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anpanbun · 7 months ago

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Nearly Forgotten

(An AU of @liloinkoink's Lamplight AU..... inspired by that one tumblr post about ancient tattoos and forgotten gods)

It was after school and young Martyn was on a mission. He stood on his tip toes to reach up, and, with all the gentleness he could, shifted the right rabbit ear of the antenna the slightest bit further along. The staticky noise of the TV faded as his favorite channel sharpened into view. However, instead of his favorite after school cartoon, something that would forever change his life came onto the screen.

-----

Martyn wasn't an anthropologist, he was maybe the furthest thing from it. A prospective radio host finishing his broadcasting degree, but, when he was a child, one documentary forever sparked his interests beyond that. The documentary was about ancient humans and societies, which should have been torturously boring to a small child. Instead, he was drawn in by the whole program. In particular the story of a mummy found in the Alps with a unique tattoo.

The tattoo was on the mummy's chest, over his heart, eight lines in a starburst pattern and four squiggles in the middle. The program had claimed it was used for some sort of ritualistic purpose.

Little Martyn didn't think much of it at the time beyond the pattern being cool, but over the decade or so after he found that the design had stuck with him.

In school it was what he doodled in the corners of his homework. It was the pattern he looked for in noise. When he was bored it was the thing he looked up.

So it only made sense that in the fall, after his first internship in university gave him a little extra cash jingling in his pocket, Martyn found himself outside a tattoo parlor.

And now, a week later, he's staring at the starburst and squiggles first tattooed on the chest of a man thousands of years ago.

"This looks perfect. Thank you so much, man!" Martyn fist bumped the artist, a man, with some of the coolest hair and tattoos Martyn had ever seen, named BigB.

"Not a problem, just remember the care instructions I told you before we started and it should be healed up in no time."

-----

When B had said "no time" he hadn't been joking. It being fully healed in a couple of days felt almost too fast, but maybe that's just how it worked?

As he was examining the healed tattoo in the morning light of his bathroom, he got the sudden feeling that something was off. He couldn't put his finger on it, but if he'd looked closer it was almost like it was easier to see the tattoo in the mirror than it should have been with the bright morning light streaming in from the window behind him. Almost like the tattoo was faintly glowing.

-----

Martyn was very fortunate that the old apartment he rented had a gas stove. It had taken him a while to adjust to using it, but recently he had finally gotten the hang of it. Water boiled quick, nothing ever boiled over or burned, and he managed to cook everything to perfection.

-----

It was early winter when something noticeably changed. The first bad snow fall of the season was expected to roll in, so his friend Jimmy and Jimmy's roommate Tango, who rented an actual house with a woodburning fireplace, invited him to stay over.

"Thanks again for letting me crash here, Tim."

"It's no problem Martyn! What kind of friend would I be if I let my buddy freeze to death in his apartment!"

They were sitting in front of the fireplace enjoying the extra warmth. The power was still on thankfully, but the snow was really picking up outside.

Tango was in the middle of a story from his engineering class when, out of the corner of his eye, Martyn swore he saw a form flicker in the fire, a hand reaching out.

His head snapped to the fire, his voice sounded startled, especially when he saw it was still there, "Do you guys seen that?"

Tango and Jimmy followed his line of sight. The moment their eyes met the fireplace, the hand melded back into the rest of the flames.

"See what?" Tango asked.

"The flames, they looked- they looked like a hand," the moment he had started the sentence Martyn realized that what he saw would sound insane, "so.... I thought you guys might have seen the optical illusion too? But I guess you missed it?"

"Huh guess we did, that sucks! It must have looked cool!" Jimmy answered.

The conversation moved on after that, and eventually Tango and Jimmy retired to their rooms. The both of them wanted to take advantage of the power being on a little longer to sleep in their own beds while they could.

Martyn sat in front of the fireplace for a while longer on his own. His knees were curled up to his chest and his head rested on them. He was looking out the glass patio doors into the swirling snow.

It was in the quiet moment alone that it reappeared. Martyn noticed the firelight in the peripheries of his vision brighten significantly, so he turned his head. That's when he saw it again, the hand, made of fire but reaching out to him.

Maybe it was stupidity, maybe he was tired, maybe it was some of the million of other excuses he could make up. The truth was, though, that something came over him, he was enthralled by the flames. Looking at them made a warm feeling rise in his chest.

He reached his own hand out to meet the fire.

Jimmy's door opened with a creak, shockingly loud in the bated breath silence that had been there before. Martyn snapped his hand back.

"Oh good, you're still up, I think the power finally went out," Jimmy said as he flopped onto the sofa behind Martyn, "it started getting cold in my room."

Tango joined them not long after saying the same thing, and the three settled in to sleep.

Martyn kept a close eye on the fire until he finally fell asleep. The warmth of the fire outside and in his chest finally lulling him to sleep. His mind replaying over and over again the moments before Jimmy had opened his door.

Martyn's hand had met the fire's, his hand had met and it hadn't burned.

-----

After that realization Martyn did the thing any sane person would do. He went camping.

He waited a week or so, of course, for the snow to melt, but he went camping.

Because where else was he going to get a bonfire?

-----

Staring at the towering flames in front of him, Martyn only then took the moment to consider if this was actually a good idea, but only a moment. He needed to know.

A warmth in his chest had slowly risen up as he had built the fire, from excitement or nerves or anticipation he guessed. It didn't take long though. Within 30 minutes or so of the fire reaching its full height, the hand reappeared for the third time. This time Martyn didn't hesitate, the instant he saw the hand reach out of the wall of flame he lunged towards it.

Like they had that night, the flames of the hand licked at his skin as they met. He couldn't help but laugh because he had been right. The flames fully consumed his hand but he only felt a warm tickle. The warmth in his chest condensed into a warm ball right over his heart, right where his ancient tattoo rested.

He was too busy being amazed to react in time when the flames, seemingly no longer content with just brushing up against him, tightened around his hand and pulled. He floundered, suddenly the warm feeling he had felt like a burning brand over his heart. He tried to pull away, but the fire overpowered him and the last thing he saw was bright white light as the entirety of Martyn was pulled into the bonfire.

-----

The white light faded after a moment, Martyn blinked away the lingering spots. A bit delayed, but his body continued the reaction it had been doing before and he tried to take a step back.

He was stopped though and finally he looked forward to where the fire had been.

In front of him, in place of the fire, was a man. The man's hand was wrapped around Martyn's in the same way the flames had been, holding him still.

The man had a wide, wolfish smile, and wild brown hair. He had some sort of animal ears, wolf maybe, Martyn thought. What stood out most though, were his eyes. They were the blue of the hottest flames a fire can have. They were mesmerizing.

"Hello Martyn," the man said, "I am Ren! I am finally able to speak with you, my only acolyte. My savior."

#lamplight au #anpan writes #inthelittlewood #martyn inthelittlewood #renthedog #rendog #trafficblr #traffic smp

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thecreaturecodex · 2 years ago

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The Master of Revels

“Moonlight Satyr” © Matteo Parati, accessed at his ArtStation here

[Remember RPG Superstar? I did get into the Top Eight in 2012, but for several years before that entered an item annually, voted and debated on the Paizo forums, and even played along at home for challenges. That’s where this character comes from. My roommate, @canwefixitnoitsfucked, placed a year (I want to say 2010?) where the challenge was to create a villain, first the concept and then the stat block. This was my “play-along-at-home” villain, who has been rewritten and revised, partially because I can’t find my original file for him. A word of caution: this may be one of the darkest Codex entries yet, with themes of torture and sex trafficking.

As a lighter aside, looking for art for this character was a pain. I learned that images of satyrs who were a) clothed, b) lean and c) male are rather slim pickings.]

Jepson Artemisia, Master of Revels CR 10 CE Fey This man has long horns, long ears and hooves for feet. He is dressed impeccably, and his eyes shine with malice.

Jepson Artemisia is a cleric of Calistria who has made a fortune on the backs of human misery. He is a drug dealer, pimp and slaver. Befitting his veneration of the goddess of revenge, he specializes in abducting and abusing people for hire. For an exorbitant fee, a cad can hire Artemisia to have one of his rivals abducted and have their mind and will broken, leaving them a perfect slave and trophy. Jepson accomplishes this psychological abuse through narcotics, mind-influencing magic, and old-fashioned torture. He especially relishes the servants of lawful gods as his victims, and every paladin who has renounced their oaths and lost their powers is a feather in his cap.

Artemisia spends most of the year traveling as he needs to for his cruel business, but does have a home base. Blackthorn Hall is his domain, a sprawling mansion overlooking an oak woodland. Here he hosts his annual Grand Revel, where his allies, business partners and sycophants engage in bacchanalian excess for an entire week. The Master of Revels employs many miscellaneous low-lives as his security, pushers, alchemists and jailers, but some of his allies are worth spotlighting. His majordomo is an ogre mage who accompanies him on his business trips. His housekeeper is a maenad who uses Blackthorn Hall for fatal feasts while her master is away. And Jepson maintains a stable of spider-eaters, which he uses as mounts, watchdogs and the perpetrators of one of his favorite tortures. Against especially willful victims, the Master of Revels has his spider-eaters sting them and lay eggs inside of them, paralyzing them. These victims he then poses as living statues, forcing them into humiliating postures while the eggs slowly incubate. Usually, victims of this torture are revived through magic and the spider-eaters do not come to term. Usually.

Jepson Artemisia CR 10 XP 9,600 Satyr cleric of Calistria 9 CE Medium fey Init +5; Senses low-light vision, Perception +18 Defense AC 26, touch 18, flat-footed 20 (+5 Dex, +1 dodge, +5 natural, +3 armor, +2 deflection) hp 140 (8d6+9d8+68) Fort +12, Ref +13, Will +18 DR 5/cold iron Offense Speed 40 ft. Melee +1 deadly whip +16/+11 (1d3+2), gore +10 (1d6) Special Abilities anything to please, channel energy (5d6 negative, 10/day, Will DC 21 half), pipes Spell-like Abilities CL 8th, concentration +15 (+19 casting defensively) At will—charm person (DC 18), dancing lights, ghost sound (DC 17), sleep (DC 18), suggestion (DC 20) 9/day—copycat, dazing touch (9 HD) 1/day—fear (DC 21), summon nature’s ally III 9 rounds/day—master’s illusion (DC 23) Spells CL 9th, concentration +15 (+19 casting defensively) 5th—charm monster (DC 21) (D), greater command (DC 21), insect plague 4th—chaos hammer (DC 20), confusion (DC 20) (D), cure critical wounds (DC 20), freedom of movement 3rd—bestow curse (DC 19), dispel magic, nondetection (D), protection from energy, remove blindness/deafness 2nd—bear’s endurance, cure moderate wounds (DC 18, x2), hold person (DC 18), spiritual weapon, touch of idiocy (D), undetectable alignment 1st—bless, command (DC 17), comprehend languages, disguise self (DC 17) (D), divine favor, protection from law (DC 17), remove fear 0th—detect magic, mending, purify food and drink, stabilize (D)—domain spell (Charm [Lust subdomain], Trickery) Statistics Str 12, Dex 20, Con 18, Int 13, Wis 22, Cha 24 Base Atk +10; CMB +15 (+17 trip or disarm); CMD 27 (29 vs. disarm, trip) Feats Agile Manuevers, Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Dodge, Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Selective Channeling, Skill Focus (Bluff), Weapon Finesse Skills Bluff +18, Diplomacy +15, Disguise +15, Intimidate +12, Knowledge (arcana, local, nature, nobility, religion) +9, Linguistics +7, Perception +18, Perform (wind instruments) +19, Ride +10, Sense Motive +14, Spellcraft +9, Stealth +17. Survival +14; Racial Modifiers +4 Perception, +4 Perform, +4 Stealth Languages Abyssal, Common, Elven, Giant, Sylvan Gear +1 leather armor, +1 deadly whip, headband of mental prowess +2 (Wis, Cha), circlet of persuasion, cape of the mountebank, ring of protection +2, wand of remove paralysis (20 charges), wand of cure light wounds (50 charges), potion of invisibility, noble outfit, jewelry worth 100 gp, gold holy symbol of Calistria, masterwork panpipes, 10 pp, 4 gp SQ wealth and privilege Special Abilities Anything to Please (Su): Once per day, Jepson can compel a creature within 30 feet to attempt to please you as a standard action. The creature receives a DC 21 Will save to negate this affect. If the save fails, the creature attacks Jepson’s enemies for 1 round, gives him its most valuable item, or drops prone at his feet and grovels for 1d4 rounds (GM's choice). This is a mind-affecting effect and the save DC is Charisma based. Pipes (Su) Jepson can focus and empower his magic by playing haunting melodies on his panpipes. When he plays, all creatures within a 60-foot radius must make a DC 21 Will save or be affected by charm person, fear, sleep, or suggestion, depending on what tune he chooses. A creature that successfully saves against any of the pipes' effects cannot be affected by the same set of pipes for 24 hours, but can still be affected by Jepson’s other spell-like abilities as normal. Jepson’s use of his pipes does not count toward his uses per day of his spell-like abilities, and if separated from them he may continue to use his standard abilities. The pipes themselves are masterwork, and Jepson can craft a replacement with 1 week of labor. The save DC is Charisma-based. Wealth and Privilege (Ex) Jepson Artemesia’s statistics are built using 25 point buy, and he has gear equivalent to a 9th level PC. These advantages increase his CR by 1.

#jepson artemesia #master of revels #satyr #npc #sex trafficking tw #pathfinder 1e

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error-404-fuck-not-found · 5 months ago

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doing some research on this so you don't have to. non-exhaustive list of accusations along with extremely shallow-dive info on what's going on over there:

a) Rigged Competitions: former employee claims he deliberately manipulates the result of his videos. half true. like basically every game show, he tries to make competitions come out closer to increase dramatic tension, but according to basically everyone who ever worked with him on set who doesn't have active beef, he never influenced the end result itself. b) Illegal Giveaways: you gotta say "no purchase required" or else it's illegal and a lot of youtubers don't figure out until much later that oopsie doodle you can't have giveaways for just your patreon supporters and shit without giving the general public a way to enter. rookie mistake. no ill intent but he definitely did that. if your favorite content creators have done giveaways, odds are good they broke the law too.

c) Hiring a Sex Offender for Content Aimed at Children: .............yeah no he really did that! He hired a guy as a "behind the scenes manager" whose own brother in law went on record saying the guy took a plea deal over sexually assaulting an 11 year old when he was 16. the BIL claims the charges were complete nonsense but their family didn't have the means to defend against the suit and so was forced to take the plea deal which resulted in being an RSO. Up to you if you believe any of that. some of the lies come in where there are actually two sex offenders in the US with the same first and last name, and the guy who wasn't affiliated with the MrBeast channel got his mugshot plastered on the videos. that one did go to trial and the perpetrator was an adult when he assaulted a child. this particular piece of shit is not relevant so it's kind of telling that video essayists are literally putting up a picture of the wrong guy. cmon man, do your basic research.

d) "Tortured" Participants by means of a Solitary Confinement Challenge: he did that too, but it's not a war crime if you're not at war and if you get folks to agree to exactly what they're going to be doing ahead of time, there's not much legal ground to stand on. the Mythbusters did a segment on literal Chinese Water Torture and then had to cut the whole thing short when it turned out it was actually fucking with their staff, even though they agreed to be a part of the testing. haven't seen the video, but if folks are alleging that he made the challenge harder than advertised at the beginning of the video, again, that's shit game show hosts do to "raise the stakes" and participants are fully informed of what's going to happen even if the audience doesn't know. they have the option to back out. still wouldn't get past an ethics review board.

e) Lied About Chocolate Bar Health Effects: idk man he probably did that shit. name me an influencer who hasn't lied about how great their stupid product is. I refuse to look up the "health benefits" of a goddamn chocolate bar with his ugly mug splashed across the packaging. Tell ya what: giving this a pass cause seeing his face would instantly put me off eating chocolate and it's probably for the best if i avoid a sugar binge. health benefits confirmed.

f) Piece of Shit Crypto Bro Scammer: yeah he is that! he got in on crypto to scam people. dude's a grifter. so is everyone else who touches crypto. you know this. i don't have to explain this.

Look, I can't fuckin stand MrBeast either. His personality comes off as oily and smug and arrogant to me, and he openly disrespected one of my favorite youtubers when he had a guest appearance on their show. I just think a lot of the accusations are ragebait exaggerations, so when the gf says only half the accusations are true, she kinda means all of them are true, but only half-truths.

