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themovieblogonline · 8 months ago

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Damsel Review: A Grim Fairy Tale Beautifully Unraveled

In an era where the lines between classic fairy tale narratives and dark fantasy blur, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's Damsel emerges as a poignant reflection on strength, sacrifice, and survival. Scripted by Dan Mazeau, the film carves out a unique space in the realm of dark fantasy cinema, embellished by an outstanding ensemble cast including Millie Bobby Brown, Ray Winstone, Nick Robinson, Angela Bassett, and Robin Wright. At its heart, Damsel is a story about the indomitable spirit of a young woman caught in the teeth of ancient tradition and supernatural danger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM150ZWovZM The plot revolves around Elodie, portrayed with remarkable depth and resilience by Millie Bobby Brown, a young noblewoman who steps into a nightmare veiled as an honor. Set to marry Prince Henry (Nick Robinson) in what appears to be a dream come true, the narrative quickly pivots into a dark tale when she learns that her destiny is not as a princess but a sacrificial pawn. The film is a rollercoaster of emotions, anchored by Brown's performance, as she encapsulates both the vulnerability and fortitude of Elodie. Her transformation from a sheltered girl into a formidable survivor forms the crux of the movie, earning the audience's empathy and admiration with each turn of the plot. Fresnadillo’s direction ensures that the narrative pace keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. He masterfully blends moments of tranquility with sheer terror. The director's knack for creating atmospheric tension is palpable. It makes the ancient and mystical elements of the story come alive in a way that is haunting. The setting within the dragon’s cave, where a significant portion of the story unfolds, is rendered with such detail that it becomes a character in its own right, embodying both the terror and wonder of the unknown. The screenplay by Dan Mazeau is tight and well-crafted, offering fresh twists on the conventional 'damsel in distress' trope. By centering the story around Elodie's agency and cunning, Mazeau challenges the audience's expectations. He delivers a narrative that is both empowering and thought-provoking. Dialogues are crisp, carrying weight and wisdom, particularly in the interactions between Elodie and Lady Bayford, played by Angela Bassett. Bassett brings a dignified ferocity to her role, providing a complex foil to Elodie’s innocence and determination. Supporting performances add richness to the film's fabric, notably Ray Winstone as the menacing Lord Bayford. Also Nick Robinson, who infuses Prince Henry with a nuanced vulnerability that transcends the archetype of the fairy tale prince. The chemistry between the cast is palpable. It elevates the emotional stakes and drawing the audience deeper into the tale's grim yet enchanting world. Cinematography by Larry Fong is another highlight. It captures the stark contrast between the opulence of the noble life and the eerie beauty of the dragon’s lair. The score enhances the film's tension and emotional depth. Despite its many strengths, Damsel is not without its shortcomings. The pacing is uneven, especially in the second act, lingering too much in the cave scenes. While these moments are critical for character development, a tighter edit could have maintained the story's momentum more effectively. Additionally, some may find the film's dark themes and intense sequences overwhelming, though they are integral to the narrative's impact. Damsel stands out as a darkly beautiful exploration of strength in the face of unimaginable trials. The film is a compelling entry in the dark fantasy genre with stellar performances, especially from Millie Bobby Brown. It resonates deeply with its empowering narrative, rich character development, and striking visuals. Read the full article

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elenajohansenreads · 3 years ago

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Books I Read in 2021

#61 - Beauty and the Mustache, by Penny Reid

Mount TBR: 58/100

Rating: 1/5 stars

DNF @ 16%. You know how I always say humor is personal? I did not jive with this style of humor at all, I found the characters uniformly juvenile, crude, and irritating. Obviously tons of other readers think this is the bee's knees, though, so just as obviously, this is a complaint only relevant to me.

There were plenty of problems I had that didn't involve the humor at all, however.

First, I was not expecting the inciting incident for a rom-com to be the heroine's mother dying. Way to bring the room down, and to make the humor (whether I liked it or not) seem wildly off tone.

Second, the narrative style is overwritten. Not every line has to be a joke or a snappy remark. Not every noun needs an adjective. Not every thought that passes through the heroine's head needs to be put on the page. Not every character needs to be a stereotype.

Third, the characters--there are too many. While this is the fourth book in one romance series (of which I haven't read the first three, this is my first and likely only Reid novel attempt) it's also the 0.5 intro to the Winston Brothers series, and boy, does the story spend a lot of time on the six of them, to the point where I stopped at 16%, there's no real hint of a romance starting between the leads aside from the heroine flip-flopping mentally between admiring his looks or voice, and hating him for being around as a part of the family when she wasn't (essentially, as far as I can tell with what I read.) Because I found the brothers all irritating, I'm not interested in setting up their future romances or even getting to know them, and their constant invasive presence is getting in the way of the romance plot, which is the reason I wanted to read the book at all.

Fourth--yeah, we're still going on the list of issues--what plot there is so far makes no sense. Heroine peaces out of her family for eight years. Why? Dunno. Comes back because her mom has a medical emergency and refuses to see anyone else in the family. Why? Dunno, and she doesn't say when the heroine meets with her at the hospital. The hero is apparently dear momma's go-to guy for everything, since it's quickly revealed that he gets to make all the decisions because he's got her power of attorney and is also the executor of her will. Why? Because they're friends, apparently. But why are they friends? Dunno, and that's a really big set of responsibilities to set on a non-family member's shoulders, not to mention the potential for abusing that power. There are other, smaller things about the story that also don't make sense--like the running gag about six grown men living in the same house having a schedule for using the bathroom for masturbation purposes: do they not have bedrooms? Because if had been established that there wasn't enough space and they were sharing rooms, okay, maybe, but that's simply never addressed.

Fifth, I don't care for everything in the story combining to make the hero a mysterious weird loner whose place in the story relies on all the nonsensical things I just listed. Also, his first title, so to speak, in the story is actually nothing I've mentioned so far--he's also the oldest brother's boss! Because being Mom's bestie and having all her decision-making power wasn't enough. But instead of that defining him better, it just muddies the waters and keeps him hanging around in this situation of creepy enforced intimacy with the heroine. Not long before I stopped, he kisses her on the forehead for some not-obvious-to-me reason and I honestly shuddered, it made me so uncomfortable. And this is the hero! I'm supposed to swoon over him, not wish he'd leave the heroine alone!

Sixth, I put the book down where I did because one of the brothers made a racist joke. Last straw.

#booklr #book review #romance novels #my reading challenges #mount tbr 2021

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pochapal · 4 years ago

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I hate doctor 11 but ive never been able to explain why in like words lmao. He feels like such a mary sue character imo and like theres something about his characterisation that was always just really ineffective (like the stuff about fishfingers and custard or whatever it was). Imo i'd love to hear you give top 5 worst things about the 11 era because i rlly just love when it gets torn apart

i hold nothing but a seething contempt and loathing for that man. every time he appeared on screen i felt ready to snap like a riled up chimpanzee in my enclosure. i am frothing at the mouth and overcome with a desire to start flinging heavy objects. this might be incoherent and inconsistent but i started this rewatch in feb 2020 and only finished this week so i got through 11′s episodes last august/september time and i refuse to revisit it to jog my memory or fact check anything i’m saying here because this man does not deserve the space in my mind for that.

the first thing is i can’t fucking STAND the quirky whimsy timey wimey bit he has going on all of the time. i can’t even say this is because this is a kids show and i was a teen and then adult when i first properly watched him but actually!! when i was eleven years old i’d sleep over at a friend’s house most weekends and it always coincided with the airing of a new season 5 episode and i remember we watched the finale with the dumb time hopping to get out of the box prison that was never explained and didn’t make sense and i thought at the time “this is really stupid”. and before that my only other doctor who exposure was watching the david tennant christmas specials with another friend and throughout childhood my only opinion on doctor who was “this is a tv show that is not for me but is one that all the boys i am friends with like so i will put up with it to maintain our friendships” but at least those episodes were both suspenseful and engaging enough to keep me watching all the way through. like who the fuck does an end of the world sci fi plot and approaches it with an “oopsy woopsy i am a funny little alien man who is going to stop you all by making you do a hecking silly” like it’s unneeded and self-parodies an already cheesy show to the point where it becomes unwatchable and makes it impossible to ever take this man seriously.

next thing that downright sucks ass so badly is the stupid fucking overwritten constantly escalating plotlines. like everything from season 5 up until his regeneration at the end of season 7 is meant to be this grand interconnected cosmic plot about how...the doctor trying to bring back his planet will end the universe or something so all the top powers across all of reality tried again and again to stop him from doing that except he doesn’t know what’s going on so he keeps thwarting these people who supposedly mean good?? i mean i sure don’t fucking know what they were trying to say!! like for some reason we never get the doctor suddenly becomes this superdemon that threatens everything so these people (whoever they are) decide to, in sequence: suck him through a time rift to erase him from existence, trap him in a prison and remake a universe without him, take his companion’s baby and turn her into a perfectly trained doctor killer, form two(!!) secret societies to hunt him throughout history that are only stopped by his companion splintering herself across his personal timeline to protect him, and repeatedly cause reality collapsing events because it’s a kinder outcome for the universe than what he will do. this grand and terrible event turns out to be...he spends a few hundred years chilling by a rift that leads to his home planet and protects a few generations of children from monsters which convinces them to give him infinite regeneration power then fuck off back to their pocket universe. and it’s like!! what is the point of anything that happens in this man’s era when everything is always “the darkest moment” or whatever the fuck!! i don’t care!! we never get a compelling reason to believe this bumbling clown of a man could ever be a universal threat!! the whole thing is so dumb i hate it!!!

thing number three i hate is how the eleventh doctor is ALSO characterised as this abrasive egotistic male supergenius to the point where he becomes genuinely indistinguishable from bbc sherlock. genuinely who enjoyed seeing this guy constantly tell people their tiny human minds can’t comprehend what he’s doing and then basically just wave his magic wand to solve whatever problem each episode is facing. 2012 is the year of human sin because this fucking shitsmear character archetype somehow became both a redditor role model AND a tumblr sexyman and it’s like!! nobody is enjoying this stop making this seem cool! him saying timey wimey thing any time he does anything is frustrating and dumb and locks the viewer out of giving a fuck about anything that is happening! smartest man in the room syndrome is a disease and the eleventh doctor is terminal with it. like remember how they established river as an accomplished scientist (when she wasn’t being a child soldier or a time paradox or whatever the fuck) and every time that came up mr doctor eleven man was like “oh this thing is obvious because i’m a genius and you didn’t realise because your brain is tiny so get out of the way and let the grownups think” or that time it turned out amy had been replaced with a slime clone for half the season and the doctor chewed rory (audience surrogate) out for somehow not realising this fact we didn’t know right from the start and like. this served no purpose other than to draw into severe question why the doctor is also this super beloved magical figure implicitly trusted by all children everywhere like. mr steven moffat is totally allergic to writing and solving mysteries in his tv show and fuck you for wanting to figure things out as you go along based on the new evidence you uncover at strategic plot intervals just let this asshole man use magical thinking to reveal he knew the answer all along and you’re a fucking idiot for not also realising this thing which had no basis or precedent anywhere else in the show.

