#and to this day that’s probably one of the most unhinged red string series of screenshots and evidence timelines i’ve created as legitimate

[crossbackpoke-check]

i am the nosy anon from yesterday and firstly i am so glad that i helped you find something!! how wonderful!! secondly i did some digging (typed morgan frost girlfriend into the tumblr.com search bar which is really what i probably should have done in the first place so. my bad) and the girlfriend is called taylor!

conclusion to the saga, thank you anon!!! sharing this for the sake of anyone else who was curious�� they are as of july 7 dating lmao BUT allow me some points for accuracy here because taylor is definitely a different person than who i was thinking of 🤡

[laylakeating]

CREATIONS FROM EVERY MONTH OF 2023! (except october but we're not going to talk abt that !!)

Post your favourite and most popular post from each month this year (it’s okay to skip months).

i was tagged by two of the Most talented girlies in the world !! @saw-x and @taiturner ILYYYYY ty for sharing what your brilliant minds came up with this year !!!

JANUARY

MOST POPULAR: britt + karma !! i had so much fun with this set and it was honestly such a good way to start off the year !! FAVOURITE: probably that same set !! also the glee icons pack i made :D

FEBRUARY

MOST POPULAR: from my blog, britt + mike in 207 shsjhs. from teen dramas, brooke in 207 (one of my fave looks of hers) (this was clearly a month for the seventh episodes in second seasons ??) FAVOURITE: barchie + high infidelity for barchiesource !! something a bit different for me creatively but ugh i love it. also glee 514 for gleesource !! again something a lil different !!

MARCH

MOST POPULAR: riverdale returning to television and proving it takes the cake as the funniest show in the world (another rvd is iconic and beyond reproach set for 701) FAVOURITE: a banger month for creative sets !! basically everything i made for barchie week, this unholy trinity MASTERPIECE i made for gleesource, and this djats set + destiny, choice, chance

APRIL

MOST POPULAR: my favourite scene from djats for djats week in green bc apparently i like to make things hard for myself ?? who knew FAVOURITE: again. SO MANY. another month another appreciation week shsjhs. anyway all the sets i made for djats week, more sets for gleesource including santana + valerie and mercedes and santana + river deep mountain high, my santana lesbian visibility set, hsmtmts + tarot cards which took me wayyyy too long to finish, rvd ladies + barbie posters (50s edition), and barchie in 701 for barchiesource in RED (very proud of how it turned out considering i hate giffing in red)

MAY

MOST POPULAR: quinn + tropes for glee appreciation week !! FAVOURITE: everything i made for glee week (there were quite a few bangers), my 2 9-1-1 sets shjshsj - maddie + you first (a banger) and madney + paper rings (another banger), also the first (and only rip) set in my layla episodes series (layla + 101), and this jordayla + proposal foreshadowing i did over on jordayla gifs !!

JUNE

MOST POPULAR: this halle bailey set <33 FAVOURITE: once again. everything i made for all american appreciation week !!! special shout outs to layla + the eras tour and the layla set i made for day 1 !!

JULY

MOST POPULAR: nancy + the wizard of oz horror (that makes sense i swear) FAVOURITE: the aforementioned nancy set, also stancy + persuasion, the little mermaid live action and the quote that made me insane for a few weeks, layla + the lip pout she does (she's adorable), AND last but certainly not least, this pride and prejudice edit which was just nothing like i have ever done before that i LOVEDDDD

AUGUST

MOST POPULAR: ashlyn + giving maddox mouth to mouth (her delivery of AS A FRIEND still sends me into orbit) FAVOURITE: HSMTMTS MONTH BABEYYYYY !! fave sets include (but are not limited to there are too many) gina for hsmtmts week, fave songs (also for hsmtmts week), rina + maybe this time + motion blur (THIS TOOK ME WAY TOO LONG BTW), this antoine set bc he is an icon, madlyn + daylight (still a serve), rina + invisible string (to this day the most insane thing i have ever made), hsmtmts + a meme summary (just your regularly unhinged content honestly), and this jet/maddox set <33

SEPTEMBER

MOST POPULAR: this cinderella 1950 set in pink/blue <3 FAVOURITE: okay so we have ej playing cupid/being a love prophet HSJHSJ, TWO icon packs, one for olivia rodrigo and one for lexie grey, and also the britt + her love for my headband set bc it was the only other thing i made in september and i was worried it'd get lonely

OCTOBER

MOST POPULAR: apparently you have to post something for it to be popular FAVOURITE: i made many sets in my mind dw

NOVEMBER

MOST POPULAR: blair looking excellent (as always) for teendramas !! FAVOURITE: finn + bigger than the whole sky (part of my glee midnights series) (a true labour of love) (still obsessed with it btw)

DECEMBER

MOST POPULAR: percy !!!! for pjosource FAVOURITE: everything i made for 12 days of rina (there are only 5 days rip), and OF COURSE, to round the year off with a bang, the extraordinarily belated 2k celebration set for justine, AKA dair + midnights !!!!!!!!!

tagging some beloveds <3 @alinaastarkov, @jordanlayla, @katherines, @kayascodelorio, @perccyjackson, @yenvengerberg !!

