#the great jabbar

[mjordan-nba-nhl]

WILT CHAMBERLAIN & KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR Los Angeles Lakers & Milwaukee Bucks, 1970's.

[sgedelta]

Sometimes it's 3:00 am and you just need to lie in bed thinking about how Jefferson Airplane Ship of Theseus'd itself into Starship, a WILDLY different band, taking a stop as Jefferson Starship (a third, still yet different-er band) along the way.

Jefferson Airplane -> Jefferson Starship -> Starship

Also, there was a period where Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and Starship existed at the same time.

Just gotta. Think about that sometimes. Wild.

[phantasmicfish]

Just some more Dune Part 2 things that I thought were interesting with a specific focus on Feyd-Rautha:

- just… the way that he’s so very accurately portrayed as a psychopath adds a level of grit I didn’t get reading when the book

- the scenes with him and Lady Fenring got me good. The book mentions that he finds her attractive, definitely echoed in the movie. There weren’t explicitly written scenes in the book of how Lady Fenring slept with him (but this was confirmed through dialogue), so I liked the movie’s interpretation of her luring him using her Bene Gesserit abilities

- I would have liked to see Feyd-Rautha tested by the Gom Jabbar the same way Paul was. In the book (and I think part 1 of the movie?) it’s specified that Paul has endured the most amount of pain anyone can handle from the test, but given that movie Feyd-Rautha seems canonically a sadist + masochist, I wonder how long he would have lasted?

- overall the vibe and aesthetic of the Harkonnen’s was terrifying and great. The black and white visuals, dimly lit rooms, flashing lights… There are a lot of different villains in Dune, especially in Part 2 — The Emperor, Jessica, but the most clear-cut ones by far are the Harkonnens. I think the visuals definitely amplify that. I find it rather interesting that the Harkonnens are portrayed to be evil as an entire house. The fact that they all had bald heads gave them a mass identity, served to make them seem perhaps more alien and less human, all capable of committing heinous crimes. Even Feyd-Raytha’s servants or whoever eat human organs

- I think it was an interesting choice to have Feyd-Rautha actually stab Paul during their final fight, we see the blade actually hurt Paul, penetrate his skin, we see Paul gasping for breath, we see Paul struggling for survival. I believe the book made the fight seem more cut-and-dry, that Feyd was a formidable opponent but he didn’t actually stab Paul (though he does draw blood). So I sorta felt the fight was a good contrast between showing Paul as still human while he maintains this cult status. I could see how his ability to survive this fight, despite his injuries, also elevate his messiah status among the Fremen

[fastlikealambo]

holy crowns || paul atreides x black! fem reader

summary: it was supposed to be your sister, your bene gesserit trained sister molded by the great houses, spy for the imperium. with no warning, paul chooses you instead and changes your life forever. some call him messiah, others an abomination, but you will call him husband. 18+only, minors dni

Chapter One. note: hello! this takes place after the events of dune part two and Paul is about to become emperor. Irulan and her father are in exile and Chani is gone. thank you for reading chapter one! if you wish to see the story continue on beyond this chapter, please comment or reblog! tw: violence, gore, mentions of vomit

CHAPTER TWO

THE KNIFE BECOMES THE MOTHER.

TELL ME WHO YOU WORK FOR.

TELL ME WHO YOU WORK FOR.

TELL ME WHO YOU WORK FOR.

The Reverend Mother commanded you so many times in the span of five minutes that the urge to vomit disappeared and reappeared with each command.

Yet your answer remained the same.

One moment Paul was ushering your bewildered sister into a private room and the next you were on your knees in front of Mohiam, the Gom Jabbar at your neck, and your father held back by others of her order.

    “Perhaps I should have trained you with your sister, it would have at very least broken you of your squealing.” The Reverend Mother said, removing the needle from your neck, somehow bored by her own interrogation.

    “Had I not been present at your birth I would not believe that you have the blood of the sisterhood in your veins. Such everlasting weakness should have been bred out by your mother’s working but given her madness-”

   “Do not speak of my mother that way.” You said with a firmness that surprised you and caused Mohiam to raise an eyebrow.

  “So you do have a bite within you? Good. But that will not save you beyond a few hours. You are tied to Paul Atreides now, human, his doom is now yours.” 

The arrival of your sister and the muad'dib brought the reverend mother’s mockery to an end. You took a step towards your sister, apologies on your tongue but she shook her head.

Not yet, she signed.

    “Your sister and I have spoken and my decision has not changed, I chose you to be my bride.” Paul said, holding out a hand to you. You took it with some ease and stood at his side, avoiding his gaze.

      “However, the terms of the engagement have been altered.”

There was no chance to question what he meant by that as Paul pulled you behind him within seconds to witness your beloved sister embed one knife into the stomach of The Reverend Mother and another to remove her head from her shoulders.

The head of Gaius Helen Mohiam rolled at your feet.

   “Your sister concealed a weapon within herself to kill me on our wedding night. I have given her something much more valuable instead.” Paul explained, though your attention was elsewhere.

KNEEL BEFORE YOUR MOTHER SUPERIOR.

The command brings the stunned remaining Bene Gesserit in the room to bow before your blood soaked sister who handed Paul his crysknife back, eyes anywhere but your face.

You were going to be sick.

   “This was the last of the old world. Tell every house, every spy, tell them all that I hold the Great Houses with my left hand and The Bene Gesserit with my right. I am Paul Atreides and The Holy Imperium begins now!” Paul roared and the room roared back.

