#I love Garfield I think he and spy would get along

[ruthytwoshakes]

You should put him in this

In my shitpost, me and my followers chose costumes for the spy and I drew him...I liked it, most likely there will be a sequel

(I will be glad to receive suggestions about his outfits from you)

[hashtag-amf]

Oh, wow, this book was a joy ride. I had watched 'The Amazing Spiderman 2' on the television somewhere through the middle. Harry Osborne (Dane DeHaan) and Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) in the spacious Oscorp office. Harry sat in a gigantic regal leather chair while Peter stood a few meters away, facing him. Harry tells Peter about his deteriorating health and says that he is in urgent need of a cure. He then shows him a video on his television screen about the animal trails that Oscorp was working on. Peter looks confused. Harry explains that he had considered using one of the trails on himself, but it wasn't ready for a human trial.

Dane DeHaan as Harry Osborne from ‘The Amazing Spiderman 2’

Harry knew that Peter knew Spiderman and requested him to get his blood sample. Peter conflicts as he wants to help him but cannot. He doesn't want to tell Harry about him being Spiderman. Harry misunderstands him, thinking that Peter doesn't want to help him. They argue. Peter is afraid that Harry might press him for more information, leaves his office. Outside, he meets Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). Peter informs her that Harry's health is deteriorating and he is searching for a cure. He tells her that he told Harry that he isn't sure if Spiderman's blood will cure him of his ailment.

Later, Harry visits Ravencroft Institute, where he meets Maxwell Dillon. He helps him break out of his cell, and allows Max to take control of the power grid at Oscorp since it was his design. Electro causes a citywide blackout challenging Spiderman to fight him. After a long battle, Spiderman defeats Electro with the help of Gwen Stacy.

But that was not all. The real villain was yet to arrive. Harry Osborne's health was deteriorating at a fast pace. Unable to control the pain, he gets hold of one of the scientists working in the lab and orders him to open one of the vials. He orders him to inject the serum in his veins, which the scientist opposes at first. Harry transfers into something monstrous. The serum had opposite effects. His fingers grow into talons, his body spasm and convulse into a hunching pale green monster. His eyes lost their boyish charm. They were menacing green. His hair stuck out at odd angles. His teeth were like shards of glass.

Harry escaped from Oscorp using the glider. He reached the power grid and seeing Gwen with Spiderman, and realized that Peter is Spiderman. He realized that his childhood friend was lying to him all along. Enraged, he swoops upon Gwen and throws her down the clock tower. Peter saves her. The friends battle each other upon which Gwen falls to her death.

To build Harry's story, I researched Harry Osborne from Wikipedia. I wanted to know if Harry Osborne had any problems with his family. Well, I was right. I found some Fandom articles that Harry and Norman were not on good terms with each other. It started with an incident that haunts Norman. Harry's mother died during childbirth. His father, devastated by her death, vented all his anger on his son. Norman neglected his son. He buried himself in his work and built his company Oscorp. As a result, Harry became lonely, and they would fight often.

When I was writing the story, I never that I would write about an antagonist. I had planned to make her protagonist, but then I felt that most stories feature a protagonist. So why not create an antagonist in the garb of a protagonist. Immediately the ideas followed. Her moves were smart and fluid. Her motto—revenge. Valery was not perfect. She was taking on the world's most-loved heroes, and one slip would reveal all. She trained hard. But sometimes, her mind would play cruel tricks on her. Her nightmares became more and more real until they robbed her of her sleep.

Sokovia was a fictional country featured in AOU and Agents of SHEILD. To understand Sokovia’s past, I jumped to Wikipedia only to find that there was a lot of information about it. There were references that Ultron had destroyed Sokovia like how it was in AOU. I used Sokovia as the birthplace of my antagonist. I gave her a sorrowful backstory and included the plot of revenge. Her only confidant was her brother, who sympathized with her and understood her.

Once Valery murders Timothy in his dorm, her suspicions on who was spying on her grows. Her mentor leaves the rest of the mission in her hands as SHIELD was looking out for a suspicious person. Valery makes a new plan to kill Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) using Venom (Eddie Brock)'s help. She attends Harry Osborne's party, where she mixes a drop of poison in his drink and escapes. The reason I included Venom in this book was that he would act as a lookout for her. Venom has a dislike for Spiderman in the comics, so I needed to get them together. Valery convinces him that they both can finish off Spiderman together.

Valery gets a shocker when she gets back to Sokovia. When you read the book on Wattpad, you’ll learn that Sokovia is not a democratic country. She forms a secret organization. They buy arms and ammunition to overthrow the government. After a lot of resistance from the royal soldiers, they manage to overthrow the fake monarch. But nothing lasts forever. Valery dies on the day of her coronation by the monarch's faithful duo.

Now coming to the name of the book. The reason I named the book ‘The Devil Amongst Us’ is quite simple. The answer lies in the title itself. Valery was 'the devil amongst the American citizens.' So 'us' refers to the people of America. An outsider, living like an American citizen. I had planned to name it 'The Devil May Cry' based on the Japanese slasher video game of the same name. I have never played the video game, but I had read about it in a local newspaper. It had two or three parts after the first was a hit.

