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ridofme1993 · 2 years ago

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I wrote a review of aftersun for my course and thought it turned out quite well so wanted to share:

A critical review of Aftersun (2022)

For me, Aftersun (dir. Charlotte Wells) can be summarised in a series of images. The first: a young man is balancing on the edge of a balcony. Inside, his daughter is sleeping. The second: a young man has gone scuba diving without a licence. ”He told a porkie pie,” his daughter records herself saying into a 90’s camcorder. ”But he’ll be fine, I’m sure.” The third: a young man is walking alone at night in an unfamiliar city, drunk. He picks up someone else’s discarded cigarette and smokes it. He walks to the beach and keeps walking, with purpose, directly into the sea.

Aftersun is a story told through one long, almost uninterrupted, flashback. Calum (Paul Mescal) and his 11-year-old daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio) are on a budget holiday in a Turkish resort some time in the late 90’s. They spend their days by the pool, or on guided tours of the surrounding tourist attractions, or giggling about the tacky yet endearing evening entertainment. In the present day, Sophie looks back on the last holiday she spent with her dad. She is looking through camcorder footage, searching for clues, signs that her father was about to slip away from her. Throughout, the film almost seems to audibly, gently chant: I want to remember. I need to remember. Aftersun is a story told with such sensitivity, such beauty and subtlety, that it’s impossible not to let it crawl under your skin.

Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio are breathtaking as father and daughter. Their rapport is warm and effortless and goes beyond words. The relationship between Calum and Sophie becomes clear through subtle, physical storytelling: a touch of the hand, the tenderness with which Sophie applies sunscreen to Calum’s back, the gentleness in the way they move and talk to each other. The physical storytelling is equally strong when they are apart: Sophie’s furtive, curious glances at the older kids fondling each other by the pool; Calum’s back turned towards the camera as he sobs, his shoulders heaving, the muscles in his back convulsing. The dialogue is beautifully banal most of the time. What carries the story is the relationship between Calum and Sophie which is told through images, and through the way they simply are around each other. Mescal and Corio seem to be living and totally embodying the love between Calum and Sophie, and so as a viewer, I can’t help but believe I am watching real people.

Visually, Aftersun is stunning. It shimmers and sparkles. It’s swimming pool blue and greasy, sun-kissed skin. It’s tacky 90’s eurodance by the poolside bar. It’s arcade games and walkmen and badly-sung karaoke. It looks and feels like that awkward, blooming time at the very beginning of adolescence. Sophie secretly peruses the pages of a romance novel in the hotel reception, she hides in the bathroom and eavesdrops on the older girls’ conversations about their sexual conquests, she watches them kissing their boyfriends in the pool with that pre-adolescent mixture of fascination and disgust. The soundscape, too, feels nostalgic: the same hypnotising, bittersweet theme repeated again and again throughout, as if on a loop. As if to accentuate the fact that this is not the first time this memory has been visited. It has been carefully scrutinized. It has been visited and revisited and revisited time and time again.

In her review of Aftersun for The Independent, Clarisse Loughry writes: ”It’s difficult to think of the moments before a heartbreak and not lace them with omens. The mind, too often, moulds memories into prophecies. Colours get dialled up. Emotions solidify. It’s a hard thing to talk about, let alone visualise. That’s why Aftersun, the debut of Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells, is so astounding. She’s captured the uncapturable, finding the words and images to describe a feeling that always seems to sit just beyond our comprehension.” This, to me, accurately captures Aftersun as an experience. Calum’s many close brushes with death that are pictured on screen seem to be half-imagined by Sophie; an attempt to retrospectively foresee the tragedy that was to come.

I’ve read a good handful of professional reviews of Aftersun now, and curiously, none of them mention the theme of suicide. Some reviews mention death, some don’t. No explicit mention of suicide anywhere. Why this is, I don’t know. As someone who has lost someone I loved to suicide, I can’t not see it. When Calum matter-of-factly tells a diving instructor that he doubts he’ll make it to 40 and that he’s surprised he even made it to 30. When he walks off into the night on his own, drunk, carrying some pain he can’t speak of. The way his daughter senses it despite his attempts to hide it. Her fumbling, deeply loving attempts to cheer him up: how she gets the other hotel guests to sing to him on his birthday, how she invites him to sing karaoke with her when he seems low, the way she gently makes fun of him. She’s constantly pointing her camcorder at him, asking him questions, as if she knows there’s some mysterious, hidden side to him that she’ll never have access to, something dark and unspoken and unnamed. And, finally, the shot of Calum weeping in some other place, in some other time, followed by a shot of a note saying: ”Sophie, I love you very much. Never forget that. Dad.”

We lack nuanced stories about suicide in our cultural landscape. Aftersun is a story that neither glorifies, nor demonises. It deals with grief and with the struggle to understand something incomprehensible. It portrays a person who is suicidal, and who is also kind, goofy, loving, sensitive, and an excellent dad. ”You can live wherever you want to live, be whoever you want to be,” Calum tells Sophie, stroking her hair. ”You have time.” We sense that he knows that his is running out.

