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averagegtenjoyer · 1 year

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Waddup demons, it's me, goopkira anon

Oughhhhhhh very very VERY specific to this au fearplay.

So. It's a game right. Self aware au. Game world, game rules, files, code, etc etc. GOOD. Also I'm making it canon for this au that Akira REALLY likes the game's music because of course he does. That is important for scenario 1 and 2. Sound-based horror is UNDERRATED.

3 scenarios.

Scenario 1: Takes place in the corrupted Palace. It is very corrupted for two reasons, one being that it isn't supposed to exist in the game by any means, and two that it's actually a fusion of two separate Palaces (being Akira's and the player's, actually it's a whole twist of the plot that it's Akira's Palace at all because there is so much specific overlap between Akira and the player that I will be more than happy to go into). Anyways, in the middle of the thing, right. Spiralling hallway, looks like a set designer for the game took acid, the squad is making their way down into the depths.

The lights dim ever so slightly.

A voice, echoing and large.

" And as you look to the horizon, not a cloud..."

All the Phantom Thieves freeze. The voice is... singing?

"But then stormy weather's caught you cold."

The voice drowns out the heartbeats in their ears as the group clusters together for safety.

"Seems like it crept up out of nowhere all around you..."

The lights have fizzled out just in time to hide the tendrils of pitch black goo creeping along the walls, covering everything but the darkened lights.

"It's not quite what you foretold..."

The squelching of slime is buried under the playful, chipper tone. A pair of blood red hands, each larger than any of the Thieves were tall, encircle the unaware adventurers in the darkness.

" You'll never see it-

The lights come on.

Scenario 2: Shadow Akira is loose in Shibuya after the fusion. The Phantom Thieves had run, but they were now painfully aware that reality was no longer their savior. As the crashing footsteps approach, they could hear... music? Soaring, grand guitar chords that make Player's eyes widen with recognition. But... it was discordant, distorted and combined with a rumbling bass that made the small bits of debris leap into the air with every beat.

" I-Is that... Yaldaboath's battle theme?!?"

Amidst the cacophony, a towering figure rises among the skyscrapers, thunderous, mocking laughter makes the asphalt beneath the Phantom Thieves quake with terror equal to their own.

Scenario 3: Less of a specific moment and more of a concept. Sure, big Akira, but also big everyone else. From Player's perspective. You see, getting snatched into the game made them itty bitty, and now EVERYTHING IS WORSE AND INFINITELY SCARIER. But also the entire squad's reactions to smol Player, including Akira's. Idk I think this has potential to maybe calm them down more as compared to them being normal sized. Like interacting with Futaba, for example, would be less nerve wracking when you're posed alongside her Featherman dolls than if you're having to perceive her as entirely a real, regular person after thinking she in no way shape or form existed in any kind of reality. Also Akechi would be generally gentler with them much faster than in his actual arc because Player was VERY much attached to him during their playthrough and he had NO clue how to process or handle that, but he cannot bring himself to be beefing with someone who's 6 inches tall and looks at him like 🥺. Yusuke's interactions would be interesting too, since he's in the same situation, just having an inverse reaction. He is very nice to them and gentle and lovey and the sole reason why they haven't just completely mentally shattered. I have found the PEAK of comedy in Maruki's reaction to this, that being "how the kentucky fried fuck am I supposed to give this child therapy when they are SO HECKIN SMOL"

AND HOLY DICKWAGON THE PALACE SEGMENTS WOULD BE SO SCARY. For context, in the Palace are shadows of the Phantom Thieves, who look normal at first but then turn into, for lack of a better term, waifu themed dnd mimics. YOU ARE SO SMALL. THE SHADOW THIEVES ARE HUGE AND SCARY AND OUT TO KILL YOU SPECIFICALLY AND THAT IS 5 MILLION TIMES EASIER NOW.

ps should I come off anon? i could def use a mutual

I cant even add anything that would be helpful to this because ill make a completely fool of myself and fall flat on my face please come off anon so i can beat you up (with love)

#asks!#ive read this like four times #persona 5 g/t #goopkira anon tag

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thewritingstar · 4 years

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Holding You Close

Im so excited to show my piece for the Fairy Tail Reverse Big Bang 2020!! It was hosted by @ftguildevents My amazing partner @lissy-doodly drew this piece which inspired my fic!! I had a lot of fun and its cool seeing all of the art and pics being made! Enjoy!!

Pairing: Lucy x Juvia

Juvia had thought it was a good idea at the beginning. Lucy had suggested a movie night after a very long week’s worth of missions. And Juvia was thankful that she did. Although she loved going on quests with Gajeel, sometimes she needed a well deserved break. After getting stuck in a magical void, being burned with steam and even being covered in a slime mages goop, all she wanted to do now was crash on the couch with her girlfriend and hold her close.

Even Lucy herself didn’t have the easiest week either. Erza had dragged her on some long mission that resulted in the celestial mage being sore in every place and a long lecture from spirits about her over use of magic. Not to mention a sparring match with Natsu that left both of their heads spinning and seeing stars.

The moment Juvia’s train had stopped at the station, she wasted no time getting to Lucy’s apartment. The water mage didn’t bother to stop at Fairy Hills and would rather see Lucy sooner than later.

Three fast knocks sounded on the apartment doors and in a flash the door opened to reveal Lucy standing in her fuzzy pink pjs even though it was just approaching dinner time. Juvia had assumed that she had gotten home early that morning and couldn’t be bothered to change into other clothes, and she couldn’t blame her.

“Lucy-sama!” Juvia said as she took the blonde by storm and hugged her dearly, feeling the others arms come around her soundly. She always loved to hug her. It was a feeling of certainty and comfort that made her heart beat a million miles a minute and she wouldn’t give it up for anything.

“Hey babe.” Lucy said and Juvia could sense the smile on her lips. She wasted no time leaning forehead and capturing Juvia’s lips softly.

Juvia’s tense shoulders relaxed and for a moment she felt like she could breath and take it easy. She placed a hand on Lucy’s cheek, deepening the kiss before pulling away and peaking her cheek softly.

“I missed you.” Lucy whispered as she nuzzled her nose against hers.

“Juvia missed you more.”

“Come on, it's cold outside.” Lucy smiled before grabbing her hand and picked up her bag.

The moment they stepped into her house, the smell of homemade pizza filled the air making Juvia’s mouth water. It reminded her of a small village they had traveled to on a mission, where they shared their first date at a small pizzeria. Juvia smiled at the memory of how Lucy had confessed her feelings and she wasted no time pulling her into a long awaited kiss.

Juvia shook her head and pulled away from her thoughts. “Lucy-sama, that smells divine!”

A small blush instantly blossomed to Lucy's face. “Thank you. You can go upstairs and take a shower and by the time you're done, dinner should be ready and then we can start the movie.”

“Sounds good to me.” Juvia said as she gave her girlfriend another peak on the cheek and found her way upstairs.

The water mage came back down stairs, now in her own blue pjs that had a cute little heart on the front. She smelled of freshly scrubbed lavender and vanilla and appreciated Lucy’s assortment of lotions and scrubs.

Lucy was still in the kitchen, oven mitts on and pulling out the small wooden boards that held the pizza.

“How was your mission?” Lucy asked.

“Juvia had a good time, some rough patches but overall, Gajeel and I succeeded.”

Lucy laughed. “Of course you did, you’re a Fairy Tail wizard! At least you came back in one piece. I was certain Aquarius was going to scold me into next year from using up too much magic.” She rubbed the back of her neck as Juvia giggled.

“I’m sure it was fine. You never back down from a fight so they should be used to that.” Juvia said as she looked outside and noticed a few droplets of rain coming down. “Oh, Juvia didn’t know it was going to rain.”

“You know they say there's supposed to be a thunderstorm.” Lucy said as she took out a cutter and sliced the pizzas.

Juvia grabbed some sliced fruit from the fridge. “Oh. Well I’m sure it won’t be too bad.” She looked to see Lucy frowning slightly. A small smile came to her lips as she hugged the blonde from behind. “Hey, it's going to be okay my love. I’m here to protect you.” She kissed just under her ear.

Lucy turned and angled her head to kiss her softly. “I know.” She smiled even though she dreaded thunderstorms. Ever since she was little, the dark clouds above that echoed with a loud bang, had startled her and she hated how she never grew out of her childhood fear.

“Why don’t you choose the movie, love?” Juvia said as she brought the plates over to the couch. “Anything you want.”

“Anything?” Lucy quipped and Juvia narrowed her eyes at her.

“Yes.” She said with uncertainty. It was as if a lightbulb sprang into Lucy’s head as she came over to the couch and put all the food down. A blanket was pulled from the armchair and soon the pair sat on the couch.

They started with a comedy movie as they ate. Giggles and random bursts of laughing filled the apartment as the plates laid empty on the coffee table. The credits rolled and Juvia hid her yawn as Lucy got up to change the disk.

“Another?” Lucy asked even as she selected the next film and Juvia shrugged as the blonde joined her back under the blanket. “Have I ever told you that I love you?” Lucy asked and Juvia met her eyes.

“Many times, yes. And I also love you.” Juvia smiled back but something about the way Lucy was looking at her, put her on edge. “Lucy?” She narrowed her eyes at her but the blonde only kissed the pout on her lips before quickly returning her attention to the screen.

“Such a tease.” Juvia whispered before leaning against her.

The opening scene started to play and Juvia’s eyes widened at the title.

“The killer mage?” She read and stared at Lucy. “A horror movie?” Juvia gasped.

“You said I could pick.” Lucy shrugged.

Usually the water mage never minded what Lucy picked, always enjoying her company, that would usually end up with one pressed against the other and soft kisses.

However, the water mage was not a fan of scary movies. She was known to have a killer stare and maybe she had been a part of Phantom Lord, but other than that, scary movies were a no go. No, Juvia preferred the happy endings and fluffy romance, not the blood and gore.

The past few movie nights, Lucy had been asking for something from the horror genre. Each time the thought of playing it would make Juvia's spine tingle and she would respectively decline. But even Lucy deserved to have her pick.

“Ready?” Lucy asked in a cheerful voice. Juvia only nodded as the play button was pressed and Lucy leaned back before throwing her arm around her shoulders.

Juvia hummed as she watched the movie play. She was a badass wizard who has faced harsh situations many times. She had been turned into a constellation, chained in a battle to the death with a friend and has even felt the chill of death in her system. She could handle a silly little movie. It was all fake anyways. Fake blood and props. The plot could even be considered boring.

At first the movie started with the happy plot. A couple of friends had been at a party on Halloween and decided to take up the dare to visit the so-called “haunted house” that was at the edge of the town. One character ranted about how an evil mage who killed those who didn’t possess magic lived there and another person just rolled their eyes and said they were being weak.

Another boring scene rolled on and Juvia was wondering if this could even be considered horror. But then they got to the house. The music shifted and by the time they walked through the door, a creepy doll was shown and Juvia’s stomach twisted.

Her eyes widened as she watched the main characters walk through the haunted house. The music turned mysterious and dark as the light to the lantern was blown out. A small gasp escaped the water mage's lips and she felt the arm around her pull her closer, a signal to let her know that Lucy was there.

“It’s okay.” She heard Lucy whisper. Juvia nodded before taking a breath and relaxing. Lucy’s fingers danced on her arm in a soothing way as a blanket was pulled on to them. “We can turn it off-”

“NO!” Juvia said quickly. She adjusted the blanket and leaned against Lucy, her head on her shoulder. “Juvia is fine, let’s keep watching.”

A small laugh came from Lucy as she kissed the side of Juvia’s head and put her eyes back to the screen.

How is she not afraid? Juvia thought to herself. This whole time a small smile was on her lips yet Juvia was practically shaking from a dog left out in the rain. She didn’t understand.

The music changed again and Juvia was priding herself for keeping her eyes glued to the movie. A close up of the main character, Rex was his name, came into view. Juvia thought he would be smart, she was rooting for him even though she knew how these things ended, everyone always loses no matter how hard or fast you run and try.

He had lost his friends a few minutes ago and was now climbing the stairs to a different part of the house. He tiptoed slowly, pushing a door open. The camera began moving to examine the empty room. It panned back to Rex who was looking pale as a piece of fresh paper. In a flash the killer jumped out from behind the wall causing a loud scream to erupt from Juvia.

“Look out!” Juvia cried before turning away, she couldn’t even tell if Lucy had screamed. Her voice over shadowed any other noise, even the sound coming from the tv.

She felt a cold chill run through her body as the blanket came to shield her eyes and her lips began to tremble. Instead of another scream, she only heard the slight giggle of Lucy. She didn’t dare to look up, too terrified to continue to watch and buried her head into her girlfriends chest. She felt fingers thread through her hair and more fits of laughter.

“This isn’t a comedy Lucy-sama!” Juvia whined but it was slightly muffled by her face being pressed against her. The laughing did die down and her fists tightened the sheets. “Lucy.” She complained again but the vibration of laughing still rang against Juvia’s head.

The water mage furrowed her eyebrows before pushing up and coming nose to nose with Lucy. The blonde bit her lips as she faced Juvia whose lips were in a pout and cheeks puffed out.

Juvia let out a huff. “Lucy!” Suddenly her face was held between soft hands.

“Im sorry Juv, you’re just so cute I could handle it.” She finally spoke with a bright smile. “We can turn it off, I just liked holding you close.” She gave her a wink.

Juvia sat staring at her still well in her hold. Her pout slightly curled up as she gazed into the celestial mages eyes.

Many people in movies and books talked about seeing stars in others eyes. They would say that constellations would dance around the iris, filling in as the color for the world to see.

“Juvia one day you will see the light and the stars in the sky. Dark clouds won’t be found when love enters your heart.” Juvia’s mother said years ago when she was little.

Over the years Juvia had stored away those sayings, never truly believing the words.

Until now.

The dark blue eyes rivaled the sparkle of green as Lucy's smile continued to be plastered on her lips.

A small laugh came from Juvia as she leaned and tapped her nose against Lucy’s.

“Lucy-sama, has anyone ever told you that your eyes are more enchanting than the galaxy?” She hummed and watched with pure amusement as the green eyes widened and the smile turned to a small effortless gasp.

“N-no.” Spoke the flustered girl and it was now Juvia’s turn to laugh as she placed her lips against hers.

“Well they should.” She whispered. All of a sudden a huge boom of thunder rolled from the sky above.

A high pitch scream left Lucy’s mouth and now it was Juvia’s turn to comfort her.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay.” Juvia hugged her tight.

“This is like a real horror movie.” Lucy whined as another roll of thunder came from above.

Juvia kissed her head and got out of the blanket, ignoring the protest from Lucy. She leaned down and took out the terrible thing people called a movie and popped in another one.

“There.” Juvia smiled. She came back to the blanket and Lucy rested against her as she turned the volume up to help mask the sound of rain and thunder.