Once the English version of TDAU was out, I made a Bosnian version of it. I translated it using Google Translate. And boy, the damn website would only translate one page and a time. I have no idea how accurate the translation is. I crossed my fingers and relied on Google to do it.

Edited by @wayward-heronstairs​, @hashtag-amf​ and Hemingway Editor

[loubuggins]

The Christmas Song

A Holiday Special featuring Arella Logan and Landon, two OC's shared by @bearhow2 and I. Arella is the youngest daughter of Garfield and Raven Logan. Landon is the demon king of Hell. Enjoy some holiday romance!

"There's no place like home, for the holidays..."

The deep male voice played from the speakers of the box-shape radio that sat on the mantle over the fireplace. The fire below cracked and grumbled as the flames slowly consumed the small wood logs. The pine-scent mingled with ash filled the open cabin. The fire's heat bathed the room and gave off a soft glow that danced off the pale grey skin of the young woman who sat away from the mild blaze.

Her dark green cloak matched the pigment of the forest leaves outside that were not yet covered in the snow that fell from above. The heavy fabric wrapped around her lithe figure, hiding her natural curves and shapely legs. In contrast, her skin-tight black leotard was thin and showed off her thin arms as the sleeves stretched out to her fingers.

One hand laid on a wooden windowsill, drumming along to the festive music, while its twin was folded and pressed against the woman's rounded cheeks. Her elbow resting beside her other hand on the windowsill. Her hot breath touched the icy window, causing a small spot to fog over. Her large, round eyes, mixed with violet and green, looked out passed the glass and watched as the snowflakes fell and piled on the forest floor. The trees of the woods were covered in shadows as the only light that shined upon them came from the distant moon hidden from the grey clouds that circled around it.

"Bang!"

The sound of the door being kicked open jolted her from her thoughts. Her attention turned to newcomer who stumbled into the cabin. It was a man wrapped in a heavy, black coat that covered his whole body from his neck to his ankles. Snow blew inside, piercing the warm air that had gathered in the cabin. He quickly slammed the door shut, before lumbering across the room and letting himself fall into an oversized recliner that faced the open fire. He threw his head back as he soaked in the warmth of the flames as they worked their magic on his frozen body. A loud and relieved sigh escaped his lips.

"Where were you?" Her accusing tone broke his momentary relief. The nicely dressed demon spared the young lady a passive glance.

"I told you, I had to make a call." He answered with a grumble as he closed his eyes again, soaking in the warmth of the fire.

Over by the window, Arella narrowed her eyes at him and rose from her seat. "Yes, that's what you said." She started as she stepped closer to where he laid.

The exhausted king watched with a wary eye as she slowly closed the gap between them, as if she were a predator stalking her prey. Something about this both frighten and arroused him, and he could not explain how he could possibly be feeling either. Her cloaked body stopped in front of him, blocking the fire and casting a dark shadow over his body. Her arms were folded over her chest, pushing against her cleavage and on her face she wore a suspicious scowl.

"Then please explain why it took you the entire day to make a simple phone call?"

The demon's chest rumbled with a low growl as he shut his eye. "Because it wasn't so simple."

Arella rose an eyebrow at that. "Well what was it about?"

Landon's eye snapped open, the crimson fires of hell burning with in them. His teeth sharpened and his tongue became pointed like a serpent. He jumped upright in his chair, and the girl stepped back, a look of shock appearing in her face.

"The King of Hell does not answer to you, wrench!"

His outburst made Arella tremble. The human in her wanted to run and cry at his harsh words, but the demoness inside her shook with rage. Her own eyes spilt into four, stained with the color of blood as her own teeth sharpened and violet hair turned white as the snow outside.

"The King of Hell will quickly lose such a title if he ever speaks to me with such a tone again!"

The two powerful, supernatural beings stared down each other. Their eyes locked in an unspoken battle for dominance.

"Bullocks!" Landon cursed as he broke away from the moment, his facial features returning to normal as he walked past the demoness and began pacing the floor.

Arella too returned to her normal state, but her anger never left her eyes. She glared at him as he ran his fingers through his hair and let out a sigh of frustration. Finally, he came to stop and his hands rubbed over his prickly cheeks. The troubled king then fell to the floor, his back leaning against the cabin wall and his knees pulled close to his chest.

An eerie silence fell upon them, with only the sounds of the crackling flames and the soft music that played from the radio. Arella's anger softened as she witnessed a scene unfamiliar to her. She shuffled her feet awkwardly as she stood in the center of the room alone.

"I went to see my daughter."

She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of his voice. She looked back at him and saw a sight she had rarely seen. With his head bowed and his hair all a mess, his legs tucked close and a far away look in his eyes, Landon no longer looked like the demon king of Hell. He looked like a simple, plain man.

"We didn't have Christmas when she was around. But our village did celebrate the winter solstice."

"Landon, you don't have to -"

"We had feasts and exchanged presents. The older children would have a snowball fight, while the younger ones made snow angels. There was a lake, not too far from us, that always froze over. It was perfect for skating. That was always her favorite thing to do."

The young girl's eyes drifted downward as the weight of his grief fell upon her. "I'm sorry Landon. I...I should have respected your privacy."

The King ignored her. "This was her favorite time of year, and since I became king, I always make sure to visit her forgotten grave and wish her a happy solstice."

