#all hail lenore!

[jockw]

Massive and many thanks to @ghostselkie !!!!

If anything — this is how I felt when Ao3 was shut down for a moment

Anyways live laugh Lenore!

En ook, ne kleine inzoom van het boven rechts

[knightotoc]

The Fall of the House of Usher spoilers:

I was wondering if there were any way for any member of Roderick's family to escape from their curse. The deal is that "your bloodline dies with you;" "bloodline" seems like a precise word, but there are a couple interesting qualifiers in this (unreliable Google) definition:

The first thing that stands out here is that "bloodline" is a modern word, increasing in use, not the kind of ancient language you'd expect in a demonic contract with an immortal being. If this timeline is correct, Verna wouldn't have been making deals using this exact phrasing in the past; the one with Roderick might be the first one.

The second thing to consider is the example phrase: "the survival of a legitimate royal bloodline." "Legitimate" and "royal" often contradict "bloodline;" all three concepts are social constructs that depend upon a culture's definition of fatherhood, motherhood, law, and power.

A king might have illegitimate kids but invent a new religion to make them legitimate, like with Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. Or a queen might have illegitimate kids and keep their true father a secret, like the James Hewitt rumor. Medieval upper classes in Europe and Japan commonly adopted/raised each other's kids to maintain a peaceful balance of power.

Modern ideas about genetics are based in science, but deals with the devil certainly are not. The Ushers made the deal in 1979, and the technology for and social trust in paternity testing did not become common until the late 80s.

What makes this curse so particularly twisted is the same thing that makes the TV show so fantastic: Roderick did have many illegitimate kids, but he claimed them all and made them his heirs. If he had been ignorant of or rejected his illegitimate kids, would they have been safe from the curse? In my opinion, yes.

The question reminds me of the phrase, "Blood is thicker than water," which is a misinterpretation of the Biblical quote, "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb." The former means genetic family is stronger than social bonds, while the latter means the opposite. Both phrases and Verna's deal invoke "blood" as the source of their power, but they all mean it in a different way.

The "covenant" of the Ushers, Roderick's promise of wealth and power in exchange for obedience, is signed in blood -- the misery and deaths of all the innocent victims of Ligodone. This tragedy has a far greater social, physical, and spiritual impact on the world than the fact that a handful of people have similar genetics.

I think if a character truly wanted to escape this "bloodline," they could. It would be difficult, but people have been rejecting their families for as long as families have been worth rejection. It makes me think of Ruth in the Old Testament ("where you go, I will go"), or Elon Musk's daughter, who changed not only her first name but her last.

The most tragic aspect of this possibility of escape is that it would still be impossible for many people, especially children. In the show, the only character who I think would escape this way is Lenore, but the curse comes too quickly. If she only had five more years, she might have been able to create a new identity for herself.

I love stories of inescapable tragedy, and it breaks my heart that Lenore's fate reflects the reality of so many kids trapped in bad families, so I appreciate what her death means. I wouldn't want to change anything in the show, and I don't think my interpretation cheapens the curse, just adds to it.

A final story that I want to consider is the recent Bob Marley biopic "One Love," which has a motif of a childhood vision of a pith-helmeted horseman in a burning field of sugarcane. At first, this horseman is his white father who rejected him, but eventually he transforms into Haile Selassie, the Messiah of Rastafarianism. While Marley is able to escape the mental hold his father had over him, the movie also implies that Marley inherited a rare form of cancer from him, which led to his early death. It's not demonic, but it is still unfair.

[beevean]

ooh, are we making fun of NFCV again? i wanna add to the pile re: how all the so-called "diversity" and "representation" it gets praised for goes overwhelmingly, if not entirely to the bad guys - and half of them don't even have a speaking role or even names, or at least we don't learn about them anywhere else besides the supplementary material, like in the case of drac's vampire generals (except godbrand, of course). even the two PoC good guys i can think of, zamfir and greta, aren't that great considering zamfir is portrayed as hopelessly and delusionally devoted to the deceased targoviste royalty, to the point of forsaking the wellbeing of both the underground and aboveground survivors, and then dies anyway in service of that delusion. and greta's just a last-minute newcomer to allegedly address grant's conspicuous absence that fans were complaining about from the start.

We never stop making fun of NFCV lol, there's always something new to point out 🥰

I can see how fans would respond to this that representation doesn't need to be relegated to heroes only, and you can have minority villains as long as they're not stereotyped. But yeah, the representation in NFCV is shallow at best and offensive at worst.

Most Generals in Dracula's army don't have a speaking role. Cho, the Japanese vampire who goes down in less than a minute in S2, gets a flashback after she died, because storytelling.mp4, and even then she doesn't talk. I only remember Raman's name because Carmilla says something like "there are only 4 women in this castle" nope it's just 3 of them lmao

Sumi and Taka look identical despite not being related according to Word of God, which is hysterical to me because you know they said that to divert the accusations of incest. my pal. you really think your GoT-inspired show is above twin siblings having a threesome? Also, you know, they immediately jump to rape by deception without a hint that they'd do that through all season, and then their corpses get graphically mutilated and pissed on (contrast this with the white, most likely French Lenore who gets to flirt and be cute with her victim)

Isaac is gay! How do we know that? He "jokes" out of nowhere about kissing Hector, a guy he has zero respect for. This line has no follow-up and is OOC with how serious the character is always portrayed. And that's not counting his declaration of love made to his abusive master when he was a boy.

I don't know enough about Islam to have a solid opinion on how it was treated in Isaac's case, and in a vacuum having a "complex" Muslim anti-villain is more original than usual. But I don't like how his self-flagellating habit was first treated as a result of his traumatic past, then as a religious practice, then completely dropped. Using Mohammed's own words about Hell being emptied, which from what I've read mean that in Islam hell is transitory, and twisting them to justify his necromancy is... certainly a delicate choice, but again, he doesn't really reflect on this in S4, he just jumps to "wow I sure love having agency!"

Also, in retrospect, it would have been much better if Isaac hailed from the Emirate of Granada instead of being a slave, a backstory more befitting for N!Annette for her origins and time period. In his case, it would have been more original, and expanded the world a little more. What's that? He wouldn't have a reason to hate humankind? Then how come game!Isaac can do it just fine? :) You know, since he was persecuted (maybe even by the Spanish Inquisition!) for his cursed powers? :) maybe you can have more reasons to hate humans than "former slave"? maybe black people can be depicted as something different than slaves? :)

Striga and Morana are cute together, but are non-entities who begin and end with each other. Also, funny how Morana, the lesbian of color (triple minority!), is literally the most useless and wasted of the four :) and even then the most characterization she gets is "she loves to torture people". nice

Alucard was made bi by Word of God and I don't need to repeat how appalling it is. I hate that most "antis" have a problem with him being attracted to men in the first place, and not that the declaration was made to downplay his sexual assault.

(meanwhile Carmilla, inspired by the literal archetype of the lesbian vampire, to the point that you can even see her game version as being a lesbian thanks to Laura, gets reduced to joke that she'd only sleep with Godbrand if all the men, half of the women and some of the animals died. but hey, she's a radfem, I guess that's enough)

Apparently I have... controversial opinions on the choice of darkening Hector's skin and the ethnicity he is in this version. But I will say that there is something weird in deliberately giving him bronze skin, I suppose to emphasize his Greek heritage, and then spending two seasons literally dehumanizing him and lowering him to the level of a dog and pet.

Also something about the Speakers, nomadic people whose oral traditions get made fun of, by Sypha in particular who calls them idiots, is... hm. The wiki even points out: "They are also similar to the Jews (especially due to their reverence for knowledge and their tradition of oral history) and, to a lesser extent, to the Romani."

I skipped Zamfir's plotline because by S4 I had burnout, but yeah, Greta is probably the best character of color and even then she's little more than a generic badass woman with attitude. Also she's even more ambiguously brown than Hector, I would say on the same level as Casca from Berserk - you can tell she's not white, but she's not really anything else.

(btw no, she has no relation with Grant :) )

tl;dr: the only good representation in nfcv are the tunisi people isaac speaks to and this is why i do not trust them with black annette, and i hate the fucking discourse on twitter from people who just don't like the design change

[toongoons]

I am also making a self inserts list lol

Carmine Ermine- Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Life- Puss in Boots 2

Bella Bloodworth- T.U.F.F Puppy

Klover- Donkey Kong Country

Fennel- Sonic Underground

Delilah Jekyll- Talespin

Winnie Weaselfink- Toontown: Corporate Clash

Domino- C&D Rescue Rangers

Audie McOtter- Jellystone

Hismé- Ninjago

Beryl Cuda- OK KO

Jade- SVTFOE

Mildred- Dog City

Rona- MMHOPH

Vermillion- Rock-a-doodle

Dusty Coyote- Looney Tunes

Dr. Sprocket- Darkwing Duck

Captain Ludovic “The Swagnificent” Crumblecakes I (Ludo)- All Hail King Julien

Lady Lenore- Robin Hood

Nutmeg- Pinky and the Brain

skekJaz the Diplomat- The Dark Crystal

Dottie Quoll/N. Chant- Crash Bandicoot

Shell- Monkey King (2023)

Miss “Pokey” Echidna- The Bad Guys

Ms. Bisque- Kirby

[pipernightingale]