You swayed on your feet but Paul held you fast, hands slick with blood from the knife on either side of your face.

    “Don’t look at them, look at me. Look at me and know that nothing now will go against you.” He whispered.

Nothing would go against you.

Up until this moment you carried your mother’s agony.

It never occurred to you that you carried her ecstasy instead.

That’s chapter two! Not sure how I feel about it but thank you for reading! If you want to see chapter three, please interact with this chapter, comment or reblog! 

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[bizarrebazaar13]

FL-inspired book recs!

brought to you by hotel wi-fi

Locations

The Royal Bethlehem: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “The Room in the Tower” by E.F. Benson. these are short stories, not novels, but they are fairly quick reads and are about locations where reality becomes twisted. the yellow wallpaper deals with mental illness and medical neglect, while the room in the tower is more about the overlap between dreams and the real world.

Port Carnelian: Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. ok, hear me out on this one. if you’ve ever thought port carnelian would be great if it actually dealt with British colonialism and racism in a meaningful way and also had a murder mystery, you might like this book. a much younger Mycroft Holmes goes with his friend Cyrus Douglas to Douglas’s home in Trinidad to investigate a series of mysterious deaths.

Ladybones Road: The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley. Nathaniel Steepleton finds a gold pocket watch in his bedroom one day, but he cannot open it or even hear it ticking. six months later, it opens on its own, and an alarm goes off at the precise time that a bomb explodes in Scotland Yard. he then goes in search of its maker, Keita Mori, who claims the watch was stolen from his shop. Mori has a gift for elaborate clockwork, and though he seems kind and relatively harmless, Nathaniel is sure he is hiding something.

Ambitions/Major Storylines

Early Light Fingers: The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz. it’s a Sherlock Holmes pastiche, but it can still be understood and enjoyed even if you don’t share my Sherlock Holmes autism. I specified early light fingers, because the mystery of what exactly the house of silk is, and the theme of corruption in highest levels of society, reminds me a lot of exploring and learning about the orphanage. just a heads up, this book is centered around a murdered child, and deals with the systemic abuse and neglect of children in victorian london. its biggest content warning is also its biggest spoiler, so I won’t give it here, but feel free to ask me. I had it spoiled for me on accident and still liked the book a lot.

Late-game Nemesis: “The Moonlit Road” by Ambrose Pierce. another short story, it recounts in three parts the murder of Julia Hetman, as told by her son, her husband, and Julia herself. it specifically reminds me of the dreams of the dead section of nemesis.

Evolution: Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant. Tory Stewart becomes obsessed with mermaids after her sister Anne’s disappearance. Anne was filming a mockumentary about mermaids in the Mariana Trench, but the ship she was on disappeared, and was recovered weeks later with no trace of the crew. footage was found that appeared to show the crew being murdered by mermaids, but it’s largely believed to be for the movie, not real. seven years later, Theodore Blackwell recruits Tory as part of his mission to return to the Mariana Trench and capture a live mermaid. it hits sort of the same spot for undersea survival horror that the diving bell section of evolution did for me.

Exceptional Stories

The Bloody Wallpaper: Sign Here by Claudia Lux. hell is an office. literally. Peyote Trip sold his soul while he was alive, and now works in hell, convincing other people to do the same. he’s one deal away from a big promotion, and all he needs is the soul of one last member of the Harrison family. normal laws of space and time don’t apply, the real hellscape is capitalism, and secrets don’t stay hidden forever… sound familiar? in terms of violence and body horror, I don’t think it gets much worse than the text of the bloody wallpaper. one of the main characters does have a pretty brutal backstory involving christianity-related child abuse though.

Totentanz: Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. set in late 1920s Mexico, the story follows Casiopea Tun and the Mayan death god Hun-Kamé on a journey across Mexico and eventually into the underworld. Casiopea finds Hun-Kamé’s bones in a chest in her grandfather’s house, and when she cuts her finger on one of the bone shards, Hun-Kamé becomes bound to her. together, they must find the rest of his body, which has been scattered around Mexico by Hun-Kamé’s brother Vucub-Kamé, who took over control of Xibalba from him. Hun-Kamé intends to retake Xibalba, but he and Casiopea must face sorcerers, demons, and twisted family dynamics- and that’s before they even get to the underworld.

[bitterkarella]

Midnight Pals: The Mind Killer

Denis Villeneuve: hey frank what if we put a giant rubber bondage spider in dune Frank Herbert: [snorting space cocaine] sounds great!

David Lynch: what if i taped a cat to a rat and then you had to suck the cat titties to get a poison antidote Frank Herbert: [snorting space cocaine] top notch work, guys Herbert: love how you're all really making the story your own

Frank Herbert: anyway there's politics happening on dune Poe: i thought we already did this bit King: yeah frank you said if we sat through the political intrigue we'd get to see the worm Herbert: YOU'LL SEE THE WORM WHEN I'M GODDAMN READY OKAY

Barker: WORM Herbert: no no Barker: WORM! Herbert: not again Barker: c'mon everybody! say it with me! WORM! Poe: King: Lovecraft: Koontz: Koontz: worm Barker: Yeah!! now you got it! Koontz: WORM Koontz: WORM!!!

Barker: that's the spirit! now steve King: WORM! Barker: howard Lovecraft: WORM! Barker: edgar Poe: Barker: c'mon edgar bro don't leave me hanging Poe: Poe: okay fine Poe: WORM! Barker: now we're cooking!

