#stavro has a thought

[aluminia]

Do you think Metaxenia the worm on the string is bisexual or a lesbian with comphet? Asking for reasons

[sugaroto]

I remember back in August 2008 I was on the beach a few days before my brother, Shawn Mendes, was born on August 8th

[juststavro]

I love you all very much do you know that

[spenglernot]

STORIES TELLING: NED LOWE AND THE DEATH OF POOR REPRESENTATION IN OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH

In history, Ned Lowe was one of the most sadistic and violent pirates in the early 18th century, so he’s an obvious choice for a villain for season 2, episode 6 – Calypso’s Birthday.  What is interesting is what the OFMD writers chose to do with him.

Lowe announces himself to the crew of the Revenge with great fanfare (cannon ball attack) and gets right to the point.

Ed is thoroughly unimpressed.

Cut to Ed and Stede tied up while Ned attempts to set the mood so he can monologue about why he wants to kill Ed.

Ed knows what’s coming. He is going to suffer but he still can’t be arsed to meet Ned with anything but vaguely bored dismissiveness (and Stede is happy to play along).

Up on the deck, Ned prepares the crew for his big, dramatic moment of symphonic torture.

Note that the Revenge crew is tied down, braced by vices and generally unable to protect themselves from imminent torture and possible death, but their spirits are up. They don’t seem terribly fussed.

Then Stede uses his people positive management style to happily orchestrate a worker uprising in Ned’s crew.

Ned’s crew responds instantly; severing their allegiance to Lowe and telling him off.

The crew sails away and talks profit sharing while Ned dully threatens to hunt them down.

Ned is now a prisoner of the Revenge crew and seems entirely disinterested in his own survival.

And Ned sinks to the depths, without struggling at all.

There is a lot going on in this episode: pay and labor equity direct action, gay love engagement bliss, kink humor, Stede being a hero and saving his crew by playing to his strengths, then having to decide whether to kill in cold blood and feel the consequences of that choice. Ed having one more reason to be done with piracy (while being so impressed with and fond of Stede), and then watching his man make a fraught choice and having to deal with the fallout from that. (And, damn, I haven’t even mentioned the passionate sex bit.) Anyway, back to the point.

Now for the the meta part

The Ned Lowe sequences are perfectly in keeping with OFMD’s signature blend of madcap violence, humor, and big emotional gut punches. But something about Ned Lowe just strikes me as off for this show.

Ned is seriously threatening the crews’ lives, so why don’t they take him seriously?

Why does Ned have such a boring, throwaway backstory?

Why is Ned so nonchalant about his own death; like it’s a foregone conclusion?

Why does Ned have a silver violin and silver spurs on his slip-on dress shoes?

Why is Ned sartorially monochromatic?

And then I realized who Ned reminds me of.

This guy,

Earnst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film Diamonds are Forever (1971)

And this guy,

Scar in Disney's The Lion King (1994).

And this guy,

Xerxes, 300 (2006).

And it sure seems like Ned Lowe isn’t just an episodic villain. He is an archetype of the one-dimensional, stereotypical queer-coded villain that has been endemic in film and television throughout history. The OFMD writers have a lot to say about what to do with this kind of character:

Don’t respect him.

Feel free to openly mock him.

Don’t let him take your joy, even though he will hurt you.

He won’t disappear on his own. You have to throw something at him (take action) to make him go away.

Once he’s in the water, he’s content to drown. He’s not into what he’s doing any more than you are.

Oh and, just to be clear,

The LGBTQIA+ community has a very long history of turning shit media into better stories. So, hey, big media, prepare to have your crap characters wrecked (improved).

Now, back to our transformative pirate show with rich, complex queer characters and a multi-layered plot that surprises me every week and makes me feel big feelings - most of all, joy.

Final thought: I do wonder if Ned Lowe is monochromatically silver as a tribute to/poke at, Hollywood and the silver screen.

This meta was written before OFMD season 2 has fully aired. No idea what’s going to happen in the finale (and I’ve generally fled social media to avoid spoilers). I’ll be back, looking at everyone’s fascinating posts after episode 8 airs.

[miwhotep]

Might regret this late night post as my thoughts are a mess - but regarding this new cover for Part 2...

... the back of the chair at Liam's head kinda reminds me of an octopus. And adding to this, in the last chapter, Sherlock mentions that they were after an international criminal organization.

So I immediately thought of the Spectre which is an international criminal organization what tried to rule the world through the shadows and the greatest enemy of the MI6 in the James Bond canon and has an octopus as a symbol.

The word Spectre stands for Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion and the organization was led by a person called Ernst Stavro Blofeld (who supposed to die, but his body was never found and came back later to haunt Bond - and who is even aside the body disappearance is really similar to Milverton in a lot of things, but I don't want to make this about him now).

The weird chair, of course, can mean something else too or even nothing, this is just a theory - but when the other time Liam was sitting on a chair on a cover (for the Final Problem arc), the back design reminded of flames...

...and they set London to fire.

[gemsofgreece]

speaking of greek films, do you have any recommendations? maybe even of the romcom variety? i've only seen zorba

And here's me whose ass still hasn't watched Zorba and even more embarrassingly I kinda thought it was a fully American movie adapting the Greek novel with some Greeks contributing, like actress Irene Papas and the music score by Mikis Theodorakis. It turns out you're right though, the film was directed, written and produced by the Greek filmmaker Michael Cacoyannis but then it was distributed by 20th Century Fox so it was a Greece - USA production.

I don't know if you can speak or are learning Greek though because Zorba was a co-production and it was mostly in English but a fully Greek production is in Greek and most don't get subtitled for international audiences. I will give you some personal recs but I can't guarantee you will find subtitles easily or you will have to do some severe digging. I have made the recs in an older answer so I am linking that post:

I will give a more updated rec list too:

Faves of mine:

From the link above the ones I would advice one to not miss are:

Η Κάλπικη Λίρα (The Counterfeit Coin, 1955). It's not only my favourite Greek movie but it's also in the All Time Top 100 Best Movies of International Cinema list of some very legit major institution that I am forgetting now XD It's a social dramedy with top tier comedians and drama actors co-starring and it's basically four different life stories connected through the same counterfeit coin.

Αχ, αυτή η γυναίκα μου! (Oh, that wife of mine!, 1967) It's a situational comedy. It's hilarious but if you don't know Greek, I don't know how well it translates to a different language. Man desperately wanting a promotion gets in a chaotic situation when his playboy boss first gets outraged and then obsessed with his wife, without knowing her true identity.

 5 λεπτά ακόμα (5 minutes more, 2006) I still think this movie is very underrated. It's a metaphysical philosophical dark dramedy with a great understated score. You can find it on youtube, obviously without English subtitles and with bad quality but hey at least it's on youtube! A morally neutral man with jealousy issues dies and is given five more minutes in the mortal world, which will determine his afterlife.

Το Τανγκό των Χριστουγέννων (Christmas Tango, 2011). Romantic drama. A soldier gets unintentionally entagled in the unrequited / forbidden romance of his mysterious aloof commander. Now this movie has a queer element. It does not have a queer happy end but it has both straight and queer themes and honestly it's a beautiful movie. You can find it on youtube.

Ρεμπέτικο (Rembetiko, 1983). Drama. The tragic life of a female singer of the then underground Rembetiko music scene, the music genre the Greeks of Asia Minor brought along after the Asia Minor Catastrophe and the population exchange between Turkey and Greece in the first half of the 20th century. Personally, I am not crazy about this movie but this doesn't mean necessarily anything because it gets good reviews in imdb even outside Greece. But I personally recommend it for its INSANE score and songs. These songs have become emblematic in the Greek music scene. The composer, Stavros Xarhakos, makes a cameo in the movie.

I still recommend the other recs in the old list too, especially the comedies. Also, like I have said, you can't go too wrong with Greek comedies of the 50s-60s in general. Since I said that, here's a list of faves and critics' choices of Greek movies from the 50s-70s.

Some other faves not in the old lists:

Το χώμα βάφτηκε κόκκινο (Blood on the Land, 1966). A Greek Western! Who would have thought but it is good! When I say western, I don't mean Cowboys vs Natives of course, but I mean land property disputes, rural, animosity gets out of hand, social class inequality etc etc and it is actually linked to Greek social history of the 20th century. And finally a Greek movie that takes good advantage of the Meteora. The movie was a nominee for best foreign film in the Oscars .

Strella, 2009. This is a strictly 18+ movie. It is a queer movie BUT it is also a very edgy movie, like, it can be perceived as extremely edgy no matter if you are a member of the LGBTQIA+ community or not. It's not the imagery that makes it edgy but the plot at some point takes a serious left turn. So, only watch if you're into weird cinema territory. I have warned you. Personally I am not into weird cinema but I liked this one. Man gets out of prison after years of incarceration for committing a murder. He befriends and soon gets into a relationship with a trans female sex worker. The protagonist, Mina Orfanou, is actually a trans woman and she was really praised for her performance in this.

Ιφιγένεια (Iphigenia, 1977). Directed by Michael Cacoyannis like Zorbas, this is a movie about the myth of the sacrifice of Iphigenia, Agamemnon's daugher, with an all-Greek cast. It is kind of those theater-to-movie films so don't expect Troy level of production. It has very minimal sets. Also, it's the 70s, the bible and sandal era, so the costumes are really anachronistic and inaccurate but other than that it is a good movie. It was nominated for the Oscar for foreign language film. And it's on youtube with English subtitles.

A few other recs:

Antigone (1961). Even more than Iphigenia, this is almost pure theatre filmed. The acting is theatrical, the staging is theatrical, it's all just theatre really. This is a very loyal adaptation of Euripides' Antigone. The acting is very good.

America America (1963). A movie by Greek American filmmaker Elia Kazan that I haven't watched yet but it is very famous. Biographical historical drama, inspired by Kazan's uncle. The struggles and feats of a Greek of Anatolia, Ottoman Empire (modern day Turkey) trying to secure a passage to America in the late 19th - early 20th century. It is an Academy Awards winner.

Πολίτικη Κουζίνα (A Touch of Spice, 2003). The life of a boy and his relationship to his beloved grandfather, who instilled in him the love for cooking and astronomy, as they part ways when the boy and his parents are deported from Turkey after the ongoing tensions started from the incidents of the Istanbul pogrom in 1955, while the grandfather is able to legally stay behind. I wouldn't put this movie in my faves but it is very aesthetically pleasing and has a wonderful score. It is also an introduction to the special historical bond Greeks have with Constantinople / Istanbul and the tragic story of it all.

Έτερος Εγώ (Heteros Ego / The Other Me, 2016). Crime Mystery. This movie is very popular. I think it's overrated but you can judge for yourself. It is on youtube. I personally liked more the TV series that was its continuation (the first two seasons only, because the third was horrible). It is suitable for 17+ audiences. An eccentric criminology professor is summoned to investigate murder cases where the murderer cites quotes by Pythagoras.

