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story-weavr · 6 months

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Dresden Clan

A powerful family of wizards & magic-users, some of whom aren’t entirely human.

The clan’s patriarch is Harry Dresden 🔥, the Wizard of Chicago, Warden of Demonreach, the Eye-Killer, owner and head PI of *redacted*, Lord of *redacted*, Founder & Council Member of the Paranet, & all around scary MF.

His scion are nothing to scoff at either.

Margaret “Maggie” Angelica Dresden 🧙‍♀️🍃🌬️ _ Witch of the Ways

Maggie is the eldest Dresden girl, born of Harry Dresden & Susan Rodriguez

She travels the world alongside her sister Bonnie. Where trouble occurs, she is not far behind. She is ruled by her heart, soft & just.

Any who judge her as naive would be a fool. Her cunning and knowledge make her someone never to be underestimated. And she is quite unforgiving to those she deems irredeemable.

Bonea “Bonnie” Silkke Dresden 📖 💀 😇 😈 _ the Nephilim of Intellect

Bonnie is the second-born Dresden, daughter of Harry Dresden and the Fallen Angel Lasciel through a piece of her named Lash. She was originally a spirit of intellect. Bonnie’s father, fearing for his daughter’s freedoms, was able to give her a physical body of her own.

Bonnie travels with her sister Maggie, usually as a skull perched on a wizard’s staff. She desires to gain knowledge in whatever category. That includes experiences which can only be done in person.

She chooses to stay in her skull because, according to others, her appearance “scares the ever-living hell out of people, vanilla or not.” Just looking at her ethereal beauty makes one feel they are looking into the abyss and sensing that something with teeth is grinning hungrily back.

Usually, Bonnie is a quirky and sweet lass with a repository of knowledge she easily shares with those she trusts. But in hostile situations, god forbid she comes out to play.

Faith “Faye” Justine Raith 💗💘💖💅 🌸 🌹 💰 _ Witch of Love

Faye, the daughter of Thomas & Justine Raith, was under the guardianship of her paternal uncle, Harry Dresden, since birth. The reason being *redacted*

Faye is a creature who exudes sweetness, charm, & charisma. Her playful girlish charm, however, is not all there is to her. Her sharp mind and dedication to her craft has allowed her to set up several thriving businesses within Chicago.

Jaqueline “Jackie” Rose Dresden 🗡️ 🩸😈👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨 👩‍⚖️ _ the Renegade Valkyrie

Jackie is the third-born Dresden scion, daughter of Harry Dresden and Karrin Murphy the Einherjar.

Jackie, despite being 5ft tall, is a force of nature, one who bucks at being controlled. Her blood sings during battle. She does, however, have a softer side. One that loves and desires to protect what matters. One who’d follow someone and something she truly believes in to the depths of hell.

She and her lover turned husband, Hendrick Gard, work as PI’s at her father’s firm. They also act as agents for her father’s less mundane territories.

Warning: ‼️ Below is Wizard Baron

Amanda “Mandy” Beckett Marcone 💀 👻 🥀 👩‍🦽👰🏻‍♀️👸🏻_ Goddess of Death & Rebirth

Amanda was born to Greg & Helen Beckitt. Her normal life was ended when she received a gunshot intended for another. Amanda languished in a coma on death’s door, her only real happiness when her guardian Johnny came.

Then it changed again. She felt better, but Johnny didn’t come as much. She soon however got a visitor.

It wasn’t until much later, after Amanda had woken up and was taken in by Baron John Marcone, that the young woman discovered the identity of her friend.

Zagreus, Greek god of Rebirth, son of Hades & Persephone, married his true love only after a very long, painful courtship. It would have been longer if not for Harry Dresden managing to persuade his consort Johnny to finally let the young couple marry.

The couple took their duties as gods quite seriously. However, they still managed to make frequent visits to visit their friends & relatives in Chicago.

Mandy blossomed under the love and protection of her family. She became a wise ruler with dedication, love, & serenity in her heart.

Malina “Mali” Alessandra Dresden 🌊 🌲🌆_ the Lady of Chicago

Malina is the youngest of her sisters, born from Harry Dresden after an “incident” with his now husband Gentleman John Marcone, Baron of Chicago.

Mali is a witch who feels a deep connection with Chicago. She is also a sweet girl who puts others first, often volunteering at local charities. Sweetness and goodness shine from her dollar bill green eyes.

If she needs to, she’ll fight. She won’t like it, but she will fight.

Very well.

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feydfuckernation · 6 months

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24. a song from a soundtrack (musical, movie, video game, etc.) please give me more ost to listen to lion

music asks 🎵

inhales

LION'S UNNECESSARILY LONG GUIDE TO MUSICAL OSTS

a full playlist can be found here but here are some highlights

he's the wizard, you can't win, slide some oil to me and don't nobody bring me no bad news from the wiz

what are you thirsty for, you can't have me (if you don't have him), vamp and take it up a step from some like it hot

the king of all broadway and betrayed from the producers

prologue: invisible, the whole "being dead" thing, the whole "being dead" thing part 2, dead mom, fright of their lives, no reason, say my name, that beautiful sound and creepy old guy from beetlejuice the musical

goosebumps and the story of the phantom from goosebumps the musical: the phantom of the auditorium

one night in bangkok and press conference from chess (the original recording)

the story of chess, press conference, where i want to be, quartet (a model of decorum), anthem, the interview, someone else's story, pity the child #2 and endgame #3 / chess game #3 from chess in concert

overture / and all that jazz, when you're good to mama, all i care about and we both reached for the gun from chicago

bikini bottom day, (just a) simple sponge, super sea star savior and i'm not a loser from spongebob the musical

prologue, pierre and dust and ashes from natasha, pierre and the great comet of 1812

the neva flows, once upon a december, stay i pray you, quartet at the ballet and still / the neva flows (reprise) from anastasia the musical

god i hate shakespeare, a musical and hard to be the bard from something rotten!

king herod's song from jesus christ superstar (2000) and superstar from jesus christ superstar (1996)

look for the light, which of the pickwick triplets did it and creatures of the night from only murders in the building (death rattle dazzle! the musical)

the ballad of sweeney todd, the barber and his wife, the worst pies in london, my friends, green finch and linnet bird, johanna, pirelli's miracle elixir, epiphany, a little priest, god that's good, johanna (act 2 sequence), by the sea, not while i'm around and the ballad of sweeney todd (finale) from the 2023 revival of sweeney todd: the demon barber of fleet street

your song, children of the revolution, one day i'll fly away, elephant love medley, el tango de roxanne, sparkling diamonds, come what may, like a virgin and the show must go on from moulin rouge

be italian, my husband makes movies, unusual way and take it all from nine

til i hear you sing, beneath a moonless sky and devil take the hindmost (quartet) from love never dies

love thy neighbor from the prom

four jews in a room bitching, the thrill of first love and i'm breaking down from the 2016 revival of falsettos

revolting children from matilda the musical

feed the birds (tuppence a bag) from mary poppins and underneath the lovely london sky, a conversation and can you imagine that from mary poppins returns

at all costs from disney's wish

the entire across the universe soundtrack

#this took me an hOUR #answered #ukn0ws

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museeeuuuum · 1 year

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Got any good book recommendations? I suppose it doesn't have to be museum-y related uwu

Hello!

Thank you for this lovely little distraction ❤️

I'll suggest a few different things so you can pick your poison depending on the mood you're in!

Fiction

- The Dresden Files series (Jim Butcher) - The series is 16 books long but I shit you not, I will sit and devour this series in under a fortnight. It reads like a great TV show from 2005. It's campy, and it's about a wizard PI in Chicago. A very easy read despite the length of the series.

- Circe (Madeline Miller)- my all time favourite book. Written beautifully. I will crush this book in under 24 hours if the feeling strikes me. Just a solid book.

- The Secret History (Donna Tart) - yes, I'm one of those people. I like how it's written, even if it's written by a woman who seemingly hates women. You know that scene in Knives Out where Daniel Craig is like "It makes no damn sense. Compels me though". That's me and this book.

- the Belgariad (David Eddings) - do you like high fantasy? Do you like dnd and lord of the rings and all that? Read this series. This series got me into fantasy as a kid. Written mainly by a dude but you can tell when his wife chimes in because certain characters bicker in a way that only close relatives or an old married couple could. This series was life changing for me.

- All the Crooked Saints (Maggie Stiefvater) - just a good weird book about miracles and owls.

- Annihilation (Jeff Vandermeer) - better than the movie. This is a horror book. It is unsettling and beautiful.

Historical Fiction:

- Sacred Bleu (Christopher Moore) - features the personification of the colour blue as a muse and a character named Poopstick. You WILL learn about art history against your will (but you will enjoy it)

- Girls Waits with Gun (Amy Moore) - about the first lady cop in the early 20th century. First book was good, the rest were .. fine?

