#patrick enters the scene and i just straight up die

[fobnsfwdoodles]

Pink anon tbh I have never read fanfic before and this has changed my life.

[divinerulerluvr]

Epilogue of a Lost Love

Where you're James' maid during the time of his almost capture.

James Patrick March x Fem!Reader

Warnings - Murder mention, murder, nothing really tbh it's fluffy at the end.

A/N - So basically Ms. Evers never existed in this and instead, you're the maid. I hope that makes sense but whatever. This is relatively short but it has a happy ending! So... enjoy that for now

The halls of the Hotel Cortez felt endless.

You had been working for Mr. March for three years and yet you felt like you kept finding new rooms and new passageways.

Being James March’s maid came with a dark secret. You knew what he was. You knew of his nasty habit and hobby. But you simply didn’t care. Your father always taught you that if it did not involve you, it was not your place to intervene.

You changed his bloodied sheets after a kill. You helped clean his clothing. You helped dispose of all evidence. You covered for him more times than not. He was a prim man-- one of proper reputation.

And of all people, you were not one to blab to authorities.

Quickly, you adapted to secrecy and never asked any questions about the man. You never asked why he did it, why he tortured, or why he treated his woman victims the way he did when he had a wife.

It was none of your business.

James respected you for that. You knew your place as the laundress and found your ability to keep a secret charming. He was glad he could find a woman to clean after him so well with such fuss.

As February of ‘29 approached, you noticed James becoming sloppy. He got more violent too.

“Miss. Y/l/n!” he’d yell out, pure anger coating his voice like molasses. You rush into the room, nervously holding your hands behind your back as you scan the horrific scene before you. “Clean this. I don’t have time, either,” he orders.

You never noticed how his eyes would linger on you as you bent over the bed to remove the linens. Or how he would hum softly under your touch as you quickly wiped away a blood splatter from his white button-down.

He wasn’t even sure if he wanted you to notice. He appreciated your help with his side hobby and that's as much as he’d vocalize. Hell, he never even said “Thank you” for the three years you had served under his harsh word.

But, on February twenty-fifth, you heard a loud clang as multiple men in suits with badges and guns entered the premises.

“Is there a James March here, ma’am?” one of the officers asks you. You shake your head. “I’m not sure. He may be out of town,” you lie for him. “I must go launder these. Pardon, sir,” you excuse.

They let you rush away and you go straight for James’ room to warn him.

He was in the process of killing somebody-- the dead body in a tub while he worked on amputating it to dispose of the body seamlessly.

“Miss. Y/l/n, what’re you doing interrupting--”

“They’re here, sir,” you cut him off, closing the door quietly and looking into his eyes. You didn’t do that often so for James to actually see your eyes properly meant you were serious. “The police. They’ve come to arrest you,”

He exhales deeply, dropping his saw into the tub carelessly. “Well,” he sighs, his head angled down in defeat. He finally looks back up at you, no anger on his face for once.

Randomly, he turns and leaves the room, grabbing something from the adjoined closet. He returns with two weapons-- a knife and a gun. He stands back where he was so you were both on opposite sides of the tub that held a dead, bloody body.

“Your loyalty has been provocative, dear. It would be an honor if you could follow me in death,” he says, his tone flat. Your face twists in confusion. “Mr. March I… I don’t know what to say,” you stammer.

“When the police reach us, they will think you were an accomplice. Which, to be fair, you are. It'd be better to save yourself the havoc and just… stick with me through this,” he adds on, a hinge of manipulation behind his words.

“You want me to die with you?” you ask, the way he phrased it making it seem like some off romantic sacrifice.

He smiles softly, kindness in his eyes that you never even imagined you’d see. “I find that women who are both beautiful and homely are always the most reliable. You, my darling, are both,”

His words made you swoon. Ignoring the circumstances, it was rather sweet. “Please, pick your weapon,” James says, extending the two options of a knife or a gun. You chose the gun, picking up the loaded revolver.

You press the tip of the gun to the side of your head but you whimper, your hand falling down. James frowns. “I’m afraid,” you say bashfully.

“Aw, my love,” he mutters. He reaches out and takes the gun from your hand and you let him. There was a loud knock on the door as James aimed the gun at your forehead. You exhale deeply, your eyes locked on his as you await death.

“My sweet, sweet girl,” he comments before pulling the trigger.

Your dead body falls back, feeling no pain as it takes less than a second for you to die. James drops the gun and quickly slashes his throat, bleeding out and dying as the police enter the small room.

-

You weren’t sure when you came back into consciousness as a ghost, but at some point you did.

The world felt dry. It was an odd feeling, knowing you were no longer alive but were still able to roam the hotel and do things. You couldn’t leave the hotel and that was it.

There was no motivation. There was nothing you wanted to do. All you wanted to do was locate James. You didn’t understand anything. Maybe James would. You doubted that, though. He’s a serial killer, not a paranormal expert.

Walking into his suite, your eyes roam the room you had only been allowed in if you were going to clean up. His room was elegant and decorated beautifully. You liked how minimalist it was. It was James’ style.

“I’m glad you decided to die with me, Y/n,” James says from behind you. He rarely said your first name so hearing it off of his tongue made you smile.

You turn around, facing the man you’ve cleaned up after for three years. He wore a pristine suit as always. But now, a dark red ascot covered his neck. You weren’t sure how he died, you just knew he was dead.

“James,” you say with a lovesick smile. His admittance of affection made you realize maybe you always wanted to be more than his maid.

He smiles as well, his charming dimples showing in his pale skin. He steps closer to you, reaching out and running his thumb down your jawline. You sink into the touch, your eyes fluttering shut as you feel his cold skin on yours.

“We have eternity, now. I hope to do all of the things I’ve longed for these past years,” he says. You smile, not feeling adrenaline like you usually would due to being dead.

Instead of responding, you just lean in and kiss him.

Taglist: (ask to be removed if you would like) @just-some-lesbian @evanmybeloved @sallyscigarettes @arsenicbruise @auricgold @billyhxrgrove @liandav @peanutbutter-y-jams @ellamaianderson @mossybank @kaiscumrag @spookybitch @anisabb

[the-lost-media-blog]

Deleted scenes and all that jazz!

Today, I’ll going over scenes that were cut from movies/shows/even comic for reasons and if they’ve been found or not. This won’t be as detailed as my Saki post was, mainly because there’s a lot of ground to cover, but I still hope that you enjoy!

****

‘Land Before Time’ & ‘All Dogs Go To Heaven’

I placed these two together because: A) both are made by Don Bluth and B) the main reason for why most of them were cut was for being ‘dark’.

Let’s start will ‘All Dogs Go To Heaven’, as that list is shorter than ‘Land Before Time’s list.

‘All Dogs Go To Heaven’ has one found scene while the other is still lost. 

The found scene is Charlie (the main lead, German Shepherd) having a Nightmare of him in Hell! With the devil, little demons biting at Charlie, and a river of straight up blood!

Any ways, the scene was originally slightly longer than what ended up in the theatrical cut of the film, but it got the cut to avoid getting PG rating (back when it meant something) and stick with a G.  This scene has been found, and has been edited with clips from the theatrical scene into one clip, and the link to that scene is below, though the added in sections are of lower quality as they were recorded on something else:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr7khtV7GAs

The completely lost scene is a scene of Charlie getting RUN OVER WITH A CAR. (insert failing gif I entered above here).

The original scene showed the action happening, as opposed to just showing the aftermath. People thought it was found back in August of 2020, but that was found to be a hoax in October of the same year. 

Don Bluth is the only one with the extended cut of the film, and it’s on him on whether or not it gets shown to the public eye.

Now ‘Land Before Time’ has a ton of scenes cut! One of which could have been Little Foot (main character, dinosaur)’s dying, the extension of the fight scene is cut though. Fun Fact with that, they had to get Child Psychologists to watch that scene as to what they should do with it, and that screening is what lead to the narrator and the character named Rooter to be added.

The actual cut scenes include an extended chase scene with the Sharptooth, an extended intro to Spike, dinos not sharing their food with the young heroes, an added scene, a travel montage, and a lot more but there’s a ton!

The studio was responsible for the reason why 11 whole minutes were cut from the film. They were so worried about scaring/traumatizing the children who would watch the film with their parents. 

At this moment, only the cells of the scenes have been found which is a shame because some people got all up in arms about making children scared. But in my humble opinion, fuck them kids. Make your movie the way you want to!

CURRENT STATUS:  ‘All Dogs’; Partially found ‘Land Before Time’; Mostly lost

***

‘A Death In The Family’- Robin Lives ending

Some context for this is, back in the late 80′s there was a Robin named Jason Todd whom was hated by some fans, he did have his own, but not as much as Dick. I’m not sure of the exact reasons, maybe it’s because Jason wasn’t the much beloved Dick Grayson.

Regardless of the reasons why Jason was so hated, DC made the move to set up two call numbers for fans to call in and vote. One number for Jason to live, the other number to let him die; end of the day it was a publicity stunt that ended with Jason being sweet, sweet worm food. There also a rumor or something that someone called multiple times just to kill Jason. But in the words of John Mulaney: 

Before the call-in poll ended DC wrote up the endings, and the ‘Robin Lives’ ending got some-what done before the ‘Jason Dies’ ending won by 72 votes. Only one page got finished (from what I can find) meanwhile the others are uncompleted, but here’s a look at what could’ve been:

CURRENT STAUTS: Partially found

***

Admittedly, there’s a lot that could go wrong when it comes to Television. Lost Episodes, Missing Pilots, lost audio and dubs. But, this is on Deleted Scenes, so lets just go with SpongeBob as the little yellow guy has a fair amount.

SpongeBob SquarePants deleted scenes

There are some edits made that cut lines and scenes. But I’ll go over 5 here today, one of which is a fake ‘deleted scene’.

An example is that on the first airing of the episode ‘Shanghaied’ there was a poll done to show which character (Squidward, SpongeBob, and Patrick) gets a wish from the Flying Dutchman. The first airing showed the endings that lost before the one that won; now when that episode airs it just displays the winning ending. But you can find that segment on YouTube to see the other endings.

