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loveshotzz · 2 years ago

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All I Really Want Is You

older!neighbor!widower! steve x fem!reader chap seven/ten - a slow burn series of blurbs - updated every wednesday

Bad Idea

summary: After a week of avoiding, you find Steve at your front steps.

wc: 4.3k

warnings: 18+ series for future chapters. Steve and Reader have THE talk, we learn Steve & Emma’s story. There will be discussions of feelings about watching a loved one struggle with terminal illness and death in this chapter. There’s not a ton of details about her struggles but it is touched on. Angsty beginning and a very, very fluffy end 🧡

author’s note: it’s all up hill from here guys, just a little growing pains. i can’t believe there’s only three chapters left after this 🥺 thank you for reading and all of the sweet reblogs and messages through out this whole series. you have made this so special for me and it’s been such a comfort to write as I navigate my own life changes right now.

🌇 <- chapter six -> chapter eight

The Masterlist / The Playlist / The tune:

End of June -

It had been a week since Steve came back from his camping trip. A week of good morning texts left unanswered, of making sure not to look out your window when you knew he was home - even when you could hear him play with Bandit. He was doing that outside more than usual, a tactic to try and get you to come out and talk to him or hell, even just look at him.

He doesn’t know that a few times it almost worked.

Always & Forever

The words engraved into silver also stay carved deep and fresh in your mind, not letting you forget. You couldn’t, even if you tried. Especially not her beautiful eyes. Does she hate you? Part of you feels like you would hate you. The guilt threatens to punch the air out of your lungs.

The days go on like this with you doing everything in your power to avoid him while he did everything he could to run into you. The last ditch effort was after you caught him getting out of his car, your eyes meeting for a split second before you cut through the alley walking in through the back gate instead. Your resolve to stay away grows weaker when Steve’s good morning texts finally stop after that.

So when Brad, the new server, gets the courage to ask you out, you say yes. It was a bad idea, anyone could’ve told you that, you didn’t really want him. He was just a distraction from facing the consequences of your own actions.

He takes you to RPM Steakhouse in the heart of downtown and surprisingly he actually makes you laugh. He’s full of food industry horror stories he’s collected over the years. He’s not boring and he’s attentive when you talk, asking questions like he’s really interested. The butterflies that have built a home in your rib cage don’t flutter and fly for him though. The nerves that make your heart beat faster, the ones that feel like they vibrate from your fingertips, like your skin is on fire, are stagnant.

He’s not Steve.

You skip out on dessert when it’s offered to you, but you let him hug you before you get in your separate Uber’s home. It worked for a few hours at least. Looking out the window when your car hits the expressway, the skyline shines gleaming like the stars in the clear night sky.

It’s not very long until your phone fights for your attention, the screen illuminating the backseat. It pulls you back to reality, your breath catching when it’s not Brad’s name that flashes across your screen.

Steve

Can we please just talk?

You aren’t expecting to see him at your front steps when the Uber drops you off at your gate. His hair sticks out wild at the ends, like he’s been pulling it all night, scratch that, all week and it makes more guilt settle deep in your gut. The scruff on his jaw is almost dark enough to be a beard now. His legs are covered in gray sweats and the white undershirt he wears fits tight over his shoulders. You hate how handsome he still is, even with his slides and socks.

He’s talking to himself, moving his hands like he’s trying to explain something, reciting a speech you can’t quite hear from as far as you are. The leftovers shift in your bag when you take your first step making the styrofoam squeak and plastic crinkle, his eyes shoot up instantly at the noise.

“Honey?”

Those wings start to stretch and flutter even after just one word. You wish you could be mad at how much power one word from him has, but all you feel is the weight of how much you missed him when his face softens.

“Hi Steve.” You catch the way his lips twitch at the sound of his name coming from your mouth when you open the gate. It had been too long for him, he’d become addicted to it without even knowing it.

He stands up, his eyes can’t help but roam your bare legs that sit exposed in your black cocktail dress, or the way the middle sinches into your waist, before fluttering out over the tops of your thighs. His own jealousy threatens to bubble over at the thought of you wearing this for someone else. He needs you to understand him.

“Is this a bad time?” He asks, scratching the back of his neck while he reads the restaurant name on your bag. He hopes whoever took you there isn’t coming back. “If it is sweetheart, I can give you more space. I just, I just wanted to see you.”

You stop in front of him, further away than normal but close enough to smell the cigar smoke that still clings to the cotton of his shirt. It mixes with the spice of his cologne from earlier this morning. His eyes find yours without hesitation, glazed over from the glass of whiskey you’re sure he nursed before finding himself on your front steps. They shimmer under the moon like emeralds and you just want to get lost in them.

The answer you want to give and the answer that you think will protect you are at each other’s throats, constricting yours from giving him anything right away. His face crumbles a little when his question is met with silence. You don’t want him to go.

“No, it’s not a bad time.” It comes out before you can fight it.

The smile that tugs at Steve’s lips warms your face like the summer sun, his hand reaching out for you before pulling back and finding a new home deep in his pocket instead. Baby steps. Your arm brushes against his when you walk past him, the smallest touch lighting the match.

“I just need to get out of this dress.” You can’t look at him when you pull at the fabric as if to show him how uncomfortable it is.

“Should I wait down here?” He clears his throat a little unsure of himself as he watches you dig through your purse. He didn’t think he’d get this far.

Cicadas buzz loud against the jingle of your keys in the beat of silence it takes you to unlock the front door. The stale air of the walkway hits you like an oven when you push it open, the heat making your skin stick more than it did outside.

“You can come up. I promise my dishes are done this time.” You flash him a smirk from over your shoulder watching the way your gesture makes him relax like you’d intended, secretly enjoying the blush you still can get to flush his cheeks so easily.

Steve hadn’t been inside your apartment since the day he fixed your sink, and you don’t think you’ll ever get used to seeing him here. He’s handsome in a timeless way, still somehow put together even in his disheveled state. You watch the way he takes in his surroundings like he wants to commit it all to memory not knowing that he actually is, just in case this all blows up in his face and you never let him come back here again.

The only noise that fills the room is the loud whirr of your A/C and it’s your turn to clear your throat.

“Umm, feel free to take a seat. I’ll be really quick.” You awkwardly gesture towards your green couch, grimacing when your mind goes back to the beautiful leather one at his place.

He just nods, rubbing his palms against his thighs while taking one last look around before sitting. Your nose scrunches when you see how deep he sinks down, maybe a used couch wasn’t the best idea you’d ever had.

You wait till your door is shut to let out the long breath you feel like you’ve been holding this whole time. The familiar thumping in your chest returns ten fold. He’s in your living room.

You try not to think too much about the yoga shorts and oversized shirt you change into, especially when your muscles relax, no longer strained by the tight nylon material dress. Allowing a single once over in your long mirror, you force yourself back out, the creak of your door alerting him of your return. His stare makes goosebumps dance across sticky skin in a battle with the air conditioning.

“Do you want some water?” You try to sound casual when you ask, keeping your back to him so he can’t see the way you’re still buying time.

“S- sure,” he stutters out, a cough following and you hear the way the cushions respond to his weight as he tries leaning forward.

Now it's the whirr of your a/c and the grumbling of the ice machine that silences the unspoken feelings that are begging to come out. Scratching and clawing their way to the surface, the cracks in your facade start getting deeper the longer you stay quiet.

Steve breaks first.

“I think there’s a conversation we should have.” He pauses before starting over, “There’s a conversation I want to have.”

You freeze when the realization of where you left the watering can smacks you right in the face.

“Steve-“ you start, unable to meet his eyes and he’s quick to cut you off.

“Listen, I have some things I need to say and you should at least let me get it off my chest if you’re just going to pretend I don’t exist now.” His words make you realize the selfishness that hides under your insecurities of not being good enough for someone like him.

He stands up when you turn around, both of you staying on opposite sides of the room. He takes a shaky breath before dragging his fingers through his hair.

“I didn’t think I’d ever feel these things again with anyone else, I was sure of it actually and then you showed up in your horribly packed moving truck.” He laughs a little like he’s still wrapping his head around all of it, and he knows if the situation was any different you’d roll your eyes at him for the teasing jab.

“You brought all of these things out of me that I thought I’d lost for good. Like, I can’t remember the last time I cared about what I was wearing when I left the house, but the past month I’ve been obsessed about it. Like what if she’s outside? What if she’s looking out her window? What if she wants to talk to me?” The veins in his neck show themselves as he gets more worked up but he’s not done yet.

“Then last week when you showed up at my front gate, looking even prettier than the last time I saw you, because you do that somehow, I couldn’t help myself around you anymore. The fact that you were actually going to kiss me back after I put the worst moves on you made me feel like I won the lottery or something.” His gaze meets yours to make sure he isn’t scaring you off before taking a deep breath.

“And then, and then you just - you just left without so much as a reason why. It was pretty clear though when I got home, and maybe that’s my fault because I feel like I’m doing this all backwards but you didn’t give us a chance to even talk about it.”

Steve looks like his world is falling apart, and the things he’s saying make you feel like anything but a second choice. You wish you could go back to that rainy day at his house and do things over again.

“I wasn’t given the shot at a fair fight the first time something special was taken from me, but I have one now and I’m not walking away unless you kick me out.” He straightens his shoulders a little before another anxious hand runs through his wild hair. His chest heaves as he finally gets out what’s been sitting just below the surface the whole time, his fears revealing themselves behind flushed cheeks and glassy eyes.

The feeling like you’re slighting another woman who isn’t here is hard to navigate. It makes your own eyes sting but you don’t let the tears fall. Not when he’s handing his heart to you like he means it.

“I’d never kick you out,” your words come out quiet - soft, a stark contrast to the way his boomed loud with conviction, but he doesn’t miss them.

Hope starts to sprout deep in his chest for the first time in years.

“Never?” He breathes, relief relaxing the hard lines on his face while he looks at you from under his lashes.

His feet take him those few steps closer and when you make no moves to tell him to stop he keeps going. The sadness that plagues his handsome features slowly starts to fade and the bags under his eyes become more obvious. You want to kiss them.

Your hand extends, fingers reaching out for his. His eyes follow your movements, taking in what you’re offering and he doesn’t hesitate anymore, interlocking them like when he walked you to your front door. You watch the way his shoulders give the moment they touch and his eyes close as he relishes in the feel of it. Of you.

Your back hits the edge of your kitchen sink when he crowds your space a little more, your fingers playing songs on imaginary strings together. Memorizing he dips between each one. His nose skims across your forehead making your own eyes close. How could you ever stay away from him?

“Never.”

He hums at your confession, squeezing your hand gently before pulling back. He takes his time admiring your face from this close. He missed you so much, he actually thinks it’s kind of crazy. His other hand reaches up to cup your cheek, the pad of his thumb tracing the high bone. He loves the way you lean into it. You missed him too.

“Can we have that conversation now?”

All you can do is nod, tears still threatening to spill out but now a different kind.

The two of you sit on your couch for hours, worn in cushions pushing you close together. Your head rests on his arm that’s draped along the back of it, your socked feet in his lap. He tells you how he met Emma through his high school sweetheart Nancy. The ex that turned him into a man as he put it, the one that made him really think about the kind of person he wanted to be. Even going as far to say Emma would have never given him the time of day if it wasn’t for her. Nancy was the Managing Editor of The Chicago Tribune and Emma was her Editor in Chief.

After being introduced by Nancy at a sports gala, Steve pursued her hard, especially because she said no the first three times he asked her out. It makes you giggle when he laughs about it. He said he knew he wanted to marry her after the first date and a year later he proposed to her on a group vacation with Eddie, Robin, Nancy and a few other friends in Mexico. The picture you saw was taken right after she said yes.

The wedding was small, just a few of their closest friends at The Chicago Botanical Gardens, and a dinner at Smith & Wollensky next to the river after. He told you how Eddie pretended to be mad the whole night becauseSteve made Robin his best man instead. They both moved into Steve’s apartment near Wrigley Field after a honeymoon in Italy. He said it was some of the best years of his life with her there, young and in love in one of the liveliest neighborhoods in the city. Then a few years passed and both their careers started taking off and they started wanting more as they got older. A family.

That’s when they started to invest in renovating this fixer upper of a house in a less nightlife oriented neighborhood. The house you live next door to. Between busy work schedules and dealing with contractors when the symptoms first started, they didn’t think anything of it. They chalked it up to exhaustion until she fainted in her office a few months later, then they finally saw a doctor. Another month later after multiple tests and hospital visits Emma was diagnosed with ALS.

“I’ve never seen something debilitate someone so fast, and Emma, god Emma was so strong. Seeing her like that at the end, it fucking broke me.” Steve’s voice cracks, a silent stream of tears falling down his cheeks now.

Your heart breaks for them, the tragedy of watching the person you love fall apart with nothing to do to stop it. An entire life you had planned ripped out from under you with zero warning or mercy. A cruel joke.

You reach up, using the back of your knuckles to wipe away his tears. He leans in your touch, his gaze meeting yours with so many emotions inside of them, you think you might drown.

“We decided to stay in our apartment when she couldn’t walk anymore, with the rate it was moving she didn’t want me to live in this big new house meant for our new beginning and have her…have her die in it,” the last part comes out in just above a whisper, stopping to collect his thoughts. His brows furrow together and his fingers search for yours again. You give them to him without question.

“We checked her into hospice a month after that, Eddie flew in the day she chose to get off assistance. She was surrounded by the people she loved the most those last days.” He takes another deep breath before he continues, it shakes just like his hands.

“That was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I don’t know how someone is supposed to go through that kind of pain and move on from it. Be a person again after it.” He takes another pause and he pulls you closer. His anchor.

“I don’t know if I’d still be here if it wasn’t for Eddie moving into the house with me those first three months, if I’m being totally honest with you.” He sniffs, his gaze falls to his lap to try and hide the shame at the thought, and you squeeze his hand a little bit harder.

“I’m so sorry Steve.” Your voice cracks at the weight of everything he’s been carrying around. The gravity of the way you left him tightens in your throat.

The tears you’d been holding back break free, making his eyes snap to yours. He lets your hand go to wipe your cheeks with gentle fingers like you did to his just moments before. He knows you're apologizing for more than just his bad luck.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m okay now,” he whispers, pressing his forehead to yours. The tips of your noses touch, tears mixing and dripping down the ends of them. You keep your eyes closed in hopes that if you focus hard enough, maybe you could take away some of his pain. Even if it’s just a little bit. “We’re okay now.”

