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girlbloggersfolly · 1 month

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DELTA DAWN - part 1 // Camp Woodrow

Pairing: camp counsellour!joel miller x camp lifeguard!afab!reader

Rating: Explicit (not yet but it will be) 18+ MDNI

Word count: 5.4k

Summary: (1979 summer camp AU) After making a spontaneous trip northwest to a summer camp in need of staff with a few new friends, you find not everyone is so welcoming.

Chapter warnings: age gap (20 + 49), a whole lot of me waffling, extreme slow burn enemies to lovers ect ect ect, swearing, drug use, cigarettes, complicated relationship (not joel and reader.. yet), perv!reader, f!masturbation. absolutely NO use of y/n, reader has hair that can be put in a ponytail, and she can swim duh. This chapter is very tame, basically, just setting it up.

a/n: ok wow this is exciting, first chapter done and i'm pretty happy with it. Just a warning, i really mean it when I say slow burn, there will be no fluffing around at alllllll for a couple chapters, i'm not sure where i'm taking this or how long it will be, i'm thinking maybe 4? anyway enough chatter there'll be enough of that in the fic, if your reading this i love you sooooo much!!!!!!!

Camp Woodrow 1979

The Knack blasted from Sharon’s stereo, smoke plumed from Billies Joint, you’d been driving for a night or so. Mid-morning sun streamed through the windows, it was a brackish heat you had been getting all too used to. You’d met Billy, Sharon and Abel in Salt lake city at a gig, and now you were pleasantly stuck with them for the rest of summer. The drive from Salt lake city to Oregon was long, even longer in Sharon’s dads Buick which hadn’t seen the inside of a mechanic’s since 71’. The three of them had been working at Camp Woodrow each summer since they were, what was it? 15? Somehow they’d managed to persuade you to pack up your whole new life of groupie love and tour buses into a beat up Buick, taking the scenic route up to Oregon for a long, stagnant summer of campfires and controlled water sports, organised fun. You’d made the mistake of mentioning to Sharon you had lifeguard training; there and then it’d been decided you’d be the perfect replacement for their good friend Woody, who usually took the role of Lifeguard in camp, he was off in L.A, having made a name for himself in adult film. It was a long story you’d heard each salacious detail of.

It’d been a total coincidence, meeting the three of them. You’d let some girlfriends drag you to a gig in a shifty basement venue (Billies band’s place (who weren’t nearly the legendary group they thought they were)) and had been… charmed by Billy… You’d fucked, he was just okay at it but he was easy on the eyes, knew a good dealer and it was cool to tell people you were fucking a hotshot ‘rock star’, even if he was less than generous in the bedroom. Soon you were fast friends with the whole group of them, groupies and all. So here you were, head in Billies lap, high off the broken sun on your face and second hand smoke, his hand drumming along to Doug Fieger’s voice on your bare stomach. You’d hitched a ride in Sharon’s dad’s car with her, Billy and her ‘it's complicated’ Abel.

“Are we there yet?”

Billy coughed through a cloud of smoke, yellow tinted sunglasses making him look all the pretentious rocker he wished he was.

“Can you open a fucking window, do you know how hard it is to get that smell out these seats?”

Sharon said through agonising chomps of that wad of gum she’d had in her mouth since they’d driven through Boise. Billy cranked open the window. The hideous thrum of wind on the highway beating through the static air of the car. Your hair whipped around furiously and you sat up, stirred from the holy-half-high state.

“Happy?” Billy said over the obnoxious sound of the engine and the wind. Sharon scoffed loudly over the sound. “I asked when are we going to fucking be there.” He spluttered yet again over his joint, smirking at you while he complained like a child to a very frustrated Sharon. “It’s just down the next turn,” He said, looking at the map in Abel’s lap, he was more focused on the magazine in his hands, you peaked over his shoulder, a sexy nun, the big, hot pink letters ‘TEASE’ haloing the cover.

“We’re lost,” Billy hit his head back against the window, gosh he could really be a baby sometimes, you remarked internally, increasingly tired of the whole ‘Billy’ thing, a sticky situation you’d gotten into. The car broke into complaints, Sharon, searching frantically for the inconspicuous turning and little wooden sign to Camp Woodrow, stationed at the mouth of lake Calgonie. They’d eagerly shown you their collection of polaroids from the camp in the first few hours of the drive. It was exactly as you’d imagined, a classic all-American summer camp, straight from a gnarly slasher flick.

“Motherfucker!” Sharon retaliated triumphantly as she manoeuvred the cranky old Buick down the sharp dirt road turning Camp Woodrow 500 yards. Bullseye. The road was almost too narrow, lined with unruly trees, leading up to the clearing in the dense foliage. Billy threw his joint out the window, stretching so his shirt rode up, showing off that lean torso that he was so damn proud of, flashing you a movie star grin. You tucked your hair behind your ears, putting your chuck taylor’s back on after the drive. You knew you all stunk of weed and BO.

The car came to a pained, screeching halt in a makeshift parking lot. There were two cars parked in the other ‘spaces’, you noticed a blue Ford F-100 pick up, covered in mud and dust, your dad had one of those. Sharon let out a suggestive moan as she stretched, slamming the door behind her so hard you thought it might fall off. You all followed after her, Billy’s arm over your shoulder proudly, as if he was the one who’d just driven for 10 hours instead of whining the entire drive. You told yourself to just get over it, the summer was too long and too hot to hold onto this strange resentment you’d been harbouring for him as of late.

“Hey Abel! Sharon!” You heard from behind you, spotting a man you hadn’t seen before. He was shorter and well built, had a groomed moustache and lustrous black curls. “Tommy!” Sharon squealed, The pair embraced. You took the chance to get acquainted with your surroundings, turning away from the reunion to the woods behind you. Beautiful, it really was. You were a city kid, a suburban mole, so any chance at kindling some kind of a relationship with nature had you jumping at the opportunity, even if it meant dealing with children - Billy included. Trees as far as you could see, as high as you could see, the air clearer than you’d known it in the weeks you’d spent with these stoners.

“You remember Billy,” Abel said to Tommy, motioning to the boy next to you, who waved in his wanton fashion; too cool to put any effort into something as taxing as a wave. “Of course,” Tommy put his hands on his hips, it was hard to forget Billy. “And who’s the lady?” Tommy grinned, sauntering over, offering his hand to shake. Before you could introduce yourself, Sharon did it for you, telling him your name, which he repeated to himself. “She’s Woody’s replacement… lifeguard.” Sharon added, showing you off like an action figure. You fiddled with the hem of your denim shorts absentmindedly. “Ahh, lifeguard,” He had a firm handshake, making polite eye contact, you knew you’d get along with him. “It’s so nice to meet you, I’m super excited to get started.” You said warmly, the words falling from your mouth in something like a croak, you realised you’d hardly spoken for the entire drive, absorbed in tireless thought. Tommy clapped his hands together and turned to Abel and Sharon, then back to you and Billy.

“Well the kids are coming tomorrow, so, should give y’all time to settle,” He gave a little talk, friendly, he was what a camp manager should be, what you expected him to be. It immediately settled you, but the dead weight of Billy’s arm on your shoulders, tying you to him, was a constant jarring reminder of the mess you’d got yourself into with him.

The path to the camp staff cabins was a pretty one, scenic, you listened to your own steady breaths merging with the sounds of the forests. Billy walked ahead of you, his own suitcase swinging as him and Abel laughed their way into their own cabin. Separated by gender, convenient for yourself. Sharon lit a cigarette and grabbed the bottom bunk. You guessed it was so she could sneak Abel in and fuck him a little less conspicuously.

You sat on the top bunk, staring up at the damp ceiling, smoking a cigarette and listening to Sharon tuning a little radio, she cursed over the static.

In the evening you and Sharon decided to take a walk, leaving the boys to turn their cabin into a gas chamber, the forest stunk of them. “C’mon Lifeguard,” Sharon taunted, grinning at you through her cherry chapstick-ed lips. You took it all in, the forest, which opened up to Lake Calgonie.

“Holy shit,” You breathed as you stepped out onto the dock, the sun was setting over the trees, casting a vibrant orange hue over the lake. Your trance was broken by the click of Sharon’s Polaroid camera, the whir of the picture being processed. “It’s something, huh?” She nodded, somewhat proud of the landscape. “This is-” You started, unsure of the right word for how you felt, a little stoned from earlier, weary from the drive, muscles aching, brain heaving from the whole Billy thing, in complete awe of the situation you were in, impossibly, fucking happy. “Is it deep?” You turned to her, realising she was taking a picture of you. Click, Whirrrrr.

She fanned the two polaroids for a bit, tucking them in her bra, a trick she’d giggled about a few weeks ago. “Yeah, gets pretty deep in the middle,” She shrugged, more absorbed in the development of the polaroids she’d taken of you. She noticed the curious, awe-struck look on your face.