[swordofsuns]

okay dnd stuff arc 3 continued

the party does some tactful redecorating and rebuilding of our new home. most of the major holes in the walls get patched up, and our rooms get furnished. while furnishing, however, they find a secret door leading to a previously unknown basement. The walls of the basement are covered in conspiricy boards and red string as well as pictures of an alchemy circle with an drawing of a Leech, a Bear, a Two Headed Snake, a Fox and a Bird on it, with the words "Great Beasts?". Red takes this oportunity to tactfully and extremely gently use this opportunity to lock the rest of the party in there and confront Ira Braxton and Kit for clearly working for an eldritch Bird, Bear, and Fox god respectively. they all try to deny it but at this point weve put the peices together enough and red is hiding the keys until they are honest with her so they all basicaly agree that yeah were all tied to an eldritch god, other than Val whos just kinda also there. Red tries to convince them that clearly the best course of action here is to under no circumstances help their patrons break free of their dream forest prison and probably bring about the apocalypse, but it turns out that everybody else is actualy on much better relations with their eldritch gods then Red was so she doesnt get much support on that front. later that night Ira has a dream where she sees Perro's true form as an eldritch god of imagination and creation before it is drowned in a lake of black ink

also Kit finds a cursed magic scroll that allows you to send a message to anyone anywhere but any message sent will turn weirdly horny for no reason

The next day the town is attacked by an army of gnolls led by Molt, Brandons mother. she demands that her sons be returned to her (oh btw she has another son named Hunter whos also a hellhound but everybody hates him for being an inferior copy of brandon). we get in a fight with her instead, and manage to beat her up enough that she retreats, though we and several townsfolk are hurt and are starting to be infected by Demon Sickness (basicaly if we dont get help soon we will turn into demons)

Out of options and desperate for a cure to save all of us as well as diana who also needs a cure, Braxton asks The Bear if he knows a way to find a Panacea. Eventualy The Bear gives him a map of somewhere in the woods that would have a panacea, but warns him it will be dangerous. We all pack up as best we can, despite half of us being very sick, and head out into the blizzard. we make it into the heart of the nearby forest, where we run into a group of powerful tree spirits in debate. Turns out their mad that because of the wood shortage the townsfolk have started cutting down their forest despite the fact that they had a deal made centuries ago that they would never cut down this forest. Also they were the ones who summoned the Jotun because of this. they are currently arguing on whether they should use the Jotun to destroy the town and everyone in it. Theres a weird man also there who seems to be trying to convince them of the yes murder option, and we end up in the debate. In order to settle this, our party and the strange man end up in compitition to pass a series of trials for the fate of the town. the trials themselves are largely irrelevant other then that Red finds a man who she recognizes in the woods and the strange man dies in the 3rd trial, revealing himself to really be a Rot Demon that had been corrupting the forest.

Turns out the strange man Red found was actualy her long lost adopted father, Actaeon, who she had assumed was dead, and, as it turns out, had assumed that she was dead. in the end the tree spirits decide not to destroy the town and to let us tell the town to get wood elsewhere.

more tomorow but for now im sleepy so thats all the unhinged dnd ramblings for today

Holly SHIT

[lia-jones]

Growing Pains - Chapter Twenty Six - The Rube Goldberg Trap

Author’s Note: Writing this first part was probably simultaneously the most scary and delightful I had done in my life. Finishing it was like the end of an era. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing, and if you did, please let me know. Your words and support are my bread and butter, and you have no idea how brighter my day becomes when I hear from you. So, it’s see you later, for now. Second part will be coming out soon! Lots of love!

Since I can remember, I have been fascinated with Rube Goldberg machines, even before I knew what they were called. A Rube Goldberg machine is also known as a chain reaction machine, which is basically a complicated contraption that requires a certain number of actions, one always leading to another, to obtain a single, usually very simple, purpose.  It’s inventor, Rube Goldberg, invented them for comic purposes, but I was fascinated by how it seemed to represent the way fate affects our lives, should such a thing exist.

Because if fate was a real thing, there was a reason why I quit the piano and decided to take Economics instead. And my change of career led to me meeting Daniel, and falling in love with him. Which, of course, led to the abuse, and me coming to Loveland to change my life. Simultaneously, that also led to me taking my doctorate, as well as my internship in LFG, and meeting Victor.

If fate was a real thing, there was a reason why my car broke down in the middle of the main avenue that rainy night, and a reason for Victor to stop and help me instead of moving along. There was a reason for him to startle me in the coffee room and make me spill coffee all over myself, because otherwise he wouldn’t have asked for me to present my own reports, and I wouldn’t have argued with him and wouldn’t have tried to quit the job, and Victor would’ve gone to Creekwood by himself, and we wouldn’t get to know each other, or fall in love.

Of course, believing in fate is always a nice thought. Even if we make mistakes, we can say it was fate. It was meant to be that way, because if we didn’t mess up, this or that wouldn’t have happened. Even the faultiest of actions can be seen as part of the Rube Goldberg machine, and we can cut ourselves some slack. It is faulty when we look at it closely. But if we look at the bigger picture, after the complicated contraption does its job, it fits perfectly. Its purpose is clear.