speaking of dumb things let us not forget the absolute shitshow that was minority representation in this era. i’m not even talking about the low hanging fruit of how genuinely unironically sexist amy and clara were written where each episode moffat either seemed to loathe them or was incredibly horny over them and they had no character growth or arc or fucking anything. i’m talking about how fucking shit terrible the incidental representation was. god remember how every single fucking gay person who appeared in this era was written as one incredibly fucking stupid joke and how the women were all either sexy dominatrix, feeble girl in love, or Mother (or all three in some really terrible cases) and i’m not qualified to talk about this but also how incredibly white this era was and how on two separate occasions we had monarchs reimagined as sexy girlbosses with a gun played by black women who the doctor leched over. nothing about any of this was good ESPECIALLY coming off the back of rtd who was surprisingly forward thinking for 2005 and did a really good job of positing travel with the doctor as queer allegory. in comparison moffat gave us THE MOST heterosexual shlock i’ve ever had to endure. amy and rory could have been interesting characters were they not hemmed into this domestic bickering young straight married couple bullshit that was in no way changed or altered by traveling with the doctor except for the quasi incestuous river song reveal that was dumb and bad and stupid.

the last major mega gripe i have with the series is moffat’s fucking jingoistic boner for british military aesthetics. this carried over throughout his entire tenure as showrunner but was super terrible vomit inducing in eleven’s era. the unironic admiration for ww2 britain and winston churchill is downright wretched. are you incapable of telling a second world war story outside of churchill’s london and plucky blitz fighters. shit gives me hives so badly. and then!!! that weird church owned army that features in the future that end up being bad not for the concept of what basically amounts to an imperialistic intergalactic rendition of the fucking crusades but because they’re part of the nonsense go nowhere puzzlebox narrative that says the doctor is a not good man who will do bad things to the universe :(. remember how rtd’s doctor was a freshly traumatised man hot off the war criminal press who time and time again vehemently refuses to engage in military violence, but who tragically inadvertently turns every one of his companions into soldiers in his own personal army, and he has this moment of complete horror at the realisation and it is this which causes the downward spiral that ends in 10′s regeneration. and then how there’s this cringe line about how there’s a force of people who are “the doctor’s army, always ready to fight his battles when he’s not around” or some shit and then it turns out this is actually massive literal military operation and we’re meant to celebrate this. fuck off.

bonus round because this needs to be said but i have never hated anything like i hated that fucking human tardis episode. everything about it induced violent anger in me from the sickening overindulgence of that softgoth dark whimsy helena bonham carter tim burton aesthetic to the bafflingly terrible evil carny stereotype of those junk scavengers to the overblown sudden tragic shipbait romance of human tardis and the doctor. every word out of her mouth was trite shit and the fact that the death of her body was presented as this super emotional dramatic scene despite there being no buy in or incentive to care and the fact that every single person on tumblr in 2012 ate that shit up like it was fucking gourmet. i loathe every single thing about that episode so much.

#Anonymous #hi bestie here's 1500 words of me getting mad about the worst television experience i had in my life #why the FUCK was this man tumblr's favourite back in the day. what the fuck did anyone see in any of this shit #i never want to think about dr whom ever again

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nitewrighter · 4 years ago

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Satya being unsure about how to approach Pharah and Zen offers words of wisdom?

I just edited a couple fics to better accommodate the Symmetra & Zen friendship so it’ll be nice to give them a catch-up fic! Ahhh it’s been so long since I got a Symmarah prompt! Wingman Zen to the rescue!!

-----

“Hmmm...” Satya was standing on a construct of hard light that arced upward in stairs then extended in a long pathway from one of the upper platforms in Gibraltar’s hangar, frowning at the loose cables hanging from the ceiling, “Disgraceful,” she muttered, replacing missing ceiling panels. She glanced down at the hangar below before bringing up specs for potential turret locations on her prosthetic arm. She would need to discuss just how much security she would be allowed to adjust with Winston. Even with all her vetting complete she didn’t feel comfortable changing too much without running it by the others first. Loose wires and age-ravaged ceiling panels, however, were unacceptable. You’d think someone capable of inventing their own shield generator would keep the Watchpoint in better condition... then again, she knew the tunnel-vision of creation, and she could only imagine how lonely or how difficult being alone on this Watchpoint must be. Besides, while this was far from her favorite kind of work, it felt good to build something for people other than herself, to build something outside of Vishkar’s parameters. She turned her attention back to the scrappy ceiling and with a few sweeps of her arms and waves of her wrists, gestured another panel into light, placed it against the ceiling, and with a deft flick of her fingers, solidified it into existence.

“Ah, a significant improvement,” a tranquil voice with a slight metallic ring spoke up from below.

“Thank you,” said Satya, still looking at the ceiling, “But it’s still a bit patchwork. Obviously function is prioritized over form here, but seeing as this space is also used for training I don’t see why we shouldn’t--” The sound of the voice suddenly connected with a memory in her head and she pivoted on her heel to look down. A familiar silver and bronze figure in sunny Shambali robes gave her a polite wave from the floor of the hangar.

“Zenyatta!” she exclaimed more loudly than she really meant to before quickly making sweeping gestures at the hard-light platform she was on. The platform bent like a swan neck towards the floor and Satya jog-walked then slid down the slope of hard-light, coming to a slightly stumbling stop in front of Zenyatta who clasped her forearms in his to help balance her.

“Goodness!” a chuckle shook Zenyatta’s voice, “It is good to see you, Satya.”

“It’s been so long!” she spoke excitedly.

“I meant to come sooner when I heard you had joined Overwatch,” Zenyatta spoke warmly.

“You are with Overwatch as well?” said Satya.

Zenyatta gave a nod, “I assist and advise to the best of my abilities, but I am also called by my own mission in uniting humans and Omnics, both with the Shambali, and on my own. Finding the balance between the two is proving... a unique challenge.”

“Yes, there is a lot to get used to,” Satya smiled, then looked down a little sadly. “Last time we met,” she started hesitantly, “I... I was still with Vishkar... I still believed...”

Zenyatta placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Your gift to the people of Suravasa came from a profound desire for goodness and understanding. Regardless of your association with Vishkar, your intentions have always been very clear to me.”

Satya blinked a few times. “Thank you,” she said a bit softly.

“Come,” said Zenyatta, “I should like to hear all about the journey that has brought you here,” he paused and glanced up at the ceiling, “However, I could also come by later if you’re busy with--”

“No--!” Satya shook her head but then caught herself and cleared her throat, “I mean ‘no’ as in I can stop--That is--I would be delighted to walk with you.”

Zenyatta chuckled again. “There seems to be a new light in you,” he said as they headed out of the hangar.

“New light?” Satya tilted her head.

“You seem more open. More expressive,” said Zenyatta.

“Ah... “ Satya snickered a little, “I... suppose I don’t worry as much about coming off as odd, given my new company.” She clasped her hands in front of her as they walked, tracing her organic fingers around the knuckle joints of her prosthetic. She gave a smile to Zenyatta, “But your presence has that effect as well.”

“So... how did you join?” said Zenyatta.

——-

“And then she leapt and we were falling. And then I was screaming. And she was screaming. Was she screaming? She wasn’t screaming--” Satya’s words were tripping over each other, the memory seemed somehow both so stark and such a blur, “But then we were in this garage, and Lúcio was there--oh I was very rude to him--but then she--Fareeha--she told me to get in the teleporter, so I ran to get into the teleporter and it dematerialized right behind me!”

“Oh dear..” said Zenyatta. They were both on the observation deck overlooking the tarmac, Satya’s hands wrapped around a mug of tea from the mess hall.

“But I was able to construct a new teleporter, and she came through and her armor was.. all scuffed and rugged,” Satya’s voice seemed to hang on the words, not with her usual disapproval of the messy, “And-and she had blood here--” Satya pointed at the side of her forehead, “Lúcio helped her clean up...” her voice trailed off, “She saved me,” she said quietly, bringing her hand back down against the warmth of her mug. “And they brought me here and... I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stay at first but...” she glanced off, “If Vishkar and Talon are working together, I cannot allow them to use others as they have used me.”

“An admirable goal,” said Zenyatta, “But Satya, you are a creator. There are ways to help without putting yourself at risk. While I support you, I hope you are not endangering yourself out of guilt for your past with Vishkar.”

Satya weighed his words carefully. Was that what she was doing? She knew there was a well of pain in her like a fire, a fury at herself and at Vishkar for being deceived for so long--but no. That wasn’t it. That wasn’t all.

“I want...” Satya started and then paused, She remembered the feeling of Pharah’s armor pressed all around her, Pharah’s arm supporting her as she used the other to fire a concussive blast at Satya’s would-be assassin, “...I want to protect people,” she said, smoothing her prosthetic hand over her hair. She looked out over the watchpoint.

“I see,” said Zenyatta.

“For Fareeha it comes much more easily, I think,” said Satya, “But... I... I would like to have the presence for others that she and you have had for me. I would like to put that feeling out into the world... though I think I have more to learn before I can have that effect.”

“You seem to admire Miss Amari greatly,” Zenyatta observed.

“Of course,” Satya answered easily, “She seemed... uncouth at first, but she’s... deeply kind. And understanding. And honest. And principled. And brave. And intelligent, when she has the chance to be. And---and she can throw me off balance but she just... wants to do good and it’s so genuine for her, it’s so much of her---” Satya felt the blood rushing to her face and cast a quick glance at Zenyatta, who was looking at her with his head tilted and a resonant warmth. She caught herself and quickly cleared her throat. “That is--well---” she quickly took a sip of her tea, “She has a very strong character,” she said with her aristocratic crispness.

“I’m sure,” said Zenyatta.

He didn’t press the issue, and to be honest, Satya was a bit grateful for it. There was so much to deal with already just between all the work that had to be done on the watchpoint, the joy of reuniting with an old friend, and just readjusting to this strange new life with Overwatch in general. But even just by virtue of his presence, Zenyatta had a way of making her aware of feelings she felt she hadn’t the means to articulate before.

She looked at him and cleared her throat once more. “But... to answer your question earlier.... about putting myself at risk... Perhaps I can’t take the fight to Vishkar and Talon like the others... not yet, but I can make sure Talon and Vishkar can’t attack us here. I will do everything in my power to make this place a sanctuary.”

“And you will do wonderfully,” said Zenyatta. A pause passed between them, not uncomfortable, but a warm space in which to weigh everything they had talked about.

“Zenyatta,” Satya spoke slowly, “When I say I am reassured by your presence, I--I want you to understand that it’s not only in that I consider you a friend--I mean--that part is important! It is very important!”

“I understand,” Zenyatta said giving her a gentle nod to keep going.

“But.... having you here... makes me feel so much more sure I am on the right path, and... I cannot express how much that means to me,” said Satya.

“We all find our paths in our own time,” said Zenyatta, “I had no doubt you would find yours, with my help or not. But it was an honor to help, as well as humbling and enlightening,” His mechanical shoulders shifted as he slipped his hand into one of the pockets of his voluminous pants, and he withdrew an etched orb, “I am not sure if you still need this in your meditations, but I would like you to have it.”

