#if claudette have only one fan and that is me . if claudette has no fans that means i am no more on the earth .

[deadbydangit]

Hi! If you’re open to taking requests right now could I please ask for how bubba, Jeff, and vittorio would take care of their sick s/o? Tysm!! <3

I can absolutely do that. I'm sorry it's been taking me so long to get to requests. I've been anxious, tired, and kind of depressed. But I'll keep trying to bring everyone at least one thing every day.

Taking Care of a Sick Reader

Jeff, Vittorio, Cannibal

Jeff Johanson

Jeff is a very vigilant person.

He's always been that way.

So when the first sign of you being sick appears, he knows.

You just sneezed though.

"You sneezed three times. Every time that happens you start to get sick."

And he's right.

As an artist and musician, he's trained himself to pick up on tiny little details.

First off, straight to bed.

If you're in the middle of something, he'll finish it for you.

No: ifs, ands, or buts.

You're in bed.

At least when you're sick, you get to have his amazing soup that he only gives you when you're sick.

It's his way of creating a silver lining.

He isn't big on medicines though.

Jeff was in a bad crowd, he had seen people get addicted to drugs from the littlest things.

He just doesn't want to risk that in you.

Instead, he'll go more homeopathic.

You'll be better pretty quick too.

It doesn't matter how much you coughed and sneezed, he won't get sick.

It's like he has super powers.

"I don't have super powers, I just can't be sick. Otherwise, I couldn't be there for you."

Vittorio Toscano

During his time, a cold could mean a death sentence.

So, even if he doesn't show it, he's very worried.

Vittorio is really good at hiding that worry though.

He doesn't want you to panic.

That would only make things so much worse.

Some of the other survivors might have to catch him up on modern medical knowledge.

Once he's assured that you aren't going to die, then he'll be much more helpful.

He'll insist on doing everything for you.

Even carrying you.

Everywhere.

Even if you don't need it.

He doesn't really understand that you don't need that.

Or he does, and just wants to be your hero.

Modern medicine is far from what he knew; pills and other drugs aren't common knowledge to him.

What is common is plants.

He'll be working together with Claudette to use herbs to make you feel better.

It tastes terrible.

But it does have you feeling better.

He doesn't get sick either.

He knows to wash his hands and give you some distance.

"Now that you are feeling well again, I can safely hold you."

Cannibal

This boy is surprisingly calm.

You'd expect him to panic or not know what to do.

But he's very calm.

He had a big family.

Big.

And he would usually take on a very motherly role.

He's taken care of everyone in his family with sicknesses at least once in their life, usually more.

Bubba is super good with helping you when you're sick.

He might not seem like it, but he's very tender and affectionate when he wants to be.

He isn't a fan of showing that side of him to the rest of the world though.

It's only reserved for you.

He might try and cook you some soup.

Do not eat that soup.

Seriously.

Don't eat it.

To spare his feelings, just say that your stomach hurts too much to eat.

He's very gullible.

He knows it's important that you drink plenty of water and get plenty of rest.

He'll frequently check on you throughout the day too.

You'll never have an empty water glass, nor will you never have enough blankets.

He knows exactly what you need, and how much of it you need.

And, as much of a pushover he may be, you aren't getting or doing anything that will make you feel worse.

Your job is to lay in bed and get better.

His job is to take care of you.

And he takes that role very seriously.

#dbd imagines #dbd ask blog #dbd x reader #dbd killer #dbd cannibal #dbd bubba #dbd jeff #dbd survivor #dbd vittorio

[myimaginarywonderland]

I know people complain about the Queerbaiting done with Buddie which is completely fair but can we also talk about the horrible treatment that the openly queer characters get in 911, not only from the show but especially the fans.

Let's start with Hen. We learn from the beginning that she is married and probably has a son, so she has been in a committed relationship for at least 4 years and probably has been broken up with her ex for a minimum of 6 years. And then, in such a committed relationship where she should know how awful the consequences of cheating can be because of her son, we still see her cheat and even season later defend her ex girlfriend. Not only that but we also see her finally get an individual storyline with her med school decision and yet, there's barely any mention let alone showing of that later one and we only go back to showing the trouble in her year-long marriage.

Then we have Karen, someone who has been a side character,one of the most important ones, but is never given any scene that doesn't resolve around her marriage. We have never seen her at work, let alone learned anything about her life outside of who she is in the relationship. We don't know anything really about how she meet Karen or how they adopted Denny. We barely get hints.

Then we have Josh, my probably second favourite character. Let me just start of by saying that while he a gay stereotype, I truly do not understand how so many fans believe that people like him don't exist. I know from own experience that quiet often certain stereotypes might apply and that sometimes people truly seem like a walking stereotype until you get to know them better which is exactly what 911 did with Josh until season 5. We saw the typical gay best friend but then we not only saw him have relationships outside that, we also saw glimpses of his journey, the struggles gay man can face etc. We saw him grow, overcome his traumatic experiences, truly take on the burden of his job, we learned about a small part of his journey, we were finally getting attention to a side character again. We have always had a bigger focus on the dispatchers and I truly believed that with Maddie gone we would finally get more from him and the dispatchers because they are such an essential part! But no.

Just like with the other two characters his story just sort of stopped. Yes we still saw him being the leader of dispatch. But they regressed his character to give another character, May, a better storyline which I hate.

Let me start of by saying that no other character would receive the hate Josh did in season 5. Why? Good question. We have seen Bobby call out others of the fire fam even in rude manners and it was never talked down the way it was for Josh.

Josh rightfully called out Eddie about taking on a responsibility that wasn't his to take on. If we had seen Eddie talk to Linda or even Josh to give the information, nothing would be wrong with that. The problem was Eddie allowed himself to take over the dispatcher position which he isn't allowed. He wasn't trained. He had no qualifications or right to make that call.

What happened with May and Claudette would have been such an amazing opportunity to show how even a leader can sometimes miss something, can sometimes brush something off that is more severe. But yet, we never saw anything about that. Josh acted the way towards May he did that time because he did not see the extent. As far as we know he saw only what happened on the first day back where tension with a new worker might always be higher. Until May's outburst we never had any actual conformation that Josh witnessed the horrible treatment May received which honestly probably was the case. People forget that he had to run that center until Sue came back which probably meant he was way less on the floor that he was previously and therefore didn't see what maybe other like Linda could. And considering May never reached out to anyone after that, you can not blame Josh for taking no action when to him there wasn't a cause to.

Which brings me back to my biggest problem I have with the treatment of all the official queer character. Wasted potential.

There is so much but especially when it comes to the queer characters of 911.

We had the potential to see Hen struggle with medical school, we saw glimpse of her connecting with the fellow students and then nothing. We had the potential to see Hen and Karen actually address their problems but yet that cheating storyline was just kind of brushed off. We had the potential to see Karen struggle with a new job, during the pandemic but nothing. We had the potential to see a women struggle with the hostile engineering field eventhough she has so much experience and yet nothing. We had the potential that was teased by showing us Karen and Hen reconnect with Nias mom and yet that storyline was never followed up. We never saw any real look into their family that didn't involved relationship problems or concerned something at the 118.

With Josh this is even worse.

We know he was Maddies best friend and probably one of the most important people in here life yet we never once saw how he dealt with her just running away and essentially also leaving him behind.

We were told and shown that the Buckley-Hans were close to Josh (the poker scene and the mention of their group chat) yet we never got any scene of Buck or Chimney taking to Josh after Maddie left. Hell, we never were shown anything of their friendship after Maddie got pregnant really but especially then they all had to be close right?

We were even teased with Buck/Josh for a bit. Not only were they shown flirting but we specifically were shown that Buck was comfortable with dating a guy and that both were clearly to a degree comfortable with being matched.

Not to mention the fact that we could have had a great storyline with Eddie and Josh but nothing happened.

Or the storyline that was May's and Josh bond that only appeared every 6th episode.

There is so much wasted potential with the already queer characters that it just underlines the issue of Buddie being queerbaited even more.

#anti 911 fox #9-1-1 fox #josh russo #hen wilson #karen wilson

[tearyeye-private-i]

🎬 •°. Roy Orbison! Press photos of "The Fastest Guitar Alive," c. 1967.

[ 12 Days of Christmas 💚 3 / 12 ]

Roy’s debut film! It was a flop, financially, and critically, and even MGM took back their contract with him which included 5 films. 😭 But it’s still fun to watch even if it’s bad, not only for its direction but negative depictions of Native Americans. Though, Roy wasn’t in a good head space when he starred in it. As Ellis wrote:

“Roy had decided one month after Claudette’s death, to become a movie star. MGM tossed him an Elvis Presley reject called The Fastest Guitar Alive, a silly film about a man who had a rifle concealed in his guitar; it was impossibly inane even by B-movie standards. Roy’s lapse of judgment in taking the role may have been attributable to the fact that he had always been an avid movie fan, and starring in his own film, however trite, was one of the prerogatives of a rock star that he did not intend to miss. “It was intended to be a serious film,” Roy told Glenn A. Baker, in an interview in 1980. He added, “Cat Balon had just won an Oscar and so they changed it to a comedy.” – “Dark Star: The Roy Orbison Story,” by Ellis Amburn, pg 153.

The change from serious-period drama to comedy-spaghetti western is apparent. For one, Roy had written songs for the soundtrack with Bill Dees, which were excluded from the film. ‘Best Friend,’ and ‘There Won’t Be Many Coming Home,’ a mourning song for soldiers lost at war. Maybe due to Roy’s character being a confederate spy, the song was scrapped.

Along with a lyric change on ‘Medicine Man,’ a song about a white man in love with a Native American woman, “she has no use for a white man, helpless and worthless, like me. / Tell her father Chief Strong Hand to let Wild Flower comfort me.” Apparently, those lyrics didn’t fit the comedy vibes either.

Still, even at his worst, Roy worked hard, he did the best he could on his part. It's a shame the film didn't match his effort.

#Roy Orbison #The Fastest Guitar Alive #Old Hollywood #Sun Records #Classic Rock #The Big O #Rock #//MyPosts #Sun//Orby #//Edits #12 Days of Christmas

[harcourtholmesii]

First Row: - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim; Primarily, I adore the open world and making it all your own. - Fallout 4; Much the same as above, just in a setting I can appreciate more (post-apocalyptic). - Among Us; When I am a crewmate, I am the most suspicious person in the group. When I am the murderer, I am the most innocent of beans. I enjoy the irony, I think is what I am saying. - Red Dead Redemption; Honestly, I haven't played this game in a loooong time, but I remember loving it all. The world and space, hog-tying criminals and leaving them on train tracks... Ah, the good times. - The Red Lantern; It is a game of beautiful puppy dogs and I love it. Puppy deaths are off, because I can't stand the thought of it as is, I don't need to bawl my eyes out over a Nintendo Switch game. Second Row: - Assassins' Creed II; What I felt was missing in the first game was massively improved upon and explored in this one. Not to mention, a very charismatic main cast and a gorgeous setting in Renaissance Italy. - Dungeons & Dragons (Fifth Edition); Whilst you didn't specify video games, I had to put this TTRPG here, simply because it rules my every waking moment. - Dead By Daylight; The community is a love/hate box of mad cats, and the game is a cruel mistress, but I am addicted to it! I love it far too much. Claudette and Zarina are my main survivors, and though I rarely play killer, both Trapper and Pyramid Head are my mains. - Cuphead: Don't Deal With The Devil; This game was tough, and there are still certain bosses I dread to face again, but I love it all the same. The lore is interesting, the style is beautiful and the soundtrack is such a bop. There is a reason I just have 'Don't Mess With King Dice' in my usual youtube playlist. - The Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle Earth II; I absolutely love this game, and I am so disappointed that I can't run it on my newer computer. I haven't played it in years, but it was my go to game 5+ years ago. Third Row: - Payday 2; My partner and I play this all the time. It is a game we both love to have, and whilst they are far better at it than I, there have been improvements made on my part. Sokol will forever be my main. - This War Of Mine; The addition of the expansion packs made this game work even better, at least for me. It is a hard game and a depressing one, but it is one I adore. For the life of me, I can't really fathom why, but every time I play it, I am immersed. - Sims 4; I only play this game to build. I have played some of the actual life simulation but it bores me pretty quick. Sims 2 was the only one of the Sims games that kept my interest in the actual gameplay. However, Sims 4 is my favourite for its style and the updating of the build/buy tools. - Infected; If no one has tried or played this TTRPG, I highly recommend it. It is a zombie game, but it is so much fun with a lot of character building options. It fuels my love of the genre so much! Fourth Row: - Team Fortress 2; Whilst I am more of a Mann vs Machine player, I do really enjoy most gamemodes for TF2. I haven't gone into many of the fan made works, though I really want to, simply because I am unfamiliar with how it works. My mains, in order of my frequency playing them, are; Medic, Sniper, Scout and Pyro. - Pokemon Sword; I'll admit, I don't have much to say about this game. I do genuinely enjoy it, but Pokemon games have never really been to my fancy. I love seeing them roam about the wild, though! - Until Dawn; The first game that I saw published by Supermassive Games, and my overall favourite. Yeah, the characters don't really behave all that realistic/aren't really relatable, but the game is fun with some really good jump-scares and storytelling. - Outlast and Outlast Whistleblower; There are a number of games on this list that deserve a viewer discretion warning. This, however, takes the cake. Probably the most violent and horrific of the horror genre on this list, both the main game and its DLC are brilliantly terrifying and with a very in-depth and well-crafted story (in my humble opinion). - Northgard; A game remarkably similar to Battle For Middle Earth II, and yet, with a lot more to it and a very harsh spike to its difficulty. Sometimes I just chill on normal mode, other times I am losing my mind as a blizzard rolls in for Winter. Goat clan all the way! I shall have all of the fluffy bois! Fifth Row: - Detroit: Become Human; This game gets a lot of well warranted critique, and understandably so, but it does not dampen my love for such an interesting concept and a wonderful cast of characters. Connor's storyline is, by far, my favourite, followed by Markus' revolution. - Telltale's The Walking Dead (Seasons 1 and 2); This game hurts me inside. It really does. I do not much appreciate how the story turned in the second season, but the first is fantastic and the second is a worthy, if harsh, follow up. As for the other two seasons and the DLC, I'm afraid I have not played them. - Minecraft; This is a game made for me to waste time. It is both stressful and stress-relieving. It might be childish, but it lets me whittle away the hours I have stewing in my own consciousness. - Telltale's The Wolf Among Us; Holy Hell, I love this game! Good guy Bigby all the way but I adore most everything about it. The style, the main character, the rest of the cast (especially Faith, Grendel and Bloody Mary), and just the story pulls me in, no matter how many times I play it. - Call Of Duty: Black Ops II (Zombies); This one is just fun. I used to play this all the time with a friend and we have been slowly getting back into it and getting better every time. If you want just straight action and a rising difficulty on horde mode, I would highly recommend!