Man of God, 2021. If you are a Christian / religious, watch it. I would like this movie more if the director had not forced all the cast to perform in English in order to make an international screening. It takes away from their performance because it is so unnatural and illogical. But otherwise it is an interesting topic and the actors try their best despite that massive handicap. This is the true story of Saint Nektarios of Aegina island and his unfair defamation by the rest of the clergy.

Η Φόνισσα (The Murderess, 2023). Unfortunately this movie does not hold a candle to the original novel of Alexandros Papadiamantis written in 1903 - quite possibly the first feminist literary work written by a man - but it is your next best alternative unless you can read the book or a translation of it. In this case, totally skip the movie and read the book, which is excellent and my favourite Greek novel. But if you watch the movie, just know it took many liberties for the worse. It has good acting and cinematography though. The story explores the life and mind of Frankoyannou, a hardened peasant woman, as more and more female infants and young girls are found murdered in her village, including her own grand-daughter.

Miss Violence, 2013. This movie is incredibly disturbing and I wish I could forget what I saw. If you like disturbing cinema, obviously 18+, watch it. It sickens you to the core though. An ordinary 11 year old girl commits suicide the day her ordinary family celebrates her birthday. Minute by minute we learn more about the family though and minute by minute we realise this is not a regular family AT ALL.

More weirdness. If you actually do like weird cinema, then you can also explore Yorgos Lanthimos' old Greek movies. These are easier to find since Lanthimos is globally famous now. Dogtooth was his Greek movie that was a nominee in the Oscars. But he has a couple more. (By the way, Miss Violence makes Dogtooth seem like a My Little Pony episode.)

More length. Theo Angelopoulos was an acclaimed Greek director, famous for his slow lengthy movies that explore philosophical and other themes. Several movies of his are acclaimed internationally. His most awarded ones are Ο Θίασος (The Travelling Players, 1975), Ταξίδι στα Κύθηρα (Voyage to Cythera, 1984), Το βλέμμα του Οδυσσέα (Ulysses' Gaze, 1995), Μια Αιωνιότητα και μια Μέρα (Eternity and a Day, 1998), Τοπίο στην Ομίχλη (Landscape in the Mist, 1988).

More Kazantzakis. Since you have watched Zorba the Greek, a film based on the novel Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas by Nikos Kazantzakis, perhaps you will be interested in two more movies based on other novels of his, even if they are not purely Greek or Greek productions. The first one is the very famous The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) starring Willem Dafoe, directed by Martin Scorsese. The problem is that this movie is often very misunderstood as edgy / anti-Christian / atheist whereas Kazantzakis' intent with his book was kinda the exact opposite so he probably rolls nonstop in his grave with some readings I have seen being made of the movie, even here on tumblr. Scorcese obviously focused more on the edgy factor than Kazantzakis did, further encouraging such misinterpretations but you could still be able to understand the meaning of Kazantzakis' book through the movie, now that I told you that Kazantzakis was essentially a secular theological / Christian philosopher. The other one is Ο Χριστός Ξανασταυρώνεται (Christ Recrucified / He Who Must Die, 1957). A French / Italian production, also featuring the Greek actress Melina Mercuri. A Greek village in Anatolia in 1920 (Modern day Turkey) stages a Passion Play for Easter. Staging the play leads to them rebelling against their Turkish rulers in a way that mirrors Jesus's story. There is also a Greek TV series adapting the novel in 1975 - 1976, which is closer to the book and gets better reviews and you can watch it in the streaming platform I recommend below.

ERTFLIX. Ertflix is the state TV's OTT platform and it is entirely for free, while also available internationally. It has both desktop and app formats and you can also add it to several TV boxes, Chromecast, Roku etc For the free service that it is, it has an abundance of series, movies and documentaries so I can never stop praising it...! There you can find numerous Greek movies / series / documentaries to watch, plus even more foreign stuff with Greek subtitles if you're learning Greek and need to practice. Plus it has interviews, the invaulable archives of the state TV and so much more. In Greece it is not necessary but for using the platform abroad you will have to register as a user but it is entirely for free. Ertflix I love you. Below is a screenshot with some Greek movies available now:

Scroll to the Greek cinema option (or to the Greek series). The site is built in both Greek and English.

Where you can find ERTFLIX:

The aforementioned TV series based on Kazantzakis' novel.

Upcoming movies of Greek interest:

Maria. The biopic of Maria Callas, rather her last years, starring Angelina Jolie. Is Jolie a good casting choice for Callas? Well, no. People say she does a good job in it however. I don't know about that and I am going to be sceptical because I love Maria Callas and I don't think she can be easily (at all) imitated. I 'll watch it though. From the trailer I see Jolie did a very legit job with Callas' speaking manner and accent, this is hopeful. Part of the movie was filmed in Greece too.

The Return. Starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche, this is a retelling of the last part of the Odyssey, once Odysseus has returned to Ithaca and has to reclaim his rule and home from Penelope's suitors. It is a realistic retelling, not featuring the gods, based on the trailer I saw. I had my reservations for this casting but Fiennes looks good as old Odysseus IMO and Binoche is a brunette French, of course she can pass easily as a Greek. They are also both good and serious actors and I am sure they give their best in the movie. The drawback is that it's like we return to the 70s with these poor and anachronistic costumes and sets. And also aside from the protagonists, who would have thought there was so much diversity in Ithaca / s, a REAL, TINY and REMOTE Greek island. Telemachus looks like the blondest of Swedes and then the Ithacians have apparently descent from Scandinavia to Southeast Asia to central Africa. Amazing. Ithaca, the New York of Bronze Age. At least Fiennes (in this) and Binoche do pass as Greeks... What makes the movie a little promising for me is the amazing physique Fiennes achieved for it: the parts half dead old beggar and parts godly warrior king. He nailed it. The scene with the bow, I know already I will get the chills.

From this alone I know Fiennes is doing a terrific job in this. He is always invested very seriously in his movies.

Anyway, one third of the movie is shot in Greece and ERT (the Greek State TV) is actually a co-producer (a rarity with international movies of Greek mythological interest nowadays), so once it's done from movie theaters, it is going to be available for free on ERTFLIX... apparently globally. I so hope this movie does not disappoint me.

A lot of these can be found in links in greek-movies.com but you didn't hear it from me.

[lauriegraham01]

you're still around | natasha romanoff

pairings: natasha romanoff x gn!reader (one instance where it can be interpreted as fem!reader)

summary: "i know better but i still feel you all around." you never envisioned a life spent with natasha, so what do you do now that the aftershocks of her death has uprooted your life?

wc: 2.5k

a/n: I cannot speak of my grief over natasha, so enjoy this instead! + this is me cleaning out my drafts so im sorry if quality is trash </3

You never loved the beach. You never loved the beach until you met her.

Having been assigned on a mission together in Los Angeles, you found yourself on the sand far more times than you cared for.

"Oh, you're being ridiculous it's not that bad."

"I'd rather die."

Even behind her tinted aviators, there was no denying that signature playful glint shinning in her eyes. She loved how you had a flair for the dramatics, always teasing how she's the only one who could ever put up with it.

"Look, it's only for a couple of hours until we make sure that Stavros meets his guys here."

"And not a second more."

Hours slipped away as you two soaked up the sun. You could live in this moment forever. The sound of waves crashing against the shore matched the ferocity of your heart beating in your chest. You were full of love, consumed by it. Yet how could you not.

The way her sun-kissed skin seemed to soak up the sun, how her hair danced in the gentle ocean breeze, and how peaceful she looked as she she slept in the sand.

You feared the inevitable- dreaded it even. Yet lying next to her, unable to look away, you knew it was too late.

Your bond only continued to grow, spending more time both on and off the clock. Using any excuse to be near each other in hopes of learning something new, even though that seemed impossible. Natasha was the first person you felt like you could be completely open and honest with. You were surprised yet relieved when she told you she felt the same way.

Things in those days were still fresh, you both were equally fully of worry and reservation. The fear of ruining an already incredible bond preventing either of you from pursuing something greater. There was a silent understanding of this- despite the circumstance, you and Natasha continued on as you knew best. Pushing each other to be greater, being each others cheerleader, and truly wanting the best for each other after seeing the potential you both possessed.

Each moment shared together played on repeat in your mind until you could see her again. Late nights spent sparring in the gym, pool games at dive bars, and endless romcom movie marathons that only were only respected by Wanda.

The endless messages exchanged during meeting whenever Steve would go on forever. The getaways spent upstate thanks to Natasha swiping the keys to one of Tony's many many cars. The late night spent revealing sins to each others, and the darkest memories and fears that haunted us. The comfort that lasted till morning when you awoke to another sunrise wrapped in each other's arms. Each moment spent with her was truly magical.

You felt yourself falling deeper in love with Natasha with each passing day. You had reached a point where you couldn't remember life without her by your side, and the thought of having to go back to that terrified you both.

"I don't want this to be what splits us." Running your hands over your face, a tired sigh escaped your lips. The stress of the Sokovia Accords had everyone on edge and you and Natasha were no exception.

"I don't see why it has to," Natasha exaggerated. Her patience growing thinner after the countless back and forth and still not seeing eye to eye.

"You know why," you objected sharply. "it's not right, Nat. You know that." Your eyes met her with an unwavering look of defiance. There was no swaying you to change your mind. She always knew you were so stubborn.

"I know," she admitted.

"Then why are you signing?!" Throwing your hands in frustration you don't immediately notice the boom in your voice as you spoke.

It wasn't until Natasha swallowed thickly before averting her gaze towards the ground that you realized your mistake. Your shoulders slump as you let out a tired sigh. You felt that you were at a crossroads, and there was no right answer in which way you moved.

"I want us to stay together, it doesn't matter how," she emphasized, the edge in her voice unmistaken as she enunciated each word. Green eyes looked up at me through silky lashes, behind a determined look I saw the sadness in the mist of green eyes.

In that moment you felt all your fears cement into reality. You knew there was no way both of you could win and your heart broke as you both pledged your allegiance to opposing sides of another mans war.

Looking up at her you saw the same exact heartbreak in her eyes. You reached your breaking point, as the room seemed to close in you bolted out of your seat and aimed for the door. As your hand squeezed the handle, you hesitated- for a brief second. You didn't want to walk out on her, it was the last thing you ever though of doing.

Sparing her a final look, you see the stoic expression on her face. You always knew she was stubborn, but the hardened expression on her face only further proved what you already knew. There was no changing her mind, just as much as there wasn't changing any yours.

"It does to me."

