#the hr comes before the prequels

[short-wooloo]

Sorry but the idea that the high Republic era Jedi are radically different from the prequel era Jedi is just laughable

The "main" story of hr is 200 years before the prequels, that isn't a lot of time, especially considering the scope of Jedi/Republic history goes back 25,000 years, and that there are multiple species who live in the hundreds of years, Yoda, Yadde, Yarael Poof, Tera Sinube, Oppo Rancisis, and many others lived through that time

And considering the high Republic era only ends 50 years before tpm...

[princess--af]

Nesting - Prequel - Changbin and Felix

: ̗̀➛  Meeting and working with your boss is fun, and brings along a few new interesting friends.

: ̗̀➛  warnings: smut (masturbation), mentions of corporate life (gross), Felix is a flirt

tags: @y9nabae1 @justayoungandwisefangirl @obeythemasters @julciaqwerty @3rachasninja @bmnyy @licklix @iadorethemskz

Nesting: Part 1 | Nesting Part 2

You had nothing to be scared of.

That was the mantra you had been repeating all morning as you worked through the mountain of emails you always had on a Monday morning. You were used to the “Why didn’t you get this done?” emails, and the “New work came through over the weekend.” ones that always greeted you. What you weren’t used to was an email from the CEOs PA, requesting your presence on the top floor for an important meeting. There wasn’t much more information other than it was just going to be you and the CEO.

You had never really met the elusive Seo Changbin; you had only ever seen him at the one work event you subjected yourself too. He had seemed in such a rush, or maybe it was just his normal speed to only offer brief nods to the various Directors, thank everyone for coming, and hightail it out of there. To be fair, you couldn’t really blame him. You hated large events and only went because your Director had not-so-subtly warned that non-attendance would look negative come annual reviews.

Your only impression of Changbin was that he was handsome and clearly took care of himself well. You hadn’t been aware that he even knew who you were among the hundreds of employees at your office, but apparently you were more well-known that you thought if you had a private meeting with him.

You had only really managed to get through half of what you normally would have by this time in the day, mind too busy on concocting various theories as to why you were meeting with him.

Had you seriously fucked up on a proposal?

Had you accidentally swore in an email to an important client?

Had people complained to HR about your outfits? In your opinion, there was nothing wrong with them. It wasn’t your fault you were blessed with curvy genetics and a penchant for flattering pants.

Before you could spiral further into a pit of worry, the alarm you had set on your phone rang out, jolting you up from your desk in surprise. You didn’t know if you should pocket the device; surely it was normal for anyone in your age range to be carrying their phone, even if it was just into a meeting. You didn’t dwell on it too much, sliding it into your pocket and making the anxious trek upstairs, avoiding the curious looks from your coworkers as you stepped into the elevator. It wasn’t normal for you to be leaving at this time; you were usually chained to your desk until at least 1pm when you’d begrudgingly answer your growling stomach and go find something to eat.

You tried to quell the anxious tapping of your hands against your legs, on the short but seemingly endless trip up to level 26, not wanting to metaphorically get caught with your pants down. You couldn’t go into this meeting expecting the worst. And you certainly couldn’t let anyone push you around for something as stupid as tight pants; you were sure it was going to come up.

The elevator door opened into a quiet lobby, and you could only faintly hear mumbling and keyboards tapping away somewhere in the distance. There mustn’t be many people that work up here. Inching out into the open, you looked around, clearly lost.

“Can I help you?” A monotonous, almost condescending voice, broke the quiet, clearly directed at you. You somewhat recognised the person behind the voice, but couldn’t quite place where you would know them from.

“I’m here to see Mr Seo?” You phrased it like a question, still unsure about the whole situation. It was still so fucking weird. When the man simply raised an eyebrow, you continued. “My name is Y/N Y/L/N. I... have a meeting at 11.”

You clasped your hands together in front of you, shrinking minutely when the corners of the mans mouth twitched, clearly amused at the sight of you.

“Right. He’s down here.” He gestured down one of the many halls that branched off from the main lobby, already walking down it like he owned the place, not even bothering to look back to see if you were following him. You scampered after him quickly, realised that made you look like an idiot, and slowed to a semi-respectable pace, still keeping your distance as you followed him down the hall until he stopped abruptly in front of two heavy looking doors.

The man briefly turned to look at you, giving you a once over, clearly not enjoying what he saw, before turning back to the doors and knocking.

“Y/N for you, Mr Seo,” the man yelled out, making you jump slightly as it echoed through the empty hallway.

You didn’t hear a response, but clearly the guy did, since he gestured for you to open the doors, turning away and hightailing it back towards the lobby.

You did one last round of tapping your thighs; mostly to get rid of the clammy feeling that had persistently been there since you had first seen the invite; before pulling open the door, stumbling a little at how heavy it was. What was the purpose of doors that weighed as much as the average human?

You got it halfway open before you slipped inside, letting it fall shut behind you with a loud thump.

“Oh, sorry. It’s stupidly heavy, I know.”

Mr Seo was sat on a cozy looking love-seat, reading over some absurdly large document. Without looking up, he gestured for you to sit in the armchair closest to him. You followed his direction, perching on the edge of the chair awkwardly, your hands wringing nervously on your lap. You tried not to peek at him or whatever he was so focused on, but couldn’t help the brief look at the document, making out “Contract for Sale” in bold letters along the top; the rest of the writing too small for you to be able to read normally, let alone upside down. Of course he would just be sitting here signing off on some new property; it was probably a weekly occurrence for him.

You didn’t notice he had stopped looking over the document until he cleared his throat, making you jump in surprise, wrenching your gaze away from the document to instead look at his face. He looked amused as he threw the document onto the cushion next to him.

“It’s my sisters,” he offered you after a beat of awkward silence. “I don’t just buy properties in my spare time.”

Well fuck. Could he read minds?

“Of course not,” you whispered in reply.

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together in front, levelling you with a friendly gaze. “Please don’t be nervous, you’re not getting fired.” Changbin gestured to the coffee table in front of you both, and it was only then that you noticed another document, albeit way less thick and imposing, facing you so you could actually read it this time. “Your director has moved into another role, and he recommended you to fill his shoes.”

“He... What?” You snatched up the document, not really believing what you were seeing and hearing. “He recommended me? For a director role? But I’ve only been here a short time... Surely there are people more qualified for the role...” Despite what you were saying, you couldn’t help yourself and started flicking through the new employment contract, choking a little when you saw the remuneration section. You looked back up at Changbin’s face in disbelief, trying not to be offended when he giggled at the horrified look on your face. You had never seen so many zeros at the end of a salary offer.

“I didn’t want to pry too much, but I had a look over some of your work and spoke to some other directors that you’ve worked with, just to be certain you were the right woman for the job. I don’t think he could’ve made a better recommendation.” Changbin shifted in his seat, opting to lean back against the back of the loveseat, stretching his legs out in front of him. If you weren’t still in a state of shock, you probably would’ve marveled more over how his suit pants were stretching over his thick thighs, outlining deep rivets of muscle that he obviously worked hard for. “I know it’s a little short notice, but we planned to move Mr Kim into the new role in a few weeks, and ideally we’d like you to shadow him for at least a week to get a feel for the role. It would be great if you could have an answer for me by end of week? I can try to answer any questions you might have, and Mr Kim has made himself available to you as well if you’d prefer to speak to him.”

Letting out a shaky breath, you nodded, looking back down at the contract. God, you’d have to call your parents; they would know what to do.

“Now obviously, you can see we have someone new with us. This is Y/N, she is taking over the director role from Mr Kim. Please make her feel welcome.”

You inwardly cursed at the awkward smile you were giving everyone, mostly likely more of a grimace, nodding your head politely when they all turned to look at you. Most of them nodded back, a few offered you soft ‘welcomes’, before everyone turned back to Changbin.

“I don’t want to take up too much of your time; we just need to go over policies surrounding the interns and graduates that will be starting next week.”

You tuned out, already having spoken about this earlier in the week; you were quite familiar with the policies since you were the one normally taking care of the interns and grads. Instead, you opted to survey everyone in the room, trying to put names to faces to titles and figure out who you’d potentially be working with closely.

In the middle of glaring at a spot on the table as you tried to remember the woman’s name that sat across from you, you felt a soft nudge to your arm, and a notepad being subtly turned in your direction.

Choi Sooyoung. Christmas party. （＾ω＾）

Right. That’s where you knew her from. Apparently the company encourage friendly competition between the staff at parties, and it usually centred around entertainment. Your memory was hazy from the night, but you remember her singing. You scribbled back on the corner of the page;

Thank you ´･ᴗ･`

“Everyone should come up and introduce themselves at some point. Honestly, you’ll probably get tired of us always being at your door.”

Chan had been sat next to you during the meeting, and had waited patiently for you to pack your things up. You had heard of him; you knew he was one of the top producers at the company, and that loads of interns aspired to work in his team, both because he was talented and a great mentor, and also because he was very attractive, and there was nothing wrong with a little eye candy as your worked. You had never seen him before in person, but could see where they were all coming from.

“I really appreciate you helping me. It would’ve bugged me all day, honestly,” you laughed, following him down the hall and towards Changbin’s office; he had asked if you would like to go out for celebratory drinks and dinner after work, and Chan claimed he ‘needed the walk after sitting on his ass all day’. Chan didn’t bother knocking on the office door, opting to push it open, using just one hand and barely any force mind you, gesturing for you to enter first.

“I don’t remember inviting you.”

Changbin was sat on the same couch where you had first met him, but he was joined by a petite blonde boy leaning heavily against his side. The boy offered Chan a sweet and familial smile, before his big eyes flicked to you, looking a little unsure.

“Hey Lixie.” Chan stepped around your frozen body, collapsing into the vacant spot next to the boy, ruffling his blonde hair until it was fluffed up and the boy was whining at him. “This is Y/N.”

A look a recognition flashed over the boys face, shooting you a blinding smile. “Oh, right. I’m Felix! It’s nice to meet you!” He threw himself over Changbin’s lap, holding out a hand for you to shake. You shook it gingerly, a little shocked at how small his hands were. “Are you guys going out? Can I join? I won’t make a peep, I promise!” Felix was practically lying on Changbin now, and had rolled over in his lap to shoot his, boyfriend(?) the sweetest puppy eyes that you had ever seen. “Please Binnie?”

You knew Changbin was nice, but he was usually sporting furrowed brows and looks of pure concentration, and you had rarely ever seen him crack a smile, let alone be sporting a look a pure adoration, eyes and smile soft as he looked down at Felix in his lap. God, what you would give for someone to look at you like that. “Sure baby, you can come. You staying Chan?”

Chan shrugged, kicking his feet up on the coffee table in front of him and slouching further into the comfortable couch. “Won’t ever say no to free food.”

"Why don't I come out with you guys more often?" Felix was about half a bottle of soju deep, and was already resting his chin on his propped up hand, smiling dreamily at everyone sat around the table. "This is great. Free drinks, free food. Free eye candy," he wiggled his brows in what he probably thought was a seductive manner, but actually just made you giggle at the ludicrous expression he was making. "That includes you, Y/N. Not just these stinky boys."

Felix, you had learnt, was incredibly flirty and not at all shy about showing how much he appreciated the 'eye candy' he was blessed with. He had warmed up to you instantly, pushing you into the backseat of Changbin's ridiculously expensive and clean car, holding your hand the entire ride to the restaurant as he talked your ear off about what he had gotten up to that day. He had cuddled up next to you in the booth at the restaurant, sticking his tongue out at Changbin when the man pouted about not getting to sit next to his 'lovely kitty cat'; whatever that meant. When the boys had finished grilling the first plate of meat, Felix had pouted at you until you made him a ssam and hand fed him, periodically opening his mouth for more whenever he had stopped chattering and flirting. It would have made you nervous, your bosses boyfriend flirting so openly, if it weren't for the fondly exasperated look on Changbin's face every time Felix said something particularly dangerous.

"Yah, we're not stinky!" Changbin glared playfully across the table, snapping the BBQ tongs threateningly. "Take that back, you little minx!"

Felix turned his nose up petulantly, moving to wrap one arm around your waist, the other resting just above your knee, sharply tugging until you were practically sitting in his lap. "Never. Y/N is why I'm here. Learn to live with it, hyung."

You felt a hot flush creeping along your cheeks and down your neck, trying to wiggle out of the strong hold Felix had you in, letting out a high pitched shriek when he pinched your leg in retaliation.

"Felix," you warned, not really knowing what you were threatening, but willing to do almost anything to get out of his tight hold. You looked at Chan for help, grumbling when he just offered you a shrug, a cheeky smile, turning back to the grill. You couldn't quite brave looking to your boss for help; how fucking awkward. "Felix, honey, if you let me go, I can feed you more."

The hold he had on you loosened for a second, before tightening back up, the hand on your leg curling around your thigh and tugging your leg up until it was resting on his legs, your sides practically glued together now. "You only need one hand to use chopsticks, Y/N. Don't try to trick me."

The boys across from you laughed, depositing a few pieces of meat and grilled mushroom into your bowl. Traitors.

Felix let out a soft 'aaaahh' sound, chittering happily when you blew on a piece for him to cool it down before feeding it to him. He squeezed your thigh appreciatively with every mouthful, and if he wasn't holding it so tightly and glued to your side, you would've been tempted to awkwardly rub them together. Screw it; you had a hot guy glued to your side, practically moaning in your ear, holding you in places that had always been sensitive erogenous zones for you, you had been drinking and you couldn’t even remember the last time you had been intimate with anyone. You weren’t going to act on anything anyway.

You listened to the boys talk, feeding yourself and Felix every time more food was deposited into your bowl, mostly focused on how Felix’s fingers were mindlessly stroking the inside of your thigh. It was kind of ticklish, but mostly it was fuelling the annoying thrum in between your legs, making you wiggle a bit to see if the feeling would go down.

It didn't.

If anything, it kicked into high gear since Felix felt like he had to tighten his hold on you, effectively pining you down in your spot, small hands tightening to the point that would probably leave faint bruises the following day. For such a petite guy, he surely was strong.

You glared down at the empty bowl in front of you, hoping to god no one noticed the red flush finding its way back to your cheeks. Why couldn't you keep it together. Why couldn't you just enjoy a dinner paid for by your lovely boss like a normal person? Why couldn't you just stop clenching down on nothing like the desperate single woman you were? Why was Felix giggling? What was so funny about your misery that had the boy rubbing his face into your shoulder?

"You're so cute, Y/N," Felix purred, blinking up at you with those big eyes. You startled slightly when you noticed they almost started to narrow into slits, blinking quickly, assuming you just had too much to drink or that the lighting was so horrible that you were seeing things. "I could just eat you up."

"I'm sorry about him."

Chan was helping a giggling Felix back into the backseat of the car. He had launched himself out after you when Changbin had dropped you off at your apartment, pouting and clinging to you like a child not wanting to leave his mother. He had whined at you until you pressed a soft his to his cheek, promising you could have lunch together the next time he came into the office.

Changbin had stepped out at that point, flicking the younger boy lightly across the forehead and herding him back towards the idling car.

"It's okay. He's really sweet." You watched fondling as Felix breathed on the inside of the rolled up window, drawing a heart and winking at you.

"He doesn't actually normally take this well to strangers. I think it's the cat in him that makes him extra cautious," Changbin mumbled, almost nonchalant in the way he had just dropped a bomb on you. "Well, you should get in-Y/N? Are you okay?" You were probably gaping like a fish, but how else were you supposed to react to that.

"Cat? He's a hybrid?"

Changbin blinked at you slowly, very cat-like and probably a habit he had picked up unknowingly from Felix. "Yes... Sorry, I thought everyone knew. It's common knowledge around the office. Is... Is that a problem?" He was asking nicely, but there was an edge to his voice. A "we're going to have a problem if you say yes".