A short list of honourable mentions below: - Warhammer End Times: Vermintide - Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn - Garry's Mod: Prop Hunt - GTA V - The Forest - Gartic Phone - Papa's Something-eria - Google's Internet-Is-Down Dinosaur Game

Whoo! And that should be most, if not all of it. This was a long and unnecessary answer, but I am an indecisive hooman being who felt the need to answer in detail.

Now is the time for me to return to my lair. See below:

Until I am awoken again, thank you @ur-typical-nerd​ for the lovely ask, and sorry for the unnecessarily long rant. Have a good one!

#Favourite Game Bingo #Not Sure If Tumblr Will Like Me Excessively Tagging This Post #So I Won't #Answering A Question #HarcourtHolmesII

[augustheir]

some thoughts after watching the shield finale last night:

I love claudette's last conversation with dutch. "all I have to do is deal with this pain every day. and every day that I can, I'll show up. until the day that I don't." the contrast between her acceptance of her fate while still resolving to act with honor and dignity to try to do some good until her death vs vic, a man who's strength of character has gone almost exclusively to furthering his own ends and then covering his ass when shit inevitably hits the fan, never accepting that he won't get him and his team out of every horrible situation they bring on themselves is really powerful.

dutch then asks "what can I do? tell me." "you just keep doing what friends do. it means a lot." dutch and claudette are my favorite relationship in this show and probably the only healthy one. they are true partners and friends; their loyalty and care for each other drive them both to be better. contrast this again with vic: claudette later in the episode showing the pictures of shane to him and then having ronnie arrested, finally revealing vic's betrayal to the poor bastard. vic instilled a twisted, tainted sense of loyalty into the strike team that ruined all of their lives and left vic completely alone.

speaking of, vic's ending is so perfect. I was cackling as his fate was being handed to him by olivia. that very last moment tho what a psychopath.

was so happy seeing andre benjamin's name in the opening credits. incredibly elegant bringing him back the way they did.

of course I have a lot of thoughts about what happened with shane but what's even worth writing down besides how upsetting, unnervingly beautiful, and deeply sad it was. the kind of thing that haunts you for a long time after you see it.

this is not finale specific but the barn is such an incredible set. an ingenious idea both thematically and visually to make it a former church haphazardly transformed into a precinct; it has so much character. I love the open second floor; whenever something dramatic happens there, you have a built in audience looking up, seeing everything.

#the shield fx

[orleans-jester]

Claudette + Kuzco + Clopin + Piper

Claudette gets Valentines Day - always. It’s her favorite holiday. It used to be her birthday but then she started feeling old, and not exactly wanting to celebrate that, so Valentine’s Day. Bring on the champagne, which she had a taste for better than Clopin’s love of wine. She would bulk order a bunch of candy hearts - the good, fancy kind that have real flavor and aren’t just chalk - and have personalized messages on them. ‘Kuzpin forever’ ‘Kuzette forever’ And of course there were more dirty ones, instructional ones ‘Kiss me’ ‘Suck me’ ‘Fuck me’ Some had memories on them to make them giggle and reminisce. ‘Disney sux’ ‘Walmart rulez’ ‘Paris, u + me’ ‘Today is the greatest’ All shaved everything, hair extensions, make up to try to soften up the very masculine features, and wearing a little (what else?) purple nightgown. Of course some of these hearts will be for Piper, because no one lets Piper be left out. She’ll get her own box of fancy French chocolates, ordered before they left NZ, and their temp maid picking it up. Lots of serenading from Claudette, dancing, living the best life.

Frank + Delta

Although Frank hasn’t been feeling the best, since apparently Delta has been thinking about a lot of his failures and singing Flotsam’s praises (come on, he’s a jealous guy of course he’s going to catch onto all of that, it’s not going to be great), he still slightly celebrates the big love day. He doesn’t do it in a grand way, he’s not much for that. Not is he going to go all lovey dovey, hearts over everything, romance is in the air, serenading like Heath Ledger in 10 Things I Hate About You. This is Frank. Who is having doubts because everything is pointing to Delta doing the same. Especially when being friends with Valerie apparently goes hand in hand with insulting him, she only thinks about one while doing the other? What he will do is he will walk through the chaos to where there are still those lingering outside, the stubborn reporters, the foolish, hopeless people hoping that their loved ones will come out. He picks two. Beckons them in. And then he enjoys the simple act of strangling them with his own hands. That’s something that came out through Delta. He only loved receiving pain. Now he didn’t mind giving it, but he saved the more exquisite, creative pain for those that deserved it. Not these .. things. Carved them up. Took out their hearts. So slippery and slimy and red. He left the corpses to either fester or for the feral animals to eat up. Fresh meat. Using careful stitches that Sally had taught him, he sewed the two hearts together to become one. A meaty surprise. Surround it in resin so that it will last longer than a few hours before the stench becomes too horrible. Preserved now. No ribbon or cards, he’ll just give it to Delta during their dinner, kissing the top of her hand.

GoGo + Scout

Of course Valentine’s Day falls on a school day. And though she’s rather caught up in her mechanics, as per usual, and taking care of these human-like dolls and their vampire owner, the lack of boxing girl has been noticed. Scout didn’t really have to say anything. So as a bit of fun, Go-Go comes into school early and sets up a fan in the back of Scout’s locker, that’s attached to the door, and filled it with Fast and the Furious valentines. So that when Scout goes in to try to get her books, whoosh, the valentines are going to come flying out in the breeze, and scatter all over the hallway.

Oogie Boogie + Spade + Barrel

Quality family time, a big batch of candied hearts - real hearts, of course, dipped in sugars to make it oh so sweet and meaty and chewy and crisp. Rather simple this year, but there’s a lot coming up, Oogie can feel it.

Valentin + Nicolai

Valentin starts off the day with jumping on his cousin’s bed. “ITS MY DAYYYYY!” He says, music playing, lots of dancing. Pretty much acting out the True Faith music video up there. Nicolai is used to this, aims a well timed ick at his knees, making him buckle and fall off the bed. He’s going to be like this for the rest of the day. Handing out roses to people who were still at HTT. Unable to pay attention in class. It’s not even his birthday. It’s just Valentine’s Day. He keeps an eye out for CJ though is unsure if he made it through the craziness. Finishes off the night with Kartoshka and Salted Caramel White Russians.

Elsa

Elsa won’t be saying much when Koda goes. She got her rejection email. She was hardly the type to rebuttle it, no meant no. It was a shame. But he was leaving her with memories. She would move out of the hotel, refusing to take up anymore of the Laveaus money on it, and find herself a small studio to stay in for the time being. Ellie was strong willed, she would be going whether Elsa approved of it or not, there was no point in trying to find a bigger place. She’d just - seem to carry on. Settle in. Visit the Laveaus every once in a while, trying to make a point of doing it once a week, even if just for a short while. She even buys Go-Go’s old bike - a standard bicycle, nothing souped up - to get all the way out there. Where is life going, she does not know. But behind those doors, she feels that loss very deeply. The candles left by Koda stay on her table, with reverence.

Ellie + Babyface

Valentine’s Day probably happening on the road. She’s remembering the one the year before. Working, and then being surprised by him bringing over a Care Bear. It was a really cute gesture. Making out in the pantry. She’d be looking at him and smiling a lot, remembering it, bring it up. She’ll try to surprise him at one of their stops by getting him a couple of gifts. Babyface was such a tough guy, or at least he tried to be, she let him keep up the illusion though she knew the softie beneath, so she started with a unicorn that she’d keep on the dashboard of whatever vehicle they managed to get. It reminded her of the prom that they totally crashed. A couple of giant candy bars. AND some weird teriyaki beef jerky sodas.

Maddy + Bastien + Frankie

It’ll be another Valnetine’s Night inside, since there’s not much in the city now - no going out to get dinner, drinks, see a movie, anything like that. But that’s alright, there’s plenty to do inside. Maddy will put Frankie in a cute little Valentine’s Day outfit to start up that cheer. She wasn’t going Reaper this year, though she still had that outfit hanging in a special place, but she did stic with something pretty and black that was sheer but also hid that belly she was still working on getting rid of, did a bit of make up to try to be more sultry and sexy. Feeding her man right, giving him some dances so maybe he could objectify her a little bit, just a touch, and of course, plenty of love, kissing all over, massaging, pampering him.

#Gonna do a Thomas starter #but wasn't sure if you had any plans so wrote some of my own #if you wanna write anything out just lemme know :)

[toughpaperround]

I posted 5,605 times in 2022

72 posts created (1%)

5,533 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@mansikkaomenabanaani

@javachik

@justsmilestuffhappens

@hannibalatemyheart

@ellelans

I tagged 4,498 of my posts in 2022

Only 20% of my posts had no tags

#911 fox - 1,427 posts

#buddie - 993 posts

#911 fanart - 328 posts

#911 spoilers - 282 posts

#fic rec - 274 posts

#eddie diaz - 247 posts

#911 crack - 214 posts

#911 cast - 186 posts

#evan 'buck' buckley - 177 posts

#118 firefam - 150 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#great parallel there of chim's line about 'buck has a harder job to do' (post-sniper) and then the kids needing their dad in this episode

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

So now we know Buck has a special dial-tone set for calls from Chris, agreed?

So what is it?

42 notes - Posted April 12, 2022

#4

911 Firefam from the 5b finale montage (see more here x)

[Image ID: Eddie, having just slid down the fireman's pole on his way to answer an alarm call: "Been waiting months to do that 😁"

End ID]

43 notes - Posted May 23, 2022

#3

5x16 'May Day' - something was missing from this scene 😉

[Image ID: Linda and Eddie in Dispatch are watching May Grant standing up for herself with Claudette. The scene has been edited to replace Linda's coffee mug with an oversized popcorn bucket. End ID]

66 notes - Posted May 21, 2022

#2

Hen: I cannot believe I'm in a firetruck with FOUR straight dudes and not one of you can answer me on this!

Bobby, Chim, Eddie & Buck: …

(Then they all reply at once)

Bobby: Umm, four? No, I think you mean three.

Chim: Well at least I do know there's only three straight dudes in here.

Eddie: Ha! No wait, there's three.

Buck: Hang on. Bobby, Eddie, Chim, yes okay - there's not four of 'em Hen. It's three.

Hen: What? Three of… Umm… well, thanks for sharing that with me 😊

(After shift)

Hen (to Karen): Babe I really think I need to get my gaydar recalibrated

76 notes - Posted February 9, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

9-1-1 (fox) Buddie Hockey fic recs 🏒

'Two Minutes For Roughing' by ok_thanks (M, 11k) a Hockey AU in which NHL winger!Eddie gets traded onto HockeyHimbo!Buck's team.

'Betrayal' by allisonRW96 | @homerforsure (M, 4k) from a whumptober series, so the hockey fic is just this single chapter. More to come from this author! NHL Centre!Buck is betrayed by someone from his past in this whumpy fic.

"love's not a game" by thatbuddie (talktothesky) | @thatbuddie (3k, E) a hockey AU PWP (with surprise added plot) in which two rivals get steamy

'Penalty Killer' by gutterson (M, 6k, WIP) a hockey AU in which both Buck and Eddie are players for the Dallas Stars.

"steppin' into fate" by r_holland | @onward--upward (M, 3k, WIP) a hockey AU in which NHL winger!Buck is concerned about his place on the team after a trade is announced

'puck or fuck' by jewishbucke | @movedto-jewishbucke (T, 2k, WIP) in which Buck's interested in the new goaltender, Eddie Diaz.

"Buck's Bakes At Christmas" by Mansikka | @mansikkaomenabanaani (T, 30k, the first part of a longer series), in which Buck is a baker who invites NHL!Eddie onto his TV show's Christmas special

'Unbridled Hope and Happiness' by chucks_prophet (G, 2k) in which NHL!Eddie meets FigureSkater!Buck and it's hard to tell who is the more charmed.

And finally, some bathena love: 'Fangirl' by ladyjax (T, 2k) in which Athena is a fan of Bobby when he plays for the LAFD hockey team.

And buddie hockey fanart? So good! Try @jooleah (X), and @macarenaandrad3 (X)

More next time on some ice-skating fics! Do suggest any I've missed, or send corrections/tags to add? Cheers!