The movie began to play and this time it was a story of a princess and prince, one of Juvia’s favorite films. She felt Lucy slightly shake like that of a lost dog in the rain and only tightened her hold and ran slow fingers through her blonde hair.

Even with the movie playing, Lucy was still on edge. Juvia lifted the remote and paused it and turned towards her.

“Juvia used to be afraid of thunder too.” She said. “But Juvia’s mother would tell her that thunder was just the sky’s way of letting out its worry before the rain would come and replenish the earth.” She held out her palm and formed a little water cloud.

“It’s pretty.” Lucy whispered as she stared at the small cloud and how a spark of lighting danced in her palm.

“You’re kinda like Juvia’s lighting. Pretty and bright, always lighting up the room you go in. Thunderous and bold, never backing down from a fight. Not to mention golden and beautiful.” Juvia said and a soft blush came to Lucy’s face.

The sky roared again and this time, Lucy shook less. It didn’t scare her as much as before because she was enchanted by the clouds and the way Juvia spoke. She leaned and kissed her softly.

“Thanks Juvia.”

“Of course my love.” She turned and resumed the movie. Lucy resting her head on her shoulder and becoming more relaxed as the story continued.

By the time the movie ended, Lucy had fallen asleep on top of Juvia, chest rising and falling peacefully as the storm danced above.

Hope you enjoyed!

#ftrbb2020 #fairytail #luvia #juvia x lucy #lucy heartfilia #juvia loxar #thewritingstar

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blueroseblaze · 4 years

Text

Social Distancing

Wordcount: 1697

WARNINGS: none

A little something to tide you guys over during this global crisis

You sat on one side of the couch; cheek pressed into your palm as you sighed annoyedly. The fingers on your other hand drummed against your folded legs. You looked over to the devil hunted on the opposite side of the couch, a full at least 4 feet between you. Nero’s blue eyes met yours and he smiled at you, taking his attention away from the movie you were watching.

It had been a boring week so far. No jobs waiting, no one needed help. Even the demons seemed to be taking a break from terrorizing the locals. Nico stayed home with the van, so you were stranded in your apartment, and even Dante finally decided to actually think for once and stayed home, so you couldn’t even rely on his particular brand on annoying comedy. Leaving you and Nero to entertain yourselves.

You turned your attention back to the movie; you weren’t even paying attention to. Boredom continued to chip away at your soul, until you felt a strange sensation in your scalp. Your hairs was being pulled up gently from your head and then let back down. The sensation repeated and you reached up to inspect the phantom playing with your hair. Your hands gripped the rough yet light material of massive claws.

You looked over to your partner. Nero still sat on his end of the couch, pretending to innocently watch the movie, paying you not even a glance. It was impossible to miss the giant blue luminescent wings that emerged from his back, basking him and you in a faint blue glow. One ethereal clawed hand still gripped his shoulder while the other outstretched towards you, still running the long talons across your scalp.

“What are you doing?” you asked, unable to contain the giggle in your chest.

“Social distancing,” he said simply.

He turned to you, a sweet smile painted across his face as the clawed wing moved to your shoulder, gingerly wrapping the fingers around you and holding you securely. Maybe the next while won’t be so bad after all.

You and Nero stood a decent meter apart as you walked down the empty streets. In your arms was a large basket filled with freshly baked treats. You were both simply too cooped up in your own home and where desperate from just a little bit of human interaction, however you still respected the rules of isolation. You and Nero both washed your hands and you each carried a mask in your pockets just in case.

Footsteps kept echoing on the cobblestone streets as you continued down the block, occasionally stealing a wave towards a lone dog walker. It was peaceful, and the fresh air was a much-welcomed change.

Your journey started at Kyrie’s place. She had been stuck taking care of the kids all alone with little help. You knew she was capable of handling it, but it was still no doubt troublesome. She was thrilled with your gift of sweets and was not afraid to hug you both before ushering the little ones back inside. She offered you something in return, or to come inside but you politely declined. One because you just wanted to be safe and two because you still had a few more deliveries to make.

Next was Nico, who was more than willing to take your other platter of goodies off your hands, but you kept them out of her grasps long enough for you to wish her good health and be on your way.

“Okay,” you said inspecting your inventory, “One more to go.”

The last stretch of your walk brought you to the stone steps of a building. You climbed the stairs, stopping about two steps away from the top. You briefly pondered how you would ring the doorbell, but a long blue spectral claw answered your inquiry. Nero looked to you and smiled as his winged talons returned to his shoulder.

You tapped your foot eagerly as the door slowly opened inward. You nearly dropped everything in your arms as a dark loud force came at you, nearly knocking you on your ass.

“HEY! No visitors you hear?! We got someone immune comp-. Oh, it’s you.”

Griffon perched himself on the stone railing near the door, ruffling his feathers as the falls of a cane reached your ears.

Long slender fingers curled around the door and a head of raven hair could be seen poking out.

“What is it? Is something wrong?” V asked from behind the door.

“Nothing’s wrong V,” Nero said, “We just wanted to pay you a visit.”

“We know we can’t really hang out with you, so we brought you something to lighten things up. You know, since you’re hear all by yourself.”

“HEY!” the bird cried.

The poet opened the door a little further taking a slight step out, balancing on his sliver cane.

“Don’t come any closer,” Nero demanded.

Suddenly the platter was out of your hands and in Nero’s large ethereal claws. He stretched them out and placed the gently in V’s hands. V pulled the foil away from the top and smiled, inhaling the sweet scent of your baking.

“This is,” he began, “Just what I needed.”

It was an essential visit to the store. You had run out of toiletries and a few essential foods, and Nero was itching for more of his energy drinks.

“I told you to ration them,” you scolded as you pulled your cart from the que.

He just scoffed and continued to walk in front of you. The store shelves were mostly empty. The poor staff probably had no time to restock. You had planned to be in and out in no time, just grabbing what you needed and keeping out of people’s way. Eventually you lost Nero but didn’t think much of it.

You parked your cart next to a shelf of shampoo, eyeing the stock for your preferred brand. Behind you, you heard a faint impact in your cart, and you turned to see a box of cereal sitting there that you hadn’t picked up. Looking around, you were completely alone in the aisle.

You cocked an eyebrow incredulously and slowly turned back to what you were doing, but only for a few seconds before you heard another item be placed in your cart. You turned and scowled at the family sized bag of chips slumped over in your cart.

“Hmph,” you said, now diverting your gaze to above you. Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted a familiar faint blue glow peaking out from behind the shelves. You played coy, and slowly turned your back to your cart again, listening carefully for the sound of rustled feathers and stress of the metal cart.

You quickly spun around and reached out, catching the massive clawed hand in both of yours. You yanked on the limb causing it to drop the tub of chocolate brownie ice cream into your cart.

“Nero,” you warned your voice loud enough to carry into the other aisles, “None of this is on the list.”

“Come on,” he whined from behind the shelves,

“We should only grab what we need.”

“I grabbed your favorite.”

You glanced at the tub in the cart and couldn’t deny your instant sugar craving. You relented and released his wing and giving him a defeated sigh.

“Fine,” you said.

The clawed hand of the wing lingered in front of you, gently caressing your cheek before disappearing.

“Thanks, baby,” Nero said as he stepped out from behind the shelf.

“Oh, shut up and help me pay for and carry this stuff.

You had been slaving in the kitchen for about an hour now. You wanted to make a nice meal for you and Nero since you were able to snag some good food at the supermarket before everyone else got to it. Funny how all the canned soup was gone, but all the ingredients to make soup were still on the shelves. Nero had offered to help but you wanted to do it yourself. Even though you loved him to death, being cooped up in your home made you yearn for a little personal time. Currently he left you alone to work on his own projects out in the garage.

As you set the table you heard the faint sound of the garage door opening, followed by familiarly heavy footfalls. Your snowy headed lover turned the corner and smiled at you. He approached you, arms outstretched for a hug and you could see the dirt and grime on his hands, you quickly dodged it, ducking under his arm and spinning around to his backside.

“Oh no you don’t,” you said, “Not until you wash your hands, mister.”

He pouted and attempted to argue but was quickly shot down by the look you were giving him. He dramatically slumped his shoulders and sulked to the kitchen. You stood by patiently waiting for the squeak of the faucet.

Dinner was simple and enjoyable. Quiet above all else. You learned quickly that talking wasn’t necessary between you two. You didn’t need words you just needed each other’s presence. You would giggle as you caught Nero’s eyes while he scarfed down his food. And he would only give that dopey smile in return with sauce still on his chin.

The night went on without much fanfare. Clean up after dinner, a couple movies, showers, and bed. Nero was in bed before you, waiting under the covers. You washed your hands for the final time that night and shut off your bathroom light.

You climbed onto your side of the bed, noting the pillow in between you two. You sneered at it before picking it up and flinging it over your shoulder and regaining your rightful place under Nero’s arm, head on his chest, reveling in his heartbeat.

“You’re not worried about getting sick?” he chuckled.

“Only thing I need to be worried about is being lovesick.” You joked tiredly.

“Dork.” He rolled his eyes, squeezing you closer to his chest and pressing a kiss into your hair.

“Hmm, I love you,” he hummed as he turned off the light, “Virus be damned.”

#dmc #devil may cry #dmc 5 devil may cry 5 #dmc fanfiction #devil may cry fanfiction #nero #dmc nero #nero x reader #dmc nero x reader #reader insert #dmc imagine #devil may cry imagine #my writing #my post

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insomniac-dot-ink · 6 years

Text

Blue Shoes, CH1

Genre: wlw, urban fantasy, supernatural

Words: 3.7k

Summary: A story of a werewolf that is becoming more wolf than girl and a witch with no powers waitressing at a local diner.

How do you save someone from them self when both parties are particularly hard headed and prone to pouts of self-destruction, a study

Tipping:

Ko-Fi ⭐Patreon ⭐ WordPress

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Chapter 1: The Girl at Table 12

warning for mentions of past injury and puking

When I was seven I passed a cat huddling from a thunderstorm under an old brown truck. It was a gnarled brutish thing with wet fur plastered to it’s back and mud caking it’s side. It must have been caught in a small mudslide or maybe crawling through the trenches of Vietnam. One or the other.

It had deep cuts on its forearms, stark indents that stood out against it’s grey fur, I couldn’t tell if they were new or not. Some of its whiskers looked like they were singed off- by fire or bad kids or a world that threw cats to the devil and locked the door.

Under the mud there were obvious mats and tangled fur that weighed heavy on it, making it look beefier than it was.

It’s eyes were angry slits and teeth bared like a barbed-wire fence, at the time I approached the battered cat because that was the sort of girl I was back then. I put my hand out and looked at it’s huddling mud streaked body, I waddled closer to the car and peaked underneath, “The rain will stop soon.” A promise. The cat hissed softly, it’s lips pulled back against sharp yellow teeth and eyes glowing amongst the dimness. I adjusted my little pink raincoat and don’t even cry when I hear another thunderclap far away.

The cat doesn’t budge, I stick my bottom lip out.

“Come on kitty,” I reached out under the truck, maybe I planned to grab it by the scruff like I’d seen mama cat’s do with kittens. Maybe I thought it needed a hug.

It’s hard to remember exactly why I wanted to touch the mangy thing, but the pain was hard to forget. A red hot sticky shock that shot across the center of my hand, a long bloody gash across the back that tore deep into the skin. I screamed and jumped back, reeling from the attack, the cat hissing loudly and arched it’s back as it stayed in place.

That’s the day I got my first rabies shot.

That cat was mangy, wretched, and looked like it had gone through basic training with a wind storm. I remember that cat when she walks through the door that night and a single thought goes through my head: she looks worse.

It was 3am, closer to 4, and I my eyes were unfocused on a TV monitor as an ad for a bowflex machine comes on. Just 29.99, order now.

We had been watching Comedy Central a second ago but Bernie had heard a word bleeped out and reminded us this was a family establishment. I snorted, because it wasn’t like any kids were hunkering down with us right now.

She came in just as the bowflex lady stretched her muscles and smiled into the camera, sparkling. I was in an ad-induced stupor by the counter at the time- still sulking from having lost the rock-paper-scissors tournament 3 hours ago.

It had almost turned into a knife-fight when Bernie had announced one of us could go home early, meaning avoiding the curfew and not being trapped in here until sunrise.

Of course, I would have been here anyway, I needed the extra shift, but it was the principle of the matter. Being forcibly locked into your place of work with customers was probably one of the rings of hell.

The girl who walked in through door probably had seen some of those rings and then some. I could have gotten her in trouble for escaping around past 11, but I wasn’t about to call the sheriff or curfew hotline or whatever it was they set up.

I blink a couple times and go very stiff.

My mouth hung open and one of the few patrons in the joint gasps lowly. It was the heavy-smoking lady who had been murmuring to the busboy about her lousy husband and last divorce and bad hay fever for hours now.

She falls silent, I blink again.

The figure’s clothes are torn from Sunday to Tuesday, long strips of dirt-caked fabric trailing on the ground after them and hanging loosely off the person’s body, like mummy wrappings. Under the clothes is muddy-cracked skin and visible small cuts.

Her posture was loose and weighted, like something immense rested on her shoulders tops and unbalanced her spine.

She sagged at every corner like a tattered doll filled with sand, her face was covered by chin-length dark hair that was also full of dirt clumps and at least 2 twigs and a couple crumpled leaves. Her head hung almost to her chest and I can’t make out her expression.

I squint my eyes at it all, of course this would happen at 3am. It was always something.

“Are you... okay?” I ask cautiously and wait for something,

She was barefoot and limping toward the counter, I stand up straight and summon up the ancient words: ‘sorry ma’am, no shirt, no shoes, no service.’ But the words don’t come and she keeps walking. I catch her eyes for just a moment as she passes, the briefest heart beat as she glances up through her dirty bangs. Her gaze is dark and bloodshot, veins as bright red as hot irons.

Red as harlot’s lipstick, red as a cardinals breast, red as sin and every time I cut my knee in gym class.

“Fine,” she says in one breathless tired word, finally answering my question and then turning away. She didn’t look fine.

She limps toward the very distant corner table and collapses into the booth, I’m remembering that damn feral cat that mauled me.

“Ronnie,” I turn around in tight circles and try to locate the busboy on duty, he’s standing slacked jawed at the other side of the room. I bustle over in his direction. “Where’s Bernie?” I hiss at him, moments like these made me grateful for a manager.

Ronnie just looks at me dumbly and his eyes dart back over to the new customer. “Casey...”

“Excuse me,” I hear a ragged thin voice croak across the small diner, it sounds like it’s been dragged across the ocean floor- full of salt and brine.

The two homeless men and Dolores eye the newcomer. She seems to sway back and forth in place, “Could I have a water?”

I turn my head slowly, the red bloodshot eyes coming for me again. They are hazy and sunken into her head, like shadows of themselves, I flinch.

