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roughdraftsofachaoticmind · 2 years

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The Sandman.

I can’t properly put into words how The Sandman show makes me feel. But I’m going to try. So, lets start at the beginning. I’m the youngest of three and there are large gaps between me and my sisters 7 and 12 years older than me, they were mainly my semi-reluctant babysitters. My eldest sister was big into the grunge and goth subculture that flourished in the 90′s and my middle sister was more into the boho chic and me? Just a weird amalgamation of a child. We didn’t bond very much which isn’t something I hold against them, our ages were so staggered, we were in such different journeys in our lives. However they always shared their books. Books on mythologies, Goosebumps and too many comics to count. My middle sister introduced me to Death: At Death’s Door by Jill Thompson. I was enthralled. I was in love. It was strange and like nothing I’d ever seen. I would read it over and over again. That comic was with me all the times, it brought me comfort like a teddy bear or blanket might do for another child. I would proudly show it to anyone who would give me a moment to talk about my interests. Later in my young life my oldest sister would introduce me to Volume One of The Sandman. Preludes & Nocturnes. A dramatic difference to Death: At Death’s Door and I was once again enraptured by the comic. I latched onto the weird and colourful world that was sprawled upon the pages, at a different look at characters I’d come to love. This book too would now come with me everywhere, tucked in beside the love worn pages of the other for whenever I had a moment to read. Things rapidly changed as I hit my teens, my life entirely tipped over and emptied by divorce, drugs and abuse. My sisters now old enough to have their own lives left and had taken their belongings with them as one does. And the once cramped room we all somehow managed to not kill each other in was empty. All their books now lined their own homes and the only ones I had were those tucked away in my bag. The only two pieces of my sisters I would have for many years as family arguments chased away any get togethers and divided us. Pieces that felt like they were apart of the building blocks of me would be taken from me as my school councilor would deem the reading material too old for me and take them from me. They said it was to protect my young mind but it felt as if they had done it for any reason but to protect me, I was distraught beyond reason. Libraries became my solace. A place where no one would take my books from me, a place where I could come to visit the stories that brought me so much comfort, a place to discover more than I could imagine. A place where free coffee went unwatched and may be the reason I am only 5′5″. The librarians there were unbelievably kind and always kept two copies of both books in case anyone else wanted to check them out there would still be a copy for me to read. All their kindness however could not bring me the feel of the worn edges of my books, they could not give me back the memories that flooded my system as I’d look upon the pages I’d coloured in my youth. Eventually CAS tore me from my home and my school was forced to give back everything they’d taken from me over the years. I was reunited with my books, books I would need more than ever as I was thrown around the unmonitored foster care system. My weird amalgamation of self was stripped until I was more or less deemed normal enough to be placed with my mother, enough therapy until I could answer correctly. Books and trinkets no longer kept in my bag but lining a shelf neatly as all rational things should be. Comforting items such as were meant for babies and toddlers not teens heading into adulthood. Angst, trauma, hormones and all that comes with being 16 dragged me far from books. Years spent angry at the world, at family I had believed abandoned me, Anarchy ever on my mind after suffering at the hands of flawed government agencies. I was barely home to sleep let alone look at my book shelf. My anger dissolved as I got older and was replaced with the feeling of being lost, trying to reclaim who I was and discover the new parts of me, the ever massive question of finding my path in life weighing on my mind. Waiting for me dusty on my shelves were books that when I opened still gave me such a sense of comfort. Words I could recite with my eyes closed still filled me with wonder when I stared at them on the page. That brings us to the fairly recent, the release of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman on Netflix. To spite having typed so many words here I’m still at a loss. It brought me to comforting tears, tears of joy, unshed tears of loneliness and of belonging. The first 5 episodes and a bit of the 6th are from Volume One of The Sandman. Preludes & Nocturnes. I could barely believe it as I watched the pages I’d become to familiar with sprawl upon the screen just as enthrallingly beautiful as the first time I’d opened the comic. Watching the series brought me back to being small, in the room with my sisters, sitting on our bunk beds and just reading together without a worry in the world, moments where the tenderness had been lost upon me were brought back full force. The immense warmth that filled my chest to the point of bursting. Each actor enrapturing the character they played, leaping from the pages with grace. Every actor clearly chosen for capturing the character’s essence. Lines of dialog dripping from the pages and into my ears. I can’t describe The Sandman as anything other than perfect. It happened no moment sooner or later than it was supposed too, all those who were right for the job found at the right time. When I finished the first 5 episodes and it started with the new arc I worried I would feel disconnected. I make no claims to be the biggest Neil Gaiman fan or even the biggest Sandman fan for that matter, I know two comics very well and have read a handful of the others, whatever was available at my library at the time but that was many years ago and my library didn’t have all his comics. I didn’t recognize Rose Walker, I didn’t know about Vortex’s and so I was worried that I may not experience the same level of joy, that I would fall out of love with these characters. I did not. It was wonderful. It was the opposite of what I had feared. Instead now my brain was enthralled with ‘what would happen next?’ as I no longer had the answers. And the same way I had fallen in love with the books and their unknowns I fell in love with the rest of the season and it’s unknowns. I see new parts of characters I feel I’ve known for most of my life and I adore it with everything in me. As I introduced, I don’t have the words to describe what the books and this show means to me. But I’ve tried and I can only hope that in reading this I can convey my Endless love for what The Sandman has given me for nearly 20 years.

#The Sandman #Neil Gaiman #the sandman preludes & Nocturnes #Jill Thompson #Death: At Death's Door #The Endless #honestly I just wanted to put words to my feelings #I don't know if anyone will get anything from reading this #but I just wanted to put it out there #I find it fascinating #what happens to be introduced to us and how it can become such a part of us #Ya'll don't wanna see me go into the details of my love for LOTR's #or maybe you do #either way #I just have so much fondness in my heart #maybe this is the result of that near bursting I mentioned #but this felt good to write #I'm glad I did

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dailyaudiobiblechronological · 1 year

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5/13/2023 DAB Chronological Transcription

2 Samuel 11-12, 1 Chronicles 20

Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible Chronological. Today is the 13th day of May, and I'm Jill, and we are winding this week down together as my week with you is coming to a close. And then I will hand you over to China, but not until we center ourselves around the Scriptures, which is what we do here every day. It's the reason that the Daily Audio Bible and Daily Audio Bible Chronological and all of the other channels exists. So you make the Bible a part of our daily life to make it as accessible and convenient as possible so that every believer wouldn't that be incredible if every believer was in the Word and had a regular relationship with the Bible? That wouldn't be just a wonderful thing. We're going to jump right into our reading today. We're back in the story of Second Samuel, and we're reading Second Samuel, chapters eleven and twelve. And then we'll jump over to First Chronicles and we'll read chapter 20. Today's the last day in the New English translation, Second Samuel, chapter 11

Commentary:

It's kind of a difficult story to process through today because we left the story of David just a few days ago with this very noble deed that he does by taking care of Jonathan's son, Mephibosheth. And we also have been on this journey with David when he was just a shepherd boy attending sheep in the field. And then he comes on this scene by slaying the giant Goliath, and then he has to flee from Saul. We see him corner Saul several different occasions, has the opportunity to do away with Saul, and does the noble thing into all of the other things that lead up to this event. And then we see the effects of a moment of weakness when his desires were fulfilled by watching a beautiful woman who was married to another man bathe and send for her. I want to just read from the god of your story today and summarize this so that we don't miss the things that happened here. David plunged into a sordid affair with another man's wife. Bathsheba slept with King David, though it's debatable whether she had a choice and became pregnant. Her husband, Uriah the Hittite, was one of David's most elite and trusted warriors. David attempted to cover up what he had done by bringing Uriah home from the battlefield so that he might enjoy union with his wife. But the plan didn't work. Uriah's faithfulness would not allow him the comforts of home and spouse while his brethren were at war. The affair itself would have been a scandalous humiliation for the king, but the actions he took to cover it up were even worse. He had Uriah sent back to the front lines with instructions that he be put in the most dangerous positions so that he might be killed in battle. And this is what happened. David had Uriah killed. David was confronted by the prophet Nathan over killing Uriah and taking Bathsheba for his wife. Nathan told David a story that enraged the king, who didn't realize that he was a camouflaged version of his own story. When Nathan revealed the truth, David collapsed in repentance as the full gravity of what he'd done washed over him. Here's the last thing that I would like to say about reading through this story, as we did today. We can read it from front to end, as we did today, and we could say, this is a beautiful story of redemption. David and Bathsheba do end up married, and yes, they lose a child that David is absolutely physically, mentally, emotionally distraught over losing. And then David and Bathsheba do end up having another son together. So to some degree, we could look at this and go, what a story of redemption. Let's not miss the severity of the consequences of David's actions. That has to be a part of this story, because other people were greatly affected by David giving into his sinful desire. And it's important to recognize it here in this story, so that we can recognize it in our story. Not everything we do is out front for the world to see our sit on display. I think if we're going to be real honest with each other here in this safe place, we can get real good at hiding what we don't want other people to see. And God chose to expose David for what he did in secret. I don't say that as a warning. I don't say that as a threat. I am stating it as a detail, as a part of this story here today. And man redemption is beautiful. It is always the heart of God to redeem everything that was broken. And when we allow him to redeem things that are broken, he can, and he does.That does not mean that sometimes there's not consequences still to our actions. And a consequence isn't just God getting vengeance. God is God. If we let him be who he is, he'll do whatever he chooses to. But a consequence is a result or an effect of an action or a condition. There are good consequences for good actions and there are bad consequences for bad actions. And sometimes we get just unbelievably blessed or lucky or whatever you want to call it, and a good consequence cancels out a bad action. Point being, this is a really important story where we cannot glaze over the repercussions of David's actions. And they don't stop here. We're going to continue to see them in the story as David's story continues and unfolds. But we pause here today and give thanks.

Prayer:

Father, we thank you for your word. Thank you for how your word reads us as we read it. We thank you for that long, difficult look that we take every day in the mirror. And sometimes we see some really painful things necessary things to change, to become the men and the woman, the young men, the young women that you desire for us to be that would bring us in closer relationship, closer intimacy with you. And I pray as we read and hear these words today, Father, we come face to face with the consequences of our own actions that we have either missed or ignored or been too prideful and arrogant to even think we could be capable of such things. And maybe even hearing this, there's some amends that we need to make in the stories of our own lives, choices that we've made that have affected other people, that we have either just missed or glazed over or been too prideful and arrogant to go to them and ask forgiveness. I pray, Holy Spirit, that you would bring those things up to our conscience, to our awareness, even now, knowing that you meet us with conviction, not condemnation, and that you meet us with love and compassion and kindness that leads us to repentance, ultimately leads us to your redemption. We're so grateful for that today. Thank you for this week that we've had together and we consecrate next week to you, giving you full access, full permission to do that which you long to do in our hearts, in our minds, in our lives. We pray this all now in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Announcements:

It's been a complete joy to be able to be here with you this week. And I now leave you in the very gentle but strong and capable hands of my daughter, China as she leads you gracefully this week and I'll see you as my now adult son, but little, little boy Christian used to say, I see it if I get back, I'm Jill. Until then, love one another.

Community Prayer Line:

Praise my soul the King of Heaven, to his feet thy tribute bring ransomed healed, restart forgiven who like Thee His praise shall sing praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him praise Thee everlasting. Hi dear DABC family, good morning. God bless you all. Hope you all having a blessed Sunday. This is Ronki calling from the UK. I called in last, was it Tuesday? To ask for prayers for my little sister who was due to have an operation to be the glory. Everything went well with the surgery. She was in ICU for one day. They discharged her to the ward. The following day she came out. She was discharged from the hospital on Thursday, so she only had two nights to stay in the hospital, which is only God's doing. She's in the hotel now and hopefully by next week she would return back home. So I thank you all for standing in the gap, for praying, for praising. And if I have a thousand tongues, it's not enough to sing the praises of our God. Let's hold on to his unfailing love. He is a good, good God and he would do exceedingly abundantly, far above all we can ever ask or think of. So for anybody standing, waiting, he is able to do more than we can think of and it would always come through for us all. In Jesus's name, belated. Happy birthday to Regan. God bless you all. Bye.

Hello, everyone. This is CC from North Carolina. I'm just calling in because I have realized I've been getting more closer to God and I realized that the devil is really upset that he can't get to me like he used to. So I feel like he's been going after my husband the last two weeks. He has almost gotten ran over. He's a postal worker and the people who have done it have been angry or just road rage. They've stopped and yelled. And I just feel that the enemy is just trying to get to me another way. So please everyone, pray for my husband while he is out work delivering the mail for everyone, because it's just you never know in this world. Everything is so predictable and I would hate for something to happen to him on his route. So just give a little prayer for him that the enemy doesn't try to manipulate others to get to him so he could get to me. And I hope to strengthen my relationship with the Lord even more, regardless of what the devil attempts to do. Thank you everyone, and I also pray for all of you in your time of blessing and in your time of need. God bless. Amen.

Hi everyone in the Chronological community, this is Joyfully Joe. I haven't called in a while because I've just been sitting and resting in God's grace and mercy and grieving over the loss of my pastor and I've just been being still and allowing God to minister to me. And I just thank you guys because you've been a part of that, all your prayers and your prayer request, jill and China, your Bible readings, and I just say thank you. But right now I want to pray. I had a little bump on my lip that turned out to be a four millimeter tumor and it's cancer and I have to have another surgery and I just want to lift up everyone who is struggling with cancer right now. Lord Father God, first and foremost, Lord Father, we praise you, God, because you are the God who hears us, lord God, you care for us, Lord God, you listen. And even in our most lonely times, Lord God, you meet us, Lord God, when we search for you and when we seek you, Lord God. And I just pray for everyone struggling with cancer right now. Father. Give them peace and comfort and healing, Lord God, where healing is part of your will, Father, and, Lord God, I pray peace over them, Lord God, and as we walk this journey, Father, may we keep our eyes on you, Jesus, because you are worthy of all of our praise.In Jesus name, Amen.

