#ive been working continuously (this is rare) on this comic for the past one and a ahalf months 🤝

[nailsinmywall]

» . . . so we called for Nelyo, and he always came. «

- Another Man's Cage by DawnFelagund

#i read that one line and this comic started to materialize in my funny little brain shoutout to twitter and tumblr user spicysilmarils #urging everyone to read the another man's cage fic #very awesome dad feanor and family dynamics #the best family scenes #if you like little feanorians you will love that fic #if you like my little tyelko you will LOVE that fic #the another mans cage fic will make you feel very warm and happy #ive been working continuously (this is rare) on this comic for the past one and a ahalf months 🤝 #this must be one of my magnum opus #silmarillion #silmart #tolkien #my art #maedhros #celegorm #curufin #caranthir #maglor #nails silm comix #ambarussa

[afangirlsmenagerie]

Recovery

A little Eruri drabble inspired by this video and a conversation with @plague-of-insomnia...enjoy! It’s also posted on ao3. ^_^

*~*~*

“Mr. Smith?”

Erwin glanced up from his book toward where the nurse stood by the door.

“Yes?”

“Your husband is in recovery. If you’d like to come with me.”

“Thank you.” he said with a polite smile, ignoring some of the looks of surprise from others in the waiting room as he gathered his and Levi’s things and followed the nurse into the recovery ward.

Some of the tension left Erwin’s shoulders as they passed by rows of closed curtains, behind which other patients waited for their loved ones while they slowly rejoined the land of the conscious. If Levi was here, that meant the surgery had been a success- that he was ok. 

Erwin had tried to hide the worry he had about the procedure as best he could. He didn’t want Levi to have to be concerned with comforting him when he was the one going under the knife. But as soon as they had wheeled Levi out of his line of sight, the dam holding back his anxieties had given way and had spent most of his time pacing the waiting room or walking to the small concession room across the hall. It had only been in the past half hour when he saw Levi’s status switch from “in operation” to “post operation” that he had been able to relax enough to continue reading the book he had brought.

“Hey there, Erwin!” a familiar voice called.

Erwin’s face lit with a warm smile upon seeing Hange standing outside one of the recovery rooms, reviewing the charts.

“It’s alright, Petra, Erwin and I go way back.” They said to the petite nurse who had been Erwin’s guide, “So you can leave him with me.”

“Ok.” she nodded, before leaving the two with a professional, “Have a good day, Mr. Smith.”

Erwin returned her niceties in kind, though the brightness from his smile vanished when he turned his attention back to Hange, instantly replaced with the worry and exhaustion he felt safe showing only around his friend.

“So how is he?” 

As if to answer his question, a low groan sounded from behind the curtain.

Hange chuckled.

“He’s doing fine. The surgery went beautifully. If you want, you can go in and sit with him while he finishes waking up.”

Erwin pulled back the curtain enough to slip into the small room. Levi stirred where he lay, but didn’t open his eyes when Erwin came to sit in the chair beside the hospital bed. 

Once he had gotten situated, the rings of the curtains clinked and Hange stepped inside enough to hand Erwin a bottle of orange juice and a packet of crackers.

“Make sure he eats these when he wakes up.” They whispered, “It’ll help with the nausea.”

He gratefully took the snack with a quiet “Thank you” before Hange disappeared with the promise they would return in a few minutes to check in on things.

Now that they were alone, Erwin turned his full attention to his husband, blue eyes softening as his gaze wandered over the bandages, IV’s, and the ill fitting hospital gown that threatened to slip off Levi’s petite shoulders at any given moment. He couldn’t wait to get him home, where he could properly care for him. Maybe even spoil him if Levi gave him the chance. He’d probably complain the whole time, but his averted gaze and flushed cheeks would betray the hollowness of his objections.

Just then, Levi gave a groggy huff, pulling Erwin from his thoughts. His brows furrowed, heavy eyelids fluttering as they struggled to stay open, and his lips weakly smacked before he managed to hoarsely groan, “So dry.”

Erwin had the lid off the orange juice bottle in an instant, slipping in the small straw Hange had left as well.

“Here.” he soothed, slipping the straw between Levi’s lips, “Drink this.”

Levi’s tongue pressed against the plastic, as if trying to figure out what was in his mouth. Though his eyebrows lifted in recognition a few moments later and he began to drink, swallowing down mouthfuls at a time.

It wasn’t until he had guzzled down half the container that he stopped and rested his head back on the pillow with a contented sigh. 

“Better?” Erwin asked with a grin.

Levi nodded slowly and hummed in agreement.

Now that he was starting to show signs that he was getting closer to full consciousness, Erwin quickly split open the cracker’s packaging, the clear plastic crinkling loudly when he pulled one of the crackers out and slipped it into Levi’s open palm.

“Hm?” Levi mumbled, his eyebrows scrunching in question before bringing the cracker a little too close to his face for inspection.

“Do you think you can eat this?” 

Erwin bit his lip to keep from laughing when Levi gave another languid nod before taking a bite. His grey eyes remained focused on the curtain at the front of the room and chewed slowly, as if lost in some deep, pensive thought. 

He seemed to pull himself from whatever had his mind preoccupied when he popped the second half in his mouth, turning his attention to Erwin, who had been patiently waiting in contented amusement. He had never seen him like this, not even on the few occasions when they’d gotten completely hammered back in college.

The moment his gaze rested on Erwin, however, he halted mid chew, his eyes going wide.

“Who are you?” He asked in wonder.

Erwin chuckled at the bits of cracker that fell from his lips. “What do you-?” He began, but Levi cut him off with another pressing question.

“Did the nurses send you?”

“What? No.” Erwin said, struggling to contain his laughter, handing him another cracker. “Here, this will help you feel better.”

Levi’s gaze never left Erwin as he took a small bite, his mind clearly trying to place how he knew him. 

“Damn, you’re hot.” He mumbled, pausing briefly before motioning toward Erwin with the cracker, “Are you sure the nurses didn’t send you?”

Erwin nodded, humor lacing his voice. “I’m sure, Levi.”

“How the hell do you know my name?”

Erwin chucked again.

“I’m your husband.”

As soon as the word “husband” passed his lips, Levi’s eyes went comically wide. 

“You’re my husband?” He asked, almost in disbelief and sank back against the mattress, his gaze focusing on the ceiling, whispering, “Holy shit, I’m married to the sexiest man on the planet.”

Erwin laughed softly at the blush that had begun to spread across Levi’s cheeks and the bridge of his nose.

Levi blinked up at the tiled ceiling for a few moments, seemingly to absorb this “new” information, before turning back to him.

“How long?”

“How long, what?”

“How long have we been married?”

Erwin smiled tenderly.

“A long time.”

The corners of Levi’s lips twitched with fondness. 

“Do we have any kids?”

“No,” Erwin answered, gently taking Levi’s hand in his own, “We had to get you better first.”

“Oh.”

Levi’s attention drifted down to watch Erwin rub his thumb comfortingly against the side of his hand, falling silent for a couple of minutes.

“So we’re really married?” Was the question that finally broke his silence.

Erwin gave Levi’s hand a squeeze.

“Yes.”

The grey of Levi’s eyes softened like mercury, a rarely seen affection in his gaze before he said, “I must be one lucky fucker to have landed a man like you.” 

At that, Erwin brought Levi’s hand up and pressed his lips firmly against the soft flesh, his heart swelling at his words.

“I feel the same.” He whispered, pressing the palm of Levi’s hand against his cheek.

As blue met grey, the first hint of clarity twinkled in Levi’s gaze before he moved to rest his hand on the back of Erwin’s head. 

Erwin leaned in, allowing Levi to guide him with his feeble grip. His heart ached as his lips pressed against Levi’s, the heat and plush feel of them so familiar yet new somehow. 

“Awww!” A loud cry sounded from behind them, shattering the tender moment.

Both Levi and Erwin jerked away from each other, their attention snapping to the culprit- Hange standing at the foot of Levi’s bed with a cell phone held up in their hands.

“Hange?!” Levi started, “What the hell?” 

Hange poked their lip out with a pout, “I couldn’t help it. You two are just too cute!”

Both men’s gazes flitted from the shit-eating grin on their friend’s face to their phone and back several times, Levi’s face settling into a look of panicked horror, while Erwin’s expression was nothing but hopeful.

“Don’t tell me…,” Levi murmured.

“You recorded that, didn’t you?” asked Erwin.

“Yup,” Hange answered, puffing out their chest, “Got the whole thing.”

“Why you!” Levi snarled, “If you don’t delete that right now, I’m going to snap that phone in half as soon as I can walk.”

Erwin placed a staying hand on his husband’s shoulder, rubbing soothing circles to ease the tension that had already begun to coil there. 

“Actually, could you send it to me?” 

Levi’s attention turned to Erwin, betrayal in his gaze.

“Don’t tell me you’re on their side?”

“Come now, Levi.” Erwin cooed, flashing him a coy smile, “It’s not often that I get treated to this side of you. Think of it as a sentimental keepsake.”

Levi’s gaze narrowed to a scowl, a sharp comeback clearly on his tongue. However, a few moments later, his shoulders slumped and he gave a dejected huff.

“Fine.”

“Well, since I don’t have to fear for my life anymore,” Hange said, stepping over to the other side of the bed to shut off the IV, “Let’s work on getting you checked out.”

As Hange set to disconnecting the monitors and IV, Levi gave Erwin’s hand a firm squeeze.

“Yeah,” he mumbled, the tenderness from a moment ago shining in his eyes once more, an expression that was and would only ever be reserved for Erwin, “Let’s go home.”

#eruri #erwin smith #levi ackerman #eruri drabble #drabble #fanfiction #fluff #eruri fluff

[sunflowerheartsandstarryskies]

My Golden Curse - Maxwell Lord x Fem!Reader

Author’s Note: Hello again, I may have stumbled upon the Pedro Pascal fandom and I can’t get out, and I saw someone posted that they wanted an imagine with Maxwell Lord and the reader in which one of them gets kidnapped and the other just goes ballistic, and I basically kept getting that idea stuck in my head, this was only supposed to be a drabble but oh well. This depiction of Maxwell Lord is closer to the DC Comics version of him and not the movie but it has Pascal’s Lord’s likeness, so it’s like a combination of the two.

Also, I have survived my finals and had taken a break from writing for a while but I’m back and I have some ideas for my Lucifer multi-chapter fic as well. I also have an idea for a John Wick fic but I have no idea if anyone wants to read that.

Warnings: Typical comic-book violence, cursing (like two curse words), blood mentioned, kidnapping, bruises and injuries (like ribs breaking, a concussion, and a few lacerations

______________________________________________________________

Maxwell Lord IV prided himself on presentation. Everything had to be pristine and everything, even the garbage can by his desk had to be impeccable, because his business and himself in general, are put out on display for the public. He is a figurehead and a showman, so when you came along to be his assistant and secretary he was at first apprehensive because you didn’t dress as provocatively as he may have like and you didn’t look as model-esque as his other secretaries in the past. You didn’t apply to Chimtech to be fucked by your boss, you were good at your job and you aspire to show off your skills.

However, time went on when you first started to work for Maxwell Lord and you did a phenomenal job, whenever he was in a meeting you would always make sure to listen and take notes of what he needed while he was in the meeting. Whenever he requested for you to fax an item you would’ve made sure to have done it five minutes prior. Maxwell had no idea how you could be so efficient at your job, but he damn well appreciates it even if he rarely ever mentions it to you.

It’s an odd relationship that you guys have worked yourself in, a friendly relationship it seems, but both of you are teetering on the edge of wanting more. There have been teasing nicknames, mostly from you, you had a plethora of nicknames that you would give him, ranging from “Sandy” to “Ken”, but “Golden boy” was your favorite.

You would never admit this to him or even to yourself but you actually liked his blonde locks. In certain lightings, when you look at him you swear he was Midas, covered in his own golden curse. It was breathtaking to watch him at some points, but you always try to cover up your flustered state.

You knew Maxwell well, some may say too well for a secretary, but you rarely saw the side of him that most of his competitors and fellow businessmen saw, and that was the merciless and ruthless side to his tactics on getting what he wanted. Everyone in the public eye saw him as just the “King of Infomercials” but there was a reason why and how he got that title in the first place. Who knew the infomercial world could be so cruel and hectic?

You were able to catch glimpses of Maxwell’s amazing abilities of persuasion and showmanship, he was able to get people to admit to what they want and get them to go out and seize, whether that was good or bad. There was a particular talent that you find out he has and it was his ability to drag out people’s hidden desires, there were times when the people he used this talent were a shock as the people around them when they admitted to what they really wanted.

He was a golden idol of his own creation; he had to be especially to the people around him. However, that golden facade can only keep him held up for so long when the people he handed gold to realize that it’s fool’s gold.

______________________________________________________________

It was earlier in the day, you just woke up and got dressed in your office attire with a cup of coffee in hand as you try to will yourself to get going. You looked up at your apartment’s clock and it was 7:00 am, you needed to get going if you were to make it to Chimtech in time.

As you stepped out of your apartment building you felt a gloved hand over your mouth and panic flooding your whole body, but before your body could even fully process a flight or fight response you felt a sharp pain in your neck and you passed out.

When you come to, your vision is blurred and you can’t understand where you are and your brain just has confusion filling your senses. Why can’t you process what is around you? What happened to you? After a couple of more seconds went by you felt a rope tightly woven around your wrists, and you comprehended that you were sitting on a floor. What happened to you?

“Ah, there’s the little doll’s eyes! I was wondering if you were beginning to ever wake up,” a voice filled your ears. You blinked furiously trying to get your eyes to focus and you found yourself face to face with a man, who was grinning at you like a shark finding the prey they smelled a mile away.

“I’m sure you understand why you’re here? I don’t need to monologue it to you, do I?” the man asks.

“Mr. Vince, right? You were in a meeting with my boss Maxwell Lord, a month ago, right?” you questioned him as the drug and weariness started to seep out of you, and you gained more awareness of your surroundings. The man, Mr. Vince was a part-owner of a tech company that Chimtech was interested in making an investment in, however from what you were aware of was that the true goal of the meetings with Vince and his company was to absorb it into Chimtech, forcing Vince and the other owners to give up their powers over to Maxwell Lord and the other board members of Chimtech.

“I see the drugs didn’t impair your memory, I assume you are aware that I am no longer a CEO? That I was tricked by your goddamned boss?! That he put me in a corner to give up my company over to him!” he screamed. He was half an inch from your face and you were terrified of this man, he was unhinged.

“What does this have to do with me, Mr.Vince?” you asked, forcing yourself to not push him over the edge.

“Ooooh this has everything to do with your boss, I remembered that you are his secretary, so you must know some secret of his, something I can leverage against him to make him give me my company back,” he said.

“Even if I have any sort of information to give you, the damage is already done, your company is done in, it’s already been processed into Chimtech, there is none of your company left.”

That was the wrong thing to say as you felt a kick to your stomach. You groaned and rolled onto your side, and before you could recover from that there was another swift kick that you felt go directly to your ribs.

______________________________________________________________

Minutes blended into hours of constant yelling from Vince to him pulling you off the ground to throwing you back down like you were a piece of litter to being his personal punching bag. It was all you could do to just protect yourself and persevere through the pain because you were just a secretary, you were never trained in self-defense, hell you never even did track in high school.

Through the pain, you felt complete distortion and a high pitch whining going through your head, and you finally realized it was a telephone- a landline. Where the hell did this guy get a landline in this beat-up place?

Then, you hear Vince say, “Oh you want to hear how (Y/N) is?” you hear footsteps coming towards you then cold plastic was pressed to your cheek then Vince continued loudly, “Well here she is, talk.”

“(Y/N)?” You heard Maxwell, your golden boy, say your name and all you can do was say his name back in a raspy voice.

“What did he do to you?” Maxwell asked.

Before you could say any more the phone was taken away from you and Vince’s voice filled your ears.

“Tick tock Maxwell, I want my money and you can get your fuck toy back.”

Then silence, a sickening silence filled the room which made you feel every ache and pain that has been put on your body has made itself known by increasing levels of agony. You didn’t even feel it in you to even try to correct Vince’s words about you. You just wanted to sleep and not wake up for a whole day, maybe if you laid perfectly still and just not move a muscle the pain would go away.

As you lay there you tearily open your eyes back up and you can hear the tinny sounds of the echoing footsteps of your captor pacing back and forth in the room you were held in. It was nauseating, and you were confused as you thought, When did you close your eyes? How long were you out?

Then you fell back into your head, and you felt like you were spiraling in your own mind mixed with dizziness and nausea. You just wanted this to end.

A male voice was shouting so close to you and you can feel the panic coming out of his voice, and you can tell it wasn’t Vince because why would he do that?

You felt yourself being lifted from the ground and all you could do was cough sporadically from the new movements on your injuries. It hurt, it hurt so bad.

“I know (Y/N), but you just need to keep going a little bit longer,” the same voice told you.

You couldn’t quite pinpoint where you heard that voice before but you thought it was your boss, Maxwell Lord, but it couldn’t be. That would be the last thought that went through your mind before you lost it to the void.

All you can see at first was just bright and it hurt so bad. When you turned your head you saw a flash of gold and your first thought was, ‘Maxwell’. When your eyes adjusted to the room around you it really was your boss, Maxwell Lord in the hospital with you. He was slumped down in a chair beside your bed and you saw there were roses in a vase on the table next to you.

“Gold-golden boy, hey,” you rasped out trying to wake him. You coughed and then groaned as you felt the lacerations and bandages around your torso.

You saw him stir in the chair and his eyes opened and landed on yours. “Hey boss,” you whispered cringing at your voice. Your hands clenched at the sheets around you as you saw him blink furiously and stood up fast. You flinched at the fast movement but he didn’t seem to notice, as he moved closer to you.

“I am sorry about what happened to you, I didn’t think that our clients would go so far as to do this to you. I can’t believe that bastard did all of this to you-”

“It’s okay, I mean it hurts like a bitch but you ended up finding me didn’t you? What happened to him anyway?” you cut him off.

“Ah well, I may have gotten violent with him before the law enforcement could get him,” he said twisting his hands around and that’s when you saw the scrapes on his knuckles.

“I don’t know if you were a white knight to me but you certainly are a golden devil for doing that,” you replied.

He huffed out a laugh at your reply and he opened his mouth to say something but got interrupted when a nurse arrived.

______________________________________________________________

After the nurse left, you found out you still have a concussion lingering still, three bruised ribs and lacerations across your whole torso and arms.

When he listened to the whole list of injuries that you had gotten in the three days that you were with Mr. Vince, he felt rage boil over him but he tried to keep calm as he remembered the battered state he left Vince in. At least he made him feel some of the pain that he made you go through, Maxwell was a very prideful man in how he acts so for him to act like that was completely out of character for him.

He must be looking worried because he noticed your furrowed brows and you glancing at him every so often.

“Did you want to say something?” he asked

“Well, I was gonna ask you a similar question because I think you were interrupted by the nurse. Also are you okay?”

Your question startled him and the mention of the interruption made him clear his throat and fidget with his suit to try to hide the blush that was threatening to come up to his face. Your inquisitive expression on your face was watching him.

“I’ve been thinking that if you would like to leave the company, I won’t force you to stay, especially with what happened this week,” he said.

Listening to him say this made you panic and as you tried to sit up, Maxwell came up to you quickly as he says, “What do you think you’re doing? You got to take it easy.”

