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dear-yandere · 4 years

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[ terror eyes ]

yandere! risotto nero x reader. commissioned.

› word count: 2.8k. › warnings: consensual kidnapping, delusions, dependency, implied familial abuse, graphic gore and murder. › art credit: 39805470.

“Nothing ever ends poetically. It ends and we turn it into poetry. All that blood was never once beautiful. It was just red.” — Kait Rokowski, Alight

he didn’t expect to feel this way. he didn’t expect to lose himself in you.

it’s the way your eyes shine when you look at him — the fleeting glances, the lasting smiles. it’s the way you say his name — the unexpected tenderness, the excitement on your face. it’s the way his heart beats wildly in your presence, the way he’s reminded of its existence. it’s the way you remind him that he is human, not the monster he’s made himself out to be.

when he looks in the mirror, he sees a void, a blackness so thick he’s afraid it will devour him whole. of all the things risotto nero does not fear, he fears himself most. and yet, when you look at him, there is hope, light, the very opposite of what stares at him from the mirror. you look at him like there’s something worth adoring, something worth loving — emotions he never imagined could be directed at him. it’s a foreign feeling, something he hasn’t felt in years. nothing short of a nuisance at first, the way your gaze would pin to him like a fan adores their idol or a disciple worships their god. being the source of admiration is nothing new to him — many a man look up to him with a mixture of awe and fear, some groveling for mercy and others joining his cause. risotto nero is accustomed to being watched, to having eyes on him from every angle and direction: from diavolo, who both trusts and distrusts him; from the capos, who look at him with awe and scorn, and from his own underlings, who both fear and revere him. risotto nero is a force to be reckoned with, and yet, the way you look at him like a lover is enough to unravel his layers, as if there was nothing to fear at all.

it’s hard not to feel naked around you, to not feel vulnerable, as if you’ll figure out his deepest desires and worst fears if you so much as tried. vulnerability is not to be shown in his line of work, even you understand this much. despite the way you look at him with such ardor, you keep distance. whether it’s out of fear or respect, he doesn’t want to find out. it’s better this way, to keep you at arm’s length; you aren’t supposed to be alive. that thought rings true in the recesses of his mind, a reminder of who you truly are, who he truly is, of how this relationship was fated for end from the start. but even he isn’t immune to selfishness and desire.

“welcome home!”

your voice holds the universe together, its stars and planets localized entirely to the house you both call home. there isn’t this urgent need to be careful around him — to feign happiness, to pretend your heart hasn’t been shattered so many times you’ve lost track of its pieces. there isn’t this urgent need to put your guard up around him, ensure it’s airtight, ensure it can take another beating. there isn’t this urgent need to be afraid around him. not anymore.

you don’t wait for a response, you never do. he never speaks without purpose, and you’ve grown accustomed to the way he wears silence like a mask. bounding up to him with a skip in your step, you attach yourself to his arm and lead him to the living room, the same conversation on your tongue as yesterday, the day before, and every day before that.

“how was work?”

a trivial question, considering his occupation; work is never good nor bad, because to him, taking life is neither good nor bad. it’s normal, it comes as easy as breathing. but for a moment, he feels the normality of it all wash over him. the catharsis that an ordinary life brings, one where he is married to a loving spouse, someone who greets him when he arrives home, someone who dotes on him at his highest and comforts him at his lowest. for a moment, you are his home, and for a moment, this is normal.

but moments are fleeting.

his heartbeat reminds him that this is real, that you are real. but there’s an ache in his chest and a longing for something else — for something more. he wonders if this happiness isn’t enough for him. if he was good, would he be capable of love? if he was good, would he be worthy of love? of your love?

how foolish... murderers aren’t meant to dream.

“i was so lonely without you, even the little metallica got bored...” you rub the smooth head of the stand, a little part of his soul perched atop your shoulder. a means to keep track of you, but you insist on treating it like a friend. as much as he pretends to find disinterest in your affection, he feels your touch vicariously through the little being and silently revels in it. “you didn’t get hurt did you?” your eyes scan his chest, searching for any visible wounds. when you find none, you look up at him with a smile that reaches your eyes. “i know you have a high pain tolerance, but i know basic first aid, and...”, you hesitate, heat dusting your cheeks like stardust. should you finish that thought? it’d not like he particularly cares for what you have to say, or so he lets on.

“and i want to be of use to you.”

he stares at you, a sense of affection flickering through his gaze. his heartbeat quickens and he searches your eyes only to find that same brilliance, that same hope worn proudly like armor. a reminder that you are blameless in all this. there are still things you don’t understand, things you couldn’t possibly understand. the true nature of his job, the truth about his past, all parts of him remain shrouded with uncertainty, parts of him that will forever remain a mystery. never does he speak of the thoughts weighing him down. you wish you could understand and he wishes he could let you, but his heart does not allow it. you are better off in the light.

“aha, forget i said anything. i was just joking...” your laugh is sardonic and forced, and yet it is still music to his ears. “but rely on me if you need anything, okay?” the question is rhetorical, you don’t expect an answer nor do you expect him to ever need your help, but you offer yourself on a silver platter nonetheless. it’s the least you can do for the man who saved you.

risotto laughs through his nose and corrects that earlier thought: you may belong in the light, but you’re better off here. he tells himself that anyways, convinces himself that what he did was for purely for your benefit. and even then that sentiment feels foreign, his behavior like a man possessed. who is he? that day he saw you, that day he killed your parents, who did he become? he’s heard that some change when they meet a lover, that they become someone else. a sick yet romantic concept, to change into someone else entirely as easily as changing clothes, as if love is enough to change the depravity of humans. tragedy and hatred was never foreign to him, the better part of his adult years spent wallowing in contempt and resentment; a shameful part of him, one he looks back on with disgust. how he used to wish that were true, that the scum who killed his cousin would seek forgiveness and repentance. but life is no fairy tale. and yet, when he met you, he became someone different, someone better.

and it still isn’t enough to make him worthy of you.

you are not red. when he met you, you were pure, untouched, unsullied by the red that surrounded you. unaffected by the red of your parents who hurt you, by the red of your family who let them, by the red of your friends who left you. despite the sea of blood you used to live in, you were anything but. anything but that wretched color, anything but the color of blood. you were his realization, his epiphany: his world has been dyed red for so long, he’d forgotten the beauty underneath.

you make him feel alive again.

“you’ll tell me if something’s wrong, won’t you?” there is no need for words, but you speak in hopes of giving assurance. you want to be his shoulder to lean on and to cry in, even if that offer will forever go untouched. but he can’t. as much as he longs for that companionship, to fall apart in your arms and let you the collect the pieces, he can’t. he doesn’t know what he needs. he doesn’t even know if he needs you.

but you need him. “if it concerns you.” his reply is blithe, far too scathing a response for a lover’s concern, but you show no signs of quarrel. this isn’t the first time he’s brushed you off, especially when this false game of house has become commonplace: go to work, come home, be greeted a woman who’d happily be your wife if you asked, rinse and repeat. “i can take care of myself.”

you nod like you always do, but he knows you’ll fuss over him come his return from work tomorrow. a familiar smile is directed at him — a display which still feels foreign — and the gentle musings of a woman smitten with love follow as you guide him to the couch with the promise of dinner being ready soon. as he seats himself, the worries of the day roll from his shoulders like rain. how you fell for a man like him is beyond his understanding. even if he did save you from a far worse fate, from a family who would sooner be your undoing than the catalyst of your betterment, he is undeserving of your love. what he sees when he looks at you is hope and misguided truth — you’re too bright for him.

“we’re running low on groceries,” you call out from the kitchen, broaching the topic carefully, scared he’ll think you’re eager to leave. in this situation, you suppose most would assume that much, but you... you want to stay here. you want to be with him, to be around him more, not just when he returns from work. you want him, and you know he wants you too if only he’d let himself indulge. “i... i know you usually pick it up yourself, but i want to come with you,” you try to explain, confidence melting away like ice under his gaze. will your words get through to him? “n...next time, i mean, if that’s okay...” you meekly clarify.

if you didn’t admire him, the way he looks at you now would make your legs buckle. his eyes have never scared you, not like he expected they would, but there’s a certain terror they inflict when he looks at you as a nuisance rather than a lover. piercing red on black, the eyes of a demon rather than a human. and yet, he is your guardian angel, the only man who’s ever saved you. you know you’re safe with him, he wouldn’t hurt you like they did. the thought has flitted through your mind from time to time, memories of your abusers’ bodies mangled and torn apart from the inside. explanations don’t come easy to risotto, so you’re still left in the dark about your own parent’s deaths. not that you cared much for their passing, you were more concerned with the nature in which they died. tiny slits had opened on all corners of their body, as if they’d been instantaneously cut from the inside. you still remember their screams, guttural like the dying wails of animals, infused with the intense smell of iron permeating the air. you want to learn more about him, to understand him, and this... this power is the best place to start. why did he save you? why does he keep you? will there come a day where he leaves you too?

“it’s dangerous.” his eyes peel away from yours and you allow yourself the luxury of relaxation. “passione is still looking for you. your parents had an outstanding debt that your disappearance alone isn’t enough to tide over.” he notices the way your shoulders slump in his peripherals. if his lies weren’t for your own good, he might have felt some semblance of regret. “things will settle down, it’s pointless to keep asking,” he adds with a tone of finality. he’s never been one for consolation, so he doesn’t dwell on the sadness that permeates your being. you’re safer here, even you realize that; you don’t put up a fight.

“i see...” you turn away, hands busying themselves with a nearly-finished dinner. the smell of a home-cooked meal imbues the air with warmth, a reminder of his childhood. how long has it been since he’s enjoyed the presence of another, a meal made by someone who loves him? even when he treats you harshly, keeping you in the dark about your own safety and the reality of your situation, it’s never held against him. the love you pour into his meals is palpable, carrying a certain sweetness even where the dish has no place for it. if he’s being honest, it’s... addicting. to feel normal again.

his earlier reasoning isn’t a complete lie, more of a... half-truth. upon learning of your home life, of how much abuse you endured at the negligent hands of parents who refuse to let you leave, he’d intended to kill you too. put you out of your misery. leaving the children of hits alive is problematic for a number of reasons, the biggest being that grief drives people to extremes. risotto has always been keen on finishing jobs thoroughly, but even he could see that something inside of you was... broken. the way you watched your parents being ripped apart, mauled by something you can’t see nor begin to comprehend... amidst the guts and gore, he wasn’t able to place an emotion to it at the time, only that it was visceral, animalistic. realization only came later: the look on your face was one of pure happiness. surrounded by the blood of your own family, you were happy, relieved, hopeful. to see them finally suffer as much as you had, to see them finally gone from your life; you were so much like him, and yet so far removed all the same.

regret is lost on him. he doesn’t regret ‘saving’ you. your parents had it coming; their presence in the underbelly of naples had become troublesome for passione, the pair even going so far as to try to escape their debt to the mafia. a last-ditch attempt akin to the behavior of animals who’ve been cornered, risotto almost felt pity upon learning of your existence. the onus of repaying their debt would have fallen on you, a tactic even he didn’t quite agree with. but passione was never known for their lenience; this was the life risotto had chosen, after all. a life of crime and of murder, a life befitting a monstrous stand like his. at some point, he’d lost all sense of sympathy for his hits, their faces replaced by that of the drunk driver who killed his cousin. that scum’s sentence was far too lenient, and risotto has seen first-hand the trouble leniency can bring.

but he felt sorry for you. coming to terms with the sudden onslaught of pity was nauseating enough, but he’d offered to hide you until things settle down. the don was enraged that you’d ‘escaped’ before risotto could finish you off, but it was easy enough to let it go: you’ll ‘turn up’ eventually, and the debt your parents owed is the back burner for the time being. and, whether or not you preferred to die at the hands of your savior, you still followed him without quarrel when he took you. under normal circumstances, perhaps it’s better to say he kidnapped you, but you’ve always insisted that he did just the opposite; he freed you. for the first time in his life, he saved someone. where he couldn't save his cousin, he could save you.

“i’ll stop asking, but... maybe we can go together one day?” you pipe up, already setting a fresh plate of food before him. a model housewife, if this had been under normal circumstances. despite your attempts to hide any sadness, you wear a blissful expression when you glance up at him, head curiously tilted with the weight of your admiration for him. when you speak, he feels your love for him in every word; when you speak, he feels like he can love again. “as a couple,” you suggest, your smile genuine.

no, he doesn’t deserve you. not in the slightest.

“...i’d like that.”

but maybe one day he will.

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filmhistorymptv1145 · 3 years

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Reckon with the impact of World War II on cinema history. In what ways did this cataclysmic event shape film as an art form? How do postwar films differ from prewar films either in form or content? Consider the examples that deal directly with the war and its aftermath, but reflect on earlier films we have seen as well, which may be useful points of comparison.

The aftershocks of World War II left the entire planet in shambles. From Japan to Germany and all the way to the United States, the effects were taking its toll on both their people and economies. More than sixty-one million people were dead. The shift in society was momentous, and affected the everyday lives of the average citizens, and government officials were left to pick up the pieces. One of the most noticeable shifts in artistic trends after the War was the change in the production of films. After 1948, some of the glitz and glamour left Hollywood’s movies, and directors and creators around the world began to take notice and incorporated darker, grittier themes into their work. Directors and screenwriters did not feel afraid to attack how their respective country had changed after the war, infusing their films with political tension and subtle criticisms of the powers that be.

The shift in darker subject matter challenged the Hollywood bauble. Even with the Code firmly in place, directors and screenwriters found creative ways to tell their stories around it. Subliminal messages conveyed through staging, dialogue and light became the norm after 1948. Instead of dealing with outside forces, such as unrequited love or corporate greed, narratives began to turn inward. Questioning the moral fiber of man and what good or evil we do with the immense amount of knowledge at our fingertips became the groundwork for post-war cinema.

In Hollywood movies, directors had to be subtle and creative about showcasing their criticisms of American ideals on screen. Through the use of cinematography and subtext, a film like All That Heaven Allows can seem like a romantic drama on the surface to the average viewer. However, Douglas Sirk was able to infuse the film with multiple layers of subtext which criticized the highly sought after and idealized ‘American Dream’. Sirk wanted to take a good, hard look at the kind of lifestyle so many American soldiers had fought and died for.

Cary is a wealthy widow who falls in love with a younger man who is of lower class than she is, a gardener named Ron. Through Cary’s story, Sirk is able to turn the narrative inward to inspect the pillars of American suburban life: order, conformism, and intolerance. Cary’s friends and neighbors are aghast that she is planning to marry again, and to her gardener at that. Sirk attacks the snobby and patronizing attitudes of Cary’s upper-class acquaintances, who appear to be friendly to Cary on the surface. Even her own children appear to be devastated by her personal choices about her love life. In a scene where she is talking to her son, he speaks to her from the other side of a screen, his face obscured by wire mesh. Almost like he is talking to her from the other side of a cage. A metaphor for the manner in which Cary’s children and friends have her trapped inside of their expectations for her as a widow, as indifferent to her wishes and desires as grouchy prison guards would be towards a recalcitrant inmate.

Materialism of the American suburbia becomes another subject for Sirk to condemn near the end of the film. Cary’s children, pleased with their mother’s apparent decision to stay away from Ron, present her with a television set for Christmas. In the shot below, Sirk uses the television screen to again show us how Cary is trapped, this time by consumerism. Her son earnestly believes that she will have all the company she needs now that she owns a TV, seemingly forgetting the fact that he snubbed Ron when Cary first introduced him to her children. Her son believes that her gardener that is below her class is absurd for companionship, and yet a television set seems adequate for the lonely widow. In 1955, the age of gluttonous consumerism, replacing a loved one with a material object would have been seen as normal.

This is different from a film such as Ninotchka, where not even the USSR could keep Ninotchka and Leon apart, compare this to when Cary almost ends up letting Ron go. Between her children’s unhappiness and the way her friends have refused to accept Ron into their social circles, the future for them looks utterly hopeless for a time. Unlike in Ninotchka, where her comrades are more than approving of Leon. When Cary and Ron do eventually get together at the end of the film, Sirk dramatizes this moment by having Cary lit up in an angelic halo and even goes over the top by including a deer arriving at the nearby window. Ron’s recovery from his injuries is also miraculous, further adding to Sirk’s subtle critique of the American melodrama.

Other countries who suffered much greater losses from World War Two, such as Japan, instead chose to make something entirely new out of the suffering they had endured. Suffering not just one, but two atomic bombs dropped on their country, Japanese cinema underwent one of the most drastic transformations after the War.

One director looked at the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and somehow found inspiration to create something from the horror. With a negative attitude towards nuclear weapons and all they stood for, Ishiro Honda directed Godzilla as a metaphor for the destructive and devastating powers of atomic bombs. Nuclear testing conducted in the Pacific Ocean’s Marshall Islands by the United States in 1954 sparked both an anti-nuclear movement across the country and inspired Honda to create the film. Twenty-three sailors aboard the Dragon no. 5 were within range of the fallout of the blast perished within days of returning home, since the weather had shifted past the US military’s calculations. The blast was also much more powerful than the US had predicted, raining death ash on the fisherman, who were positioned over eighty miles away. The story of Dragon no. 5 swept across Japan, gripping its people in panic of a possible third nuclear disaster, compounded by the fact that it had only been nine years since Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed.

In the film’s story, Godzilla is created by an ordinary lizard feeding off of the nuclear radiation that is present in Japan’s waters and mutating into its current monstrous form. Not only is he capable of crushing massive buildings with just his body, but the monster is also able to breathe fire that is hot enough to melt steel.

Honda had visited the ruins of Nagasaki, after returning to Japan from being kept as a prisoner of war in China. What he saw shook him to the core. Honda insisted that the texture of his scaly skin replicates the lesions that would form on those in Japan who had suffered radiation poisoning and cancer after the atomic bombs had been dropped.

Throughout the film, Honda uses Godzilla to mirror the strength of nuclear weapons by showing the Japanese military’s inability to harm Godzilla with any of their weaponry. The film contains deep political subtext, hinting at the ongoing nuclear arms race between Russia and The US, seen near the end when Doctor Serizawa is conflicted about using the oxygen destroyer to kill Godzilla. He states that he worries about the world’s politicians becoming interested in the oxygen destroyer even after one use, and that ‘right now, it’s nothing but a weapon of mass destruction’. It is not difficult to guess what he meant by ‘world’s politicians’, with the tensions that were present in the early years of the Cold War. Although witnessing the destruction Godzilla has wreaked on land is enough to change his mind, Serizawa still destroys all of his notes and research about the oxygen destroyer. He goes even further and volunteers to use the device on Godzilla himself, and he ends up dying in the process. In his mind, taking the secrets of what might have ultimately ended up eradicating humanity with him to his grave was the only way to keep the world safe from destruction, a key insight into just how fiercely the Japanese people felt animosity towards nuclear warfare.

Other directors in Japan chose to look inward and see how the War might shape one’s morals and attitudes. Akira Kurosawa tackles this in Rashomon, a film that both defined a new method of telling a story and questions the concepts of truth and human knowledge. To this day, Kurosawa’s groundbreaking technique is still utilized in modern movies. Normally, flashbacks in film were meant to be taken as entirely truthful. Kurosawa disrupts this trend in Rashomon. In Rashomon, a nobleman is supposedly murdered by a crazed bandit named Tajomaru, who also rapes his wife. Three men are discussing the event while taking shelter from the heavy rainstorm in a ruined temple, two of them having been at the court hearing. Four characters recount the story throughout the film: Tajomaru, the nobleman’s wife, the nobleman himself, communicating through a medium, and finally the woodcutter who is at the ruined temple. The medium’s confession is thought to be the truth, since the monk says that the dead cannot lie. The husband’s version of the story is the darkest, the effect multiplied by Noriko Honma’s feral and terrifying performance as a medium for the dead.