‘Just One Bite’ had a scene where Squidward breaks into the Krusty Krab for a krabby patty, but at the front door there’s a bucket of gasoline which falls and then gets lit by a match causing a fire; in 2002 that bit was cut and you just get a zoom-in on the krabby patty vault. Now there’s a rumor that the scene was cut due to 9/11 (even though the episode was aired on October 5th), but the real reason is so kids don’t get the idea to mix gasoline and matches, you know like idiots! Here’s some screen shots of the scene and a link to the video I got these from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1Bu6yp-aaA

But those all examples of confirmed edits, here’s a list of unconfirmed edits. 

In ‘Clams’ the name of the lipstick SpongeBob wore was changed slightly to say  "Actually, it's Coral Blue Lipstick number 3" instead of  "Actually, it's Coral Blue Lipstick number 4". Why this was changed I have no clue.

In ‘The Fry Cook Games’ the end shot was changed from them holding hand to them holding shoulders, the reason I found was to remove hint of homosexuality to avoid controversy. Which is odd, because that’s not the worse thing that could be shown on TV, because ‘Shanghaied’ was aired earlier that year (both versions) in March, and that episode ends with the thought that the Flying Dutchman was going to eat the characters, also handholding is something that is normal for people to do, especially friends. 

There’s rumors that ‘I Was A Teenage Gary’ had a transformation scene with Squidward near the end before the cut to the fence moonlight meowing ending. The reason this rumor exists is because the transition is a simple wipe effect without the traditional bubble wipe. Some say that it could be seen in a different country, that I forgot the name of, unaltered. But it’s been debunked by someone uploading the premiere of that episode onto YouTube and there was no transformation.

CURRENT STATUS  Partially found

[braincoins]

Unusual Halloween Movies

Tired of Jason, Freddy, and Michael? Want something new this year? Boy, do I have some treats lined up for you! I’ve used JustWatch to list the streaming options (though these are US streaming options; I maaaaay be up for some streaming fun on Halloween...). I’ll tell you right now, this list can almost perfectly be broken into three categories: Horror-Comedy, Sci-Fi Horror, or International Horror.

American Mary -  A medical student drowning under tuition debt finds a lucrative practice when she enters the world of body modification. ngl, I remember liking this movie but it’s been a bit since I saw it, so for the CONTENT WARNINGS I’m going to straight up rip the MPAA here: Rated R for strong aberrant violent content including disturbing images, torture, a rape, sexual content, graphic nudity, language and brief drug use

Ava’s Possessions - Ever wonder what life is like once all your demons have been exorcised - literally? Now that Ava is free of the demon that once possessed her, she’s out of a job, down a few friends, and facing charges for the acts of violence her demon did. The only way to get out of trouble is to go to the demon-equivalent of AA. CONTENT WARNINGS: mostly blood and bad language; some mild sexual content 

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon - A journalism grad student interviews a young man in training to be the next slasher killer, ala Jason/Freddy/Michael. An absolute treat of a movie for anyone who loves slasher films; it’s about 3/4 mockumentary, 1/4 actual horror film when she realizes that, no, really, he’s going to go kill all those co-eds. CONTENT WARNINGS: Blood, gore, naked boobs (”Ugh. Is that REALLY necessary?” “Now, Taylor, who’s telling this story?”), sex, occasional panty shots (because, again, slasher films). 

Bubba Ho-Tep - OH MAN another one I had to go back and add in ‘cause REALLY NOW. Elvis is in a nursing home (at least, he says he’s the real Elvis) and he and JFK (who is played by Ossie Davis - who you will note is NOT white) have to fight off a resurrected mummy who sucks the souls of the living out of their assholes. Bruce Campbell stars. HOW IS THAT NOT AWESOME ENOUGH FOR YOU?! CONTENT WARNING: Um... look, I think you kinda already know what sort of content to expect given what I just told you about the story.

Bulbbul (Netflix Original) -  (Hindi Language) During the 19th century Bengali Presidency, something - or someone? - is haunting the woods around a lord’s estate, killing men in gruesome ways. The lord has left his estate in charge of his young wife, while his younger brother, who’d been away studying in London, returns to hunt down whatever is causing these mysterious deaths. CONTENT WARNINGS: child bride, blood, and what Netflix calls “sexual violence”, meaning a rape scene so graphic (despite not showing any nudity or genitalia) that it is GUARANTEED to make you uncomfortable. The movie was written and directed by a woman, so there is nothing intended to be “sexy” about this at all. If you can make it through that scene, though, there is a definite payoff for it. (Or should I say “payback”?)

Eli (Netflix Original) - A young, incredibly sick boy with a fragile immune system is brought by his parents to a clinic for an experimental treatment that may be their last hope. But all is not as it seems within the walls of this place... perhaps literally. CONTENT WARNINGS: mostly just language, a few mild jump scares. People get set on fire at one point. No biggie. 

Errementari: the Blacksmith and the Devil (Netflix Original) - (Basque Language) Based on a Basque folk tale. Eight years after the First Carlist War, a government official comes to a small, impoverished Basque town asking after the blacksmith. Everyone tries to warn him away; the blacksmith is an evil, evil man. But he is on the trail of some Carlist gold that might be in the smithy, and the prospect of the gold wins him some helpers. And while everyone is distracted by that, a young orphan girl manages to get onto the blacksmith’s property. And what she finds there, no one could have expected... CONTENT WARNINGS: I took a screenshot of Netflix’s list of warnings just because it amuses me:

[sings “One of these things is not like the others...”]

Europa Report - Look, I really can’t recommend this enough for fans of found-footage features and people who can stand slower-paced, constantly-building terror. An international mission is sent to investigate Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter. (Those of you who are fans of real-world space exploration know that Europa is considered a prime target for extraterrestrial life within our solar system.) Contact was lost with the mission for a long time, until the data streams came flooding into Earth all at once. And what they showed... CONTENT WARNINGS: Like I said: slower pace than most horror/thriller movies. It builds slow and steady. There’s really not much in the way of blood and gore, though; an excellent example of terror without resorting to buckets of red corn syrup.

Event Horizon - Hellraiser in Space? Hellraiser in Space. Except the Lamentation Configuration is a fucking SPACE SHIP. Also, props for genre-savvy cast. CONTENT WARNINGS: EYE SCREAM. Blood, gore, and, no really, THE EYE THING. Did I mention the gore and the blood? Oh, and language. And blink-and-you-miss it nudity & sex.

Grabbers - Strange creatures are attacking a small Irish coastal town and the only way to protect yourself is... to be drunk? CONTENT WARNINGS: I mean, it’s Irish and everyone’s drunk, so bad language (by American standards) is a given. That’s... really about it, unless you have a tentacle phobia.

Green Room -  An up-and-coming punk band show up to play a gig and realize too late that they’re playing at a Neo-Nazi club. And when they happen to see something they... really shouldn’t have, it becomes an all-out fight for survival. Same director as Murder Party, though this movie was made later with a much better budget. CONTENT WARNINGS: Violence, blood, gore, and yes, some dogs die because they were trained to be vicious attack dogs by Neo-Nazis. :( Also, the most important content warning of all? PATRICK STEWART PLAYS A NEO-NAZI. (You think I’m joking, but for someone who grew up with him as Jean-Luc Picard, it is downright unsettling to see, okay?)

Life - Think Alien meets Europa Report (above). The six-member crew of the International Space Station are given a sample from Mars that might contain actual extraterrestrial life.  CONTENT WARNINGS: Blood. No, let me say that again: BLOOD. Sounds of bones breaking. Alien creature entering someone’s mouth and killing them from the inside (probably through a combination of choking them/asphyxiating them on their own blood/devouring their blood? It’s not clear, it’s just UNSETTLING).

Murder Party - This is what happens when snobby art school brats try to kill someone. (Read: it doesn’t go well.) Fuckin’ bop of a Halloween song over the end credits, too. Also, at least two characters are canonically bisexual. Same director as Green Room, though this movie was made first (with a much lower budget). CONTENT WARNINGS: bad language, blood, gore, nudity, mild sexual content (the nudity is supposed to be “artistic”). The dog probably DOES die, given the circumstances, but it doesn’t happen on screen, at least? And the dog gets some pretty decent comeuppance first... Also, 1000000% accurate cat representation. 

The Perfection (Netflix Original) - A former cello virtuoso (virtuosa?) gets in touch with her former teacher and meets his new star pupil. An instant connection is formed between the two women... or is it? (Yes, there are lesbians!) CONTENT WARNINGS: oh chaos, where do I start? Bugs under the skin, hacking off body parts, blood, gore, mild sexual content, sexual abuse, and the movie itself is complete and utter MINDFUCKERY. Did you like “Tales from the Crypt” as a kid? You’ll probably dig this. 

Ravenous - With apologies to all Native Americans, but at least they did get actual Native American actors for those parts (George is played by a Pueblo actor; his sister Martha is played by an actress of Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee descent). A soldier who won a questionable victory during the Mexican-American war is given a hero’s status and then an exile to a remote fort in the Sierra Nevadas. Not long after he arrives, a would-be settler arrives with a harrowing tale, calling for help for what few survivors there are of his wagon train. The two friendly Native Americans at the fort issue warnings that go unheeded, of course. CONTENT WARNINGS: Blood, gore, cannibalism, PTSD.

Slither - James Gunn’s 2006 Feature Movie Directorial Debut! He wrote it, too. An homage to B-movie gore flicks like you’d see at the drive-in. I am just copying and pasting the IMDB summary ‘cause I love this movie too much to be concise about it: A small town is taken over by an alien plague, turning residents into zombies and all forms of mutant monsters. (Oh, but don’t forget the nasty, slithery blood worm things!) CONTENT WARNINGS: Nasty, slithery blood worm things. GORE, BLOOD, GORE, GORE. A very uncomfortable sex scene. Michael Rooker.

They’re Watching - An American TV crew filming what is essentially “House Hunters: Eastern Europe” stumble into superstitions, folklore, and... TERROR!! MWAHAHAHAHA. No, seriously, I LOVE how it’s basically “What if some HGTV crew wound up waaaaaaaay in over their heads, in a horrible and bloody way?” CONTENT WARNINGS: Blood, gore, and NO WI-FI.