“Uh,” I clear my throat.

“If you could… please,” the voice says faintly, I hear someone moving before I do.

Ronnie pivots toward the kitchen and quickly brings out a glass of tap water, he always was a better person than me with his small face and large round blue eyes. He flashes me a look that says he’s not going to be covering my tables all night though.

I take a deep breath and turn toward the kitchens, “Bernie,” I call out and make a beeline for the freezer, “Bernie, we have a thing.”

I wander in past the grills where our one chef on duty is filing her nails down to a blunt point, we ignore each other. Sam immersed in trying to rid herself of fingertips and me in trying not to get lectured on etiquette at just that moment. I hear coughing from the back room and make a sharp turn, kicking a box aside as a reach for the door.

I yank the pantry open, “Hey!” I say loudly as an older woman with a pinched look on her face sits up. She has tight steel gray curls and a flat-iron mouth that didn’t lend itself to smiling.

She shifts her generous body toward me, turning on the floor and facing the light. Her curls are flat on one side where she must have been napping on a sack of potatoes.

“It’s my fucking lunch break,” she says waving her hand in the air, “go handle whatever it is on your own.” I set my jaw, “someone just walked in from, I dunno, the set of a disaster movie,” I shift from foot to foot, “she might be tripping or something.” That should get Bernie’s attention, I would bring up the bloodshot eyes in a moment I needed to.

“Casey,” Bernie says slowly, pitchedly, “you can either handle it or handle my foot up your ass. It’s been eight hours since my last break.” The ‘fuck you’ energy was very high in the air and I take a deep resigned breath.

“If I get stabbed tonight I’m suing,” I say with my shoulders hunched and back straight, Bernie chuckles.

“Duck and weave my girl,” she shakes her head, “it’s not like we haven’t had transients in here before.” Bernie was closing her eyes again, I only sigh. “Handle it.”

“Yeah, but most of them don’t have ‘murder scene’ written all over them.” The rabies shot in the ass feels like a phantom pain right then. Bernie rolls over and starts ignoring me.

I reluctantly wander back into the main area and try not to look into the corner, Ronnie is still eyeing me. His chin is jutted out and he doesn’t stop looking very fixedly in my direction.

“What?” I finally ask and Ronnie raises his eyebrows and his eyes dart over to table 12.

“That’s your table.” He says in his pale, quiet voice.

I grind my teeth, “You’re the one that served her!” I murmur lowly to him and he wrinkles his nose. “You want me to tell Louis you’re shirking your tables again?” It was a threat, his huge eyes shrinking into darts. He reminded me of a little brother threatening to tell mom and I straighten my back.

“Whatever,” I turn away and clench my hands, “fine.” It’s not like I hadn’t handled worse, it was Gilford.

I meander my way back over to the war-zone victim and raise my eyebrows.

She lifts her head slowly and I see thin cut marks along her chin and cheeks. I take my place next to her and lift a notepad up and give a smile, “Welcome to Sue’s Diner, can I get you anything?”

I input the usual phrase and watch curiously to see what would come out.

The girl was already done with her first glass of water, I made a mental note to go get another one along with filling up Arthur’s coffee cup on the way over.

She seems to swallow dryly and I wait for a good minute before anything actually happens. Her eyes are dull and distant, like looking off into a dark ocean. I have a strange memory of one of my classmates having this same look on his face when he was trying an experimental drug called ‘Eevee’ for the first time.

She swallows again and her head tilts to the side, “are you Sue?” I make a face, I had gotten that question before. I lean over her instead, “nope,” I put on The Usual Smile, “jus’ the next best thing.” The girl gives me a lost, almost desperate look, her eyes glaze over and I wait another long moment. “Casey.” I glance down at my employee name tag, “that’s me?” It was a question. Somehow her demeanor was making me feel a little lost too, was I Casey? Was I in purgatory? Was a stuck in a diner with a bunch of strangers and someone probably on the worst drug-trip of their life? Possibly.

It was Gilford.

She reaches out and I take a mild step backward, I don’t know what she’s reaching for, but she comes up empty and then slumps over again.

“Uh,” I take another step back, she reeks of fresh earth, blood, and something I might describe as ‘fungus.’ I consider really calling the cops, she was out past curfew and… up to something, but I’m also not in the mood for making a statement to the cops.

She retracts her hand and takes a deep rattling breath, she looks around, “Can I have an omelette with… eggs?” I take it as a good sign she’s still talking, a bad sign that she was about to make Customer of the Month (a little award among the staff to counter ‘Employee of the Month’).

“What type, hun?” I ask slowly while her looks like her head is about to spin, I wait. “We have Denver Omelette, Vegetarian Omelette, Egg-ceptional Omelette, Pennsylvania Delight, and Mexican omelette.” She nodded her head up and down continually as if processing that and I was afraid it might get stuck in that motion. Another long awkward pause descends.

“What was the first one?” She finally asks.

“Denver Omelette.” “And second one?” She was definitely winning Customer of the Month. I smile instead, “Veggie.” She lulls her head back and seems to contemplate the ceiling, this was taking a lot of waiting.

She clears her throat, “What’s your favorite?” “Oh,” I pretend to think, “If you’re looking for eggs, the Egg-ceptional one is the one for you.” The girl looked ten seconds away from passing out, “can I have that… and pancakes. And hot chocolate. And bacon. And another omelette.” I write that all down and I have feeling I was about to experience Dine and Dash or Dine and Die on Me. “How will you be paying today, cash or credit?” I should at least check.

I raise my eyebrows when the girl pulls out a muddy wallet from God knows where, she yanks out a filthy fifty from the front pocket. “Cash.” She puts her down on the table. “And just… call my name when it’s ready.” “And what’s your…?” The girl’s head was on table, “What’s your name hun?”

She had stopped responding, her messy hair was splayed out on the table and forehead pressed down into the wood.

I consider poking her to check her vitals or something, but touching a sleeping Dirt Monster was also a good way to get stabbed (pictured: waitress, listening to bowflex commercials, pictured: waitress making headlines as ‘cute latina girl in a tragic dirt-and-knife-and-poking accident’).

I turn around and go stiffly back to the kitchen, I knock on the walls as I walk in, “We got an order Sam.” Sam Honey sticks her head of the kitchen window, done with her nail business it seemed. “Lovely!” She was always way too cheery for night shifts, I had a few theories on this but none of them held much water. “I was getting so bored back here.”

I hand over the paper, “don’t spit in it or anything. This ones a livewire.” “Never, I would never,” she looks actively appalled at the idea, giving me the Come to Jesus look and then disappearing with the order.

I hear the shuffling of feet and Ronnie makes it to my side again, like a little shadow that was happy to appear and disappear according to the rules of Social Anxiety.

“Did she say anything weird to you?” He asks curiously.

I shrug, “like what? ‘My shower broke and hey, a diner seemed ideal right now.” “She on something,” He frowns, “cocaine?” I give a thin smile, “My money is on acid.” Sam comes out in a few minutes and she bets on really strong weed. I roll my eyes at that and we get a small pool going.

---------------------

I was shifting from foot to foot.

Hrrrrrnk

I wince, a loud snore fills the restaurant.

Hrrrnk

I hold the plates of hot food a little higher. “Okay,” I breath deeply but not through my nose, “alright.”

Hrrrrnk

She sounded a little like she choking on a piece of wet paper while snorting a packet of koolaid (something I had done and was not proud of).

I bump the side of the table with my hip, “hey,” I bump a little harder, “foods here ma’am.”

I don’t get so much as a wiggle from her, I wrinkle my nose, I didn’t plan on touching her at that exact moment. I put one plate of food down and reach for a sugar packet.

“This is for both of our own goods,” I shake the sugar packet, “so like… you should still tip.” I throw the sugar packet directly at her nose, she twitches.

“Hey lady!” I say again and throw a second sugar packet at her. “Come on.” Third sugar packet.

“Ah!” The packet bounces off her chin and the girl startles awake, throwing herself completely backward and her red eyes darting around quickly. Her chest heaved as she look back and forth, “where the hell am I?” I take a deep steady breaths, maybe she was better now. “Foods here.” I deposit the large tray of eggs and pancakes and a hot chocolate in front of her.

She blinks a couple times, seeming to process this. “Thanks.” I just nod, “there you go hun. Take your time.” It was almost 5am by then, one more hour of the curfew and then I could go home.

She just blinks one more time and picks up a fork with her dirty hand, I contemplate pointing out we had a perfectly good bathroom to wash her hands in.

The girl was already shoving food into her mouth, “it’s June.” I pause, the girl was halfway through choking down one of her omelettes, she mumbles, “June.” “Okay?” “For my name,” she says slowly, “when waking me up. You could have called June.” I just nod ever so slightly, “I’ll keep that in mind.” I turn my back on the odd girl and let her continue eating or whatever it is vacuuming up eggs into your mouth is.

I fill up another coffee cup for Arthur and slip back behind the counter, I exhale deeply as I see the back of Bernie’s head, finally come from her lunch break.

“Looks like we have a full staff again.” I say loudly and see Bernie whip around to look at me.

Her mouth is a hard line, harder than usual, “Get rid of that one.” My heart drops into my shoes, my brow folds in, “you told me to handle it.” I feel like a five-year-old stomping her feet at her mom. “I did. Plus, she does have money.” “I can’t expect you lot to take care of anything, can I?” Bernie was keeping a fine curdling glare on her face, “bunch of incompetents!”

I imagine retracting my hands around the older woman’s throat, “I handled it.”

Bernie keeps going, “She’s not wearing shoes!”

Ronnie shifted back and forth, “she’s got money.” Bernie tuts, “no shirt, no shoes, no service, how hard is that? And what if the sheriff comes in, we’ll have to explain letting in curfew-breakers.”

I make a face, “it’s not like we have to tell them.” Bernie was still mumbling to herself, “and what were you betting on with Sam? Cocaine? Whiskey? Weed? I don’t need that nonsense here.” I could have groaned so loudly my soul left my body, “look, she’ll just eat and leave.” I fold my hands over my chest, feeling the need to defend my choices. “It’s not a big deal.” Bernie grumbles at me, “Casey, what did I tell you? Handle it, did you? No.” I push my sunflower-yellow hair away from my face, “seriously?” She folds her arms over her chest, “seriously.”

I growl, “what do you want me to do?” Bernie jabs her fingers toward the table, “get her out, call an ambulance, do something like you should have done before.” I groan loudly and get torn between making money and joining a ‘punched your boss before you starved on the street’ club. It we weren’t all stuck here and if I wasn’t one of the few people who was long-term at this job I might have had a go at her. Instead, all of our sleep-deprived asses mentally flip each other off and go our separate ways.

The girl is still eating.

Bernie pokes my side before she leaves, “now.” I push my hair back in frustration and go little by little back to table 12. It takes all my willpower not to just take my apron off and declare myself jobless.

I creep up to the same table again, she’s eating slowly, taking one huge bite after the next, stripping pieces off and chewing meticulously, like it hurt her. She is just as worn and malaise as before.

I clear my throat and wait for her to look up.

Like before, she takes a clean minute to lift her head. “Hello?” She seemed lost again, I huff tiredly. “We’re closing in a few minutes.” It was a good a lie as any.

The girl, June, looks back in a daze. “I have money.” “I know.” I itch my wrist, “we’re just… closing.”

“Can’t go.” She keeps eating, “I need… this.” I rake a hand through my split-ends, which were plentiful after too many dye jobs and not enough conditioner.

June was still taking even ginormous bites, I square my shoulders.

“I can get you like… five more minutes, but you do have to leave. The pool should have local showers? Only a few bucks. You could go there.” She shakes her head, “where is this?” She asks in her same cracked, weary tone.

I tilt my head to the side, “the pool is down Warring street and-” “No.” She pauses and covers her mouth, “where is all of this?” “Uh,” I scratch the back of my neck, “Gilford.” She raises her eyebrows, “oh,” she says slowly, “good.” I make a face, I rarely ever heard someone be happy to get stuck in Gilford. I examine her one last time, “the sheriff comes around at 6.” She takes another long moment, “Cool.” “You might want to head out before then.” Her big hazy eyes look back at me and we exchange a very long look, maybe I’m looking for white powder under her nose or the smell of skunk. She covers her mouth again.

“I don’t feel well.” “I know,” I try to sound soothing, “do you need to call someone? We could get you someone.” You just need to go.

She just shakes her head, “Waitress, Casey, I.” “Yeah?” I ask cautiously, June sways back and forth, I prompt again, “yes?”

She looks up at me, eyes empty and distant. “You’re beautiful.” Her face was pale and empty. I tilt my head, “You don’t look so g-”

The girl violently jerks forward and a loud retching wet sound follows, I don’t have a second to react as warm lumpy liquid cascades down onto my blue converse. Eggs and pancakes and hot chocolate slurry hits my shins and my entire body seizes up.

My face contorts, “fuck.”

That’s how I learn the lesson about large feral cats all over again.

#wlw #sapphic #urban fantasy #werewolves #original writing #witches #original story #blue shoes #f/f #my work #supernatural romance #TW for blood

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acenero-blog1 · 6 years

Text

My Top 10 Chiaki Nanami Drabbles (so far)

As a late birthday present to my close friend Vixen, and because of my own personal desire to give her story earned praise—I’ve decided to list my favorite chapters in her story, Chiaki Nanami Drabbles…so far. These are my own opinions, and I’ll state now that you should read the entire thing! There were so many great parts I didn’t put in this, so check it out if you’re interested! Her story can be found on FF.net and Ao3, too.

I’ll be going into spoiler territory, but I won’t say the resolutions.

10. Chapter 87: A Softer Despair

This is a drabble that gives a chilling look into the mind of the despair-driven Chisa Yukizome. The author uses this character often and efficiently, but this one stuck with me the most.

It starts with her wishing she could relive the despair caused by sending Chiaki to die in her execution. That leads to her adopting a kitten, even going as far as to name it Chiaki Nanami. She nurtures, feeds, and loves it for a time as if it was the real Chiaki. However, it’s all for one sinister purpose.

Needless to say, the resolution to this one isn’t a pretty one.

9. Chapter 75: Threes a Crowd

This drabble airs more on the comical side. Basically, Junko sees Chiaki and is mesmerized. Commence her hilarious shenanigans to get her attention, even dragging poor Mukuro into her games.

She even tried to get closer to Chiaki despite Izuru haven’t misgivings. Even the being made of talent isn’t enough to deter this blond mastermind, though.

8. Chapters 180 & 187: Savior’s Last Bloom Omakes

This one is a bit of a shameless plug since both of these drabbles are based off my story, Danganronpa X3: Savior’s Last Bloom. Still, you practically need no knowledge of my story to enjoy the hilarious misadventures of the Future Foundation getting into wacky situations.

Chapter 180 is all skits filled with references and normal everyday situation that take a turn for the funniest.