You don’t know how long the two of you sit like this together, not speaking, letting wandering hands memorize faces and fingertips. Your breathing falls in time while your cheeks start to dry. Puffy red eyes stay closed while your muscles finally relax. His nose rubs small circles against yours that make smiles neither of you can see stretch across tear streaked faces.

When you finally open your eyes, he’s already looking at you, something brighter inside of his now like he just let go of a big secret. He doesn’t have to hide anymore.

It’s you that finally works up the strength to pull away enough to really see his whole face after depriving yourself of it for so long.

“I actually kinda feel like she sent you here, despite me,” he admits, laughing nervously, breaking the silence, “She made me promise her that I’d try and find love again when the time was right, I eventually said yes after she asked me at least a dozen times, but I never actually intended on it.”

Steve stops for a second to brush some of your mascara that smudged, holding your eyes in the forest of his.

“Then five years later, this tough girl tries moving an entire apartment’s worth of stuff by herself next door. I mean, you practically did.” He smiles at how proud you look of yourself, “I knew I was screwed when Bandit sniffed you out.”

You giggle like you're just as love sick as him and he wishes he could play it on a loop whenever he’s sad.

“She was probably laughing at how bad I was at trying to flirt with you.” His ears turn cherry red while he tries to hide his very real embarrassment.

“You did run away from me for like a solid week after we met the first time if you remember,” you tease, making his eyebrows raise in challenge. You weren’t supposed to roast him too.

“I guess we’re even then aren’t we?” He counters, smirking when you scoff, wrapping his arm around you so you can’t move away like you try to in fake protest.

Your legs end up draped over the tops of his thighs, fitting snug into his side. The warmth of his body makes your eyelids droopy. The cedar undertones he always carries calms all of your nerves.

“She was beautiful Steve,” you whisper, playing with the chain that dangles off his neck before looking up at him with a smile, “And maybe even a little too cool for you if I dare say.” It’s genuine when it comes out of your mouth, no hidden insecurities, an understanding that he wasn’t settling for you and it makes Steve want to kiss you even more.

“She would have thought you were way too cool for me too.” He laughs, tracing the side of your face with his fingertips. You want to look away from the intensity of it all but you force yourself to hold his stare, keeping yourself open for him. It’s quiet for a few minutes, letting everything that was shared tonight really sink in. That stray you missed so much makes an appearance and you finally get to be the one that pushes it back, and his hair is just as soft as you imagined.

“What are you doing on the fourth, pretty girl?” The new nickname makes you shift in your seat, the hint of a smug smirk begs to break across his face when he catches it. Maybe he’s still got it.

“Nothing, I got the day off.” You hate that his question is enough to make you shy.

It’s too hard to hold his gaze this time, but he doesn’t let that slide. His fingers hook under your chin to tilt your eyes back up to his. Noses brushing, your lips just inches apart like this.

“Be my date to the block party?” He whispers, whiskey and tobacco still lingering on his breath.

You smile, nudging your nose against his in a dare.

“I’d love to Steve.” His name comes out around strawberry chapstick lips, they brush with his feeling like velvet and it makes his nostrils flare.

He dips his head with a groan kissing the corner of mouth instead, before placing one on both your cheeks and another, a lingering one, against your forehead.

“In honor of not doing things backwards, I’m going to wait until I’ve taken you out. The way it should happen. The way someone like you deserves.”

Steve wants to make you feel special too.

It's hard for you to feel rejected with his reasoning and seeing the clock on your stove read in bright red numbers - 2:46am. The fourth was only three days away now.

You play it off with a roll of your eyes and a dramatic “fine” that makes him really laugh for the first time all night, giving you another kiss on the cheek. This one a little wet. He can’t get enough of the way you can’t look at him after.

It’s another thirty minutes before he decides it’s time to go home when your yawn is too loud to hide and your head presses harder into his chest. He wishes he could stay, and one night he knows he will.

You both linger in the doorway with fingers wrapped up tight, neither one of you ready to let go. He just wants to stare at you, but he knows the alarm stuffed in his pocket is going to make his life miserable in three hours.

Instead, he gives you another kiss on the forehead telling you he’ll text in the morning, and he wishes he could have a picture of the smile you give him when you promise to text back.

beta’d by @superblysubpar

dividers by @newlips

older!steve edit by @eddiemunsons-missingnipple

🌇 -> chapter eight

#my wriitng #all i really want is you series #steve harrington #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x fem!reader #steve harrington angst #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington smut #steve harrington slow burn #steve harrington series #steve harrington fanfiction #older!steve #older!steve harrington

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sillydeafwitch · 2 years ago

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Brad and Judy heacanons because i am unfortunately fixated on these two out of all the characters in sdmi :(

Brad is actually pretty emotional without the curses influence. Judy is too but she mostly responds with happiness or anger while Brad expresses himself with more emotions.

Judy has anger issues. The curse actually makes them less obvious but when she does express anger it’s more violent and stressful.

Brad comes from a wealthy family, he has one older sister (Bridgette) and his parents are Penelope Chiles and Tim Chiles. He doesn’t really talk with his sister and his mother rarely treats him like a son and is often cold towards him. His father doesn’t treat him like a son either and just kinda follows whatever his wife does.

Judy comes from a large family. She has 5 brothers (Jaden, Jaiden, Jadyn, Jaideyn, and Jaydeyn.) Her brothers tease her a lot and don’t respect her. Her parents, Rachel Reeves and Norman Reeves, treat Judy very kindly and are very protective but often don’t give her brothers consequences for their actions which makes her feel trapped.

Judy and Brad first met at a playground. Judy finally got away from her brothers and Brad was all alone because his sister ditched him to go shopping with her friends. They became really close and hung out every day.

Brad had a LOT of extracurriculars as a kid/teen. He often struggled with balancing it all and he barely liked any of them. His parents signed him up for all of these to “give him enough opportunities so that he cannot possibly be a jobless hobo.”

Judy wanted to a lot of sports and after school activities but her parents deemed them “too unsafe and rough for a lady!” She often tagged along with Brad whenever he was doing sports or theatre.

Brad and Judy had Fred on accident, so they were going to give Fred to someone they knew in Crystal Cove, but the Freak came and in a moment of stress and also with maybe tiny speck of the curses influence, Brad decided to get rid of Fred that way.

Brad and Judy always cross dressed when doing disguises as kids. Brad lies says it’s because nobody would suspect someone as manly as him to dress like a girl. Judy just admits it’s fun to dress like a guy and break gender roles.

Judy is the more carefree one while Brad is more serious in nature, though he is definitely not a super strict kinda guy. Judy has helped him loosen up from a young age.

Brad and Judy would feel very guilty for how they treated Fred, if they remembered. They definitely didn’t want to be parents but they would never want to SHOOT HIM DOWN WHILE HE IS IN A HELICOPTER WITH HIS FRIENDS ESCAPING FROM MONSTERS…anyways, while they would want to apologize to Fred, im not sure if they would have the balls to do it to his face. It would probably be in an emotional moment or they would be forced to by another person like Cassidy or Daphne. They would probably hand over the parenting role to someone else considering how Fred likely doesn’t even consider them his parents at this point, they haven’t been around for most of his life, and they really don’t even want to be parents.

That’s all of them for now. I may add onto this another day. To make up for this terrible post I’ll start working on some Ricky and Cassidy headcanons!!

#scooby doo mystery incorporated #sdmi #scooby doo #long post #ricky owens #cassidy williams #judy reeves #brad chiles #headcanon #not canon #oh and btw none of this is supposed to be an excuse for what they have done #it’s just supposed to give them more character traits #fred jones

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briamichellewrites · 9 months ago

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The band was interested in learning more about the adoption. Chester stressed the significance of what they were doing for her and her unborn child. They were not even aware of it. They were breaking the cycle of addiction and abuse. Because of her trauma, they knew that helping her would be the most difficult thing they had ever done. In the end, it would be worthwhile! They agreed. She would hopefully be able to graduate from high school and go to college.

If she chose to, of course. When she needed a break during their tour, his parents could help with babysitting. Mike mentioned bringing his parents over for lunch so they could meet her. It would be informal, and she could retreat to one of the upstairs rooms if she became uncomfortable. Was she going to meet Jason? No, that would be inappropriate.

First, he needed to demonstrate his own sobriety. They arranged for her to meet Joe, Anne, and the children later. This was to keep her from becoming overwhelmed. Bradford thought it sounded like a wonderful idea. They congratulated them on their new roles as fathers and grandfathers. Thank you. What was Bria doing? They could not keep up with her because she was everywhere. Didn’t she break up with what’s-his-name? Yes. She certainly did.

"He was a coward. It was a terrific match. She just needs a guy who is confident enough to stand up to his family," Dave explained.

Joe inquired as to what had happened.

"His family did not like her. He had planned to go ahead with the wedding regardless. Until they threatened to disown him. There are many guys waiting in line for her."

They had no doubt about that! Whoever she fell in love with was going to be the luckiest man alive.

Mike, Dave, and Brad discovered that the alleged shooter was found dead in his cell. His death was most likely caused by a heart attack, but a formal autopsy was required. So, what exactly did that mean? It meant that the case was dismissed because it was impossible to try someone who had died. They were permitted to sue his estate for damages. The district attorney warned them that it would be a lengthy procedure. They would have to provide evidence that he caused emotional distress.

They were unable to share their experiences with a judge. They had to provide tangible evidence. He was not saying they would not win. They understood and expressed their appreciation to him. At the very least, he would be incapable of causing harm to others.

Was it a satisfactory conclusion? No, it wasn't. Closure would have entailed looking him in the eyes and telling him how much physical and emotional pain he had caused. They would tell him about their nightmares, flashbacks, fear, and everything else they had to go through. Just because he couldn’t wait his damn turn! Was it worth his bloody nose?

They had a friend who was going to die! He could have taken her life! She could have been paralyzed if the bullet had hit her spinal column! Dave was furious at him! It was unfair that he died before having to face the consequences of his actions. He felt Mike place his hand on his shoulder.

"No, not now. Let us wait until we get home."

He responded by nodding. It was not appropriate to be angry because they were in public. He needed to keep his temper under control. Brad had no idea if they were upset with him as a result of the breakup, and he did not want to make things worse. He requested that they contact him if they needed anything. Mike promised to do so. They exchanged handshakes before saying their goodbyes.

They did not want to talk about the breakup with him because they were upset. Mike did not want Dave to react negatively to him. He thanked him for getting him out of the situation.

"I do not want to bail you out of jail."

Bria's flat chest and short hair could give her a masculine appearance. She started dressing more androgynously. Her more feminine clothes did not flatter her flat chest. She was not identifying as transgender or gay. Rather, she was simply experimenting with her individual style. Her new tattoo read "Stronger than a bullet" across her wrist. Despite her new style, she remained one of the world's most beautiful women. Men continued to pay attention to her.

Mike and Dave were backstage at Alice Cooper's concert. They shared a hug before Mike introduced his husband. Alice greeted him as though he were an old friend he had not seen in a while. Dave expressed gratitude for his assistance. He was very welcome. They sat down to catch up. He was in the process of adopting a baby when they last spoke. How were things going?

"Things are going well so far. We have started the adoption process for the birth mother. If it goes through, we will be grandparents," Mike exclaimed excitedly.

“Oh, wow! Congratulations! How old is she?”

"She is fourteen years old and has recently left an abusive home. Initially, we planned to adopt only her unborn child. Until we decided to adopt her."

"Fourteen?"

“Yeah. It is not something a young child should have to go through."

He agreed! They were going to save her from further abuse by adopting her! That was the reason they wanted to do it. He praised them for their selflessness. Thank you. How is his brother doing? He was living sober and working with a sober companion. They remained cautiously optimistic. His father threatened to arrest him for drug possession the next time he relapsed. He was also prohibited from entering their home if he was under the influence of drugs.

The next time he went to rehab, he would have to pay for it himself. It was a huge wake-up call for him. They would no longer support him. Alice questioned him about why they had put their foot down. They were getting older and had less energy. It was unfair to them.

“Good. He needs to learn to rely on himself. It is likely the most difficult thing your parents have ever done. They are saving his life. Enabling him will only make things worse."

“Yeah. He is the family's youngest member. He is learned that if he cries and promises to get better, they will pay for rehab. They were so focused on his disease that they missed a lot. I do not blame them; they did what they believed was right. He also did it to me. What scares me the most is that I no longer believe him.”

Would he meet their daughter and grandchild? No, it would be inappropriate given her trauma. That was a very wise decision. Despite his initial star-struck reaction, Dave began to see Alice as a guy who happened to be a musician. Alice was a rockstar, but he was also modest. He had no ego, and he was gaining a great deal of respect.

@zoeykaytesmom @feelingsofaithless @alina-dixon

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haroldjamesmaqui09 · 1 year ago

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Own story

"The Little boy who was cursed"

Once lonely afternoon (thermal) not so long ago there lived a very in a temper/low temper little boy (euphemism) he was a slow tempered as a wild bigs (simile). Everything in life are just everything about life maybe him angry (understatement).The more angry he became the more frustrated he be coming and the more frustrated he became well the just made him more angry.

He be guns to hurt all the people around the planet(Hyperbole) who loved of him the most. With each and new(synecdoche) insult and angry outburst, he was hurting those that cared.He wasn't the consequences house his anger.It's astore hearted (metaphor) the the point he couldn't understand that his actions were cousing others pain and hurt. She was too consume by his own range to even notice.

After a particularly bad outburst is mother's only choices(oxymoron) was to sent him to walk into the woods and think about all the bad things he had done (synecdoche) until he had calmed down. It was on this day, he met walking into the dark woods, that he met witch that was about to change his life for the better. He bump into an old hug witch with warts,crooked nose,and nideous crakle (visual).It made him irritated that he shouted to the witch without event thinking by the time he so the witch face he started to the feel the fear asthe witch stares deeply into his soul (metonony) the witch is started swinging his ward,has the wind was covering the atmosphere(metonomy) of the two all the trees were dancing( personification) the witches started chanting its spell, and when its done everything goes back to normal. Except that the boy started feeling weird. He Didn't mind it and just laughed and by the time he look back at the witch it's what's gonna like the blow of the wind(simile)

The boy were started to notice something was weird and he started the feel suared and angry at the same time as he bump into tress,rock animal, and so on.He always shouted his heart out (hyerbole)angry,he was so angry he didn't notice that he is starting to become a rock tull the last moment he course the witch and one thing he knew he was already made out of stone.