Aftersun is a sparkling gem of a film, and it resonates, not only with those who know grief, but with those who know love. Everything about it, from the cinematography to the acting to the soundtrack, feels warm. It feels to me like a meditation on love. At the end, I was left weeping – not only for Calum’s death and for Sophie’s loss, but also for the sheer amount of love between them.

#aftersun #charlotte wells #frankie corio #paul mescal #film

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theogony · 9 months ago

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nocturne in silver and blue

a/n : written originally for the kotlc secret santa for @that-glasses-dog except i horribly procrastinated on it </3. anyway i hope you enjoy the fic regardless because it is a 6k worddump on love existing despite everything and involves some of the hardest writing i've ever had to do (which probably explains the tonal whiplash). also i have already said too much so i will let you read the rest of this fic now

“Yup,” he enunciates, popping the last syllable - not missing the sharp intake of breath from a person he knows all too well. “Neither of us have been found by our soulmates yet. Which makes me wonder - what about you, Tam? Is there any lucky girl or guy in your cards yet?” The boy in question goes rigid - unusually so, and the voice that next emerges is so painfully cold it feels downright wrong. “No, of course not. Did it seem like the opposite?” Keefe’s eyes narrow, his gaze analytical at the stiffness in his movements. A heartbeat passes between the both of them, and the steely grey of Tam’s irises gleam like a knife’s edge. Keefe wonders if it’d be like kissing steel - like pricking blood that beads up like dirtied snow. “You’re lying.” - Alternatively; In a world where you see in greyscale until you hear your soulmate laugh for the first time, Keefe laughs a lot - loud and bright. Tam...barely even smiles.

Contrary to popular belief, Keefe doesn’t quite hate Tam Song.

Sure, there was that tiny blip between the two of them - that blip of time when they fought like cats and dogs, both too eager to prove themselves to a world that refused to accept them for what they were and moulded them into something jaded and angry.

But Keefe has never hated Tam Song.

He's come close to starting right now, though.

“Wait…you're telling me that Keefe Sencen can't carry a tune to save his life?”

Tam smiles mildly as he plays back the recording of an extremely familiar muffled voice in the showers.

“Give me that!”

As Keefe launches himself onto Tam's prone body without much warning, the rest of them begin to hoot and cheer, the easy light of the campfire warming them as they all gorged on the leftover marshmallows from the council meeting/friend group meetup/sleepover made to remedy the fact that neither Tam or Linh had ever been to one.

Before Keefe can properly grab a fistful of his bangs, a peal of laughter rings out from the corner like tinkling bells - and the rest of them quiet down, staring at Linh - who's currently trying to muffle the growing redness in her face into a stuffed pillow.

“...what?”

Dex shrugs, before reaching out to grab another handful of chips, ignoring Sophie's loud exclamation.

“Anyone seen any life-changing colours yet?”

The entire group blinks, and Linh momentarily stiffens, before relaxing after no one shifts forward - only to coil back when Keefe teasingly pokes her in her ribs.

“No need to look so relieved there - I'm sure I would have made a beautiful soulmate.”

Linh shrugs, cheeks reddening even further as the rest of them fully face her now. Tam warily shifts closer, only halting after she places a gentle hand on his.

read the rest on ao3!

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deva-arts · 2 months ago

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It's nice to see Sarah be a good parent. I personally want to see more of Nathaniel as a father. Is he kind? strict?

Nathaniel loves Sophie to bits, and is a doting father that borders on spoiling her too much. He knows what the baby is crying about, how to deal with a tantrum or stubbed toe... The issue ironically lies in his hindsight.

He will try to be strict and enforce rules, but Sophia has such a precious thought process behind her behavior that makes it a bit hard to not just get her what she wants. Sure, she drew on the walls, but she wanted to make a mural to make her family happy... Hey, how about we make this one square a drawing wall? You're such an artist! I love you!

So Sera has to crack down on some of the more egregious green lights on Nate's end. No, we cannot get a cat. No, we are not getting a dog either. No, you aren't going to fly today, you have schoolwork. No, you can't get Vincent to do it for you. Sera feels some type of way about being the one who shuts down her proposals, and... It hurts to see that her daughter stops going to her to request things. Does she view Sera as too strict? Is she the bad guy to her own daughter? where was the trust she held before? It's never easy delivering unwanted news.

She has a serious talk with Nathaniel about this because clearly they take different approaches to rearing children, and she doesn't want to keep feeling like her daughter finds her unsupportive. While Nathaniel's idea is "set ground rules but let the child be encouraged in their endeavors to see what blooms from there, even if some eggs are broken in the process", Sera's idea is "Raise the child with discipline so that she can grow to be responsible, well rounded, and educated while also respecting the home."

Sera takes her parenting style from her mother (and to Sera, harsh training was what helped her survive in torturous ordeals she would face later.) She considers proper formation to be paramount to success, and has little idea of what a properly nurturing mother should be. Her idea of love is discipline. Her idea of care is making you self-sufficient. This is something that has remained a constant in her life. Even the weakest character can be molded into a precious yet lethal instrument. Sophie can use that instrument to forge her own path.