Each telling of the story shows the audience that there are obvious inaccuracies from one person to the next. In one recount, the husband orders his wife to commit suicide after suffering the shame of being raped. In another, the wife begs the bandit to kill her husband and take her away with him. This leaves the audience with many questions. Obviously, someone is lying. Only at the end of the film is the truth revealed whether or not we believe it by then. The woodcutter admits that he lied during his hearing at the court, that he had not just found the husband’s body and the wife’s discarded hat. Allegedly, he witnessed the entire unfortunate encounter between the married couple and Tajomaru unfold before his eyes. At first, it is hard to take the woodcutter’s account as truthful, since the entire film up until this point has been about how people will lie and deceive others, as well as themselves. Kurosawa’s story is dual-sided, since he displays the foulest traits of human nature, and people’s desire to better themselves.

The woodcutter proves himself to be noble, when the three men are interrupted by the sounds of a crying baby, abandoned at the temple. The common man grabs the kimono the baby was wrapped in, as well as the protective amulet that was left with the infant and runs off. The monk picks up the child, unsure as to what to do. The woodcutter reaches for the baby, and the monk reacts negatively, accusing the man of wanting to take what little the child has left. The woodcutter is hurt by this, and says he was going to take the baby home, since he already had six children and one more would not make a difference. The monk apologizes and lets him take the baby, stating that the woodcutter’s actions had restored his faith in the human soul. The baby itself is a symbol for hope for the future of the people of Japan, further punctuated by how the rain has finally stopped, and sunlight shines down on the woodcutter as he carries the infant home.

War does not often come to mind when we consider sources for artistic inspiration. It is an ugly, horrible thing, and World War Two was no exception. However, just like with the Motion Picture Production Code, filmmakers were still able to create masterpieces even after a crippling hardship. Whether it be through direct or indirect means, directors and screenwriters are always influenced by the world around them and it shows in their work. Watching films from the past is almost like viewing a time capsule, the current trends and conflicts of the world reflecting on screen.

#godzilla #rashomon #akira kurosawa #douglas sirk #all that heaven allows #post war cinema #world war 2

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Guilty Gear: 15 Most Powerful Characters

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Guilty Gear has one of the more ridiculous storylines in fighting games. A beautiful-looking series with a fantastic cast of heroes and villains, the sci-fi anime aesthetic lends itself to some wacky concepts.

The broad strokes of the series aren’t all that bizarre, as it tells a pretty basic story overall. In a world where magic was discovered, three scientists accidentally unleashed a new type of species that led to a lengthy war between these creatures (Gears) and humanity. One scientist became a genocidal monster, one a grizzled anti-hero, and another a mysterious wildcard watching over everything. Eventually, the war ended and peace reigned, but the possibility of the war reigniting is a constant threat.

That’s not too out there on its own. Except the story also features a large vigilante doctor who wears a paper bag to hide his identity as a crazed serial killer. There’s a ninja who gets elected President of the United States, only to later figure out it would be easier to just start his own country. There’s a comatose boy in a weaponized bed whose personality is a mix between Freddy Krueger and Mandark from Dexter’s Lab. There’s a yoyo-wielding bounty hunter, a time-traveling Axl Rose knockoff, a dandy vampire, an assassin who uses reality-bending billiards as a fighting style, and so on.

Shit gets weird.

With Guilty Gear Strive finally out on store shelves, giving us the long-awaited final battle between Sol Badguy and That Man, it’s time to take a look at the most powerful beings in the Guilty Gear universe. One character I’m leaving off the list is Leopaldon from Guilty Gear Isuka. Not only is the game not canon, but even WHAT Leopaldon is (a dog and a wizard piloting a yeti?) isn’t well-explained. But if you want Leopaldon, he’s definitely on our official ranking of all the characters in the series.

Anyway, here the most powerful characters in Guilty Gear:

15. IZUNA

Izuna, a hero introduced in Guilty Gear 2, is a bit on the mysterious side, but there’s enough information to make it apparent that he’s someone to take serious. Not only is he over 500 years old, but he resides in the Backyard, an environment so uninhabitable that most others would be crushed by its magical atmosphere. He’s skilled as a swordsman, and his teleportation abilities are said to be equal to the strength of several hundred mages combined.

It’s presumed that Izuna didn’t show up in Guilty Gear Xrd because Ariels saw him as such a threat to her plans that she sealed him away and kept him out of play before her schemes could really kick into gear. That’s quite the compliment, in a roundabout way.

14. RAVEN

Raven is all about experience and durability. He simply can’t die, can contort himself, and is unable to feel pain. Even his Instant Kill sees him summon energy that engulf him and his opponent, which turns his enemy to dust while he simply lives to fight another day. He also has control over spatial magic in a way that makes Faust look like a novice. He’s absolutely a force to be reckoned with no matter what character he’s up against.

Still, resilience can only get you so far. When you get down to it, he’s comparable to someone like Deadpool or Wolverine, albeit with an even stronger healing factor and some magic bells and whistles. He may live to fight again, but he can still be overwhelmed and defeated with the right strategy. Guys like Slayer and Dizzy might not be able to completely annihilate him, but they can presumably contain him.

13. THE VALENTINE SERIES

The initial Valentine was the final boss in Guilty Gear 2 and Ramlethal Valentine was the boss in Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign-. They, along with Elphelt Valentine and Jack-O Valentine, are treated as crucial parts of the series.

Yet, they just…never really do anything that justifies ranking them higher on this list. Plus I have to lump them together because it’s hard to really compare them when they can apparently shut off each other’s powers.

Then again, I guess the original Valentine is the alpha of the group as she could upgrade her form a couple times over for the sake of final boss battles. Not that it did her any good.

12. I-NO

I-No is a tough one to figure out. Guilty Gear XX introduces her as a major threat, and a mysterious one at that. Her origin isn’t explored at first, and by the time the series explains what the hell she is (some kind of being the universe created out of everyone’s wishes for a better tomorrow?), it doesn’t really give her much context as a combatant. That said, “Manipulating probability” is one of her powers, making her pretty damn formidable when combined with her almost unlimited battle experience and toughness.

Games

Guilty Gear: Ranking All the Characters

By Gavin Jasper

Games

Mortal Kombat: 15 Most Powerful Characters

By Gavin Jasper

Even though she’s treated as the boss character in Guilty Gear XX and spends the story messing with everyone, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core lets the rest of the cast catch up to her. Most of her endings involve her being defeated and even killed by those she just beat in-game. For instance, I-No defeats Baiken in-game but then Baiken just gets back up and murders her.

11. BAIKEN AND ANJI MITO

These two are so intertwined and comparable that they’ll have to share a spot. As I already mentioned, they both own I-No no matter who wins the in-game battle, which I’m going to take as a sign that they’re simply superior to her on the battlefield. Both are part of the series’ interesting subplot where people of Japanese descent are both incredibly rare, but also teeming with energy. Unlike May, these two have actually tapped into their genetic potential.

But it has its limits. Baiken has been demolished by Justice in the past, and her attempts to get revenge on That Man only ended in frustration when she couldn’t land a single hit. And he wasn’t even fighting back!

10. KLIFF UNDERSN

Poor Kliff is one of those old school fighting game characters who dies in his own ending, therefore dying in canon. Not that it’s surprising, considering he’s entering a fighting tournament in his late 80s. Still, Kliff is a legend and made a name for himself during much of the war against Justice. Sure, he was taken off the board before we could see how well he’d measure up to some of the younger warriors, but according to canon, Kliff survived at least 16 encounters with Justice.

He couldn’t seal the deal, but surviving against Justice that many times is too impressive not to give him a spot on this list. It’s not like Justice is the kind to spare a defeated foe out of respect. Kliff had to earn his survival time and time again.

9. KY KISKE

Ky Kiske has spent the entire series getting the short straw when compared to his rival and co-protagonist Sol. As Sol’s power keep creeping upwards and making him more and more OP with each new installment, Ky is just off to the side, feeling sorry for himself. He is still more than capable, but on paper, he just can’t hang with the likes of Sol and the other heavy hitters.

The epilogue for Guilty Gear Xrd suddenly shone a new light on Ky, though. Sol fought alongside Ky during the Crusades and saw what he was capable of. It looked nothing like the man he dueled with on multiple occasions across their adventures. Ky then admitted the truth: he had been holding back all this time because, while he may want to defeat Sol, he doesn’t want to kill him and those are two very different fighting strategies for him. Ky may not be some kind of nuclear option in battle, but if he truly wanted to, he could kill you 10 times before you hit the ground.

8. SLAYER

From his first appearance, Slayer made his mark as the retired assassin who was simply too strong for this shit. He’s more of an interested onlooker than a major player and usually only gets involved for the sake of his own amusement. With his otherworldly biology and centuries of experience, Slayer is rarely shown to be in any real peril. Even in defeat, he lies awake and bored, suggesting that he lost only because he allowed it.

It takes a while, but we do eventually get to see some measure of his potential. He’s casual about danger, but there are threats out there that could at the very least make him break a sweat. That’s basically the rest of this list.

7. BEDMAN

Bedman spends the first half of Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign- making his way through the rest of the roster. Depicted as an enigmatic being who fights his enemies both physically and mentally (and is near unstoppable on both fronts), Bedman not only overpowers series regulars, but is able to take on multiple opponents at once while still making them look like the underdogs.

The moment that truly shows how dangerous Bedman is when he comes across Slayer. At first, we get the idea that it’s a stalemate and that Slayer may be up against someone worthy of his effort. Then, sometime later, we see Bedman standing triumphantly over Slayer, Millia, and Venom, who all lie at his feet. And after that, he still keeps going, taking out Faust and Chipp while forcing Johnny to escape. Dude is scary.

6. PRESIDENT GABRIEL

Gabriel showed up in Potemkin’s ending, and since then Arc System Works has been playing up how incredible he is while never, ever putting him in a game! It’s outright maddening. Make him a DLC character or something. We’ve been waiting decades!

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He’s a man Potemkin looks up to and confides in by the end of the first game. Then they introduce Slayer and tease tease this nigh-unbeatable immortal is Gabriel’s rival. It isn’t until Guilty Gear Xrd that it really becomes apparent how tough this guy is. After the story spent all this time building up Bedman, Gabriel completely clowns him like nobody’s business.

That’s what you get for killing that dog, you comatose asshole.

5. SOL BADGUY

Every now and then, fiction gives us a character so powerful that even trying to make them cease to exist does nothing. Blow up Darkseid with anti-matter, use magic to erase the Sentry, go back in time and destroy the MacGuffin that makes Apocalypse immortal, etc. They somehow just exist in spite of that. Sol is on that level. I-No once sent him back in time, had him kill his younger self, and Sol simply shrugged off the paradox. The dude is ridiculous.

Sol grows more powerful in each game and even then we’re told that he’s holding back. By the time the dust settles, he’ll probably be worthy of #1 post on the list, but right now, he’s just a high-ranking, angry fellow who’s important enough to be what the series’ bizarre title is named after.

4. JUSTICE

Despite being killed off in the first game, Justice is the constant source of dread in Guilty Gear’s story. Many of the games have revolved around the threat of Justice’s return, whether it’s getting her daughter to follow in her footsteps, cloning, or even resurrection. And yes, Justice is bad news because when she was active, she led a war against mankind that lasted 101 years. She only lost because she was sealed away.

After being released from her prison, Justice was eventually done in by Sol Badguy, the only Gear to predate her creation. It could be said that Sol took her out when she was weakened, but it could also be said that Sol was holding back.

Regardless, I’m going to rank Justice higher because of of her mental control over the entire Gear race, Sol excluded. Yeah, that’s a pretty major weapon to have in your back pocket, even if it doesn’t really come into play in a one-on-one fighting game. Sol was lucky to be in a situation where he could take her out before she could call in the reserves.

3. DIZZY

Dizzy makes me think of when someone is writing a Justice League story and has to come up with a reason for Superman to not be around, like he’s busy in space or off in another dimension. Dizzy isn’t the protagonist of Guilty Gear, but she is the daughter of two of the most powerful characters, and is mainly held back by plot contrivance and her attempts at pacifism. If she wanted to, she could wipe the floor with practically anyone, and there’s even an alternate reality (one where Ky died during the Crusades) that shows her embracing her potential and leading the Gears to victory against humanity.

Her so-called “Instant Kill” in Guilty Gear Xrd paints the best picture. Dizzy reluctantly fires a projectile that misses its mark, but leaves a horrifying mushroom cloud in the distance. Her freaked out opponents can only survey the damage, slowly turn to her, and surrender. Again, that’s what she’s capable of when holding back.

2. ASUKA R. KREUZ/THAT MAN

I can’t think of a more ambitious concept for a fighting game character than That Man. He’s alluded to in Sol Badguy’s ending in the first Guilty Gear game, making you imagine he’ll be the final boss of the next game or maybe the one after that. Instead, he makes mysterious appearances in the Guilty Gear X games. We never get a good look at him, but we see that he’s capable of easily slapping aside anyone who gets in his way. Then he pops up in Guilty Gear 2, including in a boss battle where Dragon Install Sol Badguy can’t even dent him. The Guilty Gear Xrd series gives him a little more dimension, finally revealing his true face and name.

Now it’s time for Guilty Gear Strive where maybe, just maybe, That Man will be DLC down the line. Maybe. Since the beginning, the series has been building to a climactic battle between Sol Badguy and Asuka R. Kreuz. As it is right now, That Man has proved to be higher on the food chain than his old scientist colleague, but that kind of uphill battle is expected.

1. ARIELS

Guilty Gear 2 and Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign- built up “Mother,” the force behind the Valentines and the one signing Bedman’s checks. At the end of -Sign-, we found out that the big mastermind is…a lady Pope possessed by a divine force. Sure, why not. Then in the next game, we got to see her go from putting on a professional and benevolent face for the public to going on a killing spree, painting her face like a juggalo, and ranting about how humanity is redundant and needs to be done away with.

Once again, Ariels would have made for a kickass final boss in Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator, but she remained part of story mode only. She was eventually taken down, but it took Sol Badguy, Ky Kiske, Sin Kiske, and That Man teaming up to do it. But as revealed in Guilty Gear Strive, she’s still alive!

What is your ranking of the most powerful Guilty Gear fighters? Let us know in the comments!

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cakesunflower · 5 years

Text

Liability [Peaky Blinders!Calum AU] Part 2

Previous Part: Part 1

Part 2

“That is a profoundly stupid fucking idea which is only going to get us killed.”

Had it been anyone else who spoke to him like that, Calum wouldn’t have hesitated in delivering a punch in the face of whoever was skeptical of his orders. But instead he kept to shooting Luke a flat expression, loud and clear about his lack of interest in what the blonde had to say before returning his attention to the papers laid out in front of him—particularly the Export License that they’d recently acquired. It had been a moment teeming with pride, showing off that license to the people who stood by his side, to the men and women he trusted with his life. This was what they had been waiting for and it was finally there.

Calum put the books on top of the license, data from the latest race open for him to see. He wasn’t as concerned with his decision the way Luke seemed to be, hunched over the books and going over the week’s recordings.

As he took in the impressive profits the last of the horses, Oakley, earned them during the week, Calum inquired in an uncaringly airy tone, “D’you think I don’t know what I’m doin’, Luke?”

The blonde sighed, running his fingers through his curls. The last thing he wanted to do was disrespect his best friend and leader, but the unease and concern still ate at Luke from the moment Calum had announced his plan to him, Ashton, and Michael. “You know I haven’t an issue following your orders, but this. . . This is dangerous territory, Calum. She’s the Police Captain’s daughter.”

“If she had views similar to that of her father’s, then she never would’ve stepped foot into the Garrison,” Calum pointed out. His tone, as usual, was all-knowing, because he knew Karina. She was a curious one, he could tell, and while he expected her to reject his offer the second he suggested it, Calum knew she would eventually come around to the concept.

Granted, it was possibly a risky move on his part, but Calum stood by what he said; Karina wasn’t her father. Reading people was one of Calum’s strong suits, practically hearing their thoughts in the way they carried themselves. Every time he ran into Captain Garner, Calum knew the policeman was looking for any solid reason to put him behind bars—or, to the captain’s preference, be hanged. But that night at the Garrison, Calum saw no inkling of the same train of thought from his daughter—didn’t see much of it from Sean Garner either, if he was being honest.

It seemed to Calum that Captain Garner’s aversion to the leader of the Peaky Blinders wasn’t one his children shared.

Perhaps Calum was playing with fire with the idea he was concocting in his mind since running into Karina again after so many years. It surprised him how she seemed to be stuck in his head since that night at the Garrison.

She was an independent one, it was easy to realize. Averting from her father’s views, especially when it came to Calum himself, wanting to be a working woman, being damn near abrasive where her dead husband was concerned. Calum wasn’t going to lie—seeing Karina within the walls of his pub had felt like a breath of fresh air, and speaking to her had only served to peak his interest in the woman who once had been his schoolmate.

“It’s still a dangerous bet,” Luke spoke with a shake of his head, a resigned sigh escaping him. He knew there was no talking Calum out of this, so why bother trying?

The smirk returned to Calum’s face, leaning back in his chair, with his hands splayed on the desk in front of him. “When have I ever backed away from one?”

*****

“Come on, Karina—Ed doesn’t mind giving you a ride home. Do you, Ed?” Joyce hummed, looking over her shoulder towards her fiancé, who sat in the driver’s seat of his Ford Model T, the engine rattling lowly as he waited for Joyce to get in.

“’Course not,” Ed returned with a friendly smile, leaning to his left to get a proper look at the two women still standing on the sidewalk. “More than happy to.”

Karina smiled, ready to comply. Getting a lift from her friends was far better than walking home by herself at this time of night, especially with many of the factory employees getting out of work around this time. But just as Karina’s lips parted to accept the offer, the soft rumble of an engine cut her off, her gaze sliding to the right to catch sight of an expensive, shining black Bentley driving towards them, stopping in front of Ed’s car, yet not blocking it.

She felt her heart drop, noticed the way Ed’s eyes widened and Joyce tensed up when the elbow resting on the sill of the car door was accompanied by a head leaning out of the window. Calum Hood’s dark eyes found Karina’s greener ones, looking far too casual and relaxed as he sat in his car and said to her, “Jump in, Miss Garner.”

Of course, Karina remained still where she stood, gaping at the man who had just arrived out of nowhere and all but demanded for her to get in his car. For a moment, all Karina was capable of hearing was the distant sound of the factory lines, the clanking of metal and the occasional burst of fire and smoke. Karina felt her heart beginning to pick up its pace, beating wildly in her chest as she took in the expectant expression on Calum’s face, as if he knew that she wasn’t going to reject his offer and wished she would just hurry up.

The completely rational part of her was screaming to oppose, as if no was a word Calum Hood often heard. But the insatiable curiosity picked at her brain, whispering for her to get into the vehicle, to see what he wanted. Karina could hear herself trying to rationalize that she would be alright, that despite Calum being a dangerous criminal to be feared, he wouldn’t bring her any harm. Perhaps she had gone insane.