Hello. My name is Freddie from California. I'm just calling to ask for prayer for me. Doctors discovered liquid around my heart recently, and I have other complications. I've been suffering for over 35 years. My breathing problem, my lungs are no good. My liver and my kidneys are just hanging in there. But just recently, I found out about the liquid in the heart, and it's costing me not be able to breathe. And I'm just going to ask for prayer. Thank you.

Blaze

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philip-ks-dick · 3 years

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Philip K. Dick, For Dummies.

I’ve been researching PK.D for a few years now, as he’s my father’s favourite author and I’ve been watching movie and show adaptations of his work for the longest time. I have personally only read the books listed, here’s the order (I think) you should read them in, based on difficulty level and the knowledge you need of the PKD canon to understand the books that follow. This is purely my opinion based on knowledge of the author. by philip-k’s-dick (lol)

Beginner. (These books and stories allow readers to explore Dick’s pet themes and stylistic quirks without falling too far down the rabbit hole)

The Short Stories: Over the course of his life, PKD wrote somewhere in the range of 150 short stories. Naturally, it would be silly of me to dump all of them on you at once, but undeniably, the shorter format allows the big ideas of Dick’s work to come through more clearly, and even the screwier stories conform to relatively coherent shape, making them an excellent jumping off point, especially for an author who wrote almost nonstop throughout his life.

My Favourites:

In The Days of Perky Pat - In this novel, survivors of a global thermonuclear war live in isolated enclaves in California, surviving off what they can scrounge from the wastes and supplies delivered from Mars. The older generation spend their leisure time playing with the eponymous doll in an escapist role-playing game that recalls life before the apocalypse — a way of life that is being quickly forgotten. At the story's climax, a couple from one isolated outpost of humanity plays a game against the dwellers of another outpost (who play the game with a doll similar to Perky Pat dubbed "Connie Companion") in deadly earnest. The survivors' shared enthusiasm for the Perky Pat doll and the creation of her accessories from vital supplies is a sort of mass delusion that prevents meaningful re-building of the shattered society. In stark contrast, the children of the survivors show absolutely no interest in the delusion and have begun adapting to their new life.

(Elements of the story were later incorporated into Dick's novel The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, written in 1964 and published in 1965, in which a Perky Pat simulation game is induced by drugs and miniature models instead. Palmer Eldritch is not a continuation or sequel however.)

What the Dead Men Say - Death is followed by a period of 'half-life', a short amount of time which can be rationed out over long periods in which the dead can be revived—so that, potentially, they can 'live' on for a long time. When attempts to bring back important businessman Louis Sarapis fail, it's clearly more than mere negligence. Sure enough, Sarapis starts speaking from beyond the grave. From outer space, in fact. Yet no-one seems terribly bothered, other than those directly concerned in the plot mechanics. Eventually entire communications networks (phones, TV, radio) are blocked by Sarapis' broadcasts

(Philip's later novel Ubik is a continuation of What the Dead Men Say)

Autofac - Three men wait outside their settlement for an automated delivery truck. Five years earlier, during the Total Global Conflict, a network of hardened automatic factories ("autofacs") had been set up with cybernetic controls that determine what food and consumer goods to manufacture and deliver. Human input had been lost, and the men planned disruption to try to establish communication and take over control. They destroy the delivery, but the truck radios the autofac and unloads an identical replacement, then prevents them from reloading items. They act out being disgusted with the milk delivery and are given a complaints checklist. In a blank space, they write improvised semantic garble—"the product is thoroughly pizzled". The autofac sends a humanoid data collector that communicates on an oral basis, but is not capable of conceptual thought, and they are unable to persuade the network to shut down before it consumes all resources. Their next strategy sets neighbouring autofacs in competition with each other for rare resources and seemingly succeeds, but there is a hidden level

Beyond Lies The Wub - Peterson, a crew member of a spaceship loading up with food animals on Mars, buys an enormous pig-like creature known as a "wub" from a native just before departure. Franco, his captain, is worried about the extra weight but seems more concerned about its taste, as his ship is short of food. However, after takeoff, the crew realizes that the wub is a very intelligent creature, capable of telepathy and maybe even mind control.

Peterson and the wub spend time discussing mythological figures and the travels of Odysseus. Captain Franco, paranoid after an earlier confrontation with the Wub which left him temporarily paralyzed, bursts in and insists on killing and eating the wub. The crew becomes very much opposed to killing the sensitive creature after it makes a plea for understanding, but Franco still makes a meal out of him. At the dinner table, Captain Franco apologises for the "interruption" and resumes the earlier conversation between Peterson and the Wub - which now has apparently taken over the Captain's body

Human Is - Jill Herrick and her husband Lester are in the middle of an argument. Lester deflects his wife’s claim that he is “hideous” with cold indifference. He tells her that he will not allow their child in the house and will have him removed to government custody because he is interfering with his research. Before the distraught Jill can pass this onto their son Gus, Lester gets news that he will be taking a trip to Rexor IV. Despite Jill’s desire to go there and see the planet, Lester insists that he will go alone.

Later Jill tells her brother Frank and she is going to leave Lester. She explains how happy she has been with Lester gone and how he seems to be getting worse every year of their marriage. More cold and more “ruthless,” not to mention the incessant working.

Lester comes home a very different man. He praises Jill’s cooking and expresses disgust with his work on Rexor IV studying toxins. He says he prefers Terra and being home with his wife.

Jill reports these changes to Frank, while Lester is playing in the room with Gus. Frank has Lester brought to a lab for more studies under the guidance of the Federal Clearance agency. Before long they realize that Lester has had his body taken over by a Rexorian.

The Hanging Stranger - The protagonist, Ed Loyce, is a store owner who is disturbed when he sees a stranger hanging from a lamppost, but finds that other people consider the apparent lynching unremarkable.

He finds evidence that alien insects have taken over, manages to get out of town, talks to the police commissioner, who believes him, and after getting all the information about what Ed knows, explains that the body was hung to see if anyone reacted to it, anyone they didn't have control over. He then takes Ed outside and hangs him from a lamppost.

The Commuter - Ed Jacobson is a railway worker at Woking station. His life takes a turn for the worse when his son, Sam, begins experiencing psychotic episodes. When he is selling rail tickets at work, a young woman named Linda asks for a ticket to a destination called Macon Heights that is not listed on any map.

The Minority Report - In a future society, three mutants foresee all crime before it occurs. Plugged into a great machine, these "precogs" allow a division of the police called Precrime to arrest suspects before they can commit any actual crimes. When the head of Precrime, John Anderton, is himself predicted to murder a man whom he has never met, Anderton is convinced a great conspiracy is afoot

Full Books:

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter for the San Francisco Police Department, is assigned to "retire" (kill) six androids of the new and highly intelligent Nexus-6 model which have recently escaped from Mars and traveled to Earth. These androids are made of organic matter so similar to a human's that only a posthumous "bone marrow analysis" can independently prove the difference, making them almost impossible to distinguish from real people. Deckard hopes this mission will earn him enough bounty money to buy a live animal to replace his lone electric sheep to comfort his depressed wife Iran. Deckard visits the Rosen Association's headquarters in Seattle to confirm the accuracy of the latest empathy test meant to identify incognito androids. Deckard suspects the test may not be capable of distinguishing the latest Nexus-6 models from genuine human beings, and it appears to give a false positive on his host in Seattle, Rachael Rosen, meaning the police have potentially been executing human beings. The Rosen Association attempts to blackmail Deckard to get him to drop the case, but Deckard retests Rachael and determines that Rachael is, indeed, an android, which she ultimately admits.

Clans of the Alphane Moon - War between Earth and insectoid-dominated Alpha III ended over a decade ago. (According to the novel, "Alphane" refers to the nearest star to our own system, Alpha Centauri). Some years after the end of hostilities, Earth intends to secure its now independent colony in the Alphane system, Alpha III M2. As a former satellite-based global psychiatric institution for colonists on other Alphane system worlds unable to cope with the stresses of colonisation, the inhabitants of Alpha III M2 have lived peacefully for years. But, under the pretence of a medical mission, Earth intends to take their colony back.

Against this background, Chuck Rittersdorf and his wife Mary are separating. Although they think they are going their separate ways, they soon find themselves together again on Alpha III M2. Mary travels there through government work, Chuck sees it as a chance to kill Mary using his remote control simulacrum. Along the way he is guided by his Ganymedean slime mould neighbour Lord Running Clam and Mary finds herself manipulated by the Alphane sympathiser, comedian Bunny Hentman.

The Man in the High Castle - In 1962, 15 years after Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany have won World War II, Robert "Bob" Childan owns an Americana antique shop in San Francisco, California (located in the Japanese-occupied Pacific States of America), which is most commonly frequented by the Japanese, who make a fetish of romanticized American cultural artifacts. Childan is contacted by Nobusuke Tagomi, a high-ranking Japanese trade official, who is seeking a gift to impress a visiting Swedish industrialist named Baynes. Childan's store is stocked in part with counterfeit antiques from the Wyndam-Matson Corporation, a metalworking company. Frank Frink (formerly Fink), a secretly Jewish-American veteran of World War II, has just been fired from the Wyndam-Matson factory, when he agrees to join a former co-worker to begin a handcrafted jewellery business. Meanwhile, Frink's ex-wife, Juliana, works as a judo instructor in Canon City, Colorado (in the neutral buffer zone of Mountain States), where she begins a sexual relationship with an Italian truck driver and ex-soldier, Joe Cinnadella. Throughout the book, many of these characters frequently make important decisions using prophetic messages they interpret from the I Ching, a Chinese cultural import. Many characters are also reading a widely banned yet extremely popular new novel, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, which depicts an alternate history in which the Allies won World War II in 1945, a concept that amazes and intrigues its readers.

Frink reveals that the Wyndam-Matson Corporation has been supplying Childan with counterfeit antiques, which works to blackmail Wyndam-Matson for money to finance Frink's new jewelry venture. Tagomi and Baynes meet, but Baynes repeatedly delays any real business as they await an expected third party from Japan. Suddenly, the public receives news of the death of the Chancellor of Germany, Martin Bormann, after a short illness. Childan tentatively, on consignment, takes some of Frink's "authentic" new metalwork and attempts to curry favour with a Japanese client, who surprisingly considers Frink's jewelry immensely spiritually alive. Juliana and Joe take a road trip to Denver, Colorado and Joe impulsively decides they should go on a side-trip to meet the mysterious Hawthorne Abendsen, author of The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, who supposedly lives in a guarded fortress-like estate called the "High Castle" in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Soon, Joseph Goebbels is announced as the new German Chancellor.

Intermediate. (These are the books to pick up once you have the basics of what makes a PKD novel down. They’re obtuse enough to hit a little heavier, but don’t provide the full dose of surrealism Dick was capable of serving up. This is also good spot to jump in if you’ve experienced weird fiction before.)

Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - The novel is set in a dystopian version of 1988, following a Second Civil War which led to the collapse of the United States' democratic institutions. The National Guard ("nats") and US police force ("pols") reestablished social order through instituting a dictatorship, with a "Director" at the apex, and police marshals and generals as operational commanders in the field. Resistance to the regime is largely confined to university campuses, where radicalized former university students eke out a desperate existence in subterranean kibbutzim. Recreational drug use is widespread, and the age of consent has been lowered to twelve. The black population has almost been rendered extinct. Most commuting is undertaken by personal aircraft, allowing great distances to be covered in little time.

The novel begins with the protagonist, Jason Taverner, a singer, hosting his weekly TV show which has an audience of 30 million viewers. His special guest is his girlfriend Heather Hart, also a singer. Both Hart and Taverner are "Sixes", members of an elite class of genetically engineered humans. While leaving the studio, Taverner is telephoned by a former lover, who asks him to pay her a visit. When Taverner arrives at her apartment, the former lover attacks him by throwing a parasitic life-form at him. Although he manages to remove most of the life-form, parts of it are left inside him. After being rescued by Hart, he is taken to a medical facility.

Waking up the following day in a seedy hotel with no identification, Taverner becomes worried, as failure to produce identification at one of the numerous police checkpoints would lead to imprisonment in a forced labor camp. Through a succession of phone calls made from the hotel to colleagues and friends who now claim not to know him, Taverner establishes that he is no longer recognized by the outside world. He soon manages to bribe the hotel's clerk into taking him to Kathy Nelson, a forger of government documents. However, Kathy reveals that both she and the clerk are police informants, and that the lobby clerk has placed a microscopic tracking device on him. She promises not to turn Taverner over to the police on the condition that he spend the night with her. Although he attempts to escape, Kathy confronts him again after he has successfully passed a police checkpoint using the forged identity cards. Feeling in her debt, he accompanies Kathy to her apartment block, where Inspector McNulty, Kathy's police handler, is waiting. McNulty has located Taverner via the tracking device the hotel lobby clerk placed on him, and instructs Taverner to come with him to the 469th Precinct police station so that further biometric identity checks can be performed.

Time out of Joint - Ragle Gumm lives in the year 1959 in a quiet American suburb. His unusual profession consists of repeatedly winning the cash prize in a local newspaper contest called "Where Will The Little Green Man Be Next?". Gumm's 1959 has some differences from ours: the Tucker car is in production, AM/FM radios are scarce to non-existent, and Marilyn Monroe is a complete unknown. As the novel opens, strange things begin to happen to Gumm. A soft-drink stand disappears, replaced by a small slip of paper with the words "SOFT-DRINK STAND" printed on it in block letters. Intriguing little pieces of the real 1959 turn up: a magazine article on Marilyn Monroe, a telephone book with non-operational exchanges listed and radios hidden away in someone else's house. People with no apparent connection to Gumm, including military pilots using aircraft transceivers, refer to him by name. Few other characters notice these or experience similar anomalies; the sole exception is Gumm's supposed brother-in-law, Victor "Vic" Nielson, in whom he confides. A neighborhood woman, Mrs. Keitelbein, invites him to a civil defense class where he sees a model of a futuristic underground military factory. He has the unshakeable feeling he's been inside that building many times before.