By the time you and Sharon returned to the camp the fire was blazing, crackling pleasantly, Billy, Abel, Tommy and an older lady. “Now, I know it wasn’t you two dumbasses who got the fire started,” Sharon landed the playful jab as she planted herself on Abel's lap, announcing her arrival the way she always did, her laugh echoing through the forest. Billy shuffled up to make space for you on the log, his arm around you in seconds, you were sure that that fucking arm would break your damn shoulder soon from how much he rested there.

“Hey where’s Joel?” Billy asked suddenly. You were only half listening, now the fully developed polaroids were being flashed at you; it was you looking over your shoulder in candid surprise, engulfed in the flashlight and the rich sunset from behind, like a deer in the headlights. “Well what’s he doing in his cabin?” Billy said loudly with a cocky chuckle.

You tuned him out, letting your brain run away with itself, watching as the older woman examined the polaroid that Sharon was passing around for admiration. “Beautiful ain’t she,” Sharon quipped, shooting you a playful wink as she peered over the older woman’s shoulder at your picture. Tommy poked at the fire, blowing at it expertly, so this was the country man. “Oh, this is Lou by the way,” Tommy nodded towards the bright eyed older woman, “She’s one of our senior camp leaders, and our chef,” He said with a tight smile towards you, clearly the introduction was pointed. It was dark now, the faces of your friends and acquaintances lit up by firelight, illuminated in the orange.

“Hey I’m gonna go to the bathroom,” You whispered to Billy, waiting for him to direct you. “It's between the weird tree, with all the branches, remember? and the bigger Cabins, showers there too.”

It was the first time you’d been alone for a couple days. As much as you were charmed by your fast friends, a long lonesome walk to the john was very much needed. Abel’s lighter, you'd borrowed one night from his coat pocket, clicked to life in your hand, the small flame lapping at the cherry end of your cigarette as it hung between your lips. You walked slowly to prolong your time alone, admiring the trees, listening to the forest by night and the gentle padding of your sneakers across the dirt.

After relieving yourself in the makeshift hut you wondered if you could even call a ‘bathroom’, you wandered as slowly as possible down the path, blowing plumes of smoke into the still night, feeling the trees sigh around you. You imagined what your parents were doing right now, sitting in their condo in Cedar city, probably off to bed. You rarely thought of them anymore.

You were brought to a standstill by one of the larger cabins, you took a drag of your cigarette and stood watching the window. You suddenly felt like a complete peeping tom; a man appeared in the window, not a man, a wife-beater clad god. He paced up to the edge of the room, giving you time to properly take him in; a quality of moustache you’d only seen in porn flicks, a soft, yet muscular torso, paired with arms that looked like they could snap Billy in two. You let the cover of nightfall mask the growing warmth on your cheeks. He stretched, wife beater riding up to reveal the unruly outline of a happy trail. Jesus christ. He was older, that was obvious enough, late forties? early fifties? You tucked your lips into a thin line, gazing at him, feeling like one of the fucking creeps you so often complained about and really not caring.

“Who is that guy?” You mused to Sharon back in the cabin, as she went through her skincare regiment in the janky little mirror, your limbs draped down from the top bunk like a fancy throw rug. “What guy?” She said, the tube of moisturiser taking up her full attention. “I ran into this guy when I went to pee? Moustache, in his forties, maybe fifties?.” You were like a teenager again, batting your eyelashes up at the ceiling. “Joel?” She cooed, turning to face you abruptly, clearly she had the same idea, you’d pulled her attention now. “You met Joel?” She seemed very impressed by this, but met was a strong word, you’d watched him in his cabin for a minute or so. You suddenly felt like this was something you shouldn’t have done, for whatever reason, maybe it was that sultry look in her eye all of a sudden, the accusatory tone in her pouty mouth. “Mhmm” You hummed warily, sitting up to look down at her from the top bunk. She scoffed, massaging her skin “Joel’s Tommy’s big brother, he runs the camp with him, total hunk right?” She teased. It made sense, Joel had looked like his brother, taller you thought, a little rougher around the edges. “How come he wasn’t at the fire?” You pictured him in his cabin, all alone. You now remembered Billy asking for him earlier. “He’s not the biggest fan of um, Billy and Abel, caught them sneaking in these girls, y’know, getting high a couple years ago, but they were like 17, like he’s had it out for them for a while.” This story didn’t come as a surprise, you imagined a young Billy and Abel getting caught smoking pot with girls by the lake. “It’s really only thanks to Tommy that we were allowed back, Joel would’ve gotten rid of them a while ago, wouldn’t’ve been outta line to either,” Sharon rambled on, all you could think about were those broad shoulders, the curve of his aquiline nose, it was a perverted stereotype you didn’t mind filling, young girl absolutely taken by an older man she most definitely could not have. “It’s a shame, he’s so fucking hot,” Sharon said as she pursed her lips, applying a healthy amount of lip balm to her pout.

Camp LIFEGUARD t-shirt on, little red running shorts that covered next to nothing, chuck taylors to match, another pair of Billies big brown sunglasses on your nose, you were every bit the summer camp lifeguard. Tommy had your lifeguard certificate and paperwork, breakfast had been a breeze, it was all ready. The kids were arriving in the afternoon, so you had the morning to scope the place out alone, leaving Sharon with the guys and taking the path to the lake.

The lake was invigorating as you dipped your toe through the strangely still surface, chuck taylor’s, socks, shirt, glasses and the little metal whistle all bundled into a polite little pile on the edge of the dock. You sat down, taking a deep breath and splashing your feet gently in the water, the tiny ripples lapping back at your calves. It truly did feel like a movie to you, clad in that red, lifeguard swimsuit, hopefully catching some sun.

The morning was pleasant, if a little humid. As warm as it gets in the pacific northwest, you basked in the quiet of the lake, sliding slowly into the water. It was eerily calm after the recent chaos that had become your beloved life.

You hadn’t swam leisurely in a while, not in a lake for even longer. You avoided the silty bottom by pushing off immediately to the middle, planning to test just how deep this lake was. It was strangely clear, you could see the bottom for a while, but as you swam out, below you it was just your flailing limbs treading in the dark blue. The hum of a boat engine broke the trance you’d been under all morning, snapping into consciousness as a small speedboat made its way around the lake, right up close to where you were treading water. You hadn’t seen it from the dock, hadn't noticed any waves.

It came to a quick halt, splashing water in your face. “Motherfucker” You spluttered as you spat out lake water. You wiped your eyes and shielded them from the sun to see who this obnoxious, nautical asshole was. He looked down at you, crouching, silhouetted by the sun.

“You shouldn’t be swimming without a lifeguard.” As your eyes adjusted to the bright light you identified the asshole: Joel, your blood ran colder than it already was. You could see him better now, dark glasses on, those sun kissed forearms, his slightly sun bleached STAFF t-shirt, that low, southern voice still unbearably charming, pouring over you like molasses even when he was being cold.

You realised you were staring and looked to your left at the dock. “Sorry, sir,” You started, hoping he’d appreciate the formality, “I am the lifeguard,” You grinned up at him with a saccharine bat of your eyelashes, really trying to appeal to the sexiest man you’d ever seen. He was still staring down at you in the water, sunglasses giving away nothing.

He let out a short scoff, obviously not amused. “Well what happens when you drown?” He said coldly, he did not seem at all charmed by that killer grin you flaunted so well, so you let it drop ever so slightly. Maybe you couldn’t kill him with kindness? “No lifeguard out to save your ass,” He looked down at you pointedly, still crouched beside you like you would’ve done with a kid that dived in a no dive pool.

“I’m a strong swimmer.” You cocked your head, he scoffed again, shaking his head in casual disbelief. You were too absorbed in working out whether he looked more like Burt Reynolds or Tom Selleck. “I don't care how strong’a swimmer you are, missy,” He retaliated quickly, your lips parted in slight surprise, you weren’t used to people being even slightly unpleasant to you, thanks to your people pleasing.

“I'm sorry?” You said in the wake of your surprise.

“Look, lifeguard, I’m gonna ask you to strongly swim back to the dock right about fuckin’ now,” He stood up to his full height chuckling at you in that southern baritone, again darkened to a silhouette by the sun. You remembered how good his muscular body looked in that wife beater, his goddamn broad shoulders, then pushed the thoughts from your brain, it was fucking embarrassing, you batting your eyelashes and grinning at him like he wasn’t reprimanding you.

After hastily making your way back to camp, a complete state, your cheeks annoyingly hot with embarrassment and a sinking feeling that you could only call ‘horny’, you caught up with the rest of the guys. They’d somehow got the radio set up and were sitting around it outside the boy’s cabin like moths to a light, Buffalo Springfield was playing softly, the sound slightly subdued, broken by static every so often.

You leant on the wall beside them, trying to collect yourself after whatever the fuck that was. “How's the water temp, sugar,” Billy landed a light slap on your ass. You couldn't even look at them, afraid to see your own flushed reflection in their tinted sunglasses. “Tepid.” You heard yourself say absentmindedly. You knew two things for sure, Joel was an enigmatic pain in your ass; another to add to the ever growing list. The other, he had you wrapped around his little finger, you hated yourself for it, but hated him more. “I need a dart,” You sighed, keeping your eyes on your feet as Billy lit your cigarette.