You fought on opposing sides of a pointless war. When the dust settled, there was no morning glory to be found in its aftermath. Just bitter resentment and heartache as the family you've fought beside for years was no more.

Now considered an enemy of the state, you fled the country, not knowing if you would ever come back. By the time Steve had told you how Natasha helped him and Bucky flee, it was already too late. You were thousands of miles away and burned too many bridges that could never be crossed over again.

You thought about writing, but what could you say? Too much was said and done last, you didn't think there was ever coming back from that. You spent the next two years trying to erase the memory of her. Proving quite difficult as you saw her in everything, her love still being the fire that kept you warm even miles away.

You dreamt of a time where you would come face to face with her again. You've rehearsed the apologies you would say and the confessions you would lay bare if you ever were to see her face again. Yet all that flew out of the window as she stood in front of you, finding you amidst the crowded market square.

"Natasha?" Despite her hair now blonde and much shorter, you still could recognize her face in any crowd.

"Just shut up." She said, catching you off guard.

Taken aback, you sighed deeply as you gave her your full attention. Taking in her full appearance, you note her lose tank and green skirt that flowed with the summers breeze. You don't think you've ever seen her in something that colorful. Despite all the changes, she's still Natasha. You still saw the girl you fell in love with all those years ago on that beach.

The crease between her eyebrow reveals how Natasha seemed deep in thought. Hesitant to speak what's on her mind as she darted between your eyes, weighing her options.

"I never wanted to rely on anyone for anything," she began. "I thought that if I could be independent and alone then I could avoid the pain that comes from losing people."

Fidgeting with her fingers and from the bite marks on her lip, you sensed the urgency behind her words.

"I don't wanna live like that anymore," she confessed urgently. As if she could no longer bear having such a brilliant truth hidden for a second longer. "I love you y/n. I think I have for a long time now but I was just too scared to admit it- and I know things are complicated but i'm ready for this. I want this. I want us-" Stopping suddenly, feeling breathless the longer she looked in your eyes. "You. I want you."

"I love you."

Time seemed to slow down in that moment. The sound of thousands of people packed in the Brazilian market faded to nothing as you looked at her, her words echoing in your head. If Nat had felt even an ounce of relief from getting the truth of her chest, her face didn't show it. She had this look on her face, you studied for it moment before you realized what it was- fear.

She thought you would walk away. That you would scoff at her confession, see through her for what she thought she was, flawed.

She couldn't have been farther from truth. Her eyebrows furrowed in mix of shock and confusion when she felt a finger tilting her chin upward. Swallowing thickly, she awaited cruel rejection. However, seeing the adoration behind your eyes, she let herself believe that maybe there was some room for redemption. The corner of her lip curled upwards before the both of broke into breathless laughs, the twinkle in her eyes making your heart soar as it sang Natasha's name.

"I love you too."

After that, you never knew a life without Natasha. Having fought in Wakanda and losing so much during The Blip, you two became each other's anchor.

Never wanting to be away from her again, you moved back to New York. You helped direct the remaining Avengers as missions were still executed and help was needed everywhere. Despite the darkness that the world was wrapped up in, you and Natasha were each other's lighthouse, guiding each other back to shore.

It wasn't until Scott came barging on the compounds door and the the rest of the team got together for the time heist that hope would shine for the first time in a long time.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come instead," you lowly ask as you and the rest of the team prepare for the time heist.

"I'm gonna pretend to not be offended by that." Clint chimed in as he made his way past us.

"Shut up Barty, please!" He throws his hands up in surrender as he's met by your annoyed gaze. You don't miss hearing Bruce chuckle as he typed away on the control panels.

Facing Natasha again, you're met with her amused smile as she looked up at you.

"I promise I'll be fine," she insisted. "Clint's got my back-right Barty?!"

Clint just grunts in acknowledgment.

"Trust me?" Raising her eyebrows as she lifted her open palm toward you.

Taking her hand and turning it over, you placed a chaste kiss onto it.

"Damn right I do," you say, never breaking eye contact.

Not missing the way her cheeks flushed at the sudden gesture you bring her in and capture her lips in a soft kiss. Earning a wolf-whistle from Tony in the process.

As you all stood in a circle on the platform, ready to go back in time in hopes of bringing everyone back, your eyes meet Natasha's again. Heart fluttering as it did everytime you looked at her.

"See you in a minute." Her eyes glimmering as she smiled at you.

Those words replayed in your head in a constant loop for months. You never got to say goodbye, and that's what killed you the most.

You never were good with grief, and having lost so many people because of Thanos, you spiraled into a depression that lasted the better half of a year.

Yet when you were ready to face that grief, it was Yelena who was there for you. She was one of the few people around who understood what it meant to lose Natasha. To have known and loved her so intimately, and have that taken away.

Staring out into the same sea at the same beach where you first fell for your blue-jeaned baby, as comforting hand on your shoulder shakes you from your thoughts. Startled by the sudden presence your eyes look up frantically to meet with Yelena's concerning gaze.

"Hey," her voice soft, "you okay?"

"Hey-um, yeah, i'm fine really." You shake your head furiously as you blink away your tears. Meeting her eyes again, the love and sincerity that poured behind Yelena's eyes was enough to make the damn burst.

"No," you croak as a sob wracks itself out of your body. Engulfing you in her arms, you burrow your head in Yelena's shoulder as grief's uncharted weight washes over you.

"I know what she meant to you. She told me about a month after taking down the Red Room. I never would've taken her for a U-hual lesbian."

A laugh escapes your lips. Looking back on it, things did happen rather quickly. After taking down Dreykov, she felt a new found purpose in life, a need to reconnect with family and loved ones.

"Yeah, well it was a long time coming," you let out softly. You pull out of her arms, wiping away at your dried tears.

"Thank you, Yelena. I know what she meant to you too."

You don't miss the sadness that flickers in Yelena's eyes.

"She meant to look for you earlier. She told me about you while staying at one of Tony's safe house", you sigh reflecting on the confessions said that night. The fire and a shared bottle of whiskey having kept you both warm that night. "She never stopped thinking about you."

"I know," she affirms, voice shaky. "Thank you."

You offer her a soft smile, eyes crinkling as you giver her arm a reassuring squeeze. Yelena then locks arms with you, a sudden peace washing over you like the waves ashore you were watching.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Looking over at her, you note the blonde wisps of hair that moved with the wind.

"Are any of us?" She doubled back with a smirk, earning a chuckle from you.

A brief silence falls over you two. One full of reluctant acceptance as it is with sadness.

"I promised I wouldn't say goodbye." You barely heard her. You almost thought you hadn't from how low she spoke.

Looking back towards the water, if you didn't know any better you'd think she was still around. If you thought about it long enough, you could still make out Natasha's footprints scattered across the sand. Or how graceful she looked dancing in the sand.

You could hear the sweetness of her laughter as not even the call of the seagulls could sing a finer melody.

You can still feel the warmth of her pirate smile, shinning bright as she looked at you from over her shoulder.

As the wind picked up you closed your eyes and let the memories of your sweet summers spent with Natasha flash before you. If you didn't know any better, you'd think she was talking to you now. Through the way the wind echoed her whispers of "I love you."

Opening your eyes, the warmth and love of those memories still sprout inside you, even as your met with the sight of the beach's barren winter. She's still here, always with me.

"Maybe you don't have to."

You know better, but you still feel her all around.

[esters-notepad]

In which Zeus goes to the club and is confronted by a bunch of nerds

Inspired by some recent discussion on @irishironclad's tumblr. Thanks to @catkin-morgs-kookaburralover for coming up with the deciding plot twist!

The Sky-Father, Optimus Maximus, the Hospitable, the Protector of Armies, the Protector of Friendship, he of the Rains, the Storms, the Thunder and Lightning (commonly known as Zeus) yawned and stretched his shoulders. He felt like he had slept for a long time. Years, even. He checked the time, and promptly shot bolt upright. One thousand four hundred years??? That couldn't be right... except it was. At least his follower count was up to a four-digit number again. More than enough to get out of bed and perform some minor miracles. He'd beat that usurping half-godling yet. Zeus snuck a glance at his nagging old battleaxe Hera, but she was still deep in a coma, follower count so low that she was actually slightly transparent. Ha! Nobody loves a party pooper. Time to go out and have some fun with the mortals.

Marina had been dancing for several songs, when she suddenly noticed another dancer following her. He looked like a classical statue with his curly hair, elegant nose and buff body. His colours were perfect too: hair so dark it bordered on violet, skin olive-brown and clear, teeth white as snow. She threw herself into the beat, relishing the experience of having such a beautiful and skilled partner. The people around them even drew back a little, forming a circle for them to show off in. When the song ended, she made a flourishing curtsey, overdone to Gibraltar and back. He returned the favour as a small, ironic bow. Marina looked towards the bar, feeling out of breath. As if he could read her thoughts, he grabbed her elbow and steered towards a quiet corner where one could drink and talk. "That was awesome!" Marina said. "Are you a professional dancer, or something?" The unknown man looked almost affronted. "Certainly not! I employ them! ...or I used to." "You must be older than you look, then." He drunk deep from his wine glass instead of replying. Marina sipped her mojito, slightly uncomfortable with how openly he was looking her over. Sure, she had a good body and she knew it. Yes, she had made an effort to look sexy before coming to the club. But he didn't have to be so crass about it! "Who are you?" he asked abruptly. "Eleni", Marina lied with practised perfection. "And you?" "You can call me Dias." "All right, Dias, it was fun dancing with you." Marina left her half-drunk mojito on the table and went for the dance floor, trying to lose Dias in the crowd. Somehow, he stayed right beside her. The man seemed positively incapable of taking a hint. Marina danced her way back to the bar - not the quiet table of before, but the middle of the main bar, in plain view of everyone - and took out her cellphone. Before she could even pull up her sister's number, there was a small electrical shock to her hand, and the machine died. Marina looked up. Barely an arm's length away stood Dias, smiling cruelly, lightning playing around the fingers of his right hand. "Who are you?" Marina said breathlessly, without expecting an answer.

Stavros moved around nervously on his seat. Something was different tonight, he could feel it. Something was making it difficult to concentrate. Konstantin and Dimitrios seemed distracted, as well. Thomas was reciting their usual evening prayer, but without the usual presence of spirit. At the point where they would normally have segued into the Lord's Prayer, Thomas instead said: "Holy Spirit, please guide us. Holy Spirit, please lead us. Holy Spirit, please show us the way." Outside, Stavros thought. That back alley two blocks away. Something's wrong there. "The back alley behind the club," Konstantin said. Dimitrios stared at him: "You felt it too?" "Me too!" Stavros almost shouted. "We should probably go there," Thomas concluded. "Holy Spirit, keep guiding us. God, keep us safe. Amen. Let's be careful."