Satya took the orb from him and traced her fingers over the familiar etchings, “The Orb of Perception,” she said quietly.

Just holding it seemed to calm her, listening to it chime as she rolled it between her palms with the virtually unconscious practiced movements she had picked up in Suravasa, seemed to put her in contact with both her mind and her senses. She could smell the clean brininess of the sea and the industrial smells of the watchpoint, hear the screech of gulls, squint in the glare of the sun off the water, feel the metal of the platform beneath her feet, and the Rock of Gibraltar itself below that, feel the delicate etchings of the orb, the coolness of the metal on her palm, and in her awareness of those sensory experiences, there was awareness of her mind as well--awareness of her fear of the unknown, of the unsureness of her future, awareness of the strange, confused giddiness that seemed to occupy the spaces of her once filled by Vishkar’s doctrine, awareness of that light that Zenyatta had spoken of earlier, a new warmth in the pit of her chest that she was still trying to understand.

“We never stop learning new things about ourselves,” Zenyatta said, a near-chuckle in his voice as he watched her shift the orb around, “And I hope we will both continue learning together, my friend.”

Symmetra turned the orb over in her hands, smiling, first inwardly, then looking back at Zenyatta, warmth in her gold eyes, “That is my hope as well,” she said.

#overwatch #symmetra #satya vaswani #zenyatta #symmarah #me sobbing and pounding a fist on the ground: THEY!! ARE!!! FRIENDS!!!!

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notalittlebutalottie · 4 years ago

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Prompt: AH or Cannon- either works: Klaus commits a murder (victim and circumstances are your choice). Caroline runs a body dispose business. Sparks fly and attraction sets in....over a dead body.

Here is my drabble that I have forced myself to write because I have the biggest block on Earth these last few days. I can’t decide if I love it or hate it so... Enjoy 😊

♡ KLAROLINE DRABBLE #44: Body Disposal For One♡ (NSFW: blood, gore)

When her boyfriend, Damon, had forced her to watch Pulp Fiction in Senior year, she found herself identifying with the character of Winston Wolfe, the ‘man who fixes problems’, a little too much. She had often been the one to clean up after people’s messes whether it was Elena throwing up all over her parents’ carpet (underage drinking was a big no-no, of course) or Damon trashing whatever house he was partying at that weekend. Cleaning up after a murder sounded like a breeze. She had no idea her first disposal would be her own boyfriend, though.

But she was right. It was a breeze. And with a degree in Business, she knew how to put her skills to good use.

When she entered the large hall, baroque designs abundant, the sight of a head separated from its body greeted her. Blood was splattered across the floor, a crude mix of entrails and fluids unravelling from the torso. She sighed, her heels coming to a slow click, and asked, “Would it kill you to be a little less...messy?”

“Afraid not, sweetheart,” his accented voice drawled as he looked up from his place on the royal blue armchair. “That would ruin the fun.”

Klaus Mikaelson was a regular customer. A well-paying one, too. But he was as attractive as he was obnoxious. And as obnoxious as he was bloodthirsty. He had been impressed by her work after reluctantly following the suggestions of an associate to use her services. Despite obviously checking her out upon entry, he voiced his displeasure just as quickly. He was a ‘lone wolf’, but so was she. Nothing was more gratifying than the pleasantly surprised flash in his eyes as she billed him for her time, not a trace of his crime in sight.

“Well in that case, a little help would be appreciated,” she stated pointedly and threw a rag at his face, which he hadn’t failed to catch. His smirk elicited an eye roll, of which she had plenty to display in his presence. She pressed onwards to the body, dropping her two large duffle bags alongside it. She crouched down, raising an eyebrow as the dismembered head was placed in her memory. “Charles Gatineaux?” She glanced at him, questioning, “Keeping it in the family’s a little tacky, don’t you think?”

Klaus rose from the armchair, rolling up the sleeves of his thin, cotton henley. “In my experience, those who have been wronged seek revenge and it appears the heirs of my victims are prime candidates,” he noted absentmindedly.

“How thorough,” Caroline commented with a scoff. She stood up slowly and turned her head his way. He was feigning a scrub of the blood marks on the walls. “You’d think by now, you’d learn how to clean up after yourself.”

He pressed the cloth to his chest and frowned. “And risk losing the precious time we have together?” He took a step forward and gestured a bloody hand out. “This is our thing, is it not?”

“We don’t have a thing,” she replied sharply and turned back to view the body. “You have a murder thing, though.”

That was an understatement. This was his third call of the week. For someone so high up in the world of crime, he sure liked to get his hands dirty.

She felt him come up behind her, his body pressing into her back. The heat was enough to make her shiver with excitement. “Isn’t it thrilling?” Klaus whispered, the syllables dragging out as his lips brushed against her earlobe.

Caroline pressed her lips together momentarily. “You’re not lacking in creativity, that’s for sure,” she muttered and closed her eyes when his teeth grazed her skin.

“Impressed with my work, love?”

“I might make a suggestion or two.”

Klaus brought a hand to her waist, his fingers drumming gently over the rippling fabric of her shirt. “Care to share all of those suggestions with me over a drink?”

“I don’t mix business with pleasure,” she finally spat, slipping from his grasp to zip open her duffel bag of tools.

She could hear his damning breath of amusement. He stepped over the dismembered body and mused, “You didn’t seem to mind last Spring.”

Caroline shook her head, an incredulous grin spread across her face. Slipping her hands into a pair of gloves, she replied, “Well, you know Valentine’s can make a person do stupid things, fall into bed with the wrong people.”

“I don’t recall a bed,” he pointed out with an impish smile. He crouched down to admire his handiwork. “I do recall your delicious screams, however.”

No, it wasn’t on a bed. It was on a desk. And his victim was sitting slack-jawed in the office chair adjacent (literally, that thing was barely hanging on by a few tendons). It was a remarkable sight to take in followed by the sight of Klaus, drenched in crimson, which was most unforgiving. She could barely contain herself when his darkened eyes took upon her. It was the only time she had ever displayed her bloodlust in the company of others; Damon had seen it, of course, but hadn’t lived long enough to use it against her. It wasn’t long before Klaus’ bloodied hands were staining every inch of her bare chest as he rocked into her and she cried out his name.

Caroline looked across at him. She didn’t offer him a response. She held a firm stare. Anything else would provide him a wealth of ammo that she knew better than to give.

“Perhaps next Valentine’s?” he suggested, his notes lifting in the empty space.

“If you’re not caught by then.” Caroline hummed, retrieving a freshly sharpened saw from the bag. “Three Gatineaux family members in a week,” she threw him an uneasy smile, “kinda indicates a pattern.”

“I suppose I’ll just have to keep calling you to help with the clean up then.” He paused, presenting a toothy grin. “So shall I book us a table for Valentine’s or will we be opting for a round two of last year, love?”

Her eyelashes fluttered as she fought off a devilish smile. “I think I’d like to keep our options open.”

#klaroline #the vampire diaries #the originals #klaus and caroline #caroline forbes #klaus mikaelson #klaroline fanfiction #tvd #drabble

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alphawave-writes · 5 years ago

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Sigrold week 2019 Prompt 5) Stories and songs

Synopsis: Cabaret!AU. Siebren is a famous Dutch cabaret artist and Harold is the struggling novelist who comes to all his shows. Harold goes to get inspiration from Siebren, but perhaps the reverse might also be true.

Read it here or check it out on AO3. Support me by buying me a ko-fi. Commission slots are still open!

Harold doesn’t drink. He really doesn’t, but the cabaret seems to be the perfect fodder for his imagination. He probably stands out a fair bit from the usual crowd, working away on his computer, typing away at his story instead of paying attention to the performances. Or at least he’s trying to type away at his story, but so far, he’s been having a serious case of mental block. He has ideas, so many ideas, but he’s unable to articulate them into words on the screen.

It was his agent’s idea that he writes a romance novel. His last novel got incredible reviews for the way he romanticized space and the stars, and his agent convinced him that his true calling was in romance novels, not sci-fi. In the end, it’s not much of a difference from his regular writing style. Less worldbuilding and more character-building. That’s what his agent said at least. But he is staring at the few words he’s written for the last month now, inspiration just out of his grasp.

He didn’t choose to do a romance novel because his agent told him to, he did it because he wants to. His normal process is to write from the most climactic moment and build from there. He’s got the mental image perfectly in his head. The two main characters, after being separated for so long, find each other on a rainy night. They’re exhausted, their barriers finally coming down after years and years of denying themselves the truth, and now that they are here, they have to speak what’s on their mind.

“Your eyes are like the stars,” Harry whispers. “Shining, shimmering, glittering for me.”

It’s the first line Harold’s written for this story, and he’s still unsatisfied with it. It sounds cliché and utterly cheesy, but he can’t think of a better way to start the scene. Every day he looks at it and wonders how can he change it. Every day it remains untouched, only to annoy him the next day.

It’s easy to talk romance when it comes to stars and space because Harold loves them dearly, whereas he’s never felt true romance for another human being before. It’s easy to see the beauty in them, the tragedy and the ache and the warmth they bring. Everybody talks about the beauty of humans, but no one talks about the beauty of the unknown but Harold himself.

Well, there is only one person, and that man will be performing tonight. Siebren de Kuiper, world renowned Dutch cabaret artist, is probably in the building right now, getting ready for his performance. He has such a wonderful ability for portraying multiple characters in the same song, with a massive vocal and emotional range in his performances. He can act, he can dance, but by far he is at his best when he is singing his heart, just him alone with a microphone and a piano, crooning for the universe.

“Here for Siebren again?” Chao asks.

Harold turns to face the waitress and laughs politely. “No, no. Just here for the atmosphere and the inspiration. And of course, to see your face again.”

“You say all that, but we both know you don’t mean it.” She peers over his shoulder, glancing at the computer screen. She frowns. “This is the same as yesterday.”

“I know,” Harold sighs, adjusting his glasses. It’s another uncomfortable reminder of how many times he’s come here, but at least the owner has been so kind as of late to let him come in for free now. It’s not Horizon theater with Harold Winston, they said and meant with all their heart. He promised in turn a free copy of his new book, whenever it comes out.

If it comes out.

“Come on, you gotta try something different. Order a drink, dance a little, live a little.” Chao leans in conspiratorially. “I can hook you up with some one-on-one time with Siebren if you ask.”

The last one is tempting, he can’t but admit as his cheeks flush. It’s no secret that he admires Siebren, and not completely for his artistic ability. “T-thanks, but no thanks,” Siebren says nervously. “I’m a stranger, a-and I shouldn’t intrude on him.”

“Come on, don’t be shy. I tell you, he’s a real sweetheart once you get to meet him.”

“I think his songs make it apparent he’s not as tough as his exterior suggests,” Harold chuckles.

“Oh no, he’s tough, but he’s also a sweetheart. Just depends on if he likes you or not. And something tells me you’re in his good books,” Chao smirks.