An uncomfortable silence fell between them, until Landon let out an unenthusiastic chuckle. Arella shot him a bewildered look.

"Why are you laughing?"

With his right hand he massaged his forehead as he shook his head. "Because I have no bloody idea why I just told you all of this."

Arella shook her head and her eyes drifted down to her hands, which were folded over her raised knees.

"When I was fourteen I became a Teen Titan." She began, earning the devil-man's attention.

"I thought I would love being away from my parents, but it actually hurt like hell. I was counting the days for when they would come visit me for Christmas. They ended up getting an emergency call from Uncle Dick. Went on some rescue mission in Afghanistan. When they told me they weren't coming, I was really hurt. I felt more alone than ever. It was...horrible." She shivered as she recalled the unhappy memory.

"No offense, Love, but why the hell are you telling me this?"

Arella leaned back, laying her head against the wall, her green-speckled eyes looking at the roof. "I have no idea."

The pair shared an earnest laugh, their chuckling drowning out the sound of the music that still played from the mantle. The voice of Nat King Cole giving a soothing rhythm.

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..."

Once their laughter died down, Arella looked over to her mentor and he returned her gaze. "You know, I may not know the pain of losing a child, but I do know what it's like to feel alone."

Landon blinked at her, then broke their gaze, his eyes scanning the room until they stopped at the small antique radio.

"Then let us be alone together."

With an idea sparking in his head, he leaped up off the floor and extended his hand out to the girl. She looked up at him, then to his hand, then back to him.

"What are you doing?"

Landon gave her one of his signature grins. "Seeing if the beautiful woman would care for a dance with the devilishly handsome young man."

"Young?"

"That's the part you question?"

Arella stifled a giggle as she slid her petite, grey hand into his much larger one. With a gentle pull, he lifted her off the floor and guided her to the center of the living room. Arella followed, but when they came to a stop she stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do next. Sensing her uneasiness, Landon grabbed her left hand and placed it on his shoulder, while his other hand took her right. He then rested is own right hand on her waist, making sure to keep a respectable distance away from her rear.

"Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe, help to make the season bright. Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow, will find it hard to sleep tonight..."

"Is this your first dance?"

"Sort of..."

"Then just follow my lead."

"One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three..." He repeated this a few more times before his voice died off as they became accustomed to the pattern. Slowly, Arella's mind wondered away from the counting and focused on the lyrics.

"They know that Santa's on his way. He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh, and every mother's child is gonna spy, to see if reindeer really know how to fly..."

With out warning, Landon extended his hand and spun her, before pulling her back into his embrace. Arella giggled some more, then laid her head into the crook of his neck. For the first time in her life, she thanked her father for passing down his sensitive sense of smell, as she was able to suck in a long drag of his natural scent that was otherwise buried underneath his clone. He smelt of ash and cinder, much like the fireplace that roared in front of them. A small smile formed on her lips as she soaked in the scent.

Landon, for once in his life, was enjoying the moment. He stopped thinking about his work. He stopped thinking about all the troubles of the world. He stopped thinking about the strange, foreign feeling in his chest, that only showed up when he was near her. He simply stopped thinking, and it was bliss.

His crimson eyes glanced down at the woman's face, nestled in his neck. Her eyes were closed and a small, peaceful smile rested on her lips. A grin of his own spread across his face, as he admired the woman in his arms. Sensing a change inside of him, Arella's eyes fluttered open and met his stare.

Her mother always said that before she kissed her father, she would feel some mysterious force pull them together. Like two magnets kept apart, being united for the first time. And every kiss they shared, made her feel reborn. That whatever emotion she felt at the time, or no emotions at all, were replaced with a fresh breathe of life. She compared it to a drug, that with one try she became hooked. Arella always thought her mother was just being sappy.

But as their faces moved closer together, and every thought she had ever had vanished from her mind, she knew her mother had been wrong.

It was way better.

Merry Christmas!

~ LB

[marauders70s]

for the character ask: remus lupin ! (also ily💗)

@blaisezabinj not sure if you’re saying you love Remus Lupin (and I wholeheartedly agree) or that you love me in which I am genuinely shocked. 

I also JUST got this inbox from @notsoinnocentcinnamonbun so this is for you both

Remus Lupin

fancast Andrew Garfield

NOTP Remus and either James, Peter, or Lily. (Heaven forbid Severus). It would just seem weird and incestuous to date James or Peter. And even though they would get along peachy it would be backstabby for Lily and he to get together.

BROTP Lily and Remus. Their relationship is everything you should have in someone who shares your interests and listens to you. I love them. I like to imagine they have a book club with tea parties and that Remus was so afraid of Lily finding out about being a werewolf but she doesn’t care, “not one jot!” she cried fiercely. That’s when Remus knew James better marry that girl, because she was far, far too good for him, and if Remus was being honest James was his favorite brother.

OTP Wolfstar forever. I mean who ISN’T on this ship by this point?? Literally WHO? JK is (probably) on this ship.

Second choice pairing I also like Remadora. I think that being bisexual is totally valid, even if you’re an uneven bi like me (recently came into self-realization). I also think that loving more than one person is valid, because your love will always be unique in so many ways. 

