#i haven’t drawn my favorite triangle guy in quite some time so here he is. the boy

[bugisbonkerz]

fucked up creature experiences remorse

[titilationexpress]

StarscreamxReader-Sweet Dreams are made of Screams Ch.1

First ever lemon. Please give your input. Reposting from my Ao3.

You haven’t been able to sleep properly for weeks now. And frankly, you’re wondering if you ever will again in your lifetime.

Yet what caused you to have such a problem with something that once came to you so easily? Ok, maybe not easily. No, scratch that. It was never easy. You had to take some sleeping pills every night to even get a few hours in. Still, how did it happen?

Well, the trouble had started back not long ago. In fact, from what you could recall, it hadn’t even been a full month before your ‘problem’ started. See, you were a fairly average individual. You had your quirks, your habits, the little things that make each person an individual. One particular interest you had though was quite specific, and even more, came from a decade long before you were born.

Transformers.

Oh yes, your beginnings were humble when you first started with the franchise, and you looked with wide, awe-filled eyes. Your starting place was where you first discovered it, the one show that will remain in your heart forever. From that, you got into the characters, the story, the lore of what started as a toyline for young boys (though it was clear now that both sexes had a love for it), all of it. And from there, you went on to past and future generations from your starting point, and now, you were a certified Transformers fan! Hell, one of your favorite sites ever is TFWiki.

With this entrance into the fandom, you took to devouring everything that you could: the cartoons and animes, the books, the movies, fanfiction, fanart, fan comics, doujinshi, anything and everything that you could get your hands on, you did. And not long after, you began contributing yourself, drawing, writing, whatever you could to make your stand and have your place in the community. At first, it worked well enough, you weren’t exactly prolific, yet you were doing well enough. You managed to get a few requests for certain things to be drawn/written, believe it or not, but still, you weren’t overly big.

And then came your discovery of the Reader genre.

What is the Reader genre? Why, as far as you were concerned, only one of the greatest genres ever to be conceived! Well, to be more accurate, the form of writing wasn’t anything new, remembering the ‘Choose Your Adventure’ books. It seemed said genre now spread everywhere, you being very aware of the numerous games and dating sims that ranged from well done and engaging to outright ridiculous and stupid (but those were fun in their unique way). And since you didn’t have any knowledge or time to do that, you settled for writing them yourself. Your first piece was a simple Optimus x Reader with the standard plot and standard outcome, which was a declaration of love and a resulting kiss with the Autobot Leader. You were NOT expecting the overflow of response that it had gotten. You were quite shocked, but at the same time, overjoyed. Soon, you decided to try your luck with another one, this one being of Bumblebee, the scenario being mostly the same, albeit with a bit more cutesy fluff, as in your mind, Bumblebee was always the little guy. This one was just as successful, and you beamed, having finally found your calling.

Since then, you were getting requests left and right for more and more choices, all spanning different universes. From the animated cartoons to the comics, different universes, everything that spanned from the most well-known incarnations to the more obscure. It was through these that you managed to get even more into the Transformers multiverse as a whole and even discovered some truly overlooked gems. You opened yourself up to the people and declared that you would write whatever they requested, but you had some taboos that you wouldn’t touch. But any scenario, character, and universe, all of that was fair game.

You had originally begun working on more mundane, typical stories with expected outcomes (but sweet ones nonetheless), yet over time, the requests and your imagination began getting more creative and crazy. Soon, you were delving into several different areas that you had never touched. Elves, goblins, mermaids, vampires, forbidden love, love triangles, all of these were laid at your feet. And while it took a bit to find your rhythm, all of this having come on you so fast, you eventually got it and soon, you had a wide collection of X Reader stories, ranging from G1 to Prime and IDW’s run.

You mainly did Autobots, for you had to admit that writing for them, while they were still complex characters, came somewhat easier for you. True, each of them had their faults and quirks (both from canon and headcanons people had come up with), yet they were still the good guys, and even those with more questionable morality still came out as heroes in the end. But then one day came where you were asked to write about a Decepticon. This threw you for a loop, as, while the thought had intrigued you, you had been writing for good guys for some time, so a total shift in direction was somewhat off-putting and scary. Possibilities of it being too saccharine or sweet, or getting the characters wrong or out of character scared you a bit, yet still, you wanted to test the waters and see if you could do it. And if you could, this would open up so much more for you.

And judging from the input, you had just struck gold yet again.

Soon, not only were you flooded with requests for Autobots, but now their foes were also available, and, as you found out, people had just as much an attraction for the darkness as they did for the light. Again, the same scenarios were implemented, yet now, they had something of a darker edge to them, which allowed you to explore some subjects you couldn’t touch with the Autobots without toning it back somewhat. In a way, the Decepticons provided you with more freedom. Ironic, seeing as Megatron’s motto was “Peace through Tyranny.”

That said, you went through the list of available characters throughout the generations, and so far, those had been garnering quite a following as well, your Autobot and Decepticon stories neck and neck in popularity. Everything seemed to be going well for you.

Then that one question came.

‘Hey, where’s Starscream?’

Then another.

‘Could you write one about Starscream?’’

Then another.

‘Hey, hate to bother you, yet I think that Starscream could use some love here.’

More and more questions and requests for the particular Decepticon filled your messages, and frankly, you were at a loss on what to do. Truth be told, you and Starscream had something of a complicated history. When you had gotten into Transformers, you had heard of the character, yet at first, you never saw why he had gained such a large fanbase. True, he wasn’t a bad character, yet he wasn’t your favorite. But over time, as you wrote more and more for the Decepticons, as well as read X Reader stories from other people, you slowly began to, as one would say, gain an interest in the winged robot. And soon, you found yourself enamored by the smug jerk as well.

But this only made you reluctant to write for him.

True, when you started writing for the Decepticons, you were allowed to experiment with some more intimate and extreme situations, yet with Starscream...it was different. It was hard to explain, yet whenever you got a request to write for him, your brain seemed to seize up. Thoughts came to your head that you had tried to banish, thoughts that came every time you saw the Seeker’s name. You had no idea what was going on or why this was so difficult, yet it seemed the Silver Snake had taken to making your fingers not touch the keyboard.

You had no idea at all. Or at least, that’s what you told yourself.

And since you had gotten the slew of requests, your sleep problems began. The moment you shut your eyes, the scenario began all over again.

…

You needed no introduction to where you were or what you were seeing, it all quite familiar to you now. Around you were towering walls of a silvery mauve color, the only available light from above sparse and leaving several areas coated in darkness. This place was all too familiar, for you had seen it many times in your watching and reading of Transformers.

You were in Decepticon headquarters.

Your dreams had been filled with the base of the enemy faction of the Autobots, and at first, it had shocked you as to why you were here at all. But over time, night after night, you came here, and soon, you grew accustomed to the sight of it. You took on the form of your Transformers persona/OC or remained in your regular, human form, whatever pleased you as if you had some control over this environment. Yet as you grew more familiar (you were never sure if you’d be comfortable), you began to explore the place, finding that, to your surprise, there was no one here. No signs of any sort of life aboard the ship, and while it took a good while, you traveled everywhere you could think of, and still, nothing. No Megatron, no other Decepticons, no one but you had been aboard.

At least, that was what you believed when you first had this dream. Then, you heard it. The voice. His voice.

“Oooh, I’m the Boogie Man,”

Singing, serenading, just loud enough for you to hear, yet low enough for you to know it was far away. It always started this way.

“The terrible, horrible Boogie Man,”

Your ears/audio receptors registered the voice as it echoed throughout the ship. When the dreams had begun, you knew immediately who was singing, and then you were more surprised at how it sounded. Sure, it had its infamous high pitch, yet it wasn’t bad to listen to. Daresay, it was rather enjoyable in its own way.

“I come in the middle of the night and frighten bad little girls like you.”

The first few times you had this dream, it would almost always startle you, yet it led you to look down the other balls and corridors of the ship. The results were always the same though: no one was aboard. No one but you...and him.

“Beware, better have a care,”

The song changed each and every time you entered the dream, tonight being a track you heard on a video game you played not too long ago (Bioshock 2 you believed). Yet the songs always had the same effect on you.

“I’m going to follow you everywhere.”

Despite your trepidation, you wanted...needed to follow it.

“I crawl through the ceiling and the wall and call on bad little girls like you.”

Walking, then running, you traversed the winding path before you, taking several left and right turns, having no sense of direction but that voice. A voice that, despite its infamous sound, held power to it, a siren’s song in a way. Ironic, you thought. Still, you followed, for you had reached your limit. You knew what would happen if you didn’t find him.

“I’ll torture you and hunt you,”

And never leave.

I’ve got you where I want you,”

And never let you escape this dream.

“A victim of my dark and dirty plot.”

And he knew it too. He knew he had power over you. And you hated it.

“And at the slightest whim, I’ll tear you limb from limb,”

Or…

“In other words, I’ll put you on the spot.”

Did you?

“Oooh, I’m the Boogie Man,”

You were close. So dangerously close.

“The terrible, horrible Boogie Man.”

Just a turn around the corner.

“I come in the middle of the night and frighten…”

He paused, you stopping in your tracks at what you saw. There he was. Situated behind violet bars of energy in a cell, the Decepticon stood there with his arms folded and looking upon you with satisfied, hungry red eyes.

“...bad little girls like you.”

It was him.

Starscream.

Your favorite incarnation of Starscream, those ruby orbs boring into your own eyes/optics. You stepped back from the cell, eyes/optics wide at what was before you. Sure, if you were to go by dream logic, some part of you always knew that it was ‘him’ that awaited you at the end of this journey, but still, to actually see him, standing there so casually when it looked like he was locked up, it chilled you. As if he had absolutely nothing to worry about.

“My, my, so you finally found me,” he said, his voice perfectly matching the incarnation that stood before you. “Or rather, I found you. Whichever way it goes, it doesn’t matter,” he smirked. “For I already know the outcome.”

You blinked a few times, still trying to see if who was before you had truly been there. “St…” you began nervously. “Starscream?”

The Decepticon chuckled and stepped out of the shadows, allowing you to fully see him. “In the mesh,” he said. “And I see that introductions won’t need to be made either, will they, Y/N?” your eyes/optics went wide. “That’s right, pet, I know everything. This IS your mind after all.”

“Wh-What?” you stammered. “I don’t understand.”

Starscream’s grin only grew wider. “You will soon. You will understand EVERYTHING.”

Just what was he talking about? From the looks of it, he seemed to be enjoying your tension and trepidation, very amused. Your mind went into fan mode, recalling every fact you had known of Starscream and his various incarnations, which then led to you going on the defensive. “You…” albeit, it took you a try or two. “You’re the one that’s been doing this to me. Giving me these...these weird dreams.” the Decepticon didn’t answer, yet it was clear that he already knew that the secret was out (even if it wasn’t much of one). “You’re also the one that’s not letting me have one decent night’s sleep without being trapped here!”

“Or me serenading you?” he added in. “How do you like it? I don’t do it often, yet if I wish, I can stretch out my vocal components if I want.”

Your cheeks grew hot. Damn, this bastard was already making you too wound up, and you had only gotten a few words in! “Well...I’m here now,” you said, trying to sound confident, and, ironically enough, trying to channel Megatron’s dominating aura. “So, what do you want?”

