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drifting-pieces-blog-blog · 9 months

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Breaking Down The Comics: Under the Mask

Moon Knight, Issue 20: Cut Adrift off the Coast of America

LOOK AT THIS COVER. I laugh every time I see it. It reminds me of like, Night on Bald Mountain when the devil creature is over the city and about to do his evil things. I feel like the past two covers for this run are just the artist (Bill) going, “I don’t know… Moon Knight in various poses of angst?” For no reason!

Anyways… Let’s finish this run!

So we left off with Marc finding plans for Nimrod to attack Manhattan and Marlene being undercover as his personal bodyguard.

Now, up to this point, Moon Knight has been abroad. This whole run has been him retracing steps and places Marc has worked.

I've noticed that in the original comics, any time Moon Knight had to travel out of the country, Marc Spector is the one in charge.

He is well traveled and he has contacts all over. If there's a country, Marc has most likely been there being paid to be a bad guy.

Perhaps Jake doesn't feel comfortable traveling. His home is New York and always has been. He found his identity there and his friends.

Steven will sometimes travel, if it involves luxury, but usually once they leave the hotel Marc takes over.

Now, we are finally heading back to New York.

Which, oddly enough, Marc never feels at home on American Soil. He'll show up for a fight or two, but perhaps he just doesn't feel like he has a home there. He did, after all, leave his home in a hurry after a fight with his father. America is something Marc left behind.

ANYWAYS:

We see Moon Knight with scuba gear on... and still wearing his cape I might add... trying to reassure his contact that "Spector and I will take care of it."

He notes that while he has faith in the plan, "our real strong suit is playing it by ear."

This is true. Moon Knight is amazing at winging it. When things go to shit, he just goes. Which is probably for the best because a lot of his plans tend to go to shit. He's...He's not good at thinking things through. (Especially Marc).

Streglov (the government contact) mentions that he really doesn't like the fact that Marc is emotionally at risk in this mission. Not just for revenge, but also that Marlene is involved.

Moon Knight quips that "I didn't like anything about this operation, Streglov, but we're stuck with it."

Once in full scuba attire:

(WHAT ARe YOU WEARING MOON KNIGHT. That cape can’t be easy to swim in. Is that breathing respirator OVER YOUR MASK?! Are you….wh…. The depths this man will go to to keep his mask on…)

As Moon Knight goes for a swim at night in full outfit...

"Sure cold down here this time of night. Gives me the chills... Chills to match the goose bumps I got when Streglov mentioned Spector. Didn't like his tone of voice. Almost as if he was embarrassed to refer to Spector as a separate man. Guess I'd better face the grim possibility --Streglov may be catching on that Spector and I are one in the same man."

Hmmm... Now, in the last issue, we had no issues with identity. Marc was undercover and comfortable not being himself. Moon Knight was an easy guise to slip into.

He is grappling with 'secret identity' right now. He doesn't like the idea that people know who is under the Moon Knight mask.

But also, he doesn't like the idea that people see the man under the mask as Marc Spector.

He's so uncomfortable being known as Marc that he would go to great lengths to keep the guise up that they are different people.

Which, in this particular circumstance, it IS silly. They are on a boat. It's assumed Marc got on the boat and now Moon Knight is there going on the mission saying that Marc sent him to do it and to trust him.

There's a certain level of self delusion going on in which he wants everyone to believe that Marc is still on the boat. Perhaps that he wants to believe that Marc is still on the boat.

In Moon Knight's eyes, Marc has very little place on this mission and he would rather everyone just play along.

So it looks like the terrorist plan is to put four oil tankers out in the water in key locations, purge the oil, letting the gas build up until a spark sets the whole thing off in an explosion.

Nimrod is on one of the tankers. He plans to blow his tanker and send a signal to the others to blow their own. The pressurized explosion form the built up gas will be devastating and then the oil in the water will catch fire, encircling the island in a raging fire inferno.

Moon Knight is to get on Nimrod’s tanker, cut a hole in the hull and release the gas to prevent the explosion. He will then stop Nimrod, preventing him from signaling the other tankers, giving other teams time to take them out.

A convoluted plan on both ends.

Would the ship blow up? Yes. Science has proven that this is what caused some famous explosion at some point (I'm not looking up which boat it was. It was in port and the built up gas caused a devastating explosion that wiped out the whole town, but if you know it then kudos to you).

Are there better ways to do this? YES. JFC yes. Just put a bomb on the boat. Why is he going so over the top? Why is the only method of preventing the explosion cutting a hole to let the gas vent? What about all the oil in the water that is polluting and causing a fire hazard? And with that much gas build up, ANY spark could set off an explosion. What if it goes off before you’re ready?!

Convoluted plan aside... Moon Knight gets on the tanker, now in search of Nimrod himself.

Moon Knight is now lamenting that he needs to keep control of his emotions. "I've got to control myself... Avoid hasty judgements... Keep myself from thinking about it..."

Good luck with that buddy. Hasty judgments should be your middle name.

Back with Nimrod, we see Marlene still playing bodyguard.

Nimrod is doing his bad guy rant about how Moon Knight destroyed his base. He rants about how he's a one man army and will take down the city no matter what it takes.

As Moon Knight makes his way through the tanker, taking out bad guys, he reminds himself that he's not doing this just because of Marlene.

As Moon Knight busts into Nimrod's room, Nimrod shoves Marlene forward, demanding that she attack him.

Luckily, the two other lady bodyguards jump in and attack first.

Oh! And here we see our hero once more face on the floor in a helpless position.

Back at Grant mansion: Hey! We haven't seen this place in a while!

Frenchie has taken Jake's cab back to the mansion to GET TO THE CHOPPER.

Back on the tanker, Moon Knight wakes up in a very Bond-like situation.

I do appreciate that each time we look at Nimrod after this while Moon Knight is tied up, Nimrod is upside down. It’s a fun touch in perspective.

Nimrod gloats a moment then moves to unmask Moon Knight.

Back in the day, secret identities were pretty sacred. All heroes who wore masks kept their identity pretty tightly locked down (Notable exceptions to those that wore masks: Tony Stark who can't stop telling people who he is and Captain America who no longer has the ability to just be Steve Rogers).

In current times, Moon Knight really stopped caring and ever since Civil War (don't get me started on that Marvel Event), the only one who really keeps his identity is Spider-Man. And that really depends on what Spider-verse you live in.

So back in the day, Moon Knight kept his identity a secret unless you were in his close circle of friends.

This really worked well for Steven Grant, who needed to maintain his social standing to get into high class crowds. It also helped Jake keep his own personal life and let him work the underground.

When it came to Marc, it really didn't matter. Marc didn't really have a normal life anymore.

Not to mention the only people that knew who Marc Spector even was were probably those that had come up against him as a Mercenary.

So Nimrod is momentarily shocked then laughs about how he now has both his nemeses helplessly held captive.

He leaves Moon Knight helpless and we get...this...view....

Um... Anyways...

Moon Knight realizes that the crescent darts are still on his belt, being mistaken for decoration!

So he wriggles around till one pops off and falls towards his restrained hands. He misses quite a few of them.

Of course on the last dart, he finally catches it.

Now he just has to saw through the rope restraints.

Back up top, Nimrod is relaxing with his three bodyguards. They doze and Marlene finally gets a chance to slip away.

Just as she is about to leave the room, one of the other bodyguards wakes up.

Marlene assures her that she's just going out for fresh air, but the guard is suspicious She wakes up Nimrod.

Marlene finds an escaped Moon Knight and they team up together to start taking out the guards.

The hapless lackies all taken care of, they return to look for Nimrod, only to walk into a trap!

Nimrod makes a run for the detonator to blow the other ships. Marlene tells Moon Knight to go. She'll deal with the other two ladies.

We get several pages of Marlene in an out and out brawl with the other two ladies (all three are in bikini uniforms, but not drawn softly. Bill gave them good muscle definition for the time.) To the credit of the writing team/artist team, it's not a cat fight. They use martial arts, punch, and hit one another with chairs and things.

Marlene makes nice work of the other two and wins the fight.

Meanwhile, Moon Knight is up against Nimrod and his Arsenal of weaponry.

Moon Knight is hit by a grenade and once again....

He sure does spend a lot of time down there.

Dizzy from the hit, he stares down the barrol of a gun and remembers his friend being gunned down right in front of him.

"A memory of Ben Abramov, his oldest friend, jerking from the impact of a sniper's bullet... Twisting slowly through pain towards a last fall into a darkness called death..."

He acts and kicks the gun at the lat moment, causing it to discharge into Nimrod's face.

"And another memory, also snarling... Nimrod Strange crushing Marlene to his chest, smearing his lips over hers..."

Moon Knight jumps up, enraged.

"You've killed my friend and soiled my woman, Madman!"

He attacks the disoriented man, punching and coming at him head on despite bullet fire.

When the fire becomes too intense, he falls back to get the high ground.

Nimrod makes a last desperate run for the detonator and Moon Knight tackles him.

Moon Knight takes a blow to the head that leaves him in his favorite position on the floor.

We get a really nice page here and you really have to admire the art, the layout, and the tension. This is just a fantastic page!

He knocks out Nimrod before he can push down on the detonator!

And now we get a bit of our nit and gritty man showing his emotions.

MK: Marlene...I...That last gesture...It was stupid. I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me.

Marlene: Hush, Steven. If such a gesture can ever by earned, you did tonight.

He cuts the detonator and calls for Frenchie to be picked up. He leaves Nimrod on the boat and rushes to inform the agents waiting that the mission is a success.

Moon Knight laments that Nimrod knows who he is and will most likely tell everyone who he really is.

Just as he's about to confess to everyone that he and Marc Spector are the same person, Nimrod wakes up and manages to set off the bomb.

His ship blows, taking out everyone still on it.

Thankfully, the other ships have been disabled and taken out before they too can blow.

"You were saying?"

"Oh, nothing. Just that Spector and I are a good team. He does the undercover work and I'm the visible one up front."

Hmmmm. Very true. Very visible.

Epilogue:

Back in Jerusalem... At the home of widow Anna Abramov, she receives a message.

"Anna- Ben's work finished --Spector."

She crumbles the letter and weeps silently.

"Then she sips some tea and wraps herself against the chill, and for a time she is quiet, and she is still, and she is alone... An hour from now the tears will start again...and last until dawn."

END ISSUE and end to Nimrod Strange.

This was a long run of Just Marc Spector in his element.

We got to see a lot of Marc’s skills and the things he did before Moon Knight and what gave him the ability to put on the mask and be as brutal and effective as he is.

It also showcased Marlene in good light and we even got a lot of Frenchie action.

As for the bad guy, he seemed like he was supposed to be bigger than he was. He boasted a LOT about his abilities, his firepower, and being unstoppable. But he just hit behind his goons for hire, his bodyguards, and his weaponry. He really just didn’t strike me as a big top tier villain.

And maybe that was some of the point. A single guy with power and an idea that managed to gather people together to try to do terrible things and hurt a lot of people.

This was a very run run, especially traveling to Israel and going against the elite three. The story and imagery in that one was amazing.

Honestly, it was pretty amazing to just focus on Marc. So that makes up for the fact that the villain was just utterly detestable, and not in a fun hate the villain sort of way.

We also got to see him be utterly pissed and petty, culminating in spitting on Nimrod, then instantly feeling shame that someone saw him. I think that sums up Marc pretty nicely. It isn't often he gets to spit on a terrorist who enjoys killing and hurting people. But then he feels shame that he let his emotions out. Oh Marc, stop being a bottle of suppressed emotions.

It ends in a way that a lot of Moon Knight comics tended to end back in the 80s: A sad and lonely note. Though they won and get to go home, there is still the Widow who is alone and will always be alone.

Marc sends her the note, but Marc can slip back down into his safe mask of nothing and doesn’t have to think about her anymore. His friend is dead, and it’s another name added to his list of people he failed and watched die.

What did you guys think of this run? Thumbs up or down for the bad guy?

I think what’s really exciting after this and seeing Marc work, is knowing where it’s all culminating in at the end of the first big 1980s run of Moon Knight.

#Moon Knight #Moon Knight comics #Marc Spector #Marlene #Analyzing the comics #I really disliked Nimrod #But damn I loved the art in this one #I'm glad he wasn't in the villain rotations #I can't wait to get back to my girl Scarlet #And the poses in this issue #What the hell were half those poses #Never change Moon Knight #You lay on that floor #You earned it #On the floor again is the alternate title of this review

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youngestrunningleek · 3 months

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Expedition Backyard

Today's review is ...

Expedition Backyard

Exploring Nature from Country to City

Rosemary Mosco, Binglin Hu, Ashanti Fortson (color design) Desolina Fletcher (flatting assistance)

I was thinking to myself the other day, “does anyone know what a vole is?” They’re kind of just like… generic rodents. I know the word. But they’re never the center of things, the way that mice are. There’s no famous voles. So, I looked up voles at my local library, and what do you know? I found one book with a vole.

It’s a children’s picture/comic book, about best friends Mole and Vole exploring nature.

The book is gorgeous. I feel like every page blows me away and makes me a better person. I can tell care went into every single one. The wobbly panel borders are comforting.

It’s a love letter to my very favorite kind of nature: backyard nature. Wildlife documentaries are great, but this book elevates the local wildlife. It helps that it’s very New England-based, which is where live, too. The book has a strong message that whether you’re in a rural or urban area, you can find wonderful things.

Mole and Vole are a delight. Their friendship is pure love, and it’s infectious. Mole is more cautious while Vole is more adventurous. They’re a perfect duo.