"N-no, of course not. I just... I didn't realise. He... He doesn't display the physical traits? I'm sorry, I'm not very knowledgeable about hybrids," you blurted out, wringing you hands in front of your stomach nervously. This was it. This was the moment you'd get fired. You barely even lasted a month.

"Oh, yeah they don't usually. I'm a little surprised they stayed dormant with how much he was drinking." Changbin had visibly deflated at your words, coming back from his fight or flight response. He went to continue but was interrupted by loud knocking. Felix was knocking on the window, and you could hear his whining even though it was closed and parking on the curb, a good 10 metres away. "Sorry, I better get him home. I'll see you on Monday."

Changbin started walking backwards, gesturing for you to get inside your building, not turning around until you were inside and the security door was safely locked behind you. What a gentleman.

It had been a good hour and a half since you had been dropped home. You had showered, taken a preventative headache tablet, drank two whole cups of water, brushed your teeth, and been lying in the dark for at least 30 minutes. Sleep was not coming to you. Your brain couldn't switch off from the absolute weird way your night had turned.

You expected a few drinks and some food with Changbin, and a relatively early night. Not to be shamelessly flirted with by your bosses hybrid(!), turning you on to the point where not even the blast of cold water in the shower had helped.

"I need therapy," you sighed, reaching blindly into your nightstand drawer for the familiar silicone toy kept there. One orgasm couldn't hurt. You wouldn't even think of Felix. You'd think of one of the male protagonists in a film you had watched recently, or of the weird porn film your university friends had watched on a drunken night meant for studying.

Shucking your shorts off, you slid further under the covers; you lived alone but still felt embarrassed by the loud noises your toys tended to make, feeling like your neighbours couldn't probably hear you and would come knocking at god awful times to tell you off.

Letting out a shaky breath, you switched the toy on, flinching at the soft buzzing noise that filled the previously silent room. Pressing it softly to your clit, you shuddered at the feeling, already a little too turned on for teasing. It had been a LONG time.

You circled your clit lightly, closing your eyes and trying to conjure up an image that would help; anything that wasn't the soft blonde locks and pretty freckles and small hands that were gripping your thigh so tightly just hours before. You let out a groan at the pulse that went through your core at the image, feeling insanely guilty for getting off to the thought of the sweet hybrid. It's okay. He doesn't have to know. No one does. One night, and you'll be over it.

You brought the toy down to your hole, already wet and creating obscene slick noises when you ran the toy through your folds to collect some of the wetness to make the slide easier.

Breathing out deeply, you pushed the toy in, a little ashamed at how easily it slid in, but immediately relieved when you had something to fill you up; you really needed to get laid more.

Shifting into a better position, you angled the toy a little forward, thrusting it in experimentally, the vibrations making your tummy clench and your legs shake as you searched for the spot that would make the guilt end quicker.

You couldn't stop thinking about how Felix had pinned you down so easily, gripping your soft fleshy parts, hiking your leg up onto his lap so you were almost splayed out inappropriately; in public too. You wondered if sex with a hybrid was different than sex with a human; did they let themselves go? Did they embrace their animalistic side more freely? Felix seemed like he would be good and submissive when you had first met him, but the way he had looked at you and wrangled you to his liking make you think he had a wild side that he didn't get to show too much.

So deep in your thoughts, you didn't realise the toy had slid out of your grip slightly, but ended up rubbing directly against the spongey spot inside of you, making you squeal out in delight, turning to bite your pillow to muffle the noise. Getting a better grip on the toy, you rolled onto your side slightly, bending your leg and thrusting the toy inside with a renewed vigour, hitting the soft spot with every thrust.

"Oh god, fuck I wanna cum." You didn't know who you were talking to, you were alone, but you could picture Felix in front of you, keeping his hands to himself as he watch you get off, letting out little moans of his own to goad you on.

It was a little awkward, but you brought your free hand down to your clit to rough tight circles on it, nearly howling with how good it felt. The knot in your stomach was so close to snapping, your orgasm was right there, but you just couldn't go over the edge. You needed something. You needed Felix. You needed him to grip your leg tight, tight enough to leave dark bruises, to push his face into your neck and leave soft kisses there; his lips looked so soft, you just knew they would feel heavenly on you.

"I need you to cum for me Y/N. Pretty please. Then I can fuck you and make you cum again on my cock. Please Y/N. Please cum for me."

You could practically hear him saying it, and it surely set you over the edge. Turning your face completely into your pillow to muffle the loud groans that left you, you kept thrusting the toy inside, clenching and pulsing down on it and making it slightly difficult to push and pull, but you weren't too keen on being empty just yet. The fingers on your clit at stopped, gripping tightly at the sheets under you instead as you shivered your way through one of the best orgasm you had had in a while, legs shaking and chest heaving with the effort it took to keep you awake.

Yep. You definitely needed therapy.

[amplesalty]

Halloween 2024 - Day 8 - Halloween (1978)

Better late than never...

Well, that's another October in the books (in the pocket, out of sight) and I'm afraid to say it's been another sub par showing from myself. Technically a very slight improvement from last year but still a far cry from years previous where I was getting within touching distance of the full 31 most years. Must try harder. But what better way to round out the month and celebrate All Hallows Eve (now someway removed at time of writing but who's counting) than with our customary look at the Halloween franchise itself. But wait, didn't we just wrap this up last year with Halloween Ends? The movie franchise is dormant for now and that TV show is still just in development so what are we to do? In the words of the Average White Band; let's go round again.

Not all of them, obviously, just the ones I skipped over at points when I was being lazy. Which is namely Halloween (1978), Halloween II (1981), Halloween H20 and Halloween Resurrection. Though, those first two were ones that I had watched alongside Season of the Witch during 'year zero' before the start of this blog so I had continued on to 4 during year one in the interest of furthering my own journey through the history of horror. At our usual rate that will last us until 2027 at which point someone is sure to have pumped out another new Michael Myers related media. Failing that, there's probably a documentary or something that can fill a gap. Something in the vein of Crystal Lake Memories, though hopefully not as long because 6 hrs 40 minutes? Sheesh. Speaking of Friday the 13th and TV show adaptations, I didn't know they were doing a prequel series at the camp. Presumably it would culminate with Jason drowning? It's a novel way of keeping within the universe but not going the standard slasher route, at least I assume it wouldn't be. I'd picture more of a teen dramedy thing that maybe leans more into the horror later on. But to the business at hand and, as the title card above would suggest it's the grandaddy of them all, the original Halloween from all the way back in 1978. To think we'll be celebrating 50 years of this movie in just a few years time, crazy. Right from the word go here even through something as simple as the opening credits we're establishing the creepy atmosphere as that iconic theme plays the names of our various stars and a jack o'lantern on which we slowly zoom in until it almost envelops the entire screen. It's a theme that has to go down as one of the greatest pieces of music in the history of cinema, so itense, forboding and it envokes this feeling of urgency, not unlike what many of Michael's victims feel over the course of the franchise as they try to flee from him. It's becomes so versatile during the movie as well, whether it's being slowed down to fit a slighty different tone or being used as a Michael alarm of sorts to indicate he's nearby, or as a red herring when the movie is trying to trick you into thinking that he is just so it can mess with you. The use of sound adds so much to the movie, right down to the very end when think Loomis has banished this great evil forever but little does he know that this is just the start of a phenomenon that will last for decades to come, with Michael's heavy breathing just before the credits reminding us all that he's still out there, lurking in the darkness waiting to strike again.

Much like Peeping Tom that we looked out earlier in this marathon, this film too starts out with a unique POV shot, this time from the clown mask of young Michael as he butchers his sister to death. It's probably for the best that he went with something more subtle in his choice of mask upon reaching adulthood, I'm not sure if the character would have been quite as iconic in a clown mask.

That shot and the follow up of an almost catatonic Michael in his clown costume would be re-visited in Part 4 with Jamie Lloyd, Laurie's daughter and Michael's niece (in that parralell universe at least), when she stabs her foster mother to death.

A less obvious Michael trope his how adept he apparently is at driving cars despite logically never spending a second behind the wheel of one considering he's been in an asylum most of his life. Much like he would commit a little GTA in Part 5, he does so again here when Loomis goes to collect him ahead of a court hearing, only for Michael to jump in the car and speed off.

From here he makes his way back home to Haddonfield where we slowly piece together the stops he's made along the way that have been helping him create his signature look, whether that's robbing the local hardware store for his Shatner mask, rope and knives or the blue collar worker he kills by the side of the road before making off with his coveralls.

Michael seems to spend most of his time stalking Laurie, such as when she's in class and he's just standing conspicuously across the street gawking through the window. Laurie is discussing the idea of fate and destiny here which is almost certainly coincidental considering they couldn't possibly have forseen how succesful the movie would become but it feels apt that the two of them were destined to do this forever. Well, until Michael gets thrown into the wood chipper of course. Or maybe it's a subtle way of the filmmakers of aluding to a connection between the two characters. We wouldn't know about their family connection until the next movie so I'm curious as to whether this was planned at this point or if I'm just reading into this too much. Going back to sound, the movie isn't afraid to be quiet when it needs to in order to let a moment sink in or build some tension. It's something that makes seeing this again very interesting in having that comparison against something like Terrifier 2 which is very much in your face all the time, or even some of the later movies where Michael takes on this much more supernatural element given how invulnerable he seems to become. Everything feels much more grounded in reality, this mix of paranoia as we see Michael stalk his way through the town spying on Laurie and her friends, and Loomis raving to anyone who will listen about the danger that is being visited upon Haddonfield.

That's not to say Michael doesn't display some of that freakish strength he becomes known for when he impales one of the teens with a butcher knife. That's a strong knife if it can hold up a near grown ass man, you could sell that on late night TV like when they show them cutting shoes with knives. Whilst not as overt as some others in the genre, the subtext of horror movies advocating for abstinence makes an apperance whilst Laurie's friends are trying to arrange a place to meet up and bang during their baby sitting duties. Michael offs one of them when he goes for a beer and takes his place back upstairs whilst under heavy disguise. I'm very torn on this because you take one look at it and it's completely out of tone with the rest of the movie, not to mention the rest of the franchise. But then again, that's me using existing knowledge of the character and how he plays out over the dozen or so movies to make judgments towards this particular depiction. There would have been nothing to go on that this point so if Michael wants to dress up as a ghost, well maybe that's just his thing. Plus, as a young man he would have the same sort of urges as any other so maybe this was just his twisted idea of trying to get some. Disguise himself as the boyfriend and then make his move. He arguablly only snaps because the girl becomes annoyed in him not saying anything so she decides to phone Laurie instead, who knows what his next move would have been if she hadn't done that.

I've touched upon Loomis a few times so far but I'd like to take a moment to really stress my appreciation for him not only here but throughout his run in the franchise. He really does elevate some of those later movies whilst the series was on a decline and Donald Pleasance just generally brings a certain gravatas to proceedings that you don't get in things like Friday the 13th. You get to see how proceedings really take a tole on Loomis, both mentally and physically, as the movies progress as desperation takes hold and he's willingly to go to extremes to try and stop Michael once and for all. Whilst he's not at that level just yet, he really helps to sell just what we're dealing with in Michael when delivers that famous, haunting monologue about meeting Michael at a young age and coming to learn this was someone incapable of feeling, incapable of understanding right and wrong, and knowing that the only right thing to do was to keep that boy locked up because what was living behind that's boy's eyes was pure evil.

I'd also like to show my appreciation to this particular shot following Laurie's discovery of her friends bodies. As she backs into a corner, unable to properly comprehend what she's found, something sinister looks in the darkness as Michael's mask slowly fades into view before he lunges from the shadows.What could have easily been a jump scare instead lends an extra layer of sympathy from the viewer towards Laurie and just ramps up the tension further. For a brief moment we realise that he is there but Laurie remains oblivious, leaving us as helpless bystanders as we await Michael's next attack. It really is a joy to re-visit this and see from what humble beginnings this horror juggernaut spawned. Even down to the kills, where later entries would find themselves engaging in a never ending game of oneupsmanship with other movies trying to see who could come up with the most goriest, extreme and over the top moments, there are several cases here where Michael is more than willing to get his hands dirty the old fashioned way and simply choke the life out of his victims.

And as the movie reaches builds to it's crescendo and Loomis makes his showstopping apperance at the last second to save the day, you are left with a choice. Do you choose to believe that Michael has perished, treat this as a self contained story and move on with your life? Or do you follow Michael down the rabbit hole that will span the next 40+ years? As if there was any choice…Michael Myers will return next year in Halloween II. We can only hope there will be a full compliment of 30 movies before we get there.

[usagirotten]

Movie review - Alien: Romulus is not bad and not even the best of the saga

Carrying out a cinematographic saga with a coherent continuity that proposes new stories with old and new characters is not an easy task. We have seen good and bad stories, as an example we have the no longer-so-successful Star Wars franchise, or Terminator, which due to the stubbornness of innovating and modernizing have had great failures. Each one of them has contributed great things to the history of cinematography in the genres they occupy, another one of them, and no less important is Alien, a science fiction, horror, and action franchise centered on a series of original films that show its protagonist, Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and her confrontations with an extraterrestrial life form commonly known as Xenomorph, a species dangerous to the balance of all life forms, it is destructive and a relentless killer. Created by writer Dan O'Bannon who collaborated with screenwriter Ronald Shusett on a story initially titled Star Beast and eventually changed to Alien, set in a dystopian future where humanity has advanced technologically and explores new planets for their resources, it features the work of Swiss painter and sculptor HR Giger who designed the adult form of the Xenomorph and its ship while French artist Mœbius created the futuristic/modern look of the spacesuits and Ron Cobb provided most of the industrial design for the sets. Without the aforementioned this franchise would not have had the success that 20th Century Fox Studios expected after investing millions of dollars in its production, the person in charge of bringing the script and this peculiar and terrifying story to life was director Ridley Scott in 1979, this was followed by 3 more sequels Aliens in 1986 directed by James Cameron, Alien 3 in 1992 directed by David Fincher and Alien Resurrection in 1997 directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2 prequels directed by Scott Scott also directed the prequel series films Prometheus in 2012 and Alien: Covenant in 2017, each with a very personal point of view on these adventures and their characters. Alien has been present and its stories have also been told outside the big screen, novels, comics, action figures, and video games are what have kept it within the taste of both locals and strangers, not everything has turned out to be as interesting as it was initially proposed, in this 2024 it is the director Fede Álvarez who tells us an interquel that pays tribute to the entire franchise in Alien: Romulus.

What is Alien: Romulus about?