Museum books:

- The Feather Thief (Kirk Wallace Johnson) - I haven't actually finished yet this but my friend recently bought it for me and I am stoked about it. I watched a video essay on the topic, and it's... cool. I LOVE heists. Probably shouldn't as a museum person, but I just love it okay?

- Anarchists Guide to Historic House Museums (Deborah Ryan) - didn't read this in full but it was a really refreshing take on house museums. I know several of my coworkers have this on their bookshelves and I am hoping to add it to my own sometime soon

- All the Beauty in the World - haven't read this one yet but its on my list. It's a memoir (?) Written by a long time security guard at the MET.

I feel like you will know me a little better after reading through this list. I'm a sucker for heists and happy endings. I like to laugh, I like to learn.

Thanks for the ask ❤️

#I was thinking about doing a museum book video for the channel but I don't think I have actually read enough books about museums that are #interesting

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oh-dameron · 1 year

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Monkey D Luffy is the only wizard PI in the Chicago phonebook.

Luffy's magic is almost entirely around physical augmentation. He's developed a signature technique that lets him stretch his body. He can't explain how he does it, and no-one else has the faintest idea how he's doing it. Luffy has vast stores of mana and willpower but his fine control isn't great. When he gets involved in a case the only things you can be sure of are that he'll win, and that the property damage will be ludicrous.

Zoro is the Knights of the Cross. All three of them (overacheiver). Technically he never gets lost, but only because he never really knows where he is to begin with: he just walks in a direction, gets on any bus or plane that presents itself, and Providence delivers him wherever he's supposed to be. It's not often the destination he had in mind when he set out, but there generally ends up being a fight so it all works out.

Nami is a wizard who never joined the White Council. She's an elementalist with specialties in air and water, and while she doesn't have Luffy's vast reserves of mana her control is a lot more precise. Once she got away from evil wizard Arlong Du Morne's mind control she set to travelling the Never-Never, mapping new pathways and shortcuts through the dream world. When she isn't travelling she lives in the Chicago house her mother left to her. She is deeply involved in the paranormal community, and works hard to protect her people from magical threats. She is Luffy's first phonecall whenever anything happens and does most of the actual detective-ing.

Usopp has six or more side-hustles instead of a regular job, including graphic design, freelance paranormal reporting, and providing endless mechanical repairs for Luffy's clapped-out VW Beetle (the car was originally blue but half the panels have been replaced. There is a bobblehead sheep ornament on the dashboard). He has no innate ability for magic, but he's worked out gadgets that let him use it anyway: goggles to let him see spellcasting, a skateboard that runs on mana dials, a sligshot that fires arcane bullets. He helped Nami upgrade her wand and in return she graciously lets him house-sit for a reduced rate when she's out of town and run a workshop out of her garage (Usopp says he should be paid for watering her plants. Nami claims he's squatting and owes her rent. Usopp says you can't tell tenants to sleep in the garage the one week in four you are home. This argument has been ongoing for serveral years at this point).

Sanji hit a rough patch after he distanced himself from his birth family (again): he ended up crashing on the ratty sofa in Luffy's one-bedroom basement apartment for far too long (thoroughly foiling Usopp's plans to have a regular alternate crashpad for that one week in four). The White Court vampires have backed off for now: Reiju is a lot easier to deal with than Judge, though if anything she's even more dangerous. It's not easy being a semi-reformed incubus, but it's been better since Sanji's started working as a stylist, flitting around beautiful women all day and sustaining himself through the intimacy of the salon. He'd rather be back working as a chef at the Baratie, but as much love as he puts into the food he can't draw nourishment from it. He's slowly starving, but his code won't allow him to feed on unwilling people.

Chopper is a reindeer were-human. He's working as a medical examiner for now because he's just not used to humans enough to pretend to be one full-time. Also, he's too young for living patients to take him seriously just yet. He likes cotton candy and polka music (he does not like being complimented, bastard!).

Robin is The Archive: a magical repository of all human knowledge. The construct resides in a human and is passed down from mother to daughter. Twenty years ago The White Council determined that The Archive presented a threat and assassinated the previous Archive, passing the sum of all human knowledge to an eight-year old. They have hunted Robin ever since in an attempt to finish the job.

Brook is a Spirit of Air and Intellect bound to a real human skull. He is Luffy's tutor in all things arcane. Likes: panties, dirty books, music, the internet. Dislikes: sunlight, ghosts, being bound to a skull. When the situation calls for it Luffy can attatch the skull to a dummy skeleton and Brook can pilot it around like a body. The skeleton is eight feet tall (it was from Home Depot) and he still has a skull for a face, so it's not an everyday thing ("I'll wear an afro wig, a top hat, a purple suit and sunglasses! No-one will notice my face, not that I have a face for them to notice! Yohohoho!"). Luffy always lets him pick the music.

I'm not sure about Franky, Jimbe, Vivi (Summer Lady?) or Yamato, though I have Thoughts about Svartalves, Formorians, and Kincaid.

Luffy is not popular with the Marines White Council of Wizards, but having a powerful grandfather high up in the organisation helps. The old man can't stand politics, but he's strong enough that the others can't just ignore his opinion.

Monkey D Dragon is busy at the Outer Gates.

The Order of the Blackened Denarius is led by Rob Lucci.

Gecko Moria was leading the Black Court vampires but shit has kind of gone sideways for them ever since they went all-in on summoning the Last Titan (whose ass Luffy kicked).

There are no confirmed members of the Black Council, but lbr it's Blackbeard and crew.

Whitebeard is Vadderung, which makes Marco and Ace Valkyries (you're welcome) I guess and Ace could be an Einherjaren but that's less fun

Shanks is the Leansidhe.

Law is Marcone (sorry I don't make the rules). unless Crocodile is Marcone. Hmm, both? Either?

Kaido was the head of the Red Court of Vampires, but good luck finding any of them to ask how that's going. He's also an Actual Dragon sometimes called Ferrovax.

There's an incredibly powerful guy who doesn't have a crew and just hangs out in his big gothic castle by himself: Drakul Mihawk (that's it he's just the same guy, down to adopting the remains of the Black Court).

#one piece #dresden files #monkey d luffy #roronoa zoro #sanji #nami #nico robin #tony tony chopper #usopp #mashup #kind of astonished this all fits together as well as it does tbh #one piece urban fantasy AU

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quibliography · 10 months

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Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Synopsis: This novel is about a professional investigative detective slash wizard. Harry Dresden is struggling to make business ends meet when he gets a call from a woman named Monica Sells asking to hire him to find her missing husband. It's just the job he needs to cover next month's rent when he gets another call from Lieutenant Karrin Murphy, director of the Special Investigations Unit of the Chicago Police Department. This one is a grisly double murder but that isn't the most disturbing part. Someone out there is practicing black magic. And they seem to be more powerful than even Dresden.

My Quibs: I've been meaning to read Jim Butcher and I'm a big fan of noir so I was hoping this was going to be right in my wheelhouse. Although I just learned this novel was Butcher's writing debut so I might cut him a little slack. But I don't think I really need to since I generally enjoyed it. The main protagonist is more or less entertaining if not a tad cliche. I appreciate his attempt to balance being self-degrading and egotistical (about being the only one capable of epic levels of magic). Now that I think about it, it gives me El from Scholomance vibes, but luckily he isn't an angsty teenage girl. He's just a self-aware douchebag, which I guess is the foundation of a noir inspired PI. It wasn't the characterization of our hero that I had an issue with. It was Butcher's use of the femme fatale. So first we have Monical Sells. Like Dresden, she's pretty much a copy of the classic character: doe-eyed, vulnerable, sexy, etc. Fine. Then we get Lieutenant Murphy. She's confident and firm, but because she looks like a cheerleader? Being blonde and petit and cute gives her a complex and an attitude. Ooookay, fine I guess. Then we get Susan Rodriguez, a reporter who knows she's attractive and how to leverage it. 🙄 *le sigh* And then there's Madame Bianca St. Claire, Linda Randall, I could go on. Butcher just barely toes the line between objectification and appreciation. Dresden even says "She would have punched me in the mouth for being a chauvinist pig." And I may have been able to tolerate it if it was more equal, but besides our protagonist all the male characters are distinctly unattractive. From paunchy idiot cops to a thief who is "short, harried-looking [with] hair [a] listless shade of brown". We get it, Harry, you're super straight. Girls are pretty and boys are not.

Should you read it? If you like classic noir and gritty supernatural elements, sure you should give Dresden a try. I'm wavering on if I should continue the series though because it takes Butcher a couple more books before he finds his footing.