[princessmans]

About that “Return to Murder House” twist... (SPOILERS)

My first reaction to the revelation that Tate had been used by the Murder House as a vessel to create Michael was a mixture of disappointment and relief. On one hand, I loved being able to enjoy Tate running down the stairs to Violet like a little kid at Christmas, but I also felt like one of the greatest villains ever portrayed on screen had been cheapened by what felt a tad like fan fiction. 

To be honest, I always felt like Tate being manipulated by the house was a possibility based on some of the direction, dialogue and acting choices. It was what I WANTED to be true, but not knowing if this was the case, or if he really was just a psychopath, was what made him so scary to me and I felt like that fear had been taken away by a definitive explanation. 

However, the more I have thought about it and reflected on the events of Murder House and early episodes of Apocalypse, the more I think it works and is actually kinda brilliant. It makes Michael an absolutely terrifying villain and makes Murder House disturbing in a whole new way. I have compiled just a few examples here. Obviously, since this is Tate and AHS we are talking about, some topics may be triggering. 

Tate’s First Therapy Session

Most of what Tate says in his first session with Ben appears to be symptoms of some sort of mental illness - cutting and violent fantasies specifically. But analyzing his dialogue with “Return to Murder House” in mind makes what he says even more chilling. 

“I prepare for the noble war. I'm calm, I know the secret. I know whats coming and I know no one can stop me not even myself.” 

His mention of a noble war echoes Michael’s dialogue in Apocalypse whenever he talks about fulfilling his purpose and even the way he believes he is purifying/re-building the world through nuclear war. Additionally, Tate saying that even he cannot stop himself could be interpreted as pointing toward some form of possession where he truly is not in control of his actions. 

“The Indians believed that blood hold all the bad spirits, they would cut themselves once a month in ceremonies, let the spirits go free. There’s something smart about that. I like that.”

Again, this line - and the way that Tate does admit to self harm- can be interpreted as another symptom of the emotional pain he is obviously in. But now I can’t help but be freaked out by the idea that he subconsciously knew he was being possessed or at least manipulated by some sort of evil spirit. Tate even sees a vision of himself covered in blood - which he ignores and is never explained but introduces the idea of dual personas. 

The Rubber Man Reveal Scene

I have always found the Rubber Man reveal scene to be particularly strange in the way it seems to cut between two separate takes with two completely different choices on Evan Peters’ part - especially since we see him lower the mask twice. At first he looks horrified at what he just did, then it cuts to a more determined, villainous expression before cutting back to horror. 

In retrospect, the editing choice could be interpreted as revealing not just Tate’s inner conflict, but dual spirits in one body or at least a visualization of how Tate is being manipulated. If he was fully possessed in the way Mary Eunice was in Asylum then there is a whole other horrifying option to consider. If he was completely controlled by a demonic force, than Vivien is not the only victim of rape in the scenario - Tate is as well. However, I tend to lean towards more of a demonic influence and manipulation over full-on possession for reasons I will explain later. 

Inability to Kill Gabriel Ramos

Everything Tate does - apart from murdering his peers, but more on that later - is for a specific purpose. He either wants to appease or avenge ghosts in the house (Nora or Larry’s family who immolated themselves), help create and protect the Anti-Christ, or protect Violet from physical and emotional harm. His desire to kill Gabriel in order to give Violet a new boyfriend appears strong but he is ultimately unable to kill him. 

This final violent act occurs after Michael has left the house and is in the care of Constance - supporting Madison’s theory that the evil inside Tate did leave with Michael. Without it, Tate is unable to go through with the murder, despite how much he may want to in order to “help” Violet.

Not Remembering the Westfield Massacre

Tate’s claims to not remember killing 15 of his peers can easily be interpreted as denial or straight up lying in order to not lose Violet - though Evan Peters’ raw emotional vulnerability in some scenes has always made it difficult for me to not believe him. Re-watching these scenes now puts a whole different spin on his claims. 

Could he not remember what he did because he was not fully in control? I have always found the skull makeup in his visions to be an interesting choice, seeing as he did not wear it during the actual shooting. Another Tumblr user suggested that the skull makeup was his subconscious’ way of representing the devil that was influencing him and I agree that it comes across that way. 

Even if he does remember the murders on some level, he is unable to say why he did it- apart from his first claim that he did it to save his victims from the pain of the world. The scene where Violet finally confronts him about this shows him at his most vulnerable as he repeats “Why would I do that?” Again, this could be further denial or lying, but maybe he really doesn’t know. 

In what I always believed to be the most harrowing and disturbing scene of the season, Tate is shot to death by a SWAT team in his bedroom before one of the officers asks him why he did it. His death before he can answer has always been profoundly moving to me, not just because the audience is not given an answer as to why Tate did it, but because it reflects how the motivation behind school shootings is often left unknown. 

Now I just find this scene really depressing. In order for Michael to be born, Tate needed to die in the house in order to become a ghost. It is possible that the house/the darkness/the devil manipulated him to commit a mass shooting and return to the house and pull out a gun so he would be killed. 

Warning: The rest of this section enters the realm of even wilder speculation and theorizing less supported by facts. Skip if you want.

Of course, Tate could have just killed himself in the house, but it is my personal theory that in order for the Anti-Christ to be born, the spirit who fathered him would have to have committed horrible acts. In my mind it is sort of like Voldemort having to kill people in order to split his soul in order to make Horcruxes. I actually theorized this before “Return to Murder House” aired but I really don’t have anything to support this. Moving on. 

Michael Langdon is Hella Scary

I started to wonder if Tate’s actions were going to be explored while watching the first episodes of Apocalypse, especially after Michael delivered the following (amazing) line:

“I’ve never been a fan of getting my hands dirty. Learned that from my father. Always more fun to entice men and women to dirty deeds. Confirms what I’ve always believed...That all people, if given the right pressures or stimulus, are evil motherfuckers.”

Michael, according to Cody Fern, is the human form of Satan - which makes sense as a further perversion of the Holy Trinity. This means Satan, Michael and the Darkness that influenced Tate are one and the same. Even in the bunker we see Michael’s power over people to do awful things - Venable wipes out the Outpost with the apples and snakes Michael sent, and Mr. Gallant is tricked into brutally murdering his grandmother. 

This is what makes Michael the new most terrifying villain in AHS for me. Yes, he can make people’s heads explode, killed a great many small animals, and can literally wipe souls from existence. But what really scares me is his ability to “see into the dark places” of people’s souls and use that knowledge to manipulate people’s actions. 

This is why I personally find the explanation of Tate being full on possessed less interesting than him being manipulated. It seems to me that Satan/the darkness/the house/Michael whatever you want to call it, knew exactly what would drive Tate to murder and rape. So maybe Tate’s life would have been different if he had lived in a different house. Instead he was used by the Devil to create the Anti-Christ - completely ruining the lives of Tate, the Harmons, Chad, Patrick, 15 innocent students, and Constance in the process. There is even the possibility that the human side of Michael - the side that wanted to be good and grieved his grandmother - is also being destroyed by the demon inside him. That is pretty evil if you ask me. 

This leaves Tate’s character and morality in a weird place. He is certainly not a hero as he succumbed to the influence of the Darkness - even if he was possessed, he is merely a victim. But he isn’t a villain either. Redemption may be too strong a word, but I personally believe he deserves a little happiness with Violet. He even seems to have forgiven his abusive mother (why is no one talking about if she deserved to be with her children?) and has worked out a lot of his issues with Ben. I hope we see more of him.

So while I may be a little disappointed that Tate is no longer the greatest villain on AHS, his story builds up a villain who is shaping up to be really something special. 

Of course, there are still 4 episodes left. We may find out that Madison was lying, the magic dust was cocaine, Tate is actually evil and everything I just said is completely pointless. 

[radi0active-thoughts]

Ghost, Chapter 1 - “I’ll Come Crashing”

A/N: Chapter inspired by the song "I'll Come Crashing" by A Giant Dog. I'm actually molding a playlist for this story on Spotify and I'll share the link as soon as it's ready. By the way, special thanks for @witchymarvelspacecase for being an amazing beta reader an helping me with my “not-that-good” english. <3

A/N, 2: HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Chapter summary: After a few days unconscious, the reader finds herself in a hospital bed and freaks out in a murderous way, until she finds out where she is.

Warnings (for the chapter): Violence, swearing and nudity. Oh, and light smut.

 Y/N: Your name Y/LN: Your last name.

Word count: 1,912

Upstate New York: A few days later

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

I took a deep breath as I tried to open my eyes. There was a bright light flashing that made me not want to open my eyes. I was feeling had an almost unbearable headache.

“Shit,” I thought to myself, “Did I die? Is this the Purgatory?”

I made my eyes open and let them adjust to the light above me, so I could look around: The room I was in had entirely glass walls, and I was all wired up with in a lot of hospital like care equipment; a heart rate and blood pressure monitor, and an IV in my arm pumping medicine into my veins.

I gathered the strength to pinch my left arm, just to check if I was really alive, and I thanked God for cheating death. Damn straight. I began to move carefully and sat on the edge of the hospital bed. The scratches that I had earned during my journey through the Amazonian rainforest, and the bullet wounds I had gained were entirely healed.

“How did my injuries heal that fast? More importantly of it all: where the Hell I am?” I thought.

That's when I saw a guard at the door of my room. He was armed and wore all the attire for a private security guard. I continued to look at my surroundings and my body trembled as I tried to get up. 

"Calm down, Y/N" I sighed while stretching my body, my muscles stopped trembling from the tension they held. "Calm the fuck down... now, what do I do?"

All I wore was one of those surgical gowns with a rear opening, my hair wasn't tied, but I found a black hair tie. The armed dude at the door held a machine gun and had a few more compartments on his gear that held a knife and a revolver. I smirked.

"Oh, here's what I'm gonna do..." I whispered under my breath while tieing my hair in a ponytail.

I limped to the door and opened it, catching the guard's attention. He was kinda cute.

"Hey, handsome." I gave him my best smile. He didn't look impressed. "I'm kinda bored inside this room and you might be bored here too, so... why not help each other out and do something that both of us will enjoy, huh?"

