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kayann9 · 6 years

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But first... Coffee

As I said, here is one with Parker present. Takes place some time before the gala and after mc’s talk with Imogen. Parker x mc. Thank you for taking time to read and thank you for all the love for the previous one shots. Much appreciated!

Rated T Word count: 1,315

Danni and I look over at him again; he’s still not lifted his head up from staring at the table, his jaw is still clenched – every thirty seconds or so it ticks – and his forehead is still creased. We’ve been watching him for five minutes now and he didn’t even look up when I walked in, not even when the little bell jingled around the almost empty shop. In fact, I hadn’t even seen him, tucked away in the corner, his eyes trained on the wood.

“Twenty minutes now. Has he even drunk the-”

“Nope.” I say quietly.

Danni sighs and throws the towel over her shoulder. “He didn’t even argue with me when I brought up scratching Sutcliffe’s car tonight.” I narrow my eyes at her and shake my head. Always prodding him. Her hands fly up defensively. “What? It’s what we do! I suggest illegal activity and he pretends that he’s going to be able to stop me; like Hermione and Harry - he’s Hermione, if you were-”

Her voice trails off whilst I stare at Parker.

I hadn’t told anyone about our talk the other day; about how I showed up at his home and how guilt ridden he’d felt that he couldn’t protect us. My stomach churns. After the conversation I’d just had with Imogen, this behaviour worried me more than I’d care to admit.

I ask Danni to get him another coffee. We’d promised to be honest; I have to talk to him. Taking in a deep breath, I ignore the burning cup that’s scalding my hands.

Round two of keep the group together; here we go.

I cough, not wanting to scare him out of his trance but my tact doesn’t work; he jumps anyway. “Penny for your thoughts?” I say. Parker’s smile is barely a smile at all and it makes my chest ache for him. “More than a penny, huh? I have like ten dollars. How much will that get me?”

“Well, that sounded wrong. Soliciting is illegal.” A humourless laugh follows from the both of us whilst I nudge the coffee his way. “I’m ok, I just-”

“Funny and I don’t think so Officer Shaw; we promised.”

That word means something to him. After mine and Elliot’s little talk, he’d taunted me about how ‘sweet, lovely Parker’ was a departure from the hooligans Todd had chased away from our house; about how he helped little, old ladies with their shopping and probably took in stray kittens. Sadly, for Elliot, far from it resulting in me kicking him out of our shared room with a grumble as it would have a year ago, I had simply found myself smiling and agreeing. He was – is – that guy. I found myself, after everything that has happened over the last few weeks, appreciating that even more.

His hands rub his jaw and then the back of his neck. Those dark circles are worse; hazel eyes wrapped in weariness.

“I know we did. I’m not sleeping either.”

I knew it was true the moment I’d seen him the other day, dishevelled and worn out yet still obviously trying to be the hero of this particularly awful story. His head is most definitely conflicted; torn between what he knows about this town and what I think he suspects thanks to my interference. Like the last time we spoke, I grab his hand only this time he doesn’t seem startled or stunned by it.

“Come on Serpico, talk to me.”

“Only if you don’t call me Serpico.” He sighs and his fingers weave in mine. “When I was a kid, after I’d given up on Eagle Scouts, I did some pretty bad stuff.”

It’s hard for me to believe. Parker: sweet and kind and so very honest. I can’t even begin to imagine a world where he did things wrong or hurt other people.

I let him continue. The memory he’s going over isn’t a good one, that much I know. “Abe caught me you know. I stole a car from Mr Hinchcliffe – an old ford. But, it didn’t take long for the radiator to blow out and for Abe’s cruiser to catch up.” My jaw almost slackens at the whole thing. Parker pinches the bridge of his nose with his spare hand as if the thought of it causes physical discomfort. “He nearly arrested me. I begged him not to take me home that if my dad found out he’d – I’ll let you fill that blank in yourself.” The words were a mere murmur but heavier than a tonne weight. Our first meeting, he’d mentioned this: they weren’t that good to me. My stomach clenches at the thought and I squeeze his hand. “But Abe, Abe didn’t turn me in. You know what he did? He took me fishing and threw a football with me. He’d take me to school when it was raining and make sure I ate after. One month, when it was a bad winter, he bought me some sneakers to replace the messed-up ones I’d had for years so my feet were dry and then got me a job at the garage until I was old enough to join the force.”

He doesn’t have to finish his worry. I know what it is.

I’m so sorry, I want to say it to him, but it won’t change a damn thing.

Parker runs his hand over his face and gives my hand a squeeze back.

“I know he’s involved in this Harper. I just don’t know why.”

I don’t either.

I want so badly to have the answers for him because those are the answers I want too. By now, it’s safe to say, those are the answers all five of us want in particular.

“That’s why you’re not sleeping.”

“Well, that and worrying about being possessed by some evil lake demon and drowning or being eaten by a woodland zombie. How are you so together? With everything you… saw and then Ned and between talking us all from a ledge. How-”

“I’m not Parker.” I sigh. “That’s how. Every day at a time. I worry about Elliot every second and then I think about my – mom – and Todd. I think about what these people are probably capable of and sometimes, I’d quite happily grab a bus out of here and hide like a hermit. But, I can’t…. And I know for a fact, you couldn’t either.” There’s a lump I can’t quite swallow whenever I think about that day in Hawthorne; it sticks there like glue, making it harder for me to breathe and speak.

“We should take turns sleeping.”

“Is that your way of telling me you’d like to be roomies?” I wink.

This time he doesn’t stutter, even with the blush, just a smile.

“I was about to tell you both to get a room. It’s like you read my mind.” Danni’s voice makes us both jump as she shoves a croissant in front of us.

“I – uh – we…” I grin at his discomfort, the normality that’s fallen back over us.

“It looked like a conversation that needed pastry. I even brought you a little cookie to go with the third cup of free coffee I’m making.”

Ah, Danni. I chuckle. “Be careful, people might start talking about your nice streak.”

She snorts and looks at Parker. “Nah, it’s just to sweeten him up so I don’t get put in cuffs when I accidentally kick a few pebbles at that lovely Porsche. Such a shame.” Her head throws back and she walks away obviously knowing her words have had the desired effect.

“She’s joking, right? She’s not really going to vandalise his car. He has cameras and he has -” Parker’s worry makes him more alert than he has this whole conversation.

I squeeze his hand one last time.

“We’ll keep her reigns on, don’t worry.”

@krish58100

#parker shaw #parker x mc #harper vance #it lives beneath #playchoices

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docrotten · 2 years

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A REFLECTION OF FEAR (1972) - Episode 167 - Decades of Horror 1970s

“She is a disturbing child.” It doesn’t reach the heights of his USS Indiana monologue in Jaws, but Robert Shaw delivers this line with grim resignation. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they check out A Reflection of Fear (1972), a relatively unknown film starring Sondra Locke, Robert Shaw, and Sally Kellerman.

Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 167 – A Reflection of Fear (1972)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

A disturbed young girl starts believing that there is something very sinister at work after her estranged father visits her at her mother and grandmother’s house with the woman he plans to marry.

Director: William A. Fraker

Writers: Edward Hume & Lewis John Carlino (screenplay); Stanton Forbes (from his novel “Go To Thy Deathbed”)

Selected cast:

Sondra Locke as Marguerite

Robert Shaw as Michael

Sally Kellerman as Anne

Mary Ure as Katherine

Signe Hasso as Julia

Gordon De Vol as Hector

Gordon Anderson as Aaron (voice only)

Mitchell Ryan as Inspector McKenna

Victoria Risk as Peggy

Leonard Crofoot as Aaron

Michael St. Clair as Kevin

Liam Dunn as the Coroner

Michelle Marvin as the Nurse

Michele Montau as Madame Caraquet

Doc chose A Reflection of Fear for the Jaws connection delivered by Robert Shaw in his starring role. He admits it’s kind of a stupid movie but he still enjoyed it for its 70s flavor. There are a few creepy elements present and he really likes Shaw’s and Sondra Locke’s performances.