On the other hard the little boys mother is starting to feel conscious as the soft whisper of a breeze (shusshh)/auditory)as it passed throught the tree outside their house window.And so she started seeking for this son in the woods the woody ivesinous smell(olfactory) welcome her in to the woods ,she didn't notice the rock standing in front of the woods and just continue searching.the boy sees how worried his mom is, till morning his mother were searching for in the woods and by everytime its tired she just simply sit into his stone son and eat the roasted suest brad(gastatory) she made for his son by the time she should be at home. Never knowing that her son were just there all alone. The little boy started to realize every mistakes he had done in his life and started regretting it. It is mom started seeking for a hard ( Metonomy) to everyone who he hurt and done auful things helping his mother to find him,He was down hearted to regret every mistake he made.

As he was crying someone notice that he store were moving and spitting out water and then his mother slowly came forward snd wipe the tears in the rough stones upper part (tactile),and the little boy break the course as he started regretting all the mistakes she had done everyone gathered around him and we're shocked. Then the witch appears and said" excellent, now have you realized all you mistake already? Huh naughty boy? with aloud cackle (metonomy) and then disappear the boy smile and hugged his mother and whisper through the wind "Yes"

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kahran042 · 2 years ago

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A new batch of JCGTL quotes!

Jonas: Saying Samantha is just a little girl is like saying a tornado is just a little wind. (Source: Arthur)

*Jessica and Mark are running for student senate* Nina: Mark isn't going to win, is he? Jessica: No, because firstly, I'll fight this campaign on issues, not personalities. Secondly, I'll be the only fresh thing on the menu. And thirdly, of course, I'll cheat. (Source: Blackadder)

Marissa: If you two can manage to not kill each other while I'm gone, that'd be great. Thom: Oh, please. We're not children. Marissa: *leaves* Kyle (casually): Eat shit and die. Thom (also casually): Yes, fuck you. (Source: Castlevania)

Jonas: What makes you feel better when you feel terrible? Brad: My family. Jonas: Ew. (Source: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)

Mark: They say only the good die young. If that works both ways, I'm immortal. (Source: Dilbert)

Monica: Richie, what are you doing? Richard: Making chocolate pudding. Monica: It's four in the morning, why are you making chocolate pudding? Richard: Because I've lost control of my life. Samantha: *laughs at gunshots on TV* Richard: Here's your pudding, Samantha. Samantha: Oh, that's okay, Daddy. I'm not hungry anymore. Richard: … Richard: *screams* (Source: Rugrats)

Mark: I think something's wrong with Connor. Lately, he's been quiet, antisocial, and moody. Morgan: …Have you ever met Connor? (Source: RWBY)

*Jonas and Chloe are doing a kissing booth and Morgan appears in line* Jonas: All right, Morgan. Let's get on with it. Morgan: Actually, I'm in line for Chloe. (Source: The Amazing World of Gumball)

Deborah: I-I can't do this. Kiera: She's having a moment of humanity. Quick, let's take advantage of her weakness! (Source: The Amazing World of Gumball)

Peter: What's a guy like you doing with a girl like Sarah? Zane: Shhh, I don't think she knows she can do better. (Source: The Amazing World of Gumball)

Nate, trying to flirt: Are you a combination of my recent memories and my childhood traumas? Alicia: Excuse me…? Nate: Because you’re a dream. Alicia: Are you serious? Nate: What? That's what dreams are. (Source: The Amazing World of Gumball)

Nick: What are we going to do? Jared: Face the consequences of our actions and tell our parents? Nick: Don’t be silly, Jared. I’ve got a much better idea. (Source: The Amazing World of Gumball)

Morgan: I think… I might have a crush on Sarah. Chloe: Congrats! You're officially the last one to know! (Source: The Amazing World of Gumball)

Brad: How do we usually get out of these types of messes? Jonas: We don't! I just make a bigger mess that cancels out the first one. (Source: The Amazing World of Gumball)

#jonas corbin's guide to life #incorrect quotes #my ocs

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hellonexrth · 8 months ago

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For a witch, Piper didn't know much about magic outside of her own ability. She only knew how to slip into another's mind, how to rearrange their thoughts and hold them hostage while she pulled the strings. She only knew how to insert orders and even then, that was a fairly new skill. Before joining the Collective, she only knew magic from the feeling she could when her skin touched another, when it sparked a vision that played in her brain like a strange film. Her ability to summon a flame or protect herself had always been limited. She'd never had much interest in learning defensive or offensive magics, which was perhaps why she didn't know about exactly what the Collective had done to her.

In the darkness that overcame her, she felt peace. All of her wrongdoings melted away and she was just Piper. She hadn't hurt anyone, and there were no consequences to her actions. Unfortunately, that peace slowly started to break down, the darkness fading by a bright light as the alleyway came back into focus and her eyes blinked open. She didn't shoot upright, she didn't gasp. She only looked around for a moment, eyes shifting as she laid in warm embrace and mourned for the loss of that peace she'd felt, longing to return to it before she realized what was going on, before she realized that she wasn't, in fact, dead. A hand shot up to her chest, but the gaping hole was gone. The blood, however, was not, and her hand came away sticky and wet.

It took a second before she lifted her head and found Emery's eyes. The confusion on her face must have been evident. Her brows were drawn together and her lips twisted into a frown of some kind. The look on Emery's face didn't help things. And she wanted so badly to throw her arms around him, to rejoice in the fact that she was alive, somehow, but the joy didn't come, the words didn't come. She could only meet Emery's eyes, see the pain there, and struggle with how to address it. Her lip quivered, and tears fell wordlessly from her eyes. Why was she crying? A true overwhelm of emotions, the desire to return to that peace she'd felt mixed with fear, a deep hatred of self and a realization of all the bad things she'd done, all the pain she'd inflicted.

Softly, her voice broken and throat sore, she whispered his name, sitting up carefully and maintaining that same eye contact, afraid that anything she said would break her resolve further. He must have hated her. He must have thought her a monster truly and finally. Though he'd seen what she'd done to Brad, that had been with reason. What she'd done to Ingrid? She couldn't even begin to understand why she'd done it, and seeing just how much she'd hurt the girl she didn't know, it made everything so much worse. Finally, she dropped the eye contact with Emery and curled in on herself, letting out all the tears she'd been holding unsuccessfully.

there he sat, piper's lifeless body held tightly in his arms as this moment, in is mind, morphed into another. the vision was the same of course, with slight differences. he was younger then, smaller. the body wasn't piper's, but it was still bloody. he'd held his mother the same way, whispered the same words, begging for forgiveness from someone who couldn't take it. wishing so desperately that he wasn't as slow and weak as he was, maybe he could have stopped both things. both deaths that happened before he could do a single thing to stop them. this time was different. worse. emery couldn't avenge this life taken. a familiar feeling of loneliness that had faded over the past year was starting to creep into his chest. piper was gone. heath was gone.

his friend had made his choice and god was it devastating. there had been that spark of hope, when heath had let them go, but it extinguished as soon as the namesake had appeared. the vampire's inaction was just as painful, allowing hope to do what it seemed like hope did best, kill. it was hard, for judgement not to take hold as the tribrid ( tribrids to be more exact ) had taken everything he had now away from him. in his right mind, emery would be empathetic, understanding, damn near overly so, but he couldn't. not when piper's blood soaked his clothes, while he held her. instead it was despair that took over. one hand lifted to push back the hair that stuck to her cheek. " you didn't deserve this, " he whispers. even with what she had done, he believed wholeheartedly what he had said to heath. people didn't deserve to be judged for their worse offense. he hated that this belief was deeply ingrained in him. maybe then he could hate hope the way she deserved.

none of it mattered anymore, nothing mattered anymore. while he knew he should get up and do something, call someone, he couldn't move. who would he call ? he didn't know her family, he couldn't rope benni into any of this. the longer he stayed the worse it would be. harder for him to cope and surely the one found with the dead body is the first suspect. he'd let them arrest him, if the police tried. wouldn't fight any allegations. someone should go down for this and if it wasn't going to be hope ( because let's face it, she was never going to ), let it be someone who had at least an ounce of ownership in what had happened. emery brought her there. marched her straight to her execution like a fool. he was a fool. blinded by feelings. maisie had essentially told him and it was the truthsayer that emery didn't trust.

even if he had believed the hunter, death was not the price emery believed piper should pay. he should have talked to her, he would have never taken her here. she'd be alive. for now at least. " you should have had more time, i'm so sorry, " he murmurs while his thumb mindlessly strokes her cheek. time he could have given her if he had just listened.

#* . ⊹ ℙ.𝕄. › ft. emery

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spideysmjs · 3 years ago

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pandemonium (the good place au)

Hey everyone! I hope you all are having a great day! Here’s my submission for MJ Week 2022 -- based off Season 1′s finale of The Good Place!

For Day Six of @mjweek: Figuring It Out

MJ as Eleanor

Peter as Chidi

Flash as Tahani

Brad as Jason

Ned as Janet

Mr. Harrington as Michael

Quentin Beck as Shawn

“You have 30 minutes,” Mr. Beck turns on a countdown floating above the four of their heads before crossing his arms and walking away as he continues to MJ’s bedroom, “because I won’t be returning to the Bad Place without two people.”

As soon as he disappears from the living room, MJ turns around to face a poor, hopeless Harrington. She scans his face carefully before he says, "All I wanted was my first neighborhood to be perfect. Now you’re all suffering. I’m sorry.”

Harrington steps away, standing quietly behind the clown-painted automatic doors to MJ’s bedroom, listening to the sound of the circus echo before leaving the four of them alone to make their final decision.

MJ paces around the room while everyone drops to the couch, unsure of what to do. When she faces them, they stare at her, waiting for another clever, roundabout solution—despite being completely out of ideas.

A tiny, very tiny, smile tugs at the corner of her lips.

No one’s ever depended on her like this.

Maybe she is changing. Maybe Peter’s heroic lessons have worked out for her. After all, she did help an elderly woman cross the street today, even if there are no cars in The Good Place. Maybe her growth in leading this rag-tag team of hopeless dead people is a sign. Maybe it’s a sign that she should... go.

“It has to be me and Brad,” she says, putting her best face forward. All three pairs of eyes widen at her answer. “We’re the ones that lied and dragged you down. We deserve to leave.”

Without missing a beat, Peter and Flash simultaneously say, “Agreed.”

“Wow, thought you’d at least pretend to care,” she murmurs.

Brad stands up immediately, throwing his hands in the air. “Woah, woah. That Beck guy said we’ve all done bad things here. So let’s look at this ethnically.”

“Ethically,” Peter sighs quietly. Without looking, MJ can tell his eyes are rolling to the back of his head, brimming with impatience that he’s too good to reveal. Whatever. Whatever. So what if she can tell? It’s not like Peter’s her real soulmate anyway. It’s not like she’s the real MJ of The Good Place.

Ignoring Peter, Brad points out, “You guys did something bad by helping me and MJ. It’s basic consequentialism. The morality of an action is solely judged on its consequences.”

Peter claps his hands and stands up. “Now you’re learning? Now?”

“Peter’s done worse stuff than me! I just minded my own business. I pretended I didn’t even talk, man. He murdered Ned! He murdered my best friend!”

“I was trying to stop you from doing it!”

“Ned is not your best friend,” Flash stands up. “There’s a Ned in every neighborhood!”

“Well, this Ned is MY best friend. We exchanged friendship bracelets.”

“Oh my God,” MJ groans. “B-Dog, let’s discuss this in the other room.”

MJ drags him away.

“What?��

“Come on, dude. You barely paid attention to Peter’s classes. Peter has worked way too hard for us to just send him to the Bad Place,” she says. “He’s helped me a lot, Brad.”

“Fine.”

“Really? That was easy.”

“Whatever, dude. But if they want to tear someone’s asshole out, you’re going first,” Brad points out.

“Fine, sure. It’s not like we won’t be tortured for the rest of our damn lives,” MJ retorts, dragging him back into the living room. “Alright, Team Meeting. Brad has agreed to come with me to the Bad Place.”

Peter and Flash stare at her, speechless.

“Yeah. Bye, Flash. Sorry I wasn’t a good soulmate,” Brad says. “You can clean my bud-hole out once we disintegrate.”

“We’re not going to disintegrate,” MJ says.

“Yet,” Brad adds.

She walks away, heading closer to Peter. There’s a frown etched upon his face. How does heartbreak feel so real in heaven? How is she going to tell Peter that she’ll miss him? Maybe even think about him sometimes in between torture sessions?

“It’s been real, my dude,” she blurts out. Peter grins. “Sorry. I just... I’m not saying goodbye or ending things. Kinda how I always end things.”

“Checks out,” he grins at the ground momentarily, before his smile begins to fall. “I feel like I failed you.”

“No, no Peter,” MJ says, tearing up. “Don’t say that.” She places her hands on Peter’s shoulders. “I fell into a cave. You were my flashlight.”

Before Peter can say anything, Flash interrupts their moment, pulling MJ into an embrace. “I’m gonna miss you, girl.”

She laughs. “I’ll miss you, too.”

They all pull into one, final group hug. MJ didn’t think she could ever care about anyone so much until being here, until learning how to be better—how to actually think about others before herself, unlike how she’d been raised.

There’s a pounding on the door before they can head out.

It bursts open.

Michelle. Well, the other Michelle. MJ squints. What does she want? She can have her soulmate after MJ leaves.

“I’m taking one of the slots for the Bad Place.”

“What?!” they all shout, aside from Brad who smiles, “Awesome!”

MJ shoves Brad.

Peter steps forward to Michelle, frowning. “What? Why?”

“Everyone else here has a soulmate... and my soulmate doesn’t love me.” Peter shifts his feet. MJ watches carefully as his body language shifts when Michelle points out, “I don’t know if you love MJ or Flash or whoever else is here in this neighborhood, but... you don’t love me. Which means that this... will never be my Good Place. I’m going. So pick one more person.”

Without time for anyone to disagree, she disappears through the front door as fast as she walked through.

“Sooo,” MJ smacks her lips. “Let’s just get this over with. I’ll go. You three stay.”

“Yes!” Brad says, turning to Ned. “We did it!”

Ned pulls him into a hug.

“No, you’re not going,” Peter says. “I’m going.”

“Wh.. what?” MJ asks.