A group of young people trapped on a mining planet owned by the Weyland-Yutani company plan to escape to a new world, to do so they need cryostasis chambers that will allow them to escape to the planet Yvaga while exploring the depths of the Rebirth space station that was abandoned years ago is an experimental laboratory where there are still traces of the terrifying life form in the universe, this group will have to use all their knowledge to work as a team and achieve their goal, to survive. After the failure of Prometheus and Alien: Covenant and the betrayal of the franchise by telling the supposed origin of these beings at the hands of a synthetic called David (Michael Fassbender) things seemed to have come to a standstill, there was still a lot to tell and the studios decided to take the easy way out, telling a story before any event that would explain where these deadly and dangerous beings come from, the result as we have seen did not work. Alien: Romulus is an experiment that tries to clarify and return everything to its original sequence using elements from the prequels, the black liquid, and the engineers, the film itself is a fan service, a hybrid project that is taking shape-taking key references from the rest of the franchise, a tribute if we want to see it that way to everything that was not explained and that in turn went wrong from the previous installments, the plot holes and the incoherent continuity and now the follow-up they want to give it along with the television series Alien: Earth that will serve as a prequel and will take place three decades before the events of the 1979 Alien film. It seems that 20th Century and The Walt Disney Company are in a hurry to give another franchise a hard time, although Fede Alvarez finds small and diverse ways to innovate a classic this may not be enough to fix everything wrong in the entire saga and this same film, each sequel and prequel of this franchise has been at war with itself, it has not managed to have a sequence of events that are up to date level of what they want to present and even more so to works that have already been done in novels, comics and video games that are the ones that form a canon that they want to forget to modernize it for the new generations. It's already annoying that studios want to come out with the same stupidity of wanting to reach a younger audience, one that doesn't care at all what is done or not in their favor, there are simply things that shouldn't be touched in this way and the question remains the same: will this be the definitive film that rescues the public's interest in a film franchise that should have been left alone years ago? The answer is that very few or almost no one cares whether this is successful or not, the golden age of Alien happened a long time ago and proof of that is that all this takes the best and tries to transform it. The first and supposed "great innovation" of this film is that it focuses on a group of stupid teenagers instead of adults and space marines led by Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny) who is trying to leave the mining planet after the death of her parents and stop being an exploited worker who sees her dream of escape very far away thanks to the oppressive policies of the omnipresent and evil Weyland-Yutani Corporation, a company that only cares about its development and the profit it can get from others, for them no one is expendable and this concept is obvious to us with the crew of the Nostromo.

Alien: Romulus exists between Alien from 1979 and Aliens from 1986 but it also takes in parallel the timeline of the Alien: Isolation video game from 2014 acting almost at the same time in different places and scenarios, while the film takes place in the year 2137 the game is in the year 2142, it is inexplicable how the same Xenomorph from the Alien film from 1979 coexists and is discovered in space, likewise the plot is very similar, while on one hand, we have the Rebirth station that is divided into 2 parts the Romulus and the Remus on the other we have the Sevastopol space station that is only a screen to continue studying, cloning and trying to control these creatures and make them a biological weapon, and here we ask ourselves: a biological weapon for what, to conquer uninhabited planets? or only to satisfy the desire that the human being has to want to control everything? Very little or almost nothing has been told to us in the cinema about the cursed Weyland-Yutani company, being better explained in the Dark Horse Comics publications, an idea that was taken to be part of the script of Prometheus where they told us in more detail the origin of this mega-corporation and that in the end was discarded by Scott himself, and then, we are left the same, with more questions than answers about a material that stays halfway between an I want to but I can't and as spectators and many fans of the saga we will have to start accepting that this is not giving for more and that we are already tired of clumsiness. This story gives Fede Alvarez the chance to do something new that feels thoroughly studied and at the same time completely modern, the script written by Rodó Sayagues and Alvarez himself is more concerned with the multiple references than with doing something more decent and coherent, it is inexplicable how the xenomorph is not now the protagonist and has so little presence and time on screen, in fact this is a major failure if it is a movie with the title of Aliens what we want to see is this creature doing its thing and in what we see it fails to transmit that feeling of constant horror and danger, perhaps the real protagonists are facehuggers that we see slightly mutated and in a new color the rest are just there to make a pretext for the previous to be what looks like that without more, there is no memorable death being Andy the android the most outstanding character of the rest that lack that charisma and personality that we have seen before and although all this seems to be a good idea it is poorly executed. This group decides to steal a ship from the company to go to an abandoned scientific space station that has floated in the orbit of their planet without any consequences, that is, nobody notices and they can do whatever they want or after searching for this life form for so long they leave it just like that in an abandoned space station, the personality of each one of them tries desperately to resemble the protagonists of other films in the saga and they don't even manage to be minimally memorable because from the beginning we know that everyone will die except for the artificial person and its protagonist, who we don't see at any time that transmits to us a feeling of being in imminent danger, everything is resolved by chance and to the benefit of a weak script and its references that once again advocate nostalgia. Álvarez and Sayagues realize that they have to make the most of the comfort zone they are in and they do so in the way they integrate elements from the previous six films including the two prequels in an equally desperate attempt to make this not seem like such a bad idea, references such as the axis of the creatures having as its origin the first Xenomorph that Ripley fights in the first film and that was frozen in space, the android Ash from the first film along with the computer called mother, the company directives to safeguard and prioritize the specimens, the use of footwear and weapons from James Cameron's Aliens, the mention of the refinery/prison planet Fiorina "Fury" 161 from Alien 3 or the new half-human and half-xenomorph/engineer hybrid from Alien Resurrection as well as the black liquid from Prometheus and the evolution of the creatures from Alien: Covenant to mention only the most interesting ones. The film itself suffers from little or no commitment to continuing with the canon, the idea of ​​a Xenomorph creature that can adopt characteristics of its host makes it extremely fascinating and that has only been presented as such in Alien 3, at this point what was done here had everything to pave the way to present new things and as a result, we have something that helps us see what happens later, something that doesn't care about contributing or being successful in itself, a whim to maintain and now modernize and make a new saga based on another that also doesn't care whether it has a continuation or not, in short, we take another story with other characters, we give them some references and that's it. Not everything is so bad, it has some technical advantages. Director of photography Galo Olivares tends to recreate dark and sinister settings, something as claustrophobic in a more industrial and retro-futuristic style as what Scott did in Alien. At the same time, production designer Naaman Marshall relies almost entirely on the sketches of conceptual designer Ron Cobb that we already saw in Alien and Aliens and also takes elements from the Alien: Isolation video game, which makes everything we see more concrete and rounded, returning to science fiction and horror. The special effects mix CGI with practical effects, at every moment they make us notice the sets, the animatronics, the costumes, and the makeup, everything is perfectly well cared for and balanced so that at all times its narrative surprises us momentarily and not because of how guessable it may be but because it strives to constantly recreate past scenarios and as an audience it makes us think that things can be turned around and used to our advantage. The first film was not conceived to start a saga, it was the need that cinema had at the end of the 70s to innovate and at the same time compete with others that took space themes very lightly, it renewed the belief that space science fiction had to do with silver suits and shiny ships with attractive main characters who could solve anything at any time, it went from being simple to showing the horror that can be facing a hostile and dangerous creature from another planet and the risk that it represents for whoever has the misfortune of crossing paths with them.

HR Giger created this being but it was Scott and his team who gave it that personality that became iconic in the history of cinema, a meta-story that still has a lot to tell if it is in the right hands, proving that all this can stand out without a character like Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is extremely difficult, her character and performance marked a before and after for the leading women, her participation has been relevant and of utmost importance in this saga and having said all the above is not a direct comparison, it is the fact of recognizing that this is a mix of everything to get something that later may or may not work. The cast is made up of Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu, teenagers who play other teenagers where the only one who stands out is Jonsson and his character. The music composed by Benjamin Wallfisch follows the same line as the film, recreating with samples the scores composed by Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Elliot Goldenthal, John Frizzell, Marc Streitenfeld, Jed Kurzel, Christian Henson, Joe Henson Alexis Smith, who appear at the right moment and are fully identifiable as a tribute to these great creators. In conclusion, Alien: Romulus is not bad but it is not the best of the saga either, a closing and an opening of a very low-risk proposal from which one could expect more than what is delivered and which fulfills its purpose of entertaining. Let us hope that the already inevitable next installment can be more daring in itself and contribute more than just a simple and trite modernity and can finally take us to a truly unexplored territory of which, as was said before, there is still much more to tell. Alien: Romulus is now available in movie theaters in your country. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0XDEhP4MQs Read the full article

[triviareads]

This month was all about contemporary romances for me. I got some excellent ARCs like Tastes Like Shakkar by Nisha Sharma (which pleasantly surprised me; review forthcoming) and Tessa Bailey's Unfortunately Yours (here's my review). I read a rather entertaining novella called Hard Wood that put me in my lumberjack era for a hot second. There was another book that tried to sell me on a hero named "Martin" (tbh his cardinal sin was eating mangos off her vaj, which is only topped off in terribleness by eating tiramisu off someone's vagina— Enzo you monster, cages are not where I draw the line, but the tiramisu is). Also read Dana Islay's Rules We Break which had me pondering why it's so hard to find dommes in romance novels (and rarer still to find well-written ones). All in all, a good month, and here are my favorites:

Looking by Katrina Jackson

This was recommended to me by @monarchies-history after I was asked for a list of diverse contemporary romance recs. Darren and Nadia are a married couple with twins. They want to open their marriage and arrange to meet with Jourdan (sidenote: all the mcs are Black; Katrina really does the most for diverse romances), who is very into both of them right off the bat, and the feeling is mutual (there is a park trail sex scene lolol). What I loved most about Looking is that it's such a joyful book. The dialogue is funny and clever, the sex is very hot in all its configurations (Darren and Nadia get to know Jourdan separately before they all get together— it's actually kinda "slowburn" in that sense; each of them gets their own POV section), and the three of them are just so happy to be together, you can't help but smile.

Serving Pleasure by Alisha Rai

@jeanvanjer was trying to get me to read Glutton for Pleasure for the longest time (which I did, and it was good; another throuple book), but I latched onto Serving Pleasure more, not only because I enjoyed the way the sex was written more, but also because the emotions REALLY got to me. It's also a pretty unhinged premise: The hero Micah is a recluse and an artist, and Rana lives across the street from him and like... constantly watches him, and even follows (stalks?) him at some point. Lucky for her he's very into it, even jerking off purposely at his window (out of spite, but then he stops midway out of guilt lolol). He asks her to pose for him and they began a no strings-attached fling.

Also, I really liked Rana's characterization: she's perceived as a "party girl" with no serious ambition compared to her sisters so she has to grapple with her self-perception vs. what outsides see, which was really quite novel for me to read in a South Asian heroine.

Compromised in Paradise by Samanthe Beck

This book is fun, light, and quite literally a beach read since it's set in a resort in Hawaii. Arden is a stressed-out heiress looking for a fling, but when the hero Nick catches her faking her orgasm, he decides to give her orgasm lessons. Like, what a saint amirite? With a premise like this, it can go a lot of ways but I appreciate Nick's dedication to centering their sex lessons around her and her orgasm, and then it took an unexpected but welcomed turn towards the end with the rare contemporary romance anal sex.

This book also made me read like three of Samanthe's other books on one shot, and they're all full of great banter and solid dirty talk. Would absolutely recommend this book, this series (called "Compromise Me" which should totally be the name of an HR series), and this author overall.

Salt in the Wound by Sierra Simone

Sierra Simone is back at it, y'all. Salt in the Wound is the (free!) prequel to Salt Kiss, which is coming out this fall. It's set in the same universe as the New Camelot series and Sierra's criminally underrated Sherwood (ft. female!Robin Hood/Maid Marian/Sheriff of Nottingham with a side of a hushed mention of bogeyman Mark Trevena). It centers around how Isolde gets engaged to Mark Trevena, former assassin, current BDSM club owner, and Man Who Never Stops Telling You He's A Bad Bad Man. Isolde wants to be a nun (she also learns martial arts at a nun dojo), but is put in a position where she needs to learn how to fake being Mark's sub in public. Cue kink lessons, and as it turns out she's very into it, and Mark is SHOOK (the way he flees at the end because he can't handle Feelings and masks it with a show of "I'm sooooo Bad you should have expected me to be a bitch about this"..... bravo. Couldn't have set up Salt Kiss better).

My favorite thing about Sierra's characters is just the level of zeal they have... for religion, for sex, for power, and this short story is no different. I am eagerly awaiting the Lyonesse Trilogy.

You Can Follow Me by Jo Brenner

This book was shilled in both Sierra Simone and Mila Finelli's newsletters in a span of a week so I knew I had to give it a shot. Another wild premise: Kara hooked up separately with three SEALs who were actually lovers (two of the three did *not* happen upon her by accident...) and now Circumstances lead to them kidnapping her and holding her captive. Listen, I fully admit I came here for the sex (fun sex, angry sex, manipulative sex, spite-because-she-won't-sleep-with-you-so-you-fuck-your-bros-in-front-of-her sex... you get the picture) but I stayed for the *journey* ok. Specifically how Kara deals with this insane loss of freedom even as she wants to jump all of their bones, and starts to catch Feelings.

Scorching to the Touch by Ofelia Martinez

Another excellent recommendation by Sierra Simone, this one is a somewhat toxic (until it isn't!) romance between a telenovela star (and she's plus sized) and a rockstar. Listen, sometimes all you want to do is read a romance with two hot people who know they're hot shit and also deeply messy individuals. Revenge oral 4% of the way into the book? Check. Stalking Tracking each other long after they've broken up? Check. Breaking up each other's engagements? Check. Him crying on his knees because he bruised her during sex even if it's probably him overreacting? Check. Obsession-induced erectile dysfunction? Check. It's fabulous. Would recommend.

Forbidden Harmony by Elizabeth Kelly

I feel like this post sums up the plot of this one excellently; In addition, I know Elizabeth is writing a series with exclusively older couples which I might try soon.

[cartoonspeedruns]

Tangled: the Series Speedrun

Welcome to Cartoon Speedruns™ , for those who only care about the main plot!! or are simply tired of friends nagging you to watch it!! Tangled: the Series (2017) edition!! 

I usually try to include what I call a “pure speedrun”, containing only the episodes that would be 100% essential to understanding the main plot, followed by a list that also includes recommended episodes that provide extra bits of world building/lore or character development, but with Tangled the Series its mostly all or nothing when it comes to filler so this is just gonna be a pure speedrun. 

Speedrun estimated watchtime: 11 hrs

- - - - -

Season 1

Before Ever After (movie/pilot) ((basically a prequel to the first season))

Ep. 1: What the Hair?!

Ep. 8: Great Expotations

Ep. 16-17: Queen for a Day

Ep. 20: The Quest for Varian

Ep. 21: The Alchemist Returns

Ep. 22-23: The Secret of the Sundrop

Season 2

Ep. 1: Beyond the Corona Walls

Ep. 8: Keeper of the Spire

Ep. 14: Rapunzel and the Great Tree

Ep. 21: Rapunzeltopia

Ep. 20: Lost and Found

Ep. 21: Destinies Collide

Season 3

Ep. 1: Rapunzel’s Return

Ep. 3: Return of the King

Ep. 7: Beginnings

Ep 10: Be Very Afraid

Ep 12: Islands Apart

Ep. 13-14: Cassandra’s Revenge

Ep. 15: Race to the Spire

Ep. 16: A Tale of Two Sisters

Ep. 18: Once a Handmaiden. . .

Ep. 19-21: Plus Est En Vous

*Disclaimer: this is targeted towards those who struggle to get into new shows or catch up on major events but don’t really care about getting emotionally invested, if you are upset that certain episodes aren’t listed then this watchlist isn’t for you 

[missroserose]

Whumptober Day 7: Silent Panic Attack

{Author's note: today's entry is a direct prequel to the amazing @zmediaoutlet fic "cheyenne," where Victor Henriksen finally tracks down a very different Sam and Dean Winchester. If you like this, or even if you don't, check it out—some of the bleakest, most beautiful writing I've encountered in fandom.}

***

He picks up his Louis Vuitton briefcase on his way out from his office.  It’s heavy, filled with documents for the next few workshops and speaking engagements, corporate mission statements and HR disclosures and God knows what else waiting for him to sign, validate, acknowledge.  It’s a demanding job, running a consulting firm; clients constantly pushing you around, employees constantly needing things.  Almost as bad as a family.

…almost.