Chad took one look at the cast and thought A Reflection of Fear would be a great movie, but instead, he is very bored with it all. Even though he loves Shaw and Locke in it, and yes, there were some creepy parts, he was expecting a whole lot more than a predictable twist. A Reflection of Fear got under Bill’s skin a little, but the two twists really date the movie. He thinks Sondra Locke is a perfect choice for her role and that Robert Shaw is terrific but there just isn’t enough there to maintain interest. Jeff doesn’t buy Sondra Locke as the teenager she is playing and points out some huge continuity jumps in a couple of the film’s edits. He enjoyed Sally Kellerman’s and Mitchell Ryan’s performances the most, but not enough to become a fan of A Reflection of Fear.

Your 1970s Grue Crew has a fairly lukewarm reaction to A Reflection of Fear, but if you are so inclined, it is available for viewing. At the time of this writing, the movie can be streamed from Tubi.

If you’re craving some more Shaw sauce to top off your summer, now would be a great time to revisit the Decades of Horror 1970s 2-part episode on Jaws! You can check it out here:

JAWS (1975) Part 1 — Episode 18 — Decades of Horror 1970s

JAWS (1975) Part 2 — Episode 19 — Decades of Horror 1970s

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, the next episode in their very flexible schedule, chosen by Jeff, will be Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and the Wolf Man (1973).

We want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: leave us a message or leave a comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1970s podcast hosts at [email protected].

Check out this episode!

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bri206 · 6 years

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4:59

The stress had finally taken over her. Her doctor had warned her that stress would cause problems. But she didn’t listen and continued to participate in her heavily stressed out job. And now she is laying in a hospital bed groggily trying to remember how she even got there, and then it all came rushing back, like a bad nightmare.

Everything started out great, a drug deal was going down at the docks and Oliver and John had gone down there to take care of it. No problem, and everything went down smoothly, but it was after they came back that things got dicey.

When Oliver and John returned from the back, after taking showers and changing, they had found Felicity had fallen asleep.

The way her body angled over the keyboard caused Oliver pain just thinking about the uncomfortable position. Sighing he knelt down to his knees.

“Felicity” he whispered.

When she didn’t stir, he started softly caressing her hair, which caused her to slowly wake from her slumber.

“Hmm” she muttered.

“It’s time to go home my love.”

“I don’t wanna move” she said still half asleep.

At 8 months pregnant, Felicity’s energy was nonexistent, and once she was down, she was down.

They were about to call it a night when her computers went haywire. All seven of her alerts that she set for their new villain finally went off after two weeks of dormancy.

“Shaw”

Typing furiously, she finally landed a location.

“Where is he?”

“In an old abandoned house on the outskirts of the city.”

“Alright” he says already moving back to his suit.

After quickly getting the suit back on, he heads to the landing when he hears Felicity.

“Umm, guys.”

“What is it?” Oliver asks coming to stand beside her.

“I found the list of all the missile codes he stole from Argus and the FBI.”

“That’s great”

“What’s not great is that I can’t access and terminate the file, without being on site.” “No!”

“Oliver-“

“I said no. You are not going anywhere near him.”

“Oliver this may be our only chance to stop him from destroying everything. I mean you saw the plans. He’s practically going to start World War III. From his sites set on Russia and China, to Canada to London. Oliver, we save the world, and if saving the world looks like me terminating missile codes in the back of a van, then so be it.” “Felicity” he half begged. “Please”

“I won’t leave the van. I promise.” Giving him her most sincere look, he sighs in defeat. Knowing she won this argument, she gathers everything she needs. “We have to leave now, there’s no telling when I’ll lose the connection, and we won’t be able to get a chance like this again.”

The first signs that things weren’t going to go well, was the uneasy feeling in her stomach. The nerves ate away at her as the time passed by and the closer they got to the house. Knowing that if she failed, everything would be in absolute chaos did nothing but put her in an a near panic attack, but again, she just pushed it down. That was her first mistake.

When they arrived, Oliver and Digg went over the plan one more time and quickly began to execute it. Before he left, Oliver turned from the open door and looked his wife in the eye.

“Don’t you dare leave this van. I mean it Felicity.” “I won’t, I promise. I promise it on our baby’s life.”

Knowing those words were the deepest promise either could make to each other, Oliver nodded once and left.

The second sign to her was the distress kicks and cramps, but with her body pushing everything into full on fight or flight mode, Felicity let the pain egg her on.

After about 10 minutes, everything went from bad to worse. Oliver and Digg had found the man and he had an army and quite the fight in him. While they were trying to stay on top inside, Felicity was having better luck outside.

Everything was going well when she finally hacked into the server and got a hold of the codes.

“I got them.”

“Good now destroy them” Oliver said over the comms.

“Already ahead of you” she mutters under her breath.

And with one final tap to the enter key, the file was permanently gone.

“Alright, it’s no more.”

All of a sudden, the comms went off resulting in a white noise over the speaker.

“Oliver?”

No response.

“Oliver?”

Without warning the van was opened un-ceremonially and everything went black.

When she opened hey eyes, everything was fuzzy at first but her sense of touch notified her that she was tied to a chair. Everything began to clear up moments later and she quickly noticed that Oliver and John were hanging from the ceiling. How he managed to do that, she will never know.

“Oh, good you’re awake. You and I have some business we need to hash out before the other’s wake up. First of all, I don’t appreciate you frying my system and destroying the missile codes.”

“Yeah, well you are the bad guy.”

‘Careful Felicity’ her conscious was yelling at her.

He gives her a humorless chuckle.

“You have quips. Now I understand why everyone loves you. The badass business woman by day, taking down terrorists by night. Quite the catchy life if you ask me.” “Well it’s a good thing I wasn’t asking then.”

‘FELICITY’ she internally screamed at herself. Usually she was fine in situations like this; she could keep her emotions in check. But that bad feeling she had at the beginning of the night reached maximum capacity and she just knew something unforgettably bad was about to happen to her.

“You know, I had a plan B & C and somehow you managed to ruin those too and you’re gonna pay.”

As he’s declaring his threat, two things happened. Oliver woke up and Shaw walked towards her while simultaneously pulling out his gun.

Felicity’s breathing was growing quicker and quicker and her heart was hammering in her chest so hard she knew it would fall out any moment. But the thing that scared her the most, was the way her baby was kicking at her stomach. The kicks were hard and it almost felt like the baby was trying to claw their way out. And it was in that moment that she knew in her bones, that she would never meet her baby.

The look in Shaw’s eyes was murderous. She never saw herself going out this way, especially when another life was literally relying on her. And she knew that if she died right this second, she would never forgive herself for letting this baby die with her. But deep down she knew she had to make peace with her demons because soon it wouldn’t matter.

“FELICITY” Oliver was screaming as Shaw got closer and closer to her.

She couldn’t see the look of anguish on his face because her eyes were closed, as she slowly prepared herself for her demise. Wanting it to be as painless as possible for her baby’s sake, she mentally sent a prayer to any God who would listen.

Shaw stopped inches from her and held the gun to her temple.

“You know it’s such a shame, because I have a real soft spot for women and children.”

“Says the same man who was going to nuke multiple countries filled with women and children.”

“But for you, I’ll make an exception.”

As he begins to cock the gun, Oliver breaks the chain holding him to the ceiling and quicker than he has ever picked up and nocked an arrow, he aims and shoots without so much as a thought.

Taking what she thinks is her final breath, Felicity squeezes her eyes shut and awaits the pain. But it never comes. Instead a chocking sound erupts from above her. Opening her eyes, she sees the arrowhead bright red with blood, pointing out directly from his heart.