The kids arrived intermittently once Abels casio read 15:00, hoards of them, and quickly. Bumbling groups of girls and boys, completely feral. You silently thanked god that all you'd be doing was watching them, making sure none of their little heads stayed underwater for too long, leaving the morale-boosting, camp spirit stuff to your friends and the other staff. Luckily no water sports on the first day, so you were free to lounge around without worrying about some kid dying on your watch.

You sort of wished you had a way to get your mind off the whole Joel thing, it really shouldn't have gotten to you as much as it had. But there was something about the whole thing, something simply despotic about the way he looked down at you, ordering you about, it fucking jarred you all afternoon, distracting you even from Billy’s hand on your ass.

The next time you saw Joel that day he was with a few kids, a couple suitcases tossed over his shoulders, a big grin on his face as he spoke to them, it wasn't mocking, wasn't charged with some quick-witted comment that he’d make sure really stung, it was paternal, sweet. You don’t know why you thought he’d be cold to everyone.

Damn kids didn't know how good they had it as he made them laugh, beaming with child-like enthusiasm. “Who’s that?” You asked Billy quickly, as if you didn't know full well who that was, as if he hadn't been the only thing on your frazzled, embarrassed mind. Billy scoffed, watching Joel just as intently as you had been. “That’s Joel Miller,” he said that name with more passion than you’d ever heard him put into anything, “Him and I don’t get along so well, sweets,” He nodded, you had to resist the urge to roll your eyes at these pet names he’d been experimenting with. You tuned out the rest of Billy’s moaning, regretting even asking him, the phrases ‘Grade A asshole’ and ‘hypocrite’ were tossed around quite senselessly.

You needed a shower, everyone did but you weren't going to be the one to tell them that. With a crispy towel in hand and Sharon's flip flops you haphazardly made your way through the dark forest, the kids all in their cabins, staff eating round the campfire. Sharon said she'd meet you there in 20, at least one other person in this damn place knew when they needed a shower. The shower shack was something you’d have to get used to. Even in the abysmal water pressure, even with the ceiling completely caked in cobwebs occupied by creatures you really did not like the look of, the hot water was balm. It washed the smell of the lake off of you, and the dizzying BO you’d gotten used to in the last few days, cleaned off that lingering scent of pot from your skin.

You sang quietly to yourself, an Elvis song that'd been stuck in your head all week. “Your kisses lift me higher,” you scrubbed yourself with the ratty bar of soap you’d found in Sharon's wash bag, the song falling out of you at an increasingly enthusiastic pace, volume rising as you let the water infiltrate your scalp.

“I just might turn into smoke but i feel fine,” Billy was not an Elvis fan, never had been, but that didn't stop you from humming along every time he entered your brain. You heard another shower start and Sharon getting in, not for one second stopping the music falling out of you. You weren't a particularly gifted singer, but in the shower that never mattered. After singing the song countless times you turned off the water. “Just a hunk’a burnin love,” You hummed, the cool night air causing your skin to goose pimple, your nipples to harden as you wrapped your body in the itchy little towel that really didn't do much to cover you up.

You lit a cigarette as you stepped out, deciding to wait for Sharon outside the showers as she’d instructed earlier, admiring your reflection in the clouded mirror, wiping them clear. “Hurry up, fuckin’ cow,” You chuckled, raising your voice over the sound of the shower that was still going. Like a spell, it stopped, for once she was feeling nice.

"‘Bout time,” You giggled as you combed through your hair with your fingers, cigarette hanging precariously from your lips. You didn’t look away from your reflection as you grabbed your toothbrush from the pocket of your shorts which lay in a little discarded pile beside the sinks. “It's like being at The Westgate, Las Vegas,” The familiar voice chuckled, that condescending comment about your spectacular rendition of Elvis’ ‘burning love’ going right over your head in favour of utter shock and realisation, which hit like a ten ton truck.

You practically spun on your heels to see a smirking Joel Miller shirtless, a towel slung carelessly around his hips. The wind was knocked out of you as you let your eyes linger on his torso, just how fucking built he was, beaded with water, his chest sprinkled with hair matching that on his face. Holy shit.

You looked back at yourself in the mirror, hugging the towel tighter to your body, scooping up the toothpaste you’d jetted all over the sink from squeezing the tube in your state of shock. Holy shit holy shit holy shit. “Thought you were Sharon,” You said shakily to the sink as you washed the toothpaste from your fingers, your voice now lacking the confidence it’d possessed when you called Joel Miller a ‘fucking cow’. You felt like slamming your head through the mirror right about now, not daring to check if the heat that had spread across your cheeks was visible. “Thought you were Elvis,” He quipped, ever the witty bastard, pulling out a small razor and some shaving foam, clearly he was planning on staying.

You took a drag of your cigarette to pull yourself back to earth. “You make a habit of sneaking up on girls in the shower?” You heard yourself say, like your mind hadn’t turned into that of a perverted teenage boy after you saw him last night.

“Don’t flatter yourself, sweetheart,” So he knew he was hot shit, standing there more naked than you were comfortable with in that moment, that towel doing very little to distract you from the fact he was right there, all of him, rubbing shaving foam on his jaw. “You're too old to be talking like that,” you said coldly through your dead-pan, the biting words lacking the fire you intended for them. He chuckled slightly, his low voice almost a growl, reverberating through you as you attempted to squeeze your toothpaste onto the toothbrush without making another mess. “Definitely Billy’s girl,” He said to himself as he held his razor up to the light.

Now that was too far, you turned your face to him, lips parted into a half-hearted scowl as you watched a couple droplets fall from his hair, you held on to the little towel for dear life. “What's that supposed to mean,” You shook your head in disbelief, that had truly been a low blow. “Well you are ain’ch’ya?” He shrugged, bringing the razor to his cheek, you said a silent prayer to god that his hand would slip. “No,” You said after a moment's hesitation. Billy wasn’t your guy and you certainly weren't his girl, he was a friend you sometimes, reluctantly let hump you until he finished. “He know that?” Joel scoffed, suddenly very talkative, you hadn't expected that from the authoritarian asshole who’d scolded you this morning, now a scintillating asshole. “Seemed awful comfy this even-” You cut him off quickly. “It's none of your business Joel,” you snapped, turning back to look at your glassy reflection.

This man would be the death of you; all of this, and now another mouth to ask you about Billy. “Billy’s a prick,” Joel said casually as he shaved his face, it almost startled you, the first thing you agreed with him about. “Aren't you perceptive?” The sarcasm rolled out of you, prompting another of those short, patronising chuckles from Joel.

“What's the appeal then?” It was a good point, why did you hang around with Billy when you could admit that the kid was a complete dickwad. Was it those looks? the way people seemed to gravitate towards his obnoxious laughter? It was all embarrassingly shallow.

“We hang in the same circles,” You shrugged, now completely absorbed by watching Joel shaving so expertly, still hoping your prayer would be answered. “Is he a good fuck?” Joel asked brazenly, not looking away from his own cold expression in the mirror as he cleaned up his moustache, your breath caught in your throat and you stamped out your cigarette on your ratty sneakers to disguise your prudish shock.

The answer was no, a dead no, no matter how much he thought he was. “And there's another thing that's absolutely none of your business,” You began brushing your teeth, glancing at him to see the telling smirk on his lips, that was all he needed to know.

After a much needed break in the conversation you spat out the toothpaste, holding your hair back and running the tap. You turned to leave with the pile of clothes in your arms, you’d rather’ve taken the short journey to your cabin in the little towel than spend another damn second in that room with Joel fucking Miller. “Hey, kiddo,” Joel interjected casually, you turned to look at him with an obedience that made you sick.

“Next time you find yourself peepin’ on me in my cabin, just knock on the door.”

You huffed an exasperated, short breath as you slammed the door to the cabin behind you, happy that Sharon was nowhere to be seen. You changed, cursing Joel under your breath over and over and over again as you pulled one of Billy’s ‘Supertramp’ t-shirts over your wet head of hair. That motherfucker! Where could you even start?

He’d seen you watching him. He’d known all day that you stood in the treeline in the unassuming disguise of nightfall, smoking as you’d watched him get ready for bed. He’d called you ‘kiddo’?! you groaned as you curled yourself into the quilt on your top bunk.

You guessed that Sharon was banging Abel in the next cabin, Billy had probably passed out from a long day of doing absolutely nothing. No matter what you thought about to get your mind off Joel; the image of him shirtless and dripping wet, his quick retaliations, nothing helped. You counted sheep, sang ‘Burning love’ a couple more times through, the shame just didn't wear off. He’d gotten the better of you today, catching you out at all the right moments, embarrassing you over and over again.

Finally, after stalling what you knew would be your only relief after a day like this, you let your hand venture under your panties, touching yourself gently at first, ego too bruised to allow yourself what you really wanted. Soon you were practically crying his name into your pillow, back arching desperately. You’d broken into a slight sweat, lips parting quiet ecstasy as relief washed over you.

You made the decision then and there, it was sink or swim, you weren't going to let today happen again, not let your epic, man-eating reputation be stamped into the dirt by some old washed-up cowboy with an ego for days and some strange Tom-Selleck-esque power over you.