Mole and Vole hold each other's hands and at the same time say "Time to watch NATURE SHOWS in the house!"

It’s not just beautiful and joyful, it teaches things. They pass by a stone and mention it was dropped by a glacier during the last ice age. That’s real! Glacial erratics are a thing! They casually teach readers that honeybees are actually an introduced species to the US, and there are many species of bees, some of which aren’t yellow-and-black. The end of the book has useful tips on composting, community gardens, keeping birds safe from windows, and more.

A 2-panel spread where we see Mole and Vole walking in the park. They see many types of birds and hear their calls.

At one point, they meet a snake and a spider. I particularly liked those two, because they were characterized as trying to be scary. The DeKay’s brownsnake is a “TERRIFYING hunter!”, who hunts only the most fearsome prey… slugs and worms. The jumping spider calls itself vicious, but the next panel has Vole looking at how cute, small and fuzzy it is.

The aforementioned panels with trying-to-be-tough spider and snake.

I haven’t seen that characterization before, for spiders and snakes. Plenty of media shows them as monsters. Plenty of people who like them will say they’re not gross. But that’s not helpful to someone who’s afraid. So, making them adorable as they try to seem tough is a neat synthesis of those two ideas. The book makes space for being afraid of nature, instead of assuming people will love every second of it.

When I finished, I realized it’s a 5/5 on my personal ranking and on my general ranking. I can’t imagine how it would have done its job better. I wasn’t thinking “this is a 5/5 book” while I read it, because I was only thinking about how delightful it is. I’m incredibly glad I found this book by chance.

Have you read this book, or one like it?

Sorry I still have no scanner.

#ME:5 #OA:5 #2022 #comic #voles #moles #children's books #nonfiction

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laskinpublishing · 2 years

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SCROLL DOWN ▼for Laskin Publishing's Books & Artwork

Now: Don Laskin’s Uncalled for Commentary on Just About Anything That's Often None of His Business

Even More Tales of The Pine Center

Back in the Forties through the Fifties, in the foothills of the Catskills in Upstate New York, my family owned The Pine Center, a small hotel in what the city people called “The Mountains”. These are their stories.

The Soda Magnate

I was cute. I mean REALLY cute. Well, at least that was the consensus among female hotel guests who couldn’t help pinching my cheeks till they were rosy red…and swelling to the size of watermelons. I exaggerate...cantaloupes.

Worst of all were the two-fisted pinchers. They’d take a cheek in each hand, twist my little head so I’d be looking up at them and squeeze thumb to forefinger on each cheek exclaiming in roughly transliterated Yiddish,” Zaya-a-shane-a.. Zaya-a-kloogeh”, which my limited anglicized understanding translated to “handsome; and so smart.” Still holding fast, they’d add in English, “Ooh, I could just eat him up.” Fearing there was that possibility, the instant I felt their fingers loosen I was gone.

As it happens, I was exotic as well as cute. These people had never seen a real live country boy with an accent as foreign to them as their Bronxite and Brooklynese was to me. Example:

“You a native?” the kid asked me.

“Uh-huh”

“I’m from Nuh Bronx.”

“New Bronx?” I asked for clarification.

“T-H-E”, he spelled out, adding, ‘”Bronx,” then put it all together, “Nuh Bronx.”

I can’t remember if I’d learned to spell yet, but I got the gist. Eventually, however, we natives and the invaders from New York were able to converse. And once a trading language was established, I began my first tentative steps in the business world selling soda at dinner time and ice cream in the afternoons.

Now our guests literally feasted from morning till night. After a breakfast of orange juice, eggs, bagels, herring, toast, French toast, pancakes, and more, there was a slightly lighter lunch a few hours later to tide them over till a dinner that started with fruit cocktail, cantaloupe or honey dew, followed by chicken fricassee or chopped chicken liver. Then came barley, corn or possibly chicken noodle soup. A main dish of roast beef, pot roast, roast chicken or steak came with a number of sides. Topping things off would be dessert like my Mom’s lemon meringue pie and cookies filled with raisins, cherries and nuts.

The price of the food was included in the accommodations. So no one could really complain about a kid charging a paltry ten cents for a bottle of soda. Also, did I mention that everybody thought I was really cute?

Of course soda wasn’t the only available beverage. We didn’t have a liquor license, so no beer or hard liquor. However, there was hard water. Pumped fresh from our well, the minerals dissolved in it made for lousy lathers, but a unique flavor people raised on city water couldn’t get enough of.

While ice cold well water may have cut into my profits, I made out pretty well — well enough to keep me in bubble gum baseball cards and every issue of Classic Illustrated I could lay my hands on. These comic books were adaptations of literary classics such as Les Misérables, Moby-Dick and Hamlet and proved an invaluable time and energy saver in my later academic career. But, I digress — As I said, I was making out pretty well, so well in fact though I can’t say I remember it happening, it became family lore. It seems that when my pockets got so heavy with change that my dungarees sagged (no jeans in those days) threatening to go down and take my shorts with them, I purportedly told people I had enough money and they didn’t have to pay. Since I am admittedly a rotten businessman, there could be some truth lurking in the retelling.

HOWEVER, the following incidents I remember well. Now, diet soda was a fairly new thing back then, so new that our soda distributor didn’t carry any. At dinner when I went around taking orders, a thin lady with thin lips, a thin face and thin aquiline nose asked me for diet soda. Informing her I didn’t have any, she told me about a store where I could buy it for her.

Everybody in a service business knows the customer’s always right. Naturally however, this doesn’t apply to a kid on summer vacation whose priorities run to swimming, playing hide and seek, climbing apple trees to get to the fruit, building a club house in the woods, reading comic books, collecting bottle caps, catching Monarch butterflies, etc..

The next day when the thin lady with thin lips, thin face and thin aquiline nose again asked about the diet soda, I replied, “I don’t have it,” adding under my breath, “but you sure could use it.” Yes I know. She was already thin. But I was a kid without a fully developed sarcastic vocabulary.

“What did you say?” she called after me as I made my escape pretending not to hear. “Little boy! Oh little boy! Come here little boy!” Somehow I managed to avoid the thin lady with thin lips, thin face and thin aquiline nose for the rest of her stay.

That story reminds of this one. My father had turned off the water to one of our bungalows to repair a pipe. When he was done, he asked me to run over and make sure the water was on again. Now the top of the door had four panes of clear glass at my eye level. When I knocked, a stark naked lady came to the door. Caesar said, “Veni. Vidi. Vici.” (“I came. I saw. I conquered.”) Donny said, “Veni. Vidi. Cucurri.”(I came. I saw. I ran.”)

Okay, I never said it, but I sure did it. Bolting off the bungalow’s tiny porch I headed out full speed as the lady called after me, “Little boy…little boy…come back, little boy.” No, it was not the same lady as in the diet soda affair. As a matter of fact I distinctly remember this lady as being pleasingly Rubenesque. What she was thinking I couldn’t guess.

Oh, the water was on.

A PERSONAL NOTE:

If you followed my posts (and surprisingly some of you do), you know I tried to get one out every week or so. This is my first one since the end of August when I had a spinal stenosis flare up (translation: damned nasty back ache). I was allergic to the drug I was prescribed causing more problems including a couple of weeks of withdrawal and was likely a contributing factor to a fall that damned near broke my kneecap.

Dorothy Parker said, “I hate writing, but love having written.” Writing is a painful process. Add a dose of physical pain and…well that’s what’s taken so long.

Best,

Don

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bigavidmostallsportsfansaftyco · 2 years

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Group

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amarriageoftrueminds · 3 years

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When the speaker at the Smithsonian says that Bucky "was the only Howling Commando to give his life in service of his country" it makes me want to scream because if you think about it, if you really think about it, it's basically canon that Bucky kept fighting in WWII for Steve and that he literally DIED FOR STEVE . When Sam tells Isaiah they bled for their country, imagine if Sam had said that to Bucky, like they're fighting about some other mission and Sam bursts out Bucky, YOU LITERALLY DIED FOR YOUR COUNTRY, and Bucky goes all serious and wistful and he says I didn't do it for my country ……. Now imagine if we got something like that in the show, I think I would've ascended to some higher plane of consciousness

See, I’m torn.

Because on the one hand yes they did die for each other (Bucky blasted out of the train protecting Steve, Steve while invoking Bucky and his choice of sacrifice, to save the city in which they grew up.)

But on the other hand, it always pissed me off that the film refused to outright state the real reasons why Steve wanted to go and fight as:

Number 1: to combat the Nazis (not because ‘men are laying down their lives’ and he wants to prove himself next to them, FFS! He dgaf about that shit he just wants to play an active part in combating Nazis, that’s what he was created for!)

Number 2: to support Bucky (tho they show that that’s what Steve wants, with his raid of Krausberg, they won’t outright have him state that Bucky is a reason why he wants to be there in the first place. And try to no homo the ‘show’ by having Pggy elbow her way into the rescue sequence, irrelevantly.)

And the flipside of this is the idea that Bucky was also only there for Steve, that he was only following Steve into the jaws of death, not that he actually gave a shit about, y’know, getting Hydra back for what they’d done to him?? Or preventing them from doing it to other people??

I don’t believe that.

Apart from anything else, that’s not what Simon & Kirby intended those characters to think/feel.

And especially not after Bucky had been tortured (and doubly especially not if we’re supposed to read him as a blend of OG-Bucky and Arnie Roth. If anything, Bucky is the character with the most motivation to fight Nazis, even more than Steve!)

I know they’ve used the ‘he was drafted’ thing as a way to mirror Bucky’s shitty luck / powerlessness against enlisted agentic Steve, to suggest a reluctant combatant of Nazis.

But Bucky is the only Howlie in the film shown being afraid for his life and facing it in order to keep fighting! (In other words, he has to overcome something in himself; another mirror of Steve.)

That takes guts and commitment.

In the comics it’s actually he who crashed the Valkyrie to save New York, not Steve (and this was why Steve originally woke up yelling for him; he bailed out).

That said, yeah, Bucky does deserves to be treated both as the veteran he is, (what’s more patriotic than dying to save Captain America?) and the specific circumstances of his ‘death’ were protecting Steve, so it would be accurate of him to say that; not to mention hella romantic.

But.

He didn’t just die to save Steve.

He was also trying to shoot a Nazi. Important detail. 😪

#long post #dat's me #hey nonny #toAyourQ #bucky barnes #bucky meta #meta #mcu #mcu meta #catfa meta #bucky barnes: nazi puncher #and don't y'all forget it!

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orionshounds · 3 years

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I’ve been knee deep in dsmp lore streams and I just want to ramble about it

Dream smp lore is so good, it’s so good!!! Not only is the story itself just fascinating, but how it’s presented so uniquely through the medium of minecraft of all things is just so cool. One of my favorite parts of the lore is seeing how everyone on the smp has their own “style” they present it in, and watching them find the way they find the most enjoyment in is so cool. Literally no two streamer’s lore stream quite like each others and it’s just incredible! It just speaks to the flexibility of roleplay as an artistic medium and really shows everyone’s individual personalities.

Wilbur was dramatic as hell and wrote eloquent speeches. He started a drug operation under the guise as a country, and it lead to a revolution in which he was able to explore the spiral of a man who loses control of everything he had built. And after his arc and he wanted a break from the server? He created ghostbur, an amnesic comic relief with just enough touch of tragedy that he is still able to make heartbreaking monologues when he wants to.

Tommy is able to run around with his friends and cause as much chaos to his heart’s extent, but there is so much more than meets the eye. He is incredibly social and isn’t afraid to start conflict with a lot of people, bringing them into the roleplay. He doesn’t back down from storytelling either. His character goes through terrible situations and he fully explores the trauma that comes from those experiences. His character goes against the “stereotypical” trauma I see alot in media; instead of being shy or scared he’s reactionary, he’s angry, he’s violent, he’s depressed. I’m actually really impressed with the heavy subject matter this 17 year old teen has managed to portray (I’ve connected with it quite personally at certain points), while still being able to keep the light hearted fun that’s so intrinsic to his personality.

Tubbo isn’t really interested in serious lore as much. Even in dire moments he tells jokes and just has fun. So, in his recent lore, he just streams as normal while putting mysterious writing on screen that he doesn’t acknowledge or have to explain, which I think is just a genius work around for him to participate in lore. He still has his dedicated lore streams sometimes, and when he is in the acting zone he has some of the most powerful moments out of everyone on the server.

Ranboo, while having stake in the greater smp lore, is much more character focused. He presents his lore through long monologues and fucking heart-wrenching voice acting. He loves working in themes of horror and causing a specific feeling in the viewer. So he chooses specific music as a themes for events/characters and creates visual queues in his overlays to draw out that desired reaction. He also values improve a LOT, if something unexpected comes up he just runs with it and he has made huge changes to his lore as early as 30 min before a stream.

Technoblade, while arguably one of the most powerful people on the server, prefers a more light-hearted yet dramatic approach to lore. When Dream was at his house looking for Tommy, Techno had no problem joking around and making fun of him for being homeless. He tore down an entire nation on the server and had so much fun doing it! He’s more of an antagonist than a true villain in my opinion. And lets not forget how dedicated he is to the game, he’s cracked at the craft. He spends hours grinding and creating farms on the smp, for amazing pay offs (his several vault reveals, the withers, etc), most of which weren’t even on stream!