❝ if you never bleed you're never gonna grow ❞

stats:

full name / piper lenore nightingale

nicknames / none

age / 29

dob / feb. 14th

star sign / aquarius

sexuality / bisexual

hometown / new york city, ny

current residence / seattle, wa

subject / mythical creatures: the truth in the myth

demeanor:

likes ; riding dragons, flying in general except on airplanes, peaches any way she can get them, hot summer nights, swimming in the ocean, roadtrips, getting lost and having that moment where she believes she may never find her way back

dislikes ; the pacific ocean because it's ridiculously cold, when people assume she's not very bright because she teaches an "easy" course

usual temperament ; people have been known to describe her as a mystery. they always say it's something about her smile. like she's hiding something and not even torture could drag it from her. it draws people to her. they stay curious and she stays amused.

highlights:

piper was born in a cramped apartment in new york city. her parents were in the middle of a fight and she came crashing into the world before they could even get out the door to hail a taxi. they were sure she'd save the marriage. and for a while she was a really great band-aid. but eventually they realized that the love they had for her wasn't enough for them to stay together.

as young kid in the city, her parents were both busy, each of them working more than they could be home just to keep a roof over their heads. which left her to wander. to get lost endlessly. looking back she realizes just how lucky she was to survive.

her first encounter with the magical world was when she was nine. taking a wrong turn and finding herself face to face with a feeding vampire. it was strange. like the part of her that should have been scared was just too curious to actually be afraid. and the vampire seemed just as shocked as she was, even more so when she just stood there, staring, observing what was happening.

the vampire's name was rupert. his victim, as it turned out, was his very human girlfriend fiona. and they were both enamoured with this strange, lost little girl. so they folded her into their world. showed her magic. taught her things that most muggles would never know. while she herself wasn't born a witch, she did learn how to do some magic. it was always a bit chaotic and messy, but piper never minded.

the magical world kept her curious. it gripped her in a way nothing else every would. especially it's creatures. things pulled straight from the myths and fairytales she'd always loved. and despite her being a muggle, the creatures seemed to love her. maybe because she just seemed so eager to learn. to listen to any of their stories. and learn the truth of them beyond just the myths.

when she was around 15 she started writing it all down. without realizing it she was writing a book. one that would eventually become quite controversial in the wizarding world. at least over the pond. they didn't like anyone, especially a muggle with what they deemed fake magic, to try and tell them werewolves weren't monsters and that some vampires were actually kind. it never really bothered her because fuck them, they were boring anyway.

eventually her books caught the eye of uw. their magical program was lacking in any study of magical creatures at all and they were curious to see what she could come up with. they were offering her the chance to build a course from the ground up. to make something entirely her own. so she took the opportunity. rupert, and fiona who had turned a few years back, decided to join her. they couldn't let their little girl go off on her own. even if she was in fact a grown woman now. her own parents threw a small goodbye party and pretended to understand the lie she told about moving to the west coast for a college program.

the move ended up being everything she needed without realizing it. this was a new place to get lost. and to maybe be found. to finally feel like she really belonged to this world she called home.

[dream-girls-evil]

Ratched: Episode 5 Reactions

Party Planning

The red light stands for DRUGS

Ohh he’s meeting Mildred! On the outside this def looks like a date.

Ooh Mildred changing the game now that she’s got all the leverage.

Poor eclair didn’t deserve that

“This is about the lesbians, isn’t it?” Yes, always.

I almost feel bad for Bucket. Almost.

Oh is she gonna know Mildred put him up to this? Guess not.

Basically throwing herself a promotion party lol but yay a DANCE!!!

Is she planning to have Edmund do something to prove himself insane? Oh yep lol

Omg Mildred no this is too cruel don’t get Bucket’s hopes up 😂😂😂

“You’re a woman again” okay that’s laying it on a little thick

Haha Mildred finally dropping the pretense with Hanover. I love it.

“Trust me” Honestly why tho

Oooh who is this lady? She’s mean but she’s right, the way he’s holding that violin is terrible.

Oh, apparently she’s Ondine Duquette

Or Charlotte Wells? ...I see what’s happening.

Love an inaccurate portrayal of DID (sarcasm)

Mmm does Mildred know Hanover has a thing for her? (I think he does at least, or did) Cuz it’s pretty bold of her to touch his face like that.

Aw she’s on her date with Gwen!

Love how straightforward Gwen is and the communication here!

Oh Gwen was in love with a nurse who was killed in the war? That’s coincidental. And Mildred understands it.

Her companion!!! I’m excited but nervous. People might talk.

Lenore’s Arrival

Lenore and Petunia! They look so out of place here XD poor Louise

“The wallpaper hurts my feelings” I’d be lying if I said I’d never felt that strongly about wallpaper

Can’t believe she just invited Mildred to tea, but this is clearly a woman who’s used to getting what she wants.

Oh nice, she just wants Mildred to take over the job XD unfortunately, I think Mildred has other plans. She needs him, though not indefinitely. She’ll probably kill Hanover anyway once she frees Edmund, tie up loose ends. But there’s no harm in pretending to go along with Lenore’s wishes.

Oooh Lenore just got REAL angry about the money Mildred asked for. Guess they’ll be enemies!

Aw Betsy!!! She’s so nervous and so happy!

Hypnotherapy...this should be interesting

A RED-LETTER DAY FOR BETSY BUCKET

Fffff he’s trying to hypnotize his way out of a date. This is a new one 😂

Aw Dolly. Stop bonding with the bad man. He’s just using you.

HE DOESNT LOVE YOU

Ew I don’t like Mildred being alone with Edmund while he’s naked

Do we really trust him to hurt himself and not, you know, everyone else? Mildred does, apparently. Hope she doesn’t regret it.

Oh Charlotte...

AND THEY MADE HER NOT PRESS CHARGES

If only it really was as easy to get rid of trauma as snapping your fingers

Omg Hanover crying because he helped someone. This guy is so interesting, honestly. He does genuinely want to help people.

OMG LOUISE AND BETSY ARE FRIENDS?! Please tell me they just complain about Mildred all the time.

Okay so Betsy’s a little delusional lmao her retelling of Hanover’s reaction to the gifts is...quite altered

Omg they’re dancing this must have been the most fun scene to shoot on the whole show

“I’ve never seen you look so happy” I ship them

HA I knew they just complained about Mildred together

Lenore is there LENORE IS RIGHT THERE

Ohhh he’s breaking down. Little does he know that Mildred is the one who brought Lenore here.

Ahhh now he’s holed up at the hospital where Mildred is the only one who can reach him.

I think Lenore likes Mildred’s nerve now

The Dance

Mmm why do I feel like Charlotte might end up stealing Edmund’s thunder?

Poor Betsy. Hanover’s off to get drugged up.

Oh, he’s REALLY out of it. Jon Jon Brione is such a great actor.

So much for everyone ignoring Edmund lmao

She’s a PEACH

MMM Betsy’s onto Gwen and Mildred

Aaand Harold is distracted

Omg Dolly looks so pretty!!! Hope Edmund doesn’t kill her

Oh NO they’re planning on running?! I have no idea which plan he’s going to follow. I’m so nervous.

Oh their little clandestine handhold I cri

Betsy you are getting ahead of yourself a little

Omg causing a scene nooo

NOOO BETSY

Damn Hanover came outta nowhere with the rage

And now Gwen and Mildred have left to comfort her and NO ONE IS WATCHING EDMUND

Mildred’s sense of empathy really does strike at the oddest times and in the oddest ways.

Okay Edmund didn’t try anything while they were gone but this is definitely not going to go according to Mildred’s plan.

Noooo Harold!!! No one even got to tell you they’re lesbians 😔

FUCK GWEN NO

Duuude Dolly is excited by this. And I legit can’t tell if Edmund is playing at being freaked out by Gwen or it’s genuine.

Thoughts and Theories

Well, that was a packed episode! I really do feel bad for Betsy Bucket lol, she may hate Mildred and act like a hardass around her, but then she turns into such a sweet and silly woman. I’m kind of living for her friendship with Louise, too, although I know it can mean nothing good for Mildred, who doesn’t realize she’s surrounded on all sides. We haven’t even flashed over to Louise rifling in her room during the dance, yet. I wonder what, if anything, she’ll find. But if she does find something, how will Bucket react? I think her opinions of Mildred might have changed after this incident. Speaking of which, while I get what they’re trying to do by having Mildred go all empathetic and feminist, it feels really out of place to me. I know she didn’t expect Hanover to go off like that, but she hardly likes Bucket, and more than that, humiliating and disempowering her would actually serve Mildred’s purposes. Especially if Bucket quit over it. If the whole point of getting them together was to keep Bucket distracted, then surely getting her out of the hospital altogether would be even better. Perhaps I could believe that she saw the opportunity to get on Bucket’s good side by comforting her if it wasn’t so clearly an emotionally-driven choice, and one she was conflicted about. She chose going after Bucket over watching Edmund. That’s a pretty interesting brand of empathy and overconfidence.

On to Edmund, the whole Bonnie-and-Clyde thing was definitely a surprise, but mostly because I’m like...literally what is the plan here? How long do they think they’ll be able to survive on the run? Edmund himself is hard to get a read on, because we don’t get a whole lot from his perspective, but knowing Murphy, I’d wager that he does genuinely have some attachment to Dolly, if only because he’s lacking a sympathetic female figure in his life. He has Mildred of course, but seems very impatient and displeased with her plan and how she tries to control him. I think this whole escape is probably a combination of that frustration and impulsiveness and how he and Dolly really feed off each other’s romanticized idea of how it will all work out. It’ll be interesting to see where they go from here and whether they turn on each other or not. I really still can’t tell whether Edmund is really upset about Gwen being shot or not, but at this point I’m wondering like, why would he need to pretend? Dolly is clearly exhilarated by the whole thing (also unexpected). Their argument is over whether or not Gwen was “fair game,” which sounds to me like Edmund is similar to Mildred in that he really needs a way to justify his murders, which could be interesting, it’s just not the direction I thought we were gonna go with him. We’ll see, I guess!