Rec Lists Masterlist

100 notes - Posted April 15, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #Ice fics rec list deffo needs an update

[left-4-dead-2-dead-by-days6]

Left 4 Dead - Wikipedia

💾 ►►► DOWNLOAD FILE 🔥🔥🔥 Home Discussions Workshop Market Broadcasts. Change language. Install Steam. Left 4 Dead 2 Store Page. It is only visible to you. If you believe your item has been removed by mistake, please contact Steam Support. This item is incompatible with Left 4 Dead 2. Please see the instructions page for reasons why this item might not work within Left 4 Dead 2. Current visibility: Hidden. This item will only be visible to you, admins, and anyone marked as a creator. Current visibility: Friends-only. This item will only be visible in searches to you, your friends, and admins. Description Discussions 0 Comments Description Discussions Comments. Add to Collection. This item has been added to your Favorites. A collection of 38 items created by. Keon S. Deacon Frost. Minnie Mouse. Lois Griffin. Game Content: Items , UI. Items: Medkit. Items Ace Visconti - Nick. Created by MakinDay. This Mod Includes: -Ace Visconti! Dwight Fairfield - Louis. Yeah, that's it. It includes first person arms, lobby icon and in-game icon. Model by Behaviour Port to source by Mark David King - Francis. David King from Dead by Daylight replacing Francis. Claudette Morel - Rochelle. Quentin Smith - Ellis. Dead by Daylight Medkit. Created by Ellie. This mod is a very simple mod that replaces the Medkit by the medkit from Dead by Daylight. Animations are MaxG3D ones. Created by Keon S. All I did was take the actual png file of the med kit they use in-game for the games HUD icon and just transfered it over to L4D2. I made this mainly cause I'm a die-hard fan of DBD and thanks to Ellie they have made me a favorite medkit mod so kudos to yo This is played when you either Survive, or get 2 or more kills in Dead by Daylight. Created by [Endurance] Viper. Dead by Daylight Tank Music. Created by Brekku. This might've been the best addon thumbnail i've made. This addon replaces the tank's music. Created by Pirangunter Bill Left Behind Hud Icon. Created by Elke Stranger Things - Dead by daylight - Demogorgon. Created by Ramm. Created by Deacon Frost. Stranger Things - Dead by daylight - Demogorgon sounds. Smoker sounds replacement Didn't spend much time on this, replace ALL smoker sounds not music , due to the amount of sounds be aware that only one unique sound is replaced for each category : 1 unique pain sound , 1 unique death sound There's an updated Ash model for Nick with facial animation made by Despair "Good. I'm the guy with the gun. Ash Williams as Coach. Ashley J. Original model belong to: Behaviour Interactive Army of Darkness! Kate Denson from Dead by Daylight Rochelle. Created by Lois Griffin. Ash Williams - Dead by Daylight. Created by Despair. Dead By Daylight Pig as Zoey. Created by Minnie Mouse. William "Bill" Overbeck - Dead by Daylight. It's supposed to be a sort of definitive version of all the other, identical mods on the workshop, since they are either poorly made, or don't Francis - Dead by Daylight. So this time it's Francis' turn, to be honest I think this one looks kinda crappy, the texture design for this outfit is weird in my opinion but I also had to do some major editing to get the outfit to actually fit Francis' body and such, since the dude th Zoey - Dead by Daylight. This mod replaces Zoey's original outfit with Meg's higher quality version of Zoey's outfit from Dead by Daylight. I did a few things with this one, such as stretching the torso of the original model a bit in order to make it match the length of Zoey's Ellis - Dead by Daylight. This one was pretty basic to do, it certainly came out better than Francis did, I toyed with the idea of using the hair parts from Dwight's hat model on Ellis but it looked cr Rochelle - Dead by Daylight. Replaces Rochelle's outfit with Claudette's version of Rochelle's outfit. Pretty basic mod, looks pretty good, came out alright. The glasses are a bodygroup, the game will randomly pick between the empty slot and the glasses one provided you are in a loc This Addon is replacing all four tracks that are played during a tank fight with the Demogorgon chase theme from the game called 'Dead by Daylight'. Enjoy hearing your favorite monster track during your playthrough of Left 4 Dead 2! Legion's Karambit - DBD. Replaces the Machette. This mod was commissioned by Nyteshade Meg Thomas, Rochelle Replacer. Created by Guardian. Meg Thomas awakes to find herself in a zombie apocalypse, no time for repairing generators and breaking totems, shes gonna need all her wits to survive endless waves of the undead. Note: this is really my first custom character mod and is a work in progres Jane Romero - Dead By Daylight. Replaces Rochelle with Jane Romero. Ghostface Classic. Replaces Francis. Created by Grim. Kate Denson. Created by Kiathe. I wasn't going to upload this until I had finished a few more mods but I decided just to do it anyways. I simply changed her hair to the original hair style from her last one. It's much more bouncy and moves more naturally. Yes I ship Kate and the Trickste Steve Harrington My Player character. Yes another version of Steve. This is Steve as I have him in game. Though to be honest, I'm a Quentin main. I never even play as Kate either. He has no first person viewer arms yet but they are coming soon. Features: - Boomer Bile Texture - Face posing Adam Francis. Just a simple request. Gonna touch him up a bit more later. I wanted to use a different hair style on him but couldn't gain access to it. Through this mod, I've realized why nobody does mods for Louis. It's a lot more trouble then it's worth but if there w Nancy Wheeler My player character. Probably the one character I almost always spare when ever I'm the killer maybe other then Yui, even if she's being annoying. I'm having trouble with her first person viewer arms as well but when I get them to work, I'll upload them along with Steve's. Feng Min Bunny Outfit. Well look who Bill brought to hell with him. Feng Min replaces Coach. She looks as she does in the original game for the most part. I made sure she had facial animations and eye tracking. Feng Min is more meant to replace Haruka Hirose. Will come up with Kate Denson My player character. Kate Denson has come to keep Feng and Bill company and she brought her guitar to play the other survivors music. I always thought Kate and Feng made a good duo but I made her as she is in my game, just without the glasses. Comes with: - Facial flexes - F Share to your Steam activity feed. You need to sign in or create an account to do that. Sign In Create an Account Cancel. All rights reserved. All trademarks are property of their respective owners in the US and other countries. Some geospatial data on this website is provided by geonames. View mobile website.

[queendeeshorrorimagines]

Hey! How are you?

Can I have a dbd matchup?

I am a genderfluid adult. I am bisexual. I'm 5′ 3″ tall and I'm fat. I have long curly black hair and light brown eyes. I usually wear plant print shirts, hoodies, jeans, flats or sneakers. My hobbies are gardening, reading, cooking, drawing, and writing stories. I like horror, action, comedy, fantasy or adventure movies. I don't like to wear makeup, have pictures taken of me or tickle me. I sometimes watch anime and read manga, but I'm not as much of a fan as I used to be. I'm sensitive, overprotective, I'm introverted in public but I tend to be very cheerful and talkative with people I'm close with, I'm quiet, affectionate, but I respect people's privacy and space, I'm very sincere, I hate that lie to me, I get angry easily if someone teases me. I love animals and puzzles. I like to cover the people I love with hugs and kisses. And I also like to comb my loved ones' hair. I like helping people and giving advice.

For survivor, I ship you with... Claudette Morel!

The first thing that Claudette noticed was your plant print shirts because she loves botany. Given how she's not the best at socializing, Claudette might have issues with getting to know you because she doesn't want to mess things up with you. Once the both of you get into an relationship, yall become the perfect gardening couple, between your gardening skills and her knowledge, yall would have the healthiest garden in town. Claudette loves how quiet you are because of her own introversion and loves getting showered with your affection while watching movies together. In a way, Claudette always has a way of calming you down when you're angry. Claudette would always volunteer to be your beta reader when it comes to your writing.

For killer, I ship you with.. The Hillbilly!

Max understands your dislike of being teased of bullied because hes the same way because of his deformities and how his parents treated him throughout his life. Although he worked in the farm, hes more knowledgeable about the animals rather than the plants. Hes willing to listen to you talk about the different types of plants around his estate. He loves how much smaller you are compared to him, especially when it comes to cuddling and being affectionate. It would take him a while to fully trust you enough to be affectionate because hes only seen what affection was on the tv, not in reality. Since you love animals, Max would let you see the pigs and other animals around the estate. Max isn't familiar with manga at first but given how the pictures looked, he would love to read it with you (you read the words out while he looks at the pictures) Overall, max adores you and would chainsaw anyone who pisses you off because you're the only person who cares about him.

Other possibilities: Dwight Fairfield, The Nurse, the cannibal, Kate Densen

#anon ask #dead by daylight matchups #queendeeshorrorimagines #slasher imagines #all requests are open #matchup 0015

[incredibletales]

Claudette Colbert in I Met Him in Paris (1937) dir. Wesley Ruggles

#filmedit #oldhollywoodedit #classicfilmedit #classicfilmblr #cinemaspast #dailyflicks #romancegifs #silverscreendames #userdeforest #I Met Him in Paris #Claudette Colbert #category: I Met Him in Paris #person: Claudette Colbert #*mygifs #*imhipedit #if claudette have only one fan and that is me . if claudette has no fans that means i am no more on the earth .

[ebaeschnbliah]

Still at the centre of the web ….

For the 10th Anniversary of Sherlock BBC (July 2010) the Royal Mail released a lovely collection of six stamps, that display key characters from several episodes of the TV show, as well as hidden messages only revealed under UV light.  (X)

I took a closer look at those stamps in the Anatomy of a Stamp Series:  A Study in Pink   The Great Game   A Scandal in Belgravia   The Reichenbach Fall   The Empty Hearse   The Final Problem

Alongside those stamps and in partnership with The Royal Mint (X),  a special medal has been crafted as well to ‘celebrate Sherlock’s genius – and his nemesis’ ... to explore Sherlock’s ‘turbulent relationship with arch-rival Moriarty’ as the description says. 

A little sideways glance at that medal and the collage of images with which it is surrounded couldn’t be wrong, I thought. :)

TBC below the cut .....

That anniversary medal is available in two versios (cupro-nickel&sterling-silver) and it displays:

on one side - Moriarty’s message ‘Get Sherlock’, the note he carved on the Crown Jewel glass case in TRF, to invite Sherlock to play his game

on the obverse side - ‘The Game is on’, which is meant to be Sherlock’s modern take on the literary version ‘The Game is afoot’

James Moriarty is known to be the famous archenemy of Sherlock Holmes. Contrary to canon, Sherlock BBC introduced that character already in the first episode A Study in Pink and Jim commits suicide (alongside Sherlock) in the sixth episode of the story, which consists of 13 so far. According to canon, Sherlock fakes his suicide and comes back after his hiatus. Although Jim is considered to be really dead for years by now, notes and messages of the character turn up repeatedly on various data carriers ... electronic as well as paper. 

Interestingly, it has been chosen for the 10th anniversary of Sherlock BBC to create fan memorabilia which focuses mainly on the confontration between Sherlock and Jim, whose life ended rather quickly at Bart’s roof in The Reichenbach Fall. A great honour for a character who is long dead and seems to be irrelevant for the ongoing story of this adaptation, in which another character - Mary - married John and shot Sherlock and therefore became a sort of new archenemy. Nonetheless, not only every stamp is - in one way or another - linked to Jim Moriarty, the medal and the collage of images with which it is surrounded, displays also mainly text messages connected to Sherlock’s (in)famous nemesis Jim Moriarty. 

Here’s a summery of those texts + the corresponding screenshots in the episodes. It surprised me though, that I couldn’t match all of them. There are some interesting exceptions. First the obvious ones:

A Study in Pink

Two images have been used to create this manip for the medal collage. Both are visible thoughts out of Sherlock’s mind palace. And both screenshots don’t turn up side by side. Sherlock’s entire thinking process lies between them. Jeff Hope, the man who killed the lady in pink had been sponsored by Jim Moriarty.

RACHE  German (n.) revenge

The correct letter settles into place ... Rachel

He squats down beside the body .... wet

He reaches into her coat pockets and finds the umbrella ... dry

He moves up to the collar of her coat ... wet

He inspects the delicate gold bracelet on her left wrist ... clean

... then the gold earring attached to her left ear ... clean

... and then the gold chain around her neck ... clean

The wedding ring ... dirty

Conclusions appear in front of Sherlock’s eyes ... married ... unhappily married ... unhappily married 10+ years

While the outside of the wedding ring is still showing ... dirty

the inside registers as ... clean

Sherlock has reached a conclusion ... regularly removed

The final deduction about her ... serial adulterer

The Great Game

Three different scenes from this episode have been used for the collage. Two are connected to a serial killer called The Golem, who asphyxiates his victims. One is directly connected to Jim Moriarty, who has planned all the cases in TGG. 

1- The Golem killed Alex Woodbridge, security guard and hobby stargazer. That killer appears for the first time on Sherlock’s radar when he searches on his phone for ‘most wanted’ criminals:

JOHN: He’s dead about twenty-four hours – maybe a bit longer. Did he drown?

Sherlock has called up on his phone: Interpol Most Wanted Criminal Organisations Regional Activities LESTRADE: Apparently not. Not enough of the Thames in his lungs. Asphyxiated.

2- The Vauxhall Arches turn out to be the hiding place of the Golem and Sherlock gets the address from an informant of his homeless network. It’s a note written on a piece of paper:

SHERLOCK: Hold that cab. (John trots back to the taxi while Sherlock goes over to the girl.) HOMELESS GIRL: Spare change, sir? SHERLOCK: Don’t mind if I do. JOHN (to the cab driver): Can you wait here? (The girl hands Sherlock a piece of paper. Unfolding it, he sees that she has written “VAUXHALL ARCHES” on it. Smiling briefly, he turns and walks back to John.)

3- The third image out of this episode is one of the exceptions, because they’re not imagined or written words but an actual text line spoken by Jim Moriarty during his showdown with Sherlock at the pool.

JIM: I’ve given you a glimpse, Sherlock, just a teensy glimpse of what I’ve got going on out there in the big bad world. I’m a specialist, you see ... like you! 

A Scandal in Belgravia

It is Jim Moriarty who adviced Irene Adler how ‘to play the Holmes boys’. It is Sherlock though, who wins that game and is able to get access to Irene’s camera phone. The confirmation of his success appears on her mobil phone screen:

IRENE: Everything I said: it’s not real. I was just playing the game. SHERLOCK: I know. And this is just losing. (Slowly he turns the phone towards her and shows her the screen. She looks down at it, tears spilling from her eyes as she reads the sequence which says: I AM SHER LOCKED

The Reichenbach Fall

Three different scenes from this episode have been used for the collage.

1- Jim Moriarty sends Sherlock his invitation to play the game, while sitting inside the smashed glass cage of the crown jewels, dressed as and equipped with the insignias of a king. The message appears on Sherlock’s phone. This starts the game.