LMFAO

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hospitalterrorizer · 1 year ago

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diary29

10/3-4/2023

nothing much. we'll cover all the rugs with cheap perfume.

nothing much happened today, i recorded little pieces for 2 songs, i got to do the super noisy stuff i wanted to do for the remaster of the single i put out, plus i added some screaming, and i added new vocal layers/replaced some/removed some for the next single. that's exciting, i think now the kicks are too loud in that song, and maybe i could bring the bass up a touch.

so much of this is like, touch and go, tomorrow i don't know what i'm gonna do, probably one of the new short songs, and then, i guess i'll see about one of the songs that i think needs a lot of work re: guitars and just throw vocals onto that to try, since i have them written.

my gf wants to go to another drag thing tomorrow so i need to be up earlier and stuff, today we're going to see a queen who almost won last season of rupaul's. it feels strange talking about it, because only from her has it leaked into my life. or i dunno. leak in makes it sound negative, when you live with someone, your interests get all over each other. i think i'm quieter about my stuff, so it's like, only sometimes i talk about whatever, but there's stuff that's just always involved with me that's probably been passed off to her and i don't even realize really. i think i basically like that she's exposed me to drag race so much because it is funny, it's just weird because it's demonstrably kind of commodified a whole part of queer history, and rupaul was there for it, which makes it more complex. looking at old drag magazines and stuff, the definitions were a lot blurrier, they were host to a lot of people who did want to transition essentially, and then people who were like "i'm whatever" also (and in film too you can see this, where it's a blurry undefined thing (meaning what anyone is (thinking in particular about funeral parade of roses (you can see in my eye makeup that i draw my lashes on cuz of that movie)))). it's not that this blurriness every went away or something but there's more lines separating what things are what is for who and so on. maybe that's because i've just been put in a box myself, by the people i've been sorted into being around online (this sounds miserable over it or something, all i am lamenting is maybe a lack of perspective) make greater efforts to delineate and say, over there is that type of person, over here we stand, when there's blurriness, it's different, and so on. it's a frustrating thing, whatever the case.

it's also weird because rupaul basically sucks, but i think it's kind of great, some seasons of the show, it's essentially takeshi's castle for drag queens, it's totally psychotic at points. i'm kind of sad my gf caught up because hearing about what goes on in the show (i couldn't see at a certain point really because he speakers got fucked up somehow and we don't know what to do other than buy new ones at some point) was genuinely super fun/made me happy.

anyways i think my favorite queen was probably alaska . probably an annoying pick but she is kind of a skinny legend.

i didn't read today, but, i dunno, i'm dumb i guess, i feel really stupid, kind of, i dunno. i always worry about being really an idiot.

so i guess, coming off of the feeling like an idiot, to feel more like an idiot, one thing i'm excited about is this one guy's tradition every year of playing a silent hill game on his yt channel, and this year he's gotten to something truly awful, homecoming. i don't know why i'm so excited for that, it's been years since i've seen anyone play that game in full, since i was a kid, back then even i was mega obsessed with the other sh games, but i also had no real sense of quality, so it had cool creatures that were mottled flesh and vaguely tortured, and familial discomfiture, that at least spoke to me, nothing on the level of all of sh1, 2 and 3, but it was like, a strange update on it all and that connected even at the time. what i'm seeing now, is i how strangely it reflected a pretty exact atmosphere of the time, the directing of cutscenes is, much more than anything else, inflicted with so much bullshit prestige tv runoff but directed wrong, and also, saw. the game is so saw, to the point of not understanding anything about sh really beyond few moments, which makes it fascinating. there's this part where alex is in a fucked up elevator and it squeals and shakes and stuff, awful noises are issued, and a huge knife comes through the door and kills him, final destination shit. it's like the game missed the parts of fire walk with me that featured totally broken quotidian things, the eruption of the faulting and failing into daily life, the wailing elevator isn't a horror device, it's simply real life magnified, ending it with a death like that destroys its ability to refer to the tiniest, most forgettable wounds in our daily life, the fear at a world at the edge of not working constantly, and a world that's hostile not because of unseen forces, but because of what we see, its regular operation unmasked as abject/grotesque, or not even unmasked, felt and expressed. so the game fails to be about america in all the subtle ways silent hill was originally (thinking about the billboard in sh2 that says "your ad here" in the sequence where you go to the historical society thru the town). it also misses all the ero-guro art connections and all the game's love affairs w/ the surrealists (bacon + bellmer an obv example but i'd say, sincerely, the first 3/4 end up having artaud and bataille in them, if only by receiving them thru ero guro artist interpretations of those works). instead it trades all that in for a baffling emphasis on wanting to be like the tv show lost (another legendarily bad game was cut from this same cloth, that reboot of alone in the dark). anyways sorting through all this is a joy for me a bit, and also, the ways the game feels like it hits on something meaningful (its posing of regular american christianity as a cult (the games prior do this too but this one feels really so on the nose, but that produces an interesting effect)) or even insightful, it feels like steps away from being a game about evangelical rapture panic and preppers or something. instead it trades in undercurrents in mass culture for attempts at the personal that fail, because it doesn't seem interested in its characters really. it's also such a dude-ist game, the nurses and the military stuff, so weird.

anyways that person who does that yearly is supergreatfriend. i don't know why i like his stuff so much. maybe it's because he's the only guy on yt with a playthru of illbleed that's any good. i love that game, it's also kind of genius. i miss how freely abject horror games used to be, not just gory or scary, but abject, where everything is exaggerated and filthy, not because like, that's scary, but because that's how you feel in a supermarket or mall or hospital for real or something, pr thinking of rule of rose, that's how social reality felt, that cruel and perverse. the exaggeration is only a tool to get you back there, in memory, again. it feels largely gone, maybe because the hd era prevents that level of exaggeration sitting beside "realism" like it used to be able. i dunno. the cheap and trash-like was so much more palpably present in those old games, for me at least, the stuff that for regular operation, had to be ignored, despite its constant presence, facts of life left to anterooms in your head, thoughts forced into being dead ends or whatever. i'd love to figure out why everything feels so much cleaner now. beyond how it's achieved, the cleanliness, i mean in particular why people decided against what was. it felt perfectly capable of approaching what actually unsettled us and prodding us towards reconciliation (not redemption, if anything, an embrace of these horrors/ embrace of the fact of horror, and then the turn away from the sanitary).

everything i like is like that, like books and stuff, i'm always on about that when you let me, but it's october, so i'm allowed, right. well i'll just keep doing it forever i guess, cuz i'm a broken record.

it's just so pretty to me. like yes, my life does feel like spirit halloween all the time, total dirty vomitrocity.

and stuff like this is just unbelievable i think.

this got me on flickr looking at hans bellmer stuff, rarer scans i've not got and also other stuff people tagged as related. i found quite an insane doll artist on there, who took some of the most uncanny photos ever it seems like.

i would like to use these somehow, in something, they're too evocative to not i think. the smudgy digital photography and the near-human figures, it's just so near my heart/how i feel.

anyways i'm stupid , stupid tired. i accidentally typed tied, instead of tied.

anyways, byebye!!

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simplyclary · 2 years ago

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Adriene Mishler: The Yogi who saved me

(Photo credits: Vox.com)

Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear cloaks like my favorite sorcerer Doctor Stephen Strange. Some wear friction-proof suits like The Flash and some wear spandex like Spider-Man. The thing is, those heroes exist in fiction but of course, there are also some heroes who exist in reality.

Heroes, both fictional and real, have one thing in common: they do their best to save people. Some do it while wearing white lab coats holding scalpels and tools to save someone from the brink of death while others simply have use the power of peace and mindfulness (while wearing fashionable sports gear) to save someone from the brink of insanity.

Meet Ms. Adriene Mishler, a Texan actress, writer, entrepreneur and yoga teacher who hosts the "Yoga With Adriene" channel on YouTube, where she offers free yoga practices with various lengths to her ever-growing audience and viewers.

Adriene has been a voice of stillness and peace, and she has this peaceful energy that emanates from the screen whenever I turn on one of her videos to do a practice. I feel nothing but serenity around me when she speaks, amid some of the practices feeling like torture especially on days where I'm a little bit sore.

She honestly changed my entire perspective about yoga, because to be honest, prior to doing yoga, I always thought it was all about flexibility and I admit that I am not a flexible person by any means. Going into it changed all of that. I soon discovered that yoga is not all about flexibility alone, it is about strength, discipline and patience because all doers of yoga (or yogis) could admit that they did not nail a specific pose on the first try. I do admit that and I also admit that up to now, even after a couple of years doing it, I still fall and lose my balance but I just remember that the ground is there to catch me, like Adriene said.

Doing yoga consistently has made some effects on my body and mind. My posture is better, I can breathe deeper, even my sleep is better because of the consistent practicing of yoga. Even my friends say that I've gotten taller, which up to this day, I still could not believe. My mindset is also clearer and I'm much more focused now because of the meditation practices that I try to do on a daily basis.

One thing I do love about Adriene is that she just has a practice for everything. If I have the monthly cramps, I do one practice specific for that and it relieves my cramps. If I have problems going to sleep, I do a bedtime practice and after about 20-30 minutes, I feel the need to hit my pillow and snooze away. This is just one of the many things that I love about Adriene, and that is just the cherry on top.

The "icing on the cake" or another thing that I love about Adriene is she is one of those fitness YouTube content creators that is empowering and motivating the viewers as they follow along the practice, and that empowers the viewer, making them eager to follow along. Not only do I get a physical practice but also an affirmation that could enlighten my mood and make my day brighter.

But what takes the cake for me is how she saved me from insanity through the craziness that has been occurring for the past couple of years, not only through the form of the pandemic but also political turmoil, everyday stressors and many more. My yoga mat and her voice are two of the things that I yearn for whenever I'm having a stressful day. I admit to sometimes breaking down into tears whenever I step on the mat after a stressful day, and I break down even more when I hear her sweet and angelic voice saying an affirmation that I didn't realize I need to hear until that moment.

I do also like to mention that I am subscribed to her love letter box and so I get a letter from her every now and again in my email and every time I receive a letter from her, I can't help but smile from ear to ear because sometimes, the letter contain sweet words and affirmation that only an angel like Adriene could conjure up.

Before I conclude this entry, I would like to point out that this entry will be my gift to Adriene and this will be posted on her birthday which is on the 29th of September...so I will end this with a birthday message to her...

My dearest Adriene,

Happy birthday to the sweet soul that you are. I hope you celebrate today with Benji and the people that you love and those who love you. You may not know me personally, but do know that I am one of those people who consider you as her superhero because I am one of the people you saved through the practices on YouTube. You are such an angelic soul and I never regret that day that I first clicked on a video from your channel because my life changed after that. Your calm (virtual) presence and empowering words are things that I now need to complete my day.

Please do continue to empower this beautiful community of yogis who found hope and motivation to live their lives because of you. Sending you loads of love from Manila, Philippines all the way to your home in Austin, Texas.

With love,

Clary

#yoga with adriene #yogapractice #happy birthday #yogaeverywhere #yogainspiration

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stripper-patrick · 4 years ago

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Speak to me 🤫 Chris Evans

Warnings: smut, language, daddy kink, straight up nastiness, choking, reverse cowgirl, spanking, dirty talk, silent treatment, dom!Chris, eating cat from da back, heel fetish, daddy kink

Tags: @rebellious-desires @mrsbanreswillseeyou @eclecticblkgirl

Relationship: Chris Evans x black plus sized reader

“Hello” Chris pulls out his iPhone answering the incoming call “hey Scott what’s up” I’m laying on the bed on my phone when I perk up hearing Chris say “yea I’m free” this bastard

“No the hell you aren’t” I sit up crossing my legs

“Yea that sounds great I’ll meet you there” he looks at me, my face is painted with anger and frustration. I’ve been trying to plan this dinner with him at this new restaurant called Yard House but they’ve been booked since they first opened. Now tonight when I finally get us a reservation he makes plans with his brother. He got me fucked up.

Chris hangs up and I turn my head waiting for an explanation “honey I’m sorry but it’s Scott”

“Are you deadass? I told you I couldn’t get ahold of this restaurant for weeks and the second I make us a reservation you go and agree to plans with your brother” I’m furious at the moment “you know what go head”

“Y/N”

“Go” I yell. He sighs rubbing his eyes as I turn around going back on my phone. Chris leaves the room and I groan. I proceed to the shower turning it on rolling my eyes. The hot water runs down my back ultimately giving me time to think.

....

I’m woken up to the front door opening and shutting. I grab my phone seeing the picture of Chris flash on my lock screen and the time reads back 4am. I have 4 messages and 5 phone calls all from him. The door opens and I can see the tall figure moving around shimmying off his clothes.

“Hey babe” I roll my eyes turning on my stomach clutching the pillow. I hear a deep sigh come from Chris’ mouth “baby girl I’m sorry I know how important that dinner was to you” He slides in the bed next to me and his hand rests on my butt but I’m quick to move it “don’t touch me” I scoot closer to the edge closing my eyes hearing one last sigh before I drift to sleep.

....

The sun bleeds into the room brightening it up causing me to open my eyes. I get up and go to the bathroom doing my business and completing my morning facial routine. Washing my face, moisturizer, and toner. I walk out the bathroom and slip into some leggings, and a low cut crop top. I have a nail appointment today and I’m debating on making him pay just for fucking with me but I can’t allow myself to do that.

I step out of the room, the bright sun illuminating the hallway and I descend downstairs where I smell bacon and waffles cooking. I go into the kitchen crossing my arms watching him put strawberries in the batter. My favorite.

“Morning princess” I mumble sitting at the island and he sets a plate in front of me. His pretty blue eyes bore into mine just silently begging me to say something

“I’m sorry how many times do I have to say it?” He asks. I cut up my waffles and pour syrup on them without even glancing his way. I know this is torturing him. To go from talking and laughing one day to not speaking at all is destroying him especially when we live in the same household. I take a bite of the warm breakfast almost moaning at the taste. Damn he put his foot in these. “Why are you all dressed up?”

“Nails” I huff

“Ah I’m going with you”

“No you’re not”

“I am and I’m paying for them and while we’re at it we can go to the mall” I roll my eyes and he smirks sitting next to me digging into his plate “what will it take for you to speak to me baby doll. I’ll do anything” a smirk appears on my lips but I keep quiet.

“You know what fine” the rest of the breakfast is filled with silence and he takes my plate cleaning it.

I sit on the couch flipping through channels as Chris disappears upstairs. Finally some peace and quiet. The tv gets boring so I turn it off and go on my phone. After about 20 minutes of scrolling I look at the time seeing I should bust a move if I wanna make it to the nail salon on time.

I stand up and walk to the door leaving. I get into my car turning on the air immediately. Chris jogs out and opens the driver door “what are you doing?” I question

“Get out”

“I don’t have time for this I’m gonna be late then I have to pay a late fee”

“Get. Out” I huff taking off my seatbelt and getting out the car. Chris gets in the drivers seat and nudges too the passenger seat “you aren’t going with me”

“Y/N I won’t tell you again” his deep voice sends a heartbeat to my core but I can’t fold like this. I groan stomping to the passenger side. He gets out opening the door for me and I swing my legs inside as he shuts it. Chris gets back in the drivers seat and putting his seatbelt on before pulling off.

...

After getting my NAILS done we ended up at the mall but I still haven’t said one word to him. I’ve kept to myself and haven’t touched him or even looked his way. This may seem extensive but he needs to understand that I deserve some time with him as well. “Babydoll lets go in here” swinging his bags in his hand he takes me in the Louis Vuitton store. I set my eyes on this beautiful bag and I see some shoes I adore.

“I’m gonna step out real fast here” he hands me his credit card and I snatch it. I’ll teach his ass a lesson. I grab the bag and the shoes in my size taking them to the register. I use his card to pay for the stuff then head across the way to Prada where I find another gorgeous purse. I grab that but I don’t see anything else I want so I just check that out. The next store I walk to is Dior where I see some cute blue and orange slides and a beautiful gold necklace. The problem is it’s 2,000 dollars and I’ve already spent at least a grand. I think about Chris and he would be somewhat upset but I’m upset at the moment so he’ll be fine.

I grab the necklace and shoes taking them to the register. I use his card and the transaction completes. The woman hands me my bags and I smile thanking her. I walk out of the store and see Chris coming back. Poker face is on.

“I got a call from the bank saying my card was nearly shut off because they thought someone stole it. You spent about 10 grand”

“Oops” I stand up and he takes all my bags from me.

“It’s time to go let’s go” I stand my ground folding my arms again

“I wanna keep shopping”

“Any other day would’ve been a smooth yes, anything to get you to talk to me but today is not the day. Let’s. Go” he says sternly

“No” Chris adjusts the bags on his arms and grabs me by my arm pulling me along outside. I let my arm go once we get in the car. He sets the bags in the trunk and I get in.

....

We get home and I walk through the double doors. He sets the bags in the living room and I go upstairs not allowing another word to be said. I strip down bare and get under the navy blue fitted sheets and comforter taking a deep breath before I feel myself drift to sleep.

...

I hear feet shuffling into the room and I see Chris dressed in a fitted black button, dark jeans, and Stacey Adams paired with a gold bracelet and a watch on his wrist. I notice he decorated my choker.

“princess” I’m still mad at him for last night and haven’t talked to him the whole day. I groan pushing my arms above my head stretching my limbs before swinging my legs off the bed letting them dangle. “Y/N get dressed and ready” he speaks again this time more stern. I’ll admit it turned me on. I stare at him and huff “Do you really wanna test my patience darling? Get dressed now”

“I’m not going anywhere with you” I cross my arms in a fit of rage breaking my silent streak and turn away from him. Chris wraps his hand around the back of my neck with a smirk. A smile spreads across my face “did it sound like I was asking? I’ve had enough of your bratty ass today”

I roll my eyes earning a slap to my ass “don’t roll your eyes at me just do as I say” I go into the closet figuring out what to wear. The wet spot in my panties has me tempted to take them off and go commando today in the warm autumn air. Temptation gets the best of me and I pull them off grabbing a short DRESS and some HEELS. I grab a jacket just in case it’s cold wherever we’re going. “Christopher where are we going”

“Don’t worry about it” he looks up at me and his jaw drops when he sees my dress. I sit at my vanity and start on a simple makeup look not really wanting to get too much into it tonight. I keep my curls the way they are as I finish everything.

“Ready?”

“Mhmm” I follow Chris hearing him sigh. I walk downstairs and he extends his arm helping me downstairs. I walk past him into the car in the passenger seat where I just sit. At this point I’m completely over the situation but he needs to learn his lesson. Chris gets in and starts the car and I look at him “where are we going”

He ignores me and I roll my eyes huffing. He sets his hand on my thigh and I leave it there. His hand creeps higher but that’s when I stop him “if you think you can get any of this tonight you got me fucked up”

“We’ll see about that”

....

Chris makes a right and I see the restaurant. I’m very confused as to why we’re here. He pulls into a parking spot and gets out. Chris opens the door for me and at this point I’m curious as to what he’s got going on. I see a long ass line of people waiting outside.

“I’m not interested in waiting in line”

“That’s a good thing you don’t have to” he shuts and locks the car door walking up with me. We walk through the doors and immediately the host recognizes him “Mr. Evans right this way”

We walk through the crowd of people into our own little section with a dim light and a table for 2. “How did you do this?”