Fluffy pairing I think Remadora is the fluff ship I love. I think Remus would just be anxious and full of self-loathing. He’s the last one standing, his life has been nothing but tragedy and heartbreak, and he can’t understand why anyone would ever want to be with him, much less someone vivacious and whole like Tonks. And so she makes it her personal mission to make him love himself. And Remus loves it. After a lifetime of being the caretaker, he lets his broken soul be nurtured by buttered toast and slow sex and rock ballads and one day he bursts into tears because he realizes that the person Tonks reminds him of is Sirius - if Sirius had lived long enough to outgrow the horror of his childhood and the loss of his family, and hadn’t left Azkaban a psychologically tortured and broken man. But strangely, that makes Remus and Tonks even closer. 

Angsty pairing Wolfstar in the war years. When Remus goes to spy for the werewolves and starts living rough, under bridges and strung out on needles trying to prove himself, trying to go deeper, trying to run harder under the full moon and scared because Padfoot isn’t there to keep him in check and taking wolfsbane is weak (true 70s/80s angst), and he comes home in shreds and Sirius just takes out the kit and says quietly, “Let’s see the damage,” and how Remus just flinches at Sirius’ offhand handling of “damage” and he gets snappy and angry, and Sirius, so full of self loathing and anger, guesses the truth at once: “you liked it.” And Remus wants to die in his lover’s arms, breaking apart at the monster he is.

Favorite poly ship For some reason I cannot even imagine without screaming in laughter trying to have a swinger party between wolfstar and jily. So that’s out (but please picture it and die laughing). I think Sirius who likes girls more than Remus does (but they both like them) would be happy to ask a stranger to their bed.

Weirdest pairing adult Remus and almost anyone is a very strange idea to me. There was so much to deal with and Remus was so delicate, I just can’t imagine him pursuing anyone.

Send me a character ask!

[tinseltine]

Look Back at the Movies of 2018

Tinsel & Tine's

Look Back at the Movies of 2018

By Le Anne Lindsay, Editor

This year feels like the fastest movie season to date. I still feel like we just stopped talking about the movies up for awards last year, like The Shape of Water, Call Me By Your Name, 3 Billboards, Lady Bird, Phantom Thread etc.. Now we already have 2019 Golden Globe Awards nominations, and Oscar noms just a month away on Jan 22, 2019. This years’ crop of movies being talked about for awards are a bit more main stream than some of those films that I just mentioned from last year, which were not your average movie-goers cup of tea. Whereas this year: A Star is Born, Bohemian Rhapsody, Green Book, Vice, Black Panther, The Favourite, these movies have more universal appeal. They’re important, but contain more humor. Even If Beale Street Could Talk with all its social implications, on the surface is a romance. Then we have a couple of family dramas like Beautiful Boy, Boy Erased & Ben is Back which no one is going to be able to keep straight, as Lucas Hedges is in two of them and two are about drug addiction, but they’re not artsy films. I'd like to thank God and the Universe for continually orchestrating my life so that every year I get to see and enjoy an abundant number of movies. Between film festivals and often going to the theater 3-4x a week. I feel I can formulate a pretty darn good end of the year list. Much of which does coincide with the movies being bandied about as noteworthy, but I threw in a couple of surprises. I’m gonna start with my least favorite movies of 2018, because it's a short list. It's always difficult for me to say I hate a movie because of the work and number of people involved in getting even a short film to the screen. But there's always a few that should have gone through a lot of reworking before being released. Then I move on to my Top 10 Favorites. This was particularly difficult to pair down this year, I had 26 movies that I really, really liked. So I have a Just Missed the Top 10 category and an Honorable Mention category. Note: Links go to my full review of the movie Hope you enjoy and hit me up on Facebook or Twitter to discuss your favorites!

Worst Movies of 2018

In order of most disliked

RED SPARROW (20th Century Fox) dir Francis Lawrence, starring Jennifer Lawrence & Joel Edgerton. Lawrence plays a Russian ex-ballet dancer turned reluctant sex spy in a poorly executed thriller set in Russia. Everything about it felt phony and forced, except for one small scene where Mary Louise Parker steals the show. SECOND ACT (STX Films)– dir Peter Segal, starring Jennifer Lopez, Leah Remini, Vanessa Hudgens, Milo Ventimiglia. A movie about a woman without a college degree lying her way up the corporate latter in a cosmetic company. Parts of it remind me of a cheap imitation of Amy Schumer’s I Feel Pretty, but Shumer had a handle on her plot devices and comedic timing. I think if they kept the main plot of Second Act on the relationship of the mother and daughter discovering each other, that could have helped a lot, but really this movie is short on charm and big on makeup caked on like colorful spackle. A WRINKLE IN TIME (Disney) dir Ava Duvernay, starring Storm Reid, Chris Pine, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon & Mindy Kaling. This much anticipated film based on a beloved children’s novel did not translate well to film - story-wise, visually it had some good moments, but Jennifer Lee, Jeff Stockwell’s screenplay needed punching up and smoothing out all over the place. And I can’t let DuVernay entirely off the hook as the pacing of the film is way off too, but mostly, it was a waste of Oprah. LIFE OF THE PARTY (Warner Bros) dir Ben Falcone, starring Melissa McCarthy, who I love (I’ve become addicted to reruns of Mike & Molly) but this movie about a 40 something year-old woman returning to finish her degree at the same time as her daughter, went nowhere. It wasn’t at all funny, it wasn’t heartfelt, it wasn’t mother/daughter bonding, it wasn’t McCarthy run amok, it was just boring. ADRIFT (STX Films) dir Baltasar Kormákur, starring Shailene Woodley & Sam Claflin. Based on the true story of Tami Oldham’s 42-day ordeal lost at sea, but told through a cheesy story device that’s a cheat for the movie and completely unnecessary to hold the attention of the audience.