Similar reads? At least for his debut, Storm Front doesn't deviate from the dictionary definition of either urban fantasy novels or classic noir stories. It's not distinctive enough for me to find an equal.

(Spoiler Alert!) Haha. Spoil this novel? Impossible. Even though it's a mystery, Butcher follows the blueprint for detective mystery. It's like watching a procedural television series. You more or less know what's going to happen and should just follow along for the ride. Come for the banter, not the "captivating" plot.

What did you think of Storm Front?

#jim butcher #storm front #the dresden files

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yuvon-augold79 · 2 years

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Heyo! <3

What TV series do you recommend? I'm trying to find a good series ^^

Have a great day/night!

Hiya! :D Sorry for responding a bit late :(

Uh. Honestly, you're coming to exactly the wrong person about this XD I mostly play video games, I don't really watch movies or TV shows often.

That said, I did enjoy the TV series version of the Dresden Files. It only had one season and it isn't much like the book series, but it's got the spirit down perfectly. I don't remember all the content warnings, though I'm sure they can be found somewhere, but the basic premise is that a wizard works as a PI, set in modern day Chicago. All the main characters are very snarky, it's wonderful. It's a pretty gritty, Supernatural-like world, so if that isn't your kind of thing you should probably give this a pass.

Hope this can at least help a bit :) Have a nice day/night! <3

#artic willow #yuvon speaks

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aliveandfullofjoy · 3 years

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So I was reading about the first Oscars ceremony, and it had a division between Outstanding Picture and Best Unique & Artistic Film, where Unique & Artistic was apparently meant to be an equal to Outstanding Picture but dedicated more for prestige artistic works. The next year, the two categories became one from then on, and Outstanding Picture was the only top prize. (If any of that is wrong, blame wikipedia.)

If the split had remained, and there was a more commercial-y movie top prize and a prestige art top prize, what are some notable movies that suddenly pick up wins?

okay wait........ this is a brilliant question and i am ashamed to say i’ve never really given it much thought until now.

idk if you’ve seen wings and sunrise but they’re both pretty great and they do represent wildly different kinds of filmmaking. while it’s safe to say Wings is the more commercial film, it has great craftsmanship behind it and it very clearly created the template for accessible, capital-i Important, and well-made best picture winners to come.

and, full transparency, sunrise is one of my, like, top 15 favorite movies, so i’m hella biased, but that movie is a gorgeous and strange and thrilling piece of work. the title “unique and artistic film” is impossibly vague, but watching sunrise makes it very, very clear that it fits that bill for that category. and while we’ll, of course, never know what might have happened if that category had continued, it’s tempting to think that all the winners in unique and artistic film would be of sunrise’s calibre, but knowing the oscars... that’s clearly a fantasy, lol. while sunrise is a wildly inventive and artistic film, it’s important to remember that it was fully on the academy’s radar -- janet gaynor won best actress in part for her performance in the film, and it also won best cinematography. so while it’s tempting to think the academy would always recognize a truly unique and artistic achievement every year, in all likelihood, they probably wouldn’t stray too far from the movies that were already on their radar.

so for this thought experiment!!

it’s probably safe to assume every best picture winner has to go in one of the two categories. there are only a handful of winners that stick out as maybe missing out on the big win in this new system, but only a handful.

so uh. this is way more than you asked but i got hooked. here’s what i think might have happened if the two best picture categories had stuck around. as i was working through the years, it became clear to me that, unfortunately, in a lot of years, the unique and artistic film would likely end up going to the more overtly “prestigious” films, such as the song of bernadette or the life of emile zola, while their far better and more commercially viable rivals (casablanca for bernadette, the awful truth for zola) would win outstanding picture. the actual best picture winners have an asterisk next to them. what’s also interesting to consider is the importance of the best director category: most of the time, a split in picture and director will tell you what’s clearly the runner-up. those years, usually, give you a good sense of how the two awards would shake out.

Outstanding Picture / Unique and Artistic Film

1929: The Broadway Melody*; The Divine Lady

1930: The Big House; All Quiet on the Western Front*

1931: Cimarron*; Morocco

1932: Grand Hotel*; Bad Girl

1933: Little Women; Cavalcade*

1934: It Happened One Night*; One Night of Love

1935: The Informer; A Midsummer Night’s Dream (** this is one of the few years i think the actual BP winner, Mutiny on the Bounty, would miss out; The Informer was clearly the runner-up for BP with wins in director, actor, and screenplay, while Midsummer was seen as THE artistic triumph of the year, and with its historic write-in cinematography win, there was clearly a lot of passion for it)

1936: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town; The Great Ziegfeld*

1937: The Awful Truth; The Life of Emile Zola*

1938: You Can’t Take It With You*; Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or Grand Illusion (** this one’s tough... Grand Illusion made history as the first non-english movie nominated for BP, and it clearly had a lot of support, but Snow White was such a monumental moment in Hollywood, and the academy clearly acknowledged that with its honorary award)

1939: Gone with the Wind*; The Wizard of Oz (** this is one of the first years with a clear runaway favorite for best picture, which makes guessing the way the other award would go very difficult! i’m leaning towards Oz purely because of its technical achievements, but i’m not confident about that choice at all.)

1940: Rebecca*; The Grapes of Wrath

1941: How Green Was My Valley*; Citizen Kane

1942: Yankee Doodle Dandy; Mrs. Miniver*

1943: Casablanca*; The Song of Bernadette

1944: Going My Way*; Wilson

1945: The Bells of St. Mary’s; The Lost Weekend*

1946: The Best Years of Our Lives*; Henry V

1947: Gentleman’s Agreement*; A Double Life

1948: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre; Hamlet*

1949: All the King’s Men*; The Heiress

1950: All About Eve*; Sunset Boulevard

1951: A Place in the Sun; An American in Paris*

1952: The Greatest Show on Earth*; The Quiet Man

1953: Roman Holiday; From Here to Eternity*

1954: The Country Girl; On the Waterfront*

1955: Marty*; Picnic

1956: Around the World in 80 Days*; Giant

1957: Peyton Place; The Bridge on the River Kwai

1958: The Defiant Ones; Gigi*

1959: The Diary of Anne Frank; Ben-Hur*

1960: Elmer Gantry; The Apartment*

1961: West Side Story*; Judgment at Nuremberg

1962: To Kill a Mockingbird; Lawrence of Arabia*

1963: Tom Jones*; 8½

1964: Mary Poppins; My Fair Lady*

1965: The Sound of Music*; Doctor Zhivago

1966: A Man for All Seasons*; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

1967: In the Heat of the Night*; The Graduate

1968: Oliver!*; 2001: A Space Odyssey

1969: Midnight Cowboy; Z

1970: Airport; Patton*

1971: The French Connection*; The Last Picture Show

1972: The Godfather; Cabaret

1973: The Sting*; The Exorcist

1974: Chinatown; The Godfather, Part II

1975: Jaws; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest*

1976: Rocky*; Network

1977: Star Wars; Annie Hall*

1978: Coming Home; The Deer Hunter*

1979: Kramer vs. Kramer*; All That Jazz

1980: Ordinary People*; Raging Bull

1981: Chariots of Fire*; Reds

1982: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial; Gandhi*

1983: Terms of Endearment*; Fanny and Alexander

1984: Amadeus*; The Killing Fields

1985: Out of Africa*; Ran

1986: Platoon*; Blue Velvet

1987: Moonstruck; The Last Emperor*

1988: Rain Man*; Who Framed Roger Rabbit

1989: Driving Miss Daisy*; Born on the Fourth of July

1990: Ghost; Dances with Wolves*

1991: The Silence of the Lambs*; JFK

1992: Unforgiven*; Howards End

1993: Schindler’s List*; The Piano

1994: Forrest Gump*; Three Colors: Red

1995: Braveheart*; Toy Story

1996: Jerry Maguire; The English Patient*

1997: Titanic*; L.A. Confidential

1998: Shakespeare in Love*; Saving Private Ryan

1999: The Cider House Rules; American Beauty*

2000: Traffic; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (** this is another year where i think the actual BP winner, Gladiator, might have missed out. it was a tight three-way race going into oscar night, and if there were two BP awards, i think this consensus might have settled, leaving Gladiator to go home with just actor and some tech awards.)