Herbert: look i know you all like the worm but here's something even better than the worm Herbert: so the Bene Gesserit have this special box Edward Lee: haha hell yeah bro Herbert: see, you gotta put your hand in the box Lee: haha hell YEAH BRO

Angela Carter: hey everyone what's happening King: frank was just telling us about this special box that you put your hand into Carter: oh yeah i know all about that King: what? Carter: nothing Carter: just Carter: nothing, never mind, just go on with the story

Herbert: ok see you put your hand in this box and it's the worst pain a man can endure Carter: oh yeah the pain A MAN can endure Carter: cuz we all know the incredibly high threshold of pain that men have Herbert: Herbert: well, it really hurts ok

Herbert: it's literally the worst, most unendurable pain Mary Shelley: i bet i could endure it Herbert: um no you couldn't Shelley: yeah but i could endure it Herbert: NO you couldn't Shelley: Shelley: bet i could

Shelley: i'm not scared of some fuckin nerd box Shelley: i'd stick my hard in that box so hard Shelley: like, ALL the way into that fuckin box Patricia Highsmith: [immediately inhaling cigarette down to ashes]

Herbert: but if you take your hand out of the box you get stabbed w a gom jabbar Shelley: anyone tries that and i'd fuck em up Herbert: you don't even know what a gom jabbar is!! Shelley: i don't need to know Herbert: [to King] she doesn't even know what a gom jabbar is

[melintowriting]

The first Empress-Chapter 2

Hello everyone! Chapter 2 is finally out. I hope you'll like it!

Warnings: arranged marriage, smut (+18), virginity loss, blood, corruption kink, breeding kink

Word count: 2.528

ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE

Kaitain, a few days later

Their wedding took place a few days after their first meeting on Kaitain.

The ceremony had been lavish and the young Na-Baron and his wife had become husband and wife before the eyes of all the lords and ladies of the Landsraad.

Monique had been watching her daughter attentively throughout the whole banquet. Her Bene Gesserit eyes, trained not to miss anything, had looked beyond the young woman’s apparent calm to see some agitation. The idea of sending her to Giedi Prime, to that horrible planet, tormented her. But she could not fight against fate. She found peace in her torment only when she reminded herself that Jeremy would go with her, that she would not be alone, that her twins would not be separate.

Monique looked at her, sitting next to Feyd Rautha, observing the guests.

She was studying them in the Bene Gesserit way.

Monique almost smiled: her daughter’s training had been a success.

"You taught her the Bene Gesserit way impeccably." commented Lady Jessica, sitting next to her.

"We both trained our offspring well." confirmed Monique "Paul… is he the Kwisatz Haderach?"

Lady Jessica remained silent for a few seconds before answering: "There are signs. Soon the Reverend Mother will test him with the Gom Jabbar and we will know."

Monique immediately noticed the apprehension in Jessica’s voice.

"He will succeed." she reassured her, smiling with maternal solidarity.

Jessica turned to look at her sister-in-law, unsure whether to ask her the question she had been thinking about for hours.

“And Megan? Is she the Chosen Woman?"

Monique remained silent while the prophecy about the First Empress repeated in her head. 

-One day, the Empire will know the power of a young woman. - 

The prophecy of the First Empress was the first that was taught at the Bene Gesserit school, along with the one of the Kwisatz Haderach. Both would have been the result of the complex and intricate breeding plan that the Bene Gesserit had carried out for centuries. 

The prophecy continued with -Loved by the peoples and feared by the powerful, born by a Bene Gesserit sister and an honorable man from an adverse and distant land, she will be the first woman to sit on the throne. - 

Megan had shown signs of great intelligence and power from an early age. The way she spoke, studied people, showed mercy for the weak and ruthlessness for the oppressors... everything had always made Monique believe that she would be the First Empress.

"I think so." she replied to Jessica "Or at least everyone thinks so.”

At the age of ten, during a dinner, Megan asked the Emperor why the people outside the palace died of hunger and while they always wasted their food. He looked at her in shock, opening his eyes slightly, especially when Megan added, "We should feed them too. We have enough food for ourselves."

Since that day the signs had been irrefutable. Her greatness and nobility of mind were known to everyone on the planet. The kind way she addressed servants, the way she always fought with the Emperor, even to no avail, to try to improve the living conditions of the people... everything had led people to love her, to the point of whispering "Empress" at her passage.

Everyone knew about the prophecy, everyone was waiting.

"Our Bene Gesserit sisters have been at work on Giedi Prime to spread the word of her imminent arrival. We’ll see."

The two women looked at each other in silence, almost in a hopeful way. If it was true that their children were the chosen ones... there would be enormous challenges and dangers ahead of them.

"Tell me Jessica." Monique then changed the subject, "My brother hates being here, doesn’t he?"

The two women’s eyes rested on Leto talking to some of the Lords of the Great Houses.

"He hates being in the same room with the Harkonnens. But he would never miss his granddaughter’s wedding." 

Jessica’s words made Monique smile.

Her brother, so stubborn but kind-hearted... 

He was the only real man in that room.

The two ladies were not the only ones observing the Duke though: Baron Vladimir was also looking at him with prying eyes.

-That damned Atreides- he thought -It will have to be eliminated sooner or later. -

******

The celebrations continued until late evening.

The newlyweds had little conversations during the festivities: they had exchanged a few fleeting words on trivial topics but nothing more.