“Really?” Harold says sardonically.

“Let’s just say you both have a lot more in common than you think.” With a wave she flits off back to the bar, ready for the onslaught of pre-show drink orders to come in. He tries to ponder on her strange words but makes the decision to ignore it. Siebren is a performer, destined for the spotlight, and Harold’s just a struggling novelist hiding in the shadows. It’s an idol crush, Harold tells himself. Nothing more will come from it. It’s just better to admire from afar like he’s always done.

When he hears the familiar roll of the metal wheels on the tiny wooden stage, he instinctively closes the lid of his computer and turns to the stage. The Master of Ceremonies is smiling brightly as always, a little bit chipper today than yesterday. Probably because Harold knows they have a date with a cute omnic woman later tonight. He hopes that relationship goes well.

“It’s your all-time favourite. The star of the show. The harnesser of the harness. The universe at his fingertips. Ladies and gentleman, you’ve been waiting very patiently so please put your hands and appendages together for Siebren de Kuiper!”

Siebren walks up behind the MC and does a short bow. He’s wearing a standard suit with a swallowtail jacket, perfectly tailored to his body, not a crease to be seen on his clothes. His hair is short and greying, the dramatic lighting highlighting his sunken cheeks and creased forehead, but he is tall and he is large and he is larger-than life. He takes a seat on the piano, opens the lid with a loud creak, and with a flourish, removes the white gloves over his hands.

The crowd is silent, save for the odd clink of cutlery on plates. All eyes are on Siebren de Kuiper as he places his fingers on the keys. He plays a chord, clears his throat, then turns his attention to the crowd like they are just an after-thought. His expression is serious but not harsh. Harold knows over time his face will become kinder and softer as his performance goes on, which is why he’s surprised when Siebren smiles all of a sudden. Is it just his imagination, or is Siebren looking at him?

Siebren taps on the microphone, the static filling the room before quieting. The crowd is quiet. His lips curl up into a smile.

“Ladies and gentleman, thank you for coming. Tonight, I have a special song, fresh off the presses.”

Murmurs rise in the audience. Near the bar, Harold can see the owner and the bartenders talking in furtive whispers, gesticulating wildly. This isn’t planned, he realizes.

“I must profess, I have been single for a long while now, but I’ve filled that void with you, my darling audience.” Someone wolf-whistles, eliciting a sheepish laugh from Siebren’s lips. “Thank you for the enthusiasm. At least one of us is excited for tonight.” Quiet chuckles erupts from the crowd. “No, I am still single, but there is one among you who has been my inspiration of late. I have not spoken to you, but I have seen you, and I have heard you, and your words have inspired this song that I shall sing to you all tonight.”

Siebren clears his throat again, resting his fingers on the keys for a moment before playing. It’s a smooth, jazzy backing tune, embellished with tiny artistic flourishes to show off his ability. As he lands on a chord, his voice is deep,

Your eyes are like the stars

Shining, shimmering, glittering, for me

And although you may be so far

I’ve come along to see you

It takes all of Harold’s willpower to not jump from his seat. That’s the dialogue he’s writing for his novel. It can’t be that the one to inspire Siebren is…it can’t be him…it just can’t be. There’s no way.

Take hold of my hand

Sweaty, sticky, clammy, from you

I am sure that you understand

I just can’t stand to be away.

Siebren keeps glancing at the crowd but Harold knows that he’s actually glancing directly to him. How can it be that just from Siebren’s eyes, he hears so many unspoken words. It’s such a pleading look, as if to say “look at what I have made. This is for you. I did this for you”. It’s so touching and beautiful. But…why? Why would Siebren go to such effort for a stranger?

Oh, I know we’ve only met,

But I won’t leave this place content

Until my universe is made of me and you.

When Siebren finishes his song, the crowd stands and claps. Only Harold remains sitting, tears staining his eyes, throat tightening painfully. Siebren stands from the piano and bows, his eyes never leaving Harold’s. He gives a sympathetic smile and then a mouthed “find me after the show” and then he continues on his performance.

For once, Harold can’t concentrate on Siebren’s performance. When it’s over, he rushes to the backstage area and searches for Siebren’s room. When he finally finds it, he knocks three times. His nerves are rattled, his hands are shaking, but adrenaline is pumping through his body. He needs answers. He needs clarification. He needs to know. Why, why, why?

Siebren opens the door. Soon as he sees Harold, his expression softens immediately into a shy smile. “You must be Harold Winston.”

“A-and you’re Siebren de Kuiper. Not…that I didn’t know that before. I did. I’ve seen a lot of your performances.” Harold stops to take a breath to centre himself. Siebren is tall from the stage, but it’s somehow more terrifying up close. “S-sorry. I, uh…I’m here about the…song?”

“I-I realised that it’s technically plagiarism. I mean, I did write the melody, but the words are all yours. But they’re beautiful words and I’ve been stuck on song ideas for so long and when I read them they just suddenly flowed into me and…” Siebren blushes. “I’m rambling again, aren’t I?”

“I think we both are,” Harold chuckles nervously. He glances down at Siebren’s feet and stays silent for several seconds.

Harold can feel Siebren’s gaze on his body and his cheeks get red. Chao wasn’t wrong, Siebren is a sweetheart, but even so, there’s something about the air that tells him that Siebren doesn’t normally behave this way. Harold’s certainly never this clumsy with his words before. Is that what it’s like to meet your idol crush? This overwhelming, intense heat in his chest? What is Siebren feeling right now?

Harold gulps. “It’s a…good song,”

“You liked it?” Siebren asks.

He nods. “Truth be told, I didn’t like it when I first wrote it. But hearing it in your song makes it sound…I don’t know, better? More suitable?”

“I did tweak it a bit, I’ll admit, but I’m sure you’ve noticed that.”

“I did. It’s good.”

“I’m glad,” Siebren says softly.

There’s something so intense about the ocean blue of Siebren’s eyes. Harold doesn’t notice them from the stage, but they’re so big and so welcoming, like he can just dive in to the crystal waters and swim for all eternity.

“I…actually am glad you are here, because I want to proposition you.” Harold’s eyes widen. “P-propose an idea. Not proposition. English isn’t my strong…” he grunts. “L-look, in the coming months, I am preparing to go on a tour across the country, and I need material. What little I have seen from you has already been enough to inspire me to create one song, so I can’t begin to imagine how much more will come from me if we worked together.”

Harold lets out a breath he doesn’t know he’s been holding. For one brief moment he thinks he won’t mind if Siebren actually propositions him, but he will not voice that out loud. Not in a million years. “Y-you’re saying you…want me to work for you?”

“As a songwriter, yes. O-or a regular writer for my performances.” Siebren smiles bashfully. “I’ve…I’ve read your Universe sings series religiously. If you can replicate even just 1% of that, I know you will be a perfect fit for my work.”

“I…I’m not musical though. I mean…” Harold adjusts his glasses nervously. “Are you sure?”

“I am sure,” Siebren says. “But I understand if you refuse. I do not want to pressure you. I understand this will be quite different to what you’re used to.”

It sounds too good to be true. A chance to work alongside his idol, making some money, creating songs and performances that will be performed to hundreds and thousands. The two of them will be together, meeting each other every day, discussing ideas, laughing over jokes, touching each other’s hands, sliding their fingers down their chests.

Harold turns his head away, blushing at his thoughts. Siebren frowns. “Is that a…no?”

Heat creeps up his cheeks and flood his veins. His breathing goes erratic. His eyes are taking in that strong chin and large frame and beautiful lips. This is love, Harold realizes. Is this what his characters feel like?

Harold takes a shuddery breath as he offers his hand. “I’ll…I accept.”

Siebren grins as he excitedly shakes Harold’s hand back. There’s electricity to his touch, zapping him in all the most pleasurable spots in his body. He feels like his knees are going to give out any second. “This is great. This is perfect, I…this is a pleasure, Mr. Winston.”

“Harold,” he clarifies. “Just…call me Harold.”

“Only if you call me Siebren.”

It’s all for the sake of his novel, Harold tells himself over and over that night as he types furiously into his computer. He’s not doing it to feel that pleasurable feeling again. He’s not doing it so he can be close to Siebren. They’re just feeding off each other, giving each other inspiration.

This is not love, Harold fools himself over and over again, knowing deep in his heart that this is very much love.

#Overwatch #Sigrold #Sigroldweek #Sigroldweek2019 #Sigma #Siebren de Kuiper #Harold Winston #This is basically Moulin Rouge the film but less sexy #I've got so many AUs for these two it's not funny #Siebren: *sings a song that he plagiarised from Harold*#Harold: I can't NOT fuck him

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pallatonreviews · 6 years ago

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review of “Us” by Jordan Peele

As many of you are probably aware, Jordan Peele is producing a reboot of Rod Sterling’s immortal “Twilight Zone” and after watching Us I can understand exactly why. Jordan Peele’s second endeavour into the horror genre is as entertaining and thrilling as his first. From the references to 80s pulp horror to the genuinely creepy atmosphere that Peele creates, “Us” helps to bring something that the horror genre has been missing. Originality. “Us” dives into mankind’s fears in more ways than one and doesn’t settle for cheap jumpscares and gore, in fact, there is next to no gore in the film and it still remains as one of the most deeply unsettling films I have had the pleasure of watching.

Jordan Peele as a director continues to create grounded yet terrifying realms of horror that he can play with. Peele is unique in his horror telling in that, he uses real life bases that people would rather not think about. Us follows this by using the fear of the parts of ourselves that we would rather not think about. The “Tethered” as they are referred serve this purpose with murderous glee. Now, the idea of doppelgangers is not a new one, stories serving to show the darkest parts of ourselves are as old as time but the Tethered as unique in that they don’t just show the darkest part of the Wilson family, the movie’s protagonists, they show the darkest parts of society. Jordan Peele has gotten famous by using horror as societal commentary and “Us” is no different. The Tethered live in abandoned subways and have to scrounge to find their next meals while the Wilsons that live about them are well taken care of and are never shown to have a care in the world. The Tethered serve as Peele’s commentary on our treatment of the poor and homeless, and that did not go unnoticed. There is an art in subtle storytelling and then there is also an art in bashing the audience over the head with the truth of the matter. In Get Out Peele used the latter while in Us he uses the former and somehow has such a mastery over both that it is both frightening and something to be admired. I was excited to see Us even though I knew very little about it because I saw that it was Jordan Peele production and I continue to look forward to what he has yet to do.