The gun clatters to the ground and so does his body. When she looks up to Oliver’s face for the first time, she sees the fury raging in his eyes, but it quickly dissipates when he sees her.

“Felicity” he says in a whispered cry, as he runs and kneels down to get her out of her binds.

Not really processing, Felicity can’t hear anything. She imagines this is what it feels like when someone at war has that defining moment that would haunt their dreams forever. She doesn’t even register the roughness of his hands when they come into contact with her cheek. Instead the only thing keeping her conscious of her body, is the feeling of her baby going still.

“No” she whispers so low that it’s the only thing she can hear. And without warning, her body shuts down and goes limp into Oliver’s arms.

The first thing she realized when she became attuned with her body, was the absence of weight on her stomach. Her hands immediately went to the now flat and soft surface of her belly. The next thing she noticed was the big scar that hurt like hell.

“What? My baby?”

When she turns, it is the first time she notices she’s not alone. Oliver was sitting beside her, with his hands in his lap, like a scared little boy afraid of touching anything. His eyes were glazed over and he was avoiding eye contact with her, and she had no idea why. This was not Oliver.

“Oliver?”

Nothing, he acts as if she weren’t even here. “Oliver? Where’s my baby?”

At the last word, his eyes slowly ascend up until they meet hers.

She doesn’t like the look he’s giving her one bit. It is a look of shock, anguish, and unbearable heartbreak.

“Oliver? Wher-e’s my baby?” she full on cries out.

And when she thinks that he’s going to answer her this time, she is very wrong. Instead his reaction is one she’s never seen in her 8 years of knowing this man. The strongest man she has ever known, was bawling right in front of her.

His cries were pure agony to her ears. The tears were overlapping one another as they left streak after streak upon his tan cheeks.

And all the pent up emotion she had been holding in all night caught up to her as she watched her husband suffer through his pain, and she felt the beginning of her own endless waterfall begin to make its descent.

“Oliver?”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. She- she didn’t make it.”

And to think she couldn’t have been broken anymore than she was when she was sitting in that chair awaiting her death, she was wrong. Four little words, absolutely obliterated her.

“She?” she whispered in disbelief.

Oliver simply nods.

And surprising herself, the most inhumane scream fell from her lips, as her heart shattered into a million tiny little pieces. She lost her baby.

As she sobbed into her hands, she slowly felt Oliver engulf her into his arms. They stayed like that for what felt like forever, but was simply a couple minutes, before she lifted her head from his chest.

“What happened?”

“After you fainted, John and I rushed you here to the hospital, and they immediately took you into an emergency C-Section. They were so worried because your body literally shut down and they were afraid that if you didn’t wake up soon the baby would die, so they delivered her.”

“And?”

“And she was fine… Until they delivered her. I snuck into the room to make sure were ok, and they were giving her CPR.”

What he wasn’t telling her was that when he saw Doctor Schwartz giving his baby CPR and the look of worry on her face, his life was slowly crumbling. That when he heard Dr. Schwartz sigh in defeat with her head hung low, his body went into shock. But the moment that truly broke him was when the words “Time of death 4:59” came out of her mouth and her look of sorrow when she said “I am so sorry I couldn’t save your daughter Oliver. I am so sorry.”

He has suffered through a lot of death in his life time. More than a person should go through in ten lifetimes, but out of all the deaths, this one had to be the hardest.

“I want to see her. No. I NEED to see her.”

“Felicity”

“Please. I just need to see my baby.”

After a moment of silence, he grabs her call button and pushes it. A few minutes later, a nurse walks in.

“Mrs. Queen welcome back.”

“I wanna see my baby.”

Without a word, the nurse ducks out of the room and comes back five minutes later with Dr. Schwartz rolling a bassinette. Finally stopping in front of the bed, she hesitates before picking up the lifeless baby and slowly handing her to her mother.

When Felicity makes contact with her daughter, she feels like coming home. She feels like everything was complete, except it wasn’t because if it were, she would be crying and looking at her with big eyes.

But that was not the case, instead she was pressed against her chest right on her heart, motionless. Looking down at the greyish blue tinted skin, Felicity couldn’t help but feel a whole new kind of heartbreak. She didn’t just lose her baby that she never met, but she was saying goodbye to her heart and soul.

Pulling her tight, she ducked her head into the little puff of blonde hair and sobbed. All while this was going on, Oliver watched every move and felt the pain become worse and worse as time went on. Finally he took Felicity back into his arms and let his hand rest atop his daughter’s body. And the family just cried.

Looking over to the window Dr. Schwartz saw the beginning of a new day, as the sun began to make it’ s presence. As it made it’s way into the hospital room, it almost seemed as if it were on a mission. It traveled through the white floor, to the chairs, to the bed, and then finally landed over Felicity, like a warm blanket. But Felicity didn’t feel the warmth, but someone else did.

What happened next would overtake any shocking discovery he ever made. A man running as fast as lightning; time travel; aliens; and multiple Earth’s.

After moments under the ray of sun, right before her eyes, Dr. Schwartz started to see a change in the baby girl, her skin was no longer greyish blue, but a soft pink.

” Felicity” she whispered.

And without having to say another word, the sound of a baby’s cries filled the room. Looking down, Oliver and Felicity saw their daughter squirming and clutching tightly to her gown. She was alive.

Her cries were music to their ears, and briefly making eye contact with each other new tears formed from their eyes but this time, they were tears of joy.

From that day forward, they would never understand what brought back their daughter, but whatever it was, they were forever grateful.

They named her ‘Ada Hope Queen’ and would cherish every second of every day of her life. That included William too, who was just as thrilled when he met the miracle baby.

While her life didn’t start out good, it definitely would be lived out extremely well. She was loved, so loved and no one would ever be able to take that away.

@candykizzes24 @wherethereissmoak @ao3feed-oliverfelicity @almondblossomme @dreamalongwithamy @smkkbert

#Olicity #oliver queen/felicity smoak #Felicity Smoak #oliver queen #angst #ao3feed #A03 #a03 link #a03 fic #olicity baby #sad

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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James Wan Horror Movies Ranked

https://ift.tt/3Agt7Vy

James Wan has a new horror movie out this weekend, and it’s been far too long since we’ve been able to write that. As one of the singular genre filmmakers of his generation, Wan managed to launch three successful and pop culture defining horror franchises in less than a decade between Saw (2004), Insidious (2010), and The Conjuring (2013). And yet, the Australian director hasn’t stepped foot in a spooky house since 2016’s The Conjuring 2. Moving on to bigger and (maybe?) better things in Furious 7 and Aquaman, Wan’s new status as a blockbuster director caused many fans to wonder if his days in dark shadows were done.

Which is why this weekend’s Malignant is such an inviting proposition. Five years after walking away from personally helming Ed and Lorraine Warren’s on-screen adventures, Wan’s returned to his roots with an original horror movie that’s not part of any franchise. What a novel concept. To celebrate this change of fortune, the editors at Den of Geek have put their heads together and voted, coming up with a definitive ranking of Wan’s horror movies. You can trust us.

7. Malignant

Sometimes it takes a while to get back into the swing of things. While Wan deserves credit for championing an original idea in the modern world of sequels, prequels, and spinoffs—he even turned down helming The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It for this!—daring gambles don’t always payoff for everyone. Which might be a polite way of saying that for some of us (although not all), Malignant is a disappointment.