He kept looking at me and I made sure I gave him an innocent smile and showed off my left leg, which is entirely tattooed with flowers.

"I can't, Miss." he responded simply and I pouted.

"What a shame." I approached him and caressed his thigh, lightly touching his cock. "We could be, you know, useful to each other."

"But people could see us." He whispered and gestured with his head to the walls, but I continued and I guided one of his hands, so he could touch me.

"We'd give 'em a hell of a show, don't you think?" I made him touch my inner thighs and his lips curved into a smile. He pulled my body to his and I reached his belt to find a taser. I turned it on.

"What are yo-UGH" I gave him no time to ask as his body reacted to the shock, falling to the floor. I bent down so I could take his gun and a loaded cartridge.

I definitely have no space to take a machine gun with me, I thought. Unfortunately.

"Sorry sugar, nothing personal." I said. The man, whose surname was Payne, groaned in response. "You're super cute though, we should go out sometime."

I got up and began to find my way out of that building. Two guards tried to stop me when they saw me approaching holding a gun.

"Hey!" one of them screamed. With no second thoughts, I turned around, shot them both and began to run as quickly as my bum leg could manage to the next corridor.

"Oh, shit!" I said while running as an emergency horn started blaring through the speakers. A few guards almost caught up with me but man, I was quicker than they thought.

My right elbow hit the stomach of the dude closest to me and I kicked the other one on his left knee. I shot a third one who was running to me and, when I tried for a second shot, the gun clicked, the cartridge was empty.

"Oh, sweet Payne." I whispered while reloading the gun. "You're cute but dumb, never mind, I'm not gonna go out with you."

The guard I hit with my elbow attacked me again, holding my body against the wall. I couldn't help but smirk.

"Not gonna pay for a coffee first, sweetie?" I asked and hit his head with mine, before setting myself free and hitting his head against the wall.

Then, the one that I kicked in the knee came to me and I gave him another kick, in his stomach this time, so he hit the floor. And then I started to run again.

I had to leave that place as soon as possible, even though I could feel every inch of adrenaline coursing through my veins.

I ran and scared the hospital workers while I tried to get away.

"Hold her!" I heard someone shouting. I looked back and saw a few more guards running toward me. I ran on and found an Asian woman holding an iPad and wearing a medical coat. I pulled her to me, protecting my body.

"Who are you?" I asked her, touching her back with the gun.

She swallowed hard. "D-doctor Helen Cho." she answered trembling in fear. 

"Okay." I whispered. "Here's the thing, Doctor. I need you to take me to the best way out of this place, you hear me? Nod if you do."

She nodded. "Are you gon-"

"No, I'm not gonna kill you if that's what you're asking." I answered. "Just take me out of here."

"O-okay". She said and I pointed the gun to her head when I saw the guards approach. Helen took a deep breath.

"Come closer and she dies." I screamed and they stopped in their tracks. All of the workers were in a panic. "If you don't wanna see brains decorating your walls, don't make any fucking moves."

When I realized they took that threat seriously, I pulled the Doctor with me and took the gun off of her head as we began to walk.

"Where do we go now?" I asked her and she thought for a while. I sighed. "I don't have all day long."

"We go left." she answered and I pulled her so she'd lead the way. We entered a elevator and went a few floors down, so we were now in a lounge that looked like a big ass billionaire bar.

I wandered about that place, until I heard a manly voice.

"Cho, what are yo-" he said when I pointed the gun to her head. "Oh, shit!".

"Stay back." I said while I took the sight of five men and two women looking at the scene in shock. I pointed the gun to her head once again. "If you don't want her brains scattered to the floor, you better stay back!"

"You ain't doing that, Miss." I heard one of them, a tall, well built, and blond dude, speaking.

"You better not doubt me." I retorted.

"You're wearing a surgical gown." one of the women, a redhead, said matter of factly.

"I've done more with less clothes on." I said.

"I don't doubt it." a brunette man with tanned skin said. He was shorter than the other men in the room but I recognized him somehow. "By the way, I was waiting for you, Y/N Y/LN."

"How do you know my name?" I asked as I took the gun of Helen's head, who was definitely calmer than I was. As I waited for an answer, I took my time to whisper in her ear. "Go back to your job. I'm really sorry I had to do this."

"That's ok." She simply said and nodded as she left the room. "I know you've done worse."

What did she mean by that? I thought.

"First of all, you might know me, right?" the man asked.

"Vaguely" I looked more into his features, but my brain didn't give me any names. "I guess."

"Somebody who doesn't know you, Stark?" a black man asked with a smirk. "That's new."

"Shut your fucking face, Birdie." the Stark dude said. I was about to laugh when I realized who I was talking with.

"Language." the blond hunk pointed.

"Shut your face, Steve." a man with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes said and I also knew him.

"You're Tony Stark." I said in disbelief and with wide eyes. And then I looked to the man on his left, whom I knew as Lewis. "And you... I’ve done a few jobs for you."

"Damn straight, girl." he said and looked to the man who gave me jobs. "But his name isn't Lewis."

"I'm Clint Barton." he said. "But I'm known as Hawkeye."

I tried to process all the information. I was in a building in I-didn't-know-where, with the dude who owns Stark Industries and is goddamn Iron Man and with a dude who gave me jobs, whose name was apparently not Lewis, but Clint and he's motherfucking Hawkeye.

"Y-you're the Avengers." I stuttered in my own breath.

"I can tell she's surprised and scared at the same time." a woman, no, a girl with brown hair said, with an European accent.

"I'm not scared." I stated as I took a deep breath.

"No?" Tony gave me a questioning look.

"I can make you dance like a fucking Leprechaun if I want, Stark." I said when I pointed the gun to his feet. "And it's not even St. Patrick's Day."

I heard a few snickers and the team, except for Stark, broke the seriousness of the moment trying to supress their giggles.

"There's no need to make me brag about my dance moves, Y/N." He said when he understood what I meant. "I have a proposal for you."

"What kind of proposal?" I asked him.

"First of all" he began. "I assume you need some rest, food and clean clothes. We can talk about this later."

"You might be cold..." the man who Tony referred as Birdie, Falcon, said. "Wearing only this."

"No, not at all." I said and he shrugged.

"You need to cover yourself up." the blond dude, that I recognized as the Captain America, said.

"No, there's no need." I said politely.

"But you're only wearing a camisole..." he insisted and I sighed in annoyance.

I began to take that surgical gown off of my body, getting naked in front of them all. I suddenly regretted, that room was really freezing and my body was in chills.

"Is this a bother for you right now?" I asked. The poor man blushed and looked away. I looked to all the Avengers that watched the scene, nodded simply and turned around still holding the gun and started to walk.

"FRIDAY?" I heard Tony say.

"Yes, Mr. Stark?" the robot system answered.

"Show Mrs. Y/LN her new room." He commanded.

"Go to the elevator, Mrs. Y/LN." FRIDAY began to instruct and I did as I was told.

“Whatever Tony's proposal is, it might be interesting”. I began to think as a smile formed on my lips. “This is gonna be fun”

Tags: @annabella789 @barnesdeservestheworld @theseldomseenkilljoy @blue-crayon-18 @ladylustitia @curlyhairedlolita @wowspideyholland @wicket-master

[ebaeschnbliah]

EVERY  QUIVER  OF  HIS  BEATING  HEART .....

__________________________________________________

Am I the current king of England ... or are we here to see the queen?

Just like Mycroft is strongly connected with the term 'QUEEN', Sherlock is more than once connected to the 'KING'. In a way, both ot them represent 'ENGLAND/LONDON' with Mycroft as the Government, Sherlock as the countly, the city, the body ...  and Baker Street 221b as the metaphorical heart of it. The voice given to that heart seems to be Mrs. Hudson but also John. 

Mrs Hudson leave Baker Street? England would fall.

Once in a while Mycroft, in his function as government (brain), turns up - spying, controlling, offering dubious cases. Then John Watson moves in and 'takes the room upstairs'. John just came back from the East - from the battlefields of Afghanistan - scarred and badly wounded. Walking at the side of Sherlock Holmes, he sets his feet now onto a different kind of 'battlefield' ... as the brain tells him.

Most people blunder round this city, and all they see are streets and shops and cars. When you walk with Sherlock Holmes, you see the battlefield. You’ve seen it already, haven’t you?

On another day in the story Sherlock comes back from the East as well - from imprisonment and torture in Serbia - scarred and wounded himself. Most urgently summoned by his brain (Mycroft) because 'there's going to be a terror strike on London - a big one'. (terrorists=emotions)

Just put me back in London. I need to get to know the place again, breathe it in – feel every quiver of its beating heart.

Sherlock clearly enjoys HIS big city ... London. Seems he is indeed a 'city boy' just like his mirror Edward Van Coon in TBB. It doesn't seem likely that Sherlock could bear to live somewhere else for a longer period of time.

London. It’s like a great cesspool into which all kinds of criminals, agents and drifters are irresistibly drained.

And it looks like John Watson has very similar feelings where London is concerned ...

I returned to England with my health irretrievably ruined and my future bleak. Under such circumstances, I naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are drained.

But of course, this is from TAB and therefore in Sherlock's own head. What goes on in his head though? Is he considering how John might have felt upon returning from the war in Afghanistan .... or is he reliving his own return from his own 'war' back in TEH?

And then - when Sherlock, John and Mycroft encounter the 'final problem' - all three of them decide to be soldiers that day. Even Mycroft .....

JOHN: Today we have to be soldiers, Mycroft, soldiers ... 

SHERLOCK: Soldiers today.

SHERLOCK: Soldiers? JOHN: Soldiers.

MYCROFT: Today, we are soldiers.

Playing once more with a methaphorical reading of Sherlock BBC where England/London represents Sherlock's body. It's part of a thread I decided to call 'Sherlock deducing Sherlock'. And of course, this is just one of several threads running through this story ... side by side .... every single one telling a different story.