[deadinsidedressage]

Out with the old, in with the new. All hail Lenore, third of her name, bluest and fluffiest in the Land of Orp.

[damfinofanfiction]

Chapter 10: New York City

Having received an invitation from Benjamin to visit him in New York, Gail considered going to the city. Although she was interested in traveling to a different coast, it was hard to ask for another vacation from her boss since she had just returned from a funeral. Additionally, she doesn't have much time to make that kind of trip, not to mention the long distance trains travel across the country. As soon as Gail had heard from the studio, she wired Benjamin, "I'll be in New York as soon enough. Don't want to stay too long. See you then. - Gail”. 

Gail boarded the train Monday evening. Again she took her trip alone because in addition to having already visited the town recently, Sally had to work and Lenore doesn’t trust her niece enough to leave her in Los Angeles by herself. Lenore had arranged for Gail to stay with a friend of hers. When she finally arrived at her destination, she realized it was the furthest she had ever been from her relatives, but knowing she'll meet up with someone she knows, she'd be fine. At Grand Central Station, Gail reunited with Benjamin. The two embraced one another, “Again, I’m sorry to hear about your grandmother. How are you holding up?”, he said.

She replied, "It's been hard, but I'm doing better."

He helped by carrying her suitcase, “You didn't have to visit me soon enough.”

She followed him when they strolled through the station, “I thought so too, but then I was notified studio didn't want me.”

He turned to her, “Did you get fired?”

She didn’t want to tell him yet. She was holding a yawn as she answered, “Oh no, it’s just I’m not needed all this week.”

As the two left the Grand Central Station clasp by clasp, Gail became more mesmerized with the tall buildings surrounding them than when she first saw the cityscape through the train window. "They said this is the city that never sleeps," Gail grinned, covering her ears as she chuckled, "I guess I now know why." The city was loud, crowded, and chilly in contrast to Los Angeles. 

While looking out for a taxi, Ben asked her, “Do you know where you will be staying?”

"Yes, Lenore notified a New Yorker friend, Shannon, through the telegraph that I'd be staying with her," Gail responded. 

A look of confusion crossed his face, "I had no idea those machines still existed."

“Neither did I.”, she then explained, “Shannon was previously married to her brother but they remained friends after the divorce.” She took out a small piece of paper from her pocket, “I got the address before leaving.”

Ben hailed a cab and put her luggage in the trunk as Gail climbed into the vehicle. Once in the passenger seat, he instructed the driver to the address and as the drive went on he said to her, “I have to ask. Are we still dating?”

Gail didn’t answer, only turned her contact to the window. He explained, “Well, I just thought when you accepted my invitation, you must have forgiven me for what I said last month.”

She finally looked at him, "Of course I have dear, I really needed to be cheered up, and taking a trip would help even though the train ride robbed me of my hours. Also, sure we’re still together.”

Ben leaning in to kiss Gail, she warned him that she hasn't showered since Monday, to which he replied, "I don't care." Their kisses were quick and passionate. "At least you brushed your teeth," he told her.

Following the address, the taxi took them to the neighborhood at Greenwich Village. Gail knew she had reached her destination when the car parked in front of the row house.

She approached the house to press the buzzer, the red-haired woman in her early 40’s answered the door. Beside her was a young boy who was halfway through putting on his jacket. “Are you Gail Adams?" The woman said in an Irish accent.

She corrected her, "No, Gail Anders."

“Right, sometimes I misunderstood the Morse code.” 

“You must be Shannon Scott?” Gail greeted her with a handshake.

“Aye, and this one here is Oliver.” The kid, under the age of ten, had yet learned his manners when he picked his nose. She then reprimanded him, “Lad, not while the guest is present.” 

While Ben made sure that Gail has her suitcase, he stayed by the cab when she took it by the stoop. "Are you not coming in?" she asked. 

He shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, but I have to be at work by 9. But when you do go out, meet me by the building I work at.” After handing her a business card from his workplace, kissed her goodbye and rode off in the taxi. 

Shannon commanded the son to fetch his books. She turned to Gail and said, “I’m going to take Oliver to school, your room will be upstairs next to mine, there are still wheat cakes so help yourself in case you’re starving. Do you know the Morse code?” Gail told her no. Shannon told her, “Well, you wait for me to be back then.”

Gail went to the kitchen for the wheat cakes that are on the plate. She turned to the Irish woman and asked, “Where’s the washroom?”

Shannon gave her directions before leaving the door, “Two doors to your left, later.” Gail spent the morning adjusting to the time zone. She ate, bathed herself, and put on her clean clothes before taking a refreshing nap.

Gail went out to Manhattan in the afternoon and met Benjamin by the flatiron building. Gail was amazed at the structure, “I have never seen a building like that.”

“Yes, that one is very intriguing," said Ben. "I had submitted the photos I took in California to the publishing company. Their focus is to show us the wonders of our country.”

“Oh, how fascinating.”

Holding her hand, Ben asked, "So now that my shift is over, may I show you around?" She obliged.

He took her to Washington Square Park, followed by lower Manhattan to see the Statue of Liberty. At a nearby diner, they had burgers and discussed where to visit next. She blurted out, "I want to go to Coney Island. It's where they filmed that Comique short with Arbuckle and Keaton."

“We’ll see how that goes darling. Oh, speaking of Keaton, do you know that he and his wife are in town?”

 “Still?”, she said while sipping her soft beverage, “I thought they might have gone by train by now.”

“Oh no, I spotted them on Madison Avenue yesterday. The reporters were following The Keatons until they entered the Biltmore hotel.”

In truth, Gail already knew Buster was in the city. In fact, it was particularly the reason for her trip to the east. If she had work this week, she could always meet Buster when he returns to Los Angeles. She had hoped that she would run into him while they are on location, but in such a large city, there wouldn't be a chance for that. After leaving the diner, they managed to be at Coney Island for an hour and a half. There, they got on a few rides before going on the Ferris wheel where he kissed her when their bench reached the very top.

The next day Gail came into the Flatiron building and reached the 18th floor via the elevator. She greeted a female secretary upon entering. She replied, “Good morning, is there anything I can help you with?” 

Gail said to her, “Yes, I’m here for Benjamin Turner. Is he available?”

She smiled as always, “Yes, he is. Have you scheduled an appointment?”

“No, he might have let you know that I’m here to visit. I’m his girlfriend, Gail Anders.”

She paused for a bit before saying, “He did, but he didn't mention having a girlfriend.” She stood up to take her to him, “I'll let him know you're here."

Gail noticed her tone got less cheery after mentioning that she’s dating Ben. This left her wondering if they were close. After all, she recognized her in one of his photos. They found Ben going through his photos on the table. After greeting Gail, He gave her a tour a bit before letting her look around as he worked a bit more.  

Ben and Gail ate their lunch together by his desk, where she questioned him about the secretary. “Rosie?” he asked. That’s her name she thought. He added, “It’s complicated, I wasn’t sure if you’re my girl.”

“Was she the one from one of your pictures?” Gail asked.

“Yes, I used to date her while living in New Jersey but there’s nothing between us now.”

Gail believed him since he wasn’t on the east coast long enough to be tempted to cheat on her with the secretary. On the other hand, there might be signs that Rosie still has feelings for him. Nevertheless, she would rather discuss what she wanted to do in the city, but Benjamin informed her, “I’m afraid today is busy, but I get off at 5. Will you be alright by then?”

Gail replied sheepishly, “Well, I could ask Miss Scott to accompany me instead. If not, I’ll do just fine.”

 Ben brought out the map from the drawer and he drew the directions on it. He handed it to her when he’s done, “Don’t you worry darling, we have plenty of time for our date. I bought tickets to the Music box revue. We’ll go after dinner.”

“Oh, that’ll be fun!” 

Before getting back to work he told her to meet him at Times Square. She kissed him on the cheek and left the building. Gail would have had a hard time navigating in New York without the arrows and circles Benjamin sketched. She already had a list of things to do in the Big Apple before she could meet him again.

Gail has had a nice outing so far. She had already taken in the sights of skyscrapers under construction. Shannon did come out to look at the window displays with her from the Department stores on 34th street. While Gail was admiring their set-up, Shannon told her, "The Saks on 5th Avenue has the best window display. See it for yourself."

Before doing so, Gail went into the Macy’s store where she bought herself a new pair of stockings, a pair of nice walking shoes to replace the ones that were worn out, and an evening dress for tonight because she neglected to pack one. She had changed into her dress and shoes and had Shannon take her other dress and stockings to her Rowhouse. 

When Gail walked to the fifth avenue, it suddenly began to rain. She rushed to the nearest shade since her parasol isn't meant to be waterproof. Once protected from the raindrops, she shook the parasol dry. Then, an individual dressed in a black derby hat and a navy blue suit walked past her into what turned out to be a hotel. She recognized him. Not letting the chance slip through her fingers, she walked inside to approach him, and got his attention by saying, "Hi, Buster."

***********

So far, Natalie and Buster have enjoyed their vacation, but she still misses her family terribly. She found comfort in the messages she received from home; by letter or by phone. Even though she was born and raised in Brooklyn, it felt strange to Buster that now she considered California her home.