“Mr. Winchester.”  His assistant trots up to meet him in the tiny mincing steps her Michael Kors pencil skirt allows, Gucci heels clicking on the marble floor of the hallway.  He takes her in at a glance:  hair tidily coiffed and streaked with fashionably-blued grey.  Dove-grey Armani blazer carefully arranged.  Cream-colored silk shirt clearly a tier down—Banana Republic, maybe—but he’s not feeling at his best this evening so he’ll let it pass.  “I have your itinerary for the upcoming week,” she says, swiping at the iPad in her hand.  “Cerberus Group has postponed, but I worked with scheduling at Richard Roman Enterprises to fill the gap.  And JPMorgan wants to know if there’s any flexibility in the attendance requirements for their booking next month—it’s the holidays, of course, several of their board members have personal and family leave planned—”

He turns his head to look at her.  Not frostily, not mildly, not glaring, not soft.  It’s a look utterly devoid of any emotion at all.  He knows, because he practices it in the mirror every morning; it’s remarkably versatile.  Even his assistant, whose hair was a warm rich brown when she began working for him, stops speaking when he turns it on her.

“They know the terms,” he says, after a moment.  Quiet; his voice is always quiet.  He’s never needed to raise it.  “If they wish to maintain the prestigious opportunity afforded by a Pathway To Success workshop the entire board must be present.  No exceptions.”

The assistant swallows, then ducks her head in acknowledgement.  He really should say something about that shirt.  Tomorrow, maybe.  “I’ll pass along the message, sir,” she says, carefully polite.  

He gives her a measured nod.  “Was there anything else?”

“Only another message from Agent Henricksen.  He’s still trying to get in touch with you about your brother.”  He can feel the muscle twitch at the corner of his eye; it must be visible, because she continues all in a rush.  “I looked him up, sir, thoroughly, just as you asked.  Academy transcripts, employment records, even his gun safety ratings.  He’s the real thing, definitely.”  Sam still doesn’t answer; she bites her lip.  “I.  Didn’t know you had a brother.”

“We don’t speak.”  He can feel his fingers tightening around the grip of his briefcase, wonders if the knuckles have turned visibly white.  “Were there any further details in the message?”

“No, sir.”  The barest hesitation, then, “Not in the message.”

He flicks an eyebrow up, a silent command.

She shifts her weight to one foot, holds the iPad against her chest.  “It’s…while I was looking into the agent, sir.  It’s not in any of the official press channels.  Not yet.  But there’s gossip that he’s finally run down that killer.”  She won’t meet his eyes.  “The one on the posters.  The one…with the same last name.”

So.  His secret has finally come to light, and his brother is—arrested, or dead.  He can feel his heart pounding, the adrenaline dumping into his bloodstream.  Run, his body says.  Leave.  Go.  Start somewhere else.  Somewhere they don’t know you.  You’ve done it before, you can always rebuild.  He closes his eyes, takes a short, sharp breath in.  Lets it out.  Ignores the voice beneath his body’s voice, the one that lives deep in his hindbrain, the one that sounds like a desperate, trapped child—Dean’s in trouble!  Go find him!  Help him, you’re all he’s got—

“Sir?  Is everything all right?”

The assistant’s voice draws him back to the present.  He ignores the thumping of his heart, the creak in his knuckles, the tension in his shoulders.  This changes nothing.

Well.  Almost nothing.

“Cancel my appointments this weekend.  I’ll be taking leave to deal with a personal matter.”

“Of course, sir.”  She taps a few times on the tablet, swipes between a couple of screens, doesn’t comment on the novelty of the request.  “And if the press calls?”

The thought of press attention is enough to set his heart pounding again, but he covers it with a tight-lipped smile.  “Refer them to the local FBI office.”  He prises his fingers from their grip, re-hefts the briefcase.  “And inform the flight crew that the plane needs to be ready.  I’ll be traveling.”  He doesn’t wait for the assistant’s acknowledgement, only continues his stride towards the door as if it had never been broken. 

It’s only when he reaches the door that he realizes he’s been humming under his breath, something tuneless and familiar.  He stops immediately, but the long-forgotten lyrics flash into his brain regardless, like unwelcome karaoke:

For now I smell the rain, and with it pain, and it's headed my way…

[ariapmdeol]

Oh, I apologize. I didn't mean 'like Genshin Impact' in a negative way. I'm just saying that genshin impact has a lot of connected organizations & 'lore' just like this game seems to; and so people are having fun with analyzing the various factions & trying to figure out what it all means because the story is incomplete & so leaves room for interpretation. It's fine to be into something with an incomplete story! That's not a bad thing at all, I just thought it'd have more canon.

OH NONO you had asked if "is it a story where there isn't really much of a story, but the fans like filling in the blanks with their own writing & making ocs?" when CoE is VERY VERY MUCH STORY AND CHARACTER CENTRIC and the fact that I had given you that impression had... scared me a little bit. it is literally the polar opposite of that phrase specifically.

i'll go more in detail under the cut! I promise i'm not mad i just think I may have misled you somehow. Cell of Empireo is a part of a layered series; the CoE part of it is complete, with the DLC acting as its prequel/epilogue. Think of it like-- You can theorize about the new games in a series before they come out, but that doesnt make the previous games LESS complete, if that makes sense?

the DLC/HR/Interlude expand on the lore and bring it into the main story in a really engaging way. I would think of it less as 'CoE is incomplete' and more of 'a series with multiple parts'. COE is Game 1, The DLC+HR are additional parts of Game 1, Interlude is 1.5, and CoM (unreleased) is 2.

Considering the base game takes ~16-20 hours to complete one playthrough, and it has seven Endings, plus ~10+ Hours of DLC content, (not counting Interlude) we are not lacking for canon content adslkjdsalkjdsa.

i'm just not sure how much canon you think cell of empireo has? The eng TL alone has well over 25+ hours of footage

I just think that bc i opened with a niche detail of lore, I may have accidentally given a skewed perspective if that makes sense?

[datzyuk]

so i'm thinking of reading some star wars novels and i'm pretty sure i've seen you talking about them so do you have any recs or instructions on how to read them? there's just so many. also ignore this if i'm totally wrong lmao

i love star wars novels sm!!! here's my very long breakdown under the readmore.

for starters, there are two main types of books

canon: anything published after disney purchased star wars. first canon book was released in 2014. occasionally small details from the books are retconned by new tv shows/movies but everything else is considered canon.

legends: anything published before disney purchased star wars in 2012. not canon but the new content often takes ideas from these books. before disney took over, there weren’t many rules for star wars books, so a lot of legends books contradict each other.

i’d also say it’s important to note that the canon YA books are usually on par with the adult books, so don’t skip them!

i mostly read the canon books so that’s what i’ll focus on but there are some gr8 legends books out there, and you’re way more likely to find legends books at your local used bookstore.

as for the correct order, some people might read them by following the in-universe timeline but that’s definitely not necessary!

here are some of my favs / good ones to start with!

lost stars by claudia gray. follows two kids from a small outer rim planet that bond over flying and eventually join the imperial academy as pilots. it’s the /perfect/ starting spot because its centered around the original trilogy with an atmosphere + events we know, but with OCs who allow us to get a new POV….and there are small cameos from some gr8 characters. it’s a BRICK but i finished it in like 24 hrs bc i couldn’t put it down.

leia: princess of alderaan by claudia gray. maybe i’m biased bc i’m super interested in the formation of the rebellion and the organas are my favorite family, but this book is so well done. it follows 16 yr old leia as she juggles being a junior senator + a princess. she also starts to discover the secrets her parents have been hiding about how deeply they’re involved in the rebellion. it’s a great look at young leia, but it also gives us a really good look at bail + breha organa as well as mon mothma. similar time period as ‘andor’ so it might be a good read before that comes out next month!

bloodline by claudia gray. takes place ~25 yrs after the original trilogy and ~5 yrs before the force awakens. this is the perfect sequel to #2. it gives us a glimpse at what leia has accomplished with the new republic while also showing its faults which lead to the rise of the first order. IMO, perfect mixture between plot + character driven.

dark disciple by christie golden. if you’re a fan of clone wars, this is it!!!! this was originally supposed to an eight episode arc but it was abandoned after the script was writen (by katie lucas!!). it follows quinlan vos and asajj ventress on an undercover mission to kill dooku. sounds weird, right???? i pushed it off for a year and i regret that so much. tied for my favorite star wars book.

the high republic. not a single book but an entire era that takes a look at the jedi order ~250 yrs before the prequels. it’s a collection of adult/YA/middle grade books, comics, and eventually a disney+ show (the acolyte). if you want something completely new, this is it! here’s a list with the reading order. i’ve personally only read the adult + YA books and i’ve really enjoyed them and haven’t felt like i’ve missed out by not reading everything.

some other notable mentions

ahsoka by e.k. johnston. this author’s books definitely feel more “YA” than others, but it’s well worth reading if you’re a fan of clone wars, rebels, or you’re interested in the formation of the rebellion.

the padme trilogy by e.k. johnston. same as above, but they’re a super quick read + really add to the prequels, especially the phantom menace. 

a new dawn by john jackson miller. the first canon book published and you can tell. definitely not my favorite, but it’s worth reading if you’re a fan of rebels. it’s way too focused on the horrible action plot and doesn’t give us much on hera, but it adds a lot to kanan’s history as a padawan + after order 66.

resistance reborn by rebecca roanhorse. if you want more from the sequels (including a whole page of finnpoe content) look no further. best read after the two leia-centric books mentioned above. not star wars but this author's book "black sun" is very good.

i’ve only read a handful of legends books (most are way too focused on the action for me) but here are some recs from that group

the revenge of the sith novelization by matthew woodring stover. like, yeah, it’s just a retelling of the movie we’ve all watched a million times but with extra scenes /and/ the character’s thoughts + feelings. makes it way more tragic. might contain a scene insinuating that obi-wan is hooking up with bail organa.

wild space by karen miller. a great look at obi-wan + anakin right after attack of the clones as they adjust to war, anakin adjusts to having a padawan, and obi-wan tries to talk to him about his attachment to padme. but 90% of it is bail + obi-wan stuck together on a mission and, you guessed it, there’s a lot of sexual tension.

the jedi apprentice series by jude watson. i literally started reading these bc i didn’t understand some references to obi-wan’s past in fanfic lol. 150-200 pages each, they’re short and simple but add a lot to obi-wan’s story as a padawan. most consider these canon.

youtini.com is a great source for both canon + legends, as well as r/starwarsbooks (except for their obsession with thrawn [puke])

btw you can get a lot of books on thriftbooks for FB marketplace for v cheap.

they are so many star wars books so if you’re looking for a particular character/era/story, let me know!!

[ibijau]

11 with chengxuan please? i hc that jc has a really nice singing voice

Singing together/catching them singing softly to themselves as they cook/do the dishes.

a prequel of this modern AU where Yanli and Wei Wuxian are missing after an accident that left Jin Zixuan disabled

warning for internalised ableism, and also just general ableism mentions

When Jin Ling is five, Zixuan starts working again.

It is not his choice, though he easily convinces himself that it is. His mother is right after all, he can’t go on forever staying at home doing nothing. Sure he’s taking care of Jin Ling, and still dealing with the aftermath of that day, but he can’t do just that, not when he’s clearly well enough to try doing more. His mother doesn’t want him to become a recluse, and she doesn’t want him to get completely out of touch with his father’s company… and she’s right of course.

It’s easier for everyone when she’s right.

Zixuan’s father is a little less enthusiastic about easing his son back into the family business. As he bluntly explains, there’s just not much that Zixuan can do. Going back to his old job isn’t an option. The accounting department, which Zixuan used to be in charge of, has now been given to Meng Yao who is doing very well there, helping the company make a steady profit. Not only that, but Jin Guangshan explains to his son that Meng Yao has uncovered an embezzlement plot that Zixuan apparently accidentally allowed to fester. Wen Ning has been arrested for stealing money in favour of his sister’s charity, and Jin Guangshan explains he had to use all of his influence to protect Zixuan from being dragged into this.

After something like this, it’s obvious Zixuan can no longer be trusted to lead a team. It’s also better if he doesn’t handle anything to do with finances anymore, because their company just cannot bear with another scandal.

Instead, Zixuan is offered a quick formation in web design, and incorporated into the IT team, just another worker among others. It’s work he can do from home, and he’s never met most of his colleagues. None of them seem to realise that he is the son of their employer, and apparently assume the surname Jin is just a coincidence. During a phone reunion, Zixuan hears someone talk about Jin Guangshan’s son who died some years ago, and doesn’t bother to correct it.

His mother can push all she wants, it’s clear Zixuan isn’t going to inherit the company. 

It bothers him less than he should. On the rare days when he still hopes that Yanli will return to him, Zixuan tells himself that they can drop everything and start a new life somewhere quiet. Just him, his wife, his son… and his brother-in-law, if Jiang Cheng feels like it. After those last few years, Zixuan can’t quite imagine living without him, and he knows Jin Ling wouldn’t want to either. Jiang Cheng has been there for all his life after all, and theirs is not the worst of lives.

Which isn’t to say that it’s always easy.

Some days are too much for Zixuan.

Today is such a day. His pain is flaring up like crazy, making it agony to sit for long. Jin Ling is in a bad mood, and determined to make it felt. And three urgent projects have been dropped on Zixuan’s hands, to be finished before the end of the week.

What Zixuan wants is to drop his son with Jiang Cheng, take all the painkillers he’s allowed, and sleep for about three or four days until he’s better. It’s not an option, of course. He can’t let down everyone, those projects are important, his mother will be furious if she hears that he’s using his health as an excuse to be lazy, his father will take it as more proof that he can’t be trusted with anything. He has to pull through, pain or not.

People with worse health than him can do their job, he can’t use disability as an excuse.

So Zixuan pushes himself, sitting in front of his laptop until the pain gets so intense he’s starting to see dark spots at the corner of his eyes. He has to do this, has to…

“I think you’ve been stupid long enough,” he hears Jiang Cheng says, surprisingly close to him.

Zixuan startles and looks up, grimacing as the movement pulls on too tight muscles. Jiang Cheng is glaring down at him, apparently more upset than usual.

“You can’t work like that,” Jiang Cheng snaps, dropping a glass of water and a pill next to the laptop. “Take that and go rest.”

“I have to…”

“You have to fucking take care of yourself. You look like you’re about to have a seizure or something. Take that painkiller and sleep before you make yourself worse.”

Zixuan blinks numbly. The medication he takes mostly helps prevent seizures, but it cannot fully eliminate them. He’s been having them more often since he started working again, and has told himself it’s only a coincidence.

“I’m fine,” Zixuan weakly protests. “I’m almost done with this, and then I’ll…”

“Don’t make me pick you up,” Jiang Cheng warns. “I’ll do it. I’ll fucking carry you to bed in my arms, I swear.”

“I’m really…”

“I’ll text Luo Qingyang and tell her you’re sick,” Jiang Cheng cuts him. “She’ll understand, and she’ll deal with this. So take the damn pill and go rest, Zixuan.”

It feels unfair that Luo Qingyang from HR should have to take care of Zixuan’s messes, just because he can’t pull through on single bad day… but the pain really is awful, and it might have been more than one single bad day. Su Minshan from research has been absolutely awful all month about the launch of a new website to showcase their innovations, and since he has Meng Yao’s full support, it’s been hard to deal with him. And there’s that charity dinner coming up, for which he’s also helping develop the webpage even though his father pointedly asked him not to come because even just using a cane would be bad for PR and he can’t make it through the evening without it. And also…

Zixuan sighs. It’s been a rough couple of weeks.

So he gives in, just this time. He takes the pill, and lets Jiang Cheng help him to bed where he promptly passes out.

When he wakes up again, hours must have passed. Night has fallen outside, and there’s no light in this part of the house, though Zixuan can vaguely hear something happening far away, in the kitchen. Although it is very tempting to stay in bed, Zixuan makes himself get up and, leaning hard on his cane, makes his way to the kitchen to check if Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling have had dinner yet.