Unless, of course, the contraption leads to an unwanted result. That is a new kind of scary.

My presence in that fashion show seemed to be the push on the button of another Rube Goldberg machine, leading to a series of events, and I still couldn’t put my finger on all of them. As far as I was concerned, the contraption was still in motion, one event leading to the other. It began at the show, which probably caused a paparazzi to see me, which piqued the interest of that reporter who wrote the article, which lead to… this.

The morning after the article, I spoke with the Dean, reassuring her that the situation would be dealt with. Since Victor Lee was one of the people involved, she was relieved almost immediately, knowing he wouldn’t possibly let anything escape his watchful eye. After my classes and a brief meeting with my research team, I headed to LFG to meet the lawyers, and see what could be done about this whole thing.

I arrived at LFG to find Victor already in the conference room with the lawyers.

“Gentleman, please inform Miss Jones of what you believe we should do.” Victor ordered as I sat down. He was in CEO mode, bossy, poker face in place.

“We believe we may sue them for violation of privacy.” One of them turned to me. “Your abuse is a serious matter, and we can allege that the fact that they interviewed your abuser actually gave him the idea to try to reconnect with you.”

“Oh my God. Please don’t remind me.” I held my head between my hands.

Victor gave me a reassuring look. It made me feel safer, and I relaxed.

“We have to say, however, this may not work.” The other lawyer advised. “But the consequences of a lawsuit, even if the publisher is deemed not guilty of the charges, will be disastrous for them. We are talking about legal expenses, long days in court, not to mention no one will want to have anything to do with the company that crossed LFG’s CEO.”

“They will lose all their investors and go bankrupt.” I concluded. They all nodded, apparently pleased that I understood it. “But is this just a threat, or are we really going to go through with it?”

“Your choice.” Victor offered. “Whatever you decide, it’s final.”

“If we go through with this, if we press charges, my abuse will be discussed to no end, right?”

They all nodded.

“I don’t want that. And I have no intention of sending hundreds of people to unemployment either. I just want this to go away and maybe to send a warning that my personal business is off-limits.”

The lawyers all looked at Victor for approval. He gave them a small nod.

Suddenly, the door to the conference room opened, and an elegant tall man in his 60’s entered, his expression unsmiling and unforgiving. That expression alone would be a dead giveaway to who he was, if I hadn’t seen his picture in Victor’s biography. It was Victor’s father, Gregory Lee. Goldman followed shortly after him, a panicked expression on his face. And everyone in the room, except for me and Victor, were immediately affected by his presence, looking all uncomfortable and suddenly ceremonious.

Mr. Lee senior turned to the lawyers, speaking like he was actually their boss and ran the whole company himself.

“I need a moment alone with my son. Make yourselves busy elsewhere.”

Without another word, they quickly left the room, practically bowing to the man. The more I looked at him, the more I saw the resemblance in Victor. It was like he was a younger version of his father… except maybe for the eyes. The elder man turned to me.

“Did you not hear me? Leave.”

I looked at him, wondering what chip he had on his shoulder to be so rude. Victor intervened.

“Father, this is-“

“I know exactly who she is.” Mr. Lee interrupted, annoyed. “Her face is all over the tabloids.”

“What exactly are you doing here?” Victor asked, showing slight annoyance.

“I came to Loveland on business.” Gregory answered, sitting down. “Imagine my disappointment when one of my assistants brings me a copy of one of those dirty tabloids, featuring my son and… her.”

“I don’t see why is that any of your business.” Victor stated, cool as a cucumber.

“Ungrateful child.” The father spoke, his tone severe. “What do you think you are doing? Is that how you take care of our name, of your reputation? By getting yourself infatuated and letting our name be dragged through the mud? First it was that producer, now this? You’re too much of a fool, always acting on your romantic whims. Look at her. She has no family name, no worth of her own. Are you really considering continuing our bloodline with this girl? With a filthy immigrant?”

“I’m sorry, I won’t let you disrespect me like that!” I stood up.

“Someone should put a muzzle on you.” Victor’s father warned.

“Someone should try.” I retorted, letting him know with my eyes I was not scared of him.

“Enough!” I heard Victor say. “You said your piece. Now leave.” He got up, and walked to the door, opening it.

Gregory Lee walked proudly towards the door. He stopped by Victor, shooting a little more venom.

“I’m glad your mother isn’t here to see this. She would be ashamed of you.” And with that he left.

Victor looked like he took a major blow to the stomach. His eyes were red, his jaw clenching in anger. I had never seen him this vulnerable. He closed the door behind his father, and for a moment I was almost afraid to go to him, fearing he would break under my touch. He looked so fragile. It was evident that Victor’s tender spot was his father… and the mention of his mother.

He leaned against the frosted glass panels of the conference room, taking a deep breath, gathering himself. He was still the same Victor, standing tall and looking dignified, but at the same time, something about him looked frail, unhinged, shaken. I stood before him, massaging his shoulders softly.

He immediately took me in his arms, and held as tight as he could, taking a deep breath. Victor has held me so many times, trying to keep me safe or soothe me, but this was different. This was for his sake. He was the one seeking comfort this time, trying to steady himself. It almost felt like he was recharging.