2001: A Beautiful Mind*; Mulholland Drive

2002: Chicago*; The Pianist

2003: Mystic River; The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King*

2004: Million Dollar Baby*; The Aviator

2005: Crash*; Brokeback Mountain

2006: The Departed*; Babel

2007: No Country for Old Men*; The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

2008: The Dark Knight; Slumdog Millionaire*

2009: The Hurt Locker*; Avatar

2010: The King’s Speech*; The Social Network

2011: The Artist*; The Tree of Life

2012: Argo*; Life of Pi

2013: 12 Years a Slave*; Gravity

2014: Birdman*; Boyhood

2015: Spotlight*; The Revenant

2016: La La Land; Moonlight*

2017: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; The Shape of Water*

2018: Black Panther; Roma (** again, i think Green Book gets bumped out in this scenario, i think Black Panther is precisely the kind of movie that benefits from an award that’s seemingly more ~populist~ while Roma easily snags the unique & artistic prize)

2019: 1917; Parasite*

2020: The Father; Nomadland*

but of course i have no idea at all, and most of these are just my gut reactions lol. what a fun question!

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harry-meepmeep-dresden · 4 years

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Hobbit Tricks

Hello everyone. I submitted a microfiction to a fan fiction contest. Thank you @studiocitypsychic for helping me edit this! You’re amazing! I hope everyone enjoys it: Buildings didn’t blaze with fire. Frogs weren’t raining down upon the city. Sidhe queens stayed clear of duking it out tonight. I intended to keep it that way.

If the fate of the world isn’t hanging in the balance, I’d typically spend this day of the year curled up enjoying my comfortable recliner, a cup of cocoa in one hand, book in the other, fireplace burning brightly in the background as I reveled in being the Grinch of Halloween. This holiday is all well and good when you’re not me.

Who am I? I’m the only wizard in the Chicago phone book, Harry Dresden. To say this day’s my least favorite is putting it mildly. This year I couldn’t just attempt to ignore it. No more fireplace, basement apartment, or staying in. I’m a dad, and there are certain responsibilities a single parent needs to live up to. It might not be saving Earth from becoming an undead paradise, but it’s still important. Tonight I’d be escorting two Hobbits and an ax-wielding Foo dog on an epic adventure to claim unspeakably valuable treasure…

Candy.

Father mode engaged as I let my baby girl help me get my fake bushy white eyebrows glued on. Maggie insisted they were absolutely necessary with the wig and beard. My beautiful little girl dressed up as Frodo. She had little makeup freckles on her cheeks, the elven cloak, and the iconic clothing made from what I guessed might be a pattern based on the movies, with lots of grays, greens, and browns. On top of that they’d picked out boots a few sizes too big and decorated them to look like Hobbit feet.

Scratching my jaw a little I determined I would not disappoint her by complaining about my costume she and Charity Carpenter made. Maggie and the Carpenters spent weeks on these outfits. No matter how itchy fake facial hair and wigs could be, not a single negative word would come out of my mouth about it. Anyway, I rarely get to dress up like one of my favorite fictional wizards, and this made both Maggie and me happy. Mouse wore a helmet, fake plastic ax, and that big goofy doggy grin of his. He couldn’t help it as he noticed how much Maggie enjoyed all of this.

Hope or another one of the Carpenter kids normally lead the trick-or-treating. They’d instead volunteered to help with Father Forthill’s trunk-or-treat at the church this year. Maggie and Hank demanded an old-fashioned door-to-door experience instead. I couldn’t lie about the fact that taking Maggie trick-or-treating made my heart grow three sizes.

We picked up Hank, and he brought out a map the Carpenter kids developed over years of experience of the best houses to get candy from. And with that, Sam, Frodo, Gandalf, and Gimli were off on an adventure. Now and then I’d whisper a spell, and Maggie’s plastic version of Sting would glow with a pale blue light. It delighted her and the surrounding kids. One house gave the kids full-sized candy bars as the adults complimented the costumes.

“Dad! Look!” she hurried over to show me. The large boots decorated to resemble Hobbit feet made running or walking tricky. She still half-waddled impressively fast. I whistled and smiled as she held up the candy bar.

“Seems the costumes impressed them. You did an amazing job, kiddo. I mean, these costumes couldn’t be more perfect. Starting to dig the beard. Maybe I should keep this look, huh?” I stroked the fake beard and tried impersonating that knowing stare into the distance Sir Ian McKellen used in the movies.

She giggled, hurrying off towards the next house, Mouse and Hank right by her side and me just behind. No way would those kids leave my sight. Her eyes lit up each time she said ‘trick or treat’. Every few houses she brought her bag over to show off the bounty of the adventure. It made painful memories wash away little by little. Soon we ran out of houses on the map. We were all loaded into the car as Hank checked his watch. I half expected him to jokingly call the watch ‘my precious’.

“Hey, Harry, isn’t there anywhere else you can take us? It’s still super early,” he pleaded as they buckled up.

“That’s all the places on the map, kiddo,” I replied, thinking about how fast we got through it, and blaming it on the kids’ energy and excitement.

“Nowhere else, dad?” I might not have seen it since I kept an eye on the road, but my dad senses felt the pout Maggie had while asking that.

“Alright, fine. Off to Helm’s Deep,” I grinned, changing direction to head to Murph’s house.

When we got there Murphy wasn’t home. There were no signs of foul play from what I could see. She might be at a party. I didn’t expect that with her injuries, but I’m not her keeper. I had really wanted to see her tonight, and couldn’t help the slight ache in my chest. Oh well, on to try Waldo’s place.

I gave a few quick knocks on Butters’ door when we arrived before waiting for an answer. No answer. He might be busy with knight business or his job. He enjoyed working late. Billy and Georgia were the next destination. They also weren’t home.

Before going to Thomas’ apartment, I called him. No answer. He and Justine were likely at a White Court party or busy with other activities. I’d rather not chance interrupting them with two kids in tow.

Back in the car, I noticed that Maggie and Hank were being remarkably quiet. Maybe they were bored. I tried to think about where else we might go. The church was a good option since they had set up games for the kids.

“Hey, sorry, it’s a bust. We’ll head to the church and see what they’re up-”

“No!” the two kids blurted out, interrupting me.“I mean, uh, I think I’d rather head home and you and Maggie could stay over and watch a scary movie or something?” Hank asked.

I turned to glance at the two of them and noticed Maggie change her attention to Mouse, away from Hank’s watch. The way they kept hovering over it, they reminded me of the Hobbits and the One Ring. Hopefully Maggie wouldn’t attempt biting off Hank’s entire hand to get it.

“Uh-huh… You two are up to something,” I said and narrowed my eyes.

“We don’t want the adventure to end just yet. We haven’t even been to Mordor,” Hank chimed with a half smile.

I needed to keep them safe from watching anything nightmare inducing or Charity’d mince me up and bake me into meat pies Sweeny Todd style. Out of the many monsters I’ve fought, I’d rather face them over her. Soon we parked in front of the Carpenters’ home. A shiver ran up my spine from the eeriness of Michael’s house with all the lights off. I thought at least one of the Carpenters would be home. Before I could ask Hank anything both the Hobbits rushed out trailed by the furry Gimli.

“Hey!” I shouted, not wanting to lose sight of them.

Why were they running off knowing how dangerous tonight of all nights could be? Might just be heading to the backyard to play, but it was still Halloween. Even knowing literal angels protected Michael’s property, my chest felt tight with worry when I couldn’t see the kids.

Once I entered the backyard, a bunch of lights blinded me.

“SURPRISE!” voices echoed in the night.

My eyes adjusted and I saw everyone and all the decorations they set up. The Carpenter family arranged themselves behind the table everyone had gathered around. I noticed Butters hanging out with the wolf pack to one side of the table. Murphy sat up in a chair with her crutches close by. Thomas and Justine were even there, wearing modest clothing and standing next to Murphy. The large cake on the table featured a t-rex picture on top, probably Butters’ idea. Next to it were plates and forks. A cooler filled with different soda sat next to the table. To top everything else off, the Monster Mash played in the background.

I felt Maggie hug my leg. Bending down, I picked her up and wrapped her into an even bigger hug. She kissed my cheek and wrapped her arms around my neck as I held her close. Everyone had planned this together. They set me up. Michael brought out an old Polaroid camera to take pictures. Wizards don’t photograph well on most modern equipment.

“You sneaky little hobbitses,” I tried to say in my best Gollum impression before sniffling as the fake beard tickled my nose. “You tricked me.”

That smile she gave me made me feel… Well, let’s just say if it were sunny out I could have used magic to catch daylight in a handkerchief.

“Happy birthday, dad.”

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xserpx · 4 years

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Hi! Do you know of any good recaps of the Dresden Files series so far? I’m hyped for the new book but have forgotten a lot of what’s going on ^^”

I don’t, unfortunately.

IMO, it is well, well worth rereading the short stories Bombshells and Cold Case if you can, because almost all the pertinent Molly stuff is in those: especially her involvement with the Fomor, and her relationship with Carlos. I’m actually surprised how important those stories are turning out to be in the grand scheme. Harry is living in the apartment that Molly gets in Bombshells - I feel like some people think that Molly got the apartment for Winter Lady reasons, but that’s not the case.