“Michelle—the other one you know—she’s my soulmate. Or was. She’s only going down there because she thinks I don’t love her.”

“Well do you?” Flash asks.

“Please don’t ask me that. My stomach hurts more than when Doc Ock used to punch me down to the ground.”

A beat. MJ rolls her eyes, “Peter, you’re ridiculous. I’ve already made up my mind. I’m going. End of story.”

“I’m going,” Flash says.

“What?” MJ asks.

“I’m going and replacing Michelle. Peter and I will go together. I think we can really work out no matter where we end up.”

“You do realize that the Good Place isn’t a couple’s retreat right?”

As they continue to bicker with each other, Brad jumps up and down in his couch, thinking and assuming that everyone else will go aside from him. He’s celebrating endlessly in a way that makes the migraine in MJ’s head grow harder and harder. Flash and Peter speak over each other too loudly for her to even understand what they want.

MJ doesn’t argue any longer, throwing her head back in agony as if the migraine she has now is a migraine that never left since the moment she got here. In fact, every single moment has been agony. The Good Place has stressed her out more than when she lived her life on Earth as a horrible human being.

It’s almost as if...

“Holy, motherforking shirt balls.”

They all fall silent. Peter asks, “What?”

“Wow,” MJ laughs. “Wow. Beck! Harrington! Come here. We’re ready.”

The doors slide open. Beck asks, “Is everything okay?”

“We’ve made a decision. Peter and I are going to the Bad Place.” The two gentlemen look shocked, but she can see right through their eyes if those really are eyes.

“Huh?” Peter asks.

“But,” Harrington stutters, “But what about the Real MJ—”

“No. We decided. It’s me and Peter. Call the train.”

Beck says, “I don’t accept this. It’s supposed to be Brad and MJ.”

“Nope. Nope! You said two people. It’s me and Peter. Come on, let’s go.” She glances quickly back at Peter, who's looking at her as if she’s speaking nonsense. It hasn’t clicked for anyone else yet. She stares directly into Harrington’s eyes. “Ready when you are boss.”

A beat. Then Peter asks, “MJ, what’s going on?”

She nods her head, smiling at the two men in front of her as she turns to Peter. “It took me a while to figure it out. But just now? When we were all fighting and yelling at each other and each of us demanding we should go to the Bad Place, I thought… wow this is torture. And then I realized… they’re never going to call a train to the Bad Place.”

MJ points back to her. “We’re already here. This… this is the Bad Place.”

All four look at Harrington, not needing to wait for a response before he laughs maniacally at them. “Oh, man. I can’t believe you figured it out. Oh, God! MJ, you ruined everything, you know that? You really suck! I was so close to pulling it off.”

MJ crosses her arms in victory. Harrington drops to the couch behind him, knocking a lamp down on purpose.

“Wait, so MJ’s right?” Flash asks.

“Yep, she’s right as rain,” Harrington laughs. “MJ figured it out.”

“No, this doesn’t make any sense. This is paradise,” Peter says.

“Peter, it looks like Paradise, but to me, this is a neighborhood full of a clusterfork of our anxieties. I’m surrounded by people who are quite literally better than me. Brad wasn’t allowed to talk, which tortured Flash, who tortured Brad right back for forcing him to talk. I was tortured into trying to be a Good Person, which tortured Peter because he had to be a good soulmate to me. Then, that tortured Flash because Peter doesn’t like Flash.”

“You don’t like me?” Flash pouts.

“Please don’t ask me that,” Peter groans.

MJ points at the two of them. “See?! We’ve all been set to torture each other since the moment we got here! Harrington played us!”

Harrington frowns. “Damn, this sucks.”

“No, it doesn’t,” MJ says. “You really thought you could group the four of us to torture each other… I can see it… A vigilante superhero… a straight-up selfish lawyer… a clueless jock turned failed student-athlete… A rich fraud… You thought we could do this for 1,000 years… but instead, we cared for each other. We helped each other.”

She glances back at the three of her new friends.

“We became a team. So, the only thing you succeeded in doing… was bringing us together.”

Harrington’s eyes pop open. “That’s right. That was my mistake. I brought you together. Put you too close to each other. Next time, I have to separate you!”

Peter asks, “What? Next time?”

“Yeah, I’m going to erase your memories and try it again once the boss gives me approval!” Harrington rushes out to meet with Beck.

MJ’s heart is pounding, racing faster than she’s ever known. She has to find a solution. She looks to the rest of them, clueless. Helpless. They look to her like she knows an answer.

She grabs Peter’s nearest ethics novel, rips the first page, and scribbles something down.

“Ned,” she turns over to face Ned. “You can’t swallow or eat things right?”

Ned smiles. “No!”

“Open wide!” MJ instructs Ned as he listens happily, opening his mouth and accepting the crumpled-up piece of paper just before Harrington comes back in.

“Well, are you all ready?” he grins. “Of course you are, you won’t remember.”

“You know what, Harrington? Do your worst. We figured it once, we can do it again. Because you know what Harrington? Ya bas–”

A white flash clouds all of them.

One.

Two.

Three.

MJ opens her eyes in a white room, glancing around, and sees a wall with painted affirmations.

Everything is fine.

“Michelle?” an unfamiliar voice comes from behind her. “I’m Mr. Harrington. It’s nice to meet you.”

–

After touring the neighborhood, MJ stands alone now in a house full of clowns, having lied her ass on the first day in freaking heaven. She takes a deep breath, though she barely lets it out until she hears a quiet ding.

Someone appears in front of her, as if out of nowhere.

“Woah. Who are you?” she yells, backing away at the man whose smile widens from ear to ear.

“Ned. I think this is for you,” he hands her a crumpled paper. “I found it in my mouth when I was rebooted.”

MJ blinks. “What?”

It’s not possible. She just got here. She grabs the paper, opening it up.

MJ - find Peter.

She furrows her eyebrows.

“Who the fork is Peter?”

#mj week #mj week 2022 #my writing #spideychelle #fics

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revchainsaw · 4 years ago

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The Crow (1994)

Alright Cult of Cult. Do I really need to introduce this one? Let's get all 90s and gothy and maybe brace ourselves for a bit of cringe, but like in a fun way. It's the Holy Grail of Hot Topic, 1994's the Crow Starring Brandon Lee.

Sermon

Apparently before the auto industry totally crashed Detroit was already a total fucked to death pile of burning shit, or at least that's what the crow would have you believe. Sorry Bruce Campbell, and other people from Detroit, but mostly Bruce Campbell. According to the Crow the city of Detroit is the kind of place where gangs of warlock anarchist arsonists will bomb buildings, and murder and rape whoever they feel like and then walk around bragging about it the next day with absolutely zero consequences. Funny then that if Detroit was so bad they had to go to film this movie in Wilmington North Carolina which is definitely a fucked to death pile of burning shit. I can say that, I'm from there and I got the fuck out. My brother is going to kill me if he ever reads this. (It's okay, these are all jokes people). Did you know they also filmed the Super Mario Bros movie there ... also cuz they needed a really shitty looking distopia. Moving on ...

The ludicrous criminality of the Crow's Detroit is particularly on display on Halloween. In Detroit (apparently) Halloween is known as Devils Night and it's legitimately just a night of pure lawlessness and chaos and kids aren't even safe to get candy, except later when we do see trick or treaters. Eric Draven, hunky goth rocker who sort of looks like he could be Bruce Lee's Kid and his fiance are murdered by a gang of vicious criminals. One year hence, Eric is resurrected by a mystical crow (that is actually a Raven), to exact his revenge on the gang that murdered him.

He paints his face like sad Alice Cooper and refuses to listen to Joy Division, just covers. He murders Tin Tin (a knife guy) just for his long gothy duster, he murders Fun Boy and forcibly ejects heroine from her arms and tells her "Go be a good mom now" which actually works. (have I told you about our Lord and Savior Sting? He gave me the strength to get off drugs), he blows T Bird up dick first, and then comes for Skab? Scraap? Scooby? in a meeting of all of Detroits villains and just about kills them all.

He is supported by the most 90s little girl to have ever graced the screen, and I am here for it, and Officer Albrecht, who's played by Ernie Hudson but I like to call him Zeddemore: The Most Underrated Ghostbuster. The leader of the bad guys, who I cannot beleive wasn't played by Brad Dourif or Tom Waits, is pretty interested in the occult. He keeps his witchy girlfriend around and she makes him fun dishes like smoked eyeballs, and her main use is that she knows that the Crow is the Crows weakness. They set Tony Fucking Todd on the bird, and I guess you just have to hurt the bird and not kill it, and Eric loses his healing factor and other macabre undead powers.

The Crow, Jimmy the Raven, pecks out Dr. Girlfriends eyeballs, I honestly forget how Tony Todd gets offed, and Top Dollar gets Gargoyled (that is impaled on a gargoyle). Funnily enough that is more Gargoyle related impaling on screen then in the actual movie Gargoyle: Wings of Darkness where a Gargoyle is supposed to have impaled a guy.

The Benediction

Best Feature: Injustice League

In the Crow we have not only a set of super memorable villains but they are played by the bad guy all stars. John Polito as the most lowly of the bad guys as a kind of sleazy pawn shop owner who buys ill gotten gains. Tony Todd, who's size is really on display here, the freaking Candy Man is in this movie. T Bird is the head of Top Dollars goons and is played by David Patrick Kelly, you might know as the "Warriors Come Out and Play!!" bottle guy from the Warriors, or as Jimmy Horne from Twin Peaks, and of course Top Dollar himself is played by Michael Wincott. Wincott is not a particularly celebrated actor but has played villains effectively in Robin Hood, the Three Musketeers, and Dead Man.

Best Set Piece: Detroit Style Hot Dogs

The Set design of the Crow is perhaps one of it's most fantastic features. It's very moody and ethereal. It's just real enough to not take you out of the film, but fantastic enough to set mood and theme above realism. From Eric Draven's apartment, to the church where the final battle occurs they are all fantastic. I think that's why I really wanted to shine the spot light on a very minor set piece that would get nary a mention but just as effectively represents the qualities I was just talking about and that is the Maxi Doggs Hot Dog Stand, where a lot of the films exposition for audience surrogates takes place.

Worst Effect: Freeze Frame

At a few points in the movie the film makers made a strange decision to do these freeze frame transitions. I only noticed it twice in the movie where it was particularly stupid. I'm sure the film makers at the time thought it was a moody and atmospheric choice that highlighted the suffering that Eric Draven was going through, but it didn't age well. If you don't have the sensibilities of a goth girl from 1994 then it's very very hard not to laugh at just how self involved the movie is about it's super sadness.

Worst Feature: Tragic Accident

Solely based on the film itself, it is that very gothic and dated sensibility that hurts the Crow. The little sarcastic dance he does when he flees the police, quoting Edgar Allen Poe, and bowing to Albrecht. These affected behaviors that I'm sure seemed snarky and right on to the target audience only serve to make Eric Draven seem like an unbearable neck beard edgelord and not the troubled dark soul he's supposed to be. I'm sure at the time it seemed unique and gothy but that shit went out of style for good reason, people could see through it. It's a shame that the Crow himself was some of the cringiest parts of this movie now that I'm seeing it as an adult and not a 13 year old middle class boy with no real problems.

This however is not the low point of the movie. It's not news now and if you're reading some dudes review of The Crow on Tumblr then you probably already know the story. The worst thing about The Crow is that Brandon Lee was horrifically killed on set while filming this movie due to some negligible prop malfunctions. A series of unfortunate events that lead to the actor spending 6 hours in surgery fighting for his life before eventually passing. It was not a quick or painless death and it's really impossible to watch the movie without an appreciation for the fact that this kind of fun dark adventure was going to be a vehicle for Brandon Lee's career wound up taking his life. He was 28. I really wish I could have just bitched about the goofy goth stuff and moved on, but that's not the world we live in.

Best Effect: The Gargoyling

Maybe I should have called this best kill. But I'm not sure which it is. The slaying of Top Dollar at the Climax of the film was just super effective. The pointed wings impaling his chest and that horn coming out of his mouth, it was morbid and excellent and just fit the tone of the movie perfectly. I mean how many other movies can you say Cause of Death: Impaled on a Gargoyle.

Best Bird: The Raven

I tried very hard to look up the name of the bird that primarily performed in this movie and could not find anything. There was a Raven once upon a time called Jimmy the Raven, but that was in the 50s and I don't think birds live that long. There was a team of Ravens performing as the crow, they were chosen over crows for their larger size, and more imposing silhouettes. I just think it's so wonderful to see these often maligned birds get a chance to show off their talents. Corvids of all kinds are incredibly intelligent creatures. Im a sucker for animals, if you haven't already figured that out. I really liked seeing the ravens hit their marks, particularly the one whos job it was to drop the wedding ring into Sarah's hand at the end of the film. You can see that greedy little bastard do his trick and then look of camera at his trainer like "treat please!". It's very cute.

Best Actor: Top Dollar Performance

I'd love to take this opportunity to just put praise upon Brandon Lee, he truly gave everything for this role, but unfortunately with what was put to film we actually have very few character moments with Eric Draven. Stuff happens to him, and he does killings and fights. There's definitely some personality, but I felt like I walked away knowing almost nothing about who Eric Draven was. He was clearly a good dude but that and a few hobbies and a relationship and you don't really have a character yet. He's unfortunately not given a lot of acting to do, instead just relegated to stunts and action sequences. That were notably cool.

The bad guys in the Crow have a lot more character and among this who's who of character actors, Michael Wincott takes the cake. Hell he was standing next to Candyman himself, Tony Todd and still stealing the scenes.

Best Character: A Few Good Apples

Is the best character in The Crow really going to be the cop? The commissioner Gordon stand in? yeah, it is. Not to be political, but I don't like cops, but I guess in a world with magical birds and eyeball smoking I can suspend my disbelief and let Ernie Hudson be #1 cop dad. His character is really the heart of the film, since all Eric can do is brood and fight, we have to care about someone in this movie.

Best Sequence: Halloween Party

The best sequence of the movie is of course the scene where Eric Draven busts in on the Devil's Night party planning commission. I think Top Dollar brought Scrappy Doo there just so he could lure out the crow, knowing the baddest assholes in all of Detroit would be gathered it was likely that somebody was going to kill the beast, or if they couldn't at least Top Dollar could get a feel for his enemy. It's a bullet flying action sequence with a ton of weight. I can't put my finger on this all to common weightless third act problem that big budget super hero and action flicks have nowadays, but whatever that issue is, the Crow does not have that issue. From this point on the Climax feels earned and I am invested. For that reason, The Crow is honestly better in spite of its awkwardness, than many of the super hero movies out today.