Built entirely around a plot twist we’re not going to spoil here, Wan’s Malignant takes the familiar concept of a protagonist (Annabelle Wallis) being wrongfully accused for supernatural crimes, and turns it on its head. The actual twist however has left folks divided. Some applaud how bold it is while others of us found it fairly underwhelming, and lacking a satisfying subtext or cohesiveness to make it worthwhile. We’re all in agreement though, it’s a stylish bit of eye candy… and that Wan’s done better before. – David Crow

6. Insidious: Chapter 2

As the second installment of Wan and frequent collaborator Leigh Whannell’s Insidious franchise, there was a lot of anticipation over how this horror sequel would follow-up on the cliffhanger ending to the first film. If you don’t recall—and here there be spoilers, by the by—that movie ended on the shocking revelation that Patrick Wilson’s repressed and mild mannered father, Josh, had become possessed by a ghost which has been chasing him since childhood. Worse, this spirit caused him to kill Lin Shaye’s delightfully kooky Elise! (Don’t worry, her soul gets better.) What will happen next to the poor Lambert family?

Movies

13 Best Blumhouse Horror Movies Ranked

By David Crow and 3 others

Movies

Insidious: Is The Further Real?

By Tony Sokol

Something a lot more rote, as it turns out. This is not to say that Insidious: Chapter 2 is a bad movie; it’s simply a much lesser one than what came before. From the film doubling down on a monster not nearly as intriguing as the Lipstick Demon from the first film to the picture failing to expand on the strange astral plane of the Further in a meaningful way, Chapter 2 is just a tad underwhelming—a horror follow-up going through the motions. Still, it allows Wilson to play secretly evil, so that’s fun! – DC

5. Dead Silence

Dead Silence was DOA in theaters and critically panned when it debuted in 2007, yet after the movie became available as a home release it scraped together a small audience that was mostly composed of very specific genre fans: those who are just plain shit scared of ventriloquist dummies! Directed and written by the horror dream team of Wan and Whannell, Dead Silence stars True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten as Jamie Ashen, a young widower who slumps back to his hometown looking for answers following his wife’s ‘death by dummy.’ Dogging him on his quest is New Kid Donnie Wahlberg in a wild, scene-stealing performance as a detective who seemingly can’t stop preening his facial hair.

The mythical boogeywoman of the piece is Mary Shaw, a ventriloquist who was once lynched in the town after a performance went awry and a child later died by mysterious circumstances. Jamie’s family were an essential part of her lynching, and now Mary is on the warpath from beyond the grave.

Dead Silence is incredibly silly, but an important step in Wan’s directing career. Throughout the film he plays with the kind of masterful sound design and jump scares that he eventually refined down to a sublime craft. Just like one of Mary Shaw’s dolls, all the parts are there but the movie is only possessed by a little soul that doesn’t do too much damage to your nerves. – Kirsten Howard

4. Saw

The movie that made Wan a household name (at least among movie nerds and horror hounds), Saw became the biggest horror franchise of the 2000s and launched a grim new subgenre of exploitation that’s been derisively (if fairly) dubbed “torture porn” ever since. It’s therefore easy to forget Wan’s original Saw really isn’t one of those movies. Oh, people are tortured on-screen in this gnarly nightmare. And it is very horrific, to be sure.

Yet unlike the many subsequent Saw sequels that came later, plus copycats like the Hostel franchise, Saw doesn’t take perverse pleasure in its characters’ suffering or imagine the villain as some kind of antihero. Jigsaw was originally a chilling serial killer in the David Fincher mold, and his original film had a surprisingly minimal amount of gore. Most of the picture is really about the dreadful suspense of anticipation as we wait for something horrible to happen when two men wake up inside a dilapidated industrial bathroom and are told they need to saw off their own feet to survive.

In truth, if this same exact script (minus the grisly flashback sequences) was presented a one-act Off-Broadway play in 2004, it would’ve likely been hailed as edgy and boundary-pushing art. Instead we got a horror classic that spawned a memorable, if ultimately trashy, B-horror franchise after Wan and co-writer Whannell left the series following the first outing. Fair trade. – DC

3. Insidious

Back in 2010 when Insidious was released, Blumhouse hadn’t yet become the horror behemoth it is today. So low budget but glossy horrors starring talented household names weren’t the norm. It wasn’t just these attributes that made Insidious a breakout which still holds up a decade later, however. It’s the fact that the movie is undeniably scary. It may use certain jump scare tactics at times but boy, do they work. Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne star as a couple whose son is capable of astral projection, which has taken him into the nightmarish world of the Further and caused demonic figures to haunt the family.

The first half of the movie will have you leaping out of your seat. The second half though is more of a comedy, marked by the arrival of psychic Elise (Lin Shaye) and her sidekicks, Tucker (Angus Sampson) and Specs (Leigh Whannell, who also wrote the screenplay). Made for just $1.5 million, Insidious is good-looking and distinctive, with scenes in the Further sharing an aesthetic with Dead Silence, and a mythology that clearly had legs. To date three sequels have been made, with a fourth confirmed last year. – Rosie Fletcher

2. The Conjuring 2

As a horror sequel done right, Wan’s follow-up to the biggest horror movie of his career felt like a palate cleanser for the director. After helming the successful but tragically troubled production of Furious 7, Wan returned to his roots and delivered a fiendishly designed thrill ride. In The Conjuring 2, we again follow Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga’s fictionalized takes on Ed and Lorraine Warren, this time to London as they investigate the infamous “Enfield Poltergeist” (spoiler alert: it’s a demon).

Once again Ed and Lorraine play the good samaritans and help a young family in desperate need, and Wan still keeps it wildly entertaining and suspenseful, if not necessarily fresh. But as important as his gliding camera set-ups and ability to create new iconic images of evil out of seeming whole cloth—hello, there demon Nun!—it’s the humanity in both of Wan’s Conjuring films which elevate them above the rest of their franchise. Never mind the ghosts; the scene of Wilson crooning Elvis Presley to some beleaguered children is the stuff of movie magic. – DC

1. The Conjuring

James Wan couldn’t have picked better subjects for his paranormal investigation franchise than Ed and Lorraine Warren, the controversial demonologists who left behind countless diaries and recorded accounts of demonic possession, haunted houses, and other supernatural events they claim to have witnessed over their decades-spanning careers. They even opened a museum full of spooky artifacts in the back of their Connecticut home. This is a couple who enjoyed digging into the occult, and with The Conjuring, Wan showed just how much he loved telling stories about the Warrens.

Movies

The Conjuring Timeline Explained: From The Nun to The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

By Daniel Kurland

Movies

How The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It Embraces Satanic Panic

By David Crow

The first film covers one of the Warrens’ most famous cases, the Perron family haunting, with more than a few embellishments thrown in for an effective ghost story. In the real-life account and the movie, Roger and Carolyn Perron (Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor) are haunted by an antagonistic spirit that wants their newly-purchased 18th-century farmhouse in Rhode Island all to itself. That’s where the Warrens come in to investigate the strange occurrences, like the smell of rotting flesh in the basement.

The chemistry between Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, who bring the Warrens to life, is one of the movie’s greatest strengths, establishing one of the franchise’s most important themes: that love can defeat any evil. It’s their devotion to each other, and their will to help others in need, that allows them to overcome any supernatural obstacles in these movies. (It’s why the sequels spend so much time threatening to tear them apart.) More than the creepy set pieces—like a possessed Carolyn in the crawl space *shudder*—and the “based on a true story” tagline, it’s the Warrens as characters that people keep showing up for, and the first Conjuring cleverly sells their love story to an audience just expecting jump scares and demons. – John Saavedra

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i-drink-and-i-write-fics · 3 years

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A Khaleesi Needs A Khal

Chapter 3: New Winds Are Rising

Summary: Rose opts to stay in Europe until a new enemy arises ten years after meeting Logan. One that couldn’t be predicted.

Europe hit an obvious slump after the Great War ended. I was running from town to town, country to country, trying to help farmers with their crops and livestock so that they could keep themselves alive. I couldn’t make my efforts known to the world, so there was only so much help I could offer without making it seem like magic was covering the land. And in that it made my efforts feel like I was pushing a boulder up a snow covered hill without my super strength.

