#sequel to Hancock

[youtwitinmyface]

IF I COULD MAKE A SEQUEL TO "HANCOCK"...

IF I COULD MAKE A SEQUEL TO "HANCOCK"...

Will Smith is one of my favorite actors but, to be blunt, I did not really like Hancock. You can read my full review HERE. But the TL/DR version is that I thought the film should have stuck with the original premise of an action/comedy about a down-on-his-luck superhero who gets a PR makeover and tries to become better. Instead it revealed this convoluted backstory with the Charlize Theron…

[mariocki]

Evil Dead II (Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, 1987)

"Honey... you're holding my hand too tight."

"Baby, I ain't holding your hand."

[willinglyghoulified]

Book 0: The Diaries of Anarchy

It’s time I finally dust off my Tumblr and start posting again. I’d like to make this a regular thing, just posting whatever/whenever I feel like and keep it related to my specific topics. But anywho...

Go check out my newest fanfiction! Hancock’s backstory is on the verge of being completed, and I worked hard the last few months to finish it up. It’s the pre-sequel to my Fallout 4 series on my Wattpad. ♥

[bisexualiteaa]

DESPERATELY needing a sequel to the sex pollen! Fic,,, they keep the chems and cooper takes some either on purpose or by accident and poor vaultie is going to have to consider restraining him 👅 he's too feral (in the BEST sense)

A Flame in Your Heart Pt. 2

Cooper Howard x Fem Reader (SMUT!!)

CW: established relationship, cursing, NSFW MDNI, slight deviation from TV show, slight OOC Cooper, perverted thoughts, oral (fem recieving) drug use, alcohol use, dub-con (from drug use but consent is very clearly given!!) sex-chem usage! p in v, p0rn w/o plot, absolute filth, riding, multiple orgasms, unprotected sex, multiple irradiated cream pies, fluffy ending, briefly proof read, possible spelling/grammar errors

AN: and just like our man Hancock needing love, had to make sure ol’ Coop got some love too. 😉 I’m glad this one has done so well! I hope I did your ask justice Anon! Thank you again for your request and I hope you enjoy the absolute FILTH that is this sequel. 👅

After your accidental discovery of the sex chem that led to your crazy sexcapade, Cooper decided to pocket the borderline heat inducing drug for a later use. He’d be a liar if he said the idea of *him* experimentally taking it hadn’t crossed his mind a plethora of times since the incident. Would it have any effect on him? Would it make him as sensitive and desperate as you were? Or would his body take it in stride like everything else? He figured there was really only one way to find out the answer to his curiosities. So one night, when you hadn’t any bounties the next day, were stocked on supplies and just had a chance to stay and hole up at the mini-mart, that’s exactly what he did. He popped it, chasing it with whatever liquor was on hand at the time in his flask hidden in his duster, waiting for it to start to take effect.

In the time that he had taken the pill without your knowing, you were running around cleaning the place up some, and then making dinner. Little did he know, you had snuck one for yourself just a little prior when he wasn’t looking, also thinking that tonight would be the perfect night to go all out like the last time. He smirked to himself as he watched you run around everywhere, watching your hips sway as you walked, paying close attention to your ass that was mostly covered in the shorts you were wearing, save for the bottom part of your ass cheeks that poked out some and the back of your bare thighs each time you’d bend over. It had been a while since the last time you two had a chance to do anything intimate other than a short quickie in fear of raiders catching you in, quite literally, a vulnerable position. It was as his eyes began to linger and follow you that he started feeling the unbearable heat you complained about, coupled with the way that he was now painfully hard in his pants in a way he hadn’t been in a long time. He contemplated walking up behind you and pressing himself against you to make it known, yanking your little ripped up shorts and panties down and taking you right then and there, but he resisted. Damn was he hard as fuck though. It was actually beginning to become a bit of a problem for him, he couldn’t move without it brushing against the fabric of his pants, or seem to find a way to sit comfortably unless he had his legs spread. Then he’d think about how pretty you’d look on your knees, not caring about the dirt on the floor as you’d sit between his legs with his fat cock in your mouth. He grunted softly to himself as he slid his hand into one of his pockets incase you would turn around to look at him and see the tent in his pants.

Little did he know that you were doing some of the teasing things on purpose, bending over in front of him when you didn’t need to, taking off your shirt when you complained about it being too hot. You were about ready to skip dinner to head straight for dessert, but you knew you had to play this out, and you needed to play it smart. Poor Cooper on the other hand wasn’t holding up as well as he thought he would, it was as if it got worse and worse in cruel phases. First is the absurdly high body temperature, higher than normal. Then came the perverted thoughts he couldn’t shake as he stared at you, then the throbbing to his dick, and it only intensified the longer he went without some form of relief.

“I ever tell you ya look damn good in them shorts, sugar?” He asked, practically staring holes into you as you’d bent over in front of him to pick up a few stray things off the floor. “Plenty of times, but I’ll always take some more compliments. They’re a hot commodity when they come from you” you said back a little too flirtatiously as you stood back up far too slowly for it not to be intentional, paired with a mischievous grin to match and his dick damn near jumped in his pants. “You bend over one more god damn time, I ain’t responsible for what happens next, little lady” he threatened, making you give a sound of intrigue at his threat before giggling as a heat coursed through your body from the thought. Being bent over the couch again as your legs were spread and his hand rested in your hair wasn’t a half bad spot to find yourself in. In fact you craved that, hoping the chem would help you release that inner whore he liked so much. “Don’t threaten me with a good time. Is it a “not making it through dinner” kinda night tonight then?” You asked teasingly before he did a “come hither” motion with his finger, urging you closer to him before patting his lap for you to take a seat on. “It’s a “not even making it to dinner” kinda night sweetheart. And I don’t think I’m the only one thinkin’ I’d rather have dessert first for a change” he said, making you grin even wider and god how he just wanted to make those pretty eyes of yours roll into the back of your head. You climbed onto his lap, straddling his legs as you sat down with a grin, your hands roaming his chest and beneath his duster to signal him to remove it as you leaned in close. “Well then take it if you want it so bad, honey” you challenged, making him give an amused hum in response before leaning up and pulling you into a needy, heated kiss. You smiled into it as you rolled your hips against his, earning a deep, guttural groan as his hands soon found purchase on your ass, roughly squeezing it in his large hands. He enjoyed the moans that left you from his rough treatment as he made your hips continue to roll against his as your hands traveled along his chest. “I see what left ya so needy for me, took one of them lil’ Date Nights you were trippin’ on a while back. Been achin’ to fuck you stupid” he said, making you giggle as his lips found the sensitive skin of your neck. “Mmm…well we’re certainly in for a treat. ‘Cause I took one too” you replied, making him chuckle.

It didn’t take long before Cooper found his way between your legs, what you hadn’t been expecting was the fact that he had you sat down on his face. Sure he’s eaten you out before, but for a man who needed to feel in control and dominant in just about every situation in life, it was nice to let that go for a little bit. “Fuck! Oh god, Cooper…” you moaned as his tongue violated you, sinking deep into your entrance, then working its way up to tease your clit. You sighed blissfully as your hips rolled against the wet muscle, making him groan as you used him. His hands gripped your thighs roughly, keeping you against him and allowing you to do what you needed to seek release as he devoured you like you were his last meal. “So good f’ me” he rasped out before going to suck on your clit, leaving you screaming for him as it brought you closer. You were embarrassed by how fast the knot in your stomach was already close to snapping, blaming the chem for the way it’d get you so worked up you’d be cumming quicker than you normally do. Or at least you would be if it didn’t feel so damn good. He moaned into you at the taste of you, watching all the faces you made from beneath you so he had the perfect view of you, listening to all your pretty sounds, it was all too much for him to handle with such a powerful chem in his system. You felt him groan into you as you came on his tongue, feeling his body move to buck his hips into the air as he reached his peak without a single touch. You sighed happily as you worked yourself down from cloud nine, bucking your hips against his tongue gently before finally letting up and letting him move. “Well ain’t that somethin’” he said as you both shifted lower to straddle his lap before seeing cum painting his lower stomach and still leaking from his cock that twitched with need.