Nathaniel takes his parenting style from his lack of parental figures. To him, he considers his past life's tendencies and complexes to have stemmed from no proper guidance or prompting to be kind towards others. He was raised to be a faceless manipulator, and that's what he became. He thinks, "Maybe things would have been different if someone had pushed me in the right direction. Told me there were better things I could do with myself." His idea of love is being sweet and supportive, and his idea of care is giving Sophie what he never had. Children are not clay, and he is no longer a fan of moulding others. She can grow outside of the world he and Sera are chained to.

Nate loves teaching her how to shift, and Sera takes a soft, mirthful sort of joy in teaching her how to fly. They both work on educational planning on late nights, and the others have somehow butted themselves in. Sonia loves doing basic arts and crafts with her, Vincent proudly shows her times tables before she's six, Eric tries his best to help her learn how to breakdance with wings, and Amon teaches her how to swim. It takes a village, right?

Sera can be too hard, and Nathaniel can be too soft. Sera wants to make her succeed through forging by fire, and Nathaniel wants her to pursue success by her terms, though this open aired freedom could easily set for poor behavior down the line. Sera has trouble being as affectionate as Nathaniel, while Nathaniel has trouble trying to shape her. But one thing rings true- they reinforce the other's weak points, and do their best to make Sophie have a fulfilled life. Because they love her with all their heart.

#devarambles #nathanieltag #seraphinatag

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idiotwithanipad · 12 days ago

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TW: Child abuse

What Era Swap!Amy doesn't tell Sophie and Humphrey is how her grandpa treats her. Era Swap!Lord Bone is a HELL of a lot worse than canon Lord Bone - who I call Benedict - (not his official name, I just call him that).

Sophie and Humphrey give him access to Amy every Saturday and he usually takes her to nearby towns, but he doesn't tell the pair that he's taking Amy to go watch tortue/executions/punishments. Since Humphrey and Sophie never had a son, Benedict is sour about it and shows a more malicious side when alone with Amy. Sometimes even passive aggressively hinting that he'd like to throw Amy into the ring of torture. He moulded Amy's brain into thinking that violence was nothing but sport and amusement (hence her tendency to harm herself with needles, fire and other sharp instruments).

When Amy even looks like admitting the truth to Humphrey or Sophie, Benedict reminds her of potential punishments he's put her through in the past. Carrying hot coals for a lap around the Main Hall, drinking a cup of scalding ale, thumb screws, bloodletting her briefly beside the pig pen so that they get used to the scent/taste of her blood should she ever 'step out of line'.

#bbc ghosts #original character #amy #amy bone #humphrey bone #sophie bone #lord bone #tw: abuse #tw: blood #tw: violence #au #era swap au

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shebeafancyflapjack · 2 months ago

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The Curse

(A small continuation of @idiotwithanipad 's fic The Flight, set in her Gore Au, ft her oc Amy and mine Silver. All good things must come to an end....for a while).

Silver felt her way forward, letting out the smallest of giggles until the soundwaves ricochet back to her, informing her of the distance between where she stood and her target.

An image solidified in her vision of a girl only an inch shorter than her in a thick hoodie, holding something crumpled between her fingers.

"Ah. What a lovely, uh...leaf you have there, Poppet." Her daddy said, placatingly; "You can put that on your bedside table if you like. A nice little souvinere of your adventures today."

The muffled groan from Amy vibrated with frustration.

Silver finally reached to touch her elbow; "It's not a leaf! It's a Kit Kat! Hehehe."

She felt her friend turn to her, felt her muscles relax against her fingers, even somehow felt the smile. It wasn't just a dream, a fantasy, not if there was another person to validate it.

"A....Kit Kat, eh? Well I did suggest to your mum that we get a pet but she always claimed to be allergic to both cats and dogs-"

Both girls cut the Tudor off with their laughter, Amy's hand flying up to her lips to try to avoid gurgling liquid down Silver's top.

"I believes they be referring to a biscuit, cloaked one. My girl hath listed many a sweet with odd names she wishes for me to conjure in her senses." Mummy explained, throwing an ounce of mercy to the befuddled Humphrey.

Silver giggled again; "This one time I asked Mummy for Milky Ways and Galaxies. She waved her hands and next thing I knew, I was floating in space! Hahaha."

"Blimey." Humphrey blinked while his daughter bent forward in more contained laughter, clearly understanding the joke he was missing.

"Yes, yes, t'was most confuddling." The witch sighed, "We be more precise in our requests when dealins with the dark arts now, don't we, little'en?"

"Yes, Mummy." Silver answered, dutifully, before whispering again to Amy; "Still was fucking cool floating around in space though! I got to ride a comet! Hehehehe."

Humphrey could only watch his daughter's eyes shine like fireworks at the very idea. He looked down, to the girls hands, how they were still gripping onto each other. At first, he'd merely put it down to the witchling being blind and relying on touch. But Amy....she was holding just as tight onto Silver. Like a girl lost afloat at sea, clinging to a lifeline.

His unbeating heart began to twist, first with sadness. Sadness that he'd never seen his little girl look half as happy back in their rooms. Then envy. Envy at this blind urchin, that she had brought his Amy to smile and laugh when he could not. And then, most devastating of all, a revelation.

His own father had done everything to mould Humphrey's life to how he desired it to be. It hadn't mattered what reluctance the boy had or the misery of his daughter-in-law. They had been mere pawns in his own game, ready to be either promoted when reaching his desires, or sacrificed for letting him down.