Germany was hit the hardest and I ended up spending most of my time there. The country unnerved me for some reason, and it wasn’t because the war seemed to have sprouted from here. Something from my past kept tugging on the strings of my memories, but there were too many cobwebs to clear. Because of my many years alive I had time to not only learn several languages of the surrounding lands, but the individual slangs as well. Discourse was practically flowing through the streets mixed with memories of happier times before the war.

A name that was thrown around during these conversations was Adolf Hitler. It was rumored he had tried to over throw the Germany government five years earlier and that now he was trying to become Chancellor of Germany. Unfortunately I had been correct when I told Logan that peace never lasts. Merely ten years after he and I met, the world was looking for a new way to tear itself in half. I only hoped he was able to keep himself and his brother out of the upcoming mess.

“Excuse me, miss. May I have a word with you?”

I slowly turned around to see a tall, slender man with brown hair and eyes looking down at me. Pulling my cloak closer around my body, I shook my head and answered him in the same dialect. “Sorry, Herr. I do not feel safe speaking with strange men. I must be on my way, thank you.”

He grabbed my arm with more strength than I assumed he had and whispered in my ear, this time in English with no hint of an accent. “Now, now, little one. Let us not be that way. I know who you are and I have the perfect use for those powers of yours.”

I kept my face calm while placing my hand on top of his. Still looking straight ahead, I bent back his finger until I heard it snap. As he screamed in pain, I dashed off down the street and around a corner. Unfortunately, a man who was no doubt associated with the first blocked my way. He was tall with bright red skin and a demon-like tail. Before I had a chance to defend myself, he grabbed my arm and the alley disappeared in a flash.

We landed in a beautiful lounge where I was promptly tossed onto a couch before the demon creature disappeared in a puff of smoke and returned just as quickly with the first man who approached me. The first man waltz over to a bar and began to pour an amber liquid into a glass.

“Now, my dear. Sorry to have brought you here so abruptly but I felt it was imperative we speak. Would you like a drink? No?” I refused to answer him, instead using the time to survey my surroundings. “No use in looking around. The door is hidden, just for this reason. I’m Sebastian Shaw, though you may know me better as Dr Klaus Schmidt.”

“What do you want, Shaw?”

He walked over to me and held out the glass, smiling all the while. I shook my head, knowing better than to trust anything he wanted to give me. “I admire you stubbornness, but I promise it’s not poisoned. There would be no purpose in killing you, assuming you can even die. And I need you alert for this conversation so you won’t be drugged.”

Realizing he knew more about me than I had told anyone but Logan and the two gods, I reluctantly took the glass from him. He was correct in the fact that no poison could touch me, but as I had never been drugged I could neither confirm nor deny they would have any effect on me. Most likely the answer was no. Taking a sip of the strong liquor, I carefully weighed my words. “You seem to know a great deal about someone who prefers to live in the woods.”

“Normally you would be correct in your suspicion, but you have been sloppy. In all your years on this planet, you have never once changed your appearance. Sure, you’ve change the way you style your hair and the clothes you wear to fit the times. But your hair is still that beautiful mix of black, grey, and white. And those eyes? Well, I would recognize those eyes anywhere, though Azazel said the original color was so beautiful.”

Now I was completely unnerved as I glanced over at the demon-looking mutant. That creature had known me before that night I had almost died, over 347 years ago! How had I never noticed him before was beyond me. “What do you want, Shaw?”

“The Germans are slowly rebuilding their armies and they’ll need the best the earth has to offer.” He sat on the coffee table directly across from me, a drink of his own dangling in his hand.

“If you truly know who I am then you know damn well I don’t work with any form of official leaders or government.”

“And why is that?” He smirked at me, clearly knowing the answer I choose to repress.

“Does it matter the why? What matters is I refuse to help you. And why do you care? You’re American.”

“Ah true, but I dream of a different world. One where mutants are the only ones around and humans are extinct. Just picture it: you and I the leaders of the new world order.“

"I honestly can’t think of a worse way to spend the end of humanity. And I have yet to see your powers so what makes you king of the land?”

“My dear, I can use any energy source thrown at me and either return it or use it to keep myself looking pretty. So we would be the perfect eternal couple.” He held out a hand to me and I held back a gag.

“Thanks, but I will need to pass. You’ve made your offer and I’ve refused. Now either show me where the door is or I make one of my own.”

“Sorry, but I really think you need to stay here and truly contemplate my offer. And this room is built to withstand mutant level strength, so I’m afraid you’re here until I will it otherwise.”

“Is that so? Well I’m guessing by the layout and lack of windows you either felt they would be a weakness or we’re underground. Shall we find out which it is or will you save me the trouble and tell me now?”

Shaw just smirked at me as he sipped his drink. Azazel came closer in case I tried to beat down the walls. But that wouldn’t be necessary, not to me anyway.

“So this is the Fort Knox against mutant strength? Have you tested it against other conditions? Like a tornado or an earth quake?”

Shaw just laughed at me. “Little girl, you can’t scare me. No amount of wind blowing or earth shaking will shift this building.”

“What about sinking the building?”

“What?” There it was, the tiniest flicker of fear. My window.

My eyes and hair began to burn a bright green as the earth began to shift beneath us. Shaw’s eyes grew a little wider, but he refused to show fear. “Now’s your chance. Are we underground now or will we be shortly? And which one of us can survive that? You may be able to absorb energy, but can you absorb the earth literally piling on top of you?”

“STOP! You’re making a big mistake!”

“Only in your eyes, Herr Shaw.” I placed my hands together and began to slowly pull them apart, watching as a crack began to form on the floor between myself and Shaw. Before he could stop the demon, Azazel grabbed Shaw and blinked out of the room. I continued to pull the foundation apart until the crack reached the wall and began to shake the ceiling down on top of me. Once there was a large enough hole, I jumped through the opening and began to claw my way up through the ground.

Breaking the surface, I could see I was in the middle of the woods in the dead of night. My eyes and hair returned to normal as I walked a quick circle trying to get my bearings. After figuring out where the nearest town was, I took off in the opposite direction to get as far away as I could from this facility.

The war between man and mutant was about to begin. New winds were rising and I refused to be blown over. It was time for an over due trip to Canada.

Chapter 4

#fanfic #fan fic #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #a khaleesi needs a khal #if you could live forever #angst #logan howlett #wolverine #logan howlett x original female character #original female character

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archivexhunting-hardy-brothers · 7 years

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Hardy Boys AU Idea based off of Dragon Age: Origins

Frank Hardy is a mage, taken from his family when he was a small child at the first signs of magic to be trained by the Circle of Magi. A fast learner with a thirst for knowledge, he is quickly proven to be talented and powerful, with weather manipulation and some earthen magic being his strongest assets. By the time he is eighteen, he goes through the Harrowing to confront a demon in the Fade, a dreamlike state where spirits roam. He succeeds, faster than most magi have ever accomplished, and is sanctioned into the Circle as a full mage.

Unfortunately, things go downhill for him rather quickly. One of his friends is accused of doing blood magic, and when he tries to help clear the friends’ name, he’s almost framed for doing wrong. Thankfully, he’s not stripped of his powers and thrown into prison, but rather taken from the Tower of Magi and sent on his way, with the warning that his phylactery, a vial of his blood used as a means of keeping a leash on him, will stay under their watchful eyes, in making sure his magic is not to be used with ill intent. Destroying the vial would gain him his freedom, but also force him to go on the run from the Templars, so that they don’t deem him a threat and kill him.

Thankfully, Frank is reunited with his younger brother Joe, who is now a trained rogue with a specialization with traps and picking locks, alongside his girlfriend, Iola Morton, also a rogue, who has a high skill of being unnoticed, persuading others to her point of view and pickpocketing in general. Together, they find a way back into the Tower, deep into the tunnels and basement directories, to find Frank’s phylactery and destroy it, barely escaping with their lives when the Templar guards are alerted to intruders.