Worst Sequence: My Guitar Gently Weeps

Speaking of brooding or fighting. The best sequence was fighting, the worst is brooding. I get that Eric was in a band or something, but didn't he have shit to do. It seemed like it was a cool idea for a shot, but for like a whole seen, watching somebody play an 80s guitar solo, that stood out so brazenly from the choices of music in the rest of the movie was extra corny. It felt like someone's( dad trying to relate to their kid. Oh you like Music. The Dresden Dolls eh? Oh man, then you're going to love Slash's Snake Pit!

Summary

The Crow is dated. It is iconic but I wonder how many of the people that hang that poster on the wall have watched that movie since they were kids. It's interesting how what i've liked and disliked about this film have changed so much sense I was a kid. It's a cheeseball fiesta. If you have matured at all beyond thinking that being sad is the same as being deep then you're going to like it a little less than you did when you were younger, but it is still solid. There's not much to hate on. I'd watch it over and over again. I was really afraid it would not hold up at all, but returning to The Crow was a completely positive experience.

Overall Grade: B

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sometimes-i-write-4-you · 5 years ago

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hi! i was wondering if i could request sth. it would be stanley barber w/ angst prompt: “I told you not to fall in love with me.” but like with a cute/fluffy ending thank you!!!

Like a movie - Stanley Barber x reader

a\n: so this is defently not my best piece, but oh well. ya’ll should request him more often so i can practice writing for him cause i’ve yet to come up with a good one i actually like.

trigger wornings: reader feels unworthy, cussing, also spoilers for Princess Bride kinda?? like i’m just queting the end scene but it dosen’t ruin the plot so it’s fine.

word count: 1854

---

It has been a month since homecoming. After Bradley's head blew up, everyone left the gym, but I was too shocked to move. "(y\n), right?" a curly haired boy asked me, and his hand carefully touched my shoulder to wake me out of my freeze. He had a notebook in one hand, and It was slightly covered in blood.

"what up, Westinghouse!" Jeff Butters called, crossing the stage, "where my boys at?" the crowd cheered. "where do I begin?" he said, "I wanna thank my mom for meeting my dad-".

Before he finished the sentence, Bradley barged in and took the microphone. "listen up" he caked, and the microphone's feedback rang through the gym. "brad, you can't do that" the principle tried to stop him, but Brad seemed determined. "give me a second" he said, and when the principle tried to drag him off stage he pushed him away, "give me a second!".

"I would like to take this moment" Brad started, "to talk about something very important that affects everyone here". I immediately knew – what he was gonna say matters to no one else but him, and I had a strange feeling like something bad is about to happen/ his tone was so... aggressive, and his eyes priced someone, I just don't know who. "Sydney Novak!" he called. I guess she's the one he was trying to kill with his stare.

"hey Sydney, raise your hand" he said, and that was well enough for me. I hurried to the bathroom, hiding from the horrible situation. The principle Is right there, why is he not trying to stop this? I sat down on the floor. "-she's one hell of a writer" he said, and when I turned around for a second I noticed he's holding up a notebook. This is homecoming, it's supposed to be fun but my only friend ditched me to dance with some guy, and now this. "-but being a full on dyke-" I hear him say, and quickly go back to ignore his voice. I can hear, but I don't listen. don't listen, don't listen, don't listen – "everyone in her life thinks that she is a piece of shit, and I mean everyone" he says. I don't want to listen, this is her fucking diary. That's not my business.

"hey man, leave her alone!". Ducking finally. I should go out there and help her. I don't know her, but someone needs to back that kid up. the kid that is now lying on the floor because he got punched. Shit. I stare at the scene

"but that's not even the weirdest thing about Sydney Novak" Brad goes back to his speech. I get closer as he speaks, hoping to get the boy who stuck up for her away from the crowd of people. "get this, Sydney claims that she has-" he talks, and I'm almost there. Everybody screams as a red fluid rains inside the gum. My now brown-ish dress is covered in the gooey thing as well, and I realize that it's not a punch rain surprise. It's blood.

"it's her diary" the curly haired boy explains to me, "I'm Stanley, and we have to get out of here, come on" he says, and grabs my hand. Then we run. We run so fast, leaving the gym and the crazy thing that we just witnessed behind.

"hey, (y\n)" Stanley smiles at me, offering his hand. I shake it and pulling him into one of those "bro hugs". He laughs and decides to go along. "hey bro, how was history class?" he asks, lowering his voice to sound manly as we started walking to class. "yo, it was cool man, we talked about Hamilton and how he had bitches, what a dope dude, I aspire to be him" I say, lowering my voice as well. He looks at me, smiling, but his eyes said, "what the fuck?". "too much?" I ask in my normal voice. "a bit, yeah, but I'm pretty sure I heard Jeff saying that, so at least you were accurate" he laughs/ I'm taking a step past him and turning my face to him. I walked backwards, praying I won't run into a jock. Ever since homecoming, Sydney, Dina, Stan and I became quite unpopular. I knew the consequences, but they were nice fellas, and I needed some decent people to hang out with. Who cares about popularity when you got loyal friends?

"hey, we're still on for tonight?" I ask him. "of course, I wouldn't miss it for a Bloodwitch concert" he smiles. I give him a look, and he laughs. "okay maybe I will ditch you for Bloodwitch, but come on – it's Bloodwitch, and no offence – but a drive in 80's movie night is just not as awesome" he admits, and I smile. I stop walking. "thank you for coming with, I just really want to go, but going with Sydney and Dina is just kind of awkward, cause they're like… so obviously in love but not official and it's… yeah" I say. "no problem, I'd go anywhere with you" he says, "cause, you know, best friends and all that" he quickly adds, punching my shoulder awkwardly to show that were "bros". see, I made him promise not to fall for me. I'm a mess, and he is so incredible, he just deserves someone better then me. He's funny, and charming and so… open to the world. He tries to be good to everyone and he stays loyal to his morals, and friends, and he's just… shit.

"well, this is my class, bye" I say, going straight to room 405. "bye" Stan calls, waving. Shit, shit, shit. I really like him, huh? I mean I knew I'd have a crush the moment I finally looked at him on that evening, the one that had the nightmare-coming. I obviously noticed he's a good-looking guy, and he was sweet, but what I didn't know is how much. I was also surprised to find out it was not just a crush.

7:00 PM finally arrives. I walk outside, and stan Is already there, which is a surprise since he is famous for his tendency to be late. He is leaning against his car, hands in the pockets of a flowy, creme-colored pants paired with a floral button up. The colors work together well, and that wasn't surprising since he had a touch for fashion – he even had a brown belt to tie the whole thing together. "Hi" I smile at him. "Hi" he returns the smile and moves closer to me for a hug. He wraps his hands around my waist, and I wrap mine around his neck. "He smells nice" I think to myself and break the hug. I'm not falling.

We get to the car and start driving. "Let me hear your voice to bring me down\I'm waiting for your lips to bring me round\My life's shame and sorrow falling back\Lead me from my head down underground" We scream along to Bloodwitch on our way to the drive-in theatre. We finally get there, parking next to Syd and Dina, who borrowed her mom's car. Every pair is sitting on its own car.

The first movie to screen is The Princess Bride. "oh, I love this movie" Dinna says, "it's so sweet". "it's a bit too cliché for me" Syd says, "but it is really good" she adds quickly in order to not upset her not-girlfriend. "I agree with Syd" I say, "Cliché but good". "I'm with Dinna on this one, top 10- no, 5 best 80's movies" Stan joins to the conversation

.By the end of the movie, Stan's hand is hugging my shoulder and I lean onto him. we got popcorn together, and every time our hands met in the carton I blushed. The only thing I could do was hope he didn't notice. "since the invention of the kiss, there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure, this one left them all behind" I looked at Syd and Dinna just in time to catch Dinna pulling Syd in for a kiss. Soon enough u noticed every couple did the same. "this is so cli-" I say, turning back to look at Stan, but I don't even get to finish my sentence.Stan's hand cups my cheek, pulling me in. his lips crush against mine, but in the sweetest way imaginable. For a moment I lean into the kiss and return it. No, wait. Shit. "Stan!" I pull away, " I told you not to fall in love with me" I whisper-yell. "remind me again, why?" he asks, his eyes looking down at me with so much sadness. His hand is still on my cheek, but as I talk, he moves it to my shoulder.

"because... look, I'm a mess, Stan. I don't know how to be someone's girlfriend, and I like you and I don't want to hurt you" I say. "don't you think It's my choice?" he says, a bit annoyed. "look, it's really for your best" I insist, but he's not willing to give up just yet."don't you think that this hurt?" he asks. "I don't- see, it's just what I do, I hurt the people I love" I reply, sad smile across my face. "look, (y\n), I'd love to have my heart broken by you. I don't mind getting hurt cause then I'll know we tried, and if you like me back, it's just stupid to ignore it" he replies, and tears are threatening to fall down my cheeks. He really is the sweetest guy I've ever met.

"okay" I say, breaking the silence. "okay what?" Stan asks confused. "fine, you want to try this, you think it's worth it, so... okay" I say. "okay what?" he asks again, hoping for me to say a very specific phrase."okay, I'Il-" I try. I want to say, "be your girlfriend" or "date you", even "try it", but words were never my strong suit, so action it is. My hand grabs his chin and pulls him closer to me, and our lips meet once again."you will be my girlfriend" he completes the sentence for me when we pull away. "sure, yeah".

"thank god, it's about time" Dinna sigh. Syd and her are cuddled up, and Syd has the hugest smile on her face. "oh, like you're the one to talk" I say.

"the next film we are going to screen is back To The Future!" a voice says. "oh, this is the coolest movie-" Syd starts. "An ICONIC movie" I agree with her. "oh, the plot is so weird, it's about a guy who travels back in time and his mom develops a crush on him" Stan disagrees, and Dina is on his side once again. "yeah, and the movie basically says Johnny b Good was made by a white man, that's so fucked up".

If it was a teen movie, the camera will zoom out as a song starts playing for credits. I bet it'd be a Bloodwitch song. Maybe Fly.

#stanley barber #Stanley barber x reader #stanley barber imagine #ianowt #ianowt x reader #i am not okay with this

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fearsmagazine · 4 years ago

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LILLITH - Review

DISTRIBUTOR: Terror Films

SYNOPSIS: Jenna Collins has just had her heart broken by her self-absorbed boyfriend, Brad. Her best friend Emma, a Wiccan, convinces Jenna to attempt to cast a dark arts spell, with her help, to seek revenge. They end up summoning Lillith, a murder-hungry siren from hell. Jenna quickly realizes that Lily is more than what she bargained for. The lust demon embarks on a sex-fueled killing spree with no end in sight. Emma and Jenna must try and stop Lillith before she kills all the boys on campus.

REVIEW: LILLITH is a home-grown horror film that features some strong elements and several solid cast members to make for an exceptionally and surprisingly entertaining view.

The screenplay begins with a dark comedic feel that slowly transforms into your basic plot of a demeaning summoning and then dealing with the consequences. I enjoyed several of the plot points about the friendships and relationships that sustained my interest in the story. I found the “playfulness” of the demon a fresh place to start. You hardly feel sorry for her early victims as they are presented as a bit misogynistic and, after all, Lily is a sex demon. I liked how Lily attempts to become part of Emma and Jenna’s circle of friends and how the dynamic plays out. The film’s final act becomes very dark and loses any of its earlier comedic tones. Overall, the plot is a story about actions and consequences that remains fun as among all the tragedy because it never becomes a preachy morality tale.

For a low budget film I thought they had some interesting production designs, locations, and the costumes were fine. The special effects make-up for Lily’s demonic form wasn’t bad. It was effective without being too ambitious, and was highly functional. There are some things they might have tried to make a bit more creepy, but I think the overall design demonstrated a nice level of creativity and had a bit of a stage quality to it.

The cast makes LILLITH a delight to watch. It is a home-grown horror film and yet I was surprised how adept the main characters were at their craft. Savannah Whitten, Nell Kessler and Robin Carolyn Parent are excellent at drawing the viewer in and allowing them to take the ride. They create interesting and engaging performances. Whitten, who plays Lily, is just so memorable as the terrifying and likeable demon from hell who just wants to have fun. Most of the male cast is there for Lily’s wrath. However, actor Taylor Turner plays Charlie, the only male character among the circle of friends. He does a nice job of creating this introverted character that is there to help while dealing with his secret crush on Jenna. Also, he provides some subtle moments of comic relief.

Director and co-screenwriter Lee Esposito makes his feature film directing debut with LILLITH. Given the limitations he faced in making the film he does an impressive job of serving up a nicely done genre film with a nice cast. He maintains a solid pace that keeps the viewer engaged. He captures some nice shots, solid performances and weaves them together into a surprisingly delightful film. LILLITH is a wicked treat backed with a lot of talent in front of and behind the camera.

CAST: Nell Kessler, Michael Finnigan, Robin Carolyn Parent, Savannah Whitten, and Langston Fishburne. CREW: Director/ Screenplay - Lee Esposito; Screenplay - Luke Stannard; Cinematographer - Vincent Caffarello; Score - Daniel Christian; Editing - Evan Santiago; Costume Designer - Payge Crock; OFFICIAL: ritterhausproductions.com/lillith/ FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/LillithFilm TWITTER: twitter.com/lillithfilm TRAILER: https://youtu.be/kgJWYTA5Mjs RELEASE DATE: On Demand July 9th, 2021

**Until we can all head back into the theaters our “COVID Reel Value” will be similar to how you rate a film on digital platforms - 👍 (Like), 👌 (It’s just okay), or 👎 (Dislike)

Reviewed by Joseph B Mauceri

#film review #movie review #lillith #lillithmovie #lee esposito #savannah whitten #nell kessler #Robin Carolyn Parent #horror #supernatural #Black Demon Inn #joseph mauceri #joseph b mauceri

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briamichellewrites · 2 years ago

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Mike checked on Bria before going to bed. She was fast asleep with Cookies and Bon Jovi beside her. They could sense their human was having trouble, so they wanted to be near her to provide comfort. It was nine o’clock in the evening, so she had gone to bed early. He noticed her phone on her bedside table. She had likely fallen asleep while talking to Brad. He wanted to go through her messages to find proof of her cheating, but he decided against it.