Karl Jacobs is extremely social, so he created Tales from the smp as a way to involve TONS of people in lore while exploring the past and future of the server (it was also a way for viewers who weren’t that well versed in dsmp lore to join and not have to worry about it!). And through this premise, he took the opportunity to develop his own character on the smp; making an incredibly tragic story of a time traveler trying to save his home while slowly loosing his memories. Not to mention the beautifully shot cutscenes of the Inbetween and the Other Side. He includes so many people behind the scenes as well, collabing with other members on lore, hiring building teams and people to make intros and credit scenes, and promoting fanart and fansongs from the community!

Quackity explores his lore through heavily scripted events and amazingly shot cut scenes. While the way he expresses his lore comes at the cost of improv, the payoff of the visuals and story is well worth it! The shots he makes of the smp is downright gorgeous, no to mention he’s the first person to include irl footage in his lore (not counting facecams)! He’s not afraid of thoroughly examining his own character, being one of the only people I can think of that shows us “past events” leading up to something that has already happened.

Badboyhalo, Antfrost, Ponk, Skeppy, Captain Puffy, Punz, Awesamdude, Hannahxxrose all work together on shared lore and the payoff is amazing! By introducing the Egg, a constant antagonistic force that constantly pulls on character’s relationships with each other, everyone is able to stream together to battle for or against the egg! There’s also plenty of room for people to do individual lore that's more intimate to their respective character. They spend hours changing vines, putting up posters, slowly shaping the smp in a way that makes it exciting to watch streams to see just what has changed everyday. Because there’s so many people necessary to tell the egg’s story, it does comes at the cost of time (the egg has been around FOREVER). However, they all work together super hard and I just admire their commitment to the story they’re trying to tell!

And Sam! He has several different “Modes” his character is in (and an entirely separate character, Sam Nook) that he gets to explore lore with. He’s a terrifying warden, he’s a money motivated businessman, he’s a conflicted lover, he’s a traumatized victim of the egg, and just so much more. Through having so many different “roles” in the rp he gets to explore relationships and plotlines with a whole array of people. Not to mention he’s absolutely cracked at redstone and has some of the most impressive builds on the server.

And Puffy! So much of her lore is calling into question the morality of the server and really makes you step back and think critically about the characters. Her character also has, in my opinion, one of the most interesting relationships with Dream, the main antagonist of the entire server, which is just fascinating to watch unfold. Not to mention she’s one of the first people to start exploring the backstory of her character!

George doesn’t exactly do lore. In fact he’s slept through so much of it it’s become a meme. And you know what? That mad man took that and ran with it. He explains his absence in the story by having his character literally being asleep through it, creating mystery where there used to just be an absence. He’s able to goof off with his friends and have borderline nonsensical streams, then at the end sucker punch the audience emotionally by “waking up” and have the viewers question just what was real and what wasn’t?

The smp has the freedom for people who want more independent lore to be able to explore their character’s that way as well!

Hbomb, Connereatspants, and Purpled don’t have a lot of lore on the smp, generally only coming on to have fun with everyone, but when they do have their moments it unfolds in very interesting ways!

Sapnap, Eret, and Schlatt maybe aren’t as active as some other people, but when they are on they actively participate in lore and have lasting impacts on the story (Ex: Eret’s betrayal, Sapnap’s visit to dream in the prison, Schlatt becoming president).

Philza mostly does his own thing, improving the server or making some bomb ass builds. He has incredibly devastating roles in lore (killing wilbur, blowing up L’manberg for the final time, starting the syndicate with Techno), but he also has quieter moments that speak to the depth his character has, such as fishing with fundy or reminiscing about his dead son and how it went so wrong. Like Techno, he doesn’t like to take lore completely seriously, often laughing no matter what’s happening or teasing chat after something big goes down, but his character is solid with a lot of potential for future lore.

Foolish has only started on his character and its already super interesting. The hints at his dark past as a “god of death” and his current conflict with the egg are intriguing as fuck. Not to mention the MASSIVE builds he does for everyone, helping to progress their lore as well.

Fundy has a lot of freedom with his character to participate however much he wants in lore. While generally he’s a trickster who loves to prank people he has enough tragedy build into his backstory he’s able to break the viewer’s heart with a flip of a switch. Not to mention his recent, almost surreal, stream that explored his character’s disturbing dreams that may or may not predict the future.

Niki is very character driven, exploring her character's grief of losing her best friend and her anger of being ignored in the very country she helped create. She has incredibly emotional moments, and even though she’s on her own building an underground city she still participates in other lore via teaming with jack manifold or the syndicate.

Jack Manifold’s lore is VERY character focused, and while he’s described his story as a “B plot that occasionally intersects with the main plot”, the story he tells is still fascinating. Being pushed aside not taken seriously his whole life, his character develops into a fun cartoony-esque villain who begs to be taken seriously, that has the depth of a truly conflicted person who is torn between wanting revenge on everyone who’s done him wrong and just wanting a friend.

Last but not least, the man himself, Dream. The most fascinating thing about his lore is that absolutely none of it is from his pov. All we know about his character is only from what we see from everyone else’s povs, and in his case it leads to a very intimidating villain! Not to mention, mans owns the damn server and yet has made himself the main antagonist! He is the only character I consider a “true villain” on the smp. His voice acting and writing is downright sinister. I could write a fucking essay on how his character’s obsession with power has led him to the point he thinks himself an unstoppable god

Everyone on this server is stunning and I love all of them!!!!!

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astoryinred · 3 years

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"Trese" and the truth in the fiction

In short: why the actual monsters in Trese don't have horns, wings, or summoning rituals

Finally the Netflix anime adaptation of the Filipino graphic novel/comics series "Trese" has dropped. It is available in several languages such as English, Filipino, Japanese, Spanish...just to name a few. It is not a perfect work, both in technical terms as well as an adaptation of the source material, but it is worth a watch. Go watch it. Please.

That being said, there is so much to unpack about the series, and I do not mean in terms of the voice-acting and the ethnicities of the persons involved, or just how crunched together the writing is. I will leave that to the critics. What I am writing here is a view as to the real life truths woven into the horror/supernatural threads of the "Trese" episodes, and why these are important. It's because for a lot of people encountering "Trese" at this point, the actual every day monsters of the tale (or at least of the first 4 episodes) are even more distant than the aswangs, tikbalangs, nunos and other supernatural beings that populate the anime.

This will go into spoilers below the cut

Episode 1: The series opens with a train stopping right near the "Guadalupe Station", and some of its passengers being attacked by aswang as they walk along the railroad tracks. During the course of investigating this and another case (that of a ghost murdered on Balete Drive), Alexandra Trese learns that other spirits using this train line have recently perished in a fire or have also been murdered by aswang in league with a politician.

The squatter/informal settler community mentioned in this episode is based on a real one. That area has gone up in flames from accidental and not so accidental fires over the past few decades. Some of the settlers have moved on, but a good many have stubbornly stuck around despite the land being eyed by a large property developer. That area is a symptom of the inequality that plagues that particular part of the metropolis, since it is only less than a mile away from some of the country's swankiest gated subdivisions. While the powers that be are (probably) not involved in selling anyone for meat, they still have a long way to go to address the woes of that community when it is not election season.

As for the other murder in the episode? There have been several cases of women associated with or married to prominent politicians who have died in mysterious circumstances, with some of these deaths ruled as suicide. In many cases, the truth has been hushed up, or simply swept under the rug.

Episode 2: While Alexandra is pursuing the trail of a tikbalang running wild in the city, she also is called to investigate a mysterious series of electrocutions in a gated village. Along the way she discovers that this is a form of human sacrifice to the bagyons manning the electricity providers of the city.

As reprehensible as the bagyons are, what is truly sickening is the seeming indifference of the people in Livewell Village. It's mentioned more in the comics (but also given a line or two of exposition here by the Nuno) that the people regularly offer an outsider, usually a skilled worker in charge of maintenance, to ensure that the bagyon will bless them. In real life there is the callousness that some people exhibit towards essential workers such as yes, repairmen and electricians who have to endure heights and storms just to ensure the "comfort" of consumers. Although the Philippines isn't a country crawling with litiginous folk and "Karens", there are enough of this sort to make essential workers' lives miserable on a daily basis.

Episode 3: This is a difficult one, both in the comics and the anime. One of Trese's cases leads her to cross paths with an actress named Nova, who is later revealed to have had her child left to die (hence making her a target for a specific type of monster). Nova's story is admittedly not easy to deal with and may be considered incredulous, but there are two important contexts to remember when watching it.

The first is that abortion is still illegal throughout the Philippines. It cannot be legally offered by any clinic or medical practitioner. There are clandestine alternatives available, but at a steep price.

That being said, most Filipinos regardless of where they stand on the abortion issue will still consider the abandonment or murder of an infant to be beyond the pale. Yet this does happen. Every month one can expect to read a story or two of babies being tossed in the trash or left in bathrooms---and those are just the stories that make it to the press. There have been exposes about mothers who have sold off their infants to "adopters" willing to pay thousands of pesos or dollars for an under the table transfer of custody. These happen because of desperation, poverty, and lack of resources to support mothers. Maternity leave is only up to 120 days here in most cases, and there are few resources to support mothers with PPD, mothers abandoned by their partners, or those with just too many mouths to feed. Questions of "bodily autonomy" are not first and foremost in the mind of many women who do the worst to their newborns; the question is food on the table for the next day or the day after. Survival is key. Not independence or empowerment.

With these in mind, it is not surprising that Nova is considered one of the most disturbing and reprehensible characters in this episode. From what we see, her choice of abandoning her child stems from vanity and pursuit of a glamorous career. We can see that this is not because she would be out on the streets if she had a child to care for, or because she was escaping something. It's just portrayed as pure selfishness.

It is interesting that Nova is introduced here almost as a juxtaposition to another mother, Ramona. Ramona, the mother of Crispin and Basilio, is an armed insurgent who engages in a ritual to avenge herself on the military men who forced her to murder her own comrades. It is also implied earlier in the season that it was not just murder involved, but that Ramona had also been a "prize" given to the soldiers who captured her. And yes in this context, it can also mean rape. The Armed Forces of the Philippines does not have a shining record when it comes to its treatment of women dissidents and prisoners. This backstory does not justify what Ramona does for the remainder of her screentime, but it does show why she has absolutely no sympathy or mercy to give to anyone outside of her two children. She is part of a cycle of killing that makes any peaceful resolution of the insurgency in the Philippines so difficult to achieve. Both sides behave abominably, and civillians do get caught in the crossfire (or explosions).

Episode 4: Much of this episode revolves around the events in and surrounding a certain police station located near a large public cemetery. We see that the police chief Captain Guerrero has his hands full with cases and keeping his subordinates in line. The cops in the precinct range from the innocent apparent newcomer Tapia to the more stereotypical "asshole" cops Reyes and company. Later it is discovered that the bodies apparently "stolen" from the graves are resurrected zombies who are being directed to attack the station for a specific reason...and it has to do with how the police run their often bloody operations.

The real life neighborhoods surrounding the cemetery have seen their share of violence and "extra judicial killings". In some houses there are still candles and placards calling for justice for family members killed in raids or accused of having been drug suspects (almost a death sentence in the Philippines 2016 onwards). Eyewitnesses and CCTV footage show members of the police force taking part in these raids and clandestine operations. The worst part? The neighborhoods surrounding that particular cemetery haven't even seen the worst of it. Other disadvantaged communities in the north of the metropolis have seen even more deaths of this sort...with some of the deaths being those of children. Google the name of Kian delos Santos as a test case. Kian's case was one of the few to have extended media coverage, and even then the resolution has been rather wanting.

It is tempting to go into the "all cops are bastards" line of thought with this episode, but I do like how Captain Guerrero is forced to interact with someone who he is trying to save in the station, since as it turns out this person has recently lost a family member to this form of senseless murder. Captain Guerrero and the audience are led to remember that these victims have names. They had families. They had lives. They are more than body counts and statistics. That scene is one of the most humanizing of the series, and shows that while not all cops are bastards, there is enough rot in the institution to make it a problem.

Episodes 5-6: I would go more into Episodes 5 and 6, but those deserve a whole new treatment into the nature of truth, compromise, and even gaslighting (even I am not sure how much of a certain character's narrative is true, and how much is just meant to confuse Alexandra with regard to what she knows of her father). The context she does face before those harrowing revelations is a very real one though: things going wrong in a penitentiary.

The penal system of the Philippines is alarmingly punitive and full of inequities. Privileged inmates like politicians do receive special treatment (including media coverage and becoming leaders of factions) while less privileged inmates languish and must struggle to survive the brutal social hiearchy in some institutions. And yes it has happened that inmates have been sent out to do "jobs" of murder and arson in the outside world, often being snuck in and out. A movie that tackles this aspect better is "OTJ (On the Job)" directed by Erik Matti. That one will keep you up at night.

The ending of Episode 6 is rather ambiguous, and it remains to be seen what Alexandra really experienced during her trials prior to becoming a detective, and what her father really did to her and her sibling. We'll have to wait for another season to get to the bottom of that. But if the anime will continue to draw from the comics themselves for stories/case files, we can count on seeing more societal demons and baddies alongside the supernatural ones. And those are the villains that Alexandra Trese cannot just readily beat; it will take a heck lot more than a babaylan na mandirigma to handle those!

#trese #tw:infanticide #tw:gore #tw:abortion #tw:horror #tw: suicide #tw: implied rape

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usergreenpixel · 3 years

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Frev prompts, Part 4! 🎉

21. The protagonist is a high school student with a knack for drawing comics but they’re also the favorite target of the bullies at school.

One day the bullying gets so bad that the protagonist is unable to cope with reality anymore and, as a means of escapism, writes themselves into their new comic about their favorite topic - The French Revolution. With their favorite pen they had inherited from their writer grandfather, no less.