Callie Shaw, a competent warrior trained Templar, is sent after the trio to bring Frank back to face his crimes. She catches up to them soon enough, but is rather taken by the young magi’s passion for freedom and thus takes their side, helping to protect Frank from harm. The four of them now travel together, fighting monsters and having adventures, while avoiding Templars, bandits and other, far more darker, enemies along the way.

(*)

@nancydfan @minxchester @my-malleable-muse

#wanted plots #dragon age au #dao au #; relevant to frank #; relevant to joe

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veryrealimagination · 6 years

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Two Alphas Make an Omega Weapon

Sadly, this one isn’t the Following. It keeps wanting to make Sebastian Shaw and Bobby Drake father and son. The mother is Emma Frost. I have a complete logical argument based on the combination of their powers and how Sebastian would have found out and what he plans to do now that he knows about Bobby.

The full idea is, just after X2, Bobby gets kidnapped and wakes up with Sebastian Shaw talking about how he wants to get to know his son. Emma, who gave him up to protect him, reluctantly goes and finds Magneto, who then alerts Charles because there’s no way he wouldn’t tell him about Shaw. They then have to work together (again and in such a short amount of time) to find Bobby and stop Shaw’s true intention. Turning Bobby into a living weapon, one that he can control and use for mutant supremacy.

And the title on the post was what I was considering for the story title. In comic canon, Frost and Shaw are both Alpha level mutants, but Bobby Drake is a Marvel Confirmed Omega Level Mutant.

At the beginning of her powers, Emma, while being her parents' good little girl, would end up touching her Mother's friends. Hands on her shoulder or light hugs that were common with their position. First, she would hear their thoughts, about her perfect behavior and quiet temperament. Then, at certain times, she's heard something else. It wasn't a full thought, like someone putting together a picture and words. Sometimes it was sounds, low thumps or muffled voices. Repeats of conversations. It was later on that she would see the women with enlarged abdomens. She recently learned about pregnancy, how women carried children until it was able to live without instantly dying. Those echoes, shadows of thoughts, those must have been the child's first attempt at thinking.

When she kept practicing and expanding her telepathy, the baby's first attempts were still hard to pick up. Later ones were easier. Fuller. They still couldn't see or form pictures, but they were forming their own thoughts instead of repeating what they've heard. She listened to children learn that they were already with their Mother, start calling out to her. Sometimes, they got responses, the mothers subconsciously reacting.

The next time she heard echoes, she was hunched over a toilet in the latest place they were using. It was a month after Cuba and they had moved between three places before settling her. Even this was temporary, according to Lensherr. They couldn't stay and allow Charles to find them, or anyone else. She wanted to fall asleep and stay that way for a month. There had to be defensible places that they could bunker down for a month. Scout for new recruits and grow.

It took a few minutes to realize that she was hearing the conversation with Mystique from yesterday all over again. Muffled, partial words and several things muddled. She picked up the complaints well enough, and her side was much clearer than Mystique's.

For a brief second, she thought her powers had expanded. She thought about the young women that had joined in, wondered if they had gone and gotten knocked up while they were trying to fight for superiority. Then she had a brief thought about Magneto and Mystique before dismissing it. Another echo came up, repeating a thought that she had earlier, about Magneto and her thought that the man was queer for the other telepath. It was clear, repeated from her own head, and that made her realize something grave.

She was pregnant.

Her first, and pressing, reaction was to find someone that could perform the procedure. There was no way that she could carry, and then care for a child period. Her own family had provided a wonderful education on how not to raise children: being extremely strict, controlling, and hateful without coping mechanisms. She still didn't have a template on how to do the opposite. Few around her had a better idea on how. Raven was raised around Charles. Angel ran from her father. Azazel was condemned a demon from birth. Riptide when he first demonstrated his powers in his home. Erik, well, she didn't think about that one for long. The little time he did have with his family was painted in agony and sadness. There was no way that they could 'deal' with handling a baby while attacking government agents and moving quickly.

Emma had also never even contemplated pregnancy. When someone had told her about birth control, she immediately contacted a doctor to be in the first testing phase. She had seen her Mother's friends, complaining about kicking and swollen feet, eating strange things. Biology and anatomy explained, in detail, what happened to a woman's body when she went through pregnancy. The implantation, cell division, morning sickness, the womb growing to accommodate, the changes in diet to keep one from dying. Everything that could go wrong during the nine month gestation and then the labor to get the child out. No telling the complications that would come from her telepathy or her secondary mutation. How would one push out a child while in diamond form? What could happen if the child connected with her telepathy? What happened if the child showed telepathy while in the womb? No, the thought of going through that had firmly set in her mind that she would not allow herself to become pregnant.

And yet, here she was.

Was it even possible for her to get the procedure? Would her body try to protect her and stop it? Would it try to protect the child? With the bout of sickness passed, she forced herself up and rinsed out her mouth before exiting to the room that she had claimed. Azazel and Riptide had a room two doors down. The girls had the one right next to her. Their leader insisted on a room farther away.

Finding a doctor would be first priority. Finding a doctor that could work with her mutation limitation would be complicated. She could think about the complications after she took a nap.

Figuring out that she had roughly conceived about two months before their current situation, she started planning trips to a 'clinic'. Her first thought was to still try and go through with a procedure. Even the complications with her mutation didn't deter her. She could not come up with the ability to care for a child. There would be no sudden realizations that she would become a Mother. She would not back out of the newly born Brotherhood, nor leave the others helpless. No, not for her.

Unfortunately, there were not mutant doctors. <i>Yet,</i> she noted. There would be soon. Hopefully. The child started parroting 'yet' back to her. It had taken on a voice from the television, something that provided background noise while she was reading around the others. In fact, it had taken to repeating things. Sometimes with glee, others with sadness. It seemed to pick up on the speakers underlying emotions when spoken. Or thoughts, as hers was turning out to be. Either she was subconsciously transmitting thoughts or the child already had the ability to read thoughts. Both had negativity attached to them.

The midwife at the 'clinic' gave her a few pills, telling her the ingredients. Emma hoped that it would be the better choice, her body wouldn't fight as much. She took them with the full glass of water and waited for the process to be started. After a half hour, she was bored. Then, she felt the start of nausea. It wasn't enough to force her to the toilet. She hoped it was a normal part of the process. It gradually got worse that when she hit the ninety minute mark, she was puking her stomach out into the nearby restroom. Once done, she peered down, to see food and the partially digested pill she had just taken. Brilliant. An echo of a whimper came through the connection. Either her anger was getting through and scaring the child or the child was reacting to almost being destroyed.

The midwife came back and she told her the grim news. “I'll get a doctor,” she said. Good, the faster this was taken care of, the better. The man came in. He had already been told about the reaction to the pill. Explaining the process and signing paperwork, she was switched into a gown and settled on the table. The doctor, and one nurse joining in, scrubbed up. She declined their offer of medicines, just wanting this done.

Staring up at the ceiling, she felt the instruments enter and wondered when the next step would be. Instead, the doctor and nurse both stared in shock at something that was going on in her pelvic region. “What? What's going on?” she demanded.

The nurse mumbled, “Your, your skin.”

“What my colleague is trying to say is that your skin has transformed into a much harder state,” he explained, nervously, “And it's preventing us from performing the procedure.”

Damn. Her mutation was protecting the child. Her body was against her in getting rid of it. The doctor and nurse, obviously realizing that she wasn't a normal human, started gently pushing her out the door. At least they haven't run screaming. It was lucky that they were going to another area soon after this.

Three more months, just at the edge of the sixth month, and it starting to be noticeable. Emma had been switching her clothes, slightly and calmly to make a transition to a covering dress less abnormal. They hadn't really been blinking eyes at it. Gradual so no one noticed. Or, maybe they had. Angel tended to let her gaze linger on her abdomen, as if she knew something. Mystique was 'kind' enough not to notice. Azazel protected her during their last attack, and Riptide had dropped off crackers and ginger ale during one of her bad times. Of course, it was Erik that was going to bring it up.

