins And Hack Evaluate

With so many years as soccer mother, it seems soccer will stay the one favorite sport for our entire family to cherish….although we do watch Tremendous bowl and Indian Cricket equally enthusiastically. FIFA Mobile Football provides an entire new sensation to the followers of cell video games: it is the pleasure to play football without nonetheless to withstand the same old difficulties associated to the playability on contact display screen. The good factor in the case of getting FIFA Mobile coins is you can at all times begin a new season. In the video I might be instructing how to make use of fifa 17 coins hack (generator). Own3D.television began online video game streaming in 2010, and at current, the web site gets over 4 million distinctive viewers a month for video game stay streams. For more than two many years since its inaugural edition in 1993, FIFA has been one in every of the most popular sports video sport franchises on this planet. FIFA 18 is scheduled to be launched around the globe on platforms PlayStation three, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Swap.

How to Get Superb Players In Packs In FIfa 17 Cellular Android iOS? The game makes it quite possible to play without spending a dime, as you should purchase every card pack with in-sport foreign money, and there are common rewards for each day play, and alternatives galore to get free packs. By doing this it never gets patched and also you get a 100% working FIFA 18 cheats device every time you go to our site. Alonso burst on the racing scene 10 years ago when he turned the youngest person on the time to win the Method 1 Championship. Whereas he does have a big deal with Nike, Inexperienced has quite a lot of potential to grow his endorsement portfolio in the approaching years. He discovered himself in the Developer Lot, literally a parking lot one block away from the E3 halls proper, but it was a trek nicely value taking. However one can expect Ronaldo to be among the best in FIFA 18 on gaming consoles come September. This currency is digital money and can be utilized for various purposes on the gaming platform. In the present day, Facebook is the quickest rising social media platform and an incredible place to begin to launch a viral advertising campaign.

We imagine that we're delivering probably the most genuine football simulation experience on every platform. So, if you are searching for a terrific soccer game, you possibly can do this recreation out. Strive them out and see what works for you! Go there and examine them out. Along with the undersea fibre optic cables, there have been promises that costs of information would probably drop, however they haven’t thus far. For players the enhanced expertise comes from being able to entry the data they need for his or her sport quickly and easily and having the ability to share their sporting recollections with household and friends. The choice not to overturn the bans towards the 2 highest-profile elected men in world soccer completes a shameful treble for the sport following the 12-yr ban imposed on Jerome Valcke, who was sacked as FIFA’s secretary basic final month. Once in a league, you possibly can play against one another in friendlies and inter-league tournaments, complete cooperative achievements, present one another packs, after which ultimately compete as a team vs different Leagues to develop into the most effective on this planet. After you have transferred the Update, launch FIFA 15 as normal, and then select the default storage device.

All you want is to download FIFA sixteen apk file and then set up it utilizing bluestacks app. FIFA Coins now at MMOGA and eventually have the ability to afford all the pieces you need for optimum success! The best place to buy FIFA Mobile coins! Sniping Filters, Ideas, And Free Coins! With innovative gameplay features that let followers own every moment on the pitch, FIFA 17 brings an overhaul to Bodily Play, a Set Piece Rewrite, New Attacking Techniques, and a model new Active Intelligence System. Afterwards, the seven maven fans shared their news on blogs and forums with great energy and enthusiasm. Not solely are the graphics crisp and the participant animations fluid, however there’s full commentary through the matches and it’s more robust than you would possibly expect. The Socceroos are set to go to Russia for next year’s Confederations Cup courtesy of their maiden AFC Asian Cup win early in 2015, simply prior to Ikonomidis’ maiden call-up. Set your problem level where to buy fifa mobile coins low (beginner, semi-professional and so forth.) if you’re not capable of beat the AI, however in increased divisions and tournaments you must play in high level of difficulties.

And the club have added to that burden with a one-yr loan deal for Monaco and France striker Kylian Mbappe as the window closed. Keep up WITH Dwell Events Keep linked to the sport you love 365 days a yr with content material based on up-to-date stories and matches. But we’ll be listening very closely to fan suggestions to hear about what they love about the game and what needs improving. Remain associated to the exercise you recognize 365 days a yr with content materials primarily based totally on up-to-day tales and matches. Go to our webpage if you want to know extra about our online FIFA 17 hack instrument. For using Fifa 14 Hack software, merely obtain it from its official web site. FIFA Soccer Arabic 2014 APK helps you taking part in a sport,enhancing your sport,killing time,watching movies. Neglect the overly visible Contact edition, don’t even think in regards to the lethally Byzantine full version. Engine that allows more freedom and strategic play than ever before!