My TOP 10 Favorites Movies from 2018

1. BLACK PANTHER (Marvel Studios) dir Ryan Coogler, starring Chadwick Boseman. The movie hit theaters last February and broke all kinds of box office records, heavily featured women (Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright) in key roles. Once and for all it broke down the myth that movies with a black cast don’t make money overseas. But best of all, it’s a good movie. When I saw it a 2nd time I knew it wasn’t just about the social implications. It was about enjoying something that was cinematically pleasing. 2. CRAZY RICH ASIANS (Warner Bros.) dir. Jon M. Chu, starring Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Awkwafina, Michelle Yeoh. Same goes for this movie, which I also saw in the theater twice. The ensemble works very well together, the movie has great energy, Singapore is gorgeous and it was so nice to bring a quality rom/com back to the screen. 3. GREEN BOOK (Universal Pics) dir Peter Farrelley, starring Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali as Tony Vallelonga an Italian-American bouncer & African-American classical and jazz pianist Don Shirley embarking on a road trip down to the segregated south- this is the new odd couple. As much as I love a good romance, I think friendships and bromances are more interesting to watch unfold on screen. Also saw this twice and loved it even more the second go round. 4. PUZZLE (Sony Pictures Classic) dir Marc Turtletaub, starring Kelly Macdonald & Irrfan Khan a remake of an Argentina film (2010). I know most people did not get a chance to see this movie, it played at Ritz 5 for probably only a week, but it’s a quiet gem about a current day housewife living in a New York suburb who discovers she has a knack for quickly putting together jigsaw puzzles and unexpectedly finds more than just a fitting puzzle partner after answering an ad to join a competition. 5. MR SOUL! (BlackStar Film Festival) dir. Sam Pollard and Melissa Haizlip. SOUL! was a nationally televised weekly variety show that aired from 1968-1973 on PBS featuring prominent and emerging Black artists including poets, classical, pop and jazz musicians, dancers and political figures. The documentary is not only an amazing look back on seeing early performances of people who became household names, but it's also an interesting biopic on the creative host and producer Ellis Haizlip, who had his finger on the pulse of an early post-Civil Rights Movement America. 6. A STAR IS BORN (Warner Bros) dir Bradley Cooper made this classic his own and made a fantastic decision to make his partner in this endeavor Lady Gaga. Not only does their chemistry and music make this a more than engaging film. But Cooper captures up-close the backstage feeling of the entertainment industry in so many ways. 7. SORRY TO BOTHER YOU (Annapurna Pictures) dir Boots Riley, starring Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Omari Hardwick a lot of buzz was generated for this first time filmmaker and rightly so as Riley's style is to keep dialing up the crazy, notch by notch until you're at a full rolling boil of absurdist, off-beat, comedic Sci-fi soup with a social message. Not easy to do in one movie, but I feel he really pulled it off. 8. HOTEL ARTEMIS (Global Road) writer/dir Drew Pearce, starring Jodie Foster, Sterling K. Brown, Sofia Boutella, Jeff Goldblum, Brian Tyree Henry, Jenny Slate, Dave Bautista, and Zachary Quinto. I know I’m alone having this one on my top 10 list, but I truly enjoyed this strange action thriller. From the production design to the pre-apocalyptic setting, to the idea of taking place inside a secret high-tech hospital and supposed safe space for criminals to get patched up by an agoraphobic nurse. 9. RBG doc (Magnolia Pictures) dirs Betsy West & Julie Cohen. I saw On The Basis of Sex too and Felicity Jones is good casting as a early pioneering Ruth Bader Ginsberg, but the documentary is so much more encompassing of this remarkable woman’s life and journey. Before seeing this doc what I basically knew about this female chief Justice of the Supreme Court, I got from SNL skits and seeing some “The Notorious RBG” T-shirts. So glad to now be aware of her huge contribution to our freedoms and civil liberties. 10. LOVE, SIMON (20th Century Fox) dir Greg Berlanti, starring Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel - In this post "Glee", legalized Gay marriage, "Moonlight" Oscar winning, Caitlyn Jenner accepting society we live in - it's hard to figure that a movie about a young boy feeling extreme anxiety about admitting he's gay would be anything worth discussing. Yet, that's part of the value and charm of this movie along with a likeable young cast.

