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imaginesmai · 5 years ago

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Peter Parker-Finally

Plot: Peter’s strange behaviour hasn’t gone unnoticed by the people around him, but he has a very, very, good reason for it.

In which Peter and you plan a date for Friday’s night and he can’t stop thinking about it.

This is pure fluff.

MONDAY

Peter Parker was kind. When, in the school, someone needed anything, he was the first one to offer them it. Peter Parker was funny. If anyone was sad, a look towards the boy was enough to cheer them up. Peter Parker was cute. Most of the people who knew him agreed on that. And Peter Parker was, above all of that, distracted. The high schooler was always worrying about homework, missions or the latest memes, and his mind was always far away from where he stood.

But that wasn’t the actual case. Lately, he had been looking like he was in a lovestruck haze.

As the young boy swung into the living room after a quick tour around town, he whipped his mask off and urgently took his phone out of his suit to shoot off a rapid text. Peter almost stumbled as he tried to press the spider on his chest that let the suit loose and write at the same time. The answer to that text came immediately, as he smiled widely and walked out of the room hunched over his cell.

Aunt May and Happy, who had been watching him the entire time, followed his retreating form in silent horror and awe.

“Did I just imagine the kid not acknowledging our presences?” Happy blinked slowly. “Does he not care about us being together anymore?”

It wasn’t a secret anymore that he was dating May; and since the moment it had become ‘public’, Peter hadn’t stopped giving him death glares. Until that moment, where he hadn’t scoffed, complained or even pouted at his presence.

“Maybe he’s just talking to Ned” May shrugged. A few days ago Ned had bought some strange Lego thing and brought it to their apartment to build it with Peter. “But, hey! He didn’t growl at you this time!”

Happy rolled his eyes but gave her a sweet smile. He would find about the kid later.

TUESDAY

The next one to notice were Natasha and Clint. They had become suspicious of Peter’s behaviour the next afternoon, when all three of them were in the gym working out. One of the conditions of being an avenger was that Peter had to train at least once a week. Tony made sure to arrange everything so that he wouldn’t miss classes or homework.

Peter had quite literally begged them to train with him. He had already trained with Steve, Tony, Bucky and even Thor, but never with the two friends.

So there stood Natasha throwing knives into mannequins while Clint and Peter sparred on the mat, sweating and calculating each other’s moves. Soft music played in the background, helping them to concentrate. Until a certain loud song sounded and Peter became immobile.

His eyes widen and that’s all Clint needed to spring into action and rush towards his phone. Between the group of superheroes, pranks and jokes are nothing strange. Peter had seen Thor with a spoon glued to his hand and Natasha being thrown to the floor by transparent paper on the doors. Clint’s run towards his mobile would only give him mocking for a week, so Peter sprinted towards the arrow man and, with a somersault over him, took the phone out of his hands.

It stopped sounding just as Natasha appeared to see what was going on. Before she could open her mouth, it started sounding again.

“I, uh, thanks for the help today Mr. Hawkeye. B-But, I have to, I have things to do” Peter faked a yawn and gave a small smile. “Take a shower. Homework. And thanks to you too, Mrs. Romanoff! That really…tired me out. Bye!”

He proceeded to walk out of the gym too fast; but they didn’t miss how, when he pressed finally the phone against his ear, he smiled happily.

WEDNESDAY

The cafeteria was the worst place in the whole highschool. Full of people who Peter didn’t want to meet, stinking food and small chairs that made his back hurt. Usually, his safe boat were Ned and MJ. That day, Peter was shuffling his way through it tapping away on his phone. He had a cute and distracted look on his face, and he didn’t notice Ned calling him or MJ waving her hand.

“What’s wrong with him?” MJ frowned, looking at her friend. “He’s gonna crash into someone.”

“Oh, let him be” Ned laughed. “Love makes people blind.”

“Love? What are you talking about?” she turned to look at him. “Don’t tell me it’s that Liz again. I can’t stand her.”

“I can’t tell you anything” Ned shrugged. “Ask him yourself.”

They were interrupted by a group of students who came running to the cafeteria, probably to get the best place. Peter was so focused that he didn’t hear the wave of students coming his way.

Thanks to his spidey senses, he was able to avoid them all without crushing anyone, yet the last one made him fall to the ground. The tables who were closer to him turned their heads to see Flash on the ground with his face red of anger and Peter a few inches away still typing on his phone.

“Are you fucking blind?!” Flash shouted to his face. Finally, Peter looked up and noticed the angry boy.

“Oh, yeah, sorry Flash” he got up in a second.

“Sorry? That’s all you have to say?”

Peter just made a small sound as he walked away, his eyes once again fixed on the screen.

THRUSDAY

He was happy; finally, the week was coming to an end and Peter couldn’t be any more happy. He had woken up earlier than usual, made breakfast for him and aunt May; even added something more when he realised that Happy was there too. Usually, he would have shouted to hell and back, but that day he just smiled at him and offered him some coffee. In highschool, it had been great too. Too much homework that he had finished in his break, Flash being a dick but Peter not caring at all, Ned and MJ arguing over something and his heart jumping in joy.

It was after lunch when he went to the compound again. If that weekend was going to end well, he needed to make sure everything was planned. Peter bumbled into the small theatre room in hopes of finding the movie he wanted. It was probably the only place were he could find DVD still.

Too busy looking down to his phone, he didn’t notice Wanda and Vision in the room. He kept walking into the darkness until he heard a muffled laugh. He lifted his smiling face from the illuminated screen to see both of them cuddling in the couch.

“I-I’m sorry” Peter tried to look anywhere but their faces, as his cheeks were covered in red. His concern about interrupting something was cut short the a small ‘bling’ sounded and he was back to his screen.

They watched as Peter smiled again, pressing his thumbs into his phone with a speed that made Vision frown.

“Is that a girl you’re texting?”

Her voice was enough for him to chuck his phone into the air and squeal. So much for his spidey tingle. Wanda was looking at him with curious eyes, Vision looking down at her with love and adoration. It almost made him forget about the question, because he thought about how, in just two days, he would be doing the same with-

“Peter!” Wanda repeated.

“Why-Why would you even ask that? Of course it’s not! It’s-I’m just talking to Ned” the excuse sounded fake even to him. Wanda squeezed her eyes against him, as if she was trying to coerce him into the truth.

“That’s what humans call crush, isn’t it?” Vision asked. Wanda nearly choked with his own breath as Peter’s cheeks and neck became pink.

He opened his mouth and tried to explain it to him, but when the ‘bling’ sounded again, he was out of the room before Vision or Wanda could say anything about it.

FRIDAY

“Too risky?”

“Dude, not even my grandpa would wear that.” Ned scoffed from the bed.

Peter looked in the mirror again, his hands going instinctively to fix the hem of his jacket. He thought it was cool. Black leather jacket with white shirt, and brown jeans? That’s what the boys in the film wore when they wanted to get the girl.

“But aunt May told me-“

“No offense, but if you’re taking advice from your aunt I think we should abort the mission.”

Again, he watched his reflection in the mirror. Ned was sitting behind him, trying to finish his star wars puzzle in some pyjamas. The sight was almost comical; two teenagers who had never had a girlfriend before trying to find something cool between last-decade-clothes. And there were Star Wars t-shirts too, of course. Peter didn’t think they were the best option to impress someone.

He tossed the jacket aside without a second thought, the t-shirt and the jeans following close. If he could just wear the suit. It would make him look cool, interesting and would sweep the girl off her feet. Because that was what Spiderman did, not Peter Parker.

“Maybe I shouldn’t-“

“If I hear you say that you shouldn’t go, I’m dragging you there myself” Ned threatened. “You’ve been planning this for a week! What could go wrong?”

“A lot of things!”

Peter was staring to feel the anxiety filling his chest, a deep pressure on his chest that made him want to call and fake a headache. Maybe it was because of the excitement he felt about his first date since…always, but, honestly, it was making him feel sick. He breathed slowly and took a random shirt from the drawer.

“Okay. I got this.”

“Of course you got this!” Ned got up and stepped in front of him. “Who were you, again?”

“W-What?”

“You’re supposed to say Spiderman, dude” Ned sighed. “Once again. Who are you?”

“I’m Spiderman?” Peter said with a shaky voice.

“Yeah, that way you’re not even getting touched tonight. Who are you?!”

“I’m-I’m Spiderman” Peter half smiled. “I’m Spiderman, I can do it.”

“Of course you can do it!”

“I can do it!”

While Peter dressed up again for his date, both boys kept screaming encouragement words. He had it, he could do it and he would do it. He just needed a little encouragement, which was what Ned was doing in that moment. When he finally finished, Peter Parker was a bubble of excitement and energy that didn’t notice aunt May, Tony and Happy staring at him with their eyes wide open on his way out.

“And you want me to believe there is nothing wrong with that kid?” Tony whispered to May.

“Maybe he’s just-“

“Drugs” Happy’s eyes widened. “First it was porn, and now drugs.”

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The night was colder than what he had anticipated, and he wished he would have listened to his inner voice the first time and brought that stupid black jacket. It was probably the most horrendous thing, but he wouldn’t be freezing his ass off.

Actually, he wouldn’t have wore it. Peter knew that, even if it would have been snowing, he wouldn’t have worn the stupid jacket. It would have been another excuse to touch you, dropping it over your shoulder and keeping his arm there.

Still, the night hadn’t gone bad.

Peter had arrived to your meeting place half an hour before the hour you had talked over the phone, and had felt the most ridiculous human being. People that had walked by his side had looked at him with a mixture of pity and curiosity, and he had felt every passing second deep in his chest. But he hadn’t waited for too long, because twenty minutes before the meeting hour he saw you with the jacket he loved so much. You were running while looking at your phone, and sometimes stealing a glace to your sides to make sure your father wasn’t behind you.

You had arrived where he was standing and greeted him with a shy kiss on the cheek, and he had almost fainted on the spot.

Then, his plan started; kissing Y/N Stark without making a fool of himself.

Some months ago, you had mentioned him how you would love to see one of those old movies in an old cinema. Those where people went with their cars or blankets and the film was played outside a building. Peter had looked everywhere until he found a small park that had in front of it an abandoned building. He bought the blanket, snacks and got the film, and asked you for a date a week ago. Technically, he didn’t ask you; Peter just stutter in front of you until you asked him if he wanted to invite you to a date. Blushing, he had nodded furiously and you had agreed gladly. Which lead to that moment at the park.

In the beginning, you had been on your side of the blanket and him on his. You had talked about school (you went to the same one), joked and laughed, and finally he had showed you his idea.

“What’s this?” you asked, looking at the object in front of you. It was a small box, with a big lens on the front.

“It’s-I got it for our date” Peter explained. “I saw it on Twitter, and I thought that you would like it.”

“But what is this? What’s inside?”

You tried to shake it from side to side, to listen if there was something in there. Peter looked at you with a small, and lovestruck, smile. For the daughter of Tony Stark, you knew nothing about the old technology.

“It’s a projector”

“What? Where are the cables?” you searched for them turning the object up and down a few times.

“No, it’s- give me that, you’re going to break it.” Peter took it swiftly from your hands and placed it on the ground.

“And why did you bring it?”

Well, that was the main question. Peter had thought about thousands of answer for it; because saying that he had been looking for it on amazon, e-bay and ali-express for months, just for you, seemed a little creepy. He cleared his throat and shifted on his place, focusing his attention on the DVD and the projector.

“I got it a few weeks ago. Y-You told me that you wanted to see a film with a blanket, and that shit, a-and your father doesn’t let you out too often. So I thought that… you might like this” Peter explained, blushing furiously.

You blinked as he continued talking about how he got it and why you shouldn’t think he was a stalker. Peter and you had met three years ago, when your father had finally let you go to a normal high school. Since the first moment, you had had a crush on the cute boy who went out of his way to make you happy. Each time he covered up for you in class because you had problems with your father, helped you with your homework or let you a place to stay, your heart beat a little faster for him.

“… so, yeah, that was my plan for tonight” he chuckled a bit. “But if you don’t-“

“That’s the most awesome thing someone have ever done for me” you cut him off with a small smile. “What are we watching?”

Peter put on quickly the DVD and watched as Pulp Fiction started to play on the wall in front of you. As he sat back on the blanket, your shoulders brushed slightly and the voice of actors started sounding. You watched as he fumbled a bit, his fingers shaking and the back of his ears as red as his suit.

The night was cold and the park was even colder, but you felt a comforting warmth filling your bones. If he had chosen the worst movie in the world, it wouldn’t have mattered. If he had chosen a stupid documentary, it wouldn’t have mattered. Or if you two would have been in the worst place in Earth, it wouldn’t have made a difference neither. Because you didn’t have your father behind your shoulder, watching every movement you made and keeping the spider boy away from you. That fact was making Peter feel more confident than even, so he dared to rest his hand on the top of you.

His shaky fingers crawled until he was covering your smaller hand with his, and his thumbs ran across your palm as a feather touch.

Peter was trying to seem focused on the film, but you could see how, with the corner of his eye, he was watching your reactions.

Before you really knew what you were doing, your body turned to the left and your lips were on his. It was a quick and probably a little sloppy, and at first all Peter did was lose the strength of his arms and fall against the blanket. You fell on top of him, surprised and kind of disappointed. As you were tearing away, ready to go back home and cry to your father to sleep, Peter lifted himself a little and caught again your lips with his, letting out a small smile.

His sureness encouraged you, and you sat slowly on his lap. Your hands landed on either side of his face, and your fingers found his soft, brown hair; the pressure they were doing against it enough to make Peter nearly lose the rhythm of the kiss.

He gripped your waist and his thumbs brushed the skin softly. And you swore you were dying right there from a heart attack. Eventually, you pulled away from his blushing and smiling face and rested your forehead on his, a stupid smile on your face.

You continued to thread your fingers through his hair, tugging lightly at the ends.

“That’s-not how I had planned things” he said. “Not that I’m complaining, but-“

“You don’t have to plan everything. I would have agreed to go with you to the worst burger in town.”

“I wanted to make something special” he shrugged lightly. “Y-You’re special enough, thought”

You let out a little giggle and kissed the tip of his nose. Then, pressed a kiss on the right side of his mouth, the left corner and finally crashed your lips together again.

As you kissed and laid on each other arms, the film played against the wall in front of you. All Peter Parker could think was

Finally.

Want to know more about me? Here is my Masterlist! Feedback is always appreciated!!

#spiderman #spiderman imagine #spiderman x reader #spiderman one shot #flu #imaginemai #peter parker imagine #peter parker #peter parker one shot #peter parker x reader #one shot #avengers #avengers imagine #avengers one shot #avengers x reader

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spacezeta · 5 years ago

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Devlog - About combat, or: let’s threaten the player

So here’s the devlog about combat that I was going to write the other week but then the camera one turned out way too long!

And if you thought the camera one was long, boy do I have a surprise for you...

So here’s a fairly long (and a little bit rant-y) write-up of my thought process about to combat or not to combat, and how to raise the stakes in a horror game in order to give more substance to the ‘horror’ part.

*Emphasis on thought process because as the game is still in development, I’m still figuring out the proper mechanics of it all

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When we first started making this game, one of the first things that we ended up establishing was that there would be no combat. And looking back I’m not sure why - it just kind of... was. I guess it was to make things easier, but on hindsight we really should have thought that more thoroughly.

So that was the first version of the game that we developed (we had a sort of demo alpha thing done as a student project), but right away there were some glaring issues that needed to be addressed (hence the whole ‘reestructuring of the game’ that I’ve mentioned a few times before). One of the biggest issues weren’t exactly about combat, but rather how to create a tense atmosphere for the player. So follow me down the rabbit hole until I get to the bit about combat!

So. We’re making a horror game, right? And when you’re making a horror game you don’t want the player to feel all safe and happy and calm, you want them to feel tense, to be on edge, and, most importantly, you want to scare the living shit out of them. So how do we go about achieving that?

(No, not jumpscares, you cut that shit out right now)

What I think you should to (emphasis on I and think, as in, personal opinion, and you should, as in, me making this game) is basically make the player feel threatened. You make the player feel scared to enter a room because they don’t know what might be lurking inside. Have a constant threat of something looming over the player’s head everywhere they go. And while that might be an easy concept to grasp, the big issue lies in what exactly that threat is.

(No, not jumpscares! I said stop that!)

So here’s the thing about jumpscares:

They’re not a bad thing... when used in conjunction with other things. Used by itself, it’s just a very cheap way to get a reaction from the player. Sure, a monster popping out of nowhere to scream in your face is going to startle you - but that’s just it. It’s startling the player, not scaring them. If your brother hid in the dark to pop out and scream at you when you come in the room, you’re gonna be startled. And then you’re gonna be angry because that’s just not what normal person should be doing, Peter.

But anyway. A jumpscare is also only really effective the first few handful of times, because after that it loses its power and the player will probably just be going ‘Oh, boo to you too, Mr. Monster’. You need to save up on the jumpscares to only use them when a perfect opportunity arises (like when the tension is at its highest, or when the player is least expecting it and quickly build tension). There are a lot of situations where a jumpscare can come in handy, but it should never be used by itself. If you’re gonna Boo! at the player, Boo! at the player and then do something else along with it.

(Also I have a jumpscare pet peeve when jumpscares make absolutely no sense in-universe. Like, I can understand a monster screaming - monsters are, you could say, prone to shrieking and loud noises, so it makes sense. But when a horror game or movie have a thing pop out with a loud sound, a thing that by all means and laws of physics should make no sound whatsoever, it just grinds my gears so friggin much. Worse yet when the characters react to it! Boo, camera cut! Boo, title card says TUESDAY! Boo, there’s some paint on the wall! Boy what a loud wall!)

But I digress.

So, about the threatening the player bit...

How do we threaten the player to make them feel unsafe? That was the trickiest part to figure out during initial development.

One option is going for the being chased by enemies route. Think something like Outlast or Amnesia, where there’s no combat and you have to run away and hide from monsters to survive. Aaand we kind of just ruled that out. Partly because the map isn’t all that big which might have just ended up with the enemy and player running around in circles, and partly because if you don’t do it properly you might end up with something less threatening, and more troublesome. Like, say, you’re in the middle of completing a puzzle and suddenly an enemy pops out and you have to drop everything to run all the way back to shake them off to finally be able to go back and do what you were trying to do in the first place - that kind of troublesome.

A second option is having combat. Or enemies that appear and that you can deal with in one way or the other. Aaand we also ruled that out and I just don’t know what the friggity frack we were thinking. I was very dumb, essentially. I think I was influenced by this current trend in horror games to have no combat whatsoever, in order to maybe leave the player feeling helpless in the face of danger. And honestly, I should have just taken a long hard look at the horror classics that are influencing this game and realized: the!! friggin!! combat!! it’s there!!! dammit!!