However, what was supposed to be a harmless little self-insert quickly becomes a reality when the protagonist is magically transported into their comic book and now has to navigate their own story and finish it in order to return to the real world, as well as figure out the mysterious powers of the magical pen.

22. Despite the fact that the days when the Bastille used to be packed with prisoners are gone, a handful were still trapped inside its gloomy walls by the time the infamous prison was taken.

The protagonist is one of the few prisoners who are sentenced to imprisonment inside the Bastille until they and the rest of the prisoners are set free by the revolutionaries.

For the first time in a long while, the protagonist is free but not all is sunshine and butterflies because the revolution is only beginning to escalate and the protagonist has long forgotten how to function in the society outside the prison.

With no other options, the protagonist decides to try and rebuild their life from square one, all while the events of the revolution are unfolding in the city of Paris.

23. Two friends, the protagonists, were raised together by a noble family as adopted wards and used to be close as children, but drifted apart when one of the two went abroad to get a good education.

Nevertheless, the childhood friends find themselves reunited by a pure coincidence during a meeting in the Jacobin Club, which both of them joined mere days ago.

All seems well, until it becomes apparent that the protagonists don’t exactly see eye to eye when it comes to politics in France nor the methods of solving the multiple issues plaguing the country.

This new rift between the protagonists only widens as the revolution progresses and the Jacobin Club gets split into groups on the basis of shared political beliefs.

Will the two protagonists be able to restore the friendship they used to have or will their new differences prove that maybe friendship isn’t always as almighty as people say?

24. The protagonist is acutely aware of the multiple injustices of the French society but they are not too eager to change things personally, hoping that maybe the government will find a way to fix things.

The protagonist, meanwhile, would rather focus on keeping their small family business (a bookshop) afloat and renting out an apartment in the house to make ends meet.

Soon, however, the protagonist ends up getting roped into the events of the revolution regardless when they accidentally overhear their new tenant discuss his plans in a hushed tone with a few other people.

The protagonist has all the evidence that they had unwittingly rented out an apartment to a revolutionary and now they have the evidence to turn that rebellious youth from Blérancourt in along with his buddies.

At first, the best course of action seems fairly obvious. Just report them to the authorities and be done with it.

However, perhaps these youths are more than just stupid kids playing at freedom fighting and maybe they can actually help the country.

When faced with the dilemma of either ratting the young rebels out or joining their cause, the protagonist makes a choice that ends up changing their entire life.

25. The year is 1811. Located near Saint-Petersburg, The Imperial Lyceum is a place where boys from noble families of The Russian Empire live and study. Perhaps the most famous Lyceum of all, it was home to plenty of those who would become prominent in Russian society of the time.

This is where the protagonist, one David de Boudry, teaches French to these boys.

Monsieur de Boudry knows that most of his students are blissfully unaware of a certain secret of his and likes it that way. It is best if they don’t know that he happens to be a younger brother to Jean-Paul Marat himself but changed his last name to avoid the associations.

Keeping this particular tidbit of his biography secret used to be fairly easy, until his older brother, Jean-Paul Marat, appeared in David’s life again on a snowy and frosty January day.

Marat is inexplicably alive, but he is also half-frozen and extremely disheveled when he shows up, not to mention the fact that he arrives with his wife and a very young child in tow. They all need a place to hide from the authorities, and fast.

Being a loving brother, David de Boudry hides his family and is now determined to keep them safe for not even a new name can sever family ties.

But, having made this difficult choice, will Monsieur de Boudry be able to reconcile his love for his family and the devotion to his adoptive home country? And will Marat be able to keep his loved ones and himself safe from the agents of police who lurk nearby and are quite hellbent on proving that the man they are pursuing is indeed the infamous Jacobin?

26. The protagonist is a sophomore who became a member of a Drama Club during their freshman year of high school and they are quite happy to finally have a friend group where they belong. Here nobody judges them for their stutter, their crossdressing and their fear of dogs.The protagonist is even allowed to play roles that would be normally reserved for the opposite gender just so they have an excuse to crossdress.

The upcoming play about the French Revolution is no exception and the protagonist is quite overjoyed but also frustrated that something just doesn’t ring true whenever they read their lines. Frustrated, they sneak into a time machine built by their parents and transport themselves to Paris of 1794.

They soon see that the city is in chaos and rumors about a traitor who had supposedly escaped the guillotine and went on the run with his family spread like wildfire. Moreover, the protagonist soon finds themselves in a bit of a pickle because of their name and physical appearance.

Even a man whom the protagonist saves from a mob advises them not to reveal their name and to lay low as soon as the protagonist introduces themselves. The protagonist is naturally confused but they do want to stay alive and free.

In order to survive, the protagonist decides to do what actors do best - improvise. It’s not easy, of course, but the protagonist tries to stay optimistic.

They hope that they will make it. They know they will. Giving up is not an option. After all, a Desmoulins never gives up. Right?

27. The French Revolution is not an easy period in history. It should be fairly obvious why.

The country is drowning in chaos and the future is uncertain, no matter how hard The Committee of Public Safety tries to maintain at least some semblance of order.

Meanwhile, in the heart of Paris, lives our protagonist whose main concern was not the revolution, but rather the fact that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep their inn’s doors open.

And then, one day, the unthinkable happens. A guest is found murdered in their room. Naturally, all the other guests are now suspects, and so is the staff. A diverse bunch of people with their own agendas, secrets and ties to the victim has gathered in the inn.

Sensing that something isn’t right, the protagonist decides to become an amateur sleuth and get to the bottom of the situation.

A “whodunnit” murder mystery is about to take place in the inn and the protagonist is determined to solve it.

28. A few years passed after the betrayal of the Thermidorians. The Revolution is destroyed and all of the enemies of the new government are dead… Except for one.

The protagonist is a patient in a mental hospital on the outskirts of Paris. Here the treatment of the patients is becoming more and more humane than it used to be before. That being said, the living conditions still leave a lot to be desired. Moreover, the protagonist feels isolated and lonely due to their personal issues and the trauma that caused them to become basically imprisoned in the facility.

Luckily, the loneliness disappears when the protagonist secretly manages to befriend another patient, a mysterious young man who is kept in isolation from the rest of the people at the facility, is forced to wear a mask to hide his face and is treated far worse than the others.

Horrified by the extent of the abuse that their new friend has to endure, the protagonist teams up with him to escape to Avignon, where the protagonist’s relatives live.

Little do they know, their new friend and partner in crime is an outlaw and a Montagnard, the last of them all, so when the two finally escape the police quickly catch wind of the situation.

Can the duo get to Avignon and avoid recapture? Will this unlikely friendship help them heal from their respective trauma? And will the revolutionary’s plan to avenge his executed friends be successful?

29. (Crossover with Greek mythology) When Adrestia, a minor Greek goddess, is banished to Earth from Mount Olympus for causing too much trouble, she assumes a human disguise and travels to France of 1789, where great changes are just around the corner.

Finally finding herself in her own element once again, Adrestia (whose human name is Adrienne) decides that she has no right to miss all the fun and joins the forces of the revolution. She is a goddess of revolt and a daughter of Ares, after all.

One would think that having a goddess on your side will make fighting easier, but things are not that simple and the other gods don’t exactly take kindly to troublemakers who go against authority.

Nevertheless, Adrestia is more than willing to try and help her new allies to win in their fight for Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.

30. When the protagonists first meet up in real life, they’re ecstatic. After a few years of chatting on the Internet, the two French Revolution enthusiasts have finally met each other face to face and now they decide to set an old plan of theirs in motion.

The duo wants to perform a time travel spell invented by their witch ancestors and change the way the French Revolution ended. The spell is successfully cast, but in the process the warlocks run out of magic and are now forced to wait in the past until they are strong enough to cast the spell again to return home.

But hey, at least while they’re waiting they can do what they always wanted to do - prevent the Thermidorian Reaction, and they are going to try to do just that, even though preventing a coup d’état is far from easy, especially for two college kids from the future.

31. It’s 1815. Joseph Fouché is the Minister of Police but his days in office are numbered and he knows it.

What’s more, rumors spread about the incompetence of the police as nobody can catch the culprit behind a new string of murders. Fouché hopes that cracking the case would restore his reputation, but something isn’t right about these murders.

So far, every single victim was a participant of the Thermidorian Reaction and it simply cannot be a mere coincidence. This pattern makes Fouché fear for his life and his reputation, as in addition to the murders the sins that he and his allies had pinned on their enemies begin to resurface.

Fearing that he is next and that his own crimes are about to be exposed as well, Fouché becomes obsessed with catching this mysterious vigilante. He even has a prime suspect in mind, but he can neither track him down nor prove that it was him.

Meanwhile, the time Fouché has to rehabilitate the police force is running out. Soon he too might face the music at long last, as well as learn exactly why sparing one of your enemies while killing the rest is considered to be a classic mistake.

Will the vigilante get to Fouché? How much time does the Minister of Police actually have left before karma knocks on his door? And why does the youngest police inspector in history, who is Fouché’s beloved protégé, turn against his mentor?

32. When the protagonist decided to sneak into the Catacombs of Paris for “shits and giggles” with their buddies, the last thing they expected was a sudden time travel to a closet in an apartment of a prominent revolutionary, whose skull the protagonist was holding in their hands seconds ago.

Naturally, the protagonist gets caught by the housekeeper and promptly accused of breaking and entering at best, and an assasination attempt at worst. It doesn’t help that the protagonist has strange pills and a baseball bat on their person.

But when they’re about to get prosecuted, the inhabitant of that same apartment suddenly speaks up on their behalf and defends the protagonist, claiming that it was a mere misunderstanding. Later, that same revolutionary visits the protagonist, reveals that he knows about the existence of time travel and promises to help, as long as the protagonist goes along with his plan.

Despite suspecting that the revolutionary has an ulterior motive, the protagonist does want answers so they agree to play along...at least for a while.

33. After the Revolutionary War in America, the protagonist follows his friend and mentor, Marquis de Lafayette, to Paris as he is the only family the hero has at this point.

At first, when the French Revolution rolls around, the hero still stays by his mentor’s side, never questioning his opinions and decisions and admiring him as a hero.

But after the September Massacres reveal Lafayette’s...less heroic side the hero is utterly broken and disappointed that he trusted the wrong person yet again. This revelation prompts the hero to switch sides and become a double agent, working with the Jacobins while pretending that he is still loyal to Lafayette.

Is this the correct choice to make or will the hero’s naïveté and a simple desire to belong betray him once again?

34. Maximilien Robespierre finds himself in a difficult situation. Somehow, everyone who crosses his path keeps going missing, only to turn up brutally murdered.

Moreover, Robespierre keeps receiving notes with rather...stalkerish messages written by the culprit. The stress and the crippling paranoia are slowly taking a toll on his frail body and he collapses altogether after finding out that Camille Desmoulins and Antoine de Saint-Just got attacked as well.

Fortunately, Saint-Just and Desmoulins manage to survive the ordeal and decide that enough is enough. After a long recovery, the two men decide to set aside their differences and track down the mysterious stalker before other people close to Robespierre get hurt.

Who knows, perhaps this buddy cop-esque adventure will even help Saint-Just and Desmoulins resolve their rivalry once and for all, now that a mutual friend of theirs needs both of them.

35. An immigrant enrolls into a high school in the country where they live now, a country located on the other side of the planet, miles away from their homeland.

Isolated from the rest of the students, shunned for their Eastern European accent (feel free to pick the specific country) and their Socialist beliefs, the protagonist has very few friends and even they are imaginary - three French revolutionaries whom the protagonist admires the most.

However, things change when a classmate bonds with the protagonist over their fascination with the French Revolution and the two decide to team up and write a novel about their favorite topic, all while the three imaginary friends, who may or may not be something more than a simple product of imagination, are guiding these kids on their quest to rehabilitate the legacy of the revolution.

P. S. The Fouché tag has been graciously lent to me by @frevandrest , the tag’s inventor. This needs to become an official tag imo.

#writing #writing prompts #frev #french revolution #louis antoine de saint just #saint just #antoine saint just #maximilien robespierre #robespierre #camille desmoulins #I still refuse to make a fouche tag #marquis de lafayette

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carriagelamp · 3 years

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Since it’s Pride Month, I decided this year I wanted to raid the library for a bunch of different queer books to read. Mostly graphic novels in this case, because I’ve had a hard time settling into much reading lately... thought hopefully now that it’s summer and I finally have my second shot I’ll be able to relax a bit more and dig into some heavier novels again. For now, enjoy some light, queer reads that I indulged in this June.

A Wolf Called Wander

A beautiful novel I had been hearing lots about. This story follows the young wolf Swift, who grows up knowing that he and his pack are the mountains, and the mountains are them. It’s in those mountains that he grows and learns and loves… until disaster strikes and he finds himself viciously torn apart from his family and forced out of the mountains that have always meant home to him. Forced to survive on his own. Swift then begins a gruelling journey that makes him face injury, starvation, and the everpresent danger of humans as he seeks a new place he can call home, and new people with whom he can form a pack.

This is all based on the true story of a tagged wolf known as OR-7, following the unbelievable route he took through Oregon and northern California! It was a very neat read, and I’d definitely recommend it if you enjoy stories told from an animal’s perspective because this book is a master class in it.

Bloom

I decided for June to try to read a handful of different queer books, and this was one of the first graphic novels I picked up. It is a super sweet story and the art is lovely. It’s about Ari, a boy who has just graduated high school and is now desperate to move away from his small town and his family’s struggling bakery, to join his band in the city where they hope to make it big. An agreement is finally reached: Ari’s father will let him leave, if he can find someone who can replace him in the bakery, which is how Ari meets Hector, someone who sees artistry and peace in baking. For anyone that’s read Check, Please, it gives off those types of vibes!