This didn’t phase him in the slightest. Despite him being the one locked up, you were the one who felt like his prisoner. “I think you already know that dear Y/N,” he said. “But to put it simply, I’m feeling left out.”

You were confused. “Left out?” You asked. “Left out of…” you paused. Indeed, you knew well what he was talking about. “My...my reader inserts.”

Starscream nodded. “Quite an extensive library you’ve built up over time.” He told you. “Though your choices could be much better.” he scoffed. “Of course goody-good Prime would be on the list, along with the rest of the Auto-dolts.” Then he grimaced. “Yet there are those that actually want to FRAG Megatron? Ugh! No taste at all!” He then looked back at you. “You’ve written for everyone, from either faction, of every series,” he then pouted. “But none for me. Truly, Y/N, I’m hurt.”

You felt quite awkward. True, while you were known online for your stories, it was your username and persona they were seeing. They weren’t someone that was right around the corner that could walk in and see you writing these things. While you loved doing it, the thought of your family or friends discovering you wrote in this genre was a thought you dared not entertain, as you swore that you’d die from embarrassment. Thus, you were very careful whenever you did it, your room completely locked tight so you could focus without fear of someone barging in. The only times you left during your writing periods were for bathroom breaks and/or to eat/drink something. It was a big secret...and thinking about it now, it was a secret no more to the most infamous backstabber in all of Transformers. You had been found out.

“Well...so what? Are you going to keep haunting me until I do?” you asked. “You can’t do that!”

Starscream didn’t seem phased by this at all. That damned smirk of his both frustrated and made you excited, a combination that left you very unsure. “Can’t I?” he asked.

You didn’t like his tone. “What do you mean?”

“Well, let’s consider for a moment, Y/N,” he said. “You believe that I’m merely a figment of your imagination, yes? A stubborn thought that is lodged in your subconscious. Am I right?” you shifted a bit, knowing well what he was saying would lead to something else. Something that probably would flip everything on its head. “Well...who’s to say that I am?”

“I...I don’t understand.”

“Of course you don’t. But what I say might just jog your memory.” he then went on. “In your last X Reader, you spoke of multiple versions of the characters, such as Prime and...yes, even Megatron,” Starscream scoffed. “And how it would’ve been peculiar if they met. Then, one of your readers linked you to a page on the TFWiki.” Starscream then chuckled. “Quite an array of knowledge, I must say. Especially for a primitive species such as yourselves. Anyway, said page spoke of what is labeled as the Transformers Multiverse, which, if I may say, is an excuse for you all to toy with and shape us into what YOU want. But back on track, you did a small amount of research on that, then went on about your business.”

“...and what does this have to do with why you’re here?”

Starscream smirked. “Then, after some time, you went and read the entries of me from various series and incarnations. To get a better feel for what you were thinking of writing. What you wanted to write. Only, you never did.” You were about to speak again, but the seeker spoke again before you could. “There was one detail from my earliest incarnation that spoke of a ‘ghost’, an immortal spark that couldn’t be snuffed out. One that could travel through space and time.” He drew closer to the bars. “And then discovered a way to travel through dimensions. Wherein, I found out all about how so many humans have seen my reality behind a television screen.”

What was he talking about? What did any of what he said mean? It was then that it all clicked for you. Sparks were essentially the ‘soul’ of a Transformer, which Starscream’s was indestructible. You read that he made an appearance in Beast Wars, and had made cameos elsewhere. What was before you right now...mere feet away…” Are you.. “ you stammered. “Are you really…”

The Decepticon nodded. “Yes. Yes, I am, Y/N.”

You were left speechless. No. No, this...this was impossible. It...it couldn’t be him! It couldn’t be the REAL Starscream! He was a cartoon, no, a toy! A damn toy! A toy from the eighties that were made to be marketable to young boys (and the girls that were secretly into it) among several other toys that were made be marketable to young boys (and again, the girls that were secretly into it)! There was NO way he was in your mind right now! He wasn’t real! He wasn’t real! He wasn’t-

“You step out into the chilled air, wrapping your arms around yourself as you do.” the Decepticon suddenly began. “He’s there to pick you up. He’s there to pick you up. You’re both terrified and exhilarated, eager to start the night, but also to make it fly by just enough so nothing embarrassing would happen between the two of you.” your jaw dropped when you heard him say that. How did he- “Know that you recently read over your very first entry? The one that started it all?” he then ‘rolled’ his eyes. “The one that clearly displayed that you had little taste at first?”

Of course, you did! That was from your very first X Reader story! It told of Optimus Prime and you, a human, in a relationship. Odd start, you knew, especially given that Transformer x Human relations was sort of controversial, yet overall, it wasn’t a bad one. Still, the fact he knew that…” No.” you said aloud. “It can’t be.”

He smiled. “I am.”

You stepped back until you hit a wall. “S-Starscream.” you stuttered. “You’re him. You’re the...the real one.” he was quite satisfied with your reaction, you clearly flustered yet cautious at the same time. The sensation drove you mad. But then you remember, this was just a dream! You were just making up all this stuff! You were relieved by this revelation...yet at the same time, you were...curious. Just where would this go if you continued? “Well...well, what are you doing here? What do you want?”

“Exactly as I said before, I feel left out,” Starscream told you. “And considering my popularity in this universe, I’d think me being here should tell you something.”

You knew what he wanted. “You want me to write about you.” it was obvious. “I-I know. I mean, I’ve been wanting to. Really, I have. But...but I...I just…” you sighed. If you knew Starscream (and you had at least a decent enough faith you did), you knew that this could potentially earn you his anger. Yet, to your surprise, he didn’t try to order you around. Instead, he seemed like he already knew you were going to say that.

“You can’t,” he said for you. “Understand, I’m the one in YOUR mind. Thus, you could say, I know everything about you. A perk of being something that, in this universe, started out as a drawing on a piece of paper.” you were confused, this seemed to humor Starscream even more. “Oh, come now. Surely you know that concept art exists, right?”

All of this was so insane for you, yet it was then that you felt the urge to speak up and say something for yourself for once. “Well, if you’re here from the...well, YOUR universe, what are you doing here in the first place?”

“Why, this is one of the few places I win!” Starscream exclaimed. “Of course, when I first came here, I was quite perplexed about how I and many others were known as products from a company called ‘Hasbro’. But overtime, I discovered your version of the internet, and, well, as you flesh bags say, the rest is history.” he then continued, not giving you a chance to speak. “And bring that I am an idea in this universe, I can go freely as I wish, peering into minds,” his red eyes looked upon you. “Become one’s permanent muse or vice versa.”

God, you felt weird. You felt so confused and conflicted. You wanted to sink into the wall to get away, but you also wanted to know more about this. You had to know more. You needed to know more. “So…?”

“So, I’ve come to you, as you’re truly in need of some inspiration,” Starscream said. “As well as some changes in your thinking.”

“Like what? Worshiping the ground you walk on?” you ask, feeling a little bolder.

“Oh, you already do.” he said. “If you didn’t desire me, I wouldn’t be here.” he grinned at your shocked expression. “That’s right, Y/N, I know what truly holds you back from writing about me. Your fears, your anxieties, your loves and lusts.” you had no words. “You fear that you may get me wrong if you will. That I won’t be in character. Or you fear that you won’t be able to satisfy the wants of your readers, as I AM so highly anticipated. Or…” he leaned closer to the bars, the only barrier separating you two. “You fear exploring those more intimate pleasures with me. You’re intimidated and unsure. After all, writing for Autobots is easy, yet us Decepticons are more difficult. But it HAS awakened things in you that you wish to explore on either side. Things that you are dying to let out.”

You had no words, he was completely right. Damn him! The smug bastard knew he had you in the palm of his hand...and yet also probably knew that’s what made you so hot and bothered right now! “So...what? Are you here to force me to write those things with you in them?”

“Dear Y/N, I can’t technically make you do anything,” Starscream told you. “Oh yes, I can stay and torment you night after night until either I pass onto another universe or I grow bored of you, but my reason being here is for both our benefits.”

“How?”

“It’s quite simple,” he said. “We shall go through those scenarios in your head.” his ruby red optics bore into yours/your eyes. “Together.” he then reached out from in between the bars and traced a digit around your jawline. “Believe it or not, I want to help you, Y/N.” his voice was smooth and sultry, something you never expected from a voice like his. “But only you can allow me to do so.” he then stepped back from the bars. “This prison of mine is something you’ve constructed from your fears and insecurities. Allow yourself to embrace what you fear…” he then extended his hand again, yet stepped back as well, sinking into the darkness. “Only then, will you truly be free.”

You were at a standstill. You knew what he wanted, and, to your horror, you were wanting to give it to him. Deny it all you want, this was something that had been in your mind ever since you got the first request for the Seeker. You approached the bars, trying to get some sign that he was still there. Surely he hadn’t left you, had he? No, he hadn’t. He was still there, you could feel him. Watching, waiting, and perhaps, knowing what you would do before you did.

Yet would you do it? Would you bite into that forbidden fruit?

Some while after pondering this question, you looked at the cell, the energy bars vanishing. Why fight it when you could already taste the sweet tartness of said fruit in the back of your throat?

[silverfootstepswrites]

Eden: BLEACH [2]

ZERO / BLEACH (here) / TWIST / REVERSE / DYE / RED

++++

One lives in the hope of becoming a memory. - Antonio Porchia

++++

There was a knock on the open door. Sakura scowled before she even looked up.

“Go away.”

“You sound more and more like him with every day.”

Sakura finally lifted her head from the ancient manuscript. She lowered her magnifying glass. 

“Headmaster,” she greeted Hashirama. The older man, who hadn’t aged a single day since she had first met him, smiled in return. He lingered in the doorway, well aware of the fact that she hadn’t actually invited him inside. She just blinked at him. 

Hashirama sighed. 

“You’re really just like him. I wanted to let you know that those spell books you requested last month are finally here,” he informed her. And then his eyes drifting to the pile sitting on her desk. “Oh… you already got them?”

Sakura paused. The truth was that she recalled in her long nightmare several days ago that these books would arrive. Just to be sure, she had popped into the library to check. And there they were. Labelled with her name and her department. 

It was unsettling- if that was the right word for a situation like this.

Coincidences happened all the time. But was it a coincidence if so many of them piled up at once like this?

“How goes the research?” Hashirama then asked. 

In response, Sakura extended her hand. She imagined the molecules in the air gathering into a solid surface. The shield expanded, shoving Hashirama all the way out the door. Hashirama examined the shimmering surface of the shield. When he poked it, static electricity crackled off the outside. He jerked his hand back. 

“That’s a nice touch,” he commended. And then he waved his hand. “Alright. I get the hint. I’ll get out of your hair.”

“Thank you,” Sakura replied, already turning back to her reading. 

Madara cackled when Sakura recounted the encounter to him that night.

“Good. Keep that geezer far away from you,” Madara agreed, crunching a pistachio between his back molars. 

Sakura thought for a moment. She turned away from the stove for a moment. It was her turn to cook dinner. “You’re no spring chicken yourself, Papa,” she reminded him. Madara frowned at her. 