So, no chasing and no combat. What the hell do we do?

Basically I did this thing of trying to make an idea work that clearly does not work but I tried and tried anyway instead of letting it go and it’s basically a really bad thing that I do, and now that I’m finally aware of doing it I’m trying really hard to stop.

Note to self: if an idea isn’t working, let it go! Try something else!

Long story short what we tried to do was this thing where being around an enemy drained your health/sanity/whatever and you needed to escape the room to be safe by pressing a series of quick time events to open the door and leave. It didn’t work.

So there’s combat now! The end!

Well, okay, not really.

So, combat at last.

When I say combat, I don’t mean the action-game-one-man-army kind of combat. I mean the combat that’s of the I-have-a-rusty-pipe-and-will-smack-the-shit-out-of-any-ugly-thing-that-comes-my-way-oh-god-what-the-hell-is-that-maybe-I-should-just-run kind. Think of the first Silent Hill games, the first Resident Evils and even Fatal Frame, where the combat essentially boils down to being a ghost paparazzo.

So, now that we’ve decided on combat, the looming threat that I mentioned before becomes fairly well defined: it’s the possibility of an enemy encounter. You can even play with that expectation, like having one or two fake out scares (just do not overdo - I’m looking at you, scenes of a random cat jumpscaring you out of nowhere), or by pulling the rug out from underneath the player by having an enemy pop out in a seemingly safe area and give them trust issues.

But for the player to dread meeting an enemy means the combat can’t be easy - but it also can’t be frustrating otherwise it just fails as a game mechanic. The player can’t breeze through enemy encounters, each one needs to feel like an actual threat that the player has to deal with (either by killing them or tactically retreating a.k.a. running away please don’t hurt me).

Kind of a side rant: Honestly, if someone asked me what the downfall of the Resident Evil games as a horror series was, I’d probably say it started with the combat. Not all of it, but I’d say a good deal of the blame was there. *Please note I haven’t played either RE7 (as someone who tends to get motion sickness, first person games are things that I avoid) or the RE2 remake (this one I will get as soon as it goes on sale because games are expensive and I got no money).

I mean, I still love RE4 with all my heart and those Regenerators will live on inside my nightmares, but I thought earlier games felt much more tense because the combat in 4 was a lot more action-y than horror-y, though it hadn’t entirely tilted over to the action side... Then 5 came and ruined it all and then 6 came and was like ‘what’s a horror game’ (and I say this as someone who had fun with 6!) and the rest is history.

But it did get me thinking about one thing: the combat mechanics. I found myself frustrated when trying to go back to older Resident Evil games and struggled to deal with the bare bones combat and the clunky tank controls (granted, the latter more than the former), so I started wondering how much of the tension in older games had to do with actual horror, and how much of it was due to the insecurity you get when dealing with awkward controls in a moment of crisis.

Playing around with combat mechanics

So, having figured out that I wanted combat, the question became ‘how to combat’. Or something along those lines. I didn’t want to make things too easy, but I also didn’t want to make the player frustrated.

Here’s the part where I repeat what I said right at the top of this post: as the game is still in development, I’m still figuring out the proper mechanics of it all. So basically I’m just gonna register here what my experiments have been so far, and, like I said in the camera devlog, there are no tank-like controls because those are just a pain to deal with.

So at first I made it so you could only attack after aiming... But then that felt clunky as hell considering this is melee. So I scrapped that idea and made it so you could walk and attack at the same time.

I did keep the aiming part though, but made it optional: you can still walk and attack, but attacking while aiming will deal higher damage.

And in the spirit of keeping the player from just mashing the attack button I’m trying out a little something: Chaining attacks to deal higher damage but also making it so that, should the player press the attack button again too fast, the animation will restart, basically cancelling the previous attack. This would be a nightmare in a fast paced action game but since it’s not, I’m hoping it’ll force the player to be a bit more careful when confronting an enemy without it becoming a frustrating mechanic so, again, it needs more playtesting!

Also enemies can also chain attack you for higher damage!

And that’s basically it! I’m sorry if after all this buildup it ended up being disappointing oops

But considering Observo is going to be a somewhat short game I don’t have the time to develop a complex battle system that’s just not gonna be used a lot in a game with puzzles as the main focus. So that’s it! Thank you so much to anyone who’s still reading this at this point, haha

#game development #devlog #indie game #gamedev #game dev #this is long #like really long #observo #updates

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dangerousdragonflies · 6 years ago

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The Harmoninomicon

Book 1 : WATER

Chapter I Cognitive Dissonance

Part I

The entire world shook, the sky was red. A mighty wash of roiling water struck the boat. Several people were attempting to swim back to the log raft, a second and third raft was just barely visible through the chaos. A man bellowed calling out to the ocean, the words were lost beneath the waves. A wall of water that touched the sky came roaring overhead. Hold on everyone! The man yelled. The massive glowing object in the sky loomed over like a promise, two of the boats had now gone under the waves. No! You can’t! The man screamed at the ocean. Something glowing and red like a wall of liquid fire was bubbling up through the waves, the sound was hideous like a red hot sword slowly cutting though butter. The last of the log rafts splintered apart when the wall of water and the glowing bubbling horror met. A figure woke with a scream, are you ok Hun? A woman said in the dark. It was just a bad dream, go back to sleep I’ll be fine.

We have an old saying on the island, If the island does not like you it will spit you out. What does that even mean exactly Jules questioned? Well you know its probably all the movies I’ve been watching and I haven’t been getting enough sleep, it just seems like the universe doesn’t want me to feel rested. Well maybe you should try something a little more esoteric man, like a Ouija board (it was pronounced Wee Gee Board) or tarot cards! Jules had his thumbs up in the air like some sort of 80’s car dealership commercial. Dude I had a weird dream and that’s it, there’s no such thing as ghosts or demons and don’t get me started on the whole heaven or hell thing that makes less sense than those flat earth guys. Come on Will we don’t just rot in the ground and that’s it once we die man there’s so much we don’t know but we are proving a lot of the occult things are real! Real? How can we prove anything about that, you said it best yourself we don’t know and there is more evidence that leads us to think this is it. But Science is proving it and Science is fact! No Jules Science is fiction, you are living in a fantasy land and I am sorry to be the one to tell you Santa Clause isn’t real, its time to wake up and see the world for what it is. With a heavy sigh Jules punched will in the shoulder. Fine, I see there’s little I can say to convince you Will. I have to get back to work here in a few minutes I really think you should look in to these things and see if it helps any. I know you don’t believe in any of that but whats the worse that could happen, I’ll send you some links. Laughing and with a smile “Sure, try to have a good day dude ill text you later”.

The Rain poured like a blanket drenching the land to the bones. Thunder crackled and off in the distance a bright flash of light lit up by its after effects on the human vision. Something in the shape of a Dog was cowering and shaking, trying to hide under the two people. Margret I told you it was just a dream, I am ok! No you aren’t you’ve been up the last week having these nightmares and now im worried for you, Honey if you aren’t sleeping neither am I, You are to heavy to sit there Cassie; The Dog was trying to sit on the woman’s lap. Doctor Sanchez said one session with him and we will be able to tell whats going on with these dreams. Wills Sigh was exasperated, Ok if it means this much to you then ill go do this thing, Jules was trying to convince me to use; and I will use his words “A WEE GEE board” they both laughed. Well his heart is in the right place Will maybe a Ouija board isn’t what we need but I have some old tarot cards, How about we break them out? They guided my life pretty well until we met honey. I don’t know Margret I don’t think those cards will help me. William Edwards! I am sorry you had a few bad experiences with this sort of thing but im only trying to help. Where are those cards at? I think I have them upstairs in one of the closets. Ill go grab ‘em, the Dog nearly tripping the woman as she went up the stairs made a yipe, Fuh! Damn it dog! Go to daddy!

Sit right there, Margret pointed at the carpet right outside the closet. Right here? Will said grinning. Yes right here! Come on Love lets see what the Spirits have to tell you!! As the rain came down like great buckets from the gods the couple sat pouring over the cards. What do the spirits say for Gemini? The words echoed off the walls. Both people yelled at the same time, Cassie! The dog had walked over the cards laid out on the ground. Picking up one card Will handed it to the young woman sitting across from him. It’s backwards, what does this card mean? Oh Hun, The four of cups in reverse reminds us to see all the good things being offered to us in the present. Thinking too far ahead, or dwelling on things long past can rob you of the now. What are you dwelling on love? Is everything alright? I don’t know Margret, I’ve been stressed due to lack of sleep but I don’t think there’s anything I’m dwelling on I mean I can’t think of anything I might be stuck on.

Alright Mr. Edwards this is a safe place where no judgement happens just make yourself at home and try to relax. Honestly Doc I’m not sure about all this. Will looked around the room, I don’t know if this is the right thing for my insomnia plus I don’t think i can be hypnotized I mean I have a hard time even convincing myself to go to work some days. The clock was ticking so loud Will thought he would go insane if he had to sit here for too much longer. You would be surprised as to how many of my clients say similar statements, Mr. Edwards I assure you my practice is proven and sound. You are in good hands. Now one of our policies is we collect some information from our clients do you mind if I ask you a few questions pertaining to your physical and mental health? I guess, what kind of questions are we talking about? Our first question is would you say you’re a generally happy man? Happy? Y-yes I suppose, I have a great job a wonderful wife and a Pit-bull. My life has never been better, what does this have to do with my dreams Doc? My list has specially been designed to help for this circumstance Mr. Edwards I assure you, Alright Question two. Do you have any history with psychotropic drugs? Would a Antidepressant count as psychotropic? In most cases yes, don’t worry we don’t report any findings to any authority. Question three. How often would you say you brush your teeth? Will looked puzzled, Excuse me? Please Mr. Edwards these questions are important, Answer them as best you can. Alright I brush before bed every day. An eye brow raised a little bit, Doctor Sanchez adjusted himself in his seat. And how much Fluoride would you say you and your wife…? I assume, are in taking daily? The Doctor peered over his clipboard waiting for a reply. Margret’s allergic to fluoride so we found a place with a well and as for our teeth we use fluoride free toothpaste. The Doctor straightened, I think I’m beginning to have an understanding of the situation Mr. Edwards. These are a sedative for those who have a harder time going under the pendulum so to speak. The Doctor was standing there smiling but to Will it wasn’t a friendly gesture. Um do you think we can do this without the medication first? I’m not a fan of taking pills to be honest. Please Mr. Edwards these are all natural sedatives, they wont fail you on a urine screening and also they are hypoallergenic, anyone can take them even children newly born. Grabbing the little paper cup with the pills in it Will looked at them. I guess its OK, will I be able to drive when I leave here? The Doctor handed Will a glass of water. Here you go please drink the entire glass of water Mr. Edwards and yes you will be fully clear headed and able to drive when you leave from here. Alright Doc Will said with a face as he swallowed the medication, when will this hit me? Just lay back Mr. Edwards you should be feeling the effects almost at once, can you tell me how many fingers I’m holding up? As his vision began to blur Will started panicking, Doc whats going on? I-I cant move! At this time two other men entered the room, as the darkness enfolded around Will he heard the Doctor say tie him down.

Wake up. My son, Wake up! Class is about to start so wake up! What? Will sat up and looked around, what? Stop saying what young man and get to school! The woman demanded. Whats going on? Who are you? The woman's stance assumed that iconic stance that all woman get when patience is running thin. I am not playing games and neither are you! Get up! The woman yanked the bed covers from the young man. Hey! What are you…looking down Wills legs had tanned quite a lot since he remembered seeing them last and they were quite a bit smaller. What the!? A million thoughts raced through his head. Arawakan! Don’t make me get your older brother to grab you and drag you to class again and you know he cannot be bothered with this, he is going through Melody training today. Huh? What did you call me? Will was yanked from bed by what looked like a seven foot tall bronze god, help!! Oh there is no help for you today remarked the incredibly tall young man holding Will by the arm pits.

Arawakan your late, why don’t you give us the reason why? The man at the head of the class said with hands on his hips. Um…? I don’t think I should be here will stammered. The giant escorting Will pushed him so hard that he fell hitting his shoulder on the podium at the front of the class. I had to drag him down here out of bed because he thinks sleep is more important said the giant. Standing up Will looked around, why is all of this so familiar? Wills shoulder throbbed. Go sit down little Bro and learn something useful said the tall young man. Will walked down the aisles of seats and sat down, looking around his eyes met with a young man a few rows back. His face said a lot but it was as if he didn’t belong here either. The older man at the head of the class Boomed “We have an old saying on the island, if the island does not like you it will spit you out.” But? But? Exclaimed a girl near the back, then why are there so many people I don’t like!? By then the entire class had erupted into laughter and crude remarks. QUIET!!!! Bellowed Wabeno the teacher of the day and today the kids got the head of the fishing fleet. Alright class I suppose I could share the super-secret reason why Penutia seems to not like anyone. Wabeno says with a grin. Oh! Oh! A young man near the back of the class erupted, hand high in the air waving frantically. Its because she was out after curfew with Athabaskan doing naughty things!!! Please just once can you be serious? No class its because…. Both of you, eyes and ears up front! Penutia and another girl were whispering back and forth snickering. Watching this for as long as she could an older woman in the doorway chuckled to herself, stepping out of the warm noonday rain, Kids! Kids! She lowered her head and waves of thought hit the classroom as soundless as a small field mouse breaking wind and as powerful as a blue whale breaching, Wills head suddenly started to buzz. A presence filled his head and even though there were no words he felt a wash of calmness radiate over him. alright class please inform your parents and guardians there is a village gathering tonight and its wet outside so don’t forget your rain covers! Will was hit with a head ache so bad he almost fell out of his seat, Wills head swam with a flood of memories that weren’t his but felt like they fit. I must be going crazy! With a warm smile and open arms some of the girls ran over and embraced the woman. Alright children this is important, don’t forget about the gathering tonight, you are dismissed! The woman had almost yelled over the almost preteen crowds ramblings. Will was astounded. He remembered getting up this morning, this morning in his home with the Tv and his computer but now he also remembered going to bed last night in his home made from grass and bamboo, he had never been hunting in his life but now he remembered two days ago when him and his older brother successfully hunted down and caught and wild boar with their dads lucky bow. What the hell is going on he thought?

Part 2

When I woke up this morning I never would have thought I would be saying this, but I believe we have found him. And what makes you think this? The voice on the other end of the line asked. We have had an eye on this one for quite some time Sir, we have him in custody and right now we are doing several tests to verify this. Doctor Sanchez I am not sure you are aware of how important this is, there is a lot riding on this and you have no idea how much I have personally invested in you and your, The voice on the other end of the line cleared his throat. Methods and if you aren’t correct one hundred percent about this one the ceasing of your funding will be the least of your concerns. Do not let me detain you, the phone beeped marking the end of the call. The man’s posture relaxed a little. Two men who were mumbling outside the door while he was on the phone knocked and came in the door, Sir we have a situation with subject number seven. As the three men rushed down the hallway the sounds of screaming and banging became louder and louder. Noooo!!! The voice of a young man bellowed. The banging intensified, I need 15 ccs of Benzodiazepine now! The two other men were in the process of tightening the tie downs that held the young man. The figure of a nurse came shuffling in from a side room, hold her down! No! No! No! The young man tried to flail, Nooo!!! He bellowed again but this time the voice rasped. The two men jammed a cloth gag in the young man’s mouth. There we are just breathe Daniel everything will be fine. The young man’s movements became sluggish and his eyes drooped. There we are see? Isn’t it easy to relax now? Get him hooked back up the Doctor demanded, why is the machine disconnected? Get this thing going and crack it to sixty five percent! Doctor he was going into cardiac arrest we had to disconnect him and administer an epinephrine injection, Doctor his nervous system can’t handle this level of stress. Breathe, just breathe. See isn’t it easy to relax now? The man’s voice echoed in Daniel’s head.

A sound like a yak making its last noises before it died trumpeted right outside his window. Daniels eyes sprang open and he bolted upright. With eyes that were full of globs, he had guessed he had he had been drinking the night before and had a few bad dreams. What the fuck? A rather large pinkish courts crystal started to pulse when he looked at it. Am I still drunk? He said out loud. Holy shit! Looking around his eyes started focusing on objects in the room. He was really confused by this point, well whatever I did last night ill try to make it up to whoever lives here and I hope they will forgive me for using some of these clothes till I can find mine. A mirror made from what appeared to be like hammered and polished copper looked back at him, what did I drink last night?? He almost screamed. The face looking back at him was so young maybe twelve or so with a tan that almost matched the copper mirror, what the hell!! What is going on? The level of panic was at a whole new level and Daniel stopped cold. His head was starting to clear now. Walking over to the crystal he reached out and the pulsing intensified. The urge to touch the crystal was demanding him forward. The crystal flashed, the light was blinding. A second set of memories faded in to his thoughts. Sitting down on the bed he rested his head in his hands, his thoughts revolved around getting another drink or at least a drink if those weren’t dreams. It felt to Daniel like he was receiving a data download to his memories. I was born here he said to himself with tears in his eyes, this is my room. Well, I had better get to class I guess Daniel said with a grunt getting up. I miss pizza already.

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culturalgutter · 7 years ago

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We really should have had a mystery series featuring a sensible lesbian couple by now. Something like two Miss Marples sharing a sensible home and sensibly solving extremely–some might even say overly–complicated murders together. One wakes the other up when she turns on the nightstand lamp to do a crossword puzzle, her favorite occupation when she is trying to crack a case. It helps her think. There should have been something based on a series of books written in the 1920s and 1930s, just after the War–either one. It should have been written by female author with three names and set in a quaint village outside London, the kind of village with many corpses in the shrubbery. Or maybe set in the city, with someone like Miss Fisher, but including the women she has had affairs with. Her dressing table or mantle featuring suggestive photos of the detective on holiday in Malta or visiting Paris with Josephine Baker, Marlene Dietrich, Anna May Wong, Djuna Barnes and even, possibly, Garbo herself. Our detective’s tux would be divinely tailored.

Yes, we could have them now, a retro 1930s correcting the oversights of the past. But we should have already had these drawing room mysteries long ago. They should have played on Masterpiece Theater, A&E and the various BBCs. They should be so prevalent that there are Sesame Street parodies teaching children how to count or the letter “L” or the word “sensible.” Old mystery and film fans should patronizingly explain to us that Zasu Pitts or Theresa Harris, Margaret Rutherford or Maude Eburne, in fact, performed in the first film versions of these films back in the day. “The earliest performance of this character dates back to Sarah Bernhard,” a random pedant would interject*.