He watched her, eerily calm and observant, and Karina’s throat remained dry with hesitance of not being entirely sure what to say. Briefly, she could hear her father’s voice in her head, telling her to run the other way, to get as far away from the gangster as possible. But, oh dear, she couldn’t bring herself to look away from the dark of his brown eyes, at the way he was looking at her, like he knew what her answer was going to be before she could even consider anything else.

Karina swallowed the nervously excited lump that had formed in her throat, knowing she was going to regret this eventually as she met Joyce’s gaze and told her friend reassuringly, “I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

Joyce, who had been more or less thrilled when she’d noticed Karina chatting Calum up at the Garrison the other night yet now looked tensely nervous in his presence, widened her eyes at Karina. Quietly, she asked, “Are you sure?”

Feeling Calum’s heated gaze burning into her skin, Karina nodded at Joyce before forcing a smile to her lips. God, what was she doing? Looking at Joyce and Ed, she bid, “Get home safe.”

Joyce hesitated for a moment, but eventually climbed into Ed’s car as Karina took a breath and walked around the front of Calum’s. It was difficult to ignore the weight of his gaze, eyes tracking her movements as she approached the door, stopping when Calum leaned over to open it from the inside before sitting straight. Ed and Joyce drove off as Karina gripped the front of her dress, lifting it ever so slightly as to not trip on it as she stepped up on the running board so she could slip into the car, free hand gripping the door to keep her balance.

Karina’s breath stilled in her lungs as she settled in the car, the scent leathery and expensive as she shut the door, the metal creaking before it slammed. The gentle vibration of the running engine did little to calm her as she sat in the car, looking out the windows of the mostly deserted street. It wasn’t too late at night, but not many people were wandering about, and in that moment Karina was beginning to regret agreeing to get in a car with Calum Hood.

Honestly, what was she thinking? She didn’t expect Calum to pick up his hat that sat in between them, or pull out a gun, and use either on her. But there was a reason why the man to her right was feared, why he drew panic and unease and had people moving out of his way. Calum was a force to be reckoned with, a killer and a protector rolled into one, unpredictable like a storm. How could Karina ever hope to be calm in the presence of someone so arbitrary? And why had she willingly put herself in a situation that had her stomach churning uneasily and had her picking at her nails? A bit of a masochist she was, wasn’t she?

Licking her lips after a few moments of silence that ate away at her, Karina said, “My flat’s on—”

“Delaney Street, I know,” Calum finished, never taking his eyes off the road, though Karina had a feeling he still noted the way she blinked at him in surprise over his knowledge of her residence. He kept his gaze straight ahead, though Calum lifted his chin and allowed the shadows provided by the streetlamps to accentuate the cut of his jaw as he mused, “Nothing goes on in this city without my knowledge, Miss Garner.”

Her throat tightened at the casual rasp of his tone, the knots in her stomach only intensifying. For the first time, Karina second guessed her decision to move into her own place, away from her family, now that Calum Hood seemingly knew exactly where she resided. She rolled her lips into her mouth, looking straight ahead and allowing any words die on her tongue as they drove on in silence.

Karina fiddled with the soft fabric of her dress, watching as shop owners closed up and began their journey home, how those walking by caught sight of the man driving past them and gave a tip of their hat or a polite call to the leader of the Blinders. It fascinated Karina how respected Calum was, even if it was born out of fear—though she had a feeling that it didn’t matter to him. So long as no one got in his way, she figured.

“Your friends didn’t look particularly fond of you getting in my car.” Karina bit the inside of her lower lip at the sound of Calum’s voice, conversational and smooth. His eyes remained on the road ahead as he added, “You didn’t seem to share their hesitance.”

Her gaze dropped to her lap, watching as she twisted a thin ring on her middle finger as she answered in reluctant honesty, “To be frank, I didn’t think I had much of a choice.”

Calum hummed disapprovingly, their bodies gently jolting as the car drove down the cobblestoned street while he made a turn to Karina’s neighborhood. “Everyone’s got a choice. And it’s imperative for me to know you’re able to make sound decisions.”

The car came to a stop in front of Karina’s building, but she was too busy staring at Calum with a puzzled furrow between her eyebrows, not entirely understanding what he meant. It was imperative for him? What in the bloody hell was he on about?

Before she could even question him, Calum spoke up to answer her silent inquiries.

“I’ve been thinkin’ ’bout what you told me the other night, Miss Garner, ’bout how you wish to work.” His eyes met hers, relaxed against her own curious ones. “I just so happen to have an openin’ for a secretary position.”

Karina paused, blinking at Calum, wondering if she’d misheard him. But he sat perfectly poised, right elbow propped on the car door sill as he met her gaze. The dull street lamps not providing much light, and Karina realized that Calum Hood, unsurprisingly, looked all the more intimidating when the shadows of the night sharpened the line of his jaw. Karina found it chilling how he looked fearsome whether the peak of his cap was covering his eyes or if he was granting her the opportunity to gaze at the dark irises.

His words registered in her mind and bewilderment flooded Karina easily. He was offering her a job? Calum must be aware of how ridiculous a notion that was—she was the daughter of the Police Captain; she couldn’t possibly work for the leader of the Peaky Blinders. Granted, Karina didn’t care much for what people said about or thought of her, but she just knew the mere thought of her accepting this job would have her father preferring to receive a gunshot wound instead. It was unrealistic for her to work for Calum, to vehemently go against everything her father believed in and stood for just for Karina to spit in his face by accepting such an offer. It went without saying that there was no relation between the Peaky Blinders and Karina’s family other than hostility—at least where her father was concerned.

“I—” Karina paused, pressing her lips together and furrowing her eyebrows. Many befuddled emotions were running through her, but the strongest one was utter bewilderment. Never did she expect for this to happen to her. Did Calum himself understand what he was asking of her? Begrudgingly, Karina realized that Calum Hood didn’t seem like a person who said things without meaning them. “You. . . Understand how complicated your offer is, right?” she asked, careful in choosing her words. She may not be one to conform to a man, but Karina wasn’t dumb enough to go around disrespecting a man such as him.

“I do.” The car was stopped, Karina absently realizing they were in front of her building, though she was too busy trying to register what was happening. He didn’t at all look like he regretted what he said, cool gaze stuck on her. Karina tried her hardest not to bristle in her seat under the weight of his stare. “But it’d be worth it, I reckon. ’specially the pay.” Karina couldn’t help the curious quirk of her eyebrow, subtle and almost involuntary. But Calum admired her interest despite her attempts of not wanting to appear so. He wasn’t surprised; the world ran on money. “Nine pounds and four shillings a month.”

For someone who prided herself in keeping herself in check, Karina lost every sense of self control the second she registered the gangster’s words. Her eyes grew wide, staring at him in a greater sense of disbelief, lips parting with an incredulous scoff because that was quite the pay he was willing to give her. Truthfully, Karina wasn’t sure if she would make that kind of money anywhere else and the amount in itself was enough for her to want to accept the offer. But she mustn’t. She couldn’t.

Watching as Calum pulled out a cigarette and placed it between his lips, the lighter sparking as he placed the flame at the end of the stick, Karina tried to control her stutter as she began, “Mr. Hood—”

“Calum,” he interrupted, uttering his name past a puff of smoke that filtered past his lips. His dark eyes were on her, cigarette between two fingers as he added, “Call me Calum.”

Karina briefly bit the inside of her cheek before continuing on carefully, “The offer is generous but. . . It would be unwise for me to accept.”

He didn’t look disappointed, nor affronted at her rejection. Instead, Calum kept that collected expression on his face, gaze never leaving hers, and Karina hated how the dark of his eyes seemed to freeze her in place. Like the look he was giving was enough to still someone of all their actions. “I thought you didn’t care for living by your father’s orders.”

Of course he’d unapologetically use her own words against her. Karina wasn’t surprised at that, nor was she surprised that he understood exactly why she didn’t want to accept the offer—it was quite obvious. “It isn’t about what my father wants—it’s about how he would feel if I started working for you,” Karina responded truthfully.

“Your father’s a grown man, Karina.” Calum spoke with a calmness in his voice that only kept Karina’s body tense. There was nothing more dangerous than a calm criminal. “I’m sure he’ll be able to handle it.”

Even if it didn’t show on his face, Karina could hear the smug smirk in Calum’s voice as he spoke those words, well aware of how her father would react should she accept the offer. Despite knowing better of it, Karina found herself scoffing, “Because you know everything, yes?”

She hadn’t meant for the condescending tone her voice had taken, matching the challenging raise of her eyebrows towards a man no one dared provoke. Karina would never, either, save for in this moment where she was seemingly experiencing a lack of judgment. Having control of her mouth wasn’t something Karina particularly excelled at, and she wondered if it would get her in trouble one of these days.

To her fortune, Calum didn’t look displeased at her rebuttal. “That I do,” he replied easily.

His calmness in all of this had Karina’s nerves jumping—though most of it had to do with his mere presence in general, she knew. Still, it didn’t stop her from giving a gentle shake of her head before asking, “Why me?” Her gaze wandered as she shrugged. “I’m sure you can find anyone willing to fill that position—so why ask the daughter of the one man trying to arrest you?”

He flicked the cigarette out the window and, before Karina could comprehend it, leaned towards her. Her breath stalled in her throat, neck tensing as he unapologetically invaded her personal space, dark eyes gazing into her own green ones, and suddenly all she could hope to smell were the scents of cigarettes and Calum’s distinguished combination of pine and smoke. Karina’s lips parted, eyes never daring to leave his, entranced by the glimmer dancing in his irises and while the logical part of her knew it was merely a reflection of the outside light, a part of her was admiring how it derived from the mischief and danger he was known to possess.

Calum’s left elbow propped up on the top of their bench style seat, Karina having no choice but to watch him watch her, and a shock of something coursed through her body at their proximity. Her initial thought labeled it as fear, but she instinctively realized it was something completely different. He was so close as he tilted his chin up, still watching her. “You’d be an asset to my business, Miss Garner,” Calum spoke smoothly. “A well educated woman from a respectable family working for me only puts my business at an advantage.”

She swallowed, throat feeling dry and her fingers only tightening around the fabric of her dress. He seemed so honest, but Karina knew better than to trust him right off the bat. Surprising herself by keeping her gaze locked with his, she prodded, “It doesn’t hurt that you’d be gloating to my father should I accept your offer, does it?”

He raised an eyebrow, far too elegant and poised as he looked at her. “For someone who wants nothing more than to gain her independence from her father, you’ve got quite the habit of bringing him up, love.”

Heat flushed across Karina’s cheeks, ridiculously feeling like a hypocrite. She was embarrassed and flustered as she shifted, gaze dropping briefly. “Forgive me, but this situation is—”

“Complicated, so you’ve said,” Calum finished knowingly, prompting Karina to press her lips together. He clicked his tongue, leaning back, and Karina ignored the dull thud in her chest that seemed eerily akin to disappointment. “It’d all be clean, if that’s one of your main concerns—other than the obvious. You’d only be looking over my day-to-day meetings, and adjusting the books if your maths is as excellent as I remember.”

The last bit had the warmth in Karina’s face only intensifying, finding it a bit hard to believe that he remembered one of the things she was good at since they were in school together.

“Forget about your father and his reaction for a second, yeah?” Calum’s voice had Karina looking at him again, noting the way he raised his eyebrows. He was about to try and convince her to take his offer, and Karina realized in that moment that he was quite the patient man—and that he must really want her to work for him. The knowledge of that was both thrilling and nerve wracking at the same time. “If you accept my offer, Miss Garner, it’d be advantageous for both of us.” He gestured between them with ring clad fingers as he finished, “You’d be helping my business keep its legitimacy, and you’d be paid a hefty sum for your work. And, let’s be honest—”

He was leaning in close, and suddenly it was like a switch had been flipped and Karina’s stomach churned at the smirk that was tilting at his lips. She remained still where she sat, eyes widening ever so slightly at their closeness, at the heat radiating off his body and the scent intoxicating her so easily. It didn’t bloody help when Calum’s dark eyes flickered down briefly, landing on her lips before he looked at her with eyes far too alluring for this situation.

His voice was low, a dangerous rasp that sent shivers down her spine when he added, “You crave to see how the other side lives—something you’ll never get from any other painfully numbing job.” It suddenly felt hot in the car. “Break a few rules, love. Allow me to give you what you need.”

It was a wonder Karina could even speak through how tightened her throat became, Calum’s words filled with double meaning boiling her blood and making her body grow rigid. She couldn’t help the way her own gaze fluttered to his lips, full and far too inviting, voice almost a whisper as she asked almost dazedly, “What is it that I need?”

“Independence,” Calum murmured, promising and confident. Karina wondered when the world outside of the car stopped existing. When all she could focus on was the man sitting so close to her, offering her things no one else ever had, dangerously alluring. “Adventure. I can give you both. And more.”

It was almost embarrassing how fast her mind had been made up.

*****

Karina wondered if she should have thought this through some more, if she should have stopped to consider all the elements and consequences of her decision to agree to Calum’s job offer. Of course, it had been running through her mind since she had accepted it that night in the car, through a semi-clear mind that wasn’t entirely dazed by the gangster. But now the second-guessing was far too loud in her mind as she walked through the office floor, feeling the lingering gazes of the working men and few women as Michael led her to Calum’s office in the back.

She looked around as they went, easily realizing how much of a legitimate business had been set up here. It was filled with chatter and the clicking of typewriters and rustling papers, employees discussing with one another or focusing on the paperwork on their desks. There weren’t that many people there, honestly, and Karina didn’t recognize many of them as known gang members. The only Peaky Blinder she saw here was Michael. Maybe they really were serious about this being licit.

“Hey, Cal,” Michael called once they stopped in front of wooden double doors, knocking on it with two knuckles. “I’ve got Miss Garner out here,” he added, green eyes meeting her own darker ones as he offered a small smile.

From inside, Calum’s voice sounded, “Send her in.”

Michael gestured towards the door, an unexpectedly polite, “Good luck.”

She returned the sentiment with a close mouthed smile, facing the door as Michael walked away. Karina gave herself a brief moment to take a breath, looking at the sleek wood of the door before licking her lips. Nervous butterflies fluttered around her stomach, as they had been for two days and only intensified last night and this morning as she made her way to the office. And it wasn’t like Karina could talk to anyone about this—agreeing to this job was an incredulous move on her part, and she didn’t entirely expect her family or friends to understand. Not the way Calum seemed to.

There was a need for something that Karina knew she desired, something more than what her life had so far given her. Something, she had a feeling, could be given to her if she accepted the job.

So she turned the door handle and took a step into the spacious room, the door clicking shut behind her as she allowed her gaze to wander around the room. Windows were on either side of the room, the walls and floor paneled with sleek mahogany wood. A couch with plush red cushions was on the left, a glass table in front with an ashtray and some books, a cart in the left corner with a few decanters filled with whiskey or bourbon or the like and some glasses.

And then there was Calum. Sitting behind an oak desk decorated with papers and books, a cigarette familiarly between his fingers, and dark curls free from the confines of the signature hat. He sat back, relaxed, the jacket from his three piece suit hanging on a stand off to the right, and Karina tried not to think of how devastatingly handsome he looked. It was a bit ridiculous, how a man as dangerous as him was just as good looking.

She didn’t think twice of the large painting of horses on the wall behind him, unsurprised at the sight of it given Calum’s known fascination with them and the conspicuous dealings the Blinders have whenever there’s a race. It was a sight to be seen, Karina took a moment to appreciate; him sitting behind a desk under that painting, nursing a cigarette like he always did, looking just like the powerful, fearful man everyone knew him to be.

“Good morning, Miss Garner,” Calum’s raspy voice greeted once she entered, leaned back comfortably in the chair with his right elbow propped on the armrest, the smoke curling out from the end of the cigarette. He gestured to the chairs on the other side of his desk, “Have a seat.”

The soft click of her kitten heels sounded as though they were echoing in the room as Karina made her way over, hoping to maintain the confident and first-day-ready facade she’d been keeping up since she left her flat. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t somewhat excited for this new job, but understandably, the nerves were swirling in her stomach anxiously. Karina had a feeling after today, her life would change. Whether it’d be for better or worse, that was yet to be determined.

She sat down, cautious and poised with the dress of her skirt straightened and hands on her lap because she didn’t know what else to do with them. Her eyes took in her surroundings, as if they hadn’t the first time, looking at everything but the man sitting directly opposite of her.

“You seem nervous.”

Karina was a bit surprised that she didn’t jump in her seat, though she also prided herself in not looking like the fool she knew she wasn’t in front of Calum. She realized she didn’t entirely feel like herself when she was around him—she was jumpy, anxious, tense under his gaze and while that was understandable given who he was, Karina was growing tired of it. She’d never been one to shy away from anyone, much less a man, and it felt entirely out of character when she found herself unable to even look at Calum in the eye. It was ridiculous and, frankly, embarrassing. She was more of a woman than that.

“First day jitters, I suppose,” Karina responded with a quick smile, finally bringing herself to meet his gaze, dark eyes steady and focused as always.

Calum raised a lazy eyebrow, watching her, gesturing to the cart with the cigarette. “Whiskey?”

While she could hold her liquor and it would be calming, Karina wasn’t particularly inclined to start her first day at her new job with alcohol buzzing through her system. “I’m alright,” she politely declined, offering a smile with a gentle raise of her shoulders as she added, “Just eager to get started.”

He eyed her for a moment and Karina was proud of herself for not bristling under his gaze, fighting against the initial need to do so. Instead, she kept his gaze, showing him the honesty and drive behind her words, and Karina could’ve sworn she saw the ghost of a smirk tilt at his lips before his expression remained a practiced blank.

“What I do here is quite simple, Miss Garner,” he began and Karina listened to his words, choosing to ignore the jolt she felt in her veins every time he referred to her as what he did. “We’ve recently acquired an export license from Mr. Churchill which allows us to transport manufactured goods from here to the Poplar Docks before being set off to their final destination.”

Karina nodded slowly at the brief explanation, finding herself asking, “What kind of manufactured goods?” She at least wanted to know what the business she was about to get involved in was transporting.

If she blinked, she would’ve missed the ghost of a smirk that quirked at the corner of Calum’s lips at her question as he took a drag of the cigarette. The smoke curled out of his mouth as he responded, “Crates of motorcar spares.”

Nothing illegal then, Karina was relieved to realize. Though, she figured if Calum was as serious of a businessman as he was showing himself to be, it made sense for him to want this company of his to be clean. And despite him being the man her father hated, a known criminal that was allowed to set up his own business—with the help of Mr. Winston Churchill himself (even though it itched at Karina’s curiosity how someone like Calum managed to pull that off)—Karina found herself to be excited about being a part of this. Dealing with her family’s reactions could be saved for later. For now, she truly wanted to get started in whatever it was Calum needed for her to do.

It was like he saw a spark in her brown eyes as that thought crossed her mind, and the man on the other side of the table sat up coolly. Calum then propped his fingers on a sheet of paper resting on his desk, sliding it forward towards her. “These are some businessmen I need to meet with during this week. You’ll find their contact information and the appropriate stationary already on your desk outside my office. My week is so far clear so set up the meetings. Knock when you’ve finished.”

Karina’s gaze dropped to the sheet as she picked it up gingerly, eyes taking in the scribbles of Calum’s handwriting decorating the page; sharp and precise like him. With a nod, Karina stood up, the small heels of her shoes clicking as she made her way towards the door, feeling the heat of his stare burn her back through the material of her dress.