The summer night was hot and oppressive, with a hint of upcoming thunder. Stavros hung a little back, content to hide his slight form behind those of his brawnier friends. Neon signs flashed. Taxi cabs cruised the street. People walked by, most in flashier dress than their little boardgames-and-prayer-group, most talking and laughing out loud in the grip of intoxication. The little back alley seemed deserted by comparison. Closed and locked doors, shuttered windows, parked cars, some overflowing garbage bins. Directly behind the club was an unhealthy-looking oak tree, and beneath it they could see a man kneeling over a woman, pushing her down on the ground, lifting his hand as if to rip her dress off. "Stop!" Thomas called, and his voice seemed to echo between the walls of the narrow alley. The assailant didn't let go of his victim, but he twisted around to look at them over his shoulder. Pure beauty, Stavros thought. Pure hate. Pure evil. He immediately scolded himself: no human being is purely evil, just as nobody is purely good except Jesus. But his impression remained. "Get lost," Thomas said. "Leave her alone." The assailant sneered. "And who are you to command me?" he said. "I am Thomas, a servant of the Lord Christ," Thomas said simply. "I am Konstantin, a servant of the Lord Christ," Konstantin repeated. Dimitrios added his voice, and Stavros hurriedly stepped out of the other's shadow to face down this ancient evil would-be rapist. A corner of his mind insisted that he and his friends were being ridiculous, that they should attack the guy or call the police or something, not recite corny lines. Stavros repeated it anyway, and the guy fell back a little, as if he'd been struck. The woman took the opportunity to wiggle out and run away. Stavros didn't blame her. "And by that name you command me to be gone," the man said mockingly. "You said it," Thomas said calmly. "By the name of Jesus Christ, we command you to be gone." "Damn your Lord to Hell, and you with him!" "He's been there," Thomas said. "Now he rules it," Dimitrios added. The man in front of them let out a frustrated scream. Lightning struck the oak tree, and Stavros jumped back in surprise. When he'd recovered, the unknown man had disappeared. "Where did he go?" Stavros asked. "Behind these cars?" Konstantin suggested. "No, he's not here. Strange. He must have gotten away somehow." "Guys, that was wild," Dimitrios said. "We faced down a bad guy, and won. Woo!" "Where did the woman go?" Thomas said. "We should make sure that he doesn't catch her again." "I don't think he can," Konstantin said. "She ran past us towards the street, right? And he could hardly have gotten past us - he must have gone deeper into the alley." "And even if he got past us..." Stavros said. "Even if he did, she had time to get away into a taxi, or a restaurant, or something." "You're probably right," Thomas said. "All right, I know it's late, but how about we all go back to my place anyway? Have some more tea, give proper thanks to God, calm down a little. What do you say?" "Best idea you ever had, man," Dimitrios said. Stavros just smiled.

[sovengardeswag]

The Pines Files

Chapter 4: The Haunting of Katherine Stavros

An ex-SCP comes back to the foundation, and Mabel and Dipper learn that the files are even less trustworthy than they thought

Hey quick note, this is where the references to and mentions of child abuse start, it's not explicit, but as I say in the AO3 tags, it's there. There is also a singular mention of miscarriage though no one actually has one. I will also be trigger tagging here on tumblr. Please take care of yourself.

The sun was high and bright in Alaska, the several-hour twilight breaking into proper day. The weather was comfortably in the 70's and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. This really had been an excellent decision, Katherine thought. There was plenty of work to do here, out in this place, but it was good work. No one was out here to tut over her quarterly performance, no one was here to beg to keep their job after some bullshit merger, and there was no one to tell her they were above the rules. There was just the wilderness, her animals, her daughter, and Steve the farmhand. As she finished the last drops of coffee, she went back inside. She saw Steve groggily coming downstairs, the tall blond rubbing his eyes as she told him, "You came in late again, Steve."

"Woah, sorry Mrs. S. I swear I'm not hungover or anything."

"I know, just try to not be so loud. Lacy needs her sleep and I don't want the door slamming late at night."

"You got it." He went to pour himself some coffee as Katherine went up the stairs, knocking on the door and asking, "Lacy, honey, you up?" When there was no answer, Katherine checked the knob, it was unlocked. She couldn't help but smile at that. Lacy finally felt safe in this house. It also told her that all that work she put into looking into Steve paid off. He was a good kid, a little distracted, but respectful. Either way, she headed into Lacy's room. Being careful to not startle the little girl, she turned on the light before approaching the bed. "Come on, sleepy head, it's morning."

Lacy groaned and turned over in her bed before sitting up, holding her fluffy pink blanket close. She wrapped it around herself, not complaining about being woken up, "Ok."

"You sleep good, honey?"

Lacy shook her head, wrapping her blanket tighter around herself, "Uh-uh."

"Oh no, baby, what happened?"

"I had a nightmare, there was a scary man there and he said weird things."

"Was the scary man your father?"

She shook her head.

"Was it Steve?"

She shook her head again.

Katherine sighed, stroking the girl's straight, blonde hair, a stark contrast to her own curly, black hair. Lacy's pale skin was a contrast too, though not as stark, against her olive skin. "Well, either way, your dad can't hurt you anymore, he has no idea where you are. And if Steve says or does something that makes you uncomfortable or unsafe, you come straight to me and I'll deal with him, you got that?"

"Yes, Kathy."

Oh, oh no, back to Kathy. She must have been utterly rattled. She helped her out of bed and told her, "Well, you just get dressed and washed up and I'll show you the calves and we'll feed the chickens and we'll get some ice cream after the tractor supply store and dinner."

"Does that mean I don't have to do summer reading?"

"Don't push it, Lacy."

"The other homeschool kids don't do summer reading."

"The other homeschool kids didn't miss as much as you have," well, more like they hadn't fallen off track like she had. Either way, she told her, "I'm making biscuits, so hop to it."

Lacy finally let her blanket fall and nodded, locking the door once Katherine was out. Once downstairs, Katherine set to making biscuits and asked Steve, "Could you watch the house while I'm gone today? I need to go to the tractor store and I'll also be getting Lacy some dinner."

"You got it," he said, taking the sausage from the fridge to help out. "Mrs. S, did I scare Lacy?"

"Were you eavesdropping, Steve?"

"No, no, you just took a while to get back is all." He started to fry up the sausage, not looking at her.

"Well, no. What you need to understand is that Lacy has been through a lot and what sets her off won't always be predictable. She had a regular bad dream is all. If it was something you did, she'd tell me."

"'S good to know."

"Oh, and Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"Please stop calling me Mrs, we've been over this."

"Sorry Mr-" Steve stopped himself, "Sorry Ms. Stavros." He made sure to put emphasis on the Z sound.

"Thank you."

After breakfast, it was time to get to work. Lacy fed the chickens while Steve collected eggs and Katherine made a count of all their supplies. A quick affair if ever there was any, but necessary. When the list was done, the real work started; getting the cows out.

Katherine Stavros was not a dairy baroness by any means. her herd was a grand total of 20 heads of cattle, 10 cows, and just as many calves. They used to have a bull, but he had to be sold off once the job was done, so to speak. Either way, when the barn was opened, the cows and their calves came running out, frolicking in the sun. Steve couldn't help but laugh as he asked, "Have a good night, ladies?"

He was met with contented moos, as if the ladies were answering him, the calves stopping to sniff him as they often did before he went into the barn to check the feed and milk stalls. Katherine made sure the girls were all accounted for in the fields, the calves well fed. As she did, she called out, "Make sure to set some milk aside for us, Steve!"

"Got it, Ms. S!"

And Lacy sat in the truck bed, reading as she watched the cattle go about their business, eating the grass and sunbathing while the calves nursed. She spoke up and asked, "Mom, why can't I pet the calves? They're so cute."

"Because you're small, baby. If one of the cows decides she doesn't want you near, there won't be anything you can do to stop her from trampling you. I'll let you start helping when you're older." She then called to the barn, "Steve! Brady needs his antibiotic shot! Get a lasso!"

"But I won't hurt them."

"They don't know that, honey. For all they know, you might be planning to eat a calf you come up to, and they're good moms, they'll do anything in their power to prevent that."

It was then that Steve arrived with the lasso, swinging it above his head before catching the red calf in question while Katherine got the injection ready. His mother lowed in anger the entire time.

Much of the day passed by doing chores. When those were done, Katherine kept track of the books while Lacy read and Steve knit. As the day became lighter, Katherine and Lacy got ready to head out, Steve still at it with his knitting. As they headed out the door, Katherine asked him, "Do you want anything from Tomato Yard?"

"Just some chicken alfredo."

"You got it."

The trip to the tractor supply wasn't anything special. Just some seaweed feed, and some medical supplies. Once it was loaded up in the truck though, Lacy said, "There's something I didn't tell you about the dream."

Oh no. Katherine stayed parked in the truck, asking Lacy, "What happened, honey?"

"The guy in my dream said weird things. Things that didn't sound like words, but he also called me a weird name, A'tivik. What does that mean?"

Well, Katherine wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it wasn't that. She turned the key in the ignition and said, "Well, I don't know, baby. It sounds familiar but I don't know from where or what it means."

"Is it bad?"

Katherine felt uneasy about the name but told Katherine, "I don't think it is. Tell you what, why don't we look it up when we get home? It might just be your brain doing weird things."

"Ok."

But as Katherine drove, she continued to feel uneasy. Why was that bothering her? It didn't sound like anything real. It sounded like something out of an H.P. Lovecraft novel or something. And sure, Lacy was too young to be reading that, but it shouldn't be inciting that kind of nervousness in Katherine.

However, the thoughts faded as they got to the restaurant, sat down, and ordered spaghetti for Lacy, tortellini for Katherine, and Steve's chicken alfredo to go. Her thoughts drift to the more mundane, Lacy's curriculum, financials on the farm, and Steve. He had been hired seasonally, but he had done well, despite his slightly ditzyness. She could probably extend his contract, as discussed, and keep him as a farmhand in the off-season. It would certainly be helpful when Lacy went to in-person schooling. But there was one person's opinion she needed. "Lacy, honey, what do you think of Steve?"

"He's nice, he showed me how he knits and he lets me read his comic books."

"Oh, which ones?"

"Spider-Man. He keeps some from me, though, some red guy. I want to read them but he says they're too violent."

Katherine thought for a moment, there were a lot of violent, red, comic book characters, "What does he look like?"

"Kind of like Spider-Man, but he's got swords."

"Oh, Deadpool. He's right to do that."

But then Lacy blurted out, "Is Steve in trouble?"

Katherine raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Why would he be in trouble."

"Because we read them when we're supposed to be keeping an eye on the hoof guy, and when we need to keep an eye on the cows when the vet is checking them. I'm sorry."