The couple had gone out to shops, shows, and restaurants. Natalie had her purchases sent home. One evening Buster took her to a secluded beach. There, he threw rocks to the water and let the tide soak his bare feet. But the missus stayed behind to sit on the rock saying, “I didn't want the sand to stick on me.” 

After a couple of days, he had stopped bombarding her with pleadings to be intimate with him again, he only received a kiss in the hand and some light touching. He remained faithful to her despite the temptations he faced on the streets.

However, it wasn’t all leisure, Buster appointed his studio to make sure the shares that the late Jean Havez had received for the film will go to his widow. Every so often, he meets with Lex Neal to brainstorm ideas for the new feature. When they decided on a western comedy, Buster would call Joe Schenck about it. The other day Keaton met up with Bob Sherwood, a film critic and a fan of his work. He gave Keaton his story to use for a feature film in the future. Buster saw potential in the story and bought it. Now, having the films on his belt, it was decided that they all will head home a week early. 

After having lunch in the nearby restaurant with Sherwood, Natalie chose to take her last shopping trip to Saks and Buster hung out with Bob a bit more until the latter had to get home. The rain forced Keaton to hurry from the restaurant to the Biltmore, holding the newspaper to keep dry. He was going up to his suite when a female voice behind him said, “Hi Buster.”

He turned to a certain wavy-haired dame with a damp parasol. Although knowing her voice sounded familiar, he didn't register her to his mind until she told him, "It's me, Gail. From the Ginmill.”

It was coming back to him, the fainting lady on Seven Chances, “Oh yeah.” It was then that Buster realized anyone could recognize him or even worse, he and Gail would be discovered by anyone from his group, so he led her into the phone booth with him, hiding. The booth was so small that they were separated by a centimeter.

He told to a confused Gail, “Sorry, I didn’t want anyone else to see me.”

Gail, seemed awkward to be standing close to him, only said, “No problem.” her expression became a bit alarmed, “You’re not wet are you?”

He rubbed each of his arms to try to get them warm, “Just damp, not enough to catch a cold.”

There were dewdrops on her hair, but she wiped them off with her handkerchief, “I’m sure I’ll live too.”

Buster tilted his hat to conceal himself,  “What are you doing here?”

“I happen to be visiting my boyfriend who’s here on a business trip. I know you’re here too. I almost didn't think I would ever bump into you."

He was at a loss for words due to his shyness flaring up, but then he asked, “So it's been two months, how you been?”

“I’m well.” Gail also told him about working in Charlie Chaplin’s upcoming film, “Have you known him?”

“Charlie? Oh yes, I sometimes meet him in banquets and events. I first met Chaplin when he visited Roscoe around the time I was working with him. My studio used to be his.”

“Is that so? Speaking of studios, I could never find which building you used to work at.”

He shrugged, “That’s fine, I don’t remember where it was either.” He noticed the bottom half of her  dress was poking out of the long coat, “My guess is he’s taking you out tonight?”

She looked down at herself, “Oh!” not having room to bend down, she picked up the hemline to check if it has rain damage, “He’s taking me out to eat and then to see a Revue.”

He avoided looking at her exposed legs, to prevent temptation, “Meaning he’s taking you to dinner and a show.”

“In that case, yes. She dropped the hemline after inspection. Thank goodness, I didn't ruin my dress, I just got it today.”

He looked at her again, “You didn’t buy it at Saks did you?”

“Heavens no, it’s too pricey!” 

“I wish Nate’s like that,” Gail asked who. Buster said, “My wife,” he turned away from her, “I love her, but she had to use my money to get herself something nice. And she rarely wears the same thing for Mike’s sake.”

“I know you kissed Mayzie.” 

Stunned, Buster turned to her again, “Mayzie?”

Gail had her eyes shut tight, but she opened them, “She’s the chorus girl for the Club I used to work at. She told me at New Year's that you had met once and flirted with her. " 

Fuck he thought, “She did?”

“Yeah, she did feel bad for telling me. But it’s not like you had relations to several other women.” Buster covered his mouth with his hand, feeling intimidated. Gail became concerned when she identified his body language, “Have you?”

That’s it then, the jig is up. “Yes.”

Gail held her arms and trembled a bit, seemly upset, “Why?” She got misty-eyed, “You have a family and a reputation, so why do you want to throw it all away?”

He admitted, “She left me no choice, Nate forced me to be in a separate room after our youngest was born.” 

“What.” 

He explained whilst looking down, “I was faithful to her, but when she didn’t want any more children, she said we would no longer be intimate. I supported her decision, but I didn't want to be abstinent for the rest of my life, so I chose to seek affection from other women. She agreed with me as long it’s discreet."

Gail wiped her eyes, “Have you considered any contraceptives?”

“I have, but she doesn’t believe in them.”

Having her head wrapped around to what he told her, said, “I’m sorry I didn’t know,” she attempted to comfort him by patting his arm.

“Did she tell anyone else?”

“Just Sally, but don't worry, your secret is safe with me.” She smiled.

Buster thought he should never have told this to anyone else but he wanted Gail to know. He was relieved how she took it. At that moment, they noticed it had stopped raining, “I think I should be heading out.” Gail left the phone booth, but Buster grabbed her hand before she was out of his reach.

“I just remembered,” He said, letting go of her hand, “It’s at East 48th street. I forgot the address but it’s a warehouse. You can spot it if you can.”

“Thank you,” she waved goodbye.

It never occurred to him to ask Gail how long she was in town until she went outside. In any case, they'll meet in Hollywood eventually. Buster left from the booth to the elevator in a discreet manner, hoping no one noticed he was there with her. 

**************

After seeing the revue, they strolled through Central Park. Gail was humming the Irving Berlin songs. They sat on a bench where she looked up to the moon. When Benjamin wrapped his arm onto her waist. Gail was anxious, he soothed her when he assured her, “Don’t worry, we’re still taking it slow.” 

They kissed soon after since there were no others in the park. When she thought of Buster kissing someone who’s not his wife, she stopped the lip-locking.

“Is there something wrong?” Ben asked.

Gail was reeling from having learned the truth about Buster. She was angry at him, but knowing he still loved his spouse, she felt awful for him. She didn’t want to mention this to Ben. Instead, she thought it was time to tell him, “I have a confession to make. I was let go by the studio, but as a bathing beauty. Sennett will remain in contact with me when they give me a supporting part.”

He took a deep breath before saying, "Well, I guess I'll confess too. I won’t be coming back to California for a while.”

Her head shot up at him, “What?”

“The company wants me here permanently.”

She let go of his embrace, “But you said you’ll be here for a month.”

“I lied.”

“You Scoundrel!” She stood up, Benjamin followed.

“I’m sorry darling but I got a job offer and I live close to here. I can suggest you could move here with me.”

She turned to him in an upset tone, “Most certainly not! I liked New York, but I don’t want to live close to my family. I buried my grandmother just a week ago, and I don't want to miss any more moments with them. I have a life in Hollywood now.”

“For god’s sake Gail! You have been there for almost 2 years and you haven’t made it to stardom. There are already ladies who look like you and some of them started out younger than you.”

She yelled, “Shut up Ben just shut up!”

He slapped her. 

She hit him on his arm with her parasol.

He was about to strike her again when they heard a whistle coming from a wandering cop. “Is everything alright?” he said approaching them.

Gail replied with her head up high, “Sure, I am leaving anyway.” she walked away from him with the Cop. Having done what she had seen it was left for her to retire to the Rowhouse. She took one last look at him, “Goodbye Benjamin.”

God, what a long and complicated chapter, but I did it! I hope you enjoyed it!

[mswyrr]

the foursome: “evil” vs. right in their own eyes

There’s a bit where Hector is reading from the book Lenore gave him and he says - vampires have their own philosophy, their own culture. We can disagree with it, but the foursome do not get up in the morning thinking: I’m going to be evil today. They are good people by their own values. Which, again, we can disagree with. But they think of humans as “Happy Meals with legs” (to quote Spike from BtVs) and that is a perfectly comprehensible pov - and we can be very human about it and not like that at all. But it’s different than being simplistically “evil.”

And it’s different from the wanton, selfish destruction Dracula wreaked.

They’re good to each other - loyal and effective partners. Carmilla KNOWS she’s not entirely mentally well - so she’s chosen three women she can trust to help ground her. They let her know when she’s getting lost in her issues; they pull together and are strong where she is weaker and she is strong where they lack cohesion without her.

They’re her partners in life - they all love her and also honestly see her strengths and weaknesses. She feels the same about them. Striga and Morana are a permanent set of lovers, but over the centuries who is with whom and in what ways probably shifts depending on their mood.

It’s a really effective, loving and supportive team - but not a vision of women--especially canon wlw-- together being inevitably soft and pure. It’s a vision of what a team of women (who are canon wlw) with their own culture/values/pov on morality looks like.

And that is fucking fantastic.

Sure, they’re not the princesses on She-ra... or even the bad guys on She-ra, who are not really bad at all, just sad and lost and needing to be found. These women are not lost at all; they have their own values that happen to be very distasteful to humans. But do they have to be G or PG? This is TV-MA for adults.

Why isn’t it celebrated for female characters to get to be allowed to be as fully complex and interesting as TV-MA male characters???? Why do all female characters--esp wlw-- have to hail from children’s stories, from the PG and G world, maybe PG-13 at most, while male characters get to be R and hard R?

It’s good writing, where female and male characters are fully part of the specific aesthetic and themes of this narrative - instead of treated like they must always be pure and simplistically morally instructive.

[jockw]

The holy Annabel Lee printed out

Actually this isn't the first time I've printed something out about the corpse bride, it's one of many that lays around. Why?