“You're pregnant,” he stated bluntly. Second place in a month, Angel and Mystique out for food while the boys secured and fortified the new place. The man was planning on adding his own modifications once they were done. Now, he was going to discuss the current problem.

“Yes, that's what typically happens when two people of the opposite sex have intercourse, neither wear protection and there's nothing useable as birth control for the side that needs it,” she sniped. Her thoughts had constantly gone on the subjects of what she could have done. Not a lot, considering she couldn't just sign up for a birth control trial and Sebastian was adverse to using protection. He simply raised an eyebrow at her outburst. Emma wasn't thrilled at the current situation. Erik went to ask, and she anticipated his next thoughts. “I've already tried. My body prevented it. Puked up the pills and blocked the procedure.”

“Your body's protecting the child as an extension of yourself.”

“Yes,” she said.

Mama?

She turned down to her chest, confused. Was the child at the point where it was starting to form thoughts? Erik noted, “What is happening?”

Mama, wrong? She was also presented with an old memory, when Christian hugged her when she had a fight with her father. When was she thinking about that? Was her child trying to comfort her? I must be broadcasting some of my old memories to him. Pregnancy hormones are making me sentimental. She sat down on the edge of her bed, confused and worried by no small amount. “He's talking to me.”

“He? You already know the sex?”

“I think he does.” Now would be the time to start rubbing the area that was swollen. People that cared about the child, or were even fascinated with the new being growing within them, do that. She was still uncomfortable with this being growing inside her. This, this wasn't what she ever wanted. Her child was showing signs that he was already trying to connect to her. She just couldn't.

“Will you give him up?” he inquired, moving to one of his more pressing concerns.

“Yes,” she answered, “There is no way I can care for a child. There is no way this group can care for one. Not when we're fighting off agents and hiding from the government and Xavier's little group.” There is little chance that I'll suddenly turn into a maternal figure able to care for him.

He nodded his agreement, coming to the same conclusion. “We'll be separating within the next two months. I have rumors that I want to substantiate. Mystique and Angel are going on their own recruitment campaign. Azazel and Riptide are going back underground, getting as much information as we can gather on what the governments are doing. Do what you must.”

#x men movieverse #wips of DOOM!#figured i'd post things that have kinda lanquished so people could get an idea of what I'm doing #emma frost #a little Magneto #this is the prologue

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xbotanyxbabe · 6 years

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Little Scars (Sage/X-Men ((NOT AN OC)))

1407 Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center, Westchester County, New York. That was the address of the school she lived at. Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters it was called. The school wasn't filled with students that were normal. No. Far from that. This school was filled with a race known as Homo Superior, otherwise known as mutants. Now this woman was, in fact, a mutant, but a special type. Her brain was like that of a computer like mind that was capable of infinite-recall. She was also a telepath, but not one of the higher grade telepaths that were well known. One thing she was good at was seeing the very genetic makeup that made each mutant unique. She used this knowledge to help them gain better control.

This woman has seen so many things in her life that she wished she could unsee. There were things that she wished she hadn't done. Things happened to her that shouldn't happen to anyone and that she couldn't and wouldn't ever wish upon even her worst of enemies. She had been a spy for Charles Xavier, sent in to join and spy on the Hellfire Club. She ended up working for Sebastian Shaw, as his adviser, a position she didn't want, but knew how to play the part. But that soon ended when Shaw had gotten into a poker game with Bogan, helping Shaw so that he would win.

She went by many names. Her birth name was Tessa Hartly, at least that's what she tells people. Her childhood wasn't known by many because she felt as if she needed to keep it a secret. The Hellfire Club had dubbed her as Lady Tessa. But once she left the Hellfire club when her spying was done, she had dawned on the name Sage, which she was affectionately given by Storm. It was a name she loved a great deal.

One of her hands rose up to her cheek as she felt the scar of a deep cut that went from her lower eyelid down to below the cheekbone. She had a scar on each side, she had been given by Bogan. He cut her face as a price to pay for helping Shaw win the poker match. The memory as fresh in her head head and one she didn't think she would or could ever forget, even if she tried.

Sage closed her eyes as she took off her ruby VR glasses and stared at the computer monitors that almost fully surrounded her and the chair that she was sitting on. Her ocean blue eyes went from one monitor to the other as she typed on the hologram keyboards. Her mouth moved quickly as she mouthed the words that she quickly read on the monitor she would be focusing on. She lifted her hands up and pulled off an elastic that was around her wrist and quickly pulled her hair back into a messy bun, going back to typing as fast as she could.

"Almost got it," She spoke softly as she bit her lower lip. Sage was working on upgrading the defense systems while keeping track of where the X-Men's biggest enemies were in case she had to alert anyone. This was something she did at least once a month. She didn't want a teaching job because she wasn't exactly the best when it came to talking to people, but she did try her best.

One thing Sage didn't do much of anymore was sleep. She couldn't bring herself to. The memories she harbored, the pain, the blood, it haunted her worse in her dreams. Every time she closed her eyes, it was either the darkness of her childhood, her time as a mercenary, or her time with Hellfire. She wanted to rid of the demons, but she knew she couldn't. She knew, deep down, that she couldn't get rid of them, no matter how badly she wanted to. Her fingers tightened around her glass of wine before the glass shattered and wine spilled everywhere.

Sleep was a luxury Sage couldn't afford. Bags formed under her eyes, it was clear she didn't want to see those memories. When she did need sleep, she let her body shut down. No amount of alcohol, medication or mental blocks could keep the demons from clawing their way back to the surface. She didn't know what to do anymore, except bury herself in her work. The atonement for the wrongs she had caused in her life, this is how she viewed her demons. She felt this was something she deserved deep down. Honestly, to her, this was better than when she had gone mad.

Sage didn't realize till a few moments later that she had caused the wine to spill. Getting up, she did her best to not make the mess worse. Grabbing a cloth from one of her drawers, she began to dab at the wine stains so they wouldn't smudge and become a bigger mess.

Sage was tired and all she wanted was to sleep.

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crimson-phantom-designs · 6 years