Closing his eyes, he faced the image of the man, and silently declared that he could sod his fucking legacy.

Humphrey Bone would not become his father.

"You should stay."

The girls' laughter stopped immediately. The witch's smoke seemed to still around her. Even the beast let out a grunt of surprise.

"Mmmf?" Amy blinked at the man.

Humphrey forced a smile; "I said you should stay here, Amy. You...You're happy here. You're laughing. I...I want you to keep laughing, Poppet. There's nothing to make you laugh back in that house. There's only fear and hiding and your old dad being a useless worry who can't keep his own head on straight!"

"Cloaked one..." Mary began.

"Please." He faced the witch with as much bravery in his heart as when he'd held the door for Sophie to escape; "Just take her. Don't make me have to disown her so she's an orphan and you'll have no choice. It's what you do, isn't it? I see it now, really I do. You're not a monster. You're...Huh." He looked at Silver, fondly; "You're a mum."

Amy remained frozen still in her friend's grasp, staring at the Tudor, unsure of what to say, or perhaps not believing he had done a complete one eighty.

He was....letting her go? Just as she asked?

It wasn't quite what she had meant when she'd said those words. Letting go had meant leaving this place, the house and woods included. It meant going home to her old life, to her shitty mum that she still loved, to her friend Shan, to being...normal again.

That was before she'd learned about the wall. Before she'd properly met her new friend, before going on the craziest but wonderful adventure her mother's magic could create for them.

Silver disrupted her thoughts with a shrill cry of excitement, bouncing on her toes.

"Yes! Yes! That's perfect! See, Ames? You don't have to go back! You can stay out here with me, hahahaha!" The witchling squealed, "You can smell Kit Kats and Monster drinks every day! You can get to know all the imps and sprites and, oh, I didn't even introduce you to the vampires yet, did I?! And of course you can play with the dragons-."

"Little'en-." Mary tried to interject.

"I also know this guy Nik! He's a talking stick! I know that sounds weird but he's actually pretty funny and I dunno why, I just feel like you would get on with him-."

"Silver Ravenstar Guppy!"

The witchling immediately closed her mouth. Mummy never addressed her with her full name unless it was serious.

Mary sighed; "This not be your decision to make, darling girl."

"But...But Mummy, he's letting her go. And she wants to leave, that's how she found me, she was running away! Both times! Won't you take her in, Mummy?"

"Of course I woulds, sweet child, in the beat of mousies heart I woulds." The witch said with surprising endearment for such a grotesque wraith of a being; "But this be a choice between Amy and her father."

"Good, because Amy doesn't want to stay there anymore, do you Ames?" Silver looked to her friend, giving her wrist a squeeze.

Silence. Not so much as a gurgle.

Silver blinked; "Amy?"

"Mmmf." It was all the other teen could say. The one muffled syllable ringing with uncertainty.

She took Silver's hand and turned it, writing into her palm.

N..O...T.......S....U...R...E.

"Not sure? Why not? I don't understand....Didn't you have fun?"

Another groan along with a nod, her hands squeezing Silver's.

"Do you...want us to be friends?"

Yes. Of course, fucking yes.

She prodded her finger into the pale flesh again.

"Still...family..." Silver spoke the words she felt drawn into her. The laugh that followed rang with sadness and understanding; "Oh. Of course....You don't wanna leave your daddy."

Silver let her go.

"And I don't wanna leave you, Poppet. Never in a million years." Humphrey moved closer to Amy, voice breaking, "But Dads have to do the right thing for their children. I told myself I was keeping you inside for your own good and because of what your mum wanted but...Truth is, it was all about me. Because I was scared of losing the only family I had left. That was wrong of me, sweetheart. Please. I am so sorry."

Amy closed her eyes as tears began to fall. Why was this upsetting her so much? He wasn't her father. The wife he kept talking about wasn't her mum. And yet...all his words felt more real the more he spoke, the more time she spent in this world, his distorted reality mixing with her own until she struggled to remember which was real.

Was this how it had been for Silver? She had talked how she refused to believe she was the witch's daughter at first, whenever she sobered up from her high, how the witch's claim on her having been kidnapped made no sense, until eventually she accepted it. A dash of Stockholm syndrome. Was that what this was? How could she trust anything she was feeling, including the pull of affection for this man that her heart so desperately wanted to call Dad?

Humphrey reached out to stroke the top of her head.

"Go with them, Poppet. The witch and her beast will do a better job at protecting you from the guards than I could. Don't worry about Mum, I'll send for you once she's back. If she's cross, I'll take the brunt of it. And you'll get to have a best friend with you. The sister that me and your mum should have given you." He tried to encourage, though it was clearly torture for him to do so.

The conflicted teenager leaned into his paternal touch, suddenly desperate for the fatherly affection she'd never experienced in life.

Glancing over to the witch and the feral man, she didn't see any desire for familial care in either of them. They both seemed indifferent to her, willing to tolerate her, maybe even be civil and polite, but the witch had clearly given most of what remained of her heart over to loving Silver. And the ancient creature...she could relate to how he closed himself off and acted scary to guard himself, but she was unsure if he'd truly care for her.