Feyd only looked forward to the end of the dinner. He could no longer contain his impatience to spend his wedding night with Megan.

He wanted to see her, to explore her, to claim her as his. A mischievous and perverse smile had been printed on his lips for the whole evening; a smile that Megan immediately understood to be a sign of desire.

If until then she had tried not to think about it, the idea of consuming the wedding began to frighten her. The way he looked at her, like a predator looking at his prey... almost terrified her. 

Was he going to be gentle? Probably not. Was he going to hurt her? It was easy to see how much Feyd loved pain.

As soon as the banquet was over and the couple got up from the table, Megan’s eyes searched desperately for her mother’s.

Monique looked at her, hinting at a comforting smile. She had explained everything she needed to know about a man and how to give him pleasure. She knew she was ready. Yet seeing her like this, almost seeking help, made her heart clench in her chest.

Jeremy clenched his fists as he watched his sister and Feyd leave the room.

- If he dares hurt her, I swear I’ll kill him.- he thought, barely finishing his glass of wine.

******

The door to the room closed behind them with a slight creak.

-It’s done, now I have no way out.- she thought.

She could feel them, she could feel his icy eyes staring at her incessantly. 

She hated being afraid, fear made her feel stupid and vulnerable. Normally she would be able to hide it with forced confidence but at that moment nothing seemed to work.

"Are you afraid of me?" 

Feyd’s hoarse voice made her wince. 

"No."

"My Na-Baroness, you know what I absolutely hate?"

Megan turned slowly, trying to remain impassive.

"What?"

"Liars." He took a step towards her, passing his tongue over his black teeth. "So I will ask you again and I want you to tell me the truth this time: are you afraid of me?"

-I won’t admit it so easily. - she imposed herself, thinning her eyes.

"No."

-She keeps lying. - Feyd thought, caressing her cheek with one finger. He then whispered: "Such a stubborn pet, I will change that."

Megan shuddered, her heart beating faster.

-Pet, I’m not your pet- she thought but remained silent.

Feyd knew she was a virgin. The idea of taking her innocence, of corrupting her... it was enough to make his cock twitching from impatience.

"I’ll be gentle with you this time." he promised with a perverse smile, "Does that reassure you a little?"

The girl felt her stomach tightening with terror. -This time- she repeated in her mind, gulping.

Feyd shook his head, pretending to be disappointed: "It’s rude not to answer when someone asks you a question, pet. Answer me."

Megan struggled to nod. How stupid she had been. How could she not be afraid to marry him? Thinking back, she should have been. She could have used the Voice, but for what purpose? The wedding night had to be consummated anyway and using her secret weapon this quickly wasn’t wise.

"Yes, it reassures me." she lied again.

When Feyd kissed her, Megan made it seem casual. She returned the kiss with the same intensity he was kissing her with, making her tongue touch his. The kiss was intense, rough, wet. 

She slowly began to undress, sliding the straps of the dress along her arms and making it fall to the ground with a slight thud.

Feyd took his lips off hers to admire her. She was just as he had imagined her to be. Her body was harmonious, perfectly proportioned. Her skin was pale, her breasts were abundant and perfectly round, her hips wide. He laid his hands on her butt and then squeezed her flesh, feeling desire growing inside him. 

"Lay on the bed, pet." he ordered, grinning.

Megan obeyed, sitting on the fresh silk sheets. 

It was all new to her. Being seen naked, having sex... she wondered if it would hurt.

"You’re so beautiful and innocent." 

Feyd looked at her with growing desire.

"Now I must prepare you to take me." he explained, unbuttoning his jacket to reveal a muscular and sculpted abdomen "Otherwise I’ll break you, pet, and I don’t want to ruin you. Not now."

Despite the anxiety, the fear, Megan could not deny how beautiful Feyd was.

His body, his shoulders, his strong arms... everything was a pleasant sight.

Feyd approached her, ravenous. He was so close to her that he could feel her agitated breath. Megan’s dark eyes watched him, studying his moves.

"Spread your legs," he ordered, kneeling before her.

Megan obeyed and Feyd almost grinned, eager to find out what she tasted like.

As soon as his tongue touched her sensitive bud Megan could not hold back a moan of pleasure. Feyd’s mouth was tasting her, exploring her already wet folds.

"You taste good, little pet." he said in a hoarse voice before putting his lips back on her.

The girl shuddered, throwing her head back from pleasure. It was a sensation never felt before. Strong, overwhelming, intoxicating.

"Do you like it, little pet?"

Megan couldn’t help herself and moaned again. Feyd’s mouth was experienced, passionate, and she never thought she would have liked it so much.

"If you don’t answer me, I’ll have to stop." he warned her, raising his icy blue eyes to meet hers.

"Yes, yes." she nodded, out of breath "I like it."

Feyd smiled widely, showing his black teeth: "How much?"

"So much."

There was one thing Feyd was particularly proud of: his ability in giving pleasure to women. He knew how and where to touch them, how to make them responsive to his touch, how to make them moan and scream until their voice was lost.

He eagerly licked her intimacy and then started to tease her entrance with one finger, sliding it up and down her wetness. When he inserted it slowly he felt her become stiff, almost retracting from the sensation.

"Don’t run away from me." he said while grabbing her by her thighs to hold her steady.

It took her a few moments to get used to the feeling and to find it pleasant.

When he inserted a second finger, instead of retracting, Megan groaned even louder. She was ready now. Ready to take him.