As you are situated in your bed you went to reach for Maxwell’s hand as you say, “Why would I want to quit? I love my job and I love working with you even if at times I don’t seem like it. None of what happened to me was your fault, how could you have known that Vince would react to the merger the way that he did.”

Maxwell was startled by this, he never had anyone in his family nor his company is so willing to stay with him especially when they are given an out.

He bowed his head toward you and said, “If you keep saying things like that I might want to keep you by my side for a long time.”

You laughed as you replied, “If you let me I will, you are a weird but kind man-” you stopped yourself as a thought came to your head.

“How long have you been here? What about Chimtech?”

“Ah well if my secretary didn’t get kidnapped and injured I wouldn’t be here right now, but you made me worried and how can I do my best work without my best assistant around me?”

“Now you’re just flattering me”

“But it’s true”

“Hmmm if you say so, Sandy”

______________________________________________________________

Four days have gone by and you were finally released from the hospital to go back to your apartment. You tried to go back to work at Chimtech, but Maxwell found you were released and gave you the rest of the week off to recover. You would become the envy of the company at this rate with how well the boss has been treating you.

Now that you have been just lounging in your apartment watching TV movies, and eating takeout for meals it has given you time to properly understand what happened to you for the past two weeks.

The way your boss, Maxwell, has been treating you made you see a whole new side of him. At first, you thought of working for him as both a blessing and a curse. At first, it was hell on earth, you ran yourself ragged making sure everything was up to par with Maxwell’s standards but after the next three years working with the man you considered him a friend of sorts. Even though you always tried to make sure to never consider employers and colleagues be separate from your personal life but it’s hard to do that when all you have is your work life.

Ever since the kidnapping incident, Maxwell had visited you every day in the hospital he even gave you flowers on the last day of your hospital visit, it was a beautiful vase of sunflowers.

You didn’t realize how long you were sitting on your couch thinking about your boss when you heard a knock on your door. You looked at the clock near your tv and realized it was nearly midnight.

‘Who could come by to my apartment at this hour?’ you thought.

You got up carefully minding the bruises still littering your body, and you opened the door surprised to see Maxwell.

His hair was a bit disheveled and he didn’t have a suit jacket on showing off the suspenders he likes to wear. He looked quite cute seeing him like this.

“Come in, Mr. Lord. What brings you to my place this late at night?” you inquired.

He ran his hand through his hair as he entered your apartment and he turns to look at you as you closed the door.

He sighed as he said, “I don’t know how quite to put this without sounding terrible, but after what happened to you, I can’t stop thinking about you. You are the best woman-the best person I’ve known and for you to still want to work with me after everything that has happened.”

He looked like he was getting frustrated with himself, you were shocked because how could you have gotten the king of infomercials to be so frustrated with his own words?

You took a tentative step forward to him as you placed a hand on his arm.

“Sandy, what’s going on?”

He was silent for a moment before he looked into your eyes with a strong determination as he says, “You know more about me than my own mother does, and after all this time together I’ve grown to respect you more and more. When I saw you in that hospital I wanted to kill the bastard and send him to hell when I found you like that in the warehouse.”

“I-I don’t know what to say, Mr. Lord-”

“Call me Maxwell, none of your silly names, not boss, not my last name, just Maxwell”

You could tell he was earnest with this and sincere it took your breath away to see him like this. He was beautiful and it made your heart flutter when you realize what he might be trying to confess to you.

“Maxwell” you breathed out testing his name out. You said his name once before and that was when you had gotten kidnapped but now this is completely different, almost like a prayer. A prayer to this golden devil of yours.

He smiled when he heard you say his name and he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“I wish I could kiss all the scars away from your body so you never have to live with them again. I wish that I could be yours, fully and I want to be clear that I would never use you like I may have done to my secretaries in the past. I want to be yours, in any way you may want me.”

“Oh Maxwell, I think I might have to grant your wish this time,” you say blinking away tears that were threatening to spill as you were listening to his confession.

“(Y/N)” he whispered reverently.

He cradled your face with both hands as he studied your face to see any resistance than he gently placed his lips on yours.

You made a small gasp as you finally felt his lips on yours, you clutched onto his shirt as you pulled him closer to you. He tilted his head and pushed your chin up to meet in for a deeper kiss. It felt amazing and you felt loved.

When you parted you were chasing each other’s lips to crash back into each other as you kissed each other until you both need a break. Both of your lips were swollen and you looked at him with such love that when Maxwell saw, he almost wanted to take you then and there but he was mindful of how fragile this love could be.

Author’s Note: I might do a second part if people want it but whew this took a lot out of me, I hope you guys like it!

#maxwell lord x reader #pedro pascal x reader #Pedro Pascal #maxwell lord #imagines #x reader #wonder woman 1984 #max lord x reader

[oh-for-fic-sake]

A Walk In The Park

Masterlist

Warninngs: Swearing

Meeting Henry in the park.

A Walk In The Park

It was about 9 in the morning when you got the leads out of the cupboard deciding that by this time the park would be quiet as the school rush was over and anyone who had to be at work was.Your two excited dogs ran at you jumping over one another to be the first on a lead , your 3 year old blue doberman Milly was first as you clipped the thick leather lead followed by your bearly year old phantom standard poodle polly. You preferred walking them when it was quiet because of their rare colours your girls were a prime target for dognapping because any pups they had would be very expensive. You grabbed a small bag of treats ,their ball launcher and favourite ball as you left . Walking to the park it was a huge enclosed field that had a small fenced off play area in the middle there was a foot path around the edge with the occasional bench and bin, large trees dotted hear and there across the whole park, near the enterance there was a small coffee kiosk for the dog walkers that frequently used the safe enclosed space to run there dogs. Once there you saw three other dogs running loose one large and two small but they were far enough away that you should be able to avoid them. Walking a quater the way down the field you released your babies letting them go scatty they both ran off in a large circle around you letting off steam. After a few moments they slowed down panting watching you as you leaned the ball launcher on your shoulder then flicked it catapulting the ball a fair distance . Playing the game of fetch as you continued walking slowly around the field. Throwing it for the 12th or so time was when you heard someone calling for there dog to "leave it" as an akita that tore past your two and caught the ball resutling in a freindly game of chase as Milly and Polly tried to get it back you laughed and waved it off as the large man jogged closer to you still calling his dog. He was very handsome from here you noted.

"Its fine, their freindly" you called out ,he shook his head at the playful pups before smoothing his dark hair back as he watched the three play excitedly. It was rare that your babies had a similar sized dog to play with everyone now days opting for tiny 'cute' dogs and the larger breeds falling out of fashion. You giggled as the akita run up to its owner dropping the ball who dutifully threw it in your direction. The three dogs chased it erratically it was only as they got closer you realised he'd misjudged the distance before you could move his dog collided with your legs sweeping them from under you. Crying out suprized you landed with a heavy thump on the near frozen ground, the dog realising its mistake stood over you sniffing to see if you were ok joined by your two, before being pushed away by the most beautifull man you think you have ever seen, your thought stuttered to a halt as you noticed he looking down at you with bright blues eye filled with concern.

"Kal you big lump look what you did. I am so sorry are you ok?" He said helping you up laughing it off.

"Yeah im fine not the first time a dogs knocked me on my ass." He looked you over quickly decideing that your ok but began trying to brush the dry dirt off of your legs and bottom. Flustered as this heavenly stranger wiped at the seat of your jeans,you bent down quickly to take over ending up butting heads hissing you both grabed your throbbing forehead.

"Shit sorry fuck is your head ok? Look at me" he said cupping your face making you look at him as he gently ran a thumb over your bumped head. You couldn't help the a small gasp as you saw just how handsome he really was tall and broad, a clean shaven angular jawline,his mouth had a defined cupids bow that looked perfect for kissing among other things, lightly defined cheek bones and all topped off with a set of incrediblely clear blue eyes he looked like a god, you snapped out of it as he ran his tongue over his lips in what you assumed was a nervous gesture.'well you are just fucking oogling him' you thought

"That was my fault sorry, are you ok?" He nodded staring at you still smoothing over your face, you thought it was because you looked a mess after falling ass over tit but it was actually the opposite he thought you were beautiful. Blushing at his appraisal you nervously pulled his hands away ,looking down stroking your babies who had been hovering around you since you fell,you quickly turned your attention to his dog.

"So hes a boy then?" He nodded sheepishly as he realised he'd been caught staring snapping out of his thoughts.

"Yep this is my son Kal" he said ruffling the dogs furry head who was panting content. You giggled it was cute

"These are my babies Milly and Polly" you pointed each one out he smiled letting them sniff his hand gaining approval to stroke them.

"They are really sweet ,amazing colours i dont think iv seen them before. I couldn't acctually tell what breed Milly was when i watched you come through the gates" He stated then faulterd sheepishly as he'd let slip he had been watching you ,choosing to ignore it he concentrated on giving your babies ear rubs as they reveled in all his attention. You nodded smieling shyly.

"Well thank you most people think they are scary tho because of there size. Milly is what you call a blue doberman and Polly is a phantom coat both are rare its why i try to bring them here when its quiet" he nodded in understanding sighing in relief as you didn't mention his embarrassing admission.

"Sometime people are wary of kal because of his size. And you coming when its quiet would explain why I've never seen you here befor, I'd have definalty remembered you" he flirted you blushed not sure where to look as he smirked at you. He picked up the ball launcher and leads from the floor beside you. Holding out your hand to take them back he twisted them away from you lightly with a teasing grin.

"I think we should continue this walk together ,you know for health and saftey's sake" he said winking at you as he used the launcher to pick up and launch the ball out towards the field causing the trio chase it. You nodded looking away your face glowing he chuckled.

"I just realised i havent introduced myself im Henry" he held out a stong hand you shook it introducing yourself.

"Y/n" he tested your name

"Well Y/n would you allow me to buy you a coffee on this fine cold morning?" You smiled shyly at him nodding

"If you want to"

"Oh i do trust me" you felt giddy as he slipped your hand in his before makeing your way to the kiosk.

It had been just over three weeks since you first walk with Henry and it had become a daily occurrence you'd both meet up at around nine grabbed your coffees and do two or three slow laps around the park before going your seperate ways. In that time you'd gotten to know one another he seemed quite reluctant to talk about his job at first, which you understood when he told you he was an actor, he was worried that it would scare you off but it didn't bother you in the slightest and that was the day you exchanged numbers. Your walks were spent chatting and casually flirting with one another, before you knew it you had a crush on the sweet man. Today was particularly cold as you made your way to the park when you got there Henry was at the bench by the kiosk coffees in hand he let out a laugh when he saw both your dogs in their little knit jumpers. You pouted at him as he gave you your drink.

"So your one of those?" He got out between laughter as you let them off their leads and began your walk.

"Yep its for a good reasons tho poodles hair is fine and wavy when they're young it gets thicker and curly with age untill then they feel the cold really bad and Milly gets jealous if Polly has her jumper on and she doesn't" he nodded watching as kal followed the two going between them investigating the jumpers comically then they began chaseing one another for the new slightly bigger ball that you had tossed towards them.

Henry moved closer towards you grasping your hand as usual, taking sips of his drink opting to kick the ball with across the grass with his feet as one of the dogs returned it.

"Well its freezing today there threatening snow by the end of the week" you sighed

"Just what i need snow" you muttered into your cup taking a mouthfull.

"Tell me about it i hope it will hold off until friday" you looked at him confused as he kicked the ball again.

"I have to travel just outside of london on wednesday should be back by friday morning at the latest ,its a fitting and makeup test for an upcoming role ,they have a few different ideas but want to have it sorted asap the costume and props are going to take a while to be ordered and made" he explained shrugging lightly, you deflated slightly it meant soon you wont be able to see him, he would be away filming and promoting and youd be on your own.

"Oh.. that sounds fun tho, are you looking forward to it?" You asked trying to bite down your dissappointment he turned to you smileing wide

"Yes its a role i never thought id get when i auditioned but im really excited for it i cant wait to start filming" he said enthusiasticly you nodded but kept quiet as you kicked the ball kal had brought back. He slowed down and binned your now empty coffee cups then took a long look at you sighing before pulling you around to face him.

"Hey dont worry i'll call you everyday at the fitting and when I'm filming" he said stroking your hair out of your face with one hand an overly intimate gesture to anyone onlookers.

"You dont have to do that" you said trying to look anywhere but his face not wanting him to see how upset you were. You had no right to feel like this you hadn't even known him that long.

"But what if i want to?" He said before pulling you closer to him by your interlocked hands and joining free hands. Your gaze snapped to at that he continued knowing he now had your full attention.

"What if I say that I'm gonna miss you, miss talking to you everyday ,miss the way I can make you blush adorabley with just a look or miss holding your hands in mine ,that im going to find it hard leaving you behind here when I've only just gotten to know you." You were lost for words staring at him as he rubbed to back of his neck.

"That... didnt sound as cheesy in my head.. I just mean I really really like you, as soon as I leave here I cant wait for tomorrow to see you again. What I'm trying to say is that I really really like you" he admitted

"I like you too" the words left your mouth before you could stop them he looked up glowing at you. Quickly before his courage dissapeared he wound his large arms around your waist and pulled you against him leaning in for a kiss, you gasped as his lips met yours soft and gentle at first before tilting his head down more and deepening the kiss becoming more heated and desperate as you wrapped your arms around his neck pulling him closer as your tongues danced back and forth. Hearing a whining you both pulled back looking down at three impatient dogs waiting for the game of fetch to continue. You both laughed Henry kicked the ball without releasing you before leaning down again.

"You have no idea how much I've wanted to do that" he mumbled against your lips placeing chaste kisses on them as he spoke.

" and now I cant seem to stop"

"You think your the only one?" you giggled at him meeting his kisses half way

"Just so you know I expect this to be our greeting from now on love" he whispered lowly and squeezed your waist your tummy fluttered at that.

"Well i suppose thats an acceptable request" you murmured he gave you a mischievous smile.

"Who said anything about request? I'll greet my woman as I see fit" your laugh was cut short as he kissed you deeply again. Before pulling you around one arm slung around your waist as he guided you along the path against him.

"Your woman? you havent even bought me dinner?"

"Which i plan to rectify tonight?" He asked cheekily you nodded at him leaning your head against his chest feeling like the luckiest girl in the world as he looked at you lovingly leaning over kissing your head.

#henry cavill imagine #henry cavill x reader #henry cavill

[fadekookie]

The Closet Game: I

Author: @fadekookie

Genre: Urban Legen!AU, thriller, romance, psychological, existentialism, horror, interdimensional? spooky?

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Baekhyun x Reader

Warnings: imitable behavior, horror themes

Word Count: 2990

Summary: The Closet Game was something you’d only heard of once in your life. You’d only pondered, until the point a pair of red eyes gleamed with a ferocity only possibly matched by yours. And so up to this point, you’d only pondered, but now you knew this couldn’t possibly be real. Until you dared the inferno in the eyes, until you challenged the ruby glare, until you bore a stare so wild and enraged you tore your way through this inversion, to him.

A/N: CHAPTER ONE IS UP HSDJHCVSJVC YAY !!!! I CANNOT EXPRESS HOW HAPPY I AM ABOUT THIS I’VE FINALLY DEVOTED MYSELF TO SERIES AND I AM SO DETERMINED TO FINISH IT!!! If you’re reading this without reading the prologue, you may be confused. The prologue is important to the entirety of the story!! ENJOY !!!! this chapter is dedicated to @shuasent

P | I |  II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X 

Reality is not real. It has never been proven nor tested. Only believed to be because, well, what else would you believe?

Reality is unclear and distant, like a memory. Every moment of your life being ironically vapid. Though you felt things, it was all null and conveniently explained. Not in the scientific sense, but in the sense that things happen for a reason and you feel a particular way for a reason. The problem posed though, you will always feel something.

However, it never felt that way. It felt muted and programmed. It was a routine. Just as the one sitting in your planner or calendar. Routine work, routine play, routine love. And it was all, mute.

Colors lived in you, yes, but each moment in time was distant, fading too fast. You’d always hated how the sun set so fast. You saw colors— you felt them, heard them, smelled them, tasted them. Though, you were bereft of a sixth sense.

You spent all your life dreaming of this sixth maybe even seventh sense, but you could feel nothing louder nor brighter than now.

Now was red.

It tasted red, felt red, looked red, smelled red, and sounded red.

Red was no longer a color to you.  It was a vortex. A wormhole.

Red wasn’t blood. Red did not mean stop. Red was not sensual.

Instead red was a pair of eyes, and that’s all it ever would be. A pair of eyes so rampant you were no spiral down them. A pair of eyes so hot with fire you felt the tangible melt around you until it was only this red.

Until red devoured you and set your skin ablaze as embers licked at your curves. Until red burnt to black and only eyes among a pitch black realm remained.

Eyes polarized by the dark seemed to glow brighter as time slipped by.

Your own stare frantic you searched the black for anything of contrast. You looked down to see that your limbs were not there, perhaps having been swallowed by flame or suffocated with night. You heard nothing; no muffled hum of the air conditioning or distant sliding of heavy balcony doors by your neighbors. Sounds that lived in your home like family dissolved like sugar into the space. Only your eyes and the one’s in front of you were spared by the inferno.

You thought this a dream, an unreal reality just as you did the world before. Maybe some sick form of sleep paralysis that you were bound to wake up from...

....but then you felt it.

The millions of suns gnawing at you, at your mind and soul. Incinerations penetrating your soul in a pain unknown to you and you fathomed to man himself.

Trapped in your mind, you yelled. You yelled because that’s all you could do. Screams echoing against the constraints of your conscience. The sound wasn’t there.

The ballroom was flushed with wealth. Chandeliers hung from the high ceiling with crystals dripping from them just as prodigality dripped from every person in the space.  Business is all it was with august marble floors and ridiculously expensive Hors d’oeuvre.  The finger foods seemed to float around you like feathers in air as staff in tailcoats made rounds about the grand marble tiles.

The sounds of Shostakovich stretched to the corners of the space as businessmen endlessly found their way to you. Events like these weren’t rare in your new life. Being among the top 30 under 30 has those perks. Though lavish living lost much of its meaning when each step you take as a competitor on the market is one that is unambiguously monitored. One scandal, one look in the wrong direction, one breath at the wrong time and empires crumble.

You recognized the figure approaching you: Zhang Yixing, founder of LaySoft. His company had started at around the same time as yours, growing and competing at the same pace. He was the competition and you calculated every movement around people like him.

“Mr. Zhang,” you smiled, champagne in hand as he came to a stop before you. His hair was slicked back to exaggerate the contours of his face. Round, silver glasses rested on his pointed nose further complementing the dimensions of his cheeks. The suit fit him well, you thought. You assumed it was part of the new Ermenegildo Zegna collection. Of course, you saw this exact three-piece on a runway in Milan only a week ago.

“Y/N, please, call me by my first name. You’re making me feel old.” He smirked revealing perfect teeth. He took a step closer, “We’re not too far apart, you know?”

“I’m well aware, Mr. Zhang,” you continued throwing him a playful wink, all part of the procedure. “I must always be on my toes around you.” Your lips stretched into a more sensuous shape. Routine, it was all routine with him and those like him. Though he did nothing wrong, he was fully capable of it. You played your cards right.

He was frustrated but amused nonetheless. Yes, of course, you played them right. People were always easy to read to you.