“I bought it. Now can you stop being mad at me it’s torturing”

“Maybe” he pulls out my chair for me and I sit watching him the seat in front of me.

“I’m sorry babydoll I was inconsiderate to how much effort you put into getting us a reservation” he says

“Truth he told I stopped being mad after I ran up your card but I kept my poker face”

“Well you’re pretty damn good at it” the waitress comes over and is star struck at the Chris Evans sitting right in front of her.

“Hello my name is Tiara what can I get you guys started off with?”

“Lemme get a coors and” he looks at me “a white wine?” I nod and she writes it down flashing him a big smile before leaving to put in our drinks. “Clearly you have a fan”

“I see but she’s not important right now. You are and if you think you can pull some shit on me like that again you’ve clearly got me fucked up”

“Oohhh the spicy white is coming out. I like it” the waitress comes back with our drinks and we order the food.

....

We’ve finished dinner and Chris pays the bill. The waitress is standing there and I’ve noticed her shirt is undone a little more than usual as in I can see her purple lace bra and I know Chris can see it too.

He fishes out a 20 from his pocket handing it to her and I watch her slip it in her bra. My jaw drops as she winks at him completely stepping over boundaries.

“Excuse me” she averts her attention to me and I’m start to shake. That’s how mad I am. “Try that shit again with my man and I promise you’ll be missing a couple teeth and a job”

Her eyes go wide and she leaves without saying anything else. Chris has his bottom lip tucked in between his perfect teeth with a smirk pulled against his lips.

“You’re so sexy when you’re mad”

“Yea whatever” I shake my head

“Do me a favor” I listen waiting for his request “take off your panties”

“It’s funny that you think I’m wearing any” his blue eyes turn dark as he nods

“That ass is mine” he laughs. The waitress comes back with a small white cake. Nothing special written on it or anything. I spin it around trying to find something then I look at Chris who had a cheeky smile on his face.

“Cut into it” I grab a knife and cut into the cake revealing a blue matte box. I look at him and grab the box opening it. I see a beautiful ring and engraved inside of the box is: ‘Will You Marry Me?’ A flood of emotions drowns me and now I’m sitting here crying.

“Stop playing Christopher” I say

“Y/N I want you to make me the happiest man alive” he takes the ring and slides it on my finger

“Is this why you left me today?” He nods smiling

“I can’t see myself without you” he whispers “so what do you say?”

“Yes yes yes a thousand times yes” I hug him and he holds me tight as more tears fall. I give him a nice kiss and he smiles holding me closer.

....

As soon as we hit the front door Chris’ hands are all over me. I open the door and he shuts it sliding my dress off my body to reveal I’m completely naked just as I said. I go to take off my heels but he stops me “leave them”

Chris picks me up with ease and something in the moment just told me to let him pick me up. In the year and a half we’ve been together I’ve never let him pick me up because of my size but tonight is different.

He takes me upstairs to our shared bedroom where he lays me down “I’m going to ruin you for what you put me through today”

I smile and he turns me around face down ass up “clearly you’re enjoying it more than I thought” he collects my wetness on the tip of his finger trailing it up to my clit rubbing torturously slow. I feel his large hands part my ass and his beard scratches me. I drop my face into the mattress feeling his tongue work inside of me while his fingers massage my clit. My arms stretch back and I pull on my heels holding my legs up and arching my back more. I hear Chris moan at my current position. I don’t know how much loner I can do this position cause I’m a big bitch and this shit hurts.

He stops eating me out and I hear his pants unzip then drop “keep that position baby doll” He pumps his dick and I feel his head push inside of me with ease. He fits the rest of his cock inside of me and replaces my hands on my heels with his. My hands extend above my head as he starts pounding me out making my body rock back and forth. My hands have a mind of their own gripping the sheets.

“You like that you little slut?” He spanks me and I cry out biting my lip “you’ve been such a bad girl” he keeps a tight grip on my hips holding me in place. I couldn’t run even if I really wanted to.

“Fuck daddy it’s too much” he chuckles maniacally

“Nah you keep playing with me” Chris pushes my back into a crazy arch pushing a little more of his weight on my butt. He continues pounding on me until my body is seizing and I’m crying out his name.

“That’s it you’re gonna be a mess by the time I’m finished with you” he moans still thrusting in me. He stops and pulls out leaving me empty and my cum dripping on my thighs.

“Ride me reverse” he lays next to me placing his hands behind his head and I grab his dick and swing my legs over his thick body. I guide him inside of me placing my hands on his calves bouncing my ass.

“Fuck” I moan. He smacks my behind and keeps a firm grip on my hips guiding me harder and faster. Chris wastes no time taking control pounding into me from below. His balls are slapping against my ass while he holds my wailing arms behind me keeping them steady. My jaw drops as he growls in an animalistic form. My breasts bounce as he continues torturing me.

“You’ve been a bad girl babydoll and I don’t appreciate it” he moans. I can see his piercing blue eyes through my hazy vision. I’m still sensitive from my last orgasm so I’m close already.

“Fuck daddy you’re gonna make me cum” I scream. My legs press together not sure whether to try to get away or sink further onto him.

He keeps going and just as I’m about to release Chris stops pumping altogether. He lifts me up putting me back on my hands and knees.

Chris enters me again but this time he grabs my hair pulls my back against his chest. Once he has me where he wants me, he envelops his hand around my throat squeezing the sides constricting air. He wraps his free arm around my breasts as he starts his fast rhythmic thrusting again. His moans are prominent in my ear as his hand on my breasts drop to my clit.

At this point I’m seeing stars and my moans are uncontrollable. My body trembles from being rocked into with each powerful thrust. My shaky hands hold onto his wrist leading to my clit as he kisses my cheek, shoulder, and neck. “You look like such a pretty slut taking my dick like this”

“Cum in me please” I beg. He lets go of my throat and grabs his belt nearby tying it around my hands. My hands are bound behind my back as he uses my arms to hold me as I’m leaned forward taking his dick.

“Cum with me Y/N I feel how close you are babydoll” he was right. I’m right on the edge when he gives me a good slap to my behind making my legs clamp together shaking tremendously. His name is all that I can call out making me see stars. “That’s my good girl oh shit” he lets out a string of curses and I feel my walls being painted in his children as he continues assaulting me in the best way possible.

Our juices collect around the base of his dick dripping on the sheets. As I drop my head completely spun. Chris extracts every drop inside of me before pulling out. He lays beside me with a smirk on his face pulling his belt off my hands “where the fuck did you learn how to tie me up with a belt”

“You’d be surprised what the Internet can teach you” he says “please don’t ignore me again” he lays on my bare chest

“Well don’t do any stupid shit again” I smile taking my fingers through his hair

#smut #fluff #chris evans #chris evans x reader #chris evans x y/n #chris evans and black girls #chris evans fluff #chris evans smut #chris evans imagine

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thatpinkbetch · 4 years ago

Text

Bkdk Fic Rec

I’ve been inspired to write a fic rec! This one goes out to you @lonely-rabbit

At like, the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019 I stayed up until 4am every night reading fics, and because I’m such a loser, I made a word doc to keep track of all of them so I wouldn’t forget them.... I tried organizing it by length but it got messy cause I’m ridiculous and cluttered, so sorry! (I’ll save my own for the end alskdjflsdkfj gotta self promote you know). This is going to get...really long, so I’ll put it under a read more! Also, just a heads up, these are all on ao3, in case that’s important to anyone!

Disclaimer: Any fics with mature or explicit content I will add a bolded warning for, even if it’s only a little bit. Normally most fics will be tagged as such, but some fics that are rated as teen I’ve found to be more suggestive than some of those rated as mature, so I will try to point it out where it feels necessary, for anyone who wishes to avoid it.

Fics under 1k:

Illuminate by TheQueen (269 words)

Summary: Bakugou watches the first firework launch and fights to keep his face neutral

Very short, plot is about a case of amnesia, also very cute and well written for that length! Not angsty at all imo

sweaty hands holding secrets - shounentwink (563 words)

Summary: Someone said Midoriya holds secrets in his hair.

It’s not true: He holds it tightly in his hands. Bakugou’s seen it.

I really like this writer! You’ll see quite a bit of them in this post alkdsjfalskdjf

Fics 1k - 10k:

Many sunflowers later - Jeka (2395 words)

Summary: Scholar Midoriya Izuku comes back to the person he left behind after his journey through the kingdom, the mighty dragon clan leader Bakugou Katsuki.

Day 1 of Twin Stars Week 2020: Fantasy AU.

First of all, fantasy au!!! Second of all, jeka!!! (I need to read more of your stuff!!) Anyways, so cute, such lovely, pretty writing, wonderful story telling, and they’re so in love TT_TT

Boom Badoom Boom - warschach (3429 words)

Summary: Izuku's working the kissing booth at the school fair, it just so happens Katsuki has been crushing on him since the first grade.

“Did you—“ Izuku parted his mouth with no sound leaving it, “Did you pay?”

“Yea.”

“For a kiss?”

This one’s a little silly but I love it still. It’s got a “kids in the 80′s over summer vacation” vibe, I think. I love warschach! I should read more of their writing... They have SUCH good bakudeku content! *It’s rated teen but there’s some suggestive content, just a heads up!

Hopeless Ramen-tic - lalazee (7155 words)

Summary: Midoriya is a cute guy who works at a ramen stall and Bakugou is thirsty as hell, but has to hide it by being an asshat. Another love story.

Ah, so good TT_TT so much sass, such good plot development and story telling for a simple concept *It’s rated as teen but again, it can be suggestive at times!

I’ll share this with you, so leave it behind - yabakuboi (3508 words)

Suammry: For the sake of the story, All Might is never in need of a successor, and, when Izuku saves Katsuki from the sludge monster, encourages young Midoriya down a different path. Thus, Katsuki and Izuku part ways after junior high, as Katsuki enters U.A. and the Midoriyas move overseas. It’s later that Katsuki realizes that there’s something missing, that he drove that something away.

Years after, Katsuki finds him in the last place he looks, in the cereal aisle at the local grocery store of their childhood neighborhood.

So soft, so sweet, so good if you just want to curl up in a comfy blanket and drink hot cocoa and feel warm and cozy and a little in love

The Secret Deku Box - yabakuboi (2241 words)

Summary: “Y’know, Bakugou never, ever talks about girls,” Kaminari says, his voice thoughtful.

“And I wonder why that is.” Ashido rolls her eyes.

“I’m just curious!” Kaminari whines. Kirishima drags the box out, unlabeled and unassuming, the lid not even fully clasped over the edges. “The guy has to— Whoa, what’s that?”

Kirishima realizes a little belatedly that this is a serious breach of privacy, and Bakugou will actually murder all of them. “Nothing!” he cries, attempting to shove it back under the bed, but Ashido snatches it away.

“Please be his porn stash!” Kaminari whispers as she whips the lid off.

Cute, funny, in canon, in character, and a must read I would say!

daisy bunches and heather branches - halcyonwhispers (5862 words)

Summary: izuku falls in love with the foul-mouthed tattoo artist next door.

Not another flower/tattoo shop au.... aldskjflaskdjfd Okay but punk!Bakugou is ALWAYS a smart move imo

the best part of me (is the worst I can give) - halcyonwhispers (5668)

Summary: Whole sentences usually make up people’s Words, but Katsuki got stuck with a name instead.

Izuku’s name.

I am such a sucker for soulmate aus when it comes to these boys TT_TT *There is some mature content, just a heads up!

Hard to Say - halcyonwhispers (8390 words)

Summary: Izuku is a Halfling, born after his faerie father spirited away his mom and then left her behind. Never quite fitting in with the humans or any of the supernatural beings in his small town, Izuku hoped that going to a diverse college in the big city will help him finally make friends.

Katsuki’s family has been powerful witches for generations, and he’s no different. Talented and a proclaimed genius to boot, he knew he shouldn’t waste his time on this dumbass (disgustingly cute) half-blood.

Or,

two idiots fall in love and don’t get that the other’s awkward cues are just a result of romantic tension.

I am ALSO a sucker for fantasy/mythical creatures au and I LOVED this one - Bakugou absolutely unable to handle how cute Midoriya is? Perfection - but it’s unfinished, and I don’t think it ever will be continued, unfortunately TT_TT

lots to unpack (throw away the whole suitcase) - shounentwink (4315 words)

Summary: “How’d you know?” Midoriya asks.

There’s a hunch to his shoulders that wasn’t there three hours ago. Freckled shoulders are kissed sunburnt and red: he looks like someone ran him over and left him like roadkill in the sunlight. Bakugou’s working with insurance today, but he could see the sparks of green lightning even from his elevated position in their shared agency. Midoriya’s holding his thumb, cracking it over and over — it looks like he’s rubbed it raw.

“Dunno,” Bakugou says. “Maybe you’re just easy to read, nerd.”

I love this one so much, it was one of the first ones I read, it’s so good, and it’s another that really affected how I view their relationship! Idk this one just hit for me

hang the moon from us (it’s a no from me) - shounentwink (1200 words)

Summary: Midoriya’s gonna get sick of Bakugou one of these days, and then the whole ruse will be over, and the balance of power will tilt beyond salvation, but that day isn’t today and it looks like Bakugou knows it.

What an asshole.

Once again, I’m a sucker for the fantasy au... But even more, the diction, the details, the imagery...it’s absolutely all stunning here. I wish I could write this pretty

In Which Bakugou Finds His One Tru Luv - Erina (5862 words) This is the first one of a series called The Misadventures of Explodo-kill Agency!

Summary: Welcome to the Explodo-kill agency! We can destroy your buildings, crash your cars, and help you solve one of the seven mysteries in life: who is Bakugou Katsuki's mysterious boyfriend?!

I’ll admit I’ve only read the first three but by god they are the funniest fics I’ve ever read in my life. I see that Erina has added more since the last time I checked it out! Tbh I was only interested in reading the purely bakudeku ones... (My favorite was the second one!! SO funny and cute!)

i still do - raeryn (9646 words)

Summary: He’s losing him to pieces, but Izuku still tries to make them count. In which a battle leaves Bakugou Katsuki with amnesia, and Izuku finds himself picking up the pieces.

So, this one makes me cry. TT_TT

One Thing Straight - winningshot (9899 words)

Summary: They totally aren't.

Hints of their relationship is found in all of their friends’ social media accounts, but majority of their fans still think that Katsuki and Izuku are in relationships with anybody but each other.

It was amusing up until it became sad.

Lmao it’s a little salty but I guess I can be too. This is a social media fic! There’s multiple ships in this one, too

A Demolition Boy & his Cryptid BF - kewltie (8472 words)

Summary: Bakugou of the Demolition Squad is famous for running one of the most popular Youtube channels on the web that regularly blow shit up and jumped off a perfectly good building for shit and giggles. He's also famous for his Cryptid BF™, never appearing on camera except for a few bodyshots and all information on him is kept locked up tighter than Fort Knox, therefore drawing all sort of attention and curiosity toward his mysterious boyfriend.

Deku from Deku Explains is a hopeless chatterbox who is known for uploading 20-30 minutes video that talked about his favorite shows and comics and have one of the most devoted following on Youtube. He also can't seem to shut up about his boyfriend Kacchan, who regularly make his presence on the channel as a disembodied voice.

They should theoretically have nothing in common except a shared platform to host their content and an army of fans with an endless curiosity and devotion to their Youtubers. Vidcon is where we lay our scene and the internet is about to get a rude wake up call.

Okay kewltie is SO GOOD and very creative! The formatting is phenomenal, it’s like you’re actually experiencing a social media melt down in real time lol

be my good luck charm - writedeku (6785 words)

Summary: See, the thing is, Midoriya Izuku had been born with a curse. It’s not a curse that’s particularly visible. He doesn’t have horns, or a tortured face, and it’s not the kind of silly curse like a friend of his had way down south in Diagnor, wherein the girl had been born without the ability to say the word duck. Midoriya Izuku is just extremely unlucky.

(Or the AU in which Izuku's the world's unluckiest travelling merchant, and Katsuki is someone who may be able to help him. For a price, that is.)

Oh I adore this one! It’s so cute and such a good narrative! Nice and warm, and Bakugou trying his damnedest to be suave, and it somehow working because Midoriya is just as flustered. *Another one rated as teen but some suggestive content.

Smells Like Victory - majjale (2377 words)

Summary: Bakugou takes two steps into the room and stops, clapping a hand over his nose. “Ugh, what stinks like Deku in here?”

"Good afternoon, Bakugou. That would be the amortentia."

I must admit, not a fan of HP, but majjale...TT_TT majjale writes these two boys so well. This one is really, really good!

Cherish Me - Justaperson1718 (2376 words)

Summary: “What?”

Izuku looked back down at his menu and flipped the page, a small smile on his face. “Nothing.”

Katsuki glared at Izuku from across the table. “If it was nothing then you wouldn’t be staring at me.”

“It’s just a little funny watching you try to look your best for our date when you always look great anyway,” Izuku explained. He wouldn’t look up from his menu while he spoke, but his words remained ingrained with confidence nevertheless. He considered what he was saying to be fact, and nothing else. “Even when you’re not trying in front of the cameras, it’s still hard to take my eyes off of you.”

This is a sequel to a fic that’ll be in the next section, because it’s longer, called Manage Me. Please read that one first before this one! (Not part of a series, but they’re the same story line)

Fascinating - Justaperson1718 (1556 words)

Summary: “I’m not staring at you,” Izuku replied, his eyes focused intently on Katsuki. He’s still wearing his pajamas, sitting on his knees in their shared bed. He was awake moments before Katsuki, and waited eagerly for the other to awake.

Katsuki glanced over his shoulder after his shirt was on and glared. “You’re fucking staring at me right now.”

Izuku shook his head, humming his disapproval quietly. “I’m watching you.”