But then there was Silver. Silver, who was still looking unfocused in her direction, buzzing with hope and anticipation that Amy would agree to stay. The temptation was definitely there. To be free to have this land to roam instead of the house where there's so many to avoid. To be able to live in a fantasy land and ride dragons and sniff her beloved Monster. To have a best friend always at her side...

Why did it have to be an 'either or' situation? Why couldn't she-?

Silver's knees suddenly gave way and she crumpled to the floor.

"Mff?!" Amy's eyes widened as she reached for her friend.

"Child? You all right?!" Humphrey stepped forward.

Silver pushed herself to sit upright; "Don't worry, Mr. Lord Amy's dad, I....I'm fi.....Ahh."

The girl stretched her arms as she let out one of the biggest yawns Amy had ever seen.

Mary tutted as she moved towards her child; "Darling girl, did yous forget what the hour be?"

Silver frowned and rubbed at her eyes.

"Wha-? No, I...."

She looked to her mother, who was pointing to the sky, to the shades of pink and light blue staining image of night. But it was the sound of the birds performing their morning chorus that informed her.

"Oh....Hehehehe....Shit."

Her head rolled forward, looking as though it was too heavy for her to keep up.

Humphrey frowned with concern, instinct compelling him to ignore everything he said before and put his arm around Amy.

"What's this? What's happening?" He asked.

"Mmmf?" Amy groaned and then signed, hoping that the other adults, not just Humphrey could understand.

Is she okay?

"Do not despair, either of ye. T'is my little girl's affliction. I take it you did not tell your friend of the curse, sweetling?" Mary asked, stroking her daughter's hair as the girl knelt at her feet.

Silver weakly shook her head; "No, Mummy...D-idn't wanna spoil it..."

Yawning again, she leant against her mother's tattered skirt, struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Curse? What's this about a curse?!"

By the sound of the panic in Humphrey's voice, he was ready to completely go back on his 'sacrifice'.

"Calm yeself, cloaked one. It be no danger to you or your little'en." The witch reassured, "My Silver was born into this world with this bane. Did ye not wonder why she only graces the field with her melodic singing once per month? The rest of the time, she sleeps soundly beneath the waxing and waning moon. Only when the lunar light shines full doth she rise, for three nights and two days."

Silver huffed and managed to look up towards Amy.

"Sucks arse, right? Basically m'gonna go into a coma for the next four weeks. Hehehehe." She snickered.

At Amy's mumble of concern, Silver felt a surge of energy and reached out to her friend.

"Hey, hey, it's fine, Ames, honest! I have the most kickass dreams and....basically get to do all that cool stuff we did tonight but in my head. Won't be as fun without you there but....maybe you can find me when you go to sleep each night, hehehehe? Or....maybe we can do it again when I wake up next month? If...if you like..."

The surge didn't last long, with Silver nearly falling forward onto her face. She was saved by the beast man rushing forward and lifting her up, manoeuvring her onto his back and gripping her arms around his neck.

Once upon a time, his Mistress would have had to command him to do this for the cub. Now it's as natural as breathing.

Silver giggles and nuzzles into his mane; "Good pillow. Thank you, Fluff."

The witch continued to stroke Silver's hair.

"Doth this change your decision, girl?" She asked Amy; "Or yours, cloaked one? Do not misunderstand, if you both truly desire to part ways and for Amy to live with us, she will be most cared for. But I have not the strength to fill her head with jovial fantasies every day. It can be a very dark and lonely life here amongst the woods with eyes such as ours, eyes unable to avoid the bleakness. And my darling girl, your friend, shall be silent and sleeping nearly all the time, 'cept those precious five and fifty hours she returns to us..."

"Ah." Humphrey's response seemed to say enough.

He was much less keen to abandon his daughter to the witch if it meant her friend would hardly be awake to stay with her.

"Ah indeed, cloaked one." Mary manages a smile. She gazes at Amy, reaching out a tendril of smoke to stroke her cheek; "Forgive me, dear girl. I was jealous to begin with, when my daughter did desire to spend time with thee. Do you gets why now? For but a short time each month do I spend with my darling girl....and, like a greedy fool, I dids not wish to sacrifice any of that for her to be happy with another..."

A sleepy Silver reached out to grip the witch's bony hand; "Silly Mummy, hehehehe."

"Yes, little'en. Silly Mummy." Mary lightly tickled Silver under her chin.

Humphrey squeezed Amy's shoulder.

"It's...still up to you, Poppet." He said, swallowing that resurgence of fear; "It doesn't change how miserable you were with me. You might be happier here with the wi...Uh, with Silver's mum and their....pet?"

The beast man growled.

"Sorry! Sorry, I meant...friend." Humphrey corrected.

Amy huffed through her nose.

She walked up to Silver, resting on the feral man's back, ready to nod off at any moment.

Gently, she took her hand, the creature barely reacting to the intrusion on his charge.

"Gotta...stay....He's...all...alone....Needs...me." Silver read, weakly, then smiled; "Yeah. That makes sense....He seems like a good daddy. Hehehe..." Even her compulsive laughter was starting to quieten before she yawned again; "Find K-Kitty...She's in a room close to you...S'just as lonely as us. She...needs a friend as cool as you, Fizzy Girl...."