"Oh, Lacy, no, don't worry, that's fine. I know Steve is just multitasking. Granted, I wish he was a little more subtle about it, but I knew."

"Oh."

"Mmmhmm, now, eat your breadsticks, the doctor says you're still underweight."

Lacy gladly grabbed another breadstick.

Though, now that Katherine thought about it, poor Lacy must have been lonely, if Steve was her one source of comic books and mischief. She needed to see about getting her into mainstream school faster.

They, as promised, stopped for ice cream on the way home. Things were fully calm. There was no need to fear Steve's job security or weird dreams. Katherine felt perfectly fine. That was until they pulled up to the house and the door was open. Normally, she wouldn't think much of it. Attribute it to Steve being Steve and grumble about the electric bill. But something felt different. A feeling in her gut that something was very wrong. Call it a trauma response, call it mother's intuition, she pulled a hunting knife out of the glove compartment and told Lacy, "Wait in the car, honey."

"What's going on?"

"Just stay, Lacy." She got out of the truck, not sure what to expect. Her house ransacked? Her sparse jewelry gone? Lacy's one safe space made unsafe yet again? A bunch of wild animals running amock? As she stepped through the door, she immediately gasped, dropping her knife.

On the floor of her living room, in the middle of the Alaskan countryside, was the body of one Steve Ivanov, naked, and lying in a puddle of his own blood. He had been placed in the fetal position by whoever had done this. Though he had his legs closed, she could tell he had been mutilated from the amount of blood on his thighs. She did not check just how badly, wanting the man to have a modicum of dignity in death. Instead, she looked at what else was done to him. She counted seven stab wounds, his throat had been slit. But then, she saw that the cuts on his chest looked like writing. Shaking, she got down on her knees and gently pushed him onto his back. He went slack, so fresh that rigor mortis hadn't even set in. The writing on his chest read, "Come home, A'habbat."

Flashes of images came to her mind then, making no sense and complete sense. Impossibilities and things she knew to be fact. And she screamed, gripping her head and pulling her hair. For she remembered ALL. Every horrid dream of that horrid figure, the feeling of his hands on her even after she woke up, the agonies and tortures that came after, the false saviors, being just a number for a full year, the electrical shocks, the doctors in white coats, the "treatment administrators" in orange jumpsuits, every single FUCKING pill they gave her so the terror would be fresh, the one time she woke up not to terror anew but to a doctor with a necklace (no, amulet, she knew the difference now) telling her that everything would be ok, lying that it was her first day there and they would keep her safe until they figured out how to help her. It was a hundred lifetimes of horror upon her. And not even just earthly horrors. She was A'habbat. She remebered that. She remembered a time before time when existence was agony. She remembered. And that was the worst torture of all.

When her screaming finally ended, she panted, her throat feeling raw. She had expected the Johnsons, who lived a full mile away, to come running to see what the racket was about. Instead of a kindly older couple though, a scared little voice came from outside, "Kathy? What happened?"

"Go back to the car, Lacy!"

"But-"

"Do as I say! Do not come in here!"

Lacy squeaked and got back to the pickup. Katherine would probably regret yelling at her later but she couldn't deal with her parenting mistakes right now, instead, she went to the linen closet and wrapped Steve in a bedsheet. She then rolled him all the way out to the backyard, into the compost pit, and covered it with as much dirt as she could. It was better than leaving him naked in an abandoned house at least.

She then went into Lacy's room and grabbed her go-bag. She checked that it had the essentials and grabbed Katie's blanket and teddy bear for good measure, putting the whole thing in the girl's hamper. She then went to her room and grabbed her own go-bag and hamper before stomping on the loose floorboard at the foot of her bed, pulling out the cash box and shotgun that were there, and putting those in her hamper too. She headed to the truck and dumped it all into the bed, pushing the feed and medical supplies out, taking the shotgun with her as she got into the driver's seat, first making sure the house was locked. Lacy was curled up in the front passenger seat, hiding her face in her knees. She lifted her head a little and asked, "Am I in trouble, Kathy?"

"No, Lacy, you didn't do anything. Just buckle up and stay calm, ok?"

"Does it have to do with me? Do we have to talk to the witness protection lady?"

"No, no, it has nothing to do with you. It has to do with me."

"Huh?"

Katherine ignored the question, just backing the car up and turning before pulling her cell phone out of her pocket and making a call.

"Hello? Katherine?"

"Hi, Mrs. Johnson, I'm sorry to call you last minute but I had a family emergency and needed to head South. Can you do me a huge favor and turn off the generator for the main house and bring some supplies into the shed? And make sure all the animals are fed too. Just send me the invoice for their feed if we run out on my property."

"Of course, Katherine. How long do you expect to be gone for? And what about Steve?"

She choked up for a single second, "Steve isn't working for me anymore. As for how long I'll be gone, I have no idea. If I'm not back in a month, there's a key under the welcome mat and the cows' papers are in a cabinet file in my office for you to sell off the animals. Make sure they go somewhere nice."

"Goodness, Katherine. What happened?"

"My father had something come up, something serious. Just promise me."

"I promise."

With that, Katherine hung up and passed the phone to Lacy. "Take the sim card out of this, it's in the little flap on the left, throw it outside, and turn the phone off."

Lacy nodded, starting to do that before quietly asking, "Where are we going, Kathy?"

"Someplace that will keep us safe," or at least, she hoped they would.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a week since the project officially started. The turnaround time on the approval for this outing, and the creation of the Delta-Iota-Nu mobile task force, had been incredible, as they were already heading into the mines. Mason felt excited about the whole situation, nostalgic even. He also felt a certain amount of pride, leading the world's nerdiest mobile task force to the old, abandoned church and down the hole. It was almost funny seeing how nervous Katie was to go down into the unknown. Bright noticed and told her, "Hey, it's alright, this rope is the least of your worries," as they climbed down.

She shot back with, "That's exactly the problem!" Which got a laugh out of Dr. Gonzalez. Either way, as soon as everyone was down, they turned on their flashlight and started walking. As they did, Dr. Chen spoke into a tape recorder, "Expedition 1 into SCP-[REDACTED] mines, June 20. The shallowest level of the mines contains living specimens from the Cretaceous period trapped in sap."

Mason went to grab a sap sample while Dr. Chen kept talking, hearing him say, "Some specimens appear to be melting, hypothesized to be a result of global climate change. Melting specimens include a large female Tyrannosaurus Rex. Note: Request that Mu-Alpha-Epsilon monitor this specimen."

Mason looked at the offended Tyrannosaurus Rex and saw that it had its whole leg out now, where once it only had a toe. The beast's limb scratched the ground, attempting to escape its sap prison. He ran back to the group when she turned her eye to look at him.

As they went further, they saw more samples out of time, plants of all things. Dr. Chen spoke into his recorder again. "Despite a lack of sunlight, several Cretaceous era ferns have sprouted along the sap. Note: Test for UV radiation."

Mason took a picture of the ferns. It hadn't really occurred to him how weird it was that there were plants growing down here. Or how much light there was. Then again, he had been frustrated with Soos and worried about Mabel at the time. Not exactly the most observant of moods.

The deeper they went into the mine, the more sparse the sap became, and the more sparse the specimens became. The one sign of life at 100 meters below sea level being the bones of the pterodactyl family that had once been down here. Mason remembered how McGucket said that he had chewed through one of the hatchlings and, indeed, one of the skeletons showed signs of rib collapse. He took a picture as Dr. Chen spoke, "Anomalies appear to cease at this depth. Whether this is due to a lack of available food for living animals or the effects of the barrier are unknown."

Dr. Bright took that as a sign to move to the next part of the expedition, "Who has the drill?"

"I do," Dr. Gonzalez said, producing an electric drill from her messenger bag. However, instead of a regular drillbit, she attached a unicorn horn before handing it to Dr. Bright.

Dr. Bright tested the drill, squeezing the trigger a couple of times to produce a vrrp vrrp noise, and asked, "Are we away from the edge of town?"

Mason answered, "We are."

"Best not waste battery power on the wall, then." He crouched and drilled into the ground, producing a hole with no resistance from the ground. Dr. Chen described this as Katie helpfully sprayed it with red paint, "Marking the evidence, Dr. Bright."

"Love the initiative, Katie."

Dr. Pines then took a picture of the marker and all the ones that came after. Every 100 meters, they would drill at the bottom of the cave floor and find that the unicorn horn, tough as it was, went through the earth easily. The process became so mundane that Mason's mind started to wander. He thought of his and Mabel's D,D&MoreD "game" a few days ago. They had worked out a rather simple method over the years, he and Mabel. They had used a Mindflayer as the session's BBEG, and it used a globe of invincibility, to stop Mabel's Tabaxi from from learning its secrets. She got the gist of it pretty quickly, though she had griped about mindflayers in general. "It's literally just an alien," she had said. "Why does this game have aliens?"

When they got to the bottom of the mine, about UFO depth, Mason had half a mind to think that there was no bottom of the barrier, with absolutely no resistance so far. That it was just a bowl and that he was wrong. That was until he heard a snap and saw what happened when Dr. Bright tried to drill. He quickly took a picture before the shimmering ripples of arcane energy dissipated. That was a floor. That was definitely a floor. Dr. Gonzalez and Katie both immediately pulled tools out of their bags and started taking measurements. There were bits of unicorn horn all over the floor and Dr. Chen frantically took audio notes. Dr. Pines also dug through his bag, testing more materials. Shrink crystal, gnome hair, multi-bear claw shed, they all caused ripples. And he laughed, "Oh, what the hell? My first thought was right."

Katie wondered though, "How do you explain the lack of anomalies?"

"There's no food down here," explained Dr. Bright. "Living anomalies would have no reason to be down here and the mine was stripped a long time ago. Any anomalous minerals are top side already. Well, except the UFO." He looked at Mason as he adjusted his glasses, "Your hypothesis was right, Dr. Pines. How's it feel to be the man of the hour?"

"It, uh, feels pretty great to know I was right, actually."

"You know it does. It's a little early in our investigation but this is progress, how about we go for drinks?"

Mason smiled even more than he was before. His coworkers were inviting him somewhere. His boss was inviting him out for drinks. "Y-yeah! That sounds like a great idea."

They had to head to headquarters first, though, to clock out and decontaminate and write up reports, but after? They would have fun.

However, upon arrival at the base, there was a buzz in the lobby, a clamoring, and some yelling. Dr. Bright brushed past, since he had some authority, and the others followed out of curiosity. There, at the desk, speaking to security, was a woman in her 30s. She was holding a little girl's hand. Her daughter, most likely, but Mason noted that they looked nothing alike. There were some MTF agents, including Mabel, with tranq at the ready. If they were here, this couldn't just be a civilian.