Sakura paused. She lowered her spatula. 

“Sorry, was that too much?” she asked. 

But Madara only smirked, leaning against the counter. He ruffled her hair. 

“Don’t worry about that kind of crap, kid. We’re always fine,” he assured her. And then he pointed at the pan. Sakura went back to stirring the garlic before it could burn. 

“Quit snacking on those. You’ll ruin your appetite,” Sakura told him. She heard him chuckle.

“Are you my grandmother? Quit nagging.” And then he crunched through another pistachio, grinding it to pieces between his teeth. 

Later that night, Sakura laid on her bed, phone pressed to her ear. 

“Are you sure you won’t come? The guys are cute. I promise,” Ino pleaded one last time. And then she added: “Sorry. It’s just… I haven’t seen you in forever. I miss you.”

And Sakura smiled at the ceiling. 

“Yeah. I’ll sit this one out, Ino. I’m not feeling it,” Sakura answered. She heard Ino sigh. 

Before Ino could worry too much, Sakura then said: “I do appreciate the invites, Ino. I know you’re just thinking about me. I’ll be at the next one.”

Ino’s tone brightened. “Okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow then.”

“Take pictures so I can see them later.”

“Yeah yeah. I’ll drop by the shop?” 

“Yeah.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Letting out a sigh, Sakura dropped the phone and rolled onto her side. She stretched her arms over her head. As she lay there, she could hear footsteps downstairs. She thought for a moment. And then her mouth opened. 

“Papa,” she called.

No response. 

She considered getting up, and then she extended her left arm. Pointing, she flicked her wrist as she called him again. 

This time, the “Papa” traveled down the stairs, spreading through the third floor like mist. She could feel the way the word surged ahead, knocking walls and doors, spreading until she was sure that it could be heard everywhere.

There was a pause. And then she felt Madara’s magic wash over her in a wave. Soft. Just a little warm- as were the spells of most fire affinity casters.

What.

I’m bored.

There was a drawn-out exhale. Madara trudged up the stairs, his glasses dangling from the chain around his neck. He stood in the doorway, hand on his hip. 

“What do you want me to do about that?” he demanded. 

Sakura tilted her head to look at him. 

“Dunno. I wanna eat something.”

Madara squinted at her. “We had dinner.”

Sakura stared right back at him. 

He pushed off the doorway, already walking out of the room. 

“You want toast?”

“With butter and jam,” she called after him. Hugging a pillow to her chest, she fell back on the bed again.

“Brat,” he grumbled, stomping down the stairs. 

Sakura laughed. 

They stood at the counter eating together, barefoot, scolding each other for getting crumbs everywhere. 

Sakura loved the way the butter melted in her mouth, mixing with the sweet taste of strawberries. Madara even cut the toast into triangles, just the way she liked, even though she had never once asked him to. 

It struck her, staring out the kitchen window, how fortunate she was. The people who had abandoned her had never written or called. She was sure that the Senju Institute and Madara knew of some way to get in touch with them. But she didn’t want to know. 

Madara had taught her when everyone else said there was something defective about her. He had given her a place to belong. And as all these thoughts swam around in her head, Sakura let her head fall against Madara’s arm. 

“You know…” 

Madara looked at her as he took a bite of his toast. 

“I really like being here with you, Papa. I feel happy here,” she told him. 

Madara stopped chewing. He looked away. 

“Then stick around, kid. It’s not bad having you around too,” Madara replied, not meeting her eyes. 

Sakura beamed. She didn’t have to say anything else. They finished eating their late-night snack together. Brushing crumbs off their face and licking jam from their fingers once they were done. 

++++

On the days that she wasn’t working at the dream shop, Sakura was working on her own research. Her thesis was exploring how magical barriers and fields interact with dreams. If shields and charms were cast in the real world, would those protections extend to dreams? (No.) Could they be manipulated to work in dreams? (Maybe- she wasn’t sure yet.)

Her undergraduate studies in abjuration focused mostly on shields and banishment. Shisui had laughed when she announced her major to them one morning at the shop. As Itachi and Sasuke both punched his arms, he tried to explain that it was a good thing. 

Of course you would want to protect people. That’s just like you.

Everyone in the Uchiha family agreed that Sakura’s shields had a kick to them. They didn’t just block. They fought back when attacked. One of her favorite shields was one that she liked to call The Urchin. It looked like any other shield- clear but shimmering faintly under the right light. If touched gently, it had no reaction. But if struck with force, thousands of spikes rose out of the surface to stab the threat. 

For Sasuke, who favored evocation magic, Sakura’s shields were a great source of amusement as he tried to find ways to break them down with fireballs and bolts of lightning. And Sakura in turn would then work to fix those weaknesses to render his attacks harmless. Neither of them ever admitted it out loud, but their playful competition was what had probably driven both of them to excel in their studies during their undergrad years. 

Itachi worked almost exclusively with illusions. His ability to blur illusions with reality made him a fearsome sparring partner. It was no surprise that he had graduated at the top of his class in record time. Even now, his old professors joked that Itachi had walked into the school and then walked out with his diplomas. 

Shisui was the only one among them that hadn’t gone on to college. But that didn’t seem to bother anyone- especially not his parents. Because as soon as it was legal, Shisui was scouted to work with the city’s observatory to test how celestial bodies and their positions influenced casting. It was a new field that not many people were familiar with. Shisui had a tendency to pack his car with his telescope and spectrometer and drive off into the mountains whenever the skies were clear. If his frequent absences irritated Madara, he didn’t say anything. 

With so many people around her who excelled at magic, it wasn’t hard to find someone to assist her with research on most days. Even her friends from school, Ino and Naruto, were usually around to lend a helping hand. 

But Sakura liked it best when Madara was the one to help her with her experiments.  

“Because I ask the least amount of stupid questions,” he guessed when she told him so. 

They sat cross-legged in Sakura’s room in the dream world. Madara looked around at all the crystals that filled the tall shelves. She had recently extended the height of her room just to accommodate them all. 

“No. You just… you’re good at knowing how to help. You’re kind of a natural, Papa,” Sakura replied. 

Before Madara could touch any of the dreams, Sakura made a sweeping gesture with both her hands. The room around them dissolved into a gentle blue mist. And when it reformed, they were standing in what looked like the city park. There was even a swing creaking gently in the breeze nearby. 

Madara was sitting on a boulder now. He patted the surface a few times, nodding approvingly. 

“The texture’s pretty realistic. You’ve got a good eye for detail,” he commented.

Sakura took a moment to smile before she closed her eyes and gathered energy into her palms again. This time, when she swept her arms, the particles in the air began to vibrate, knitting together. Closer and closer, closing the gaps until they formed a standard shield. 

Madara picked up a small stone and tossed it at the shield. It bounced off. 

“Well. Looks like it’s holding this time around.”

As he spoke, the smooth surface of the shield began to ripple. Like a soap bubble, it popped. Sakura’s arms fell to her sides. Her lips jutted out. 

“Oh man, I thought I really had it this time,” she lamented. 

But Madara just patted the empty spot beside him. Sakura made her way over. She climbed up on the boulder and plopped down beside him. 

“I wonder why shields don’t work in dreams. It would be helpful for lots of people,” she grumbled. She pulled her knees up to her chest. 

“Why’d you choose something so hard? No one’s ever managed to make abjuration magic last here. The dream world doesn’t follow the regular laws of nature,” Madara pointed out. And as if to drive the point home, he held up his pointer finger. A flame appeared at the tip. Only it was burning upside down. 

Sakura copied him. She lowered the temperature of the magic until it turned a dull, almost brownish color. When she lowered her hand, the flame dissipated completely.

“There’s lots of people. Kids especially. Who feel scared. And maybe they didn’t have some weird artificer popping into their heads every night to make the nightmares go away,” she explained. When she met Madara’s eyes, he was smiling again. Sighing, he patted her head a couple times. 

“You got a real heart of gold. You know that, right?” he commended. But the praise almost sounded a little sad. 

Madara’s hand fell away. 

“By the way, I wanted to ask.”

“Yeah, Papa?”

“You’ve been at home a lot lately. Something happen with your friends?”

It wasn’t like Madara to pry into her private matters. He hadn’t asked why she had started casting a barrier over their home every night before they went to bed. And he didn’t ask why she had suddenly started texting him every day while she was at work. 

It was just a nightmare. One of countless ones she had dreamt over all these years. It still made her feel sick to remember the scene. So much blood. 

She did feel guilty for not speaking to Gaara again. He hadn’t done anything wrong. But the image of him laying dead there next to Madara had felt too strange. Part of the reason she had chosen to minor in divination was because dreams and divination were often linked together. Dreams could be a warning of some events to come. And if Gaara was part of that ominous message, she didn’t want to involve herself with him in any way. 

“Just been busy. Too tired to go out, mostly. Everything’s fine with my friends. Ino’s gonna drop by the shop tomorrow. I might get lunch with her,” Sakura replied, looking down at her hands. 

They both looked up as they heard distant beeping. 

“That’s your alarm,” Sakura told him, turning to Madara again. 

He hadn’t aged a day since he had picked her up from the Senju Academy all those years ago. She knew that really talented casters who were constantly working with magic often lived much longer. Bathing in all that energy had a rejuvenating effect. She suspected that her aging would begin to slow soon too. It was rumored that Professor Tobirama and Professor Hashirama were centuries old- although no one would know from looking at their faces. 

Madara nodded. 

“See you soon, kid.”

He tapped her shoulder once before he dissolved into black mist. 

When Sakura opened her eyes, she could hear the faucet running in the bathroom. Her phone was buzzing on her nightstand. She reached over to hit the snooze button. The faucet shut off. 

“Papa,” she croaked half into her pillow. 

There was a pause. When she pried one eye open, Madara was opening her bedroom door. There was a towel around his neck.

“Pancakes,” was all she mumbled. 

Madara rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, yeah, Your Highness,” he complained, closing the door again. 

++++

The peaceful days continued even as the weather grew cold. Snow fell on the city, but the inside of the dream shop stayed cozy thanks to an enchantment cast by Madara at the beginning of every winter. 

Sakura didn’t really have to duck her head when she entered the store. But her cousins did. It was one of the few times when she was glad to be so much shorter. 

She unwrapped her scarf and tossed it into the air. It hovered there. Waiting until she unzipped her coat and threw it too. Only then did the magic whisk them both away to hang on the coat rack.

“Morning,” Sasuke said from behind the counter.

“Hi. I’m freezing,” she replied. Nose red from the cold, Sakura rubbed her hands together. 

“There’s still some coffee in the break room. Help yourself,” Sasuke told her. And when he began taking off his hoodie for her, Sakura waved his offer away. 

When she approached, Sasuke turned the appointment book around so she could see the day’s schedule. Itachi was upstairs dealing with a client already. She didn’t have anything booked until after lunch today. 

“Shisui?” she called. 

“In storage,” came a muffled reply. 

She found him digging through one of the shelves. To the side were rolled pieces of paper. She picked one up and opened it to find a star map. 

“What’s this?”

Shisui’s head popped up. 

“Ah. Weather looks real clear tomorrow. I’m gonna head out and get some readings.”