Confusion gradually mounts for Gumm. His neighbor Bill Black knows far more about these events than he admits, and, observing this, begins worrying: "Suppose Ragle [Gumm] is becoming sane again?" In fact, Gumm does become sane, and the deception surrounding him (erected to protect and exploit him) begins to unravel

Ubik - By the year 1992, humanity has colonized the Moon and psychic powers are common. The protagonist, Joe Chip, is a debt-ridden technician working for Runciter Associates, a "prudence organization" employing "inertials"—people with the ability to negate the powers of telepaths and "precogs"—to enforce the privacy of clients. The company is run by Glen Runciter, assisted by his deceased wife Ella who is kept in a state of "half-life", a form of cryonic suspension that allows the deceased limited consciousness and ability to communicate. While consulting with Ella, Runciter discovers that her consciousness is being invaded by another half-lifer named Jory Miller

Difficult. (This section comes with a caveat: within these novels you will encounter numerous hallucinations, drug trips, an entire trilogy about gnostic spirituality and mental illness, and more than a little unabashed nightmare fuel. It’s normal to get tangled up in what goes on in these books. It’s also normal to be weirded out. But with proper grounding, you’ll make it though with your faculties intact. Probably.)

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch - The story begins in a future world where global temperatures have risen so high that in most of the world it is unsafe to be outside without special cooling gear during daylight hours. In a desperate bid to preserve humanity and ease population burdens on Earth, the UN has initiated a "draft" for colonizing the nearby planets, where conditions are so horrific and primitive that the unwilling colonists have fallen prey to a form of escapism involving the use of an illegal drug (Can-D) in concert with "layouts." Layouts are physical props intended to simulate a sort of alternative reality where life is easier than either the grim existence of the colonists in their marginal off-world colonies, or even Earth, where global warming has progressed to the point that Antarctica is prime vacation resort territory. The illegal drug Can-D allows people to "share" their experience of the "Perky Pat" (the name of the main female character in the simulated world) layouts. This "sharing" has caused a pseudo-religious cult or series of cults to grow up around the layouts and the use of the drug.

Up to the point where the novel begins, New York City-based Perky Pat (or P.P.) Layouts, Inc., has held a monopoly on this product, as well as on the illegal trade in the drug Can-D which makes the shared hallucinations possible.

The novel opens shortly after Barney Mayerson, P.P. Layouts' top precog, has received a "draft notice" from the UN for involuntary resettlement as a colonist on Mars. Mayerson is sleeping with his assistant, Roni Fugate, but remains conflicted about the divorce, which he himself initiated, from his first wife Emily, a ceramic pot artist. Meanwhile, Emily's second husband tries to sell her pot designs to P.P. Layouts as possible accessories for the Perky Pat virtual worlds—but Barney, recognizing them as Emily's, rejects them out of spite.

A Scanner Darkly - When performing his work as an undercover agent, Arctor goes by the name "Fred" and wears a "scramble suit" that conceals his identity from other officers. Then he is able to sit in a police facility and observe his housemates through "holo-scanners", audio-visual surveillance devices that are placed throughout the house. Arctor's use of the drug causes the two hemispheres of his brain to function independently or "compete". When Arctor sees himself in the videos saved by the scanners, he does not realize that it is him. Through a series of drug and psychological tests, Arctor's superiors at work discover that his addiction has made him incapable of performing his job as a narcotics agent. They do not know his identity because he wears the scramble suit, but when his police supervisor suggests to him that he might be Bob Arctor, he is confused and thinks it cannot be possible.

Donna takes Arctor to "New-Path", a rehabilitation clinic, just as Arctor begins to experience the symptoms of Substance D withdrawal. It is revealed that Donna has been a narcotics agent all along, working as part of a police operation to infiltrate New-Path and determine its funding source. Without his knowledge, Arctor has been selected to penetrate the organization. As part of the rehab program, Arctor is renamed "Bruce" and forced to participate in cruel group-dynamic games, intended to break the will of the patients

(If this one seems difficult to wrap your mind around, that's because its a fictionalized account of real events, and you may need to read about Philip's life at the time to understand the autobiographical nature of the book.)

The VALIS Trilogy

(Fictionalized account of religious experiences in PKD’s life.)

VALIS - In March, 1974, Horselover Fat (the alter-personality of Philip K. Dick) experiences visions of a pink beam of light that he calls Zebra and interprets as a theophany exposing hidden facts about the reality of our universe, and a group of others join him in researching these matters. One of their theories is that there is some kind of alien space probe in orbit around Earth, and that it is aiding them in their quest; it also aided the United States in disclosing the Watergate scandal and the resignation of Richard Nixon in August, 1974. Kevin turns his friends onto a film called Valis that contains obvious references to revelations identical to those that Horselover Fat has experienced, including what appears to be time dysfunction. The film is itself a fictional account of an alternative-universe version of Nixon ("Ferris F. Fremount") and his fall, engineered by a satellite called valis. (The plot of the fictitious film Valis was that of Dick's then-unpublished novel Radio Free Albemuth.) In seeking the film's makers, Kevin, Phil, Fat, and David—now calling themselves the Rhipidon Society—head to an estate owned by popular musician Eric Lampton and his wife Linda. They decide the goal that they have been led toward is Sophia Lampton, who is two-years old and the Messiah or incarnation of Holy Wisdom (Pistis Sophia) anticipated by some variants of Gnostic Christianity. In addition to healing Phil's schizophrenic personality split, she tells them that their conclusions about valis (which Fat had previously termed "Zebra") and reality are correct, and more importantly, that we should worship, not gods, but humanity. She dies two days later due to a laser accident caused by Brent Mini. Undeterred, Fat (who has now resurged) goes on a global search for the next incarnation of Sophia.

Dick also offers a rationalist explanation of his apparent theophany, acknowledging that it might have been visual and auditory hallucinations from either schizophrenia or drug addiction sequelae.

Characters:

Phil (Philip K. Dick): Narrator (first person), science fiction writer, author of Man in the High Castle, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and Three Stigmata.

Horselover Fat: Narrator (third person), a schizophrenic modality of Phil himself. (Philip in Greek means "fond of horses"; dick is German for "fat".)

Gloria Knudson: Suicidal friend of Fat's who Fat is unable to save.

Kevin: Cynical friend of Fat's whose cat died running across the street, based on K. W. Jeter.

Sherri Solvig: Church-going friend of Fat's, eventually dies from lymphatic cancer.

David: Catholic friend of Fat's, based on Tim Powers.

Eric Lampton: Rock star, screenwriter, actor, a. k. a. "Mother Goose"; a fictionalised version of David Bowie.

Linda Lampton: Actress, wife of Eric Lampton.

Brent Mini: Electronic composer, a fictionalised version of Brian Eno.

Sophia Lampton: Two-year-old child (personalised incarnation of Holy Wisdom within some variants of Gnosticism), said to be the daughter of Linda Lampton and valis and the "Fifth Savior".

The Divine Invasion - After a fatal car accident on Earth, Herb Asher is placed into cryonic suspension as he waits for a spleen replacement. Clinically dead, Herb experiences lucid dreams while in suspended animation and relives the last six years of his life.

In the past, Herb lived as a recluse in an isolated dome on a remote planet in the binary star system, CY30-CY30B. Yah, a local divinity of the planet in exile from Earth, appears to Herb in a vision as a burning flame, and forces him to contact his sick female neighbor, Rybys Rommey, who happens to be terminally ill with multiple sclerosis and pregnant with Yah's child.

With the help of the immortal soul of Elijah, who takes the form of a wild beggar named Elias Tate, Herb agrees to become Rybys's legal husband and father of the unborn "savior". Together they plan to smuggle the six-month pregnant Rybys back to Earth, under the pretext of seeking help for Rybys' medical condition at a medical research facility. After being born in human form, Yah plans to confront the fallen angel Belial, who has ruled the Earth for 2000 years since the fall of Masada in the first century CE. Yah's powers, however, are limited by Belial's dominion on Earth, and the four of them must take extra precautions to avoid being detected by the forces of darkness.

Things do not go as planned. "Big Noodle", Earth's A.I. system, warns the ecclesiastical authorities in the Christian-Islamic church and Scientific Legate about the divine "invasion" and countermeasures are prepared. A number of failed attempts are made to destroy the unborn child, all of them thwarted by Elijah and Yah. After successfully making the interstellar journey back to Earth and narrowly avoiding a forced abortion, Rybys and Herb escape in the nick of time, only to be involved in a fatal taxi crash, probably due to the machinations of Belial. Rybys dies from her injuries sustained in the crash, and her unborn son Emmanuel (Yah in human form) suffers brain damage from the trauma but survives. Herb is critically injured and put into cryonic suspension until a spleen replacement can be found. Baby Emmanuel is placed into a synthetic womb, but Elias Tate manages to sneak Emmanuel out of the hospital before the church is able to kill him.

Six years pass. In a school for special children, Emmanuel meets Zina, a girl who also seems to have similar skills and talents, but acts as a surrogate teacher to Emmanuel. For four years, Zina helps Emmanuel regain his memory (the brain damage caused amnesia) and discover his true identity as Yah, creator of the universe.

When he's ready, Zina shows Emmanuel her own parallel universe. In this peaceful world, organized religion has little influence, Rybys Rommey is still alive and married to Herb Asher, and Belial is only a goat kid living in a petting zoo.

In an act of kindness, Zina and Emmanuel liberate the goat-creature from his cage, momentarily forgetting that the animal is Belial. The goat-creature finds Herb Asher and attempts to retain control of the world by possessing him and convincing him that Yahweh's creation is an ugly thing that should be shown for what it really is. Eventually Herb is saved by Linda Fox, a young singer whom he loves and who is his own personal Savior; she and the goat-creature meet and she kills it, defeating Belial. He finally discovers that this meeting happens over again for everyone in the world, and whether they choose Belial or their Savior decides if they find salvation.

Characters:

Herb Asher: audio engineer

Rybys Rommey: mother of Emmanuel, sick with MS

Yah: Yahweh

Elias Tate: Incarnation of Elijah

Emmanuel (Manny): Yah incarnated in human form

Zina Pallas: Shekhinah

Linda Fox: singer, songwriter, Yetzer Hatov

Belial: Yetzer Hara

Fulton Statler Harms: Chief prelate of the Christian-Islamic Church (C.I.C), Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church

Nicholas Bulkowsky: Communist Party Chairman, Procurator maximus of the Scientific Legate

VALIS: agent of Yahweh, disinhibiting stimulus

The Transmigration of Timothy Archer - Set in the late 1960s and 1970s, the story describes the efforts of Episcopal Bishop Timothy Archer, who must cope with the theological and philosophical implications of the newly discovered Gnostic Zadokite scroll fragments. The character of Bishop Archer is loosely based on the controversial, iconoclastic Episcopal Bishop James Pike, who in 1969 died of exposure while exploring the Judean Desert near the Dead Sea in the West Bank.

As the novel opens, it is 1980. On the day that John Lennon is shot and killed, Angel Archer visits the houseboat of Edgar Barefoot, (a guru based on Alan Watts), and reflects on the lives of her deceased relatives. During the sixties, she was married to Jeff Archer, son of the Episcopal Bishop of California Timothy Archer. She introduced Kirsten Lundborg, a friend, to her father-in law, and the two began an affair. Kirsten has a son, Bill, from a previous relationship, who has schizophrenia, although he is knowledgeable as an automobile mechanic. Tim is already being investigated for his allegedly heretical views about the Holy Ghost.

Jeff commits suicide due to his romantic obsession with Kirsten. However, after poltergeist activity, he manifests to Tim and Kirsten at a seance, also attended by Angel. Angel is skeptical about the efficacy of astrology, and believes that the unfolding existential situation of Tim and Kirsten is akin to Friedrich Schiller's German Romanticism era masterpiece, the Wallenstein trilogy (insofar as their credulity reflects the loss of rational belief in contemporary consensual reality).

The three are told that Kirsten and Tim will die. As predicted, Kirsten loses her remission from cancer, and also commits suicide after a barbiturate overdose. Tim travels to Israel to investigate whether or not a psychotropic mushroom was associated with the resurrection, but his car stalls, he becomes disoriented, falls from a cliff, and dies in the desert.

On the houseboat, Angel is reunited with Bill, Kirsten's son who has schizophrenia. He claims to have Tim's reincarnated spirit within him, but is soon institutionalized. Angel agrees to care for Bill, in return for a rare record (Koto Music by Kimio Eto) that Edgar offers her.

The Transmigration of Timothy Archer is one of Dick's most overtly philosophical and intellectual works. While Dick's novels usually employ multiple narrators or an omniscient perspective, this story is told in the first person by a single narrator: Angel Archer, Bishop Archer's daughter-in-law.

Characters:

Angel Archer: Narrator, manager of a Berkeley record store, widow of Jeff Archer.

Timothy Archer: Bishop of California; father of the late Jeff Archer and father-in-law of Angel. Dies in Israel, searching for psychotropic mushroom connected with Zadokite sect. Based on James Albert Pike, Dick's personal friend, who was an American Episcopalian bishop.

Kirsten Lundborg: Timothy Archer's secretary and lover. Dies from barbiturate overdose after loss of remission from cancer.

Bill Lundborg: Kirsten's son who has schizophrenia, and who is obsessed with cars.

Edgar Barefoot: Houseboat guru, radio personality, lecturer. Based on Alan Watts.