Before he reaches the door, he’s startled to hear a singing voice.

The voice in question is good enough that he wonders for a moment if it’s not from a video, but the fact there’s no music is odd. Besides, Zixuan recognises that song as being from a cartoon that Jin Ling loves, but he’s never heard that particular version before.

The mystery unfolds when Zixuan steps in the doorway and finds Jiang Cheng singing with abandon as he cuts vegetables that Jin Ling is very carefully washing for him. The little boy seems very happy to be helping, his previous bad mood completely gone. It’s not such a surprise of course. Jin Ling adores his uncle, and Jiang Cheng has mastered the art of finding the line between too rough and too soft when it comes to dealing with his nephew. It always warms Zixuan’s heart to see those two together, but tonight it is almost too much for him.

There’s just something about the sincerity with which Jiang Cheng sings those stupid lyrics, his smile when Jin Ling joins him for the chorus, the happiness they radiate when Jiang Cheng picks up his nephew so Jin Ling can drop the vegetable into the pan… It is everything Jin Zixuan always hoped his family would be, even if it isn’t happening with the person he’d thought he’d live with.

And that’s what hit him hard tonight.

He’s had that thought before, watching Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling. The right amount of domesticity, only with the wrong person.

But Jiang Cheng spots him in the doorway and grins, blushing at being caught singing yet still happy, and Jin Zixuan realises that after five years of living together, he can’t say Jiang Cheng is the wrong person, not anymore.

It probably makes him an awful person. His wife might still be alive somewhere, and here he is, thinking that way about her brother.

He should be ashamed of himself.

He is, but not as much as he ought to be.

So Zixuan drops on a chair at the kitchen table, and smiles to himself as Jin Ling excitedly explains what they’re making, as Jiang Cheng resumes cooking and singing.

When they reach the chorus again, Zixuan too joins in.

[pastelbatfandoms]

FanFic Ask Game

A: How did you come up with the title to [Wells of Hearts]? Had the idea for the title from the song War of Hearts by Ruelle. I just replaced War with Wells since it is about all the Wells with My OC.

B: Any of your stories inspired by personal experience? Not really. I do have a Riverdale character who is very similar to me as a Teen.

C: What character do you identify with most? My OC Michelle Riley from My Mughead fic or My OC Mandy Moorington from My Strange Days Fic.

D: Is there a song or a playlist to associate with [Mischief on Wings]? Yes. I have a whole Playlist for My Loki fic HERE. 

E: If you wrote a sequel to [Kings and Queen of Disaster], what would it be about? It would definitely be after Negan is in Alexandria and his relationship with My OC Suzanna and their kids in this more “normal” world,less hostile,at least when it comes to Suzanna,though Negan is trying to make amends. Also having to deal with Maggie coming back,who is her sister.

Before that though I have prequels I need to start/finish. 1 of how Suzanna and Negan met and the other is an unfinished fic when she was with Merle before the Zombie Apocalypse.  The Beginning of The End. 

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.   After Reverse Flash reveals himself to Renee,that he’s actually Eobard Thawne and not Harrison Wells the man she had been dating for 2 years. “I’m still him. I saw you and I stopped running for a moment. I do love you,everything I said and felt before I meant it “

This whole scene is very eye opening and shows a side to Thawne you don’t normally see,and that sentence ���I saw you and I stopped running,” is such a quote that should be on everything like “Fine,Make me your villain.” 

G: Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order? Out of order now. It’s easier to get inspiration and not feel stuck that way. Also Tarot helps.

H: How would you describe your style? Character driven. Smut and relationship based lol

I: Do you have a guilty pleasure in fic (reading or writing)? Smut lol idk

J: Write or describe an alternative ending to [Wells of Hearts]. Whenever I decide to write the ending lol I was going to have Obsidian Storm aka Renee choose Harry,HR and Team Flash over Thawne. I don’t think that’s going to happen though. 

K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with? 

L: How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting? twice. If I spot any thing else while I’m rereading it,I’ll edit.

M: Got any premises on the back burner that you’d care to share? Well I haven’t even started to write My Stranger Things or Game of Thrones fics yet,so yeah I have alot on the back burner lol

N: Is there a fic you wish someone else would write (or finish) for you? My Gotham one lol

O: How do you begin a story–with the plot, or the characters? Characters, sometimes the plot if I really know where it’s going to go.

P: Are you what George R. R. Martin would call an “architect” or a “gardener”? (How much do you plan in advance, versus letting the story unfold as you go?) I plan out stories alot,unless it comes to me in a dream then I just go with it.

Q: How do you feel about collaborations? Meh. I mean no one has ever asked to,but I have gotten ideas from My Nieces before,mainly for Walking Dead and Harry Potter.

R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence? No Fanfic writers I remember by name but Authors that inspire me would be Melissa Marr,Amelia Atwater Rhodes & Francesca Lia Block.

S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist? Age Gap,Angst,Fluff,Enemies to Lovers,Soulmates,Polyamory.

T: Any fandom tropes you can’t stand? Miscommunication, self righteous heroes, the bully realizing he’s gay or bullies you because he/she likes you,Love triangle,unrequited love,character redemption deaths. 

U: Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.

V: If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

W: Do you like more general prompts, or more specific ones? Specific ones.

X: A character you enjoy making suffer. Um none. Though some of my characters like Renee and My Teen Wolf OC Marianna would disagree.

Y: A character you want to protect. ALL OF THEM

Z: Major character death–do you ever write/read it? Is there a character whose death you can’t tolerate? No. I wrote one about HR Wells dying and it was one the hardest ones to write because I was crying,didn’t help that HR actually did die on The Flash. 

Remember Me

[thanksjro]

“Bullets”, a Last Stand of the Wreckers prose story- Ironfist Solves a Murder Mystery

Now that Overlord and Rewind have been exploded horribly in the vacuum of space, multiple people have died, and Chromedome’s horrifically single, let’s take a look at all those Last Stand of the Wreckers extras, yeah?

We more or less start with a Furmanism, as is tradition.

One day Furmanisms won’t be nearly as prevalent within the comic publications, and that is a day that I cannot wait to see. Forget politics, forget misogyny, forget basically NEEDING Death of the Author in effect to enjoy anything the man’s done- Furmanisms are a crutch that everybody in this franchise uses, but nobody needs. They never feel natural, in my opinion. It’s like a literary obligation at this point, and you can tell, because it never quite meshes with any writer’s style.

Anyway, this is the setup for what would happen on Pova- the Wreckers have been watching Squadron X fix up their ship, and now that the thing’s airborne again they’ve gotten itchy trigger fingers. Well, some of them, anyway. Rack n Ruin aren’t so sure about this whole thing, seeing as there are eight of them and an entire battalion up there. Impactor’s working the crowd though, as a leader of such a high turnover rate group is required to do, and that’s the point where First Aid stops reading.

Yep, this is one of Fisitron’s datalog entries, of which First Aid is a fan.

This isn’t First Aid’s first appearance within the IDW continuity- he played a role in Spotlight: Jazz, where he lived up to his name, and in Transformers: Ironhide #1, where he was in the background. This IS his premiere as a major player in a story, however, and it’s here that he’s revealed to be a bit of a slacker- he should be making the rounds at Delphi right now, but instead he’s reading entry logs about the wartime equivalent of a boyband.

He hits a key to quicktab to something at least somewhat medically-related as he feels someone approaching from behind. It’s the CMO, and he is in no way fooled by First Aid’s attempt to hide his shame. He gets back to work, but that particular entry- 113, because of course it is- is still on his mind. Hope he never finds out it’s a load of bunk.

I REALLY hope he never finds out this is all bunk. We all need something, you know?

Of course, First Aid- y’know, not to brag or anything- personally met one of the Wreckers. Roughly five years ago, Springer had approached him at a medical conference on Kimia. Why a medical conference was being held on Kimia of all places isn’t addressed, but it was probably because half the folks stationed there are doctors. First Aid, being a classy guy, fucking ogles Springer the entire time they’re talking.

You’ve heard of “Men Writing Women”, now it’s time for “Roberts Writing Robots”. Yes, this is THAT scene, and it’s on the first goddamn page.

First Aid, wanting to be of use to his idol, offers his medical expertise, completely willing to fix Springer’s nose, give him a breast reduction, and even update the circuit dampeners he doesn’t have. Springer, while flattered, isn’t looking for that sort of help. He’s looking for folks who have a lot to give.

The phrasing he uses makes First Aid think that he’s about to be recruited to the Wreckers- in other words, about to be put in line for a slow and awful death- but Springer clarifies that he’s looking more for eyes and ears to help him, not so much bodies. He hands First Aid a card with his number, and says to give him a call sometime.

Cutting back to the present, First Aid is walking through the rows of patient slabs, where we see an honestly horrifying practice in play- every patient in Delphi has their non-essential functions turned off to conserve power. This includes things like the ability to move, and speak.

Because that couldn’t possibly have any negative repercussions.

He checks in on the Fader he’s been assigned, confirms that, yes, his head IS still missing from his neck, then makes to walk out of the room, only to be startled by the sudden entry of a stretcher and Ambulon. Here, Ambulon is identified as a chief paramedic, as opposed to being a ward manager. Whether this is early installment weirdness or a simple mistake isn’t clear.

Ambulon is quickly followed by Dogfight, Dodger, and Backstreet(’s back, alright!) First Aid gets to work, by checking the three of them for injuries, paying special attention to their Autobot badges.

This is the reason Rung had to call in at the beginning of MTMTE #4, though it might be more because First Aid can’t act like a professional of five friggin’ minutes.

Oh, Delphi’s HR department is getting a call for sure.

First Aid, while a known fondler of badges, has never had this exact reaction. He runs off to make a phone call, leaving the injured Dodger to wait for the surgery he’s going to undergo the moment First Aid gets back.

Meanwhile, somewhere else- I’m guessing Kimia- Rung has an appointment underway with a dude named Flattop.

Flattop’s TFWiki article is one of the most depressing on the entire site, and it’s completely “Bullets”’s fault.

You see, Flattop’s attempting to talk through his trauma, but it’s difficult.

This level of insight is why they pay Rung the big bucks.

The war, while terrible for everyone’s mental health, has given Rung a slew of patients to handle.

Gee, wonder who that medic was.

Anyway, so Flattop’s deal- he was at Babu Yar, which was an event that was apparently so terrible, everyone involved was offered brand new bodies as compensation. He’s currently hiding underneath a table, which Rung identifies as “playing to type”. Flattop isn’t even here to talk about Babu Yar, but it’s good to know that war is still hell.

The reason Flattop’s actually here is this: he was serving under Silverstreak- another one of Rung’s patients, and someone who I’m convinced might actually be a Warrior cat given the name- and was going to check something out when he saw something utterly terrifying.

Rung gets Flattop out from under the table, and they talk about what the Shimmer means. Flattop is convinced that since he’s seen the thing, he’s going to die. You see, folklore in space is very similar to its counterpart on Earth, in that it’s a warning swathed in story to make it easily digestible.

Rung, who tries to keep things rational, offers to give Flattop a few possible explanations for what he saw. Because Flattop had only recently gotten his hot new bod a short while before he saw the Shimmer, it’s completely possible he had had a hallucination due to the adjustment period. Another theory is that Flattop has PTSD. Which, I mean, yeah.

While Rung was busy trying to explain what had happened, Flattop friggin’ died.

Awkward.

Over with Ironfist- because “Bullets” is a prequel- we’re in the middle of a meeting with the Ethics Committee. Xaaron, Animus, and Trailbreaker of all people, have come together to pass judgement on Ironfist’s cerebro-sensitive bullets. There’s a lot of hemming and hawing, and Ironfist reflects on how they got to this moment, while fiddling with a data slug to burn off the nerves.

This is just after the Surge happened, an event kicked off by the betrayal of the Autobot cause allowed Megatron to seize a majority of the Autobot outposts. It was a huge deal, a lot of shit was stolen, including the Weak Anthropic Principle, and it left everyone a little twitchy towards one another. Trust is not in vogue at present.

Kimia’s in a mess of trouble anyway, however, due to the events of Babu Yar, where Gideon’s Glue had rained down on the Autobot troops under Flame’s command, eaten to Swiss cheese by something eerily similar to something being developed on the station.

So an investigation was established. Brainstorm, who’s apparently big man on campus here at Kimia, is questioned, as is everyone else. Of course, no one cops to having invented Gideon’s Glue, because that’s a big ol’ war crime, so the questioning goes nowhere, but now there’s a precedent for mistrust on this science station.

Anyway, back to the bullet thing.

Ironfist’s cerebro-sensitive bullets are designed to hit the head, every single time, ignoring trajectory, ballistic physics, what you think is possible, and the Geneva Convention. It’s fired, it hits the first brain it identifies. Brutal stuff. Effective, but brutal.

Trailbreaker’s not a fan.

I mean, maybe? I guess it depends how gray your morality is. I bet Prowl would like them.

After telling Trailbreaker to keep it professional, Xaaron tells Ironfist that using these bullets would be a literal war crime, and he’s got a little over a day to hand them over to the Committee for destruction. Meeting adjourned!

Ironfist is left standing there until his good buddy Skyfall checks in on him. Ironfist is kind of bummed out, but Skyfall knows how to cheer him up- by comparing him to Impactor, former leader of the Wreckers, and one of Ironfist’s fan-crushes.

Man, this makes the Pova reveal a little harsher in hindsight, huh?

Skyfall invites Ironfist to the Exit Rooms, a place where the Kimia employees can drink and no one will give a shit, and as they make their way over they run into Brainstorm.

Brainstorm gets some interesting development in this story.

That’s right, not only are his weapons completely insane, and in some cases literally abstract, they’re apparently often so incredibly dangerous that the Ethics Committee loses sleep over the fact that they exist.

And Brainstorm loves it.

No wonder Trailbreaker was so annoyed in his Spotlight.

Skyfall asks about what’s in Brainstorm’s briefcase, gets an answer that’s likely a lie, then the boys head over to the Exit Rooms.

Over on Hydrus 5, it’s raining cats and dogs, and this is somehow the Transformers fault. I guess the universe bends to the will of what would be the most dramatic, as everyone takes a break from warmongering to soul-search.

Or ego-stroking. That works too.

Here is our dear Pyro, reveling in the aftermath of a battle that destroyed the natural ecosystem of the land, but at least they kicked those ‘Cons’ asses!

Pyro, who’s revealed to be maybe perhaps not the best at coming up with one-liners, is left alone for a bit as Afterburner goes to check on the rest of their men. As he tries to piece together a speech to deliver, he sees a green something- they’re always green, aren’t they?- and that something is the Shimmer.

Well, heck.

Over on the dilapidated space station of Debris (wow, that’s even less subtle than usual for this franchise) Springer’s holding a bullet. I mean, it’s not really a bullet, and the Decepticon who fired it wasn’t really a Decepticon.

I want you to know that I keep track of how many times 113 comes up in these stories, and for “Bullets" it’s a LOT.

Today’s letter from Agent 113 foreshadows/hindshadows the events of Last Stand, claiming that the DJD hasn’t heard anything from Garrus-9 since the Surge happened. Prowl’s concerned that Fortress Maximus is still alive in there and fighting off the Decepticons while waiting for backup, so he recently called Springer and invited the Wreckers on a mission.

All Springer has to do is pick some sorry sons of guns to die.

Over with Guzzle, who is romanticizing a weapon, comparing his gun to a religious artifact, our dear little bastard man has realized that he does, in fact, have emotions, and is in mourning over his lost comrades, who died rescuing Kup from Tsiehshi. Guzzle doesn’t much appreciate this whole “feeling” thing, and would rather it didn’t get in the way of him shooting statues for no other reason than him wanting to. Then he sees the Shimmer, and feels fear. He doesn’t much care for that, either.