“I’m sorry for this.” Victor finally spoke, sounding more like his usual self.

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry. I really am sorry. I know he’s your father, but he’s an ass. And he has no right to just waltz in and disrespect you.”

Victor let out another sigh.

“Don’t worry, I’m used to it.” He said, looking at me, but not letting me go out of his grip. “I told you, we don’t get along well.”

“You are a good man, Victor. You are.” I said, hoping my words would sound as honest as they were. He gave me a soft kiss, his lips lingering on mine.

“Let’s go home. I had enough of this day.” Victor gathered his things to leave.

The problem with contraptions like a Rube Goldberg machine is that, if you don’t see the bigger picture, you won’t know what it will lead to until the very end. You just see the dominoes falling, and the ball rolling, and the hourglass turning, and the hammer hitting it, allowing the sand in it to be slowly poured into a bowl supported by a very fragile string that can break at any moment.

All I knew was that my study was compromised, my career was in jeopardy, my abuse was out for the world to see, and Victor was fighting with his father. All of this was weighing on me like the sand in the bowl, and I was terrified to find out what would happen should the fragile string break.

Victor and I sat on the sofa in his living room, nursing our glasses of whiskey, both lost in thought. The world had decided to throw its entire weight on our shoulders, and for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel strong enough to bear it. I couldn’t help but think this was all my fault. It was all a curse I seemed to carry, and I couldn’t get rid of it, no matter how hard I tried. Now it was affecting Victor as well. It broke my heart to see him hurt like that… because of me.

Victor seemed to read my mind, as he held my hand and spoke in a more upbeat tone.

“You know what we need?” He said, getting up and pulling me with him. “A distraction. Let me cook you something.”

I gladly took the suggestion. We gathered around his kitchen island, preparing ingredients, and at some point all those problems seemed so far away that it was almost funny that they existed. We were just there, living in the moment, enjoying the banter, having fun. We would get through this. We had each other.

And then the doorbell rang. With a heavy sigh, Victor went to open it.

“Mia?” I heard him say from the hallway. “What are you doing here?”

It was my turn to sigh heavily. What was she doing here?

I didn’t understand her reply, but I noticed the voices were starting to get closer and closer. I prepared my serene smile.

“Wait in the kitchen with Andrea, I’ll check in my office.” I heard Victor say.

And there she was, wearing a blue summer dress, looking chirpy and innocent as always.

“Oh, Souvenir food?” She eyed the counter, and all the ingredients on it, curiously.

“Not sure it can qualify as Souvenir food, since we are both preparing it.” I said, as I put some onions to fry in a skillet.

“I miss my days cooking with Victor in Souvenir.” She reminisced. “But I have to say I learned a lot, at least now I can make edible food for Gavin. I was helpless in the kitchen, back in the day.”

My heart sank at the thought of Victor and Mia together, sharing the same moments I just shared with him.

“You used to cook with Victor for Souvenir?” I asked, trying to look impassive.

“I was there all the time!” She beamed. “I’m sure Victor told you, we know each other from way back! The restaurant was named after a memory we shared as kids! Well, one of the happy ones, the whole kidnapping and being in captivity for years isn’t one we want to keep, right?”

I held tight to the counter, my mind reeling. First, he clearly opened the restaurant in her honor, and that made my heart pang. Second, what did she mean, kidnapping? And captivity? This time, I couldn’t keep a straight face, and Mia grew worried.

“Are you feeling alright? You look pale, all of a sudden.” I didn’t reply, I could feel the ground moving under my feet. I focused on a spot on the counter, trying to steady myself.

“What’s the matter? Andrea?” I heard Victor’s voice as he came closer, his hands resting on my shoulders. I discretely shrugged his touch away. Mia didn’t notice, but Victor clearly did.

“Mia, the files you asked for are in that envelope. You don’t need me to see you out, do you?” I heard Victor say, his voice tense.

“No, it’s fine. Feel better, Andrea, okay?”

I nodded, wanting to make her go away as soon as possible. After a while, I heard the door close. I wondered how long it would take her to leave the building so I could leave as well, unnoticed. I released my grip from the counter and walked to the living room to get my phone. Victor followed me.

“Can you fill me in on what just happened?” Victor asked, simultaneously confused and annoyed.

“Why did you close Souvenir, Victor?” I faced him, giving him an accusatory look. “And don’t tell me it was because of Mr. Mills, because I know it wasn’t. It was because of her, wasn’t it? It didn’t make sense to keep it open, because she married another guy.”

Victor froze, his expression slightly panicked. I continued my tirade.

“What about your kidnapping? And being held captive for years? My trauma was spread all over Loveland, and you can’t bother sharing yours? I have to learn about it through your ex?”

“She is not my ex! We never had anything! I don’t even understand why you are so obsessed with her, she’s married! She’s off-limits!” Victor exploded.

“Oh, I’m painfully aware of that! If she was single you wouldn’t even look at me. She was nothing to you and still you shared all your life with her, opened a restaurant for her! Yet I sleep in your bed, practically share a life with you, and I’m kept in the dark. I’m the lesser evil. Why would you want me to move here in the first place?” My eyes were filled with tears. Victor’s were filled with anger.