Jeff Archer: Son of Timothy Archer, and deceased husband of Angel. A professional student who was romantically obsessed with Kirsten.

Thank you, if you read all of this. it took me six hours today to write this all

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fonulyn · 3 years

Note

Honestly, when it comes to fan discourse over Leon’s role in RE, I blame 50% of it on the trend of haring popular things, and 50% of it on Capcom’s truly abysmal writing. That company can’t write a consistent characterization even if it hit em in the head.

I agree that 50% of it is the trend of hating everything popular, but I genuinely don't think the writing is as bad that it deserves the other 50%. there are bad moments and incredibly lazy solutions they've taken, and the plots aren't exactly constructed brilliantly in a way that'd blow everyone away.

but even with the sometimes shoddy writing I don't think consistent characterization is their issue. like if I think of Leon (because I've played/seen all the games/movies he's in so he's the easiest example), he's consistently himself in every other installation except for Degeneration where he's basically a cardboard cutout that does some cool parkour :'D even in Degeneration there are some of the basic building blocks of his character, like, he encourages Claire, he throws himself in danger for just about anyone, and he tries to save whoever he can. but sadly they just didn't give him any actual facial expressions and flattened his character incredibly much.

every other installation of the series he's in? he's very much consistently himself. of course there are some changes but he also has aged like 20 years during the events so it makes perfect sense, no one is exactly the same person in their late 30s as they are in their early 20s. he gets more tired, he gets more Done™, but he somehow always finds just one more fuck to give and it's very much consistent thoroughly.

besides Leon in Degeneration, the only other example I can think of when they've been inconsistent with the characterization is Claire in ID, because in my opinion she does not act like herself a lot of the time in it. but other than those two? from what I've seen it's not actually the characterization that's the issue. (bear in mind though that I haven't played/seen RE0, CVX, RE7 and RE8, so I don't know all of the games and there might be something I'm missing)

personally, i think that the bigger issue is them not knowing how to write actual human relationships. most of the instances where the characters act oddly are moments when they're interacting with someone else, first of all. and they have absolutely no consistency when it comes to relationships, no matter if it's a friendly, familial or antagonistic one. like...

let's take Chris. he spends literally years obsessing over finding Jill (understandably so) but then after he's found her there's never even one mention of her again? as if she wasn't one of the most important people in his life for so long?? or Piers? Chris obviously is more than distraught over his fate but then after the credits roll in RE6 there's not even one single mention in a subordinate clause or anything. it's as if those people stop existing to Chris. (and please note that I'm not trying to bash Chris here, but the writing that does this.) Chris is still fairly consistently himself (I have heard things about RE8 but I haven't played it so I don't actually know for sure how he is there) but somehow everyone who ever was important to him vanishes and ...yeah, that is some epically shitty writing right there. and I don't mean they'd need to keep talking about those characters nonstop forever but like even one mention somewhere would be good seeing how much they have affected Chris and his life.

another thing that drives me absolutely bonkers is how they just act as if the characters stop existing the second they aren't on screen, anyway. like there are years and years in between when we have no idea what the hell was going on with the characters. okay that could be because they want to fill in the gaps later but I would not hold my breath. and the lack of backstories?? it's just. c'mon. we don't need a day-by-day description of their early childhoods but getting some definite lore there would be amazing.

but as for the inconsistency, I don't think it's all because of bad writing. I think it's very deliberate a lot of the time. they have a long history of wanting to keep things vague, and I think it shows. they probably want to keep playing in the universe as freely as possible and if they give too much definite information then it ties their hands and they want to avoid that. I don't think it has ever been even the intention to develop super well-rounded and fully fleshed out character stories. it doesn't seem like a priority to them and the fandom is probably putting too much emphasis on it.

and I get it. I want those things too. badly. but I also get why they wouldn't bother giving it to us because, well, it's a lot of effort they don't actually need to be making so why bother. so like. if you go to McDonald's you don't expect to get a five star filet mignon. so if you play/watch RE? you shouldn't expect to get the most mindblowingly thought out plots and character arcs that have every single detail ironed out. it's just not gonna happen and you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

there's a lot a lot a lot to love about their characters, but I think that we should also be realistic in what is ever in the cards for us to get. they're clearly not interested in the kind of depth a part of the fandom wants, and we're a small niche, most people are glad to just get their fun zombie shooting.

so like. my take? 50% the trend of hating on popular things, 10% bad writing, 20% wrong kind of expectations, and 20% fandom willfully either ignoring or misinterpreting things because they want everything to be clear-cut black and white and refuse to acknowledge nuance and the grey area in between. so... obviously just my two cents :'D but that's what I think.

#long post #re answers #anonymous #ask and i shall answer

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det-loki · 3 years

Text

poison & wine part five

Oh, you let your feet run wild Time has come as we all oh, go down

warnings: angst, mention of harm to a dog, cussing, kidnap/drug/alcoholism mention

pairing: detective loki x fem reader

word count: 3,554

A/N: feedback is welcomed! let me know what you think and if you want more!

1 2 3 4 ⌽ 6

You stared blankly at the ground in Captain O’Malley’s office as Loki was talking to him angrily.

David was pissed.

Arriving at the station this morning, you found out Alex had been missing after calling Holly about a dog that had been hit after Alex took it for a walk and never came back. You leaned against the wall lazily, observing the conversation between David and O’Malley.

The dog collar had been thrown onto the captain's desk, Loki gesturing to it, “Holly Jones’ dog got hit on Southward Street. Apparently, Alex Jones took the dog for a walk the night before last, they never came home. And his aunt didn’t want to tell us about the dog when we called her about it this morning. She said she thought it would get him into trouble or some shit. I thought you said you would keep him under surveillance.”

O’Malley picked the collar up, “Yeah, and I thought you said the guy was innocent. And I thought the guy from last night you said was our guy. Look, I don’t have money in the budget for watching innocent people.”

Loki pointed at him, “You said to me that you’d put him under surveillance.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“You gonna keep your word? You could have just given me or Y/N a call because we would have been there all night, I would have stayed up all night. I would know where he was now. I need to know where everybody is.” Loki was at his wit’s end, no one was listening to anything he or you said.

O’Malley looked defeated, “All right, point made. All right? Point made.”

Loki’s voice was harsh, “If you can be clear with me, then I’ll be clear with you. I need to know where everybody is. If you’re going to do something different, please tell me.”

Loki walked out of the room, O’Malley turning to you with his eyebrows raised, “You have anything you wanna yell at me about too?”

You shrugged, irritated, “He’s not wrong, captain. All you had to do was give either of us a call and we wouldn’t be in this situation. That’s all you had to do.”

O’Malley threw up his arms, “Look, I get it all right? I fucked up. But it’s day five, your window is closing. You need to start preparing yourselves for the worst,”

Your body filled with rage, your fuse was blown, “Captain, you don’t ever speak to me like that again, you hear me? You can be upset with me all you want, but you ever call my ability to my job into question again, I will make your life hell. Day five means nothing. You have no idea what David and I are going through with this case, okay? Go fuck yourself.” You walked out of the room before he could respond, you needed to find David to make sure he hadn’t punched a hole in the wall.

You found David in the interrogation viewing room as he wound, rewound, and wound the tapes of Alex’s interrogation over and over, obsessively looking for something he may have missed. You walked deeper into the room without a word and sat next to him as he pressed play on the video. Ripping at the seams, crumbling.

A secretary you didn’t really know the name of came into the room, interrupting Loki’s obsessive behavior, “Loki, you got a call.” Loki rolled his eyes and huffed, hand coming up to his face to clutch his eyes before he stood rigidly, the silhouette of his body creating harsh lines filled with tension.

You remained in the viewing room as Loki went to take the call as you read over the notes he had scrawled on the yellow notebook paper.

RV?

Kidnapped with help?

Drugged…like her? M-

You stopped reading after that.

Loki came back into the room, pulling you out of your thoughts before they got too deep and pulled you under, “Hey, we gotta go.”

You stood in the local Value Mall, speaking to a young female employee, Jill, who had called about the man who fled from Loki last night.

“I called as soon as I saw the sketch on TV. He comes in here every week almost and buys kids’ clothes, but he’s always buying stuff in different sizes. Caught him messing around with the mannequins once.” Gross.

“What did he pay with?” You were silently hoping she said card, finally giving you something to work with.

“Cash.” Behind you, you could hear Loki mutter ‘fuck.’

You pull your business card out of your pocket with your name and number on it and hand it to the girl, “All right, you give me a call if you hear anything.” You turn to Loki who was still rifling through clothing racks, lost in thought, snapping your fingers, “Loki, card.” He turned around and handed the girl his card as well, now she had both your numbers.

You walked out of the store and looked up at the gray sky, taking a moment to yourself and to take in your surroundings. Loki stopped a few feet in front of you, looking back at you with a quizzical look. You didn’t say anything, only bringing your hand above your head and crossing them, taking a deep breath. You dropped your arms and continued walking towards the car while David remained standing confused in the same spot. Even in times like this, he admired your ability to stop and take notice of the world around you. Even a gray sky meant something to you.

The rest of the day was spent staring at a computer screen, researching anything you could get your hands on about Barry Milland. It was basically a dead end. Your cell phone buzzed in your pocket, grabbing it to see Dover’s called ID. It was 2 A.M.

“Hello?”

Ralph Dover, son of Keller and Grace was on the other end, “Hi, uh, my mom is kind of freaking out right now. She’s saying someone broke in, she thinks it’s Anna but no one is here.” He sounded nervous and tired. Poor kid.

“Okay, Ralph, we’ll be right there.”

Grace Dover was a wreck. You stood across from her, listening to her recount what she claimed happened.

“And she wasn’t here. And I...I came in here and the window was open. And- and it wasn’t open before, And the...and then Ralph, he- he came in. And he looked and- and uhm- .” Loki walked to the closed window, brushing the sheer curtain back to look as Ralph floated nervously in the hallway. Your eyes remained Grace, her eyes bloodshot and heavy as she watched Loki. “-And then I don’t know. Aren’t you gonna write this down?” Loki looked past her at you as he took out his notebook from his inner breast coat pocket to appease her.

Grace let out an exhale, “The basement. I didn’t check the basement. We need to check the basement. I’ll show you. I’ll show you.” Loki looked towards the bedside table covered in prescription medication for Grace’s anxiety since the abduction. He had experienced the same thing with you, a prescription being the only thing to get you to sleep months after the accident. He knew Grace wasn’t in the right mind, but he went along with it anyway. She walked out of the room frantically, brushing past an obviously distraught Ralph. Loki followed her out as you caught his elbow, “I’m going to stay up here with Ralph.” Loki nodded as he continued to follow Grace.

“Hey, Ralph. Is it okay if I talk with you for a second?’

Ralph shrugged, “I guess.”

“Has your mom been sleeping much lately? At least that you know of?”

He shrugged again, eyebrows furrowing, “I mean, not really. When she does it’s because dad makes her take the medicine the doctor gave her. When she isn’t sleeping, she’s crying.”

You nodded along, “And you? Are you doing okay?”

“Not really.” He stopped talking when he saw his mother reappear in the hallway, Loki behind her. The look on David’s face concerned you.

David slammed the driver’s door shut as he got in the car. He breathed heavily as he slid a hand over his face in frustration, “Grace said Keller was out with the search party, but you and I both know he’s not. And now Alex is missing. There's half a bag of lye in Keller's basement along with shelves of doomsday shit, something is up.”

“You think Keller had something to do with it, don’t you?” You wouldn’t be surprised, very few things shocked you anymore.

Loki didn’t say anything, only turning the keys in the ignition and driving home in silence.

It was raining as you sat in the Crown Vic alongside Loki. You watched the water droplets fall down the window, collecting at the bottom. Stupid fucking rain.

Today you were trailing Keller Dover to see where he went when he claimed he was searching for his daughter when he wasn’t. You watched with tired eyes as Keller pulled out of his driveway while Loki turned the car on and followed.

Loki pulled up to a light, Keller had pulled into a liquor store across town on the corner of Wallace and Campello Street. Except when Keller got out of his truck, he didn’t walk into the store, he walked towards an old building across from the liquor store. What are you doing?

Behind you, a trash truck pulled up and laid on it’s horn signaling the light was green. Loki didn’t move, his eyes were still on Keller who had now turned around at the sound of the horn. Loki was agitated, telling the truck to go around so as to not blow your cover. Keller turned around and started walking towards you and into the liquor store. Loki pulled into a vacant lot across from the liquor store, “Fuck.”

Loki turned off the car and rubbed his hands together to create some sort of warmth, still refusing gloves as he reached on the dash to grab his coffee beans, popping a few in his mouth. At least some things never changed. The rain continued to pour down outside, each drop hitting the window added to the memory of the night of your little girl’s death. It had stormed that night, worse than anyone had seen in Pennsylvania in a long time. Your hatred of rain was deeply rooted.

“Come on, Mr. Dover.” You heard Loki mutter to himself as you brought your legs underneath you in the seat. Might as well get comfortable while you waited. You look out of the rain covered windshield to see Keller approaching quickly with his hood up, popping open the liquor bottle he had in a brown paper bag and taking a long swig.

He stood at Loki's window that had been rolled down, leaning at the waist as he spoke, “Why are you following me?”

“Get in the car.” Loki demanded; Keller opening the rear passenger side door and sitting down, you and David turning to look at him. He looked even more tired than when you saw him last. His eyes were different though, changing from a scared father to a godless and angry man.

Keller asked the question again, “Why are you following me?”

Loki looks him over before speaking, “Where were you going just now?”

Keller took a deep breath, “I parked at a liquor store.” He held up his bottle of liquor he had taken a drink from previously, “-I have a bottle of liquor. You’re the shit-hot detective. Work it out.” He took another drink from the bottle, the stench of whiskey filling the car. You wanted to puke, it reminded you too much of your drunk of a so called father.