Boule et Bill: Bill est Maboul

Another book of Dupuis comics, because I can’t get enough of them! This one I just stumbled across and ended up reading on a whim but it was very cute. Geared younger than the others I’ve read, but still quite funny. It’s the charming hijinks of a young boy, his dog, and the family they live with. Each page or so is a different stand alone joke, a bit like Calvin and Hobbes except expanded beyond a single strip.

Chicken Run: Chicken Pies for the Soul

This was a ridiculous urge I got and had to follow. I recently rewatched Chicken Run (which is, of course, one of the best movies ever made) and felt the need to see if it had ever been novelized. Well, I found something better than a novelization! This is a chapter book with “advice” and stories written by the various characters, post-movie. It really does a good job with grasping the different characters’ voices and making something simple and funny out of it. It was very cute (and available on The Internet Archive if anyone else feels like reading something ridiculous!)

Doodleville

I picked this up on a whim and honestly, I shouldn’t have bothered. It was not very impressive. Very mediocre, awkward feeling artwork, and a story that only slightly manages to redeem it. The concept was kind of neat, and I did like how the ending came about, the rest was rather… plodding. I did not like the main character at all, her friends felt very Intentionally Quirky Aren’t We Cute :3 in a way that just tries too hard, and… yeah. Meh. It technically gets the “queer graphic novel flag” but it’s so in-passing that it feels rather excessive to give it that.

If you are interested, it’s about a world were doodles actually exist as living creatures that can be drawn into existence (the rather unsettling implications of which is never fully explored). This is all well and good, until the main character draws a monster and takes it with her to her art club... where it begins ravanging not only her doodles, but those of her friends. Together they need to work together to figure out how to stop this menace.

FRNCK v4

Phenomenal. I adore the FRNCK series, and book four wrapped up the first “cycle”, revealing several of the big secrets dogging the series so far, and changing how things are going to be able to run in the future.

If you haven’t seen me talk about it before, FRNCK is a graphic novel (a franco-belgian bande dessinée) about a young orphan, Franck, who’s chafing under the constant parade of uninterested foster parents that visit the orphanage he lives in. Determined to learn about his mysterious abandonment instead, he flees the orphanage… but finds himself tumbling through time, landing among a family of cave-people who rather reluctantly take him in and ensure this modern boy doesn’t die in the strange, dangerous new surroundings he finds himself in. You can get these ones in English as e-books, so if you want a really kickass graphic novel series to read please try these.

Haikyu!!

I’ve heard so much about Haikyu!! that I finally gave in and picked up the first book from the library. And I gotta say, it’s well worth the hype! This series really does capture the best parts of a good sports manga -- which is to say the team is filled with interesting, enjoyable character who all need to learn to pull together, boost each other’s strengths, and cover for each other’s weaknesses. Love me some found family tropes and this series oozes it in the best possible way. And then you also get some very cool action scenes as it makes high school volleyball seem like the most intense thing on earth. I can’t wait to continue it

Queer Eye

I haven’t been keeping up with Queer Eye but I was watching it ravenously when it first came out, and this seemed like a very cathartic book to read… and it really was. It had the same gentle, loving encouragement as the show. It doesn’t expect you to change your entire life, but to learn to embrace who you are, and take small steps to enhance those things. There a segment written (presumably) by each member of the Fab Five, explaining the mentality behind what they do on the show and how you can grow in those areas too. It’s very zen.

Spinning

I got this graphic novel out at the same time as Bloom, but it was the one that interested me less of the two... though that’s just because I have less interest in “real world” slice of life as a genre and this one is meant to be autobiographical. If you’re into that, you’ll probably love this because it really is stunning. Very pretty, and the format and pacing is all really well done. It’s a coming of age story for Tillie as she grows up dealing with a crosscountry move, complicated friendships, a burgeoning attraction to girls, and attending competitive figure skating classes.

This Place: 150 Years Retold

A stunning and heart-wrenching graphic novel told by a collection of different First Nation’s authors/artists, recounting oral histories about the 150 years since the colonialist formation of the country known as “Canada”. In other words, this is a post-apocalypse story, but one that really happened and that entire peoples are still fighting to survive. It’s very eye opening and beautifully told. Very strongly recommend the read, especially if you’re at all interested in history.

Torchwood: Serenity

Whoops, not technically a book. I had thought these were technically audiobooks at first, but rather they’re audio dramas that were played on the radio. Still, I decided to include one because I’ve been listening to them like a person possessed and they’re too fun not to at least mention. Let me indulge in my obsessions.

If you don’t know Torchwood, it’s a BBC series that spins-off from Doctor Who, focusing on the enigmatic and flirtatious Captain Jack Harkness, who is running the covert organization known as Torchwood, which is tasked to protect humanity from and prepare them for alien contact. It’s goofy and campy but also more adult and heavy than Doctor Who tends to get, so it is (in my opinion) a really fascinating series. Though it also has content warnings coming out the wazoo so maybe make sure it’s for you before delving in.

Serenity specifically is possibly one of the best Torchwood stories I’ve ever experienced. The Torchwood team concludes that there’s an undercover alien hiding in the idyllic gated community Serenity Plaza, and so that means it’s up to Jack and Ianto to go undercover as a happily married couple and flush out the alien without being discovered first. Even if it means being sickly sweet together, pretending to care about the local neighbourhood barbecues, and actually caring a bit too much about the Best Front Lawn competition. What is truly magical about this one, is that it manages to make it a Fake Dating AU despite the fact that Jack and Ianto are actually dating in canon. But they’re both used to dating as a pair of alien hunters with insanely dysfunctional lives, and who now need to figure out how to deal with domesticity. It is marvellous.

Wilderlore: The Accidental Apprentice

A middle grade novel that felt a bit like a cross between Harry Potter and Pokemon. It’s about orphan Barclay Thorne who wants nothing more than to be accepted in the rule-bound village of Dullshire, and live up to his apprenticeship as a mushroom farmer. He certainly wants nothing to do with the fearsome Beasts who live beyond the village, deep in the Woods or the sinister Lorekeepers that bond with them. It was, after all, a Beast that had killed his parents all those years ago. But when he finds himself at the very edge of the forest, hunting for an elusive mushroom, he is suddenly unable to avoid any of that. Not when a wild girl and her bonded dragon appear to summon a horrible Beast and end up getting Barclay bonded to it instead. Now, if Barclay ever wants to be welcomed back into his home, he has no choice but to venture into the Woods and find a way to sever the bond imprisoning him to the massive, monstrous wolf now imprinted on his body as a living tattoo.

I honestly can’t decide how I felt about this one. I feel like it’d be a really fun read for maybe a grade 5 to 7 student? I was a bit more meh about it. It was fine, but it was very hard not to draw unfavourable parallels to Harry Potter. But for a kid who’s never read Harry Potter? Or even an adult that has but is looking for something different to scratch that itch, this might be a good book to try. I’ll probably try reading the second book when it comes out.

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batneko · 3 years

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I've got a lot of details about the undead kingdom au that might never make it into comics, because I'm trying to keep the comics short and punchy, so I figured I'd type them up and post them for anybody who cares.

Feel free to ask questions too! My askbox is (almost) always open.

The Kingdom

So to begin with, why is there an undead kingdom in the first place?

Twenty-ish years ago, the kingdom (I'm gonna assign them letters like canon for simplicity's sake, so we'll call this U Kingdom) was a normal human one. They announced that they had a magical superweapon and even demonstrated it on one of their own villages as proof. For a couple years the neighboring countries had no choice but to agree to their demands.

But they'd all been secretly talking to each other and conspiring, and every reputable mage agreed that the superweapon just couldn't exist as described, so finally they declared war.

The war went on for many years. U Kingdom was overthrown basically immediately, but then all the other kingdoms started fighting over the land. It was so bad that in the present day there's a serious lack of men aged 30-to-50 from how many soldiers died.

Ten years from the present day of the comics, after seven or eight years of war, some survivor of the U royal family activated the superweapon. It was real, but it could only affect U Kingdom itself, hence demonstrating it on their own land. The entire kingdom was covered in earthquakes and eruptions, changing the topography and killing even more people.

There was no point in fighting over land that wasn't useful anymore (not that there were many soldiers left to fight with) so the various kingdoms signed a bunch of treaties and have been playing nice ever since. It helps that they pretty quickly gained a new common enemy.

See, all those deaths and all that residual magic led to a startling number of vengeful zombies rising up. Not to mention the chaos of the war being easy pickings for predators like vampires. There were so many (not inaccurate) stories about what a nightmare U Kingdom had become that it started attracting intelligent undead just looking for a place to chill… and necromancers.

Zombieman

Where did he come from? The same place as canon - Dr. Genus, who is a mage and necromancer in this AU. Zombieman had been on his own for several years when he heard that U Kingdom had become a safe haven for undead and other monsters, and made his way there. He gets along well with others, and is relatively human-passing, so he ended up taking a spokesman role.

As time passed many living people began coming to U Kingdom too. Some were the original inhabitants, who fled during the war and just want to come home even if it's different. Some were the families of dead soldiers, who don't care that their loved one is a zombie now, and U Kingdom is the only place they can live together in peace. Many other people heard about all the necromancers in U Kingdom and came to seek out their services.

Finally it became clear that this community needed organization if it was going to survive, and Zombieman was elected, much to his own chagrin. It's a lot of work and a lot of people rely on him. He's happy to have a makeshift family and people he can trust, but… it's stressful. And self-care nights and a slightly unhealthy wine habit aren't doing enough to take the edge off anymore.

The Heroes

Amai, Saitama, Genos, and all the other heroes we've seen belong to a mercenary guild in Z Kingdom. It's not that organized, there's no ranks and they should probably vet the clients better, but it's a living. Most large cities have a branch and a support system for members.

For example; Mumen and Garou live in a boarding house run by Bado's mom. The rent is extremely cheap because the guild already pays her to house their members. Saitama and Genos travel a lot, but most inns offer a guild discount. And Amai actually lives in a modest bedroom at guild headquarters (despite the fact that he takes more personal jobs from the nobility than he does guild ones).

The way it works is, anybody can put up a bounty for a job (within reason). Then any member of the guild can accept that job and receive a percentage of the bounty for travel and expenses, and they'll get the rest upon completion. There are limitations, they’re not hitmen, but anything that’s not human is considered fair game. A more typical job would be something like: there’s a giant fuck-off bear in the woods and we’re pretty sure it ate a horse, please come kill it.

The People

To begin with, there are no elves or anything like that. Humans are the only intelligent humanoid species. There are dragons, and dragons can take a human form once they’re old/powerful enough, but dragons are still fair game for the adventurer’s guild because they can kill thousands of people if they’re motivated (or careless).

There are plenty of monsters, though. Along with the undead, there’s werewolves, slimes, griffins, all kinds of stuff. Some are smart enough to be trained, but oftentimes it’s too dangerous to be worth it.

The Undead

The most common type, and the only non-ghost that can rise without outside influence, are zombies/revenants. (Both terms are correct though if you asked a snobby necromancer they’d probably say revenant is more correct.) Walking corpses. If they rise on their own they don’t usually retain much memory or personality, only hunger and a desire for vengeance. A necromancer can easily restore their mind, and that’s where a lot of the founding population of the undead kingdom came from.

The other way you get zombies is if a necromancer raises one themselves. This can be a bit tricky, since it requires the deceased’s spirit to still be lingering on the mortal plane. The more time has passed, the less likely this is, as well as factors like age and cause of death. You’re very unlikely to be able to raise an old person who died of a lingering condition that they’d come to terms with. Even a young person who died in an accident might pass on to the afterlife almost immediately, if they were content with their life.

It’s still possible for a necromancer to make a corpse walk around without a spirit, but they’re just a puppet, barely able to do anything if not carefully directed.

Then you’ve got vampires, of course, which are pretty much as you probably know them. A corpse cannot be turned into a vampire, only a living person can be converted and will then automatically rise as a vampire once they die. Vampires are the min-maxers of the undead. The strongest, the most powers, the most perks. But the most downsides and weaknesses as well, and remarkably easy to kill once you’ve got your hands on one of those weaknesses. A clever vampire can live for millennia and rule over thousands of underlings. A foolish vampire is likely to get killed within hours of rising.

There are also undead that are a bit more... unique. Made by necromancers from pieces of other things, or grown in jars, or started off normal and changed through strange magics. Zombieman is one of these. Zombieman is not, in fact, undead. He’s undying. As long as he’s in one piece his body is indistinguishable from a living human’s (aside from some slightly unusual coloring).

Even among the other experiments done by his creator, Zombieman is unique.

Amai Mask

What’s his deal? Where did he get shapeshifting powers? What’s he hiding?

Well all that is going to be covered in the comic, so you’ll just have to keep reading to find out!

#undead kingdom au #opm au #worldbuilding

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dkfvred · 3 years

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#TokYO! Let's GO!

Fashion. Food. Tourist Spots. A State of the Art City. Tokyo, a city in the sophisticated country of Japan. A city full of amazing people, great foods, hot tourist spots, trendy fashions, and great culture. Indulge yourself in the spectacular city of Tokyo!

Tokyo is a whole new planet itself, and it is a must-see for each and every travel enthusiast. Immerse yourself in traditional Japanese culture, discover more of the sophisticated city life, and transform into a real-life cartoon character. Not to mention the diverse, unique, and wonderful food choices available. There is just no city like Tokyo... and here is my very own Tokyo travelogue!