Amy smiled and took her palm again, prodding lightly.

"Dragon...race...next...month?" Silver's eyes sparked and she grinned; "F-fuck yeah! W-won't....miss it...."

Her arm went limp, hanging uselessly over the beast's shoulder.

The lightest snoring sound against his mane told them all she was gone. For now.

Amy frowned, giving her friend the slightest nudge to the forehead. Silver didn't so much as stir.

"It be all right, child. Is learned to no longer fear for my girl. She only rests." With a wave of her hand, the witch summoned a cloud of smoke and harmless sparks to lift Silver off the creature's back and carry her in mid air.

Humphrey stared in awe at the teenager hovering peacefully, skirt and overshirt wafting beneath her, a contented smile on her pale and bleeding face.

Amy tried to shake off the unease and disturbance she felt seeing the first true friend she'd made now trapped in sleep for a whole month. She insisted she was fine and that she would have her dreams but...fuck. There was a horror to such a fate that couldn't be avoided.

And then there was her last words. Kitty. Who the fuck was Kitty? Should she ask the grown ups or could she trust them not to gaslight her?

It was frustrating to think she'd have to wait four weeks to speak to Silver again, if she doesn't manage to find this girl on her own.

"I needs to tuck my daughter into her bed and see that she's comfy." The witch told them; "You are certain in your decision, young Amy?"

The teenager looked back to the Tudor. Then back to the witch.

She nodded.

Something close to a smile appeared on the witch's burned skull; "T'is settled then. If you wish to visit my girl at the next full moon...or ifs you desire a reprieve from indoors and your da permits...you is more than welcome." She looked to the beast; "Come, sweet ally. You knows the little'en doth love to cuddle thee for the first day she sleeps."

The creature grunted, sounding none too thrilled at the idea of being used as a teddy bear for the witch's child, but following regardless, accepting his fate. He gave Amy and Humphrey one last nod. They were both deemed safe in his view, no longer any threat to his Mistress or her....their cub.

Humphrey watched the witch disappear into the trees, her sleeping daughter floating at her side, the beast man skulking on his knuckles behind her. In the blink of an eye, a plume of smoke was all that remained of their presence there.

He laid a hand on Amy's shoulder and turned him to her.

"Are you....Are you sure, Poppet? You....You sure you wanna stay with your lame old man?" He sounded dumbfounded at the very idea.

It was rather adorable, causing Amy to smile. Her bulging eyes shone with that same joy he had seen Silver's jokes spark in her earlier.

Now for...him?!

She threw herself into him, wrapping her arms around his middle. Her nose ignored the blood on his front as she nestled into the fur lining of his cloak.

He felt her write the words into his chest.

I'm...sure...Dad.

Humphrey burst into tears.

#gore au #bbc ghosts fanfic #amy bone #silver guppy #humphrey bone #robin the caveman #bbc ghosts #mary guppy

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ijustkindalikebooks · 3 months ago

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I have had an excellent reading month not gonna lie to you.

Do you count manga as reading in your reading? I know that makes no sense, but a friend of mine doesn't include manga in her reading count for goodreads but I mean it is reading, it's a book, I got it in a bookstore? I don't know, I'd love to know what you think.

I've read alot of manga this month, don't get me wrong especially Blue Exorcist, which is getting fire (or should I say blue flame?) at this point I gotta admit however these are the books that I gave five stars or the very last day of last month (it happens) and they are a bit longer and less pictorial than my beloved japanese fiction stories.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne-Jones - I was lucky enough as a kid to have some of this author's books read to me by my grandmother, and so I should have known I'd probably love more of her work and I did. Beautifully told in a world that's so brilliantly created that you can picture it all in your head even without Studio Ghibli's help, this book truly was such a wonderful book to wrap my month up with. The story of Sophie who has a curse placed on her and goes in search of a way to reverse it, it's told with such charm and you'll fly through this story much like the castle itself.

The Girl From The Other Side by Nagabe - I am not going to speak much on this as I am currently on volume four, which is a quarter of the story in to the series, but this story is fantastic. The story of Teacher and Shiva I guess figuring out who they are, this series is short and sweet but also dark and reminiscent of Grimm's Fairy Tales with an art style that perfectly captures that tone. I highly recomment this series if you can find it whereever you are, it's so unique and excellently told.

A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon - This book is fantastic in my opinion. The story of a girl who is planning to well, not be alive and then is saved by a magical girl who thinks she's one too, A Magical Girl Retires is a charming story about friendship, love, loyalty and being a girl in today's society, particularly South Korea where this story is set. I read alot of Korean Literature I'll admit and this one breaks the mould when it comes to tone, I find alot of them tend to be retrospective and melancholic, this might be a good way in to Korean Literature if you're looking for one.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt - I think this book is such a delight. The story of a woman whose growing old and figuring out what to do next as she cleans an aquarium and befriends Marcellus the octopus, this book invests you in the story and makes you take a moment to take in what you've just read - nothing surprise me less this book is a bestseller, this book is just so humanly written and perfectly paced. A gem of a book, highly recommend this if you've not read it yet.