Because live laugh girlboss- all hail Annabel Lee, praise your lord and saviour

Man, I need a drink.

[cardest]

Boston, Salem & MA playlist

Ever been to Boston and Salem in Massachusetts? I hope to someday soon. Salem, Bruins, Cape Cod, Edgar Allen Poe, the history! Many great bands hail from Boston and Massachusetts, like Dinosuar Jr, Aerosmith and Guerilla Toss...ugh! So many bands. Converge, Isis, Cave-In, Pixies, Magic Circle....Not to mention the songs about Salem, MA and the witch trials, Edgar Allen Poe, Emily Dickinson and even Lizzy Bordon (in RI section).  The history of this region is fascinating. The Pilgrims and the Boston Tea Party etc. Many songs about this period of time. Hope you enjoy this playlist. Also I threw in a little Rhode Island and New Hampshire too.

Remember people, live life deliciously!

001 Times Of Grace - Strength In Numbers 002 Boston - Peace of Mind 003 Dinosaur Jr - Freak Scene 004 Pixies - trompe le monde 005 Cheers TV show - Opening 006 Aerosmith - Beyond Beautiful 007 The Byrds - Boston 008 Dave Loggins - Please Come To Boston 009 The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Boston Tea Party 010 Buffalo Tom - Crutch 011 Escuela Grind - No Worship 012 Made Out Of Babies - Grimace (The Ruiner) 013 dropkick murphys -for boston 014 Lemonheads - Hate Your Friends 015 The Cars - Drive 016 Morphine - Honey White 017 The Breeders - Cannonball 018 Isis - Ghost Key 019 Better Than Ezra - Normal Town 020 Killswitch Engage - Starting Over 021 Converge -  Sadness Comes Home 022 Grief - Come To Grief 023 Aerosmith - Draw The Line 024 Dinosaur Jr. -  Watch the Corners 025 Friend & Lover - Boston is a lovely town 026 Magic Circle -  Departed Souls 027 All Pigs Must Die - Hungry Wolf, Easy Prey 028 Shadows Fall - The Light That Blinds 029 The Bee Gees- 'Massachusetts' 030 Belly - Feed The Tree 031 Boston - Rock and Roll Band 032 The Pixies - Planet Of Sound 033 Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra - Massachusetts Avenue 034 Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch - Good Vibrations 035 The Rosebuds - Back To Boston 036 Cave In - Inspire 037 Pearl Jam - Brain of J. 038 Tool - Sweat 039 Adam Ant - Bright Lights Black Leather 040 Tristania - My Lost Lenore 041 Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor 042 The Kingston Trio - MTA 043 Ylvis - Massachusetts 044 Captain Beefheart - 25th Century Quaker 045 Elder - Deadweight 046 Morne - Coming Of Winter 047 Lou Reed - I Wanna Be Black 048 Lyres - Boston 049 Rotting Christ - The Raven 050 Killswitch Engage- Rose Of Sharyn 051 Macabre - Boston Strangler Albert de Salvo 052 Dar Williams - Flinty Kind of Woman 053 STEELY DAN, The Boston Rag 054 The Beach Boys - Do You Like Worms 055 The Freeze-This is Boston not LA 056 Art Gruthie - Massachusetts 057 THE CARS _ Good Times Roll 058 Richard Band - Re-Animator OST Prologue - Main Title 059 Gang Green - Skate To Hell 060 Guerilla Toss - Come Up With Me 061 Karyn Crisis' Gospel of the Witches -Salem's Wounds 062 Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Agorapocalypse now 063 the MODERN LOVERS _Roadrunner_ 1972 064 Edgar Allen Poe - Black Cat 065 Rammstein - Stein um Stein 066 The Necromancers - Salem Girl Part I 067 Orange Goblin - Sons Of Salem 068 Danny Elfman - [Sleepy Hollow OST] Main Titles 069 King Diamond - Abigail 070 The Cult - The Witch 071 Witch - Eye 072 Cavalera Conspiracy -  The Crucible 073 Queens Of The Stone Age -  Burn The Witch 074 Salem - Witch Burning 075 Danny Elfman - [Sleepy Hollow OST] Into The Woods (The Witch) 076 Clutch - Sucker for the Witch 077 Bewitched TV show  - Theme 078 John Zorn - Witchfinder 079 Blood Ceremony -  The Witch's Dance 080 Billy Talent - The dead can't Testify 081 The Misfits -  Witch Hunt 082 Rob Zombie - Lords Of Salem 083 Acid Witch -  Witchfynder Finder 084 King Diamond - Salem 085 The Cramps Big Black Witchcraft Rock 086 Mount Salem - Lucid 087 Sleepy Hollow TV SHow - Main Theme 088 Demons & Wizards - Beneath These Waves 089 Hexvessel -  Woman of Salem 090 Cradle of Filth - Her Ghost in the Fog 091 Metal Church - Of Unsound mind 092 Lich King -  Ed-209 093 Disrupt - Religion is a Fraud 094 The Witch OST - Witch's Coven 095 Fuming Mouth - Out of the Shadows 096 Abigail Williams - Acolytes 097 Clutch -  Worm Drink 098 1476 - A Circle Of Hope & Despair 099 Sleepy Hollow (2014) Soundtrack 100 Pixies - All Over the World 101 Sonic Youth - New Hampshire 102 Meliah Rage - Absolute Power 103 Albert Goes West - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds 104 Symphony X - King of Terrors 105 Alan Vega - American Dreamer 106 Van Der Graaf Generator - Pilgrims 107 ZZ Top  - I Thank You 108 Walt Disney's Johnny Tremain, _The Sons of Liberty 109 Paul Simon - American Tune (LP version) 110 SAXON - Sailing to America 111 Old Man Gloom  - Skullstorm 112 Mastodon -  I Am Ahab 113 Patti Page - Old Cape Cod 114 Ty Seagull - Archangel Thunderbird 115 Morphine - Buena 116 Manticora - On a Sea of Grass 117 Young Widows -  Old Skin 118 Hurriganes - Slippin And Slidin 119 Glacier - O World! I Remain No Longer Here. 120 Marissa Nadler - Blue Vapor 121 SEA - Penumbra 122 Vital Remains - Infidel 123 Throwing Muses - Bright Yellow Gun 124 Ike and Tina Topless Turner - Sweet Rhode Island Red 125 Flotsam and Jetsam -  She Took an Axe 126 Lizzy Borden - Council for the Cauldron 127 Rob Noyes - Further off 128 The Real Kids - All Kindsa Girls 129 Immunerable Forms - Puritys Demand 130 Blonde Redhead  - Inside You 131 Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Agorapocalypse Now 132 Wear Your Wounds - Adrift In You 133 Howlin' Rain - Phantom In The Valley 134 J Mascis - Every Morning 135 Killswitch Engage - The Signal Fire (feat. Howard Jones) 136 Refuse Resist - _Still in Massachusetts 137 Church of Misery - Boston Strangler 138 City On A Hill TV show - Opening Theme 139 Pixies - U-Mass 140 Warhorse - Amber Vial 141 Zozobra - The Cruelest Cut 142 REVOCATION - Scattering The Flock 143 Metal Church - Of unsound mind 144 Seven Spires - Drowner Of Worlds 145 Boston Legal - TV show theme song 146 Converge -  Trespasses 147 Cave In - Anchor 148 Give up the Ghost - Love American 149 Dinosaur Jr. - Tiny 150 Boston Bruins theme song - Lets Go Bruins 151 Buffalo Tom - Staples 152 Trap Them - [Crown Feral #02] Hellionaires 153 Knights Of Bostonia - State Radio 154 Juliana Hatfield 3 - Feelin Massachusetts 155 The Red Chord  - Hymns And Crippled Anthems 156 CLUTCH - Emily Dickinson 157 New Kids On The Block - Step By Step 158 MELIAH RAGE - Decline of rule 159 Belly - Gepetto 160 AEROSMITH - Get A Grip 666 Denis Leary  - ASSHOLE  Also, check out the awesome L.A Witch Halloween Quarantine playlist at: https://floodmagazine.com/82347/l-a-witch-quarantine-helloween-playlist/?fbclid=IwAR3QRJEIMt57z-X_Zrfx5Ae7rjLkLdpOnjes6iv4yczqxAvLcG3OdfCulWw

[vampirate2135]

Forbidden Desires

Zach dragged a hair comb against the prison bars, a trance-like stare fixed his face towards the analog clock on the wall at the end of the hall of cells. Some inmates spend the last minutes of their sentence saying goodbyes, or celebrating. But he didn't give a shit about any one of these cocksuckers, all the people he cared about were outside. Like his slinky squeeze, Marcella, an Italian beauty with a mouth that lands her in trouble but never stops. He hasn't heard from her in 16 years* ((or however old your character is)), and hopes to God she's still waiting for him. As far as celebrating, he isn't so naive to believe anything certain until it actually happens, with his share of enemies.

Finally, at last, the hour and minute hand kissed, meeting at the top. He broke from his trance at the clink of his door unlocking and sliding open,"Alright, Zachary, it's showtime. Bring any items you want to leave with. You're not coming back here, hopefully." He kept clutching that comb, as precious as gold. In his pocket a picture of his honey.

"Hey yo Baby Blue, give your bitch a present from me." A loogie flew his way, missing his feet by inches. Baby Blue is because of his eye color.

Oh, also because he used to be a cop. But he doesn't talk about that life anymore, or even think about it, but these fuckers love to dig up the past.

He kept his eyes forward, not about to start a scuff now.