As you land in the city of Tokyo, you will mostly find yourself looking for a way to roam around the city. Here’s where the modern transportation system of Japan comes in. One of the most sophisticated railways around the world, having 13 subway lines and more than a hundred surface routes run by Japan Railways and other privately-owned companies, Tokyo’s transportation system was surely geared up to bag many world records. Most places in the city are accessible by trains, if not by short walks.

When using public transportation, make sure to stay off your phone and keep it on silent mode to avoid distubances with the people around you. If you happen to see a pregnant woman, elderly, or a disabled individual, be sure to give way and let them have your seat. It’s a law!

Going back to the first word of this blog, Fashion. If you are a fashion enthusiast, you’ll surely love it in the fashionable Harajuku District in Shibuya, Tokyo. If you like offbeat style, such as Lolita, a Japanese fashion inspired by Victorian and Rococo clothing, you’ll enjoy shopping at the colorful Takeshita Street. After seeing the colorful street of Takeshita, you may continue your shopping at the high-end stores at Omotesando while admiring the fine architecture on your way. Feeling tired? You can take a break at the lovely art galleries and fine cafes at Aoyama. You’ll surely love the cozy feels in their cafes!

If you love anime, you’ll surely enjoy going to Akihabara Electric Town. Akihabara will surely wow you with their complete volumes of anime, manga and gaming merchandises. Anime enthusiasts will surely find anything that they need for their collections—comics, CDs, figurines, cards, and costumes for your cosplays.

You can also check out the bizarre maid cafes where waitresses dresses in maid outfits inspired by the customers fascination with mangas and anime.

After a long day of travelling around the city, you’ll surely be looking for a place to eat. I always believe that food tastes a hundred time better after a long tiring day. It is noticeable that the foods served at the customers are meticulously prepared and presented almost the same as the picture you saw at the menu. The ingredients are also carefully selected to assure that the foods being served are fresh and full of flavours that will taste like treasure in your mouth.

You can find varieties of restaurant in Tokyo, whether you’re in a budget or you’d like to go-all-out and treat yourself in a nice and expensive dinner. Almost every food you can find will surely satisfy your food palate.

After a nice meal, you will surely want to explore the world’s tallest tower, Tokyo Skytree. Towering at 634 metre height, you’ll get the full view of the city and the fascinating city lights of Tokyo. You’ll also love the botiques on your way up to the observation decks. Located on the 5thand 6th floor is the Sumida Aquarium, you’ll find fishes such as sand tiger sharks directly purchased from Ogasawara Islands and Eels with different colors that will surely catch your eyes. There is also about fifty Magellanic Penguins in one of the largest indoor penguin pools in Japan.

Tokyo is full of surprises and surely won’t disappoint you. Anything you want? You’ll be able to find it there. Food galore? Shopping spree? Tours? It’s there. You’ll end up not wanting to go home after spending some time there.

There’s nothing not to love in this city full of wonders and uniqueness.

#TokYO! Let’s GO!

#tokyo #japan #shinkansen #harajuku #fashion #takeshita street #omotesando #aoyama street #akihabara #electric town #anime #manga #comics #cosplay #maid cafe #tokyo skytree #sumida park

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athena-is-a-chaotic-lil-shit · 3 years

Text

Of Ice and Blood

Part 2

Hello there! I present to you, part 2 of my orc x fem!human series!

I still don't know what to name this fic of mine

I should've thought about the title in the first place lmao

Anyways! I'll try updating constantly if I can. Enjoy reading!

Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Pairing: Tai'chi Kashharzol (Orc) x Pearl Blackbell (Human OC/Reader)

Warnings: Cursing, lots of cursing. Mild violence and mentions of injury.

UD 01/10/21 : CLEANED AND PROOFREAD PROPERLY (hey I did my best)

(reference to the mask she's currently wearing //her hair is still braided// )

Even with the tedious introduction the professor was on about, I couldn’t help but pick up the whispers of my human classmates, and the unmistakable nasty odor they were giving off.

“Hey. Look at that orc over there.”

“Tsk. Beast. Why is it even here—”

“I bet it’s gonna get suspended from breaking someone’s arm.”

“It looks like he’s gonna kill somebody soon.”

Snickers and clicks of disgust went around the group.

The professor shushed them, not quite knowing what they were talking about before he moved on.

I cursed, feeling my blood boil from their words. The orc wasn’t even doing anything! And they slander him like that? I would love to break their fucking ne—

No, damn it! No violence! Mama will go crazy if she finds out I broke someone’s spine. Behave and endure. Remember your training.

...but seriously though, I'm going to fucking snap their legs. Nah, perhaps use pepper spray on their eyes until they go blind, even though the mixture inside my spray bottle wasn’t made to have permanent effects on someone, but it would still cause great discomfort.

I hugged my backpack, the thought of my dusters inside somehow comforting.

I didn’t notice Tai'chi was taking glances at me out of concern while I was imagining how I’d smash those jerks’ faces.

************************************

My mind wandered around the interaction by the gates earlier, and how... contradicting... it was when I entered the building.

Everything passed like a blur as I continued daydreaming about other things, hardly paying attention to what everyone else was saying. Plus it takes a lot of concentration to survive their pungent scents.

A bell rang, bringing me back down to Earth. It was lunchtime already.

Everyone seemed relieved as they started filing out of the area and headed towards the cafeteria. [a/n: Ooh that rhymed] I failed to see the lingering glances of barely masked distaste in our direction.

I glanced at the or— Tai'chi, whom I found out was looking at me already, stunning me at how he stared for a moment before I broke eye contact and stood up, which he also did. I almost fell back down my chair when I scented him.

Wha—

How the fuck did I not smell him before?!

I must’ve focused too much on the awful odor surrounding me that it didn’t register this—

This, oh my God.

To describe it, it was simply so— manly (or is it Orcish?). Like the scent of fresh earth and the warmth of a fireplace in the midst of a cold night. Embers crackling and sending sparks up into the sky.

He doesn’t smell one trace of a beast at all! In fact, I’ve never smelled someone so clean, so pleasant, all the while exuding masculinity, and was that a tad hint of vanilla?

For the first time in a while, I couldn’t place what the feeling was exactly. He simply smells so— good. Which is a positive sign?

I looked up to his eyes once more before I blurted out, probably a little too high-pitched;

“Lunch?”

Seriously? That’s what comes out of your damn mouth?

“I mean, do you want to go grab some lunch? At the cafeteria?” I clarified to sound normal and unaffected, (even when I clearly am).

Was the last part necessary? You’ve broken noses, dealt painful blows like a skilled warrior, but you’re embarrassing yourself.

I was busy reprimanding myself that I nearly missed what he said.

"Sure.”

He straightened up, and I was then faced with the reality of how damn tall he is. Or is it because I’m short? I barely reached over 5 feet, and he is standing there, almost three heads taller than me. Was he hunching for my sake earlier?

Wowie…

I scented a hint of pride, and was that a small quirk of his lips for a second there?

Huh. My mask is a lifesaver, or else he would've seen my jaw dropping.

I followed him out and headed straight for the campus’ cafeteria, all the while trying to converse here and there.

****************************

'Trying’ was not the right word.

Definitely not.

It was surprising, how easy and nice it was to talk to him. I could scent his apprehensiveness when I talked to him at first, but he relaxed not long after I introduced myself properly.

It felt... natural.

I learned that he came from the Northside of the country and moved to the city last year to pursue his dreams and to find a better future for his clan. I also told him about my family and home, along with my reasons for being here, leaving out the… violent part.

“My family and my entire clan wanted the best for me and my brothers. Up in the North, education is… very limited. Although ever since we were young, we were taught everything from our clan’s history, how to hunt for food, what herbs and plants were poisonous, what were medicinal and edible, how to stay alive, survive and so on.”

He paused for a moment before continuing.

“But we were cut off from the modern world. Times are changing, fast. Global warming being a major problem, leaving a huge impact on our living. So, when my clan heard about a school in the city, open to all races, they turned to us, the youth, and we took this chance.”

I looked down and thought about how disconnected the others were, only given the freedom to modern society eight years ago. Eight years is a long time, but I guess it’ll take more than that for everyone to get used to the change. That doesn’t mean they should treat them poorly!

As I realized I’ve been quiet for a while, I shot up and apologized for not replying.

“No, it’s okay. You looked like you were in deep thought. I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Y-yeah… I was—”

“Thinking about how the majority of the human race still see us as beasts?”

There was a bit of spite in his voice, although barely noticeable. Or was it because I caught a whiff of it? No one was paying much attention to us while we were walking. But I noticed many of them hastily stepping aside and felt their glares at my back.

“How did you know?” I asked, curious.

“I could tell from your- I could tell, from the way you frowned earlier when one of those humans said something.”

Oh. He was looking at me that time?

“Frowned? But my mask—”

“It’s easy to tell if you are frowning when your eyebrows scrunch up like that. Believe me, my father does that a lot.”

“Ah. Well. It was just very rude of them. To talk shit about you and your kind like that, as if they were any better. You weren’t even doing anything, and they judge you based on your race. Orcs are civilized and intelligent just like any other, and I don’t understand why there’s still so much prejudice after eight damn years—”

I stopped and restrained the urge to go wild and curse every single human who smelled so foul every time we pass by.

“Sorry. I was...rambling.”

Was I this talkative? Maybe it's because I never had anyone to talk to.

He didn’t reply, which I found strange, so I glanced over at him and saw his eyes wide open and brows shooting up in surprise. It was almost comical.

“Uh, Tai'chi?”

Before he could even utter a word, we arrived at a huge hall where students were chatting and enjoying their lunch. Still, I noticed some humans were giving unkind looks to a gathering of goblins eating at the far left side corner of the cafeteria.

And of course, I didn’t fail to smell that wretched odor coming from a group of girls on my right when we walked in. I also recognized the one who pushed me, (No doubt it was intentional). I had to pinch my nose over my mask just but I could only block out half of it.

Ah shit, this mask doesn’t have proper air filtration.

I groaned as I tried to cut off the noise and thickened scents. For real, I wasn’t expecting it to be this harsh! I could literally smell discrimination and hate in the air!

Fuck. I should’ve worn my other mask. I swear I’m gonna burst if I stay and inhale more of that any longer—

“Pearl, are you okay?”

I groaned again and didn’t reply, busy controlling my sense of smell to even open my mouth. We were standing there like a pair of street posts, blocking a small part of the main entrance. That is if there was a 5ft- tall post. I’m more like that foldable caution sign.

“Pearl—”

“Hey, you there! Freaks! Move out of the way.”

Great. Another awful fucking odor. And what a coincidence! It was the one I smelled this morning!

“Are you deaf? I said—”

He shouldn’t have grabbed my shoulder, shouldn’t have tried to shove me aside, for the second I felt his hand reaching for me, and before Tai'chi could pull me away, my reflexes kicked in.

What did I do exactly? Oh, I simply grabbed that damned arm of his, threw him over my shoulder, and slammed him down on the tiled floor in front of me, finishing a one-arm shoulder throw.

The people in the area halted what they were doing and a short-lived silence came over, broken by whispers.

So much for keeping a low profile.

The guy I just performed basic self-defense on was spitting curse words at me. He was still on the floor, trying not to voice the pain in his back.

“Freak! You’re a monster, aren’t you?! How dare you do this to me. Don't you know who I am?!" he yelled.

Did he mean me or? Either way, what he said was not true.

I tried to calm my anger down and gave him a forced smile, under my mask, and mustered up the voice and tone I always used when I’m annoyed.

But right now, I am pissed.

“Now, dear, fellow, human, what you said was clearly untrue. I am entirely human and this person beside me is an orc. Or were you blinded by your overgrown ego and disgusting attitude to see the obvious in front of you? Surely that must be it. The entrance to the cafeteria is wide enough for two people to not serve as a hindrance to the ones coming in, but still, you chose to try and shove me aside yourself. Well, I won’t apologize but I’ve had enough pushing for one day. And lastly, no, I do not know you and I don’t care.”

I gritted my teeth, my face hurting from smiling forcefully. The cafeteria was quite silent enough all the while and no doubt they heard every word I said.

Fuck.

I twisted around and bolted out of the building.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck! I blew it! Fucking blew my chance to have a normal college life! Now everyone will think I’m some crazy person and would, without a doubt, avoid me forever.

I was too busy cursing and walking away, planning to hide in a hole for all eternity that I didn’t feel the presence of someone following me.

Without thinking much of where I was heading, my feet led me to a secluded part of the uni. Tall trees lining up before and around me looking like an entrance to a forest, and so I tried hiding behind one. Hoping that the guards wouldn’t notice and detain me or something.

I sat down between the great roots of an oak tree and rested my head on top of my knees as I took deep breaths and listened.

Nature always had a place in my heart. How could it not? When you can hear the chirps of little birds, the soothing sound of leaves rustled by the wind. And the peace that comes with it all.

Not to mention it smells so relaxing.

“Hello there.”

************************************

Haha! What will Pearl do next I wonder, and who is this person who followed her??

Had to cut it off at that part because my dearest self just loves cliff hangers—

And because I wanted to post something as soon as possible.

Hope you enjoyed! I will be working on the third part asap.

Tags: @kokokatsworld @crackinanutshell

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mistahgrundy · 3 years

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If you’re new here this is a reminder that my main thing I do is my own webcomic named String Theory. It, unfortunately, had quite a lengthy hiatus that just ended due to various real life stuff I don’t want to talk about.