“That’s the same damn thing,” Katsuki said while searching for a pair of pants in the dresser. “Your eyes are fixated on me like I’m your life’s fucking goal or some shit.”

“I just like watching you get dressed.” Izuku tilted his head to the side and smiled softly at Katsuki’s confused stare. “I know, it’s weird. But I like it.”

*There is a little bit of implied mature content, but overall, it’s just so sweet and intimate, and I just simply adore this one.

in a place once filled with gold - dorenamryn (9226 words)

Summary: It felt strange to remember such details, for they were things a friend should know, and as far as Katsuki was concerned, he and Deku hadn’t been friends in a very, very long time. He could admit, with reluctance, that they were on the path there, now, even though they would never make it. Katsuki would die before they could get the chance.

or: There is a garden growing in Katsuki’s lungs, and he is helpless to stop it.

“Hanahaki disease” okay, I can explain myself. Okay, I can’t. In any case, you got angst with a happy ending if that’s what you’re into!

Kaleidoscope - DPRenFTW (5141 words)

Summary: Izuku is a witch. He just needs to find his familiar. Enter a boy that is a wolf, and a wolf that is a boy - with wild red eyes and sharp smiles.

And Izuku thinks:

"Oh, it's him."

Just as beautiful and fascinating as the name implies! I seriously recommend for the beautiful writing, the gorgeous world, the mythical creatures au, and the lovely bakudeku romance!

Learning Curve - sensiblysilly (4222 words)

Summary: Deku and Katsuki’s first kiss goes rather differently than planned.

And Katsuki’s quickly learning that relationships can be unpredictable - especially when taking into account the variable that is Midoriya Izuku.

This really is just a careful handling of a teenage romance where perhaps one of them may have shit they’re still working through. It’s really sweet, and a careful study at boundaries and the building of a relationship. I actually stumbled across this while looking for another with the same name and ended up pleasantly surprised. Kacchan can has a little validation, as a treat.

4/20 is a national holiday - Ereri_Garbage (

Summary: Izuku is a drug dealer that doesn't really accept the fact he's a drug dealer, Katsuki is hot as hell as shouldn't be allowed a facebook.

Happy (Late) birthday Katsuki and happy (late) 4/20. I actually half assed an edit on this one so it took longer to post than I thought it would.

Uummmm lmao yes I have a sense of humor. ;ALDSKJFLSKDJF Okay, I say that, but this is not a crack fic, it’s a good story that I enjoy with good writing, and *it has mature, content, obviously for multiple reasons here. It’s rated as mature but there are borderline explicit moments imo. It’s a fun fic and funny, too! And, ngl, it really does remind me of college... But forget about me, the bakudeku is wonderful too of course :)

Drinking Watermelon - warschach (8906 words)

Summary: For whatever reason, maybe divine fate, Izuku turned and looked over his shoulder and waved to them.

Katsuki’s heart full on stopped right then, and his fingers forgot their duty on the rails, and his body neglected its job to keep Katsuki balanced.

Izuku’s summer sweet smile fell into concern as Katsuki went airborne and cracked his skull on the porch.

or Katsuki works as a camp counselor, and Izuku is a boy made of summer heat and sunlight.

Love it when people have Bakugou as absolutely enamored with Midoriya; it’s so good and true. Anyways this one makes me like summer camp story lines. It’s funny and also cute and great writing! *It’s got explicit content, just a heads up. Warschach stories just have this youthful 80′s vibe, I don’t know how else to explain it.

there are listed buildings - semiautomatichearts (3309)

Summary: Katsuki first sees colors bloom when he is only three years old. It is timid Izuku, hiding behind the cover of his mother's leg who looks upon him with wide eyes, and Katsuki's world explodes in shades of greens and pinks and blues, and he is so startled, he begins to cry.

His life is then on defined in color, in shades his peers can't see, by the forlorn, timid stare in Izuku's eyes that always lets off more than he is willing to tell. There is a schism driven between himself and his fated other, and Katsuki strives to be better than fate, better than what is defined for him. He is more than the written pages of a book, to be cracked open and read by the gods.

He wonders if it is possible for colors to bloom for someone who will never love you back.

Ah...soulmates :) So interesting how bakudeku fits into soulmate aus like this one when they’ve known each other as kids! And when they’ve had this complex push and pull thing going on all their lives! The writing is beautiful, and so is the story!

Promise Ring - bkdkwritingsdump (3579)

Summary: The midwest in the 1950′s is no place for boys who like kissing boys: something Izuku and Katsuki know all too well growing up there. However, the undeniable bond between the nervous science geek and the aloof delinquent will still find a way to blossom in such a desert.

Cute, sweet, makes my gay heart ache. Longing not just for the one you love, but just to feel right loving them. Very pretty story line, lovely story telling!

Fics 10k - 30k:

Fishy - warschach (19417 words)

Summary: Izuku’s convinced his hot co-worker/neighbor, Katsuki, is a mermaid-or merman- you gotta consider genders even with mythical creatures- and plans to prove it.

(or this is kinda like the show ‘Monster Quest��, except Izuku actually finds said monster, falls in love, and have sexy times.)

Another warschach! I love this one, I love how they write bakudeku, particularly as college students, their stories (at least, the ones that I’ve read) always feel so warm, like a summer’s day, but not a lazy one, one that’s playful? If that makes sense? *This one is explicit, another heads up!

Manage Me - Justaperson1718 (10756 words)

Summary: Izuku caught himself moving forward, his head tilted somewhat to the side, and his eyes shot wide open. His gaze met Katsuki’s half-lidded eyes now that he was no longer in a dreamlike state, and seeing the way Katsuki was looking at him—waiting for him—made him realize Katsuki would’ve let him do it. He might have even wanted him to do it.

“You’re both doing fabulous!” the photographer called out to them, packing his camera into his bag and getting ready to leave. “I just got word that what we have now should be good, so we’ll stop there. Thank you for your time! Lock the door on your way out after you change.”

The pair stayed frozen in place, with Izuku’s arms around Katsuki’s neck and Katsuki’s hands resting on Izuku’s waist, while the photographer and his supervisor left.

“Kacchan,” Izuku cooed once they were gone. “Did you want to…?”

Love the story, love the bakudeku! Very, very good bakudeku TT_TT very sweet *There is some mature content in here as well

point to a map (we’ve been there) - cosmicfuss (10589 words)

Summary: Serendipity / sĕr″ən-dĭp′ĭ-tē Serendipity is the occurrence of an unplanned fortunate discovery. Two men find themselves on a subway, hot coffee on one while the other is in the middle of a screaming match. After that they can't seem to stop finding each other, no matter how far they go.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; this fic owns my entire soul. I love the story, the ease of their relationship, just how lovely they are together. It’s another kind of nice, fluffy fic you’d read on a bad day where you come home and curl up in a blanket and listen to a ten hour video of thunderstorm white noise. *Again, some more mature content in here

Partners - tsukithewolf (13619 words) Another series! Two parts to this one this time

Summary: It is said that in Musutafu there is a charm that one can buy at a temple that will lead you to your destined partner. They say that if the charm works, you would be able to follow the red string of fate to the person you were meant to be with. And if the person returns your feelings, they would be able to see the string as well, proving that both were meant to be.

Three-year-old Katsuki and Izuku misunderstand what the word "partner" means and discover the charm and the rumor behind it is not only true, but more than expected.

Gets a little heavy, depression, bullying, suicidal thoughts, etc. But it must get worse before it gets better, that kind of thing. I also just adore the second part (called Bond) - maybe because it’s much fluffier, what about it?

Learning Curve - iknewaman (10304 words)

Summary: “Izuku.” Uraraka repeats as she motions at the person stood next to her. Green curls, average height, and, well. Up close, not such a bad smile. Uraraka points a thumb at Bakugou and enunciates slowly, “This is Bakugou. He can speak sign language too.”

Wait. Sign language?

The stranger— well, Izuku— looks at him with a raised brow. Their free hand lifts up as they make a slight motion of the hand.‘

Really?’

Bored out of his mind at a house party one night Bakugou is introduced to Izuku, a deaf student who offers to help teach Bakugou sign language in exchange for a favour-- or well, is prompted into asking for a favour.

Ah, I really want to explain this one a little bit? I’d never been into fanfiction ever, only really getting into it with these boys. This was the second one I read, I remember, and it caught me off guard, and it intrigued me. It really surprised me as to what fanfiction could be. Ngl I had biased perceptions of fanfics - I used to be one of those people who thought fanfiction could never be good writing - and this one slapped me in the face with it’s subtle beauty and creative story and heart melting capabilities, and very, very real relationship and growth. Anyways it’s so cute how happy Deku is to teach Kacchan sign language TT_TT Make sure to read the tags!

The Keeper and the Sun God’s Heir - SurelyHeavenWaits (12746 words)

Summary: The Titans' have stolen something important from Izuku, heir of the Sun God, and he wants it back.

This one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one this one- Oh my god this one. Okay so what, I was a Percy Jackson kid, what about it? I love the mythical aus, particularly the god ones. But beyond that, the writing is so beautiful, just like the world, and the imagery. The bakudeku...absolutely stunning. The story itself? Incredible. Cannot recommend more. *There is explicit content in this, though I will say, it’s all in the last chapter, and all of the story is in the first two chapters. There’s also a second part as it’s a series and it’s short but it’s cute and sweet TT_TT

seven days - aaAAAaaahhhhHHHHH (10094 words)

Summary: There’s something about the green haired boy, an aura that just drew Katsuki in before he even knew his name.

[Sometimes your mind forgets, but your heart remembers]

Heed my warning: DON’T read this in front of other people. I bawl every time I read this one TT_TT I know I said I don’t like angst but AJLSKDFJALSKDFJ it has a hopeful ending! I mean yeah you’re gonna cry but...hope? :’) (that username really says it all tbh)

Fics 30k+

Notice me, nerd - useless_donut (40000 words)

Summary: Bakugou is in love with Midoriya. He doesn’t hide it, in fact it’s so painfully obvious that the entire class of 3-A has him figured out in a matter of months (days, in some cases). Too bad Midoriya is the most oblivious motherfucker out there, and Bakugou is too damn stubborn to actually ask him out.

Will the class of 3-A survive the sexual tension? Who will snap first? Someone put Bakugou out of his misery, please, before everyone else dies of second-hand embarrassment.

(a love story as witnessed by the class of 3-A)

Love the idea of Bakugou being brazen and brash, cause yeah, he is. So fucking funny though how that translates to him flirting. Gotta say, thought I was gonna cringe, but his “I’m gay af” outfit really ended up being A Look. Love the mutual pining, it really is strong in this one. *Okay, mature content in this one lads.

While You Were Sleeping - Belkacaramelka (71197 words)

Summary: The one where quirkless fanboy Midoriya Izuku rescues Pro Hero Todoroki Shouto, gets mistaken as his fiancé while he is in a coma, and gets caught up in the most unlikely fake engagement... until his childhood enemy and Todoroki's classmate Bakugou Katsuki tries to catch him out, and they both end up discovering a lot more about each other than they'd expected.

Quirkless AU based on the film; endgame BakuDeku. -- Katsuki didn’t know when the change had happened: how he had gone from asking why Todoroki chose Deku of all people, to wondering why it was Todoroki that Deku chose. Troublesome Deku, who cooed like an idiot at cats, tripped at a random catcall and sang badly. Who, despite everything, proved that it wasn’t the quirk that defined a person. Deku, who was too much, not his, and undeniably off limits to begin with.

Update: Epilogue added

*This one has mature content. If you can, please, for the love of god, read this fic. It’s like, tied with my favorite bkdk fic perhaps ever. It’s based on the movie of the same title, a nineties romcom with Sandra Bullock, but Belkacaramelka has so effortlessly made it into it’s own story, fit it so perfectly inside of the bnha world. I definitely stayed up until 6:30am reading this one. It’s got such good badass Midoriya, who is also sweet, and really really good reconciliation between bakudeku.

All Gifted - fitzefitcher (39129 words)

Summary: The thing about gifts is that they're meant to be given, they're meant to be shared; so Izuku will take his gifts, so freely given to him, and share them with all he holds dear.

Izuku is born without any gifts, as his kind often are, to a witch mother and salamander father, on one sweltering night in July.

This one is unfinished...and I highly doubt it will ever be. But what has been written is incredible. Once again, I’m a sucker for the magic/mythical creatures aus. But the relationship is great! The characterization is great! The found family trope that was building up is great!

under a hollow sun - umbrage (40572 words)

Summary: Midoriya is cursed with emptiness.

Misfortune leads him to a man of ancient magic and endless rage.

To stop an unfathomable evil, their mismatched halves must become whole.

Uuuggghhhh this was so good! I don’t think it’s going to be finished either :( Once again, fantasy au, more amazing writing, on point characterization, incredible pacing, makes you hungry for more story.

all the savage soul requires - majjale (58032 words)

Summary: Bakugou seems to have exhausted his patience for words and no longer acknowledges that Midoriya exists, so Midoriya crosses his legs, stares down at his hands limned in firelight, and makes a list of things he knows.

One. His name is Midoriya Izuku.

Two. He is a Godmarked, future god of life, heir to the divine throne.

Three. The gods have been fighting Death for eons, and now he's coming for recompense with everything he’s got.

This is majjale, so of course, the writing is more than beautiful; it’s absolutely breathtaking. This may be my favorite fic ever - unfortunately I don’t think it will ever be finished either TT_TT There’s the gods/fantasy au, which you know by now I love. But the characterization of our two boys is absolutely perfect, and I mean that as literally as possible. And the story being crafted between the two, the memory loss, the obvious history muddled by it all, it was so dense, and the PINING, so incredibly written, flowing so naturally. It wasn’t even close to being done, but it was wonderful, still is wonderful.

My Writing: (You can skip this if you hate shameless self promotion)

You’re too damn flicking cute (1815 words)

Summary: Bakugou is certain his shitty boyfriend is instigating kisses. Maybe it doesn't help that he keeps giving them away like it's a damn going out of business sale, but the stupid nerd is too fucking cute. Either way, like everything else, this is a competition, and he's going to win it.

Please don’t read this unless you’re going to the dentist afterwards! I’ve been told it’s so sweet it’ll give you instant cavities >_>;;;;

Bakugou Katsuki, you smooth motherfucker (10118 words)

Summary: Everyone around him knows that Bakugou Katsuki has a very special way with words. To the untrained ear he is loud and crass; to those that speak Kacchan, he is caring and inspiring. Yet there are rare moments, moments so fleeting you blink and you miss them, where Bakugou’s words pierce straight through Midoriya’s chest, and surprise everyone around him.

Goddammit, if only he would say them to Midoriya’s face.

Or, the five times Bakugou said something nice about Midoriya, and the one time he said something kind to him (but that was too long of a title).

I think most would consider this my best published fic; it’s one of those snapshot fics, “the five times where x did this, and the one time where they didn’t.” The recurring comment I get on this one is both of them being super in character, so I think that’s it’s defining characteristic! Bakugou and Midoriya have never known a life without the other, and in a perfect world, they never will.

Here, let me fix that (11247 words)

Summary: Bakugou honestly never thought he’d see Deku ever again. And now that they were together in this tiny compartment, alone for the next two and a half minutes, he had no clue what to say. He’d just apologized, right? So perhaps he could leave it at that and carry on with the original plan to never see the green-haired man that reminded him of dense forests, late night adventures, and tear-stained faces, ever again.

Ha! Who is he kidding? These bitches are soulmates.

I’ve gotten some critiques on this one, so sorry in advance if it’s not to your liking! Basically, what if Midoriya never got his quirk? Obviously, life would find a way to put them together because, as previously stated, these bitches are soulmates.

Plenty of Time (16654 words)

Summary: Bakugou found what little sleep he got restless and filled with nightmares that he forgot the second he opened his eyes. Tonight was the first time in a long time where he just had a normal dream - and it happened to be about Deku.

How fucking typical.

In other words, two dorks realize they have feelings for each other but don't know what to do about said feelings.

Ah, my first fic. Very simple, boys being boys, kinda like a slow burn? Idk how to explain this one, just boys figuring out their feelings and trying to figure out what to do about them. Been told these two are a little stupid but I think that’s valid.

We’re all time bombs waiting to explode (39223 words)

Summary: We have now entered the slipstream of time, into an alternate dimension where it neither is, nor isn’t, the 80’s. Two teenagers, burdened with the weight of adolescence in the modern world, find themselves struggling side by side, in part because of each other.

Bakugou, the most popular boy in school, has everything he could possibly want; status, power, and an unbreakable will. Having been dragged along behind him all the way to the top, Midoriya can’t help but wonder how (and why) he ended up standing beside his childhood friend-turned bully-turned friend again, weighed down by their complicated past and present. As the tension between them grows every day, and the arrival of a new, pretty face causes it to peak, it won’t be long before something - or someone - snaps.

I am...very bad at titles, and summaries apparently. This was my Heathers au, but it very quickly diverges from the original (I don’t do sad endings....) *This one has mature content, including implied sexual activity, drug use, and underage drinking, along with other heavy topics; please read the tags! Though tbh Midoriya is 17 for a couple weeks before it hits his birthday halfway through, so keep that in mind I guess? I kind of went heavy with this one, but I think the pay off was immense. This is the one with the most amount of comments stating it’s their favorite bkdk fic ever (and I cry). It’s a rough start, with a rough journey, but so is bakudeku! There’s a lot of petty drama, and then all of a sudden it’s Not That Petty and very much Far Too Real. Many have cried reading the ending, I cried writing it. My sister says it’s her favorite of mine. Now, I did kind of push this out without polishing it so much because I was losing my willpower, so if it feels lacking, that’s one hundred percent my fault.

Okay that was a lot! It took me a couple days...I hope I wasn’t too annoying with all my opinions! Please have a nice day. and enjoy some good reads, even if they aren’t the ones in this post!