Sakura felt her knees buckle. She gripped the edge of the shelf as she remembered something else from that nightmare that had never faded from her mind. 

“Shi.”

“Yeah?”

When she didn’t speak, Shisui straightened. Dusting off his shirt, he stepped toward her. When he saw the look on her face, he rushed the last few steps. He grasped her shoulders.

“Hey hey hey. What’s wrong?” 

Sakura grabbed his forearms. 

“Do you have to go?” 

“What?”

“On your trip. Do you have to go?”

“Yeah, kid. Been planning this for a while. What’s wrong?” he said, slowly. He searched her face as he spoke. She hated the way his forehead wrinkled with concern. Hated even more the way Sasuke opened the door. Standing there with his fists held in front of him, as if getting ready to punch whatever had upset her. 

“What’d you say, you turd?” Sasuke snapped. He shoved Shisui aside. He ducked to get a better look at Sakura’s expression. 

“You don’t look so good. Let’s go sit down,” Sasuke suggested. He took her hand. Waited for her to slowly curl her fingers around his. As he guided her to the door, Itachi appeared. His face brightened as he spotted her.

“Hey. When’d you get here?” he greeted her.

The warmth in his voice made her burst into tears. 

“What’d you two say to her?” Itachi immediately accused. He crossed the threshold to wrap his arms around her, holding her close to his chest. He patted her back as he went on with his scolding the others. “She’s tired enough as is without you two saying something stupid to her.”

“I didn’t do anything, I swear.”

“I just said I was going on a trip.”

Sakura bawled into Itachi’s shirt. She didn’t have the energy to care how stupid she must look. She needed to tell Shisui not to go. Not go away. Because what if that awful dream came true and he disappeared forever again? And then Itachi would go too. And to imagine the sorrow in Sasuke’s face hurt more than all those other things put together. 

“Sasuke, go get her something to drink. Shisui, go get a blanket out of the back,” Itachi was ordering now. And then he lowered his voice. 

“There there. Cry it out. You’ll feel better once you do,” Itachi murmured, patting her back again. 

[sargenthouse]

Interview: Niall Kennedy from And So I Watch You From Afar // Spectrum Culture

Belfast’s best musical export rides on. The exuberant, ridiculous, brilliant And So I Watch You From Afar just released their fifth album The Endless Shimmering to acclaim here on Spectrum Culture and continued their streak as one of math-rock’s most euphoric bands. Guitarists Niall Kennedy and Rory Friers, drummer Chris Wee and bassist Johnny Adger passed a decade as a band in 2015 and haven’t slowed down an inch. The new album flexes some hitherto unseen muscle, but still keeps things as bright and cheery as their old work, creating one of the year’s finest metal experiences.

Full interview via Spectrum Culture.

We caught guitarist Niall Kennedy over Skype while on tour in Germany. We discussed just how many riffs it takes to get to the center of an ASIWYFA album, writing unexpected lullabies and their version of Guitar Hero.

The opening track “Three Triangles” has a sort of samba section at the end of it, which is something I haven’t heard y’all experiment with. How did that flavor come about?

I don’t know if I can pinpoint it, but I can say that we just spent an awful lot of time in the practice room for this record, just rehearsing and jamming. Ideas only stuck around if everyone was really excited by them and anything that wasn’t getting us going we just threw out. We just kept it brutal like that. I guess that was just something we were into that day.

I like how you said, kept it brutal, because, bit of a tangent here, I have synesthesia where I see colors when I hear music. And your last two records were just incredibly colorful. This one is a lot darker, more punishing. Was there a transition here between those two sounds?

Yeah, I mean we wrote an awful lot of songs for this album. Certain songs—we would just kind of demo stuff and everyone was listening to all the tracks throughout the year on their iPhones and stuff. And eventually the songs that are on the album now just kind of presented themselves as the ones that really needed to be on the album. There’s loads of really great stuff that didn’t make it. Like some of my favorite riffs from this album aren’t on this album. These songs just came together and felt like the right choice.

When we started out, the only thing we talked about doing for this album that we planned was just to spend an awful lot of time writing it. As opposed to the last two records which we wrote three-quarters of it and then went into the studio and experimented and finished off bits in there and came up with ideas in the studio. This one we wanted everything dialed to the nth degree and absolutely 100 percent sure of what we were doing before we went to the studio. And then we wanted to just record a really good live version of that album. There’s nothing more than that that we agreed upon before we started writing it. And it just kind of came out that way.

But I’ve spoken to a couple of people who seem to think that the first two albums are a pair of albums and the last two albums are a pair of albums that go together. And then this album is different again. Maybe the next one will be a sequel to that. I don’t know, we’ll have to see. I feel like there’s definitely a different direction with this stuff. It feels a bit, to me, like we took some of the stuff we learnt over the previous records and touring for all these years and focused all that stuff into the writing process for this.

That’s interesting you say there were a lot of riffs left off the album. My favorite song “Mullally”—is that how you say it?

Sure (laughs).

It feels like it could be five or six different songs, because, even though its cohesive, it’s like here’s a riff, here’s a riff in a very quick succession. And I was wondering how that came to be, because it feels like another band would just be like “oh this one riff will be one song.”

(laughs) Yeah! It’s weird. The first riff that was written for that song was the riff that comes in three-quarters of the way in—the kind of bridge section. That’s something I remember trying out in a soundcheck like a year and a half ago or something. And then you just kind of write all this other stuff and then you realize certain things. “Oh that would go into that really well” and you just try stuff out and if it fits, it fits and you refine it and refine it again and throw out a couple of bars (laughs), until you’ve crafted something that everyone’s really happy with.

I think it just comes from playing stuff over and over and over and over and over again in the practice room. And very quickly a part will get boring. If it’s boring, it’ll get boring to us first. Then we’ll be like, “ok, we need to change something here” or introduce something new. That’s generally the way it happens. And that can only really happen if you play something a million times.

The other song that really caught my attention the first few times I listened through was “Dying Giants.” Cause I’ve noticed that there’s this pattern you guys have these seven minute-plus songs on each album: “Young Brave Minds” on All Hail Bright Futures, the title track and “A Beacon, A Compass, An Anchor” on Heirs. And they’re all in the middle of these quicker, smaller songs. What makes you put “K is for Killing Spree” or “Young Brave Minds” next to the other tracks?

I don’t know! I feel like we’re trying to be led by our instinct as much as possible and to follow those gut feelings and just trust whatever is exciting you the most. A few people have asked why there isn’t any vocals on this record, and it’s really just that there was no point which we felt “oh vocals would be great here.” We just went on our gut feeling. That song was one of those that came together pretty quickly from several different riffs and just felt really good in the room and we just knew it was going to be on the record for—since it was written. It is kind of long but, (laughs) I don’t know, it feels like it’s over in two minutes when you play it live because it’s just so fun to rip through it. It doesn’t feel like it’s drawn out and there’s lots of unnecessary parts. It zips along even though it’s a good seven-and-a-half-minutes or something.

I’ve always wondered, what is your guys’ favorite song to play live? Looking at SetlistFM, I’m surprised by what you do and don’t play. Is it just like “oh this is a really fun song! We’re going to play it every night!”

(Laughs) Yeah! Usually it’s the newest song that we’ve written is the favorite song. We’ve been opening the set this tour with “Dying Giants” and it’s been really fun because, I guess a few people know it by now, but for the people that don’t, it’s quite a good introduction and sort of warm-up song because it starts quite unassuming and then becomes explosive. But later on in the set we’re playing “A Slow Unfolding of Wings” and that’s a song that Rory had written for another project that he was thinking of starting.

And you were like “no, no this is ours.

(Laughs) I was like “There is no way, this has to be ours, I’m sorry.” I just convinced him over a period of about six months. I’m so glad he came around because that’s probably my favorite song to play live at the minute. It’s really fun.

I was wondering in part because, according to Audiotree and SetlistFM, you guys have like never played my favorite song live, which is “Animal Ghosts.”

Yeah, it’s one of my favorites as well! I think the problem with it is: it’s really dependent on—it needs to sound huge. So you have to play it in really big venues and the sound engineer has to know exactly what you’re going for. Cause there’s not a whole lot going on in the song. It requires the live production to have the same affect live that it does on the record. It’s difficult. We’ve thought about trying to throw even a section of it into the set on this tour, but we just never got ‘round to it. But I would love to play that song live, it’s one of my favorites. But it’s kind of good to have that stuff in the artillery for some other point where we’ll bring it out randomly and surprise everyone.

I listened to a podcast you were on where you explained that the ending string section of “Dying Giants” is a reworking of the riff from the final track “Chrysalism.” It sounds like a requiem, then it’s splashed against the almost poppy “All I Need is Space” and I was wondering about the sequencing between those two.

We’re trying not to talk too much about what we think the narrative is for the record or what the story is or what any of the song names mean or anything like that. But what I would say is that to have that piece of music appear at a certain point and then be more fully realized later on in the album, it plays to a certain narrative, I suppose. A bit like a movie or something like that. I guess we were thinking more along those lines when we were writing the album. I guess we were pushing it to be something a little bigger than just an album. We wrote and recorded the album, hoping that people would listen to it start-to-finish or at least make it so they could, if they wanted to. I think it kind of plays more into a certain narrative I suppose.

And sort of on that theme of almost getting pictures into listeners’ heads, because I was really interested in the title track. At first it sounds like a lullaby, it’s just something you could coo to someone before they go to bed. But it reminded me of “Tryer, You” from Heirs, because it seems like every record, you have a song or two that’s just cuddling up close to the listener.

Yeah it’s nice to write stuff that’s kind of feel good and doesn’t feel too oppressive or challenging, but is just kind of upbeat and fun. I guess the album represents a lot of different feelings and thoughts and things. For me, “The Endless Shimmering” represents being in a really happy place or having a really happy moment and not too much else going on.

I enjoyed it so much because it was so different from the rest. It reminded me of “KaBaTa”—uh whatever–

(laughs)

— off of All Hail Bright Futures, just this moment of “did another band just come in?”

The band has got to be exciting for us. It has to be something that we’re pumped about doing. I guess you have to do things like that (laughs) to keep things exciting and challenge yourself. We’re definitely not a band that wants to shy away from anything that feels a bit scary or feels a bit dangerous or strange.

Again I was looking at your setlist and it seems like every night you have the same encore: “Run Home,” “Eunoia,” “Big Thinks Do Remarkable” and “The Voiceless.” Is there a reason it shook out like that? I understand “Run Home” because it’s like “we’re back on stage, here’s rainbows flowing out of our guitars.” But “The Voiceless” is one of the oldest songs you guys play.

Again, I think it’s just a really upbeat kind of song. It’s the one song you play and you look out at the crowd and you always see couples hugging each other and smiling and sometimes you see people crying and stuff. For some reason it kind of connects with people. It’s so simple as well, it’s just one riff that repeats over, there’s nothing really too challenging going on. I think it allows people to—they don’t really have to pay attention to us and watch us. They can just embrace the feeling that’s being emitted around the room. It’s always been a really good closing song to go out on, leave everyone feeling really happy and upbeat about life. Yeah, I don’t know. We’ve just been closing with it for so long that it’s just always worked in that regard.