More under the cut ... mostly vexillology and history but also lions and dragons .... beware ..... :))))

England/London  ...  the body  ...  Sherlock

The government  ...  the brain  ...  Mycroft

221b Baker Street  ...  the heart  ...  John 

How the flag of England came into being ... the Union Jack

The flag combines aspects of three older national flags. The first version dates back to 1606 when James VI of Scotland united the crowns of Engalnd, Scotland and Ireland in a personal union, although the three kingdoms remained separate states. (X)

the white saltire on blue background of St Andrew to represent Scotland

the red saltire on white background of St Patrick to represent Ireland

the red cross on white background of St George for  the Kingdom of England,

Saint George's cross

Its first documented use was as the ensign of the Republic of Genoa. Later it was used by cursaders. The cross ceased to be a symbol directly associated with the "taking of the cross", the resolve to fight in a crusade, after the failure of the crusades in the 14th century.

The St. George's flag, was adopted by England and the City of London in 1190 for their ships entering the Mediterranean to benefit from the protection of the Genoese fleet.

From 1348 and throughout the 15th century, the Saint George's Cross was shown in the hoist of the Royal Standards of the Plantagenet kings of England. The combined flag form 1606 was initially for maritime display, later restricted to the King's ships.

The symbol has since been adopted as the emblem of several countries and cities which have or had Saint George as a patron saint, notably the Republic of Genoa, the Duchy of Milan, England, Wales and Georgia in the Caucasus Mountains of Eastern Europe.  (X)

Georgia and Tiblisi

Regarding Sherlock BBC several important things happen in this country. In fact, Georgia is (though just for some short scenes) more heavily featured than any other country in this story appart from Great Britain itself.

That's Tiblisi. Isn't it beautiful?

The legendary Black Pearl of the Borgias is stolen from a secret vault

The ambassador and her husband are taken hostage and killed

AGRA - the group of 'super-agents' - sent in to free the hostages - are deceived and get destroyed

One ot the important memory sticks is hidden in a Thatcher plaster bust manufactured in a workshop inside (?) or at least very close to the ambassy

A batch of those busts - including exactly the one with the hidden memory stick - is supplied to London.

The creators of Sherlock BBC could have chosen any country in the world for any of the events mentioned above. Why did they go for Georgia? Well, maybe .....

... the name, the flag, the coat of arms?

The flag of Georgia is also known as the Five Cross Flag. Originally a banner of the medieval Kingdom of Georgia, it was brought back during periods of Georgias national revival and served as one of the most recognizable symbols of the bloodless Rose Revolution. Since 2004 it is the official flag of Georgia.

This Five Cross Flag of Georgia is a red-on-white version of the Jerusalem Cross. The four small crosses are officially described as 'Bolnisi Crosses', even though they are only slightly 'pattée' .... meaning that the arms are narrow at the center, often flared in a curve or straight line shape, to be broader at the perimeter ... like the Maltese cross.

The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Jerusalem were originally displayed in gold on silver. But the colors could be changed. Usually metal on metal, brakes the heraldic Rule of Tincture. It was justified in this case by the fact that Jerusalem was so holy, it was above ordinary rules.

The five-fold cross symbolizes either the Five Wounds of Christ, Christ and the four evangelists or Christ and the four quarters of the world.

If England represents Sherlock's body, the red cross of Saint George and the name of the saint himself connect Sherlock very closely to Georgia. And the Five Cross Flag of Georgia constitutes a connection to Jerusalem and Christ. Another Christ reference in this story it seems ....

Georgia's coat of arms features an image of Saint George, riding a horse trampling upon a dragon, whose head is pierced by the saint's spear. Two lions are supporting the shield, which is surmounted with the royal crown of Georgia. The motto below the shield reads  "Strength is in Unity"

Saint George's monument in front of the City Council in Tiblisi, Georgia

The Tiblisi incident

When AGRA are storming the embassy in Tiblisi the 'Five Cross Flag' can be seen very prominently in the background .... it looks like it has been blown into the open window by a draft of air .... but the weather must have changed ... because despite the still open window and all the action in the room, neither flag nor curtains are moving one bit throughout the whole scene.

Two life-size statues of lions are dramatically flanking the centre of the room ......

Saint George and the dragon

According to legend, Saint George was a roman soldier of greek origin and officer in the guard of Roman empereor Diocletian. He is one of the most prominent military saints and immortalised in the myth of Saint George and the Dragon. While the veneration of Saint George as a soldier saint goes back to the 7th century at least, the earliest known surviving narrative of the dragon episode is an 11th-century Georgian text.

The town had a small lake with a plague-bearing dragon living in it and poisoning the countryside. To appease the dragon, the people fed it two sheep every day. When they ran out of sheep they started feeding it their children, chosen by lottery. One time the lot fell on the king's daughter. The king, in his grief, told the people they could have all his gold and silver and half of his kingdom if his daughter were spared; the people refused. The daughter was sent out to the lake, dressed as a bride, to be fed to the dragon.

Saint George by chance rode past the lake. The princess tried to send him away, but he vowed to remain. The dragon emerged from the lake while they were conversing. Saint George charged it on horseback, seriously wounding it with his lance. He then called to the princess to throw him her girdle, and he put it around the dragon's neck. When she did so, the dragon followed the girl like a meek beast on a leash.

Of course, the story ends like almost any dragon story does .... despite 'meek and on a leash' the dragon has to die.

A dragon living in water, a game of chance, a damsel in dirstress dressed as bride, a knight making a vow, a dragon on a leash ....  well, well .... if this doesn't sound familiar .....

The work of an unknown artist: Saint George and the dragon from De Grey Hours (a medieval Book of Hours probably written for the De Grey family of Ruthin c.1390)  National Library of Wales

Once more unto the breach, dear friends  ....

"Once more unto the breach, dear friends ... once more! Or close the wall up ... with our English dead! ... set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide. Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit ... to his full height! On, on, you noblest English ... whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof! And you, good yeoman, whose limbs were made in England, show us here the mettle of your pasture! ... which I doubt not, for there is none of you so mean and base ... that hath not noble lustre in your eyes! I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, straining upon the start! The game’s afoot.”

In The Lying Detective Sherlock quotes William Shakespeare's HENRY V, Act 3, Scene1. Among other parts, the last two lines of the monologue are missing:

Follow your spirit: and upon this charge, cry ....

God for Harry! England and Saint George!

Saint George is the patron saint of England and the protector of the royal family. His cross forms the national flag, and features within the Union Flag of the United Kingdom. 

Again - if England indeed represents Sherlock's body, the red cross of Saint George and the saint himself connect Sherlock very closely to Georgia, Tiblisi ... AND the hostage incident in the embassy as well.

Is this maybe a supressed and coded memory? Georgia representing England at some time in the past .... in Sherlock's past? Is 'Georgia' not a different country but a different time? Dead people in Sherlock's past? Did he triy/wish to save them, but failed? Because he was just a child at that time? And was there really some foul play involved? Has Sherlock told himself another different/better story, to 'get rid' of the painful memory of the actual event?

But this isn't the end of this post yet .... there are still more connections ....

The Royal Arms of England

It was first adopted in a fixed form round 1200 by the Plantagenet kings and depicts three identical gold lions with blue tongues and claws, walking past but facing the observer, arranged in a column on a red background.

This design has not been altered since then. Over the centuries it has been variously combined with the signs and symbols of other kings and royal houses, according to dynastic and political changes occuring in England.

The present coat of arms of the United Kingdom used by Queen Elizabeth II includes a harp for Ireland and for Scotland a rampant lion surrounded by a flowered border. The dexter supporter is a crowned English lion; the sinister supporter, a Scottish unicorn. The Motto 'Dieu et mon droit' translates to 'God and my right'  (X  X)

(dexter & sinister = right or left from the POV of the bearer of the shield)

During the promotion for S4 the Union Jack and the crowned English lion made their appearance together with a mysterious question mark .... and the term 'sinister' showed up two times as well in tweets.

Related posts:  The mirrored question mark   Question mark and eyes   Lions  Sinister & orphans   Mark's 'sinister' tweets   The sinister hand

The flag of the City of London

It is based on the flag of England but represets only the historical City of London .... not Greater London.  The sword symbolises the sword that beheaded Saint Paul who is the patron saint of the city. (X)

(A sword is definitely no blunt instrument but a sharp weapon which can also be 'wielded with precision and without remorse' .... like a scalpel ...   :))))

Coat of arms of the City of London

It consists of a silver shield bearing a red cross with a red upright sword in the first quarter, combining the emblems of the patron saints of England and London: the Cross of St George with the symbol of the martyrdom of Saint Paul.

Sherlock looking out over London ... Saint Paul's Cathedral to his right.

The crest depicts a dragon's left (sinister) wing bearing also the cross of St George, borne upon a peer's helmet. (X)

(A helmet is part of a knights armour, worn to shield the head. Broadly speaking, a helmet is rather similar to a mask ... hiding/covering head and face of a person. No one is able to recognize who's relly behind such an armour. Could be anyone. It's rather similar to ... 'putting on a facade'.  Just saying .... :))))

Two silver dragons bearing red crosses upon their wings are supporting the arms. The latin motto of the City is Domine dirige nos, which translates to "Lord, direct (guide) us".

DIMMOCK: I go where you point me. SHERLOCK (walking away): Exactly.

(Sorry, couldn't resist this bit of dialoge from The Blind Banker. It's just too good!  And John's words from HLV 'Your way. Always your way' run exactly in the same vein as well.  :))))

There be dragons .....

In the episode The Blind Banker (S1) the Yellow Dragon Circus comes to London to retrieve something that was stolen. Not the Black Pearl of the Borgias, no .... but something almost equally small and probably equally valuable ... a jade hairpin in the shape of a snake. Or is it a tiny Chinese baby dragon? Anyway, snake or dragon, both are reptiles. And the showdown of that episode takes place at a place called ...  'Dragon Den, Black Tramway'  

And the dragon references continue .....

JIM: Sir Boast-a-lot was the bravest and cleverest knight at the Round Table, but soon the other knights began to grow tired of his stories about how brave he was and how many dragons he’d slain ...

MYCROFT: He (Magnusson) is a necessary evil – not a dragon for you to slay. SHERLOCK: A dragon slayer. Is that what you think of me? MYCROFT: No. It’s what you think of yourself.