The realized this terrible loss in the very same moment I saw it almost presented to me in Do Not Fold, Spindle or Mutilate (1971) and its spin-off series, The Snoop Sisters. The Snoop Sisters ran as part of NBC’s Mystery Movie from 1972 to 1974. Though it stars two sisters, aunts to a police officer, I think it will get hard to read them as anything but a married couple in the future. I discovered The Snoop Sisters while watching old, made-for-tv mysteries and thrillers with the Gutter’s own Beth Watkins. We watched one where Barbara Stanwyck’s house is probably possessed and another where someone is trying to drive her mad. One where a theater troop re-enacts a murder to get a confession. One where Shelley Winters’ passion for Debbie Reynolds gets the best of her, demonstrating that there is something very much the matter with Helen. Another called, A Very Missing Person (1972) in which Eve Arden plays Hildegard Withers, a character who was variously played by ZaSu Pitts, Edna May Oliver and Helen Broderick in a series of 1930s films based on the novels of Stuart Palmer**. Ms. Withers is an ex-schoolteacher with an intriguing taste in hats and another good candidate for sensible lesbian detective. And we watched Do Not Fold, Spindle or Mutilate. Helen Hayes, Mildred Natwick, Myrna Loy and Sylvia Sydney. They are retired women who occupy their time with luncheons, amazing outfits and creating the profile of a much younger woman for a computer dating service. Unfortunately for them, their profile attract a serial killer. Unfortunately for him, these ladies have moxie. Watching the movie, I realized that I would love to see these women solve a mystery every week. Apparently someone at NBC felt the same, because while the movie was not picked up as a series, it is somewhat reprised The Snoop Sisters, with Mildred Natwick taking on Myrna Loy’s role as Helen Hayes’ sister. It is the snazziest Mildred Natwick has ever been in a film, as she plays the fashionable Gwendolyn Snoop-Nicholson, “G.” for short. It is one of the only times I can think of that Mildred Natwick has outdressed nearly everyone else on the screen. Helen Hayes plays mystery novelist, Ernesta Snoop. And now both are instigators.

The Snoop Sisters has the things people like in 1970s made-for-tv mysteries—women in their 60s and 70s, magicians, Roddy McDowell, switcheroos and twists. The Snoops solve mysteries, scoop the police—led by their own nephew Lt. Steven Ostrowski—and charmingly prove what everyone thinks is happening is not what’s happening at all. Except, that yes, Alice Cooper is happening, and so is a fist fight between Vincent Price and Roddy McDowell. Also, classic film star Joan Blondell is a medium, Bernie Casey wears pants no one should be able to successfully look handsome in and Steve Allen hosts Ernesta Snoop on his television program. There are so many outfits—fantastically printed caftans and ties; wide lapels; loudly patterned suits; sweaters with ring pulls. And there is a lot of decor—including Gloria Hendry’s amazing octagonal waterbed.

Sadly, there were only five episodes produced, but fortunately they have been collected in a dvd set.In “The Female Instinct,” the Snoops solve the murder of an old Hollywood icon Norma Treet (Paulette Goddard) while Barney tries and fails to keep them out of trouble. There is a sweet screening of one of Goddard’s films, The Ghost Breakers (1940), presented as one of Treet’s. Their nephew***, police Lt. Steven Ostrowski (Lawrence Pressman) as their nephew, Lt. Ostrowski sets Barney, a retired cop played by Art Carney, to keep the ladies out of trouble. But no one, not even Art Carney—an Art Carney who does a stunt—can stop the Snoops from doing what they want to do. And they want to write mysteries, solve mysteries, meet amazing people, and disguise themselves as anything from “stuffed animal fluffers” to exterminators and a bowling team.

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And they wear amazing outfits. G.’s wardrobe is very much from the 1970s, including a beautiful coat I covet. Ernesta’s much more turn of the Twentieth Century. I will also note that Ernesta is butch, but hers is a butchness leaning towards Gertrude Stein but with a fondness for ridiculously feathered hats. It’s from a when wearing a certain cut of jacket was more meaningful in gender coding than wearing a skirt. In this case, most of Ernesta’s skirt suits are “mannish” in the parlance of the thirties and forties. And I am pretty sure she is straight up wearing men’s or boy’s gray striped flannel pajamas.

My favorite part is the peek into Ernesta’s creative process as she works on a book while G. takes dictation.

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We also get another glimpse of their home life as Ernesta works on her embroidery in bed and Mildred asks to borrow her liniment, after a close call with a potential assassin required that they both run.

By the second episode, “Corpse and Robbers,” there have been some changes. Now Bert Convy plays Steven. And rather than a retired cop, Barney is now a paroled convict doing the lieutenant a favor by watching his aunts. Played by Lou Antonio, Barney is also twenty or thirty years younger than the Snoops and too hobbled by his respect for their ladyness to come close to contending with them. In the episode, Ernesta tries to discover what happened to her dear old friend, and toy-making genius, Franklin Birdwell (Liam Dunn). Ernesta also hopes to prove that she is not imagining that he has called her. The Snoops disguise themselves as “stuffed animal fluffers” to infiltrate a toy factory that specializes in toy dogs that bark and wag their tails, Winnie the Pooh stuffies, and giant devil masks. I assume the factor is one of the Joker’s old hideouts and, in its off hours, the site of many a giallo murder.**** Ernesta and G. also go jogging in knit outfits.

Their activewear.

In “Death Is A Free Throw,” we discover many interesting things, such as that G. is a basketball fan and that their Lincoln limosine’s license plate just happens to be 473 FEM. Oh, and as Ernesta and G. defend a man who has come flying out of the green room for the Steve Allen show, “We warn you, Mr. Bates, we know kung fu.”

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Fortunately, fisticuffs prove unnecessary and the Snoops quickly befriend basketball great, Willie Bates (Bernie Casey). Willie wears some amazing outfits that only Bernie Casey could make it seem like a good idea for anyone else to wear. I mean, some other people could look handsome in them, but, seriously, don’t think you could because he could. Meanwhile, everyone has stomach trouble and G. becomes a suspect.

“The Devil Made Me Do It!” might contain the most wonders per hour. The Snoops find themselves the target of a Satanic coven that would very much like its ancient relic back, thank you. Classic film bombshell Joan Blondell appears as a medium, Madame Mimi. And Alice Cooper not only appears as a witch, but sings a song to a very interesting audience at the Frou Frou Club.

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But my favorite character is the Honorable Morlock (Cyril Ritchard), the proprietor of an occult shop who specializes in providing New York’s covens with human skulls, in any size and painted in any color you might like. He assures us that Henry Ford had the right idea in only offering one model of car in one color. He blames the government for the rapacious frog bone suppliers. He wears a wig, red eye shadow and stunning ritual magick robes. (The Honorable Morlock definitely spells magic with a K and probably deplores the confusion of stage magic with the Art). And he speaks in rhyming couplets whenever he can. When Barney asks how the Honorable Morlock knows he has a bad back, he declaims: “Lucifer, give me strength! Do you think you’re dealing with kids? Because I’m a pro—that’s how I know!”

He’s a pro!

And if The Snoop Sisters had to go out, at least it went out with an episode featuring both Roddy McDowell and Vincent Price. The episode begins gloriously with Ernesta and G. cosplaying that most romantic of classic horror couples, Frankenstein and the Bride****. Ernest is the creature, of course. And Mildred Natwick makes a remarkably elegant Bride. They are dressed up to attend the Michael Bastion Film Festival, a revival of classic horror films. We see among the attendees people dressed as vampires, a werewolf, the Metaluna Mutant and a mummy. That’s right, G. is a horror fan. She’s seen all of Bastion’s films and is excited to meet Bastion himself. Bastion and his wife arrive in an old hearse. His wife leaves from the passenger side. Muscle men in silver masks pull a coffin out of the hearse, lean it up and open it to reveal Bastion to his adoring fans*****. There is a fun movie-within-a-tv-movie starring Bastion, and, of course, a murder during the screening. Bastion is the accused and the Snoops investigate. Like Price himself, Bastion is a noted gourmet cook and G. distracts Bastion by taking him up on an offer of a gourmet luncheon. There is a very fine drunken-crepe making scene. And Ernesta wears an indescribable golfing outfit. I do not think I am spoiling anything but informing you that there is also a fistfight between Roddy McDowell and Vincent Price. This is obviously an enticement.

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While I willingly admit that the Snoop sisters are, in fact, sisters, no matter how queer coded the relationship and the show seems, The Snoop Sisters does satisfy some of my desire for weird old tv mysteries starring a lesbian couple. Sure we could do something retro now and that would be fun, but it isn’t the same. And it’s a reminder of how much we could have had without prejudices limiting art.

*One must take the good with the bad if one is truly sensible.

**A Very Missing Person also stars Julie Newmar and Pat Morita. Morita plays a hippie, which is so, so worthwhile.

***I will note the long tradition of couples who are coded gay having nieces and nephews. I also suppose that if Steven were Gwendolyn’s son, she would not be considered so free to gallivant around with Ernesta because she would be a Bad Mother somehow to the series perceived audience. Even if Steven’s all grown-up and a police lieutenant now.

***I have been thinking about gialli a lot while watching this made-for-tv mysteries with Beth.

****For my thoughts on calling the creature, “Frankenstein,” and on the poor Bride, please see “The Specter of Frankenstein.”

*****Bastion later arranges to meet someone in the men’s bathroom, but I am resisting the temptation to say anything about that.