“Don’t make this about me, you know this is not about me.” He fought back. “This is about your unwillingness to commit! This is about you not wanting to stand by my side and fight. I may not be verbal about a lot of things, Andrea, but I do notice them. And the moment that I asked you to move in, you’ve been evasive. You’re terrified to do this. I know that things went sour when you and Daniel moved in, but I’m not Daniel! And it disgusts me to be compared to him! I have been nothing but supportive! And I wonder if you truly want my support, because the minute things get hard, you look for reasons to walk away! Things got hard back in Portugal, and you ran to Loveland! You must be mentally packing by now!”

“Don’t act like you understand what I’ve been through! And don’t you dare use my abuse against me!” I almost screamed. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so enraged with Victor, and I could see him losing it too. And it was all so unfair! I was risking everything I fought so hard for just to be with him.

Victor paused, noticing he was indeed touching a very sensitive subject. He moved closer, but didn’t touch me, using his pleading eyes to connect with me.

“You’re giving up on us, Andrea. Don’t do this because things are getting harder. We can still solve this together.”

“Things are more than hard, Victor. My career is on the line, my trauma is juicy gossip, you haven’t been honest with me about your past. And some things can’t be solved. Did you tell your father the filthy immigrant can’t actually give him grandchildren? Did you ever consider it yourself? That you may want a child someday and I can’t give it to you? Maybe some things are just meant to crash and burn. Maybe we should cut our losses and call it a day.”

I could see the pain in Victor’s eyes when I spoke those last words. It mirrored the pain I felt when I said them. We had different opinions on that matter. As his history with Mia clearly showed, Victor would go to extreme lengths for something that really mattered to him, and I was one to pick my battles. The approaches were different, but both were right. They just weren’t compatible. Maybe Victor genuinely loved me and would stay strong by my side, but I couldn’t bear to make him go through so much hell.

Victor however, headstrong as he was, only saw his side of the equation, the only right side, in his opinion. And I understand he felt rejected. In retrospect, I also understand why the look in his eyes turned from pain to icy cold rage.

“Fine.” He said, his expression defying me, the wall put in place between us. “If you want to leave, then leave. Maybe your infertility is a silver lining, at least you’ll never leave a child behind when things get rough. Abandoning them like you are doing to me right now.”

I didn’t register the seconds that followed his statement, as I acted out of pure rage and instinct. I could only conclude what I had done when I felt my right hand tingle and saw Victor’s face turned to the side, his eyes closed, my fingers printed on his cheek.

I stood for a moment, wondering if it had been just a nightmare. Victor finally opened his eyes and looked at me, and the pain I saw in them was so deep that I couldn’t help but sob in desperation.

I couldn’t believe what had just happened. But it had happened. There was no way we could take it back.

Without a word, I gathered my things, tears streaming down my face, and walked to the door. Victor stood where he was, I didn’t expect him to follow me. Things had gone way too far.

That’s the thing with chain reaction machines, you are so distracted watching the contraption work, that you forget that you can actually stop it. Our relationship had just exploded in the ugliest of ways. The fragile string supporting the bowl had broken, and sand was spilled everywhere.

[silyabeeodess]

Tales of the Fire Spirits: Chilled

It was that time again. The aged fire spirit could feel it in the marrow of their bones—creaking and crackling inside its body like branches burning in a roaring fire that, day by day, became increasingly more difficult to maintain. Its skin shown bright from the excessive heat that had built from within over the course of its lifespan, and soon it would join its kind in the seasonal dances that marked the beginning and end of their cycles.

Near the end of their lives, fire spirits sought out safe havens away from their domain: Prime locations to build the ritual fires that could stay lit for days at a time. Then, once the dances began, they couldn't be stopped. Elder spirits would twist and turn around the flames in graceful unison, and it was up to the young to find plenty to burn over the course of the ritual; enough to create a crescendo of fire for the elders to catch upon as they themselves burst into flame.

Safety wasn't a primary concern, not for the spirits at least. The natural barriers that were summoned during their dance would keep most threats at bay. The fires alone were the most important part: They typically needed a good, dry spot to grow and plenty around to continuously feed them. Building them in a nice, dark place was also commonly ideal so that they'd only shine brighter against their surroundings. What a beautiful thing it was, to meet the end in an erupting pillar of warm light!

The fire spirit journeyed with a small group of its kin to find their own spot. Unfortunately, much of Subcon had changed in the creature's current cycle. Ice and snow had devoured a large portion of the forest, greatly limiting their kind's options in their wide exploration to prepare for the ritual. Too much of the land was cold and wet and not at all to a fire spirit's liking: They were miserable places with little to burn. Some spirits had even begun to explore beyond the forest in hopes of finding ideal territory.

It hoped, in its next cycle, that Subcon would undergo another great change—one for the better. It missed the funny humans they used to pick on for laughs, and the villagers that would give them plenty of goodies. It missed when the forest was bright and full of life, with plenty of things to burn. Their kind would survive—the young were already finding new ways—but it was still upsetting.