You gave an intrigued chuckle at the sight, taking his heavy cock in your hands and working it up and down, using his cum as lube. He hissed at the sensitivity he normally never felt, he usually had a remarkably quick recovery time if he wanted to go multiple rounds, but it was apparent that this chem had all sorts of effects that made him feel human again. “Been a long time since I had that happen” he said, making you grin. “Kinda hot if you ask me” you replied, making him give a raspy laugh in response as he softly tapped your ass to get you to stop using your hand already and ride him. He watched as you sank down onto him, moaning as you felt him stretch your walls out before he cruelly slammed himself the rest of the way inside of you. Your body jolted from the sudden intrusion, white hot electricity climbing up your spine from it before he was moving you at his own brutal pace. “Ain’t got time for subtleties here, darlin’, certainly ain’t got the patience to go slow” he said, and judging by the loud moans and way your eyes were rolling to the back of your head already as his tip bullied the apex to your cervix, he figured that was alright by you. “Cooper! Holy shit…” you managed to say through your moans as your hands rested against his chest, doing all you could to hold on for dear life as he used you like a sex toy. “Fuck sugar, always squeezin’ me so damn tight, even after all the times I fuck you” he commented, enjoying the way your face would twist up in momentary pain each time he’d first slide in like he was too big for you to handle. He always loved that, enjoying the way you’d eagerly prove you could take it all, hungry to have him balls deep so that he could reach all those spots inside of you your fingers couldn’t reach. The sound of skin harshly slapping skin, the squelching of your pussy as he drilled into you from below you and your shared pants and moans filled the air like a symphony of pure, unadulterated sin. You just couldn’t get enough of it, and neither could Cooper.

He groaned as he looked down at the sight of his cock disappearing inside of your tight cunt, watching as a ring formed around the base of him from your excitement. He always wondered how a sweet thing like you managed to fall for such a depraved man like himself, but it was moments like this that reminded him that you weren’t as sweet as you lead on to be. He watched as you sat back on the haunches of your feet, your thighs jiggling, tits bouncing as your eyes clenched shut from bliss. “Huh-uh, eyes on me pretty lady” he said, pulling your attention down to him, your half lidded gaze falling upon him made him about ready to cum again if he wasn’t careful. Your mouth hung partially open as your brows furrowed from pleasure, and judging by the pitch of your moans and how close together they were getting, he could tell you were close. “Come on baby, cum for me. Wanna see that pretty face twist up and scream for me” he said, making you bite your lip as your mind clouded over, not a single thought in your head save for his name falling from your lips. “Cooper! Gonna cum, gonna cum!” You warned, your hands coming to you with your breasts to add some stimulation to send you over the edge. “That’s it, go ‘head. Let go f’ me” he responded, talking you through it as your legs clamped against the outsides of his thighs, your walls squeezing around him as you came with a scream of his name.

He wasn’t much farther behind, a few sloppy, uncoordinated thrusts later and your walls were painted with his seed, a groan leaving him as he throbbed inside of you, feeling you milk him for all he could give you. You looked at each other, gasping for air and sweat lightly collecting along your skin but it wasn’t enough to sate the beast inside you both. So rather than enjoying the after glow, you were being manhandled into a new position. This time you were on the couch, on your hands and knees as he lined himself up to your leaking hole from behind. His fingers collected his spend that was dripping from you and down the insides of your thighs, grinning as he pushed it back inside. “Bet you’d love if I fucked a cute little baby into you, wouldn’t ya?” He asked, and the thought sent a pleasant tingle straight to your core at the idea of being bred. You whimpered as he teased his tip up and down your slit, collecting your combined cum together as lube as he chuckled. “Too bad them days are gone” he said, soon lining himself up to your entrance finally and pushing in with little resistance. You moaned and arched your back as he sheathed himself in one thrust, your hands clenching the arm rest of the couch as support. “Don’t mean we can’t practice incase they ain’t” he said, starting his brutal pace once more, leaving you slack jawed as your head tilted back to moan from how he hit all sorts of spots inside of you that you loved. “Yes! Want that so bad” you moaned, making him chuckle. “I bet you do” he replied with a smirk, his hands gripping your hips once more as he fucked you, watching your ass and thighs jiggle from the force of his hips meeting yours. “Wanna be bred, have my babies?” He asked, making you whimper as your walls tightened around him at the thought. “Want that so bad, please!! Knock me up” you moaned, truly lost in a whole different world from the pleasure. He gave a dry chuckle, enjoying the way you were so honest and so carefree when it came to sex, it was like you were a whole different person when he was inside of you. “Bet you do, such a good little whore for me ain’tchya?” He asked, making you moan once more at the use of praise and degradation together for something so blissfully sinful. “Yes! All yours, Cooper” you replied through your pants and gasps as he angled his thrusts to press against that sweet bundle of nerves deep inside of you that drove you crazy.

He watched as you began to melt, lowering your upper body down and leaving your ass up to create the perfect arch for him to keep hitting it. “Yeah, ya like that spot, sweetheart?” He asked, as if the answer wasn’t obvious but he was a little lost himself in it all, never the type to ramble so much during sex but you both realized that chem could do some pretty interesting things. “Yes!! Don’t stop, don’t stop! I’m so fucking close!” You pleaded, and who was he to deny you when you looked this good for him? He gave a devious grin as his hand reached down into your hair, pushing your face into the couch cushions. Not enough to suffocate you, but enough to establish just who was in charge this time. Despite your face being held into the couch, your moans were still loud as ever, not that he’d ever complain. “Cooper!!” You cried as you came powerfully around his dick, your walls squeezing him tight as your release gushed and covered his cock, sending him tumbling over the edge himself as he spilled inside of you once more. “Fuck…I love it when you do that” he said, tapping your outer thigh as a signal to move positions, lazily flipping yourself on your back as he kicked your legs apart once more, already ready to go at it again. “Can gimme one more, yeah sugar?” He asked you, and he knew like this, you’d give him anything he ever asked for. So it was no surprise that your legs locked around his hips as he slipped inside of you for the third time that evening.

As an hour or two soon came to pass, you weren’t exactly sure how long it’d been, time was completely lost on you at this point, you both were just happy to have found yourselves finally sated from the powerful effects of the chem. You both panted, looking at each other with grins at the fact that the most memorable night of your relationship had just occurred once again. “That will never NOT be fun” you replied, making him laugh dryly as he took a swig from his flask before offering it to you once he was finished. You happily accepted as you took a few sips from it, unsure whether it eased or burned your tired throat even more but you didn’t care, it was something at least. “Been thinkin’ whether it’d actually work for me like it did for you, guess we got that answer” he said as he got up to find something to clean yourselves up with, making you laugh in response. “Well, was certainly my kinda date night” you said, watching him walk back over with a wet rag in hand to clean you up then himself before slipping his briefs back on and his shirt. “Too bad dinner’s cold now” you said, making him shrug nonchalantly, earning an eye roll from you as you slipped your underwear and a shirt back on, then dished out two bowls of your famous stew he loved so much. “If it’s made by you, ain’t nothin’ out there that could possibly ruin it” he said, kissing your head sweetly as you handed him his bowl, both of you sitting back on the couch together.