“All I ask, Miss (y/l/n) is that you keep me young as well.” He played the game too. “It’s not fair you’re the only one having fun.”

No use being coy anymore, next card.

“Yixing,” you succumbed, “care for a dance.” You said this with conviction as you placed the flute of bubbly on a glass table beside you.

“Would I?” he returned taking your hand in his and leading you to the dance floor. Your dress was a flowing red, flattering your youth among the entrepreneurial gods. “I must say, you’re absolutely ravishing in that color.”

“You sound old,” you completed simply as he placed a large hand on your waist beginning to waltz. The dance floor was more a battlefield than a leisure spot in situations as such.

He sighed in relieve, as if being quenched, “This is exactly what I needed.”

You only smirked continuing to sway to the waltz tempo. Card. This game continued in a flirtatious method. Him complimenting you. You retorting smoothly. He fed off this and you waited until you felt he was fed nearly to the brim to begin your full-fledged attack. It was now Carmen Suite bouncing around the ambiance as you danced.

“I heard LaySoft is closing with Angola soon,”

Your brow lowered, no longer a light and playful set, “Didn’t think you were interested in oil.”

He chuckled, “I always have to think 10 steps ahead, y/n. Though, please enlighten me on your expansion in the Middle East during the past year.”

You only smiled and met his gaze, “What can I say, I’m just that popular. They asked for me.”

“Why do I not believe that?”

“Smelt it dealt it, I assume.”

With this, he burst out in laughter. Head tipping lightly back to allow humor to pour from him in waves.

Card.

That’s the problem with you Yixing, you thought, you and I really are not too far apart.

“Alright alright, I’ll admit, oil is a fun challenge, wouldn’t you agree.” At this point, you’d stopped dancing and made your way to an oncoming busboy. Plucking a stem from the silver tray he was carrying, you offered, “The more the merrier.”

You raised your glass, flashing your signature smile.

Card. You win.

You were intoxicated when you arrived at your home. The contemporary nuances of glass walls made their way to your line of sight as the Roll’s Royce pulled into your driveway.

The house was new as was the little to offer privacy. You’d made the purchase in March, moved in late April, and now it was July.

Stepping out of the car, you took a breath of the thick summer air, enhanced by the grandeur of your house. The doors shut behind you with a conspicuous click, you thought this was lucky if anybody ever tried breaking into your house. You’d never miss it, these doors were loud. As was anything really amongst this almost comically large furnishing. You could tell the position of anyone anywhere in your home because of how sharp each sound was as it bounced off in echoes from high ceilings.

Every step you took against hard marble floors to your bedroom distilled a click until they reached the broad expanse of dark wood. The muted sound of stilettos on wood reminded you strangely of eery memories from middle school. Strange as it may seem for your brain to store and associate a memory from over a decade ago with this particular sound, its all you could process at this point. The same sound of you walking, emitting creaking here and there to top off the stripped sound of steps, had been played out for you at a seventh-grade sleepover.

You would never forget, of course, how could you? One of the most embarrassing nights of your life played out in technicolor in your head. It was a slumber party with your then group of friends when the six of you decided to experiment with urban legends. You had never debated the extent of this abstract, just simply avoided any chance interaction with the seemingly supernatural on some occasions. However, with a group of friends, it’s safe to say all six of you get invincible to the forces of the underworld, where they there.

You had tested all tricks and spooks in the book from Bloody Mary to the Candyman with no outcome. This late into the night as the group grew increasingly confident, the infamous Closet Game was last on the list. This one required the extra effort. Required the reading of a curse, lighting of a match. You followed through of course, though, didn’t expect anything. Nor did your friends. While skeptic, as can be the exhaustion, took a toll on your brain, allowing any minor sound or movement, easily explained in broad daylight, sound like a swan song,  a final call before your pathetic death to an urban legend.

So, it was your turn to play the game, and you said the curse, lit the match and stood in the closet waiting for demons to enrapture you and swallow you whole, carrying you away into a dimension unknown. Sweat prickled at your skin and you could feel your heart beating in your fingers and toes, but you could never let your friends know. Straining to hear a whisper and a pull from a ‘demon’ as the instructions said, you felt your head becoming light. You began to feel a velvety rub against your skin, comparable to the softness of a thin stream of water from the faucet on your fingers. You hadn’t done anything yet, hadn’t moved in spite of the clear sign you should bow out the match and leave the closet. You strained for whispers.

To this day you doubt you actually heard it. The voice. It was all part of the mind tricks factoring in darkness, social pressure, and general stress. Makes sense you imagined the whisper and the touch in retrospect. Though at the moment you could not doubt how extremely and terrifyingly real this voice was.

“I found you.”

Three words broke you.

Failing to extinguish the match you broke from the hold behind closet doors to see your friends staring at you with wild eyes. Soon they beckoned you with concern. Inquiring about the demon, asking if you really felt it. You blew out your match and simply brushed it off, pride quivering as you claimed it all a game of your subconscious.

Sleeping that night you could not brush the thought of the ‘demons.’ How they touched you and talked to you. Your pubescent mind racing with hormones, stress, and fear. The sound of your heels on wood now impeccably resembled the sound you heard that night from your place on the couch.

Step, step, step, step.

You couldn’t move, but your eyes were open and you saw everything. Saw what horror your mind conjured that night. Later you’d know this feeling to be nothing more than a psychological wager of sleep paralysis. Nonetheless, you remember how the black figure, faceless, shapeless, but resembling a human simply rose from the white wall carrying a white, electric aura with it.

By means of common sense, nothing should be alarming about a dark figure with no distinguishing features. It had no gun, no knife, no scary face, but it was terrifying despite no obvious means of harm.

Shaking and not moving a muscle, screaming with no sound coming out, crying but no tears escaped. Trapped inside your mind as this figure approached you before simply fading out as if dissolving into the natural background. That’s when you woke up; when your sharp inhale caused your friend next to you on the couch to stir.

All you could do is shut your eyes and throw the now uncomfortably hot covers over you as you continued to sweat, forcing yourself to sleep. Needless to say, you woke up to uncomfortable wetness in your shorts and you knew. Your friends knew. Things like this happened. 

Reminiscing now you laughed to yourself about how foolish it was to be so self-degradingly critical around your friends, around yourself and the walls in your own room.

You continued to think of that game and its grand influence on your subconscious that night, minding how crazy the human brain was. At this point in your life and in your evening, you expected nothing else to come and tempt you nor press you. Your dealings at the ball were over and your face of business and poise was officially eligible to retire until tomorrow. So, fuck it, you thought. At this point, you understood the nooks of your brain and everybody else’s brain. Knowing exactly how to approach a person and a problem through meticulous psychoanalysis. At this point, just like then, you felt invincible.

Strolling over to your walk-in closet and pulling a lighter as well as your phone from the new Prada which hung elegantly from your shoulder. Briefly looking up the curse on your phone you shut the sliding door to your closet. Flicking the steel cap of the lighter forward, a gentle flame grew from a traceless spark. You read the words, smirk plastered on your face.

“Dinanzi a me non fuor cose create

se non etterne, e io etterno duro.

Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate’.”

You chanted the infamous words three times, becoming bored the third time around.

Silence.

Stillness.

Nothing happened. No velvety touch, no paralyzing whisper. You chuckled before snapping the lighter shut and sliding the door open. You clapped for the lights in your room to turn on. As they swelled into brightness you slipped out of your dress and placed your shoes to the side.

The shower you took wasn’t long but it felt eternal as you ran through the synopsis of your day and… your life. Existence and the sorts, the usual for showers at this time of night.

Stepping out you further scrutinized each thing you felt, each thing you did and the reason for it. Not the artificial reason as to the typical cost-benefit system, but the actual reason. Your reason for compliance with the universe in general.

You left the bathroom in search of pajamas after slipping into underwear and a black silk robe reaching down to a bit above your knees.

You expected to see nothing but clothes and an island of jewelry when you slid the door open. Rows of designer sweaters hanging in the middle above four of your favorite Hermes purses. A shoe shelf to the far left and a purse shelf to the right. Sections of various articles of clothing placed by category around the perimeter of the room.

You didn’t see this though. Rather you did, but you didn’t see the clothes, nor shoes, nor purses, nor jewelry. Everything was still there but it was no longer the spectacle of importance.

You saw eyes.

Red eyes.

Red like nothing you had seen before.

Red as only ruby orbs among a darkness which darkened to become opaque over the shoes, purses, and diamonds in your closet.

Red glowing like fire against what had no become a pitch black void.

Red like an inferno which now gnawed at the corners of your own vision. Blazes feasting on the darkness cooked explicitly for these eyes and yours.

A conflagration swallowing your line of vision and your senses.

Burning and burning and burning and burning.

You felt nothing, just watched, reactionless, or you thought you were stoic.

For all you know, you could have died, suddenly.

Or hallucinated.

Developed schizophrenia.

All the possible outcomes rushed to your head at the same time as your senses returned.

Pain blurred your line of vision with more red, as you felt the absolute fire eating you whole.

More and more red.

Red and red and red, but you still saw a sole pair of eyes.

While everything became red, the eyes remained.

Eyes remained as a remarkably different red than any other shade of blood and fire charring your sight.

They stayed there even as the fire quelled, as you continued to yell with no sound and cried tears which did not put out flames. It was blackness again, aside from eyes. They moved closer to you as you realized you were no longer in your lavish room nor lavish home. You questioned if you were still on the face of the Earth.

The eyes moved closer as a figure formed around them. As if stepping into light, features became more defined and human. The eyes became a possession and not just a color. Lips, nose, ears, hair. Torso, arms, legs, neck. A body undoubtedly human stepped into sight.

Though, he could not have been human.

Masterlist

#exo #exosnet #exo fanfic #exo ff #exo scenario #exo smut #byun baekhyun #bbh #baekhyun x reader #baekhyun x you #ff #fanfic #baekhyun smut #baekhyun scenario

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 4 March 2019

Quick Bits:

A Walk Through Hell #8 gets creepier as Paul tells his story, raising huge questions of how deep a conspiracy may go to have covered up his brutal history. Garth Ennis, Goran Sudžuka, Ive Svorcina, and Rob Steen are delivering one hell of an atmospheric horror story with this series.

| Published by AfterShock

Amazing Spider-Man #16.HU is really another prelude to the “Hunted” event, but this one gets its branding and special interstitial “.HU” suffix, from Nick Spencer, Iban Coello, Edgar Delgado, and Joe Caramagna. This issue follows Black Cat as she is sent to free the Owl from Taskmaster and Black Ant to square things away with Hammerhead. It does a good bit to redeem Felicia’s behaviour of recent years, explaining exactly why she’s more or less been acting out of character as a hardened criminal kingpin.

| Published by Marvel

Astro Hustle #1 is a pretty good start to this space opera from Jai Nitz, Tom Reilly, Ursula Decay, and Crank! It reminds me a lot of Barbarella crossed with Sword of the Swashbucklers, mixing space and pirates with some oblique sociopolitical commentary. Also maybe a bit of The Incal. This issue largely introduces us to Chen Andalou (yeah, I’m not sure if there’s a significance to the Un Chien Andalou reference) and the band of pirates he falls in with and it’s rather entertaining. Reilly’s art reminds me a bit of Moritat, Goran Parlov, and Goran Sudžuka and it works very well for the story.

| Published by Dark Horse

Avengers #16 continues the war of the vampires. I really like the new design for Ghost Rider from David Marquez. It’s more in line with how Vengeance used to be portrayed and the flame and shadow from Marquez and Erick Arciniega really works for a harder edged version of the character.

| Published by Marvel

Avengers: No Road Home #4 sees Sean Izaakse and Marcio Menyz begin their three issues handling art duties and it’s gorgeous. Like Paco Medina, Juan Vlasco, and Jesus Aburtov for the first three issues, the artists are really giving this story their all and delivering some incredible artwork. Great layouts and panel compositions as we get to see Nyx’s own side of the story.

| Published by Marvel

Batman #66 resumes “Knightmares” with an issue of the Question trying to get to the bottom of Selina leaving Bruce at the proverbial altar. Illustrated by Jorge Fornés, with colours from Dave Stewart, it leans hard into Year One imagery to begin with, evoking David Mazzucchelli, and just goes through Selina’s history with Bruce from there.

| Published by DC Comics

Black Hammer ‘45 #1 expands the Black Hammer universe out further with the addition of a Blackhawks analogue, along with nods to Enemy Ace and Rocket Red, from Jeff Lemire, Ray Fawkes, Matt Kindt, Sharlene Kindt, and Marie Enger. There’s a compelling mystery set up across the present and the past regarding the Black Hammer Squadron’s final mission and the art from the Kindts is gorgeous.

| Published by Dark Horse

The Black Order #5 concludes the series focusing on Ebony Maw’s betrayal, the end of the Grandmaster’s game, and Carlos Magno, Scott Hanna, Jay David Ramos, and Dono Sánchez-Almara providing the artwork. This has been an interesting series, telling a relatively simple story of the Black Order executing a contract to topple the Sinnarian Emperor, but Derek Landy has been telling it through issues each largely from the viewpoint of each of one of the members of the Black Order. It’s been a good insight into what makes these villains tick.

| Published by Marvel

Blossoms 666 #2 continues to be an entertaining read from Cullen Bunn, Laura Braga, Matt Herms, and Jack Morelli. This chapter lightly deals with the fallout from the disappearance of Ethel and Reggie, while setting up Betty to investigate. The story is definitely taking a slow burn approach, but it’s quite compelling. The horror of a devil cult infiltrating a small town vibe going on is wonderful. 

| Published by Archie

Champions #3 goes in a few directions as the new bigger team get some training in, an enemy from Sam’s past comes calling, Dust apparently didn’t get sucked into the Age of X-Man and is dealing with anti-mutant hysteria, and Miles is racked with guilt over his decision. I love the layers that Jim Zub is adding to the script and the art from Steven Cummings, Marcio Menyz, and Federico Blee captures the youthful action very well.

| Published by Marvel

Conan the Barbarian #4 might be my favourite issue of this series yet with glorious guest art from Gerardo Zaffino, evoking memories of his father’s work on Savage Sword, and presenting a gritty, visceral, and dark tale of King Conan alongside Jason Aaron, Matthew Wilson, and Travis Lanham. The idea of Conan becoming sick over peace is humorous and there’s a wonderful nod to the Punisher.

| Published by Marvel

The Curse of Brimstone #12 brings the series to an end with a final confrontation between Brimstone and a member of the “home office”, Infernal. The revelations about who Infernal is a twisted alternate version of is interesting, as well as their means of ingress into the regular DCU. The series also goes out with a bang with the very impressive artwork from Denys Cowan, John Stanisci, and Rain Beredo. Cowan is a legend and that shines through in this final arc. I do hope, though, that we see Brimstone and the effects of this series pop up somewhere else in the DCU in the future. 

| Published by DC Comics

Deadly Class #37 continues “Never Go Back” with the spotlight shifted back to Quan and Kenji, bringing back Saya in a pretty big way. The action in Wes Craig’s artwork (with colours from Jordan Boyd) is pretty much peerless.

| Published by Image / Giant Generator

Deathstroke #41 serves as a prelude to the “Terminus Agenda” crossover with Teen Titans, with Slade a fugitive in Gotham, trying to figure out the reason behind one of his recent contracts, from Christopher Priest, Fernando Pasarin, Cam Smith, Sean Parsons, Jeromy Cox, Carrie Strachan, and Willie Schubert. There are some interesting mysteries being set up here, even as Slade is being targeted.

| Published by DC Comics

Die #4 is another brilliant issue from Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans, and Clayton Cowles. The depth of the storytelling, character and world building, and overall narrative is staggering in this series. The amount of thought and attention to detail that seem to have gone into constructing the story is just amazing, as what feels like a fully-realized fantasy world cognizant of itself comes tumbling out.

| Published by Image

Eclipse #13 begins the final arc of the series, from Zack Kaplan, Giovanni Timpano, Flavio Dispenza, and Troy Peteri. If the spark lit in this issue is any indication, it looks as if the series is going to end in fire with a lot of death.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

Giant Days #48 gives us that rare issue also illustrated by John Allison, I think for the first time since the original series, for a wedding. Very funny look at some of Susan’s hang-ups and Daisy confronted by possible feelings for Esther.

| Published by Boom Entertainment / BOOM! Box

The Girl in the Bay #2 gets weirder as the younger Kathy navigates, from her perspective, the future. Melting doppelgangers, creepy old guys that killed you, ghosts of rock and roll legends, and flat screen televisions stymie her as the mystery deepens. This is some intriguing stuff from JM DeMatteis, Corin Howell, James Devlin, and Clem Robins.

| Published by Dark Horse / Berger Books

The Green Lantern #5 is more glorious madness from Grant Morrison, Liam Sharp, Steve Oliff, and Tom Orzechowski. Easily one of my favourite things to read every month. This issue dives headlong into Hal’s test of recruitment to the Blackstars, a trial of having to survive a gauntlet across the vampire planet, Vorr. Though definitely part of a larger narrative, I’m still impressed by how this series is being constructed through largely satisfying, mostly self-contained stories. And, of course, the astounding artwork from Sharp and Oliff. There’s also some wonderful vampire Easter eggs in this one.

| Published by DC Comics

Immortal Hulk #14 is one hell of an issue, burying Thunderbolt Ross (again) and giving us the reunion of Bruce and Betty. All with glorious guest art from Kyle Hotz, delivering some of his best artwork pretty much ever. Dark, moody, and evocative. This is a big one, once again underlining how sick, twisted, and downright evil General Fortean and the forces hunting Bruce really are, even if they’re supposedly the “good guys”.

| Published by Marvel

Justice League #19 begins the “The Sixth Dimension” arc from Scott Snyder, Jorge Jimenez, Alejandro Sanchez, and Tom Napolitano, as the League tries to get help from Mr. Mxyzptlk in regards to the broader problems with the Source Wall, Perpetua, and the nefarious plans of the Legion of Doom. Interesting bits of humour in this issue, especially since the end moments give us a rather dark turn.

| Published by DC Comics

Killmonger #5 concludes what has been an excellent series reintroducing a movie-influenced Killmonger back into the Marvel universe from Bryan Hill, Juan Ferreyra, and Joe Sabino. This finale shows just how brutal and calculating he can be when exacting revenge.

| Published by Marvel

Morning in America #1 is the debut of a new ‘80s teen horror drama from most of the Kim & Kim team of Magdalene Visaggio, Claudia Aguirre, and Zakk Saam, with Aguirre providing full illustrations on this series not just colours. It’s good, setting up our lead characters nicely and presenting a compelling mystery for the disappearances of the children.

| Published by Oni Press

Oberon #2 launches Bonnie on her quest, first testing her with a labyrinth, while Oberon and his man-servant deal with some complications. I’m loving the artwork from Miloš Slavković, who is proving equally as adept with fantasy as he does with the sci-fi of Lightstep.

| Published by AfterShock

Red Sonja #2 is a bit more traditional in its approach than the first issue subverting some of the conventions of sword and sorcery, but is no less entertaining as Sonja prepares to defend Hyrkania from the Zamoran invaders. Mirko Colak’s art makes it seem like he was born to draw this sort of adventure.