You were going to become Joel Miller's worst fucking nightmare.

PART 2

#joel miller x reader #pedro pascal #joel miller #joel miller tlou #enemies to lovers #dark!joel #1970s #vintage fanfic #first fic #joel x reader #tommy miller #pedro pascal x reader #reblog maybe #no use of y/n #the last of us hbo #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller au #joel miller x you

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queseraone · 12 days

Note

Rank all of the TOs on the show 😈

(based on their ability to do their job. Not the way Tim’s arms look in uniform lol)

Very accurate emoji choice there... this is actually really hard. None of them are perfect. They've all done some great stuff and some not-so-great stuff.

TIM BRADFORD: I promise, this isn't just about his arms... or his face... or his hands. I mean, that stuff definitely doesn't hurt, but judging by actual training methods? Tim is a great training officer. He recognizes that everyone has different skills and doesn't use a one-size-fits-all approach. He has cute little acronyms (DEAR, LOSR, TRAIN). His Tim Tests, brutal as they may be at times, are nothing short of effective. And as tough as he tries to be, this man cares. About his job, about his rookies, all of it. The way he is with Barnes, what we've seen of him with his puppies civilians... he's such a guardian. And yes, he's hot as fuck, sue me.

LUCY CHEN*: There's a bit of an asterisk next to Lucy, because obviously we saw her filling in briefly, and we don't entirely know if this is her future or not, but! She was fantastic with Celina. And showed great promise as a mentor to Aaron, too. And given what we know about Lucy's personality and, of course, her own training, she's going to find ways to use what Tim has taught her to benefit rookies. Her compassion will obviously make her do things a little differently than he did, but she can also compartmentalize pretty masterfully, which is beneficial as well.

TALIA BISHOP: Talia was never a favourite for me, but you can't deny that she was a pretty solid TO, striking a great balance between strict and supportive. It's hard to truly place her though, because we only saw her in this role for one season.

NYLA HARPER: As much as I love Harper, she's not the greatest training officer? This is someone who spent her first shift adamant that she wasn't going to teach anything, and she certainly wasn't there for the right reasons. That said, she definitely came into her own eventually, and honestly the more she opened up and showed her caring side, the better training officer she became. And her history was valuable in her teaching as well. Honestly I think she was often a better TO/mentor to Lucy than to Nolan or Thorsen...

ANGELA LOPEZ: Okay, so my opinion of Lopez as a TO flip-flops, and honestly I think it's influenced by how much I love her? Because truly when you think about it, she was too soft with Jackson. Forget three strikes, she gave him more strikes than I can even count and never even wrote him up. Don't get me wrong, she also taught him a lot, and certainly made him into a marginally better cop, but... I don't know, it's hard to judge her off of one rookie experience (especially when Jackson is that rookie...).

JOHN NOLAN: Nolan is a bad TO. I've said it before, I'll say it a hundred times. He's self-centred and doesn't own his involvement in his rookie's mistakes. And sure, he's new at the job, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that he can and will improve, but... yikes. The main character lens isn't fooling me.

WRIGLEY*: This is more an opinion of him as a cop than a training officer, but he's subpar. What is there to learn sitting around writing tickets? Snooze.

SMITTY*: Hilarious, but not training officer material.

DOUG STANTON: - Absolutely without a shadow of a doubt the worst. Forget just being a bad TO, he's a scummy cop and a horrible human being.

* Take these rankings with a grain of salt, because one episode isn't really enough time to judge.

I think I had the hardest time with Lopez, Harper, and Bishop's placement. There are very much pros and cons to each of them... I'm pretty sure if I went back and did this again I'd shift their rankings again (and again, and again).

Do you agree?? Disagree? I'm so curious!!

#chenford #the rookie #chenford chats #asked and answered #roguetwelve #tim bradford #lucy chen #nyla harper #angela lopez #talia bishop #john nolan #smitty

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idsfantasy · 11 months

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What are your opinions on the FNaF movie?

Some say it's good, some say it's bad. For me it was somewhere in between. Sure there are flaws and unclear story elements that get forgotten mid watch as well as some moment not being so scary, but the setting was fantastic, the acting was good, and there were a lot of comedic moments. Sure, regular viewers won't understand it, but it's specifically made for the fans.

Man, the movie was so cool (and to be honest even with the flaws and unclear elements still an easier entry point to the lore than the games lol)

This movie was pretty much exactly what I wanted from a FNAF movie. The characters were amazing, the humor was fun, the plot was interesting. It wasn't majorly scary but I didn't really want it to be and the scary moments were done really well. The Freddy head turn to listen for Mike was great.

My one big complaint is that we didn't get enough William/that he should have been teased earlier by name (potentially having tutorial lady say his name when talking about the founder so that the name means something to the new viewers).

Speaking of William, Matthew Lillard was an excellent choice for the role. The way he flipped through the persona of Steve Raglan the career counselor, Steve after realizing who Mike was, William Afton the showboating serial killer, and William the narcissistic and abusive father was impeccable.

The other actors also did a great job. I don't think there was any point I had to suspend my disbelief on that front. Doug was great. He was such a mood and is also now my favorite movie character.

Anyway, the movie wasn't perfect but it was pretty much everything I wanted and expected if not more. I have some fun ideas about where the movie continuity could go from here and I'm really looking forward to seeing where Scott and the crew take it (and who knows, maybe the channel will get big enough for me to cameo in 2 or 3. That would be wild and also like, the one circumstance I would face reveal).

Fun movie, especially for fans! 8.5/10

#fnaf #five nights at freddy's #fnaf movie #william afton #mike schmidt #doug fnaf #five nights at freddy’s movie #steve raglan #spring bonnie

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flanaganfilm · 1 year

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Hi Mike! Just wondering about the wonderful Katie Parker. Since she’s been a part of the Flanaverse for a pretty long time, I was wondering how she joined Absentia and which of her roles in your work is YOUR favourite? Personally I can’t get over how good she was as Poppy.

Also just want to quickly say I’m so excited to see T’Nia again in Usher. Thank you and have a lovely day!!

I first met Katie back in - I want to say 2008? Somewhere in there. She was friends with my girlfriend at the time and soon we were friends too. She was an actor struggling to find footing in LA and used to come over for movie nights and crash on our couch, and as time went by I started to think of her as a sister. I was working full-time as an editor on reality TV shows and trying to get something started. I wrote Absentia as a project for my friends to star in, so Katie's role was custom tailored just for her. Same with Courtney, Dave, Morgan and Justin. We were all living in LA and had similar dreams, but were all struggling to pay the rent and this was a chance to make something together that might get noticed.

(Above: The first table read of ABSENTIA, sometime in 2010)

We had a blast making that little movie, and it actually did what we all hoped it would do - it kicked open some doors, and led to Oculus being picked up by Trevor Macy at Intrepid Pictures (who has produced everything I've made since).

Katie had a small cameo in Oculus, playing the phone store clerk who sells Brenton Thwaites his first cell phone after being released from a lifetime in a mental institution. The scene was sweet and Katie was great, but it wasn't in the final cut of the film. I think it may be available on the blu-ray but I'm not sure to be honest. Katie remained a great friend, but there weren't really roles in the following movies that were a perfect fit. When I got my first shot at making TV, though, I really wanted her to be in The Haunting of Hill House. She auditioned to play Joey, the recovering addict who befriends Luke. The studio wanted to go another way with the part, and so I decided to write the new character of Poppy Hill for Katie instead, and she absolutely crushed it. It was meant to be.

(Katie as Poppy Hill on the set of The Haunting of Hill House)

After that, she was kind enough to take a smaller role in a much bigger film, portraying Silent Sarey in Doctor Sleep.

(Katie signs autographs at the premiere of Doctor Sleep)

When it came time to make The Haunting of Bly Manor, I had a fun idea for Katie and my wife Kate to play the doomed sisters in one of our coolest episodes. It was exciting for Hill House fans to see them together, but it was really terrific for me to have so much trust in two actors who could make such a huge impact in one episode.

After Bly, Katie joined us for The Midnight Club, and has a wonderful role (and does some of her absolute best work) in the upcoming The Fall of the House of Usher. Just before those, though, she joined us at the Saturn Awards in LA, where we had an impromptu Absentia reunion with my sibling Jamie Flanagan and my dear friend Doug Jones, both of whom acted in that little movie all those years ago. It was really neat to see everyone in the same place again, and think back about how far we've come since those days filming in that pee-covered tunnel.

Katie is a phenomenal actor, and I was lucky enough to work with her at the very beginning of my career, and now five more time since. She's unique among the family of actors that I've accumulated over the years, in that she was there from the very beginning. We sat in a tiny apartment in Glendale dreaming of making movies, worrying about paying our rent, and trying to figure out how the hell to get where we wanted to go. I'm proud to know her, proud to collaborate her, and proud to call her family. I expect you'll see her in many, many more Intrepid productions for years to come.