You leaned your head against his shoulder with a soft, happy smile while you watched some of the tapes left behind to play in the TV, having something akin to the wasteland version of movie night. His arm draped around you to pull you into his side, keeping you close to him as he smiled softly down at you. He couldn’t believe that he managed to snag one hell of a woman out here in the wastes, but one thing was for sure, he certainly wasn’t letting you go now or ever.

[everlasting-rainfall]

I didn't see anywhere that requests are closed, so I was wondering if you could write something for your pages au with Boa Hancock? She's my favorite female character, so thank you!

Okay so I’m gonna have to come clean about something and it’s that I haven’t yet reached Amazon Lily like most of my knowledge about One Piece characters comes from a lot of outside sources and for why I haven’t reached it yet?

That’s a simple answer as I have a very bad attention span so if I’m not watching with a friend then my brain wanders and suddenly the episode is over but I promise that I’ll do my absolute best to write her for you!

As Boa is honestly a really cool character like she isn’t my favorite female character as that honor goes to Rouge a lot of the time but I do love that girl regardless!

So before I start rambling too much and making an absolute fool out of myself, let’s get into it. Yeah?

Also since I do know what Boa’s backstory is, I can’t see her trying to actively force someone into a relationship but she is probably willing to keep them if it means they’re safe

!-MINORS DO NOT INTERACT AT ALL-!

!-POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNINGS-!

Manipulation, Copying of Work, Workplace Sexism, Implied Homophobia (?), Delusions, Kidnapping (?)

!-POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNINGS-!

!-MINORS DO NOT INTERACT AT ALL-!

Okay so let’s imagine that you wrote a book, it was a romance novel of course and it was pretty good like it didn’t sell well but it was seen as pretty good by those who did read it

But about a year later while you’re working on the sequel story that you managed to convince the publisher to give you, something happens as a book is released into the market that looks so much like yours except… bad…

The main character on the cover is grossly sexualized when they’re supposed to be someone that the reader can project themselves onto and the two love interests have basically been turned into big muscle men with no personality compared to how you had them as powerful women with quite a lot of personality and complex backstories that helped to shape their characters

You took some time to read it and found yourself absolutely disgusted with it as it was exactly your book just if every trope from R/MenWritingWomen was stuck onto it, certain important plot points were changed and romantic scenes were either completely changed or removed

Attempting to talk to the publisher didn’t do anything as they simply told you that your book hadn’t been copied and clearly you were seeing things if you thought that… You should just get back to what you were writing and be quiet about it…

This was humiliating but there wasn’t much you could do except hope that your next book would absolutely blow this gross copy out of the water especially as when the reviews came in, you found that most people loved it with very people pointing out that it was a gross copy of you

Eventually when you did release your sequel book, it had some moderate success but not as much as the copy… It was truly discouraging…

When you tried to ask your publisher to at least push it a bit more with advertising, they were reluctant but decided to do it in the end to just get to be quiet so they started doing some advertising on other islands and quite a few people picked up the book

Your book achieved more success! It was great!

Soon enough, word of this book had reached Amazon Lily and it was raising quite a few eyebrows in interest as although it did have a few male characters in it but the story and what they heard about it was truly what interested them

A female marine captain saving the MC from certain doom at the hands of pirates by holding them close with one arm and defending them with the other even despite their injuries? A pirate captain who promised to give the MC the world and much more if she would simply take that first step and set out to sea with them on their ship?

All these things that they were hearing were quite interesting and after hearing about one scene in particular where both of the love interests put aside their differences to save the MC from a dragon? Interests peaked!

So a request from so many was given to Boa as they asked her to please make it so that a shipment of the specific book would be sent to Amazon Lily, it took her a bit but she soon made a request and sent it out

The publisher picked it up and within the week, a small shipment of the book had been delivered to Amazon Lily. So many were excited to read the book that they had heard about but there was one problem with it…

This wasn’t the book that they expected, everyone was so confused as the book was awful to the point where most dropped it within the first few minutes of reading it as what had been delivered wasn’t your book but instead the copy

When Boa found out about this, it was safe enough to say that she was quite irritated as in all honesty based on the way that the story had been described to her

She was getting excited to read it as well only for this to be what was delivered so she had the shipment be taken back away from their island alongside a message detailing how disgusted she was and how she demanded every last beli that she spent on this shipment to be refunded or there would be hell to pay

Of course, the publishers listened as who wants an angry pirate empress after them? But they fucked up yet again and instead of realizing that they sent the wrong book, they gave you the message thinking your book had disgusted the women of Amazon Lily that badly

Upon reading the entirety of the message, your heart sank and you got ready to reply as you started writing an apology along with an explanation of what had happened

You took your own personal copy of the book at home and attached the apology to it alongside a gift before sending it to Boa Hancock herself who almost threw it away the second that she saw it until she noticed the cover and stopped

A close look at the cover revealed that this was the true version of the story as there was the MC laying down in the bed of flowers with her hands clasped with the pirate captain laying facing towards her on her left with a red rose in hand while the marine was laying on the opposite side with a blue rose in hand

This was not the same story… The title was even different so she sighed and decided to at least give it’s first page a read to see if it was truly different…

It was and she found herself hooked, she read through the entire thing and couldn’t stop a smile at the scenes that you had written alongside the part where the pirate captain and marine saving you from a greedy dragon despite the fact that they may fail? It was lovely

When finishing the book, she took another look at the note accompanied with the book and reread the explanation. She was honestly unsurprised about learning the truth and set it aside before opening the gift

It was the only piece of merch to ever exist for the book and it was because you had made it yourself only to give it to her as a truly sincere apology, it was a pair of fake roses with their stems tied together. A red rose and a blue rose tied together with a lovely white ribbon, a physical version of the books very last illustration

Part of her was touched by this and in all honesty, she found herself thinking about it for a good while as you had taken the fall for the shoddy knock off created by the gross imitator and the publishers hadn’t even been willing to help you sort things out

It was downright deplorable in her personal opinion and she knew that you weren’t the MC from the story but part of her started to feel like she wanted to rescue you

Rescue you from your life dealing with the publisher on that island where no one would ever appreciate your work just like how the MC had been rescued from the dragon, she would keep you safe and keep you in a place with people who actually appreciate your work and wouldn’t just disregard it in favor of someone’s fantasy

She would keep you safe from the prying eyes of anyone who wanted to harm you, she wouldn’t even let anyone brand you as theirs and do horrible unspeakable acts to you

If you wanted then the two of you could even become friends and maybe potentially something more which she grew to like the thought of more and more until she started to imagine the two of you going on nice walks together, laughing together and having fun

Ah yes, that was the life that would be perfect for you in the end…

All that she needed to do was get you here and she knew exactly the way to go about it…

It was a few weeks after sending your own letter when you received one from Boa Hancock, it was a request to come to Amazon Lily with copies of your book as she no longer trusted the publisher to send them the right ones

She also requested for you to bring your things as well as she would like you to stay on the island for an undisclosed amount of time, you didn’t want to potentially make the pirate empress any angrier than she already was so you packed some things and took a large box full of book copies of the first book and the sequel and headed off

A few days were spent at sea before you finally reached your destination, you were greeted and the books were quickly taken off of your hands in order to be enjoyed by everyone who had been so excited to read it

Meanwhile you were taken off to meet with Boa herself, she was a scary lady and more than intimidating but she was kind to you despite everything and had a smile on her face when you offered her the sequel story

Your time on Amazon Lily started on that very day, a lot of it would be spent with Boa simply spending time together as she took her time getting through the sequel story as she always stopped to ask you questions about it

As time progressed however and Boa continued to read the story, she found that it was wrapped up in the end with a neat little bow and the person the MC chose got married in the end. The MC had wound up marrying the pirate in the end and symbolically tied a ribbon around the stem of a red rose as a sign that they would always be together