In chapter 187, they find themselves in a very…uh, compromising situation. Some naughty comedy ensues.

7. Chapter 179: The Child of Hope and Despair

This story is centered around the author’s own original character called Kana. After the conclusion of Side: Hope, Hajime ventures into the Neo World Program and discovers the little girl. Hajime, seeing she was alone and wondering what she was, takes her and even allows her to call him Papa.

Little does he know that the girl’s origin has a very unique and possibly sinister history to them. Despite that, Hajime takes her as her own, introducing her to others of the seventy-seventh class. All while wondering if her “truth” should be told.

6. Chapters 40-45: Undertale

This is the author’s epic retelling of the game Undertale except with her own spin and Danganronpa characters. She incorporates the characters and her own changes seamlessly.

Basically, if you like Undertale and Danganronpa, you’ll love this.

5. Chapter 135: The Doll

There are many drabbles centered around Junko and Chiaki, but I think this one is the most powerful. It features Junko with Chiaki, whose spirit has been broken—leaving not much else but a husk. The entire drabble is filled with violent and strong imagery.

In terms of pure bleakness and despair, this one is near the top—if not at the very top.

4. Chapter 173: The Lonely Heart

This chapter is one huge introspection about Chiaki. As one who loves those types of themes, I greatly enjoyed this chapter.

It gives a very accurate and detailed soliloquy about why Chiaki is the way she is. It shows her painful past, how she sees the world, and what making friends at Hope’s Peak Academy really meant for her. In terms of insight into the Ultimate Gamer herself, one the anime didn’t provide very fluently, this is one of the best you’ll ever see.

3. Chapter 184 & 193: Despair Pub

It was tough choosing this over the Dead Waifu Bar and the Heavenly Host Club because they’re all magnificent reoccurring drabbles in the story, but I had to give it to the Despair Pub.

The Pub features Junko, Despair Chisa, Monica, and Tsumugi all wallowing in their despair. It features hilarious dialogue between the four ladies—most of it bullying Tsumugi.

Chapter 193 even has a special visitor who turns out to be Monika from Doki Doki Literature Club. How can you not be interested!?

2. Chapters 162 & 163: The Phantom Thieves of Fan Fiction

I wasn’t sure whether to put this since it isn’t a conventional drabble, rather it’s a special featuring many friends of the author(myself included). All of us become phantom thieves and try to defeat a certain someone's shadow and take their treasure.

Throughout it all—we hang out, fight shadows, and even learn certain things about ourselves. It’s a true testament to the hopes, fears, and the bond we all share as writers.

1. Chapter 114: The Ultimate Punishment

Finally, the finale!

In my opinion, this is the best drabble(so far) of this amazing collection of tales. And, oh boy, is it dark. Even the author says she felt bad after writing this one. Dark as it may be, I was hooked from the first word to the very last!

So, did you think Chiaki’s execution was gruesome? Well, imagine if every time she died…she kept having to go through it again and again and again. That’s the premise of this drabble. What’s worse is our favorite gamer is aware of this, so she remembers every gruesome death. Even when she tries to escape, she simply dies in another way. It’s an eternal recurrence of pain and suffering. In the end, Chiaki realizes she must make a choice—and a very hard one.

It seems wrong to make my top chapter one where Chiaki suffers, but this was too good to not put at number one. In my opinion, this is the best chapter out of the 199+ Chiaki Nanami Drabbles.

Here’s to more amazing drabbles by my best friend in the future. Knowing her, I’ll need to make a whole new list very soon!

#danganronpa #fanfiction #gift #chiaki nanami #ao3 #vixen's writing

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themanicgalaxy · 3 years

Text

SPN 4X5 Monster Movie

ohohoho wait the title sounds promising

I like Meta Movie Shit it’s like 15% of my personality at LEAST at this point leave me alone

look I know I complain about filters but DAMN does the black and white make the Impala look nice

AHAHA NONDIAGETIC TO DIAGETIC MUSIC AND THE CHARACTERS COMMENT

wow I spelled that wrong but I don’t wanna check it

save the world like the good old days? no I didn’t miss anything tho?? what?

heh “black and white case” THAT’S SO N E A T WITH THE FILTER

listen while I do think that Dean being in Hell should probably affect him more, him playing it for comedy is just so good

I hear “Agent young,” I sing “I hope Neil Young will remember” and then...hell maybe that was the reference

ah ~tourist season~

this shit is so twin peaks-y I love it

oh my god Anne Rice getting name dropped is WILD

“ok maverick” SSAKSKA

“he looked like a vampire” ah stellar witness I see

damn you you’re giving Eastern Europe a bad name

...ah agent young is Dean

ok so no scars, he seems excited

...re..hymenated..DEAN WHAT?

...see the dialogue...has just shifted to old timey, right? and so did the scenery

at least the girl is smarter

it’s ABSOLUTELY hilarious that this is all stuff they hunt so they have a problem with finding it as it imitates the on screen animals

THE MORGUE VISUALS! STUNNING!

seriously this playing on their expectations is SO NEAT

IT’S SHOT LIKE OLD TIME HORROR I S W E A R THERE’S A DIFFERENCE IT’S GREAT

~spoopy mummy on the loading dock~

I LIVVEEEDD BITCH

also it’s absolutely hilarious that the reason we no longer have a lot of mummies around is cuz Rich Europeans ate them

and really fucked up but also funny

oh NO NOT FINAL GIRL TROPE

GOD D A M M I T

DRACULA!!

they did the lighting thing!! HELL YEAH

PEPPER SPRAY HIM! YES GIRL!

hahaha he broke character

JOHNATHAN HARKER AND MINA REFERENCE!!

THAT’S WHAT I NAMED MY CAT AFTER

I don’t remember a romance with Mina in there but fine whatever creative license

Dean almost got bit by a Male Vampire huh

INTERMISSION AHAHAHA

Shapeshifter!!!

“the x files is a tv show, this is real” in the black and white filter...oh so tongue and cheek

God I was half expecting a wink at the camera

MINA WASN’T THE INTENDED BRIDE, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN LUCY

WHO THE HELL APPROVED THIS

ok voyeuristic camera angles really Add to the horror damn

heh the ~responsibility burden

it’s nice Dean gets to talk about how much this sucks

Dean if you shut off I’m going to KILL you I want to know what’s going on

A mission from God!!

I don’t care if that’s a blues brothers reference or not, I’m taking it as such

At least he’s found some purpose, although...hm I wonder where this is going

the ~phantom~!!

THE FUCKING SHIFT TO THE OTHER OPERA MUSIC AHAHA

Sam that’s his own fucking ear calm down

very Sinister Shots for Sam this scene I liked em

It’s Lucy? the Evil Woman of Dracula I’m telling you

aha and they were drugged! neat

the practical effects are So Neat tho!

oho, Frankenstein?

LiFe aIn’T a MoVie Dean you got something you want to say

listen, I get escaping into the glamor of a movie, I do

Man and Dean used to reference movies all the time :(

THE FUCKING DOORBELL

also “the monster wins” OHHH NO

I HAVE A COUPON HA

mention in recap: Dean+movies, monster winning, Lucy+dracula imagery, also the followup about hunters from the last one

bleh stupid controlling niceguy vampire

shit that dress does look good tho

ah yeah in real life this fucker gets killed near everywhere, but they’re famous on movies

kinnie but also Ow

sir you can’t coerce people into your life that’s not how that works

Sam: *pokes fun at his brother after he nearly got bbq’ed

Dean: SHUT UP

awwww

VAN HELSING’SSSS SERIOUS FACE

holy shit Jamie!!!

bitch why are you holding onto this, how?

sir you were a monster and you still got killed and OH I don’t like that wait

dammit Jamie and Dean are fun

Sam has been Suffering fOR 12 Y E A R S ok I’m done

Dean: It’d be nice if life was a movie AAAAA

and ends on a cute sibling note and the end? neat

okok I have meta:

1. Listen listen listen, the “monster”(shifter) living in Real Life where he nearly gets killed all the time just for existing, has to fight to survive etc, finding monster movies and emulating them, but with the key difference of “the monster wins?” holy hell. It’s such a cool thing about how movies are our chance for escapism, and toss in a nice morally gray area for the monster as well. Like people use movies to escape, so we probably all relate to the monster a lot more anyway? like that’s such a compelling motivation it’s so cool!

and the fact that the monster still dies at the end is like. Ok you can either approach it as yknow, them saving the day or whatever, but I kinda felt it was like. He got to go out like those monsters in the movies? he clung to that reality, and got to go out in his version of dignity, while still feeding into the tragedy, because the monster really did die. It was the expected ending(monster dies in the end) but he seemed...to enjoy it(continued monologue right up until he died with a cool-ass shot)? he got to go out like his role models? Like you feel for him, but he did also kill people, but then the killing was also the role models. Like, complex motivation/story for this “monster of the week,” I thought it was interesting. And also, well done.

2. Also. Direct contrast to Dean. Dean’s the “references” guy, he always makes movie references. Or Ig he made them before he got jettisoned to Hell and had to figure himself out. If movies are positioned as Escape by the monster, Dean rejecting them in front of the monster, claiming real life is not that simple...feels like him stepping up to take on that Godly Responsibility. Especially because in this episode, Jamie says that “bro hunting sucks as a profession”(which is entirely true) and Dean says “yeah I thought that too”(aka the reference stage). Like the movies(and their rejection) show how Dean’s kinda stepping up to the “Ok, I’m a hunter, I’m here, I can't just check out or pretend this is a movie, this is real.”(As seen with his willingness to accept his “mission from God” and CALLING it as such when he was at first skeptical). Dean and the shifter are set up as foils, which is ALSO interesting because the last shifter also shifted into Dean. There’s probably something there(blend into whatever he’s been told to be by his Dad, by God whatever) but that’s not the thesis I’m going for here.

3. Worth noting, just little lore thing here, that Lucy is the Evil Woman in Dracula(the one that got turned into the vampire) and she ends up being the villain. And NO Mina was not Dracula’s bride, but she WAS lucy’s friend, so I’m going with Lucy/Mina because...no yeah that makes way more sense.

4. sidenote, lamp shading that this is a show, how this is supposed to be Real(and highlighted with shifts from diagetic, the camera angles are Extra Theatrical, it’s a literal Black and White movie). But that lamp shading of the story+old movies like...was kinda integral to the plot, which. Yeah that’s how you do a Referential thing. It was done for a reason(on both ends, both Dean and the Monster have some kind of thing with movies), spotlighting it with Dean and Sam makes it show how this is a movie(although for what purpose I wasn’t really paying attention for) and also a nice homage on top. Cool use of meta style, I liked that a Lot and it looked really fucking good.

5. And this is just a little carry over from last time, but the fact that Sam and Dean don’t know about the rougarou kid is kinda a part of the inherent tragedy/revenge porn of hunting. They had no trouble believing Travis just Went for it, which doomed them not to ask the questions of Why, which doomed that poor kid and his mom. Their distrust and craziness and thirst for revenge is actively harming their mission, godDAMMIT one of you fuckers learn empathy and communication and teach it with the class.

Anyway. Movie Meta is my Shit so...yeah

#pawswatchesspn #4x5 Monster Movie #I was Very Mad at the Inaccuracy of the Dracula plotline #I take Mina Harker very personally #I named kitty after her

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chicagoindiecritics · 4 years

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New from Every Movie Has a Lesson by Don Shanahan: 20 YEAR RETROSPECTIVE: The best of the rest of 1999

(Background image: twitter.com)

In an annual series, Every Movie Has a Lesson is going to look back twenty years to revisit, relearn, and reexamine a year of cinema history to share favorites, lists, and experiences from the films of that year.

As I was saying one column earlier when I laid out my absolute Top 20 from 1999, I was a 20-year-old undergrad Elementary Education major at Saint Joseph’s College twenty years ago. I was a country kid absorbing cable television for the first time, working at a local video store, writing movie reviews for the college newspaper. I was devouring movies new and old and the rural boundaries of Rensselaer, Indiana or my activity time as the football equipment manager didn’t stop me. On football road trips, I was more or less “staff” where I wasn’t bed-checked like the players. I used to go out after hours, pre-Uber and without a cell phone, and scout ahead the closest movie theater to the team hotel in order to find ways to see movies on opening Friday nights. Man, that was living.

As the historians will tell you, 1999 was a damn fine year. There are many films from that year that count as favorites and greats in several different ways. Some have gotten better with age and some have worsened, even dropping at as former favorites. Here are my little breakdowns of the “rest of 1999.” Enjoy!

Personal Favorites

(Image: justwatch.com)

Message in a Bottle, Entrapment, Deep Blue Sea, The 13th Warrior, The Mummy, Double Jeopardy, Life, Star War: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, The Best Man, The Bone Collector, Bicentennial Man

My 1998 retrospective last year will show you that I am an absolute softy for a romantic genre. My first taste of anything Nicholas Sparks came in movie form and it was the Kevin Costner-starring Message in a Bottle. This might have been my #2 favorite movie of 1999 in the college newspaper behind The Green Mile and I swallow a minute amount of shame. I still love this one. Kostner is a lifetime favorite of mine and his pairing with Paul Newman set against melodrama with rich production values (that Caleb Deschanel cinematography and Gabriel Yared score still get me) was gold for me.

Along the same lines, 2014’s The Best Man Holiday made me re-fall-in-love with The Best Man, a favorite that has only gotten better. Sappy Robin Williams has a limit, but Bicentennial Man can still arouse bigger sci-fi thoughts I appreciate. I’ll never grow tired of the best big-screen WTF moment of that year with Deep Blue Sea and its Samuel L. Jackson swerve.

The 1990s were the peak of the “mid-budget programmer,” studio-backed star vehicles with easy budgets, proven talent, and often genre content risks. Many of those became your steady diet of basic cable entertainment years later before reality TV took over. I’ll gladly put on the likes of Entrapment, Deep Blue Sea, Double Jeopardy, Life, Bicentennial Man, and The Bone Collector over many of today’s straight-to-Netflix films of the same budget level. The old stuff is so much better. The 90s also did blockbusters pretty damn well for its time too where I have no problem still enjoying Star Wars: Episode !- The Phantom Menace (just turn on Darth Maul and those John Williams choir voices) and The Mummy. Story came before effects still and it shows.

Guilty Pleasures

(Image: youtube.com)

Varsity Blues, Any Given Sunday, American Pie, She’s All That, Simply Irresistible, Cruel Intentions, 10 Things I Hate About You, Austin Power: The Spy Who Shagged Me, The World is Not Enough, Lake Placid, Galaxy Quest. The Boondock Saints

Speaking of those mid-budget programmers, the next class down was the lost art of the “high school movie.” The 1980s has John Hughes and the 1990s had the R-rated raunch phase that pushed further what the 80s started. Made for virtually pennies with mostly unknown talent or TV stars, these movies raked at the box office with the youth of the day, myself included. Honestly, they don’t make these kinds of movie anymore. Hell, they couldn’t get made today with the same landscape and lenses. Six years ago, I wrote an editorial here on Every Movie Has a Lesson on that phenomenon and it feels even more true in 2019. The raunchy teens grew into the “man-child” movies of the 2000s and 9/11 made everyone grow up into a wiser political culture since.