#Katie Parker #makemovieswithyourfriends

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gacha-incels · 8 months

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@frozenemus I want to eventually do a larger and much more researched post regarding misogynist men who are drawn to these types of games: socially, psychologically, financially and historically especially in South Korea. I don’t want to wait that long to reply here so I’ll let you know my thoughts so far which are by no means going to be a comprehensive look at everything.

Yes, I think these games pander to what this type of man already believes about women and this is why they will flock to them. The “gacha game” medium comforts him with the always-available cartoon woman who can literally be “won” (not through confusing things like treating them with respect but rather money),will never leave (until EoS), obeys all his orders (through gameplay), and always looks perfect (because she is drawn that way).

I believe these games and in effect all mainstream pop/entertainment media (among other things) serve to uphold the status quo in one way or another. This is not a phenomenon unique to gacha games themselves. Media like this can have a significant affect on its population, which is why you will see the US military finance so many films, tv shows and videogames. I don’t think any singular pop media can do something as drastic as completely change a population’s opinion regarding an issue, but rather it can flatter its audience by showing them an easy lie rather than confront an uncomfortable truth, which in turn serves to solidify certain concepts in a society. This media often reflects back onto the consumer a stereotype or dichotomy they feel safe with, which in turn creates a kind of feedback loop of comfortable falsity that becomes enshrined as truth. This can be something as seemingly benign as replacing an actual eagle’s cry with that of a hawk’s because that’s what the audience “expects to hear” or more sinisterly the “third world filter” used in many North American productions when showing scenes in a country viewers “expect” to be in poverty. There’s been a lot written within the past couple years regarding “copaganda” entertainment which exemplifies a lot of this type of thing. Similarly I believe it’s been studied that when in times of big changes or economy crashes, more sequel movies will be made and toy store aisles will have an extremely stark divide between “boy’s toys” and “girl’s toys”. It’s in part to comfort the society that fears the unknown future with both saccharine nostalgia and familiar dichotomies with clear and dividing gender roles to fit into. You don’t have to think or be worried- it’s all been decided already so just get in the box.

The medium of “gacha game” itself I believe is the first thing that should be considered- the first message conveyed to the consumer is what medium the “artist” chooses to tell their story. In a whole host of ways, interacting with a book is different than a play which is different than a movie, etc. You can find, for instance, older books where directors write about the need to recognize and utilize the unique facets of film to get meaning across rather than fall back on the familiar and easy stageplay of the theater. Off the top of my head, I think Tarkovsky, Cocteau and Maya Deren have written about it in their books, and a more contemporary book I especially liked was Doug Aitken’s “Broken Screen” interviews. Anyway you’ve probably read or heard of Marshall McLuhan’s “the medium is the massage”(message), it’s something I would like to elaborate on in a future post so I won’t get into it now. The most unique aspect of the “gacha game” is gambling and often spending large quantities of money for in-game anime style characters to play as/command. Like I said in the last post, these games ride or die on high spenders dropping cash to max these characters out. EVERYTHING about the game must cater to this consumer first and any “artistic intent” will be filtered through the expectations of these customers. None of the story beats or, more importantly, character designs can afford to offend the gacha gamer. Artistic intent and concepts are neutered simply by the medium itself- sorry but this is why I find it ridiculous to see so many people venerating Arknights and Limbus Company as making some incredibly progressive statements regarding capitalism or feminism. It is antithetical to the very medium with which they chose to tell their “stories”, especially when the companies can tell their incel playerbase “don’t worry, we fired that nasty female artist! this game is just fantasy, no need to think about real life atrocities or those hateful feminists.” This gives these men the ego boost they want and imbues them with a sense of power, especially over women who they frequently get fired. Even this is part of gacha games- the power these men get to control a real woman’s financial fate and to make a company publicly refer to feminism as a hate movement. What does this tell you about their intended audience? This is getting long so I’ll make another short post regarding some character design specifics. Hopefully this somewhat could answer your question lol

#gacha #limbus company #arknights #incels #feminism #fgo #r1999 #etc….#Gacha #gacha games #misogyny

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sibylsleaves · 2 months

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Can you expand on your thoughts on redemptions in the show? I enjoyed Hen’s mother’s and Eddie’s fathers because we saw they are genuine in their willingness to change and have an understanding how they have affected their children. They aren’t perfect but it’s taking accountability and it’s a start. The others? No. With Taylor they give her a backstory to distract from her bad actions that seemed never ending. Now with Tommy. Do you think the writers/Tim think the general audience doesn’t pick up or remember how these people’s actions deeply affected the other characters(Buckleys, Chim’s dad, Taylor and the other T) before they bring them back and force people to have sympathy for them? I try to invoke nuance and empathy because losing a child is horrific but two living children did and still suffer from the Buckley’s actions. I am glad that Buck and Maddie appear to be moving forward despite their parents unwillingness to address and accept their role in how their children are to this day but that’s got to hurt deeply. As well as Chimney’s dad. And when Taylor left after causing the chaos and hurting so many people over the years they bring in someone else that has a grimey past that is already overlooked

you sent this to me a while ago and I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to answer it. I saw it and I was like hmmm interesting topic I will ruminate on this and then of course I forgot about it.

Anyway. This IS an interesting topic to me because I feel like the concept of redemption is in many ways the raison d'etre of the show. Or at least they want it to be, given how they set up Bobby's character arc in the first season. It's definitely a theme they keep returning to with, imo, mixed results in their execution.

Part of the problem I think is just that 911 is fundamentally a basic network procedural television show, which is always going to tend more toward the schlocky and heartfelt. Which, don't get me wrong, is also one of the selling points of the show imo--we are not watching this show the way you watch prestige television that's maybe more willing to take its characters down a darker path and grapple with these questions with more complexity.

So at the end of the day it's kind of in the show's nature to want to tell feel-good stories, and to that end I think they are maybe more likely to brush off past wrongdoing in order to make the point that redemption is always possible and reconciliation is, almost always, the end-goal. There are a few storylines where they have characters who are simply painted as irredeemable monsters (Doug and Jeffrey are the main ones that come to mind) and what's interesting to me about that is they really have to heavily emphasize the monstrousness of those characters.

But fundamentally the show is just ill-suited to telling the story of like. Here's a kind of shitty guy (or woman) who isn't a complete and total monster by any means but nevertheless will not actually learn from his mistakes and seek redemption because sometimes people are just incapable or not interested in doing that. Or even: here is a kind of shitty guy or woman who did something fairly reprehensible and is trying to do better but nevertheless the people affected by their actions have every right to NOT forgive them or want them in their lives.

As a show it is overall more optimistic than realistic about the human condition--and again. I do think that's a selling point of the show and often what makes it work. Just thinking about personally some of my favorite moments of the show which are heavy on the "heartfelt/feel good": everyone coming together to lift the firetruck off Buck, the scene with the christmas lights during the black-out, the part in Defend in Place when they are all praying together in the parking lot.

But. all this to say. That does mean that sometimes their depictions of something as complex and messy as "redemption" can fall a bit flat. I do think the show has a pattern of "redeeming" characters without actually showing us that they understand what they did was wrong. They use short-hand instead--the Buckley parents sticking around after Buck was struck by lightning to show us they've changed, Tommy shaking Chim's hand after he saved his life, etc. And skip over the actual messy parts of the process of redemption. Which is also in part because these are, at the end of the day, side characters, and their internal lives are not really important except with respect to how they influence their relationships with our main characters. Which is also why I think the most nuanced take they've managed to do is with Bobby's story--at least with SOME of the Amir storyline it's clear that to Bobby this process is far from complete and the fact that Amir did not actually offer Bobby his forgiveness at the end is, in my opinion, the closest they've come so far to telling this story in an actually nuanced way. But even then they tied it up with about as neat as a bow as they could.

#sibyl answers #anon

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fibula-rasa · 3 months

Text

Favorite New-to-me Films—June ‘24

(listed in order pictured above, L to R)

READ on BELOW the JUMP!

The White Moth (1924)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Synopsis: Mona (Barbara La Marr), an American girl in Paris, attempts to throw herself into the Seine. She is rescued by the famous dancer Gonzalo Montrez (Charles de Rochefort), who gives her a job in his new act, where she will dance as The White Moth. Mona is a massive success and attracts the attention of the young, handsome, and wealthy Doug Morley (Ben Lyon). Unfortunately, Doug is already engaged to a society girl. As a solution, Doug’s brother, Vantine (Conway Tearle), whisks Mona away and marries her himself. Vantine is a cynical middle-aged bachelor and fails to see that Mona is genuinely in love with him. Hard feelings ensue.

The White Moth is an engaging and outrageous melodrama. I’ve become a big fan of Barbara La Marr over the years and this film illustrates her strong talent for pantomime. La Marr’s life and career were tragically short, and I wish she had had the chance to do more comedy. Aside from La Marr, a highlight of The White Moth is Mona’s rival, played by Josie Sedgwick. To my knowledge this is the first movie I’ve ever seen her in, but Sedgwick matches La Marr’s energy perfectly and the movie could only have been improved if they had shared more screen time!