| Published by Dynamite

Ronin Island #1 is an entertaining debut from Greg Pak, Giannis Milonogiannis, Irma Kniivila, and Simon Bowland, featuring an island of survivors who think they’re the only remnants left from the collapse of the Japanese shogunate. Great art from Milonogiannis and Kniivila, along with a very interesting twist as a cliffhanger.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Self/Made #4 makes another turn as Rebecca manages to “fix” Amala’s data files and brings her programming online in the real world. I love what Mathew Groom, Eduardo Ferigato, Marcelo Costa, Mariana Calil, and Troy Peteri are doing with this series. It’s very good sci-fi, populated with some compelling characters, and raising some important questions about self-determination, creation, and the purpose of life.

| Published by Image

The Six Million Dollar Man #1 is a rather light-hearted take on the franchise from Christopher Hastings, David Hahn, Roshan Kurichiyanil, and Ariana Maher (with special thanks to Zack Davisson). Nice bits of humour in the start to this spy thriller.

| Published by Dynamite

Star Wars #62 begins “The Scourging of Shu-Torun” and what I believe is the final arc from Kieron Gillen. This issue is largely a gathering of the team, with Leia laying out the plan for the regular crew and then going on a recruitment drive of many of the faces that we’ve seen throughout Gillen’s run

| Published by Marvel

Star Wars: Age of Republic - Padmé Amidala #1 is another one-shot set during the Clone Wars, from Jody Houser, Cory Smith, Wilton Santos, Walden Wong, Marc Deering, Java Tartaglia, and Travis Lanham. It briefly touches on Padmé’s relationship with Anakin, but largely deals with attempting to secure a partnership with an unaligned world for the Republic. Things naturally don’t go as well as planned.

| Published by Marvel

Star Wars: Vader - Dark Visions #1 begins a mini-series written by Dennis Hallum and illustrated by different artists per issue, essentially giving us standalone stories from different perspectives on Darth Vader. This first one is from Paolo Villanelli and Arif Prianto, lettered by Joe Caramagna, and is told from the perspective of an inhabitant of an unnamed world that’s been ravaged by a kaiju. It’s a different take on Star Wars, but the art is wonderful.

| Published by Marvel

Vampirella vs. Reanimator #3 sees things get significantly worse for the planet as Herbert West enables Mictecacihuatl’s and Vampirella raises her husband to try to stop her. Things don’t exactly go to plan. I’m still loving the black and white art with spot colours from Blacky Shepherd, it really gives the series a unique visual feel.

| Published by Dynamite

Vindication #2 complicates thing a lot more, delving into Chip’s past and revealing that there’s definitely something shady about Turn, though there are hints that whatever problems he’s got himself in it might be due to protecting his criminal brother. MD Marie, Carlos Miko, Dema Jr., Thiago Goncalves, and Troy Peteri are doing a great job of creating a compelling crime story here, showing that pretty much no one in this story is squeaky clean.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

Witchblade #12 closes out this arc, mostly, and sets up a new world as a spell to get them out of their predicament goes awry. Though this story continues to move at a relatively slow pace, Caitlin Kittredge, Roberta Ingranata, Bryan Valenza, and Troy Peteri are still delivering a compelling, engrossing story as they build Alex’s rapport with the Witchblade and throw some unique complication at her.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

Young Justice #3 gives us a touching reunion of Impulse and Superboy, before explaining how Conner got to Gemworld. It still doesn’t explain anything about why these pre-Flashpoint variations (other than a possible hint that Superboy isn’t “our” Superboy, although it’s presented in such a way that it seems more like in-story misdirection), but it’s still entertaining. Brian Michael Bendis, Patrick Gleason, Viktor Bogdanovic, Jonathan Glapion, Alejandro Sanchez, Chris Sotomayor, Hi-Fi, Carlos M. Mangual, and Josh Reed continue to slowly tease out the main plot on Gemworld while giving character-specific flashbacks.

| Published by DC Comics / Wonder Comics

Other Highlights: Cemetery Beach #7, Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor #5, The Dreaming #7, Female Furies #2, From Hell: Master Edition #4, Gasolina #16, GI Joe: A Real American Hero Yearbook 2019, Kill 6 Billion Demons - Volume 3, Meet the Skrulls #1, Night’s Dominion: Season 3 #4, Noble #16, Paper Girls #26, Unnatural #8

Recommended Collections: Avengers - Volume 2: World Tour, Curse Words - Volume 4: Queen Margaret, Detective Comics: 80 Years of Batman, Fantastic Four - Volume 1: Fourever, Justice League Dark - Volume 1: The Last Age of Magic, The Last Siege, Polar - Volume 0: Black Kaiser, Star Wars: Ewoks, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl - Volume 10: Life is too Short, Squirrel Girl, The Wicked + The Divine - Volume 8: Old is the New New, Xerxes

d. emerson eddy has seen the rise and fall of kings.

#This Week in Comics

[maxmayfield]

There and Back Again

I. “And so, for a triangle with sides A, B, and C, the cosine rule can—”

Steve blinks, eyelids suddenly heavy as his attention begins to waver. He’s always liked Ms. Davis; she’s a good teacher and she comes to all the basketball games, but there’s just something about today—something about the last several weeks actually. He’s been finding it hard to focus.

First it was the echoes of shrieks and ghosts of monsters that played constantly at the corners of his imagination. Then it was Nancy’s face swimming through his thoughts, the quick glimpses he caught of her in the hallways feeding his memories, making it difficult to do anything else besides miss her.

Slowly, Steve’s attention drifts past his desk, past the slightly dirty window, to outside, where winter is quickly turning to spring.

Things have changed a lot in the last months. Steve likes to think he’s kept up well with those changes; grown into someone bigger and better than who he used to be. But, never far behind those thoughts are the nagging ones that suggest maybe he’s grown a little too much, a little too big. For Hawkins, at least.

II. Steve grits his teeth, annoyed at his stupidly big mouth and his even stupider big heart for getting him into this situation. Jonathan Byers is there, in his car, in the passenger seat, tenser than a ready-to-spring mousetrap as he stares pointedly out the window.

Steve wants to slam on the breaks, reach across the gap between them, and punch him in his stupid face. But he resists, swallowing the urge to fight that still springs up so easily in his chest.

Instead, he grips the steering wheel a little too tightly and makes pained small talk, like years of his parents’ social gatherings has taught him. “Work was good?”

Jonathan shrugs slightly, apparently surprised at the friendly question—as if Steve pulling up behind him on the sidewalk and offering him a ride home in the pouring rain wasn’t already friendly enough. His answer, “I guess,” is tentative.

“No car today?” Steve continues, shoulders still tense as he tries to focus on driving through the rain, on the limited visibility in front of him—on anything really, other than the thought of Jonathan and Nancy together.

“It’s in the shop.”

“Cool.”

Silence falls again and Steve tries, really tries, to understand where he fits into this mess. Because Nancy’s been friendly; she’s trying hard, but Jonathan can barely look at him and Steve’s not sure if it’s because he’s embarrassed or because he feels bad. Steve’s not sure if he fits at all.

He breathes out steadily, pulling himself away from those thoughts and returning to this hellishly awkward car ride.

“Music?” Steve asks, the word coming out more like a command than a question and he’s almost glad when Jonathan nods enthusiastically and hits play on the cassette ring.

The choral notes of Starman filter through the speakers, crackling at first because Steve’s played the tape so many times it’ll have to be replaced soon. He feels a hint of smug satisfaction at the shocked look that crosses Jonathan’s face.

“You like Bowie?”

“I’m not deaf, Byers. Of course I like Bowie.”

That’s it. Silence for the remainder of the ride, save for the melancholy electricity of Bowie.

Steve pulls up in the Byers’s drive, expecting, for a moment, some monster to be lurking in the shadows. But Jonathan gets out of the car and quiet goodbyes are exchanged.

Steve turns his windshield wipers up a notch and drives home, suddenly very tired.

III. He decides to leave Hawkins on a Monday.

His going away party is the following Saturday. Although, it’s not much of a party. Claudia Henderson makes his favourite dinner, which he eats enthusiastically despite having just come from lunch with his parents.

The kids are all there, except Max. Steve doesn’t ask why. He already knows. They all ask him questions: where will he go, what will he do, and will he make friends. This last question comes from El and Steve grins at her, messing up her hair.

Goodbyes are quick, but not painless. Steve hugs each of the kids in turn, wondering how tall they’ll be when he next sees them; wondering if they’ll be safe; not just from horrible monsters, but from all the stuff that goes along with high school.

Just as he’s ducking into his car, Dustin slips away from the fray and slides a walkie-talkie into his hand. Their eyes meet and Steve smiles gently. Both know that the walkie won’t be in a functional range for long, but they leave that fact unspoken.

Steve swings by the arcade on his way out of town and, as expected, sees Max busy at her usual game. She’s scowling and her fingers press down on the buttons with more force than necessary. He sneaks up behind her, as stealthily as he can.

“Bet I can beat your score.”

Max doesn’t break eye contact with the game. Steve can tell it’s not because she’s mad at him; she just doesn’t want him to see the tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “I thought you were leaving.”

“I wanted to say goodb—”

And then she’s hugging him, her arms tight around his torso, her face pressed into his shirt. Steve sighs and hugs her back, mentally berating himself. He knows Max hates goodbyes.

“I’ll see you later, Zoomer, I promise.”

IV. Three days on the road and Steve feels like he’s going in circles. He hasn’t decided where to go and more than once he’s driven right back to the town limits of Hawkins before turning around and setting out again.

Leaving is hard.

At night he sleeps in his car, curled up in the backseat with his old letter jacket strewn across his chest. It’s not ideal, but when he wakes up, stiff and a little worse for the wear, he finally doesn’t feel like the weight of the world is on his shoulders.

V. Steve closes his eyes in delight, savouring the way the flavours melt together in his mouth. Ham and two types of bacon? Heaven. Maybe it’s because he hasn’t really eaten much in the last few days or maybe this really is the best sandwich he’s ever tasted. Either way, he’s downed it in practically three bites and quickly gets to work on the side of fries, doused in ketchup.

His waitress comes over to his table, her dark hair pulled back into a sleek ponytail. She fixes him with a smart grin, fire in her eyes as she takes in his near-empty plate. “I’d ask if you’re enjoying everything, but it looks pretty obvious that you are.”

Steve quirks an eyebrow in her direction, trying to think of something smart to say, but he’s rusty in that department too. And before his brain can supply a single word, she’s holding out her hand.

“I’m Robin.”

“Steve.”

He likes meeting new people now; people who don’t know his name or where he’s from or who he used to be. He likes thinking that he can be absolutely anyone he wants to be.

VI. Three months out of Hawkins and things have changed. New job. New apartment. New girlfriend. Life for Steve Harrington is pretty damn good.

On Saturdays, Steve hits up the local comic book shop. It’s bigger than the one in Hawkins; the one Dustin dragged him to on countless weekends that he’s begun to miss.

What started as a short trip to pick something up for the kids has become a weekly ritual. Now, aside from browsing for rare finds he can mail back to Hawkins for his little shits (who Robin has affectionately, after several phone calls, come to term his “fan club”), Steve is looking for the newest issue of Detective Comics for himself.

Saturdays also mean phone calls with Max. Mostly, she fills him in on the local gossip (on Mrs. Gillespie’s newest hairstyle or the ridiculous drama about petunias between Mrs. Harris and Mr. Delco). She reassures him that she’s fine, that things with Lucas are great and that she’s been spending a lot of time at the Hoppers’ place (and, more gossip, Hop and Joyce are totally flirting all the time). She asks when he’s coming home and he tells her soon.

Sometimes he feels guilty, because Steve thinks that maybe he’s found a new home.

VII. It’s a pepperoni pizza, pyjamas, and B-movie kind of night when the phone call comes. Steve and Robin are snuggled up on his couch—the one they found at the side of the road and spent three days refinishing together—and the shrill ringing of the telephone interrupts their running commentary on the low-quality flick.

Stretching out, nearly dropping his pizza, Steve grabs the receiver, his hello cut off by a flurry of words he can just barely follow, but he holds on to every single syllable.

“Steve?”

Robin is watching him from her spot on the sofa, her dark eyes intent on his face, worry creasing the corners of her lips. Steve meets her eye briefly and tries to smile, but his face can’t quite manage it with the worried voice in his ear.

“I’ll be there soon, Nance.”

The call ended, Steve stands, tossing aside his half-eaten slice and grabbing his jacket from where it hangs over the back of the sofa. Robin is on her feet as well, her face begging for clarification.

“I have to go,” Steve says, unsure how to explain the urgency to her.

Whatever questions he had been expecting from her never arrive. Instead, Robin licks her lips and nods curtly. “Okay. I’m coming with you.”

“It’s—” Steve stops himself. There’s no time. “I’ll explain on the way.”

VIII. “So wait, they were dogs?” Robin eyes him as they speed along the interstate back towards Hawkins, Steve hoping against hope that he won’t get pulled over. “Or demigagons?”

“Demogorgons,” Steve corrects her pronunciation, “And they were neither. Dustin called them Demodogs, but whatever they were, they had a lot of teeth.”

He’s waiting for her to laugh. To roll her eyes, tell him to stop the car and to quit screwing around. But she settles further into her seat, the gun they’d picked up from her place resting in the bag at her feet.

“I believe in aliens,” Robin says, as though she can read his mind, “What’s an interdimensional monster or two?”

“Two hundred,” Steve says quietly, the smile fading from his lips. He presses his foot down on the gas just a little bit harder, suddenly remembering the looks on the kids’ faces last year when they went down into those tunnels.

He should be there.

IX. Nancy is the first to notice the headlights pull up outside Hop’s cabin. Everyone else is distracted with planning and the bickering that goes along with it. She moves silently to the door and unlatches it, standing in the frame with her arms around herself as Steve gets out of the car, tall and imposing as ever. Just behind him is a girl Nancy doesn’t recognize, but she’s holding a gun and that’s good enough for her.

“Steve—” Nancy begins to greet him, but she’s overwhelmed, her voice catching in her throat. Mike and El have been missing for hours now and each passing moment weighs her down even more. Steve’s arms are around her, squeezing her in a way that feels safe and familiar. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Nancy notes how much she’s missed him.

“We’ll find them Nancy.”

That much, he can promise.

For @stevemossington because screw you Lara what have you done getting me obsessed with Steve all over again. 

#val writes #stranger things fic #my mess #steve harrington #i'm still rusty but idc #not sure how to feel about this but i needed it out of my head #sequel? #maybe?

[siorca]

hey gang, coming on in here to drop off my weird little megasound fic ive been working on for the past week now and felt compelled to complete. takes place in a g1 au (i guess) where the war doesnt fully get back up into the swing of things after they wake up on earth and the autobots are bored and nosy. also warning for a bit of sticky talk at the end but it’s pretty tame.

Megatron and Soundwave treated their relationship with as much discretion as they were allotted. They did not bother to cover it with secrets, but it was important to both of them to, at the very least, keep a high veneer of respectability. It would not do for the Decepticons to dissolve into catcalls whenever they were seen together, after all.

On Cybertron, during the height of the war, it had been easier to stay down low. The troops had been spread thin during that time, and any remaining under their command were far too busy to bother with what their commanders were up to. As time moved on, and the war grew more volatile, it became increasingly harder for them to find time for even a good night kiss.

Earth, however, presented them with an, admittedly, much sought after lull. Fewer large battles left them with only small skirmishes to deal with, ones which were becoming less and less frequent the longer they stayed on the planet.They found themselves coming together much more frequently - much more easily - than before, something that came as a relief to both of them. They rarely indulged in some of the more flirty aspects of their relationship - Megatron would grouse that they were much too old for such foolishness. Soundwave, older and far more enthusiastic, would beg to differ -but it was the companionship that was always the most fulfilling aspect of their relationship and it was a relief to have that back again.

Yet still, in the midst of a calm that Megatron had not felt in millenia, he was restless. He could feel a prickling under his plating; one that had very little to do with the organic mud that tended to get stuck between his seams. It was an instinctive sort of thing, built from habit. He did not like not knowing what the enemy was up to. He told as much to Soundwave.

“You never did well with these sorts of stalemates, my love,” said Soundwave, a touch of bemusement in his tone. It’s a soft sort of teasing, one that Megatron could do nothing but grumble about. His casualness was enough to bristle, but there was a cleverness to Soundwave’s optics; the only indicator that his words did not go unheeded.

They were refueling together in their shared living quarters. The domesticity of it was not lost on Megatron. Here, it was almost believable that they were back on Cybertron and all they had to worry about were simple and inconsequential. A cozy warm feeling curled within the pit of his tanks. He was tempted to forget his misgivings, but Megatron was nothing if not pragmatic. In war, when the enemy was quiet, there was need to worry, a fact that he had become aware of many times in his long career.

Soundwave, more than anyone, understood. It was this understanding that was calming, a balm to Megatron’s frazzled nerves. “Do not fret so much. I have reconnaissance out already.”

“Ah, I should have known better.” A good reminder of why Soundwave was not only his top spy, but also why he loved him so dearly. Megatron grinned coyly behind his cube.

“Of course. Do not doubt me.”

—

Laserbeak’s return was met with little fanfare; a quick check-in with Soundwave, before she made a beeline for the washracks. It was a little known secret that she loved to preen and being away on missions always slighted her, even if she never voiced her protests. A quick mention that she had procured some interesting files that he should take a look at and she was gone.

Protocol did not require them to converse; whatever information was crucial to pass along would be found in her report. If anything, their exchanges were more for Soundwave’s benefit: a small way to reassure himself that she was ok before she disappeared into the base.

For his part, Megatron was elusive. A quick sweep of the command center and the common areas left him with nothing. Soundwave was not concerned, although he did let loose an irritated huff. There weren’t many areas he often haunted. Megatron was nothing if not a creature of habit and it didn’t take long to track him down in their living quarters.

He paused in the doorway, disbelief converging into wry amusement. Earth had slackened Megatron’s resolve enough for him to idle within his quarters, datapad clutched in a slackened grip, while he looked to be half asleep. Soundwave privately thought it was quite cute.

The sound of the door snapping shut only served to applify the clinking of Soundwave’s mask retracting. Megatron jostled, straightening on the berth in an immediate display of attention. He relaxed almost immediately upon realizing it was Soundwave, who met him with a look of bemusement.

“Your comm is off,” Soundwave said, as way of greeting. His optic ridge was cocked in an exaggerated manner, twisting his face into intentional comical proportions. There was no respite in his voice, just clear amusement.

“Oh is it?” Megatron’s words were casual, with only the barest hint of alarm. He fiddled with the side of his helm until Soundwave could hear the barest hum of a frequency. He paused as he reviewed his recent pings. “Sorry about that.” He made a poor attempt to cover his sheepishness as he met Soundwave’s optics.

Soundwave shook his head dismissively, a smile tugging at his lips. He turned his attention to the datapad in his hand, if only to steer his thoughts back to more important matters.  He held it out in front of him for emphasis. “Laserbeak has returned with her report.”

He made a subtle turn back toward the door. Both of them knew that it would be preferable to have their exchange in a more appropriate setting; either Megatron’s office or the bridge, as normal protocol stated. Today, however, seemed to want to deviant from the norm, for Megatron waved him over airily, still lounging upon the berth like some sort of would be king.

“Well, bring it over here.”

Soundwave stifled a sigh. He silently mourned the waning professionalism in high command. It was only his deep love for Megatron that kept him continuing toward the berth, but it wasn’t enough to hide his mumbled, “I do so hate when you get like this.”