Boa found herself enjoying the scene of the wedding and she smiled to herself as she reread the chapter only to notice certain things this time around like how the pirate had her hair done in a similar fashion to Boa’s and not only that but the way that the outfit was described? It sounded like her…

Part of her tried to write the entire thing of as a simple coincidence until she reread the line “The beauty of the two was so strong that it could turn anyone who laid eyes upon them to stone”

…Oh my god…

That was all that Boa needed to see and she quickly closed the book and set it aside, she honestly wasn’t sure what to think as this couldn’t be a coincidence anymore as the one who had won over the MC in the end was a Pirate Captain who would do anything for her…

It couldn’t have been just a coincidence now and she had to be sure that you didn’t write about some sort of deep hidden feeling for her… So she picked up the other book and spent quite a bit of time searching it for answers…

And as they say, if you’re looking for something hard enough then you’re gonna find it regardless of whether or not it’s there

Slowly Boa becomes convinced that you wrote about some sort of feeling that you had for her despite the fact that you could have never known her before this point…

And she would confront you about this, she would tell you off for doing this and make you leave but something in her refuses to do so

You don’t see Boa for days as she deals with these emotions, you aren’t sure why this has happened but you don’t bother her simply thinking that she’s busy while she attempts to figure out what’s going on

Until it hits her… She returns your feelings…

And when this happens, this is when things start as she starts to attempt to show you that she feels the exact same way about you that you do her

It starts with her trying to spend more time with you, it progresses into her getting jealous when other people speak with you, it progresses even further to her actually touching you with hand holding and the occasional caress

When it reaches its peak? That’s when Boa starts to greet you with a red flower of some kind whenever the two of you meet, she hopes that you’ll get the hint and finally realize

But hey, it’s not so bad that you aren’t getting it as your smile is heavenly to her to the point where she could look at it all day and has even caught herself staring at your smile for long periods of time when the two of you are together only breaking out of it when you point it out to her

Eventually you’ll start wanting to return home and back to your old life but Boa will insist that you stay, the world off of Amazon Lily is dangerous for someone like you after all and she wants to keep you right where she can absolutely make sure that you’re safe

You might try to insist on returning to your old life and that’s when Boa will start to manipulate you, I can’t see her turning violent but she probably would tell you things like “If something were to happen to you out there then I simply wouldn’t be able to live with myself”

She’ll trap you into staying on Amazon Lily this way until you’re ready to stay of your own accord…

It’s for the best after all and once you finally realize that she returns the feelings that you oh so clearly have for her, everything will be perfect…

A pair whose beauty is strong enough to turn people to stone…

[oraeliaa]

Makin’ Memories

Nora finally got her man, she is utterly smitten, and everything is perfect, well, almost perfect...

In an attempt to distract herself she takes Hancock along on her next adventure, accidentally letting slip a secret that isn't hers to tell....

And Hancock, in his infinite wisdom, has come up with a plan to help. Only Nora isn’t quite certain this is what Irma had in mind when she built the memory den.

It’s up!!

The response to Good Vibrations was so incredible, @wastelandbfs and I just couldn’t resist, and so we’re surprise dropping the sequel tonight!

Peep the tags, folks, for Nora/Valentine/Hancock goodness 💕💕

As always, @wastelandbfs is an absolute JOY to collab with, and on this one we certainly matched each others freak 🔥🔥🔥

[super-wario-gunshine]

I know "They couldn't make Blazing Saddles today!" is a talked to death anti-woke meme with the well-established "Of course not, it was a response to the ubiquity of westerns!" rebuttal, but it makes me wonder what a modern Blazing Saddles would be

At its heart, Blazing Saddles is a genre-pastiche racial satire lambasting the mainstream Hollywood landscape of the time and its failures to acknowledge the whitewashing of its predominant genre and the real world bigotry of its referenced setting

So what would that be today?

It would still be a genre-pastiche racial satire, but the oversaturated genre would have to be Legacy Sequel and/or Superhero Action, not Western

The real-world parallel for superheros isn't a historical setting, but over-policing and cultish celebrity culture. It should critique the inherent violence of superheros as law enforcement and the artifice/propaganda around positioning individual as Morally Good in the public eye

(Mainstream) modern understandings of racism are more aware of intersectionality and the ways that marginalization interacts with class (to an extent). The modern Blazing Saddles must understand this to succeed as satire

So if a Blazing Saddles type movie were made today, it would need to be a legacy sequel superhero movie about the violence of law enforcement, the ways that that violence is santized for the public, and the intersectionality of race and class

What could that be? If Hollywood wants to make Blazing Saddles today, I posit that the movie they would make would be...

Hancock 2

[twh-news]

The Life of Chuck: Mike Flanagan’s Latest Stephen King Adaptation Starts Filming Oct 16, 2023

Filming for Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of Stephen King’s story The Life of Chuck is set to begin this month.

Gulf Coast Media published a piece about the call for 1000 extras aged 11 and up on the Flanagan movie, and notes it is to begin filming on October 16, 2023.

The Life of Chuck will be filmed in various locations around Alabama’s Baldwin and Mobile counties, with a large bulk of the extras needed for ”two large crowd scenes”. The shoot is set to take around four weeks.

It will be the third King adaptation from Flanagan after 2017’s Gerald’s Game and The Shining sequel Doctor Sleep in 2019. Flanagan is also overseeing a movie and television adaptation of King’s staggeringly large opus, The Dark Tower.

The Life of Chuck is a Stephen King tale with three separate stories linked to tell the biography of the supposedly ordinary man Charles Krantz in reverse. It begins with his death from a brain tumor at 39 and ends with his childhood in a supposedly haunted house.

Flanagan has already cast Tom Hiddleston and Mark Hammil for the movie as Chuck and Albie, respectively.

The story was first published as part of If It Bleeds, a collection of novellas first appearing in 2020. The movie is the second based on a story from it. Mr. Harrigan’s Phone was adapted by writer/director John Lee Hancock in 2021 and released on Netflix.

Mike Flanagan is one of horror’s hottest properties with successful Netflix shows such as Midnight Mass and The Haunting of Hill House. His latest series, The Fall of the House of Usher (which stars The Life of Chuck’s Hammil) is set to be his last with Netflix.

[winter-paladin]

Fandoms: Fallout 4, Fallout (Video Games)

Relationship: Lone Wanderer & Nick Valentine

Characters: Male Lone Wanderer, Original Characters, Nick Valentine, John Hancock (Fallout)

Additional Tags: One Shot, Diamond City (Fallout), Sequel, Of a WIP, in the future, world building, Fluff and Angst, Fluff, Angst, Post-Endgame, By A Lot, I'm Bad At Tagging, I don't know what to tag this with

Even though Diamond City was a big place, Sam Perkins was having some trouble finding that special someone. Perhaps after some planning and effort (and some confidence), Sam could figure out if he had any chance at all of settling down with one of the most famous people in recent history. After an opportunity presents itself, Sam sets his plan in motion and nothing goes as expected.

Words: 7,222

[misanthropic-soul13]

Hi, if you're stalking my page. Currently I'm new to Tumblr and decided to download it and give it a shot so I can have somewhere to post my artwork and anything else I make on here for people to see. I am a self-proclaimed writer and artist, and while I don't draw all too often because I spend literal days obsessing over the smallest details literally no one else will ever notice and it sucks up all my time–I write almost every day and have multiple stories in the works (I have a Fallout 4 Nate x Hancock story that I've even finished but I'm waiting to publish it for now because I'm writing a sequel and want to make sure I don't have to make any more edits on the previous story).

I imagine I won't post all too frequently due to the fact I'm busy with college at the moment, but maybe now that I have a place to post it'll force me to make some more time for making art.