“I actually meant before that. You were walking in the opposite direction across the parking lot. Towards Campello Street.”

Keller took another drink before answering Loki, “Yeah, well...I haven’t had a drink in nine-and-a-half years. I figured if I walked around the parking lot for a while, by the time they opened, I’d stop wanting it that bad. And then-then I saw you two. Sorta helped me make up my mind.” He seemed to have an explanation for everything.

There was a long pause before David broke the uncomfortable silence, “There’s a bag of lye in your basement that’s half empty. Your wife thinks you’ve been helpin’ us...but we all know that’s not true.” Loki turned to look at Keller who was staring at him.

“I used the lye to bury our dog last year. And ‘helping the cops’ sounds better than ‘I’ve been driving aimlessly in my truck ‘cause I don’t know what else to do.’” He really did have an explanation for everything.

Loki questioned him, “Is that what you were doing last Saturday night?”

“Probably. Am I a suspect?”

Loki’s voice went up as he spoke, “No, I’m only asking- I’m only asking ‘cause you assaulted a man who’s now missing.”

Keller looked away briefly, his eyes moving to the yellowing bruise on your jaw before turning back to David, “I heard about that. What happened to him? I thought you had him under surveillance.”

“I’m gonna assume you’re asking me because you have no idea.”

Keller shook his head, “Well, I didn’t think it was something I could get away with.”

Loki deadpanned, “It’s not.”

“Yeah, well. It couldn’t be that he skipped town ‘cause the asshole is guilty. Couldn’t be that, right? ‘Cause that would mean it would be your fault, right?”

“Mr. Dover?” Loki looked at Keller with an intense gaze as Keller’s defense began to crumble in front of you.

“What?” Keller snapped.

“You need to take care of yourself and your wife. That’s the best thing you can do right now. That little girl is gonna need you when she comes home.”

Keller took in a shaky inhale, “Kids gone longer than a week have half as good a chance of being found, and after a month, almost none are. Not alive. All right? So forgive me for doing everything I can-”

Keller struck a nerve in Loki, his finger now in his face, yelling, “You know what? It hasn’t been a fucking week!”

The energy shifted in the car quickly as Keller lunged furiously over the center console, yelling, “You’re right. It’s day fucking six! Day six!” His voice broke as he continued to yell, David blinking harshly beside you, “-And every day she’s wondering why I’m not there to fucking rescue her!” David attempted to calm Keller down as he furiously pointed to himself, “All right. Do you understand that? Me! Not you! Not you! But me! Every day! So forgive me for not going home to have a good night’s rest!” Keller pounded on the center console with his fist, shaking yours and Loki’s seats, “Now, why don’t you look for my fucking daughter rather than fighting-”

Loki interrupted him as Keller began to get emotional, tears welling up in his eyes. Your back was pressed against the dashboard as to put as much space between you and Keller as you could as he spoke, “Don’t follow me.”

Loki held his hand in the air in a calming gesture, “Hey. Hey. Mr. Dover, Mr. Dover.” A long pause occurred before Keller reached for the door handle, stopping as Loki called after him, “You don’t think we’re gonna let you get behind the wheel after you’ve been drinking do you?”

“I’m gonna walk. You look for my daughter.” You sighed in relief as Keller left the car, sinking back into your seat as Loki huffed beside you, eyes blinking harshly as he watched Keller walk away in the rain. Loki ran his hand over his face and jaw, lost in thought as he watched the rain fall.

You crawled into bed alone that night. Loki stayed at the station, reading reports, telling you to go home and sleep. You couldn’t sleep however, for it was still raining outside and you never slept well without David. The sound of the rain outside made you furious, slapping a pillow over your head and squeezing your eyes shut. Somehow, sleep found you, pulling you under by your ankles.

You trudged into the station the next day to find Loki still at his desk where you left him, intently reading his computer screen. When he saw you he motioned for you to come over. He read you whatever he had been so enthralled in, “I looked into the old apartment building Keller was walking towards yesterday, it used to be his father’s. He committed suicide there, Keller and his mother found his body. I think it’s worth checking out.”

The car ride over was quick, Loki driving faster than necessary, he was obviously eager to have a lead in the case that had so far been working against you. You took notice of Keller’s truck in the liquor store parking lot as Loki parked the car. You stepped out of the car, your black boot landing on the slushy ground as the car dinged as Loki got out. The building was old, windows boarded up and looking to be on the brink of collapsing.

Loki inspected the boarded window for a way in, settling on ripping off the plywood. It fell on the ground at your feet as you whipped out your flashlight and looked inside the building. Loki climbed in first and turned for you to join him. You weren’t really up for climbing today but did it anyways, jumping down from the window as Loki’s hand found your hip, steadying you.

You turned around with your flashlight, taking in your surroundings. It was falling apart. Dirty and musty, obviously not being taken care of very well. You and Loki walked through the doorway into another room looking the same as the last except this time you found Keller Dover lying on the ground surrounded by empty whiskey bottles.

Loki tapped him with his foot as he jerked away, squinting up at him through the fluorescence of the flashlight as he spoke, “Hey, rise and shine.”

Loki walked deeper into the room. “I’m not gonna find two girls here, am I?”

You stood in front of Keller who was still laying on the ground, taking in Loki’s words, “Fuck you.”

You looked down at Keller as he moved to sit up, “What about Alex Jones?” You obviously weren't expecting an honest answer, but was curious to see what he would say.

Keller looked at the ground, avoiding your questioning gaze, “What about him? I came here to drink. I don’t want to drink in front of my wife.”

Moving away from Keller you looked around the room as he spoke, “Look, my father left me this building, all right?”

Loki spoke across the room, looking at something you couldn’t see, “You mind giving us a tour?”

Keller stood and put on his coat, glaring at Loki as he walked by with you trailing up the staircase you had come to.

Loki spoke in front of you to Keller, “Why didn’t you tell us about this place?”

Keller huffed, “I didn’t think it mattered.”

“Everything matters.”

The three of you walked into another room filled with old materials and tools, “It’s all pretty much like this.” You couldn’t help but feel like Keller was hiding something, wanting you and David to leave as soon as possible.

“I’m gonna renovate soon.”

Loki nodded in agreement, “Yeah, not as organized as your basement, huh? What’s up with all the survivor gear in there?”

“Pray for the best, prepare for the worst.” Keller’s statement caused O’Malley’s words to hit you in the face, ‘you need to start preparing for the worst.’

Loki spoke ahead of you, “Guess we agree there, yeah?”

Keller led you through door after door, each room looking exactly the same as the last. Loki was getting impatient, as were you. You felt like you were being led through a maze.

As you walked through another door, just like the same, you noticed Keller pause. Loki was across the room with his back turned, missing Keller’s sudden odd behavior. He stood in front of a hallway you hadn’t been down yet, acting as if he were guardian something. He followed Loki’s every move with skeptical eyes, completely missing your own skeptical gaze on him. He was hiding something.

As Loki walked further away, his phone rang in his pocket. He picked it up, speaking to whoever was on the other line. As Loki walked further down the hallway, you could see the color drain from Mr. Dover’s face. What was down there?

Loki reappeared from the hallway running, nodding for you to follow with his notebook in hand. Obviously he had something for the case, you ran out after him, yelling at Keller to go home. You prayed it was something to help those two girls get home. You couldn’t handle anymore let down, your luck was running out fast.

Yet you had no idea what was to come, oblivious to the fact that your world would shatter around you and David soon.

taglist: @lexie-wayland @whew-oh-em-gee @winterlavenderskysworld @buck-this-nasty @heeyirenee @pinkpunkdynamite @eleventhdoctorsangel @multiyfandomgirl40 @thanossexual @speedybonkuniversityzine

#detective loki #detective loki imagine #detective loki x reader #detective loki fanfic #detective loki fanfiction #jake gyllenhaal #jake gyllenhaal imagine #prisoners #prisoners 2013 #jake gyllenhaal x reader #jake gyllenhaal fanfic #hugh jackman #fanfiction #detective #david loki #keller dover #poison and wine

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lunarastrobabe · 4 years

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Jill Valentine x F!Reader: Winter Love

(Fluff, no warnings)

October 12, 1998

Just eleven days after the Raccoon City incident, you were living in New York, you had already escaped the city’s meltdown on September 28th, when everything went into entire chaos. You were a S.T.A.R.S. Member, along with your fellow colleagues, Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield, Albert Wesker, Rebecca Chambers and Brad Vickers, they were the only people you ever got close to in the work force. You were the female rookie at the start, the others were very high trained people, this did scare you and it did intimidate you at first, but once you got to know them, you felt like you were safe and at home. You were very close with Chris, he was like the brother you never had, you told him everything, including this secret that you had kept inside. You were in love with Jill, you had been ever since you first met her, the way her hair would curl at the side of her cheeks to the bottom of her chin, the way her lips would curl into a smile that would bright up your darkest days. The way she was so motivated and so independent towards her work and her home life. Chris had your full support with the secret and your feelings towards Jill. He wished you happiness and it was the best reaction you could have hoped for.

She was your best friend, you hadn’t heard from her since she was fired from S.T.A.R.S.. You called and called and called and she never answered, you were terrified she was killed or even worse .. turned into one of those flesh-eating monsters. You waited by the phone anxiously, waiting for her to call and say she was alright.

Few days later

It was already snowing and still, no sign of Jill, you were cooking breakfast in the kitchen and feeding your brown tabby cat who was walking in between each of your legs meowing for food.

“Alright mister, I’m coming.” You laughed and set the food bowl down in front of him. As you stood up to clean the mess that engulfed the kitchen, the doorbell rang. You brushed off some flour from your hands and walked to the front door. Opening you found Jill stood there. You had never seen her so down before. Her clothing was torn and she had some scratches and bruises on her back, arms and legs, luckily they were nothing serious. She hadn’t showered in a while and seeing her stood there with a broken look on her face shattered your heart.

“Oh my god, Jill!” You pulled her in for a hug not caring what monster smells was wafting around. “What happened? Thank god you’re okay! I was so worried.” She didn’t move or make a single sound. Her eyes just looked straight ahead at the living space in front of her. The black marble kitchen counter was covered in flour, dirty dishes and some left over food from the night before. It looked like a flour bomb went off.

“Jill?” You asked as you pulled back from the hug prying your arms away from her waist. Her blue-grey eyes had so much wisdom but so much pain in them. On the outside she was this badass, independent, kick-ass woman you had ever met. She trained hard to get to where she was now, working with S.T.A.R.S. yet, the incidence that took over the city, the city you both grew up in had changed your lives forever without much realisation of what the future might be like.

She coughed lightly, covering her mouth with her gloved hand which was also scratched up. “(Y/N.)” Her voice cracked a little at the word she spoke through her hoarse throat. She was shivering from the snow as it fell harder and harder by the minute. You took her hand ever so gently and took her inside, closing the door behind her. You took your blue large knitted blanket from the love seat that sat near the door and wrapped it around her.

“Jill, rest, I’ll get the shower ready for you. Then we can talk.” You put your warm hand to her stone cold cheek, brushing the dried blood from underneath her eye with your thumb. It made her wince a little at your touch. You turned away and walked upstairs to the bathroom. She slowly sat herself down in the thick comfy chair, as the fireplace crackled and popped from the flames. Jill looked around, at the photo frames that were placed across the top of the fireplace, mostly of you and your friends with S.T.A.R.S. including some of you and your family. It made her smile thinking back to the time before the incidence, when everybody was happy and things were going great. She shook it out of her mind, so many thoughts, memories (the good and the bad) tumbling around in her mind like a wave of intense fog. She slid the blanket off of her shoulders and slowly got up and walked upstairs, every step she made caused creaks to emerge from the staircase, picture frames hung up on the wall of you and your family from memories now long gone. Flashbacks haunted her mind. She squinted at the thoughts coming back. The memories of Nemesis, of the Beta’s and the Gamma’s she had to witness. She tried so hard to forget but it was too much to bare.

You walked out of the bathroom and saw Jill coming to the door. “Hey, it’s um, it’s ready for you.” You twiddled your thumbs and gave a small smile. She gave a smile in return, and it warmed your heart.

“Thank you.” She spoke with a soft tone. She grabbed the pink towel off the rack and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

You let out a sigh and scratched the back of your neck. You wanted to make her feel at home and help cheer her up, she was clearly distraught and was in need of absolute care and comfort. Considering it was snowing outside that morning, you had the perfect day planned.

You took out your puffy winter jacket, it was black soft fabric with fur around the hood, you had matching black combat boots to go with it and some gloves, also setting down some spare clothes for Jill to wear. Your cat jumped on the arm of the love seat and meowed.

“I won’t be long, mister.” You let out a giggle and kissed the top of his head and turned to see Jill waiting for you near the coat rack.

“Thanks for the spare clothes, but, where are we going?” She asked, zipping up her brown parka coat and straightening her red tartan scarf. She ran her fingers through her, shiny soft brown hair and it made your heart flutter. So much natural beauty this woman had wasn’t the only thing that made you fall deeply in love with her, it was how she was always by your side through the hard times and the easy times, and her personality was the most important thing.

“We, are going to spend the day together, “ You smiled grabbing your brown leather bag slinging it over your shoulder. She adverted her gaze away from you to grab the brass doorknob. You took her warm hand into yours, goosebumps covering your skin at the touch, your fingers slowly entwining with hers. She didn’t resist, she tightened the grip and looked up to you. You both headed out the front door and feeling the fresh snow crunch underneath your feet, leaving boot prints along the way.

During the day, you both had a snowball fight, drank some hot coffee from a small little cute cafe not far from your home, it was New York so it was covered in bakery places and cafe’s. She started to relax a little, slowly finding a way to explain to you everything that she saw, everything she fought and people she lost during her ordeal. You felt closer to her, each word she spoke and each sentence she described, you wanted to protect her, protect her from all the harm that would come her way.