Megatron, at least, looked thoroughly scandalized at the reprimand, straightening on the berth to a more presentable position, sitting at the edge of the berth with his back ramrod straight. Soundwave snickered lightly. Megatron growled lowly in faux threat, reaching for the datapad with urgency.

“Together.” Soundwave sat next to Megatron, in a close, familiar position, sides pressed tightly together. He shivered; Megatron’s plating was always cold, a layover from his days as a miner. It warmed quickly as it ate up the heat from Soundwave’s own unnaturally warm frame. Together, they held an ambience that was comfortable and uniquely theirs. Megatron wrapped an arm around Soundwave, pulling him closer to his plating, and Soundwave gladly leaned into him, flopping into his lap like a large cat. He raised an eye ridge at the display, but otherwise made no comment.

Soundwave balanced the pad between their laps. The screen flickered to life soon after, a slew of files neatly ordered on screen. Largest, by far, was Laserbeak’s full report, carefully organized and detailed in her usual precise way. The files below it were tantalizing, as well, clear copies of whatever confidential information she was able to procure. Soundwave ignored them for now.

Her report consisted mainly of mundane scenarios. In the absence of proper battle, the Autobots had instead decided to invest into things like recreational activities, focusing on strengthening their bonds with their human allies. The Autobots did not look to be gearing up for a proper war anytime soon. He had suspected as much. Yet Soundwave would loath to come to a definitive conclusion before truly finishing, lest he let Laserbeak’s hard work go to waste. He read on, half a processor bored, leaning more into Megatron’s bulk as it went on. It wasn’t until the end that a lone addendum caught his attention. He stiffened, meeting Megatron’s optics with confused surprise.

The Autobots knew about their relationship and kept extensive records on it.

It was not the fact that they knew that was shocking - Soundwave would seriously question the legitimacy of their spies if they had not figured it out by now - but the sheer volume of information, as if they were specifically keeping tabs on their romantic entanglements for a purpose that Soundwave had yet to figure out. The information held no tactical value in his eyes. Even to use their relationship as a ploy in a hostage situation was a moot point; Megatron would be desperate to have him back regardless.

Megatron make a quizzical noise in the back of his throat. It bordered into something distressed until he rebooted his vocalizer. “Perhaps those files that Laserbeak stole will shed some light on this.”

Soundwave nodded, already fiddling with the datapad before Megatron finished his sentence. An eagerness had overcome him, presented with such a puzzle as he was. He opened the first file, optics skittering over the words with a rapid hunger. Information, he knew, could be wielded like a weapon, but how sharp that weapon struck depended on its owner’s might.

Luckily, Soundwave was adept at rhetoric, and reading only proved that said weapon was dull and lifeless and much more suitable to be used as a toy. How fitting.

He laughed, causing Megatron to give him an odd look. His brow was still furrowed as he digested this new development. A gifted orator he may have been, but Soundwave was designed to get inside a person’s mind in the quickest way possible. And the way the Autobots wrote about them was almost innocuous.

“They are fascinated by us.” A part of Soundwave was weirdly amused by the whole situation. It was provocatively invasive and he, who had left his misguided notions about privacy in some early decade of the war, felt titillated.

“What?” said Megatron, confusion melting away into disbelief.

“These are not high level security files, even if they are encrypted. These are more akin to gossip holos, clearly written out of boredom.” Soundwave selected another file, scanning through this one quickly.

Megatron snatched the pad back. In this new light, several things stood out to him. He paused. “I believe you are correct.”

“Naturally.”

Megatron wrinkled his nasal ridge, reading the pad with more intensity than before. He selected another file, giving an offended scoff at the first few lines. “‘It’s hard to believe that a mech like Megatron is selfless enough to love another, let alone someone within his command staff. It explains the blatant favoritism, I guess. Now I get why Starscream is so pissy all the time…’ what’s that supposed to mean?”

Soundwave snorted. “It means your fierce warlord persona is working, my dear.”

Megatron made a face that might have been smug, had the twitching of his face not give him away. Soundwave could read solid amusement, barely masked by a bit of unease, on his surface thoughts. Neither of them had ever given much thought to what others said about their relationship, ancient and comfortable as it was. What was theirs was theirs and it worked for them. Here, it is different; on display in a way that was voyeuristic. He can tell that there is a part of Megatron that is annoyed by this, but neither of them felt like engaging the Autobots in the matter of wartime gossip.

Instead, Soundwave snatched the pad back, rifling through it like an excited youngling, caught up with fascination. “‘To think that either of them could be so different behind closed doors is almost ludicrous to believe, and yet I’ve seen it with my own two optics. They fit together nicely, which is strangely nice to see, almost like a wall is broken the minute they are alone. It’s almost like looking into a parallel universe: Megatron is almost sweet and Soundwave? Soundwave is open and playful and not at all what we’re used to. If they weren’t enemies, I’d be jealous of their connection, and maybe I still am…’” Soundwave paused here. Meeting Megatron’s optics, as if they both came to a new realization. “Well, that’s oddly sweet.”

Megatron made a barely audible humming noise that may have passed for agreement, but was too absent-minded to really tell. He leaned over Soundwave’s shoulder, scrolling through the pad in a slow, thoughtful manner. “These all seem to be separate entries, compiled together, all written by different people.”

“Yes, I noticed that too. They have traces of several Autobot signals.”

Megatron narrowed his optics. “You would think we were the subject of some sort of Autobot romance novel.”

“Indeed. At least they have good taste,” Soundwave teased.

“I’m glad to see you at least find some amusement out of this,” grunted Megatron.

“There are worse things for the Autobots to become enamoured with. Be glad that they have yet to show this level of dedication to anything war related.”

“Hmm.” Megatron scrolled through the other files on hand. There was a substantial amount, pages and pages, all dating back to about the time that they had all awakened on Earth. It was unclear if the Autobots had known before that time, but they had certainly became fascinated by it by then. “I think the Autobots could find better things to do with their down time.”

“Do not begrudge them so much, Megatron. Perhaps they don’t have the luxury in their faction. You have said before that Prime could be a bit of a prude.”

Megatron made a humming noise. “Yes, I am aware. I feel no sympathy for them.”

Soundwave chuckled, leaning back into Megatron until they fell into the bed in an ungainly manner, Soundwave making quick work into contorted Megatron into a make-shift pillow. Megatron rolled with him, a rumbling purr shaking his chassis, passing pleasant shivers through Soundwave’s body. He shifted, draping himself over Megatron, chin propped up on his chest, datapad held in front of him in a way that Megatron could still read it if he dipped his head a certain way, of which he took full advantage of, still scrolling through the entries with a reverent greed.

Soundwave smiled indulgently. “I can tell that there is a part of you that is at least flattered.” It was the egotistical side, the only that got off on rousing speeches and demanded to be referred to as ‘Lord’ by his subjects. A part that he pretended that did not exist because he liked to believe that he was humble. It was endearing.

A barely legible smirk teased Megatron’s lips. “Perhaps.”

Soundwave snickered, freely giving the pad up to Megatron’s devouring hands. It allowed him to snuggle further into Megatron’s frame, of which he indulged in freely, drowning himself more fully into his sturdy frame. He could not resist a brush of lips over Megatron’s plating. He was rewarded with a gentle caress of his head and he smiled contentedly.

A relaxed silence settled between them, broken up by the gentle sound of Megatron’s thumb swiping against the pad. The noise was consistent enough to create a pleasant background noise, lulling Soundwave into a half doze. Megatron’s emotions danced in the back of his processor, as they always did when they were alone together; an open connection that Megatron embraced early on in their relationship. He could sense his amused fascination deeply, creating a pleasant warm feeling throughout his body.

This created a sharp contrast when that leaked into a near sort of offense, a bristle of something that wasn’t quite anger, yet still brushed against Megatron’s mind in an unpleasant manner. It was uncomfortable enough to stir Soundwave from his lounge, glancing up at Megatron’s otherwise stone face. His emotions bled out into the rest of his body, stiffening him in ways that motivated Soundwave to move in a quick manner. He gently moved Megatron’s hand down until he could view what was on the screen and promptly gave a sharp bark of laughter.

“‘Do you think Megatron is a valve mech…?’” Soundwave read aloud. “Now that would be a waste of a perfectly good spike.” He patted Megatron’s shoulder in a placating manner, rolling until he straddled Megatron’s hops.

Megatron scowled deeply at him, throwing the datapad toward the end of the berth. He unconsciously wrapped his arms around Soundwave’s waist. “That is entirely too personal.”

“I agree.” Soundwave lifted himself until he could reach Megatron’s brow, smoothing out the lines of his frown with gentle kisses. Megatron huffed, teetering on the edge of a full-on pout. “Perhaps if they are so curious, they would appreciate a demonstration next time they decide to pay us a visit.”

Megatron balked at first. Soundwave tilted his head with a devilish smirk, which succeeding in turning Megatron more thoughtful. His discomfort was momentarily forgotten, face falling into a predatory grin. “That would require more diligence in the future.”

“Of course,” said Soundwave. “I will get right on that.”

#transformers #maccadam #cass fic

[aion-rsa]

How The Next Batman Sets Up a New Saga for the Dark Knight

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Despite Bruce Wayne’s enduring 80-year run as the Batman, he isn’t the only character who has donned the cape and cowl. Jean-Paul Valley most famously took over as Batman in 1993’s “Knightfall,” while Dick Grayson succeeded his mentor during Grant Morrison’s time writing the character in the 2000s. Young Terry McGinnis was recruited by a retired Bruce in the Batman Beyond animated series. And Damian Wayne, Tim Drake, and Jim Gordon have also had turns as the Dark Knight.

This month’s Future State: The Next Batman miniseries introduces yet another heir to Bruce Wayne’s legacy: Tim Fox, the other son of longtime Batman ally Lucius Fox and the first Black character to wear the Batsuit, a major milestone for the superhero and DC Comics. Written by Oscar-winning screenwriter John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, The Other History of the DC Universe) and drawn by Nick Derington (Batman Universe), The Next Batman #1 makes Tim the protector of the Gotham City of the near future, a police state terrorized by militarized law enforcement and a Bane-worshiping gang of criminals.

Ever since Tim was revealed as the next Caped Crusader, some fans have wondered whether he is the right character for such a pivotal moment in the character’s history. After all, Tim has only appeared a handful of times since his introduction as Lucius’ rebellious son in the comics in 1979. Since then, he’s rarely been in the spotlight…or mentioned at all. In fact, despite being part of one of the most prominent families in the Batman mythos, it’s likely that many fans will be meeting Tim for the very first time here.

Why not Luke Fox or Duke Thomas, two much more high-profile Black characters who have worked with Batman for years and have each headlined their own solo books and stories? Both seem to be in better positions to succeed Bruce.

“Tim was the first choice,” Ridley tells a group of journalists during a roundtable in December, describing “a year of planning” that took the Next Batman from DC’s scrapped 5G relaunch to the more contained Future State event that bridges the gap between the multiverse-altering events of Dark Nights: Death Metal and a new era for DC called Infinite Frontier, which begins in March. “Whether it was 5G, whether it was Future State, there was a real commitment to have Batman be represented as a person of color.”

While Tim’s relative obscurity and skin color are likely to spark important conversations about the Caped Crusader, Ridley says that the goal of The Next Batman itself isn’t to do something radically different with the Dark Knight but to tell stories that feel fundamental to the character while fleshing out the reasons why Tim has returned to Gotham to become a crime-fighter and what that means for his family.

“I think the great thing about The Next Batman is it’s not being opposite Bruce Wayne, or different from Bruce Wayne, or denying Bruce Wayne, it’s embracing all those things that have made Bruce and Batman one of the most enduring characters in literature, and saying, ‘Okay, what’s next for that lineage?’ It’s not different Batman, it’s not anti-Batman, it’s next. And next is building on the past and really making it urgent and durable in the moment and for tomorrow.”

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According to Ridley, one of the reasons Tim was chosen to headline The Next Batman was that much of his story was yet to be explored, providing an excellent blank slate for a new take on Batman.

“To a degree, Batman has had folks out there that he’s personally trained. Folks out there that wanted that. The mantle, the cowl. Folks who needed to step in on occasion. And the thing that’s always a differentiator is why? What is that narrative? What did they want? What drove them to it?

“There are a lot of folks out there, a lot of the characters out there that could have been Batman, but for me I think their motivations were not hyper clear. And I didn’t want to force change to either the detriment of stories that came before, or having to overly modify what was going to come. And Tim just allowed for a really particular narrative which we believe is going to allow for a very particular incarnation of his Batman.”

Despite taking place in a “possible near future” not necessarily tied to the primary DC continuity as it currently is, the first two issues of The Next Batman are reminiscent of classic Batman yarns. In the first issue, Tim must prevent two orphaned brothers from going down a dark path from which they can’t return, while the second story allows Tim to show off his detective skills, all while evading the militarized police force that is hunting him around the city. The stories do feel pretty “fundamental,” down to the colorful palette of blues and yellows used by colorist Tamra Bonvillain that nods to the Dark Knight’s earliest Golden Age appearances. Even the Batsuit of the future remains largely unchanged.

But when it comes to a new character taking on the role of Batman, one of the big questions creators have to ask themselves is what separates the new incumbent from Bruce Wayne? After all, you don’t just want to repeat the same exact story but with a different character.

“For me the biggest difference really is family. I mean, everything about Bruce was driven by the loss of his family. And on the page, never really being able to attach himself to people,” Ridley says. “Tim has his family. And that family is always there. And he, too, is driven by family, but in a very different way. And he’s going to have to reconcile much of that in real time.”

Indeed, Tim’s estrangement from his family heavily informs the book. His attempts to reconnect with them after his long absence from Gotham are met with hostility from Luke, who refers to Tim as the “the Fox family screw up.” And that disconnect extends to his mother Tanya too, who is a major proponent of the heavily-armored police working to keep the Gotham City streets “mask-free” after her daughter Tam lands in the hospital due to a mask-related incident (it’s unclear what exactly happened to her). It’s an interesting dynamic that not only sets Tim’s story apart from Bruce’s but also allows Ridley to flesh out each member of the Fox family beyond their connection to Lucius.

“They’ve been incredibly integrated into the Batman, the Bat universe, certainly with Lucius. The character goes from the page to the screen, they become indelible. And what he represents as a friend, as a partner, as a father figure for Bruce, as a character that the world sees, as a remarkable man who has the capacity to run one of the largest companies in America. That’s pretty remarkable in and of itself, but Luke has risen to a particular level on the page, and he hasn’t gone beyond that yet. Tanya, she never stated what her job was, what her role was. Same with the sisters, and certainly with Tim.”

While one of Ridley’s key goals with The Next Batman is to present a complex, fully fleshed-out Black family at the center of the Batman universe, he also tackles issues of policing in the book. Although Ridley began planning The Next Batman months before George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers and the globe-spanning Black Lives Matter protests that followed, the book could be construed as a direct response to those events. The writer is keenly aware that some readers will feel the book is too “political.”

“Unfortunately for me, just as for pretty much every Black person in America, this moment that we’re going through right now, it’s hyper realized, it’s very raw, and while the wider culture, certainly the prevailing culture, is very aware of it, this isn’t new for us,” Ridley says. “I know going into it, having a young Black man who is going to be an extension of law enforcement, in this world you don’t have the hyper realizing of that. There are going to be people who just recognize, ‘Okay, the storytelling has the capacity to be very politicized.'”

But Ridley points out that many of the things he’s talking about in The Next Batman have long been a part of stories set in Gotham — they’re just not often explored from the perspectives of non-white characters.

“I know what Batman represents just in terms of individuals who want to just have a good read. But I know that Batman is always dealing with crime, dealing with impoverished areas, dealing with street level crime, dealing with systemic crime. It’s always been there. But yes, you make that character Black, you talk about a militarized police force, you talk about policing, and it becomes more political.”

The Next Batman has a lot of ground to cover for a four-issue miniseries, both in terms of fleshing out its characters and this new version of Gotham as well as the bigger themes. Are four issues really enough to re-introduce Tim to readers, tell a multi-character story about the Fox family, and tackle criminal justice in Gotham City? After reading the first two issues, which largely focus on world-building with some character work mixed in, I’m not sure such a short miniseries is really enough space.

Fortunately, The Next Batman is designed to be the start of a Bat saga for Tim, not the beginning, middle, and end. And that story will unfold across several books releasing this year.

“I can say that there has been a long term plan for what’s going to happen. And certainly, in the early phases of the storytelling it’s going to be very much within a hyper-specific Bat universe,” Ridley says, explaining that Tim’s story is designed to be both cohesive with the rest of the Batman books, including the flagship currently written by James Tynion IV, as well as a unique corner of the mythos. Tim’s already been mentioned in Tynion’s run, with an appearance teased for some point in the future.

After the four-part miniseries, Tim Fox will next be seen in Batman: Black and White #3 in a story penned by Ridley and drawn by Olivier Copiel. This short tale will introduce Tim’s own sidekick. “She’s not exactly Robin!” teases the solicitation. The issue is out on Feb. 23.

Where is this story ultimately headed? Will Tim eventually star in his own solo book or event series? Ridley isn’t saying just yet.

“There are other very specific plans that have been created that are going to be implemented [to] make Tim very much his own individual, his own character, and have his own emotional velocity to his storytelling.”

Whatever may be in store for Tim and his family, it’s not lost on Ridley that he now has the keys to one of the most important sandboxes in comics, and that the stories he tells could have long-lasting effects on the Caped Crusader’s world. While Ridley’s journey with the Batman is still in its opening act, he already has some thoughts on what legacy he hopes this story will leave behind.

“The legacy would be to leave a wholly rendered family, and that any of these characters can move on and inhabit other spaces in the DC universe. Whether they’re heroes, whether they’re just prominent characters that can be in legal professions, business, finance. If 15 years from now every one of the characters within the Fox family was a strong, durable, well-known, well understood individual character, that when they showed up they had history, and a history with specific narrative events, to me, that is the legacy that I would love to leave.”

Future State: The Next Batman #1 is out on Jan. 5.

The post How The Next Batman Sets Up a New Saga for the Dark Knight appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND October 11, 2019  - THE KING, GEMINI MAN, PARASITE and More!

Having barely recovered from this past weekend’s double whammy of New York Comic-Con and New York Film Festival, I’m starting to question whether I should continue doing this column… again. It’s a lot of work putting it together each week, and it’s really tough to balance this with my paying writing work.

It certainly doesn’t help matters that I never got around to finishing last week’s column, because I got too busy with other stuff, but this week, I haven’t seen any of the three wide releases for various reasons, so there might not be as much to write about. Since I’ve already reviews Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite for The Beat, I want to talk about another amazing film getting a limited theatrical release.

That movie is David Michôd’s THE KING, which Netflix is giving a limited theatrical release before its streaming debut on the service starting November 1.