As the spirit and its kindred wove through the trees, a cluster of ice crystals jutting out of the earth caught its eye. They made an effort to avoid the ice and snow, but it was impossible. It appeared all over the forest, especially in the portion they travelled near now. The creature felt itself flare up as it gazed hard in the direction beyond the crystals, where the ice continued to expand. If they followed along that path, they'd eventually run into the origins of their current predicament. In recent years, the fire spirits had been known to treat that place with caution: Oh, how they had come to hate it. If it weren't for the powerful, frigid magic keeping their own at bay—combined with the cold and sodden landscape—they would've torched the place.

But there was nothing they could do, not with nature against them and in their weakened states. One of the other spirits placed a hand on its back as if to console it and urge it onward. The creature nodded. Right, no use dwelling on what they couldn't change. And they had their search to complete. The group continued.

The night air made its fur bristle, although there was little indication between night and day anymore. A dark miasma had clung to the area, another unfortunate change to their once lovely home. For humans, it was nearly impossible to tell the difference when clouds fell over the forest, without the travel of the moon and stars to indicate the passage of time. The fire spirits could still tell though, if only by the shifts in temperature that marked the seasons and—more subtly—the hours.

However, that night was strikingly clear. The fire spirit couldn't resist lifting its eyes up at the full moon at hung in the sky. Its light almost always felt cold anymore, just like everything else, but it still shone vibrantly…

All of a sudden, the creature's ears perked up. Out of nowhere, it sensed a sudden warmth appear along the bleak landscape. All of them did, each fire spirit stopping in their tracks at the feeling. It was the sort that they only knew to come from a rare handful of the Dwellers anymore, or even less so from a small amount of the already pitiful number of travelers that occasionally braved the forest. And never did they sense something like this so close to the manor. It had all of them on edge.

But that particular fire spirit also felt something strangely familiar about that warmth, like something from a dream or distant memory. The feeling called to it so much that the spirit couldn't resist moving hesitantly toward the heat spike—stopping once to flick its feet in discontent at the chilly, moist dirt that sunk between its toes and then darting off deeper into the woods.

It hadn't meant for the others to follow, but they did. They were stronger together anyway.

The sensation led them to a small patch of open field within the forest, where the leafless, craggily trees framed the sky like a wreath of thorns. Amid the ice pillars and crisp remains of dead undergrowth, a single figure hovered above the earth, staring up at the sky. It was… relatively human in form, spectral, male; dressed in a pale, yellow tunic and red jacket faded from grime and excessive wear with broken chains strapped to his wrists. His skin was as faint a blue as the ice that surrounded him, and he seemed to be wearing a mask that crescented around the right half of his face.

There was no way they could hide from him even if they tried: The light emitting from their bodies was too distinct from the shadows and he spotted them almost as soon as they entered the area. Recoiling in surprise, he shuffled back. The fire spirit approached a few steps after him in turn only to realize that the others had retreated the other way. There was little question why though: For the warmth they felt coming from him, it also came with a confusing mix of other feelings all too similar to the darkened state of the forest itself.

All the same, the familiarity was jarring. Even the appearance of the phantom seemed to mock the creature, but it still couldn't recall why. Multiple cycles of memories had ways of overlapping, but mature fire spirits could pick apart some of them enough to string together important aspects of their lives. It knew the figure was important… somehow…

The fox tried to get closer, but stopped short—fur bristling—as the man dipped into an aggressive stance with strange, red cords manifesting from his wrists, contorting in uncontrollable lashes. In turn, light flames flickered along the spirit's hide in warning. As curious as the creature was, if the phantom was foolish enough to challenge its fire, by all means, let him try. Whatever odd power he possessed, it was clear he had little mastery of it and there were few things that could best the creature's own magic.

A realization that seemed to dawn on him soon enough as he steadied himself. The spirit followed suit, but continued to approach the former with a careful tread. Sizing up to a small, adult human with the specter hovering in the air, the fire spirit measured to the other being's chest. Reluctance continuously hanging between the two, it sniffed his hand then—feeling him tense as it did so—placed its head against his palm.

The action barely lasted longer than a second. Cold! He was too cold! The fire spirit may as well have stuck its head in the snow! It jumped back in disgust as it eyed the phantom with confusion. Sparks licked at its feet, fiery enough to ignite the somewhat damp undergrowth and create a nice—if sadly shallow—bed of fire for it to stand in. The man flinched, but besides that showed no sign of being startled. Instead, he seemed to look at his own hand in dismay.

The fire spirit couldn't figure it out. How could a being that echoed such a familiar, peculiar warmth be so horribly cold? What was this creature? Not like the lost souls that roamed Subcon, surely: Although their mortal bodies were lost and even the warmth of many of their individual essences had altered, none of them came close to the enigma that was this one.

As if drawn to the flames, at last the phantom calmed enough to near the fire spirit this time—briefly circling with his own curiosity before he came to rest. Although the fox's chest puffed confidently at the admiration of the fire, it pitied this being. His whole existence seemed to be a sad, puzzling self-contradiction.

For the third time, the fire spirit moved closer to him. If he could not warm himself, then maybe it could grant him just a moment's comfort. It twisted itself around the phantom's body, tail curling around his waist and head pressing against his skin—though, even prepared, the creature still writhed at the nasty cold seeping from the other.