While Jordan Peele is a fantastic director, a movie is nothing without its actors, and luckily Us does not disappoint in that field either. The central character, Adelaide, is played by award winning actress Lupita Nyong’o. Nyong’o also plays Red, the central antagonist, and does so with such a sense of dread and malice that it was hard to believe that Adelaide and her are the same actress. As Adelaide she is warm and caring, but also a fierce mother to her children and will not let the tethered hurt them. As Red however, she is on par with Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in how cold and vicious she can be. Red is genuinely one of the most frightening villains that I have seen in a horror film and she does this not by being ugly, not by being physically imposing, but by her command of the situation; which Nyong’o not only uses but masters. There is so much talent in that ability to switch between the polar opposite like that and Nyong’o does so with such ease. Playing alongside Nyong’o is Winston Duke, who plays against type as Adelaide’s husband Gabe, and falls closer in line to what most fans of him would recognize as Gabe’s tethered Abraham. Gabe Wilson is the comic relief of the film and Duke is hilarious in the role, he is the bumbling suburban dad role in the first portion of the film but what I adored was that, as soon as his family is actually threatened, he takes up the role of the protector. Duke does this change almost instantly and it helps to create a natural flow to the character that is rare in horror films, which normally have the protagonists be very flat characters.

One character that I feel deserves recognition however is Jason, the young son of the Wilson family. Jason, played by actor Evan Alex, is coded as mentally challenged by not done so in a cliched way. He talks, he interacts with the family and overall he’s a regular kid. However, he doesn’t look at people in the eyes, he is intensely focused on his magic trick ring he has, and he doesn’t have any form of a censor. Alex plays this role almost naturally, he is believable and really captures the idea of an innocent kid. On the flip side, his tethered Pluto is downright feral. Alex plays Pluto like a rabid dog and it is horrifying, and much like Nyong’o, Alex’s ability to play such drastically different characters in the same film is commendable.

On a technical standpoint Us delivers a blast from the past, using classic 80s horror lighting to create a familiar yet still eerie ambiance. The overcast of shadows in both the Wilson home and during the night scenes creates an unsettling feeling even if there is nothing going on, as if at any moment the tethered could appear. In the same vein, the day scenes are not much better and somehow worse. Peele plays with the idea of light equaling safety in horror films by using intense lighting during the day scenes so that is slightly disorienting. The day feels off, as if it is a dream (or a nightmare) and it captures the understanding that something isn’t right. From the word go, “Us” creates a world that is uneven and feels wrong, as if there isn’t enough space for both the humans and tethered.

Jordan Peele is a smart man, and he creates deep horror. I was immersed in Us and the tension that was allowed throughout the entire film created a dark understanding of what it means to be “The Tethered”. By the end of the film I felt myself starting to sympathize with these people, that they have been isolated from society and forgotten, getting scissors for Christmas because that’s all they had, having to eat raw rabbit for food. All of this builds to one of the most beautiful climatic fights I have seen in recent years. From the score that accompanies it to the symbolic shots of Adelaide dancing as a young girl, the climax had me holding my breath the entire time. I can not place a time that a fight had me that entrenched and that is the magic of Jordan Peele. He creates personal stories, even if the audience had never had to go through something similar. Peele creates worlds and explains every nuance of them and as such, allows his audience the respect to get immersed in them. I am forward to what he has planned next because Jordan Peele is not “the next Hitchcock”, he is not “next” anything, because he is the first, and only, Jordan Peele.

#us #jordan peele #the tethered #horror #horror film #film #film review #us film

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twitchesandstitches · 6 years ago

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Some Overwatch in Crossthicc thoughts:

Omnics are pretty much as in canon, robots created to be menial labor who resented their lot in life, rose up and caused a massive war with tons of collateral damage and body counts. Unlike canon, though, they are far older; Crossthicc’s Omnic Crisis took place eons ago, and was part of the cataclysm that wrecked the multiverse. Additionally it wasn’t just Omnics but robots of all kinds (basically all intelligent robots that are not naturlaly revolving mechanical lifeforms), generally referred in positive tones by historians and is seen as having been a historical inevitability. There are many Omnics in the Endowed Nomad Fleet, generally super curvy fembots, but they are numerous enough to be present in all factions.

Note that, due to the much broader scope of Crossthicc, there is no garuantee that canon characters have any relation to each other, or even know one another unless specifically stated or are related.

Reaper may be the main Ghost Rider of this setting, given his powers and habits. Otherwise he is pretty much the same as in canon. This version of him g oes with the idea that his actions are deep cover spy games; he is a genuine hero here, if something of a total troll, and is the unofficial leader of Task Force X. He may be extremely old, dating back to the times of pre-spaceflight Earth. This would make him over four thousand years old; at the very least, he doesn’t’ age. Is a team dad to the Task Force, and scouts out poential recruits. Looks absolutely horrifying beneath the mask, but is legit a good guy, and a buff beefcake at that.

Widowmaker/Amelie Lacroix was at one point an assassin in service to a minor organization in service to the Ringers, but was freed of her programming. She has since taken her services to the Task Force in hopes of redeeming herself. Hyper hourglass and super limber, with spider-themed mutations and gadgets. She may be from a line of designer clones engineered to be absolutely Perfect. Also possibly from a sci-fi version of Dragon Age’s Orlais, which may be used in-setting as a Space France of sorts.

Winston: Originally from a technocratic society of hyper-intelligent sapient apes, from gorillas like him, to orangutangs and chimpanzees, some of which are anthro monster people, and others are not. A member of the Endowed Nomad Fleet, humbly considering himself a regular engineer but is one of their most respected and admired super-scientists, with many cybernetic intelligence enchancements, and an ace pilot of mechas and powered armor. In a close relationship with Athena/EDI (see below). He has some unspecified conflicts with a famous criminal warlord of his home society, Grodd (of DC comics) and they have polar opposite views on non-apes.

Pharah/Fareeha Amari: A super-soldier kitted out with high grade cybernetics and enhancement mods, she operates an ace custom suit of powered armor called the Raptora, capable of flight and massive bombardment, and can slot into a larger mecha for REALLY big fights. (It is patterned after her Thunderbird skin, aesthetically, and this version of her leans a bit more towards her First Nations ancestry.) A member of the Endowed Fleet, and she is also Endowed herself; a hyper curvy amazon, with obvious cybernetics and giant size. Also has explosion-based superpowers and falcon-themed mods, including feathery hair, talon fingers, and even genuine hawk wings.

Ana Amari: Mother to Fareeha, and a Fullmetal Alchemist-styled alchemist, mixing up and experimenting with mods and power-up potions. Despite her age, she is far younger than she looks, appearing even younger than her daughter. She’s got more hips than Fareeha’s curve balance does. Can use her alchemy skill offensively, and acts as a combat medic otherwise, and works as a doctor aboard the fleet. Is also Endowed herself.

Symmetra/Satva Vaswani: Member of the Endowed Fleet, and she is also Endowed herself; hyper hourglass, with an extremely small waist and absolutely massive hips/bust ratio. Not really bio-modded, but makes heavy use of cybernetics to make herself impossibly limber, agile and ludicrously fast. A physicist and gadgeteer in excellent standing on the fleet! Specializes in a variety of ‘hard pixel’ the fleet uses as a somewhat plausible take on hard light, and uses powers to weaponize it somewhat. Fairly close with Jade Harley, in a friendly rival way, as their technological discoveries are similar. (they have probably fused.)

Other characters below!

Zarya: Independant, originally part of a group dedicated to fighting kaiju and from the same broad group that includes the likes of the Neon Genesis Evangelion characters, and the as-yet-undetermined cast from Pacific Rim. She fought on the ground, using potent biological enhancements, though she has a lot of conflict over this, developing something of a fear of misuse of power. She’s otherwise a super soldier, and her dislike of robots stems from conflict with the Decepticons... which would give anyone a phobia of robotic life. The Dinobots love annoying her whenever they cross paths. Since her original group dissolved, she’s gathered a group of like-minded ‘protect the helpless from evil’ military-types and formed an informal mercenary band that takes helpful jobs. Mega-amazon body type, like canon but bigger, bustier, and with more obvious enhancements.

Zenyatta: An omnic who was born quite recently, his fabrication line going all the way back to the catacylsm. He is a Doctor Strange-style sorcerer, using potent magic harnessed from the realms and his enlightened understanding of the cosmos, as well as soul energy. Initially he was a monk studying within a vast and great library (possibly one belonging to a mighty knowledge spirit named Wan Shi Tong, possible one more mundane in nature), but when the Endowed Fleet came there seeking information, he joined them with a thirst to see the multiverse in person. He’s also a healing wizard, and helps restore damaged people and parts.

Angela Ziegler/Mercy: An incredibly ancient human, possibly around Reaper’s age, but she is something of a sci fi lich, though a very pretty one; preserved through unusual procedures to survive through the ages, radiating the healing energies she employs to restore others. Being technically undead has no effect on her ethics (as this setting doesn’t do that kinda thing), and she serves as an advisor to a large and multi-species federation going throughout the multiverse and trying to establish order. Hyper thicc MILF body type, with biomechanical angelic wings. She may also have an angel of some kind merged with her, until an unspecified task is done.

Bastion: Not the only one of their kind! The Bastions were a weapon originally created during the cataclysm in order to combat some terrifying menace, but resented being made to be unthinking weapons and rose up to claim their freedom. While few survived the conflict, the standard template to create them survived and has seen use in anti-Transformer conflicts. our bastion is an ancient and power one one, dating back to that ancient conflict in the cataclysm, but whatever happened was so intensely traumatic they cannot consciously remember it, and being forced to remember sends sthem into a terrified panic. Is mecha-sized here, and might be able to shift into a more fembot-style form for the heck of it? A member of the Endowed Nomad Fleet, usually happily wandering around the agriculture ships and taking care of the beasts and pets at the zoo facilities.

Athena/EDI: A composite character of Athena from Overwatch proper, and EDI from Mass Effect. A powerful AI so intelligent and mighty that she is actually a member of the God Squad, and may even be a goddess, or hit some kind of singularity that she is on that level. While she exists as one of the fleet’s ships, its systems are not powerful enough to truly embody her, and so she is not entirely online. She also exists as a wide variety of extremely curvaceous fembot bodies modeled after the same ones used by the likes of Aradia and others who download themselves into super curvy robot platforms. These are not quite powerful enough to express even a fraction of her power, but she is improving them all the time. In a close, romantic relationship with Winston (mirroring both her canon friendship, and EDI’s romance with the pilot Joker/Jeff Moreau). She is Endowed, and rumor suggests that she can transform her ship body into a massive ultra-thicc MILFy body, and gets larger the more powerful the ship is. In theory, her true humanoid forms could be larger than planets.

As Athena is probably a goddess, she does have a wide range of divine powers, usually themed around wisdom, guardianship, and strategy. Whether she is actually the Athena (since I’m still not too sure about using real life mythologies all over the place) is a matter of some debate. It might just be a name... or not.

#/#//#///#////#/////#queued #crossthicc AU #overwatch #got plenty more characters to discuss from this series and how they relate to the AU!#but they'll wait for another time #got anyone you specifically want info about?#just ask me

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shipcestuous · 6 years ago

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Incredibles 2

It was really exciting to see so many messages about Incredibles 2 in my inbox! I'm sorry that some of them had to sit for a while but I saw the movie a few days ago so the good news is that I’m ready to talk!

(This is NOT SPOILER FREE.)

Anon #1:

Hey, so I sent a message a while back about how, based on their character descriptions, the two new siblings (Winston and Evelyn) seem like they might be shippable. I just saw the movie and WOW, WERE THEY SHIPPABLE! The first scene especially could easily take place between love interests, and they spend a lot of time invading each other's personal space and alone in small rooms together ;) I don't want to say more because spoilers but they were VERY good.