JOHN: Sherlock ... SHERLOCK: Not now. JOHN: He’s back. (Sherlock lifts his head and takes the phone. The message reads: Come and play. Tower Hill. Jim Moriarty x.

2- Sherlock searches for the traces hidden inside the residues of the kidnapper’s footprints. What might be the fifth element? Those five big questionmarks+the number 5 appear as visible thoughts out of Sherlock’s mind palace and are embedded between Sherlock’s rememberence of Jim’s threat ‘I owe you’ and Molly asking about this afterwards. It turns out to be the clue to find the kidnapped children and it marks the beginning of Sherlock’s downfall. 

SHERLOCK: I ... owe ... you. SHERLOCK: Glycerol molecule. He sighs heavily as he struggles to identify the item, seeing it in his head as: 5. ????? SHERLOCK: What are you? MOLLY: What did you mean, “I owe you”?

3- Claudette Bruhl, one of the kidnapped children, seems to recognize Sherlock as her kidnapper. The seed of doubt is sawn at Scotland Yard. Then the letters  IOU appear on the windows of a building opposite. This message proves to Sherlock that it is indeed Jim Moriarty who is behind that kidnapping case.  

LESTRADE: The kid’s traumatised. Something about Sherlock reminds her of the kidnapper. JOHN: So what’s she said? DONOVAN: Hasn’t uttered another syllable. JOHN: And the boy? LESTRADE: No, he’s unconscious; still in intensive care. (In the building opposite Scotland Yard, all the lights in the offices come on. On the second floor, spray paint has been applied to three of the office windows. Sherlock stares at the enormous letters that have been painted: I O U

The Empty Hearse

From this episode two different words out of one of Sherlock’s mind palace deductions have been used for the collage. Sherlock is working on the fake Jack the Ripper case (How I did it), which had been planned by Anderson to lure Sherlock back to London because he firmly believed the detective not to be dead. Sherlock notices the trick though. He comes to the conclusion that the fake corpse is only six moths old and its Victorian outfit had been exposed to first: sun and then: fire damage. (Sun exposure, fire damage, undead .... it’s a bit hard to not get ideas about Dracula here ... X X X  :)

The words ‘pine & cedar’ are displayed again as visible thoughts out of Sherlock’s mind palace. And just like in ASIP those words lie several screenshots appart. For some reasons ‘spruce’ has been ignored: 

LESTRADE: This one’s got us all baffled. SHERLOCK: Mmm. I don’t doubt it. (..... Sherlock sniffs at the body and tries to decide what he is picking up: PINE? SPRUCE? CEDAR NEW MOTHBALLS Moving on, he sniffs again: Carbon particulate ... He sniffs more deeply: Fire Damage

The Final Problem

Images of three different scenes out of this episode have been used for the collage. 

1- The movie Mycroft is watching in his private cinema at his place is interrupted first by images of an old family video, then by Eurus’ message on screen ... “I’m back”. It  announces the return of Eurus, the secret sister.

I’M BACK VOICE: Mycroft ... Mycroft ... MYCROFT: Why don’t you come out and show yourself? I don’t have time for this. CHILD’s VOICE: We have time, brother dear. All the time in the world.

2- Sherlock stands in front of the ‘funny gravestones’ at Musgrave Hall and puts together the dates on the stones until he has a long string of numbers in front of him ... visible thoughts out of Sherlock’s mind palace. This brings Sherlock finally the solution to Eurus’ riddle.

.... 1520 1818 2426 1617 1822 32

3- Just like the numbers, the four verses of Eurus’ riddle appear as visible thoughts out of Sherlock’s mind palace. He connects the string of dates from the gravestones to the verses. It is the second verse that has been used for the collage.

I that am lost, oh who will find me? Deep down below the old beech tree Help succour me now the east winds blow Sixteen by six, brother, and under we go! Without your love, he’ll be gone before Save pity for strangers, show love the door. My soul seek the shade of my willow’s bloom Inside, brother mine - Let Death make a room. Be not afraid to walk in the shade Save one, save all, come try! My steps - five by seven Life is closer to Heaven Look down, with dark gaze, from on high. Before he was gone - right back over my (h)ill Who now will find him? Why, nobody will Doom shall I bring to him, I that am queen Lost forever, nine by nineteen.

The exceptions ...

So far, these have been the obvious links between the images used for the collage and the corresponding episodes of Sherlock BBC. Beneath follow the less obvious and the ones I failed to find a match for. 

Blue chemistry ...

There are two episodes in which chemical formulas are displayed in the form of drawings. 

1- In The Hounds of Baskerville (S2/2) Sherlock is looking for a monstrous hound from hell. Instead he finds the H.O.U.N.D. project in which experiments had been conducted with a deleriant drug, based on fear and stimulus. The informations on this project are key-coded by the name MAGGIE (short for Margaret Thatcher)

2- In The Six Thatchers (S4/1) Sherlock tries - with the help of Toby the bloodhound - to track down the person who smashes plaster busts of Margaret Thatcher in order to find a hidden flash drive with secret informations about A.G.R.A. a group of terrorists. One of the four members had been Mary Watson.

Although there exist several drawn chemical formulas in both episodes, very similar to the one used for the collage, and despite I scanned those scenes screenshot by screenshot, I wasn’t able to find a perfect match. Maybe I still missed something. Maybe that formula on the collage is indeed just an unrelated decoraton .... But it’s interesting to note that the story connects this kind of ‘chemistry’ always to Hounds and Thatcher. (more about chemistry)

Red drop of blood ...

That blood drop used for the collage appears actually in each official episode (TAB as well) because it’s part of the intro. And for the creation of the medal collage, that image has been used two times. In the background there is a smaller and paler version, which is overlapped by a bigger and darker version in the foreground. Of that one, only the lower half is visible. Using two times the same image in one picture, always reminds me strongly of the many Pairs, Twins and Double oh’s mentioned in Sherlock BBC. 

Mostly I connect that ‘sign of two’ with John Watson. In my theory he represents the ‘fixed point in a changing age’, the ‘eternal just-friend and still stubbornly ‘not gay’ Watson, the very aspect in Sherlock’s experiment, that needs to be transformed into a modern version of the same character. In other words: the old king has to make way for the new king. According to the original meaning of the Musgrave Ritual that says about the crown of a king: “'Whose was it? His who is gone. Who shall have it? He who will come.” 

With this in mind it was easy to compare the drop of watery liquid that falls onto a drop of blood in Sherlock’s experiment, to John in the well, drenched by the water Eurus exposes him to. Emotional context indeed. :))))

When a drop of emotions/chemistry brings the blood to a boil ... (1 2)    Drop of blood 

Search: London Bridge ...

That’s the most mysterious addition to the collage. While all the other words and images can be linked to the show .... this one is the absolute exception. A ‘search for London Bridge’ doesn’t happen throughout the whole story. Not once. London Bridge doesn’t even play a role in Sherlock BBC. At least not yet ...

Bridges of Sherlock BBC:

In ASIB Irene Adler texts Sherlock that she can see Tower Bridge from her room. In TST Sherlock stands on Vauxhall Bridge while he realizes the involvement of fake AMO, Vivian Norbury. 

In TLD Culverton Smith gives the cryptic advice ‘We must be careful not to burn our BRIDGES.’ ... at the same time Sherlock walks with Faith through London and crosses Millennium Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridge beside Hungerford Bridge.

In TFP little Sherlock stands on a small wood-bridge while he is searching for his lost dog Redbeard.

‘Bridge’ as extension of names:

In TGG security guard Alex WoodBRIDGE is found dead at the bank of the Thames, between Waterloo Bridge and Southwark Bridge.

In TSOT guardsman Stephen BainBRIDGE consults Sherlock and starts the case of the Mayfly Man. He is the first of the three guards (Bainbridge, Sholto, Mary) in this episode. (Changing of the Guard)

London Bridge though does not appear in Sherlock BBC so far. This leaves the question ... why is the note to search for that bridge even on the collage? Where does it come from? And why is it so closely connected to the episode spanning double image of the blood drop from Sherlock’s experiment? The words are displayed inside the smaller, paler blood drop. One wonders .....

(Thanks @gosherlocked​ for deciphering ‘London’ in that bridge’s name. :)))

The blue ribbon ...

Something that looks like a ‘blue ribbon’ runs through the lower part of the collage. The very distinctive loop, right under the name Moriarty, gave me the idea that this ‘ribbon’ could be the river Thames. And really, my assuption turned out to be correct, it is the Thames. What’s even better, at this distinctive loop the river coils around the peninsula named ... Isle of Dogs. 

It surely isn’t an unusual thing to add a part from the map of London, including the Thames, to a collage of images related to Sherlock Holmes. After all, Sherlock is a most famous residient of London. It it is also quite fitting, especially for this adaptation, to display Jim’s name side by side with ‘dogs’. Dogs and hounds do play a major role since the beginning and are closely linked to Jim, John and Sherlock. The barking of a dog in the night can be heard right after John wakes from his nightmare in ASIP, missing shoes lead right away to the villain (very similar to the original Baskerville case) and TFP is all about a lost dog/boy. But there is a little bit more that came to mind, when I recognized the Isle of Dogs.

TheGameIsNow ...

During the run-up to TheGameIsNow-Escape Room Event, (summer 2018) a video was released .... a call-out from Mycroft Holmes to recruit volunteers for The Network. As a part of that call-out, Mycroft mentions a ‘rush of incidents across the capital’ and while he speaks, a map of London is displayed on screen on which a red line runs along and strings together the involved locations, which are marked with the ‘eye-sign’ of The Network. And that red line stops exactly at the Isle of Dogs. That’s why I recognized that peninsula immediately.

Again ... one wonders ...

All in all, one can not deny that a lot of considerations, of work and also of knowledge regarding the show, have been put into the creation of those stamps, the medal and the images used for their presentation. And as usual with Sherlock BBC, some little intriguing mysteries have also been woven into it.  :)))

I leave you to your own deductions. Thanks @callie-ariane​ for the scripts. 

January, 2021

#sherlock bbc #still at the centre of the web #10th anniversary #royal mint #medal #get sherlock #the game is on #collage of images #jim moriarty #isle of dogs #the game is now #drop of blood

[entityskillcount-archive]

Thoughts on everyone in the realms?

"Short Answer; I made a chart. Not a well drawn chart, mind you, but a chart. Sometimes you don't wanna put effort into drawing 50 something faces"

"Long answer, uh....well lemme go down the list"