#bakudeku #katsudeku #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #mha #bnha #bkdk #fics #my writing #god i really hope i didn't fuck up any of this #i spent a long time on it alksdjflaskjdflkasdjf #this is 39 fics without my own #and 44 including mine #i can tell i've forgotten some but #idk it's hard TT_TT #anyways it's 2:30am #if i go to bed at 4am one more time i'm gonna throw myself down a flight of stairs #i hope this is good enough as is!#most of this was written very late so I hope it doesn't sound...crazed

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atlasxrose · 5 years ago

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Tagging: Atlas Rose, (Mentions of @astraearose), (Mentions of Werewolf WC), Isaac Wright (NPC). Time Frame: April 7th, 2014, Early to Late Evening. Location: North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Notes: When Atlas met Isaac. tw: kidnapping, tw: blood, tw: murder

There was no sound atop the lookout over the Quay, the witch, his sister, and their childhood friend had parted ways shortly after getting into town. The wildling witches and their wolf companion had been sneaking into cities for years, usually passing their time together, occasionally parting ways to take in sites as individuals, rather than a trio. The red metal scaffolding of the lookout towered over the harbor, Atlas liked it here, coming to the Quay first only a few years ago. The coastal regions were among his favorite. And this province was no exception, the varying islands, cultures and communities were inviting, enriching, and these neighboring cities in particular were rich with international travelers and immigrants from varying walks of life.

He’d already met so many interesting people.

He watched the boats as they came and went, the ferry that shuttled commuters and tourists across the channel to the capital across the water. He’d only been to Vancouver once before, had he more time Atlas might have considered boarding the ferry, he was sure that if he tried he could scrape together whatever money he needed to do as such. But the sun was already beginning to set, and the trio had a long trek back to the Coven, their absence would not go unnoticed.

“Beautiful night, isn’t?”

Atlas turned at the voice of a stranger, almost immediately feeling an intrusion in his peripheries. The young oracle was still naive enough to not recognize the potency of the darkness that emanated from the man’s aura, the corrupt pervasive nature of the other’s magic. Atlas furrowed his brow for a moment, knowing only that the man had magic of some kind, he wasn’t like the witches from Atlas’ Coven, nor any other that he’d come across over the years. But there was power there, the oracle could not deny that, and there was a part of him that was curious.

He was attractive, definitely too old, but duly handsome. There was a sense that he was also much older than he appeared, an aging soul that did not quite match the thirty-something year old man that stood before him now.

“It’s going to rain later, but yeah, I guess.” Atlas returned, not particularly interested in conversing with a stranger, though there was something bizarrely familiar about this one. The past few months he’d been bothered by horrifying dreams, and they were always the same; he was being hunted, through an unfamiliar forest. With trees not native to the soil where he grew up. A pack of jackals pursued him, cackling and howling in the night. He was always running, and he was always afraid. Powerless under the burning red light of a blood moon.

His and Astraea’s birthday had passed just a week ago, it was their eighteenth, the witches had at last come of age. While the Coven celebrated, Atlas had silently lamented his fate, tortured worst of all that night by the same prophetic dream from which he could not wake. The jackals caught him that night, and under the moon they tore the oracle to pieces, feasting on his flesh before the oracle awoke, screaming in pain.

grandmother, Atlas had asked. what does this mean?

A darkness comes for you, my sweet one. You must be careful.

Had Atlas truly headed his visions, had he listened to his grandmother’s advice, then he would have stayed home with the coven as he was supposed to. There was a dozen tasks he could have committed himself to instead, he had a blanket tapestry that was only half finished, the threads of his families’ tree overlaying in emerald green leaves and earthy bark, sapphire blues of a glistening ocean and a clear blue sky punctuated by distant storm clouds.

Being in the presence of this stranger made him long for that familiarity now. Where was Astraea? Where were the companions he’d come here with.

If he had truly headed his visions, had Atlas listened to his grandmother’s advice, then he wouldn’t have separated from them when they’d gotten to town. In the years to come, Atlas would blame his brazen youth, his curiosity for the dark, he wanted to face these jackals that tormented his dreams. He wanted to know what hunted him. Atlas wished to face his fears, and overcome them, but monsters were more than fears, they were more than sounds going bump in the night. Sometimes they came with the sharp teeth of jackals, but mostly they appeared as a stranger, with a smile that invited you to trust.

“You think so?” The man asked, “But the clouds are clear.” He moved to lean over the railing next to Atlas, though the oracle’s eyes were fixed on the strong lines of definition across hardened features.

“I can always tell when it’s going to rain.” Atlas mused, taking his eyes away from the stranger and moving towards the sea, only barely catching sight of a peculiar ring around the engagement finger of the man’s left-hand as he did. This individual was married, so it seemed. Though the ring was unlike any that the witch had seen before.

“I’ve always loved a good storm.”

Atlas said nothing, wondering if silence would lead the man to carry on, before the witch had to make his own awkward departure.

“Sorry, I should introduce myself, I’m Isaac, I live just across the water. There.”

He pointed over the Fraser towards the metropolitan center of Vancouver, he could have been pointing to any one of the high rises or condominiums, Atlas couldn’t have been sure. But he was a local. It was strange because the witch could have sworn he’d seen him before, more inland, maybe a month or so ago before the coven had moved to the forests in the mountains along the coast.

“Atlas.” The witch offered, shaking the man’s hand as it was offered to him. He felt a chill run down his spine, another warning, and after a beat too long, Atlas’ hand was slipping from the others. “But I should be going,” the sun was setting over the river now, bathing them both in an orange hue. “it’s getting late.”

“Shhh,” Isaac reached forward, and Atlas felt his breath leave his body, darkness following soon after. In the distance he heard his voice, “what’s your rush?” Then there was nothing but the sensation of falling backwards, sinking until he was caught. Strong uncaring arms.

While he slept, he dreamed now of a falling star, burning and crashing towards the Earth. As it fell, all the Gods wept as it burned and seared past them, out of reach even for divinity. When he hit the ground he was in this unknown forest once more, still burning he was not the hunted but the hunter. Running on all fours, screaming and cackling and crying as his feet struck the earth, drawing him forward though he had no desire to move. He wished to flee. He wished to drown himself in the lake. He wished to be home. He wished to wake.

They caught their prey, a traitor in their midst.

Atlas awoke in the hold of a ship, outside his porthole he could see the ocean as it lapped at the glass. It was farther away somehow than he thought it should be, without being told, Atlas knew where he was, he needed only to find the one who called to him now. His vision had troubled him and while usually it was the witch’s nature to recoil into himself, Atlas instead sought out the man that had been at the center of his vision. Loyalty and love drew him from the chamber, the initial room where he’d been held was not locked, unlike the others that lined the hall outside. As Atlas passed the doors he heard the screams of those trapped within, felt their power, some he recognized, others the witch had never encountered before.��

He rose from the ship’s bowels, entering a room that he knew would be his new home, feeling every bit as attached to it as he had his own room back home. With his coven, with his family. With Astraea. There was nothing of his old life here, no personal affects for the witch to form an attachment to or bond with, yet he loved the bedding for its comforts, he loved the clothes for their fit and style, the magical relics that were now his, the power that was at Atlas’ fingertips. Forbidden secrets and instructions regarding blood magic and the divining arts. Everything the oracle would need to be of service to his master, to a one true, everlasting love.

Atlas washed the journey from his body, scrubbed the ocean salt free from his skin, the sand his body had been dragged across while he slept, healed the scratches formed from small stones and gravel. He dressed to please, wearing something his master would approve of, finding vanity in the darkness of a situation he no longer had any capacity to comprehend. Atlas loved the man he now served, every bit of the oracle’s being was devoted to him, and before he could present his master with his vision, he needed to first be presentable. After all, his master was hosting the others this evening, and Atlas was to be presented before them.

Without being told, the oracle knew this to be true. Knew it because of the ring of servitude that had been slid around his finger after he’d been rendered unconscious.

Atlas climbed the stairs and entered the ballroom, ornate lighting hung overheard as the oracle entered the masquerade, a mask neatly fitted over his face. He wove through the crowd, some enchanted, some not, some there on their own volition, others not. Atlas approached the head table , Isaac sat at the center, his eyes fixed upon the oracle as the rest of the coven lined the table on either side. Totaling eight, with nine seats. Atlas would come to learn that it was Isaac’s own twin sister that sat to his right, and the chair to his master’s left was reserved exclusively for the oracle.

Atlas leaned in, whispering:

Your traitor wears the jackal’s mask.

It brought Atlas some pleasure to see the note taken so easily, Isaac merely nodded and the witch took his rightful place at his master’s side. His raven mask perched neatly across his brow, his hazel eyes watched the room as the final song drew to a close and the dancing slowed. Isaac rose, he had the attention of the room. They were witches, humans, wolves, individuals who had aligned themselves with power, but Atlas knew that those, apart from him, that sat at the table were genasi. Once from a powerful familial coven of air witches, one by one they had turned themselves into genasi. The eight who sat at the table were all that had survived. A century had passed, and over the years they had gathered wealth, power, and a following who wanted only to be near their power.

This vessel was meant as a gathering place for all of them, something that happened maybe only once a year, though it was Isaac’s stronghold first and foremost. The blood wardings were ingrained within the metal itself, Atlas could feel the magic in the air, there was magic at work here. It was not one that he recognized, and Isaac had not simply given him the answers. It seemed the oracle’s fate to learn through observation, though he could guess easily enough the fate of a traitor.

“My brothers and sisters,” Isaac addressed, “tonight is indeed a night for celebration, the blood moon favors us, and has presented us with a new oracle to join our ranks.” The room applauded Atlas, who remained seating, eyes trained on the masquerade before him. “But we cannot forget to mourn the one we have lost,” Atlas knew he was speaking of his predecessor, though the thought that his life was in danger never once crossed his mind. The darkness, his grandmother had spoke of, might have been a lifetime away.

His sister. His friends. They were memories now, ones Atlas felt no attachment towards.

Isaac was his family now.

“Come forth Telemachus.” Isaac commanded, there was a whispering about the room before the finely dressed individuals parted to reveal a man, some years older than Atlas, step forward. A jackal fixed firmly to his face.

Isaac disappeared in a puff of black smoke and whooshed forward, winding around this Telemachus to appear before him. A blade was in his hand now, ornate and runed, Atlas could feel the power pulsing from it. Blood magic. This blade was one that had been used in sacrificial rites, Atlas had seen such tools before, but they were reserved for offerings and only used by individuals in the coven who weren’t so tempted by the power of blood magic.

“How do you answer for your crimes against the Coven? Do not lie Telemachus. I already know that it was you who murdered -”

Aware now of his fate, Telemachus shouted, “Death to the genasi! Don’t you see they’ll doom us all!”

In a moment, Isaac had dissipated in a wisp of black smoke and enveloped Telemachus, he slipped inside of the witch and Atlas rose from his seat as Isaac took possession of the older Greek. The blade now in Telemachus’ hands as dark veins encompassed his eyes, they’d changed from the steel gray of Telemachus old eyes to the dark irises that Atlas had first met on the Lonsdale Quay.

Words of ancient blood magic fell from his lips before Telemachus drove the blade into his own stomach and split it open, letting his innards fall to the ground as smoke rose from his frame, reforming as Isaac stood over the blood and viscera. Atlas drew closer, unphased by the grotesque flex of power and brutal display of gore, the likes of which the witch had only seen before when the coven had to butcher a pig, a deer, or an elk.

“Telemachus murdered one of his own.” Isaac said easily as the crowd gasped, there was whispering, but none would stand against him. They all had their reasons for being drawn to the respective genasi that they served, each had a seat at the head table, and each served the man that addressed the room now. None now more faithfully than Atlas. “Tell me Oracle, what do you see?”

Atlas drew his hands over the organs that had been spilled to the ground, whispering words of power that were meant to incite knowledge and information. He aimed to move the Gods to action, beseeching them to speak, the oracle was the portal for which the movements of the Gods could be perceived, and with this power combined with Isaac’s magic driving him forward, there was nothing the witch would not command of them, on his master’s behalf.

“The Coven will rise in power, but not in infamy, and all that you desire, will at last be yours.”

#tw: kidnapping #tw: kidnap mention #tw: blood #tw: murder #tw: gore #self para #about #history #age 18 #act i #aesthetic

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ashsilla · 5 years ago

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Losses (Part Four)

Book: Platinum

Ship: Raleigh Carrera (M) x MC (Suiko Hono) with hints of Avery (M) x MC

Rating: T

A/N: It’s the night of the Vinyls! Fiona gives Suiko some advice to lend her confidence. With Avery and Raleigh up for the same award, and the whole world watching, things might just boil over this time.

Tag List: @lunalixo @furiouscloddonutpeanut @lovedrakewalker @topsyturvy-dream @padfoot0415 @omgjasminesimone @parkerattano @cordoniasmost @poor-bi-choices @msjpuddleduck @mallorycortez @coffeebeandragon @lizeboredom @perriewinklenerdie @greek-elsa

Other Parts: PART ONE - PART TWO - PART THREE

EE! News exclusive! Examining Suiko Hono’s not-so-sweet persona.

When we first met the One In A Million winner, she was relatable, awkward, sweet -- everything you’d expect from a small town girl launched into the spotlight. However, since then, we’ve had a peek behind that innocent exterior to the conniving woman beneath.

We all swooned when she announced her relationship with seasoned heart-breaker Raleigh Carrera. The two were #goals in every picture we saw! (Click here for EE! News’ coverage of their first date) They seemed to balance each other so perfectly, even prompting Carrera to temporarily give up his rebellious ways. However, their relationship was put on hold when pictures surfaced of Carrera with another woman!

Yup, you already know: that was Leona Lastrum, Raleigh’s girlfriend of just over a year. The same week as the pictures surfaced, Hono was seen with none other than Avery Wilshere, our favorite Brit.

How has she snagged two major singers so early on in her career? Many fans are wondering exactly what her reasons are behind these romantic endeavors.

“When we were in high school, Suiko was always stringing along guys so they’d do what she wanted,” said an old classmate of Hono’s that reached out to EE! News. “My friend went to prom with her, only to find out that she’d asked a couple other guys and went with whichever one got her the most expensive corsage.”

You heard it here first! Suiko Hono, so-called sweetheart, is as calculating as a woman can be! The real question we’re all asking is this: when will Raleigh and Avery be free of her control?

Suiko felt tears pricking at her eyes as she read the article for what felt like the thousandth time. This was bad. So, so bad. Fiona insisted it was fine -- it would blow over soon, and her follower counts kept going up for whatever reason -- but it was torture. Still, the articles were never as bad as the comments sections. Even though she knew she wouldn’t like it, she clicked into the comments.

raleighstan290: liked suiko till now lol

averaleigh4ever: avery needs a nice girl not some slut whos talking to other guys, suiko hono needs to go get checked for some stds bc im sure shes crawling with them

honoalltheway: dude how do i change my username on here

Suiko snapped her laptop shut, resisting the urge to chuck it across the room. Nope, that would be bad. Computers were expensive.

How was she supposed to walk into the Vinyls confidently when all of this was hanging over her head? How was she supposed to feign happiness at the invite when all anyone wanted to see was her evilly using Raleigh and Avery?

“That high school interview is such bull,” Suiko told the empty bedroom. She’d gone to prom with Shane, and yes, he’d bought her a corsage, but his mom had picked it out. And they’d gone as friends anyways. No boy looked her way twice in high school. Whoever EE! News had interviewed was an enormous liar.

She felt shivery all over. What she wouldn’t give to be back in her old bedroom, making videos for PlayMe and listening to the radio...Shane only a block or two away...New York City and all of this an unattainable dream.

Was that an ungrateful thought?

Before she could deliberate too much on the issue, Fiona was striding into the bedroom. Suiko hadn’t heard her come in.

“Stop moping,” the woman said, all business, as usual. “You absolutely cannot be making that face at the Vinyls tonight.”

“I won’t.”

Fiona looked at her for a moment more, and then let out a frustrated breath. “Okay. Listen closely. If Ellis knew I was giving you this advice, I’m sure he would disapprove, but I think you’ve wasted enough time wallowing in comments online and self pity.” Suiko stared at her. She continued. “The world loves to tear a woman down. Even when the media thought Raleigh was the cheater, who was the guilty party? The woman who tempted him. Now they’re tearing into you because it’s easy, because they can. But you can lean into that. You don’t have to sit by and let them spin their own story of you. You can take everything they say, and you can become so much worse.”

Suiko’s breath caught. “Become...worse?”

A hint of a smile -- a real smile -- tugged at Fiona’s mouth. “Surprise them. Show up solo to the Vinyls tonight. Show them that you are your own woman, and you aren’t defined by who is or isn’t hanging on your arm. At the end of the day, you aren’t Raleigh’s girlfriend, or Avery’s girlfriend, or anybody’s woman except your own. Force them to accept you as Suiko Hono, and nobody else.”

Silence hung in the room. “Are you, Fiona Syed, giving me permission to not do what the label wants me to do?” Suiko finally said, flabbergasted.

Fiona merely shrugged. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I was never here.”

Suiko’s dress for the Vinyls was incredible. Crimson chiffon fluttered around her collarbones, swirling into a bustle at her waist before flowing down into a charming tea length skirt. The red fabric matched her stained lips. All at once she was sweet and girlish, fierce and confident, approachable yet a force to be reckoned with.

She’d never loved a dress more.

Zadie seemed to know she’d outdone herself. A smug grin graced her lips as they climbed into the limo and shut the doors. Her stylist was dressed in a classy black dress paired with a string of pearls -- all old Hollywood and grace.

“I’m so honored to be your date tonight,” Zadie snarked. “I didn’t think it would ever be my turn.”

“Oh, shut up,” Suiko said, but she was grinning. Fiona’s words were still bouncing around in her head. You can take everything they say, and you can become so much worse.

Why should she let anything ruin this night for her? She was going to the Vinyls. This was a lifelong dream!