Anon #2:

Saw Inc2 and honestly Dash and Vi being like mini-parents to Jack Jack is my jam. My entire aesthetic. Theyre so great

Anon #3:

I just saw the Incredibles 2 w my family and, without going into too many spoilers, I really enjoyed it.

First of all, I’ve got to talk about the new characters, sibling team Winston and Evelyn who play a huge role in Helen getting back into heroing again. In a lot of ways their personalities conflict, but in the end, it’s obvious from both ends that there’s a lot of love there.

Now, Dash and Violet! Of course we already loved them from the first movie but we got plenty more sibling moments in this one too. They bicker as most siblings that age do, but they make a great team and come together when it counts.

There’s also a couple moments when the Parr family is around Violet’s crush and Dash is obviously doing his best to embarrass her in front of him and taking a lot of glee in it. (I like to imagine he keeps doing that w any of her future would-be datemates, going out of his way to sabotage her love life and only realizing WAY belatedly that there might be an ulterior motive behind his actions.)

Also—in hindsight it’s already apparent in the first movie too, but this movie really cemented the idea in my mind that they’re like younger versions of their parents. Violet and her mom are similar in some ways, and even more so with Dash and his dad. In a lot of ways, Violet and Dash’s dynamic echoes Helen and Bob’s, and that of course makes it seem shippy to me even if it’s unintentionally so.

Anon #4:

Just watched the incredibles 2 and I think the villain and her brother are super shippable. I thought she was his wife at first and then when I got to know she was her sister and an artist meanwhile he was a business man, I mean, wow they are the other's half so perfectly.

Anon #5:

There's a scene in The Incredibles 2 where they go to a diner, and Violet spills water out of her nose upon seeing her crush work there, and Bob says, "I'm sorry, she usually doesn't drip like this." Apparently - according to some viewers' reactions - this line was meant to be innuendo.

Bob and Violet:

Lmao. I never would have interpreted that line that way and maybe I’m too innocent but I sincerely doubt it was intended that way. BUT that’s hilarious and I love it. I love the dirty minds of animated fandoms.

Dash and Violet:

These two were great once again. I got giggly over all the times they were put in charge of Jack-Jack and had to work together like parents, trading him off and then teaming up to figure out how to handle him. I really love in both films that they ended up on their own and had to use their powers and minds together in order to win the day. I also 100% agree that they in so many ways mini versions of their parents - personality wise, looks wise, dynamic wise. The parallel game is strong.

I also noticed that Dash - probably just in typical comedy little brother fashion - didn’t seem particularly interested in making sure Violet got her crush and was more likely to actively sabotage the effort than help.

I also think it’s a little suggestive that when Violet finally got her date at the end, her entire family was there in the car, and then Violet ran off with them and abandoned her date. I’m sure it’s the beginning of a pattern in which crimefighting and being a super - a secret and a responsibility shared with a very limited number of people and most importantly and especially her family - always come first.

Winston and Evelyn:

Even though we had talked about these new characters being siblings some time back, I was not expecting them to be so shippable! We saw how they are the perfect team - Evelyn is the creator/inventor, Winston is the seller/business end. They complement each other perfectly and have obviously made a great success of everything they have attempted together. It seems like they spend most of their time together and despite being middle-aged, neither one of them appears to have married. I totally agree that they were in close physical proximity a lot of the time - definitely noticeable to someone who was looking for it (like I was, ha).

Plus Helen and Evelyn had that long conversation in which Evelyn’s relationship with her brother was quite explicitly paralleled with Helen’s relationship with her husband.

The ending really showed how much they loved each other, and they overcame a lot of the unfortunate tropes involving villain sibling(s). Evelyn thought Winston was a “child” for thinking that bringing supers back was a good idea and she obviously had at least a little contempt for Winston’s side of the business, even if she had to respect and admire how good he was at it. But aside from crushing his dream of bringing supers back, her beef was not with him and she didn’t want him to get hurt. And then Winston was grateful when he learned that Helen had managed to stop Evelyn without killing her. He still loves her very much.

Good stuff. I really want to watch the Evelyn/Winston scenes again.

#older siblings who coparent #tw: incest #r: brosis #nc #evelyn and winston #dash and violet #r: fd #bob and violet #the incredibles #incredibles 2 #asks #anonymous #nr #first post #commentary #noiv

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thebeehiveproject · 3 years ago

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Overwatch Tier List - The Most Popular Heroes To Use In 2021

Overwatch remains among the most popular games for competitive play that is available even after five years of being on the market. While the eyes of many are currently focused on the creation of Overwatch 2, it's become obvious that we won't playing the game this year.

Meanwhile players have to make do with what the current game provides. Thankfully Overwatch is in great state right now. Although Overwatch hasn't had a new hero in the past 12 months since Echo was released, the constant balance adjustments have kept it looking fresh. It also features one of the most exciting and interesting metas it's ever had with plenty of devastating heroes to choose from.

But which are doing well? If you're looking to get into Overwatch competitive and make some SR, who should you play? There's plenty to learn , and plenty of information for new players. Luckily, we've got all the information you need and you'll be flying up the ranks within a matter of minutes. This is our Overwatch Tier list, in complete. Below is the list of The Most Played Overwatch Heroes

The Most Played Overwatch Heroes

Tier 1

Wrecking Ball

The Wrecking Ball has been very strong over the past few months. The main tanks are struggling a little currently and despite the changes to the online game, it appears that the Overwatch community has really started to realize how to dominate with the hamster. He is the hero of the current meta.

It's clear why Hammond is the Grandmaster rank's top-rated. Hammond is the most admired commander in tanks' work of creating space. In his capacity to disrupt and displace the enemy's frontline as well as the back line, Hammond is the undisputed leader. Even with a recent cut to his boop power, the booper continues to wreck havoc on teams trying to establish their positions.

He is not a character which can be enhanced by time. He is a fan of maps and specific rolling outs. It can be challenging to distinguish between feeding your brains and breaking down the members of a team. If you can learn to work around him, there are few individuals as powerful as him.

Zarya

Zarya is currently the most played overwatch heroes. Zarya is the current off-tank of choice in top-level play. Her synergy with Wrecking Ball is very strong. She can make Winston/Zarya bubble as he enters and get some free cash, while protecting the advance from crowd control.

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TRACER

Overwatch is often in a good position when Tracer is a strong meta. Overwatch is currently in a great spot, as you can observe. The cooldowns of Tracer are so frequent that in a game with many abilities, it is a great deal to be a nuisance. She is able to turn deadly quickly if she is unable to make use of an ability or makes an error in her position.

MCCREE

McCree is the perfect partner for Tracer on DPS. When the mobile damage is combined with Wrecking Ball that constantly tries to disrupt the team, McCree is the perfect option to be applying pressure and punishing players that find themselves displaced.

ZENYATTA

Zenyatta is powerful for a variety of reasons. Due to his strength and influence of those surrounding Zenyatta's Discord Orb is always oppressive. Zen is able to easily trigger shots when he places a discord on the target. This acts as an open invitation for the mobile heroes to dive and decimate a key adversary.

MERCY

Mercy is the most popular partner to Zenyatta right now however the primary supporting role is distributed more evenly between the characters.

Mercy is the clear current winner, and this is due to two reasons. While she might not have the same healing capabilities like other supporters, she is consistent and difficult to pinpoint. Compared to most other supports she is more resistant and resistant to being sunk. Her ability to fly away from an attack makes her a difficult to pin down for a Wrecking ball or Tracer to nail down.

TIER 2

REINHARDT

Reinhardt has witnessed a surge in pick rates lately. Although Reinhardt's slower play might seem counterintuitive to the speed of Wrecking Ball, he is not. Wrecking ball set up, he is also capable of providing good counterplay. Wrecking ball recently received a 25% decrease in its knockback. Because of Reinhardt's passive Steadfast ability, he already gets a 30% decrease to the effect. That means that the hamster is going to be having a difficult time moving the hamster around.

While a coordinated dive team will likely be a bit stronger, it's easy to get value with Reinhardt at the moment, particularly in the case of players who are more with a lot of energy. While it's too early in his rise to get him all the way to the top, within just a few months, Reinhardt might dismantle Ball's hold on the meta.

SIGMA

Tier 2 is generally not the best place to play Sigma. Due to his extensive kit, the tank has been so popular that he is not a popular choice in the majority of compositions. This is despite several massive changes aimed at reducing the huge amount of power he has.

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themovieblogonline · 8 months ago

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Damsel Review: A Grim Fairy Tale Beautifully Unraveled

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poorquentyn · 7 years ago

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I'm re reading IT right now (slowly, as adult life is getting in the way) and was wondering what other bad storytelling choices you thought king made besides the. Uh. Sewer scene? Its been years since ive read it and nothing else really stood out to me as poor storytelling that i can remember. I'll read it for myself eventually but was curious of your thoughts. Love your blog!

Thanks! Stephen King often veers into caricature with his supporting characters, and It is no exception. The way he describes Eddie’s mom and wife physically goes well beyond the narratively useful purpose of establishing how their weight disorders have intertwined with Eddie’s hypochondria and into “ugh fat people are gross” territory. I don’t think King has conscious malignance in this area, because he finds a proper balance with Ben: the latter describes in realistic detail how he lost weight over time, his mom is upset that he’s eating less but is presented humanely (as someone who associates her son eating a lot with her doing well as a single mother), and King manages to avoid shaming Ben for his weight while also acknowledging that Ben personally feels a lot better about himself after having shed it–or rather, because of the confidence he gained in himself by taking charge of the situation. The idea here is not “Ben needs to lose weight because gross” but rather “Ben needs to be in control of his body.”

The good doesn’t wipe out the bad, nor vice versa; gotta consider them both in context. Main characters are naturally going to get more nuance than supporting characters, but necessary shorthand can easily turn into harmful caricature. And of course, a storytelling choice that seems solid in isolation can become a problem within the work as a whole. Beverly is sexualized throughout It in a way that’s often very unpleasant to read, associated throughout with violence and misogyny. Sometimes this works, as a way of peeling back the layers of petty ego driving a man’s man like her husband Tom; he explodes at her in their introductory scene because her paying attention to Mike’s call instead of him makes him feel like he’s literally not there. Other times it doesn’t, like when King lingers on the “smell” that Bev and her father “make together” now that she’s reaching puberty. We don’t need that to get the point that Bev’s father has inappropriate feelings for her–we got that from Bev’s mom asking if he ever touches her. When you put both sides of the coin together with the infamous sex scene in the sewers and the amount of time spent on whether Bev will choose Ben or Bill, it starts to look less like King was taking a stand against objectification by showing its omnipresence than that he simply didn’t know what to do with Bev as a character without constantly making reference to sex, rape, assault, and molestation. While she does get some right to response on these matters, I don’t think it’s nearly enough. It pushes back against a mindset that casually treats women like objects, but fails to establish a counter-narrative rooted in the female characters as individuals, fleshed out beyond their relationships to the men around them. It’s less a question of Does Stephen King Hate Women than one of imagination and empathy.