Just Missed the Top 10

SPIDERMAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE (Sony Pictures Releasing) dir Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman. Since Columbia still owns the rights to the Spiderman character, they like to get good mileage out of the web slinger, hence the terrible Andrew Garfield Spiderman reboot thrust on us while we were still in the throes of the Toby Maguire, Kirsten Dunst upside down kiss. Thankfully, something was worked out between Marvel and Sony so that we have the Tom Holland Spiderman of the MCU. So when I first heard about this animated Spider-verse, I was like, why? Is this necessary? Probably not. But it’s so well done I don’t question it anymore! Love the mixed media graphics and the fantastic sci-fi premise of having multiple spider people from different dimensions come together and initiate a new black/latino Spiderman into the realm. A SIMPLE FAVOR (Lionsgate) dir Paul Feig, starring Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding a good campy script, some excellent costuming and unexpected humor turned this quasi-thriller into an early fall sleeper hit. A QUIET PLACE (Paramount Pictures) dir John Krasinski, starring Krasinski and Emily Blunt. A tight, emotional ride containing horror tropes, yet written for someone like me who likes to be thrilled with fear at the movies, but not up for anything too sinister that stays with me as I try to sleep. WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR (Focus Features) dir Morgan Neville. This doc on Fred Rogers, the well-liked host of the popular children's television program "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood", is an honest look at this man of principals who truly believed in the transformative power of love - love for others, but most importantly, for yourself. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE: FALLOUT (Paramount Pictures) dir Christopher McQuarrie, starring Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg this 6th installment in the Mission: Impossible film series shows there’s still A LOT of juice left in the franchise. So many amazing stunts, fun and thrills.

Honorable Mentions

(alpha order) ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (Marvel) dir Peyton Reed, starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer – kept pace with the original in terms of style and storytelling, while adding in more shrinking, enlarging sight gags in all the right places. BLINDSPOTTING (Lionsgate) dir Carlos López Estrada, starring Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs – A good first effort by these screenwriters/actors, but it’s the final scene which makes the movie above average. BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (20th Century Fox) dir Bryan Singer finished by Dexter Fletcher, starring Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Joe Mazzello – seemingly Epic music biopic, not truly as good as it seems, but a fun ride. FIRST MAN - (Universal Pictures) dir Damien Chazelle, starring Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll - Not as well loved as La La Land, but as far as commitment to filmmaking and vision this movie is stellar. GRINGO (Amazon Studios) dir Nash Edgerton, starring David Oyelowo, Charlize Theron, Joel Edgerton – Wish this movie had gotten more attention. It takes you on a nutty adventure showcasing Oyelowo's comedic chops. IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (Annapurna Pictures) dir Barry Jenkins, starring KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King – Beautifully directed, strong cast, wonderfully adapted from a James Baldwin novel. Didn’t make my top 10 because sometimes it’s hard to watch movies based on the themes of systemic racism.(click link for Q&A with Barry Jenkins) PETER RABBIT (Sony Pictures Releasing) dir Will Gluck, starring Rose Byrne, Domhnall Gleeson – Not just adorable, but truly entertaining. THE FAVOURITE (Fox Searchlight Pictures) dir Yorgos Lanthimos, starring Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult, Joe Alwyn - Stylized, female-centric period piece, balancing a delightful tone of zany ridiculousness and historical accuracy. THE HATE U GIVE (20th Century Fox) dir George Tillman Jr., starring Amandla Stenberg, Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, KJ Apa, Common, Anthony Mackie – I really fell in love with this family unit and the messages ring clear, but not too loud. TULLY (Focus Features) dir Jason Reitman, starring Charlize Theron & Mackenzie Davis – Oddly, I condemned “Adrift” for using a similar storytelling device as “Tully”, but here it works. Besides, the meat of the story is about roads and paths started down, but not followed and wondering how you ended up being in your current life; which, I truly related too, despite not being a wife or mother. WIDOWS (20th Century) dir Steve McQueen, starring Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo – After “Hunger” “Shame” and “12 Years A Slave” it was a great idea for McQueen to bring his extraordinary filmmaking skills to a heist film with a touch of Lifetime movie. The climax had our audience talking back to the screen, and the actresses are all on point. I had “Widows” in my Top 10 at first, then relegated it to those that just missed the top 10, and then honorable mention. I think it kept getting pushed down just because I don’t really like the final scene. Share :)

Tinsel & Tine

While You're Here Check Out What's Happening on the #PhillyCalendar click to COMMENT

[dylan-hague]

Chapter 10

July 5th, 2017. 6:24 AM.

“We have a serious problem.”

Damian stood, hands folded behind his back, before his drowsy teammates on the couch in the livingroom. He hated calling a meeting so late at night, but this was something that needed to be addressed right away.

“Dude…” Jon moaned, rubbing his eyes. “Whatever it is, can’t it wait until later? I’m tired…”

“No. It can’t…” Damian’s eyes shifted over to Raven. Her brow was furrowed in concern; he’d already explained the situation to her. This meeting, in fact, was her idea. Damian was planning on taking care of the problem alone, but he couldn’t not consult Raven. She managed to convince him to bring the matter to the group.

“Wait,” Garfield groaned, nursing his coffee, “where’s Terra…? We can’t have a team meeting without–”

“Tara is waiting on the roof. She can’t be here for this,” Damian replied flatly. “This meeting is about her.”

Kori walked in and stood behind the couch, crossing her arms as she began to see the urgency in Damian’s eyes. “You’ve learned something about her, haven’t you? Something that scares you.”