Also I’d reread Skin Game if you get the chance, for all the bank stuff and the escape from the Underworld.

But FWIW, I think the main thrust of Peace Talks is focused on the White Court, the White Council, Marcone, and the Fomor, so you might wanna read up on those guys.

Ebenezar is one big question mark with regards what happened between him and Margaret and why she chose to fall in with Lord Raith, and I think this book is gonna hopefully give us some answers there. The Black Council is still a thing, but it’s getting harder to differentiate between Black and White when literally every wizard under the sun now hates Dresden’s guts for his relationship with Mab.

Thomas and Justine were perfectly happy when we last saw them, but that might be about to change. I have no idea what the White Court’s prerogative will be in this book, whether they’re friend or foe, I just know they’re gonna be important bc Lara plays a big role in much of the promotional stuff we’ve gotten.

I can’t quite remember what Marcone’s goal has been with regards to Chicago since Changes, or whether that’s also one big mystery, but he is now the first vanilla mortal signatory of the Unseelie Accords, and he’s hosting the eponymous Peace Talks. He’s been gaining power and sticking his fingers in all sorts of pies since Dresden’s death - cosying up to Mab, Lara, Odin, Hades, and even gaining some traction with Murphy and the Paranet. He’s parked himself on top of Dresden’s old apartment, and he also has the Shroud of Turin now, so like... my boy’s maybe getting too big for his boots? Lord only knows how that will play out here.

Other than that, I’m not sure what else there is that needs recapping. There’s not gonna be any Denarians in this book (there’s enough to be getting on with without those guys throwing spanners in the works!), and I think the fairies will take a backseat this time around. Hopefully Jim Butcher will put in enough exposition to fill in the gaps, too.

#dresden files #peace talks #GOD i love marcone #balls that drag the ground for sure #not sure if i’d rather see him knocked off his pedestal or rise to even greater heights #also there are big gaps in my knowledge when it comes to the white court/black council stuff?#that stuff in turn coat and the arctis tor stuff in proven guilty always confuse me and idk if it’s just bc i’ve missed something #or whether it’s supposed to be a mystery #also thorned namshiel and nemesis are still lurking around here somewhere #so 😬#these books are hard to recap lmao

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dweemeister · 5 years

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A list of all films featured in 2019′s 31 Days of Oscar

This is the exhaustive list of all 388 short- and feature-length films featured during this year’s 31 Days of Oscar marathon (up from 296 last year). Best Picture winners and the one (and only) winner for Unique and Artistic Production are in bold. Asterisked (*) films are films I haven’t seen in their entirety as of the publishing of this post.

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

Two Arabian Knights (1927)*

The Crowd (1928)

Sadie Thompson (1928)*

Speedy (1928)

Street Angel (1928)

A Woman of Affairs (1928)

White Shadows in the South Seas (1928)*

The Broadway Melody (1929)

The Divine Lady (1929)*

Weary River (1929)*

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

The Big House (1930)

The Doorway to Hell (1930)*

Flight Commander (1930)*

The Criminal Code (1931)*

Little Caesar (1931)

The Public Enemy (1931)

Flowers and Trees (1932 short)

Grand Hotel (1932)

What Price Hollywood? (1932)*

42nd Street (1933)

Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)

Morning Glory (1933)*

The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)*

Cleopatra (1934)*

Imitation of Life (1934)

It Happened One Night (1934)

Manhattan Melodrama (1934)*

The Thin Man (1934)

Alice Adams (1935)*

Captain Blood (1935)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935)*

Top Hat (1935)

Dodsworth (1936)

Fury (1936)*

The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

Libeled Lady (1936)

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)

Captains Courageous (1937)

Night Must Fall (1937)*

The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)

A Star Is Born (1937)

Way Out West (1937)*

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Boys Town (1938)

Merrily We Live (1938)*

Pygmalion (1938)

You Can’t Take It with You (1938)

Beau Geste (1939)

Dark Victory (1939)

Gone with the Wind (1939)

Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

Gulliver’s Travels (1939)

Lady of the Tropics (1939)*

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Ninotchka (1939)

Only Angels Have Wings (1939)*

Stagecoach (1939)

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Wuthering Heights (1939)*

Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)

The Great McGinty (1940)

The Mark of Zorro (1940)

Night Train to Munich (1940)*

Our Town (1940)

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Rebecca (1940)

Strike Up the Band (1940)

The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

Waterloo Bridge (1940)

Dumbo (1941)

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

Suspicion (1941)

Bambi (1942)

Casablanca (1942)

Johnny Eager (1942)*

Kings Row (1942)*

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Now, Voyager (1942)

Random Harvest (1942)

To Be or Not to Be (1942)

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

The Desert Song (1943)*

The Human Comedy (1943)*

Lassie Come Home (1943)

The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)

The Song of Bernadette (1943)

Henry V (1944)*

Lifeboat (1944)

National Velvet (1944)

Anchors Aweigh (1945)

Blithe Spirit (1945)*

Brief Encounter (1945)

The Lost Weekend (1945)

They Were Expendable (1945)*

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

The Harvey Girls (1946)

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

The Stranger (1946)*

First Steps (1947)*

Forever Amber (1947)*

Life with Father (1947)*

The Perils of Pauline (1947)*

Bicycle Thieves (1948, Italy)

Hamlet (1948)

The Naked City (1948)

The Red Shoes (1948)

I Remember Mama (1948)

Romance on the High Seas (1948)*

Adam’s Rib (1949)*

Battleground (1949)

The Heiress (1949)

A Letter to Three Wives (1949)*

Mighty Joe Young (1949)*

On the Town (1949)

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

The Stratton Story (1949)*

The Third Man (1949)

White Heat (1949)

All About Eve (1950)

Broken Arrow (1950)*

Destination Moon (1950)*

Mystery Street (1950)*

Rashômon (1950, Japan)

An American in Paris (1951)

Royal Wedding (1951)

Show Boat (1951)*

Strangers on a Train (1951)

High Noon (1952)

The Quiet Man (1952)

Umberto D. (1952, Italy)

The Band Wagon (1953)

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953)*

From Here to Eternity (1953)

Julius Caesar (1953)*

Lili (1953)

Little Fugitive (1953)*

Little Johnny Jet (1953 short)*

Titanic (1953)*

Brigadoon (1954)

La Strada (1954, Italy)

On the Waterfront (1954)

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

Seven Samurai (1954, Japan)

A Star Is Born (1954)

Blackboard Jungle (1955)

It’s Always Fair Weather (1955)

Marty (1955)

Speedy Gonzales (1955 short)

To Catch a Thief (1955)

Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

The Bespoke Overcoat (1956 short)*

Forbidden Planet (1956)

Lust for Life (1956)

Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)*

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Funny Face (1957)

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

12 Angry Men (1957)

The Defiant Ones (1958)

Gigi (1958)

Mon Oncle (1958, France)

The Young Lions (1958)*

Ben-Hur (1959)

South Pacific (1958)

The 400 Blows (1959, France)

North by Northwest (1959)

Inherit the Wind (1960)

Macario (1960, Mexico)*

The Time Machine (1960)

Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)

The Children’s Hour (1961)*

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

Through a Glass Darkly (1961, Sweden)*

West Side Story (1961)

Days of Wine and Roses (1962)

How the West Was Won (1962)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

The Longest Day (1962)

The Miracle Worker (1962)

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

Bye Bye Birdie (1963)

Charade (1963)

Cleopatra (1963)

The Leopard (1963, Italy)

Tom Jones (1963)*

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963, Italy)*

A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

Mary Poppins (1964)

My Fair Lady (1964)

The Pink Phink (1964 short)*

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964, France)

Doctor Zhivago (1965)

A Patch of Blue (1965)*

The Sound of Music (1965)

The Battle of Algiers (1966, Algeria)

Fantastic Voyage (1966)

Grand Prix (1966)*

A Man for All Seasons (1966)

The Professionals (1966)

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

The Dirty Dozen (1967)

Doctor Dolittle (1967)*

In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Two for the Road (1967)*

Bullitt (1968)*

Funny Girl (1968)

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968)*

The Lion in Winter (1968)*

Oliver! (1968)

It’s Tough to Be a Bird (1969 short)*

The Magic Machines (1969 short)*

Marooned (1969)*

Midnight Cowboy (1969)*

The Great White Hope (1970)*

I Girasoli (1970, Italy)*

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970, Italy)*

Patton (1970)

Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

The French Connection (1971)

The Last Picture Show (1971)*

The Godfather (1972)

Sounder (1972)

Travels with My Aunt (1972)*

The Day of the Dolphin (1973)*

The Way We Were (1973)*

Blazing Saddles (1974)

Nashville (1975)

Harlan County U.S.A. (1976)

Network (1976)