Of course, some flaws are lessened by context, rather than enhanced by it. Take, for example, our protagonist William Denbrough, a blatant author insert. Bill is a popular horror author (check) whose books are increasingly being adapted for TV and film (check) and who has a rather tense relationship with critics and academics (double check). The latter is spelled out in an extended flashback to Bill’s college days, in which he takes a stand that ought to be very familiar to anyone steeped in modern media discourse:

Here is a poor boy from the state of Maine who goes to the University on a scholarship. All his life he has wanted to be a writer, but when he enrolls in the writing courses he finds himself lost without a compass in a strange and frightening land. There’s one guy who wants to be Updike. There’s another one who wants to be a New England version of Faulkner-only he wants to write novels about the grim lives of the poor in blank verse. There’s a girl who admires Joyce Carol Gates but feels that because Oates was nurtured in a sexist society she is “radioactive in a literary sense.” Oates is unable to be clean, this girl says. She will be cleaner. There’s the short fat grad student who can’t or won’t speak above a mutter. This guy has written a play in which there are nine characters. Each of them says only a single word. Little by little the playgoers realize that when you put the single words together you come out with “War is the tool of the sexist death merchants.” This fellow’s play receives an A from the man who teaches Eh-141 (Creative Writing Honors Seminar). This instructor has published four books of poetry and his master’s thesis, all with the University Press. He smokes pot and wears a peace medallion. The fat mutterer’s play is produced by a guerrilla theater group during the strike to end the war which shuts down the campus in May of 1970. The instructor plays one of the characters.

Bill Denbrough, meanwhile, has written one locked-room mystery tale, three science-fiction stories, and several horror tales which owe a great deal to Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, and Richard Matheson-in later years he will say those stories resembled a mid-1800s funeral hack equipped with a supercharger and painted Day-Glo red.

One of the sf tales earns him a B.

“This is better,” the instructor writes on the title page. “In the alien counterstrike we see the vicious circle in which violence begets violence; I particularly liked the “needle-nosed” spacecraft as a symbol of socio-sexual incursion. While this remains a slightly confused undertone throughout, it is interesting.”

All the others do no better than a C.

Finally he stands up in class one day, after the discussion of a sallow young woman’s vignette about a cow’s examination of a discarded engine block in a deserted field (this may or may not be after a nuclear war) has gone on for seventy minutes or so. The sallow girl, who smokes one Winston after another and picks occasionally at the pimples which nestle in the hollows of her temples, insists that the vignette is a socio-political statement in the manner of the early Orwell. Most of the class-and the instructor-agree, but still the discussion drones on.

When Bill stands up, the class looks at him. He is tail, and has a certain presence.

Speaking carefully, not stuttering (he has not stuttered in better than five years), he says: “I don’t understand this at all. I don’t understand any of this. Why does a story have to be socio-anything? Politics… culture… history… aren’t those natural ingredients in any story, if it’s told well? I mean… ” He looks around, sees hostile eyes, and realizes dimly that they see this as some sort of attack. Maybe it even is. They are thinking, he realizes, that maybe there is a sexist death merchant in their midst. “I mean… can’t you guys just let a story be a story?”

No one replies. Silence spins out. He stands there looking from one cool set of eyes to the next. The sallow girl chuffs out smoke and snubs her cigarette in an ashtray she has brought along in her backpack.

Finally the instructor says softly, as if to a child having an inexplicable tantrum, “do you believe William Faulkner was ‘just telling stories’? Do you believe Shakespeare was just interested in making a buck? Come now, Bill. Tell us what you think.”

“I think that’s pretty close to the truth,” Bill says after a long moment in which he honestly considers the question, and in their eyes he reads a kind of damnation.

“I suggest,” the instructor says, toying with his pen and smiling at Bill with half-lidded eyes, “that you have a great deal to learn.”

The applause starts somewhere in the back of the room.

Bill leaves… but returns the next week, determined to stick with it. In the time between he has written a story called “The Dark,” a tale about a small boy who discovers a monster in the cellar of his house. The little boy faces it, battles it, finally kills it. He feels a land of holy exaltation as he goes about the business of writing this story; he even feels that he is not so much telling the story as he is allowing the story to flow through him. At one point he puts his pen down and takes his hot and aching hand out into ten-degree December cold where it nearly smokes from the temperature change. He walks around, green cut-off boots squeaking in the snow like tiny shutter-hinges which need oil, and his head seems to bulge with the story; it is a little scary, the way it needs to get out. He feels that if it cannot escape by way of his racing hand that it will pop his eyes out in its urgency to escape and be concrete. “Going to knock the shit out of it,” he confides to the blowing winter dark, and laughs a little-a shaky laugh. He is aware that he has finally discovered how to do just that-after ten years of trying he has suddenly found the starter button on the vast dead bulldozer taking up so much space inside his head. It has started up. It is revving, revving. It is nothing pretty, this big machine. It was not made for taking pretty girls to proms. It is not a status symbol. It means business. It can knock things down. If he isn’t careful, it will knock him down.

He rushes inside and finishes “The Dark” at white heat, writing until four o'clock in the morning and finally falling asleep over his ring-binder. If someone had suggested to him that he was really writing about his brother, George, he would have been surprised. He has not thought about George in years-or so he honestly believes.

The story comes back from the instructor with an F slashed into the tide page. Two words are scrawled beneath, in capital letters. PULP, screams one. CRAP, screams the other.

Bill takes the fifteen-page sheaf of manuscript over to the wood-stove and opens the door. He is within a bare inch of tossing it in when the absurdity of what he is doing strikes him. He sits down in his rocking chair, looks at a Grateful Dead poster, and starts to laugh. Pulp? Fine! Let it be pulp! The woods were full of it!

“Let them fucking trees fall!” Bill exclaims, and laughs until tears spurt from his eyes and roll down his face.

He retypes the title page, the one with the instructor’s judgment on it, and sends it off to a men’s magazine named White Tie (although from what Bill can see, it really should be titled Naked Girls Who Look Like Drug Users). Yet his battered Writer’s Market says they buy horror stories, and the two issues he has bought down at the local mom-and-pop store have indeed contained four horror stories sandwiched between the naked girls and the ads for dirty movies and potency pills. One of them, by a man named Dennis Etchison, is actually quite good.

He sends “The Dark” off with no real hopes-he has submitted a good many stories to magazines before with nothing to show for it but rejection slips-and is flabbergasted and delighted when the fiction editor of White Tie buys it for two hundred dollars, payment on publication. The assistant editor adds a short note which calls it “the best damned horror story since Ray Bradbury’s "The Jar.” He adds, “Too bad only about seventy people coast to coast will read it,” but Bill Denbrough does not care. Two hundred dollars!

He goes to his advisor with a drop card for Eh-141. His advisor initials it. Bill Denbrough staples the drop card to the assistant fiction editor’s congratulatory note and tacks both to the bulletin board on the creative-writing instructor’s door. In the corner of the bulletin board he sees an anti-war cartoon. And suddenly, as if moving of its own accord, his fingers pluck his pen from his breast pocket and across the cartoon he writes this: If fiction and politics ever really do become interchangeable, I’m going to kill myself, because I won’t know what else to do. You see, politics always change. Stories never do. He pauses, and then, feeling a bit small (but unable to help himself), he adds: I suggest you have a lot to learn.

You can easily imagine this argument–a timeless appeal is being ruined by lefty college kids and their postmodern analyses–being made today by an alt-right YouTuber out to cleanse the game industry of SJWs. Throughout It, King keeps cutting back to an image of a librarian reading “The Billy Goats Gruff” to a group of kids, the latter enthralled (King tells us) by the primal purity of the kind of monster stories upon which both King and Denbrough have built their careers. “Will the monster be bested…or will It feed?” That’s King declaring that Bill’s his professors were wrong to wave aside his short horror stories. See? See?! I made it, and you pretentious eggheads were wrong to ever doubt me! This aspect of It is frankly embarrassing, especially as time marches on and we see how this mindset has taken root in the next generation.

But! While King very clearly believes this stuff, he’s also self-aware enough to include auto-critiques in his writing. Stan’s wife Patty picks up one of Bill’s novels and dismisses it as practically pornographic in its horror imagery. King goes too far in casting Patty’s dislike of Bill’s work as reflecting a lack of imagination on her part, but he then goes on to sympathetically explore how the grounded relatable struggles Patty has faced (anti-Semitism, her father mocking and dismissing Stan, their inability to have children) have led her to consider “horrorbooks” as shallow escapism. The real world, It admits, has horrors beyond anything the Kings and Denbroughs can come up with. “Werewolves, shit. What did a man like that know about werewolves?”

Later on, when Ben is telling his triumphant story about calling out a high school coach who taunted him for his weight, Bill gently notes that as an author, he has trouble believing any kid really talked like that. That’s King using his self-insert to wryly poke fun at his own oft-overheated dialogue. Self-awareness and self-deprecation are absolutely vital to making a book as thematically and structurally ambitious as this one work.

And while some of It’s politics make me cringe, other aspects make me perk up and take notice. King wrote It over the course of four years in which HIV and AIDS became a national crisis that was being largely ignored by said nation’s government. There was a growing conventional wisdom that the afflicted deserved their punishment and should be more or less left to rot. This was all part and parcel with the ascension of the religious right in American politics, especially within the Reagan White House. A huge part of the Reagan narrative (as we see in the “Morning in America” ad, also released while King was writing It) was a portrait of lily-white small-town America as a social ideal being beset by all sorts of ills that the left was either letting happen or actively supporting, and The Gays were most certainly among them.

It opens with a scene that seems to dovetail with that narrative: an idealized ‘50s small town in which an adorable innocent white boy from a good Christian family is horribly murdered by (what seems to be) a nightmarish external force that takes advantage of that innocence. Already, you can see a potential Reaganite spin–It as the Other, the “bear in the woods” threatening the ideal of Derry.

But that’s not what It is about. The second chapter jumps forward a generation, into the mid-1980s in which King was writing, and onto a scene of violence that cannot be wrapped into the meta-narrative of the religious right. Three men attack a gay man on a bridge, their delicate sensibilities offended by his flamboyance. They beat him within an inch of his life and toss him over the side…where he finds It waiting for him with a gleaming sharp-toothed smile. Both the victim’s boyfriend and one of the assailants tell the cops and lawyers involved about the demon clown who finished the victim off, but the powers that be cover it up for the sake of a successful prosecution.

The idea being that they’re dealing with the symptoms, not the disease–the violence, but not the hand-me-down hate driving it. The bereft boyfriend tells the cops that he tried to warn his new-to-town lover that despite its cheery appearance, Derry is a “bad place,” one positively crawling with “AIDS is God’s punishment” homophobia. Moreover, he whispers through his tears, he realized while staring into Its silver eyes as It ate his true love that “It was Derry…It was this town.”