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As the men laughed and carried on in their chatter close around the fire Shaw took his ration and went back to his resting spot outside the group alone and leaned back against a tree just barely inside the fire’s reach. Making short work of his meal as he pulled out a small leather pocket book and a pen flipping through its pages. Maps, charts and handwritten notations. Details about where he was and how he experienced this new world and the creatures there in. Perhaps he would write a book on his experiences after this… Flipping through the pages seemed to relax him as he passed by a few sketches things he seen, people… A few of the ancient creature in his keep feet from him now. His piercing eyes and prehensile tail with a barbed tip. He was… an intresting thing to study. Something that broke reality that biblical creatures were flesh and blood and god and the devil were real as his red skin and tail. Along with the sketches Shaw had notations of his analysis of the man known to most as the Great Dragon. Luicifer. The Devil. Azazel. Draco. Feeling the seering heat of eyes on him Shaw knit his brow and looked out of the corner of his eye locating the heated gaze and saw the man in question wide awake at the end of the camp outside the fire in the cold shadows. He was leaned against the tree he was chained to as the demon silently watched him. Shaw wondered if the demon ever slept or needed to much. His gold eyes reflect the luminescent shine of the moon and faint flicker of the fire. Shaw was most certain he could see well at night being feline as the devil was…. Reflecting a hard, studing gaze back at the red man he noted Azazel bore an absent expression in his unblinking piercing gaze as he sat there so deadly still as if waiting. Patiently so. His padlocked tail snaking slowly across the ground as Shaw briefly sketched the sliding motion and fiery pair of eyes in his journal as he sat watching him. Noting how powerful he was given his lack of substance and energy and perhaps hiw long he could sustain without it if not indefinite… If anything, studying the red demon he looked absolutely feral in the heat of his predatory eyes. He was starving yes and anaminalistc, more so the closer they got, these eyes captured every movement and flicker around him yet deeply they reflect that studying gaze right back which betrayed he wasn’t simply that but in fact rather intelligent and calculating. Waiting for any chance of an opening to escape or simply get a shot in. The devil was a patient being afterall, and as what he was. He had centuries of experience… As Shaw finished capturing this in his journal he put the book away in his breast pocket and leaned aginst the tree, tilting the brim of his hat slightly to rest the lightest he could. His own eyes flashing a soft ice at the chained man across him letting him know his confidence enough in his own force to let his guard down enough to sleep. Azazel watched him a minute more before finally blinking and slumped forward as his captor slept, sagging and showing his true exhaustion as he pulled down at the tree he was chained to. His head drooped tirdly but he wasn’t sleeping here. No no and though sleeping made this suffering inexistant the shirt time he could, Azazel was on his highest alert. He was on holy ground and getting deeper in this territory each day and the danger rising. His survival instincts were taking over. Fight or fight, only the former was taken from him by the man across him so he’s left with this one preperation. Azazel sighed and shift for a more comfotable position knowing there was none to be had, at least he was able to rest off his feet somewhat now but no he wouldn’t sleep. No matter how badly this mortal body wanted it. If anything he would nap during the day in small incriments when he wasn’t pushed to move as they stopped but even then not for long. He couldn’t afford it. They were being watched. He was at least. They were followed at night and he knew it. He had to stay aware if nit for himself for her… to him. Death now would be a blessing…. He jumped slightly being pulled back from his mental wonderings as the clatter of the men’s laughter and chattering broke slightly as they passed a bottle of rum around the fire and shared rations. His eyes burned fire reflecting off the blaze as he growled softly listening to their ramblings of tales of dangers they had no idea was soon to be their deaths. Rambling of him and curiousities what he truly was or could be. “Vanting a few moments quiet would be nice.” He grunt stiffly closing his eyes then with a smirk. “Vant know more about me, come closer find out. I give much un ask little.” He purred opening his legs with a sneer. One man turned around to face him as a few spoke amongst themselves and one man, sitting closest to the fire spoke up. “What be that creature? Sick thing. Be quiet or you be given a reason to make noise.” “Hmmm, tempting. Can give more than you can imagine, human… including a ripped throat yet I am unfairly disadvantaged…” Azazel then chuckled warmly, flashing a fire in his eyes. “Perhaps a morsel or two and a drink I can show you many things. This man lead you all to die. Vas smart you free me and you have a chance to escape…. Just a simple agreement, is only needed…” One man spat gutterally as another remarked standing up and daring to approach the devil with his liquid courage. “Like a good fucking? I can already have that. Not that he cares and you are a curious thing, hell pass the time.” He spoke with a sneer, looking down at him. Barely brave enough he nudged the devil’s boot slightly with his own. “You have nothing to offer what can’t already be taken from you.” Azazel huffed with a low growl. “Nyet you ignorant fool, please try… please… Tha man there thinks owns me and flense you alive threaten mine purpose to him… but by all means try……” He purred warmly exposing the legnth of his neck as he bared his fangs then sneered. “Regardless your achievement, keep all your catrwailing, It brings things to the fire. I’m nyet the monster to be most afraid of here, things hungrier than mine. I care a quicker death really so continue- just vords of caution…. not that matters much…” He smiled darkly with a slight tilt to his head letting his eyes flash back to fire. “Oh yeah demon, why’s that?” The man said. Azazel chuckled dryly, licking his lips as he bared his fangs through a sideways smirk and glanced over them all. “Because you’re all going to die out here anyvay. Might as vell make use your souls… You think he will seriously leave any von alive but himself once he gets vhat vants?…” He nod to Shaw far in the corner. “That man more the devil than I am….” A silence hushed over the group as fear then waved over them, whispering amongst themselves, contemplating as Hannisty scowled jusy returning with more wood as looking around them and snapped dropping the pile on the fire. “Ignore him… just the pathetic ramblings of a man that knows he’s already dead…” He looked back down at the red devil then back to the crew. “You’ve all been paid handsomely more than any title worth your weight or his and will get more. This creature simply wants its freedom. It will kill you all for the pleasure…” “Vouldn’t you?” Azazel smirked wisking his tail in the first mates direction. Hannisty laughed. Taking one legnth of wood shooed the man and aimed it at the devils throat as he growled softly. “Men are free. You are no man. Hell way I see it you’re nothing more than a cat that looks a little more human. Devil or not, you’re not human and haven’t any rights other than what you are…” Locking eyes with the man Azazel just growled deeply his eyes a piercing yellow glaring up the branch at his throat but he then laxed back and smirked, lowering his head with an exhale. Seemingly aloss for words or seemingly too tired. Then as Hannisty smiled triumphant in his assertion goes back to his spot to hear a deep rumble as Azazel added deeply, almost through a rumble as he raised his head back up slightly to reveal blackened eyes as the men stirred seeing this and shifted further away from him. “You think you’re free, cretin? You have free vill given to you by a dictator vho cares nyet you live or die. You are merely trinkets… but da that is only your right. You have a soul and that is nyet free. I have no rights but… opportunities… even for a vaste of space like you only don’t vait too long least be too late for even my doing….” The men snickered slightly and Hannisty fumed making eye twitched. He made a physcial rush forward pulling the rifle from his belt he carried and flipped it to the butt to strike as Azazel bayed a sharp threat and snarled lurching forward jerking in his restraints with a cringe as he prepared for the blow. Though just before the blunt trama to knock him out a steely voice shot out as everyone froze to see Shaw sitting up, the fingers of one hand resting gently on one knee as his eyes were a steely ice blue. “I said that’s enough. Go back to sleep… all of you. Leave the demon be… we have a long ride in the morning.” He said glancing from Hannisty to Azazel. “Remember Hannisty I need him alive nd uninjured least he not make it you won’t breathe to see the next. He isnt replaceable….” Azazel chuckled as the man stepped back and sat down complying to his command with a nod and soft ‘yes Sir’. Azazel then looked at Shaw as the man stood up and approached him resigning Azazel to growl softly yet was all he could or was willing to protest ro a potential blow yet to the demons suprise Shaw reached into his pocket and pulled out a strip of dried meat, outstreaching his hand to Azazel as he added bluntly. “You’ll be alive when we get there. No quiestion in that. The condition however your in dosen’t concern me rather that you’re still breathing. Remember that. Toy with them to turn agains’t me and I’ll shoot you in the spine and drag you there. Understand?” Azazel hesitated yet snapped up the offering swallowing it whole as it was barely a taste to wet his hunger. “Da, Captain….” Azazel half nodded with a sneer as he lowered his head in a sign of surrender, rocking one knee as his tail swings sensually emitting a soft purr yet his eyes stare up fading back to gold fire and fury yet he obliged quietly. "I am at your mercy now. Just remember vhat mine said doesn’t just pertain to men vho think themselves free…. remember that.“ He leaned forward with a grin, opening his mouth gently with a deep demure expression. "Ve all, including even mine own die someday. For your soul perhaps becomes captive to at mine…. understand?” Shaw glared down at him in icy steel yet with a long pause retreated back to his resting place, a reflection of pain in his voice. “I do. More than you realize, old devil or perhaps care to.” He uttered quietly laying nack down. Peace for the time being he relaxed back and closed his eyes. Still feeling the intense heat of the gaze of the devil he kept contained least for now. —- Segment oneshot revamping muses and illustration to the ongoing fic; Playing for the Devil’s Fire

#azazel #devils fire #sebastian shaw #pirates life

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