She’d only grasped the door handle when Calum’s voice stopped her. “Ms. Garner?” Karina looked at him over her shoulder, throat working at the sight of him; a businessman laid back in his chair, elbow propped up on the arm rest and a tendril of smoke curling out of the cigarette he was nursing, dark eyes glued to her. For a brief moment, Karina let herself admire the sight of him; every bit as poised and powerful as she knew him to be, seated under the large painting in an elegant office. Calum tilted his chin up a little before finishing, “Don’t take no for an answer.”

Karina wanted to laugh. As if anyone could say no to Calum Hood. She certainly hadn’t been able to.

The office door clicked shut behind her, and Karina ignored the few gazes that weighed on her as she settled on the desk by Calum’s office door. She huffed out a gentle breath through her nose, smoothing the skirt of her dress as she draped the strap of her purse on the back of the chair. Karina’s eyes dropped to the black notebook on the desk, a container of pens available for her to use as well as a typewriter. She took a few minutes to acquaint herself with the stationary, taking note of the sheets of paper for the typewriter in the bottom drawer, her own personal telephone to make the calls, and a smaller black notebook in the top drawer that she realized, while flipping through it, had the contacts Calum wanted her to get in touch with.

The book wasn’t full by any means, only taking up a few pages scribbled with names of business owners and the like along with their phone numbers, plus what they did next to their names. Some ran certain docks at the harbor, others owned warehouses or chartered shipping boats. No doubt Calum needed these men for the storage and deliveries for his own business’s dealings, and once Karina found the information for the first name on the list Calum had given her, she reached for the candlestick phone and started her first day of work.

She minded her own business, ignoring the few looks she was receiving from the people around her, holding the receiver to her ear and speaking into the transmitter as she set up appointments for Calum and jotted down the dates and times. It wasn’t a difficult task, Karina knew, but she couldn’t help the satisfaction that surged through her each time she appointed a meeting. Some of the men had outright agreed upon hearing that she was calling from Calum Hood’s office, his reputation almost threatening the men into agreeing to meet with him, but there were also some that hesitated.

Apparently not everyone was jumping at the opportunity to be involved with Calum Hood or his business, and while Karina understood their reluctance to even meet with him, she was determined to complete the first task Calum had given her. She was going to get him every single one of the meetings he asked for. Like Calum had said. . . Karina wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“I understand you’re a busy man, Mr. Finch,” she mused, knowing full well the warehouse owner was spitting fruitless excuses to deny the meeting. Karina leaned back in the chair, crossing her right leg over her left knee as she gazed out the window to her left. The occasional person walked by, Karina’s eyes absently following them until they disappeared from sight, as she continued breezily, “But as a businessman you should be able to see a lucrative offer such as this one. Refusing to meet with Mr. Hood without hearing what he has to offer to you and your business may just end up with you regretting a missed opportunity. Not quite a wise decision, innit?”

The man on the other end of the line sputtered at her baiting words, obviously taking offense as he huffed, “Miss Garner, I’ve a reputation to uphold and I don’t believe getting involved with a known gangster would be a wise decision. I’m surprised you haven’t come to the same conclusion.”

Karina rolled her eyes, biting back the urge to remind the man he owned warehouses for a living, which she doubted added any such points to his so called reputation. Not to mention his own jab at her choice of working for Calum. She truly didn’t care for what others thought of her agreeing to Calum’s offer, and she had half a mind to tell Mr. Finch just that. But she still needed him to agree to a meeting because Calum needed him to, so she fought the desire to potentially insult the man as she moved the mouthpiece away from her to let out an exasperated breath Mr. Finch wouldn’t be privy to before bringing the piece back and speaking up once more.

“My choice in getting involved with Mr. Hood comes from knowing full well he has the means to build something worthwhile,” Karina responded easily, using Mr. Finch’s reasoning against him. “I would imagine you would want to at least get a glimpse of that same kind of future for yourself, Mr. Finch. And your business. Agreeing to meet does not an automatic deal make. Hearing what Mr. Hood has to offer you from himself does not cost you anything. I promise you, it will be worth your time.”

And hopefully not your life, her dry thoughts echoed in her head, though Karina kept the chilling words to herself. She liked to naively think Calum wouldn’t be one to threaten someone into a business deal, thought she wouldn’t entirely put it past him. Perhaps his desire for wanting to keep this legal business of his clean would prevent him from doing so. At least, that’s what Karina hoped as she pursed her lips and waited for Mr. Finch’s answer.

He was silent for a few moments as Karina kept her gaze towards the window, sunlight seeping through the glass and warming her lap where it touched as she watched those outside go about their day. She nibbled on the corner of her lips, waiting for Mr. Finch’s answer, hoping she somehow got through to him.

The receiver crackled as he let out a sigh. “Alright. I can meet with him this coming Thursday at noon.”

Karina grinned, the satisfaction once again lifting her as she praised, “Excellent. You wouldn’t want to be the first to say no to Mr. Hood.”

“I’m afraid you’re right,” Mr. Finch grumbled in response before providing her with the address of where he could meet Calum, and Karina ended the call before reaching for her pen and jotting down the information.

“Did you just threaten a potential business partner, Miss Garner?”

Karina froze momentarily at the familiarly smooth voice, sitting up as she glanced to see Calum standing right beside her chair. He peered down at her, raising an eyebrow, expression practically unreadable save for the hint of amusement dancing in his eyes, hands shoved into the pockets of his pants. She hadn’t heard him leave his office, most certainly hadn’t detected his presence beside her, and Karina twirled the pen between her fingers absently as she found her tongue. “Of course not,” she hummed, surprising herself with the cool tone she adopted while looking up at Calum. “I was just stating a true fact to Mr. Finch. How he interprets it is entirely up to him.”

The amusement Karina had seen a hint of in Calum’s dark eyes seemed to flare up a bit, more present, as a breath of a chuckle escaped him at her words. Then his gaze flickered to the notebook where she’d written down the information Mr. Finch had given us and he nodded in approval. His eyes met Karina’s as he added, “Good work,” before turning and heading back into his office.

The door shut behind him, and Karina leaned back in her seat as she failed to fight off the smile that had tilted upon her lips. Not even the few looks she was being given could keep the grin off.

*****

The knock that sounded on the door didn’t lift Calum’s gaze from the paper he was reading. It was a gentle rap of knuckles, instantly informing the gangster who was on the other side as he called a gruff, “Come in.”

He heard the subtle creak of the door as it opened, followed by the click of heels against the slick floor and if he inhaled deeply enough, Calum was sure he’d smell the fruity fragrance that he’d come to associate with Karina Garner. He’d only been around her a few times, and yet Calum had familiarized himself with the appealing perfume that stuck to her skin. Or maybe it was just her.

Keeping his eyes on the paper held in front of him, Calum noticed Karina come to a stop in front of his desk from his peripherals as he asked, “Did you get the meetings?”

“Every one of them, yes,” Karina answered, giving a tap to her notebook with the pen she held. “I doubt anyone’s eager to say no to someone like you.”

Her comment, despite his efforts, tempted a smirk to tilt at Calum’s lips as he kept his gaze on the paper for a few more moments. Calum didn’t need Karina to tell him something he already knew, except that hearing her acknowledge his reputation, his power, as if it was a well known fact—even if it was—filled him with a sense of pride that he hadn’t seen coming. Of course, Calum pushed it away, reminded himself as to why he brought Karina on to his operation in the first place, and kept the smirk at bay.

Still, he couldn’t help but play with her a bit. “Someone like me?” He lowered the paper, cool expression complete with the quirk of an eyebrow. Calum tilted his head, all signs of amusement purposefully wiped from his face as he gazed at his newest employee.

Karina’s lips parted slightly when she noticed him gaze at her, inquisitive and wondering, and Calum kept his face professionally blank when he noticed her neck tense that preceded the blush he knew was warming her cheeks. He wondered if he could fluster her, wondered if she would react to it—to him.

She surprised him pleasantly when she lifted her chin after her throat worked. “Powerful,” she responded, her tone even, lips pursing briefly. If he was someone else, he would’ve thought he’d imagined the way her brown eyes so subtly raked over him. But Calum knew he saw what he did. “Capable.”

His jaw worked at that, at the way she said it so surely and the look in her honey colored eyes had the muscles in Calum’s body tightening without his meaning to. His fingers curled into his palm, elbow propped on the armrest of his chair, unable to keep his eyes off the woman standing in front of him. He couldn’t put a finger on it, which was frustrating all on its own, but the way Karina said those two simple words had him clenching his teeth as a way of keeping himself grounded to something. If Calum didn’t know any better, judging by the way Karina was watching him, he’d say she was already coming out of the shell that surrounded her. Whether it was one she built herself or her father did, that was still up for question.

Either way, Calum was going to enjoy breaking it down.

tags: @irwinkitten @glitterprincelu @sweetcherrymike @meetashthere @valentinelrh @softforcal @astroashtonio @hereforlukescruff @novacanecalum @captain-what-is-going-on @angelbbycal @singt0mecalum @hopelessxcynic @lfwallscouldtalk @bodhi-black @findingliam-o @softlrh @calntynes @calumsmermaid @dammitbands @erikamarie41 @quintodosuniversos @longlastingdaydream @babylon-corgis @lukehemmingsunflower @spideyseavey @imfuckin10plybud @pastelpapermoons @conquerwhatliesahead92 @rotten-kandy @metangi @neigcthood @old-zeppelin-shirt @5sos-and-hessa @trustmeimawhalebiologist @vxlentinecal @pettybassists @vaporshawn @lu-my-golden-boi @buggy-blogs @visualm3nte @isabella-mae13 @dontjinx-it @lifeakaharry @neonweeknds @antisocialbandmate @ixcantxdecidexwhosxmyxfave @calpalbby @grreatgooglymoogly @gorgeouslygrace @sunnysideblogs @cocktail-calum @miahelizaaabeth @madelynerin @dramallamawithsparkles @aulxna @theagenderwhocriedwolf @kaytiebug14 @hoodskillerqueen @bitchinbabylon @empathycth @xhaileyreneex @inlovehoodx @calistheloml @aestheticrelated @bloodlinecal @sublimehood @madbomb @raabiac @britnicole11 @outofmylimitcal

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heccapeach · 4 years

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So remember when I said that I drew the Star Rod and Ideya in different forms in one of my more popular posts? Well, I’ve decided to share them with you. It’s not all of the pages yet so this is just a few of them. I’ll start with the ideya ones first:

This is the first page that I made when I thought about taking the ideya and morphing them into various forms. This first one is drawn solely around food because I was in my whole quirk of the thought of devouring dreams and the ideya, being dream objects consisting of dream energy that have the ability to structure an entire dreamscape attracted my quirk. Also, don’t mind the character on this page. She’s Lunaria of the moon and an eater of dreams. She’s no OC based around a certain franchise. She’s just an original character/mascot/persona of mine. Anyways, here’s the list:

* Dream Bowl. A dog bowl filled with ideya and the Star Rod. I thought of Snoopy and his suppertime when it came to making this one.

* Bubble Ideya Tea. Based off of bubble tea and the miniature balls prominent in it.

* Ideya + Takoyaki = Ideyaki. Based off of takoyaki. Was the first drawing I made on the page and a cute pun I thought of. I never tried takoyaki, but I hear that it’s really good and I’d be willing to try it someday when the chance comes. I had also forgotten that they were only five ideya while drawing the concept so I made the sixth one a blue chip that’s also from the NiGHTS games. Lunaria is seen blissfully gulping them down like Kirby in a sense.

* Tsukimi Ideya is based off of the tsukimi dango. Dango that is made to celebrate the beauty of the moon and in Tsukimi or Otsukimi festivals that honor the autumn moon. The dango are also made as offerings to moon alongside other seasonal foods along with sake in order to pray for an abundant harvest.

* Shaved Ideya Ice. I just took an ideya and turned it into a scoop of shaved ice.

* Ideya crepe. The ideya is supposed to be the ice cream scoop in the dessert-based crepe. This was inspired off of the scene of Kanna from Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid eating a crepe and stating that “It’s sweet, like Yatagarasu eggs.”

* Speaking of which, the Ideya Ice Cream was also inspired off of a scene of Kanna trying an ice cream cone and stating that “It’s cold. But good.” Perfectly scooped ice cream really fit the normal spherical form of the ideya.

* The Ideya Dango or simply just the Ideyaki on a stick. “Ideyango” is also a pun off of both “ideya” and “dango”. They make a pretty long stack but it’s like heaven to Lunaria.

* Lastly on the page, the caramel ideya is based on a caramel apple on a stick and the ideya pop is based on a cake pop.

And that’s just page one!

Page 2:

We now go from food to a few abilities. I was thinking of Touhou and danmaku (bullet hell) when it came to making this page.

* One of the blantant Touhou references in the picture is the ideya being used in the style of how the planet ornaments are used for Hecatia LapisLazuli, the Goddess of Hell. She has three bodies and the planet ornaments that are chained to her choker and surround the body she’s using represents her three bodies. They consist of Earth (blue hair), Moon (yellow hair), and Hell or otherworldly (red hair) which is also the body she most prominently uses, respectively. The three planet ornaments have now been replaced with three ideya so now she her three bodies represent whatever three ideya she has chained to her. Hecatia is my favorite Touhou character next to Yukari so I thought it’d be cool to reference her here.

* Pentagram. I took the ideya and formed a pentagram with it. Perhaps it can be used for some spells like summoning spells that summon things from the dream realm or well, the Night Dimension.

* I also thought that the pentagram formation could be used for some attacks like firing lasers. I got inspired by Marisa’s use of multi-colored orbs that she uses in one of her spell cards.

* Celestial Ideya Bodies is the ability of making the ideya act like celestial bodies and moving them around in combat leaving a trail of star bullets behind. This is inspired off of one of Clownpiece and Hecatia’s spellcards where they generate one or two moons that leave a trail of star bullets from behind.

* The Ideya Gap is another blantant Touhou reference being based off of Yukari’s gap. Two ideya are morphed into the red ribbons that are tied to both sides of the gap just like Yukari’s gap. And within Yukari’s gap lies multiple eyes that are said to represent the swirling desires of those outside of Gensokyo. The outsiders being from what is known by the inhabitants of Gensokyo as “The Outside World”. The eyes are also apparent in the Ideya Gap and can represent the swirling desires of visitors. The outsiders to the Night Dimension.

* The large combined laser is when you take the five ideya, combine them, and have them generate one big powerful laser. It’s more akin to a large energy blast that you would see mainly in anime like Dragon Ball Z being a prime example. It’s inspired off of the Master Spark, a signature move of Marisa Kirisame.

* Then finally there just sits Lunaria in the middle sitting on her crescent moon that has been morphed into a gap in the same fashion as Yukari, wielding the Star Rod, having the five ideya that are forming a pentagram surround and revolve around her, all while maintaining a smug face for her discovery and manipulation over these objects.

Page 3:

This is only one object and it’s about the concept of taking the ideya of Courage, Hope, and Purity respectively and combining them to form the Star Rod itself.

I thought of taking the three ideya and stacking them together to give the impression of the form that they will take in two different patterns. Whatever on that you prefer. I’ll now translate the writing on the page:

* The Star Rod, along with the Fountain of Dreams, are symbols of HOPE and peace in Dream Land. (Extra) When the Star Rod is powering the Fountain of Dreams, the fountain is able to collect the hopes and dreams of the inhabitants. The Star Rod and the Fountain of Dreams are relied on by the inhabitants of Popstar, especially Dreamland, for the ability to dream and have restful sleep. The HOPE is represented through the star on the rod’s tip.

* The rod’s wielder can be viewed as an embodiment of HOPE in the eyes of a majority trapped in heavy conflict. Like a hero in a sense. Kirby is a good example of this.

* COURAGE comes from the wielder of the Star Rod themselves as does the ideya itself. The COURAGE is represented through the red stripes on the rod itself. Red stripes are a more suitable and stronger color for the Star Rod than the pink stripes in its other appearances like Smash for example. The red represents the rod’s raw power and the wielder’s willpower.

*The Star Rod bares a sense of PURITY, especially when it comes to its association with dreams. Possessing pure dreams, it is force to be reckoned with for a nightmare’s case.

* All of these points, especially the PURITY aspect that consists of the Star Rod possessing pure dream energy that is powerful enough to destroy nightmares as seen in Kirby’s Adventure/Nightmare in Dreamland, came to me being convinced that it can function as a border of dreams. If that wasn’t enough, its pure dream energy is able to serve as a boundary/barrier that only lets good dreams pass through while denying access to nightmares. Like a dream catcher in a sense. However, if you were to have a being that consists of pure nightmare energy, then it could prove to be a challenge for the Star Rod to take on. In fact, Nightmare himself could be seen as a pure nightmare that was powerful enough to attempt to corrupt the Star Rod and the Fountain of Dreams into nightmare-based objects instead.

* COURAGE, HOPE, AND PURITY are strong and prominent aspects of Kirby himself which makes him a rightful wielder of this Star Rod created from these three ideya.

Page 4:

And now finally the last page for now, centering around the Fountain of Dreams and the ideya of GROWTH.

*The ideya of GROWTH is taken and morphed into the Fountain of Dreams itself.

* The Fountain of Dreams allows dreams and restful sleep to flourish throughout the land. It can collect and ensure the GROWTH of hopes and dreams of inhabitants, as long as the Star Rod is present to power it. Without the Star Rod, the fountain remains inactive, unable to provide GROWTH and eventually the inhabitants lose the ability to dream or to even cling onto HOPE itself the longer the Star Rod is absent and the Star Rod, possessing an aspect of HOPE, is the reason this HOPE is able to exist and flourish through the fountain.

* I know that the INTELLIGENCE ideya is not present on the last two pages since I couldn’t figure out what connection it would be appropriate to use it in terms of the Star Rod and the Fountain of Dreams. But now I figured that it would more likely remain in possession of the owner who would also become the wielder of the Star Rod depending on their strategies, knowledge of the Star Rod’s capabilities, and knowing how to tap into its powers. Overall, it comes down to the wielders knowledge on the Star Rod, the Fountain of Dreams, dreams, and what it means to dream as a whole.

*They say that nightmares will occur if the Star Rod is not present but this actually contradicts the fact that if the Star Rod is not in its place, then the inhabitants will lose the ability to dream entirely as made clear in the story of Kirby’s Adventure. They will lose the ability to dream neither good or bad dreams.

And can you ever imagine a world where dreams are nonexistent despite the fact of how much they allow the mind to sort out and process information and for the individual to reflect upon themselves? Also supporting the consciousness and being able to help a person discover their ambitions, purpose, and creativity. They are a good element to an artist when it also comes down to things like motivation and inspiration. Had dreams not exist, there would be no such things like growth or motivation. It would feel like a realm of the dead...

Anyways, that’s it for now! Don’t be afraid to tell me what you think about it or even willing to share your ideas on the matter. I had fun drawing and writing this and I will soon show and create more of it. I might also do this same kind of thing to the seven human souls from Undertale....

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angrylizardjacket · 5 years

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Run to Paradise {Nikki Sixx} Part 18

Chapter Summary: on tour!! lola meets ozzy, causes havoc at an interview, listens to advice from ozzy, is subsequently disgusted, and has a bit of horseplay in the pool with her favourite boys.