His mind brought him back to when he found out Anna had cheated on him. He remembered the pain and anger he felt. It took him a long time to forgive her. He didn’t want Brad to go through that. After closing the door, he went to his room and got ready for bed himself.

Brad was grieving the end of his relationship, while also going through the pain of finding out Bria had cheated on him – twice. She also admitted to having slept with Jon. Mike apologized. He had no idea. Thank you. He encouraged him to feel whatever he needed to for however long he needed to. Grief was a process and he needed to do whatever he felt comfortable doing. Whether that was making music, talking to someone professionally, or crying.

He did cry but in private. Maybe he would talk to his rabbi at his temple. That sounded like a good idea. She was still going between Brad Pitt and Jon. They knew she was going back and forth. They were not going to forbid her from seeing the other, but they didn’t necessarily like it either. Both of them were finding out she was hypersexual.

She and Brad talked about her moving in with him. The only non-negotiable thing was that she had to bring her cats. They were like her children. He would learn to love them. What were their names? Bon Jovi and Cookies. Why was her name, Cookies? Because she had a twin sister who was adopted separately named, Cream. Okay, that made sense. If she became his girlfriend, he would spoil her by giving her whatever she wanted. Money was not a problem for him.

After finalizing everything, she went home to talk to Mike. He and the band were overwhelmed by the cats and Misty demanding attention. She picked up her cats and brought them out of his studio before closing the door behind them. Meow! They didn’t like a closed door. She carefully dropped them on the floor. The guys thanked her for taking them when she came back in.

Misty was also thankful. Mike asked what she and Brad decided.

“I told him that the only thing I wanted was to bring my cats. He said that was okay. He’s giving me time to figure things out with you.”

“We will talk about that later. Can you distract the cats for us?”

She sighed before leaving the room and closing the door behind her. Brad has no idea what the hell he was getting himself into. She required a lot of patience and support, especially when she was acting out. Joe asked what it was like. It was exhausting sometimes because he never knew what kind of mood she would be in. They mostly saw her when she was in a good mood.

What was going on right now? She was likely going through an episode of bipolar and was not thinking rationally. Her bipolar and Borderline Personality Disorder worked together. Right now, she was hypersexual, looking for validation that she was loved, and very impulsive. She was not thinking about the consequences of her actions. That was not an excuse. He had never seen her like this before. If she did move in with Brad, it was not going to work.

He didn’t have the patience to go through her mood swings or fear of abandonment. At most, he gave it a year or two. Rob wanted to check in with Brad, but he didn’t want to say anything inappropriate and cause him to freak out again. He kept a stone-cold expression on his face, so nobody could tell what he was thinking. Brad.

He had intrusive thoughts about loving his body. Even with therapy, he couldn’t get rid of everything in his head. He didn’t have anyone to talk to because nobody understood what he was going through. It was an obsession and he admitted that. He was obsessed with him. But his mind brought him back to when he freaked out at him. It was a cycle of obsession and guilt. Just love me. That was all he wanted. He fantasized about feeling his lips on his and running his hands through his hair.

Why does he have to be so damn attractive? He hated him for it. Stop invading my mind! He thought about picking a fight, just so he had a reason to hate him. But, he couldn’t do that. Not to the other guys. What if they got tired of his behavior and kicked him out? He would hate himself for that. The band was his life. He was also going through pain, so it wasn’t the right time.

After finishing their discussion, they came out to find Cookies waiting for them to open the door. Finally! She meowed angrily. If it wasn’t Bria, it was the cats. She came over and picked her up. Cookies calmed down as she petted her head. They followed her into the living room where the cats were playing and sat down. Bon Jovi came over to investigate the new humans. She sniffed their legs. Phoenix bent over and scratched her head. Thank you, human!

Since the humans were no longer busy, they received attention. Joe grabbed a rope and started moving it around the floor. Bon Jovi pounced on it, making him laugh. They all watched, as she played. The cats were interesting. They wanted things on their terms. If things were different, they got upset. They could also be very demanding, especially when it came to food.

But they were Bria’s babies. She was distracted by the thoughts in her head. After getting up, she went upstairs. Mike excused himself to check on her. Her door was closed, so he knocked and announced himself before opening it. He found her on her phone. Bria. She started crying, so he asked what was wrong. I don’t know. She didn’t know what the hell was wrong with her. He didn’t know, either but he wanted to help her because he truly loved her.

He thought she was having a manic episode, but he wasn’t a mental health professional. What did she want to do? They could go to the hospital or they could contact her therapist in the morning. She wanted to go to the hospital. Was she in danger of hurting herself? No, she just didn’t want to wait until the morning. Okay. He excused himself, so he could talk to the guys. She nodded.

“What’s going on? Is Bria okay”, Phoenix asked concerned.

“I’m taking her to the hospital. She needs to talk to a professional and see what’s going on. I’ll be back in an hour or two. Then, I’ll order delivery for us. There’s beer and drinks in the refrigerator, you guys can help yourselves too.”

“Don’t worry about it. Is it okay if I order takeout and have it delivered here?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Whatever Bria was going through, they hoped she would be able to receive help. It sounded serious. This was not like her at all. He went back upstairs and helped her pack a bag, while the guys talked about where they wanted to get food from. They decided on pizza since it was easier. When he got back upstairs, he hugged her and let her cry. He also told her again that he loved her. I love you too.

@zoeykaytesmom @feelingsofaithless @alina-dixon @fiickle-nia @boricuacherry-blog

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 4 years ago

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

January 3, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson

Today’s news starts yesterday, when Trump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to demand he overturn the results of the presidential election in Georgia and deliver the state to Trump. Raffensperger apparently recorded the call, keeping it handy in case Trump misrepresented it publicly. This morning, Trump did exactly that, tweeting: “I spoke to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger yesterday about Fulton County and voter fraud in Georgia. He was unwilling, or unable, to answer questions such as the ‘ballots under table’ scam, ballot destruction, out of state ‘voters’, dead voters, and more. He has no clue!” Raffensperger retweeted the president’s accusation with the comment: “Respectfully, President Trump: What you're saying is not true. The truth will come out[.]”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Washington Post both obtained a recording of the conversation and published news of the call this afternoon, revealing that Trump had asked Raffensperger to “find” the 11,800 votes Trump needed to win Georgia. In the hour-long call, the president rambled through the conspiracy theories about the election—all of which have been debunked—seeming to believe them. He insisted that there was simply no way he could have lost in Georgia, and cited the size of his rallies there as proof. Trump asked Raffensperger to adjust Georgia’s vote to give the election to Trump by a single vote, telling him that he could just say that he had recalculated.

Trump made vague threats against Raffensperger and the secretary of state’s general counsel Ryan Germany, suggesting that their unwillingness to find the ballots Trump insists are missing puts them at risk for criminal charges. He bullied them—talking over them and at one point telling Raffensperger “only a child” could believe the vote counting was fair-- and warned them that it would be their fault if the Republican candidates lost in the January 5 runoff election since “a lot of Republicans are going to vote negative, because they hate what you did to the president…. And you would be respected, really respected, if this can be straightened out before the election.”

After running through all the conspiracy theories and suggesting that Raffensperger and Germany might face criminal charges, Trump said: “So what are we going to do here folks? I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break.”

Joining Trump on the call were White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows; lawyer Cleta Mitchell, a prominent right-wing lawyer who had managed until now to keep her participation in Trump’s efforts to overturn the election quiet; and lawyer Kurt Hilbert. Meadows was more reasonable than Trump, but he, too, asked Raffensperger “to look at some of these allegations to find a path forward that’s less litigious.” (Raffensperger replied: “[w]e don’t agree that you have won.”)

Mitchell and Hilbert backed Trump and Meadows in their repeated demand for information about voters, including their voter IDs and registrations. This is voter data to which, by law, they cannot have access. (When Germany answered that the state is prohibited from sharing that information, Trump retorted: “Well, you have to.”)

University of Georgia Law Professor Anthony Michael Kreis told Politico reporters Allie Bice, Kyle Cheney, Anita Kumar, and Zach Montellaro that it is against the law in Georgia for anyone to “solicit” or “request” election fraud. “There’s just no way that… he has not violated this law,” Kreis said. Michael R. Bromwich, former inspector general of the Department of Justice, tweeted that “unless there are portions of the tape that somehow negate criminal intent,” Trump’s “best defense would be insanity.”

David Shafer, the chair of the Georgia Republican Party, tried to excuse this extraordinary conversation by tweeting that the phone call had been a “confidential settlement discussion” of two lawsuits Trump has filed against Raffensperger, and that the audio version the Washington Post published was “heavily edited and omits the stipulation that all discussions were for the purpose of settling litigation and confidential under federal and state law.”

Marc E. Elias, a lawyer leading the Biden team’s litigation efforts to counter Trump’s lawsuits over the election, knocked that explanation flat. “Trump and his allies have lost 60 post-election lawsuits, including several in GA,” he tweeted. “There are no cases that could have plausibly been the subject of settlement discussion. Oh, and I represent parties in all of those cases, so I would have had to be on the phone as well. I wasn't.”

President Richard M. Nixon resigned after his people orchestrated an attempt to bug the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C., before the 1972 election, and then covered up that burglary. What is on this recording makes the Watergate scandal look quaint. President Trump, his chief of staff, and two of his lawyers have been recorded pressuring state authorities to change vote counts so they can steal an American election. Especially considering that we know Trump pressured Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to help him win in 2020, we have to assume this is not the only call like this he has made in the last several weeks.

The only more thorough attack on our democracy would involve the military and, not coincidentally, tonight all ten living former defense secretaries, including two who served under Trump, signed a letter to the Washington Post reiterating that the military should not be involved in determining the outcome of an election. They warned that any efforts to involve the military in an election dispute “would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory,” and noted that any civilian or military official who either directs or carries out an order to get involved in an election “would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic.”

This bombshell recording changes political calculations across the board.

Republicans have been lining up either for or against the president, showing their loyalty by backing his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. More than 100 House members have said they would contest Congress’s January 6 counting of the electoral votes from states Trump continues, without evidence, to claim he won. On December 30, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) agreed to join them, at least for the state of Pennsylvania. Then, yesterday, twelve senators, led by Ted Cruz (R-TX) said they would reject the votes from all the contested states and demand an audit of the election results there. They don’t expect to change the election—the results are clear—but lawmakers backing Trump are hoping to court his voters for future elections as they try to step into the vacuum his removal from office will create.

It’s a cynical and dangerous position, and standing against them are lawmakers like Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE), who note that the 2020 election was overwhelming and clean, and that Trump is attacking the very basis of democratic government as he tries to change the outcome of it. They are hoping to pull the Republican Party away from Trump and his followers.

The struggle between the two factions was out in the open by yesterday, and shortly before the news of the recording dropped, two Republican leaders sided against the lawmakers planning to contest the counting of the electoral votes. House of Representatives Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY), who is responsible for electing the House Republican leadership and managing committee assignments and who is therefore very powerful, sent a 21-page memo to her colleagues warning that such a plan would set a dangerous precedent, enabling Congress, rather than the states, to choose the president. She concluded: [B]oth the clear text of the Constitution and the Electoral Count Act [of 1887] compel the same conclusion—there is no appropriate basis to object to the electors from any of the six states at issue.”

Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) also issued a statement condemning the plan. "It is difficult to conceive of a more anti-democratic and anti-conservative act than a federal intervention to overturn the results of state-certified elections and disenfranchise millions of Americans," he wrote.

These two defections from the Trump camp were not, perhaps, surprises, but the news of this extraordinary recording now offers an opening for others to slide away from Trump. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), who has been a staunch supporter of the president but who seems to be trying to position himself for a presidential run in 2024, tonight also rejected his colleagues’ plan to challenge the electoral count on Wednesday. His statement split the difference between the two Republican factions. He reiterated many of the Trump camp’s talking points but, like Cheney, objected to their plan to overturn the election in Congress on the grounds that the last thing conservatives, who object to the power of the federal government, should want is a stronger Congress. Cotton's defection is a sign that the recording is undermining Trump's position.

If there is one good thing for the president in all this, it is that this stunning news has taken the media focus off the coronavirus, at least for a few hours. More than 350,000 Americans have now died of Covid-19; more than 20 million Americans have been infected. “Cases are rising, hospitalizations are increasing, deaths are increasing,” Dr. Henry Walke of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Tim Stelloh of NBC News. CDC Director Robert Redfield agreed, adding that the winter months “are going to be the most difficult time in the public health history of this nation.”