Mason finally heard her speak, being so close to her, "Look, you have to believe me! No, I know you believe me, because you have the peanut gallery here instead of your no-good security staff! I know the "protect" part of your name is a sick joke but-"

Dr. Bright froze up as the woman, still holding the little girl's hand, went up to him, "You! I remember you! Tell them!"

Bright backed up, tucking his amulet into his shirt, "Ma'am, I assure you, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh yes, you do. I know you people took those mind wipe pills or whatever you call them, but I know you're a smart man, too, Dr. Bright! You were there for a year. Where do you think that time went?"

Dr. Clef, one of the doctors standing around, looked to Bright, "What is she talking about, Jack?"

"I don't know!"

"Yes, you do!"

The little girl tugged at her mother's sleeve and said, "Mom, I'm tired."

Mabel lowered her tranq gun and lifted her vizor, looking at the girl with sympathy. She then asked the mother, "Hey, Ms., is it ok if I get your kid a soda?"

Looking between her daughter and Mabel, the woman said, "Fine, but you better stay in my sight."

Mabel nodded and told the little girl, "Come on, a soda will perk you right up. How about a Cherry Pitt Cola?"

"Is it good?"

"Sister, it's so good that I make energy drinks out of it."

With the little girl away from the people pointing guns, the mother took a breath and started from the beginning, "My name is Katherine Stavros. You were there when I was SCP-231-7. I woke up again from those pills and you were there. You lied and said it was my first day there. And you were there the day I left. You made sure to lie to my parents too. That I was at an in-patient care facility for years. That I miscarried. You have to believe me."

Dr. Bright asked her, "When were you in our facility?"

"I was there for three years, from 2010 to 2012. I was a captive of The Children of The Scarlet King throughout 2009."

"Shit," Dr. Bright took off his glasses and rubbed his face as he thought very hard. It wasn't unusual for him to forget small stretches of time, being immortal and over 100 but, "I don't remember anything from 2011 to 2012. The last thing I remember before that was some sort of assignment change for something in the cult division and that's it." Definitely a possibility then.

There were whispers then. This was all way too suspicious and accurate to be a coincidence. Or at least, it was highly unlikely.

Clef went up to her and Katherine recoiled from him, a regular reaction even if she hadn't been through what she claimed. "Look, if you are who you say you are, and I'm not saying you are, you still can't stay here. You may have been through something anomalous, but you're not anomalous yourself. Not unless you had something happen to you again."

"I found a man dead in my home and a name carved in his chest made every memory of my torture and captivity come back. Don't go telling me that's nothing."

"I'm not saying it's nothing, what I'm saying is that unless you have evidence it was The Children and that you need our protection, then there isn't much I can do. And even then, we need to confirm your intentions with the ethics board."

"Ethics board?" Added Mason as he looked to Dr. Bright.

"Not many people know this, but SCP-231 is almost entirely under the purview of the ethics board. It's not classified, it's just not usually relevant."

Mason nodded as Ms. Stavros looked defeated, "So I'm just supposed to stay in a motel and hope they haven't caught up with me? So I'm just supposed to hope they don't take an eight-year-old and put her through everything they put me through? They called me by my past life's name, Doctor."

Mabel spoke up, "Well, what if they stayed with me?"

Both Bright and Clef looked at her in surprise. Neither of them knew her like Dipper did. Even after all these years, Mabel was still thinking of others. However, Dr. Cef said, "I appreciate your initiative, Agent Pines, but then we're back at the same problem. We can't approve protection right this second."

"I'm not offering as an agent, I'm offering as a concerned citizen. I'm seeing a poor lady in a new place with nowhere to stay and a little kid and I just want to help out. I just happen to have a lot of guns too."

"She's got a point Clef, she's not owned by the foundation, she can do things in her own house."

Both Mabel and Dipper cringed at the phrasing, but Ms. Stavros didn't notice, "Alright, that works." She then looked to the chairs where the little girl was drinking her Cherry Pitt, "Lacy, honey, come on, we're going."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ride to Mabel's place was utterly uneventful. They had fone in Katherine's pickup, the woman stoic as she drove. Lacy had been buckled up in the front seat, Mabel next to her and Dipper awkwardly sitting in the backseat as he accompanied them. He had promised to fill his reports from home, it was fine.

Upon arrival toMabel's house, Dipper went to help the ladies with their bags, but Katherine stopped him, "Don't, Lacy doesn't like her things touched and neither do I."

"Alright, alright."

Honestly, he had only come here to make sure these two weren't cultists or from some other organization or something. Either way, both he and Mbael watched the two bring their stuff down. As Mabel led them inside, Katherine told her, "Thank you, by the way, for offering to help us. You're one of the few kind people I've met in that place."

"Don't mention it. I couldn't just leave you there."

Dipper walked in with them, still suspicious. He hadn't read every report, of course, but everyone read the censored version of the SCP-231 file as part of desensitization. If this woman was telling the truth, then that meant either that horrible document was fake or it was outdated. But he still had to check if she was lying. Sure she knew a lot, but that didn't necessarily mean she was telling the truth. That was why he asked, "So, uh, is Lacy the, you know," he struggled to find the words and settled on making a belly gesture.

"No, she's not," Katherine said in an annoyed voice like Dipper was stupid. "She's adopted. I'm not entirely sure I can have kids and she sure as hell isn't that one."

"You've had a baby, Kathy?"

Katherine glared at Dipper for a moment for exposing her like that before she told Lacy, "Yes, honey, but it was a long time ago."

"What happened to them?"

"They couldn't live with me because I was too young to take care of them and I didn't really want them anyways. So those people at the buildings are taking care of them."

"Oh."

Mabel took the opportunity to distract the child then, telling her, "Come on, Lacy, let me show you to your room."

"Ok!" Lacy followed Mabel happily, already trusting her, certainly more than Dipper.

Katherine seemed a bit uncomfortable. "So, uh, how about I show you where everything is? Unless you wanna unpack first?"

"Somme guidance would help, yes."

Now, there wasn't a lot to show. There was Mabel's yard, a linen closet, a supply closet for Baby's stuff, a pullout couch, a bathroom, and Mabel's office/craft room. That whole time, the tense feeling was there. And it was when he was showing her the yard that he said, "Look, I'm sorry for saying that in front of your kid. I'm sure that if you wanted to tell her about her older brother someday-"

"That thing isn't her older brother."

"Come again?"

"That thing is not her older brother. Lacy has absolutely nothing to do with any of this. If it wasn't for what happened back home, she wouldn't know about any of this, and neither would I. I know you don't believe me, I don't expect you to, but don't involve my daughter in this again." She went quiet for a couple of moments before asking, "So, they were a boy?"

"I actually wouldn't know. I just took a guess."

"Oh." Another moment of silence. "Honestly, I don't even know what they are. They had to put me under and operate on me. Said they didn't want me to suffer more than I already had. When I woke up, I was completely fine, completely healed like nothing happened. The trauma responses didn't even kick in for a month. The foundation should really share that medicine with the rest of the world."

"I'll look into it."

"No, you won't. I appreciate your help, but please don't make false promises stop asking questions, for now at least. Lacy might overhear."

"And I get that, but you have to understand that this is a lot to go through. Breaking through foundation amnestics is rare, it's not exactly a memory gun made in a garage. Plus, for you to be that girl? It's a lot. And, well, your daughter clearly already knew; being scared of scientists is instinctual."

"It's not because you're a scientist, it's because you're a man."

"What?"

"Lacy's been through a lot and the only man in her life to treat her with respect or decency was just brutally murdered in her own home. You and the Scarlet King are not the only monsters that exist. It would do you good to remember that."

"Right."

Lacy then came out of the house and into the yard, telling Katherine, "Mom! Ms. Pines said we can go to the pet store tomorrow if it's ok with you! Please, can we go?" She was holding Baby in her arms, the 15-pound sow piglet slipping from her arms as it snuffled. "

"Yeah, we can, honey-pie. Let me help you with that first though."

Dipper ended up walking back home. It wasn't far but it gave him time to think. Something about this didn't feel right. Everything seemed to add up, she wasn't some operative from the Chaos Insurgency or Serpent's Hand operative. But what was bothering him? It was when he was pondering why a seemingly neutralized SCP had a need for secrecy that he realized. Bill. Bill had mocked him with the implication that 231-7 was still some little girl being tortured at some black site day after day, not a full-grown woman who was living a normal life and making a normal family. She had been that little girl at one point, clearly, but that had changed. Was he seriously trusting Bill's word over what was right in front of him? Was he seriously falling for an ex-triangle's tricks?

With a single-minded determination, he went into the apartment building, rode up the elevator, and slammed his door open. "Bill!"

"What? I was napping." Bill swam out of his hide and looked at Dipper, "What is so important that I can't even sleep?"

He kicked the door closed and said "You're going to tell me everything you know about SCP-231-7."

"Kid, you're smart, you have context clues, you don't want to hear about that."

"Not the containment procedures. You're going to tell me everything about the entity that either inhabited or currently inhabits Katherine Stavros. You're going to tell me everything you know about the seventh daughter of the Scarlet King."

Bill stared at him with a true blank axolotl stare before responding only with, "Shit."

previous

[nontacitare]

Laura and Esme

I got hooked on General Hospital as a child because a babysitter watched it. The storyline that got me hooked was Leslie lying on the witness stand, because I thought the courtroom witness stand was like Wonder Woman's lasso and you couldn't lie, so I wanted to see how Leslie would overcome that. (Like I said, I was just a child ;-) ) But today I was reminded why Leslie was lying. When Laura was 14 or 15, she was seduced by her mother's adult lover, and eventually snapped and murdered him. She then developed amnesia about what she'd done, and to protect her Leslie falsely admitted to the murder. But...plot twist. Laura got her memory back and pretended to still have amnesia, letting her mother go to prison for a crime she'd committed. Of course, she went on to do great things, even saving the world a few times. But she's never really been the paragon of virtue that traditional soap heroines were supposed to be. This got me to wondering if Laura sees herself in Esme. Laura had been adopted by sketchy parents only to discover her real parentage in adolescence. She was even held prisoner by the father of the man who held Esme prisoner. And then there's the whole young felon who gets away with her crimes and fakes amnesia angle. (Remember, Nicholas is the product of Stavros' rape of Laura.) I've been banging my head against the wall wondering how Laura could be so gullible as to believe Esme's lies. Now I suspect she doesn't. Even her advice today ("Don't think about the past; look to the future") suggests she knows Esme has her memories back. I think she wants to "save" Esme as a symbolic way of saving the young woman she was. Laura believes there's good in Esme because she believes there was good in her. It would also explain why Laura is more supportive of Esme than she is of Spencer. She doesn't identify with Spencer in quite the same way. If my theory is correct, it's pretty twisted, and it's too bad Port Charles doesn't have a psychiatrist who isn't Laura's husband. But it would explain a lot.