“Now, remember,” Zadie said, enunciating each word carefully. “Do not crease the dress. Do not stain the dress. Do not cry on it and get mascara in the chiffon.”

“Or you’ll kill me?”

Zadie grinned. “I knew I liked you.”

They were pulling up to the venue before long. Zadie wished her good luck as she climbed out of the back seat and onto the red carpet.

Solo.

Everyone noticed immediately. “Suiko! Suiko!” The reporters all pressed forwards, leaving Jaylen Riaz’s side ahead. The other singer caught her eye and pouted playfully. Suiko just lifted a shoulder, like you-know-how-it-is.

Jaylen did know how it was.

“Who’s your date tonight?”

Suiko smiled devilishly. “I didn’t bring one.”

All of the reporters seemed to make one collective gasp. “Did Raleigh finally call it quits?” one demanded, while another said, “Is Avery tired of your games?”

“I decided to come by myself, not because I couldn’t find a date, but because I didn’t want one,” she replied, lifting her chin. Suiko tried to channel her inner Fiona, and hoped it was working. “No more questions.”

She stalked down the carpet and caught up with Jaylen. “Look at you,” the other singer said. “Little miss headlines!”

“Terribly, I guess I deserve that right now.”

They both laughed, and then Jaylen reached down to touch the chiffon of Suiko’s skirt. “Who made your dress?”

“It’s another Zadie Choi original.”

“How much do I have to pay you to switch stylists?”

“We can share,” Suiko said.

Jaylen leaned in closer. “They’re probably wondering why we’re being so friendly,” she said softly.

“Let them!”

Suiko looked down the red carpet and caught sight of both Avery and Raleigh. They stood, separated only by Micah, who was flashing a toothy grin at the cameras. Neither of them had a date either. Let the press chew on that.

“Let’s go inside,” she suggested.

Avery and Raleigh were both nominated for song of the year. For Avery, it was ‘How to Start Again,’ and for Raleigh it was ‘Famous.’ Despite everything, Suiko still wanted Raleigh to win.

Her seat actually ended up being between Avery’s and Jaylen’s. It was probably an attempt to create drama, but there wouldn’t be any. The two women respected each other and understood each other.

Just as she was about to sit, a hand slipped around her elbow, stopping her. Suiko spun to see Avery, dressed in a pink suit, his eyebrows knit closely together.

Her mouth dried. “I...”

The blonde shook his head. “No need to say a thing. I understand that we were never a true option.” A rueful smile tugged at his lips. “But I value our friendship, and I want it to continue.”

“Me too,” she said gratefully, and slipped her hands into his. “You’re a good friend, Avery. I don’t want to lose that.”

He pulled her into a hug. She leaned gratefully into the embrace. “Nice suit, by the way,” she muttered into his ear. “Very Gatsby-esque.”

“It’s what I strive for,” he said, with an easy laugh, and they took their seats.

Chris Winters was hosting the Vinyls. He breezed easily through the show, cracking jokes at all the right times and grinning amicably at the camera crews. Suiko felt Avery tense next to her as the next words boomed through the crowd: “And now, the category you’ve all been waiting for: song of the year!”

She tore her eyes away from the stage and did what she hadn’t yet allowed herself to do -- look for Raleigh. He didn’t seem to be anywhere near her. Suiko’s heart sank. Ever since the cameras had caught them in the closet at the charity event, he’d been distant from her, not calling or texting or responding to any press comments.

It hurt.

“And the Vinyl goes to...” Chris called onstage, a bright smile on his face, “Raleigh Carrera, with ‘Famous!’“

The whole audience exploded into cheers as the song came pouring in from all directions.

Suiko turned to Avery, worried that he would be disappointed, but he was clapping and hollering with the rest of the crowd. Despite herself, she smiled at him.

And then there he was, emerging from the masses and making his way onstage. She hadn’t gotten a good look at him on the red carpet.

But now...

Her breath caught. Raleigh wore a suit of dark red velvet embroidered with golden patterns of roses. The double breasted jacket showed a peek of a cream silk shirt beneath, unbuttoned to show off his collarbones. His dark curls seemed to catch and fling the light around the room.

Chris handed him his award and Raleigh effortlessly took the microphone. “Thank you,” he said into it, voice smooth and sultry. “It means a lot to me that my music still matters to you all, after all this time.” He tapped the statue to his chest. “And I hope my new music can inspire a whole new generation of hell-raisers.”

Beside him, Chris Winters visibly winced.

“And now,” Raleigh said, his voice echoing through the sound system, “I’ll sing you all my new single.”

The crowd went wild. Suiko just stared up at him. He seemed so far away. And then he began singing.

But he wasn’t singing the new single of his she’d heard in the studio.

It was a new song, one that she’d never heard before.

She’s made of marble, or made of glass

If dropped she’ll shatter, or maybe outlast

Fashioned to what you want her to be

Time for all you fuckers to see --

Raleigh’s eyes locked with hers, and suddenly he wasn’t far away anymore; suddenly it was just the two of them, in the dark room, and the words were only for her ears. As his lips moved, he unbuttoned his jacket, flinging it from his shoulders and across the stage. Beneath it, his shirt clung to his torso, crossed with a pair of garnet suspenders.

She’s more than a plaything to me

What’s underneath is worth it all

But assholes like you can never see

She’d more than a plaything to me.

The track kept playing, but Raleigh stopped singing. He just stood as the music swelled behind him and stared at her. The crowd started murmuring -- had he forgotten the words? Was someone speaking into his earpiece?

Then he spoke.

“Leona Lastrum is a liar,” he said, his voice booming through the auditorium. Suiko saw people on the sides of the stage gesturing wildly to cut his mic. Whatever they were doing wasn’t enough, because he kept going.

“I had no idea who she was until she threw herself all over me at that club. What you didn’t see pictures of was me shoving her off.” His lip curled. “So I’ll only say this one time. The next person I see dragging Suiko Hono through the mud has it coming.”

Almost as if in a dream, Suiko felt herself standing. Raleigh gazed at her from the stage.

“Everything you’ve read about this girl...it’s all lies. You don’t know her, but I do. And I know that she’s kind, and thoughtful, and exactly the type of person that makes me want to be better. She’s like no one else. And if you believe, even for one second, any of those lies that are spreading about her, you don’t even deserve to speak her name. Because...” Raleigh swallowed, and a small, almost sheepish smile crept across his face. “Because I love her.”

“Go!” Jaylen was hissing, eyes bright with excitement, pushing her towards the stage. “Jesus, Suiko, go up there!”

The backing track to Raleigh’s song ended, and the venue was dead silent. She heard every one of her footsteps to the stage with complete clarity. As she got closer, Raleigh’s face grew more and more nervous. He didn’t know what she was going to say.

She wasn’t going to say anything.

Suiko ran the last distance across the stage and launched herself into Raleigh’s arms, pressing her lips against his, grasping his suspenders in her shaking fingers to draw him closer to her. His arms instantly wrapped around her, drawing her close, and relief poured into the kisses he pressed to her mouth, and the lights were so bright that she could see them through her shuttered eyelids, and the crowd was screaming around them. He was kissing her as if is sustained him -- kissing her in a way that was definitely not appropriate for the Vinyls, mouth wide open against hers.

“Do you really love me?” she whispered against his lips, opening her eyes a little.

Raleigh let out a laugh. “Yes.”

“Good. Because I love you too.”

Giddy, with the face of a boy who’d gotten everything he wanted for Christmas, Raleigh leaned in for another kiss and dipped her elegantly, to the delight of the audience.

If one could die of happiness, in that moment, she would.

#guys #mourn platinum with me #WE NEED A BOOK TWO #platinum #platinum chocies #choices #playchoices #raleigh carrera #raleigh x mc #raleigh carrera x mc #pixelberry #fanfiction #fanfic #fic #losses #ashsilla

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viostormcaller · 6 years ago

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Ego Headcanons: Antisepticeye

Ah, how iconic to do both the hero and the villain on the same day. This is the last headcanons list! After this, you all will have the basics of my versions of the Egos. You can ask me questions about them too, of course, in case there's something I didn't mention that you wanted to know. And you know the drill, it's gonna be long, yadda yadda yadda. Now, without further ado, here's Anti's headcanons list:

Antisepticeye is a demon. Class: Tulpa. He's extremely powerful and dangerous and his form is always changing, not unlike a virus

The main source of his power comes from us and our attention. Whether we know it or not, he's been deriving his power from us with every video we watch, every mention of his name.

His presence is made known by glitches, and usually if there's glitches in a video, it means he's active. His presence affects technology, and that's why this happens. It's also why he can change the lights in a specific area, as well

Anti is a master of disguise. He can easily mask himself as one of the other Egos, and he can not only possess them, but hide his presence within them altogether.

Even though he sees all the Egos as his puppets, his toys to play with and break, he has a personal vendetta against Henrik. The good doctor ruined his plans on Halloween night by saving Jack's life. He got his revenge on August 3rd, and kidnapped Henrik and held him for 9 months as punishment for getting in the way.

Jack is Anti's original host, but since Jack is comatose he learned to control multiple hosts at once without losing too much power. Had he not tested this, though, Henrik wouldn't have escaped.

Because Chase is currently running the channel, on top of keeping Jack trapped in his mind, his main target is Chase.

Anti used to be known for his slit, always-bleeding throat, but in his most recent appearances his throat is completely healed over, not a scar in sight.

Anti can change his sclera from white to pitch black at will, and his right pupil (our left) can glow a bright green, though this has only been seen once.

Anti is extremely difficult to pin down, and is Jackie's top priority in terms of villains. Anti hasn't messed with Jackie yet, however, but he knows eventually he will

Despite what most might think, Anti is actually highly intelligent and very patient. He knows when to lie in wait, when to lay low and watch things unfold before striking. When he does attack, though, he's merciless and relentless and persistent.

Anti does not have a good or merciful bone in his body. He does not spare anyone, and he couldn't give a single fuck about anyone else. If you aren't useful to him, you're in his way and will be killed. No exceptions.

Anti is very cunning, and he's very cheeky. He knows just what to do to get us riled up, and a lot of the time he doesn't even have to do anything. He relies a lot less on our attention than he used to, but it still gives him a huge power boost when we're talking about him in excessive amounts

If there's anything Anti hates, though, it's being mocked. He no longer acts right away, preferring to wait until the right moment to deliver a fatal blow, but the punishment for this is extremely severe.

Anti doesn't get tired. He doesnt need to rely on normal human bodily processes and needs, simply because he's not human. To be without these limitations makes him a lot stronger

His favorite thing is to see his puppets suffer. He loves torturing his victims, and his nine months torturing Schneep were some of the best for him. His power has increased significantly during that time

Anti can't feel pain to the level that humans. That's why the cut in his throat never bothered him. His pain tolerance is inhumanely high

The symptoms his hosts feel change all the time and they vary depending on the situation and the person. Mood swings are a common one, as well as bleeding from the eyes, but even then those symptoms don't appear every time. This makes Anti extremely difficult to pin down, and he prefers to keep things that way

There isn't much known about Anti, and this sense of mystery that surrounds him is a perfect breeding ground for theories about him. To theorize about him means he gets attention, which is why he's always changing and adapting and his appearances are rarely ever the same.

And I think that's everything! Because not much is known about canon Anti it's hard to come up with much information and headcanons about him. So if this post is shorter than the others, that's why.

But yeah, that's the last of the headcanon lists!! They're all finally finished! Glad to have them all done! Once the inbox is cleared I'll make a post probably after a few days (when I'm feeling better) saying that prompts are open. Until then though you guys can ask me questions if you want!

#vio stormcaller #jacksepticeye #antisepticeye #septicego hc #septicego headcanon #long post

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all-hail-the-witcher · 6 years ago

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Portuguese red candle tradition

alright here it is, fizz’s Christmas present this is based on the hallmark movie “the most wonderful time of the year” which is on YouTube and you should all watch it.

______ ship: ralbert genre: idiots warnings: fake trees and mild scream sesh words: 2077 woooweee editing: nope scope rope ______

Albert Dasilva did not like dogs. Ever since his uncle’s dog had tried to bite off his thumb in the third grade he’d been deathly afraid of them. And yet, here he was, running a dog walking business.

But what he hated even more were cats.

They were just inexplicably evil. How was it that virtually every human being on the planet went all uwu whenever they saw a cat? Albert just didn't trust them. They were definitely in charge of the illuminati. Actually, Albert had made a video on that very topic on his youtube channel last year that had over 1.4 million views. It was his biggest accomplishment to date.

But we’re getting off topic here. What’s really important is that Albert hates cats.

So how was it that he found himself walking three of them?

Yes, you read that right. Walking not one, not two, but three whole cats. Through his dog walking business, which annoyed him to no end because it was clearly a dog walking business, not a cat walking business and plus there was the question of who the hell would pay someone to walk their cats? And it was also blizzarding. But he was a broke 24 year old living out of his van and cash was cash so he put himself through the torture of walking three yowling cats.

Finally, 2 whole hours later - which was an hour longer than it took to walk dogs, curse these stupid cats - he was trudging up to the fancy suburban upper middle class house to deposit the ferocious beasts and then go freeze in his van.

The door opened, revealing the semi attractive cat owner himself - he would have been actually attractive had it not been for the fact that he not only owned three cats but also paid Albert to walk them. Oh, he had a name. It was something strange. Tack? Ruce? No. Oh yes, Race.

“My furry babies!” Race squealed as bend down to embrace his cats. Rather anticlimactically, two of them ran right past Race into the house. The third tripped climbing through the front door, giving Race just enough time to scoop him up and pet him. Sorta like Cruella Da Ville. Exept with a cat.

“Thanks for walking them,” Race said, smiling as he shifted the cat to hand Al an envelope with his pay in it.

“Yeah you're welcome,” Al said, accepting the envelope.

“You got someplace warm to stay?” Race asked somewhat awkwardly.

Albert gestured to his van that was parked at the end of the driveway. “You’re looking at it.”

Race’s eyes widened and he nearly dropped his cat. “You live out of a van?”

Albert rolled his eyes, all but ready to throw a fat, wet snowball into Mr. McPrissy’s face. “I do. It’s easier than a house cause I just kinda come and go as I please.”

“You- you what?” Race stuttered. “I can’t believe in a car you're gonna freeze to death. And then whos gonna walk my cats! No one else is dumb enough to do such a job.”

Albert had had just about enough of this asshole and his dumb cats. “Listen. Not all of us are satisfied by being business executives-”

“Nurses.”

“-okay? I’ve been traveling around the country in that van since the night of my high school graduation doing weird things and meeting all sorts of cool people - except you, you're an asshole - and I’ve spent much colder winters than this in Minnesota in that van. I think I’ll be okay.” And with that he began to stomp down the snowy steps back to his van.

“Why don't you stay here tonight?”

Albert froze in his place and turned dramatically to look over his shoulder. “What?”

“I said, why don't you stay here tonight?” Race repeated. His arms were crossed and the wind was blowing his blonde locks into this hard set blue eyes. He definitely looked pretty, er, meant business.

Still, Albert retaliated. What an idiot.

“Did you not hear me? Winters in Minnesota.”

“I heard you,” Race said firmly. “And I’m not asking you to move in with me. Just spend the night someplace warm. I don't want you to get hypothermia, I can tell you from personal experience that it’s not fun.”

Albert sighed. He really wanted to say no, he really did. He didn't want to be anywhere near that weirdo or his cats anytime soon. But the prospect of an actual bed and a warm house was too inviting. Begrudgingly, he trudged back up the steps, uttering a small “thank you” before stepping inside.

And almost throwing up at the accursed sight before him.

“You have a fake silver christmas tree?”

“Doesn’t everyone?” Race said, pulling the door shut behind him.

“No?” Albert stared at his new host in disbelief. “People actually buy real trees. With needles. And sap. You’re not doing Christmas right.”

“How dare you mosey into my house and tell me I’m not doing Christmas right.” Race scoffed, crossing his arms. One of his cats mewed menacingly behind him. Truly it was nice touch.

“Well you’re not!” Albert exclaimed, throwing his hands up. “Look if I’m going to stay here, you’re going to have a real tree.”

Race looked skeptical.

Albert rolled his eyes, mimicking Race’s annoyed stance. “Think of it as a Christmas present. It is just a few days away.”

Race sighed loudly, looking up at the ceiling. “Fine,” he mumbled.

Despite himself, Albert smiled.

“And where might I get a ‘real Christmas tree,’ O Great And Powerful Christmas Tree Lord?”

“At a tree lot,” Albert said. “D u h.”

“Well I’m not exactly an official Christmas tree connoisseur,” Race said, reaching for his coat. “I assume we’re going now?”

“Of course. I refuse to spend one more minute in this house with that - that thing.” Albert said playfully.

“Oh shut up it’s not that bad. My grandmother used to have a pink one,” Race said, grabbing his keys.

Albert shuddered. “Good thing I won’t be meeting her.”

“She’s dead.”

Albert flung open the front door dramatically. “Even better.”

Race groaned loudly as he pulled the door shut and locked it, causing the giant wreath on the front door to fall to the ground with a small oof.

“Race,” Albert said disappointedly, “the wreath is too big.”

“No,” Race countered, picking it up, “the hook is too small.”

“So he a bigger hook.”

“I don’t have one.”

“So buy a smaller wreath.”

“I like this one.”

“You are so difficult I wish I had just slept in my car!”

“Yeah well you’re not exactly pleasant either, coming in here telling me that I’m doing Christmas ‘wrong’!”

“Who buys a fake silver tree?!”

“I do!!”

“It's not even green!”

“So?”

“So-it’s,” Albert began, but stopped suddenly. There was something about the determination set on Race’s face that made him want to kiss the shit out of him.

Albert you son of a bitch. You could have gotten the hots for anyone and you choose the guy who has three cats and a silver Christmas tree?