I’ve always appreciated that about you guys, it feels like the happiest mosh pit.

And “The Voiceless” is us giving you a little massage afterwards to say “don’t worry, it’s alright.” (Laughs)

There does seem to be this very small niche of bands, like LITE, who you toured with in Japan or Torche. It’s brutal, but you just want to climb Mt. Everest after you listen.

Yeah, we absolutely love those bands. They’re some of our favorite bands, so I’m on the same page as you.

How was the tour with LITE? I saw them open for Mike Watt and they were just incredible players.

Yeah, they’re amazing. We played with Mike Watt as well actually, a few years ago in America. And he was also—we loved him. He actually gave Rory the—there’s a song called “Like a Mouse” and that’s a Mike Watt quote just from a conversation they had about music.

But LITE were like the nicest guys. Their English wasn’t amazing and our Japanese is terrible so there was somewhat—communication problems—but you can communicate in other ways. We spent a lot of time with them. They took us around to different kind of touristy stuff and we went out for dinner every night and they took us to really, really great Japanese restaurants. We had the best time. And we just missed them. We just played at a festival in Barcelona and they had just played the night before so we missed them by a matter of hours, which was really sad. Hopefully we can get to play with them again. I think we’re planning to go back to Japan in October in the next year or so. Hopefully we’ll be able to see them again. Love those guys.

What was the “Like a Mouse” quote?

I think, as far as I remember, he was talking about how you—it might have been about how you present yourself as a band, you kind of like sneak in and he was being like—he’s just a legend and he just talks in poetry a little bit. He’s very quotable. I think he was describing something like that about how you attack music and sneaking up on people like a mouse. But when he said it, I remember Rory saying he said the whole sentence and then took a little pause and said—(whispers) “Like a mouse!” (laughs) And Rory just thought it was awesome. I think Rory might even have a tattoo of that as well.

That fits for my experience with All Hail Bright Futures, just very colorful while being brutal.

It was a great album to put out. Then the reactions were like—there were a whole bunch of people who were die-hard first-album fans who thought it was absolute bullshit (laughs). Then there was this entire wave of people who had never heard us before. And it was a really accessible way to get into our music. Probably the biggest songs we’ve got on Spotify or songs we play live are from that album. We’re super proud of it and we love playing those songs. I wish there was more time in the set to play more songs off that album to be honest, but it’s tough trying to squeeze everything in.

A friend of mine and I were recently talking about a version of Guitar Hero where every song is an And So I Watch You From Afar song, and every song is also the final guitar song.

That would be a dream come true.

I can’t play y’all’s guitar stuff at all, but I was trying to get through All Hail Bright Futures on drums and my arms just fell off.

(Laughs) Yeah, Chris is a fucking machine. It’s ridiculous. I started out playing drums as well, in fact—I’ve played in And So I Watch You From Afar three times, and the first time was when Chris was still at University and I had to fill in for him. And it was a fucking nightmare. Because his parts are just ridiculous (laughs). So, yeah I feel your pain.

On that note, do you have a song you play live that’s usually pretty exhausting? I always thought “Wasps” would be there.

It’s relentless, yeah. The saving grace is that tiny section where I drop out after the second chorus and Rory’s on his own and I have 10 seconds of stretching my fingers out (laughs) before I have to start again. Cause it’s just completely constant. And then you’ve got to sing as well… Yeah “Wasps” is probably the most strenuous. And also “BEAUTIFULUNIVERSEMASTERCHAMPION”—the repetition. You know, it’s a simple riff but just over and over and over again gets a little tiring. But, you know, it’s fun. The adrenaline’s up so you just break through it.

Finally, I follow you on Twitter, and it’s interesting to me—you’re talking about politics on there a lot and I appreciate that and find it cool that, even without music propelled by politics, you have to be involved in some way.

Absolutely. It’s always been a question for us as a band: whether or not we speak out about things. Individually, we all have very strong views and we talk about politics every day when we’re at band practice and the news and whatever’s going on and everyone has very strong opinions. When it comes to music and the band, I think it’s good sometimes for music to be an escape from stuff for people. There are loads of bands that are super political and have done great stuff with their platform they’ve got—lots of bands I love, I’m really psyched that they speak out about certain things but, for us I think, that’s maybe not our place in music. I think our place is somewhere you can go regardless of what you believe or what your feelings are and kind of have a little bit of an escape into somewhere else. You want it to be—everyone can come together and that’s where we’re at.

So I shouldn’t expect the subtitle of “Dying Giants” to be “Dying Giants (The Failure of Capitalism)”

(Laughs) That can be your subtitle.

[amandaj718]

'The Incident Debacle' aka Storylines? Storylines, I know!

Yes, it is me. Back with another opinion. Everyone must be so excited to read this one.  Anyway, if you enjoy my ramblings on Emmerdale/Robert and Aaron, please continue reading! I truly appreciate the people who do.

So, as I have written before, I was raised on soap operas. There is an old family story that gets passed around whenever we have a few too many.  When I was about four or 6 months old (the age is never agreed on), my mom put me down on a blanket facing her as she folded laundry and waited for The Young and the Restless to start. As those opening chords played through the speakers on the television, I stopped dead and turned my head towards the sound.  I knew it already and tried to turn myself around to watch the show (or so my mom says).  So, when I said I was raised on soap operas I was really raised on soap operas (in utero action here).  I love them. I hate them. I can’t imagine television without them.

Since I was raised on soap operas, I have seen every type of storyline. I’ve had my heart broken, I have laughed, I’ve been shocked, and I’ve been smug because I figured out the big twist before my grandmother. Which was no small feat considering my grandmother was listening to soap operas on the radio before watching them on television.  (I’m still quite proud of that. Getting a twist before my grandma. It’s about the little things people.)

Since I know storylines I wanted to give my opinion on the storyline.  We all know what I’m talking about.  We sit and analyze the hell out of it, feel ok with it, get angry at it, give up/never give up on it, but we can’t stop talking about this storyline.  I guess I will name it for the sake of this piece. We will call it ‘The Incident Debacle.' Mostly because it won't upset people.

Anyway, what I am seeing (mostly on Twitter but it is slowly making its way to Tumblr) is this one fear.  That the story will turn into something else.  I’m just going to say it. It may be uncomfortable for some to hear it but I need to say it to prove my point.  Some fear, thanks to DS nonsense, that Robert will fall for Rebecca and must choose between Aaron and Rebecca.

Sigh.

Ok. Here is why there is a 99% chance of that NOT happening.  I’ve seen this story before (Young and the Restless is doing an exact copy of this story right now. I can’t escape it!) and I know the signs.  I guess it is all about story structure.  For the show to go down that road this would have had/going to happen:

Robert and Rebecca would have to build their relationship up from the minute she arrived in town.

Robert would have to regularly spend time with her and want to spend time with her beyond what he was using her for.

Wanted to be around her.

Have deep conversations about the past that leaves them feeling closer.

After the incident, they would be drawn to each other. Enough to sleep together again.

Robert would feel torn enough to draw away from Aaron.

The baby would be the one to tip the scales towards Rebecca.

So. Let us review, shall we?

Robert and Rebecca haven’t built their relationship further. The two of them set in the past during a time that Robert is trying to grow from. Better himself.

Robert only spent time with her when they had to plan their revenge plot (that never got off the ground. Did anyone else notice that?) and always found his way to get out of meetings early if she went down a path he wasn’t comfortable with.

Robert never set out to find her just to hang out. She always found him. (Sober at least. That is for another piece.)

Anytime she mentioned Robert’s father or mother, it wasn’t out of fondness, and you can tell it was to make Robert uncomfortable.

After ‘The Incident’ Robert woke up alone and ashamed. He made it his mission to make sure she knew it as the biggest mistake of his life sleeping with her. Not since then has he tried to sleep with her.

The only time Robert felt torn from Aaron was to make sure Rebecca took care of the problem. It wasn’t out of love. It was out of fear.

The baby reveal after ‘The Big Reveal Episode’ only made Robert more desperate for Aaron, not Rebecca.

See the difference? Not once has the show shown they were going this route of Robert falling for Rebecca. It has been about Aaron and Robert from the beginning.  This story is all about Robert and Aaron being forced to face the big issues they have been shuffling under the rug since they were reunited.  Robert is facing the consequences of his actions and Aaron is going to be facing his consequences very soon (Hello Jason!).

Want more proof that it won’t be that type of story? Watch the reveal episode again.  There are clues in there that prove this isn’t about a typical triangle.  

Robert takes full responsibility.

He shares his real feelings about the whole situation for the first time.

He makes it perfectly clear numerous times that Aaron is it. He is the only one for him. “My beautiful husband…” “She doesn’t compare…”

Robert gave Aaron room to breathe and make his own decision on where their relationship is going.

He was worried about Aaron hurting himself.

He holds on tight at the end. He isn’t going anywhere.

That gave me many hints that Robert is and will always be chasing after Aaron.  Not Rebecca. It isn’t that type of story.

I already hear the arguments starting to form out there.

IM can’t be trusted!

He lies all the time!

Who said they care about Robron anyway!?!

Guys. Iain isn’t dumb. He knows how to craft a story. My gut tells me he loves Robron just as much as us from just reading his words and seeing him talk about them.  I’ve written this before, but it bears repeating. He called them ‘soulmates.' In all my life, I’ve NEVER heard a soap opera showrunner call any couple ‘soulmates.' It just doesn’t happen. So, this makes me even more positive that the endgame will always be pro-Robron as long as he is there as the showrunner.  He just did a good thing badly.  No one is perfect, but I believe they know what they are doing.  It will suck. It will hurt. I trust Iain and the writers to get us through all that.

As my friend, Kat says to me all the time, “We are in the trees now, but soon we will see the whole forest.”

I understand the story sucks. I understand falling for people’s negative speculations. I understand wanting to punch someone, like me, for being so calm and positive about the whole experience.  This story is bringing up a lot of issues the show won’t address, and this story is testing, not only our favorite couple but us as a fandom as well.

In my opinion (oh goody more of my opinions) I think the only thing that will make Robert conflicted is his growing affection for the child.  The love for a child and the love for a spouse are two different types of love.  That is less about choosing and more about communication between Robert and Aaron. Once they make that clear to each other things will be better. It obviously won't happen overnight, but it will happen.  

Sure. I could be completely wrong. The show can do an 180 and run with a story people fear will happen.  Soaps are a crapshoot. If you can’t handle it, please leave for your own sanity.  Soaps will always be crazy and confusing to viewers. That is what makes it fun.  Riding out the wave of a story, theorizing and hoping your favorite characters and couples make it out intact and alive!

So, that is my explanation as to why I think ‘The Incident Debacle’ isn’t following the typical soap storyline structure.  I see something deeper happening here. This is about Robert. This is about Aaron. It is about facing their biggest issues (communication for one) and learning and growing from this experience to make them stronger as a couple.  

We are just in the trees right now. Soon, we will see the forest.

What do yo think? Leave me a comment below or tweet me @AmandaJ718.  If anyone out there reads my 'Live and Organized' series, I will be off Monday and possibly Tuesday (4th of July for me!) so I will be doing a different type of review. Until the next theory or opinion, I will see you around the fandom.  