Warnings: drinking, petty theft, NSFW towards the very end.

ragtag bunch of misfits: @starlalove @toofasttofallinlove @xrosegoldwolfx @obsessivesky @trpwthme @lovehelpmewrite @colsons-crue @marvelismylifffe @lilytalebi @glitterdreamsz @freddiessmallnipples @crazysaladchopshop @inthebackofmycarlaytheirbodies @dramatique-moi @missqueeniewrites @calspixie @aryssav @catsoo12 @sweetshutter @silvertonguedserpent @shamelessobsessions @lavenderbones22 @keepcalm-and-beyou @scarecrowmax @nicholeh7

{masterlist}

They're opening for Ozzy Osbourne. It's their first tour and they're opening for Ozzy-fucking-Osbourne! Mick isn't exactly thrilled, but the rest of them are.

"Oh my god," the first time Lola sees him, she's by Doc's side as he introduces the Motley Crue to the man himself and his backup band. She's wide-eyed, and the words slip out with her even meaning them to, flustered and a little starry-eyed. Catching herself a little too late, she ignores Motley Crue's faint amusement, and slips into her cool, professional facade as Doc makes his introductions. The bands shake hands, and then he introduces Lola as Motley's assistant; Ozzy himself makes an indecipherable noise in the back of his throat, which actually makes Mick laugh in a way she's never quite heard before, and she knows that in that moment, every single person in that room is aware of the true nature of her relationship with the band, simply by virtue of being in the industry for so long. She refuses to feel ashamed, and meets each and every band members' gaze as she shakes their hands in turn.

Being on tour means hotels, hours spent by the pool, interviews in every new city, and trying to wrangling them into a decent state in the morning when every nights a party. They're the kings of debauchery, debasing themselves and the women they're with at every given opportunity, much to Doc's chagrin, and as much as Lola's a great help at wrangling the band, she could also be just as bad as them.

Interviews were, without fail, the worst.

Lola's wearing a blazer that's definitely actually Doc's, and she's waiting to see how long it is until he realises, and holding a clipboard she snatched from a harried person wearing a headset who didn't even seem to notice. She's scouring the room for a pair of glasses she can filch when she feels an arm wrap around her.

"Have you seen glasses anywhere?" Lola asks; without even having to look she knows it's one of her boys. Judging by the way he gives her hip a squeeze, it's Vince.

"Glasses?" He's looking over her shoulder at the clipboard, scoffing when he reads the words 'Shout With The Devil'.

These interviews are all the same, and just like always she'll leave with a handful of souvenirs she's not meant to, doing a run for booze and smokes while the boys see fit to entertain themselves, at least one of them taking a shot at the interviewer, provided they were female. They hear the derisive 'Shout With The Devil' and accusations of satanism come from a woman's puritan lips and they take it like a challenge; Nikki because he likes to corrupt and Tommy because he'll fuck anything that moves and he likes girls who are mean, though Vince knows there's fans waiting and doesn't bother throwing his hat in this particular ring. And Lola remains an afterthought; she's not new and exciting the way a myriad of fans are. It's not that she's not secure, she's not going to be left in whatever town they're in, but she feels more and more like she's becoming an afterthought.

"Glasses," she confirms with a slight grin, wiggling her eyebrows at him as she tries to push her doubts to the side, "so I look a serious, professional assistant-"

"So they won't question you if you start putting random shit in your pockets from around the studio." He's smiling like he knows her well, and yeah, okay, maybe he does. Lola's grin widens.

"A little petty theft never killed anyone," and she knows the tone to take to make him smile, to make him choose her over any other girl in the moment. Vince's heart beats a melody she knows all the words to, and sometimes it's good to know she's still in key.

He rolls his eyes and kisses her, and she calls him a hypocrite and kisses him back, and someone else - a man with a clipboard and a headset - asks her who she is, how she got in. Vince doesn't let her go, though when she turns, Lola's smile is the same one she wore back on The Strip when bands who didn't really know her questioned her roadie-ing capabilities; mean and humourless. When she tells him she's their assistant, he scoffs, looks her over, and Doc's jacket does little to hide the cropped tour shirt she'd worn, or the black leather pants she'd squeezed into, looking less like a professional and more like a groupie.

"Excuse you, asshole, this is Lola fucking Gone," Vince actually raises his voice, and something about how sure his voice is hits her in a way she didn't expect, nor did the way it would call over the rest of the band.

"Is something the matter?" Nikki and Tommy are both forces to be reckoned with, made up for the interview and never ones to play safe, but it's Mick's gruff tone, more of a demand than a real question, that greets the now overwhelmed man with the clipboard. He stumbles over his words before he can form a real sentence. Nikki's directly behind Lola, close enough that she could lean into him if she so chose, and Tommy's got an arm around her shoulders, and maybe they're going overboard, but they also didn't have context for Vince's outrage.

"I just- this is your band's assistant, right?" The man asks, looking nervously amongst the five of them.

"Yeah, that's what she fucking said," Vince spits.

"What did you think she was?" Nikki asks, dangerously calm. The man with the clipboard denies thinking anything else, and makes to leave.

"Hey, I could really use a headset," Lola calls, voice suddenly sweet, "Doc's the manager but I can relay any info to him through the comms," she explains. The man swallows, nodding quickly, but Lola's not done, "and my glasses? Horn rimmed, a little bulky, maybe someone picked them up?" She clutches the clipboard to her chest as he's now nodding emphatically. Tommy mutters that she doesn't wear glasses and she tries to be discrete when she elbows him, but her smile's as bright and sweet as she can make it, and the other man has scurried away.

"That might have been overkill," Lola smirks, but she sounds pleased more than anything, "he almost shit himself."

She looks back at them, talks with them, takes comfort in the gentle touches she knows other girls don't get. Not an afterthought- never an afterthought, is what they say with the way they drape themselves over her, pinch her, hold her close; they don't know they're saying it, but she hears it anyways, the way they stood with her without hesitation, even over something so small. Perhaps they tell themselves that it's just an excuse to cut sick in the interview and on the studio, that slighting Lola like that, the establishment had lost the hair of respect the boys had been trying to hold for it.

As if they needed an excuse to cut sick.

She leaves with pockets full of stolen pens, a headset that belongs to the studio, and two different pairs of horn-rimmed glasses. And the cash from two different wallets - who just leaves their purse in the back of a cupboard in the break room? It's like they don't even know who they're dealing with.

That night they have a gig, but the next day they finally have a break, and the hotel has a pool, and once Doc is done yelling at her because one of the pens exploded with red ink in the pocket of the jacket she'd stolen from him, making it look like she'd been shot and staining the jacket something fierce, she's poolside. She's wearing one of Tommy's shirts, one with the sleeves cut off, over her swimmers, craving some coke or some privacy so she could actually have a swim without feeling like a spectacle with her back on display, but it seems she's getting neither.

What she does get is an iced margarita and her boyfriends bragging to each other about how many girls they've fucked, not that she minds, she's lost count of the amount of people she's been with on tour herself, guys and girls alike. But then Mick has to open his mouth and say -

"Don't you guys think that the slobs who fuck you guys probably fuck every other band that comes through town?" A silence follows his words as the band members consider, before they're all laughing, and Tommy's delighted by the concept of being 'pussy brothers with the whole scene' while Mick makes a face like he just bit into a lemon. He turns to Lola, "no offense, of course." She throws her drink at him. He's wiping iced margarita from his face when he claims, "I happen to have respect for myself, and the females of our species, unlike you animals," to the rest of the band. Lola throws her margarita glass at his face too; it glances off his forehead and shatters on the ground beside him. When he gives her an exasperated look, she flips him off, and the rest of the band are still laughing.

"Don't talk about Lola like that," Nikki's all but cackling, "she's a one-band slob."

"Not by choice," Lola corrects him, with a smirk, and though he acts wounded, he's clearly still amused. Lola's mood is a good bit sourer than the others, but Ozzy manages to steal the focus the minute he bursts onto the scene in a yellow sundress.

He's waving his ass and cash in the faces of strangers, calling that drinks were on him, as he makes his way over to the band. Noticing the shattered glass, he gasps.

"Looks like someone needs a refill," he proclaims. Lola stays quiet, but lets herself laugh as the boys all clamour for a refill, and instead get the sight of Ozzy's dick burned into their memory as he lifts the sundress and flashes them all. A chorus of groans arises from the boys, but they seem to all find it funny, rather than unseemly, Lola included. Ozzy stumbles past them to the life guards tower, and Nikki shakes his head, still grinning.

"I've gotta hand it to ya, Oz," he leans heavily on the side of the lounge chair he's laid out on, still dressed mostly dressed, unlike Tommy and Vince who had favoured their swimmers, "after all these years, and you're still keeping up with us kids."

"Keepin' up with 'em?" Ozzy scoffs, "I've fuckin' lapped ya, mate." After a moment he gestures them all over, "now come over 'ere and have a chat with your Uncle Oz," he insists; the boys on the lounge chairs are quick to heed his words, though Mick to slow to rise. Lola stays seated, but Oz points sternly at her, "you, with the tits, you too." And Lola stands with a slight smile and joins the others.

"Now, this is your first real tour, right?" Oz asks, looking at all of them from on high in the lifeguard chair, "I want you to be careful; have fun, but know when to say when. Because a life full of booze, drugs, and unprotected sex is only gonna fuck you up, man." They're not taking him seriously, Lola's rubbing at her nose to hide her smile where she's shoulder to shoulder Tommy, but none of the others are trying to be discrete or heed his warning, "'I mean, you take it too far, and you'll go fucking mad," he's serious, eyes wide enough that the whites of his eyes were visible all around his irises, but the boys didn't seem to care.

Ozzy made his way ungracefully from the chair, almost stumbling, though Lola surges forward to catch him and keep him upright. He pets her arm, frowns a moment, then pets it again.

"Solid." He mutters, mostly to himself, before pushing her away and reaching out to the others, "now gimme a straw, I fancy a bump." Lola actually groaned at how painfully relatable that was.

"Aw, we're all out of blow, dude," Tommy told him, which Vince confirmed, but Ozzy didn't seem deterred.

"I said I want a bump." He demanded this time, hand reaching for Tommy's drink, "Straw please." His intensity was enough to get Tommy to shut up and comply, shaking the liquid from his straw as he handed it over.

Lola will probably never get the image of Ozzy snorting up ants out of her brain, nor the sound, the gravelly snorting, the way he didn't even flinch; no-one could out-crazy Ozzy. By the way he was posturing, Lola could tell he wasn't finished with whatever stunt he was trying to pull, and she took Vince's now vacated lounge seat to watch the show.

'The show' turned out to be Ozzy pissing on the concrete, and licking it up, much to everyone's disgust, including everyone in and around the pool that was just trying to enjoy their afternoon. The pool was starting to clear out, but while Tommy was seemingly ready to pledge his life savings to the Church of the Prince of Darkness, Nikki took it as a challenge.

As soon as she hears the zip of his fly, Lola's yelling. Vince is sitting by her on the lounge, holding his drink and still laughing.

"Nikki, I swear to god, if you-" but he's already peeing on the pavement himself, looking far too proud, watching with a smirk as people are quickly leaving the pool area, horrified. When he's done, Nikki bends, fully intending on imitating Ozzy and licking up his own piss, to which Lola actually shrieks in disgust and presses her forehead to Vince's shoulder. Despite his attempt, however, Ozzy pushes Nikki out of the way and is already licking the piss covered pavement again when Lola looks back up.

"You're a horrible fucking feral and I cannot believe I was ever attracted to you!" Lola exclaims, still feeling a little ill from the whole display. Nikki, however, seems to be in a playful mood, feeling brash and ballsy and like he can take on the world, judging by how he walks behind Lola and wraps his arms around her, pulling her up and off the lounge while she squeals protests; they both know she could break his hold easily, but her mood's actually brightened considerably. "You filthy bastard! You were gonna lick your own piss! I'm never gonna fucking kiss you again-" and he throws her into the pool, which has been emptied of people.

"You bastard!" She's absolutely beaming when she resurfaces, and she swims to the side of the pool, offering a hand as if to help her out, but Nikki doesn't take the bait, but Tommy's more than happy to be pulled in.

It's a rare moment of fun, when they're not trying to cause a ruckus - which they are, but not on purpose - they're not trying to be shocking or wild or be a public disturbance; Mick sits back down in the shade, and Ozzy's content doing his own thing in his own little world, and when Lola yells that she's gonna throw Nikki in and he gets to decide if that's with or without pants and shoes, he's quick to strip himself of the leather and dive in of his own accord to join the other three in the water. With the pool area finally clear of people, Lola takes off her shirt, leaving her in her swimwear, and Tommy's quick to climb on her shoulders and announce a chicken fight.

Tommy and Lola lose because Vince is surprisingly vicious and Nikki fights dirty and keeps spitting water at Lola, she eventually lets go of Tommy altogether, which makes him topple backwards, but it's worth it to tackle Nikki and knock Vince off his perch. Both Tommy and Vince surface with claims of cheating, but Nikki and Lola seem to be either playfighting or trying to drown each other.

Lola's somehow of the safer of the two options to try and drag away, and she kicks out her legs as they do, still splashing Nikki, who's blowing the water from his nose, though it's all in good humour. Mick leaves rather soon, and the hotel sends someone to clean up the piss, but they seem to have closed the pool otherwise.

The four of them stay in the water for a while, until it's starting to grow dusky around them. Eventually Tommy goes to grab himself another drink, and Nikki's pantsed Vince one too many times underwater, and so Vince went to join the drummer in a bit of a huff, and in the end, all that was left was Lola and Nikki. She's pretty sure it's by design; she's sitting in the shallow end, at the stairs, and he's wading his way towards her.

"Your mermaid looks right at home," he notes, pointing at the tattoo on her upper arm, a pin-up style, topless mermaid, who was now angled to smile coyly at Nikki as Lola twists her arm to look at it.

"I should swim more often," Lola mused, herself smiling at Nikki, leaning back a little on the step she was sitting on as he sank to his knees in front of where she was sitting in the shallow water. He's so close now, leaning in like he wants to kiss her, but her smile turns sharp and she grabs his chin.

"You're gross, Niks, I told you I'm not kissing you," she snickered, and his eyes widened. He was unfortunately cute, with his hair all damp and clinging to his cheeks, just in a pair of boxers and wet from the pool.

"You sure about that?" He asks, one eyebrow rising as one of his hands slowly moves up her leg. Lola bites back a smile, avoiding his gaze as she turns pink. There's no-one around, but it still feels so public.

"Never again," she mumbles, though her heart's not in it, there's a solid blush rising on her cheeks, "now I know you're willing to lick piss-"

"That was to impress Ozzy."

"Well I think it worked," Lola laughed a little; his fingers were brushing her inner thigh, back and forth, back and forth, teasing, "it was disgusting, Niks, and I can't have that near my mouth."

"You've had way worse in your mouth." And Nikki pushes her bikini bottoms to the side. Lola flushes, tucks herself a little closer to the wall, hoping to hide herself a little from the balconies that looked down on the pool.

Nikki seems content to watch her come undone around his fingers, needy and frantic and a little fearful of prying eyes. Biting her bottom lip, breath coming out in gasping, quiet pants. Maybe it's the setting, but he feels strangely voyeuristic, and Lola feels a little like she's performing for him, not used to him so quiet. Every minute movement, roll of her hips that shifts the water, the way she's got a white-knuckled grip on the string of her bikini, like she's looking to hold something, anything, the way her breath catches when she's close - it's all captivating. Her head falls back when she cums, breathing hard, arms now relaxed and floating by her side in the water, a laugh that’s warm and hearty tumbles from her lips.

"So never ever again?" Nikki snickers, his hands moving to her hips, and Lola doesn't answer with words, instead she sits, slides from her seat until she's practically in his lap, and wraps her arms around his neck, crushing her lips to his. It's a nice, albeit a little strange moment, which is broken by a very familiar cough.

"Are you guys done? Can you let us in? We brought more drinks."

#nikki sixx #nikki sixx imagine #nikki sixx x oc #the dirt #the dirt imagine #motley crue #motley crue imagine #vince neil #tommy lee #vince neil x oc #tommy lee x oc #the angry lizard writes

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shadowsofmoonracer · 5 years

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Godzilla: King of Monsters (Spoilers ahead)

So I just watched Godzilla 2, and I have to say, it was everything I expected and more. It was jam packed with action and monster on monster fight scenes. The directors took one look at these titans and didn’t let them hold back one bit.

In fact, I loved all the monsters that appeared (the main ones at least): Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah and of course, Godzilla himself.

Mothra was beautiful and somehow managed to convey both her gentleness and benevolence as well as never letting the audience forget that she is a titan too and she packs a punch on her own.

(SPOILERS: I legit cried when she sacrificed her life for Godzilla, she fought bravely till the end and it hurt me so much to see her struggling to get up despite her wings being burned to tatters by Rodan.)

Next up, Rodan. He was amazing too, he was smart, resourceful, and overall a force to be reckoned with on his own too. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time he was on screen dealing with the humans.

King Ghidorah, the ultimate Titan himself. I had extremely high expectations for him after watching the trailers and damn, did he not disappoint. In fact, he surpassed every single expectation I had of him. He was extremely powerful and downright fearsome, to the point where I held my breath every time he started hunting his prey. In fact, I think it’s the first time I’ve ever been afraid that Godzilla would lose (spoiler alert, Godzilla does lose for abit). With the MUTOs, it was always obvious that Godzilla would win, but King Ghidorah was magnificent in his own right, and he is more than capable of giving Godzilla a good run for his money. I honestly loved this hydra a lot, and I 10/10 wish to see him again. (Again, spoiler alert, it’s rumored that he comes back based on the end credits)

And finally, Godzilla himself.

This big boi was A M A Z I N G. I am so glad we got more screen time of him this time round, and that he used more of his atomic breath. My only complain is that they made him somewhat like a damsel in distress (heh) since he got put out of commission so many times in so many different ways and needed much help to get back up. But that’s also the point I suppose, that the world doesn’t exist in a vacuum but thy organisms live in symbiosis with one another.

Either way, Godzilla was amazing during all his fight scenes, he was badass as well, and all around a bamf and a powerful Titan with a worthy adversary. Poor guy prolly needs a faster way to travel though, he needs to swim everywhere and always ends up late to the party.

Overall, the movie was excellent, even if the plot was somewhat iffy. But then again, one doesn’t watch such a show for the plot amiright? Another point is that, I loved that the directors, while trying to make Godzilla seem more sympathetic towards humans, never forgot the fact that he was first and foremost a monster and an apex predator, one of the first titans on earth and a being that would likely not understand human concepts. There is respect there, but at the end of the day, like what one of the scientists said, he’s on the side of humanity only for now.

That being said, I 10/10 would recommend watching this movie, it’s amazing and epic and all around just great for sitting back and enjoying monsters duking it out with each other.

(Also, I am really hoping to see more monsters, especially since I caught some names which were typically Greek myth monsters. And King Ghidorah, you’re welcome back any time ~)

#godzilla #king of monsters #king ghidorah #mothra #rodan

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ethenell · 5 years

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Best Films of 2018, Part II

5. The Favourite (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)

“I dreamt I stabbed you in the eye ...”

Dogtooth was as bold as debut features come ... It’s fiendishly clever conceit and distinctively muted delivery heralded an auspicious new voice in international cinema.