What were your favourite books of July? Have you had a perfect beach read? Or what is your next beach read? I'd love to know!

Thanks for reading!

Vee xo

#booklr #books #bookblr #fiction #book #book review #book reviews #review #reviews #remarkably bright creatures #the girl from the other side #a magical girl retires #howl's moving castle #reading #read #books and reading #howls moving castle

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paulagnewart · 1 year ago

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(Sa)Tuneday Supercade!

Imagine it's 31st July 1993. After scouring the kitchen for a plate of your preferred breakfast, you scurry out to take prime position on the lounge. Wrapped within the blankets pulled from your bed, there's no better way to spend a cool, lazy morning than accompanied by the low hum of the adjacent television set. Flicking between channels, there's plenty of choice from cartoons to cool tunes. As you continue munching down, something flashes across the screen. A flurry of new and exciting faces accompanied by beloved heroes of old. Over the subsequent two hours, the Australian Saturday morning landscape had changed, with the grand premiere of "What's Up Doc".

Having successfully wrangled the rights to Warner Brothers' library of Looney Tunes cartoons from their traditional home on Seven, Channel Nine had grand plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of everyone's favourite wascally wabbit. Their initial attempt, aptly titled "The Bugs Bunny Show", was hosted by Sophie Lee and aired weekdays beginning on 4th June 1990. In spite of drawing strong ratings from kids and parents with heavy emphasis on Merrie Melodies shorts (and the occasional Real Ghostbusters, another show poached from Seven), it wasn't to last, with the final episode airing 7th February 1992.

But Nine weren't willing to give up just yet. They switched tactics and set out to challenge then-juggernaut Saturday Disney, kicking off "What's Up Doc" at 8:30am. With Danielle Fairclough as the first in a rotating roster of hosts, viewers saw the continuation of popular series including Tiny Toon Adventures and Beetlejuice, along with an extra helping of new shows such as (and certainly not limited to) Taz-Mania, Animaniacs, Free Willy, Freakazoid, Superman: The Animated Series, and Histeria.

Yet it was Batman: The Animated Series which truly broke the mould. Riding high on the unprecedented success of Tim Burton's live-action films, the show took everything popular from Bob Kane and Bill Finger's beloved Caped Crusader and elevated them to a new level. The action more intense, the heroes more nuanced, the villains more three dimensional. And they in turn went on to influence and inspire their comic counterparts. Airing in its original production order, the series launched that same day and ran an unbroken 65 weeks, swiftly spawning an expansive toyline and slew of matching merchandise.

From Sophie Lee to Lauren Phillips, Andy Sunderland and everyone in between, "What's Up Doc" cemented the Looney Tunes' home on Nine. Its popularity led to a return of weekday afternoon cartoons, and later spinoffs for the next generation of fans including "The Cool Room" And "Kids' WB", each with their own unique hosts and lineups of animated adventures. The relationship between network and studio remained a strong one for just shy of two decades until it all came crashing down; with Nine choosing not to renew their exclusive license, the final "Kids' WB", and Looney Tunes on Australian TV in general, walked into the sunset on 29th November 2019.

#Looney Tunes #Bugs Bunny #Batman #Tazmanian Devil #Freakazoid #Animaniacs #Sylvester the Cat #Tiny Toon Adventures #What's Up Doc?#Australia #Saturday Morning Cartoons #Channel 9 #1993 #The irony of using the Please Please Pleese Get a Life Foundation is far from lost

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skye-huntress · 2 years ago

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The Witch from Mercury Reaction

Episode 12: “Keep Marching on Instead of Running Off”

I am so very late getting this out. Winding back to the night it aired, I recall this intense feeling of apprehension, so I wasn’t in the mood to record my thoughts during or after the show, so I called it a night. After that, I got distracted by one thing or another so I had to force myself to sit down and do a rewatch. I like doing this, I want to do more of this for other things I enjoy, but I don’t keep up the habit it’d be difficult to start over. With that explanation out of the way, here are my thoughts on the Season 1 finale.

That Sophie really has a few screws loose. Giving her dramatic and theatrical introduction to Suletta… who can’t possibly see or hear her!

“The girl will come to us.” “The girl”? That’s some reductive language to use for your own daughter. That said, this reiterates that Suletta is still important to Prospera’s plans. Perhaps she has a certain synergy with Aerial that Prospera just couldn’t match. Just as she needed Ericht to pilot the Lfrith, she needs Suletta to pilot Aerial.

Interesting choice for Jeturk to pilot a suit himself. Perhaps it is that same sense of pride (or arrogance) to take control of one’s own fate that we’ve seen in Bob few times

Why can’t Delling just tell his daughter to put on a space suit without framing it as a criticism?

So despite being Lfrith models like Aerial, these new Gundam’s still seem to function the same as every other Gundam we’ve seen. So the question is, is the technology less dangerous or is there something different about the pilots to keep them from dying?