MYCROFT:  ... but on balance you have more utility closer to home. SHERLOCK: Utility? How do I have utility? MYCROFT: “Here be dragons.”

MARY: Sherlock the dragon slayer.  

Dragon or dragon slayer ... that's the question

Or could it be both? Is Sherlock not only the dragon slayer but also the dragon?

 "... in your case, solitary confinement is locking you up with your worst enemy"

Sherlock at war with himself? Sherlock fighting parts of himself? The dragon fighting his inner dragon? And even his brain tells him 'this is a war we MUST lose'. Could Sherlock really be that dragon himself? 

Well, it is said that dragons are breathing fire .... wherever there is fire there is smoke as well ......  :))))))

All pics not Sherlock BBC are from Wikipedia and related to the sites I used for gathering information.   Thanks @callie-ariane for the scripts.

I leave you to your own deductions.

November, 2017

@gosherlocked  @loveismyrevolution @sagestreet @sherlockshadow @raggedyblue @monikakrasnorada @possiblyimbiassed @sarahthecoat @darlingtonsubstitution @devoursjohnlock @tjlcisthenewsexy @kateis-cakeis @tendergingergirl

[daleisgreat]

Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge

A couple weeks ago, the DLC story expansion to the videogame, Mortal Kombat 11 was released and added an additional few hours of narrative that picks up on where the core MK11 plot left off. I finished that up a few days ago, and picked away playing with the new characters and doing online battles with a friend I occasionally duke it out with online. On top of that, several weeks ago Warner Bros. released a straight-to-video animated movie dubbed Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge (trailer). Animated features based on the MK license are nothing new; one is include as a bonus feature on the original live action BluRay I reviewed here a few years ago. That and the other ones released in the previous century varied greatly in quality, and a pivotal difference with Scorpion’s Revenge is that it features some of the brains behind the highly acclaimed DC animated films working on it. Assault of Arkham’s Ethan Spaulding is directing, while Teen Titans Go vs. Teen Titans penned the script. I ate up too many MK comics, movies and videogames over the years so I have an admittedly high familiarity with its canon. With a title like Scorpion’s Revenge I was initially led to believe this would be a side story focusing on Scorpion’s rivalry with Sub-Zero. It initially starts out that way with Scorpion’s origin story where he returns to his village to see his family and fellow villagers slaughtered by a clan headed up by Sub-Zero. Sub-Zero (Steve Blum) ultimately slays him as well, and in hell Scorpion (Patrick Seitz) makes a deal with one Quan Chi (Darin De Paul) to restore his essence to enact revenge while also entering the Mortal Kombat tournament. That opening scene is graphically intense for an animated feature, and Warner Bros. granted the animators a lot of leeway to maximize everything they could out of the R rating. If you have played the recent MK games and are familiar with their ‘X-Ray Attacks’ then a lot of the gore and violence in Scorpion’s Revenge will ring a bell.

After that initial intense setup for Scorpion and Sub-Zero, the rest of the film is essentially a remake of the original live action film, yet has some noticeable differences to switch things up. Liu Kang (Jordan Rodrigues), Johnny Cage (Joel McHale) and Sonya Blade (Jennifer Carpenter) return as the three core protagonists that meet up once again on a boat leading to mysterious location where the Mortal Kombat tournament is emanating from. Sinister sorcerer, Shang Tsung (Artt Butler) is behind the festivities on his own personal island of hell, and has all kinds of trickery to distract the heroes. While the general broadstrokes of the live action film and this animated feature hits similar beats, a lot of it is freshened up. Some of the key battles feature different matchups, and the characters from the second game have varying degrees of supporting roles, and I feel for poor Jax (Ike Amadi) because the filmmakers here found a new way to de-arm him, which is as excruciating as ever to relive again and again. I got into Scorpion’s Revenge style of mixing up the exposition this time around. Sonya Blade has an edge to her and has absolutely zero tolerance for Cage’s nonstop flirting with her. Having Scorpion constantly out for revenge on Sub-Zero in their rivalry is a better use of those two characters instead of as lowly goons for Shang Tsung like in the live action film. Raiden (Dave B. Mitchell) is back as the wise elder with an occasional pun that guides the heroes along their journey and sets them up for an awesome final stretch of battles against Quan Chi, Goro and Shang Tsung. I will re-emphasize the gruesomeness of the violence here as the artists hold nothing back and ensure it matches the pedigree established by the games. It all adds up for a gritting finale as the warriors lay waste to one another.

There is a decent amount of bonuses on the BluRay. Producer, Rick Morales and Writer, Jeremy Adams are on hand for the feature commentary track. They go out of their way numerous times to appreciate Warner Bros. for letting them go all out with the violence and offer up other random insight and production facts throughout. There are four mini-behind-the-scenes extras totaling just over 20 minutes breaking down the characters, lore, weaponry, animation and sound design of the film. All are quick watches with an interesting anecdote or two, but not worth going out of your way to see….except maybe the one on sound design where it was amusing to see how they showcased all the various foods squished for the blood splatters and bone crushing sound effects. Part of me wants to give Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge an easy recommendation because of their excellent use of the license and canon that any MK nut like myself will get a thrill out of, and it is a breezy 80 minute watch to boot. Watching its take on remixing the plot from the heralded live action film for a new generation was something special to immerse myself in to witness how it all unfolded. However, if you are not all that familiar with the near 30 years of MK lore a lot of the characters and general plot beats will either go right over your head or will likely incite many unintentional chuckles. Suffice it to say, only fans of the series should go out of their way to see Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge. Bonus update, upon doing research for this I discovered the long delayed live action reboot film wrapped production at the end of 2019 and is currently slated for a January 2021 theatrical release date. Here is hoping it will up to the legacy of the original as being one of the best live action videogame film adaptations. Other Random Backlog Movie Blogs 3 12 Angry Men (1957) 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown 21 Jump Street The Accountant Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie Atari: Game Over The Avengers: Age of Ultron The Avengers: Infinity War Batman: The Dark Knight Rises Batman: The Killing Joke Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Bounty Hunters Cabin in the Woods Captain America: Civil War Captain America: The First Avenger Captain America: The Winter Soldier Christmas Eve Clash of the Titans (1981) Clint Eastwood 11-pack Special The Condemned 2 Countdown Creed I & II Deck the Halls Detroit Rock City Die Hard Dredd The Eliminators The Equalizer Dirty Work Faster Fast and Furious I-VIII Field of Dreams Fight Club The Fighter For Love of the Game Good Will Hunting Gravity Grunt: The Wrestling Movie Guardians of the Galaxy Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 Hell Comes to Frogtown Hercules: Reborn Hitman I Like to Hurt People Indiana Jones 1-4 Ink The Interrogation Interstellar Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Jobs Joy Ride 1-3 Major League Man of Steel Man on the Moon Man vs Snake Marine 3-6 Merry Friggin Christmas Metallica: Some Kind of Monster Mortal Kombat National Treasure National Treasure: Book of Secrets Not for Resale Pulp Fiction The Replacements Reservoir Dogs Rocky I-VIII Running Films Part 1 Running Films Part 2 San Andreas ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Shoot em Up Slacker Skyscraper Small Town Santa Steve Jobs Source Code Star Trek I-XIII Sully Take Me Home Tonight TMNT The Tooth Fairy 1 & 2 UHF Veronica Mars Vision Quest The War Wild Wonder Woman The Wrestler (2008) X-Men: Apocalypse X-Men: Days of Future Past

[doctorwhonews]