"Now you’re ready, little pet." he announced to her, getting up.

The girl caught her breath, watching him getting undressed.

The way he was pleasuring her... she wanted more. She watched him take off his pants, revealing his manhood. It bounced as soon as he freed it, already hard at the sight of her completely naked in front of him.

He was so big that Megan wondered how she could take him. It was as white as alabaster, with some bluish veins starting from the base to arrive at the tip, already glistening with precum.

Feyd crawled on the bed, sliding the tip against her wet entrance.

Megan held her breath as soon as he pushed it slowly into her. He began to move inside her, watching her muscles twitch at each thrust.

"If you contract it will be worse." he said in a deep voice, placing a hand on her breast, squeezing it.

At first it was pain, just pain. He was too big for her... he was stretching her at every thrust, her walls tightening around him from the pain.

But after a few moments the pain turned into pleasure, to the point that she could no longer hold back her moans.

"So tight" Feyd muttered, slightly increasing his speed.

-She’s so beautiful, so delicate... I’ll ruin her as soon as I get her used to my cock- he thought, looking intensely into her eyes.

"Feyd." she whispered, feeling his tip hit an unknown spot inside her at each movement.

The way she had pronounced his name with a mesmerized look of pleasure, almost in a whisper... sent him completely over the edge.

Her tight walls tightened, milking his cock as he came inside her, hard. 

A long and guttural moan escaped Feyd’s lips as he could feel his cock twitching.

He slowly came out of her, looking at his cum dripping from her. He bred her properly. 

"You’re bleeding, pet." he said, seeing blood on the sheets.

Megan looked at him again as if she was bewitched, still panting.

The sight of his seed mixed with the blood of her virginity made him feel insatiable.

"But you haven’t come yet." he pointed, kneeling again "Let me make it right."

His lips kissed her clit again, eating her out like a starved man. The ferrous taste of blood mixed with both of their juices was divine. Feyd continued unabated until he heard her tremble, moaning louder and whining.

"Cum for me, darling." he ordered, inserting two fingers, "Don’t be shy."

Megan felt the orgasm coming hard and fast as she shook in pleasure, screaming his name. 

"Feyd, yes!" she screamed as she came against his mouth, rolling her eyes back.

Their panting breaths united to become a unison as their eyes met. 

All the fear that Megan had felt seemed to be gone. Willingly or unwillingly, Feyd had ensured that she would also enjoy herself, trying to be as gentle as possible. She knew it wouldn’t happen again but she would always remember that moment, beautiful in an unexpected way.

-And now? Now what should I do? What should I say? - she thought as her husband laid next to her -My mother did not instruct me on this. -

Megan, who always tried to explain everything with reason, understood that rationality wouldn’t have been useful to her at that moment. She understood that she had to improvise and to follow her instinct.

She did not expect any other kindness from him: he had already tried hard enough. And then it wasn’t necessary. They’d just gotten married and most likely never going to love each other. They just had to generate heirs and bear each other for the rest of their lives, nothing more.

She could live without love.

In the silence of the room Megan also laid down, staring at the ceiling as she tried to breathe regularly.

After a few minutes it was Feyd who broke the silence with his hoarse voice, saying: "Sleep. Tomorrow we will leave at dawn for Giedi Prime. You must rest."

Megan nodded, her stomach squeezing with anxiety.

Tomorrow she would have left her past behind. Tomorrow, her new life would have begun.

Tag list: @mamawiggers1980 @avidreader73 @pomtherine

[sam-keeper]

The Visitor aka STRIDULUM (1979)

Ha ha yeah, wooo YEAH

da daaaaa dadadaDAA DAAA DAAAAAAA DADADAAAAA DADADADADA DA DAAAAA YEAH!!!!

This is the most prog rock movie I've ever seen in my life. This is spiritually being painted on the side of a van. Does it have a good plot that makes sense? I don't know, asshole, does Emerson Lake and Palmer's seminal classic Karn Evil 9 part 2 have a good plot that makes sense? I'm telling my kids The Visitor (1979) is Star Wars.

I noticed a pattern when looking at other reviews of this film: they fall back on comparisons, as a slight. Well, it's sort of The Omen, and it's sort of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and it's sort of Carrie, and a little Battlestar Galactica and maybe The Birds... which all sounds very derivative, I suppose, until you actually a movie smashing all those things together, and realize, wait a minute, that's bonkers. It feels like critics grasp for these comparisons while foundering in The Visitor's psychedelic sea, desperate for a point of stability. None of these references offer stable landmarks, though, if you hope to predict where the film will veer next in its crazy pursuit of cool ideas and weird setpieces.