The phantom looked at the fox for a long time. And then he began to laugh—an empty, sorrowful, unhinged laugh—that shook his entire body. The spirit's ears pinned back, but it didn't leave his side, even as its kin rounded closer to watch over the scene. Encouraged, still shivering, the phantom looked the spirit in the eye and gave him a solemn shake of his head:

"I'm afraid you're too late, my friend."

.........................................................................................

((Sharing this on here because, out of the stories I’ve worked on for this series of shorts, this one was probably my favorite so far--with “Ignition” being a close second.  If you’d like to see the rest of the shorts, please check out the full collection here.  While the fire spirits are the main focus, each short explores different themes and other characters surrounding them, including Hat Kid and Snatcher.))

[purecinema23]

It (2017) - 3.5 Stars

Directed by Andy Muschietti

  The world over, people are scared of clowns.  There is something about them.  The pale make-up that disguises their true identity, the often fiery-red hair, the desire to hang around children; when you add up these factors it’s not hard to see why people squirm at the sight of a clown.  We are supposed to laugh at their bumbling antics as they contort their bodies, ala Charlie Chaplin, or when they honk their nose or they reach for their handkerchief and end up pulling out a string of them.  But after paper met the tip of Stephen King’s pen, clowns became terrifying.  

 Directed by Andy Muschietti, who directed the supernatural thriller ‘Mama’, ‘It’ is an adaptation of Stephen King’s 1986 novel that spans 1100 pages that also inspired a 1990 mini-series that became a cult-classic.  So we have a lot of ‘It’ in our lives already, what can Muschietti do to bring something fresh or original to the concept?  Well, not much, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, because he bathes the film in the spirit of its influences and in those moments, it shines.

 This film has been marketed as a ‘jump out of your seat horror’ and in this regard, it fails. The trailer wasn’t scary at all and the film is even less so, because most of the jump scares are actually in the trailer.  The scary parts of the film are meant to centre around ‘Pennywise’, the sewer-dwelling, shape-shifting being that mostly appears as a clown to lure children close enough so that it can feed on their bodies at their most fearful state.  When 7 kids that are perennially bullied band together (to form a pseudo-club called ‘The Losers’) to give themselves a sense of safety in numbers against bullies in their homes or on the streets.  They quickly discover that the being that is haunting them all in different ways is probably one and the same, they dub the being ‘it’ and set out to kill it so that it cannot terrorise the children of their town any longer.

 Pennywise is front and centre of all of the marketing for this movie, with promises that he will scare the pants off of you; but what director Muschietti has either forgotten or doesn’t realise is that with horror, less is more.  Pennywise as an idea is terrifying and the fact that It can take many different forms is a nightmare; but put it down to the performance of Bill Skarsgard or perhaps the over-reliance on jump scare tactics, but the more I saw of Pennywise/It, the less scared I was.

 Where the movie really succeeds is when it hits a more ‘Stand By Me’ or ‘Stranger Things’ tone, focusing on the adventures of the children, the relationships that blossom, the tribulations of childhood in a small town, the lack of support they receive from adults and the terrors they face in the natural world, even without the intervention of It.  And surprisingly this is when the film starts to actually gain some traction as a scary film. Be it young Beverley’s attempts to avoid her father who sexually abuses her, or the kids trying to avoid Henry Bowers, the local bully who is unhinged enough to carve his name into a kid’s abdomen with a switchblade.  These are real and true horrors that exist in the world and, to an extent, most of the audience should be able to identify with the fears of at least one of the 7 Losers, so even if the jump scares aren’t doing it for you, the plight of the kids almost certainly will reel you in.

 One advantage this film has that the 1990 mini-series didn’t is that it pulls far fewer punches. Obviously the mini-series was hamstrung by Television standards from 27 years ago, meaning the recent film has less hurdles it needs to jump to tell the story of the novel.  From those that have read the novel, this film is apparently a much more faithful adaptation, only leaving out certain parts to enhance the flow of the film (and mercifully leaving out the underage sex-orgy that inexplicably exists within the pages of the book).  Muschietti hasn’t shied away from the violence of the story, with arms being ripped off or broken and blood by the (literal) gallons on our screens.

 The music by Benjamin Wallfisch (who did the music for Annabelle: Creation) is also at its best when it is not executing a jump scare, but when it is ruminating on a tense moment in the natural world, or when the strings are helping move the story forward during the relationship building scenes for the kids.  Cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung (known for his work on Oldboy and The Handmaiden) does well to juxtapose the light exterior of Derry and the true darkness that resides within, while the kids do solid work, particularly Jaeden Lieberher, who is already starting to make quite a name for himself with credits such as St. Vincent and Midnight Special at such a young age.  His stuttering Bill is inspiring and resolute in the face of true evil, but not immune to brash outbursts (such as punching a close friend) and the awkwardness of young love.

 At the end of the day, this film (which acts as Chapter 1 to the inevitable Chapter 2 where the kids return as adults) is simply not going to have people shitting themselves the way it wants you to believe it will.  However, instead we have an interesting character study of 7 outcast kids in a backwards small-town coming to terms with evil both natural and supernatural. They laugh, they fear, they love, they grow.  In the greatest adversity, they have come together to form a blood-bond stronger than most friendships and, in this way, It is more inspiring than scary.  It is well worth a watch and it gets 3.5 Stars from me.