“Excuse me, Race, sorry to interrupt.”

Albert pulled himself out of his romantic exploits that may or may not have involved him and Race making out under the fake silver tree to see that another man had joined them on the porch, seemingly out of thin air.

“Hi Romeo,” Race said tightly.

“I just happened to notice that you haven’t put up your Christmas lights yet, and you know we’re goin for the whole street this year. Nothing fancy just white lights - only white.” He gave Race a pointed stare. “You don’t wanna be-”

“-the only dark house on Christmas Eve,” Race finished exasperatedly. “I know.”

“So you’ll get on it?” Romeo asked, seemingly oblivious to Race’s disinterest.

“Yes I’ll get on it, now if you’ll excuse me I really have to go run some errands.”

This time, Romeo seemed to get the hint and he scurried off back to his house next door - ah so he was a neighbor, that made more sense.

Albert turned to Race. “Change of plans,” he announced. “You’re getting the tree by yourself.”

Race eyed him skeptically. “Why?”

“Because I’m going to put up your lights. That neighbor sounded pissed.”

Race rolled his eyes. “You’re a dog walker, you’re hardly qualified.”

“And you’re a business executive.”

“Nurse!!”

“Same difference!” Albert groaned. “And besides, I’ve done all sorts of odd jobs, I was a handyman a few years back in Colorado. I know my way around a ladder.”

“Well,” Race saw that there was no way of getting out of this argument, “if you insist.”

“Oh I do insist. And I got a little something special to keep your neighbor away,” Albert winked mischievously.

“Alright, whatever,” Race waved him off. “Just don’t get me sued. And what kind of tree do I buy?”

“A big one, we need a thick stick!” Albert called over his shoulder as he headed over to the garage. With any bit of luck, this plan should work.

•••

By the time Race got back with the tree, Albert had just finished stringing up the lights so he decided to flex on his host - literally and figuratively - by bringing the tree inside and setting it up. The three cats - whom he had learned were named Steve, Peter, and Tony after Race’s favorite Marvel characters -mewed at it suspiciously before going to do their cat related activities, like take over the world.

They had just began to put the ornaments on, laughing and having a grand time singing along to crappy pop Christmas songs, when the doorbell rang.

Race set down the glass ball he was holding and went to answer the door. “I’ll be right back, do not munch that.”

Albert looked at him quizzically.

“I don’t know man, you just seem like the kind of person who would.” Then he left, leaving Albert to question his mental well-being.

However, all of that was abandoned when he heard the shrill voice of Race’s neighbor and he ran to the door to watch his plan unfold.

“Race,” Romeo was saying, “come here I need to show you something.”

Albert watched from the door as Romeo pulled Race out into the lawn and pointed up at the one red bulb he had put in the strand of white lights and couldn’t help but laugh.

“It’s red.” Romeo said, holding out his palm. “I brought you a white one, if you want it.”

“No actually,” Albert said, stepping out of the house. “We did that on purpose. See there’s this thing where I come from called the Portuguese Red Candle Tradition - very old and sacred tradition - where you put out one red candle, or light, to keep away the dark spirits. It’s said to bring good luck.”

Romeo stood open mouthed.

“I have one inside if you want it.”

Romeo shook his head.

“Great, well then if you don’t mind Race and I have a tree to finish decorating. Ta ta,” he said, pulling Race inside and shutting the door, hearing the oof of the wreath falling off the door once again.

Race stood with his arms crossed. “There’s no such thing as the Portuguese Red Candle Tradition, is there?”

Albert fidgeted. “No.”

“And you know by putting that one red bulb there you’re going to drive him absolutely nuts right?”

“I had the general idea, yes.”

“And you know that he’s gonna drive me insane about fixing it right?”

“Well-”

“Is that why you do you just waltz into peoples houses and make their lives more difficult?”

“I didn’t do anything I was trying to help!”

“Oh like you were with the tree?”

“Hey, everyone deserves to have a good tree!”

“My tree was perfectly fine!”

“It was made of plastic!”

“Perfectly nice plastic!”

“Yeah well your tree can go to hell!”

“You know who else can go to hell?”

“Lemme guess, me?!”

“Exactly!!”

And then Race’s lips were pressed into his.

Albert had to admit, it wasn’t the most romantic kiss ever, what with the satanic cats mewing in the background and the ugly silver tree in pieces on the floor, but maybe, just maybe, it was a good idea that he didn’t freeze to death in his van that night.

______

we Stan a pair of idiots, happy Christmas fizzy babe I hope I did you a solid

tag list tomorrow

#saphie scribbles #ralbert #racetrack higgins #albert dasilva #hope you like fizz #i worked hard #eeeeee

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oscopelabs · 6 years ago

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3D, Part 2: How 3D Peaked At Its Valley by Vadim Rizov

I didn’t expect to spend Thanksgiving Weekend 2018 watching ten 3D movies: marathon viewing is not my favorite experience in general, and I haven’t spent years longing to see, say, Friday the 13th Part III, in 35mm. But a friend was visiting, from Toronto, to take advantage of this opportunity, an impressive level of dedication that seemed like something to emulate, and it’s not like I had anything better to do, so I tagged along. Said friend, Blake Williams, is an experimental filmmaker and 3D expert, a subject to which he’s devoted years of graduate research and the bulk of his movies (see Prototype if it comes to a city near you!); if I was going to choose the arbitrary age of 32 to finally take 3D seriously, I couldn’t have a better Virgil to explain what I was seeing on a technical level. My thanks to him (for getting me out there) and to the Quad Cinema for being my holiday weekend host; it was probably the best possible use of my time.

The 10-movie slate was an abridged encore presentation of this 19-film program, which I now feel like a dink for missing. What’s interesting in both is the curatorial emphasis on films from 3D’s second, theoretically most disreputable wave—‘80s movies with little to zero critical respect or profile. Noel Murray considered a good chunk of these on this site a few years ago, watching the films flat at home, noting that when viewed this way, “the plane-breaking seems all the more superfluous. (It’s also easy to spot when these moments are about to happen, because the overall image gets murkier and blurrier.)” This presumes that if you can perceive the moments where a 3D film expands its depth of field for a comin’-at-ya moment and mentally reconstruct what that would look like, that’s basically the same experience as actually seeing these effects.

Blake’s argument, which I wrestled with all weekend, is that these movies do indeed often look terrible in 2D, but 3D literally makes them better. As it turns out, this is true surprisingly often. Granted, all concerned have to know what they’re doing, otherwise the results will still be indifferent: it turns out that Friday the 13th Part III sucks no matter how you watch it, and 3D’s not a complete cure-all. This was also demonstrated by my first movie, 1995’s barely released Run For Cover, the kind of grade-Z library filler you’d expect to see sometime around 2 am on a syndicated channel. This is, ostensibly, a thriller, in which a TV news cameraman foils a terrorist plot against NYC. It features a lot of talking, scenes of Bondian villains eating Chinese takeout while plotting and/or torturing our ostensible hero, some running (non-Tom Cruise speed levels), and one The Room-caliber sex scene. Anyone who’s spent too much time mindlessly staring at the least promising option on TV has seen many movies like these. The 3D helps a little: an underdressed TV station set takes on heightened diorama qualities, making it interesting to contemplate as an inadvertent installation—the archetypal TV command room, with the bare minimum necessary signifiers in place and zero detail otherwise—rather than simply a bare-bones set. But often the camera is placed nowhere in particular, and the resulting images are negligible; in the absence of dramatic conviction or technical skill, what’s left is never close enough to camp to come back out the other side as inadvertently worthwhile. I’m glad I saw it for the sheer novelty of cameos from Ed Koch, Al Sharpton and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa—all doing their usual talking points, but in 3D! But it’s the kind of film that’s more fun to tell people about than actually watch.

But infamous punchlines Jaws 3-D and Amityville 3-D have their virtues when viewed in 3D. The former, especially, seems to be the default punching bag whenever someone wants to make the case that 3D has, and always will be, nothing but a limited gimmick upselling worthless movies. It was poorly reviewed when it came out, but the public dug it enough to make it, domestically, the 15th highest-grossing film of 1983 (between Never Say Never Again and Scarface) and justify Jaws: The Revenge. Of course I was skeptical; why wouldn’t I be? But I was sucked in by the opening credits, in which the familiar handheld-underwater-cam-as-shark POV gave way to a severed arm floating before a green “ocean.” Maybe flat it looks simply ludicrous, but the image has a compellingly Lynchian quality, as if the limb were detached from one of Twin Peaks: The Return’s more disgusting corpses, its artifice heightened and literally foregrounded, the equally artificial background setting it into greater relief.

The film’s prominent SeaWorld product placement is, theoretically, ill-advised, especially in the post-Blackfish era; in practice, it’s extremely productive. The opening stretches have a lot of water-skiing; in deep 3D, the water-skiers serve as lines tracing depth towards and away from the camera over a body of water whose horizon line stretches back infinitely, producing a greater awareness of space. It reminded me of the early days of the short-lived super-widescreen format Cinerama, as described by John Belton in his academic history book Widescreen Cinema (recommended). The very first film in the format, This is Cinerama, was a travelogue whose stops included Cypress Gardens, Florida’s first commercial tourist theme park (the site is now a Legoland), which has very similar images of waterskiiers. Cinerama was, per the publicist copy Belton quotes from the period, about an experience, not a story: “Plot is replaced by audience envelopment […] the medium forces you to concentrate on something bigger than people, for it has a range of vision and sound that no other medium offers.” Cinerama promised to immerse viewers, as literalized in this delightful publicity image; Belton argues that “unlike 3-D and CinemaScope, which stressed the dramatic content of their story material and the radical new means of technology employed in production, Cinerama used a saturation advertising campaign in the newspapers and on radio to promote the ‘excitement aspects’ of the new medium.” There’s a connection here with the earliest days of silent cinema, short snippets (“actualities��) of reality, before it was decided that medium’s primary purpose was to tell a story. It didn’t have to be like that; in those opening stretches, Jaws 3-D’s lackadaisical narrative, which might play inertly on TV, recalls the 1890s, when shots of bodies of water were popular subjects. This is something I learned from a recent presentation by silent film scholar Bryony Dixon, and her reasoning makes sense. The way water moves is inherently hypnotic, and for early audiences assimilating their very first moving images, water imagery was a favorite subject. It’s only with a few years under its belt that film started making its drift towards narrative as default; inadvertently or not, Jaws 3-D is very pure in its initial presentation of water as a spectacular, non-narrative event.

If this seems like a lot of cultural and historical weight to bring to bear upon Jaws 3-D, note that it wasn’t even my favorite of the more-scorned offerings I saw that weekend, merely one that makes it easiest for me to articulate what I found compelling about the 3D immersion experience. I haven’t described the plot of Jaws 3-D at all, which is indeed perfunctory (though it was nice to learn where Deep Blue Sea cribbed a bunch of its production design from). I won’t try to rehabilitate Amityville 3-D at similar length: set aside the moronic ending and Tony Roberts’ leading turn as one of cinema’s most annoyingly waspish, unearnedly whiny divorcees, and what’s left is a surprisingly melancholy movie about the frustrations, and constant necessary repairs, of home ownership. There’s very little music and a surprising amount of silence. The most effective moment is simply Roberts going upstairs to the bathroom, where steam is hissing out for no apparent reason and he has to fix the plumbing. The camera’s planted in the hallway, not moving for any kind of emphasis as the back wall moves closer to Roberts; it doesn’t kill him and nothing comes of it, it’s just another problem to deal with (the walls, as it were, are settling), made more effective by awareness of how a space whose rules and boundaries seemed fixed is being altered, pushing air at you.

Watching a bunch of these in sequence, some clear lessons emerge: if you want to generate compelling depth by default, find an alleyway and block off the other half of the frame with a wall to present two different depths, or force protagonists to crawl through ducts or tubes. This is a good chunk of Silent Madness, a reasonably effective slasher film that, within the confines of its cheap sets and functional plotting, keeps the eye moving. It’s an unlikely candidate for a deep-dive New York Times Magazine article from the time period, which is well worth reading in full. It’s mostly about B-movies and the actresses trying to make their way up through them, though it does have this money quote from director Simon Nuchtern about why, for Bs, it’s not worth paying more for a good lead actress: “If I had 10,000 extra dollars, I’d put it into lights. Not one person is going to say, ‘Go see that movie because Lynn Redgrave is in it.’ But if we don’t have enough lights and that 3-D doesn’t pop right out at you, people are going to say, ‘Don’t see that movie because the 3-D stinks.’” Meanwhile, nobody appears to have been thinking that hard while making Friday the 13th: Part III, which contains precisely one striking image: a pan, street morning, as future teen lambs-to-the-slaughter exit their van and walk over to a friend’s house. A lens flare hits frame left, making what’s behind it briefly impossible to see: this portion of the frame is now sealed off under impermeable 2D, in contrast to the rest of the frame’s now far-more-tangible depth. The remainder of the movie makes it easy to imagine watching it on TV and clocking every obvious, poorly framed and blocked 3D effect, from spears being thrown at the camera to the inevitable yo-yo descending at the lens. (This is my least favorite 3D effect because it’s just too obvious and counterproductively makes me think of the Smothers Brothers.)

Friday the 13th was the biggest slog of the 3D weekend, and the one most clearly emulating 1981’s Comin’ at Ya! I am not going to argue for that movie, either, which is generally credited with kicking off the second 3D craze; it’s a sludgy spaghetti western that delivers exactly as its title promises, using a limited number of effects repeatedly before showing them all again in a cut-together montage at the end, lest you missed one in its first iteration. It’s exhausting and oddly joyless, but was successful enough to generate a follow-up from the same creative team. Star Tony Anthony and director Ferdinando Baldi (both veterans of second-tier spaghetti westerns) re-teamed for 1983’s Treasure of the Four Crowns, the movie which (two screenings in) rewired my brain a little and convinced me I should hang around all weekend. This is not a well-respected film, then or now: judging by IMDb user comments, most people who remember seeing it recall it playing endlessly on HBO in the ‘80s, where it did not impress them unless they were very young (and even then, perhaps not). Janet Maslin admitted to walking out on it in her review; then again, she did the same with Dawn of the Dead, and everyone loves that.

An unabashed Indiana Jones copy, Treasure begins strong with a lengthy opening sequence of tomb raider J.T. Striker (Anthony) dropping into a cave, where he’s promptly confronted not only with a bunch of traps but, for a long stretch, a small menagerie’s worth of owls, dogs, and other wildlife. There are a lot of animals, and why not? They’re fun to look at, and having them trotted out, one after another, is another link back to silent cinema; besides water, babies and animals were also popular subjects. The whole sequence ends with Striker running away from the castle above the cave, artifact retrieved, in slow-motion as Ennio Morricone’s score blares. There is, inevitably and nonsensically, a fireball that consumes the set; it unfolds luxuriously in detailed depth, the camera placed on a grassy knoll that gives us a nice angle to contemplate it looking upwards, a nearly abstract testament to the pleasures of gasoline-fueled imagery. Shortly thereafter, Striker is in some European city to sell his wares, and in every shot the camera is placed for maximum depth: in front of a small city park’s mini-waterfall, views of streets boxed in by sidewalks that narrow towards each other, each position calibrated to create a spectacular travelogue out of what’s a fairly mundane location. There’s an expository sequence where Striker and friends drop into a diner to ask about the whereabouts of another member of the crew they need to round up. Here, with the camera on one side of a bar encircling a center counter, there are something like six layers of cleanly articulated space, starting with a plant’s leaves right in front of the lens on the side, proceeding to the counter, center area, back counter, back tables and walls of the establishment. Again, the location is mundane; seeing it filleted in space so neatly is what makes it special.

The climax finally convinced me I was watching forgotten greatness. This is an elaborate heist sequence in which, of course, the floor cannot be touched, necessitating that the team perform all kinds of rappelling foolishness. At this point I thought, “the only way I could respect this movie more is if it spent 10 minutes watching them get from one side of the room to another in real time.” First, the team has to gear up, which basically means untangling a bunch of ropes—clearly not the most exciting activity. The camera is looking up, placed below a team member as they uncoil and then drop a rope towards the lens. This is a better-framed variant of the comin’-at-ya principle, but what made it exciting to me was the leisurely way it was done: no more whizzing spears, but a moment of procedural mundanity as exciting as any ostensible danger. Basic narrative film grammar is being upended here: if a rope being dropped is just as exciting as a big, fake rip-off boulder chasing our hero down the cave, then all the rules about what constitutes narrative are off—narrative and non-narrative elements have the exact same weight, and even the most mundane, A-to-B connective shot is a spectacular event.

This isn’t how narrative cinema is supposed to work, and certainly not what James Cameron’s conception of good 3D proposed. The movie keeps going, building to a bizarrely grim climax involving a lot of face-melting, scored by Morricone’s oddly beatific score, which seems serenely indifferent to the grotesqueness of the images it’s accompanying. (This is a recurring trait in the composer’s ‘80s work; the score for White Dog often seems to bear no relation to the footage it’s accompanying.) That would make the movie oneiric and weirdly compelling even on a flat TV, but everything preceding convinced me: 3D can be great because it’s 3D, not because it serves a story. I’ve spent the last decade getting more angry about the format than anything, but that was a misunderstanding. Treasure of the Four Crowns is, yes, probably very unexceptional seen flat; seen in all three dimensions, it’s a demonstration of how 3D can turn banal connective tissue and routine coverage into an event. The spectacle of 3D might never have been its potential to make elaborate CG landscapes more immersive, something I still haven’t personally been convinced of; as those 19 non-CG shots in Avatar showed (undermining Cameron’s own argument!), 3D’s renderings of the real, material world and objects have yet to be fully explored. 3D’s ability to link film back to its earliest days is refreshing, in the way that any rediscovery of forgotten parts of film language can be, while also encouraging thought about all the things narrative visual language hasn’t yet explored, as if 3D could take us forwards and backwards simultaneously. In any case, I’m now won over—ten years after Avatar, but better late than never.