Not that the comparisons are totally off base, mind. This IS the story of Katy Collins, a Wicked Little Kid in the vein of the Omen's Damien or Carrie's... Carrie. It's just that this generic convention of the Bad Seed gets set up at the beginning of the film with a bizarre cosmic encounter between an old space wizard and an apparition of the devilish little girl in what looks like a blizzard on mars, followed by a whole ass monologue by "A Jesus Figure" about cosmic psychic spirits of good and evil dueling it out across the planets, delivered to a bunch of bald, white robed children. Hell yeah. But! But. Katy Collins is otherwise a classic, average evil psychic kid who kills people with telekinesis. And uses it to rig professional basketball matches for her shitty step dad, possibly at the behest of the satanic businessmen he answers to who are REALLY giving some serious drone hive vibes what with the way they all turn their heads at the same time. Oh and she's got a pet hawk that murders people at her behest. No, trust me though, it's a really derivative movie. Not like the movies we have now like uhhhh

[sweating] uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Better touchstones than typical blockbuster fare might be the mind-expanding chaos of paperback epics--Clive Barker's Great and Secret Show, King's Dark Tower, Morrison's The Invisibles. Here's some other fun facts: it was directed by Giulio Paradisi (it's a heavily italian production) but he directed it under the brilliant name "Michael J Paradise". The italian title was "Stridulum", which I guess is latin for something like a harsh or shrill sound or shriek, which fits the whole repeating War Between Birds motif and the use of bird cries in the soundtrack. Oh, and one of the guys playing basketball in the first scene with Katy is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, actual famous athlete. It's sort of a bizarre and improbable movie!

But I don't think I'd be nearly so dazzled by all the crazy shit this film throws at the audience if not for Katy herself, played brilliantly by a young child star Paige Conner. She's written and performed in a way that suggests malice, yes, but a childish malice, a bit of a put-on, a belligerent front that gets more and more petulant and uncontrolled as John Huston as the space mystic Jerzy (yes) Colsowicz (get it) confronts her with the limits of her own powers. There's this sequence where Jerzy and Katy play pong against each other. Jerzy, smiling, accuses her cheating by speeding up the game with her powers. Katy, giggling genuinely, gloatingly informs him that no, she sped up the game using a switch on the game console. Later in the film she tries to drop a fire escape on his head, of course. In that conversation, though, there's this charming chemistry between them, the chemistry of a smart young person and an older adult willing to treat her, not as a peer exactly, but as a thinking being, not just a Thing to be smacked into shape. This dynamic is crucial to the climax of the film and its ultimate conviction that no matter how ghastly Katy is, there's more than just evil to her, which might not be the most seasonally horror-forward message but is honestly pretty damn refreshing. Like I don't know if The Visitor is as good a film as The Omen (ok, I know that obviously it's not) but on balance it's probably got its heart more in the right place. Perhaps notably along those lines, one of the horror subplots of The Omen involves possibility of a woman getting an abortion, whereas The Visitor explores the possibility of a woman being impregnated against her will. While it may lose out on form, The Visitor might just win the long game on its politics.

Also some shitty teens get thrown through a plate glass window, and there's a whole sequence where a big truck's lights are treated exactly like an approaching spacecraft, and it's awesome, I don't know what to tell you, I love this shit.

Read more horror reviews like this all season on my Patreon

[lady-phasma]

How did Feyd treat Lady Margot like what was your sense of the scene onscreen? Like do u think he may have assaulted her in his own way even if it wasn't shown or did she have him do what pleased her physically using her powers? I've got questions lots!!! Do u think he knew of the successful pregnancy or was he like I don't care? Love ya!!!

What a great ask! I am so flattered and excited that you asked me! All that love right back at you!

So much here to discuss and I have had a few conversations about one of these questions with various people in the past couple weeks so I've definitely been thinking about it. I don't want to get too serious and heavy but I will talk about consent a bit.

All this makes me want to write a breakdown of Margot's assessment (and maybe that's something people would be interested in).

So, The Voice. I've read various opinions that he followed her and knelt willingly. I have the movie audio I could upload to support my perspective but I won't bother with that here. I don't think she says "put your right hand in the box" with the Voice but I know the other commands are not with his consent.

The following is conjecture/headcanon. I think he would have had sex with Margot without the Voice and her Bene Gesserit tricks, but he wasn't given the opportunity to make that decision. I think he is very promiscuous, but discerning. Having said that, "desire and humiliation" are his weaknesses. So would he have wanted to humiliate her for using the Voice on him? Perhaps. I have yet to decide whose humiliation is his weakness: avoiding his own or causing it for others.

I think many of us can agree that Feyd isn't going to be the nicest guy in intimate situations no matter how we imagine him. I can't believe that he has had time to fall in love with Margot, but, just like Paul, he has had dreams of the Bene Gesserit who was sent to test him. There may be some intimacy present already. However, we know he passed the Gom Jabbar test, would Margot have needed to use the Voice again after he passed? If he had failed he would have died and if he passed he might have enjoyed the pain so much that he needed very little convincing.

(Fun note: in the book the Reverend Mother says about Paul's test "We seldom administer this to men-children" so did they have to wait for Feyd's coming of age?)

Here's where I'm of two minds: I want to indulge in my little hyperfixation and imagine him being autonomous and having rough, fun, raunchy sex because he chose to. I also don't believe he had much choice in the matter. He was part of the Bene Gesserit breeding program and few people from these great houses have had much choice in that in the last 90 generations.

Cognitive dissonance is the answer. Both conflicting beliefs can be held at the same time. That's probably the most unsatisfactory answer ever, but hear me out. One scenario paints him as an unwilling victim and the other as an amoral psycho. I like either of those options. I'm actually having some fun ideas about a Feyd x Margot short fic I could write about the unwilling victim personality as I type this. That is why cognitive dissonance is fine with me in fandoms. I can eat my cake and have it too.

Lastly, in my headcanon, Feyd has a breeding kink so he would have cared but I don't think he knew in the movie. That's just speculation on my part. I definitely read and (will) write fics with breeding kink for this psycho because he would love to pass on his genetics. As many of you know, I rarely write breeding kink but for this man, I am making an exception.