Two other queer and queer-ish, made-for-tv movies: The Judge and Jake Wyler starring Bette Davis and Doub McLure; and, What’s The Matter With Helen? starring Debbie Reynolds and Shelley Winters.

~~~

If you need her, Carol Borden will be consulting with the Honorable Morlock.

Snooping Ladies Sensibly Solving Mysteries We really should have had a mystery series featuring a sensible lesbian couple by now. Something like two Miss Marples sharing a sensible home and sensibly solving extremely--some might even say…

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nighterfangirlwriter · 7 years ago

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New Beginning: Family secret (Part Three)

Fandom: The Originals

Part One Part Two

A/N: This part focuses on the reader after what happened in the garden, I used this piece to set the plot for future parts. I hope you will enjoy it.

Pardon any mistakes but it is really late, and my eyes are half closed.

Wordcount: 1843

After half an hour of complete silence, Alex finally looked at you. You felt his gaze and turned your head to face him just for a moment. His face displayed troubled expression. He opened his mouth to say something, but he didn’t. Instead, he stared at the road before him. Still not looking at you he said ‘I just don’t get it. Why wouldn’t you tell me?’ You didn’t turn to face him this time, but you felt his eyes on you. You breathed heavily and said the first thing that came to your mind. ‘Because I didn’t want anybody to know.’ Alex swallowed hard ‘I thought we were best friends,’ he whispered. ‘Alex, what do you want me to say? That I am sorry, sorry for not telling you?’ You responded with a raised whisper, weary of your sister sleeping in the backseat. ‘This is not what I am saying. I just thought that we can trust each other. For God sake Y/N, I was telling you everything!’ You knew he was hurt and that he didn’t mean to raise his voice. You looked at him. ‘I do trust you-‘ You tried to explain yourself, but he interrupted you. ‘Clearly not enough’ he said sarcastically. ‘Alex, I was sixteen when my mother passed away, and not long after he’ You closed your eyes and your eyebrows frowned, you swallowed hard before you continued ‘I was lost, I didn’t want people to know, I was scared that if … If I told, that he would…’ Tears were shielding your eyes. ‘Y/N, you don’t’ Alex tried to calm you down. But the tears were already falling from your eyes, down your cheeks and dripped off your chin onto your sweeter.

You heard lily move in the back. You whipped the tears and cleared your throat, ‘Is everything alright?’ You asked with a smile and a cheery voice. ’I need to pee.’ She said sleepily. ‘Alright will take a stop at the nearest gas station.’ You said and looked at the clock that showed four thirty-seven in the morning which meant that you have been driving for over eight hours with no break, fixated to get as far as possible. Suddenly your eyes felt heavy as you approached the gas station. You stopped the engine and said to the both of them. ‘We are stopping for no more than ten minutes, go to the toilet and grab what you need.’ The last you said more to Alex than Lily. You waited for Alex and Lily to get out of the car, and then you lock it. First, you all headed to the toilet.

You waited for Lily, and then you both motioned to the sink. You were washing your hands when you lifted your head and looked into the mirror. You were shocked by what you saw. You had massive bruise stretching from your right cheek and onto your lips. Your lower lip was broken with a big dry lump. ‘Did a bad man hurt you?’ You heard Lily say and you immediately looked at her confused as to what you should tell her. ‘Yes, but I hit him harder.’ You said smiling, and she smiled back.

You meet Alex outside the toilet. He was holding water, snacks and sandwiches. ‘I thought you might be hungry, I also ordered some tea for all of us. Should be ready in no time.’ He said proudly of himself. ‘Great’ You said when you heard someone call you to take your tea. You took it and walked towards your car monitoring your surroundings. ‘Alex,’ He looked at you puzzled. ’Do you see the two men in that black car? Over there.’ You asked not knowing if you are just paranoid. He dismissed your suspicions. ‘I am sure it is nothing, we, you were driving all night. You are probably just tired, maybe I should drive for a while, and you could take a nap.’ ‘Maybe you’re right’ You admitted

‘So, where should I drive?’ He asked sitting in the drivers’ seat. And that was a good question. Because despite you were driving, you didn’t know where you were headed. ‘Maybe we should take a break at the nearest “bed and breakfast”’ You were sitting at the back and in no time you fall asleep.

‘Y/N’ You heard your name and felt a shrug. You barely opened your eyes to what was going on, and you saw Alex. ‘We are taking a break at the “bed and breakfast like at your mamas”’ You rubbed your eye and yawned ‘Where are we?’ He pursed his lips sarcastically ‘At the nearest b&d’ ’What time is it? You questioned. ‘Nearly six in the morning, I already got us a room.’ He said and gave you his hand, which you took lazily. Where is Lily?’ You asked noticing that she is nowhere to be seen. ‘She is already in the room.’ This worked like a trigger, you started pacing to the entrance. Alex was right behind you. He caught up with you. And led you to the room.

You saw Lily fast asleep, peaceful and innocent. ‘I’ll take the couch.’ Said Alex and you just nodded and laid beside your sister.

You were dreaming about your mother when you were little. You were playing in your grandmother’s garden in a city you don’t recall. You heard your mom call you and you were overwhelmed by the scent of her perfume. Sweet, fresh fruity scent. ‘Y/N you cannot be here.’ You looked at her confused until the dream wasn’t a dream anymore. ‘Mom?’ You hugged her tight, and she stroked your hair. She then suddenly pulled you away ‘No, Y/N you cannot be here.’ You looked at her quizzingly, eyebrows frowned. She realised that you don’t understand why it is. Why you can’t visit her? So, she answered your question, that hasn't even been asked. ‘Oh, sweetie’ her voice brooked ‘it is dangerous, if you come here too often, you might get trapped and won’t be able to go back.’ You were even more confused. But you needed an answer to one question that was hunting you since the last time you saw her. ‘Mom, remember the last time I was here,’ She nodded not knowing where you were going with this question. ‘you said I have to practice something,’ She nodded once again. ‘but you never told me what.’ She smiled at you, like a sun spell. Proud and impatient to tell you she started to talk. ‘Do you remember when you were five and you and your dad went on the camping trip?’ You smiled at that memory it was your first time camping under the bare sky. ‘On that trip, something happened,’ You frowned your eyebrows confused ‘You got angry because you didn’t want to come back’ You couldn’t remember that incident ‘you screamed at your dad and a nice sunny day changed into thunder.’ You looked down and whispered ’I don’t remember that why?’ She looked at you with sorrow and continued with her story. ‘After you came back from the trip, your dad told me what has happened. We thought that you didn’t have it in you, but to our surprise, you had, have something far more powerful.’ You looked at your mom not understanding. ‘You see,’ She breathed out heavily. ‘you have a gift of magic, not just a traditional one, you have a very rare gift that allows you to control nature, of course for a price.’ Your eyes, wide open in disbelieve. ‘It makes you physically weak.’ ‘Is that what it was. I used “magic” to escape Rees and the others’ You felt insane, but you let her carry on, and so she did. ‘Your dad took your powers, but when he died, they came back to their owner. To you. And so, I went to a friend of mine, who gave me the necklace to block your powers.’ She finished, and you could not believe what you just herd. ‘Mom, this isn’t real, I am just dreaming’ You squeezed your eyes in an attempt to wake up but it didn’t work. ‘honey this is not a dream, and now listen to me.’ She said very seriously ‘You need to go to your grandmothers’ home in New Orleans and find her spell books and diaries. Just be careful many people want them. Go there and take them and never stop moving.’ You wanted to ask her questions, but she wouldn’t let you. ‘Go’ ‘But mom, I need to know so many things’ You said. ‘there is no time, now Gooo!’ She screamed at you, and her face turned into one that you often saw in horror movies. Pale white with black circles for eyes.

You walk up with a scream and tears. You were breathing very slowly, like that one time you decided to run a marathon. You closed your eyes and turned your head so that it would face your sister, but when you opened your eyes, they meet an empty pillow. You burst out of bed, you looked around and realised that it was only you in the room, so you just put your shoes on and left the room. You went downstairs to where the noises came from, and you saw Alex and Lily sit at a table laughing and eating. You were leaning against the door frame when Lily saw you and waved at you to join them.

You were eating a French toast when you saw your stepfather in the news. You immediately stopped eating. ‘We are currently at Mr Rees Owndel’s’ Said the news reporter. ‘whose daughters were kidnapped by gang members. As you can the garden is completely destroyed.’ They showed a video footage of the garden. ‘Mr Rees, would you like to say anting?’ The cameras showed your stepfather, who had tears in his cold eyes. ‘I don’t know what to say. I just want my girls to come home.’ Son of a bitch. You whispered, thankfully no one could hear you. ‘I only have one message to you.’ Said your stepfather. His voice cooler that ice, he starred directly to the camera, stared at you. ‘You can’t escape from me, I will find you everywhere you go, you can’t run from me. I will have it, and you will give it to me.’ He smiled viciously. You knew that this message was for you. You were petrified, but you shook the feeling off and looked at Alex and Lily.

‘Guys we are leaving.’ They both looked at you and then Alex turned around and you and Lily’s photos on the screen. You grabbed Lily’s hand, and you all were walking towards the exit when you were spotted by the manager. ‘Hey, wait.’ None of you stopped, and you ran towards your car. When you all took your original seats, you saw the manager speak to someone on the phone. No doubt he was calling the police. You just speed away. Headed towards New Orleans.

I know this was a long read, and there were no vampires involved, but I really needed this part to make this into a bit longer series. I also wanted to develop the reader's character. Let me know if you would like anything specific to be in the story. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed it. :)

Part 4

Tagged: @graysonmalfoy @sassymcgonagal1651

#newbegining #story #the originals #elijah x reader #klaus mikaelson #elijah mikaelson #klaus x reader #part three #series #long reads #reads #november #newbegging

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flames-bring-a-ton-of-ash · 7 years ago

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Eleven Questions

I was tagged by the amazing @jeffreydeanneganstrash @neganismyobsession and @sherrybaby14 to play this game.

Rules.

1. Post the Rules. 2. Answer the questions given to you. 3. Make 11 questions of your own. 4. Tag 11 people.

Since I was tagged 3 times, I’m gonna slightly cheat by answering the 33 questions I was asked, then write 11 of my own questions to tag 11 people in (rather than create 33 questions which I would spend all night coming up with lol).

I’m putting a keep reading bar because this got hella long.

@neganismyobsession‘s Questions:

1. Favorite movie genre?

Lately, it seems to be horror, although I’m always a sucker for a good romance.

2. If you could bring one thing to show your favorite celebrity, what would it be?

Tbh, if I ever met JDM, I’d love to magically have the resources to print out a copy of ID to give him, or at the very least take the first chapter and ask him to sign it. No shame lol

3. Who is your favorite fanfic writer?

Just one?!?! Oh god...I read fanfiction in so many fandoms that I literally can’t say I have one favorite. However, I’m gonna give a shoutout to my girl @hannibalssweaters whose writing has introduced me to some kinks I didn’t even know I was into, and has had me reading fics about characters/fandoms I’m not even involved with. If you haven’t read her stuff, I strongly encourage it (altho heed the warnings).

4. If you could live anywhere where money was not an issue, where would you live?

Ireland, most likely

5. What brought you to Tumblr originally?

Oh wow...that was back in like 2011, and I only made a tumblr because my undergrad roommates were talking about it and told me that I should, so I did lol

6. What is your favorite past time?

Reading...does that count?

7. If the zombie apocalypse did happen, what is the first thing you would do?

Pack up my cats and attempt to make it back to my hometown, although that’s a 4 hour drive away so idk if I’d make it. But I’d have a much better chance of survival in my small hometown out in the woods than I’d ever have here in a major city. I honestly think I’d be pretty fucked and die really quickly just trying to get out of here.

8. What is one movie you could watch over and over and not get tired of it?

Pride & Prejudice

9. If you could have been born in another time era, what time era would you pick?

Tbh, the reality of any past era is not one I’d be interested in, especially as a woman. But I love reading romance novels set in various historical eras.

10. If you could be a famous person, who would you be?

Hmm...maybe Taylor Swift? Just to know what that level of fame would be like, but also because she’s relatable enough with her cats and old lady habits that I wouldn’t feel totally unlike myself lol

11. Apple or Android?

Apple

@jeffreydeanneganstrash‘s Questions:

1. Was there a book or movie that you read/watched that truly disappointed you? If so, which book/movie and why?

Book: The Game of Thrones series. I love the show (although I’m a few seasons behind) and bought the first 4 books, planning on trying to catch up and surpass where the show was, so I could know what happens next. I barely made it halfway through the first book before giving up. I was so disappointed that I just had no interest in it at all, and was forcing myself to read it. It wasn’t worth the dedication needed to read those beast-sized novels, if I wasn’t enjoying them.

2. If you could travel back in time, where would you go?

I kinda stated above how I personally would not wanna go back in time, because I like having more rights now as a woman than we have had in the past haha. I’m also not super into history, so I’m good with leaving the past in the past.

3. What is your favourite quote or song lyric?

“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” ~Marilyn Monroe

4. Who is you least favourite “popular” celebrity and why?

Donald. Fucking Donald. Do I even need to explain why?

5. When there’s something strange in your neighbourhood…who are you gonna call?

Hmm...I usually call my mother or grandmother in any panicky situations, so I guess one of them? Although they live 4 hours away, so idk how helpful they’d be if it was a physical danger lol.

6. Would you ever play with a ouija board?

Fuck no

7. If you could be a part of any T.V./Movie universe, which would it be?

Most TV shows I watch are ones where human women end up dead way too often lmao. Uhhh...Harry Potter, perhaps?

8. Do you prefer mornings or nights?

Nights, definitely. Even though I have to be at work at 8am, I don’t think I’ll ever totally get used to that early morning shit.

9. Can you name 11 things that are around you?

couch, fluffy blanket, glass of water, laptop, cell phone, coffee table, 2 books on said coffee table, cat scratch post, 2 cats, purse, boots

10. Black or white?

Black

11. What is the soundtrack to your life?

One song that I relate to a lot and jam out to is Alessia Cara’s “Wild Things” lol. Also, just about anything by Taylor Swift or Kelly Clarkson is usually pretty relatable.

@sherrybaby14‘s Questions:

1. Favorite Holiday?

Thanksgiving (which is coming up!) or my birthday, if that counts

2. Santa is going to bring you one toy this year. What do you ask for?

Heh...I’d probably pick out one of the super expensive sex toys that I’ve seen and lamented being unable to afford.

3. If money were not a concern, what would your dream job be?

Being a published writer

4. What are your favorite type of puzzles?

Ohhh I love puzzles of all kinds. I went through a phase a couple of years ago with large jigsaw puzzles that I then glued and framed. But I also love Sudoku, which I haven’t done in forever.

5. What was your first kiss like?

Drunk and nothing special

6. If you had to change your first name, what name would you pick?

I’d refuse. I love my first name. It’s unique, and I rarely ever meet anyone else with it.

7. What is the best dessert you can make?

I make some pretty bangin’ chocolate chip pumpkin cookies from scratch.

8. What are you thankful for this year?

I feel like I went through quite a few stressful and heartbreaking tests this year, such as being unexpectedly evicted from my apartment due to renovations earlier in the year, and watching one of my cats lose his health over a period of 6 months and having to finally make the decision to put him down in August. Both those situations were ones where I just wanted to let my mental health tank, let the depression take over, and give up. So, I’m really thankful for my support system. For my family who offered support, for my friends offline who were always there to talk, come over and let me vent, or help me in whatever ways they could. I was also incredibly thankful for my tumblr family. The Negan fandom (and some lovelies in the Supernatural fandom) provided so much support to me that I will be forever thankful for. I had so many people message me about both situations, and I even received over $200 in ko-fi donations for my writing, to help out with moving expenses. I don’t have enough words to even express how much all the messages and asks and just the aura of support I received, both on here and offline, meant to me. Because of that support from those around me, I was able to keep myself from falling prey to my depression, was able to find a new apartment that I absolutely love, and was able to make it through the loss of Sebastian (and I now own a new kitten who has helped patch up both my grief and my other cat’s grief, and refill both our hearts with love). So, to everyone who sent me a message, sent donations, and/or just had me in your thoughts...thank you. I couldn’t have kept it together and made it through without y’all.

(Sorry, that got uber cheesy XD)

9. Do you decorate for Christmas? If so, do you have any theme?

Ha, no. The cats would destroy any decorations, so I don’t even make the effort.

10. Do you enjoy getting ready (i.e. hair, makeup, clothes)?

Eh, not like I used to when I was younger. I take maybe 15 minutes to throw myself together for work in the morning. It’s only a few select times a year when I’m either going home or to a friend’s house for a holiday (or the one time a year when I go out drinking for my birthday) when I enjoy putting on music and taking my time getting all made up and going all out with makeup and such.

11. Favorite store to shop in?

Probably Target. Or Kohl’s.

Now, for My Questions:

1. Do you have any pets? If so, what species, and what are their names?

2. Your favorite place that you’ve traveled to?

3. What are you currently reading?

4. One thing that you’re currently looking forward to?

5. Where do you hopefully see yourself in 5 years?

6. Your favorite flavor of ice cream?

7. What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve ever received?

8. Favorite brand/chain/type of coffee?

9. One thing you never leave home without?

10. Name 3 things (can be physical, emotional, etc.) that you love about yourself.

11. If you were to recommend one published book/series for me to read, what would it be?

I’m gonna just tag a bunch of people since I answered more than 11 questions: @i-am-negan-trash @hannibalssweaters @strangersangel9 @vizhi0n @mrs-squirrel-chester @kellyn1604 @seraphimkouenki @superprincesspea @megmeg-chan @noodlecupcakes @faith-in-dean @sweetsweetpeach @ryangoslingstanktop @negan--is--god @thegirl-fromthesky @hazel-nuss @backseat-negan @autumnescape @wickednerdery @bamby0304 @embracetheapocalypsewithme @wheresthekillswitch @rapsity @supernaturally-lucky @superwholoki

#personal #about me #questions

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 7 years ago

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Michael After Midnight: Cry Baby Lane

Creepypasta often speak of mysterious lost episodes. You have stuff like “Suicide Mouse,” “Dead Bart,” “Squidward’s Suicide,” all spooky episodes of cartoons that have brutal, gory, and unnerving content. Despite all of these stories being such hilariously obvious bullshit, some people have come to believe such episodes actually exist, but it’s just not possible, right? WRONG. Legends and creepypastas spoke of a lost film shown precisely once on Nickelodeon, a movie known as Cry Baby Lane, a movie that a creepypasta alleges is filled with gore and mutilation and was directed by an insane monster of a man who somehow managed to fill a children’s TV movie with the most horrifying, nightmarish images imaginable. For so long, the film was thought to belittle more than a legend… but eventually, a decade after its single time being played on TV in the 2000s, it was discovered, and the whole world was able to see the true horror!

...The true horror being that this movie is about as scary as a mediocre Goosebumps episode.

Yeah, the movie is real, the lost episode creepypastas were right, but this movie kinda defangs that concept by being one of the corniest, cheesiest pieces of kiddie schlock you can imagine. It’s to the point you gotta wonder if the rumors that parents complaining how dark this movie was were just a smokescreen, and this film was just such low quality that Nick decided to bury it and never speak of it again. But hey, maybe I’m being too harsh on this. Before we continue… how about a spooky ghost story, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…

A long time ago there was born a pair of conjoined twins, one good and one evil, to a farmer who was so ashamed he locked them away. Then one got sick and cuz their bodies were joined together, they both died. The farmer sawed them in half and buried the good twin in the cemetery and the evil twin in a grave in the fields… except he didn’t. The bodies accidentally got switched. So when some dumbass kids go to the local cemetery to hold a séance they end up awakening the evil twin, who begins possessing every single person in the town, including our protagonist’s jerkass older brother. Can the younger brother defeat the evil twin and save the town, or is this little kid straight fucked?

The biggest problem of this movie is that there are so many characters in it and very little is done with any of them, and then what little IS done with them ranges from bad to creepy… but not in the way the filmmakers wanted, I imagine. The mom, for instance, is introduced as an overbearing, clingy bitch, and she just continues being a bitch throughout the whole movie, continuously making faces more horrifying than any of the ghost-possessed preteens. She doesn’t get a character arc and doesn’t even pop up in the end, basically disappearing halfway through. Then there’s the older brother, who is a total jerkass and abuses his brother, and at the end of the movie is only vaguely implied to be a little nicer. The absolute worst thing, though, is the pack of preteen girls, who go around causing problems and have an uncomfortably rapey scene with the underage protagonist in a dark cornfield at night, where they surround him and try and coerce him into kissing them. This movie is fucked up, but not in the way you want it to be.

That’s not to say there are no good characters in this movie, though. Frank Langella is here as Mr. Bennett, a cool old man who runs the funeral home and likes to tell ghost stories. He’s the best actor in the whole movie, but this is not shocking since Frank Langella played motherfuckin’ Skeletor, so it’s pretty much a given he’s pretty much a flawless master in everything he does. What’s shocking is that, in stark contrast to the mom, the dad is absolutely hilarious. While she is a shrill, overbearing bitch, the dad is a calm, collected deadpan snarker whose every line towards his wife is dripping with the distilled essence of a thousand eyerolls. He actually gives her reasonable parenting advice (which she ignores) and just makes every scene he’s in a little better. Mr. Bennett’s teen sidekick at the funeral home is actually pretty amusing as well for what a ditz he is, and he gets a few chuckles in the climax.