Claudette: My Starflower~!! She's so sweet and kind and amazing in trials and every time I see her I swoon a little- I love her so much~ Dwight: He's cute- And he's a good leader, despite his nervous personality, he knows how to bring a group together. Final guy potential. Ash: ....Don't...Tell him I said this? But uh....Evil Dead was one of my biggest comfort series, the thing that got me through losing both my parents....the thing that helped me transition, pick my name, and fueled my FX hobby. And I'm still attached, even realizing he's a real person and all- But...it's weird to just, be upfront with something like that, so I'm just...burying it as best as I can. David: He's a little rough around the edges but he’s good to have in a trial, plus when you can get past the walls, he’s nice to talk to. Kate: Her music by the campfire is calming and she’s such a sweetheart. If we were in a better situation I’d love to learn Guitar from her, but, it’s hard when you’re a moment away from a trial at any given time. Amalthea (@askthewidowstars OC): She judged my entire vibe but jokes on her I’m the one who snagged a cutie for life- Meg: If I had a dollar for every time she left me for dead I would have enough money to paint the entire campfire in solid gold. The only time we’ve ever properly talked was about SAW traps and 90% of it was her admitting she could beat every single trap because she was ‘built different’  Jeff: He’s a sweetheart and really nice to be around. Sometimes when we’re by the campfire in our downtimes I’ll let him draw on my arm. it kinda makes me want a tattoo, honestly. If we ever get out of here, I might get one. Steve: Bros!! We kinda make up team ‘Altruistic Himbo’, Plus the ‘Babysitter/Brother’ Vibes mesh really well. I kinda wanna re-style his hair though, mostly because it looks fluffy, and nice to play with.  Quentin: Bros!! We’re gonna make matching T-Shirts about committing Arson on Freddy in particular. He’s fun to hang around in our downtime, and I hope there’s a chance he can get some actual rest, even in here. He deserves it. Adam: If Dwight wasn’t the leader I feel like he’d take over the Reigns. I feel like he’s the calm type that doesn’t handle energetic types well though. Which, y’know, makes things hard.  Nea: Anytime I see her she’s either sneaking around the map and watching everyone get killed, or doing something stupid to get herself killed. I’d get grey hair if We were actually friends.  Feng: Gamer bros- I got to find out we actually played a lotta the same stuff before we were taken by the Entity. We get a chance to nerd out in between trials- Laurie: Best Final Girl hands down. I kinda hope she can teach me Decisive Strike one day- I feel like its also just a little awkward since again, still a fan of Myers Nancy: She doesn’t agree that Demo’s a good boy, which makes sense, but we but heads over it. Also I’m pretty sure she wants me dead for touching the bones around the map one too many times. They’re just too tempting.... Jake: He’s pretty quiet, but he’s helpful in trials. I heard he’s been to a convention a few times, but I don’t think he’s actually into it as much as I thought...Which kinda sucks. I’d love more cosplay buddies y’know? Yui: Kinda makes me want a motorbike. We don’t talk but she seems really cool. A little too cool to me around if that makes sense.  Yun-Jin: She benefits off of throwing everyone else under the bus. And 90% of the time she will throw everyone under the bus. Even if she needs actual help to escape the trial.  Cheryl: Cheryylll!!  She’s really cool and honestly would add her to the ‘Can kill god if she was not nerfed’ Squad. Especially since y’know, she has- I bet if we got enough of the kids together we could just beat the Entity’s ass. I know she could.  Tapp: Always been a fan of Tapp before I was taken, although I feel like he’d wanna arrest me if we weren’t in the Entity’s Realm. I might be a little too excited for my own good about Kramer’s work. I don’t think he’d believe the fact its a movie either.  Ace: He’s kinda like the Uncle of the group around the campfire, but, coming into trials, He’s still for saving his own skin- You can also only stand dad jokes for so long. Especially in an eternity like this.  Leon: He’s cool!!! I got so excited first realizing He and Jill were here, and I wanna get a chance to talk to him about everything that went down, but Haven’t got the chance. He’s nice inside of Trials though, usually doesn’t leave anyone behind. Not a fan of getting blinded though.  Jill: She knows how to lead the trials well, and I look up to her a lot. She’s always been such a badass!!  Bill: If Bill gets his hands on a weapon the entire Realm would be fucked. Badass as hell and Kinda scary. Another one on the list of ‘Entity needed to Nerf’ Felix: You’d think a Childless Father and a Fatherless son would be able to bond a bit more, but, I think we each kinda get the same vibe of homesickness from one another. He’s kind though, and it’s neat to see his work whenever we’re by the campfire.  Elodie: She’s better at helping out than most of the others, but she’s still in a survival of the fittest mindset. I loved hearing about her studies from before she was taken though. I feel like if we had more time we could dig deeper into this whole world and what its about. But we don’t get that- Zarina: We just don’t really click as much, honestly. I’d love to get to know her better but I think she’s more into digging into the killers and what she can find out about this place. Which y’know, could be better done with a team. Sage (@askthewidowstars OC): HUSBAND!!! My husband. I love him to the Moon and back. He’s amazing and I miss him even when we’re five feet apart-  ...I need a hug now-  Amanda: Best girl hands down!! We vibed a lot in between Trials talking about her traps and old designs, she was impressed by my knowledge, and we hang out in Gideon sometimes!   Ghostface: He’s pretty cute- Also fun to be around, even if he’s kind of a dick when he’s actually at work, it’s better when you’re outside of a Trial. It’s also neat to see he’s not just two idiots in a halloween costume and his own person, as much as I love the Scream Series, too-  Leatherface: Bubba!!! Honestly I’d handle being chainsawed. Fuckin Love Bubba-  Huntress: I wanna learn how to throw hatchets but I know I never will. She’s kinda scary, but also I feel like if she could adopt some of the others in the Realms, she totally would.  Oni: The only times I’ve ever really seen him is just before my skull gets bashed in. All I really have associated to him is the splitting headache.  Twins: I’m gonna punt Victor into the sun. I haven’t been good around kids beforehand and this tiny gremlin motherfucker just makes it worse.  Pinhead: I was so excited to see him!! He’s one of the few that talks more often than not in a trial, and he’s always had this air of elegance about him which makes it so much cooler! I’d be tempted to grab the box to solve it, but, at the same time Dwight’s already been hunted. I just...want to see how it works, really. Maybe if I ask nicely? Nah, probably not.  Pyramid Head: He’s so fucking COOL!!! He’s always just been really fucking cool and I still get stars in my eyes. I wanna re-create his weapon one day.  Joey: Joey’s one of the chill killers to be around, probably my favorite amongst the legion. Also Cosplay gang?? Hello? Susie: She’s cute!! I like her vibes whenever there’s not violence involved. I wonder if she’d ever get into costume making, she has the artistic eye for it. I also wonder if she’d ever dye other people’s hair...I’d kinda want green tips one day- Frank: Still wanna throw a palette at him. He’s one of the more serious of the Legion, and usually the one you’d find with a Mori. Not as Serious as Julie but only because he has the cocky god complex to go with it.  Julie:  She’s definitely the most serious out of the Legion. There’s no real rest whenever we’re in a trial against her. Scary as hell and less of a bastard than the other three.  Hillbilly: I know he deserved a lot better than this, especially after hearing more about him. I...Haven’t gotten to see much than the end of his chainsaw though.  Blight: This dude’s singlehandedly bringing back my fear of needles and I thought I lost that with HRT- Also like, dude spits up orange fuckin everywhere.  Michael: My Mans!! I always get a little excited knowing we’re up against him. It’s habit- It’s kinda weird to see him easily affected by like, palettes or flashlights though.  Spirit: She seems like she could be nice when there’s some downtime. I’m also one of the few that can understand her well enough, which probably makes things easier. I found out she’s basically my age when I survived a trial by myself. I’d hope to hang out more sometime. Nemesis: God he’s so fucking tall. Kinda surprised it was Nemesis out of everyone that could’ve been brought, and also, kinda terrified? Still am kinda terrified. I’m surprised he hasn’t just torn up an entire map yet. His zombie minions are also annoying. Wraith: All this motherfucker does is roll up to pull me off Gens and Exist as a problem. I don’t see much of him outside of a Trial. Trapper: Motherfucker Incarnate. If the Entity lets us throw hands I’m fighting him first.  Freddy: ....Gross. I liked the Nightmare on Elm Street series a lot, but...Freddy as a person? Ew. Especially this iteration.  Demogorgon: Demopuppy!! He’s a good boy and he deserves to get treats. Even if the Treats are flesh....I wonder if he likes candy though. Trickster: Pretty!! He also Gives me DIO vibes because of the Jacket and the Knife throwing...Imagine if a killer could stop time...that’d be terrifying. Deathslinger: I wanna sit down and look at his gun more but I also feel like if I ask I’d just get shot on sight. Intimidating as hell but also cool. Mary: ....Still on the very complicated ‘Ex Girlfriend that murdered me’ State. It’s hard to avoid her though. Especially since she wants to get back together since we’re stuck here. Nurse: She does not help my fear of Hospitals, honestly. While she’s easy to go up against, it’s still eugh. Plague: I really, really hate her power. The Sickness and the Vomit is just- Eughhhhh- It just hits every bad sensory issue at once.  Clown: ...I get killers are Killers and aren’t supposed to be good people but also like....Disgusting. Please Remove from the Realm. He’s just- ...Ew.  Doctor: NOPE. NO. NEVER. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

#asks #anonymous #God this was so much to write out

[marshmallow-phd]

Heart of Thorns

Genre: Beauty and the Beast!AU, Romace, Angst

Paring: Tao x Reader

Inspired by: These moodboards created by @xui-n-soowillbethedeathofme (x) (x) and my absolute obsession with Beauty and the Beast

Summary: Lost in a forest during a storm, you find shelter in a crumbling castle that had been hidden away for years. The master of the house shut himself away, refusing to engage with the world. Too intrigued and running away from your own fears, you refuse to leave no matter how much he tells you to, wanting to try and find the heart within the beast.

Part One I Part Two I Part Three

**

Everyone knew the story of the man in the forest mansion. He’d once been the son of a prominent and just lord. The people of the land praised the lord’s name as he was always fair and practiced justice amongst all his subjects. It was a month of mourning when he passed away from sickness, but there were high hopes for his son to carry on his legacy. And at first, all was well.

But something happened that changed his heart.

A woman appeared; beautiful, alluring, and sweet. She captured his heart and they say he adored her, showering her in gifts of gold, jewels, and fine cloth. No one knows what happened for sure, only that the lord’s son went mad. There was a fire and the woman died. Most say that he started it with the intent of killing her.  

Soon after, the son turned out all the servants and secluded himself from the rest of the world. Whispers popped up that the woman he killed was a fairy or a nymph and for killing her he was cursed. Some say that he was now a beast, sporting fangs and claws where his human teeth and fingers once were. Others say he was now a creature of the night and stalked the forest when the moon is high for wandering prey.

No had seen the son or the castle where he supposedly lived in years. The excuse that the grandmothers gave was that the forest had grown too thick from the trees and vines for the castle to be found. Since the son had turned out all the servants and land workers after the fire and there was no one to keep the paths clear.

You didn’t believe a word of it. A man with fangs and claws hiding up in a castle to terrorize anyone who came too close was utter nonsense; a fairytale to scare the children and keep them within the town walls. Even if there were such a man, you hardly considered the possibility that he was cursed.

“It's only because you moved here a few months ago,” Mrs. Mooney crooned. As the wife of the town butcher, she was privy to all the gossip that passed by the family shop. She often stood outside, keeping the stall for the smaller scraps or animals they hadn’t managed to sell to the more prestigious customers. “But we older folk remember the little boy who used to run around here while his father conducted business. Spoiled little thing. Always had a pretty pony and the finest clothes. Stuck his nose up at playing with the other children just because they had dirt on their sleeves. Serves him right, what he got.”

“You don’t know what he deserved and what he didn’t,” another graying woman chimed in haughtily. Her dress, though still rough like a peasant’s, was much nicer than the other villagers. Silver curls spilled out from under a white bonnet. Her hands looked coarse from hard labor and her skin kissed for years under the sun. Crinkles stayed permanently in the corners of her eyes, letting you know that she did smile on occasion. You’d never seen her before when you came to the market, but Mrs. Mooney seemed to know her well.

“You would know better than anyone, Feifei,” Mrs. Mooney sneered.

Though now you were intrigued, Mrs. Mooney did not elaborate how the other woman would know anything about this make-believe man.

“That tongue will get you into trouble someday, Johanna.” Adjusting the basket hanging from the crook of her arm, the old woman spared no glance at the meat as she walked away.

Mrs. Mooney clicked her tongue. With a shake of her head, she turned back to you. “So, milady, do plan on any wares today?”

“No, my father already sent Claudette earlier this week,” you said. The smell of the meat was starting to get to you, but you tried your best to keep it off your face. “I simply came down to escape the confinements of home.”

A huff pushed past her lips. “Oh, yes. I’m sure that large stone house must be suffocating.”

Though lashing out would have been easy, you bit your tongue. This butcher’s wife didn’t know your history. She didn’t know that compared to your previous home in the city, this new place was a shack.

It was your mother’s inheritance that kept you, your siblings, and your father afloat. The home, bought long ago by your grandfather who was now passed, was a honeymoon paradise for your parents. After your mother died giving birth to you, the house was locked up to be a refuge only to spiders and rodents since your father couldn’t bear visiting the place alone. He’d poured himself into his work, curating business as he brought investors and merchants together. When a major client lost his ships at sea, one of his managers took off with most of the assets and funds, leaving debts and loans in their place. To pay off the leeches, most of your possessions had to be auctioned off and the home that had sheltered you since childhood was sold to a new family.

Life away from the bustling city wasn’t too awful. You didn’t have to worry about being run over by a carriage since most of the residents here couldn’t afford one. Everyone seemed to know everyone, which was both intriguing to you while also a little bothersome. At first your family, being new, was the center of all the gossip. Rumors of your father or brother gambling the fortune away or you and your sister having scandalized the family and caused you all to hide away ran rampant. Eventually, the mill settled down and you were left in peace. Some of the villagers still gave side eyed glances, but you’d learned to brush them off.

Thinking it was time to head back home, you said goodbye to the butcher’s wife and followed the brown dirt street beyond the wall that surrounded the town until the scenery turned to fields of wildflowers and small farms. You took a right at the fork, already seeing the two-story country home come into view. The tan brick was a bit faded from the sun and thick vines grew up the sides and around the windows. A small garden grew out in front. There was a fairytale essence to the home that made you love it more. In the back, Claudette would be hanging the laundry to dry in the subtle breeze. Father was most likely in his study, shuffling through papers and letters to find a way out of this place. Cosette was probably lying on the old couch in the front parlor, constantly fanning herself as she whined of the woes she was forced to live through. Your brother, Lu, would be sitting on a log, writing in his journal when he was supposed to be chopping wood.

Cosette was right where you had guessed she was. As soon as you walked through the door, she jumped up and hurried to you with her skirt crumbled in her hand.

“Where have you been?” she screeched, her dark hair pulled back into an intricately braided bun. You tried not to be annoyed. She must have had Claudette do her hair when both of them were supposed to be helping with the washing. “Father has news that he’s been dying to share with us, but he refused to divulge what it is until you were here.”

You rolled your eyes at your sister’s impatience. “Surely, you must have known I would have been home eventually.”

She “hmphed” at you before whirling dramatically and stomping off towards your father’s study. You followed her slowly, your stomach swishing with nerves.

Truth be told, you didn’t mind it out here. The country was a great deal quieter than the city, the air cleaner too. The greatest unexpected gift, however, was how often you saw your dear father. As a child, you had to savor every dinner, every private concert in your living room, and the short moments you were able to spend with him in between his travels or meetings. Claudette never carried as she was more invested in the connections she was making with the other well-to-do families and Lu was often tagging along with your father as the eldest and heir apparent. Now the four of you felt more like a family. If you were, by some miracle or fashion, to go back to the city, routine would fall back into its previous structure and you would be alone again.

Lu surprised you by already being in the room when you entered, seated in a corner with a hardened look on his face. It was strangely out of place given his boyish looks often kept his expression soft. Your father looked up from the papers that were neatly piled up on the desk. “Aw, (y/n)! You’re back from town. Did you have a nice walk?”

“Yes, I did,” you aswered cautiously. “The market was full today.” Your eyes flicked towards Cosette, who had taken the only other chair, continuing to fan herself even though the temperature wasn’t anywhere near that drastic. “I heard you wanted to see us all together?”

“Yes! Yes! Um.” Your father looked around, perhaps to see if there was another place for you to sit. As there was none, he went on. “I received a letter from Lu’s old friend, Lin Gao.” Lu perked up at the mention of Gao. None of you had seen him since you came here, thinking that he, like the others, had abandoned you all when the money was lost. Now, that didn’t seem to be the case. “He has worked with several connections and can bring us back into good standing with society. He’s even convinced a few merchants and investors to allow me to broker deals again.” Your father cleared his throat. “There is, however, one condition.”

“What is that, Father?” Lu asked.

“He asked for (y/n)’s hand in marriage.”

The quietest gasp escaped your lips. Gao wanted… to marry you?

As the baby sister, you tended to follow your brother and his friends around, begging for attention and often they obliged you, as long as the setting was appropriate for a child. All of his friends had treated you as their own sister, equally protecting and caring. You’d never suspected them to have thoughts that led into the contrary as you’d grown up.

Lu’s eyes landed on you for a split second, studying your face enough. “Did he say (y/n) specifically?”