The Slipper and the Rose (1976)

Taxi Driver (1976)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

California Suite (1978)*

Superman (1978)

The Black Hole (1979)

The Black Stallion (1979)

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

A Little Romance (1979)

Every Child (1979 short)

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

Atlantic City (1980)*

Kagemusha (1980, Japan)

Das Boot (1981, Germany)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Annie (1982)

Tron (1982)

Victor/Victoria (1982)*

Blue Thunder (1983)*

Amadeus (1984)

Dune (1984)*

The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)

Agnes of God (1985)*

Back to the Future (1985)

Legend (1985)*

My Life as a Dog (1985, Sweden)

Silverado (1985)*

Hoosiers (1986)

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

Au revoir les enfants (1987, France)

The Last Emperor (1987)

The Princess Bride (1987)

The Untouchables (1987)*

Stand and Deliver (1988)

Willow (1988)*

Do the Right Thing (1989)

For All Mankind (1989)

Glory (1989)

Henry V (1989)

When Harry Met Sally… (1989)*

Dances with Wolves (1990)

Misery (1990)*

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

The Prince of Tides (1991)*

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

A River Runs Through It (1992)

Toys (1992)*

Unforgiven (1992)

The Age of Innocence (1993)*

Philadelphia (1993)*

The Remains of the Day (1993)

Schindler’s List (1993)

Legends of the Fall (1994)

Three Colors: Red (1994, France/Poland)

Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)

Hamlet (1996)

Sleepers (1996)*

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Children of Heaven (1997, Iran)

Four Days in September (1997, Brazil)*

Titanic (1997)

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

The Sixth Sense (1999)*

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)

Toy Story 2 (1999)

Erin Brokovich (2000)*

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)*

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Monsters Inc. (2001)

Y Tu Mamá También (2001, Mexico)*

Chicago (2002)

Big Fish (2003)*

I, Robot (2004)*

The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

Walk the Line (2005)*

The Danish Poet (2006)*

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006, Mexico)

Persepolis (2007, France/Iran)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)*

The Dark Knight (2008)

Frost/Nixon (2008)*

Man on Wire (2008)*

Milk (2008)*

The Reader (2008)*

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

The Wrestler (2008)*

The Secret in Their Eyes (2009, Argentina)*

Biutiful (2010, Mexico)*

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

The Artist (2011, France)

Hugo (2011)

A Separation (2011, Iran)

The Act of Killing (2012, Indonesia/Norway/Denmark)*

Frankenweenie (2012)*

Life of Pi (2012)

Lincoln (2012)

Skyfall (2012)

Ida (2013, Poland)

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

12 Years a Slave (2013)

American Sniper (2014)

Interstellar (2014)

Song of the Sea (2014)

Creed (2015)

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

The Revenant (2015)

Spotlight (2015)

We Can’t Live Without Cosmos (2015 short, Russia)

World of Tomorrow (2015 short)

Ennemis intérieurs (2016 short, France)

Fences (2016)

Moonlight (2016)

My Life as a Zucchini (2016, Switzerland)

Pearl (2016 short)

Baby Driver (2017)*

Dunkirk (2017)

Loving Vincent (2017)

The Shape of Water (2017)

At Eternity’s Gate (2018)*

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

Cold War (2018, Poland)

Hale County This Morning, This Evening (2018)*

Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

Shoplifters (2018, Japan)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

The eight nominees for Best Picture, including the winner, Green Book (2018)

The fifteen nominees for the short film categories (2018)

#31 Days of Oscar

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genocidershodan · 7 years

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Tagged by @johnandrasjaqobis Probably because she only tags me in hard things.

List the first lines of your last 20 stories. See if there are any patterns. Then tag 10 of your favorite authors!

20 stories? This is gonna require some scrounging. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to even track down 20, but here we go.

Black Horizon (original work) The Noose was a thin stretch of land, barely a kilometre wide, cleanly dividing Great Lake Gresdin. The western edge was a slightly elevated plateau, completely flat over its entire span, with three sets of train tracks running along it. Not often, but on the odd occasion observers might see on the middle track an elegantly ornate train, decorated with gleaming chrome and golden trimmings as royalty travelled to the northern reaches. More frequently a dull spartan train transporting soldiers or equipment for the Toraanim Armed Forces.

The Altairian Connection (original work) The Winifred Miles Memorial Theatre was one of the main attractions in Stormwise, named after one of the city’s founding settlers. The sprawling metropolis lit the night with colour as tall buildings reached to the skies. The theatre itself was a large artistic construction of steel and glass.

Unnamed story featuring friend’s OC’s Deckard’s basement was fairly large, but quite cramped. Most of the expanse was filled either with plain brown cardboard boxes, or bits and pieces of his stuff stuff. The area was lit by a small yellow lamp in one corner, contrasting with the harsh glow of the computer screens. Bonnie shuffled uncomfortably in the poorly lit basement as her, Francine, and Rowena looked at each other restlessly. The only sound was Deckard, seated at his computer, clickity clacking away at his keyboards, his eyes quickly shifting between the three screens.

Unnamed story featuring the same OC’s The three girls slowly made their way along the sidewalk. The streets were dead silent and just barely illuminated by the street side lights in the early hours of the morning. They were all quite inebriated, Francine more so than the others as she barely managed to stumble along in a straight line as she lead her friends. “Here it is!” She shouted, her gravelly voice echoed loudly in the suburban area, threatening to almost wake up the entire street. They had made it to an intersection of the quiet back streets, the other two girls looked around expectantly. “Where exactly are we?” Inquired Rowena in a more subdued tone, though with a slight slur. The redhead took this moment to rest against a nearby fence. Her bare feet were sore walking on the rocky sidewalk as she had been carrying her heeled shoes for the last thirty minutes.

Short story about a character I roleplayed named Stannis Fairon that I needed to write as part of my application to this roleplaying site Stannis clapped along with all the other men as the bard finished his song. He whooped loudly and raised his mug, slopping the brew all over the table. Ahnolt, one of the soldiers at Stannis’ table, laughed loudly. “That’s it!” He shouted mirthily, “That’s the song I want them to play at my funeral!” The man beside him clapped him on his back. “What, That sad tune? Definitely not!”

Short Story I wrote for the epic Lily and Luffy fight that I was probably really high during writing. Thick clouds shrouded Hyrule temple in darkness as rain poured down heavily in giant drops. Lily lay on the ground. Covered in bruises and breathing in staggered bursts. The bright red flower in hair has long since been lost. Luffy stood over her prone form, face obscured by the brim of his straw hat, lightning flashed in the distance, the thunder rumbled moments later.

But Shadows and Dust (Majesty fanfic) You know, in times when you feel death is certain, it is strange the things that come into your head.

Like now, as I hear yelling in many directions. From my left I can hear the words "I'm done for!" In the corner of my eye I see a wizard, one whom I have only met for a few moments, fleeing from the three oncoming dragons. He was known as Faldor the Sage, whether or not this was his real name I knew not, nor did I care. I always held little regard for wizards, fighting from afar, and hightailing even when the odds were in his favour. On my right I hear the distinct sounds of a paladin blessing herself. Her, I knew very well. She was known as Dian the Righteous; I turned my head to see that her face betrayed no emotion. It was none too reassuring to know that this powerful paladin was just as scared as I.

Yet, the one thought that is ceaselessly coursing through my head is "I wonder how my brother is getting on?" As I said before, it is strange the thoughts that come into your head when you feel that certain death looms before you. My name, if it's of any importance, is Duric.

The Cemetery (Harry Potter fanfic written before Order of the Phoenix came out) Drip, drip, drip. It was the only sound that could be heard in green field; it was like an endless flowing river of dark green. Every metre a post was sticking out of the ground with a plaque underneath. The only movement, not including the hard rain, was a solitary figure walking through the field, stopping at each post to read the inscription.

Loud Mountain (A Silent Hill parody I wrote when I was 16 and thought I was hilarious) "Daddy, why does my little notebook have 'codwigr diner' written on it?" "Shut up woman and bake me some pie!"

It had been three long years since Harry Mason's beloved wife had died. That is probably why he loved his daughter Cheryl so much. "Is my pie ready yet, devil woman?" "No, not yet daddy."

Every year, Harry Mason took Cheryl on a holiday to some exotic location. "As long as it don't cost me anything," he would say lovingly to his daughter, "now where's my pie?" This time, for some inexplicable reason, she said. "Listen daddy, I won't bake you pies, until we go to Loud Mountain, or Alice Springs." At this, Harry said "Alice? Alice? Where the." without having to finish the sentence, Harry consulted the Atlas, finding out that Alice springs was a thriving trade centre smack bang in the middle of Australia, or a run down world war 2 relic twelve kilometres outside Warsaw, Poland. He decided to settle for Loud Mountain, which was a quaint town in Northern Kansas, or an old folks home nestled quietly in the Chicago subway system.