But what about the scary content that was promised by the creepypasta? The guts, the gore, the mutilated children! Well, aside from that admittedly fucked up story told over the opening, the villain manifests to the townsfolk mainly as… worms with a hideously glaring yellow-green effect over them. Yeah, nuclear worms sure are scary. The possessed people all get this milky white effect over there eyes, which is totally not scary in the slightest, and the atmosphere is just nonexistent. The worst Goosebumps episodes were better at setting the mood than this movie is. The evil twin, though, is actually pretty effective, since he is almost entirely kept in shadows and is only seen when he uses his demonic powers to pull people underground into his grave. Still, he ends up being more gross than scary when he picks up handfuls of worms and starts eating them. Still, the finale is pretty effectively dark, and the evil twin is delightfully hammy for his brief appearances… though since he died as a kid and the crying sounds he makes are that of a child, it makes you wonder how his evil ghost appears to be in his teens at least.

While there is nothing scary, there is something awesome: the score. That first one is so atmospheric and spooky, and then this next one.. Seriously, this stuff sounds like it’s straight out of the original trilogy Crash Bandicoot games! You half expect everyone’s favorite marsupial to prance through the graveyards at some point, or for the obnoxious kids to stumble into a bonus round for some extra Wumpa fruit and maybe a free life or two. As an added bonus, I swear some of it sounds like the puzzle room theme from Kirby: Planet Robobot. And then we have this tune, which sounds more suited to a fucking RPG than this movie! This just has a wildly inappropriate but awesomely cartoony score, and it really helps slather on the cheese for this ridiculous bullshit.

So… yeah. This does not live up to the promises made in the creepypasta AT ALL. This is a bunch of hokey, cheesy early 2000s schlock… but to be honest, I think that’s okay. If you’re ever paranoid about those ‘lost episode’ stories, this right here basically shows you exactly what one of those would be like: no gore, mutilated kids, and demonic subtext, just really crappy, embarrassing garbage that’s so cheesy you’ll get high cholesterol just from watching. This is not much to write home about, but honestly, there are worse ways to spend an hour. It’s not as horrifying as the story says, but hey, there’s a couple laughs to be had here, and that’s worth something in my book.

I mentioned this is a lot like a mediocre episode of Goosebumps, and that has me thinking… it’s the perfect season for it. Maybe I should talk about the best, cheesiest live action horror show for kids ever made…

#Michael After Midnight #Review #Movie review #Cry Baby Lane #nickelodeon #creepypasta #lost episode #lost movie #horror #Goosebumps

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imaginemycroftholmes · 7 years ago

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Mycroft Form Submission

Name: Destiny Nationality: American Age (note that if you below 21 your scores may be lower until age of legality): 31 Personality Type: INTP (according to the Meyer-Briggs personality test) Level of Education: Associates Degree ; Studying for BA Best Subject: Creative Writing and Art Worst Subject: Math Favorite Subject: Art and Creative Writing 5 Hobbies (if applicable): illustration, fanfiction writing, running fan blogs, video games, photography Favorite Genre of Music/Movies/Books: Music –> Anime & Video Game Soundtracks, Movie Soundtracks, some modern music, 90’s / Early 2000s R&B, but I’ll listen to almost anything else to try it. Movies: –> I am a Marvel Movies junkie. I’ve watched almost any kind of film. I hate horror films they make me startled and panicky. Classic films are great “My Fair Lady”, “Gone With The Wind”, “Rosebud”, etc. Books: –> Self Help Books, Romance Novels, Mystery Last song you listened to on repeat: Track 9 from “Princess Maker Soundtrack” Last phrase you said to another living person: “He is full of sh**.” (He is a liar.) How many blankets do you sleep with: I start with a blanket then kick it off if me in the middle of night 7 note worthy skills: I can be mature and professional when required. I can shut off my emotions so it doesn’t interfere with work. I am proficient in Adobe Creative Suite. I can smile in the face in my enemies and not lose my temper. I have a survivor’s mentality and will overcome any situation. I never stay still for long while at work. Yo hablo un poco de Español. 7 noticeable sins: I have been abused and I have also been an abuser. I am sometimes obsessed with erotica. I judge people behind their back. It is hard for me to forgive people. I overeat either because I want to or because of emotional eating. I have anger issues. I am Christian but also have a borderline Misanthrope attitude towards people (hypocrisy). Allergies/impairments/illnesses: Hashimoto’s Disease, Dairy Allergy, Medically Obese Level of Intelligence on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being dumb, 2 being below average, 3 being average, 4 being above average and 5 being genius): 3 Level of Fitness on a scale of 1 to 5( 1 being obese, 2 being overweight, 3 being average, 4 being fit and 5 being skinny): 1 I am medically obese Level of Attractiveness on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being Anderson, 2 being below average, 3 being average, 4 being above average and 5 being Mycroft): 3 ½ Feline, canine or both: Canine Confidence Level on a scale from 1 to 5 (1 being nonexistent, 2 low, 3 average, 4 above average and 5 Sherlock): 2 ½ Position in the Family (oldest, youngest, middle): Oldest Eye Color: Green Hair Color and Length: Brown, Short touching bottom of ears Combat level on a scale 1 to 5 (1 being useless, 2 being somewhat capable, 3 being average, 4 being more than capable and 5 being expert): 2 Your normal dress: A loose top with dark colors or a floral print, jeans, dark shoes How well you take rejection on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being temper tantrum, 2 being vindictive, 3 being average, 4 being can take it like a man, and 5 being like water off of a duck’s back): 4 Languages known: English and some Spanish. Studying Italian and French on the side to learn differences and similarities in romance languages. Cleanliness of your bathroom on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being a crime scene, 2 being messy, 3 being average, 4 being pretty clean and 5 being perfectly spotless) 2. I clean once a month to make it spotless but on average its messy. How big is your circle of friends on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being nonexistent, 2 being very small, 3 being average, 4 being large, and 5 being a massive social network) 2. It’s better to have a few trusted friends than hundreds of fake friends. How would you rate your mental health on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being very poor, 2 being poor, 3 being average, 4 being good, and 5 being prefect): 2 ½ Opinions on the current Holmes family members ( Siger Holmes, Violet Holmes, Sherlock Holmes and Eurus Holmes): Sherlock fascinates me and amuses me. I would probably piss him off laughing at his humor and fascinating way of solving a case (deductions and such). Eurus I honestly feel sorry for. She is insane, no doubt. But she is also deeply wounded and misunderstood. I would visit her with Mycroft and family from time to time to listen to her and Sherlock play music together Siger Holmes I don’t know too well. I would try my best to get along with him. Violet Holmes I would have a problem with her if she openly criticized Mycroft in front of me. She is Mycroft’s Mum so I would try my best to get along with her. She would secretly have an immediately dislike to me since I am an “ignorant Yank” but I know she would be polite. Any passive aggressive insults or direct I would ignore or say “I’ll keep that in mind.” The biggest problems we’d have is that she would wonder why on earth her son has associated with me on any level. Please bold the following below that applies toward your submission: Friendship Mentorship Relationship Partnership

The Question portion: Please note that you do not have to submit the pictures within your submission (save the puzzle) but you must answer them honestly and do so without cheating. (I’ll answer the ones I can do and skip the rest) 4) Center of the chest. 5) Cross out 555 and put in correct answer of 20 6) OCD. He has a ritual he MUST follow or he panics. 7) I’d leave the door open to the other room and test each switch until I see the light come on. 8) I would watch body and eye language (assuming the gods have human form) and the one that always lies I’d be able to tell right away. The one who randomly lies would be more difficult. I would cross examine and ask same question in different ways to see if their answer would change 9) Get a locksmith to open the lock. 11) The blue house owns a fish. (blue for color of water) 12) Alexander should go to shore of island and wait out the fire and hope it rains. 13) Cannot be determined 15) 0 17) Joyce 20) Michelangelo or Leonardo daVinci 22) About 400 people 24) There are two photographs of two different dresses. So both. 25) The paragraph is written like dialogue.

Mycroft’s answer:

It would seem that more than your namesake brought you here didn’t it Destiny? My lame attempt at humor aside if it should help with your studies on the romance languages they do share very similar structures which allows them to be interchangeable in some situations while still being understood in the opposing language. It’s a bit strange that despite learning these languages you wouldn’t recognized the true artist behind the painting (as the hail from one of those romance languages) but recall that the American education system isn’t on par with that of Mother England’s. I must confess that sometimes I too emotionally eat when Sherlock is being particularly stressful with his ‘ hobbies’ but I am currently trying to beat those bad habits through therapy and healthy coping mechanisms. I would presume that you too are also doing your best to overcome your inner demons as am I for great people must struggle a great deal to achieve their means. It is a reoccurring pattern to find so many artistically inclined submissions whose Achilles hill is mathematics. I confess that I only find the subject more entertaining when it pertains to my interests rather than the dribble of uninspired problems presented. I have no doubts that if you put 100% into yourself as you do your education you can overcome any of your obstacles. I know it may sound like something out of a dime store card but it’s true. Sometimes the truth is that simple and sometimes we need someone to remind us of those simple truths (John, Sherlock, Mrs. Hudson, etc.) when we forget to remember them. Should you require my services or a listening ear I am readily available for that. You don’t have to call me, oh no, trust me, I have my ways of knowing. Just have the courage to answer the phone.*

*Also I promise not to do the whole ‘mysterious act’ like I did with the good doctor so be aware that I will call and leave a message on your home phone or cellphone as Dr. Watson says that it is “Creepy as hell you twat and call like a normal person! No wonder you have so few friends!”

Friendship: 7.2/10

Relationship: 3.9/10

#Mycroft form 2.0 #submission

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fullysowerewolf · 6 years ago

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My Thoughts on Resident Evil 2 (2019); It Could Have Been Great

I've taken some time off to reflect on Remake 2 and take into account all of my thoughts on its gameplay and story. And I think it's time for me to give my full review on the game.

WARNING: This post will contain unpopular views on a well liked/received game. Turn back now if you want to return to the comfort of the status quo.

Resident Evil 2 (2019) is not a bad game. It is entertaining as an experience and functions as it is supposed to. The atmosphere, outside of some issues I have with the tone and how they've been marketing it with the series presently, is good. The revamp they gave the environments and and enemies, while not something I personally give much value to, is impressive. The sewers look grimy and disgusting, the BOWs look like rotting corpses and react to getting their heads blown off like, well, someone getting their head blown off in real life. The best environment by far is the police station though. I am completely satisfied with how they've designed the station here.

On paper, the zombies function well and their AI is decent. Mr. X is the breakout feature of the game and he does end intensity to the game but I think he overstays welcome a bit too much and steals away attention from G-Birkin, as I feel there's not enough scenes or standout gameplay moments with G. Sherry's segment is actually tense and I like it.

Some of the story works, the new addition of the Orphanage is good and adds a neat new location to experience in the city as well as a chance to actually explore the city outside of the station. Something that fans had complained about in the original. Annette Birkin and Marvin Branagh both stand out as well portrayed characters, with Annette being given more things to do in the story and interact with the characters. And Marvin's interactions with Leon and Claire (Leon in particular) are great and make you feel for him and his steady decline in health. Annette's death scene in Claire's story and the scene with Kendo were the only moments in the game I felt an emotion for. It's not the worst story in the series. But it's not the best. It fulfills its requirement of being a story. As a whole, it is a good horror game to play and an ok RE game.

This game, however, may as well be called "Missed Opportunity the game". They had the ability to really make this game pop out and be a new experience while still giving a good showing of what made RE2 so great and they completely dropped the ball.

Files are omitted, something well known and beloved in the series that's used to add flavor and life to the story and environment are gone and replaced with bare bones explanations that just tell you how to solve puzzle Y.

The option to interact with the environment is removed as well, something that's been a part of the games since the beginning and only RE6 has ever done until now. Why?! This is the perfect game to add these kind of details in, to add more charm and flair to the setting and even some depth to the character you're playing as and to make the story feel more alive. They may not add anything to the mechanics of the game, but it gets you further invested into the story and environment around you. This is the ultimate irony of RE2 remake. The environment and graphics look and feel more realistic than ever before, but you are completely unable to simply look at or comment on them like a real person would in the world, be able to experience them. You can look, but you can't touch.

Characters this time around feel off and simplified from how they were in the original.

Irons is an example, in the original his villainy was more understated. You couldn't trust him as far as you could throw him, but he still came off as someone in command and faked being morose about what was happening. It was only later after you meet him in his torture chamber and after reading the various files throughout the game that lay out his depravity he really becomes unhinged. But in this new telling, he just automatically beats up Claire and kidnaps Sherry right on first meeting him, no subtlety, no buildup, just straight up asshole. And that's just not interesting.

Ada feels very cardboard in this game, there's not very many standout moments with her, even when she's given her own gameplay segment, she immediately makes herself suspicious with her noir ripoff coat and glasses and behavior. Gives away that she's here to steal the G-virus to Annette when originally she didn't break cover as John's girlfriend until the very end of the game. Her 'death" is unrealistic and contradicts what Capcom has been giving us as her death scene for years by now, as well as just not being as emotional or engaging. And her relationship with Leon come off as more like a partnership the likes of Helena in RE6 than of a growing romance that eventually spans decades. It felt more like manipulation mixed with appreciating Leon as a person overall and not as "wow, this guy really cares about me and is charming, there's something I really love about him".

Leon comes off as much flater than he did originally as well. Originally, he took charge of the situation and made it his mission to gather survivors and get out of dodge as fast as he can. Even though he was a rookie and in over his head, he actively tried to help people and get them to listen to him and what he had to say. Here, Leon just fumbles around obeying whatever anyone says to him. He never questions Ada and her odd behavior until the end, which comes off as weird considering he did everything she asked and never has seriously questioned or brought up concerns about her until that point. Just blindly says he's got to talk to Irons first when Ben begs him to let him out, rather than question seriously what Ben had to say about Irons or how he had locked Ben up in the first place. Leon's really passive this time around rather than being active in trying to help people.

Claire (and also Leon) is way too casual about this whole thing. Neither really reacts appropriately to seeing this messed up shit. Some of this might also be the lackluster dialogue (which tried too hard to be gritty and edgy at times especially when it came to Claire, my god) and acting on Claire's VA's part but it's still negative.

Claire should not be so gung ho about facing down a 15 foot tall abomination against nature like it's Revelations 2 rather than it being her seeing these things for the first time ever. Critical Nobody made a good point in how in the original the boss fights happened out of the blue and neither Leon or Claire actively tried to take on G- Birkin or Mr. X. They were ambushed and had to fight their way out of the conflict and neither made some dumb action quote line during it as well until the very final boss where it was warranted. It's like Ethan and RE7 all over again with the generic action movie responses to shit he should be freaking out about. And once again it takes me out of the experience.

Claire's story revolving her brother just gets dropped like a sack of bricks during it for dumb reasoning, after being placated by some coded message with which her mild confusion at doesn’t sell me on her being so concerned she’d fly to Paris and bust into Umbrella’s HQ over later on.. What I think they should have done if the devs really wanted to sell this one being more “real” than the original, was put that scene with Leon and Claire in the STARS office over some limp wristed attempt at Chris writing a coded message. That scene in the original was one of the best in the game.

The scenarios and how they handled them is fucked. We all know it. They completely shat the bed when it came to making use out of the A/B gimmick.

Both the 1st run and the 2nd amount to playing the same story, only you don't meet Marvin in the 2nd. Which is not enough of a difference to justify the existence of a A/B scenario thing. In the original, A and B discs gave you an obvious difference. Characters have different deaths, the boss fights were different, there were changes in the actual story if you play Leon or Claire first or second that affected the B scenario, whatever items you picked in the A scenario affected the B one. This greatly increased the replayablity of the game and added much more bang for your buck in enjoyment.

I understand if they seriously weren't able to really do an A/B gimmick like before due to different constraints on the budget that differed from the 90's. Which is why when I heard they weren't going to do the A/B thing that didn't bother me. But they either lied or changed their minds mid production and shoehorned it in, most likely for nostalgia points and to haphazardly add more replayability. What is the point doing alternate scenarios if they don't differ or add anything new to the game? That's just a waste of resources and everyone's time. They could have spent their time on simply making two solid stories/campaigns that worked coherently, but they didn't.

Turns out IGN weren't completely lying or wrong when they said that the two stories played the same way. Even when you play the 2nd run there's no real difference.

The story changes are really bunk as well. Why omit the police knowing about the Mansion Incident and making Marvin and Co look like idiots who can't put 2 and 2 together? Why change things like Claire's story progression and removing the interactions between the two throughout the game (even though this game really wanted to push the idea of them being an item they only had two scenes of them interacting??)? Leon and Claire talked with each other via the radio the whole time and really let you believe these two were working together to get out alive, even with you weren't face to face most of the time in the original. Leon also played a roll in saving Sherry as well, which carries over into future games but that's completely scrapped here.

Why is Ada's connection to the original game, (which is still in Remake 1 which now is the prequel to this game), absent? Where's new lore and enemies like Lisa Trevor? Where's the potential of connecting things to future events like the Simmons thing with Ada from 6?They had a golden opportunity to clear up some confusion about what events from which scenario were canon or not here and to really add some surprise into the story, but nothing was done with it.

The enemies are all bullet sponges, even the bosses, that makes fighting them really cheap and frustrating. You have to shoot a zombie something like 4 times with a shotgun to put it down. I repeat. A Shotgun to the head takes more than two times to put down. And even than that's probably not good enough. That's not good enemy design, that's just an exercise of my patience that I am now very in short supply of.

There's also a severe lack of enemy variety. You only get zombies, lickers (for one part of the game), zombies with a plant skin, and G-embryos. That's it. No Licker B's, no giant moths, no giant spiders, no new enemies that could add some more challenge to the game. Nothing. And with most of those enemies being of the zombie mold, that means more repetition in gameplay. Add in the frustration of everything being a bullet sponge, and you're not in for a good time.

The Characters you're playing as feel the same with little to no different weapons or attributes to set them apart. Unlike in Remake 1, where both Chris and Jill had completely different defensive items and skills such as exclusive lockpicking, more inventory space, and a lighter preset. Remake 1 also had interesting mechanics that really added more challenge and intrigue to the game in the form of a new enemy (Crimson Heads) and a way to effect directly how much challenge you want in your playthrough (you could choose to leave the corpses unburnt and make life harder or make things easier by burning as much as you can). In Re2make, there are no such distinctions between between Leon and Claire that really make them stand out as unique characters in gameplay.

The soundtrack is bland and generic. You also can barely even hear it. You absolutely have to play the OG OST to really get any kind of musical accompaniment in the game. Too bad that's something you have to pay Capcom $3.00 for. I think the only music that really stands out are the G-3 and 4 boss themes and The 4th Survivor music.

In the end, I was let down heavily from Remake 2. I wanted to like this game. I wanted to see Capcom learn from their mistakes with the foreign, lackluster 7 and see them make an actual RE game again. They succeeded, somewhat with the latter. RE2 '19 IS better than 7 and does feel like an actual RE game and deserves the title of such. But it's not better than Remake 1. Or even as good. Every time I look at Remake 2, all I see is what could have been. And every time I think about the positives of this game, a niggling thought of "but it could have also done..." is there in back of my mind. While seeing and viewing this game, I was in an emotional dead zone, not excited, not angry, just a near continuous state of "meh".