The Second Doctor Volume 2

Latest Review: Writers: Julian Richards, Rob Nisbet, John Pritchard, Tony Jones Directors: Helen Goldwyn, Lisa Bowerman Featuring: Anneke Wills, Elliot Chapman, Frazer Hines, Daphne Ashbrook, Louise Jameson Released by Big Finish Productions - June 2018 Order from Amazon UK What with Big Finish’s ever-accelerating expansion into new realms of the Doctor Who universe, from boxsets chronicling the exploits of underserved New Series allies to their ambitious work reviving axed spin-offs like Torchwood, it’s often all too easy to forget that the studio’s roots lie in offering classic incarnations of the titular Time Lord a bold new lease of life. How better to remind us of this noble goal, then, than by transporting us back to the 1960s with the latest Companion Chronicles boxset, showcasing Patrick Troughton’s tenure at the helm of the TARDIS in all its monochromatic, bowtie-donning and frequently base-sieging splendour? Whereas those content to explore Troughton’s televised adventures alone can only – barring telesnaps or the painfully gradual drip-feed of animated reconstructions from BBC Studios – experience but a minute fraction of those serials in their entirety at present, our lives are different to anyone else’s: we’ve got The Second Doctor Volume 2. So without further ado, let’s dive straight into this nostalgia-laced new collection and discover whether there’s life in a bygone era yet or whether, much like the ancient Cyber Tombs of Mondas, some artefacts are better left buried… “The Curate’s Egg”: “I’ve walked on the moon. I’ve faced down the Confederates of Brilpoor. But there is nothing, nothing in the universe as exhilarating as riding a dinosaur!” Had soon-to-be showrunner Chris Chibnall’s 2012 Eleventh Doctor odyssey “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” aired in the Troughton era rather than the dying days of Matt Smith’s, then Julian Richards’ charming opening salvo offers perhaps the perfect approximation of how the story might’ve played out under such circumstances. Dropping the newly-regenerated Doctor, Ben and Polly within spitting distance of a castle populated by cybernetic dinosaurs, “Curate’s Egg” throws caution to the wind, embracing Doctor Who’s frequent flirtations with the fantasy genre through elements as unashamedly ridiculous as mind-swapping gizmos, talking T-Rexes as well as arguably the best canine-themed visual gag of the year so far. Will it all seem too far-fetched for some listeners? Quite possibly, although Anneke Wills and Elliot Chapman – working on double duties here, albeit with Ben only featuring in proceedings for 10-15 minutes at most – do a fine job of keeping events grounded with their heartfelt exchanges as Polly and underappreciated scientist Andrew Clarkson respectively, their joint irritation at society’s efforts to side-line them at every turn adding a welcome emotional core amidst all the prehistoric hi-jinks. Indeed, so brimming is “Egg” with potent concepts – not least the Doctor’s underlying efforts to regain his companions’ trust in the wake of his recent “renewal” – that this reviewer couldn’t help but wish at times that Richards had explored some of them in greater detail over the course of his jam-packed hour, for instance by saving one or two ideas for future scripts instead. Food for thought next time around, perhaps. “Dumb Waiter”: “Die, false Doctor!” Anyone well-versed in the increasingly popular art of the meme will doubtless recall one such trending gag which did the rounds on social media in April, come the release of Marvel Studios’ long-awaited cinematic superhero epic Avengers: Infinity War: Marvel: “Infinity War is the most ambitious crossover in history.” Me: “[Insert award-worthy viral response here.]” Apologies if the experience of reading the last 55 words felt akin to learning a foreign language for the first time, but put simply, Infinity War might’ve just met its match in the eyes of Doctor Who fans worldwide with Volume 2’s sophomore instalment. Just as we’ve seen multiple Doctors cross paths in anniversary specials from “The Three Doctors” to Big Finish’s own The Light at the End in 2013, so too does the audio behemoth’s wide-ranging Who license allow them to bring together companions from differing eras of the show at times, and in this case it’s the turn of James McCrimmon to shine alongside one Leela of the Sevateem. In other words: cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war. Thankfully – not that this should come as any surprise given the levels of acclaim which both stars continue to court with their audio portrayals – neither Frazer Hines nor Louise Jameson disappoint, their hallowed characters’ clash of primal wits so ferociously unpredictable and regularly hilarious that you’ll soon wonder how it’s taken so damn long for this heavenly pairing to occur. That’s for the best too, since the core plot of “Waiter” leaves something to be desired in comparison, its rapid barrage of reality-warping setpieces and convoluted technobabble rendering the TARDIS team’s trip to a deeply sinister garden party, even more, overwhelming for the audience than it is for the Doctor as his present and future collide before his eyes. Scribe Rob Nisbet has his character drama down to a tee, then, but he’ll still need to work on balancing this with comprehensible plotting in order to craft the next Big Finish masterpiece. “The Iron Maiden”: “I suppose that time makes legends of us all…” It’s worth noting from the outset that Volume 2’s penultimate chapter, John Pritchard’s “The Iron Maiden”, houses all the components of a great Doctor Who serial – intriguing temporal anachronisms by the dozen, an extremely sympathetic central supporting character with whose mind these anomalies predictably play havoc and quite possibly the finest companion of the Troughton years, Wendy Padbury’s Zoe Heriot, taking the initiative as our de facto protagonist this time around. Upon sitting through the credits one hour later, then, imagine this listener’s disbelief at only being left with the following inescapable question: just what went wrong here? Despite her touching struggle to endure the seemingly endless conflicts of 14th century France, all while realizing that the worst is yet to come thanks to the suspect arrival of First World War technology on the scene, Jo Woodcock’s fascinating prophet-of-sorts Marie is criminally underserved here, lacking much to do beyond trigger the plot with her mysterious visions and prompt Zoe’s occasional epiphanies as she gets to the bottom of the situation. Throw in the disappointing absence of any real suspense – in spite of the deadly weaponry in our heroes’ vicinity – as well as what should’ve been a hugely poignant denouement falling surprisingly flat due to our minimal emotional investment in the ensemble, and “Maiden” unfortunately ranks as the boxset’s weakest link by some distance. “The Tactics of Defeat”: “We’re on the clock, Zoe.” Volume 2, in stark contrast to prior Companion Chronicles collections, opts out of binding its four serials with any ongoing plot threads or recurring thematic beats, such that “Tactics of Defeat” isn’t nearly as burdened with tying up loose ends as The First Doctor Volume 2’s “The Plague of Dreams”, wherein Guy Adams faced the intimidating task of endowing the First Doctor with a more fitting send-off than his abrupt departure in “The Tenth Planet”. If the benefits of this procedural structural approach weren’t already obvious to Big Finish upon commissioning the set, then they’re downright unmissable here, with Tony Jones’ refreshingly understated quasi-season finale proving all the more satisfying as a result. Not dissimilar to “Curate’s Egg”, “Tactics” pairs Zoe with her supposed Foe from the Future – better known to us as UNIT captain Ruth Matheson. Why the change of moral allegiances on Ruth’s part? Is everything as it seems? Both fair questions, but you won’t find us spoiling the answers here; much of the piece’s appeal lies in the constant twists and turns which Ruth’s mission to recover plague-emitting extra-terrestrial technology from a decaying temple take, not least Zoe’s supposed oncoming demise at the vicious hands of unknown assailants. The latter plot element might appear unthinkable given our foreknowledge of events to come in “The War Games”, yet we’re also well aware by now that “time can be re-written”, and indeed future Doctor Who scribes should keep in mind Pritchard’s tense work here as a prime example of how to put gripping new spins on the well-worn paradox-driven story format. Come for Daphne Ashbrook’s still-endearing work as the constantly resourceful, inspiringly courageous Ruth; stay for one of the more innovative scripts that we’ve seen enter classic Who’s audio pantheon for quite some time. The Verdict: How much you’ll get out of Volume 2 depends largely on what you expect from Big Finish’s Second Doctor productions – if you’re looking for authentic reprisals of the Troughton era’s unashamedly outrageous jaunts into fantasy territory or surreal mind-trips into worlds hell bent on distorting their visitors’ perceptions, then the fifth Companion Chronicles boxset since the range ceased its monthly output will fall right up your alley. If, however, you’re hoping to see the scribes involved push narrative / creative boundaries given their lack of 1960s budgetary limitations, then barring the basic set-up of “Curate’s” and the brilliant “Tactics” in its entirety, the end product mightn’t offer quite as much bang for your buck. But while we can’t afford the collection with quite the same glowing recommendation as its Chronicles predecessors, rest assured that there’s still plenty of entertainment in store for any Second Doctor fans craving further sustenance after last year’s "The Power of the Daleks" animated rejuvenation. And who knows – if Matt Smith consulted Troughton’s work in “The Tomb of the Cybermen” as part of the inspiration for his portrayal of the Eleventh Doctor, perhaps future stars lucky enough to portray the Time Lord’s allies might follow suit by picking up Volume 2, thereby starting the cycle of legacy anew… http://reviews.doctorwhonews.net/2018/08/the_second_doctor_volume_2.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

[vigilante7657]

Assassin’s Creed: Redemption Chapter 2

The man in the black coat trekked down Devil's Alley, rats scurrying out of the way. The man was a killer, the deadliest of his order, the Black Cross. This man, he was Juhani Otso Berg, and he was here for one thing: Blood. Berg wasn't even here for the Order, yet he decided to bring in Sigma Team, and prepare to kill the man responsible for the death of his adoptive son. Felix Gustavo was murdered in Devil's alley, brutal stab wounds, and gunshots. Elina wasn't talking to Berg ever since he told her he was out of the country to visit his family. One day, Berg would have to tell her daughter that Felix was dead, gone to oblivion. Never to return, ever. Berg didn't even care this time, whether it was a regular civilian, or an assassin, responsible for Felix's death. Whoever it was, those responsible, they were all going to die. Burn alive, executed, Berg didn''t care. For once, Berg was willing to place personal vendetta over mission. Berg loved fighting the assassins, being a hero, being a guardian to the entire Earth.

Berg was alone, he needed to see where it ended, the scene of the crime. The fall winter air seemed to mock Berg, blowing in his eyes with bags under them. Berg's coat at least his body warm, but not his blood. His blood was cold, yet slowly burning for justice. Berg's contact would deliver the cause of death of Felix Gustavo. The contact had his own friends, they were examining the body now. Berg answered his call, it was his contact. "Look Berg, my expert will determine a cause of death, but it won't id a suspect, killer wouldn't be stupid to not wear gloves. Unless you don't care, and every assassin you see will die by your own hands." 'I don't care, I need to know what I'm dealing with. I didn't realize how firm the Assassin's grip really was here in this metropolis. Even if I can't find the killer or the stolen Illusion Ring, we still need to Berg those hooded mercenaries. Their ignorance stands in opposition in our 'Perfect World'." "I have no problem with killing assassins, just don't turn into an animal on us from the aftermath." "Are you questioning why I joined the Order?" "No, I already know why. But, don't do this just for Elina. And, this looks like the work of an assassin. Trained assassin, my friend says it was mainly stab wounds, with something sharp, but he says these wounds aren't normal like with a knife. He says the stab was deep, and perfectly straight, which was abnormal."

Berg ended his call with the contact. He stepped into the entrance of Devil's alley. The wide alley seemed like a monster's maw, it begged and dared Berg to enter. The Black Cross feared nothing, he proceeded, drawing his pistol, he doubted the place was empty. The Assassins always know to sulk and cower in the Shadows. Berg went in deeper into the belly of the beast. The Templar Enforcer and Master looked behind him. His shadow of his black and crimson highlighted coat portrayed an intimidating figure. His beard was rough and ragged, and so was the substance of the man. The Killer, the Enforcer, the Master, the Father, Otso Berg was all. Footsteps, a clanking down the alley, these weren't Otso's. "The Black Cross, the true venom of the Templar Order. Tell me, do you think your Empire will stand?" Berg slowly turned around, a hooded figure emerging from the darkness. The Assassin's eyes twinkled underneath his hood, like a Cobra drawing near. His venomous order was spoken dark, yet bold without fear. "Go my brothers, I want him one on one. Report to the Mentor, Juhani Otso Berg is here in Chicago." The hooded men sprang out from the corners of the alley, fleeing back to their master like pets to a dish bowl. "Why not cower like you the rest of your brothers, assassin?" Berg was curious, never had an assassin had the honor to face him alone, he would have made a good templar, pity. "I don't fear you, Black Cross, I've seen the flaw of conservatism." The leader sprang out his own blades. 'Hm,' Berg thought, 'This assassin isn't scared to get close to his prey.' Berg promised to not give the killer a bad time. The lead Assassin grits his teeth. Berg maintains his firm grim stone face. An Assassin blade is aimed for Berg's neck, Berg swiftly dodges for someone his age. The Assassin smirked, and he activates his pivot blade. The Assassin scratches at Berg's sleeve, a bear looking at his next meal. "Do you truly think you can take my life, assassin?" "You thought you lap dog could handle us, guess you thought wrong, Templar dog. The Unity will stand." Berg colloides his pocket knife with the pivot blade. "Unity, Assassin? I believe you mean rebellion, I've seen the lies of your creed. The memories of Shay Patrick Cormac justify that." Berg cuts at the assassin's torso, crimson blood rushes out of the tear of his brown hooded long coat, Berg finds it a better color. "You have no right to use that example, the memories of a traitor, from so long!" The assassin hollers. "We've seen what you assassins have now done with relics that are too dangerous to handle, you were once guardians of those Precursor relics. You used to lock them away, never to be seen again. But now, you're they're abusers.This mad grab for power ends now." Berg spars with the assassin, he breaks the hooded monster's wrist gauntlet, the blade flying out and clanking on the street, broken and cracked. Berg takes the chance to shoot the Assassin in the torso, he stumbles over. It's Berg's turn to smirks but then he frowns again. The Assassin gets back up, Berg can't help but admire the hooded villain. Determined till the end. "Determined, but sometimes you gotta know when to flee." Berg asks.