So that’s all I’m really prepared to track down without doing some serious digging. Apart from the really old ones, I think that I do have propensity for laying the scene first and foremost. Where are we? Who is there? Lay down some atmosphere. I don’t know whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing. But one of the first things I do is put the reader in the scene and know what’s around them.

I really don’t know who to tag in this, I’m sorry. But if you see this and want to do it, definitely go for it. And tag me in so I can see your shit.

#writing #my writing #posts

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bizmediaweb · 6 years

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13 Creative Examples of Brands Using Twitter’s 280 Characters

Ever since Twitter made the exciting (and controversial) decision to expand their character limit from 140 characters to a whopping 280 characters, brands have been exploring new ways to make the most of the added space. Twitter implemented the change after discovering that nine percent of tweets in the English language hit the character limit.

“This reflects the challenge of fitting a thought into a tweet, often resulting in lots of time spent editing and even at times abandoning tweets before sending,” wrote Twitter Product Manager, Aliza Rosen in a blog post. With the expanded character count, that number plummeted to only one percent of tweets hitting the limit.

For businesses using Twitter as part of their marketing strategy, composing clever 280 character tweets provides an opportunity to communicate more effectively with your audience. Some brands have shown off their sense of humor by hitting the limit with jokes, others have used the longer tweets to express an impactful message. Here are some of the best ways businesses have deployed the 280 character tweets.

Sports brands boosting engagement with 280 character tweets

Chicago Bears

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Bears.

Thanks, @Twitter.

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) September 27, 2017

Borrowing from the beloved Saturday Night Live sketch, the Chicago Bears used all 280 characters to tweet out the signature tagline, “Daa-Bears” to all of their 1.6 million followers. Without the use of audio, the marketers behind the Chicago Bears cleverly conveyed the over-the-top Chicago accent parodied in the SNL sketch via tweet.

Their funny use of the famous catch-phrase paid off. The tweet received nearly 12,000 retweets and 53,000 likes. The catch-phrase is treasured by both fans of the team and fans of the classic sketch.

Da Bears thanked Twitter at the end for giving them extra characters with which to extend the catch-phrase beyond previously imposed limits. The effect? A shared laugh among Twitter users and more engagement for the franchise.

Seattle Mariners

┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┻┳| ┳┻| ┻┳| ┳┻| _ ┻┳| •.•) This is a bad idea. ┳┻|⊂ﾉ ┻┳|

— Mariners (@Mariners) September 27, 2017

In true Seattle style, The Mariners created a sarcastic response to Twitter’s announcement of the 280 character tweet. Using punctuation to build a brick wall with an ornery-looking stick figure at the bottom, the Mariners did not mince words when they pronounced, “this is a bad idea” in their 280 characters tweet.

Drawing attention to the potential for misuse of the longer character limit, the marketers behind the team demonstrated how giving Twitter users 280 characters could be a poor choice. The team banked on the cynicism of their fan base to appreciate this vein of biting humor.

With 21,000 retweets and nearly 59,000 likes, the Mariners read their audience correctly and delivered on the joke.

NBA Referees

Now that we all have #280Characters, we expect your Twitter complaints about specific calls against your favorite teams to be calm, well-reasoned, and full of complete sentences. Thanks in advance for this positive step forward in basketball officiating-related discourse."

— NBA Referees (@OfficialNBARefs) November 7, 2017

The National Basketball Referees Association used the 280 character extension to make light of the cyber abuse directed at them by angry fans. Addressing the many complaints the association receives from the public over their judgement calls during games, the refs asserted that the unsolicited feedback should be written more thoughtfully now that Twitter users have access to a full 280 characters.

The tongue-in-cheek tweet earned 7,400 retweets and 24,000 likes. Turns out that the NBA Referees playful sense of humor was a slam dunk.

Media brands using 280 characters to connect with fans

National Geographic Wild

🐶🦊🦁🐵🐔🐥🐺🐛🐜🐢🐙🐠🦍🦒🐖🐕🕊🦔🐻🐮🙈🐧🦆🐗🦋🦗🐍🦑🐟🐘🐃🐏🐩🐇🐭🐼🐷🙉🐦🦅🐴🐌🕷🦎🦐🐳🐆🦏🐂🐑🐈🐁🐉🐹🐨🐽🙊🐤🦉🦄🦖🦀🐳🐆🐪🐄🐐🐓🐀🐰🐯🐸🐒🦇🐝🐞🦂🦕🐡🐋🦓🐫🐎🦌🦃🐿 🐶🦊🦁🐵🐔🐥🐺🐛🐜🐢🐙🐠🦈🦍🦒🐖🐕🐕🕊🕊🦔🐱🐻🐮🙈🐧🦆🐗🦋🦗🐍🦑🐟🐟🐊🐘🐃🐏🐩🐇🐭🐼🐷🙉🐦 #280characters

— Nat Geo WILD (@natgeowild) November 8, 2017

When we think of the National Geographic Wild network, we think of ruthless lions stalking their innocent prey on the savannah, vicious tigers hunting wild boar, and of course, Cesar Milan, Dog Whisperer. Naturally, the marketers behind the network capitalized on Twitter’s emoji feature to jam pack all our favorite animals into 280 characters.

Marvel UK and Ireland

I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. #280characters http://pic.twitter.com/2QDi9fw6Ey

— Marvel UK & Ireland (@MarvelUK) November 8, 2017

Marvel UK and Ireland took the only line spoken by Groot, the beloved character from the movie Guardians of the Galaxy and employed repetition for comedic effect. Now that Twitter allows videos and photos in addition to more characters, the brand was able to put together an eye-catching, fun tweet for fans of the film.

The 280 character tweet received 989 retweets and 1,000 likes, making us all wish that we were Groot.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories. *DUN DUN*

— Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (@nbcsvu) November 7, 2017

The crime show Law & Order franchise has managed to stay relevant since 1990 by continuing to build on its fan base and staying social media savvy. When set loose on Twitter’s new 280 character limit, the social media marketers behind the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit brand tweeted out the full introduction that plays at the beginning of every episode. Almost as iconic as the show itself is the *DUN DUN* sound effect that cuts between scenes.

Fans of the show demonstrated their approval through 259,000 likes.

Spotify

Song titles only… Good luck 🙃 1. 1️⃣💃 2. ☂️ 3. ⚫️(🎩+✨) 4. 🏄🇺🇸 5. 💔🏨 6. 🏰⤵️🗻 7. 8. 🎀🦆💛 9. 👱❌🔥 10. (🙍+🍺)❤️ 11. 🚀👱 12. 👯🌙💡 13. ⏰🕰⏱⏲ 14. 🦁+🗣 15. 🗞✈️✈️ 16. 📞🙋🤷 17. 🍬🏪 18. 🐦🐦🐦 19. 💥💥 20. ⬆️🌆🙍#280characters

— Spotify (@Spotify) November 8, 2017

Spotify created a fun emoji quiz to test the brand’s followers on popular song titles. The tweet solicited significant engagement with 200 comments, 853 retweets and 2,700 likes. The company found a creative way to maximize the potential of 280 characters by choosing something interactive and relevant to the spirit of their business.

Food businesses making the most of 280 characters

Denny’s

last night we received the 280 character count. we traded the extra 140 for beans. not even magic.

— Denny's (@DennysDiner) September 27, 2017

The social media wizards over at Denny’s tapped into their famous well-spring of oddball wit to craft a goofy tweet about trading in their extra 140 characters for beans. Coffee beans? Baked beans? Unclear. All we know is that they definitely weren’t magic beans.

Moon Pie

This account has been asked to test Twitter's new 280 character limit, but as a 100-year-old brand, we believe our fans most enjoy traditional tweets with brevity, so we declined. We hope to continue to provide a fun, positive place to discuss MoonPies moving forward. Thank you.

— MoonPie (@MoonPie) September 27, 2017

Moon Pies used all 280 characters to say that they were too old fashioned to use all 280 characters. The food brand delivered a double whammy, highlighting their long history while showing off a light-hearted sense of humor. Poking fun at Twitter’s decision to expand the limit, Moon Pies demonstrated that they still got it.

Aroma Espresso Bar

Sustainably farmed Atlantic Salmon, honey-roasted carrots prepared in-house, couscous, roasted red pepper and green peas, parsley, pistachio and za’atar, served with creamy sumac and yogurt aioli. A holiday meal made for #280characters. #wheretheheartis http://pic.twitter.com/KQlPZBy597

— aroma espresso bar (@aromaespresso) November 26, 2017

Even with a smaller profile than big name fast food joints, Aroma Espresso Bar managed to entice Twitter users with a detailed description of one of it’s healthy meal offerings. Accompanied with a professional quality photo, the 280 characters are put to good use in a straightforward tweet. You know exactly what you’re getting at Aroma Espresso Bar in Canada.