Set in the 15th Century, the movie is loosely adapted on Shakespeare’s King Henry IV and Henry V but it’s handled in a lot less stodgy way than other Shakespeare films like Michael Fassbender’s recent turn as Hamlet. Henry IV is played by Michôd regular Ben Mendelson, but Henry V is played by Timothée Chalamet who has zero interest in being king even after his father dies.  But the performance that really grabbed my attention was that of Joel Edgerton (who co-wrote the screenplay with Michôd) who I didn’t even recognize as the younger king’s trusty colleague Falstaff until about an hour into the movie. Robert Pattinson (who appeared in Michôd’s The Rover) plays a smaller but absolutely hilarious role that I won’t reveal, although it’s hard to forget it since it’s such a different character for Pattinson. Much of the film deals with how Henry handles becoming King of England, especially when he’s pushed to go to war with France. I don’t have a lot more to say about this movie is that it surpassed all my expectations, especially in the battle sequence in the last half of the movie which is on par with anything in Gladiator or Braveheart, but then there’s an equally terrific epilogue that really shows Chalamet to be at the top of his game. I also should mention the amazing turns by Sean Harris from Mission: Impossible  - Fallout, Lily Rose-Depp and Thomasin McKenzie as Henry’s sister. 

This is just a great film that I hope people will make an effort to go see in theaters, even though Netflix really isn’t giving it as big a theatrical or awards push as some of their other movies. I know it’s playing at the Landmark 57thStreet in New York,  but that’s the only theater I could find.

That aside, the big movie of the weekend is Ang Lee’s GEMINI MAN (Paramount), starring Will Smith and Will Smith. You may already know the general premise that it involves an older hitman played by Smith being hunted by a younger Smith, or maybe it’s vice versa. I don’t know since I had to miss the New York press screening due to illness, but I’ll probably try to see this when it opens this weekend. I might even give it a look in 3D at 128 FS, as maybe the third time’s the charm in that format.

U.A. Releasing is attempting their second animated release of the year with THE ADDAMS FAMILY, which I’ll be seeing on Wednesday night and reviewing over at The Beat. It has a pretty amazing voice cast, and I’ve been a fan of the comic strips and TV show, enough to hope that the filmmakers behind Sausage Party can do it justice and still be funny with a PG rating.

I’m a little bit dubious of CBS Films’ JEXI, starring Adam Devine, since the studio decided not to screen in advance for critics, and that’s VERY rare for a populist comedy like this one, which basically has Devine falling for his Siri-like smartphone assistant, or maybe it’s vice versa. If I can find the time, I might check this out, but I don’t expect it to do very well with so little advance promotion.

You can read more about these wide releases and how they might fare over at my weekly Box Office Preview at The Beat.

LIMITED RELEASES

I’ve already reviewed Bong Joon-ho’s new film PARASITE (NEON) over at The Beat, but it’s an intriguing enough film that I certainly could talk more about it.  It’s an interesting look at the Korean class system through the interactions between a family living in poverty and the rich family they dupe into letting into their homes. The movie looks incredible and Bong’s cast is top-notch in creating a dark comedy dealing with rather serious issues, and honestly, you should go to see it without knowing too much about it, so that’s all I’ll say.  Interestingly, the movie has already sold out about seven preview screenings on Thursday night and a few more Friday at the IFC Centerwhere Director Bong and a few of his stars will be doing QnAs after the shows.

I had been tracking Michael Goy’s MARY (RLJE Films) for some time, mainly because it has an impressive cast including Gary Oldman and Emily Mortimer, but also it mostly takes place on a haunted boat, and I’m generally a fan of boating. Mary is actually the boat’s name, one that’s spotted by Oldman’s working class captain David who wants to make a better life for his family, something he thinks the boat can help with. Once David and his family are out at seas, they begin to turn on one another and lose their sanity as the boat drifts off-course.

Opening in New York and L.A. on Wednesday is Eric Notarnicola’s Mister America (Magnolia), and if you’re in New York, you can try to get tickets for the Metrograph where Notarnicola will be appearing with stars Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington aka “Neil Hamburger” for three shows tonight! It’s a faux political documentary following Heidecker on his campaign to depose the incumbent San Berarndino D.A. who tried him for selling e-cigs at an EDM festival, killing many. If this is even remotely as weird as the last few films I’ve seen with Heidecker and Turkington, it’s probably best that I haven’t seen this, and probably won’t, although the premise sounds intriguing.

There are some interesting docs this weekend including Fantastic Fungi, directed by time-lapse photographer Louie Schwartzberg (Wings of Life and the 3D IMAX film Mysteries of the Unseen Worlds) and “written” by Mark Monroe, who has been involved with some great docs including this year’sThe Biggest Little Farm. As you can tell from the title, this one explores the ground beneath our feet and how the fungi kingdom offers ways to heal and save our planet. It’s opening at New York’s Village East Cinemason Friday and in other theatersdown the road. Oh yeah, it’s also narrated by Brie Larson.

Also opening at the QuadFriday is Robin McKenna’s documentary  Gift (Matson Films), based on Lewis Hyde’s “The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World,” exploring the relationship between art and the “gift economy.”

Opening at the Cinema Village Friday is Killing Zoe writer Roger Avary’s new movie Lucky Day (Lionsgate), starring Luke Bracey, Nina Dobrev, Crispin Glover and Clifton Collins Jr. It’s about a paranoid safe-cracker and his family who have to face a psychotic hitman out for revenge. I’m guessing that Glover is playing the psycho.

As far as sequels, there’s Along Came the Devil 2 (Gravitas Ventures), the sequel to Jason and Heather DeVan’s Along Came the Devil, which I’m honestly not sure I saw. Laura Slade Wiggins plays Jordan who receives an unsettling voice mail and returns home to her estranged father (Bruce Davison) only to learn that a demonic force has attached itself to the town.

Lastly, there’s Broadway star Michael Damian’s High Strung Free Dance (Atlas Distribution), the sequel to his 2016 movie High Strung, which I’ve never seen. It follows Thomas Doherty’s young choreographer Zander Raines as he gives a break to a talented contemporary dancer (Juliet Doherty) and a pianist (Harry Jarvis) by putting them in his Broadway show “Free Dance,” that becomes more complicated by a love triangle between the three. It also stars Jane Seymour, who was also in the previous film.

LOCAL FESTIVALS

The New York Film Festival is finishing up this Friday with Edward Norton’s new ‘50s detective film MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN, which I quite liked and have also reviewed for The Beat. Also playing is Mati Diop’s Cannes prize-winning Atlantics, which will be on Netflix in November.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Before I get to the regular Netflix releases, I do want to draw special attention to Abe Forythe’s LITTLE MONSTERS, which just received a one-night nationwide screening on Tuesday but will debut on Hulu this Friday. It’s a very witty zombie comedy set in Australia starring Alexander England (Alien: Covenant) as Dave, a slacker musician who develops a crush on his nephew’s beguiling kindergarten teacher Miss Caroline (played indelibly by Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o). When he finds out that the class is being taken on a field trip to a petting zoo, Dave volunteers as a chaperone, only for things to get complicated when they get there and a famed child entertainer called Teddy McGiggle (and played by Josh Gad) starts showing interest in Miss Caroline. Oh, yeah, and I also mentioned zombie, didn’t I? The class arrives at the park just as a zombie outbreak begins so Dave and Miss Caroline have to protect the kids.

I generally liked this movie, which I found quite witty and a much stronger zombie-comedy effort than something like last year’s Anna and the Apocalypse. I loved what Lupita does with her characterization in this and I even kind of liked Josh Gad, although he took his character a little too far at times. Either way, if you have Hulu-- as I now do -- this is a fun watch and you can do worse with your time.

Although Vince Gilligan’s EL CAMINO: A BREAKING BAD MOVIE with Aaron Paul reprising his role of Jesse Pinkman is streaming on Netflix starting Friday, it’s also getting a rather limited run in theaters for those who would prefer to see it that way. I personally haven’t seen it yet, but it’s supposed to be a direct continuation from that amazing final episode of Breaking Bad. A few places where you can see it live with other fans including the IFC Center and Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn. Also on Netflix Friday is the psychological thrillerFracturedfrom Brad Anderson, starring Sam Worthington – I wonder where he’d gotten – and Lily Rabe from American Horror Story. Worthington plays Ray, who is driving across country with his wife and daughter when they stop at a rest area where his daughter falls and breaks her arm. Once he gets her to the hospital, Ray passes out from exhaustion and when he wakes up, his wife and daughter are missing with absolutely no record of them having ever been there. I haven’t had a chance to see this but I’m always interested in what Brad Anderson is up to since I’m such a huge fan of his earlier movies like Session 9 and The Machinist.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

Shirkers director Sandi Tan returns to the Metrograph to screen Leos Carax’s 1999 film Pola Xin 35mm on Saturday night, and the Metrograph continues its “NYC ’81” series this weekend with Andrew Bergman’s So Fine, a series of New York shorts from 1981, Peter Yates’ Eyewitness, Louis Malle’s My Dinner with Andreand more. This Saturday, Welcome To Metrograph: Reduxwill screen Martin Scorsese’s 1974 filmAlice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, starring Ellen Burstyn and Kristopher Kristopherson, which I believe was the inspiration for the TV sitcom “Alice” but I could be wrong. Late Nites at Metrograph  has the greatest movie in the series so far, John Carpenter’s Escape from New York, starring Kurt Russell, which is also a part of “NYC ’81.” Playtime: Family Matineeswill screen Miyazaki’s Oscar-nominated 2004 film Howl’s Moving Castle.

ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE BROOKLYN(NYC)

There’s still a few tickets for tonight’s “Weird Wednesday” movie, Lucio Fulci’s The Devil’s Honey. Thursday night the Alamo is showing Bong Joon-ho’s Snowpiercer from 2014 as his new movie Parasite opens (that one’s almost sold out as of this writing). Sunday afternoon, the Alamo is screening a 35mm print of the 1960’s Korean film The Housemaid, which inspired Parasite. Monday night (and already sold out) is a screening of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligariwith a live score (sorry!). Next week’s “Terror Tuesday” is Ti West’s House of the Devil, a fantastic chiller, and next week’s “Weird Wednesday” is the 1987 British film Born of Fire, presented by my good friend and filmmaker Ted Geoghegan.

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

The Dolemite series continues with a double feature of Dolemite is My Name with the Dolemite movie The Human Tornado (1976), then on Thursday night, the Eddie Murphy double features with Disco Godfather (1979). Wednesday’s horror movie is Robert Wise’s 1963 film The Haunting while Friday’s horror matinee is Hello Mary Lou: Pro Night I I(1987) Tarantino’s Death Proof is the Friday night midnight offering, while Dolemite Is My Namewill screen Saturday night at midnight. (Listen, the Eddie Murphy is not really repertory but it’s a great movie to see with an audience, so take advantage of this chance being given to you by the New Bev, and go see it!!!) This weekend’s “Kiddee Matinee” is Jules Bass’ Mad Monster Party? from 1967 and starring the one and only Boris Karloff. There’s also a Halloween Edition of “Cartoon Club” on Saturday AND Sunday, but they’re both sold out online. Monday afternoon, there’s a matinee of Wes Craven’s Scream (1996)

FILM FORUM (NYC):

I’m pretty excited about the Film Forum’s upcoming “Shitamachi” series starting next week, but in the meantime, the Forum will be screening a 50thanniversary 4k restoration of Yôji Yamada’s Tora-San, Our Loveable Tramp (It’s Tough Being a Man), which is part of a long-running series that I personally have never had a chance to see even though I’ve loved Yamada’s Edo-period samurai films from a few years back. This weekend’s “Film Forum Jr.” is A Boy Named Charlie Brown, and the Film Forum is also screening a 4k restoration of Bob Fosse’s Sweet Charity, both of them also from 1969 and celebrating their 50thanniversaaries.  Bill Forsyth’s Gregory’s Girl will end Thursday while the Yves St. Laurent doc Celebration will continue through next Tuesday. The “Shirley Clarke 100” will continue through the rest of the month but only her 1962 doc Robert Frost: A Lover’s Quarrel with the World screens this weekend on Saturday.

AERO  (LA):

Looks like a planned James Ivory double features for Thursday and Friday have been cancelled, but they’ll be showing the excellent doc Love, Antosha about the late Anton Yelchin in a double feature with Drake Doremus’ Like Crazy. Saturday begins a “Béla Tarr Revisited” series showing films by the popular Hungarian auteur with The Turin Horse (2011) on Saturday night and the new 4k restoration of Sátántángo on Sunday. Just FYI, the latter is 450 minutes or about 7 and a half hours long. There will be an intermission and an extended break but hopefully, you REALLY love Tarr’s work. (I don’t.) Tuesday’s free “Tuesdays with Lorre” screening is The Beast with Five Fingers from 1946.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

“See It Big! Ghost Stories” continues this weekend with Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice on Saturday and Ti West’s The Inkeepers on Sunday, both worthwhile movies to see on the big screen. MOMI is also starting a new series called “No Joke: Absurd Comedy as Political Reality” kicking off with a Weds. night screening of Mister America (see above) and then Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers on Saturday and “An Evening with the Yes Men” (political documentarians) on Sunday. On Sunday afternoon is the “Sesame Street Short Film Festival” screening a bunch of live action and animated shorts commissioned by the popular PBS show.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

Francis Ford Coppola’s restored and remastered Cotton Club Encore, which just premiered at the New York Film Festival a couple weeks back will get a theatrical run at the Quad, as will Serge Gainsbourg’s Je T’Aime Moi Non Plus(1976), starring Jane Birkin as a truck stop waitress who begins a friendship with Joe Dallesandro’s garbage truck driver, making his boyfriend (Hugues Quester) jealous.  

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Not sure what’s going on with the IFC Center’s ongoing weekend rep series but George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road(2015) will screen just before midnight on Friday and Saturday, and then the Coens’ 1998 comedy The Big Lebowski will screen as part of Late Night Favorites: Summer 2019as will Satoshi Kon’s 2006 film Paprika.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

The Egyptian is pretty busy this weekend with “German Currents 2019” i.e. not repertory, but on Saturday, they’ll show a “Retroformat” screening of the 1928 film The Spielerwith live accompaniment.

BAM CINEMATEK(NYC):

This Sunday’s “Beyond the Canon” is a double feature of Claudia Well’s Girlfriends (1978) with John Cassavetes’ Husbands (1970).

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

Oddly, the Roxy is screening the 2015 horror movie Unfriended on Wednesday and then David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me(1992) on Thursday, but really you should go there to see Lulu Wang’s excellent The Farewell – my #1 movie of 2019 so far – if you haven’t seen it yet.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

This Friday’s midnight movie is John Carpenter’s 1978 horror classic Halloween.

And great news... MOMA should be back next week!

Next week, Angelina Jolie returns as Maleficent, Mistress of Evil, but the movie I’m really looking forward to is Zombieland Double Tap.

#WhatToWatchThisWeekend Movies Parasite GeminiMan TheKing AddamsFamily Reviews Jexi

[sadrien]

falling sun

on ao3

hey whats up! this was written for the @meowraculouschatnoirzine​, which you can download now for pay what you can!!!! all profits will go to charity~

back with a classic adrien (or chat in this case) and chloe friendship fic. its been a bit since ive written one of these and honestly? missed it

enjoy~

Chloé decides to spend the night on her balcony. Not the whole night, that’d be ridiculous, she could never sleep with the sounds of the city so loud, but just a few hours. She actually watches the sunset for once, which is nice and pretty and probably emotionally moving or something, and pretends to do a few homework problems. She told herself she’d start being better about that.

After a while, she finds herself staring off to the horizon, the skyline of the city permanently burned into her memory. She blinks in surprise when something on that horizon starts moving.

Chloé squints into the growing darkness as the slightly darker thing starts moving closer. It takes her an almost embarrassingly long time to realize it’s not just a thing, it’s Chat Noir.

Strange for him to be out, he doesn’t usually patrol on Thursdays, and there haven’t been any sounds of akuma.

She calls out to him when he’s close enough that he'll hear her with his freaky cat ears. “Hey! Noir!”

Chat pauses and then leaps a few rooftops closer to her. He hesitates before making the final leap to her balcony. “Can I help you with something?” he asks, crouching on the railing.

Chloé tilts her head. “What are you doing?”

Chat narrows his eyes. “…patrol?”

“You never patrol on Thursdays,” she says with a flip of her hair. “As Ladybug’s biggest fan, I would know.”

Chat rolls his eyes and Chloé pretends not to notice.

“I wanted to,” he says. “There’s no law against taking an extra patrol.”

Ladybug might say otherwise. In the past few weeks, Ladybug has been a lot harsher about the other heroes taking patrols. Chloé assumes it’s because there’s been so many akuma attacks lately, but it’s still annoying. Chloé just purses her lips instead of commenting.

“Besides,” Chat continues. “Who wouldn’t want to see the hero of Paris during the most romantic time of night?”

Chloé raises her eyebrows. “Ladybug is out?”

He sits down on the railing. “Wow. First of all, rude. Second of all, gay.”

She shrugs. “Two things I’m known for.”

Chat snorts. “Fair enough. Would you rather watch this beautiful sunset with Ladybug?” He gestures to the sky behind him.

Chloé stares at the setting sun for a long moment before she shakes her head. “I’m good.”

He blinks in surprise. “Okay, that…was not what I was expecting.”

She smirks. “I live to be unpredictable.”

Chat stretches his arms to the sky. “Why are you out? I never see you out.”

“Maybe I thought I would grace the city with my presence. You aren’t the only loved one around here.” A smile pulls at the corner of her lips. “You and I are more alike than you think.”

“Blond and attention seeking?” Chat jokes.

Chloé mimes shoving him off the railing. “No, famous, sought after, and beautiful.”

“Aww you think I’m pretty?” Chat asks, batting his eyes.

“Duh.” Chloé rolls her eyes. “I only talk to pretty people,” she says sarcastically.

Chat scoffs.

“You’re very pretty,” she says seriously. “I don’t joke about beauty.”

He stares at her for a long moment, with large, unblinking green eyes. She always forgets how captivating his gaze is. “I know you don’t,” he says softly.

For some reason, she has a strong feeling like they’ve done this before.

Chloé swallows and looks away. “You sure you just wanted to take an extra patrol tonight?” They rarely take extra patrols, because it means patrolling alone. Patrolling alone is always dull. There’s nothing to do other than run around and listen to your own thoughts, it’s too late at night for civilians to be out and interested in interacting.

It’s another thing entirely when you want to be alone with your thoughts.

There’s nothing quite like sitting atop Notre Dame and watching the city’s lights twinkle below you as you stew in your own thoughts and let them swallow you and eat you whole. It’s strangely calming and healing.

Not that Chloé would know.

Chat looks out to the skyline. “I was having a bad night,” he murmurs. He rubs his fingers along the edge of his mask where it meets the skin. Chloé wonders if he ever has the strong urge to rip it off like she sometimes does.

Chloé rests her chin in her hand and follows his gaze to the horizon. She’s no good at comforting others. If anything, she’s always the one being comforted. She’s trying to get better but— her immediate plan for helping Chat is not one Ladybug would approve of.

And both her and Chat strive for Ladybug’s approval too much for that.

“Did you know I ran away once?” Chat says suddenly.

Chloé looks up in surprise. “You mean you aren’t running away right now?”

“Ha ha very funny.” Chat tugs on one of his ears. “I was nine. I was mad at my dad. I filled a bag with comic books, my Nintendo DS, and candy, and climbed out of my window using a sheet rope.”

She frowns. She’s heard a similar story before. It must not be that uncommon for kids to run away when they’re mad. “I ‘ran away’ because my parents were getting a divorce,” Chloé says when it doesn’t seem like Chat’s going to continue. “I took my blanket and wrote a really dramatic note that I sealed with wax and left with a rose I stole from one of the vases in the lobby.”