[mjordan-nba-nhl]

KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR & WILT CHAMBERLAIN Milwaukee Bucks & Los Angeles Lakers, 1970's

[icedsodapop]

Imagine being Matthew McConaughey and having a Latino wife and non-passing Latino children and going onto Russell Brand's podcast to piss on leftists and advocate for centrism 😑 Interracial marriage and having Brown children will not stop White pple from being racist.

Anyways, here's Kareem Abdul Jabbar's great response to this bullshit:

McConaughey claims the solution to political divisiveness is being “aggressively centric,” to meet in the middle. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was one such “meeting in the middle” in which Congress decided to admit Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. That was peachy for Maine, but the slaves in Missouri couldn’t appreciate being so “aggressively centric.” Compromise is what allowed slavery to continue in the United States long after it was abolished in most other countries. Meeting in the middle is fine when you’re the one giving up a little, but when you’re the one sacrificing your health, your life, your freedom and your vote, that middle is simply like slightly loosening one’s handcuffs, but leaving them on.

[natlacentral]

As ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Debuts To Strong Audience On Netflix, Creative Team Looks Ahead To Expanding Live-Action Adaptation

The results are in, and Netflix‘s Avatar: The Last Airbender seems to be a hit. 

The live action adaptation topped the streamer’s weekly English-language TV list with 21.2M views in its opening weekend. According to Netflix, it reached the Top 10 in 92 countries. It was edged out as most-watched title of the week by the Swedish natural disaster film The Abyss.

That’s a strong showing for the eight-episode series, which was another big swing for Netflix as it continues to dip its toes into anime-inspired content. In fact, Avatar managed to surpass One Piece in its debut weekend.

As with One Piece, Netflix was firing on all cylinders to launch the series, partnering with Serena Williams and even taking over the Las Vegas Sphere. So far, the Avatar global social campaign has reached 1.53B impressions, which is on par with both One Piece as well as Netflix’s hit series Wednesday. The main trailer alone has amassed 85M views to-date, while the #AvatarTheLastAirbender hashtag has generated 1B global views on TikTok in the past week.

Avatar marks Netflix’s second successful live-action anime adaptation, after a rocky start in the genre with its adaptation Shinichirō Watanabe‘s anime classic Cowboy Bebop. While die-hard fans of any animated series are likely to have a few things to say about their live-action counterparts, the streamer appears to be finding a groove when it comes to how to bring these stories to life on the small screen. 

“We’re trying to make a show for the most viewers possible. That doesn’t mean that there’s anything we’re gonna leave behind from the animated series. There’s not more purposeful deviations in order to make it acceptable for a broader audience,” Avatar executive producer and director Jabbar Raisani told Deadline. “I think it’s really attempting to be as faithful as humanly possible to the animated series, but also knowing that we have to fit it into this eight-episode, driving narrative that keeps us streaming.”

Other than missing story elements, which are obviously necessary when adapting from a 20-episode animated season of TV, one of the larger changes audiences might notice is the tone. 

“There inherently has to be a tonal shift as you’re moving towards live action, because things that work in anime won’t necessarily work with real people,” Raisani explained.

While animation can often boast a more exaggerated tone, that isn’t as possible when it comes to live action. 

“One of the things I did, specifically thinking of directing, was just working with the actors on different versions of the take. So with Sokka, with his humor, for example, we would do a version that was the flattest read, and then we would get more and more big and campy and over the top,” Raisani said. “Ian was great at giving a range. That allowed us in post to say, ‘Okay, let’s go funny’ or ‘We can go bigger’ or ‘Oh, man is now starting to break the tone and it feels cartoony. It doesn’t feel like he’s in the same show as everybody else.'”

Something viewers may notice remains faithful to the animated series is the dynamic camera movements, many of which came directly from the source material. 

Raisani described an Episode 4 scene where Aang backflips over a boulder. Not only does the scene come from the animated series, so does the shot used to capture it. 

“I literally just looked at the animated frame [and said], ‘Okay, we want to make this literal frame but with real people,” he said. 

It’s a bit preemptive to say whether the series will end up among Netflix’s most popular, since the series will have a 91-day premiere window and would need more than 83M views to achieve the feat. However, it certainly bodes well for a renewal. The good news is that the creative team appears to be chomping at the bit to expand the story and address anything that might have been missing from Season 1. 

“There’s stuff that we filmed that I love that isn’t in the show. There’s stuff that I love the idea of that we filmed and it just didn’t fit,” Raisani said. As a fan of the original animated series himself, he knows that audiences might be yearning for more than what they were able to fit into the first season.

“If we get another season, then we will certainly have those things, because I know what we missed now and I know how to do better the second time around,” he said, adding: “The animated series is a really good guide…for where the show can go.”

More specifically, Raisani said he’s already exploring new ways to shoot scenes that involve bending that would give the actor more agency on set and, in turn, make the final product feel more organic. He pointed to fire bending as one of the trickier elements to master, explaining that each actor had a light on their hands to emulate the fire, but they weren’t able to manipulate it themselves, which presented some restrictions. 

“If they could trigger their own bending… I think we would have a more seamless product,” he mused. “So stuff like that you’ve just got to try it and then you learn and then you do it again, but better than last time.”

[cantsomeoneelsedoit]

Ch 58: Eyes of the Dragon

This chapter starts with three lead pages before the title page, which I think is a new record for UU. Tozuka's like HERE TAKE THIS FLASHBACK, TOO! WE CAN MAKE IT FIT!