Even Nick Roche is powerless to stop this madness.

We reconfirm the fact that Ironfist is a massive nerd, then are shown that the bullet accident that will have killed him by the end of Last Stand #5 has already happened. Ever so slowly, the bullet is heading for Ironfist’s brain. Every time it hits a new layer of his noggin, he blacks out.

Ironfist is going to leave on his super-fun, not-at-all-traumatizing Wrecker adventure soon, and he’s promised Skyfall his workshop. Skyfall was at Grindcore for a while, and that kind of gave him PTSD, so when Ironfist had gotten accepted to Kimia, he’d brought him along for the ride.

I like to call Grindcore Eugenesis-lite.

Because Skyfall is a reckless son of a gun with access to Ironfist’s workshop, he inadvertently caused a major incident with something called Black Phosphex, which resulted in the deaths of several Autobots because it wasn’t properly tested. This landed him in Garrus-9 for a bit, in a temporary career-path deviation, until it was time to come home to Kimia, just in time for the Inquiry.

Are stans always this intense? Because good lord, Ironfist.

Over at Karashi Delta, in the aftermath of a fierce battle, Rotorstorm is hyping himself the fuck up.

But does he buy it himself?

Hmm, survey says no.

Of course, verbal abuse isn’t the only thing we’ll be getting here. No, things begin to escalate pretty rapidly with Jetstream, who moves from shoving to almost beating Rotorstorm to death in a matter of months, before disappearing from the station forever.

Dang, this Jetstream fella kinda sucks. What’s his friggin’ problem?

Ah.

Again, I can’t stress this enough, Whirl’s awful flipper claws from back during his time as a cop do not make a nice fist. He was basically stabbing Rotorstorm. Who let this man be a teacher?

Rotorstorm is snapped out of his self-deprecating flashbacks by the sight of something on the canyon lip up ahead. It’s the gotdang Shimmer. Rotorstorm books it, not wanting to be caught by a harbinger of death. It doesn’t work, but points for trying.

Back on Debris, Springer’s picked his new recruits. Now all he has to do is call them up. Hey, isn’t Springer green? Green like the Shimmer? How about that.

Back on Kimia, Skyfall’s wandered into Ironfist’s workshop to share the gossip on Fisitron’s latest Wreckers: Declassified. Folks are a bit critical of his writing style, it would seem.

Of course Swerve knows what fan-fiction is. He seems like exactly the type to make fun of it, then read a 43,000 word fic in a single sitting, under cover of darkness, burning with shame all the while.

After making a note on his current Wreckers: Declassified document to ease up on the adverbs, Ironfist switches gears and gets busy on his other project: an Unofficial Wreckers’ Training Guide. I wonder when the switch from Primal Vanguard to Wreckers as a hyperfixation happened for him.

Ironfist asks Skyfall what entry he’s currently on, and the answer is a ways away from the latest one. Skyfall’s a slow reader, but he doesn’t want to just beam it all into his brain because it feels like cheating. He asks Ironfist when he’s going to cover the Wreckers’ mission to Garrus-9, the one that happened while he was there being not-imprisoned. Ironfist gives a non-answer, then asks if Skyfall wants to help with packing up the war-crime guns. Skyfall most certainly does not.

Ironfist starts breaking everything down when he gets a call from Prowl, as happened in Last Stand #4.

Back with Springer, we’re giving our dad a hug, as he greets Kup. It’s here we find out who Ironfist replaced on the Wrecker team for Operation: Retrieval- it was Skyfall. Skyfall had impressed Springer during their last Garrus-9 excursion, and thought that he’d be a good fit for the team, despite the Black Phosphex incident.

Kup goes full old man story time mode about how insanely boring Prowl is, while Springer gets the door. On the other side is Twin Twist, Top Spin, and Perceptor. They hold the vote, Ironfist given immunity due to unmentioned Prowl reasons, and Springer gets ready to call all their new pals.

Back at Ironfist’s workshop, Ironfist reflects on just how his life got to this point. He’s going to join the Wreckers! Never mind the fact that he’ll be going to die, and that’s if the bullet crawling around in his skull doesn’t get him first. Never mind the very likely possibility that he’s being exploited by Prowl. Nah, he’s gonna go on an adventure! It’s gonna be awesome! Yaaaaay!

It doesn’t pay to be blue and naive when Roberts is handling the story. Just ask Pipes.

Or don’t. You won’t get an answer.

Called it.

Ironfist, starstruck, bumbles his way through the conversation we saw in the Mosaic, and so it was that he became a Wrecker. All he has to do is pop on over to Rung’s office, get his head examined, then get his butt on over to Babu Yar.

Telecon work completed, Springer reflects on the fact that Guzzle turned him down. It’s not often someone turns down the chance to be a Wrecker.

Oh, well, never mind then.

Ironfist immediately tells Skyfall about what’s happened, because he’s just so jazzed to be a Wrecker. Skyfall isn’t quite as thrilled, but does his best to be supportive.

And by that I mean he’s not listening in the slightest as he’s already planning out the interior design for the workshop once Ironfist is gone. I bet he’ll get Atomizer to help him, the tacky bastard.

Skyfall runs off to go look at paint swatches or whatever, and Ironfist finalizes the stuff for the Ethics Committee pickup.

Oh, so that appointment wasn’t on Kimia after all. Can we please get some sort of fast-track program for the mental health specific degrees? We can’t keep using Rung for everybody, he’s only one person.

Oh heavens, Ironfist, be careful.

Ironfist gets another call, and we jump scenes before we can figure out just who rang or why.

Brief timeskip, and we find ourselves at Babu Yar, as Ironfist introduces himself to Guzzle and his gun.

Ironfist is about as smooth as coarse-grit sandpaper.

While Ironfist is busy revealing his nerd shame to Guzzle, someone’s decided to be a cocky little asshole.

Oh, dramatic irony. Always a delightful sort of pain.

Rotorstorm cranks up the “I’m hot shit” act to 11.5, doing completely unnecessary flips and talking himself up like he will literally die if he doesn’t.

Off in the distance, something disingenuously impressive comes up over the hill.

Of course, it’s not Optimus Prime, but it is someone who would very much like to be him. Such is the nature of primus apotheosis. Gang’s all here!

This is going to turn out fan-fucking-tastic.

Rotorstorm and Guzzle want to play with the big gun Ironfist brought along, and since Ironfist is going to die anyway, he lets them go for it. This would be why everything was on fire at the start of the miniseries.

Yep. Just gotta make it hurt just a little more, doncha Roberts? Just gotta twist the knife.

Nine months after the events of the Garrus-9 mission, Skyfall is upset. He’s gone and played himself by not attending the Ethics Committee hearings, and they’ve taken all his toys away as a result. He tries to mask his lack of concern for safety precautions behind a facade of missing Ironfist, but it doesn’t get him the weapons back.

Feeling cross, he decides it’s about time he made a visit to the Exit Rooms to blow off a little steam.

Later, he gets a call. Worried that his lack of ethics and/or his drunken squabbling has gotten him in trouble yet again, he’s loathe to answer, but does anyway.

Ghost call!

No, it’s actually a prerecorded message, one that claims that Skyfall killed Ironfist. Ironfist had asked Brainstorm to take a gander at the gun after he got shot, and found that it had been tampered with, set to go off on its own when held a certain way. That’s who was calling before he left for his Wrecker mission. 

Skyfall starts to panic, expecting the security detail for Kimia to bust into the workshop at any second. 

Ironfist knows that only Skyfall could have done this to him, but he doesn’t know the exact motive. Was it because he was jealous of how good a weapons expert he was? A chip on his shoulder about Grindcore? Whatever the reason, Ironfist isn’t terribly concerned at the time of the recording. What he is concerned about is Gideon’s Glue.

Ironfist had, in fact, invented Gideon’s Glue, but he’d been so horrified by what the shit actually did, he flushed it into space and destroyed all research before the Ethics Committee even knew about it. It still got to the Decepticons, though, didn’t it? How could such a thing happen?

Probably not, considering what happens next.

Ironfist is a smart guy, but more importantly, he knows how to reach his audience. Literally, in this case, as Skyfall finds out, when the Enforcement Squad starts trying to break down the door. Ironfist had the message that Skyfall is currently listening to primed for beaming into all of Fisitron’s reader’s brains. Everyone knows what happened. Swerve. Atomizer. Ratchet, who’s over on Earth right now. First Aid, who has enough bullshit to worry about on Delphi without this nonsense. You. Me. Everyone.

Skyfall, in a mad attempt to save himself, throws some of Ironfist’s Wrecker memorabilia at the door, and out pops that last tube of Gideon’s Glue.

There’s only one way out of this one.

This got really intense at the end, didn’t it?

[stevenuniversetanzanite]

Fallen Angel (Venable X reader) Part 4

So, I went back and read the past instalments of this series and oh my I enjoyed it. I swear I enjoy my Venable stories the most out of any of mine ever. Also realised I left out details that I need to include in my sequel and some I need to add to this one so... I fixed the minor problems and might have fixed another. I mean no one is analysing this but I like to have details correct. The only issues I saw was that I mentioned in part one was the character used to wear glasses so I have to add that to the sequel and that I said that the character was an inch shorter than Michael (in my head Michael’s about 5′10) but I forgot to mention like in the sequel the character wears four inch platformed boots (similar to the ones that all the cool goths wear) I added that in to this part but it might be forced. Oh well. 

I hope this chapter isn’t two jumpy. 

Prequel Link: The Angel Among Us (Cordelia x reader) Plot: The event’s leading up to Y/N joining Michael and the Cooperative.

Summary/idea: Two strangers come to ‘save’ the occupants of outpost 3. Neither are what they seem.

Warnings: N/A

Parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 , Part 4, Part 5 (Will add as I go)

“When was the last time you took a break? Had some fun?” You splayed yourself out on the chair in front of her desk, one of your legs flung over the armrest. The fabric of your skirt flowed perfectly down the gap between your legs. The material outlining where your frame ends giving Venable a rough idea of your body's frame while unfortunately still being clothed. Her eyes stared at you with an unquenchable level of thirst. She cursed you for wearing that long skirt.

“I have fun-” 

“I bet you do.” You rose from your chair, your skirt elegantly falling back into place without the need of adjustment. You prowled closer, eyes drifting around the room, refusing to give Venable the attention she deserved.  “Torturing the residence.” Your hand swept against the surface of Venable’s desk. “I had to stop myself from laughing when I heard about your little ‘incident’ with Stu.” You turned to her, smirking. “So clever, I would never have thought of something like that.” You were so close to her; she was forced to look up at you. She didn’t feel the urge to stand or push her chair back, that would show weakness (and standing wouldn’t help since you were taller) but not only that, she didn’t want to. “But have you ever thought about your wants? Needs? Desires?”

“What are-” Your close proximity froze her in place as if your coldness had spread to her. She memorised all your details, the alluring smile that tugged her closer to your presence without having to move. She found your temptress ways magnetic. 

“Come on V,” you purred. You elegantly found your place on her lap. When had you gotten there? Her hands were clenched tight around the armrests of her desk chair in an attempt to ground herself. Her mind was in heaven, but her body remained on earth. 

“-It’s Ms Venable to you.” She stuttered. You chuckled, it was deeper than your normal, forced high pitch voice. This was natural. You were yourself? Must be an act, Venable would have thought if she hadn’t already fallen for it. You leant against the edge of her desk, peering down at her.

“Are you sure about that?” She couldn’t speak so she nodded. You chuckled. “Alright, Ms Venable. Is there anything I can do for you?” Your hand found its way to the waist of her skirt, pulling it away from her body to only to play with the fabric.

“Y-Yes, you can-”

BANG. BANG. BANG.

FOR FUCK’S SAKE.

Venable’s eyes flew open. She huffed before easing herself out of bed. The knocking continued, Venable yelled out that she heard the first time. Who dare disturb her slumber? Mead stood at the door; the woman apologised before informing her of two purples breaking the copulation rule. Those two purples were going to pay for interrupting her dream.

She found the two in the chamber they use to clean the exposed and execute the ill-behaved. The two purples, Timothy and Emily stood their ground, confronted Venable about her made-up rules. She pulled Mead to the side and requested for her to make it as painful for the pair as possible. Mead happily agreed. Venable exited heading back to her bedroom to relieve some stress. 

Disturbed once that night was enough. Twice that night when trying to make up from the tension build for the first time was ridiculous. She didn’t expect to find a shot Mead expelling white fluid from her wound nor the damaged circuitry. The woman wasn’t even human. Her closest resident/worker was a robot, that’s got to be some cosmic joke. She’d spent a large amount of years working for those dim-whits at Kineros Robotics but for god’s sake she has HR not a robot scientist. 

She did the best job she could, “I think there’s a damaged cable and I can’t tell what it’s connected to-” she sighed. Weren’t you working on the generator, you’d have to have some experience in order to do that right, or at least have a better clue than her? “Stay here, I’m going to get some help.”

You weren’t in your room, Michael’s office or her own. She checked your secret getaway. The lights in the main room were already on. She closed the door behind her before calling your name. She didn’t gain a response forcing her to continue the game of hide and seek. 

She found you in the generator room tinkering with the machine. You had stripped down to your undergarments to avoid getting oil on your clothes. Venable’s eyes widened, her cheeks tinting to a shade of red as she didn’t expect you to be lacking clothing.

“You work in the nude?” You jumped at the sound of her voice. “You’re barely covered, you might as well not wear the additional fabric. It hides your best features.”

“If I knew you were stopping by, I would have worn less.” You wipe your hands on a rag.  You thought about what she said, “Wait- how do you know they’re my best features if you haven’t seen them?”

“You could always prove me wrong.” 

You smirked. “That’s not why you're here.”

“I need your assistance and not in that way.” Unfortunately. 

“Can I go like this?”

“And risk someone else seeing you like that? Get dressed, I’ll fill you in on your task on the way.” Once dressed, Venable walked you to her room, filling you in on the night's events. “I thought you’d ask more questions.”

“It’s not surprising.”

The damage wasn’t too bad, nothing that could be fixed by soldering the metal together. Venable observed the whole process. You checked in with Mead as you worked as she was sentient and most likely felt pain. You extracted the bullet placing it into an empty candle holder. You hid that of view as you fused the broken cable. When the bullet was seen again it was a mouldable putty constancy that you covered and blended over the entrance wound to stop anything from getting inside. The only problem was you couldn’t cover up the patch she was shot, a silver ‘wound’ would remain. 

“If you experience any problems” you said to Mead. “-or you notice any problems,” that to Venable. “Notify me immediately.” You pick up your gear and back them away. “Night Ms Mead, Ms Venable.” You exited before Venable could say goodnight back. You called her Ms Venable, that’s odd. As much as the woman would have loved to join you back in your secret getaway, she had to stay and catch up with Mead. 

You hadn't been spotted wandering about in two days causing Venable to grow nervous. She scoured every corner of the fallout shelter three times before she found you curled up on your bed in the least amount of clothes you could wear in winter. You hadn't bothered to climb under the covers, nor undo your hair from the style it was done up in. Your clothes tossed to the floor; an outfit she hadn't seen you wear before. She was unsure where you obtained your clothing but put it down to you having put it aside until you came here. 

Venable ventured closer to your bed, moving as silently as she could with her cane. She stilled when she reached the closer side to the door (saving her the unnecessary effort of walking further than needed). Your back was fully exposed to her, the faint markings of a white tattoo gone wrong, resembling more of a removal of a piece than a work done itself. It left your skin with a scarred embossing in the shape of wings.