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Ritual Clowns (1988)

[letterboxd]

This short documentary by artist and filmmaker Victor Masayesva Jr. focuses on the traditional roles of Hopi clowns. Ritual Clowns is richly interwoven conversation about indigenous knowledge and colonizer “knowledge.” Masayesva’s layer cake of video footage, graphic art, animation, music, and voice-over is inventive, educative, and entertaining. I’m really looking forward to watching/reading more of Masayesva’s work!

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Trip to Mars (1924)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Synopsis: Max plans on sending Ko-Ko off to Mars and Ko-Ko is less than enthused. Ko-ko plots his revenge in advance and so both Ko-Ko and Max end up hurtling through space.

Whenever I recommend an “Out of the Inkwell” short in these round-ups, I’m never sure how hard of a sell is needed! In my experience, Fleischer cartoons are usually crowd-pleasers (even in the 2020s) and the OOTI shorts rarely disappoint. Anyway, Max and Ko-Ko riding back to earth together was adorable.

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Righting Wrongs / 執法先鋒 (1986)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Synopsis: A crusading lawyer (Yuen Biao) turns vigilante and uncovers a troublingly deep collusion between organized crime and the criminal justice system in Hong Kong. A dedicated cop (Cynthia Rothrock) earnestly trying to do her job, discovers the lawyer’s double life and has to confront the corruption of the system she believes in.

Honestly, no short synopsis can capture how much goes on in Righting Wrongs. Corey Yuen and crew do not shy away from how serious the premise is and the film has a lot of gravity while also managing to be a stunt bonanza. So, while I do recommend this one, it’s with the caveat that Righting Wrongs has a high body count (including children).

This may be the best performance I’ve seen from Rothrock yet. It’s so frustrating that she hasn’t been given this quality of material here in the US!

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Winners & Sinners (1983)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Synopsis: Teapot, Curly, Rookie, Vaseline, and Exhaust Pipe are a gaggle of petty criminals who become friends while serving time. Upon release, they go into business together as The 5 Star Cleaning Service. Despite their best efforts at keeping their respective noses clean, they get dragged into a counterfeiting operation that’s gone south and link up with a cop who was clearly born under an unlucky star (Jackie Chan).

The crew assembled around Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan in the 1980s was unparalleled.

Winners & Sinners is predominantly a comedy with some martial arts (and Jackie Chan rollerblading) thrown in as a treat. The balance of action and comedy is perfect here. Jackie Chan’s role in the film isn’t really crucial, though the execution of misfortune dogging his every step is entertaining enough that you’re not left questioning his inclusion.

All around Winners & Sinners was such a fun watch! We caught the dubbed version on tubi. (The dub is genuinely good and funny!) Fair warning tho: a tiny turtle meets a gruesome end about halfway through the movie.

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Sun, Moon, and Feather (1989)

[youtube| spiderwoman theater]

Synopsis: Three sisters from Red Hook, Brooklyn take us on a journey through their Kuna/Rappahannock family history. Lisa, Gloria, and Muriel playfully mix up musical numbers, miniatures, and home movies with their recollections of their upbringing.

I absolutely adored this and I’m so grateful that one of the video’s directors, Bob Rosen, uploaded it to his youtube (linked above)! Muriel, Gloria, and Lisa (a.k.a. Sun, Moon, and Feather) are the founders of The Spiderwoman Theater and, seeing as theatrical performance is a transient art, it’s a wonderful thing that the sisters worked with Rosen and Jane Zipp to thoughtfully translate their work to video form. Watching this video really felt like a condensed/sublimated succession of weekend afternoons spent with your favorite aunties.

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Three Women (1924)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Synopsis: Debt-ridden society climber Edmund Lamont (Lew Cody) finds his next mark in the ultra-wealthy Mabel Wilton (Pauline Frederick). Mabel, superficial and sensitive about the onset of her middle-age, falls for the cad. Her daughter Jeanne (May McAvoy) is away at school in California, where she has a devoted admirer in med student Fred Armstrong (Pierre Gendron). Jeanne arrives in New York on a surprise visit to her mother. This displeases Mabel, who is preoccupied with chasing youth and her new lover. However, when Lamont meets Jeanne, he begins pursuing her on the side. When the women find out about the two-timing, Mabel consents to Jeanne and Lamont’s marriage. It doesn’t take long, of course, for Lamont to start seeing another woman, Harriet (Marie Prevost). Lamont’s betrayal comes to light just as Fred has arrived back in town to find his girlfriend married to another man. All this culminates in a violent end for Lamont.

I mentioned this in the latest installment of Lost, but Not Forgotten,* but I took time this month to correct my lack of exposure to Pauline Frederick’s surviving films and became an instant devotee of her work. Frederick is fantastic in Three Women and, perhaps if the film was stronger overall, her performance would be commemorated as one of the great moms of film drama (up there with Stella Dallas and Mildred Pierce). Having said that, you can probably gather that this film doesn’t match Ernst Lubitsch’s best work, but Three Women is still a quality film and has its share of “Lubitsch touch” hallmarks.

Pierre Gendron and May McAvoy come off as very sweet and genuine and Marie Prevost decidedly does not. Prevost is so delightful when she plays a jerk and it did seem a little awkward how minor of a character Prevost’s Harriet is. However, Prevost gets way more time as a rascal in Lubitsch’s The Marriage Circle (1924), which I made gif/still sets a few months ago.

*The LbNF film was Two Kinds of Women (‘22), this film is Three Women (‘24) and in 1920 Pauline Frederick starred in a film called The Woman in Room 13. Which means that I must announce, with great regret, that Frederick did not make a film in 1926 called “These Women Four”, but by the laws of inflationary language she should have.

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Smouldering Fires (1925)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Synopsis: Jane Vale (Pauline Frederick) has dedicated her life to running the company she inherited from her father. This dedication has paid dividends, though she still faces disrespect from employees with regressive ideas about gender. When one of her employees, Robert (Malcolm MacGregor), challenges her and criticises her management, to everyone’s surprise, she promotes him. The two work closely and productively together and strong feelings emerge—leading them to a hasty wedding. When Jane’s younger sister Dorothy (Laura La Plante) arrives for a visit, an immediate attraction develops between her and Robert, which leaves them both deeply uncomfortable. They try to bury their feelings out of respect for Jane, but eventually Jane sees the truth. Understanding that Robert married her more out of duty and dedication than love, Jane puts on a tragic charade to allow for the dissolution of their marriage and a guilt-free union for Robert and Dorothy.

This was my favorite of the three Pauline Frederick movies I watched this month, though her work is praiseworthy in all of them. In Smouldering Fires, Frederick is the beating heart of the film. Her character explores more of what life has to offer after devoting most of her life to work, then suffers immaculately out of love for her husband and sister. That emotional journey is rendered with heartbreaking sophistication by Frederick. I now totally get why Frederick was so beloved in the 1910s/20s and my disappointment that more of her films haven’t survived is endless. Peak cinema was and still is the transcendent suffering of a woman in her late thirties. (This is only partly an overstatement.)

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Cinema Fouad (1993)

[letterboxd]

Synopsis: A short documentary profile of Oscar, a Syrian trans woman living in Beirut. She muses over her complicated life as a domestic worker/dancer/soldier and her relationship to cinema and media while going through her day-to-day activities.

Despite the filmmakers being overbearing and intrusive at times, the portrait of Oscar really shines through. She is such a compelling personality and I’m so glad this film exists!

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Cross of Love / Rakkauden risti (1946)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Synopsis: One stormy night, a man is washed up on an island with a lighthouse. A raving old man (Oscar Tengström) tries to shoot him, but he’s saved by the young keeper. Later, the keeper tells the old man’s story to the rescued man. Years ago, the old man was the keeper of the lighthouse—living in isolation with his daughter, Riita (Regina Linnanheimo). A wealthy consul (Ville Salminen) drifted to the island after boat trouble and Riita was quickly smitten. The consul convinced her to leave the island with him, in spite of her father’s disapproval. Once in the city, the consul revealed his true colors and assaulted Riita. Feeling that she could not return to her father and with nowhere else to go, Riita began working as a prostitute. After a chance meeting with a promising young artist, Henrik (Rauli Tuomi), Riita became his model and muse. They fell in love and Henrik’s career as a painter was about to pop off. Unfortunately, Riita’s father arrived unexpectedly, leading Riita and the consul to stage a fake wedding to comfort the old man. When Henrik found Riita at the consul’s apartment and learned that she was once a prostitute, he viciously rejected her. Her father sailed back to the lighthouse, happy that his daughter was living a legitimate life. Riita, inconsolable after the loss of Henrik, took her own life. Returning to the present, we now know the rescued man is none other than Henrik and that the old man has been driven mad at the loss of his daughter.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Tulio don’t miss. Wondering as I watch more Tulio-Linnanheimo collaborations if I will ever get to one where Linnanheimo’s character survives the film?

——— ——— ———

As always, if any of these films catch your eye, but you need specific trigger/content warnings, don’t hesitate to ask for them!