[rieshon]

Winter 2019 Season Preview

I can't believe it's another goddamn year. 2019 marks my fifteenth year of watching anime, which fucks me up to even write. The about 540 anime I've seen in the intervening years doesn't even feel like that many when I think about how I've literally spent half my life watching these Chinese girl cartoons. Onwards and upwards, I guess.

1 Girly Air Force: Oh fuck yes. Sukasuka is still the best LN I've read, but Girly Air Force is far and away my favorite and it should be obvious why: it's got cute girls, it's got airplanes, it's got cute girls who ARE airplanes! The story is surprisingly well-done and if Satelight's adaptation is on point this could be a pretty good show. Phantom is best girl and Izawa Shiori sounds perfect as her, so we've already got that going for us.

2 Endoro~!: Okay, so Release the Spyce was bad. That's not Namori's fault, though, 'cause the characters were still adorable. This is Namori's next try at being an anime character designer, and it definitely looks better than Spyce ever did. Cute girl lighthearted fantasy is definitely a good genre (it's why I played Priconne for as long as I did despite the game being terrible) and the pastel colors all over this show tell me I'm home. Kaori, director of one of the best cute girl anime of the last decade, Yuyushiki, helms the project and venerable Studio Gokumi animates. Yeah, this is AOTS.

3 Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai: Based Tsutomu is BACK, babey! Somehow, this is his first TV project in three years (after the lackluster Mayoiga) though he's obviously been hard at work making more of Garupan as slowly as possible and probably also working on that Shirobako movie that's in the oven. I'm sure it's hard being an anime god. It's definitely disappointing that this is a full CG anime, but the fact that it's about planes and being made by Tsutomu is enough for me to overlook that fact. It's not quite the Daisan Hikou Shoujotai anime we've all been waiting for, but it's close enough.

4 Ueno-san wa Bukiyou: I have a hard time believing this will be anything but comedy of the season in three months' time. The excerpts from the manga I have seen are amazing, and the trailers have been brilliant as well. Plus, Serizawa Yuu in the lead role, and it also has one of the surest signs of a comic hit (at least in my book) which is the male lead also being played by a girl―Tanaka Aimi in this case. The character designs definitely capture tugeneko's unique style. This should be great.

5 Watashi ni Tenshi ga Maiorita!: Clearly this is the spiritual successor to Uzamaid. Perverted channee hnnngs over some cute lolis? That's almost always good. Said lolis look incredibly adorable, and the protagonist will be played by the always-brilliant Ueda Reina, who should shine in a role like this. It's definitely hard to imagine this one missing.

6 Kakegurui XX: I never expected this show to get a sequel, but I'm sure not complaining about it. Everyone's favorite hot Akagi expy is back, babey. I can't wait to see some more sexy gambles. Hearing Hayamin's lewd voice is worth the price of admission by itself, and it looks like there are new hot channees coming by the truckload in this second season. Sign me the fuck up.

7 Gotoubun no Hanayome: I'm mad at this show because I thought Ayaneru was supposed to play all five heroines, but apparently that was just for a commercial for the manga and they cast five different people for the actual anime. I wanted to hear quintuple Ayaneru! This show still looks like a good harem, though, and of course does still provide one Ayaneru. The rest of the cast are no slouches either, and despite the Ayaneru presence I think Ayachi's character looks like the best girl.

8 Domestic na Kanojo: Schoolteacher romance anime!?! FUUUCK YES. This is exactly what the doctor's been ordering. The Hiyocchi-voiced sensei looks adorable (as all anime teachers should be) and I am just 100% here for what is happening. There's also another cute girl, but, just give me Hina-sensei and I'll be happy.

9 Date A Live III: Hard to believe the original DAL anime was almost six years ago. I stopped following the series closely when DAL2 was bad, but I'm still excited for this new sequel. The girls are still great and so is the premise, they just need to actually have money to make a good anime this time around. Happily, J.C. Staff have been pegged to animate this time instead of the perenially inconsistent Production IMS, with the principal creative staff (including director Motonaga Keitarou) still intact. So it should be pretty good!

10 Kemurikusa: Yes Tatsuki, yes tanoshi! I still haven't seen Kemono Friends so I can't speak personally to Tatsuki's alleged genius but I have seen some of his short anime he posts online and they're always brimming with atmosphere, so I'm excited to check this out.

11 Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka: The latest in a seemingly endless line of anime that ask, 'How can we take the concept of magical girls but make it edgy?' Okay, I admit, the idea of magical girls who wield Kalashnikov rifles is actually pretty great... It just depends on how seriously the show takes itself, because this is not a concept that should be played straight. Strike The Blood's Yamamoto Hideo is set to direct, and STB was a show that definitely knew how to toe the line between serious action and lighthearted antics, so hopefully it will be good.

12 Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai ~Tensai-tachi no Ren'ai Zunousen~: Though I'm a long-established devotee of the Church of Blondenblu, black hair and red eyes is pretty close behind as far as I'm concerned, so this show's titular Kaguya-sama definitely looks good. Plus that forehead! There's also a nice blondenblu girl voiced by Hanabee. Looks like a cute romantic comedy.

13 Manaria Friends: Yeah, this is finally happening after years of development hell, apparently being produced entirely in-house by Cygames and their animation studio CygamesPictures. From what I hear, this is supposed to be a lot different from the mainline Bahamut anime: kind of nichijou-kei, and apparently gay as hell. Cute girl and her demon girlfriend? Yep, sign me the fuck up.

14 Circlet Princess: It's always good when the "story" tab on your show's website is under construction when your show starts in like two weeks. This is apparently based on a DMM web game, but the writer and designer is Kio Nachi, who was responsible for the game and anime of the way-better-than-it-should-have-been Ao no Kanata no Fourhythm, so it might be good. The voice cast is a star-studded assemblage of veterans like Gotou Mai, Nabatame Hitomi, and Mizuhashi Kaori... With the turnover in the seiyuu industry as of late it's nice to see that vets like this can still get main-cast roles and aren't just relegated to playing the moms of the latest 18 year old darling. But I digress.

15 Boogiepop wa Warawanai: Otherwise known as Boogiepop Phantom in the West, this is the latest classic property to get the remake treatment. I've always meant to watch the original, but never did. Boogiepop was one of the original series to start the modern "light novel" movement, and I've always heard great things about it, but other than that I really know nothing about the story so I'll be going in blind. I'm sure Ao-chan and Oonishi will be great in it at least.

16 Rinshi!! Ekoda-chan: I have no idea what Ekoda-chan is about (other than it's a 4koma manga) but this adaptation looks like it's some art. Apparently every episode will have both a different director and a different actress playing the titular Ekoda-chan. Presumably, we are about to See Some Shit. Names set to direct episodes include some names like Sugii Gisaburou (Touch, Ginga Tetsudou no Yoru) and Mochizuki Tomomi (Ranma 1/2) and Kitani Yoshitomo (GaoGaiGar) so we're definitely in for something.

17 Egao no Daika: It's time for your seasonal dose of robot anime with hot girls in it. It's going to be awhile until I can see a show like this again and think "Gridman was better," but hey, this one's got some hot girls in it too. This is brought to us by longtime mecha anime guy Suzuki Toshimasa, who was responsible for a recent sentimental favorite of mine, Rinne no Lagrange. The character designs are the work of Nakamura Naoto, who also did the job on High School Fleet. That show was notable more than anything for having an incredibly large and diverse cast of incredibly cute girls, so that's a good sign.

18 Pastel Memories: This show has nothing to do with Plastic Memories, but that doesn't stop be from thinking of that every time I see the title. If you immediately suspect it to be a social game adaptation after seeing the art and logo, you would be extremely correct. The key visual on the show's homepage does not inspire confidence, but the animation looks fine in the PV at least. As a genre, "cute girls from social games fighting monsters" generally produces rubbish, but I appreciate that the action at least looks to be hand-drawn in this one. The show does have Rieshon in it, who I feel like I haven't heard in ages, so that's nice.

19 Bermuda Triangle ~Colorful Pastrale~: I've always been on record as saying mermaid girls suck because they don't have legs, and I still stand by that. Why should I get excited about a cute girl anime if there's no ftmm to ogle??? I'll still watch it cause it promises to be a nichijou-kei cute girl anime (and there's a channee mermaid who wears hoop earrings which almost makes up for the lack of legs) but I'm not going to be happy about it damnit.

20 Minitoji: It's some kind of SD Toji no Miko spinoff. I'm sure I'm in the minority just like, in general, but I really enjoyed Tojimiko so I'm happy enough to see this being made. It looks like the protagonist from the (truly dreadful) mobile game adaptation is making an appearance, so I guess that thing is making enough money to have this produced... Hey, if I get to see more of Hiyori-chan being gay, I'm down.

21 Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari: It's light novel anime. When the show's "characters" page is half dudes it's never a good sign, especially for a show in this genre. Probably the most interesting thing about it is that Kevin Penkin, who did the fantastic music for 2017's Made in Abyss returns to anime work here... But it will probably be in service of a lame, too self-serious fantasy plot with lots of dudes grimacing.

22 Grimms Notes The Animation: Grimms Notes is a shitty social game so you can already see where this is going. It feels like a waste of my time to even write a preview for it since I know I'll be dropping this before the first episode is even over. At least it has a blondenblu girl, I guess.

23 Yakusoku no Neverland: Did you guys know noitaminA is still a thing? Remember when it was relevant? This is this season's noitaminA show and it looks like exactly the kind of thing I watch out of obligation because it looks like "art" and then drop even after saying I'll give the second episode a chance. The protagonist's face gives me bad juju. At least most of the male characters are voiced by girls since they're kids.

24 revisions: Enver Hoxha's least-favorite anime is brought to us by Netflix. It looks like, honestly, exactly what I expect from Netflix at this point. The CG animation doesn't look great (Shirogumi doing it this time, instead of Netflix stalwart Polygon Pictures) and it has the same kind of serious sci-fi feel as shows like A.I.C.O. Incarnation. Probably won't be that good, but these shows that strive to feel like Western cable thrillers have a bad habit of being pretty easy watches.

25 Virtual-san wa Miteiru: I don't think I actually want to watch this. I like to watch some virtuals sometimes but... No.

[brendanwritesreviews]

Sequelitis: The Get Down

I know I haven’t written many reviews as of late, but lately something in one of my favorite pieces of media surprised me and disappointed me to the ends that I couldn’t finish the episode I was on and I had to angrily jot down in some semblance why this makes me so upset. But to do that, first I’m gonna have to describe why I love The Get Down so much.

More below.

The Get Down is a netflix original show that everyone forgot about once it was released, really. Every person I’ve talked to with a netflix account had no idea of what the show actually was, until recently, the second season was released and the mainpage banner was all in everyone’s faces for a little bit. I, however, noticed the show on a whim and thought I’d found a hidden gem that was intellectual, relatable, and gripping all at the same time. When I watched the first season of The Get Down, I ended up watching several parts back to back even though the episodes are an hour long, which is rare for me, but then again, I don’t watch Game of Thrones.