But even Dogtooth’s most ardent supporters would have been hard-pressed to imagine that, a decade down the line, Yorgos Lanthimos would find himself at the helm of a film with no less than ten Academy Award nominations to its name. In that sense, The Favourite is a perfect demonstration of both how far Lanthimos has come since his inimitable debut, and how fiercely true he has stayed to his idiosyncratic vision.

Lanthimos’s great leap has been to take his vision out of the arthouses and into the cinematic mainstream without losing one iota of his edge. The Favourite, anchored by a trio of extraordinary performances by Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, and Emma Stone, is easily Lanthimos’ most palatable offering yet. With all due respect to Dogtooth and Alps, it may also be his flat-out best.

Lacking the high-concept foundation of his previous work, Lanthimos’ latest more than makes up for it by playing up the absurdities of its setting. In the cutthroat world of social climbers and hangers-on in the lavish royal court of Victorian England, Lanthimos' wickedly comedic voice has found it’s perfect canvas, and his trio of actresses sell every bizarre beat to perfection.

Lanthimos’ films has always explored the ways that the societal convention clashes with our most basic, instinctual behavior, and The Favourite is no exception. Victorian England is simply a (fish-eye) lens through which he strikes at humanity’s propensity for self-interested cruelty, manipulation, and deception. Unsurprisingly, Lanthimos’ diagnosis on the topic remains characteristically bleak. But if The Favourite teaches us anything about Lanthimos as a storyteller, it’s that he’s uniquely capable of delivering bad news with a smile and a wink.

4. Eighth Grade (dir. Bo Burnham)

“Gucci!”

Bo Burnham, who first gained fame through YouTube videos of self-proclaimed "pubescent musical comedy", would strike most offhand as an unlikely source for the most pure-heartedly empathetic film of the year. But Eighth Grade, Burnham's debut feature, is exactly that.

Centering around the painfully shy Kayla as she goes through her final week of middle school, Burnham and star Elsie Fisher bring to the screen a keen sense for what it means to be a child in the age of social media, not to mention the most genuinely rewarding actor-director connection of any film in 2018.

Burnham has said repeatedly that the casting process for the role of Kayla was extensive, and that he nearly considered shelving the project before auditioning Fisher for the role. Seeing her on screen, it's easy to see both why Burnham was so particular in casting this part, and why he struck gold discovering Fisher.

As written by Burnham and played by Fisher, Kayla is a ball of anxieties whose struggles in IRL social scenarios are presented in direct contrast to the version of herself presented on her YouTube channel, through which she shares motivational videos with messages about, among other things, courage and being yourself. It's this juxtaposition that forms the thesis of Burnham's beautiful film, but not quite in the way you might expect.

This may not come as too much of a surprise, given his background, but Burnham categorically rejects lazy criticisms of the social media generation, or of social media itself. In fact, Eighth Grade feels more in tune with the detailed realities of a life dominated by interaction and engagement through social media than any other film in recent memory.

But, in spite of the broad cultural transformation that has followed in social media's wake, Eighth Grade's greatest achievement is to remind it's viewers that the vulnerabilities and angst of childhood remain largely unchanged.

3. Roma (dir. Alfonso Cuaron)

“We are alone. No matter what they tell you, we women are always alone.“

Alfonso Cuaron is one of the world’s most treasured filmmakers – this much is not really up for debate. His unerringly brilliant filmography showcases a directorial range unmatched in modern cinema. So, the transition from the space epic Gravity to an intimate family drama set in an upscale suburb of 1970s Mexico City should have surprised no one familiar with the director’s previous work. His new film’s reported autobiographical elements should also have come as no surprise, as he had previously dabbled in stories loosely based on his own life with his celebrated debut, Y Tu Mama Tambien.

But even this thorough setting of the stage could not have been adequate to prepare audiences for what Cuaron had in store. Among a filmography already replete with masterpieces, Roma may well be the most important (and personal) film Cuaron has ever made.

Unlike Y Tu Mama Tambien, Roma draws inspiration not from Curaon’s own adolescent exploits, but from the experiences of Libo, the domestic worker who helped to raise him, along with his own mother, as they deal with a series of upheavals within their upper-middle class home.

Where Roma and Y Tu Mama find common ground is in their uncanny ability to ground their intimate stories within the broader sociopolitical landscape in which they are set. Perhaps the most notable achievement of Cuaron’s work than his unparalleled ability take us to a time and place, set us inside an experience that’s unlike our own, and drive home with uncanny precision how that experience fits within our world at large.

The miracle of Roma is the grandeur and power it imbues in the banal details of domestic life. Even with Cuaron having largely abandoned the formal flashiness of Children of Men and Gravity, his images elevate a traditionally marginalized figure to almost mythical significance. Today’s world being what it is, Roma serves as a powerful and timely reminder – every life, even those most easily overlooked, spill over with love and tragedy and moments of genuine wonder.

2. Burning (dir. Lee-Chang Dong)

“There is no right and wrong ... Just the morals of nature.”

There’s a mystery at the heart of Burning that never resolves itself -- at least, not in the way you might want it to. And though it casts an unmistakable pall over the film from the moment that it comes into focus, there’s a sneaking suspicion that writer-director Lee Chang Dong’s real focus is lingering just behind this shroud.

Indeed, peeling away this outermost layer of intrigue reveals a thorny, tangled treatise on the divisions of modern society. Burning functions exceptionally well as a pure, slow-burn mystery, but it’s deliberately composed subtext provides contextual space for it to blossom into something far more complex and significant. No doubt in my mind, this film is a masterpiece.

On paper, Burning’s first act seems well-worn – Jongsu (Yoo Ah-In) reconnects by chance with Haemi (Jeon Jong-seo), a friend from his home village, whom he initially does not recognize. He agrees to feed her cat while she travels in Africa. When she returns with a mysteriously wealthy sophisticate named Ben (a slyly terrific Steven Yeun) Jongsu immediately feels threatened. But as his petty jealousies pile up, deeper suspicions begin to take root, and small, seemingly innocuous details begin to point towards sinister possibilities.

Rather than focus on the things that connect us, Burning probes the divides between us that – as modern discourse reaches ever closer to a fever pitch – threaten to become unbridgeable.

In this state of disconnection, what can we be convinced to believe about one another? What (or who) is disposable? Burning asks provocative questions about our cultural shortcomings and paints a chilling picture of the alienation that can fester as a result. It’s a patient, masterful film that pays off with an absolute wallop of a conclusion.

As we see our cinemas filled with more and more tired remakes and obvious retreads, Burning represents something truly indispensable and increasingly rare – an assured, original masterpiece from a vanguard of international cinema.

1. First Reformed (dir. Paul Schrader)

“Can God forgive us? For what we’ve done to this world?”

Decades after penning the script for Scorsese’s searing take on the explosive blend of toxic masculinity and moral righteousness, Paul Schrader is back with his own twisted take on Taxi Driver this time sprinkled with elements of Winter Light, Bergman’s austere study of faith in crisis.

Like Bergman’s enduring chamber play, First Reformed focuses on a pastor, Ernst Tollet (an earth-shakingly great terrific Ethan Hawke), who offers to counsel the troubled husband of one of his parishioners (Amanda Seyfried), only to find himself slipping into a spiritual crisis of his own.

In the wake of their conversation - which plays out as a debate over the morality of bringing a child into a world on the brink of unavoidable ecological catastrophe - Tollet is forced to reckon with his own deeply repressed guilt, along with his rapidly deteriorating health, and quickly finds himself buried under the spiritual weight of his own sins, and those of humanity, writ large.

In his search for answers, Tollet whispers into the void, and in return comes nothing but silence. This profound absence drives Tollet deeper and deeper into the clutches of despair until, in the film’s breathless final moments, the void finally shouts back. It’s one of the more profoundly, beautifully surprising conclusions in recent memory - one that suggests that our only hope for true salvation is not in blind faith, but in transcendental human connection

First Reformed takes on a wide range of themes over its 90 minute run-time, but Schrader is most directly concerned with this eternal and fundamentally human struggle between faith and despair.

At its psychological foundation, faith is a willful confrontation between the human capacity for hope and a cold and uncaring universe - it’s sold to us as the only true antidote to existential despair. But First Reformed – driven to the knife’s edge by Hawke’s powerhouse lead performance – argues convincingly that the line between bravely confronting the abyss, and being wholly consumed by it, is perilously thin.

#first reformed #paul schrader #ethan hawke #burning #lee chang-dong #steven yeun #roma #alfonso cuaron #eighth grade #bo burnham #elsie fisher #the favourite #yorgos lanthimos #olivia colman #rachel weisz #emma stone

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myfandomrambles · 5 years

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Iroh & Zuko: A study in change and healing.

Uncle Iron and Zuko’s relationship is one I find truly interesting. It shows an interesting look into how people can change, how people can help others, the nature of wisdom and addresses healthy relationships that can survive toxicity.

So first change, this is obviously Zuko’s main character arch change and redemption, that’s been talked about ad nauseam, but Iroh also changed beforehand. We can infer he had a period of time that changed him the same way Zuko did over the course of the show.

Iroh isn’t a magically better person, but one of the main reasons he can be a good force in Zuko’s life is his past change. Iroh always had a tendency towards knowledge and mastered the more spiritual part of Firebending. He also seemed to be more comfortable playing Pai Sho and tea than being a leader. I think his quest for knowledge and lack of political ambition allowed for the death of his son to be a moment that pushed him to end his military campaign and not challenges Ozai’s power grab. We also know somewhere around this time he joined the Order of The White Lotus connecting him to a force trying to bring back balance. Had he not dealt with the reckoning of the destruction of his own family and past, as well as work through tragedy he would not have been able to as effectively help Zuko. He understood the pain and trauma but he had learned acceptance. He was of course not perfect but having known the hate and found the peace he wasn’t leading Zuko blind. This means that not only can Ioh mentor him from a place of age, be fatherly after having lost his own child, but more than most people also have an inherent connection to the struggle being had.

Iroh’s important role within the show is as a sage and mentor to primarily Zuko but others as well. Iroh is calm, accepting, generally level headed and steadfast in his beliefs allowing him to be a guidepost and foil to Zuko’s own erraticism. He loves Zuko deeply and wants nothing more than for him to be able to heal and choose his own path but does challenge him as time goes on knowing if Zuko just lives in pain he can never move forward.

He gives education about the cultures, people and bending of the people they see. He tries to give Zuko the power to work through his own issues. This act is crucial even though Iroh knows Zuko can be a danger to himself and others he doesn’t try and totally strip his autonomy or leave him unable to defend himself. I think this is evident with Zhao in the first book and then the Zuko alone arc in book two. Allowing Zuko to fight for himself when possible, and fail when he has to allows learning and gives real power. This is reinforced when multiple times he tells Zuko that in the end he has to choose what he wants, chose his own destiny and honour. If he wanted Zuko to make good choices reinforcing the life of little choice they came from would have done more damage.

Iroh doesn’t leave him without backup ever either. He’s always there for Zuko either physically having his back in battle, talking to him or even trying to help their crew understand where Zuko is coming from. No one has really had his back since his mother left, and it’s debatable how much she was even capable of doing. Trying to help him understand he isn’t alone is so powerful. Someone just being there for you is one of the most healing things a person can have. And I think more than any of the actual lessons just giving unconditional love was one of the strongest legacies you can leave.

Iroh also modelled what he wanted Zuko to learn. Rather it is Firebending being able to take it with your head held up, letting down walls, enjoying the small things, or brewing the best tea. Iroh lived his ideas making it do as I say and as I do in almost all circumstances. This irked Zuko of course as it was periodically embarrassing for him but I think it was why everyone who met him respected him or at least liked him. Even when Iroh was a man of layers and did have a few secrets he wasn’t duplicitous. Being a model of what you want increases trust and can help it easier to actually learn new ways of being.

Iroh is an example of Wisdom and not just knowledge. I think this difference does matter. Iroh was, of course, a master Firebender knew much of history and culture and was at least a decent military man from the way others spoke of him, but his understanding of the intangible is what makes him powerful. He always knew to watch and learn, he invented multiple bending techniques because he let down the arrogance and took in other ideas. Being a member of the White Lotus he knew and respected the connection of all four elements. He was often a third party within the first book, during the siege of the north we see him chose not to fight really for or against the Fire Nation. He acts to protect the spirits, to keep the balance. He is not averse to using violence (even against his brother or niece) but has a respect for the life of all peoples. This kind of understanding and wisdom is more powerful than any spewing of facts. Because this plays into the level of acceptance he has, makes him a formidable foe and gives him an ability to convey complex ideas.

Trying to find your centre and accepting who you are is an act of connection to the world and yourself. He can help many people Toph, Aang and a street beggar can all listen and understand where he comes from. He can help Zuko through his metamorphosis moment because he understands the connection of identity, health and spirituality. When you can bring a whole connection to someone it will always be stronger then listing facts or platitudes.

Zuko and Iroh have a relationship that is a blur of found family and blood ties. He is Zuko's biological uncle but they don’t seem to have been exceedingly close when Zuko was very young but after Iroh returned from war become closer. In the world of ancestors, destiny and bloodlines their relationship matters, but their connection was born from love, time, care, compassion, struggling, loss, fighting, and forgiveness. Neither the story or Iroh force Zuko to forgive Ozai or Azula. Iroh recognizes that his brother was abusive and horrible to his children, and recognizes that Aula can’t be left in power. Zuko chooses how he confronts both of these people, disavowing his father, and facing his sister with Katara. Their relationship comes out of this history of abuse and toxicity but is forged forward because of how much they have grown to care for each other in their own right and how much they grow. Iroh is Zuko’s real father in any important way and Zuko is as much his son as Lu Ten ever was.

Real World Techniques:

Through writing a mentor to someone who is clearly dealing with mental illness (C-PTSD, BPD) real-world psychological and coping strategies end up being employed in a strong connection.

-Radical acceptance. I skill taught in the framework of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT). Iroh has learned to accept his past, and the loss he has shown. Iroh works hard to drag Zuko out of obsessive behaviour by trying to get him to accept that past happens, you can not fix that. Iroh himself embodies this behaviour. He doesn’t force non-action though, the acceptance makes you better able to manage future stress and build better lives.

-Meditation A common skill suggested across mental health and general health practice. He tries to instruct Zuko in this ability as one that is key to being able to properly Firebend and to reach in and use innate human power. This concept also connects people to the spirit world built into the mythology of the world.

-taking responsibility w/out victim blaming. Iroh knows Zuko’s backstory built him into this damaged person, but Iroh doesn’t allow him to hurt others through this. Iroh works to teach him to respect his crew, let down boundaries of pride and learn a new way of working in life. But there is never a time Iroh blames Zuko for the abuse he faced. Ozai’s treatment was never Zuko’s fault. They create an ability to simultaneously own your shit but not stew in self-hate

-We also see the structure we often see in productive de-radicalization programs. Zuko is exposed to the people he was taught to hate, facing the humanity and real-world effects of hate usually begin to break through narratives. Iroh lets him into his own point of view that connects all life, he learns the practice of living within balance instead of the belief system jammed into his brain, doesn’t let Zuko uses his past as reason for his behaviour, and acts and expects Zuko to let the humanity of The Earth Kingdom colour his view. The dissidence from his childhood beliefs and the new ones he can’t integrate into his life. This is crucial to his being able to learn the history of the fire nation, even describing the earth kingdom people favourably before his complete transformation.

Learning to use empathy across whole peoples is powerful to deprogram people, he is expected to verbally and through actions show contrition. Zuko is eventually able to connect to this over his indoctrination. The ability to come with humility and not expect the other side to forgive you. Often framed as seeking forgiveness from the people he does not deserve it from. This behaviour can work in reality and seeing played on screen is part of why this arc resonates across the media.

-Iroh helps Zuko find and construct meaning. The loss of a belief system Zuko experiences through his trauma leaves him in horrible confusion. Iroh helps him connect to his past giving a new lens to view the world from. He can’t do so from the position he held before having that structure built for him.

-I mentioned previously Iroh providing Zuko with a degree of control. Long term child abuse often creates either extreme self-reliance or sometimes learned helplessness. Offering both the ability to protect and control his life combined with having his back can combat both of these. Along with the deeply obsessive thought patterns around the avatar.

I truly belive their relationship is hugley important. Two characters who fit simple archetypes at the start are allowed to bloom into deeply strong and complex real feeling characters. Iroh is shown to be powerful, respected, incredibly kind and wise. We can all learn from him, and be shown a powerful love. Zuko’s own arch ahs been seen as groundbreaking for years but without Zuko we wouldn’t have had a person to guide and reflect this. Adding layers to the world and understanding ourslves.

[Requested by nbj on AO3]

#fandom:#atla #avatar the last airbender #topic:#relationships #trauma and media #abuse and media #character:#zuko #uncle iroh #azula #fire lord ozai #ship:#iron & zuko #type:#txt #my post

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pillowblaster · 6 years

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Greetings mortal! Are you ready to buy?

Seeing there's been interest in some lore behind the Guncaster, and I released the update lately, I might as well bother to exercise my writing skills again (if there are any) and explain some fun tidbits behind the new shopkeeper and perhaps his background, being older than GC itself, cause why not~

Art by Cage - DOCTOR, MY EYES APPEAR TO BE SWOLLEN!... WHAT?! TOO MUCH PORN? IMPOSSIBLE!

Hereby I present you Nithor Flaynithere - dragon deity of endless snarkitude!... Okay, patron of fury and courage actually, but that includes endless snarkitude. Formerly keeper of the eternal flame. Starter of a bloodline of dragons with anger management issues. As you know me, obscenely powerful cause I am sucha funny overkill guy, but he has his flaws and drawbacks to overcome. Cygnis is obviously his direct descendant somewhere down the line; don’t wanna tie my hands with an exact generation.

Cyg's Ancestor job at first was being a sort of head of security in the Dominion - think like where Olympus was an HQ for Greek gods, it was such place for the gods of Vernazij (Can just read it as Vernazi - I also have a thing for silent H’s in names, just in case), his homeworld. His top priority was tending to the aforementioned flame. He didn’t question things the way they were, as much as he started to grow bored... and suspicious. A branch of fellow, godly brethren, he could tell for sure, was plotting something. There was an ages long conflict going between them and the rest of the mostly-content deities and the inhabitants of the mortal coil ever since the whole universe was a thing.

Whaddaya starin’ at? I swear on me mum I’ll punch ya in the gabber, ya spineless tosser~

Oh yea, speaking of the universe!... The legend goes like this: An almighty deity had left their two descendants into an empty void, with a well of matter, energy and space to shape their own universe in a way they deemed fit, both as a test and as a testament to what he thaught them. But of course, being siblings with different concepts on what their world should be, it led to an obvious conflict of interests. They both ended up in the well after typical argument with just a bit more cosmic power involved. It caused a big bang of sort and they got absorbed into their own creation. Once things settled in a little after the initial blast, first deities and supreme beings got formed, forged to carry out their will. Yes, they were still waging petty conflict between themselves even after they got evaporated, go figure. They went onto forming massive armies to fight and prevail with their concepts of forming the universe. From the ashes of broken matter and the corpses of destroyed creatures - the universe kept on forming itself on its own whereas the first inhabitants didn't even notice that miracle even going. They were too busy killing each other.