[allthingsmusicplus]

October 14, 1977 – David Bowie: “Heroes” is released. # ALL THINGS MUSIC PLUS+ 5/5 (MUST-HAVE!) # Allmusic 5/5 stars # Rolling Stone (see original review below) "Heroes" is an album by David Bowie, released on October 14, 1977. It reached #35 on the Billboard 200 Top LP's chart, and #3 on the UK Albums chart. "Heroes" was marketed by RCA with the catch phrase, "There’s Old Wave. There’s New Wave. And there's David Bowie..." The second installment of his 'Berlin Trilogy' with Brian Eno (the other releases being Low and Lodger) "Heroes" developed the sound of Low in a more positive direction. Of the three albums, it was the most befitting of the appellation "Berlin", being the only one wholly recorded there. The title track remains one of Bowie's best known, a classic story of two lovers who meet at the Berlin Wall. The album is considered one of his best by critics, notably for the contributions of guitarist Robert Fripp who flew in from the U.S. to record his parts in one day. John Lennon was quoted as saying that when making his album Double Fantasy in 1980, his ambition was to "do something as good as "Heroes"." Recorded at Hansa Tonstudio in what was then West Berlin, "Heroes" reflected the zeitgeist of the Cold War, symbolised by the divided city. Co-producer Tony Visconti considered it "one of my last great adventures in making albums. The studio was about 500 yards from the wall. Red Guards would look into our control-room window with powerful binoculars." Bowie again paid tribute to his Krautrock influences: the title is a nod to the track "Hero" on the album NEU! '75 by the German band Neu!, while "V-2 Schneider" is inspired by and named after Kraftwerk's Florian Schneider. Earlier in 1977, Kraftwerk had name-checked Bowie on the title track of Trans-Europe Express. The cover photo was inspired by German artist Erich Heckel's Roquairol, as was that of The Idiot, one of Bowie's collaborations with Iggy Pop that was released the same year. ORIGINAL ROLLING STONE REVIEW Heroes is the second album in what we can now hope will be a series of David Bowie-Brian Eno collaborations, because this album answers the question of whether Bowie can be a real collaborator. Like his work with Lou Reed, Mott the Hoople and Iggy Pop, Low, Bowie's first album with Eno, seemed to be just another auteurist exploitation, this time of the Eno-Kraftwerk avant-garde. Heroes, though, prompts a much more enthusiastic reading of the collaboration, which here takes the form of a union of Bowie's dramatic instincts and Eno's unshakable sonic serenity. Even more importantly, Bowie shows himself for the first time as a willing, even anxious, student rather than a simple cribber. As rock's Zen master, Eno is fully prepared to show him the way. Like Low, Heroes is divided into a cyclic instrumental side and a song-set side. "V-2 Schneider" is an ingeniously robotic recasting of Booker T. and the M.G.'s -- at once typical of Bowie's obsession with pop dance music and a spectacular instance of an Eno R&B "study" (a going concern of Eno's own records). "Sense of Doubt" lines up an ominously deep piano figure with Eno synthesizer washes, blending them into "Moss Garden," an exquisitely static cut featuring Bowie on koto, a Japanese string instrument. Low had no such moments of easy exchange; Bowie either submitted his voice as another instrument for Eno to play the part of art-rock keyboard player. The most spectacular moments on this record occur on the vocal side's crazed rock & roll. Working inside the new style Bowie forged for Iggy Pop, "Beauty and the Beast" makes very weird but probable connections between the fairy tale, Iggy's angel-beast identity and Jean Cocteau's Surrealist Catholicism, a crucial source for Cocteau's film of the tale. For the finale, Heroes explodes into a trilogy of dark prophecy: "Sons of the Silent Age," "Heroes" and "Black Out." It's a Diamond Dogs set that, this time, makes it into the back pages of Samuel Delaney's post-apocalypse fiction, pushed by a brilliant cerebral nova among the players. Bowie sings in a paradoxical (or is it schizo?) style at once unhinged and wholly self-controlled. With a chill, the listener can hear clearly through Bowie's compressed lyrics and the dense sound. We'll have to wait to see if Bowie has found in the austere Eno a long-term collaborator who can draw out the substantial words and music that have lurked beneath the surface of Bowie's clever games for so long. But Eno clearly has effected a nearly miraculous change in Bowie already. ~ Bart Testa (January 12, 1978) TRACKS: All lyrics written by David Bowie; all music composed by David Bowie except where noted. Side one "Beauty and the Beast" – 3:32 "Joe the Lion" – 3:05 "Heroes" (Bowie, Brian Eno) – 6:07 "Sons of the Silent Age" – 3:15 "Blackout" – 3:50 Side two "V-2 Schneider" – 3:10 "Sense of Doubt" – 3:57 "Moss Garden" (Bowie, Eno) – 5:03 "Neuköln" (Bowie, Eno) – 4:34 "The Secret Life of Arabia" (Bowie, Eno, Carlos Alomar) – 3:46