Also just a fair warning, my art will probably be a bit suggestive (although I do not draw completely NSFW so don't worry about nudity).

Also as a second note, the fandoms I'm in currently are Death Stranding, Team Fortress 2, Fallout 4, Dead by Daylight, Batman, Overwatch, and a few other things, so expect works related to those on my page (for right now at least).

Anyway, I will probably drip feed my art onto this page for now and not publish everything instantly and run out of content.

That's all. If you like my stuff then cool thanks 👍 if you don't then that's fine too. Ok cool thanks for reading. Have a good day!

[c-40]

A-T-4 147 Cut Ups & Megamixes

No posts for a while because I've not been well (plus I fell down a rabbit hole writing a long read, hopefully that'll be done by the end of the year!)

1984 was a great year for Cut Ups and Megamixes building on the work of pioneer DJs like Shep Pettibone and his radio show on Kiss FM, Chuck Chillout and Red Alert also on Kiss, the Latin Rascals on WKTU, Marley Marl on WBLS's Mr Magic's Rap Attack. Outside New York carving their own path Hot Mix 5 and Steve "Silk" Hurley are killing it on Chicago radio station WBMX. In Florida the crew Jam Pony Express have begun playing live shows

In the UK Sanny-X is DMC's megamixer and Street Sounds Electro series are being mixed by Herbie Laidley, better known as Mastermind Herbie, the man behind The Rapologists

This is post Double Dee & Steinski, Malcom McLaren And The World’s Famous Supreme Team, Art Of Noise, and Herbie Hancock's Rockit. You can clearly hear their influence in the cut ups and mega mixes from this year

Getting mixed is Hip Hop, Electro, Synth Pop, Disco, and Italo

(Orig.) Big Apple Production Vol.II - Genius At Work like many of these bootleg megamixes the people involved stay in the shadows. This one is of course the work of the Latin Rascals doing what they did on their radio show

DJ Chuck Chillout - Hip Hop On Wax Vol. I for Vincent Davis's Vintertainment. Chuck Chillout was in The B Boys who had released the cut up track Cuttin Herbie (literally cutting up Rockit) the year before. They also released two other classics in 1983 imo Rock The House and Two, Three, Break. Chillout would return to Two, Three, Break under the name DJ Born Supreme Allah in 1985 with the more explicit cut up Two, Three, Break (Part II - The Sequel)

DJ Red Alert - Hip Hop On Wax Vol. II Red Alert goes berserk on the follow-up to Chuck Chillout's effort - he even cuts in what sounds like The B Boys. Sorry this is the best Youtube clip I can find. Red Alert is a DJ for the disgraced hip hop architect Afrika Bambaataa's Universal Zulu Nation and in 1983 he joined Kiss FM's Master Mix Party, which was originally Shep Pettibone's spot on Kiss. Tony Humphries was the first to take the ropes from the increasingly busy Pettibone and in 1983 Red Alert would alternate with Humphries

D.ST - Megamix II: Why Is It Fresh? The Grand Mixer who provided the scratching on Herbie Hancock's Rockit. I thought I knew what Megamix II was a sequel of but now I'm not so sure. Anyway D.ST brings together his hits along with half a dozen other Celluloid tracks

Z Rock Records - Scratch Party #2 first of three mixes coming from the West Coast. Z Rock Records released three Scratch Party megamixes in 1984. Who knows who put these together

Ian Darby - Break City 7" edit bonkers record by Bobby Orlando who had been trying his hand at hip hop/electro/Art Of Noise style production. There's a longer 12" version but the 7" is tidier. Not really cut up, certainly not a megamix, but I felt it sat alright on this list because of it's nutball samples

Scratchmatic - Sound Of The Street by DJ Antron who Discogs tells me won the first DJ Battle held in Los Angeles at the famous Radiotron event. It shows a preference for the techno style

New York Scratch Masters - Scratchmasters Jam #1 the Italo the mix begins with is more like what Hot Mix 5 were doing in Chicago but not as good. Jam #1 would be followed by three more in 1984 and the final Jam #5 in 85. Jam # 4 (The Rap) is pretty great

Mix-Trix #3 The Break Mixer the first Mix-Trix 12" was released in 1983 with another three coming in 1984. Apart from it coming out of LA I have no info on these

Marley Marl on Mr Magic's Rap Attack in 1984

[crackinglamb]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

Tagged by @theluckywizard, thank you! 💕

Tagging @lilbittymonster, @bogunicorn, @bdafic, @shretl, @mordinette, @fogsblue, @effelants, @sociallyacceptablemadness and @natsora. No pressure!

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

107!

2. what’s your total ao3 word count?

1,776,919, as of this morning.

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Currently only Dragon Age and Southern Vampire Mysteries/True Blood. But in the past I've written for Fallout 4, Mass Effect Trilogy, Dr. Who, Borderlands, and The Wayhaven Chronicles.

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

What a Wicked Game to Play - the Behemoth, the Epic, the...story that ate my life for nearly two years straight. It currently sits at a cool 400K words and will be the focus of my NaNo goal this year. I'd like to have it finished. Solas/OFC, rated E.

Twist - the fic that got me really going in DA. An MGIT re-envisioning of the base game and all the what happens next? 197K words, complete. Solas/OFC, rated E. Fun fact, I started writing this fic before I'd ever played the game. 2020 was...uh...quite a year.

Junkyard Dogs - my very first fic. I started writing this before I really even knew what fic was. Before I even had heard of AO3. My sibspring got me an invite and the rest is history. I'm still incredibly proud of this fic, although I don't write quite like this anymore. 107K words, complete. Hancock/F!SoSu, rated E. (Are you noticing a trend? Yes, I write a lot of smut.)

Twist Some More - you guessed it, the sequel to Twist. My love letter to Carly and Solas and the happily ever after the game didn't give us. Baby included. 67K words, complete. Solas/OFC, rated E.

Humans Are Just...Like That - okay, so there's a story that goes with this one. This is a oneshot for Mass Effect, and it was brought to life via a long, hilarious thread in an ME discord server. I made a comment to the effect of 'someone should turn this into a fic' and everyone told me to go for it. So I did. It's a little bit crack, a little bit everybody lives and a whole lot of yup, humans are just like that. ~3K words. Background FemShep/Garrus, rated T.

5. do you respond to comments?

Yes, always! (Caveat: as long as it's polite. If you're rude, I'll call you on it, then freeze the thread.)

6. what’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

No More My Heart Beats Without You, one of only 4 of my works with the Major Character Death warning. Solas/F!Trevelyan, 5555 words (I didn't plan that, but it's cool), rated E.

7. what’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

TSM, without a doubt. The whole point of it was to write a fluffy, gloriously happy tribute to my first DA OC, Carly Lavellan. It'll make your teeth ache, I promise.

8. do you get hate on fics?

I've gotten some on WG, which is why I now moderate comments on it. It's gotten statistically big enough (in terms of both hits and word length) that some people are just not gonna groove with it. And hey, that's fine. But you don't need to tell me about it, okay? Just hit the back button.

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

Yes. And...yes. I've written all kinds. My only rule for smut is consenting adults.

10. do you write crossovers? what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Nope!

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

I got asked about a fic being translated, but I don't know if it ever happened.

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have written two fics with my beloved @ir0n-angel. One for FO4 (a Deacon/F!SoSu oneshot) and one for DA (Solavellan modern AU, incomplete, been on hiatus for a couple years. Someday we'll finish it.)

And I've participated in three years' worth of round robin style collaboration with the DAFF server.

14. what’s your all-time favorite ship?