[cherryjuicegf]

alone + midnight + mistake for the ask game <3

thanks bestie absolutely LOVED these and it turned out to be an essay so under the cut <3

alone: just the right spot actually because loneliness is like a huge theme in the story. katerina has generally felt alone forever and pretends she's completely fine with that and she had no other choice really, she has many ways of being with herself. yet she's social and pleasant and just seeks company everywhere but never actually commits, never actually belongs, she is safe in her aloneness and she doesn't admit it and that's why, even though she craved human connection, she married a man who's away for a year at a time. stavros on the other hand is like. extremely angry. enraged. he is forced to be alone by society, by his mother and after alkis goes to the sea, by his best friend and the love of his life. his one chance at not being alone is snatched from him and he takes it out both on katerina and alkis in very subtle ways. but the thing is he craves company so much he ends up connecting with the woman he's trapping in his revenge narrative so. yeah not rly good at planning. on his own he's very introspective (in the wrong direction nevertheless) and i like to think he inspects himself in the mirror a lot, trying to be on his own who he cannot be outside. but the whole point of his character is his need for love and company which he's deprived of even in the best case scenario of running away so he cannot handle being actually alone. the only thing keeping him is the secret hope that, despite everything he's done, he is not alone.

midnight: katerina absolutely has no restful sleep schedule, miss girl hasn't slept free of anxiety ever in her life. constant anxiety that she's not enough, that her life is slipping away, trying to convince herself that she made the right choice and to a point believing it so that she doesn't hive her mother the satisfaction of running away again in failure. she wakes every morning and haunts the porch of her house to see if stavros will deliver a letter and can't stop questioning her disappointment and her happiness at the same time. and it's the loneliness that connects her with stavros tbh because it's the main reason he stays awake. he stays in bars till morning hoping to merge with the crowd, be invisible. he has the earliest shift as a postman. he lays in bed at night thinking about how empty it feels, how different everything could be and how he can get away. ridden with guilt for deceiving katerina, for even thinking about leaving his mother alone, for being so cowardly to do what he wants, or needs to do to get away. generally not much of a good night's sleep for these two.

mistake: love how all these are interconnected huh. i think katerina hasn't yet realized her marriage is that worst mistake for. well. MANY reasons. she's so loyal and has faith and alkis really did make her feel something extraordinary so she gave no second thought and she's fighting tooth and nail to keep it together now and when she realizes [redacted] happens so she will really never be able to fix it, forever trapped. so like her worst mistake is being desperate for love, and not admiting it made her reckless too. stavros on the other hand has .uh. has made many mistakes. uh. dude is a rocky slope fr. he thinks his worst mistake is opening up to katerina and he tries to take it back desperately but it's too late and she always sees underneath it so their connection is inevitable. so then his worst mistake could be that he is so devoted to alkis but so blinded by his bitterness and anger that he forges this terrible lie to try and get away from him, and keeps it up until everyone gets hurt so idk. maybe his worst mistake is being prone to passion. his worst mistake is loving. oh and no one ever moves on :)

[aluminia]

They really weren't lying when they said every time you learn something new you start noticing it around you more often and it makes your life more interesting.

[denimbex1986]

'Ever since he burst onto the scene with his breakthrough role as Moriarty in BBC’s Sherlock, Andrew Scott has thrived as a universally beloved actor who has won admiration for his eccentric villains and his more understated, dramatic roles. While he has become an icon of the small screen, particularly in the realm of British television, Scott has also appeared in some of the biggest and most celebrated movies in recent years.

It is a testament to his versatility that his best projects contain everything from queer comedies to war dramas, thought-provoking thrillers, and even major blockbuster cinematic events. While admirable turns in films like Catherine Called Birdy went mostly unnoticed, these ten titles mark the highlights of Andrew Scott’s sensational career and represent the actor at his very best.

10. 'Handsome Devil' (2016)

Directed by John Butler

A coming-of-age film from Ireland that deftly weaves drama, comedy, and complicated notions of romance together, Handsome Devil marks an underrated highlight in the career of up-and-coming star Nicholas Galitzine. He stars as Conor Masters, the star student of a rugby-obsessed all-boys school who forms a bond with a lonesome new student. Their growing friendship finds support in Adam Scott’s Mr. Sherry, even as he faces hostilities linked to his sexuality.

With overtones of self-discovery and forbidden love, Handsome Devil engages in its core theme of same-sex love in a manner that is universally accessible and powerfully heartfelt. The story is perhaps a tad formulaic at stages, but it overcomes its pitfalls with exceptional and effective performances, brilliant use of music, and a sharp sense of humor that brings a pleasant layer of humanity to what is a dramatic story.

9. 'Spectre' (2015)

Directed by Sam Mendes

Aside from Sean Connery’s era, Daniel Craig’s James Bond films are regarded as the best of any of the 007 actors’ runs in the franchise. Spectre was far from the best Bond movie of Craig’s tenure, but it still excelled as an exciting, action-packed spy blockbuster. It follows 007 as he looks into a sophisticated criminal organization known as Spectre, headed by the elusive mastermind Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz).

Scott is a secondary antagonist, “C," the Director-General of the Joint Security Service, who thwarts MI6’s efforts to stop Spectre while actively striving to end the 00 operatives. Spectre has its flaws, namely a severely underutilized Waltz as Blofeld, but Scott provides some smarmy villainous heft, with his penchant for playing a great bad guy on full display and marking an underrated highlight of a somewhat disjointed film.

8. 'Locke' (2013)

Director: Steven Knight

Operating with a simple and unconventional yet entirely captivating premise, Locke has become something of an underrated cult classic, gambling everything on Tom Hardy’s lead performance and coming up trumps. It follows a construction manager throughout a 90-minute drive, covering the phone calls he makes in that time. The conversations relate to a major upcoming project, issues he’s facing with his family, and the premature labor of a woman he had a one-night stand with seven months prior.

The supporting cast is incredible, featuring Olivia Colman, Ruth Wilson, Tom Holland, and Andrew Scott. They only feature as voices on the phone, with the film intensely focused on Locke’s reactions to the conversations. Scott voices Donal, Locke’s work trainee, who he coaches through the preparation of a pour despite everything else going wrong around him. Locke is a fascinating and absorbing film executed incredibly to be something of a hidden gem of the 2010s.

7. 'Pride' (2014)

Directed by Matthew Warchus

A triumphant mixture of comedy, drama, and true story intrigue that flaunts an urgent weight while remaining uplifting and fun, Pride is one of the most underrated and brilliant comedies of the 2010s. Set in the summer of 1984, it follows a group of gay activists who recognize they face a common political enemy and rally behind the lengthy strike conducted by the National Union of Mineworkers in Wales.

Juxtaposing the mineworkers against the gay rights activists, Pride strikes a clever thematic balance that deftly uses the issues faced by one group to highlight the suffering and angst of the other. Nestled within the film’s impressive ensemble cast, Scott handles a lot of the dramatic impact of the film as Gethin, a homosexual man with a tragic past tied to his coming out. Scott adds a layer of raw realism to an otherwise uplifting story, showing more sides to the situation.

6. 'Black Mirror' (2011 - Present)

Created by Charlie Brooker

Netflix’s hit anthological series Black Mirror has become a global phenomenon. Each episode features a different cast as it explores social and technological anxieties through the lens of a dystopian near-future. The second episode of Season 5, “Smithereens,” sees Andrew Scott star as a rideshare driver who kidnaps an intern at a major social media company to learn more about the system’s internal workings and expose the online entity's true nature.

The episode is loaded with thematic heft, coasted on Andrew Scott’s sensational central performance. Still, “Smithereens” is considered a middling installment of the series, largely because of its singular tone and somewhat formulaic approach. However, Black Mirror is widely regarded as one of the greatest television shows of the modern era for its insightful and thought-provoking narratives, as well as its ability to lure A-grade talent like Scott on the regular.

5. '1917' (2019)

Directed by Sam Mendes

Sam Mendes’ ambitious and thrilling war drama famously fuses its shots to appear as one continuous take. It follows two soldiers through the hell on earth that was the front lines of WWI. As such, 1917 is a breathtaking technical achievement that features an impressive supporting cast around its two young stars, George McKay and Dean-Charles Chapman, who portray soldiers sent on an urgent mission to warn another battalion that they are walking into a deadly ambush.

Colin Firth, Mark Strong, and Benedict Cumberbatch were just some of the stars to appear briefly in the film, with Andrew Scott likewise getting a cameo early on as Lieutenant Leslie, the weary soldier who advises the two messengers how to cross no man’s land. 1917 was warmly received by fans and critics alike, and while it perhaps isn’t the most focused showpiece of Scott’s talents, it still gives him enough to impact the story and set the bleak tone of the film.

4. 'All of Us Strangers' (2023)

Directed by Andrew Haigh

One of the best romantic hits of 2023, the magical and powerful All of Us Strangers sees Andrew Scott put in arguably the greatest dramatic performance of his career alongside Paul Mescal, Claire Foy, and Jamie Bell. He stars as Adam, a lonely screenwriter who forms a relationship with a mysterious neighbor, Harry. Drawn back to his childhood home, Adam stumbles upon his parents, who look the same age they were when they died 30 years prior.

A powerful acting showcase by all involved, All of Us Strangers is a beautiful and overwhelming portrayal of grief that is bold and ambitious in its approach yet remains centered on its driving human emotions. Scott delivers a career-defining performance, embodying a myriad of emotions while remaining detached and elusive. With flourishes of fantasy and the supernatural, All of Us Strangers is a unique and captivating movie that is among the best and most underrated features of 2023.

3. 'Band of Brothers' (2001)

Created by Steven Spielberg & Tom Hanks

While he had the briefest of appearances in Saving Private Ryan, Andrew Scott returned with a slightly greater role in Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks’ next war series, Band of Brothers. One of the greatest miniseries ever made, it tracks the soldiers of Easy Company, an American Airborne division who were on the front lines from the Normandy invasion on D-Day to the very end of the war.

An all-encompassing dive into the horror and humanity of war, Band of Brothers earned high praise for its effective battle sequences, excellent character work, and authenticity to the real experiences of the soldiers. It also features an incredible supporting cast, with Andrew Scott appearing in the second episode, "Day of Days." Other actors who briefly appeared include Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Simon Pegg, and Tom Hardy.

2. 'Fleabag' (2016-2019)

Created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Perfectly balanced between authentic, real-life drama and hysterical comedy that is painfully accurate yet completely absurd, Fleabag has become a modern television classic despite its mere 12-episode, two-season run. It follows the titular Fleabag (played by series creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge), an emotionally lost and volatile woman in modern-day London struggling with the recent death of her best friend while combatting family woes and romantic headaches.