As the fight had progressed, some planets did form their own life!... But didn't quite make it due to the whole conflict of cosmic proportions. They became the victims of collateral damage. Still, as the shaping force kept going and the destructive forces kept on dwindling, only inhabitants of few planets across zillions of them were able to survive, step back and come into conclusion that their conflict at this point was undesirable and pointless. They realized everything was already formed out of chaos, without much of their involvement. They were too busy fighting over missed opportunity. Now it was just a battle of who would take control over the results of said uninvolvement. The deities of one of such cases came into agreement. They decided to sit back and see how things will go on from here, as much as that was an uneasy peace. They named their home - Vernazij. (It supposed to mean something metaphorical for all the forming that world went through, but again, couldn't think of anything clever enough yet. I AM SUCHA GREAT STORYTELLER HOLY SHIT~)

You have a ‘what’, napping in your living room?

Over the course of years, things have stabilized - respective roles that were fitting given gods’ particular set of skills were given, treaties were made, tasks were completed... suddenly, Mortals! Local gods went “They look so familiar! And adorable~”. Powerless, fragile creatures that often resembled the deities, they were another byproduct of the self-sustained world creation. The gods didn't have much ideas on what to do with them, seeing they were pretty weak. so they had let them be. That was until some of them helped their mini-me’s, or did quite the opposite. Their fear or reverence resulted in worship. Worship gave them power, so gods started unhealthy competition over the mortal souls in their respective fields, forming alliances, breaking them, stabbing themselves in the back, or protecting themselves from the others - generally, you know, your favorite part that divides or brings everyone together - politics. Every god could store their worship as some kind of power, as much as one spot wasn't decidedly taken over. The irony of no one being courageous or dedicated enough to become the patron of courage. All brave acts sparked as an eternal flame instead. Nithor was denied to become its patron by old gods, saying he was “not ready”, whatever that meant. So he was just protecting the flame and the whole Dominion instead.

Sir, we are late for burning time!

As the time passed without any relatively bigger conflicts, some of the older caste of gods, still having in mind “the great plan” and the responsibility behind it, feared the day when the Great God will visit their plane. They predicted it might end up with a total disaster, seeing how they seemingly failed to carry out the will of his children. As they were scheming about taking the universe's fate into their own hands, the mortals were rather unhappy with how the old gods were ignoring them and grew to be a force to be reckoned with. They somehow breached into Dominion, which technically was impossible for mortals to do so. Nithor tried his best to fend off the angry mob off (despite his obvious disdain towards old gods, duty was a duty). But that was too much for him, even for years of staying valiant. He tried his best to keep the mortals off the premise of the eternal flame without killing anyone (no word about work-related harm, though), the flame got dispersed and tainted, and looked for a nearest, suitable vessel to claim, which happened to be him - being the best, viable candidate.

I should probably make some pics depicting the story instead, but laziness. Look at that thicc boi lazy it out~

As the things calmed down, he begrudingly resigned from his job as a keeper, considering that the flame was no more and he failed to keep the place secured. The old gods got banished from Dominion onto Vernazij’s plane. Being unaware of his state as a wielder of the slowly self-corrupting flame, he took on a life of a demigod and an adventurer as his longed form of a vacation, seeing how he was done with the godhood. He went onto numerous adventures, met a lot of folk, got married, had kids, stabilized his life... All was good and dandy, despite the more and more obvious problem of the flame rearing out, but nothing that he couldn't manage - he just blamed it on some magic diarrhea of sorts, being as oblivious to his status as ever... Well, that was until huge accident happened. Or more like, an incident. A one that had changed the world forever, which got named in the legends as the Deadmaker's March.

That whole mess was orchestrated by his old god workmates - starting from leaving a breach in the Dominion’s defenses for mortals to enter, then letting the eternal flame to be disturbed. Their exodus was also obviously predicted part. They knew what the flame was capable of and wanted to weaponize it, but it needed a vessel... which Nithor was an obvious candidate for, but they needed both him and the flame to be unstable. After getting him on the edge by destroying his family and everything he valued from behind the scenes - Nithor went onto a rampage Vernazij has never seen before and thereafter. Only by combined forces of all mortals and all the gods they were able to seal him away, as defeating nor controlling him was impossible - every single act of force against him was only making him stronger and even more furious. The old gods initial plan had failed, they wanted to rebuild the world from its ashes as it should be in their eyes. Still, they got their much-sought retribution after having a hand in the process of capturing him. Their scheming continued.

Mona Lisa as fuck.

And what about Nithor? As much as they tried to fool him, speak into his senses to become their ally in their quest for the control over the universe “for the greater good”... He saw through their intentions of destroying anything that doesn’t want to abide to their will or worldview, which made him hate them with all his guts - he valued his own and the universe’s freedom of choice above all. After spending three millenias in fury-blinded seclusion, he breaks out from his prison, dead-set on murdering them all and anything that dares to stand in his path. As a last act of the prison's purpose, it used all the energy it stored by draining his unrelenting fury to get him back into senses, and seal it away. Unphazed by that event, he sets forth on a mission to kick the old gods' butts into oblivion (or whatever constitutes for them as butts) by retrieving his old gear as a keeper, getting control over his horrid power and single-handedly dealing with all of them. However, as three millenias worth of time was more than enough for them to prepare a whole plethora of nasty surprises, such as painting him as an evil villain in the eyes of the whole world and themselves as icons of pure intentions (imagine that whole narrative in history for past millenias is painting you as a Sauron of the universe) - his mission became harder and more complicated than ever. They hid the truth under unparalleled amounts of lies, and destroyed any evidence they could find that could prove otherwise. The fact that Nithor had all the looks and wits of a supreme asshole didn’t help on his case, either.

I am a tallyman of your mistakes. I am the executioner for your sins. Now face what you have poured into me, for what I’ll pour into you.

...Hot damn, that actually sounded pretty intimidating, go me, bwa-ha ha!

Most of his allies are either gone in the sands of time, or still mad at him, if they didn’t bite the dust yet. He scored couple millions of deaths during his grudge-filled killing spree, so you can imagine how many souls are willingful out there to get near or even think about hearing him out... Quite the contrary, with a little exception that are the depths of Taumthegos - the local equivalent of Hell. He is being revered there for obvious reasons.

A cynical jerk by trade, Nithor’s temptation to do the easy thing and go ballistic is strong. But he is not without a heart, even after everything he went through and people hating his guts, he refuses to do so. He felt partially responsible for all the mess he got involved in and wanted to prove everyone wrong and show who’s the real enemy here. He kept finding clues about old gods’ mischief during his time of absence. The problem was, with all due respect for his pure intentions, his rather abrasive nature. More often than not, he screwed up his opportunities on coming out as a good guy. He was hellbent on getting shit done and ignorant about anything that wasn’t helpful towards his quest, rather than approaching the people who were interested in hearing him out and finding a common goal. He still had plenty of humor and determination (and lack of common sense) to go against the whole world which hated him so much for sins of days long past. And a whole journey to go through to learn again how to be a decent being. The truth is the ultimate value, no matter how painful or regretful it might be - he will bring it out.

So lemme tell you Victor, the story of the great!... Meeee!... Crap, that sounded better in my head. I should have just used my name or something. Should I start over?

Considering that Cygnis and his descendants are a thing and I am writing this whole ordeal in retrospect, you can safely assume that he had succeeded in getting his good name and life (to a degree) back. But what constitutes of his adventures, how he knows about Earth and its fineness of culinary such as the casserole and how he got in touch with his late grandson?

...Those are stories for another time!

Tl;dr yada yada that’s a lot of bullshit. Kerist, that was stressful to pull off. Hoping that at least it’s somewhat enjoyable, to a degree.

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notjustabadguy · 7 years

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“Ghost” Characters in Hogwarts Houses

Sam Wheat - Gryffindor

Sam is about as Gryffindor as you can get. The defining traits of a true Gryffindor are bravery and chivalry. These are often accompanied by a strong sense of right and wrong, an unwillingness to concede ground or admit defeat, and an affinity for action in times of crisis.

Like every House, though, Gryffindor qualities have both positive and negative aspects. The strong moral code can make some Gryffindors see the world in terms of black and white, blinding them to the grey areas. The reluctance to admit defeat can become stubbornness, and the desire for action can lead to rushing into danger, without stopping to properly assess the threats in a situation.

Sam shows all of these qualities, both positive and negative, in spades. He proves his bravery and chivalry by literally giving his life to defend Molly. In the struggle with Willie, another Gryffindor trait is displayed as well: the trademark recklessness shows in his attempt to get the jump on an armed mugger.

His strong sense of justice is shown as he unravels the truth behind his murder and makes it his mission to punish those responsible. And his persistence in this mission, despite being at a distinct disadvantage (being incorporeal and unable to communicate traditionally with the living) demonstrates the strength of his determination and his unwillingness to surrender.

All in all, Gryffindors are good people to have on your side. Some of their qualities may be slightly irritating to those who prefer calm rationale and trying to see both sides of a disagreement, but when you’re in any kind of trouble, a Gryffindor is the best asset you can have. They’re big on standing up for the little guy, loyalty to their friends and loved ones, and fighting the good fight. As such, Sam is an excellent representative of the Lion House.

Molly Jensen - Ravenclaw

Ravenclaws are best known for their intelligence, creativity, and reasoning capabilities. Though primarily regarded as the House that scores well on tests and overachieves at all things academic, Eagles are also the artists of Hogwarts—the writers, painters, musicians, etc. As such, Molly was fairly easy to place, being a sculptor.

She also displays other Ravenclaw qualities: intelligence, a reliance on academia, faith in the system and the rules that have been set in place, a healthy dose of skepticism, and an aptitude for calm, rational discourse and problem-solving.

As with the Lions, many Ravenclaw characteristics are a two-sided coin: for example, they tend to have too much confidence in the system, assuming that the established rules to govern any situation will do exactly as intended, without taking human error into consideration. Ravenclaws also like to talk disagreements out calmly, which is usually a good strategy, except some people don’t want to talk—they just want to hurt you. And that skepticism can lead to an inability to set logic aside sometimes and just have faith.

Molly’s speech patterns indicate high intelligence, and her reliance on systems of authority is demonstrated at several points—from her worry over the critic from the Times, to the outcome of her visit to the police station. The Ravenclaw affinity for talking things through shows in her attempt to inject cool rationale into the situation between Sam and Willie, inadvertently making it worse instead. And of course, her skepticism is displayed in her disbelief of Oda Mae; despite her heart telling her it was the truth, her rational mind couldn’t conceive of a world where spirits existed.

Despite their shortcomings, Ravenclaws are excellent to have around. They help provide much-needed perspective to the Gryffindors and Slytherins in their lives, who are often all too willing to go full steam ahead and damn the consequences.

Carl Bruner - Slytherin

Putting the villain of the film in the “evil House” may seem like a pretty straightforward decision, but as many of my Followers may have already guessed, there’s a lot more to it than that.

Most of the villains in the Harry Potter series are Slytherins, which makes many Potterheads see Slytherins in a negative light. But the Snakes have had their share of good guys too: Snape and Slughorn are excellent examples, and both of the Cursed Child heroes are Slytherins as well. And some of the nastiest antagonists in the series are from other Houses (Quirrell and Lockheart are Ravenclaws; Wormtail is a Gryffindor).

In fact, “evil” is a concept that has nothing to do with Sorting. The defining traits of Slytherin House are ambition, resourcefulness, and cunning. Snakes also traditionally prize self-preservation. In addition, Slytherin shares a number of characteristics with Gryffindor, including determination, pride, and, as Dumbledore points out, “a certain disregard for the rules.” Gryffindor and Slytherin are, in fact, very similar Houses in many respects: most of the talents of Gryffindors are shared by Slytherins, and it is only in values that they truly differ. Lions are guided by morality, whereas Snakes are guided by pragmatism.

In the Slytherin mindset, if you want something, you should take it; if you don’t need to endanger yourself, don’t. Guilt is an abstract concept which has little place in practical doings. However, this does not erase the concepts of friendship or loyalty, and can even make them stronger in certain personality types. Snakes often form strong bonds with others, because one’s friends or family are seen as an extension of oneself; therefore, it is in a Slytherin’s best interest to look out for those they are close to.

Carl’s ambition and self-serving qualities are shown over and over throughout the film—even early on, before the big reveal. In fact, one of the earliest lines references him as being “obsessed” with money, something he willingly admits. His “certain disregard" for the rules of law and morality—essentially considering them obstacles to the quickest and easiest way of attaining his ambitions—is demonstrated at several points, most notably in his laundering money, but also in his pursuit of Molly.

The Slytherin pragmatism is also showcased in this instance: while Sam was alive, the knowledge that Moll was his best friend’s girl stopped Carl from making a move. Harming his friendship with Sam would have harmed him personally on an emotional level, so it would have been going against his own interests to risk it. But when Sam died, he was removed entirely from existence in Carl’s limited worldview, leaving no “real” obstacle to a relationship with Molly, only that abstract concept of guilt.

And of course, Carl’s value of self-preservation ultimately became his downfall. Everything he did to extend his own life, even to the point of endangering Sam and Moll, only led him more surely to his eventual death. This is the great flaw in the “practicality” of the Snake House: what many Slytherins view as abstract sentiments are quite real factors in life, with real consequences.

Slytherins can be some of the best friends you’ll have: they can help the Eagles in their lives loosen up, aid their Lion pals by doing things a Gryffindor might find morally ambiguous or distasteful (usually without the Gryff’s knowledge), and they’ll fiercely protect those they are loyal to by any means necessary. But they can also be dangerous enemies if those loyalties shift. Carl’s loyalty to his friends was eventually outweighed by his loyalty to his own ambitions, and that proved disastrous for everyone involved.

Oda Mae Brown - Hufflepuff

Oda Mae was the hardest character to Sort. She has some qualities of other Houses: Slytherin’s cunning and self-interest are most prominent, but she also shows a Gryffindor’s bravery in times of great peril, and even some Ravenclaw creativity. In a way, though, that made the choice to place her in Hufflepuff even more obvious.

Hufflepuff is the “odd House out" in Hogwarts. The fandom doesn’t quite know what to make of them, nor do other Hogwarts students. Voldemort’s infamous words about Cedric Diggory as a “spare” echo the sentiments of many. A lot of Potterheads can strongly relate to the confusion demonstrated in a line from the well-known fan parody A Very Potter Musical: “What the hell is a Hufflepuff?”

The problem with Hufflepuff is that, while many Badgers display certain supposedly defining traits—hardworking, cheerful, friendly, honest and genuine, patient, and modest—there really is no requirement for being Sorted into Badger House. As the Sorting Hat quoted Helga Hufflepuff, “I’ll teach the lot, / And treat them just the same.” Hufflepuff is essentially the House for those who do not have strong tendencies for any of the other Houses: those who are not particularly brave, ambitious, or intelligent. While Hufflepuffs can certainly be all three of those things (look at Cedric Diggory for bravery, Newt Scamander for intellect and creativity, and Ernie Macmillan or Zacharias Smith for ambition), the point is that, while they may all exist in Hufflepuffs, none of them are the driving personality traits behind any Badger.

Oda Mae fits into this “not fitting in” bracket fairly well, as well as displaying some of the more common Hufflepuff traits: namely, being open and genuine, upbeat, and fairly impartial in questions of morality. While the Gryffindors and Slytherins are busy butting heads and the Ravenclaws are either trying to separate them or rolling their eyes at the whole silly affair, ’Puffs will just get on with their own business.

Oda Mae also, in the end, demonstrates another of the Hufflepuff tendencies. Many people, both wizards and fans, tend to underestimate Hufflepuffs. They are considered rather dull, even downright stupid (“Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o’ duffers”), and quite timid. None of this is true. Hufflepuffs are often quiet about their accomplishments, but that should not fool anyone into thinking the Badgers are not a force to be reckoned with. Their House mascot is subtle evidence of this: a real-life badger may look cute and cuddly, but a single African honey badger is able to kill three lions on its own. Oda Mae doesn’t seem like a hero for most of the film—she just wants to stay out of danger and get on with her life the way it was before she met Sam. She is easily mistaken for strictly comic relief. But she ends up being the deciding factor in pretty much everything.

It’s additionally worth noting that one of my favorite fan theories is that Hufflepuffs are the House with the most natural talent in Divination, which is the closest thing in the Potterverse to Oda Mae’s psychic talents.

Willie Lopez - Slytherin

As previously stated, Slytherin’s defining traits are ambition, cunning, a strong sense of self-preservation, and an emphasis on achieving goals rather than on how said goals are achieved. Willie displays all of these, in practically every scene he’s in.

Willie certainly doesn’t have the intelligence of a Ravenclaw, but he does possess a sort of animal cunning—probably the only reason he survived as long as he did in the dangerous life a small-time thug. His selfishness and value of his own life above others are demonstrated in his flight from Sam’s spirit, abandoning his erstwhile partner and leaving Carl to fend for himself when things got ugly. And of course, his ambition and lack of respect for laws and ethics are displayed by his profession as a hired gun.

The trademark Slytherin pragmatism is even more pronounced in Willie than it is in Carl... this is made especially clear in the scene where Carl confronts him over his violent methods. “You killed a man,” Carl accuses him. “You were supposed to steal his wallet!” Willie simply returns, “That was a freebie!” He seems genuinely frustrated by how upset Carl is. The idea that Carl might have actually valued Sam’s life, not just his address book, is apparently unimportant to him.

Willie reminds me a lot of Crabbe and Goyle, Draco Malfoy’s goons: a somewhat dimwitted, amoral, violent personality kept around so that Draco (or Carl, in this case) doesn’t need to personally dirty his hands. He certainly isn’t a good representative of Snake House’s positive traits, but he belongs there just the same.

Image Credits:

Background: Hogwarts Sam: Harry Potter (House Crest from this image) Molly: Ravenclaw Student 1 by akirastock Carl: Draco Malfoy Oda Mae: Hermione Granger (tie and House Crest from this image) Willie: Gregory Goyle

Images of Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Tony Goldwyn, Whoopi Goldberg, and Rick Aviles taken from Ghost (1990).

Edited with iPhoto, Preview, and Paintbrush on Mac

This is my first real attempt at photomanipulation, and I don’t have Photoshop, so please be gentle with me!

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Empire of the Vampire Makes Vampires Scary Again

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This article is sponsored by As a species, humans have more or less always been obsessed with vampires. (The earliest references to blood-drinking creatures date back to ancient Mesopotamia, believe it or not.) But the way we relate to these creatures has shifted throughout the centuries, as legends, folklore, and popular culture have adapted to the needs and fears specific to respective societies.

Published in 1897, Bram Stoker’s Dracula may have sparked a particular vein of horror story that continues to this day (looking at you, American Horror Story: Double Feature), but Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, published in 1976, changed how audiences relate to bloodsuckers forever and plenty of contemporary vampire tales have continued to cast the creatures as broody, desirous, long-suffering anti-heroes burdened by the weight of immortality.

But don’t expect bestselling Australian author Jay Kristoff’s new book, Empire of the Vampire, to follow this modern trend. In this story, the first in a new epic fantasy trilogy, vampires are 100% terrifying again, vicious monsters who kill violently and indiscriminately, and whose powers mean that few humans are capable of standing against them for long.

“When I was a kid, vampires were the monsters under the bed. They were the scary things that were trying to eat the good people,” Kristoff explains during a wide-ranging conversation with Den of Geek. “I grew up reading books like Salem’s Lot and watching films like The Lost Boys and Near Dark. Those were the vampires that I grew up with.”