In the quick of a flash, the Assassin threw a smoke bomb, and started running down the walkway. Otso was forced to use his gas mask, but he still couldn't see his adversary. The assassin could have picked him off then, but Otso guessed the Assassin was worrying about getting away first. But, soon Otso also began hearing sirens closing in on him. The smoke cleared, the assassin was getting away, and local authorities were closing in. Otso did what he had to do, for once, Otso ran. But first, Otso needed answers, he dashed after the assassin, black leather coat rushing in the air.

The Assassin broke into a running speed, his brown long coat and hood fluttering and flapping in the air. He leaped, and flipped over rallings and air conditioning units. Berg gave chase; however, the younger was soon gaining more ground than him. However, Berg soon realized the assassin was leading him somewhere. The assassin dropped down, rolling in the ground, he quickly sprang to his feet. Soon enough, the assassin reached a dead end, with Otso behind him. "Let's not make this anymore difficult, all you need to do is answer a few questions." Berg demanded, he hadn't even broke a sweat. "I am far from a snitch, and it's not my job to kill you, something worse will come for you and your templar friends. Cut him open men!" The assassin sprinted into a corner, but before Berg could act, an Assassin leapt and stabbed Otso in the shoulder. Soon, other assassins surrounded Otso, but he wasn't scared. He'd experience near-death even before becoming a Templar Enforcer. Clang! Berg's pocket knife connected with the killer's blade, allowing Berg to shoot a bullet dead in the hooded monster. Soon, gang members in hoods attacked, guns blazing, Otso took cover. He threw his dagger at a man armed with a shotgun, it hit him dead on. Otso returned fire, men fell to his handgun. Otso finally allowed himself to relax, his shoulders dropped. Bang!

Otso turned around, his original target had returned. "We're not done yet," the assassin spoke, his gun smoking. The killer wasn't even aiming for Berg, for an Assassin, he seemed more determined to give the Templar a fair fight. The Assassin prepared to pull the trigger again, but Berg was faster. He shot the hooded man's gun out of his hand. "You can talk, or you can die. Choose." Berg demanded coolly, he had enough with the games. "Business, before pleasure." The Assassin threw another smoke bomb, and used a rope dart launcher to scale up the wall, in the flash speed of a second. Berg opened fire, but struggled to get a fix on his target. By the time he scaled up the wall, he was too late, the assassin was gone. Soon, sirens began to fill the streets, as red and blue lights began to flood the alley. Berg took his quick departure, as he ran at an athlete's speed.

Commissioner King sat by Alex Petrov, the russian typing away and trying to decipher computer text language and coding. The Commissioner had no idea how to decipher it, his grey eyelashes raised and fell in wonderment and confusion. Gustavo sure was thorough, yet he died anyway. Alex had managed to develop a software to override the security on the victim's phone. King would have thought this was a big achievement, but Alex wasn't too pleased. "Hm," the Russian replied in a thick accent. King noticed this was only when he was under pressure, or lost in his work. "Shouldn't have taken me zis long to crack zis code." King shrugged, he knew nothing about computer technology. "I developed zis software to crack into security vay faster zan zis!" Alex was getting frustrated, and King didn't get why. The Russian had managed to get in, the Commissioner couldn't understand why he was getting so worked up over it. 'Nerds are strange people,' the Police Commissioner thought. Alex threw his hands in the air in frustration, the download was taking a little while. "Arrrrghh! I've never seen anything like zis, it's impressive. Someone vell funded and intellectual developed zis software." Then, King shot up. "Really? Who do you think may have developed it?" "Probably Japanese, but victim vas Hispanic. Wasn't he?" "Hm," King nodded. It was getting hard to understand Alex's accent, the man looked possed as he was trying to decipher the encrypted data. "Clearrrly, Felix vas working forrr someone verrry poverrrful, orrr maybe even some kind of brrranch in goverrrnment. But, I doubt Felix had to be vorrrking alone."

Suddenly, the computer screen on the computer light up the room. "Ahh!" King shielded his eyes. "Yes!" Alex cried, "It's working! I've done it!" Sure enough, decrypted codes and files began popping up on Alex's computer screen. "Wow!" King was flabbergasted, maybe he needed to see if the russian could do some more jobs for him. Soon, maps began forming on the screen, as well as phone screenshots and camera photographs. "Maps?" Alex was puzzled. The brown haired russian turned to the Commissioner, he only shrugged. King ran his wrinkly hand through his silver hair, he was getting a bit overwhelmed. "Ahh! Wait, I have an idea." Alex began losing his accent, he had calmed down. King looked at the Russian, confused. "They might be able to track us based on satellite positioning and where we are, besides the government here has a branch monitoring all data. If this a government conspiracy, we don't wanna get caught." Alex slapped a jump drive into the laptop, and quickly shut everything down after everything was moved on the drive. "Quick thinking, didn't think of that," King replied. The Commissioner smiled, he was impressed. "Well, Commissioner, everything has been transferred. But, I'll still need to sort the data. Which will be soon." "Thanks again, Alex," King shook the Russian's hand, "I'll look forward to the results." With that, King got up to leave. "Forgive my haste," he said, but I also need to check up the forensics team that your friend Richard assisted today." Alex nodded, and the Commissioner took his leave, the door slammed behind him. Alex shrugged it off. He went to get back to deciphering his discovery, but realized he needed to record for his channel, no need to get his fans worked up and worried about him. Last thing he needed were some fans asking questions of where he was.

Richard was completely enthralled with his findings. Sure, there were stab wounds on the victim's body, but these weren't usual stab wounds. These stabs were perfectly straight and clear, normally cuts weren't so clear and perfectly straight. These wounds were deep, and perfectly straight, especially the deep cut into the victim's neck, clearly, he died of blood loss. It looked like multiple attackers, cause some wounds were deeper than others, the same weapon had not been used multiple times. The Commissioner entered the lab, everyone else had left, they were completely stumped. Only Richard choose to stay behind. "You found something?" The Commissioner asked. "Indeed, I have, there something wrong with this murder." The brit answered. "The forensic team was completely stumped." King replied, "Hope I won't be in the dark on this one." "You won't." Richard replied. "Clearly, the same weapon wasn't used more than once. There had to have been multiple attackers, we might be looking at a gang, or a cult. However though, not even a knife is so precise." King tipped his head to one side of his shoulders. "What do you mean?" "No known bladed weapon is this precise." Richard explained. "Whatever weapon was used, it's not known or commonly used, except here. These wounds were the same found on another body you asked me to examine, Martin Davis. He was stabbed in the heart though, but the wound is just as deep as the wounds on Felix Gustavo. They died by possible the same group of killers." King frowned, it was a lot to comprehend. "That's nearly impossible." "Improbable, but nothing is ever truly impossible." Richard replied, his blonde hair seemed to darken, his brown eyes scanning over the cut-up corpse. "Perhaps I need to analyze how these cuts were made, then I can give you a true answer." The brit answered. King nodded, "Very well, I'll be in touch." "Commissioner," Richard called back to him. The Commissioner paused. "I fear this isn't the work of a local gang here." King's face dropped, "If that was the case, then we official have the potential of dealing with possible terrorists here. I must meet with my contacts; this nation may be in jeopardy. Keep me posted." King ran up the stairs, he needed to warn the mayor, and his senator, and his contacts. King didn't care what might happen to him, but he would rather die, than have his beloved city and nation in danger. Before the commissioner left though, he saw he had a text message: "It's begun." King looked around terrified, was he being watched?

Berg sat in his safe room, thank god, he asked Melanie Lemay to look after Elina. She would take good care of her, she always cared about who she worked with. Melanie hadn't lost all her charm, despite her now dead fiancé, Oliver. Assassin Devils. Or was it the Vigilante, the Fox as they called him? No one ever found his body. Berg placed bandages over his wounds, cleaning them and covering them. He picked up his phone, he needed to check on his contact. "How is everything?" Berg asked. "You're killing me Otso, do you have any idea how hard it was to get you off video surveillance?! Let alone make sure those bodies were out of sight! This wasn't part of the plan, Berg!" Berg frowned, he already didn't feel great. "Well, I needed answers, which I got. The Assassins are here, and they were expecting us, expecting me. They may already have a lead on the Illusion Ring and the other precursor artifacts. I suspect that traitor, Martin Davis, may have even squealed for them." "But, his men were found dead, their wounds indicate the work of armed hitmen and assassins." Berg frowned, things weren't looking good. "Then, if what you say is true, then the assassins must be recruiting more numbers among the local gangs here. We're going to need Sigma Team here." Berg could hear his contact sigh on the phone, "Otso, just stay out of sight for now, and keep your head cool. It's not normal for you to be this hot, so stay cool. I'll do what I can with my own resources. Stay put, I'll keep in contact. Dark Shadow out." The phone clicked, his contact hung up. Otso went back to studying a map of the entire state, he was determined to find the Assassins.

Backup writer: @katey76762

Peer Review: @bunnyyumyum 

This chapter was complete a while ago actually, just forgot to post it here.