The story's mediocre and feels simplified from the previous one. The environment, while looking nice, feels lifeless (and not in a good way). I don't feel like I'm in a real breathing world, fighting against zombies. And this trend towards photorealism and making things more "gritty" for the sake of gritty while sliding further and further on quality in writing is not something I wanted or expected of this series. And it feels like the heart and soul of this series is getting drained out and replaced with some mediocre expy of the latest horror trends rather than doing its own thing.Which to me seems like we're going to head for another slump like what happened with 6, where the series gameplay quality generally increases, but the meant of the characters, writing and series' uniqueness gets worse and worse.

Before Remake 2 came out, I was excited to see what the remakes of Nemesis and Code Veronica were going to be like. But now I'm very wary of what they might do to the story and gameplay of those games when they remake them. And I'm even less enthused than I already wasn't about RE8 or any new games going forward.

Remake 2 was Capcom's last shot of getting me on board with their new "vision" for the series started with RE7. And I'm just not interested. So this will be last game I give any attention to for Resident Evil.

#resident evil #resident evil 2 remake #my post #review

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metalgearkong · 6 years ago

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Resident Evil 2 (PS4/Xbox One/PC) - Review

Developed by Capcom, released January 25th, 2019

The Resident Evil series was first to put the “survival horror” genre on the map. The very first game released in 1996, surviving the zombie filled Spencer Mansion, immediately became a revolutionary and iconic experience in the video game industry. Resident Evil 2 in 1998 was a well received sequel that further popularized the series and the genre. With the series changing and evolving over the generations, it took a more action-oriented tone. Resident Evil 6 was the peak of the over the top action phase the franchise transformed into, and the worst reviewed in the main series to date. Fans became extremely vocal and specific about how Resident Evil, their beloved video game series, had become unidentifiable, and needed to change. Capcom heard player feedback, and course corrected strongly with the extremely subdued, suspenseful, disturbing, immersive Resident Evil 7, which fans any myself adored.

Resident Evil 2 2019 continues Capcom’s streak of making games that returns the series to its roots. Remakes and re-released have been big business for this current generation of gaming, but I was skeptical about how faithful the Resident Evil 2 remake would be. Unless you’ve been boarded up in R.P.D. for the past few weeks, you may have heard how outstanding Resident Evil 2 turned out. From the graphics to the faithfully recreated maps, puzzles, retained difficulty, and modernization of the gameplay, Resident Evil 2 yet again is a smash hit. Not only is this already a contender for the best game of 2019, this may be my very favorite incarnation of a Resident Evil game of all time. While its level of commitment to the original does inherit some of the 1998′s imperfections, Resident Evil 2 stands as an industry standard on how to remake or re-imagine an old classic.

We chose to play as either Clair Redfield or Leon S. Kennedy, both with similar campaigns which overlap briefly on occasion. Whether you pick one protagonist over the other, the game is largely the same. Something I was worried about was the 3rd person camera angle, and the ability to shoot and move at the same time. Hearing about these features conjured bad memories of the action-heavy Resident Evil 6, notorious for being too fast paced and completely lacking in horror and suspense. Resident Evil 2 may have similar gameplay, but major tweaks keep this game from making the player feel too empowered. Any movement whatsoever while aiming greatly drops your firearm’s accuracy, so holding still while shooting is basically the only way to do it. The camera follows the protagonist closely, and nearly every room and corridor of R.P.D. is shrouded in darkness, barely illuminated by emergency lights and the beam of your flashlight. Somehow Resident Evil 2 has the best gameplay of the series, while still retaining nearly every shred of suspense from the original games. It’s the best of both worlds and I’m honestly shocked how well Capcom pulled it off.

The game begins with extremely limited inventory space, but can be grown over time by finding hip pouches. This is crucial as you’ll want to carry as many items with you as possible each time you navigate the halls and corners of the dark police station. There’s nothing more frustrating (in a good way) than finding an item and not being able to bring it with you because your inventory is already full. This retains gameplay from the old games that makes the series just as much of a strategy game as it is an action game. Resident Evil 2 retains the universal item boxes as well, usually found in save rooms safe from monsters. One of my favorite parts about this remake are key features that make the game less of a chore to play without sacrificing the atmosphere or suspense. For example, your map has always been your best friend in a survival horror game, and in Resident Evil 2, the game will indicate which rooms have had all of its items collected or not, and will label items on the map if you came across it, but didn’t pick it up yet. This is incredibly helpful for finding all the items in the game but also gives substantial peace of mind as you look at your map always wondering if you’ve truly found everything that can be found in any given room or hallway. It completely eliminates the “backtracking out of desperation.”

Saving is much more convenient as well, as in any difficulty short of the hardest, saving can be done as many times as you’d like. I do miss the Ink Ribbons from the past, as it added yet another layer of strategy to the original games, but I will take this level of convenience over having to suffer through the hardest mode in the game (when its already difficult enough). Ammunition is still very limited, and even simple zombies can take anywhere from 3-6 head shots before they are truly defeated. Zombies lumber around and moan more organically than ever before, and even with the added mobility of the characters, the small rooms still mean you’ll be grappled and bitten by a zombie more often than you’d think or care to admit. It makes all those “how did they not see it coming?” moments in zombie movies or TV shows much more understandable when you have to experience it for yourself. Most of the times zombies will even get back up after being defeated, requiring another 3-6 head shots to permanently kill them.

A great new twist are how we use knives and grenades. If you are carrying one of these items, you can trade using that item when being hurt instead of taking the damage. It’s like a safety net to keep you from damage if you foolishly get to close to a zombie, licker, or zombie dog, and I love the new way these items are used. The biggest and baddest enemy of them all is Mr. X, an Umbrella B.O.W. as persistent as a S.O.B. This does lead to a slightly negative aspect of the game I have, as he can follow you into almost every room except save rooms, meaning you have to run around losing him if he’s in an area you need to focus on (i.e. solve a puzzle or collect items). The sound design is fantastic as you can hear him through the R.P.D. stomping on the wooden and tile floors. Capcom wisely changed the sound of his footsteps if Mr. X enters the same room you are in, queuing you into getting the F out of there. He can make the second half of exploring R.P.D. a bit more tedious than it needs to be, which is why I find him almost as annoying as I do terrifying.

Claire and Leon’s campaigns do slightly differ, but not as much as some people may make you think. While you do explore the same levels, fight the same bosses, and solve most of the same puzzles, items are in slightly different places, and certain areas of the game are only seen by one character or the other. Each campaign also has a guest hero, who we get to play as in exclusive sections unique to each campaign. For example, Claire has a small scenario playing as a little girl escaping a creepy orphanage, and Leon has Ada Wong also running from Mr. X in the sewers. But, I do recommend beating both campaigns as this is how you get to see the true ending of the game. Plus, the game is so damn fun and well made, its easily worth two plays anyway.

Nearly every aspect of Resident Evil 2 is executed perfectly. From the graphics to the lighting, to the difficulty, to the strategy aspects, nearly every part of the game is a major win. Capcom did the world right with a reimagining that not only is great as a stand alone game, but is also a faithful and compelling recreation of the 1998 classic. Game studios across the world should take note on how to do survival horror well, including how to properly pay homage to a series fan favorite. Resident Evil 2 does become annoying with one or two puzzle areas, and Mr. X isn’t always a warm welcome, but with how intelligently the vast majority of the game was pulled off, it’s easy for the imperfections to sink below how awesome the rest of the game is. I can’t wait to see what Capcom does next for their Resident Evil series, whether it be a remake of Resident Evil 3, or make an entirely new entry with a Resident Evil 8. Both are exciting prospects, and I have confidence they will do it right.

9/10

#residentevil #residentevil2 #survivalhorror #ps4 #remake #reimagining #1998 #playstation #playstation4

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buckyshattergirl · 8 years ago

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Orphan (1/?)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x fem!Reader Words: 1376 Warnings: Stillborn baby, fluff, your daughter is disabled Tags: @whotheeffisbucky, @fvckingbuckyandsteve, @helloitscrowley, @bucky-plums-barnes, @therealjamesbarnes (Just tagging the people I adore. Tell me if you don’t want to be tagged or if you want to be added to the list) AN: I’ve been working on this for months. It’s loosely based on the horror movie Orphan. I am changing the ending though. I really didn’t like the way the movie ended.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Bucky whispered in Y/N’s ear, hugging her from behind. “We don’t have to do this if you’re not ready.”

Y/N shook her head, leaning her head against her husband’s chest. She did want to do this. Especially now that she’d finally gotten over the death of Harper, their stillborn baby. “I wanna do this, Buck. I really want to. I want to take the love we had for her and give it to someone who really needs it…”

Bucky let out a soft hum before yawning. They had been talking about it for hours and it was already very late. Y/N chuckled, turning around in his arms to kiss him. “Sleep, Buck, you’re tired,” she told him.

He shook his head but closed his eyes anyway. After kissing Y/N on the lips and muttering a soft “I love you” he fell into a peaceful sleep.

Y/N on the other hand wasn’t able to fall asleep at all. She spent the whole night twisting and turning. She got about about 15 minutes in before their youngest came shaking her awake. Y/N groaned a bit as she saw her daughter.

“Good morning, sweetie…” Y/N signed, saying the words too so Bucky would hear. “Can’t sleep?”

Alice nodded and held her arms out, wanting to join her parents in the bed. With a smile Y/N picked her up and layed her down in between Bucky and her. The little girl crawled under the covers and put her head against her father’s chest.

Bucky felt this and opened his eyes. “Hey there, pumpkin…” he whispered, signing the words for her. Alice smiled up at him and timidly signed “Can you please tell the story of baby Harper?”

Y/N frowned a bit without Alice noticing but then she nodded. She sat up against the headboard and both her husband and her kid shuffled closer to her so they could cuddle.

“Once upon a time not so long ago, mommy and daddy wanted to have another baby for you to play with,” she said, her hands making all the signs. “And then they finally succeeded. But when it was almost time for Baby Harper to come, mommy and daddy heard Baby Harper was an angel and had to go to heaven because a mommy in heaven needed an angel baby.”

Alice looked up at her parents. “Will I get another sister?” she asked.

Bucky nodded, setting her into his lap and put his hands in front of her so she could understand him. “Mommy and I are going to visit a place tomorrow,” he told her. “Auntie Nat is coming to watch you so you should get some sleep so you can play with her tomorrow.”

Alice nodded. "Yeah. But can I sleep here though?" she signed, looking up at her father with puppy dog eyes. Bucky sighed, giving in.

"Yes of course you can sweetie. C'mon, get cozy. Mommy really needs to sleep too," he said, putting the girl in between him and his wife. When Alice looked away he looked at Y/N. "Mommy really needs to sleep too," he repeated, a stern look in his eyes.

Y/N sighed but got under the covers anyway. She wrapped her arms around Alice and kissed her head. "I love you Alice..." she whispered, even though she couldn't hear her.

Bucky looked like a kicked dog at that. He supported himself on his elbow to look at his wife. "What about me?" he asked, pouting.

"I'll love you when you shave that awful moustache off of your lip," she chuckled but still kissed him. "Goodnight love..."

"Goodnight..." he said back. He stayed up until Y/N had fallen asleep and followed soon after.

The following day started early. Bucky had gotten rid of that awful bush on his lip and Natasha arrived at six o'clock straight. The kids were all ready to spend the day with their auntie Nat.

"Goodbye sweetie..." Y/N signed as she kissed her daughter on the head. "You be a good boy," she told Charlie, her son, attempting to kiss his head too. But like any young man he deflected that.

And just like that Y/N and Bucky were off to find their new family member. They had made an appointment at Sister Margaret's Home for Girls, one of the best orphanages in the state.

With his hand on the small of Y/N's back Bucky lead her inside. They could hear the children playing already. It brought a smile to both their faces.

"Oh, you must be Mr. and Mrs. Barnes. You can have a look around, meet some of the kids." the lady at the desk said as she noticed them.

“Thank you very much…” Y/N smiled at her before following Bucky into the room full of playing children.

When they entered all the kids stopped playing to look at them. It was like a bunch of meerkats who just saw something. And all of a sudden all the kids surrounded them, looking up at them in curiosity. Y/N smiled and introduced herself. “Hi there! I’m Y/N and this is my husband James, but everyone calls him Bucky…” she smiled.

The kids asked the couple to play with them, which they gladly did. They made puzzles, drawings, sang songs. Until Bucky excused himself to go to the bathroom. Seeing Y/N with kids made him feel very turned on. He still had that problem when he saw her with their own kids.

When he left the bathroom a few minutes later after fixing his problem he heard singing. He quickly washed his hands and made his way down the hall, following the voice.

“It’s a death row pardon Two minutes too late.Isn't it ironic, don't you think It's like rain on your wedding day It's a free ride when you've already paid It's the good advice that you just didn't take Who would've thought, it figures”

Bucky was captivated. He had to walk all the way to the other side of the hall. He arrived at a sort of classroom. In the front there was a girl painting a marvelous picture of the New York skyline.

“Hey there…” he softly said after a few minutes. The girl got startled for a bit and then turned around. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. Sometimes I forget how silent I can be. I heard you singing.”

“Oh, I’m sorry sir,” the girl looked down, feeling a bit guilty.

“Don’t be sorry. It was beautiful,” Bucky said, approaching her. He picked up some of the other paintings on the table next to her. “These are wonderful! Did you paint all of them?” he asked, sitting down on a tiny chair across from her.

“Yeah! It calms me. I’m glad you like them,” she smiled. “I’m Rue…”

“My name is James. But everyone calls me Bucky. My wife and I are here to adopt someone.” He smiled at her. “My best friend, Steve, likes to draw and paint too. You’d like him.”

“Hey you guys,” Y/N suddenly said, standing in the doorway. “I lost you Buck,” she smiled, walking over to him.

“Rue, this is my wife Y/N. Y/N this is Rue,” Bucky said, taking Y/N’s hand and placing a kiss on it before she sat down on a chair next to him.

“It’s very nice to meet you Rue…” Y/N smiled, holding her hand out. Rue happily took it and shook it.

“Very nice to meet you too Miss Y/N,” she cheerfully said.

Not even half an hour later Y/N and Bucky were sitting in the headmistress’ office, arranging the paperwork. “Yes. We’re very certain. We really want Rue…” Bucky said, holding Y/N’s hand.

“Then it’s arranged. She’s a very sweet kid, very helpful, very kind.” the headmistress said. “A real angel… Now I just need your autographs here here and here,” she explained, pointing at the contract, “and your initials here…”

After signing Bucky and Y/N looked at each other with a smile, knowing that everything would be fine.

#bucky barnes x reader #winter soldier x reader #bucky with kids #daddy!bucky #disabled kid #fluff #bucky barnes fluff

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ratherhavetheblues · 6 years ago

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INGMAR BERGMAN’S ‘CRIES AND WHISPERS’ “She’s already beginning to rot…”

We’re off and running with another breathtaking film by Ingmar Bergman, namely, Cries and Whispers (1972). The nature of this production entails, as usual, thrilling motivations most of us had never thought about. And here we must put into the mix, as never so emphatically before, that the uniqueness of that delivery entails being without any effective allies. We have encountered, in the films by Bergman so far, a species of more or less thriving upon that neglect, a warrior sensibility. But enfolded within that tang, we are also alerted to partaking of the powers implicit in cooperation, cooperation with those who don’t and never will, give a damn for what a figure like Bergman would live for, however chaotically.

Our film today attends remarkably to that estrangement, and, as a result, lingers with the personnel in such a way as to garner from (some of) them a direction to love. The film’s saga involves two protagonists; and we choose here to spotlight one, a woman, namely, Agnes, who has already died from cancer in the earlier part but conveys her golden moment at the film’s final seconds, by way of a diary, read by Anna, her long-time housemaid (though presented by the diarist’s voice-over). The event recorded involves desultory Agnes being paid a visit to the family manor (under her keeping) by her two sisters whom she has allowed to more or less overtly treat her as a non-entity, as she was treated by her mother. Braced, as the latter were, by her long-term illness, there is a moment of vision emanating from their ramble upon the palatial grounds, strewn with golden leaves. “It’s wonderful to be together again… Suddenly we began to laugh and run toward the old swing that we hadn’t seen since we were children [when kinetics were at least as favorable as frozenness]. We sat in it like three good little sisters, and Anna pushed us slowly and gently. All my aches and pains were gone. I could hear them chatting around me… I could feel the presence of their bodies, the warmth of their hands. I wanted to hold the moment fast, and thought, ‘Come what may, this is happiness. I cannot wish for anything better. Now, for a few moments, I can experience perfection. And I feel profoundly grateful to my life which gives me so much…” (Those visiting angels having—along with Agnes’ skittishness—tossed divided but meritorious Anna to the sharks.)

The full-color composition (unique up until this time for Bergman) needs to be broached, along with the previous films, as a positioning of the urgency of fearlessness. With this particular vehicle, however, we’re on the hook to attending most closely to the apparatus required to fully show what’s ticking here. Therefore, as usual (but not quite the same), we posit, “How new is new?” You’d never have gotten from him anything explicit about the possibility that gigantic and unprecedented change has begun to make inroads and that that uprising (but tempered) is where art attains its stature. Apart from playing the movie game that the single work on tap must stand entirely on the basis of the screen being watched, there would be, however, the understandable discomfort that—unlike the folk reservoir of normal filmic presentation—matters of reflective complexity, generally assumed to be the purview of science and other academic disciplines, have become necessities. Just because the entrenched classical rational experts would utterly dismiss any validity not certified by their practices, does not disable a figure like Bergman to take matters into his own accomplished hands, in his own medium of communication. As such, his work being an extended research of sensibility, the various steps of his disclosures comprise, unlike the normal, disparate entertainments, a constant, expanding investigation, very germane to earlier discoveries. Unlike conceptual building blocks of a technical nature, Bergman has at his disposal, not only a manifold of dramatic sensibility by way of his screenwriting and Sven Nykvist’s cinematography, but a cadre of performers the varying roles of which, from-film-to-film, increase a current of intent or temper a performer’s previous apparition, for the sake of comprehending the volatility of discernment and its creative capacities as a co-host of the cosmos.

Cries and Whispers carries along another cinematic power, namely, the efforts of other filmmakers the work of which being variously able to leverage the efforts of Bergman. Our film here devotes vast areas of a range of red walls and accessories for the interior of the palatial estate. In 1965, Michelangelo Antonioni launched a venture, namely, Red Desert, the redness of which speaking to widespread malignancy and malaise. In the Jacques Demy musical films, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) and Donkey Skin (1970), the settings have been enhanced by pronounced color saturation, for the surrealistic sake of overcoming a profoundly inadequate mainstream. On such templates we’re treated to our guide’s “cyclotron,” the ingredients of which consisting of acrobatics and an impossible trick of juggling—as wild and wonderful in 1972 as it was when launched in the film, The Seventh Seal, in 1957. The first protagonist, Agnes, a spinster and amateur painter, nearing the end of a long struggle with cancer, at the end of the nineteenth century, has drawn to her family heights her two sisters and their spouses, but without their children. The gulf between her horror and their easy anticipations is not the main gulf in the picture. The actress playing Agnes, namely, Harriet Anderson, starred, in 1960, in a film called, Through a Glass Darkly, as Karin, whose husband, a medical doctor, so detests her unconventional physicality that he nudges her toward believing she is schizophrenic and belongs in a mental hospital. She loses her equilibrium during the stresses of a family reunion, comes to a default position in claiming to have seen God to be a giant spider; and infers, as a promising rally, that she should leave her family and do some independent thinking in that rather incongruous sickbay. One of the sisters, Maria, a decorative seductress, is played by Liv Ullmann, who, in 1966, six years before our current puzzle, played the part of a decorative, notable actress coming to a crisis and opting to enter a mental hospital in the guise of having lost her interest in speaking. This silent Elisabet, in face of annoyance from a presumptuous medic and also some street smarts and affection, climbs to a portal where the trick of juggling (making the best of a clumsy talent pool) rears its head. The oldest sister, Karin, is performed by actress, Ingrid Thulin, who, in the film, The Silence(1963), portrayed an overbearing nit-picking prig and prude who teeters close to emotional collapse but draws upon a reservoir of majoritarian dominance. In our current picture she has to be probed carefully, being in fact the other, and more important, protagonist. Though in a flash-back we see her slashing her vagina with a shard of smashed wine glass and rubbing the blood over her lips in annoyance with her insectile husband, billed as a “diplomat,” she does have what might not be an A-game but acrobatic skills to ponder.