Damian nodded, his gaze stone cold. “The night Tara met Garfield was no coincidence. Her meeting us, coming here, joining the Titans… it was all completely orchestrated.”

Garfield cocked an eyebrow. “D, what… what are you saying?”

Damian sighed. “Tara has been acting as a mole. A spy, monitoring our every move, and reporting them to Slade Wilson. Or as you probably know him…”

“Deathstroke…” Starfire’s voice was hushed, a sliver of fear showing in her eyes. “This is… how did you…”

“Tara’s explained everything to me…” Damian continued. “Wilson captured her long before we found her. Among many other… unspeakable things he did to her, he’s outfitted her body with a full set of experimental cybernetic enhancements. Included in this system is a neural implant that acts as both a control override and an overclocking mechanism.”

“That…” Jon, now wide awake, scratched his head in confusion. “That sounds bad. What does that mean?”

“It means that, if Terra disobeys any of Deathstroke’s orders…” Raven’s voice was somber as she explained. “… he’ll take control of her body and put it into overdrive. She’ll become unbelievably powerful, and he’ll likely make her kill us all. But the strain of that much power output would be catastrophic for her upgrades. They would overheat, and destroy her body from the inside.”

“So how do we stop it?” Jaime asked, his frustration showing through his tone. “I mean, it might be dangerous, but can’t we go in and take the brain bug out ourselves?”

“I thought of that, but no,” Damian replied. “Any attempts to remove the implant ourselves would trigger the system to self-destruct. The only way we can save Tara is to bring her directly to Wilson’s base, and use his master control to deactivate the implant. Only once it’s completely shut down can we remove the implant from her brain.

"Unfortunately, the rest of her cybernetics are spread through her entire body. They’re far too extensive to remove, and were likely implemented gradually over the course of several months, maybe even years. Her body has repaired itself around them, adapted to them, and now needs them to function. Any attempts to take them out would kill her.”

“The only thing we can do is uninstall the neural implant,” Raven continued the thought. “She may never be completely flesh and blood again, but at least her body will be hers and hers alone.”

Gar sat unmoving on the couch, his eyes wide in shock. All of this information, all of these secrets. He had no idea about any of it. All this time, he thought…

“Garfield, look at me.” Damian stepped forward and put his hands on Beast Boy’s shoulders. “I know this a lot to take in, especially for you. But we need you to pull yourself together. We’re going to get through this, but we can only do it if all of us work toge–”

Before Damian could finish, Gar jerked out of his seat and bolted for the elevator. Jon stood up to go after him, but Damian put a hand to the Kryptonian’s chest and shook his head, and the elevator ascended, taking Garfield up to the roof.

“He’ll be there when we need him. For now, we need to come up with a plan to get to Deathstroke’s base and shut down that implant.” Damian crossed his arms and frowned. “It won’t be something we can just throw together and pull off today. Deathstroke is far too good for that. We need to think this all the way through, plan for every possible contingency… we need to be ready to adapt if things go wrong.”

“In order to gain access to Slade’s main controls, we’ll likely need to get to his central console,” Kori began brainstorming. “And in all likelihood, we won’t be able to do that if he’s still there when we try.”

“So we’ll need to draw him out into the open, way far away, before we get into his hideout,” Jaime expanded on Kori’s thought. “How do we do that?”

“We can’t call the Justice League for help, Damian’s dad’ll wanna lock Tara up in the Watchtower…” Jon stroked his chin as he pondered on the situation. “As cool as I think they are, we can’t let them know what’s going on.”

“We may have to split into two groups. One group will keep Deathstroke occupied, while the other group breaks into his headquarters,” Raven suggested. “But how will we keep him from realizing something’s going on? He’s bound to notice if we aren’t all there…”

“I actually have an idea about that. We can’t let my father know about this, which means we can’t tell the League, and we also can’t tell any of the others in Gotham, which includes all of the other Robins…” a half-smile slowly formed on Damian’s face. “… Except for one. And fortunately, this one is particularly gifted when it comes to attracting attention.”

For being as young as she was, Tara Markov had lived so much more than most people do their whole lives. She’d crossed entire oceans using a single chunk of stone. She’d slept beneath the shade of the grandest trees of the rainforest, and run with gazelles across the African plains. She’d danced in the streets under the bright lights of Las Vegas, and found tranquility in the sacred mountains of Tibet. She’d tasted delicacies from across the globe, but she found she better savored the taste of fruit that grew in the farthest reaches of the earth, untouched by man.

Through everything she’d done in all her days, she held fast to two truths: she was hers and hers alone, and every decision she made was to bring good to all life she touched. As long as she knew that these two truths remained intact, Tara was able to find peace wherever she roamed. But now…

From where she sat on the edge of the rooftop, Tara looked down at the bare skin of her stomach, which curved just enough to adhere to her toned abdominal muscles underneath. She pulled her shirt higher up, looking at the faintest shape of her ribs low on either side of her chest. As she gently pressed a finger into them, she could feel the presence of hard titanium intermingled with solid bone. She moved her hand down to her leg, and feeling the muscles in her thigh revealed wires wrapped around the firm flesh. Slowly, she brought her other hand over to the first, and ran her thumb across her knuckles, feeling the hard metal plating under her skin. Even just moving her arms, Tara could feel the mechanisms in her joints, all designed to make her a weapon, gliding in accordance with her will. She knew, of course, the day might very well come that they would not. Thus, the first of her truths had shattered.