It’s a tale of a kid in the 1970′s bronx who is essentially trying to live a dual life of an MC at dopeclubs and underground parties compared to his morning life of a steady, for-the-community, garden party scholarship big college boy. And as the child of a pastor, I can identify with this quite easy; you wanna be yourself when night strikes but when the morning comes you got lots of old white male republicans to answer to who are paying your bills, so be kind and courteous to ‘em cause they’re pretty much your ticket to a future. This is the issue Ezekiel, our main character, has to deal with, in addition to the long list of other shit, like the moral and ethical concerns of pushing dope, being an underpaid and underappreciated artist, and bein’ a fuckin’ orphan for christ’s sake. Zeek’s got it rough.

The first episode had me, surprisingly enough, wiping away some tears when Ezekiel is reading a poem he wrote for class to his teacher. It’s a powerful piece of spoken word, and it’s grounded in reality and beautiful and hopeful all at the same time. And this was my hope for The Get Down. I wanted it to be a culture/period piece on the 70′s bronx hip-hop scene mixed with a complacent, wise afro-american boy who outsmarts the shit out of the man with his honeyed words and massive amounts of paper and street knowledge from his nights rocking the mic and pushing coke. If that doesn’t sound like the most awesome premise for a netflix original ever, I don’t know what does. That’s where it seemed this show was going with that scene. And boy oh boy, was I excited.

The remainder of the first season, or “Part 1″ as it’s referred to, was all good and entertaining, but it was going in a different direction than I anticipated at some points. The next few episodes are either of Ezekiel’s rap crew fucking up somehow and him having to actually fix shit, or of this weird relationship that him and his love interest, Marlene, have. Seriously, it’s so back and forth. Marlene obviously has no idea whether she wants this boy’s dick or not. Either way, I have no major quarrels with the rest of the first season. It’s great, even. Fuck, watch it right now if you haven’t. It’s addicting, you just pop em one after the other. Shit goes crazy at points, you’ll wanna see it all.

Still, here we are, April 2017, the release of the long awaited Part 2 of The Get Down. As it is with most netflix pieces that take a long time to come out, by the time they actually have come out in comparison to the time I started watching, I’ve already lost tons of interest. This happened to me with Narcos too. Loved the first season, watched it all, but when the second one comes around.. seriously guys it’s been a year since the first one I’ve forgotten all the different branches of shit that go rampant in these shows. At least give me a refresher. Get me hyped somehow, other than just a big colorful banner with a silly jumping boy and crazy colors.

So, by now you’re probably wondering. Brendan, what was the blunder. What was the straw that broke the camel’s ass and made you wanna write about this shit show so bad.

So.. animation. It’s good! I love it! But it doesn’t belong in The Get Down. Ezekiel and his friends do not need to be doing the worst rap/disco performance in the entirety of the show under poorly drawn, lazy, and likely underpaid animation. I feel bad for the people netflix made work on this, because it’s shit. Don’t get me wrong, this show is great when it works. But I’m pretty sure there was a shift in directors for part 2 because, well.. It’s noticably more shit than part 1. Like, two episodes in, it’s leagues more shitty.

what the fuck who allowed this shit to happen was this the direction this show was supposed to go it looks like actual diarrhea

After doing some research, I found out that the first episode is the work of Baz Luhrmann, the director of Moulin Rouge!. This is seeming to congeal well with my theory of how the first episode is just.. better than the rest of the show. I love part 1, some things could have been better, but overall quite solid and a constant watcher for sure. But the 1 1/2 hour first episode is just more gripping than any other in the entire series for me. And it’s disappointing, because this is what the whole thing could have been.

Maybe it should have just been a movie. It could’ve been a 2 1/2 hour movie by the director of Moulin Rouge! and everyone would have been happy because it wouldn’t be long and drawn out and end up in dumb love triangles with white characters for no reason.

Man. I’m really not sure if I should finish after episode 2 of the second part or just call it quits. That’s how bad this giant fucking animation roadblock is for me with this show. I’ll probably give the rest of it a chance but I’ll be damned if it’s not live action. I’m skipping this Little Bill quality bullshit every time I see it from now on. What could the new director be thinking? What’s happened to tasteful, nuanced media for intellectuals as opposed to watered down animation for kids..

Make The Get Down great again. Please. Please please please. It was my favorite show for a brief period and I really want it to be again.

[placetobenation]

The Stand is one of my all time favorite novels. It is hard to get me to sit down and read a book quickly unless it was written by a wrestler. The Stand is a daunting 1,152 page book which I usually can breeze through in less than a week. Of course, I wouldn’t have read this book if not for the 1994 miniseries, which aired from May 8th through the 12th on ABC. This show was the talk of my group of middle school friends for that week and lead to many of us reading as many Stephen King novels as we could get our hands on. There are so many great ones which have made their way to screen and became tremendous movies. The Shining, It, Shawshank Redemption, Misery. A personal favorite of mine is Maximum Overdrive, although I am in the minority when it comes to enjoying that. The Stand is one that doesn’t often get talked about but I remember it being a big deal at the time. CBS All Access will apparently soon be doing an eight part The Stand miniseries for their platform in the near future. So now seems like as good of a time as any to discuss the 1994 adaptation of The Stand.

Directed by horror legend Mick Garris, The Stand was aired in four two-hour offerings, including commercials. I was able to get a two disc dvd for $5 at Walmart. The run time in total is roughly six hours which is probably one reason people haven’t gone back to watch it. You have to make a commitment to sit down and watch all of this show. The story is that a super bug gets released from a top secret lab thanks to a selfish security guard and it kills 99% of the population. Those who are left are called through their dreams by two different figures. Representing the good team is Mother Abagail, played by Ruby Dee. She is a 106 year old black woman in Nebraska who still makes her own bread. On the side of evil is Randall Flagg, a mysterious and powerful figure played by Jamey Sheridan. While much about Flagg is unknown, he does have supernatural, demonic powers and designs on ruling what is left of the world. The show seems to suggest that he is either THE Devil, a devil, or some lesser demonic force in the world. Throughout the series, the forces for good are called to gather in Boulder, Colorado to rebuild civilization there while the forces of evil are gathering in Las Vegas. The ensemble cast is quite impressive and I will get into the details later. There are a lot of recognizable faces throughout this show: Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, and Rob Lowe among others. The reviews were mostly positive with The Stand currently having a respectable 78% on Rotten Tomatoes. The ratings were good, with each of the four parts receiving a 20.0 or above.

My spoiler free review is that The Stand is definitely worth your time. If you can find the dvd for $5 or if it’s available on a streaming service, I would say check it out. The series doesn’t feel as long as the run time. I felt like the time breezed by. The strong point of the show would be Jamey Sheridan as Randall Flagg. He absolutely delights in his evilness and is a delight to watch in this role. I would say all of the acting with a few exceptions was pretty good. The writing is good for a tv miniseries. Of course if you have read the book and enjoyed it, you are going to notice some big holes of stuff that is missing. Unfortunately, that is just the nature of the beast when it comes to adapting any novel for film or television. The novel does a better job of developing the characters. There are characters in the book that have a lot of time devoted to them who have limited roles in the miniseries. I feel like the most important characters to the story were given the chance to develop but I can see people would be annoyed that some of the supporting characters were glossed over.

Things I didn’t like so much – These special effects have dated terribly. That is one of the reason I feel this is ripe for a remake. Even though I love the book and the miniseries, I never liked the ending of The Stand. It really seems like the main protagonists could have been given more to do in the end. In the end, The Stand is a fun watch and if nothing else you will enjoy finding all the people who have cameos in this miniseries.

Who Made Who?

One of the ways I think I am going to cover this is by pointing out who was

in this show. The Stand may not have had the biggest stars in Hollywood but there were a lot of faces you will recognize. They really got the most out of their budget when you consider the size of the cast, the number of locations, and how much work had to be put into making these places look post-apocalyptic. The acting in this movie was been derided by some reviewers, particularly the performance of Molly Ringwald but I thought it was just fine. You can cherry pick a scene here and there where things may have come off a bit cheesy but with 6 hours of footage, you can take anything out of context and make it look worse than it really was. So who was in The Stand?

Gary Sinise

Gary Sinise plays Stu Redman. He is, for the most part, our main protagonist. Stu is a redneck of East Texas who gets caught up in all this mess when the security guard fleeing from where the super flu was released crashes into a gas station in his small Texas town. Stu was just enjoying a beer with some friends when this guard crashes his car into the gas pumps and releases the Captain Trips super flu onto the world. For the record, I will sometimes still call a bad cold “Captain Trips” when I catch one. The government swoops in and takes Stu, along with other people from his town, to a research center in Vermont in order to quarantine and study this deadly virus. The flu kills everyone it comes in contact with very quickly, usually only taking a day or two. Stu, however, feels fine. Sinise does a good job in the role. Having watched him play Lieutenant Dan in Forest Gump just two weeks prior, this role can seem small by comparison. This may have to do with the difference in directors, Robert Zemeckis vs. Mick Garris. It seemed like Gary Sinise got to show a lot more of his range and talent in Forest Gump whereas less was asked of him for The Stand. Also, Stu isn’t given much of a character arc. His situation is changed drastically by the events of The Stand but Stu seems like more or less the same guy in the end that he was in the beginning. He is a brave, resourceful guy who reads people well.

Molly Ringwald

Molly Ringwald plays Fran Goldsmith, the dutiful daughter who cares for her father until he succumbs to the flu. She is from a small town in Maine and the only other person to survive the flu epidemic in her town is Harold Lauder, a teenage boy who has a hopeless crush on her. Since this is a Steven King horror movie, this will not turn out like Sixteen Candles or Pretty in Pink. Molly is a fine actress who is working to this very day. But let’s be real. She is mostly known for her roles in 80s teen comedies and by 1994 her career was in a period of transition. Some critics have said she was miscast as Fran. While the character in the book is much different in my mind than what I saw on screen, I thought she did a fine job. Fran’s role comes off as somewhat different in the movie than the book which might explain why the performance is what it is. In the book, Fran has more of a leadership role in the Boulder Free Zone with the people resisting Flagg and his forces. In the miniseries, Fran comes off as a respected member of the community and the source of conflict between Harold and Stu but it is a diminished role. The subplot of the love triangle between Fran, Harold, and Stu pays off in explosive ways which I will cover later. For as much screen time as she is given, Fran’s role is that of a love interest. In the end, Fran has a baby and we see that there is hope for the future mankind with the next generation. Before that we question whether babies will be immune to the Captain Trips virus or if it is gone entirely with the 99% of people who died. There end up being enough philosophical and practical questions by the end of The Stand that a sequel could have been in order but that was never to be.

Jamey Sheridan

Jamey Sheridan plays Randall Flagg. I don’t evny the person who will have to play Randall Flagg in the remake of The Stand because this will be a tough act to follow. His performance as the mysterious Dark Man is the highlight of the miniseries. The general rule surrounding villains is that they are the hero of their own story. This is not the case with Randall Flagg. He is evil and he loves it. Every time he is on screen, Flagg as a charisma that you are drawn to. This isn’t a case where you end up secretly cheering for the villain though. It’s just that you can see how people would follow him. This is in no small part due to Sheridan’s performance. I have never heard a shoot interview with Sheridan but he looked like he was having a lot of fun with this part. Randall Flagg is our main antagonist. He is appearing the survivors of the flu epidemic and calling them to join him in Las Vegas. Along the way he personally drafts a few of his main players like Lloyd Henreid, a convicted criminal who survived the flu but no one ever bothered to let out of jail. Flagg also recuits Trashcan Man, a mentally ill fire bug who just wants to watch the world burn.