“Of course you did,” Chat mutters.

Chloé sticks her tongue out at him. “I walked to my friend’s house. I was so mad that no one came for me until the next day, and then my parents weren’t even that worried. It turns out my friend’s mom called my dad and told him where I was.” Then Chloé had been mad at Mrs. Agreste, but at least getting away from her parents for a while had helped.

Chat rests his chin on his knees. “I didn’t go to anyone. I sort of just…walked around the city.”

“Sounds like it’d be nice,” Chloé murmurs. “If, you know, you weren’t upset. And also nine.”

Chat snorts. “True. It turned out okay in the end. A really nice woman who owned a bakery gave me a free pastry and called my mom for me. My mom called my dad and yelled at him.”

Chloé raises her eyebrows. “Wow.”

He hums. “She was away on a business trip. I just remember…” He shakes his head. “It just all seems kind of pointless sometimes, doesn’t it?”

Chloé starts at the sudden subject change. Or maybe not so sudden. It’s not like she knows anything about Chat’s life. They don’t exactly talk, even while she’s transformed. This, the whole heart to heart gushy emotions thing, is very new. “What seems pointless?” she asks. “If you start quoting Shakespeare at me, I’m pushing you off my balcony.”

He mulls it over for a moment before saying, “I’m not really sure.”

She sighs and rests her arms on the railing. “Helpful.”

Chat glares at her. “Very comforting.”

“Do I seem like a comforting and caring person to you?” she asks, returning his glare?

Chat’s expression softens. “I think you could be,” he muses. “If you wanted to be.”

Chloé narrows her eyes and looks away.

“Can I get deep?” he asks.

“Does it matter if I say no?”

“Isn’t everyone capable of kindness?” Chat continues, barely having paused to let her slip in her snarky response. Which Chloé had been expecting. She knows him too well at this point to expect anything less. “Don’t all human beings have the ability to be good?”

Chloé resists the urge to scoff. Chat is working through something, right now is not the time to be bitter and cynical. Or at least, it shouldn’t be. Despite her best efforts, “My father works in politics” slips out.

“That doesn’t make him a bad person,” Chat counters. “He still cares about you. At least a little bit,” he amends when Chloé makes a face. “He’d tear down half of Paris to keep you safe.”

“Yeah, well, maybe I don’t need him to,” she mutters. “Maybe there are other ways he could show me he cares that would mean more to me.”

Chat’s ears droop. “I know what you mean,” he murmurs softly. “My dad doesn’t get it either.”

Chloé remembers that the women in the bakery called Chat’s mom, who was away and working, and not Chat’s father. Who was still in Paris and should’ve been taking care of his son. She clenches her fist. “Adults never do.”

“And that is the line of thinking that lead to the Bubbler,” Chat says with forced enthusiasm.

Chloé tries not to smile.

Chat swishes his tail. “We should probably be trying to learn from history or something like that.”

She shrugs. “Have people ever done that? I mean, we keep having wars and stuff. Bad things keep happening. History repeats itself and all that garbage.”

“Is it bad that I wish for once we’d just learn?”

Chloé furrows her eyebrows. “Chat Noir are you trying to change all of mankind?” She shifts her weight. “Because I have news for you.”

Chat sighs. “I don’t know. I just wish people were better.”

“Not happening,” she says flatly.

“I think you underestimate people,” Chat says. “I think people are capable of more than you think.” He gives her a once over. “I think you’re capable of more than you think.”

Chloé looks away, cheeks hot. “I think you’re being dramatic.” She bites back the pun on the tip of her tongue.

Chat laughs. It’s a little bitter and hollow. “Have you never met me? I’m always dramatic.”

“You already get to change the world,” she points out. “You’ve got the whole defeating Hawk Moth thing going for you. That’s more than most of us get.”

“Defeating him isn’t the same as changing him,” Chat says. And Chloé thinks they might finally be circling toward what’s actually wrong tonight. “We can lock him up and take away his power, but how do we change how he thinks? How do we get rid of his hunger for power. His willingness to manipulate people to get what he wants?”

Chloé stares at him. “Okay, you weren’t kidding about getting deep.”

“Saving people is important,” Chat continues. “Helping people is important. Stopping Hawk Moth is important. But is it selfish to want to make one person reevaluate their life and life choices?”

“I don’t think so,” Chloé says softly.

His tail swishes slowly as he stares out at the sunset. “I want to do that.”

Chloé casts her eyes to the ground. You already have.

—«·»—

It hasn’t even been five minutes since Chat left her balcony and Chloé is already restless. It’s like there’s something inside her that’s itching to go, to make sure that he’s really okay.

If there’s one thing she’s learned about half of Paris’ Dynamic Duo, it’s that Chat Noir is very good at acting if he wants to be.

Chloé paces for a few more minutes on her balcony before she tosses her homework into her bag — she got half the problems done and that has to count for something — and transforms. She’s never going to sleep if she doesn’t.

It doesn’t take her too long to find him. She’s noticed that they all have their spots; private little places they each like to go when they have something on their minds. Hers in particular is a nice little alcove that overlooks a garden that’s currently in bloom.

Chat’s is near the top of the Eiffel Tower.

She hovers by him for a moment until he shifts to the side, giving her space to sit down next to him.

“What’s up QB?” he asks, not moving his eyes from the building he’s staring at. Probably not staring at. Probably looking past into nothing.

Bee rolls her eyes. “Are you sure you aren’t American?”

He turns to her with twinkling eyes— a good sign. “Pawsitive.”

She groans. “I walked right into that.”

“You really did,” Chat says with a laugh. “But you didn’t answer my question.”

“I was bored,” Bee says with a shrug, pulling a knee up to her chest. “I saw you were out. I decided to join you. What about you? What’s up?”

Chat leans forward and looks down. She still doesn’t know how he does that without gripping the metal edge. He’s so much more sure of his abilities and limits than she is and she’s more than a little jealous. “Us, apparently.”

Bee snorts.

Chat leans back with a smile. “A little of this, a little of that,” he says, motioning with his hand. “Overall, a little of everything.” “Too much of everything?” she asks coolly, keeping eye contact.

Chat looks away. “I don’t know.” Bee hums. “I don’t know,” he goes on, “it’s just nice up here, isn’t it? Above everything? Kind of like you have nothing you have to worry about.” She watches him as he closes his eyes and breathes deeply.

“You can sit up here and watch the world turn below you. And know that you’re watching out for everyone. And sometimes, that’s all you need.”

#chat noir #chloe bourgeois #ml #ml fanfic #miraculous ladybug #my fics #hello good morning im so exhausted

[airoasis]

My philosophy for a happy life | Sam Berns | TEDxMidAtlantic

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/my-philosophy-for-a-happy-life-sam-berns-tedxmidatlantic/

My philosophy for a happy life | Sam Berns | TEDxMidAtlantic

Translator: Bob Prottas Reviewer: Ariana Bleau Lugo howdy every person. I am Sam, and that i just turned 17. A couple of years ago, before my freshman year in high school, I wanted to play snare drum in the Foxboro excessive tuition Marching Band, and it used to be a dream that I simply had to accomplish. However every snare drum and harness weighed about 40 kilos every, and i’ve a ailment called Progeria. So simply to offer you an concept, I weigh best about 50 pounds. So, logistically, I fairly could not elevate a standard sized snare drum, and considering of this the band director assigned me to play pit percussion during the halftime exhibit. Now pit percussion was fun. It concerned some rather cool auxiliary percussion devices, like the bongos, timpani, and timbales, and cowbell. So it used to be enjoyable, nevertheless it concerned no marching, and that i used to be in order that devastated. Nevertheless, nothing used to be going to discontinue me from taking part in snare drum with the marching band within the halftime exhibit. So my loved ones and i worked with an engineer to design a snare drum harness that would be lighter, and simpler for me to hold. So after continuous work, we made a snare drum apparatus that weighs best about 6 kilos.(Applause) I just want to offer you some extra know-how about Progeria. It impacts most effective about 350 children at present, worldwide. So it’s pretty rare, and the consequences of Progeria comprise: tight epidermis, lack of weight acquire, stunted development, and heart disease. Final year my mom and her crew of scientists published the primary triumphant Progeria cure learn, and in view that of this I used to be interviewed on NPR, and John Hamilton asked me the question: "what’s the essential thing that folks must know about you?" And my reply was with ease that i’ve an awfully joyful lifestyles. (Applause) So although there are a lot of boundaries in my life, with a number of them being created by using Progeria, I don’t want persons to consider bad for me. I don’t feel about these limitations all the time, and i’m ready to beat most of them anyway. So Im here in these days, to share with you my philosophy for a pleased existence. So, for me, there are 3 aspects to this philosophy. So this is a quote from the famous Ferris Bueller. The primary facet to my philosophy is that Im ok with what I eventually cant do when you consider that there may be so much i will do.Now men and women oftentimes inquire from me questions like, "Isnt it hard residing with Progeria?" or "What daily challenges of Progeria do you face?" And id like to say that, despite the fact that i’ve Progeria, most of my time is spent serious about things that have nothing to do with Progeria at all. Now this doesnt imply that I ignore the poor facets of these obstacles. After I cant do something like run an extended distance, or go on an extreme curler coaster, i know what Im lacking out on.But instead, I pick to focus on the movements that i will be able to do via matters that Im captivated with, like scouting, or track, or comic books, or any of my favorite Boston sporting activities groups. Yeah, so — (Laughter) nonetheless, many times I must in finding a different technique to do some thing by way of making adjustments, and i want to put those matters in the "can do" category. Style of like you noticed with the drum prior.So heres a clip with me enjoying Spider-Man with the Foxboro high university Marching Band at halftime a few years ago. (Video) Spider-Man theme music (Applause) thank you. All right, all correct, so — That used to be lovely cool, and so I was capable to achieve my dream of taking part in snare drum with the marching band, as I think i can do for all of my goals.So with a bit of luck, which you can accomplish your desires as well, with this outlook. The subsequent side to my philosophy is that I encompass myself with folks I need to be with, men and women of high high-quality. Im particularly fortunate to have an mighty family, who have continually supported me for the period of my complete lifestyles. And Im also particularly lucky to have a particularly shut group of buddies at college. Now had been type of goofy, various us are band geeks, however we particularly experience every others manufacturer, and we aid each and every other out once we have to. We see each and every different for who we are on the inside. So this is us goofing off just a little bit. So have been juniors in excessive college now, and we will now mentor younger band participants, as a single collective unit. What i love about being in a bunch like the band, is that the track that we make together, is true, is exact, and it supersedes Progeria. So I dont ought to fear about that once Im feeling so just right about making tune.However even having made a documentary, occurring television a few times, I believe like Im at my best point when Im with the people that encompass me everyday. They provide the true constructive influences in my lifestyles, as i am hoping i can provide a optimistic influence in theirs as good. (Applause) thank you. So the bottom line here, is that i’m hoping you recognize and love your household, love your acquaintances, for you guys, love you Bros and acknowledge your mentors, and your group, considering the fact that they are an extraordinarily real side of daily life, they are able to make a real giant, confident affect.The 1/3 aspect to the philosophy is, preserve relocating ahead. Heres a quote via a person you may also be aware of, named Walt Disney, and its one in all my favorite prices. I perpetually attempt to have whatever to look ahead to. Something to try for to make my lifestyles richer. It doesnt need to be big. It could be some thing from looking ahead to the next comic ebook to come out, or going on a gigantic household vacation, or placing out with my friends, to going to the next excessive tuition football sport. Nonetheless, all of these matters preserve me centered, and understand that theres a shiny future ahead, and could get me by way of some problematic instances that I is also having.Now this mentality entails staying in a forward pondering state of mind. I try difficult to not waste vigour feeling badly for myself, considering that when I do, I get caught in a paradox, the place theres no room for any happiness or any other emotion. Now, its now not that I ignore when Im feeling badly, I variety of take delivery of it, I let it in, so that i will be able to renowned it, and do what I need to do to maneuver past it.Once I used to be younger, I desired to be an engineer. I desired to be an inventor, who would catapult the world into a greater future. Might be this got here from my love of Legos, and the freedom of expression that I felt when I used to be constructing with them. And this was once also derived from my family and my mentors, who at all times make me think whole, and good about myself. Now today my ambitions have transformed a bit of bit, id like to go into the field of Biology, probably telephone biology, or genetics, or biochemistry, or fairly some thing. It is a friend of mine, who I appear as much as, Francis Collins, the director of the NIH, and this is us at TEDMED final yr, chatting away. I suppose that it doesn’t matter what I choose to become, I suppose that i can alternate the world.And as Im striving to vary the arena, I will likely be blissful. About 4 years ago, HBO commenced to film a documentary about my loved ones and me called life in step with Sam. That was a horny pleasant experience, nevertheless it was once also 4 years in the past. And like anybody, my views on many things have changed, and optimistically matured, like my abilities profession option. However, some matters have stayed the equal during that point. Like my mentality, and philosophy toward lifestyles. So I want to show you a clip of my more youthful self from the movie, that I believe embodies that philosophy.(Video) i do know extra about it genetically. So its less of an embodiment now. It used to be like this factor that forestalls me from doing all these things, that causes other youngsters to die, that explanations everybody to be careworn, and now its a protein that’s irregular, that weakens the structure of cells. So, and it takes a burden off of me considering that now I dont have to feel about Progeria as an entity. Okay, lovely good, huh? (Applause) thanks. So, as you will find Ive been thinking this fashion for many years. But id never fairly had to practice all of those elements of my philosophy to the scan at one time, unless final January. I used to be pretty ill, I had a chest bloodless, and that i used to be within the medical institution for a couple of days, and that i used to be secluded from the entire elements of my life that I felt made me, me, that sort of gave me my identification.But realizing that I was going to get better, and looking forward to a time that i would consider good again, helped me to maintain relocating ahead. And many times I needed to be courageous, and it wasnt constantly effortless. Repeatedly I faltered, I had bad days, but i spotted that being courageous isnt presupposed to be easy. And for me, I consider its the important thing way to maintain moving forward. So, all in all, I dont waste vigour feeling unhealthy for myself. I encompass myself with humans that I want to be with, and that i preserve relocating forward. So with this philosophy, i am hoping that every one of you, regardless of your boundaries, can have an awfully pleased existence as well. Oh, wait, hang on a 2nd, another piece of advice – (Laughter) under no circumstances miss a party if you can help it. My colleges homecoming dance is day after today night, and that i might be there. Thanks very much. (Applause) .

[batterymonster2021]

My philosophy for a happy life | Sam Berns | TEDxMidAtlantic

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/my-philosophy-for-a-happy-life-sam-berns-tedxmidatlantic/

My philosophy for a happy life | Sam Berns | TEDxMidAtlantic

Translator: Bob Prottas Reviewer: Ariana Bleau Lugo howdy every person. I am Sam, and that i just turned 17. A couple of years ago, before my freshman year in high school, I wanted to play snare drum in the Foxboro excessive tuition Marching Band, and it used to be a dream that I simply had to accomplish. However every snare drum and harness weighed about 40 kilos every, and i’ve a ailment called Progeria. So simply to offer you an concept, I weigh best about 50 pounds. So, logistically, I fairly could not elevate a standard sized snare drum, and considering of this the band director assigned me to play pit percussion during the halftime exhibit. Now pit percussion was fun. It concerned some rather cool auxiliary percussion devices, like the bongos, timpani, and timbales, and cowbell. So it used to be enjoyable, nevertheless it concerned no marching, and that i used to be in order that devastated. Nevertheless, nothing used to be going to discontinue me from taking part in snare drum with the marching band within the halftime exhibit. So my loved ones and i worked with an engineer to design a snare drum harness that would be lighter, and simpler for me to hold. So after continuous work, we made a snare drum apparatus that weighs best about 6 kilos.(Applause) I just want to offer you some extra know-how about Progeria. It impacts most effective about 350 children at present, worldwide. So it’s pretty rare, and the consequences of Progeria comprise: tight epidermis, lack of weight acquire, stunted development, and heart disease. Final year my mom and her crew of scientists published the primary triumphant Progeria cure learn, and in view that of this I used to be interviewed on NPR, and John Hamilton asked me the question: "what’s the essential thing that folks must know about you?" And my reply was with ease that i’ve an awfully joyful lifestyles. (Applause) So although there are a lot of boundaries in my life, with a number of them being created by using Progeria, I don’t want persons to consider bad for me. I don’t feel about these limitations all the time, and i’m ready to beat most of them anyway. So Im here in these days, to share with you my philosophy for a pleased existence. So, for me, there are 3 aspects to this philosophy. So this is a quote from the famous Ferris Bueller. The primary facet to my philosophy is that Im ok with what I eventually cant do when you consider that there may be so much i will do.Now men and women oftentimes inquire from me questions like, "Isnt it hard residing with Progeria?" or "What daily challenges of Progeria do you face?" And id like to say that, despite the fact that i’ve Progeria, most of my time is spent serious about things that have nothing to do with Progeria at all. Now this doesnt imply that I ignore the poor facets of these obstacles. After I cant do something like run an extended distance, or go on an extreme curler coaster, i know what Im lacking out on.But instead, I pick to focus on the movements that i will be able to do via matters that Im captivated with, like scouting, or track, or comic books, or any of my favorite Boston sporting activities groups. Yeah, so — (Laughter) nonetheless, many times I must in finding a different technique to do some thing by way of making adjustments, and i want to put those matters in the "can do" category. Style of like you noticed with the drum prior.So heres a clip with me enjoying Spider-Man with the Foxboro high university Marching Band at halftime a few years ago. (Video) Spider-Man theme music (Applause) thank you. All right, all correct, so — That used to be lovely cool, and so I was capable to achieve my dream of taking part in snare drum with the marching band, as I think i can do for all of my goals.So with a bit of luck, which you can accomplish your desires as well, with this outlook. The subsequent side to my philosophy is that I encompass myself with folks I need to be with, men and women of high high-quality. Im particularly fortunate to have an mighty family, who have continually supported me for the period of my complete lifestyles. And Im also particularly lucky to have a particularly shut group of buddies at college. Now had been type of goofy, various us are band geeks, however we particularly experience every others manufacturer, and we aid each and every other out once we have to. We see each and every different for who we are on the inside. So this is us goofing off just a little bit. So have been juniors in excessive college now, and we will now mentor younger band participants, as a single collective unit. What i love about being in a bunch like the band, is that the track that we make together, is true, is exact, and it supersedes Progeria. So I dont ought to fear about that once Im feeling so just right about making tune.However even having made a documentary, occurring television a few times, I believe like Im at my best point when Im with the people that encompass me everyday. They provide the true constructive influences in my lifestyles, as i am hoping i can provide a optimistic influence in theirs as good. (Applause) thank you. So the bottom line here, is that i’m hoping you recognize and love your household, love your acquaintances, for you guys, love you Bros and acknowledge your mentors, and your group, considering the fact that they are an extraordinarily real side of daily life, they are able to make a real giant, confident affect.The 1/3 aspect to the philosophy is, preserve relocating ahead. Heres a quote via a person you may also be aware of, named Walt Disney, and its one in all my favorite prices. I perpetually attempt to have whatever to look ahead to. Something to try for to make my lifestyles richer. It doesnt need to be big. It could be some thing from looking ahead to the next comic ebook to come out, or going on a gigantic household vacation, or placing out with my friends, to going to the next excessive tuition football sport. Nonetheless, all of these matters preserve me centered, and understand that theres a shiny future ahead, and could get me by way of some problematic instances that I is also having.Now this mentality entails staying in a forward pondering state of mind. I try difficult to not waste vigour feeling badly for myself, considering that when I do, I get caught in a paradox, the place theres no room for any happiness or any other emotion. Now, its now not that I ignore when Im feeling badly, I variety of take delivery of it, I let it in, so that i will be able to renowned it, and do what I need to do to maneuver past it.Once I used to be younger, I desired to be an engineer. I desired to be an inventor, who would catapult the world into a greater future. Might be this got here from my love of Legos, and the freedom of expression that I felt when I used to be constructing with them. And this was once also derived from my family and my mentors, who at all times make me think whole, and good about myself. Now today my ambitions have transformed a bit of bit, id like to go into the field of Biology, probably telephone biology, or genetics, or biochemistry, or fairly some thing. It is a friend of mine, who I appear as much as, Francis Collins, the director of the NIH, and this is us at TEDMED final yr, chatting away. I suppose that it doesn’t matter what I choose to become, I suppose that i can alternate the world.And as Im striving to vary the arena, I will likely be blissful. About 4 years ago, HBO commenced to film a documentary about my loved ones and me called life in step with Sam. That was a horny pleasant experience, nevertheless it was once also 4 years in the past. And like anybody, my views on many things have changed, and optimistically matured, like my abilities profession option. However, some matters have stayed the equal during that point. Like my mentality, and philosophy toward lifestyles. So I want to show you a clip of my more youthful self from the movie, that I believe embodies that philosophy.(Video) i do know extra about it genetically. So its less of an embodiment now. It used to be like this factor that forestalls me from doing all these things, that causes other youngsters to die, that explanations everybody to be careworn, and now its a protein that’s irregular, that weakens the structure of cells. So, and it takes a burden off of me considering that now I dont have to feel about Progeria as an entity. Okay, lovely good, huh? (Applause) thanks. So, as you will find Ive been thinking this fashion for many years. But id never fairly had to practice all of those elements of my philosophy to the scan at one time, unless final January. I used to be pretty ill, I had a chest bloodless, and that i used to be within the medical institution for a couple of days, and that i used to be secluded from the entire elements of my life that I felt made me, me, that sort of gave me my identification.But realizing that I was going to get better, and looking forward to a time that i would consider good again, helped me to maintain relocating ahead. And many times I needed to be courageous, and it wasnt constantly effortless. Repeatedly I faltered, I had bad days, but i spotted that being courageous isnt presupposed to be easy. And for me, I consider its the important thing way to maintain moving forward. So, all in all, I dont waste vigour feeling unhealthy for myself. I encompass myself with humans that I want to be with, and that i preserve relocating forward. So with this philosophy, i am hoping that every one of you, regardless of your boundaries, can have an awfully pleased existence as well. Oh, wait, hang on a 2nd, another piece of advice – (Laughter) under no circumstances miss a party if you can help it. My colleges homecoming dance is day after today night, and that i might be there. Thanks very much. (Applause) .