Later on, sitting on a bench in Central Park, you talked about your memories together being in S.T.A.R.S. and reminiscing over the good times.

“You know (Y/N), I never thought I would’ve survived what happened in R.C, I never thought in our lifetime, something like that could happen to us. And when it did, I had to fight to survive, fight to get back to you.” She let out a nervous chuckle, cold air could be seen escaping her lips. She turned her face to look at you, moving her body closer to yours.

You were surprised at what she said, you never imagined that her thoughts and mine would focus on you. “I’m so glad you are safe.” Even with the freezing cold temperature, the heat from the moment you two were having made you forget about the snow and the weather.

Your hand made its way to her rosy blushed cheeks, and pulled her in close. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t nervous as fuck about what was going to happen, the fluttering in your heart and your stomach and the fast pace of your heart made the moment even sweeter than it had to be.

Your soft cold lips made a connection with hers, her kiss was tender and sweet, moving in perfect sync with yours. This was the best feeling you had ever felt in such a long time.

You pulled back to get some air and you looked into her eyes, you could see the happiness in hers staring right back at you.

“Maybe this is the right time to say, I love you. I always have, I always will.” You blurted out, but you didn’t care, you needed to tell her.

“I love you too.” She immediately pulled you in for another kiss, circling her arm around your waist and pulling you close to her body to keep the warmth in.

The snow was falling all around you and despite the circumstances before-hand, you couldn’t have asked for a more perfect moment.

#jill valentine #resident evil #jill valentine x reader #fluff

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hamliet · 4 years

Text

Time to G(r)o(w)

So since I recently finished season 2 of The Umbrella Academy, let’s talk ships. Every sibling except for Five had some semblance of a love story this season, however it ended for the characters, that was instrumental in their development from children (last season) to adolescence (this season). All the relationships can be said to foil each other in certain ways, but in particular they seemed to be paired in how they ended:

Dave/Klaus and Jill/Ben, which end in disappointment;

Ray/Allison and Sissy/Vanya, which end bittersweet; and

Allison/Luther and Lila/Diego, which don’t end so much as they leave open the door to possibilities.

I. Dave and Klaus + Jill and Ben

On a surface level, both of these ships are linked and doomed by death and an illusion of who one person is.

It’s not so much that the person is “wrong” for any of these characters so much as it is that their perception of each other dooms these relationships. Klaus is fixated on a version of Dave he met in Vietnam, not on whom Dave is now. Even when Dave tries to connect with Klaus, going out of his way to apologize to Klaus for punching him and clearly seeing something attractive in him, Klaus ruins it by terrifying the kid because he can’t see Dave beyond Dave’s death. It’s reminiscent of Klaus’s flaws in being unable to let anything and anyone go, but he isn’t holding onto Dave so much as he’s holding on to losing Dave. Thus he’s unable to form a genuine connection with Dave in this timeline, though perhaps Dave will survive (who knows?), Klaus leaves this timeline under the impression that he’s unable to save Dave.

Similarly, Jill and Ben never get anywhere because Ben is, well, literally dead, but also because Jill has an incorrect idea of whom Ben is: she thinks he’s Klaus. But Ben truly wants to be known as Ben, insisting on telling her that he’s actually Ben, a ghost possessing Klaus, and that he’s a virgin. However, Jill doesn’t understand, because she just sees the ideal of Klaus as her cult leader. She’s eager to sleep with him, but it’s not Ben she wants to connect with. Ben, ironically, crushes on Jill because of the way she acts and the little behaviors she engages in—the real her, perhaps, but she can’t see the dead in the living. Ben can’t resurrect her from the cult, and she can’t resurrect him.

In the end, both Klaus and Ben need to stop focusing on the people they cannot save and focus on the ones they can. Only by letting go can they truly move forward. This is a motif in their relationship, which the show directly addresses.

There’s an extent to which both Dave and Jill represent childlike versions of themselves, and how both Klaus and Ben go about addressing their love interest is childish: Klaus comes on too strong and freaks Dave out, and Ben pines for Jill despite never talking to her until they’re about to leave, because then whatever happens, he won’t have to think about the consequences of it. Jill in particular is a symbol for Ben’s desire to stay on earth, to live, to be unable to consider after (mirroring of course his inability to move on after death), while Klaus is too focused on after and not so much on meeting people in the present, allowing people to get to know him in the present. He doesn’t even want to get to know himself, as seen by him dulling his pain through drinking and drugs.

However, by the end of the season, both have made important progress: Klaus is the first one to volunteer to help Vanya, inspiring his siblings to do so, and Ben moves into the afterlife. Ish.

II. Ray and Allison + Sissy and Vanya

Both of these relationships are positive and end with mutual love acknowledged, but also an understanding that they cannot be together. On a surface level, both relationships explore systemic injustice rampant in the 1960s (racism for Allison and Ray; sexism, homophobia, and ableism for Vanya and Sissy). Thematically, they are connected by the need to struggle and the focus on self-actualization.

Allison sums up the overall message of these relationships in the end when she tells Ray that the struggle isn’t over. Both these relationships require both parties to fight to preserve them, and to fight for better futures, which is something Allison and Vanya both need to learn to do, rather than continuing to stagnate. They need to fight, and they need to trust themselves to be able to do so. Thus, the reconciliations between Ray and Allison and Vanya and Sissy are in essence symbolic of Allison and Vanya coming to terms with something about themselves.

Both Allison and Vanya hid parts of themselves both this season and the last, and in this season, they hide their powers particularly from Ray and Sissy, respectively. However, both use their powers in desperate moments to save loved ones: Allison to save Ray from a violent cop, Vanya to save Harlan after he drowns. Allison cannot forgive herself for using her power on her daughter, while Vanya struggles to move past causing the apocalypse.

However, even after seeing their powers at their worst, the women at their cruelest (the diner scene and the ending battle), both Ray and Sissy choose to love Allison and Vanya respectively anyways.

Both Allison and Vanya beg their respective love interests to come with them to the future, to “be a family,” as Vanya says, but in the end Ray and Sissy are unable to leave their time. They have to continue the fight where they’re at, but both Ray and Sissy’s acceptance of Allison and Vanya clears the path for them to move on, to continue the struggles in their own time, because they showed Allison and Vanya that they do not have to fear who they are, nor their powers. Sissy is clear she simply can’t risk Harlan, and Ray delights in Allison’s power (not in a negative way). It’s the world they’re afraid of that makes them unable to come along, a world they need to struggle in.

III. Allison and Luther + Lila and Diego

Both Allison/Luther and Lila/Diego are mutually loving, yet inhibited by fear and things unsaid, things that they start to overcome by the end of the season. Thus, these are the two relationships heading out of adolescence and into adulthood symbolically speaking.

Luther has never even kissed Allison, according to her, in two timelines now, though he rectifies it later on (sort of). He’s distraught when Allison turns out to be married, but he doesn’t actually ever make a move when Allison clearly desires love and intimacy. Luther’s inability to see past the role his father set out for him makes him his own worst enemy. He also struggles to be an adult, as shown in his horror at Allison’s marriage and the fact that she’s, well, his childhood crush.

Diego isn’t much better. He might break the law and make it his goal to stop and even kill their father, while Luther stays loyal to him (at first), but he’s actually still very much living the life Reginald would have wanted for him: fighting crime. Just because Diego chooses his own missions doesn’t mean he’s not following his father’s script. Like Luther, Diego is actually a small boy hurting inside, which Lila directly calls him at one point and which the dinner scene, in which Diego reverts back to stuttering, reinforces.

However, both of these relationships lead to life in the end. Allison is essentially choking to death, and Luther uses CPR on her (thereby “kissing” her), restoring life to Allison. It reverses last season’s ending, when Luther saved Allison’s life but not her voice, and echoes Ray helping Allison heal and rediscover her voice. It tells Allison that even if she has to leave Ray to get back to her daughter Claire, there is a future, and Luther can help her breathe and get her voice back, too.

In the same scene, we have Lila and Diego confronting each other—actually, Lila confronts the entire Umbrella Academy. In Diego, she sees that she, too, has been a small child still huddling in a crawl-space and clinging to the woman who rescued her. He points out that she’s living the life the Handler wrote for her, but she’s now an adult and can make her own choices. When Diego tells her they can be her family, she believes him and takes him up on it—well, after they’re all dead and dying and before Five reverses the timeline. In the new timeline, Lila doesn’t accept this realization/offer just yet, but she does flee with a timecase, thereby taking the pen to her own story. Additionally, Diego insists they let her go, directly stating that this is because he loves her--an adult thing to do. In contrast with last season’s tragic relationship with Patch, Diego is able to acknowledge how he feels before it is too late, and Lila is able to bring that out of him with her unabashed way of asking for and going after what she wants. Lila having the briefcase and being one of the other superpower children makes it likely she will return, and therefore there is the notion of possibility in their relationship moving forward.

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softdadcarlos · 4 years

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Aftermath

Masterlist

Fandom: Resident Evil/Biohazard

Pairing: Jill/Carlos

AU: Post-RE3 Carlos and Jill

Summary: Leaving Raccoon City behind, Jill and Carlos deal with the present and think about the future.

Requested by @stardustfalling I hope you enjoy as this is the first half of your request!

Jill didn’t know how long they were flying for, completely out of it as she stared out into the horizon blankly. The city she knew was gone, reduced to smouldering rubble, her home and life as she knew nought but ashes. She had no idea what she meant to do now, the only thing she was certain of was that Umbrella needed to pay for the lives they’ve ruined and snuffed out before their time. She wondered if those she had encountered that weren’t on the train had survived, like Kendo and his family.

Jill was bought out of her thoughts by hands covering on her own that were resting on her knees. She looked over, meeting Carlos’ eyes as he gave her a soft smile.

“Looks like this is our stop supercop, chopper’s out of gas.”

Jill nodded, too exhausted for words both emotionally and physically. Carlos hopped out of the aircraft first, holding out a hand to her to help her down, which in all honesty she was grateful for. She had taken a beating the past few days and it was finally catching up to her as the adrenaline filtered out of her system. It seemed they had landed in an empty field not far from a large town.

Carlos walked out into her field of vision, silhouetted by the midday sun as he put a hand on his hip and gestured to the town with his thumb, “It’s roughly midday so shops should be open, I’ll be able to get us some new clothes to change into and some medical supplies. You probably don’t have your wallet on you but I’m more than happy to foot the bill this time.”

Jill raised a brow, “This time?”

“We need to lay low for a while, let Umbrella forget about us. So once we’re all cleaned up we’re hitting the bank so you can get out as much money as you can.”

Oh. He was making plans… that included her.

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Jill agreed.

“I would ask you to stay here for me but… I don’t think either of us will feel easy about being separated right now.”

Carlos wandered back over to the helicopter, shrugging off his assault rifle and undoing his vest. Leaving him in just his tshirt and cargo pants with a pistol strapped to his thigh. He looked distastefully at his sleeves, emblazoned with the Umbrella logo, making him reach up and rip them off.

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After an hour of waiting around for Carlos outside of shops as not to draw too much attention to themselves, they finally had what they needed. They just needed to find a place to stay. A shopkeeper had kindly told Carlos about a cheap hotel, not from the shopping district. So the duo headed that way, thanking every god that they could think of that the receptionist did bat an eye at Jill’s blood-covered appearance. They opted to share a room but with separate beds, feeling awkward about the idea of sharing a bed.

“I’ll shower first. I feel gross and I doubt I’m pleasant to be around.” Jill announced.

Carlos chuckled, “You don’t exactly smell like roses.” He dumped their shopping out onto a bed, sorting through it before tossing some clothes towards her, which she effortlessly caught. “I’ll fix you up when we’re both clean. Don’t want to touch open wounds with grubby hands.”

Jill grunted in response, heading straight to the bathroom, favouring getting clean over conversation. She situated the clean clothes on the towel rack before moving to the shower to turn it on, fiddling with the faucets to reach her desired temperature. God she couldn’t wait to get under the hot steaming water. The dried sewage and Nemesis blood making her skin crawl and itch as it cracked and flaked off of her as she moved.

She stripped off her filthy clothes, once again muttering about burning them in a dumpster because no amount of rinse cycles would remove the stains or stench. She stepped under the hot stream with a sigh, just standing under it basking in the heat as it relaxed her tense and aching muscles. Open wounds stang as the dirt that had caked them shut got washed away. More so when she reached for the hotel supplied body wash, scrubbing herself down rigorously like it could wash away the memories that were more than likely going to haunt her dreams.

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A full hour later, Jill finally left the bathroom cleaner than she had probably ever been in her life. The clothes Carlos had bought for her were loose-fitting sweats which she was very thankful for. The last thing she wanted to wear would be some sort of body-conforming ensemble that would rub up against and constrict her injuries. Especially after her brief self-assessment in the shower. It was more than likely she had a couple of broken ribs. Her ankles sprained.

Carlos took a significantly shorter amount of time in the bathroom than she did but then again, he didn’t have to trek through the sewers. He came out dressed in a matching set of sweats, probably having his own injuries he didn’t want to aggravate. His hair was slicked back out of his face, no doubt in Jill’s mind that if not its shaggy length while wet would have obscured his vision. It also revealed just how nasty of a black eye he had from his punch up with Nikolai which she hadn’t really noticed before. He went over to the bed that was silently agreed to be his, grabbing the medical supplies he purchased from a pharmacy.

He crouched down in front of her and started assessing her ankle, “We should get you patched up first. I don’t know how you managed to run around the city and fight that thing multiple times in this state.” He pushed up the pant leg to see how bad the bruising was and what he saw had him take in a sharp breath, “Jesus Christ, Jill, there’s nothing here that isn’t purple. Good thing I grabbed this arnica cream, should help the bruising go down… Although I think there won’t be enough for me.”