He really makes the best appetizers, too, bc Shen's origin story is guaranteed to be interesting. Unlike some of the other Negators, his life was already rough even before his ability awakened; maybe that's why he relies on his physical strength more than his ability since it's just second nature to him.

It turns out that Shen was once a fighting street urchin with a heart of gold! Notice how Mei is telling him in this scene and the scene from the previous chapter that she already has enough and Shen doesn't have to fight. But Shen isn't easily satisfied!

Little Shen was a streetwise orphan who wasn't content to just exist. Something was always driving him to try to create a better version of himself and the lives of those around him.

Unfortunately, Shen wasn't able to win the tournament. Still, his showing as the untrained-but-incredibly-gifted-kid was enough to gather the attention of someone.

Shen has a Xianxia origin story: A plucky orphan who has some kind of unquenchable drive for strength, plus a dependent sibling and "eyes of the dragon," is recruited by an old master whose current #1 student is poised to become an unwilling rival, and so he joins his mysterious martial arts school to train to become the very best. We're still missing some Chinese magicians, alchemy, and immortal hermits to complete the genre lmao. Tozuka may yet surprise us!

His teacher's ability to sense strong chi/ki/talent will be important to the story later.

But first, the title page:

Poor Shen! He really would've enjoyed training that way! He just can't sleep at night knowing that there might be strong opponents out there.

"Hey, Shen, I heard you're pretty strong!"

Shen's like a little brother trying to get all the JUICY DETAILS about Andy's EXCITING ADVENTURES and TALES OF COMBAT while Andy's like "Actually it was extremely traumatizing. So anyway, about the firework monsters..."

A mysterious staff appears! And is that Summer's core?

The Summer arc has so many gorgeous panels. I really like the white space in the next one.

It's Feng! And he's put the core into one of the Juniors before setting them loose to cause destruction.

The UMAs take off and shoot vertically up the skyscraper. Andy tells Shen to stay back and fight Feng, but Shen's already gone!

Fuuko and Mui both get caught in the crossfire of the guys yelling at each other.

Feng scoffs at Shen because he eagerly chased after the Juniors instead of recognizing that Feng was the greater threat. It seems that Shen hasn't yet mastered the ability to sense a person's strength.

Another zombie fight! Feng's prayer beads produce four jiangshi who take fighting stances. Shen hits that subscribe button right away.

This is finally Shen's chance to fight the great fighters of the past, just like he wanted!! Just look how happy he is!

The jiangshi attack at the same time with a variety of styles, kind of like the enemies Bruce Lee faces as he fights his way up the tower in the movie Game of Death. He also fights Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, which is totally worth watching.

Interestingly, Game of Death is an unfinished movie. I believe that fact gives us a clue about the Artifact of the same name in UU, but I'll have to come back to that later.

Shen uses his ability in a fabulous double spread. He's literally punching their faces in! That's our boy!

But something interrupts his smile...

Even though he beat all four easily, both Shen and Mui are unsettled. He has a dark shadow on his face instead of his usual grin, and she's worried what this means for Shen's future.

Holy shit! It's that guy who beat Shen at the tournament in the flashback! And Feng killed him at some point?! If Feng has already killed off Shen's old rivals, then Mui is right to be worried.

This spread is so cool. Feng was testing the waters with Shen, asking if his emotions would affect his fighting. Shen reassured Feng that he was just here to test his own strength and find satisfaction in the battle itself, and Feng grinned right back at him. These two seem like a perfect match!

Masterpost

[ultraviolet-ink]

Mycroft Holmes for the 002 character ask (he is my underrated fave in the ACD short stories)

God I love him!! I've just started reading Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse, and I really like it so far!! :D

How I feel about this character:  He gives me so many brainworms, like what kind of person is someone who's even more talented in some respects than Sherlock Holmes himself. Perhaps we're all lucky that he's content to do his own thing, because I feel like he'd be a mastermind in any way possible (This is why I think that HE is the better Holmes to foil Moriarty with, but this is an essay for another day)

All the people I ship romantically with this character:  I don't really have any ships with ACD!Mycroft, so I'll cheat and say Albert James Moriarty from Yuumori haha

My non-romantic OTP for this character:  Granada got me on the "Mycroft and Watson are amicable" train, and I am here for the ride

My unpopular opinion about this character: I don't think I have any unpopular opinions, he's a bit of a blank slate with what we know, so I think everyone just likes to build up on each other over the years!

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I'd love more Holmes² adventures, it's such an under explored concept, or even a little vignette where the brothers have a deduction battle XD

my OTP: See above, so I'll just say Yuumori MyAl XD

my cross over ship: I like to think that he would also have great chemistry with Yujin Mikotoba XD

a headcanon fact: I like to think that if he has a wife and son, they're both russian, as a nod to the soviet series where that was a specific fact I latched onto haha

Sauce Here!!

[asg-stuff]

Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.]

"I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection". (via "Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.]" | AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER - UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA)

The moral universe doesn’t bend toward justice unless pressure is applied. (via Op-Ed: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: How to sustain momentum for the anti-racism movement | Los Angeles Times)

[writebackatya]

Thinking about the fight between Bruce Lee and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Game of Death and how awesome it is!

I love a good fight between two people of different sizes that use it to their advantage

The footprint on Bruce Lee’s chest will always be great and I love all the shots where you can really just how much taller Kareem is compared to Bruce

Masterful fighting from two pros

I love it