“Yes, why (y/n)?” Cosette scoffed. “I would be more than willing.”

“He specifically asked for (y/n)’s hand.”

Cosette closed her fan with a snap. “Well, then. Arrange the wedding so we can get out of this dumpy town.”

But wait. Did you not get a say in this?

Your father leaned back in his chair with a sigh. “The help from Gao would be tremendous. But I will not force anything on to any of you. (Y/n),” he looked at you with conflict in his eyes, “if you do not wish to marry Gao, I will send him a letter politely declining the offer. I can find other means on my own.”

He was giving you a way out, if you so wished. But you couldn’t deny the help this would bring for all of you.

“Can I think about it?” you asked in a quiet voice.

“Yes, of course.”

“What do you mean, think about it?” Cosette nearly flew out of her seat. “What is there to think about? If we are to get our fortune back, then (y/n) must marry him. I would in a heartbeat if he had asked for me.”

“But he didn’t ask for you,” Lu said.

Your father insisted. “Let your sister think about it. To force this upon her would break my heart. I will not have her live unhappily.”

“And what about me! Why should I live unhappily?”

“Enough!” Your father stood to his feet and he slammed his fist down on the desk. You flinched at the noise the collision created. Rare was it for your father to get upset like this. He was usually very levelheaded. “I am still head of this household and you will accept my decision. Now, go!”

With a stomp of her foot, Cosette stormed out of the room like a spoiled child told that she couldn't have a piece of candy. Eyes trained down on the floor, you quietly excused yourself and went upstairs to your room.

Your favorite place in the house was your room, the smallest besides Claudine’s on the first floor. But the trade for it was the reading crook by the window, overlooking the garden. You liked the isolation you could feel when you sat on the bench, knees pulled up close to your chest as your skirts fell over the side. The window was cold as you laid your forehead against the glass. A breeze was moving through, swaying the leaves in the trees and rattling the vines against the stone walls of the house.

What would living with Gao be like? You had never thought of your brother’s friend in a romantic light. Would there be any romance between the two of you? Or would you be condemned to a loveless marriage like so many other girls? Could you live like that?

You had no answers at the moment. You weren’t sure if you would ever have an answer. But a compromise was coming to the forefront of your mind. You didn’t have to say yes right away. Maybe you could meet with Gao, get to know him more, in a different way that how you knew him before. And, if you decided that he was not the kind of man you wanted to spend your life with, if there was no possibility of love between the two of you, perhaps you could convince him to help your father anyway, for sake of his friendship with Lu.

You pictured Gao’s face in your mind, willing yourself to love it. But all that did was churn your stomach.

**

Your father had sent the letter asking if a visit to the city would be possible for you. Gao’s reply came back quicker than expected: yes. He made all the arrangements; he hired the carriage, sent money so you could rest in an inn for a night before arriving in town the next day. Barely a week had gone by since you were first told of this offer and now you were traveling by yourself for the first time in your life.

Cloak wrapped tightly over your shoulders, you kissed your father goodbye on the cheek. Tears were swelling behind your eyes, but you refused to let him see them.

“Be on your best behavior,” he teased. You were the last out of the three to get into trouble. “Write to me as soon as you arrive. Alright?”

“Of course,” you smiled.

Lu patted your shoulder. When you were a child, he showed you affection freely, but now that you were grown, he’d become a bit awkward when other people were watching. Cosette didn’t say a word. She simply fanned herself at a quick rate as smirk rested on her lips. All she carried about was getting back to high society, to the parties and the searching for a husband who possessed a fortune large enough to keep her satisfied.

Your father glanced up at the sky. “Better go now, my dear. The clouds are growing darker. I want you at that inn before the storm comes through.”

“The only way to do that is to go through the forest,” the driver commented from atop the carriage.

Your father seemed unnerved by that observation but gave no protest. “I will wait to hear from you.”

You gave one last kiss to his stubbled cheek. “Goodbye, father. Take care of him, Lu. Will you?”

“Naturally,” Lu said with a chuckle.

You merely nodded to Cosette before stepping into the carriage. The cabby lurched forward and you allowed the small smile that had been straining on your lips to fall away. Anxiety settled in your stomach. You wanted to have a positive outlook on this whole thing. It was better to possibly marry a friend of the family rather than a complete stranger twenty years your senior.

Unclasping the hook that held your cloak together, you let the soft fabric fall behind you on the seat. The literal weight off your shoulders helped you to breathe easier. You closed your eyes and leaned back. There was still a long journey until you would arrive back in a city that you hadn’t seen in months, although it felt more like years. That was another life to you, a past self. One you had been okay with letting go. And now you were uneasily walking back into its arms.

The ground shook, rattling the walls of the carriage. You pushed the curtain out of the way and peaked out the window. Flashes of lightning so bright that not even the thick trees of the forest could keep them back splintered across the sky. The storm had come quicker than anticipated. Raindrops splattered against the dirt floor, starting out slow then growing in pace. Soon it was impossible to see more than five steps in front of you.

The wind grew untamable. The carriage rocked from side to side, the thin wheels ricketing against the strain. A bolt of lightning screamed too close for comfort. The horse reared back in fright as the carriage passed by a ravine. It was all too much. The carriage toppled over, falling down the side of the ravine. You were tossed around the cabby like a rock between a group of children. When the falling finally stopped, you let out a cry of relief. A second cry left your lips, this time for the driver. But no reply came.

The carriage had landed on its side, but thankfully, it had another door to escape through. You clasped the cloak around your shoulders once more and pulled up the hood before pushing the door open and climbing out.

You were soaked as soon as you stepped out of the carriage. The driver was gone. You didn’t know if he was dead or if he had ran away. The horse, the poor thing, didn’t move or whine. Water was slowly rising in the creek from the rushing rain. You had to get out of here. With what little strength you had, you managed to climb back up the side of the hill. A chill froze your fingers and chattered your teeth. You walked in the opposite way that you thought the carriage was heading. Getting back to your home was your only hope. You had never been in these woods and the sky was too dark to tell directions from the sun. The rain was pouring down harder. Each step you took grew weaker. An unseen tree root stuck out of the ground, catching your foot. Shock ran up your arms as you tried to catch yourself when you fell. You couldn’t go anymore. You were too cold, too tired. So you lied there in the mud, wishing for a miracle. The rain soon came to a stop, but you were still too exhausted to push yourself up. Your eyes grew tired. Finally, the lids closed. The sound of horse hooves against the mud grew near, but you couldn't be sure if it was real or simply your imagination clinging to hope.

“We can’t just leave her here, Xao.”

“But what would the master think if we showed up with her?”

“So, you would leave her to die?”

“No, of course not!”

“Then we take her with us! The castle is big enough that he would never even have to know.”

“I guess you’re right.”

Someone lifted you up from the ground, but before you could discover who it was, you lost consciousness completely.

**

You weren’t sure what woke you up. It could have been the splitting headache that pounded at your skull. Or it could have been the shouting coming from the other side of the door.

“Get her OUT of here!”

“My lord, please, see reason. The poor child was dying in that storm.”

“I don’t care. She’s alive now, so get her out!”

“But she’s still sick. The poor thing has a fever. She’s been sweating all night.”

“I do not want her here. No one is to come here, you know that!”

“Let me take care of her. Once she’s on her feet again, I’ll take her back into town.”

“Fine!”

Heavy foot stomps echoed off the floor. One side of the double doors opened and inside stepped the old woman from the market.

You?

“You’re awake,” she sighed. “I can only imagine what had woken you up.” In her hands was a silver tray of different morsels and a tea kettle slowly letting out a flow of steam. Seeing you struggle to sit up, she hurried to set the tray down on the nightstand and help you. “Don’t overexert yourself, miss. You’re not fully recovered from that awful storm yet. You’ve been asleep for two days now.”

Two days! Your father must have been losing his mind when he never received word that you had arrived in town. A coughing fit of your own started up. The old woman gave you a glass of water to calm your throat before adjusting the pillows behind your head. You took in the bedroom that you were housed in. The light gray drapes that hung from the bedposts were old and a little faded but still made from an expensive velvet fabric. The blanket that covered you was soft and warm and smelled of lavender. Cosette would squeal at the size of this place. It was even bigger than her room at the old house in the city.

“Where am I?”

The old woman’s hands stopped before she could pull out the warming pan from the foot of the bed. “You're at the lord’s estate.”

You frowned. “What lord?” As far as you were aware, the closet lord was at least several days ride from town. And you doubted he would have allowed a room to go untouched like this one obviously was.

Sadness fell upon the old woman’s face. “He’s a good man. A good man with a tragic past.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, the old woman folded her hands and laid them in her lap. “Do you remember the story Mrs. Mooney was telling you at the market?” You nodded. “This is his home.”

“He… exists?”

“Yes. Though the awful rumors….” She shook her head. “Anyway, yes. But his lordship isn’t accustomed to visitors. I apologize for what you might have heard.”

Perhaps it was the fever, but your curiosity was now out of your control. “Why doesn’t he want anyone here?”

The old woman stood up. “Never you mind. We’ll get you back on your feet and then Mr. Chan will take you back into town.” She poured a fresh cup of tea, handing it to you carefully.

“Do I have to go back to town?”

“We don’t really have a choice, dear. You heard the master.” She eyed you as you sipped on the warm, caramel colored tea. “What is it? Why don’t you want to go back to town?”

You finished off the tea before explaining. “My family wants me to get married, to help the financial situation. At first, I thought I was willing to at least try, to see that man again and find out if I could love him. But… now I’m grateful for the storm.”

“If you don’t wish to marry him, why not say so?”

“Because if my father never restores his reputation and our family falls further into ruin, it will be all my fault.”

The old woman shook her head. “You poor thing. That’s too much weight to bear.” She let out a long sigh. “Try to eat and then get more rest. Your eyes look heavy. We’ll see if we can’t delay your being cured by a few more days.” She headed for the door. After opening on side, she halfway turned back around. “I’m Mrs. Chan, by the way. If you need anything, pull on the cord by the bed. I’ll hear the bell and come to you. Now, rest.”

As soon as the door closed and you were alone again, you felt the weight of your lids growing. Reaching over to the tray, you tore off a piece of the bun and chewed on it slowly. Eventually, you nodded off into a dreamless sleep.

**

Over the next several days, you passed between peaceful sleeps and uncomfortable awareness. Your fever broke on day two, but you still felt weak. Mrs. Chan checked up on you often, keeping you well fed and making sure there was a fresh pitcher of water or tea for you to drink. When you stopped sleeping as much, she brought you a book to occupy your time. But you read through the comedic romance quickly. A tingling was coursing up and down your legs. They needed to move, to be used. You’d been lying in bed for so long you weren’t sure if they even worked properly anymore.

Earlier, Mrs. Chan had stopped by to say she was going into town to pick a few things up at the market. Mr. Chan was to be out on the grounds so if you needed anything it would have to wait for her return.

Curiosity was a dangerous thing. On one hand, you could find nothing of interest in this ancient castle. On the other hand, you could find yourself in the absolute wrong place and have yourself thrown out into the cold before Mrs. Chan could come back and rescue you.

Silly. All of it was. A little walk wouldn’t do any harm. You would make sure to stay near your room and if you heard footsteps, you would run back here in an instant.

With your feet bare and the nightgown Mrs. Chan had given you made of a thinner material, you were a bit cold as you left the comfort of the blankets. But you pushed forth with your curiosity. This grand room was all you had seen of your haven. You wanted to know more about the home of the lord whose memory haunted the village. You stuck your head out first, looking down the hall from either side. It was empty save for the polished suits of armor that lined the sides, sitting between old portraits previous tenants. As quietly as you could, you closed the bedroom door behind you and softly stepped further into the hall. Through the long space you made your way, glancing at every painting as you passed. Some had chipped paint while others’ frames had dulled over the years, but each one was still magnificent, the subject stunningly beautiful in their own unique ways. You weren’t sure if it was the magic of the artist or if the family was truly blessed in that manner.

Every so often you would peer into a room when the door was unlocked. Most of them were bedrooms or small studies. By the collection of dust gathered on most of the furniture, they hadn’t been used in quiet a while. Soon, the hall took a turn, spilling out into the Grand Hall where the other hallways met. You started to go right when a set of double doors down a shorter hallway in the other direction caught your eye. They were bigger than any of the other doors you had seen so far. You hurried to that one instead, intrigued by what might be behind it. Barely able to get it open with your weak arms, you squeezed through the space and stumbled inside. Then you gasped.

When Mrs. Chan had described the library to you, she had said that the family had a fair collection of books. You might have to clarify with her what a “fair amount” really meant.

The library was housed in the back most tower, the shelves built into the walls and going higher than your eyes could see. Ladders made of wood and metal were attached to the spaces between the shelves. They moved freely from side to side to put any book within reach. As a child, you thought your father had the biggest collection of books by any one person in the world. How silly you were. This place could hold twenty of your father’s old library. You whirled around and around, taking in every detail. It was like a fairy tale.

You stepped closer to the wall and ran your hand over the leather bindings. It had been so long since you’d been able to take in the smell of old books. You had only been able to save two of your favorite novels from the auction. They were currently hidden under your bed. If Cosette ever got a whiff of them, she’d sell them to pay for a new dress. As you made your way around the library, you spotted another door, one that nearly blended in with the shelves. Feeling brave from your latest discovery, you tried the handle. It turned with ease. You pulled the door towards you. Sunlight spilled into the library. The secondary room was mostly empty – save for one object. A piano.

Bang!

The door shut in your face, startling you backwards. You stumbled into something hard. Turning to see what it was, you gasped in fright

A tall, dark hair man with the left half of his face covered in a white mask glared at you.

“What are you doing in here!” he shouted, face glowing red with fury.

“I-I-I’m sor-sorry,” you stutter as you scurried back. The door to the room stopped you from going any further. You were trapped with no way to escape. “I didn’t mean to-”

“You were supposed to say in your room,” he continued to bellow, not concerned at all with your fear. “Stay away from this room! Go!”