0 notes

turtlestampede · 8 years ago

Text

Birthdays of actors appearing in comic book films: February 18

John Travolta, 63 (Howard Saint, Punisher 2004) John Joseph Travolta was born in Englewood, New Jersey, one of six children of Helen Travolta (née Helen Cecilia Burke) and Salvatore/Samuel J. Travolta. His father was of Italian descent and his mother was of Irish ancestry. His father owned a tire repair shop called Travolta Tires in Hillsdale, NJ. Travolta started acting appearing in a local production of "Who'll Save the Plowboy?". His mother, herself an actress and dancer, enrolled him in a drama school in New York, where he studied voice, dancing and acting. He decided to combine all three of these skills and become a musical comedy performer. At 16 he landed his first professional job in a summer stock production of the musical "Bye Bye Birdie". He quit school at 16 and moved to New York, and worked regularly in summer stock and on television commercials. When work became scarce in New York, he went to Hollywood and appeared in minor roles in several series. A role in the national touring company of the hit 1950s musical "Grease" brought him back to New York. An opening in the New York production of "Grease" gave him his first Broadway role at age 18. After "Grease", he became a member of the company of the Broadway show "Over Here", which starred The Andrews Sisters. After ten months in "Over Here", he decided to try Hollywood once again. Once back in Hollywood, he had little trouble getting roles in numerous television shows. He was seen on The Rookies (1972), Emergency! (1972) and Medical Center (1969) and also made a movie, The Devil's Rain (1975), which was shot in New Mexico. The day he returned to Hollywood from New Mexico, he was called to an audition for a new situation comedy series ABC was planning to produce called Welcome Back, Kotter (1975). He got the part of Vinnie Barbarino and the series went on the air during the 1975 fall season. He starred in a number of monumental films, earning his first Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for his role in the blockbuster Saturday Night Fever (1977), which launched the disco phenomenon in the 1970s. He went on to star in the big-screen version of the long-running musical Grease (1978) and the wildly successful Urban Cowboy (1980), which also influenced trends in popular culture. Additional film credits include the Brian De Palma thrillers Carrie (1976) and Blow Out (1981), as well as Amy Heckerling's hit comedy Look Who's Talking (1989) and Nora Ephron's comic hit Michael (1996). Travolta starred in Phenomenon (1996) and took an equally distinctive turn as an action star in John Woo's top-grossing Broken Arrow (1996). He also starred in the classic Face/Off (1997) opposite Nicolas Cage, and The General's Daughter (1999), co-starring Madeleine Stowe. In 2005, Travolta reprised the role of ultra cool Chili Palmer in the Get Shorty (1995) sequel Be Cool (2005). In addition, he starred opposite Scarlett Johansson in the critically acclaimed independent feature film A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004), which was screened at the Venice Film Festival, where both Travolta and the films won rave reviews. In February 2011, John was honored by Europe's leading weekly program magazine HORZU, with the prestigious Golden Camera Award for "Best Actor International" in Berlin, Germany. Other recent feature film credits include box-office hit-comedy "Wild Hogs," the action-thriller Ladder 49 (2004), the movie version of the successful comic book The Punisher (2004), the drama Basic (2003), the psychological thriller Domestic Disturbance (2001), the hit action picture Swordfish (2001), the infamous sci-fi movie Battlefield Earth (2000), based upon the best-selling novel by L. Ron Hubbard, and Lonely Hearts (2006). Travolta has been honored twice with Academy Award nominations, the latest for his riveting portrayal of a philosophical hit-man in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994). He also received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for this highly acclaimed role and was named Best Actor by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, among other distinguished awards. Travolta garnered further praise as a Mafioso-turned-movie producer in the comedy sensation Get Shorty (1995), winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy. In 1998, Travolta was honored by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts with the Britanna Award: and in that same year he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chicago Film Festival. Travolta also won the prestigious Alan J. Pakula Award from the US Broadcast Critics Association for his performance in A Civil Action (1998), based on the best-selling book and directed by Steven Zaillian. He was nominated again for a Golden Globe for his performance in Primary Colors (1998), directed by Mike Nichols and co-starring Emma Thompson and Billy Bob Thornton, and in 2008, he received his sixth Golden Globe nomination for his role asEdna Turnblad in the big-screen, box-office hit Hairspray (2007). As a result of this performance, the Chicago Film Critics and the Santa Barbara Film Festival decided to recognize Travolta with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his role. In addition, Travolta starred opposite Denzel Washington