They gave him back his personal items, a basic glock pistol and a pack of Lucky Strikes. He left in his old jeans, but kept his wife beater shirt, not about to hide his new ink, they're a reminder now. No one waited for him outside the prison, he figured that, so he hailed a cab. "2029 Lenore Dr." He still remembered his old address, it's all he thought about.

[lethe-rpg]

The name Lenore Leclaire sounds like it would radiate class whenever it’s four syllables touch ears, but the woman behind the name exhibited a much more turbulent history. Born Lenore Chalfont, and hailing from a line of witches, Lenore had a tendency to raise eyebrows wherever she went due to the rumblings of what her family were. They often tried to make deals with other important families as a way to elevate their status within the supernatural world. It seemed like a foolproof plan at the time, but the truth of their dealings put them in debt with a vampire with questionable morality and soon a time to pay up was counting down. No one knew what the payment would be, but Lenore had an idea it wasn’t good. She didn’t want her life to be decided by someone else’s hand and wanted to learn how to protect herself by any means necessary. Whether through magic or weaponry the young witch wasn’t going to let the sins of the past  be the death of her. After a while, she put those fears on hold when she fell in love, married a man of higher standing, and had a large family. The tough exterior she had built up was starting to be replaced with a loving mother and wife. It however made her more paranoid and protective of her family. There fear of a debt being repaid was always in the back of her mind. Ultimately it made her careless and brash causing her to kill the protege of the vampire her family was in debt with in an effort to protect what she held dear to her. There was no escaping the situation now that the past had caught up with her. The payment became clear. Replace who she killed or lose the family she had loved with all her heart. Lenore without a second thought gave herself up, essentially putting an end to her marriage and who she once was.

Soon a rather complicated relationship formed between Lenore and the vampire who had made her. She spent her whole life wanting to get away from him and now he was to one person that could help her with her transition into immortality. Part of her hated him at first, but over time she understood that everyone was a villain in someone else’s story and that her family had been in the wrong as much as he had been. It created a rather strange relationship between the pair built on a  history of horrible decisions that lead to a sort of alliance and genuine fondness. She started to appreciate the things in life that had been missing, like an appreciation for art, history and literature. Her enemy and the reason she had been preparing for the worst was becoming a travel companion and someone she could enjoy the finer things of life with. Things at times were rather bloody and horrific as she adjusted to her newfound hunger, but it wasn’t the same fear she once held.  However, there was still something missing in Lenore’s life and it was due to the fact that she had essentially left her life without any closure. Soon she went back and tried to repair the relationships with her children and descendants. Lenore was terrified they had turned their back on her like her husband had, only to find out they held her in a sense of regard. Knowing they existed and had full lives because of her own sacrifice. Sure, they would have never been in the situation if it hadn’t been to their ancestors but there was still no bitterness in their hearts. Lenore managed to become the motherly figure in her family’s life for the next couple hundred years; trying to keep the killer side and the parental side separate from each other. She wanted her family to feel safe for once, trying to reverse the fear she had from her own childhood. Soon her  family wanted a safe haven to settle causing Lenore to find Lethe. It seemed like a smart plan and soon she moved with her several times removed grandchildren after their mother passed from illness.

She’s been in Lethe for a few years now and finds it to be the most normal her life had ever been ever. Sure she is a vampire who is still haunted by the fact she has been turned into what she feared and that her best friend was her undoing on some level. It’s still a lot to wrap her head around and at times she needs a moment to evaluate how her life had wound up this way, but she doesn’t fully regret it. She mostly regrets letting her families misdeeds have control of her past. In Lethe she finds a sense of solace and peace that she didn’t have for a long time. It makes her feel bad as a result knowing there are so many people in town going through so much. From the Riverborn to the past year of craziness that seems to still be permeating through the town; things are still complicated. She knows things aren’t perfect, but for once she isn’t looking over her shoulder in fear of the unknown. The unknown has become her life and she’s just trying to do right by her family since it hadn’t been done for her.

[wizardsnwookies]

POTA110618 - Crushed

According to Lady Stormbanner they were following in the same footsteps as the previous group that had come seeking to solve this mystery. This was of course by design for the most part, although Banshae did not know they had also requested aid in the construction of a raft. There were certain parallels she hoped to avoid drawing between themselves and the previous group. Namely the “never to be seen again part.”

“Interesting group.” Flea rode his horse up upfront alongside Elora and Banshae, the former following the trail, the latter maintaining the same empty stare she wore most of the days he’d known her. Save the last 24 hours spent at Summit Hill.

“I wouldn’t mind visiting again on our way out.” For once, his ancestors were quiet, so Flea took the opportunity to think out loud for himself. Not necessarily looking for any kind of response. 

“Assuming we make our way out.” Elora offered a joking smile, a joke Banshae appeared to be unamused by.

“As long as we each give our best and work together. In the end the gods are responsible for our fate.”

“I was just making fun.”

“She doesn’t do ‘fun’ or haven’t you noticed?”

The look Banshae shot Flea was more of hurt than anger. Almost embarrassment. “I see no fun in the prospect of death.”

“Oh come on, you’re telling me you didn’t enjoy yourself the least bit letting out some frustration on ‘the Lord of Lance Rock?”

“I held no personal stake in that. No individual ill will. It was merely a matter of duty.”

“See? No fun.” Flea chuckled to himself.

“Leave her alone, Flea. So she doesn’t revel in wanton blood. I’m none too keen on that either. You going to lean on me too?” Elora offered a light punch to the half-orc’s shoulder, like scolding a sibling.

“I’m not talking about wanton blood. I’m talking about taking a little joy in your work.” He turned back to Banshae, his tone a bit more respectful.

“You’re a soldier. You obviously have someone on top you look up to. You’re trying to tell me you don’t feel the least bit satisfied at the prospect of serving?”

Banshae thought for a moment, expecting to have to fight for an answer from the void. To her astonishment, it was revealed to her almost instantly, as if by reflex. A warm sensation swelled in her breast, and her chin lifted. Was this pride?

“I serve justice. Justice is an idea, and ideal, not a man or a woman. Although I answer to one I consider greater than myself, it is because they more greatly represent law and order.

“By serving justice, I feel like my life is given purpose and meaning...and yes, feel satisfied in fulfilling that purpose.”

“Well spoken.” Behind them, Dion offered a solemn bow of his head.

“Fair enough. I just like hitting things.” Flea shrugged.

“Hah, OK.” Elora smiled into her chest, only the slightest shaking of the head perceptible by anyone nearby.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That’s such a cop-out. Right alongside the gold standard ‘I’m just in it for the money.’“ The high elf turned, her eyes glittering in the sunlight. “I should know, I used to say the same thing.”

“Alright then, enlighten us as to your higher purpose.”

“That’s my business, and I’m not asking you to divulge in yours. I’m just saying. Don’t go and try and tell us you’re just some thug with an axe. We all know better than that. If that were the case you’d be with them instead of riding with us.”

“She’s a bright one, that one.” Aunt Lenore floated up next to Flea’s left, her massive arms crossed in front of her barrel chest. She had a look of approval about her that worried him. He knew what was coming next.

“She’d make a good mate.”

“Ugh, let’s not start that again.” Flea batted away at the air in a feeble attempt to disrupt the bothersome spirit even though experience told him it was a futile effort.

“Start what again?” Elora crooked an eyebrow.

“Nevermind...can we talk about something else?”

---

The fording of the river was not so much difficult as it was time consuming. The raft they had constructed proved sturdy and took to the waters well, however was nowhere near large enough for a single trip. With Banshae and Flea keeping watch on either side of the river, several trips were made to bring the horses over carefully two at a time. They were trained well, and were not skiddish of the waters that rushed underneath their hooves. For this all were grateful, as it was they would have to make camp before the final trip was made anyways.

Dawn broke with a warm breeze that smelled of tall grass and fresh water. Elora watched aghast as the rest of her party took to the river in the morning eagerly. Splashing the cool waters over their faces, drinking deeply and gladly. Gods only knew what was in that water. She was quite content to drink from her water skin for now and would bath when the waters offered were hot and clean.

While she waited, Elora bent down to examine the fading wagon tracks sunken into the riverbank. They were faint, a few more days and they’d disappear entirely. As it was, it would be difficult to track. Difficult, but not impossible, at least not for her. Bathed and refreshed, the rest of her group mounted up and fell in line behind as Elora slowly walked her horse along the path following the barely perceptible divets in the earth.

The day dragged on slowly, with nought but bush and tree alongside for landmarks. The afternoon sun eliminated all shadows for a few hours, forcing them to halt. Without the hint of darkened contours, Elora was blind to her next step. With the return of shadow, they recommenced their trek into the afternoon as the sun slowly sank below the treeline. The sky erupted into a brilliant hue of orange and purple just as they had rounded the next bend to be greeted by the same riverbank they had set out from that very morning.

“...by the nine Hells.” Elora cursed herself, immediately looking down to the dirt to find the tracks she saw so clearly not hours before.

“Is it just me or did we just to a complete circle?” Miv’s voice hinted a mild annoyance, but it was Banshae Elora was more concerned about.

“Sorry, the tracks were faint as it is. Probably got turned around somewhere.”

“You think?”

“It’s fine Elora. Nothing to be done about it now.” Banshae dismounted with a heavy sigh and cast a glance into the setting sun. “We’ll start fresh in the morning.”

Something, perhaps instinct, tickled the back of Flea’s head. Carefully as to not draw too much attention, he scanned the treeline around them. Around him he saw his ancestors floating about their own business. Chattering among themselves, telling the same stories they’ve already told countless times over. He tried to look past them, into the brush. Although he saw only green, he had a suspicion it hid something more.