Instead here’s a handy dandy primer for new and old!

Comic is about this butthole:

I’ve been drawing this comic for over ten years so he used to look like this.

Dr. Schtein was a little baby child genius that graduated from college with a doctorate super early and then proceeded to just sort of flounder and do nothing of importance but still maintain a “look at me I was a child genius” chip on his shoulder. He had a massive drinking problem. Still has a smoking problem and a drug problem (though these aren’t as bad as his drinking was). The substance abuse problems really ramped up (they were already there) after his wife left him about 13 years prior to the comic starting. If you do the math he got married when he was 20. Which is. not usually the best idea. I mean hey it can work out, but it did not for Dr. Schtein. He was divorced about two months into the marriage. He’d just turned 21.

Anyway he’s made some dumbass decisions that landed him in prison for most of a year recently. He pissed off the wrong people and he was being held without charges and everyone on the outside believed he was dead. He’s now out and about and kinda mad about it!

He’s in love with this woman, Delia Osgood, even though she’s 11 years his junior and frankly isn’t sure how she really feels about him. Also she could kick his ass.

Delia is also a physicist, but hasn’t finished her doctorate yet. She’s currently working in a crime lab for a super secret project for the government.

Delia moved to the US when she was in her late teens from London. Her mother is a librarian and her father is a former boxer, Winston Osgood. She has two brothers and one sister. She loves trashy metal and trashy romance books. She’s prone to making bad decisions in the romance department.

Phineas is a serial killer who’s been enployed by the mob in the past and present. While he was in prison Dr. Schtein met THIS horrible asshole. Unfortunately their lives are now a little bit intertwined. Schtein would really rather they weren’t, Phineas is of no use to him, but he’s the son in law of the guy Dr. Schtein is super fucking mad at, the guy who’s been screwing with his life for a year, so they’re going to keep bumping into each other.

Phineas is really obsessed with getting his wife back, who he hadn’t seen for a decade before recently as they were incarcerated separately. He’s not really capable of love, but he thinks of her as HIS.

This is Dr. Schtein’s best friend, Laurence, they’ve known each other since college. You’d think given the age difference that Laurence would have taken on the mentor role to the younger Schtein, but Laurence ended up being in the more submissive role, letting Schtein bully him into situations he would have normally avoided. They were not good influences on each other at all. They still aren’t, but they’re all each other has.

Laurence dropped out of college after Schtein graduated early and joined the navy (where he got those gnarly leg scars). From there he was kicked out, did a little bit of time in a military psych ward and then was homeless for a few years. He managed to get off the street working his way up the crime ladder, petty crimes, sex work, protection jobs, then working for Eliza Thanatos and then finally for her father, Darius. He was recently fired from that, so he’s at a bit of a low point right now.

Orville von Schtein, Dr. Schtein’s grandfather, who used to be a really respected geneticist. He did a lot of work for the government, he helped cure a virus that was destroying the US, after that he was working in a secret lab creating super spies for the country. He managed to create a handful before the project was scrapped and deemed irresponsible. These would be Cain and Abel, and the less powerful Judith (the frog lady), Eli (the disgusting goo guy), Frank (fire guy), Darren (lightning dude), and others who likely won’t be in the comic only mentioned here and there (a few of them are dead)

Orville’s weirdly sentimental and attached to these people, thinking of them as his own children. Which is odd since he basically put them through hell. The treatments to make them how they are were not pleasant. Judith thinks of him like a father, so with at least one of them the feeling is mutual. Abel extremely hates Orville and is genuinely scared of him.

After that he was working for a company in Chicago on some kind of weird ass fungus that was supposed to have therapeutic properties when he realized he was being framed for something within the company and he flipped his lid and released a modified version of the fungus killing almost the entire city (which was quarantined before the fungus could infect more people) and transforming himself into some kind of mycological lich. He is now basically immortal and having been alone for over 15 years isn’t too mentally stable.

He has recently left Chicago.

Darius Thanatos has been trying to get Orville to come work for him for YEARS now, Orville has been refusing until recently.

Darius Thanatos is pulling a lot of the strings behind the comic, he employs Abel, He’s the one who had Dr. Schtein busted out of the prison he’d been funding. Funding intended to funnel prisoners into his secret research labs as his own scientists futilely attempted to recreate Orville’s work.

Darius is a former mobster who owns a private security company. That’s the public friendly cover, anyway. His company supplies cities and businesses with police forces, does weapons research and manufacture, crowd control, you name it.

He has three children, Denise, Eugene, and Eliza (the baby of the kids). He’s not the world’s greatest father. His wife has been separated from him for over ten years, she lives in Rome. Denise’s mother, his previous wife, is long deceased.

Darius’ health is failing.

#what a big ass post

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noonaduck · 4 years

Text

In the eye of storm pt.2

Pairing: reader x Hoseok /OT7 Genre: Superhero &super villain AU, Smut, fluff, angst. series. Warnings: angst, gore themes Words: 4055

Summary: You lived in a world where superhuman abilities were reality. Around 15% of world population went through a mutations in their mother’s womb that scientists weren’t able to explain. These people with supernatural abilities were called meta-humans. Some of meta people decided to serve the world as superheroes whose job was to keep everyone safe. Like every coin people gaining superpowers had its down side. Because there wasn’t choosing who would born with extraordinary abilities sometimes the powers ended up manifesting in wrong people. Those people used their abilities for their own gain and the counter force for the superheroes was born. A/N: At first I’m sorry for the wait. i have been lacking the motivation to write so that’s why publishing the second part took so long. I wanna give big shout out and thanks to my new beta @s0seo . I don’t know where I would be without her patience to fix my grammar mistakes and her suggestions on how the plot should proceed.

1. < 2. > 3. coming soon.

[GIF belongs to it’s rightful owner ]

9 years ago in Scarlet City

Min Yoongi was proud to call himself super. Even though he hadn’t gained his superhuman abilities through a mutation like other super humans, he didn't mind. His father was one of the leading scientists in the field of gene research following the discovery of the first superhuman. Their home was filled with articles detailing the accomplishments and crimes of these super humans. Many of them were decorated with scribbles from both yoongi as well as his father. You could say that he was obsessed in figuring out the secrets of supernatural abilities. That was the main reason that he had spent most of his time in his laboratory focusing on his work. Yoongi's mother died in a car crash when Yoongi was only two. Although Yoongi couldn’t remember much about his mother, he could vaguely recall the comforting scent of her hair and how patient and kind she was always with him unlike his father. Following his mother’s funeral Yoongi’s father buried himself even deeper into his work than he had before, and Yoongi found himself spending most of the time with his father in his cold, desolate laboratory playing with empty test tubes and befriending the lab rats his father used for his experiments. Dr. Min looked like a real life mad scientist with his too big lab coat, messy black hair, and half moon glasses that he kept pushing up his crooked nose. He didn’t ignore his child on purpose; it was just that he was always so focused on his work that he sometimes forgot that he even had a son. The lack of other kids' presence in Yoongi's early years robbed him of any potential social skills and later caused him to become an outcast. When Yoongi was old enough he was sent to one of the strictest boarding schools in the country. He was often punished harshly for insubordination and was often misunderstood, because he struggled with expressing himself in ways that didn’t make him seem rude. He spent countless hours scrubbing dishes and mopping the halls as punishment. However, kitchen duty had its own benefits, and it was through those countless hours that he learned how to make basic meals, and was able to sustain himself and his father during school holidays when he was sent back home.During his free time Yoongi often buried his head in his comic books and closely followed the news about his favorite heroes while continuously finding himself wondering if he was one of them would his father finally notice him? Yoongi had always had mixed feelings towards his father. He wanted his father to see him as someone who was worthy of his love and attention. At the same time Yoongi found himself becoming more and more frustrated with his father. The only things he seemed to care about were the super humans he was studying and the powers that they processed.

The city was covered in a heavy blanket of snow, and Yoongi tried desperately to make his way through the buzzing city. Christmas was already knocking on the door, and panicked shoppers were running around like headless chickens hunting for their last minute Christmas presents. As he got close to the large building, he felt a shoulder ram into him from the side almost causing him to drop the plastic bag which carried a christmas gift of his own.

After glancing angrily towards the stranger only to find him already walking away with his phone glued to his ear, Yoongi let out a heavy sigh and watched a cold puff of air escape from his lips. He didn’t know what had come over him when he had decided to visit his father while he was working. When Yoongi finally reached the wide glass two story building he frowned and felt snow begin to fall from the sky. It was getting dark, and the only lights in the building were coming out from the second floor where he knew his father's laboratory was located. Yoongi knocked on the front glass doors and a few seconds later a security guard appeared from his booth to unlock the door for him.

‘’Merry Christmas Yoongi.’’ The familiar old mad man greeted him while flashing a toothy grin. ‘’Merry Christmas to you too.’’ Yoongi answered back, his lips in a straight line. He had always hated the holiday season. ‘’Is your father expecting you?’’ ‘’No. I bought him food.’’ Yoongi raised his arm holding his plastic bag to show the guard. ‘’Ah that's good. I don’t believe your father’s been eating enough. He didn’t even leave for his break.’’ ‘’I see.’’ Yoongi nodded as the guard stepped to the side. ‘’Say hi for your father from me.’’ ‘’Will do.’’ Yoongi nodded as he headed towards the main hall and ascended the stairs leading to the second floor. He walked quietly through the dimly lit hallway, stopping just outside of his father’s door. He hesitantly reached for the handle and released a deep breath before raising his arm and knocking on the locked door. After a few minutes, and a bit more knocking, his father finally appeared in the doorway looking surprised to see his son standing in front of him.

‘’What are you doing here, shouldn’t you be at school?’’ Dr. Min asked, confused, his mind already returning to his current experiment. Yoongi looked at his father and took note of his disheveled state

“He looks like a mess’’, Yoongi thought to himself. The stains on his shirt, his messy hair, and the bags under his eyes spoke volumes. Not to mention one of his lenses was missing from his glasses. ‘’Christmas is in two days.’’ He responded dully. ‘’Really? I didn’t even notice. Well, come in since you’re already here.’’ Dr. Min said, stepping away and letting his son in. Yoongi wasn’t surprised at how unorganized his father's workplace was. ‘’I bought you soup.’’ Yoongi told him reaching his arm out to hand the bag to his father. ‘’I see, thank you.’’ Mr. Min said, his mind elsewhere as he put the bag down near a metal table. ‘’Follow me I want to show you something.’’ he called over his shoulder already walking away, his face, lighting up and his hand gesturing to Yoongi to follow.

Mr. Min led Yoongi towards the tables where the cages containing the test animals were held. He saw a white rabbit with red eyes and three mice sleeping in the cage next to it. ‘’Animals. Why we are looking at your test subjects?’’ Yoongi asked his father with a raised eyebrow. I might have figured out a way to extract the DNA from one species, dissect it, and place it into another species to expand their traits. ‘’Seeing only confusion on his son’s face he continued. ‘’For example those three mice are paired with the DNA of snakes. I’m waiting for results now. I hope that I’m able to implant the ability to produce venom for these small creatures’’ ‘’Don’t you think that what you are doing is unethical. We shouldn’t mess with nature?’’ Yoongi questioned. Despite all he has been through he had high morals.

‘’Don’t you see son?! If this works we can soon create real life hybrids! Human’s with reflex like a boa and sight like a hawk! With enough time we could even create super humans of our own. just think about it, no more worrying about being too slow or too weak, we could make ourselves gods" Dr. Min’s face looked almost lunatic. ‘’Do the higher ups know what you are doing?’’ ‘’They wouldn’t understand! just think of the possibilities! I’m sure you understand after all you know how much this means to me! Before Yoongi could respond, one of the mice woke up and started coughing up blood. Soon the other two started coughing up blood as well. Yoongi saw that one of them had already begun to bleed from its eyes. ‘’The mice are rejecting the combination of the dna chains!’’ dr. Min yelled and pulled at his his hair in panic. ‘’What I did wrong!’’ Yoongi took a few steps back and turned away ,barely managing to reach a bin before emptying his stomach. Dr. Min, not even noticing his son’s distress hurried to open the cage of the now dead mice.Yoongi glanced towards the rabbit whose breathing had started to hitch, and in the spur of moment pulled the cage door open and picked up the shaking animal. The next thing he knew, he was running down the hallway holding the rabbit to his chest as he faintly heard his father yelling after him.. The only thought in his mind was saving the rabbit from the same fate that the mice had experienced at his father’s hands. However, what Yoongi didn’t know was that the bunny had already received an injection of something that would change both of their lives. ~

You knock on Yoongi’s bedroom door quietly and step in. Heavy black curtains are pulled in front of the long glass windows and only light in the room is coming from the slightly ajar door of the ensuite bathroom. You walk next to Yoongi’s double bed and look at him with worry covering your face.

Yoongi is moving restlessly in his sleep and sweating heavily. ‘’Yoongi wake up.’’ You shake Yoongi’s shoulder and he wakes up with a loud gasp, his hand reaching around your neck in reflex to defend himself. ‘’Yoongi it’s me.’’ You rasp as you feel the growing pressure on your neck. Yoongi’s gaze is wild and unfocused until his eyes finally make their way to your face. ‘’Y/N! I’m so sorry.’’ Yoongi cries out letting go of your neck, and you see a mixture of shock and guilt covering his face.