in Tony Scott's remake The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009), and he provided the voice of the lead character in Walt Disney Pictures' animated hit _Bolt_, which was nominated for a 2009 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film and a Golden Globe for Best Animated Film, in addition to Best Song for John and Miley Cyrus' duet titled, "I Thought I Lost You." Next, Travolta starred in Walt Disney Pictures' Old Dogs (2009), along with Robin Williams, Kelly Preston and Ella Bleu Travolta, followed by the action thriller From Paris with Love (2010), starring opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers. In 2012, John starred alongside Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Emile Hirsch and Demián Bichir in Oliver Stone's, Savages (2012). The film was based on Don Winslow's best-selling crime novel that was named one of The New York Times' Top 10 Books of 2010. John was most recently seen in Killing Season (2013) co-starring Robert De Niro and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. John recently completed production on the Boston based film, The Forger (2014), alongside Academy Award winner Christopher Plummer and Critic's Choice nominee Tye Sheridan. John plays a second generation petty thief who arranges to get out of prison to spend time with his ailing son (Sheridan) by taking on a job with his father (Plummer) to pay back the syndicate that arranged his release. John has received 2 prestigious aviation awards: in 2003 the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Foundation Award for Excellence for his efforts to promote commercial flying, and in 2007 The Living Legends Ambassador of Aviation award. John holds 11 jet licenses: 747, 707, Gulfstream II, Lear 24, Hawker 1251A, Eclipse Jet, Vampire Jet, Canadair CL-141 Jet, Soko Jet, Citation ISP and Challenger. Travolta is the Qantas Airways Global Goodwill "Ambassador-at-Large" and piloted the original Qantas 707 during "Spirit of Friendship" global tour in July/August 2002. John is also a business aircraft brand ambassador for Learjet, Challenger and Global jets for the world's leading business aircraft manufacturer, Bombardier. John flew the 707 to New Orleans after the 2005 hurricane disaster bringing food and medical supplies, and in 2010, again flew the 707, this time to Haiti after the earthquake, carrying supplies, doctors and volunteers. John, along with his wife, actress Kelly Preston are also very involved in their charity, The Jett Travolta Foundation, which raises money for children with educational needs. Molly Ringwald, 49 (Mary Andrews, Riverdale 2017) Molly Ringwald was born in Roseville, California, to Adele Edith (Frembd), a chef, and Robert Ringwald, a blind jazz pianist. Her ancestry includes German, English, and Swedish. She released an album at the age of 6 entitled, "I Wanna Be Loved By You, Molly Sings". She is the youngest daughter of Bob Ringwald, the blind jazz pianist. At age five she starred in a stage production of "Alice in Wonderland", playing the dormouse. IsIsaac Barinholtz, 40 (Griggs, Suicide Squad 2016) Isaac "Ike" Barinholtz, born February 18, 1977, is an American actor, comedian, voice actor and writer, best known for his role as a cast member on MADtv (1995), from 2002-2007, and for his roles on The Mindy Project (2012), and Eastbound & Down (2009). He spent two years in Amsterdam with the famed comedy troupe, "Boom Chicago", along with Jordan Peele, Josh Meyers and Nicole Parker. Barinholtz hosted the "Worst of Boom Night", during a 10-year anniversary of the improve troupe, "Boom Chicago", where they performed their worst material from previous shows. Jack Palance 1918-2006 (Carl Grissom, Batman 1984) Palance exemplified evil incarnate on film -- portraying some of the most intensely despised villains witnessed in 50s westerns and melodrama. He received two Best Supporting Actor nominations early in his career, but it would take a grizzled, eccentric comic performance 40 years later for him to finally grab the coveted statuette. Of Ukrainian descent, Palance was born Volodymyr Jack Palahniuk on February 18, 1919, in Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania coal country, to Anna (Gramiak) and Ivan Palahniuk. His father, an anthracite miner, died of black lung disease. The sensitive, artistic lad worked in the mines in his early years but averted the same fate as his father. Athletics was his ticket out of the mines when he won a football scholarship to the University of North Carolina. He subsequently dropped out to try his hand at professional boxing. Fighting under the name "Jack Brazzo," he won his first 15 fights, 12 by knockout, before losing a 4th round decision to future heavyweight contender Joe Baksi on Dec. 17, 1940. With the outbreak of World War II, Palance's boxing career ended and his military career began, serving in the Army Air Force as a bomber pilot. Wounded in combat and suffering severe injuries and burns, he received the Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. He resumed college studies as a journalist at Stanford University and became a sportswriter for the San Francisco Chronicle. He also worked for a radio station until the acting bug bit. Palance made his stage debut in "The Big Two" in 1947 and immediately followed it understudying Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski in the groundbreaking Broadway classic "A Streetcar Named Desire," a role he eventually took over. Following stage parts in "Temporary Island" (1948), "The Vigil" (1948) and "The Silver Tassle" (1949), Palance won a choice role in "Darkness of Noon" and also the Theatre World Award for "promising new personality". This recognition helped him secure a 20th Century-Fox contract. The facial burns and resulting reconstructive surgery following the crash and burn of his WWII bomber plane actually worked to the leathery actor's advantage in Hollywood. Hardly possessing the look of a glossy romantic leading man, Palance instead became an archetypal villain equipped with an imposing glare, intimidating stance and killer-shark smile. He stood out among a powerhouse cast (Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas') in his movie debut in Elia Kazan's Panic in the Streets (1950), as a plague-carrying fugitive. He was soon on his way. Initially billed as Walter Jack Palance, the actor made fine use of his former boxing skills and war experience for the film Halls of Montezuma (1951) as a boxing Marine in Richard Widmark's platoon. Palance followed this with the first of his back-to-back Oscar nods. In Sudden Fear (1952), only his third film, he played rich-and-famous playwright Joan Crawford's struggling actor husband who plots to murder her and run off with gorgeous Gloria Grahame. Finding the right menace and intensity to pretty much steal the proceedings, he followed this with arguably his finest villain of the decade, that of creepy, sadistic gunslinger Jack Wilson who becomes Alan Ladd's biggest nightmare (not to mention others) in the classic western Shane (1953). Their climactic showdown alone is text book. Throughout the 1950s Palance earned some very good film roles such as those in Man in the Attic (1953) (his first lead), The Big Knife (1955) and the war classic Attack (1956). Mixed in were a few routine to highly mediocre parts in Flight to Tangier (1953), Sign of the Pagan (1954), in which he played Attila the Hun, and the biblical bomb The Silver Chalice (1954). In between filmmaking were a host of powerful TV roles -- none better than his down-and-out boxer in Requiem for a Heavyweight (1956), a rare sympathetic role that earned him an Emmy. Overseas in the 1960s, Palance made a killing in biblical and war epics and in "spaghetti -- The Barbarians (1960), Barabbas (1961) [Barabbas], and A Bullet for Rommel (1969) [A Bullet for Rommel]. Also included in his 60s foreign work was his participation in the Jean-Luc Godard masterpiece Contempt (1963) [Contempt]. On TV, Palance played a number of nefarious nasties to perfection ranging from Dracula to Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. Into his twilight years he showed a penchant for brash, quirky comedy capped by his Oscar-winning role in City Slickers (1991), its sequel, and others. He even played Ebenezer Scrooge in a TV-movie incongruously set in the Wild West. Married twice, his three children -- Holly, Brooke and Cody (the last died in 1998 of cancer) -- all dabbled in acting and appeared with their father at one time or another. A man of few words off the set, he owned his own cattle ranch and displayed other creative sides as a exhibited painter and published poet. Jack's last years were marred by failing health and he died at age 87 of natural causes at his daughter Holly's Montecito, California home. Sinéad Cusack, 69 (Delia Surridge, V for Vendetta 2005) Cusack was born on February 18, 1948 in Dalkey, Ireland as Jane Moira Cusack. She is an actress, known for V for Vendetta (2005), Eastern Promises (2007) and Stealing Beauty (1996). She has been married to Jeremy Irons since March 28, 1978. They have two children. Julie Strain, 55 (Heavy Metal 2000) Julie Strain was born on February 18, 1962 in Concord, California, USA as Julie Ann Strain. She is an actress, known for Sex Court (1998), Heavy Metal 2000 (2000) and Double Impact (1991). Tom Wisdom, 44 (Astinos, 300, 2006) Tom Wisdom was born on February 18, 1973 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. He is an actor, known for 300 (2006), Pirate Radio (2009) and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008). Neil Fingleton, 36 (Russian General's Bodyguard 1, X-Men: First Class) Fingleton was born on February 18, 1981 in Durham, England. He is known for his work on X-Men: First Class (2011), 47 Ronin (2013) and Jupiter Ascending (2015). Source: IMDb

#comic book movies #birthdays #on this day

0 notes

sheminecrafts · 6 years ago

Text

Inside Facebook Stories’ quest for originality amidst 300M users

Facebook Stories ads open to all advertisers today

Facebook user experience research manager Liz Keneski

Foundational Research – “This is the really future-looking research. It’s not necessarily about any specific products but trying to understand people’s needs.”

Descriptive Research – “When we’re exploring a defined product space,” this lets Facebook get feedback on exactly what users would want a new feature to do.

To make Stories global, Facebook adds Archive and audio posts

Facebook now lets U.S. users add music to Stories just like Instagram

Dantley Davis, Facebook Stories’ director of design

Rushabh Doshi, Facebook’s head of Stories

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://ift.tt/2xBiBdm via IFTTT

#IFTTT #iraidajzsmmwtv

0 notes