He was gentle in rubbing the cream onto the worst areas, even when he wrapped it in gauze to help support her ankle. From there he went into a pattern, reveal a new bruised canvas and lather it in cream, find a cut: disinfect and cover it. Some wounds required paper stitches to help encourage them to close. The wound from where she was infected would need actual stitches but the pharmacy didn’t have the items necessary for that. Jill tried to stop herself from blushing as she pulled up her sweater to just under her breasts, but her ribs couldn’t be ignored and self-consciousness would get her nowhere.

Carlos applied a gentle pressure as he surveyed the damage making Jill hiss. “Shit, yeah they’re definitely broken. But unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do. They can’t be splinted and binding them would make them worse. All I can offer you for this is an ice pack.”

Jill sighed, dropping the material, “Just my luck. But that can wait for now.”

Carlos nodded, understanding her unsaid order, stripping off his sweater so she could get a good look at his injuries. Multiple fist-sized bruises littered his upper body, a few scrapes and cuts on his arms. All in all not too bad… except for the gunshot wound in his shoulder. Jill felt guilt settle in her stomach. She did that to him. And the faded scars from stab wounds and other gunshots told her she wasn’t the first to injure him in such a manner. Probably a hazard of the job much like how it was for S.T.A.R.S. She flinched as he grunted when she disinfected the wound, muttering apologises as she did so. She was drawn out of it by Carlos placing a hand on her shoulder, looking her in the eyes, sincerity warming his chocolate coloured ones.

“Don’t blame yourself. I told you to take the shot.”

“It could have been so much worse if I had missed.”

“But you didn’t and I trusted you not to.”

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Carlos was already awake when he heard Jill tossing and turning in her sleep. They were both exhausted and had decided to call it a day early. It would be a lie to say Carlos wasn’t concerned for her. In fact, it would also be an understatement to say he was only concerned. After spending half a day searching for her and finding her on the ground, his first thought was that she had died and he had lost her. Of course, he was proven wrong when he approached her, relieved to find she was comatosed. Which didn’t last long with the realisation that she was infected. Carlos had never been through such a flurry of emotion in such a short space of time. But it did bring to light that he didn’t want to be away from her side. So sleep did not come easy to him, visions of her laying there bloodied on the ground swimming in his head.

He couldn’t begin to imagine what she must be seeing in those nightmares of hers, because there was no doubt that after that hell that dreams would be a thing of the past for a while. With a groan, Carlos pushed himself up and off his bed, approaching the distraught woman as she sat bolt upright panting.

“Easy there, supercop, I’m here.” He reassured, seating himself next to her and took one of her hands in his, thumb rubbing the back of it soothingly.

“I’m sorry-”

“It’s fine, I couldn’t sleep anyway.” Carlos chuckled dryly, “Was too concerned that if I closed my eyes and opened them again you’d be gone.”

Jill was quiet for a moment, considering his words before she spoke up, “Want to push the beds together?”

Carlos blinked at her, “Uuuh… Jill as much as I think that you’re one hell of a woman, I doubt you or I are in a fit state to-”

Jill covered his mouth with her palm, awkward laughter bubbling out of her, “That’s not what I meant. It’s just sometimes sleeping next to someone helps, you know?”

Carlos nodded, “Yeah I get you… Would you like to get dinner together tomorrow?” Jill looked visibly confused as Carlos became flustered at her unwavering stare. “I wasn’t kidding when I said you’re one hell of a woman. And I uh… there’s no pressure but uh… since I’m the only one out of the two of us that has a place to actually live once we leave this place… I was thinking it might be best if you crash at my place until you sort something out…” He trailed off, avoiding her eyes the more unsure in himself he became.

Jill got off the bed and Carlos felt his stomach drop. Shit.

“Come on let’s push these beds together, we can talk more about it once we’ve rested up.”

Begrudgingly Carlos got up and helped close the gaps between the two beds. Once done they settled into the centre of the unified bed. Carlos was pleasantly surprised to find Jill shuffling back into him while led on the side without broken ribs and grabbed one of his arms to drape over her stomach, interlocking her fingers with his. This effectively led to them spooning.

“I think I’ll feel safer like this.” She whispered, glad he couldn’t see the red colouring her cheeks.

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A/N: A lot of the injuries Jill is described as having here I have kinda experienced first hand including the broken ribs and entirely fucked ankles. And let me tell you, injuries like that UNTREATED really fuck with your sex life. My ribs are still hurty nearly 20 years later. If only I had someone as gentle as Carlos ㅠㅠ Also I suffer from chronic pain and had a particularly bad time with it today and had a random ass anxiety attack on top of that.

I love hearing from you guys! Please tell me what parts you liked!

I do take requests! If you have any feel free to ask for one! But before requesting one please look at my to do list to see if someone has already asked for what you had in mind :) I'm also on twitter @mxbelmounte.

#carlos x jill #jill x carlos #valeveira #resident evil #carlos oliveira #jill valentine #boop

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dailyaudiobible · 3 years

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02/06/2021 DAB Transcript

Exodus 23:14-25:40, Matthew 24:29-51, Psalms 30:1-12, Proverbs 7:24-27

Today is the 6th day of February welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it is a joy to be here with you today as we approach the end of another one of our weeks together. And when we conclude our reading for today, we will have completed nearly…nearly a full week of the month of February. So, it is exciting to be on this journey and take the next step forward, which will lead us back into the book of Exodus. And if we remember we are at the mountain of God. We are with the children of Israel surrounding Mount Sinai. God is speaking and beginning to lay out some of the principles and rituals and laws that He is integrating as He weaves together the tapestry of the Hebrew people. So, we’re reading from the Voice Translation this week, which is today. Exodus chapter 23 verse 14 to 25 verse 40.

Prayer:

Father we thank You for Your word. We thank You for another week and it. They’re just kind of…well. They’re moving by day by day step-by-step they’re moving by as they should but we’re recognizing that we’re moved into this new year. This is our year to live and You are instructing us. And we thank You for the word over this year, to “Mend”. This is this year of mending. And, so, we hear what was written in the Psalms today, the 30th chapter - “Eternal one, my true God, I cried out to You for help. You mended the shattered pieces of my life.” That is our prayer God. Some of us came into this new year unrecognizable completely shattered into a billion pieces and some of us feel that way right now. But this isn’t a matter of degree. It’s not like we’re trying to measure up to see whose more shattered here. We’re all broken, and we've all got shattered pieces in our lives, we have shattered pieces in our hearts. Life has dealt us some blows. It does this to everyone. And we are instructed to love You with our whole heart, and we confess that there are broken pieces of our hearts. Come as is in the Psalms. We cry out to You for help. You mend the shattered pieces of our lives. So, as we release this week as it becomes a part of our history, we look forward into the future for You to mend the shattered pieces of our lives. Come Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com that is home base, that is where you find out what's going on around here. And an alternative to that would be the Daily Audio Bible app, which you can also find out what’s going on around here. So, stay…stay connected.

Be aware of the Community section, be aware of the Prayer Wall. Visit the Prayer Wall. Be aware of the resources that are available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop.

And if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible I…I can't thank you enough. I Can't thank you enough. We wouldn't be here if we were not in this together. I…I say that often say that often because it's the truth. So, thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage. If you're using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you've a prayer request or encouragement hit the Hotline button in the app. No matter where you are on this planet hit the Hotline button in the app and you can share from there or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi this is Renzo from Maryland. I just wanna pray for the girl on the other line. This is February 1st. I just want to pray for the other girl on the other line that said her mom was a drug addict and she was 13 years old. I just want to say that's amazing that you’re on here reading the gospel at 13 years old. Keep keep…doing that. That's amazing. And I just pray for your mom right now. Father God I just thank You for everything that You do for us and I just please pray God that her mom just recovers from this addiction God. I believe You can heal anybody's addiction God. You’ve healed mine. You’ve healed my addiction to porn God, and I thank You that You healed that for me, and I've been clean for almost two years now and I thank You God that You did that. And, so, please just help her to just get closer to You God and just forgive her of what she did. Sometimes it’s so hard for us to forgive and that's how it was for me God. I just thank You for You for everything that You do for us God and we love You in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. God bless you have a good rest of your day.

Hi this is Tiffany at first time caller from Cleveland OH. I've been listening every day this year and I pray with you daily. I feel so close to the DAB family and I thank you Brian for your love. Today I ask for prayer for my husband Tony and I. February 24th will be seven years since our daughter Janna's death. Our grief is difficult through this month as we remember our girl gone too soon. Grief also affects my ability to focus. Please pray for me to love my husband, to feel, to focus, and to be a good mom to my living children. Thank you in advance.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible this is Emily from Minnesota and actually this is my first year doing DAB. I started January 1st and I found it to be such a blessing. I have been hit with a bit of suffering the past couple of years period. It started with my son who died by suicide his freshman year of College in his dorm. And my family really wants…doesn't want to go to God for this. So, I am just simply embracing Jesus to carry me through. And then also my parents and my two brothers they've all been hit pretty hard. My mom was placed in memory care last year upstate when Covid hit in March and my dad is living independently but is showing strong signs of dementia and isn’t really willing to accept a lot of help. My younger brother lost his wife to cancer November 30th with a young family of four. And I have an older brother who appears to be struggling with addiction and homelessness. I just want to ask you all to lift up my family. I just do the best I can and rely on Jesus to carry me through each day each step. It's rough some days. And I know He has a plan and I know…I know God knows and I would just to ask for your support in my journey. Thank you.

Hey, my supportive DAB family this is Kingdom Seeker Daniel. Family, support is absolutely what I need right now. The short of it is I received a call from my ex-wife which is a miracle all by itself. She was very distraught and informed me that our son Daniel the 2nd, basically snapped and was admitted into a psych ward. And I guess they were trying to prescribe some meds to him, and he refused. But at any rate after several attempts to reach him I finally got a chance to talk with him and he did not sound like my son, did not sound like my son at all and I just need your prayers. I’m believing God to rescue my boy from this place that he's in. And, so, I'm asking if my family would come around Daniel Christopher young the 2nd? My ex-wife also informed me several years later that my…my youngest Hannah was assaulted twice. Why she chose not to tell me until eight years later I don't know but needless to say Hannah is in a bad place as well. My oldest Bianca is confused with her identity sexually. And, so, family will you please pray for my children. Bianca, and Daniel, and Hannah.

[singing starts] Oh, my Savior I am so grateful I'm Yours. Oh, my Savior I am so grateful I'm Yours. With every new sun that rises Your mercy it meets me there. Your faithfulness is unchangeable. You always love me and care. Oh, my Savior I am so grateful I'm Yours. Oh, my savior I am so grateful I'm yours. [singing stops] I lift this offering up to you Jesus and I ask Lord that you would cover the Daily Audio Bible family with your blood, that you would fill them to full and overflowing with your Holy Spirit, that you would protect them, keep them safe, bless them. And father God let us enter deeper into your presence. Great is your faithfulness. We love you so much. In Jesus’ name we ask these things. What a miracle. I love you Treasured Possession.

Well, hello everybody and congratulations you finished your first month listening to the DAB. Job well done. That is awesome. So, welcome all new listeners and of course us long time listeners this is Lori music the transplant from Chicago down to beautiful Hebrew Springs Arkansas. Lord I'm just coming to You and we’re thanking You for the people that do call in and share their stories and prayer requests and many of them just break my heart Father God, but I pray immediately for You all. But I'm calling today to come before the Lord with the unspoken prayer requests, the ones that people are too shy or timid to call in and request. So, Father You know these unspoken prayers Father God. You know our hearts You know our needs You know our wants and our desires Father. So, I'm asking a special blessing on those people that haven't called in yet and that You answer their prayers Father God. And Lord You know I've been out of a job since November, but I know that Your timing is perfect Father. So, every day when I wake up, I will say this is the day that the Lord has made I will rejoice and be glad in it. Oh wow, so, I'm starting my 11th year on DAB and my second year on Chronological. I pray for Brian and Jill and China, give them special blessing father. We love you all. Have a blessed day.

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hellzyeahwebwielingessays · 4 years

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The Not-So-Amazing Mary Jane Part 17: MJ is LYING to Peter (when she knows she shouldn’t)

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One of the most egregious elements to AMJ is the incredible casualness in which the story treats MJ lying to Peter. In this post I will unpack just why this is seriously out of character.

Let’s be clear. Lying to your partner is in general just not a great thing to do, especially when you’ve only recently gotten back together. Lying to your partner about potential risks to your safety, other people’s safety and crimes that have been/are being committed, really, really not a great thing to do; and that’s when your partner’s job isn’t fighting crime.

Now in fairness MJ has lied to Peter about various things over the years. However these occasions (to my recollection anyway) have rarely included Mary Jane withholding information about out-and-out criminal activities from Peter. As I’ve exhaustively demonstrated, Mary Jane understands Peter’s ‘original sin’ and shares his sense of justice.

There were two notable exceptions though, the first occurring in ASM #286.

To fill the vacuum left by the departure of the Kingpin NYC’s mobsters engaged in a humungous gang war. The war involved various costumed types including Hammerhead, Jack Lantern, the Hobgoblin, Daredevil, the Falcon, the Punisher and of course Spider-Man.

Physically and mentally exhausted from putting out fires throughout the city (as well as his recent tussle with the Punisher), Peter returned to his apartment where Mary Jane helped him somewhat recover. As he slept Lance Bannon dropped by, intending to pass on a hot tip about a major gang meet that was to happen that night.

MJ took the message but out of concern for Peter deliberately chose to not tell him about the meeting.

The meeting turned violent causing a distraught MJ to finally tell Peter about it. She was horrified by the extreme violence and placed the blame squarely upon herself.

At the end of the story an even more exhausted Peter once again returned to his apartment. MJ admitted that whilst she was frightened for his safety she also acknowledged that his heroic acts were wonderful. However as Peter collapses on the coach MJ tries to point out to him one person who did in fact die in the incident, a young rookie cop.