‘’It’s okay. It was just a dream.’’ You tell him as you take a seat on the bed next to him and take his still raised hands into yours. ‘’I could’ve hurt you.’’ Yoongi whispers quietly with an ashamed voice. ‘’Please,I was never in real danger. If I thought I was you would be on the floor right now suffering from literal and metaphorical shock.’’ You assure him as you rub his hands gently and ask. ‘’Do you want to talk about your dream?’’ ‘’I don’t remember it anymore.’’ Yoongi says, looking into your eyes. Even though his face doesn’t expose anything, something in his voice makes you feel that he isn’t being honest, but you won’t push it. ‘’Okay then, we need you in the meeting room. Namjoon wants to go through today's plan one more time. ‘’ ‘’I will be there in a bit. Can you give me maybe like fifteen minutes to shower?’’ Yoongi asks and pulls his hands away from yours. ‘’Sure. Come downstairs whenever you’re ready.’’ You get up from Yoongi’s bed flashing him an assuring smile and exit his room closing the door quietly. Your home was a penthouse located on the top two floors of one of the highest skyscrapers in the city. On the first floor was the kitchen, living room, one smaller bathroom, and Namjoon’s bedroom which sat next to a small home library (not by coincidence). The second floor was made of a balcony that opened over the living area granting clear view to the space. On the second floor were 4 other rooms, three of them being bedrooms in use paired with an ensuite bathroom in each and the fourth unused room had been turned into a gaming room. Even villains needed to let loose sometimes. You start walking down the stairs leading to the living room when you hear a door open behind you. ‘’Y/N wait!’’ Jimin hurries after you and stops you on the halfway point of the stairs. ‘’Yes?’’ You turn to look at him over your shoulder already prepared to hear bad news. ‘’Nothing, I just wanted to go to the meeting room with you.’’ Jimin grins and you roll your eyes in response. ‘’Let’s go then.’’ You say with a little sigh and lead Jimin towards a wall where a huge painting hangs. The painting wasn’t anything extraordinary. In fact the huge size of it was the only thing worthy of any attention. The picture was a abstract mix of red, blue and yellow lines and shapes. You touch the right side of the painting gently and a small hatch slides out of the wall next to the picture and reveals a small keypad. You type in the code, and the painting swings open like a door revealing the small hallway behind it containing three doors. On the left side of the hallway is a door that leads into the room where you keep your gear, your suits, weapons and other objects used for combat. On the right side of the hall is your practice room where you have some basic gym equipment and a large area to train your skills. You walk straight past the doors on both sides of the hallway and stop in front of the final door resting at the end of the hallway which leads to your meeting room. You push the door open and are greeted by the familiar space. The walls of the room are cluttered with multiple monitors displaying data, police reports, diagrams and other classified information.. what pulls your attention though is the big round glass table placed right in the center of it.you look across the room to find the all too familiar half moon shaped work desk thankful that it's placed right across the entrance.This table has even more monitors than the wall and is the place where Yoongi spends most of his free time. The table is faced towards the door so Yoongi can see whoever enters the room. However, this time it's not Yoongi who you spot behind the table. Namjoon is standing up and leaning over the work desk rapidly typing something into the keyboard while mumbling to himself. You sit in one of the( many chairs surrounding the round table, and Jimin takes a seat right next to you. Noticing that Namjoon is still unaware of your arrival, you raise your brows at Jimin in amusement , and he puts his finger to his lips to signal you to keep quiet. A wicked grin makes its way to his face but is quickly replaced with a focused frown and furrowed eyebrows. You watch as the half empty water glass on the spot where Namjoon usually sits at the table makes its way towards Namjoon. You can hardly keep yourself from giggling when Jimin stops the glass in the air right above Namjoon and begins to tilt it forward. Just as Jimin pours the glass of water on top of Namjoon's head Yoongi arrives, causing Namjoon to look up and instead feel the liquid pour down his face. Yoongi only smirks, quietly amused from the sight and takes his seat next to Jimin. Namjoon’s shocked face is hilarious, and a burst of giggles escapes your lips followed by Jimin’s cheerful laugh. ‘’Jimin!’’ Namjoon grunts angrily and wipes his face on his hand. ‘’Are you twelve or something?’’ Instead of answering Jimin answers between his laugh. ‘’You should have seen your face. It's usually so hard to catch you off guard with your hearing and all, but this is hilarious. The mighty RM completely misses me and Y/N entering the room and finally falls victim to a prank.’’ Jimin wipes his eyes, breathing heavily.

Namjoon sighs and shakes his head in annoyance. ‘’Well, since we’re all here, let's start our meeting.’’ He continues and comes to sit on the edge of the table across from everyone. Your giggles dry, and your faces turn serious as you all straighten your posture. You knew when it was time to focus on the situation at hand, and although Jimin liked to play around; he did too. Yoongi continues sitting quietly in his seat taps the glass table with his nails causing small clicking noises to erupt through the sudden silence. Namjoon clears his throat and the meeting begins. ‘’Thanks to Yoongi we have gained information about the whereabouts of the key. An armored convoy escorted by the Big hit’s private agents will be arriving in our city on the tomorrow night. At first Yoongi and i tried figuring out how to break into the van, but then we figured out that the van is just a decoy.’’ ‘’Are you saying that we were going after a false lead again?’’ You ask frustrated and squeeze your hand into a fist already feeling your temper rising. ‘’No, but we almost did.’’ It's the first time Yoongi speaks since his arrival. ‘’The real key will be arriving to the city on the 8:15 pm train from Sunside City escorted by three agents dressed as civilians. Isn't that the same time as the decoy?’’ Namjoon points one of the bigger screens on the wall with a remote, and a picture of a train car seating system comes into view. ‘’The problem is that we don’t know what the agents look like or where they are going to sit, but luckily we know its the fifth cart from the engine.’’ Namjoon circles the picture with a laser pointer and you arch your brows deep in thought.

‘’So how are we gonna find the key? Are we just supposed to raid the whole cart?’’ Jimin asks tilting his head on the side. ‘’No, that would draw r too much attention. We have came up with a better plan. Y/N and I will board the train in our civil clothes and pretend to be young couple.’’ Namjoon says, smirking. ‘’I have few ideas in mind how to get the key without being detected but I will return to them in private with Y/N’’ ‘’Are you sure that it's safe to show our faces in front of the agents?” you ask.

You know that you are capable no matter what you do, but you’ve never committed a crime without some form of disguise. Even when you were just a teenager breaking into stores in the middle of night you used a mask that you had stolen from a Halloween store. The irony of that was it was that the mask was shaped like a bat to represent a fictional superhero. ‘’I know that you aren’t the fan of putting your face out there but it's our best option.’’ Namjoon tries to assure you. ‘’Wait, won’t the guards notice that the key is missing?’’ Jimin asks. ‘’What's the point of revealing your faces if they are going to notice anyway that the key was stolen?’’ he adds frustrated. ‘’I was getting to that, but I’m being interrupted constantly.’’ Namjoon sighs brushing his damp hair backwards. ‘’I had to pay a long penny but I got JB to forge a replica of the key for us.’’ Namjoon reaches for his pocket and pulls out a small package from his jean pocket. You had heard of JB. He was the leader of a group called GOT7. Even though none of the seven members of the group had powers, they were highly respected in the business when it came to possessing items or information you weren’t supposed to have. The group runs a blackmarket tightly connected to the spiderweb. Some people believed that their gang was the one who ran the organization on the spider web, but no one could say for sure. There was a saying that if you didn’t find what you were looking for in their hands; it probably didn’t exist. ‘’He made a copy?’’ You ask, surprised. ‘’Yes, Jackson told me once that when JB was a teen he was a forger. He was skilled with art, passports, and money. If there was something that would make money he would learn to copy.’’ Namjoon confirms. Jackson was one of the members of GOT7 as well as one of the few people Namjoon could call his friend, and in this business that was rare. ‘’So let me get this straight. We are going to sneak on to the train as civilians, somehow switch the real key with fake one, get out and pray that nothing goes wrong and leaves us exposed?’’ You repeat slowly to understand everything. ‘’That sounds wonderful, I just have one small question.’’ ‘’Which is?’’ ‘’How we are sure that the BTS won’t be disturbing our plans?’’ ‘’I’m glad that you asked.’’ Yoongi answers instead of Namjoon. ‘’Jimin and I will attack the fake convoy escorting the decoy key and cause the attention to fall on us.’’ Yoongi’s eyes flash with excitement. ‘’We are going to be a decoy?’’ Jimin smirks pleased. ‘’Indeed.they went through all the trouble just to fool us, it's only fair that we have a decoy of our we should return the favor.’’

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theliterateape · 3 years

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I Like to Watch | Promising Young Woman (2020)

by Don Hall

In the pantheon of films made, only a handful stand out as truly understanding and communicating its time. Not documentaries or those based on true events but fictional stories that likewise mirror the specific zeitgeist (yeah, I used that term with a straight face) of a given time period or social movement.

Fifty years from now, when discussing the Black Lives Matter movement in the country, Get Out will be among the films watched for context on the American experience. It grasps the indelible feelings of the movement without mentioning it and is a stand-alone epic horror film at the same time.

The French Connection (1971) is not only brilliant but perfectly tells a tale of the beginnings of the War on Drugs instituted by Richard Nixon.

Casablanca (1942), unlike the propaganda films of most pre- and post-WWII movies, demonstrates an incredibly timely portrayal of the horrors of fascism, the values that heroes like Victor Laszlo hold, and illustrates an America that is a place for refugees to find freedom.

The Graduate (1967) is both a wonderful film and also expertly captures the transitioning from the idealism of post-Kennedy assassination to the craven capitalist emerging from the ashes.

High Noon (1952) is a grand cinematic device using clocks and real time as well as a window into the hysteria and paranoia of the McCarthy Era.

The Deer Hunter (1978), Fast Times of Ridgemont High (1981), Norma Rae (1979), The Great Dictator(1940), Wall Street (1987), and American Psycho (2000). The list is almost exhausting but spectacular at the same time. No question that you will, upon reading this, think of ten movies that fit this particular bill that I haven't mentioned.

While I gravitate to the optimism of Rocky (1976), the film of that year that depicts the isolation and torment of a young man disillusioned by the trifecta of the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam, and Watergate is Taxi Driver.

Set in a decaying and corrupt post-Vietnam New York City, Travis—played by a stunningly grim Robert De Niro—dreams of ridding the city of the filth and perversion he witnesses during his overnight shifts as a cabbie. The more Travis drives, the more he questions his purpose in life and grows deranged, ultimately leading down a path of violence, hatred, and even redemption.

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If there is a modern parallel, while Joker is a DC comics version of Bickle's journey into madness (although it more accurately makes a case for the existing madness of Incels), the more appropriate equivalent is without question Emerald Fennell's Promising Young Woman.

I'll confess that I didn't really want to see it. These days so much of film has become a series of lectures on social justice that, after the insufferable reboot of Charlie's Angels and the ugly one-sided and exploitative Them I just couldn't bother with more of the same.

It didn't help that they wanted twenty bucks to watch it. Then, when Dana and I were flying back to Vegas from a visit with my father-in-law in Pennsylvania, she watched it for free on the inflight. She loved it and, being that Dana is a notoriously finicky critic of film, the recommendation did not fall on deaf ears.

The premise is not what I gleaned from the trailers (Carey Mulligan does not play a serial murderer so much as serial justice seeker) and, like all superior satires, everyone (including the protagonist) gets a bit of shade.

In the opening minutes of Promising Young Woman, Cassie (a deeply sardonic and wearily angry Mulligan) walks down a street with blood dripping down her leg eating a hot dog. She’s just left the home of Adam Brody, a beta-male who couldn't resist the temptation. She must have murdered him. Nope. It's ketchup from her phallic snack. In a single moment, you realize that Fennell has decided to subvert the male revenge fantasy for something wholly different.

Cassie, a medical school dropout, lives with her parents and works as a barista. She lives with the trauma of her best friend Nina Fisher's rape by a classmate. As a response, Cassie spends a night a week pretending to be the drunk single hot chick in bars. She's looking for the 'nice guys' who invariably offer to take her home and instead take her to their home with the intent to rape the helpless inebriate. She lets them go far before snapping the rubber band and revealing she's completely in control.

Cassie has a book of names. In it she keeps track of every 'nice guy' she confronts as well as another list directly related to Nina's rape. The college dean (Connie Britton) who did nothing when Nina reported her rape; the med school friend (Alison Brie) who dismissed the accusation as crying wolf; the lawyer (Alfred Molina) who bullied Nina into dropping the court case. She plays twisted pranks on them if they haven't yet seen the Nina she knew. She wants them to understand the gravity of their collective action.

After a chance meeting with an actual nice guy (a disarmingly adorable Bo Burnham), Cassie sees a way out of her dark quest. From this point, Fennell does something unexpected and remarkably effective: the film bounces back and forth from dark revenge fantasy to heartwarming romantic comedy in a whiplash manner. It's hard to keep up and serves to keep us guessing throughout.

Fennell (who also wrote the thing) has described Cassie's rage as "like an ingrown toenail" and Mulligan portrays Cassie with the numb pain of that feeling. Fennell isn’t content to simply paint the men as the problem; everyone involved, men and women, are culpable agents. Certainly the men who rape are the actors of personal destruction but the men and women who do not rape yet cover-up or minimize the damage are equally as guilty and ripe for Cassie’s meted out justice.

Travis Bickle was a young man traumatized by war and the abandonment he felt as society realized he was fucked up by a system designed to fuck him up. Cassie Thomas is a young woman traumatized by a system in place designed to fuck her and discard her like a piece of trash.

In fifty years, when college students are watching popular culture for insight into the #MeToo movement, Promising Young Woman will be on the watchlist.

#I Like to Watch #Promising Young Woman

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