She reached out to run her fingers over the scarification. Were the markings an attempt of beauty gone wrong? Intentional? Or a memory of a time you’d tried to forget? She was surprised she hadn’t noticed it when she last saw you lacking coverage. She hadn’t had long to take in your physical body before you noticed her presence.

You stirred causing the red head to stiffen. Her gaze darted to you; afraid she’d awoken you. You mentioned you’d spend your days in your now shared secret location. You avoided answering how often you spend your days there. This could have been one of the potentially rare times you slept and she dared to disturbed you.

“Hmm~” You wiggled under her touch, moving into the warm hand. “It’s too early,” you mumbled in a soft but childlike voice. “Five more minutes.” Venable chuckled a deep, throaty laugh at your response. You felt over your body trying to find the woman’s hand. Once you wrapped your hand around hers you smiled sweetly. 

“I missed your presence.” What did she just say?

“I haven’t been anywhere Dee.” Venable pulled away from your touch. ‘Dee?’ No that couldn’t be right. She must have misheard. She a hundred percent said ‘V’. Who would ‘Dee’ be anyway? “Baby?” You weren’t talking about her. No one called her baby.

“Dinner’s in an hour, if you aren’t dressed and there in an hour, I’ll send a grey to drag you there.” You tensed up, your mind realising your mistake. You spun around to stare at the outpost leader with a look of pure horror. She refused to acknowledge you as she left your room shutting the door behind her. You cursed under your breath.

The woman held herself together as she ventured down the corridor. She passed a few greys and two of the purples on her way to her quarters. Coco and Gallant knew something was up when they passed her, and she didn’t make a snarky comment.

For a moment you gave her hope, that someone was capable of showing interest in her. She was wrong. Tricked into having feelings for someone then- no, don’t think about it Wilhemina. She crumbled on her bed, allowing her emotions to get the better of her. 

You got changed putting on a black blouse with ruffled sleeves and collar. The collar had a dark purple and red brooch in the centre appearing like a choker over top of your clothing. Paired with the same long black skirt and shoes. You felt ridiculous, not understanding Venable’s' thing for Victorian clothing (or a slightly modernised version of it).

You made an effort to show up to the dinner 15 minutes early. Five minutes you were expected to have taken you place at the table; Ms Mead requested a word. You moved off to the side, to ensure you had complete privacy. 

“Ms Venable will not be attending dinner this evening.”

“...Okay~ Why does this concern me?”

“You're the highest ranked member present, you’ll take her place this evening.”

“What about Mickey?” He wasn’t there but you assumed he’d be considered the highest in rank in the outpost and have the rule offered to him.

“I was given explicit instructions from Ms Venable that you were to take her place in the unlikely chance she couldn’t attend.”

“Alright~” This had to be something to do with earlier. That’s why she wasn’t here. “I’ll be at the head of the table. Uh~ Can you tell the greys to place her dish aside? I’ll see it gets to her later- personally.” Mead nodded before leaving you to command the purples into a night of wonder. How hard could this be?

“Where’s Venable?”

“Are you our new outpost leader?”

“Are you here to announce who got in?” God, this was going to be a long night.

Venable couldn't wallow in her own self-pity all night. You showed her a room you used to escape, maybe she could use it two. You were bound to search for her, she'd only be delaying the inevitable.

Once there, she didn't know what to do with herself. She recalled what you’d said to her, “I’m not telling you what to do...it may be good for blackmail or getting to know your residents, guests or workers. Again, it’s down to you.” The cursor on the search button, who to search up? Start with someone simple… boring, to test the waters. Jumping to the guests would be too risky, Venable thought. It was your machine so she could search you up and who knows what Michael knows about this room. A resident would be fine, but who?

She typed in Coco’s full name into the search bar and pressed enter. She was easy enough to find, she had an Instagram page with 5k followers, not as much of an influencer as she claimed to be. The further she scrolled the more she sees the woman’s desperate attempt to become famous. The earliest photos from late 2018. She turned to the book you’d told her about to see if there was anything interesting in it when she caught a glance at the monitor to her right. She noticed the option to log in bold lettering. She doubted she’d find anything interesting, maybe a deleted photo where she thought she looked back or didn’t get a lot of likes. She clicked on it, the computer automatically filling in the details for her. You must have done some programming since then. 

Venable now had access to all her deleted and archived photos. The left monitor gave her all the details to Coco’s account, especially when it was created, 2012 which means there are six years of photos missing. Venable scrolled through all the photos again, the occasional new photo with less likes than the rest.

She reached the photos from 2018. Things got more interesting. The whole layout of her. There were photos of her and a group of young women who all appeared to be having a fun time. Unlike the others these women were stereotypically beautiful, they were normal, everyday people, something her page lacked prior. She was curious as to why Coco suddenly changed her entire page. She recognised the grey the girl ordered around. In this photo they were pals.  She kept scrolling down, slightly more interested than before. 

She stopped on one with the caption, Hands down the best teachers ever. A group of women posed for a photo, the younger ones (including Mallory and Coco) from before messing around. There were multiple photos in that post, but it was the first that caught her eye. To the left of the women mucking around was two women, an older blonde woman and- you?  Your arms loosely wrapped around the significantly shorter woman, holding her close to your person. 

Your voice popped into her head and that out of place question with it, ‘Have you ever been in love?’ You had asked when you’d been brooding. ‘You aren’t missing out on much... I thought I was in love once. I wasn’t myself... We had a falling out. Conflicting morals.’

So, there she was, the ‘love’.

‘...-and Coco's assistant Mallory- I know all about her...I'm sure it was pure coincidence that Coco's family were on vacation at the time of the apocalypse and not some external sources doing.’

You knew them and you never mentioned it to her. You must have had a falling out with the lot of them- you mentioned moral differences, was Michael that? Or was it simply a parting of ways? None of them acted like they knew you; they couldn’t have forgotten you if what Coco’s caption stated, were one of the best teachers, how do you forget the best? There was more at work than you were letting on and she’d get to the bottom of it. 

You were stunning as usual. You were a natural beauty even in the layers of clothing you drowned in. Golden wire framed glasses that perfectly framed your e/c eyes and made your face more adorable. From the height you were compared to Coco, Venable assumed you wore your staple platform boots that you’ve worn religiously since your first day. You’d told her that the only reason you hadn’t warned them was that day was because walking on rocky ground in four-inch platforms and spraining your ankle wasn’t the best introduction. Venable detested that you were naturally taller than her and then still decided to wear those ridiculous shoes. She guessed the world wouldn’t be able to handle you if you were short, it might explode from you being too cute. Venable chuckled, blushing as she thought about you. Wait-she’d meant to be angry, upset. She couldn’t be upset at you. She blamed that blonde who infected your mind.

The blonde you had your arms around looked familiar. Was she active in the public? Venable took a screen clipping of the woman before running it through the computer's search engine. An interview popped up along with a collection of articles about a school of witches in New Orleans. The blonde lady you were more than comfortable around was the head of the coven, the supreme as she called herself. Venable knew she wouldn’t like this woman. She was gorgeous and if she was as powerful as she claimed, she could understand why you would like her.

Meanwhile at the dinner, you had to listen to the purples complain about Venable for half an hour. Mead hadn’t stepped in which surprised you, maybe she expected you to say someone or order her to stop them.

“Alright, just because the woman isn’t here doesn’t give any of you the right to speak about her,” You projected your voice to the purple’s. “I thought you guys wouldn’t be dumb enough to speak about anyone negativity especially since she has the power to kill you all and no one will be stopping her this time,” the last bit directed to the young lovers who got their arse saved because Michael stopped them from getting killed. “The saying ‘the walls have ears’ exists for a reason. Did any of you notice that Mead or any of the workers were listening? One word of what you’ve said tonight gets back to your leader and you're done for. So, you best all apologise now.”

“She’s not even here-” Coco said. 

“Do you want me to bring her here and have to explain why I am making you all apologise?” That would be worse off for all of them. The blonde ‘influencer’ shook her head. They all apologised. “Good. Now once you're done you can wash your dishes. The greys on dinner can take the rest of the night off.”

“What?”

“My orders were clear. What do you not understand?”

“You want us to work?”

“Yes, Gallant. Need I remind you the only reason you're a purple is because Vanderbilt was kind enough to persuade the woman you’ve all been insulting tonight to allow you to be a purple.” You settled back down in your spot. “Mallory you too can have the night off. I know Coco will end up making you do her work. During the next hour while they are working, you can use the hot water in my quarters to freshen up and relax if you like. I know the greys don’t have good showers.” Mallory thanked you.

“You have hot water?” Coco asked peeved that they had access to hot water this whole time and she didn’t know.

“Yes, and if your behaviour impresses me, I may allow you to use it two,” You said to Coco. “However, Mallory would you be kind enough to fetch me the last plate before you take your night off.” She nodded and left to retrieve the plate for you. You looked at all the purples in front of you. “What are you waiting for? Get to work.” Everyone stood up and tucked their chairs in. “Oh, Dinah, you don’t have to help, you didn’t do anything.” Once you had Venable’s plate you left to find the woman. 

"V?" You called out into the darkness. Down the other end of the auditorium, you saw a small pinhead-sized light where the piano was. A low-pitched sound echoed through the auditorium. You crossed the floor to get to her. "I brought you your dinner."

"I'm not hungry." She pressed another key. Similar in sound to your tone death ears. 

"Come on please eat. It's only one meal a day, I'm sure you're hungry." She shook her head then played another key. You gazed followed her left hand to the keyboard. You nudged her to move over on the bench to make enough room for you to squeeze on.  She did it without complaint. She’s never been this deathly silent. You guessed you’d have to be the one to initiative the conversation. "Do you play?"

"I used to as a child. My mother forced me to play the instrument to show off to her friends,” She told you. She refused to look in your direction, not that you minded- at least she was talking. Venable avoided thinking back on her past. She was the only child of two not so loving parents. Venable learned from a young age to keep a good appearance. Her mother made the family to appear far wealthier than they were. Her mother’s circle always chatted about luxuries that they couldn’t afford- not to say they didn’t have them; they were in deep debt as a result. Her father- well Venable couldn’t remember much of the man; he was always out. She didn’t blame him, the moment she could she was gone too. Wilhelmina was deemed the family disappointment in her mother's eyes. Her back along with an assortment of other health issues she had as a child made her an easy target. As a result of her ‘shame’, she was forced to make up for her deformity through her grades but as always, they were never good enough. Her mother forced her into learning instruments, started with the piano, then moved onto the violin. If you could name it, she knew how to play it. Go to school, come home practice, do homework, sleep, repeat." She said. "I used to loathe the routine. I haven't played since I was a teen." Venable pressed another key. "I tried out your computer."

"-and?"

"You lied."

"About what?" She remained silent. "V, what did I lie about?"

"You don't care about me." Who could, she was unlovable.

"Why would you think that?"

"You said her- your ex's name- you still-"

"Mina- '' you try to take her hand, but she moved it away. "I do still- hold feelings for her but by no means am I not into you. I- love is crazy. I wasted years on a woman that couldn't see that I loved her, did that stop me? No. I waited. Far longer than I should have. I got the girl, but I don't think I ever rightfully had her. I was hyper fixated on my work, she on hers, it wasn't the right time. She's dead now. Killed by the man I work with. Do I still love her? Yes, but it's the idea of her I am. The reality was never really, truly mine."

"I don't get-" what you are saying?

"You won't get it. I don't even."

"Oh, god, my mother was right, I am unlovable."

"No. You are loveable." You pulled her so she was forced to face you. "Mina you are loveable."

"No one else would agree."

"Then they are wrong."

"Who do you know the others?"

"Who? What?"

"The Vanderbilt girl and her grey."

"How-is this relevant?"

"Answer the question."

"I can't- it won't make sense."

"Your ex was supposedly a witch, that's hard to believe."

"So am I." You guessed, it was more of an identity and you had to choose to identify as one, but the power wasn't a choice. If the witches counted Michael as a warlock then you could bend the imagination for you. Venable didn't believe you. "We'll, that's actually a human thing. But for your understanding, let's just say I am."

Now were belittling her? Human thing? Can’t you give it to her straight. She can take it. 

"I knew you were full of nonsense but this-"

Nothing added up about you. You spoke about times that would have occurred before you were born. Now that she thought about it, you’ve never mentioned how old you were. You’ve spoken so little of yourself, she hadn’t the slightest clue of the person you were before.

"I'll prove it,” You said.  “I'll … correct your spine."

This caused her to look at you properly for the first time since you joined her. "What?"

"Yeah,” You leapt up and faced her. She turned her body to face you. “It can't be too hard, I read about this sort of thing a couple years ago. I have my power back so it's safer to do."

“You would- why?”

“It will prove I’m not lying, and wouldn’t it be nice to relieve the pain it’s caused.” Venable teared up. “I’ll fix not only the physical pain but emotional- if you let me.” She considered it. No one had been able to fix it, the doctors- “Doctors are limited to their equipment Mina. I may not be a Doctor and you won’t ever need one again.” Who did you know what she was thinking? 

“Okay.”

“Really?”

“I-I tr-ust y-you,” she choked the new words out. “What do I need to do?”

“First of all, relax, I hate to see you like this.” She took a deep breath. “Second, eat your dinner. Once done, go to your room and change into a dressing gown.”

“I don’t have a dressing gown.”

“Oh... I’ll get you one.” You said. “I’ll be at your room in an hour.” After your final words you headed into the generator room and shut the door behind you.

When Venable made it to her room, she found a black dress gown laid out on her bed. You hadn’t left the generator room, when did you place that there? Magic, she thought, forcing herself not to roll her eye at the concept. She locked the door behind her to ensure that she was not interrupted. No one ever busted in, but it still felt safer to do so, she didn’t want anyone to see her less than perfectly put together.

She imagined the gown to be yours, the fabric was a fine silk. The lightweight material wasn’t something she pictured you wearing but it was on her bed. The fabric was a good insulator and your cold body would have to retain heat somehow. The gown was smooth against her skin. The scent of honey engulfed her. A lovely scent but not yours. Yours was distinct and yet indistinguishable, yours melts her brain making determining the fragrance impossible. There was a hint of smokiness, but it was an underlying due to the potentness of the honey aroma. 

With the remainder of her time, she didn’t know what to do. She rested down on her bed, pulling out the current book she was working through from her nightstand. She propped her cane against the table for easy accessibility. She didn’t know how long you would be or how long it would seem once she got started with her book. She tended to get engrossed the the novel having hours past that only seem like minutes.

Venable yawned, tried from her emotionally driven night. She didn’t understand how you managed to be upbeat all day, she assumed that would be just as tiring as being sad. Her eyes were heavy and after fighting through a few pages she decided to rest her eyes for a bit. She’d be woken up when you knock. You’d have to knock loud to get her to open the door.

The woman felt her hair fall on her face; she went to brush it off when she was beaten to it. The realisation that someone was in the room with her snapped her out of her slumber. Her eyes locked onto you leaning down looking at her fondly. 

“Morning,” your voice was as sweet as the scent of the robe she was wearing.

“What? It’s morning?” She rasped out. Her throat had gotten dry during her sleep. You chuckled, turning to get a cup of water from the bed stand. You must have brought that with you. 

“I’m only messing. It’s only been three hours.”

“You should have woken me.” How did you even get in?

“But you looked so peaceful,”

“I doubt that.”

“Also, it made it easier to work-”

“-You didn’t-”

“I didn’t touch you, in any way. I’m not a beginner,” You informed her. “Also, I would want you awake for that.” You had to turn it into an inappropriate comment. "So, how do you feel?" You helped her up.

"Did- did it work?"