“The Antidote” doesn’t work on them either, though it’s clear raising the Permit score to 4 puts a severe strain on the body. Sophie’s comment about still being alive is probably something to take note of. I might have an idea or two of what that’s about but perhaps its best to wait until we learn more about the Witches from Earth

That pollution comment is one I take interest in. Using live ammunition in space is especially dangerous, especially when fired so recklessly. Fire a bullet on Earth, and a combination of air resistance and gravity will limit how far and how fast it travels. In the vacuum of space, any object fired will keep its momentum until it hits something. While I’m sure Norea has very valid criticisms of Spacians, especially in regards to Earth’s pollution, she is just as despicable for disregarding this issue even if you ignore the terrorism and murder.

Of course Suletta’s first thought is to save Miorine.

Wasn’t expecting to hear anything about what actually happened to Miorine’s mother. I think I’m starting to get a sense of what Delling is like, though do not get me wrong, he’s still a massive asshole who should probably be sitting in prison.

This is starting to feel a lot like the prologue, what with the ordinary workers just going about their day being murdered indiscriminately.

Looks like Earth House made it despite holing up in a massive target. Of course, it’s difficult to give credit to Nika when she was partially responsible for endangering everyone in the first place. Now the question lingers about how the confrontation with Martin will turn out.

Oh look, Bob got his first win in 11 episodes… and he still loses! Definitely the series’ punching bag. That said, on his account, this was just horrendously bad luck. As for his father, I’d almost consider it karma if I actually thought such a thing existed.

So now the scene between Suletta and Prospera is one I wanted to watch again closely. It’s difficult for me to find fault with anything Prospera is saying because there is clear logic there. This is a kill or be killed situation where surrender and negotiation are not an option. Still Suletta has a certain child-like innocence to her, while also having been moulded by Prospera over the years to be a weapon.

I think the real issue has to do with the mantra, “run, gain one; move forward, gain two”. There are many situations where that works, especially for someone who lacks confidence like Suletta, however it doesn’t always work like that. The prologue proved there are cases where running is the better option. There are also situations where there are more options than “forward” or “run”. Of course, this situation wasn’t it.

There are a number of other nuances regarding this issue as well, but considering they were in the middle of a crisis, it wouldn’t be fair to fault Prospera for not bringing them up, even if she never has any intention to. It just wasn’t the time or place to discuss morality, ethics, rules of engagement and all number of topics. For better and worse, Prospera’s method of encouraging Suletta was probably the difference between life and death for Miorine and a number of other people.

Aerial has received quite the upgrade, but the result I think makes her look less friendly and more intimidating. In other words, more like a true machine of war. I take issue with that. I agree with Sophie, I prefer the old look, too.

Even in the middle of the fight, with life or death consequences, Aerial managed to check the status of Earth House and their ship.

Two Gundams, using live ammo, and they still can’t even scratch Aerial

I’m questioning what it is that Sophie actually wants from Suletta. To fight her? Screw her? Both?

At first, I was somewhat peeved that the credits started after Suletta and Aerial located Miorine, then the after credits scene started and that strong sense of anxiety I had before came back with interest.

I can’t really fault Suletta for that action. There was a terrorist with a gun pointed at her fiancée and she was in a giant robot that wasn’t designed to fight humans on foot. There was an extremely tight window for her to react before he got a shot off. That the action was so gory could not have easily been avoided if that were even possible.

I also can’t fault Miorine’s reaction to seeing that display from her perspective up close, having blood and dismembered body parts make contact with her. There’d probably be something deeply wrong with her if that didn’t freak her the fuck out.

The part that gets me though is how seemingly unaffected Suletta is to the gory mess she created. I get that she now thinks killing to protect those you love is a “good thing”, but she just fell in a pool of blood. It seems unnatural that she is this desensitised to violence after seeing her mother shoot someone in front of her. I’m not too surprised since there is already plenty of evidence she has been conditioned to perform this level of violence. If that’s true, there’s only one person that can help Suletta but she might not be in the right frame of mind right now.

Prediction time

It’s possible Bob will be picked up by search and rescue and interrogated. However, it seemed like one of the Dawn of Fold (Olcott?) spotted his suit as the retreat was sounded so it is possible they picked him up instead. Knowing his bad luck, I’d bet on the latter. That could get interesting. If they know who he is and find out what he did, they could take advantage of him in any number of ways for their own cause. After all, he is the official punching bag of The Witch from Mercury. Actually, given who he is, there’s a solid chance he could be chained to the ceiling and used as a literal punching bag. Seems like the kind of thing Sophie would do.

There’s a high probability that if the rift between Suletta and Miorine isn’t dealt with quickly and effectively, Number 5 will not hesitate to take advantage of it. The Peil faction doesn’t seem like they want to deal with the Dawn of Fold, they just want the secrets behind Aerial, probably more so knowing how effortlessly she fought off two Gundams at once.

As for Suletta and Miorine, this is more of a long term prediction, but I don’t believe we’re close to done with them yet. I do believe they’ll eventually overcome this, and then be met with even more challenges that make this one seem manageable in comparison. After all, even without knowing a thing about Gundam, I had no illusions that it would be smooth sailing for this ship. The drama may hurt, but that just makes it all the more satisfying to see them overcome it and beat the odds. Ultimately, I still think they’ve got a decent shot at being endgame.

That’s it for me, I think. I’ll definitely do this again for Season 2. Meanwhile, I’ll think about what else I want to write about.

#the witch from mercury #g witch #g witch spoilers

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