So while the first chapter seemingly wrapped the era’s conservative politics in a cozy semiotic blanket, it was only baiting the hook so that the second can rip that blanket off like a Band-Aid. As Reagan strolled to re-election with 49 states at his back, as the Democrats’ convictions wavered and they began to drift rightward, as thousands of Americans wasted away while their government and so many of their fellow citizens watched pitilessly, here comes Stevie King to stick his middle finger in the Moral Majority’s face and say: gays aren’t the monsters, you are the monsters, you are the ones eating your children. He built a thousand-page Lovecraftian epic around that idea, and made it a bestseller. How fucking awesome is that?

Again, it’s all always going to be complicated. The good not only coexists with the bad–they’re often inextricable. The author who slipped a rant against leftist academics ruinin’ his storybooks into It is also the guy who now declares his support for BLM and his disgust for Trump, and It is both a deeply flawed work and one of my very favorite novels.

#it #stephen king

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snazzyjazzysjacksonville · 4 years ago

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The best dog names, and how to name your puppy

Naming your family pet is one of the most beautiful moment when owning a pet. Petbacker has been committed to help pet owners to decide how they should name their pets, and it took Petbacker more than 2 years to conduct a comprehensive surveys and gathered information from 400,000 pet owners in regard to the questions of “why you give this precious name to your dog” , “does the dog name match your character of your pet”, as well as “do you name your dog based on their breed”.

Based on our surveys, we want to share with all pet’s owner some inspiring and fun ideas that are relevant to giving names for your fur babies!

For instance, we found that many owners named their pets after childhood movie characters, famous celebrities, their human friend, different seasons of the year etc. It is amazingly shocking to note that there are even pet owners who named their pets based on numerological method.

Method that owners use to name their pets.

Less than 4.5% of owners named their Pets based on Seasons of the year

Each season represents its special meaning. Some owners love to name their dogs based on the seasons and months which they were born such as spring, summer, autumn and winter. For example, babies who were born during spring season can be named Haru, in Japanese, ha ru はる) means spring. Some babies who are brought home by their owners in summer are directly named as summer. For babies born in the cold winter, they can be named as winter.

From the above ideas, the following are some of the names which you may take into consideration:

Spring - Asher, Abril, Lily or Spring rolls

Summer - Sunny, Lia, Lilac or Summer ball

Autumn - Pablo, Raven, Mooncake or Cinnamon

Winter - Polar, Santa, Sparkle or Gabby

More than 55.2% of owners named their Pets based on Human Names

Human names make great and meaningful names for dogs and puppies too. If your dog loves running, you may consider one of the suggested human names below to give him or her some cool attitudes.

Female dogs can be named as Anne, Anna, Angel, Alice, Lucy, Emily, Juliet, Amy, etc. Alternatively, the owner can use the characters from TV series as reference. Male dogs can be named as Jack, Nick, Mike, Peter, David, Henry, Irwin etc.

Less than 4.1% of owners named their Pets based on Foodie Name

Food naming method is also a very popular naming method. The pet owner can base on food names according to their pets’ fur colours or their own favourite food.

White fur – Tofu, Cauliflower, Onion, Garlic

Yellow-ish fur – Milk Tea, Coffee, Potato, Banana

Black fur - Cola, Sesame, Pepper, Seaweed

You can also call these little guys directly with your favourite snacks, such as pudding, buns, milkshake, noodle, cheese, cupcake, dumplings and other food.

To our surprise, about 30.3% of owners named their Pets based on Numerology method

Pet owners can actually name their pets using numerology naming method, owners will count the number belonging to their pets by deriving it from the dates of birth of their pets, and put a name that matches the pet birthday so the pet will have the character they want to have.

This can be done by finding the pet Life Path number, these Number can be obtained by adding the birthday numbers together until you get a single digit, for an example, a pet was born in November 14th, 2018, it would be = 1+1+1+4+2+0+1+8 = 18 = 1+8 = 9 …, So their Life Path is a “9”.

With the life path number, they will then decide what name to give so the number changes slightly to what they wanted. How to count a name with number so they add together to become single number.

For an example EDDY, E= 5,D=4,D=4,Y= 25 =2+5=7

Birthday date + Name = 9+7=16

The final digit would be, 1+6=7

Here you go ! Your best friend Life Path Number is a “7” .

Here are some of the attributes of the different Numbers :

Number 1, is a number that represents Self, and it brings a very independent character. If your pet has a name that reduces to “1”, you expect them to be more independent, this pet will probably be headstrong! Your best friend is going to do what it wants to, so be patient. They can make excellent guard dogs or protective animals.

Number 2, this is a Number of Cooperation and Relationships. This is the pet that will be happiest sitting in your lap! They will also like company, other pets, and humans. They don’t do well alone for extended periods. They can be naturally shy, and will dislike fireworks and thunderstorms.

Number 3, this is a Number of Creativity and Communication. With humans, they are likely to be on stage and often have a good sense of humour. They are quite social, and hyperactive, they love to be out & about, meeting new humans and other pets.

They are sometimes difficult to be trained due to a short attention span. They can be talkative too, so expect a lot of barking! They are typically good with children as they enjoy the busy energy that children brings.

Number 4, is a Number of Structure. Pets or animals with this Energy do best in structured environments. They like routines, such as feeding and training or exercise at the same times each day.

Number 5, This is a Number of High-Energy, Chaos and Adventure. These animals love adventure! They don’t like to be cooped up too. They love riding in cars, going for walks at the park. They might not be the best choice for small children, but they will be entertaining!

Number 6, This is the Number of The Nurturer. Ideally suited to home and family, this is a very devoted and loving animal. They love affection and are quick to give it too. They love to sleep in bed with you and will love cozy warm places to snuggle in. These dogs also make for the best service animals and can be trained to help a human who has disabilities.

Number 7, This is a Number of Intelligence and Curiosity. Your best friend would probably like games or toys that challenge them …plus learning Tricks too! But they often need their own space and time. They probably have their own favourite place, and it will probably be away from everyone else. They need space, so I hope your bed is big, or they will try to dominate the space!

Number 8, This is a Number of Abundance and Prosperity. They love studded collars, luxurious bed, even those animal-outfits! They love attention, and can be demanding. They are usually high-energy, be prepared to be lead around!

Number 9, This is a Number of The Philanthropist, Old Soul, Wisdom. They are Natural Leaders, but do not have a competitive streak, so not the best choice for a show animal. They are extremely sensitive. They know when you are hurting and when you are happy. They like a lot of physical contacts to assure that everything is alright.

Less than 3% of owners named their Pets based on Movie Character

Many young owners have their favourite cartoon characters, comic protagonists and so on. Hence, they can name their dogs by their favourite characters. For example, One Piece's Luffy, Qiaoba, Naruto, Kakashi, Doraemon etc.

About 2.9% of owners named their Pets based on Celebrity name

Pet owners do have their own favourite celebrities who they like and admire. Therefore, it’s pretty cool to name their pet according to the celebrity name, or the name of their fan club.

Imagine when he is running around on the street, and you call his name, people who passes by will think that there is a big star coming!

How to make your pets remember their name fast?

Giving a name to your pet is easy, but how do you want your pet to remember the name you gave or effect the change of name ASAP? We provide below some methods which you may adopt to make your pets remember their name.

1. Food temptation: After giving your dog a name, you need to patiently let him remember his name. One of the best ways is giving them food and treats!

2. Changing of tone: Under different circumstances, use different intonations to call the dog's name.

3. Name Tone: Calling names is limited to giving instructions and compliments, to give the dog a good impression. The next time you call its name, it will run to you right away.

After all the above suggestions, if you are still not sure of what name you give your dog, we would want to inspire you of what others named their dogs by sharing the names of the list below.

Top 20 types of dog breeds on Petbacker with the list of names that PetBacker owners have named their dogs

Chihuahua

(Male)Bella, Coco, Daisy, Nini, Chloe, Gigi, Ajax

(Female) Bella, Coco, Daisy, Nini, Peanut, Jesse

Jack Russell Terrier

(Male) Zeus, Bolt, Lucca, Steven, Jack, John

(Female) Hershey, Juno, Audrey, Bambi, Anthea

Toy Poodle

(Male) Louis, Alex, Maison. Jackson, Bleu

(Female) Cookie, Ginger, Nancy, Aries, Sandra

Shih Tzu

(Male) Micky, Charlie, Max, Patches, Rudy

(Female) Chewie, Nala, Madison, Rosie, Nemo

English Cocker Spaniel

(Male) Goofy, Stephen, Lucas, Loca, Lucca

(Female) Stacey, Zoe, Nancy, Zoella, Sandy

Yorkshire Terrier

(Male) Sydney, Elfie, Gatsby, Kingston, Logan

(Female) Zoe, Victoria, Sophia, Isabella , Arica

Dachshund

(Male) Felix, Frank, Ida, Billy, Fifi, Pippin

(Female) Piper, Nora, Rosa, Julie, Chilly

Pomeranian

(Male) Noah, Jose, Richie, Nugget, Marshall

(Female) Bubble, Fluffy, Buttercup, Blossom

Maltese

(Male) Oscar, Riley, Max, Harry, Rocky, Zeus, Zach

(Female) Sammy, Ladybug, Samantha, Katie, Rina

Beagle

(Male) Bagel, Gus, Hank, Winston, Harper

(Female) Mia, Belle, Shiloh, Ella, Emma

Crossed or Mixed Breed (Cavoodle, Mongrel , Singapore Special)

(Male) Sam, Finley, Scout, Roy, Russel, Lucky, Goodie, Baby

(Female) Sadie, Misty, Fenella, Luna, Marie, Mimi. Piper

Shiba

(Male) Hanako, Haru, Kiko, Mio, Shinju

(Female) Kitsune, Foxy, Hiro, Akira, Aki

German Shephard

(Male) Max, Kaiser, Roxy, Louis, Tiger

(Female) Erma, Ethel, Giltha, Ida, Jolie

Husky

(Male) Jet, Bolt, Alpha, Hunter, Wolf, Blackie

(Female) Xena, Mulan, Belle, Elsa, Tanya

Corgi

(Male) Junior, Peewee, Mike, Smalley, Shorty

(Female) Pippa, Princess, Queenie, Winnie, Twiggy

Labrador

(Male) Henry, Buster, Louie, Olive, Oakley

(Female) Olivia, Sammy, Winnie, Lucky, Brandy

French Bulldog

(Male) Brewster, Brody, Corky, Buddy, Ernie

(Female) Bella, Cookie, Jenny, Chewie, Sophie

Pug

(Male) Lulu, Bentley, Dexter, Jack, Buster,Pepper

(Female) Ollie, Sandy, Mia, Piper, Peppa,Snow White

King Charles Spaniel

(Male) Henry, Hopper, Rowley, Doodle

(Female) Berry, Holly, Nancy, Chucky, Winter

Schnauzer

(Male) Anot, Cosette, Bangle, Spark, Atlanta

(Female) Cherry, Lizzy, Lucy, Frida, Bella

Still need more suggestion for naming your pet?

Feel free to post a picture of your pet at the comment section below, and let other pet lover's to suggest a great name for you!

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