With that in mind, it’s probably wrong and more than a little misogynistic to enjoy the debauchery of American Pie, Varsity Blues, and even the intentional camp of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me in 2019. Alas, I could and I do. They’re time capsules of eye-rolling fun at this point. I just can’t show these movies to my students or own children. They count as guilty pleasures, right next to James Bond films and cheesy creature features.

Not all in this section are contraband. One can argue there isn’t a 1999 movie that has aged better, surprisingly, than Galaxy Quest, which grows with esteem and fandom the more other things retread and reboot. The football fans still rightfully worship the swagger of Any Given Sunday. Pygmalion and Shakespeare students can still be proud of She’s All That and 10 Things I Hate About You (which is many folks’ introduction to the late Heath Ledger, including mine). The buried treasure I recommend the most is Sarah Michelle Geller’s Simply Irresistible, an airy and easy romance that also couldn’t be made today with the same panache. I gave that one some anniversary love this year writing for 25YL. Seek it out for a good time.

Underrated Gems

(Image: letterboxd.com)

Payback, True Crime, EDtv, A Walk on the Moon, The General’s Daughter, Summer of Sam, The Wood

Here are a few to add to Bringing Out the Dead and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai which made my Top 20 in the last post. These titles are a step down from personal favorites, but movies that I find more solid than flimsy compared to the rest of the offerings from 1999. Most are more of those mid-budget programmers like Payback and The General’s Daughter, but don’t sleep on director Spike Lee’s under-seen Summer of Sam or Viggo Mortensen’s swooning Woodstock romance A Walk on the Moon. Plenty cheesy for sure, but EDtv counts as slightly ahead of its time even after trying to follow The Truman Show from 1998.

Re-Visitations Needed

(Image: rogerebert.com)

Magnolia, Eyes Wide Shut, Being John Malkovich, 8mm, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Pushing Tin, Dick, Sleepy Hollow, Ride With the Devil, Girl Interrupted

With full admission, the 20-year-old version of me did not have his teeth completely cut or his eyes fully focused as a fit critic who could see past the entertainment and into the art. There are many movies on fancier “Best of 1999” lists that were simply lost on me back in their day. I recognize the impact and greatness of Magnolia, Eyes Wide Shut, and Being John Malkovich, for example, but they will always be distant. Some of them I’ve tried again. Some need another chance or two. For the others, I want to see how a few top directors’ (Guy Ritchie, Ang Lee, Tim Burton) earlier works look now against their current stuff.

Blind Spots

(Image: The Independent)

The Straight Story, Ravenous, All About My Mother, The Thirteen Floor, Flawless

These are the movies looking to make the queues and wish lists on platforms and streaming services so richly available to us in 2019.

Overrated

(Image: variety.com)

The Sixth Sense, The Blair Witch Project, Analyze This, Never Been Kissed, Big Daddy, South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, Mystery Men, Dogma

Alright, let me get my next umbrella to cover the crap coming to fall. I’m going to come right out and call M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense overrated. It’s the biggest 1999 movie that has fallen out of favor for me personally. I blame the director’s degrading work since this first hit. Smart as it is, it loses a little each viewing and only exposes his twist-dependent lack of creativity. I know Mystery Men has earned a level of cult status, but I find it to be a busy mess still. The repeated crappy comedy phase since 1999 for Robert De Niro has not helped Analyze This.

After that, it’s about personal taste. I’m never been a South Park lover, TV or otherwise. Kevin Smith’s work has not aged well for me and Dogma, as bold as it was, feels like preening more than deep satire. I’m not a horror guy and couldn’t care less about the 1999’s equivalent of click bait with The Blair Witch Project. Thanks for the motion sickness, though. I’ve never been a Drew Barrymore fan, and I think Big Daddy is where Adam Sandler started to lose his edge and sink into the weak sauce territory that, other than a few moments like Uncut Gems this year, he’s never recovered from.

Still Bad

(Image: forbes.com)

Wild Wild West, Baby Geniuses, My Favorite Martian, Virus, Wing Commander, Forces of Nature, The Mod Squad, Runaway Bride, The Out-of-Towners, Bowfinger, Mickey Blue Eyes, The Bachelor, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, The Haunting

Yikes, was Wild Wild West a trainwreck! But then, we also got Wing Commander. Double yikes!

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ramajmedia · 5 years

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Peter Jackson's Movies, Ranked By Rotten Tomatoes | ScreenRant

Peter Jackson is one of the most renowned directors working in Hollywood today. He might be most famous for bringing J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth to life on the big screen (in true George Lucas fashion, he did it perfectly with one trilogy and then divided fans with a prequel trilogy), but he’s directed a bunch of movies besides that.

RELATED: 7 Things in Lord Of The Rings Canon That Peter Jackson Ignored

He actually got his start in the “splatter” subgenre of horror as a young filmmaker in New Zealand. Some of his movies have fared well with critics; others haven’t done so well. So, here are Peter Jackson’s Movies, Ranked By Rotten Tomatoes.

14 The Lovely Bones (32%)

Peter Jackson has only ever made one major misstep in his career, and The Lovely Bones is it. It’s about a teenage girl who is lured into a weird shrine by a pedophile (who couldn’t look more like a pedophile with the thick-rimmed glasses, greasy hair, and creepy smile) and then murdered.

She then wanders the Earth as a lost soul, watching her family as they reel from her death. It could’ve been a powerful work of teary-eyed young-adult coming-of-age drama in the right hands, but Jackson just didn’t strike the right tone and the movie failed as a result.

13 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (59%)

It spelled trouble the second Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema decided to adapt The Hobbit as an eight-hour Lord of the Rings-style trilogy, because the book isn’t suited to that. It’s basically a fairy tale.

The Lord of the Rings encompasses three giant volumes, but The Hobbit can be read in an afternoon – where did the producers get the idea to adapt both of those to the same length? (Well, of course we know where: the promise of billions of dollars.) The third Hobbit movie focuses on “the Battle of the Five Armies,” an event that has absolutely nothing to do with any of the main characters, leaving them to be sidelined.

12 The Frighteners (63%)

In this horror comedy, Michael J. Fox plays an architect who finds himself able to communicate with ghosts and spirits following his wife’s death. This leads to a run-in with the specter of a mass murderer and the Grim Reaper himself.

One critic has described The Frighteners as a cross between Ghostbusters and Twin Peaks, but it doesn’t have the heft of either of those projects. Tonally, that description is right on the money, but whereas those two can be watched over and over again and never become tiresome, this one runs out of steam before the end of the first viewing.

11 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (64%)

It wasn’t too long after The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hit theaters that fans started calling it The Phantom Menace of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth saga. As the first installment of a prequel trilogy to a beloved and almost perfect cinematic saga that overuses CGI effects, has too many cheesy comedic characters, and ultimately fails to live up to the original, it’s fair to say that that’s an accurate description.

RELATED: 5 Reasons Why The Hobbit Trilogy Wasn't As Good As The Lord Of The Rings (And 5 Why It Was Better)

Sitcom star Martin Freeman has too much of a cynical, wink-to-the-audience quality to carry the weight of one of these trilogies on his shoulders. The Fellowship of the Ring, this ain’t.

10 Bad Taste (68%)

Peter Jackson’s directorial debut certainly lives up to its title. It combines horror, science fiction, action, horror, and a healthy dose of its titular tastelessness for a delightful, if gut-wrenching romp.

Like most first-time directors tackling an indie feature, Jackson leaned into his low budget and made a big-budget movie on a low budget for a rough, messy, but endlessly fun moviegoing experience. The plot sees an alien fast food chain coming to Earth to grind up human beings into meat for their burgers, and it only gets more absurd from there. Surprisingly, Bad Taste put Jackson on the film industry’s radar.

9 Meet the Feebles (71%)

Moviegoers enjoyed the novelty of Jim Henson-style puppets appearing in an R-rated movie with tons of swearing, sex, and graphic violence a couple of years ago in The Happytime Murders. However, Peter Jackson had reveled in this gimmick – and with much more effective results – years earlier with his film Meet the Feebles.

The black-comic tone of the film might not be to every viewer’s tastes, but with catchy musical numbers and a perverse puppeteering style, Meet the Feebles expertly uses juxtaposition to its favor. It’s an adult-oriented delight for people who grew up on Sesame Street and The Muppet Show.

8 The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (74%)

If The Hobbit had been adapted as a two-part film as Guillermo del Toro intended and not stretched out to a trilogy, it would’ve been another story.

In The Desolation of Smaug, scenes that last a paragraph in the book and never should’ve been included in a film adaptation in the first place, due to their lack of consequences and relevance to the plot, are dragged out into half-hour set pieces. In Peter Jackson’s quest to make The Hobbit films as grand and epic as The Lord of the Rings films, what we got are movies that don’t feel grand or epic, but are really lo-o-o-ong.

7 King Kong (84%)

Since the original King Kong is one of cinema’s most revered classics, Peter Jackson took on a practically Herculean responsibility when he signed on to remake it. Jackson has said that he was struck by how much the original made him care about the titular ape, so that’s what he strived to do with this remake.

And it’s fair to say, since he used the motion-capture technology he pioneered with The Lord of the Rings trilogy and cast his Gollum, Andy Serkis, to play Kong, he managed it. We’re never on Carl Denham’s side – we see that the ape is just a fool in love.

6 Braindead (86%)

In his early days as the “splatter” king of New Zealand, Peter Jackson made this hilariously gory horror comedy about a man living with his mother who gets into trouble when he beds the wrong girl and a rabid rat-monkey turns the town into a horde of the undead.

Although it wasn’t a big box office success on its release, Braindead quickly became a cult classic, and in Time Out’s survey of the horror genre’s foremost actors, directors, and writers, Braindead was determined to be the 91st greatest horror film of all time. Simon Pegg also noted it as a huge influence on Shaun of the Dead.

5 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (91%)

Peter Jackson was shooting all three Lord of the Rings movies back-to-back, so if the first one didn’t hit, he would’ve been in a lot of trouble. The first chapter had to make such a strong impression on audiences that they’d be willing to commit to two more movies over the next couple of years.

Thankfully, The Fellowship of the Ring made that impression. It introduced audiences to characters they could root for – Frodo, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, the whole gang – and successfully sold the weight of what was at stake with a stunning prologue and an ensuing narrative to back it up.

4 Heavenly Creatures (92%)

Heavenly Creatures was Peter Jackson’s cinematic dramatization of the Parker-Hulme murder case, which rocked Christchurch in 1954 and has continued to echo throughout the New Zealand consciousness – in books, plays, novels, and of course, movies – ever since. The shocking case saw a 16-year-old girl and her 15-year-old friend murder the 16-year-old’s mother.

Until then, Jackson was known as the “splatter” guy – this movie proved he was a real filmmaker. This was the movie that gave Kate Winslet and, to a lesser extent, Melanie Lynskey (best known as Charlie’s stalker Rose from Two and a Half Men) their big breaks, and earned Jackson and his co-writer Fran Walsh an Oscar nod for Best Original Screenplay.

3 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (93%)

The closing chapter of Peter Jackson’s big-screen adaptation of The Lord of the Rings trilogy ended things in such a satisfying way that the Academy gave it a record number of nominations, and then when it won every single award it was up for, it also set the record for most wins.

RELATED: Everything We Know (So Far) About Amazon's Lord Of The Rings Series

And bear in mind that it’s unheard of for the Academy to even consider awarding a fantasy movie. Shooting the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy back-to-back was a monumental and ambitious undertaking, but it’s clear from The Return of the King that Jackson was up to the task and then some.

2 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (95%)

The second part of a trilogy tends to be the best – The Dark Knight, The Empire Strikes Back, The Godfather Part II, The Road Warrior, the list goes on – because it doesn’t have to set anything up and wind anything down. It’s a stepping stone; it’s all action.

However, most Lord of the Rings fans would consider The Return of the King to be slightly better than The Two Towers, because it’s the epic finale and, against all odds, it’s actually a satisfactory conclusion to the story. But then again, The Two Towers has the breathtakingly cinematic Battle of Helm’s Deep sequence that the MCU attempts to top three times a year.

1 They Shall Not Grow Old (100%)

The most impressive achievement of this World War I documentary is the colorized imagery. Peter Jackson took grainy, black-and-white photographs from 1914-1918 and gave them a splash of color and a touch-up to make them look like they were taken today by an HD digital camera.

As a tribute to all the young men who fought in the First World War, many of whom gave their lives, They Shall Not Grow Old is a powerful and poignant study that more than earns its rare 100% rating. The fact that the doc was released in 2018, exactly 100 years after the conflict ended, is the icing on the cake.

NEXT: David Fincher's Movies, Ranked By Rotten Tomatoes

source https://screenrant.com/peter-jacksons-movies-ranked-rotten-tomatoes/

#screenrant

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lpwarwick · 5 years

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The 2019 batch of Oscar-nominated short films in the animated and live-action categories share a theme of disconnection. The animated shorts have a sunnier attitude about this painful state, demonstrating how divides can be bridged. The live-action films, meanwhile, forge ahead into darkness. They ask: What if the connection severs? What it if never clicks? What if two worlds remain unbridgeable?

Of the animated set, Bao (8 min.) edges closest to the precipice. Writer-director Domee Shi, the first woman to direct a short film for Pixar, startled audiences who went to see Incredibles 2 in theaters and got the delicious, offbeat Bao as an appetizer.

The protagonist is a lonely Chinese-Canadian woman who makes a dumpling that comes to life. She raises the dumpling baby as her son; but as he quickly grows, he also grows apart from her, rejecting the mother-son mealtimes he used to enjoy when he was small for time spent with friends and soon a fiancee. Terrified by how fast their connection is fraying, the mother makes a decision that is at once metaphorically brilliant and twisted on a raw emotional level. The ending redresses the situation and restores the bond. And yet the pain of their schism lingers.

In Late Afternoon (10 min.), an elderly Irish woman straddles a rift between her memories and reality. The tension arises from whether the woman will close the gap or fall through, powered by writer-director Louise Bagnall's expressionistic and mutable style. The woman's past swirls through her present in colors that unfurl into shapes, a kaleidoscopic beauty that alternatively confuses and clarifies the life before her eyes. A plaintive violin score from Irish musician Colm Mac Con Iomaire runs through both worlds, making a reconnection, once it crystallizes, all the sweeter.