Tara’s mind turned to the events of the past 104 days. Every fiber of her being screamed out against the deed she was ordered to carry out by the man… no. This was no man, at least not now. This was a monster that Tara thought once may have been something resembling a man. After the things he’d done… the way he’d defiled her body… and not just tearing her apart and putting her back together with this disgusting mechanical abomination inside of her, but… the things he’d done to her before… Tara was certain that whatever man once lived in that vile creature died long ago. But no matter how much she wanted to refuse, no matter how badly she wanted to spit right in his one good eye and tell him to piss off, it was no use. If she didn’t do it herself, he’d just seize control of her body and make her do it anyway. So for 103 days she lied to the closest friends she’d ever known. Even to the first person she ever really, truly loved. She kept tabs on everything they’d done, everything they were, and fed their lives directly to that one-eyed freak. She took their trust, their love, their kindness, and she crushed it all to bits. Cast it into the wind. And so the second of her truths had been torn asunder.

Tara Markov had lived a life of joy and good will for fourteen years. But two years ago, everything had come crashing down. And now, Tara Markov had done terrible things.

A single tear rolled down her face. She’d played along for as long as her broken heart could bear it, but somehow she let her guard down. Somehow, one of her targets… no, one of her friends had discovered her secret. She loved Damian dearly, she did. He was like a little brother to her. But when he found the tracer on her neck… her first instinct was not to come clean and ask for his help. Her first thought was that may have to… oh god, she was about to kill him. She had immediately planned to whip around, grab the boy’s neck, and crush it right there. If he didn’t asphyxiate with his larynx crumpled, the shattering of his spine would paralyze him from the neck down, stopping his heart. It didn’t matter that he was basically a kid Batman, killing him would be easy. But instead, her heart cried out, and she broke down. Threw her around him and wept for all the evil she’d been apart of. For all the deception she’d performed at her friends’ expense, for the flesh-and-blood life she’d never get back, for the sick memory of the one-eyed creature’s hands all over her… the thick wine of her pain burst the fragile wineskin that had been her facade, and she couldn’t keep her anguish down any longer.

And now? Now she had no idea what they’d do. For all she knew, the one-eyed freak already knew what she had done, and today would be the day she would be forced to commit her last, most paramount evil before the metal monstrosity inside her burned her away to nothing. Or perhaps her only friends in the world would simply cast her out before she had the chance to destroy them. Or maybe they would just kill her now before she could do any further harm… part of her deep down hoped that they would.

Her train of thought interrupted by the feeling of arms wrapping themselves around her, and the familiar scratch of stubble against her cheek as a kiss was pressed gently into her neck.

“Tara… I get why you didn’t tell me,” Garfield said, his voice a half-whisper into her ear. “We’re gonna figure this out. We’re gonna beat him. I promise, I won’t let him hurt you anymore.”

Tara sat motionless, completely blown away. After everything she’d done, after how she’d betrayed all of them… more tears formed in the corners of her eyes. She whipped around, throwing herself onto the Changeling and wrapping her arms around his neck. As the two Titans embraced, and weak sobs came up out of her chest, Tara made a choice. No matter what it cost her, no matter how brief it may be, this was home. For the first time in her life, she had a home. Jump City, Titans Tower, Garfield Logan… that was her home.

Park Row, Gotham City…

The young man’s eyes opened to the sound of vibrations against his nightstand. Last night had been a… particularly difficult night for him. He’d been tailing these chumps hiding out in the Industrial District for months now, after he heard they were smuggling weapons into Gotham for Cobblepot. Not just your standard street-tough peashooters, either; the crap these idiots were hauling was heavy-duty, military-grade stuff. It seemed like Penguin was winding up to take a shot at one of the other big-time gangs in the city, expand his territory. Unfortunately, that almost always meant civilian casualties, which he wasn’t okay with. So he decided to do some bud-nipping, see if he could stop this turf war before it started. Unfortunately, he didn’t take into account that these punks had said military-grade stuff, and apparently were competent enough to use it. It was a miracle he didn’t have to pull any rounds out of himself when he back at 2:30 this morning.

Either way, the big guy was here when he got back– told him he’d take care of the rest. Normally he’d put up a fight, tell the old man to stay out of his business, but frankly, he was just exhausted. He agreed, and he wasn’t gonna go back on his word to the guy. Not after everything he’d done for him.

But exactly none of that had anything to do with the incoming call on his cell phone that had jolted him awake. He took a quick look at the screen, chuckling as he read the words BABY BRUCE on the display, before picking up the phone.

“Thanks for the wake-up call, kid,” he said in a groggy voice before letting out a long grunt as he stretched. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“You’ll forgive me if I dispense with the pleasantries and skip straight to the point.” Damian’s voice on the other end was just as dry as his old man’s. “We need your help with something pretty urgent. How would you like a trip out to California?”

Wow. The brat’s actually asking for help? He really has grown up.

“Well, little brother, it turns out you’re actually in luck.” A wry smile appeared across Jason Todd’s face. “My schedule just cleared up.”