Pizza Hut

(•_•) <) )╯50% /

(•_•) ( (> Off /

(•_•) <) )> Menu /

(•_•) <) )╯Priced /

(•_•) ( (> Pizzas /

(•_•) <) )> Online. /

🍕🍕🍕🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕

Through 11/12.#280characters

— Pizza Hut (@pizzahut) November 8, 2017

Pizza Hut used all 280 characters to create eye catching stick figures announcing a 50 percent off deal online. A Twitter user scrolling through their feed would have a tough time missing this visually engaging tweet. Another brand making light of Twitter’s move to add more characters by employing them in the silliest fashion possible. The pizza emojis don’t hurt either.

Brands improving customer service via Twitter with 280 characters

Amazon

Hi Charlene, sorry to hear you aren't able to open your book. Have you checked that your internet connection is stable, if so have you attempted to access it on a different device or via an alternative browser? ^TI

— Amazon Help (@AmazonHelp) November 17, 2017

The Amazon Help account can now address people’s complaints using their full name and even a signature of the customer service representative addressing the concern. With the extra characters, Amazon customers will be even more likely to engage with the business over Twitter.

IKEA

We currently have some technical issues with our IKEA Online ordering systems. We are working hard to sort this out as quickly as possible, so please bear with us, and we will be up and running again shortly

— IKEAIESupport (@IKEAIESupport) November 18, 2017

Ikea can now fully express their polite regrets when something goes wrong on their website. The business made use of their 280 characters to inform aggravated customers that they were aware of the technical issues in their online ordering systems and asked for patience while they resolved the issue. Classy move, Ikea.

Since the initial release of the 280 character extension, many businesses have chosen to stay true to the original spirit of Twitter and keep it brief. Whether you choose to go all in on 280 characters or show off your cleverness with the brevity of 140, make it clever and make it count.

Boost your impact on Twitter with Hootsuite. Monitor customer conversations, connect your teams, and grow your followers—all from the same platform that use to manage your other social media accounts. Try it for free today!

Get Started Now

The post 13 Creative Examples of Brands Using Twitter’s 280 Characters appeared first on Hootsuite Social Media Management.

13 Creative Examples of Brands Using Twitter’s 280 Characters published first on http://ift.tt/2u73Z29

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unifiedsocialblog · 6 years

Text

13 Creative Examples of Brands Using Twitter’s 280 Characters

Sports brands boosting engagement with 280 character tweets

Chicago Bears

Thanks, @Twitter.

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) September 27, 2017

Their funny use of the famous catch-phrase paid off. The tweet received nearly 12,000 retweets and 53,000 likes. The catch-phrase is treasured by both fans of the team and fans of the classic sketch.

Seattle Mariners

— Mariners (@Mariners) September 27, 2017

With 21,000 retweets and nearly 59,000 likes, the Mariners read their audience correctly and delivered on the joke.

NBA Referees

— NBA Referees (@OfficialNBARefs) November 7, 2017

The tongue-in-cheek tweet earned 7,400 retweets and 24,000 likes. Turns out that the NBA Referees playful sense of humor was a slam dunk.

Media brands using 280 characters to connect with fans

National Geographic Wild

— Nat Geo WILD (@natgeowild) November 8, 2017

Marvel UK and Ireland

— Marvel UK & Ireland (@MarvelUK) November 8, 2017

The 280 character tweet received 989 retweets and 1,000 likes, making us all wish that we were Groot.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

— Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (@nbcsvu) November 7, 2017

Fans of the show demonstrated their approval through 259,000 likes.

Spotify

— Spotify (@Spotify) November 8, 2017

Food businesses making the most of 280 characters

Denny’s

last night we received the 280 character count. we traded the extra 140 for beans. not even magic.

— Denny's (@DennysDiner) September 27, 2017

Moon Pie

— MoonPie (@MoonPie) September 27, 2017

Aroma Espresso Bar

— aroma espresso bar (@aromaespresso) November 26, 2017

Pizza Hut

(•_•) <) )╯50% /

(•_•) ( (> Off /

(•_•) <) )> Menu /

(•_•) <) )╯Priced /

(•_•) ( (> Pizzas /

(•_•) <) )> Online. /

🍕🍕🍕🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕

Through 11/12.#280characters

— Pizza Hut (@pizzahut) November 8, 2017

Brands improving customer service via Twitter with 280 characters

Amazon

— Amazon Help (@AmazonHelp) November 17, 2017

IKEA

— IKEAIESupport (@IKEAIESupport) November 18, 2017

Get Started Now

The post 13 Creative Examples of Brands Using Twitter’s 280 Characters appeared first on Hootsuite Social Media Management.

13 Creative Examples of Brands Using Twitter’s 280 Characters published first on http://ift.tt/2rEvyAw

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fic-dreamin · 7 years

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I'm late to the party, but... As the author mentions in the Author's Note in my version of this book, the Dresden Files is a sort of mashup of various genres. An experiment, if you will, that ends up being deemed Urban Fantasy. A very good mashup, at that. Clearly, Harry's character is the real difference maker. A gentleman, bound to a code he could break at any time but doesn't, he's a resourceful (and morbidly funny) wizard who manages to get out of the tightest spots with quick thinking. Go to Amazon

Really enjoyable read! I had seen the (unfortunately) short-lived sci-fi channel show a long time ago and really liked it. Finally got around to picking up this book and was not disappointed (the show was pretty good but as usual the book was better). Go to Amazon

Happily, Another Fantasy Author I Can Add to My Collection...My Book Collection That Is... Wish I'd discovered Jim a little sooner - as this, my first taste of his writing genius - brought me unparalleled enjoyment. His hero's self-deprecating sense of humor and gift for sarcastic commentary have me adding him to the top of my "book characters I want to seduce" list, while Jim's technical know-how of White Lodge Magick kept me from having to scream corrections out loud and sending my imp to bedevil him. Good on you, Jim! Although I purchased the kindle edition - as I do with every author that I need to vet before they are allowed to take up residence in my third dimensional bookshelves - I will be adding as many fine quality hardcovers with Jim's name on their covers that I am able to find. A singular honor, Mr. Butcher...a singular honor... Go to Amazon

Magical Mayhem in Chicago Harry Dresden's a uniquely down-on-his-luck Chicagoan: not only is he behind on his rent, he's a bit of a wash-out with women despite being tall, dark, & at least not overtly ugly. Worse, he's a wizard in a world that doesn't believe in wizards. Okay, so that last part's hard to believe given the kind of mayhem Harry manages to produce. Even in a rainstorm Chicagoans would likely notice an electric blue demon scuttling down the street, or a battle with lightning bolts.. Harry's landlord would definitely take exception to the destruction of his apartment, and I suspect Harry's neighbors would have a word or two to say about the destruction of the building's one elevator. In LA, maybe, you could get away without a demon being noticed, but Chicago? Not... Still this book zings along at such a magical pace that I'm not just willing to forgive the obvious but I've already ordered the series. Go to Amazon

Awesome read I really enjoyed this read. My best friend had bragged about it the whole 3 years I've known her. Even got me to watch the TV show. Yes, I did it backwards. Watched the show THEN read the books. whoops. Anyway, I was laughing the whole time reading it, and I honestly think Harry could be less of a screw up and the writing was sometimes just droning on, I thoroughly enjoyed reading book 1. I will likely get book 2 and go from there. I hope they're all just as entering as this one. Well done. Go to Amazon

Underdog x10, fun as heck to read I've had people warn me that the first book might not be the best way to introduce readers into the world of Dresden but, if it gets better than Book 1, then I can't wait. Go to Amazon

Great Premise, Bad Story One wizard goes against his order and exposes the reality of magic to the public by offering his services for hire. A private investigator with a magic wand. As an avid fantasy book reader I usually love stories like this. Go to Amazon

Oh Harry! Oh how I loved this book! Storm Front was fantastic. I'm so glad I read this book and will continue with the series. Harry Dresden is a great character, I loved his personality, wit and charm. The story was fast paced and full of action. Great writing and all consuming! Thank you Jim Butcher! Go to Amazon

How did I miss this? Was enjoyable, a good first book. Can't wait to read the next, as i'm sure they get better and better Funny, fastpaced, break-neck-speed urban fantasy The PI Magi Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden Great read! Moving on to book 2. I really enjoyed this beginning to what I imagine will be an ... a little to adult for me Jim Butcher has built an amazing world where magic is slowly recognized as being a ... Four Stars

#Book 1): Jim Butcher: 9780451461971: Amazon.com: Books

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