[guidetoenjoy-blog]

DC Entertainment responds to turmoil over sexual harassment claims

New Post has been published on https://entertainmentguideto.com/must-see/dc-entertainment-responds-to-turmoil-over-sexual-harassment-claims/

DC Entertainment responds to turmoil over sexual harassment claims

In response to a recent outcry from fans and comics creators, DC Entertainment has released a statement addressing allegations of sexual harassment.

Published in Comic Book Resources(although not on DC’s own website or social media pages), the statement promises that DC will expand employee training and review policies regarding workplace discrimination.

DC Entertainment strives to foster a culture of inclusion, fairness and respect. While we cannot comment on specific personnel matters, DC takes allegations of discrimination and harassment very seriously, promptly investigates reports of misconduct and disciplines those who violate our standards and policies.

While the statement speaks in general terms, most people are interpreting it as a response to allegations about Eddie Berganza, a senior editor at DC.

For the past few months, Berganza has been the subject of unconfirmed rumors about a quarantine at the publishers Superman office, wherein DC allegedly avoided hiring women to avoid further sexual harassment incidents with a certain editor. In late April, a number of comics reporters and fans named Berganza as the editor in question, with writer/editor Janelle Asselin saying that she left DC due to the publishers lack of interest in holding him accountable for inappropriate behavior.

Yes, I was one of many who reported Eddie Berganza’s behavior in 2011. I left DC because they promoted him anyway.

Janelle Asselin (@gimpnelly) April 21, 2016

Back in 2012, the comics site Bleeding Cool suggested that Berganza was demoted from executive editor to group editor after a series of sexual harassment claims, specifying one incident that allegedly took place at WonderCon 2012 in front of witnesses. The idea of a Superman office quarantine was brought into the public eye in September 2015, ina blog post from comics writer Alex de Campi. However, what sparked the most recent debate was something seemingly unrelated to Berganza: DCs decision to “eliminate the job of popular Vertigo editor Shelly Bond.

Vertigo is the adult-oriented imprint that launched cult comics likeSandman,Preacher, and Y: The Last Man. Bond had worked there since the 90s and was promoted to CEO in 2013. It was unclear why she was let go when DC announced it was restructuring Vertigo last month, and the comics community wanted answers. Why was she leaving while DC continued to employ a man who, in the words of Alex de Campi, had multiple incidents on his HR file?”

Recently I ended up turning down a Supergirl job partly because I was nervous about working in proximity to Eddie Berganza.

Sophie Campbell (@mooncalfe1) April 21, 2016

I have friends with PTSD from Berganza and people like him. But yes, let’s fire the Shellys of the world.

Janelle Asselin (@gimpnelly) April 21, 2016

As reported by comics blog The Outhousers, this quickly snowballed into a public discussion about sexism and discrimination in comics publishing. One contribution wasa blog postfrom artist Katie Jones, stating, “I was sexually harassed and almost raped by a Senior Art Director from DC Entertainment,” describing an incident at San Diego Comic-Con.

After three weeks of back-and-forth on social media, DC’s only official response is its statement to Comic Book Resources, published on a Friday afternoon. Berganza, who still works at DC Comics, has not answered any requests for comment.

Let me make this unequivocal: Comics has a sexual harassment problem. It needs to stop. Men need to stand with female creators in support.

Jim Zub in Japan (@JimZub) April 25, 2016

As comics fans would be quick to point out, this isnt an isolated case, and it would be inaccurate and unfair to single out DC when similar things have happened at other major publishers.

Last October, the former editor-in-chief of Dark Horse Comics, Scott Allie, issued a public apology for biting and groping a writer during a party at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC). The writer in question, Joe Harris, described the incident to Janelle Asselin at Graphic Policy, but the accusations didnt stop there. Graphic Policys report also cites several anonymous sources at Dark Horse, characterizing Allies behavior as threatening and volatile. One source claimed that he was nicknamed Bitey the Clown due to his habit of biting people while drunk. Several said that they reported his behavior through official channels and were assured that the problem was being investigated.

Brendan H. Wrightan editor who worked at Dark Horse for seven years before leaving last Septembertweeted that Dark Horse “worked to hush up” the incident at SDCC, despite other employees demanding that Allie be fired.

Just like Berganza, Allie was repeatedly promoted after bad behavior, including after last year’s SDCC.

Brendan H. Wright (@BrendanWasright) April 23, 2016

Before Allie’s most recent promotion, the ENTIRE Editorial department begged for his firing and were ignored.

Brendan H. Wright (@BrendanWasright) April 23, 2016

DH’s director of HR stressed to me Allie’s 20+ years at the company and the respect I should therefore show him in this matter.

Brendan H. Wright (@BrendanWasright) April 23, 2016

After Allie apologized for his conduct towards Harris last year, Dark Horse president Mike Richardson gave an extensive statement to The Beat, championing his own open-door policy with employees. While he applauded Asselins desire to expose sexual harassment in the industry, he added that no one here has ever turned a ‘blind eye’ to these behaviors, not in this case, not in any case.

The SDCC incident came to light less than a month after Allie was reassignedfrom editor-in-chief to executive senior editor. Its unclear whether this change was linked with harassment allegations, but Allie still holds an editorial role at Dark Horse and writes the ongoing comic Abe Sapien.

In 2013, Brian Wood (who has worked for DC, Marvel, Image, and Dark Horse, and is particularly well known for his original series DMZ) was accused of sexual harassment at SDCC. Artist Tess Fowler said that he feigned interest in her career before trying to get her to join him in his hotel room. Wood responded with a statement saying he had simply made a pass at Fowler, and that there was never a promise of quid pro quo.” He characterized the incident as a misunderstanding, adding, “I think the larger issues of abuse in the comics industry are genuine and I share everyones concerns.” (After naming Wood, Fowler tweeted, when I have 3 women in my inbox in TEARS as they’re typing over the same guy? Yeah, screw being nice.)

Comics is small so most of these sources don’t even want to be anonymous because it can be traced backed to them

Ware R. DaiDoe (@ArdoOmer) April 25, 2016

Writer G. Willow Wilson (Ms. Marvel) wrote at the time, Nearly every other woman Ive met in the industry seems to have horror stories about creepy run-ins with male colleagues and creators.

Shortly after, former DC editor Heidi MacDonald published an article delving into why comics publishing had such an entrenched problem with sexual harassment. Along with her examination of victim-blaming, sexism, and power imbalances in the industry, one underlying point stands out: Before Fowler mentioned Wood by name, MacDonald wrote, It was pretty easy to figure out who she was talking about.

Examples like Allie and Berganza are in the minority because they weren’t just called out by name; they were called out by multiple people in respected positions in the community. In Allie’s case, he actually made a public apology. Most of the time, these allegations remain anonymous, couched in terms of “blind item” gossip and subtweets. Women in the industry may share private warnings about “known” harassers, but it’s rare for industry employees to come forward and name names.

I haven’t bought a DC title since the news story broke and don’t intend to until @DCComics gets their act together with how they treat women

Black Girl Nerds (@BlackGirlNerds) May 10, 2016

Working in comics is a precarious career. The medium is collaborative, people spend years (if not entire careers) as low-wage freelancers, and most of the steady jobs are at a small handful of companies. Those who have discussed abuse also raise concerns about being ostracized for speaking up. That’s why many female writers and artists have said they rely on word-of-mouth warnings, feeling unable to trust publishers to effectively hold harassers accountable.

Comics watchdogs and reporters, however, have been pursuing the harassment issue for years, and DC Comics most recent statement, though unsatisfying to many, indicates the company is aware its an issue readers are closely watching.

Photo via DC Comics

Read more: http://www.dailydot.com/

[salarta]

For the fun of it, I’m going to post about all the cases I can remember where I stopped buying stuff from a company involved in creative works because of various things they did. Also, my history with them and current state. I could write very long posts on each of these, but my intent is to try to keep it short and straightforward.

Square-Enix

I grew up with Final Fantasy from Squaresoft. It was my lifelong fandom.

Problems arose with Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, and Chrono Trigger DS. All of these games either were ideas for new franchises forced where they didn’t belong, or half-assed projects meant to bilk money out of people. The final straw was 3rd Birthday, one of the most insulting works I’ve ever seen. It bent over backwards to ruin perception of Aya, treated her like a sex object, and the producer and scriptwriter lied profusely about things like how the clothes ripping away mechanic was for “realism.”

Current status: Starting 2010, I’ve refused to buy anything Squeenix until a new game starring Aya Brea would be made that treats Aya right and makes 3rd Birthday noncanon. Squeenix’s philosophy is to hide its mistakes instead of fixing them, so I expect I’ll never buy and engage in anything from Squeenix again.

Ubisoft

I didn’t have much history with Ubisoft. I had been starting to get some interest in Assassin’s Creed after an online pal introduced me to the franchise. I greatly enjoyed AC3.

Then, Ubisoft decided to be dicks to Patrice Desilets. A lot could be said about this, but the cliffnotes is this. Desilets was making 1666 with THQ. Ubisoft bought THQ. When Desilets left/was fired (can’t remember which), the rights to 1666 were to go back to him if it got canceled. So, Ubisoft put the game on “indefinite hold” instead of canceling it - ensuring the rights wouldn’t go back to Desilets while never actually doing anything with it. I stopped buying anything Ubisoft until Desilets got the rights back.

Current status: The rights finally went back to Desilets after a few years. I immediately bought four games: Far Cry 3, Far Cry 4, Far Cry Primal, and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. This year, I bought Far Cry 5, and I currently have Assassin’s Creed Odyssey next to play after I’m done with Soul Calibur VI.

Soul Calibur

I’ve been playing Soul Calibur games since SCII. I’ve enjoyed them a great deal. My favorite character in the franchise is Setsuka.

Soul Calibur V is where I had big complaints. The excuse of a time jump to change the roster conveniently meant most of the female roster “needed” to be changed while most of the male roster got to remain. Including the removal of Sophitia and Taki. To Taki’s exclusion, the director claimed she was “too old” to be a ninja, yet he saw no problem with Mitsurugi, Siegfried, or Raphael returning. I played Lost Swords, but I determined that I wouldn’t play another Soul Calibur entry until Sophitia and Taki were brought back.

Current status: Soul Calibur VI just recently came out, and it brought back Sophitia and Taki, and gave them some of the respect they should’ve gotten during SCV. As such, I own this game. I’m playing it right now. 

Resident Evil

Like most people, I started with Resident Evil 2. I was never a huge fan, but I followed along with main entries up to and including Resident Evil 5.

Then Resident Evil 6 happened. A supposed “anniversary” title, it excluded Jill and Claire completely, while putting Chris and Leon on a pedestal. Other projects began to make it abundantly clear that the current team fanwanks over Chris and Leon while refusing to acknowledge the value of Jill and Claire. I can say so, so much on this, but I’ll refrain for brevity sake. I determined that after RE6, I would only buy something if it starred Jill or Claire, until they got to be the stars of a main numbered entry again.

Current status: Capcom still hasn’t done it, so this rule is still in effect. Notably, I’m skipping the Resident Evil 2 “remake” because it’s become abundantly clear that the team is treating it like a Leon fanwank with Claire included rather than an actual remake.

DC Comics

Of the two “big” superhero entities, DC is the one I grew up with. It was mostly Batman growing up, because that’s what DC was focusing on the most. But I still loved Superman a lot. I never really got to watch any of the cartoons. Never seemed to catch them. It was mostly about films. I came to greatly enjoy Harley Quinn as I got older, to the point where I read her first (in my mind only) solo series.

The first DC “reboot” of the 2010s is where things changed. I had huge problems with how they changed Harley Quinn. The design threw away her entire harlequin theme, and all the fun it meant, to make her basically look like a clown girl Joker knockoff. I dropped everything DC at that point with plan to only engage in stuff that included actual Harley Quinn until she came back.

Current status: In rare cases where I find out actual Harley Quinn is involved in something, I check it out. I watched the Batman and Harley Quinn animated movie (which sucked) in theaters, for example. The only exception I’ve made so far was the Wonder Woman film, to support female-led superhero films. I do see that there’s going to be an animated series with Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. If that’s the start of bringing back actual Harley, I may be returning to DC soon.

Nintendo

I also grew up with Nintendo. They were the main video game provider. There’s not a lot to say in this regard.

Other M was where problems started. I actually bought, played and beat the game, and I can tell you it’s an insulting wreck. But it’s Nintendo’s behavior afterward that turned me against them. They basically blacklisted Metroid and Samus except for cases where they “had” to use her. They treated her and Metroid like a minor franchise, ignoring its anniversary, cause they didn’t want to admit they made a mistake and fix it. And there’s also Federation Force which is a whole other ball of bullshit. Nintendo’s antics there led me to refuse to buy anything Nintendo until they decided to make up for what they were doing to Metroid and Samus and treat them right.

Current status: Nintendo put out a new Metroid game and plan to release Prime 4 too. I wish I could say that’s the end of the story, but it isn’t. I’m pretty pissed still that they threw Alison Rapp under the bus for a bunch of vile assholes, and fueled more harassment in the industry. I don’t know when I’ll get Nintendo stuff again. I’m still not fucking over this.

ArenaNet

I bought and played Guild Wars when it came out. I played and enjoyed it. There isn’t a whole lot to say on this.

If you’ve watched video game news this year, you know Mike O’Brien fired Jessica Price and Peter Fries for bullshit reasons. In doing so, he fueled tons of assholes hellbent on harassing good people and forcing them out of the industry. My reaction is that I’m never touching another ArenaNet thing until Mike O’Brien is out. Because he should be forced out. He doesn’t deserve his position.

Current status: Nothing’s changed, so I’m waiting for Mike O’Brien to be gone. I don’t anticipate this being any kind of burden on me.

Disney/Star Wars/Marvel

Oooookay, this is a big ball of stuff right here. It’s gonna be hard to keep this short.

Obviously I grew up on a lot of Disney stuff, like just about anyone in the United States. Star Wars, I got into during the 90s when the original trilogy was getting released. Marvel, I saw stuff here and there but didn’t truly give a damn until 2009 when I discovered Polaris.

When Disney bought up Star Wars, they shut down Lucasarts very abruptly, with no plans whatsoever to prep the studio’s employees for its end. I found (and still find) that absolutely fucking atrocious. So, I refuse to touch Star Wars video games. I actually don’t have any criteria for engaging in Star Wars content again. Maybe that criteria will come back some day. Maybe I’ll never touch another Star Wars game. This happened in 2013, by the way.

Then Marvel. After the forced retcon on Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver’s parentage, I vowed to never buy or engage in anything from Marvel except content that’s either X-Men related or tied to Polaris, until the twins were Magneto’s kids again. Only exception I made was the Black Panther movie, to support minority-led films.

Now, I’m about to drop everything Disney - including X-Men content, Star Wars, ABC programs and anything else - because of their treatment of Polaris this past year. To treat Polaris like her only value exists in being a supporting character for the stories of men, then throw her into limbo while putting those men on a pedestal, fucking infuriates me. Disney does not deserve money or support, so I won’t give it to them. This will only change for me if Polaris gets a solo, mini or oneshot comic, or leads a team book again.

Current status: No plans to ever play a Star Wars game again. Everything’s on track for me to refuse to touch Disney content after this year, possibly for the rest of my life. Only exception I plan to make is Episode IX, just to wrap up the sequel trilogy I’ve been watching.

In conclusion, I have a lot of companies that I refuse to play, watch, read anything they offer. Sometimes, like with Soul Calibur and Ubisoft, things change for the better and I come back to it. But most of the time, it’s like Squeenix or Disney. A company treats franchises or people like shit, they do nothing to fix their mistakes, I continue to not give them money or support because they don’t deserve it.

A lot of people think this is a huge burden. It’s not. The truth is that in our world, there’s a looooooooooooooot of creative content out there. If I wanted to, I could spend the rest of my life reading all the fanfiction written just today. I’m watching 5 TV shows right now that aren’t tied to Disney, more than I watched during the 2000s. I’ve recently played Far Cry 5, Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise, Soul Calibur VI, and I’ll soon by playing Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.

I don’t need these companies to find entertainment. In some cases, I can even make my own. I can create things that these companies refuse to make. These companies need me more than I need them, because they need money to stay in business, and my money plays a role in that.

That’s my long post.