*snort Poly here. Don't ask me to pick a favorite, it doesn't work like that. 🤣🤣🤣

15. what’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Just Like Fire. It started out as a prompt fic to get me out of a slump. Actual Solavellan, canon compliant even. So you see where my problem is, right? I mean, I am the one whose blog title is Canon Shall Be YEETED. I've thought about maybe just tying up the loose ends and skipping ahead to the ending I've already written for it, but then I lose interest again after about five minutes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

16. what are your writing strengths?

Good dialogue, lots of banter. I am routinely told by readers how well I keep characterization believable.

Good smut, realistic without being clinical.

Headcannon glitter. Being detailed oriented means I overthink and come up with some really deep ideas.

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

FINISHING THE DAMN THING. *ahem* I'm okay, I'm good.

Endings are rough for me. Not in that I don't know what I want to do with them, but more by the time I get to them, I've either lost interest or lost motivation. Or both. I know it looks like I'm on top of it when you look at my archive (only three incomplete WIP's out of 107), but some of them caused me Stress(tm) to finish and I've never been really happy with them.

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I do it sparingly so it doesn't bog down the story. I translate it at the end, be that by chapter or oneshot. I know better than to fully trust google translate. And I'm careful with using fanon resources if the language is made up.

19. first fandom you wrote for?

Fallout 4, with the above mentioned JD. I stayed there for quite a while too. To date it's still my second most written fandom.

20. favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Again, poly. But I have some notables that I've returned to time and again. An incomplete sampling:

Maker Damned Fools - this is actually the first thing I wrote for DA. Varric/F!Hawke. 32K words, rated E. Initially it was a Fluffuary fic, but I always planned to expand on it. This year I did. Highlights for me reading it: chapters 4, 7 and 9.

Soft In Skyhold - another Fluffuary entry. Written as part of WG's overarching 'verse. So, Imogen and Solas, Adoribull, Varric and Elly Hawke, Terisin Mahariel and Morrigan. Cassandra and the Sky-Watcher. ~29K words, rated T. Highlights for me: chapters 5, 11, 13, 22, and 25.

She's My Plus One - my Dr. Who fic. Nine/Rose. Written x +1 style. 12K words, rated M. Highlights for me: chapters 4-6.

Unrepentant - a Solavellan oneshot. It's smutty, it's a little bit kinky, it's all in her head, right? Cuz it's the Fade. Look, sometimes you just need a particular flavor of dark!Solas. Not too dark, just like 62% cacao. 3100 words, obviously rated E.

Unexpected - an FO4 fic with a Kellogg/F!SoSu pairing. Yup, you read that right. Don't judge me. This was an early attempt at writing canon divergence and I'm still super pleased with how it came out. It even has a happy ending. 30K words, rated E. Highlights for me: honestly, all of it. I'll read the whole thing in a sitting when the mood strikes me.

[a-x-ce]

Keep rereading that romance in OP post 'cause honestly it has me thinking about the current options for endgame partnerships.

I put Kaya and Usopp as the most obvious 'cause it literally is. I mean hell we just saw Kaya and a panel of Usopp's 3 veggie friends with them literally pointing out how lucky he is to have a woman like her waiting for him to come home and heal any of his wounds...like please. I miss the days when it was shown how often he thought about her too, making snow statues of her, drawing her, stuff like that.

It's also been heavily implied there WILL be more between Sanji and Pudding. I don't know to what degree Oda will go with them but at some point she has to return his memory of her kissing him, and his reaction to that 'cause hello, that's the first woman to fully and completely return his affection. I know Viola seemed close but I just don't think they got enough in Dressrosa to go further and not much else to imply they'll have more chances to see each other. Pudding has so much set-up to stay a part of Sanji's story past everything that happened in WCI, I firmly believe he'll be the one to save her once the Straw Hat's finally face the Blackbeard pirates.

Less certain but there's also Hiyori and Zoro. I'm not sold on it just yet 'cause Zoro did not care when they parted. I know a lot of people see him and Tashigi and like...eh. All Zoro sees when he's forced to interact with her is Kuina, and Zoro wasn't in love with Kuina, she's his rival and his ''goal''. In order for Tashigi and Zoro to work even remotely that would have to be addressed in full. Semi-likely he ends the series with no partnership though.

I think Chopper's only option is Milky LOL (reindeer mink from Zou) 'cause like...yeah, he can't and doesn't find any appeal in human women, and he's been thoroughly and completely rejected by actual reindeer. He's not even physically or mentally compatible with full animal reindeer anymore thanks to his DF. He could talk with them sure, but would he find a life of a common animal fulfilling if he were try and return to it for partnership? Highly doubtful. Otherwise, Chopper endgame has no love interest, 'cause he's baby (I know he's canonically 16 but shut up I can't accept it).

Two characters in the SHs that are obviously not getting any endgame relationships are Brook and Jinbe, one's literally dead and the other is already well into his adult life having had no prior showcases of being in or pursuing a partnership. It'd be kinda weird to shove one in for Jinbe at this stage in the series or going forward when we're in the final saga with few arcs left.

Luffy remains our aroace king and I hope he stays that way but IF Oda were to pull a Dragon Ball on us then he's done enough work for Hancock to make her the most obvious choice. She loves him, and he at least respects her, which isn't love but who knows. Luffy is not incapable of deep love as clearly shown in this series, it's just not been of the romantic kind and he feels no sexual attraction toward anyone. But honesty if Luffy ends the series with no clear partner I'll cry tears of joy he avoided the shounen curse of getting a bad haircut before being married off with kids for the inevitable sequel.

Nami is a lesbian hasn't been presented with a clear partnership either. So many people ship her with 1 or more men of the crew but aside from that she hasn't interacted enough with any characters that make it clear if she has an endgame partnership. However, there is still time I think...'cause we still don't have all of Nami's backstory. We still know nothing about Oykot and Bellemere finding Nojiko and Nami in those ruins, the fact she was smiling/laughing through the despair (very D. coded) and so that leaves it open for more story for her, where a potential love interest could still be introduced. Otherwise, she may also end the series not paired up.

I'd also throw Robin and Franky in the group of 'no ending partnerships' but for different reasons. Franky because he, like Jinbe, has gone most of his life not being presented as pursuing or caring about that. Franky already has a family, the Franky family, consisting of all his brothers and sisters. He's content with his ragtag-found family back in Water 7, he's always been happy with that dynamic since he was raised that same way by Tom with Kokoro (who were not a couple, just business partners/friends) and Iceburg. If Franky having a love interest was something Oda cared about he'd have sprinkled in any kind of element of interest in his backstory, or showcased him having any type of reaction in the current story from his introduction. But there's nothing, the only reaction of excitement Franky ever showcases is toward cool-ass tech and Vegapunk LOL

Robin because she's only just now fully coming into her own thanks directly to the Straw Hats. Robin's been isolated and burned by people her whole life, it took the events of Enies Lobby for her to FINALLY accept that her crew loves her unconditionally. For her to go from only accepting and loving them thanks to a lot of work to falling for some other person she's met or yet to meet would be interesting to say the least. She'd have to have a good relationship with that person already to some degree to open up to them. Which is why there are people who are open to the idea of her being with Law (they also have several similarities akin to Pudding and Sanji, plus all the time he was with them through multiple arcs has made the crew comfortable with him, including scenes with them specifically). But otherwise, I don't see her in a relationship either in the end of the series.

I guess in conclusion I can only really see 3, maybe 4 out of the 10 current SHs being in a relationship by the time OP ends. I can also see an ending where none of them are ever officially paired off but instead it's left open on where everyone went after completing their dreams/goals and parting ways as the Straw Hats. I'll be interested in seeing what Oda does with them compared to how he left Roger's crew.