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Letters From An American #Heather Cox Richardson #political #politics 2020 #corrupt GOP #criminal GOP #GOP Coup attempt

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lukeyhughes · 5 years ago

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so the other day i reblogged a post and vagued about my issues with gk’s framing of iraqi tragedies in the tags, which was then replied to and that reply was circulated. while the reply was awesome/insightful/interesting i feel like my original point sorta got lost in the shuffle. i wasnt going to make a post about this for a bit but i feel like its been consuming my thoughts all day so i’ll elaborate what i meant under the cut!

gen kill is david simon show, so like all david simon shows the thesis is “people exist in inside of a broken system.” in this case, the broken system is the marine corps chain of command and the people are the marines who have to carry out senseless orders. this is shown in many ways, including pointless dangerous missions (see: the bridge, danger close, etc.), how capable enlisted men are vs. most officers, how the “only good officer” nate is punished for rational choices, and how the marines have their spirits crushed because they are forced to senselessly kill iraqi civilians.

when i was in first year of undergrad i took an african studies class that in one seminar problematicized coverage of the Rwandan Genocide: how many times have you heard/read a Romeo Dallaire interview/account? how many times have you read/heard an interview from a genocide survivor? how many times have you seen pictures of bodies/skulls of genocide victims? the answer for the average person is a lot, hardly ever, a lot. with the iraq invasion, the questions would be: how many times have you heard the accounts of coalition soldiers about the iraq war across media types? how many times have you heard accounts of it from the iraqi civilian perspective? how many times have you seen statistics regarding the amount of iraqi civilian casualties? a lot, hardly ever, a lot.

that is all to say that in western media/society we are very comfortable listening to white narratives and just seeing brown bodies, which translates into only hearing white narratives of the tragedies of the deaths of others in foreign countries. in generation kill, iraqi civilian casualties/fatalities/tragedies are framed so that we feel sympathy for the marines that caused them as opposed to those suffering. that is not to say that we as the audience do not feel sympathy (i certainly do!) but it is because of our own internal empathy, not the narrative framing of the show.

let’s take a look at three of the biggest cases of iraqi civilian tragedy and how they’re framed in the show:

first, when rudy goes up to the roadblock and sees the dead little girl in episode 4. we get quite a few shots of the father’s shell-shocked face, but just as many are shots of rudy’s horror/sadness; we watch him walk away from behind from rudy’s perspective and we see that rudy is unable to look away from them. rudy didn’t actually have anything to do with it (aside from abetting i suppose), but even when he gets back to camp the show makes sure to illustrate how affected by it he is, ignoring brad and ray who call out to him. this one is actually surprisingly gk’s best example of eliciting sympathy for iraqi casualties; however, the focus of the scene is still on rudy and the father’s reaction is still mostly used to contribute to rudy’s guilt/horror.

the next scene is the little shepherd boys who were shot by trombley while out with their camels. we see the mom crying over her son, but its basically background noise and is if anything used to further the marines’ (particularly brad and doc bryan to a lesser extent) guilt at causing the situation. we know this because her actions don’t exist independently: they are used for the marines to react to. we also get considerably more shots of marines looking on in horror than her crying about her son. brad’s guilt/sadness about the subject is dwelled on for about twenty minutes over the next two episodes, longer than any of the actual victims’ screen-time dedicated to their feelings combined.

the worst scene is the man in the white car, which sets off the main drama for the next episode. we get why walt did it- the show goes out of its way to make sure that we do- but at the end of the day a man is still dead, likely for no reason. in the aftermath we get about a hundred heartbreaking shots of walt’s shocked face, with a few of brad thrown in as well. on the other hand, we get no shots of the people in the car being horrified at seeing someone they know lobotomized. we just see them run away, no sadness no horror no nothing: from the show’s narrative perspective, this man’s death has no impact on anybody except for walt and the other marines. to make matters worse the man’s face is only shown when the marines notice how horrifyingly disfigured his body is; to me this is robbing the real man of his dignity even in death.

let’s take a step back and look at gen kill’s general portrayal of iraqis. we don’t really get to see the marines interact with civilians until they reach baghdad when they go into rundown neighbourhoods. here, the iraqi men are portrayed as greedy and dumb, cutting in front of children and not understanding that there are other types of government. that’s not to say that that didn’t happen in real life- i’m sure it did- but it’s essentially the ONLY view of iraq civilians we get: ignorant, greedy, backwards, etc. deadass the only sympathetic iraqi characters in episode 7 are children, where we get a couple of UNICEF-esque shots of doc bryan holding crying kids to drive home that guilt factor. i bring this up because it means that the iraqi characters are not written so that you feel bad for them or empathize with their terrible situation. instead, the narrative wants you to empathize with the marines (in this case, particularly nate) who feel guilty for causing this chaos that they can’t do anything to fix it.

the only other time iraqi civilians even have lines is when a refugee women tells brad about how he is destroying her home, but even then the point of that isn’t really her pain but how brad feels guilty/ashamed about what the usmc (an institution that is part of identity more than anyone else) is doing that; also she’s attacking brad who really had nothing to do with the baghdad situation and already feels guilty about other things, so its just creating more material for brad’s identity/guilt crisis and our sympathies for it.

all of this to say is that in basically every single case civilian tragedies don’t exist in the narrative on their own: they are used for the marine main characters to react to: the village. the truck crew. the men at the roadside. even the syrian student.

also @sunnygreys replied to some tags i made alluding to this issue. you should read what they wrote bc it’s a really interesting counterweight to what i’m saying and offers a different perspective. but anyway basically they mention certain lines where people are like “no ones forcing us to be here.” particularly notable was when godfather says that no one is forced to be here because they’re all volunteers in episode 3. my view of this has always been that saying that is ignorance on his part and another symptom of the broken command system. godfather chose to be career military, he chose to accept the mission, he chose to change the ROE, etc: there was no gun to his head. for the enlisted men, the ones on the bottom who actually carried out the mission that injured the boys, they are pretty much being forced to be there by their circumstances. out of all the marines we interact with in the series, im pretty sure brad is the only enlisted man who comes from wealth and by extension had other options, while most others either implicitly or explicitly grew up in impoverished/unstable households: poverty is the new draft. thats sorta between the lines, but i imagine david simon knows that because of his previous work on poverty. what isnt between the lines is that the command system DOES force men in lower ranks to “be there” and carry out order: they can get NJPed for disobeying, they sign contracts that they’ll be dishonourably discharged and lose their benefits if they break, etc. there’s no gun to their head physically but metaphorically its pretty close. to me at least, those lines are not narratively placed to make us sympathize less with the marine main characters but instead to make us sympathize with them even more, because it shows how disconnected command really is. david simon is a huge dick irl but he’s a really clever writer.

again, i reiterate that we as the audience likely feel sympathy for the iraqi population because for most people its naturally sad when people die/get injured/etc. i think a lot of points i made and ones made by @sunnygreys can be mutually true, but the main difference being that i really don’t believe that gk’s intention was to make us step back and reflect on our sympathy with the “oppressors:” i really do think that’s who the show intends for us to sympathize with most based on their choices in camera shots, who says what, etc. that doesn’t mean we can’t step back and reflect, as i hope many of us have, i just think that was an unintended consequence. (if i’m misconstruing what you said please lmk and ill edit!)

that being said, can’t think of a way that generation kill could have done better in this regard based on the book/characters it had. the marines ARE the main characters and by conventional standards its their narrative/feelings/growth that matters. but just because there may have been no other way doesn’t make it unproblematic. its another example of western media using violence against nameless, distant foreigners for their own horror.

there are people wandering this earth who are dealing with the loss of the man in the white car, the little girl at the roadblock, an entire village. those little boys, if they’re still alive, probably have to deal with the severe injuries they got when they were shot by marines. those slums of baghdad may still be in unstable today and have likely lost community members due to sanitation/hunger/violence. imagine knowing that there is a show out there where you or your loved ones are being used as a plot device to make viewers feel sympathy for the ones who put you in those positions. i sympathize deeply with the marines of GK, but i can imagine how hard it would be to be in the iraqi population’s place watching yourself and your experiences interpreted in a way dissociated from your own suffering so that the primary victimhood can be placed on the ones who did it to you.

in conclusion, i love gen kill a lot. i love the story and the characters, and i think its an effective story in terms of achieving what it seeks to achieve. i think it’s okay to love something and be critical of it. also if western media companies weren’t cowards and weren’t scared of losing american military financial contributions they would make a miniseries about the iraqi people who were terrorized by american invaders, including the ones we love in gk!

#my post #generation kill #if this is messy/inarticulate lmk and ill try to elaborate #i rewatched a bunch of clips from the show to make this post instead of doing my job

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designingprogress · 4 years ago

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Why George Orwell's Warning on 'Self-Censorship' Is More Relevant Than Ever

Just as George Orwell warned, governments don't have to be the censors for free speech and free expression to be fatally stifled. By Brad Polumbo Rule One: Speak your mind at your own peril. Rule Two: Never risk commissioning a story that goes against the narrative. Rule Three: Never believe an editor or publisher who urges you to go against the grain. Eventually, the publisher will cave to the mob, the editor will get fired or reassigned, and you’ll be hung out to dry.

The above is a quotation from George Orwell’s preface to Animal Farm, titled "The Freedom of the Press," where he discussed the chilling effect the Soviet Union’s influence had on global publishing and debate far beyond the reach of its official censorship laws.Wait, no it isn’t. The quote is actually an excerpt from the resignation letter of New York Times opinion editor and writer Bari Weiss, penned this week, where she blows the whistle on the hostility toward intellectual diversity that now reigns supreme at the country’s most prominent newspaper.A contrarian moderate but hardly right-wing in her politics, the journalist describes the outright harassment and cruelty she faced at the hands of her colleagues, to the point where she could no longer continue her work:

My own forays into Wrongthink have made me the subject of constant bullying by colleagues who disagree with my views. They have called me a Nazi and a racist; I have learned to brush off comments about how I’m ‘writing about the Jews again.’ Several colleagues perceived to be friendly with me were badgered by coworkers. My work and my character are openly demeaned on company-wide Slack channels where masthead editors regularly weigh in. There, some coworkers insist I need to be rooted out if this company is to be a truly ‘inclusive’ one, while others post ax emojis next to my name. Still other New York Times employees publicly smear me as a liar and a bigot on Twitter with no fear that harassing me will be met with appropriate action. They never are.

Weiss’s letter reminds us of the crucial warning Orwell made in his time: To preserve a free and open society, legal protections from government censorship, while crucial, are not nearly enough.

To see why, simply consider the fate that has met Weiss and so many others in recent memory who dared cross the modern thought police. Here are just a few of the countless examples of “cancel culture” in action:

— A museum curator in San Francisco resigned after facing a mob and petition for his removal simply because he stated that his museum would still collect art from white men. — A Palestinian immigrant and business owner had his lease canceled and restaurant boycotted after activists dug up his daughter’s old offensive social media posts from when she was a teenager. — A Hispanic construction worker was fired for making a supposedly “white supremacist” hand signal that for most people has always just meant “okay.” — A soccer player was pushed off the Los Angeles Galaxy roster because his wife posted something racist on Instagram. — The head opinion editor of the New York Times was fired and his colleague was demoted after they published an op-ed by a US senator arguing a widely held position and liberal colleagues claimed the words “put black lives in danger.’ — A random Boeing executive was recently mobbed and fired because he wrote an article 30 years ago arguing against having women serve in combat roles in the military. — A data analyst tweeted out the findings of a research paper (by a black scholar) about the ineffectiveness of protests and was fired after colleagues claimed their safety was threatened. — Led by progressives as prominent as New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, a woke mob tried to get a Chicago economist fired from his editorship of an economics journal for tweeting that embracing “Defund the Police” undercuts the Black Lives Matter movement’s chances of achieving real reform.

These are just a few examples of many. One important commonality to note is that none of these examples involve actual government censorship. Yet they still represent chilling crackdowns on free speech. As David French put it writing for The Dispatch, “Cruelty bullies employers into firing employees. Cruelty bullies employees into leaving even when they’re not fired. Cruelty raises the cost of speaking the truth as best you see it—until you find yourself choosing silence, mainly as a pain-avoidance mechanism.”

These recent observations echo what Orwell warned of decades ago:

Obviously it is not desirable that a government department should have any power of censorship... but the chief danger to freedom of thought and speech at this moment is not the direct interference of the [government] or any official body. If publishers and editors exert themselves to keep certain topics out of print, it is not because they are frightened of prosecution but because they are frightened of public opinion. In this country intellectual cowardice is the worst enemy a writer or journalist has to face, and that fact does not seem to me to have had the discussion it deserves.

Similarly, the British philosopher Bertrand Russell noted in a 1922 speech “It is clear that thought is not free if the professional of certain opinions makes it impossible to earn a living.”

Some might wonder why it’s really so important to protect speech and thought beyond the law. After all, if no one’s going to jail over it, how serious can the consequences really be?

While understandable as an impulse, this logic misses the point. Free and open speech is the only way a society can, through trial and error, get closer to the truth over time. It was abolitionist Frederick Douglas who described free speech as “the great moral renovator of society and government.” What he meant was that only the free flow of open speech can challenge existing orthodoxies and evolve society. From women’s suffrage to the civil rights movement, we never would have made so much progress on sexism and racism without the right to speak freely.

Silence enshrines the status quo. As John Stuart Mill put it:

If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.

This great discovery process through free-flowing speech first and foremost requires a hands-off approach from the government, but it still cannot occur in a culture hostile to dissenting opinion and debate. When airing a differing view can get you mobbed or put your job in jeopardy, only society’s most powerful or those whose views align with the current orthodoxy will be able to speak openly without fear.

Orwell and Russell were right then, even if we’re only fully realizing it now. Self-censorship driven by culture, not government, erodes our collective discovery of truth all the same.

#culture #george orwell #bari weiss #new york times #censorship #animal farm

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ljones41 · 5 years ago

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“What Went Wrong With ‘CHARMED’?”

"WHAT WENT WRONG WITH 'CHARMED'?" What happened with the original "CHARMED" (1998-2006) series? How did a show that for a brief period, used to be one of my top ten favorites ended up as something for me to be derisive about? Well, below are what I believe are the three major traits that contributed to the show’s decline (at least for me) - morality, portrayal of men and magical powers.