"Why don't you take a look?" She looked at you. You gestured to her bedroom mirror. She grabbed her can on instinct. Slowly she unveiled her back to see no sign of her once curved spin. "You-"

"I did." You said. "It will take a few hours for you to gain your strength then you'll never need your cane again.”

She moved around getting the view of her back from as many angles as she could. "I can't believe it." Venable beamed out of pure joy. Normality at last. It shouldn’t be possible. She would no longer be in constant pain by the reminder of it. At the end of the world, with a goddess of sorts interested in her, is this making it? Had she done something right?

She had turned around fully to take herself in for the first time, she was content with what she saw.

"Believe.” You snuck up behind her resting your head on her shoulder and your arms wrapped around her waist.  “Please.” She didn’t care about your closeness or the fact that your body was pressed up against her back. She couldn’t care. “In me, you and us. "

Venable lowered her gaze. “You’re asking for a lot Y/N.”

“I know but we’re running out of time. It’s only days before Michael’s done with his results.” You spun the woman around and eased her chin upwards forcing her to look at you. “I’m afraid we won’t make the cut.”

“You work for him.”

“For purely selfish reasons. He killed everyone I knew, or so I thought. A fog had been lifted from me. I made some stupid mistakes. I mean I helped him kill everyone. For the end times, wouldn’t you stick with the winning team.” You couldn’t begin to comprehend why you helped the boy. “Oh, and there's the fact that I’m kind of related to him.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m kind of his father’s sister. Not his father on earth but huh~”

“You lost me.”

“Umm~ Okay,” you sighed trying to figure out a way to word it. “He’s the antichrist.”

“You’re the devil’s sister?” You nodded. “That makes sense.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“No one has that level of confidence, knows everything about everyone, can get their way and be human.”

“When have I gotten my way?”

“You’ve strutted around the place, gaining everyone’s trust unlike your nephew which seemed to be your plan. You forced yourself onto me, got me and you still think you haven’t gotten your way?”

“I got you?” You smirked.

“That’s not what I said.”

“It’s exactly what you said.”

“Don’t get any ideas-”

“Too late,” you chirped. 

[wazafam]

George Lucas’ Star Wars prequels weren’t appreciated in their own time, but contemporary kids loved those movies and they’ve since turned them into cult classics with thousands of YouTube hot takes and a subreddit full of memes. While the exact execution of the trilogy has its fair share of flaws, the storytelling at large deals with some compelling themes.

RELATED: Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy's 5 Most Disappointing (& 5 Most Satisfying) Moments

From seasoned pros like Samuel L. Jackson and Liam Neeson to relative newcomers (at least back then) like Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor, the prequel trilogy was filled with incredible actors. Those actors have starred in plenty of hidden gems over the years.

10 Natalie Portman: Annihilation (2018)

Alex Garland followed up his acclaimed directorial debut Ex Machina with a similarly acclaimed sophomore feature, Annihilation. Part of what killed the movie was the studio getting cold feet about its viability at the box office and selling the international distribution rights to Netflix.

Natalie Portman stars as a scientist who leads a team into “The Shimmer,” a strange extra-terrestrial presence spreading across Earth and mutating all animal and plant life in its path.

9 Liam Neeson: Silence (2016)

Making an instant icon out of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn in The Phantom Menace is just one of Liam Neeson’s many achievements throughout his decades-long career. After becoming a revered dramatic performer with classics like Schindler’s List, Neeson reinvented himself as an action hero in 2008 with Taken.

Neeson has worked with Martin Scorsese a couple of times, including playing a supporting role in his underappreciated religious epic Silence, which stars Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver as a pair of Jesuit priests trying to spread Catholicism in Japan.

8 Keira Knightley: Laggies (2014)

Padmé’s use of decoys gets a little confusing throughout the prequel trilogy. Sometimes, she appears as herself; other times, she uses a decoy. One of those decoys was played by Keira Knightley, who went on to become a huge star with roles in Love Actually and Pirates of the Caribbean.

In 2014, Knightley starred alongside Chloë Grace Moretz and Sam Rockwell in the late Lynn Shelton’s romantic comedy gem Laggies.

7 Jimmy Smits: Running Scared (1986)

There are plenty of classic buddy cop movies, from Lethal Weapon to 48 Hrs. to Bad Boys. One of the action subgenre’s most underrated entries is Running Scared, starring Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines.

RELATED: Star Wars: 10 Storylines From The Prequel Trilogy That Were Never Paid Off

Bail Organa actor Jimmy Smits made his big-screen debut in this movie in the role of Julio Gonzales. The film is about two streetwise Chicago cops taking on a drug dealer.

6 Rose Byrne: Instant Family (2018)

Rose Byrne only had a small role in the Star Wars prequels as one of Padmé’s closest confidantes, but thanks to hit movies like Bridesmaids and Neighbors, she’s since become a much bigger star.

In 2018, she starred with Mark Wahlberg in Instant Family, the heartwarming story of a couple adopting three siblings and adapting to the sudden change. The movie was inspired by the real-life experiences of director Sean Anders.

5 Joel Edgerton: It Comes At Night (2017)

It was recently announced that Joel Edgerton will reprise his role as the uncle that raised Luke Skywalker in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Edgerton recently starred in writer-director Trey Edward Shults’ hidden horror gem It Comes at Night.

Set during a mysterious pandemic, It Comes at Night is essentially a cautionary tale about mixing households, as a family takes in another family they’re not sure they can trust.

4 Ewan McGregor: Shallow Grave (1994)

Ewan McGregor’s most famous role prior to playing Obi-Wan Kenobi was that of heroin addict Mark Renton in Danny Boyle’s darkly comic classic Trainspotting. But before Trainspotting, McGregor and Boyle collaborated on a different crime comedy, Shallow Grave.

The movie sees three roommates bringing in a fourth tenant and finding him dead with a big bag of cash. Greed promptly pits them all against each other.

3 Terence Stamp: Bowfinger (1999)

Terence Stamp played Palpatine’s immediate predecessor Chancellor Valorum in The Phantom Menace, but since he hated working with greenscreens, he refused to return for Attack of the Clones. The Hollywood satire Bowfinger, directed by Yoda puppeteer Frank Oz, is one of Stamp’s most underrated movies.

RELATED: Star Wars: The 3 Greatest Moments From Each Prequel Movie

Steve Martin stars as an unscrupulous movie producer who decides to make a movie with a major star, played by Eddie Murphy, without his knowledge. This involves secretly shooting around his personal life and casting his dorky twin brother, also played by Murphy.

2 Temuera Morrison: Once Were Warriors (1994)

While Temuera Morrison’s most famous role is undoubtedly clone template Jango Fett, as well as all the clones that were created with his DNA and grown-up Boba on The Mandalorian, his breakout role was in Once Were Warriors.

Morrison gives a powerful performance alongside Rena Owen and Cliff Curtis. The movie chronicles the ups and downs of a Māori family, touching on such serious subjects as alcoholism and domestic violence.

1 Samuel L. Jackson: Jackie Brown (1997)

Quentin Tarantino’s most underrated movie, Jackie Brown, is his only adaptation of previous source material: Elmore Leonard’s crime novel Rum Punch. Being beholden to source material resulted in arguably Tarantino’s most mature film.

Pam Grier stars as a flight attendant who plays a gun runner (Samuel L. Jackson) and the cops against each other with the aim to make off with the loot from an upcoming heist.

NEXT: Star Wars: 10 Ways The Sequels Made The Prequels Look Better

10 Underrated Movies Starring Actors From The Star Wars Prequels from https://ift.tt/2R7MtuA

[brooklynislandgirl]

I saw something on my dash and I feel the need to respond. I am not @ the person who wrote it because she is a lovely person who is just expressing her opinion, and mine of course drastically differs. It isn’t a call out post so much as a...different view which is necessary.

~*~ JJ Abrams: Is great at beginnings. He is very strong at creating an introduction but the man couldn’t follow through if he were given a map, a compass, a sherpa and put inside a wet paper bag. Plot bunnies have never been wrangled and in depth character work is not his strong suit. An excellent example of this is both Lost and the Star Trek series, another fandom that I have lived in practically all of my life.

Rian Johnson: Never heard about him before TLJ and I am absolutely certain I don’t want to have anything else to do with any of his work. Strong Character dynamics was touted as his strong suit and from what I saw in TLJ, there was more character dynamics in Seasame Street. As for Experimental Works, the key word is experimental, and sometimes the experiment fails. As for Original plots, well...there wasn’t anything original. I saw this movie twice over growing up and done better than what he did.

George Lucas: Great at coming up with a verse, phenomenal vision and desire to bring back/recreate the action-adventure series of the past and dropped us into the middle of a vibrant and intriguing world. Yes, the dialogue was occasionally clunky but forgivable. The FATHER of modern special effects, and it makes me wonder what would have happened if they HAD used his ideas and outlines for the Sequel Trilogy, rather than having his contributions scrapped. Just remember kids, if it wasn’t for George, we wouldn’t HAVE Star Wars. {Or Indiana Jones, Or American Graffiti or.....}

~*~

As for ‘people need to stop acting as if Star Wars is this award-worthy fanchise’, uhm shall we not mention the 7 Academy Awards, 8 Saturn Awards, the Baftas, the Nebulas, the People’s Choice Awards, and the LA Film Critic awards won by the original trilogy, or the 5 Oscar Nominations of the Prequel Trilogy? Cause I mean I can pretend they don’t exist, but that doesn’t mean that they will be miraculously erased from reality.

Yes, the Franchise IS about Space Wizards and light sabers and princesses and pirates, but it is also a mythological treatise for a modern age, an in depth attempt to recreate both the nostalgia of past media and based on cultural/psychological archetypes far exceeding JUST being movies. And whether or not that was George’s intention, it has taken a life of its own and has now influenced at least 3 generations of human beings. Possibly more. 

The ST is far less developed, yes. Because no one cared. They only had to scavenge the best bits of the OT and PT and paste them together in whatever pseudo-order they could make fit, and added in things that made absolutely NO SENSE when they couldn’t. Specifically most of Luke’s “characterisation”, Rose-whomeverthehellshewas, and I mean to answer this I would have to write an entire other post. Was it boring? Yes. Was it Cookie-Cutter, you could say so, with a few minor exceptions, and if those were MY cookies, I’d have thrown them out. Oh. Wait. I DID.

I would also like to point out that a good 3/4ths of the novels if not more were written to cover the galazy AFTER Return of the Jedi. Any one or more of those stories would have been far better to adapt that what the ST trilogy has given us.  As for “The ST takes place over less than 1 year” and “TLJ specifically occurs in a period of less than 24 hrs” in regards to the PT and OT:

Attack of the Clones takes place over 6 days, in film. Revenge of the Sith takes place over the course of 5 days in which I don’t think Anakin really gets any sleep at all.

We must assume that all the films therefore occur within a week or less. Slivers of important events. We don’t get to see Anakin being trained over Ten years. We don’t see Luke going and training in the dark side before he appears on Jabba’s barge, and yet these things happened.

~*~

Bunny, no no no. Rey is NOT just Luke as a female with abandonment issues. Luke didn’t know how to use a light-saber when he first saw one. He didn’t know how to use the Force, and had to be trained by Kenobi and Yoda. Rey...didn’t need anything. Neither did Finn, actually. Luke was a good guy, yes, but he had his doubts, his fears, his learning period. Go back and watch the films. Anakin was really good at piloting, he was phenomenal at combat, but he had no social graces, he didn’t ‘people’ well, he struggled with abandonment {both his own and leaving his mother}, the flaws were very real and painfully so.

Anakin and Luke both had to undergo the Hero’s Journey, like Frodo and Siegmund and really, pretty much name any fantasy character that has ever been written. Rey has everything handed to her on a platter, doesn’t have any growth or struggle or really makes any choices of her own. She might have been a great character had she been handled with any degree of forethought or sincerity. Alas, we will never know.

If you’re going to quote George, quote him right, he specifically says “Twelve year olds” which is the age of the kids I work with on a daily basis and they do not have simple moralistic wold views. They have the seeds for very complex thought and I am often amazed by their ability to understand and expand on ideas in ways I hadn’t even imagined.

And maybe if you want to see black-and-white morality in Star Wars, that’s fine but it isn’t really the whole point. If it was... Anakin would never have fallen to the Dark side. He would have started there. Luke would never have left Yoda on Degobah to rescue his friends because that was NOT the right thing to do. The films are about choices, write or wrong, made by people in desperate situations. It is about how those choices shaped their history, how it made them into the people they are, but ultimately, they are about how important hope is, and how even someone who has made very bad choices, can ultimately find their way back.

Star Wars, the movies, is about Anakin and his Legacy.

And archetypes? They are the definition of depth, which is why they cross cultural/religious/gender norms. They are universal ideas that can be transitioned across but not changed from their fundamental existence.

TLDR: The Sequel Trilogy really is glorified bad fanfic and is trying to erase it’s legacy so that the Mouse can make money. We all know the Star Wars film series was really “The Tragedy of Anakin Skywalker” and how bout we all stop pissing on that. If the past must die then let them have their dignity.

[ntmains]

Childrens movies in theaters now

CHILDRENS MOVIES IN THEATERS NOW MOVIE

CHILDRENS MOVIES IN THEATERS NOW FULL

With the supervillains hot on his trail, it's a race against time for Gru to find the precious stone, make his name, and stake his reputation as a legitimate and despicable supervillain. Thors ex-girlfriend with superhero powers now of her own. However, when he asks Otto for the stone, he learns the Minion traded it for a pet rock. In 2021 the list of big-budget family film extravaganzas in cinemas was incredible and 2022. After making his escape, Gru returns to his lair in triumph, believing his crime has earned him a place as a supervillain. Gru tells Otto, one of his Minions, to take the stone back to the lair while he distracts the villains. Children ages 6 and under are not allowed at R-rated movies after 6pm. 2 hr 11 min Children under 17 may not attend R-rated movies unaccompanied by a parent or adult guardian. With the highly coveted camp trophy at stake, dads Tommy and Eddie end up lost in the woods after a comedy of errors and mishaps. Please allow approximately 20 extra minutes for pre-show and trailers before the show starts. Two polar-opposite families find themselves sharing a cabin for a week away, at camp.

CHILDRENS MOVIES IN THEATERS NOW MOVIE

Not missing a beat, he steals a precious stone right from under their eyes and takes off at a run, with the Vicious 6 in pursuit. Find everything you need for your local movie theater near you. Now adults, Tim Templeton is a stay-at-home dad for two adorable.

CHILDRENS MOVIES IN THEATERS NOW FULL

Unfortunately, during the interview, they mock him and tell him to come back after he's done something evil. Join us at Xscape Theatres for a summer full of free movie fun Admission to our Kids Summer Movie program is FREE for everyone. If youre looking for the best movies to watch with your kids, this list of new movies. Jurassic World Dominion - Exclusive Bonus. After Bryce Dallas Howard signed on to do the Jurassic World movie franchise, it was. Based on the children's book by Bernard Waber about a crocodile who lives in New York City, the movie stars Shawn Mendes, Constance Wu, Javier Bardem and Winslow Fegley. To learn about our safety procedures, click here. The Machines Vivo Clifford The Big Red Dog Paw Patrol: The Movie Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway Space Jam: A New Legacy The Addams Family 2. Safety Procedures: Our policy is to enforce locally mandated COVID-19 rules and regulations. Chris Pratt negotiated Bryce Dallas Howard's Jurassic pay. Please select theatre and date below to view available showtimes. Two new movies debuted at the top of the box office this weekend in North American. He goes to a group of supervillains calling themselves the Vicious 6 when they advertise an opening. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero tops the weekend box office. In this prequel to the Despicable Me movies, 12-year-old Gru ( Steve Carell) dreams of becoming the world’s greatest supervillain.