That last command was enough to send you running, passing the man and leaving the library. You hurried to the Great Hall, to get back to your room as quickly as possible. Looking back over your shoulder, you checked to see if he was coming after you. The hallway was empty behind you. Once safely back in your room, you scurried under your covers as if they would protect you from the masked man.

**

Mrs. Chan gave no indication that she was aware of your little adventure. If the masked man – the lord of this castle, you presumed – had told her, surely you would have been thrown out by now. She did, however, seem upset about something.

“Is everything alright?” you asked before she could leave the room with your empty food tray.

“Oh, it’s nothing I want to trouble you with, dear,” Mrs. Chan said.

You smiled at her. “I’ve been told I’m a very good listener.”

A second went by and then Mrs. Chan sighed. “It’s just the master. He wasn’t been sleeping well. He’s been wondering through the west wing lately and I’m worried about him.”

The west wing? That was where you were headed before the library stole your attention. “What’s in the west wing?”

“Nothing of importance,” Mrs. Chan snapped. It was a harsher tone that you were used to. You lowered your gaze remorsefully. “Oh, dear. I’ve upset you. Don’t worry about and try to get more rest. You need color back in your cheeks.” She left the room, blowing out the lamp before shutting the door and leaving you in darkness.

You woke a few hours later to a loud bang. At first you thought of ignoring it. Then the thought of something happening to Mrs. Chan came into your mind.

Throwing a blanket around your shoulders, you carefully relit the lamp and stepped out into the hallway.

“Hello?” you called out softly. Another bang answered you. It was faint, not coming from this hallway. You followed it, occasionally calling out again. No human ever replied.

You passed through the Great Hall and into the west wing. You should learned, really, from your earlier excursion. But the thought of someone being trouble refused to let you turn back. Now that you were closer to the source, a soft moaning could be heard among the silence. You pressed your ear from door to door, trying to see if it was coming from behind one of them. It was the door on the very end that held back the sound. With enough moonlight coming from the wide window at the end of the hall to see by, you put the oil lamp down on the floor out of the way and went inside.

Even in the darkness, you could see the smoke and soot stained walls. The remnants of a bed stood in the middle of the wood. Hanging behind it was a portrait of a beautiful woman with golden hair and rich brown eyes that stuck out even with half of the painting burned and curled.  

“What are you doing in here!”

You gasped as the lord of the castle stepped out of the shadows. His mask was gone, but he kept the left side of his face covered with his hand. In his other hand was a small torch. With its light you could see the scars on the back of his hand, the tight and lifted skin usually caused by fire. You said nothing, too stunned to find words.

Dropping his left hand, he reached out and grabbed you by the wrist. The scars on his face were now partially visible, but still mostly hidden in shadow and by the locks of hair that had fallen. From what you could see, they matched the scars visible on his hand. “I asked you why you are here!”

“I’m sorry!” Your voice came out in squeaks, fear running you cold despite the proximity of the flame. “I heard noises. I thought someone might be in trouble.”

He sneered at your answer. “If you’re well enough to walk around then GET. OUT!” He practically threw you out of the room.

You landed on your knees but didn’t stay there for long. You scrambled up to your feet and took off down the hall, leaving the oil lamp behind. The nightgown caught on your foot in your haste as you passed the staircase. You went tumbling down the marble stairs, a scream piercing your throat. You couldn’t stop no matter how you tried. When the bottom of the staircase finally came, you were out cold.

#exo #exo beauty and the beast au #exo beauty and the beast!au #tao x reader #zitao x reader #exo x fem!reader #huang zitao #z.tao #tao #exo fantasy au #exo fantasy!au #exo fanfic #exo fanfiction #cpop #kpop #romance #angst #fairytal au #fairytale!au #Heart of Thorns

[allexiaah]

Hi, pokemon anon again here! I loved getting to hear about your au! I'd love to hear more about Laurie and the other characters you have ideas for. I'm also interested in your ideas for Claudette and a legendary pokemon you mentioned, but I'd hate to push for too much in one post. Sorry if I'm prying too much.

Hi again!! I’m very happy that you find some of these thoughts interesting. If this gets long again, and it might, knowing me, I’ll put it all under a readmore (EDIT: I DEFINITELY need to put it all under a readmore lol.) I’ll go one at a time here. Also, don’t worry! You’re not prying at all, I’m having a blast getting to share some of these, and it’s really nice to have interest in them <3

Also, are you alright going by Pokemon anon? Sometimes I give names to my anons when I get multiple asks from one, and that one is fitting. If not, please let me know ^^

A lot of these are bare-bones misc ideas that I have and still need to flesh out still—like most of them are, in all fairness—but they’re mostly just snippets. So i’ll share a few of the ones I do have, as well as maybe pokemon I think could fit those characters.

- Starting with Laurie, while I’m not sure if she’d necessarily have one of her own, I like the idea of an Absol having a particular interest in her. Absol’s always been an intriguing pokemon to me because of its dex entries stating that it can sense danger and disasters, and was (and potentially still is) mistakenly seen to be a bringer of said danger. The pokemon Platinum Absol entry says “Rumored to sense danger with its horn, it became a target. It fled deep into the mountains.”

- While the entries go from vague, talking simply about danger, to specifically about Absol being capable of sensing NATURAL disasters, I like to think that, as a whole, it’s able to sense not only natural disasters but distress and danger as a whole, if potentially to a lesser degree.

- Keeping this in mind, I like the thought of an Absol taking interest in Laurie, possibly more so before the events of the movies, a month or so in advance, maybe, if that’s something that still happens. The closer to the night Michael comes home, the bolder the Absol gets, letting itself be seen and maybe even approaching Laurie directly. I think it’s an interesting concept and dynamic between her and the Absol. Maybe it’s trying to warn her, or maybe it’s just especially curious about the specific “danger” Laurie is going to face in the future. I’m not too sure about it myself, but I bet she’s a little put off when she does manage to catch a glimpse of it looking right back at her.

- The basic idea I had for Feng is that she’s a VERY competitive trainer, and once a previous champion of her region, or some other high-up position in her region, until she spiralled and lost that title. Is now missing, though she’s out there somewhere.

In terms of pokemon, I feel like Feng is definitely the kind of trainer that goes for strength in terms of pokemon. She’s a fan of dragon types and steel types, I think. The more powerful the pokemon, the better. I don’t have a definitive team for her, but some pokemon that I think fit her character and that I can see her having would be Luxray, Rotom (?), Salamence, Gengar, Nidoking or Nidoqueen, Weavile/sneasel, Metagross (Mega?), Garchomp or Haxorus. If I had to pick a starter for her, I’d say Greninja, Empoleon, Typhlosion or Charizard (Probably a mega,) Though i’m heavily leaning towards Greninja.

- I think she’d have a very well-rounded team that covers its weaknesses pretty well. Definitely a formidable trainer to face, and one very difficult to beat. You’re definitely going to come out of that battle with a good beating even if you DO manage to win. She’s no stranger to strategy, especially when it comes to typing, but she prefers to brute-force her battles where she can. Probably has a good array of damaging moves on her pokemon, and only a few stat-changing or field-altering abilities, but still does have them. You never know when you need to switch up your strategy in a pokemon battle.

- I tend to lean away from the more recent licensed characters, and licensed characters as a whole, because a good chunk of them I don’t know well enough through the media they come from, and I know someone having hcs for something they’re not entirely familiar with tends to piss people off, even if it’s not really warranted most of the time. I make an exception for Steve here simply because I've seen Stranger Things and I feel like I have a decent enough grasp on his character. Enough to have ideas for him at least!

- I feel like Steve is probably not unlike most trainers you meet. Very much a pushover, just a touch of Ash Ketchum vibes. He’s stubborn but does his best. He is a more formidable trainer than he looks, and I feel like his pokemon don’t always have the strength required to beat the tougher foes they meet, but he’s pretty good at thinking up interesting and unheard of strategies and tricks with the resources at his disposal. If your opponent isn’t expecting you to use your moves creatively, they’ll have a hard time adapting to them. He’s probably interesting to watch in a battle.

- Thinking about Steve and the Stranger Things world as a whole, I’ve started wondering just now about him and Nancy potentially having experience—or at least knowledge— of Ultra Beasts around their hometown, posing as a parallel to the upside down. Maybe they choose to look more into them, and eventually work trying to seal off those wormholes. That would be neat!

- I think Elodie would be an archaeologist who works to uncover old ruins and artifacts. She’s particularly fascinated with Unown and old relics depicting ancient or unknown pokemon and deities.

- I could see Steve having a Psyduck/golduck, Ludicolo, Quagsire, Exeggutor (Kanto specifically), or Riolu on his team.

-Mienshao, Cinccino, Cradily, Spiritomb and Golurk are a few of the pokemon I think she might have as partners.

- About the legendary/mythical idea I had for Claudette, I feel like if a Shaymin ever did run into her or the other way around, it would be curious and take a liking to her very quickly. It wouldn’t surprise me if at least one lived in the woods near her, considering how well it’s said they can hide, blending in perfectly to patches of flowers. It’s known as the gratitude feeling and is said to usher in feelings of gratitude. I think it might go the other way around, too—I think Shaymin are attracted to people who show gratitude openly. It’s pretty much a given that one would be curious about her lol.

- I think Claudette would be VERY intrigued by it, because mythicals and legendaries likely aren’t well-documented, and I doubt Claudette would have ever seen one—No photos to look at, or at least that are easily accessible, so she probably assumes it’s a pokemon she’s never seen and leaves it at that. She’d be especially kind to it, same as she is to any other pokemon, and I think it would grow affectionate towards her and stop by sometimes.

- More of a personal touch, but seeing as people are always gunning for legendaries and mythicals in their games, I like to interpret that as mythical and legendary pokemon being highly sought after, which they probably are. I mean, they’re all powerful pokemon on the level of gods, most of the time, with stronger powers than most pokemon. I doubt they catch a break in the presence of most trainers, so it’s probably a good starting point if you’re not trying to shove ‘em into a pokeball from the get go. I think they’d be good friends, and enjoy each others’ company. I don’t think it would be around constantly, since it’s a wild pokemon and Shaymin in particular are said to be migratory, but it definitely comes around a decent amount. I think Claudette would be awestruck if she ever had the opportunity to witness its purifying abilities. Is probably just as amazed by its ability to leave flowers (or accelerate their growth?) where it walks. I think it’s very cool of her to have like.. ~15 pokemon that aren’t even technically hers that are ready to kill for her at the drop of a hat because a homegirl’s just. Too nice. I love her with my whole heart.

Shaymin is one of my all-time favorite mythicals (If not my absolute fave,) And I think that they wouldn’t mind Claudette. One thing about Shaymin specifically is that in the games, one of its dex entries reads, and I quote, “The flowers all over its body burst into bloom if it is lovingly hugged and senses gratitude.” That makes me want to cry! It’s so sweet!! The thought of loving shaymin hugs makes my heart melt. I just love them so much.

From both an appearance and dex standpoint, Shaymin is just a very sweet friend and I think one would probably trust Claudette. I mean, look at that face!! Baby <3

I’m glad I get to type these out for someone who's interested in them, so thank you! even if they take forever to get to—I’m sorry about that. ^^’’ I spend a lot of time taking my little jot notes and writing them out into something with substance, but it’s worth it, I think. I might get a little bit wordy to get my points across in a way that feels right to how I see it in my head, but hopefully it’s not too bad. Ty again for the interest, anon! It was good to take a teensy bit of a more in-depth look at the few hcs I had for some of the other characters. <3

#allex answers #ask #anon #dead by daylight #pokemon #dbd #again tysm!! #ive been considering different versions of an au as well. one where the characters find themselves in that world with a partner mon #but come from their original universes. which is interesting as well #though i dont have anything for it rn. just a different thought #pokemon anon #again!! if you don't wanna go by that please lmk. it helps me keep track but i can choose something else #or avoid a 'nickname' entirely #many hugs for you <3 ty for enabling my shenanigans brainrot lol #my stuff #headcanons

[crowdvscritic]

round up // NOVEMBER 20

Hi, I’m tired. Actually, my friend Celeste created a piece of art that puts the emphasis needed on that sentiment:

I’m very tired. November felt like it was three years and also felt like it went by in a blink and also I’m not sure where October ended and November began—how does time work like that? (I’ve yet to see Tenet, but maybe that will explain it.) But like Michael Scott, somehow I manage, and lately it’s been like this:

Late-night Etsy scrolling. Browsing beautiful, non-big-box-store artwork is very calming just before I go to bed. I’d recommend Etsy stores like Celeste’s chr paperie shop, which I know from experience is full of great Christmas gift ideas. 

Taking a day off of work to do laundry. I’m not sure if it’s more #adulting that I did that or that I was excited to do that.

Eating Ghiradelli chocolate chips straight from the bag. I actually don’t recommend this as a healthy option, but this is also not a health blog.

Watching lots and lots of ‘80s movies. One day I’ll ask a therapist why this decade of films is so comforting for me despite its many flaws, but for now I’m just rolling with it.

Reading. Have you heard of this? It’s a form of entertainment but doesn’t require screens—wild!

Memes. All good Pippin “Fool of a” Took jokes are welcome here.

Leaning into the Christmas spirit by ordering that Starbucks peppermint mocha, making plans to watch everything in that TCM Christmas book I haven’t seen, and keeping the lights on my hot pink tinsel tree on all day as I work from home.

This month’s Round Up is full of stuff that made me smile and stuff that sucked me into its world—I think they’ll do the same for you, too.

November Crowd-Pleasers

Sister Act (1992)

If in four years you aren’t in an emotional state to watch election results roll in, I recommend watching Whoopi Goldberg pretend to be a nun for 100 minutes. (Though, incidentally, if you want to watch that clip edited to specifically depict how the results came in this year, you’ll need to watch Sister Act 2.) This musical-comedy is about as feel-good as it gets, meaning there’s no reason you should wait four more years to watch it. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

Nevada Memes

Speaking of election results, Nevada memes. That’s it—that’s the tweet. Vulture has a round up of some of the best.