The defining relationship of the series comes when Andrew Scott enters Season 2, with his performance as the Priest working flawlessly in conjuncture with Waller-Bridge’s wry wit and skewering, unfiltered comedy. Fleabag remains one of the greatest comedy series of all time, a poignant and powerful drama and a wonderful meditation on the enigmatic nature of love. Many would argue it is the greatest project Scott has ever worked on and stands tall among the best shows ever made.

1. 'Sherlock' (2010 - 2017)

Created by Mark Gatiss & Steven Moffat

Ever since he rose to fame, Andrew Scott has shown an endless versatility that can be applied to everything from quiet and quaint roles to explosive, bombastic characters. Yet, his greatest work remains his breakout performance in the hit BBC series Sherlock. The show was one of the major television sensations of the 2010s, following Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman) as they investigate crimes in modern-day London.

While the chemistry between the two leads was flawless and largely defining of the series’ brilliance, few fans would deny that the episodes that feature Andrew Scott’s Moriarty packed an added heft because of the actor’s infectious presence. Completely unpredictable, dangerously psychotic, yet entirely lovable all the same, Andrew Scott’s portrayal of Moriarty helped elevate Sherlock to be one of the greatest television shows of all time, and it remains a brilliant highlight of the actor’s career thus far.'

[juststavro]

Currently redrawing some pages and oh my God I am so emotional. Every time I realise how much I have improved at this I am taken aback.

[aioleis]

Arcades Project

Das Passagen-Werk or Arcades Project was an unfinished project of German philosopher and cultural critic Walter Benjamin, written between 1927 and his death in 1940.

An enormous collection of writings on the city life of Paris in the 19th century, it was especially concerned with Paris' iron-and-glass covered "arcades" (known in French as the passages couverts de Paris).

Benjamin's Project, which many scholars believe might have become one of the great texts of 20th-century cultural criticism, was never completed due to his suicide on the French-Spanish border in 1940. The Arcades Project has been posthumously edited and published in many languages as a collection of unfinished reflections. The work is mainly written in German, yet also contains French-language passages, mainly quotes.

Parisian arcades began to be constructed around the beginning of the nineteenth century and were sometimes destroyed as a result of Baron Haussmann's renovation of Paris during the Second French Empire (ca. 1850–1870). Benjamin linked them to the city's distinctive street life and saw them as providing one of the habitats of the flâneur (i.e., a person strolling in a locale to experience it).

Benjamin first mentioned the Arcades Project in a 1927 letter to his friend Gershom Scholem, describing it as his attempt to use collage techniques in literature. Initially, Benjamin saw the Arcades as a small article he would finish within a few weeks.

However, Benjamin's vision of the Arcades Project grew increasingly ambitious in scope until he perceived it as representing his most important creative accomplishment. On several occasions Benjamin altered his overall scheme of the Arcades Project, due in part to the influence of Theodor Adorno, who gave Benjamin a stipend and who expected Benjamin to make the Arcades project more explicitly political and Marxist in its analysis.

It contains sections (convolutes) on arcades, fashion, catacombs, iron constructions, exhibitions, advertising, interior design, Baudelaire, The streets of Paris, panoramas and dioramas, mirrors, painting, modes of lighting, railroads, Charles Fourier, Marx, photography, mannequins, social movements, Daumier's caricatures, literary history, the stock exchange, lithography, and the Paris Commune.

It influenced Marshal McLuhan's studies in media theory.

Structure

The project's structure is idiosyncratic. The convolutes correspond to letters of the alphabet; the individual sections of text— sometimes individual lines, sometimes multi-paragraph analyses —are ordered with square brackets, starting from [A1,1]. This numbering system comes from the pieces of folded paper that Benjamin wrote on, with [A1a,1] denoting the third page of his 'folio.'  Additionally, Benjamin included cross-references at the end of some sections. These were denoted by small boxes enclosing the word

The sections of text are at times Benjamin's own thoughts, and at other times consecutive quotations. These two types of textual sections are differentiated in their typography, with a large typeface for his writing and a smaller one for citations. This convention comes from the German version, but has no basis in Benjamin's manuscript. The convolutes also make extensive use of epigraphs from obscure publications.

Wiki

The Flaneur and Urban Phantasmagoria

Towards the City of Thresholds, Stavros Stavrides, 2010

As a figure, the laneur is in many ways the opposite of the private individual. The flaneur lives in public space. The streets, the boulevards and, above all, the Parisian arcades are his home7. In a way, the laneur seeks and produces at the same time marks of individuality not in his private shelter but out there, in metropolitan public space. He observes and often writes about city-life while being “jostled” by the crowd, inside “an immense reservoir of electric energy”, as Baudelaire describes metropolitan crowds (Benjamin 1999:443).

A true physiognomist, he seeks out what is distinctive, what is particular in the everyday panoramas of city life as they unfold in front of his eyes. He attributes value to small incidents, he explores leeting images, leeting gestures, ephemeral and chance encounters. The flaneur thus becomes a sublimated detective (ibid. 442).

His passion for minute details revealing small dramas or well hidden misdeeds makes him the perfect tracer. His hypersensitive sight interprets everything as a trace.

Whereas the private individual collects in his private shelter traces of a studiously fabricated individuality, the laneur searches for traces that will reveal individual trajectories in public space.

The individuality that he seeks out in the streets is the very same leeting individuality that dissatisies the private individual who feels that there are no individual traces in public space.

And whereas the private individual dedicates the phantasmagorias of interior to a ‘monumental’ individuality that resists the transitoriness of modern life, the laneur discovers in the depth of this transitoriness traces of an ephemeral, anonymous – if this is not a contradiction in terms – individuality. Immersed in public phantasmagorias he likes “to read from faces the profession, the ancestry, the character”(ibid. 429).

The private individual as a city-dweller crosses public space with his eyes “over-burdened with protective functions”(Benjamin1983:151). Eyes that have lost the ability to meaningfully communicate and return the gaze, are eyes that are only used to inform, protect and guide.

A protective anesthetization prevails in the behavior of the city dweller8. Being in the street means being able to conform to rules, to adapt to typical situations with minimum involvement.

On the opposite, the flaneur empathizes with the crowd (ibid. 54). He feels the energy, the sparks, the dangers, the passions. And this attitude is expressed through an aestheticizing of metropolitan life. The flaneur is a aesthete. He views everything as aesthetically meaningful.

That is why he presents himself in public through gestures of emphatic theatricality: taking a turtle for a walk, dressing sometimes as a dandy, appearing strange in the middle of the crowd, playing with imitative behavior, vanishing and surfacing again in many disguises.

Zygmunt Bauman is right to suggest that “the job of the flaneur is to rehearse the world as a theatre, life as a play” (Bauman1994:146). This attitude, as opposed to that of the private individual in the streets who, an aesthetized, cannot feel or recognise auratic elements in metropolitan landscape, is an attitude of auratic appreciation.

City life resumes in the eyes of the laneur a peculiar aura. Through a day-dreaming gaze that reintroduces a perspective between the flaneur and the leeting metropolitan images “a unique manifestation of distance” is perceived. What for others is protectively presented as ordinary, for him becomes strange. Everything assumes the status of a work of art, every object becomes able to return the gaze.

Such an aestheticization of metropolitan experience makes the laneur a possible co-producer of urban phantasmagoria. Adding through his gestures or writings to the spectacular character of a culture dedicated to “commodity worship”, he may eventually become a mediating igure in the re-enchantment of public life.

“The flaneur-as-idler is thus doubly phantasmagoric: in what he writes (the physiologies) and what he does (the pretence of aristocratic idleness and the reality of bourgeois commercial interest)” (Gilloch 1997:156).

The decline of aura connected to anesthetization and alienating shock absorption is positively reserved in a constructed metropolitan mythology: The modern “transitory gods”(Buck-Morss 1991:259) only participate in a fetishization of newness necessary for the cult of consumption. And newness “is the quintessence of that false consciousness whose indefatigable agent is fashion” (Benjamin1999a:11).

Public phantasmagorias are enhanced by the laneur, this peculiar intellectual aesthete, who makes his profession to pursue the novelties of modern life. Everything he observes is above all marked by a halo of newness, originality. This turns out to be a quest for individuality and distinctive particularity, a quest for fashionable novelties in every aspect of public life (dressing, behavior, the arts, city places, views, technological gadgets etc.). https://www.academia.edu/30170865/Loafing_Papers_on_Academic_Life_14

[bklynmusicnerd]

I heard that Patrick loves the Cassadines, but my thing is, the Cassadine family is borderline none existent right now and have no storylines 😩. Nik is always off, Spencer is off right now, Ace is still a baby, Victor is dead, the show refuses to have Alexis and the Davis girls be centered in a Cassadine story, idk what they doing with Valentin, seems like they dropped the Charlotte story. They need some new blood Cassadines to pop into town. Especially on the YA side. A distant cousin or something😂

Eh, I feel the same way about the state of the Cassadines as I do about the state of YA scene, it's been dire for a while in my eyes, so I'm not as concerned as everyone else. I actually think fixing the Cassadine situation is probably easier than the YA scene. The Cassadines have never really been as numerous as the Quartermaines. They were just larger than life, so it felt that way. Even the 90s revival of the Cassadines was really just Stefan, Alexis and Nik as regulars (and then Helena and Stavros would pop up and cause some trouble).

The biggest thing is making Nik a contract role again. He's the head of the Cassadines. He needs to be firmly regrounded onto the canvas. From there, you eventually reintroduce Spencer once he's back from the "dead". Spencer's "death" should inspire a return back to form for Alexis where she doesn't claim the Cassadine name but she's invested in the wellbeing of her Cassadine family members.

For some reason C&D missed the memo where the whole internal struggle of Alexis is that she hates her family's reputation and what they stand for but she actually loves her Cassadine family members and feels a pull toward being protective of them.

Victor being "dead" was nonsense and I don't even know why they bothered showing a body, but you can easily use Cassadine sci-fi shenanigans and make him the Helena type figure where he pops in to cause trouble and dips out again (I only say this because the show seems committed to Helena's death sticking and I'm assuming that's per CT's wishes).

I'd personally love for them to bring Stefan back from the dead since I always thought his death was bullshit and it'd be interesting to see what he'd think of the type of man Nik has become and how he'd interact with Spencer's chaotic self, but I recognize that's me being greedy. Valentin and Charlotte are the cousins and will always factor in, but I'm guessing that's very structured on the Valentin actor's schedule.

Either way, rebuilding the Cassadines is not this impossible feat that requires all this new blood. It just requires a writer who's invested enough in reestablishing that larger than life mythos of the Cassadines. But Nik absolutely has to be a contract player for this to work, on that, we agree.