Those aren’t generally the sorts of vampires we tend to see in much contemporary fiction nowadays, however. From The Vampire Diaries and True Blood to the Twilight franchise, recent mainstream pop culture has embraced the idea of the vampire as a version of the ultimate bad boy boyfriend, a secretly romantic figure still searching for true love after centuries of loneliness.

“Over the course of the last 20, 30 years they have evolved into something very different,” Kristoff says. “[And] there’s nothing wrong with exploring that kind of vampire,” he adds, describing himself as a “massive fan” of The Vampire Diaries and firmly “Team Delena” when it comes to the love triangle at the show’s center.

“The cool thing about [the ‘vampire’ concept] is they’re a dozen different things to a dozen different people. You can have a dozen different vampire fans in the room, and they’ll all tell you a different reason why they like them, why they’re attracted to them.”

Though Kristoff may enjoy the world of The Vampire Diaries—he’s currently making his way through its spin-off The Originals—Stefan and Damon Salvatore were not the sort of creatures whose story he was interested in exploring in Empire of the Vampire. The novel is set in a kingdom where the sun has barely shone for nearly three decades, the dead walk during the daytime, and vicious vampire factions fight for control over the remaining human territories. Its world is bleak and frightening, and his vampires reflect that fact.

“I did want to make them monsters again,” Kristoff says. “I wanted to explore the way eternity and immortality would just warp you beyond all recognition. [How] it would make you inhuman.”

The author cites Rice’s aforementioned Interview with the Vampire as “the biggest influence” on this story. “I’ve loved that book since I was a kid,” he says. “And one of the strong themes that permeates that text is that nothing is forever. Everything goes away on a long enough timeline.” Including the humanity of those who were once human. Kristoff’s novel includes something of a nod to Rice’s work, as the story is framed by our primary protagonist recounting the highs and lows of his life to a vampire historian named Jean-Francois, who is our first consistent glimpse into the removed, detached attitude with which these creatures view human beings.

“Over the course of hundreds upon hundreds of years, if you’re killing a person every night, you very quickly stop seeing people as people and start seeing them as food,” Kristoff explains. “That can’t help but affect your worldview and the way that you interact with it. I don’t think you could help but become inhuman …That’s really what the older vampires in this world are. They’re truly alien and truly monstrous. They look at us the same way that we look at the hamburger that we’re about to eat for dinner.”

Empire of the Vampire is not for the faint of heart. Clocking in at over 800 pages, this is a book bursting with darkness of both the literal and the figurative variety. From the cataclysmic event known as “daysdeath,” which literally darkens the sun to violent, to bloody battles between the living and the dead that lead to (multiple) heartbreaking deaths, this is not a story that’s here to coddle its readers or pull any punches, narratively or figuratively speaking.

“There’s only [redacted] named characters—as in major characters—left alive at the end of the book,” Kristoff teases. “Everybody else is dead.”

But as a result, Empire of the Vampire is also genuinely compelling, a rich, layered story that embraces real stakes and wrestles with complex questions about faith, belief, and family, both found and otherwise.

“It’s the biggest book that I’ve written. It’s definitely the hardest book that I’ve written,” Kristoff says, whose previous works include the Nevernight trilogy, another massive fantasy shot through with violence, corruption, and complex stakes. “Now that I’m at the tail end of it, [I think] it’s the best book that I’ve ever written. I’m more proud of this novel than anything I’ve ever written in my life, and that’s against some pretty stiff competition.”

Ostensibly, Empire of the Vampire follows the story of Gabriel de Leon, the last Silversaint, a member of an elite order of warriors who have sworn their lives to the Church in order to defend the world from the encroaching vampire plague. The novel is his reflection upon his own life, told from what feels very much as though it could be the end of it, imprisoned by the very creatures he was once charged with hunting.

Told in split narratives that look back at the beginning of his time as a Silversaint and his final desperate journey to save the world, Empire of the Vampire not only shows us a hero in crisis but one who has forgotten why he wanted to be a hero in the first place.

“[Gabe’s story] is two sides of the same coin,” Kristoff explains. “One, when he’s young and passionate and thinks all the world is good and bright and he can be a positive force in it. And the other one where he’s gotten old and realized that things don’t always work out the way they do in the storybooks.”

Though Gabe was once the sort of hero who tends to have songs written about them, by the time he’s recounting his great deeds to his vampire captors, he’s become more of a “fallen hero” whose story is primarily “about redemption, or at least a reclamation of faith.”

“Faith was something that was really important to him as a young guy,” explains Kristoff, “but terrible things happened to him over the course of his life and he lost his faith, as many of us do. Part of his journey, at least in Empire, is about finding something to believe in. He’s on a pretty destructive path at the start of the book when we meet him, and he’s 32. He doesn’t have a heck of a lot to live for. At least in part, his journey is about finding something that’s bigger than himself, that’s something more than the revenge that he’s driven toward…something worth fighting for.”

That something arrives in the form of a quest. Like so many before him in popular literature, Gabe ultimately finds himself on a search for the Holy Grail, a magical object that is rumored to be able to end daysdeath, and with it, the vampire plague. Whether the Grail is real or not is a spoiler that only those who read the book will find out, but Gabe’s search for it will quite literally change his life and expand the events of the second and third books in this trilogy in new and different ways.

In Empire of the Vampire, Gabe’s hunt for the Grail forces him to reckon with the darkest aspects of his own life as “ a lot of his own sins come back to haunt him.” As an example, Kristoff describes a later chapter in the book (it’s called “The Worst Day” for those who want to skip ahead) as “the hardest chapter I’ve ever written in my life.”

“I think some of the darkness that was happening in the world around me permeated my head and permeated the story,” Kristoff says of a scene in which, as you might have already guessed, something awful happens to a major character. “I wrote that scene and at the end of it I slammed the laptop shut and just pushed it away from me. I didn’t touch it for four days. I couldn’t bring myself to look at it. That’s the heaviest thing I’ve ever written. Even reading it back now, I’m like, ‘Damn, that’s really tough, you bastard.’”

Empire of the Vampire is just the first piece of what is shaping up to be a massive fantasy saga, and its second installment—which Kristoff says he’s writing right now—is set to expand the series’ world even further, introducing us to the matriarchal clans of the western Ossway as well as the dangerous vampires of the Blood du Voch, whose strength makes them especially difficult to kill. But, according to Kristoff, readers shouldn’t be shocked if the sequel turns our understanding of the story we’re reading on its head once more.

“One of the cool things [about Book 2] is you get a second POV. There’s another character that’s imprisoned in the tower and we get their version of events,” Kristoff explains. “You start to realize that maybe Gabe hasn’t been entirely truthful, or maybe he’s just viewing the past and certain people through rose-colored glasses.”

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In other words: Buckle up. This adventure has only just begun, and plenty of Kristoff’s dark creatures are still waiting in the wings.

Empire of the Vampire hits bookshelves in the U.S. on September 14th, and in the U.K. a week prior. Find out more here.

The post Empire of the Vampire Makes Vampires Scary Again appeared first on Den of Geek.

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jessicakehoe · 5 years

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From the FASHION Archives: Karl Lagerfeld’s Most Memorable Bon Mots

Killer Karl, Monte Karl, Kaiser Karl… the nicknames suggest a fashion force to be reckoned with. They’re not kidding.

Karl Lagerfeld was born with that special brand of self-confident arrogance that comes with inherited wealth and privilege (the family fortune comes from canned milk). Add unbridled curiosity, an iconoclastic yen to épater la bourgeoisie, and the ability to sustain a workload that would floor your garden-variety powerhouse and you’ve got the Lagerfeld formula for fame. That one man is capable of shaping so many significant and quite distinct fashion collections – Chanel, Fendi. KL for Klaus Steilmann, as well as his own signature collections for both men and women – defies the law of industry averages. His assiduously cultivated rivals must bite down even harder on their eyeliners when they contemplate the seeming ease with which Lagerfeld, aristocratically ponytailed with trademark fan in hand, makes so much happen. And thus far, ‘89 is his year, with Chanel never more in the news and Lagerfeld’s own lines reaping the kind of critical and commercial rewards that rarely coincide in the carping clothing business. But alongside a patent genius for whipping up outfit after outfit, Lagerfeld is also the barb-tongued, hawk-eyed philosopher of 20th-century style.

Fashion commentator Marina Sturdza has interviewed him a number of times in the course of their careers. Here’s a grab bag of bons mots from her Lagerfeld archives.

On Hard Work: I’m a working-class person… working with class. I do it for the sake of doing it. I think it’s fun. It’s like I hate war, but I like to be on the battlefield. In my mind and my working life, the collections I design are all independent and separate. I’m working in different studios in different countries with different people. Fendi is my Italian version of me, KL in Paris is the real me. Chanel is a little game I’m playing for the moment. I like to live in different worlds. Constant change helps me in my work and makes me feel and think differently. Personally, it bores me to immediately redo the same thing only because it’s supposed to be my “style” or whatever they call it. That’s why I enjoy doing different things like Chanel, because I can be stimulated and play with my own professional ability.

On Chanel: I respect nothing, no one, including myself. Respect is not a very creative thing. Imagine me respecting Chanel. We would go nowhere. She doesn’t interest me as a person. I think she was an unpleasant, bitchy woman. But I must admit, she survived everybody. Her legacy is that I think she invented a concept you can still use, and that’s her real genius.

On Inès de la Fressange, the Face of Chanel: Without Inès, I would never touch Chanel. When I started Chanel, I realized I needed a modern girl with class and style to give me an image to hang the thing on because obviously, I’m not a woman, and Chanel is a look made by a woman for a woman. I’d known Inès for many years and I had a feeling she gave Chanel a kind of reality for me, because Chanel taste is not really my taste. I wouldn’t know what to do without her.

On Other Inspirations: I’m inspired by everything. By every single thing. Sometimes the most stupid thing can inspire you to a good idea. I also see what ideas I can make out of a mistake. Sometimes the mistakes give me my best ideas. I have a vision in a flash and I don’t hesitate. I see something, I decide, and I don’t change my mind.

On Shock Value: Indifference is the worst crime in life.

On Other Designers: I think lots of designers do interesting things, but I don’t like the idea that there is only one designer who does wonderful things and all the rest is bullshit. I don’t think anyone is good all the time or none of the time. There is a right moment for everything: the best disappears for a while, then it can come back.

The post From the FASHION Archives: Karl Lagerfeld’s Most Memorable Bon Mots appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

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lindyhunt · 5 years

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From the FASHION Archives: Karl Lagerfeld’s Most Memorable Bon Mots

Killer Karl, Monte Karl, Kaiser Karl… the nicknames suggest a fashion force to be reckoned with. They’re not kidding.

Fashion commentator Marina Sturdza has interviewed him a number of times in the course of their careers. Here’s a grab bag of bons mots from her Lagerfeld archives.

On Shock Value: Indifference is the worst crime in life.

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weblistposting-blog · 7 years

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New Post has been published on Weblistposting

New Post has been published on https://weblistposting.com/protection-to-signify-others-wanted-cade-dead/

Protection to signify others wanted Cade dead

CHILLICOTHE – Beginning statements in Donnie Cochenour Jr.’s homicide trial on Tuesday supplied a glimpse at his Protection, which seems poised to allege whilst others held grudges towards victim Rebecca Cade, Cochenour wasn’t amongst them.

Before Beginning statements were given underway, Cochenour’s mom turned into barred from the courthouse. In step with courtroom officials, Cochenour’s mother had an emotional outburst in the hallway around the jury leading to Ross County Commonplace Pleas Decide Mike Ater to bar her from the courthouse at some point of the trial.

The primary day of testimony focused around witnesses who observed Cade’s useless body the morning of Oct. thirteen, 2015, mistaking it as a Halloween decoration and a country crime scene agent who collected evidence.

“We noticed what we concept turned into a model putting on the fence … You couldn’t simply tell it become someone. It gave the impression of a person dumped a bucket of purple paint over it,” Todd McKinney testified.

McKinney’s enterprise were installing the fence at the AEP substation at the useless give up of North Brownell Street wherein Cade had emerge as snagged with the aid of her sweatshirt, her toes striking maybe two toes from the floor, Consistent with testimony. In Establishing statements, Ross County Prosecutor Matt Schmidt described Cade as a small lady, weighing approximately 88 pounds.

McKinney said he and his team had long past about collecting gadget that morning however determined to do away with it after a person noticed it turned into detrimental the fence. In line with McKinney, he failed to understand it become a female’s body till he noticed hair at the palms after he and some other had eliminated it from the fence. At that point, McKinney notified Chillicothe police officers who were at the west facet of the property investigating the invention of some items and a pool of blood. Michael Woodbridge, of East 2d Avenue, had called police about finding Cade’s identification card together with what he defined as possible contents from a handbag – a lighter, mobile telephone, footwear, and speak to charger. He had stumbled across the gadgets whilst on foot his dog between 7 and 7:30 a.M, In keeping with testimony.

Bureau of Crook Investigation Special Agent Todd Fortner walked the jury thru what he noticed at the crime scene and amassed. amongst his discoveries had been a blood-blanketed rock, a drag path, and a trail of blood droplets.

The prosecution will maintain offering its case Wednesday morning with the aid of calling a lady who referred to as police suggesting they communicate to Cochenour’s sister, Lisa Frost, who additionally could be taking the stand. Frost served a year in jail after pleading guilty to two counts of tampering with proof. The prices related to Frost cleansing up blood from her lavatory floor and throwing away Cochenour’s muddy, bloody apparel.

Cochenour’s lawyer Jim Boulger stated his consumer had been with Cade of Oct. 12, 2015, claiming “she had accompanied him round, that she had pestered him, that she had at one point struck him and he struck her back.” But, Boulger stated there’s DNA proof at the least two others additionally had been along with her.

He additionally alleged she and Cochenour, who had been each homeless at the time, had been through a bonfire on North Rose Street in which she turned into “in proximity to several people who have no use for her in any respect.”

“Whoever did this have to have hated her to do what they did to her,” Boulger said the volume of Cade’s head accidents, suggesting Cochenour had no such degree of hatred.

Activities in Cornwall Whilst you’re dead Things to do in Cornwall When you’re useless, eh? Well, the population isn’t the liveliest in the international. If you’re deliberating holidaying there, it is no Amsterdam. There are three principal industries in Cornwall: yep, you’ve guessed it, tourism’s on the top. The opposite two are farming and aged care.

So unless they’re livestock, human beings most effective visit Cornwall to vacation and die – preferably now not inside the identical trip. however In case you’re going, you’ve got the passport equipped, and you want a glance of quaint olde England and possibly a cream tea and a scone, there are some sights which you ought to see.

pinnacle of the invoice is the Minack Theatre. What will be better than taking in some Shakespeare sat on a cliff as the solar units? This open-air theatre is one of the most unique within the world. It turned into, in reality, constructed pretty much single-handedly via the bold old girl Rowena Cade.

What else is there? there’s a bunch of gardens dotted all round Cornwall. From Trengwainton to Trelissick, all offer a classic British getaway.

For the kids? Overlook the dated subject parks – although they do have a certain scruffy attraction. No, the excellent kid’s attraction Cornwall has to offer is in truth a department save. That is no shaggy dog story. it’s known as Trago Turbines [http://www.Trago.Co.Uk/], and is run through an anti-Europe maverick. Unusual, but the Liskeard shop has it all: slides, journey playground, -by means of four and lawnmowers. And plates – a whole lot of plates. Who stated kids and department shops don’t blend?

“Transformers: Age of Extinction” Roars Into Theaters

The state-of-the-art addition to the “Transformers” franchise has already made waves in theaters with a $one hundred million Beginning weekend. “Transformers: Age of Extinction” is helmed by the legendary Michael Bay, but past that the similarities between this and The alternative “Transformers” films are few and a long way between. even as Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf were the long-lasting characters inside the preceding movies, “Transformers: Age of Extinction” capabilities a whole new forged, consisting of all-new Autobots.

“Transformers: Age of Extinction” choices up in which the last movie left off. Chicago is leveled, and humanity is satisfied that the Autobots are menaces rather than saviors. It’s been five years, and the authorities continues to be suffering to rebuild. A young mechanic named Cade Yeager stumbles upon an antique truck that holds some inconceivable secrets and techniques approximately past occasions. As he suspects, the truck turns out to be Optimus High from The first three films, and a mysterious group is in hot pursuit of him.

Because it seems, the organization works for an otherworldly bounty hunter who is convinced that all Autobots are a grave hazard to humanity and have to be erased at all prices. Cade is convinced that the Autobots and Decepticons are absolutely distinctive species and that the Autobots are humanity’s handiest desire of being pulled returned from the brink of extinction. Cade and his own family manage to escape with Optimus, embroiling them all in a combat for their lives in addition to humanity itself.

Mark Wahlberg takes on the leading position of Cade on this movie, a stark assessment from the unassuming major character portrayed by way of Shia LaBeouf. Critics have praised Wahlberg’s performance as a compelling main guy who have to find a way to shield his family amid the chaos. Cade and Optimus shape an immediate connection thanks to Cade’s information and mastery of all things mechanical.

one of the film’s most dramatic elements involves Cade’s hesitation to similarly involve his own family in this type of dangerous predicament. He should find a way to assist Optimus and The alternative Autobots at the same time as protecting his circle of relatives and preserving them out of the deadly bounty hunter’s line of fireplace. “Transformers: Age of Extinction” boasts one of the most complicated plots in the “Transformers” franchise and has some of the most compelling character improvement. However, what audiences certainly expect after they take a seat down to see a Michael Bay movie is stellar special effects, large-than-lifestyles Transformers and epic warfare scenes.

“Transformers: Age of Extinction” can provide above and beyond on all counts. A primary plot point of the film is that the earliest Decepticons have been answerable for the extinction of the dinosaurs once they planted genetically altered seeds on earth. Millions of years later, the dinosaurs are out for his or her revenge and take the shape of Dinobots. The Dinobots bring something to the franchise that has no longer but been visually completed. The perfect combination of primal fury and mechanical brilliance, the Dinobots are an unstoppable force to be reckoned with on all facets.

As constantly, the CGI in “Transformers: Age of Extinction” is impeccable. The fight scenes are a blend of realism and simply enough photograph imagery to be reminiscent of the conventional animated collection. large-than-existence Autobots and foes take over the huge display screen and make suspension of fact absolutely feasible for the movie’s length. With such impressive photos and a quick-paced plot, it is no marvel that “Transformers: Age of Extinction” has considerably exceeded all other movies at the box workplace, consisting of “22 Bounce Road” and “Maleficent.”

No other franchise has controlled to seize the thrills and in-intensity global-constructing experience for which the “Transformers” franchise is thought. Below the flashy individual designs and fantastic fight scenes, there is still a robust human detail to this movie. Cade’s dating together with his daughter Tessa is touching if strained in the course of the film. Audiences get to witness Cade’s transformation from an irresponsible dreamer to a hero now not handiest for his family but for all of humanity.

“Transformers: Age of Extinction” is one film that movement fans do no longer want to overlook. The visual factors on this movie are unforgettable, even when in comparison to the relaxation of the “Transformers” franchise. The appearing is the first-class of any of the movies, and not anything compares to the rich and compelling plot that pits the current international against historic beasts. In a warfare with only one remaining winner, it’s far not possible to say which species will pop out on pinnacle and so as to face entire and utter extinction. Either way, “Transformers: Age of Extinction” is one exciting experience audiences are positive to recollect.

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