SNL Round Up

Laugh and enjoy!

“Cinema Classics: The Birds” (4605 with John Mulaney)

“Uncle Ben” (4606 with Dave Chappelle)

RoboCop (1987)

I’m not surprised I liked RoboCop, but I am surprised at why I liked RoboCop. Not only is this a boss action blockbuster, it’s an investigation into consumerism and the commodification of the human body. It’s also a critique of institutions that treat crime like statistics instead of actions done by people that impact people. That said, it’s also movie about a guy who’s fused with a robot and melts another guy’s face off with toxic sludge, so there’s a reason I’m not listing this under the Critic section. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/10

Double Feature – ‘80s Comedies: National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983) + Major League (1989)

The ‘80s-palooza is in full swing! In Vacation (Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 8/10), Chevy Chase just wants to spend time with his family on a vacation to Wally World, but wouldn’t you know it, Murphy’s Law kicks into gear as soon as the Griswold family shifts from out of Park. The brilliance of the movie is that every one of these terrible things is plausible, but the Griswolds create the biggest problems themselves. In Major League (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 6.5/10), Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, and Wesley Snipes are Cleveland’s last hope for a winning baseball team. Like the Griswolds, mishaps and hijinks ensue in their attempt to prevent their greedy owner from moving the Indians to Miami, but the real win is this movie totally gets baseball fans. Like most ‘80s movies, not everything in this pair has aged well, but they brought some laughs when I needed them most.

This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens (2020)

They’re born a minute apart in the same hospital, but they don’t meet until their 30th birthday on New Year’s Day. So, yes, it’s a little bit Serendipity, and it’s a little bit sappy, but those are both marks in this book’s favor. This Time Next Year is a time-hopping rom-com with lots of almost-meet-cutes that will have you laughing, believing in romantic twists of fate, and finding hope for the new year.

Double Feature – ‘80s Angsty Teens: Teen Wolf (1985) + Uncle Buck (1989)

In the ‘80s, Hollywood finally understood the angsty teen, and this pair of comedies isn’t interested in the melodrama earlier movies like Rebel Without a Cause were depicting. (I’d recommend Rebel, but not if you want to look back on your teen years with any sense of humor.) In Teen Wolf (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 5/10), Michael J. Fox discovers he’s a werewolf.one that looks more like the kid in Jumanji than any other portrayal of a werewolf you’ve seen. It’s a plot so ‘80s and so bizarre you won’t believe this movie was greenlit.

In Uncle Buck (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7.5/10), John Candy is attempting to connect with the nieces and nephew he hasn’t seen in years, including one moody high schooler. (Plus, baby Gaby Hoffman and pre-Home Alone Macauley Culkin!) This is my second pick from one of my all-time fave filmmakers, John Hughes (along with National Lampoon’s Vacation, above), and it’s one more entry that balances heart and humor in a way only he could do. You can see where I rank this movie in Hughes’s pantheon on Letterboxd.

Lord of the Rings memes

This month on SO IT’S A SHOW?, Kyla and I revisited The Lord of the Rings, a trilogy we love almost as much as we love Gilmore Girls. You can listen to our episode about the series on your fave podcast app, and you can laugh through hundreds of memes like I did for “research” on Twitter.

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (2019)

Most adults are afraid of children’s temper tantrums, but can you imagine how terrified you’d be if they caught on fire in their fits of rage? That’s the premise of this novel, which begins when an aimless twentysomething becomes the nanny of a Tennessee politician’s twins who burst into flames when they get emotional. The book is filled with laugh-out-loud moments but never leaves behind the human emotion you need to make a magical realistic story.

An Officer and a Gentlemen (1982)

Speaking of aimless twentysomethings and emotion, feel free to laugh, cry, and swoon through this melodrama in the ‘80s canon. Richard Gere meanders his way into the Navy when he has nowhere else to go, and he tries to survive basic training, work through his family issues, and figure out his future as he also falls in love with Debra Winger. So, yeah, it’s a schamltzier version of Top Gun, but it’s schmaltz at its finest. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

November Critic Picks

Double Feature – ‘40s Amensia Romances: Random Harvest (1942) + The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)

Speaking of schmaltz at its finest, let me share a few more titles fitting that description. In Random Harvest (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10), Greer Garson falls in love with a veteran who can’t remember his life before he left for war. In The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10), Gene Tierney discovers a ghost played by a crotchety Rex Harrison in her new home. Mild spoiler: Both feature amnesiac plot developments, and while amnesia has become a cliché in the long history of romance films, Harvest is moving enough and Mr. Muir is charming enough that you won’t roll your eyes. You can see these and more romances complicated by forced forgetfulness in this Letterboxd round up.

The African Queen (1951)

It’s Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn directed by John Huston—I mean, I don’t feel like I need to explain why this is a winner. Bogart (in his Oscar-winning role) and Hepburn star in a two-hander script, dominating the screen time except for a select few scenes with supporting cast. The pair fight for survival while cruising on a small boat called The African Queen during World War I (in Africa, natch), and the two make this small story feel grand and epic. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9/10

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

A young man’s (Dennis Price) mother is disowned from their wealthy family because she marries for love. After her death, he seeks vengeance by killing all of the family members ahead of him in line to be the Duke D'Ascoyne. The twist? All of his victims are played by Sir Alec Guinness! Almost every character in this black comedy is a terrible person, so you won’t be too sorry to see them go—you can just enjoy the creative “accidents” he stages and stay in suspense on whether our “hero” gets his comeuppance. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (1937)

What would you do if you found out you were to be someone’s eighth wife? Well, it’s probably not what Claudette Colbert does in this screwball comedy that reminds me a bit of Love Crazy. This isn’t the first time I’ve recommended Colbert, Gary Cooper, or Ernst Lubitsch films, so it’s no surprise these stars and this director can make magic together in this hilarious battle of the wills. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

The Red Shoes (1948)

I love stories about the competition between your life and your art, and The Red Shoes makes that competition literal. Moira Shearer plays a ballerina who feels life is meaningless without dancing—then she falls in love. That’s an oversimplification of a rich character study and some of the most beautiful ballet on film, but I can’t do it justice in a short paragraph. Just watch (perhaps while you’re putting up your hot pink tinsel tree?) and soak in all the goodness. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 10/10

The Third Man (1949)

Everybody loves to talk about Citizen Kane, and with the release of Mank on Netflix, it’s newsworthy again. But don’t miss this other ‘40s team up of Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles. Cotten is a writer digging for the truth of his friend’s (Welles) death in a mysterious car accident. Eyewitness accounts differ on what happened, and who was the third man at the scene only one witness remembers? 71 years later, this movie is still tense, and this actor pairing is still electric. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9/10

The Untouchables (1987)

At the end of October, we lost Sean Connery. I looked back on his career first by writing a remembrance for ZekeFilm and then by watching The Untouchables. (In a perfect world I would’ve reversed that order, but c’est la vie.) In my last selection from the ‘80s, Connery and Kevin Costner attempt to convict Robert De Niro’s Al Capone of anything that will stick and end his reign of crime in Chicago. Directed by Brian De Palma and set to an Ennio Morricone soundtrack, this film is both an exciting action flick and an artistic achievement that we literally discussed in one of my college film classes. Connery won his Oscar, and K. Cos is giving one of the best of his career, too. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 9.5/10

Remember the Night (1940)

Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck in my favorite team up yet! Double Indemnity may be the bona fide classic in the canon, but this Christmas story—with MacMurray as a district attorney prosecuting shoplifter Stanwyck— is a charmer. I’ve added it to my list of must-watch Christmas movies—watch for some holiday cheer and rom-com feels. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

Photo credits: chr paperie. Books my own. All others IMDb.com.

#The Untouchables #The Third Man #The African Queen #The Red Shoes #Kind Hearts and Coronets #Bluebeard's Eighth Wife #The Ghost and Mrs. Muir #Random Harvest #An Officer and a Gentlemen #Nothing to See Here #Kevin Wilson #This Time in Next Year #Sophie Cousens #The Lord of the Rings #Teen Wolf #Uncle Buck #National Lampoon's Vacation #Major League #SNL #Sister Act #RoboCop #Remember the Night #Round Up

[groovymothwrites]

Dead By Daylight Actor AU? What?

A/N: Okay so hear me out.  I had brought this up to a friend and she thought htat it would be an interesting idea to write about so I’m gonna go for it.  I’ve been thinking about it on and off a bit to try and get some general ideas down on paper.  Hope you enjoy!

Word count: 1,324

- Actors are usually needed when they are intorducing a new chapter, or new things are being released in a tome.  

- Because Dead by Dayight is in the horror genre, there is a lot of practical effects that goes into making the characters come to life.  It’s probably the largest department, and the most expensive too.  A lot of the actors are incredibly patient individuals because their makeup takes so long to do.

- Evan, Philip, and Max were the first killers to be brought onto the project.  Each one of them was given a picture of the design of their character, and were put into a recording booth to record sounds for the characters.  This is the process that would be used for every other killer in the future.

- The first survivors that were brought onto the project were Dwight, Claudette, and Jake.  The same kind of process was used for the survivors as well, but they were given more information about their character’s personality than the killers.

- A lot of the cast and crew were really excited to work with iconic characters like Michael Myers, Freddy Kruger, and Pyramid Head.  All of them are some of the most iconic figures in horror movies and video games, and so there was a lot of hype when their respective chapters were released.

- None of the case knows when a chapter is going to be released.  This is on purpose because the crew likes to see the cast’s reaction to the next characters that are being added.  The cast’s reactions to the Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street additions are legendary.

- Much like her character, Sally acts like the mom of the Dead by Daylight family.  She has a few kids of her own, so when she’s at work she can’t help but to have her mom instincts kick in a bit.  She was very excited to take on the roll of the Nurse, the creepy nurse aesthetic was exciting and she fit into the role really well.

- Lisa’s practical effects makeup takes the longest to do.  “You know, when I was shown the design for the Hag I was completely blown away.  I had no idea that someone would be able to transform me into the Hag, and the first time I saw myself in the mirror I was blown away.” - Lisa Sherwood

- Kazan is actually Rin’s father outside of Dead by Daylight.  When the crew was looking for someone to cast for the Oni they asked the cast if they had any sort of reccommendations.  When they asked Rin, the first person she recommended to them was her father.  “My father is actually a seasoned actor in Japan.  He’s been in many movies, though many of them have never been released in the States.  The next day, my father got a call from the crew asking for him to come in and audition for the role.  The rest was history.” - Rin Yamaoka

- All of the members of the Legion went to school together.  Each member of the Legion was going to be a seperate audition, and so the first person the crew brought in to audition was Frank.  He was the one who brought up his high school/college friends Julie, Susie and Joey.  

- Pyramid Head’s actor is one of the most well seasoned actors besides Kazan.  He has essentially played the character since it’s first appearance in Silent Hill 2.  “When I was asked to join the Dead by Daylight team I was excited.  I’ve actually been a fan of it since it released a few years ago.  It also gave me the chance to play Pyramid Head again, who is probably one of the most iconic figures in horror video games.  I was really excited to see the other cast member’s reactions, it was great.” - Sankaku Atama (yes I know that it’s one of Pyramid Head’s Japanese translations, it was my friends idea)

- Sometimes when shooting is going long or when it’s going to be a busy day, everyone pitches in to either order food or throw a big potluck.  A lot of the cast are pretty good cooks, and a lot of the food that gets brought in are things in crock pots, dips, chips, pop, stuff along those lines.  Some of the cast do make an attempt to bring in some healthy stuff, all of the junk food that is normally consumed on set can be too much sometimes.

- With the release of a new chapter the cast and crew celebrate with a big dinner.  It’s a nice and fun experience, it gives everyone a chance to relax and have a good time while welcoming the newest members to the cast.  “After filming the promo for Spark of Madness some of the cast members came up to myself and Feng Min and asked us where we would want to go for dinner.  I was kind of confused at first, y’know, I had know idea that we had plans to go out.  We learned that it was a tradition amongst the cast and crew, and I think it;s a good tradition to have.” - Herman Carter 

- Charlotte Deshayes, one of the newest killers to be added to the Dead by Daylight cast, does in fact have a twin named Victor.  However, Charlotte is really the only one that does the acting.  Victor has a pretty wide career in voice acting for different cartoons, so he’s the voice behind the Victor that’s seen in Dead by Daylight.

- Pets are always welcome on set.  A lot of the cast members have dogs, and so when they need to bring in their dog because maybe a doggy daycare wasn’t open that day or it was full, the other cast members have no problem helping out and watching the pups.  Evan’s pitbull Sugar is probably the most spoiled dog in the world.  “The first time I had to bring Sugar onto the set was when she was a puppy.  The daycare that I would send her too on occasion was full and a lot of my family lives out of state so it wasn’t like my dad could come and watch her.  So I called and they said that I could bring her into work, and it was honestly a really good decision.  Max and Sugar made a new friend that day, and every time I bring her on set she spends most of her time with him.” - Evan MacMillan

- Caleb is more so well known in the indie movie genre than any well known movie genre.  He usually plays a grumpy old character or some sort of father-figure character, but he was very excited to be playing a bad guy.  “Being able to be a bad guy, a really really bad guy, for once was exciting.  It was a change of pace that I felt that I really needed after working in indie movies for most of my career.” - Caleb Quinn

- Max is hard of hearing, which made recording some of the noises a bit difficult.  Because he’s hard of hearing this makes some of the cast and crew a bit overportective of him.  He understands that what they’re doing has good intentions, but he’s grown accustomed to a world that was not meant for someone hard of hearing like him.  Max is able to speak, but usually accompanies what he’s saying with American Sign Language.  “Sometimes I wish that I’m not treated like a baby.  I know that they’re looking out for me, but I’ve spent over two decades living in a world that isn’t meant for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.  Sally tends to do this the most, but she’s a mom.  I just wish they would understand that I can take care of myself.” - Max Thompson Jr.

#dead by daylight #dbd #dead by daylight actor au #evan macmillan #the trapper #philip ojomo #the wraith