Weekends (16 min.) also toggles between two worlds, telling the story of a boy in 1980s Toronto who routinely crosses the chasm of his parents' divorce. Spending weekdays with his mother in the country and weekends with his father in the city, the boy learns how to connect with them in different ways based on their differences as people and how to reconcile his parents' differences within himself. At first, the duality is stark. The mother's house is melancholy and muted, while the father's apartment thrums with urban noise and garish colors. The eventual blending of these environments from the boy's perspective is a perfect match for the talents for filmmaker Trevor Jimenez. His cloudy and jittery animation style is as striking in establishing the binaries within the boy as it is poignant in dismantling them.

Though closer to a Pixar film in its glossy style and tone, One Small Step (8 min.) from filmmakers Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas is another heart tugger about a parent-child relationship. The narrative centers on a Chinese-American girl and her single father, a shoemaker, who supports his daughter's dream of becoming an astronaut. But as she grows up, she struggles in school and drifts apart from her dad, to the point that their connection, along with her vision for herself, shatters. Similar to Bao, but more like the sci-fi weepies Contact and Interstellar, this film has a bittersweet ending and a wholehearted message: that the bond between a loving parent and child is otherworldly in its might.

Animal Behaviour (14 min.), the only outright comedy of the bunch, posits that what separates us from each other is also what disconnects us from ourselves: addictions, compulsions, anxieties, and so on. Thus, five animals meet in group therapy to discuss their hang-ups. A cat can't stop licking himself. A pig can't stop eating. A praying mantis eats her lovers. A leech has separation anxiety. A Bigfoot-like creature has anger issues. A bird under hypnosis recalls how he pushed his baby brother out of their nest in a jealous rage when they were hatchlings, with the defense: "He was eating my worms!"

Codirectors Alison Snowden and David Fine, while uninventive in their animation style, are canny about the disconnect that occurs when primal urges overtake rational thought. Much of the film's humor stems from the animals' hypocrisy; they can see problems in others, but are either oblivious to or unwilling to acknowledge similar defects in themselves.

The live-action short Detainment (30 min.) also contains blame shifting, though the circumstances couldn't be grimmer. In 1993, two ten-year-old boys kidnapped, tortured, and murdered a toddler in Liverpool, England. This film focuses on the boys when they were first detained by the police and interviewed in separate locations with their parents by their sides. The conversations, based on public records and the interview transcripts, are extremely disturbing. The reason is fourfold: the boys either don't understand or don't care about the depths of their brutality (probably both), they are breathtaking liars, the parents are shaken by what they've wrought, and the actors who play the boys are outstanding.

But if writer-director Vincent Lambe's goal was to unnerve his audience, this was a cheap shot, and he should have made a different movie. What Lambe considers but leaves unplumbed is how children are more easily forgiven for smudging the line between right and wrong, and how adults too easily let them. This disconnection is ripe for a wider-reaching documentary or fictionalized narrative film. But as a shallow reenactment, this movie adds nothing to the tragedy.

A better film about two boys with a shaky sense of reality and consequences is Fauve (17 min.), which in French means "wild beast." Montreal-based filmmaker Jeremy Comte crafts a remarkable portrait of inseparable friends, preteens who get off on tricking each other. For example, the smaller one pretends to break his leg and the taller one, skinny and shirtless, calls his bluff. It goes on like this for a while, the boys roving from an abandoned train to a sun-soaked field to harsher environs I won't spoil here. Suffice it to say that Comte knows how to snap a connection and leave it pulsing like a phantom limb.

So too does the Spanish filmmaker Rodrigo Sorogoyen, as evidenced by his short film Madre (19 min.). A woman stops by her apartment with her mother and answers a phone call from her ex, Ramon. Their six-year-old son is on the line, saying Ramon has left him on an empty beach somewhere in France or Spain, he's not sure which. The woman hands the phone to her mother and calls a mutual friend and then the police.

The film contains no cuts and no close-ups. The camera stays wide, only pushing closer when the woman's desperation peaks. It follows her around the apartment as she paces, pleading to her most beloved to keep talking, to stay on the line—even as his battery dies, his reception drops to one bar, and a strange man approaches. Though mostly confined to one bright space, Madre welcomes darkness, punctuated in the end by a dropped call's sickening beep.

Marguerite (19 min.), written and directed by Marianne Farley, is about a woman at the end of her life contemplating a connection she never made. The woman is dying of kidney disease, and her only earthly bond, it seems, is with her caretaker. When she learns that her caretaker is a lesbian, she turns to an old photo album filled with memories of her best friend: the one who got away because she never admitted her true feelings. Later, she asks her caretaker, "What's it like to make love to a woman?"

The film could have dipped into darker territory from here, but Farley demurs. Instead, the sadness deepens, grows tender like so many bruises. It's rare to get a second chance in life. If you're lucky, you get a shadow of it.

The best of the live-action films, Skin (20 min.), ups the ante to examine one of the most unfortunate outcomes of disconnection: violent fear of the other. A sweet-natured boy looks up to his father (Jonathan Tucker), mother (Danielle Macdonald), and their friends, all of whom are skinheads. He joins his parents at the supermarket and sees a black man in another checkout line; they smile at each other. The father sees this interaction. He calls his friends and they beat the man nearly to death in the parking lot. The man's wife and son watch, scream, and cry from inside their car.

In this movie, as in life, a disconnection is often a connection too. When the black boy watches the white boy drive away with the attackers, he sees both a connection in their shared age and the most profound disconnection making sense fully, perhaps for the first time. Other examples abound, but the most striking is the way the black man's friends execute a reprisal that this critic in no way saw coming.

Written and directed by Guy Nattiv, and based on an original idea by Jaime Ray Newman, Skin has a tight structure and a perfect ending. If it were published as a short story, it would win many a literary prize. As a short film, it certainly deserves an Oscar.

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byjove-cannibalcove · 7 years

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I would like to see a sort of phantom-of-the-opera themed fic, where Will works for the opera, not as one of the singers, but in the orchestra pit.

(long stream-of-thought summary of the story below)

Will is a very good player, and the orchestra MOSTLY likes one another, so everything is technically very stable where he stands, better yet that he has no aspirations to first-chair (which is more like being class president than anything, everyone in your section looks to you for queues and to match energy, it isn't actually a rockshow type thing) so technically he is quietly doing his thing. Very talented and stable, but not a magically amazing perfect player. He has earned his place and he doesn't show off.

But there is a newer guy, put into the pit because he’s the nephew of the new theatre owner. He is not amazing. He’s not the WORST either, but he tries to show off when he should be harmonizing, he plays too loud, and his bow transitions aren't as smooth as they could be. It is really only noticeable to the other violin players, the audience isn’t going to pick up on it, so they just grin and bear it.

Not always, but often, there is something like a ball in the front after a show. The rich patrons get to meet the singers, or the orchestra, whatever, and attendance is more or less mandatory. In the latest of these, Will meets Hannibal, who is very new to the area, had always made it a poitn to donate to theatres, but has only come to a few showings so far. Will cant quite fathom why, of EVERYONE at this party, Hannibal would zero-in on the man that most clearly does not want to be there, but fine.

There is a bit where they shake hands and Hannibal turns Will’s hand over and says ‘i see you are one of the strings’. (technically that's lefthanded, lets say Will was caught off guard and was holding a drink)

Will is surprised, says yes, he’s one of the violins.

Hannibal seems... pained... Asks if he is new and when Will says he has been here for a few years, Hannibal relaxes.

Will points out that he can tell Hannibal is a chef from the callouses on HIS fingers, and Hannibal is clearly pleased, though he of course corrects him.

They talk a bit, Hannibal is casually asking about the theatre itself, who works there, the management, the actors, the orchestra. It's a nice conversation, honestly, Hannibal has actual questions and seems to know what he’s asking about, it’s not just mindless ‘i wish I could play an instrument but its too hard, i have a life, unlike you hahah’ type of chatter.

Will to point out the newest member of the strings, jokingly telling him that Hannibal now knows more about the theatre than the owners kid, “too bad YOU don’t play”

Hannibal plays a little, but not violin unfortunately.

The conversation is very mild, and the next weekend he sees Hannibal again, socializing a bit more, but a smile does pass between them at least, Will leaves early i bet after that exact ‘you must have no life outside of violin haha’ joke happens (which is technically true).

It is a complete surprise when, a week or two later, the (many) people who sleep at the theater come downstairs to the body of the new violinist, strung up from the rafters like a marionette, they might not have noticed if not for the pool of blood.

The police naturally are of no help, because this is the 1800s, it basically comes down to asking all the violinists if they had a grudge, getting overly aggressive with a few ,then deciding it was probably more to do with his wealthy father.

The very superstitious people are now acting like anything odd in the theatre must be the ghost of the violinist, and SOME of them think a ghost killed him. Its a lot of nonsense, but they are all artists and theater people so OF COURSE it goes to their heads, they start coming up with more and more dramatic stories, until nearly everyone superstitious (aka nearly everyone) is now in a PANIC over it. Will snaps at a few people over it, but honestly everyone is snapping at everyone so it is hardly noticed.

They are preparing for a new show and one of the dancers trips. It happens occasionally but they all FLIP and start saying she was shoved. A few of the actors are in hysterics over this, one of the singers passes out. They call for the theatre doctor (that was a thing, lots of people there and lots of injuries) (would this be chilton?) he comes, but also comes Hannibal! Will is strangely thrown off by this, he hadn’t really expected to meet him outside of those parties, or possibly ever again. Chilton probably starts condescendingly telling the female performers to all calm down, talks about hysteria, mass panic (which is true) but he's really shitty about it. Hannibal tends to the singer and calms her down, is really sweet and gentle in a way that will clearly have her falling for him. He might say something like ‘even if nothing but their fear is attacking them, yelling at them won't steady their hearts’

Will naturally does not fall for him (not even a little bit, even if he is totally charmed and okay maybe he fell a LITTLE) but he is invited for dinner at Hannibal's somehow and rides in a carriage with him and possibly even helps make dinner, i dont know. Hannibal maybe hasnt hired a maid yet and said his house is lonely.

They probably do NOT kiss, because 1800s, but that atmosphere is THICK

More accidents are happening at the opera because of panic and the fucking owner tells the audience they are haunted (either sincerely, in a ‘forgive us if it isn’t perfect tonight’ or a ‘isnt this exciting?’ way. Probably the first since his sons dead). This panics the backstage people MORE, the dancers tumble, the singers miss notes, its a MESS, Will cant help but laugh at it. (secretly, in the audience, Hannibal is amused too, he had not expected this performance to go well after all, and it was more a comedy story anyways)

Hey guess who is one of the set designers? Hobb! Hey did you know his daughter was the singer that passed out earlier?

Do you wonder if Hobbs would kill a few of the other singers to move her up the hierarchy a little bit, disguising it as either a ghost or the original killer? I am 100% sure he would do that, actually, but that's just me.

(Abigail is “little angel of music that could” but actually she isn’t nearly good enough to be top-billing, but TOO BAD Hobbs is going to kill his way up the ranking anyways. Lots of the workers are going to quit, but nope, he’s just-a-killin’ left and right, she’s going to be a STAR)

Will is subtly investigating these murders because it ISN’T A GOD DAMNED GHOST and possibly even getting Hannibal (who he is definitely in love with but won't let himself touch because Laws) to help him out on occasion. Will notices the pattern of Abigail always moving up, but technically it could be any one of a couple lower-ranking girls, he only notices Abigail really because it happens TWICE and her dad works there and doesn't seem worried for her.

He tells Hannibal, since he isn’t sure what to do with this since its basically just a feeling and the police probably won't listen (lets say he has a reputation as a weirdo or something, or some past scandal he doesn't want anyone looking into (gay? crimes? asylums? witch? Who knows, all, neither, Will wouldn't do well in the 1800s, he doesn't even do well in 2010)) so it basically comes down to confronting him directly and scaring him off. He takes hannibal with him.

It does not go well.

Betcha Mr Hobbs tries to kill Will

Betcha Will fights him off

Betcha Hobbs runs STRAIGHT for his daughter onstage

GUARANTEE he slits her throat, because she is doomed to have this happen in every universe

Will does not shoot (why would he have a gun at his violin job) but probably beats him half to death, while Hannibal holds Abigail's throat closed

They both end up covered in blood ON STAGE (this is a rehearsal, which is why Will isn’t in the pit right now) and everyone sees it.

Somehow everyone STILL ends up deciding that the phantom in the opera house had possessed Hobbs, somehow, because no right-minded man would ever try to kill his daughter.

Probably you cant survive a throat slitting in 1800s, but she does anyways, because Hannibal.

Hobbs is arrested, but largely for the sake of asylums and exorcisms or something, he’s alive and will probably see his daughter fairly often when she visits him, but she cant sing anymore so she might be demoted to set work (not HIS job but like... heavy hard work girls wouldnt usually do, because the other innocent set guy doesnt want her ending up on the street. she takes to the job well and will always have a croaky voice)

Probably Will goes home with Hannibal Abigail is stable, presumably because they are ‘both’ stressed and in need of comfort. They bath, seperately, but they end up in front of the fire less put-together than usual, comfortable clothes, and Will cant help peaking at Hannibal, trying to be subtle. Maybe Hannibal is like ‘maybe its not the best time to show you, but i bought you a gift’

Its a new and VERY fine violin, to replace his aging one, and WIll plays music for Hannibal, glad to find his shaking fingers steady on the strings, like they always do.

Id like it if somehow they could dance, but i guess its not really workable. They definitely kiss, but Will pulls away from it and they go to bed separately.

Soon enough things wind down enough for Will to learn about murders happening OUTSIDE the theater, in other parts of town, and he will actually end up finally talking to Hannibal about his feelings. Hannibal is unrepentant, which Will takes to be because Hannibal is foreign. They kiss, and after several more dinners and things at the theatre calming down, these two FINALLY have sex, that whole deal, being 100% for-sure illegally in love.

and just as suddenly, Will figure out that Hannibal is the RIpper

Will probably goes to visit Hobbs, to ask why Hobbs thought killing was worthwhile, but its so COMPLETELY not why Hannibal kills that it actually puts Hannibal into perspective for him

Will probably tries to tell the police that Hannibal is a killer. They dont believe him. Will outright tells Hannibal that he had tried to turn him in but it didnt work. Things are tense, but Will eats the meat and then they PROBABLY end up having rough+tender ‘i know you are a murderer’ vs ‘im a murderer who loves you, and to the police that love is the worse crime’ sex, because im trash

Let's then have a VERY public arrest of Will for (pick your fav, past or vague gay actions, general witchiness, insanity, being born in to a cult under a different name, i dont care, pick your poison) , which they caught after someone at the station recognizing him from SOMEWHERE but it took a few days for them to be sure from where. He’s arrested and of course put into the same asylum as Hobbs. They probably never even cross paths, but it doesnt matter, Will knows that they are in the same place for wildly different reasons, but in the end its all the same to the powers-that-be

Have Hannibal somehow save Will, possibly by already working at, coming to visiting, applying to work at that asylum himself, or maybe taking him out on ‘a walk’ and actually bringing him to a waiting carriage and running away.