“Don’t get in your bedclothes just yet. We’ve got company.”

Sure enough, as he pulled he weapon at the ready a rustling of leaves and snapping of twigs sounded from all around them. Figures emerged from shadow, behind trees, as if spawning from the forest itself. Strange figures in strange garb he noticed. Netting and turtle shell, crab claw and shark teeth. Humans, and some strange kind of orc with a bluish skin. Commanding over all, a lithe humanoid covered in barnacle and inked skin. His eyes the color of sea foam.

“Perceptive they are. If only they were able to recognize who’s territory they tread. This all may have been avoided.” His voice reminded them of the coast during a storm, dark and roaring.

“Who’s territory might that be?” Flea sized the thing up, he could take him.

“The children of the Crushing Wave, those who recognize and worship the power of the sea.”

Banshae’s eyes were fixed elsewhere, a symbol carved deeply in the shell armor that encased the majority of the humans. Although it was clearly not the symbol of those who had taken the lives of her brethren, it stood out in her mind as familiar nonetheless.

“We have no quarrel with you. Leave us in peace, lest you give us good reason to draw arms.” She already knew their answer, but something inside her compelled the warning nonetheless. Rules of engagement. The honor and conduct of war.

“I’m afraid it’s far too late for that.” The barnacled one made the slightest of gestures with his hands and in an instant his underlings had begun their attack. The air was filled with the twang of bow strings, shafts buzzing like angry wasps. Mercifully few found their target. The things that appeared like Orcs produced a strange kind of magic, tossing stagnant spheres of water through the air that exploded in a putrid stench.

Miv ducked past each one, moving like a hummingbird, nought but a smeared image and a whisper of sound in the fading light. Drawing closer to the crowd, jagged swords slashed and cut at him. Within the wooden blade, dozens of serrated shark teeth had been tied with gut twine. It bit and tore into his exposed flesh, creating massive gashes that wept blood.

His ancestors with him, Flea flew into a rage. Everything became red, and his weapon became like an extra limb. It was an extension of his body, lashing out with the added strength of generations of proud warriors. Beside him, Banshae belched forth a cloud of frost, sending her foes to their knees in a deathly chill. She found herself smiling, thinking of her earlier conversation with Flea and Elora.

While the battle raged, Dion noticed a sudden darkness about them. Looking up he saw a small gathering of clouds block out the setting sun. But these were not natural clouds. No, they were much smaller, closer to them all than the sky. A dark black with highlights of blue, these clouds clustered overhead. The temperature dropped. Hail, began to fall around them. The tatooed man smiled, arms outstretched, embracing the cold.

And so the battle continued, in darkness and in the light of the setting sun. In warmth and in cold. With arrow and sword, as well as sleet and rain. One by one the lesser cultists fell. Even with the added encumbrance of the storm, the heroes fought with a stronger conviction somehow, a greater zeal. One by one, the ground became littered with the dead, settling in the melting piles of hail in the dirt. The tattooed one was forced to watch as the power of his faith did nothing to stop what he had assumed to be mere common folk. No, this was not possible. The Crushing Wave towered over all! How could this be?

These questions scared him, his shaken faith far more threatening than any sword against him. Without so much as a word to his underlings, he turned heel and fled back into the bush, leaving the storm to slowly dissipate in his wake. It was now quite clear this would not be their day, and those cultists remaining alive followed suit and broke combat in an attempt to escape with their lives.

They were fast, faster than anticipated. Their retreat had taken them all by surprise. Lowering her sword Banshea watched the retreating figures shrink in the distance, focusing on one in particular. A straggler. Sword sheathed carefully in place, her hands now gripped the handle of her crossbow, leveled, and fired a single bolt directly behind the knee.

“Nice shot.” Elora nodded her approval, Banshae tried not to flush. From her observation, Elora was by far the more skilled archer, and she did not take compliments well as it was. She did her best to hide it and silently strode forward to take the wounded captive.

“Is everyone alright?” Dion had his healing spells at the ready, noting that at the very least, Miv had taken several blows at the hand of the strange serrated sword.

“I’ll live.” Flea shrugged his wounds off as usual, ignoring the fuss Aunt Lenore was making over them.

“Yes, well. I still think it would be best if I saw to everyone anyways.” The sun was almost below the horizon now and dark would be settling in proper soon. He would have to be quick, there were rites for the dead to perform.

Buy Me a Coffee

[allthefilmsiveseenforfree]

Life of the Party

Even on vacation in the remotest manor in the woods of Estes Park, I still manage to find my way to a free movie. This week that entailed a 90 minute drive to the nearest town for a showing of Melissa McCarthy’s Mother’s Day offering, Life of the Party. McCarthy plays a newly divorced wife and mom named Deanna who has decided, in light of her husband’s infidelity, to go back to college and finish her degree at the same college where her daughter is completing her senior year. SHENANIGANS ENSUE. The premise is fairly simple, so did this movie deliver anything beyond “LOL Moms don’t go to college”? Well...

No, god, no it does not at all, it was so bad. It’s SO DISAPPOINTING because McCarthy wrote this with her husband who also directed, Ben Falcone, and I just expected so much more of them. For starters, there’s no central conflict or driving force behind the action. An “oh no, I don’t have the money to pay for the rest of the semester” hail mary is thrown into the film’s last 20 minutes, but it’s far too little, too late. The rest of the movie feels meanderingly purposeless, other than to put wacky Deanna into an unfamiliar situation and just let the camera roll. The entire thing feels like an out-of-control SNL sketch that has interesting characters who are given nothing to work with.

Some thoughts:

It’s just...the writing is so bad. SO bad. So many missed opportunities. 

First example - Gillian Jacobs is a big highlight as a slightly older student who was in a coma for 8 years. Her behavior throughout the movie is just a little off and she’s a bit spacey and is content to flout social norms. I guess this is supposed to be a result of the coma, but that’s never mentioned. At no point does someone ask her, “Oh wow, were there any side effects from being in a coma so long?” So she could say, “Oh no, absolutely not” and then go do something weird. That’s so fucking sloppy, it’s mind-boggling.

Second example - Chris Parnell is WASTED as a lovable archeology professor who was a former classmate of Deanna’s. They have a ton of shared interests, they both love making archeology puns, and there are multiple scenes of them talking together that seem to imply some sort of flirtation or deeper connection - and none of that is developed or followed up on at any point. Instead, the main romantic arc concerns Deanna repeatedly hooking up with frat boy Jack who is obsessed with her. Clearly she and Jack aren’t right for each other, because they have nothing in common except sex. But the movie ends their relationship with her telling him they can’t have sex anymore, then waffling, then walking away so as not to give into temptation. What the fuck kind of arc is that supposed to be??

One huge waste of space is Deanna’s roommate, the goth-ish Lenore, who is meant to be unsettling and weird but comes across as just sleepily high all the time. Her lines are meant to be laugh lines, I know they are, but they’re all AWFUL. She exists solely as a plot device to get Christina Aguilera to a party, and if that’s your whole character, that’s really really sad.

Even the characterization is sloppy. Deanna makes a huge thing about being afraid of public speaking but then the next scene features her and her daughters friend’s going to a party where she clears out a circle in the middle of the room and has a breakdance fight with the girl who has been bullying her? 

Speaking of, do female college students talk to each other the way bleach-blonde guys on the lacrosse team in 80s movies talk? Because the villain of the piece, whose name I can’t even remember, is so over-the-top mean for no reason that it’s absurd. Do you know how young girls are mean to older women? They fucking ignore them or make fun of them behind their back. This girl’s going full Cobra Kai and it’s just so unrealistically bad.

The best part of the movie, no surprise, is Maya Rudolph who is hilarious as Deanna’s best friend and steals every scene she’s in. If you can just watch a Youtube compilation of her bits, that would be great.

I’m really hoping that the other Mother’s Day offering from last weekend, Breaking In, will be a more enjoyable experience, because this one was the mother of all disappointments.

[comic-movieheroesranked]

Cinematic Comic Characters Ranked! (Year 2011) Part III

This year I think has the most characters ranked so far, and all from movies introducing brand new characters. X-Men franchise gets a reboot with X-Men: First Class; The MCU welcomes the additions of Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger; DC Comics introduces Green Lantern, and we also get The Adventures of Tintin, Cowboys & Aliens, The Green Hornet, and Priest. Here’s #40-21!

*SPOILER ALERT FOR THE HIGHLIGHTED MOVIES ABOVE*

40. Erik Selvig (Thor)

"Anyone who's ever going to find his way in this world, has to start by admitting he doesn't know."

Erik is a wise man of science who helps Jane work on her projects. Despite not believing Thor's story one bit when the god arrives to Earth, he still helps Jane rescue him and even leaves some words of advice to Thor that helps him understand what it means to be a king. He's a good guy so it sucks to see that by the post-credits scene, when he's talking to Nick Fury, he's been possessed by Loki himself.

39. Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine (The Adventures of Tintin)

"Nothing I do is an accident!"

A villain on a quest for revenge in his great ancestor's name. Sakharine had every move and action planned out to find the lost treasure of the unicorn but didn't quite predict Tintin's involvement. Despite all his efforts, he's unable to complete his mission and loses to Haddock just like his ancestor did.

38. Benjamin Chudnofsky (The Green Hornet)

"My gun has two barrels. That's not boring."