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Last month, I complained about my relatively poor luck in new-to-me movies, but this month more than made up for it and it was hard to narrow this list down! Therefore, I have a few honorable mentions:

One Wet Night (1924) [letterboxd | imdb] Funny short that could have used Alice Howell more effectively

Musical Memories (1935) [letterboxd | imdb | UCLA’s youtube] UCLA made a new restoration of this Fleischer-animated jukeboxy musical short and it looks great. I love seeing Max Fleischer’s technological innovations in all their glory!

The Magic Crystal (1986) [letterboxd | imdb] An absolutely off-the-wall action-adventure-family-comedy about ancient aliens in Greece and a little boy vacationing from Hong Kong who befriends one of them. Honestly, the more I think back on this wacky film, the more I appreciate it. Special marks for the battle-ready mom who doesn’t want you to interrupt her stories.

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This month was a struggle, but I’m happy to report that my Salomé cosplay is very close to completion and it will definitely be photographed/written up/posted soon! Making this wig from scratch has been a series of challenges (not limited my inflamed finger joints) so I’m glad that all that detailed handiwork is just about finished!

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Earlier in the post I mentioned that the most recent installment of Lost, but Not Forgotten went up:

Two Kinds of Women (1922)

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After finishing the great Unthinking Eurocentrism by Ella Shohat and Robert Stam, I constructed an annotated list of films mentioned in the book as a reference for myself and anyone else who might find it useful.

It’s both on letterboxd and on imdb.

——— ——— ———

And I also put together a little post about the Audibert process, exemplified with stills & gifs from Maurice Audibert’s experimental film Étude de la lumière (1923)

[All Audibert gifs/stills here]

——— ——— ———

The other themed gif/still sets I put together this month include:

They Came to a City (1944)

[which I talked about in my April ‘24 round-up]

Desert Hearts (1985)

Intohimon vallassa (1947)

[which I talked about in my March ‘24 round-up]

The White Moth (1924)

——— ——— ———

I’ve already got some gif and still sets arranged for July, but this month I’ll mostly be focusing on finally finishing the Salomé cosplay!

Happy viewing!

☕Appreciate my work? Buy me a coffee! ☕

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demo-dragon · 6 months

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Info dumping for Ace Attorney AU: Turnabout Horizon (Will update sooner or later)

Okay, this AU is a canon diversion from the original timeline of Ace Attorney. Here's why:

Gregory Edgeworth lives, so the DL-6 case doesn't exist. Why? In the original timeline, Miles Edgeworth suffered a lot of guilt and trauma during the incident, so he never got a chance to live his dreams of being a defense attorney like his father; instead, he became a prosecutor. So, in the canon diversion, Gregory takes the stairs instead of the elevator.

In Turnabout Horizon, is Phoenix Wright, a brother to Miles Edgeworth? If so, why?

Well, I always see Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth as brothers, even on my first playthrough in the Ace Attorney series. Their connection is more like a bromance or platonic relationship. So, in this story, Phoenix Wright gets adopted by Miles's father, Gregory Edgeworth, and the two kiddos become officially brothers.

Are there going to be changes in the roles of each Ace Attorney Characters?

To be frank, I'm still working on that part, but I'll get back to that question once I have the ideas planned out. I do, however, consider having Raymond Shields as a co-counselor during Miles's first trial because I love Uncle Ray's personality; other than that, I have yet to go much further.

Does Phoenix have any scars?

In the matter of fact, he does! During the trial, when Phoenix refused to believe that his "Dollie" was the true culprit behind the murder of Doug Swallow and plotting to kill him as well, he made a public outburst and ran off. To make a story short, he ate the necklace, leaving a nasty scar on his lips, which is a sad reminder of how painful truth can be to a person.

Are there going to be plot changes as well, For Example, Will Manfred get a penalty or not? If so, will he get his revenge?

But of course! My good friend had a very interesting suggestion that even though Manfred still gets a penalty on his records during Jeff Master's trial, the man wouldn't just walk away in silence. He's too petty for that; after all, his perfect record was tainted, so obviously, he'll still plot his revenge despite the fact that Gregory took the stairs instead of the elevator.

#ace attorney #might update when I get more ideas #info dump #ace attorney au #turnabout horizon #still working on it #tad spoilers #phoenix wright #miles edgeworth #gregory edgeworth #manfred von karma #raymond shields #I may or may not be worried about how these ideas turn out

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gods-no-longer-tread-here · 8 months

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hi I've never read the PJO books but I watched the episodes that are out so far and now I have. thoughts.

Grover is a perfect character and my new little brother

everyone's so traumatized, it's very Greek Myth of them

Medusa took the role of Extremely Dangerous Fae whose hospitality you dare not refuse, but whom you cannot trust.

"My gift is that I can no longer be bullied" hey what if I sobbed my fucking eyes out in this Denny's

the man playing Ares has an aura of Genuinely Cool Dude that not even his stellar acting can quench and that just makes him even more believable in his role.

I want Clarisse to stab Ares. She deserves that.

Hephaestus agreeing with Annabeth and setting Percy free because he's the first adult to acknowledge that this cycle of abuse and distrust is bad

actually really neat that Ares is possibly the most human of the gods, because he states upfront that he loves his incredibly fucked-up family and wouldn't have them any other way. also really scary, of course. but still.

THE CHIMERA AS A CHIHUAHUA IS THE GREATEST CHOICE IN MOVIE MONSTER HISTORY SINCE DOUG JONES FIRST SAT DOWN IN A MAKEUP CHAIR

Annabeth, a little black girl, who adores Athena, goddess of law and order, looking at a police officer and repeating in an aggressive tone, "Are we under arrest?" She's too much Athena's daughter to bow to all that Athena upholds, and that's so good.

actually it's a good thing I didn't read these books because Annabeth hearing "your mom wants you dead" and deciding to let herself die is uh. is pretty much not the thing my suicidal teen ass should've been reading. I couldn't handle fucking Flowers For Algernon. If I had to read about a little girl attempt suicide because her mommy didn't want her, I would not have survived high school.

"I will bring the BEST snacks"

I Stand With Sally Forever

#Percy Jackson #s/o to Rosie for being the best and letting me use her login <3 <3 <3

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kolbisneat · 10 months

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MONTHLY MEDIA: November 2023

Ooooooh it's getting cold and snowy out here in Ontario! Perfect weather to stay in, curl up, and read/watch/play something.

……….FILM……….

Bottoms (2023) The heightened reality could've been made apparent a little sooner but other than that, no notes. Weird and fun in a way I haven't seen in a while. Big fan.

How The West Was Fun (1994) It took me about 1 hour and 10 minutes to get into this but it finishes strong. And so many great jackets! Ugh I love a good belt buckle.

……….TELEVISION……….

The Crown (Episode 6.01 to 6.02) Okay this is my first dip into the series but having lived (just barely) through a lot of this, I feel like I got caught up fairly quickly. Really feels like the focus is on Diana instead of the Queen, yeah?

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (Episode 1.01 to 1.06) Not what I was expecting and really refreshing for it! The animation varies wildly from episode to episode and I assume it's intentional buuuut sometimes it doesn't quite work for me. If I finish it and enjoy it enough to warrant a rewatch, I'll definitely try it with the Japanese dub.

……….YOUTUBE……….

Mosa Lina by Caleb Gamman This looks like a fun game and, more importantly, the video is a thoughtful divergence into the topic of "genre". Gonna be thinking about the ideas in here for a while. VIDEO

This Woman Deconstructs 100-Year-Old Books To Restore Them | Obsessed | WIRED by WIRED I could watch book restoration all day and I hope this becomes an ongoing series or she starts her own channel. VIDEO

7 Deadly Art Sins by CJ the X Vital watching for any creative type. Don't compare yourself to others (different from learning from others), don't hesitate starting that project you have in mind, and don't be afraid to create stuff you don't like cause it's an opportunity to reflect and grow and move towards making something you do like. Also promise me you won't call it content. VIDEO

Chicago Doesn’t Own Its Own Streets | Climate Town by Climate Town If you ever hear a city councilor mention selling public infrastructure to a private company, send them this link or vote them out. VIDEO

……….READING……….

A Few Fiends To Tea by Virginia Coffman (Complete) Picked this up secondhand for the cover (obviously) and the promise of a dying man using his remaining time to enact some vigilante justice on serial killers. Pulpy fun, right? Well it mostly reads like a mid century romance with a few interesting exchanges peppered throughout. Oh well.

Silver Surfer by Slott & Allred Omnibus by Dan Slott and Michael Allred (Complete) This is what comics can be. Funny, sad, silly, and sincere, all while telling superhero stories that don't exclusively rely on punching to solve conflict. This reads like the best of Doctor Who and I love it all the more.

Delicious in Dungeon Volume 1 by Ryoko Kui (Complete) It seeeeeeeeems like the series is wrapping up so while I wait for the final volume's release I figured I'd start a reread. Knowing where it's going it's fun to see how established the setting and characters are right out of the gate. Just so great and I can't recommend it enough.

……….AUDIO……….

Wag the Doug (Podcast) This is for a very specific audience (folks living in Ontario, Canada that are invested in provincial politics) but if you're a part of that demographic then it's a great way to loosely keep up with what's going on.