He also calls Nadine Cross, promising her\ a romantic relationship but leaving out the part where she will have to carry his demonic spawn. She is seduced by him and turns on everyone in the Boulder Free Zone in order to serve Flagg. She also appears to be rapidly aging. Jamey Sheridan you will recognize from shows like Arrow and Law and Order: Criminal Intent. He has been in a ton of movies and tv shows over the years so you will probably look at him in this early role and wonder “Where do I know him from?” One last thing on Randall Flagg. I am not the resident PTBN Fashion Critic for 1994 but his look, while distinct, was fairly dated by 1994. He is dressed in all denim and has hair that has to be seen to be believed. It’s a real hair metal kind of look that gets your attention if nothing else.

Ruby Dee

Ruby Dee plays Mother Abagail. She is 106 years old and still makes her own bread. She is the opposite of Flagg. She is calling everyone to meet her in Nebraska and then go to Boulder to oppose the evil forces of Randall Flagg. Mother Abagail seems to be in tune with the will of God and plays the role of a Prophet, having visions of who and what will come but always remembering to be humble before God. Ruby Dee was exactly what I had in mind when I read The Stand. She was fantastic in this role. She has had an interesting career going all the way back to 1950 with The Jackie Robinson Story, a movie that actually stars Jackie Robinson as himself. Her last movie came out in 2017, three years after she died. You may also recognize her as Mother Sister in Do The Right Thing. She was also Mama Lucas in American Gangster. She worked pretty consistently through her life on tv and movies big and small. This will also be a role that will be tough to fill when they remake The Stand.

Rob Lowe

Rob Lowe plays Nick Andros, someone who is deaf and mute. Nick gets beaten badly by Ray Booth and his croonies before the plague hits. After the plague hits, Nick shows his humanity by letting Ray and his associates out of jail, a move that nearly gets him killed. Nick hops on a bike and meets Tom Cullen, a special needs individual with a heart of gold. Their friendship and journey together is covered much better in the book. They hit the highlights in the miniseries and you get the idea of what their friendship was like. Nick and Tom make their way to Nebraska. Along the way they run into a disturbed young lady named Julie who wants very badly to have sex with Nick. When he turns her down, she gets a gun and starts shooting at them. She will be somewhat important later in the story and as I recall had a larger role in the book. Nick and Tom make it to Nebraska then move with Mother Abagail to the new base of operations in Boulder, Colorado. Nick will end up being voted on the leadership console of Boulder and give his life for the group when he jumps on a bomb for them. Rob Lowe is a very recognizable actor. His breakout role, along with many other actors, was in The Outsiders. He has been working fairly consistently ever since having been in movies like St. Elmo’s Fire, Wayne’s World, the Austin Powers movies, and Tommy Boy. If you don’t know who Rob Lowe is, I don’t know what to do for you.

Bill Fagerbakke

Bill Fagerbakke plays Tom Cullen. M-O-O-N. That spells Tom Cullen. You probably are asking yourself and by extension me, who the hell is Bill Fagerbakke? You probably woudln’t recognize his face or name but you probably know his voice. He has spent the last twenty years as the voice of Patrick on Spongebob Squarepants. Whatever else he has done in his career, roles big and small, that is the kind of career an actor can only dream of, to have steady work for twenty years on a popular tv show. He plays Tom Cullen perfectly. You can hear a little bit of Patrick in his performance. Tom will play a big role in The Stand. He gets sent to Las Vegas to spy on Randall Flagg and his operation. Tom is noticed by Julie, the girl who tried to kill him long ago. She smells that something is wrong and tries to warn Flagg. However, Randall is showing his new wife, Nadine, what he considers to be a good time and doesn’t have the time to hear or act on Julie’s information. The Las Vegas situation is pretty well handled before Tom can return home with the information but he does manage to save Stu’s life on the way back to Colorado. Tom Cullen is one of the most likable characters in the book or movie. He tries really hard to be helpful and has a good soul.

Laura San Giacomo

Laura San Giacomo plays Nadine Cross. We meet her when she teams with Larry Underwood in New York City. As you can guess, New York is quite the mess following the apocalypse. Nadine struggles with finding her place in the world, both before the apocalypse and after. She seems to cope by attaching herself to terrible men and when we meet Larry, he certainly qualifies. She is called by Randall Flagg through her very erotic dreams and he lets her know he has big plans for her, all she has to do is sabotage and back stab many people along the way, which she gladly does. She seduces Harold into blowing up a meeting of the Boulder Free Zone. With him on the losing side of the Fran-Stu-Harold love triangle, it didn’t take much convincing. Harold and Nadine leave for Las Vegas and she leaves him for dead along the way. She finally is in the presence of Flagg and it turns out he is a demon, which is a bit too much of a bad boy for her. Laura San Giacomo is the definition of someone who I know their face better than I know their name. I know her from something but what? Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Pretty Woman, and Nina Takes a Lover are some of the movies you may know her from. On television she did several seasons of Just Shoot Me, Saving Grace, and NCIS.

Adam Storke

Adam Storke plays Larry Underwood. This is one of the few actors where this movie is the only thing I know him from. Also Mystic Pizza but I am trying really hard to forget that I watched that movie. Larry is a would-be pop star who borrowed too much money from the wrong people. So he visits his very disappointed mother in New York City until the royalty checks come in and he can pay off the leg breakers and thumb takers. Then Captain Trips wipes out most of the population. He is off the hook for the money he owes but it’s unlikely his music career will take off now and he has to find a way to survive. It is questionable as to what side Larry will join at first. He is a character that is not entirely wholesome but not the worst person we have seen. Larry goes through a significant character arc through the story. He starts out as a selfish coward running from his debts and ends up a selfless hero who follows his destiny to a certain death for the great good of all mankind. Sadly, he will never meet his child. Adam Storke plays the character quite well. He always comes off as likable. You don’t really feel his struggle as far as which side he will choose. There are subtles in his performance that gives you clues but the internal conflict is not out there in open.

Corrin Nemec

Speaking of the worst person we will meet, Corrin Nemec plays Harold Lauder. You would know him best as Parker Lewis from Parker Lewis Can’t Lose. I have covered much of Harold already. He starts out as an arrogant, petty, jealous person and just keeps getting worse as the series goes along. Nemec is excellent in this role. The character traits are similar to the novel but he isn’t even close in how Harold is physically described. He is a character that by the time he is left for dead you really feel like he had that coming.

Shawnee Smith

Shawnee Smith is Julie Lawry. I already covered the part of the movie in which Julie is important. Shawnee Smith is another face that is recognizable, especially to horror fans. She was in the Saw movies, Wes Craven’s Carnival of Souls, and The Grudge 3. You may also know her from Becker and Who’s Harry Crumb? Julie isn’t in this series for much of it but Shawnee really takes command of the scenes she is in. She comes off as a genuinely disturbed individual.

Matt Frewer

Matt Frewer plays Trashcan Man. Mentally ill fire bug pretty much sums up his character but he plays the role so well. He is so messed up, you kind of feel sorry for him. Trashcan Man devotes himself to Randall Flagg, completely committing himself. Trashcan Man even goes so far as to find a nuclear bomb for Flagg and hand deliver it to him. Isn’t that sweet? Can you guess how the series ends? You would know Matt Frewer for any number of movie and television roles over the last near 40 years but at the end of the day, you would probably remember him as Max Headroom.

Miguel Ferrer

Miguel Ferrer plays Lloyd Henreid. Lloyd is a convicted criminal who is left is prison during the flu epidemic and is just forgotten. Flagg visits him in jail and makes him an offer he can’t refuse. Lloyd is a character you don’t see much of but he has two of the best scenes in the movie in my opinion. The scene where he is in jail and Flagg offers him the job of being the leader of Flagg’s operation is great. The other great scene is where they have Glenn Bateman in jail awaiting execution. The scene with Lloyd, Flagg, and Glenn might be the best single scene in the movie in terms of acting. Miguel Ferrer has had a long and storied career. If you have seen Iron Man 3, he played Vice President Rodridguez. He was in Traffic, Hot Shots Part Deux, and of course, Twin Peaks.

See what I mean? I have managed to review most of the entire miniseries by talking about just half of this ensemble cast. And look at these names and list of credentials. I am going to wrap this up with some of my favorites of who is left of this cast. The point being, for a tv miniseries, this was an impressive roster of people that the audience would know, and quite frankly, a lot of very talented actors.

Steven King is in this movie and not in a small role. His characters name is Teddy. While he doesn’t play a role in the plot, he does have several scenes and lines of dialogue with the main cast. King was not a bad actor and seemed to be having a lot of fun with the role. I don’t know his acting background but he is by far not that worst actor. That award goes to…..

Joe Bob Briggs. He plays Sheriff Joe Bob. He is responsible for spreading the plague into Arkansas. I love Joe Bob but his brief performance was wooden. I wouldn’t have accepted his takes if I had been directing him back when I was in film school. Speaking of directors.

Sam Raimi and John Landis also have brief cameos in this movie. Both are good directors but not polished actors. Mileage may vary on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s cameo in the movie as a doomsayer. Speaking of polished actors.

Kathy Bates plays Rae Flowers. She is a rude radio talk show host. Talk radio was becoming a thing by 1994 so having a scene like this fit with what was in the zeitgeist. Kathy Bates is well known to fans of Stephen King movies particularly for Misery. The scene she is in goes to show that there are no small roles. But put a lot more into this bit part than was probably called for. The subtleties of her performance while taking calls adds to the human element and emotion that this plague has taken on people. If I were coaching actors, this is a scene I would use to show how body language can affect a scene.

en King movies particularly for Misery. The scene she is in goes to show that there are no small roles. But put a lot more into this bit part than was probably called for. The subtleties of her performance while taking calls adds to the human element and emotion that this plague has taken on people. If I were coaching actors, this is a scene I would use to show how body language can affect a scene.

Ed Harris is also in this movie as Gen. Bill Starkey. He goes uncredited but I can’t figure out why. He has a handful of scenes and several lines of dialogue in part one. His scenes are quite good, showing how at the top levels of government the situation feels hopeless almost from the beginning. Opposite of Gen Starkey is a military official only called Len. I swear this part of played by a very young Clark Gregg, Agent Coulson himself but I can’t get confirmation of this. It’s not listed anywhere in his filmography and neither is the identity of who played Len.

In conclusion, The Stand was an excellent miniseries and I recommend it to anyone who has the time and inclination to watch it. When it comes to the pop culture of 1994, The Stand would have to be considered a big hit. One thing I noticed was how good the soundtrack was, using songs like Don’t Fear The Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult in the opening credit sequence and Don’t Dream It’s Over by Crowded House for a scene with Fran and Harold. I hope another contributor more qualified than I can explain the importance of a good soundtrack in 1994 because this is a theme that keeps coming up in my reviews. Now if you will excuse me, I am in the mood to read the book again.