The big bad villain of the film, Chudnofsky is just a crime boss who is going through a mid-life crisis. Turns out that being scary means a lot more than just killing everyone who crosses you. He learned the younger generations want something a little more flashy. He tries but it's kinda like when a father tries to hang out with his teenage son at a party. It just doesn't work. However, he's still a violent being who takes out a lot of people but in all honesty, he can't be that impressive when he couldn't even kill Britt on his own. Sure, Britt had Kato, who managed to deliver the killing blow to the crime lord, but if he was as bad as wanted to be, he would've had no issues.

37. Lenore Case (The Green Hornet)

"If you even look at my ass again I'll sue you for sexual harassment."

Geez how did this girl even want to work as Britt's assistant after finding out what a complete douche he was? His attempts at flirty were so pervy you just couldn't help but feel bad for Case. Kato didn't really help either and if I were in her shoes I'd let the cops take them both down. But for some reason she helps them and decides to continue to help them keep the city safe by the end of the film.

36. Azazel (X-Men: First Class)

"Damn it."

In my opinion, Azazel is Shaw's most dangerous assassin in the Hellfire Club. Not only can he teleport but he's also a master at wielding a long blade. The combination of the two really shows when he kills most of the government agents protecting the X-Men by himself. His combat skills are so impressive that he's able to take on Beast and Havok at the same time. He apparently can't take a punch though, as it only takes one from Beast to knock him out. When everything's said and done, Azazel joins Magneto's Brotherhood.

35. Thaal Sinestro (Green Lantern)

"Are you afraid?"

With his mentor dead, Sinestro seems to be the strongest member of the Corps alive, but he's faced with a lot. Even with his skill he can't seem to defeat Parralax, who keeps destroying planets with his powers of fear. Worse, he strongly feels like Hal isn't fit to be a Lantern so in an act of desperation turns to the Guardians to find another source of power to defeat his foe. The source is fear, the opposite force of willpower, the very essence of what it means to be a Green Lantern. Despite Hal proving willpower can overcome fear, at the end of the film, Sinestro still puts on the yellow ring, becoming the first member of the Yellow Lanter Corps.

34. Black Hat (Priest)

"After all, if you're not committing sin then you're not having fun."

Black Hat used to be a priest who was taken down during an attack on a vampire hive that went wrong. Instead of killing him, the vampire queen feeds him her blood instead and turns him into the first vampire-human hybrid, containing the skills of a priest and power of a vampire. This makes him dangerous as he leads an overwhelming army of vampire to kidnap Lucy, Priest's daughter, and destroy towns full of humans. He also proved his power by killing three priests on his own as well as nearly taking out Priest towards the films climax. However, Priest had help in the form of Hicks and Priestess and was able to see Black Hat burn up in flames at the last second.

33. Laufey (Thor)

"Go now, while I still allow it."

Man was this guy a huge let down. I truly thought Laufey was going to be the big bad villain of the movie, but turns out he was just another pawn in Loki's ultimate plan to rule Asgard. King of the Frost Giants, he's definitely not to be messed with, but he puts his faith in his son and when he goes to kill Odin in his sleep, Loki betrays him and blasts him to dust.

32. Hector Hammond (Green Lantern)

"How wonderful that all it took for you to grow up was the end of the world."

I almost did want to feel bad for all the crap Hector seemed to be getting from his dad his entire life, but all of that went out the window when the first thing he does when he sees Carol is sniff her hair. The dude is weird, jealous, and entitled so of course he ends up getting possessed by Parralax and granted these psychic powers that comes with a disturbing physical appearance. He gets his revenge on his students, his dad, even Hal for a bit before the other male manages to trick him into wearing the ring. The ring doesn't recognize him and backfires on him and when Parralax shows up and sees him wearing the weapon of his sworn enemy? Yeah Hector died real quick after that.

31. Thomson and Thompson (The Adventures of Tintin)

"To be precise, you are under arrest!"

These two are pure comedy. Not only for how they exchanged words with each other, but because they were absolutely horrible at doing their jobs yet, oddly enough, seemed to be at the right place at the right time to help Tintin save the day. I mean the two were literally at the house of the kleptomaniac they were after and were arguing AGAIST him on how he wasn't their suspect. If that isn't what you call a pure comedic mess I don't know what is.

30. Britt Reid/The Green Hornet (The Green Hornet)

"Everyone knows, you corner a hornet, you get stung."

I hated Britt. He's almost exactly like Bruce Wayne when it comes to being rich, having dead parents, and then deciding to become a superhero, but his arrogance, rudeness, and in-capabilities with mental and physical prowess proved this dude could never be on Batman's level. There was just so many times that he would screw everything up that you just wanted him to fail because it was frustrating to see someone as annoying as him save the day.

29. Parralax (Green Lantern)

"Once I have devoured your world I will have all the strength I need to defeat the Corps and destroy the Guardians."

A former Guardian, Parralax wanted to use the power of fear instead of willpower, making him an easy enemy of the Green Lantern Corps. After his first defeat, he returns stronger than ever, devouring planets through their inhabitant's fear. He nearly destroys Earth as well until Hal manages to fight him off, tricking him into being pulled in into the sun and burns away. His legacy in fear lives on though, once Sinestro slips on the yellow ring that is fused with his powers.

28. Woodrow Dolarhyde (Cowboys & Aliens)

"Get off my plains!"

At first Dolarhyde seemed like a huge asshole that let his son terrorize a town just because he was rich and that he was actually going to be an obstacle Jake would have to face during his war with the aliens, but the latter never happened. Dolarhyde was quick to band together with the others, only really showing disobedience when it came to working with the Native Americans which, granted, was only because they had just taken him prisoner. He proves to be a good shot during the final fight and even saves Jake's life at the last moment inside the ship. I would have preferred Percy dying instead of Colorado and then Dolarhyde officially adopting Colorado to be his son but instead he gives Percy exactly what he wants again but at least Percy kinda stopped being a dick.

27. Alex Summers/Havok (X-Men: First Class)

"Whatever."

Havok seemed to be the member shrouded in the most mystery when he first joined the group. He was very hesitant about being around everyone and they quickly knew why, his energy blasts are out of control. After the death of his good friend Darwin, he decides to focus on his destructive blasts but still can't manage to do it. Even though he mocks Hank to no end, the brilliant scientist helps create a device that helps him control the blasts. He holds his own when the X-Men go up against the Hellfire Club and he officially stays with Xavier after Magneto kills Shaw.

26. Carol Ferris (Green Lantern)

"You don't think I would recognize you because I can't see your cheekbones?"

Carol Ferris is a strong fighter pilot, a smart businesswoman, and Hal Jordan's ex-girlfriend. While it's clear she still cares about him, she just can't take him seriously. She's even smart enough to realize the Green Lanter is Hal, but I mean she makes a good point on him not really having a big disguise. Her bravery matches her brain power too, when she saves Hal from death by blasting some missiles at Parralax and giving him the opportunity he needs to save the day.

25. Johann Schmidt/Red Skull (Captain America: The First Avenger)

"Hail, HYDRA."

This guy takes having a God complex to a whole other level. He wants the world at his feet and in order to do so he needs power. So he creates HYDRA and joins Hitler and the German Nazis to find it. He becomes the infamours Red Skull when he tries to take the super soldier serum and his body rejects it. Even though he's really intimidating at times, he never really accomplishes anything. When his plan fails and Captain America defeats him, he grabs the tesseract and it seems to kill him with it's sheer power alone.

24. Ella Swenson (Cowboys & Aliens)

"I won't be around for very long."

Yeah Ella's true identity as another alien being was definitely a plot twist I didn't see coming but after learning who she really is you really got to admire her selflessness. She literally lost her entire race of aliens like her yet still went out of her way to warn and later help the humans before they were wiped out as well. She manages to help rescue all the kidnapped humans from the alien's captivity but her real shining moment comes when she sacrifices herself to detonate a huge bomb that destroys the entire alien ship, killing every single one of them. We did see her come back to life earlier so who knows if she actually stays dead this time.

23. Moira MacTaggert (X-Men: First Class)

"You're your own team now. You're X-Men."

Moira is a great CSI agent. As soon as she discovers that the Hellfire Club is full of mutants, she goes and finds herself an expert on one. She holds no prejudice like most humans in her era which is probably why Charles starts developing feelings for her. Despite being the only human on the team, she does her best to fight Shaw and even Magneto when he proves to be a huge threat, firing several bullets at him, one of which ends up paralyzing Charles from the waist down. Afterwards, for the safety of him and his students, her memory is wiped clean for when she's interrogated by the CSI.

22. Sif, Vostagg, Hogun, Fandral (Thor)

"We must find Thor."

Sif and the Warriors Three are some of Asgard's greatest warriors and Thor's best friends. They're loyalty is shown all throughout the film when they travel with Thor to confront the Frost Giants and when they disobey Loki and travel to Earth to bring Thor back to Asgard after his banishment. They each have their own unique qualities and abilities that brings something good to the table, but it's only when they all work together that they really become a strong force of Asgardian warriors.

21. James 'Bucky' Barnes (Captain America: The First Avenger)

"This isn't a back alley, Steve. It's war!"

Steve's best friend who's looked out for him his entire life before he joins the army. He reunites with Steve after he becomes Captain America and rescues him from a HYDRA facility. Bucky really becomes that sense of home for Steve, but I couldn't help but feel a little hint of jealousy in him? I mean I think he was so used to being the better man and then all of a sudden Steve is the face of the US army. Don't get me wrong, I think he cared about Steve one hundred percent but I think it was a hurt ego that made him try to rush that giant machine with Steve's shield before he gets blasted away and falls to his apparent death.