Either way EVENTUALLY Hannibal manages to spring him, they run away together, both their own type of criminal, and it more or less ends on Will, very unhappily, deciding that if his life is a crime ANYWAYS, if his love for someone can have him sent to the same punishment, he might as well eat people, because fuck it.

Uhh, but more angsty and poetic, he IS an artist after all.

#hannigram #phantom of the opera au #will graham #hannibal lecter #my writing #prompts #i didnt mention it really but im picturing this being in baltimore #even though i have NO idea if baltimore was a proper city around 1900 #i mean it PROBABLY was right?#did they have an opera house?#ive got no idea

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podcastcoach · 4 years

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The Zoom Podtrack P4 Portable Podcast Recorder

The Zoom Podtrack P4 is coming out next month (from what I hear) and this appears to be a game-changer for those podcasting on a budget. Here are some of the features of the Zoom Podtrack P4:

Zoom Podtrack P4 Podcast Recorder Four mic inputs with XLR connectors Four headphone outputs with individual volume control Gain control knobs and mute buttons for each input Phantom power for all XLR inputs Automatically prevent feedback from call audio using the Mix-Minus function Easily connect your phone using the TRRS connection Trigger sound effects using four assignable Sound Pads with 11preset sounds All input sources can be recorded on separate tracks 16-bit /44.1kHz audio WAV Records directly to SD, SDHC and SDXC cards up to 512 GB 2-input, 2-output USB audio interface Class-compliant mode for iOS compatibility Up to four hours of use with just two AA batteries or a USB power supply Can be powered via 2 AA Batteries Can be powered via USB or Zoom AD-17 AC Adapter

Comparing the Podtrack P4 to the Rodecaster Pro

Zoom P4 VS Rodercaster Pro

Zoom Podtrack P4 Manual (pdf),

Price: Zoom Podtrack P4 is $199 Rodecaster is $599

Audio Processing: The Rodecaster has built-in APHEX audio processing and mic modeling. There is a "big bottom," an aural exciter, a compressor, and noise gate. The P4 has a low cut (to cut out unnecessary frequencies) and a limiter (to make sure you don't peak and distort). ThePodtrack P4 does have very powerful preamps that are very quiet. The Rodecaster also features a built-in ducking option so if the host is in channel 1, and someone tries to talk at the same time this feature (which can be turned on and off) will ensure the host (mic 1) is heard.

Sound Pads: The Rodecaster has 8 pads for sound effects vs the 4 on the P4. If you're doing things live and want the ability to play sounds with a press of a button. As both the Rodecaster and the P4 have the ability to plug a phone in and you could use an app like Backpack studio which enables you to have a ton of sound pads.

Slider Vs Knobs The Rodecaster has sliders vs the knobs on the P4

Storage: The P4 has a SD card, the Rodecaster has a micro SD Card. On their website, the Rodecaster mentions Micro SD up to 256 Gigs. The Podtrack P4 mentions card up to 512 Gigs. Both of those sizes are huge.

Bluetooth: The Rodecaster has built-in Blue Tooth, the P4 has an optional BTA-2 Bluetooth option ($49)

Recording Sample Rate: The Rodecaster records in 48khz/24-bit, the P4 is 44.1khz/16 bit. While I don't feel this makes that much of a difference (as in the end your podcast is listened to in earbuds, car speakers, and portable speakers). However, if you're doing anything with video, your video editor will be happy you have the ability to record in 48khz.

Number of Tracks: The Rodecaster can record up to 8 tracks, the P4 records up to 4 Both units provide a stereo mixdown, and in addition to the mic inputs, they provide tracks for the pads. The Rodecaster has the ability to turn off the multi-track recording.

Recording Into Your Computer Both send a stereo mix to the computer (great for live streaming), but the Rodecaster can also send map individual tracks to channels.

Interface The Rodecaster has a touch screen. The P4 has a simple to use menu system.

Markers The Rodecaster has the ability to add markers (which can be very useful for editing) While other room recorders have this feature the P4 does not )

Outputs The Rodecaster has 4 headphones out in addition to a stereo out. The Zoom P4 has four headphones out.

Footprint: The Rodecaster is 14" X 11" the P4 4.1" X6.1.' This might be important for those with smaller desktops. The P4 is 1/4th smaller than the Rodecaster.

For my friends across the pond the Rodecaster is 350 mm x 275 mm the Podtrack P4 is 112 mm x 155 mm

Warranty: RodecasterPro: Limited 1-Year Warranty with 1 Additional Year upon Registration. (source BNH). Podtrack P4: Limited 1-Year Warranty (source BNH).

If you're looking for a great sounding unit, and never need to record more than four sources, this is a great unit. Audio snobs will complain about the lack of ability to record in 48khz/24hz but 44.1/16 will be fine for something that is heard in-car speakers and earbuds. Some will complain about sliders vs knobs. The knobs help cut the footprint which gives you your desk back. If you want to achieve the tone of the rodecaster you will need to invest in some plugins. If you're on a budget and want an easy way to record separate tracks including the phone, this is worth checking out. Just don't drop it.

Check out the Zoom Podtrack P4

The Zoom ZDM-1 Dynamic Microphone

I must confess that the Electrovoice RE320 has been my mic for many years. It's also close to $300. The ZDM-1 comes with a pop filter, "stand" a cable, and headphones for $120. I didn't think it was fair to compare it to the RE320 so I pulled out the Rode Podmic (another microphone designed for podcasters for around $99).

Both microphones are very well built, and when I kid about using them as a weapon, I'm not kidding. You need a sturdy stand to hold these up. The ZDM-1 has a great mount that screws into the bottom and just seems solid. The Rode Podmic also is well built.

The Zoom ZMD-1 has 50 Hz to 18 kHz frequency response with tight bass and smooth highs enhance vocal tone for radio, podcasting, and more

The Rode Podmic has a frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz. In specs, it should pick up a bit more bass and a bit more high end.

While neither one of these microphones sound bad, I thought I heard a little more high end and sibilance on the Zoom ZMD-1.

The one thing that Audio Technica, Zoom, and other microphone companies need to quit doing is giving us microphone stands that are 100% completely worthless. While the TPS-4 stand that comes with the ZDM-1 is sturdier than the other worthless microphone stands, They are so short that you have to do a bizarre yoga pose to lean over to use it. Either invent a new mic stand as an accessory, or just include the clip/mount and lower the price. Nobody in their right mind is using the TPS-4 microphone stand.

The Zoom ZHP-1 Headphones were amazingly clear. The high end was crystal clear to an almost alarming point. The somewhat self-adjusting headphones fit nice and snug and really cut out the outside world. I used other "included" headphones with other microphones and they were typically uncomfortable and had the fidelity of a record cut out of a cereal box (you have to be over 50 to get that). These had a nice sound, and I love that the cable can be disconnected at the headphones (great for those of us who are always tangled in or headphone cable.

For $199 this a good value with a solid mic, nice pop filter, study mount and comfortable headphones to boot. Just pick up a nice boom arm (are strong desk stand as it is heavy).

August Question of the Month: What Keeps You Going?

This month the question was, "What has kept you going with your podcast when others have stopped?"

Kris and Kristine from the Kris and Kristine Show

Kris and Kristine are engaged and this is just another great way of spending time together. (everyone together - awww....). Kristine said, " I'm big on trying to constantly strengthen our relationship. And there's a lot of research that says, for a woman, when she invests in the hobbies and the interests of her partner, then it really helps to build that bond. And so Kris could have loved going to golf or you could have had all these hobbies that take you out of the house and away from me, but instead, you choose to build and grow a hobby with me. What woman wouldn't want that from her significant other that you want to spend dedicated time with me?

These are super nice peeps and I wish them the best when they get married in November. Check out their show at www.krisandkristine.com

Curtis Longellow from the Rerozest Podcast

Curtis Longfellow from the Retrozest podcast needed an outlet. He wanted to talk about all things retro (70's and 80's) and by starting a podcast he attracted other people who are just like him.

It turns out it's really paid off. Diane Franklin, the actress who portrayed Monique Juno in the classic 80s dark comedy film Better Off Dead, granted me an interview in celebration of the 30 fifth anniversary of the film. In fact, it just posted yesterday.

The other thing that keeps me going is the power of podcasting network shows. In fact, via Episode Number 678 of the School of podcasting, you really prepared me for the aforementioned interview with Diane Franklin. What was supposed to only be a 45-minute interview ballooned into an hour and 15 minutes. This was largely because the tips you shared on Episode Number 678 really prepared me and helped me to frame and ask some very unique questions, which kept the stories from Diane flowing.

Additionally, you recently did a short review of my AC DC Back in Black 40th anniversary episode on your Podcast Rodeo Show. You shared several tips which helped me to plan for future episodes. And also you pointed out a glaring typo on my podcast description to which I immediately responded and corrected. Thank you for all you do. Dave. I suspect that your contribution to teaching about podcasting is really keeping a bunch of podcasters going, keep up the good work, and check out the retros s podcasts at retro zest.com forward slash podcast.

Civilla Morgan from the Childless, Not By Choice (and Not Just Another Religion and politics Podcast)

Here is what Civilla from the Childless, Not by Choice had this to say, "I believe I believe in the power of podcasting, I believe podcasting is a Message carrier. And I can see the results of it because of the response that I get. I may not be at a million downloads. But I'm hearing from people whose lives are literally being changed when they listen to the Childless, not by choice podcast episodes. They're writing into me. One woman just called me about a week ago from Holland on speakpipe on my website, and she left a message because she was so excited to find thes podcast, she couldn't believe it. And she had to tell me all about what episode she was on and how the podcast has completely absolutely helped her and that she just recently joined the Facebook group.

I've got to keep going. I've got to keep getting the word out. Slowly but surely it can be tedious. There can be deep valley moments where you just want to throw everything across the room and just walk away from it all. And then those awesome mountain top moments where you get that awesome interview, like when I got that interview with you, Dave Jackson. And so you have to take the good with the bad when it comes to podcasting and I just love that I can get the message out whether it's the Childless, not by choice podcast, or the Not just another religion and politics podcast where I get to say my part as to how the Christian community is behaving (or misbehaving right now), in some instances. It's just a way to get the word out to get your message out. It's truly a message carrier. And that's why I'm still podcasting.

Craig Wealand from Ingles Podcast

Here are the reason Craig keeps podcasting:

I podcast with a co-host, who I've known for many years. He's a very good friend. And it's a lot of fun to get together with him. once every three weeks, batch record some episodes, then have a nice lunch together and just hang out, just be with someone who I really like. We have a laugh, we have fun together. So one big element of the fun I get from podcasting is getting together with my friend and colleague.

I think we're helping people with our product when I know we're helping people, we get feedback, voice messages, emails, telling us that because of the podcasts, we've helped people, get promotions, find a job pass an exam in English, so we know that we're doing some good out there and then keeps us going the feedback from our community.

I really like the podcasting community. They're a great bunch of people. And I enjoy hanging out with podcasters. I feel very comfortable when I'm with podcasters. And, and over the years, I've made some really good friends in the podcasting community going to events and conferences, and meeting people online. So I really like being part of the community. And it's much easier to be part of the community if you have a podcast.

I think I really like creating something that wasn't in the world before. Hopefully, that's a good thing. It might be a bad thing. But I like the idea that we've put something out there that might be of use to people and it didn't exist before we turned on the microphones. I like the idea that I've created something.

Check out Craig at Ingles Podcast

Dave Jackson from the School of Podcasting

I've always said that podcasting scratches every itch I have.

It is somewhat technical, and I'm somewhat of a geek.

You are in 100% control and you can do anything you want. As a creative person, I love that.

I get to help people. As someone with a teaching background, that puts a lot of "Gas in my tank."

As someone who spent myself into bankruptcy trying to have children (and failed), this is somehow my "Legacy."

Check out all of Dave's shows at www.powerofpodcasting.com

September Question of the Month

Right now, I'm obsessed with the word, Interesting. When you hear the word interesting, what comes to your mind. If someone who spoke another language and asked you to explain what Interesting mean, how would you describe it. Feel free to "riff" on your thoughts of interesting, and explain any examples of content you feel is interesting. I need your answer by September 25th, 2020.

Go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/question

Ready to Start Your Podcast?

I love helping people plan, launch, and grow their podcast. I have multiple plans and scenarios to meet any budget. Let's work together.

Check out this episode!

#podcasting #podcast #coaching #new media

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kartiavelino · 5 years

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I Want Robin Harris To Wake Up:

“You understand you broke once they break in your home and don’t steal nothing…” Robin Harris opens a imaginative and prescient of his long-gone poverty with this foolish premise. Laughter bubbles in Los Angeles’ Comedy Act Theater. Massive, slick afros bounce on the outskirts of the highlight. And Harris simmers whereas they soak up his absurd setup from his self-titled Reside on the Comedy Act Theater. “Man, I’m so broke they left a be aware speaking ‘bout ‘Please purchase one thing.’ I purchased some. Once they got here again, they left one other be aware, it mentioned, ‘Steer clear of Ok Mart.’” I need Robin Harris to get up. In 1990, the Chicago comic died in his sleep. He was simply getting began. Rumors stirred about him residing a quick life, however they weren’t confirmed. His life went quick as a result of he pressed the gasoline when he acquired his breaks. He was on a world-famous run, starring in early Spike Lee hits Do the Proper Factor and Mo’ Higher Blues, glowing up in his scenes. Harris was born in 1962 to working-class mother and father in Chicago and utilized their regular ethic to his rise within the comedy world. As a nightclub emcee and after-hours common, Harris coloured his routine with improvised digs on the crowd and references to a bruised, beat-down life that wasn’t actually his personal. For a decade, he performed native golf equipment that invigorated the stand-up scene within the Midwest and drew main curiosity from Hollywood’s Black filmmakers like Lee and Reginald Hudlin. Though his most well-known set — a joke about relationship a single mother with dangerous children who by no means sleep — depicts him as a bachelor, he was a loyal father and husband. However on stage, he used uncooked language and didn’t maintain again. Ugly girls had betrayed him, he claimed. Ugly crowds weren’t well worth the time, he swore. “My outdated woman so ugly, y’all, the opposite day she was taking off her garments and a peeping Tom peeped by the window, broke in the home and pulled down the shade.” Harris was 36. Information articles checklist his official reason for demise as cardiac arrest from a bout of sleep apnea. Harris, like Patrice O’Neal, like Bernie Mac, left a bigger legacy than his persona. I’m 36, standing within the burly chuckling shadow he left, hoping to find him. Concern retains me from imagining my demise this month as a result of I’ll by no means do what he did in his storied dash of a life. On a Friday afternoon, the chilly vinyl cushion on the recliner at Maiden Lane Medical sticks to the naked pores and skin on my again. I’m laying down, comfortable stomach out, ready on the assistant. Her gloves snap, and I pop up from a Robin Harris daydream. I must understand how his model of “alive” felt, so I’m watching his sparse video clips over and over. For 3 weeks, I’ve been typing in his identify on YouTube, spiking his views one share level at a time, pondering he’ll present me who he was past the stage. He had 36 full years and, I guess, no gradual moments like this, ready for an ultrasound tech to use freezing gel to his love handles. I guess he tore up each stage and broke into sweats from the power of the laughter firing again at him. I solely really feel a cool drip percolating underneath my proper arm because it begins its roll down my facet. Robin Harris made jokes about being ugly and broke as a result of he was lovely and wealthy as the feel of his voice. His pressing grunt was the premise for Bernie Mac’s success. He was the surly uncle on the barbecue, cocking off jokes at bystanders, making you’re feeling each gross and fairly in the identical punchline. I sit at residence, propped up on a velvet sofa, not wealthy however not broke both, on the lookout for indicators of Harris within the too-brief clips. First, Do the Proper Factor tells me extra in regards to the Harris grunt than I first observed watching Home Social gathering. However the velvet sofa is so comfortable and comfy that I go to sleep at 1 a.m with the window open and the breeze tugging at my blanket. Robin Harris watched me doze from contained in the display. I awoke gasping for air, like a phantom lodged the bushy blanket in my throat and stole the exhaling half. When I search for extra info on how Robin Harris lived inside his physique, his widow and mates discuss bother respiratory, and him falling asleep mid-conversation. I haven’t gotten this dangerous but, however possibly I don’t go laborious sufficient. Robin Harris died the identical month his largest film function premiered. I’ve already watched that film, Home Social gathering, 4 instances in seven days, as a result of I’m on the lookout for clues. The most effective proof I can discover of how he moved is in a particular known as Robin Harris Reside on the Comedy Act Theater. It’s a deep lower of him in 1988 internet hosting different rising comics, and I can shortly pull it up on streaming. He struts the stage, pivoting on his heels, half-walking half-jiving, belting out jokes and swallowing each ounce of air within the room. Harris dwarfs the opposite acts, a few of whom I’ve seen in bit elements, with out breaking stride or tripping up. “The way you doing, waitress? Waitress positive look nervous spherical right here, don’t they? I’d be nervous too if I was stealing. Don’t fear, honey, I carry a razor too. A gun’ll misfire however you ain’t by no means heard of a razor mis-cutting. Stated I’ll lower you lengthy, deep, extensive and consecutively.” When I emerge from my daydream, I understand he’s joking however not. Robin Harris carried a razor as a result of he grew up on the South Facet of Chicago throughout a interval of the 1970s when rising up on the South Facet of a Black metropolis meant carrying razors. He matured quick and his tongue, his coronary heart, his lungs and his eyes needed to sustain. His piercing wit mimics the gesture of his knife joke, slicing gashes into my modest 36 years, chopping up what I’ve completed and have but to do. The medical doctors on Google bestowed me with sleep apnea, which may very well be both the dovetail to my tragic finish or a footnote in a protracted life. That sickness is the place the similarities begin and finish with me and Harris. However I acknowledge the deadly consequence when I learn accounts from his widow, Exetta. Within the Washington Put up report, an oral historical past of his mourners, she mentioned he’d been to the physician they usually wished to verify him out. Nevertheless it by no means acquired any additional. Harris’ household mentioned he talked in his sleep, nonetheless cracking jokes and taking pictures on the viewers in his head. Sleep apnea stays misunderstood regardless of how frequent it’s. The New York Occasions estimates 22 million Individuals have it, but few are conscious. The signs — loud loud night breathing, stressed sleep, grogginess upon waking — sound just like the sleep traits of most working adults I’ve recognized. Past that, we affiliate sleep apnea with weight problems (although it’s not confirmed that the latter causes the previous). Robin Harris’ widow, Exetta, noticed the signs that alert many spouses to a deeper well being situation. That’s why it’s additionally known as “witness apnea,” as a result of the sufferer’s sleep habits are a thriller to them in slumber. I get up preventing ghosts that choke me, too, like on my Harris movie-marathon night time. I acquired so frightened of dying in my sleep, I went to get my aliveness checked as a result of I knew Robin Harris misplaced his the identical method. Although he spent his quick 36 years higher than I have, roaring previous friends, he turned the opposite cheek to mortal danger. That’s probably why it was straightforward to solid him as “Pop” in Child N’ Play’s Home Social gathering when he was solely 12 years older than his supposed son, Christopher “Child” Reid. Harris had grown right into a middle-aged man’s stout determine, so he was capable of painting a spread of murky ages. Whether or not because the shiftless Candy Dick Willie in Do the Proper Factor, laid again in his folding chair throne, roasting with the opposite street-corner drunks, or because the self-serious, quipping dad in Home Social gathering, Harris confirmed how light-hearted mockery might make any life extra fulfilling. Particularly his. The ultrasound tech presses down into my stomach and I really feel like I must pee. That is regular, she claims, however nothing appears that method when a girl you don’t know is enjoying together with your bladder from the surface. I maintain pondering of Candy Dick Willie saying, “It’s Miller Time,” as his drunk cohorts complain that Koreans personal shops they usually maintain shopping for extra beers from them because the “Black Man suffers.” Willie didn’t give a shit so long as he might get his beer on time and infrequently. As her latex hand relieves strain from my private space, she assures me there aren’t any issues. “It’s Miller Time,” I mumble, contemplating a beer since I have my aliveness again. “What was that?” “It’s from a film.” “You may go downstairs to reception to schedule a follow-up. The physician will clarify your outcomes.” Observe up what although? I’m fascinated with not going additional than this. Every week or two of checks, Google searches, filling out surveys, and finding out how aliveness ended and have become demise made me drained. If a person extra alive than me might die in his sleep, throughout the peak of his life, what probability did I stand in opposition to destiny? I need Robin Harris to get up. Within the opening scene of Home Social gathering, Pop yells at Child to complete his breakfast and go to high school. Within the subsequent beat, Child’s grabbing meals and screaming again that he can’t be scolded for not consuming meals earlier than he will get downstairs to eat. However when Pop doesn’t reply, he runs again upstairs to verify on him. Robin Harris as “Pop” sprawls on a king mattress in an undershirt and work pants, appearing out sleep. His film son unties his footwear so his dad can relaxation and provides him the sober, empathetic look of a young person understanding how a lot a dad or mum does to maintain them clothed and fed. When he’s Pop dozing on the mattress, he seems extra like Robin Harris, dishonest days to get greater than 24 hours and stealing treasured sleep. The director Reginald Hudlin made a bid to protect Robin Harris by turning the single-mom joke into the animated function Bébé’s Children. Harris died two years earlier than the film premiered, so Faizon Love voiced what was presupposed to be his character. In the end, the movie felt like a pieced-together memorial to a fallen jokester as a substitute of a fully-formed story. So many individuals owed a inventive debt to him, from Bernie Mac and Martin Lawrence to Lee and Hudlin, they spent years making an attempt to pay again what couldn’t be repaid. Harris probably didn’t relaxation a lot throughout his magical run from 1988 to 1990, and sleep appeared to overhaul him as a result of he had bother controlling it. Associates who knew him properly described him as hardworking and a worrier. He wished the jokes to land. He wished the group to burst into giggles. It’s laborious to learn in regards to the finish of his life and know that the one factor that eluded him, sleep, additionally carried him residence. That’s not how I wish to keep in mind his aliveness. Or mine. This week, I’m going for my follow-up appointment. http://feeds.bet.com/~r/Betcom-Celebrities/~3/nU2st7ZgbbM/robin-harris-tribute.html The post I Want Robin Harris To Wake Up: appeared first on My style by Kartia. https://kartiavelino.com/2019/03/i-want-robin-harris-to-wake-up.html

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worldbuddies · 6 years

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Ekkadiki Pothavu Chinnavada Review

Ekkadiki Pothavu Chinnavada Review | EPC Movie Review

Ekkadiki Pothavu Chinnavada Review: In a practically stuffed house for Ekkadiki Pothavu Chinnavada in a multiplex on the primary day itself (amid this Cash Crises) obviously demonstrated me that there are sufficiently still enthusiasts of Telugu silver screen, urgently sitting tight for a decent film. Be that as it may, unfortunately at the end of the day they all are served the same commonplace stuff from the executive of Hrudayyam EKkadunndi and Tiger (2015), which ends up being a really regular extraordinary film in correlation that unexpectedly had an a great deal more fascinating trailer than the whole 140 minutes motion picture. The tale of the film is about a joyful person Arjun (Nikhil Siddhartha) who gets pulled in to caring young lady Aisha (Avika Gor) because of a little occurrence. At that point Arjun proposes the young lady and Aisha requests that he wed. He arranges everything and Aisha neglects to appear at the Registrar’s office for the marriage. At that point his companions feel frustrated about him and helps him get over her. In the wake of four monotonous years, Kishore (Vennela Kishore) gets numerous identity issue and Arjun helps him to adapt up at Mahishasura Mardini sanctuary in Kerala. That is when Arjun experiences passionate feelings for Amala (Hebah Patel) in Kerala, yet neglects to propose her. Things pivot, when Amala’s address and personality both end up being fake and another young lady with a similar name enters his life. That is the place unusual things begin incident and Aisha reenters his life. What happens next structures the core of the story. Envision this for me, on the off chance that you will Say that I See You (2006) and the Pisasu (2014) had a child, with a portion of the qualities of Norman Jewison and Peter New stream’s angle tossed in with the general mish-mash. That is essentially what you get with Ekkadiki Pothavu Chinnavada. Coordinated by VI Anand, motion picture starts with puzzle instrumental track utilized as a part of the titles, showcases vivified surrender compositions (telling the backstory of souls/soul catching) and afterward continues offering everywhere throughout the top, adolescent romantic comedy scenes that frantically attempt to engage gathering of people with no real achievement. For example, you get everything from regular separate at enlistment center’s office, then a young lady with comparative demeanor meets and goes ahead to gain delightful experiences, imbecilic strides to clear identity issue issues and a decent soul trade point, then another body trade and recounts another normal captivation story, at long last becomes acquainted with the character of the spirit, its gets caught, yet some way or another profits at last. Which makes you essentially ponder that what precisely the creator wished to depict here for the sake of sentimental powerful thriller, it’s neither an alternate romantic tale nor spooky with no bounce panics in its 140 minutes of ineffectively composed stuff. The motion picture had a splendid thought of showcasing a “sentimental profound undertaking” about perfect partners, at the exemplification of their affection. Executive VI Anand tries to assemble a fascinating reason by adding tribal back story to the film, however motion picture proceeds onward a normal note and just continues meandering in different subplots offering few intriguing minutes few and far between. In any case on the off chance that you are searching for a fascinating point or some captivating minutes or passionate sentimental scenes, than what we have as of now observed some time recently, then Anand doesn’t appear to be occupied with having a go at anything new or really new and keeps intensely depending on a similar old easy win equations portraying an ‘intriguing thought’ which humorously was likewise squandered by Bollywood creators. The consistency calculates and silly story murders the anticipation very new and all entirely prosaic components truly make you ponder three names related in the film’s written work division. There are many omissions of rationale’s you will wind up feigning exacerbation, (Spoiler Alert) 1. How did Amala’s phantom escape from the tribal well in any case 2. There’s legitimate thinking about how Amala had Parvathi’s body. However, there’s no appropriate backstory concerning why Hebah needed to suicide/kick the bucket and that too twice. 3. Indeed, even in the wake of knowing Amala’s spirit got away from tribal individuals the first run through, Nikhil at the end of the day puts stock in them and requests that Kishore gets in touch with them 4. From first to last executive tries to showcase that Tribal individuals just catch souls for forever in the well, yet at last tribal head says, “Anukulamaina samayam chusi ee athma ni parmathamalo ekyam cheyyadaniki thesukelthunna” which was never showcased the film. 5. Mumtaz – Kishore romantic tale has a strong science between the team, however the she calls him uncle. Truly, who splashes for flatus removed by a developed individual. 6. Nikhil never tries to dispose of Amala’s spirit by whatever other means till the end and sends Vennela Kishore for this in the last min, even after knowing the reality about Hebah’s ownership with the assistance of her sister and Amala calling from Tamilnadu. 7. The arrival of Aisha into Parvathi’s body was not legitimately portrayed, as a soul can just enter when the individual wanna bite the dust for 1/tenth of a moment. Be that as it may, here she was just terrified because of brutality of Raja Ravindra. 8. Conduct of Amala appears to change with acting capacities of performers playing her. Why does Amala turn out to be sweet, charming and pure in Avika Gor’s shape while she displays strength and immature mentality as Hebah and tries to be dreadful as Parvathy? 9. Why Arjun who despises holding up never demonstrate a similar characteristic again? Well Amala displays love and trust for Arjun however Arjun recalls her simply after he spares a kid and comes back to his house. What sort of intimate romance or optimistic love is this? Typically, this wouldn’t have been a question yet promptly, Amala requests that he take a look at himself, had he not begun to look all starry eyed at? So what kind of adoration did he fall in? 10. Arjun gets pulled in to a man with comparable qualities over and over! Furthermore, never gains from his missteps. Goodness, portrayal of a young fellow who detests holding up since he needed to sit tight for a considerable length of time for a lady for his marriage, indicates only those progressions that script can manage! Is it accurate to say that it isn’t incredible? The cinematography of the film by Sai Sriram is okay for the shoestring it was made with. The cinematographer ought to have worked a bit on the night groupings of the film. The pastiche foundation score by Sekhar Chandra declines to stay out of sight and always occupies from the story. The tunes are okay. Manager moving between the scenes could have been something more, similar to he moves from spooky base to direct discussion between the lead in the pre-peak scene. Exchanges by Abburi Ravi are great in parts like, “prema annesariki reachable lo untaru, Pelli annaka inaccessible lo untaru”, “prema lo padaka kanipinchina amma nanna ne mosam cheyagalgindi, preminchina valani mosam cheyadu anna ensure entaiyya”. Nikhil is a fine on-screen character and simple on eyes, however here he tries too hard and to depict a straightforward character. Nanditha Swetha adds spunk to her threadbare character. Hebah is genuinely similar to capable as lively Amala and Neethu. Avika Gor is fine in her short part. Whatever is left of the characters offer great support to the lead cast. All things considered, Ekkadiki Pothavu Chinnavada is an oversimplified story component that appears to fill in as a well known silver screen, may be exhorted amid one on one sessions however being sufficiently strong to make crisp scenes inside the configuration, ought to dependably be USP of these sort of movies. One marvels what this story could had been whether it was taken care of by some skilled chief. Read the full article

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