We get to know a lot about Agnes during what seems a rare uptick in her palliative days. Maria, eliciting a measure of placid juggling in lieu of a preamble of gut-wrenching acrobatics (thereby being a pale shadow of Elisabet), proposes taking up her ongoing readings of Charles Dickens’ novel, The Pickwick Papers, to which the invalid replies, “Oh, I’d love it!” Though roughing up a doleful soul for her choice of pleasure would be pretty cheesy in most cases, here there is nothing short of dynamite in this disappointment, as the installment catches fire. “Chapter 34, in which Mr. Pickwick thinks he’d better go to Bath and goes accordingly” [that a sponge bath administered by the sisters has closely preceded this remark hopes to alert the viewer that they should read into the text something pertaining to Agnes’ stature]. “ ‘But surely, my dear, sir,’ said little Parkin, as he stood in Mr. Pickwick’s apartment… ‘Surely you don’t really mean, really and seriously now… and irritation apart… that you won’t pay these costs and damages?’ ” Pay the cost, or forever lost. Or: cover an ongoing acrobatic demand or commit a horror on the order of self-mutilation.

By way of reveries of her childhood, from out of confinement in that blood-red homestead, Agnes shows us that the singular life of paying the costs is not for her and that some of that redness is her contribution to that plague-ridden realm. (Along with the introduction of acrobatics, in The Seventh Seal, there is a plague in the land.) There is an omnibus flash-back, centering upon her mother, which constitutes a ground zero as to her remaining a wimp. Liv Ullmann, acting in double-duty here, becomes the Venus of the preceding generation, one of a series, no doubt, of spoiled, precious airheads. There she is, in elaborate apparel, with a tiny Agnes in thrall and kept at a distance, as if the less than pretty girl would reduce her heights. “I loved her at such a jealous extreme! I loved her because she was so gentle and beautiful and alive and so pervadingly present. But she could also be cold, playfully cruel… and rebuff me … [shades of Ullmann’s gorgeous Elisabet, in Persona, rebuffing her ugly little boy]. I wish I could see her again…” [That’s easier than she thinks.] That dotage being the linchpin of the action’s catastrophe. Thereby she misses the pertinence of a cut to a magic lantern party, at Twelfth Night, involving a “Wicked Witch,” and also the trickery (of the “Hansel and Gretel” saga on tap—an “impossible” trick being the bedrock of her best (and ignored) prospect. She does not, however, miss the constant attentions to Maria, played by Liv Ullmann’s young daughter, during the party, leaving our minor protagonist fretting from a distance. “I was the only one who couldn’t join in the merriment.” After a cut, Agnes, hoping to effect a more rounded picture of her home life, proceeds with, “Another time, I remember … I hid behind the curtain and in secret watched her arrange roses on her writing table. Suddenly, she saw me and, in a gentle voice called me. Uncertain, I went up to her, thinking that, as usual, she was going to scold me. But instead she gave me a look so full of sorrow that I nearly burst into tears. I raised my hand, put it against her cheek. And for that moment we were very close.” That was frail Agnes’ sense of the moment. The camera, on the other hand, does not lie in showing that, while the little girl felt to be loved at last, her vastly cheap mother was beholding her like a thorn in her side, a hopeless cause.

This latter vignette ends with a cut to the patient in her final stage. The intensity of the death throes tends to eclipse the real problematic that that was a pariah who was at the early stages of being under a gun that would never go away, necessitating extreme measures. Before leaving her to myopia and cries and whispers, we must appreciate those factors which might have been decisive. Anxious as Agnes remained, about her position in the scheme of her family, there was wanton neglect of the scheme of her more telling life. Raising a rather feeble gesture in the order of painterly beauty, our protagonist/ victim consistently fussed about her family, and lost the world. Her wild animal braying from a pain now killing, though hard to behold, opens a portal of sensuous energy buried way too long. The film begins with the grace and bounty of the grounds of that funerial confinement. First, as a calm dawn begins, we see hundred-years-stout tree trunks in silhouette, tracing to upper branches carrying our glance amidst those configurations, and presaging those compositions of innovative art which have nothing to do with deletant domesticity. The dashes of sharp sunlight playing over that initial scene carry their vivacity into the following stage, whereby the morning mists shower another prospect, this time steady rays of light alighting upon the greenery. Another cut shows a statue of Orpheus with his lyre being part of a sunny park where the positions of the trees and the dispositions of the leaves induce a deep breath. From there, another unseen region, namely, the interior of the mansion with all asleep, shows what it can do. To the beat of ticking sounds, we are given a tour of Age of Enlightenment clock faces, the textures of their grounds, the variety and motions of their hands, along with bronze embellishments like a child angel looking through a telescope, and also a Medusa as a pendulum; and mathematical mechanism. As if this offering, unseen by the players, were not enough to contemplate, we should hold on to something even more evanescent. Along with a red ground to begin, there is the almost inaudible chime of a triangle. As it strikes, sporadically, it brings along that motif of synthesis on the grounds of acrobatics and juggling, that exigency Bergman is so right not to let go. That gunning forward toward advantage (an Age of Enlightenment key word) is a Mr. Pickwick outrage which Agnes subscribes to, and comes to a silent crescendo in that reverie of the three sisters on the swing. Maria and Karin flanking the protagonist going nowhere. Here was the geometry, but where was the music?

You’re not likely to believe this (before I explain), but a lady with a measure of mojo was on the swing, namely, Karin, the one being unreasonable with the broken glass. (You’ll see that she, like promiscuous and cruel, Anna, in the film, The Silence, would not be someone you’d want to meet; but someone worth studying. And sharing the name of the protagonist, in, Through a Glass Darkly, would also be bemusing, at least.) Whereas that “Twelfth Night” flow of jealousy was shown from Agnes’ perspective, there was a very brief moment showing a young Karin, also not in the holiday spirit. Whereas Agnes has rather frantically here become a student of her opulent family, there are ways of indicating that Karin opts for a very different response. In real time, she’s introduced as the unsmiling, taciturn foil to Maria’s “diplomatic” charms, “humanly” honed by a history of affection, and comfortable in her role as generous care-giver, along with Agnes’ needy appreciation. (Her diverting resumption of throwing herself at the doctor during a visit to Agnes may not have gone well; but the quantification of her maneuvers ensures lusty profits notwithstanding. Here we must recognize that the Anna in, The Silence, looks pretty good, by comparison.)

She catches brief but quite remarkable fire from the deadly intensity of the closeness of death, and proposes giving Agnes a sponge bath, during a lull in the agony. Rather startlingly, Karin, too, is lifted by the occasion, producing smiles and a surprising level of serenity in her motions. Where did that come from, all of a sudden? Perhaps the quiet one has a sustaining history of her own. Earlier in the night, in a dark room where she was reading by a gaslight, possibly something more weighty than Dickens, she calls, Anna, “Do you hear?” The busy and faithful servant, whom we have come to regard as close to a saint, admits, “I only hear the wind and the clocks ticking.” “No! It’s something else!” Karin insists. “I don’t hear anything, why?” the usually acute stalwart maintains. So nonplussed is the odd-one out, she rather misses the mark in describing her confusion: “I’m freezing!” (In the aforementioned film, Thulin/ Ester is seized by chills, fleeting, as compared with her sister’s sweltering in face of a totally inadequate dispensation.) Then there is Agnes complaining to Anna, “I’m freezing…” Soon she is dead; and while Maria backs off and falls apart, Karin, along with Anna, composes the corpse on her deathbed, the three sets of hands upstaging all the sculptures in the building. Thereupon, a modest embrace of the freezing sisters. The triangle mingles with that workload, a feat of passion brooking no relentment but seeing much to celebrate. The flashback of cut-throat diplomacy surfaces there, with some cut-the-crap clarity going forward. As she ponders upon that instrument of pain, Karin tells herself, “It’s but a tissue of lies. It’s a monumental tissue of lies…” (recalling the unhelpful declaration of Tomas, which pushes a suicidal parishioner over the cliff, in the film Winter Light [1962]). Also noteworthy, there is stressed Karin slapping Anna (helping her with her bedclothes before the coup de grace), losing her nerve for a moment. Karin quickly apologizes; and the elite servant and companion does not accept the apology.

Back to the aftermath of the death, we see Karin going over the prosaic (but not necessarily prosaic) task of checking the costs. Her hands and the sensuous grey paper mean business, not as usual. She takes in hand her pince nez reading glasses and slightly flips it upward and downward to the bed of paper constituting but one type of nitty gritty. (The protagonist in First Man [2018] has been seen to be closer to pay dirt flipping a pince nez than hopping around the moon.) Then she gives a spin to that shard of glass, beholding its ripple in the gentle light. At this juncture of rich destiny, Maria comes into the office, and her perception of the moment of vision ignites more mysteries. “Karin, I want us to be friends. I want us to talk to each other. You read much more than I do, you think much more than I do. Your experience is far greater… Couldn’t we devote these days to getting to know each other, finally?” Not wanting another brutal smash like the failing with Anna, she listens to that creature she knows only too well. “We could put our arms around each other… We could talk together for days and nights on end…” (Here we’ve been put to the test to compare how doubting Tomas, in Winter Light, came to put up with “togetherness” maven Marta.) Karin, feeling caught up in a dilemma that can’t work for her, gets up from her desk and heads for the door—an acrobat paying costs of depth which only begins her “thinking.” Holding her back in her exit, Maria—a diplomat of some efficacy—calls out, “It’s easy to do, but I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.” After a cut—accomplished, as always, by a blood-red cloud, that emblem of possible efficacy—there is Karin, confused and pensive. Maria comes in, again, finding her sister reading Agnes’ diary. Now a bit more forthcoming, she reads, “ ‘I received the gift anyone can receive in this life… a gift that is called many things…togetherness…companionship, relatedness, affection…’” [the visual is Anna, by Agnes’ bed]. “ ‘I think this is what is called grace…’” Maria, who was wandering about when the reading was given, moves to touch Karen’s shoulder, and finds the latter spinning away from her. “No, don’t touch me. Don’t come near me!” Togetherness becoming an outrage due to the effort of paying the costs cheek-by-jowl with refusing to pay the costs. Maria, aka Elisabet, comes behind Karin, in a facsimile of the Persona sisters. Maria touches Karin’s cheek and the latter, though backing off, does not repel the approach as before. Soon she is allowing herself to be caressed by that functionary of skin. However, she soon insists, “I don’t want you to do that… I don’t want you to be kind to me” [because I have no resources to be appreciative toward a coward like Maria]. “I can’t! I can’t stand it!” (The optics, particularly the lighting, preserves the uncanny tonal spike, in face of Karin’s melodramatic tailspin, for instance, “It’s like being in the greatest hell. I can’t breathe anymore. All of that guilt!”) After a battlefield fade, Karin apologizes for her “lost control,” and the prosaic “formalities” of selling the property occupy their conversation. No generous consideration for Maria occurs to the other one-note sibling in the room, a sibling unique in the film’s universe for possibly becoming a true aristocrat. Groping for that elusive stature, she tells disappointed sentimentalist Maria, “I’ve often thought about suicide.” (Here we have her less than compelling default stand, by comparison with the man frightened to suicide by the prospect of China gaining nuclear weapons, in, Winter Light.) Then she brings up her husband’s slight that she’s “clumsy”—“I fumble!” Now a glutton for the sensational that goes nowhere, she turns on her slack sister having, for once, had an inspiration. “You thought our talk would be different, didn’t you? Do you realize I hate you? And how foolish I find your insipid smiles and your idiotic flirtatiousness… You understand? Nothing can escape me… for I see it all… Now you learn how it sounds when Karin talks!” (This latter weakling flourish is exactly the one Alma the nurse directs upon Elisabet the silent goddess [Liv Ullmann], in Persona. Having reached an almost complete self-embarrassment, our protagonist cries out, and Maria, who had been reduced to tears, rushes to her; and hears from the “all-seeing,” “Forgive me!” Unlike Anna, Maria does forgive, and the togetherness/ grace catches fire; but not for very long. With a Bach cello composition evoking primordial relatedness, we behold the pair lovingly illuminating their kinetic best, the associated shut-down of sound endowing the tete-a-tete as similar to a Botticelli painting. They whisper in each other’s ears as if revelations of hidden forces had been released. In close-up, Maria seems pensive; in close-up Karin seems tentative and adventurous. This elevated effort comes to an end as colliding with Anna’s last-ditch enlistment of the sisters to steady her fears of poverty. She inhabits the cusp of Agnes’ being no more, and calls upon, first circumspect Karin and then sentimental Maria, to soothe the lost sister. Her prefatory fanfare—“Don’t you hear it?”—stands in stark contrast to that, “Do you hear?” of Karin, which Anna can’t take seriously. Karin is the first one summoned, and her harsh reception to old-style mysticism quickly brings the interview to a halt. “I won’t accept involvement with your death. Perhaps if I loved you… but I do not love you… It’s pure morbidity, disgusting, meaningless. She’s already begun to rot…” The meeting with Maria becomes the latter’s running away in terror. The departure of the funeral party is notable for Karin hoping to sustain the confluence her acrobatics finds essential; and for acrobaticless Maria treating that fling as if it were only a fling. “Could we hold to all our resolutions?” Maria, perhaps a bit miffed by her sisters’ acceding to her deadened husband’s making Anna walk the plank; but transparently back to her mode of gyrating mush, makes a cardboard smile and lisps, “Dearest Karin, why on earth shouldn’t we do that?” Resuming the venomous treatment by Elisabet toward ardent Alma, in Persona, she carries on with, “It’s that everything seems different since that evening.” Karin quietly remonstrates, “I think we’ve become very much closer… What are you thinking about?” The lifetime baby doll, tries, “I’m thinking about the conversation…” “No, you’re not,” the friend in need asserts. Thereby the woman always on the go rephrases her thought, “I was thinking about how [her cuckold husband] Joakin hates it if I keep him waiting… I have no idea why you call me to account as if I were on trial for my thoughts, Karin. What do you want?” In close-up, Karin looks down in disarray. “Nothing,” is what she realizes she must expect—from Maria; but what about the world at large?

Popping up during the funeral formalities, we do get a little fizz from the world at large, surprisingly in the form of the local bishop. (Karin’s diplomat. in a post-mortem moment, counts them as lucky that the clergyman has the flu and therefore their being spared his presence at the dinner following the burial. Looking closely, we see he’s hale and hearty and floats a little white lie to avoid a party of ghouls.) You’ll recognize a fascinatingly tempered version of the rally of Tomas, in, Winter Light. As with Algot the sidekick, there are sextons and candles, here at the entryway to Agnes’s resting place. What you will notice, first and foremost, is that this first swing of the death ritual is light on the big powers and remarkably a weighty eulogy to rather underwhelming Agnes, as if she were on the hunt of something which very few have hazard. “Could it be that you gathered up our suffering and agony into your body. Should it be that you leave with you this hardship through death. Should it be that you meet with God… [Algot slipping when he goes beyond the wonderment that venerable safety nets won’t do. Hence the overestimation of old-timey good news, somewhat upstaging a hard and nourishing magic.] … as you come to that other land… Should it be that you find his countenance turned toward you there [the nature of sensibility being not something to take for granted while sitting on a ruinous scenario]. Should it be that you know the language to speak… So this God may hear and understand… Should it be that you then talk with this God… [the conditional tense here, like that of Algot’s heresy, a weird and wonderful push-back upon millennia being stupefyingly inadequate, while spilling over to wooden humanitarianism and science!]… and he hear you out. Should it be so… pray for us… Agnes, dear child, please listen to what I have to tell you now. Pray for us who have been left in darkness… left behind on this miserable Earth, with the sky above us grim and empty…” [Agnes’ diary being on a very distant page from this dip to formalities]. The last word of this singularity dressed up to seem more of the same is an instance of great theatrical irony. “Her faith was stronger than mine.”

#ingmar bergman

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delwray-blog · 6 years ago

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YOU’VE BEEN LIED TO

AMERICA YOU’VE BEEN LIED TO Written here is a critical re-examination of presumed historical facts and existing historiography. America you’ve been lied too, history has been a lie and has become the engine of man’s demise. Corrupt beliefs have become the truth. “Mainstream History is Entirely False” What we’re up against is bigger than any country. In fact, it’s bigger than all the countries in the world. The ruthless powers that be have decided that only they can declare what is true and that it is against the law to disagree with them. The human mind is being locked up for the final time. Amazon, Google, and Facebook are all Jewish entities, and all prohibit objective discussion about the lies told about the World Wars. Utterances that describe the events of World War II that are not approved by the Jews are now called “hate crimes”. Jews most definitely cannot prove what they say about WWII — but we can. Six million! Baloney! 296,081 is Germar Rudolf’s 2003 count, following the International Red Cross count in October 1980 of 273,905. How many billions of dollars have the Jews stolen from the world with this falsehood they have inflicted on everyone with their incessant and fallacious media propaganda? Think about the 66 million, mostly Christians, that the Bolshevist Jews murdered in Russia from 1917-1957. Jews can’t prove there were gas chambers at Auschwitz or anywhere else. The thousands of hysterical Jewish testimonies about concentration camp horrors remain totally refuted by the International Red Cross visits during the war which found German treatment of prisoners far superior to the way Americans treated the Japanese prisoners they interned during WW II. Think about why Ursula Haverbeck, age 89, would risk prison to tell the real story of WW II, in which three Jewish controlled countries, Britain, the USSR, and the USA conspired to eliminate the last viable challenger to Jewish financial control of the world, which was the German economic miracle devised and deployed by Adolf Hitler. Would Mrs. Haverbeck do this because she was insane, or because she was telling the truth? It is even more puzzling, why would the German government insist on jailing an old woman who questioned a simple detail of history unless they were trying to cover up a gigantic lie? For those with eyes to see, the answer is clear. Think too about Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gadhafi, both of whom treated their citizens much more kindly than the Jewish-run countries of the West. They followed Hitler’s example of treating their own people well. And they were murdered by the Jewish Deep State using their favorite weapon, the American war machine. Most Americans simply have not realized that all contemporary media, movies, music, TV, even books are controlled by Jews. Those outlets not owned by Jews are statistically insignificant and generally ignored. But now, the Jewish onslaught of trying to erase independent thought from the world has intensified. A whole category of history has been expunged by the Jews from all the electronic media they own, which is practically everything. And honest people are being lined up for incarceration and silence so the Jews may more easily make their fabricated history become the de facto history of the world. Imprisoned by lies Everyone in the world is now prevented by financial blackmail from even contemplating the truth. Jews control all your money, no matter how many non-Jewish intermediaries exist between you and them. Even as you read this, the vise grips clamped around your head begin to tighten. Play ball and you have nothing to worry about. Blow the whistle on these child-eating maniacs and you’re going down hard. They’ll kill your children. A Congressman whose questions were a little too sharp just resigned because of that threat. Remember what happened to Paul Wellstone. Revisionists tend to be idealists. They observe objectively. What they write tends to be clear. They don’t make things up unlike the purveyors of the lies they seek to revise. I’m like everybody else. I believed the propaganda I heard most of my life (or at least since the late 1960s). Took me to middle age to be jarred into realizing I believed in some obvious lies. What if telling the truth will cost you your job? What if your wife and family call you a beast and throw you out of the house for harboring such horrendous ideas? Jews own your soul because they own your money and also have the ability to take it all away from you at any time. They want you to be afraid, to tell the truth. As a replacement, they want you to believe their truth, which is invariably at variance with what actually happened. Both World Wars, 9/11, the fouling of the sky with chemtrails, the poisoning of humanity with Glyphosate, and the capture of the world’s media, these are all Jew poisons you ingest daily. God help you if you start telling people that Adolf Hitler was actually the good guy. It won’t matter to them that it happens to be the truth, because they’re so scared of what will happen to them should they choose to stop living their lie. Mainstream history is entirely false In case you don’t know by now, the Jewish truth is an oxymoron. There is no such thing existing in the world. The Jews’ holiest books command Jews to lie to non-Jews in all situations. Now they’ve swindled the money of every country in the world, which all dance to the puppet’s tune while their leaders steal most of the money. The penetration of Jewish lies in the world mind is nearly complete. Most of what people have been tricked into believing is false. Regarding the empirical facts of World War II, we can prove what we say and they can’t. They can only cast aspersions, trap you in blackmail, or if all else fails, hire some hungry poor person with sociopathic tendencies to murder you. If your offense is somewhat less bothersome, they use the courts, the law, the legal profession, the cops, and the TV stations which will tell everyone what a bad person you are because you disagree with the Jews. In the European Union courts, when it comes to Holocaust disputation, they say the