[houseofpurplestars]

I have too many ideas so let me lay some out

- Lucy/Dane/Max/Coop foursome this is a WIP, direct sequel to this

- Kent Connolly/Hancock/Nate - the boys save Kent from Sinjin and he is ... eager to thank them (just an outline but I'm enamored with the idea of Sole staying in character as the Silver Shroud the whole time)

- possibly a Coop/GNSole/Hancock? Idk this is not really an idea yet just a possibility because i want it

- Hancock/Nate or my sole Nikola dunno yet just a little thing because I love Hancock in the Grognak costume and the other day we kept finding a bunch of little hidden spots that would be perfect for a quickie

- some random Goodneighbor ideas, but especially one with a femme or GN Sole propositioning the lady Ghoul in a mechanic jumpsuit I think inside the Third Rail who talks about how her bf can't get used to being with a Ghoul and they fight all the time

[bowlingforgerbils]

octonewton 👀 wywutmsequel 👀👀

octonewton is a Pacific Rim fanfic in which Newton is a merperson, but with an octopus lower half instead of a fish. He saves Hermann after a fall on the beach and romance ensues. I unfortunately never got farther than the little flashback scene at the beginning in which Hermann and Newt briefly meet as children. Here's a snippet:

He bends down to examine the pearly underside of a mussel shell. When he straightens, there is a boy in the water, waist-deep.

The boy smiles at him and waves. He doesn’t look any older than Hermann. “Hi!” He calls out. “What’s your name?”

“Hermann,” the boy on shore answers automatically. He doesn’t think to ask the same question.

The boy smiles wider. “That’s a funny name. I like it. Are you collecting shells?”

Hermann looks at his little bucket and hugs it to himself protectively. He has to share nearly everything with his brother, and the shells are his alone. But the boy is far away, and it isn’t nice to lie, so Hermann finally nods. Yes, he is.

“What’s your favorite kind?” the boy in the water asks.

Hermann loosens his grip on the bucket slightly. “Sea snail.”

“They don’t taste as good as oysters,” the boy in the water says.

 Hermann wrinkles his nose. “I don’t want to eat them, I just like the shells. They follow the golden ratio. That makes them prettier than oysters.”

Even from the shore, Hermann can see the boy roll his eyes. “Well, oysters are cooler because they look like rocks but they’re alive.”

“What’s so cool about a rock?” Hermann demands, but the boy just sticks out his tongue.

Then he dives under the water and disappears.

Hermann frowns to himself and listlessly sorts through his shells. He didn’t mean to pick a fight with the other boy, and now he wishes that he hadn’t. 

wywutmsequel is the sequel to When You Wish Upon the Moon, a sequel that I have been plotting for ages and writing draft after draft and throwing each one away. I don't know what my problem is, probably I have put too much expectations on myself. Anyway, here's a snippet that is just as likely to be thrown out as every other iteration I have written, so don't get too attached:

They had been wandering the Gettysburg Battlefield, a site purportedly haunted by its many fallen soldiers. Pitch loved visiting “spooky” places and watching the humans make fools of themselves trying to get proof of ghosts with their phones and cameras. Sometimes Pitch would give a paranormal enthusiast a jolt of fear, and Sandy never protested because they were adults, not children, and it was admittedly a little funny to watch someone jump in the air and scream.

But on this particular night, Pitch had been more pensive than mischievous, his gaze wandering over the monuments, shadows trailing behind him. He paused to look over a statue of a man on horseback, his wide brow creasing in thought. “Sandy… when you were a star pilot… did you ever meet him? The General?”

Sandy blinked and read the monument’s plaque in confusion. <i>Winfield Scott Hancock?</i>

“No,” Pitch hissed, before recomposing himself. “No, I meant me. Him.” He looked away, as if embarrassed. “Kozmotis Pitchiner.”

Oh! <i>Only once</i>, Sandy replied quickly, turning his attention to Pitch. <i>I was a cadet out on patrol when I spotted a large fearling. I tried to take it down but it was too big for my ship and likely would have destroyed me if it weren’t for General Pitchiner. He swooped in and saved the day.</i> Sandy gave a little smile at the memory before adding sheepishly, <i>He chewed me out afterwards for being reckless and taking on more than I could handle.</i>

Pitch snorted. “Sounds familiar,” he murmured, half to himself, but his smile didn’t quite meet his eyes. 

<i>He also told me that I had some of the best moves he’d ever seen for such a young star pilot. I was so starstruck that I could barely thank him afterwards. We helped one another out a few times over the years in battle, but that was the only time he ever spoke to me.”

“I see…” Pitch turned away, as if disappointed, and added acerbically, “Must have been devastating to lose such a heroic figure…”

Sandy floated up so that Pitch could see his sand writing. <i>It was. But as much as I admired him, I didn’t know him. He wasn’t my friend.</i>

Something warm and vulnerable flickered in those tarnished silver eyes before something past Sandy’s shoulder caught the dark spirit’s attention. “I can’t believe it. That idiot over there brought a <i>ouija board</i>.” Pitch’s mouth curved up into a nasty grin. “A moment, Sandy, while I give him a little lesson in spirit etiquette.”

And that was that. Pitch never brought up the General again.

[thoughtportal]

Why Archaeologists Are Fuming Over Netflix’s Ancient Apocalypse Series 

https://hyperallergic.com/791381/why-archaeologists-are-fuming-over-netflixs-ancient-apocalypse-series/

In November 2022, Netflix launched a new “docuseries” titled Ancient Apocalypse, presented by journalist Graham Hancock. Over the course of eight episodes, Hancock revivifies long-discounted, Victorian-era views of the ancient past in connection with a great flood and even Atlantis. He also questions the views and motives of professional archaeologists. Hancock’s unfounded hypotheses and attempts to undermine the field of archaeology have now pushed the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) to issue an open letter decrying the show’s disparaging remarks against archaeologists and calling out the show’s alignment with racist theories about the ancient past.

To many, pseudoarchaeology at first appears to be a harmless form of entertainment consumed in jest or by those who revel in tales of lost cities or alien architects. But the recasting of science fiction as historical fact has real consequences. It emboldens conspiracy theorists who then use it to question everything from the legitimacy of the cultural heritage of Indigenous peoples, to scientific studies, to the validity of higher education in general. In remarks to Hyperallergic, Ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian archaeologist Vivian A. Laughlin noted that although archaeology is a social science, “both the social and scientific aspects are consistently disregarded in pseudoarchaeology.” She and many other professional archaeologists have co-signed the SAA letter’s categorization of the show as “harmful” and rooted in “racist, white supremacist ideologies,” adding that it “does injustice to Indigenous peoples; and emboldens extremists.” Finally, they called on Netflix to reclassify the series as “science fiction.”

What exactly does this “docuseries” pose that has archaeologists up in arms? In Ancient Apocalypse, Hancock first positions himself as a truth-teller while often reusing theories from the late 19th century. This includes discredited ideas such as those posited by politician and novelist Ignatius Donnelly in his 1882 book Atlantis: The Antediluvian World. The book argued that the advanced peoples of Atlantis revealed the secrets of architecture and agriculture to Indigenous peoples. Critic of pseudoarchaeology Jason Colavito has written extensively on Donnelly’s use of Atlantis’s utopian society to critique Reconstruction-era America, all while also reinforcing white supremacy: “Atlantis reflected his ideal American society. Whites ruled, of course, but everyone had a share.” Hancock’s resuscitation of Donnelly breathes air back into ideas and ideologies that, as I have written on prior, are rooted in white supremacy.