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douxreviews · 6 years ago

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Quantum Leap - Season Two Review

"He works in mysterious ways."

While still formulaic, season two is much better than the brief leap-of-the-week season one. Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell are a lot more comfortable with their roles, and many of the leaps are more interesting and complicated. There are also some intriguing additions to what we know about our main characters and some progress with the arc story — particularly in the premiere and the finale.

What works

Sam is enjoying leaping around and helping people. He doesn't seem to mind that he left his own life behind, although the continuing partial amnesia could be responsible for that.

Another issue they begin to address in season two is what became of Sam's physical body. In season one, the saga sell says that Sam "stepped into the quantum accelerator and vanished." In season two, we're told that Sam's physical body is in a "waiting room" back at the project, and that when he leaps, Al questions whoever just leaped into Sam's body so that he can locate where and when Sam went.

The best episodes of season two are the premiere and the finale.

2.1 "Honeymoon Express (April 27, 1960): I love this episode, mostly because of the cleverness of the twist ending. Al, whom we learn here is an admiral, is testifying before a hostile senate subcommittee responsible for further funding of the Quantum Leap Project, while Sam leaps into a cop who is on his honeymoon. Sam's bride, Diane, is a law student who is preparing for her bar exam.

Although it was mentioned in the season one pilot that God might be responsible for what is happening to Sam, here it is confirmed. Because Sam virtuously avoids hitting the sheets with Diane even though he is attracted to her, he keeps trying to help her study for the bar instead. At the very moment when Sam is ready to give in and make love with Diane, she has a breakthrough, finally grasping a key legal concept that would have made her fail the exam, and Sam leaps out. At that moment, the grumpy male head of the senate subcommittee turns into Diane, thirty years older, and she tells Al that the Quantum Leap funding has been approved. Only Al is aware that anything has changed.

Two of my other favorite shows had finales that centered on the existence of God, which didn't make me happy because it felt like a cop out. Not Quantum Leap though, because honestly, the only possible explanation for what is happening to Sam is divine intervention.

The only problem I have with this episode is the multitude of smoochfests. I did like that Sam and Al discussed the moral implications of Sam having sex with Diane, even though she wouldn't have known because she believed Sam was her husband. I also like the implied feminist message that Diane is no one's possession, and that she was destined for great things.

2.22 "M.I.A. (April 1, 1969)": Sam leaps into a San Diego cop. Al tells Sam that the purpose of the leap is to convince a Navy nurse named Beth Calavicci to not give up on her M.I.A. husband, who has been imprisoned in Vietnam for two years. But as it turns out, Sam is there to save the life of another cop, his partner, Roger Skaggs (Jason Beghe).

This episode features an exceptional and moving performance by Dean Stockwell, who ripped my heart out in the last ten minutes. Al is clearly signaling confusion and distress throughout the episode; he describes to Sam the torturous confinement that Beth's husband is experiencing without revealing that it is himself who is enduring it. When Sam guesses correctly that Skaggs is the reason for the leap, not Beth, Al confesses that Beth is his first wife and the love of his life, and when she had him declared dead and remarried, Al never recovered, and his other marriages never worked.

"God" allows Sam a few extra minutes before leaping so that Al can say goodbye to Beth, even though, of course, she can't see or hear him. He tells her how much he loves her, begs her to wait for him when we know she won't, and then they dance to Beth's favorite song. The thing is, what happens with Beth explains everything we need to know about Al, and it turns him from Sam's supportive friend and occasional comic relief into a tragic figure. Susan Diol as Beth Calavicci also does a wonderful job. We can believe she is the love of Al's life, that she is incredibly special to him, and her conflict is so well done. Sam's gentle treatment of Al, even though Al misled him and nearly caused Skaggs' death, is also touching. This episode never fails to make me cry.

The music replacement controversy, particularly regarding the episode "M.I.A."

As I mentioned in my review of season one, when Quantum Leap was initially released on DVD way back when, Universal had neglected to get the rights to a number of the songs featured on the series, simply because it was prohibitively expensive. Changing the music changes the series, and the fans were, to put it mildly, livid about it. Although the music replacement had a serious detrimental effect on "Good Morning, Peoria," the worst offender was "M.I.A." because that final scene where Al says goodbye to Beth is framed by the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody" and Ray Charles' "Georgia," two memorable songs that truly cannot be replaced.

Netflix and Amazon have the original version of "M.I.A." Hulu does not. For what it's worth.

Other episodes of note

2.2 "Disco Inferno (April 1, 1976)": Not really notable, but if you're watching Quantum Leap on Hulu or Netflix, you've probably noticed that this episode is missing. I went to the trouble of buying it on Amazon because I'm hung up on that completion thing, and it's not worth it. "Disco Inferno" is about a stuntman who helps his younger brother defy their stuntman father and become a musician. The only important piece of it is that Sam remembers that he has an older brother named Tom who died fighting in Vietnam.

2.4 "What Price Gloria? (October 16, 1961)": This episode is notable because it is the first time that Sam leaps into a woman, so of course it goes the preachy route and is all about sexism. Al is hot for Sam in a woman's body, which I just found uncomfortable. What I liked most was Scott Bakula wearing women's clothing without making too much of a thing about it. It feels like for Bakula, it's just another costume and he's such a good actor that playing a woman doesn't throw him.

2.6 "Good Morning, Peoria (September 9, 1959)": I loved this episode; it was a lot of fun. Maybe it because the stakes were less life and death and more personal. Patricia Richardson does such a great job as Sam's love interest, and the romance actually works this time. It also features a lot of great old music, and Sam pretty much channeling Robin Williams in Good Morning, Vietnam.

Like "Honeymoon Express," the question of Sam having a physical relationship while he is in someone else's body is again addressed. Sam is uncomfortable about romancing Patricia Richardson's character, but he does it anyway and it turns out that it was the right thing to do.

2.8 "Jimmy (October 14, 1964)": Sam leaps into a young, developmentally disabled man who is trying to hold down his first job while encountering bullying and prejudice. The most interesting thing about this one is Sam starts acting differently, clumsily, because he is being treated that way. Possibly a little preachy, but very well done.

2.10 "Catch a Falling Star (May 21, 1979)": Quantum Leap does Man of La Mancha, with the great actor and singer John Cullum as a guest star. This episode is pretty much an excuse to have Scott Bakula sing show tunes onstage and romance his teenage crush music teacher, but there's nothing wrong with that. There was also a deeper meaning when you think about it, because Sam really is like Don Quixote, spending his life rescuing others. Wonderful episode.

2.18 "Pool Hall Blues (September 4, 1954)": Loved this one. Maybe because Sam is so convincing as an adult woman's grandfather (loved the costume). I also loved the laser lines that allowed Sam to be a brilliant pool player.

What doesn't work

I don't usually point out the badness of bad episodes, but these three are truly awful.

2.11 "A Portrait for Troian (February 7, 1971)": We have a haunting, a mysterious lake full of bodies, a vanishing housekeeper and a pointless romance, none of which work. Which is too bad, since it stars Deborah Pratt, who was a writer/producer of the series, the saga sell narrator, and later the voice of Ziggy.

2.16 "Freedom (November 22, 1970)": Another poorly written stinker about an elderly Native American who wants to go home to die. See rule five.

2.17 "Good Night, Dear Heart (November 9, 1957)": This time Sam is a mortician who solves a murder instead of preventing one, which makes absolutely no sense to me. The circumstances of the victim's life and demise are depressing, and it all seems incredibly pointless.

Bits and pieces:

-- "Sea Bride" featured the Queen Mary, which is a tourist attraction in Long Beach, California. I toured it twice and I always enjoy stumbling over stuff that was filmed there.

-- I particularly liked that his second leap into a woman's body ("Another Mother") had nothing to do with sexism; he was there to save his host's son.

-- Famous people: The Beatles and Chubby Checker. In fact, it's the real Chubby Checker, who did a cameo in "Good Morning, Peoria."

-- Notable actors: Lorne Greene (Bonanza), a teenage Kelli Williams (Lie to Me), Robert Duncan MacNeill, Marcia Cross, and Troian Bellisario when she was still a very little girl in "Another Mother."

-- Sam's hair is way too long at first, and is later a good bit shorter. But if he's in someone else's body, can he even get his hair cut? Maybe someone cut Sam's hair in the Waiting Room.

-- Small children and animals can see Al, and genuine psychics can sense his presence. Al's presence affects EMF.

-- Sam creates the Heimlich maneuver.

-- More about Sam: he was a child prodigy, not a surprise, and a concert pianist.

-- More about Al: he was an astronaut. His mother abandoned him when he was a child and his sister was disabled. Al also looks better in red than in green.

-- The cliffhanger endings referencing Sam's next leap still bother me. Especially when we get one that relates to a rerun.

To conclude

I haven't finished my rewatch yet, but "M.I.A." and the two-parter that starts season three are my favorite episodes of the series,

Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

#Quantum Leap #Sam Beckett #Al Calavicci #Scott Bakula #Dean Stockwell #Quantum Leap Reviews #Doux Reviews #TV Reviews #something from the archive

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baekhvuns · 2 years ago

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Lmao my friend turned her TV once and France scored then she switched the channel, came back and another goal for France akgsuahajjsjs I didn't care who won, so I wasn't in shambles I also didn't watch the match thoroughly, but I still felt some kind of tension especially during penalties. Ahhh that sucks for PSG, hopefully the management gets their shit together.

Omg the stadium view?!?! Baek do you have a big backyard, maybe they can play there

Pique is the villain seriously, I'm glad he's gone. I couldn't believe miss Shakira got with him?! Though she's not doing well these days, girlie 💩

I used to be a big Ronaldo fan, yes. Please Pepe was out of control 😭 chill and calm was never in his dictionary

And you didn't reveal your true colours to me then... 🐍that's why I can't watch PSG 😭 I didn't spend years seeing Ramos playing against Messi and Neymar to now see them together. I'm hateful 🔫 but what's going on with Benzema and France NT 😭 but also Zidane might be their new coach? 👀 I do love that bald headbutting man, ngl

Yep agreed about Mbappe, sadly there are some good players who just cannot work in a team if they're not the centre of attention. His skills are good, but he needs to think more, his head isn't always in the game.

Pretty sure Wooyoung would get RED, remember him during Kingdom's sport's day? Wooyoung in his Ramos era.

Every webtoon guy is a Hwa look-alike lmaoooo. Act Like You Love Me apparently gets a bit better, but it's still bad, the beginning was fun, but over 90 chapters in and this shit is insufferable. I read comments from Korean fans and they're pissed as well. I hate most of the characters at this point, it's TB 2.0. Buuut I read spoilers about For My Derelict Favorite and it doesn't seem to be going downhill so fingers crossed!

All the bear emoji users assemble, who do we have, Kai, Seulgi, Jongho, Beomgyu... they need to fight, the ultimate 🐻 battle

No one needs new SuperM members unless it's Key 👀 EXO's freedom era let's gooo

Wait BAP getting plagiarised, what?

I didn't know what to expect from that Devil Wears Prada thing, but? I agree, he looks cuter than Miranda though sjudishsjansjhshs

Not to be like this, but why wasn't Hwa featured in today's collab, he literally did the Rush Hour challenge 😭 come to think, he's never been in any collab, neither vocal nor dancing (except for Kingdom but it featured everyone so it doesn't count). My friend pointed out that he's in a weird position he's either treated as a vocalist, dancer and rapper or neither, so he gets kinda omitted... and Wooyoung wasn't in Rush Hour as well 🤔

But Hwa's full leather fit and Mingi's too wow

Ohhhh he's a pianist (his ass is not playing but 🤩)

AAAAAAAAAA WANT. Ha ha ha I have normal feelings about this

YSL model Park Seonghwa (real) I keep forgetting to re-read model Hwa...

Ok ok bestie listen because, Yunjin opera and Kazuha ballet?! And they covered The Boys? Ive did Karaaaaaa, someone covered WG too I think

CUTE also D-100?! 😭😭😭 April 2nd omg a day before Seonghwa's birthday you know what he should do to celebrate... anyways Taemin finally ended our torture we have a dateeeeeee! - DV 💖

hi hello!!

LMFAOOOO 😭😭😭 i rly blamed france scoring on anything breathing at that point 😭i think the final had a very unsettling feeling (even w the city who hosted it) to it that increased at penalties, maybe it was mbappe’s face that was so relaxed and calm, scoring easily as the previous winners to agrentina’s hunger to bring the trophy in after decades,,, it was really a fight to the END, what a final but in the most unsettling way,,, hopefully psg does better! they got the best players they gotta make it useful!! also this tweet so true

Omg the stadium view?!?! Baek do you have a big backyard, maybe they can play there //// Pique is the villain seriously, I'm glad he's gone. I couldn't believe miss Shakira got with him?! Though she's not doing well these days, girlie 💩

KCHCKCLC I WISH I DID but theres a better one just an hour away! not w the mountain view but def the entire skyline and super pretty <33 no bc pique meeting with messi and suarez for christmas 😭😭 may b he’ll beg for him to come back to barca ANS then messi to convince ney to come and the world will heal,, fhsjdhsj miss shakira is still doing better then him 🤚🏼

I used to be a big Ronaldo fan, yes. Please Pepe was out of control 😭 chill and calm was never in his dictionary

NO FUCKING Y SHAKDHWKDH I SMELLED HIS FAN OFF OF U BFKWHDSK WHAT A COINCIDENCE A MESSI LIKER AND A RONALDO LIKED HAVING A CIVIL CONVO DBDB

LMFAOOOO NO BC PSGS GOOD THEY GOT THEM AND DI MARIA ITS RLY ENTERTAINING TO WATCH IT AS A WHOLE DBDBDB the beef of mbappe w messimar, the neymar messi giggling and the fight w defence 😭😭 HATEFUL FBWNFHWK NOOOO THE BENZEMA FRANCE THING IS SO MESSY BUT FUNNY GBDNFBNE HE DIPPED AFTER THE BALLON D��OR 😭😭😭 zidane ayo 👀 hoping for a mourinho and guardiola return,,, the 2026 wc is so confusing the math is not mathing 😭😭

absolutely 100% !!!!! he’s predictable and it won’t take long for ppl to notice (and they are) before they start eating him up bdbdbd his head is always to just win 😭😭

Pretty sure Wooyoung would get RED, remember him during Kingdom's sport's day? Wooyoung in his Ramos era.

RBQKDHQKHDQKJCJCJC WOOYOUNG RAMOS ZLATAN AND PEPE MIX add neymar for the drama and the winks, he’d ask the goalkeeper where to shoot for pen’s just like him 😭😭😭😭

seonghwa perfect face agenda is shown every time i open a webtoon and it’s always a replica of him in a diff hair colour,,,, OKAY BET IM READING THIS AND SO FAR SO GOOD,,, TB TROPE HAS RLY TAKEN OVER EVERY FIC ATP COME ON GIVE THE BEST GUY A CHANCE 😭😭😭 webtoon y/n’s <<<< fic y/n’s

All the bear emoji users assemble, who do we have, Kai, Seulgi, Jongho, Beomgyu... they need to fight, the ultimate 🐻 battle /// No one needs new SuperM members unless it's Key 👀 EXO's freedom era let's gooo

ADDING SHOWNU TO THAT, not cat fight just beats going head to head,,, UR SO RIGHT EITHER KEY OR CHANGMIN !!!!! exo freedom era 😭😭😭 everytime i open twt i see them and ive or make sure it’s not an edit 😭😭 traumatized forever

Wait BAP getting plagiarised, what? ///// I didn't know what to expect from that Devil Wears Prada thing, but? I agree, he looks cuter than Miranda though sjudishsjansjhshs

yeah! right here! BDSNBD if miranda was cute,,,,, hear me the fUCK OUT fashion designer hwa and his intern 🤚🏼but it’s his ex 🤚🏼

wait….ur kinda right ive never seen him in a collab,,, he’s like on a cusp between so many positions that in the end of the day he’s like no where, will put myself into delulu and say he doesn’t participate in them bc he will steal all the attention <3

Ohhhh he's a pianist (his ass is not playing but 🤩) //// AAAAAAAAAA WANT. Ha ha ha I have normal feelings about this //// YSL model Park Seonghwa (real) I keep forgetting to re-read model Hwa...

if he steps on the piano in the mv, that is peak taemin core! STOP BC HE LOOKED SO GOOD IM AFRAID LEGO CAN FUCK OFF I NEED A DIOR AMBASSADORSHIP !!!!!! …..omg….that is indeed model hwa….u keep forgetting to read and i be re-reading that fic like my life depends on it, reminded me of that mingi hwa runway video and this,, convinced this is a look he’d wear as a model in the au

Ok ok bestie listen because, Yunjin opera and Kazuha ballet?! And they covered The Boys? Ive did Karaaaaaa, someone covered WG too I think

THW WAY I FUCKING SCREAMED AT THEIR PERFORMANCE FINALLY AFTER SO LONG ITS THE SONG AGAIN !!!!!! no bc lsf can do a horror concept so well, like a black swan concept and yunjin’s doing opera 😩😩 IVE DID KARA 😭😭😭🤚🏼 GGS DOMINATING

CUTE also D-100?! 😭😭😭 April 2nd omg a day before Seonghwa's birthday you know what he should do to celebrate... anyways Taemin finally ended our torture we have a dateeeeeee! - DV

WE FINALLY 😭😭😭😭 FINALLY 😭😭😭 KNOW HIS RELEASE DATE 😭😭😭😭 I THINK THE DATES APRIL 4TH BUT CLOSE ENOUGH TO HWA’S SCREAMING HE’S FINALLY COMING BACK 😭😭😭😭😭 STOP IT 😭😭😭

also just turned christmas when i finished this so merry christmas to u!!!

and. correct.

#✉️ : ask #dv 💖 anon

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