Morality: For me, this was a major problem with the series. The audience was led to believe that the Halliwell sisters aka the Charmed Ones were the epitome of goodness, yet the writers have allowed them to get away with some very despicable acts. I am not one of those who demand that protagonists of a fictional story - whether in print, movies, plays or television - be flawless or ideal. I realize this is impossible, due to human nature. But I believe that when a work of fiction allows its protagonist to make a mistake or crime, I believe the writers should allow that character to face the consequences of his or her actions. Unfortunately, this rarely happened on "CHARMED" - especially in regard to the Charmed Ones and their whitelighter, Leo Wyatt. On the other hand, the Charmed Ones, Leo and the series' show runners and writers made certain that others - like Cole Turner - pay the price for their actions. Whether they deserved it or not. Piper Halliwell's Purchase of Illegal Fruit - In the Season Two episode, (2.12) "Awakened", a greedy Piper had purchased illegal fruit from South America that had not been inspected by U.S. Customs for a cheap price. She had plans to serve the fruit to her customers at her P3 bar. After sampling the fruit, Piper became afflicted with a deadly disease called "Oroyo Fever". First, her sisters Prue and Phoebe used a spell to save her life by directing the disease from her body to an ninja action figure toy owned by another patient. This act led to other patients in the hospital being afflicted by the disease. Eventually, Prue and Phoebe reversed the spell and Piper became afflicted again. In the end, Leo used his whitelighter ability to cure Piper. Since Leo had used magic for personal gain, he lost his whitelighter wings . . . temporarily. The Charmed Ones, on the other hand, did not pay any price whatsoever for their actions in this episode. Piper managed to survive and did not face any illegal prosecution for breaking Federal law. Also, Prue and Phoebe did not pay any price for using magic for personal gain and threatening the lives of innocents in the process. On the other hand, Piper's miraculous recovery attracted the attention of physician, Dr. Curtis Williamson. His determination to learn how she had recovered so quickly led to him temporarily possessing the Charmed Ones powers and his death in a later episode, (2.20) "Astral Monkey". While Piper had lamented over not answering one of his earlier requests for a medical examination, neither she or her sisters felt any guilt over how their actions in "Awakened" led to Dr. Williamson's death in "Astral Monkey". The 48-Hour Window of Opportunity Rule - According to the Season Four premiere, (4.01-4.02) "Charmed Again", the Whitelighters ("good") and the demons ("evil") had made a compromise regarding the moral compass of witches. This compromise created a period of forty-eight hours for a witch to decide his or her alliance or moral path. Frankly, I thought this was a dumb idea ever created by Brad Kern or one of his writers. The idea that the Elders' Council and the Source's Council had the authority to give a new witch a specific time period of free will to choose between good and evil is ludicrous. That witch or any other individual should constantly have some semblance of free will to choose any particular path . . . should have been regarded as a natural right. What made this rule even more ludicrous is once a witch makes up his or her mind, he/she will remain either good or evil until death. What on earth? This whole "Window of Opportunity" rule smacks of a fairy tale for children and not for a series about adult women. What Kern had failed to remember that life is uncertain, which means there are no real absolutes upon which one can depend. In other words, if Paige had chosen evil, her decision could never be regarded as absolute. In the real world . . . or in a well-written story, there would be no real absolute. Not only was this rule a prime example of how the series' black-and-white morality stagnated the series' writing development, it also appeared in the "CHARMED" reboot series. Pity. Darryl Morris' Soul - In Season Six's (6.01-6.02) "Valhalley of the Dolls", two of the Charmed Ones, Phoebe and half-sister Paige Matthews had committed a despicable act with the psychic rape of their close friend, Inspector Detective Darryl Morris. The pair used a spell to strip Darryl of his soul without his consent. They had committed this despicable act in order to free Leo from Valhalla (Norse/Viking version of heaven) and have him remove a spell he had cast on Piper. Phoebe and Paige’s act should have had major consequences for them. Instead, the writers treated this act of psychic rape as a joke and dismissed the whole matter with Darryl lamely and quickly forgiving them. I was disgusted by this episode. Rick Gittridge's Murder - Phoebe and Paige had committed another despicable act in the Season Six episode, (6.17) "Hyde School Reunion". Nervous over facing former classmates at a high school reunion, Phoebe had cast a spell on herself, regressing her personality to her seventeen year-old self. While under this spell, she used magic to help a former high school classmate named Rick Gittridge escape from prison. Eventually, Phoebe recovered from her spell and realized she had a convict who knew she was a witch on her hands. When Rick held her and Paige at gunpoint and demanded that they change his face so that he could avoid the police, Paige obliged, at Phoebe's urging, by giving him the face of their nephew and Piper and Leo's younger son, Chris Halliwell. What Rick did not know and the sisters did was Chris was on the run from a group of Scabber demons that he had angered. So . . . instead of teleporting the gun from Rick's hand and sending him back to prison with his memories wiped, Paige transformed his face to resemble Chris'. The Scabber demons saw Rick with Chris' face and promptly killed him before disappearing. And both Phoebe and Paige - to my utter disgust - declared their action had been necessary. In other words, Phoebe and Paige got away with cold-blooded murder thanks to Brad Kern's misplaced sense of justice. Alliance with the Avatars - Another major crime that the Halliwells had committed was helping the Avatars (an ancient group of extremely powerful magical beings) change the world by removing any dark thoughts from the human race and committing genocide against demons … all so that they can selfishly lead happy lives and not hunt demons. This little act, which had occurred in (7.12) "Extreme Makeover: World Edition", resulted in the psychic rape of the world’s population and the deaths of those few who were not affected by the spell. And what happened after the following episode, (7.13) "Charmeggedon"? Leo paid the price for his part in the spell with the loss of his whitelighter wings and position as an Elder. Yet the sisters - especially Piper - avoided any consequences for their actions. Again. Instead, they blamed the Avatars for not telling them everything and the Elders for driving Leo into becoming an Avatar. This was so cowardly on so many levels. At this point, my opinion of the Charmed Ones had sunk to a new low. Their unwillingness to learn any lesson from their own mistake and blame others disgusted me to my core. Cole Turner aka Belthazor's First Death and the Source - Sometime in early Season Four, Phoebe's lover and former assassin - the demon/hybrid Cole Turner aka Belthazor - lost his magical powers due to an old potion made by the Charmed Ones back in Season Three, because a woman wanted revenge for his past killing of her fiance. When the sisters were threatened with death at the hands of the demonic leader known as the Source, Cole used a magical object to strip the villain of his magical powers and use them to save Phoebe and her sisters. Unfortunately for Cole, he ended up being possessed against his will by the Source's spirit. Episodes like (4.14) "The Three Faces of Phoebe" and (4.16) "The Fifth Halliwell" had made it very clear that the Source had taken possession of Cole's body. Instead of having the Charmed Ones discover this, Brad Kern and his writers had allowed them to succumb to their worst fears and prejudices regarding Cole's past and kill him. To make matters worst, the sisters never found out in the following season that he had been an innocent victim of the Source. Instead, Kern and the writers dump some "Cole turns insane" story line in early Season Five on viewers in order to set in motion the character's departure from the series in the shitty episode (5.12) "Centennial Charmed". In doing this, show runner Brad Kern and staff writers had failed to allow the sisters a chance to discover their own potential for bigotry and evil and thus, kill any chance of them developing as characters. Only Prue had been given this chance in Season Three episodes like (3.15) "Just Harried" and (3.16) "Death Takes a Halliwell". Other Magical Beings - The series' "black-vs-white" morality had became a prime example of how people judge others on a purely superficial basis. Which the Halliwells had been guilty of. Look at Cole for example. The only reason Phoebe and her sisters had originally believed he possessed the potential for good was due to his human ancestry on his father's side. For Phoebe and her sisters, Cole’s human half equated to good, and his demon half equated to evil. When Cole had lost his powers for the second time in Season Five (5.07) "Sympathy For the Demon", the sisters' whitelighter Leo Wyatt automatically judged him good, because he no longer had his "demonic" powers. This all stemmed from the the series' never ending habit of labeling certain powers as good ("witches, fairies, whitelighters, etc.") or evil ("demons, darklighters, warlocks"), based on what kind of beings possessed them. I never understood why the series had continued to portray magical abilities in this infantile manner - especially for a show that was about adult women. "CHARMED" also made a big deal about witches not using their powers for personal gain. Yet, from what I have read about the Wiccan Rede (please correct me if I am wrong), personal gain is not even considered forbidden. Wiccans seemed to be more concerned with intent - using one’s powers to deliberately hurt another, forcing someone to do something against his or her will, or using magic on others without their consent, which the Halliwells were extremely guilty of in "Vahalley of the Dolls", (6.17) "Hyde School Reunion" and "Extreme Makeover: World Edition". And by the way, the Charmed Ones never paid any consequences for their transgressions. Phoebe, her sisters and Leo seemed incapable of accepting the possibility that ALL BEINGS, no matter who or what they are - have the potential for both good and evil within them. The show has refused to accept the possibility that demons have the potential for good and humans have the potential for great evil (with the exception of a few). To the series' writers (and characters), a sentient being's morality is mainly based upon WHAT he or she is, and not on the individual's emotional state . . . OR CHOICES. The reason I brought these issues is that Kern and the series' writers had allowed the sisters to get away with major crimes. The sisters had paid the price for using their powers for minor acts - like Prue using her telekinesis to force an annoying neighbor, who had been allowing his dog to poop against their front steps, to step in said dog poop; and Phoebe using her premonition power to find the future father of her future child - but never for major acts that I had listed above. Also, I really wish that "CHARMED" had been more ambiguous and complex in its portrayal of morality. Everything was so simple-minded and childish. Demons/warlocks are all evil; humans are all good (unless there are no demons around). What exactly was wrong in portraying demons and other supernatural beings as morally ambiguous? What was wrong in the sisters learning that morality was not as simple and easy to label, as they have assumed for so many years? Portrayal of Men: Another problem I had with "CHARMED" was its portrayal of many male characters. I understand that the series had wanted to portray women in a positive light - strong and intelligent. There was nothing wrong with that. By why did the series' portrayal of men had to be basically negative? "CHARMED" was supposed to be about feminism. However, my idea of feminism was not male bashing or emasculation. Unfortunately, the series was guilty of both. During most of Seasons One and Two, the sisters had a tendency to make many unnecessary quips at the expense of the male gender. And there was the (2.05) "She’s a Man, Baby! She’s a Man!" episode that I would dearly love to forget. And what happened to male witches? I can only recall seeing one so-called male witch on the show - Max Franklin from (1.14) "Secrets and Guys" - and at age thirteen, he was too young to be practicing witchcraft. Regular Male Characters - Another problem is that most of the strong male characters on the show are either stripped of their power or dies. this happened to characters like Cole Turner, Andy Trudeau, Leo Wyatt, Chris Halliwell and Kyle Brody. The powerful half-demon Belthazor aka Cole ended up having his powers stripped in (4.08) "Black As Cole" and was "deemed safe" to marry Phoebe. And when he became more powerful than ever in Season Five, he was judged "evil and insane" and targeted for death by Kern and his writers in "Centennial Charmed". Andy Trudeau, a strong-willed San Francisco cop who also happened to be Prue's true love, ended up dead not long after he discovered that the sisters were witches at the end of Season One. Although Piper and Leo's older son Wyatt became a very powerful witch, he was too young for the writers to do anything about it. Leo became a whitelighter Elder at the end of Season Five and later, an Avatar in early Season Seven. Thus the writers felt that they had to break him away from Piper. And they did not reunite the couple until Leo permanently became a mortal (aka "safe"). Both Chris (Piper and Leo’s younger son) and FBI Special Agent Kyle Brody (Paige's love interest in Season Seven) were strong personalities who ended up dead - along with ex-demon named Drake who had decided to become a human. And how did the series end? With a powerless Leo, a non-magical husband for Paige, and a "Cupid" (magical being associated with love) for Phoebe to marry. Darryl Morris - One would notice that I did not mention Darryl Morris, the detective inspector from the San Francisco Police Department, who had known the Halliwells since the beginning. Darryl had began the series as Andy Trudeau's partner. Following Andy’s death, Darryl became the sisters’ main non-magical contact between Seasons Two and Seven. The writers' treatment of Darryl really annoyed me over the years. After Season Two, I got tired of him freaking out whenever faced with the sisters' magic. Also, the sisters had badly mistreated him during Season Six . His soul was stripped from his body against his will in "Valhalley of the Dolls" by Phoebe and Paige. And he was was framed for murder by magical beings known as the Cleaners, who used him to cover up the Halliwells' careless use of magic. When he had decided that he wanted nothing to do with the Charmed Ones (and I did not blame him) in late Season Six, the writers had treated as the bad guy for failing to forgive them for what happened to him. And when Darryl finally reconciled with them in Season Seven, he returned to being one of the sisters’ lap dogs. Leo became the other one.After years of watching the show, I found myself wondering if both Constance Burge and Brad Kern had become leery of the idea of the Halliwells being associated on a permanent basis with strong male characters. And I found that sad. Magical Powers: How can I put this? One of the more confusing aspects of "CHARMED" has always been its portrayal of magic. The series' portrayal of magical beings and various abilities have struck me as contradicting. Another problem with the series was that the show runners and the writers had allowed its black-and-white mentally to label what kind of abilities that its characters can practice. Fire Ability - For example, according to the series, any ability to do with fire can only be possessed by evil magic practitioners like demons and warlocks. Why? Fire is an element, not something evil. The series had featured a witch in its premiere episode, (1.01) "Something Wicca Comes This Way" as a pyrokinetic. Later, a young foster child named Tyler Michaels in Season Four's (4.12) "Lost and Bound" also had the ability to create fire. These were two rare cases in which "CHARMED" featured pyrokinetics who were not evil. However, the series eventually ret-conned Tyler as a Archai, an elemental being who could not only create fire, but use fire to create portals. Was Brad Kern uneasy over the idea of a minor protagonist being a mere fire starter? It certainly felt like it. Was the series’ portrayal of fire as something evil stemmed from religion? Again . . . it felt like it, but I cannot say for certain. The Nexus - Another aspect of magic that I found ridiculous on "CHARMED" was the whole "Nexus Theory" from the episode (1.15) "Is There a Woogy in the House?". An earthquake had revealed a magical entity called "the Woogeyman" that resided in the Charmed Ones’ basement. The sisters had learned that their home was located on top of a spiritual nexus - a location that was equidistant from the five spiritual elements. And because Phoebe had been born inside their home, her moral compass could easily swing from good to evil, in compare to her sisters. This was all bullshit, of course, since anyone can swing from good to evil or back, considering the circumstances. But what made this "Nexus Theory" even more laughable was that the five elements that played a role in it - earth, fire, water, wood and metal - are associated with Chinese philosophy, not Wiccan beliefs. The elements associated with Wicca are - earth, fire, water, air and spirit. Prue had claimed that the first list of elements were Wiccan, when they were actually associated with Chinese philosophy. Sigh! Paige Matthews’ Ability - Season Four had introduced a new member of the Halliwell family - half-sister, Paige Matthews. Paige was the creation of an affair between the sisters’ mother, Patricia "Patty" Halliwell and her whitelighter, Sam Wilder. With Prue no longer a member of the Charmed Ones, Paige had replaced her. Naturally, Brad Kern and his writers believed they had to create an ability for Paige that was similar to Prue’s telekinesis. And what was it? Well, the sisters dubbed it telekinetic orbing. Sigh! In a nutshell, when Paige wanted to move something or someone, her object would disappear in one spot and reappear in another. Does this sound familiar? Well it should. This ability is usually regarded as teleporting. But the objective is the same as telekinesis - moving someone or something from one spot to another. Because Paige’s father was a whitelighter and her ability manifested in white or blue orbs, her ability was labeled as telekinetic orbing. It would have been a lot easier for the writers to use the correct phrase for Paige’s ability - teleporting - and easier on the mouth for the actors. But alas . . . The above are simply examples of the series’ rather odd and occasional erroneous portrayal of magic. If I truly wanted to delve into this subject, it would have required me to write another essay - a long one at that. So, I will end it right here. I have written other articles about "CHARMED" in which I had discussed issues I found problematic. But when it came to morality, male characters and magic abilities, I feel that the series had made its most obvious mistakes.

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