This incident, being unique even amidst MJ’s unique life, would stick out in her memory.

It’s a huge lesson for MJ about the horrible consequences of lying to him about potential criminal activities. Noticeably in this situation MJ knew criminals were simply going to meet up and talk to one another, which isn’t (to my knowledge) actually a crime unto itself. And yet in AMJ #1 Mysterio and his crew collectively are actively committing various crimes (evading the law, identity theft, fraud, etc.) but MJ still lies about them.

The other example where MJ lying had horrible consequences is admittedly much more contentious. During Howard Mackie and John Byrne’s run on both ASM v2 and Peter Parker: Spider-Man v2 they initiated two subplots regarding Peter and MJ lying to one another. In Peter’s case he lied to Mary Jane about resuming his role as Spider-Man following his seemingly permanent retirement.

In MJ’s case she lied to Peter about a mysterious stalker who had begun making threatening phone calls to her. The stalker aggressively professed ownership of her and also threatened Peter. MJ presumed (for some reason?????) that the stalker was one of Peter’s enemies and thus kept him in the dark in order to protect him and maintain the normal life she believed they had. I admit this doesn’t make much sense but that’s a discussion for another time.

These lies (from both parties) majorly contributed to a creating a big schism in Peter and MJ’s marriage. They also, obviously, harmed MJ’s mental and emotional health through scaring and upsetting her, rendering her terrified of the phone.

MJ’s upset and horror at the situation escalated when her stalker went from threatening phone calls to invading her workplace to leave similarly threatening written messages.

This was very quickly followed by more violent acts like the stalker triggering explosions in the road where MJ’s limo was driving. It is implied several cars are totalled in the explosions, potentially injuring or killing innocent people and leaving MJ’s friend Jill Stacy scared and potentially mentally traumatised.

By this time Peter and MJ had independently learned they were deceiving one another. Peter rescued MJ from the stalker’s attack prompting the couple to briefly argue over their deceptions. It was clear that during this argument they held one another in poor favour for never fessing up, further damaging their marriage.

Not long after MJ’s stalker escalated things again, this time by causing various bombings near MJ’s home and around the city. He even publicly announced he was doing it to ‘have’ Mary Jane and that more attacks would follow. The situation became so serious that the authorities became involved and confirmed that there were innocent casualties resulting from the bombings.

The stalker was so extreme though he even attacked the police station MJ was being kept at for her safety, injuring yet more people and prompting MJ to flee for her life.

Unbeknownst to her, the stalker, posing as a cab driver, picked her up. MJ realized the truth when the stalker took her to the Bugle and locked the doors. Revealing another bomb counting down, he began to ramble about ‘proving his love’ to her and made moves to touch her. MJ escaped and yelled for civilians to clear the area. She escaped just in time as the cab exploded, seemingly killing the stalker.

Obviously such an experience would be upsetting enough, but it got worse because the stalker wasn’t actually dead!

When MJ boarded a plane the stalker (posing as a civilian) drugged her, took her off the plane, then faked her death by causing the plane to explode mid-flight and murdering everyone on board.

The stalker then held Mary Jane prisoner for six months. It was implied that in that time she was confined to a singular room. Even if that wasn’t strictly speaking the case it was confirmed that in all that time MJ was totally denied human contact, the stalker not even talking to her.

She was driven to such desperation that she practically begged her captor to just speak to her. When he did she exclaimed her thanks to him in spite of the situation.

After this the stalker revealed the details of his origin, motivations and plan (which aren’t really relevant right now). These details horrified MJ, none more so than the revelation that he killed everyone on her plane and that Peter was the stalker’s real target.

When Peter showed up the stalker used his psychic abilities to place MJ into a coma, one that would’ve been permanent had he not died shortly thereafter.

MJ barely survived and was seemingly intent upon restarting her normal life. However, she was left (temporarily) traumatised by the experience. She was frightened of phones when they rang and practically had a panic attack when the door to the attic wouldn’t easily open.

In part due to this trauma MJ opted to separate from Peter, eventually heading out to L.A.

In a much later story MJ would reflect that the time they were separated was one of the worst in her life.

The entire saga of the stalker…well actually it doesn’t make sense.

For various reasons Peter and MJ simply would never have lied to one another in the first place. Even excusing this many of their actions within that context didn’t add up.

Nevertheless it provided the foundation that later (much better) Spider-Man stories built off of and nevertheless provides at least food for thought.

Those thoughts being how the experience clearly illustrated to MJ that she made a mistake in lying to Peter.

Innocent people, her friends, her family and her husband, were physically, mentally or emotionally harmed by her stalker and her 'death'. At the very least the passengers on her plane lost their lives, though other victims of the stalker’s bombings might also have died.

MJ herself suffered a shitton of harm and emerged from the events with outright PTSD.

ALL of this likely would’ve been avoided if Mary Jane had simply told Peter or the authorities about the phone calls earlier than she did.

Whilst Mysterio and his crew might not do anything as bad to her as the stalker, it’s all too possible that they could harm someone if remained unchecked. And lying to her romantic partner is a HUGE part of enabling them to remain unchecked!

Not to mention on the most basic of levels, lying to your romantic partner is 9/10 simply bad for any healthy romantic relationship. Indeed, the stalker saga illustrated that in it’s own clumsy way but its just common sense. Outside of exceptional circumstances couples should be honest with one another. Peter has to routinely lie as a matter of practicality and yet even he knows that in general it’s something that should be avoided, as evidenced by ASM #310.

I’m not saying there aren’t times where withholding the truth is ultimately the best option for everyone involved but AMJ is obviously not one of those times. There is a huge difference between MJ deciding to not mention that she was briefly tempted to sleep with another man when nothing actually happened...

…verses not telling him the guy who faked his Aunt May’s death is walking free.

One avoids awkward or hurtful feelings in a romantic relationship. One potentially seriously endangers innocent people.

There is a counterargument to all this though. Couldn’t MJ be lying out of concern for Peter?

Answer: Definitely not. But that’s a topic big enough to justify it’s own instalment.

P.S. I am aware MJ has at times lied to Peter about other things. But my point is there is a huge difference between a little white lie or a lie that is intended to not rock their marital boat (e.g. not telling him about Jason Jerome) compared to potential life and death stuff like the above or AMJ #1.

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#Amazing Mary Jane #Leah Williams #Peter Parker #Spider-Man #mjwatsonedit #mary jane watson #Mary Jane Watson Parker #MJ Watson #Mysterio #Quentin Beck

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writer-jamie · 4 years

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My thoughts about Resident Evil 8 Village - Part 2

MAIN VILLAIN - ALAN R??

On the leaks page, it has been stated that “The main villain of the game is a man called Alan R, a mysterious count living in a castle. He is the leader or at least a high ranking member of the Connections.” I believe that Alan R is the man with the glasses that has been seen in the trailers, mainly because we haven't seen him before and the lighting behind him makes it look like the castle where Alex Wesker is too.

I don't think we will ever get a boss fight with him but he will make Alex and the Witch fight for him. Since he is the main villain, he seems to have control over the cult and over everyone involved in it. So I don't believe Ethan will ever fight him, unless he gets turned into a BOW like Jack Baker did at the end of RE7.

THE CONNECTIONS

We have heard of ‘The Connections’ before in RE7. It was said that Lucas and Mia were working for the Connections. This is another link between RE7 and RE8 by having “The Connections” be in both games. The Connections could be a new type of company like Umbrella or even Umbrella’s competition.

Based on the wiki, it is said that “The Connections worked in collaboration with Albert Wesker's H.C.F. in 2000 in the creation of a revolutionary new fungus.” This fungus being the Mold that is seen in RE7 and what Eveline controls. It also states that “the organisation was forced to take Eveline into hiding after rival companies attempt to sabotage the operation to maintain competition in the market, transporting her to another lab. The Connections made use of Genome Codexes to assist assigned Handlers in keeping track of Eveline.” Mia was one of the Handlers in charge of looking after Eveline on the boat. This could be a reason why Blue Umbrella is after Mia? The wiki also states that “by the beginning of January 2015, they set up a lab in the Abercrombie Salt Mine, provided Lucas Baker with the serum, and enlisted him as an agent. Lucas kept in contact with the lab, keeping them up to date with Eveline's condition while in hiding."

I think it is very interesting that “The Connections” were the ones who made Eveline and that Mia and Lucas worked for and that they are coming back in this game. It also links the witches insects are the same are Marguerites if they are created by the same company.

ALEX WESKER??

The leaks also state that: “The secondary villain is Nathalia/Alex Wesker. She was originally the main villain who this game was still Revelations 3, but her role is rather small now. There are files hinting at Blue Umbrella being evil as well”

Alex Wesker was last seen in Revelations 2 as the villain and tried to use the young Nathalia’s body to stay young. I believe she is the lady seen in the castle like place with the cult.

All the scenes she has been in have been in the castle as the lighting and decor looks the same. This is the same with the scenes with who I believe is Alan R.

The photo below seems to show the woman eating Ethan’s hand. (that poor man’s hands never get left alone). This shows that the cult might be cannibalistic and the fact that there might be some vampiric nature to their cult.

It is also shown that Alex first appears in the Castle. I believe she will be introduced in the second half of the game and will lead you up to the stuff with Alan R and the cult.

THE WITCH/BUGS

This isn't really factual but its just a thought I had while watching the trailer. The bugs shown in this photo really reminded me of Marguerite Baker in RE7 when she gets overtaken by the bugs in her fights. This is in the same area where the cult seems to operate. They also look like the same women in the photo with Alex Wesker because of the black clothing and the capes etc.

It is also said that the witch has the ability to disappear and turn into bugs, like the photo above shows. This could even be her in this photo. The leaks state that: “The witch stalker is a former friend of Alan, who was turned into a BOW. She does not stalk the player for the whole game, she is only in a few parts. She can unleash insects and is similar to Marguerite, but taller and you can't really see her face”.

CHRIS REDFIELD

So I'm almost 100% sure that the voice actor for Chris is Carlos’ re3makes voice actor, Jeff Schine. I knew as soon as I saw Carlos I knew the voice actor from The Walking Dead: A New Frontier as he is the voice actor for Javier. It seems strange to me that they would change his voice actor to one that they just used for Carlos in the remake but it’s up to them. I can't tell if his voice suits him just yet as every role I've seen Jeff in has been of a Hispanic decent, Carlos and Javier.

Another thing is that in this photo that Capcom released shows that Chris has some black sort of infection or goo (?) around his eyes and on his face.

It could just be blood or something like that but that, to me, looks like infection. In the synopsis it says that Chris’ actions “setting off a chain of events that sees a distraught Ethan seeking answers to Chris's shocking actions.” I think that either Chris is working for Blue Umbrella like at the end of Resident Evil 7. On the wiki it states that Chris is leading a Blue Umbrella operation.

On Biohazard Declassified, it states that “Chris is confirmed to return, he will also appear in some flashbacks surrounding Ethan, Mia, and a Baby, in which he attempts to break into their home and shoot one of the three.” This also shows that his shooting of Mia might not have been the intended victim, the same goes for the baby. The baby could have been the victim but Mia got in the way.

I saw a theory that maybe Chris shoots ‘Mia’ to prove to Ethan that she is still infected and that after the clip ends he says something like “Wait.” and Mia gets up completely fine. I also saw something that says that he shoots Mia but patches her up, just enough so she doesn't die, making Ethan go to the Village and find answers.

The leaks also state that “At some time Chris also comes to the village. You play a few parts as him and during that he saves Emily and comforts her, showing that he hasn't become a completely terrible person.”

There are several more leaks about Chris and him possibly attacking both Mia and Ethan and maybe even dying in the final boss fight but I'm holding out hope that most of these leaks aren't true and that Chris hasn't become the villain for no reason other than Capcom not knowing what to do with his character.

POSSIBLE DEATHS?

According to the leaks, “Barry Burton is killed by Alex/Nathlia in a flashback. His role is minimalist. It is hinted at, but not shown, that she murders the rest of the Burtons as well.” But it also states that this isn't a fact and that they might cut it. It also states that Claire might be in the game but “it is possible that she died in a flashback as well, explaining why Chris is so different this time”. There is no knowledge of Leon or Jill appearing but things might change before the full game is released.

CHRIS’ PARTNER/S??

In this photo, it seems that there is another person with Chris when they ‘break’ into the Winter’s house. I can't tell if this person at the front is Chris or a new partner but there is definitely at least two people in this photo. I also can't tell if either of these people are Chris as they aren't built the way that Chris seems to be in this game and the photo of him. But this seems to take place before the events in the Village as they have a normal house and this scene might be what leads to Ethan going to the Village for answers.

Here are some people I think it could be:

Jill Valentine: We haven't seen Jill since RE5 when she was rescued by Chris and Sheva from Wesker. Jill’s eyes are light and a mix between blue and green and this person’s eyes look light. It’s hard to see because when I zoom in the image just blurs but they look blueish.

Claire Redfield: In the leaks, it was said that Claire was supposed to make an appearance at some point. She also has light blue eyes which would match the eyes being blue in the photo above.

Jessica Sherwat: We haven't seen Jessica since Revelations when it is shown at the end that she's alive and fine. I heard a rumour once that she was due to come back in Revelations 3 and because this game was supposed to be Revelations 3, she may make an appearance. I’m not sure what colour Jessica’s eyes are.

New characters: These two could end up being two completely new characters and work with Chris throughout the first part of the story, but again we won't know until the game is out.

And that all! This took me far too long to write out and there are so many other things I want to say but it hurts my brain to think about. Hopefully as we have more trailers and a demo we can piece together the story but I am hopeful and looking forward to this game as RE7 was such a good experience for me!

#resident evil 8 #chris redfield #Alex Wesker?#re8 #my thoughts

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