Although never trained as an archaeologist, Hancock also scripts himself as the truly reliable narrator who can speak out only because he exists outside of “mainstream archaeology.” It is the same outsider approach taken by showmen like Alex Jones or fellow pseudo-archaeologist Erich von Däniken, both of whom bank on public distrust surrounding science and, increasingly, the conservative suspicion surrounding academia itself. Hancock believes that archaeologists have ignored or even covered up the existence of an “advanced Ice Age civilization.” According to his hypothesis, this innovative culture was wiped out around 12,900 years ago by the impact of a comet that then caused a devastating flood. Hancock notes we have been “lied to by academia for eons” about the existence of this advanced civilization.  

Hancock has been peddling these goods in print for a long time. In his 2015 book, Magicians of the Gods, a sequel to his 1995 Fingerprints of the Gods, he elaborated on a theory from a 2007 study that originally proposed to explain evidence for large-scale extinctions of megafauna in North America using a comet impact. Hancock then universalized this theory and used it to explain the existence of his “advanced” civilization globally. But as Michael Shermer reported for Scientific American over five years ago, not only is there no crater to support this theory, but the radiocarbon dating does not support a unitary event. This comet also conveniently wiped out all evidence of Hancock’s global, advanced civilization except certain sites which show signs of survivors from Atlantis. Explaining the giant stone pillars of Göbekli Tepe in Turkey as the product of some of these survivors robs Neolithic hunter-gatherers of their agency and ability to create their own monumental structures. As Shermer notes, what Hancock counts on when explaining this mysterious, progressive civilization is the “bigotry of low expectations.”

Contrary to Hancock’s depictions of it, archaeology is today an active field predicated on painstaking excavation and the collation and careful analysis of archaeological data. It is also one which relies on public trust in the science and scientists that undergird it. Active movements led by archaeologists in the SAA and the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) have encouraged repatriation and set strong ethical codes for the field. Although movies like the recently-revived Indiana Jones series or Tomb Raider may cast looting as archaeological science, professional archaeological sites uncover, document, and map sometimes only centimeters per day. The field is unique in that it is also dependent upon public knowledge and media attention in order to survive. This is true both in terms of external grant funding for digs and, in the case of sites like Pompeii, Petra, or Chichén Itzá, the money that comes from archaeological tourism. In short, archaeologists need and deserve the trust that Hancock denies them. It may be amusing to believe that academics have joined forces to keep secrets from the public, but honestly, they would be the first to tell the world of such findings.

Beyond the SAA, there are also many individual academics countering Hancock’s false narrative. One of the most longstanding and widely read archaeologists today is Eric H. Cline, a professor of Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies and of Anthropology at George Washington University, who is also the director of the GWU Capitol Archaeological Institute. In addition to continued excavations at Tel Kabri (Tell al-Qahweh in Arabic) in Israel and his previous work at Megiddo — the site where the Book of Revelation foretells that the final battle of Armageddon will take place — he has written extensively on the biblical archaeology behind ideas of the Apocalypse and on the truth behind the “Sea Peoples” alleged to have invaded Egypt in the Late Bronze Age. In remarks to Hyperallergic, Cline notes that there is simply no proof or supporting evidence for an advanced but now lost Ice Age civilization. Rather than presenting much hard evidence, Hancock presents his audience with a flurry of questions (“Is it possible?” or “Could there have been?”). Cline underscores that the inception of doubt in the minds of the viewer often becomes more important than the presentation of facts.

Hancock’s questions and continued jabs at archaeologists throughout the Ancient Apocalypse series is, as the public SAA letter responds to, a tactic for undermining science and scientists who have dedicated their lives to archaeological inquiry. And such questioning is certainly on trend. Cline notes that the show capitalizes on an anti-establishment sentiment all too common since the 2016 presidential election.

“He is appealing to a particular subset of the general public who are now ‘anti-expert’ (on any topic ranging from medicine to archaeology), building on sentiments which came to the fore during the Trump era and continue today,” Cline said. “Ironically, however, he is beholden to the very archaeologists whose work he denigrates, for almost nothing of what he covers or says in the series could have been done without their work and by standing on their shoulders.”

Perhaps two of the most vocal critics of Hancock in print and on Twitter are archaeologists John Hoopes and Flint Dibble. In comments to Hyperallergic, both pointed to the holes and harm inherent in Ancient Apocalypse. Hoopes points out that in proposing an ambiguously “advanced” civilization, Hancock oddly also requests the audience view it as a society comparable to that of 19th-century Europe. Using European society as the standard metric for intellect, the arts, and “civilization” is at the heart of arguments in favor of white supremacy and European exceptionalism. Dibble similarly points to the fact that claiming such an advanced civilization actually built famed monuments suggests that a “fake civilization is responsible for monuments and the domestication of plants and animals around the world, with the implication that Indigenous people were not responsible for it.”

How did such a sham of a show get made? Is nepotism the answer? Graham Hancock’s son, Sean Hancock, is an executive at Netflix who works in the “Unscripted Originals” department. If you can’t get a show greenlit on its own merit, why not have your son help it along? Nepotism in the art world, in show business, in “legacy” college admissions, and in virtually every other area of our society means that access is often granted to those with more connections than merit. Although there has been intense interest devoted to the so-called nepo-babies that have pervaded the news towards the end of 2022, we might do well to do a bit more investigation into nepo-parents.

Social media plays a big part in the reception and impact of shows like Ancient Apocalypse. In 2022, former Cornell University undergraduate Angelina Nugroho published a network analysis of the Twitter discourse surrounding pseudoarchaeology. What she discovered is that such tweets “employ anti-institutional sentiment and draw on rhetorical themes in support of a historical white supremacy.” Nugroho noted that not only do pseudarchaeological theories and their diffusion detract from the ability of archaeology to provide a general understanding of the field as a scientific field, but they also cause real harm to modern Indigenous populations by undermining their past.

Can we then blame archaeologists for trying to push back against fiction masquerading as fact? As Hancock himself notes, his team was banned from filming at Serpent Mound in Ohio for attempting to falsely modify the dating of the site much earlier, to around 11,000 BCE. In fact, sacred mounds were made by two Native cultures: the Adena culture (800 BCE–100 CE) and the Fort Ancient culture (1000–1650 CE). Beyond shutting gates, other archaeologists are increasingly taking to public scholarship to push back against the broader harms of all “alternate history” shows. Whether it is actress Megan Fox’s short-lived “alternative history” show (inspired by her beliefs that the Pyramids of Giza were actually a kind of ancient power plant) or the lure of former Fear Factor and comedian Joe Rogan’s popular podcast, which Hancock appeared on: Conspiracy theories and pseudoarchaeology are a growing business.

The SAA letter points to the fact that every day, thousands of archaeologists work to speak to the public in museums, through government agencies, in university courses, on dig sites, and through their publications. Amplifying a culture of distrust around these professionals causes harm not only to them and to cultural heritage institutions, but also damages attempts at understanding and celebrating Indigenous peoples across the globe. At the end of the day, archaeologists are translators and, as Cline notes, “The number one danger is that such fantastical work, presented without supporting evidence, targets gullible audiences, who don’t know who or what to believe.”

While pseudoarchaeological shows are growing on the History network and now Netflix, the number of fact-based documentaries focused on the archaeological process and the science behind it is on the decline in the United States. As an increasing number of series get canceled across HBO, Netflix, and many other streaming services, opportunity is now at a premium. And championing pseudoarchaeology often means that the shows that center science are not given the green light. What might be the solution here? The SAA and many others see equal air time as one way forward. Cline notes that “the general public has seen only Hancock’s version in this series; a response by professional archaeologists, even of only an hour, and broadcast by Netflix, would be most welcome.” If Netflix is truly invested in presenting historical fact, it might do well to set a policy of allowing archaeologists to have their own shows with ample time to respond. Make no mistake that they will show up with trowels and real evidence in hand.