truth is no defense. They put you in jail merely for attempting to tell the truth. How silly is that? Pick an adjective. Insane would be a good one. Jewish scripture urges Jews “to kill the best Gentiles”, which they do, constantly. A game we can’t win The measure of Jewish control of Britain was amply demonstrated by the arrest and continuing harassment of singer Alison Chabloz. This self-appointed Jew organization had to browbeat the government four times before charges were finally pressed. She could have lampooned any other ethnic group and no one would have lifted an eyebrow. And then they staged this phony arrest of Tommy Robinson supposedly protesting the Muslim rape epidemic to make sure Alison got no media coverage. (By the way, why have British authorities allowed the Muslim rape epidemic to continue for more than ten years?) We’re playing a Jewish game with the media, and it’s a game we can’t win. Jez Turner was put in jail for worse. He described Jewish control of British history perfectly and got slammed into jail during a particularly fruitful roundup of Revisionist activists. Now the Schaefer’s are in jail and Arthur Topham, who had been devoutly monitoring the daily status of the recently arrested, remains silent. And this is what these anti-Semitism laws are all about: to prevent discussion of Jewish crimes. Jewish soldiers kill Palestinians for fun. Jewish food producers poison Americans by the millions. Jewish drug manufacturers have addicted the whole world to their poison pills. All Jews are sociopaths because they follow the insane commands of the Talmud. Jews are not allowed to report crimes by their fellow Jews. How can they be good citizens anywhere? They have turned America into a sociopathic country, using the promotion of blacks to retard the culture of whites. People are being lied to. The U.S. is the chief force for evil in the world, mostly because they are doing the bidding of rich Jews who control the world’s money supply. Besides Israel and the Jews in the City of London, I defy you to tell me another power in the world that can make the U.S. military go anywhere in the world and murder those they are ordered to eliminate. Mindless obedience to murderous policies Tell the truth and go to jail! It’s the new party toast. Everything has been reversed. Leave those child molesters alone; they’re the ones in charge of the world. How in the world is anyone supposed to deal with a legal system that declares the truth is no defense. What would Thomas Jefferson say about that? Everything has been reversed. The good people are being put in jail. The bad people are making the laws. So that the freedom of speech and thought once guaranteed to all Americans are no longer in effect. Today, we can no longer criticize Jews for their manic criminality that negatively affects everybody on Earth. We will be arrested if we do. But if we don’t the future promises only mindless obedience to murderous policies from which we may never be able to protect ourselves. Refuse to Believe the Lies the Jewish-Programmed Media “Monsters” want you to believe! It is no more anti-Semitic to expose Jewish Zionist gangsters than it is anti-Italian to expose the Mafia. The Sicilian Mafia and the Jewish Zionist Cabal is basically the same sort of organizations built on tribal loyalty, tribal cronyism, murderous ruthlessness, and secrecy to advance their criminal designs. The true criminals have to be exposed to the majority... Are you afraid to tell the truth? You ought to be: Offend the Jews and your future is in jeopardy. How ironic that the group known as the world’s greatest liars now control the entire world’s media? Recognizing ‘something above your own nature’ helps detoxify the lies you’ve been told. No doubt if you have studied history beyond the mainstream abortion of it, you have had occasion to tell certain people something they simply refuse to believe, because it goes against what they’ve learned in their lifetimes through schools, newspapers, and TV — which mostly echo the lies of scheming politicians and their pathological theoreticians who conveniently shape history to fatten their own financial portfolios. Utterly deceived by the political lies our government tells us every day, we actually have no idea about our own actual history nor, in this useless overproduction of knowledge we are required to master that actually prevents us from thinking at all, do we have any idea what our government is doing at this present moment. We don’t find out later, either, because no matter who is in charge, they lie about everything they say, and insist it’s in the best interests of the people. Is this a species that can be trusted, or relied upon to do the right thing? The evidence says otherwise. Think about it. What is happening in the world is usually 180 degrees out from what our government SAYS is happening. Example, we are bombing Syria because we are fighting ISIS; yet, we are funding ISIS through third-party stooges Qatar, Bahrain, and the evil Saudis. We invented al-Qaida to answer the question of who knocked down the World Trade Center towers, and just today the government was telling us we had to look at al-Qaida, now tens of thousands strong and positioned all over the world, as a positive force in America’s war on Syria. https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2018/09/12/17-years-after-911-us-backs-al-qaeda-in-syria.html And of course the entire sordid drama is overseen by the Israeli puppet masters, who are immune to all logic and laws with their financial stranglehold on most of the politicians in the world. Law enforcement in the United States is a complete joke when the highest officials in the land commit crimes openly and a lapdog press corps constantly looks the other way while feeble police kill innocent bystanders for no reason but their own incompetence and even if they are charged is seldom convicted. Yet still, Americans have yet to understand that what psychopathological criminals do to their enemies they will do to their friends, and this is what everyone is experiencing right now as our society prepares for its final shakedown. The abuse of innocence Which are you? You’re cynical and razor-sharp self or a bruised ego on a mission to nowhere? In any case, you’re likely to trust your own poorly informed ego; you’re not likely to admit your comprehension of history is totally erroneous. Ancient Greece’s great leader, Pericles, spoke of this in his famous Funeral Oration. . . . It is hard to speak properly upon a subject where it is difficult to convince your hearers that you are speaking the truth. On the one hand, the friend who is familiar with every fact of the story may think that some point has not been set forth with that fullness which he wishes and knows it to deserve. On the other, a stranger to the matter may be led by envy to suspect exaggeration if he hears anything above his own nature. For men can endure to hear others praised only so long as they can persuade themselves of their own ability to equal the actions recounted: when this point is passed, envy comes in and with it incredulity. Praise of other people is tolerable only up to a certain point, the point where one still believes that one could do oneself some of the things one is hearing about. Once beyond that point, people become jealous disbelievers. But perhaps Pericles’ best remembered piece of advice is this. One’s sense of honor is the only thing that does not grow old, and the last pleasure when one is worn out with age, is not, as the poet said, making money, but having the respect of the people who have known you best. For it is only the love of honor that never grows old; and honor it is, not gain, as some would have it that rejoices the heart of age and helplessness. Though deemed out of fashion in a Wall Street world, this lost honor is what keeps humanity distracted from their own lives by the chains of chaos. Society has been overtaken by its own promiscuity One of the ironies of the creative process is that it partly cripples itself in order to function. I mean that, usually, in order to turn out a piece of work, the author has to exaggerate the emphasis of it, to oppose it in a forcefully competitive way to other versions of the truth; and he gets carried away by his own exaggeration, as his distinctive image is built on it . . . . The problem is to find the truth underneath the exaggeration, to cut away the excess elaboration or distortion and include that truth where it fits. Ernest Becker, the Denial of Death, 1974 The false cry of SIX MILLION DEAD Echoes across time like a nightmare from the mind of a madman. You’ve no doubt seen the story of the history detailing the use of this freighted phrase since the late 19th century, six million Jews in jeopardy of starving by one evil government or another, forever 6 million! Jewish newspapers kept running these stories right up until they could pin it all on Hitler in a triumphant public relations strategy. Becker, a Jewish cultural anthropologist, described the danger of exaggeration correctly. He also inadvertently described the situation of so-called Jewish persecution by the Germans, which was triggered by a Jewish declaration of war against the Germans nine years before World War II ever started. The Red Cross death toll from German camps researched in 1980 came to around 270,000. How much of a Jewish exaggeration is 6 million? And where do the 12 million Germans who were murdered by the ‘allies’ after the war ended fit into your calculations? Also, the blood libel of the Jews wanting to suck the blood of gentile children was falsely blamed on the Germans, who actually were scrupulous in their conduct of prisoners. Because of kosher public relations excellence, virtually the entire world believes the Jewish lies about Hitler, who in fact was the world’s most beloved leader of the 20th century. Name a U.S. president who was so beloved, if you care to try. This habit of overwrought exaggerations is also constantly present in all American rhetoric about Russia, which has been ingrained into our minds as an evil menace as surely as Hitler was demonized, but only by Jewish media and not as a rule by ordinary people around the world, especially now after the heroic Russians saved Syria from American and Israeli perfidy. I’m saying public political palaver today is lost in its own exaggerations which obscure the actual content of what is being said. After all the sensational charges, the fact remains America has propped up Russia throughout the 20th century so that the moneymaking tension keeping us on the verge of constant war kept on generating maximum profits for the Rothschild’s and their weapons manufacturers. This process applies to the two greatest tragedies in recent times — World War II and 9/11 — in which total lies are accepted as fact by a majority of people in the world. Far removed from the time it happened, people are today being slammed into jail for challenging propagandistic lies now called “The Holocaust” that justify the crimes of the Deep State maniacs who seek to turn the world into a giant prison. And the obvious hoax of steel skyscrapers being destroyed by fire is by now seen by all those who care to contemplate the absurdity of the government’s 9/11 hype and the blanket immunity given to Israelis caught by the cops on their way to blow up the George Washington Bridge as classic smokescreens in the fog of war. How can a population be deemed sane when its own government (the USA) has its main enemy (Russia) surrounded by military bases, and yet, Americans are told Russia remains the greatest threat? There are no Russian military bases surrounding the U.S. You know, of course, that back in the days of the czars, Russia was America’s best friend, but that was before the obvious emergence of Jewish power in America. By the time the 19th century turned into the 20th, Rothschild henchman Jacob Schiff had engineered the Japanese defeat of Russia in 1905, not only betraying a reliable old friend but setting up a new patsy for future wars. The cause of the blindness How can it be we’ve been unable to see the scam that continues to be played on us, always it’s the rich get richer and the poor disappear to the impartial ruthlessness of poverty? It hasn’t been by accident. Its one thing to talk about nationhood but quite another to talk about what is best for the human species. From that tangent develops every revolution and every invention known to humanity, as the struggle for personal gain collides with simple facts that keep us alive, such as air to breathe and water to drink. Is it best for our children to hear of our role inflicting cholera on a large part of the population of Yemen for the purpose of securing shipping lanes and oil fields? This is who we are as Americans. But is it who we are as humans? The human tendency is to revel in the misfortunes of others, and there are plenty of sources around to provide them for us. In fact, all commerce is based on strife, the amelioration of desires, which is why, I guess, the cleverest among us have seized upon constant wars as the best moneymaking opportunity out there. It is your choice to let this strategy be the epitaph of an extinct human species. The current political climate might as well be a script for some mindless TV sitcom where the truth is nowhere to be found, only the propaganda programming of perverts trying to turn people into robots, a venomous project which has largely succeeded. The Jews founded all three TV networks and they called it diversity. None of this will be important when we are dead. But the point is to avoid this eventuality for as long as possible, and the first step is doing this is to perceive the world as it really is as best we can, and refuse to accept the hollow lies the Jewish-programmed media monsters command us to believe. John Kaminski is a writer who lives on the Gulf Coast of Florida, constantly trying to figure out why we are destroying ourselves, and pinpointing a corrupt belief system as the engine of our demise.

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lucasflanagan-blog · 8 years ago

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The Best Movies of 2016 According to Me and Only Me

I love movies. I love talking about them, talking shit about them, arguing about them and writing about them. This new blog I'm starting is my attempt to get back to basics with what I like to write about the movies I love and hate and everything else in between the highs and lows. Oscar Sunday is the perfect opportunity to discuss what I loved best about this past year. I saw many movies and still somehow seemed to miss a great deal of what I suspect might be worthwhile movies to check out. This stands as a testament to the strength of this past year -- the strongest in recent memory. But let's cut through the bs and get down to it.

First off, I want to highlight how strong a year this was for the horror genre. Something happened and horror movies -- a whole mess of them -- delivered in a legit way. Cooties was the best horror comedy I've seen since Shaun of the Dead. Rainn Wilson ruled nearly every minute of that movie. Adam Wingard did some interesting things with The Blair Witch and while that movie didn't entirely work, it's still a nice entry on Wingard's resume. The same goes for James Wan with The Conjuring 2. Not perfect but still a solid movie. 10 Cloverfield Lane and Green Room might not exactly be horror movies but they both slipped into the genre rather nicely while never being hampered by traditional genre trappings. The Mind's Eye was an extremely weird and crazy as shit little telekinesis movie. The Witch was a terrific exercise in slow building dread while still hiding so much more underneath the surface. Light's Out and Don't Breathe were, on the surface, more traditional fare but over delivered in every conceivable way. Specifically, Don't Breathe which always zigged when you expected a zag. Lastly, The Autopsy of Jane Doe and I'm not saying anything else about this movie except: SEE THIS MOVIE! There is one more horror movie to talk about but it nearly snuck into my top ten and will thus be discussed in this next section.

Now, getting closer to the main course. In trying to pare down to a top ten, I was shocked at how many movies I was originally considering. This speaks to two things: How many great movies I saw this year and how close some of them were for me. Dr. Strange is definitely the craziest Marvel movie I've seen to date. Lion surprised me with how touched I was by what, on the surface, was a traditional, sappy, awards-bait story. Dev Patel was magnificent in showing the turmoil of going twenty-five years without finding your way home. Hidden Figures was the feel good movie of the year. Fences was crushing and while imperfect in it's pacing and constant tendency toward monologues, which is never great to watch on screen as opposed to seeing it live, the highs were really, REALLY high. Hacksaw Ridge was Mel Gibson's most complete effort as a director since Braveheart and while pretty standard, it was still a handsome production. The Lobster was definitely not for everyone and I'll definitely not be able to recommend it to anyone I know but for me, it totally worked. I found this movie hilarious at times. Is something wrong with me? Don't answer that. Next up is The Wailing, a Korean horror movie about...well, it's a Korean horror movie. It's about the Devil? Maybe? Whatever, the movie was nuts in all the best ways.

This next group of movies is still in the same boat but were either made by some of my favorite directors or based on or part of something else I adore. Nicolas Winding Refn is a polarizing figure. I find the man to be a genius behind the lens and The Neon Demon felt like him summing up his career to this point while still projecting how he feels about the industry in general. Everybody Wants Some was marketed as a spiritual successor to Dazed and Confused and while that's a fairly accurate tag, the movie speaks more to the bonds of friendship and new love. Linklater is as good a filmmaker as there is working today. Everything he does just works for me. I feel like we speak the same film language. The Jungle Book surprised me. Rudyard Kipling is one of my favorite authors but this movie didn't look special to me in any way upon it's release. Word of mouth led me to an eventual viewing and I was stunned. It's one of the most useful applications of CGI I've ever seen in a movie. Nailed it. Oh Rogue One. I really don't know how this didn't make my top ten list. I love Star Wars and this easily ranks as the third best Star Wars movie ever. The best depiction of Darth Vader ever. Holy shit. Midnight Special made me cry. Hard. On an airplane. In front of a lot of strangers. Michael Shannon is in the discussion of greatest actors of his generation and kills it in this movie. Joel Edgerton has quickly become one of my new favorites and Jeff Nichols is the best filmmaker in the business right now. And finally, the final movie to JUUUUUUST miss making the cut. Arrival. Awesome, quiet, meditative movie and when the pieces of it's puzzle finally fall into place, you're left stunned in the best possible way. And next up for Denis? The Blade Runner sequel. Get psyched.

And now for my top ten. (Note: The top three movies were so close and are constantly playing leap frog. As I'm writing this, I still don't know which is going to be number one for me. And yes, I know it's February and nearly March. Don't look here for sense.)

10. THE HANDMAIDEN

Chan-wool Park is a madman. His movies are impeccably designed, ultra violent and perverse as hell. This one was no different. Easily the most gorgeous film of the year and full of twists, innovations, titillation and drama. I respect it more than I love it but I respect the living shit out of this movie.

9. DEADPOOL

Unlike any superhero movie we've yet seen. Violent, sexually deviant, foul-mouthed in the most horrible way but also smart, superbly written, hilarious, violent, sexually deviant and foul-mouthed in the most horrible way. Deal with it prudes.

8. THE INVITATION

Ahhhh The Invitation. The most contested movie of the year in my house. My wife hated it which killed me a bit. It'll undoubtedly be brought up in our divorce proceedings. Karyn Kusama reminded me of Hitchcock in this movie. Actually, the best ode to Hitchcock since the man himself. She is now on my list of directors whom I see no matter what. What's it about? Who cares? Karyn Kusama directed it.

7. THE NICE GUYS

Shane Black is a legend. How did this movie get ignored this awards season? Not even for it's script? Maybe the tightest script of the year. For sure, the best dialogue. Gosling and Crowe should spend the rest of their careers working with each other. Amazing movie.

6. NOCTURNAL ANIMALS

Another on the list of: HOW DID THIS MOVIE GET IGNORED? Tom Ford is carving out a hell of a place for him in Hollywood. A Single Man was amazing and now with Nocturnal Animals, I suspect studios will be hot after Mr. Ford. Also, how can you go wrong with the three best actors working today in the same movie? Shannon, Gylenhall, and Adams all crush here. Such a nasty slice of noir. We haven't seen noir willing to go full noir like this in a long time. I honestly can't remember the last time I saw one willing to be pitch black like Nocturnal Animals. I love when filmmakers don't give a shit about what an audience might think or like and just go out and make a fucking movie.

5. MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

This is a tough one. It's also another movie that is hard to recommend because it's so soul crushingly sad. But it's also funny and somehow life affirming. It's a great piece of character writing and solid directing by Kenneth Lonergan. Michelle Williams continues to be excellent while Casey Affleck continues to be the best Affleck. Anyone else wondering what Live By Night would have been with Casey playing the lead?

4. 20TH CENTURY WOMEN

And again another member of the WHERE IS THE LOVE CLUB. Mike Mills wrote the best script of the year. I'm willing to debate but there is really no debate. This was the best written movie of the year. Mills is an amazing talent. And then he went and cast so many people I love. Billy Crudup is great. Greta Gerwig, my wife now understands why I have such a crush on her. She is impossibly cool. Elle Fanning is going to be one of the biggest stars in the world very, VERY soon. Remember that. And finally, Annette Benning has never been better. She was robbed! And this is where things get messy/interesting/crazy/nonsense-y?

3. HELL OR HIGH WATER

Whoah. This movie was number one on my list for a very long time. Ben Foster gave one of my favorite performances of the year. Jeff Bridges was funny and badass at the same time and Chris Pine was incredibly authentic as a man willing to put literally everything on the line for his family. This was noir and a western at the same time and that ain't easy to pull off. Impeccably written and basically told two separate stories about varying degrees of brotherhood at the same time while still having plenty to say about the haves and have-nots. About ownership, not only about tangible things but also about one's life. I have a brother who'd I'd rob banks for and maybe that's why this movie spoke to me so sweetly but I loved it all the same.

2. LA LA LAND

This was the most inspiring movie of the year for me. I loved every second of it and maybe down the road this will be remembered by me as the best. I don't know, I have yet to receive my time machine. Gosling is as charismatic as actors get and ditto for Emma Stone. They're both likable nearly to the point of annoyance. Chazelle is a great writer and even better director. He allows his movies to breathe while still managing to fill them to the brim. It's a high wire act few can pull off.

#1 MOONLIGHT

This one was just different. I've never seen anything quite like Moonlight. It's the movie which stuck with me the longest after seeing it. I saw it over a month ago and not a day goes by without me thinking about it. The story is timeless and new at the same time. The way Barry Jenkins shot this movie feels revolutionary to me. Everything was shot in hyper color and then drab. Things shoot into and out of focus. It's like seeing a movie with all of your senses. Mahershala Ali gave my favorite performance of the entire year. He was nothing short of extraordinary. Everything about this movie was extraordinary. I liked it upon leaving the theater. I liked it more the following day. I loved it a few days later. And where Hell or High Water and La La Land were, in many ways, equally extraordinary, they were maybe just the best versions of their respective genres that we've seen in years. Moonlight defied genre to just be unforgettable.

Enjoy the show everybody.

RIP Bill Paxton.

Love each other.

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