……….GAMING……….

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Mof1 Crew is infiltrating a funeral where they know Princess Ozma will be attending. I think their plan is still stuff from the coat check but maybe they'll change course along the way. Never know what I'm going to get with this crew.

Wonderland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) Got to run this quite a bit this month and testing is going well! Similar tone but very different sort of play from Oz and Neverland and I feel like that's a good thing.

And that’s it. See you in December!

#Monthly Media #Kolbisneat #Andrew Kolb

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nobodysdaydreams · 11 months

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DUCK BOY IS PUTTING HIS TRUST IN THE WRONG PERSON, BUT I DON’T CARE CAUSE HE APPARENTLY BLEW UP A HOSPITAL.

ALSO: IS LOVELACE AN ALIEN? (or my reaction to episodes 35-37 of Wolf359, plus the end credits scene).

Welcome back dear readers. Thanks again for your patience. Very excited for this end credits scene 👀

Tagging the mutuals who got me invested in this, and if you want to be tagged or untagged from these posts, lmk, or you can follow my blog or simply follow the tag "#bods wolf359 reactions". Anyone who has followed me for a while knows my updates are inconsistent, so I apologize in advance for that and for any spelling/grammar mistakes in my posts.

@sophieswundergarten @oflightningandstars @acollectionofcuriousreblogs @herawell @commsroom

Episode 35: Need to Know

Oh boy. A Kepler episode. 😒

“Are we blowing up?” sad that this has become a routine question.

“certain questions only lead to pain” very true.

“head of I don’t give care do your job department” Well Kepler, maybe I’m the head of the throwing you out the airlock department.

Kepler man you gotta give them better info. The lack of trust is insane. “Don’t forget where you are, I will give you a gruesome death.”

Doug. Doug. Do not trust Kepler.

Do not trust the evil Whiskey man.

oh shut it Jacobi. Every time you speak, you take-

Wait. Hera? HERA?

New file? Emergency scenario?

THE BLACK ARCHIVES AGAIN. 👀

“A violation of Kepler’s trust”. Well, I for one do not think Kepler’s trust is worth anything.

oh my gosh are they trying to tear the Hephaestus crew apart by reviewing their dirty secrets?

This is so sneaky and coordinated. I hate Maxwell and Jacobi so much.

DO NOT MOCK MINKOWSKI FOR HER LOVE OF SHOW TUNES JACOBI!

I want Maxwell and Jacobi to join Kepler in his airlock. For those of you who love SI-5, fear not. I will pack them plenty of Whiskey for the journey.

Fear of… ducks? 🦆 Well. I suppose we found his weakness. See Jacobi you shouldn’t have mocked the show tunes.

Restraining order? What’s up with Maxwell’s families?

A BET?

An internet scam? I don’t care if this is Jacobi pretending to be stupid, he’s perfect for the role. Maybe the airlock will be a merciful death for him. No ducks in space.

Uh… what report is that? Hera?

Oh my gosh is it the ducks again? “Hostile assault on senses?” What does that mean? Snoring? Well, that’s bad.

They got dirt on Kepler now? 👀 Oh. He likes expensive skiing. ⛷️

Wait. We can use this. Maybe we can sabotage his skis. Cause a little accident.

Hera wouldn’t try to kill you! She just wants free will!

“Oh boo hoo I killed a plant. At least I didn’t drug my fellow crew members.” shut up duck boy.

DUCK BOY BLEW UP A HOSPITAL?

I respectfully disagree. These holes are not equally deep. Minkowski loves theater, and Hera just wants free will. Duck boy blew up a hospital.

What’s the file? Her husband better not be dead. Oh is this about Doug?

That was about Doug wasn’t it? Whatever crime he did? The reason he doesn’t talk to his family?

Yikes. Doug what did you do?

Aw Doug. Thank you for apologizing. See Minkowski? He cares about you. He’s not a monster, even if he did do a bad thing.

That’s the real reason Kepler, Jacobi, and Maxwell did this isn’t it? So that they’d lose trust in Doug?

Jacobi shut up. Kidnapping? Child endangerment?

That doesn’t sound good. Was this a custody arrangement gone wrong? That’s my best guess so far. Cause that, plus the family stuff seems like a custody arrangement gone wrong. He mentioned cigarettes and beer a lot so maybe there were substance abuse issues.

But… if I’m right…that means that Doug… has a kid. A kid he probably misses and regrets hurting. And they made HIM answer questions from third graders.

If that’s true they’re awful. I mean, we already knew that, but yikes.

“What about you? Are you going to care? Goodnight 🥰” shut up duck boy. Episode 36: Fire and Brimestone Oh dear is this the Spider lab? 🕷️ It better not be.

“Too early?” You’re in space there is no morning.

“How did they survive without an engineer?” they weren’t supposed to Maxwell, you know that. What you also don’t know is how smart they are.

SL7? Haven’t used it for much? Why do the ships have so many weird and ominous rooms?

“and that’s…bad???… which means???…” me too Doug, me too.

Oh great Duck Boy gets more dynamite. 🧨

Minkowski call him out. And duck boy, no one cares about you.

“Maybe we don’t have to get her out” Exactly what I’ve been saying! Let her go. I wish it was Mr. Duck Boy or Discount Cutter: Whiskey Edition, but at least we could eliminate one problem.

“How do we make this call?” Well, this episode title seems to have done that. I see this as a win. Maxie survives, she gets a shot a redemption. She dies eh… it’s a bit like this hot chocolate I have in my hands. /j

“I couldn’t care less what Kepler thinks” I don’t either, let’s drown him in Whiskey 🥰

What thought? WHAT THOUGHT? Leaving Maxwell to die or killing her?

Look Doug. 99% of the time, I don’t like or go with the murder plan. But you’re in space. They could say you died up here and no investigation would take place. We don’t know what Cutter is doing, but we DO know who is cool with murder for their ambition, and who won’t stop until they get what they want. Other lives are at risk. Maybe thousands. Maybe the whole world if aliens get involved. You need to think about that.

Minkowski. Do not hold that over him. It’s private. You don’t know what happened. Neither do I, I’m making an assumption, but based on evidence presented, I think it’s a decent guess.

“Impossibly smart.” Mr. Duck Boy can be good at explosives but that doesn’t make him smart.

Did they program Hera to snitch? I hate them. I hate the whole SI-5.

I don’t like this. If Kepler hurts Minkowski I swear…

Your hand is not forced Kepler. No one is making you kill. That’s your choice.

I’d trust Doug over Hilbert.

“Then we all go together”. I love Doug the most.

But we still need a plan to kill Discount Cutter. And Duck Boy.

Critical condition? Poor Maxwell. But this isn’t gonna be good for Minkowski. She was only trying to help.

Yeah… it’s weird that they were that perfect. Almost like the stupid boy thing was a front to get you to put your guard down. But I still consider him incompetent.

They better not lock Minkowski in solitary. The last friendly warning? Whiskey boy, nothing about you is friendly. I hate him. Episode 37: Overture Off goes the probe. I wonder if it will find anything.

Sorry I’m doing chores while listening to this one, so reaction might be a bit brief.

Ugh. Of course Duck Boy is the favorite 🙄

THE MUSIC IS BACK! 🎶🎶🎶 And um… more sounds? Concerning sounds? Scary sounds? Very scary sounds?

Oh not the star again.

Translate from her thought stream? Binary code? Yeah, how do we know she’s actually translating.

Good idea Hera. Say something only Doug would know.

Oh more music. 🎶

Good work Doug. Don’t trust Maxwell. She makes you dependent on her to get to Hera, and then lulls you into a false sense of security.

Aliens leaving messages in music? I SAID THIS ON DAY ONE.

Kepler ought to shut his face. Using her love of space and her care for her crew against her? Perhaps the airlock is too merciful for Whiskey boy.

I did ride space mountain once. I didn’t like it.

I bet they did three months until the next episode too.

Now for that end credits scene 👀

I don’t hear anything.

Oh? Cutter’s telephone line?

Yep.

Huh. Jacobi and Maxwell aren’t deep on the inside. Seems like Duck Boy and Dr. Robot are also being played. Interesting…

…but here’s a question for you Kepler. Hilbert thought he was in the inner circle. You laughed because he’s not. Jacobi and Maxwell think they’re in the inner circle. You laugh because they’re not. You believe you are in the inner circle.

But how do you know there is not someone out there somewhere, laughing at you? And why would a man who knows so much about the dangers of space send up anyone he didn’t view as somewhat expendable?

Think about that Whiskey boy. Think about that.

Also: was Lovelace infected by the aliens? or did she make contact? Or is SHE the alien?

Well. I guess that’s all for now.

Thanks dear readers. Really getting through season 3 now. Excited to see what’s in store 👀

#bods wolf359 reactions #w359 #wolf 359 #hera wolf 359 #isabel lovelace #alexander hilbert #daniel jacobi #alana maxwell #doug eiffel #warren kepler #renee minkowski #wolf 359 hera #wolf 359 podcast #wolf 359 reaction

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